Am I being simulated by their love affair?

"Aren't you more of an expert in this area?"

Director Akira Imokawa smiled even more broadly.

“The footage I shot may indeed look better, but does Reiji need my ‘standard answer’?”

"No matter how good my photos are, they weren't taken by her—my wife wants to record our daughter's precious moments, why should I compete with her for them?"

"Songzhi still has a lot to learn." He winked comically.

There's a lot to learn about winning a girl's heart.

"Stop teaching him all that nonsense."

Reimi Imokawa's voice rang out beside the two who were whispering.

She focused her gaze on the girl on the stage and pressed the shutter button on her camera.

"However, one thing is clear—we don't need standard answers in our family."

Looking at the girl under the spotlight, Jun Matsue nodded.

He understood perfectly well that if the Imokawa family needed a "standard answer," they would never agree to their daughter's relationship.

“Natsumi is a very interesting child who deserves a lot of love—as her parents who have watched her grow up, we are confident of that.”

"Of course, Matsueda-kun is also very interesting." The woman put down her camera and glanced at him with a smile.

"We don't ask much of you—Xia Shi isn't cunning, so don't deceive her, be sincere in your interactions with her, make her happy more and make her cry less..."

As she watched her daughter waving happily on stage, Remi Imokawa's tone became more emotional.

Even if you break up in the future, it's okay—

"There are more relationships in the world that end than cherry blossoms, as long as they have a good beginning and a good ending."

“I don’t want to agree with that.” Jun Matsue smiled and raised his hand, gesturing to the girl on the stage.

"I'm still at the age where I like to hold a single petal tightly in my hand."

Holding her graduation certificate, Natsumi Imokawa walked off the stage without returning to her class. Instead, she went straight to her parents.

She waved the certificates she had tied up in her hand, her smile pure and genuine.

"Graduated!"

"Congratulations, Natsumi!"

Jun Matsue picked up a camera from a nearby seat and captured a heartwarming moment of the family of three embracing.

After the hug, the Imokawa couple quickly and gracefully left hand in hand, leaving the space to today's protagonist—Imokawa Natsumi—who looked around with an excited blush on her face.

"Is it okay if everyone sees Songzhi running to me like this?"

"..." The boy looked around with her—

The audience was enveloped in a restrained cacophony of noise, but naturally, some people noticed them in the aisles.

"It doesn't matter." He smiled.

"Why worry about such trivial things on the last day of high school?"

The girl's smile grew even brighter as she hugged her graduation certificate to her chest and tilted her head to look behind her lover.

"Isn't Matsue with Mochizuki and the others?"

"Mochizuki left with her aunt first, and Tomatsu went to take a group photo with her friends..."

“Speaking of which,” Jun Matsue blinked.

"Imokawa, are you free later? I'd like to take some photos to remember this moment—"

“Leave it to me!” Natsumi Imokawa patted her chest without hesitation.

"I've prepared several types of cameras today—film, instant, and digital—enough to meet all of Songzhi's needs!"

"Then I'll leave it to Imokawa." The boy smiled and took off the button on his collar.

"Consider this my advance payment."

"..." The girl opened her mouth in surprise, watching him place the button in her palm.

"The second button!" She blinked excitedly and immediately clenched her fist.

"Is it alright if I give it to you?" Natsumi Imokawa asked cautiously, tilting her head up.

"If I don't give it to you, who else can I give it to?" the boy replied with a smile.

The girl blinked again, put the button in her hand into her pocket, and when she looked up again, the gazes around her were even more intense—

Did Matsueda-kun give his button to Imokawa-kun?

"Is it the first or the third? It can't be the second, can it? I can't see it very clearly..."

If it were the usual Natsumi Imokawa, she would definitely lower her eyes and bend her back amidst the whispers, using the simplest way to escape the attention.

But now she chooses to stand tall, smiling with slightly shy blush.

"Thank you, Pine Branch~"

The graduation ceremony was much longer than I had imagined—speech, certificate presentation, listening to Ms. Kominato speak in the classroom, followed by free time for group photos, gift exchange, and various commemorative activities…

When Jun Matsue and the girls left the school, it was past noon, but it was still not time to "break up".

"Shall we go ahead?" Tomatsu Yuka followed behind her class and looked at the boys walking to the other side.

"Have fun." Jun Matsueda waved to her.

Third-year classes usually organize activities after graduation – dinners and karaoke are common events.

"Remember to come quickly," Mochizuki Haruka said as she walked beside the girl.

She wouldn't have participated in the class activity if Songzhi hadn't said she would come.

The boy smiled apologetically and glanced at the group of relatives waiting on the other side.

"After my grandma and I finish eating, we'll drive over at full throttle—"

Ten minutes later, Jun Matsueda sat at the table in the izakaya and let out a relieved sigh.

Beside him were Maki Yamami and Yosei Kurusu, who were serving lemon soda, and opposite him were Aya Miyamura and the headmistress, who were drinking barley tea.

