Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 147

Yamami Maki looked at the beef brisket in the bowl. The tomatoes were of very good quality, and the broth was as red as blood.

It's not that you have no demands, it's just that you've lost hope in me.

Chapter 246 The Notes of Expectation Rise Again

On April 20th, the Sunday of the third week of school, at 11:00 AM, Jun Matsue and Maki Yami walked out of the school together.

Today is the day of the preliminary round of the biology competition. They have been studying in the school library for three hours and are now preparing to go to the examination center in Ikebukuro to take the exam.

The sunlight on the road was not bright, and the girl's long skirt swayed as the two stopped at the intersection in front of Kugayama Station, waiting for the traffic light to change.

"So Aya-chan ended up joining the Light Music Club?" Yami Maki tilted her head curiously. She had just been discussing the results of the two clubs' recruitment with Matsueda Jun.

Jun Matsueda nodded. "The people in the light music club think she has a good voice and can be the lead singer."

Cai Jiang is quite satisfied with the result. The lead singer doesn't need to buy any instruments, making them arguably the most cost-effective member of the band.

"Tomatsu told me that these past few days, after the brass band practiced, she could still hear Aya singing when she passed by the light music club entrance."

"Isn't that great?" Yami Maki smiled. "It shows that Aya-chan is very enthusiastic."

The traffic light next to the girl turned green and made a bird-like sound. The two of them started walking at the same time and crossed the pedestrian crossing.

Matsueda-san seems to have changed his way of addressing Tomohisa from Tomatsu-san to Tomatsu... Yami Maki blinked. Are their relationships starting to improve again?

Before entering the station, she checked her bag to make sure she hadn't left anything behind.

The train carriage was quite crowded on Sunday noon, but luckily there were still two seats available. The seats were a bit cramped, and Yamami Maki felt the warmth of the boy next to her and hugged her backpack tighter.

"Are you nervous, Matsueda-kun?" the girl suddenly asked. The carriage was a bit noisy, so she moved her face closer to Matsueda Jun so that the people next to her could hear her.

"Generally speaking, whoever asks that is nervous."

Matsue Jun glanced at her, and the girl smiled, took out a handful of candies from her pocket, picked one out for herself, and then held out her hand to the boy. Her fair palm was covered with colorful candies, so beautiful they seemed to glow.

"Same as always, have a candy before the exam~"

He picked out a green one, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. The rich matcha milk flavor gradually melted in his mouth.

"I'm a little surprised that Yamami-senpai is nervous. I feel like you're the kind of person with a big heart." The train arrived at the station, and Matsueda Jun stepped out of the train first, shielding the girl behind him from the crowd.

"When the wind band participated in the national competition, my senior sister never seemed nervous at all, and she cheered everyone on in various ways."

The girl followed Jun Matsueda out of the station, quickening her pace to reach him. "Because I have a lot of confidence in everyone in the brass band!"

“But I find it hard to have that much confidence in myself…” She looked at the building to the left of the station; Rikkyo University, the competition venue, was just behind the complex.

"I haven't thought about beating Kokoro in terms of grades since I graduated from junior high school."

Maki Yamami stood in front of Rikkyo University's old-fashioned red brick gate, looking at the two giant Christmas trees at the entrance, which were the school's iconic plants.

Jun Matsue walked up to the girl and said, "Now, senior, you should think carefully about how to celebrate after defeating her."

Today's event at Rikkyo University is the preliminary round of the Japanese Biology Olympiad, which is being held simultaneously at over 100 schools across Japan. The preliminary round consists of only written tests, and teams of around 80 students will be selected to travel to Kumamoto for the experimental finals.

As he walked into the classically decorated corridor, Jun Matsue waved to the girl standing at the top of the stairs, "My exam room is on the second floor. See you after the exam."

Yamami Maki watched the boy disappear around the corner of the corridor. She stood there for a while, pressed her right hand to her chest, and took a few deep breaths.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from the depths of the corridor, and Jun Matsueda reappeared in the girl's sight, running towards her.

"I almost forgot to cheer for my senior." He took a couple of breaths, slowed his pace, and walked up to Yamami Maki, revealing a bright smile.

"There's nothing to worry about. You're Matsueda-sensei's best student. As long as you're serious, you can definitely take down someone like Kuroba Shin!"

Jun Matsueda clenched his right fist and waved it between the two of them. "Absolutely!"

The girl paused for a moment, then smiled, raised her little fist and bumped it with his. "Absolutely!"

