Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

Eriri had no intention of taking the train home.

"Qing, do you know where Kasumigaoka Utaha's house is?"

"Senior just sent me the address. It's about a 20-minute walk away."

"Well………"

The night was illuminated by flashing neon lights. Although the number of pedestrians had been gradually decreasing along the way, at least there were still bright street lights illuminating the way ahead on the street where the two were walking.

Miss Eriri pouted, her beautiful brows furrowed as if she was troubled by something, and her face was full of dissatisfaction as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Eri, you have something to ask me, right?"

Hoshimi, who had been staring straight ahead as if thinking about something, spoke lightly to reveal her thoughts - and although Eriri was a little surprised, she still nodded obediently to indicate that it was indeed the case.

"Do you think I told Futaba that Kasumigaoka Utaha is Kasumi Utako-sensei?"

The black-haired boy turned his head slightly and looked in the direction of the blonde girl. The latter was silent for a moment, then nodded sullenly.

"...Because things like this usually can't be told to others - it's just a convention, isn't it?"

There was a hint of depression and disgust in her words, as if she didn't understand why Xingjian did this, but she still didn't hide her displeasure with this behavior.

"Why have I been misunderstood by others all day..."

Even Xingjian, who was always calm and could quickly adjust his mentality when faced with difficult problems, couldn't help but sigh - his face was full of fatigue and helplessness.

"First of all, I have to redress my grievances. I have never done such a thing before."

"Eh? How did Futaba-san know that—"

"... Eriri, your identity is easy to figure out. With Futaba's intelligence, she was able to guess that Kasumigaoka-senpai is a light novelist—I'm not surprised by that."

Xingjian spoke his conjecture indifferently, rubbing his shoulders listlessly. Too much had happened today; the past twenty-four hours had felt incredibly long.

"Futaba knows I've been to Kasumi Shiko's launch event before, and when she later asked me why I hadn't gone again, I told her 'because the author was a senior from the same school.' She also knows that the club I joined, Aki Tomoya's, has talented and outstanding creators. Sawamura Eriri is the ace of the art club, so it's reasonable to assume you wouldn't be the one writing the novel. So the only person whose identity remains in doubt is Kasumigaoka Utaha—and coincidentally, Kasumi Shiko's pen name also fits, so perhaps she thinks this assumption is pretty close."

Hoshimi shrugged and then added.

"If I were in her shoes, I would think this way—it's better to say that most people should be able to infer a more reasonable and realistic conclusion based on this information, and this conclusion is usually the fact."

Simply put, he did not intentionally reveal Kasumigaoka's other identity, but Futaba deduced this information with her own intelligence.

"...Are all of you thinking so fast?"

After sorting out her thoughts, Eriri realized that she seemed to have misunderstood Hoshimi, but she still stubbornly used this complaint to cover up her gaffe.

"That girl is smart. Sometimes she sees through even my attempts to keep a secret."

As Hoshimi casually turned a corner, he pulled Eriri, who was walking straight with her head down and almost passed by, back onto the road.

"But I don't think it's a big deal—Futaba is the kind of person who wouldn't say it even if she saw through your thoughts, and would pretend not to know."

It's better to say that her ability to keep secrets is far better than mine.

"You should be thankful she's not hiding something from you—you'd never get anything out of that guy."

Thinking of the strangeness he had just noticed, Xingjian's eyes flashed with a strange light.

"...Even though that's the case, you two are good friends, right? Futaba-san wouldn't lie to you about anything, right? Well, Haru, you're right. This isn't something worth delving into."

Eriri muttered this little complaint and stretched a little - without noticing Hoshimi who turned her head away silently.

"By the way, Kasumigaoka Utaha might have developed puberty syndrome - is this speculation reliable?"

"Ms. Eriri, I'm just someone who's personally experienced puberty syndrome. I'm not an expert on this subject. I can't make a judgment without even seeing someone."

"Wow—I see! I just wanted to ask for your opinion because I can't make up my mind!"

Miss Eriri, whose guesses were denied by Hoshimi in various ways, curled her lips in anger and showed her little fangs.

"If I didn't think you were reliable, who would keep asking for your advice..."

She complained quietly in her heart, but still followed Xingjian obediently, and the two of them arrived at the downstairs of a high-end apartment building.

