Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"However, the Yamami family's requirements for sons-in-law are somewhat different from the norm. We do not have any requirements regarding the abilities of the adopted sons-in-law."

“A bit unexpected.” Jun Matsue blinked as several bats flew past him.

"Because our family is large and we have no shortage of heirs, we value character more than ability."

"Those with criminal records, loan records, long-term defaults, or chaotic private lives... none of these are allowed."

"Matsueda-kun is still very young, he shouldn't have any blemishes in this regard, right?"

"But you seem to be quite popular with girls, huh? You'd better handle that yourself~" The woman's voice carried a hint of mischievousness.

"……I see."

Jun Matsuoka stood up and continued walking along the riverbank.

The water narrowed, revealing rocks and sandbars. The silhouettes of several boys were jumping around, making "ga-ga" laughs, which reminded him of kappa.

“But Matsueda-kun will surely ask again,” the woman continued, “then why did my husband stop being an actor?”

"Is it because of the family rules?" He already had a guess. "Is it because we're not allowed to show our faces in public or something?"

"Pretty much." The laughter in Yami Ikuka's voice had vanished. "Professions like actor, singer, voice actor, and idol are not allowed."

"Of course, the Yami family also has businesses involved in the arts and culture industry, but we only handle the operations and never get involved ourselves."

"No one who is a member of the Yami family, whether they were born with the surname Yami or married into the family, is allowed to engage in professions that use their appearance as a selling point."

“Matsueda-kun knows I used to play music, right? Actually, I used to have my own band.”

“That’s not surprising.” Jun Matsue nodded; her older sister’s cool demeanor was undeniable.

“Our band was very popular in high school. Back then, many companies wanted to sign us, and I thought about developing it as a career.”

"But before I enrolled in university, my dad and grandpa talked to me about the so-called 'obligations' and 'responsibilities,' so I gave up on the idea."

“It was a difficult process for me to give up,” the woman added. “In short, I finally gave in.”

Silence fell on both ends of the phone call. Jun Matsue stopped and looked at the old man sitting by the river drinking not far away.

Did the senior student witness her older sister give in...? Such thoughts flashed through his mind.

After a few birdsongs, Yamami Ikuka finally spoke again.

“All members of the Yami family must decide their career path according to the family’s advice, and everyone will eventually work in the family business, with virtually no exceptions.”

"I am currently in charge of managing the performance and equipment business in the family music market. My husband is my deputy, responsible for liaising with other companies."

“I know he doesn’t really want to work in the family business—I spent two months in Kyoto with him, traveling around and being very compliant in bed, but it only made him accept it reluctantly.”

“I know he still watches the TV series and movies he starred in back then. At that time, he was on the rise in his career, and people who knew him believed that he had the potential to become a rising star in the industry, or even a rising star.”

"But I pulled this sun down with my own hands."

"So, Matsueda-kun, do you know what I was thinking when I saw you in Maki's practice room?"

“Another promising young man is about to enter the Yamami family’s grave.”

Chapter 376 Jun Matsugae's Reciprocity

The wind on the riverbank picked up, like the breath of the Kamo River, and the grass at Jun Matsue's feet swayed incessantly.

"Of course, for most people in the Yami family, there's nothing wrong with the family's planning."

"After all, work is work and life is life. Whatever you want to do after work is fine as long as it doesn't damage the family's image."

“People like me are actually the odd ones out in the family.” Yami Ikuka’s voice was very calm. “I did have opinions about what my grandfather and the others did, but in the end I accepted it.”

"Perhaps this proves that Grandpa and the others were right."

What do you think, Matsueda-kun?

"...I might not know until I actually join the Yami family."

The woman's laughter came through the receiver and quickly faded away by the river. "Matsueda-kun, do you have any ideas for the future? Do you have any goals you want to pursue?"

"No, right?" Jun Matsue wasn't quite sure. "Ikuka-nee should know about my background. For me, a stable life is enough."

"Where's the band? You guys performed before, right?"

"I don't have any plans to professionalize the band. Although performing on stage is really great, it's fine to just treat it as a hobby."