Yamami Maki turned and walked upstairs. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the lush green trees outside and slipped through the stairwell window to the girl's feet, making her footsteps lighter.

From elementary school to junior high, as she lost to Kuroba Shin time and time again, the expectations of her elders gradually disappeared.

"It's okay if you can't do it; winning or losing doesn't mean everything."

"Don't make things too hard for yourself; we don't need this kind of honor."

"Didn't I tell you before? There's no need to compare your grades with hers."

Her parents quickly changed their plans for her upbringing. Since their daughter couldn't be number one academically, they would cultivate her into a refined lady who valued inner qualities and was multi-talented. As long as she behaved maturely enough, no matter how many times Kuroba Shin competed, it would only be a childish victory.

Adults always have their own way of winning, but Yamami Maki just wanted to beat her childhood friend.

Deep down, she was a very competitive and stubborn girl, so even though her parents no longer had high expectations for her studies, she continued to work hard.

Finally, someone said to her, "You can be stronger than Kuroba Shin, go and defeat her." Yamami Maki walked up to the third floor, feeling somewhat emotional.

I thought I was already used to it, but the notes in my heart still couldn't help but leap with joy.

She hadn't experienced this feeling of being anticipated in a long time.

As the girl walked into the classroom, the first thing she saw by the window was her childhood sweetheart, the willful genius in the eyes of the elders.

From childhood, the two girls had a clear division of labor: Kuroba Shin earned various honors through her grades and talent, while Yamami Maki won praise from elders for her maturity and rationality. However, what they wanted most was something that belonged to each other.

Yamami Maki found her seat and sat down, ignoring the faces Kuroba Shin made at her, and waited for the exam to begin.

The bell rang, the test papers were handed out, and the girl picked up her pen and quickly scanned the questions on the test paper.

Most of the test points were within expectations. She had already discussed them with Jun Matsueda many times. There were a few exceptions, such as the relationship between diatom population density and silicic acid. She didn't recall any related questions and would have to set aside time to think about them later.

The girl wrote her name, "Yamami Maki," and her exam number, 2011008, at the top of the exam paper in neat and beautiful handwriting.

It's all Matsueda's fault; she made me look forward to it all over again.

Chapter 247 Because of Belief, Therefore Absolute

Jun Matsuoka walked out of the exam room, picked up his schoolbag, and told his senior that they would meet on the second floor after the exam.

Leaning against the corridor railing, looking at the ivy covering the walls of the opposite teaching building, his eyes, which had been reading Chinese characters for two hours, felt a little soothed.

Rikkyo University is considered by some to be the most beautiful university in Japan, somewhat resembling the style of Oxford and Cambridge in Jun Matsue's memory. Walking around the campus, you can feel the gradual accumulation of time.

He waited in the corridor for five minutes, turned down a girl who tried to talk to him, and then peered over the railing at the third floor.

It's already over, why hasn't the senior come down yet?

The ivy on the opposite wall swayed in the wind as Jun Matsue carried his bag upstairs.

Upon entering the third floor, two girls, one tall and one short, stood by the door of the middle classroom, seemingly chatting. Jun Matsue walked towards them.

The petite girl facing Matsueda Jun noticed his approach and said, "Matsueda, you're here just in time! Come over and we'll check the answers together!"

"With your level of academic ability, do you even need to check the answers?" He walked up to his senior, a position he had to be in to show his firm stance.

"Of course not~" Kuroba Shin snorted proudly, "But waiting for the results to be announced is too slow, I want to know the results now!"

Matsueda Jun looked at Yamami Maki beside him, "Senpai, did you and Kuroba-kun finish comparing answers?"

The girl shook her head. "There are some differences in the front. I discussed it with Kokoro for a while."

"Matsushige! You chose B for the ninth question, right?" Kuroba Shin interrupted their conversation.

“I chose H,” he said without hesitation, and the girl next to him nodded in agreement.

"H? Perhaps there are 1-MA receptors on the cell membrane that promote meiosis?"

H has one more correct conclusion than B, and the once confident girl becomes hesitant. If only Yamami Maki's answer differed from hers, Kuroba Kokoro might have firmly believed she was right, but with Matsueda Jun added to the mix, the situation is different.

Let's look at the questions later!

The two girls continued to compare their answers. There were a total of eighteen major questions, and about six or seven of the sub-questions had different answers from each other. Whenever this happened, they would look at Jun Matsueda, whose answers always matched those of Maki Yami.

"...Impossible, right?" After checking the answers, Kuroba Shin's expression was no longer so firm. She left the two of them and walked downstairs on her own, muttering the contents of the test questions.

