Toradora! Vol. 2

by Yuyuko Takemiya

  “Got it.”

  When he hung up, Ami immediately asked about the conversation, “What did Yuusaku say?”

  “That guy’s hiding in that building over there. He said to just stay here for now.”

  “…Guh. That’s creepy… he really must be watching.”

  Ami tried to hide in the shadow of the curtain. “Oh, right.” She immediately came to a realization and went back to her original position. “If I hide myself like that, there’s no point right?”

  “Right, right, if he doesn’t take pictures, we won’t be able to take pictures of him doing that.”

  “I understand that but…I don’t like it. It’s creepy…” Ami looked down. Her pretty features contorted into a gagging expression.

  “Well, it really is creepy. To have some weirdo sneaking pictures of you.”

  “That’s true, but the thing I really hate isn’t just that. Way earlier, that guy put a picture he’d secretly taken into my mailbox…and I really hated that.”

  “Y-your mailbox?! That means he went right up to your front door! That’s…”

  Ami waved her hand, no no no, to Ryuuji, who had become speechless, then bitterly grimaced. “I hate that he came to my house, of course, but, to me, the photo itself was as much of an issue. I was shopping on the way from work and…I was making a really unpleasant face, like a sulky one. It was obviously the face of a bully. I really got fed up when I saw that…like, is that really my face?! Is my bare face really that terrible?!”

  But you’re an absolute beauty, so that’s not so bad, Ryuuji thought.

  “No, no, I really hate it… that face. I actually hate it. I loathe it. …I don’t want to show that face to anyone.” Ami’s lips twisted as she practically spat out the words. To her, this seemed to be something she couldn’t forgive, something she resented from the bottom of her heart. It was probably terrible for Ryuuji to say so, but when it came to a problem like that, no one had him beat.

  “If you’re talking about faces, look at mine. You thought I was a delinquent at first, too, right? It might be because I look so unpleasant, but people walking along the street point at my back. You have it way better, and people call you cute and stuff.”

  “Then, Takasu-kun, you can put on a cute face, too.”

  “How?”

  “Like this. Be like, ‘I’m cute! I’m the cutest!’ Really, seriously, like this.”

  Prod. She poked her cheeks with her index fingers. Grin. She narrowed her eyes into a sweet grin. Tilt. She cutely inclined her head.

  I’ll do it, then. Don’t you end up regretting it.

  Ryuuji gave it his all. “Like this?”

  Prod, grin, tilt.

  “…BFHHH!” Ami sprayed her Americano. She sputtered like that for a while, as if in very real pain. “…Wh…wh…cough…Ta…Taka…cough cough cough!”

  “…I know exactly what you’re going to say. And I knew before I even got started.”

  Covering her mouth with a handkerchief she’d desperately brought out, Ami was in tears. Her face was red from coughing—she’d fallen over on the table, breathing painfully. But, she somehow managed to point at Ryuuji…

  “S-scary… cough cough… really…just terrifying!”

  “I told you I already knew, didn’t I?!”

  Her reaction was within the scope he expected, but it still really did hurt. And he couldn’t just tell her how much. “I’ll tell you this, but you’re doing the same thing. No matter how cute your face is, what you’re doing with it at its essence is terrifying. Practically a horror show! That’s where it’s the same.”

  “Ahhh, you wound me! Really, stop it, Takasu-kun, how am I and that the same?!” Hehehehehehe. She laughed like she was having a grand time, after she’d just described his face as “that,” there wasn’t a reason to hold back anymore.

  “It’s the same. I didn’t want to say it, but your change in personality yesterday was a horror show all by itself. It wasn’t because you got angry, but because you thought you could pretend everything was fine and put on your act again right after…”

  Of course, he wasn’t going to say I’ve known your true nature since we first met. Even what he had already said might have been too much, but he couldn’t take it back now. Once the words began flowing out his mouth, he had to continue until he was completely finished.

  “Just stop with that mask already. I figured it out a while ago. When you’re remaking your mask, whether you’re putting on a cute act or whatever, it’s unpleasant for whoever has to watch.”

