Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 397 Enlightenment

On Friday after school in the third week of the semester, Jun Matsue sat in the student council office.

The cicadas chirping outside the window were intermittent, turning into waves.

"I feel like we won't be able to hear the cicadas chirping anymore in a few days." Yami Maki sat opposite the boy, watching him organize his documents.

A few girls walked by outside the building, their discussion about the clothing store drowning out the cicadas' chirping. As we entered mid-September, these fleeting lives began to die, but we didn't see many of their remains on campus.

Perhaps, not many people really care about the cicadas dying.

"That's good, at least the school will be quieter now."

Jun Matsueda put the form in his hand into a pile of neatly organized documents. This was preparation for next week's campaign speech. Maki Yami didn't need to participate; she was just called over by the boy.

As for why he was in the student council office, it was because the election committee didn't have its own office.

A few minutes later, the boy finished organizing the documents, put the necessary files into a folder, and took a sip of the mineral water on the table.

He looked up and surveyed the unfamiliar space—the student council office and the news department were both on the same floor, but he had hardly ever been here before.

Photos of past student council members are displayed on the wall. In the corner, there is a small cabinet with some worn folders and various books on it. Next to the cabinet is a whiteboard, and opposite it is a desk where two people sit. A computer is placed on the side of the desk near the window.

"What are you looking at, Matsueda-san?" Yami Maki asked curiously.

"I'm looking at the place where my senior used to work." The boy looked around. "There's much less stuff in the student council office than I expected."

"That's because it's close to the change of leadership, so a lot of things have been moved." The girl's tone became much lighter when talking about familiar things.

"We used to keep a lot of potted plants in the office, but now we've given them all to the gardening department."

"The president has a favorite radio, which is placed where Matsueda is sitting now."

"Tsushima-kun also brought a folding bed here and sometimes sneaks over for a nap."

"No wonder I haven't seen him much in the newsroom during lunch breaks before," Jun Matsueda murmured, the girl chuckling softly.

"Then work is done." The boy stood up, holding his folder. "Let's go."

Yamami Maki got up and was about to open the door when a sound from outside stopped her.

A commotion of footsteps descending the stairs entered the corridor, one after another, approaching the door of the student council room.

"Practicing is so tiring—" someone groaned, accompanied by a flute melody.

"Everyone worked very hard, thank you for your hard work~" A female voice rang out, soft and clear. Yamami Maki, who was standing by the door, turned around and looked at Matsueda Jun.

This was a voice they were both very familiar with.

"But everyone has made great progress!" a more energetic voice chimed in. "If we can maintain this level of performance into next year, we'll definitely be able to secure the national gold medal!"

“The intensity of that kind of training was indeed too high, and everyone is more motivated by resentment right now,” Tomatsu Yuka continued. “This kind of emotion is good. The reason we’ve increased the intensity of training recently is to help everyone process this emotion.”

"Isn't it more meaningful to turn resentment into tangible progress than simply feeling angry and resentful?"

"A minister is indeed a minister; his words are particularly impressive!"

The sound of footsteps echoed as the girls walked away, their voices filled with admiration.

Matsueda Jun looked at Yamami Maki, who was gazing out the window, like a guest who remained in the same place after the banquet had ended.

When he reached the girl's side, Yamami Maki finally came to her senses. She sighed, her expression hesitant.

"Matsueda-kun, don't you think I'm too childish?" Matsueda Jun blinked. "Childish people never admit they're childish."

The girl smiled helplessly. She looked at the whiteboard in the room, where there were still traces that hadn't been completely wiped away.

“Look at Yuka, she’s a completely qualified department head now. She recovered from the setback so quickly, which makes me feel like I’m still stuck in the same place, as naive as a child.”

The blow that Yami Maki was referring to was clearly not the defeat in the brass band competition, so Matsueda Jun had no choice but to take her hand and stroke it.

"The senior is just a little greedy."

“This is it.” The girl looked up. “Matsueda asked me before if my bows had never been refused by anyone.”

"Perhaps it's because I've always grown up receiving everyone's care that I'm so immature when facing setbacks—both Yuka and you overcame them so skillfully and can ignore them so quickly in life."

"But I can't do it."

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, then opened the tightly closed wooden door. The twilight that filled the corridor seeped in, and Maki Yami seemed a little flustered, as if she was afraid that the girls from the brass band club hadn't gone far yet.

"I won't say anything like your life is too smooth. I hope you don't think that way either. Don't you have a lot of troubles too?"

"You're just gentler than most people, and therefore more greedy, which isn't a bad thing."

“If you switch the positions of the senior and Tomatsu, she certainly wouldn’t hesitate like you, but the ‘senior’ who was left behind might be in an even more miserable situation.”

"Because no one else will care about her like you do."

"I hope you can keep this in mind. If you are like Tomatsu, you two will probably never see each other again."

"But isn't it precisely because you are Yamami Maki that there is a possibility of repairing the relationship?"

"What you need to do, senior, is not to forget how you feel right now, and to be more careful when making decisions in the future."

Yamami Maki and the boy left the corridor together, watching the figure that had not yet completely disappeared from the school gate.

"Does Matsueda really think there's any chance for Yuka and me to mend our relationship?"

"It's unlikely right now."

The girl's eyebrows drooped.

"But maybe in the future."

The boy sighed, "Tomatsu is also someone who likes to show off."

Jun Matsue was somewhat emotional. He never would have imagined that he would speak up for this unforgivable girl.

"So you need to adjust your mood, and I will give you enough happiness energy."

The boy changed the subject, "That way, you'll have the resources to win back Tomatsu Yuka when she's all sullen, right?"

Yamami Maki laughed.

"I hope that in the future I can have the same eloquence as Songzhi."

This is the closest I've seen to her smile since the start of the school year.

He can finally relax for now.

　Ironically, while writing this chapter on pine branch therapy, I had a falling out with my best friend.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)