Am I being simulated by their love affair?

The winter sunlight moves quickly, and when the transparent, bright light on the table moved to her side, Tomatsu Yuka's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"What a cunning adult..." she murmured, watching the boy beside her purse his lips and pick up his coffee again.

"So Tsun-kun was forced to make a choice like that?"

“…That’s what I was thinking too.” Jun Matsue swallowed the smooth, warm sensation in his throat.

"However, I was wrong about one thing—"

"Hmm?" The girl blinked, adopting the posture of a loyal listener.

"Actually, it doesn't matter how I choose." The boy put the coffee cup back on the sun-drenched porcelain plate.

"It's only when my senior is wavering that my choice becomes important."

"But she's not that indecisive senior anymore..."

On one side of the scale lies family and a conventional life, on the other side lies love and freedom.

No longer naive, no longer hesitant, no longer fantasizing, Yamami Maki unwaveringly chose the side he was on.

"So... all my agonizing and thinking seems rather pointless." Jun Matsueda chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Because the senior student has become the person he had hoped for.

"..." Tomatsu Yuka blinked as she looked at the person she had been longing for.

"So, it's only a matter of time before you two get back together?"

The boy's long eyelashes trembled in the sunlight.

"Isn't Yamami-senpai now enough to change Tsunku's opinion of her?"

"She even has the courage to argue with her family. Even if she really loses her status as a member of the Yami family, she probably won't regret it."

"There are no obstacles in her path to you anymore, are there?"

A brief silence fell over the bright windowsill—

It seems they all know the answer.

Chapter 839 Let nature take its course, that's their answer.

"So, it's only a matter of time before you two get back together?"

When he heard the question, Jun Matsue found himself somewhat caught off guard.

He knew, of course, that he had rediscovered his feelings for his senior, and those feelings were growing stronger. But ever since they broke up, he had never considered getting back together.

It's been over a year since that "we can't be in a relationship" statement...

It wasn't until the girl next to him asked that question that the boy finally let his gaze, which had been somewhat wandering when facing Yamami Maki, return completely to the senior in his heart.

"..."

"It's rare to see Jun-kun so silent." Tomatsu Tomoka smiled and moved closer, observing his gaze.

"Actually, you don't need to worry about me—I'm the victor now, and I have the magnanimity to forgive a rival in love~"

The girl's breath gently brushed against his ear, and Matsueda Jun gazed at the sunlight on the table, lost in thought for a moment.

“…Perhaps,” he said finally.

"Perhaps?" Tomatsu Tomoka tilted her head. "Is Tsunku talking about getting back together?"

The boy nodded. "I just imagined it in my mind—"

"If I continue to get along with my senior like this, I don't think I'd be against getting back together in the future."

"...But?" the girl asked in tacit agreement.

"But my senior's situation is still unstable, and my feelings for her aren't strong enough to make me want to get back together with her."

Jun Matsue picked up a crumb of croissant from the corner of her lips and put it in his own mouth.

“She can’t stay in the welfare home forever, nor can she keep arguing with her father and ignoring each other. She will still need to communicate with her family and decide on her future direction.”

"So Tsun-kun means we'll talk about it later," Tomatsu Yuka concluded.

"..." The boy thought for a moment.

"It should be 'let nature take its course'."

It's not about deliberately delaying with "we'll talk about it later," but rather about "letting things take their natural course" and accepting the natural development of feelings.

"Then it's only a matter of time before you two get back together, isn't it?" The girl blinked.

"Given what she's going through, I don't believe she'll choose to obediently return to her family after the New Year."

"As long as the college senior doesn't become the high school senior, and you two gradually get to know each other, won't your feelings for each other naturally develop to the point where you can get back together?"

“...That’s very likely.” Jun Matsue nodded.

Since bringing my senior back to the orphanage yesterday and honestly admitting my feelings for her—it's as if I've suddenly received a boost, and these feelings have already shown signs of rapidly increasing.

Tomatsu Yuka suddenly reached out her right hand and grabbed the saxophone pendant under the boy's neck.

She puffed out her cheeks and furrowed her brows, looking as if she was about to get angry but hadn't.

"When should I get angry—now? Or after you and her really get back together?"

The girl's expression wasn't intense. Jun Matsue looked at her and blinked in surprise.

"I thought Yuka would be even angrier."

"..." Tomatsu Yuka glared at him for a few seconds with a not-so-sharp gaze, then picked up her coffee and smiled helplessly.

"Even if Tsunku hadn't called me yesterday or come to say these things today, I still believe you will get back together with your senior."

The boy raised an eyebrow.

That's why Tomatsu asked him on the phone yesterday if he had done it.

"Why?" he continued to ask, "I don't even think I'll definitely get back together with my senior."

"..." The girl's smile had a hint of mystery as she leaned close to the boy's ear and whispered.

