” Touma realized he had overlooked this question.
After frantically coming up with an excuse, he patched the hole in his story.
“Do you really think I spend twenty-two out of every twenty-four hours asleep?” “The truth is, I’m awake for part of the time.
I just can’t talk to you or see anything.
All I can do is think about music in my head.” Sakiko still felt something was off, but she didn’t press the matter any further.
Instead, she quietly said, “Then…
that’s actually kind of sad.” Maestro Sakiko was actually pitying him?
Touma found that hard to believe.
They headed out once again to the same piano studio as yesterday.
Sitting down at the piano, Touma said, “My piano skills have improved quite a bit.” “Really?
Let me hear.” Sakiko was curious.
It was the first time she’d heard Touma praise himself, so just how much had he improved?
Surely he hadn’t already surpassed her…
Touma began playing Chopin’s “Winter Wind” Etude.
When the performance ended, Sakiko was utterly stunned.
How did he suddenly transform like this?!
Yesterday, he had still been noticeably below her level.
Why had he suddenly overtaken her today?!
Even she couldn’t play these difficult pieces with such ease.
“So, how do I compare to you now?” Touma asked with a smile.
“Well…” Sakiko clearly didn’t want to answer, but in the end she gave her honest opinion.
“You’re…
just a tiny bit better than me.
Only a tiny, tiny bit!” So he’d actually surpassed Maestro Sakiko?
Had he underestimated himself, or overestimated her?
Either way, it was good news.
In an excellent mood, Touma continued practicing.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll be completely crushing you soon enough.
If you ever have any questions about piano in the future, you can ask me.” He was extremely confident in his rate of improvement.
Guh…
Now he even had to humiliate her.
Just a short while ago, she’d been Touma’s piano teacher.
Now their roles had completely reversed.
Sakiko found it difficult to accept, yet she had no way to argue against reality.
All she could do was sigh.
There was always someone better.
There was always a higher sky beyond the sky.
There was no point competing with a true genius.
Even so, she was genuinely happy.
After all, Touma was one of her own.
In a sense…
he was her person too.
The stronger he became, the better.
Just imagining Touma becoming a master pianist someday swept away all of her frustration, and she unconsciously straightened her back with pride.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, more than a week had passed.
During those nine days, Touma spent almost all of his time holed up in his apartment.
He devoted a little time to writing his novel, while most of his days were spent studying composition and refining “Gunjou.” Every night, he also spent a little over an hour practicing piano through Sakiko.
Perhaps the gap between professional levels was simply too great.
Even after practicing diligently for ten days with the Lv2 bonus, he could clearly feel himself improving, yet his Piano Level remained Lv2.
His Piano Bonus experience, however, had increased significantly.
[Piano Bonus Lv2 (280/500)] He wondered what kind of reward reaching Lv3 would bring, and just how powerful the Lv3 bonus would be.
At seven in the morning, his alarm rang.
Touma opened his eyes and called for the system.
[Life Experience Target Selection:] [1.
Sakiko] [2.
Pending] He still had no idea when the next experience target would be unlocked.
But he was already looking forward to it.
He entered Sakiko’s body.
Only to discover that “he” was asleep.
She’s slacking off?
Touma climbed out of bed without hesitation and woke the girl inside his mind.
Having only finished her second song at three in the morning, and now being awakened so early, Sakiko felt an indescribable sense of misery.
“Why are you here so early today?
I’ve already finished both songs.
Let me sleep a little longer…” “At your age, how can you still be sleeping?
Young people should have energy and vitality, not spend all day acting half-dead.” Hearing no further response from Sakiko, he turned on the computer.
“I’ve already finished the lyrics and arrangement for ‘Gunjou.’ If you’re really tired, go back to sleep.” The moment she heard that, Sakiko instantly woke up.
“Where?
Hurry, let me see!” Touma chuckled before opening the composing software.
He faithfully recreated the melody that had long since been etched into his memory, then opened a text document and typed out the complete lyrics.
Sakiko had already heard the song once before.
Even so, hearing it again still left her amazed.
Then she reached the lyrics.
She had originally assumed that, with Touma’s limited experience, there was no way he could write particularly good lyrics.
Yet after reading them from beginning to end, she couldn’t help being astonished.
“They’re amazing!” Sakiko blurted out.
“I’ve prepared two piano arrangements.
One carries the main melody, and the other doesn’t.
Since Manager Tsuzuki only asked for the song itself, use the version with the melody when arranging the rest.” Touma began giving instructions.
“Still, just to be safe, make the melody-less version too.
I’ll sing it through once.
Listen carefully, then finish arranging the remaining instruments.” “Got it.” Hearing how serious he sounded, Sakiko straightened her attitude as well.
Then Touma began singing the lyrics of “Gunjou” along with the accompaniment in his headphones.
He knew nothing about vocal technique.
He simply sang with emotion.
Fortunately, the melody of “Gunjou” was so beautiful, and Sakiko’s voice was naturally pleasant, that the overall result still sounded quite good.
So he isn’t perfect at everything after all.
Sakiko quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, she felt an overwhelming excitement.
She had finally heard the complete version of “Gunjou.” It really was far superior to “Haruhikage.” “Since we don’t have anything else to do right now, I’ll explain while you work.
Tomorrow’s the deadline, so it’s better to finish the song early.” Touma suggested.
“No problem!” Whenever it came to “remote-controlling” Touma, Sakiko became especially energetic.
The song itself was already highly complete.
With Touma’s guidance, arranging the remaining instruments posed no challenge whatsoever for a composing prodigy like Sakiko.
The two of them finished the song in just half a day.
Afterward, Touma practiced piano for another hour.
“Save the two songs you composed onto the USB drive.
Tomorrow, let Manager Tsuzuki hear them first, then deliver them to the two bands afterward.
I’ll handle that part.” Touma reminded her before leaving.
After returning to her own body, Sakiko found herself completely awake.
Stretching lazily, she informed the staff at the piano studio’s front desk before leaving.
Perhaps because of Touma’s influence, she noticed that she had become much more confident than before.
Even the way she spoke, her expressions, and many of her unconscious mannerisms had begun resembling his.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t deliberately stop it.
It all happened naturally.
Sakiko had no idea whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.