Chapter 2: Drama

The wind coming through the screen door past midnight was gentle.

When he lived in Nagoya, the heat rising from the asphalt made it impossible to leave the windows open at night, but here, even though it was hot during the day, the night brought a breeze carrying the scent of the mountains and the coolness of the river and rice fields.

The loud chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs, which had surprised Yuto when he first moved in, quickly became background noise. They felt more familiar to his ears than the noise of cars and trains he had grown up with.

Yuto looked at the sticky notes and report sheets scattered across the table.

All of them were covered in hastily scribbled writing.

It was a strange feeling—to be facing the act of creation again after three years.

At first, he was anxious about whether he could do it again. But once he started creating the story, ideas and words flowed endlessly.

And then he would snap out of it, recall the past, and his hand would stop for a while.

It was a cycle.

But now, he couldn’t afford to stop. After all, there were only ten days left. No, nine days now that it’s past midnight. Even if he had lost the ability to weave stories and was just squeezing out the dregs, he had to do it.

As he tried to rearrange the sticky notes with scenes written on them, something unexpected happened.

The doorbell rang.

Yuto looked at the door, surprised.

A visit at this hour was unthinkable.

But a suspicion arose in his mind, and he stood up.

Peering through the door scope, he muttered, “Seriously…?” and then slowly opened the door.

“Good evening, Senpai. Sorry for disturbing you so late.”

Standing there was Kotoha.

She wore a white linen shirt that was slightly see-through, paired with a floral flared skirt, and stylish sandals. The summer night breeze played with her hair, and her eyes held an unmistakable intensity.

Maybe it was the time of night, but Kotoha seemed more alluring than usual, and Yuto averted his gaze slightly as he spoke.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

“I’m here for a script meeting, of course.”

Hearing that, Yuto felt more resigned than surprised or angry. He sighed internally, realizing he had grown accustomed to Kotoha’s recklessness.

“Alright, let’s have the meeting in the room then.”

“No, that’s not okay. A girl entering a guy’s room this late at night is just wrong.”

“Are you planning to do something weird, Senpai?”

Kotoha stiffened, giving Yuto a slightly wary look.

“I wouldn’t do that!”

When Yuto hastily denied it,

“Then it’s fine,” Kotoha said as she entered the room.

Watching her back, Yuto sighed deeply, feeling that trying to argue would be futile.

He cleared the sticky notes and papers from the table, poured some barley tea, and then sat across from Kotoha at the low table.

It felt strange.

It was the first time he had let someone into his room, and it was a younger girl. Moreover, it was past midnight, making him feel like he was doing something wrong. He hesitated to even make eye contact.

Kotoha, sitting properly in seiza, placed her hands on the table and bowed her head.

“Thank you again for taking on the script.”

Her tone was filled with joy and excitement.

“How many times are you going to say that? It’s enough already. Besides, you tricked me.”

“Hehe, sorry.”

Kotoha raised her head and smiled mischievously. Seeing her act the same as always made Yuto feel foolish for being tense. He exhaled softly, feeling a bit calmer.

“You don’t seem sorry… Well, even if you had a plan, it’s true that I gave a half-hearted critique back there. Treat me to a breaded pork cutlet sandwich from the school store, and we’ll call it even.”

“Is that all? If Senpai thinks that’s not enough, I can kneel in front of everyone at school and apologize. I think what I did warrants that much.”

“Don’t do that! You’re not going that far, and definitely don’t kneel…”

Having a girl who, at least in appearance, was attractive kneel in front of everyone would be beyond embarrassing. Yuto wouldn’t be able to live out the rest of his high school life normally.

“I realized something after getting home from the theater today—I don’t have your contact information, Senpai.”

“So you came here directly…”

Yuto groaned.

“But I don’t use messaging apps or social media. Is phone and email okay?”

Even when he was active as a writer, if in-person meetings weren’t necessary, he would send manuscripts by email and have meetings over the phone.

Kotoha looked surprised at his response.

“I have an unlimited calling plan, so that’s fine… But you don’t use X or Instagram or anything?”

“No. It’s a waste of time.”

Yuto exchanged contact information with Kotoha. He didn’t mention that she was the first contact he had added since entering high school, thinking it might invite pity.

“So, let’s get started. Do you have any ideas for the script, Senpai? If not, I have some suggestions—”

“I wrote a plot.”

“Of course. So, the first suggestion is… Wait, what?”

Kotoha stared at Yuto.

“Did you say you wrote a plot?”

“Yeah, here it is. But I haven’t used my printer in a while, so I’ll email it to you.”

Yuto placed his laptop on the table and woke it from sleep mode.

Two hours ago, he had finished the plot draft. It was five pages long and would run about fifty minutes. He had been refining it until just now.

“Let me see.”

As Yuto opened his email software, he heard Kotoha’s trembling voice. More importantly, she had somehow moved right next to him—so close their bodies were almost touching.

“Hey, wait…!”

He understood. It was easier to see an A4 plot on a laptop than on a phone. But that wasn’t the issue.

“Is this it? Here, right?”

Kotoha pressed against Yuto. Her soft touch and sweet scent made him dizzy for a moment, but seeing her intensely focused on the plot cleared his head.