Soyo-chan, Version 2.0—Courtesy of Me! [77]

Tsuzuki Chihiro couldn't help but marvel—every time she visited Tsukinomori, its atmosphere always left her in awe.

The last time she was here had only been a week ago, but back then, her purpose was different. She had come to gather intel and mooch off their food, with her mind entirely focused on staying undercover.

Now, even though she was still borrowing Soyo's identity, her mindset was completely different. At the very least, she had no reason to believe that she—the master of the "Soyo persona"—would slip up in this situation.

That said, throughout the entire day, Chihiro had little interest in the school's curriculum. While she had been excited for the first couple of classes—having not set foot in a classroom for so long—her enthusiasm quickly turned into drowsiness.

It was like the saying "Gakusei Jidai Ni Modoritai"—akin to how some working adults dream of returning to their student days, when in reality, what they truly long for is the carefree life with friends, free from financial worries.

Throw them into hours of dry, academic lectures, and they'd probably struggle to stay awake too.

So aside from enduring her classes and fighting off sleep, Chihiro spent most of her time observing a certain girl sitting not too far from her—a girl with long, light-green hair.

Wakaba Mutsumi.

From the information Soyo had given her, Wakaba Mutsumi was a classic rich girl. Even at an elite school like Tsukinomori, plenty of students envied her family background.

Her father was apparently a comedian—one of the absolute top figures in the industry, according to the research Chihiro had done on her phone.

Wakaba's mother, on the other hand, was a well-known actress, Morin Minami. She hadn't changed her surname, likely because she was still active in the industry, where a name change might impact her career.

But none of that really mattered to Tsuzuki Chihiro.

What she was curious about was Wakaba Mutsumi's personality.

According to Soyo, even she found it difficult to grasp what went on in Mutsumi's mind—supposedly, only Sakiko had a clue.

But in Chihiro's view, a child's personality was always shaped by their home environment and upbringing.

Take herself as an example—she had always been independent and full of her own ideas, largely because her parents were rarely around, leaving her to grow up with her younger sister and grandmother.

And her relationship with her grandmother? A constant cycle of mischief on her part and the occasional scolding (or the dreaded spanking).

Strict as she was, Grandma's love had given her a happy childhood.

Raana was much the same.

Raana's parents were rarely in the country, and the two sisters' strong bond had formed partly because of that.

The proof?

Even someone as aloof as Raana had become Chihiro's closest family—so long as Chihiro, as the older sister, had been warm and open with her.

The reason Soyo and Wakaba Mutsumi were stuck in this awkward, neither-close-nor-distant relationship?

Simple.

Neither of them had been honest enough.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Chihiro checked the time before getting straight to the point.

She stood up, walked over to Wakaba Mutsumi, and said,

"Mutsumi, do you have time today?"

"…I have ballet class."

Not exactly a promising start.

Chihiro smiled, unfazed. In fact, she had just thought of a brilliant—if slightly shameless—idea.

She put on a bitter smile, let a hint of pleading show in her eyes, and deliberately sounded a little downcast.

"Oh… I see. I really wanted to talk to you about something."

Mutsumi blinked, staring at "Soyo" with a flicker of surprise.

Something about her seemed… off.

It wasn't that Mutsumi had noticed any difference between this "Soyo" and the one she knew.

Rather, from this tiny shift in expression, she felt an unease that hadn't been there before.

And before she could decide how to respond, Chihiro pressed on.

"Mutsumi, will you take a walk with me? Just for today."

"I…"

Tsuzuki Chihiro knew her acting was flawless.

By first stepping back, then taking a step forward, she made her request feel weighty—something that had been agonized over before finally being spoken aloud.

The implication?

That she had no one else to turn to but Wakaba Mutsumi.

That she was desperate.

And now, Mutsumi was faced with a choice.

Time seemed to freeze.

Chihiro could see the struggle in her eyes.

And in the end, the result… was exactly what Chihiro had hoped for.

"…Alright. I'll skip ballet today."

Soyo, Soyo…

Seems like you never noticed it, did you?

Compared to Sakiko—who barely even brings you up—Mutsumi's the one who actually cares about you.

Soyo…

---

In RiNG's recording booth, the practice session had completely fallen apart.

Even though there was still time before their planned dismissal, nobody had the energy to keep going.

Especially Anon.

She felt like… this was all her fault.

Watching the door that Taki had walked out of, seeing Soyo sitting on the floor with her head down, lost in thought—she knew she had to do something.

But before she could, it seemed like a certain stray cat had yet to play her part.

Under the curious gazes of Anon and Tomori, Raana silently glanced at Soyo, then put down her guitar and slowly walked up to her.

And delivered the final, crushing blow.

"Soyo-neesan, can I visit my sister at your house tonight?"

Her tone was completely different from the usual carefree, guitar-obsessed Raana.

But the sheer devastation this sentence inflicted?

Yeah.

That was definitely still the same old annoying cat.

Soyo's head shot up, her expression stunned as she stared at Raana in disbelief.

She had never wanted so badly for Raana to just run away like she always did.

…Wait.

Suddenly, something clicked.

If she'd heard correctly, Raana had just referred to the "sister" at her house.

Which meant—

She was talking about Tsuzuki Chihiro.

Soyo finally understood.

She finally realized why Chihiro had seemed so distracted since yesterday.

Because she had already made up her mind to face her real family.

And the place she had chosen to go…

Was Raana's home.

In fact, in the near future, Chihiro would slowly disappear from Soyo's life altogether.

Once the contract between them was fulfilled, there would be no reason left for her to stay.

But…

What if Soyo used that contract against her?

An idea suddenly took root in Nagasaki Soyo's mind.

A very bold idea.

---

T/N: SOYO YOU'RE BEING DUMB WHY WOULD RAANA NEED TO ASK TO SEE HER SISTER IF HER SISTER IS GOING TO HER ALREADY????? U KEEP MAKING THINGs WORSE