Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

  “That’s you, right?! If there’s something you want to say just… gah! I just said to stop tha—bwah!”

  No matter how much he ran, Taiga persistently and forcefully pushed the cold oolong tea at him. Even now, his squinting eyes made him look about ready to snap. He gritted his back teeth, shifted his jaw, and ferocious wrinkles formed on his nose.

  Taiga said, “My heart feels like it’s about to split wide open…!”

  “Wh-what?!”

  “I’ve got it tough!”

  “Arrgh! Stop! I’m the one who’s got it tough!”

  Finally, he stole the can from her small hand and hoisted it up high enough that Taiga couldn’t reach it. Like a tiger in a zoo that was going stir-crazy in captivity, Taiga paced around Ryuuji.

  “I hate it, I hate it…! Why…?!” she continued grumbling to herself.

  “What is it, what happened?”

  “…Nngh, I hate it, but, but but…”

  “Hey!”

  “Nyahh!”

  Reflexively, he pressed the cold can that was in his hand against Taiga’s nose. Taiga held her face and leaped back.

  “What are you doing?!” She stood on her tiptoes, reached out her arm, and pinched Ryuuji’s cheek.

  “Owwwwww!”

  “Ugh…the grease on your face got on my hand!” Taiga seemed to come back to herself.

  “And your claw marks got on my face! Now, hurry up and say whatever’s on your mind, already. What are you so unhappy about?!”

  “It’s…”

  Nng. Taiga contorted her face in frustration, bit her lip, and took a breath. Finally, speaking softly and rapidly, she confessed what had made her so dissatisfied as to try and murder Ryuuji. “This morning, Kitamura-kun told me…to try and get along with Kawashima Ami. That I should invite her to lunch…”

  “Wh…” Ryuuji faltered, blinking once. “Why…?”

  “That’s what I want to know!”

  Now he understood the feelings motivating all of Taiga’s shouting. No matter what, that invitation wasn’t happening.

  Kitamura had seen both their first fight at the family restaurant and the attack she’d pulled off with Minori. So why would he ask for something like that…? It couldn’t be that Kitamura saw any chance of Taiga and Ami getting along. If that were the case, he needed to get his glasses fixed, stat.

  “That’s… yeah… something nobody would be happy about.” Ryuuji let out a low groan and locked eyes with Taiga. She had the world’s most pitiful look on her face.

  He did think he saw Kitamura talking to Taiga about something that morning, but he couldn’t have guessed it was this.

  According to Taiga, this was apparently what he’d said:

  “I know that Ami has a terrible personality, too. But no matter how much time passes, if she only ever puts on an act, she’ll never make any real friends, right? So, Aisaka, because you know her true personality, I want you and your best friend Kushieda to take care of Ami. Please, Aisaka. To me, you’re one of the few female friends I have who I can ask a favor from.”

  So sayeth Kitamura.

  “Aaaahh!”

  After performing her rendition of Kitamura’s words, Taiga’s small frame bent and writhed. It looked like there was no way for her to avoid feeling very conflicted.

  “I want to say no…but I can’t… This is no laughing matter… Kitamura-kun asked me… and why is he always worrying about that brat, anyway…?! Uhhhhgh, nnnnggghh, hrrnnnngg…”

  Groaning, Taiga held her head and ended up crouched at Ryuuji’s feet. Flustered, Ryuuji stooped closer to her.

  “Hey, calm down. You’ll give yourself an aneurysm or something.”

  “B-but…! Wait, but… he said we were friends…! We really were just friends after all! I’m one of the few female friends he can count on… huh, or maybe that’s a good thing? …No! It’s definitely not a good thing! But he counts on me… am I happy? …No, I’m not!”

  Ryuuji thoughtlessly breathed in her conflict. He rarely saw anyone this troubled. He didn’t have anything to say; he just watched her for a while.

  “Ahhh, but… but, but, but!”

  Taiga shut her eyes and latched onto Ryuuji’s sleeve. Her fingers tightly gripped him, and she opened her mouth and gasped, breathing in and out. Finally, she gave one big nod, and said “Uh-huh!”

  It seemed she had finally made a decision.

  “I’ll endure the unendurable… I’ll suffer the insufferable!”

