Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [173]

"Soyo still hasn’t come out…"

Standing at the entrance of Tsukinomori Academy, beneath the school’s signature grand bell, Shiina Taki paced anxiously. The moment school ended, she had rushed here—determined to find Soyo and clear up everything she hadn’t been able to explain yesterday.

But once they met, what was she supposed to say?

Taki hesitated, because no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t see a perfect ending. Even after discussing it with Tsuzuki Chihiro and agreeing to go along with her plan.

And the biggest reason for that hesitation was one person: Togawa Sakiko.

Taki had never hidden her dislike for someone, nor her admiration.

Back when she was in CRYCHIC, there had only been two people she truly respected—Tomori, who put her feelings into lyrics, and Sakiko, whose overwhelming musical talent made her feel both deeply inadequate and fiercely determined to catch up.

Tomori had never changed.

But Sakiko… it was like overnight, she had become someone completely unrecognizable.

Which one was the real Sakiko?

Taki had a feeling that the one who had drawn a clear line between them that night, speaking in a cold and distant voice… That was the real her.

Sakiko had never truly considered the members of CRYCHIC as her companions.

Playing in a band with someone like that—at first, everything might go smoothly, especially when it came to writing and performing music.

But the moment they encountered any real problems, the band would fall apart in an instant.

Of course, Taki’s current band was facing that very same problem. They were already teetering on the edge of collapse.

That was why she didn’t want to follow the same path as Sakiko.

Some things couldn’t be avoided. She knew better than anyone how pathetic and embarrassing it was to run away.

Which meant—this band couldn’t lose anyone.

If there were a thousand reasons telling her to help Chihiro and Soyo tear this band apart and rebuild CRYCHIC—

Then even if she couldn’t come up with a thousand counterarguments, she still had to stand her ground and tell them that their plan had been wrong from the start.

"Taki?"

"…"

At first, Taki thought she had misheard.

She had been pacing around for a while now. She had even seen Mutsumi leave earlier, and the two of them had exchanged a few words.

But besides that, there shouldn’t have been anyone here who would call her name.

Yet when she turned around and saw who it was, her expression immediately went ice-cold.

"Togawa Sakiko…"

No.

She had to stay calm. She had to keep it together.

If she hadn’t talked to Chihiro yesterday, she probably would’ve already grabbed Sakiko by the collar and screamed at her for daring to show up at Tsukinomori’s gates.

Even if she didn’t lash out, though, she made no effort to hide the disgust written all over her face.

"I need to ask you something."

"I need to ask you something."

Taki frowned. "You… asking me? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?"

"…"

"Fine. For Soyo’s sake, ask whatever you want."

Not that she was planning on giving her anything useful. Anything that Sakiko didn’t need to know—she wouldn’t say a word.

Just like how Sakiko had left without telling them anything back then.

"You guys formed a band, didn’t you?"

"Wow, what a revelation."

Sakiko was well aware that the girl in front of her was absolutely furious with her.

To be honest, she hadn’t come here for Taki at all—she had intended to speak with Soyo.

But now that she had run into Taki, she figured she might as well try to get some information out of her.

"Who’s in your band?"

"Hah?" Taki narrowed her eyes. Sakiko was acting as if just because she asked, she was automatically entitled to an answer. Her irritation spiked again. "Why would I tell you? What does our band have to do with someone who already left?"

"…"

"Who I play music with has nothing to do with you. Shouldn’t you be too busy playing your ‘commoner experience’ game to be sticking your nose in our business?"

"Taki, you—"

Why was Taki suddenly speaking in such a sharp, mocking tone? Who had influenced her like this?

She had always been short-tempered and difficult to talk to, but today, her hostility toward Sakiko was overwhelming.

"…I really don’t understand why they all like you so much."

Sakiko didn’t bother responding to that strange remark and instead asked the question that had been weighing on her mind.

"Is Soyo in your band?"

"…No."

"You don’t have to lie. I already know."

"What?"

"Chihaya already told me. Soyo is your bassist. Why bother hiding it? Unless… she’s been in on it with Tsuzuki Chihiro from the very start—lying to me all along?"

"That damn pink-haired idiot…"

Taki clenched her jaw, cursing under her breath. Of course Anon had ruined everything.

Even though Anon hadn’t known the situation, and her slip-up was probably unintentional…

Still, Taki really wanted to grab that pink-haired fool by the collar and smash her head into her snare drum until she cried.

But for now, she pushed down her frustration and let a slow, cold smirk spread across her face.

"Lying to you? You really think too highly of yourself."

"Soyo and Chihiro do have plans—since you already know part of it, I might as well not bother hiding it."

Taki had had enough.

She could put up with Anon’s constant mistakes. She could tolerate the wildcat’s sudden disappearances. She could ignore Tomori’s hesitation. She could even understand all the deception between Soyo and Chihiro.

But what she couldn’t accept—was the fact that Togawa Sakiko, the one responsible for everything falling apart in the first place, could just waltz back in here like nothing had happened, acting like she had the right to ask questions.

"Soyo already understands how this is going to end. But she still can’t let go of the past—the way everyone fell into darkness because of your words."

"So she turned to Chihiro. Hoping Chihiro could take her place as their bandmate."

"She never did this for herself. Everything she’s done has been for them. That’s where she’s different from you."

"…So that’s why Chihiro came to me?"

"I don’t know what she told you. But I do know this—stay away from us."

"Soyo doesn’t need your pity. And Chihiro doesn’t need you as her bandmate."

Sorry, Chihiro. Sorry, Soyo…

But I’m about to do something reckless again.

I’m going to ruin your plans all over again.

"…I understand."

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T/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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!