Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 756 The Distance Between Winning and Losing

On the second day of the cultural festival, Jun Matsue arrived at school a little later than the day before.

With experience, there's no need to set aside so much time—this morning, Ken Sakamuro was in charge of carrying the milk, while Jun Matsueda sat at a table in the corner of the classroom, enjoying the breakfast brought by Yuka Matsushika.

"How are you feeling, Jun-kun?" The girl pushed a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of him.

"It tastes pretty good." Holding the tuna cheese rice ball with a bite missing, the boy nodded contentedly.

"Sure enough, hot rice tastes better than cold bread."

Tomatsu Yuka smiled contentedly, "The tuna Mom bought yesterday was pretty good, but we can't finish it all for one dinner, so we can use it to make rice balls."

She pushed the steaming hot coffee forward again.

"Logically, it would be more suitable to pair it with miso soup, but I still need to check the quality of today's coffee machine, so Tsunkun, why don't you try the coffee instead?"

Jun Matsue picked up his coffee and glanced at the perfectly shaped, full heart-shaped milk foam on top.

"What a beautiful heart shape! Have you learned how to make latte art?"

"I only know how to make heart-shaped latte art." The girl's smile became even sweeter. "When I wasn't busy yesterday, I secretly learned some latte art techniques from them."

The boy smiled slightly as he pressed his lips to the rim of the cup. "Tomatsu is good at everything he learns."

Mochizuki Haruka entered Class 6, Grade 3 at 9:30 in the morning—the dry, cold air in the classroom had dissipated, replaced by the warm aroma of coffee, guests sitting at square tables, and an elegant girl playing the saxophone by the back wall.

She quickly found Jun Matsueda sitting in an empty seat in the back corner and sat down next to him.

"Why are you late today?" The boy put down his phone and looked over.

"I overslept," the girl said matter-of-factly, putting down her bag.

"Luckily it's just a cultural festival." Matsueda Jun smiled. "Has Mochizuki had breakfast yet?"

Mochizuki tilted her head back, covered her mouth with one hand, yawned slightly, and then shook her head.

"The classrooms selling fried noodles and takoyaki on the first floor should all be open now. The food is pretty good. Mochizuki can go and buy some to try."

"Oh." The girl remained seated, staring at him without moving.

"..." Jun Matsue blinked and glanced at the girl playing the saxophone not far away.

"Shall I go with you?"

Mochizuki Haruka nodded in satisfaction, stood up first, and walked towards the back door of the classroom.

The boy left his seat and greeted Tomatsu Yuka, who was providing the accompaniment—the girl holding the saxophone had been watching them out of the corner of her eye the whole time.

As Jun walked out of the classroom under Tomatsu's gentle gaze, he looked at the petite figure with flowing black hair in front of him.

...One arrived early and the other arrived late. Could this be considered a kind of tacit understanding between them?
Avoiding the noisy crowd, Jun Matsue and the late young lady took a long detour down the stairs and entered the corridor filled with the aroma of food. At that moment, Jun Matsue felt his cuff being tugged.

He turned his head, and the girl beside him was gazing nonchalantly down the corridor ahead. Her thick, dark eyelashes glistened with a lazy, watery sheen—tears left from a yawn.

"I can't finish one serving of takoyaki, so Matsue will have some later too."

"No problem." The boy nodded.

"Also, your aunt is coming over this afternoon, so be prepared."

Matsueda Jun's expression was no longer so relaxed. He paused, leaving Mochizuki behind.

"...Does Mochizuki have anything else to remind me of?"

"What should I remind you of?" Mochizuki Haruka walked to the classroom of Class 2, Grade 1—behind the window was the takoyaki stall.

"One small portion of takoyaki," the boy said for her. "More bonito flakes, less seaweed flakes and salad dressing."

"Okay!" replied the first-year student wearing a headscarf and hat from behind the window in a hearty tone.

Mochizuki Haruka raised her chin and nodded, restraining herself from uttering a smile.

Songzhi remembered her taste very well.

Stepping back from the crowd to wait for the takoyaki to be ready, Jun Matsueda brought up the previous topic.

"So, Auntie came here this time to interrogate me?"

"Probably," the girl replied lazily, leaning against the wall.

“I told my aunt about what happened yesterday, and she talked to me for a long time last night, which kept me from sleeping well.”

"..." The boy blinked, no longer caring about the whip.

