Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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Tomatsu Yuka rolled her eyes at the clueless boy, then scratched his palm. "Want to go inside the teaching building and take a look?"

"We'll have to get in first."

It wasn't difficult to sneak into the teaching building, but since it was class time, it would be too abrupt to enter the classroom. The boys and girls could only stand in the somewhat hot corridor and peek into the classroom through the small window on the back door.

Tomatsu Yuka leaned against the white wall by the door, watching the students listening to the lecture in the classroom.

"It doesn't feel any different from a regular university; the first row wasn't even full!"

“It’s all about attending classes, what’s the difference?” Jun Matsuoka stood beside her.

Even as he said this, he still pressed against the girl's back, looking around at the teachers and students inside with her.

Tomatsu Tomohana suddenly turned around and asked, "If it were Tsunku, would he sit in the front row or the back row of the classroom?"

Their faces were very close, and Jun Matsue lowered his breath to avoid disturbing the slight breeze stirred up by the girl's eyelashes.

Their bodies were pressed together through their thin clothes, and the boy could feel the warmth emanating from her soft side breasts as they gently rubbed against his arm.

The two were so close that even a kiss wouldn't be out of the question.

But thinking of Mochizuki's ultimatum, Matsueda Jun could only gently hold the girl's arm and take a half step back.

"I'll probably sit in the back."

Tomatsu Yuka seemed oblivious to everything, and rolled her brown eyes.

"I thought Tsun-kun would be thinking about studying hard."

"Can't we study properly in the back row?" Jun Matsueda glanced around the classroom again. "Aren't we sitting in the back row right now?"

The girl turned around and continued to press herself against the door. A couple was sitting in the back row, their fingers intertwined on the desk; they were clearly a couple.

“The back row is definitely better.” She nodded firmly. “You can be as affectionate as you like.”

The biggest difference between university and high school is that the desks are connected together, so when Tomatsu Yuka is bored in class, she doesn't need to do exercises to pass the time.

"...That's not what I meant."

The boy's tone was helpless, and a girl's soft laughter drifted from the classroom doorway.

After leaving Building 10, the two strolled around the area again. It seemed that get out of class had just ended, as the once quiet tree-lined paths were now bustling with people again.

It was past 5 p.m., and most students had finished their classes, but instead of leaving, they gathered in the square and on the road, as if waiting for something.

Jun Matsue and Yuka Tomatsu stood under the shade of a tree, watching the bustling crowd, the girl's eyes filled with curiosity.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Could it be promotion for a club activity?" the boy asked, unsure.

Their doubts quickly dissipated as the crowd held up several posters bearing familiar words—

"We firmly oppose tuition fee increases!"

Soon, students picked up megaphones and began to give speeches.

What do you think is the most relevant thing to our lives?

"Tuition fees!!" the crowd immediately shouted.

"That's right!" the voice from the loudspeaker became even more impassioned. "The school is now planning to raise tuition fees by about twenty percent!"

"Not only were we, as students, not informed in advance, but we were also not informed of the necessity and reasons for this move—we have repeatedly asked the school to disclose the financial aid plan, but there has been no response!"

"Universities belong to students, yet we don't even have the right to know. How can we support the university's decision?!"

A chorus of approval rose in the square, the leaves above the heads of the boys and girls rustled, and Tomatsu Yuka stared wide-eyed at the enthusiastic students.

"So it was a protest..."

“I bet you’ve never seen anything like this back in your hometown,” Jun Matsue joked, and the girl nodded decisively.

The loudspeakers held up in the crowd were still vibrating powerfully.

"It should be understood that the University of Tokyo, as the most prestigious university in Japan, represents the pinnacle of our country's education system, and its every move can change the educational direction of all national universities."

"The move to raise tuition fees reflects a decrease in government investment in universities, which means an increased financial burden on families and students."

"The government cuts financial support to national universities, hoping that the schools can raise funds on their own, but in the end, the pressure falls on us students!"

"This move is changing the positioning of the University of Tokyo, and its impact on universities across the country is truly immeasurable!"

Like fish bubbling as they surfaced, a short student holding a megaphone, having stepped on something, popped his head out of the crowd, his face flushed, and shouted loudly with his neck stiff.

