Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"Yes, Tomatsu knitted one for me before, and I should definitely wear it now."

"..." She turned her head to the side and glanced at the boy who was staring straight ahead with a hint of resentment.

Who asked you that?

Was it because I offered to send Jun-kun away that he said that on purpose?

The girl suddenly felt a little resentful towards her childhood friend who had given her advice. She gently kicked a pebble at her feet and watched it hit the curb.

The boy walking down the street turned around—the self-service laundromat that his senior had mentioned was just at the other end of the intersection behind them, and the vending machines under the eaves were shiny and the colors were indeed very pretty.

"Now that the weather is cold, won't it be hard to run downstairs to do laundry?"

"Hmm?" His question drew the girl's attention. "Actually, it's alright."

"I would be a little reluctant to go downstairs specifically to do it—but we do go out quite often during the day anyway."

"I can do the laundry while I'm out shopping, or I can stroll around the neighborhood while waiting for the laundry to finish, or have a hot cocoa at a coffee shop..."

Yamami Maki smiled at the boy, "If you think about it this way, even if you have to carry a heavy basket of dirty laundry downstairs, you'll still have a lot of motivation~"

"..." The thought flashed through Jun Matsueda's mind that his senior was really suited to managing a household.

That's what he thought when they first started dating.

The boy carried his schoolbag in one hand and put the other hand in his pocket, feeling for his coin purse.

His coin purse, which he had used for more than two years, still had a smooth leather surface, was warm from his body heat, and felt great to the touch.

Perhaps Jun Matsueda already felt this way when his senior was choosing a coin purse for him.

The boy turned his head to look at the girl beside him.

The senior student's figure was concealed by the oversized black down jacket, making her appear exceptionally petite—like the adorable parrot that had been happily swaying on the kotatsu table earlier.

"Senior."

"Hmm?" Yamami Maki turned her head, her gentle eyes filled with his figure.

"When your aunt came to visit you, didn't she ask you why you decided to run away from home?" He dug out a deeper question from his mind.

Actually, this question doesn't mean much to Jun Matsue.

The Yami family would definitely suspect that he had abducted their youngest daughter—and confirming such a suspicion would only increase some invisible weight in his heart.

But faced with Yami Maki, who had changed so much yet was still familiar to him, the boy couldn't help but want to understand his senior's heart.

Running away from home, stumbling and struggling to live alone, while also facing her parents' incomprehension and questioning...

Has her sincerity never wavered even slightly?

"..." Yamami Maki blinked. "Of course I asked."

The collar of her down jacket covered her chin, obscuring the playful curve of her lips.

"Does Matsueda want to hear my answer? That will take quite a while."

“…Never mind.” Jun Matsueda turned his face away and looked at the shops on the side of the road.

"Never mind if I asked."

“Okay, I was thinking of buying you a hot cocoa.” Yami Maki pointed to the coffee shop he was looking at.

"I frequent that shop; the coffee is good, and the prices are reasonable."

"I'll try again when I have the chance," the boy replied vaguely.

The girl didn't speak again, but just looked at his profile with a smile and said nothing.

When her mother asked her why she ran away from home, Yamami Maki did not admit that she had any intention of pursuing love—she only said that she was tired of the dull environment and strict rules of her family.

She certainly wanted to confide her feelings to her mother, but revealing them to her family now would only intensify the already tense conflict.

More importantly, she has not yet won Tsunkun back.

Confessing your feelings to your elders now will only bring unnecessary burden to your sweetheart.

Yamami Maki hopes that with Tsunku's support, she can confess everything to her family—the girl is looking forward not only to the boy's support for her pursuit of freedom, but also to a response to her love.

Will that day ever come? She looked at the profile of the person next to her.

"It will happen," the girl told herself.

All she had to do was make that day come sooner, much sooner.

The journey from the apartment to Higashi-Nakano Station only took a few minutes. Even in the cold wind, while listening to his senior's introduction of the shops along the way, Jun Matsueda quickly arrived at the station.

"I'll stop here." He stopped. "Thank you for seeing me off, senior."

"Wait a minute." Yami Maki waved her hand. "I still need to go in."

"There's a bakery inside the station. I'd like to buy some French bread; it should taste great with stew, as Songzhi suggested!"

"..." The boy could only blink helplessly and walk into the station with her.

A few minutes later, he stood in the corridor inside the station, watching his senior walk out of the bright bakery.

She was holding a brown paper bag with a baguette sticking out from it—the girl's posture made her seem even more charming and adorable.

Yamami Maki walked up to the boy and shook the paper bag in her arms.

"I also bought some small bread rolls for breakfast. Would you like to try some butter croissants, Pine Branch?"

Jun Matsue shook his head. "I've already eaten enough. If I eat any more, I'll gain weight."

The girl smiled and squinted her eyes. She turned around and looked in the direction where the crowd was hurrying by.

"Is it time for Matsue-san to get on the bus?"

"Hmm." The boy glanced at his phone. "The next tram will arrive in two minutes."

Yamami Maki waved with one hand free, "Take care on the road, see you next time~"

See you next time.

Jun Matsue took a step forward, but was soon stopped by the girl's call from behind.

