Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 581

"Please wait a little longer, Matsueda-kun."

"I see." Jun Matsue lowered his head and took another bite of pudding.

Only when the store door behind him was pushed open did the boy raise his eyes and look at the smiling profile of the girl behind the cashier.

He wasn't deliberately distancing himself from his senior. The bar seat was located in an open area at one end, which was already the closest seat to the cashier in the store.

"Cough cough..."

A slightly affected cough came from beside him, and Matsueda Jun snapped out of his reverie—Miyamura Aya poked her head out from behind the coffee machine, winking at him.

"Brother Chun, are you going to buy a few special Christmas presents today?" she whispered to her sister Moji, who was standing with her back to her.

"..." The boy blinked. "Three portions, I guess?"

"Three portions?!" Caijiang's eyes widened with excitement, her voice almost inaudible.

"Who's the other one? Yang Shijie?"

Jun Matsue nodded.

The girl blinked at him hard, her expression as if she couldn't wait to jump over the bar, sit down next to Chun-ge, and listen to his gossip for two hours while holding a coffee.

"Cai Jiang, a latte and a hot mocha with sugar~"

"...They're here!"

A gentle voice sounded behind her, and Miyamura Aya finally suppressed her curiosity. She winked at the boy again and then went back to work behind the coffee machine.

After the two cups of coffee were taken away, two more women walked into the store.

The woman leading the group looked slightly older than my aunt and was dressed in unisex black clothing.

She greeted the girls behind the counter as if she were strolling around her own home, and then led her companion through the small door to the side operating room.

"...Is this the manager?" Jun Matsueda finished his pudding and pushed the plate behind the counter.

“That’s right~” Miyamura Aya put away the plates. “Let’s hurry up and leave before she comes out!”

She deftly took off her barista uniform. "Don't let the manager's cold demeanor fool you, she's actually quite talkative."

"She definitely didn't notice Chun-ge just now. If she sees you when she comes out later, she'll definitely bombard you with questions."

"Why are you asking me?" the boy blinked.

"Because Aya and I often talk about Matsueda-kun at the store." Yamami Maki, who was standing next to her, also smiled and took off her staff apron.

"So, the shop manager has always been curious about you~"

“…Then I’ll go wait outside.” Jun Matsue stood up.

Before leaving his seat, he patted the girl's arm behind the counter and made eye contact with her.

"?" Miyamura Aya tilted her head in confusion.

The boy glanced at Yamami Maki, who was tidying up her desk beside her, and then gestured towards his senior.

"...Should we bring the senior along too?" Aya asked silently, her expression surprised.

Jun Matsue nodded.

The girl rolled her bright eyes. She didn't say much, but simply patted Chun-ge's chest gently.

Leave it to me!

Turning around, she walked out of the coffee shop and stood under the eaves for three minutes—the glass door was pushed open again, and warm air mixed with the aroma of coffee poured out. The crisp wind chimes on the door swayed, bringing the sound of girls' footsteps.

Jun Matsue turned around and looked at the two people beside him who had changed into casual clothes.

The girls are all wearing wool coats with white scarves today—

Cai Jiang's light yellow jacket was a bit short, paired with a uniform skirt and thick white tights, showing off her youthful and invincible JK (high school girl) charm.

The senior student's coat was a dark matcha green, with a more mature style, and she wore a dark brown plaid wool skirt, revealing a section of her calves with a glimpse of her fair skin and pure white socks.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" Aya said with a smile, linking arms with Yamami Maki.

"Shall we go straight to the station?"

"Hmm." Jun Matsueda started walking towards Minami-Azaya Station.

"Let's go to Jixiang Temple."

Miyamura Aya, along with her older sister Maki, naturally followed beside him.

"Kichijoji? I feel like Koenji is more interesting?"

The boy glanced at the female senior who was "automatically following" him on the other side.

"There are many small shops and commercial streets in Koenji, but not many large shopping malls, so shopping there is not very efficient."

"That makes sense~" the girl nodded.

“Um…” Yamami Maki, who was being held by her arm, blinked.

"Is Matsueda-kun going shopping with Aya-chan?"

She had no idea about their plans; they were just going to the station together because they needed to take the tram home.

“Yes!” Miyamura Aya answered for her brother Jun.

"Since Christmas is coming soon, and we have to go back to the orphanage later, we thought we'd go to the mall together to pick out some gifts and do some shopping."

"Sister Moji, would you like to come along? You probably have something to buy too, right?"

"..." Yamami Maki hesitated for a moment.

She looked at the other side of the girl who was holding her arm.

"May I?"

“It’s just shopping together, of course no problem,” Jun Matsue readily agreed.

"But we might spend a little longer—you haven't started your vacation yet, right? Is the time okay?"

"It's okay," the girl smiled. "It's Sunday today~"

Having achieved her goal, Aya Miyamura took over the conversation.

"Do universities in Tokyo have holidays this late? I think high schools have holidays almost all the time."

"That's just how Ochanomizu is. They only take a break after Christmas, for a week."

"So short!"

"But spring break runs from February 1st to the end of March, a full two months!"

"That sounds pretty good..."

Listening to the girls chatting on the street, Jun Matsueda looked at the raised station entrance on the roadside in the distance.

He asked Aya for help, not to go shopping with his senior.

Before making the choice Miss Yuxiang presented to him, the boy had to carefully probe what his senior really thought about her family and what she truly felt in her heart.

