Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

  “We need to go to the police.”

  “I already talked to them,” said Ami. “There seem to be other girls with the agency who pressed charges against him, but that guy’s really sly. He doesn’t leave any evidence of his identity. And it’s not like the police will start a real investigation over something this minor…”

  “Then I’ll catch him and bring him to the police myself. He’s been hanging around you, right? I’ll talk to the other members and have them help—”

  “Don’t, it’s too dangerous. And something like that…it’d become too big of a deal. It would cause trouble. You understand, right? Something like this is too juicy a scandal. I could end up becoming a public ‘victim,’ which would be entirely too much for me to endure. And if by any chance you or anyone else got hurt, I couldn’t handle the responsibility. And anyway, my mom… I don’t think my mom’s agency would forgive me.”

  After being told that, even the righteous one among them grew silent. Kitamura groaned in a low voice as he crossed his arms. “But if this keeps up…”

  “Right! That’s it!”

  Bringing up her pointer finger, Minori suddenly raised her voice. She opened her eyes wide and told them, “This is our only option.”

  “The reason why they can’t catch that guy is because they don’t know his identity, right? Then, let’s stalk the stalker! While he’s stalker-stalking Kawashima-san, we’ll take pictures or video as evidence to bring him down. We’ll take that to the police, and have them figure out who he is, and then have them catch him. That should be good, right?”

  “Kushieda…! That’s it! Amazing! As expected of the girls’ softball club president! No, right now, I feel like I could even hand over the boys’ club to you!”

  “I know, right?! Give me the boys! I’ll rearrange their bodies a little and make it an all-girls division!”

  “Ahaha, you really are a maniac!”

  Kitamura and Minori were getting all riled up. They slapped their hands together playfully, but Ryuuji couldn’t help but cut in…even if he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to get involved “But wait a sec. Who would do it?”

  “Why not me?” Minori said without any pretension, taking Ryuuji captive with her dazzling smile. “A friend of the belly is a friend of the heart! I have enough room in both to help out with this.”

  Yay! She flashed a victory sign. Minori was truly kind. A goddess, dropped to the earth amongst unworthy mortals. Ryuuji was moved by how expansive her generosity could be. He held his hand to his mouth and his eyes glinted madly.

  Though he wasn’t angry—he was just teary eyed.

  “I-I’ll do my best to help, too.”

  He didn’t have confidence in his strength, but to have his beloved Minori say something like that, and then for him to not say anything—he couldn’t do something so crude. His pride as a man wouldn’t allow it. Then, he took a glance at Taiga, whose presence seemed awfully subdued.

  The Baron Ashura face was there again.

  Ryuuji could more or less imagine why. The right half of her face was jealous of Ami because of Kitamura’s worry for her. The left side was excited over the anticipation of potentially doing something with Kitamura. Her whole body was afflicted by subtle worry for Minori, who was saying she would help, and probably… just very, very slightly, there was just a hint of worry for Ami.

  …At least, he wanted to think there was. “Hey, Taiga.” Really, if he didn’t send her a lifeline, she really would just turn to stone. “You’re definitely helping, too, right? You have a grudge against that guy, too. See, he said that thing to you right? He said…”

  “…Something terrible. He called me a goblin.”

  He couldn’t give away that he’d been thinking of exactly those words. Ryuuji nodded knowingly at her. “Then, you’ve gotta bring him down.”

  For a moment she held her tongue and turned her gaze to Ryuuji. It looked as though her anger at the incident and even her interest in it had already evaporated. “…Right. …That makes sense. Yeah, let’s do it. Ami, I may not be able to stand you, but just this once, I’ll fight with you.”

  Taiga turned to Ami, and nodded deeply at her once.

  “Just now, our hearts became one!”

  Beside Kitamura, who was so riled up from the tension he was about to make a speech, Ami was afflicted with worry and her face was still downcast as she bit her lip, unable to make a sound. Ryuuji noticed.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her automatically. Ami raised her face as though she’d suffered a physical blow. Then she quickly conjured up a smile.

  “…Uh, yeah! If everyone’s going to help me, I’m back to 100%! Thank you—you’re all so dependable!”

