Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 386

“That’s true.” The girl lowered her head and leaned on the table in front of him.

"Is Jun-kun stuck here?"

"Hmm." The boy's expression was focused. "I'll think of another approach first, and I won't ask you anything else."

Tomatsu Yuka then lay motionless in front of him, her eyelashes fluttering as she admired the way her beloved was deep in thought.

However, after Jun Matsue turned to the next page, the girl's expression became less relaxed.

A simple and cute doodle is drawn in one corner of the page: a small black cat's head with a butterfly fluttering by its ear, its eyes squinting, looking extremely sleepy.

After the boy finished solving the problem, Tomatsu Yuka pointed to the dozing black cat and asked in a tone that she already knew the answer.

"Tsunku's drawing is so cute~"

Matsueda Jun then noticed the graffiti, and his gaze paused for a moment.

"It must have been Mochizuki who secretly drew it on when I wasn't paying attention."

"Wang Yue is truly multi-talented." The girl took a sip of jasmine tea to calm herself down.

"How have you been getting along with her lately, Chun-jun?"

The boy put down his pen in surprise.

This was the first time Tomatsu had ever asked him about Mochizuki so proactively when they were alone together.

He pulled his attention away from the math problem. "...What do you want to ask?"

Tomatsu Yuka blinked. "I just wanted to ask if you ever feel uncomfortable or awkward in front of Mochizuki Haruka."

Jun Matsueda glanced at the little black cat on the page and shook his head.

"Mochizuki is very good to me, and I'm quite happy when I'm with her."

"Really?" The girl's smile widened. "Then it seems Tsunkun treats her better than she treats you~"

"..." Matsueda Jun glanced at her, then picked up his porcelain cup on his own.

He preferred drinking tea to talking to the young girl about these things.

However, Tomatsu Yuka didn't seem to want to skip the topic. She took a thin spoon and slowly stirred the ice cubes in her glass.

"Sometimes I wonder, is the kind of liking that Mochizuki-san has for you really the kind that exists between lovers?"

The boy looked up at her.

"Don't you think so, Chun-kun?" The girl blinked again.

"You see, she didn't have much affection for you at first, right? It's probably just because the system did something that she became so dependent on you."

"Later, this dependence turned into liking because of Tsunkun, or rather, liking was born."

"But doesn't Tsunkun think this kind of liking is a little strange?"

"I feel more like family than lovers - that feeling of depending on each other for survival, it doesn't seem to matter whether you are male or female."

"How should I put it..." Tomatsu Yuka pondered, holding the silver spoon.

"'Dependence,' isn't that the correct word?"

“Mochizuki isn’t that bad,” Jun Matsue interrupted her. “I can definitely tell whether it’s love between a man and a woman.”

“…That’s good then,” the girl smiled gently.

"But I think if we keep spoiling her, this relationship might not end well?"

"I'd like to know why you're reminding me of all this." The boy looked into her eyes. "From Tomatsu's perspective, shouldn't he be hoping that things don't go well between me and Mochizuki?"

"Because I don't want Tsunkun to be sad," Tomatsu Yuka said without hesitation.

She smiled, pressed her fair and smooth cheek against his, and kissed the corner of his mouth with her moist lips.

"Anyway, as long as I can stay by your side, that's enough for me~"

This is the girl's calculated strategy. She doesn't need to learn from Mochizuki Haruka's relentless pursuit. As long as she can make the boy feel relaxed and relieved of pressure in her presence, it is a real victory.

"..." Jun Matsue looked at her smiling face.

"If I officially start dating Mochizuki, would you still be willing to stay by my side like this?"

Tomatsu Yuka's smile vanished instantly, seemingly surprised that the boy would ask such a question.

Before the girl could figure out how to start the conversation, Jun Matsueda stood up and gave a sincere smile to the readers who were near the counter.

How can I help you?

The brief, tense atmosphere melted away silently under the gaze of the adults—as if nothing had happened, the young men and women drank herbal tea and did their homework, passing the last two hours before leaving get off work without a care in the world.

