It was the continuation of a dream—even though he needed to get to
elementary school, no matter how much he pedaled on his bike, he would
go down the wrong streets and never arrive. The despair from the dream
melted like a phantom at the faint light coming through a gap in the
curtains.
That was right. He was a high school student now. He didn't need to
go to elementary school.
It was morning.
"Good morning, Takasu."
"Yo…"
Ryuuji sluggishly stretched his neck and looked at the clock by his
head. He tried looking at it, but the shabby clock wasn't in the familiar spot
it should have been, and he couldn't figure out the time…
"Huh?!"
He jumped up.
He wasn't in the familiar scenery of his own room but the cramped
living room that led into the wooden floors of the kitchen.
"I went ahead and drank the milk in the fridge. Sorry."
It took Ryuuji a good three seconds to remember that the blond
runaway currently under their charge, who was wearing the long sleeved Tshirt and tracksuit pants Ryuuji had lent him and whose breath smelled like
milk, was Kitamura. Right, right—he finally remembered everything and
rubbed his sleepy eyes.
"I can't believe you. You two look like you really lived it up on your
own. I would have wanted to join in, too. You could have woken me up."
Without thinking, he stared intently at Kitamura's dissatisfied pout.
"Wh-what's wrong?" said Kitamura.
"Nothing… Morning to you, too…"
It was just that you were crying… Of course, Ryuuji couldn't say
that. Kitamura's face was cleaned up like nothing had happened. This was
probably a point where a man was supposed to pretend not to notice. Ryuuji
scratched his head, touching back down into the real world. As he woke up
more and understood the situation better, the wrinkles in his forehead
deepened all the more.
He became aware that he made a terrible blunder.
The last memory he had was of Taiga dividing the cheese and cod
into three pieces and going "Ahhn," as her tongue coiled around the fish.
Wow, what a weird girl… he thought. He must have fallen asleep by the
table while watching her hands and face.
He had used the floor cushion as a pillow, and his body had cooled to
the core, to the point that he was sore in places. The table was in such a
terrible state that he felt almost pitiful enough to cry. The stuff they had
bought from the convenience store was completely consumed and
destroyed. The trash from the cup ramen, oden, plastic bottles, cream puffs,
yogurt, and even used disposable chopsticks were scattered around and
stinking the place up. Eek, disposable chopsticks! It was too late to shudder
now. Another tropical rain forest had disappeared!
"Damn it! I can't believe I've shown you how sloppy I've been…
I'm pitiful!"
"This stuff is perfectly normal. Cheer up. My room is more or less
always like this. When my brother has a mahjong competition with his
friends, the whole living room is all cigarette butts and convenience store
trash."
Ryuuji shook his head back and forth fast enough to emit a lowfrequency buzz. He was in agony.
"That's not the problem! Even if all the families in the world lived
like this from time to time, I can't let our house—I can't let myself live like
this! I really wouldn't let any family living on earth do this if I could!"
"I-I see! Sorry!"
"No! Don't apologize! Right now, the reality is that my house is a
mess! Okay, if I don't clean all of this up within thirty seconds, then please,
kill me! If you don't, I won't be able to face the earth—whoa!"
"Nnngh…"
When he tried to heave himself up, he noticed something heavy on
top of his legs. Actually, he couldn't even feel anything in his cold legs.
Taiga was splayed out and using Ryuuji-the-eco-jerk's legs as a pillow as
she slept without a care in the world. His circulation had been cut off from
the weight of her head. He was past numbness. Around the same time as
Ryuuji had fallen asleep, Taiga must have also lost consciousness. She was
still holding the cheese and cod in her hand.
The fact that his legs were numb or how they had gotten into this
position wasn't the most pressing matter at that moment. Taiga was using
another boy's legs as a pillow in front of her unrequited love. It wasn't okay
for a maiden to look like this. (He wouldn't get into whether Taiga was a
maiden or not at that moment.) Ryuuji grabbed her head in a fluster and
shook her back and forth.
"T-Taiga! Wake up, you slob!"
It didn't matter whether she got mad at him or bit him, this was all for
Taiga's sake.
"Give it a rest, she's sleeping so peacefully. Don't you have pity for
her?"
