Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"Aren't you going to pray for a good marriage?" Mochizuki Haruka stood beside Kurusu Yosei, watching Miyamura Aya pull Matsueda Jun toward the souvenir shop.

"Idols' love lives are generally not very smooth, right?"

“I don’t really believe in this kind of thing.” Kurusu Yosei glanced at her. “Besides, visiting shrines costs money, and I don’t want to just spend the money I’ve worked so hard to earn.”

"..." Mochizuki Haruka walked towards Matsueda Jun, but the idol girl seemed to have started talking and continued to chatter after her.

"Am I the only one who finds this strange? Isn't this behavior just a way to change one's life by paying a small price?"

"Placing your hopes on this kind of thing feels less worthwhile than buying a lottery ticket—at least the probability of getting a return in the lottery is clearly stated there."

"I think it's more reliable to just put in the hard work honestly."

Mochizuki Haruka stopped in her tracks, somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to say something like that."

"Because I got to where I am today through hard work~" Yosei Kurusu's smile was the opposite of her words, carrying a carefree innocence—that's just the kind of personality a girl has, even when facing her love rival, her smile can be so bright.

"And didn't you also not visit the shrine?" she said, looking at Mochizuki Haruka, who had a cold expression.

"Because I don't believe in God either." The girl said this and walked towards Jun Matsueda, who was choosing a talisman.

Mochizuki Haruka had once believed in God. During the days when her aunt was in a coma, she visited every shrine and temple in Tokyo that was said to be efficacious, but she received no response.

In the end, it wasn't a god who changed her life, but the boy standing in front of her and the system he rejected.

And herself.

"Is that so?" Kurusu Yosei walked up to her with a smile. "It seems we still have times when we can get along."

"I wish it weren't so," the girl replied coldly.

"Hey, Matsue, do you believe in God?" Kurusu Yosei ran over to the other boy.

"Me?" Jun Matsue put down the souvenir in his hand. "I guess I belong to the indifferent group."

The fact that he can still stand here now is perhaps due to some kind of supernatural power. As for whether it is a prank by the gods or the obsession of the system, we don't know.

"If you don't care about pine branches, how about you worship Kurusu God?" Kurusu Yosei struck a holy pose. "Kurusu Yosei, who grants all requests, should be more efficacious than most gods~"

“That sounds good.” Jun Matsue clapped his hands.

"You have no opinions of your own, how pathetic." Mochizuki Haruka rolled her eyes at him, and the boy put his hand down again.

Despite saying they didn't believe in God, the two girls eventually left the forest with the amulets from Shimogamo Shrine.

The reason is simple: the amulets are just really pretty.

Chapter 374 The Philosophical Path, Night Stroll Along the Kamo River

The four-person team ultimately did not go to Kifune Shrine.

Because there are so many temples and shrines in Kyoto, even just a casual stroll around the Kamo River Delta is enough to keep girls occupied for quite a while.

After the sun gradually set, the four-person team had dinner at a restaurant near Ginkaku-ji Temple.

"It feels like there are as many temples in Kyoto as there are suits on the streets of Tokyo."

As Yosuke Kuraki slurped his noodles, he sighed with delight.

Jun Matsueda thought for a moment, "Then I think there are more men in suits in Tokyo."

There are more men in suits in Tokyo than trash on the streets.

For dinner, the four of us had the restaurant's specialty, mountain vegetable udon noodles. The mountain vegetables were slightly sweet, refreshing, and delicious, and paired with fried shrimp tempura, it was quite good.

“But Kyoto and Tokyo are indeed very different.” Aya Miyamura took a sip of her noodle soup and looked at the gradually reddening sunset outside.

"Matsuha-tei, Gomi-shi, Tsukitai-an... I feel like I rarely see such classical-sounding names in Tokyo."

The girl was referring to the restaurants they had seen along the way; Songye Pavilion was where they were eating now.

"You can't say that," the middle-aged woman sitting at the counter said lazily, interrupting their conversation.

"While Tokyoites may not have the best taste in naming things, at least they're down-to-earth. Brands like Yoshinoya and Matsuya sound very approachable, which is why they're so popular all over the country."

"Haha..." Cai Jiang laughed awkwardly twice, then obediently lowered her head to eat her noodles.

