Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [155]

“……”

“……”

Ahem… “Sakiko, is it just me, or is your underwear a little tight?”

“…Ugh…”

You stupid cow, stop mooing over there!

Also, how did things end up like this?! Why was Chi-chan now wearing her clothes?! Not that she really minded or anything…

Except for the fact that her clothes were completely the wrong size for Chi-chan’s figure, making the whole thing look kind of ridiculous.

Togawa Sakiko was even a little worried—what if this girl rolled over in her sleep and snap—her bra gave out under the strain?

…That shouldn’t happen, right?

“Sorry. My dad caused you both so much trouble today. I really never expected…” Sakiko murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked at Chihiro sitting on the edge of the small, cramped bed, arms raised, examining the outfit she’d been forced into. “I never expected my dad to act so disgracefully this time, to actually harass—”

“Sakiko, don’t go jumping to conclusions. I never said your dad harassed Momoka.”

“…Huh?”

“To be precise, Momoka was acting a little weird today. She drank a lot, said she needed to go to the restroom, then stumbled out of the restaurant and ran into your dad on the street. She nearly threw up on him, that’s all.”

Of course, two drunk people running into each other and causing a scene that made passersby uncomfortable—that much was true.

And in the end, in his drunken stupor, Togawa Kiyotsugi had kicked a trash can so hard he’d broken it, which was the real reason he’d been hauled off to the police station.

Still, for someone like him to be Sakiko’s father… he really was a failure of a man.

No matter what, Sakiko was still doing her best to live her life. Meanwhile, he was a grown adult, wandering the streets drunk. Sure, from what he mumbled while wasted, today was apparently his wedding anniversary with his deceased wife.

But his wife was gone. He still had a daughter. Even if it was just for her sake…

“Either way, it’s my father’s fault.”

Sakiko shook her head. Even after hearing the full story, she couldn’t shake the deep disappointment in her eyes.

Adults who didn’t act like adults—those were the ugliest kind.

“Chi-chan, sor—”

Before she could get the rest of the words out, Chihiro covered her mouth. Sakiko blinked, her big, expressive eyes filled with confusion.

And Chihiro’s response?

“How many times do I have to say it? You don’t need to apologize to me. Why didn’t I realize before that you’re such a hassle?”

“……”

Am I?

Sakiko wasn’t sure what was wrong with her.

Whenever she was with Chihiro, it was so easy to let her guard down—to show her weakest side.

She never acted this way when talking to Mutsumi.

Even when texting Soyo, she always tried to come across as strong and unshakable.

“…Looks like I’ll have to stay over tonight.”

“Huh? Chi-chan, you’re staying?”

“Well, since you do feel so guilty, letting me crash here for a night shouldn’t be a problem, right? Or are you really going to send me home all alone at this hour? Sniffle… Sakiko, I can’t believe you were only pretending to feel bad for me…”

“I wasn’t! It’s just… my bed is really small.”

“That’s fine. We’ll just share. It’s colder at night than during the day, so we can warm each other up.”

“……”

Sakiko lowered her head, hesitating over something, but before she could respond, Chihiro smoothly changed the subject.

“I finished composing the melody for your song. Wanna hear it?”

“Really?”

Sakiko’s eyes lit up.

This song meant a lot to her—not just because she wrote the lyrics while Chihiro handled the composition, but because it was her first piece after leaving home.

The meaning behind the lyrics went without saying.

To Sakiko, a song wasn’t just about the melody—its soul lay in the story it told.

She’d never written music before. The only songs she’d heard growing up were the lullabies her mother hummed to her at night. Songs that had felt like blessings, created just for her.

Lullabies were simple, repetitive, almost monotonous. But Sakiko had loved them.

Whenever she couldn’t sleep, she would take the doll her mother had left behind from the shelf, hold it close, and pretend her mother was still there, whispering those same old lullabies in her ear as she drifted off.

Lyrics were stories. They were a way to pass on emotions.

And “Cutting Line” was her own form of storytelling—her attempt to sever the past and become the strong, unshakable person she aspired to be.

“…But I don’t have any instruments here.”

Sakiko had never seriously considered composing before, so of course, she didn’t own something like a keyboard.

She had thought about saving up to buy one, but… she still hadn’t found the resolve.

“That’s okay. I’ll just sing it for you.”

It was already past 8 PM.

After the whole police station ordeal, getting Sakiko’s dad home, cleaning up the apartment, taking advantage of Sakiko cooking dinner to sneak in a hot shower… yeah, Chihiro was starting to feel exhausted.

She flopped down on Sakiko’s bed without hesitation, kicked off her slippers, then—without warning—wrapped an arm around Sakiko’s waist and pulled her close.

“Chi-chan?”

“I don’t wanna wake up your dad. Whispering the song in your ear is the more polite thing to do, right? Even if he’s a mess… he’s still your dad.”

“……”

“Okay, here goes~”

Chihiro took a deep breath.

Resting her chin against the top of Sakiko’s head, she softly sang the opening lines of “Cutting Line.”

But something was… off.

The song was meant to carry a hint of sorrow, but her first attempt at singing it didn’t quite capture that feeling.

Instead, her voice felt warm. Comforting.

Which completely clashed with the original intent.

She had composed the melody with Soyo’s voice in mind. With Sakiko’s lyrics in mind. The song was supposed to reflect Sakiko’s emotions. But singing and composing were two different things…

Alright, fine. Chihiro had to admit it—she still preferred just playing guitar.

Singing? Yeah, better to leave that to Soyo.

But what frustrated her more than anything… was that Sakiko had actually fallen asleep in her arms.

Seriously?! Was her singing really that much of a lullaby?!

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T/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH A:READY SLEEPING TOGETHR SOYO YOURE GETTING NTRD

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!