Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 539

"It's so warm."

She quickly burrowed into the covers, her legs naturally wrapping around the boy.

Jun Matsue, who was leaning against the headboard with a book in his hand, twisted in the blankets and said, "Why are you like a snake?"

"Isn't it uncomfortable to be pressed together like this?" The girl lying down lifted the hem of his T-shirt and sniffed his waist.

"Great, it smells just like my body lotion!"

Matsueda Jun looked at her tenderly, then put his arm around Mochizuki's body, pulling her closer.

"What book is Songzhi reading?" Mochizuki Haruka squinted her eyes contentedly. "Read it to me."

The boy looked at the book "The Golden Demon" in his hand and said, "This isn't really suitable for reading to you."

"Why?" the girl pouted.

"This story isn't very pleasant—"

"The female protagonist, yearning for a life of luxury, breaks off her engagement with her childhood sweetheart, the male protagonist. Later, she suddenly realizes her true love and can only spend the rest of her life in regret..."

Perhaps the earliest "chasing-husband-in-the-cremation" story, Jun Matsue thought to himself.

"Then I won't listen." Mochizuki Haruka huddled her face under the covers.

"If you're sleepy, go to sleep first." The boy gently combed her long hair that was spread out on the pillow. "I'll go to sleep in a bit."

"Um..."

What broke the girl's sleep was the ringing of a cell phone on the bedside table—she peeked out from under the covers and watched the boy turn to the side and pick up his phone.

"News from Songzhi?"

"Hmm." Jun Matsue closed the book and looked at the message that popped up on his phone.

"..." It was his senior who lent him the book "The Golden Demon".

Mochizuki Haruka rested her head on the boy without any hesitation, and watched the screen with him.

"A message from Yamami Maki?"

Jun Matsue nodded.

"Looking for a man so late at night..." the girl muttered in dissatisfaction.

"What did she say?" She couldn't see the message on the screen because of the angle.

"Uh, she said she's recovered from her cold and asked when it would be convenient for me to come over."

"What do you mean?" Mochizuki Haruka frowned, immediately snapping back to reality.

"Ahem." The boy didn't reply to the message with the parrot avatar; he cleared his throat first.

"It's about the time I told you before, the time when my senior had a fever."

"So what?"

The boy glanced at the darkened phone screen on the blanket. "My senior's cold is better, and she wanted to thank me by treating me to a meal."

"Just the two of you?" The girl's bare legs wrapped even tighter around her.

"And Kokoro Kuroba."

"...When?" The legs in the blanket loosened slightly, like a snake numbing its prey.

“My senior just asked me that,” Jun Matsue tapped his phone screen. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Mochizuki rolled her eyes. "How about Sunday?"

"Your intentions are a bit too obvious." The boy pinched her nose.

"Whatever you want." The girl slapped his hand away. "But not at night!"

Although Mochizuki Haruka chose to be a happy ostrich, she wasn't indifferent to Yamami Maki—

As long as Matsue doesn't meet with Yami Maki at night, he can basically avoid most unexpected situations based on his self-awareness.

“If it’s not at night…” Matsueda Jun then picked up his phone and tapped on the parrot avatar in his chat list.

"Then we'll have to have lunch on the weekend—tomorrow after school? What do you think, Mochizuki?"

"Whatever." The girl shrank back into the covers. "Anyway, you have to be back before sunset, and you can't mess up my schedule!"

"Of course." The boy lay down as well and pulled her into his arms.

"Shall we go to sleep?"

"sleep."

The bedroom light was switched off with a "click," and the warm blankets tossed and turned in the darkness before finally settling down.

The next day, Saturday, after school at noon, Jun Matsue and Yuka Tomatsu walked out of the school gate together, each carrying a bag.

"I didn't expect Mochizuki-san to let you pass so easily..."

The girl, wearing a pure white scarf, smiled at the boy beside her.

"Does she trust Jun-kun that much?"

Jun Matsue chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Maybe she's already used to my womanizing ways."

"Don't keep blaming yourself for this," Tomatsu Yuka shook their clasped hands. "If you do, I'll feel disappointed because of Tsunku."

The boy squeezed the small hand he was holding. "Yuka is right."

Today is the Minor Snow solar term.

Although it's still a long way from snowfall in Tokyo, the chill in the wind is definitely becoming more pronounced as you walk on the street—if you can't enjoy the warmth of holding hands, even taking out your phone in the wind becomes a bit of a struggle.

"There's only one month left in this semester," Tomatsu Yuka said, gazing at the withered trees lining the road ahead. "Time seems to be flying by..."

