Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"Has the senior student set off yet?"

We're almost there!

The boy thought for a moment, then sent another message to the rabbit avatar in his contact list.

Good luck in the game.

Tomatsu Tomori replied quickly, "I will do my best so that Matsueda-kun can hear the most perfect performance~"

Jun Matsuoka nodded slightly. The sound of a car speeding by came from outside the umbrella. He took a step to the side of the road to avoid the splashing water.

Today is the day of the Tokyo Metropolitan Concert, which is the last major event before the end of summer vacation for the students of Haneoka High School.

An hour later, Jun Matsue walked out of the entrance to Kodaira Station, and the girl hiding to the side gently patted his shoulder.

"Matsueda-kun, it's nice to see you again~" Yami Maki said with a smile.

"Long time no see, senior." Jun Matsueda glanced at the crowd at the station entrance; now was not the right time to get close to the girl.

"What do you mean, 'long time no see'?" The girl tilted her head. "Didn't we just see each other yesterday?"

Three days have passed since Yami Maki returned to Tokyo. During these three days, the two of them continued to date under the guise of studying, just like before.

Although they are spending less and less time studying.

"I need to get used to the fact that my relationship with my senior is just that of ordinary friends," the boy said seriously.

After all, they weren't on a date; they were going to the Tokyo Metropolitan Concert Hall to watch Takayuki Haneoka perform.

"Ah." The girl blinked; a summer of spending every day together had almost numbed her. "That's true..."

Yamami Maki turned around and patted her cheeks, trying to adjust her expression. After a few seconds, she faced the boy with a gentle smile.

"Matsueda-san, let's go, it's time to get to the venue."

Jun Matsue nodded, opened his umbrella, and walked out of the station. The girl naturally took a step and hid under his umbrella.

"Senior," the boy turned around, "weren't you supposed to be getting into the right mindset?"

They shouldn't be going to the venue with an umbrella right now.

"Ah!" The girl blushed.

"I forgot..."

Inside the preparation room of the Kodaira City Cultural Center, Tomatsu Tomoka stood by the window, quietly wiping her saxophone amidst the excited and nervous chatter of the girls.

A soft knock sounded on the door. Yamami Maki pushed the door open and poked her head in, looking adorable.

"Hello~ How's everyone's preparation going?" She walked into the room and was immediately surrounded by girls.

"Hi senior! I'm feeling a little nervous~"

"This is much bigger than the performance we did in the auditorium before!"

Maki Yamami smiled and spoke with everyone one by one, finally walking up to the girl by the window. "Yuka seems to be in good spirits?"

Tomatsu Tomori nodded with a smile, "It's much cooler today, and I feel much more relaxed."

"By the way, hasn't Matsueda arrived yet?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

The senior student's smile faltered for a moment, and she pointed to the door, "Matsue is outside, she probably doesn't plan to come in."

"Then I'll go out and take a look." The girl decisively put down the saxophone in her hand and walked towards the door.

Stepping out of the preparation room, Tomatsu looked around and quickly spotted Matsueda Jun standing not far away.

"Matsueda-kun!" She walked briskly to the boy, a carefully crafted smile on her face. "Long time no see!"

Jun Matsue was taken aback. It had been a long time since he had heard those words. He had just said them to Maki Yami in a joking tone not long ago.

"Long time no see." He snapped out of his reverie and handed the bag to the girl. "This is a souvenir for you."

"Thank you." Tomatsu's smile widened. "Did you have a good time in Kyoto, Matsue-san?"

"I sweated a lot, climbed many mountains, visited many temples, and bought a lot of things."

The girl laughed so hard her shoulders shook. "I also bought some things in Qingmei that I think you'll like."

"But I didn't bring it today, I'll give it to Matsue-kun later!"

The boy nodded and looked behind the girl. "It seems someone is looking for you."

Tomatsu Yuka turned around, and Vice Minister Tayo waved to her, "Yuka, time to get ready to go on stage?"

"Looks like I'll have to wait until after the competition to chat with Matsueda."

