Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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“That’s why I remembered what happened last year.” The boy’s tone softened considerably. “Mochizuki didn’t experience the full cultural festival last year, did she? She should have a proper experience this year.”

Last year, the girl received a call from the hospital on the second day of the cultural festival, and then got into a car that she would never return to.

Fortunately, after wandering around the world for most of the time, she finally returned to the teaching building of Haneoka High School.

Wang Yueyao smiled, her lips pursed, her eyes curving into crescents, with a gentle, flowing quality.

"Can Songzhi show me a proper experience this year?"

"I was assigned to perform in the classroom," the boy said, his gaze drifting forward. "I can only say I'll try my best."

The girl's lips drooped in dissatisfaction again. "A guy who won't even draw a picture of a cake."

"After breaking up with Yamami Maki, all sorts of memories and time flooded my mind!"

As she said those words, Mochizuki Haruka felt a long-lost sense of relief—the boy in front of her no longer had a lover, and she could once again face him with her soft, insignificant thorns.

"Matsue, if you're not going to be with me, you'd better never fall in love again~" The girl said in an innocent and cheerful tone, her words sounding like a curse.

The student council president and executive committee chairman's classroom was on the second floor. The two walked down the stairs. The corridor, which was filled with first-year and second-year students, was much more lively than upstairs. Matsueda Jun found the classroom of Class 4, Grade 2 and called out to the boy who came in.

"Could you please call Mitani for me?"

During the brief wait, he looked at Mochizuki Haruka standing beside him. The girl silently took two steps closer to him, and the distance between them was enough to draw ambiguous glances from the students in the corridor who were unaware of what was going on.

"I want to see Mitani-san, not Yami-senpai." Matsueda Jun had no idea what the girl was up to.

"It's too noisy in the hallway, it's a bit annoying." Mochizuki Haruka blinked.

So, getting close to someone makes you feel safer? As Jun Matsueda was wondering, Mitani appeared in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Matsueda-kun~" the girl greeted him energetically, glancing at the papers in his hand.

"Are you here to submit your project proposal?"

The boy nodded and handed the form to her. Mochizuki Haruka leaned out slightly to watch the two exchange the form.

Very good, there was no physical contact.

"..." Before checking the forms, Mitani glanced at the girl standing next to Matsueda Jun.

"Did Mochizuki come with Matsueda?"

However, the girl did not respond. After confirming that there was no physical contact between the two, her gaze drifted to the side, like a cat that had lost interest but had no choice but to stay by its owner's side.

“Ah, she’s here to buy ice cream,” Jun Matsueda explained.

"Really?" Mitani looked in the direction the two had come from. The ice cream vending machine stood quietly at the top of the stairs, as if accusing a girl of ignoring it.

She looked away; after all, she should take a look at the form in her hand first…

A few minutes later, the girl nodded. "No problem."

"However, besides offering sparkling water drinks and snacks that mimic alcohol, what kind of atmosphere service is included in the 'Class Project's' business scope?"

“It’s basically just requesting songs.” Jun Matsueda recalled Yuka Tomatsu’s explanation. “Customers can pay us to play specific songs, or they can just specify a certain atmosphere.”

"For example, if you want to hear a sad song, or a song about spring or ocean waves, we will improvise—that's the characteristic of a jazz bar."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Mitani's eyes lit up. "Can we order Matsueda-kun too?"

"...We played together, and I won't sing."

After chatting with the chairman for a few more minutes, Jun Matsue left the door of Class 2-4, and Haruka Mochizuki followed him to the ice cream vending machine.

"Didn't you say you wanted to buy ice cream?" The boy turned to look at her.

The girl nodded, casually squeezed in front of him, inserted a coin into the machine, and pressed the button for the tiramisu-flavored ice cream cone.

With a "thump," the girl bent over, her long, dark hair flowing down her back like waves. Her upturned buttocks lifted her skirt, revealing her fair and smooth thighs, making it hard to resist the urge to touch them.

"It must have been intentional," Jun Matsue thought to himself.

"That guy definitely has feelings for you."

Mochizuki Haruka turned around, lifted the paper lid of the ice cream cone, and licked it in small sips with her tongue.

“Maybe.” Jun Matsue stood beside her, tossing in a coin as well. “Being interested and liking are not the same thing. Don’t do anything to her.”

"You care about her?" The girl raised her eyebrows.

"I'm afraid you'll hurt innocent classmates." The boy rolled his eyes at her.

