Chapter 58: A strange script.
Nozaki Umetarou was seriously considering the script. When designing characters, he often needed a prototype as a reference.
Previously, when designing scripts for the drama club, Hori Masayuki demanded a typical "prince" character design. He even caused a funny incident after meeting Kashima Yuu, the real-life inspiration for the prince.
Because of this prototype, the prince characters written by Nozaki Umetarou were full of frivolity, casualness, and absurdity—which is also the reason why Hori Masayuki never mentioned the prototype to Nozaki Umetarou in the past.
Now, Morofushi Sora'aki on stage gave Nozaki Umetarou a strong inspiration. In addition, Morofushi Sora'aki's requirement was a script suitable for high school students, similar to that of the drama club. And since Nozaki Umetarou is essentially a romance comic artist, the script he wrote naturally had a large proportion of romance plots and did not involve aspects that Nozaki Umetarou himself did not understand.
Looking at the script titled "Cold-Faced Swordsman and the Cross-Dressing School Prince" Morofushi Sora'aki fell into a subtle silence.
It's not that the plot is bad; in fact, if this script were adapted into a comic, it would probably be quite popular.
With a classic female protagonist trope of cross-dressing, and a male protagonist who hides in school and appears to be an ordinary person, but is actually an assassin, this kind of romantic comedy script where both sides are concealing their true identities is hard to resist. Not to mention, the nonsensical humor reminiscent of Nozaki's style also provides a great balance to the performance.
only--
"I'm the main character, right?" Morofushi Sora'aki said.
"Yes, because it was tailor-made for you." Nozaki Umetarou had been Morofushi Sora'aki's deskmate for two years. Even though Morofushi Sora'aki had been out of school for so long, Nozaki Umetarou had observed everything he needed to during that time, which resulted in the male protagonist in this script being full of Morofushi Sora'aki's flavor.
"But I'm not the one acting in this script." Morofushi Sora'aki said.
"I see…" Nozaki Umetarou thought for a moment, "But scripts are meant to be acted out, right? It doesn't seem to matter what kind of image you portray?"
No, it's very relevant.
The main problem is that he has two annoying friends who, if they see the script, will definitely drag him onto the stage. And this matter itself won't cross Morofushi Sora'aki's bottom line—in other words, whether he acts or not is irrelevant to him; his initial refusal was simply because he found it troublesome, so he's very likely to be dragged onto the stage.
In response, Morofushi Sora'aki believed that his two mischievous friends were trying to persecute his innate talent.
"My inspiration came from your performance with Kashima on stage. That strange sense of confrontation was very attractive to me, plus Kashima's own character…" Nozaki Umetarou was still very considerate of other people's preferences. He thought about it carefully and said, "It's difficult for me to get rid of the image of a yakuza hitman for the time being, so do you have any opinions?"
Just as it's hard to change the prince's impression after meeting Kashima, after that performance, if Nozaki isn't brainwashed to forget that memory, whatever he writes next will probably be inseparable from the image of Morofushi Sora'aki himself.
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment: "Do you remember the person we met last time?"
"Which one?"
"Matsuda."
Nozaki Umetarou suddenly remembered: "Oh! That curly-haired policeman who made Mikoshiba cry twice?"
"Hmm." said Morofushi Sora'aki, "Is it alright to use him as the prototype for the script?"
"…It's not impossible. Let me go back and think about it," Nozaki Umetarou said.
•••••
Good Friends World.
"So... this is your script?" Matsuda Jinpei read the large title on the handwritten script expressionlessly: "The Cold-Hearted Undercover Gangster Teacher and the Crybaby High School Girl".
"I'm curious how such troublesome elements managed to get into a title."
"What are your thoughts on this, Morofushi Sora'aki-kun?"
Hagiwara Kenji didn't comment on the script by name directly, but actually opened it and started reading: "Hmm...it's actually quite interesting."
"A traitor has emerged in the underworld. Before he died, the traitor said that he hid a secret in a school. Because that secret must never be known to anyone, the underworld cannot conduct a large-scale search. Instead, they can only send the protagonist to become a teacher and infiltrate the school to find and destroy the secret."
