This is going to ramble so I'm sorry. I'm just throwing thoughts out there.....

Earlier, I felt a little weird about Taka's past love interest, ngl. I know it happens irl and I've read other books where the subject is brought up. In some romance novels, it even takes center stage and IS the plot. But I still feel hinky about it unless it's in some *VERY* specific situations. His was not one of the situations.

Anyway, I still think Taka's a good guy and deserves love! I'm just not sure about pairing him with Shimura. I mean, I can see the personalities meshing well but that can also be said about amazing platonic relationships. They have a beautiful give-and-take thing growing and I like seeing how Taka's steadiness pulls back Shimura's over-excited quest for knowledge. However, both Shimura and Taka are very analytical (as evidenced by what Shimura gives Taka after his pronouncement) so I wonder how "romantic" a relationship can be between them.

Not saying that these types of relationships don't exist or aren't great pairings! I'm just curious to see if that type of thing can be translated well enough on paper to pull heart strings. After all, isn't that why we read these types of manga?

Guess I'll have to wait and see how it progresses.