Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 669: Seize the time
Following the tram we came from, we rode back two stops to Nishi-Ogikubo. When the tram stopped at the platform, Jun Matsue successfully spotted Natsumi Imagawa outside the window.

The car door opened, and the girl, carrying a heavy bag, waved excitedly to him as she weaved through the crowd.

However, she encountered a problem when she entered the carriage. There was only a small gap between the crowd blocking the boy and herself. Although she could squeeze through by herself, her large backpack behind her clearly couldn't.

"Um, could you move aside?" Natsumi Imokawa whispered.

However, the middle-aged man in front of her clearly heard her but didn't move an inch, leaving the young woman in a dilemma.

Jun Matsueda frowned, put his phone on the seat, stood up, walked to the crowd by the door, held onto the handrail, winked at the uncle, and pretended not to see him.

So the boy straightened his shoulders and forcefully pushed his way through. The crowd he pushed aside staggered a bit, but faced with the obvious difference in strength, they could only glare back angrily before walking off the train as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you, Pine Branch!" The rescued girl sat down with the boy and looked back at his receding figure on the platform.

"Who are these people..." she muttered under her breath.

“I guess they’re the same kind of people as those ramming gangs,” Jun Matsue said coldly. “Just cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong.”

"Next time Imokawa encounters people like this, he should be a little tougher. He should take out his phone and shout something like 'call the police,' and they'll run faster than rats."

"It's okay," Natsumi Imokawa shook her head reassuringly. "I usually just walk around crowds."

The train continued to move, and the sunlight outside the window was blocked by the passing trees and buildings, shimmering on the legs of the young boy and girl. Jun Matsueda turned his head to look at Natsumi Imokawa sitting next to him.

The girl was wearing a plain white short-sleeved shirt and dark green cotton-linen shorts today. It wasn't a particularly outstanding outfit, but it was definitely breathable and comfortable. Besides, even the most ordinary clothes would look extraordinary on her.

Natsumi Imokawa sat quietly in her seat, watching the scenery flowing past the opposite car window with great interest. A light yellow, thin sun-protective shirt was draped over her body, making her full breasts appear even more rounded.

The girl hugged the large backpack on her lap tightly, her chest pressed against the fabric, creating an incredibly soft and alluring shape—a sight that could only be seen by those sitting closest to her.

However, Jun Matsue's glance was merely to confirm that the previous minor incident had not affected Natsumi Imokawa.

Having confirmed that Imokawa was still the same Imokawa who was immersed in his own world, he waved his hand in front of the girl.

"Are we going directly to Fujimori High School to film the ending credits?"

"Ah." Natsumi Imokawa snapped out of her daze and blinked at the boy in confusion.

What did Songzhi say?

She had just been watching the scene of the wind sweeping through the bushes beside the railway tracks, the leaves bobbing against the train window. It would be very interesting to show that on the big screen.

"Shall we go straight to Fujimori High School now?" Jun Matsueda patiently repeated.

"Okay!" The girl finally nodded. "But I need to get off one stop early. I want to take some shots of the road and the surrounding scenery."

She turned around, squinting at the sunlight on herself, "It's so sunny and hot today, perfect for shooting the ending."

Half an hour later, the two walked out of the platform. Imokawa Natsumi hung the camera on her shoulder and looked at the boy in front of her—Matsue's back was mostly blocked by his tall backpack, which he had taken from her hands.

For some reason, the girl secretly curled up the corners of her lips. Just as she was about to raise her camera, the boy stopped. The girl, unable to stop in time, bumped into his backpack and swayed softly.

"Has Imokawa had lunch yet?" Jun Matsueda turned around.

He suddenly remembered this problem, because the two met quite early, just in time for lunch.

"No." Natsumi Imokawa shook her head honestly. "I was planning to have lunch, but Matsue said you were free, so I went out first."

"It's not like we're in a rush." ​​The boy rolled his eyes at her, then looked down at his phone's map app to find nearby restaurants.

"Why aren't you in a hurry?" The girl grabbed the dangling strap of his backpack and pulled him forward. "Isn't there a rainstorm warning today? Even though it's supposed to be evening, what if it rains earlier?"

"So we definitely need to hurry up and finish filming as soon as possible."

“But we can’t skip lunch.” Jun Matsueda looked at the little hand with the backpack strap in front of him, and Natsumi Imokawa led him into the sunlight outside the station.

