Chapter 32: Distrust (1)

Distrust (1)

“Someone who puts her above everything else, Ueno-san is quite a maiden, isn’t she?”

“That might be true.”

“She looks so independent, but that contrast makes her even better, right? It’s way too cute!”

“Y-Yeah. Good for you.”

As usual, the three of them were walking to school together.

Taichi was starting to feel a little worn out by Subaru’s high energy.

He seemed genuinely overjoyed at having learned more about Yuki’s preferences yesterday.

From the moment he showed up at the meeting spot this morning, he had been in a hyper mood, and Taichi had to keep responding as Subaru repeated the same story over and over.

As for Akari, the light had vanished from her eyes early on, and she had fallen completely silent. Now, she was just quietly following behind Taichi and Subaru.

Taichi kept glancing back in concern for Akari, but at this point, she was looking down so much that he couldn’t see her expression at all.

“Haa~ she’s just too cute. Seriously, it’s insane, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah, totally.”

“I mean, this might be fate.”

“What is?”

“Come on, don’t you think I’m the perfect match for Ueno-san’s type?”

Subaru, who genuinely believed that, crossed his arms and gave a smug grin.

Normally, if someone said something so full of themselves, anyone listening would probably be exasperated, but Taichi honestly thought Subaru might be right.

That was because lately, Subaru had been completely consumed by thoughts of Yuki.

The club stories Subaru used to talk about often hadn’t come up for days now.

That’s how much he only talked about Yuki, and even now, with Akari walking silently behind them, it was like he didn’t even notice her.

That was how obsessed Subaru was with Yuki. And Yuki’s type was someone who put her above all else.

In that sense, Subaru, who thought about Yuki so much that he didn’t even notice his childhood friend, might actually be a perfect match.

“…I also thought you might be a good match for her, Subaru.”

“Right!? I knew you’d get it, Taichi!”

Subaru laughed happily after hearing Taichi’s reply.

It looked like Subaru was about to throw an arm around Taichi’s shoulders, but before he could, something bumped into Taichi and made him stumble.

“Taaichi!”

“Whoa!? You scared me!”

“Ahaha, you were way too surprised, Taichi.”

“Yu… Ueno-san! Please don’t just jump on me out of nowhere!”

“Ehh, but I saw you, and I couldn’t help myself…”

“If that’s the case, you could’ve just called out normally. What if someone got hurt?”

Caught off guard, Taichi almost called Yuki by her name, but somehow managed to stop himself.

Yuki had asked him to call her by her name, and he agreed to do so only when they were alone. Of course, he hadn’t told Subaru or Akari. In fact, Subaru was the last person who should find out.

Taichi had been so used to calling her by her name that it was hard to break the habit, and there was a reason why he almost slipped up.

Yesterday, Yuki had resumed their chat, which she had once stopped, and kept repeating how she wanted him to use her name.

Thanks to that, Taichi no longer felt any resistance to calling her by name, but in situations like this, it might cause trouble.

The reason was that lately, Taichi had become much more aware of the stares from people around him.

After agreeing to Subaru’s request and spending more time with Yuki, he had now completely warmed up to her.

It was hard to believe that he once struggled to even talk to girls besides Akari. Now, he could act natural around Yuki.

And maybe because of that, he had started to draw attention from others.

Taichi and Yuki mostly spent time together after school, and it had become a habit for them to walk home together. But at school, Taichi never initiated conversation with Yuki.

Considering that Subaru was in the same class, it was the natural choice for Taichi. He had been careful not to interact with Yuki unnecessarily in front of Subaru.

Yuki sometimes initiated conversation with Taichi, but back when it first started, it wasn’t enough to draw attention.

However, lately, Yuki had been talking to him more often. And being with someone as noticeable as Yuki meant Taichi had started to feel eyes on him in class.

So far, Subaru hadn’t said anything.

Taichi figured Subaru was being lenient because he kept giving him new info about Yuki every day. But if he really thought about Subaru’s feelings, he should be keeping more distance from Yuki.

And yet, Taichi couldn’t bring himself to pull away from Yuki, who kept approaching him.