Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

  She usually had the same look, but he thought she was being especially deluxe that day. She was probably in a really, really good mood.

  When it was time for them to go home, she had smiled (!) and told him, “I’m going home now, so when you go shopping, drop by first, will you?” And then, on top of that, she even waved goodbye to Kitamura, who was beside Ryuuji—though, as expected, her cheeks turned bright red and, though her eyes were raised resolutely, she was tongue-tied. Her face was still sort of scared stiff. Kitamura returned a “Yeah!” and Ryuuji saw Taiga jump very slightly.

  That had also probably played a role in Taiga’s good mood.

  “Hey, Ryuuji.”

  “Hm?”

  Taiga suddenly turned around, slowed down, and went to Ryuuji’s side, where she matched his pace. This was also something that didn’t normally happen. Taiga would walk in front of him, as though she were the head of the family, or she would sullenly walk straight behind him—those were her two normal positions.

  In a calm voice, this abnormal Taiga asked him, “Are you going to bake salmon today?”

  Ryuuji was almost getting emotional. This isn’t too bad, either.

  “Yeaaah…maybe I’ll do it meunière style. I’ll salt and pepper it, then dust it with flour, and fry it in butter. It’s good with ketchup.”

  “Let’s go with that! Sounds delicious!”

  The calm conversation they were having like a newlywed couple was shaken by what happened in the next moment.

  “Oh, maybe I’ll make a salad?”

  “…” Whoosh. The shopping bags slipped from both of Ryuuji’s hands. “What?”

  Taiga looked up at the wide-eyed expression Ryuuji had on his face, then pouted with discontent. But even so, her anger was a third of what it normally was.

  “…N-no…” Ryuuji said. “Ahhh, I had a shock just now…I was probably just hearing things. Yeah. That’s it.”

  What a shock, what a shock. He picked up the bags and tried to start walking again as though nothing had happened, but things seldom went the way one wanted.

  “I mean it! Even I can make a salad!”

  Taiga, who rarely even took her dishes into the kitchen after eating, was saying she would make a salad. Taiga, the one who had been on the verge of starving to death because a bento shop had gone out of business. Was this real life…? He was at a loss for words over the absurdity of it all. Ryuuji slowly shook his head from left to right.

  “I-I can’t believe that.”

  “Why? You underestimate me.” She chuckled, proudly stuck out her small chest, and stood at her full height. “We did it in a class when I was in elementary school. A salad. The kind where you make your own dressing.”

  “…Then try telling me the process.”

  “That’s easy. First, you buy the lettuce, right? Then you tear off the leaves, right? You shred it up, right? Then you put it on a dish, right? You put on the mayonnaise, right? …And voilà, finished.”

  “That’s no good.” Ryuuji flatly shook his head. “I know you’re impatient with simple tasks, and the first thing you need to do is wash the lettuce, am I right? You need to rinse it in cold water. And what happened to the dressing?”

  “Details, details…”

  “They’re not just details! Especially soaking the lettuce in cold water. If you don’t, it wilts, and you wouldn’t eat it.”

  “…You sister-in-law.”

  “What?!”

  Ryuuji’s eyes glinted sharply at being called such an inconceivable name. Taiga left him behind, starting to walk in her normal position ahead of him.

  “Ryuuji, you’re a total sister-in-law. You’re a sister-in-law who doesn’t want to let the bride in the family have a say in family matters and doesn’t ever let her use the kitchen. That poor bride is me, and you’ll have me clean simple things like the bath and the toilet, and you make me chop wood all the time…”

  “Just when did I make you clean the bath or toilet or anything?! You can go ahead and try chopping wood any time you like, if you even can! And just whose bride are you supposed to be?!”

  “…”

  “Don’t ignore me!”

  “Dog-in-law.”

  “What did you call me?!”

  In the end, they were back to having their usual fierce and useless exchanges. Finally, they turned the last corner. They reached Taiga’s condo and the Takasus’ rented apartment.

  But then, at that time…

  “Oh, thank goodness I caught up with you!”

  The person who overtook them from behind suddenly leapt into Ryuuji’s forward vision. Taiga, who was walking in front of him, disappeared from his field of view.

