How can my simulation be a real love?

All that could be heard was endless panting.

The cold, damp air rushed into her lungs through her mouth, and a pricking pain immediately traveled to her brain, but this pain was nothing compared to the excruciating agony she felt inside.

The girl stepped into the mud with her black leather shoes, and the splashing mud and water instantly soaked and stained her white lace-trimmed stockings. Even the faded hem of her skirt was stained, but she did not stop walking.

"ah!"

The girl stumbled while running too fast and fell to the ground uncontrollably.

A sharp pain shot through her palm, and when she looked down, she found that her palm was already chafed.

Strands of bright red blood seeped from her palm, and the stinging pain made the girl grit her teeth slightly. This was no problem for her now, and with that thought, she prepared to get up again.

Just then, she suddenly noticed what was beside her.

The puddles by the roadside faintly reflected the girl's disheveled face. Her once clear and stern eyes were red and swollen from crying, her lips were slightly bloodshot, her messy hair was stuck together with sweat, and two clear tear tracks remained on her beautiful cheeks.

Toyokawa Shoko was stunned.

"Xiangzi!"

The girl, who had been sitting there blankly, suddenly woke up. She didn't know when Kazami Naruto had caught up behind her. Unable to calm down, she had no choice but to temporarily forget the pain in her hand and quickly got up and ran forward again.

No, she doesn't want him to see her right now!

I absolutely, positively do not want him to see me in this shameful and ugly state!

"Toyokawa-san?"

A blonde girl in the Shimokitazawa school uniform walked out from around the corner. She had barely raised her hand when the other girl brushed past her.

"Eh?"

Ichi Nijika looked at the girl who left without looking back with a puzzled expression. She hadn't even had a chance to speak before the girl ran away, which made her almost think that she had done something wrong. She looked a little bewildered.

She shouldn't be able to admit her mistake, right?

"Ryo, did you see that just now? That girl who ran away was Toyokawa-san, right?"

Holding a candied hawthorn in her hand, Ichiji Nijika quickly waved her little hand behind her. The golden Doritos on her head trembled slightly with the movement. Not far behind her stood a girl with short blue hair, who was also holding a candied hawthorn and watching them calmly.

Others might admit their mistakes, but it's impossible for her.

Yamada Ryo stared expressionlessly at Shoko's departing figure, her words uttered in a flat, emotionless tone—

"Yes, it really is her."

"It doesn't look good; it's like someone is chasing her."

"Someone is chasing her?!"

Upon hearing this, Ichiji Nijika immediately became alert. She quickly looked in the direction Toyokawa Shoko had come from, trying to find the suspicious person in the 'chase,' but instead saw a familiar black-haired figure rushing over.

The girl paused for two seconds, then immediately recognized him.

Isn't that Kazami Mei?!

"Is Hongxia still cool?"

Kazami Mei looked at the two people who happened to pass by with some surprise, and even slowed down her pace a bit because of it.

"Narikawa?! We were planning to come to your house today, so why are you chasing after Toyokawa-kun?!"

"Pfft~ Did Ming get rejected after confessing his feelings?"

The two's sudden question startled Kazami Mei slightly, but seeing that Toyokawa Shoko's figure was about to disappear, he didn't have any extra time to explain to them, and could only keep walking and say—

"Sorry, I don't have time to explain right now!"

"Wait, wait a minute! What's going on?!"

The girl with the golden side ponytail blinked frantically, but it was clear that her cries were completely useless.

"..."

Yamada Ryo, who was originally about to make a couple of lame jokes, had a hint of surprise in her eyes. Her beautiful pale golden eyes seemed to have sensed something, and she stared intently at the direction where Kazami Naru had left, her eyes slightly narrowed like a cat that hadn't woken up yet.

The girl's expression, which had been devoid of any emotion, now carried an unusual chill and unease.

"What...what should we do now?"

"We were supposed to sneak over to Ming's house today to celebrate his move to his new home, and also have a regular band meeting there... But now it's suddenly turned into this situation, it doesn't seem like a small matter at all!"

