Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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“Hmm…” Jun Matsue pondered for a moment, “It feels very fitting for the image of my senior.”

"Does Matsueda-kun think it's not suitable for me?" the girl asked, tilting her head.

“It’s not that it’s unsuitable, but I’ve always felt that you’re suited to studying painting.” Jun Matsue raised his hand and gestured. “Wearing a beret and holding a paintbrush and easel, that’s the best way to capture your personality.”

Yamami Maki opened her mouth in surprise, "Actually, I really liked drawing when I was little!"

"As expected, I really understand my senior." The boy's expression was somewhat smug.

"When I was drawing back then, I often got all sorts of colorful things on my body and face, so the adults wouldn't let me continue learning to draw." The girl put down her cutlery, her expression somewhat regretful.

"Otherwise, I might really have become a painter."

“You can learn it as a hobby now,” Jun Matsue immediately encouraged. “Your doodles in your notebook were so cute.”

“Girls can all draw cute doodles like this.” Yami Maki didn’t think it was anything special. “I’m talking about real painting.”

"If you work hard, you can definitely do it too," the boy said without batting an eye. "Because your doodles are the cutest I've ever seen from any girl!"

"...Then I'll try it later."

The girl smiled sweetly; she could no longer taste the ice cream.

After leaving the restaurant, their time together began to slip away. Since Yamami Maki couldn't go home too late, they took a stroll around the nearby Tamagawa Water Park.

"What do you think about your family, senior?" Jun Matsue suddenly asked.

"...Should I say I like it or hate it?"

The girl's bewildered expression was particularly clear in the moonlight.

"Actually, many of my former classmates and friends have said they envy my life, but I also envy them quite a bit."

"There are no curfews, not many extracurricular classes to attend, and you can cry and laugh loudly, and read some erotic and boring comics."

"Does Songzhi know how our parents found out about us?"

The boy shook his head.

"I wasn't in a good state before because of... because of Yuka's matter." The girl's tone was a little hesitant. "So my parents were afraid that I was being bullied at school or something, so they asked someone from the board of directors to check the school's surveillance footage."

"And then it was discovered."

“No wonder.” Jun Matsueda stopped in his tracks, and Maki Yami pressed her body against his back.

"But why didn't they ask me first?" The girl's voice was muffled by the boy's clothes. "And about university too, why didn't they ask what I thought?"

"When you don't win awards, when your grades aren't as good as Xinjiang's, or when you need to revise your private coaching sessions, why don't you ask yourself if you want to work hard and if you want to persevere?"

The girl's body began to tremble, and Jun Matsue turned around and hugged her.

"Matsueda-san, don't worry about me." Yamami Maki looked up and smiled, though her smile carried an undisguised bitterness.

"I'm used to it."

She always says that, "I'm used to it."

"I had gotten used to it. After getting used to it, seeing that Grandpa became more easygoing and Dad became a little more approachable, it seems like this future is worth looking forward to."

"But Matsueda told me that I have the right to pursue my own happiness."

"I suddenly became hesitant again..."

"How will you know how good selfishness is if you don't try it?" the boy said softly.

The girl looked up, tears glistening in the soft moonlight, which Jun Matsueda wiped away little by little.

"So I asked my sister first, thinking she would support me."

"But she told me I would fail."

Yamami Maki still remembered what her older sister had said.

“Moji, although Grandpa never said such things to me, I did think about leaving the family.”

"But I'm scared."

A bitter look appeared on her sister's face. "I don't want to have to check the price when I buy things, I don't want to have to bow and scrape to others because of my job, and I don't want to have to worry about whether I have enough time when I go on vacation to Furano."

"More importantly, I don't want those who watched me grow up to look at me with a gloomy face."

“When you had a fever and couldn’t go to the exam, it was your father who got you a leave of absence. Every time I come home for dinner, your mother always remembers what we like to eat.”

"Aren't our parents, grandpa, and dad good enough to us?"

"They're just not as good as we expected."

"But ask your peers, how many of them are satisfied with their families?"

"No one—because there are no perfect parents or perfect families in the world."

"So I already had a lot, so I finally gave it up."

"As for Moji, everyone likes to praise you, saying you adapt better than I do."

"So I don't think you'll succeed."

"But if you really can't figure it out, you can talk to your parents. I support you."

After hearing this, Jun Matsue didn't say anything; he simply hugged the girl tightly.

After a long while, a sigh came from the empty woodland.

Let's talk about it another day.

He temporarily conceded defeat.

Chapter 409 Special Performance

A few days later, on the last Sunday of September, Jun Matsueda walked into Yosei Iwaki's room.

"Wake up." The boy pulled back the bedroom curtains, and the girl lying on the bed immediately squinted her eyes in pain.

"Sleep a little longer..." she mumbled sleepily, turning over and trying to bury her head under the covers.

"Get up." Jun Matsueda walked to the bedside. "Didn't we agree to go back to the orphanage with you?"

Summer had just passed, and Yosei Kurusu was still covered with a thin air-conditioning blanket and a light nightgown. Even though she was well covered with the blanket, the girl's undulating waistline could still be seen from behind.

This guy's physique is getting better and better... Matsueda Jun picked up someone's phone from the bedside table and pressed it against her fair back, which was only covered by a single suspender strap.

The cool, metallic feel of the metal casing made Yosei Kurusu shiver. She rolled back over and looked at the boy with half-open eyes.

After a long standoff, the girl finally gave in.

"Uh-ah-"

Accompanied by a resentful cry, Yosei Kurusu threw off the covers.

After hurriedly washing and dressing up, she followed the boy onto the street and touched the ponytail at the back of her head.

"Isn't the performance in the afternoon? Why are you going back to the orphanage so early?"

