Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 533 The Home I Can't Return To

"cut!"

Natsumi Imokawa's voice swept across the street as she looked down at her camera.

The girl on screen still possessed stunning beauty, but her downcast eyes and absent-minded expression not only failed to satisfy her as the director, but also failed to evoke positive emotions in the audience.

"Tomatsu-kun, how about we take a break before filming?"

She put down her camera and spoke cautiously to the person in front of her.

“What we’re filming now is Konno An and Kashiwabara Hikaru’s past memories, and it should convey a pure and beautiful feeling to the audience… Your current state is somewhat inappropriate.”

“…Hmm.” Tomatsu Yuka forced a smile, took two deep breaths, and said, “Let me adjust myself a bit more.”

"Don't adjust it."

Standing next to her, Jun Matsue decisively said, "You're not in the right condition for a shoot today."

It was past 2 p.m., and they had been filming around Fujimori High School for over an hour, but they hadn't even finished filming the first scene they had planned.

The smile on the girl's face vanished instantly; she lowered her head, hiding her expression in the shadows.

Natsumi Imokawa, standing to the side, held a camera, looking flustered and at a loss. The atmosphere was already very tense.

“Ha…” Jun Matsueda sighed and took the hand of the girl beside him.

Tomatsu Yuka's body trembled slightly. She looked up, her expression somewhat surprised.

“I didn’t mean to criticize you.” The boy looked into her eyes. “Filming isn’t a job. Nobody’s asking you to be in top form today.”

He then turned to Natsumi Imokawa and asked, "Let's stop filming today. It shouldn't have any impact, right?"

"It's okay!" the girl quickly waved her hand. "There's still plenty of time. I still have a lot of footage to edit."

"Let's stop filming here for today." Jun Matsue looked to his side; the girl, whose hand he was holding, showed no intention of resisting.

"I'll talk to Tomatsu again."

"Then, I'll head back now..." Natsumi Imokawa felt it wasn't appropriate for her to stay any longer, so she turned around, walked to her backpack, and stuffed her camera inside.

"Wait a minute." Jun Matsue called out to her, "Imagawa's backpack must be heavy, let me take you to the station."

"Would you like to rest here, or come with me?" he asked the girl beside him.

Tomatsu Yuka breathed a sigh of relief. She gripped the boy's hand tightly, as if entrusting all her weight to it.

"I want to stay by Matsueda's side."

Standing in front of the station entrance, Jun Matsue helped the girl put on her backpack, saying, "Remember to send me a message when you get home."

“Okay.” Natsumi Imokawa turned around. “Um, Tomatsu-kun, you don’t need to worry too much about the filming.”

Watching the large backpack climb the steps and obscure the girl's back, Tomatsu Yuka smiled bitterly.

"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."

The boy released her hand, and Tomatsu Yuka looked up dejectedly—what came first was a chop to the head, neither too hard nor too soft, striking her squarely.

"If you can't even take care of your own feelings, don't even think about whether you'll cause trouble for others."

The girl smiled again, this time her smile was much more reassuring, "Because you're the one in trouble."

"Although my own feelings are also important, Tsunkun's matter must be put first."

Jun Matsueda shook his head helplessly. "We should find a place to have a proper talk. How about a coffee shop or somewhere else? You pick."

“Hmm…” Tomatsu Yuka blinked. “I want to stay outdoors. An open environment makes me feel better.”

The two walked around the streets and eventually found a green park.

They sat down on a bench, facing a vast lawn. Unlike Ueno Park, this green park on the outskirts of Tokyo was not crowded. The sparse figures, like wildflowers in the grass, made those sitting here feel less alone. A flat frisbee spun across the lawn, followed by a collared sheepdog, leaving a playful black and white shadow.

"So what's going on today?" Jun Matsue looked at the girl sitting next to him. Her skirt spread out in a beautiful shape on the chair, bright and beautiful like a flower.

Is it because you're planning to break up?

He has never liked to avoid talking about problems. Since a problem has arisen, even if the process is difficult, it is better to resolve it as soon as possible.

Tomatsu Yuka was silent for a moment, then said, "It's a family matter."

"At home?" This answer surprised Jun Matsueda.

"Weren't we just saying good news before, that your father has paid off his debts and we can see each other freely?"

"Yes." The girl's happy tone from the karaoke room had vanished. "I thought we'd be back to the days when the three of us lived together."

The boy had a bad feeling; Tomatsu's situation might be even more complicated than the breakup—in his experience, anything related to family was never easy to handle.

"Dad and Mom... don't seem to have any plans to get back together."

Looking at the elderly people on the lawn who were smiling warmly at their pets, Tomatsu Yuka said in a bewildered tone.

Jun Matsue was momentarily at a loss for words—the relationship between Tomatsu's parents was not something he could comment on.

"So it's not that there's been another problem with the debt, right? At least it's better than before when even meeting up was a problem." That was all he could say to comfort her.

"But back then, I could still think that our family would be reunited someday..."

The girl's tone grew increasingly somber. She wiped her eyes, and the tears on the back of her hand glistened in the sunlight.

"Now you're telling me we can't be a family anymore..."

“I’m already eighteen years old, and my parents don’t even need to fight for custody of me.”

"Dad won't come back, Mom is busy with work. We used to be so happy living together, how did it turn out like this..."

Tomatsu Yuka kept wiping away her tears, which flowed down her arms to her elbows and dripped onto the wooden chair.

Jun Matsue's lips moved, but he didn't speak.

This is an unsolvable problem, and perhaps the girl understood this, which is why she appeared so heartbroken.

"Tsun-kun," Tomatsu Tomoka looked up, "can you hug me?"

"I don't want to do anything right now, and I don't need you to say anything. Just hug me, that's all..."

The boy opened his arms, and the girl, like a bird exhausted from flying, fell into his embrace.

Jun Matsue held her like that for an hour.

The couple who were taking a walk left, the kite on the lawn fell to the ground, and the elderly man walking his dog also left.

Before leaving, the sheepdog sniffed curiously in front of the two of them. The boy wrinkled his nose as he watched it—it seemed to smell only salty and bitter odors.

After an unknown amount of time, the body in his arms trembled and uttered words that sounded like a dream.

"a little cold……"

"The sun is blocked," Jun Matsue said gently. "It's getting late, we should go home."

“But I can’t go back to my home anymore.” Tomatsu Yuka looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears.

Even if it's just for today, that's fine.

"May I go to Jun-kun's house?"

(End of this chapter)