Come to think of it, Yu only practiced the guitar for about an hour a day, right? Could he really become that proficient?
No—forget one hour a day. Even practicing twenty-four hours a day wouldn't get you there. Unless you were a genius among geniuses.
Thinking this, Chihaya Anon first felt genuinely happy about Yu's absurdly fast progress. But soon after, a faint sense of loss crept in.
Not long ago, she had clearly been better than him. She'd even talked big about it. She hadn't taken guitar practice seriously either—always half-assing it. And now she'd been completely overtaken and crushed in one go.
Still, she quickly pulled herself together. Maybe the massive improvement in her English had helped her regain some confidence.
With a firm tone, Chihaya Anon declared, "Yu, I'm going to seriously practice guitar too!"
"As a hobby?"
Asai Yu set down the electric guitar and asked.
"Uh… you could say that. But there are bands at school, right? Honestly, I want to become a band's guitar-vocalist!"
Anon spoke her true thoughts without hesitation.
Yeah. That was very Anon.
Asai Yu naturally had no reason to object. "That's fine. You can set aside two to three hours a day for guitar practice. Just don't let your English slip."
"When you practice, I'll listen carefully and explain things as we go."
At Asai Yu's current level, teaching a complete beginner wasn't a problem at all.
"That's great! Ehehehe." Hearing this, Anon was so happy she broke into a Tang laugh—that exaggerated, distinctive laugh style.
Asai Yu heard such a textbook-perfect Tang laugh for the first time and instantly got goosebumps all over.
"Alright, that's it for now. The remaining half day is up to you—go out and relax, or stay home and study. Decide for yourself," Asai Yu said.
"Um… are you coming again tomorrow?" Anon suddenly sounded nervous.
She could roughly guess that Yu came to her body every day because he gained something from it.
Right now, she was deeply worried that one day, when she no longer had anything Yu needed, he'd stop coming altogether. It was a strong, almost instinctive feeling.
"Yeah. I'll come," Asai Yu answered.
Hearing that, Anon finally relaxed. "Then… bye-bye."
A few seconds after she finished speaking, she realized she had regained full control of her body.
Letting out a long breath, she picked up her phone, opened Instagram, then Twitter. It had been nearly two weeks since she last posted anything. Some of her middle-school classmates were even asking about it.
After staring at the screen for a long time, Chihaya Anon suppressed her urge to go out and instead threw herself into studying the guitar.
—
On the other side, after Asai Yu returned to his own body, the system suddenly spoke.
[Togawa Sakiko Fate Track: 65/100]
[Chihaya Anon Fate Track: 35/100]
[Fate Track Points: 50]
[Consume 50 points to perform a draw?]
It went up again?
"Yes."
Asai Yu confirmed.
[Consuming 50 points…]
[Life Experience Target Card ×1]
[Remaining Fate Track Points: 0]
Seeing the result, the slight tension in Asai Yu's heart finally eased, replaced by surprise and delight.
He hadn't expected to directly pull a new slot. If the system didn't bug out, it would likely lock onto some future band girl—just no idea who yet.
He was already itching to use it, but since he'd promised Anon to go over tomorrow, he temporarily held back.
He checked his phone and saw messages from both Sumita Mana and Misumi Uika.
Sumita Mana said she happened to have no plans tomorrow night and could do piano instruction.
Misumi Uika, meanwhile, said she was planning to come see him the night after tomorrow to talk about stars and visit a planetarium—assuming he had time.
Reading these messages, Asai Yu found the situation downright absurd.
A massively popular idol, crossing several cities, just to talk about stars with him?
If he didn't know her personality so well, he'd honestly worry she was targeting him to get kidnapped and shipped off to some sketchy compound.
Still, since she was willing to travel all that way, he had no real reason to refuse.
In the end, Asai Yu replied "No problem" to both of them.
—
Time quickly reached four in the afternoon the next day.
Asai Yu deliberately didn't go to Chihaya Anon's side. Instead, he took the Shinkansen straight to Tokyo.
Following his memory, he arrived at Sumita Mana's apartment.
Since he still had to go over to Anon later that night, they only chatted briefly before diving straight into piano lessons.
Two hours later, Sumita Mana felt utterly drained.
Unlike last time, Yu-kun didn't take a single break this session. He kept pouring piano knowledge straight into her brain, to the point where spacing out for even a few seconds meant you'd completely lose track of what came next.
And Yu-kun also seemed to have somewhere else to be—he clearly wasn't planning to stay any longer than necessary.
Thinking this, Sumita Mana immediately sat up straight on the sofa and said with a serious expression:
"Yu-kun, I've thought it through about that question from last time. Compared to being an idol, I still prefer being a singer."
Hearing this, Asai Yu considered it briefly before answering, "Then focus more on practicing singing. You can gradually reduce idol-related activities."
"I want to, but… sumimi, and the agency—they definitely won't allow it…" Sumita Mana sighed.
"sumimi is a unit, so you can discuss it with Misumi-san. As for the agency, just breach the contract directly. You've got plenty of savings anyway."
Asai Yu offered a blunt solution.
A pretty violent approach—but undeniably effective.
Sumita Mana sighed inwardly.
She then leaned back against the sofa, clearly troubled. Staring at the ceiling, she remained silent for a long time before finally speaking slowly:
"Yu-kun… there are two questions I've never been able to figure out…"
As she spoke, Sumita Mana let out a quiet sigh.
"Why won't my manager let me go solo?"
"And why is it that my professional ability is better than Uika's, my looks aren't worse either, yet my popularity always falls behind hers?"
…Huh?
Was this something he was even allowed to hear?
Did something just explode?!
Asai Yu was startled at first, but he quickly calmed himself.
Since she was willing to share something this personal with him, he couldn't betray that trust.
Touching his chin, Asai Yu answered, "It's a simple reason. Because Misumi-san has capital backing her, and you're fighting alone."
Hearing this, Sumita Mana looked confused. "But I remember that Uika was completely just an ordinary person before…"
"Sometimes, what you see on the surface isn't the whole picture," Asai Yu said.
"I see…"
Sumita Mana blinked, as if she'd suddenly realized something.
Yu-kun probably knew things she didn't.
If what he said was true, then she could understand it.
"I understand now. Yu-kun, thank you so much."
Feeling a weight lift from her heart, Sumita Mana stood up and bowed lightly toward the young man.