Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Jun Matsue watched her walk to the stove window against the wall, stand on tiptoe and point to the wind chimes hanging above the window frame.

“Influenced by my family, I’ve bought a lot of amulets before—like wind chimes and all sorts of pendants. I used to keep them at home, but now I’m using them here.”

The girl turned around and smiled at him, "Because there's a lot of oil fumes around the stove, I only hung one up to try it out, but I put quite a few in the bedroom."

A crack was opened in the window next to the stove, and the matcha-colored paper bell hanging from the transparent wind chime swayed on its own, making a crisp, soft sound.

"Your voice is very pleasant." Jun Matsueda looked around the room where the two of them were. The pile of cardboard boxes against the wall had decreased quite a bit.

"Does my senior mind if I come into the bedroom and take a look?"

"Of course you can." Yamami Maki nodded, but a hint of unease quickly crept onto her face.

"But I didn't tidy up much this morning, so it might be a bit messy..."

The boy laughed, "Is it another pair of underwear hanging out to dry?"

"No!" The girl waved her hands, transforming from a gentle wife back into a shy young girl.

"It's just that the bed wasn't made."

"That's alright, isn't it?" Jun Matsue walked towards the bedroom, pushed open the door, and his senior followed behind him.

First, there's a brighter view—the floor-to-ceiling windows aren't drawn, so you can see the gray-white sky hanging above the building and the light drizzle.

"It's not that messy," the boy said, looking at the neatly folded blankets on the bed. "Isn't it tidy?"

"But the sheets weren't made; I forgot when I got up this morning..."

Yamami Maki climbed into bed and smoothed out the barely noticeable wrinkles on the sheets.

Her sweater hem was lifted, revealing her shapely buttocks through her tight-fitting leggings in front of Matsueda Jun's eyes, but the boy was thinking about something else entirely—

When it comes to the traditional "feminine strength" that Japanese people admire, my senior is the strongest among the people he knows...

While the girl was making the bed, Jun Matsue shifted his gaze to look around the bedroom.

As the senior student had mentioned, several wind chimes had appeared in the corner of the room and on the balcony. However, what attracted his attention even more were the cardboard boxes placed inside the door, taking up some of the space next to the bed.

The stacked cardboard boxes cast shadows on the floor, adding a touch of desolation to the otherwise cozy room. The boy turned his head to the side.

"Where's the place to put these cardboard boxes?"

“Ah, yes.” Yamami Maki, lying on the bed, looked over.

"It was originally placed on the balcony, but it's been raining these past few days, so I moved it inside."

"All tidied up~" The girl got out of bed. "Actually, there wasn't much extra space in the house to begin with. Look, the cardboard boxes in the living room are still piled up there."

"Where did the missing cardboard boxes go?"

“Just throw it away,” she said matter-of-factly as she walked up to the boy.

“Those boxes were full of old clothes. I sold them all and then threw the cardboard boxes away.”

"..." Jun Matsue blinked.

"Tsun-kun, you don't need to pity me!" The understanding girl waved her hand.

“Those clothes are either from when I was a child or I haven’t worn them much in a long time—it’s better to sell them than leave them in the closet.”

“Not only can I make money, but my clothes that I don’t wear anymore can also find new owners,” Yami Maki said with a smile.

“I should have done this a long time ago, but my house used to be so spacious that I only needed to store things and didn’t need to discard anything, so I didn’t realize it.”

"I didn't sell my clothes from before junior high school. Instead, I donated them to the Mitaka City Welfare Home. I'll be very happy to see those children wearing my clothes!"

"..." Jun Matsueda looked at the girl beside him.

The senior's smile was gentle, yet it stirred one's heart.

So the boy looked out onto the balcony again, using the wet raindrops to calm his fluttering heart.

He had only just arrived at his senior's house... He was somewhat disgusted by his own fragile defenses.

At this time, Jun Matsueda did not expect that the continuous rain in Tokyo would not get worse, but he really did not return to Mitakadai all night.

Chapter 855 We Share an Apartment

After walking around the small room, the boy and girl returned to the living room and headed towards the stove.

The green paper bells on the wind chimes on the window are still spinning, like fluttering leaves.

"Are we going to open the mirror rice cake yet?" Yami Maki asked expectantly.

"Hmm." Jun Matsue reached out his hand towards the rice cakes piled up at the edge of the stove.

"It's time to prepare lunch."

"The hammer is here!" The girl bent down, opened the cabinet under the stove, and pulled out a wooden hammer.

There's a special rule about "kamikaze" (mirror rice cake): you can't cut it with a knife. So people usually smash it with a hammer or buy mini-sized kamikaze rice cakes and cook them whole.

He moved the two stacked rice cakes onto the cutting board, removing the orange and decorative leaves that had been on top. The rice cakes, which were soft and springy when they came out of the oven, had now become dry and hard, with cracks on the surface. Jun Matsue looked at the girl beside him.

"Shall we have the senior strike the first blow?"

"Ah," Yamami Maki smiled, "Okay!"

Her right hand, which had been tucked into her sweater sleeve, emerged, picked up a wooden mallet, and carefully tapped the mirror cake on the cutting board.

A dry "snap" sounded in the room, and the cracks on the mirror cake deepened and spread, but it still didn't break—the girl puffed out her cheeks and used the hammer to fix it again.

With another "snap," the flat, round rice cake finally broke into four pieces. Yamami Maki smiled with relief and handed the wooden mallet to the boy.

"Let Jun-kun handle the larger piece."

“Okay.” Jun Matsue took the hammer, the girl’s soft skin sliding across his fingertips.

