Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 241

“They live in the mountain lake, and can often be seen here and in Shiratori Beach.”

A woman carrying a camera walked over, and Jun Matsue approached the girl beside him—there were no surveillance cameras nearby, and they were in the wild, so they had to be careful.

"By the way, the one you photographed is the alpha of the family, Jumbo, and it's also the fiercest one, so you'd better be careful."

As soon as she finished speaking, the elegant goose in Natsumi Imokawa's lens spread its wings and its head sprang towards her camera.

The girl screamed in fright, causing the mist on the lake shore to sway. She hurriedly raised her arm to protect her precious camera, but the "family leader" in front of her seemed to be faster.

Fortunately, Jun Matsue was right next to the girl. He quickly reached out his right hand and accurately grabbed the goose's outstretched neck, pulling it up from the ground.

After struggling weakly for a couple of moments, the swan, which had been acting maliciously, seemed to realize its reality. It let out two hoarse cries, as if begging for mercy.

"You scared me..." Natsumi Imokawa leaned closer, examining the swan in the boy's hand. "It looks really fierce."

"Did you hear me?" Jun Matsue shook its neck. "Behave yourself, okay?"

He put the swan back on the ground, and the creature spread its wings again. The boy immediately opened his arms, so the leader shrank back and finally floated motionless on the water.

The girl laughed out loud, "Even it knows that pine branches are powerful and shouldn't be offended."

The woman on the other side continued her introduction, "The one swimming behind is its son Strawberry, who recently celebrated his first birthday. The one next to him is the second-in-command of this area, called Boss."

"Why did the second-in-command have a leader's name..." Jun Matsuoka couldn't help but complain.

"Because it's always fighting with other geese, it's practically the local bully." The woman gave him a thumbs up, as if she were talking about him, not the geese.

"Do all the geese here have names?" Natsumi Imokawa asked curiously.

“Of course.” The woman nodded proudly. “I’m a photographer who’s based here. I know all the swans. It’s too late today, otherwise I could tell you about their names, relationships, and personalities.”

Like the instructor at the campsite, the woman was dressed in a smart dark green outfit and looked to be about the age to be called "auntie," exuding the air of a wilderness hunter.

"Are you two a couple?" she asked as she approached the young man and woman. "Do you share my passion for photography?"

Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the boy next to her and hurriedly waved her hands to explain.

"We're not a couple! We're just friends!" Her face flushed again.

“She loves photography.” Jun Matsue pointed to the camera next to him. “I enjoy watching her take photos.”

"Hmm." The woman nodded, seemingly unconcerned by the girl's words. "With the weather like this, plus the drop in temperature and fog, there's not much to photograph except for the night view."

"I'm here to scout out the location, hoping to take photos of Mount Fuji tomorrow morning." Natsumi Imokawa squatted down and touched the swan's feathers.

It was warm and smooth, thick and comfortable, and she couldn't put it down.

"I get it, I get it. You want to take pictures of the reverse Fuji or the sunrise, right?" the woman said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That sandbar over there is the best spot before and after sunrise."

The girl immediately stood up and walked towards the sandbar beside her. Matsueda Jun watched her swaying figure and said, "Be careful!"

Natsumi Imokawa turned around and waved to him. Carrying a camera, lens, and batteries, her movements were a bit clumsy, reminding the boy of a penguin in an aquarium.

“A very energetic young woman.” The woman walked up to him. “No wonder you like her.”

“You’ve misunderstood, we’re not a couple.” Jun Matsue remembered the cell phone in his pocket.

"Really not?" She blinked in surprise. "'She likes photography, and I like watching her take photos.' Isn't that sweet?"

Junya Matsueda waved his hand, "I didn't mean that."

"Really?" The woman leaned closer, scrutinizing his face. "Then you must be very popular with women. Remember to watch out for bad romantic entanglements."

"……Thanks."

The two people on the shore fell silent, simply watching the girl standing on the sandbar. The flock of swans did not leave, rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the water. Most of the time, when there was no wind or waves, they looked like a group of inflated cotton balls, floating quietly on the water.

"I want a cigarette," the woman sighed.

"As I get older, whenever I feel emotional, I want to replace it with smoking."

Jun Matsue thought for a moment, "How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?"

"Four, five, six, seven, or eight, depending on the situation."

"..." The boy couldn't help but glance at the woman; she always gave off a carefree and interesting vibe when she spoke.

"You must be here often. Are you so easily moved by the scenery?"

