Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

Ami went into the convenience store looking like that, and took a basket like an ordinary person, but everything after that was astonishing. She started systematically grabbing and throwing snacks and ice cream from the shelves into her basket with terrible force. Then she got bento, toppings, snack bread, a diet drink in a plastic bottle, and soda, too. Even the employee behind the register was leaning over and watching her behavior.

  “Talk about weird… is she having a party or something?”

  “No…that’s not what this is. Hmph, so that’s it… how interesting.” Laughing slightly, Taiga started walking quickly ahead of him. It seemed she had come to a conclusion all by herself but didn’t feel like sharing it. “Ryuuji, let’s run.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  Now that she mentioned it, they were in a hurry. For now, they set aside the spectacle they’d just seen. Ryuuji and Taiga headed down the asphalt road towards the Takasu residence, where tonkatsu was waiting.

  But during that time, Taiga seemed strangely happy and broke into a sly grin.

  Chapter 4

  At the center of the most attractive cluster of girls among the students of class C were…

  “Ami-chan! I saw the magazine you were in yesterday,” said Kihara Maya. The other girls had praised Maya after break for lightening the color of her long, straight hair, but she’d received discreet disapproval from the boys.

  “It said you were taking a break from modeling for a while, but was that true?” Kashii Nanako, the second member of the two-girl pair, had strangely attractive moles around her small mouth.

  They came as a set. The two girls made a duo more gorgeous than the sum of its parts. When they talked to Ami, several other girls gathered around, as though drawn in by the activity.

  “Maya-chan, I can’t believe you and everyone else looked at this month’s edition! I’m so flattered! But it’s true, I’m taking a break from work for a while.”

  Ami had climbed to the apex of this, the most eye-catching group of girls in the class. Now, she lavished the girls clustered around her with her dazzling smile, at which they went into a loud chorus: “What a shame!”

  There was another group, too. They sat spaced out, staring at the commotion.

  “Somehow, I feel like the cuteness of the girls in our class suddenly went up by a standard deviation… Yeah, forget the underclassmen, the girls in our class are the best.”

  “I know, right?! It’s kind of like, you know what kind of people they are, and that familiarity grows into love. This is the royal road, boys. Ahhh, when I got put into this class in April, I was feeling blue just thinking about what it’d be like with both Takasu and the Palmtop Tiger around, but I was super lucky, now that I think about it… Maya and Kashii are in the class, and then best of all, Ami-tan is here… And if you’re only considering her looks, the Palmtop Tiger is super cute, too… everyone’s cute! Everyone!”

  With Ryuuji in their midst, the bespectacled Noto Hisamitsu and the frivolously long-haired Haruta Kouji narrowed their eyes in happiness. Ryuuji’s own eyes squinted while he pretended not to hear. Sewing kit in hand, he used tightly-packed stitches to mend a detached cuff button. If you can think that, then you really are in heaven, he thought, but of course, he was a peaceful observer. He wouldn’t dare say something like that aloud.

  Incidentally, Noto and Haruta told him they had gone out with the first-year girls that day, but the girls ended up coercing the two of them to treat them to McDonalds, karaoke, and a whole bunch of other things. In the end, the boys didn’t get so much as a phone number, and the girls ended the arrangement with the decisive words: “What a treat!”

  As Kitamura was passing by, Maya flagged him down. “Oh, it’s Maruo. Hey, don’t you think your childhood friend’s wasting her talents? This whole take-a-break-from-modeling thing?”

  Kitamura, who was affectionately called “Maruo” by the girls, turned around and pushed up his glasses. “I think it’s fine, I guess? Yeah, it’s fine by me, precisely because it was Ami’s own decision. Once she finishes school, she can easily start again.”

  “Whaaat! But she’s so cute! It’s definitely a waste. Maruo, you’re too cold to Ami-chan! And don’t say ‘precisely!’”

  That’s right, that’s right! Shrill voices surrounded Kitamura, but he cheerfully laughed them away without a trace of contempt or anger. Kitamura was the girls’ darling to the bitter end.

  At Haruta’s whisper, the unpopular, bespectacled Noto had a doubtful expression. “…Man, he sure is popular, but he’s so modest about it… I have glasses, too; maybe I ought to put them on…”

  “Yes, yes,” Kitamura said with a wry smile. He shrugged his shoulders and scurried out of the ring of the cutest girls in the class.

