How can my simulation be a real love?

"Well……"

Seeing Kita Ikuyo's energetic demeanor, Aine suddenly felt a little flustered. She couldn't help but grip the hem of her skirt tightly with her right hand. This inexplicable sense of unease made her anxious even before the performance.

If she wanted to relieve her anxiety, she would naturally seek comfort from Kazami Mei.

But not now.

She wanted a fair fight with Kita, and this time she absolutely couldn't sneak away.

With her fists clenched, Chihaya Aine stared fearlessly at Kita Ikuyo. She took a deep breath as if to vent her anxiety, and a faint glimmer appeared in her crystal-clear eyes.

The girl declared with a serious expression, "I will not lose to Kita!"

"Of course I won't lose to you, Aine."

Kita Ikuyo breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the serious expression on the pink-haired girl's face. The next second, she put her hands behind her back and showed her usual sunny and cheerful demeanor.

The moment she smiled, her radiance seemed to illuminate the surrounding darkness.

Then the next test will be their willpower.

10

Could Chapter Ten be written for someone?

As time goes by, the cultural festival belonging to Haneoka is finally about to begin.

The first two weeks are enough for students to use their after-school time to prepare and decorate. In particular, before the school festival begins, they will have a whole day to prepare for business. Even Kazami Naruto's class has been busy for a long time.

With their full effort, the group finished setting up the 'Maid Butler Cafe' in less than half a day.

Logically speaking, someone like Kazami Mei, who rarely speaks in class, should be quite lucky to be assigned to do errands or other odd jobs. After finishing those tasks, he would have free time and would wander around the school to kill time.

only--

"Please, Kazami-san~ Because Aine-san and Kita-san are both committee members for the school festival, they simply don't have the extra time to dress up in maid outfits and help out. It's really hard for our class to find a 'representative' who can hold their own right now..."

"If someone as good-looking as Kazami-kun helps, then there will definitely be no problem!"

Saigyouji, a classmate, led a group of girls and earnestly made a request to Kazami Mei. However, upon hearing this, Kazami Mei only glanced at Goto Ichiri, who looked terrified, not far away.

If I remember correctly, Miss Pochi was also assigned to the maid group by lottery.

Unfortunately, there were hardly any boys in the entire class.

Among the boys in the class who can wear butler uniforms, which rely on good looks and a good physique, it's safe to say that only Kazami Naruto is still capable of doing so.

Staring at the several girls surrounding him, Mr. Kazami, expressionless, remained unmoved by their tearful pleas, responding only in a remarkably calm tone—

"Since you knew it would turn out this way, why didn't you just use a simple maid cafe from the beginning?"

"This, this..."

The girls looked at each other, wondering what to do. They couldn't very well say that they had wanted to see Kazami Mei in a butler's uniform from the very beginning, could they?

"If we can't find anyone, let's draw lots. Isn't that what the maid group does too?"

"If all else fails, we can have a few girls wear butler uniforms. Don't be too strict about gender."

Troublesome, really troublesome!

People usually see that Goto Ichiri, who is always aloof and silent, and Takamatsu, who is like a small animal, can talk to Kazami Mei quite naturally, which gives them the 'misconception' that Kazami Mei is easy to talk to.

As a result, they were immediately intimidated by his powerful aura.

"I'll excuse you for a moment."

Kazami Mei, who was struggling with several girls, suddenly noticed that Ms. Pochi had left her seat and was shakily walking out of the classroom. So she casually greeted the girls surrounding her and followed her.

"What should I do now?"

The remaining girls looked at each other helplessly, glancing at Takamatsu Tōdō, who was blinking beside them.

The key faces of the store, Kita and Aine, were both absent, and the mascot, Lamp, was not selected by lottery.

If even Kazami Naruto, their last trump card, refuses to come out and help, then Class 1-A has virtually no chance of winning the most popular spot.

Kazami Mei, of course, had no idea what the others were thinking.

He followed Boqi out and patted her on the shoulder in a few quick steps, startling Miss Boqi, who was already lost in her own world, so much so that she jumped up the wall and darted three or four meters away.

Only after recognizing who had taken the picture did she open her mouth in a daze and ask in a somewhat puzzled tone—

"Ming, Ming Sang?"

Kazami Mei casually glanced at her with one hand on her hip, and spoke in a flat tone: "I saw you looking so dejected, so I followed you out. So it's because you were relegated to the maid squad?"

