Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [108]

"Oh? What’s with you today…?"

Tsuzuki Shifune had just finished handling matters at CiRCLE, leaving her with some rare free time.

When Chihiro left the house this morning, she hadn’t been wearing makeup—though it wasn’t impossible that the girl had done a quick disguise job while Shifune wasn’t around.

After all, last night, Chihiro had come home wearing this face.

And that was exactly why Shifune was using the phrase "this girl in front of me."

Because the moment she laid eyes on this Soyo, she caught a fleeting glimpse of panic on the girl’s face.

Even if this really were her granddaughter, there would only be one reason for her to be nervous—she must have done something she didn’t want her grandmother to know about.

"I just… had something to do today."

"Another one of those secrets you can’t tell Grandma?"

"…Huh?"

Nagasaki Soyo froze.

It took her a second to process what Shifune meant.

So… Chihiro really hadn’t told anyone about their agreement?

That caught Soyo off guard. But after a brief moment of thought… maybe it wasn’t so surprising after all.

That girl had lied to her, but she didn’t seem like the type to casually break a contract.

Otherwise, Soyo wouldn’t have mistakenly believed that Chihiro understood her—that they were kindred spirits, thinking alike.

But so what?

Shifune had already called her "Chihiro," which meant their switch had been exposed.

Maybe even Raana knows by now.

Then again, there was no point worrying about that anymore.

Taki had figured it out on her own—not even from Raana.

Sigh… Having someone impersonate me really was a stupid plan, huh.

"Well, if you don’t want to say, I won’t force you." Shifune let out a small sigh.

"You always have your own ideas, and once you set your mind on something, not even nine oxen could drag you back."

"Haha… I-I guess so."

By this point, Shifune was nearly certain—

The girl in front of her was definitely not her sharp-tongued granddaughter.

Her Chihiro would never stumble over words like this.

Her Chihiro was the kind of girl who could argue her into a corner so badly that Shifune would have no choice but to flip up her granddaughter’s skirt and give her a good spanking.

Yet this girl had barely spoken a few sentences and was already breaking into a nervous sweat.

There was no doubt about it—this was the real Nagasaki Soyo.

"Of course I know you. You’re just like your father."

"My… father?"

Chihiro’s father?

That was a name Soyo had never once heard Tsuzuki Chihiro mention.

Damn it… I want to ask so badly.

But as "Chihiro," wouldn’t asking about her own father be a little too stupid?

No. Hold it in.

"You haven’t finished your agreement with Soyo yet, have you?" Shifune chuckled, not pressing on Soyo’s weak performance.

"You’ve been running around so much lately, not even telling Grandma what you’re up to… Sigh."

"…Is that so?"

Soyo’s feelings were complicated.

She wasn’t sure how to describe her reaction to those words.

Truthfully… I do regret it.

She could have sat down and talked to Chihiro.

Asked her why she did what she did.

Why she was so determined to go against her.

But back then, she was afraid.

Afraid that the one person she thought understood her…

…wouldn’t understand her after all.

And when Chihiro had criticized her that day, it only reinforced her fears.

So she had kicked her out.

Locked herself away.

But even after I canceled our agreement… that idiot still kept doing things behind my back?

"Come on, it’s almost noon. Let’s go home, kiddo."

"Ah… Eh?"

Sigh.

Still need more practice.

Shifune held back a chuckle, though it wasn’t easy.

Thinking back to the first time she met Chihiro, she had to admit—if she hadn’t been the one to push the girl’s emotional buttons, even she might not have been able to recognize her granddaughter at first.

But this one?

This "Chihiro" was full of holes.

Though, of course, Shifune had intentionally chosen not to point out the biggest one—

Why was "Chihiro" forcing her voice when talking to her own grandmother?

If she brought it up now, the poor girl’s face might burn straight off.

It wasn’t like Shifune enjoyed embarrassing people.

Sure, back in the day, she’d gotten up to plenty of ridiculous things while butting heads with Awa and Tendo.

But she wasn’t that person anymore.

She wasn’t exposing this little act out of kindness.

She just wanted her granddaughter to have more people who could truly understand her.

To have friends who could anchor her, so she wouldn’t keep fixating on things she shouldn’t.

And, well…

She also wanted to save Soyo’s dignity.

It wouldn’t be easy to recover from being called out like this in public.

Besides, after seeing Chihiro wear this face so often lately, Shifune couldn’t help but feel an instinctive fondness toward it.

"You haven’t eaten yet, have you?"

"…No."

Soyo felt a bit awkward.

She was hungry, but the thought of eating at Chihiro’s house made her uneasy.

"It’s fine. Raana isn’t home today."

"Really?"

Soyo’s eyes lit up.

Then she suddenly realized something.

She cautiously probed, "Grandma… why did you specifically mention that Raana isn’t home?"

"Oh?"

This girl’s got some brains after all.

Shifune was a little surprised.

"Because you were worried about Raana skipping the live show today, weren’t you?"

"After all, that live show is important to you, isn’t it?"

"You called me yesterday, saying you wanted to bring in another band to cover half of Raana’s set."

"I actually thought you had some kind of falling out with them."

"But your reasoning made sense."

"Going up there without a second song would be a mess."

"Otherwise, why would I have agreed to such an absurd request?"

"Ah…"

Soyo was panicking.

She really wanted to ask what was going on.

But if she asked, she’d be exposing herself.

Luckily, it seemed like Shifune hadn’t noticed her hesitation.

She just kept talking, dropping more and more unintentional intel.

Ah…

I really am a genius.

That sense of control… that confidence in knowing exactly how things were unfolding…

It was all coming back to her.

…Wait.

Hold on.

Chihiro’s plan seemed to be helping Taki and the others.

And it also seemed to align with her desire to stop Haruhikage from performing.

But this second band that suddenly appeared—

Where the hell did they come from?!

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait—

Don’t tell me… this is exactly what I was afraid of?!

A brand-new band…

With both Mutsumi and Mutsumi in 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!