Asai Yu knew perfectly well that with the force he'd just used, there was no way the man would die. With that settled, he stopped paying attention to him altogether, turned around, and headed back toward the apartment behind him.
"Why… why did things turn out like this… this is awful—"
At that moment, Togawa Sakiko's quiet sobbing echoed in his mind.
It seemed that the revelation about that bastard having a secret stash had indeed hit her far harder than expected.
"It's enough that you know now. The beating's already happened—let the past stay in the past. At the very least, life is still moving in a better direction," Asai Yu offered, trying to comfort her.
A few seconds later, Togawa Sakiko's voice suddenly rang out, firm and resolute:
"You're right. The weak version of me from the past is already dead!"
Hopefully so.
If that were truly the case, Asai Yu would at most comment, 'Seems legit.'
After a few seconds of silence, Togawa Sakiko suddenly blurted out, completely out of the blue, "Yu, we're a community of shared fate, right?"
"A community of shared fate?"
The corner of Asai Yu's mouth twitched. Hearing that phrase, he felt his PTSD about to flare up.
"If you think so, then sure."
"Mm. You're my second personality. If we're not a community of shared fate, then what else could we be?"
Thinking about how she had someone she could trust absolutely, Togawa Sakiko's mood gradually improved.
By this point, Asai Yu had already walked back to the green-haired girl behind him.
"Alright, it's all settled now. Come upstairs and sit for a bit."
Wakaba Mutsumi was still stuck in shock from what she'd just witnessed. Only after hearing the familiar voice did she snap back to her senses, nodding lightly.
"…Mm."
The two of them then entered the apartment building's elevator together.
Wakaba Mutsumi lowered her head slightly, secretly sneaking a few glances at the girl beside her. Her heart couldn't help but flutter.
The one standing next to her now was still the other Saki, so then…
"Saki, can you… like earlier… pat my head again…?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Wakaba Mutsumi regretted it. Right now, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Hearing this, Asai Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Where did this show-off repressed Mutsumi mode even come from?
"Mm." Asai Yu didn't particularly care. He reached out and once again gently rubbed the doll-like girl's head in small circles.
A burst of joy bloomed in Wakaba Mutsumi's heart as she silently savored the moment.
At this point, Mortis desperately wanted to shout out a reminder: Mutsumi, that's not the real Sakiko. Don't get addicted to a false illusion!
But then she reconsidered. Wasn't this actually fine too? After all, the original Sakiko never really thought about Mutsumi's feelings—this Sakiko was much kinder.
"Yu, Mutsumi actually doesn't really like having her head patted by others," Togawa Sakiko suddenly reminded him inside his head.
Asai Yu shot back, "Have you ever tried? Don't just make assumptions and talk nonsense."
"You—" Togawa Sakiko was left completely speechless, only able to stew in silent frustration.
They were clearly a community of shared fate, yet he never listened to her opinions. Absolutely infuriating!
Watching Asai Yu's right hand continue to stroke the doll-like girl's head, Togawa Sakiko felt extremely unhappy—but there was nothing she could do about it.
It wasn't until they returned to the apartment and sat facing each other that Togawa Sakiko's emotions finally eased somewhat.
Wakaba Mutsumi stayed for quite a while before, because she still had tutoring afterward, she reluctantly said goodbye and left.
After that, Asai Yu went over to RiNG to finish two hours of piano practice before returning to the apartment.
"There's something I should tell you. For a while, I won't be waking up every day anymore. It'll probably be only two or three times a week," Asai Yu said, giving an early heads-up.
"So suddenly? Why? Did something happen?" Togawa Sakiko paused, then asked with concern.
"There's no particular reason. That's just how things are. Once the songs are finished, store them properly. I'll come by then and send them to Ms. Shinji."
"Then what about the pianist job at RiNG…?" Togawa Sakiko continued.
"Your piano skills are already very high. You can handle it perfectly well," Asai Yu replied.
In the end, Togawa Sakiko said in a slightly downcast tone,
"Okay. I understand."
"Mm." Asai Yu nodded.
After composing for a bit longer, the experience time ended, and Asai Yu left Togawa Sakiko's body.
Once he was back, the first thing he did was ask the system about what had happened earlier.
The final answer he received was: when the emotional fluctuations of the experience subject are too intense, they can also affect the host's control over the body.
He then asked whether that was a bug or a feature.
[It is a bug]
So that meant he might run into even more bugs in the future? Hopefully not anything catastrophic.
Asai Yu opened his phone and checked LINE, discovering that Sumita Mana and Misumi Uika had both sent him messages.
Sumita Mana said she had already returned to Tokyo and even sent a daytime selfie.
Misumi Uika's message had come in not long ago—a photo of the starry sky, along with a few questions about stars.
Because of his preset restrictions, he hadn't replied while he was in the immersion state. Now, Asai Yu sent a few replies to both of them.
He was a bit more serious with Sumita Mana, after all—no matter how you looked at it, she would be his future boss and student.
The next day, because he'd forgotten to set an alarm the night before, and because he'd been mentally exhausted lately, Asai Yu slept all the way until noon before waking up.
He didn't activate the system right away. Instead, he washed up, then went out to grab a meal.
While passing by a musical instrument shop, he noticed the owner staring at him nonstop, which made Asai Yu unconsciously quicken his pace.
And when he passed by a donut shop, he found it unusually crowded. After asking the grinning owner, he learned that Sumita Mana had recommended the place on Instagram.
That was absolutely something Donut Girl would do.
In the end, he made sure to get some proper physical activity using his own body outside.
By the time he returned to his rental apartment, it was already 4 p.m.
Asai Yu didn't really mind whether the experience time was short, as long as he could squeeze out the full daily bonus time.
He lay down on the bed and activated the system.
[Life Experience Subject Selection:]
[1. Togawa Sakiko]
[2. Pending]
Use Life Experience Subject Card.
Asai Yu silently recited.
[Life Experience Subject Card used]
[Selectable subjects updated]
[1. Togawa Sakiko]
[2. Unknown Random (Selectable)]
"Can I choose some traits myself?"
[Sorry, you cannot]
"Then is it really random?" Asai Yu was still a bit suspicious. He didn't want the system suddenly random him another band girl.
[Completely random. Please trust this system, Host]
Fine. I'll trust you this once.
Without hesitation, Asai Yu chose the second option.
His vision instantly went dark. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes again, light returning to them.
Realizing he was standing in place, Asai Yu immediately looked around at his surroundings.