  In the end, he went that far.

  “…Kawashima…?”

  Maybe I really did say too much—but, eventually, he noticed Ami’s expression.

  Ami was still smiling…still wearing her unnatural, soft angel’s smile. She carefully watched Ryuuji. Her face didn’t change in the slightest to reflect her emotions—she seemed to be pushing everything into that smile. “The thing that happened yesterday? What was that? …It’s like breathing, saying that sort of stuff is a breeze for me. You can’t trip me up with something as small as that.”

  Ryuuji couldn’t even tell if the gaze that stared straight at him was cold or hot. What he could tell was just one thing—no matter what he said or what words he used, her iron-clad mask of a smile would repel him. He wouldn’t be able to reach the flesh and blood parts of her that lay beneath.

  “I need this face. I know that better than anyone.”

  “Uh…um…” He didn’t know how to respond to that, but it seemed that Ami didn’t really expect a response. She continued, smile as pristine as ever.

  “Whether this has meaning or value or anything like that is a completely different conversation. Yesterday, maybe it didn’t have any. Meaning or value, I mean. What it did have though, was…just the spirit to annoy that annoying shrimp, maybe? Because that shrimp’s face is too funny when I’m near you. When it comes to stuff like that, I just can’t help myself. Though I admit tadpoles were unexpected.”

  “…Sorry, this is kind of…I don’t really understand, but…I think I said too much…”

  “Hmmm? What are you talking about? Takasu-kun, did you say something to me? I don’t remember aaany of it.”

  Meeting Ami’s eyes, which were round with puzzlement, Ryuuji could only lightly suck in a breath. So this girl is so stubborn about keeping her true self hidden that she’s willing to go as far as this.

  “Come ooon, what’s with that face? You don’t have to think about it that seriously. Because this is a tactic. A tactic to say strange things and make you think about me. …But there’s really no meaning in all this.”

  “…I’m not really following you anymore, Kawashima…”

  At Ryuuji’s words, Ami cutely tilted her head, and as though satisfied, laughed. “It’s fine, it’s fine, that’s fine. See, I’m just ‘oblivious.’”

  If I really don’t need to understand…then I won’t think about it. Ryuuji shrugged his shoulders and looked at the girl with the split personality who proclaimed herself oblivious. He pretended not to know anything as he sipped his Americano.

  Finally, probably ten minutes into the death of all fruitful conversation, Ryuuji’s phone vibrated.

  “Hello, Takasu? The situation isn’t that great. It seems the guy can’t take a good picture of Ami from where he is and gave up. He’s reading a manga and waiting until you two leave the store. Sorry for having you go in, could you come out?”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  He explained the situation to Ami, then together they quickly cleaned up their trays and left Pseudobucks. Kitamura and the others seemed to be checking in on their actions from nearby.

  “Sorry about that. Just stick with the original plan and head to the park located down the northwest highway.”

  “Got it. Kawashima, let’s walk this way.”

  Side by side with Ami, Ryuuji once again started walking at a slow pace, but then Kitamura went on.

  “And—I have one other sad piece o
f news. We’ve lost private Kushieda.”

  “…What?!”

  Ryuuji unintentionally stopped walking. The one who suggested this in the first place? Already? Wh-while we weren’t even doing anything?

  At his excessive surprise, he unconsciously raised his voice. Ami’s eyes opened wide as she looked up him. …This wouldn’t do. If he didn’t feign composure, the stalker would suspect something was up.

  “Wh…why?”

  “She had an emergency call from her part-time job. Rumor on the wind is that they needed her to fill in for someone. Her hiring manager was crying and saying something like if you don’t come in, you’re fired, or rather, if you don’t come in, Kushieda, I’m fired. She herself was crying as she left the battlefield… Kushieda left a message. She said, Let’s meet again, but actually I’m so sorry. We lost a good soldier…”

  Ryuuji gulped. Minori had left the front, which meant only one thing.

  “…Th-then that means right now it’s just you and Taiga over there…”

  “Private Aisaka is doing well.”

  “P-put Taiga on the line for a bit, it’s an emergency!”