  Those strangely light words echoed emptily through the deserted restaurant.

  Chapter 6

  “The feared, the strong-armed, the captain, Kushieda Minori!”

  “Yo! My Kanto-regulated ‘Bullet Back Home’ pitch ain’t just for show!”

  “The chef with the evil eye, Takasu Ryuuji!”

  “Y-yo…this’ll be over by five, right? There’s a limited time sale on chicken today.”

  “The one with the most powerful name, the one and only, Aisaka Taiga!”

  “…”

  “And then me, Kitamura Yuusaku! Everyone’s on board, right?”

  Pointing at each of them as they sat in a row to confirm, Kitamura balled his fingers tightly into a fist. It seemed that even the ever-busy Kitamura had taken time off from his club of his own volition. He’d obtained a special exemption from his student council activities in order to come along.

  No other students lingered in the four o’clock classroom. The pale sunlight only illuminated the three henchmen sitting around Kitamura and Ami, who stood a bit further away.

  Well then, Kitamura’s well-projecting voice rose. His presidential nature was on full display. “We’ll start our maneuver without delay, just as we planned yesterday. Here are the assignments. Kushieda, Aisaka, and I will take the picture of the stalker. We’ll use this digital camera, and also everyone’s cellphones. Takasu, please go with Ami and be prepared for the worst case.”

  Ryuuji raised his hand, and after getting Kitamura’s approval, chimed in. “…Wouldn’t it be better for you and me to take the picture of the stalker and for the other two girls to be with Kawashima?”

  At any rate, Taiga had thought that that assignment might have been too dangerous for Minori. But Kitamura discarded Ryuuji’s words. “No, if something were to happen and we had to leave taking the picture to them, it would be bad if the girls were left by themselves. There’s a chance that if he finds out we’re doing this, he might be provoked into something. In that one in a million chance, you’ll protect Ami—with your scary face.”

  “…Well, I sort of understand why you’re asking me to…but I’m not confident I can really convince anyone I’m ready to fight.” Looking at the fist that he’d never swung at someone in anger, not even once since birth, Ryuuji shamefully lowered his voice. But then Ami walked over to his side and wrapped her hands around his arm.

  “It’s fine! I know you’re reliable, Takasu-kun! I believe you’d definitely protect me!”

  “Uh…ah…huh?!” At her sudden approach, Ryuuji couldn’t get out any words. He didn’t even know how to get her to let go. While he moved awkwardly and restlessly in an attempt to quietly take back his grasped arm, his cheeks became shamefully hot. Compared to this, even Taiga’s cold, piercing gaze was comfortable.

  “There. Then let’s get moving. We don’t know where he’s been watching for her, so when we leave the shoe racks, Takasu and Ami go first. Take the route we talked about yesterday. Let’s communicate at our discretion via cellphone.”

  At Kitamura’s command, they filtered out of the classroom and walked single file down the hallway.

  “…Hey, what’s this thing?” Ryuuji noticed something strange in Taiga’s collar as she walked in front of him.

  “I brought it just i
n case. Doesn’t this thing feel nostalgic?”

  She twisted her lips into a grin. A wooden, rod-like object was faintly visible through Taiga’s hair. Wondering what it was, Ryuuji pulled it out slightly. “…If you start waving this thing around, you’ll make this into a big deal.”

  “I know that, that’s why it’s for just in case.”

  She quickly pushed the handle of the wooden sword Ryuuji had seen back into the neck of her jacket. Ahh, it is nostalgic—that spring night, when she tried killing me with this… When he looked closely, she had strangely good posture. The reason was undoubtedly because that thing—that thing he had unfortunately seen—was set along her back. It was only the length of her hair that kept it concealed.

  “More importantly, Ryuuji.” Suddenly Taiga lowered her voice and looked straight up at him, large eyes intent. She was still hiding the wooden sword behind her back.

  “Hm?”

  “You really are such a hopeless, perverted dog…that mooning face you made earlier…was slovenly. It’s embarrassing to your owner, frankly.”

  “Wh…what are you talking about…?” Even while he asked her, he of course knew what she was talking about.

