Momoka hadn’t been lying—her house really wasn’t far from where they had all met earlier.
Tsuzuki Chihiro watched as the girls busied themselves setting up a home-style hot pot, dumping all the soup base and ingredients they’d bought from the supermarket into the pot. It gave her a strange sense of nostalgia.
Back in England, meals like this were impossible to come by. And even more than the food itself, it was the atmosphere—gathering around a small table with others, sharing a meal—that felt truly different.
However, compared to her own sentimental feelings, the girl sitting beside her—little Nina—looked as stiff as a board, her forced smile more awkward than the fakest grin Chihiro had ever put on in her life.
“A-ah… I still have some pre-cooked meat buns here. Everyone, feel free to eat some first!”
Perhaps sensing the weird tension in the air, Tomo and Subaru quickly stepped in, enthusiastically grabbing plates and distributing portions to everyone.
“Soyo, you should try some too.”
“Mm, thanks.”
“And here, this one’s for Nina.”
“……”
“Nina?”
“Ah, thank you…”
Even though they were in a familiar home setting, Nina looked like she was about to break into a nervous sweat. She took the plate with both hands, her movements overly careful—something that Chihiro found mildly amusing.
“So, what kind of music do you all like?”
Tomo and Subaru didn’t ask this question randomly.
Even setting aside Nina, Tomo had already noticed the bass case slung over Chihiro’s shoulder earlier, which meant that at the very least, they all had one thing in common—
Music.
And when you’ve got a group of people who aren’t all that familiar with each other, the safest way to start a conversation is to pick a topic that includes everyone rather than just a select few.
Especially when dealing with someone you don’t know that well.
“Huh?”
“You know, favorite bands, Vocaloid producers, or even just songs—you can talk about anything~”
“Since you were raised by your grandmother, I bet you like Showa-era singers, don’t you, Nina?” Momoka glanced at the absentminded Nina before shifting her gaze toward “Soyo,” who seemed perfectly at ease.
“But I’m really curious about Soyo—what kind of music do you like? I never got to ask before. And I didn’t know you played bass, either.”
“Me?”
Chihiro had actually been racking her brain for an excuse to leave, so she hadn’t expected the conversation to land on her.
“Well… I wouldn’t say I’m good at it.”
“Actually, we’re in a band,” Momoka said with a grin. “I got Subaru here to be our drummer, but you really shouldn’t judge her just by appearances.”
“Oi, Momoka, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“……”
As the three of them continued chatting, Nina suddenly found that the meat bun in her mouth had turned bitter.
That feeling was back again—the sensation of being quietly pushed out of the group.
It was as if she were trapped inside an invisible bubble, unable to truly connect with anyone else.
“I… I need to use the bathroom.”
The conversation came to an abrupt halt. The other two girls looked at Nina with puzzled expressions, but she kept her head down as she got up from her seat, not once looking back.
“Wait—”
Before Momoka could finish her sentence, Nina had already set her chopsticks down and slipped out the door.
Of course, she hadn’t actually needed to use the bathroom.
She had just needed to get out of there.
As if walking away from a crowd could somehow make her feel less lonely.
But honestly… no matter where she went, the feeling was the same.
“Hey, Nina?”
“Eh? Soyo-chan…?”
Hearing the bathroom door creak open behind her, Nina jumped, her body instinctively flinching like a rabbit spotting a hawk.
It made Chihiro want to laugh—but also sigh.
Unfortunately, neither “Soyo” nor Chihiro herself had the “right” to truly understand this girl’s pain.
“I just came out to use the bathroom,” Nina muttered, trying to keep her voice steady. “Um, could you leave for a bit?”
“You’re feeling out of place, aren’t you?”
“……”
“Momoka was going to come after you herself, but I stopped her. I figured… some things might be easier to hear from a total outsider like me.”
“Is that so…”
Seeing Nina looking so small and miserable, Chihiro didn’t press any further. Instead, she smiled gently and shifted the topic.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to ask Tsuzuki Chihiro something?”
“Eh? You mean…?”
“Yeah, I have a way to contact her. But you probably won’t be able to meet her in person anytime soon. If there’s something you want to say, I can pass the message along.”
“I…”
“You only get one chance, though. Don’t worry, I just… I just think she’d want to know how you’re doing, too.”
For a moment, Nina hesitated.
But somehow, hearing those words made her start to let down her guard toward the “Soyo” in front of her.
Maybe it was because, deep down, she really did want to ask.
For Nina, Chihiro wasn’t just some fleeting encounter—she was a figure who had left an undeniable mark on her.
Perhaps it was because, when she first arrived in Tokyo, the first “friend” she made was Chihiro. Or maybe it was because she saw parts of herself reflected in that mysterious girl.
“Soyo-chan… do you know about Chihiro?”
“Yeah, I know a little.”
“Then… do you think she really tricked me? Things like… liking the guitar, fighting with her family, running away to live alone in an unfamiliar place… Was she lying about all that, too?”
Maybe that was why Nina had never truly been angry about the money Chihiro had taken.
Because she felt like Chihiro understood her.
Chihiro had also wandered into an unfamiliar world—except unlike Nina, who was fumbling through everything like an idiot, Chihiro had seemed so much more reliable.
Or maybe… that was just the illusion left by distance.
Either way, Nina wanted to be sure.
She wanted to know if Tsuzuki Chihiro was really the scammer that Momoka had called her—if everything had just been an act designed to deceive someone like her.
“……”
Chihiro leaned against the bathroom doorframe, her usual smirk frozen in place.
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she fell silent.
For a long moment, the two of them stood there, backs almost pressed against each other.
Then finally, Chihiro spoke.
“She… did lie to you.”
“But she wasn’t lying about everything.”
“What?”
“She really did love the guitar. She loved music more than anyone else in the world—at least, that’s what that idiot herself believed.”
“But she didn’t fight with her family. She just… ended up further away from them than a fight could ever take her.”
“Further away…?”
Nina looked confused and was about to press for more details, but before she could ask, Chihiro cut her off.
“That’s all I know.”
“So, Nina—”
“Aren’t you going to tell me why you suddenly ran off to pretend you had a stomachache?”
—
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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