Chapter 27: Ji Yi’s Ideal Type?

A brief silence fell over the group.

Kiichi realized they had likely misinterpreted him. "Don't get me wrong. By 'terrible,' I don't mean a personality so malicious it leads to domestic abuse. I mean that I am not the type of person who will tenderly cater to someone else's emotions."

"Oh, you really startled me there," Sato said, recovering. "But not being a gentle person isn't really a big problem, is it?"

"I think it probably is," Kiichi replied. "Imagine a lovers' quarrel. If I haven't done anything wrong, I won't be the one to admit fault or back down. Just thinking about that kind of situation, it feels like it would inevitably lead to a breakup, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm..." Shiratori pondered this. While not everyone is like that, he had to admit it was a possibility. "In that case, wouldn't it be easier to just find a woman who is willing to be gently accommodating?"

"But I wouldn't like that," Kiichi answered. "That’s where the contradiction lies. I just feel that a woman who is willing to be unconditionally accommodating is pitiable. Shouldn't people have their own personalities and their own boundaries of what they cannot tolerate?"

"..." The others were left a bit stunned.

"If the other person is angry but refuses to show it toward me, isn't that just a bit too pathetic? Rather than calling that a romantic relationship, it’s more like finding someone to look after me," Kiichi said. "To put it bluntly, I believe the key to a romantic relationship is that both parties' true personalities must be compatible from the start, rather than gradually compromising and discarding parts of themselves over the course of the relationship."

"It sounds like Kiichi-kun is a believer in 'soulmates,'" Sato laughed. "I never expected that from you."

"That’s not it," Kiichi replied. "There’s no such thing as a soulmate. I just believe that an individual is already complete on their own. If one has to lose parts of their self just for the sake of a relationship, that is truly tragic. You could think of me as a very selfish person—selfish enough that I’m unwilling to change myself for love, yet not selfish enough to demand that others accommodate me for the sake of it.

"Furthermore, rather than craving the romance of a 'soulmate,' I am more influenced by Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love.

"I believe that if you have to compromise and abandon your true self for the sake of your partner, you can never achieve true intimacy. All you end up with is a 'fatuous' love consisting only of passion and commitment.

"Besides that, I’m actually quite shallow. If the other person isn't beautiful enough, then the passion component likely won't be achieved either.

"As for the last element, commitment, I haven't had the experience, so I can't provide a standard for it yet.

"There, I've finished describing my ideal type."

"..."

They were speechless.

Is this right? Shiratori and Takagi didn't know what to say.

Takagi wondered, shouldn't the answer to the "ideal type" question involve things like a girl's hairstyle, her figure, whether she’s good at chores or cooking, or whether she’s the "cute" or "mature" type? Why was the Inspector talking about something completely different? He couldn't even follow along. How did it come to this? Oh no, was his own understanding of love too superficial?

***

Shiratori, however, had understood, which only left him more bewildered. How could anyone analyze love so rationally? He wasn't a psychologist specializing in this; was all this really necessary for dating?

"Alright, done!" Compared to the two men who had fallen into an existential crisis, Sato was quite relaxed. She happily unfolded the notes she had been taking. "If I give this to Yumi, she shouldn't keep pestering me anymore."

"..."

It seemed Sato hadn't had enough to drink. But since she had already said it, Kiichi didn't care if she "leaked" these thoughts; there was nothing to hide anyway. As for Sato’s belief that handing this over would make Yumi let him off the hook, Kiichi felt she was overthinking it.

He suspected that Yumi wouldn't understand it and would come back chasing him for more specific requirements.

Questions like: "So, what is the standard for the 'beauty' the Inspector mentioned?"

Unfortunately, Kiichi’s standard wasn't a comprehensive scoring system, but a veto system. If one requirement wasn't met, it was all for nothing. So, no matter how hard they tried, nothing would change.

In any case, even though the topic had nothing to do with the reason he was in a bad mood, the act of engaging in such pointless, boring social interaction did indeed make Kiichi feel better.

***

"Hey, have you all heard? There's another transfer student coming to our class today," Ayumi announced excitedly, sharing the news she had just overheard.

"Oh? Really?" Genta was thrilled.

"Yeah, Ms. Kobayashi was talking about it in the office just now," Ayumi said, confident in her source.

"I wonder what kind of person it will be?" Ayumi started to anticipate the new classmate.

"I hope they're really cute," Genta fantasized.

"No, having a good personality is what’s important," Mitsuhiko countered.

"What do you think, Conan?" Ayumi leaned in to ask.

"Heh, I already know what kind of person it is..." Conan replied with a half-lidded expression, then hit the nail on the head: "Probably just a bookworm who’s always buried in their books and doesn't talk much."

"Hey! That's right!" Having his fantasy shattered, Genta was unhappy and suddenly remembered a way to get revenge. "Did you forget your promise from the arcade the other day?"

Mitsuhiko and Ayumi remembered too.

"You said yourself that if we beat you, you'd make them for us!"

"Yeah, yeah! Don't try to cheat us!"

Conan broke into a cold sweat, recalling how he had been soundly thrashed by these elementary schoolers at the arcade because he had underestimated them.

After feigning ignorance for a moment—which only led to more teasing from the kids—Conan pulled the Detective Badges he had asked the Professor to make out of his bag.

"Wow, these are so cool!"

"The 'DB' on here stands for 'Detective Boys,' right?" Mitsuhiko was also excited.

"Did you make these, Conan?" Ayumi asked happily.

"I asked Professor Agasa to make them," Conan replied. He didn't have the technical skills for such high-tech gadgets.

But they were perfect for kids playing detective games. That was what Conan thought. In truth, he was quite fond of these children who loved mystery-solving.

Just then, Ms. Kobayashi walked into the classroom with a young girl. Everyone's attention was drawn to them.

"Wow, she's so cute!"

"This is Ai Haibara, who will be studying with everyone starting today," Sumiko Kobayashi introduced her with a smile. "Everyone, please get along with her!"

She then began looking for an appropriate seat.

The girl ignored Genta's enthusiasm and sat down next to Conan without a word.

"Nice to meet you."

"..."

Conan thought to himself: *It's not like we're meeting for the first time, what is she pretending for?*