Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 197

"Why?" Mochizuki Haruka looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Because I'm graduating soon, and..."

Yamami Maki glanced at the girl sitting on the picnic mat in the distance.

"Are you afraid Tomatsu Tomika will go crazy?" Mochizuki Haruka laughed. "Are you planning to keep this from her forever? Until graduation?"

She sneered inwardly. If she didn't seize the opportunity now, she wouldn't be able to blame anyone but herself for regretting it later.

This is a common problem among people who are too happy: they are always looking for the perfect solution, which is why they hesitate to move forward.

“Matsueda-san also supports me.” Yami Maki responded to her mockery in the simplest way.

"...Do you think you've got this in the bag?" Mochizuki Haruka brought her face close to Yamami Maki's, staring at her fiercely.

“The orphanage where he grew up was sponsored by my family, and the money for the medical treatment and education of the children he cared about was provided by me. When I took a leave of absence from school to travel, it was he who personally called me back over the phone.”

“When I lost hope in life, it was Songzhi who stayed by my side to comfort and take care of me. He was the one who pushed me to change little by little.”

“Songzhi definitely has a place for me in his heart. I will continue to treat him unconditionally well and care about the people he cares about. Even if he really gets together with you, he will never abandon me. Even if we can't become lovers, we are already inseparable.”

The girl spoke with great certainty. She knew that unlike Tomatsu Yuka, she had not made any fundamental mistakes. The Mochizuki family, which had long been an integral part of Matsueda Jun's life, was her greatest support.

“Even if we’re not lovers, it’s fine.” Mochizuki Haruka said provocatively, “I can stay by his side forever, waiting for a chance to sleep with him. I can tolerate him not having me as his lover, but can you accept having someone like me in his life?”

The girl's words had a hint of bluffing—she certainly cared about her lover's position, but she didn't mind saying more harsh words just to scare off Yamami Maki.

“He is already half a member of the Wangyue family. If he wants, the Wangyue family will be his sooner or later. Can your large and prosperous family do that?”

Yamami Maki fell silent, avoiding Mochizuki Haruka's hostile gaze. She looked at the lawn in the distance, where a sudden gust of wind ruffled Matsueda Jun's hair, making the boy's back look somewhat comical.

The girl felt like a new recruit going to war again—both Mochizuki and Yuka were experienced, ruthless hunters, while she had only just learned how to use weapons.

For the pure and kind-hearted top student, the heavy world in which her junior classmates lived was simply too unfamiliar.

"Thank you, Mochizuki Haruka." Yami Maki finally spoke calmly. "I understand Matsueda-kun better now, and I will think carefully about the issue you raised."

"But that won't be a reason for me to give up." The girl's smile was as gentle as ever. "Because I'm having a great time being with Matsueda-kun right now."

"I think Matsueda feels the same way, which is why we chose each other."

"There may indeed be many tests and difficulties in the future, but those are things that we, as lovers, will need to face."

"Right now, I have only one goal: to steadily move towards a future where we become lovers."

"As for your questions, I'm not a very smart person. I'll tell you the answers after I've experienced it in the future."

"..." Mochizuki Haruka frowned as she looked at Yamami Maki. In some ways, this girl was even more annoying than Tomatsu Tomoka—

Like a cicada nymph buried in the soil, after a long and arduous journey of growth and metamorphosis, it finally emerges from the earth only to discover that the life under the sun that it longs for is something that the fluttering butterfly was born with.

The girl picked up her parasol and stood up. She didn't want to be under the same roof with this guy anymore, not even for a second.

"I won't tell Tomatsu about your affairs." Mochizuki Haruka turned around and looked at the girl sitting on the corridor. "So don't tell Matsue that I know about this either."

Maki Yami nodded. She really didn't want Yuka to find out, not only because of the guilt of betrayal, but also because of the fear of an unseen future.

She was already aware of the cunning side of her junior, and if Yuka found out, her peaceful life for the next semester or so might be ruined.

From this perspective, perhaps Yamami Maki is just as selfish as the other girls.

This was the only consensus they reached.

Chapter 347 Times Have Changed, the Girl Contemplates the Reasons

"This summer vacation is rather unpleasant."

The girl sitting on the lawn said this, stretching out her finger to draw circles around the edge of the picnic mat.

"Why?" Jun Matsue looked at the children on the grass. Although the adults from the orphanage were right next to him, he still felt more at ease watching them.

He wondered where the senior student and the dean were chatting... He glanced at his phone, but there were no messages displayed.

"Because this summer vacation is so lonely," Tomatsu Yuka sighed. "The brass band has to train, have training camps, and participate in competitions, so most of our time is gone."

"And this time, without Matsueda-kun watching over me, and with my senior not around either, I'm fighting all alone, and I feel so lonely..."

“If you think like that, Tayo will be disappointed.” Jun Matsueda looked at the girl in the distance who was blowing her tuba loudly.

