Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Jun Matsue blinked and looked at the empty seat in front of him.

Perhaps because of today's big news, or perhaps because the "presence" of the people behind him was too strong, the good seat in front of him remained empty even though students passed by several times.

Until a girl with a mini camera hanging from her wrist walked in—

Natsumi Imokawa, carrying a schoolbag and with rosy cheeks, looked like she had rushed over in a hurry. Although she was a little disheveled, she was also exceptionally cute.

As if she had a pre-planned goal, she looked towards the back row as soon as she entered the room—only when she saw Jun Matsueda and the empty seat in front of him did the girl breathe a sigh of relief.

She walked briskly toward the boy, glancing at the empty seat by the window where Mochizuki Haruka sat, and at the smiling Tomatsu Yuka on the other side. The girl took a soft breath and hung her schoolbag on the empty seat she had "long planned" for.

Smoothing a strand of hair at her temples, Natsumi Imokawa sat down with a resolute air—

A second later, she turned around, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling as she looked at Jun Matsuoka.

"Um, I look forward to your guidance from now on, Matsueda!"

Chapter 867 Prelude to Graduation Season

Just as Ms. Kominato had said, all the afternoon classes turned into self-study sessions.

The classroom was not quiet. The math teacher, who was sitting at the podium, was explaining a problem to a student who came forward. His low voice drifted to the back of the classroom and sounded somewhat hypnotic.

"..."

After solving the last small problem, Jun Matsue loosened his gaze from the draft paper.

The seat in front of him had been empty for a day and a half before it had a new owner—Natsumi Imokawa took off her coat shortly after entering the classroom, leaving the boy with a youthful silhouette made up of a white shirt and a gray-blue knitted vest.

"Imokawa's hair-styling skills have improved..." He thought to himself as he looked at the girl's black hair that covered the back of her neck.

Natsumi Imokawa's black hair is still shoulder-length, light and fluffy with slightly curled ends. It looks much more refined than before, not as neat as when she first started dressing up, but more fresh and natural.

However, after the girl sat down, she only turned her head to greet him and Tomatsu the first time, and never turned her head again...

Is it because he's still in class? Is Imokawa really studying right now?

Jun Matsue looked away and drew a perfect circle around his calculation to match the answer.

Or is it because of Tomatsu?

He turned his head to look at Tomatsu Tomoka, who was writing and drawing with a slight frown.

In the past, he would have been convinced that Imokawa wouldn't dare to make any moves in front of Tomatsu—but the current Imokawa...

The boy recalled the girl's face, a mixture of shyness, excitement, and nervousness, as she walked towards him before the school bell rang.

"Please give me your guidance" is a phrase usually reserved for confessions of love...

After finishing the last few questions with a mix of emotions, Jun Matsueda put down his pen when the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

The teacher stepped down from the podium, and the classroom erupted in noise. A boy took out his water bottle, tilted his head back to drink, and glanced at the retreating figure out of the corner of his eye—

The girl swayed slightly but made no other movements. She raised her hand to tidy the hair that had been blown out of shape on the top of her head, probably looking in the mirror.

Aren't you going to turn around? Jun Matsue tightened the lid.

"Has Jun-kun finished his water?" A gentle voice sounded in his ear, and the boy turned his head.

Tomatsu Yuka stood up and walked to his side, holding a pure white water glass in her arms.

"I'm going to get some water. Should I get some for Jun-kun too?"

Jun Matsueda shook his water bottle. "Mine should last until school is over."

"Okay~" The girl naturally turned and walked towards the back door, but was called back again.

"Are you free after school, Tomatsu?" The boy looked into her smiling eyes. "If you're free, how about we go to tutoring together?"

"Okay~~" Tomatsu Yuka's answer this time sounded even more cheerful.

For her, "tutoring" is the secret code for dating—whether to tutor at a library café or a love hotel depends solely on how the two of them feel after school.

"Is there anything else you want to say, Jun-kun?" The girl smiled and shook her water glass. "There's a long line at the water dispenser, you know."

Jun Matsue shook his head and watched her walk out of the classroom.

Today's after-school date was to comfort Tomatsu—although their private relationship wouldn't change, the girl was still at a disadvantage on the surface.

Thinking this, the boy turned around and a smile quickly appeared on his face.

"Has Imokawa finally decided to turn back?"

The girl sitting in front of him finally turned around—her clear eyes sparkled, like a penguin seeing a human for the first time in the Antarctic snow.

“It’s not that I don’t want to talk to Matsueda…” Imokawa Natsumi pouted, feeling wronged.

"I had just sat down when the class bell rang—I wanted to pass a note to Matsu, but I was afraid Tomatsu would say I was disturbing your studies..."

"Ah." The girl's eyes widened. "Speaking of which, you and her—"

"Of course it's a fake breakup," the boy replied with a smile. "Imokawa knows it himself."

"Oh." She nodded, holding onto the back of the chair. "I knew it..."

"So Imokawa also knew that our two classes were going to be temporarily merged? I saw you head straight for my seat as soon as you came in."

As Jun Matsue spoke, he leaned back—Imokawa turned her entire upper body around, her chest, covered by a knitted vest, pressed against the back of the chair, her presence overwhelming.

"What do you mean?" Natsumi Imokawa blinked. "I only found out this morning too."

"Because I remember Songzhi's seat." She had been waiting outside Class 6 several times. "I saw on the seating chart the teacher gave us that the seat in front of you was empty, so I decided to sit here."

"Hmm..." The boy silently leaned back in his chair—Imokawa's body leaned forward again.

"But I forgot that there were no seating arrangements on the schedule; I was just thinking I could sit in front of the pine tree." The girl looked a little guilty.