  “Wh-what is it?!”

  Pretty much leaping onto him, she dangled from Ryuuji’s chest. She clutched at him forcefully, but tentatively, with an uncertain touch. She had his right arm trapped.

  “I just saw you and ran as fast as I could! Please…pretend we’re friends!”

  “Uh…what?!”

  The one who was out of breath, the one who had a gloomy look on her white face, the one pushing her slender frame against him—it was the fallen angel. Or not. Out of everyone it could have been, it was the remarkable Kawashima Ami. She didn’t have a cap or sunglasses on, but she was wearing a black full-body tracksuit that day, too. As always, the contrast between her plain clothes and her incredible beauty made her stand out. He couldn’t imagine she was actually running a marathon like Taiga had told her to. But…

  “Takasu-kun, please…!”

  There was real fear mixed into her pleading voice, and her broken breathing was shallow as well. Ryuuji didn’t understand what she was asking of him at all.

  “Um, uh… wh-what is it?!”

  “That guy…”

  Strength came into the thin fingers with which she held Ryuuji’s arm. Her hand was sweaty and slightly trembling—this didn’t seem like a normal situation. Flustered, he followed Ami’s line of sight.

  “…Who’s that guy?”

  At a street corner just ahead, he saw a figure in the shadow of an electric pole. It was the shape of a man, suspiciously loitering. Ryuuji’s face unintentionally twitched.

  Ryuuji hadn’t seen the guy around before. He had a very slight build and was dressed in neat clothes. At first glance, the outfit made him look like a college student, but he sure was carrying a lot of stuff around. He wasn’t what you’d call a “weirdo” at first glance, but he was hiding and standing stock-still, which definitely wasn’t normal. It created a strange mood around him.

  Seeing him seemed to have scared Ami, who was earnestly trying to use Ryuuji’s body as a shield to hide behind. Apparently, the man didn’t mind being found out, since he wasn’t trying in the least to turn his stare away from Ami.

  This is no act… she’s probably really scared. Then, while Ryuuji was still busy holding Ami, at the moment he stepped back… something even scarier stood right behind them.

  “You’re right, we should just settle this now…once and for all…”

  When they turned toward the low voice—muttering so ominously it seemed to curse them—they found Taiga. Taiga, who had probably been knocked over by Ami, had fallen over at the side of the road. Now she slowly got back up.

  “I told you to run a marathon, you spoiled brat, but I don’t remember anybody giving you permission to run around in front of my house. I’ll turn you into a tattered rag.”

  Taiga waggled one finger and made a fist with her other hand. Both her feet stepped nimbly to the front and back, then from side to side, all in preparation. Her footwork was professional, and her eyes glittered with hunger. She invited the attack: “Come at me.”

  “…Try and read the room here. C’mon, you get it, don’t you?”

  Unexpectedly, they beheld the precise embodiment of that old Japanese proverb: a tiger at the front gate (the angry Taiga), and a wolf at the back gate (the weirdo). Ryuuji swiveled his neck one hundred and eighty degrees in one conti
nuous back-and-forth motion. For the time being, he tried to soothe the unreasoning beast beside him.

  Not even noticing Taiga’s behavior, Ami restlessly tried to flee her pursuer, circling around Ryuuji to avoid the suspicious man’s eyes. Ultimately, she said, “I’m scared…”

  She clung to Ryuuji’s shoulder and pressed her face into him.

  In that moment, the pretty features of Taiga’s French doll-like face trembled. Slowly, bit by bit, they distorted, like she was being pulled diagonally in opposite directions. And at a certain point—SNAP! Ryuuji was sure he heard something break.

  “LISTEN TO MEEEEE!”

  Maybe it was all the excitement, but Taiga had gone off the deep end. She couldn’t even express herself properly. Taiga shouted with all her might. With an astounding display of leg power, she kicked a recycling bin with enough force to make an electric pole collapse. That can should have been far too heavy, but it rumbled as it rotated through the air. It soared over Ami and Ryuuji’s heads, on a beeline toward the suspicious man. It flew several meters and, with a load roar, crashed down at the man’s feet.