This should be where Kasumigaoka Utaha lives.

Hoshimi pressed the doorbell of Kasumigaoka's house downstairs, and about two or three minutes later, a response came from the communication equipment.

"This is the Kasumigaoka family. May I ask who you are?"

The mature and steady voice belonging to a certain girl rang out from the loudspeaker.

"Senior Kasumigaoka, it's me, Hoshimi."

When Xingjian bent down slightly to identify himself into the intercom, the voice on the other end of the loudspeaker paused noticeably.

"...Understood. Please come up."

Then the door leading to the apartment opened at the right time. After standing up, Hoshimi gave a look to Eriri, who had been silent, and the two of them walked into the door together.

The two of them took the elevator to the floor where Kasumigaoka's house was located, and then stopped at the door of a room with a sign that read "Kasumigaoka".

Xingjian reached out and knocked on the door, and soon footsteps were heard from inside the room.

Along with the crisp sound of the door opening, a girl with long black hair appeared in front of Xingmian. She was wearing loose casual home clothes and looked a little listless.

"I'm so sorry to have made you go all this way, Hoshimi-kun... hm?"

The apology that was originally filled in the black-haired girl's wine-red eyes froze the moment she accidentally caught a glimpse of the blonde girl sticking her head out from behind the boy.

Utaha Kasumigaoka met the gaze of Eriri Sawamura, who had a complicated look in her eyes.

"...Why are you here?"

"Why did you become like this?"

The two of them raised their questions to each other at the same time.

----

After confirming the eye contact, I met the right person (crossed out.jpg)

Kasumigaoka Utaha is unlikely to be out of ideas: Chapter 3 Kasumigaoka Utaha's Dilemma (Part 2)

Kasumigaoka Utaha did not expect the current situation.

She sat upright in the living room of her home, elegantly and politely picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of the coffee in it - at the same time, she looked at Hoshimi and Eriri, who were sitting on the sofa with different expressions, with a somewhat subtle look.

She ignored Eriri who was staring at her with burning eyes, and turned to look at Hoshimi. Although her eyes were full of smiles, they were not as gentle as they appeared.

"Oh, I really didn't notice it. Maybe I was too careless and didn't notice it. When did you, Hoshimi-kun, become bound to this barking Sawamura-kun? I don't remember asking you to bring her along."

Although Kasumigaoka Utaha looked tired and not in good health, he still straightened his back and acted like a calm master in front of the two men.

"Or is it that her body has recovered but her mind has not yet returned to normal, so she needs Daddy's constant care?"

"Wait—Are you done yet, Kasumigaoka Utaha?! I've had enough of that talk!!"

Miss Eriri, who was trying her best to be patient, slammed the table hard and looked completely mad.

"Besides, no matter what, I'm much better than you, looking listless and like you've been staying up all night, right?"

She first angrily rejected Shiyu's sarcasm, then calmed down and suppressed her impetuous emotions, and finally showed a smile that pretended to be calm.

"Hmph, if you think I'm here to make fun of you, that's fine too—after all, your current behavior is quite funny."

After all, the calm, beautiful and strong Kasumigaoka Utaha who is always calm and composed in front of everyone is now wearing disheveled home clothes that are so loose that they seem to reveal her real figure, but she doesn't care at all.

Moreover, they also noticed when they just entered the room that there was a pile of clothes piled up in the dirty clothes basket in front of the bathroom door, which looked like they had been there for several days, and for some reason, there were crumpled manuscript papers scattered on the floor in the corridor leading to the study.

In order to welcome the guests, Shiyu specially tidied up the living room - but even so, the pillows on the sofa, the decorations on the coffee table and the daily necessities all seemed a bit messy, as if the person living here was not a beautiful high school student with a refined life, but just an uncle with a decadent life.

"I thought you were flawless, from the beginning—but it turns out you're so incompetent. If anyone saw you like this, the supposedly reliable and steady beauty of Toyonosaki Academy, they'd probably be completely disillusioned."

Ms. Eriri folded her arms in front of her, trying to stand on an equal footing with Shiwa and respond to her previous ridicule - and she did so.

Even Kasumigaoka Utaha has imperfections, and she would definitely not be happy about her shortcomings being mentioned like this.