"Then I went to take pictures after lunch, thinking I could show them to Songzhi later..."

"When I got back to the classroom, almost everyone had left, and I realized that the empty seats were on a first-come, first-served basis—"

She smiled with relief, "Luckily, there was still an empty spot on the pine branch side when I ran over."

Jun Matsue smiled and said, "If you don't sit here, it will probably remain empty forever."

"Huh?" Natsumi Imokawa tilted her head in confusion.

"It's nothing." The boy looked at her camera bag hanging on the side of her desk.

"So what about the photos Imogawa took at noon? Didn't you say you'd show them to me?"

"No rush!" the girl waved her hand.

"What I really want to know now is whether Songzhi really scored 980 points?"

Her voice was rather loud, and the newly joined students from Class 5 all looked over—their gazes were all the same, strange and astonished.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday..." Jun Matsue's tone was flat, as if he were just discussing the lunch at the cafeteria with the girl.

"It's just an estimate; I don't know who spread it."

"That's still around 980 points!" Natsumi Imokawa's tone was full of admiration, like a little boy seeing a Kamen Rider stage play for the first time.

"980 points... Averaged across ten subjects, that's only two points deducted per subject—Songzhi is amazing!"

Although he had heard similar compliments many times yesterday, the smile on the boy's face became even brighter.

"I'm just good at regular exams."

"Imokawa is amazing too. I can't imagine how to put together those clips from your camera into a good story."

When praised like that by the boy, Natsumi Imokawa's smile widened, revealing a few white teeth.

"This is very simple—"

Just as she was about to continue speaking, the back door of the classroom was pushed open—Tomoka Tomatsu's face, with a subtle smile, came into the girl's view.

What are you talking about?

Tomatsu Yuka placed her water glass on the seat and sat down facing the two of them.

"About yesterday's estimated scores." Jun Matsue smiled naturally, then looked at the girl in front of him.

"Actually, Tomatsu's score was also very high."

“I know!” Natsumi Imokawa nodded somewhat awkwardly. “966 points. Everyone’s saying you’re going to take first and second place at Haneoka High School.”

“It’s not just Haneoka Takashi—” the girl who was getting water with Tomatsu Yuka said as she closed the door.

"I overheard the teachers chatting in the office, and they said that Matsueda-kun's estimated score is already among the highest in previous Tokyo University entrance exams—regardless of whether it's arts or sciences!"

"Youhua's score is enough to get first place in the liberal arts category—it would be the highest score in other universities as well."

"Don't mention other universities!"

Tomatsu Yuka pretended to be angry, crossing her arms in front of her chest as if to refuse.

"I'm going to the University of Tokyo with Tsunku, I'm not considering any other universities~"

"Haha..." The girl laughed awkwardly, her gaze shifting hesitantly between the couple from yesterday.

The school bell rang at just the right moment, and she cleverly walked away, leaving the boys and girls sitting in the back row looking at each other in bewilderment.

"...Didn't she expect that you two still have such a good relationship?" Natsumi Imokawa couldn't help but ask.

Tomatsu Yuka glanced at the boy beside her, her smile somewhat ambiguous. "No normal person would have guessed that, would they?"

Unfortunately, neither she nor Tsun-kun are normal people.

Thinking this, she picked up the exercise book from the table and stood up—

"I hope I can get along well with Imokawa-kun these next few days~"

"..." Natsumi Imokawa turned her head and watched the girl walk towards Kominato Shoko, who had just sat down on the podium.

"I feel more comfortable with Tomatsu than before."

"Is that so?" Jun Matsueda's gaze swept past her profile and landed on the girl's graceful figure standing beside the podium.

"Before I was with Tomatsu, I felt she had changed a lot, but after we got together, I felt she hadn't changed much."

“No way…” Natsumi Imokawa turned around and whispered her rebuttal to him.

"When the school held a public screening of 'White Line Flow,' weren't the three of us sitting together?"

"I felt a little uncomfortable when she started talking..."

The boy quickly recalled the scene in his mind—when it comes to romantic relationships, his mind is as clear as an alien machine.

"Hmm... Tomatsu had a strong sense of 'territoriality' back then."

He looked at the girl on the podium.

Tomatsu Yuka, leaning against the podium, watched the female teacher frown, a sly smile on her face that only he could perceive.

Tomatsu no longer seems as vigilant or controlling—she didn't steer the conversation between the three of them, and even chose to go up to the podium, leaving him and Imokawa alone.

As for why...

Firstly, the future the girl was looking forward to was getting closer, and secondly, it was probably thanks to the previous "family meeting".

"In that case, you might have to thank your senior."

"Thank you, senpai?" Natsumi Imokawa blinked. "Yamami-senpai?"

"..." Imokawa was unaware that he and his senior had gotten back together, and Matsueda Jun also blinked.

"Maybe it's because Imokawa has a stronger mentality and a thicker skin?" he said jokingly, changing the subject.

"After all, you can now sit down in front of me and greet me, even under Tomatsu's gaze."

The boy was just joking, but Natsumi Imokawa nodded seriously.

“I think so too!” The girl looked at the empty seat by the window.

When she walked into the classroom, she had no idea that Mochizuki Haruka was no longer at school!

"I am indeed bolder than before, is that all thanks to love?"

"..." Matsueda Jun looked around, "Keep your voice down."

Natsumi Imokawa immediately shut her mouth. She glanced at the students around her who had started studying, winked at the boy reluctantly, and slowly turned her head away.

Jun Matsue stared at her back for a while.

Unfortunately, Imokawa didn't bring his backpack... he thought regretfully.