  “…Uh, quoting the Emperor might be a little much…but I think I get you.”

  As Ryuuji nodded, Taiga stood up right in front of his eyes. With a singular goal in mind, she briskly walked ahead with long strides.

  “Come on. Time to eat.”

  Taiga stood in front of Kawashima Ami, who looked up at her with her mouth halfway open.

  Ami held her bento box at her seat and had just been about to stand up. A little ways away, Maya and Nanako were waiting for her. “Ami-chaaan! Let’s hurry up and go to the roof!”

  “…Huh?” Ami blinked several times, dumbfounded—until finally it seemed she had gotten back in her own rhythm. The smile she gave Taiga was so pure it was downright spiteful. “What are you trying to say? I have plans with Maya-chan and Nanako-chan.”

  “Shut up.”

  “…Wha…?!”

  Taiga curbed Ami’s protest with a shout. Like an animal, she growled at the Maya-Nanako duo.

  “Oh, I see. Well, if it’s Aisaka who wants to eat with you, I guess we can’t do anything about it. Shall we go, Nanako?”

  “Yup, it’s out of our hands. Well, Ami-chan, we’ll see you next time.”

  Without pondering things too deeply, not even seeming afraid of the tiger’s growl, the pair simply nodded and waved at Ami, like there was only one inevitable outcome. The creature called the Palmtop Tiger was quite possibly a being well understood by the other girls.

  But of course, Ami wasn’t going to just take it lying down.

  “What are you thinking? What did you mean, ‘come on?’”

  “That you’re going to come eat lunch with me.”

  “Huh?! That’s a bad joke! Why would I do that with you?! …Hmph, fine. Even if those two are gone, I have plenty of other friends—”

  “Michael Jackson as a tour guide,” Taiga unexpectedly muttered. You might think she was muttering to herself, but then Ami went…

  “Eek!”

  “Mona Lisa taking a corner at two hundred kilometers per hour… J-rock star Tsunku ♂ desperately trying and failing to sing western music… All these spectacles and more sit in the digital camera at my house. And just in case you get any ideas, it’s already all been burned onto a disc… off-site backup! The title is ‘Performed by That Model: ★ 150 Mysterious, Back-to-Back Impressions.’ Someday, sometime, if the whim so struck me, I might carelessly release it to the public…”

  “S-stop! Fine! I got it! I just need to eat with you, right?! That’s all you want?! Damn!”

  Close to tears, Ami forgot to put on her mask. Recklessly cradling her bento box, she transferred over to Taiga’s seat.

  There, Minori was already on standby. “Hey, Kawashima-kun. I already went ahead and got started without you.”

  She brought a gigantic ribbon she was holding with her chopsticks up to eye level. It seemed to be boiled konbu seaweed.

  “Wh-what is it with you two…? Tsk…you’re not making any sense.”

  “That’s enough of that. Please have a seat here, be my guest.”

  Minori guided Ami to the seat at her left, and with her left arm, firmly held onto Ami’s shoulder. “Here, say ‘ahh!’”

  She brought the konbu to Ami’s mouth.

  “I’m telling you I don’t want it!” Ami kept crying out, but…

  “…Mmn…that’s nice.” Ryuuji unconsciously muttered out loud as he watched the scene develop. Being close to Minori like that, having her say ahh to him and spoiling him… if only she would gently deliver ribbon
konbu into his mouth… Ahh…

  “Takasu, why are you sitting spaced out with your mouth open? Let’s go.”

  “…Hm? Huh? Where?”

  Kitamura had come to stand next to him at some point and was prodding him in the back. “Over to Ami and everyone. I asked Aisaka and Kushieda to invite Ami to lunch. If I just asked them to do that and then left, what kind of person would that make me?”

  “Sure, but what does that have to do with me?”

  “I can’t just barge into a group of girls eating their bento all by myself! I’m not that kind of guy.”

  It’s you we’re talking about here. You’d definitely be fine, Ryuuji thought, but instead he said, “If you insist.” In reality, he was beaming on the inside as he followed behind Kitamura. He felt bad for Taiga, but this was an unbelievable stroke of luck. If he could spend his lunch break with Minori, enduring the sideshow of a tiger-vs.-Chihuahua showdown was nothing.