Making only himself look good without understanding the whole
situation, Kitamura stopped Ryuuji's hands and gently cradled Taiga's head
to transfer it over to the folded-in-half floor cushion. Taiga, seeming happy,
let out a "Nyaah." Like a cat, she went into a lazy C shape. She started to
breathe deeply, soundly asleep once again.
"See, she looks so happy when she's asleep… She really does have a
cute face. Her eyelashes are super long."
"Try telling her when she's awake."
"That's embarrassing and right on the edge of being sexual
harassment. But that peaceful aura she's got when she's asleep… Just
seeing it has a sort of curative effect…"
Kitamura was smiling gently as he looked down on Taiga's sleeping
face. Ryuuji couldn't say anything to him. They're the same, he said to
himself.
Just as Taiga and Ryuuji hadn't noticed Kitamura's anguish,
Kitamura also didn't notice Taiga's awkward feelings, which stemmed from
her overthinking and earnestness. Anyone was like that. Everyone must be
like that. But if everyone was like that, it wasn't as though that would
comfort anyone, make it better, or reduce their pain.
Ryuuji's stiff shoulder cracked.
"What time is it now? Geh, it's already eleven."
He looked at the clock and was a little surprised. He had thought it
was right around nine. He had lost his precious Saturday morning.
"I just woke up, too. We really did sleep in. Oh, come to think of it…
take that! Hell car!"
"Whoaaa?!"
Suddenly, Kitamura grabbed Ryuuji with his softball-forged arms and
firmly locked Ryuuji's arms and legs. Ryuuji was rolled roughly into the
kitchen and his head hit the floorboards. He was overcome by the
ridiculousness of it and lay there, splayed out. He even forgot to rightly
scold Kitamura and went into silent thought for a while. What in the world
was this? Getting violent right after waking up, treating him like this, and
having an unreasonable amount of energy—he couldn't think of this as
someone who had cried himself to sleep in silence the night before. Because
of that, the ennui he felt since that evening all disappeared at once.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?!"
"Huh? You said once thirty seconds were up that I should execute the
death penalty. Oh, you still seem to be breathing."
"Stop it, stop, you idiot! That was obviously a joke!"
"It's not like I'm giving you the death penalty just for show or
because I like it! There! We're doing it, giant swing!"
"Ngaaah?!"
"Hold your head, it's dangerous!"
Then don't do it! Ryuuji thought. His body had just woken up, and he
still couldn't quickly react. As Kitamura swung him around, he closed his
mouth in a fluster. Just as he was told, he held his head. He only had one
prayer as he gave up his futile resistance. If you're doing it, hurry up and
end it already. How did it come to this… Oh, it's because I've destroyed the
environment. He would endure the pain as a representative of the foolish
human race. It would be a rescue signal coming from the Spaceship Earth…
He was warming to the idea of being a martyr, but right when he closed his
eyes, he was flung in a direction he wasn't expecting.
"Whooaaaa!"
He hit the sliding door that separated the living room and Yasuko's
room. At the edge of his vision, he saw Kitamura flying off to the side and
rolling cleanly away as he yelled, "Daaah!"
Then, the one who should have been sleeping peacefully acted.
"…Uw…uw…"
With no mercy for her unrequited love, she sent him flying with the
heel of her palm. The one who had tried to dispose of the criminal with a
giant swing was sent rolling away so that she alone was standing.
Her messy light hair rose and fell with her breath. Under her eyelids,
her eyes were swollen from crying right before sleeping. They shone an
ominous red from the saltiness of her tears. She staggered, and he knew that
her atrocities had resulted from her just having woken up.
She probably still hadn't even seen the two shaking boys who
couldn't speak up from fear. She stood imposingly, like a half-asleep beast
that had been allowed to stand on two legs. Her eyes glistened like she had
been born without reasoning. She turned to the ceiling and looked up at the
moon that, of course, wasn't there. Then, snap, she broke the invisible chin
restraints around her and showed off her very real gums. She clenched her
fist, which was still covered in fish, and roared like a beast.
"YOOOOOOUUUUU'RRREEE NOOOOOOIIIIIISSSSYYYY!"
So this was a so-called evangelion… Actually, it was the Palmtop
Tiger.
