Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [162]

How could she get everyone back together again?

It was an incredibly difficult problem.

Even someone as skilled at spinning tales as Tsuzuki Chihiro found it nearly impossible to bring these deeply troubled girls together and have them honestly open up to each other while maintaining complete sincerity.

Because, in the end, a lot of problems could be solved if people just talked—if they sat around a table, laid everything out, listened to each other’s feelings, and found common ground to reconcile.

Wouldn’t that be a great outcome?

But making it happen was far from simple.

The biggest problem was that these girls were still only first-year high school students.

Most of them were emotionally immature, only capable of seeing themselves and the one or two people closest to them.

More often than not, their biases against others overpowered everything else.

So, the idea of sitting down together and actually sharing their thoughts? It was practically impossible.

Which was why the only way forward was a lie—one that would allow Soyo to walk away unscathed.

Chihiro needed to use their sympathy to manipulate them into gathering, resolve the conflicts once and for all, and then find a way to remove Soyo from the equation entirely.

That was the best solution Chihiro could come up with.

Of course, she knew from the start that this method was built on deception.

Once the truth came out, everyone would undoubtedly be furious.

They’d feel hurt, betrayed.

But that was still better than letting misunderstandings fester forever, better than parting ways with unresolved resentment.

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that Soyo was the one who asked you to do all this? That she planned to deceive everyone by pretending to be herself?"

"Yeah."

"She… she actually did that?! Does she not realize what this means for Tomori—"

"Calm down."

"How do you expect me to calm down?!"

Taki’s voice was trembling with anger.

She had considered so many possibilities—what her dreams might mean, how Soyo could deal with her illness in the future.

But she had never once imagined that it had all been a lie.

That Soyo had never actually been sick.

Of course…

How could reality be so convenient as to bring her face-to-face with someone suffering from such a rare mental disorder?

She had been such an idiot.

Only an absolute fool would believe something like that.

"Can you cool your head for a second? Look at yourself!"

Chihiro intentionally raised her voice, using her own anger to suppress Taki’s outburst.

"This is exactly why Soyo thought she had to handle things this way!"

"I…"

"Are you going to listen to me or not?"

"……Fine. Explain."

Taki had completely lost the energy to fight.

Right now, she felt like no explanation could ever make her forgive Soyo for this deception.

"Let’s start with how I met Soyo."

"…I don’t care about you."

"Well, you’re going to listen anyway."

"Ugh, fine, whatever."

Despite Chihiro’s cute face, the way she spoke with such a cold, commanding tone was terrifying.

Even Taki found herself hesitant to push back.

"I won’t bore you with the details. Just know that I came back from England and had already failed at forming multiple bands."

"By chance, Soyo discovered my talent for disguise."

"One day, she approached me with a request."

"What kind of request?"

"She wanted me to take her place—"

"To be her when she wasn’t around, so that CRYCHIC’s members wouldn’t have to say goodbye."

"Because she knew none of you had truly moved on."

"And even more than that… she couldn’t let go of all of you."

"But because she was being forced to leave the country, she had no choice."

"She had to give herself up."

"At the same time, she also knew how much I wanted to form a band."

"So, she smiled at me and said—"

"‘Chihiro, would you be willing to play in a band with Sakiko and Taki?’"

"‘They’re all really wonderful people. They just don’t understand each other yet. But if they can find the right words… they’ll make it in the end.’"

"……"

Taki froze.

She had never expected this.

Yes, this was a lie.

A horrible deception.

But…

Soyo had truly wanted to bring them back together.

Her methods were obsessive, maybe even extreme.

But obsession…

Wasn’t that just who Soyo was?

She had wanted everyone to reunite.

For CRYCHIC to make amends.

She had wanted Tsuzuki Chihiro to find a place where she belonged.

Even after she was gone, she had still wanted her former friends to stand together on stage and play.

For that, she had written her true feelings into her lyrics.

She had even given up credit for composing them.

She had paved the way for the people she cherished most, hoping that one final lie could mend the months of broken connections.

She had wanted the friends who once fought alongside her to play music for Tomori’s voice one more time.

"But… CRYCHIC can’t come back anymore."

"And you’re okay with that? You’re really okay with that?"

Chihiro flipped the conversation, going on the offensive now that she had regained control.

"Soyo is throwing away her own identity for this."

"She’s desperately using this ridiculous method to bring you all back together."

"And yet, you’re just going to deny everything?"

"Even though you don’t know why a perfectly good band fell apart in the first place?"

"I… but…"

"Soyo had no other choice."

"She never expected you to believe she had multiple personalities."

"And she certainly never expected that her wish would fall apart because of it."

"She thought our plan had already been exposed."

"So today, she came to fix that mistake.""

"But you…"

"You refused to talk to her directly."

"You only wanted to deal with me."

"Have you ever thought about how that must have made her feel?"

"…So… Soyo was hurt by that?"

Taki’s voice was thick with guilt.

"Yes."

"She feels like she no longer has a place here."

"Like no one needs her anymore."

"Like this city itself… has no reason to hold onto her."

…Did I lay it on too thick?

Watching Taki’s devastated expression, Chihiro felt a tiny pang of guilt.

But this was for the best.

If she could get Taki on board, then she could pull the others in next.

They could put everything on the table, clear up the misunderstandings, and—

Then she’d find a reason for Soyo not to leave the country.

After that, she could step back.

Everyone would be happy.

It was the perfect plan.

"So, tell me—"

"Are you going to expose the truth and make Soyo into a villain?"

"Or are you going to play along until I get everyone back together—then figure out a way to stop her from going abroad?"

"I think you already know what the right choice is."

"Sure, lying isn’t great. But if it can bring about a good result, isn’t it worth it?"

"Even if CRYCHIC never reunites, don’t you at least want answers?"

"Don’t you want closure on what happened that night?"

"……I understand."

Taki exhaled, her hands clenched into fists.

"I’ll go along with your plan."

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T/N: step aside Ayanokouji frfr

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!