“Sometimes I just want to smoke.” She smiled. “And I never get tired of nights like this, no matter how many times I have them.”

"If there really is a heaven, I hope it is at the foot of Mount Fuji."

"That way I won't have to move." The woman took out a cigarette case from her pocket, skillfully tapped out a cigarette, and asked, "Want one, young man?"

Jun Matsue shook her head, then turned and walked toward the nearest streetlight, her figure disappearing into the darkness by the water.

The boy stood there for a while, and only started walking towards the girl on the sandbar when she bent down and rummaged through her backpack.

"Do you need any help?" He stood next to Natsumi Imokawa, with the sound of flowing water beneath his feet.

"I can't put my backpack down right now..." the girl said, twisting her neck. "There's a folding chair inside, could you help me get it out?"

Jun Matsue took out a chair, zipped up his backpack, and the girl opened the chair, put the camera in recording mode, and placed it on the chair.

"I suddenly wanted to take some photos from this angle; I thought it would be quite interesting," she said, standing up and explaining to the boy next to her.

"Imokawa, aren't you going to sit?" Jun Matsue looked at the girl's legs. She was still wearing her school uniform skirt and looked a little cold.

"Because there's only one chair, I want to stand with Matsue."

The girl's eyes twinkled in the darkness, like stars in the sky.

They fell silent naturally, and the swan family swam slowly past the young boy and girl, disappearing into the mist.

"Imokawa, actually I'm quite envious of you."

"Huh?" The girl looked up in surprise. "Me?"

The boy nodded. "You have your own goals and hobbies, you have a direction and methods for working hard, and your family supports you."

“Every time I chat with you, watch you edit, and learn from you, it’s like watching you take the future you’re looking forward to, little by little, and turn it into reality. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

"Everyone does it, right?" The girl touched her cheek shyly. "There's nothing special about it."

“That’s already quite remarkable.” Jun Matsueda smiled.

He felt powerless and helpless, so watching the girl striving towards her goal was a kind of comfort.

"Is that so?" The insecure girl chose to believe him. "Then can I help Songzhi? Can I make you happier?"

"Just chatting like this is fine."

"Then you can talk to me more often!" Natsumi Imokawa said again, mustering her courage. "I'm really tight-lipped; my dad never hides his secret stash of money from me!"

"Okay." The boy smiled.

"You've made plans?"

"It's arranged."

But the girl wasn't satisfied yet. "Um, I need to get up early tomorrow to photograph Mount Fuji. Do you want to come with me, Matsu?"

“Sure.” Jun Matsueda glanced at the time. “Then we should go to bed early, it’s getting late.”

“Then let’s go back now!” Natsumi Imokawa picked up her camera and folding chair, turned around and left.

"Are you leaving?" The woman, having finished her cigarette, appeared in front of them.

"Yes, thank you for tonight!" The girl bowed obediently. "We'll come again tomorrow morning."

On the way back to camp, Jun Matsueda turned on his flashlight to illuminate the road ahead, but Natsumi Imokawa didn't look at the road and instead secretly looked at the boy's profile.

Although Songzhi wasn't very happy tonight, and although she didn't know why she was a little unhappy when the boy talked about his relationship troubles, she still felt a bit down.

But that's how she met Songzhi, took a walk with him, and made a promise.

So she was very happy.

Chapter 428 Pink Sunrise

Jun Matsue usually sleeps well, but he still woke up several times on his first night at the camp.

The first time I woke up was when Ken Sakamuro crawled into his tent. Men tend to be very energetic when they are in the wild. I don't know what they did in the camp, but Ken Sakamuro didn't come back until after midnight.

The second time was when he heard whispers outside his tent—Matsueda Jun initially thought there were thieves in the camp, but after crawling out of his sleeping bag, he discovered that it was a group of girls who couldn't sleep gathered together telling ghost stories.

Before crawling back into his sleeping bag, he glanced at his phone lying beside him; his senior still hadn't seen his messages.

He thought he saw it in the message notification, but he didn't want to open the chat window... With that thought in mind, the boy closed his eyes again.

When he opened his eyes for the third time, the surroundings were unexpectedly quiet. Jun Matsue blinked, but he didn't move. He just stared blankly at the tent fabric above his head.

He seemed to wake up naturally. He asked his body if it didn't want to sleep anymore, so he unzipped his sleeping bag.

Emerging from the tent, just past five in the morning, it was still pitch black. The cold air pressed against Matsueda Jun's face. He pulled his coat collar tighter and headed towards the sink for washing.