  “…!”

  The man was as scared as you’d expect. He took several steps back, and turned around right on the spot. Then he made a mad dash for it.

  “Huh? …Who was that guy?!”

  Only when Taiga saw his retreating back did she finally seem to notice his existence. At the same time, her built-up rage instantly dispersed. “He looks like some kinda perv!” Utterly disgusted, Taiga threw those words from her lips without a hint of restraint.

  Ami finally caught her breath and let go of Ryuuji’s arm, but her footing was still unsteady.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, yeah… this was the first time I’ve really run for real in a while so… ack, I guess my knees gave out.” She smiled as though it were a joke, but that smile was far from her normal perfect one—it seemed incredibly rigid.

  “What was that all about? Who was that guy just now? Do you know him?” Ryuuji lent her a hand as he asked, but Ami ambiguously shrugged her shoulders.

  “It… uhh… I went to go shopping…and then, I kind of got mixed up with him… I think he’s a fan… one of the weird ones. Sometimes I have to deal with guys like that…”

  Her eyes wandered, as though she still couldn’t quite put herself at ease. Seeing that, Ryuuji and Taiga inadvertently looked at each other. Ami seemed pretty shaken up, and on top of that, when she said “fan,” they felt something wasn’t quite right. Ami turned to Ryuuji and clasped her hands together.

  “Hey, I need a favor. I’m scared of going home by myself from here. That guy might still be nearby… even if it’s just for a little bit, would you let me hide at your house? Please!” She didn’t ask with her usual good-girl mask, but with her real face.

  “…Okay, so you’ve got two options. A crummy second-floor rental apartment, or the entire second floor of a brand-new top-of-the-line luxury condominium.”

  “That one!” Ami pointed straight at the condo. Ryuuji checked on Taiga’s reaction from the corner of his eye to see what she would do next.

  “That’s my condo. …But fine, fine, come on. I agree, you should probably hide for a little while.”

  “Huh… it’s yours?! This is no laughing matter! I don’t know what he’ll do to me!” Ami turned a stern gaze on Taiga. The two of them got along about as well as cats and dogs.

  “You’re being ridiculous. Don’t you understand this is an emergency situation?” Taiga had an incredibly serious expression on her face. She shook her head at Ami, then tightly gripped her hand. “If you wait until something happens, it’ll already be too late. Just come to my place.”

  “Wait, you… A-are you serious? Are you seriously serious about that?”

  “I’ll have you know that rental is Ryuuji’s house. But it has security issues… actually, I managed to sneak in through the window myself to try and kill Ryuuji in the middle of the night. It was easy. Easier than breathing, honestly.”

  That couldn’t be, Ami looked up towards Ryuuji.

  “Yup. True story.” Ryuuji nodded right at her.

  Ami thought it over for a while. “…Are you sure?” She looked up at Taiga calmly—that was right, calmly—with her big, gentle eyes.

  Then Taiga nodded without hesitation. “Yes. Of course.”

  Ryuuji was actually slightly moved, and without thinking, softly muttered, “You’re…a really good person.”

  “It’s a unique situation. Even I’m not evil.” Taiga smiled generously, then firmly grabbed Ami’s shoulder, although Ami was still acting hesitant. The force Taiga used was just a little concerning.

  “Kawashima-san, we’ve been through a lot, but I hereby declare a temporary truce. Ryuuji has a busy mother and an ugly, weirdo parakeet. You were right to choose my place.”

  Ryuuji decided to pretend he didn’t hear the rude words about his pet—she was being gentle enough right now that he could forgive that much. Ami still showed some signs of hesitation, but Taiga pretty much dragged her by the shoulders towards the condo’s entrance.

  “Oh, hey, Taiga. What should we do about food?”

  “Leave some for me, I’ll come over and eat later. I think I’ll move better with my stomach empty.”

  Without leaving any opening for Ryuuji to question those mysterious words, Taiga and Ami disappeared into the condo.

  ***

  Taiga was pretty late to dinner at the Takasus’ place. “…I’m all fired up! This is the best!”

  Strangely all smiles and good spirits, she ate one serving of fish and three whole helpings of rice.

