Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [167]

Sakiko felt like this entire week had been nothing but chaos.

Ever since she started this job, it seemed like every single day something unexpected had happened. On her very first day, she met Chihiro… well, that wasn’t too bad. In fact, it had been a pretty good start.

But after that? Not a single day had gone smoothly.

On the second day, Taki came by and scolded her out of nowhere. Sakiko had no idea what she had done to deserve it, and she was too frustrated to even bother asking.

Then, on the third day, before she could even get to work, she was stopped by Mutsumi at the school gates—only to find out that something had happened to Soyo.
Of course, that also meant she was late for work that day. Luckily, the manager hadn’t made a big deal out of it.

The fourth day—just last night—had been even worse. Her useless father had gotten himself into trouble again, forcing her to leave early and make a trip to the police station. And to top it all off, she had run into Chi there as well.

Four days in a row… not once had she been able to properly focus on her job.

But surely things had to start looking up now, right? There couldn’t be anything worse waiting for her.

Togawa Sakiko refused to believe that she was doomed to never complete a full shift without some kind of disaster pulling her away.

There was no way her luck was that bad. She was due for a break.

"Sakiko? Sakiko?"

"Ah… Azuki-san."

Kujo Azuki looked at her with concern. "You okay? You’ve seemed a little off ever since you got here today."

"Sorry…" Sakiko apologized with a guilty expression. She knew she had been a pretty terrible employee lately. "I’ve had a lot of personal issues lately. I must’ve been causing you trouble, Azuki-san."

"It’s fine."

Honestly, she had expected a rich girl like Sakiko to come with baggage. What kind of real upper-class lady would willingly work in a place like this?

At the end of the day, she was basically just babysitting two rich girls, serving as their supervisor in name only.

But still… Kujo Azuki couldn’t shake the feeling that Sakiko was hiding something.

And not just from her—but from everyone around her.

If she hadn’t already known about Sakiko’s background, she would’ve never guessed it just from the way she acted. The girl carried herself like a well-mannered, disciplined young lady, completely unlike the typical spoiled heiress.

"Azuki-san… why haven’t you fired me?"

"Huh?"

"I’m not exactly irreplaceable, am I? My performance has been all over the place, but you’ve never really called me out on it."

"Well…"

"…"

Sakiko’s expression darkened. A thought had suddenly come to her—something that made far too much sense.

The name of this café… and the fact that "Tsuzuki" and "Touzuki" were so similar…

Could it be that the only reason she had this job was because of Chihiro?

So this had nothing to do with her own abilities?

Was everything she had right now just handed to her because of Chi’s connections?

Sakiko bit her lip. She felt like she had been tricked by everyone around her.

"It’s because of Tsuzuki Chihiro, isn’t it?"

In the end, she had to ask. Though her voice was steady, her eyes wavered slightly.

"Sakiko, you—"

"Just answer me."

"It’s not," Kujo Azuki replied. She wasn’t lying—Chihiro hadn’t actually been involved in any of this.

But Sakiko didn’t believe her.

She had already convinced herself that this was the truth.

In her mind, everything she had worked for—all the things she thought she had achieved on her own—had just been handouts.

She felt like a joke.

She had truly believed that, with luck and effort, she was finally carving out a life for herself. That she had glimpsed a future where she could break free from her circumstances.

But in reality, it had all been an illusion.

If not for Chihiro, she would still be stuck in that customer service job, scraping by on meager wages, struggling just to keep her useless father afloat.

Wait… then why did Chi… yesterday…

"Sakiko."

"…Eh?"

Her spiraling thoughts were abruptly cut off by a voice.

But it wasn’t Azuki’s.

It was…

Togawa Teiji.

Or rather, the one person Sakiko had been dreading to see the most—her grandfather.

The moment she saw that cold, scrutinizing gaze—one that made his next words all too obvious—she instinctively stepped back.

Her foot caught on the leg of a chair, and she stumbled, nearly falling backward.

Luckily, she hit the wall behind her before she could actually hurt herself.

"Grandpa…"

"Have you had enough fun yet?"

Teiji scoffed, his voice filled with disdain. "I heard your father was thrown into the police station again yesterday. Tch… utterly disgraceful."

"How long do you plan on being this stubborn? That man is no longer part of this family. Do you seriously think he’s going to turn his life around?"

"No…"

That’s not it.

Sakiko knew her father wasn’t someone the family could rely on. She knew he had been a disappointment.

But abandoning family—that was something she could never accept.

What she couldn’t forgive wasn’t just her father’s failures.

It was the fact that neither her grandfather nor her father seemed to care about "family" anymore.

For years, she, her father, and her mother had lived together. Built a home together.

A warm, happy home filled with love.

She had grown up believing in fairy tales. That families were meant to stay together. That no matter how hard things got, they would always support one another.

That’s what she had been taught—through bedtime stories, through school lessons, through her teachers’ words.

But overnight, everything had changed.

The adults had ripped off their masks, revealing their true faces.

"So you still refuse to accept reality? Do you honestly think you can live happily with that useless father of yours?"

"A grown man, mooching off his own daughter’s salary—wasting it on alcohol, getting drunk, making a scene in public… he’s nothing but a disgrace to our family."

"…"

Kujo Azuki stood frozen, completely panicked.

Had she just walked into a massive corporate scandal?!

Crap. Crap. Am I gonna get dumped into Tokyo Bay for overhearing this?!

"But there’s one thing I didn’t expect," Togawa Teiji continued, his tone amused. "Seems like Tsuzuki gave you quite the generous work conditions. No wonder you got the wrong idea."

"Apologies, Sakiko. I know the truth is a little harsh, but…"

"This little runaway game of yours? It ends today."

"…What?"

So her job really was arranged by Tsuzuki Chihiro.

And it had all been her grandfather’s idea?

"Grandpa… so you knew Chihiro all along?!"

"Of course. She’s Shifune’s granddaughter," Teiji said matter-of-factly. "She’s the girl I had planned to introduce you to.

"Though, I didn’t expect you two to already be acquainted.

"But since you do know Chihiro, then surely you understand, don’t you?

"This so-called band nonsense—it’s just a game for children.

"Chihiro must have told you that herself, hasn’t she?"

"Lies."

So Chihiro—no, Tsuzuki Chihiro—had been lying to her all along?

She had known everything from the start.

She had only gotten close to Sakiko because of her grandfather’s orders.

Sakiko sank into a chair, her strength drained.

She suddenly wanted to forget everything.

---

T/N: GHAHHH WHY

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!