This title is too long!:Volume1 Chapter4
Chapter 4 - May 1, I taught her
I'm a High School Boy and a Bestselling Light Novel author, strangled by my female classmate who is my junior and a voice actress.
This is my current predicament.
The 'near-death experience' referred to the swirling lights that could cause movie film to move.
Modern people would use such an expression 'a fatal near-death experience', and some would even shorten it to describe the moment 'when people continued to recall the past before they died'.
I once read it in the books.
People would quickly see their past memories before they died.
It was said to be because the mind was searching for a certain something at full speed.
Seeking for a clue to escape the crisis from their past experiences.
Thus, I vividly recalled the past.
Recalling everything that happened from the first time I met her, till this point.
May had arrived.
The first week was commonly dubbed as 'Golden Week', but this day and the following day were still normal days. I had to attend classes on this day, and to visit the After Record the the following day.
After school, I changed from my uniform into plain clothes, and got on the same Limited Express train as usual.
The passengers on this day were a lot more than the previous week. It's Golden Week, and there are many dressed up for hiking.
Having already anticipated this, I queued earlier than usual, and managed to secure the usual seat right at the back, placing the luggage right beside it.
There was still some time until the train departed. I wondered if Nitadori would wait till the train departed before coming over as per usual, so I continued to wait leisurely, without any worry.
A few days ago, I realized,
Did Nitadori deliberately wait until the last moment to arrive at the platform, and came in from the other carriages?
This station was a little distant from school, but there were still students who would head to school from there. If any particular person was to see Nitadori and me walking side by side with each other at the platform,
"What are these two doing?"
There surely would be such rumors. As both of us would take leaves every Friday, I didn't have belief that I could fool others if I was to be questioned.
And if she really did put in such thought—
I surely would have to thank Nitadori here.
I suppose it was because of my manly plea that she did not choose 'Vice Versa'.
What did she choose then? Surely there wasn't anyone who didn't know what it was. The answer's 'Momotaro'.
She brought a picture book directed for children,
"A long, long time ago, at a certain place—"
And recited from the beginning.
It really was a 'professional prank'.
With much poise and care, she narrated the text. Her voice was ostensibly a textbook example, each word spoken with such clarity there was no way any word could have been mistaken.
The lines themselves were really exciting. Nitadori showcased all her acting talents, not withholding anything at all, using different voices for the old granny, the old grandpa, Momotaro, the dog, monkey, pheasant and the demons.
I was looking forward, so I really couldn't see her, but she probably was acting with her entire body like what professional voice actors will do. I could see my classmates look on, completely flabbergasted.
"Congratulations, congratulations."
Eri Nitadori's solo performance ended after 6 minutes and 34 seconds.
For us, who did not pay a single cent hearing this, we were first stunned momentarily, and then we applauded.
The teacher praised her exuberantly with grandeur words, and simply continued,
"Now then, the next one will be Suzuki, and after that Hisakawa."
That Suzuki who'll be following up after Nitadori really is very pitiful here. As for who that Suzuki, I don't even remember how he looks like now.
After class, the girls were gathered around Nitadori; some boys joined in too.
I decided to get up a little later for a stroll.
Many of my classmates were hailing Nitadori for how amazing she was,
"Have you acted before?"
Someone posed Nitadori this question, and she answered,
"Actually, I did join the drama club in my previous school, and I really put in a lot of effort practicing my recital acting. The teacher was strict, but I did recite the story very well today, so I wonder if he'll praise me."
"Eh?" "Oo" I heard such voices. Now that she mentioned it, I recalled her specifically stating in her self-introduction that she transferred in from the previous year. I had no idea exactly where she was prior to that.
"Aren't you going to join the drama club?"
A certain male classmate asked that.
Anyone would have thought about that—if they didn't know about her job at that moment.
"I decided not to join a club due to various reasons."
Nitadori replied with an answer that could barely be considered one.
While I intended to stop eavesdropping and get up,
"Why aren't you around on Fridays? Is it related to the various reasons you mentioned?"
A certain girl, poor in comprehending the mood, asked without holding back. Hearing her tone, I suppose there was no malice at all.
"No, that's not it."
