Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 199

"Now I'm going to ask Mr. Songzhi for advice~" The girl leaned forward, closing the distance between herself and the boy.

"Regarding the explanation of option E in this reading comprehension question about 'The Meeting at Hongmen'..."

The morning hours, like moisture drying on clothes outside the window, vanished in an instant under the sun's warmth. Jun Matsueda walked out of the Setagaya Ward Library and opened a parasol for the girl beside him.

The streets were nearly deserted at midday. The two walked into a small alley behind the library, where there was a restaurant called "Nanfeng Canteen" at the end, where they usually had lunch.

Today's lunch is vegetarian noodles. Jun Matsue drinks the lemon iced water served by the restaurant and chats with the girl sitting across from him.

"It feels like this summer is even hotter than last year."

"Yes, that's right." Yami Maki nodded. "The temperature reached 37 degrees Celsius today, and the cicadas seemed to be chirping much louder than before."

"I don't know how I would survive without air conditioning." She reached out and fanned her cheeks, her gesture adorable.

“Air conditioning might not even work.” Jun Matsue watched as the shopkeeper brought out a large bowl of noodles, side dishes, and two dipping sauces from the kitchen. He reached out and took them, placing them in front of the two of them.

"Last year when the brass band was practicing, the standing air conditioner was completely useless. Everyone was still panting from the heat."

As the boy spoke, he served Yami Maki some noodles and placed the shredded perilla leaves and cucumber that the girl liked in front of her. Yami Maki wasn't the type to sit still and not lift a finger, but in front of Matsueda Jun, she simply rested her chin on her hand and watched him serve her with a smile.

“OK.” Jun Matsue prepared the dipping sauce for the girl. “Mental activities consume a lot of energy, so you should eat a hearty lunch, senior.”

"Okay~" Yamami Maki nodded obediently, picked up a thin white noodle and put it in her mouth.

"Delicious!" The girl looked at the boy in front of her with satisfaction. "Matsueda-kun, don't just look at me, try some yourself."

The noodles were gently lifted and dipped into the dark broth. They were cool and refreshing, and the simple sauce had a lingering aftertaste that was enough to make one forget the summer heat.

After lunch, the two returned to the library. After focusing on doing a few problems, Matsueda Jun noticed the girl's frequent glances at him.

"What's wrong, senior? Are you feeling unwell?" He put down his pen.

"No..." The girl's face flushed slightly. She gathered the books in front of her to make room around her.

"I was thinking, would it be more convenient for Matsueda to sit here and explain the problems?"

Matsueda Jun pretended to think for a while, and then, under the expectant gaze of Yamami Maki, he stood up with his books in his arms.

"I think so too."

The next day, when Jun Matsueda went out, he received another photo from his senior. It was still the same seat by the window, with the textbook open in the sunlight. It seemed like nothing had changed.

The two cups of coffee that were originally far apart are now leaning together.

Chapter 352 The Discovery at the End of July

"Is Matsueda satisfied with this year's summer vacation?"

On the last day of July, Tomatsu Yuka, sitting in the library, asked the boy sitting next to her this question.

Matsueda Jun looked up from his workbook, his gaze towards the girl somewhat inexplicable.

"Isn't this question a bit premature? Summer vacation still has almost a month left."

"That's true." Tomatsu Tomohana smiled. "Let's ask Matsueda-san after summer vacation."

The girl stood up and walked out from behind the counter, pushing a cart full of books toward the bookshelves. Jun Matsue watched her put the books returned by borrowers back in their places one by one, and finally push the empty cart back to the counter.

Tomatsu Yuka sat down again, and a boy's voice sounded in her ear, "Tomatsu, are you not satisfied with your summer vacation?"

The girl turned to look at him. "I'm not entirely satisfied. How did you know, Matsueda-kun?"

Jun Matsueda turned a page of the workbook in front of him. “My own experience is this: only people who are dissatisfied with their own situation will care about the situation of others.”

It's a very simple principle: people who are so immersed in happiness that they don't even have time to process their own happiness, let alone care about other people in the outside world.

"Matsueda-kun really understands me," the girl said with a smile, her dissatisfaction with her summer vacation temporarily gone.

The boy turned another page of his book. "Is it about the brass band?"

Tomatsu Yuka nodded. "Because the team isn't as strong as last year, and everyone doesn't want to give up on the national tournament, we've increased the training time."

