Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [105]

"The atmosphere here… is really nice."

Tsuzuki Chihiro tilted her head back, gazing at the decorative lighting on the ceiling. Her eyes traced forward, stopping at the transparent glass walls.

This LIVE HOUSE that belonged to her grandmother—was it built after she left Tokyo?

Back then, she and Raana practically lived at SPACE, treating it like their second home. Now, even though she was sitting in her grandmother’s place, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t belong here at all.

"Sakuyo, what did you mean by what you said earlier?"

"Pretty much what it sounded like. Though you might have misunderstood some things, I wasn’t lying to you."

She really hadn’t lied.

She had simply chosen to mislead a certain idiot who had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

But in the end, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t Soyo, anyway. If this absurd "split personality" act could last until the end—if Soyo’s recovery could be the punchline to this whole farce—

Then it would be… the perfect con.

"…"

Taki, sitting across from her, didn’t see it that way. Or rather, she had a lot she wanted to say but couldn’t put any of it into words.

"Don’t think too much about it. You’ve got a show tomorrow, right? I won’t be on stage, but I’ll make sure Soyo rejoins you all starting next week."

"And what about you?"

"I’m not Soyo."

"You are the same person!"

"Cough, cough… If you say so." Chihiro let out a couple of dry coughs, then chuckled. "Also, Taki, stop making it sound like being in a band is some kind of horror story—like it turns people insane or something."

"Besides, that’s not even why I came to talk to you. Just now, I heard you and Kasumi-senpai discussing the order of performances, right?"

"So? What are you thinking?"

"…Does it really matter?"

Taki thought about it for a moment. Maybe she was pushing too hard. She couldn’t imagine what that day—the one Sakuyo had mentioned—would actually look like. But for now…

She could only stay silent.

"Forget it. Let’s go on stage last."

Taki glanced at Soyo as she spoke.

The real reason she wanted their band to perform later was the hope that, by then, Soyo would be there to watch.

Even just stalling for a little more time was better than nothing.

"In that case, let’s start recording."

Chihiro nodded. She didn’t really care about the order of performances, anyway. But as she stood up, something seemed to cross her mind, and she paused.

"Taki, do me a favor."

"What now?"

"Let’s use a private recording room."

"…What about Tomori and the others?"

"If they find out I was here but didn’t practice with them—only recorded by myself—do you really think they’d be able to focus today?"

"But…"

"Just tell them I was sick. Say I recorded this at home in my spare time. That way, they won’t suspect anything for now. As for next week… I’ll figure something out."

"…Fine."

With that settled, they quickly found an available recording booth.

But as Taki started operating the equipment, she noticed something was off.

She remembered Soyo being a solid bassist. If she weren’t, Sakiko wouldn’t have invited her into CRYCHIC in the first place.

There was something Taki had always been reluctant to admit—out of everyone in CRYCHIC, she was the only one who got in because of her sister.

But today’s Sakuyo was different from any version of Soyo she had ever seen.

Even the last time Soyo played, she made quite a few mistakes—but that was due to… outside factors.

Sakuyo had a clearly stronger mental fortitude.

So if she was struggling with recording, there was only one explanation.

Nagasaki Sakuyo… hadn’t been playing bass for very long.

Or rather, if Sakuyo only existed to comfort Soyo, then bass playing was probably something she had only just started learning.

Even so, Taki could feel Sakuyo’s talent.

Despite all the mistakes, she corrected herself quickly.

Unlike a certain pink-haired idiot, who would crumble the moment she messed up a few notes.

If only… Sakuyo was the real Soyo.

No, no. That thought is way too dangerous.

Taki took a step back, suddenly horrified by her own line of thinking. She nearly smacked herself in the face.

The idea of an alter replacing the original—that was beyond dangerous. That was a path she could not go down.

If the real Soyo knew she was being "optimized" like this, how would she feel?

But if Sakuyo were to just… disappear…

Taki had no idea what to do.

All she could do was close her eyes and pretend none of this was happening.

"That should do it."

"Ah… looks like it."

Though the bass recording for Hitoshizuku had been rough at first, the latter half had gone far smoother than Taki expected.

She didn’t say anything about it, though.

She just watched as Sakuyo put away her bass and hesitated for over ten seconds before speaking.

"Tomorrow… I promise the LIVE will go smoothly."

"Don’t make it sound so ominous."

Chihiro paused while packing up, then gave Taki a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Relax. Everything will work out.

Well then… see you next week."

"Yeah."

Taki felt like her words were clumsy.

There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t get them out.

Still, she had a goal now.

She couldn’t handle everything by herself like Sakiko did. She didn’t have extraordinary musical talent. She didn’t have Sakiko’s leadership skills.

But this was a second chance.

And now, she understood what Soyo meant that night.

She understood why Soyo clung to CRYCHIC so desperately.

Because…

She had never fully escaped the shadow of that rainy night, either.

Of course, these were thoughts Taki kept to herself.

Meanwhile, Chihiro was already hurrying out of RiNG.

All she wanted right now was to go home and get a good night’s sleep.

…Except she still had to practice that impossible song Momoka wrote.

Just thinking about it made her head hurt.

"Why am I so busy… huh? Wait—"

"Why the hell am I back in Roppongi?! Damn it… stupid muscle memory!"

Caught up in her thoughts about tomorrow’s LIVE, Chihiro only realized her mistake after stepping out of the subway—when she found herself right in front of Soyo’s apartment.

She sighed and turned back toward the station, ready to head home.

But before she could take another step—

Someone suddenly hugged her.

"Wh—?! What the hell?!"

"Huh?" The woman who had grabbed her looked puzzled, then quickly showed a hint of guilt.

"Are you still mad that Mommy had to leave early for work that day?"

"Huh?! My mom? My mom’s already—"

Chihiro almost blurted out, "My mom’s already turned to ashes," but she caught herself just in time.

She looked at the woman in front of her and hesitantly asked,

"…Mom?"

"Soyo, come on. Let’s go out for a big dinner tonight~"

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T/N: OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH BUT I MUST STOP TRANSLATING AHHHHHHHHHHH

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!