Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 735 Pure Love Commercial Street

Upon learning the girl's good news, Jun Matsueda filled his stomach with sugar and caffeine, and as he walked out of the "Seven Forest" coffee shop, his mood was on the rise.

He stopped at the traffic light at the street corner and looked at the five yen coin in his hand that he hadn't put into his coin purse.

"Shouldn't this be handed over to Imokawa?"

"Huh?" Natsumi Imokawa, who was next to him, put down her point-and-shoot camera and looked over.

“I meant this five-yen coin.” The boy held out his hand and waved it in front of her.

"This must have been planned by the restaurant – all the food prices end in five yen, and the change given to customers is even tied with a ribbon."

“Indeed…” The girl took a picture of the coin in his hand with her camera.

A short red ribbon passed through the hole in the middle and was tied in a casual knot.

"This must mean forming a bond, right?" she asked, tilting her head up. "Like tossing a five-yen coin into a shrine?"

The word "5 yen" in Japanese sounds like "en" (meaning "fate" or "connection"). Since it was Matsueda who was treating, Imokawa Natsumi didn't notice these little details at first.

"Hmm." Jun Matsue nodded. "After all, it was Imokawa who brought me here, so this connection should belong to you."

The girl knowingly stretched out her small hand, and the boy turned his palm over, letting the red five-yen coin fall into her hand, shimmering in the sunlight.

Natsumi Imokawa clasped her hands together; the coin was warm, seemingly still carrying her body heat.

“I’m going to keep it safe.” She carefully placed the coin into a compartment in her canvas bag to prevent it from falling out.

This is the coin that Songzhi gave her as a token of their connection... the girl thought to herself.

"So where to go next?" Jun Matsueda asked, looking at the crossroads in front of him.

Men and women, dressed in autumn clothes, basked in the sunlight, their steps light and leisurely, unlike the hurried crowds in Shibuya.

How about we check out the independent bookstores nearby?

Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the notes on her phone again, her movement of looking up a little awkward.

"There are quite a few independent bookstores around here, and they all seem pretty interesting—didn't Songzhi take a Chinese course before? There's even a Chinese bookstore here!"

"Shall we continue exploring Koenji?" the boy asked, somewhat surprised.

He thought that Yuchuan would take him to some green park to take pictures of the beautiful autumn scenery, just like before.

"Mmm!" The girl nodded nervously. "Doesn't Matsueda want to go shopping in the mall?"

Jun Matsue waved his hand. "Let's go. It's a good time for a walk after dinner."

Why does Imokawa keep asking him if he likes it or not? What's going on?

Koenji Station is surrounded by various shopping streets. Walking north through the station, an orange and white arched sign stands above the street, catching the eye of young people.

"Pure Love Shopping Street..." the boy read out the name. "Sounds like a place with some strange shops?"

"No, no, no~" Natsumi Imokawa crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking adorable.

“There was a novel that won the Naoki Prize before called ‘Koenji Junjou Shopping Street,’ so this place was renamed.”

“I see.” Jun Matsue looked around. “It seems to be similar to the Nishi-Ogiwa area.”

“They’re all small shops,” the girl explained as she walked beside him. “Koenji is more lively, with more shops there.”

It's also more suitable for couples to go shopping together... she added to herself.

As a girl with no dating experience, Natsumi Imokawa consulted her classmate Yumi before getting the option of "Koenji," which was popular with couples.

Following the plan she had consulted, she and Matsue first went to a bookstore, then to a vintage clothing and art shop, and finally, the two of them bought tickets for tonight's underground performance at "JIROKICHI"—

When the performance ends and night falls, the atmosphere is just right, and you can confess your love to Songzhi in the starlit alley.

The girl thought that it didn't need to be a formal or grand occasion, as long as the atmosphere was good.

"Taogawa!"

"...Hmm?" Natsumi Imokawa, coming back to her senses, let out a confused nasal sound.

The boy grabbed the girl's arm firmly and pulled her to his side.

A bicycle with its bell jingling sped past in front of her like the wind. Imokawa Natsumi turned around and stared blankly into the boy's eyes.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Jun Matsueda asked helplessly. "I told you there was a car coming from the other side, but you didn't react."

"..." The girl blinked, thinking about how to confess her feelings to him.

Even she knew that such words shouldn't be said out loud.

Looking into her pure eyes, which were inexplicably silent, the boy looked away first.

"Watch where you're going..." He loosened his grip on the arm.

The ice silk cardigan feels cool and smooth to the touch, yet it also has a hint of the warmth of a young girl's skin.

