Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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“This guy…” Jun Matsueda’s expression was somewhat helpless.

Tomatsu Yuka sat up slightly, glanced at the girl leaning on the boy's shoulder, blinked, and didn't say anything.

The atmosphere among the three sitting in a row was not very relaxed throughout the journey—for the first half, the sober Mochizuki Haruka was mostly talking to Matsueda Jun, while Tomatsu Yuka would try to interject.

However, after realizing that the girl was showing off to her, she quickly chose to lean on the boy's shoulder secretly, just like Mochizuki Haruka is now, pretending to sleep and resting with her eyes closed—but the difference is that she was just pretending to sleep, while Mochizuki Haruka should really be asleep.

"We're almost at Guofujin!" the girl sitting in front of the three exclaimed, breaking their brief silence.

The people in the carriage all looked to the right, where the buildings outside the tracks became sparse and low, and the distant horizon could be seen.

The Limited Express Odoriko that Haneoka Taka was on went directly to Izu and did not stop at Kokufu Station, but this did not prevent the students from seeing the distant sea from the gradually flattening horizon.

"I saw it!!"

Cheers immediately erupted in the carriage.

“It’s the sea~” Tomatsu Yuka gently tugged at the boy’s arm and said in a cheerful and light tone.

“It’s the sea,” Jun Matsueda repeated.

Although it was only a brief glimpse of less than a minute, the generous Sagami Bay did indeed unveil a corner of its veil, showcasing its unobstructed azure sea.

"...What did you see?"

Seemingly awakened by the cheers in the carriage, Mochizuki Haruka opened her eyes with a slight frown, just in time to meet the gazes of the two people looking out the window.

"We can see the sea!" they said in unison.

"..." The girl didn't speak, but frowned even more and turned her head to look out the window.

The silver and blue sea has disappeared, leaving only the tender green of the bushes brushing past the car window.

"Why didn't you call me?" She snapped out of her daze and lightly punched the boy's arm.

Jun Matsue blinked. "No rush, there's plenty of ocean to see later."

Tomatsu Yuka silently turned her face to the other side, quietly watching the lush green forest spreading on the other side of the city.

The world that belonged to her and Tsunkun has vanished.

Chapter 598 The First Meal in Eastern Izu

Half an hour later, after passing through the dense forests of Mount Izu, seagulls flew past the windows of Atami Port, and the coastal highway of Ito City finally came into view of the passengers.

"We've arrived in Ito City already," Tomatsu Yuka said, looking at the shimmering sea outside the window. "We'll be in Izu Kogen soon, right?"

Jun Matsue watched as Shoko Kominato, who was sitting in the front row, stood up and reminded everyone to pack their luggage and prepare to get off the train. The noise in the carriage grew louder.

"I estimate there are still about ten minutes left."

"Wow, so fast..." Mochizuki Haruka yawned, "It feels like we've arrived in Izu in the blink of an eye."

"Isn't it because you slept most of the way?" The boy glanced at her, while Tomatsu Yuka, sitting on the other side, smiled.

"What are you laughing at?" The girl picked up a matcha Pocky stick, put it in her mouth, and bit off pieces of it.

"It's better than someone pretending to be asleep and secretly sniffing around on your shoulder."

Tomatsu Tomoka casually put away her headphones and placed them in her small handbag on her lap.

The low-rise houses along the coastal highway outside the window seemed to slow down rapidly. The mottled patches of color on the houses finally slid slowly past, obscured by the dense greenery outside the station.

"We've arrived!" the excited girls shouted.

After taking the suitcases off the girls around him, Jun Matsue, who was bringing up the rear, stepped out of the train and onto the platform at Izu Kogen Station.

Walking ahead of him, Mochizuki looked around and wondered, "Where is my ocean?"

Jun Matsue walked up to her and said, "You'll see it once you cross the Izu Kogen."

"The air smells so fresh." Tomatsu Tomoka turned to face the two of them. "I wish the air in Tokyo was like this too."

Mochizuki Haruka twitched her nose. "It seems no different from the air in my house."

The boy and girl standing next to her fell silent helplessly, watching the indigo-blue carriage of the Limited Express Odori slowly start moving again.

"Thank you, Miss Dancer~" a girl said from not far away.

The term "踊子" refers to a female dancer.

“Come to think of it, Izu might be quite suitable for me,” Jun Matsueda suddenly said.

