Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 757 Who will deal with Yamami Maki?

At exactly 11:00 a.m., the last note in the auditorium drifted away, like a fallen leaf settling onto the stage floor.

What followed was a thunderous applause that resounded throughout the hall.

Jun Matsue sat in the front row. He lowered his hands and watched the girls on stage bow in unison with pride, then leave one by one in the shadows, instruments in hand.
"That's definitely at the national gold level..."

Sitting to his right, Yamami Maki looked up at the stage and sighed softly.

"We've relaxed a bit," Tomatsu Yuka chimed in from the other side. "But the national tournament is over, so maintaining this level of performance is pretty good."

Before entering the auditorium, there was a slight undercurrent in the atmosphere between the three girls, but they were all very focused on the music, and after the performance, the subtle barrier between them lessened considerably.

"Shall we go out and check on them?" Jun Matsueda looked at the small, closed door on the side of the hall. "Is Senpai going back to find Kokoro-chan right away?"

Yamami Maki shook her head. "Kokoro-chan isn't a child. She's a freshman in the same year as me at Ochanomizu University."

"Let's go then~" Tomatsu Yuka patted the arm of the person next to her and stood up first.

"Let's go check on Yuna-chan and the others again."

Leaving the main hall and entering the side corridor, the three quickly found the brass band's temporary preparation room, but Jun Matsue did not go in with the girls—he found it too troublesome.

With his back against the corridor wall, the boy smiled and gestured to the students' parents who were passing by in twos and threes.

After all, the atmosphere between Yuuka and her senior had only just become a little more natural. If she were there, unsuspecting juniors might ask some questions, and their moods would change again...

After waiting for seven or eight minutes and giving directions to the parents who were leaving the auditorium three times, the door next to him opened again. Matsueda Jun turned his head and saw that only Yamami Maki was walking out.

"Yuka is still inside." The senior smiled at him. "She's talking to Yuna-chan about the student council elections. Let's go to the teaching building first."

The boy blinked. "Should we go first?"

“Yes.” The girl nodded. “I was a little surprised too…”

Jun Matsue straightened up and left the wall. He took out his phone and sent a message to Yuka Tomatsu, and quickly received the same reply.

"...Will someone take over the shift?"

The boy thought of a certain rich young lady who was late, and said, "Let's go then."

He turned around, and the senior student followed him. The two walked side by side towards the other end of the corridor.

Yamami Maki cautiously moved a little closer, keeping it within acceptable limits. She glanced at the boy's profile out of the corner of her eye until the two walked out of the auditorium.

Looking at the bright sunlight streaming down in front of her, the girl tilted her head slightly.

"Yuka seems to have changed a lot."

“Right?” Jun Matsuoka glanced at her and stepped down the cold gray steps.

"That's normal, isn't it? People aren't static creatures. Not to mention Tomatsu, haven't my senior and I changed a lot too?"

Upon closer reflection, it was precisely because Tomatsu Yuka had changed that she allowed the two of them to go ahead—since she had already received a no-flirt answer from the boy, there was no need to constantly monitor him.

However, perhaps this is also a kind of open scheme by the girl?

First, directly raise your concerns, then use a seemingly reassuring attitude to bridge the gap that these doubts might create...

After all, Tomatsu may have changed, but she is still herself, and the cunning and shrewdness of a young girl will not change easily.

But that doesn't matter. Jun Matsueda gently shook his head. As long as it doesn't affect their relationship, that's fine.

“Yes, that’s right.” Yamami Maki smiled as she looked at the main road in front of her.

"I realized that change can happen quickly and more easily than I thought—once you make that decision, just let the rest take its course."

"This shows you're changing in the direction of your inner self." Matsueda Jun smiled. "How have you been lately, senior?"

"Hmm..." The girl tilted her head back.

The mottled yellow shade of the trees slid past my eyes, revealing the evenly white sky.

"Attending classes, helping out with the teacher's projects, completing course assignments, and doing odd jobs I found myself..."

She turned her head and gave the boy a gentle smile.

"It's quite busy, but this feeling of fulfillment is also very good."

Jun Matsueda nodded, looking at the approaching school building on the left side of the road. "Are we going to find Kokoro-chan? Which floor is she on?"

“I sent her a message when I left the auditorium…” Yamami Maki took out her phone and looked at it. “I haven’t received a reply yet.”

