Am I being simulated by their love affair?

There were no other customers in the restaurant. After the dishes were served, the middle-aged man ran outside to smoke.

"This shop is run by my uncle, he is a friend of my father." Yamamiya Moki gave a brief introduction and lowered her head to eat.

Junya Matsueda picked up the beef in his bowl. He did not ask why the owner of a small restaurant was a friend of Yamami-senpai's father, nor did he ask why this restaurant did not require orders.

He swallowed a mouthful of rice and picked up the water cup to drink. "Delicious."

"Really?" The girl nodded proudly. "They only sell beef stew and rice here. They don't even sell alcohol."

Jun Matsueda gave a thumbs up, and the man smoking at the door turned around and looked at them.

Yamami Maki ate very slowly, coughing from time to time. Matsueda Jun looked up at her a few times and quickened his eating pace.

"Sorry." She smiled helplessly, "I'll go eat over there."

"That's not the reason." Matsueda Jun shook his head and put down his bowl and chopsticks. "I've finished eating, so there's no need to worry, Senior."

The girl who was about to get up sat down again. Matsueda Jun stood at the door of the store and said a few words to the middle-aged man, then disappeared.

"Has Matsueda left?" Yamami Moki asked the man at the door, and he shook his head.

A few minutes later, Jun Matsueda came back with a bag of brown sugar.

"Where did Matsueda-san go just now?" Yamami Moki looked at him curiously, but the girl didn't see clearly what was in his hand.

"A nearby convenience store." He walked into the kitchen and cut the ginger into slices on the chopping board.

The unmelted brown sugar and ginger slices floated in the pot. Songzhi Jun stirred them with chopsticks, covered the pot and waited for the water to boil.

He sat back in his seat and said, "Brown sugar ginger water, it might be helpful for colds and coughs."

"Are you cooking this for me?" Yamamiya Moki was a little surprised.

"Or is it for the store manager?" Jun Matsueda raised his eyebrows. There was a scarlet spark outside the door, and the man was still smoking.

"Thank you so much for troubling you." The girl felt a little embarrassed. She continued to eat with her head down, trying to hide her smile.

After Yamami Maki finished her ogiri, Matsueda Jun brought her steaming hot ginger water, also in a small bowl.

The girl drank from a spoon in small sips, a warm blush appearing on her face.

After finishing a bowl of brown sugar ginger water, Yamamiya cleared her throat and said, "My throat isn't itchy anymore."

"As long as it works." Matsueda Jun nodded.

After the meal, it was naturally time to pay the bill. Jun Matsueda took out his mobile phone to pay.

"This store only accepts cash," the girl reminded him.

"Ozoshi is 750 yen, rice is 150 yen." The man walked into the store with a hint of cigarette smoke on him.

Matsueda Jun felt his pocket and said, "I don't have any cash."

"Then I'll pay for it first. Matsueda-san can just wait for me at the door."

The middle-aged man looked at the back of Jun Matsueda standing at the door and took the banknotes handed to him by the girl.

"This boy is not bad." He whispered.

Yamamiya Moji was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Thank you, uncle, I know."

The girl walked to the door, put her scarf back on, and the two of them walked towards the road.

"I have already transferred the meal money to Senior."

"Does Matsueda have any plans for the afternoon?" Yamami Moki didn't care about the 900 yen. Even if the number was increased a thousand times, she wouldn't be upset.

"I have another interview at 3:30." Jun Matsueda confirmed the time in his mind.

"So it's free until half past three?" When they reached the open area, the wind picked up again, and the girl tied her scarf tighter.

He nodded, and Yamami Maki, who was walking in front, turned around and said, "Then Matsueda-san, can you accompany me for a walk?"

From meeting, eating to paying, Matsueda Jun followed the girl's suggestions. He had been curious before whether Yamami Matsukio had ever been rejected.

The girl in front of me has a smile as beautiful as a blooming camellia, and the blush on her face makes people feel warm even in the cold wind.

Jun Matsueda looked at her white scarf.

With a smile like that, it's only natural that you've never been rejected.

Chapter 141: The glass is clear and the orange is brilliant

"Aren't you going back to the party, Senior?"

Jun Matsueda and Matsukio Yamami were walking on the small path. The tranquility of Komazawa was gone, and the words "Dayazawa 5-chome" were written on the doorplate of the roadside shop.

The girl shook her head vigorously, and the ends of her scarf flew in the air. "Aunties' gatherings are so boring!"

