Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 406 Memories Soaked in Soup
It's been almost a month since Yuuki High School started classes, and once this week ends, it will be the latter half of September in the blink of an eye.

Jun Matsue looked out of the classroom window, where the cicadas had stopped chirping and only the rustling of the wind through the trees remained.

The hottest period has passed, and today is another cloudy day. The breeze blowing from the outdoors is enough to ward off the heat.

"What are you daydreaming about, Pine Branch? Aren't you going to have lunch?"

The boy turned around and saw Mochizuki Haruka standing by the door looking at him. The girl tilted her head slightly, her thick eyelashes fluttering, making her look even more delicate and cute than a doll.

"I don't have much of an appetite today." Jun Matsueda shook his head. "I'll just buy some bread before PE class this afternoon."

"Shall I bring you back a pudding later? Do you want caramel or plain?"

"The original flavor, I guess."

As Mochizuki Haruka left the room, Tomatsu Yuka, who had been blocked by her, finally came into the boy's view. The girl took out a lunchbox from her schoolbag and placed it on the empty table.

Tomatsu Yuka often brings her own lunch, but she rarely stays in the classroom to eat lunch. Even if she can't sit with Matsueda Jun, she will choose to bring her own lunch and go to the cafeteria with the boys.

However, since Jun Matsue stayed in the classroom today, the girl did not leave her seat.

After glancing at the bustling corridor, Jun Matsueda looked away and quickly finished the homework his teacher had just assigned. It wasn't time to go out yet.

"Matsueda-kun isn't even putting his heart into lying anymore." A girl's voice came from behind, and Matsueda Jun looked up.

Tomatsu Yuka didn't open the bento box, but instead rested her chin on her right hand and looked in his direction, as if she had been watching for a long time.

Apart from the two of them, the students in the classroom were all eating, chatting and laughing in small groups, and those who were alone had already put on their headphones. No one noticed the girl's lighthearted words in the corner.

“Matsu-san takes eating so seriously, how could she not have an appetite?” Tomatsu Yuka continued.

“You can’t say that,” Jun Matsue said without putting down his pen. “Even I have times when I lose my appetite.”

“Matsueda-kun does sometimes lose her appetite,” the girl said with a slight smile, “but only after the fourth period of PE class in the morning.”

"Because people don't have much of an appetite after strenuous exercise, but even so, Matsueda will buy two breads, one sweet and one savory, and a glass of milk, and eat her lunch properly."

The boy was speechless. He put down his pen, turned his back to the girl, and looked out the window at the slowly advancing sea of ​​clouds.

He and Tomatsu Yuka have recently resumed their previous way of getting along, but Matsueda Jun is well aware that certain changes have indeed occurred.

For example, he would no longer ask the girl to pour him water when he was working part-time, the infrequent exchange of snacks between the two had disappeared, and their conversations focused more on their shared life rather than their individual details.

The girl is no longer the one who is always ready to exude charm and express love.

Surprisingly, these changes happened naturally, yet in just the right amount, perfectly matching the boy's expectations. It was as if even this distance was the girl's way of accommodating him.

This occasionally gave Jun Matsue the illusion that their pace was no longer in sync, yet had become even more synchronized.

After a while, once the noise of people jostling in the corridor had subsided, Jun Matsue put the completed workbook into the drawer.

The girl at the next table had already opened her lunchbox, which contained two plump white rice balls, two thick omelets, a piece of karaage chicken, and leafy greens sprinkled with white sesame seeds.

He knew very well that Tomatsu Yuka had made all of these by hand. If it had been two months ago, the girl would have asked him if he wanted to try her thick omelet soaked in broth.

The girl had told him that she brought her own lunchbox because she didn't want her cooking skills to decline.

"After all, Matsueda likes the food I make~"

As the girl said this, a happy smile appeared on her face. That was two months ago, before she and her senior were together.

