Seeing this, Togawa Sakiko—inside the body—finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
This guy's personality is actually pretty decent… kind of like hers.
Hearing that response, Takamatsu Tomori looked visibly dejected.
But beside her, Shiina Taki had finally reached her limit.
How dare he ignore Tomori?!
"You—after doing something like that, breaking up the band, you still talk to Tomori with that kind of attitude?"
Shiina Taki shot him a glare, her voice thick with hostility.
"I don't think there was anything wrong with my attitude just now," Asai Yu replied calmly.
Shiina Taki froze for a moment.
Then the more she looked at that face, the angrier she got.
What's with that innocent look?!
But with Takamatsu Tomori still standing right there, she swallowed her anger and didn't explode.
Asai Yu noticed.
Huh—pretty good self-control. Still, he wasn't about to play turtle like her.
"I think your attitude is the problem. I should probably give Matsugi-san some feedback."
The moment he said that, the fire in Shiina Taki's chest instantly died down, replaced by panic.
She opened her mouth to say something—but all she saw was the blue-haired girl already heading down the stairs.
Watching this, Togawa Sakiko's mood turned complicated.
Great. Now she really was going to be the villain.
…Wait. Wasn't she already one?
Downstairs, Asai Yu began discussing the matter of selling compositions with Matsugi Ririko.
"This song was composed by me."
He pulled out his phone and played Haruhikage, using it to demonstrate his credentials.
Matsugi Ririko took a look—and immediately recognized it as an outstanding original piece.
To be blunt, at least 95% of bands couldn't produce something like this.
"This song is excellent—especially the composition. So what do you need me to do?" Matsugi asked.
"I'd like you to help promote me. If any bands are looking for someone to compose or arrange music, they can come to me. Of course, they have to be bands made up of Tsukinomori students."
"And if possible, please keep me anonymous. Just let them contact me directly."
Asai Yu added one last thing, just in case:
"In terms of composition credits, you can list me under RiNG."
Hearing that, Matsugi Ririko stroked her chin thoughtfully.
Togawa Sakiko's compositional ability really was impressive.
And this was a mutually beneficial deal—if it worked out, RiNG's visibility would increase as well.
All she had to do was some in-house promotion.
After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Matsugi Ririko finally responded:
"Alright. No problem. Let's do it that way, Togawa-san."
"Thanks."
Asai Yu was genuinely pleased—this had gone far more smoothly than expected.
After that, the two went over the finer details.
Watching this unfold, Togawa Sakiko felt a quiet sense of emotion well up inside her.
Her life was definitely becoming… strange.
But there was no denying it—it was steadily moving upward.
After some time, the discussion about selling songs finally wrapped up.
"Oh, right," Matsugi Ririko suddenly said, her tone troubled.
"Lately, Rikki's been getting into verbal arguments with customers pretty often. Some people have even complained directly to me. I heard you used to be close with her, so I wanted to hear your thoughts."
Asai Yu glanced at Matsugi Ririko, then offered his assessment.
"Rikki's a good person. Cold on the outside, warm on the inside. She just has trouble controlling her temper sometimes. But she's efficient and gets things done—letting her gain more experience here should be fine."
"I see… I think I understand. Thank you."
Matsugi Ririko looked at the blue-haired girl, deep in thought.
Inside, Togawa Sakiko felt her last lingering worry finally dissolve.
Just moments ago, he'd said he was going to complain to Matsugi-san about Riki's bad attitude—and yet here he was, speaking up for her instead.
This guy…
He's actually not bad at all.
Yeah. He's got at least half of her good qualities.
"Oh, by the way—I have another part-time job at a convenience store after 7."
What should've been a heavy statement sounded oddly light when Togawa Sakiko said it.
"Oh."
Asai Yu responded as he opened the door to the apartment.
"Huh? That's it? You don't have anything else to say?" Togawa Sakiko asked, confused.
"Do your best. I'm going to sleep."
After that, Asai Yu went completely silent.
Sakiko froze—and in the next instant, she realized she could suddenly move her body again!
Was it over?
Did the twelve hours end?!
Yes!
My body!
She stretched in place, testing her limbs, then began calling out to Asai Yu in her mind.
No response.
No matter how much she called, there was nothing.
Did this guy really fall asleep?
Like—completely out cold, the-can't-wake-him-up kind?
Or was he just pretending not to answer… secretly watching her?
The thought made Togawa Sakiko straighten up unconsciously.
Whatever.
No matter what, she just needed to carry her half of this life properly.
Still… she had another shift to work next. Just thinking about it made her tired.
If selling compositions really could support her, then maybe she could quit all these part-time jobs too.
Togawa Sakiko couldn't help but start fantasizing.
...
Meanwhile, Asai Yu had just returned to his own body—and was immediately hit with a pounding headache.
Probably because he'd stayed in a girl's body for too long.
It took him a while to fully readjust.
The experience was finally over.
Honestly—it wasn't bad. Pretty novel, at least.
The first thing he did was check the system's effects.
He discovered that over those twelve hours, his real body had stayed home writing his novel nonstop—and had cranked out 30,000 characters in one go!
And the quality?
Exactly the same as his usual writing.
What kind of horror-level typing robot was this?!
Then came the good news: his novel's popularity had shot up.
At this rate, the manuscript fees would definitely be substantial—and combined with this writing speed…
Asai Yu could already see a bright, booming future ahead.
Next, he tried withdrawing the 1,500 yen from the system.
Instantly, several bills appeared in his hand.
No issues at all.
After that came the final test: his piano skills.
This kind of thing really needed hands-on confirmation—but obviously, there wasn't a piano at home.
After thinking it over, Asai Yu decided to head out and went to a musical instrument store.
Of course, he was just there to try things out—not to buy anything.
He sat down at a piano, placed his fingers on the keys.
His body moved almost on instinct, unconsciously beginning to play—just basic rhythm and timing at first.
In the end, he confirmed it.
His piano proficiency was exactly the same as when he'd been in Togawa Sakiko's body.
At this rate, becoming a piano master himself didn't seem far off at all.
Test complete, Asai Yu stood up, ready to leave—
When suddenly, a voice called out behind him:
"Wait… is that you?"