Nitadori responded curtly,
"Then what it is?"
And that girl pressed on with the question.
"Erm..."
She let out a slightly perturbed voice.
There's another classmate who's definitely never around on Friday here, but it seemed that classmate wasn't being noticed in any way. My presence so small it's shocking, and only in this situation did it help me out here.
But I was still worried if I would end up distracting her. I missed the opportunity to leave while pondering if I should quickly leave my seat.
At this moment, it'll be worse for us if I'm to slip off here. While pondering over what I should be doing at this moment, Nitadori said,
"My dad's currently living alone in Japan, due to busy work, and not because my parents are talking about divorce here, you know?"
That was the first time I heard of such matters.
But even so, I practically knew nothing about her.
"But I can only meet him in Tokyo on Friday, so I have to do so even if I have to take leaves from school. That's how it is."
Of course, all that has to be a lie. Her tone however was so overly natural and fluent, even I was about to blurt out, I see, so that's how it is, and believe her here.
As for the other classmates' reactions.
"Eh?"
"So that's why!"
"I see."
Hearing their reactions, I knew that they bought the story,
The acting skills of a professional voice actor's really amazing.
Feeling relieved, I went out for a stroll.
While strolling, I wondered.
Nitadori lied saying that she would head to Tokyo to spend Fridays with her family, and in fact, she went for her after record. She could have met her father after the after record was done, but that definitely was not the main reason.
Now then, what was that 'my parents are living separately' thing she just mentioned here?
I believed her completely when she said that. What happened on Friday however made me feel that she could be lying for the sake of it.
Nitadori's acting skills differed from any ordinary person. I couldn't determine the validity from her words.
In other words,
I knew nothing about Eri Nitadori other than she's 'the voice actress portraying Meek, and my classmate who's a year younger than me'.
Once I thought that much, my bad habit would kick in.
This bad habit here would refer to the 'delusional' habit, which I'm using as my money tree.
Who exactly was Nitadori?
Her relatives live in Nitadori, and she coincidentally takes the same ride as me because she wants to know about an author, and thought of all the questions to ask me. Was it all a lie?
Perhaps—
Perhaps Nitadori's a professional killer?
She has her sights on me, ready to kill me with a given chance. She plotted behind the scenes and became a voice actress, obtained a role, learned of my true identity, and joined my class?
That was not a coincidence, but something to be expected, right?
The reason why she asked me all these questions is that she wanted to know more about her target before taking action, right?
In that case, isn't it dangerous for me to turn my back on her?
“Wahahaha!”
A single boy suddenly began to laugh at himself, and two girls standing nearby, probably 1st years, immediately scampered helter-skelter.
Sorry to terrify both of you like that.
But that utterly foolish delusion I had was so interesting it made me laugh.
She intends to kill me if there's a chance?
I ate so much of the sea salt potato chips she provided, and even drank some tea.
If she really intended to kill me, I would have been dead 2, 3 times.
It's dangerous for me to turn my back on her?
I spent hours with my back facing her from Monday to Thursday.
The time she spent seeing my back was a lot longer than when I saw her.
The train began to rush.
The carriage became somewhat packed as the passengers were either headed out or home, and it became bustling.
During this situation, Nitadori came from the carriage behind, saying,
“It's been a week, sensei. There's a lot of people today. Thanks for reserving a seat for me.”
With one hand, she held onto the handle of the luggage bag she always used; in the other, she held out the bait meant for me, as usual.
“Here. This is the thanks for today.”
I took in the bag from the convenience store,
“Sorry for always,”
And answered in an old-fashioned manner.
Nitadori placed her bag behind her seat, tidied her hair, and sat down.
“Didn't we say not to mention that?”
And again, she showed me a pretty smiling face on this day.
These snacks were really a relief to me, typically hungry at this time.
Actually, I would eat 2 pieces of toast before heading out every week. But as I'm in my puberty, I would gladly accept any food that appeared in front of him.
After guzzling down a third of the potato chips, I drank some tea.
“What shall I talk about today?”
I then turn to the seat on the right to ask. Even I too was a little surprised that I gave up on initiating the topic so easily.
Nitadori immediately answered,
“I want to know how to write a novel?”
