The moment he stepped onto campus, a strange sensation stirred in Asai Yu's mind.
"Huu— haa— ugh…"
"Huh? This place is… Tsukinomori Girls' Academy?"
Togawa Sakiko's voice sounded groggy, clearly not fully awake yet.
"You're awake? Then class is starting."
Asai Yu walked into the classroom, found his seat, and sat down.
"Class…?"
Togawa Sakiko immediately felt a headache coming on. Compared to school, she'd much rather be doing things she actually liked—composing, making money, forming bands, that sort of thing.
Sitting at his desk, Asai Yu kept feeling someone's gaze on him. He turned his head and found Wakaba Mutsumi looking his way.
Their eyes met. Wakaba Mutsumi quickly looked away, lowering her head to the book on her desk.
Watching whenever she gets the chance—so this is Wakaba Mutsumi, huh?
Asai Yu withdrew his gaze. Before long, class officially began, and under his supervision and reminders, Togawa Sakiko finally settled into study mode.
After several periods, noon arrived.
Asai Yu took out his bento, planning to find a quiet spot to deal with lunch.
Just then, Wakaba Mutsumi walked over at a quick pace and suggested,
"Shou, let's eat lunch together."
"Sure."
Asai Yu nodded.
The two of them found a bench outside on campus, sat down, opened their bentos, and ate in silence.
Then Wakaba Mutsumi suddenly spoke.
"Shou… I went to your place a few days ago, but I couldn't find you. Your uncle said you'd moved…"
"I did move. Not far, though. I'm living alone now. Want to come see it sometime?" Asai Yu asked.
"Is that okay?"
There was a hint of nervousness in Wakaba Mutsumi's voice, but more than that, clear happiness.
"Of course."
Asai Yu nodded, then took out his phone.
"If anything comes up, contact me by phone first. My dad's been a bit… unstable mentally lately, so be careful."
"Okay."
Wakaba Mutsumi's voice grew noticeably brighter, though the latter part left her feeling worried.
When she'd gone to the apartment that day, the uncle really had seemed off—something about him felt wrong, unsettling enough to scare her a little.
"All right, hurry up and eat. The food's going to get cold."
Togawa Sakiko's voice suddenly rang out in his head, urging him on with mild annoyance.
"It wasn't hot to begin with, was it…"
Asai Yu felt a bit speechless. Was she trying to stop him from talking to Wakaba Mutsumi?
…Surely Togawa Sakiko wasn't that heartless.
Thinking back to a similar situation last time, Asai Yu strongly suspected she was jealous.
Getting jealous over her own second personality—truly a god-tier pick. No one else compares.
After lunch, on the way back to the classroom, Asai Yu couldn't help overhearing some girls talking.
"Did you hear? Morikawa's band got a dedicated original song, and it's really good."
"Huh? Did they write it themselves?"
"Nope. Apparently they bought it from RiNG. You just submit the lyrics to the staff, and in less than two weeks you get a full song plus the rights."
"The quality's super high, and it's way cheaper than going through a music company. One song's only 100,000 yen!"
"Seriously?! I just formed a new band recently—we have to check out RiNG!"
…
Along the way, nearly a third of the small groups of girls he passed were talking about this exact topic.
Asai Yu knew the name Oblivionis was about to blow up at Tsukinomori.
That said, 100,000 yen per song still felt cheap to him.
It seemed he'd underestimated the spending power of these elite girls—especially the ones obsessed with band activities.
As for Togawa Sakiko, she was already more than satisfied with this level of buzz. Being praised by the students even made her feel a little lightheaded.
"As expected of me."
Asai Yu ignored her, instead thinking about how to discuss a price increase with Matsugi Ririko.
Wakaba Mutsumi, walking beside him, had also heard the girls' conversation and noticed the subtle change in the blue-haired girl's expression.
For some reason, her intuition told her that Shou had a lot to do with this whole thing.
After school, at 3 p.m., Asai Yu arrived at RiNG. He greeted Matsugi Ririko first, then headed up to the second-floor café.
What came into view was a piano placed neatly in just the right spot—it must have been moved in yesterday.
Then he met eyes with Shiina Taki.
Asai Yu ignored her and headed straight for the piano corner.
But Shiina Taki suddenly called out to her, head lowered slightly as she spoke in a quiet voice.
"Um… Sakiko. Thanks for that day. Ririko-san told me everything…"
Asai Yu paused, then remembered—she meant the day he'd spoken up for her.
"It was nothing. Just be more careful at work. Don't clash with customers."
He replied calmly.
"I know…"
Shiina Taki said awkwardly.
She feels different again somehow.
Under the gaze of Taki and several customers, Asai Yu sat down in front of the piano.
So the pianist Ririko-san mentioned was Togawa Sakiko?!
Shiina Taki's eyes widened in surprise.
The next moment, Asai Yu's fingers pressed down on the keys, and a gentle, soothing piano melody flowed through the café.
Listening to the music, Shiina Taki unconsciously slowed the pace of wiping cups. The other customers did the same, turning curious eyes toward the piano corner.
Most people who came to RiNG knew at least a little about music, so they could all sense the weight of the technique behind the performance. Even those who didn't understand still found it beautiful.
A genius, huh…
Shiina Taki bit her lip and scrubbed the counter harder.
At that moment, Matsugi Ririko also heard the pleasant piano sound and came up to the second floor. Seeing Togawa Sakiko playing so intently, she couldn't help but feel relieved.
Partnering with her back then really had been an excellent decision.
Since most people who passed through RiNG were band members, good piano music easily drew them in. Many stopped by the second-floor café to sit for a while.
Before long, the place was full.
Among them were familiar faces—like Takamatsu Tomori.
She stared blankly at the blue-haired girl at the piano, memories of CRYCHIC surfacing unbidden in her mind.
Asai Yu, meanwhile, was completely immersed in the piano. For him, performing was also practice.
Then Togawa Sakiko suddenly said,
"Yu… you're secretly learning my composition skills, aren't you?"
"How is that 'secretly'?"
Asai Yu replied smoothly.
"I call that learning fair and square. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Togawa Sakiko fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"Then… teach me piano."