Chapter 159: Are you and Master Akiwara dating?

Akiwara Yuto raised his head and glanced around at the other three people in the room.

He saw that the other three were all calm and composed, with no intention of persuading him at all.

However, he understood; although this invitation carried the suspicion of factional division, in essence, it was also an opportunity.

If he missed this opportunity, he would undoubtedly have to wait another two and a half years before he could join the Mystery Writers Association.

Besides, how many writers could be invited by someone with the status of the Association's Vice President?

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and then asked, "President Hehe, I have already understood the relevant situation, but as far as I know, your previous works, as well as those of Master Seto and Master Miyagawa, seem to be primarily of the Honkaku school, right? Yet, in your words, I heard your dissatisfaction with the Honkaku school's stance."

He paused and added, "Could you tell me your true opinion? Or rather, what kind of attitude do you hold toward the future development of mystery literature?"

Hehe Xintai smiled, "Master Akiwara, Orthodox mystery is just our writing technique, but this does not mean that we support the idea that all mystery works must follow the Orthodox mystery style."

Akiwara Yuto was even more confused. Writing Honkaku but not supporting the Honkaku school's stance—what was this?

Could it be that the three of them wanted to switch to writing Social school or Biange school works?

On the other side, Seto Tamae, seeing Akiwara Yuto's confusion, said in a soft voice, "Master Akiwara, it's like this. Let me explain briefly..."

Following Seto Tamae's explanation, Akiwara Yuto suddenly realized.

Due to historical reasons, the number of people in Honkaku and New Honkaku was undoubtedly the largest, accounting for more than half of the Mystery Association members.

But not all Honkaku and New Honkaku writers agreed with the idea of only promoting Honkaku works.

After all, as mystery writers, everyone had their own thoughts and plans.

Therefore, within the Honkaku and New Honkaku authors, two factions had divided—the Radical faction and the Moderate faction.

The Radical faction had a larger number of people and demanded that the Honkaku school be regarded as the orthodoxy of mystery works, and that awards and other aspects should be tilted toward Honkaku works.

The Moderate faction had fewer people; their stance was to be inclusive and they believed that mystery should have multiple different forms.

After Seto Tamae finished speaking, she picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"Although the outside world doesn't know much about it, in the eyes of the Association members, all three of us belong to the Moderate Honkaku writers, and even the current President who is hospitalized is one. Before this, due to the President's promotion, the Association even modified the rules for award judging."

Hehe Xintai smiled and took over the conversation, "That's about enough for now. Master Akiwara, please tell us your choice."

Akiwara Yuto nodded and weighed the pros and cons.

Before this, the three people present today had all shown him goodwill: Seto Tamae had spoken out for his unfair treatment, Vice President Hehe had given him the opportunity to criticize the Mantanshe Society at the awards ceremony, and Miyagawa Yosuke had written a book review for him.

Besides, the Moderate faction's stance was actually very similar to his own inner thoughts.

After all, there were still quite a few works in his mind that were not Honkaku school works.

If these works couldn't win awards because of their genre, he would still have a headache.

Besides, what did the conflict between the Moderate faction and the Radical faction have to do with him?

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up. These struggles over writing philosophy were things that veteran writers like Vice President Hehe would have to face first.

As for himself, he only needed to wave flags and applaud behind them for now. After all, judging by seniority and fame, he hadn't yet left the category of a newcomer.

After determining that the pros outweighed the cons, Akiwara Yuto immediately made a decision.

He stood up, bowed, and said in a polite tone, "Since that is the case, I must trouble the three of you to serve as my recommenders for joining the association."

After hearing this, the three Hehe members smiled and agreed.

While Akiwara Yuto was expressing his gratitude, on the other side, at Anju Bookstore, it was a different scene.

Satake Maki was holding the manuscript of *Negligent Homicide*, frowning as she read, and she hesitated when she saw Kushida Shrine.

After thinking for half a day, Satake asked a short-haired woman sitting on the other side, "Senior Asano, have you been to Fukuoka Prefecture? Is the festival at Kushida Shrine in October?"

The person she was asking was none other than Asano Aiko.

Because she had been pointed out for errors before, she was convinced of Asano Aiko's proofreading ability, so she took the initiative to change her address to "Senior."

After hearing the voice, Asano Aiko turned around.

In order to speed up the publication progress of the work *Negligent Homicide*, she had been taking the initiative to come to Anju Bookstore these past few days to work overtime together.

In the office on the second floor of Anju Bookstore, there were only the two of them now.

After hearing this question, Asano Aiko found that she wasn't very clear about it either.

She thought for a moment, then stood up, picked up the phone on the desk, and dialed a number.

After the call connected, she asked, "Mr. Uesugi, I am Asano Aiko. May I ask, are you from Fukuoka?"

"Oh, I see. Then may I ask, when is the festival at Kushida Shrine?"

"Is that so? Thank you very much, sorry to bother you!"

After saying this, Asano Aiko hung up the phone and said to Satake Maki on the other side, "Miss Satake, the festival at Kushida Shrine is in July."

She smiled, "It seems you've discovered a key point."

The shrines native to Nihon were strange and varied, and the times of their festivals were often not uniform. So when she was proofreading, she subconsciously ignored this aspect.

She didn't expect that the place she overlooked was actually discovered as a key point by this editor named Satake Maki.

Satake Maki nodded without replying; she took out a red pen and drew a circle around the date of the festival.

This problem wasn't big or small; she just needed to adjust the time when the story took place.

Asano Aiko saw this scene, smiled, then turned back to her seat and continued reading the manuscript.

If they wanted to publish as soon as possible, they still had a lot of work to do; it was far from time to relax.

For a time, the office became quiet, with only the rustling sound of manuscripts being turned.

But not long after, the "ding-a-ling" sound of the phone rang abruptly.

Hearing the phone, the two subconsciously raised their heads and looked at each other.

Immediately after, Satake Maki stood up and answered the phone. "Hello, this is Anju Bookstore. May I ask you..."

After a while, she put down the receiver and faced Asano Aiko, "Senior Asano, it's a call for you."

Asano Aiko was a little puzzled, but she still left her seat, walked up, and took the phone.

"Hello, I am Asano Aiko. May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, it's Akiwara..."

"Eating dinner together tonight? You have something you want to talk to me about? But I still have some work to deal with here..."

"Eh, joining the Mystery Writers Association?! And the other party invited you actively?"

"Alright, I know. Then let's meet at 7 PM. Still that family restaurant from before?"

While Asano Aiko was on the phone, Satake Maki kept her head down looking at the manuscript, but her mind was not on this at all.

Instead, she pricked up her ears, listening carefully to the content of the call...

As she heard words like "night" and "eating," the expression on Satake Maki's face became increasingly restless, and her right hand holding the red pen couldn't help but tighten.

Only when she discovered Asano Aiko had put down the receiver did Satake Maki slowly loosen her tightly clenched right hand.

But the palm of her hand had become somewhat red because she had been clenching the pen for so long.

"Miss Satake, let's leave it at that for today. I'll go back first. As for the other proofreading tasks, let's coordinate tomorrow when I come over."

Asano Aiko didn't notice Satake Maki's abnormality; she returned to the desk and put the manuscript on the table back into the file bag.

She planned to review these manuscripts at home after having dinner with Akiwara Yuto tonight.

But to her surprise, Satake Maki didn't say "goodbye" to her like she did yesterday.

The other party instead turned around and looked at her with a smile.

"Senior Asano, are you and Master Akiwara... dating?" ===== CHAPTER 160 =====