Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 509

He took a new paper net from the girl's leg and gently placed it in the water—when he lifted his hand again, there was another stranded golden-red fish on the paper.

"Now I can only hope that Kurusu will walk right into my trap."

Miss Idol pulled up her mask, and her exposed eyes smiled beautifully again.

"Does Songzhi think I'm an idiot?"

"That's hard to say." The boy placed the goldfish into the small bowl in the girl's hand.

"After all, there are plenty of exceptionally intelligent and all-around talented girls who come to me willingly and fall into my trap."

Yosei Kurusu glared at him, then snatched the paper net from the boy's hand.

"It's my turn!"

When the satisfied girl walked out of the classroom with her spoils, Jun Matsueda only had a little bit of ice cream left in his hand.

The boy turned his head and watched as the idol girl raised the water bag in her hand, in which more than a dozen small fish were swimming.

Although it's just a game, Kurusu isn't as indifferent to the outcome as Mochizuki and Tomatsu—but even if she leaves the goldfish pond empty-handed, she'll probably still enjoy the fun of playing with these little gadgets.

Where to go next?

"Hmm..." Laixi Youse put down the water bag and looked around.

"There are far fewer people here, let's go to the haunted house!"

They first went into the fortune-telling shop next door and temporarily left the goldfish with Aya-chan. When the boy and girl arrived at the gloomy haunted house, they didn't see many people.

"Excuse me..." The girl selling tickets bowed and apologized to them.

"Because we're almost closing for the day, and there's a light music group performance at the stadium, our haunted house doesn't have any NPCs right now..."

Jun Matsueda looked at the people around him, "How about we go see a show too?"

Yosuke Kurusu thought for a moment, "Is it Aya-chan's performance?"

The boy shook his head. "Cai-chan and the others already performed it at the beginning of the morning show."

Miss Idol then looked at the girl holding the ticket, "If we don't have tickets, is it okay if we go in and wander around?"

“No problem! We’re mainly exploring the maze.” The ticket seller nodded hurriedly. “But you still need to buy tickets, and there won’t be any photos taken.”

"It's alright!" The girl looked away, and Matsueda Jun obediently took out a coin from his pocket.

After taking two tickets stained with dried blood, which looked like they had been cut from an old newspaper, the boy and girl, along with half an ice cream, entered the eerie haunted house.

Although there were no NPCs, the chilling wind that swept over us carried a strong smell of blood, which still made our hair stand on end.

Jun Matsueda looked up at the whistling air vents on the ceiling.

"They actually turned on the air conditioning..."

Looking at the flickering lights and ghostly figures in the dark alley in front of him, Yosuke Kurusu excitedly rubbed his arm against the person next to him.

"It feels pretty good~"

"Don't get any ice cream on yourself." The boy gave her a disapproving look. "Which way are we going?"

“Let’s take this one~” Miss Idol pointed to the one closest to her and naturally took his arm.

"……Hey."

"What does it matter?" The girl tilted her head back and hunched her long neck.

"There aren't any NPCs here right now, and it's so cold inside, aren't you afraid I'll catch a cold?"

"If I catch a cold and my voice gets hoarse, I won't be able to sing!"

After staring at Yingying's eyes in the darkness for a few seconds, Matsueda Jun let the idol girl pull him into the maze.

Two minutes later, the two looked at the exit of the path in front of them—the light from the back door of the classroom was already close at hand.

"What kind of maze is this?" Kurusu Yosei complained, "Didn't we find our way out easily?"

The boy looked back and said, "There should be someone responsible for moving the obstacles and changing the path, but there's no one here now."

"But the atmosphere was quite good."

He stepped toward the exit, but was stopped by the girl.

"Wait a minute." Yosei Kurusu looked at the last piece of ice cream in his hand.

"Isn't this the perfect time to finish the ice cream?"

As she spoke, she lowered her head, and Jun Matsue had no choice but to stop and raise the popsicle stick in his hand.

The narrow passage was illuminated only at its end; he couldn't see Kurusu's bright face clearly, only hear the soft sound of her licking her ice cream.

Moist and indistinct, accompanied by soft breathing, the boy's senses were heightened in the darkness. The girl's breath landed on the back of his hand, dispelling the chill in the surroundings.

When the warm, damp touch pressed against his index finger, Jun Matsue blinked in surprise.

"Kurusu?"

Miss Idol chuckled softly in the darkness, continuing to lick the boy's fingertips.

A dozen seconds later, the boy and girl walked out of the back door of the classroom and walked away under the watchful eyes of the ticket seller.

Jun Matsueda tossed the popsicle stick in his hand into the trash can and shook his right hand.

"It's cold and sticky... You've gotten all the sugar from the ice cream onto my hands."

Yosei Kurusu stuck out his tongue under his mask.

"Your fingers don't taste good either, they're only slightly salty!"

The boy gave her a helpless look. "Then why are you still eating?"

Miss Idol blinked nonchalantly, "I suddenly wanted to try it, so I gave it a shot!"

The two took the goldfish they had left at the fortune-telling shop and went downstairs for a stroll. Time quickly approached 4:30.

"I should go upstairs." Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone. "The classroom will definitely need to be cleaned up later, and I can't be absent."

"Then I'll wait for you in the hallway?" The girl tilted her head. "We have to go home together, right?"

"..." The boy looked up. "I'm afraid it won't work today."

"After this is over, I still have to go to the library with Tomatsu for my part-time job."

