Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 422 Departure
At 7:30 a.m., Jun Matsueda appeared on time at the entrance of the Shinjuku Express Bus Station.

"Pine branch!" Kominato Shoko, dressed in a teacher's uniform, stood on tiptoe and waved to the boy.

Pushing through the crowd, Jun Matsueda stood next to his homeroom teacher, "Good morning, Kominato-sensei and Hirouchi-sensei."

This year's homestay training for Class 2-6 was once again led by their homeroom teacher, Shoko Kominato, and music teacher, Aya Hirouchi. The bus was scheduled to depart at 8:30, and Jun Matsueda and the other teachers arrived so early simply because they had to take attendance and maintain order.

So when he saw Tomatsu Tomoka standing to the side, he was not surprised at all.

Good morning, Tomatsu.

The girl smiled and said, "It's great to see Matsue-san today."

There weren't many people around yet, so he had some free time. Jun Matsue opened the bag in his hand and took out a sandwich cut in half. Eating on the train would draw disapproving looks from others, so even though he didn't want the food to get cold, he could only wait until after his stop to eat it.

"Did Matsugi make this herself?" Hirouchi Aya asked curiously from the side.

"I made this last night." Jun Matsueda shook the other half of the sandwich in the bag. "It got cold and then reheated, then cooled down again. It's past its best-before date. Would you like to try it, teacher?"

The woman shook her head decisively. "Shengzi and I have already had breakfast."

"Can I have it?" Tomatsu Yuka, who was standing next to the boy, suddenly spoke up. "I only ate fruit before I left home, and I think I might get hungry on the way."

The girl hadn't taken the initiative like this in a while, and Jun Matsue looked at her in surprise.

"The sandwich is cold, but it's fine if you don't mind."

"Why would I mind?" The girl shook her head. "It's a rare opportunity to eat food made by Matsueda-san."

This time, it was the two teachers on the side who looked over. Their gazes darted back and forth between the boy and girl, but they did not observe any further action.

"What's going on?" Hirouchi Aya asked her best friend with her eyes. Kominato Shoko blinked, indicating that she didn't know.

Jun Matsue slowly finished his sandwich. More figures in school uniforms appeared in front of him. Just as he put the last bite of toast into his mouth, Yuka Tomatsu was standing in front of him again.

"Does Matsueda need to take out the trash? I'm going too, you can give me your trash."

He stared at the girl's smile for a second. "Thank you. I'm going to buy a bottle of milk. Do you want me to bring it back for you?"

Tomatsu Yuka shook her head. "I'll be fine with water."

So the boy went into the convenience store next to the station alone, bought the milk in thirty seconds, and then stood in the convenience store thinking.

Why has Tomatsu Yuka become proactive again? He unscrewed the cap of the carton of milk, looked up at the sky, and pondered this question.

Is it because the overnight study program offers opportunities for solitude that she has new ideas?
Or is it simply that her period of lethargy has ended, and the Tomatsu Tomaka of the past is about to return?
Jun Matsueda believed he needed to be more vigilant.

"What are you doing standing here?"

A cool voice interrupted his thoughts. The boy looked up and saw Mochizuki Haruka getting out of the car.

The girl was carrying a small backpack in her right hand. Ignoring the curious glances of passersby, she looked at the boy standing in front of the convenience store.

“I’m drinking milk.” Jun Matsue held out his hand to show the Meiji milk carton in his hand. “The class assembly is right at the station entrance. You can just go there to assemble.”

Mochizuki Haruka didn't listen to him. She waved behind her, the car started and drove away, and the girl walked to the boy's side and leaned against the wall with him.

Matsueda Jun could only tighten his grip on the straw and silently speed up his milk consumption. He counted the heads of people passing by the convenience store until the wind blowing through the station lifted the girl's black hair and draped it over the boy's shoulder. It tickled a little, so he turned his head to brush away the unruly long hair. The girl's bright eyes suddenly came closer, gentler yet more fierce than the unexpected wind.

"You haven't said good morning to me yet," Mochizuki Haruka said, enunciating each word clearly.

Her tone suggested she was angry, but seeing the tears welling up in the girl's eyes, Jun Matsue knew she wasn't.

"Good morning?" Jun Matsue loosened the straw he had bitten flat.

"Good morning."

Mochizuki Haruka nodded in satisfaction, then pulled back, leaning against the wall as she gazed at the milky-white clouds and hummed a song softly.

"You don't seem to have brought much," Jun Matsue said, glancing at the girl's backpack. "Is that alright?"

"What does it matter?" Mochizuki Haruka glanced at him. "Anyway, I'll definitely be in your group. You'll definitely consider everything we need, right?"

"..." The boy shook the cardboard box; there was hardly anything left. "You seem to be in a good mood today?"

"Shouldn't you go out in a good mood?" the girl asked him back.

"You've traveled the world, do you really think you'd be happy about camping at the foot of Mount Fuji?"

Jun Matsueda threw the empty box into the trash can, and the girl followed him into the station.

"Isn't it something to be happy about not having to stay in school?"

A crowd of people in school uniforms and carrying bags had already filled the hall, and a cacophony of voices filled the air. The boy looked at the two teachers and a girl waving at him from the crowd and sighed.

"makes sense."

After walking around the class line from front to back, calling out names several times, and counting the number of students for Kominato Shoko who was shorter than her, Matsueda Jun returned to the student line.

"Matsueda-kun, you've worked hard," Tomatsu Yuka said beside him.

"It's alright, we're lucky that no one was late or got stuck in traffic."

Jun Matsue glanced at Haruka Mochizuki standing behind her. The girls were closer together than usual, and he also saw the two of them talking as they circled around the group.

In short, he had a bad feeling; both of them were acting strangely today.

But there was no time left for him to think.

At 8:30, Class 2-6 boarded the bus on time. Jun Matsueda sat by the window. As the bus left the shadows in front of the station, sunlight shone through the dense buildings and fell on the faces of the passengers.

The bustling streets of Tokyo and the hurried people glided past him like flowing water. The bus, like a zipper, peeled away the outer shell of the neon-lit steel forest and headed towards Mount Fuji, which was supported by lakes and hills.

Whether you take the bus or the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, it doesn't matter; the journey takes only about two hours. When the blurry silhouette of Mount Fuji appeared at the end of the road, cheers erupted from the passengers.

As the golden light in the distance lifted the shadows from the mountains, Jun Matsue took out his phone and snapped a picture.

He thought to himself, "I should message my senior."

At this time, Jun Matsueda did not anticipate that his journey at the foot of Mount Fuji would mark the beginning of another collapse in his life.

(End of this chapter)