With a loud and powerful thud, another mirror cake shattered into several pieces. The boy continued to tap, breaking them into smaller pieces.

"I'm planning to make rice cake soup." He glanced at the senior student standing beside him.

Is this enough for us to eat?

"Is that enough?" Yamami Maki blinked in sync with the boy's swinging of the hammer.

"Two pieces of rice cake plus other ingredients make a fairly large portion when cooked."

"And there are exactly two of them, one big and one small, which matches our appetites~"

Matsueda Jun smiled and pushed the broken pieces of rice cake toward the edge of the cutting board.

"Senior, could you get me some water to soak them first, so we can save some time when we cook them later?"

"Okay~" The girl took out a large bowl and walked to the sink next to the windowsill to fill it with water.

Listening to the sound of flowing water and the gentle tinkling of wind chimes, the boy glanced again at the cardboard boxes stacked in the corner.

"Besides the clothes, what did you do with the other things in the suitcase, senior?"

"Hmm..." Yami Maki looked up at the raindrops floating on the window.

"The things that take up space, besides clothes, are mainly props that were used to cultivate hobbies in the past."

"For example, musical instruments, tea sets, calligraphy brushes, ink, paper and inkstones... actually, many of them were bought for me by my family, so they shouldn't have come here with me."

As she spoke, she turned her head and smiled naturally at her beloved.

"So I didn't donate or sell these things; I feel they have a lot of sentimental value."

"Among the musical instruments, I kept a few clarinets, and sent the rest to my sister."

"I kept one set of tea utensils, and put the rest in the same box as the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone."

The girl pointed to the corner of the wall, "It's over there, Jun-kun, do you want to take a look?"

"No, thank you." Jun Matsueda shook his head.

The boy just realized that he really dislikes these cardboard boxes.

Every time he visited his senior's rented apartment, he felt that the room was like a simple and unpretentious gift box, carefully filled and wrapped by the girl in a warm and beautiful way.

However, these hastily piled-up cardboard boxes on the surface of the room are like plasters on a wound, making Jun Matsue clearly aware of the cramped living conditions of Maki Yami.

The space where she lived alone was actually very small, and it couldn't possibly contain the senior's past.

If the girl knew his thoughts, she would surely laugh and say that these things were not important—but the fact remains that the cramped room could not fully contain her ample bosom.

"Chunjun?"

The boy snapped out of his daze, and the senior's curious face was right in front of him.

"These rice cakes are broken into small pieces enough, do we need to pound them any more?"

“…Hmm.” Jun Matsueda put down the hammer and put the rice cake crumbs next to him into the soup bowl.

"Go and rest, senior. I'll cook."

Picking out the ingredients he needed, and putting on the apron hanging on the side of the refrigerator, the boy raised his arm and waved, stretching his body before officially starting work—he turned around and met the smiling gaze of the girl by the kotatsu.

"What kind of look is that, senior?" Matsueda Jun's attitude towards her was becoming more and more natural.

"It's nothing~" Yamami Maki smiled at him.

"I just find it particularly interesting that Tsunku wears this apron."

The boy lowered his head and looked at the pale yellow fabric printed with small floral patterns on his body.

The apron gave the senior a gentle and graceful air, but it looked a bit odd on him.

"This is the first time I've ever seen Jun-kun wearing an apron..."

Jun Matsue raised his head.

The girl's gaze seemed almost tangible, slowly flowing towards him in the small space—it contained both longing and melancholy, but more than anything, it was the shimmering joy of "taking another step."

"It does seem to be the first time," Jun Matsue thought quickly, recalling the events in his mind.

"Actually, it's not that difficult for me to wear an apron." He put his hands behind his back and tied the apron straps.

"If my senior were in the same class as me, she would see me wearing an apron every time we had home economics class."

“That’s different.” Yami Maki shook her head, unable to hide the smile on her lips.

"Tsun-kun is wearing my apron now, an apron he wore for me~"

The boy smiled, turned around, and started washing the vegetables.

The girl quickly stood up, humming a melodious classical tune, and walked to his side in her cotton slippers.

"How exactly does Tsunkun cook? I'd like to learn too!"

"It's prepared in a way similar to mixed rice or noodle soup."

The senior student was a little closer to him than before, but Matsueda Jun, who was busy cutting chicken, didn't seem to notice.

"The rice cake soup here in the Kanto region is too bland. This is a main meal for us, so it should be more flavorful."

Watching his methodical movements, the girl's tone became even more cheerful.

"Doesn't Jun-kun use miso? I didn't see you bring out any miso."

“I don’t actually use miso much when I make soup…” Jun Matsueda looked up at her.

A pure white turtleneck sweater accentuated the senior's neck, and her smooth black hair cascaded down her shoulders, the slightly messy ends giving her a charming, down-to-earth vibe.

"Stir-fry the ingredients first and then make the soup, just like the cream stew my senior made before, it also tastes great."

Yamami Maki squinted her eyes cutely, "I see."

"When Jun-kun used stew as an example, I understood immediately!"

The boy nodded. "Although we don't add miso, we can sprinkle some white pepper on it when it's done, which will make the soup even more delicious."

"I bought white pepper!" the girl exclaimed, raising her right hand cheerfully.

"But I don't use it much, so I put it away. I'll get it for Jun-kun!"

Jun Matsue watched as she walked around behind him to the other side of the stove, and then reached out to open the cupboard.

Viewed from the side, the girl's body is outlined with soft, undulating curves. Her long legs are pressed tightly together under the hem of her sweater, and her tilted-back posture is exceptionally graceful...

A sudden noise broke the tranquility between the two—the boy looked up unhappily, and heard the sound of something sliding on the ceiling.

What are they doing upstairs?