Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [142]

"Too much."

As she walked down the street with Chihiro after leaving Tomo and Rupa's place, Soyo suddenly noticed a new message on her phone. She froze for a moment before realizing that, at some point, a new account had been logged in on her device.

And the username—of all things—was the name of the stray cat Chihiro had recently adopted!

Wasn’t this basically treating her like a pet cat?!

"Wait a second, when did my phone end up in your hands? And when did you change my account?!"

"Oh, come on… I’m a bad girl, remember?" Tsuzuki Chihiro replied shamelessly. "I scam food, shelter, and lodging wherever I go. I’m a master of disguise, voice mimicry, lockpicking, and petty theft—basically a pro at all things shady."

"So, swiping your phone while pretending to hug you like your mom? Piece of cake."

"…You little—!"

"Alright, alright, don’t get mad. What’s the big deal? Besides, the cat Raana gave me is super cute, unlike you, who always scowls at me. You’re a maid, you know? Shouldn’t you at least try to look the part?"

"Either way, I’m changing this ID."

"Suit yourself~"

Chihiro didn’t mind in the slightest. She just liked getting a rise out of Soyo—nothing personal.

That said, even she was a little surprised by how fast Sakiko worked. She hadn’t paid much attention earlier, but now that she and Soyo had entered the elevator, she finally had time to check the lyrics properly.

"‘Cutting Line’?"

"What?"

"I mean the song Miss Oblivion-something sent us."

"…" Nagasaki Soyo frowned. "You have a friend who writes lyrics? Someone you met in the UK?"

"Why, am I not allowed to have friends? What, do you want to meet her? Should I call up all my old acquaintances and introduce you one by one?"

"…That’s not what I meant."

For some reason, hearing that she wasn’t Chihiro’s only close friend made Soyo feel a little… down.

She didn’t quite understand why. Maybe it was because, deep down, she believed someone like Chihiro—who made a living off deception—shouldn’t have other people she could call "friends."

And now, hearing Chihiro say this out loud, she felt even more uneasy. Because it made her realize… maybe she didn’t really know Chihiro at all. Maybe she was the outsider in Chihiro’s world.

"Whatever. Your friends have nothing to do with me. I don’t care who this Oblivion-whatever is. They can be whoever they want."

"You said it."

"I did. But… thanks for earlier. At Tomo’s place."

"Huh? Oh, that? It’s nothing."

It really wasn’t a big deal.

Before she and Soyo had left Rupa’s place, the four of them had mainly discussed songwriting responsibilities. But the biggest issue had actually been deciding on a vocalist.

Even though Soyo had been brought in by Chihiro, she herself had no confidence in singing. When she did a quick cover of a song, Tomo had immediately torn her performance apart with brutal honesty.

Just as Rupa was about to step in to defuse the tension, Chihiro had spoken up first.

Soyo still remembered how this girl had casually played a song that Benishouga had uploaded before, titled "Fractal of the Mind."

The moment the track started playing, Chi’s voice came from the speakers.

Later, Soyo found out that it wasn’t actually Tomo singing—the song had been made using her voice as a VOCALOID sample.

But in that moment, Chihiro’s sharp tongue was absolutely unmatched.

"Tomo, are you cosplaying Pikachu? Why does your voice sound electric?"

"Tsuzuki Chihiro, what the hell?! That’s VOCALOID! And even so, it’s still way more stable than Soyo’s performance just now!"

"Tomo, you do know Pikachu is a rat, right?"

"Uh… yeah? W-Why?"

"Don’t you know? Rats fear traps the most."

"…Hah?!"

With that one bizarre statement, the entire room fell into stunned silence—except for Chihiro herself.

As the one supposedly being "defended," Soyo had no idea whether to be grateful for Chihiro speaking up for her… or to be pissed that this girl’s mouth hadn’t been sewn shut yet.

But no matter how absurd her words were, the truth was that Chihiro had been standing up for her.

And in the end, that ridiculous comment lightened the mood. Because… no one could hold back their laughter.

Well—except Soyo, who still kept a straight face.

"Chihiro, while we’re dealing with Benishouga, what about Taki? And Sakiko?"

"Hm?"

Since Soyo had already agreed to stay at Chihiro’s place for the time being, the door they opened was Chihiro’s.

But barely a second after stepping inside and kicking off her shoes, Soyo turned toward Chihiro, who was already sprawled comfortably on the sofa.

"Taki and Tomori… Something about them seems off. This isn’t normal. Even if they had a fight—"

She paused, then added, "Also, Sakiko and Mutsumi already know I’m forming a band. Even though they misunderstood and think I’m leaving at the end of this semester… If they knew that Taki and Tomori had already started a band, there’s no way they wouldn’t have reached out to them, right?"

"Mm… That’s true."

"So why are you acting like it’s no big deal?"

"Why should I be worried?" Chihiro stretched out her long, black-stocking-clad legs, twirling a strand of her silky red hair. "If anything, they should be the ones panicking. After all, they only have one semester left."

"Otherwise, you’ll be leaving with regrets."

"…You make it sound like I’m about to be cremated when the semester ends."

"Cough cough. Don’t twist my words."

"You weren’t implying it?"

"I’m being serious here."

Despite her casual tone, Chihiro was also starting to find Taki’s situation a bit strange.

Tomori definitely wouldn’t reach out to her.

Anon… probably didn’t want to worry her, which was why she hadn’t come running to cry about anything.

Not to mention, there was no guarantee that anything bad had even happened to Anon. That girl, as long as she wasn’t being targeted or bullied, was usually a ball of sunshine.

As for Raana—she was probably more concerned about her older sister running away from home than about any band stuff.

But Taki…

Taki was the one she couldn’t quite figure out.

That somewhat clueless girl hadn’t contacted her at all these past two days…

"Maybe I should just call Taki right now?"

After all, if they were aiming for a full-circle, happy ending, fixing Sakiko’s situation through Benishouga alone wasn’t enough.

They also had to figure out what to do with Anon’s new band.

"Go ahead."

"Alright."

With that, Chihiro pulled out her phone and dialed Shiina Taki’s number.

The call rang for nearly a minute before finally connecting.

And in that brief moment, Chihiro immediately understood why there had been such a long wait.

"Is… Soyo? Or… Sakuyo?"

This girl—was she about to lose her mind?

Tsuzuki Chihiro shook her head in sympathy before shamelessly messing with her.

"It’s Sakuyo."

"…Sakuyo?"

"What’s wrong, Taki? Your voice sounds kinda off." Chihiro frowned. Something was definitely weird about her today.

"I… I fell asleep while writing a song just now. And I had a really weird dream."

"A dream?"

"Yeah…"

Taki hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to share it.

"I dreamt of you. Or maybe it was Soyo… I was standing outside a concert hall, and I grabbed Soyo by the collar. I think I was really angry."

"Eh?"

Chihiro blinked in confusion, glancing at Soyo—who was watching her curiously—and asked,

"And? What did Soyo say?"

"I don’t remember most of it… Just one thing. She said… ‘That's right’?"

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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!