Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 346: The Stealing Cat

The performance lasted forty minutes, and the girls played cheerful and melodious tunes, like a clear summer sky, which was just right for the children in the orphanage.

Today, the band's only scheduled performance was at the orphanage, so the girls didn't rush to leave after it ended. Instead, they decided to play with the children for a while.

Yamami Maki disassembled her clarinet into several parts, carefully wiped them, and put them into the groove of her instrument bag. She closed her bag and looked at the bustling crowd on the lawn.

Jun Matsue was surrounded by Tomoka Tomatsu, Haruka Mochizuki, and the children. The boy's gaze pierced through the gaps in the sunlight as he looked at her with concern and inquiry.

The girl at the edge of the crowd smiled, indicating that she could stay there. She picked up her handbag, stood up, and bent down to brush the grass blades off her skirt.

"The performance was wonderful." A gentle voice sounded beside her. The girl turned around, and the dean waved to her.

"I'm glad the children like it." Yamami Maki bowed to the old man, carrying her handbag in both hands.

The girl felt a little nervous, yet also curious—this was Songzhi's "parent," the person who had watched him grow up.
"Let Xiaochun handle this," the old man said, glancing at the boy in the crowd. "Shall we go over there and chat?"

Yamami Maki nodded obediently and followed her to the backyard.

"Alright, alright, stop hugging me." Jun Matsue looked down at the girl who was hugging his leg and patted her head.

"I already told you I can't play the trumpet anymore, no matter how tight you hug me, it won't help." He said helplessly, squatting down to stand next to the girl and pointing to Tayo-chan on the lawn not far away.

"That lady can play the tuba, why don't you go play with her?"

"But remember not to break the instrument, it's very expensive!"

Jun Matsue watched as the girl reluctantly let go of his leg and ran towards the other side of the lawn. "Finally, I'm free."

"Matsueda is very popular with children," Tomatsu Yuka said with a smile beside him.

"It should be said that it is especially popular with little girls." Mochizuki Haruka pursed her lips, while the girl stood further away, as she didn't like dealing with children.

"I like little girls too, after all, they're cuter." Jun Matsue stretched and sat down on the lawn, watching the girls in school uniforms taking pictures of each other with their phones.

"That sounds dangerous." Mochizuki Haruka complained as she added to her strategy guide—Matsue prefers girls to boys, a fact that she felt wouldn't be useful for a long time.

Tomatsu Yuka didn't say anything, but simply sat down on the grass, pressing down on the hem of her skirt behind her. Matsueda Jun looked at the girl's fair thighs appearing before his eyes.

"There are plenty of bugs on the lawn, you know?"

The girl immediately stood up again, and Mochizuki Haruka, who was standing to the side, chuckled softly.

Tomatsu Yuka patted her skirt and looked at the girl who was mocking her.

"Is Mochizuki planning to stay at the orphanage for the whole summer vacation? Is it because you can't find anyone to play with, so you have to come here and cause trouble for Matsue-san again?"

Mochizuki Haruka smiled sweetly again, "I'll be staying here tonight, so you should make the most of this time to please Matsue."

She didn't intend to argue with the people who were still in the dark, but instead turned and walked towards the courtyard exit—this was the direction Yami Maki and the headmaster had walked earlier.

The girl had just walked past the corner when she bumped into the person she was looking for. Yamami Maki walked towards her with a smile on her lips and in her eyebrows.

"Hello, Mochizuki-san. Are you in the brass band getting ready to go back?" Upon seeing Mochizuki Haruka, the girl's smile faded slightly, taking on a more polite tone.

"You'll see for yourself." Yami Maki nodded and walked towards the courtyard. It wasn't until she stepped into the long corridor under the eaves that she heard footsteps on the wooden floor and realized that someone was following her.

She turned around, and the girl holding the parasol stopped in her tracks. Yamami Maki frowned slightly. "Did you need something from Mochizuki-san?"

"It's alright now." The girl had originally wanted to eavesdrop on what the dean and this guy were whispering to each other.

“…” Yamami Maki glanced at her and sat down on the edge of the wooden planks of the veranda. Mochizuki Haruka also chose to sit down, the distance between the two neither too close nor too far.

No one spoke. The girls looked at the lawn in front of them. The afternoon sun at three o'clock had become much warmer, gently shining on the lawn and leaving blurry, glowing trails of light on the playing boys and girls.

"Aren't you going to look for pine branches?" Mochizuki Haruka spoke first.

Yamami Maki's heart tightened. She had indeed been watching the boy's back on the lawn—Tomatsu Yuka had found a picnic mat in the house and finally sat down next to Matsueda Jun.

The girl wanted to hear "Find Yuka" rather than "Find Pine Branch," and she sensed something was wrong.

“Isn’t Yuka next to Matsueda? It wouldn’t be good if I went to bother her,” Yami Maki said cautiously.

"But don't you like pine branches?" Mochizuki Haruka's words shattered her last shred of innocence.

Yamami Maki turned to look at Mochizuki Haruka. The girl in the black dress had cold eyes that sent a chill down Yamami's spine.

"I"

"You're not going to say you don't like him, are you?" Mochizuki Haruka interrupted the girl. "You don't even have the courage to admit it?"

“Of course I like Matsueda-san!” Yami Maki spoke up before she could say anything else.

The girl seemed startled by her own words. She looked around and thankfully, the two of them were sitting in a secluded corner of the veranda, some distance from the people on the lawn, so no one else could hear them.

Mochizuki Haruka stared at the person in front of her for a while, as if examining a specimen. "I really don't understand why Matsue would like your type?"

Yamami Maki was startled again. "You knew everything?"

The girl sneered, "Even if you didn't know before, you know now."

"Why should I?" Mochizuki Haruka's tone was strained. She deliberately controlled her volume so as not to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere on the lawn.

“I am the one who understands Songzhi the most. I have given so much and changed so much for him. It was not easy to soften him and find that little opening.”

"Why did you go in first?" The girl got up from the eaves and walked step by step to Yamami Maki, who was sitting there.

"Behind his junior's back, he was flirting with her crush, and he even needed courage to confess his feelings."

"How much do you know about him? How much have you done for him? You only had some contact with him because of things at school, and you developed feelings for him after receiving a little help. It's that kind of easy, common kind of liking."

"Why should someone like you be the one to benefit from this?"

Looking down at the girl beneath him from his high vantage point, Mochizuki looked down at her.

"You little rascal."

(End of this chapter)