Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 394

“This is a sleeping cat.” Jun Matsue looked at the white wooden cat sculpture sleeping beside the peony flowers. The cat had black spots on its back and head, and looked adorable.

"It can be considered the guardian of Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb later—sleeping with its eyes closed, but alertly pricking up its ears. It is said that when it opens its eyes, it means that some evil has invaded."

"Isn't that Mochizuki Haruka?!" Kurusu Yose blurted out instinctively, "She looks exactly like her!"

"..." Matsueda Jun paused for a moment, then realized that what she said seemed to make some sense.

But Mochizuki isn't that ugly... He shook his head at the squinting, middle-parted cat.

According to the plan, the tour of Toshogu Shrine was supposed to end here, but the boy heard that the inner shrine behind the shrine sold amulets, ema (votive plaques), and charms with sleeping cats, so he led the girls a little further.

Holding a jingling bell and several different amulets, Jun Matsue followed the girls out of the first gate—this time they didn't walk across the Sacred Bridge.

"Shall we go straight to see the waterfall?"

The boy took out his phone; it was past 11 a.m., almost lunchtime.

"Let's go eat first." Yosei Kurusu touched his stomach through his clothes. "I feel a little hungry."

"Let's take a break, I'm a little tired from walking~" Miyamura Aya nodded in agreement, her stamina not as good as Jun-ge and Yoshi-jie's.

Once again seated in the pink Toyota, the girls had a clear goal in mind and soon arrived at a small black house with a sign that read "Shao Mian" (roasted noodles).

The store wasn't very big, but there weren't many customers either. Jun Matsueda found a seat and watched the girls order with great enthusiasm.

He ordered a spicy fried noodle dish with roast pork and a soft-boiled egg—this restaurant's fried noodles are known as the best in Japan. The guy had missed a lot of conversations last night, but he hadn't forgotten about this one.

While waiting for lunch to be served, the girls began organizing the photos they had taken. Watching their slender fingers swipe across the screen, zooming in and out, Jun Matsueda thought for a moment, then opened his own phone.

He took out various amulets from the bag, all of which featured the image of a sleeping cat. He picked out a few, took photos, and sent them to the black cat and rabbit avatars in his chat list.

Mochizuki Haruka replied first, sending a cat-faced frowning emoji.

"What is this? It's so ugly."

"The amulet I bought from Toshogu Shrine, this sleeping cat looks a bit like you."

"How is it similar?!"

The girl stopped replying, so Jun Matsue smiled, exited the chat, and his cute rabbit avatar started flashing.

"Where is this souvenir from? Didn't Jun-kun go back to the orphanage?"

"I just bought this amulet at Toshogu Shrine after going to Tochigi Prefecture with Aya and the others for two days."

The chat window paused for a moment. Tomatsu Yuka must have gone to check Mochizuki Haruka's updates. After discovering that the two were not together, she quickly sent another message.

"Oh, how cute~ Which one are you planning to give me, Tsun-kun?"

"How about this bell amulet? It sounds quite nice."

The girl sent a nodding rabbit emoji, "I also really like this bell; it'll be perfect to hang it on my balcony~"

After replying to their messages, Jun Matsue's upturned lips curled up again as he stared blankly at the swaying trees outside the restaurant.

The girls' reactions were completely different, yet both were full of love.

Without sunlight, one cannot know what beauty is.

But even after spending the whole morning in the sunlight, he still couldn't distinguish their beauty.

Chapter 657 Lying Down for a Lifetime

At 1 p.m., the pink Toyota drove along the winding mountain road and finally stopped in front of the parking lot at the Huayan Waterfall viewing platform.

The girl in the driver's seat took the lead in opening the car door, adjusted her sunglasses, and looked at the lush green forest in front of her where the sound of water could be faintly heard.

She sniffed the air. "I can already smell the waterfall!"

"It doesn't taste like a croquette?"

Jun Matsue followed behind her after getting off the bus. The boy was holding a small paper bag containing someone's unfinished croquettes.

"This croquette isn't very good." Yosei Kurusu turned around and pouted.

"Who makes croquettes with bean curd skin filling?!"

Nikko's specialty food is various tofu skin dishes. After having a shared meal of fried noodles and fried tofu skin at "Yakimon" for lunch, the girls dragged Matsueda Jun to a nearby specialty restaurant and enjoyed a soy milk hot pot and tofu skin sushi rolls—the small pieces of Wagyu beef inside tasted pretty good.

"Why don't you let Jun-nii eat it for you?" Miyamura Aya, standing next to the two, suddenly said. "He can definitely still eat more."