"Kuh…she's awake now…"
Kitamura kneeled in front of the violent, half-asleep girl. He put his
hands up and narrowed his eyes as though she were blinding. Incidentally,
there was nothing bright in the apartment at all. They didn't get good
natural light because of Taiga's condo, and they only had a dim light on. For
the moment, Ryuuji left the high-spirited Kitamura behind and crawled all
the way to the kitchen.
"Taiga…Taiga. Come over here. Now…"
"Uh…?"
"Look…your favorite. It's nice and cold… It's blueberry flavored…"
"Uh-uh…"
He opened the refrigerator and showed the contents to the rampaging,
sleepy tiger. What he pulled out was what they had bought the last night, or
rather that morning, when they had gone to the convenience store. It was a
Meiji Bulgarian yogurt drink that she hadn't already consumed.
Taiga slowly but surely hobbled towards Ryuuji. Her eyes had only
one focus—the cold yogurt drink.
"Now, drink. You can drink it all, it's all yours."
"Uh…uuuuh…? …Uh!"
Schwoop! Her small hand grabbed it. Psht. She thrust the straw into
the drinking hole. Her teeny mouth greedily sucked and, sluuurp! She
drained the contents. As her throat made noises, her eyes gained a spark of
logic that was more human.
"Ah~! That was good! Another!"
Finally, she spoke in a human language.
"We don't have any more."
"What?! Cheapskate! Then give me milk!"
"Sorry, Aisaka, I just drank it all."
"Huh?! Wait, what right do you have to my dairy—kyah!"
Don't scream, Ryuuji thought. He was exasperated as, before his
eyes, Taiga finally woke up and realized the situation.
"K-K-K-Kitamura-kun?! Uwah! Noo! Gyaah! N-no way, you didn't
see me when I wasn't decent, did you?!"
At this point, she hastily rubbed at her mouth with her sleeve…or
rather, with the sleeve of Ryuuji's parka.
"Sorry, I did, but it's your fault for sleeping in a place like this,
Aisaka."
"Noo, what do we do, Ryuuji?! I'm so embarrassed I could die! I
can't believe he saw me! He saw me while I was sleeping! While I was
sleeping!!"
"Seeing you asleep aside, do you even know what you did to
Kitamura with your hand… Well, it doesn't matter…"
"No no no no no no no no no no no, I didn't want this to happen!"
Now that she was feeling shy after her unrequited love had seen her
sleeping and after she had hit him as hard as she could, Taiga tried hiding
behind Ryuuji's back. Embarrassed, unseemly, and making a scene, she
flailed and stamped her feet.
"No, I don't like this, it's the worst! The worst! My hair's even all
messed up like this!"
Screaming, she jumped into Yasuko's room. She slammed the sliding
door shut and probably jumped into the empty sheets next to Yasuko. Now
she could reflect on her embarrassment over her klutziness.
"Making a scene… She's an idiot."
"Well, it was a really good palm strike, and really powerful. I feel
like it cleared my head."
Together, they both folded their arms and nodded chummily, unaware
of the tremendous shock rearing up into their view.
"Whoa?!"
"Uh…"
The sliding door opened, and the human silhouette that appeared
could only be compared to the Yamato Transport cat, the Nippon Express
pelican, or the Sagawa Express guy. She firmly held a package in one hand,
but instead of a piece of mail, it was Taiga. Her hair was half up; she'd
mussed it in her sleep so that it blasted to the side. Her mascara had melted
into her sweat as she slept so that her under-eye was black and her
eyebrows were thin. The remnants of her foundation were oily and slick,
but her skin itself was dry and wrinkly, like a crêpe. She might have been
cold—she was wearing Ryuuji's junior high tracksuit top on top of her
black lace camisole—but the ends of her unhooked bra stuck out from
under the hem. Her bottom was still barely covered with a miniskirt, but the
zipper was half undone on the very front of it. Her easy-breezy hot pink
underwear greeted them.
This was, astonishingly, Ryuuji's own mother.
"…"
Plunk. Yasuko wordlessly flung Taiga onto the floor. Still with her
eyes half-closed, she pulled over the Chanel bag next to her pillow and
opened her feng shui wallet, which was yellow for prosperity.
