Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 86 Mountains, Coast, Plains
By the end of Saturday morning classes, the school bus was parked on the side of the road at Hanaoka High School.

The school gates stood behind the members of the wind band. The girls each pulled out their instruments and smiled at Natsumi Imokawa's camera. The students leaving the school were drawn to the gold in their hands.

Standing at the front were the smiling principal and advisor Hirouchi Aya. Matsueda Jun had never seen Hirouchi look so serious.

After the photo shoot, the three members of the News Department watched as the principal addressed the girls. The key message was to work hard and strive for a national gold medal, and everyone nodded in agreement.

The atmosphere became lively only after the girls watched the principal walk through the gate and into the school building. Hirouchi Aya had already boarded the bus and let them make some noise.

"Xia Shi Xia Shi, come and take another photo for us!" The most lively tuba leader waved to Yuchuan Xia Shi who was standing next to him.

The girls stood in their positions for the stage, maintaining a dignified expression, took a traditional makeup photo first, and then let themselves go.

"Take another lively one!" The wind band raised their instruments, and the girls in the back row stood on tiptoe, their sailor uniforms lifted up to their chests, revealing their bellies, which were either flat or plump.

As the department head, Maki Yami also smiled at the camera while holding up her clarinet, just like the pose she had previously displayed on stage, exuding a commanding presence.

"Xia Shi, please take a picture of me beating Duodai!" Duodai is the principal tuba, and the person speaking is the principal trombone. She has wanted to play Duodai with the trombone for a long time.

The trombones and tubas chased each other around in a circle.

Someone even threw a flute into the air and asked Natsumi Imokawa to take a picture of it.

"You are not allowed to play musical instruments. What if you drop them?" Yamami Maki walked to the club member and smiled kindly. Imokawa Natsumi did not take a picture of the flute, but instead caught the club leader scolding someone.

"Stop playing around!" Hirouchi Aya shouted from the car doorstep, "It takes several hours to get from Tokyo to Nagoya. There are pictures for you to take there!"

The girls then boarded the bus one after another. As usual, Tomatsu Tomoka and Yamami Matsukio sat at the front.

After getting on the bus, the girls saw the trio from the news club, and the atmosphere became awkward again. Imokawa Natsumi sat with her classmate, Senshita Yumi, while Matsueda Jun sat alone in the back seat.

When the girls see Jun Matsueda, they will think of Tomatsu Touka who cried silently on the bus on the day of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, and think of her now terrible saxophone.

The two people at the center of the incident were sitting far away. They had not communicated with each other since they started taking pictures, and they did not look like classmates at all.

After everyone was seated and Tomatsu Tomoka and Matsueda Jun were no longer visible, the atmosphere began to return to normal. After confirming that everyone was present, the bus departed for Nagoya.

It is 326 kilometers from Tokyo to Nagoya, and it only takes two hours by Shinkansen, but this time there is no Haruka Mochizuki to cover the expenses for the girls, so the brass band can only take the school bus.

The girls expected to spend four to five hours in the car. Some of them had already taken out cards and snacks and started playing games, while more were chatting with their companions or playing with their mobile phones.

When the bus crossed the bridge over the Tama River, Mitaka City was already behind them. Matsueda Jun and Tomatsu Yuka were sitting far away, but both were looking at a section of the Tama River bank in the distance.

That is the area of ​​Chofu City, and it was also the place where the four cities jointly held a summer festival two months ago.

The moment when the fireworks were at their brightest and the shooting stars brushed past the two of them was like a song that was playing on repeat in Tomatsu Tomoka's mind.

The girl remembered the lyrics he hummed softly, "I came to see you regardless of everything, I will be extinguished and never come back."

As much as she liked the lyrics back then, she hates them now.

Because it sings about a one-way ticket that never returns.

Jun Matsueda thought more than the girl. The first thing he remembered was their first meeting by the river that day, a strange girl in a bright yukata who he mistakenly thought might commit suicide.