Jun Matsue glared at her, but the girl smiled and looked to the side, appearing completely innocent and saying nothing.

"I'm not the kind of person who wastes food!"

Kurusu Yosei walked up to the boy and bent down. The girl's long hair fell onto his arm like a silky pink waterfall.

She bit into the croquette, picked it up, took two steps back, and waved to the boy, meaning "follow me."

Perhaps Kurusu was a carefree little dog in her past life, which is why she always liked to carry something in her mouth... Matsueda Jun thought to himself as he watched the pink figure walk away.

The best viewing spot for Kegon Falls is 100 meters underground. After paying the 570 yen entrance fee per person, the three-person team entered the elevator leading underground.

The distance of thirty floors passed in the blink of an eye. When the elevator doors opened, the girls all opened their eyes wide and their lips slightly parted.

A cool breeze swept over me, and before me lay a tunnel—pure white walls and a dark floor, with unevenly spaced lights from the ceiling that extended bright and light gray halos forward.

The drifting mist blocked the distant exit, and the tireless roar of the waterfall echoed in the tunnel like an invisible downpour, drowning out the footsteps of the young men and women.

"It feels like I'm stepping into another world..." Kurusu Yosei said casually, she quite liked the atmosphere.

"The walls are covered in water droplets." Miyamura Aya touched the wall, her fingertips were wet.

"Don't stay too long," Jun Matsue said, watching the two start taking pictures of each other. "Otherwise, your hair will get wet."

As they emerged from the tunnel, the clouds and mist dispersed, and the sound of cascading water, no longer muffled, rang loudly in their ears. The three of them walked onto the viewing platform that had risen up in front of them.

The valley, varying in shades of green, surrounded us, leaving only a small opening at the top center. Silvery water gushed out from it, leaving a gradually widening white vertical line on the dark cliff face before falling into the lower part of the pit, stirring up a fine mist.

"There's a rainbow!" Miyamura Aya exclaimed.

The girl next to him immediately took off her sunglasses. Matsueda Jun looked around warily and saw only a middle-aged couple. The boy moved his feet and used his body to block any possible gazes from them.

"Wow..." Yosei Kurusu leaned her upper body over the railing, stretching out her arms to grab the waterfall that was right in front of her.

"Hey, watch out." The boy pressed down on her shoulder. "If you fall, you'll have to experience the rafting activity."

"I know what I'm doing~" The girl turned around and smiled at him, "If I fall, the pine branch will definitely grab me!"

"Am I some kind of superhero...?" Jun Matsueda couldn't help but say.

Huayan Waterfall isn't very large, and it doesn't have the grand and imposing presence of a waterfall plunging three thousand feet. However, surrounded by green valleys, bathed in bright sunlight, and illuminated by rainbows, it certainly deserves the title of magnificent.

After taking some beautiful photos, the three girls stood together, holding onto the railing, gazing at the waterfall and chatting.

"The lake we're going to see later is right behind here?" Kurusu Yosei raised his hand above his head, pointing to the top of the cliff where the flowing water appeared out of nowhere.

“That’s right, Lake Chuzenji was formed by the eruption of Mount Nantai next door, and the stream downstream becomes a waterfall when it reaches this cliff.” Jun Matsueda looked at the three-person group photo on his phone.

"It is the highest natural lake in Japan, at an altitude of 1,269 meters."

"That's exactly the height of two Tokyo Towers." The girl blinked.

“It’s an extra meter!” Miyamura Aya added with a smile.

"The highest natural lake..." Kurusu Yosei nudged the boy next to him with his shoulder, "That sounds pretty impressive, like an idol standing at the top of Tokyo!"

"..." Matsueda Jun glanced at her; this guy's thought process was just too adorable.

With his constant talk about idols and the stage, Kurusu has clearly never given up on the idea of ​​returning to his career.

He glanced at his phone; his senior hadn't replied yet.

As the sky above the valley was obscured by drifting clouds and the thin, transparent rainbow slowly disappeared before their eyes, Yosei Kurusu turned around and patted the backpack on the boy's back.

"Let's go see Japan's tallest lake!"

The closest distance between Kegon Falls and Lake Chuzenji is only 500 meters, but the three-person team still got back into the car.

A pink Toyota stopped at the traffic light, with a large red torii gate appearing in front of the intersection, next to a corner of shimmering blue water.

Before the green light came on, Jun Matsue took out his phone, snapped a few photos, and sent them to his contacts in his chat list.

"Send it to Mochizuki Haruka or Tomatsu Yuka?" Kurusu Yosei, gripping the steering wheel, turned to look at him and asked with ill intent.

"Neither." The boy showed her his phone screen, which had a basketball icon and the name "Sakamuro Ken" written on it.