"…"
She took out three thousand-yen notes. She pushed one at each of the
three children.
"…"
Very simply, she motioned at the door with her thumb.
In order not to disturb the sleep of the breadwinner of the house, who
disappeared behind the sliding door once again after her hangover, Ryuuji
sneakily cleaned up, Kitamura took a quick shower, and Taiga quietly
walked home to her condo to shower and change.
Now then. With a budget of one thousand yen each, if they were
going to stay out of the house as long as possible, that meant…
***
"I apologize. Because it is busy, we cannot split any checks! In sum,
the Italian hamburg steak and rice drink set, the mushroom rice porridge
with a fountain drink, the single avocado salad, the pumpkin sweet potato
chiffon cake, the rich chocolate cake, all together is three thousand three
hundred thirty yen! Thank you for the ten-thousand-yen bill! I've received a
ten-thousand-yen bill! Please check it! Okaaay! Here is the largest bill, five
thousand yen, and six thousand yen back! And six hundred, eighty-seven
yen for your change! Please check it, here's the receipt! Thank you for
coming, please come again! Welcome! The smoking section is full, so we
can seat you in nonsmoking by the window, I can lead you th-th-th-th-thwhooooaaaa! What do you think you're doing?!"
"You're slow, Minorin…" said Taiga.
"You didn't notice us at all," said Ryuuji.
"Why do some places lead you to the seats and other places don't?"
said Kitamura. "I always wonder about that."
In order to avoid disturbing Yasuko after changing and taking
refreshing showers, the three of them headed out to eat brunch at the usual
family restaurant where Minori always worked.
"Well, it's lunchtime, so Minori the human is off, and I'm devoting
myself to being Minori the cool waitressing machine, so—Kitamura-kun?!
Wait, wait, how are you showing up here like nothing's going on?! I was
worried this whole time! What's with that hair?!"
"Sorry. A ton of things happened, and I'm running away to Takasu's
home right now."
"You ran away, of course a lot of things must have happened!
Seriously, you look like you're fine! Okay, I feel a little better!"
"Sorry for making you worry."
Kitamura scratched apologetically at his blond head. He looked a
little rougher than usual now that he was borrowing Ryuuji's parka and
sweats and didn't have his usually well-groomed dark head with his full-on
Uniqlo casual look. Taiga gave it full points.
"Minorin, you're still not done working? We'll wait for you while
we're eating, so let's go out together!"
Taiga had layered a bunny-like fluffy white cardigan over a frilly
pink flower print dress. The lace underskirt added additional volume. She
was probably trying to recover from Kitamura seeing her pitifully asleep, so
she had even put on a faint beige pink lip-gloss and started acting cute.
Ryuuji, who was just thankful she hadn't gotten the lip gloss up her nose,
was in his usual zip-up parka and jeans. His eyes lit up ominously as
Minori-the-waitress with a ponytail tilted her head and hummed.
"Oh, I can't. My shift is from eleven all the way right through eight
today. Sorry, but just leave me behind. Please take this seat."
"What~?! Seriously, that's too bad…"
That's too bad for me, too… he thought as he looked at the thin nape
of Minori's neck while she led them to their seats. Ryuuji's shoulders
drooped slightly.
"In my place though, why don't you invite the girl sitting next to
you?"
As she led them to the window table, the three of them looked in the
direction Minori pointed. Then, all of their eyes widened at once.
The girl was sitting by herself at a nonsmoking seat. She had white
earphones on to shut out outside noise. In one hand she was fiddling with an
iPod, while the other twirled pasta. Her shining, beautiful face was like a
flower in full blossom but emotionless; she looked bored. She completely
ignored the occasional heated gaze as though it were nothing. She went
without makeup and wore a turtleneck sweater, jeans, and ballet flats. If
anyone but a true beauty had worn the same thing, they would have been on
a full speed course toward looking like a simple old hag, but she had the
perfect proportions of a model on vacation. When she was just sitting there,
the neighborhood family restaurant felt like a Paris café, and all the other
guests' faces seemed hazy and indistinct.
At that beautiful girl—at Kawashima Ami having her lonesome
Saturday lunch—Taiga's lip curled unpleasantly.
