Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 673 Yamami Maki's Awakening

The next morning, Jun Matsue got up and went to the window to look out.

The muddy water that had flooded the streets had receded, but there were still obvious puddles and wet patches everywhere. At first glance, it looked like a man who had collapsed on the street after a hangover, looking extremely disheveled.

"Looks like I can get a normal job today." The boy yawned.

Last night around 11 p.m., when he was cooking instant noodles for Mochizuki and Kurusu, the rain outside the window started to lessen, but it didn't stop until he fell asleep.

Stepping out of the bedroom, Jun Matsue first opened the balcony door, and fresh, moist air rushed into the room, carrying a hint of earthy scent.

As he turned to walk toward the bathroom, a wooden door suddenly opened, blocking his way.

"Good morning, Songzhi..." The girl walked out from behind the door, tears still glistening in her eyes from yawning, her tone languid.

"Good morning, what would you like for breakfast today?"

"I'll cook today." Yosei Kurusu stretched and walked towards the refrigerator. "Matsue has to work today, so you can go wash up."

The boy obediently went into the bathroom, and a few minutes later when he walked into the living room, there were already golden egg pancakes on the dining table, emitting a faint aroma.

It feels pretty good to reap the benefits without sowing... Jun Matsue opened the milk he had taken from the refrigerator and poured most of it for himself and the girl.

"I'm going to start."

"Wait!" Kurusu Yosei called out to him as he came out of the kitchen. "Matsueda isn't in a hurry today, is he?"

The man turned on his phone. "It's still early before work starts, what's up?"

"Wait for me to have breakfast together!" the girl pouted. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

She ran towards the bathroom, glancing back at me, "Don't eat by yourself, wait for me!"

Jun Matsuoka had no choice but to put down his chopsticks. He turned on the TV, picked up his phone, and browsed the information about last night's torrential rain and the messages he had received.

"Yesterday, record-breaking short-duration torrential rains occurred, mainly in the Kanto region..."

There weren't many valuable messages in the chat list; they were mostly casual conversations from classmates' and colleagues' groups about yesterday's torrential rain. The boy scrolled through them casually, then stopped.

Around 2 a.m., Yamami Maki seemed to have sent him a message, but it was retracted again.

"...What are you doing?" Jun Matsueda frowned slightly.

Was it sent to the wrong person? Or is it a prank?
But my senior sent me the same message yesterday at noon, asking if he had any dreams.

So she's mentally unwell and having nightmares?
The idol's footsteps approached the living room. The boy put down his phone and slowly took a sip of milk.

Whether it's stress or lack of rest, it has nothing to do with him. What the senior should do is see a doctor, not send him messages.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" Kurusu Yosei sat down in front of him with water droplets still on his face.

"Today's breakfast isn't your average egg pancake; Songzhi will definitely love it."

"Then we should definitely give it a try." Jun Matsue picked up his chopsticks again and took a piece of the rolled-up egg pancake in front of him.

Unlike ordinary scallion pancakes, this one has a slightly complex aroma and a grainy texture as soon as you take a bite. The boy chewed while observing the cross-section of the pancake.

The girl added chopped ham and onions to the batter, and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top before taking it out of the pan, which greatly enriched the texture and flavor.

"Pretty good." He nodded approvingly and took another big bite.

Yosuke Kurusu looked at him with a smile, "You didn't come home for dinner yesterday, so I had some leftover onions and ham from cooking. I'll add them to today's breakfast."

"I didn't expect you to come back last night." She looked at the TV behind the boy. "The rain was so heavy yesterday!"

"A manhole in Ota Ward, Tokyo, spewed water several meters high. At Haneda Airport, ground operations were suspended for nearly two hours due to approaching thunderclouds, and 32 flights were canceled..."

The man on the news broadcast his report with a calm and even expression, and Jun Matsueda nodded slightly.

"Mochizuki brought me back."

"...She really is something." The girl gave an ambiguous snort and chewed the egg pancake in her mouth vigorously.

"So when are you going to make a comeback?" the boy changed the subject.

“Let’s talk about it in September at least—” Kurusu Yosei opened his phone. “The new agency hasn’t been officially set up yet. We still need to do a comeback publicity campaign after the company is settled.”

"Although it was a peaceful relocation, apart from the artist's name, the shows and songs they've appeared on before can't be used for promotion, which is still quite troublesome."

