Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 137

"How about this one?" The girl pulled out a CD with a cover that showed a robot and a standing and walking puppy.

"The Robot's Dream".

"Let's choose this one."

Natsumi Imokawa turned on the living room light again, and the coat and underwear on the sofa appeared from the darkness.

The girl remained still for two seconds, then climbed onto the sofa as quickly as possible, gathered all her clothes in her arms, and ran towards her room.

When she returned to the living room, Jun Matsueda was already sitting on the sofa as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't seen anything.

So Natsumi Imokawa pretended nothing had happened and stuffed the disc into the machine under the TV.

However, her clumsy movements, reddened earlobes, and the fact that she had to insert the disc twice to get it in revealed the girl's inner embarrassment.

The moment the TV screen lit up, the girl hurriedly walked around the coffee table, returned to the sofa, and sat down next to Jun Matsueda.

Matsueda Jun suddenly felt a little dazed. He remembered the nights he watched TV dramas with Kurusu Yosei and the afternoons he watched movies with Mochizuki Haruka in an empty classroom at school.

This kind of time spent sitting on the sofa with others seems to have become his daily routine.

The one-hour and forty-minute animated film, devoid of dialogue, creates a cramped sense of security in the darkened living room. The two people sitting on the sofa breathe softly; if one moves even slightly, the other can feel it through the sofa surface, as if their bodies are connected by some invisible medium.

It's just a story about a robot and a dog meeting, two lonely beings keeping each other company, and eventually parting ways.

As the film ended, Jun Matsueda looked at the girl beside him. Natsumi Imokawa had seen it before, but she still fluttered her eyelashes and quietly shed tears.

The television light shone on her face; the girl's eyes were focused, her face carrying a faint sadness, yet also a heartfelt joy from watching a good film.

Natsumi Imokawa turned her head, her eyes, brimming with tears, were exceptionally clear, becoming the sole focus in the dark space.

"Pine Branch...the movie was so good..."

Jun Matsue laughed as he listened to the girl's childlike babbling.

"What are you laughing at!" Natsumi Imokawa pushed him to express her displeasure.

"It's nothing, it's really beautiful."

Chapter 227 At the End of the World, the Girl Announces Her Return

On the fourth day of school, during the last period of the morning, which was math, Jun Matsue was scribbling in his notebook.

The numbers A and 1 on the timetable have been changed to numbers B and 2. Even in humanities classes, math is still taught, but the textbooks are thinner than those for science students.

The teacher on stage was explaining the figures and equations in the math textbook. Jun Matsue turned to the next page of his draft notebook and wrote down the words "Class 6, Grade 2".

After three days, he, as the class monitor, had integrated into the class and basically grasped the situation within it.

"Interpersonal relationships," Jun Matsuoka wrote down these words and circled them. There were quite a few people in the class who knew each other. After all, there were only six classes in the whole grade, and so far no obvious conflicts had been found.

The only possible conflict should lie between Tomatsu Yuka and the only girl in the class who hasn't shown up yet. Matsueda Jun looked at the seat to his left.

Besides the students from Class 2, Jun Matsue also saw Rion, the girl from Class 1. She was sitting by the window, listening to the lesson quite attentively.

He's at least more serious than Jun Matsue, who's always slacking off.

“Continue to observe.” He wrote this conclusion next to the circle.

"Class atmosphere" mainly refers to the learning atmosphere and class spirit. When he was in Kominato Shoko's office, Matsueda Jun had noticed the students' usual grades, which were probably the highest among the three humanities classes. In the three days, he did not find any troublesome or delinquent students, and the class was harmonious.

Judging from this, the pressure of being the class monitor shouldn't be too great. Jun Matsue closed his notebook and looked at the teacher on the podium, who was lecturing on exponential functions.

The bell rang, and the middle-aged man on the stage, adhering to the principle of leaving get off work on time, walked out of the classroom.

If things get too busy in class, we might as well just hand them over to Tomatsu Yuka. Matsueda Jun looked at the girl beside him, who blinked in confusion, looking a little dazed.