“Matsueda-kun.”

He turned away without speaking, only expressing his doubts through the expression on his face.

“I was thinking, should I call you something else?” Yami Maki looked at him and said earnestly.

"...Why would you have such an idea?" The boy's eyelashes trembled.

"Because I've graduated." The girl smiled. "The term 'classmate' doesn't seem to apply anymore."

"And in the previous lecture—'Tsushima-kun' and 'Matsueda-kun'—it sounds like there's no difference between them."

I want you to sound a little special.

Why did this idea only come to you now?

If it were the old Jun Matsue, he would probably have asked this question.

However, he merely glanced back at the platform passageway, avoiding the girl's gaze.

"So, what would you like to call me, senior?"

"...Chunjun?"

"That sounds too intimate," the boy replied calmly.

Instead of discussing intimacy, Yamami Maki asked a question from a different angle.

"How about Matsueda-kun? He sounds even more handsome than Tsun-kun."

Jun Matsue nodded, giving her a tacit answer to her question.

"I'm off then, the tram will be here soon."

"Okay~" The senior student shook the paper bag, "Take care on your way, Pine Branch."

"Remember to return 'The Golden Demon' to me soon, okay? If it's too late, I'll get fined!"

"I will." The boy waved without turning around. "Senior, go back now."

Following the crowd onto the open-air platform, he shrank back again, watching the cold wind blowing across the tracks.

Matsueda-kun...

The senior student rarely called him that.

Jun Matsue turned his head and looked towards the far end of the track.

The approaching tram drew in the dry, cold air from the platform, ruffling his bangs.

To be honest, Tsunkun sounds a bit better.

Chapter 784 Behind the Affection

The next day was Tomatsu Yuka's Sunday.

However, the place where Jun Matsue met the girl today was not her home—

At 8:30 a.m., when the boy stepped off the tram at Hamadayama Station, Tomatsu Yuka was standing a little distance away on the platform, waving to him with a bright smile.

"Chunjun——"

She walked briskly through the crowd boarding the bus, opened her arms, and hugged the boy who was getting off the bus—people on both sides couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the loving and well-matched couple.

"Why did Yuka come to pick me up?" Matsueda Jun asked helplessly as he pulled her into his arms.

"Didn't you say you'd just wait for me at the store?"

"I don't want you to find that all you're waiting for is the cold wind." The girl affectionately nuzzled his cheek.

"Isn't it nice to get a sweet and soft hug as soon as you get out of the car?"

And she also enjoys the feeling she has now—the feeling of her happiness being watched by people.

"That's really good..." The boy released his embrace and took her hand, leading her towards the exit.

"It's too cold on the platform, let's get going."

As they entered the passageway, the station's heating gradually melted away the chill around them. Jun Matsue let the girl lead him forward, observing her attire.

Tomatsu is wearing a beige coat today, with a short hem that reveals most of her gray pleated skirt, giving her a light and pure look.

She wore low-heeled leather shoes and warm white stockings—but after her thighs, the smooth, clinging cotton stockings became thin and layered, bunching up at her knees like slouch socks, giving her a youthful look.

Why is Chun-kun walking so slowly?

Tomatsu Yuka, who was holding his hand, turned around and took the schoolbag from the boy's hand.

"Are you tired from carrying that bag? Let me carry it for you~"

Jun Matsue released his grip, letting the girl hold the bag in both hands to shield herself.

"Wearing a skirt in this weather, isn't Yuka cold?"

"Hmm?" After they let go of each other's hands, Tomatsu Yuka slowed down and walked alongside him.

"Why is it cold?" the girl asked, puzzled. "We wear skirts at school too."

"I've been meaning to say for a while that wearing a skirt in winter is already pretty abnormal..." the boy complained.

"Isn't that normal?" Tomatsu Yuka tilted her head. "Wearing stockings or pantyhose, it's not actually that cold."

"Isn't that how it is in Japan? Didn't we see some high school girls with bare legs when we went to Hokkaido?"

Jun Matsue stepped out of the station and shielded the girl from the wind on the street with his body.

"Only Japan would do something like that..."

Stepping out of the building, the roadside is lined with a dazzling array of supermarkets, restaurants, and shops of all kinds—Hamatayama is a neighborhood where many celebrities pursue a leisurely lifestyle. Whether it's the signboard of the high-end chain supermarket "Seisho Ishii" or the exquisite children in the lobby of the "Yamaha Music School," they all demonstrate this.

Turning right at the intersection outside, the bus station was left behind, and the surrounding hustle and bustle gradually subsided. The young man and woman walked hand in hand into a small door by the roadside.

The entrance was a flight of stairs. Jun Matsue took back his bag and followed the girl up to the second floor, watching her push open the door of the "ou" café.

The shop's decor was simple and elegant, with white-painted walls and a loft-style ceiling. The young man was led past the wooden bar, and the female staff member nodded and smiled gently as she watched him sit down in a booth by the window.

"The environment is quite nice," Jun Matsue said, looking out the window.

The street downstairs is a cool gray, which makes the coffee-scented air inside the shop feel warmer and the green plants appear brighter.