Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 466 Fluctuation
"Now that things have come to this, I've fallen for my friend's lover, and that's how it ends."

During Monday's lunch break, Jun Matsueda, carrying the school newspaper, walked out of the newsroom with Natsumi Imokawa.

"Mmm." The girl next to him nodded. "Dad said the ratings are pretty good, and there's hope for a second season."

"I just don't know when it will be."

The two walked through the long corridor connecting the teaching building and the activity building. The clear, white sunlight, like curtains faded by the summer sun, hung on the windows on both sides.

"There's only one month left until the holiday. Time flies." Jun Matsue sighed, smelling the faint scent of ink from the newspaper in his arms.

"How do you plan to spend your winter break, Yuchuan?"

The girl looked up and pondered, “Studying, making films, watching movies.”

"The same old three dishes."

"Hmm!" Natsumi Imokawa showed no sign of getting bored. "We might need to ask Matsueda for help then, you know?"

"No problem." The boy nodded.

As the two turned at the intersection and passed the third-year classroom, before parting ways, Natsumi Imokawa called out to him, and Jun Matsueda turned around.

"It feels like the pine branches lately have turned back into the old pine branches?"

The girl's eyes were free of any impurities, and it was this pure innocence that allowed Jun Matsuoka to confide so much to her without any reservations.

“You can’t stay sad about breaking up forever,” the boy laughed.

Upon entering his classroom, Jun Matsue distributed several newspapers to the students in the front row, keeping one for himself and posting it on the bulletin board next to the blackboard.

"The cultural festival has successfully concluded," he said, smoothing out the creases on the pale yellow paper as his gaze swept over the words.

Today is November 17th, and the cultural festival was held a week ago.

Last weekend, Lai Qiyang sent him a message with a photo of herself wearing a trench coat and walking gracefully toward the plane.

The girl left Tokyo.

That same evening after receiving the message, Jun Matsueda was recording the final episode of "Now That Things Have Come to This" in the living room while reading a book, and he also finished reading the previous episodes—Kurusu probably wouldn't mind him finishing it first, since they could just watch it together later.

Recalling the content of the TV series, Jun Matsueda stepped down from the podium.

Half the season focuses on the protagonist's past and present with his childhood friend, and the other half on his romance with his senior and how the senior and childhood friend became friends. By the end of the first season, we hadn't even seen the women fight. Mr. Imokawa's suspense was really annoying.

"What are you thinking about, Matsu-san?" Tomatsu Yuka asked the boy who had returned to his seat with a smile.

"I watched this TV series when I was bored, and I feel like I was fooled by the director." Jun Matsueda tidied up the books on the table.

"Who told you to watch TV dramas?" Mochizuki Haruka looked at him from her black cat-shaped pillow, the girl with a sleepy expression. "You'd be better off playing games with me."

The students in the back of the classroom were already used to this kind of conversation between the three of them—everyone had been speculating lately whether Matsueda was in a relationship.

This news wasn't unfounded. Over the past week, Jun Matsueda's presence has been almost entirely associated with girls—he's accompanied by Haruka Mochizuki on his way to school, and either Haruka Mochizuki or Tomatsu Tomoka on his bike ride home. Although it's supposedly due to class affairs, the class president and vice president have been seen together more often these days.

Of course, a small number of people who have learned to think independently also think that the atmosphere when Matsue and Imokawa are together is quite nice.

However, no one ever got to hear the official announcement of the relationship. The third-year students, busy preparing for exams, quickly shifted their focus to the more patient first- and second-year students. After various inquiries yielded no results, people could only come to one conclusion—

Jun Matsueda's love life will surely come to light by the end of this school year.

Because by the time the third-year students graduate, someone will definitely confess to him. Making a final push or accepting the girl's affection before then is the most logical outcome. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break, and the classroom became lively. Tomatsu Yuka, waking up, rubbed her eyes and looked at the boy yawning at the next table.

"Matsueda-san, are you working today too?"

Jun Matsue nodded. "It seems a batch of new books is arriving today; we need to get there early."

"So I'm going home alone today? My aunt is coming too." Mochizuki Haruka was still lying on the cushion, the girl showing half her face to him.

"Then let her keep you company."

"She said she wanted to try your cooking." The girl sat up and stretched.

"We'll see how things go after I finish my part-time job." The boy picked up his textbooks, preparing to head to another classroom. "You can cook, don't you? Aren't you going to show her?"

"We'll see." Mochizuki Haruka stood up with him. "I only know how to handle vegetables; she won't be satisfied."

The two afternoon classes ended quickly, and Jun Matsue and Yuka Tomatsu rode their bicycles to the Literature Museum together.

As the weather turned cold, the girl wore gloves while riding her bike, and a white scarf held back her growing hair, making her look especially cute as the wind blew through it.

"Matsueda-kun, you're not still thinking about dating Mochizuki, are you?" the girl asked from behind him as they parked at the literature museum.

"Mochizuki is different from me; you can tell from her attitude that she's serious."

"Is Matsueda ready to start a new relationship? Or is she going to hurt others to get revenge on her senior?"

"It's not like you really just want to be my accomplice." Jun Matsueda locked his car and turned to walk past her.

“Well, there’s a difference.” Tomatsu Yuka followed him with a smile. “Although I like Matsueda-kun, I don’t mind playing along with your act.”

"I won't be sad, Mochizuki, is that okay?"

"Besides, I'm a bad kid with a criminal record, so it's more convenient for Matsueda-kun to use me without feeling bad~"

The boy stopped and looked at the girl beside him.

Tomatsu Yuka's eyes still held a smile; her scarf was still on, and her expression was gentle and sweet as she quietly gazed at him.

Jun Matsue recalled that when he returned to class after the school lifted his suspension, the girl looked at him quietly and gently.

He may have initially been attracted to Tomatsu Tomaka's pure and harmless appearance, but once their masks were removed, the girl's slightly morbid love and elusive scheming became even more captivating.

This charm doesn't disappear because of his likes or dislikes; rather, it's a real, objective, and undeniable presence.

"It's better to focus when you're working." The boy looked away and went inside the building.

"Okay," the girl said with a smile.

Fortunately, their teamwork never suffered, and after quickly finishing today's tasks, the two entered a peaceful rest period.

Tomatsu Yuka, who had just closed her book, took out her phone, breaking the tranquility.

"Matsueda-kun." The girl checked the message on the screen and looked at the boy next to her.

"It seems that Senior Yamami's results in this mock exam are not very optimistic."

(End of this chapter)