Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 376 Jun Matsue's Reciprocity

The wind on the riverbank picked up, like the breath of the Kamo River, and the grass at Jun Matsue's feet swayed incessantly.

"Of course, for most people in the Yami family, there's nothing wrong with the family's planning."

"After all, work is work and life is life. Whatever you want to do after work is fine as long as it doesn't damage the family's image."

“People like me are actually the odd ones out in the family.” Yami Ikuka’s voice was very calm. “I did have opinions about what my grandfather and the others did, but in the end I accepted it.”

"Perhaps this proves that Grandpa and the others were right."

What do you think, Matsueda-kun?

"I might not know until I actually join the Yami family."

The woman's laughter came through the receiver and quickly faded away by the river. "Matsueda-kun, do you have any ideas for the future? Do you have any goals you want to pursue?"

"No, right?" Jun Matsue wasn't quite sure. "Ikuka-nee should know about my background. For me, a stable life is enough."

"Where's the band? You guys performed before, right?"

"I don't have any plans to professionalize the band. Although performing on stage is really great, it's fine to just treat it as a hobby."

“Matsueda-kun is surprisingly boring,” Yami Ikuka said with disappointment. “I wish my husband were like you.”

Jun Matsueda smiled. "Mr. Yamami is an adult who has already decided on his future, while I am still a high school student who has not yet entered society. Of course, our thoughts are different."

A man's voice came from the other end of the phone asking a question, and he tactfully ended the conversation.

"That's enough for now. I've had a good chat with Sister Yuxiang tonight. Thank you very much."

After hanging up the phone, Jun Matsue stood there for a while, making sure the old man drinking not far away wouldn't fall into the river drunk, before turning around and walking back to the hotel.

As the journey progressed from darkness to light, the number of couples standing at equal intervals remained the same. Jun Matsue suddenly wondered what Ikuka would think if she were looking at these couples staring blankly at each other on the banks of the Kamo River.

When he returned to the hotel entrance, he happened to meet three girls wearing yukatas. Mochizuki Haruka licked her ice cream cone and nodded to him demurely.

"You're back? You're not going out again, are you?"

"I'm tired from walking." Jun Matsueda walked up to Yosei Kurusu, who was holding two ice cream cones. "Which one is mine?"

"Uh." The girl blinked guiltily and handed him the vanilla one.

"Yoshi-nee just said she wanted to eat two each," Miyamura Aya whispered, walking behind the two.

"Shut up!"

When Jun Matsueda returned to his room to get a change of clothes and headed towards the bathhouse, Haruka Mochizuki once again blocked his doorway.

"What? Are you going to come with me into the bath?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

The girl raised an eyebrow in return. "There's a private hot spring here. If you'd like, I wouldn't mind soaking in it with you."

With things having come to this, Jun Matsueda had no choice but to admit defeat. He tried to get around Haruka Mochizuki, but the girl grabbed the boy's clothes and sniffed them.

"Hey, hey." The girl's actions reminded him of the days six months ago when his house was possessed by a spirit.

"It's alright, go take a shower."

Mochizuki Haruka released her grip. She had confirmed that the boy didn't have any strange scents, and the girl was now completely relieved.

Matsueda Jun usually takes a quick bath, but since he was on vacation, he decided to soak for a while longer, until all the pores on his body were fully open in the warm water before leaving the bath.

Cell phones are not allowed in the bathhouse, so he only saw the message from his senior on his way back to his room.

"Get ready for bed!"

"Good morning." Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone; it was a little past nine. He found his room, where he could hear the girls chatting and laughing. He decided to buy a bottle of milk from the vending machine at the end of the corridor and continue chatting with his upperclassman.

Drinking milk after taking a bath is a habit that Yosei Kurusu brought to him.

"There's nothing we can do, that's just how the older generation keeps," the girl said with a helpless emoji. "Besides, there aren't many activities in Kyoto at night."

"Aren't there any family gatherings or anything like that?" Jun Matsueda wondered, recalling those scenes of clinking glasses and lively conversations on television.

"Yes, there are, but we are here to visit the patient, and Grandpa has a very good relationship with the old man, so it is not appropriate for me to participate in these activities."

"So you can only chat with me now."

"That's right~"

Jun Matsue, standing in the corridor, and Maki Yamami, lying on the bed, both laughed at the same time.

"Did you receive my gift, Pine Branch?"

"I received the candy and the book."

"Really? Has Matsueda read that book? I didn't have much time at the time, but I chose it because its name was related to 'love'."

"It's a good book, very interesting."

After returning to his hotel, Jun Matsueda flipped through "The People Who Love," and to be honest, this collection of short stories was somewhat difficult to describe.
He had already finished reading the first story—the protagonist's former lover, Minako, passed away due to illness. After discussing it with his wife, he adopted his former lover's orphaned daughter, Yukiko. It wasn't until Yukiko grew up and got married that he discovered the girl had long since fallen in love with him.

At the end of the story, on his way home, the protagonist was "constantly flashing with the electric light of love that had continued from Minako to Yukiko."

It's a story of love that's somewhat subtle and immoral, and it turns out that Yamami Maki's choice of it was just a coincidence.

Having lingered in the corridor for quite some time, Matsueda Jun was a little worried that Mochizuki Haruka would find him, so he asked his senior about tomorrow's schedule one last time.

"Are you going to Inari Shrine tomorrow afternoon, senior? We're going there in the morning too."

He thought for a moment, "Then I'll also give my senior a surprise."

"What? What?" the girl sent a bird jumping emoji.

"I'll tell you when we get to the shrine tomorrow."

"hateful--"

Jun Matsue returned to his room with the empty milk bottle, and the girls who were playing cards on the floor started chattering excitedly.

"The pine branches are so slow!" Yosei Kurusu patted the pillow on his lap.

Mochizuki Haruka didn't speak, she just stared at him silently.

"It soaked for a little too long, and then I drank a bottle of milk," the boy explained, throwing the milk bottle into the trash can.

"Brother Chun, Brother Chun, the mountain we saw during our evening walk was the Daimonji-yama that the Five Mountains Fire Offering was meant to burn down!"

The girls' voices filled his room until silence returned before he went to sleep.

The following afternoon, Jun Matsue, who was sitting on the tram, received a message from Maki Yamami.

"We've found a surprise!"

The girl sent me a picture of an ema (votive plaque) from a shrine, with an amulet from Shimo-araku Shrine hanging on it.

The ema (votive plaque) features a large heart and a note left by Jun Matsue.

"I welcome Ms. Yamami to leave more marks on my heart."

(End of this chapter)