Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 719 Preparations
After taping the edges of both balcony doors shut, Yamami Maki let out a soft breath and sat down on the bed behind her.

"that's it?"

"That's fine. This typhoon isn't strong. I'm just worried that your old house might have some problems."

The voice behind her rose in pitch. She turned around and saw that the boy sitting at the foot of the bed had stood up.

"..."

A hint of resentment flickered in the girl's eyes—every time she entered her home, Matsueda seemed to be on guard and would almost never sit in the same place as her.

The kotatsu in the living room was definitely the right purchase… Yamami Maki squeezed the bedding beside her, venting her little frustration.

Another plane flew over the neighborhood not far away, and the two people on the balcony saw its silhouette—like a wet, clumsy bird, disappearing into the gray rain clouds outside the balcony.

"It seems that the door seal is quite useful after closing the door."

Jun Matsue gently knocked on the glass door in front of him; this time, the airplane noise was much quieter.

"Don't open the balcony door tomorrow. Wait until the typhoon is over before tearing off the tape." He turned to look at the girl sitting by the window.

"If there are no problems with the house this time, we should be able to save on the work of reinforcing the doors and windows in the future."

“Okay…” Yami Maki nodded gently, sensing something ominous in the boy’s tone.

Sure enough, the boy turned and walked towards the bedroom door, saying, "Then I'll head back now."

"Wait a minute!" the girl called out to him hurriedly, pointing out onto the balcony.

"The wind and rain are really strong right now. If Matsueda goes out, she'll definitely get soaked even with an umbrella!"

Jun Matsuoka turned around.

Raindrops had already splashed onto the sealed balcony door, and even though the open balcony had railings and eaves, the shimmering light from the water droplets on the ground could still be seen.

"The rain got heavier so quickly?" The boy blinked.

Just now, the senior student was squatting by the glass door applying tape. To avoid seeing any glimpses of her private parts, he barely paid attention to what was happening outside the balcony.

“It’s typhoon season.” Yami Maki subconsciously mimicked his tone. “It’s normal for the weather to change quickly.”

The girl took out her phone and looked at it. "The weather forecast says the rain will lessen in half an hour. Matsue-kun, why don't you sit for a while before you leave?"

"Half an hour?" The boy looked at the computer on the table next to him.

It's 4:42 PM, and there's still plenty of time to get home.

"Let's wait a bit then." He chose to follow his senior's advice. "If the rain hasn't let up in half an hour, we'll have to leave anyway."

Jun Matsue didn't want to repeat his previous experience at Imogawa, where the rain kept getting heavier and he was almost forced to spend the night there.

"Then let's go sit in the living room!" Yamami Maki got up from the bedside.

"I'll pour tea for Songzhi-kun~"

Two minutes later, Jun Matsue sat down in his usual spot at the low table, and the girl walked past him out of the corner of his eye.

Opening the refrigerator in the corner, Yamami Maki suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the boy sitting cross-legged.

"Matsue-kun, would you like some hot cocoa? In this damp and chilly weather, a warm cup of hot cocoa would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Hot cocoa makes me feel too full, so barley tea is better."

So the girl returned to her seat, bent down and placed two cups of cold barley tea on the table.

The teacup was made of ordinary glass, with no apparent difference. The boy casually picked up a cup, and the cool touch spread across his palm.

“If you’re using a kotatsu, you have to be careful when carrying water or soup.” He recalled the way his senior had bent over earlier, “especially hot soup and coffee in winter, there was a risk of spilling it.”

Yamami Maki nodded, holding the barley tea. "That makes sense. I'll go buy a pair of baking gloves in a couple of days."

The slightly bitter aroma of barley tea lingered in his mouth, and Jun Matsue once again looked around the room in front of him.

Besides the completely different furniture arrangement, there were also many more things on the stove – knives and various bottles and jars of seasonings, a small frying pan on the gas stove, and a light pink electric kettle next to it.

The once empty countertop is now filled with the atmosphere of daily life. Jun Matsue imagines his senior in pajamas lazily lying on the low table, waiting for steam to rise from the kettle.

"Matsueda-kun, would you like some snacks?"

Yamami Maki got up and pulled over the portable storage rack that was standing next to the stove, assuming that the boy had just been looking at the snacks inside.