The girl turned to look at the boy, waved goodbye reluctantly, and looked somewhat regretful.

Matsueda Jun watched as Yamami Maki walked out of the preparation room and winked at him.

"See you later," he said softly.

Half an hour later, Jun Matsue and Maki Yamami sat in the white concert hall, watching the lights go out and the previous group leave quietly and orderly.

"Is Yuqiu High School next?" The boy glanced at the brochure in his hand, and the girl next to him nodded.

"This year's schools all seem quite formidable, so let's all work hard..."

Maki Yami frowned slightly. She wasn't worried about Tomatsu Yuka's solo, but the overall level of the Haneoka Takasugi Concert Band seemed unremarkable this year.

"Next up, Mitaka City Haneoka High School."

Amidst the rising murmurs of discussion, the girls walked onto the stage, set up their instruments and music stands, adjusted their postures, and quickly got into position.

Tomatsu Yuka's gaze wandered in the hazy darkness, and soon locked onto the spot directly in front of her, where Matsueda Jun was sitting.

Good luck, this is just the right time for Matsueda to see the most perfect version of herself... The girl breathed a sigh of relief and then noticed Yamami Maki sitting next to the boy.

Both of them kept their eyes straight ahead, only turning their heads slightly when speaking, and not very often. No matter how you looked at it, they seemed like normal classmates.

But the scent lingered in her mind and wouldn't go away.

Tomatsu Yuka didn't come to her senses until the stage lights came on, and she looked at the girl standing on the conductor's platform.

Now is not the time to think about these things... She nodded to the girl who was watching her and brought the saxophone to her lips.

The girl took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and held them in the air, making a ready gesture.

As she raised her hands, the first melodious note finally rang out in the concert hall.

At 11:00 AM sharp, Yuuka Takashi's performance ended.

At 2 p.m., the girls learned the results of the competition.

It's scrap gold.

Chapter 382 The Birth of Tragedy

The Tokyo Metropolitan Wind Instrument Competition only produces two teams that will participate in the national competition, but the number of gold medal winners is not limited to that.

Those gold medals that cannot advance are called "waste gold".

The air in the corridor was somewhat stuffy. Jun Matsue and Maki Yamami stood outside the preparation room, waiting for the tightly closed door to open.

“Useless gold…” the girl sighed. “It’s such a waste.”

She listened carefully to the entire match. To be honest, Haneoka High School's defeat this time was not unjustified. Both Kōrindai School and Hachioji Academy, which advanced to the next round, are consistently strong teams, and their performances were almost perfect.

However, humans are emotional beings, and Yamami Maki felt that everyone at Haneoka High School was equally worthy.

Choosing a freestyle piece that caters more to the judges' preferences might just help them advance...

The open door interrupted Yamami Maki's thoughts. She turned her head and watched Tomatsu Yuka walk out of the preparation room alone. The girl closed the door, covering the low sobs coming from inside the room.

"How is it?" she asked softly.

Tomatsu Yuka shook her head. "We seniors are alright, but the first-year members are quite disappointed."

"I've already encouraged them, and now it's Tadai who's comforting them. After a short rest, we'll prepare to go back."

"Thank you for your hard work, Yuuka." Yamami Maki looked into her eyes. "Everyone did a great job this time, you don't need to worry too much."

The girl could only smile wryly, "The air inside feels so stuffy, I want to go for a walk."

Jun Matsue picked up the umbrella that was placed to the side, "My senior and I will go with you."

The gloomy rain lessened a bit, but the sound of it hitting the umbrella was still powerful. Jun Matsue looked at the two girls walking beside him. The girls were sharing the same umbrella, and the tips of their once-smooth leather shoes were now covered in wet mud.

As they walked, the boy turned around, and the girls stopped in their tracks, because Tomatsu Yuka's vision was blurred with tears.

"Actually, I'm still a little unwilling..." she said with a smile, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"Aside from confessing to Matsueda, this should be the biggest failure of my high school career."