“What do you mean?”
This question's a little too vague, so I asked.
“Well...sensei, didn't you say 'I'll tell you about writing a novel next time'? I want to know how to do that, the specifics of writing a novel. For someone who never wrote a novel like me, I didn't know how to write such a novel.”
“I see...so we're going upstate in such a state?”
I muttered out my true thoughts.
“What?”
Nitadori tilted her head, asking,
“Ah, sorry. Just a simple word pun. Maybe you'll understand looking at the words.”
“...Oh!! You're like an author to be able to come up with such words on the fly.”
“Because I am an author.”
I ended up saying these words again this week.
Nitadori quickly adjusted her glasses with her right hand,
“Now then, please explain how a professional author begins to write.”
“Okay then...”
To be honest, I only entered the profession for 2 years, and the term 'professional author' really was very discomforting to me. But even so, since I'm in this job for a living, that should be a term I should be using for myself, even if I'm a professional.
But even so, I did have a thought about Nitadori 'a professional voice actor's really amazing!'. I guess this applies to both of us.
I decided to tell her how I wrote a novel,
“There's something I have to be clear with you first.”
“What is it?”
“No matter the number of authors, there's at least that number of methods to write. Right now, I'm pretty much just going to talk about 'the method I use'.”
“Understood.”
How does one write a novel?
As I had just mentioned, the method differs accordingly per person—
The one I used was the one I mastered while creating 'Vice Versa'.
Based on the order, that should be the most suitable.
First, I had to come up with the plot.
Plot.
This word in English can mean a conspiracy, a plan, but beyond that, there is the meaning of a structure, a scenario. Of course, when I (and the other authors) use this term, we would be talking about the latter.
I once searched up the definition of the term 'plot' on the internet. Strictly put, the definition seemed very complex.
Leaving that definition aside, I would typically think of it as 'a summary of the story' when coming up with this term.
In 8th grade,
“I see! So I need to think of a story!”
That was what I realized, but nowadays, I would not use the term 'story'.
I didn't know when I started, but I started using the term 'plot' instead.
“A plot, I think, is a framework, a blueprint of a novel.”
“Okay.”
“I don't think there's a definitive correct answer in the amount of plot. The file 'Vice Versa' was called 'a story of one transported to the other world, becoming an immortal', and that can be said to be the simplest summary of the plot. In any case, just understand that as 'the protagonist heads to the other world and becomes an immortal.”
“I see. But the construction of the plot isn't always that simple, right?”
“Of course. There are times where I have to be clearer in explaining the plot, especially when explaining to the editor-in-charge.”
The first step of writing a novel is to propose a plot, and I do think there's 2 ways to go about doing it
One of them is,
“Propose a plot for something that is to be written next time.”
This would be what can be considered a storage, and I can go about writing it a little simpler as it's just something only I need to understand. It's fine to keep it simple even if I only have a few major points. That was the plan for the file called 'Vice Versa'.
Soon after, the contents of the novel gradually existed, and there was no need for me to keep expanding on the ideas I thought of (if there are ideas I can think of, naturally, I'll record them first)
“A story of people living underwater, and venturing the land.”
“A futuristic crime story.”
“Human dolls begin to move and started attacking humans.”
I'll simply record such ideas down once I think about them, even if it's just a simple concept of a single line or sorts, and it's an asset I may be able to use in the future. My computer contains many of such ideas
Another method of composing plots would be,
“The author comes up with ideas to the editor-in-charge, telling him what the author intends to write.”
In this situation, the idea's the blueprint, a proposal to a business partner that conveys 'I want to write this. What do you think?'
The writing would also different accordingly based on the authors. Of course, I understood this well, having asked other authors myself.
Some will basically come up with short ideas comprising of one liners.
In contrast, others will come up with long ideas, as long as a novel itself.
Some will come up with a document that's like a report, clearly and concisely stating various factors like 'what happened? How will the characters act?' (like me)
In contrast, others will start writing the characters' emotions in this plotting phase, and edit their works.
“In that case...the author won't start writing without obtain the editor-in-charge's permission, right?”
Nitadori asked.
