Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

Taiga turned up her chin with the utmost hauteur, aiming her parfait spoon across the table. “We’re on break, so taking it easy is A-okay. And it’s not like you’re that different. You’re completely missing the important part. I’m the one always making the effort to come over here with you, aren’t I? And on top of that—okay, first of all—”

  “Gah…! You flicked ice cream in my eye!”

  “The reason why I have nothing to do is you, Ryuuji. Do you get that? Huh?” Taiga spoke arrogantly. Rather than anger, the color of scorn flooded her large, shimmering eyes. “You’ve got it real good. You can count on me to help you see the person you like, but I don’t have a ‘me’ for myself. I don’t have a kind-hearted person like me to cheer for my love life.”

  “…Man, do you think you could beat around the bush a little more? It’s not my fault that you couldn’t meet Kitamura during break. I helped you like I was supposed to.”

  “…”

  “Don’t just ignore me when we’re having a conversation!”

  “Shut up.”

  After speaking her mind, Taiga lapsed into sullen silence. She dropped her eyes to the women’s magazine she had bought at a bookstore on the way there. Ryuuji didn’t like it, but it wasn’t like there was a lot he could do. He could only drown his indignation in black coffee.

  The Kitamura situation absolutely wasn’t his fault.

  He recalled what had happened, early in the afternoon, on the first day of their break.

  Ryuuji, bowing to Taiga’s endless pestering, had made a phone call to his close friend Kitamura—Taiga’s unrequited love. Knowing that the softball club Kitamura and Minori were members of had about three days off during the break, Taiga wanted Ryuuji to find out what Kitamura’s plans were for that time. Although Taiga didn’t have the courage to invite Kitamura out herself, she wanted to have Ryuuji make plans to meet Kitamura, and then, under the pretense of a coincidence, run into them. She had concocted that pitiful plan.

  But the blunt reply that came over the phone (while Taiga stood beside Ryuuji in a cold sweat) was: “Nope! Sorry! I wanted to hang out for a day, too, but between student council and stuff I have to do at home, my schedule is completely booked!” No matter how you looked at it, it was just bad timing. There wasn’t any room to blame Ryuuji.

  “Even if you did see him, you’d just go all tongue-tied anyway.”

  “…”

  Taiga looked up. She didn’t make a sound, or change her expression, as she whispered using only the movement of her lips…

  Go. To. Hell.

  “…Go to hell? What, are you going to push me in?”

  “You heard that? You have good ears.” Taiga snorted with the coldest scorn, gazing at Ryuuji with an expression more devil than tiger.

  In times like these, Ryuuji couldn’t help but think, despite himself: Why am I practically living with her—with someone like this, who belittles me and looks down on me…?

  “Ah!”

  His thoughts were interrupted by Taiga’s exclamation.

  “Ugghh! What are you doing, you klutz?!”

  Still holding his head in one hand, Ryuuji quickly grabbed a tissue and got up to kneel like a proper manservant beside Taiga’s sofa chair. A drop of blueberry sauce had dripped out of her mouth and onto the lap of her dress. He needed to wipe it off before it stained the lace.

  “Ugh, now I’ve done it… do you think it’ll stain?”

  “No, we got it just in time. If we go home and deal with it right, it’ll probably be fine.”

  He wet the tissue lightly in a cup of water and nervously gave the dress light pats while Taiga let loose pitiful whines. After all, the dress was easily at least twenty times the price of any outfit Ryuuji wore…and even if it wasn’t Ryuuji’s, he had to take care of it, or he would be blaspheming the money gods. Even if the two of them had been bickering a minute ago, that was irrelevant, now. Before he knew it, Ryuuji had lapsed back into their normal tempo—and that was all right. In the end, this was how it worked.

  He and Taiga were always like this. While Ryuuji absentmindedly deployed his emergency stain removal techniques, his eyes grew distant.

  Come to think of it, their common ground had originally been that they had crushes on each other’s best friends. When that came to light through chance and circumstance, they eventually formed a strange, united front…which pretty much mostly favored Taiga, but anyway, the point was that they’d formed a relationship because they were both at the end of their ropes.