"No need." The boy shook his head. "Is the senior already familiar with the surroundings?"

“Yes!” The girl nodded enthusiastically. “I walked all the streets around here last week, and I even went to the Maruetsu supermarket that Matsueda mentioned.”

"These snacks were bought there."

"You could also try online shopping." The rain streaming down the windowpane showed no signs of letting up, and Jun Matsue took another sip of barley tea. "It's much more convenient than shopping in person."

"Online shopping..." Yami Maki blinked. "Kokoro-chan did mention it to me, but I don't really like this method."

"It's more reassuring to see the product in person."

“Speaking of this!” She placed her fair arm on the table and moved closer to the boy.

"I went to the affordable clothing store that my friend Songzhi mentioned a couple of days ago, and it was really great! I bought a short cardigan and a houndstooth skirt, and it only cost me 3,000 yen in total!"

"Didn't you buy clothes before?" Jun Matsue put down his teacup. "And the clothes that Miss Yuka brought you, why did you buy new ones again?"

"..." The girl's expression became flustered. "The sales assistant said I looked great in it and that it was one of the last few pieces."

"I couldn't resist because the price was so cheap..."

The boy initially thought these were just sales pitches from the shop assistant, but after looking at the senior student who wore a simple short-sleeved pajama top with a慵懒 and seductive air, he thought that what the shop assistant said might not necessarily be a lie.

"The clothes in discount stores are cheap, but they're generally not very good in terms of quality and workmanship." He moved his teacup, using it to shield himself from Yamami Maki.

"Now that my senior is living alone, she has to control her spending desires."

Yamami Maki sat up straight and shyly tidied the strands of hair behind her ear.

"I'm not buying any clothes for the next month..."

“I applied to a professor with whom I have a good relationship for a job collecting literature and summarizing data, and she would increase my salary accordingly.”

Jun Matsue looked at the window by the stove. The cloudy glass blurred the view outside, and he could only see clearly by walking to the window.

Looking back at the table, the half-full cup of barley tea seemed to be reminding him that he had been too hasty.

The boy thought for a moment, "Is it almost time for the senior to start school?"

“Yes.” Yamami Maki picked up the tablet on the table and opened her school’s official website.

She swiped her slender fingers across the screen a few times, showing the tablet to the boy.

"We will officially start classes on the 29th."

Jun Matsue didn't move closer; he simply shifted his gaze over there.

"You'll probably be quite busy when school starts, right? If you're planning to look for part-time jobs outside of school, let's talk about it after school starts and you're done with that."

"Actually, it's fine." The girl smiled nonchalantly.

"It's just classes, it's easier than high school."

"Don't you have anything else to do?" The boy blinked in surprise. "Like the student council? Or other departments organized by the school?"

Yamami Maki placed the tablet between them, shaking her head with a gentle smile. "...What about clubs?" Matsueda Jun frowned slightly. "Most people join clubs, right?"

"I'm not interested," the senior student said, looking down at the barley tea in front of her.

"I feel that learning and participating in projects are more meaningful."

"..." Looking at her downcast eyes, the boy recalled the few and silent landscape photos that appeared when he clicked on the small parrot avatar in the chat box before.

"What about the brass band? Hasn't the senior been playing the clarinet anymore?"

As he couldn't help but speak, he recalled the bedroom he had just left—there was no trace of the instrument case in the fairly large space, unless the girl had put it in the closet.

Yamami Maki shook her head gently once more, and the room fell silent.

Even with the sealing strips reinforcing the room, the pattering rain still seeped in, greatly enhancing the quiet atmosphere.

Jun Matsue looked at the girl sitting on the side of the low table. This time, he didn't care about maintaining a certain distance.

Has the gentle, considerate, lively, and proactive Yami Maki in front of him lost her former poise and brilliance at school?
Perhaps it was because the senior always presented herself to him in a way that was unchanged, or even better, that the boy almost forgot about her previous dull and lackluster appearance.

When I first met her by chance in front of Kasuga Station, I saw her from afar, looking so thin.

She was there in the conference room of YM Entertainment, looking lost and pitiful.

Jun Matsue realized once again that it wasn't just him who was completely changed by that breakup, but also Maki Yami, who was now silently facing the barley tea.

They are all losers.

"...Why isn't Matsueda-san saying anything?" The girl looked up while holding her barley tea.

