Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"No need." Yosuke Kurusu picked up the milk and took a big gulp, licking his lips with an energetic and tempting gesture.

"I'm not some weakling who has to lie in bed for half the day every time I go to work. I'll start yoga and vocal exercises later—after all, I'll be going back to work in a couple of days!"

"Then take care of yourself, Laixi." The boy hugged her from behind and walked towards the entrance.

"I'll try to come back to be with you as soon as possible."

As he walked out of the apartment building, watched by the idol, Jun Matsueda pulled up his collar to block out the cold air. He pushed his bicycle out of the apartment building and headed towards the intersection.

He took out his phone to check the message, then hopped on his bicycle and rushed into the cold wind after the snow melted, still feeling the lingering warmth on his body.

—When he got up this morning, the first thing he saw was a message from his senior, and then while he was washing up, he received a notification that Mochizuki was leaving to return to Tokyo.

Unexpectedly, Mochizuki and the others didn't sleep in today... Matsueda Jun parked his bicycle in front of Kugayama Station.

It wasn't cold when it snowed, but it was cold when the snow melted. The crowd at the station entrance was all bundled up tightly. The boy glanced back at the damp pavement outside the station and took out his phone in the warm breeze of the passageway.

"I've already set off and will be at my senior's apartment in half an hour."

"Thank you for your help, Jun-kun." Yamami Maki replied quickly this time, "I'll probably be a little late."

"Kokoro will be coming too, you should see her first—you all have keys to my apartment, just go in first."

"And what about Kokoro Kuroba?" Jun Matsueda blinked as he boarded the train and found a corner with few female passengers to sit down.

"Did you come back alone, senior?" he continued to ask on his phone.

"No, my sister drove me—besides the two of us, there was only my luggage in the car."

Luggage... The boy put down his phone and looked up. The two girls who were secretly watching him from the opposite seat looked away in alarm.

My senior went straight home from Tokyo Daijingu Shrine, and of course she didn't have any luggage when she left—the so-called "luggage" was probably something she left at her family home or her own house.

Since the girl was able to return to the apartment, it means that the final outcome will definitely favor her.

Matsueda Jun originally thought his senior would be "left with nothing," but now she even has luggage. He doesn't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, we'll find out soon enough... He exhaled lightly, extinguishing the restless enthusiasm of the girls opposite him.

Half an hour later, the boy walked out of Higashi-Nakano Station and soon saw Kuroba Shin with her hands in her pockets and wearing a hoodie at the intersection outside the senior's apartment building.

"Pine branch?" Noticing him approaching, the petite girl, whose face had been stern in the shadow of her hat brim, immediately relaxed.

"You came here on your own too?"

"You came by yourself?" Jun Matsue paused for a moment, then nodded calmly.

“I heard from my senior that she had finished talking with her family, so I came to check on her.”

It seems the senior didn't ask Kokoro for "help"...

Kuroba nodded in satisfaction, "You've got a conscience after all. Maki's feelings for you weren't for nothing."

The boy walked up and stood beside her—the girl's hands were empty, and there was no game console in the pocket of her oversized hoodie, which was quite unusual.

"Where did Kokoro-chan come from?" Jun Matsueda asked casually. "Is your family headed in Tokyo?"

“I came from my hometown in Saitama City!” Kuroba Shin replied irritably.

“I was still celebrating the New Year with my grandma and the others, but then the news spread that Maki was leaving the Yami family. I called her last night and rushed back early this morning.”

As the girl was speaking, she suddenly curled her lips and showed a look of disgust.

Why are you looking at me with such soft, pleading eyes?

"It's nothing," the boy smiled.

He would never admit that he was moved on behalf of his senior.

"So, the news about the senior has already spread throughout your circle?"

"It hasn't gotten to that point yet," Kuroba Shin frowned slightly. "Our family just has a good relationship with their family."

"But it's only a matter of time before word gets out..."

She waved her hand in front of her face, whether to ward off the cold wind or to drive away flies that weren't actually there, it was unclear.

Matsueda Jun pursed his lips—it seemed that more had happened than he had imagined during the past two days when his senior had been out of touch with him.

"Should we go up first?" the boy suggested.

"My senior definitely doesn't want to see the two of us standing in the cold wind on the roadside when she gets home."

Kuroba Shin pouted and turned to walk towards the alley behind her.

"Then let's go up."

The sound of two footsteps echoed in the low-rise apartment building. The light in room 404 was quickly turned on. Jun Matsue put the spare key that his senior had given him back into his pocket, and watched as the girl beside him took off her hood and strode into the bedroom.

Hei Yuxin quickly carried the large birdcage back to the living room—the cockatiel, which hadn't seen anyone for two days, was jumping around in the cage, chirping happily.

"Luckily, Maki left some food, so Aoi didn't go hungry." The girl opened the cage and grabbed the yellow chick that jumped into her hand.

"This guy needs a shower."

Jun Matsue smiled and said, "Let's wait for my senior to come back and give it a bath."

As he spoke, he glanced at the living room—the room had changed little compared to when he last visited; the Christmas-themed red and green checkered tablecloth was still on the kotatsu table, just like in the photos his senior had sent him.

However, the Christmas wreaths hanging on the wall were gone, replaced by "mirror cakes" placed next to the stove—two rice cakes, one large and one small, topped with an orange, a decoration for welcoming the New Year in neon.

The senior student still values ​​the sense of ritual for holidays... The boy thought to himself, when he heard a sigh from the living room.

"I'm so afraid that Maki will turn into Aoi..."

Jun Matsue turned his head and looked at the girl who was leaning against the wall, teasing the parrot in her hand.