"Was Yamami Maki also selected by the system?"

The white roses swayed among his dark hair, and Jun Matsue's breath hitched for a moment before returning to normal.

"So that's how it is..." He watched as the girl shrank back and looked at him with a smile.

"Did Yuka guess it herself?"

"Just as I expected." Tomatsu Yuka's expression clearly said, "As expected."

"I've always found it strange—"

"Senior is clearly a very hardworking person, so why was she able to muster up the courage to appear in front of me and Chunjun after only half a year?"

The girls had only met a handful of times, and Jun Matsue quickly recalled in his mind.

"Was it the time when the brass band had a practice performance and invited us and the senior students to attend?"

The girl moved her coffee cup away, licked her moist lips, and nodded gently.

"Although the timing of Yamami Maki's change of heart can be explained by the fact that her feelings for Tsunku were too deep..."

"But during that meeting, my senior told me in the end that she was the one who persuaded me to take this path."

"I find it very strange..."

She put down her cup, took her boyfriend's arm with one hand, and continued talking while looking at the empty seats in front of her.

"If senior student were simply enlightened, she would only believe that she could make Jun-kun happy, and then compete with us for you."

"A very reasonable guess." Jun Matsue smoothed her hair that had fallen over her shoulder, as if praising her.

“Right~” Tomatsu Yuka turned her head and smiled at him.

Therefore, I can only draw one conclusion—

"Just like me and Mochizuki, after entering university, my senior should have also obtained the system at some point and seen a vision of the future."

"That scene convinced her that only by persuading Tsun-kun to embark on the 'path of a scumbag' could she find happiness."

"Youhua is pretty much right," the boy said, looking into her eyes.

"The problem was the wrong motive. My senior only advised me to do this so that I could be happy."

"I see." The girl looked enlightened. "That's why she was able to win you back."

“Isn’t Yuka the same?” Jun Matsue smiled. “Don’t even mention changing your mind, I’m already completely devoted to you.”

Tomatsu Tomoka blinked in confusion. "Isn't it true that I'm completely devoted to Tsunku?"

He meant to make her happy, but the boy ended up laughing even more.

"But that's not important." The girl waved her hand.

"In short, since my senior also has a system, it would be surprising for me if you two didn't get back together."

"Just like me and Mochizuki, people with systems will eventually become entangled with Tsunku."

"So that's how it is—" She rolled her eyes, then remembered something else.

"So, there's a system in the world of Laiqi Yangshi too?"

“She didn’t—at least Kurusu didn’t tell me,” Jun Matsue replied quickly.

"I don't think she's the type to keep things from me, so Kurusu probably doesn't have a system."

"I see..." Tomatsu Tomoka was somewhat surprised this time.

"I thought all the girls who were with Tsun-kun had a system."

"I'm not dating the system," the boy said irritably.

"So..." the girl lowered her eyes thoughtfully, "This system was originally with Tsun-kun, right? Why do I have a system, but Yosei-san doesn't?"

“I know the reason.” Jun Matsueda shifted his posture. “But it would take a lot of time to explain, so let’s talk about it on our next date.”

"Okay~" Tomatsu Yuka obediently placed her hands on her lap.

"So, does Tsun-kun have something else to say?"

The boy turned to the side and placed his hands on her soft, warm hands.

"More than whether Yuka accepts it or not, or whether she is surprised or not, I want to know how you feel right now."

"How do you feel right now..." Tomatsu Yuka blinked.

"Actually, it's alright." She looked at the square table in front of the two of them.

"Because the sun is shining brightly, Tsunkun is still handsome, and he smells clean—I enjoyed my breakfast very much!"

“But…” The girl turned her head to look at her again.

"The key isn't how I feel right now, but how I'll feel if you get back together with your senior, right?"

Jun Matsue nodded.

"That would definitely make you unhappy."

Tomatsu Yuka felt the boy tighten his grip on her hand, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.

“But I have to correct one thing—” The girl raised her right hand and extended her slender index finger to him.

"Even if this senior is someone else, for example, if Tsunku tells me that you and Imokawa are dating, I will still be unhappy."

“…I understand,” Jun Matsue said softly.

"As for other feelings..." Tomatsu Yuka looked up and thought for a moment, "They're rather complicated."

"I can accept Tsunkun dating his senior, but that won't affect my relationship with her—"

"I still hate Yami Maki." Her tone lacked the sweet warmth she had when she was with her boyfriend.

"Although it's not as annoying as before."

"Maybe my relationship with Yamami-senpai will improve in the future because of Tsun-kun..."

The girl's smile was somewhat faint, like the snow that only falls in Tokyo for one or two days each year.

"However, I would never take the initiative to show her kindness or try to improve our relationship just because Matsue is dating her senior."