Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"On the day of the funeral, egrets kept circling in the sky in front of me."

“After I came back, I often wondered if she was still watching me and wouldn’t let go.”

“I know what Yizhang told you. That’s what I told them back then.” The old man stood up and looked at the boy and girl in front of him.

“That’s the family rule, and I won’t make an exception. Otherwise, wouldn’t all my ridiculous insistence over the years have been meaningless?” he said with a smile.

"However, I can say a few more words to you."

"There are, of course, ways to be together without making things too difficult."

The old man watched the white shadows flitting across the sky, wondering what kind of bird it was.

How did Keiko, who was so beautiful back then, become such an incongruous white egret?

I really can't understand it.

Chapter 403 Conquer, or Be Conquered

"There are, of course, ways to be together without making things too difficult."

"As long as Moji marries you, that's enough."

Jun Matsuoka frowned as he looked at the old man who had said those words.

"You mean you want Moji to take my surname?"

If her grandfather hadn't been right in front of her, Yamami Maki would have found it hard to believe that such words came from that rigid and stubborn old man.

"Doesn't this mean leaving the family?" The girl tried to make sure her understanding was correct.

The old man nodded. "There are only two ways to get married: either you, young man, will marry into the family, or Moji will marry you."

"Isn't it a simple matter?"

"..." The boy and girl fell silent, and the soft rustling of leaves rose from beside the stone path.

"Um, I'll go return the fan to them." Yamami Maki raised the fan in her hand and walked towards the temple she had come from.

After the girl's figure disappeared at the end of the path, Jun Matsuoka asked the old man standing on the stone steps a question.

"What exactly are you thinking?"

"What I just said was from the bottom of my heart," the old man said with a smile.

“This isn’t some ‘less difficult’ method,” Jun Matsue repeated the old man’s words. “It will put my senior in a difficult position.”

"Young man, love is a difficult thing," the old man said in a slow and unhurried tone.

"Either you change yourself for others, or you change others for yourself. That's the price you pay for having love."

Jun Matsue recalled a conversation.

"Taming? What does taming mean?"

"This is something that is often forgotten; it means 'building relationships'."

In the old man's words, this process of building relationships is called "change".

"Either you are conquered by Maki and willingly become a member of our Yami family, or you conquer Maki and make her willing to leave the family for you."

“Moji is still young and hasn’t been involved in family affairs much. We elders don’t have any expectations of her, so there’s still time.”

“If it were like her sister, who already had deep ties with her family when they got engaged, there would be no other way to go.”

Only the rustling wind remained in the courtyard.

After leaving Jōjin-ji Temple, Matsueda Jun returned to the Yamami family home for a while before finally taking his leave before sunset.

"Don't you need a driver to take you?" Kazuaki Yamami stood at the door, watching the boy who was putting on his shoes.

“I can take him.” Yamami Maki walked to Matsueda Jun’s side, turned around and smiled at her father.

"I want to talk to Songzhi a little longer."

The man frowned. "Come back soon."

Stepping out of the villa, the surrounding streets remained quiet, and the fading light and heat gave pedestrians a chilling, almost illusory feeling.

"Speaking of which, second-year students are going on a lodging training program in October, right?" Yamami Maki, unaccustomed to the silence, started looking for topics to talk about.

Jun Matsueda nodded. "You guys are going on a school trip too, right?"

“Yes, that’s right.” The girl smiled. “School trip in October, cultural festival in November, and then school activities won’t be relevant to us third-year students anymore. We have to focus on preparing for exams.”

"In October, we should be able to see the autumn leaves turning red—"

Maki Yami wanted to continue the conversation, but Jun Matsueda interrupted her.

What are your thoughts, senior?

"What do you think of what your grandfather said, senior?"

"..." The girl slowed her pace, hesitating, unsure how to answer the boy's question.

“I had never thought about this before.”

"And now?" Jun Matsue looked at his senior's profile. She had her head slightly lowered and her eyes were somewhat blank.

"Grandpa's words came so suddenly, about leaving the family and all that... I've never heard the adults talk about such things before."

"Getting married and changing my surname... I haven't even graduated high school yet, I have absolutely no ability to be independent..."

Seeing the girl's increasingly hesitant expression, Jun Matsueda's tone softened.

"Indeed, it's probably too far off to talk about such things now."

"But can you imagine if this were the case, wouldn't you be able to avoid following their arrangements and go to Ochanomizu University?"

"Does this mean I can choose my major?"

"Senior, do you really want to go to Ochanomizu University? Do you want to study social sciences?"

"Are you really planning to move into the corporate sector and manage the family business in the future?"

Yamami Maki lowered her head further and further, staring at the paving stones of the sidewalk beneath her feet, as the golden afterglow slowly faded into the distance.

"Mom and Dad won't agree." The girl's voice was even softer than the chirping of the parrot in the house.

Jun Matsue was speechless.

He could be indifferent to kinship that wasn't related to him by blood, but Yamami Maki couldn't be indifferent to it.

The last stretch of road in front of the station was eventually walked in silence.

"After you go back, go and chat with Yu Xiang and Grandpa first," Jun Matsue said, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Changing your surname is indeed a long way off, but doesn't the senior want to have control over her university choices? With such a possibility right in front of her, wouldn't it be a bit of a waste not to look into it?"

Yamami Maki nodded weakly.

