She finally said it.
The moment the words left her mouth, Togawa Sakiko felt her entire body lighten, as if a heavy weight had been lifted all at once.
On Asai Yu's side, though, things were not quite so comfortable.
Sakiko-sensei really had changed a lot—she'd become far more straightforward. At the very least, she now dared to say something like that out loud.
It was just that… wasn't it a bit too heavy?
Looking into the blue-haired girl's pupils, filled with determination and unwavering focus, Asai Yu suddenly realized he might have been locked onto by Miss Ob-something-something.
No—"might" was the wrong word.
He was definitely locked onto.
That was absolutely not the look you gave an ordinary friend.
Asai Yu immediately felt a headache coming on.
He only wanted to experience her life for a while, farm some buffs and rewards, that was all. He had absolutely no intention of getting deeply entangled with her.
And also—did Sakiko-sensei have some kind of hidden masochistic streak?
From being verbally demolished by him a month ago to now, she actually still wanted to stick to him like glue.
Asai Yu took a deep breath and said,
"What you said isn't really wrong. But I have my own issues too. I have things I need to do. I can't just keep running over to you all the time."
"So your 'things' are possessing other people's bodies and playing second personality?"
Togawa Sakiko replied, her tone clearly displeased.
Asai Yu rubbed his chin, then nodded.
"More or less. I suggest you don't come disturb me during this period."
"Why can't I come?" Togawa Sakiko shot back.
"Mutsumi is my childhood friend—we grew up together. What's wrong with me checking in on her?"
She shamelessly searched for excuses, then added,
"And who knows? Maybe you'd even do something bad to Mutsumi."
So now she was slandering him outright?
Teacher Sakiko really deserved a proper beating.
Asai Yu felt speechless.
"If you're going to say that, then I'll just leave. You can take good care of your Wakaba Mutsumi yourself."
Hearing this, Togawa Sakiko's lips curved into a confident smile.
"How could you possibly just leave? You definitely have to stay for a full twelve hours."
"Don't believe me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Asai Yu handed over control of the body to Wakaba Mutsumi.
He himself retreated into the personality space.
"Little Yu?"
Seeing the girl in the white beret suddenly appear beside her, Mortis hurriedly squeezed over.
She stayed shoulder-to-shoulder with him, then boldly hooked her arm around his.
At the end of the day, Mortis was still basically a kid at heart, so Asai Yu didn't really mind.
Outside, once Wakaba Mutsumi took control of her body, she was still in a dazed, half-awake state.
On the other side, Togawa Sakiko stared at the scene in front of her, her eyes filled with disbelief.
It changed.
It really changed.
That presence—there was no doubt about it. This was Wakaba Mutsumi.
Yu was really gone…
"Mutsumi, you saw everything, right?"
"Do you know where Yu went?!"
Togawa Sakiko rushed forward, asking anxiously.
Only then did Wakaba Mutsumi come back to her senses.
Looking at the visibly flustered, worried Saki in front of her, she suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
But when she realized Sakiko was asking about Yu, that unease slowly faded.
"Yu… how should I answer her?"
Wakaba Mutsumi's voice echoed inside the personality space.
She actually came to ask—how well-behaved.
Asai Yu replied,
"Tell her you don't know."
"I don't know… it's like he disappeared…"
Wakaba Mutsumi lowered her gaze and gently shook her head.
"I see…"
Togawa Sakiko's pupils shrank slightly, her emotions plunging straight into a low point.
Suddenly, she felt a bit of regret.
Maybe she'd pushed things too far today.
What if Yu never came back again?
She might have resolved herself to find Yu personally—but whether she could find him, or how long it would take, was completely out of her control.
The fear of loss slowly began to grow inside Togawa Sakiko.
Maybe… she should stop coming to see Mutsumi for now.
"Mutsumi, if Yu comes back, tell him I take back what I said earlier."
"I won't disturb him during this period anymore."
She paused, then added softly,
"And… also tell him he has to come on my school advancement day."
"Just treat it as… me begging him."
This was the first time Wakaba Mutsumi had ever seen such a humble Saki.
"Mm."
She nodded lightly.
Seeing this, Togawa Sakiko didn't linger any longer.
"Then I'll be going."
"See you next time, Mutsumi."
With that, she left the Wakaba family's small villa, her heart filled with unease.
Asai Yu quietly watched the whole scene.
Originally, he'd thought Togawa Sakiko had completely hardened—arguing with heaven, earth, and the air itself.
But now that he looked at her again, she was still the same soft, squishy little Sakiko at heart. Nothing fundamental had changed.
"Yu… Saki left," Wakaba Mutsumi whispered as a reminder.
"I know."
Asai Yu took back control of the body.
The multiple-personality setting really was ridiculously convenient.
Seeing that the person she was holding had turned back into Wakaba Mutsumi, Mortis silently withdrew her arm and scooted a bit to the side.
Wakaba Mutsumi turned her head to look at the red-beret-wearing girl beside her, her expression calm.
Mortis pretended not to notice and kept watching the small TV in front of her.
Teacher Sakiko finally left.
Asai Yu stretched lazily, then sat down at the desk and opened his laptop.
While searching for Oblivionis on YouTube, he enjoyed the delicate, delicious dessert.
The numbers were genuinely impressive—the subscriber count had actually broken ten thousand.
Asai Yu was a little surprised.
This account was dedicated to uploading songs that Togawa Sakiko sold.
Of course, only with the buyers' consent.
But the buyers were all ordinary bands from Tsukinomori, so they were naturally more than happy about this kind of thing.
That created a clear win-win situation: the account's popularity rose steadily, and those ordinary bands also gained exposure.
He himself had an idea too—creating a YouTube channel to upload famous songs from his previous life.
But his current composition skills weren't quite there yet. After studying for a while longer, it shouldn't be a problem. He could start working on it then.
Thinking this, Asai Yu began downloading composition software onto his computer.
At that moment, Wakaba Mutsumi's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Yu… can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Were you… inside Saki's body for a while before…?"
Wakaba Mutsumi asked.
"Yeah." Asai Yu nodded. "Why?"
"Nothing… just asking…"
Wakaba Mutsumi said softly.
An image flashed through her mind—Yu patting her head, the faint warmth still seeming to linger there.
If that was the case, then letting Yu become the main personality… didn't seem bad at all.
For the next two hours, Asai Yu focused on learning composition and arrangement with the software.
Mortis got so bored she fell asleep on the bed, snoring lightly.
Wakaba Mutsumi, on the other hand, watched attentively.
These were all new songs she'd never heard before—but they sounded really good.
Seeing that it was about time, Asai Yu shut down the computer and stood up.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you something."
"I only come for twelve hours a day."
"So for the other twelve hours… Mutsumi, you'll still be the main personality."
Hearing this, Mortis instantly jolted awake.