Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 229 Embarking on the Airport Pickup Journey with the Cat
Listening to the voice coming from the receiver, Jun Matsue faced the setting sun with a somewhat surprised expression.

Are you going back to Tokyo?

"Hmm." Mochizuki Haruka's voice was clear and short. She seemed to be walking while pulling a suitcase. Matsueda Jun heard the sound of wheels and footsteps.

"tonight?"

"Yes!" The girl's tone became a little louder as she nodded vigorously in front of the boarding gate.

"So fast?"

"Mmm—" she uttered a long, sweet nasal sound, like the milk ice cream they had eaten at Chitose Airport before.

"Why are you so surprised?" the girl asked, somewhat displeased. "Don't you want me to come back?"

"I thought you were going to be wandering around the world for quite a while."

Jun Matsue watched the sun set at the edge of the city, turning a warm orange-red that reminded him of the yolk of a soft-boiled egg.

"No matter how much it drifts around, it will eventually go home." Mochizuki gazed at the planes outside the terminal.

"My aunt has adopted a new treatment, and it seems to be making some progress." The girl's words seemed to indicate that her decision to return had nothing to do with some cold-hearted guy.

"So what time will we arrive in Tokyo tonight?" Jun Matsueda chose to ignore her implied meaning, left the balcony, and walked towards the classroom.

"Around nine or ten o'clock, I'm already on my connecting flight."

"It's not early yet." He walked into the classroom and saw that Tomatsu Yuka's schoolbag and instrument bag were not in their seats, so it seemed that she had already gone home.

In the twilight classroom, only Jun Matsueda remained. He turned on speakerphone, placed his phone on Haruka Mochizuki's desk to the left, and began packing his bag.

"What? If you find it troublesome, you don't have to come pick me up."

The girl's sullen voice echoed in the classroom with its doors and windows tightly shut, surrounding the boys who were tidying their desks.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t coming.” Jun Matsue looked up, but didn’t hear a response from the girl.

He left his seat and picked up his phone. The girl had already hung up the voice call and sent him flight information.

"This guy"

Jun Matsueda carried his schoolbag downstairs and sent a message to Yosei Kurusu on the way.

"What time are you coming back tonight?"

"I don't know! He's still out promoting his album and probably won't be back until quite late."

The girl replied quickly, even sending a crying emoji.

"A perfect evening to pick someone up from the airport," Jun Matsue thought to himself as he rode his bike out of the school gate, feeling the evening breeze.

Back at the apartment, it was almost five o'clock. As soon as he pushed open the metal security door, the golden cat ran up to him.

Jinzhi chirped twice playfully, then jumped into Songzhi Jun's arms.

"What's going on?" He quickly reached out and caught it with both hands. The schoolbag he was holding in his right hand fell to the floor of the entryway with a thud.

The cat's head nestled in Jun Matsueda's arms as he carried the cat in one arm and changed his shoes with the other, entering the living room.

"You knew she was coming back?"

As if in response, Jinzhi meowed twice.

"Have a little patience, okay? You'll see your owner tonight."

He let go of the cat and placed it on the sofa. There were a few cat hairs on the corner cushion; the cat's molting season was approaching.

Opening the refrigerator door, there was leftover rice, cabbage, eggs, and half an onion inside.

Fried rice will be fine for dinner.

As he carried the ingredients into the kitchen, the cat jumped off the sofa and followed behind Jun Matsueda, circling around him. After he stood in front of the cutting board to chop vegetables, the cat even lay down on his slippers.

"Why have you become so clingy?" A piece of cabbage fell onto the cat and bounced into the corner of the kitchen. Jinzhi looked up and meowed at him twice more.

Jun Matsue put down the kitchen knife and thought for a while.

"Do you want to come with me to pick someone up at the airport?"

The creature on the slipper gave a satisfied yelp and ran out of the kitchen.

So, at 7:50 p.m., Jun Matsue stood in front of Kugayama Station with a canvas bag slung over his right shoulder, and Kinji's head popped out from inside.

Pets are allowed on the Japanese subway, and Jun Matsueda has seen quite a few cats and dogs on the subway, some even lying in pet strollers.

On the Inokashira Line train, the unfamiliar girl sitting next to Jun Matsueda lingered between his face and the cat's head peeking out of his bag.

"Hey, your cat is so cute~" Even though the boy next to her never looked at her, the girl still bravely struck up a conversation.

“Thank you, but this isn’t my cat,” Jun Matsue replied politely.

"Oh, I see." The girl gave an awkward smile, trying to find a new topic, but the boy had already gotten off the bus.

Getting from Kugayama to Haneda Airport requires two transfers: the Inokashira Line, the Yamanote Line, and finally the Keikyu Main Line. After a little over an hour, Jun Matsue and Kane, the two creatures who had attracted countless glances along the way, finally stood inside Terminal 3 of Haneda Airport.

There were quite a few people in the arrival hall on the second floor. Jun Matsue saw a large group of girls holding up matching signs, which seemed to indicate that some celebrities were coming.

Jun Matsueda had no choice but to find a less crowded corner, take a picture of the "Exit Here" sign, and send it to the cat avatar in his chat list.

"I've already arrived."

The girl replied quickly, "I'll be at the exit in about five minutes. You wait for me there."

He put down his phone, and the cat in the bag meowed excitedly, attracting the attention of the girls holding up signs around him.

"Are you here to pick up Yosobbi too?" the girl next to him asked curiously.

"No." Jun Matsue smiled politely, and the girl blushed.

"Are you here to pick up your girlfriend?" another girl asked, typing rapidly on her phone, seemingly trying to identify which celebrity the man in front of her was.

"Just picking up a friend." He looked towards the exit, and the cat in the bag meowed twice more.

The quiet exit was filled with the sound of passengers' footsteps. The closed passageway opened, and a golden cat, its upper body draped over a bag, peered out.

The girls around him fell silent as Matsueda Jun walked toward the entrance of the passage, and they made way for him.

The girl who walked out of the passage was wearing a baseball cap. Her eyes were obscured by the shadow of the brim of the cap, but her nose, lips and chin alone were enough to spark the imagination.

The golden cat jumped out of the bag, through the crowd, and leaped into its owner's arms.

The girl caught the cat with delight, looked up at the boy who had walked up to her.

After a whole winter of wind and snow, he was still the same as she remembered him, without any change.

"Long time no see," Jun Matsue said first.

The girl took off her hat, revealing eyes as clear as lake water.

"How did it get here?" Mochizuki Haruka shook the cat in her arms.

“Because it missed you.” Jun Matsueda stroked the cat’s head. “A few days ago, you said you were coming back, and it started running all over the house.”

"Really?" The girl's smile blossomed, like the aurora borealis in the night sky of Longyearbyen.

"It wasn't for nothing that I raised you."

She said to the cat in her arms.

The day the girl left was a snowy day; now, as she returns, cherry blossoms fill the city outside her window.

(End of this chapter)