"Oh, my my my, who could I have thought it was other than
Dimhuahua? You kind of seem sad, don't you? It's Saturday and you're all
alone eating noodles."
She went immediately into picking-a-fight mode, but Ami was in the
middle of listening to a song and didn't notice Taiga's words. She brought
the salad to her mouth as she kicked her ballet flats in rhythm with the
music and continued looking away.
"Oh, could you not hear me? Hey, Dimhuahua! Hey, you, the one
who's got the day off and hasn't even got work and is eating all alone!"
"…"
She still didn't notice. Kitamura stepped right in to stop Taiga from
saying anything more embarrassing. He was always sweet and kind to his
childhood friend, and had almost always behaved like an older brother for
her—
"Hey, you lazyhead! You lazyhead! You out of work model
lazyheaaad!"
"K-Kitamura? What's gotten into you?" Ryuuji stuttered.
"Ami's a lazyhead, she's an unknown with an empty schedule! A sad,
dried up model!"
"That's right, that's right, Dimhuahua is a lazyhead! A lazy model!
Lazyhuahua!"
Taiga, synching her voice with Kitamura's, started to chant.
Lazyhead! Lazyhead! Eventually, their shouting started getting into a
rhythm.
"Lazyhead of the people… ♪."
"Well! Of course Kitamura-kun's got a great voice! He's so smart!"
The blond idiot and idiotic tiger seemed happy as they clapped. Right
next to Ami, who noticed nothing, they danced like cartoon tooth decay
bacteria, shouting and grinning. Even Minori scowled, "Wh-what's going
on with you?! Kitamura-kun, that's not funny at all! Did your blond head
take away your sense of humor?"
"No, Kitamura wasn't that funny in the first place… Actually,
someone's asking for you over there."
Oh no. She donned her waitress face again and went to get the order.
Ryuuji watched her as she went. Come to think of it, he figured out the
reason why Kitamura had attacked Ami. The bombing Ami had given him
in the interview room was probably eating away at him. Kitamura, who
wasn't a saint that would let things go without a fight, had just found in
Taiga a partner for the berate-a-thon.
"I don't have any work, so I'm out of stuff to do. ♪"
"I don't have any! Of my favorite modeling work! So I'm eating!
Lunch all by myself! Aaaaaah…oooooh…aaaaaaah…oooooh… If you
don't have any work, get into business, onyanyanyanyaeeeeiiiijyah. ♪"
"Don't act all lazy! Why don't you quit modeling?! Then you can be
as lazy as you please! Eating lunch, dillydallying by yourself! You've got
nothing to do! Nothing! Nothing! Ohoo! By yourself! By yourself! By
yourself! Oho ho ho ho ho ♪."
They were making fun of her in song, a new genre of parody. Taiga
cackled like the loyal familiar of an evil sorcerer. She used Ami's napkin in
place of a mic, stuck out her butt, and swayed from left to right.
"You're loud," said Ami. "I'm pretending not to hear you, you idiot!"
"Eeek!"
She threw her cold drink into one of their faces. Actually, Ami had
drank most of it and the remainder was mostly ice, so the victim only got
some of their cheek and chin wet, but it was probably cold as death.
Kitamura's face went pale; he desperately scraped the ice out of his collar.
Next she targeted Taiga.
"I said I heard everything from the start! Pretend we don't know each
other, you airhead!"
"Ow!"
Ami was hitting her with the empty cup. Her cup was easily stolen by
someone beside her.
"Ahh, you're adding to my workload during lunchtime! The floor's
wet now!"
"But~! It's because Yuusaku and this shrimpy tiger were being too
noisy~!"
"Okay, okay, don't fight and get to your seats! Ahmin, sit over there
with them. This seat's wet, so I'll wipe it down! Now, get out of the way.
Hey, get your butt up, girl!"
Minori, three times more intense than her normal work mode,
followed them briskly while wielding a mop. In the end, the four of them
ended up sitting together at a window seat. Minori finished transferring the
half-eaten pasta, salad, and check from Ami's table in a quick second.
"Now, once you've figured out your order, just call for me! I'll get
you a ton of fries on the house!"
She said the second half so other customers couldn't hear. Then with
movements to rival a swan fluttering on a lake, she elegantly left three
lunch menus lined up on the table.