This is just my own experience, and also what I heard from the editors of other light novelists. I prefaced with this, and,
“Typically yes. But there are exceptions.”
In my case—
Leaving aside the submitted entry that was completed, what happened afterwards, beyond the second volume of 'Vice Versa' was,
“Typically, I'll begin writing after all the ideas I proposed have been approved. I'll send a message over through email conveying my ideas 'I intend to write the next volume like this. The characters will act like this,new characters will debut, these are the parts to shock the readers, and this is the ending'”
My house was connected to the internet, and I began to make contact with the editor-in-charge through email. I didn't think this answered the questions though, so I didn't mention it.
“The amount of plot I need to write differs per volume...but they aren't very long. A short one's about a dozen lines or so, and even if it is a little longer, it's not more than one pocket book spread page, or 2 pages.”
“That's considered short, right?”
“I really don't know. I think this is the only thing that differs...”
"There's something I'm a little curious about. You just said that you'll 'typically come up with plots. Does this mean that you didn't do that for a certain volume/"
I nodded.
"That was the case for the 7th volume."
Nitadori, whom I'm really grateful to for reading all my published works, immediately thought,
“It's the story of the 'Moving Country', right?”
The 7th volume of 'Vice Versa', the 4th volume of 'Side Shin', describes the story of a large moving ountry.
The stage was set in the most advanced country in Reputation. The country is 3km long, 1km wide, and moves on numerous caterpillars.
This country is equipped with massive mechanical arms, and spinning drills in the front; it can grind and level any land, obtaining all the resources. Once it arrives at a place, even the mountains will be leveled, and all that's left would be a barren land.
Typically, the country would only excavate minerals from areas with few people, and certainly would not cause trouble for other countries. Once a coup d'etat occured however, the country harbored an ambition to rule over Reputation given the scientific power they possessed.
And Sin took action to stop that country's ambition.
Shin's mission was to infiltrate the country, die over and over again, and approach the central area of the country.
“Yeah, this is the only story I wrote without actually thinking of the plot.”
“Erm...why's that? And how did you do it?”
I tried recalling that certain day, answering,
“After having my meal, I just spent the time watching TV, and then I saw a large German excavation machine. That gigantic machine was called a 'Bucket Wheel Excavator', more than 200m long. I know such a thing exists, but it was the first time I actually saw that thing in action. Have you seen one before, Nitadori?”
Nitadori shook her head as her eyes stared at me. The sight of the glasses moving was a little amusing.
“This monster gigantic, long-necked dragon-like machine moves on catarpillars, yet the shape's very complicated. It's like a mesh of factories jammed together.”
Once I said this, I felt it was better for her to see a photo. It really is difficult imagining the appearance just from describing it.
I fish out my smartphone from my pocket, and begin searching for pictures using the search term bucket wheel'.
“This is it.”
I handed the smartphone to Nitadori so that she could see.
Once she took it, she scrolled through the phone a little.
“Hm...”
She probably didn't have much interest in the machine (well, it's normal, since she's a girl), so her reactions' lukewarm as she returns me the phone.
Keeping the phone, I said,
“Once I saw that gigantic machine just grind and level the ground, I had an idea 'the enemy's going to invade in the next volume', and then I began work. Immediately.”
“So, 'immediately', as in?”
“It's as the term implies. The show wasn't finished, but once I saw the part introducing that machine, I immediately shut the TV, and added a new file in the computer called 'a story about a massive country', beginning to write the story out. I didn't think of the structure at all; at first, I started to describe a massive country that's very hostile, where Sin and his ministers were glaring at it, and then Shin came...after that, as for what happened later, I just typed out what I thought. I didn't think of the structure even at the very end, just writing and thinking 'the story will develop this way, and then that way'. I didn't care about how much I wrote, I just wrote.”
“...”
Nitadori frowned a little, remaining silent.
Is she terrified by this unreasonable, illogical method of writing. I wondered worriedly.
“You managed to write a novel so suddenly...what do you have to do to do such a thing...?”
Contrary to my expectations, she's very impressed.
But even so, I could only answer,
“Well...I just had an inspiration.”
I did pause to think of the plot midway through, but I kept writing for another 2 weeks and 3 days, before I finally finished it.