Ten minutes later, he met Imokawa Natsumi with a camera at the camp entrance. She had changed into long pants, and her thin sports jacket couldn't hide her bulging chest. When the girl saw him, she was excited and wanted to shout, but then she remembered the time and covered her mouth, waving vigorously at him.

As the boy approached, she eagerly moved closer and bounced around a couple of times.

"Pine Branch, let's go!"

A little after 5:30, the two arrived at the shore of Hirano where they had stayed the night before. The layers of blackness that covered the sky were gradually peeled away, and golden light could be seen at the end of the distant mountains.

This place is considered a scenic spot, but October is the off-season for Mount Fuji, and the transportation and accommodation conditions at Lake Yamanaka are not the best among the Fuji Five Lakes, so there were only a few scattered people nearby.

"Get ready to shoot the sunrise!" Natsumi Imokawa whispered, as if encouraging herself. She walked down the trail and headed towards the sandbar she had scouted out the night before.

"Did you sleep well last night, Imokawa?" Jun Matsue asked, standing beside her and gazing at the light mist resting on the lake's surface.

"Is it alright? I only woke up once in the middle of the night, but the sleeping bag felt too thick and a little uncomfortable."

"..." He glanced at the curve of the girl's chest, perhaps it wasn't because of the sleeping bag.

"How's Songzhi? Is he sleeping well?"

Natsumi Imokawa stood on the sandbar, her back to the boy, arms outstretched. She shook the backpack behind her, and Jun Matsueda understood what the girl meant and took the backpack off her.

"I'd say it's just so-so." He watched as the girl took out a tripod and another camera from her bag and began assembling them.

"They had quite a few activities last night. Not to mention the bonfire party, the boys were still wandering outside the tents past midnight, and the girls were even gathering together to tell ghost stories by lighting matches in the middle of the night."

While listening attentively, Natsumi Imokawa assembled the tripod, fixed the camera, and adjusted the lens. "This camera will be placed here to record the entire sunrise process. I will then take another camera to take photos freely."

She suddenly remembered something, "Um, did your senior reply to your message?"

“Read but not replied.” Jun Matsue shrugged. He only found out on the way here and didn’t know what time his senior had gone to bed last night.

“Hmm…” Natsumi Imokawa didn’t know what to say, so she turned her head away.

"Let's look at Mount Fuji instead!"

The two walked back and forth on the shore, the girl's camera shutter clicking incessantly. The golden light on the horizon gradually drew closer, the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji lit up, and a soft pink hue spread all the way down to the foot of the mountain.

"Today's Fuji is pink!" Natsumi Imokawa exclaimed with delight.

The sunrise process was short, lasting only two or three minutes. The originally hazy sky turned into a clear blue, which made people feel relaxed.

"This is a beautiful view that you could enjoy with your lover," Jun Matsue thought, gazing at the distant mountaintop.

The young woman had originally planned to leave after photographing the sunrise, but a flock of swans leisurely swimming by caught her attention. The female photographer, dressed like a hunter, also appeared precisely at the appointed time, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, waving to the two from the roadside.

So the two stayed a little longer. Natsumi Imokawa chatted with the swan for a while and then exchanged shooting experiences with a woman not far away, until it was broad daylight and Jun Matsueda's phone popped up with a message.

The message didn't come from the senior student, but from two girls in his group.

"Matsueda-kun, breakfast is ready~" Tomatsu Yuka's tone was rather gentle.

"Where did you go?" Mochizuki Haruka asked bluntly. "Sakamuro Ken said you disappeared as soon as you woke up."

"We'll be right back," the boy replied to both of them, then looked at the girl beside him.

"Imokawa, it's time to go back."

The woman bent down, adjusted her hat, and said goodbye to them.

Back at the campsite, the entrance was the campsite of Class 5. Imokawa Natsumi turned around and looked at the boy behind her.

"Pine branch, remember, you can talk to me if you have any worries."

The girl waved and disappeared behind the tent. Jun Matsue continued forward and soon saw the familiar campsite.

Sakamuro Ken was gesturing with a wooden stick to the boys in the open space behind, Tomatsu Yuka was sitting in front of a frying pan, intently watching the sizzling fried eggs, bacon and bread, and Mochizuki Haruka was sitting not far away from her, looking bored.

"You actually know how to come back?" Seeing the boy appear, Mochizuki Haruka stood up from her chair. "What were you doing so early in the morning?"