Toradora! Vol. 7

by Yuyuko Takemiya

  In those recent days, he really had only felt the distance between them.

  But regardless of that—no, because of that, Ryuuji wanted to be beside Minori. Because she was distant, because he didn’t understand, because she wouldn’t understand. Because of that, he could only glue the pieces together. If she were avoiding him, he would go after her. If there were times they missed each other in passing, he could try to get back to her. If the situation were terrible, he would do all in his power to recover it—like this, forcing it, even if it didn’t feel natural. He would sit and be there and reach out to her distant heart.

  Ryuuji thought that itself was love. Even if he were the only one reaching out, that was a given, because it was unrequited love. Even if Minori only showed him her hard profile, even if her lips were blue, even if she still seemed like she might burst out crying blaming herself, Ryuuji would still want to reach out with his powerless hands. All he wished for was that he would eventually reach her. He felt that when he stopped reaching out, that would be the end of this love.

  Ryuuji picked up a fragment and then found another in the same shape. After carefully matching and gluing the pieces, he pressed them together for a while and then nodded to himself.

  Because he really might have been in her way, because he really didn’t want her to hate him, Ryuuji tried to keep his breathing as quiet as possible. It would be best if Minori, who was next to him right then, forgot he was even there.

  But right when he thought that, Minori said Ryuuji’s name in a low voice.

  “Takasu-kun…”

  “Yeah?”

  She kept her head down and still didn’t look at Ryuuji.

  “Takasu-kun, Takasu-kun…”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Takasu-kun…”

  “I’m here.”

  Minori repeated it. She kept calling for Ryuuji.

  When she did, Ryuuji replied. He didn’t miss any one of her calls and answered each one. If Minori were to call him, he would always respond to her voice. If Minori were to reach her hand out to him, he would always grab it.

  He gently glued on another fragment. Slowly, Taiga’s broken star came back to its original shape. It wasn’t the same as before it had broken, but it still shone.

  Ryuuji held up the partially put together star and let the lights from the gym go through it. He focused his eyes on the brilliant light. He looked at the star, which had been created to shine at the center of a happy Christmas, and smiled. The light was the symbol of happiness itself. He stretched out his arm so that Minori could see it too and gently said, “See. Look, isn’t it pretty? You can fix it even after it’s been broken. So cheer up.”

  “It’ll never be back to what it originally was…”

  “But it’s shining like it’s supposed to.”

  “I—”

  Minori’s voice wavered like she was sinking in water. He waited for her next words, pretending like he hadn’t noticed.

  “I don’t know…if it’ll ever be the same…”

  “It will.”

  Ryuuji answered firmly and looked up at the shining star. This was light that emitted happiness. Minori must have seen it, too. If she couldn’t believe in it, then he wanted to show it to her more decisively, more firmly. He wanted to put it out there right in front of her eyes.

  No matter how badly it broke, no matter how many times it needed to be put back together, even if it broke for a cheap reason like a misunderstanding or over an assumption, even if it seemed like it had died, it would heal and put itself back together over and over, being reborn again with Minori’s smile and her words. That was his love for Minori.

  Even if it broke, it could be put back together.

  That was why there was no reason for her to cry.

  “It’s fine. It’ll be fixed, as many times as it needs to be.”

  The light held up in front of his eyes was the switch. The switch flicked on, and in the back of his cowering heart, the lights from several stars started to shine.

  The Orion that winked inside of Ryuuji gave him infinite power.

  He had the power to pass the baton along to Minori. He had already started running and reached out with one hand in preparation to give it to her. Time seemed to go faster for Ryuuji. His heart beat faster, and his eyes lit up. He cast off his imminent limitations as he headed towards the bounds of his overflowing love for her.

  He didn’t want to just wait with his hand stretched out. He wanted to give her the baton, have her take it from him, and yell at her, Run! He wanted to show Minori. From the bottom of his heart, Ryuuji wanted to show Minori the limitless stars and the unbreakable things in the wide world of his heart. That’s why I want you to keep going and run this relay.