"Don't be sad for me or anything," she waved her hand, her face still bearing a peaceful smile. "It was my own choice to have this kind of university life."

"As I said before, my family required me to join the student council in high school."

"My parents chose the clarinet for me because they thought I had the most talent in it."

"I'm not unhappy about letting go of these things."

"Who was so sentimental when they left the student council?" Jun Matsueda couldn't help but bring up his buried past to refute.

"When the brass band won the national gold medal, who was so happy that their face turned red? Who told me that they were the one in the brass band who most wanted the national gold medal?"

"Haha..." Yamami Maki laughed awkwardly, "At first, I didn't exactly like her, but I didn't really dislike her either."

"After spending so much time and energy on these things, of course I'll start to care about them—that's what you call sunk costs!"

The girl blinked, and the sunk costs she had invested the most in were all in the boy in front of her.

"In short, I'm quite satisfied with my university life right now, so Songzhi doesn't need to worry too much~"

"...Well, you know what you're doing." The boy sighed inwardly.

That's what makes this senior student stand out.

If it were Tomatsu, she would definitely take this opportunity to win his favor, and if it were Mochizuki, she would vent her grievances to him.

But the senior student would just smile and say that she was fine and there was no need to worry.

Yamami Maki tilted her head back slightly and took a big gulp of barley tea, as if she were drinking alcohol.

She picked up a tissue from the table and wiped the water stains from her lips. "Don't just talk about me."

"Is Matsueda-san's conquest plan... progressing smoothly?"

Jun Matsue blinked unexpectedly, not even noticing the diminishing sound of rain in the room.

He also picked up his barley tea and took a sip. "We're working hard to get it going."

"Aren't there any difficulties?" the girl asked curiously.

If Mochizuki Haruka and Yuka were so difficult to deal with in the simulated dream, she wouldn't really believe there weren't any challenges.

“…Of course there are.” The boy looked away from her—he was still a little uncomfortable talking about these topics with his senior.

"Mochizuki is currently giving me the cold shoulder."

"It's not just a minor tantrum, it's a real cold war."

Jun Matsueda picked up his phone and glanced at it. "A message from an hour ago, still unread."

"An hour isn't that long..." Yami Maki thought to herself, but when she spoke, she said something completely different.

"That does seem a bit cold. What's the reason for that?"

"I told her my feelings." The boy gripped his teacup tightly and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"If Mochizuki's behavior is just passive-aggressive, then it's already considered gentle."

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Yami Maki said without hesitation.

"After all, what Matsueda is doing now is essentially juggling multiple relationships, so it's normal that they don't understand."

"But you won't waver just like that, right?"

Jun Matsue nodded.

"Then there's nothing to hesitate about!" The girl moved closer to him. "Just keep giving Mochizuki Haruka the cold shoulder."

"...Will the Cold War continue to this day?"

The boy's face showed an unusual look of hesitation, and Yamami Maki stretched out her hands and placed them around the table beside his teacup.

"Yes, this is the simplest and most direct method."

"Make Mochizuki Haruka realize that she needs you more than you need her, and this problem will be easily solved."

The girl's expression was remarkably firm—she and Mochizuki Haruka had a long history of conflict, so she certainly wouldn't suggest any gentle or roundabout methods.

The living room fell silent again. Jun Matsue breathed silently and picked up the teacup that was being held by his senior's hands.

"I understand." The boy gulped down the rest of his barley tea and put the glass aside.

"Thank you for telling me all this, senior." He stood up and looked out the window.

"The rain has lessened, I have to go back now."

“…Okay.” Yamami Maki smiled, stood up and walked towards the entrance.

"I have some waterproof shoe covers here, Songzhi, please wear them."

Picking up an umbrella and pushing open the door, Jun Matsue turned to look at the girl guarding the entrance.

"I'm leaving now. Remember to contact me if anything unexpected happens tomorrow."

"Okay~" Yami Maki smiled and waved gently at him.

"Take care on your journey, Pine Branch. See you next time."

Nodding slightly, the boy closed the door with the girl in the room, holding an umbrella and looking out at the misty rain outside the corridor.

Will the Cold War continue in the end, an eye for an eye...?

He stepped downstairs, opened his umbrella, and walked into the low-hanging, gloomy sky.

(End of this chapter)