Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 724 October Overture
The last few days of September passed monotonously in the continuous drizzle left by the typhoon.

As October arrives, in addition to the temperatures fully transitioning to autumn, third-year students are also welcoming the Kawai Juku's nationwide standardized mock exam.

On Friday, October 3rd, Jun Matsue stood at the end of the corridor on the third floor of the activity building, listening to the melodious wind instruments drifting from the wind instrument room behind him.

The national mock exam just ended yesterday, and today after school, the entire brass band was already there, and a new round of practice began.

After all, the national competition is just around the corner, and they don't have much time to rest.

The boy closed his eyes and listened intently to the music behind him.

Whether it's the uniform and emotionally rich melody of individual parts or the close and harmonious cooperation between the various parts, it's much better than it was a month ago.

He turned around and looked at the pure white figure standing next to the practice team in the classroom window, swaying slightly to the melody.

It seems Tomatsu has quite a talent for education...

As for why it is "also"—

Jun Matsue took out his phone and tapped on the pale yellow parrot avatar in the list.

The second semester at Ochanomizu University has been underway for five days, and judging from the frequency of messages from her senior, she has become noticeably busier.

However, Yamami Maki continued with her daily report. The boy swiped up and down the screen and found the class schedule that the girl had sent the day before yesterday.

"Man and Development", "Educational Practice Research I", "An Introduction to Educational Thought", "Special Seminar on Educational Anthropology"...

"No wonder it's pedagogy," he remarked, making no sense at all.

Jun Matsueda never expected that Maki Yami would ultimately choose education as her major.

However, judging from the course content that the girl occasionally shared with him, the senior was really interested in this major and adapted quite well—she had only been in university for less than half a year, and she was already able to find work in the teacher's projects.

The boy scrolled through the videos again and clicked on the video that Yamamoto had sent that morning. It was a video the girl had filmed while sitting by the window.

The senior student wasn't in the frame; only her delicate, fair index finger slowly glided across the pages of the book in front of the camera.

"How did humans become human?" she asked gently, reading the words that flowed from her fingertips. "This is what education studies."

"The goal of pedagogy is to become a comprehensive humanities science, approaching the process of human formation and development both theoretically and practically—the ultimate mystery of humanity..."

Even the sunlight streaming through the window seemed to slow down in the girl's soothing tone, and the boy silently watched the video again.

Education seemed to be more interesting than he had thought.

The school bell rang from the nearby teaching building, signaling the end of get out of class. Jun Matsueda put away his phone and looked towards the opposite corridor.

A group of tired figures emerged from the activity rooms on the third and fifth floors; they were third-year students who had just finished self-study.

The boy quickly found the swaying black hair he was waiting for in the crowd—Wang Yueyao walked expressionlessly along the edge of the crowd, and the students around her consciously kept a distance from her.

As the girl turned and walked into the stairwell, the melody that had been drifting from the music room stopped, followed by relaxed whispers from the girls, and conversations between the club president, the instructor, and Tomatsu Yuka.

Jun Matsue leaned against the corridor railing in front of him, watching the crowds of students leaving the school building after school. The tense expressions of the boys and girls melted away little by little in the dim, yellow sunlight—the autumn sun was setting earlier and earlier.

Just as the aloof, black-haired girl was about to pass by the activity building, the boy took out his phone and sent her a message.

She must have heard the notification; the petite girl downstairs paused, took her phone out of her pocket.

This time, Mochizuki Haruka didn't raise her head like before.

She simply stuffed her phone into her uniform bag, smoothed her bangs, and continued walking towards the school gate.

"..."

Jun Matsue leaned on the railing, watching the girl's graceful figure lengthen in the sunlight as she disappeared behind the school gate.

He wasn't surprised by the result, since Mochizuki's attitude hadn't changed much in the past few days—it remained cold and aloof, like a high wall made of fine snow.

The boy raised his hand, and the message "Look up" on his phone screen still showed as unread.

However, there is some good news—at least Mochizuki isn't really ignoring the news.

The door to the department behind him opened, and a quiet footstep approached, a soft, warm touch pressed against his back.

"What is Jun-kun doing?"

"Hmm...human observation?"

Tomatsu Yuka smiled, gently hugged the boy in front of her, rested her head on his shoulder, and looked down at the third-year students leaving school.

"Are they testing Mochizuki Haruka again?"

Jun Matsue nodded. "Still no reaction."

He wouldn't bring up his pursuit of other girls in front of Tomatsu, but if she asked, he wouldn't hide anything in his answer.

