Love Comes After Simulation

Love is a feeling of the heart, an impression. It is first a product of real-life experiences, then replicated in memory. If someone feels love, they’ve either directly experienced it in reality or something in the present has awakened a stored impression of love from their memory.

Minami Yuuki was the key to Nakajima Reina’s heart. The boy’s silhouette unlocked the storehouse of love within her, and a tidal wave of emotions surged forth, filling her mind. This joyful impression should have brought her happiness, but her greed tainted that happiness with a trace of torment.

The simulated impressions in memory can never compare to the ones felt in reality. Just as the happiness from a lover’s photograph can never rival the joy of being with the lover in person. Nakajima Reina understood this all too well. The happier she felt from the impressions being awakened, the more she longed for the true source of that happiness—the kiss of Minami Yuuki.

She held a Pocky stick in her mouth, refraining from chewing it, imitating what Minami Yuuki had done when they first came to the garden.

First, she lowered her head, then glanced sideways at the boy. Finally, mimicking his previous actions, she shook the stick up and down with her teeth.

Still, the boy made no move. Was he deliberately teasing her? Nakajima Reina grabbed Minami Yuuki’s arm, her moist eyes gazing up at him, on the verge of tears.

“That’s not allowed,” Minami Yuuki said, gently stroking her cheek. “The doctor specifically instructed that your heart needs to rest for a week.”

He took the stick from her mouth and bit into it himself. “So, you’ll have to wait for a bit longer.”

“Just a little,” Nakajima Reina pleaded, pressing herself against Minami Yuuki’s side, looking at him with imploring eyes.

Minami Yuuki wanted to taste her delicate lips as much as she did, but she had fainted just two days prior. He couldn’t ignore the doctor’s warnings.

“If Princess Reina lets me touch her feet, maybe I can give you just a little,” he teased, offering an outrageous condition to deter her.

“Okay,” Nakajima Reina agreed without hesitation.

Minami Yuuki didn’t expect her to be so persistent.

“I won’t hold back. I’ll really bite your foot,” he warned, trying to scare her off.

“Okay,” she hesitated for a moment but nodded again.

The way she fearlessly and recklessly sought a kiss made Minami Yuuki’s heart race.

“Keep your heart rate under control,” he reminded her, cupping her soft cheeks.

“Mm.” Her heart was already racing.

Their lips touched briefly, a fleeting moment of true happiness. Nakajima Reina touched her lips, where Minami Yuuki’s warmth lingered, and smiled.

“You’re such a willful princess,” Minami Yuuki said, pinching her cheek.

“Because I’m a princess, Yuuki just needs to obey,” she retorted.

“Oh? Princess Reina seems quite relaxed. Have you forgotten your earlier promise?” Minami Yuuki’s gaze shifted to her feet in blue slippers.

“Did I? I don’t remember.” She shrank back, nervously averting her eyes.

“No worries. I remember.”

Back in the simulation room, Minami Yuuki stared at the screen.

[Up until today, every kiss with Nakajima Reina had been initiated by you. You thought she wasn’t that attached to it. You underestimated her. She’s willing to strike demanding bargains just to relive that fleeting happiness.]

[In the garden pavilion, you kissed her lips.]

[Back in the hospital room, you mercilessly played with her feet.]

As the simulation text reached this critical point, it suddenly turned descriptive.

Why did it turn to text now of all times? Detail the foot scene!

The simulator ignored his protests, and the narrative continued.

[As the clock approached 8 PM, the visiting hours drew to a close. Unwilling to waste the remaining time, you sat by the bed with Nakajima Reina, gazing at the dark night sky.]

The text abruptly stopped because Minami Yuuki’s attention had shifted.

Lying on the bed with his eyes closed, Minami Yuuki felt a slight movement.

As he wondered whether it was just his imagination, the bed shook again.

What’s going on? Why is my bed moving?!

Various images of ghosts and strange creatures flashed through his mind, until the scene settled on a petite figure.

He lifted his eyelids slightly, and sure enough, it was Ibuki Yuko crawling from the foot of the bed to his side.

The girl gazed at his sleeping face for a moment, then slowly lifted the thin blanket and slipped inside.

What are you trying to do?! Minami Yuuki panicked a little.

Once her entire body was under the blanket, Ibuki Yuko slowly moved closer to Minami Yuuki, resting on the corner of his pillow.

She didn’t press up against him. Instead, she placed a hand near his arm, her pinky lightly touching his skin.

This appeared to be the extent of her actions; she made no further moves.

As she drew near, Minami Yuuki hurriedly closed his eyes, fearing that his trembling eyelashes would give him away.

Though he couldn’t see her face, he could smell the rich fragrance emanating from her body and feel the rising warmth from her proximity under the blanket.

For a fleeting moment, he felt joy at the situation, but his rational mind quickly discarded that troublesome happiness.

Ibuki Yuko really is a big headache!

Should he pretend to wake up and chase her off the bed? She’d probably fake being asleep the moment he opened his eyes, claiming she was too tired and had accidentally climbed onto the bed. She’d look at him with pitiful eyes, leaving him with no grounds to scold her.

Perhaps pretending to wake up would just cause more trouble. If he feigned sleep, he could avoid interacting with her altogether. Waking up would force him to speak with her, giving her an opening.

After much deliberation, Minami Yuuki abandoned the idea of taking action.

Continue the simulation!

Lying next to Ibuki Yuko, he focused on advancing his relationship with Nakajima Reina in the simulation.

Suddenly, a pang of guilt hit him.

Suppressing his conscience, Minami Yuuki forced himself to focus on the simulation screen.

[At 8:15 PM, the duty nurse arrived at Nakajima Reina’s hospital room to remind you of visiting hours. You said goodbye to the girl.]

[On Saturday and Sunday, during the visiting hours, you stayed in the hospital room the entire time. You brought textbooks and notebooks to study by Nakajima Reina’s side. You decided to aim for Misaki University’s medical school, even though you knew Nakajima Reina couldn’t wait long enough for you to graduate.]

[When Nakajima Yohei arrived, you were focused on your practice problems. Subjectively, you didn’t interrupt their father-daughter conversation, but objectively, Nakajima Reina kept glancing at you, distracted while talking to her father.]

[Nakajima Yohei angrily ordered you to leave. You took your backpack and went to the sixth-floor recreation room.]

[After her father left, Nakajima Reina came upstairs to find you. She sat beside you, observing your studies, then moved to the sofa by the window to gaze outside.]

[After solving a set of problems, during a break, you squeezed her hand, kissed her cheek, and stared at her figure. She helped you quickly recover your energy and dive back into your studies.]

[Nakajima Reina wasn’t much of a talker. You were only enthusiastic when teasing her. Most of the time, your relationship was quiet.]

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