Love Comes After Simulation

Chapter 161

Yuuki Minami shared part of the meat from his bento with Kazumi Chitose and Yuko Ibuki.

As Kazumi bit into the meat prepared by her love rival, she felt a complex mix of emotions. Realizing that it tasted better than her own cooking only deepened her sense of defeat. In contrast, Yuko remained much more composed. Her culinary skills were slightly inferior to Kazumi’s, so she felt no sense of crisis when faced with meat fried by Nao Asano, someone far superior to her in cooking.

After all, whether the food tasted good or not wasn’t the key point—what mattered was whether Yuuki liked it. And in the dream, Yuuki had never shown any particular preference for food. In other words, good cooking skills were, at best, a low-value card—perhaps a three or a four, the weakest kind. It was like a “Tanyao” hand in mahjong: it might look like a winning hand, but in reality, the gain was quite limited.

She even started wondering—once she and Yuuki confirmed their relationship, would she be able to go to the Asano household for meals? She had no interest in cooking. Instead of spending time buying ingredients and preparing food, she would rather stay close to Yuuki a little longer.

But that was a matter for the future. Right now, she had two more pressing issues to deal with. One was that photograph—she would ask about it later. Compared to that, the other question was even more urgent, something that had been puzzling her for a long time.

During the summer vacation in the dream, Yuuki had stood motionless in front of an oncoming truck. After she saved him, he continued to linger in dangerous places multiple times. Both her dream self and her past self in reality had thought the boy harbored a deep-seated death wish.@@@@

However, from her recent observations, she saw no trace of gloom hanging over him.

“How do you feel about your life right now, Yuuki?” she asked him directly.

Yuuki was momentarily stunned. He quickly connected her question to his actions in the dream film and understood the reason for her inquiry.

He thought it was necessary to make this overly proactive girl realize the difference between the dream and reality—to prepare her mentally.

“I’m very satisfied,” he replied. “I recently became friends with Nao-nee and Kazumi, and every day has been really fun.”

Kazumi blushed and lowered her head.

“Really?” Yuko pressed further.

“Really. Why do you ask, Ibuki-senpai?” Yuuki feigned confusion.

“I don’t think you’re happy enough.” The girl straightened her posture, patted her barely noticeable chest, and, with an expressionless face, boldly declared, “Once you become friends with me, you’ll find life even more fulfilling.”

Inside, her emotions were surging.

So it was true—Yuuki had no thoughts of despair. In the dream, he had only been acting!

Yuko had no issue with Yuuki deceiving her through acting in the future. On the contrary, now that she was certain he had been pretending, an overwhelming sense of happiness filled her heart.

A little reasoning was all it took to deduce that Yuuki had been acting in order to get closer to her. What could be a clearer sign of his love? For her sake, this naturally sunny boy had deliberately disguised himself as someone melancholic!

Knowing about such a hidden love, how could Yuko not be ecstatic?

Once again, she was convinced—her chances of winning were high! Yuuki might appear indifferent to her on the surface, but in truth, he was absolutely smitten with her! ɽαꞐоbÈꞩ

“Oh, so this is your roundabout way of asking to be friends?” Yuuki picked up on her previous statement. “Then, I look forward to it, Ibuki-senpai.”

“Just call me Yuko,” Yuko paused, then turned to look at Kazumi. “And you too, Kazumi.”

Kazumi nodded. Yuuki’s words had washed away her worries and given her a renewed sense of courage.

At the start of the semester, she hadn’t planned on confessing to Yuuki. She hadn’t even intended to approach him—just quietly watch from a distance. It was only after seeing him bring out that ambiguous bento that she acted on impulse and decided to confess. Even then, she never expected success; she had braced herself for rejection.

But now, she had become friends with Yuuki—a tremendous step forward toward him, something she wouldn’t have even dared to imagine a few weeks ago.

Had his wild guess actually been correct? Had Yuko really found Asagiri Mayu’s mother?

“What’s her last name?” He looked at her intently.

“Asagiri.”

“What grade is she in?”

“First-year high school.”

...Huh?

Yuuki was caught off guard. High school?

If she was a high school first-year, that meant she was his age. But the age gap between him and Mayu was supposed to be thirty years. That would mean Mayu’s mother gave birth at thirty?

Although the average childbearing age for Japanese women was indeed around thirty, from what he had seen of Mayu’s mother’s social class in the simulated lives, she should have had children earlier than the average.

“...Can I see the photo?” Yuuki asked, intrigued.

He didn’t even need to ask whether Yuko had a photo. If she had identified a suspect, it had to be through a picture.

Yuko was puzzled by his reaction but took out her phone anyway. She opened an image she had saved from the internet.

Yuuki and Kazumi leaned in together, looking at the screen.

Yuuki’s gaze swept across the faces in the group photo, searching. Yuko pointed to a corner.

“This one.”

After examining the girl in the corner, Yuuki rubbed his chin.

“She does look quite similar. What’s her name?”

“...?”

Yuko tilted her head, a rare expression of confusion appearing on her usually impassive face.

Why are you asking me that instead?

“Asagiri Mizuki,” she answered.

“And her school?”

“She went to Kikuka Academy for middle school. That school usually promotes students directly, so her high school is probably also Kikuka Academy.”

“Nice work, Yuko-senpai!”

Yuuki patted her on the shoulder in encouragement.

Watching the boy’s excited expression, Yuko felt a sudden sense of unease, realizing she might have just made a mistake.