"Let's go." Jun Matsueda tidied up the counter and looked at the girl beside him.

"Hmm!" Tomatsu Yuka slung her handbag over her shoulder and shook the thermos in her hand. "There's still a little bit left, I can keep it for the road."

The boy and girl walked towards the library door; their time together wasn't over yet.

They made plans to go to the University of Tokyo together after get off work today.

Chapter 647 A Trip to Tokyo University

After leaving the Setagaya Literature Museum, we boarded the Keio Line train at Roka Park Station, 300 meters away. The carriage wasn't crowded at 4 pm, and the young people found a seat next to each other.

As the tram started moving, the girl beside him swayed slightly, their shoulders touching. Jun Matsue looked at the strands of dark hair falling over her shoulders.

The golden sunlight outside the car window fell on the girl's head, like a summer-exclusive floral crown.

"Speaking of which, didn't Yuka go to the University of Tokyo before?"

Tomatsu Yuka nodded. "But I went with my parents before, not with Tsunku."

She shifted her position, bringing her thighs close to the boy's.

"Besides, we went to the Hongo campus before. Didn't Miss Hua say that we were at the Komaba campus for the past two years?"

"So let's go check out the Komaba campus today!"

The girl waved her fist and said with great interest.

The tram ride from Roka Park to Komaba Todai-mae takes only about twenty minutes. As Jun Matsue stepped out of the station, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Not coming home for dinner tonight?"

The girl asked about the message from Mochizuki Haruka again, even though the boy had already told her beforehand.

"Yeah, I'll be back a little late. You and Kurusu can eat first, no need to wait for me."

"Whether I eat or not is none of my business. Just remember not to come back too late. There's nothing fun about the party anyway."

"Okay, I'll bring you some snacks later."

He put down his phone, let out a soft breath, and walked towards the girl who was looking back at him outside the station exit.

Jun Matsueda didn't tell Haruka Mochizuki about going to the University of Tokyo with Tomatsu Tomatsu—given the current situation, if Mochizuki found out, she might try to come along.

"What happened to honesty?" the boy asked himself as he walked out of the ticket gate.

He seems to prefer less trouble to honesty now.

As the boy walked towards her, Tomatsu Yuka adjusted her shoulder bag and handed him the umbrella from inside.

"The sun is still very strong outside, let's keep using the umbrella~"

The two walked out of the station together under a black parasol, and the main gate of the University of Tokyo's Komaba campus came into view.

Tomatsu Yuka, holding the boy's arm that was holding the umbrella, looked around and said, "The sound of cicadas seems to have suddenly faded away."

Jun Matsue raised the brim of the umbrella in front of him.

The avenue in front of the school gate is lined with cedar trees. Perhaps due to the high temperature and scorching sun in summer, the slender branches of a few trees drooped listlessly, and the pine needles on them were nowhere to be seen.

Even cicadas wouldn't like to see this.

"They must have deliberately planted trees on campus that cicadas don't like to inhabit."

"Creating a suitable learning environment is a plus!" The girl nodded in satisfaction. "I hope Yuqiu High School can learn from this too."

The boy smiled. Tomatsu's attitude didn't seem like he was visiting a school he longed for, but rather like a picky examiner interviewing a new candidate.

There were many people coming and going at the school gate. There were serious men wearing masks and carrying bags, as well as girls dressed in flashy short skirts. In addition to the youthful faces that were obviously students, there were also middle-aged men with white hair like weeds and wearing glasses, who looked like professors.

This is also why the two of them came to visit shortly after their vacation started – the University of Tokyo doesn't start its summer vacation until August, so now is the perfect time to see what it looks like on a regular day.

Although there was a sign at the school gate that read "No entry for unrelated persons," the uncle in the guardhouse did not react at all, even when people who looked like tourists stood at the gate taking pictures. So the young men and women walked into the campus with peace of mind.

Jun Matsueda glanced back and said, "Compared to the prestige of the University of Tokyo, this school gate seems a bit too plain."