"You're leaving school next year too, so how about we treat this as a way to get used to it in advance?" He started subtly laying the groundwork.

However, Tomatsu Yuka sighed again, "If only my senior wasn't a senior, and was in the same year as us, then we could all stay in sync."

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "Then your relationship with her might not be that good, right?"

“That’s true.” Tomatsu Yuka smiled, picked up the saxophone in front of her, and casually played a melody.

The notes drifted gently past the girl walking towards the lawn. Yamami Maki slowed her pace, waiting for the two to finish their conversation.

"I hope Matsueda-san can come and watch our performance at this year's Tokyo Metropolitan Concert."

The boy nodded. "Can I still win the national gold medal this year?"

"I'm not so sure," the girl said, putting down her saxophone. "Inviting Matsueda was just to cover up bad memories."

"At last year's Tokyo Metropolitan Convention, I confessed to Matsueda-san, didn't I? I cried so hard back then," Tomatsu Tomohana said with a smile.

"I was thinking that if we invite Matsueda again this year, at least when we think back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Conference, we'll all have pleasant memories, right?"

As Jun Matsue watched the sparrows hopping around on the lawn, even he sometimes wondered if Tomoka Tomatsu's spirit was just too strong...

This is how a young girl always is: to throw away all the bad things and cherish and carefully polish the good memories—so that she can always stand in front of her beloved in the most beautiful and fulfilling way.

"Then it's settled~" Tomatsu Yuka winked at the boy, then turned to the girl behind her, "Senpai's back?"

Yamami Maki nodded. "It's almost time to leave."

Jun Matsueda glanced down at his phone; he hadn't even exchanged a few words with his senior yet.

"I'll go call everyone to get ready to assemble." The girl got up from the picnic mat, put her saxophone into her instrument bag, and said, "Please keep this safe, senior."

With a shoulder bag in her left hand and a handbag in her right, Yamami Maki watched Tomatsu Yuka walk gracefully into the distance. "A woman like that, it would be hard for anyone not to be moved by her, wouldn't it?"

Jun Matsue stood up, not echoing the girl's words. "What did Grandma say to you? I saw you left for quite a while."

"It's nothing." Yami Maki felt a little guilty; she seemed to have spent more time talking to Mochizuki Haruka than to the dean.

"Grandma Dean told me a lot about Songzhi—how she used to ride her dog around when she was little, how she got into fights with others in middle school, and so on."

The girl tilted her head cutely, "Delinquent Matsueda-kun, I want to see too~"

Jun Matsueda blinked. "I've never been a delinquent. I just made a small contribution to maintaining order in the area."

However, he said it with a trilled "r" sound, and the girl covered her mouth and giggled.

When the sun shifted to a position where the crows on the roof could reach it, the girls from the brass band, carrying their bags, boarded the school bus again.

"Did everyone leave anything behind?" Director Junkazu Matsue stood at the entrance of the orphanage, facing the group of girls.

Mochizuki Haruka did not appear. After talking with Yamami Maki, the girl disappeared and no one knew where she went. She only sent a message to Matsueda Jun that he didn't need to worry about her.

"Probably not." Tomatsu Yuka shook her head. Actually, she hoped that the club members had left something here, so that she would have an excuse to come back again.

"Then be careful on the road," Jun Matsue said to the two of them. "Remember to let me know when you get home safely."

"Okay~" Tomatsu Yuka boarded the bus first, and Yamami Maki walked at the back. The senior turned around and waited for the girl in front of her to get on the bus before gesturing with her right hand that was placed behind her back.

Jun Matsue smiled and waved in the direction of the bus—though neither of them could see the other's expression, it didn't matter.

The old woman standing to the side watched the school bus disappear at the intersection. She turned around and walked into the welfare home, where she happened to see Mochizuki Haruka standing on the upstairs corridor. The girl was silently watching the back of the boy at the door.

"...You must work hard," the silver-haired old man sighed to someone.

The girls weren't tired on the way back. Their whispers filled the carriage, and Tomatsu Yuka, sitting by the window, looked at the scenery outside.

The bus had a tall body, and the view from inside was different from usual, as if it were traveling over people's heads, giving the girl a strange sense of alienation.

Yamami Maki looked at the girl sitting next to her, and seemingly sensing the junior's somewhat dejected mood, she spoke in a comforting tone.

"If Yuka encounters any problems during training or the training camp, feel free to come to me! You can send a message or call me, and I'll reply whenever I'm free."

"The minister's job is indeed quite demanding. When he's in a bad mood, he doesn't have to bear it alone. Everyone is happy to help."

"Thank you, senior." Tomatsu Yuka turned around, smiled at the girl, and said, "I'll do my best."

She actually preferred calling Matsueda Jun to her senior. Besides the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament, were there any other opportunities during summer vacation to invite Matsueda Jun out...? The girl silently began to ponder.

She thought of Mochizuki Haruka again—the girl in the black dress had been standing on the building behind Matsueda Jun when they left, watching them like a ghost.

