Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 216 News in Early March
The last piece of good news in February was that Aya Miyamura passed the "special admission" exam at Haneoka High School.

"Ai-chan, you're almost certain now, right?" Tomatsu Tomoka handed the book in her hand to the boy at the counter.

"Yeah, she was very proud when she got back and asked me to treat her to a meal."

Jun Matsueda took the book from the girl's hand, turned it around between his fingers, and then handed it to the surprised little girl in front of the counter.

"Remember to return it within two weeks."

The girl sitting by the window looked at her juniors. It seemed that Matsueda was in a good mood today.

"Matsueda-san seems to be in a good mood today." Tomatsu Tomoka expressed Yamami Maki's thoughts.

"It's okay." Matsueda Jun took a sip of the hot tea provided by the library. "Winter is almost over, so it's inevitable that I feel more lively."

February passed quickly, and before we knew it, news of the early cherry blossoms had begun to spread all over Tokyo.

This afternoon was unexpectedly quiet. After sending away a few little girls who came to borrow books, the only one left in the empty hall was the girl by the window.

Yamami Maki came to see Tomatsu Tomoka. The girl planned to wait for her junior to get off work, and then the two of them would go together to pick out some clothes for the changing season.

Tomatsu Tomoka looked around and made sure that there was no one around. Then she quietly left the counter and walked to the seat next to Yamami Miki.

The girl walked gracefully, her eyes looking straight ahead without wavering, her expression calm and serene without panic, giving people the illusion that she was not slacking off at work, but attending a tea party for a young lady.

After sitting down next to the senior, the girl turned around and waved to Jun Matsueda. Her short black hair swayed with her movements, reminiscent of willow branches brushing against the lake.

Jun Matsueda ignored her at first, but the girl did not stop, so Yamami Maki, who was writing leisurely, put down her pen, looked over, and joined the waving group.

So he had no choice but to pick up a book from the pile in front of him and sit at the table in front of the two of them, which was also in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Matsueda-san, won't you come sit here?" The girl patted the seat next to her, and he shook his head to refuse.

“The light is better here.”

Yamami Maki covered her mouth and laughed behind Tomatsu Tomoka.

The girls started chatting, while Jun Matsueda sat alone opposite them, spreading out "Salome" in his hand.

"Hasn't Senior finished writing your speech yet?"

"I thought I had a lot to say, but when the time comes, I don't know what to say." Yamami Mochi smiled distressedly in his peripheral vision.

Jun Matsueda read the introduction on the first page of the book. Salome was the daughter of the King of Judea. She fell hopelessly in love with Jochanan the Baptist, but he did not love her.

So Salome's love turned into hatred. She danced for the king in exchange for Jokanaan's head, and finally kissed her beloved - although he was already dead.

"A bloody love story."

Hearing his voice, the two girls across from him glanced over. Noticing the sound of the reading figure had faded, Matsueda Jun raised his head and asked, "Did I interrupt your conversation?"

"Matsueda-san has given a speech before, right?" Yamami Maki asked curiously, "How did you write your speech?"

"What kind of occasion will you give your speech?"

Tomatsu Tomoka watched the two people talking to each other with a smile on her face. She seemed to like this harmonious atmosphere very much.

"Although I have given speeches before, this is my first time speaking at a graduation ceremony as a representative of the students."

Someone walked into the library. The girl who was listening glanced at the two people who were still talking and returned to the counter.

"There will be reporters filming the graduation speech, right?"

Jun Matsueda conveyed the message "Senior is so awesome" with his eyes, and Yamami Maki responded with a roll of her eyes. When Tomatsu Tomoka was not around, the looks of the two became a little more presumptuous.

When the girl at the counter returned to the square table by the window, she heard the boy's serious advice.

"If it's a graduation speech, I don't think it needs to be written in a formal way. You can add some emotion and personal feelings so that everyone can relate to you."

"That makes sense~" Yamamiya Moki nodded.

"I can answer those questions too," Tomatsu Yuka, who also had experience giving speeches, smiled and sat down in her original spot. The conversation then shifted from graduation ceremonies to choosing seasonal clothing, a topic Matsueda Jun, of course, wouldn't join in on; he continued reading his book, *Bloody Love Story*.

Salome finally got her lover's head.

"I kissed your lips, and they tasted a little bitter. Is that the taste of blood?"

As he read the confession in the book, the wound on his lip, which had almost healed, began to hurt again.

"But perhaps this is the taste of love. People always say that love has a bitter taste."

"But so what? I kissed you on the lips."

Hey, hey, Jun Matsueda closed the thin book with less than 30,000 words. This is just a book he picked at random, right?
He returned to the counter to get his own cup of water, trying to wash away the nonexistent taste of blood in his mouth with the faint bitterness of tea.

Putting the red "Salome" back on the pile of books, he recalled his impression that this should be the last book returned by the little girl.

Are today's young girls already watching this kind of stuff? Jun Matsueda is a little worried about the future outlook on love among Japanese women.

After get off work, Tomatsu Tomoka did not ride her bike. She was going to take the subway to Shimokitazawa to go shopping with Yamami Miki. The girls stood on the street and watched Matsueda Jun get on his bike.

"Be careful on the road~"

"Be careful on the road~" Yamami Mochi looked at the cold hat on the boy's head. He looked very handsome in it now.

Jun Matsueda waved to the two of them with his back to them, turned at the intersection, and disappeared from the girls' sight.

At the second traffic light, Jun Matsueda would usually go straight, but today he chose to turn left - the Setagaya Literary Museum was very close to Showa University Toriyama Hospital, and he decided to go and take a look.

He stopped at the hospital entrance, pushed his bicycle into the gate, and let out a long sigh. The temperature in early March was so low that the shape of water vapor had disappeared completely.

The last time I came here was more than a month ago.

When he walked out of the elevator, the maid in the corridor seemed to be a different person. Before Jun Matsueda approached, she had already started to bend down and bow.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Matsueda, but the lady won't allow you to enter the ward."

Jun Matsueda frowned and waited for the maid's next words. She took out a yellow envelope from her pocket and handed it to him.

"This is a letter from the young lady."

Standing at the bottom of the hospital building, he opened the envelope in his hand. There was a Hokkaido postmark on the turmeric-yellow shell, and it had been torn open.

He took out the postcard from inside. One side had been blackened and crossed out with a big cross. He turned to the other side.

"Damn pine branches:"

"You finally couldn't help yourself and came to the hospital, right? No matter what the reason is, I won't let you see your aunt. Being close to her is the same as being close to me. Just wait silently in agony, thinking of me!"

The girl appeared before him with a slightly smug and arrogant expression.

"Let me guess, when did you come? It's absolutely impossible that you came on the same day I left."

"Within a week? If that's the case, it seems you have a lot of love for me hidden."

"Half a month? Although this is a long time, it means that you still have traces of me in your heart."

"If it's a month, then go to hell! I will never come back!"

Jun Matsueda smiled, put the postcard back into the envelope, stuffed it into his bag, and it was time to go home.

Thick smoke billowed from the crater in the distance. A young woman on the lawn, wearing goggles and fully armed, was about to board a helicopter when her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was a message from the maid at the hospital.

After reading the message, Mochizuki Haruka put on her glasses again. The girl snorted lightly, as if venting her dissatisfaction.

"You're barely qualified."

(End of this chapter)