Chapter 50: Taking on a Disciple?

After the stage play ended, the applause lasted for a full half-minute; in a theater of about 1,000 people, it could certainly be called extremely enthusiastic.

As he clapped, Miyagawa Yosuke asked the vice principal beside him, "Could you introduce me to the screenwriter of this play? I am very curious about the inspiration behind this work."

The vice principal was a bit surprised, but said with some difficulty, "Professor Miyagawa, wait, there is still a meeting with the board of directors later..."

Miyagawa Yosuke thought about it and felt it was better to go to the meeting first; after all, the person wouldn't run away, so he could chat slowly later.

If the other party hadn't debuted yet, should he take on another disciple?

Someone who could write a story like this would surely have a place in the literary world in the future.

Akiwara Yuto did not know that someone was thinking of becoming his teacher; he stood up with Asano Aiko and left the theater with the flow of the crowd.

Once outside the door, he asked Asano Aiko, "What did you think of this stage play?"

This was his first adaptation based on an original work, and it had cost him weeks of hard work; he himself was quite satisfied with the resulting effect.

As a creator, he was especially eager to receive approval from others.

Asano Aiko rolled her eyes at him; it wasn't as if he didn't know in his heart whether it was good or not, and after the applause had lasted so long just now, he was still asking her.

She thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth: "It was indeed filmed well, but Akiwara, if it had been performed by another drama club, it might not have been this good."

Akiwara Yuto had not expected this answer.

He nodded, admitting that Asano made a valid point; after all, no matter how good a script was, if it were handed to a group of unqualified actors, the performance probably wouldn't turn out well.

Asano Aiko then raised another question, "By the way, why didn't I see Miss Ikawa in the performance just now?"

She was genuinely a bit puzzled; wasn't Akiwara writing this script to pursue Ikawa Akemi?

Yet, having watched the entire stage play, she hadn't seen the other party.

Hearing this question, Akiwara Yuto also fell into confusion.

At this moment, a crisp voice came from behind them: "That's because I was playing the murderer."

Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko turned their heads subconsciously and discovered it was indeed Ikawa Akemi; the other party was wearing a light green club T-shirt and looking at the two of them with a pitiful expression.

Akiwara Yuto found it a bit unbelievable; after all, with her face of a young lady, playing a murderer was a bit of a waste, but he carefully examined her expression and found that it didn't seem like she was lying.

She hadn't played the lead, but had ended up playing the murderer.

Thinking of this, he laughed out loud subconsciously, and after Ikawa Akemi realized she was being mocked, her expression became even more dejected.

Asano Aiko had also wanted to laugh a little, but after seeing that expression, she somehow began to feel sorry for the other party. She hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her: "Miss Ikawa, it's such a pity you didn't play the lead."

Ikawa Akemi didn't catch the comfort, thinking she was just stating facts, and shook her head, saying, "No, my acting skills really aren't good enough, so it was expected that I wouldn't play the lead."

She sighed and added, "I was originally the stage manager, but I didn't expect an accident to happen, forcing me to play the murderer."

Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but be curious: "What accident?"

Ikawa Akemi didn't keep him in suspense and answered directly: "The club member who was playing the murderer suddenly got acute gastroenteritis and couldn't come, so the faculty advisor forced me to go on stage."

She was truly aggrieved; she had already refused the role, but hadn't expected to escape it after all.

Hearing this reason, Asano Aiko also let out a "pfft" of laughter; she really couldn't hold it in.

After all, thinking of the murderer holding a "chainsaw" on stage and then looking at Ikawa Akemi's aggrieved expression, it felt like "contrasting cuteness" no matter how she thought about it.

Akiwara Yuto also had a smile on his face, but he forcibly changed the subject: "By the way, regarding your performance, what did the school and that invited guest writer think?"

Mentioning this, Ikawa Akemi's expression became spirited, and she said happily, "After the performance ended, the student in charge of hosting said they thought it was very good, and they even stood up and applauded!"

Asano Aiko didn't know there was an invited guest writer, thinking it was just an ordinary school festival stage play, and asked in confusion, "May I ask which writer was invited?"

Ikawa Akemi replied, "They seem to call him Professor Miyagawa."

"Miyagawa Yosuke!" Asano Aiko exclaimed subconsciously; she hadn't expected it to be this writer.

Seeing Asano Aiko's surprise, Akiwara Yuto asked in confusion, "Asano, is the other party very famous?"

After all, he had only debuted for less than two months, and although he knew some of the famous novelists of the current world, he didn't recognize everyone.

Moreover, he had looked at the past winners of the Uemura Prize, and the name Miyagawa Yosuke was not among them.

Asano Aiko hadn't expected that Akiwara Yuto wouldn't know, so she had no choice but to explain it to him.

This writer named Miyagawa Yosuke had debuted for over 30 years, and besides his identity as a writer, he had also been hired as a professor by Waseda University.

Not only that, he also served as a book critic and had his own column in the "Neon Industrial Review."

One had to know that this newspaper ranked third in sales in Neon, with a circulation as high as 2.72 million copies, which was more than 20 times that of the "Tokyo Daily News."

Asano Aiko faced Akiwara Yuto, her voice becoming serious: "Akiwara, if you can gain his appreciation, that would undoubtedly be a great thing for you."

Akiwara Yuto hadn't expected this turn of events, but the other party had only come to watch a stage play; who knew what he was thinking.

He couldn't just go and cozy up to someone for no reason, could he? He might even end up being disliked.

He still firmly believed in one thing: as long as he kept improving his writing and truly made the quality of his work good, he would definitely be able to climb higher and higher in the literary world without resorting to underhanded methods.

However, Asano Aiko meant well, so he didn't refute her, but instead said with a smile, "Asano, it's almost lunchtime, how about we have lunch together?"

Seeing Asano Aiko agree, he looked at Ikawa Akemi and was just about to invite her, but Ikawa Akemi took the initiative to say that she had a second performance at 2:30 PM and still needed to prepare at noon.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, said goodbye to Ikawa Akemi with Asano Aiko, and wished her a successful performance.

The two turned around and walked toward the school exit, preparing to find a suitable restaurant to have lunch.

Asano Aiko thought about the conversation between Akiwara Yuto and Ikawa Akemi just now, felt something was not quite right, and couldn't help but ponder a question.

Was Akiwara really pursuing Ikawa Akemi?