The girl, who was taking a big gulp of barley tea, put down her cup, her expression somewhat wistful.

"I can't believe Chun-ge has already graduated... Time really flies!"

“Next year it will be Aya-chan’s turn,” said Yami Maki, holding a wine glass and smiling.

She rarely drinks alcohol, and the clear liquid in her glass was only slightly pale, unlike the idol next door, whose glass was already half empty.

"Aya-chan, hurry up too~" Kurusu Yosei said with a smile as she looked at the girl opposite her.

"Hurry up and graduate, then Songzhi and I will take you out to play!"

Her words naturally excluded the existence of others. Yamami Maki blinked helplessly, smiled, and looked at the silver-haired old man sitting opposite her.

"I'd like to too! But that'll be a year." Miyamura Aya pouted, seemingly forgetting that she had just been lamenting how fast time flies.

"Now I'm the only one left at Yuqiu High School. Chun-ge even moved—I used to be able to visit you guys by bike, but now it takes half an hour by tram!"

"How's Xiao Chun's situation going?" the old man, who was leisurely sipping his tea, finally asked.

"Have you settled down in your new home yet?"

The boy nodded, took the dishes from the waitress, and placed them in the middle of the table.

"It's mostly packed up. Grandma and Aya can come and take a look if they have time."

The girl sitting opposite him secretly breathed a sigh of relief and took another sip of her tea.

When Miyamura Aya first heard about Jun's "co-renting" plan, she even thought she had misheard.

How could I possibly ask Yao-jie and the others to share an apartment with me?

However, the girl herself didn't think it was possible to date both Haruka and the others at the same time...

As expected of Chun-ge... that's all she could say.

Meanwhile, in the family-run restaurant where Class 3-6 was located, Tomatsu Yuka picked up a glass of orange juice and raised it high with her classmates at the table.

"cheers--"

The girl's voice was clear and melodious. She lowered her head and drank two large gulps of orange juice, then happily licked her lips.

The affordable family-run restaurant was mostly occupied by graduates from Haneoka High School. Tomatsu Yuka took a slice of pizza from in front of her, chewing it slowly while listening to her companions chatting at the table.

"Should we go straight to karaoke later? I want to go take some photo booth pictures with Rika near the station first..."

"I want to go too! I want to bring all the flowers I received today to take the photos!"

"There's not enough room in those photo booths, just pick a few flower buds from the roadside and take pictures there..."

"By the way, did you not receive any flowers today, Pine Branch?"

The whispers around her subsided slightly as the girl swallowed the pizza in her mouth and elegantly picked up her orange juice for another sip.

Unsurprisingly, her left arm was quickly poked lightly by the girl next to her.

"Matsueda seems to be in a bad mood today. Does Yuka know anything about it?"

"Really?" Tomatsu Tomohana replied with a smile.

"Is it because Tsun-kun is quite popular and receiving too many gifts would be difficult to handle, which is why he refused them?"

"Still calling Jun-kun..." someone whispered at the table.

"Yuka-chan," another girl asked.

"So what's your relationship with Matsueda-kun now?"

"..." Tomatsu Yuka casually took out a tissue and wiped the sauce off her lips.

"Good friends, huh?" She smiled and winked. "Does that mean we can't be friends after breaking up?"

"But isn't your relationship a bit too good?" someone with a gossipy nature asked immediately.

"He's still my ex-boyfriend, how come he doesn't even change how he addresses me after we broke up?"

"Is it possible that Matsueda-kun and Mochizuki-kun broke up again—?"

Have you said enough?

Their conversation was interrupted by the girl sitting at the next table.

"She already said we're friends, don't you understand?" Mochizuki Haruka turned her head and asked impatiently.

"Ah..." The sounds at the dining table immediately subsided.

"But Tomatsu-kun will be going to the same university as Matsueda-kun..." someone asked from the corner, unwilling to give up.

"Won't Mochizuki-san be worried?"

"..." The girl with the indifferent expression glanced over, and immediately withdrew all the curious gaze that had been on her.

The reason Mochizuki Haruka spoke up was because Tomatsu Tomoka had acted very tactfully.

Putting herself in her shoes, if someone were to mess with her on graduation day, she certainly wouldn't mind revealing their true relationship.

Therefore, since Tomatsu Tomoka is so sensible, the girl doesn't mind standing up for her this time.

"So what?" Mochizuki Haruka said without changing her expression.

"Even if she climbs into Songzhi's bed, it's none of your business."

The nearby tables fell silent immediately, followed by a sudden burst of coughs, as if someone had choked on their food.

"Cough, cough cough..."

March 7th marked the graduation day for another class of students from Haneoka High School.

The girl's outburst was like a bright red flower bud on a main road, gradually swelling under the sun's heat—

Before the cherry blossoms bloomed, it became a legend left behind on campus by Jun Matsue.

Chapter 885 The First Lesson of the New Semester

The University of Tokyo's entrance ceremony this year was held at the Budokan and was broadcast live.