——However, the black-haired girl just smiled faintly and shook her head, her expression still calm.

"Yeah, if anyone saw me like this it would definitely leave a bad impression on them - but after all, I'm in such a precarious situation right now, so it doesn't really matter whether anyone sees me or not."

She admitted the matter calmly and calmly, without a trace of frankness on her face - this abnormal attitude made Eriri feel a little uneasy.

Judging from her long experience of dealing with Kasumigaoka Utaha, Utaha should have responded with even more sarcastic words when she mocked her.

"...What's with this completely broken attitude now?"

Ying Lili felt a little panic for no reason.

"Since you, Kasumigaoka-senpai, don't treat us as outsiders, I'll get straight to the point and ask the question directly."

Although she noticed the subtle change in Eriri's mood, Hoshimi, who didn't want to dwell on this matter for too long, cleared her throat and looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha with a serious look.

"I guess that since you called me to your home where you live alone so late at night, there must be something very important that you can't handle on your own and you need to discuss it with someone, right?"

"...That's true. I like talking to smart people."

Shiyu's gaze no longer lingered on Eriri, but turned to look at Hoshimi, who had a serious expression.

"Excuse me, is this something related to paranormal phenomena?"

"Ah, although your idea is correct, Hoshimi-kun, why do you think in this way?"

The black-haired girl smiled. Even though her dark circles and messy hair somewhat ruined her beauty, she still maintained her elegant manner.

"...Because generally speaking, you wouldn't ask me for help when you encounter difficulties in your daily life, Senior."

Xingjian expressed his guess confidently, but his eyes shifted slightly to the side when he said the latter part.

"You'll probably think of asking Aki Tomoya for help, but you won't think of me."

He still maintained an objective and rational mindset in this regard - after all, for Shiyu, it didn't require any thought to decide who was more important, a junior schoolmate with no sense of existence or a prince destined to make her career smooth sailing.

"...Will you be angry, Hoshimi-kun?"

Perhaps she guessed what Xingjian, who frowned slightly, was thinking at this moment. Shiyu smiled bitterly and did not deny Xingjian's statement.

Probably because it is indeed true.

"Huh? Why should I be angry?"

"Because at least until now, in my heart, Lunli-kun is more important than you. I don't know you at all, but I have to ask you for help because of my difficulties."

It seems that Kasumigaoka Utaha herself feels a little guilty about asking someone she is not that familiar with to solve her problem - perhaps she is also worried about whether it will make others feel embarrassed.

"What does it matter? Senior isn't someone so important to me that I would get jealous and angry over such a thing."

Xingjian took a sip of the coffee that Shiyu used to treat them - the taste was similar to the coffee he usually got for free from Futaba in the laboratory, which allowed him to tolerate the bitterness of black coffee a little.

Of course, in contrast, Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes became a little surprised - it seemed that she didn't expect Hoshimi to answer like this.

"After all, when neither of us is a very important figure to the other, the psychological burden will be much lighter. I will just treat you as my senior, and you as my junior. This is the easiest way."

He responded with this understated remark, then put down his coffee, his expression serious and focused.

"Rather than that, I'd like to hear your thoughts, Senior—what happened that made you think this was an abnormal phenomenon?"

“…That’s right.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly put down the cup in her hand, and her expression gradually returned to calm and seriousness.

"My manuscript was returned today."

"Oh? I think this is something that the editor should be responsible for—"

"The eighteenth time this month."

"...?"

----

Calculating the number of additional rewards

It will probably be announced tomorrow. Now I will continue to play Werewolf with my friends in the sand sculpture group (funny)

Kasumigaoka Utaha is unlikely to be out of ideas: Chapter 3 Kasumigaoka Utaha's Dilemma (Part 3)

In the study of Kasumigaoka Utaha's house.

The black-haired girl brought the two confused people to where she usually wrote, and then pointed to a messy pile of manuscript papers on the table.

"That was my new work that I had planned to release this month, but when I first took it to the editorial office, it was returned after the manuscript was reviewed."

She walked slowly to the table, turned her back to the two of them and began to tidy up the messy desk slowly and methodically - her back looked particularly haggard and weak.

Perhaps the ease and composure just now were just a disguise of Utaha Kasumigaoka.