“You scared me! What’s with the sudden reaction? Aren’t you happy that Mom’s back? Boohoo… Mommy is so heartbroken…”
“My precious daughter doesn’t want me anymore~”
Nagasaki Rina looked at her pajama-clad daughter, standing there in her slippers with a startled expression. She felt a little guilty.
As a mother, she really hadn’t been very present.
“A-ah… N-no, of course I’m happy you’re back, Mom.”
Soyo, still a bit shaken by the unexpected arrival, forced a response. But the real reason for her shock wasn’t just that she had been home alone—there was someone else in the house right now, someone with a rather complicated identity.
Besides, in the last timeline, her mom hadn’t come home at this point. Could her return this time already be affecting things in ways she hadn’t accounted for?
“Mom, have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet… but I spent the whole afternoon drinking tea with an important client at the office, so I’m pretty full from that.”
Kicking off her high heels, Nagasaki Rina shuffled barefoot across the floor and flopped onto the couch, looking utterly exhausted.
“Ahh… home is the best. And I get to see my precious daughter.”
“I missed you too, Mom.”
Soyo gazed at the mother who had sacrificed so much for their family, a trace of helplessness in her eyes. She knew that moments like these—where they were actually home together—were rare.
And happy moments always passed quickly. So quickly that by the time morning came, her mother was often already gone.
Sometimes… even faster than that.
“Huh? Why’d you wash all your clothes?”
From her spot on the couch, Nagasaki Rina had a clear view of the balcony, where every available space on the drying rack was covered with Soyo’s clothes.
“Huh?!”
Soyo’s entire body stiffened, her voice trembling. “W-well… the weather was nice today, so I figured I’d do all the laundry at once.”
“Then what are you going to wear when you go out?”
To Rina, it was just the usual motherly small talk—a bit of belated concern for her daughter’s daily life.
But for Soyo, it felt like an interrogation under a scorching spotlight, sweat practically forming on her forehead.
She couldn’t let her mother find out that Tsuzuki Chihiro was staying here. It wasn’t that her mother would necessarily object to a guest—it was Chihiro’s identity that was the problem. If Rina started asking too many questions, Soyo wasn’t confident she could lie her way through it.
Just explaining Chihiro’s background—her family situation, her school—would require some serious mental gymnastics to avoid slipping up.
Not to mention…
“Mom, are you heading out again later?”
“Heading out?” Rina blinked in surprise. “Don’t worry, Soyo. I’m definitely not leaving tonight. That deal with the client probably fell through, so my only mission now is to make my lovely daughter a proper home-cooked dinner.”
“And tomorrow morning, I’ll be taking you to school.”
“……”
It’s over.
The one thing Soyo had been dreading the most had happened—her mom was staying the night.
And the reason she was panicking? The bedroom that was originally her mom’s now had a different occupant—Tsuzuki Chihiro.
Who knew what weird things Chihiro had in that room? If her mom walked in and found any of it, there was no way Soyo could explain it away.
And worse, everything she and Chihiro had been scheming together—there was no way her mother would approve of any of it. The more Soyo thought about it, the more she felt like they were on the verge of being exposed.
“Ah, since I’m home, I should go change. It’s not great to still be wearing my work uniform at home…”
“Wait!”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Soyo?”
Her mother gave her a curious look, and Soyo bit her lip nervously before quickly coming up with an excuse.
“I’m hungry. Can we eat first?”
“Of course! What do you want to eat? I’ll make anything for you.”
“I want to eat—”
Before Soyo could even name a dish, her words were interrupted by the sudden ringing of a phone.
Nagasaki Rina sighed, already looking resigned before she even picked up the call.
“President? This is Nagasaki speaking.”
“Ah… the client is ready to discuss the deal now? Yes, I’ve been handling this project from the start.”
“Right now? But…”
“Mom, if you’re busy, you can do it another time.”
Soyo’s voice was calm, but her emotions were tangled as she watched her mother hesitate.
“…Alright. I’ll drive over now. Yes, understood. I’ll be there soon.”
After the other party hung up, Nagasaki Rina put her phone away, guilt evident in her expression. She couldn’t even bring herself to meet her daughter’s eyes.
She… really wasn’t a very good mother.
“Soyo, I—”
“Work is important. I understand, Mom.”
“…I’m sorry, Soyo.” Rina looked at her daughter tenderly, reaching out to gently ruffle her hair. “Next time, I’ll take a day off in advance. I promise.”
“But for tonight… you’ll have to handle dinner on your own.”
“Mm.”
With the sound of the door closing behind her mother, the once lively house fell silent again.
Soyo flopped onto the living room couch, the cushions still faintly warm from where her mother had been sitting.
“…This is what lying gets you, huh?”
She let out a bitter laugh.
It was just like Chihiro had said—once Chihiro had done everything for her, she’d take all the consequences upon herself and disappear, leaving nothing behind except money.
And now, Soyo was an accomplice. A liar.
Her mother hadn’t found out about Chihiro’s presence. That was what she had been hoping for just moments ago, wasn’t it?
So then… what right did she have to feel sad?
Soyo curled up on the couch, wrapping her arms around herself in the darkness as time quietly slipped by.
6 o’clock.
7 o’clock.
8 o’clock…
The time she had agreed on with Tsuzuki Chihiro had already passed by half an hour, and yet—
She was still alone in this cold, empty house.
“Why are you doing this to me too, damn it… Tsuzuki Chihiro…”
Staring at the time on her phone screen, Soyo couldn’t hold it in anymore. She started crying.
Her frustration, her helplessness—it all crashed down on her at once, tangled up with the knowledge that this was exactly the situation she had created for herself.
And on top of that, the hunger she had pretended to have earlier? It had become very, very real. Her stomach grumbled loudly, as if mocking her.
“Tsuzuki Chihiro… if you’re so capable, then don’t come back at all!!!”
—
T/N: hehe idk if you guys know this but Soyo’s fascination with CRYCHIC is basically because family and stuff and with it being broken up its like she’s being abadndonendasdoandnsd
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!
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