At 5:30 in the afternoon, Hikigaya, who had already changed his clothes, entered the Tokyo Arts Theater with Naho Imamura.
The interior of the theater is decorated with a very artistic atmosphere, and the lighting in the main venue is the common warm color. The participants have begun to enter the venue one after another, and some staff on the stage are doing the final debugging to ensure that there are no problems.
" Editor Imamura , have you often come to this kind of occasion before? "
Hikigaya asked curiously.
" Often? Not really. I've only been here two or three times. For our publishing house, we get quite a lot of seats every year, but everyone knows it will be boring, so we're not interested. "
Naho Imamura explained that she could come every year, but there was no need.
" I see. So I will still meet many colleagues from other publishing houses on site, is that right? "
Hikigaya needs to confirm this matter.
" Yes, Mr. Hachiman . Although I haven't met him yet, I will definitely meet him. Let's separate for now. After all, your seat is not next to mine. "
Hikigaya's seat is an exclusive area for writers, and only invited writers can sit there.
" Okay, Editor Imamura , see you when the show is over. "
" Well, goodbye, Mr. Hachiman. "
After the two separated, Hikigaya didn't want to sit down right away, so he went to the entrance hall and found a sofa to sit down first, planning to wait until the broadcast started before entering the main venue.
Then, he heard a sound that made his heart and lungs stop. He was very familiar with this sound, but it shouldn't have appeared in this situation.
" Hello, Hikigaya-kun, I didn't expect to meet you here. "
This was of course the voice of Yukinoshita Haruno. She still had the same neat shoulder-length hair and the same gradient blue long skirt. Everything was the same as when she first met Hikigaya .
" Hello, senior. "
Hikigaya's brain suddenly began to play the classic song from "Interstellar", followed by a bunch of mathematical formulas, images of mountains, rivers, stars and the Milky Way that began to flash before his eyes like a kaleidoscope.
" Is this the place where you and your family are traveling together? Why is you alone here? Didn't you always say that you have a very cute sister? I want to meet her today. "
Haruno said happily, sitting next to Hikigaya and looking at him quietly.
At this moment , Hikigaya felt that his head looked a bit like a classic emoticon of the black brothers.
" What's wrong, Hikigaya-kun? You're sweating a lot. This hall is air-conditioned. "
Haruno took out a tissue and gently wiped away the tiny beads of sweat on Hachiman's forehead.
" I'm sorry, Yukinoshita-senpai. "
Hikigaya decided to confess, but there was no time left for him to make up a new lie.
" Uh-huh, why? "
Haruno was not at all surprised by the other party's sudden apology. Instead, she continued to ask with a smile, with a hint of sweetness in her smile.
" Because ... because ..."
Hikigaya stuttered a little, he didn't know whether he should say the next words.
" It's okay, Hikigaya-kun. I'll forgive you no matter what you say. "
Haruno continued to coerce the other party.
" Because I'm actually hanging out with my girlfriend today. Her name is Naho Imamura, and she's thirteen years older than me. Senior, you should have seen us in Ginza this morning. I was buying her a gift at the time. "
....
" Hikigaya-kun, you're here. Come and sit down. We've all been waiting for you. "
Seeing Hikigaya walking towards the writers' zone, Arisugawa immediately waved and called out.
" Hello, Mr. Arisugawa , I'm really sorry to bother you recently. Regardless of whether I win the prize in the end, I am very grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. "
Hikigaya walked towards Arisugawa and bowed to him. He knew that during the review period of the Mystery Writers Association Award, Arisugawa, an important member of the association, had spoken for him. Arisugawa had told him before that the award was a sure thing, and it was precisely because he was a senior member of the Mystery Writers Association that with the excellent quality of "Confessions" and his relationship, it would be difficult for him not to win the award.
" Haha, there's no need for that. If it weren't for your good writing, Hikigaya-kun, no one would pay attention to me no matter how much I lobby. "
Arisugawa said happily, he knew in his heart that it was a sure thing that Hikigaya would win the award, and no one could steal the award.
" Well, Hikigaya-kun, I'm going to sit on the stage now. See you at the awards ceremony. "
Arisugawa finished speaking, waved his hand, and walked towards the podium. They reasoned that the main members of the Writers Association would be seated on the stage to facilitate the host's introduction, and they would also serve as award presenters.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Arisugawa, Hikigaya sat back in his seat, but he would stand up from time to time to greet the writers who recognized him.
At 7pm, the award ceremony finally began. The first award was the highest Japanese mystery award : the Edogawa Ranpo Award. Since Hikigaya chose to submit his debut work to a magazine, he lost his chance to win this award.
There are many steps before the award ceremony. The host reads the opening words and introduces the main members of the Mystery Writers Association one by one. Then the current president of the Mystery Writers Association, Soji Shimada, gives a speech, and then the formal award ceremony begins.
Edogawa Ranpo Award is a well-known newcomer award, this year's winner is obviously over 40 years old. It can be seen that he changed his career to novel writing and finally got what he wanted.
The prize awarded to the author is a small statue of Edogawa Ranpo, which is exquisitely crafted, and there is also a prize of 10 million yen, which will naturally be directly deposited onto the card and will not be presented to the audience.
After that, the award-winning speech session was held, with the judges' representative, the publisher's representative, and the award-winning author giving speeches one after another. When the Edogawa Ranpo Award session was completely over, more than an hour had passed. The host announced a break and returned to present the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award.
Hikigaya came to the hall outside , stretched, and saw a familiar figure walking towards him quickly.
" Hikigaya Hachiman , I must resort to the strongest possible words to express my strong opposition to your despicable behavior of deceiving an underage high school student like me in such a humiliating way, causing me to completely lose my composure and almost go to the bathroom to call my sister to cry!! "
Haruno gnashed her teeth in shame and anger , and uttered a series of long and difficult sentences that Hikigaya could barely understand.
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