Miss Pochi, who had originally intended to give a casual answer, had a slightly evasive look in her eyes. However, when Kazami Naruto stared at her with his calm, dark eyes, it was as if he could see right through her. Knowing that she couldn't fool him, Pochi could only lower her head in frustration.

"Indeed... that's the reason. Being assigned to the maid team is just too terrible, and having to take orders is just too much..."

Haha, it's good enough that you weren't sent to Shale to teach in a rural area.

"It's just taking orders, there's really nothing wrong with that. Besides, didn't you already learn how to handle customers when you worked at STARRY before?"

"That's because Nijika and Kita-chan are there, and besides, she's wearing a maid outfit this time... If the guests see her, she'll definitely be laughed at, like, 'That short girl in pink actually dares to wear a maid outfit, doesn't she look in the mirror and see what she looks like?'"

"But, but what if Ming comes too..."

Goto Ichiri, her face slightly pale, wiped her sweaty hands on the hem of her skirt. Her slightly messy pink hair revealed her fair and delicate skin beneath her bangs.

She couldn't help but secretly raise her blue eyes to look at Kazami Naruto in front of her, a faint look of expectation hidden in her eyes.

Kazami Mei, of course, understood what mischief this pink-haired girl was up to.

This pink Tsuchigumo is probably thinking that if Kazami Mei could stand next to her in her butler uniform, she would feel at ease, at least having a safe haven to hide in.

In Kazami's view, this kind of "escape" approach would not help Pochi grow. If it were before, he might have coldly told her to work hard on her own, but now that he already regarded her as his ex-wife, he couldn't bring himself to be ruthless.

After all, Pochi in the simulation was completely dependent on herself, and even now that she has returned to reality, Kazami Mei doesn't mind spoiling her into a silly girl who can only play the guitar.

"If I'm with you, will you obediently go and help?"

As if she had heard some incredibly good news, Miss Pochi, who had just been extremely flustered, immediately widened her eyes in surprise and quickly replied, "Of course!"

Hehe~ Sure enough, Ming-san must be secretly in love with her, right?

Whether in a dream or in reality, she's willing to grant her requests. It's no wonder that Guitar Hero is incredibly charming; even that blue-haired rich girl can't beat her.

It's clear that Ming's heart is completely focused on her; her status has long surpassed that of everyone else.

He usually pretends to be indifferent while torturing himself. So, Ming-san is just a so-called tsundere, right?

Seeing the pink-haired girl in front of him beam with joy at the first bit of sunlight, and then suddenly lower her head and become smug, Kazami Mei, whose lips twitched slightly, couldn't help but go up and lightly tap her on the forehead with a 'Kazami-style Hellish Burial Hand Chop'.

A series of cold words drifted from his mouth: "Let me make this clear first, if you run away later, don't say you know me."

hiss……

Miss Pochi's eyes, lost in her fantasy, instantly cleared. Fear and panic drained the color from her face, and she almost instinctively responded—

"No way! At least... at least ten years after I die, right?"

Ignoring Miss Pochi's tearful and aggrieved expression after she broke down, Kazami Mei raised an eyebrow and casually asked again, "How's your practice of 'Forget-Me-Not' going?"

"If I remember correctly, you'll be performing on stage tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Goto Ichiri snapped out of her panic and responded in a barely audible voice, her fingers gently clenched: "We've completely mastered this piece, but Kita-chan seems to be practicing even more since we got back. I feel like she's pushing herself a little too hard..."

Kazami Mei gradually fell into thought, recalling Kita and Aine's recent somewhat 'distancing' behavior towards him.

It's understandable that Kita-san, who usually only dares to hold hands, is focused on practicing, but that pink-haired girl who needs to be patted on the head and comforted before going on stage doesn't come to see her before the cultural festival performance.

Even the frequency of sending him emojis during live streams has decreased significantly, which is clearly inconsistent with Chihaya Aine's affectionate personality.

Has Aine-san matured? In Kazami Mei's opinion, that's probably impossible.

Even after dating or getting married, Miss Aine is like a girl immersed in love. Especially since the pink-haired girl secretly likes him, it is even less likely that she will deliberately distance herself, unless she is unable or even afraid to come over for some reason.

He was more inclined to believe that this was some kind of agreement between Pink Hair and Kita.

