Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 611 On the Edge of Error

Upon returning to Tokyo, the students of Haneoka High School were quickly surrounded by exams and the sweltering heat once again.

At 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the school bell rang on time in Class 6 of Grade 3, and the classroom was filled with the sounds of packing schoolbags and moving desks and chairs.

The students who were getting ready to go home were the fastest, picking up their backpacks and opening the classroom doors first. The hot air in the corridor made them frown and loosen their backpacks to avoid the sweat from wetting the backs of their shirts.

Next came the students, slowly carrying their textbooks. They still had two self-study periods of their own choosing, so their steps as they left the classroom seemed somewhat reluctant.

After most of the people had left, Jun Matsuoka stood up from his seat—his name was on the blackboard as the student on duty that day.

Before cleaning the classroom, he turned to look at the girl by the window.

"Will Mochizuki wait until I finish cleaning before leaving?"

"What else?" Mochizuki Haruka turned her gaze away from the clouds outside the window and glanced at him. "I want to walk home from school with you."

The boy smiled and said, "Then you can wait for me in your seat?"

"..." Mochizuki Haruka looked at the girl behind him who was also sitting in her seat. Tomatsu Yuka was also on duty today.

"Remember it quickly."

She chose to wear headphones, out of sight, out of mind.

So Jun Matsue walked to the locker in the corner of the classroom, picked up the bucket and left the classroom. Tomatsu Yuka blinked, stood up and followed the boy out the door.

The heat wave from the corridor hit her face. The girl waved her hand to fan herself and quickly walked to the boy's side.

"It's so hot today! Without air conditioning, I feel like I'd be sweating in just a few minutes!"

“After all, the highest temperature has already reached thirty-four degrees Celsius.” Junya Matsueda tugged at his shirt collar. “At times like this, the rainy season doesn’t seem so bad.”

Tomatsu Yuka laughed, "It looks like there will be thunderstorms next week, hopefully it will cool things down."

Jun Matsue looked out the window at the sky. "At least then we won't hear the cicadas."

The trees outside the teaching building shimmered in the sunlight, and the cicadas that surrounded the campus created a cacophony of heat, as if a cicada was hiding under every leaf, making one's mind feel uneasy.

The two went into the bathroom. The boy placed the bucket he was carrying under the low faucet next to the sink. The water flow, turned on to its maximum, created white waves at the bottom of the bucket, causing the yellow plastic bucket to tremble slightly.

The bucket quickly filled with water. Jun Matsue picked it up and turned to leave. The boy soon felt his hand, which was holding the bucket, touch something warm and soft. He looked down and saw the girl walking beside him also reaching out her hand. The sides of their little fingers were pressed tightly together, transmitting a heat that was even stickier than the air in the corridor.

“…I can carry it myself.” Jun Matsue looked at the gentle smile in the girl’s eyes.

“That won’t do.” Tomatsu Yuka shook her head. “In that case, I can just wait for Tsunku in the classroom, can’t I?”

...Didn't you come along because you didn't want to be in the same room as Mochizuki?
The boy didn't ask the question aloud; he simply lowered the bucket a little so that it would be more comfortable for the girl to lift it.

After the school trip ended, Tomatsu Tomoka and Mochizuki Haruka entered a state of cold war.

This wasn't a cold war between lovers, but a cold war between a lighthouse and a bear—the two sides barely gave each other a second glance, and their already scarce conversations completely disappeared. Matsueda Jun thus became the only point of contact between the two.

Perhaps it was the attitude the boys displayed at the fireworks festival that made Mochizuki Haruka feel threatened, which is why Tomatsu Tomoka had the confidence to stop being insincere with her.

Therefore, aside from his exams and part-time job, Jun Matsue spent all his time for two days worrying about how to deal with the girls' problems.

The more he thought about getting Mochizuki to accept Tomatsu, the more impossible it seemed... He looked out the window at the setting sun, the blinding light and the air around him, thickened by the cicadas' chirping, intensifying the heat in his heart.

Ultimately, what right did he have to tell Mochizuki that he really wanted to have his cake and eat it too?
How could they possibly accept such a thing?

The bucket in his hand seemed to have gotten heavier. Jun Matsue looked towards the end of the corridor, where dazzling lights flickered, obscuring the sparse figures.

"It's time for the student council elections again." The girl's voice beside him brought him back to his senses. The boy turned his head and looked at the notice board on the corridor wall with her.

"Isn't Jun-kun the class's election committee member this year?" Tomatsu Yuka turned around and lifted the bucket between the two of them, seemingly worried that the boy would exert too much effort.

Jun Matsueda shook his head. "The election management committee cannot be repeated, so I'm not involved this year."

"That's great~" the girl said with a smile. "It seems like Sakamuro-kun is planning to get you to sign up for a few more events at the sports meet."

He said it was his last year, and he should give it his all.

"We'll see when the time comes," the boy replied absentmindedly.

Back in the classroom, Tomatsu Tomori considerately released the bucket of water early, and Matsueda Jun took out the mop. The girls swept the floor and the boys mopped it. After he finished wiping the blackboard with a rag, the cleaning duty was over.

"Are you done yet?" Mochizuki Haruka stood up from her seat.

She took off her headphones, gracefully tossed her long hair behind her back, picked up her schoolbag, and looked at the boy walking down from the podium.

"Can I go home now?"

Jun Matsue put the cleaning tools back in the cabinet. "I'm leaving now."

His hand was immediately grabbed, and Mochizuki Haruka pulled him toward the classroom door without glancing at the girl along the way.

Tomatsu Yuka waved to the boy, her face still bearing a gentle and considerate smile.

"Be careful on the road~"

As Jun rode his bike away from school with Mochizuki, watching the girl's slightly curly black hair being blown by the wind, Matsueda Jun's heart calmed down a little.

How about you give me a ride on your bike sometime, Songzhi?

Stopping at the traffic light at the intersection, Wang Yueyao asked without turning around.

Jun Matsue stopped behind the girl, gripped the handlebars, and pressed the brake repeatedly. "It would be troublesome if the police caught us."

"But it's so sunny riding a bike in the summer~" the girl said in a charmingly coquettish tone. "How about Pine Branch rides with me?"

"It's just a few steps, I don't want to take a car."

"whispering sound……"

Before the red light countdown ended, Jun Matsueda looked up.

"full moon."

"Hmm?" Mochizuki Haruka turned her head and stared at him without blinking.

The girl's sun-drenched black hair was more dazzling than the sun in the corridor. The boy gazed into the girl's clear eyes, then lowered his head.

"It's nothing, I'll just stop by the supermarket on my way home."

"Then I'll buy some more ice cream!"

As the green light turned on, the girl hummed a song and pedaled, wobbling as she rode across the zebra crossing.

Jun Matsue followed silently behind her.

Some words are wrong from the moment they are spoken, yet he knew he was not far from the edge of making a mistake.

(End of this chapter)