Jun Matsue turned his head to the side. "Does Yuka want time to pass faster or slower?"

"Of course, we should hurry!" the girl said without hesitation.

"The faster we graduate, the sooner we can find an apartment with Tsun-kun."

"The sooner we can go to school, the sooner we can enter the adult world with Tsun-kun."

"The adult world?" The boy smiled. "That sounds a bit strange."

“That’s not wrong either.” Tomatsu Yuka squeezed his hand.

"Not having to worry about whether Mom has Sunday off or not, not having to go to love hotels—isn't this kind of adult freedom something to look forward to?"

"By the way, Mom isn't taking a break this week either. She said that with the end of the year approaching, there's a lot of work to be done at the company."

"That's the same as always." The boy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

However, with his bag in one hand and Tomatsu's hand in the other, he didn't have time to check.

"Where's Jun-kun?" The station was almost in sight, and the girl asked one last question.

Would you like time to go faster or slower?

“Me…” Jun Matsue glanced at the withered leaves that had been blown off the tree in front of him.

I want time to flow as I please.

"Go fast when you want to go fast, and go slow when you want to go slow."

"After all, while life now certainly has its limitations, it also has its own unique beauty—"

"I could look at Yuka in her school uniform, tights, and white scarf hundreds of times and never get tired of it."

The girl on the road smiled softly, her smile full of sweet charm.

"So being able to do whatever you want is the best," the boy said to the crowd exiting the station.

"Enjoy the present moment to the fullest, and then stride quickly toward the future. This is the ideal state."

“Tsun-kun has indeed become greedy~” Tomatsu Tomoka led him up the steps in front of the station, then let go of his hand.

"See you tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow." Jun Matsueda nodded.

However, the girl did not take a step, but instead hooked the scarf around her neck with her index finger.

"How about I go visit my senior with Tsun-kun?" she asked abruptly.

"Anyway, you said there were other people there too, so she shouldn't mind, right?"

"Then I'll tell my senior first." The boy took out his phone.

“…No need.” Tomatsu Yuka pressed his hand down.

"I was just thinking about it, but I still feel it's not very polite."

"I'll go home and think about what to eat for lunch tomorrow..." The girl slowly backed away.

"Just give my regards to my senior, Tsunkun~"

"Be careful on the road." Jun Matsue watched her walk away. "Remember to text me when you get home."

"Good~"

The pure white scarf disappeared into the platform passage on the other side, and the boy blinked.

Is Tomatsu worried about him, or about his senior?

If you don't trust him, what will Tomatsu think once you and Kurusu are in a committed relationship?

"..." Jun Matsue rubbed his temples and glanced at the messages on his phone.

Although Mochizuki and Tomatsu have temporarily accepted the status quo, it seems that the girls' thoughts are still clearly different.

I should go to Tomatsu's house tomorrow and maybe have a serious talk with her.

Stepping onto the train bound for Higashi-Nakano, the boy sent a message to the parrot avatar on his phone.

"I'm off."

The adorable, pale yellow parrot recovered very quickly.

"Okay! I'm already preparing lunch!"

Putting down her phone, Yamami Maki, wearing an apron, let out a soft breath and looked at the steaming soup pot on the stove.

She had just finished stir-frying the chicken drumsticks with onions, carrots, and mushrooms, and they were simmering together.

The girl checked the water level in the pot and then looked at the notes she had taken on her phone to confirm that the steps were correct.

"And rice..."

Yamami Maki walked over to the small rice cooker next to her, lifted the lid and took a look.

The rice smelled wonderful, and it was cooked to perfection—not too soft, not too hard. She nodded in satisfaction.

All we have to do now is wait for Tsun-kun to get home!

She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror on the sink.

Is light makeup enough? Wouldn't it seem a bit too deliberate to wear lipstick at home?

While the girl was struggling with her decision, a series of pleasant ringtones rang again. She took out her cell phone from the large pocket of her apron—it was Kokoro calling.

"So what do you mean?" Kuroba Shin asked impatiently through the receiver.

Should I come over now?

"..."

Looking at herself in the mirror, Yamami Maki walked out of the bathroom and gazed at the soup pot on the stove.

"Kokoro-chan, you don't need to come over yet." She closed her eyes and made up her mind.

"I'll contact you later!"

Chapter 781 Senior's Hospitality

Gently knocking on the door of room 404, Jun Matsue took a step back and stared at the peephole on the dark brown security door.

"Come on~"

The senior student's soft voice came from behind the door, and the door opened quickly.