Chapter 31: Compatibility with Yuki

Compatibility with Yuki

[Today’s photo, okay? Geez, Taichi~ lol.]

That message arrived just as Taichi got home.

He had already seen the photo when it was taken, but it clearly showed Taichi staring intently at Yuki’s chest.

It was a deeply embarrassing photo for Taichi, and honestly, he wanted her to delete it.

However, Yuki didn’t seem to care at all and just laughed it off. When she called it a memento of the two of them, it made him feel happy, as if it proved their new friendship.

Taichi saved the photo and immediately replied to Yuki.

[Please don’t show this to anyone.]

[Don’t worry. Should we make this another one of our secrets?]

[Please do.]

[Looks like we keep getting more and more secrets just between the two of us lol.]

Seeing that message from Yuki made Taichi’s heart race a little.

With each new secret shared with Yuki, he began to wonder if their bond was deepening.

If he could become even closer with Yuki than he was now, what kind of relationship would it be? As Taichi absentmindedly pondered that, his phone vibrated again.

Thinking it was Yuki, Taichi opened his phone, only to find a new message from Subaru instead.

[Yo, did you find out what kind of guy Ueno-san likes? I’m already back home. How’d it go?]

For the first time in his life, Taichi experienced what it truly meant for the blood to drain from his face.

That’s right, he had completely forgotten his original purpose.

The reason he started hanging out with Yuki in the first place was for Subaru.

Taichi was only helping Subaru gather information about Yuki. Today, he had been asked to find out what kind of person she was compatible with.

And yet, once he went to karaoke with Yuki, he had gotten caught up in chatting, taken photos with her, and returned home simply enjoying the time they spent together.

It was no time to be sitting in his room, feeling satisfied.

The fact that he was panicking now made it clear. When he was with Yuki, Taichi had completely forgotten about Subaru’s request.

Naturally, he hadn’t asked Yuki at all what kind of people she was compatible with.

Taichi was about to hold his head in despair, but then a sudden idea struck him.

As luck would have it, today he had just gotten Yuki’s contact info.

He could just ask her via chat now and it would be fine. Thinking that, Taichi immediately sprang into action and hurriedly sent a message to Yuki.

[Ueno-san, what kind of person are you compatible with?]

Fortunately, Yuki replied just a few seconds later.

If she hadn’t been looking at her phone at the time, Taichi might not have been able to sit still and could have collapsed from the stress.

[Yeah, that was a question from a friend today, but I totally forgot to ask.]

[Ah, I see. That’s what it was about.]

[I said Ueno-san type is someone Ueno-san compatible with, but they asked for more detail.]

[Hmm. You know, my mom ended up divorcing because she picked someone she wasn’t compatible with, right?]

The abrupt change in topic made Taichi’s fingers pause for a moment, but it was something Yuki had told him earlier at karaoke.

Yuki’s parents had been divorced for many years, and now she lived alone with her mother.

Apparently, her parents had constantly argued over trivial things and were a terrible match.

Maybe both of them had strong wills.

Even so, if Yuki had grown up watching her parents fight constantly, even in front of their child, it made sense that she would value compatibility above all else.

[They were always fighting.]

[Exactly. Both of them were strong-willed and didn’t know how to compromise, so they always ended up fighting. I guess they were both desperate to make the other listen to them.]

[So Ueno-san saw your parents fighting all the time, huh.]

[Yeah. And back then, I always thought, “Mom is kind of dumb.”]

[Really?]

[It’s not like I hate my mom or anything. She’s really headstrong and always wants to be in control. So if she picks someone with the same kind of personality, of course they’ll fight. Both sides yelling “Do what I say!” all the time. I just don’t get why she didn’t choose someone who suited her better.]

Even reading Yuki’s messages, Taichi didn’t sense any hatred toward her mother.

He thought that if he were in the same situation, he would probably end up hating his home. But Yuki didn’t seem that way.

In fact, she seemed to have a good relationship with her mother, whom she still lived with.

Watching Yuki talk so casually about her parents’ divorce, as if it were just a friend’s love story, made Taichi once again think of her as a strong person.

[I think someone really timid would be perfect for my mom. Someone who always does what she says and puts her first. Someone who probably can’t even go against her. She’s like a hopeless princess.]

Still, Taichi thought her view of her mother was quite harsh.

[Isn’t that kind of mean?]

[It’s really not! I swear!]

[Well, okay. But more importantly, I’d like to know about Ueno-san.]

Taichi steered the conversation back to his question.

Taichi was glad Yuki was opening up about her past, but with Subaru waiting, he couldn’t stay focused on it.

[Taichi, you’re alone right now, right?]

However, instead of an answer, what Yuki sent back was a question.

[Yeah, I am.]

[Then you should call me Yuki, remember?]

That was when Taichi realized he had naturally typed “Ueno-san.”

Even though it shouldn’t matter in chat, Yuki seemed surprisingly particular about it.

Needing to hurry and respond to Subaru, Taichi quickly corrected himself.

[Please tell me about Yuki-san.]

[Very good. I guess someone who thinks only about me.]

[Hmm, like someone who puts Yuki-san above everything else?]

[Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I’m a maiden too, after all.]

[Got it. But doesn’t that sound kind of like your mom?]

[Well, we are parent and child. And when my mom got divorced, she did seem kind of sad about it, so I decided I never want to go through that. I want someone who’ll never leave me and always be by my side.]

Reading Yuki’s message, Taichi once again felt how much a parent’s divorce could affect a child.

But seeing how Yuki didn’t dwell on her past and was instead trying to use it to shape her own future made her seem dazzling to Taichi.

[Thanks for telling me all that, Yuki-san.]

[No problem~. By the way, I think you and I are a good match, Taichi.]

Seeing that unexpected message, Taichi blurted out at his phone, “Don’t tease me like that!”

Of course, it wasn’t a voice chat, so there was no way Yuki could hear him.

Embarrassed by his own outburst, Taichi quickly sent a message.

[Please don’t tease me, Ueno-san.]

[Name.]

[Please don’t tease me, Yuki-san.]

[Very good. I’m going to take a bath now, so see you later.]

[Yeah. See you tomorrow.]

[Where should we go tomorrow, just the two of us? Looking forward to it.]

That was the last message Yuki sent.

The fact that he now had a friend who would so naturally invite him to hang out again made Taichi feel genuinely happy.

He deliberately ignored the “just the two of us” part.

Either way, he needed to keep doing this for Subaru’s request, or so he told himself, and quickly messaged Subaru with what he had just learned.