How can my simulation be a real love?

She regretted it.

Why did we only realize this now?

If I had chosen to be more natural and proactive back then, would the outcome have been completely different?

Even though Toyokawa Shoko felt extremely unwilling at this moment, she could not change the established reality. Her strong sense of self-respect prevented her from thinking any further, so she had to swallow her suppressed and unwilling emotions.

"I should be the one apologizing."

Kazami Mei also shook her head slightly.

The fact that Toyokawa Shoko would make such a request shows that she trusts him greatly.

Just as he was about to say something, his phone suddenly emitted a special notification tone for someone. Kazami Naruto immediately realized it was a message from his girlfriend, Nagasaki Motoyo, and without hesitation, he began to check it—

[Ming, are you with Xiaomu now?]

What do you mean?

Upon seeing this message, Kazami Mei visibly froze. He must have specifically told Sue that he was invited to visit Wakaba Mutsu before leaving, so why was she suddenly sending this message?

Suddenly realizing something was wrong, a bad feeling flashed through his mind.

"Su Shi?"

Wakaba Mutsumi, who had just returned from the restroom, spoke with a hint of surprise in her otherwise calm tone.

It was only then that Kazami noticed that Nagasaki Motoyo had been standing next to Wakaba Mutsu at some point. Her eyes were somewhat dim, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her fingers, which were gripping her phone tightly, were turning slightly white. The girl, whose body was trembling slightly, slowly frowned.

That beautiful face, which was always filled with gentleness, seemed to have a hint of something unsaid.

Those dark blue eyes, which had begun to dim, were fixed on Wakaba Mutsu in front of them.

"Xiao Mu, why did you do this?"

"Am I really that annoying to you...? Why do you keep getting in my way?!"

Nagasaki Motoyo spoke to Wakaba Mutsu in an extremely calm tone, clearly she had something she wanted to say but couldn't. At this moment, anyone could see her anger and sadness towards Wakaba Mutsu, who stood there dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Nagasaki Motoyo seemed to realize something, and she immediately looked at Kazami Naru with a panicked expression.

Panic gradually turned into regret, and regret in turn turned into fear.

The girl, whose emotions were incredibly complex, ultimately couldn't stay any longer and quickly turned around, trying to escape from the store.

……

[It was only then that you realized Nagasaki Motoyo seemed to care about you a little too much.]

[After learning that you were going to meet with Wakaba Mutsu, I was uneasy, but I was too worried about your feelings to say it. So I tried to come and see for myself, but she saw you talking to Toyokawa Shoko.]

Feeling uneasy, she seemed to have misunderstood something. She couldn't help but question Ruoye Mu, but then regretted it. With her mind in complete chaos, she could only choose to run away.

Faced with this unexpected situation, you were clearly taken aback, but you also knew you had to do something.

So, you decided—

[1. First, comfort Wakaba Mutsu, who was standing there stunned and at a loss, then call and reassure Suze.]

[2. Calm down, go home and wait for Su Shi to return before explaining.]

【3. Handstand on a table with one hand】

【4. Virtual Reality, Personal Simulation】

"I really didn't expect this..."

This sudden option made Kazami Mei somewhat nervous.

Are all the people in Tsuki no Mori agents?

He truly hadn't expected that Miss Su Shi would be so worried that she would secretly follow him.

Most importantly, her way of thinking seems to have become a bit extreme at this time. It's probably because of a misunderstanding between Wakaba Mutsu and Toyokawa Shoko that she has become like this. Otherwise, she wouldn't have directly questioned Mutsu.

This may be due to Su Shi's own lack of security. Because she was so starved for love, after losing CRYCHIC, she wanted to hold onto the lover who was "only her" tightly in her hands.

Even though Kazami Mei informed her in advance, it didn't help; Ms. Suze still couldn't help but feel uneasy.

So even if Kazami Mei uses the 'resurrection coin' to restart this simulation and rejects Wakaba Mutsumi's invitation again, similar problems will likely arise for similar reasons.

"I really got tricked by this simulator..."

Later, if other members of Mygo get a little closer to him, the same situation might happen again. In other words, Suze's current problem is something he will have to solve sooner or later.

Now that things have come to this, Kazami Mei's first priority is to comfort Su Se and give her a sense of security.

Therefore, the first thing to do is to eliminate the third and most abstract option.

Although abstract options like 'standing on the table' did help Kazami Naru once before, they are clearly ineffective in this situation.

As for the two seemingly normal options, Kazami Mei, who was now becoming more cautious, began to seriously consider them.

Should we comfort Little Wooden Head first?

If he chooses this, given the nature of simulators, he will almost certainly end up on Wakaba Mutsumi's route.

Once you select a romance target in the simulator, you have to stubbornly pursue that person. Unless you use a pure love route card like Ichiji Nijika again, you won't get a high score no matter who you get a happy ending with.

"The second option..."

Kazami Mei frowned, her dark eyes fixed on the second option before her.

This time, the option is to go home and wait for Motoyo to return before having a proper talk with her after she calms down. This option might work for other characters, but it might not be effective for someone like Motoyo who is extremely insecure.

It might even have the opposite effect.

None of the three options seemed particularly reasonable to Kazami Naruto, so—

Let's just do the simulation ourselves!

[Would you like to consume three simulation attempts and use the "Personal Simulation" option?]

Kazami Naruto, who had personally simulated this several times before, was almost used to the feeling of suddenly going black out.

He wasn't surprised when he opened his eyes to find himself in a completely unfamiliar environment. Having entered a simulated state, he certainly wasn't going to waste any time, and his gaze immediately went to the direction where Nagasaki Motoyo had left.