In the newspaper office after school, Jun Matsue sat in the first seat on the left and looked at the girl sitting at the head of the conference table next to him.

Natsumi Imokawa blinked a little too quickly, and seemed a bit nervous.

"Um, I am Natsumi Imokawa. I am honored to be the head of the newspaper club for the new semester."

"Please take good care of me!" The girl stood up, bowed, and then looked at Jun Matsueda sitting next to her.

"I am Jun Matsueda. It is an honor to serve as the vice minister. I hope you will continue to support me in the new year."

"We all know each other already, is it really necessary to introduce ourselves?" Kasae, now a third-year student, spoke with a more assertive tone.

Laughter filled the room, and the atmosphere returned to its usual ambiance.

"It's all about the sense of ceremony!" Tsushima Kou, sitting at the lower end of the table, still had a beaming smile on his face. "It marks the beginning of a new year for the news department."

"Minister Imokawa must have other matters to discuss, right?"

“Yes.” Natsumi Imokawa nodded, trying to make her expression serious. “I would like to hear everyone’s opinions regarding the new student registration and the review process.”

Jun Matsue nodded silently. He had spent a long time practicing with the girl in the clubroom before the meeting started.

People started discussing it.

"For recruitment, it's best to fill out the application form normally. You can refer to the backup on the department's computer for the application form, and you can also make modifications."

"The previous review criteria mainly focused on three aspects: writing, photography, and interviewing..."

The press conference lasted for nearly half an hour. Jun Matsue watched as the girl next to him went from sitting upright and trembling with fear at the beginning to listening to others speak while holding a camera and nodding in agreement.

"Being a minister is easier than you think, isn't it?"

In the room where only the two of them were, he asked the girl who was lying on the table.

“It’s still a bit difficult.” Natsumi Imokawa said, her head bowed and her voice sounding tired. “I can only listen to them talk; I don’t know how to answer.”

"Anyway, Tsushima-senpai and I are here, let's take it slow." Jun Matsueda picked up the camera on the table and looked at the photos inside.

The most recent picture is of a CD case on the table; it's from the movie the two of them watched last night, Robot Dream.

"Yes, I will try my best." The girl raised her head and gave a forced smile.

"Because directors also have to talk a lot and communicate with many people!"

After leaving the clubroom with Natsumi Imokawa, Jun Matsueda's cat avatar on his phone began to flash.

The girl sent me a picture of a small town nestled among snow-covered hills, with a deep blue bay in the distance.

"Don't they know that the world has come to an end?"

Jun Matsue remembered this sentence; he had read this book on the beach in Otaru.

The chat interface on the screen was quickly covered by voice requests. He stopped walking, and Natsumi Imokawa, who was walking ahead, turned around to look at him.

"I'm going to take this call. Will you wait for me?"

The girl thought for a moment, then said, "See you tomorrow."

Her skirt disappeared at the top of the stairs.

Jun Matsue walked to the edge of the balcony. The sun was beginning to approach the horizon, painting half the sky a dazzling, hazy yellow.

He answered Mochizuki Haruka's voice message.

The sound of wind and the girl's breathing came through the phone's receiver. Neither of them spoke; only their breathing alternated.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Mochizuki Haruka finally spoke, her tone a little willful, reminding Matsueda Jun of their first meeting.

"You didn't want me to talk, did you?"

He leaned on the railing, looking down at the girl with a camera around her neck walking out of the school gate, bathed in the afterglow of the sunset.

"Oh, I see." The girl seemed to only just remember. "From now on, you're free."

"Should I thank you?"

Jun Matsueda's tone was somewhat helpless, while the girl's laughter came from the other end.

Did you see my message? Want to guess where it's from?

He recalled the pictures and texts the girl had sent him.

"You used a line from 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World,' so it must be the so-called 'end of the world,' right?"

"The picture shows residential buildings. Excluding Antarctica, it should be the northernmost or southernmost city?" Jun Matsuoka began to quickly search his geography competition knowledge.