The chaotic scene left Ichiji Nijika completely bewildered, and she could only look to her best friend beside her for answers.

Although Ms. Yamada is usually the most unconventional one, she is the one who can distinguish right from wrong in formal situations.

"Hongxia, you go to Ming's house first."

Yamada Ryo spoke casually in a flat, emotionless tone, her gaze fixed on the distant street the entire time. Before Iji Chikuni could react, she had already set off to chase after Kazami Mei.

This completely stunned Miss Hongxia.

"..."

The girl gripped the backpack's retractable strap tightly with her right hand, and her slightly trembling fingertips showed that she was not at peace at the moment.

Because Ichi Nijika had never seen that carefree Ryo look like that before!

After hesitating for a moment, Ichiji Nijika gently shook her head. There was no point in being indecisive here. Now that things had come to this, she had to follow her instincts and go see what was going on!

……

The streets at night were not noisy. The flashing neon lights and the bright moonlight, as light as a veil, intertwined. The girl strolled along the street where cars passed by, and the headlights of cars in the distance flashed continuously over her skin, which glowed like fresh snow.

She had unknowingly stepped onto the bridge spanning the road, her eyes flashing with memories—the beautiful recollections she had personally experienced in that 'dream'—which mingled with her current feelings of regret.

She got lost on this road.

"..."

The girl, clutching the elastic strap of her handbag, sighed softly and looked towards the road in the distance.

"Mom isn't home today either..."

Nagasaki Motoyo unconsciously played with the curls on her shoulder with her slender index finger. She hadn't been able to speak to the person she liked for several days, and she felt even more lonely whenever she returned to her empty home.

A shadow of unease hung over the girl's face.

"..."

Nagasaki Motoyo's fingers tightened suddenly around her handbag. Standing on the overpass, she stopped walking towards her apartment and instead prepared to walk towards the Ikebukuro residential area on the other side, her steps firm and resolute.

She could no longer endure it.

"Ok?"

Nagasaki Motoyo suddenly noticed a familiar light blue figure passing below. She recognized the person and was obviously stunned for a few seconds, but then she immediately noticed another figure not far behind her.

Under the bridge, Toyokawa Shoko paid no attention to her surroundings. She staggered as she tried to cross the street. After running such a long distance, even with her excellent physical fitness, she was exhausted. The stinging pain in her lungs made her vision gradually blur.

As her speed gradually slowed down, she suddenly felt a resistance on her hand.

The girl, realizing what was happening, instinctively looked behind her and saw the black-haired boy, who was barely breathing, raise his head. His deep black eyes were calmly gazing at her, and the moment he grabbed her wrist, she completely lost her strength.

"I finally caught you. If you keep running, I might run out of energy?"

Kazami Naruto's lips curled into a beautiful smile, but to the girl, his smile was glaringly irritating.

"Why...why are you chasing me?"

"Because I can't just leave you alone, Xiangzi, so I have to stop you no matter what."

As Mr. Kazami gradually relaxed, he reached out to the girl's cheek and wiped away the remaining tears from the corner of her eyes, leaving her bewildered. This ordinary action caused her already uncontrollable emotions to be released once again, and large tears dripped down her cheeks.

She suddenly burst into tears, which surprised Kazami Mei somewhat.

"You keep saying you can't let me go, Ming, what gives you the right to say that!"

"You shouldn't have stopped me; you could have just let me walk!"

The girl's shoulders trembled, and a hint of apology appeared in his eyes.

Kazami Mei slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were filled with determination.

"I like you, Toyokawa Shoko."

"...?"

"These words may be a long time late for you, but I still want to say that I like you. No matter what... I can't just leave you alone, I can't bear to see you suffer all alone. I want to be someone you can rely on."

Toyokawa Shoko stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the boy who had confessed his love to her.

