Sumita Mana felt a bit regretful.
But it was fine. There would be plenty of chances later. Next time, she definitely wouldn't mess it up like that again.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Asai Yu spent two and a half hours on the shinkansen. By the time he got home, it was already past midnight.
After resting for half a day, he woke up and saw that it was already 4:00 p.m.
These past few days, Sumita Mana had idol work scheduled every night, so he didn't need to free up his evenings for her.
As for Togawa Sakiko, her piano skills had already hit a bottleneck. The song licensing fees and pianist wages could be harvested regularly now, so there was no need to visit her often.
That meant it was better to go farm some bonuses on Anon's side—and at the same time, see how the girl was holding up after surviving a full day of British school life on her own.
As darkness swallowed his vision, Asai Yu entered Anon's body.
At this moment, it was 8:00 a.m. in London. Chihaya Anon had just woken up, still groggy as she got dressed. The very next second, she realized that someone else had taken control of her body.
"Yu?" she asked softly, testing the waters.
Asai Yu nodded. "Yeah, it's me."
As he spoke, he looked down at himself—one glance was enough to see pink toes. Other than underwear, there was nothing but a whole lot of pale, bare skin.
A few seconds later, an embarrassed scream exploded in his head. "Y-You—don't look! Close your eyes! Don't look, don't look!"
Chihaya Anon sounded panicked, yet her heart was racing wildly, with even a faint trace of anticipation mixed in.
"What's there to look at on a flat board?" Asai Yu said bluntly.
As he spoke, he glanced once more, then calmly withdrew his gaze and started putting on the school uniform.
Hearing that, Chihaya Anon froze for a few seconds. Then anger rushed straight to her head. Gritting her teeth, she snapped, "It's not small, okay?! And I'm still young! I'll definitely grow more in the future!"
The moment she said it, she regretted it.
She was supposed to be a refined lady—why was she saying something like that to a guy? She was being way too bold!
Her image was completely shattered now, and on top of that, her body had been seen too…
Overwhelmed by embarrassment and shame, Chihaya Anon shut her mouth and fell completely silent.
Seeing that a single sentence had mentally KO'd her, Asai Yu found it rather amusing.
Lies don't hurt people. The truth is the sharp blade.
He picked up the guitar, just about to start practicing.
At that moment, a phone call came in.
Asai Yu answered it and realized it was a call from Anon's junior high school teacher.
"Moshi moshi, Chihaya-san. You passed yesterday's surprise test. Your results were excellent. The detailed breakdown has already been sent to your email. Please check it when you can."
"Understood, I've received it. Thank you," Asai Yu replied.
The call ended shortly after.
"That's great!"
Hearing the good news, Chihaya Anon instantly forgot everything that had just happened. "Hurry up and check the results!"
Asai Yu didn't hesitate. He opened the tablet and looked through the teacher's graded test.
Hmm. Not bad.
For subjects like science and math, where answers were essentially fixed and unambiguous, everything was correct.
But Japanese language—where answers leaned more on personal interpretation and didn't have strict standards—was another story.
In the end, only one point was deducted, from the essay.
Seeing this, Chihaya Anon's breathing quickened slightly. Was this the power of a true top student?
Even someone as outstanding as her felt that an enormous gap stretched between the two of them.
As expected!
"Yu-Yu, you're my savior!" she shouted excitedly.
"What is that? Yu-Yu?" Asai Yu frowned in confusion.
"Yeah! You said your name is Yu, right? But that's your given name—calling you just 'Yu' feels a bit distant. We're so close already, so calling you Yu-Yu isn't weird at all, right?"
Chihaya Anon launched into a rapid explanation.
"When exactly did we ever become close?" Asai Yu replied, still scrolling through the tablet.
Suddenly, he noticed an unexpected bonus.
A message from the junior high school explained that her future academic workload would be reduced to some extent. And because of her excellent test results, she would also be awarded a scholarship of 200,000 yen.
That was basically the scholarship for the entire year, wasn't it?
Asai Yu was surprised at first, but after considering the circumstances of studying abroad in London, he understood. The school was probably trying to earn itself some prestige.
At that moment, a blue screen appeared before his eyes.
[Mission completed: Assist Chihaya Anon in passing this test]
[Mission reward distributed: 5x EXP Card (30/30)]
Late, but it arrived.
Once the reward was in hand, it was time to use it.
[5x EXP Card consumed 1 durability (29/30). Guitar EXP gain today increased to 5x]
Asai Yu picked up the guitar beside him.
Only then did Anon finally react, complaining in dissatisfaction, "You're already inside my body—aren't we close enough?"
Was this pink-haired girl trying a bit too hard to please him?
Asai Yu practiced the guitar while probing, "Go on. What is it you want?"
She was found out?
Chihaya Anon tilted her head back, stunned. After a few seconds of silence, she stammered, "Um, it's just… yesterday…"
She then poured out everything that had happened at school the day before, all in one breath.
Her face felt unbearably hot as she spoke. "Yu-Yu, we agreed back then—you said you'd help me…"
"Could you stop calling me that?" Asai Yu felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately continued, "And yes, I'll help you. Because that's something I promised."
Hearing that, Chihaya Anon instantly perked up. She realized she might already be unable to live without Yu. "I knew it! Yu-Yu, you're the best!"
"That's right. So now," Asai Yu abruptly changed gears, slamming a thick Oxford dictionary onto the desk, "you're going to memorize as much of this as possible within one month. At least 30,000 words."
"I'll tutor you and supervise you."
"Huh?!"
Chihaya Anon yelped in shock. "Thirty thousand words in one month?! Seriously? Didn't you say—"
Before she could finish, Asai Yu cut her off. "Yes. This is helping you—helping you adapt to life studying in the UK. Or do you want to continue studying abroad for three years like you did yesterday?"
One of his goals in doing this was also to alter her life trajectory and earn Fate Track points.
Chihaya Anon stood there in a daze for a long time. She wanted to argue back—but had no grounds at all. What he said made far too much sense.
"Um…"
"This…"
"Uh…"
After hesitating for a long while, she finally clenched her teeth in her heart.
Thirty thousand words in one month—so what? You can do it, Anon. You can do it. Chihaya Anon never gives up easily. You have to work hard!
"No problem. I'm ready, Yu."
Chihaya Anon's voice suddenly became much more resolute.