An occasion like today's is a great opportunity.

A few minutes later, Jun Matsue stepped onto the tram first, pushing through the crowd to find a place for the girls behind him to stand.

He quickly stood in a corner of the carriage, shielding the girls huddled in the corner from the crowd behind them, and shook his head helplessly.

"There isn't a single seat available..."

Even outside of rush hour, trams heading to commercial areas are packed with people on weekends and during the year-end holidays.

"It's okay~" Yamami Maki smiled, holding her handbag.

"Anyway, we're only going two or three stops away."

The girl's smile was not as reserved and elegant as when she stood behind the counter; it was more sincere and gentle, reminding Jun Matsue of the warm breeze by Lake Ashi.

He instinctively wanted to back away, but the briefcase behind him reminded him that there was nowhere to retreat, so the boy had no choice but to embrace her gentleness.

"Luckily, there were still corner seats left for us. The carriage was quite warm. If we had been squeezed in the middle, we probably would have been sweating."

It was just a casual topic, but the smile on the senior's face became even more vivid—Matsueda Jun blinked helplessly and looked at the girl who was also huddled in the corner.

Miyamura Aya just chuckled and showed no intention of taking over the conversation, leaving the boy feeling even more helpless.

Aya is always proactive in helping him, and she's just as eager to assist the girls...

"Tsun-kun, you've been on vacation for a few days now, right? How are you feeling?" Yamami Maki seized the opportunity to continue.

"...Although I have more free time, it doesn't feel like enough; there's still so much more to do."

Jun Matsue smiled at his senior again—a smile that was both mischievous and bittersweet.

“I understand…” The girl’s elegant eyelashes trembled slightly. “Actually, things at school are the easiest.”

She quickly regained her graceful and gentle demeanor.

"There's still a month until the common exam, right? I saw on the news that there are more test takers this year."

The boy waved his hand, "It's only two or three thousand more people, it won't have a big impact on the level of competition."

"Moreover, the common exam is not very difficult. I don't do much common mock exams anymore. I mainly prepare for the University of Tokyo entrance exam."

"I'm not too worried about that."

Yamami Maki looked at him, a hint of pride in her upturned lips.

"Matsueda-kun has always been a good student, he'll definitely pass the entrance exam smoothly!"

Jun Matsuoka laughed, "I hope I can come back with first place in the entrance exam."

The tram swayed and stopped at Nishi-Ogikubo Station. The crowd outside the corner of the carriage had changed, but the feeling of crowding remained the same.

Seemingly noticing the fleeting complex emotions in the girl's eyes, Miyamura Aya, who was standing next to the two, finally spoke.

"We're almost at Kichijoji! I need to think about what to buy first~"

Jun Matsue breathed a sigh of relief. "Food and drink are the two most useful things when we go back to the orphanage."

He didn't want to see his senior looking down with such bitterness anymore, so it would be best if Aya-chan could liven things up.

"Buying some pretty little things wouldn't be bad, would it?" Yamami Maki's expression brightened even more.

"For example, stickers or cards, kids really like these kinds of things."

“Moki-neechan is very knowledgeable~” Miyamura Aya nodded in approval.

"I'm going to see if they sell Hokkaido cookies, I'll buy some to take back to the orphanage!" she announced excitedly.

"We went on a school trip to Hokkaido a few days ago, and the cookies we bought there were even tastier than Shiroi Koibito!"

“Aya went to Hokkaido this year too…” The girl looked at her sweetheart beside her.

The excitement of helping Tsun-kun choose travel supplies, the heartache upon seeing the earthquake news, the relief after confirming the boy's safety... these memories remain vivid in her mind.

“That’s right!” Cai Jiang said with a happy expression.

"However, our route is different from Jun's original one~ We went to Asahikawa and Lake Shikotsu!"

“The lake must be beautiful in winter~” Yamami Maki smiled.

"That's right! There are also hot springs and volcanoes..."

When the topic of school trips came up, Aya Miyamura became quite talkative, but the girl listened patiently—Jun Matsueda gazed at her gentle eyes and brows.

Recalling the fleeting bitterness in his senior's eyes just now, and seeing the joyful look in her eyes now filled with reminiscence, the boy couldn't help but purse his lips.

Tomatsu is looking forward to university, and Mochizuki is decorating his new home. As their high school life is about to end, they feel more joy and anticipation than disappointment and melancholy.

Only the senior student kept reminiscing about her high school days—not just because of their romance, but also because those were three years of vitality and freedom that, by a twist of fate, were barely hers.

Jun Matsue recalled the girl, Maki Yamami, who stood with her back to the summer sky in the school corridor, eating ice cream and revealing her youthful sadness to him.

"Hearing those words suddenly reminds me that I'm already an eighteen-year-old adult..."

Even now, having left her family and embarked on a solitary university life, what she cherishes most and feels happiest about is undoubtedly the nearly three carefree years she spent at Yuuki High School.

The announcement for Kichijoji Station rang out, and a large number of footsteps followed behind him. The boy came to his senses and happened to meet the gaze of the girl in front of him.

"What are you thinking about, Matsueda-kun?" Yami Maki looked at him with concern, her expression focused yet gentle.

Jun Matsue smiled. "...Listening to Aya talk about the school trip reminded me of what happened back then."

Whether it was sympathy or some other kind of affection that arose in his heart, the boy knew that he had started to care about the senior again.