The Kazami Naruto before her was just like the one in her 'dream,' with the same gentle and earnest gaze. The way he looked at her made her instinctively want to throw herself into his arms and shatter his eardrums with the loudest cry she had ever uttered.

However, she recalled the scene she had witnessed that day.

"...Ming, what exactly do you take me for?"

A low, hoarse voice escaped from the girl's lips, which were stained with a trace of blood. Her face streaked with tears, she frowned as she stared at him, her breath coming in ragged gasps, feeling her heart about to stop. She responded with the most resentful tone—

"I won't agree to that! Kazami Mei, you're only thinking of yourself!"

Kazami Mei was clearly not expected that Toyokawa Shoko would say such a thing. He just stood there staring blankly ahead. Just then, Toyokawa Shoko suddenly broke free from his hand. This sudden action caught even him off guard.

Then, as if he noticed something, his deep black eyes suddenly narrowed.

Bah, bah, bah! !

A sharp screech of brakes suddenly rang out, and the incandescent light instantly illuminated the girl's entire body. This pure white light was like a beam of light crashing down on her, and the girl, who had no strength left in her body, stared wide-eyed at Amber.

Time stands still, space freezes.

Her legs felt as if they were filled with heavy lead, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move an inch.

Toyokawa Shoko couldn't even utter a soft shout; she just stood there, frozen in place, unable to do anything. In a daze, she seemed to hear someone calling her name, and that familiar, warm voice made her want to turn around.

At that moment, someone grabbed her hand.

Feeling a sudden weightlessness, Toyokawa Shoko felt the world spinning around her. By the time she came to her senses, she had already fallen heavily to the ground. Even the most intelligent and quick-witted mind was unable to function at this moment, and she could only stare blankly ahead.

"Ming?"

She instinctively cried out, her wide eyes seeming as if she had sensed something amiss.

In the distance, there were deep skid marks.

111

Chapter 111 The World Turns Black and White.

The scene before her eyes abruptly robbed the girl of all her thoughts. Her legs, which had fallen to the ground, felt as if they were shackled and connected to heavy iron blocks, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not move an inch.

The once colorful world turned black and white in an instant. With her eyes wide open, she could only feel ringing in her ears. All the sounds around her seemed to be wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap. The only sound she could hear was her own rapid, almost suffocating breathing.

"Ming?"

Toyokawa Shoko stared blankly into the distance at the skid marks that looked as if they were about to tear the ground apart.

Even the slowest reaction time finally begins to function at this moment, with intensely stimulating information and cold air penetrating the skin and reaching the brain.

Was she hit by a delivery truck?

But now she was sitting here unharmed, because at the last moment before she was about to be hit, she was pulled away by Kazami Naruto, who narrowly escaped danger.

As a result, what replaced it was—

"...Ahem."

The black-haired boy lying on the ground coughed slightly. His light gray trench coat was gradually stained black by the liquid, and the bright red scarf around his neck was also battered, with the edges stained with a rose-like color.

The intense impact made him feel dizzy and his brain blurred as if information had been interrupted. This feeling was not unfamiliar to him; in fact, he had experienced it several times in simulations.

He truly hadn't expected that he wouldn't be able to escape this calamity in reality either.

It's as if Kazami Mei was cursed from the moment she got the simulator, and no matter how careful she is in real life, she can't escape it.

However, compared to the severe injuries that caused his immediate death in the simulation, he is in much better condition now than expected; perhaps because he has gained a lot of experience in the previous few times, he took some protective measures before the impact.

"..."

With his vision blurred and unclear, he took deep breaths to calm himself down. His previously dazed thoughts gradually returned to normal, but at the same time, waves of pain, like being hit by a hammer, came from all over his body. His limbs, which were gradually regaining sensation, were numb and unable to move.

However, at least my mind is still clear.

Kazami Mei was unclear about what happened after he pulled Xiangzi out. As he regained his senses, he tried to prop himself up with his arms to check on Xiangzi's injuries, but a sudden shout from afar made him instinctively freeze.