Matsueda Jun and Mochizuki Haruka, who was sitting opposite each other, looked up at the same time. The girl didn't say anything, but just winked at him.

But for some reason, the boy seemed to understand what she meant—the cicadas in Kyoto were still too noisy.

After dinner, the girls planned to take a walk to digest their food, and headed south along the Philosopher's Path next to Ginkaku-ji Temple.

Miyamura Aya walked ahead, arm in arm with two girls, while Matsueda Jun brought up the rear alone. The stone-paved road was lined with simple white flowers. He casually took a few photos and sent them to Yamami Maki and Imokawa Natsumi.

Of course, the girls in front of you won't appear in the photos sent to your senior.

The Philosopher's Path is just a small, tree-lined trail with no particularly spectacular scenery, but it's perfect for strolling along with the gentle, nameless stream at sunset, when the evening glow is in the air.

It was in this relaxed atmosphere that Jun Matsue received a message from Tomoka Tomatsu.

"Did Matsueda go to Kyoto?"

After thinking for a while, Jun Matsue sent another copy of the photo he had just sent to his senior, this time to Yuka Tomatsu.

"Taking a walk on the Philosopher's Trail in Kyoto after dinner."

"Is no one else here?"

He took another picture of the girls walking hand in hand ahead, and Tomatsu Yuka replied with a bunny-like nodding emoji, "The scenery looks really nice~"

"It's actually unbearably hot, but it's getting a little better now that the sun is about to set."

"It's a bit cooler here in Qingmei, and the atmosphere during practice is great~" The girl seemed to finally relax and started chatting about everyday topics.

Are you confident of advancing?

"It's hard to say," Tomatsu Yuka sent a voice message. Her voice was softer than usual, reminding Matsueda Jun of another girl.

"Because the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament directly qualifies for the National Tournament, there are no regional tournaments, so the competition is actually very fierce..."

“Even Tomatsu’s saxophone won’t work?” Junya Matsueda chose to send a voice message—typing would be distracting, and the stone path wasn’t flat; it would be troublesome if he accidentally fell into the river.

"No way~" the girl's voice was tinged with laughter.

"While I'm happy that Matsu-san said that, Tomatsu's saxophone is just a saxophone~"

Tomatsu Yuka sent him messages all the way, from the environment and weather in Omega to her daily diet and the little incidents during her daily training, until Matsueda Jun reached the end of the Philosopher's Trail and told the girl that he had to take the train.

"Let's chat again next time~" The girl's voice was obedient as she sent the last message.

"I think Yamami-senpai is in Kyoto too. Will you guys try to meet up?"

Tomatsu Yuka sat on a bench in the green park, the cold glow of her phone screen reflecting off her face, erasing the smile from her expression.

This was a text message, because the girl didn't want Matsueda Jun to hear the details in her tone. She waited anxiously for a reply, and a cold light flashed across her face.

"It seems like my senior came to Kyoto for family matters, so we probably won't meet."

"What a pity," was her reply.

"That's great..." Tomatsu Yuka breathed a sigh of relief and put her phone aside.

If her senior and Matsueda met, she was afraid she would abandon the brass band and run straight to Kyoto...

The girl sat alone on the bench, lost in thought, until a cool breeze blew through the trees, at which point she stood up and walked toward the hotel.

After returning to the hotel by subway, the girls discussed it and decided that their plan for the evening was to rest.

Kyoto doesn't have much of a nightlife, and it's almost impossible to find any shopping malls open after 8 p.m. Besides, our group of four had already walked quite a bit today, so it was more comfortable to just soak in the bath at the hotel.

But Jun Matsueda still planned to go out.

"where are you going?"

Mochizuki Haruka stood at the door of Matsueda Jun's room. She had just returned from the bath, wearing a yukata with a cat paw pattern, and even her tone had become lazy and cute.

Sitting on the bed, Jun Matsueda blinked. "I'm just taking a casual stroll. After all, it's still early."

The girl approached silently, squatted down in front of the boy, and scrutinized his eyes with her bright black pupils, like a cat's.

"I'll go with you." Her breath brushed against Matsueda Jun's face, sweet and fragrant.

“No problem.” Jun Matsueda nodded without hesitation. “You’re going out in a yukata?”