  Since Taiga lived by herself, she came to depend on Ryuuji’s natural love of chores and cleanliness and all things housekeeping-related. Ryuuji, instead of refusing that request, deftly synched their complex household environments, yielding the current arrangement.

  Taiga, you klutz.

  Ryuuji had found out about the other surprising side of the feared Palmtop Tiger—the part of her that was unfortunately vulnerable, the part that only Ryuuji knew about in the whole world. Because of that, Ryuuji couldn’t let Taiga out of his sight. She was the kind of person who would trip over herself three times in a day if she were left alone. When she was behind him, he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder and, when she used fire, he couldn’t help but want to intervene. If he didn’t prepare her meals for her, she had nothing to eat, and then she would crash. He felt like he had to chaperone her on a daily basis just in case she did anything reckless.

  But, on top of that—he had accidentally witnessed the scene where her sensitive, once-in-a-lifetime confession of love had been exchanged. And unexpectedly, he’d also discovered that she was a crybaby.

  Things had escalated until Ryuuji and Taiga reached a miraculous equilibrium. They settled into a strange relationship where they were having meals together, going to school together, and even shopping together, but weren’t dating. Such was the nature of their strange relationship.

  At any rate, if Ryuuji had to admit it, there was another reason he stuck by her. Ryuuji was a Ryu—a dragon—and Taiga was a tiger, and a tiger and a dragon always came as a set.

  “Ah!”

  The second blueberry-colored droplet broke Ryuuji’s thoughts.

  “…That was close. Out of all places, why would you spill it where I’m already wiping up? It fell on my finger though, so it’s fine.”

  “Quit yapping. It wasn’t on purpose, and it’s not like I even asked you to wipe it up, anyway.”

  “That’s some gratitude! Well in that case, do you know how to remove the stain? I think I know the answer! I’ll have you know I’m not doing this for you; I’m doing it for this dress.”

  “Ohhhh, is that so? If you like it so much, then it’s all yours! Why don’t you try it on?”

  Well…now the fight was getting worse, escalating.

  But he couldn’t let expensive clothes get stained right before his eyes, not without doing something. Ryuuji’s gaze hardened into the stare of a criminal who’d done ten years’ hard time on three convictions (he might have been a little peeved). Heedless of other people’s stares, he once again became absorbed in dabbing at the dress. Then…

  “Oh!”

  At that involuntary noise from Taiga, Ryuuji raised his face reflexively. “What did you do this time?!”

  “Nothing. …This is cute, I’m buying it. I’m definitely buying it.” Mumbling to herself, Taiga folded down the corner of one of the magazine’s pages.

  “What are you going to waste money on now? How many times do you need to buy the same dress before you’re satisfied? They’re all the same frilly and fluffy style, too. So hit me—which one is it? How much does it cost?”

  “Jeez, you’re so obnoxious! Do you think you’re my mom or something?!”

  “You’re going to make me put it away anyway, so I’ve got the right to check it first.”

  Ryuuji got up and promptly sat down next to the clamoring Taiga, so close that he was practically rubbing elbows with her. He glanced at the page she was looking at. The memory of furiously organ
izing the vast array of expensive outfits that had overflowed from Taiga’s closet was still vivid in his mind. He had a right to stop her from squandering money on frivolous shopping, once and for all.

  But then he saw something.

  “…Th-this one? I…wonder about that…”

  He unconsciously cocked his head to the side. I’m definitely buying it, Taiga had muttered at the model on the page, who was beautifully posed in slimming jeans that showed off her long legs. It wasn’t frilly or fluffy, but…

  “This isn’t Chushingura, you know. You can’t go around letting your hakama drag on the ground in the Shogun’s castle halls.”

  Taiga was barely one hundred and forty centimeters tall, after all. The length of her legs was easy to guess, but Taiga cut right into his thoughts.

  “…What I want is this. This bag.”

  With her nail, Taiga gouged at the small purse the model was holding.

  “O-oh…that’s what you meant.”

  “Sorry for having short legs.” Her monotone voice was strangely calm, yet rang with terrible, ominous tones. Ryuuji was taken aback and instinctively prepared to escape. Taiga’s savage eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a silent laugh.

