Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 402 Fate and Destiny
An elderly man dressed in a black linen kimono sat in the study, replacing Jun Matsuoka's previous seat.

Why did Father come today?

Kazuaki Yamami spoke with great respect, and the old man who had seen many storms and was still alive was the true head of the Yamami family.

"Since Moji has someone she likes, of course I had to come and see her."

"what do you think?"

"He's a very promising kid, but it's hard to say whether he'll be obedient," the man said bluntly.

The old man took a sip of tea, then sighed helplessly.

"After all these years, your taste in tea is still so poor."

"Compared to Moji, she is far inferior."

Jun Matsue sat on the sofa in the living room, watching the cockatiel that had just been released from its cage hop around on the legs of the girl beside him.

"Matsueda-kun, you must be having a tough time."

Yamami Maki reached out and grasped the hopping bird, gently stroking its head with her index finger. The clever little creature let out a soft, joyful chirp.

"It's alright, the uncle's attitude was quite gentle." The boy smiled.

"He stole such a great senior, I thought he would want to eat me alive."

"You're lying." The girl rolled her eyes at him. "I was eavesdropping on your conversation outside the door."

No wonder I couldn't see any senior students on the lawn.

"I think it's because my senior has been like this since she was a child that she's truly had a tough life."

"It's alright." Yami Maki had a faint smile on her face. "Actually, I'm used to it. And for an ordinary person with no ambitions, this kind of life isn't so bad."

"I'm just an ordinary person too," the girl said, teasing the wriggling parrot in her hand.

"Are you really used to it?" the boy asked softly.

Yamami Maki opened her arms and watched the little thing jump onto the floor and thrash around, but she didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you bored staying at home?" An elderly voice came from the corridor.

"We're just watching the parrots," the girl said, looking up at the old man with a sweet smile.

"What's the point of that?" The old man shook his head. "Why don't you two come with me to the temple to relax?"

"Is Matsueda-kun coming too?" Yami Maki asked in surprise, feeling that her grandfather's attitude towards Matsueda Jun was too kind.

The old man nodded. "Meeting is fate."

Kyuhin Buddha Jōjinji Temple is located in Okuzawa 7-chome. The trees with their slender branches lean against the road in front of the temple, casting dappled sunlight.

"So, Matsueda-san already met Grandpa?" The girl's surprised voice startled a bird away.

"Otherwise, how can you say it's fate?" the old man said with a smile, and the boy next to him nodded.

"When I met you by the Kamo River, I really didn't expect you to be my senior's grandfather."

Jun Matsuoka spoke sincerely, not wanting the old man to think that their chance encounter was for some purpose.

"Could it be such a coincidence?" Yami Maki asked, somewhat incredulous.

"That's why I wanted to come to Jingzhen Temple with the young man." The old man patted Matsueda Jun on the shoulder. "If you see the cause and effect, you will see the Buddha's teachings."

"This place is rather remote and doesn't have many guests, but the autumn leaves are a unique sight in Tokyo."

After walking around the outside of the hall, the old man suddenly spoke to the still green maple leaves.

"The first time I met Huizi was on an autumn afternoon when the red leaves seemed to be burning." The old man's tone was no longer as cheerful as before, and sounded somewhat weathered.

The boy and girl exchanged a glance; they were about to tell a story.

However, they did not hear anything further. The old man simply strolled along silently, greeting the monks sweeping the path in the courtyard.

"Grandpa, is the Keiko you're talking about the Keiko Grandma from Kyoto?" Yami Maki finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked cautiously.

The old woman nodded. "Back then, she radiated the most beautiful and vibrant energy in everything from her smile to her movements. I never imagined that she would become an old woman now, and even pass away before me."

As he strolled along, Junya Matsueda couldn't help but look up. He recalled the girl's two trips to Kyoto—he hadn't expected that Grandpa Yamami's old friend was a woman.

She was my first love.

The girl couldn't help but grasp the wrist of the boy next to her; she had never known that her grandfather had such a story.

"Actually, there's not much to say." The old man's gaze swept over the boy and girl, then looked towards the green-tinged sky in the distance.

“Back then, there were plenty of young people who fell in love at first sight, but very few of them actually ended up together.”

The old man's story is very simple.

He fell in love at first sight with a girl from another country, and they exchanged letters and made phone calls, secretly promising to spend their lives together.

However, marriages in prestigious families are not free. When they meet again after they have reached adulthood, they can only exchange pleasantries and lament the passing of spring flowers and autumn leaves, and never mention the vows they once made.

Matsueda Jun stared at the branches swaying by the roadside. No wonder the old man had drunk himself into oblivion by the Kamo River; it turned out there was some heartbreak involved.

Whether from physical or mental exhaustion, the old man stopped and sat on the stone steps. The young girl asked the monk for a fan and sat down to fan him.

"Matsueda-kun." He waved to the boy standing in the shade of the tree. "What's your impression of the Yamami family?"

"..." Jun Matsue hesitated for a moment.

The safest approach would be to be as cautious and patient as he was when facing Yamami Kazuaki, but he still didn't understand what the old man meant by what he said today.

“It’s alright if you don’t tell me.” The old man smiled. “I know the situation in the family—the more energetic the young people are, the more they hate this old and decrepit place.”

“But I didn’t think that way when I was young. I was the heir of the family, and while enjoying all the family’s heritage, I also had to fulfill the responsibilities I should bear.”

“Xiao Moji knows.” He looked at the girl holding a palm-leaf fan beside him, gesturing for her to rest.

"Even ten years ago, I was much more old-fashioned than Ichizaki is now."

"But recently, Keiko passed away." The old man sighed deeply.

"When she returned to Kyoto, her laughter and commotion, the good and the bad, all those things that had long been blurred suddenly became incredibly clear again."

"I remembered the gray heron you mentioned back then, young man."

"On the day of the funeral, egrets kept circling in the sky in front of me."

“After I came back, I often wondered if she was still watching me and wouldn’t let go.”

“I know what Yizhang told you. That’s what I told them back then.” The old man stood up and looked at the boy and girl in front of him.

“That’s the family rule, and I won’t make an exception. Otherwise, wouldn’t all my ridiculous insistence over the years have been meaningless?” he said with a smile.

"However, I can say a few more words to you."

"There are, of course, ways to be together without making things too difficult."

The old man watched the white shadows flitting across the sky, wondering what kind of bird it was.

How did Keiko, who was so beautiful back then, become such an incongruous white egret?
I really can't understand it.

(End of this chapter)