"Therefore, we firmly oppose tuition increases until we have a deeper understanding of the facts and the specific reasons!"

"We strongly oppose tuition fee increases!!" the crowd echoed in unison.

The crowd was like a transparent bubble, its boundaries constantly shifting and changing. Uniformed guards stood beside the boys and girls under the shade of the trees, watching the students move.

Jun Matsue listened to the guards exchange a few words, their tone as casual as if they were talking about the summer sun, before they started walking away with the crowd.

"What do you think, Jun-kun?" Tomatsu Tomoka leaned slightly forward, turning her head to look at him. "Do you feel a little more drawn to the University of Tokyo now?"

"Well..." The boy looked up and glanced at the lush greenery and the not-so-luxurious buildings around him.

That group of aggressive, energetic guys came from here.

"I'd always heard that students at Tokyo University were a bunch of weird and eccentric guys."

"But if it's this strange, it's actually quite nice."

"If Tsun-kun were a student at Tokyo University now, they would definitely elect him to speak through a megaphone, right?" the girl said with a smile.

Jun Matsueda shook his head in denial, saying, "I should be busy working."

Tomatsu Yuka smiled even more broadly, raised her right hand, made a fist, and bumped it with the boy.

"Keep trying!"

Chapter 648 Ochanomizu Women's University, how far away is it?

At six o'clock in the evening, as I walked out of the unassuming gate of the University of Tokyo, the scorching sunlight had almost burned away, and the remaining heat dyed half of the sky fiery red.

Jun Matsue stopped and looked back at the school gate, which had no markings or words on it.

"I didn't expect the University of Tokyo's main campus to be right next to Ueno Park... I should have come here to visit when I went cherry blossom viewing last time."

Tomatsu Yuka stood beside him, the girl without an umbrella, letting her face be tinged with an ambiguous blush.

“There are several universities around Ueno Park.” She looked at her phone screen. “Ueno Gakuen University, the University of Tokyo, and Tokyo University of the Arts are all there.”

"Tokyo University of the Arts?" The boy leaned closer to her cheek. "It's even closer than Tokyo University."

"This is the place that Imokawa wants to apply to. I wonder if she has ever visited it."

"...Tsun-kun, would you like to go take a look?" Tomatsu Tomoka smiled.

It was a miscalculation; it made Jun-kun think of other women...

"Hmm..." Jun Matsueda glanced at the time on the screen. "Never mind, we still have to eat dinner."

If I get back too late, Mochizuki will probably ask me all sorts of questions.

"Let's go then." The girl gently took his arm.

"I've already decided what to eat tonight!"

The two ate at Kasuga Station, just one stop away from the University of Tokyo. To the boy's surprise, Tomatsu Tomohana chose a Thai restaurant.

Sitting down facing the floor-to-ceiling window, Jun Matsueda turned his head to look at the store's furnishings.

The rattan chairs, decorative flowers and trees, and the elephant head wood carving on the wall do indeed have a Thai style.

The girl sitting next to him observed his expression. "Tsun-kun, aren't you interested in Thai food?"

"No, that's not it." The boy turned around and placed the lemonade that the clerk had brought between the two of them. "It just doesn't feel like your style."

"I don't really have any particular style," Tomatsu Yuka smiled. "As long as it's delicious, I just want to try it with you. It's that simple!"

"But this wasn't the shop I was originally considering. Tsun-kun really knows me."

Jun Matsue nodded, looking at the dark skin of the shop assistant behind him reflected in the glass in front of him. "So why did you choose it in the end?"

"It's a secret." The girl winked playfully. "I'll tell you later~"

The two looked at the menu together and ordered basil rice, avocado salad, stir-fried rice noodles, satay chicken skewers, and two glasses of ginger ale.

The food was served quickly. The first dish to arrive was the men's basil rice—minced meat stir-fried with special basil leaves and chili peppers was poured over rice, with a wobbly fried egg lying next to it.

Under the girl's gaze, Jun Matsue gently poked the yolk with a spoon, then scooped up half a spoonful of minced meat and half a spoonful of rice mixed with the yolk.