This is a way of getting along that the two have built on tacit understanding, and so far, the situation is relatively stable.

"After all, she's so narrow-minded~" Tomatsu Yuka said sarcastically, rubbing her body against the boy.

"Not everyone can be as tolerant of Tsunkun as I am~"

Jun Matsueda turned around and nuzzled her cheek affectionately. "Is the brass band practice over?"

"No." The girl glanced back at the clubroom, where the solemn trumpet leading the lesson's melody rang out again.

"Previously, it would have ended at this point."

"But the performance is tomorrow, and the national competition is on the 19th—there aren't many days left to practice, so they want to practice until the school closes at six today."

"You're working very hard," the boy praised.

"I hope their efforts will pay off." Tomatsu Yuka smiled and took his hand.

"So let's go first~"

Accompanied by lively music, the young couple, hand in hand, walked through the dimly lit corridor. Inside, the people holding golden instruments all turned their gazes away, watching the two, their profiles also bathed in golden light, pass by the classroom window and disappear into the distance, their hearts filled with tender affection.

A few minutes later, Jun Matsue pushed his bicycle out of the school gate, accompanied by a girl carrying a bag in both hands and walking lightly.

He stopped at the crossroads in front of the school gate, turned his head to face the long slope.

Tomatsu Yuka looked at him as if they were telepathically connected. She raised her right hand and waved it, tucking half of her palm cutely into her coat sleeve.

"Then...see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." The boy nodded. "Remember to text me when you get home."

"Okay~" The girl's smile was sweet and charming as she turned and walked towards the station.

Matsueda Jun did not immediately get on his bicycle, but instead watched the graceful figure walk away in the sunset.

However, Tomatsu Yuka stopped after walking only a few steps. She turned around, cupped her hands to her mouth, and called out.

"The brass band performance is tomorrow at 2 PM, remember to remind Yamami-senpai not to be late~"

"..." The boy waved his hand, indicating that he would remind him.

The girl smiled playfully, turned around and continued forward. Only when her figure was obscured by the buildings in the distance did Jun Matsue get on his bicycle and ride into the other side of the intersection.

Dinner for 507 today was prepared by Yosuke Kurusu, and Idol-sama bought several plump and delicious crabs.

The eight-legged crustacean struggled symbolically for a few moments, before being transformed into crispy, golden-brown fried crab legs and fragrant crab risotto by the girl, who licked her lips and made a swift, decisive cut.

After enjoying the delicious autumn treats with the girl, Jun Matsue went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. He first tidied up the kitchen waste and tied up the plastic bag that had been used to process the crabs, which had a strong fishy smell.

As the tap was turned on, Yosuke Kurusu strolled leisurely into the living room. The girl rubbed her stomach through her T-shirt, looking satisfied and content.

"You've eaten too much, Songzhi!" She walked over to the boy and put an arm around his shoulder. "Let's go for a walk after you finish washing the dishes!"

“No problem.” Jun Matsue shrugged, and the girl’s small hand fell to the ground.

"Why does it seem like Kurusu has a lot of free time today?" He continued washing the dishes, glancing at the person next to him. "You even have time to make such a complicated crab dish."

"I guess so~" Miss Idol put the washed dishes into the cupboard for him.

"Today, 'Chirp, Diversity' entered the top ten of the Oricon weekly chart, and it also made it into the top twenty on TikTok—a lot of girls are remaking my MV!"

The boy looked up and calculated the time. "It's only been less than two weeks, right?"

"Isn't that amazing!" Yosuke Kurusu nodded.

"Given such commendable results, the team at the agency took a half-day off. Sister Ju and the others are probably having a big meal right now."

Jun Matsueda brushed away the foam from the last plate. "Shouldn't she have brought you two bottles of wine, as is her custom?"

"How did Songzhi know?" The girl blinked in surprise. "She's still thinking about what kind of wine to send this time. She should receive it in a couple of days!"

"..." The boy still remembered the time he almost got drunk on sake.

"Get ready to go out." He took off his apron and wisely changed the subject. "Remember to change your clothes; it's quite chilly now that the sun has set."

"Okay~" Yosei Kurusu skipped out of the kitchen and into his bedroom.

The two walked out of the apartment at 7:15 p.m. The daytime sunlight had long since faded, the clouds were clear, and the sky was a serene deep purple, gently washing over the faces of passersby.

The boy and girl went out, turned left, and disappeared into the alley with their backs to the empty intersection. Soon, only the two of them remained on the narrow road.