Then there was the girl in the white and purple yukata, sitting with him on the dim roadside, and as she stood up, she extended her hand to him. It was an invitation to the fireworks festival, and also proof of her timidity before taking the final step.

The last thing he remembered was not the moment when Hanabi was at her most beautiful and the girl was at her most innocent, but the moment before that when she revealed her masterpiece with a wicked smile - the yukata he was wearing.

He didn't tell her at that moment, but he certainly knew that his heart was warm, like fireworks on the river, blooming in the unknown darkness.

But the bus was driving farther and farther away, and that small stretch of riverbank was out of their sight.

Yamami Maki secretly observed the girl sitting beside her out of the corner of her eye. Just moments ago, the girl's face had brightened, even her eyes were warm, but in the blink of an eye, they had dimmed again, returning to their usual state. She didn't know what had happened.

"Don't worry about me, Senior." The girl suddenly said, "I feel like my performance is better than ever. We will definitely win the national gold medal."

Hearing her say this, Yamamiya Maki's worries became even stronger. Just because something is not talked about doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

As the bus passed Gotemba City, the still energetic tuba principal exclaimed out the window, "I can see Mount Fuji again!"

On the left side of the road is the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji, and on the right side is Mount Myojin and a series of mountains. Passing through them, you can see the blocked Lake Ashi.

"This is a good sign!" Duodai, the principal tuba player, said confidently. The girl next to her asked, "Why?"

"Didn't I tell you at the beginning that if we won the national gold medal, we would go to Mount Fuji? Now that we've seen it in advance, it means we can definitely win the national gold medal!"

The driver laughed, and Duodai became a little angry and asked, "Uncle, what are you laughing at?"

So everyone laughed.

The bus drove along the highway and stopped at a service area in Shizuoka. The driver got off the bus to rest for a while, and those who were still awake also chose to get off the bus to breathe some fresh air.

Of course, the two people who had something on their minds did not fall asleep. They got off the car one after another, and Yamami Maki also got off after Tomatsu Tomoka.

The service area is built right on the suspended highway, and on the right you can see the valley spreading towards the plain.

People with worries naturally walk to the edge of the service area platform, where the view is wider and it is conducive to feeling relaxed.

"Ah, it seems like I can see the sea." Jun Matsueda heard Yamami Maki say from a distance away from him.

If you look hard enough, across the urban cluster on the small plain at the foot of the mountain, you can indeed see light fluctuating in the distance, like fish scales.

Shizuoka is located on the seaside, but it’s a pity that the driver did not choose to take the coastal highway, otherwise the girls in the car would definitely be too excited to sleep.

"We can indeed see it." The boy and girl standing on both sides of Yamamiya Moki said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise, and quickly shut their mouths.

Yamami Moki suddenly laughed, her laughter was small and happy.

Listening to the minister's laughter and looking at the silver-scale lines in the distance, the two of them relaxed for a moment.

At 5:36 in the evening, the sleepy girls finally arrived in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, where they would compete with 28 other schools tomorrow.

The bus stopped next to the hotel. It was sunset and the passengers got off and stood on the sidewalk next to the ramp.

The low houses turned into gray-white blocks, extending along the slope towards the sparse clouds on the horizon. Under the light blue sky, the sunlight painted the sides of the buildings a bright yellow natural paint color.

Tomatsu Tomoka followed Yamami Matsukori off the bus. The girl didn't notice that behind her was Matsueda Jun standing at the front of the bus, and Imokawa Natsumi was standing next to him holding a camera.

Yamamiya Maki stood in front of the boy and girl, looking at the quiet sunlight that enveloped the entire city, and recited softly.

"For many years, I have always loved the sunset"

"Like a girl sitting on her lover's horse"

"I just like it so madly"

Such sunlight gently falls on the shoulders of the two.

　To prevent any misunderstandings: This chapter absolutely does not mean the two have reconciled.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)