“Sakiko” smiled faintly.
“What?
Say that a little louder.
I didn’t catch it.” Hearing that, the REAL Sakiko gritted her teeth.
She felt incredibly embarrassed, but in the end she still raised her voice and said pleadingly, “I said, please teach me how to play the piano!” “No problem.
From now on, you’re my student.” Touma replied.
Sakiko automatically ignored the second half of his sentence.
Her confidence immediately returned.
“I’m going to surpass you!” Whether it was her competitive spirit or anxiety about the future, she simply didn’t want to fall too far behind him in piano.
“Your talent isn’t as good as mine, so you’ll need to practice more.
But that’s something for after you go back.
For now, just watch me play carefully and listen to my explanations.” Touma said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Sakiko fell silent and focused.
While playing the piano, Touma explained each point as he went.
Soon, two hours had passed.
It had been an exceptional performance.
Touma stood up, greeted Ms.
Matsugi, and left RiNG under the watchful gazes of Takamatsu Tomori and Shiina Taki.
Waiting outside the entrance was Wakaba Mutsumi, just as they had arranged.
“Let’s go.” Touma walked over to greet her.
“Okay.” Mutsumi couldn’t help but feel a little excited.
Some time later, she followed “Sakiko” to her newly rented apartment.
The environment here was much nicer than Sakiko’s previous apartment.
Mutsumi gradually relaxed.
It seemed Sakiko’s situation really had improved a lot recently.
After chatting casually with Mutsumi for a while, Touma took out his phone to check his messages.
Most of them were from Matsugi Ririko.
This time, three more bands from Tsukinomori wanted to purchase songs.
To make things easier, Ms.
Matsugi had already forwarded all of their contact information to him.
Looks like he’d be busy for a while.
[Reward Settled: ¥48,000 has been deposited into the system and can be withdrawn or stored at any time.] [Part-Time Job Bonus Lv.3 (241/2000)] It seemed Ms.
Matsugi had already transferred the money.
His pay for performing as a pianist had arrived as well.
To be honest…
It still didn’t feel like it paid nearly as well as being Miss Donut’s private piano instructor.
With Wakaba Mutsumi, both his guest and childhood friend, still there, Touma simply stayed in the living room and chatted with her.
He was the one who kept introducing new topics, asking about various aspects of her daily life.
The conversation allowed him to understand Mutsumi much more deeply.
Life wasn’t easy for this doll-like girl either.
There were endless tutoring sessions, countless extracurricular classes, obligatory appearances at high-society events she disliked, and participation in popular television variety shows.
In the end, the only person she could truly open up to was this one genuine friend.
Touma offered the girl a few words of comfort before checking the time.
The twelve-hour experience period was almost over.
After giving Sakiko a reminder in his mind, he left her body.
The one now sitting there was the real Sakiko.
With just a single glance, Wakaba Mutsumi noticed the change.
It was the real Saki.
She was back.
Joy flashed across her eyes.
She was just about to say something when Sakiko spoke first in a calm voice.
“Mutsumi, I still have some things I need to do.
I don’t have time to keep you company right now.” The happiness in Mutsumi’s eyes instantly disappeared.
The overwhelming sense of loss left her dazed for quite a while before she quietly replied, “Okay…
then I’ll head home.” Watching the girl leave the apartment, Sakiko remained silent for a long time.
Finally, she gave a soft huff before returning inside and beginning today’s composition work.
By the time Touma returned to his own body, it was already past six in the evening.
Following the address on his phone, he arrived at a sushi restaurant fifteen minutes early.
However, Misumi Hatsune had arrived even earlier and was already seated inside.
When she saw him, she smiled and waved.
“Good evening, Ms.
Misumi.” Touma walked in and greeted her.
“Good evening, Asai-kun.” The blonde girl, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, smiled in return.
The two sat side by side.
In front of them was a conveyor belt carrying plate after plate of sushi.
You simply took what you wanted, and the bill was calculated based on the number of empty plates afterward.
“So, sumimi’s event is over?” Touma asked while trying a piece of sushi.
“Yeah.” Misumi Hatsune nodded.
“Mana and I are going back to Tokyo tomorrow.
We’ll probably be working there for quite a while, so we most likely won’t be coming back to Osaka again this year.” “Mana seemed a little disappointed.
I think it’s because she won’t have another chance to see you, Asai-kun.” “What does that have to do with me?” Touma looked puzzled.
Besides, there was something wrong with that statement.
After reaching an agreement with Sumita Mana yesterday, they should actually be seeing each other quite often.
It looked like that innocent idol had been thoroughly fooled by Miss Donut.
“Because you saved Mana’s life.” Misumi Hatsune answered.
“She’s always taken that very seriously.” Touma didn’t respond.
Instead, he accelerated the speed at which he demolished the conveyor belt sushi.
Ever since learning how much top idols earned, he’d completely abandoned the idea of holding back.
He made sure Misumi Hatsune got her money’s worth.
After leaving the sushi restaurant, a flyer suddenly drifted down and landed at Misumi Hatsune’s feet.
She picked it up and looked at it.
It turned out to be an advertisement for Osaka’s planetarium.
Her violet eyes immediately lit up.
She had never visited Osaka’s planetarium before.
She wondered how different it was from the ones in Tokyo.
Touma also noticed the flyer.
Scenes from the planetarium in the anime unconsciously surfaced in his mind.
Misumi Hatsune suggested, “Asai-kun, have you ever been to a planetarium?
Want to go together?
I’ve been lots of times.
They’re really interesting.” “I’m interested too.” Touma answered honestly with a nod.
Some time later, the two arrived at the planetarium.
After buying two tickets, they entered together.
Everything matched Touma’s memory.
They lay down in their assigned seats.
When the presentation began, all the lights went out, and the ceiling transformed into a projection of the night sky.
Their seats happened to be next to each other.
As they lay there, a faint fragrance occasionally drifted into Touma’s nose.
He couldn’t tell whether it was the girl’s natural scent or her perfume.
…Wasn’t this presentation a little outdated?
The largest known star was UY Scuti?
Then where was Stephenson 2-18?
Black holes still hadn’t been directly observed?
Then where had that black hole photo he’d seen come from?
Although the visuals weren’t bad, Touma concluded that he probably wouldn’t come here again.
Meanwhile, Misumi Hatsune watched with complete fascination.
After the presentation ended, the two left the planetarium.
“So, Asai-kun, what did you think?” Misumi Hatsune asked curiously.
Touma answered honestly.
“It was alright.
But a lot of what it said was wrong.”