“What do you mean early?” Jun Matsuoka glanced at his phone. “It’s almost 10 o’clock now. If we buy some gifts and pick someone up, we can have lunch by the time we get to the orphanage.”

Yes, after rehearsing their new song for more than half a month, the No. 2 band decided to hold their first performance of the new semester at the welfare home.

This was an idea proposed by Aya Miyamura—since the brass band could perform for the orphanage, then the light music club could too. Moreover, two members of the four-piece band came from orphanages, so it would be a shame not to go back and perform for the children at least once.

After quickly devouring a donut bought from a roadside stall, Yosuke Kurusu finally perked up.

"If you're buying a gift, I'll pay for it!"

"After all, this is my first time visiting an orphanage, so I have to bring something, right?" The girl skipped a few steps and turned to look at Jun Matsue.

"Pine branches, what should we buy?"

"Don't buy anything too expensive." The boy led her into the bookstore. "Let's buy some stationery and notebooks first, then some educational toys, comics, and the like."

Half an hour later, the two walked out of the bookstore carrying bags full of bags.

To avoid embarrassment, Jun Matsue also picked out gifts for the other band members, but it only took him fifteen minutes to choose gifts. The remaining fifteen minutes were spent watching Yosei Kurusu struggle with a 3x3 Rubik's Cube.

"Damn it... Give me five more minutes, and I'll definitely be able to fix it!" the girl said resentfully as she walked down the street.

"Put your mask on tighter." Jun Matsue pointed to her face. "I've already bought it for you, so you'll have plenty of time to play on the way."

Lai Qiyang glanced at the Rubik's Cube in the bag with lingering interest, "Where to next? Should we take a car directly to the orphanage?"

"I still need to pick someone up." The boy took out his phone and glanced at it. "Let's wait by the roadside for a while. Imogawa should be here soon."

The two sat down on a bench by the street. The intersection was near Haneoka High School. Five minutes later, the sharp-eyed Jun Matsueda spotted the girl at the end of the road.

He stood up, waved, and walked towards the girl. "Imokawa, you've worked hard. Do you want to rest for a bit or go straight to the orphanage?"

"Let's go straight to the orphanage."

Natsumi Imokawa had a camera hanging around her neck. She looked around but there was nothing worth photographing.

"Can we set off now?"

The girl turned around, and a lively voice rang out behind Matsueda Jun. The boy took a step to the side, and Kurusu Yosei, carrying a lot of bags, appeared in front of her.

"Hello?" Miss Idol took off her mask, revealing a sunny smile. She waved and greeted everyone, the bag she was carrying swaying back and forth with her movements.

"H-hello..." Natsumi Imokawa lowered her gaze and greeted him weakly.

The girl found it difficult to deal with such a sunny, cheerful, and approachable person.

"I remember you, Natsumi-chan!" Kurusu Yosei put on a mask. "I saw the video of Matsueda and his band online. Was it one of yours?"

“Yes!” Natsumi Imokawa nodded, her sense of bewilderment lessening slightly.

"I'm here to film a video for the band and also to see what the orphanage is like."

"I'm curious too! Songzhi said the vegetables grown at the orphanage are delicious!" the pink-haired pudding girl said with a grin.

The girl nodded blankly again, not understanding the assertion of dominance in the other person's words, and only looked at Jun Matsueda standing to the side.

"Songzhi, are we taking the bus there?"

The boy nodded. "The station is about a five-minute walk from here. We can go now."

Kurusu Yosei blinked. It seemed Natsumi-chan wasn't aggressive at all, and didn't seem like she wanted to steal the pine branch. As she saw Imokawa Natsumi more often, she had initially worried that the number of enemies was about to increase...

The three walked towards the bus stop, and ten minutes later, they successfully boarded the bus to the welfare home.

Yosei Kurusu and Natsumi Imokawa sat together. The two seats on the neon bus were one piece, and the girls' shoulders naturally leaned together as the bus swayed.

"Matsue, where are the rest of your band members? Aren't they with us?" Yosei Kurusu asked, staring at the back of the boy's head in the seat in front of him.

"They were playing outside this morning, Cai-chan will bring them over."

“Soga.” The girl nodded and continued asking questions.

"Are you guys performing a new song today?"

"Where's Songzhi's drum set? Doesn't it need to be moved over?"

"If we're performing at the welfare home, where will we set up the stage? Or will we all have a lawn concert together?"

"..." Jun Matsue turned around and exchanged a glance with Natsumi Imokawa. The same thought came to their minds.

Why does this guy talk so much?

He thought to himself helplessly, "It's a bit like a primary school student on a spring outing."

"We'll be performing the new song, and you can give your feedback then. The orphanage has a drum set, so I don't need to move it. A simple stage will be set up in the backyard, and you can sing there if you want—"

The boy answered the girl's question in one breath, then pointed to Natsumi Imokawa sitting next to her.

"Weren't you curious about the plot of 'Now' before? Imokawa was on set the whole time, you can ask her about it."

"Huh?" Natsumi Imokawa looked up in surprise, suddenly feeling as if she had been betrayed by Matsueda. "Um..."

"Oh right!" However, Kurusu Yosei had already grabbed her arm. "I heard that there's a lot of erotic content in the later episodes. Just how erotic is it?"

"And what about Yang Huali? Will she end up with the male lead? It feels like she doesn't have a chance..."

The girl kept talking on and on until the bus finally arrived at the intersection in front of the orphanage. Just as Matsueda Jun picked up the bag from the ground, Imokawa Natsumi, overwhelmed by the weight, rushed off the bus.

"Finally, it's quiet..."

She sighed with relief, then looked up and saw Mochizuki Haruka standing in front of her.

Startled, Natsumi Imokawa clutched the camera hanging around her neck. "Um, hello Mochizuki-san, what are you doing here?"