Am I being simulated by their love affair?

"Enchant the pine branches!"

"I feel like only the Minister can rival him~"

"By the way, where's the Minister?"

Jun Matsueda was alone in the preparation room guarding the equipment. After a while, someone knocked on the door.

"Matsueda-san, I'm sorry to leave you alone in the preparation room..." Yamami Maki felt a little bad for Matsueda Jun guarding the equipment alone, so she changed her clothes early and wanted to come and take over from him.

But when she saw Jun Matsueda wearing a full suit, what she was about to say suddenly came to an end.

This was the first time Yamami Moki saw Jun Matsueda wearing a suit. If someone told her that Jun Matsueda was the most handsome Japanese man in a suit, the girl would definitely not have any doubts.

The man before him wore a spotless suit, exquisite down to the tips of his shoes. His expressionless face embodied the elitist strictures of Japanese society, as mechanical, cold, and distant as a bionic human. But when he looked at Yamami Maki, the light in his eyes regained focus. Matsueda Jun rolled up his sleeves and smiled at her gently.

"What's up, Minister?"

It is this little bit of humanity hidden behind the suit that fascinates the young girls and makes them lose their minds.

"No... I just feel it's not a good idea to leave you here alone watching over the equipment."

"It's okay. We'll be ready to enter after everyone changes their clothes." Matsueda Jun smiled again, but Yamami Miki didn't dare to look at his face.

The room fell into silence. Yamamiya Mochi used to think this was natural, but now she really wanted others to come in and break this lonely space.

"This outfit is more comfortable than the school uniform." The chief tuba player, Tadayo, was still outside the door, and the voice had already reached her. Yamami Moki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, the Minister is here. We have all changed our clothes!"

A large group of people rushed into the preparation room. Yamami Moki saw the quiet and graceful Tomatsu Touka in the crowd, but she didn't dare to look her in the eye.

Yamami Maki, who was attracted by the suit-wearing Jun Matsueda, feels ashamed to face her cute junior.

But she soon discovered that she was not alone. The laughing girls saw Matsueda Jun, and after a brief moment of silence, they tried to pretend nothing had happened, but their eyes still flicked back and forth at him.

Jun Matsueda pushed the timpani out to cover his face.

"Let's go, get ready to play."

In the aisle behind the stage, the girls have already lined up, with the wind instruments entering from the right and the percussion instruments from the left.

Jun Matsueda was standing on the far left. He couldn't see anything in front of the crowd, but he could still feel Tomatsu Tomoka's gaze.

After the performance, the lights on the stage went out. After waiting for the previous school to leave, Jun Matsueda was the first to walk out of the left aisle.

After he placed the drum set in its corresponding position, he turned back to help others move their instruments, set up the music stands, and get the wind band into position as quickly as possible.

The girls watched the boy busying himself before them, his head bowed. He strode gracefully across the stage, one hand brushing back his bangs. Their hearts' full blessings for Tomatsu Tomoka soured slightly.

If I could have a guy like this, that would be great...

However, when they looked up and saw Tomatsu Tomoka standing in the front row, the girls gazed at the dark and calm faces in the audience, and their little thoughts were extinguished again.

In terms of appearance, temperament, talent, and academic performance, the girls don’t even have the confidence to surpass Tomatsu Tomoka in any one of them.

Once everyone was in place, the stage immediately became quiet, and Jun Matsueda could hear the girl next to him breathing faster.

In the tense darkness, Yamamiya Maki raised the clarinet in her right hand. She made no other movements, just silently holding it up, and the girls' hearts naturally calmed down.

Jun Matsueda watched as the Minister lowered his arms. It seemed that the Yamato Nadeshiko girl also had her own general style.

The lights came on and the speakers vibrated, "This is Mitaka City Hanaoka High School."

After seeing the students on the stage clearly, there was a small commotion in the audience.

Jun Matsueda, the timpanist, was in the last row. His tall stature, the only male, immediately captured everyone's attention, even though he wasn't in the center. The handsome young man lowered his eyes to stare at the drum, his hands motionless, yet his movements already captivated the audience.

Yamami Maki and Tomatsu Tomoka, each serving as principal, stood at the front row of the section, one on each side. Both possessed pure, elegant demeanor: Yamami Maki, reserved and elegant, while Tomatsu Tomoka shone with a calm and serene radiance.

The three outstanding-looking people formed a triangle, which gave the audience a premonition of something extraordinary to come.

The commanding girl bowed to everyone and stood on the podium.

I've practiced this countless times: hovering my hands, sinking slightly, and then raising them.

The gentle breeze blew through the flute, a breeze that once swept across the grasslands and startled the birds in the forest. Now the girls rode it across the Tama Mountains, drifted along the shores of Lake Ashi, and flew towards the audience.

After the cool breeze dissipated, the audience's mood had not yet calmed down, and the hot cicada chirping sound rang out again.