“Matsueda-kun is surprisingly boring,” Yami Ikuka said with disappointment. “I wish my husband were like you.”

Jun Matsueda smiled. "Mr. Yamami is an adult who has already decided on his future, while I am still a high school student who has not yet entered society. Of course, our thoughts are different."

A man's voice came from the other end of the phone asking a question, and he tactfully ended the conversation.

"That's enough for now. I've had a good chat with Sister Yuxiang tonight. Thank you very much."

After hanging up the phone, Jun Matsue stood there for a while, making sure the old man drinking not far away wouldn't fall into the river drunk, before turning around and walking back to the hotel.

As the journey progressed from darkness to light, the number of couples standing at equal intervals remained the same. Jun Matsue suddenly wondered what Ikuka would think if she were looking at these couples staring blankly at each other on the banks of the Kamo River.

When he returned to the hotel entrance, he happened to meet three girls wearing yukatas. Mochizuki Haruka licked her ice cream cone and nodded to him demurely.

"You're back? You're not going out again, are you?"

"I'm tired from walking." Jun Matsueda walked up to Yosei Kurusu, who was holding two ice cream cones. "Which one is mine?"

"Uh." The girl blinked guiltily and handed him the vanilla one.

"Yoshi-nee just said she wanted to eat two each..." Miyamura Aya whispered a report from behind the two.

"Shut up!"

When Jun Matsueda returned to his room to get a change of clothes and headed towards the bathhouse, Haruka Mochizuki once again blocked his doorway.

"What? Are you going to come with me into the bath?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

The girl raised an eyebrow in return. "There's a private hot spring here. If you'd like, I wouldn't mind soaking in it with you."

With things having come to this, Jun Matsueda had no choice but to admit defeat. He tried to get around Haruka Mochizuki, but the girl grabbed the boy's clothes and sniffed them.

"Hey, hey." The girl's actions reminded him of the days six months ago when his house was possessed by a spirit.

"It's alright, go take a shower."

Mochizuki Haruka released her grip. She had confirmed that the boy didn't have any strange scents, and the girl was now completely relieved.

Matsueda Jun usually takes a quick bath, but since he was on vacation, he decided to soak for a while longer, until all the pores on his body were fully open in the warm water before leaving the bath.

Cell phones are not allowed in the bathhouse, so he only saw the message from his senior on his way back to his room.

"Time to go to sleep!"

"Good morning." Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone; it was a little past nine. He found his room, where he could hear the girls laughing and chatting.

These guys... He had no choice but to go to the vending machine at the end of the corridor and buy a bottle of milk, while continuing to chat with his senior.

Drinking milk after taking a bath is a habit that Yosei Kurusu brought to him.

"There's nothing we can do, that's just how the older generation keeps," the girl said with a helpless emoji. "Besides, there aren't many activities in Kyoto at night."

"Aren't there any family gatherings or anything like that?" Jun Matsueda thought of those scenes of clinking glasses and toasts on TV.

"Yes, there are, but we are here to visit the patient, and Grandpa has a very good relationship with the old man, so it is not appropriate for me to participate in these activities."

"So you can only chat with me now."

"That's right~"

Jun Matsue, standing in the corridor, and Maki Yamami, lying on the bed, both laughed at the same time.

"Did you receive my gift, Pine Branch?"

"I received the candy and the book."

"Really? Has Matsueda read that book? I didn't have much time at the time, but I chose it because its name was related to 'love'."

"...It's a good book, a very interesting one."

After returning to his hotel, Jun Matsueda flipped through "The People Who Love," and to be honest, this collection of short stories was somewhat hard to describe...

He had already finished reading the first story—the protagonist's former lover, Minako, passed away due to illness. After discussing it with his wife, he adopted his former lover's orphaned daughter, Yukiko. It wasn't until Yukiko grew up and got married that he discovered the girl had long since fallen in love with him.

At the end of the story, on his way home, the protagonist was "constantly flashing with the electric light of love that had continued from Minako to Yukiko."

It's a story of love that's somewhat subtle and immoral, and it turns out that Yamami Maki's choice of it was just a coincidence.