He took a deep breath, immediately turned around, and whispered to Wakaba Mutsumi, who was standing not far in front of him and whose face was already filled with disappointment—

"I'm sorry, Xiao Mu, I'll apologize to you later."

After saying those words, Kazami Mei chased after him without hesitation.

For someone like Ms. Su Shi, neither messages nor phone calls would likely be of much use.

Waiting for her to come back at home might make her overthink things, so it's better to catch up with her as soon as it happens and stop her already explosive emotions from escalating further.

"Sushi!"

Because Su Shicai had just left and hadn't gone far, Kazami Naruto saw him as soon as he chased after him.

Nagasaki Motoyo felt immense regret for showing such a side of herself in front of Kazami Mei.

So when she discovered that Kazami Naruto had also followed her out, a feeling of panic and fear immediately welled up in her heart, making her too afraid to talk to him face to face. She could only run onto the overpass first to try to shake him off.

However, she seemed to have overestimated herself and underestimated Kazami Mei's physical abilities.

She had barely reached the middle of the overpass when Kazami Mei caught up and grabbed her wrist.

The moment Nagasaki Motoyo was caught, she was like a Saiyan whose tail had been grabbed. Her whole body went limp, and she could only look at Kazami Naru with a tired and somewhat evasive look in her eyes.

"As expected of the young lady from Tsukimori, I actually managed to catch up with her..."

Kazami Mei, who had caught up, gripped the other's hand tightly, and at the same time, both of them let out a breath of relief.

Unexpectedly relaxing.

Kazami Mei really didn't expect that he would be able to catch up with his target in the 'personal simulation'. He always felt that Miss Suze was easier to catch than others when she ran away, and he didn't even expend too much energy.

I'm just a little out of breath from running too fast, but it's much easier than before.

However, why does it feel like he's always chasing after someone whenever he goes out in person?

You rock musicians, can you please stop running away all the time?

"Ming..."

Once her little hand was grabbed, Su Shi immediately stopped struggling, but Feng Jianming could still feel her fingers trembling slightly, a clear sign of fear.

The problem is that Kazami Mei doesn't think there's anything about him that would frighten Suze.

Unless, Su Shi wasn't afraid of him.

"Xiao Mu only came to talk to me about music this time. Xiangzi wants to establish a long-term arrangement collaboration with me, so he specifically asked me to come over to discuss the specifics."

"I refused."

Kazami Mei raised her deep black eyes and spoke in a resolute tone.

Upon hearing his 'rejection,' a hint of surprise flashed in Nagasaki Motoyo's eyes. At that moment, she realized that she might have misunderstood something, and a sense of apology appeared in her eyes as she looked at Kazami Naruto.

But the hidden fear in her heart did not disappear; instead, it gradually became apparent under his gaze.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something, Su Shi, so I came up here to explain.”

"...Ming, I'm sorry!"

Unable to bear the fear any longer, she immediately stepped forward and hugged Kazami Mei, her slightly frightened pretty face clearly showing some worry.

"I didn't mean what I said just now. It was just a misunderstanding that led me to say those things to Xiaomu. I was a little out of control, and I didn't mean anything else at all..."

"I'm never like this normally! I—"

Hearing this, Kazami Mei finally understood a bit more.

He could probably understand what Su Shi was 'afraid' of.

Nagasaki Motoyo hasn't fully opened up to him yet; in other words, she hasn't shown her true self, even though Kazami Mei is certain that Motoyo's love for him is genuine.

However, they underestimated how much Su Shi valued this kind of 'love'.

In order to protect this 'love' that belongs only to her, she did not hesitate to play the role that would most 'satisfy' him in front of Kazami Naruto.

Whether it's dating or the progress of a relationship, she plans everything in secret. She even considers in advance whether it's appropriate to say what she'll be talking about, because she's afraid that Kazami will discover her jealous side and cause this hard-won relationship to slip away.

Perhaps because she had deceived Kazami Mei many times before, she is now extremely sensitive to this kind of thing.

"That's it..."

Kazami Mei gently pulled away from Nagasaki Motoyo, then, to her astonishment, grabbed her chin with one hand and kissed her. The soft touch imprinted in her mind, the citrus scent blending with a faint sweetness.

Their warm breaths mingled together—

The interaction between the two this time was different from before.

It simply expresses the purest emotions in the most unsophisticated and ordinary way.

After a long while, they slowly parted.

"The only person I like is Nagasaki Motoyo."

“Su Shi, I am very touched by how you always consider my feelings in every way, but I also hope that we can become each other’s most trusted people, even if it shows your little jealousy and insecurity.”

"No matter what her background is like, it's all part of my girlfriend's cute side in my eyes."

Miss Su Shi, her face already flushed, was being led by the hand by Kazami Naruto. Unable to escape, she was forced to stay where she was and listen to everything he said. While she felt immense joy, a faint unease also lingered in her heart.

She stood there, completely at a loss for words.

"Or is it that Su Shi doesn't trust my feelings for you?"

"No, that's not the case!"

Upon hearing this, Nagasaki Motoyo's pupils contracted instantly, and she tried urgently to explain.

But the moment her evasive gaze met Kazami's directly, she saw the faint, mocking smile on his face.

Only then did the girl finally realize what was happening, and she began to gently grasp her slightly curly brown hair to cover her face.

But even with such an attempt to conceal it, she couldn't hide her already bright red ear tips. Realizing this, she could only bury her face in Kazami's chest and snuggle against the boy in front of her.

hum-

A truck sped past under the bridge, honking its horn. Kazami Mei instinctively ran straight to Nagasaki Motoyo and hugged her. The sudden action startled the girl for a few seconds before she couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle elegantly.

Those azure eyes had unknowingly become filled with a gentle light.

……