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 she 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 coldheartedness 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.
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 continuous 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.