"They have to wear proper kimonos even for lunch, and my mother always ties my kimono super tight." She added, "My cold hasn't healed yet, and the belt has to be tied so tightly. It's causing chest tightness and dizziness, which I didn't have before."

The girl rolled her eyes. This was the first time that Jun Matsueda saw her do this, or rather, outside the campus, Yamamiya Maki was more lively and girlish.

"When they arrived at the restaurant, they didn't sit down first. Instead, they took a look at the store's displays and collections together, with waiters explaining everything to them."

"When you walk into the dining room, you should first admire the courtyard outside. After you sit down in order, you cannot eat whatever is on the table. For example, if there are seven people sitting at a table, there will be only seven pieces of meat on the plate, one for each person, and they are all divided."

"After the meal, we have to exchange gifts and appreciate each other's food. The meal only takes half an hour, but the various etiquette before and after the meal takes two hours!"

Yamami Maki kept complaining, and after a while she realized that Matsueda Jun beside her had not said anything. The blush that had disappeared from the girl's face reappeared.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Matsueda-san."

"I think it's quite interesting to hear what senior says." Matsueda Jun smiled.

"I'm glad you don't mind." She smoothed her wind-blown hair. "Has Matsueda-san packed everything for the school trip?"

Several young men wearing hats and headphones around their necks rode bicycles side by side, and Jun Matsueda could only pull over to the side of the road.

The distance between the girl and him inevitably shortened. Her movements paused for a moment, and then became natural.

"Nothing much to prepare, right? Just daily toiletries and clothes."

"Matsueda-san, you can tell you rarely travel far." The girl's tone wasn't condescending, but rather full of concern and thoughtfulness. "Do you need a coin purse? Like today, there are definitely more places in Hokkaido where you'll need cash. And a power bank. Running out of battery is the most fatal problem in modern society, so you must bring that, too. It's also best to bring a travel toiletries set and slippers. You can't completely trust the school-arranged accommodations for hygiene..."

Jun Matsueda looked up at the clear blue sky in the afternoon. Yamami Maki was indeed a woman who was suitable for a family.

"Mr. Matsueda, do you think what I said is wrong?" The girl came closer to him with some annoyance.

"That's right." He could only nod.

"Then come with me to buy it. Matsueda-san has no experience, right? I'll help you pick out things that are affordable and useful." Yamami Moki suggested enthusiastically.

"Junior high school does have school trips..." Despite saying this, Matsueda Jun still followed her back and walked towards the mall.

As he walked out of the mall, he was carrying a small handbag containing a coin purse, a travel toiletries set, and a power bank, which were the necessities that the girl insisted on.

"Why has senior already started buying Christmas gifts?" Jun Matsueda looked at the several beautifully packaged large bags in the girl's hands, which contained scarves, belts and a tea set.

"It's almost December, and I don't want to wait until Christmas to rush into choosing gifts," Yamami Maki said seriously. "These are for the elders, so choosing is easier. Giving gifts to friends requires more thought."

The girl put her loot into a car on the roadside, and the driver would deliver the goods to the destination. Matsueda Jun didn't know whether this was a VIP service of the mall or the job of the Yamami family's driver.

"Matsueda-san, do you want to send your stuff away with me?" Yamami Maki turned around and asked him. Matsueda Jun shook his head, "No, I don't. I didn't buy much anyway."

After saying goodbye to the car loaded with Christmas presents, Yamami Maki's journey wasn't over yet. "Shimokitazawa is right here, Matsueda-san, do you want to go shopping with us?"

"My interview this afternoon is in Shimokitazawa."

The two of them walked along the busy pedestrian street, surrounded by young faces, and couldn't even find a suit that was common among Tokyo residents.

Matsueda Jun looked at the girl who was looking around. "Is this your first time here, Yamami-senpai?"

Yamami Maki nodded excitedly, "Dad always told me that the security in Kitazawa is bad."

"That's true. Shimokitazawa accounts for half of the crime rate in Setagaya."

Jun Matsueda looked at the shopping street in front of him. The road was winding and there were many three-way intersections. He couldn't see too far, but even so, he could still see a variety of shops.

Vintage clothing stores, a popular bar, Y! Mobile, a dental clinic, and various snack bars.

"It's a castle town, after all, where common people live."

Seeing the forest girl's face turn a little pale, Matsueda Jun continued, "But most of them are cases like bicycle theft."

"It's a castle town after all. Commoners wouldn't dare commit any serious crimes."