"The streets in the shopping street are very narrow, and it's easy to bump into something if you're not careful."

"Can I hold the pine branch?" Natsumi Imokawa suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Just hold my hand like this." She pinched the boy's clothes and obediently raised her head.

"After all, I need to take pictures." The girl waved the point-and-shoot camera in her hand. "It's easy to get distracted."

"..." Matsueda Jun hesitated for a moment, looked down at her small hand, and then looked around the two of them.

People strolling casually, bicycles, tricycles and small trucks wobbling by, and streets paved with broken bricks, displaying shop signs, bicycles and goods.

"Then hold on tighter." He walked forward, letting the girl hold his coat. "Don't let go as we walk."

"Uh-huh!"

Natsumi Imokawa stayed close to him, her smiling face resembling a lucky cat behind a shop window.

After walking through a whole shopping street, they turned right at the end of the street and quickly found a bookstore called "Tata" surrounded by cafes, izakayas and dessert shops.

Upon entering the bookstore's first floor, Jun Matsuoka's initial impression was remarkably simple—

"Why is it always this kind of cramped space?"

"...Isn't it quite interesting?" The girl with the camera pressed the shutter, turned around, and smiled slyly.

The bookstore's first floor is designed like a coffee bar. The small square space has a bar counter on one side and bookshelves and a small wooden piano on the other three sides. Fortunately, there were no other customers, so the young men and women standing in the middle had the freedom to turn around.

Whether it was the coffee shop before or the bookstore now, both were carefully selected by Natsumi Imokawa on the advice of Hiromi-chan—they were both interesting and ensured that she and Matsue would never easily drift apart.

After all, no matter how interesting a shop is, it's not as important as being shoulder to shoulder with someone you love.

The shop manager, sitting behind the bar, leaned his chin on his hand, lazily watching the exceptionally eye-catching young men and women.

"If you buy a book or a cup of coffee at our store, you can go up to the gallery on the second floor to browse."

“A gallery?” Jun Matsue looked at the simple iron ladder that had been placed in front of the piano.

This way of leading to the second floor is a bit too retro.

"I want to buy this photo book!" The girl next to her excitedly picked up a thick booklet from the wall.

"I've wanted to buy the photobook that Yoshiyuki Okuyama did for Pocari Sweat for a while!"

After picking out two photography books and paying at the counter, Natsumi Imokawa patted her slightly bulging canvas bag and tugged at the sleeve of the boy next to her.

"Want to go up?"

Jun Matsue turned around and looked at the iron ladder in front of him. "...I'm a little worried that it will collapse."

"It's alright~" the shop manager said leisurely behind the two of them. "We even moved a refrigerator up here for our installation exhibition a while ago." Now there was no reason not to go up. The boy and girl walked up to the ladder, and the boy tentatively raised his hand and shook it twice.

It didn't wobble at all, so it seems quite sturdy.

“Then I’ll go up first.” Natsumi Imokawa stepped onto the ladder with great interest.

Matsueda Jun carefully supported her from behind, looking up at the girl's movements, "Be careful, don't slip."

The pale yellow floral dress slowly floated up, and when the boy saw her fair and smooth legs in front of him, he realized what he had overlooked.

Natsumi Imokawa was still carefully climbing the ladder, the girl sticking her buttocks out—luckily, her skirt was long enough that not much skin was exposed as it swayed.

But she still had to keep climbing... Jun Matsue lowered his head, looking at the heels of the shoes that covered her fair ankles.

"Imokawa, remember to gather your skirt up."

"Huh?" The girl climbing the ladder lowered her head, her cheeks belatedly flushing slightly.

“But I have to hold the ladder…” she said, looking at the boy at her feet.

"Could you help me hold down my skirt with this pine branch?"

"..." Jun Matsue looked up and met her gaze.

"You go first."

"Oh." Natsumi Imokawa continued to look up and forward.

As the girl peeked into the second-floor room, the boy stepped onto the stairs and pressed the hem of her skirt behind her knees.

"I didn't run into her..." Natsumi Imokawa paused, thinking regretfully to herself.

Watching the girl's skirt disappear on the second floor, Jun Matsueda climbed the escalator with light and nimble movements.

The second floor, without bookshelves, did feel much more spacious than the first floor. Although it was called an "art gallery," there were no picture frames in front of the two people, but rather pieces of colorful fabric and slender knitting needles hanging on the wall.

"Is this some kind of installation art?" the boy asked the girl standing in front of an unfinished sweater.

