Chapter 21: Should I Help?

Upon hearing this reply from Akiwara Yuto, Ikawa Akemi was momentarily stunned; she had not expected to receive such a response.

In her experience, whenever she asked someone for help, that person would usually agree quite easily.

She hadn't expected that now...

Seeing the other party's reaction, Akiwara Yuto gave her a slightly surprised look and turned to leave directly.

He was no pushover, and he certainly wouldn't agree to something just because someone asked him casually.

He was planning to go home and ponder which of his works would be suitable for adaptation—although there was still some time before the submission deadline for the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award, he didn't intend to waste a single second and was prepared to find a piece to practice with first.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's actions, Ikawa Akemi suddenly became anxious; she hadn't expected Akiwara Yuto to show her absolutely no gentlemanly conduct, actually walking away without even turning his head.

No, Akemi, you cannot give up so easily.

She thought for less than two seconds, immediately made up her mind, ran directly in front of Akiwara Yuto, bowed deeply, and said in a very sincere tone, "I beg you, my theater troupe really needs help."

Seeing that he had been intercepted, Akiwara Yuto had no choice but to stop and look speechlessly at the young woman bowing before him.

The two were complete strangers, with no personal ties, and he truly did not want to waste even a moment of his time on her.

People were coming and going at the library entrance, and quite a few noticed their actions. After seeing the cold expression on Akiwara Yuto's face, they assumed he was breaking up with this pretty girl and cast looks of disdain at him as if he were a scumbag.

Although Akiwara Yuto felt the pressure of everyone's gaze, he still prepared to walk around her and leave; at worst, he would just find a different library to read in later, as no one knew him anyway.

He took a step forward, but had only moved half a step when he felt something was wrong. Looking down, he discovered that the corner of his clothes was being tugged by a fair, delicate hand.

He frowned and prepared to continue forward, only to find that the strength of the hand tugging at his clothes was becoming greater and greater.

Turning his head, he glanced at the pretty girl who was pulling on his clothes, only to find that she had put on an "innocent and pure" expression.

What is this, he thought helplessly, forced to stop and say in a businesslike tone, "Miss Ikawa, please state your request simply."

Upon hearing this, Ikawa Akemi immediately became happy; very good, the plan was a success.

She straightened up and brushed her bangs with her hand, "Um... if you don't mind, could we talk somewhere else? I know a cafe nearby that is..."

"Sorry, I don't..." Akiwara Yuto responded expressionlessly, only to find the girl's eyes becoming "teary" and her mouth pouting, causing the surrounding crowd to start looking over with the eyes of someone watching a piece of human trash.

Akiwara Yuto ignored the surroundings and glanced at her, signaling for her to let go.

Although Ikawa Akemi let go, she still looked at him with a pleading expression and said in an even more sincere tone, "I beg you, I really need help!"

"Sorry, I have other things to do..."

"It won't take much of your time, please!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she bowed deeply once again.

Do Japanese people like bowing this much? Akiwara Yuto wanted to complain internally, but seeing her actions, he began to think.

Should he agree? If it were just a consultation, it shouldn't take much time or energy, but it still felt like a bit of a hassle.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Ikawa Akemi looked up and said, "We will provide a certain amount of compensation; we won't let your hard work go to waste. So, could you please listen to me for a moment..."

Hearing this suggestion, Akiwara Yuto was a bit surprised and stopped the step he had been about to take. He looked at Ikawa Akemi, noticed her expression was exceptionally serious, and began to consider it.

His current savings consisted only of his first manuscript payment, and after deducting his previous rent and moving expenses, there was very little left; earning a bit of extra money didn't seem bad. However, he didn't know how much she could pay, or what the workload would be.

If it wasn't worth it, he would just forget it.

So, why not listen to what she had to say first?

He thought for a few seconds and felt that going to a public place like a cafe shouldn't lead to any pyramid schemes or proselytizing, so he replied, "Fine, let's talk for now, but I cannot make any further guarantees."

He said this upfront so that if there were any unreasonable requests, he would have a reason to refuse.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto agree to go to the cafe to talk, Ikawa Akemi's smile became radiant again. She gestured for him to follow and led Akiwara Yuto toward the cafe.

Paddlescoffee was the closest cafe to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library. The cafe was not large, with only about 6 tables. The two entered the door and sat at a table near the bar.

Ikawa Akemi ordered coffee and then fixed her beautiful eyes on Akiwara Yuto; she had made up her mind to properly prove her charm.

However, she clearly hit a wall today.

"So, Miss Ikawa, please state your purpose." Akiwara Yuto ignored her slightly aggrieved expression and said bluntly, "Please tell me as quickly as possible what trouble your club has encountered, and what kind of mystery consultation you need."

Ikawa Akemi felt a bit frustrated; after all, she was a pretty girl, couldn't the other party show a bit more gentlemanly conduct? However, she also heard his impatience, so she said, "Um..."

"Don't 'um' me, my name is Akiwara Yuto."

"Sorry, Akiwara-san." She immediately realized her mistake, discovering she hadn't even asked for his name, and immediately said in a slightly apologetic voice, "I am the vice president of the Tojo Drama Club. For the upcoming school festival, we are preparing to rehearse a stage play."

Akiwara Yuto was a bit confused and asked skeptically, "What does this have to do with mystery?"

Stage plays were also a form of national culture in Japan, with a large fan base. Similar to Western musicals, they adopted a form of "singing + dancing + dialogue."

Among the many stage play troupes in Japan, the most famous was the Takarazuka Revue, which featured many well-known stage actors like Yuki Amami.

However, because stage plays required actors to express themselves with extremely exaggerated tones and large-scale movements, it did not fit the image of the calm protagonists in many mystery novels. Therefore, generally speaking, only a very small portion of mystery novels were suitable for adaptation into stage plays.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's confusion, Ikawa Akemi hurriedly explained, "In the past, our stage plays were performed using existing foreign scripts. But this year's school festival is different; a very famous mystery writer is coming to our school to visit the festival, and the school wants us to use a local mystery theme."

After a pause, she clarified her reasoning: to fulfill the school's request, her club had tasked her with writing this mystery script. As the screenwriter, she hoped Akiwara Yuto could provide some opinions on the mystery aspects.

Akiwara Yuto suddenly understood; no wonder she wanted to find a mystery fan for help. However, he thought for a while and frowned; after all, he hadn't had much deep contact with this area before and wasn't very confident, but he could give it a try.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's expression, Ikawa Akemi became nervous.

Just then, the waiter brought the coffee. She said "Thank you," then turned to look at Akiwara Yuto again and continued sincerely, "For taking up Akiwara-san's time, we can compensate you using our club funds. As for the amount, we can negotiate the specifics."

Hearing her take the initiative to mention compensation, Akiwara Yuto began to calculate.

How much would be appropriate? Perhaps he could calculate it based on the manuscript fee for a 20,000-character piece; after all, they were just a club, and this amount wouldn't be small.

At the same time, he pondered another question: if she was the screenwriter for this stage play, was she really reliable?

As a screenwriter, one needed not only a certain foundation in writing but also a very meticulous quality. Yet, this Miss Ikawa hadn't even asked for his name, nor had she tested his level of mystery knowledge, and had rushed to ask him for help—it was simply unbelievable.

Come to think of it, besides the monetary compensation she mentioned, what other benefits were there for him?