Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 502

"Are you nervous now?" the boy asked with a smile.

"..." The girl tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, seemingly trying to understand her own state.

"It seems alright!" She turned to look at the boy. "I feel like I need some water."

Jun Matsue turned around and said, "Then let's go buy it."

The vending machine was at the end of the corridor. The boy took a can of strawberry milk from the dispenser and handed it to the girl leaning against the wall.

"It should be your favorite flavor, right?"

Natsumi Imokawa was still muttering to herself in her notebook. After a while, she closed the notebook, took the milk, and gulped down two big mouthfuls.

"Thank you, Pine Branch." The girl exhaled softly. "I feel less nervous now."

“There’s really no need to be nervous.” The boy looked at her while holding the vending machine with one hand.

"After all, it's just asking you to share your thoughts on the creation of 'White Line Flow' and express your gratitude to the school for its support."

"Imokawa has already gone through the Tokyo University of the Arts interview, so giving a speech like this should be as easy as pressing the shutter."

“It’s not that easy…” the girl glanced at him, “but it does feel less difficult now.”

"You just need to stand on the stage, look down at the script and read it, and you'll be fine."

The boy was very confident. He had seen Imokawa's manuscript and read it aloud in front of him, so there was definitely no problem.

"Okay!" Natsumi Imokawa clenched her fist, her cheeks puffing out adorably. "I'll do my best!"

"So, are you free after the pine tree screening? Want to go to the cultural festival with me?"

The girl's topic shifted so naturally that Jun Matsueda's expression became unnatural.

"You're probably not free. After you finish here, I need to go back to my class to check on things. The coffee shop's milk should be almost gone."

The boy tried his best to make his words reasonable and his tone gentle, after all, Mochizuki Haruka was waiting for him to return on time.

"Oh, that's alright." Natsumi Imokawa blinked, her gaze still as innocent and harmless as a puppy's.

"Anyway, the cultural festival lasts for two days, so there's plenty of time."

The girl unscrewed the strawberry milk and took another sip. A commotion came from the other end of the corridor—members of the calligraphy club came out through a small door in the auditorium, some of them carrying props.

"It's time to go on stage!"

Natsumi Imokawa hurriedly tightened the screws on the milk in her hand and looked at the boy next to her.

"I'm going backstage to prepare."

"Good luck." Jun Matsueda gently pumped his fist at her. "I'll be watching you from the sidelines."

Watching the girl run off down the corridor, the boy went through the nearest small door back to the auditorium. He quickly found Tomatsu Yuka in the audience and quietly sat back down.

"You're back pretty quickly~" The girl smiled as she watched him sit down.

"Actually, there's not much to say. It's not like Imokawa is incompetent." Jun Matsueda handed her the drink.

"Your favorite jasmine tea."

"Thank you~" Tomatsu Yuka reached out and took it, then affectionately nuzzled against the boy's shoulder.

She opened the jasmine tea she had just taken a sip of and looked up at the ceiling.

There was nothing ambiguous about Tsunku; it seems he really was just offering encouragement to Imokawa Natsumi as a friend…

The screening then began, the stage lights came on, and the big screen turned completely white.

First, the principal spoke. Just as Matsueda Jun had predicted, the woman focused on the theme of personalized education and respecting students' interests. The parents below seemed to appreciate it, nodding in agreement as the principal spoke.

Next up is the star of this screening, Natsumi Imokawa, an outstanding student representative who is also a director.

As the girl walked slowly onto the stage with her notebook in her arms, Jun Matsueda was the first to raise his arm, and loud applause resounded throughout the auditorium.

The students and parents in the audience quickly followed, and the girl on the stage quickened her pace and stood in front of the podium.

"Um, thank you so much for your support!"

The girl, her cheeks slightly flushed, bowed deeply, her forehead hitting the microphone on the podium. Her cry of pain rang out along with the buzzing of the microphone.

A burst of good-natured laughter rang out from the audience. Tomatsu Tomoka quietly turned her head to look at Matsueda Jun beside her.

