Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 747 Preparations in Early November

November 6th, 1 PM.

After the lunch break had subsided, the teaching building of Haneoka High School became noisy again, something it hadn't done in a long time.

Jun Matsue walked out of the teachers' office, a long roll of wallpaper slung over his right shoulder, a bag in his left hand containing a tablecloth and cardstock. He carefully turned around as he left to avoid the wallpaper roll hitting the wall and causing damage.

Ken followed him out of the office, the boy carrying several bags filled with various props and costumes.

Kominato Shoko walked to the door and watched the two figures from behind.

"Be careful on the road, don't rush!"

"Yes--"

The soft sound of the door closing echoed behind him. Jun Matsueda adjusted his posture and entered the bustling corridor, moving forward close to the wall.

There were no classes this afternoon; it was time to set up for the cultural festival. Even the third-year students' corridors were unusually lively, with everyone carrying their class's materials and props in and out, and some people already had paint stains on their hands.

As he greeted the third-year students who were hurrying past him, Jun Matsueda couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard them call out "Hikaru Kashiwabara's" name.

"Could you please distinguish between the actor and the role?" he said irritably, waving the wallpaper roll on his shoulder.

Sakamuro Ken, who was walking behind, laughed along, "Matsueda is a big star now."

"Hey, do you think Imokawa will ever make a basketball movie?" The boy asked, bending his arm and showing off his muscular biceps while carrying a bag.

"I think I have the potential to be a leading actor!"

Jun Matsueda turned around and glared at him. "If Imagawa is making a basketball film, why don't you cast me as the lead?"

"..." Sakamuro Ken looked like he suddenly realized something. "So my dream of making a basketball movie is just gone like that?"

"It's okay, you can play the role of the basketball demon king, and in the end I will defeat you with all my might."

"Kawata Masashi?" The boy scratched his cheek. "I want to be Sawakita Eiji..."

Chatting about this and that, the boys went up to the fourth floor—the corridor with only two classes was less crowded, but the noise was still quite noticeable.

A sudden gust of cold wind blew in, and Jun Matsueda shrank his neck. Ken Sakamuro behind him tilted his head to look at the other side of the corridor.

"Who opened the terrace door?"

"Maybe he wanted to blow away the smell of paint?"

"It's freezing in the wind!" the boy complained, his coat unbuttoned.

"Why does it feel so cold all of a sudden, just because it's an exam?"

Jun Matsueda smiled as he looked at the girl who peeked out of the classroom door and waved to him.

"After all, it's already November."

The third mock exam just ended yesterday. The students in Class 6 of Grade 3 listened to classes all morning today before finally putting down their test papers and focusing on welcoming the arrival of November.

Back in the classroom, Tomatsu Yuka took the long wallpaper roll from the boy and carefully held it upright against her chest.

"Tsun-kun, you've worked hard~"

"It's just moving some things." Jun Matsue took off his coat and draped it over his hand.

"Aren't you cold?" The girl pinched his arm through his shirt.

"It's okay. We need to set up the classroom next, and it's not very convenient to wear a coat."

The boy stretched his arms and body. Although it wasn't time to turn on the heating yet, the classroom with its doors and windows closed was still much warmer than the corridor.

While he and Ken Sakamuro were leaving the classroom, everyone had already tidied up their belongings and put several empty desks together to make a square table for entertaining customers.

The boys were working together to push the tall, heavy lectern. They had borrowed two lecterns from the activity room on the fourth floor, and after combining them with the original lectern, the flat, spacious, and elevated tabletop was perfect for making coffee.

Jun Matsue looked around. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

As the class monitor, he didn't have fixed responsibilities. He was more like a repairman, rushing to wherever there was a problem in the class.

The girl in front of him smiled and shook her head, but another voice came from behind the boy.

"I need help."

Matsueda Jun turned around, and Mochizuki Haruka walked in through the door, a strand of long hair by her ear being blown by the airflow as the door closed.

The girl walked up to him and said, "The girls here want to do a simple DIY maid outfit. Didn't we buy fabric patches and lace before?"

“We would like to use the home economics classroom, there is a sewing machine there, but Natsume-sensei is not here.”

She raised her index finger and shook it, indicating that she hadn't received the key that should have been in her possession.

"Let me think about it..." The boy looked up at the ceiling and began to think.

Mochizuki Haruka looked at the girl standing to the side, hugging the wallpaper.

"Why is Tomatsu still standing here? Weren't you supposed to be arranging for them to put up the wallpaper?"

Since they were at school, her tone was relatively polite. Tomatsu Yuka hugged the wallpaper roll in her hand, smiled, and turned to walk to the other side of the classroom.

Matsueda Jun glanced at Mochizuki Haruka, and only then did the girl withdraw her arrogant gaze.

"Ms. Aoi should also have the key to the home economics classroom; she's the instructor for the crafts club."

