Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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She walked gracefully beside Mochizuki Haruka and Matsueda Jun, chatting familiarly with their friends, yet she seemed reluctant to show her face in public—many people assumed she was Mochizuki's older sister or some other relative.

Perhaps Mochizuki Haruka will leave without a care, partly because she's annoyed by the idol girl.

"What did you find?" Kurusu Yosei turned his head to the side.

"Even if someone does guess my identity, with Songzhi here, would they dare to come up and take off my mask and hat?"

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "That's true."

The two walked up to the third floor and stopped in front of an activity room. The boy knocked on the front door and took two steps back.

The classroom door was opened a crack, and a girl wearing an ice princess crown peeked out—the wary look on her face immediately disappeared when she saw Jun Matsueda's face.

"Who is Songzhi looking for?"

This activity room has been requisitioned by Class 5 of Grade 3 and is now the girls' changing room.

The boy smiled politely, "I'm looking for Imokawa."

"I guessed so~" the girl said, closing the door. "Wait a moment!"

"Thank you."

Jun Matsue turned his head to look at the girl waiting to the side—Idol Girl—and waved his hand.

"Don't worry, I really do need to talk to her."

A dozen seconds later, Natsumi Imokawa walked out of the classroom with her camera.

"Is Songzhi looking for me?"

The girl's face was flushed; she had just been inside helping her classmate change clothes, do her makeup, and take photos.

Jun Matsue raised his hand and pointed his thumb to the spot next to him.

"She's the one who contacted you—"

"Hello!" Kurusu Yosei waved cheerfully, "Natsumi-chan, it's been so long~"

"So it was Yang—" Imokawa Natsumi's eyes widened in surprise, then she stopped talking and looked around in a panic.

"It's okay~" Miss Idol put her arm around her shoulder, and the two walked to the classroom wall.

"I have something I'd like to ask Natsumi-chan for help with..."

The girl glanced at the boy who was quietly approaching from the side, and reached out to flick her hand away—

"Pine branch, move away!"

Jun Matsue raised his hands and slowly retreated to a distance. The girls smiled at his actions and then began to whisper among themselves.

"actually……"

Two minutes later, Natsumi Imokawa nodded.

"I think we should give it a try!"

"I'll contact you again later." Lai Qiyang was also quite satisfied. "You can go ahead and get busy."

"..." The girl with the camera waved to the boy not far away and then went back into the classroom.

Jun Matsueda watched as the idol girl approached him.

"Why all the secrecy..."

"Anyway, you'll find out soon enough~" Kurusu Yosei said with light steps.

She walked up to the boy, leaned close to him, took off her mask, and revealed a radiant smile.

"As for the current pine branches, just focus on how to make sure I have fun~"

Chapter 756 The Cultural Festival with the Idol Girl

After leaving the girls' changing room in Class 5 and browsing through the classrooms on the third floor, Lai Qiyang bought an ice cream from the vending machine, unpacked it, and walked to the boy at the stairwell.

"There's still over an hour." Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone. "Should Kurusu go upstairs first or downstairs first?"

"It's definitely downstairs, there are more classes downstairs," the girl said without hesitation.

The boy put away his phone and glanced at the ice cream in her hand.

"Want some pine branches too?" Miss Idol held them up and waved them. "Orange chocolate flavor, limited season only!"

“I was thinking about how you want to eat.” Jun Matsueda’s gaze moved upwards.

"Aren't you wearing a mask?"

"..." Kurusu Yosei's bright eyes darted around, looking at the mask pressed against the tip of her nose.

She thought for a moment, then reached up and lifted her mask up a little to reveal her lips.

Watching the girl stick out her tongue to lick the ice cream, Jun Matsueda couldn't help but approach and whisper a reminder to her—

"...Hey! Aren't you afraid of being seen?"

Yosei Kurusu pulled down his mask again and looked at the backs of the crowd turning around and going down the stairs in front of him.

"It's not that easy to be discovered, is it?" she whispered. "I'm wearing a hat, and I haven't taken my mask off either..."

"No!" The boy grabbed the brim of her hat and pressed it down.

"If you only show your eyes and mouth, what's the point of wearing a mask?"

"Don't relax too much. I used to hear them playing your songs all the time in class. Die-hard fans should be able to recognize their idols just by their eyes and mouth, right?"

"Oh..." Yosei Kurusu looked at the brown ice cream in his hand—the orange chocolate flavor was not bad.

"Then hold this pine branch for me!" She stuffed the ice cream into the boy's hand.

"You get it for me, and then give it to me when there aren't many people around. I'll eat it little by little secretly, is that alright?"

"..." Jun Matsue glanced at the chocolate ice cream in his hand, then walked into the stairwell with it in his hand.

"Let's hurry up and take a look around."

Back on the second floor, the boy and girl looked at the crowded people in the corridor, and Lai Xiyang stood on tiptoe to look around.

"Songzhi, what's that class with so many people lining up at the door for?"

“That’s a game room.” The boy glanced at the ice cream in his hand—its frozen surface was beginning to melt.

"These are all traditional festival activities, like scooping goldfish and shooting balloons. The apple candy for moon-gazing is also bought there."

Miss Idol's eyes widened. "Are there really goldfish?"

"Yes, they did. They caught almost all of their goldfish in the morning, and then bought another batch in the afternoon."

"Then I want to fish too!"

After passing the fortune-telling shop with exotic music playing again, the two walked to the entrance of the bustling game room and joined the line. The students in front of them seemed to be from the same class, and the others watching their companions inside didn't pay any attention to the two at the back of the line.