The boy was still looking at the girl on the stage whose face was flushed. Unlike his usual model smile, his smile was not obvious.

However, such a natural and gentle smile makes people feel closer to her.

"..." Tomatsu Yuka blinked, subtly shifting her gaze back to the stage.

It seems that even without romantic feelings, Natsumi Imokawa must have held a significant place in Tsunuki's heart...

Chapter 750 Concessions and Investigation

The noise from the audience quickly subsided, and Natsumi Imokawa, her cheeks flushed, held the microphone in front of her and opened her notebook.

"Stay calm..." Her forehead, which had hit the microphone, still stung a little, she told herself.

"Just like Songzhi said, just read the script from the notebook."

The girl's index finger touched the first paragraph of the manuscript, her pink nails reflecting the light from above.

She coughed softly and lowered her head to face the microphone.

"I am very honored to have been invited by Principal Ueda to present my work to everyone on this occasion..."

As Natsumi Imokawa read aloud the words she had written on the paper, one by one, her voice gradually calmed down.

As the heat on her cheeks gradually subsided, the girl mustered the courage to lift her eyelids and look at the audience below the stage.

"I've always believed that film, or rather, lenses, cameras, and all tools of artistic creation, are ways to observe and record the world around us. I hope to use my own hands to continuously film and capture those special moments..."

"During the filming of 'White Line Flow,' we received support from many people both on and off campus. I would especially like to thank several actors..."

Her gaze swept across the rows of seats, and soon met that of Jun Matsue in the crowd.

Natsumi Imokawa's eyes lit up, but when she noticed Tomatsu Yuka sitting next to the boy, they flickered like an unstable light bulb.

"..." The girl paused for a moment, then puffed out her cheeks.

"As for my thoughts and the content expressed in the work, the screening is about to begin, so what I say here seems rather pointless—"

She changed the content of her speech at the last minute, and the boys in the audience blinked in surprise, while a few lighthearted laughs floated around them.

"Please experience those things that are hard to say in words through 'White Line Flow'."

Natsumi Imokawa bent down and lowered her head. Having learned from her experience, she didn't bump into the microphone this time, and the audience erupted in applause once again.

As the lights dimmed, Jun Matsue breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the proud young woman walk steadily off the stage.

Despite a minor mishap, Imokawa's speech concluded successfully.

"I feel that she has changed a lot since I first met her."

"Imokawa is no ordinary person."

The boy's tone was filled with pride, like a gardener boasting about the trees he had personally nurtured.

“It’s really something special~” Tomatsu Yuka smiled.

She noticed the strange pause in the girl on stage—

It seems that Natsumi Imokawa's affection for Tsunku is quite unusual...

The screening officially began, and on the large screen on the stage, Jun Matsueda and Tomoka Tomatsu, holding their graduation certificates, once again walked out of the cherry blossom-scented school gate.

The breathing in the audience quieted down a bit, as everyone seemed to be focused on appreciating the beautiful scene before them.

A soft rustling sound came from beside Jun Matsue, and Yuka Tomatsu leaned gently against his shoulder.

"I have to admit, Imokawa-kun is really amazing..." The girl's soft, delicate breath brushed against his earlobe.

"I feel like I look even prettier in front of the camera than in real life."

"No, not at all." The boy's gaze shifted from the screen to her in the darkness.

"Yuka, who is right in front of me, is definitely more beautiful and charming."

A girl's faint laughter came from a corner of the dark audience seats. They stood quietly together, watching the changing lights and shadows on the stage.

Soon, the pure white, slender title font reappeared on the river surface, and Jun Matsue blinked—there was a slight movement coming from the empty seat on the other side.

Before the boy could turn his head, the girl, who was walking slowly with her back bent, sat down next to him.

"..." Tomatsu Yuka sat up from her snuggling position and looked at the uninvited guest on the other side.

Suppressing her unease, Natsumi Imokawa sat down in her seat, put down her notebook, and let out a relaxed breath.