It's quite fun to play a prank on senior students occasionally.

"Matsueda-san, you can't apply Edo-period concepts to the present!" Because she was teased by Matsueda Jun, Yamami Maki also took his joke seriously.

"Yes, yes—" he drawled out.

They passed by a tattoo shop and a sweet-looking girl with twin ponytails walked out of the door. Yamami Maki curiously glanced at the large cross wrapped in black thorns on her arm.

"Last year, I gave gifts to my friends, but everyone said they were too expensive and refused to accept them, so I'm going to choose carefully this time."

"What did senior sister give you last year?"

"Similar to what I just picked out for the elders, scarves, tea sets and so on."

No wonder they refused to accept it...Matsueda Jun recalled the merchandise section that Yamami Matsukori had just visited, and it seemed that there was no price tag lower than 50,000 yen.

"Let's start with the secondhand shops! It seems like a lot of girls in our class like vintage clothes and antiques."

Jun Matsueda watched Yamami Matsukio turning around in front of the dressing mirror. She seemed to be addicted to trying on clothes.

"Senior, don't forget your purpose." Matsueda Jun reminded her, and the girl then turned her eyes away from the multi-layered lace off-shoulder long dress she was wearing.

After walking out of the vintage store carrying a few bags of clothes, Yamami Moki put down her phone and said, "I tentatively asked them what they thought. Everyone seemed to like it. I think we can give the gifts away now."

"But what should I give to a boy?" She looked at the boy next to her.

"Why don't you just ask the senior? Just give them something they like." He had just dealt with a group of girls who came to chat with him.

"That's true." Yamami Maki nodded. She looked at Matsueda Jun and asked casually.

"So what does Matsueda-san like?"

"...Senior, are you going to give me a Christmas present?"

"Why not?" The girl tilted her head and looked at him.

"I thought senior wouldn't want to appear too close to me." Matsueda Jun thought for a moment and chose to speak directly.

Silence enveloped the two of them. The girl stopped at the door of a sports brand store, and the noisy sounds from all directions amplified in her ears.

"Because... I don't want Tomoka to think too much..." Yamami Moki smiled a little reluctantly.

"Then you still want to give me a gift?" Matsueda Jun didn't stop, so she had no choice but to follow him.

"Because you are my friend!" she said without hesitation.

"But you even told me that you were absent due to illness through Tomatsu-san. This doesn't seem like the behavior between friends." Matsueda Jun turned around and said to her. The girl, who was walking with her head down, almost bumped into him.

Yamamiya Moki held her breath. The loss in these words was very faint, but she still caught it.

It seemed that the girl had a clear memory of the first time Jun Matsueda called her without the word "senior".

Yamamiya Moki felt very panicked, and her intuition told her that this was the moment when the two of them were closest to each other.

She remembered the scene when she was chatting with Jun Matsueda in the gymnasium and Natsumi Imokawa called him away with just one sentence.

If she didn't answer Matsueda Jun's question properly, he would definitely leave without hesitation in the future just like he did that time, but she didn't want to be just a friend who could be abandoned at any time.

"I'm sorry." The girl's voice was trembling. Matsueda Jun didn't expect her tone to suddenly become so weak.

"Don't worry too much, senior sister. If this is just your habit, I will get used to it." He smiled and waved his hand, turned around and continued walking forward, trying to make the atmosphere more relaxed.

"That's not the case!" Hearing Matsueda Jun's attempt to brush it off, the girl excitedly stepped forward and grabbed his hand, "I just, I just..."

The girl's right hand tightly gripped his left wrist, and the customers coming in and out of the store were all looking at the two people parked on the side of the road.

"Senior, do you want to take a break?" Jun Matsueda pointed to the cafe upstairs.

Holding the hot mocha in her hand, the girl sitting on the balcony looked at the boy in front of her and felt a little relaxed.

"When I was a freshman, I had a good friend in my class..."

A standard love triangle story where you like him and he likes me.

"So, senior sister, you are afraid that I will fall in love with you?" Matsueda Jun said with a smile.

"No!" Yamami Moki waved her hands hurriedly. She wasn't that narcissistic. "I'm just afraid that if we get to know each other too much, Tomoka will be unhappy."

Her last friendship broke down because the boy she liked was always looking for opportunities to get in touch with her, intentionally or unintentionally, and the girl didn't want to repeat the same mistake.

"Senior, are you worried that Tomatsu-san will get jealous?"