In the past, Tomatsu Yuka might have asked her senior to keep an eye on Matsueda Jun and not give Mochizuki Haruka a chance to get close, but now she lets such thoughts flash through her mind.

The girl recalled seeing the two of them on the lawn earlier—although the boy and girl maintained a distance that conformed to social etiquette, for some reason, they looked very close together.

Why is that...? Tomatsu Yuka's gaze turned to the car window again.

The swaying school bus was filled with whispers throughout the journey, but the two people sitting together remained silent.

Chapter 348 Popsicles, Memories, and Empty Rooms

After the school bus drove away, Jun Matsue, who was standing at the entrance of the orphanage, turned around and noticed the girl in the black dress standing upstairs.

He wasn't scared at all—after all, he had experienced girls knocking on his door on rainy nights before, and as long as Mochizuki Haruka didn't suddenly jump down from upstairs, it wasn't a big deal.

The two stared at each other, seemingly sulking about something. A minute later, Jun Matsueda waved, and just as the girl thought he was going to come in, the boy turned and left through the door.

"This guy..." Mochizuki Haruka hurriedly went downstairs, but by the time she reached the door, the boy had already disappeared.

Half an hour later, Jun Matsue returned to the orphanage, but the girl was no longer there. He walked around the common area inside and finally found Haruka Mochizuki lying on her bed in his room.

"Who let you in?" He closed the door to the room, turned on the electric fan standing on the floor, and the whooshing sound of the airflow swirled in the room, blowing the girl's long hair.

"Aya-chan let me in." The girl lying on the bed changed her position and sat against the headboard. She had taken off her sandals, and her bare little feet swung back and forth towards Matsueda Jun.

Mochizuki Haruka looked away from her phone and secretly glanced at the boy in front of her. Matsueda Jun sat at the wooden table and didn't look at her bare feet much.

The girl pursed her lips in displeasure. "Where did you go just now?"

"I went to buy some snacks and brought this for you." Jun Matsue pulled out a brown bag from behind his back, with condensed water droplets sliding off its surface.

"This is the popsicle that I used to love eating in the summer. I guess you've never tried it, so I bought it for you to try."

The slight resentment that Mochizuki Haruka felt towards the boy for leaving without saying goodbye vanished instantly. She stretched out her right hand and presented it to Matsueda Jun, saying, "Give it to me."

"Hold on."

The boy tore open the bag labeled "papico," inside were two popsicles shaped like soda bottles. He cut them in half and handed one to the girl.

Mochizuki Haruka looked at the popsicle wrapped in plastic in her hand. "How do you eat this?"

Jun Matsue laughed, "It's something you suck on; you just need to pull off the tab."

The girl tied her index finger to the ring at the top of the "soda bottle" and easily pulled open the neck. She leaned closer to observe the brown shaved ice inside the plastic shell that was gradually melting, then looked up at Matsueda Jun, who was already sucking on it, and took a couple of sips like a boy.

The chocolate coffee had a very rich flavor and melted in my mouth with a cool, refreshing taste. "It tastes pretty good."

"I want to eat too!" The girl's phone, which was on her lap, suddenly made a sound. Jun Matsueda, who was sitting on a chair next to her, blinked.

Are you on the phone?

"Hmm." Mochizuki Haruka, with a popsicle in her mouth just like him, picked up her phone and faced Matsueda Jun—her aunt, dressed in a suit, was waving at her on the screen.

The environment on the screen resembled an office, with a modern decor and clean lines. The woman got up from her seat, and Jun Matsuoka watched as the scene on his phone changed from a desk to a sofa, coffee table, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Matsue-kun, it's been a long time." Mochizuki Kaori sat on the sofa, her tone less friendly than usual when she was working.

"My aunt said she wanted to see your room, so she asked me to turn on the video," Mochizuki Haruka explained, and the serious aura that the woman in the suit had projected immediately disappeared.

"I asked you to check if there's anything strange hiding in Songzhi's room~" Aunt stretched and picked up the coffee from the coffee table.

"Nothing was found, which is disappointing!"

"I'm so sorry my room is so boring." Jun Matsueda leaned back in his chair and looked around his room.

"There are no erotic comics under the bed, no posters on the wall, and you can't find any toys. Songzhi is having a hard time." The woman's words carried the unique loving emotion of an elder.

"I didn't find it too hard." Jun Matsue stared blankly at the rapidly spinning blades of the electric fan.

He had done this countless times in this unremarkable room, sometimes on nights filled with the chirping of insects, and occasionally on empty days, just to dispel those fragments of time in his orderly life.

"I've bought posters and toys before, but I mostly gave them to younger children."

"Matsueda is a very good older brother..." Mochizuki Haruka's voice was soft, and the girl's eyes were gentle, filled with pity and affection.

She quickly came to her senses, looked at her aunt's mischievous smile on the phone, stuck out her tongue, and cut off the video signal.