  “Oh, it seems like everyone is here.” He stopped by Ryuuji and the others, looking like they’d just saved his life.

  “Damn it, go home, you aristocrat! This is a crab cannery ship—proletariat only!”

  “Yeah, what a good punch. Aim for the world.”

  Shrugging off Haruta’s attack with a smile, Kitamura just set up camp next to Ryuuji. If the group surrounding Ami was the sun, the assembly of four boys could probably be called a shadow.

  “But it really isn’t a waste at all.” Ami’s cheerful voice was outstandingly bright and resonated through the classroom. “I wanted to enjoy a regular high school life like this. So this is okay. And I’ve made soooo many friends! I’m actually the happiest I’ve ever been right now, and it’s because I’m with all of you!”

  How can you be such a saint? You’re an angel, Ami-chan! The surge of voices from among the girls was almost a sigh of wonder. Inadvertently, Ryuuji stole a glance at Kitamura’s well-kept profile. Although Kitamura kept joking around with Haruta, for a brief moment, Ryuuji thought he saw him release a faint sigh.

  “Yeah, I see. Being a model must keep you awfully busy, and all the dieting and stuff seems hard, so you couldn’t really be a normal high school girl and keep on doing it.”

  Nanako nodded, and Maya agreed. “Right, right!” She opened her already large eyes wider.

  “I always wanted to ask you, Ami-chan—you’re super thin. You’ve been dieting, haven’t you? Is there a special diet all you models follow? C’mon, give us the deets!”

  “Yeah, I want to hear, too!”

  “Huh? Ami-chan’s diet? I want to know!”

  When the topic reached the subject of diets, the ring around Ami grew even larger. Once again, the girls became wildly enthusiastic. “Oh no,” Ami muttered, laughing a little. “I really have no idea! I’ve never had to go on a diet! It seems like I’m just blessed with a great metabolism, so I just eat whatever I want to eat, and as long as I’m eating healthy, it works out okay. I love eating snacks, and it’s better for your skin not to stress yourself out!”

  Then she smiled.

  The edge of her mouth might have twisted with very slight sarcasm.

  “…Metabolism,” someone muttered quietly.

  “…Hmmmph.”

  “…So that’s it.”

  “…No special diet, huh?”

  “…Wow.”

  Ami must have noticed. The temperature around her suddenly dropped three degrees.

  Maya’s mouth froze. She had been patiently enduring an oolong tea and salad lunch every day for nearly half a year.

  Nanako’s eye twitched. Just the day before, she had been desperately working out by walking, and she’d even foregone the sushi her dad had gotten her last evening.

  No matter how much she tried to keep up her good girl act, Ami’s true identity had made a brief, impulsive appearance.

  The other girls’ gazes became so cold that even Ryuuji could see it.

  That was the moment it happened.

  “…I can’t just ignore this!”

  Clack! One girl noisily scooted back her seat. Her angry voice shook the cold air with a growl.

  Her temple was crisscrossed by visible veins. She cracked all her knuckles as s
he slowly made her way forward through the silent classroom.

  Her name was Kushieda Minori. That hardcore girl, never satisfied by club activities alone, jogged the not-at-all-short distances between home, school, and work every single day.

  “Because even though I don’t look like it, I’m a diet warrior!”

  You gotta be kidding me. Ryuuji tilted his head quizzically. Hadn’t she eaten a bucket of pudding on her own just last month…? But she seemed to be telling the truth. A rare flame of real anger was burning in those eyes that were always smiling. And then, beside Minori was…

  “…Taiga. You’re with me, right?”

  “Yeah!”

  Aisaka Taiga, tied to Minori by their strong friendship, swayed like a wild animal. Ryuuji suspected a diet should have been completely irrelevant to someone like her, but Taiga was the type of girl who would lend a helping hand or two for a close friend. Even though she’d eaten two whole servings of tonkatsu.

  “Let’s go, Taiga!”

  “Hey, Minorin! You’re on deck!”

  “Okay, Taiga! Batter up!”

  They both suddenly spread out both their arms and quickly sidestepped into the ring of girls.