It was just a main gate and a side gate, without any fancy decorations, and not very spacious. It was difficult for two trucks to pass each other side by side. If it weren't for the words "Faculty of Liberal Arts, University of Tokyo" engraved on the gateposts, he might have thought he had gone to the wrong place.

“The Komaba campus is already considered good,” Tomatsu Yuka smiled. “The main gate of the Hongo campus doesn’t even have any words written on it.”

"...Tokyo University is just too amazing." That was all the boy could say.

As they entered the campus, the circular plaza at the entrance was shaded by greenery. Jun Matsue put away his umbrella, and the girl reluctantly let go of his arm, putting the parasol into her bag.

Inside the square was a camphor tree that had been pruned into a round shape, with a map sign in front of it and wooden signs on either side. The two of them naturally walked over to take a look.

The map itself wasn't anything special, but the sign next to it was quite unexpected. The red sign with white stripes had several large characters written on it—

"The international system of excellence in universities has been shattered!"

"...This was made by the students themselves, right?" Jun Matsueda looked at the crooked handwriting. "Is it a big-character poster?"

Tomatsu Yuka covered her mouth in surprise, "I've never seen anything like this at the Hongo campus."

The two continued walking, passing all sorts of wooden signs along the roadside, some normal club promotional posters, and others the protest posters they had just seen.

"We firmly oppose tuition fee increases!"

"The library at the International Liberal Arts University is open 24 hours a day, but the library at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Liberal Arts is busy selling naming rights!"

The girl stood in front of the signboard, reading the words on it with great interest. She turned around and looked at the boy behind her.

"The school atmosphere seems very free~"

"The tuition fee is going to increase by 100,000 yen..." Jun Matsueda pinched his chin and looked at the signboard.

"Hopefully, the protest will be successful before we enroll."

The two continued walking in, following the students into the teaching area. The boy's pocket jingled again as he took out his phone to reply to a message.

"Is Mochizuki urging you to go home?" Tomatsu Yuka asked slyly.

Jun Matsueda put away his phone. "A message from Kurusu."

Yosei Kurusu has developed a new habit: if the two of them don't eat together, she will definitely send a text message to the boy to show what she ate—this should be considered a unique way for a young girl to let him know she's safe.

“Yang Shisang.” The girl tilted her head.

"How is she now? I think Masahiko Sakurai has apologized and retired."

The boy pursed his lips. "I offended the company behind him. In short, it's quite troublesome. I guess I'm basically on the sidelines."

"Shelved..." Tomatsu Tomoka blinked.

She doesn't like this news, so doesn't that mean that Kise Yosei can devote all her heart and soul to Jun-kun?

"Can't Mochizuki-san help?" she wondered, thinking about the idol. "Her family has some influence in Tokyo, right?"

The crowd ahead disappeared into the teaching building, leaving the walkway empty. Jun Matsue shook his head.

"We're not in the same field, so I can't be of any help."

He did ask Mochizuki privately, but not on behalf of Kurusu; he just wanted to know if there was any solution.

Haruka Mochizuki expressed that she could not help. The girl's family was an investor and businessman, and the only business they had in connection with the entertainment industry was the small company they bought to get closer to Jun Matsueda.

"It seems that having money alone is not very useful..." Tomatsu Tomoka's regretful tone carried a hint of mockery.

After asking a couple of questions, the girl's attention quickly returned to the scenery in front of her—a world just for Tsunkun and herself, where no other woman could take up too much of their time.

The two stood on the avenue lined with ginkgo trees. Building No. 8 beside them was quiet, seemingly a research facility, while the students had disappeared into Building No. 10 ahead.

All around was quiet, without the sound of cicadas. The girl took a deep breath, and the fresh scent of plants filled her nostrils, refreshing her mind and body.

She took the hand of the person next to her, saying, "This road should be very beautiful in autumn!"

Matsueda Jun gazed at the ginkgo nuts that were just beginning to form among the branches and leaves, "...They'll probably smell really bad, especially right after it rains."