"Why?" the girls asked in unison.

"The text about the Izu Dancing Girl that we studied back then." The boy picked up his bag and walked out of the platform.

"'I, a twenty-year-old, have repeatedly and seriously reflected on the bad temper I developed due to my orphanhood.'"

"It was because I couldn't bear that suffocating sense of melancholy that I embarked on my journey to Izu."

“Tsun-kun has no bad temper at all?” Tomatsu Tomoka said with a smile as she pulled her suitcase.

"Where did you get the idea that you're twenty?" Mochizuki Haruka quickly followed behind him.

Their conspicuous figures disappeared on the platform.

We arrived at Izu Kogen just after 11 a.m., which was lunchtime. However, we had to assemble at 12 p.m., so Class 6 of the third year didn't spend too much time on lunch.

The team leader, Kominato Shoko, told everyone, "The schedules for each class are not staggered this time, so in order to reduce everyone's queuing time, we need to set off before others!"

Guided by Tomatsu Yuka, Matsueda Jun found a local fast food restaurant near the station and waited for about ten minutes before walking out of the ocean-themed blue restaurant with paper bags.

"Sea bream burger..." Mochizuki Haruka shook the paper bag in the boy's hand next to her, "Will it taste good?"

Jun Matsueda's steps were very firm. "When it comes to going out to eat, I still trust Tomatsu very much."

Tomatsu Yuka, walking beside him, smiled and said, "The golden-eyed sea bream of Izu is very famous, you know. Tsunku would probably like it."

The girl snorted, "Songzhi isn't picky about food. Is there anything he doesn't like to eat?"

The first stop in the afternoon was Mount Omuro, but the bus hadn't departed yet, so the three of them followed the students of the same grade into the tree-lined path next to it.

The sparsely trafficked avenue is lined with gnarled cherry trees. The cherry blossoms are long gone, but the lush green leaves are still a pleasing sight.

"This road must be beautiful in spring, right?" Tomatsu Yuka imagined the scene of cherry blossoms fluttering in the air.

"It's quite suitable for taking photos," commented Jun Matsueda.

He had no idea that Yamami Maki had once sat here under the fluttering cherry blossoms, looking at photos on her phone of herself and another girl enjoying the cherry blossoms.

The three of them sat down on a bench by the roadside, opened the paper bags in their hands, and took out the tightly wrapped hamburgers.

"So big—" the girls exclaimed at the same time.

Tomatsu Yuka unwrapped the hamburger and held it up next to her head, saying, "It's as big as my face."

Mochizuki Haruka made the same gesture as her, "Matsue, take a picture of me, I want to send it to my aunt."

After taking the photos, it was time to eat. Jun Matsue glanced at the huge hamburger with a reddish-brown fish fillet in his hand and took a big bite.

"...The taste is indeed very good." The boy chewed faster unconsciously. "The fish is firm and delicate, and the sweet chili sauce and cheese go surprisingly well together."

"Right?" Tomatsu Yuka took a small bite of her hamburger, smiling at the boy with a contented look in his eyes. "I'll try my best to take Tsunku to eat all over Eastern Izu~"

"Is it really that delicious?" Mochizuki Haruka was a little skeptical. She didn't like fried fish fillets and ordered the avocado and shrimp burger instead.

"Give me a taste!"

She grabbed the boy's wrist, opened her mouth wide without saying a word, and took a bite of his hamburger.

The girl chewed it and said, "It tastes alright, better than regular fried fish fillets."

Jun Matsueda's expression stiffened, and he glanced to the side out of the corner of his eye.

Tomatsu Yuka lowered her head and took a bite of the tomato and lettuce sandwiched in the hamburger, pretending not to see anything.

The boy lowered his head, took out a tissue from the bag, and placed it on the chair where Wang Yueyao was sitting.

"Wipe your mouth, you've got sauce on it."

The girl tilted her head back and said, "Use pine branches to wipe it for me."

"..." Jun Matsue placed the tissue on her lap and patted it gently.

Mochizuki Haruka put down the hamburger in her hand. The lazy expression on her face disappeared, replaced by a furrowed brow and a deep gaze.

"I want pine branches to wipe it for me by hand," she repeated in an extremely serious tone.

The girl didn't think her request was unreasonable. If Tomatsu Yuka hadn't been sitting next to her, Matsu would have definitely wiped her mouth.

