Asai Yu turned around and saw a girl wearing a white baseball cap and black sunglasses, bundled up so tightly she was practically sealed off from the world.
She was clearly looking straight at him.
"…You are?" Asai Yu asked, puzzled.
At his words, the girl quickly took off her sunglasses, revealing a pale face that was still slightly swollen and flushed.
Asai Yu studied her for two seconds before recognition finally hit.
Wasn't this Sumita Mana?!
A member of the infuriatingly popular idol unit sumimi, and the five-time consecutive champion of the national singing competition—Sumita Mana.
He was pretty sure he'd never had any contact with her before.
Seeing the confusion on the boy's face, Sumita Mana hurriedly pointed at her own cheek, looking a little aggrieved.
"You forgot? Yesterday, you pulled me out of the river…"
Pulled her out of the river?
Asai Yu thought back—and realized that the girl he'd slapped ten times in a row really did look exactly like the Sumita Mana standing in front of him now.
It was just that he'd been utterly exhausted after rescuing her and hadn't had the energy to observe her properly.
So… did this count as making a friend, or making an enemy?
He couldn't be bothered to overthink it. In any case, he didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
"I remember now," he nodded. "So what is it?"
So cold.
Sumita Mana felt a bit helpless inside, but to be fair, she had been in terrible shape that day.
The guy was her lifesaver, yet the moment she regained consciousness, she'd slapped him. Him hitting back made sense—but ten slaps in a row, and then leaving immediately afterward…
In short, a very distinctive person.
"Um… thank you so much for saving me yesterday. This is my contact info. If you're free sometime, would you like to have a meal together?"
She extended the invitation.
Seems like this really was the normal Sumita Mana. As for slapping him awake… she'd probably swallowed too much river water and lost her mind.
Asai Yu's impression of her improved slightly.
"Sure. I'm free right now. Let's go."
"Eh?" Sumita Mana had assumed someone with his personality would refuse outright. She hadn't expected him to agree immediately.
As expected—very distinctive.
The two of them soon arrived at a restaurant.
After exchanging contact information, Sumita Mana adjusted her sunglasses.
"By the way, Asai-san… don't you think my outfit looks kind of strange?"
"Not really," Asai Yu replied. "Famous idols usually have to disguise themselves when they go out. Especially someone as popular as you."
"What? So Asai-san already knew who I was?!"
Sumita Mana exclaimed in surprise, her dark brown hair swaying with the motion.
Why did she feel different from her anime persona? Kind of… airheaded.
"Of course," Asai Yu nodded. "I recognized you as soon as I saw your face in the instrument shop, Sumita-san."
"I see…"
She looked a little disappointed at first, but when she noticed that the boy in front of her showed no sign of stiffness or awe, her mood quickly recovered.
"Are you in Osaka for a tour?" Asai Yu asked.
"Mm, this time it's a solo activity," Sumita Mana replied with a smile.
In truth, the event had already ended. Her manager had urged her to return to Tokyo yesterday—but she'd decided to stay in Osaka for a few more days.
Mainly to see if she might run into the person who'd saved her.
And it turned out she hadn't been wrong.
"Does your face still hurt?" Asai Yu suddenly asked.
At that, Sumita Mana froze in embarrassment, unsure what expression to make.
"It's… much better now. Don't worry…"
Actually, it wasn't better at all. She hadn't been able to eat donuts for days.
Much better?
Seems idol girls really do have sturdy constitutions. Asai Yu remembered he definitely hadn't held back at all.
Just then, Sumita Mana spoke up again.
"I saw you playing the piano in the instrument shop earlier. You looked really skilled—have you been playing for a long time?"
"No," Asai Yu shook his head. "I'm a beginner."
"Eh? Really? I know some amazing piano teachers. If you want, I can help introduce you to them."
She lowered her voice and added, conspiratorially,
"At half price!"
"Thanks, but I don't need that for now," Asai Yu declined.
What would he need piano teachers for? Even Togawa Sakiko probably wouldn't need one after a while.
What did interest him was Sumita Mana's network of connections.
Sooner or later, he planned to try working in the piano field—and approaching it through Sumita might not be a bad idea.
By this point, even the energetic Sumita Mana found it hard to keep the conversation going. The two of them finished the meal in quiet silence.
"If you ever need anything, please contact me anytime! As long as it's something I can help with, I won't refuse."
Outside the restaurant, Sumita Mana removed her sunglasses and spoke with a serious expression.
After all, she truly owed him her life. One meal wasn't nearly enough to repay that.
"Mm." Asai Yu nodded.
Then he fixed his gaze on the girl's face, studying it for quite a while.
"Um… is there something strange on my face?"
Sumita Mana grew uneasy under his stare, her cheeks warming slightly. The swelling should've gone down by now…
"It's nothing," Asai Yu said calmly. "Actually, I'm your fan too. Do your best."
He wasn't sure whether she'd fallen into the river by accident or jumped in herself. The railing there was high—falling over it unintentionally was almost impossible.
But either way, a bit of encouragement couldn't hurt.
Sumita Mana froze for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
"So Asai-san is my fan too? I'm really happy! Don't worry—I'll keep working hard!"
Seeing that, Asai Yu decided there was nothing more to say. After a brief goodbye, he turned and left.
Sumita Mana stood there, quietly watching the boy's figure recede into the distance. Only after a long while did she finally leave.
...
Time quickly moved on to the next day.
Today, Asai Yu deliberately avoided the early-morning slot and entered Togawa Sakiko's body at 7 a.m.
In the blink of an eye, he found himself already on the way to Tsukinomori.
"You… you're late," Togawa Sakiko said, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction.
"Oh. I just woke up a bit late," Asai Yu replied casually.
So the time when this guy took control of her body wasn't fixed?
Togawa Sakiko filed that information away.
But why did it have to be right after her newspaper delivery shift last night?
This was absolutely on purpose.
And yet she had no grounds to complain—otherwise she'd just look lazy and useless.
"Was delivering newspapers tiring?" Asai Yu suddenly asked.
Of course it was on purpose.
And he'd even said before that "all part-time jobs would be handled by her from now on."
Thinking of that, Togawa Sakiko felt a small pang in her chest—but still forced herself to reply stubbornly,
"Not at all."