Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 709 Invitation to Attend

On Monday morning, the last period was physical education class. Jun Matsue sat on the lawn, looked up at the somewhat gloomy clouds above Haneoka High School.

"The feeling of autumn is getting stronger and stronger..."

"Does Mochizuki think so too?" He turned his head and looked at the girl sitting not far away, hugging her legs.

The aloof girl with her high ponytail ignored him and instead looked at the other side of the track.

Girls in sportswear were passing a soccer ball around on the playground, their movements a little clumsy.

Today, both boys and girls are practicing soccer in PE class, but she happens to be on her period, which is why she's unfortunately sitting on the grass, enduring the harassment of those pesky pine branches.

"So why is Mochizuki sitting here all alone?" the boy asked with a smile.

The girl didn't seem to realize that she had only herself to blame—while the other girls who had asked for leave were all sitting at the other end of the playground, she was the only one sitting alone on the grass here.

"Because they're too noisy," Mochizuki Haruka said with a stern face.

She glanced at the other end of the playground, where the girls sitting together were whispering to each other.

"Once women gather together idly like that, they start gossiping about meaningless things—and no matter how aloof you are, they have the courage to ask you gossip questions."

Jun Matsueda chuckled twice. "I guess you're more comfortable when it's just the two of us together?"

As if amazed by someone's shamelessness, the girl glanced at him, then quickly turned her face away.

"So what kind of gossip do they talk about now?" he continued.

But Mochizuki had lost interest in answering, so the boy on the lawn changed his posture and changed the subject.

"To be honest, I still don't know what Jinzhi is allergic to."

“…Beef.” The girl uttered the two words lightly and concisely, like an ice cube falling into water.

"So there's beef in cat food?" Jun Matsue looked at her in surprise.

Mochizuki Haruka nodded silently. "It's been changed to chicken and salmon now."

It seems to eat more than—

The boy tried to push his luck by speaking further, but the girl turned and glanced at him before standing up and walking away.

Why did they suddenly run away? Jun Matsue turned his head and looked in the direction she was looking.

In front of the vending machine not far away, Natsumi Imokawa bent down, picked up a bottle of Pocari Sweat, and walked over.

"Pine branches~"

The girl greeted him, then looked at Mochizuki Haruka who had walked away.

"Should I not have come?" she asked cautiously.

Jun Matsueda waved his hand, "It has nothing to do with Imagawa."

Wangyue probably just didn't want others to see them alone—if the two of them could sit together and chat, what kind of cold war would it be?

"Oh……"

Natsumi Imokawa stopped about a meter away from the boy, but perhaps feeling it was too far, she secretly moved two more steps.

She sat down and took a sip of her Pocari Sweat.

"Have you and Mochizuki made up yet?"

"Not yet." Jun Matsueda watched the girl's retreating figure. "But my relationship with her hadn't gotten much worse to begin with."

"No matter how much couples argue, they are still couples."

"But a lot of couples break up after arguing," the girl sitting next to him said without hesitation.

"I watched 'Love Like a Bouquet' before, and those loving couples all—"

"Stop!" The boy blocked her way with one hand. "Let's change the subject, let's not talk about relationships."

“…Oh.” Natsumi Imokawa nodded, picked up the Pocari Sweat between her legs, and took another sip.

It's always like this... she thought sullenly. Now, every time the topic of pine branches comes up, he immediately changes the subject.

Where is that pine branch that I used to confide in? When did it disappear?

Although it was a bit of a letdown, she obediently changed the subject.

"My qualification review report has been sent to the East China University of the Arts, and I expect to receive the results in the next couple of days."

"That was fast." Jun Matsueda turned his head. "This kind of review usually doesn't cause any problems, right?"

The girl nodded. "My report card meets the requirements, so there's no problem."

"So, only the final entrance selection remains?"

“Yes!” Natsumi Imokawa squeezed the plastic bottle in her hand.

"After another two weeks of studying professional knowledge, it will be the decisive moment!"

"Keep it up!" the boy smiled. "If you work hard for another two weeks, Imokawa will be free."

"Hmm!" The girl squeezed the Pocari Sweat in her hand so hard it made a cracking sound.

"I'm going to take my camera and wander around the streets for ten days beforehand!"

The school bell rang abruptly from the distant school building, its melodious music piercing through the barbed wire fence at the edge of the playground and passing over the two people's heads.