  At Ryuuji’s face, Taiga made an exaggerated sigh. “I guess that means you’ve gotten real close to Kawashima Ami. …Well, I guess that’s fine? You’re planning on forgetting about Minorin quick since she doesn’t like you, so you can switch over to a pretty girl who’s willing to get all cozy with you. Guess you’re that kind of guy. I’ll remember that.”

  “That’s… y-you’re totally misunderstanding something there.”

  “I wonder if I am. Well, do as you please. I can’t be bothered to deal with a dog in heat.”

  “…Man, where do you get off saying that?”

  Hmph. In the end, she gave him a poison-filled smile. Taiga averted her face haughtily and left Ryuuji behind with a trot. Then, just like that, she shook her long, pale, smoky hair and stuck close to Minori, who was walking up ahead.

  “Yo, if it isn’t Taiga-chan. You’re lookin’ cute today.”

  Taiga purred like a cat. Though it was hard to say if Minori could see the thing or not, Taiga playfully poked Minori’s butt with the point of the wooden sword that just barely fit under the hem of her skirt.

  “You’ve got something hard in there.”

  “You can’t ever be too careful.”

  Ryuuji automatically stared—no, he sighed in exasperation. You go around calling me a perverted dog, but you’re the one who’s way more perverted.

  And even from Taiga, calling him that was way too terrible an insult. Just what did I do, anyway? But the time when he could have made a comeback had already passed.

  “Takasu-kun, what’s wrong?”

  “Ah…no, nothing.”

  At some point, Ami had caught up to his side. From the shock he got at seeing her smile, he tensed up. They were practically bumping shoulders as they walked side by side, and even his anger hazily dissipated. He started to feel strangely impatient.

  At any rate, the girl called Kawashima Ami was unexpectedly way too close…which accounted for the hotness of his cheeks. He broke off staring at her, the corners of his mouth turning slowly downwards.

  ***

  They walked side by side along the residential street.

  “And that’s when I asked them to let me try on the light pink one. But the person at the store, right? They said that the white one would definitely look good on me and she could only see me in white, so she pretty much forced me to try the knitted shirt. And then, I was like, maybe white’s better than I thought, and then I remembered the shirt I bought the other day was also white. Oh, maybe it wasn’t white, but like a pale gray one that I bought…or beige? Maybe it was beige?”

  Ami grinned and continued chattering endlessly about her shopping. You could probably call this her ‘so preoccupied by shopping, can’t think about anything difficult, cute and fashionable girl’ face.

  “Takasu-kun, are you listening?”

  “…Yeah.”

  “White or pink, which would you choose?”

  “…For me, I think pink’s a little…”

  “Not you! I’m talking about my clothes!”

  “Oh, that’s what you meant.”

  Ahahahaha—hahaha…haha…ha…

  After all this time, Ryuuji finally understood Kitamura’s true motive. There hadn’t been anything wrong with him when he’d said he wanted Taiga to get along with Ami.

  “I really love buying clothes.” What happened the day before might as well have been a long-forgotten memory. Ami spoke like an endearing child and gave him the smile of an angel. But he felt like the Ami who would fiercely glare at Taiga was much better than this one. The Ami who cursed as she threw her tadpole-tainted shoes into the riverbank was much easier to understand.

  He felt something entirely distinct from boredom, or the slight chill he got on seeing Ami’s mask—instead, he felt as though he’d now seen something dangerous. This face was a lie, after all.

  Her mask was thin ice—there was no doubt that her true face was mired in unease underneath. But why was she hiding that? Putting aside whether she had a good or bad personality (well, it was pretty bad), he couldn’t help but wonder why she would go through the trouble of hiding her true nature after she’d already been found out.

  “Oh, your phone’s going off.” Ami indicated Ryuuji’s pocket with one seashell-like fingertip. The phone had started buzzing at some point. He quickly flipped it open…

  “…Hello?”

  “Private Takasu! What’s the situation over there?!”

  He answered Kitamura’s impassioned and enthusiastic voice quite normally. “Nothing’s changed on our end. What about over there?”

  “We spotted our suspect right away. He’s on approach about ten meters off your six. We’re keeping our distance and are in pursuit.”

