So fast to decide?
"Alright then, let's start now. Do your best," Asai Yu tried to encourage her lightly. After that, he shifted his gaze to the dictionary and began practicing the guitar.
During the hour-long practice session, he occasionally flipped through the dictionary.
He had originally planned to properly supervise Chihaya Anon, but soon realized she was completely different from Togawa Sakiko.
In this one hour, Anon memorized vocabulary with extreme seriousness—no slacking off, no pretending to study—and her efficiency was frighteningly high, a textbook honor-student level.
It seemed the classic line teachers loved to say—"He's very smart, he just doesn't want to study properly"—really did exist.
Asai Yu practiced the guitar while listening to Anon softly reciting words in his mind.
Honestly, the whole "memorize 30,000 words" thing was just meant to scare her a little.
To reach the level of an average native English speaker in the UK, mastering around 10,000 words was more than enough.
For now, the priority was just to get her moving; in the afternoon, he could lay out a more detailed plan.
Very quickly, an hour passed.
[Guitar Bonus lv0 (120/100)]
[lv0 → lv1]
[Guitar Bonus lv1 (20/100)]
Things were finally getting on track. Guitar felt harder to get into than piano.
After that, Asai Yu packed up and headed to school. Since guitar practice was done, he could now multitask—randomly testing Anon's vocabulary in his mind while walking.
Anon didn't complain at all; on the contrary, her attitude was earnest, which genuinely pleased him.
It was the same after arriving at school. During class, Asai Yu supervised Anon memorizing words, listened to lectures on the side, and occasionally answered teachers' questions.
Even the English teacher noticed the change in the pink-haired girl, Anon, today. She looked more spirited, more confident, and no matter what question was asked, she answered smoothly and accurately.
Hmm, probably just didn't get enough rest the night before. Judging from today's performance, she was doing great.
While studying diligently, Chihaya Anon also paid close attention to the class. Seeing her own strong performance, along with the approving looks from classmates and teachers, she suddenly felt that all of this was worth it.
At the same time, she set a firm goal for herself: to become someone like Yu.
Two hours later…
"Yu-Yu, can we take a break? I've memorized words for a full three hours already, waaah—"
Chihaya Anon felt like her head was about to explode.
"Yes. During the break, you can study some grammar as well," Asai Yu agreed without hesitation.
That's right—he fully intended to squeeze out her potential, at least training her at the intensity of a Japanese high school.
Hearing this, the pink-haired girl's mood dropped again like a roller coaster plunging downhill.
It was break time now. A few girls seemed like they wanted to come over and chat with him, and he happened to need to grind some affinity bonus experience as well.
However, Asai Yu noticed that these classmates were all stopped by others midway. After a while, they merged back into their own small groups.
After thinking for a moment, he stood up and went over to talk to them himself—only to be met with cold indifference.
Aside from another unpopular international student, everyone else seemed to be deliberately excluding him.
Asai Yu observed his surroundings once more and finally confirmed it: he had been isolated. The only question was who was behind it.
Honestly, this kind of situation was pretty normal. The class had been formed back in September, and he was a late arrival. On top of that, he'd been standing out way too much in class—no surprise some people didn't like him.
Chihaya Anon noticed it too. She was extremely sensitive when it came to interpersonal dynamics, and she sensed something was wrong as soon as class ended.
"Yu… are we… being isolated?"
When she said this, her voice trembled slightly.
This was far too sudden for her.
"Yeah, probably. But don't worry. Just do your own thing. Your social circle isn't limited to classmates," Asai Yu comforted her. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Worst case, you still have me."
Hearing this, Anon's near-breakdown emotions immediately stabilized a lot, though her voice was still a little subdued.
"Thank you… I just don't understand. I've clearly done well enough, so why did it still turn out like this…"
Asai Yu didn't answer that question. It would've been meaningless.
In the original storyline, Anon suddenly turned into a full-on deserter. Given her level of perseverance, it couldn't have been caused by just one failed class—there had to be multiple factors piling up.
Being subjected to cold social violence might have been one of the more impactful ones.
At lunchtime, Asai Yu looked at the food in the British cafeteria. Just like yesterday, he had no appetite at all.
Staring at the simplified version of stargazy pie, he instructed Anon, "From now on, get up earlier and make a bento."
"Roger." Chihaya Anon also felt pretty unimpressed by the food in front of her.
Sigh… I miss vegetable macaroni soup in Japan.
London, England, really wasn't as wonderful as she'd imagined…
Thinking this, Anon's mood dipped a little. But when she looked at Yu, who was currently controlling her body, her spirits lifted again—she even felt a bit lucky.
At least Yu was here.
Time quickly moved on to the first afternoon class: music, an elective chosen by Chihaya Anon.
Was it because of confidence in her guitar skills?
In music class, since a few students were from compulsory courses and had enrolled late, the music teacher asked her directly:
"Anon, have you studied any related music courses before?"
"No need to worry, teacher. I have a bit of a foundation," Asai Yu replied calmly.
At that moment, Chihaya Anon suddenly spoke up in his mind: "Didn't you say you only know how to play a little guitar?"
"I know a bit about other things too," Asai Yu replied casually.
Hearing this, Anon's curiosity flared up, and she wanted to ask more—but one sentence from him shut it down immediately:
"Keep memorizing your words."
With her curiosity forcibly suppressed, the teacher, having received her answer, began the lesson.
To be honest, the material wasn't very deep. It was broad and somewhat vague, mostly covering music theory and composition. Asai Yu found it a bit boring.
Still, simpler content was good news for students aiming for high grades.
At that moment, the teacher suddenly introduced a new topic:
"In a few days, our school will be holding a music talent competition. Does anyone have an instrument they're good at and would like to perform?"
"Anon, do you have an instrument you specialize in?"
The music teacher's gaze landed directly on the pink-haired girl in front of her.
She loved calling on students in class, and from Anon's previous answers, she could tell that this new transfer student had an exceptionally strong grasp of music theory and composition.
Especially when it came to piano-related theory—so she had already concluded that Anon must be good at piano.
Asai Yu stood up. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Guitar. But I only know a little."
Guitar?
The music teacher was momentarily stunned, but she still smiled and said, "Would you be willing to show everyone?"