"...The taste is not bad." He chewed and nodded slightly.

"I've never had Thai food before, but this basil rice is quite delicious."

"The aroma comes from these holy basil leaves~" Tomatsu Yuka stretched out her index finger and poked at the green bits mixed in with the minced meat. "It seems to be a specialty of Thailand."

"I wonder if I can buy it online." The boy was somewhat tempted.

The two ate their dinner for more than twenty minutes. Jun Matsue ate the last skewer of chicken that the girl had left for him, drank a strong ginger-flavored soda, and admired the street scene outside the window.

"What do you think of this meal, Jun-kun?" Tomatsu Tomoka asked with a smile.

"I'm quite satisfied." The boy looked at the empty plate in front of him. "Although not every dish was delicious, for this price, it's good enough as long as it's not bad."

"Actually, I originally wanted to take you to a famous Western restaurant nearby." The girl held a large glass and took small sips of soda through a straw.

"However, that one is a bit more expensive, with set meals starting at 2,800 yen."

Jun Matsue blinked; his basil rice bowl only cost 800 yen on a à la carte.

"Then I thought about eating Chinese food, but the Dan Dan noodles and Mapo tofu seemed quite spicy. I felt that eating them in the summer would make me sweat a lot, so it wasn't suitable."

"I finally chose this place because I saw online reviews saying that many students from the University of Tokyo come here to eat."

The boy turned around. There had been a lot of noise behind him while he was eating. It was a group of young people drinking and talking about the protest at the Komaba campus.

"I was thinking, this is a perfect opportunity for us to experience what daily life will be like in the future together." The girl's eyes were filled with affection, and she looked incredibly gentle under the lamplight.

"In the morning at school, we sat in the back row, wearing the same headphones and listening to the same song. We didn't care about the teacher on the stage and showed each other our textbooks."

"At noon, I would go out with an umbrella, walk for a few minutes, and order a basil rice set meal or curry at a nearby shop, drinking ginger ale to pass the listless midday."

"In the evening, if I don't have to work, I can go out for a nice meal with Tsun-kun—there are quite a few restaurants around here! Like the Western-style restaurant I just mentioned, as well as eel dishes and Italian restaurants."

“We can try them one by one. Anyway, four years of university is a long time, and we have plenty of time.”

"What does Chun-kun think?"

"...That sounds tempting." Jun Matsueda laughed. "If I ate like you for four years of university, I feel like I'd gain a lot of weight."

"Then I can train with Tsun-kun too~" The girl winked.

The boy raised his cup and took two big gulps of soda. "I absolutely have to get into Tokyo University now."

The spiciness of ginger, combined with the stimulation of carbonation, goes straight into the throat, making one involuntarily close their eyes.

Since that day, whenever he was tempted by girls, he would always think of Mochizuki's ultimatum, and his once beating heart would feel as if it were being strangled by a net, only able to beat weakly and slowly.

He had just asked Tomatsu Yuka this afternoon, and judging from the girl's subconscious reaction, it seemed unlikely that she would be willing to get along peacefully with Mochizuki Haruka.

So the final result... can still only be a multiple-choice question?

The taste of ginger ale was strangely similar to alcohol, and Jun Matsueda felt like he was drunk.

The two then ordered a mango ice cream and sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, sharing it with each other, spoonful by spoonful.

Looking at the boy's somewhat dazed profile, Tomatsu Yuka pointed out the window.

"Tsun-kun, would you like to check out the dessert shop across the street later? That was also one of last year's top 100 shops!"

“Sure.” Jun Matsueda looked out the window; he was going back to his apartment to bring back some desserts.

However, when the boy looked at the dessert shop across the street, his gaze froze.

The girl, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, pushed open the door of the dessert shop with her back to him, and her swaying matcha-colored skirt disappeared behind the shop window.

Jun Matsueda suspected he had mistaken her for someone else, but the various amulets flashing on the girl's handbag told him it was impossible.

A gift given by him personally is absolutely genuine.

Jun Matsue took out his phone and glanced at the map.

It turns out that Myoga Valley Station, where Ochanomizu University is located, is only two stops away from the University of Tokyo.