“Yes!” Natsumi Imokawa picked up the knitting needles beside her and looked at the notice on the wall.

"It says here that everyone who visits can leave their mark on the fabric!"

Jun Matsuoka walked up to her. The unfinished sweater had a large heart drawn in the center, with many patterns in other languages ​​in between.

"So this is only for female interaction..." Jun Matsueda remarked - there aren't many men in Japan who know how to knit.

"That's true!" The girl nodded regretfully. "It sounds interesting, but I don't know how to..."

"I never said I couldn't."

Natsumi Imokawa turned her head in surprise. The boy picked up the crochet hook and yellow yarn from the toolbox and poked them into the sweater without hesitation.

"Eh?!"

The girl opened her eyes wide and leaned close to his hand, watching the thin yellow thread turn in and out with each stitch, quickly transforming into a small flower pattern.

Jun Matsue pulled out the flat material, admired it for a moment, and thought, "Not bad at all."

"How could pine branches do this!"

Natsumi Imokawa's small face suddenly filled the boy's vision, and a warm, soft touch pressed against his arm.

“I knitted sweaters at the orphanage.” He took a step back, distancing himself from the girl.

“Grandma Dean likes to knit sweaters when she has nothing to do in winter. I learned from her. I even sold the little pendants that Caijiang and I knitted at the nearby market.”

"Wow..." Natsumi Imokawa's eyes sparkled with curiosity and admiration.

"Keep weaving with pine branches, I want to take a picture of this!"

The boy thought for a moment, then picked up his crochet hook again, while the girl raised her camera and obediently made room for him.

Matsueda Jun changed into a half-finished hat and started sewing. Imokawa Natsumi silently approached, watching the clean and strong fingers in the lens pinching the stitches, the pale yellow cotton thread like a docile little snake, constantly flying and gathering.

So this is what a girly side of Songzhi is like... the girl thought to herself.

She had always been fascinated by the beautiful faces and bodies captured by male photographers, but this was the first time she had discovered the subtle charm of Jun Matsueda.

No, wait! There was also the time when Songzhi was wearing an apron and cooking for herself...

Looking at the large, slender hand on the camera screen, Natsumi Imokawa's throat bobbed. She remembered what her mother had said before—

"Looking at you, you'll definitely need to find a boy who can take care of you in the future!"

Indeed, pine branches are the perfect match for me...

"It's finished."

Jun Matsue loosened his crochet hook and showed the hat to the girl.

The rose-red woolen hat, which had already been trimmed with grass-colored lace, now has a string of letters added to the center of its forehead—

"Imokawa" is the pronunciation of "Imokawa".

"Wow..." Natsumi Imokawa took the hat and examined it closely.

"So beautiful!" She carefully rubbed her name with her fingertip.

This was woven by hand from pine branches...

“Weaving letters isn’t difficult.” The boy put the tools back in their place. “If Imokawa wants to learn, I can teach you later.”

"Shouldn't we be leaving soon?" He looked around. "There's nothing else worth seeing here."

"Oh..." The girl was still looking at the woolen hat in her hand, her expression somewhat reluctant.

"Can I take it with me?"

Ten minutes later, Natsumi Imokawa walked out of the bookstore, clutching the strap of her canvas bag, looking somewhat dejected.

"What do you mean, 'not for sale'..."

"It's okay," Jun Matsue comforted her. "I just took apart the knitted letters, since you've already taken pictures of them anyway."

“…That makes sense.” Natsumi Imokawa lowered her head to smooth out the wrinkles in her skirt, then took out her phone to look at her notes.

I came out today to confess my feelings to Songzhi, so I can't get my priorities wrong!

Cafes, bookstores, then vintage clothing stores and antique shops...

She looked up at the boy beside her.

"What did Songzhi think of the bookstore just now?"

The boy thought for a moment, "...Not bad."

The bookstore had a lot of interesting secondhand books, and a cup of coffee was only 350 yen—although he didn't buy anything, he still had to give it a thumbs up for the price.

"Does Songzhi like looking at specimens and other trinkets?" The girl's tone relaxed considerably. "How about we go to an antique shop next? That should be more interesting~"

However, Jun Matsue hesitated for a moment.

"I feel like Imokawa's acting a bit strange today," he finally said. "He keeps asking me if I like it, you never used to do this..."

After all, in the boy's mind, he was just accompanying Imokawa out as usual.

"Is something wrong?"

Two cheerful chirps of autumn birds came from above, and Natsumi Imokawa's heart tightened instantly, like a bird caught in a net.

(End of this chapter)