"He's definitely playing games again!"

Her pouty expression made the boy smile. "Then let's look for it floor by floor."

As he entered the teaching building, the bleak autumn wind vanished without a trace. Jun Matsuoka walked through the bustling corridor—he had walked this route with the girls several times before, but this time, the deeper he went into the corridor, the slower his steps became.

Because, apart from the newly enrolled first-year students, almost every student who encounters the two in the corridor will stop and greet Yamami Maki.

"Oh, Yamami-senpai is back in Haneoka!"

"It's been a long time since I've seen Yamami-senpai. She seems to have become even more gentle!"

"Isn't it even prettier?"

"What's there to say about something so obvious!"

"Is the senior here to mentor the juniors? This year's cultural festival was a great success!"

Separated by the chattering girls, Jun Matsueda could only stand at a distance, watching his senior, with a gentle smile, slowly walk through the crowd toward him.

"My senior is really popular."

"I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic..." The girl returned to his side, smiling with a sweet unease.

"I didn't expect they all still remembered me~"

“After all, senior is a legend at Haneoka High School.” Matsueda Jun continued forward, then turned and walked into the stairwell.

"He has excellent grades, many talents, and is also a student council vice president with a strong presence—and the president has a rather serious personality, so people are more willing to come to you for help when they have problems, which naturally leaves a deep impression."

“That should be it…” Yami Maki nodded behind the boy, then waved her hand, avoiding the juniors who were running downstairs.

"But let's forget about the legends~"

After struggling through the crowd for a while longer on the second floor, the boy and girl finally spotted Kuroba Shin's figure by the goldfish pond in the festival game room.

"So Kokoro-chan is here!" Yamami Maki patted the petite figure crouching by the pool.

"We've been looking for you for a while, why aren't you even checking your messages?"

"Really?" Kuroba Shin sat by the pool with her head down, holding a paper net in one hand and staring intently at the small fish swimming in the water.

"My phone was in my bag, so maybe it was too noisy around me and I didn't hear it."

Yamami Maki glanced at the trash can next to the girl and the empty little basin in her hand.

"Have you been sitting here for a long time? It's time to go."

"No!" Kuroba Shin stubbornly shook her head. "I'll leave after I catch a fish!"

Jun Matsue walked up behind her, and the senior standing next to him gave him a helpless smile.

"How about we go out and wander around some more first, then come back to find her later?"

The boy thought for a moment, then squatted down next to the girl. "Lend me a net."

A few minutes later, Kuroba Shin followed behind the two of them, walking out of the classroom empty-handed with satisfaction.

"Why didn't you keep the goldfish you caught, Kokoro-chan?" Yami Maki turned around. "Didn't you refuse to leave until you caught some?"

"It's no fun if you can just scoop it up," the girl said without hesitation. "I already know the techniques; it's not like I can just scoop up as much as I want."

Jun Matsue glanced at her. "But didn't I still make more money?"

The three walking together resembled a kind-hearted mother and a father deliberately competing with his daughter, and Yamami Maki's lips curled into a subtle smile.

"That's because you're experienced!" Kuroba Shin glared at him. "Is Matsueda really that good at playing games?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't play many games."

"Then come play Sprague with me next time!" the girl shouted defiantly, pulling a game console from her bag. "I'll teach you how to play then!"

"That requires two machines, right?" Jun Matsue remembered that Mochizuki and Kurusu had also played this game.

Kuroba Shin lowered her head and played a game behind the two of them. "I have another Switch at Maki's house. Just come over!"

Yamami Maki nodded secretly and looked at the boy next to her.

Tsun-kun hasn't been to her apartment for a while...

Seemingly noticing her gaze, Jun Matsue turned his head to look at her.

"Has the senior gotten along better with her now?"

He asked the question in a very low voice, and Kokoro, who was playing games behind him, didn't hear it—the girls used to have a bit of a feud.

“Yeah!” Yami Maki smoothed her hair. “Just like Matsueda-san said before, everyone is changing.”

“We are all new students at Ochanomizu University, and we have been spending more time together than before, so our relationship has gradually become more harmonious.”

"Xin-chan has come to my house several times already. She really likes to curl up in the kotatsu and play games."

“I know.” The boy nodded. “My senior sent me photos before.”