  Chapter 5

  “…Huh!”

  Ryuuji shuddered and unintentionally threw his head back.

  He had gone to school with Taiga, keeping a subtle amount of distance between them as usual. Once they arrived in the classroom and took their seats, Ami approached him. “Thank you for yesterday.” But in the light of that glittering, early summer morning, her face seemed haggard and tired—strangely hollow.

  “…Wh-what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing…it’s just…” Her voice was also a bit hoarse. Her appearance was completely different from the day before.

  “How do I say this… you look…tired.”

  “I look that bad, huh…?” Haah… Face plain and pale, she gave a pitiable sigh. Ami pulled up a nearby chair and propped her head on her elbow as she sat at his desk. Melancholy wrinkles appeared on her brow.

  “I guess I’m just still exhausted from yesterday…”

  And then she planted her face down on the desk. Maybe from shampoo or soap, or maybe even because she was wearing perfume, a sweet smell gently drifted from her.

  Ryuuji felt slightly uneasy. Both his eyes gleamed like a beast’s. But he feigned composure, and spoke chivalrously. “Well, you were in a pretty scary situation yesterday. If you’re a little exhausted, that’s just to be expected.”

  “It’s not what you think.” Ami suddenly raised her pale face and looked straight at Ryuuji with her glassy, shining eyes. “At Aisaka Taiga’s condo… for about five hours… no, six hours…”

  “D-did Taiga do something to you?!”

  “She had me dance. And sing.”

  Dance? …Sing?

  That was definitely not what Ryuuji expected. He tilted his head to one side, baffled.

  Ami breathed out. Phewww… Her gaze became distant, filled with ennui.

  “She threatened to throw me out if I didn’t do what she said…and she made me do…a thing…all night long…”

  “Wh-what did she make you do?”

  “An imitation medley. One hundred fifty impressions, all in succession. She made me redo them until I got them perfect…Uganda…Falcon…I want to die…” Ami groaned, muttering, and put her face back down on Ryuuji’s desk.

  From a distance Haruta and Noto were whispering. “Noto-chi! Looks like that guy’s joined the bourgeoisie!” “We better make him rethink trying to
associate with us.”

  Ryuuji noticed them glaring with envy, but didn’t engage with them.

  “…She was merciless…!”

  He recalled the smile Taiga wore when she’d invited Ami to her condo—the one he’d assumed was kind. Then he remembered her mood afterwards, when she was munching on the meunière salmon—like a well-fed bear about to go into hibernation. His heart froze.

  When he looked over at Taiga and Minori, he saw that she was laughing loudly even now. She was totally in a good mood. Once he got that far, Ryuuji finally had a clear picture. When Taiga was in a good mood, no matter what, someone else would be suffering in her shadow—just like Ami was now, across from him.

  What a terrifying person. Ryuuji looked at Taiga’s pleasant profile once again, and then…

  “Can I have a second?”

  Kitamura broke right into Taiga and Minori’s conversation. Ryuuji couldn’t hear the contents of the conversation well enough to know just what business Kitamura had with them, but there was no mistaking the sudden rise in Taiga’s mood.

  He looked at Taiga, who, unable to look at Kitamura, was looking at Minori…

  “Matsumoto Seichou… Akechi Mitsuhide…”

  Ryuuji looked back at Ami, who seemed to be recounting her extended imitation repertoire. An old writer and a guy from ancient history? How the heck did she do musical impressions of those guys?

  They’re both like creatures from heaven and hell.

  Actually, it was even more complicated than that.

  ***

  Soon enough, Ryuuji realized his mistake.

  “Nuhhhhh!”

  During afternoon break, Ryuuji had cheerfully taken his bento out of his bag. Now he cut across the classroom to get the chopsticks he’d left in his locker (which, of course, he had to wash every day). But then…

  “What are you doing?! Guhhh!”

  “…”

  He suddenly found himself the victim of a murder.

  The culprit was the sullenly silent Taiga. The murder weapon was an ice-cold can of recently purchased oolong tea. As he passed by, she’d forced it against the sensitive nape of his neck. Ryuuji stood on tiptoe and writhed.