  “Yo, can we join you?”

  “Oh, is that Kitamura-kun and Takasu-kun I see? Take a seat, take a seat!”

  The only one who welcomed the two boys when they broke into the group of girls was a grinning Minori. Ami was right next to her, brow still furrowed.

  “Why? Why do things have to be like this…?” she muttered in dissatisfaction.

  Meanwhile, Taiga was completely…

  “…”

  …speechless. Feeling the presence of Kitamura suddenly sitting at her right, she still couldn’t turn to look at him. Her eyes seemed to melt, as though she were in a trance. Her rosebud lips loosened, but…

  “…Tsk.”

  Then she seemed to suddenly remember that Ami was diagonally across from her, and she instantly scowled. But then she noticed Kitamura’s presence again and drooped—and then Ami’s presence made her perk up—and she went back and forth between the two emotions, trying to reconcile them, until…

  “A-amazing…”

  Finally, incredibly, so remarkably that Ryuuji couldn’t help but speak, the right half of Taiga’s face turned to Kitamura with an erotically lovesick expression, while the left half wore an unpleasant look for Ami. The left and right halves of her face were completely asymmetrical—a perfect Baron Ashura.

  It seemed her face and her spirit had both reached a balanced equilibrium. Taiga didn’t try to take on Ami as she ate, and her anxiety over Kitamura wasn’t dominant enough to make her hands shake. She was able to smoothly open the top of her bento box. Her face was ridiculous, but whether it was down to luck or something else, not one person in this group was about to comment on it.

  “Well, let’s dig in. Eating with the girls every once in a while is nice, too.”

  “…Does this mean that you were the one who planned this, Yuusaku?”

  “Hm? Whatever could you mean? Wooow, Kushieda, your bento is as huge as ever! See Ami, look at it!”

  “Heh heh heh, even though this bento looks huge, there’s practically nothing in it… See, this one’s glass noodle, this one’s konyaku.”

  As he watched Minori enjoy proudly displaying her side dishes, Ryuuji reflected on the small joy he was experiencing himself. He didn’t mind at all that he wasn’t participating in the conversation. Just being by her side like this was enough to make him happy—in fact, it was more than enough.

  It had been about a month since the failure of their last “let’s eat bento together” plan, but this time it was different. He’d be able to eat bento with Minori after all. Ahhh, I’m so glad Taiga and the Chihuahua don’t get along.

  While deep in thought, he tried opening the lid to his bento, but then stopped in realization. He was about to make exactly the same mistake as last time. The contents of his bento were exactly the same as Taiga’s.

  Guess there’s no helping it… He would have to stingily leave the top in place to keep his side dishes hidden. But…

  “Ahh, there really are kids who would do this sort of stuff! Now now, why are you hiding that, Takasu-kun?!”

  “Ah!”

  Minori suddenly stole his lid. She had exposed his egg omelet rolls interleaved with soybeans, a bacon and onion stir fry, and seaweed on top of rice…a beautifully constructed, handmade bento that was exactly the same as the one Taiga was already eating.

  “…Uhh. …Yeah.”

  Minori compared the two bento and paused in thought for a moment. “…Well, um, what was it again…? Hey. Takasu-kun, what’s your horoscope?” She casually returned the top.

  “M-my sign is Pisces.”

  “Well I’m fine with any horoscope, as long as it’s not an endoscope. Just kidding!”

  Ahahahahahaha!

  But subtly, her eyes weren’t laughing.

  It seemed that Minori had discerned Ami and Taiga’s subtle animosity. Instead of provoking Taiga by expressing her doubts over Ryuuji and Taiga’s relationship, she had chosen to frantically think of a way to protect the current miraculous balance.

  “Wh-why would you talk about endoscopes while we’re eating…? And you didn’t even tell us your sign.”

  “Sooorry! My sign is actually ‘out of order!’ ♥”

  Somehow, those words had resulted in a natural, congenial conversation between him and Minori. Then, at the very moment that he celebrated his good luck, it happened.

  Completely unnoticed, Ami’s arm reached out across from Ryuuji and unexpectedly pulled open his bento top again. Unable to react to her speed, Ryuuji just froze.