Perhaps it was his imagination... Did the distance between Imokawa and himself seem to have narrowed a little?
"Just buy two meat buns at the convenience store!"

The girl spoke without turning her head, her shoulder-length black hair swaying gently in the wind blowing across the station entrance, leaving the boy with a sweet aura.

Five minutes later, Natsumi Imokawa, holding a large meat bun from a convenience store in a paper bag, strolled slowly along the shaded side of the street with the boy beside her. The cicadas in the trees seemed jealous of the harmonious tranquility around them, emitting a noisy buzzing sound.

Jun Matsue watched as the girl tilted her head back and blinked intently at the sky. Then she freed one hand, raised the camera hanging on her shoulder, and pressed the record button.

Holding a meat bun in one hand and a camera in the other, Natsumi Imokawa maintained this peculiar pose for a while before lowering her head, taking a bite of the meat bun.

"What do you think of this shot, Pine Branch?"

The boy moved closer. The camera screen showed a clear blue sky, partially obscured by dappled shadows of trees, leaving a pleasing diagonal line in the image. Large white rain clouds floated in the bright sky.

The advancing clouds and swaying branches create a tangible image of the wind's sound, making even the cicadas' chirping seem to tremble.

"The composition and the contrast of light and shadow are both very good." He nodded. "I like this cloud; it looks like spilled cream in a cake shop."

Having accompanied young girls in filming and editing numerous times, Jun Matsueda has gradually developed an aesthetic sensibility in the field of filmmaking.

“That’s a good analogy,” the girl nodded approvingly. “It’s a pity this shot won’t be used in the film, but we’ll keep it as footage.”

Why is it not needed?

"Because it's so romantic and beautiful." Natsumi Imokawa took another bite of the meat bun, looking at the scene in the camera.

"I don't want this kind of atmosphere in my ending."

"The pine branch at the end, no, it's Kashiwabara Hikaru, has to pass by the gate of his alma mater high school on a hot and humid summer day and see the little river where the cherry blossoms were falling and everyone was letting out white threads to flow."

“At this point, we need to add a montage shot—” She put down her phone, spread her five fingers and waved them in front of the boy’s eyes, as if describing the images flying in her mind.

"We'll include footage of him parting ways with Tomatsu, his rejection of Mochizuki, and the 'white line flow' of graduates every year... basically, we'll cut in all the events that happen along this river."

“This is your memory!” The girl pointed to the boy’s forehead.

"After all these chaotic memories have flashed by, you will find that you have suddenly become an adult who is already numb to emotions - those heartbeats, joys, and tears of your youth, those shining roles in your life, can no longer be grasped."

"Then it cuts to nothing in front of you, just a river shimmering in vain under the summer sun, and the film ends!"

Imokawa Natsumi announced in a satisfied tone, and Matsueda Jun looked at her helplessly.

"It's not Tomatsu and Mochizuki, it's Konno An and Fujino Kaede."

"Oh, oh." The girl nodded hurriedly, swallowed the meat bun in her mouth, and looked at the blue and white cardboard box in the boy's hand.

"Matsueda, give me some milk." Matsueda Jun handed her the iced milk, and Imokawa Natsumi tilted her head back and drank two big gulps, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.

It seems like Imokawa likes to eat milk with everything... He raised an eyebrow.

After finishing the two meat buns, the girl carefully folded the paper bag, ran to throw it into the trash can not far away, and the boy with the bag on his back followed behind her.

Why did Imokawa want to film this kind of ending?

The figure standing in front of the trash can paused for a moment, then Natsumi Imokawa turned around.

"Does Songzhi think this is bad?"

“It’s not that it’s bad.” Jun Matsueda raised his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sun. “I’m just curious—why did you want to write a story like this?”

While her peers at school were frivolously enjoying romance and squandering their freedom, Natsumi Imokawa's scripts were already depicting the regrets and pain behind those youthful years.

"Hmm..." The girl turned around, gripped the backpack strap tightly, and pulled the boy forward.

"There wasn't really a reason, I just wanted to take the pictures."

Jun Matsue watched as the camera hanging on her shoulder swayed back and forth.

"But Songzhi reminded me that I really need to come up with some reasons—otherwise, the teachers at Tokyo University of the Arts will definitely deduct points!"

After the two walked past the dense cherry blossoms on both sides of the street and finished shooting those hot, empty, sun-bleached shots, Natsumi Imokawa seemed to remember something and grabbed the arm of the boy next to her.