"Actually, I don't want to sit with any of you!"
"Ohh, look at that," said Ryuuji, "they say it's a mushroom special…
with mushroom porridge, mushroom sauce hamburg steak, mushroomloaded Japanese style pasta, wah, they even have a mushroom and oyster
cream doria! And it's low calorie! If I get this, maybe I can have a dessert,
too…"
"Are you planning on getting dessert here, too?" said Taiga. "Didn't
you just say earlier that you wanted to go to the café in the station
building?"
"S-something warm…something that'll warm me up! It's cold! I'm
gonna die!"
"How about mushroom porridge?"
"Do the mushroom porridge."
"No one's listening! This is why I don't want to sit with these guys!"
Keh! Ami haphazardly finished off her remaining pasta, making a
show of her apathy. She had a scowl on her beautiful face as she looked
away.
"I got it. I'll have demi-glace sauce on omelet rice. With a fountain
drink, it'll be under 1000 yen. So, Kawashima, why are you alone today?
You don't have work?"
Now Ami also glared at Ryuuji, who had gently turned the
conversation towards her.
"I took the time off! I'm human, so I get days off when I want!"
"What are you suddenly snapping at me for?"
"Right, it's scary. Dimhuahua is in a bad mood."
"Ami's got a bad personality, regardless of her mood."
"Shut up! Don't get cocky—you in particular, straw-head! Anyone
would be in a bad mood if you were singing about them being lazy!
Seriously, what are you saying, you have a problem with me eating alone on
a Saturday?!"
No no, I don't, each of them thought as their eyes dropped to the
menus. Ami, seeming displeased, crossed her legs loftily.
"Hmph… We're still in high school; if I don't take a day off, then I'm
a failure as a pro. I can study for tests and go to the spa or the gym because
I have days off. Right, before I came here, I didn't just do photography. I
did cover rotations, too. I did so many that it was like, 'What, are you fine
with having me do it again~?' I was too busy to get a break… Oh, right,
right! If that stalker jerk hadn't appeared and I hadn't had to take a break for
a full two months, I would have gotten my turn on the cover this month!
Actually, I haven't been on the cover once since taking a break?! What's the
meaning of that?! Are they saying that if my face is on the cover, magazines
don't sell?! Damn it… They're underestimating me… Damn it!"
It seemed the lazyhead attack had really been a land mine. Now that
someone had stepped on it, it was out of their hands. Ryuuji sat next to
Taiga, who was sitting across from Ami. Ami's mouth contorted in irritation
as she nibbled her lettuce.
"Dimhuahua…it's fine. You can ask for a fountain drink—my treat.
How pitiful. I didn't know you'd sunk so low that you can't afford a two
hundred eighty yen fountain drink…"
Taiga purposefully put on a pained expression and held her chest.
"I'm not drinking water because I don't have money!" Ami's voice
was practically a shriek. "Water is the best thing for a detox! I'm drinking
water on purpose, you stupid shrimpy tiger! Ahh, this is no fun! I'll take
you up on the offer! If it comes to it, I'll actually take you up on your treat!"
Though she had snapped, she roughly stood up and stormed off to the
fountain drinks. Ryuuji watched Ami, flustered.
"Hey, hey! You have to order it first!"
He waved his hand and called on Minori while she was working.
"Omelet rice,"
"Mushroom oyster doria,"
"Mushroom porridge…and four fountain drinks."
Since they didn't have any bags that could be taken, the whole group
got up and, like impalas gathering at water, headed to the fountain drinks.
"So, once we finish eating, where do we want to go?"
"Right… Even though I'm embarrassed to admit it, I ran away, so I
don't have any money. I'll probably use all the money Yasuko-san gave me
just eating here so…ahh, it's cold! Coffee, coffee!"
"A place that isn't too cold would be good. I'd be fine just seeing
Minori here for a while. Huh, the giant clothespin thing to grab the ice isn't
here."
"You mean the tongs. It's over here, so give me your glass and I'll get
it. Kawashima, how about you? Is there someplace you want to go?"
"Uhh, the ones with zero calories are…huh?! Since when?! Why are
you counting me in your group?!"