"But it won't be too late, otherwise all the fans will have left."

“So we have to start from scratch.” Jun Matsueda looked up at her.

"Hmm!" The girl held an egg pancake in one hand and made a gesture of showing off her biceps with the other.

"Starting from scratch, becoming stronger and freer!"

"This time, no one can stop me from falling in love!"

"..." Matsueda Jun could only pretend not to hear and swallow the last bite of his breakfast. "I'm going to work."

The girl cheered cheerfully behind him, "Get ready!"

Pushing his bicycle to the side of the road, Jun Matsueda looked at the damp street and casually sent a message to Ikuka Yamami in his contact list.

"It seems like Senior Yamami hasn't been getting enough rest lately."

Isn't that more than enough?

The green light came on, and the boy mounted his bicycle. The rapidly spinning wheels splashed water from the road surface before disappearing into the gradually brightening sunlight.

Tomatsu Tomoka gently exhaled as she placed the large stack of books in front of her onto the cart behind the counter.

"There are quite a lot of visitors today."

“Indeed.” Jun Matsue added the heavier stack to the pile. “I don’t know why.”

"It must be because college students have started their summer break, right?" The girl gracefully stretched her arms. "Early August is the end-of-term week for college students."

“…That makes sense.” The boy recalled the two messages that Yamami Maki had retracted.

So, the senior students are on vacation too?
After sorting out the new and returned books that needed to be categorized, the two sat down at the same time.

"Let's rest for a bit before setting up the books." Tomatsu Yuka looked around the lobby. "It's almost noon, there shouldn't be many people coming to the counter to do business."

Jun Matsuoka nodded, picked up the cup of jasmine tea, and took a few sips.

"The rain was really heavy yesterday," the girl continued, "Luckily, I stayed home the whole time. I fell asleep listening to the downpour hitting the windows, which actually made me feel quite at ease."

“After all, no matter how heavy the rain is, it doesn’t affect me,” the boy smiled. “It makes me feel safer.”

That makes sense.

Tomatsu Yuka casually picked out a book that was about to be put on the shelf. It was an old romance manga. She vaguely remembered that the person who borrowed it was an elementary school girl who was afraid to look people in the eye when she spoke.

"Ah, yesterday before Mom went to bed she asked me for a stick of incense that Jun-kun gave her. She said she slept very well this morning."

"If it's so useful, I should buy more." Jun Matsue leaned over and glanced at the comic book in her hand.

A girl dressed in traditional Chinese clothing is fighting with her father, who has turned into a panda, on the street; it's strangely quite interesting.

“Yesterday at dinner, I told my mom about my plan to move out of the university.”

The boy looked up from the black-and-white comic book and at the person beside him. "She agreed~" Tomatsu Yuka's smile was like the clear sky outside the building, "She even said she'd give me money for rent."

"But I still think it's better to pay for it myself."

“You can keep it for now and return it to her later.” There was no joy in Jun Matsueda’s words. “Refusing might upset your mother.”

"I know." The girl closed the comic book in her hand. "I'll buy her more gifts after I accept it."

"But will Mom be sad because I moved out..." she thought, tapping her chin with her index finger.

"I feel like she's someone who would be more comfortable living alone."

"What a strong woman..." the boy sighed inwardly.

"Actually, my dad called me a few days ago. Besides asking how I was doing, he also talked about his own things."

"He might get married next year because the woman is getting older and doesn't want to wait any longer."

"He didn't tell his mother the news, but I think even if she did, she would only be sad for a while."

"She won't change her mind."

Tomatsu Yuka's tone wasn't sad, perhaps because she had already accepted the fact.

It could also be because she has found a new anchor in her life.

"So living separately might be the best thing for my mother and me."

"After all, we are not the same kind of people, and we are not suitable to live under the same roof."

The girl smiled serenely; she was ready to embrace her new life and looked forward to it with great anticipation.

Matsueda Jun looked at the jasmine tea in front of him. Pure white buds floated on the tea soup, carrying a rich and distinct jasmine aroma.

He felt the teacup in his hand was a little heavy.

At lunchtime, the two walked out of the literature museum under parasols and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

"What would Chun-kun like to eat?"

The boy sitting opposite me looked at his phone and said, "You order first."

The girl looked at the waiter beside her, "Then please give me an omelet rice set meal first..."

