Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 427 A Chat by the Lake

"If Songzhi has something on her mind, she can tell me!"

The lakeside seemed to fall silent for a moment, when a bicycle with a flashlight passed by the still teenagers, and the people on the bicycle glanced at them curiously.

"I was just saying it casually, Songzhi, just pretend you didn't hear it."

Not receiving a response, Natsumi Imokawa lowered her head and awkwardly fiddled with her camera, feeling her cheeks burning hot.

“I’m just a little surprised,” Jun Matsue quickly said. “Weren’t you going to Hirano no Hama? Let’s keep going.”

The roadside reeds swayed again, the starry night hung low, and the sound of their footsteps was like the wind falling on the lake, rippling through the mountains.

"It's rare to see Imokawa like that just now." He looked at the girl beside him, and Imokawa Natsumi lowered her head again.

"Hmm, let me think about how to tell you."

Perhaps it's true that troubles are better expressed. As the girl said, she was a good choice—in Jun Matsueda's story, Natsumi Imokawa was one of the few bystanders.

After all, even Ken Sakamuro, whose heart was only set on basketball, was considered half an assist to Yuka Tomatsu back then.

However, before Jun Matsue could organize his thoughts, the girl who was staring at the camera spoke first.

"Um, is Songzhi's trouble related to love?"

"You knew?" The boy was caught off guard.

Natsumi Imokawa nodded. "Because Matsueda told me about that school romance movie during the summer vacation, didn't he?"

"Actually, you're talking about Matsueda himself, aren't you?"

“That’s right.” He recalled what he had said back then, which now seemed no different from “I have a friend.”

Moreover, he later took the girl's advice and went directly to Kyoto, which was tantamount to admitting his guilt without being asked.

“Then it seems we can omit some of the preceding text.” Jun Matsueda smiled. “The male protagonist of the story is me, and the female protagonist is Senior Yamami.”

".ah!"

The girl's belated exclamation drifted across the lakeside.

The two walked along the trail in an arc, and after more than ten minutes, they arrived at the shore of Hirano.

"In short, this is the current situation between me and my senior. I haven't received a reply to the message I sent her this afternoon."

The boy leaned against the railing of the walkway, his tone somewhat helpless, while the girl beside him nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Jun Matsue told the whole story about himself and Maki Yami, but of course, his stories with Tomatsu Yuka and Haruka Mochizuki were not included.

"If that's the case, it seems the main problem lies with your senior's family."

Natsumi Imokawa stared at the water in front of her and said cautiously, "The girl really doesn't have much experience in helping her friends solve their problems—generally speaking, she's the one who gets helped."

“That’s why it’s so difficult.” Jun Matsueda looked at the lake shore below the railing.

There was a woman with a camera, just like Natsumi Imokawa. She was wearing a hat and had a rather androgynous look from behind. I wondered what she was photographing.

"This...that..." The girl began to think about whether there was any way to solve the problem, or what to say to comfort the people around her. She racked her brains, putting in even more effort than when she was editing videos and studying scripts.

Jun Matsue noticed the girl's expression, which resembled that of someone sitting in an exam hall, and he laughed.

"Imokawa, you don't need to try to comfort me or anything—it's enough that you've listened to me finish what I've said."

Humans are such amazing creatures—happiness can be doubled by sharing, and troubles can be halved by sharing.

"That's good," Natsumi Imokawa breathed a sigh of relief. "If Matsue has any troubles in the future, you can tell me."

"Of course, it would be best if we had no worries at all!" the girl quickly added.

"I hope so." The boy stretched. "Imokawa must have his troubles too, right? I don't think I've ever heard you mention them much."

"Of course there will be!" the girl said without hesitation. "Although I love movies, it can be tiring to study those professional books."

"Also, I've been trying out the Hitchcock zoom lately, but I just can't seem to get any satisfactory shots—"

Natsumi Imokawa stopped mid-sentence, glancing up at Jun Matsueda with a guilty look.

"Why did you stop talking?" The boy who had been gazing at the lake turned his attention away.

"I was supposed to listen to what Songzhi was saying, but it turned out I was the one talking." The girl was a little embarrassed.

“I also want to hear about Imagawa.” Jun Matsueda didn’t think it was a problem.

Actually, he quite enjoyed chatting with Natsumi Imokawa because they were just friends. He didn't need to worry too much when interacting with a girl and could do whatever he wanted—something that neither Haruka Mochizuki nor Tomatsu Tomoka could do now.