"Kita-chan's performance lately has been much more impressive than before, and the 'Kita energy' she exudes with her smile is probably 1.5 times stronger than usual! I think she's taking this school festival live performance very, very seriously..."

Goto Ichiri possesses a strong ability to observe, honed through her 'isolation'. It's impossible for her not to notice such a significant change in her friends, but when she asks them out of concern, she receives no response.

Kita Ikuyo's energetic and cheerful smile always put her at ease. If Pochi hadn't realized that Kita-san wasn't just putting on a brave face, he probably would have told Kazami Mei about it long ago.

"As long as you can maintain your own rhythm, I will be watching you from the audience."

As Kazami Naru responded, he was also considering whether he should go check on Aine-san's condition later, since he was still somewhat worried about her.

However, considering that doing so would be unfair to Kita-san, who was also working hard, he hesitated for a moment before putting the idea aside.

Since both sides have already made up their minds to this performance, let's leave it to them to do their best for now.

As a 'ghost member' who doesn't need to play, Kazami Mei's job is probably to comfort the losing team afterward.

"Ming, Mingsang..."

"Pochi suddenly said."

"Actually, I'm a little curious about that song 'Forget Me Not.' I always felt that this piece seemed to be... a song written specifically for someone. I was wondering if Ming Sang wrote it for someone in the End Band...?"

Goto Ichiri stood awkwardly in front of him, her words revealing a hint of expectation and apprehension.

When they first heard the title of this new song from Kazami Mei, everyone, including the most unreliable Ryo-senpai and the gentle Nijika Mama, seemed to show a hint of surprise on their faces.

After all, this piece of music, both in its name and melody, is practically a 'love letter' written specifically for someone!

Boqi believes that if this song were written for someone who left the band, that person would probably be herself.

"No."

Kazami Mei spoke almost without hesitation.

This piece was actually composed by Mygo as the closing piece for the Tokyo Music Festival, so its quality is naturally quite high.

However, because Kazami Mei harbored feelings for Ms. Suze during that simulation, the song was regarded by Riki and the others as a 'love letter that could be sung'.

Upon hearing this, Goto Ichiri felt inexplicably disappointed.

However, she suddenly realized that if the song "Forget Me Not" was written for her, then Kazami Naruto would definitely not have said it directly to her.

This thought instantly dispelled Ms. Goto's disappointment, and even the tuft of hair stuck in her yellow and blue square hairpin twitched slightly.

"Don't overthink it, just focus on the upcoming live performances."

Rolling her eyes, Kazami Mei casually straightened Pochi's slightly messy hair and then mischievously pinched her cheek.

This unintentional action caused Ms. Goto's face to instantly turn as red as if it were on fire, and her already incapable mind immediately became a mess.

"I'll head back to work now. This live performance will depend on how well everyone's 'guitar heroes' perform!"

Kazami Mei casually tossed that sentence at Pochi and turned to leave, leaving Pochi standing there motionless like a wooden statue. After realizing what had happened, she couldn't help but pinch her cheeks with both hands.

Her heart was pounding so hard that she couldn't help but writhe like a pink maggot.

Hehe~ It seems like I've been entrusted with an important task.

But, is he 'everyone's' guitar hero?

"I want to become... a guitar hero who belongs only to Ming."

……

The following day, Haneoka High School.

Starting today marks the official start of the cultural festival. The moment the school gates opened to welcome guests, all the shops prepared by the classes were already open.

The corridors, usually bustling with students, were suddenly filled with all sorts of clothing and customers, and the once empty main roads of the campus were now occupied by vendors of all sizes.

Kazami Mei's class was no exception.

Having already changed into a pure black butler's uniform, he straightened his collar slightly, then casually tied his shoulder-length black hair into a neat ponytail with the hair tie on his wrist. His already slender and streamlined figure appeared even more upright under the clothing.

The combination of his deep black eyes and handsome face creates an elegant temperament that is a masterpiece of nature.

It must be said that he is indeed quite suited to the butler's uniform.

"hiss--"

"So handsome, almost ridiculously so..."

The girls in the class, dressed in maid outfits, were stunned by what they saw. Although they had guessed that Kazami Mei would look good in a butler's uniform, they had not expected the power to be this strong.

This is practically the kind of handsome young butler you'd only see in a shoujo manga!