  “Wait, see, calm down…this is where Kushieda works…and it’s the palace, my liege.”

  “What was that?! Are you messing with me?! I can’t stand that kind of attitude! If you know you’ve put your foot in your mouth, then why don’t you start by apologizing?!”

  Fierce wrinkles appeared on Taiga’s nose—his rookie attempt at humor was a swing and a miss. This is bad, I really made her mad. He certainly wanted to hurry up and get that apology over with, but…

  “Guhhh…!”

  “Anyway, yes, I have short legs! But that hasn’t ever caused anyone else trouble even once!”

  Taiga had grabbed Ryuuji by the nape of the neck and was furiously shaking him back and forth. It wasn’t really so much that he couldn’t apologize as much as that he couldn’t breathe. He hit the table with his hand pitifully as he struggled. What he was trying so desperately to say was: “Tap out, tap out!”

  Then Taiga’s hand unexpectedly slackened. Released, Ryuuji collapsed into the sofa, coughing.

  “Y-you know…someday you’re gonna accidentally kill me! Like for real!”

  “Wh-wh-wha…?” Taiga’s mouth popped half open as she blinked in childlike surprise.

  Thinking she’d finally understood just how violent she’d been, Ryuuji gave a sage nod. “Right, it’s a shock, yeah? Now that you’ve learned your lesson, don’t pretend to strangle anyone ever again.”

  “What?! What are you going on about? That’s not it at all. Here! Look at this!” Taiga glared at Ryuuji in irritation, pointing to the magazine page she’d just been examining. “Look, look!”

  “…You already said you wanted the bag.”

  “Nooo, not the bag! This! This person!”

  Above her cherry-blossom-pink fingernail lay the beauty with the long, smoothly crossed legs—or more specifically, the beauty’s smiling face. Complementing the cool black background, she wore a camisole that cost several tens of thousands of yen along with an even more expensive pair of jeans. Her loosely curled hair trailed in the wind. Of course, she was a very pretty model, but then she was a model, so of course she would be pretty. It all looked pretty typical to him.

  The moment he tried to ask what about it, she grasped his head—“Owowowow!”—and twisted it nearly one hundred and eighty degrees in the opposite direction.

  “…Oh!”

  Without thinking, he made a sound of wonder nearly identical to Taiga’s own.

  A few seats away from where Ryuuji and Taiga were sitting, a waitress led in a new customer.

  Taiga and Ryuuji weren’t the only ones looking at her. The customers inside the busy restaurant turned around and whispered to each other. Pretty much all of them had turned their gazes to the newcomer.

  The first thing that drew their eyes was her slim body, reminiscent of a slender fawn. She didn’t look that tall, but that was because her dainty head possessed the golden proportions of the perfect woman. Her hair was lustrous and silky, beautifully maintained all the way to the ends. But instead of falling straight, it had a wild feel to it, softly arrayed about her shoulders.

  On her childlike, elfin face, she wore the huge sunglasses of a Hollywood celebrity, and she walked with the utmost poise. Thin-heeled sandals encircled her ankles, as well turned as any sculptor might have chiseled out of stone.

  Even though she paired her slimming jeans with an incredibly plain knit top, the outfit made her exceptionally long limbs—unheard of for someone Japanese—shine brighter than any dress would have. The brand-name bag on her shoulder and her polished ivory skin spoke of a woman who was no amateur.

  Long story short, she was stunning. No one could keep from turning to look at her—the woman was the center of their gravity.

  When she casually pulled off her sunglasses, the entire restaurant was wrapped in strange excitement.

  Ryuuji was no exception. “Whoooaaa,” he exclaimed, unintentionally concentrating his sharp, manic eyes on her.

  Her own dewy eyes were subtly childlike. The features of her face seemed to radiate a light all their own.

  Like a miracle, two giant eyes were set in her petite face. Her smooth cheeks were flushed a bewitching, cherry blossom pink. Her soft, relaxed face was elegant, delicate, and sweet; her refined figure was eye-catching on a whole other level.

  Everything about her was charming and pure. She was kind and gentle and graceful. Undoubtedly, she was like an angel. She was an angel who had descended upon a restaurant like this and deigned to generously shine her resplendent aura down on the mere mortals who happened to dwell within. He felt he could almost see a ring of light above her head.