  “Huh?! Wait, wh-what are you doing?!”

  They forced their way right into the center, where Ami sat alone. Although the other girls squealed in surprise, there was a strange cold-heartedness to the way they all suddenly backed away. Soon enough, there was no one left to protect Ami. Taiga and Minori’s coordination was perfect. With their naturally good reflexes, they closed in on their target. At the moment she attempted to get up and run, they circled behind her, cutting off her escape.

  “What do you want from me?!”

  “Bwahahaha! Do you think we would allow you to escape from our defenses, my dear girl?!”

  “Feeling sorry you called me a shrimp? If you’re not yet, you will be, calling people weird names like that!”

  “N-names?! What are you talking about?!”

  The glimpse Ryuuji caught of Ami’s face showed confusion, puzzlement, but she seemed helpless before the impenetrable wall that was Minori and Taiga. She could only weakly sway from side to side on her feet.

  Is it really okay not to help her out here? Ryuuji checked on Kitamura, trying to read his expression—but Kitamura was gawking, mumbling to himself in surprise like an old lady. There was no sign he’d be getting up to intervene any time soon.

  “This is bullying!”

  “The Palmtop Tiger and Kushieda are bullying Ami-tan!”

  Ryuuji realized that although the three were the center of attention, not one person was lifting a finger to help Ami.

  “Shall we start? Kawashima-kun?”

  Kushieda’s lips twisted into a devious smirk. Taiga went around to Ami’s back and put her slim body into a full nelson.

  “Stop, wait, what are you—stop! Eyaaaah!”

  Ami’s shriek echoed through the classroom. Minori had struck fast as a snake. She turned out her hands, stuck them under Ami’s blazer, and forcefully grabbed Ami’s hidden stomach.

  “…Ho ho…! What have we here?”

  “Ugh…!” When Minori smirked, Ami’s expression stiffened with fear.

  Minori slowly licked her lower lip. “Teaaaacherrr! Kawashima-san is hiding fat in her beeelllllyyy!”

  Minori had gone over to the dark side. She kneaded the soft fat she’d grabbed. “Oh no no, noooo no no, noooooo! We can’t have this! You know the rules: If you’re bringing in fatty food from outside of school, you can’t bring more than 300 yen’s worth! Do you really expect me to believe this is just 300 yen of flab?! What are these handles?! Do I feel a banana under there?! Maybe you lucked out—bananas don’t count under the rules!”

  “S-s-s-stop, stop, stop, stooooop!”

  Minori violently wriggled both her hands underneath the uniform. The boy’s cheeks all flushed red, their collective imagination soaring right into forbidden territory.

  “Ohhhhhh, you’ve got quite a bit stocked up in here, don’t ya?!”

  “Stop, stoooooooop!”

  “What’s that you said about being ‘predisposed’? Then what’s this?! Hah! What’s this thing right here?! Huh?!”

  “Noooo, stop! Gyaaahh!”

  “Ahhhh hahahaha! This part’s from the meat buns! Ahahahaha! This part is from Haagen-Dazs! Take this! Convenience Store Shin Ken: Family Mart Style Gleaming Attack! You are already fat!”

  “I’m telling you to stop… Eyaaaaagh!”

  Minori’s fists moved in a golden arc. Though it was a little hard to see at first, the belly fat was soon revealed in all its jiggling glory. Minori rubbed her hands in a figure eight over the skin.

  Ami’s protracted shriek trailed off before eventually melting away completely, vanishing into empty space.

  …Gulp. Everyone swallowed their breath in the silence.

  Taiga slowly released Ami’s body from the full nelson. The poor fool dropped to the floor on her knees. Bereft of strength, she stayed there, still speechless.

  Minori put her fist to her heart and looked up to the heavens. “We dedicate this victory to diet soldiers everywhere, whose tears come down to us as falling stars!”

  “Uwah… wah… wah!”

  Finally released, Ami clutched at her disheveled clothes and miserably collapsed, sprawled on her side. She hung her small, flushed face in mortification and continued to sob in a low voice.

  Minori looked down at Ami and narrowed her eyes in satisfaction. “…Taiga. Your hunches always pay off.”