"He's a guy I get along with quite well. This intersection appeared in Initial D, and he really likes that manga."

The idol blinked. "That Fujiwara Takumi?"

"Hmm." The boy put down his phone, indicating that the light had turned green. "Back then, the leader of the Emperor Team, Sudo Kyoichi, waited for Fujiwara Takumi's challenge right here. They were running the Iroha Mountain Road."

"Ah," Caijiang exclaimed softly from the back row, "Is that the winding road we took when we went to see the waterfall?"

“That’s half the road.” Jun Matsue glanced at the girl beside him. “Your sister Yosei is a good driver. Although she’s not fast, she still managed to drive through all twenty curves in one go.”

"Hehe~" Kurusu Yosei gripped the steering wheel with his right hand, made a V-sign with his left hand near his cheek, and said, "Maybe I have a talent for racing~"

As the car drove along the lakeside road, the three of them opened the windows, and the shore breeze carrying the scent of the lake felt exceptionally refreshing and pleasant on their faces.

"Matsueda remembers Initial D so clearly, is it because he's interested in racing?"

"It's alright." Jun Matsueda looked at the girl's long hair blowing in the wind beside him. "It's mainly because she looks pretty cool in the manga."

“Then I’m not going to be a race car driver.” Miss Idol glanced at him. “I saw a Toyota sports car when I rented a car! I can drive it and try it out when Pine Branch gets her driver’s license.”

"I'll be a race queen to get you started on your race!"

With her outstanding looks and enviable figure, she would definitely be the most eye-catching one when dressed in a sexy race queen outfit.

The boy smiled and said, "If I really become a race car driver, it would be better if Kurusu sat in the passenger seat as the navigator."

"What does a navigator do?" Aya Miyamura asked curiously.

"They are the eyes of race car drivers, the best guarantee of their safety."

Yosei Kurusu's bright eyes crinkled into two crescent moons as she smiled, clearly extremely satisfied with the boy's answer.

A few minutes later, the pink Toyota pulled up beside the lakeside road, with an open-air campsite not far away.

"We're here!" Miss Idol opened the car door, took off her sunglasses, and waved to the lone figure on the dock.

"Wait a minute." Jun Matsue blocked her way. "You've taken off your sunglasses, are you sure you're okay?"

"It's okay~" the girl patted the boy's chest, "This coach was found for me by my agent, he's absolutely safe!"

"Hello, Miss Yangshi." The woman on the dock walked over and greeted the three of them.

“There are many villas built by various embassies around the lake of Chuzenji Temple, which were their summer retreats in the past.”

She raised her hand, smiling as she zipped up her mouth, saying, "I was also a member of the embassy team at the time, and I have never done anything to leak client privacy."

"I'm currently running this campsite behind here. If you have a good experience, please recommend it to your friends."

"Thank you, thank you for your help today." Jun Matsue nodded, while the girl beside her ran to the car behind the woman and examined the kayak mounted on top.

The woman smiled at the two people standing there. "So, the kayaking trial class this afternoon will have three students?"

“It’s the two of you!” Aya Miyamura raised her hand. “I don’t want to ride the kayak, I want to ride the duck boat!”

"..." Matsueda Jun looked at the girl who had suddenly launched a surprise attack, "What are you doing?"

"Kayaking is tiring~" Aya said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm not as fit as you guys, can't I do something easier?"

“No problem~” The woman pointed to the dock a little further away, “The cruise ship is over there, I’ll take you there first.”

By the time Yoshiyuki dragged the kayak to the boy, Aya Miyamura had already boarded the duck boat and gone ahead.

"We're using a two-person boat?" Jun Matsue looked at the two paddleboards on the boat, his tone not particularly surprised.

"For beginners, a two-person boat is safer." The instructor picked up a paddleboard. "Next, I'm going to explain some precautions and rescue techniques. Please listen carefully."

And so, naturally, Jun Matsue sat down at the stern of the kayak, watching the girl in the orange life jacket sitting in front of him.

“The boat is quite spacious~” Kurusu Yosei turned his head and reached out to pinch the calves that were draped on his sides.

"...It feels like I've been tricked," the boy muttered.

"Are you both seated?" The woman, also wearing a life jacket, pushed their boat away from the shallows.

"There are no waves on the lake. As long as you don't take off your life jackets and don't make any sudden movements, there won't be any problems. I will follow you with a drone. If there is any emergency, hold on tight to the kayak and stay afloat on the water. The rescue boat will be here soon."

With a final push, she sent the small boat carrying the boy and girl drifting toward the center of the lake.

"Have a great time, you two!"