She could be more patient with herself, but Mochizuki Haruka absolutely could not tolerate Matsueda Jun distancing himself from her because of other women.

Matsueda Jun sighed inwardly, then picked up the tissue from the girl's leg and wiped away the thick, bright red stain on her face.

The icy expression on Mochizuki Haruka's face melted away in the sunlight filtering through the trees. The boy tossed the crumpled paper into his fast food bag and turned to look at Tomatsu Yuka.

The girl's hamburger was almost half gone; she chewed somewhat mechanically, but her expression remained calm.

But as soon as Jun Matsueda's right hand returned to the chair, she quickly grabbed it.

The handshake wasn't very firm; the girl's soft palm pressed firmly against his, leaving no gap.

Tomatsu Yuka kept her head down, eating her hamburger. She didn't look at their clasped hands, but instead ran her thumb over the boy's palm and fingertips.

It's like wiping away some kind of mark.

Chapter 599 Love is

After buying tickets at the ticket office at the foot of the mountain, which resembled a large torii gate, Jun Matsueda and the boy next to him boarded the train to the summit of Mt. Omuro.

"I didn't expect Matsueda to ride the cable car with me~" Sakamuro Ken patted him on the shoulder casually.

"Don't move around in the cable car." Jun Matsueda glanced at him. "Didn't we get off the bus together? What's so strange about taking a cable car?"

That's right. On the bus to Mount Omuro, he didn't sit with Tomatsu Yuka or Mochizuki Haruka, but instead deliberately mingled with the group of boys.

Not long after having lunch under the cherry blossoms, the three of them set off on their way back to the bus station. However, compared to when they arrived, the atmosphere surrounding them had clearly changed a lot—it was no longer pleasant or relaxed. The silent girls were tacitly thinking about things unrelated to the school trip.

If getting together doesn't make everyone happy, then it's better to split up for the time being, Jun Matsue thought.

So, after getting on the bus, he sat down next to Ken Sakamuro, much to the surprise of the girls.

A breeze blew by, the cable car swayed gently, and Jun Matsue's thoughts returned to the present moment.

The lush greenery beneath our feet spreads in all directions with the wind, gradually filling our vision. The simple cable car, suspended in the air, offers no shelter, carrying people up to the flat mountaintop, like crossing a matcha-colored pudding.

"...I thought you'd ride the cable car with Tomatsu..."

Ken Sakamuro twisted his neck, looking left and right in the air, his words drifting indistinctly to the ears of those around him.

Jun Matsue looked down at the undulating waves of grass beneath his feet.

Even couples don't stay together forever.

"That's true." The boy turned his head to the other side. "But I always thought that when you and Tomatsu were dating, it would be the kind of relationship that was all sweet and cuddly in private."

"I never expected them to act like an old married couple..."

The rambling words were carried away by the wind, and Jun Matsue stopped talking, just staring blankly at the clear sky in the distance. A few minutes later, the two of them got off the cable car at the platform on the mountaintop.

"Shall we take another walk?" Ken Sakamuro patted the boy on the back.

"Never mind." Jun Matsueda gave him a disdainful look. "You talk too much."

"I only said a few more words because I was afraid you'd get bored—"

Mt. Omuro is an extinct volcano, and apart from the walking trail that encircles the summit and the central lawn, the mountaintop is simply and perfectly situated amidst the lush greenery.

Stepping onto the trail, Jun Matsueda walked down the low inner path, parting ways with his cable car companion.

There was a torii gate on the path, the same style as the one at the foot of the mountain, but much smaller. The boy ducked down and walked under the hanging shimenawa rope, which had the words "Asama Shrine" written on it.

"So it's a shrine..."

Continuing up the narrow steps that can only accommodate one person at a time, Jun Matsue soon came to the "Ōmuro-yama Asama Shrine," which also serves as a pavilion—it has only a shrine and a neatly clean offering box.

"..." There were no ema (votive plaques) or omamori (amulet), and the boy was inexplicably disappointed. He walked past the woman who was bowing her head in worship and stepped back onto the path that circled the mountaintop.

After walking a few steps with the crowd, Jun Matsue soon heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Chunjun?"

He turned around, and Tomatsu Yuka was pressing her hair behind her ear in the wind, her eyes filled with the joy of spring.