"Working part-time with Tomatsu?" Yosei Kurusu's eyes widened. "Didn't you just get back together with Mochizuki?"

Given Mochizuki's temperament, now that they've gotten back together, how could he possibly allow Tomatsu Yuka to stay by Matsue's side?

Then all her arguments with Songzhi before were for nothing?

Jun Matsue took out a tissue and wiped his hands without saying a word.

"...They coexisted peacefully?" Miss Idol's beautiful eyes widened even more.

"It's not exactly peaceful..." The boy looked up at the ceiling of the corridor—the classroom of Class 6, Grade 3 was right above him.

"In short, they are reluctantly willing to accept this situation."

At 4:30 pm, Yosei Kurusu, carrying a water bag full of goldfish, walked out of the gate of Haneoka High School alone.

There was no look of disappointment on her face—although she couldn't go home with Songzhi today, Songzhi would eventually return to their home.

but……

Bathed in the soft sunlight at the end of the road, the girl looked thoughtful.

If Tomatsu Tomoka and Mochizuki Haruka both accept reality...

That means she doesn't have much time left.

Chapter 757 The Distance Between Victory and Defeat

On the second day of the cultural festival, Jun Matsue arrived at school a little later than the day before.

With experience, there's no need to set aside so much time—this morning, Ken Sakamuro was in charge of carrying the milk, while Jun Matsueda sat at a table in the corner of the classroom, enjoying the breakfast brought by Yuka Matsushika.

"How are you feeling, Jun-kun?" The girl pushed a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of him.

"It tastes pretty good." Holding the tuna cheese rice ball with a bite missing, the boy nodded contentedly.

"Sure enough, hot rice tastes better than cold bread."

Tomatsu Yuka smiled contentedly, "The tuna Mom bought yesterday was pretty good, but we can't finish it all for one dinner, so we can use it to make rice balls."

She pushed the steaming hot coffee forward again.

"Logically, it would be more suitable to pair it with miso soup, but I still need to check the quality of today's coffee machine, so Tsunkun, why don't you try the coffee instead?"

Jun Matsue picked up his coffee and glanced at the perfectly shaped, full heart-shaped milk foam on top.

"What a beautiful heart shape! Have you learned how to make latte art?"

"I only know how to make heart-shaped latte art." The girl's smile became even sweeter. "When I wasn't busy yesterday, I secretly learned some latte art techniques from them."

The boy smiled slightly as he pressed his lips to the rim of the cup. "Tomatsu is good at everything he learns."

Mochizuki Haruka entered Class 6, Grade 3 at 9:30 in the morning—the dry, cold air in the classroom had dissipated, replaced by the warm aroma of coffee, guests sitting at square tables, and an elegant girl playing the saxophone by the back wall.

She quickly found Jun Matsueda sitting in an empty seat in the back corner and sat down next to him.

"Why are you late today?" The boy put down his phone and looked over.

"I overslept," the girl said matter-of-factly, putting down her bag.

"Luckily it's just a cultural festival." Matsueda Jun smiled. "Has Mochizuki had breakfast yet?"

Mochizuki tilted her head back, covered her mouth with one hand, yawned slightly, and then shook her head.

"The classrooms selling fried noodles and takoyaki on the first floor should all be open now. The food is pretty good. Mochizuki can go and buy some to try."

"Oh." The girl remained seated, staring at him without moving.

"..." Jun Matsue blinked and glanced at the girl playing the saxophone not far away.

"Shall I go with you?"

Mochizuki Haruka nodded in satisfaction, stood up first, and walked towards the back door of the classroom.

The boy left his seat and greeted Tomatsu Yuka, who was providing the accompaniment—the girl holding the saxophone had been watching them out of the corner of her eye the whole time.

As Jun walked out of the classroom under Tomatsu's gentle gaze, he looked at the petite figure with flowing black hair in front of him.

...One arrived early and the other arrived late. Could this be considered a kind of tacit understanding between them?

Avoiding the noisy crowd, Jun Matsue and the late young lady took a long detour down the stairs and entered the corridor filled with the aroma of food. At that moment, Jun Matsue felt his cuff being tugged.

He turned his head, and the girl beside him was gazing nonchalantly down the corridor ahead. Her thick, dark eyelashes glistened with a lazy, watery sheen—tears left from a yawn.

"I can't finish one serving of takoyaki, so Matsue will have some later too."

"No problem." The boy nodded.

"Also, your aunt is coming over this afternoon, so be prepared."

Matsueda Jun's expression was no longer so relaxed. He paused, leaving Mochizuki behind.

"...Does Mochizuki have anything else to remind me of?"

"What should I remind you of?" Mochizuki Haruka walked to the classroom of Class 2, Grade 1—behind the window was the takoyaki stall.

"One small portion of takoyaki," the boy said for her. "More bonito flakes, less seaweed flakes and salad dressing."

"Okay!" replied the first-year student wearing a headscarf and hat from behind the window in a hearty tone.

Mochizuki Haruka raised her chin and nodded, restraining herself from uttering a smile.

Songzhi remembered her taste very well.

Stepping back from the crowd to wait for the takoyaki to be ready, Jun Matsueda brought up the previous topic.

"So, Auntie came here this time to interrogate me?"

"Probably," the girl replied lazily, leaning against the wall.

“I told my aunt about what happened yesterday, and she talked to me for a long time last night, which kept me from sleeping well.”

"..." The boy blinked, no longer caring about the whip.

"Is she only looking for me, or is she also planning to contact Tomatsu?"