"Imokawa, please continue. What was that Hitchcock zoom you mentioned earlier?"

"It's just a shooting technique." Natsumi Imokawa held the camera between the two of them, aiming it at the rippling lake.

"For example, zooming in on the image while pulling the camera back will produce a unique effect."

The two moved closer to each other, looking at the misty water on the screen. The girl began to operate the device. The rippling waves remained unchanged, but the mist on the water surface slowly spread and magnified in the picture.

"Wow." Jun Matsueda nodded. "That's pretty amazing."

"Right?" Natsumi Imokawa glanced at him and rotated the camera even more excitedly.

As the mist dissipated, the shadows hidden within gradually faded and appeared in the scene. The boy and girl opened their eyes wide, looking at the unexpected visitors in the picture.

Those were a flock of swans breaking through the thin mist.

"So there are swans here too?" The two walked to the water's edge, and Natsumi Imokawa bent down and aimed her camera at an elegant swan stretching its neck.

“They live in the mountain lake, and can often be seen here and in Shiratori Beach.”

A woman carrying a camera walked over, and Jun Matsue approached the girl beside him—there were no surveillance cameras nearby, and they were in the wild, so they had to be careful.

"By the way, the one you photographed is the alpha of the family, Jumbo, and it's also the fiercest one, so you'd better be careful."

As soon as she finished speaking, the elegant goose in Natsumi Imokawa's lens spread its wings and its head sprang towards her camera.

The girl screamed in fright, causing the mist on the lake shore to sway. She hurriedly raised her arm to protect her precious camera, but the "family leader" in front of her seemed to be faster.

Fortunately, Jun Matsue was right next to the girl. He quickly reached out his right hand and accurately grabbed the goose's outstretched neck, pulling it up from the ground.

After struggling weakly for a couple of moments, the swan, which had been acting maliciously, seemed to realize its reality. It let out two hoarse cries, as if begging for mercy.

"You scared me." Natsumi Imokawa came closer and looked at the swan in the boy's hand. "It looks really fierce."

"Did you hear me?" Jun Matsue shook its neck. "Behave yourself, okay?"

He put the swan back on the ground, and the creature spread its wings again. The boy immediately opened his arms, so the leader shrank back and finally floated motionless on the water.

The girl laughed out loud, "Even it knows that pine branches are powerful and shouldn't be offended."

The woman on the other side continued her introduction, "The one swimming behind is its son Strawberry, who recently celebrated his first birthday. The one next to him is the second-in-command of this area, called Boss."

"Why is the second-in-command named after the leader?" Jun Matsuoka couldn't help but complain. "Because he's always fighting with the other geese, he's practically the local tyrant." The woman gave him a thumbs up, as if she were talking about him, not the geese.

"Do all the geese here have names?" Natsumi Imokawa asked curiously.

“Of course.” The woman nodded proudly. “I’m a photographer who’s based here. I know all the swans. It’s too late today, otherwise I could tell you about their names, relationships, and personalities.”

Like the instructor at the campsite, the woman was dressed in a smart dark green outfit and looked to be about the age to be called "auntie," exuding the air of a wilderness hunter.

"Are you two a couple?" she asked as she approached the young man and woman. "Do you share my passion for photography?"

Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the boy next to her and hurriedly waved her hands to explain.

"We're not a couple! We're just friends!" Her face flushed again.

“She loves photography.” Jun Matsue pointed to the camera next to him. “I enjoy watching her take photos.”

"Hmm." The woman nodded, seemingly unconcerned by the girl's words. "With the weather like this, plus the drop in temperature and fog, there's not much to photograph except for the night view."

"I'm here to scout out the location, hoping to take photos of Mount Fuji tomorrow morning." Natsumi Imokawa squatted down and touched the swan's feathers.

It was warm and smooth, thick and comfortable, and she couldn't put it down.

"I get it, I get it. You want to take pictures of the reverse Fuji or the sunrise, right?" the woman said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That sandbar over there is the best spot before and after sunrise."

The girl immediately stood up and walked towards the sandbar beside her. Matsueda Jun watched her swaying figure and said, "Be careful!"

Natsumi Imokawa turned around and waved to him. Carrying a camera, lens, and batteries, her movements were a bit clumsy, reminding the boy of a penguin in an aquarium.

