Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 379 The Kiss Frozen in Time

Jun Matsugae weaved through the gaps in the bustling crowd.

Looking to the right, the city's sparse roads and low houses emerge indistinct outlines in the darkness; looking to the left, the blazing torii gates hang in the air, and the lanterns on the horizon sway gently.

Such a peculiar and dreamlike scene was like an illusion, making Jun Matsuoka think that he was walking in the gap between reality and the other side.

He walked toward the darkest part of the shore, searching for the figure of a young girl.

In this city where time has left its mark everywhere, they have passed each other by many times.

A light green lantern glided from the shore toward the center of the lake, and Yamami Maki, dressed in a kimono, came into the boy's view.

The girl lowered her head slightly. She didn't look at the lake, but at the shore, in the direction from which Matsueda Jun had come. The slight unease in her expression disappeared the moment she saw the boy appear.

"Matsueda-kun~" Yami Maki smiled, raised her right hand and waved, calling his name softly.

Jun Matsue slowed down and walked step by step to the girl. The lush grass on the bank rustled softly at his feet.

"I see you again, senior." He stopped and looked at the gentle smiling face before him. "Did you get bitten by bugs while standing here?"

Yamami Maki laughed and held out her hands for him to see, and their hands naturally stuck together.

They turned around and looked at the fire array on Mandala Mountain in the distance and the scattered lights in Guangze Pond in front of them.

"What a wonderful feeling," the girl murmured. "Watching this scene with Matsueda-kun makes me feel happier than ever before."

"That proves my trip to Beijing was totally worthwhile." The boy smiled as well.

"Actually, before you mentioned that you were coming to Kyoto, I was pretty okay with it."

The senior student tightened her grip on his hand, and Matsueda Jun felt the warm touch of the girl spreading along his wrist.

“But when Matsueda-san said she was coming to Kyoto, everything seemed to change.” Yami Maki looked up, her eyes sparkling with colorful lights.

"The life I used to have was fulfilling: temples, forests, adults talking, the bittersweet aroma of freshly brewed tea."

"Everything has become mundane, and whenever I have free time, a voice in my heart will pop up and say."

"Matsueda-kun is coming to see me."

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand, senior? I could have come to find you sooner." Jun Matsueda turned his head to look at her kimono.

The elegant and beautiful pinkish-green color, adorned with cherry blossom patterns, evokes the sentiments of a young girl in bud.

"Because I thought that perhaps the longer the wait, the more profound the happiness I would feel when we finally met."

Yamami Maki smiled shyly again, as if she was ashamed of her greed.

“I think so too.” Jun Matsueda gently embraced the girl’s body.

For the two of them, their time in Kyoto was like a Polynesian-style lovemaking experience.

Their spirits, in this city, went from initially gazing at each other, to chasing the traces they left behind, to intimate contact, and now to drawing closer and finally meeting, as if naked bodies were pressed together, bringing heartfelt satisfaction.

Matsueda Jun looked into Yamami Maki's eyes as the flickering firelight drew closer and closer, finally reaching him. Their noses were almost touching, their breaths washing over the surrounding noise.

He watched as the girl closed her eyes, took the final step, and her soft touch pressed against his lips. All he could see were her fluttering eyelashes.

They kissed.

Jun Matsue felt himself enveloped in the faint fragrance of Maki Yami, and the girl's body trembled gently in his arms—a trembling of joy.

They silently closed their lips, like dragonflies lightly touching the surface of a lake with their tails, feeling the subtle ripples spreading through each other's souls. The flames on the horizon flickered in Jun Matsuoka's eyes, and many images flashed through his mind, the snow-covered field stained with scarlet blood being the most vivid.

Just as seeing black reminds one of white, silence reminds one of song, and the sight of a tranquil, eternal pool reminds one of fireworks bursting across the sky.

The tenderness and affection he felt now inevitably reminded him of that brutal, violent, and heart-wrenching kiss.

The transcendent yet forceful rewind only stopped in Jun Matsueda's mind when their lips parted.

The blush on Yamami Maki's face was like rouge. The girl pressed her head against his chest, too shy to lift her head.

"Senior sister—" The boy was about to speak when the girl raised her head again and gently pecked his lips.

"Thank you, Matsue-san. I've never been so happy."

Leaving those words behind, Yamami Maki grabbed the wide sleeves of her kimono and hurriedly fled.

"." Matsueda Jun didn't chase after her. The senior who had taken the initiative to kiss him was obviously extremely shy and wanted to calm down.

He turned around and walked towards the crowd he had come from; the clamorous sounds enveloped the people on the shore like smoke.

He should be focused on his senior's first kiss, so why are so many things flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern? The boy criticized himself inwardly.

Jun Matsueda once told Yosei Kurusu that the price of his excellent memory was that no matter how much time had passed, memories of places he had been to would always surface quickly.

Now it seems that it may be more than that; the more vivid the feeling, the more likely it is to resurface in similar moments.

This isn't good news. He sighed inwardly and sent a message to his senior, telling her to be careful.

The Five Mountains Fire Offering ceremony thus came to an end.

The following afternoon, Jun Matsueda stood in front of the gate of Kyoto Station, carrying large bags of souvenirs.

"Did you forget anything?" he asked the girls behind him.

"No~" Miyamura Aya pulled her suitcase and circled around the boy. "The things I bought are all with Jun-nii."

"I accidentally left my soul in Kyoto," sighed Yoshinari Kurusu. "Vacation is so relaxing, I don't want to go back to work."

Once this guy gets back to Tokyo, he'll definitely turn into a workaholic again. Matsueda Jun ignored her and looked at the girl walking at the back.

"Where is Wangyue?"

Nozomi nods absentmindedly, pulls her suitcase past him, and walks into the station.

Jun Matsueda frowned slightly and followed the girl's steps. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's just my period." Mochizuki Haruka glanced at him. "I suggest you take good care of me."

Despite saying this, the girl quickened her pace, passed through the turnstile at the entrance, and headed towards the platform.

After distancing herself from the boy, the gloom between Nozomi Mochizuki's brows became unmistakable, drawing the attention of passersby.

She took out her phone and looked at the photos in her album, which showed a young boy and girl kissing by Guangze Pond.

A simple snapshot, the image is dreamy and beautiful, but to the girl, it is so annoying.

She is not reconciled.

(End of this chapter)