"Don't make that face." The boy pinched her cheek. "If it doesn't work, just pretend you didn't listen to your grandfather. At least your meeting with Uncle Yizhang went smoothly today. He didn't object to us, did he?"

The girl laughed. In any case, no one could stop them from being together now.

"See you tomorrow." Jun Matsueda waved from inside the tram, the doors slowly closing, obscuring the gentle smile of the senior student in front of him.

The boy, carrying his schoolbag, found an empty seat nearby and sat down. A girl next to him, also wearing a school uniform, cast his gaze at him.

"Um, are you two a couple?" the girl asked softly.

Matsueda Jun, who was deep in thought, looked up. "Is there something you need?"

"No, no!" the girl hurriedly waved her hand. "I just saw you saying goodbye to that girl, and it looked so sweet."

"Thank you." Jun Matsueda gave a polite smile, but instead of answering the girl's question, he turned his head to the other side.

To an unsuspecting person, the girl and he were undoubtedly a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

However, Jun Matsue knows very well that the two of them are not happy enough right now.

If it weren't for the connection that Kyoto formed with the elderly, this incomplete state would have continued indefinitely, never reaching a fulfilling conclusion.

Now a turning point is in sight.

The senior should not continue living in the Yamami family. Perhaps this conclusion is somewhat arbitrary, but the more Jun Matsueda understands the girl, the more he insists on this idea.

Therefore, Jun Matsue wanted to change Maki Yami.

It was for him, and also for the girl herself.

Chapter 404 Wrong then, right now

The next day at noon, Jun Matsueda sat in the newsroom, watching Natsumi Imokawa move the mouse.

The photos on the computer screen kept changing, all related to the student council election on Monday. The girl turned around and looked at Tsushima Kou standing behind the two of them.

"Does the minister think these are acceptable?"

"That's good." The smiling boy nodded. "But shouldn't you change how you address me? I'm no longer the minister."

Imokawa Natsumi quickly apologized, her face flushed. Matsueda Jun yawned and looked out the window at the figures coming and going in the corridor.

"Have all the seniors moved out?"

“There wasn’t much stuff to begin with,” Tsushima Kou chuckled. “We’ve already packed up pretty much.”

Today marks the final handover between the old and new student councils. As expected, Mitani was elected and the photo of the new student council president has already been posted on the bulletin board.

"Since there's nothing wrong with the campaign photos, I'll be going now." The boy checked the time. "We seniors still have a lot of things to tell our successors."

"Thank you for your hard work." Jun Matsueda stood up and saw his senior out of the room.

After closing the door to his office, he glanced at the student council office coming and going on the other side of the corridor, then turned around and looked at Tsushima Kou, who was leaning against the railing.

"Aren't you going back?" Jun Matsue asked.

"Didn't you need to talk to me?" the boy asked with a smile. "Otherwise, given your personality, why would you have bothered to come out and see me off?"

"..." Jun Matsue nodded. "Let's go, I'll treat you to ice cream."

Pick up the ice cream cone that fell from the vending machine, tear open the outer shell, peel off the round paper on top, and take a bite without too much pressure. The slightly bitter, cool and rich matcha flavor melts in your mouth.

Jun Matsueda looked at the boy next to him who was eating an ice cream cone and asked, "How do you feel about your senior's mood today?"

Which senior?

"Which other senior could it be?" he said irritably. "Of course it's Senior Yamami."

"What exactly is your relationship now?" Tsushima Kou asked, his curiosity piqued. "Can't you just ask her directly?"

Jun Matsueda shook his head. The surface of the ice cream began to melt, and the sensation on his tongue became ambiguous.

He hadn't met with Yamami Maki alone today, and even if he did, the senior in front of him might not be the real senior—the girl was too considerate of others, and if her hesitation would worry the person she liked, she would probably choose to keep it to herself.

"Hmm..." Tsushima Kou could only try to recall, "She seemed quite happy chatting with Mitani in the office."

"Isn't there anything more detailed?" Jun Matsueda was not satisfied.

"I'm not that close to her, we're just colleagues in the student council," the boy said helplessly. "Besides, I don't have your memory. I'm lucky if I can even vaguely remember what her expression was like."

"Aren't you supposed to be a shrewd person?"

"I'm just an ordinary high school student with ideals about journalism," Tsushima Kou said seriously.

Jun Matsue snorted. "People who portray themselves as ordinary are not to be trusted."

So they finished their ice cream quickly and efficiently, returned to the first-floor corridor, and before parting ways, Tsushima Kou finally remembered something.

"Yamami-kun is quite talkative today, or rather, she was a bit quieter the past few days."

"That's good." Jun Matsueda finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When the boy returned to the clubroom with the ice cream, Natsumi Imokawa was still intently staring at the computer.

"What are you looking at again?" Jun Matsue placed the cookie-flavored ice cream cone that the girl loved next to her.

“I registered an account for your band and uploaded the videos of your first performance and practice.”

Natsumi Imokawa stood up and offered her seat to Jun Matsueda. "Want to take a look? There aren't many reviews, but everyone seems to think it's pretty good."

The boy sat down and glanced around; most of the messages were encouraging, and some inquired about the performance schedule.

The girl stood beside him, licking her ice cream in small sips. "If I keep this up long-term, I feel like I could gain a lot of fans!"