Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [118]

“.......”

Seeing that Tsuzuki Chihiro didn’t immediately fire back with her usual sharp retorts or cutting remarks that left her speechless, Nagasaki Soyo found herself momentarily at a loss.

And the way Chihiro was just looking at her like that—it threw her off so much she wasn’t even sure how to continue the conversation.

“What’s up with you?”

Soyo furrowed her brows, quickening her pace to catch up with the girl who was dragging a suitcase behind her, seemingly trying to “escape.” There was a trace of concern in her voice.

“This has nothing to do with you, does it?”

Chihiro’s acting skills were leagues beyond what these little rookies could even compare to—after all, she was officially recognized as a prodigy by both An and Tendou.

Though she had no clue why Soyo had shown up outside her apartment, her habit was to never let herself fall into a passive position in any confrontation.

Even if she had to fake it, she needed to maintain control over the conversation.

“You got kicked out of your house?” Soyo eyed her suspiciously. “What kind of stunt are you pulling this time?”

“.......Nothing.”

No way. She was definitely hiding something.

But as far as Soyo was concerned, the likelihood of this slippery little trickster actually having a real problem was much lower than the possibility of her just messing around. So, unconsciously, Soyo’s lips curled into a confident smile—one that said I have everything under control.

The best way to deal with a liar like this was simple: don’t fall for their tricks.

Right now, she needed to flip the script and make Chihiro follow her lead instead. And the best way to do that was by tossing out some bait:

“In that case… why don’t you stay at my place?”

Chihiro’s eyes immediately lit up, her gaze filled with anticipation. “Really?”

“Of course… not.”

“Eh?”

“You didn’t actually think I was that gullible, did you?” Soyo’s lips curved into a mocking smirk as she looked at the girl who had stopped in her tracks, staring at her in disbelief. “You really don’t know what you’ve done these past few days, huh?”

“What did I do?”

Wait. No, seriously—she really didn’t know.

What kind of ridiculous conclusion had this airhead come to this time?

Chihiro’s bewildered expression didn’t fool Soyo one bit. “Yesterday, you went to that RiNG live, didn’t you?”

“To be honest, you can’t fool me anymore.”

“.......Yeah.”

“I really don’t get it… Why would you do that?”

Soyo’s emotions wavered slightly as she spoke. She wasn’t just upset that things had spiraled out of control again—this wasn’t even the first time something like this had happened.

She had already prepared herself for the worst outcome.

But the one thing she couldn’t accept… was realizing that, from the very beginning, not a single person had truly supported her.

“You must think I’m ridiculous, don’t you?”

Soyo lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly.

“Spending money to hire you for help, only for it to turn into something as trivial as reuniting a band that’s already broken up."

“In your eyes, I must seem like such an easy mark—someone so obsessed with one thing that I make for the perfect fool to toy with."

“After I kicked you out that day, you immediately ran off to form a new band with Sakiko and Mutsumi. And even after getting caught, you didn’t seem to think there would be any consequences. The next day, you were already pulling them both on stage for a big performance."

“You think I wouldn’t know? I’m telling you—I know everything. …Mutsumi told me.”

“Mutsumi?” Chihiro frowned, confused. “What did she tell you?”

“The other day, wasn’t it Sakiko who played keyboard for you? Are you gonna deny that?”

“I…”

“See? You’re admitting it.”

Soyo chuckled.

She knew that even if she confronted Chihiro about this today, the first thing she’d do would be to deny everything.

This girl had completely taken her for a fool.

So now, even if this whole running away from home act was real, it wasn’t worth feeling sorry for.

“I’ve said everything I needed to say.”

At this point, Soyo had figured everything out.

She didn’t need any answers from Chihiro—she just needed to know that her judgment had been correct.

She turned, walking away with effortless grace—every movement exuding confidence.

Compared to Chihiro, who trudged along looking utterly dejected, there was no way Soyo could be called the loser in all of this.

But then… why was this shameless woman still following her, silently dragging that suitcase along?

No way. No way. Did she seriously think Nagasaki Soyo was some kind of saint?!

Did she really believe that putting on a pitiful face would make Soyo soften up and take her in?

What, did she think this was some East and the Wolf scenario? Get bitten once, fine. But fall for it twice? Absolutely not.

“Stop following me.”

“.......”

Chihiro just kept trailing behind her, ignoring everything she said.

The more she did, the more irritated Soyo felt.

Damn it. She suddenly understood Sakiko now.

Doubt Sakiko. Understand Sakiko. Become Sakiko.

And now… surpass Sakiko.

“Don’t think for a second that I’ll take pity on you. I don’t know why you suddenly showed up dragging that suitcase, but your situation has nothing to do with me."

“Where you stay, how you grovel for your grandma’s forgiveness—that’s all your problem, not mine."

“And if you’re trying to play the sympathy card, hoping that looking all sad and miserable will make me change my mind? Forget it.”

Finally, after getting off the subway, Soyo reached her limit.

She stopped in a quiet street with fewer people around, turned around, and delivered her final ultimatum.

“Eh…? Wait—why are you crying?!”

Chihiro’s eyes were red and puffy, teardrops shimmering on the verge of falling.

With that soft, delicate face of hers, she suddenly looked… fragile.

Soyo panicked.

No, no. This made her look like some evil villain bullying an innocent little girl in public!

“Soyo… why do you never believe me?”

“You’re still trying to argue?”

“Just wait.”

Chihiro let go of her suitcase, pulled out her phone, and dialed a number.

She put it on speaker.

The moment the call connected, an excited voice rang out from the other end—

“Sakuyo! Did you manage to solve things on your end?!”

“Sakuyo…?”

Soyo blinked.

Why had Taki just called her ‘Soyo’ instead of ‘Soyo’—

Before she could react, Chihiro suddenly reached out and stopped her.

“Hello, Miss Taki. This is Tsuzuki Chihiro—do you remember me?”

“What are you—”

What was this girl up to?!

Was she seriously planning to pick a fight with Taki right in front of her?!

But strangely, Taki’s reaction was… off.

“Tsuzuki? …Wait. Why do you have Soyo’s phone?”

“I’m her friend. She had some questions for you, but…” Chihiro glanced at the frowning Soyo and smiled. “She’s a little hesitant to ask herself, so I’m asking for her.”

“What questions?”

“At yesterday’s live… how did Sakiko and Mutsumi do?”

“Wait—so they were there because of you?! Did you bring them just to laugh at us?!”

As Soyo stared in complete confusion, Chihiro’s lips curved upward.

“I was helping you. Sakiko and Mutsumi are important to Soyo. They want to be in a band again. And you were one band, weren’t you?”

“Sakiko seemed pretty moved, watching from the crowd.”

“You don’t understand anything!”

“Taki.”

For the first time, Soyo spoke.

“Yesterday… did Sakiko and Mutsumi really just watch from the audience?”

“...Soyo?”

Silence. Then—

“Y-yeah…”

But something was wrong.

Had Mutsumi lied to her? Had they never formed a new band at all?!

Then what was with Taki’s attitude?!

Chihiro waved a finger in front of her.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

---

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!