"Why is Imokawa here?" Jun Matsue asked in a low voice.

"Can't I come?" The girl puffed out her cheeks in the darkness, her round eyes sparkling.

"Can't I even come to chat with Songzhi?"

The boy looked to the other side, and Tomatsu Yuka smiled at him; their arms remained linked.

“Of course.” Jun Matsueda adjusted his posture to avoid bumping into Imokawa’s arm in the dark.

"...Hello, Tomatsu-san." Natsumi Imokawa first cautiously greeted the girl on the other side.

"Did I disturb you?"

Although she wasn't a scheming woman, her words still sounded somewhat tactless, and Tomatsu Yuka smiled inwardly.

"I came here to watch Imokawa's screening, so there's no question of disturbing anyone."

"That's good." Natsumi Imokawa felt a little relieved.

She hadn't thought too much about it; she just felt a bit annoyed when she saw Matsue with other girls on stage, so she came over—now that she was facing the "big boss" Tomatsu Yuka, she was belatedly at a loss for what to do.

“We were just saying how amazing Imokawa-kun is,” Tomatsu Yuka said with a smile, taking over the conversation.

"You haven't even officially entered the Tokyo University of the Arts yet, and your short films have already received so much recognition. Who knows, in a few years we might see news online that you've become a famous director."

"Famous director or something, I didn't think that much about it..." The girl waved her hand and looked at the boy sandwiched in the middle.

"Um, in 'White Line Flow,' which part is Matsue's favorite?"

Rather than listening to Tomatsu praise her, she would rather talk to Matsu about the movie they made together.

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "If it were me... it would be the scene where Hikaru Kashiwabara returns to the 'White Line Stream' riverbank at the end."

"The scenes shot earlier in the film are very detailed and vivid, but they feel very restrained, without expressing too much emotion."

"At the end, with the cut-out flashback shots and naturally inserted background music, the emotions accumulated from watching the movie are naturally stirred up—but facing the river surface that has left nothing behind and has not changed anything, there is a feeling of having nowhere to express it."

"This sense of loss left a deep impression on me."

“Matsueda is right! This is exactly the effect I wanted!” Even though she lowered her voice, Natsumi Imokawa’s excitement was still clearly visible in the sound of the projection.

She leaned closer to the boy's shoulder, wanting to continue talking, but then a girl's voice drifted over from the other side—

"Personally, my favorite scene is probably the one in the first act where Kashiwabara and An confess their feelings to each other."

Tomatsu Yuka stared at the screen at herself, her smile both sweet and sad.

"Knowing that they would soon be separated, he still expressed his love firmly and recklessly—it is this purest and most innocent kind of love, which ended abruptly, that has allowed it to remain in Hikaru Kashiwabara's heart for so long."

As she spoke, she affectionately nuzzled against the boy's shoulder.

"Having witnessed such a beautiful yet tragic love story makes me cherish relationships in real life all the more."

Natsumi Imokawa blinked, her lively and cheerful eyes becoming dull again.

The girl's gaze wavered nervously before finally settling on the large screen on the stage in the distance.

Although she was somewhat afraid of Tomatsu Tomoka, who always wore a smile, she knew how precious Tomatsu's feelings were—after all, the creation of "Hakusen Nagashi" was inseparable from the stories she had heard from Matsue.

So after hearing the girl's thoughts, even though she harbored feelings for Matsueda Jun, she was still too embarrassed to "steal" him from Tomatsu's face.

Staring at the screen, a scene she had seen countless times before, Natsumi Imokawa's fingers repeatedly traced the cover of the notebook on her lap—she didn't know what to do there.

"..."

Noticing the girl's absent-minded silence, Jun Matsue's gaze shifted slightly, and he took the initiative to speak.

"Speaking of which, wasn't 'White Line Flow' trending on YouTube a while ago?"

"It made it onto the category's trending list," Natsumi Imokawa said, snapping out of her daze. "But it only lasted two days."