  After a while…

  “…Tsk.”

  The noise dribbling from the phone was a peculiar way of breathing—one that could just as easily presage speechlessness or a storm of tears.

  “T-Taiga…are you okay?!”

  “…Wuh…waah.”

  It doesn’t seem like she’s okay—Ryuuji vigorously scratched his head. Taiga was in no state to endure being alone with Kitamura. She turned to stone when he so much as approached her. If they had to walk alone together…Taiga would probably die.

  “Hey, keep it together! Have you tried a conversation?! Do you have a subject you can talk about?!”

  “…F…f.”

  “F…fine?! You’re fine?!”

  “…Flustered.”

  Boop, the line suddenly went dead.

  “Huh…huhhh?!”

  What just happened. Ryuuji’s mind was blank as he stared at the phone. Taiga (who was already a klutz) was alone with Kitamura, too flustered to even have a conversation with him, and following a stalker, and then the phone had suddenly cut out… his uneasiness was profound.

  “Hey, what happened? Just now, that was Yuusaku and everyone, right? Did you have a bad signal?”

  “Ah, yeah…for some reason it cut off suddenly…”

  “Try calling them back?”

  Nodding at Ami’s best advice, he tried calling them again, but the sound that streamed through was, “The phone number you have dialed is disconnected or no longer availa…” When he tried calling again, he got the same result. He sighed and put the phone away into his pocket.

  “You can’t reach them? What did Yuusaku say?”

  “I-It seems like Kushieda is out, and Taiga seemed to be in trouble. I really wonder what happened… should I try calling again? No, the signal isn’t coming in…”

  Suddenly, he noticed Ami was staring intently up at him.

  “…Wh-what?”

  Ami was speechless.

  That look didn’t seem like fear of the stalker. Instead, it seemed like Ami was searching the depths of Ryuuji’s heart. That transparent, but direct and perfectly lucid gaze… more than anything, it made him become flustered. He couldn’t put himself at ease…

  “Wh-what is it?”

  “…Nothing?” She faintly smiled and released Ryuuji from her gaze at the same time. He felt like he’d been saved.

  “But I just had a thought. Takasu-kun, you really seem to be kind. Especially when it comes to that girl…”

  That girl? Which girl? A little faster than he could ask out loud, the phone in his pocket vibrated once again. It seemed the signal had finally come back. He pressed the accept button. “Yo.”

  “Uuwuuh…uwah…”

  “…T-Taiga?”

  He automatically pushed the phone right up to his ear. He didn’t know what had happened on the other side of the phone, but he heard Taiga’s crying.

  “Hey, what happened?!”

  “K-Kitamura-kun is…”

  “Something happened to Kitamura?!”

  At those words, Ami snapped up to look at Ryuuji’s face.

  “Kitamura-kun got stuck in a storm drain!”

  “A storm drain?!”

  “Just now, we almost got cut off at the crosswalk and ran in a hurry, then he fell into the drain… Kitamura-kun was completely dirty all over and told me to just leave him behind…!”

  “HUH?!”

  “A-and, he told me to get as far as I could and gave me the digital camera… and… now I’m alone…!”

  This is just stupid, Ryuuji thought. He could hear it faintly on the other side of the phone… Aisaka! Be careful…! That distant voice was definitely Kitamura’s.

  “…Like, seriously, I don’t know why I’m doing this anymore…”

  “D-don’t cry! Umm, right…r-right…for now, umm…”

  “AHH!”

  “What happened?!”

  Without thinking, he stopped in his tracks and breathed in. Just now, that was Taiga’s scream.

  “…I…I have something to tell you…”

  For a moment, he was soothed when she continued speaking, but…

  “I just fell in the gutter too. Today is impossible… I’m completely dirty. So’s the camera…the plan is a failure, I’m ending the call.”

  “Wh…what?! Taiga?! Hey, Taiga! …Sh-she…hung up…”

  …What has this come to?

  Ryuuji was mostly in a stupor as he stared at the disconnected phone. What is it with the gutters? Are there really so many over there? Is it that easy to fall in? Are gutters…ugh, gutters…

  “What happened to everyone?! What happened?!”