  He’d spent more than a year and a half loving Kushieda Minori. Ryuuji finally reached the point where he wanted to shout it out loud.

  It took over an hour to get the tree looking like it had before. Minori and Ryuuji put Taiga’s star back together, but the glued fragments still showed off its cracks. It looked almost like a mosaic ornament. Taiga smiled, though.

  “This is good,” she said. “It looks cuter than before.”

  She didn’t just hug Minori but embraced her and rubbed her back several times. Minori buried her face in Taiga’s hair for a moment. Then she broke away. “I’m really sorry!” she said in a loud voice towards the prep committee and student council. She lowered her head. Next, she turned to the softball club sitting in a line and said once more, “I’m sorry you have to have me as your captain!”

  The girls’ softball club all bowed and ran out of the gym in a display of athleticism.

  Ryuuji had, without hesitation, run after Minori.

  He followed her out into the chilling breeze and tapped her back. When Minori turned around as though she were surprised, he tried to say it to her as brightly as possible.

  “You should come tomorrow! To the party! It’ll definitely be fun! I want to spend it with you!”

  “…Uh.”

  Minori sounded like she was choking up.

  Ryuuji didn’t withdraw. “Well, if you don’t have any plans… I want you to come, though!”

  “…”

  He waited for her to say his name one more time. He waited for a raspy voice, a faint whisper to fall from her lips.

  But.

  “I can’t… I can’t go.”

  Minori didn’t say his name. She stood still as she shook her head decisively. Under the dim flicker of florescent lights, he could only see that her face had turned pale.

  “I caused so much trouble, I can’t. I can’t go.”

  “But I’ll wait for you!”

  “Don’t wait for me… I’m not going.”

  “I’ll wait!”

  He was pushing to the point of almost being stalker-like. Without caring what all the other softball club members thought, he yelled as he faced Minori’s back. Whether it was pitiful, or an embarrassment, or his face was as red as the king of the realm of the dead, his love wouldn’t stop once it had started running. The switch that flipped on once could never be turned off again.

  ***

  It was December twenty-fourth, four in the afternoon.

  The closing ceremony ended before noon. They filled their bellies with the bento lunches they brought from home and went all out with the party prep until they reached the current point in time. The members of the student council and prep committee all gathered at the gym. They stood and watched the instructor in charge of fire inspections, who held a manual in one hand and was checking off various details. If we don’t pass at this point—it couldn’t only have been Ryuuji whose heart was thumping a little.

  “Okay, this is all good to go… Everything’s in order. There are no problems here.”

  At the voice they had been waiting for, voices of relief rang out here and there.

  “Yay!”

  “We’re done!”

  Their smiles sprang to life.

&nbs
p; “Now everyone, take great caution to make sure there are no problems. In the one in a million chance that a student breaks the drinking or smoking rules, that’s a direct expulsion. You got that? And you, patron saint! You had better be careful about managing and supervising as the person in charge of everything.”

  “Understood!” Kitamura replied to the bachelorette (age 30) Koigakubo Yuri (in the process of finding real estate) with a salute. She wore a shiny, high-quality gray pantsuit and simple white gold accessories. Her hair was prim and proper in a bun. She seemed a little more masculine than usual. Possibly because they had just finished getting permission and were in a lighter mood, the first-year girls talked to the bachelorette (age 30) casually and without restraint.

  “Actually, Yuri-chan-sensei, you look super fashionable today!”

  “Could it be that you’re going on a date?!”

  Kyaah! A Christmas Eve date with your boyfriend! With the excited girls in the corners of their eyes, the upperclassmen remained composed. Anyone who had known her for a while would know in their bones that the thirty-year-old’s love life game couldn’t possibly be strong enough to get a date for Christmas Eve. It was still fresh in their memories that Mercury’s passage into retrograde stole her most promising partner from her. Her reply was exactly as the upperclassmen thought it would be.