"But I still feel a bit worried..." The girl frowned sadly, "I don't know how effective the training camp will be."

Junya Matsueda put down his pen and began to think, "Should I consult with Professor Hirouchi and ask her to spend more time giving me some guidance?"

"Ah, that's not what I'm worried about," Tomatsu Yuka waved her hand.

"I'm just thinking that with more time spent in club activities, I'll have less time to spend with Matsueda-kun, won't I?"

"..." Jun Matsueda glanced at the girl beside him, picked up his pen and continued working on his problems.

"What's with that expression, Matsueda-kun?" the girl asked, feigning anger. "I'm seriously thinking about how to leave my mark on Matsueda-kun's summer vacation!"

"Wasn't last year's fireworks festival a memorable and precious memory for Matsueda-san?"

I want to see the surprised expression on Matsue-san's face when she received the yukata a few more times!

Of course, Tomatsu Yuka would never mention certain painful and profound memories; she's waiting to cover them up with the boy in front of her this year.

"Didn't we say that once was enough to have a memory like this?"

Although he said that, Jun Matsue couldn't help but recall the fireworks that filled the night sky that night, and the ray of starlight that brushed against the girl's bangs.

That yukata is still deep in his closet; he doesn't know if he'll still be able to wear it this year.

"People are always greedy," the girl replied with a grin.

"Once you've had it the first time, you want it again; once you have it the second time, you expect it to happen every year. It's through this kind of greed that humanity progresses."

"Nonsense," the boy concluded.

"So be it, it's all fallacious reasoning." Tomatsu Tomoka blinked. "Matsueda-kun's fallacious reasoning is my righteous argument!"

Young girls are always so cunning; no matter the topic, they can turn it into a declaration of love. Perhaps, just as trees need to bloom and cicadas need to sing, expressing love has long become an instinct for them.

As Jun Matsuoka watched the birds outside the window spread their wings on the branches, the girl who had stood up approached him, shielding his eyes from the swaying greenery.

Just as the boy was about to make a move, Tomatsu Yuka reached out and picked up the water glass next to him.

"Matsueda-kun's water bottle is empty, let me get you some more~"

The girl hummed a song, took two water cups, and walked away. Jun Matsue turned his gaze away from the window and continued working on his world history homework.

The swaying branches and leaves have stopped moving, and the tender green under the sunlight is as full as an oil painting.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" Tomatsu Yuka carefully approached the counter with two water glasses in hand. "I added some dried lemon that I brought myself, so it will taste even more refreshing. Matsu-san should like it."

The cunning girl didn't return to her own spot, but instead went to the other side of Matsueda Jun and put his water glass back in its place.

The bent-over posture brought the two closer, and Tomatsu Yuka tried to amplify the sensation of that moment, pulling away again before the boy could react.

The girl returned to her chair and sat down without saying a word. This was just a habitual attack of hers, but it seemed to have brought some unexpected gains—

Matsueda seems to have a fragrance that she didn't have before?

Was it just her imagination...? She glanced at the boy, and Matsueda Jun assumed that the girl was expecting his reaction, so he picked up his water glass and took a sip.

"The taste is not bad, the lemon flavor is quite obvious."

"I'm glad you like it, Matsu-san." Tomatsu Yuka smiled and looked at the borrowing records in front of her.

After a while, the girl stood up and started rummaging through the table. Matsueda Jun looked up in confusion.

"Can't you find something?"

"Ah, I didn't know that Songzhi didn't come yesterday. A reader said she lost her library card. She probably left it at the counter and didn't take it. I'd like to look for it."

As the girl said this, she stood next to Jun Matsueda, and the boy leaned back in his chair to give her space to search.

"It doesn't seem to be on the counter..." she muttered to herself, then gripped the back of the chair in front of her and crawled under the table.

Tomatsu Yuka squatted down facing Matsueda Jun. Although the boy made a move to avoid her, the distance between them was briefly shortened, and the girl smelled that faint fragrance on him again.

It wasn't just my imagination... The girl searched under the counter for a few seconds before returning to her seat.

"It doesn't seem to have been left at the counter," she finally concluded.

“Let’s ask that reader again next time.” Jun Matsueda sat down again. “If we still can’t find it, let’s check the surveillance footage.”

“Okay~” Tomatsu Yuka nodded obediently.