"Is she only looking for me, or is she also planning to contact Tomatsu?"

"I'm only looking for you." Mochizuki Haruka glanced at him.

Relieved, Jun Matsue walked toward the window where the crowd was gathered and soon returned with a box of takoyaki.

"Wangyue, you should eat first."

The girl took the box, used a wooden skewer to pick up a takoyaki, and blew on it a few times.

"It's so hot," she mumbled, taking a small bite.

"Let's go."

"Eat slowly." The boy followed him toward the staircase in the distance. "Thanks for this time, Mochizuki."

Mochizuki Haruka chewed on a takoyaki and turned her head to the side—the corridor lined with windows was chilly, but her face showed a warm red glow.

"no need thank me?"

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "What about everything right now?"

Since Tomatsu said he didn't need to apologize to them, he could only say thank you.

The girl turned her eyes away willfully and stepped onto the stairs.

"Remember this afternoon, don't make your aunt angry."

Back in Class 3-6, Mochizuki Haruka handed the remaining two takoyaki to the boys and went out with the gyaru maid.

When the empty cardboard box cooled down, the melodious music that had been playing in the room also stopped. Jun Matsue, who was sitting in the corner, looked up and saw the girl who had put down her saxophone sit down next to him.

"I feel a little tired~" Tomatsu Yuka breathed a sigh of relief and naturally picked up the hot water that the boy had placed beside her.

Jun Matsue glanced at the customers around him chatting and drinking coffee. "Shall we find a quiet place to rest?"

She shook her head. "Just a sip of water is fine."

The girl tilted her head back and held the water glass in her mouth. Her fair neck rose and fell with the swallowing motion, and the curves were particularly beautiful under the light.

Setting down the paper cup, Tomatsu Yuka smiled again, "And Yamami-senpai should be arriving soon too."

"Is she on her way?" The girl leaned closer. "The brass band performance is at 10:15."

The boy blinked and picked up the phone that had just vibrated on the table.

"My senior said she's already at school."

Tomatsu Yuka tightened her grip on the paper cup slightly, placed it back on the table, and looked out the window at the school gate.

"Then...shall we go pick her up together?"

“Sure.” Jun Matsueda stood up. “I’ll send a message to my senior first.”

As the teenagers walked out of the school building, many parents who had come to visit cast their gazes at them.

The two walked side by side under the fading shade of the trees, their gleaming leather shoes making a soft, muffled sound as they stepped on the sparse fallen leaves.

"Does Jun still not have any feelings for his senior?" Tomatsu Yuka suddenly asked. Matsueda Jun, staring blankly at the school gate, paused. "What feelings?"

The girl's smile was both playful and mischievous.

"Of course, it's the feeling of wanting to get back together."

"..." The boy glanced at her helplessly, "I helped her not because I wanted to get back together with her or anything."

“I know that.” Tomatsu Yuka looked at the figure that appeared at the school gate.

"But my senior is also a very charming person—although Tsunkun didn't have that thought, maybe he'll gradually be attracted to her after getting to know her?"

Jun Matsue smiled and said, "Unfortunately, I still have no intention of getting back together with him."

Tomatsu was less asking him a question and more reminding him that, after temporarily reaching a tacit understanding with Mochizuki to "share the world equally," the girl had raised her hidden wariness again.

The girl, now at ease, smiled even more sweetly. As they talked, they walked to the school gate, where the senior's figure came into view.

Neither a school uniform nor an adult's work attire, Yamami Maki is wearing a matcha-colored wool vest today, tucked into the waist of her wool skirt along with a puff-sleeved shirt underneath, giving her a warm and refreshing look.

"Matsueda-kun~" The girl quickly raised her hand and waved when she saw the boy approaching.

She quickened her pace, her coffee-colored wool pleated skirt swaying, revealing the pinkish hue of her knees.

As she walked up to Jun Matsueda, Maki Yamami smiled at the girl beside her.

"Good morning, Yuka."

"Welcome back to Haneoka, senior~" Tomatsu Yuka raised her hands and waved them like a cheerleader's pom-pom.

"Hello, senior." Jun Matsueda smiled back. "Haneoka High School's cultural festival this year was quite interesting."

He didn't focus on the girl's appearance, but rather on her face—

Her eyes were warm and bright, her skin was delicate and fair, and there was no sign of thinning in her cheeks.

The senior student looks good; it seems she's taking good care of herself.

