Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [116]

Had Chihiro come looking for her outside of her house because she had kicked her out?

And yesterday too—Soyo had a feeling that Tsuzuki Chihiro had just randomly picked a floor, waiting for the elevator to descend from the 45th, then pressed the button to go down, deliberately staging their so-called “coincidental” encounter.

Which meant…

Yesterday wasn’t an accident.

And today, she couldn’t even hold back anymore and came all the way to school to find her.

What the hell is she thinking?!

Soyo couldn’t figure it out.

And frankly, she didn’t really understand what kind of relationship she and Chihiro had anymore.

Sure, that woman had betrayed her first.

But according to Taki’s testimony, Chihiro hadn’t actually done anything to deliberately sabotage them when she first went to Anon’s band.

That alone wasn’t enough to truly enrage her.

After all, they had worked together for a while.

At the very least, there had been some degree of trust between them.

Even on the day everything was exposed—when her emotions were completely unstable—she hadn’t thrown Chihiro out immediately.

Instead, she had taken the time to confirm the truth of the situation.

But the problem was…

That woman had actually admitted it.

She had stood right in front of Soyo and admitted that she had never intended to break up Anon’s band.

And on top of that, she had lectured her in return.

So no—Nagasaki Soyo had done nothing wrong.

The only one at fault here was the traitor, Tsuzuki Chihiro.

After coming down from the rooftop, Soyo brushed off the half-hearted questions from her classmates with a few vague answers.

Then, carrying her bento, she made her way to Mutsumi.

There were still some things she needed to ask her.

Even though she had spoken so decisively just now…

Soyo had never actually done anything truly unforgivable to Anon and Raana.

She hadn’t been cornered by Taki outside the venue.

And she hadn’t skipped the live show out of cowardice—she had just wanted to avoid running into Sakiko and Mutsumi at the venue.

But what if…

What if things hadn’t been as bad as she had imagined?

Mutsumi rarely lied.

Most of the time, she was just silent.

Or, when she did speak, she was so blunt that it often led to awkward situations.

So…

That time, when Mutsumi had said, “Playing in a band isn’t fun”—

That had been true, hadn’t it?

No, no, no!

That had just been that conniving woman’s attempt to sow discord!

She couldn’t afford to let herself trust a traitor right now!

The only thing she needed to confirm…

Was what had actually happened during yesterday’s live performance.

"Soyo, are you really going to study abroad?"

"I—"

Wait.

Why is she the one asking me questions first?!

Hearing Mutsumi’s words, Soyo was momentarily speechless.

She instantly regretted not kicking that wretched Chihiro in the ass before leaving the rooftop.

This was all that woman’s fault!

Now, no matter what she said, people were going to believe she was heading to the UK.

At this rate, she might as well actually go, just to make use of all the groundwork Chihiro had laid for her.

"I don’t feel like answering that."

Seeing Soyo shake her head with a look of utter despair, Mutsumi naturally misunderstood something.

But at least, she was obedient enough not to press further.

Since she had stopped talking, the conversation shifted back to Soyo.

"Mutsumi, did you go to the RiNG live show yesterday?"

"Eh?"

Wakaba Mutsumi blinked.

She didn’t remember telling Soyo about that.

The surprise on her face was enough to confirm Soyo’s suspicions.

Mutsumi had definitely been there.

"Mutsumi, I want to ask you a few questions. Can you tell me the truth?"

Soyo felt conflicted.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep going down this path.

But she had already asked.

There was no turning back now.

"Mm."

"First question—was Sakiko there too?"

"…She was."

Classic Mutsumi.

She wouldn’t lie.

But she wouldn’t say any more than necessary either.

The truth was laid bare, raw and unfiltered—leaving no room for denial.

"Second… second question."

Soyo wanted to stop herself.

She really did.

But her mouth just kept moving.

"Was there… a bassist with long, wine-red hair? Someone with a soft, delicate face?"

She hesitated.

"Ah… I mean, when Sakiko was there."

"Tsuzuki Chihiro?"

"…So it was her."

Soyo let out a cold chuckle.

The truth wasn’t far off from what she had expected.

But there were still a few more details to confirm.

"So… did Sakiko join their band? Is she playing keyboard for Chihiro’s group now?"

"For that song, she played the keyboard part."

"I see…"

Mutsumi never lied.

She hadn’t hesitated or shown any uncertainty.

Even if Soyo didn’t want to believe it, she had to accept the undeniable truth.

It was over.

Before, she could still make excuses.

She could say that Crychic wasn’t technically disbanded, that it was just on hold.

But now, all five members of Crychic had new bands.

That was a fact.

Did that mean…

That Crychic’s past no longer mattered to Sakiko?

She didn’t want to accept it.

But Soyo realized she had no choice but to.

And as for Mutsumi—

Did she even need to ask?

Mutsumi had always followed Sakiko.

That was how it had been in Crychic.

And that was how it was now.

Soyo…

Mutsumi’s voice was gentle.

But Soyo didn’t want to hear anything else about Chihiro.

She turned the subject toward a different band.

"What about them?"

Soyo’s tone was steady.

Almost too steady.

"Taki… and Tomori… did you watch their live performance?"

"Mm."

Mutsumi nodded.

She looked at the girl sitting across from her—

A girl who seemed like she had been abandoned by the whole world.

And after answering, Soyo fell silent.

She didn’t ask how the performance had gone.

It was as if she already knew the answer.

Soyo still hasn’t let go, has she?

"Thanks, Mutsumi."

Soyo smiled.

She lowered her head and took another bite of her bento.

Then, raising her head, she flashed the brightest, most radiant smile.

"Now, I can finally be at ease."

At ease—

That it was time to grab a knife and go settle the final score with that filthy traitor at the Tsuzuki house.

This wasn’t some loyal tactician.

This was a damn saboteur sent in to destroy her from the inside!

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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!