"It doesn't matter, I'm just taking a stroll anyway." Mochizuki Haruka echoed his words, straightened up, and walked towards the door.

However, after the two had walked 500 meters from the hotel, the girl suddenly stopped moving.

"I'm tired. You can explore on your own. I'm going back."

Mochizuki Haruka didn't want to go out again, but she followed him because she was afraid that Matsueda Jun wanted to find an opportunity to meet Yami Maki. Now that she realized the boy was just taking a walk, she naturally went home.

"That guy..." Jun Matsue watched the cat-paw yukata's back recede into the distance, disappearing from the hotel entrance.

The boy turned around and continued walking along the dimly lit river—the hotel was right next to the Kamo River, a place locals often passed by on their nighttime outings, so his reason for going out for a stroll was actually quite reasonable.

"Could it be that her evil aunt told her something?" Jun Matsueda felt that the cat girl's vigilance had been unusually high lately.

But that's not the issue to consider right now. He took out his phone and looked at the message that Yamami Ikuka had sent him not long ago.

"I'm free tonight, sister. If you have anything you want to ask, you can call me."

That's the real reason he went out.

Chapter 375 Walking by the River, Entering the Grave

Before calling Ikuka Yamami, Jun Matsueda walked along the Kamo River for a few minutes.

He could make phone calls from inside the hotel, but considering the possibility that the three girls staying next door might bother him, he chose to go outside.

As Kyoto's most famous river, the Kamo River at night is neither wide nor deep, flowing silently, with nothing particularly special about it except for the relatively loud sound of the water.

The hotel where Jun Matsueda was located was in a bustling area along the Kamo River. Wooden platforms called "cooling beds" were set up on the riverbank, and the lights were quite bright, so you could clearly see the backs of couples sitting on the riverbank.

After the light along the coast began to dim, he took out his phone and dialed his sister's number.

"Hello? Can you hear me, Matsueda-kun?"

The woman's voice reminded Jun Matsueda of his roommate's behavior after drinking.

"Good evening, Sister Yuxiang. Have you been drinking?"

"You had a little to drink with dinner. Are you already in Kyoto?"

"We arrived around noon and are now taking a walk along the Kamo River."

Someone rode a bicycle from the opposite direction from Jun Matsueda. He stepped aside to let them pass. The bicycle basket was filled with vegetables and flowers, and the fresh scent wafted past him.

"The Kamo River..." The woman's voice carried a hint of melancholy, perhaps due to the effects of alcohol.

"Aren't there still a lot of couples sitting on the shore?"

Jun Matsuo glanced at the roadside. He was walking on the path along the riverbank. Even though the lights were off, the couple's silhouettes could still be seen on the grassy slope.

That's right.

Nostalgic laughter rang out through the receiver, drowned out by the sound of flowing water in the darkness. "Back when I was still deeply in love, I was one of the many couples on the shore."

"Sister Yuxiang came here with her boyfriend before."

He didn't use his husband's words—that his sister might have had more than one relationship.

“We had just gotten engaged at that time, and it was also when he decided to retire from the entertainment industry. It took me two months in Kyoto to comfort him.”

A sharp cry of birds rang out from the water, briefly breaking the flow. Jun Matsue left the path and sat down facing the river.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Did you fall into the river?" Yami Ikuka's tone became more alert.

"I'd like to know about Sister Yuxiang's husband's marriage into her family, or rather, how can we get her elders to approve of our relationship?"

The sound of a woman's footsteps and wind chimes came from the other end of the phone; she seemed to have gone outside.

"Looks like Matsueda-kun hasn't seen Maki yet today?"

"Yes, because I came here on vacation with my friends, and my senior has also made arrangements. We should be able to meet during the Five Mountains Fire Sending Ceremony."

He gazed at the couples equidistant from each other on the opposite bank of the river.

Regarding Kyoto, someone wrote in a book that the three greatest misfortunes in the world are the coldness of one's toes, a man's heart, and the couples by the Kamo River.

This is the so-called "Kamo River Equal Interval Rule". These couples who sit side by side on the banks of the Kamo River, regardless of summer or winter, are enough to make young people who are alone feel a great sense of defeat and longing.

Ikuka Yamami cleared her throat. "If Matsueda-kun is dating with marriage in mind, then marrying into your family is your only option. There is no other way."