"What does it mean?"

"It means exactly what it says." Kuroba Shin looked at the little bird perched on her finger and poked its little head.

"Parrots are so cute, they love to hop around outside their cages."

"But in the end, this house is just a bigger cage for it—"

The girl raised the bird in her hand, letting the grayish sunlight from the stove window fall on its tender yellow feathers.

The cockatiel, with a bewildered look in its eyes, raised its neck, flapped its wings, and chirped happily at the sky twice.

"It's so delicate. If it really loses its cage and runs into the city or even the wild—with no one to feed it or shelter it from the wind and rain—I feel like it will soon die at the hands of wild cats or crows..."

"So you're worried about your senior?" The boy smiled. "I didn't expect Kokoro to have this kind of motherly mentality."

"What do you mean by 'motherly mentality'!" Kuroba Shin glared at him. "Maki is about to completely break away from the family, of course I'm worried."

“I understand.” Jun Matsue took out the slippers that his senior had prepared for him from the cabinet in the entryway.

"However, I think you're getting a little too concerned."

"My senior has never been a domesticated parrot—her abilities and personality are undeniable, and she could survive even if she left the cage."

The rented room they were in right now was the best proof of all this—as the first base for the girl to face life alone, Yami Maki successfully managed it in an orderly manner and filled it with the fun of life.

"That's true," the arrogant genius girl snorted.

"In modern society, can't Japanese people with hands and feet survive?"

“But being able to survive well doesn’t mean being able to live happily—Maki is a very sentimental person, and she will definitely feel sad more after leaving the Yami family than she does now.”

"That's not the senior's fault for making that choice," the boy replied calmly.

"If she could live independently while maintaining contact with her family as she does now, that would be perfect, but it seems the Yami family doesn't intend to give her that option."

"For the current senior, staying in the Yamami family is definitely the most disappointing and least desirable future choice, isn't it?"

“…Hmm.” Kuroba reluctantly admitted.

“Besides, even after you left the family, you weren’t really all alone.” Jun Matsue watched her put the parrot on the stove.

"Isn't Kokoro and I still here?"

"..." The girl raised her head, her clear, bright black eyes staring at the handsome and composed face in front of her.

"So, you'll take responsibility for Maki's choice to be alone?"

"Yes, I will." The boy answered without much hesitation.

"After all, it was my influence on my senior that led her to make this choice."

“That answer isn’t enough to make Maki happy,” Kuroba Shin snorted again.

"Can't you just take full responsibility for her already?"

Jun Matsue smiled compliantly—their phones rang almost simultaneously, one after the other, interrupting their conversation.

"I've arrived at the apartment."

Leaving the room and going down the stairs, they soon met Yamami Maki at the bottom of the apartment building.

The girl was dressed the same as she had been for the first shrine visit two days ago, but her expression was noticeably less energetic, like a white plum blossom in a valley after a snowfall, with a pitiful and haggard look.

Yamami Maki carried her bag in one hand and waved to the boy walking towards her with the other, a faint smile on her face.

"We met again successfully!"

She then looked at the girl beside her, "Happy New Year, Kokoro~ Thank you for coming to see me so quickly."

"It's nothing." Hei Yuxin blinked and looked at the woman behind her who opened the car door.

"What's Maki's situation now?"

Ikuka Yamami slammed the car door shut, and facing the young boy and girl, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Moki’s household registration is still with our family. She is still nominally a member of the Yamami family.”

It seems the Yami family still has some humanity... Matsueda Jun's tense shoulders relaxed a bit as he looked at the serene-looking senior in front of him.

"and then?"

“In fact, Maki has already been expelled from the Yamami family.” The woman gently hugged her younger sister from behind.

"She has been forbidden from entering or leaving the family compound, including family activities and social occasions. We younger family members have all been warned that we are strictly prohibited from discussing family matters when we come into contact with her in the future."

“Actually, the impact isn’t that big…” Yamami Maki smiled in her sister’s arms.

“From now on, when I go to Denny’s studio, I will just be a regular customer.”

The boy blinked. "Denny's studio was the studio where the No. 2 band practiced back then."

Back then, the senior student even used the camera in her room to spy on him, but she probably couldn't do that now.

"And..." The forced smile on the girl's face faltered.

"I've already returned the house key to my father. If I want to come home in the future, I'll have to ask my parents for permission in advance."

Jun Matsue paused in his breathing.

This statement carries far more weight than the previous ones.

If someone has to report to and apply to their relatives every time they go home, then it's hard to call them family.

“Actually, I don’t go home very often after I go to university. Your older brother and I were the same way back then…” Yamami Ikuka comforted her as she pressed the car keys in her hand.

"Let's get the luggage upstairs first."

The boy looked at the minivan with its trunk open behind them—Miss Yuxiang had changed her car today.

"What luggage?" Kuroba Shin asked for him from the side.

Yamami Maki took a deep breath and smiled.

"It's something I keep at home—"

"Clothes, books, certificates, musical instruments, toiletries..."

As she spoke, she lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

“‘Since you’re treating this rented room as your home, then you might as well take everything you left here with you,’ that’s what my father said.”

Matsueda Jun pursed his lips—Yamami Kazuaki, that guy, is really stubborn to the core.

"Don't be angry with me, Chun-kun." The girl in front of him smiled considerately.

"I think my father also wanted me to understand what my decision really meant."

"Grandpa also said that as long as I haven't changed my surname, I can always go home whenever I want to change my mind."

—For Japanese women, changing their surname means getting married and changing their registered residence. Since Yamami Maki is married, she is no longer considered a member of the Yamami family.