"Where is she?" Mochizuki Haruka blinked. "Should I go find her now?"

"I'll go get it." The boy thought for a moment, "I know her, so it should be easier to talk to her."

Ms. Aoi was in charge of coaching biology competitions and was also the homeroom teacher of Maki Yami. Crafts were her hobby.

“Then I’ll go with you,” the girl said without hesitation.

"..." Jun Matsue turned around, and Tomomi Tomatsu, who was cutting wallpaper with the girl on the other side, looked up at him knowingly.

He raised his hand, spread two fingers, and made a walking gesture. The girl smiled and nodded, meaning "Don't worry."

"Let's go." The boy walked towards the door.

"How pathetic," Mochizuki Haruka whispered behind him. "Does he have to ask her permission just to go out?"

“This is a reminder,” Jun Matsue said, pushing open the door without turning around. “If any problems arise during the preparations, they will have to be temporarily handed over to Tomatsu to handle.”

The girl pursed her lips and casually closed the classroom door behind her.

The boy who had returned to the corridor changed direction, and Mochizuki Haruka quickly joined him. The two headed towards the deserted stairwell—the door to the terrace at the end was still open, and the girl's black hair fluttered, carrying a faint scent of pine.

"Aren't the pine branches cold?" Mochizuki Haruka turned her head to look at her beloved, who was only wearing a shirt.

"It's alright, it's just a few steps." Jun Matsue smiled.

Upon reaching the stairwell, the boy continued forward, while the girl watched him walk quickly away before pulling the sliding door to the terrace shut and returning.

“Sakamuro complained to me about it,” Jun Matsueda explained. “The others probably still feel cold.”

He turned and walked into the stairwell, but the girl next to him grabbed his hand.

"Wait a moment."

The boy stopped in his tracks. Mochizuki lowered her head, took his left hand in both of hers, examined it carefully, and even stroked it.

The girl's fingertips were delicate and soft, and Matsueda Jun felt a little itchy. He leaned back and looked down into the corridor—the corner wall at the stairwell blocked their view, so no one should notice them.

"What are you doing?" He turned his hand over, took Wangyue's small hand in his hand, and rubbed it.

"Don't move!" Mochizuki Haruka patted him and then touched the back of the boy's hand.

Are your hands rougher than before?

"...Are you alright?" Jun Matsue blinked. He didn't usually do anything that would hurt his hands.

The girl persisted, rolling up his sleeve to take a look—the cold air from the stairs seeped into her sleeve through her fingers, but the boy didn't feel cold at all.

After checking him over, Mochizuki Haruka finally let go of his hand and buttoned up his cuffs. "Matsueda wasn't wearing gloves while riding his bike?"

"No, it's not that cold yet."

"You didn't even apply hand cream?"

The girl's aggressive gaze resembled that of a stern wife, and Jun Matsue blinked.

"The weather isn't that dry right now..." the boy said, sounding a little guilty.

Tomatsu Tomori bought him hand cream, but Matsueda Jun wasn't a sophisticated Japanese man, so he didn't use it often.

"Use it now!" Mochizuki Haruka glared at him. "The skin on the back of your hands must have gotten worse from the wind on the way here."

"What kind of girlfriend is Tomatsu Yuka? She didn't even notice something like this!"

“Yes, yes.” Jun Matsuoka did not refute, but simply smiled and walked down the stairs with her.

"And your face too," the girl continued. "Now that it's getting colder, the wind when you're cycling is dry and cold, which is very damaging to your skin. Don't think that just because you're a guy you don't need to care..."

Listening to her indifferent rambling, the boy's smile grew even more delighted.

Although Mochizuki still hasn't moved back to the apartment, her demeanor when alone has become increasingly gentle, making him feel strangely familiar.

The two quickly went down to the second floor and borrowed the key from Ms. Aoi in her office. The corridor was filled with the backs of first-year and second-year students, and the names "Kashiwabara Hikaru" and "Fujii Kaede" echoed in the ears of the boy and girl once again.

"Speaking of which, didn't Mochizuki give a reward to 'White Line Flow'?" Jun Matsue asked on the way back.

"Hmm." Mochizuki Haruka looked down at her phone; she was sending a message to her friend.

"I think the highest price is only a little over 5,000 yen, which isn't too expensive, is it?"

Anyway, Imokawa seemed quite happy...

Jun Matsue didn't say those words aloud, since the girl beside him already knew that Imokawa had confessed to her.

Back on the fourth floor, the corridor was no longer deserted—Mochizuki Haruka had sent a message in advance to call the girls from the costume team over, and Rion, the glamorous girl in a maid outfit, stood at the front, tiptoeing and waving to the two who came out of the stairwell.

"Thank you, Songzhi~~"

He unlocked the cool door with his key, and stood there watching the girls excitedly walk into the home economics classroom with fabrics and tools. As Jun Matsueda turned to leave, a girl called out to him.