  The situation was hard to believe, but he still needed to explain it to her. Resolutely, Ryuuji turned again to Ami, who was looking up at him with worry.

  “It’s total annihilation. Kitamura and Taiga both fell into gutters.”

  “…What? G-gutters?”

  They stared at each other blankly for a while. It was now four in the afternoon. The two of them, now left behind, had nowhere to go…

  “…No.”

  Ami’s shoulders shook. At about the same time, Ryuuji reflexively turned around.

  The stalker, who’d shaken off Kitamura and Taiga, was standing mere meters away. He probably hadn’t even known he’d been a mark. Calm as can be, he carried his phone in one hand and looked as though he were checking his messages—but the flash on his phone’s camera was left on. He might have been taking a video.

  “L-let’s go…”

  Ami’s brow furrowed, the color disappeared from her face, and she started running at a jog. Ryuuji quickly ran after her. He allowed himself the naive thought that there was no way they’d be followed…

  “Wai…what’s with that guy…?”

  The man was boldly running after them, still holding up his cellphone camera.

  The place is deserted. If something happens, do I have the confidence to do anything by myself? Ryuuji pondered while he ran. Why was it that normally, when he didn’t need it, people were completely terrified of him—but in moments when it was vitally important, his glare was useless? Was he being completely underestimated right now? When he glanced quickly behind him, he got his answer. The man was enthralled with the phone screen and only focused on recording Ami. Ryuuji was just some kid—and it was probably true—the man was probably looking down on him. If his (prodigal) father, who he inherited his sharp eyes from, had been the one glaring, the situation would probably be different.

  “What should we do? He’s still on us!” Ami was at her wit’s end. At her voice, Ryuuji’s heart also sank. They had to lose him somehow. Somehow, without anything happening, they needed to get back to their everyday world.

  “Uhh…the closest police station from here is…ugh, damn it, it’s pretty far! But maybe we can manage to make it anyhow!”
<
br />   “I don’t want to do this anymore…!” Ami, pitifully, was almost half-crying. Her voice quivered with tears. “Why do I have to be in a situation like this?! It’s all his fault that everything’s messed up! Yuusaku might even be hurt… seriously, what can I do now?!”

  If the only one who had been left here with Ami was Kitamura, he might have turned around, thrown down the gauntlet, and fought. He was an idiot who could fall into a gutter, but his pluck and sense of justice were the real deal. And he probably wouldn’t have let a girl cry like this—if only, if only though.

  Ryuuji at least wanted to hold Ami’s hand as she ran away to encourage her. But with Ami desperately running, it didn’t seem like the right time. Ryuuji could only catch her fists. He was unable to do it, unable to protect Ami as her quivering voice grew louder.

  “I took a break from work, and moved, and even transferred schools over that good-for-nothing loser…! But then, in the end, I’m still in the same situation! What is this…and in the end, all I can do is run away again! No matter where I run, he’ll follow me…what should I be doing?!”

  “K-Kawashima!”

  Gradually growing more agitated, Ami pitched her voice louder and louder. She seemed about to snap again as her voice went higher still. Before he knew it, the voice that he thought had been shaking from tears seemed to overflow with rage.

  “Hey, he can hear you! …If you provoke him too much…”

  “But I’m pissed off!” Ami’s voice snapped, like she was ready to bite him. “Because of that loser, I’ve been so agitated and so stressed out, I’ve been completely pigging out! My stomach’s going to turn jiggly! If it keeps like this, I really will have to give up being a model…like, what is that?! HUH?! Unbelievable! Just how hard do you think it’s been for me?! But with this fat… with… with this belly… it’s fat!”

  Seeing that fierce look from the side of his eye, Ryuuji gasped. Up until now, her profile had been tearful. Now, her lips were lifted, veins were standing out on her temple, both her eyes were narrowed, and her nose was wrinkled into a snarl. It was exactly like a Chihuahua baring its teeth. This was the true Ami.

  “What the hell…damn it…that means, am I really being beaten by that worthless loser?!”