"Why don't you sneak a bite while you're at it?" Jun Matsue shook the ice cream.

The girl leaning against the wall next to him smiled and said, "Didn't you say to be careful not to get discovered?"

"The ice cream's starting to melt, why don't you take a bite yourself, Pine Branch?"

"It wouldn't be good if it dripped down, would it?"

"..." The boy looked at the small brown droplets hanging from the bottom of the ice cream, then lowered his head and licked them.

The slightly bitter sweetness of the chocolate, along with the refreshing taste of citrus, melted in his mouth. Jun Matsue blinked and looked up at the girl who was getting closer to examine him.

"It tastes pretty good, doesn't it?"

"It's not bad." He took a bite along the small notch in the ice cream. "But I think the lemon flavor tastes better."

"Songzhi likes lemon flavor so much?" Miss Idol asked with interest, drawing out her words and adding more intonation.

Matsueda Jun paused for a moment, then realized what Kurusu was talking about.

"..." He licked the ice cream stains off his lips. "We're not talking about the same thing."

"Actually, I wanted to buy the lemon flavor too, but the vending machine didn't have it, so there's nothing I can do about it~"

As Yosuke Kurusu spoke with a smile, she followed the group of boys to the classroom door. She peeked into the space filled with the sounds of splashing water and air guns, then took a step back and looked at the other classrooms on either side of the corridor.

"This year's cultural festival feels a bit familiar, doesn't it?"

“Because that’s how cultural festivals are, right?” Jun Matsueda looked at the girl’s bright eyes, which were glancing around.

"Every year it's basically the same few things—haunted houses, cafes, snack stalls, gambling, and games..."

The two walked into the classroom, took a few thin paper nets from the curious staff, and sat down on the floor by the pool of goldfish.

"You go first." Jun Matsueda handed the paper net in his hand to the girl.

"Good~"

Yosei Kurusu picked up the paper net, first pressing his head down with his hand to adjust his hat, then lowered his head, held the paper net, and slowly probed into the water.

The paper net for catching goldfish is a bit like a large bubble wand. It doesn't have a net bag; it's just a thin piece of paper in the middle that quickly turns into a translucent film when soaked in water.

The reflections of the two people on the water's surface were scattered by the idol's gently sliding hand. Schools of gold and red fish of varying shades gathered and lingered in the tank, their miniature bodies resembling a group of swimming, color-changing raindrops.

The girl held the small net and slowly approached a lone goldfish—just as the net showed signs of lifting, the fish immediately wiggled its tail and nimbly swam away.

"It's best to put the net deeper," the boy said, watching her movements. "Otherwise, it might scare the goldfish."

"Whoa~" Miss Idol gently bit her lip, looking quite interested.

"By the way, what did Pine Branch's class do at last year's school festival?"

Jun Matsuoka watched as her fingertips dipped into the clear pool water, far more beautiful than those monotonous goldfish.

"Jazz bar".

"How interesting?!" The girl's fingers trembled, and the goldfish that was about to fall into the net escaped again.

"Actually, it's not much different from coffee shops this year—selling non-alcoholic drinks and having live music."

As they were talking, Lai Qiyang made his third attempt.

This time, the goldfish fell into her net, but the paper net, having been soaked in water for too long, broke under the strain, allowing the prey to escape.

"..." The girl pouted and threw the torn net in her hand into the trash can at her feet.

"Pine branches, please!"

He left one of the paper nets in his hand and handed the rest to Kurusu along with the ice cream. Matsueda Jun stared at the goldfish swimming slowly on the surface of the water, his fingers pinching the net handle as he gently sank it into the water.

A semi-transparent paper net is probed below the target, and then decisively scooped upwards—giving a little lead in the direction the fish is swimming, so the goldfish, unable to struggle, is scooped out of the water.

"This paper net is easy to tear if it is soaked in water for a long time, so you have to be as quick and accurate as possible."

As the boy explained, he poured the goldfish into a small bowl next to his seat and handed it to the idol next to him.

"Songzhi is very experienced!" Laixi Youse took the wooden basin, shook it, and stared at the lone little fish inside.

"Bring it some more companions!"

"The director used to run a goldfish scooping stall at the orphanage—these things were much cheaper when bought at cost price..."

As he spoke, Jun Matsuoka used the same paper net to catch two more fish. He looked up and gave a nod to the class monitor who was sitting in the classroom not far away.

He had already come twice that morning with Tomatsu and Mochizuki—there were seventy or eighty goldfish in the pond, and they had caught at least twenty or thirty.

Fortunately, the girls were quite sensible; after enjoying the fun of scooping goldfish, they returned all their spoils...

"So that's how it is..." Kurusu Yosei lowered her head, secretly pulled up the bottom edge of her mask a little, and took a few big bites of ice cream.

"However, I missed the Songzhi Cultural Festival once in three years."

The boy's hand trembled as he reached into the water.

He was a beat too slow. The goldfish in the net struggled twice, and the soaked paper membrane tore in the middle. It fell into the water, flapping its tail and swimming away in a panic.

Last year at the cultural festival, the jazz bar that Idol Miss was most interested in did not come.

At that time, Junko Matsue rejected Kurusu's confession because of his senior's situation—the girl quickly moved out of the apartment and soon left Tokyo to embark on a lonely yet glamorous tour.

Yosuke Kurusu watched as the boy withdrew his hand in front of her and threw the tattered, wet paper net into the trash can.

"Will the pine branches of today still maliciously drive me away like they did back then?"

"No," Jun Matsue replied without hesitation.