  As she looked down at Ami in the same way, Taiga was also smiling broadly. “No, no, you’re the amazing one, Minorin. You do good work.”

  Her eyes glittered with heartfelt happiness as she slowly sauntered up to stand in front of Ami. Her cheeks were rosy with delight, her lips the crimson red of an animal that had tasted blood.

  “Kawashima-san. Allow me to introduce you! This is my best friend, Minorin. In fact, I do have friends other than Ryuuji.”

  “BT-dubs, this is my BFF, Taiga!” Minori raised her hand and laughed.

  Then, from Minori’s side, Taiga pointed straight at Ami. “And so now the truth is out—you’re a camouflaged chubster! You eat too much!”

  BA-BAAAAAAM!

  Taiga’s firm declaration hit home. Ami’s shoulders drooped as though all the strength had left them. Minori and Taiga stood shoulder to shoulder and laughed loudly—Bwahahahaha!—as they shared high fives.

  “You’re awesome.” “No, you’re awesome!”

  The two devils whispered to each other, poking at each other’s cheeks as they walked away. Then, finally, they turned around.

  “Hey, Ami. Why don’t you try a marathon? A black tracksuit would definitely suit you.”

  At that parting shot from Taiga, Ami suddenly raised her face. She might have realized that Taiga had seen her convenience store shopping from the day before. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with her thumbs.

  “I’ve been doing marathons and more! I’ve been running and running and running around, you spoiled shr…”

  “Ami-chan, are you okay?”

  Ami closed her lips firmly and resisted tacking on the “…imp.” Smile, it seemed like she was thinking. Somehow, bit by bit, she rebuilt her mask.

  “I-I’m fine…”

  She smiled at the girls who offered their hands to her. Her resolve could not be dissolved. She had the powerful willpower of a willful powerhouse!

  “You poor thing! You’re not fat at all, Ami-chan!”

  “It was so scary! Aisaka-san and Kushieda-san are really violent…!”

  Though the girls’ words were kind, their beaming faces seemed awfully pleased. Although Ami also smiled as she got back up, she ground her teeth together, toughing out her humiliation. Even that smiling, angelic mask seemed close to crumbling and collapsing.

  ***

  “Man. Those two are demons…”

  Ryuuji filed away his excitement at seeing a
new side of Minori somewhere in the back of his mind, but he still couldn’t resist muttering something out loud. In actuality, Ami had probably been let off easy, but the fact was… no matter how you looked at it, they had gone too far. People would pity Ami. But…

  “…I see.”

  Somehow, Kitamura seemed to have had an epiphany. He nodded slightly. “So, if you go about things that way, Ami winds up like that.”

  What does she wind up like? Ryuuji thought, but the chime announcing the end of the break came too quick for him to ask.

  ***

  Evening approached, and the early summer’s drawn-out daylight finally waned.

  Bustling silhouettes came and went along the sidewalks lined with bushy zelkova trees—housewives coming home from shopping, middle schoolers biking home from extended club activities, kids with their dogs, students sporting white earphone cords—all of them in a hurry, walking against the chilly wind.

  After finishing their shopping at a congested supermarket, Ryuuji and Taiga also joined that wave of people. Beneath the light indigo sky, they headed to the Takasu residence.

  It seemed the events at school had served to dissolve a considerable amount of stress.

  “Hmm! ♪ Hmm! ♪”

  Taiga, who walked slightly ahead of Ryuuji, had experienced a complete turnaround from her malaise of the day before. She swayed her head from side to side as she hummed a mysterious song. It was rare for her, but Ryuuji didn’t say anything. He just followed her with shopping bags in both his hands. If he were to make a remark like, “How unusual,” the little rebel would probably immediately stop. Her slightly out-of-tune humming had an odd charm to it.

  He heard a small girl passing by ask her mother, “Is that a princess?” To a kid, Taiga’s sense of fashion may have really looked like something fit for fairytale royalty. Under her light-lime-green cardigan, she wore an unbuttoned floral-patterned dress. It offered a glimpse of the full, frilly layers of her pure-white lace underskirt. The ample volume of her clothes accentuated the cuteness of her small frame. She even had a ribbon in her long, loosely curled hair, which was rare. Both her small, beaded bag and her delicate white sandals were items Ryuuji hadn’t seen before.