Hearing that, Chihaya Anon immediately felt flustered. "Um… didn't you say twelve hours every day?"
"Twelve hours, according to my side," Asai Yu replied.
"Oh—right, the time difference between Japan and the UK…" Only then did Anon react.
Just what on earth was going on inside that pink-haired head all day long?
Asai Yu didn't even know how to complain anymore. Perfect timing, really — maybe today's classes could knock her down a peg and make her rein in those wandering thoughts a bit.
They arrived at the classroom. Only a few minutes after Asai Yu sat down, the first math class began.
Once the clock hit ten, Asai Yu left this body.
Sitting in the same seat now was Chihaya Anon herself.
"Yu… are you there?"
She whispered softly in her mind. When no one answered, she pressed her lips together, worry creeping in.
Her gaze shifted to the teacher and the blackboard.
Honestly, she could understand some of the mathematical symbols on the board. If she really focused, she was confident she could grasp the content.
The real problem was: what exactly was this teacher saying in English?
Anon felt like her brain was about to explode. She couldn't understand a single sentence.
Thankfully, this class didn't have any Q&A segments. But the next English class was a different story — because the teacher was the same English teacher from yesterday.
Anon looked up and met the teacher's gaze. Seeing a hint of appreciation in the teacher's eyes, she guiltily lowered her head.
This is bad. I'm definitely on her radar now.
At that moment, Chihaya Anon swore it was the time she most wanted to become invisible.
No, no — this won't do. Absolutely not. She had to work hard!
After psyching herself up, Anon lifted her head again, stared at the blackboard, and listened intently to the lecture.
But her English really wasn't good. Even though the teacher deliberately slowed her pace, Anon could only catch a few words.
Then, suddenly, the English teacher looked straight at her.
"Anon, could you answer this question, please?"
Since her name hadn't been mispronounced, Anon stood up immediately — and she did understand what the teacher meant.
But… what exactly was the question?
She hadn't even realized the teacher had asked one.
The teacher's gaze from the podium, along with the curious glances occasionally cast her way by several classmates, made sweat bead down her back.
"Um… uh…"
Her eyes darted around, flicking to her notes now and then, but she couldn't force out a single answer.
Seeing this, the English teacher was utterly puzzled. Was this timid, shrinking student really the same Anon who'd been confident and poised yesterday?
Then she noticed the dark circles under the pink-haired girl's eyes.
Maybe she didn't rest well…
After waiting a full minute and getting no answer, the teacher sighed helplessly, asked Anon to sit down, and called on another student.
Sitting back in her seat, Anon felt no sense of relief at all. Instead, a heavy weight settled over her entire body.
The strange looks from the teacher and her classmates made a terrifying thought surface — an urge to immediately flee London and run back to Tokyo.
That frightened her.
How could she even think something like that?
At this moment, Chihaya Anon's mind was filled entirely with Yu, silently praying over and over: please come back soon…
—
At the same time, on the other side of the world, Asai Yu finally stepped off the Shinkansen.
While in auto-control mode, the system had already handled two hours of travel for him, so another half hour of sitting didn't feel tiring at all.
As he walked into Tokyo Station, a system notification suddenly sounded.
[Ding. Host detected to have arrived in Tokyo. Distance to the experience target, Toyokawa Sakiko, is too close.]
[Warning: If the host encounters the experience target, the experience target will become invalid.]
Huh? A new restriction?
Or maybe it had always existed — just never mentioned.
So that meant he couldn't run into Toyokawa Sakiko. If they met, he'd lose the ability to experience Sakiko's life — and all those sweet bonuses along with it.
Did that mean he had to deliberately avoid Da-Saki-sensei?
Whatever. He hadn't planned on looking for her anyway.
Asai Yu pushed the matter aside and followed the address provided by Sumita Mana to find her apartment.
Arriving ten minutes early, he rang the doorbell.
A few seconds later, the door opened. What greeted him was a girl in a light sleepwear set, towel in hand, wiping her still-damp long hair.
She must have just finished showering. The brown-haired girl's cheeks were faintly flushed, and a gentle scent — a mix of milky sweetness and body warmth — drifted toward him.
"Asai-kun, long time no see. Come in quickly," Sumita Mana said with a cute smile.
"Sorry to intrude, Sumita-san," Asai Yu replied politely, nodding as he stepped inside and followed her into the living room.
To be honest, her place in Osaka had already shocked him. He hadn't expected her Tokyo apartment to be even more outrageous.
It was bigger and more luxurious than Nagasaki Soyo's apartment as depicted in the anime.
Once again, a question surfaced in Asai Yu's mind: do idols really make that much money?
No — it was probably just that Miss Donut was absurdly powerful.
"Um, I'm really sorry — I just finished showering. My hair's still wet and I haven't changed properly yet. Could you wait a bit?" Sumita Mana asked apologetically.
"Sure, no problem," Asai Yu replied.
"The piano's over there. Asai-kun, you can take a look first," she added, pointing toward the piano inside a glass room, before heading back to her bedroom.
Asai Yu walked over to the piano and tried it out. It hadn't even been tuned yet — was it newly bought?
Judging by it, that seemed likely. And it definitely wasn't cheap — at least two million yen.
Looks like Sumita Mana really was serious about learning piano.
Then Asai Yu noticed several trophies displayed on a nearby cabinet. Five of them stood out in particular — all from the same brand or style.
He stepped closer and saw they were national singing competition champion trophies. All five of them.
Having dabbled in music himself, Asai Yu understood exactly how prestigious those championships were. The competition was fierce; the value was extremely high.
Honestly, based on the way Sumita Mana sang in those sumimi songs, she didn't deserve all five trophies at that level. She must have deliberately toned down her skills to match Minami Hatsune.
At that moment, Sumita Mana came down from the second-floor bedroom, now dressed in a cute black-and-white outfit.
Seeing the boy studying the trophies with a serious expression, she walked over quickly. A hint of pride flashed in her eyes — though she hid it well.
"Asai-kun, what are you looking at?"
"I was looking at the awards you've won," Asai Yu replied. "Are you aiming for another national championship this year?"