  “Takasu-kun, it’s Yuusaku, right? Let me talk to him, too.” Ami reached out and took the phone from Ryuuji. “Hellooo, Yuusaku? Yeah, we’re fine here, plus I’ve got Takasu-kun! But, you know, my feet are kind of getting tired… yeah, yeah… oh really? Then we’ll do that.”

  She hung up the call without another word and flipped the phone closed.

  “Yuusaku said to find someplace to go indoors. Somewhere where we can get a drink, with seats by a window,” Ami said, smiling happily. “Are there any places like that around here? Can you take us somewhere?”

  “Somewhere where we can get drinks…nearby… can you see the sign over there on the other side of that road?” He felt that going with Ami to get a drink at a café would be tough, but it was on Kitamura’s orders. He pointed at a round sign with a flat green theme just a bit further ahead.

  “Oh, it’s a Starbucks! So there are some here, yay! I can finally get a latte again!”

  “It looks like a Starbucks, right? But…”

  “…Hm? …Huh? …What?”

  As Ryuuji brought them closer, Ami’s head tilted more and more in suspicion. The sign did look exactly like one from the famous North American coffee chain. It was round, had a green border, and some sort of ambiguous, humanoid illustration. “T-this is…”

  But that illustration was the likeness of the old, male shopkeeper.

  “It’s the Sudoh Coffee Stand and Bar… we call it the Pseudobucks…”

  “…Geh…”

  Brrring.

  As the incongruous door chime sounded, Ryuuji and Ami entered the Pseudobucks. The interior decoration, at least, approached that of a real Starbucks. There were comfortable looking sofas to sit in, the employees at the self-serve cafe looked to be college aged women, and it wasn’t that crowded, either.

  “Wow…Pseudobucks…the atmosphere is pretty nice…” Looking around the place, Ami nodded in great interest. Then an old man stood up from a window seat.

  “Oh! Aren’t you Mirano-chan’s kid?” he called out to Ryuuji, familiar. It was Inage-san, a Bishamon Heaven regular w
ho was grieving his divorce from just that spring.

  “Oh, good afternoon.”

  “Wellll, what have you been up to? You’ve brought in a good-lookin’ gal today, too…did you break up with that pipsqueak terror of a kid? Yeah, you broke up, didn’t you?! That’s nice, a second marriage… err, I mean, a new girlfriend…”

  “No, you’re mistaken. Kawashima, that man’s seat is gonna open up, so sit there. I’ll go buy something and bring it over.”

  “Okaaay.”

  How cute~, you’re such a pretty girl~, don’t you look almost exactly like that actress Kawashima Anna~, yes~ I get that a lot~! Ryuuji turned his back to the cheery chatter and went to the counter.

  “Welcome to Sudoh-bucks!”

  It was normal for the employees (who wore black polo shirts and green aprons) to arbitrarily use that store name. Even though they made such an effort to rip off Starbucks, they had a relatively normal menu for a café. Ryuuji ordered two Americanos and returned to the seat where Ami was waiting.

  “Were you okay with coffee?”

  “Yeah. This place is pretty comfy… it kind of makes me feel like doing homework.” Letting her body sink into the sofa, Ami seemed to be completely captivated by Sudoh-bucks. That’s right, that’s right, everyone in this town loves Pseudobucks. And everyone knows that a real Starbucks won’t come here even if we waited a hundred years.

  “The cakes are pretty good, too. They’re handmade by the head guy’s daughter.”

  “Cake… cake…I’d really like to eat a slice…” No no. Ami obstinately shook her head. It may have been unconscious, but her hand went to her belly. It seemed she was determined to resist after suffering a blow from Minori’s Convenience Store Shin Ken just the other day.

  Without making any more recommendations, Ryuuji called Kitamura on his cellphone. “Hey, I just got into Pseudobucks with Ami.”

  “Good, we saw you as you went in, roger that! Pseudobucks is a great place.”

  Yes, yes, Ryuuji nodded in agreement with his fellow local from across the phone.

  “The stalker also followed you and is watching the window. He’s hiding himself in a building entrance’s shadow on the other side of the crosswalk. Just stay there for now.”