"The southernmost point used to be Ushuaia, but Ushuaia is close to the mountains, and neither the area of ​​the buildings nor the height of the mountains matches the picture."

"The southernmost point now is Port Williams, which is actually right next to Ushuaia. It was originally a naval port town, but there is no trace of such facilities on the coastline in the picture."

"So you went to Longyearbyen, the northernmost city? At 78 degrees north latitude, the temperature is below zero even in April, which matches the characteristics of snow accumulation on the ground."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and Jun Matsue began to doubt his answer.

It's impossible for something to go wrong, right? Ushuaia and Port Williams are only 54 degrees latitude. It's autumn now, and the temperature is above zero. There shouldn't be any snow cover.

He might not have been as focused as he was when he participated in geography competitions.

"A perfect answer." The girl seemed very satisfied, even her voice carried a sweet smile.

Wang Yueyao watched the planes taking off and landing outside the terminal building.

"As a reward, you'll pick me up at Haneda Airport tonight."

Chapter 228 Embarking on the Airport Pickup Journey with the Cat

Listening to the voice coming from the receiver, Jun Matsue faced the setting sun with a somewhat surprised expression.

Are you going back to Tokyo?

"Hmm." Mochizuki Haruka's voice was clear and short. She seemed to be walking while pulling a suitcase. Matsueda Jun heard the sound of wheels and footsteps.

"tonight?"

"Yes!" The girl's tone became a little louder as she nodded vigorously in front of the boarding gate.

"So fast?"

"Mmm—" she uttered a long, sweet nasal sound, like the milk ice cream they had eaten at Chitose Airport before.

"Why are you so surprised?" the girl asked, somewhat displeased. "Don't you want me to come back?"

"I thought you were going to be wandering around the world for quite a while."

Jun Matsue watched the sun set at the edge of the city, turning a warm orange-red that reminded him of the yolk of a soft-boiled egg.

"No matter how much it drifts around, it will eventually go home." Mochizuki gazed at the planes outside the terminal.

"My aunt has adopted a new treatment, and it seems to be making some progress." The girl's words seemed to indicate that her decision to return had nothing to do with some cold-hearted guy.

"So what time will we arrive in Tokyo tonight?" Jun Matsueda chose to ignore her implied meaning, left the balcony, and walked towards the classroom.

"Around nine or ten o'clock, I'm already on my connecting flight."

"It's not early yet." He walked into the classroom and saw that Tomatsu Yuka's schoolbag and instrument bag were not in their seats, so it seemed that she had already gone home.

In the twilight classroom, only Jun Matsueda remained. He turned on speakerphone, placed his phone on Haruka Mochizuki's desk to the left, and began packing his bag.

"What? If you find it troublesome, you don't have to come pick me up."

The girl's sullen voice echoed in the classroom with its doors and windows tightly shut, surrounding the boys who were tidying their desks.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t coming.” Jun Matsue looked up, but didn’t hear a response from the girl.

He left his seat and picked up his phone. The girl had already hung up the voice call and sent him flight information.

"This guy..."

Jun Matsueda carried his schoolbag downstairs and sent a message to Yosei Kurusu on the way.

"What time are you coming back tonight?"

"I don't know! He's still out promoting his album and probably won't be back until quite late."

The girl replied quickly, even sending a crying emoji.

A perfect evening for picking someone up from the airport… Jun Matsue thought to himself as he rode his bike out of the school gate, feeling the evening breeze.

Back at the apartment, it was almost five o'clock. As soon as he pushed open the metal security door, the golden cat ran up to him.

Jinzhi chirped twice playfully, then jumped into Songzhi Jun's arms.

"What's going on?" He quickly reached out and caught it with both hands. The schoolbag he was holding in his right hand fell to the floor of the entryway with a thud.

The cat's head nestled in Jun Matsueda's arms as he carried the cat in one arm and changed his shoes with the other, entering the living room.

"You knew she was coming back?"