Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 674 The Girl is Full of Determination
On August 5th, the day before the start of autumn, the highest temperature in Setagaya remained stubbornly high at 37 degrees Celsius.

As Yami Maki walked out of the room carrying her handbag, her older sister was playing with a parrot in the living room on the second floor. Watching the girl walk towards the stairs, Yami Ikuka blinked.

"Is Moji going out?"

"Okay." She turned around and smiled. "Let's go to Shibuya."

The woman sat up. "Want me to take you home?"

Maki Yami's family doesn't have servants, and the driver belongs to the company, so the young people mostly drive themselves, unlike the Mochizuki family who travel with maids.

Of course, it wasn't that the Yami family didn't have servants; it was just that Yami Maki's father didn't like the feeling of servants walking around the house, "making the house feel like a home."

"No need, I'll just take a taxi." The girl shook her head. "Didn't you just finish up with things at the Li Agency?"

"Be careful on the road." Yamami Ikuka held the little yellow chick in her hand and winked at her.

"X JAPAN recently released a live album, Maki, please bring one back for me."

"Oh, while you're at it, go check out Denny's studio in Shibuya for me."

Yamami Maki nodded slightly. "Is there anything else?"

"Hmm... let me think." The woman lay back on the sofa, holding up the chirping parrot in her hand.

"By the way, Jun Matsue sent me a message yesterday saying that you don't seem to be getting enough rest lately."

She looked up at the girl at the top of the stairs, her black hair falling to the ground.

"What's going on? And how did he know?"

"..." Yami Maki looked down at the floor in front of her toes. "It's nothing, I just had a dream about him earlier."

Now her dream has ended.

"So you're going to see Songzhi now?"

"Ah."

There was a moment of silence in the living room, broken only by the crisp chirping of birds.

"Don't worry, I won't stop you from seeing him."

Ikuka Yamami released the parrot from her arms, and it fluttered back into its cage.

"Anyway, it was you who wronged him in the first place. If you want to make amends, then go ahead and do it."

"Ah."

"I've always felt that Jun Matsue would be a good son-in-law."

The girl didn't answer this time; only the sound of footsteps on the stairs gradually faded into the distance.

A person went downstairs to change shoes, pushed open the villa door, and heard the distant chirping of cicadas from a temple. Yamami Maki opened her umbrella and walked towards Jiyugaoka Station on the other side.

She had indeed intended to take a taxi, because after waking from that long dream, she was now desperately eager to see Jun Matsuoka.

But taking a taxi would cost a lot of money, so the girl felt she should save some money.

Walking through the bright summer sun and into the bustling station entrance, Yamami Maki looked up at the station name in black letters on a white background.

"Hill of Freedom..."

A somewhat ironic name.

As she boarded the train bound for Shibuya, the girl held her handbag on her lap. She blinked, and a semi-transparent panel appeared, blocking the opposite train window.

Is Temporary User 3 ranked after Tomatsu and Mochizuki?
Her gaze shifted slightly downwards, landing on the large, dark red characters.

Prove to users that you are right.

This user likely refers to a registered user, specifically Songzhi...

After regaining consciousness at noon yesterday, and after an afternoon of chaos and a night of calm, Maki Yami is now able to rationally contemplate the surreal scene before her that only she can see.

So, is this a task assigned to her by the system? The girl gripped the bag strap tightly.

How can I prove to Songzhi that I am the most suitable person to be with him?
...Or should we prove to him that the system is correct?

Maki Yamami looked up at the small, flashing lights on the station map above the tram door, indicating its progress.

In short, I must meet with Jun-kun as soon as possible.

Sitting down in a window booth at the coffee shop, Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone; there were still ten minutes until their agreed meeting time.

"..." He took a deep breath silently, looking out the window at the dense crowd at the intersection, overflowing the zebra crossing on the gray concrete, like the rain that had flooded Tokyo the night before last.

It seems that in TV dramas, all those significant meetings require a background of people coming and going, the boy thought to himself idly.

In order to meet with Yamami Maki today, he specially coaxed Kurusu Yosei and Mochizuki Haruka to take a nap, and even made up an excuse that Sakamuro Ken wanted to play ball with him, so that he could come here alone.

