One Hundred: A Script Beyond Imagination 2.0 (I mean the writing speed)

The next morning, Yuzuru Kyo was roused by the alarm he had set himself. After turning it off with a lazy swat, he had intended to burrow back beneath the covers, only to find that sleep had already left him.

Stretching his arms with languid ease, he swung out of bed and opened the window. At once, air scented with sunlight and brimming with life rushed eagerly into the room.

For an instant, Kyo felt as though he stood beneath a vast cherry tree, its petals, white tinged with pink, swept along by the breeze, drifting past him in a soft cascade. The sound at his ears seemed like the murmur of sprites, or the low singing of a poet.

Then, abruptly, the shrill blare of a horn sounded from the street. Kyo returned to himself, gazing at the rising dawn with a smile touched by nostalgia.

Perhaps it was for that lovelorn romance from Makoto Shinkai's stories; perhaps it was for old memories long scattered to the wind...

After breakfast, when they reached the doorway, Kyo and Umaru Doma once again met Nana Ebina, who was waiting for them. After greeting her, Kyo naturally fell back one pace, smiling as he watched the two girls ahead of him chatting and laughing together.

It seemed he had finally found the right way to get along with Umaru, his rather introverted schoolmate.

After they parted ways at the intersection, Kyo headed alone toward the Academy of the Prosperous Grove. Before he knew it, someone patted him on the back from behind, causing him to stagger a step. Barely regaining his balance, he turned to look at the figure that had suddenly appeared at his side and said helplessly, "Don't copy Katou's way of showing up, okay, Tomoya?"

Tomoya Aki waved it off. "Don't worry about the details, Kyo." Then his tone turned serious. "The important thing is that Senjougahara-senpai sent me a new script!"

Kyo blinked in surprise. "It's only been two days, hasn't it? Did Kasumigaoka-senpai already write another script?"

Tomoya nodded emphatically, marveling. "You really can't underestimate the speed of a commercial writer..."

"..." Kyo muttered, half in exasperation, half in admiration. "What commercial writer would pour this much effort into a doujin work?"

Come to think of it, unless a creator was nearing a work's deadline, how could they possibly be motivated enough to finish their job so early?

And don't even mention that certain mangaka. The poor devil probably lost so much money at mahjong that he only then remembered to sketch a chapter draft and hand it to the editorial department, leaving with a flourish while they ground their teeth in helpless frustration.

Besides... Kasumigaoka Utaha, whose real occupation was still that of a student, and more specifically a student about to take her entrance exams, where on earth did she find the time to write a whole script? Didn't she need to think about her future studies?

Wait, hold on. It seemed she really did not have to worry about that at all, did she?!

At the thought of that senior, usually so unseemly and unserious, yet in fact the top student in the grade, Kyo could not help but wonder whether heaven had been a little too fond of her.

Beautiful face, striking figure, excellent grades, long black hair, and already a published bestselling author... These days, people really did dare to pile every imaginable attribute onto a high school girl.

Ah, please pretend you did not see the line above. Much appreciated.

After silently complaining to himself, Kyo turned with a subtle expression to Aki Tomoya beside him. "So, did you read the new script first? How was it?"

Tomoya waved a hand and shook his head. "Senjougahara-senpai sent it to me early this morning, and after that I went out to my part-time job. Now I've come to school, so when was I supposed to read it? I'll print it out in the mimeograph room later and let everyone pass it around. Though there's also an electronic copy, I just don't know whether you'd be used to reading it that way."

By the way, were you treating the school's mimeograph room like your own home? Don't go around claiming it as your territory just because you print files there for little Kano so often, Tomoya!

Ah, and by the way, Kano Hasumi, the teacher in Kyo's class, was young and lovely, always gentle in manner, and willing to lend a hand whenever students ran into trouble. Deeply beloved by the student body, she was affectionately called "Little Kano."

Well... somehow, she felt like another character the author had casually created, one who would never even make a proper debut.

Still, although e-books were very convenient, Kyo preferred the tangible feeling of holding an actual book in his hands. Perhaps it was a habit formed in childhood.

Amid idle conversation with Aki Tomoya, they reached the classroom before they knew it. As Kyo set down his bag, he saw Megumi Katou wearing a sleepy expression and asked curiously, "Were you up late again, Katou?"

Megumi rubbed her eyes and gave a soft yawn. "It's Kyo, huh... not really. I just stayed up a little last night to finish reading the script Senjougahara-senpai wrote."

"That must have been hard work. So, what did you think?" Kyo pressed with interest, clearly curious what this girl, who could hardly be called an otaku, would make of such a thoroughly nerdy work.

Come to think of it, had she not had time to read the script Senjougahara-senpai wrote before? Even though she always seemed so relaxed at school...

"Mm... how should I put it? If I hadn't known beforehand, I really wouldn't have believed it was written by that Kasuga Shiko. But it was actually pretty engaging, even if there were a few parts I couldn't quite understand."

Megumi thought about it with a slight frown before giving that answer.

"I see." Kyo more or less understood the way ordinary people viewed this sort of work. But did Megumi count as an ordinary person? I guess so... perhaps...

"Mm, though there were some parts I wouldn't have understood at all if I hadn't heard you explain certain things before, Kyo. Like John Titor and so on. Unless you're interested in that sort of thing, you probably wouldn't know who he is, would you?"

"Probably..." Should I tell you that this is nearly a name known to every science fiction fan?

After a moment's thought, Kyo went on, "Though that script had actually been returned to Senjougahara-senpai and asked to be rewritten by me before. I didn't expect that she'd finish it again today..."

"Mm... this may not be likely, but I'll ask anyway: do writers always work this fast? I mean, even the composition exercises in Japanese class feel like they take enough time."

Megumi still wore her usual placid expression, but Kyo could clearly hear a trace of surprise in her voice.

"Probably only when the deadline is close do writers have enough motivation to finish an entire novel in two or three days. Though in our case, the deadline we set is still a long way off..."

Speaking in a slightly strange tone, Kyo gave that answer. As for the true reason, he probably had some idea of it.

Kasumigaoka Utaha... the driving force behind Kasuga Shiko's desperate effort, perhaps, was nothing more than a simple refusal to lose.

It was for her pride as a writer, and also so that these younger ones could properly see that she was, in fact, someone they could trust and rely on.