"Didn't you always eat matcha flavor?" Mochizuki Haruka asked, looking at the ice cream cone in his hand.

"I'm getting a little tired of it and want to try something different." He threw the wrapper into the trash can and turned to walk upstairs.

"I support you." The girl smiled even more happily, and she quickly ran up the stairs to block the boy's path.

"I'm moving into 506 tomorrow, will you come with me to buy pet supplies?"

She spoke as if she were asking a question, but her tone left no room for argument.

"...Isn't this the real reason you came with me?"

Mochizuki is cruel and cunning; this should be kept in mind.

Chapter 456 Yamami Maki's After School

The ethereal and soothing sound of the Westminster Abbey bells rang out. Yamami Maki looked out the window; it was probably time for Haneoka Takashi to leave school.

The first-year students, whose classrooms were downstairs, had already run onto the school's main road. Several boys, carrying soccer balls, sprinted towards the playground. Although the distance was a bit far, the girl could imagine the sound of fallen leaves crunching under their feet as they crossed the lawn.

The girls were much slower; the boys had already crossed half the lawn before they came into view of Yamami Maki. Most of them were wearing coats, but the girls stood out by wearing thin shirts with shortened skirts, showing off their beautiful figures.

The crowd outside the teaching building quickly grew denser. It was a busy week. In addition to the various club competitions in the fall, each class was preparing for the cultural festival. The third-year students even temporarily canceled the two self-study periods after school in order to welcome this last campus event.

"Moki, stop daydreaming~" The girl who was still in the classroom waved her hand in front of Yamami Moki's eyes.

"Aren't we all supposed to go buy decoration materials together today?"

"Ah... okay." The girl stood up subconsciously and picked up her schoolbag hanging on the side of her desk.

"Moji seems a bit listless lately?" The girls walked out of the classroom together. "Is it because she's been studying too hard?"

"Hmm...maybe?" Yami Maki smiled. "Or maybe it's because autumn is here, and the lazy cells in my body are starting to increase?"

"Moki's talking is so funny now~" the girls in our group laughed. "But it's true that it's easy to feel sleepy in autumn!"

"When the yellow sunlight shines in, it feels like I'm hypnotized; I fall asleep in the blink of an eye~"

The girls started chatting excitedly, while Yamami Maki, who was walking on the far side, was still recalling their earlier conversation.

Is what you said interesting? What you just said was definitely not like your usual style.

But the words just slipped out without her realizing it… She reached up and touched her lips.

The girl followed the crowd into the stairwell. The windows hanging high on the wall cast dazzling beams of light, the golden color seemingly carrying warmth, melting away the chaotic thoughts in people's minds, leaving only the leisurely mood of squinting and enjoying chestnuts and roasted sweet potatoes.

The girls walked down to the first floor in a group, and a sweet fragrance filled the air. It might be the scent of the fragrance on their clothes, the color of the lip balm brought out by the sunlight, or the perfume that a girl secretly sprayed on before meeting her sweetheart.

What it was didn't matter; in any case, Yamami Maki's mood improved slightly.

Since the breakup, she has stopped liking quiet, solitary environments. She goes to school earlier than before because there are more people and noises at school than at home.

When surrounded by noise, the empty gaps in a girl's heart can be temporarily filled.

Where can I buy cardstock and ribbons cheaply?

"Should we find a place for afternoon tea before we go buy the ingredients?"

Listening to the girls' enthusiastic discussion, Yamami Maki decided to join in, "As for materials, there's a large stationery store in Kitatoriyama 5-chome that might be cheaper there."

"As expected, Moji is more reliable!" Everyone applauded, and the girl's smile was a little shy.

Just as Yamami Maki was walking along the school avenue with the girl, the sound of a bicycle chain rolled out from a side path. She turned her head at the sound, and the boy and girl came into her view.

Matsugae Jun and Mochizuki Haruka each pushed a bicycle into the avenue. The golden autumn light shone on the metal frames of the bicycles, making them glitter.

They paid no attention to the crowd approaching from a distance, turned their car around and headed towards the school gate, continuing their conversation.

"Don't you already have pet supplies at home? Why do you need to buy more?" The boy lowered his head slightly, avoiding the sunlight shining into his eyes.

"Because it's a hassle to move things around, like cat trees and stuff." The girl pouted. "It's not like I'm not going home."

"My aunt thought I should just buy a new one myself, and she said that this would be good exercise."

Matsueda Jun smiled, but Yamami Maki, who was walking at the edge of the crowd, couldn't see his smile clearly and could only sketch the boy's profile.

