Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [121]

"This is your new home? It… doesn’t seem as empty as I imagined."

Following Chihiro into the house next to hers, Nagasaki Soyo silently breathed a sigh of relief at the expected workload of her upcoming maid duties.

At the very least, the place had all the necessary furniture. That said, a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the floor and every available surface.

Alright, looks like there’s still no getting around a serious cleanup session.

"I heard the previous owner left this house vacant for a while before my grandma bought it for me as my new home."

"No wonder I hadn’t seen the previous owners around before."

"Well, you’ve seen the new owner now—me."

"That does seem to be the case…" Soyo pursed her lips. She didn’t argue, but her gaze eventually landed on something unexpected. "Huh? There’s a cat here?"

And… why does this cat look kind of familiar?

"Oh, you mean 'Wagahai'?"

Tsuzuki Chihiro chuckled as she picked up the long-bodied cat staring at them with its adorably narrowed eyes. Stroking its fur, she explained with a smile,

"Apparently, this little one is a friend of Raana’s. Grandma mentioned Raana-chan had prepared a surprise for me, but I never expected it to be this."

"Oh, right! This is the one Raana was holding that night! Wait… what’s its name again? 'Wagahai'?"

"Yep, I named it." Chihiro gently placed the well-behaved kitten into its bed. "Maybe Grandma and Raana figured I’d need a companion, living alone here from now on."

"Speaking of which, why haven’t you ever kept a pet, Soyo?"

"Huh? W-why would I have to keep one?" Soyo froze, then noticed the faintly sympathetic look in Chihiro’s eyes. Her expression darkened instantly.

"Hold on. Don’t look at me like that, as if I’m some lonely old woman!"

"Don’t worry. You’re my full-time maid now anyway, so I’ll leave feeding the cat to you."

"……"

Soyo didn’t respond.

Because, truthfully, what was on her mind had little to do with trivial things like this.

Strictly speaking, she wasn’t even sure what exactly she wanted anymore.

Originally, she had expected to live with Chihiro for about two weeks, all because of that contract. But now, it was clear that there was no way that contract could be reinstated.

And… though her previous intentions hadn’t been completely crushed, Soyo’s mindset had undergone a significant shift.

She no longer knew what she should do.

If this were two weeks ago—when she had first met Chihiro—she probably would’ve stubbornly convinced herself that fate had given her another chance, that everything was part of an inevitable path leading to CRYCHIC’s revival.

Back then, she wouldn’t have hesitated.

And if this were two days ago—when she had already lost all hope—she wouldn’t have kept dwelling on this. Given time, she likely would have forced herself to forget and move on.

But now, she found herself stuck between these two extremes.

She was neither as confident as before nor as utterly despondent as she had been yesterday.

"Ahh… looks like there’s a lot to do today. I don’t think I can squeeze every last drop of labor out of you alone."

Chihiro waved a hand dismissively. "Forget that for now. Let’s go downstairs and buy some things we’ll need for living here together."

"Um…"

"What is it?"

Soyo hesitated before finally voicing the question that had been lingering in her mind. Just as Chihiro was about to put on her shoes, Soyo asked,

"Chihiro, about our agreement from before…"

"An agreement is an agreement." Chihiro smiled. Before Soyo could finish, she cut in firmly, "Since I promised, I’ll keep my word."

"That’s not what I meant."

Soyo carefully reconsidered everything Chihiro had said to her today. How much of it was true? How much was just for show?

She honestly couldn’t tell.

But one thing she could be certain of was that Tsuzuki Chihiro wasn’t deliberately messing with her.

…Though, admittedly, this girl did have a tendency to prank her "sugar mama" at every opportunity.

"Chihiro, what are you really thinking? Do you believe this request is actually impossible to fulfill?"

"……"

"I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. That night, what was everyone really feeling? Do we even have the courage to pretend nothing happened and start over?"

"I just don’t know anymore… At the very least, I can tell that Mutsumi and Sakiko haven’t told me everything. And it really seems like they don’t want to come back."

"So, when you said Sakiko wanted to get back on stage… was that a lie?"

"…Sigh."

Chihiro let out a long breath. "Soyo, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? You really are a handful."

"So? What’s your answer?"

"Well, since you’re asking so seriously, I suppose I should be honest." Chihiro turned to face her, her stunning features softening into an incredibly gentle smile.

"From my personal experience, I understand that bands breaking up is a pretty common thing."

"After all, I’ve formed bands before. And aside from the most memorable one, I’ve been through more than one breakup."

"But—"

"But to the members of a band—to those who genuinely wanted to keep going—every breakup is a kind of pain."

"Even if bands rarely last a lifetime, I can understand the feelings of those who aren’t willing to let go."

"And more importantly, why did CRYCHIC break up? Did it have to? That 'reason'… is the most crucial thing."

"The reason…"

Soyo seemed to understand something. And yet, she still looked a little lost.

"Exactly. Even if there’s no chance of getting everyone back together, even if this request was doomed from the start, I have to uncover the truth."

"So that I can give my sugar mama—oh wait, I mean my little maid—some closure."

"Something that will finally let you climb out of this mess."

"Chihiro…"

"Touching, isn’t it? Don’t you think choosing to be my maid was the greatest decision of your life?"

Then, grinning mischievously, Chihiro handed Soyo her phone.

"Here, take a look at these images. Pick one."

"What images…"

Confused, Soyo took the phone and scrolled down—only for her expression to darken with every swipe.

Maid outfits. Various styles of maid outfits.

There was even a cat maid version, a bunny girl version, and—

…A reverse bunny girl outfit?!

Wait, no, that last one was way out of line!

"Tsuzuki. Chihiro."

Soyo’s voice trembled with rage as she clenched the phone.

"My patience has limits… D-don’t push it!!!"

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T/N: REVERSE??? OML

This is a fan translation of 素世同学，恭喜你被我优化了 by 杰克喵. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!