  And those good looks…

  “…It’s her…”

  “…Yeah…”

  It was undoubtedly the beauty Taiga had picked out on the page.

  “It’s the model…”

  Seeing a model for the first time in his life, Ryuuji sighed deeply. When he saw her in the magazine, her looks didn’t seem anything so special, so how could the real thing be this dazzling? Could someone so exquisitely refined as this actually exist?

  “Her name’s ‘Kawashima Ami.’ She was on the cover a month before last, too.” Taiga, cheeks unusually flushed, spoke with slight elation.

  “I see… wow. I just might be her newest fan… Kawashima Ami-san, huh…? What’s she doing in a boring suburb like this…?”

  “Her mom’s the actress Kawashima Anna. I saw it in another magazine a while back.”

  “Wow… I just saw her on TV last night.” Ryuuji launched into a TV announcer impression. “Somewhere on the charming Izu Peninsula! A murder case—a capybara onsen temptation—the debutante coroner, Yuudzuku Reiko! Don’t miss season four!” He stopped to think over it. “…So she’s Yuudzuku Rieko’s daughter… now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance. Only one thing to do—take a cellphone picture.”

  “Hey, knock it off. You’ll make her mad.”

  “R-right, maybe so. …Yeah, I’ll chill out. I got a little too excited.”

  “You peasant.”

  “Oh, come on. Like you weren’t excited, too?”

  Close together on the same sofa seat, they both took several deep breaths.

  “Not that excited, but…we did get to see something really great.”

  “It’s our one and only memorable thing from over break.”

  He nodded in agreement, and they both grabbed their cups at the same time. Then it happened—at the very moment they both took a sip. Ryuuji with his coffee, and Taiga with her mineral tea.

  “Yuuusakuuu! Auntie, uncle, our seats are over here~!”

  “Right!”

  “Ptooie!”

  “Ptooie!”

  It was a furious, simultaneous spit take.

  The two of th
em suffered terribly as they coughed in unison. And it was only natural. The beautiful model who had appeared before their eyes was affectionately calling over a familiar jerk.

  “Wh-wh-wh…why?”

  “K-K-Kita—Kitamura-kun?! No, no, why?! How is this happening?!”

  Completely shaken, Ryuuji began furiously wiping the table with a napkin. Taiga was busy flailing around like a beached octopus and got her arm tangled with Ryuuji’s. Of course it would be then that they were noticed.

  “Huh? If it isn’t Takasu and Aisaka. What a coincidence! What are you doing all tangled up? You two are as close as always!”

  Kitamura Yuusaku had sauntered into the restaurant as if everything were totally normal. He waved his hand as he walked over. Such was Ryuuji’s turmoil that his knife-like eyes honed themselves to sharper and sharper points. Taiga was being washed away by a full-on wave of emotion, so intense that she couldn’t even speak. But Kitamura didn’t mind.

  “Apparently Kushieda works here part-time, too. Did you see her?”

  Relentlessly cheerful, he continued to walk towards them.

  “No, we saw Kushieda, but—never mind that!” With an expression grim enough to rival the monks of Mount Hiei, Ryuuji intensely pressed his carefree friend. “You—that—just what’s going on here?! Why is—”

  “Huh? Oh, right. This is good timing, I’ll introduce you. These are my parents. Ryuuji, you met my mom at our parent-teacher conferences, right?”

  “How are you, Takasu-kun, is your mom doing well?” Kitamura’s parents bowed their heads, but he had to excuse himself.

  “No, not them! That’s not it at all!” He couldn’t stop shaking his head. “The other thing. That… that… over there! That!”

  Ryuuji’s emotional lexicon was kind of on the small side. He was left twisting to the left and right, literally flailing for a way to convey his distress to his best friend.

  “What’s wrong, Yuusaku?”

  “Right, I was just about to introduce you.”

  It was a catastrophe.

  The source of the disturbance was approaching Ryuuji and Taiga on her own two feet, right before their eyes. Glittering particles of light seemed to surround her body as her sweet fragrance softly drifted towards them.