Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 440 Late
Yamami Maki received the message from Mochizuki Haruka at 10 p.m.

She had just finished soaking in the hotel's hot spring with the other girls. They were all gathered in the room, chatting and making their beds, passing the last bit of time before going to sleep.

Matsueda's performance must have ended by now, right? The girl sat on the tatami mat, absentmindedly smoothing out the wrinkles on the mattress.

She wanted to text the boy, but she was also afraid of the possible replies—even just a reply like "enjoyed the performance" would make Yamami Maki feel guilty.

The more unforgettable tonight's performance is, the more excessive it is to deprive her of this future.
So Yami Maki didn't dare to message Matsueda Jun, nor did she participate in the girls' conversation—she just wanted to fall asleep early to get through this restless night.

However, things didn't go as planned. After the girl finished making the bed, her phone, which she had placed to the side, vibrated.

Yamami Maki immediately slowed her breathing. She glanced at the girls in the room who were still happily discussing the hot springs, and carefully picked up her phone.

The black cat avatar meant it wasn't a message from Songzhi, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

However, news of Mochizuki Haruka also made her uneasy—

"I've got the recording of Matsue's performance tonight."

A video and download prompt then popped up on the phone screen. Yamami Maki subconsciously clicked the "X" and looked at the boy on the video cover.

Jun Matsue sat in front of the drum kit, his hands holding the drumsticks hanging at his sides, his body slightly tilted towards the microphone, and he began to sing.

The boy's expression was not happy; the light reflected in his eyes shimmered like tears, filling everyone who saw him with a misty sadness.

Seemingly waiting for a reply from Yamami Maki, Mochizuki Haruka sent another message.

"Are you even watching? Or do you not even have the courage to click on the video?"

"I will read it." The girl replied to her message immediately.

No new information appeared. Yamami Maki stood up, holding her phone, and walked towards the door.

"Hey, is Moki going out?" The girls, who were chatting happily, looked up.

The girl nodded. "I just finished soaking in the hot spring, and the room feels a bit stuffy."

Come back soon! Be careful not to catch a cold!

As soon as the room door was closed, the girls' chattering immediately subsided. Yamami Maki walked through the corridor and stood on the balcony at the end.

The maple leaves, like long-congealed bloodstains, appeared a dim red in the night. The nighttime temperature in Kamikochi was only around ten degrees Celsius, and even though the girl was wearing a coat, she could still feel the desolation in the wind.

She took a deep breath, put on her headphones, and opened the video sent by Mochizuki Haruka.

The boy looked at the camera and sang her a song about happiness in a tone that wasn't exactly happy.

Maki Yami is certain that this song was created because of her.

"As long as it can protect the people I want to see and the things I can't lose."

"Happiness is not something that can be easily obtained by simply staring at someone, which is why I so long to keep you by my side."

Everything except her weaves together the confusion in the lyrics of the song, while she brings the sorrow that lingers throughout the entire song.

"I just wish you could always be by my side."

When she heard the ending, Maki Yami began to regret that she was standing on the balcony of the Kamikochi Hotel instead of at the performance venue.

But the performance had already ended.

The girl continued to stare at the boy whose image was frozen at the end of the video, until a pop-up notification on the screen blocked her view.

She chose to answer Mochizuki Haruka's voice call.

"I've waited so long, you should have finished watching the video by now, right?" A girl's cool voice came through the receiver, and you could also faintly hear a woman humming a tune.

"I've finished reading it." Yami Maki's voice was a little hoarse.

"There will never be another Jun Matsue like this again—"

"Are you satisfied now that you've destroyed him?" Before the girl could answer, the call ended, and Yamami Maki put down her phone.

Mochizuki Haruka didn't need her answer.

When Yamami Maki returned to her room, the girls had already turned off the lights and were getting ready to sleep. She quietly walked along the corner to her bed, wiping away the tears that had streamed down her chin to prevent them from wetting the sheets.

An hour later, the tearful girl sent a message to Jun Matsueda from the bathroom.

"Matsueda-kun."

"We cannot fall in love."

The next morning, after listening to Maki Yami's voice message, Jun Matsue immediately called her.

The call was answered after a while, and the boy heard the sound of a train and the girl's somewhat disordered breathing.

Jun Matsue calmed down in time—his senior was definitely not in a good state right now, and if he couldn't stay rational, things would only get worse.

He paused for a second before speaking, "Where is my senior now?"

Yamami Maki seemed a little surprised; she hadn't expected the boy to ask that first. "I'm on the bullet train from Matsumoto to Nagano."

"Are you planning to spend a day in Nagano City?"

"We'll stay for most of the day, then head to Karuizawa in the afternoon."

"Okay. Has your mood calmed down, senior?"

".Um."

"So now I want to ask—what was the meaning of the message you gave me last night?"

"."

"Are you planning to break up?" Jun Matsueda stood by the bedroom window, gripping his phone tightly.

"I feel that being with me is not, not possible for Songzhi to be happy."

The girl's voice trembled; she struggled several times before she could finish the sentence.
The boy took a deep breath silently, and the steam he exhaled hit the window and turned into a blurry mist.

"I'm sorry." Yami Maki's voice was trembling with tears. The voices around her were a little louder, as if a classmate was asking her something.

"Senior, calm down first," Jun Matsueda continued. "Do you really want to break up with me like this?"

"You broke up with me on the bullet train during a school trip, without even meeting me or seeing each other's expressions?"

"I don't want to." The sound of a door closing came from the other end of the phone, and silence fell around the girl again.

"Then you should try not to think about us for now. Anyway, you won't be back until tomorrow, and we'll see each other at the earliest tomorrow."

"Why don't you just enjoy this last school trip? We'll talk properly when you get back to Tokyo."

"I will try my best."

Yamami Maki hung up the phone, and Matsueda Jun looked at the time displayed on the screen.

At 8:10, there were still fifteen minutes before Haneoka High School's morning meeting was scheduled to begin.

He didn't sleep well last night, and woke up later than usual this morning. He also lost a lot of time because of a phone call with his senior.

"Hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face. If you sprint on your bicycle at full speed, you should still make it in time."

However, as he walked towards the restroom, the boy sighed.

"I don't want to go to school anymore."

This was the first time in Jun Matsue's life that he had been late.

(End of this chapter)