“A very energetic young woman.” The woman walked up to him. “No wonder you like her.”

“You’ve misunderstood, we’re not a couple.” Jun Matsue remembered the cell phone in his pocket.

"Really not?" She blinked in surprise. "'She likes photography, and I like watching her take photos.' Isn't that sweet?"

Junya Matsueda waved his hand, "I didn't mean that."

"Really?" The woman leaned closer, scrutinizing his face. "Then you must be very popular with women. Remember to watch out for bad romantic entanglements."

".Thanks."

The two people on the shore fell silent, simply watching the girl standing on the sandbar. The flock of swans did not leave, rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the water. Most of the time, when there was no wind or waves, they looked like a group of inflated cotton balls, floating quietly on the water.

"I want a cigarette," the woman sighed.

"As I get older, whenever I feel emotional, I want to replace it with smoking."

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?"

"Four, five, six, seven, or eight, depending on the situation."

The boy couldn't help but glance at the woman; she always gave off a carefree and interesting vibe when she spoke.

"You must be here often. Are you so easily moved by the scenery?"

“Sometimes I just want to smoke.” She smiled. “And I never get tired of nights like this, no matter how many times I have them.”

"If there really is a heaven, I hope it is at the foot of Mount Fuji."

"That way I won't have to move." The woman took out a cigarette case from her pocket, skillfully tapped out a cigarette, and asked, "Want one, young man?"

Jun Matsue shook her head, then turned and walked toward the nearest streetlight, her figure disappearing into the darkness by the water.

The boy stood there for a while, and only started walking towards the girl on the sandbar when she bent down and rummaged through her backpack.

"Do you need any help?" He stood next to Natsumi Imokawa, with the sound of flowing water beneath his feet.

"I can't fit my backpack down right now," the girl said, twisting her neck. "There's a folding chair inside. Can you help me get it out, Pine Branch?"

Jun Matsue took out a chair, zipped up his backpack, and the girl opened the chair, put the camera in recording mode, and placed it on the chair.

"I suddenly wanted to take some photos from this angle; I thought it would be quite interesting," she said, standing up and explaining to the boy next to her.

"Imokawa, aren't you going to sit?" Jun Matsue looked at the girl's legs. She was still wearing her school uniform skirt and looked a little cold.

"Because there's only one chair, I want to stand with Matsue."

The girl's eyes twinkled in the darkness, like stars in the sky.

They fell silent naturally, and the swan family swam slowly past the young boy and girl, disappearing into the mist.

"Imokawa, actually I'm quite envious of you."

"Huh?" The girl looked up in surprise. "Me?"

The boy nodded. "You have your own goals and hobbies, you have a direction and methods for working hard, and your family supports you."

“Every time I chat with you, watch you edit, and learn from you, it’s like watching you take the future you’re looking forward to, little by little, and turn it into reality. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

"Everyone does it, right?" The girl touched her cheek shyly. "There's nothing special about it."

“That’s already quite remarkable.” Jun Matsueda smiled.

He felt powerless and helpless, so watching the girl striving towards her goal was a kind of comfort.

"Is that so?" The insecure girl chose to believe him. "Then can I help Songzhi? Can I make you happier?"

"Just chatting like this is fine."

"Then you can talk to me more often!" Natsumi Imokawa said again, mustering her courage. "I'm really tight-lipped; my dad never hides his secret stash of money from me!"

"Okay." The boy smiled.

"Is it an appointment?"

"promised."

But the girl wasn't satisfied yet. "Um, I need to get up early tomorrow to photograph Mount Fuji. Do you want to come with me, Matsu?"

“Sure.” Jun Matsueda glanced at the time. “Then we should go to bed early, it’s getting late.”

“Then let’s go back now!” Natsumi Imokawa picked up her camera and folding chair, turned around and left.

"Are you leaving?" The woman, having finished her cigarette, appeared in front of them.

"Yes, thank you for tonight!" The girl bowed obediently. "We'll come again tomorrow morning."

On the way back to camp, Jun Matsueda turned on his flashlight to illuminate the road ahead, but Natsumi Imokawa didn't look at the road and instead secretly looked at the boy's profile.

Although Songzhi wasn't very happy tonight, and although she didn't know why she was a little unhappy when the boy talked about his relationship troubles, she still felt a bit down.

But that's how she met Songzhi, took a walk with him, and made a promise.

So she was very happy.

(End of this chapter)