Hearing that, Asai Yu grew interested as well.
"Hm. Let's go take a look."
The only one whose mood instantly soured was Togawa Sakiko.
Had Wakaba Mutsumi already figured out Yu's identity? Otherwise, why would she specifically suggest going to look at cucumbers on a day when Yu was awake? That was suspicious—far too suspicious.
The moment that possibility crossed her mind, Sakiko fixed her gaze on the pale green–haired girl within her field of vision, determined not to miss a single detail.
Before long, Asai Yu followed Wakaba Mutsumi into the back garden of the campus.
There was a small patch of land there that belonged exclusively to Mutsumi—a little cultivation area she used to grow cucumbers.
Mutsumi picked up the watering can nearby and began carefully watering the young cucumber plants.
Still, the cucumbers looked… a bit lacking in vitality.
"It's almost March now," Asai Yu said. "The temperature today is relatively high, but it'll probably drop again in a few days. If the nighttime temperature gets too low, cucumbers won't grow properly."
"The school doesn't have the conditions to set up a greenhouse either. These cucumbers probably won't survive—so just let them be for now."
Hearing this, Wakaba Mutsumi didn't look discouraged at all. On the contrary, she seemed pleasantly surprised and immediately turned her gaze toward Asai Yu.
"Saki knows about this kind of stuff too?"
"I know a little," Asai Yu nodded. "You didn't know any of this when you started planting cucumbers?"
"I only started recently," Mutsumi replied softly. "I haven't fully learned everything yet…"
"What made you suddenly start growing cucumbers?" Asai Yu asked, genuinely curious.
At that, Mutsumi froze for a moment. She stared at the blue-haired girl in front of her for a few seconds, then lowered her head slightly before speaking slowly.
"Because… I was bored… There wasn't really anything to do, so I started growing cucumbers. And tomatoes. And eggplants…"
Looking at the doll-like girl whose emotions seemed faintly downcast, Asai Yu thought for a moment, then said, "That's nice. It's very close to nature."
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me. You can also look things up online. And if you manage to grow them successfully, I'd like to taste what vegetables you raised yourself taste like."
"Really?" Wakaba Mutsumi lifted her head, surprise flashing in her eyes.
Asai Yu nodded once. "Yeah."
Receiving that affirmation, Mutsumi suppressed her joy and answered softly, "Thank you."
Ever since Crychic disbanded, she hadn't felt this kind of physical and emotional comfort.
That feeling—of being noticed, of being valued—hadn't appeared for a very long time.
Inside the body, Togawa Sakiko was grinding her teeth as she watched the scene unfold, completely powerless to do anything about it.
Based on her judgment, Wakaba Mutsumi had definitely realized Yu's true identity—and was approaching him with ulterior motives!
What exactly was she trying to do?!
"Class is about to start, Yu. Hurry back to the classroom," Sakiko said, unable to wait any longer and hastily inventing an excuse.
Hearing that slightly impatient voice, Asai Yu found it amusing.
In her "Black Saki" mode, Togawa Sakiko truly treated Wakaba Mutsumi as nothing more than a surface-level best friend.
Still, it was almost time for class.
Asai Yu called to Wakaba Mutsumi, and the two of them headed toward the classroom together.
Soon enough, the class bell rang.
During the lesson, Asai Yu evaluated Togawa Sakiko's recent academic performance. It was… acceptable, at least. She was listening, more or less.
Meanwhile, Wakaba Mutsumi silently stared at the back of the blue-haired girl sitting a short distance away.
At lunchtime, Wakaba Mutsumi invited Asai Yu to eat together—and they even exchanged side dishes from their bento boxes.
Togawa Sakiko could only pretend not to see any of it, enduring it all in silence.
When school finally ended, Asai Yu headed toward RiNG—only to find Wakaba Mutsumi following closely behind him.
"Don't you have after-school lessons today?" he asked.
Mutsumi gently shook her head. "My ballet teacher had something come up today and took the day off."
"Alright then. Let's go together," Asai Yu replied, unconcerned.
That Wakaba Mutsumi…!
It's fine. Once we get home, I won't have to see her anymore.
Togawa Sakiko steadied her emotions.
After arriving at RiNG, Asai Yu went straight to the front desk, sent Wakaba Mutsumi away, and then discussed recent developments with Matsugi Ririko inside a private room.
Lately, there had been a surge of people coming to commission songs from "Ob□□□□-san," to the point where her reputation had spread to other schools as well. Even requests offering over one hundred thousand yen had started coming in nonstop.
Because of that, Asai Yu proposed, "Ririko-san, the price for songs has been stuck at one hundred thousand yen for a while now. Given my current reputation and demand, I think raising it to two hundred thousand per song would be reasonable."
Matsugi Ririko looked shocked. "Doubling it outright?!"
"The quality and the name recognition are both there," Asai Yu explained. "And RiNG's resources are basically centered on me right now. If the price stays this low, it won't be good for either RiNG or me."
Hearing that, Ririko stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Alright. I understand."
After that was settled, Asai Yu first delivered the two songs Togawa Sakiko had completed during this period to their respective bands.
The payment came through quickly. RiNG took a 3% cut, rounded off the remainder, and what ended up in his hands was still 200,000 yen.
[Payment settled: 600,000 yen. Deposited into the system and available for withdrawal at any time.]
[Part-time bonus lv3 (545/2000)]
The fixed part-time bonus attached to him had activated, directly tripling the reward.
After that, Asai Yu headed up to the second-floor café.
It was probably still a bit early—he didn't see Shiina Taki or Takamatsu Tomori anywhere.
Instead, Nagasaki Soyo and Wakaba Mutsumi were sitting together at the table closest to the piano corner.
That woman's here again. And she's sitting with Mutsumi, no less.
Wait… they're not forming some kind of alliance, are they?
…Probably not. Mutsumi wouldn't betray her.
Togawa Sakiko noticed the two of them and immediately began analyzing the situation in her head.
Asai Yu, meanwhile, sat down at the piano and used a five-times experience card.
"This is one of the rare teaching sessions by a world-class piano master," he said calmly. "Listen carefully. Memorize everything, Dai-Saki-sensei."
He placed both hands on the keys, not forgetting to remind her.
A few seconds passed without any response, so he raised his voice slightly.
"Dai-Saki-sensei?"
Only then did Sakiko snap out of her suspicions. "Ah—oh, right. I'll listen carefully. Wait, since when did you become a world-class piano master?"
"Isn't that what I am right now?"
The moment his fingers pressed down on the keys, Asai Yu could clearly feel his piano skill improve again.
It was probably around professional level four now—though his overall level hadn't increased.
…This guy. His piano really did get better again.
Listening to the piano, Sakiko felt a mix of admiration and relief—and, unexpectedly, happiness for him.
Two hours later—
[Piano bonus lv3 (240/2000)]
For the time being, Asai Yu had no intention of permanently fixing the piano bonus onto himself. His piano skill was already more than sufficient—enough to support whatever he needed it for.