"I'm kind of looking forward to it." Yami Maki smiled gently, then quickly remembered something and turned to look at the door.

"Kokoro-chan—hurry up—"

Kuroha Shin walked slowly from the school gate. She was wearing a thick, oversized hoodie that covered her shorts, leaving only a pair of warm gray stockings showing.

"I'm coming……"

The girl muttered to herself while looking down at the Switch in her hands. She had pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt, and the shadows that fell down covered her eyebrows and eyes—she looked like a teenager addicted to the internet being dragged out by her mother.

"Still playing games!" Yami Maki glared at her as she approached, both exasperated and annoyed. "Didn't you say you wanted to come with me?"

"The game just now isn't over yet..." Kuroba Shin put the game console into the waist bag slung across her body and then looked up.

"Isn't this a pine branch?" She raised her hand to greet them, her small hand half-hidden in her sleeve.

"It's been such a long time."

The girl turned around again. "You're Tomatsu Tomohana, right? Maki told me about you, and I think I've seen you before."

Her attitude was somewhat casual; Tomatsu Tomohana smiled and nodded without saying a word.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Jun Matsue interjected with a smile, “and her grades are better than mine.”

Kuroba Shin's nonchalant expression quickly vanished, and she opened her eyes wide to examine her closely.

"...You're even better than pine branches?"

She didn't pay attention to the first half of the boy's sentence. Yamami Maki grabbed the girl's hoodie and waved the cultural festival brochure in her hand.

"Um, the brass band's performance is almost time, shouldn't we head over now?"

“That’s about right.” Jun Matsue naturally picked up where she left off. “We can just go straight to the auditorium; we’ll definitely make it in time.”

"I'm not going!" Kuroba Shin immediately jumped to the side.

"I'm already tired of listening to wind instruments! I just came to see what the school I was supposed to attend is like!"

Yamami Maki blinked. "Then I'll come find you later?"

The girl glanced at Jun Matsue beside her, "Just don't forget to come find me later."

She grabbed her handbag, turned and walked towards the teaching building, quickly disappearing into the shade of the trees.

"Let's go then." Tomatsu Yuka smiled at the two people beside her. "You look beautiful as always, senpai."

Yamami Maki habitually walked to the other side of the boy and followed in his footsteps.

"I really like it myself, and this wool skirt only costs two thousand yen!"

The girl paused, "This seems to be the first time I've heard such a low price from a senior student."

Jun Matsue, who was walking in the middle, smiled and said, "After all, you're an independent adult now."

"Master..." Yami Maki looked slightly troubled.

"Just a college student learning to be frugal."

Walking along the avenue to the auditorium, the three of them tacitly and restrainedly kept the conversation focused on the big and small things in each other's school life.

Yamami Maki didn't look at Yuka holding the boy's hand, and Tomatsu Yuka didn't ask about her senior's elegant yet expensive makeup—the girls, each with their own thoughts, were unwilling to break this slightly distant harmony.

It wasn't until Jun Matsue started talking about the brass band that things changed.

"The brass band's performance yesterday seemed to be very well received; I could hear a lot of people talking about it along the way."

“After all, this is this year’s national gold medal.” Yamami Maki smiled.

"I watched the live broadcast of the national competition, and Yu Qiu Gao performed really well on the spot."

She was quite happy when the brass band was mentioned—not only because of the competition results, but also because she had watched the competition that afternoon in a coffee shop with Tsunku and Aya.

"This year's brass band is a team that's good enough for major competitions," Tomatsu said, looking at the entrance to the auditorium. "They performed even better live than during practice."

"I have to admit, what you said earlier was correct." She looked at the girl on the other side.

"You won."

Yamami Maki's expression paused for a moment.

She turned her head to look at the boy in the middle who was holding Yuka's arm—the distance between herself and Tsunku was, of course, much greater than that.

"What does it matter who wins or loses?" The girl smiled softly and gently.

"Didn't Yuuka also put in a lot of effort to guide them? I saw Yuna-chan post a message thanking you."

"The best result is as long as everyone wins in the end."

Jun Matsue leaned forward, blocking their gazes from meeting.

"Watch out for the steps, don't trip."

"Good~"

The girls responded in unison, bowed their heads, and stepped onto the steps in front of the auditorium.

Maki Yami glanced sideways at the boy walking arm in arm with Tomatsu Yuka, and sighed silently in her heart.

I still have a long way to go before I can become a true winner...

(End of this chapter)