The figures on the playground immediately scattered, and Jun Matsue stood up and patted his trouser legs.

“Jun-kun—” Tomatsu Tomoka, standing at the edge of the playground, waved to him.

"Time to go to the cafeteria!"

The boy waved his hand, indicating that he would be there soon.

He turned to look at the girl sitting on the grass, "Shall I go first?"

"Bye-bye..." Natsumi Imokawa picked up Pocari Sweat again.

The receding figure blurred and distorted through the curved surface of the plastic bottle. The girl, drinking water, blinked, placed the Pocari Sweat on her lap, and watched the boy walk towards his lover who was waiting not far away.

"We only exchanged a few words..." she muttered softly.

Is Songzhi getting busier and busier? She wondered, watching the boy's retreating figure.

Is it because of being in a relationship?
You promised that you wouldn't forget your friends even if you were in a relationship?
A slight sense of frustration welled up inside her. Natsumi Imokawa puffed out her cheeks and looked up at the gray sky.

Forget about shopping and taking photos. Once I finish my entrance exams, I'm going to have a serious talk with him first!

At 12:30 pm, Jun Matsue and Yuka Tomatsu walked out of the cafeteria, hand in hand, onto the main road, and walked under the shade of the trees at the very edge.

The girl cheerfully shook the boy's left hand, "I heard from other people that the ice cream vending machine seems to have added new flavors."

"That's perfect, I can buy two to try." Jun Matsue took his phone out of his pocket—it had been vibrating several times since he left the cafeteria.

The senior student's life report has been going on for two days now; I wonder if she plans to continue indefinitely.

The boy had no intention of stopping her. Yamami Ikuka needed to know about her sister's situation, so it was appropriate for her to pass on the information.

However, there's no need to tell Miss Yuxiang about topics like how to wash underwear...

Listening to the girl next to him talking about the fun of eating ice cream in winter, Jun Matsueda secretly glanced at his phone.

It wasn't a message from my senior, but from Miss Yuxiang.

"How's Moji doing?" The boy hesitated for a moment, then openly held his phone up to his chest to type.

"Didn't I just send you a message this morning, Miss Yuxiang?"

The woman replied very quickly.

"Moji has already told me everything you mentioned. What's the use of just reading the news?"

"What I want is for you to go to her rented apartment and see for yourself! Tell me how she's doing, how she's feeling, whether she's just putting on a brave face, and if she's homesick!"

Didn't I ask you to look after her a little more?

"..." Jun Matsue sighed.

"What's wrong?" Tomatsu Yuka, who was standing next to him, shook his arm and leaned her head closer.

"It's nothing, it's about Senior Yamami." The boy casually held his phone up to her face.

The girl didn't take the phone and swipe the screen; she just glanced at it obediently before looking at the crowd in the middle of the avenue.

"She really ran away from home..." She pointed to her lips with her index finger, lost in thought.

"It's quite impressive that she has such determination."

Tomatsu Yuka turned her head to look at the boy who was typing with his head down, "Is Tsunku going to see her?"

Jun Matsuoka paused for a moment while typing.

“Go ahead.” He looked up. “She’s only been out for a few days, so we really need to keep an eye on her.”

"After all, she's a young lady~" the girl said with a smile, her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm.

“Then Jun-kun can take this opportunity to talk to her about the invitation to the brass band.”

"I will." The boy nodded, watching the dappled sunlight fall on her smooth profile through the trees.

"..." Tomatsu Yuka blinked and met his gaze.

Why are you looking at me like that, Chun-jun?

"Just admiring my girlfriend's pretty face."

The girl laughed out loud, and the two continued forward hand in hand. Several girls from the wind band passed by them, winking and exchanging glances as they walked away.

“I thought that if we talked about Yamami-senpai, Yuka would have more to say to me.”

"Didn't Chunjun say that you don't have any feelings for her right now?" The girl smiled. "Then what else is there to say?"

"Anyway, a wicked girl like me would only want her to suffer more." She revealed a sly expression.

"Whether it's in daily life or in relationships~"

With a helpless smile in his eyes, Jun Matsuoka led her into the teaching building.

"Let's go buy some new ice cream."

At 4 p.m., Jun Matsueda walked into a small apartment building near Higashi-Nakano Station.