"Fantasy of Eternal Summer Days" has been adapted to use timpani and trombone to form a polyphonic sound, compressing the long neon summer into a closed hall and repeating it over and over again.

Jun Matsueda beats the drum according to a regular rhythm. His workload is not heavy, so he has enough energy to pay attention to the situation on the field. So far, it seems that Takashi Yumaka's performance is still quite outstanding.

He counted silently in his head, and when the trombone stopped abruptly and the conductor's gesture changed, he immediately stroked his hands along the drum surface, making the lingering vibration disappear quickly. His work was done.

The melodious sound of the saxophone sounded, announcing that the eternal day was about to come to an end. The sounds of all the instruments faded away, and gradually only Tomatsu Tomoka's soprano saxophone echoed.

Tomatsu Tomoka was facing sideways toward Matsueda Jun, allowing him to see most of the girl's face. Even during her intense solo, her expression remained largely unchanged. Her eyes were half-closed, her complexion reddened, and her cheeks puffed slightly, giving her a look of concentration and endearing adorability. Her fingers danced to the melody, her upper body swaying with unleashed emotion.

Jun Matsueda did not think that this was the most beautiful moment of Tomatsu Tomoka. The solo performance in the club room under the sunset, the yukata fireworks on the Tama River, and the girl were all more beautiful than at this moment.

However, there were nearly a thousand people in the concert hall, including those on and off the stage. When Tomatsu Tomoka was playing the saxophone alone on the stage, Jun Matsueda could only see her.

Tomatsu Tomoka felt something and smiled slightly. She changed her posture and the tune of the saxophone in her hand changed.

Faced with a frightening unknown future, the saxophone's confused tremolo shakes the audience's heartstrings. It evokes other instruments, and rather than the bleak autumn and winter, it wants to stay in the endless summer.

The clarinet, tuba and flute gently encourage it to move forward. Amidst all the expectations, the saxophone bids farewell to the summer sadly and resolutely, disappearing into the future.

The song ended, the lights dimmed, applause broke out, and the girls made excited and chaotic noises, preparing to leave the stage with their instruments.

On the dark stage, the boy and girl's eyes were bright, and they looked at each other silently in the noisy sound field.

Chapter 64: Girl's Confession

Yugaoka High School was the second to compete in the afternoon, and since there was still some time before the results were announced, the girls decided to see how the other schools performed.

Jun Matsueda looked at Natsumi Imokawa who had slipped up to his side at some point. The girl's cheeks were flushed and her chest was heaving.

"Did you take pictures that satisfy you?"

Natsumi Imokawa nodded vigorously. "The lighting, the background, the positioning, Tomatsu-san's solo was perfect. It really is a different feeling to film it live!"

The girl wanted to continue to express her feelings to Jun Matsueda, but when she saw the gazes of the girls in the wind band, she silently covered her face with the camera and left.

Jun Matsueda continued to follow the girls back to the concert hall, but was stopped by a man in a suit in the corner.

The man's voice was a little anxious. "Mr. Songeda, I can't contact the lady now. Is it possible for you?"

Jun Matsueda took out his cell phone and sent a message to Haruka Mochizuki, but it was unread.

I called again, but no one answered.

"Maybe something happened with Mochizuki?" The situation was a bit abnormal, but there was nothing he could do since he was in Edogawa.

The man nodded uneasily and disappeared around the corner.

When Jun Matsueda caught up with the main group, he found that they had mixed with girls from another school. The school badge looked familiar; he had seen it during the geology competition.

Kuroba Shin was originally chatting with Yamami Moki when she saw a beautiful boy in a suit approaching and walking in front of Matsueda Jun.

"It's you!" She tried to make her eyes look fierce, but because she had to keep quiet, she could only lower her voice, and her whole little face looked fierce and cute.

"You're the one who put me in second place! That volcanic movement!"

What's wrong with this girl? Matsueda Jun looked at Yamami Maki next to him, but the director just smiled and shook his head.

"I will definitely surpass you in the next national competition! Just wait for me!" The student council president of Ochanomizu High School jumped up and down around Matsueda Jun like a kitten.

The girls from Hanaoka gathered around Tomatsu Tomoka and whispered, "Girls kept approaching Matsueda as soon as she came down from the stage. It really was right for Tomoka to confess her feelings earlier!"

The girls from Ochanomizu were discussing the possibility that the president was face-blind. It was unbelievable that Kurohane Shin wasn't attracted to the suit-clad succubus.

The lights came on, and even though the performance had already ended, the wind band finally saw the full view of the stage.

The floor was pitch black, with wooden steps paving the back row. The walls tapered gradually, creating a sense of depth. From above, the stage had a trapezoidal shape, with microphones positioned mid-air.

In the center of the stage background, a white banner reads "72nd Tokyo Wind Music Competition", and below it are the logos of the two organizers, Tokyo Wind Music Federation and Asahi Shimbun.

"Down here is Takanawadai High School affiliated with Tokai University."

"This school is amazing. It has won national gold medals for three consecutive years and is at its peak." Tomatsu Tomoka sat next to Matsueda Jun.

