“…They’re all gone.”
In the kitchen, Nagasaki Soyo stared at the washed but still-unstored dishes in the sink and let out a sigh that felt decades older than she actually was.
Now that she was alone at home, she didn’t even have the motivation to cook.
Cooking meant washing dishes afterward.
And washing dishes meant no one was there to argue with her while she did it.
So what was the point?
Might as well just eat instant noodles or microwave a ready-made meal—far less effort that way.
“…But if I think about it, maybe Chihiro had a point.”
“Maybe I do need to start taking that question seriously.”
About half an hour ago, while Mutsumi had still been sitting on her couch, Soyo had followed Chihiro’s advice.
She had continued pressing the issue—the question about that night in the rain when Mutsumi had said those words.
But it was clear…
Mutsumi had no intention of telling her the truth.
The light-green-haired girl had simply lowered her head, gripping the hem of her skirt with small, trembling hands, her whole posture exuding pain.
And the moment Soyo saw that, she gave up on asking.
Even the smooth-talking phrases Chihiro had taught her—she couldn’t bring herself to say them.
“This isn’t your fault, Mutsumi.”
“You always do the things I don’t want you to do.”
“That time, and this time… it’s all your fault.”
The instant those words surfaced in her mind, Soyo—who had been standing in front of the microwave—slapped herself across the face.
Lightly, of course.
But still.
She simply couldn’t bring herself to press Mutsumi for an answer when she looked like that.
So, in the end, they had left the topic untouched.
Instead, Soyo had shifted the conversation, showing Mutsumi around her home before escorting her downstairs.
“…That damn Chihiro, she’s really making more and more trouble for me…”
“Does she really want to get rid of that contract so badly?”
Ding!
The microwave let out a cheerful chime, and Soyo—who had already been itching to start her lonely dinner—carefully wrapped a towel around her hands and took out the steaming meal.
She sat down.
Out of habit, she sat in the seat opposite the one Chihiro usually took.
And when she looked at the empty space in front of her, her gaze turned a little forlorn.
“…If I were in her position, I’d probably do the same, wouldn’t I?”
After all, she had basically forced Chihiro into staying with her via a contract.
And on top of that, her employer was some obsessive weirdo trying to resurrect a disbanded band.
If Chihiro wanted to get this job done as quickly as possible and escape from this miserable, jilted woman’s home, well…
That was perfectly reasonable.
But the more reckless Chihiro’s methods became, the harder it was for Soyo to accept.
Even if she didn’t care about herself—
Just for the sake of never seeing Mutsumi wear that expression again, she had to punish that half-assed slacker.
Besides, things like this take time.
Resurrecting CRYCHIC wasn’t some overnight achievement.
Surely, it would take decades—
Cough cough,
A very long time.
And this woman really thought she could speedrun it?
“Hmph… I wonder if she’s already sitting down to dinner with her family right now.”
“Damn it… This food is so dry.”
“I need soup.”
—
“Come on, Chihiro, don’t just eat—try some of Auntie’s soup.”
At the Chihaya household, Tsuzuki Chihiro glanced at Chihaya Noriko, who was treating her with excessive enthusiasm, and could only smile and thank her for the hospitality.
Meanwhile, sitting beside her, Chihaya Anon seemed to be thoroughly enjoying watching her squirm.
She was already giggling like an idiot.
“Chihiro, really, thank you so much for looking after Anon while you were in England.”
“She talks about you all the time!”
“Now that I’ve finally met you, I can see it—you really are the perfect child in every way.”
“…Mom, you’re laying it on way too thick.”
“Am I?”
“Aren’t these your words?”
“MOM!”
Anon suddenly looked deeply embarrassed.
But at the same time, she also felt incredibly content.
Even though things at band practice had gone south again today…
At least she had finally gotten to invite her best friend over.
And—
Tonight, they were even going to sleep over together!
Just thinking about it was enough to make her too excited to fall asleep.
“Auntie, you’re too kind.”
“To be honest, Anon helped me out a lot in England too.”
“We took care of each other, really.”
“It was lucky to have such a great friend from home.”
“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Back then, I only knew that Anon had a good friend overseas—”
“But I didn’t realize that friend was you.”
“…”
Anon’s gaze suddenly shifted away, avoiding eye contact.
And Noriko, realizing she had touched on something awkward, simply smiled at her daughter and said,
“Of course, I can’t say for sure if you were actually doing well or not.”
“But having a good friend is always a blessing.”
“Oh, that reminds me—Chihiro, you came back for a performance, didn’t you?”
“Are you sure tutoring Anon on her guitar won’t interfere with your work?”
“…Uh.”
“Mom, stop asking.”
“Why?”
“I asked you before, and you wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“Honestly, what kind of friend are you, Anon?”
“Not even caring about what Chihiro does for a living?”
“MOM!”
Chihiro raised an eyebrow, watching the mother-daughter pair start arguing out of nowhere.
She felt… complicated.
And just as she was about to take another bite of her food—
Anon yanked her up from her seat and dragged her upstairs to her bedroom.
“…Little Anon, what’s all this about?”
“…”
There was something off about Anon’s expression.
Frowning slightly, Chihiro took a step forward—reaching out, just like she had back in England, intending to ruffle that fluffy pink hair to comfort her.
But Anon stepped back.
Out of reach.
And Chihiro’s stomach dropped.
“…Chihiro.”
“What is it, Anon?”
“…Have you been lying to me?”
“You told me you were a guitarist and vocalist in a band.”
“But I’ve been searching through every live house’s performance listings these past few days—”
“And I even looked up all the songs you played for me before—”
“But I couldn’t find a single band that matched.”
Anon’s expression was no longer cheerful and relaxed.
Instead, there was doubt—hesitation.
The past few days, her mother had been asking a lot of questions about Chihiro.
At first, she had just brushed it off, thinking her mom was being nosy as usual.
But then she realized—
She had only ever talked to Chihiro about herself.
She had always relied on Chihiro to help her solve problems.
But she had never once asked about Chihiro’s life.
And suddenly, she realized—
Aside from the memories of spending time together, she knew nothing about her.
Not really.
“…Alright.”
Faced with that wounded puppy look, Chihiro sighed.
“Guess I’ll tell the truth, then.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not a vocalist in a band.”
“I only said that because you wanted to be one.”
“I was in a band.”
“But that was in the past.”
“My name is Tsuzuki Chihiro.”
“My grandmother is Tsuzuki Shifune.”
“My cousin is Raana.”
“And my current profession…?”
She gave Anon a slow, pointed smile.
“I’m a dead person.”
“Because two years ago—Tsuzuki Chihiro was officially declared dead in a car accident.”
“There’s even a gravestone for me at Tama Cemetery.”
“If you’ve got time, why don’t you come visit my grave?”
“…What?”
“Don’t worry, Little Anon.”
“Our kind doesn’t haunt the innocent anymore~”
“AHHHH—STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!”
—
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!
Reader discussion
0 Comments
Be the first reader to share a thought about this chapter.