Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 377 The Old Man and the Heron
On the evening of August 15th, Jun Matsue walked along the Kamo River once again.

"I don't see anything special about the Kamo River, so why does Matsue always come here for walks?"

Yosei Kurusu turned around and asked the boy behind her. She was holding a string of chewy grilled dumplings covered in bright red sweet soy sauce.

"Well, how should I put it?" The boy pondered, gazing at the faintly glowing night sky above. "It's just that it's so ordinary that I feel quite at ease walking here."

"Besides, there's no river in Mitaka either." Mochizuki Haruka took a bite of the green dumpling in her hand. She had chosen the mugwort flavor, which tasted pretty good.

"Taking a walk along the riverbank in the evening breeze after dinner in the summer feels really nice~" Miyamura Aya nodded contentedly after finishing the last bite of her brown sugar bean dumpling.

This is the third day of the four-person team in Kyoto. They just returned from Nara by high-speed train and bought a bunch of matcha products in Uji along the way.

Over the next two days, the paths of Jun Matsuoka and Maki Yami will intersect in space, but they will not meet in time.

They didn't insist on meeting, but tacitly searched for traces of each other in the unfamiliar city.

But tomorrow, these two threads that have been circling around Kyoto will finally meet.

"Isn't it the Five Mountains Fireworks Festival tomorrow night? Where's the best place to watch it?" Kurusu Yosei mumbled, swallowing a soy sauce dumpling in one bite.

The girls, their dinners still undigested, sat down on the embankment across the river, mimicking the couples there, as the grass rustled in the breeze, and began discussing their plans for the next evening.

Is there a place where I can see all the characters from the Five Mountains at the same time?

The so-called "Gozan no Hi" (Five Mountains Fire Offering) is a ceremony in which flames are lit in specific areas on five mountains in Kyoto to burn out words and patterns. It is one of the "Four Great Events" of Kyoto.

“Yes, there is.” Jun Matsueda sat in front of the girls. “We just need to find a high-rise building with a suitable location.”

"But that would make the distance too far, and the effect wouldn't be as good."

Yosei Kurusu plucked a blade of grass from the ground and lightly tossed it at the boy in front of her. "Where do you think it would be better to go, Pine Branch?"

“Hirosawa Pond,” Jun Matsue said, stating his destination. “It’s near Arashiyama, and we haven’t been there yet.”

"Besides the torii-shaped flames, you can also see flowing lanterns on the day, which is very beautiful."

Of course, the most important reason is that the Yamami family also watches the Gozan no Okuribi (Five Mountains Fireworks) here.

He turned around and showed the girls the pictures on his phone. Yosei Kurusu and Aya Miyamura winked, looking quite satisfied.

"That's it!"

The girls left the Kamo River before the wind along the riverbank deepened with the night.

"Isn't Songzhi going?" Mochizuki asked, looking at the boy standing in the wind.

"It's too early to go back now, I'll wander around a bit more."

"..." The girl turned and walked towards the hotel. "Remember to come back early, or there won't be any milk left after your bath."

After observing him for the past few days, she was certain that the boy didn't intend to meet someone secretly, so she decided not to follow him around all the time.

The girl's figure disappeared on the riverbank, and Jun Matsue continued walking downstream—this was his third night strolling along the Kamo River, and he was already quite familiar with the route.

So when he saw the old man sitting by the river drinking for the third time, he was not surprised at all.

The old man was dressed in a black linen kimono, his right hand supporting a bottle of sake placed on the ground, and his left hand holding a small transparent cup, as if he were slowly sipping his sake.

Normally, when Jun Matsue saw this old man, he knew he had gone quite far and it was time to head home. But today he didn't move; he simply stood behind the old man, gazing at the herons standing on the opposite bank.

After the heron spread its wings and took off gracefully, the old man lowered his wine glass and looked at the boy behind him.

“I remember you, young man.” His voice was clear and strong, though his speech was somewhat slow. “You came for a walk a couple of days ago, didn’t you? What are you doing standing here with me today?”

“You’ve had a bit too much to drink today,” Jun Matsue said, pointing to the empty bottles on the ground. “It would be better if you stayed away from the river.”

There are no lights here. Although the water level may not be high enough to drown someone, it would still be a bit dangerous to fall face down into the river.

The old man smiled, but instead of getting up, he patted the grass beside him.

Elderly people in Japan tend to be quite talkative, so Jun Matsue wasn't surprised. He sat down on the grass, keeping a little distance from the old man.

"Are you here in Kyoto for tourism?" The old man poured himself some more wine and sipped it slowly.

"Yes, I feel that Kyoto is a very nice place."

The moonlight was obscured by thin clouds, making it a little darker, and the two people on the riverbank were only shadows.

The old man exhaled slowly, as if sighing, "I used to love Kyoto when I was young, but I haven't come here much since I inherited the family business."

"After not seeing it for many years, this city seems to have changed a lot—"

His sigh was enveloped by the night and dissipated in the wind.

Jun Matsue blinked. "Judging from your accent, I thought you were a local."

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The old man switched back to his Tokyo accent. "Speaking with a foreign accent makes me feel like I don't belong in this city."

"I see."

The old man exhaled again, poured the little wine left in the bottle into his glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

He wasn't an alcoholic; he was just saddened by seeing his old acquaintance struggling on his sickbed, and by the changed state of things in Kyoto.

The wine was finished, and it was time for the old man to leave. He picked up the bottle and stood up, but stumbled a little. Jun Matsuoka immediately stepped forward to help him up.

He stayed for so long precisely because he was afraid this situation would occur.

"No need to help me," the old man said stubbornly. "I've just been sitting in the wind for a while."

"Yes, yes." Matsueda Jun adopted an attitude of neither listening nor believing. "Where do you live?"

The old man pointed in a direction, and the boy helped him into the alley. The lanterns along the road cast a warm glow, dispelling the chill that had settled on them.

After turning a corner, Jun Matsueda could only see izakayas and sushi restaurants at the end of the street, but he did not find any signs for a hotel.

"It's not time to go back yet." The old man no longer needed help. He pointed to the sushi restaurant with the fox logo. "Their inari sushi is good. It's on me."

As the two walked toward the sushi restaurant, a grey heron appeared out of nowhere and landed quietly at the entrance of an izakaya not far away.

"The birds in Kyoto aren't afraid of people at all anymore," the old man said, patting the sleeve of his kimono.

"Maybe it was a Kyoto native in its past life, and it might have come here to drink often."

The old man was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

The grey herons on Kamo River Street may have been frequent visitors in a past life.

He recalled the days when he drank with his old acquaintance in this city, and the days he spent by the river with the water birds.

"Young man, you're quite interesting."

(End of this chapter)