The male conductor in a suit bowed to the audience with an elegant smile, but unfortunately the girls had already met Jun Matsueda and could not feel any excitement in their hearts.

The third project song "Fairy Tale" made the audience feel like they were in a dream.

"Their free song is 'A Thousand Years of Darkness.'" Tomatsu Tomoka Kyon whispered against Matsueda Jun's shoulder, her hot and moist breath brushing against his earlobe.

Cold and heavy music exploded in my ears, and the concert hall fell into auditory darkness.

After the performance, the audience fell silent. What a terrifying strength! This was the only thing Jun Matsueda could sigh about.

"They will definitely take one of Tokyo's qualifying spots. We are unlucky because Takanawadai's three-year ban from participating in the competition ('three out') has just ended." Tomatsu Tomoka's gaze moved from his jaw to his Adam's apple, and then to the tie on his chest.

Jun Matsueda stood up from the audience and found that all the girls in the wind band had disappeared, leaving only Tomatsu Tomoka and him.

Feeling something was wrong, he walked out of the concert hall to look for the main group. The girl followed him. The two of them walked through the entire cultural center but didn't see the girls from Yugaoka.

It was not until he returned to the concert hall that Jun Matsueda saw the girls. Before he could ask them where they had gone, the middle-aged man stood on the stage with a microphone and a list in his hand.

“Now announce the results.”

Since Haneda was the second to go up, he soon heard, "Mitaka City Haneda High School, Gold Medal."

The freshmen all cheered quietly, while Tomatsu Tomoka, Yamami Maki and several top students who had participated in the competition remained calm. After all, there was still the possibility of being "waste gold" and unable to enter the national competition.

"The results of this Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly have been announced. Below is the list of those who advanced to the National Assembly."

It was still the default order, so when "Higaoka High School" sounded again, the girls had no time to react.

"Minister, Minister, was it us that was just called out?" They hurriedly asked Yamami Moki.

"Yeah!" Yamamiya Maki nodded vigorously, with a cute nasal tone when she spoke. Even the indifferent jasmine flower was dyed red with excitement at this moment.

The girls danced silently in the hall, as if they were performing a pantomime.

"Jun-kun!" Tomatsu Tomoka looked at him, the light in her eyes almost overflowing.

Jun Matsueda nodded and said, "Congratulations. Keep up the good work."

The girl smiled and nodded, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with her thumbs. She was happy and excited because this was a good sign for the confession that was about to come.

"Everyone, hurry up and pack up and go back to celebrate!"

Jun Matsueda followed them back to the preparation room. He was not particularly happy because he was just a temporary worker, and after the list was announced, the girls looked at him with strange expressions.

Standing at the door of the preparation room, he could hear the girls' chattering through the door. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and went in.

"Ah, Songzhi is back!" The chief trumpet player was the first to notice him.

"Do we need to move the musical instruments?" Jun Matsueda put his hands on his collar and was about to take off his coat to work, but the girls suddenly crowded in front of him to stop him.

"Wait wait, Matsueda-kun looks so handsome today, why don't you take a picture with us? For the sake of advancing to the national tournament."

Shouldn't we hurry back? He looked at Yamamaki, but the director didn't react. The head of the tuba was already standing next to him.

The girls took photos with Jun Matsueda one after another, and his eyes were almost blinded by Natsumi Imokawa's flash.

"Are you done filming? Shall we go?"

"Wait, that—" The girls hurriedly looked around the room, trying to find the girl who hadn't taken the photo.

It’s a bit too deliberate, Jun Matsueda thought to himself, is there any follow-up program?

"Ah! The minister hasn't taken the photo yet! Minister, come quickly!"

Yamami Moki in the corner had no choice but to come out. She shouldn't be too close to Matsueda, but in order to buy time for Tomatsu Tomoka, she had no choice.

After she finished taking pictures with Jun Matsueda with a blushing face, Tomatsu Tomoka finally entered the room.

The crowd left the preparation room in a flash, and the unsuspecting Natsumi Imokawa was also taken away by Yumi Seshita.

There were only two people left in the room. Jun Matsueda walked to the door, turned the handle, and it was locked.

What's going on? A room where you can't leave without XX?

Matsueda Jun turned around and looked at the girl standing by the window. She was wearing her school uniform and had put on some light makeup. The sunset sunlight filtered through her hair, tinting it with golden-red hues.

Tomatsu Tomoka stepped closer, her chest almost touching his suit, and then she spun in front of Matsueda Jun. Her black hair spread in the air, the front of her sailor jacket fluttered, and the hem of her pleated skirt rose.

The girl's expression was exceptionally bright, with a hint of triumph and exhilaration, but more of uneasiness and shyness.

Because she was about to show him her uneasy, excited, obsessive, regretful and eternal love.

"Matsueda-san, the final curtain call performance has begun."

Chapter 65 The Beginning of the Story (End of Volume 1)