Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 290 The expectation in her eyes was enough to touch every heartstring.

"Wow, amazing!" Miyamura Aya exclaimed involuntarily as she stood in front of the highly designed building, her back to the vehicles and pedestrians.

"Do all musicians come to places like this?"

The girl turned around. Across the street was a music store. The guitars in the window were so expensive that you could tell just by looking at them. Dozens of meters away, the entrance to the basement was decorated with LED lights for a livehouse. It wasn't open yet, so the lights were still dim.

“This is the practice room and recording studio, which can basically meet most of the recording and rehearsal needs.” Yamami Maki walked to Miyamura Aya’s side. “If you want to change instruments or accessories, you can go to the music store across the street.”

“There are other performance venues and recording studios here. You can go and take a look once you’re familiar with them.” The girl looked at Jun Matsueda, whose hands were empty.

“It’s a bit troublesome to move the drum, so Matsueda-kun can use the one he brought from the practice room.” Yami Maki blinked, her eyes sparkling with a smile that seemed to tremble like a flower bud on a branch.

Although it was said to be brought from the practice room, she had already shown her staff videos of Jun Matsueda's performance and specially arranged a drum set for him. Of course, the other girls who brought their own instruments did not enjoy this treatment.

“I’m starting to get excited,” Jun Matsue said, looking at the graffiti-style sign at the entrance of the building. “Denny’s studio” was the name of the studio.

"So, is Denny's owned by your family?" Izumi Mizuki walked up to Yami Maki and looked her up and down curiously. "I've seen your chain stores several times around Tokyo."

The girl smiled and nodded. "Our main business area is the Kanto region."

Matsueda Jun clicked his tongue inwardly. Although he had long known that Yami-senpai's family background was no worse than Mochizuki Haruka's, he still found it hard to believe when he heard her say that.

He glanced at the girl a few more times. He couldn't find any sense of superiority about her. If Mochizuki Haruka's temperament was like a cold ice flower, then Yamami Maki's temperament was like a warm spring breeze, making people feel no sense of wariness.

It's not the biting winter wind that makes you want to take off your coat, but the gentle warmth of the spring breeze. Even though Matsueda Jun had some reservations about the Yami family's parenting style, he had to admit that they had indeed raised Yami Maki into an exceptionally outstanding young woman.

"How much does it cost per hour?" Xiaoxing only wanted to ask this question. The girl was deeply in love and had many expenses.

“I still owe Matsueda a favor, so there’s no need to calculate the cost,” Yami Maki said without hesitation.

Using the excuse of returning a favor, Songzhi couldn't refuse. Such favorable terms would also ensure that others wouldn't consider other studios. The girl thought her idea was flawless.

It's very convenient; it's only a few subway stops from Maki Yami's house to Meidai-mae Station, where her studio is located. This will give her many more opportunities to interact with Matsueda.
"Does Matsueda-kun think it's okay?" the girl asked the boy next to her.

Yamami Maki's words were somewhat unexpected for Matsueda Jun. Based on his impression of his senior, he thought she would say in a matter-of-fact tone, "How can you repay a favor when you can buy something with money!"

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, senior.” Jun Matsue nodded. Although the girl’s gift was still valuable, it was better than letting her keep owing those two favors.

"Then everyone, let's go in quickly~" The girl laughed, raised her index finger and waved it at him, before beckoning everyone to walk into the studio.

Matsueda Jun inexplicably understood what his senior meant, "There's still a favor to repay!" That's probably what she meant.

The boy shook his head, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked into the building. The glass doors slowly closed, blocking out the noise of the traffic behind him.

"So many pieces of equipment I've never seen before!"

Aya Miyamura wandered around the room, watching the bassist and guitarist plug and unplug various cables and press buttons on the mixing console.

"Will we need to set up so much equipment for the performance?" "Pretty much." Izumi Mizuki casually strummed a chord while holding the plugged-in electric guitar. "Basically, we just need to find the cables and boxes on the ground and connect them. The rest is up to the sound engineer."

"Is the volume okay?" The guitarist looked at Jun Matsueda sitting behind the drum kit. Generally speaking, the volume is determined by the drummer.

“OK.” Jun Matsueda nodded. He looked at the drum kit in front of him and saw that it was indeed much better than the one at school, but there was one problem.

"It seems there are no drumsticks?" He looked at the girl sitting next to the drum set, and Yamami Maki blinked.

"Because I feel like drummers tend to prefer their own drumsticks, right?" The girl turned slightly, her long legs beneath her skirt facing Matsueda Jun. "Matsueda-kun, aren't you planning to use your own drumsticks?"

Yamami Maki has been concerned about this for several days now—Matsueda-san seems to have never used the drumsticks she gave her.

Could it be that he doesn't like the pattern he designed? Or is it uncomfortable to use? Or is it simply because their relationship isn't good enough? There are people who don't like using gifts from others, aren't there?
The girl felt a little melancholy until she saw Jun Matsue take out that long, narrow box that she was very familiar with from her bag.

“I’ll use my own.” He opened the box, took out a black drumstick with green stripes from the storage bag, and tapped it on the snare drum alternately.

"Although the drumsticks in the practice room can also be used, these are definitely the ones that feel the best."

"Really?" The dark clouds hanging over Yamami Maki's heart were swept away. "I'm glad Matsueda-kun likes it~"

"But I've rarely seen you use it before. Is this the first time you've used it?"

The girls in the light music club were still adjusting their equipment. Yamami Maki moved her chair closer to the drum set, seemingly just to get a better look at what the boys were doing.

Matsueda Jun realized that his senior seemed to have misunderstood something. "Because it was a gift from my senior, I should cherish it. I was thinking of only taking it out to use during the official performance."

"I see." Yamami Maki's lips curved into a wider smile.

“You can use the pine branch as you like. If it gets damaged, I’ll just replace it with a new one—the music store across the street is also owned by my family.”

He suddenly had the illusion that he was being kept by a rich woman. "Thank you, senior. I will cherish this opportunity."

"Chun-ge, everything's set up here!" Cai-jiang waved to him. "Let's start practicing."

"Okay." Jun Matsueda adjusted his posture.

With his left foot in front of the hi-hat and his right foot on the bass drum pedal, he raises both hands, crosses the drumsticks in the air, and draws everyone's attention to him—this is the signal that he is ready to play.

Before it officially began, he glanced casually at the girl beside him. Yamami Maki was resting her chin on her hands, staring at him intently with bright eyes full of anticipation.

If the audience were all like the senior students, perhaps everyone would enjoy the feeling of standing on the stage.

One, two, three, four—after the two drumsticks struck rapidly in the air, the interwoven melody began to play.

(End of this chapter)