Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [104]

Will… Soyo come today?

At RiNG’s second floor café counter, Shiina Taki busied herself with small, trivial tasks, occasionally glancing toward the entrance.

Hiiro and the others had already gone to the recording studio for solo practice. Even Raana had shown up on time today—which, to Taki, was the most surprising thing of all.

Strictly speaking… Raana had indeed become more stable compared to before. At the very least, she showed up way more often now than when they weren’t even a band yet.

But… she was still unreliable.

And she still barely replied to their messages on LINE.

As for whether the most important person would show up today, Taki wasn’t too confident. But if it were "Sakuyo"… then maybe she would be on time.

"Taki, aren’t you going to join your friends inside?"

"I’m waiting for Sak—ah, for Soyo."

"Is that so?" Kasumi smiled and nodded, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "Your second song… you still don’t have one, do you?"

"That’s…"

Taki’s body tensed slightly at the question. "It’s not that we don’t have a song we could play, but… it might not be suitable."

Leaving aside the copyright issue that Soyo had mentioned, even without that problem, Haruhikage would definitely be too late to practice now.

After all, besides the former members of CRYCHIC, neither Anon nor Raana were familiar with the song.

That being said, Raana probably wouldn’t have much trouble. Taki had already seen her musical talent firsthand.

Even though they hadn’t had time to arrange the song yet, Taki was confident that Raana could quickly adapt it into a guitar version.

But Anon… was another story.

Just earlier, Taki had been a little concerned, so she made Anon play the rhythm guitar part of Hitoshizuku in front of everyone.

To Taki’s surprise—someone who loved nitpicking—Anon had indeed struggled a little while playing, but that struggle was only visible in her expression. The actual performance? It was already at a level fit for the stage.

Of course, that was only for that one song.

If they added another, Taki was genuinely afraid the pink-haired idiot would drop dead in the recording studio.

"Actually, I just got a notice. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you. I don’t know if it counts as good news for you or not."

"Huh?"

Taki looked up in confusion. Her nerves had been tightly wound for days, and Kasumi sighed at the sight.

Maybe… this wasn’t such a bad outcome for her?

Kasumi had sensed that Taki had been pressuring herself a lot these past few days. Sure, she would occasionally snap at Anon during practice, but it was clear she was making an effort to control her emotions.

But if she kept bottling it up… sooner or later, she’d break.

"The ten minutes you were originally given—where you could have played two songs—has been cut in half. The other five minutes are now going to another band."

"…What?"

"Taki, I honestly think this is for the best."

Before Taki could protest, Kasumi continued, cutting her off. "If you forced yourselves to play two songs without proper preparation, you know exactly what would happen."

"…"

"And that band apparently has connections to RiNG’s owner. This decision was sudden, sure, but the event organizers didn’t object at all."

"You know what that means, right?"

"Yeah, I know…"

Connections. What else?

And bands like that… usually weren’t that skilled, right?

It wasn’t exactly polite to assume that about another band, but still—it was their time slot that had been taken first.

…Fine. It wasn’t really a bad thing.

If anything, hearing this news actually made Taki feel more relieved. Even though they had all privately agreed to drop the second song, no one at RiNG had been able to bring it up officially.

Now, with this outside interference, the problem had resolved itself.

They should probably be thanking that other band, honestly.

"By the way, you and them are both substitute bands, and neither of you have an official name yet. So in that sense, you’re on equal footing."

"You get to choose the order—do you want them to go first, or do you want to go first?"

"Then… huh?"

Just as Taki was about to answer, she finally saw the figure she had been waiting for.

"Soyo?"

Now that Soyo had arrived, Taki felt like she had found the perfect person to discuss this with.

And judging by her outfit and the aura she carried today… Taki could be certain.

This was Sakuyo.

"Taki, long time no see."

"Huh? You two haven’t seen each other in a while?"

Kasumi’s question made Taki a little awkward. She knew… it had been a while since she’d last seen this version of Soyo.

Unlike the Soyo from a few days ago, this Sakuyo gave Taki a strange sense of reassurance the moment she appeared.

Maybe… it was the confident, composed smile she always wore.

"Kasumi-senpai, can we talk in private?"

"Mhm, mhm~ I won’t disturb you then~"

Kasumi nodded with a smile, taking the rag from Taki’s hand and picking up where she had left off in wiping down the counters.

Meanwhile, Taki led Chihiro to a quiet corner and sat down with her.

But the moment she sat, Taki found herself at a loss for words.

After hesitating for a while, she finally asked, her emotions a mix of complexity:

"Does Soyo… know you came to see me?"

"Ah~" Tsuzuki Chihiro raised an eyebrow, smiling as she spoke the truth. "She doesn’t. Actually, I don’t even know what she’s up to right now, since she hasn’t been contacting me."

"I see…"

"Taki, are they still practicing?"

"Yeah." Taki nodded, but for some reason, she felt like she was reporting on the progress of children to a father who had just returned home after a long absence. "Uh… can you come tomorrow?"

"…"

"…So you’re not sure either, huh?"

"Uh."

Wait, did she even say anything just now?

Chihiro had merely glanced at the menu, contemplating what to order, and in just three seconds, the big idiot sitting across from her had already started answering her own questions.

"Your situation is… kind of special. But don’t worry, no one knows."

"Oh~ Well, thanks, Taki."

Thanks for not letting Soyo experience complete social death.

But since the conversation had already gone this far, Chihiro figured it wouldn’t hurt to just roll with it.

After all, trying to perform on stage as two different identities in a tightly packed ten-minute slot and making sure no one noticed? That was pure fantasy.

"I won’t be able to come tomorrow. I came today to record my part in advance."

"…I see."

"Taki."

"Hm?"

"I trust you. And I trust everyone else. This live show… won’t be the end."

"And one day, Soyo will return to normal."

"I promised her. I can’t tell you the details, but I can tell you this—I will make sure everything gets back on track."

Hearing this, Taki initially felt a sense of ease.

But then—something about the way "Sakuyo" said those words struck her as off.

Her expression twisted in horror as she stared at the girl across from her.

"Wait… are you saying—Sakuyo, are you planning to kill yourself?!"

"…What the hell?!"

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T/N: omg im gonna kms i forgot if the other Soyo's name Sakuyo...

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!