"As it turns out, on his first day as a teacher, the male protagonist scared the female protagonist to tears. It turns out they hadn't met for the first time. The first time they met, Jinpei-chan was lying in a garbage dump, and the kind-hearted female protagonist picked him up and took him home. Then the female protagonist..."
As Matsuda Jinpei listened, he realized something was wrong: "Wait? What do you mean I fell into the garbage dump?"
Hagiwara Kenji innocently turned the script over for Matsuda Jinpei to see: "Look, the male protagonist's image: curly hair, a villainous face, tsundere, easily angered, but—"
Matsuda Jinpei looked at the draft above—although the character design draft looked more mature and included sunglasses—and said in a very calm tone, "That's me, isn't it? Morofushi Sora'aki."
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded without hesitation: "It's you."
"You still dare to admit it—!" Matsuda Jinpei instantly lost his temper, and Morofushi Sora'aki couldn't help but dodge. As a result, in the midst of their fight, Matsuda Jinpei picked up Morofushi Sora'aki's schoolbag, which was lying to the side, and smashed it into Hagiwara Kenji's face!
The notebooks and stationery inside all fell out, and Hagiwara Kenji suffered an unexpected disaster. Just as he was about to complain, he saw another handwritten script with a title that had fallen out along with the notebooks.
"...The Cold-Faced Swordsman and the Cross-Dressing School Prince?"
Morofushi Sora'aki suddenly stopped moving, and Matsuda Jinpei noticed this and immediately turned around: "Hagi, quickly look inside!"
Matsuda Jinpei stopped Morofushi Sora'aki from taking back the script. In the meantime, Hagiwara Kenji had already skimmed through the script and suddenly burst out laughing: "Haha, so this script is for you, Sora'aki-chan!"
"A swordsman assassin, that kind of thing seems quite suitable for you!"
Matsuda Jinpei, not wanting to miss out on trouble, also snatched the script he had no interest in and started reading it. Knowing that it was too late, Morofushi Sora'aki simply stopped resisting and emptyed his mind.
Therefore, Matsuda Jinpei and Morofushi Sora'aki could stop laughing at each other.
Kenji Hagiwara cupped his face and said, "Ah, I'm so lonely. There's absolutely no screen time for poor Kenji-chan~"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
"If you want it..."
Kenji Hagiwara decisively said, "Let's forget about it!"
Ultimately, both scripts were submitted to the class, and a lively discussion ensued.
"Both scripts seem very interesting!"
"But I can tell who the main character is at a glance, haha! Could it be that you wrote it, Hagiwara—?"
"That sounds reasonable... This is the one you used to get revenge on those two, right, Hagiwara!"
"...Hey, what kind of image do you guys have of me?!" Hagiwara Kenji complained.
"However, this school setting doesn't seem very suitable as a script... How about changing the setting to the Middle Ages?"
"But were there schools in the Middle Ages?"
"Then let's skip the school—wouldn't that give the female protagonist a reason to disguise herself as a man? For example, to inherit a title or something?"
"Hmm? Do you like the script where the woman is disguised as a man? I prefer the latter one; the female protagonist seems so cute..."
"However, in what context are the undercover agents and assassins portrayed?"
"Both the male and female protagonists have special identities, which they then conceal from each other—"
Ultimately, amidst the chaotic discussion in the class, the final script was set in the Western medieval period.
So the number of male protagonist became three.
One is a big shot with a background in the black market, one is an assassin skilled in swordsmanship, and one is a two-faced undercover agent.
The female protagonist is a prince disguised as a man, and she also has a princess sister who loves to cry.
This hilarious romantic comedy, sparked by these characters, ends with the princess wiping out the male protagonist's entire faction and becoming the queen of the country—wait, what happened to the school romance?
Looking at the unrecognizable script, Morofushi Sora'aki felt a slight pang of guilt towards Nozaki Umetarou.
After all, Nozaki Umetarou is a staunch supporter of pure love stories with a 1v1 dynamic between the male and female protagonists... what was it again?