Speaking of which… could Asai Yu write songs?
That thought crossed Chihaya Anon's mind as, in the next instant, the memory resurfaced of the day she first met that boy—along with the original song she'd heard him play back then.
Even now, from time to time, the melody would still echo in her head. The impression it left was vivid, deep enough that its quality was beyond doubt.
If that were really the case… maybe she should go look for Asai Yu and see if she could ask him for help…
Chihaya Anon took a sip of black tea, staring off into space as the thought lingered.
The next day, Asai Yu got up early and continued searching for a new place to live.
After moving around all of last night and the entire morning, combined with his familiarity with the surrounding area, he finally found a single-occupancy apartment he was satisfied with.
It was located in a high-priced district, but the monthly rent was 75,000 yen—well within reason.
Asai Yu glanced at the nearly 1.5 million yen stored in his system wallet and rented the apartment without the slightest pressure.
Next came moving. There wasn't much to pack, but he still decided to leave it to himself while in an automated state.
He checked the time. It was already 3 p.m.
Asai Yu called up the system, and in the blink of an eye, his consciousness shifted to the body of Chihaya Anon, far away in London, England.
Over in London, it was around 7 a.m.
Perhaps having learned from the previous experience, Anon had gotten up early this time. Dressed in her school uniform, she was sitting at her desk, seriously practicing her pronunciation.
Watching her study so diligently, Asai Yu felt satisfied—though, at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little regret at not being able to appreciate the view of the "steel plate."
"You're here?" Chihaya Anon's voice was full of delight.
But the upward lilt in her tone didn't last long before quickly falling back down.
Asai Yu caught the obvious emotional shift and responded with a simple nod. "Yeah."
What now?
Got scolded by the teacher yesterday?
Asai Yu was still thinking when he suddenly felt a faint pain on his right cheek.
He reached up and touched it, noticing a slight raised mark.
Sensing something was wrong, he went to the bathroom and examined his face carefully in the mirror.
Just as he'd expected—there was an injury.
"What happened here?" he asked, pointing at the face reflected in the mirror.
Hearing that, Chihaya Anon hesitated for a few seconds before speaking in a halting voice, "I… I fell yesterday and got hurt by accident…"
Do you really think you can lie like that?
Asai Yu sighed inwardly. His tone hardened noticeably. "Tell the truth."
Chihaya Anon stuck to her answer. "I really did fall. If I'm lying, I'm a puppy."
"And how did you fall? Tell me the details. Let me make this clear—your answer will decide my next course of action," Asai Yu warned.
At those words, Chihaya Anon let out a soft sigh. After steeling herself for a long moment, she finally spoke the truth.
"I… I was tripped…"
Bullied?
The people behind it couldn't hold back anymore and jumped out this quickly?
Asai Yu continued, "Who tripped you?"
"I-It was… it was…" Chihaya Anon didn't answer right away. She sniffed twice, and a faint sound of sobbing followed.
Asai Yu was momentarily at a loss. Was her mental resilience really this fragile?
No… that wasn't fair. She was only a fifteen-year-old middle schooler, after all. Back when she was still in Japan, she probably hadn't run into anything like this.
If anything, it could only be said that the people in this BanG Dream world on the island were just too kind.
After a long while, Chihaya Anon finally managed to calm herself down. "Sorry… I couldn't control myself just now…"
"It's fine. Go on," Asai Yu said.
Not even a single word of comfort?
That made Anon feel even worse inside, but she still told him the names of the classmates involved.
Asai Yu already had a clear picture.
"Alright, I understand. I'll handle this. You focus on studying."
Hearing such a firm and steady response, Chihaya Anon was instantly wrapped in a sense of security. Her anxiety and tension gradually eased.
Still, she couldn't help worrying. "Is it really okay? Maybe… it'd be better not to clash with them…"
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Asai Yu left her no room to argue.
At that moment, the system's voice sounded in his mind.
[Quest: Resolve the bullying suffered by Chihaya Anon]
[Quest Reward: Bonus Draw Card (1/1)]
[Card Effect: Can be used on a designated experience target to extract two distinctive bonuses from them and permanently affix them to yourself]
The timing of this quest couldn't have been better.
And this reward… it seemed even better than a standard bonus-fixation card?
Good stuff.
After organizing the information, Asai Yu picked up his guitar, used a 5× experience card, and began his practice for the day.
Seeing how seriously the boy was practicing, Chihaya Anon didn't say anything else and went back to working on her grammar and accent.
Honestly speaking, there was a reason why the pink-haired girl had stood out in middle school and made it to studying abroad in London. At the very least, she was genuinely talented when it came to English.
Her earlier poor performance had even made Asai Yu think she'd only done the bare minimum of studying English just to qualify for studying abroad.
But once she actually focused and put in the effort, this stuff was easy for her. Her progress was rapid.
One hour later—
[Guitar Bonus Lv.2 (20/500)]
Thanks to the experience card, the bonus leveled up quickly—about one level per day.
Now his understanding of the guitar had deepened further. He'd fully mastered basics like chord transitions, and finger exercises were completely second nature.
His sense of rhythm and strumming were also falling into place. At this rate, if he practiced for another two days under the Lv.2 multiplier, he'd probably grind out an actual guitar level.
"You already learned the C chord? That's so fast—faster than me!" Chihaya Anon said, a little surprised when she saw the familiar chord change.
"But just that isn't enough. You've gotta keep it up, okay?"
At least in her eyes, Asai Yu was still a newbie whose skills didn't measure up to hers yet.
Asai Yu genuinely couldn't understand how this pink-haired girl could be so blindly confident about her guitar skills. He didn't bother arguing.
"Oh right, did you make the bento?" Asai Yu asked.
"Yeah, I did! It's omurice," she said brightly, "and I added a piece of tonkatsu too!" The moment she mentioned it, Chihaya Anon perked up.
Curious, Asai Yu opened the bento box.
What greeted him was a twisted, limp mass of white-and-yellow unidentified matter, along with a blackened slab fried to charcoal levels on both sides.
His brow twitched slightly.
Was this… something a human was supposed to eat?
"Ahem…" Chihaya Anon coughed awkwardly. "It just doesn't look very good, that's all. It actually tastes great! Hurry up and try it!"
Hearing that, Asai Yu fell into deep thought.
In anime, there were plenty of scenes where food looked terrible but tasted amazing once you tried it.
But this time—
He didn't believe it.