Crap—she'd been exposed.
Togawa Sakiko let out a deep sigh inside her chest.
On the other side, Asai Yu had already started flipping through the documents.
Inside was the Ave Mujica project proposal—painstakingly detailed, to the point that even he felt a flicker of suspicion. It was polished enough to make him wonder whether Sakiko had been secretly refining this thing nonstop the entire time.
Honestly, he couldn't think of a single reason why Dai-Saki-sensei would be fixated on forming a band. At the very least, money was the one thing she absolutely did not lack right now.
"So," Asai Yu asked casually, "are you planning to take this band down a commercial route, or is it just something casual, like most bands?"
Sakiko hesitated for a moment before answering, uncertainty slipping through her voice.
"…A commercial route?"
"Why?" Asai Yu pressed. "Are you short on money right now?"
"I'm not…"
"Then toss this aside and focus on selling compositions and practicing piano."
The moment she heard that, Sakiko snapped back without hesitation.
"No. I can keep selling songs and practicing piano—but the band still has to happen."
Hm?
Asai Yu felt a sharp, irritating prickle in his head. "Why? If it's just for fun, something to kill time, that's one thing."
"But forming a commercial band isn't necessary at all. And like I just said, we're not lacking money. There's no need whatsoever."
Sakiko didn't actually have a solid argument to refute him. Rationally speaking, she was on the losing side.
And yet—
Her mind flashed back to that day at the Tsukinomori Music Festival, when she'd gone with Mutsumi and watched the upperclassmen band Morfonica perform.
Then the image of herself announcing the launch of Crychic overlapped with it.
A fierce, almost irrational obsession with bands surged up inside her chest.
"I don't know," she said. "I don't even know the reason myself. I just… want to form a band."
She emphasized it, her tone firm and unyielding.
"And not just any band. One that can stand on the highest stage."
"If I really have to give a reason…"
"…It's probably something like a dream."
Hearing that, Asai Yu honestly wanted to knock her on the head a couple of times just to check whether she was still fully conscious.
Unfortunately, doing that right now would basically mean punching himself, which wasn't ideal.
He tried to reason with her instead.
"If you commit to building a band like that and putting everything into it, you won't have the time to properly hone your composition skills or further your piano training."
"Strictly speaking, even composition and piano practice alone are hard to optimize at the same time. You have to prioritize."
"You can't have both the fish and the bear's paw. You have to choose one."
"Now tell me your answer."
His tone left no room for argument.
After all, she didn't have a system like his.
That reminder made Sakiko realize the weight of the problem. She froze, hesitation overtaking her.
"I… I…"
About a full minute passed before she finally spoke again.
"If I really have to choose one… then I think I'll try the band first."
Asai Yu wasn't surprised by that answer. Instead, he calmly stated his own stance.
"If it were me, I'd choose to be a pianist or a composer."
Sakiko clenched her teeth, then forced herself to speak up, mustering her courage.
"What do you mean by that? Ever since you appeared a month ago, you've never once listened to my opinion."
"You decide everything on your own, even though I'm the one living the other half of this life…"
"Are you saying I don't even get to decide this? It's just forming a band! Tons of people are doing that right now!"
After a brief pause, she pushed down the frustration and resentment welling up inside her, her voice turning confident instead.
"I'm confident I can lead Ave Mujica to the Budokan—maybe even the Dome—and make it one of the top bands in Japan."
"That's not exactly inferior to being a famous composer or pianist, is it?"
Asai Yu could only feel helpless.
Looking at Ave Mujica's lineup—including Sakiko herself—not a single one of them was normal. The band was practically guaranteed to implode. Even if it didn't outright explode, it would still be a group held together only on the surface.
He understood that better than anyone.
But there was no way he could just tell her, "You'll fail. Ave Mujica will disband in the future."
If he said that, he'd lose all moral ground.
After thinking it over for a long time, Asai Yu finally gave his answer.
"Fine. I'm not an unreasonable person. If you really want to form a band, go ahead."
"But when I'm the one in control of the body, everything goes by my rules."
Sakiko, who had been preparing to continue arguing, froze when she heard that.
…That was it? He agreed?
Since when had Yu become this easy to talk to?
Something felt off. There had to be a catch.
She thought it over carefully, but couldn't pinpoint anything wrong. Logically, she really did have the upper hand.
Maybe… she'd actually convinced him?
Yeah. That was very possible.
From a certain perspective, maybe Yu was finally starting to take her seriously.
With that thought, Sakiko's mood gradually relaxed, even turning faintly joyful.
"Okay," she said. "Then it's settled."
Asai Yu didn't respond. He still held firmly to his own opinion.
As for bands—if it were something like MyGO!!!!!, he wouldn't actually mind getting involved.
But Ave Mujica? No thanks. Individually they were fine, but together they were a walking time bomb.
He had zero reason to do something so exhausting with no payoff.
Before this whole band idea came up, he'd planned to drop by often to grind piano-related bonus experience and keep an eye on Sakiko's studies.
But now… it might be better to focus more on Anon's side instead.
Asai Yu left the house and headed toward Tsukinomori.
Some time later, he arrived at the school gate. Coincidentally—or perhaps not—Wakaba Mutsumi was there as well, and their gazes met.
Seeing this, Sakiko felt a flicker of confusion.
Why does she keep running into Mutsumi at the school gate every day?
Once or twice would be normal. But this was four or five times in a row. And not just before school—sometimes even at RiNG…
It couldn't be deliberate, could it? But whenever they walked together, she never said a word.
On the other side, Mutsumi took small, quick steps toward them.
When she clearly saw the blue-haired girl in front of her, her pale golden eyes lit up slightly.
This wasn't the old Saki.
This was the cool Saki—the one who was gentle with her.
"Saki, good morning," Mutsumi said as she reached her side, her voice light and upbeat.
"Mm. Morning, Mutsumi."
Asai Yu nodded in response.
After that, the two fell into silence again. They walked for a while, and just as they were about to enter the school building, Mutsumi suddenly gathered her courage and spoke up.
"Saki… do you want to go see the cucumbers I planted?"