The sounds around him became muffled, and Jun Matsue frowned subconsciously as he looked at the messages on the screen.

"Matsueda-kun, are you free this afternoon? Can we meet up?"

The boy's gaze moved upwards, landing on the contact's name.

It is indeed Yamami Maki.

But why would my senior suddenly want to meet him?

Didn't she keep her distance during our previous conversations?
As Jun Matsuoka recalled the two withdrawals, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"Tsun-kun?" Tomatsu Yuka's voice approached. The boy put down his phone and met the girl's questioning gaze.

"Why are you frowning?" she asked with concern, her eyes gentle and bright.
"It's nothing," he said, looking out the window. "It's just that the cicadas are a bit noisy."

As the rain and wind subsided, the cicadas that had been nestling in the swaying shadows of the trees, untouched by the storm, began to chirp and hum again.

The boy picked up the menu on the table and said, "I'll have the pork cutlet set meal."

"Please wait a moment, everyone." The waiter bowed slightly and hurried towards the kitchen.

Tomatsu Yuka pushed the iced water in the restaurant in front of the boy. She rested her chin on her hand and turned to look at the dazzling spot of light at the entrance of the store, which looked like a pool of gold leaf melting on the ground.

"It's getting hot again."

Jun Matsue took a big gulp of ice water. "That's how summer is. It doesn't get cool even when it rains."

The boy chewed on the ice cube in his mouth; he usually only did this when he had something on his mind.

Before he could reply to his senior's message, he picked up his phone again and typed a few words.

"Is there a problem?"

The message was quickly marked as read, and the boy stared at the pure white background of the chat box.

"I think I've seen that system you guys were talking about."

The ice cube in her mouth shattered with a crisp sound as Tomatsu Yuka, who was editing a status update on her phone, looked up.

"What is Chun-kun looking at?"

"...I'm looking at the municipal announcements in Mitaka." Jun Matsueda swiped open the chat window and clicked on the government news that popped up in the message bar.

"The drainage system over at San-yingtai is having problems and will need to be repaired for a while."

If Tomatsu knew that her senior was contacting her, she would probably explode.

"There are quite a few places in Suginami Ward that need repairs too, I hope they can be fixed soon." The girl chimed in, then lowered her head to edit her relationship status.

The boy immediately replied to Yamami Maki's message, "You were simulated by the system? You're not kidding, are you?"

"Is Matsueda dating both Mochizuki Haruka and Tomatsu Tomoka at the same time?"

The shards of ice between his teeth emitted a chill, and Matsueda Jun pursed his lips.

"It really is true..." the girl quickly sent another message.

“Matsue-kun, I dreamed about so many things, so many things, and they were all related to you.”

"When can we meet? I have so much to tell you."

After typing the message with trembling fingers, Yamami Maki, sitting in the school library, looked up, her tired gaze falling on the clear sky outside the window.

Last night's torrential rain seemed to have swept away all the cumulus clouds, leaving the sky in Bunkyo Ward a clear blue that made one feel open and expansive.

However, the girl's eyes were unfocused. She had just woken up from her midday nap and her mind was still not clear, which is why she sent a message to Matsueda Jun without thinking twice.

In fact, Yamami Maki hadn't slept well these past two days—every time she fell asleep after meeting Matsueda Jun on August 1st, she would have incredibly vivid dreams.

From the moment Jun Matsueda and Yuka Tomatsu broke up after the summer vacation until she found Jun Matsueda at the psychological counseling center, the intermittent scenes spanned the entire four years of university life that she had not yet experienced.

Even after waking up from the dream, the boy's haggard and tired face, the last thing she saw, still lingered in her mind.

“Why did Jun-kun become like that…” Yami Maki clenched her hands and crumpled the papers pressed on the table.

Why is it that in my dreams I can only watch him turn into that?
The girl's attention was drawn to the thing blocking her view of the sky.

It was a semi-transparent panel, simply standing in front of me, moving as my gaze shifted.

If she hadn't already heard about this from Tomatsu Yuka and Mochizuki Haruka, she might have thought she was hallucinating.

Aside from the words "Temporary User 3", there was only one line of bolder, more prominent text on the system panel, its dark red color serving as a reminder to Yamami Maki that time was running out.

Prove to users that you are right.

(End of this chapter)