"Kurasu." Jun Matsue called out to the cheerful girl who was bending over to observe a small patch of farmland by the roadside.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Kurusu Yosei turned around, his bright eyes sparkling in the dim light of the path.

"I should be able to give you the song in a couple of days."

"So fast?!" The idol girl's eyes widened, and she jumped back to his side. "Didn't you just finish your exams?"

"You're not thinking of cutting corners and just making do with whatever you can, are you?"

"How could that be?" The boy released her hand. "I was thinking about the new song during the exams too."

"And once you have an inspiration, the progress will definitely be faster than before. I can only write vocal melodies and lyrics, and I can only provide some reference for the instrumentation. It still needs to be handed over to your production department to improve it."

"Whoa~" The girl swung her arms beside him and strode forward with her long legs. "So, you're really almost done writing it?"

"uh-huh."

"I'm suddenly feeling a little nervous..." Yosuke Kurusu said, pressing his hand to his chest under his baseball jacket and winking at the boy.

"I feel a mix of excitement and anticipation—is this what it feels like to wait for your child to be born?"

“…What are you saying?” Jun Matsue rolled his eyes at her.

"A song tailor-made for me..." The girl smiled and moved her small hand to her belly, "Isn't this my child?"

"I'm so excited! Pine, please don't let me down!"

The two passed under a street lamp, and Jun Matsueda looked at her flawless profile illuminated by the lamplight.

"Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with what I've written so far—at least I've managed to express my own feelings, as requested before I came here."

"Really?" The girl tilted her head up and leaned closer. "So, Songzhi can understand my feelings and my thoughts about love?"

"I've always understood you." The boy stopped and looked at her. "But about your relationship..."

He pinched his fingertips together. "You should know a little bit about it, right?"

“I know this!” Kurusu Yosei made the same gesture. “Fingertip Universe, right? Looks like you’re pretty confident~”

She smiled, revealing neat and white teeth, like a carefree child, radiant in the night breeze.

The two walked to the end of the path, passed a small stone shrine, and Jun Matsueda watched the girl beside him walk quickly forward and turn left perpendicularly at the next intersection.

"Why did you turn left?" the boy called out to her. "Are you planning to go back already?"

"Mmm!" Miss Idol smiled and turned around, nodding vigorously at him.

"I need to go back and practice my voice!"

"The song about pine branches will be finished soon, and I need to do more preparation!"

“…Then let’s go back.” Jun Matsueda smiled and said.

"Looks like I need to hurry up and start writing songs too."

Their after-dinner walk ended hastily. After returning home, Lai Qiyang went into the bathroom to take a shower, while the boy went back to his room and opened his notebook.

The binding of the white paper book was a little loose, perhaps because he had been flipping through it too many times recently.

Before putting on his headphones, picking up his pen, and immersing himself in the world of melody, Jun Matsueda's phone vibrated.

A parrot avatar lit up on the screen. He opened the message and saw that Yamami Maki had sent him a picture.

It was a photo of her and Kuroha Shin sitting in the living room of their rented apartment—the low square table was now covered with a thin blanket, officially transformed into a kotatsu (heated table).

The senior smiled at the camera taking a selfie, while Kuroba Shin, holding a Nintendo Switch, sat opposite her with a slightly impatient expression on her childlike face.

"Kokoro came to visit tonight, and we used the kotatsu together~"

The boy replied, "Isn't it a bit too early to use a kotatsu in this weather?"

The girl sent a chick nodding emoji.

"The kotatsu isn't turned on yet, but it's very comfortable like this. We don't really want to move now~"

Kotatsu... Jun Matsueda put down his phone and started thinking.

Or should I buy one for myself?
He quickly shook his head.

Just getting Tomatsu and Mochizuki to sit down would cause them to fight fiercely under the table.

Jun Matsueda picked up his phone again. "The brass band's performance is tomorrow. Is your schedule okay, senpai?"

This time, the girl didn't reply as quickly; she sent a voice message.

"Yes! I will definitely come!"

"..." The boy put his phone in his pocket, trying to calm the inexplicable tension that had arisen in his heart.

He adjusted his headphones to a comfortable position and started playing the melody he had recorded earlier—his creative process was quickly interrupted again.

I wonder if Yosuke Kurusu, who had just finished showering, pushed open the bedroom door, his cheeks still damp with steam.

“Songzhi, I forgot to ask you earlier—” she said enthusiastically.

"You said the song is almost finished, so you must have a name by now, right?"

"What's the name of this song?"

After pondering for a while over the small blank space at the top of the lyrics, Jun Matsueda turned to look at the girl by the door.

"Happy End".

(End of this chapter)