"Pine branches!"

The boy turned around, and Mochizuki Haruka walked out of the classroom carrying a bag, closing the door behind her.

She took a headband from the bag containing props and clothes and put it on her head.

The girl tilted her head back and blinked. "How was it?"

With her large, black cat ears and realistic, fluffy fur, paired with her clear, black-and-white eyes and charming features, Jun Matsue slowed his breathing with a sense of pity.

"Very, very cute." The boy glanced at the noisy figures in the distance down the corridor.

If the occasion weren't inappropriate, he would have wanted to reach out and gently knead the cat-eared girl's delicate face right now.

Mochizuki Haruka nodded in satisfaction. "You can go now."

There was also a maid outfit in the bag, but the girl didn't intend to wear it—she wouldn't forget the maid outfit and apron that Tomatsu Yuka had mentioned in the dressing room.

She would never wear the same clothes as that guy… Mochizuki Haruka snorted softly and turned to walk into the home economics classroom.

Matsueda Jun obediently returned to the classroom. He first helped put up the wallpaper on the high floor of the classroom, and then he and Tomatsu Yuka laid out the tablecloths together.

Half an hour later, the simple and spacious room was filled with dark wood grain, and two coffee machines sent by the Mochizuki family were placed on the bar counter made of a lectern. Tomatsu Yuka pulled out a chair next to her seat and sat down. She touched the brown tray on the table and the square fabric coasters that had just been sewn.

"How are you feeling?" Jun Matsue walked up behind her, holding onto the back of the chair with one hand.

"..." The girl's nose twitched as she breathed in the air in the room.

"It's missing that warm, rich coffee aroma," she said with a smile.

Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone. "The ingredients from the sauce shop should be arriving soon."

"Do you need me to help you get it?" Tomatsu Yuka turned around.

"No need," the boy waved his hand. "It's just coffee powder, I can manage on my own."

"Then leave the class to me." The girl waved her fist at him. "Tsun-kun, hurry back!"

A few minutes later, Jun Matsue walked towards the school's main gate in the afternoon sun—several figures in uniforms were also standing by the gate, presumably waiting for their class's materials to be delivered.

"..." The boy quickly spotted a familiar figure in the corner by the door. He leaned over and stood behind the girl to take a look.

"From here at Imogawa Station, can you see when the delivery person is coming?"

When Natsumi Imokawa turned her head and saw the face of the person in front of her, her panicked expression immediately turned into surprise.

"Is Songzhi here to pick up something too?"

Jun Matsue nodded. "I'll wait to get the coffee powder. The class will make a few cups this afternoon to try."

"What are you here to get, Imokawa? Are you sure you can manage alone?"

"It's okay!" The girl puffed out her chest. This time she didn't bring her camera. "I'm just here to get my clothes. I can go by myself!"

"Then why are you waiting here?" The boy looked up again.

The two were standing behind the wall next to the gate, so they couldn't see anything outside the school gate.

"Because I don't want to chat with them." Natsumi Imokawa pointed to the door, where the cheerful chatter of men and women was clearly audible.

"If I stood with them, I'd definitely get asked about making movies and directing..."

She's been through this kind of development many times since the release of "White Line Flow," and she's long been tired of it.

“I see.” Jun Matsue nodded. “Then I’ll wait here too.”

"Huh?" The girl's round, bright eyes blinked. "Aren't you going to let the pine branch through?"

The boy laughed, "Because I don't want them asking me all sorts of questions."

“…Yay!” Natsumi Imokawa tilted her head back, her smiling eyes turning into two crescent moons.

"So what is Imokawa waiting to get?"

Jun Matsue leaned against the wall and asked, slightly increasing the distance between them—although being with Imokawa was much more comfortable than dealing with crowds, he still had to be wary of her directness.

"These are clothes the class needs!" The girl looked at her phone.

"Our class is going to set up a candy store, right? Everyone's thinking of doing a fairy tale theme while we're at it, like dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, carrying baskets and going out to sell candy..."

"Someone even wanted to wear a duck head and pretend to be the Ugly Duckling! But that idea was ultimately rejected~"

"What role does Imokawa plan to play?" the boy asked with great interest.

“Me?” Natsumi Imokawa blinked.

"I'm in charge of taking photos."

“...That makes sense.” Jun Matsueda was not surprised.

His phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it. "The coffee powder has arrived. Should I go get it?"

"Oh, alright!"

Watching the boy's back walk towards the door, Imokawa Natsumi lowered her head and looked at the clothing samples that had been posted in the class group chat before.

I felt that Songzhi's interest seemed to have diminished a little after I said I would be in charge of taking photos.

The girl swiped her finger, flipping through photos of fairytale costumes.

Could it be... that Songzhi also wants to see her wearing these?

(End of this chapter)