As Yamami Maki watched the girl walk away, she let out a soft breath, her relaxed shoulders slumping slightly.

When she was comparing answers with Kuroba Shin, the girl felt a little uneasy. She was afraid that her newly raised expectations would be ruthlessly shattered by this hateful guy.

"Let's go, senior, the exam's over and we're going home." Jun Matsueda waved his backpack at her, and the girl smiled with relief.

Stepping out of the building covered in vines, the two quietly walked through the deep courtyard, where they were greeted by large swaths of sunlight spreading across the road.

"I felt so relaxed after the exam, I just want to go home and lie in bed all day!"

The girl tiptoed across the grass, took a few light steps, and returned to Jun Matsueda's side after a graceful, ballet-like turn.

"It's too early to relax now. Senior sister still needs to prepare for the experimental questions in the final round."

Yamami Maki's long skirt swayed like a fish tail, moving in and out of the ocean of his peripheral vision.

"Do you think I can make it to the finals, Matsueda-kun?" The girl turned to look at him.

“Of course,” Jun Matsueda said without hesitation. “Otherwise, what would all our efforts over the past few months have amounted to?”

Yamami Maki's smile became complicated, and she turned her face to the other side.

"Effort doesn't always guarantee a reward."

This was something that took her a long time to accept.

Jun Matsue took two steps and reappeared in front of the girl, looking into her eyes.

"This time it will definitely happen, I promise you."

Jun Matsue was well aware of his own abilities; he was aiming for at least a gold medal. After studying with his senior for several months, he was arguably the person who knew her biology knowledge best and had witnessed her continuous progress.

"Teacher Songzhi's best student" is not just a joke.

Yamami Maki stared intently at the boy for a few seconds until they walked out of the school gate, at which point their gazes met.

"I've always believed what Matsueda-kun says."

The girl's voice was like the pollen of wisteria flowers by the roadside, sweet and light, gently lifted by the breeze of a spring afternoon.

On the train ride home, Yamami Maki hummed a song to herself. She thought of Kuroba Kokoro when she left and asked the boy next to her a question.

"Did Matsueda's exam answers really match mine exactly?"

Jun Matsueda shook his head. "Two of the answers are the same as Kokoro Kuroba's, and two others are different from yours."

"Huh?" The girl opened her mouth in surprise, her lips appearing very rounded, and Jun Matsue could see the tip of her moist, bright red tongue.

"Then why didn't you say it when we were checking the answers?"

"Kuroba Shin is so arrogant, I definitely have to stand on Yamami-senpai's side."

"Even if your senior is wrong, you have to say she's right so you can put pressure on her!" Jun Matsueda winked, a little mischievous, but not much.

"Isn't this... a bit inappropriate?" The beautiful and kind-hearted senior hesitated for a moment, but as she said this, she laughed while hugging her backpack. The folder-like backpack obscured the girl's upturned lips, but it couldn't hide her smiling, curved eyes.

“It might be a good thing to give her a little blow. If she asks, I’ll just say I misremembered,” Jun Matsue said without any qualms.

"Everyone has times when their memory is bad, right?"

Yamami Maki nodded, clutching her schoolbag, and the girl smiled even more broadly.

During lunch break next Tuesday, Jun Matsueda posted the latest issue of the school newspaper on the bulletin board outside the classroom. He looked at the previous issue he had taken out, which contained an introduction to the brass band, written by the new head of the band, Yuka Tomatsu.

When he looked up, he noticed a girl outside the classroom waving at him in the hallway, and Yamami Maki looked somewhat excited.

He walked out of the classroom and followed the senior student to the end of the corridor. The girl opened the balcony door, and the space between them brightened up a bit.

"Looks like exciting good news?" Jun Matsue looked at the girl's undisguised smile.

"Yes, yes!" Yamami Maki nodded vigorously. "Matsueda-san will receive the notification for the biology competition finals soon too!"

"And her score was two points higher than Xinjiang's!"

She took a step forward and stood in the sunlight outside, her right toe touching the ground, her calf swaying with her heel, showing a cuteness that was not at all mature.

"But Kokoro said that winning the preliminary rounds doesn't mean anything; the final round is where the final result is decided~"

"That girl is really stubborn," Jun Matsue sighed. "We'll just have to ask my senior to defeat her again in the finals."

"I will definitely beat her!" Yami Maki raised her fist and waved it in front of the boy, mimicking his previous gesture.

"absolute!"

Jun Matsue smiled unexpectedly and gently touched his fist to the girl.

"absolute."