Yamami Maki, holding an umbrella, looked somewhat embarrassed. She patted her junior's shoulder, "Tomoka..."

"If I had been stricter and increased the practice time, they wouldn't be crying so miserably in the preparation room now."

"Perhaps instead of a saxophone-dominated freestyle piece, a more conservative piece would please the judges more."

"Perhaps if I had cared more about everyone and pointed out the shortcomings earlier, it wouldn't just be scrap metal now."

Tears streamed down the girl's face like raindrops. Yamami Maki was somewhat at a loss and turned her gaze to the boy on the other side.

Jun Matsue walked up to the two of them and handed the girl a tissue from his pocket.

"The result of the match has already been determined, so there's no point in getting hung up on these minor details."

Tomatsu Yuka wiped away her tears, "Matsueda-san is right, I understand that too, but I just can't stop feeling disappointed..."

Yamami Maki glanced at him again, and the boy sighed, "Think about it from another angle, at least you're free in the new semester, aren't you?"

The girl paused in her act of wiping away tears.

"You don't need to prepare for competitions anymore, and you can go to the band club less often. Whether you want to see your senior or me, you have plenty of time now."

It is indeed strange to use oneself as bait, but Jun Matsue believes it is a very effective method. At least Tomatsu's tears stopped, didn't they?

"It may seem a bit selfish, but it's not a bad idea to think this way." Tomatsu Yuka wiped the last tear from her face.

She stared at the boy in front of her for a while, then suddenly opened her arms and hugged him.

"As expected, no amount of comforting words can compare to the comfort of Matsueda's embrace."

Although she said that, Jun Matsue felt a dampness in his chest. He looked at Maki Yami and asked with his eyes.

Looking at the girl's trembling shoulders, Yamami Maki hesitated for a moment before giving a helpless smile.

"It's better to cry it out." She gently patted her junior's shoulder. "Just release all your emotions."

This desolate rain is Tomatsu Yuka's last memory of summer vacation. Although it is full of regret, it is enough to cover up the heart-wrenching memories of last year.

The ending wasn't perfect, but as Matsueda Jun said, for a selfish girl, even scrap gold wasn't so bad. With the new semester starting, she can now focus on winning over Matsueda-kun again.

Tomatsu Tomoka's naive idea came to an end in the first week of school.

On a Sunday afternoon, the girl walked into the coffee shop opposite the Setagaya Ward Library, and Mochizuki Haruka, who was sitting by the window, waved to her.

"Did you need something?" Tomatsu Yuka pulled out a chair and sat down, her tone not very polite.

"Actually, I should have contacted you sooner." Mochizuki Haruka's smile was sweet, but it gave people a chilling feeling.

"I was thinking it would be more interesting if you found out on your own, but I didn't expect you to still be completely in the dark until the start of the semester."

"What are you saying?" Tomatsu Yuka's tone turned cold, and at the same time, a bad feeling began to grow in her heart.

"I'm talking about Songzhi dating your senior."

"...She wouldn't do something like that."

Tomatsu Tomoka thought Mochizuki Haruka was suspicious, just as she herself had once suspected Yami Maki. It wasn't until the Tokyo Metropolitan Concert, when she hugged Matsueda Jun in the rain, that the girl temporarily put aside her doubts.

Because she couldn't bear to see other girls embracing their lovers right in front of her.

Mochizuki Haruka didn't say anything, but simply unlocked her phone and placed it in front of the girl.

Tomatsu looked at the photo on the screen. Against a dark background, a boy and a girl kissed in front of a flame torii gate and flowing lanterns, as if in a dream.

This was post-production, she wanted to say, but her inner doubts were growing at an unprecedented rate, even frightening her.

"It's fine if you think I photoshopped it," Mochizuki Haruka said slowly, unusually patient today. "Look out the window, at the library across the street."

Tomatsu Tomoka, like a puppet on a string, looked out the window as the girl spoke. There were many people sitting by the windows of the library building, but she quickly spotted Yamami Maki.

Just like she had locked onto Jun Matsueda's spot on the concert hall stage a few days earlier.