I totally agree with you. I didn't felt that yuka has a romantic feelings for kaoru at first. When rin asked yuka if he loves kaoru and replied with " he's my precious childhood friend" ( or something like that ), the same with Taiga to Rin. I think taiga is just jealous (?) of kaoru because he got all the attention and rin–who used to be really attached to him doesn't want him anymore. I think the three of them decided to just settle with the situation they're in because they can't do anything about it anymore
But I'm happy that they ended up being happy with their partnes.
This story is actually deeper than just "they chose love over fate". Maybe this story will came across as brutal, what with the rapey start. But actually the author paint the omega universe situation the closest to reality. What i love about this story is how all the character mature through all the circumtance, the are not accept it just as it is because actually Kaoru can choose Rin all he want. Taiga is downright asshole. Even if he was the one bonded with kaoru, he looked down on kaoru, and he just saw kaoru as breeding machine, what relationship is healthy that way? (even though they are fated). But his way of thinking change, when he realize his fated partner being robbed from him. He did care for Rin from the start, thats why he told Rin to be bitten by someone Rin believed will care for him from the start. Because Taiga knows he is not Rin's fated pair and he knows how it feels to lost his fated pair. And Rin asked Taiga to bit him first before his brain foggeg by the fated ridden lust he has for Kaoru. This universe show that fate is bullshit and hormonal. Maybe Yuka start off not having as big love as Kaoru have for him. At first he allow Kaoru to be with his fated pair assuming Kaoru met his fated pair in the future (where Kaoru kiss him to shut him up, omg the cutest). But he grew to love Kaoru and he is happy with the possibility that Kaoru is his fated pair. Thats why he is hesitating when Rin ask him to give Kaoru to Rin. This story actually really deep. Taiga still show that he is an asshole when he ask Kaoru to choose Rin, eventhough he did it based on his love, but he didnt even considering that Yuka will be all alone if Kaoru did choose Rin. All of them blind by love and not by their hormones only, i love it. And well i know the butler manga you are talking about. And i absolutely love that piece of work too, but you cant compare those and this. The butler manga try to show that it is possible to love someone who is your fated partner AND who is not your fated partner. But you cant compare them because the alpha butler didnt even met the omega he is fated with, he just met the omega forced to be his fate one by chemical. But they are happy nonetheless so it is okay and i am glad he never did met his fated omega.
And this one actually did the complete opposite from the butler manga. This manga shows that you actually can be happier by choosing someone you actualy love rather that someone you are fated with
I know most people are loving this manga, because it comes across as "they chose love over fate". I actually really didn't care for this manga too much, because the only one who chose love over fate was Kaoru. His decision to bite Yuka in high school (without Yuka's consent) changed all of their lives. It may have been for the better, but it felt more like everyone just settled for what they got. Both Rin and Taiga were obsessing over other people while having sex with each other up until the last few chapters. Yuka and Kaoru didn't even have a sexual relationship except when Yuka was in heat. That may have changed in the end, but it was Kaoru meeting his fated omega that pushed his and Yuka's relationship to change. I have no problem with an omegaverse story choosing love over fate (there is a butler couple in another one that did just that and I loved it), but I felt like this one was poorly constructed. None of them really showed any strong romantic feelings for their partners except for Kaoru.