Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 437 Unveiling
On Sunday, October 19th, when I walked into this livehouse in Shibuya, Yosuke Kuriki, my first reaction was this—

"Why are there so many people?" the girl asked, looking at the crowd queuing at the entrance. "Are Matsueda and the others that popular?"

“They’re just that popular~” Mochizuki Hana, standing next to her, said with a smile, “Probably half of the audience came for them.”

“The venue is still not big enough. Their band definitely has more than 150 fans.” Mochizuki Haruka looked around the underground space in front of her.

“Songzhi has not been active for a while, but the number of views on their performance videos is still rising. They and the venue underestimated their popularity.”

My aunt nodded in deep agreement. There was no way around it; a boy like Jun Matsue, truly looking at you, his face still flushed from overexertion, singing to you in a slightly shy, somewhat immature voice—

"It's absolutely unacceptable if I don't belong to you."

And who could refuse?

"If that's the case, I feel like if Matsue performs with me in the future, she might become a big star too~" the girl wearing a hat said in an optimistic tone.

The two beauties from the Mochizuki family glanced at her simultaneously, their expressions revealing a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey, what's with those expressions?!"

The two girls were bickering, and their smiling aunt followed behind them as they walked into the staff passage and disappeared into the darkness.

Upon entering the performance hall, the three unsurprisingly found Tomatsu Tomoka in the first row, along with Imokawa Natsumi, who was holding a camera and standing even further in front of the railing of the first row.

"Good evening, Natsumi-chan. Have Matsue and the others finished their auditions?" Before the lights were even on, Kurusu Yosei took off his mask and grabbed the railing in front of him.

Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the girls behind her, nodded as if in response to the idol girl's words, and then silently moved two steps to the side.

"You're late," Tomatsu Yuka said for her. "The audience is about to enter."

"It's all Aunt's fault." Mochizuki Haruka looked at the woman beside her with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

"My meeting wasn't over yet, sorry~" Auntie made a pitiful face, not knowing if the girl saw it.

Yosuke Kurusu stuck out his tongue. "I came over as soon as I got off work."

"Are idols this busy too?" Natsumi Imokawa couldn't help but ask.

"It depends on the situation. I've been discussing it with my manager these past few days—"

Before the girl could finish speaking, she was drowned out by the noise that flooded the hall. The sound of hurried footsteps and bustling conversations echoed from the audience entrance, signaling that the performance was about to begin.

Kurosaki Yosei shut her mouth. The girl turned around and watched as the crowd gradually filled the hall. She nodded in satisfaction, then looked around again and noticed a problem.

"Aren't we missing someone? I think there was another girl there when Matsueda and the others performed for the first time?"

No one answered the question; amidst the buzzing noise from the back row, their silence was eerily quiet.

"Huh?" Yosei Kurusu felt like something was off.

But the stage lights had already come on, and cheers erupted from the underground space as the audience looked at the illuminated figures on stage.

Unlike before, the drum set, which was always hidden at the back of the stage during performances, was placed in the center of the stage this time. Under the brightest beam of light, the boy holding the drumsticks was particularly eye-catching.

"Pine branch—" A scream came from the back row, echoing through the hall.

"Thank you." A gentle laugh from a boy echoed in the dark space, and then the screams grew louder, from both men and women, rising and falling in waves.

"Some people might be wondering where our lead singer is." The boy continued into the microphone, "I'll be singing the first song today. She'll feel a little awkward on stage, so we'll have to ask her to come on stage later."

Laughter came from the audience below the stage.

"And I hope everyone enjoys tonight's performance." Jun Matsueda looked up at the huge crowd below the stage.

He wouldn't say that he was leaving the band because he didn't like to dwell on sadness—enjoying the night was not only a message to the audience but also a message to himself.

However, when Jun Matsue looked at the crowd standing in the first row, he finally felt a sense of disappointment.

Of course, my senior wouldn't be here.

The boy already knew, of course, but tonight, he decided not to suppress this disappointment any longer, but to let it grow and take over his heart.

Only songs sung with genuine emotion can truly move people.

The light in the underground space dimmed again, and the crowd quickly silenced themselves; the performance was about to begin.

Jun Matsue took a deep breath in the darkness, and the audience below could hear his slightly trembling breath through the speakers.

Happiness is not—

The boy's voice grew louder, followed by the rapid strumming of an electric guitar, quickly weaving a melody in the enclosed space. "A night adorned with stars~ and a dazzling, sparkling morning~"

"Something so ordinary~"

"But rather, it can happen in a torrential downpour~"

"The ability to hold an umbrella for someone important~"

He raised his drumsticks and struck them hard a few times, as if venting his anger and expressing his emotions.

Being able to hold up an umbrella for the person you care about and protect her is what Jun Matsueda defines as happiness now.

"Why did you choose to continue living this miserable life?" The boy's humming intertwined with the melody of the guitar and bass.

"It's okay if you don't answer~"

"As long as I can protect the people I want to see and the things I can't lose," he drawled, his voice beginning to betray a sense of melancholy.

Jun Matsue raised his drumsticks again and began to strike them, singing each word clearly.

"If it could be done without exaggeration or concealment—"

“Sing out the love I feel from the bottom of my heart—” He waved his drumsticks even faster, and the sensitive emotions in his singing gradually expanded, spreading throughout the entire space.

Happiness is not a night adorned with stars, nor a dazzling morning.

"Something so ordinary~"

"But rather, it can happen in a torrential downpour~"

"The ability to hold an umbrella for someone important~"

The boy lowered his eyes and used a more melancholic and melodious singing style to express his feelings.

Happiness is not about staring intently.

"Something that can be found very easily~"

"That's why I so desperately want you to stay by my side—" Jun Matsue shouted hoarsely, his drumsticks moving faster and faster, dazzling the eyes.

"People who live for their dreams~"

"Someone who dedicates their entire life to someone."

"A person who regrets their mistakes."

"Although I can't become that person~" His sadness turned into longing and reluctance as Jun Matsueda looked at the people in the front row of the stage.

"I feel lost because I've discovered new weaknesses~"

"As long as there are people who feel I am indispensable today—"

"Or one could continue to live on, completely disfigured—"

That was his decision.

"The morning when I open my eyes ~ the night when I close my eyes ~"

"I hope you'll always be by my side."

"You'll always be there for me~"

"That's good—"

In the end, he simply and directly extended his wish infinitely.

Yosei Kurusu felt a lump in her throat. She took a deep breath, pulling herself out of the lingering emotions.

The girl looked around, her eyes widening in surprise—neither Tomatsu Yuka nor Mochizuki Haruka seemed to be fully immersed in the performance; instead, they wore expressions of a deeper, indescribable bitterness and sorrow.

"Although Songzhi sang very well, was it really necessary to say that?" she asked doubtfully.

Mochizuki Haruka snapped out of her jealousy of someone and her pity for Matsueda Jun, and turned to look at the girl beside her, her eyes filled with undisguised sarcasm.

"You're the only one who thinks he's just singing."

That night, Yosuke Kuriki finally learned the truth.

　The original song is "Shunki" by back number, which can be used together~ By the way, Matsueda has held an umbrella for every girl so far.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)