Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 383 Empathy
Yamami Maki stood downstairs at the library, watching the boy next to her unlock his bicycle.

The girl's eyes were full of tenderness. After returning from Kyoto, her feelings for Matsueda Jun transformed from the morning mist that permeated the forest into dewdrops that condensed on the grass, gradually sinking down in the calm of daily life.

As was his usual routine, Jun Matsueda would push his bicycle to take his senior to the station. The two would slip into an alleyway to hold hands, perhaps even hug and kiss, before parting sweetly and promising to meet again next time.

But today, just as the two took their first steps, a familiar voice rang out behind them.

"Matsueda-san."

Yamami Maki turned her head first, her mouth agape in surprise.

"Youhua?"

She subconsciously took a step to the side, maintaining a normal distance from the boy, but the panic on the girl's face was still undeniable.

Jun Matsueda put down the car lock he was holding, looked up, and saw Tomatsu Yuka walk to his side.

The girl's silence was so brief it was almost an illusion; a smile, no different from usual, appeared on her face.

"Good afternoon, Songzhi-san."

"What are you and your senior doing here?"

The girl's unexpected question caught the two off guard, leaving them no room to maneuver. Matsueda Jun suppressed his surprise and quickly began to think.

Although the two hadn't engaged in any intimate behavior downstairs, and Tomatsu Yuka didn't seem like she was there to interrogate him, he wasn't the type to take chances. The girl's appearance here at this moment was hardly an accident.

More importantly, based on his understanding of the girl at the next table, although she was behaving normally, her tone and expression made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“Actually,” Matsueda Jun was about to speak when Yami Maki, as if she had read his mind, glanced at him hastily and took a step toward her junior.

"Actually, I've encountered some difficulties while reviewing recently, so I'm asking Songzhi for help."

She didn't look directly into her junior's eyes when she spoke, but instead lowered her head slightly, her voice trembling—clearly due to her guilty conscience.

"Is that so?" The girl blinked, took her senior's arm, and said with a hint of jealousy, "Why didn't you invite me? I want to join next time too."

"If Yuka has time, that's fine." Yami Maki's tense shoulders relaxed, her smile somewhat weak.

"Although I've been quite busy since the start of the school term, I'll try my best to make time for it~"

Tomatsu Tomoka twitched her nostrils slightly. She smelled a familiar scent on Yamami Maki, even stronger than the one on Matsueda Jun back then.

Sure enough. She was still smiling, but the last shred of self-deceiving luck had sunk into her heart.

"So, are you going home now, senior? I've just finished shopping too, shall we go home together?"

Although the girl's heart was shrouded in dark clouds, she did not lash out on the spot—at such a moment, her mental state instead displayed a kind of morbid rationality.

Matsueda is still here. If she presses Yamami Maki for answers now, she will likely lower her popularity among the boys.

Moreover, he might even protect the girl who was being interrogated, and Tomatsu Tomohana no longer wanted to leave her senior any room to escape.

"Then I'll take you to the station." Jun Matsueda interrupted their conversation. Although Tomatsu Tomoka seemed normal, he was still a little worried.

"No need, no need. The sky is overcast, it might rain soon. Pine Branch, you should go back first."

Yamami Maki hurriedly waved her hand, wanting the boy to leave as soon as possible to avoid increasing the younger generation's suspicions about her.

"." Jun Matsue glanced at the two of them, waved his phone in his right hand, and gestured for his senior to remember to contact him if needed.

After watching the boy ride away on his bicycle, Yamami Maki immediately felt the touch on her arm disappear. She turned her head and saw that Tomatsu Yuka's smile had vanished, and her empty eyes were staring blankly into the distance.

The girl was startled, "Yuka?"

Tomatsu Yuka ignored her and walked towards the subway station on her own. A bewildered Yamami Maki instinctively followed the girl. Filled with a sudden surge of fear, Yamami Maki cautiously observed the girl's expression. As tears streamed down her junior's face, her guilt deepened once more.

".Youhua?"

"Why."

Tomatsu Yuka murmured to herself, glancing at the sky and mistaking the dampness on her face for traces of rain.

"Why?!"

The girl suddenly screamed, her shrill voice seemingly capable of piercing the heart.

Yamami Maki tensed up in fright. At this moment, she was very clear that Tomatsu Yuka must already know about her relationship with Matsueda.

Her mind went blank.

"Why?" Tomatsu Tomoka turned to look at Yamami Maki.

Her tears dripped onto the toes of her shoes, leaving ink-like stains on her white canvas shoes.

"I trusted my senior so much, why did you betray me?"

"I clearly like my senior so much, why did you lie to me?"

Yamami Maki's lips trembled, and all she could say was "I'm sorry."

"What's the use of apologizing?!" Tomatsu Yuka slammed her clenched fist down in mid-air, causing her long black hair to sway.

"Does an apology really give me back Tsunkun?!"

The girl's fist didn't hit Yamami Maki, but under her junior's questioning, she lost the strength to control her limbs and collapsed to the ground.

However, her tilted body was caught, and she looked up in surprise and hope, only to see Tomatsu Yuka's cold pupils close to hers.

"I won't let you get hurt, lest Tsun-kun think I'm bullying you," the girl said coldly.

Vehicles kept passing by on the road. Like a puppet, Yamami Maki was helped to the side of the road and collapsed on the grass.

Tomatsu Yuka looked at her senior who had fallen to the ground. This condescending attitude did not bring her any pleasure, only the sorrow in her heart accumulated layer by layer as time went by.

"I still remember how I made a promise with my senior: relationship counseling, troubles, and advice."

"We practiced together for the competition, went shopping and strolled together, ate snacks together, and soaked in hot springs together."

“Every time I meet with Songzhi, I always make sure to chat with you first.”

"I can only confide in my senior with complete peace of mind about my love life and my troubles." The girl's voice grew increasingly sorrowful and piercing.

Why did we both find ourselves unable to express ourselves later on?

"Why did my senior from back then become like this?!"

She lowered her head and shouted at Yamami Maki, who was slumped on the lawn.

Despite his desperate efforts, his voice sounded exceptionally weak.

A complex mix of bitterness and anger welled up in Tomatsu Yuka's heart, and the girl's vision blurred.

She recalled how it all started, the way the boy looked at her when she confessed to Songzhi in the archives after school.

"So this is what Tsunkun felt back then."

(End of this chapter)