Unlike the night he first arrived, the fourth-floor corridor was bathed in soft sunlight, illuminating the red bricks outside the railing. The boy looked around the old-fashioned yet tidy corridor, finding it more welcoming than he had imagined.

Before we even reached the end, the door to a room not far away opened first—

Yamami Maki cautiously peeked out halfway, and after confirming that the person she was waiting for in the corridor was indeed him, she smiled and waved to him.

"Welcome~" she said in a light tone.

Jun Matsue walked to the door, and the girl in her home dress followed her to the entrance, where she bent down and took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet.

"Matsueda-san, wear this!"

The boy looked down and saw a pair of sky-blue linen slippers in front of his shoes, with a white rabbit painted on them—the girl herself was wearing the same style of light yellow slippers, painted with a brown bear, which looked adorable.

"It looks pretty, doesn't it?" Yami Maki met his gaze. "I bought this yesterday when Kokoro and I were shopping for clothes, and it was on sale~"

This is a lie. The girl didn't just do it on a whim—the first thing she thought of when she went shopping yesterday was to buy a pair of slippers so that her classmate Matsueda would have shoes to wear when she came to visit.

"It's not appropriate for you to open the door like that, senior." Jun Matsue, seemingly changing out of context, slipped on his slippers. "What if you mistook my footsteps for mine?"

The boy paused in his shoe-changing motion, realizing his words sounded familiar—he had given the same instructions to Mochizuki Haruka before.

“No one comes to my floor much.” Yamami Maki smiled gently. “Matsueda-kun said she would come over after school today, so I thought it would be you.”

"I won't do that again next time~"

Jun Matsue walked into the room carrying his schoolbag, and the scene before him had changed considerably.

The slightly shaky little dining table was placed in the corner of the U-shaped space, against the fixed half-sliding door and wall of the bedroom. Although there were two fewer seats at the table, it certainly wouldn't wobble anymore.

The girl laid a light green floral tablecloth over it, and placed two glasses and a pot of barley tea on it.

In the corner of the table against the wall, there was a transparent plastic coffee cup with a few small yellow, white, and light blue flowers in it. Although the style was simple, it looked quite fresh and pleasing to the eye after the girl who had learned flower arranging arranged it.

"What do you think, Matsueda-kun?" Yami Maki asked expectantly. "Since I don't usually need that much space at the dining table by myself, I think it's okay to squeeze it into a corner."

"Pretty good." The boy was a little surprised. He found the familiar sofa and sat down, watching the senior pour him a cup of barley tea.

They seem to have reached a tacit consensus on choosing cheap and affordable drinks.

"However, I'm still not entirely satisfied with the living room's layout." The girl handed him the barley tea and sat down at the dining table.

“This sofa and dining table are taking up a lot of space.” She rested her chin on her hand, looking somewhat troubled. “No matter how we put them, they’re in the way.”

"Do you have a table in your bedroom?" Jun Matsue asked, sipping his barley tea.

It tastes a little better than the ones he makes himself.

"No." Yamami Maki shook her head, holding the barley tea.

"Then let's move the table to the bedroom and use it as a desk. It'll be perfect for putting the computer and such."

"That makes sense~" The girl nodded again. Her computer and other things were still at home and she hadn't brought them over yet.

The small living room was quiet for a while. The boy put down his teacup and looked at the girl, whose lips were slightly parted as she searched for a topic of conversation.

"Does the senior still keep in touch with the Haneoka High School Brass Band?"

“…No.” Yami Maki blinked in surprise. “Is there something you need, Matsueda-san?”

"That's right," Jun Matsue said, carefully choosing his words, "This year, the brass band has also made it into the national competition."

"They have a practice performance coming up and would like to invite you to attend."

"...Tomatsu and I will also be there. They said that with such a lineup, we can receive the blessing of the national gold medal team from that year."

The girl's initial expression of surprise turned into panic—this was the first time in a long time that the boy had mentioned Tomatsu Tomok's existence in front of her.

Yamami Maki held the barley tea in her hand high, trying to cover her face.

"...Does Yuka know about this?"

The boy nodded. "I did tell her I'd invite you again."

The girl gripped the glass tightly, watching the translucent brown liquid sway and shake.

“I want to go…” she said softly, then took a deep breath and looked at Jun Matsueda.

"I'll be there!"

(End of this chapter)