Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [188]

"Mutsumi."

"…"

"Mutsumi? Are you listening?"

"…Ah."

Wakaba Mutsumi snapped out of her daze, but her gaze toward Sakiko remained distant—almost as if she had no idea when she had left school, when she had finished talking to Soyo, or when she had even gotten home to see her childhood friend.

Simply put, she wasn’t present. So whatever it was that Togawa Sakiko had been saying just now… she hadn’t heard a single word.

"Mutsumi, what’s wrong?"

Sakiko frowned. She couldn’t understand why Mutsumi was acting so strangely today. She was used to her quiet nature, but this was the first time Mutsumi had outright ignored her.

"I…"

"Forget it." Sakiko shook her head, deciding not to press the issue. "I’ll just summarize it for you."

"I’m forming a new band. I’ve already invited several talented members, and now I just need you. I want—"

"Soyo isn’t in it?"

"…What?"

Sakiko was momentarily caught off guard by the interruption. But when she realized what Mutsumi meant, her brows furrowed slightly. "She’s not."

"Why not?"

"…Soyo hasn’t told you yet? She lied to you."

Sakiko wasn’t sure if she should bring this up. After all, she knew that Mutsumi and Soyo had a fairly good relationship.

But what surprised her was that Mutsumi didn’t seem particularly shocked. Instead, she met Sakiko’s gaze with an eerily calm expression and said,

"Soyo told me everything."

"E… everything?"

Sakiko swallowed hard, curiosity instantly sparked.

Last time, when she had gone to confront Soyo, she had been stopped by Taki.

And not only had she failed to win that argument—she had been utterly humiliated and forced to retreat.

It had been one of her most embarrassing experiences.

She had been played for a fool, then chased off by a backup monkey.

"What did Soyo tell you?"

"…"

Mutsumi paused for a moment before recounting everything that had happened between her and Soyo at school today.

How Soyo had approached her first, asking why she had said those words back then—why she had claimed she had never been happy in the band.

How she had been unable to answer immediately, leaving Soyo impatient enough to push for an open conversation.

Their exchange in the garden had been mostly one-sided. Soyo had spoken, and she had listened.

Just like now—Mutsumi was relaying, and Sakiko was listening.

But when Mutsumi got to the part where Soyo and Tsuzuki Chihiro had swapped identities—playing the same person to the point where Taki had actually believed they had dissociative identities—Sakiko’s jaw nearly dropped.

This… this was supposed to be the daily life of Tokyo high school band girls?!

And the fact that Taki had genuinely bought into that idea—Sakiko couldn’t wrap her head around it.

She just couldn’t believe that someone would actually split into a second personality.

"Sakiko."

"…Hm?"

"Do multiple personalities… really not exist?" Mutsumi lowered her head slightly, her tone soft and unreadable—somewhere between a question and a statement.

"They… probably do?"

Sakiko shook her head. She didn’t think it was worth considering—something like that was far too removed from her own life.

At least… the absurdity had only been a lie.

There was no real second personality, no actual identity split—just another one of Chihiro’s tricks.

But hearing Mutsumi say it like that made Sakiko start to rethink her perception of Chihiro.

That girl… was never who she had imagined her to be.

Maybe she had been performing—appearing the way Sakiko expected her to be.

Or maybe it was Sakiko herself who had placed a filter over Chihiro, projecting her own hopes onto her.

Either way, the truth was clear—Tsuzuki Chihiro was someone she had never truly understood.

And more than that, she wasn’t her bandmate.

She was Soyo’s bandmate.

"Soyo… already has her own band. If she’s told you everything, that must mean she’s let go of the past."

This time, the way Sakiko spoke about Soyo was entirely different from before—when she had still been unaware of the full story.

If, at first, she hadn’t wanted to invite Soyo because of resentment and betrayal…

Now, it was simply because they had become different people.

They had no reason to stay connected through a band anymore.

"Has Soyo really let go?"

"Why wouldn’t she?" Sakiko chuckled, dismissing the thought. "Mutsumi, are you going to help me?"

"Yes."

"…Huh?"

Sakiko had expected Mutsumi to refuse—to say something about how she still cared about Soyo, that she couldn’t abandon her.

But instead, she had agreed without hesitation.

As if the answer had already been decided long ago.

"Because I think you’re close to breaking, Sakiko."

"…Don’t say that like you’re above me." Sakiko felt insulted, as if Mutsumi was pitying her. Her foolish pride flared up again, making her feel as though she had been looked down upon. "The weak version of me is already dead."

"It died the moment I realized I couldn’t trust any of them."

"It died the moment I realized this is my one chance—to gamble everything I have left."

"I don’t have another choice anymore."

After throwing out those words to reaffirm herself, Sakiko sat back down.

And for the first time in a while, she felt the weight on her shoulders lighten just a bit.

With this, the last missing piece of Ave Mujica had finally fallen into place.

As she looked at Mutsumi—who seemed to be deep in thought—her own mind drifted even further ahead.

From this point on, she had to rely entirely on herself to manage and operate this band.

Their manager wouldn’t be providing much support, if any at all.

It was completely irresponsible, honestly. She hadn’t even dared to mention it to the others.

But it was obvious—her grandfather wanted her to fail.

He wanted her to be overwhelmed.

He wanted to crush her dreams from every possible angle.

But this time…

This time, she knew she wouldn’t lose.

An experienced vocalist who had already debuted.

Two guitarists—one with dual-handed skill and the other a beauty guru with a natural instinct for engagement.

A reliable bassist with over thirty band experiences.

And Mutsumi—who had never once let her emotions interfere with her playing.

Ave Mujica.

This time…

The advantage is ours!

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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!