  “I don’t have a date. I’m going to a real estate purchasing lecture for single women. It cost one thousand five hundred yen… I’m going to buy a condo, so…”

  That’s just like her—Ryuuji in particular, nodded. He tried to burn the courage of the bachelorette (age 30) who had armed herself with dark brown makeup, into his memory, but then ultimately averted his eyes. It just made too strong of an impact on him.

  “What?! R-real estate?”

  “On Christmas Eve? Why?”

  It seemed to be a truth that was too difficult for the fifteen and sixteen-year-olds to take in. They couldn’t believe that someone single and in their prime would gather with others to think about real estate during Christmas Eve and pay a fee for it to boot. It seemed that it was beyond reason for them.

  “The women who have dates for Christmas Eve just haven’t prepared themselves yet. They’re not ready for reality to shake up their lives! In other words, even though we are single, this course is tests our qualifications for jumping our first hurdle…owning real estate. Do you get it?”

  “Huh…”

  “Ummm…”

  “I feel like interest rates have hit bottom, so I’m going now. Oh, there will be other teachers in the staff room the whole time, so make sure you go and check in with them before you start and before you end.”

  Somehow or other, they returned to their earlier mood and everyone happily answered back, “Yes!” The bachelorette (age 30) might have felt some of the youth return to her heart from her students’ excited voices. Her narrowed eyes relaxed. As she got up to leave, she whispered to Ryuuji with a slight smile when she passed by him.

  “It’s great that the tree turned out well. Your grades went up, and I’m pretty pleased. I’m sure you’ll all be rewarded for the work you put into this.”

  Ryuuji also grinned and returned a smile to the single homeroom teacher.

  “Thank you so much! I’m sure you’ll find some great property!”

  “Oh…yeah…thanks…”

  I’ll show you—I’ll be rewarded!

  Ryuuji held a secret but strong determination as he looked up at the tree that even the bachelorette (age 30) praised. It was a little wobbly, but the tree standing in the center of the gym was giant, magnificent, and beautiful. It was really incredibly gorgeous. They had filed down the seams in the parts that were facing the front so no one could figure out just by looking that it collapsed once. And then at the top was Taiga’s star. It was complete.

  It wasn’t just the tree that was complete. There were white and blue spotlights crossing through the air and lighting up the floor. If they turned off the other lights and only used those to light up the place, it would definitely be dramatic. The stool tests everyone had taken had also been worthwhile. The fruit punch, sandwich, fruit, cracker and small dessert tables were even lined up showily along the wall, though of course, carrying around and serving the refreshments was the prep committee’s work. The food offered was from a catering company with a name for themselves. With Ami’s connections, they had compromised to get all the rental utensils for free as long as the people who sampled the food shared their opinion of it.

  In the middle of the gathered people, Kitamura’s voice rang out, “Okay!”

  “We had a lot of trouble getting here, but we’re done with all the preparations now! Thanks for your hard work, everyone! I’m really thankful for how many people came to help out with the patron saint of broken hearts’ plan! We still have some more to do, but I hope that all of you are also excited for today and enjoy yourselves fully! And Ami, thank you for making arrangements for the tree and food.”

  In the applause that burst out all at once, Ami’s eyes went wide, and she acted flustered.

  “No way,” she said, “it wasn’t a big deal~!”

  “There it is. Dimhuahua is so…Ryuuji?”

  “…”

  “Hey. Are you okay?”

  “Huh? Wh-what?”

  At Taiga’s voice, Ryuuji blinked his eyes. For her to ask if he was okay, he must really have not looked okay. Those last few hours, he’d been putting up with nonstop physical labor.