"Do you know that Maki keeps talking about you when she's with me?" Kuroba Shin, who was walking behind, suddenly asked.

"When you lost contact before, things were fine; you just sighed from time to time."

"Ever since she reconnected with you, she always says a few words to me every time we meet—"

“What about ‘the shop recommended by Matsueda is great to browse’, ‘he’s eaten this discounted bento before’, ‘shouldn’t we get a pair of winter slippers for Tsunku too’…”

"She's interrupting my game! If it weren't for the fact that I'm more comfortable and at ease at Maki's place, I wouldn't bother listening to her nagging!"

As Jun Matsue watched the senior student beside him blush rapidly, Maki Yami turned around and lightly patted her childhood friend's arm.

"Just play games, who told you to say these things!"

Kuroba Shin pouted, "Didn't you say before not to play games while walking?"

The girl ignored her, turned to look at the boy, and smiled shyly and awkwardly.

"Don't pay any attention to her, Matsueda-san..."

Seeing his senior's bright red earlobes, Jun Matsue nodded slightly, pretending not to have heard anything.

"Come visit my class, and grab a coffee and relax while you're there."

A few minutes later, the three of them sat down in the window seats of Class 6, Grade 3.

The melodious harmonics of the acoustic guitar filled her ears as Yamami Maki sipped her hot milk, feeling the warmth in her palms and throat.

"A coffee shop...we used to run one too."

"Luckily, you drank hot milk, senior." Jun Matsueda looked at the milk stains on her lips. "Our baristas are probably not as good as your classmate whose family owns a coffee shop."

The girl smiled, the milk in her hand swaying slightly. "Everyone likes this kind of atmosphere; how good the coffee is doesn't really matter."

As she spoke, she looked out the window—a club was holding an event on the lawn below, and several boys in cool armor were sparring with prop swords.

"The school doesn't seem to have changed much, but coming back here makes me feel completely different than before..."

After glancing at the girl who was playing games with her head down, the boy's gaze returned to the senior.

"Is the senior reminiscing about her youth? After all, strictly speaking, you're no longer a part of this school."

"But your youth isn't over yet—I told you before, my youth has only just begun."

"Now that you are more free, you have returned here and are still the object of everyone's envy and admiration."

"This is not only because you were outstanding and dazzling back then, but also because you now possess a more mature, independent, and courageous charm."

Jun Matsue picked up the milk in front of him and made a toasting gesture to his senior.

"I've said it before, the sky you looked up at when you were twenty will be more memorable than it is now."

"..." Yamami Maki picked up the milk again and took a sip, her eyes radiating a similar warmth with her smile.

“Matsue is right. When I look at the sky now, I can really appreciate its vastness and beauty more.”

"However," she licked the white mark on her lips, "the freedom of being alone can sometimes feel a bit lonely."

"If possible, I would still prefer someone to be with me."

"..." Jun Matsueda's gaze silently shifted to Kokoro Kuroba, who was playing a game to the side. Maki Yami gave him a reproachful glare.

When the girls had half a glass of milk left, the boy's phone rang.

He glanced at the name on the screen, didn't leave his seat, and naturally answered the phone.

"Where is Songzhi now?" The girl's voice was sweet yet indifferent.

Jun Matsue blinked, and the person Tomatsu had mentioned for the "shift change" arrived.

He glanced at the girls sitting opposite him. "I'm in the classroom."

"Then stay in the classroom and wait for me."

The call ended there, and the boy put his phone away.

"Is that Mochizuki-san?" Yami Maki put down the milk; she already had a premonition.

In fact, the girl had already felt something was strange. According to Mochizuki Haruka's personality, Haruka should have appeared as soon as she saw Jun-kun.

"Hmm." Jun Matsueda looked at the two of them. "Why don't you two wander around on your own for a bit?"

However, Maki Yamami just smiled and didn't move, and Kokoro Kuroba, who was playing a game, had no intention of getting up either.

Two minutes later, Mochizuki Haruka appeared at the back door. Her gaze swept across the classroom and quickly settled on the window.

The girl walked through the noisy crowd and sat down in the empty seat next to the boy.

She first picked up Matsueda Jun's cup and took a sip, then looked at Yamami Maki in front of her and spoke calmly.

"Trying to poach our employees again?"

(End of this chapter)