There's no way around it; it's one thing for Kurusu, but Mochizuki would absolutely never allow him to meet his senior alone...

Jun Matsue looked away and picked up the menu on the table.

But in order to understand what his senior had said, he had to come alone.

As if by telepathy, just as she thought of Yamami Maki, the girl with the beige handbag walked into the café. She naturally glanced towards the window and spotted the boy sitting alone.

The girl quickened her pace slightly, ignoring the smiling clerk who was asking her questions, and walked straight over, stopping in front of the booth by the window.

Matsueda Jun looked at the seat opposite him, "Aren't you going to sit, senior?"

Yamami Maki seemed not to hear him, and just stared at him intently, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

“Matsueda-kun, you’re still you…that’s wonderful…”

The boy didn't know what to say, so he just smiled at her.

"Can I have a hug?" The girl took a step closer and opened her arms. "I really want to hug you."

She needed a hug to ease the regret of watching her beloved walk into a swamp of decadence in her dream.

"..." Jun Matsue blinked, his senior's initiative caught him somewhat off guard.

"Give me a hug." Yami Maki repeated, "Give me a hug, and then I'll tell you everything about the system."

Her words were both a threat and a plea. The boy remained silent for a moment before standing up.

The girl quickly threw herself into his arms, her breathing rising and falling vividly, like a drowning person surfacing—perhaps because of her departure of more than half a year, or perhaps because she was only now waking up from a dream.

The boy stood straight, his embrace firm and strong, without any smell of tobacco or drugs, warm and reassuring... Yamami Maki confirmed once again that none of the things in her dream had happened yet.

Once her breathing had calmed down, Jun Matsue released the girl's embrace and sat down.

“…I’m sorry.” Yamami Maki’s voice was choked with emotion.

The boy shook his head, watching her sit down opposite him and wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Would you like something to drink?" Jun Matsueda picked up the menu, trying to restore the atmosphere to normal.

"Just like you would be fine," the girl said without hesitation.

"...Then two mochas it is."

After the drinks were served and the waiter had walked away, Jun Matsueda stirred his coffee and pushed it towards the girl.

"So... Yamami-senpai was really simulated by the system?"

Yamami Maki nodded. "Ever since I met you that day, whether it's day or night, as soon as I fall asleep, I enter a dream simulated by the system..."

"I saw Matsue-san's future." "My future?" The boy frowned slightly. "Not your future?"

"Of course I was there too, but the things I dreamed about were all centered around you."

Although it's true that it's from her own perspective, Yamami Maki can certainly tell who the main character is in everything in the dream.

Jun Matsueda thought for a moment, "Is that the future where we continue our relationship?"

"...No." The girl's expression clearly darkened, like a dark cloud drifting in from the horizon.

She looked at the liquid mixed with chocolate sauce and coffee, "In the simulation, we are just like in reality. We have broken up and never got back together."

"..." Jun Matsue took a sip of coffee; this was rather strange.

Whether it's Mochizuki's or Tomatsu's simulation, it should all be about the future where I'm with them.

"So what is your simulation like?"

Yamami Maki looked at him, the girl blinked nervously, and then took a deep breath.

"After this summer vacation ends, Jun and Matsueda will break up with Tomoka."

"..." Unexpected yet reasonable, the boy was somewhat unwilling.

How did you break up?

"It's probably because you confessed to Mochizuki Haruka that you wanted to have your cake and eat it too, and she refused to accept it—I only found out the reason after you went to university and met Yuka."

Jun Matsueda raised an eyebrow. "How long did you simulate it?"

"Three or four years, I guess." The girl's eyes seemed lost in memories. "But it's not continuous, it's like a stage play, scene by scene."

"And it wasn't me who experienced these things, but Yamami Maki from my dream."

Otherwise, just receiving information and organizing the situation would be enough to leave Yamami Maki stunned for a long time every time the "plot" jumps.

Jun Matsue glanced at his phone; it was 2 PM, plenty of time.

"Please continue, senior."

He broke up with Tomatsu Yuka at the end of August and officially announced his relationship with Mochizuki Haruka.

In May of the following year, he secretly reconciled with Tomatsu Yuka, fell into a cold war with Mochizuki Haruka, and at the same time, Kurusu Yosei announced his relationship and left the agency, getting into a contract dispute.