  “It’s like your eyes are wandering around… I can’t tell where you’re looking. You’re scary. What’s wrong? Well, I get that you’re worried about Minorin from what happened yesterday, but you have to keep yourself motivated—”

  “No. It’s the opposite. I’m super passionate right now. Look, the party is perfect. Everything’s prepared. We just need Kushieda to come! But that’s where the hurdle is, in the end. I was persistent about inviting her, but all she said was ‘Sorry.’”

  Taiga hmm-ed and folded her arms.

  “If that accident just hadn’t happened yesterday, it would have been easy to talk to her… No, but if you’re that determined…it’s okay. Don’t worry, you keep being determined and passionate. Just leave everything else to me, angel Taiga-sama.”

  “What exactly are you planning on doing?”

  Though he was motivated, it was going nowhere—Ryuuji was slightly aware of that. Taiga looked up at him and gave him a peace sign.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. I still have some tricks up my sleeve.”

  Her whispered words disappeared for a moment in the cacophony that started up around them. Kitamura had broken them up to use their time for themselves before the party started. The ones who wanted to change would go back home, the ones who had brought their own clothes from home would change in class, and the ones who wanted to take a break would slink to the classrooms or go to some café. All of them had started walking and talking.

  They wanted to begin at five in the afternoon. The plan was to start letting the attendees into the place, have Kitamura’s welcome at five-thirty, and then the party would officially start! They could come late, leave early, and have fun as they liked, and the closing ceremony would be at seven-thirty. They would make sure to have everyone go home before eight, and the prep committee and student council officials would gather again at eight in the morning the next day. They would be responsible for cleaning the place up.

  And so they had an hour until it started. Well, what should I do? Ryuuji thought. He stopped and stood, and then Kitamura poked him gently in the elbow.

  “Takasu, Aisaka, what are you doing now? I still need to set up the welcome desk that the student council oversees. Maybe you could help?! If you did, I would be suuuper grateful!”

  “You would? I wouldn’t mind.”

  At that point, Ami’s face appeared. She rested her chin on Kitamura’s shoulder.

  “You should say no. He has plenty of people. Kitamura’s pretty rude w
hen it comes to using people for errands. He’s really good at that stuff.”

  “Keep it down. What are you doing then, Ami? You want to help, too?”

  “You must be joking? I’m going home. And. Getting. Changed. ♥ Well, I’ll see you when we start!”

  In the hopes of following Ami’s retreating back, Taiga pulled Ryuuji’s sleeve.

  “Sorry, Kitamura-kun, we’re also going home. Let’s go, Ryuuji.”

  “Huh? What are we going to do at home? I’m probably going to stay in my uniform and—”

  “Just go home! Walk! Hurry! Well, see you later!”

  Taiga pulled Ryuuji forcefully, so he gave up and went home. What was supposed to be at home? Even when he asked, Taiga ignored his questions and wouldn’t answer. He wondered if she was okay with Santa seeing her ignore him.

  Then, once they finally made it to the entrance of Taiga’s condo, Taiga said, “Once you get in, open your bedroom window immediately.”

  “Why…”

  “Just do it. Do exactly what I say.”

  Taiga put one hand on her hip, pointed at Ryuuji’s nose with the other, and gave him a self-justified order that he didn’t understand the meaning of. As he was thinking, What’s going on?

  “I’m home!”

  “Oh. ♥ Welcome home, be-yotch~! How does your report card look~?”

  He threw his grade report Yasuko’s way, where she was rolled up carefreely under the kotatsu table.

  “Kyaah! ☆”

  Ryuuji didn’t know if the shriek she gave was good or bad. Just as he had been told, he got onto his bed and faithfully opened the south-facing window. Beyond the window was Taiga’s condo window, which opened up right to her bedroom.

  “Here!”

  “Whoa?!”

  Rattle. The window across from him opened and Taiga threw a box as wide as her arms at Ryuuji. He quickly threw out his hands and caught it. It wasn’t as heavy as it looked, but it still surprised him quite a bit.