Matsueda Jun let his memories rewind completely before getting up to leave the classroom. As he passed Tomatsu Yuka, the girl lowered her head, held her breath, and listened carefully to the boy's footsteps.

Without the slightest pause or hesitation, he walked out of the classroom.

Tomatsu Yuka felt like crying, so she stuffed the rice ball into her mouth and took a big, fierce bite. Because the boy had once told her that if her stomach was full, her heart wouldn't feel empty.

Jun Matsue walked into the stairwell without stopping. He opened the door to the rooftop and found Maki Yamami sitting on a picnic mat behind the stairwell.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, senior." The boy smiled.

"I just arrived not long ago either." The seated girl smiled and patted the spot next to her.

"Pine Branch, come sit here quickly~"

After the boy sat down, Yami Maki picked up the lunchbox from behind her. "Um, this is my first time cooking for someone else, so it might not taste very good."

"It's alright," Matsueda Jun laughed. "I believe in your talent, senpai!"

The girl carefully opened the box. Inside were fried eggs, croquettes, a small vegetable salad, and rice at the bottom.

"It looks pretty good." The boy couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks and start by separating the eggs.

"It should have been a runny egg when I made it, but it seems to have solidified now," the senior student explained weakly, her mouth stuffed shut by a small piece of fried egg.

The girl savored it for a while, "There seems to be too little salt, the flavor is a bit bland?"

"It's probably because it's been sitting out for too long." Jun Matsueda had already picked up a croquette. "For a first time, it's already pretty good!"

"Is it because fried eggs aren't really suitable for bento boxes?" Yami Maki said somewhat awkwardly. "I originally wanted to make tamagoyaki, but my mom said it's a bit difficult to make tamagoyaki for the first time."

The boy didn't say anything, but expressed his approval by shoveling large mouthfuls of rice into his mouth, which made the girl smile even more happily.

"Well, I talked to my parents about my college choices. They said that I don't necessarily have to choose Ochanomizu University, but I should try to choose a major that is related to my future career plans."

"That's good news, I guess." Jun Matsueda nodded. "Then let's see together which university would be better."

"As for professional skills, all we need to do is make our uncles and the others feel that it will be useful for taking over family affairs in the future, right? Maybe we can find a way to persuade them?"

The girl nodded; she didn't really want to talk about this anymore. "Do you know where the second-year students' accommodation training program in October is going?"

"It's not clear yet; there might be news next week."

"It seems our third-year school trip will be earlier? Everyone has already voted: Nagano Kamikochi, Tateyama Kurobe, Aomori. I wonder where we'll end up."

After finishing their lunch, the two did not leave. They leaned against the outer wall of the stairwell behind them, quietly watching the clouds on the top of the teaching building, as if they could already see the clear and crisp autumn sky of October.

Matsueda Jun felt a slight increase in weight on his right shoulder. Yamami Maki rested her head on his shoulder. The girl had already closed her eyes, whether it was because she was sleepy or simply resting.

That didn't matter. The boy adjusted the girl's posture, hugged her sideways, and continued to look at the sky in front of him.

If someone were standing in front of Jun Matsueda, they would notice that the boy's gaze was unfocused; he was thinking about what was behind them.

It wasn't the outer wall of the stairwell, nor the rooftop entrance, but further back, directly opposite the rooftop entrance railing.

That was the spot where Tomatsu Yuka had once clung tightly to his collar, and the two were only one step away from committing suicide by jumping off a building.

Looking back now, the ugly wounds he and another girl left on each other seem like they happened a long time ago.

Jun Matsue recalled the words he had written that day.

Forgiveness is a long and tortuous process.

After hesitating for a moment, he closed his eyes.

　Why is Songzhi so busy eating and not saying anything?
　　And the last sentence can be interpreted as Matsue regretting not ordering a hot latte with her senior, wanting to be in sync with her senior, or as Matsue forgiving Tomatsu, or as Matsue not wanting to let go of her feelings for Tomatsu at this juncture and not facing the thought of forgiving herself.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)