Even after leaving get off work that day, the girl was still pondering the source of that fragrance. She pushed her bicycle out of the literature museum, watched as Jun Matsuoka waved to her, and then rode off into the afterglow of the setting sun.

Tomatsu Yuka stared blankly at the sunset for a while.

The girl's rationality told her not to dwell on the unfamiliar smell; it might just be a change of shampoo, a strong-smelling food in her lunch, or a store that had just been sprayed with air freshener.

But a woman's intuition, clinging to her emotional side, relentlessly tells her the truth.

"If it happens again, let's investigate it."

Chapter 353 Art Originates from Life

August 2nd is a special day for Jun Matsue.

He didn't study with his senior, there was no library schedule, the cat ninja wouldn't launch a surprise attack from blind spots, and Yosuke Kurusu was still at work.

This is a day that belongs entirely to him.

How should one spend this completely autonomous day? Jun Matsueda's good friend, Natsumi Imokawa, gave him the answer.

"So this is how filming a movie crew goes..."

Jun Matsue stood by the roadside, while a girl with a camera tugged at the hem of his shirt, excitedly staring at the group of people carrying equipment not far away, muttering to herself.

"Pine branches! Pine branches! This is so interesting!"

Natsumi Imokawa's body swayed continuously. Jun Matsueda turned his head to look and saw that the girl's chest was almost touching his arm.

He had no choice but to let go of the girl's hand and said helplessly, "It was really interesting, but you almost shook my phone off."

"Ah, sorry." Natsumi Imokawa finally came to her senses and said awkwardly, a blush spreading across her face.

"Cut!" A shout rang out from not far away along with the girl's movement. The intersection, which had only had two figures, immediately became noisy as the male and female protagonists in school uniforms were surrounded by staff.

“It’s like traveling from one world to another…” Natsumi Imokawa murmured to herself, staring at the crowd. The girl’s expression reminded Jun Matsueda of Yosei Kurusu’s drunken appearance.

"Imokawa really loves the world of images." Jun Matsueda looked at the girl beside him with the same care he would give a small animal.

"Mmm." She nodded, an involuntary smile spreading across her face.

"Because it's really fun!"

A middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap walked through the crowd toward the two men standing on the sidelines. The people who had gathered around him dispersed with a sigh of relief as he left.

"How are you feeling?" the man asked lazily. He was the director of the film crew and also Natsumi Imokawa's father.

"Thank you, Mr. Imokawa. I learned a lot of interesting things," Jun Matsue replied with a polite smile.

It's a pity he's not a junior high student anymore, otherwise using the film crew in front of him as a research topic for his summer vacation would be quite good.

"Matsueda, don't talk to me like that." The man patted Matsueda Jun on the shoulder and looked at his daughter standing to the side.

"What about Natsumi? Is she satisfied with Dad's film crew?"

Natsumi Imokawa nodded, then shook her head. Her lips moved several times before she finally looked at the male actor who was resting in a chair.

"I feel the male lead is just average-looking; it would have been better to have Songzhi play the role..."

The man burst into laughter, his unrestrained laughter drawing attention from those around him, but Jun Matsue could only pretend he hadn't heard it.

"That won't do!" The man's gaze swept over the boy in the white shirt in front of him. This guy had attracted a lot of attention from the moment he arrived at the sidelines.

"The male and female leads in this drama are childhood sweethearts, and the female lead doesn't realize she likes the male lead until high school."

"If Songzhi were to play this role, the plot would be completely illogical—if this guy had a childhood sweetheart, she would have already slept with him!"

The man named Akira Imokawa still retained the openness of a former action film director when he spoke, leaving Jun Matsueda with no choice but to give a helpless smile.

It was lunchtime soon, and the crew didn't have any extra boxed lunches, so Jun Matsueda led Natsumi Imokawa into a roadside cafe. The girl originally wanted to go to a ramen shop, but she was persuaded by the boy's reason that "cafes are quieter and better for looking at cameras."

The air-conditioned café was exceptionally cool. Jun Matsueda sat by the window and handed the menu to the girl holding a camera across from him.

"What do you want to eat at Imokawa?"

"Hmm..." Natsumi Imokawa flipped through two pages of the menu in a daze, and finally looked at the boy.

"What did you burn with the pine branches?"

"Spaghetti Bolognese Set Meal".

"Then I'll choose this one too."