Having lingered in the corridor for quite some time, Matsueda Jun was a little worried that Mochizuki Haruka would find him, so he asked his senior about tomorrow's schedule one last time.

"Are you going to Inari Shrine tomorrow afternoon, senior? We're going there in the morning too."

He thought for a moment, "Then I'll also give my senior a surprise."

"What? What?" the girl sent a bird jumping emoji.

"I'll tell you when we get to the shrine tomorrow."

"hateful--"

Jun Matsue returned to his room with the empty milk bottle, and the girls who were playing cards on the floor started chattering excitedly.

"The pine branches are so slow!" Yosei Kurusu patted the pillow on his lap.

Mochizuki Haruka didn't speak, she just stared at him silently.

"It soaked for a little too long, and then I drank a bottle of milk," the boy explained, throwing the milk bottle into the trash can.

"Brother Chun, Brother Chun, the mountain we saw during our evening walk was Mount Daimonji, which was to be burned down during the Gozans no Sukhawadei (Five Mountains Sacrifice to Fire)..."

The girls' voices filled his room until silence returned before he went to sleep.

The following afternoon, Jun Matsue, who was sitting on the tram, received a message from Maki Yamami.

"We've found a surprise!"

The girl sent me a picture of an ema (votive plaque) from a shrine, with an amulet from Shimo-araku Shrine hanging on it.

The ema (votive plaque) features a large heart and a note left by Jun Matsue.

"I welcome Ms. Yamami to leave more marks on my heart."

Chapter 377 The Old Man and the Heron

On the evening of August 15th, Jun Matsue walked along the Kamo River once again.

"I don't see anything special about the Kamo River, so why does Matsue always come here for walks?"

Yosei Kurusu turned around and asked the boy behind her. She was holding a string of chewy grilled dumplings covered in bright red sweet soy sauce.

"Well, how should I put it?" The boy pondered, gazing at the faintly glowing night sky above. "It's just that it's so ordinary that I feel quite at ease walking here."

"Besides, there's no river in Mitaka either." Mochizuki Haruka took a bite of the green dumpling in her hand. She had chosen the mugwort flavor, which tasted pretty good.

"Taking a walk along the riverbank in the evening breeze after dinner in the summer feels really nice~" Miyamura Aya nodded contentedly after finishing the last bite of her brown sugar bean dumpling.

This is the third day of the four-person team in Kyoto. They just returned from Nara by high-speed train and bought a bunch of matcha products in Uji along the way.

Over the next two days, the paths of Jun Matsuoka and Maki Yami will intersect in space, but they will not meet in time.

They didn't insist on meeting, but tacitly searched for traces of each other in the unfamiliar city.

But tomorrow, these two threads that have been circling around Kyoto will finally meet.

"Isn't it the Five Mountains Fireworks Festival tomorrow night? Where's the best place to watch it?" Kurusu Yosei mumbled, swallowing a soy sauce dumpling in one bite.

The girls, their dinners still undigested, sat down on the embankment across the river, mimicking the couples there, as the grass rustled in the breeze, and began discussing their plans for the next evening.

Is there a place where I can see all the characters from the Five Mountains at the same time?

The so-called "Gozan no Hi" (Five Mountains Fire Offering) is a ceremony in which flames are lit in specific areas on five mountains in Kyoto to burn out words and patterns. It is one of the "Four Great Events" of Kyoto.

“Yes, there is.” Jun Matsueda sat in front of the girls. “We just need to find a high-rise building with a suitable location.”

"But that would make the distance too far, and the effect wouldn't be as good."

Yosei Kurusu plucked a blade of grass from the ground and lightly tossed it at the boy in front of her. "Where do you think it would be better to go, Pine Branch?"

“Hirosawa Pond,” Jun Matsue said, stating his destination. “It’s near Arashiyama, and we haven’t been there yet.”

"Besides the torii-shaped flames, you can also see flowing lanterns on the day, which is very beautiful."

Of course, the most important reason is that the Yamami family also watches the Gozan no Okuribi (Five Mountains Fireworks) here.