"What are you laughing at?" Mochizuki Haruka's tone became a little willful.

"It just feels like your aunt really treats you like a child," Jun Matsue said with a smile.

The girls walked past the two bicycles, and because of the distance, the boy did not notice the girl at the edge of the crowd.

However, Yamami Maki was still a little nervous, though she didn't know why she was nervous.

The girl pushing the bicycle suddenly raised her voice a little, "So, Songzhi, are we having dinner together tonight? At home or out?"

"..." Yamami Maki was pushed to look up by some emotion in her heart.

However, she did not see the hostile gaze she had imagined from Mochizuki Haruka—the girl merely glanced at her indifferently, then quickened her pace and walked alongside the boy again.

"You're a thing of the past, no longer worth worrying about," the girl said with her eyes.

Yamami Maki suddenly felt a chill from the sunlight on her body as she listened to the two people who had left the crowd behind continuing their conversation.

"We'll see how long it takes. If it's still early, we'll buy groceries and head home. If it's too late, we'll just grab something to eat on the way," the boy said casually.

So fast... Yamami Maki slowed her pace.

The two people pushing bicycles stopped at the school gate and simultaneously jumped onto their bikes.

"So you'll be riding bikes with me from now on?" Jun Matsueda asked, turning his head.

Standing behind the bicycle, Yamami Maki looked at the boy's profile—the face she used to be able to gaze at and touch from the closest distance. But now, the boy was already making an invitation to another girl right in front of her.

"Let's ride until the end of this semester first," Mochizuki Haruka said in a reserved tone.

"It's going to get cold later, remember to wear gloves..."

The echoes of their conversation were pulled away by the chain, and the girls standing at the school gate watched the two figures disappear into the distance.

"Isn't that Matsueda-kun and Mochizuki-kun? They're going to and from school together now?" someone asked curiously.

"I don't know, are they about to fall in love?" Someone sensed a pink atmosphere.

"That's not surprising, they were already quite close before."

"What should we do about Tomatsu-san?" The girl who said this sounded worried; she was probably Tomatsu Yuka's friend.

However, no matter how much the girls gossiped, they never mentioned Yamami Maki's name. The girl, carrying her schoolbag, watched in a daze as the figure disappeared into the dappled orange sunlight.

So the words she blurted out were in Matsue's voice...

Autumn has withered many things, but Yamami Maki has found more and more distinct traces in herself that do not belong to her.

Chapter 457 Good Intentions

Before heading to the pet supply store in Kichijoji, Jun Matsueda and Haruka Mochizuki went back to their apartment.

"It's not like a different world from my home anymore."

The boy looked around the living room. It used to be just an ordinary upscale apartment, but now it had a lot more things—a dining table, sofa, coffee table, and many small items that imitated those in apartment 507 next door.

The sofa wasn't the coffee-colored one next door, but a simple black and white one. The cushions on it were also black cat paw shaped with light pink paw pads, making you want to hug and squish them.

There were no cat-themed items on the coffee table; instead, there was a vinyl record player and a few books that the girl hadn't finished reading at home. There was also a metallic star-patterned mug, just the right size for making coffee.

Against the wall is a television and speaker system that looks expensive. The game console that Mochizuki Haruka originally placed at Matsueda Jun's house has also been moved here. The surrounding shelves are filled with comics, movie discs, headphones, and a dazzling array of various ornaments.

Jun Matsue saw hair ties in the hands of the girl—striped, polka-dot, plaid, solid color, all kinds of colors, as well as various kinds of headbands—cat ears, devil horns, maid lace, bunny ear knots, bows, and finally, all kinds of dazzling hairbands, ties, chokers, hair clips... The display shelves filled an entire wall where the television was located.

"Are all young ladies this extravagant?" Jun Matsue was genuinely surprised. "I never saw any of these things in your room back then."

He remembered the senior student's house he had only visited once. He had thought about seeing her room, but in the end, he never got to.

The boy had only seen the girl's room through video calls on his phone; in a sense, he was less capable than that cockatiel that couldn't speak.

“You only went into the bedroom back then, you didn’t even see the walk-in closet.” Mochizuki Haruka sat down on the sofa, her small feet in boat socks propped up next to the record player, revealing her rounded ankles.

"As for these, they're just things I like. Didn't I tell you? I want to create a brand that specializes in selling hair ties."

"Fashion icon Mochizuki Haruka, that sounds pretty good." The boy nodded.