"It's because we need to hurry!" she said with a tone of sudden realization.

"...Aren't we filming?" Jun Matsue blinked, looking at the girl's flushed cheeks.

“I meant the reason for making this short film.” Natsumi Imokawa gripped the boy’s forearm. “Isn’t it said that people who are in the midst of youth can’t feel it?”

"It's like how I listen to everyone chatting and complaining in class every day—about how their girlfriends' lunchboxes weren't pretty enough, or how they want to confess their feelings at the sports meet but are afraid of embarrassing themselves..."

"So the purpose of my film is to encourage everyone to seize the time and stop hesitating."

"Otherwise, when the days fly by and you look at those distant, glittering, blurry fragments, it will be too late to regret what you should have done or what you should have done!"

"What do you think of this reason, Songzhi?" the girl asked expectantly.

"..." Jun Matsue smiled. "A pretty compelling reason, I think it's good."

His tone was unusually hesitant, as if he had already entered the role of Hikaru Kashiwabara.

"I'll write this down now!" the girl exclaimed, opening her memo app. "So I don't forget it on the way back!"

So the two walked the last stretch of road in silence, and the shimmering river appeared before them.

“OK!” Natsumi Imokawa put away her phone, stood on tiptoe, looked at the old gate of Fujimori High School across the river, and then looked up at the distant clouds in the sky.

Under the scorching sun, the girl wiped the sweat from her neck and confidently picked up her camera.

"The weather's perfect, time to officially start filming!"

Two hours later, Natsumi Imokawa put down her camera and frowned as she looked at the aloof-looking boy on the riverbank.

"Pine branches, that's not enough!"

"...What's not enough?" Jun Matsueda, who had stopped filming, looked over.

He wore a mature and simple male makeup look, and his clothes were changed to a shirt and suit pants that better suited the character's temperament.

"It's that feeling of numbness and loss." The girl gestured with her hand. "By the time Hikaru Kashiwabara realized he had changed, everything he wanted to hold onto had already gone far away."

"And he was only aware of this fact, but could only remain indifferent."

"Your current state is actually more regrettable and conflicted!"

"..." Jun Matsueda looked down at the river helplessly. "It's probably because of the reasons you gave for making the film that I was a little affected."

"Then forget it all!" Imokawa Natsumi clapped her hands vigorously. "Remember, you are now a numb and powerless adult! Regret won't help!"

"Isn't the director being a bit harsh?" the boy said with a smile.

"Hurry up and get into the zone!" The girl picked up her camera without flinching. "I see dark clouds drifting over from the horizon. If we wait any longer, the lighting and everything will change."

"..." Jun Matsueda had no choice but to take a deep breath, slap his cheeks hard, and get back into character.

"Action!" The girl's soft, sweet voice rang out across the river.

After filming two more takes, Natsumi Imokawa finally got a satisfactory shot. By the time the two finished work and hurriedly walked towards the station, it was already 3:30 pm.

"Is it confirmed to be completed?" Jun Matsue asked the girl beside him, carrying his backpack.

"Yes! The filming is all finished!" Natsumi Imokawa said, walking while intently watching the video on the camera. The boy had to hold her shoulder and act as her guide dog.

"Next is the last part of Songzhi's voice-over." The girl looked up. "Should we do it another day?"

How long will it take?

"About thirty or forty minutes."

"..." Matsueda Jun looked at the approaching dark clouds, "Then let's finish it all today."

He checked his phone. Kurusu Yosei was on his way back to his apartment. The girl said she was buying groceries today, and Mochizuki Haruka was still at the hospital with her aunt, probably not returning until dinnertime.

The journey takes half an hour, and the dubbing takes about an hour. By 5 p.m. at the latest, I should be able to catch the tram home. Getting a little wet in the rain won't matter.

"But I probably won't have time to play games with you today, okay?" the boy said, looking up.

“Hmm…” Natsumi Imokawa’s expression was a little conflicted.

"It's okay, once I finish all the preliminary work today, I can focus on editing the video and preparing my portfolio!"

As for playing with Songzhi, there will be plenty of time after the admission results are announced... The girl thought reassuredly.

However, neither of them expected that the torrential rain that struck Tokyo in the evening would be more severe than ever before, enough to bring all the trains at Nishi-Ogikubo Station to a standstill.

　I recommend my friend's new book, "Tokyo: My Band Is Never Twisted!", by a rather talented author. I encourage everyone to check it out.
　　

(End of this chapter)