  “Why is your bento the exact same as Aisaka-san’s bento? Come to think of it, you two were together yesterday.”

  Taiga’s eyebrows twitched.

  At the same time, a hush fell over them, muffling the clamor of the class lunch break.

  “…Did you hear…?” “Oh, I heard…” “She took it to the one place she never should have…”

  Before long, low, fear-touched voices began surreptitiously whispering.

  “Huh? Wh-what? Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden? Did I do something?”

  Having just transferred, Ami didn’t know.

  A calamitous disaster awaited anyone who asked about the relationship between the Palmtop Tiger and Ryuuji. Everyone in their whole class had internalized this knowledge. That was why, even though everyone wondered what type of relationship the two had…they would never speak of it. The Palmtop Tiger said they weren’t dating, so they weren’t dating. She demanded they never say anything so stupid again, so they never did. But then the newcomer had gone and done it…

  In the calm before the storm, no one dared to move their chopsticks. The conversation remained frozen. Everyone had their ears pricked for the Palmtop Tiger’s next move. If they saw signs of her anger, they needed to be ready for an immediate escape.

  “…You’re so weird. Does something like that bother you?”

  The one who finally, quietly replied was Taiga herself.

  Regaining the beauty of her normal, French-doll expression, she spoke in a strangely quiet way in her usual monotone voice. “In that case, if I do this, there should be no problem.”

  “Ah, my ben—”

  Before he could even finish his sentence, Taiga suddenly reached out her hand and stole Ryuuji’s bento. She just brought it up to her mouth, and MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH! …All his egg and his stir fry disappeared in three seconds flat.

  Munching with her cheeks completely full, she continued to eat and chew, the food bulging at the sides of her mouth.

  “Nuh froblem anahmoar, raight? …My bento is egg and stir fry. Ryuuji has a seaweed bento.”

  She returned Ryuuji’s now lonesome-looking bento box to his hands. He heard sighs of relief around the classroom, and slowly, the liveliness of their usual afternoon break started to return. It seemed they had somehow averted the Palmtop Tiger’s wrath.

  The only casualty was Ryuuji.

  “But…! My bento is…!”

  Despite himself, Ryuuji was about ready to cry at this horrible misfortune. But then a pair of chopsticks were extended across to
him, and he was blessed by a solitary meatball.

  “Here. Now you have a meatball bento, Takasu-kun.”

  “K-Kawashima…!”

  With an angel’s smile, Ami had divided her side dish with him. But still wearing that smile, she mercilessly rubbed salt in the wound. “Hey, why do you just let Aisaka-san walk all over you like that? Does she have something on you?”

  I don’t know if you would say she has something on me, exactly. I have my reasons…and the timing and stuff just sort of lined up… But of course he didn’t manage to say that out loud. He just remained frozen and speechless.

  Taiga responded in his place. “You see, Ryuuji was my dog in a past life. So he’ll happily wag his tail and do anything his owner asks.” She spoke proudly, with a glamorous smile. “That’s what brings a dog joy.”

  …He tried to refute her, but…

  “You two are going on like that again—even though everyone knows you’re really star-crossed lovers, bound by fate!”

  Apparently, based on whatever obscure set of metrics she was using, Minori thought she could get away with a joke like that.

  Ryuuji and Taiga’s breathing synchronized…

  “No way.” “No way.”

  …And they both shook their heads.

  Ami seemed to interpret that in her own way. “…Hmmm. You two are close, then…” She faintly narrowed her eyes, muttering to herself in a singsong voice. And though Ryuuji might have misheard, he thought he caught her faint voice continuing—this is no fun for Ami-chan~!

  Taiga snorted, looking about done with any attempts to engage with Ami. She picked up her chopsticks and was about to go at her bento again, but then…

  “Wow—y’know, Aisaka, you sure do eat a whole lot! I think that’s a lot better than having to diet.”

  “…!”

  Quite possibly at the shock from Kitamura’s words, Taiga unintentionally dropped her chopsticks.

  Regardless of whether she was fat or thin, “you eat a lot” was the same as a death sentence to a girl—especially when coming from someone she was unrequitedly in love with.

  Aaah… Ryuuji felt utterly exhausted as he quietly watched Taiga flap her mouth open and closed.