Upon hearing this, Jun Matsueda's hand holding the coffee trembled slightly.

At the end of the following year, Yosei Kurusu drove away from Tokyo with Jun Matsueda, and the two disappeared for two whole months.

"Did I come with Laiqi on my own initiative?"

Yamami Maki nodded. "Later you told me that it was because Tomatsu Tomoka and Mochizuki Haruka made you feel too tired."

The boy took another sip of coffee.

Two months later, Jun Matsue brought Yosei Kurusu back to Tokyo because Haruka Mochizuki had gone to see a psychologist, and Tomohana Tomatsu was skipping classes to find him, putting her academic credits in jeopardy.

"And then?" Jun Matsueda couldn't help but ask, looking at the girl who had stopped talking.

“After that, things spiraled out of control.” Yami Maki’s eyes looked like she was exploring a haunted house. “All three of them wanted to have you all to themselves, and none of them were willing to give in—or rather, if they did, they would be kicked out by the others.”

"The last time I saw you was at the psychological counseling center in Setagaya. The Matsueda I saw then was a completely different person from the one in front of me."

"Did Jun Matsue in the simulation not do anything?" the boy asked, frowning.

“Matsueda tried her best at first, but you couldn’t bear to abandon them.” The girl’s eyes were filled with sympathy and affection.

"Your bottom line is in the hands of Mochizuki and the others, which is why they can use any means necessary with confidence..."

Jun Matsue silently sipped his coffee; he was now beginning to taste the flavor.

“So Jun-kun can’t go on like this!” Yamami Maki slammed her hands on the table.

None of this has happened yet, and she is not the simulated version of herself—the current her has the ability to prevent her beloved from going astray.

The boy put down his coffee. "...These things might not even happen."

"But if I don't tell you these things, will it really not happen?" The girl leaned forward, closing the distance between them.

"The future in the simulation isn't just a pipe dream—aren't you already dating both of them at the same time?"

At this point, Yamami Maki's feelings were even more bitter and complicated than the coffee in front of her.

The girl named Matsueda who flatly rejected her request for a secret relationship back then is now two-timing her...

"Didn't Mochizuki Haruka already tell you to make a decision before summer vacation?"

Jun Matsueda clenched his fist on the table—this was the only thing his senior could not possibly know through any means outside the system.

“If Matsueda-san doesn’t believe me…” Yami Maki began searching for sufficiently compelling evidence.

"Looking at houses!" she remembered. "Wang Yueyao will take you to look at houses during the summer vacation."

"Although she said it was just to take a look at the house before going to university, she had already bought it when she took you to see it."

"Are you going to act first and ask questions later?" The boy stared at the porcelain cup in front of him.

The coffee is almost gone.

"Then let's wait a while." He looked up.

"Thank you, Yamami-senpai. I need some time to think about it."

"..." Yamami Maki looked into the boy's eyes, her expression somewhat uneasy.

"I understand. If you have any questions, Matsueda-san, you can come to me anytime."

Even though the girl has seen the future, she is still Jun Matsueda's ex-girlfriend with whom she has a rift.

The door to the coffee shop was pushed open, and the hanging bell rang with a clear and melodious sound. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again.

Yamami Maki watched the boy walk away; his back didn't seem firm—the girl hoped it would eventually lean towards her side.

The time on her phone was 3 p.m. She opened her parasol; she still had things to do.

"I'll go buy an album for my sister first," Yamami Maki thought, looking towards the record store not far away.

As for Denny's studio in Shibuya... the girl paused in her steps.

She doesn't plan to go to her home studio anymore.

In the simulation, she could only watch Tsunku fall into the abyss because she had always been a member of the Yami family. Therefore, she could not see Matsueda Jun, nor help him, and could only watch from the sidelines time and time again.

And someone like that naturally wouldn't have a happy future.

Yamami Maki opened her parasol and walked against the sunlight, passing by a bustling crowd. She looked at the spire in the distance, shimmering and undulating in the summer air.

"As long as I'm still a child of the Yami family... I can't do anything."

Her tone was one of resolute relief.

After meeting Jun Matsueda, Maki Yami felt that she was much stronger than she had imagined.

For Jun-kun, and for myself.

She wants to change the future.

(End of this chapter)