"You don't have anything to do anyway, do you? To be honest,
Kitamura-kun seems more cheerful with you around. I don't like it, but I'll
allow you to be with us. Work with us to make Kitamura-kun happy."
"W-wait a second. You really think that Yuusaku cheered up?
Actually, didn't I say I didn't want to be involved with Yuusaku? Seriously,
do none of you get anything that I say?"
"You're already involved. Just look at that face of his…because you
splashed him with ice water, even his lips are blue, how sad…"
"Well, isn't he getting his just desserts?"
As though to resonate with their fight in the already busy family
restaurant at lunch, the place became even noisier.
For the time being, they put aside their selfish wants to concentrate
on how to cheer up Kitamura. They would do anything to accomplish that.
That was where Taiga's new determination was focused as she ate her
éclair. Of course, Ryuuji had also been in the same state of mind before
daybreak at four in the morning. They vowed that they would do what they
could for Kitamura as they gorged themselves.
But.
"What was that about a vow?" said Ryuuji.
"H-he looks happy…at least…" said Taiga.
"You go do something…"
"Why don't you?"
They sat side by side on the cold bench. In front of their eyes, past
the old green net, they watched the development of two childhood friends'
antagonistic time together.
"Missed again! You're missing at 70 kilometers, Ami. Are you
underestimating the ball?! Why aren't you actually going for it?! Why are
you so embarrassed about giving your all in front of people?! When did
Japan get like this?!"
"I am giving it my all! For starters, it's the first time I've held a bat,
so of course I can't do it! I only came because you're the one who kept
saying you wanted to go in the first place, but why am I the one swinging?!
You could do it yourself!"
"Everyone is equal at the plate! The plate is always there! The batter
stands in front of the batter box because that's where the plate is! And then
they hit it! Every person is an equal batter in front of the plate! Look, watch
your front! Here it comes, look, it's coming, look closely, look look look,
hey hey hey! If you're not paying attention, it'll hit you!"
"Huh?! W-wait, wait wait, huh…take that?!"
Fwoom! She swung the bat wildly for a fifth miss. Kitamura camped
out in front of the handling panel, acting like some arrogant coach as he
roughly shook his blond head.
"What are you doing?!"
He stomped his feet out of frustration.
"Look! I just said to watch the ball carefully, didn't I?! Why can't
you even do something that simple?!"
"Your babbling distracted me!"
"Kushieda could easily hit one hundred forty kilos one after another
and she's a girl!"
"It's because Minori-chan's been a baseball girl since she was little!
Ah! Ow! That hurt! You just hit me in the butt with a bat, didn't you?!"
"You're not getting things done, so I gave you some motivation!
Look, it's coming again! This time, keep a good eye on it and go get it!"
"Hey, Takasu-kun, did you see that?! Just now, this guy hit my butt
with a bat, right?!"
I saw it, I saw it, it really was a bat butt—Ryuuji nodded. Aah. He
held his knees as he sat on the bench. The shabby batting center with one
plate was set up in a corner of the golf practice range. Maybe because there
was no sunlight, or maybe because of the cold, bare concrete, or maybe due
to the ferocity that filled the air, it felt even colder than walking outdoors.
Taiga held her legs in the same pose, sniffling and looking bored.
When Kitamura said he wanted to go to the batting center, they
thought he must have wanted to get in an active mood. They thought it was
a good, healthy proposal, and everything went fine until they arrived. Since
then, Kitamura had had Ami stand at the plate the whole time and devoted
himself to gratingly and gloomily coaching her. He might have been in
good spirits in that sense, but in Ryuuji's eyes, Kitamura was going straight
down a path in the direction entirely opposite to healthy.
"Do you feel like Kitamura's personality has changed or something?"
he said.
"You were like that when you were showing me how to make eggs,"
said Taiga.
"Anyone would be worried when the house was close to burning
down…"
"Oh. Dimhuahua got one."
Babaam. By coincidence, Ami's bat got in its first proper hit. But the
ball, like the sound, traced an off-kilter line straight up and dropped a few
meters ahead.
"Hmph… That's a weak fly ball. Good, it's at least passable! You got
it up in the air!"
"Why are you so uppity…"
At last released, Ami turned over the net and was successfully
repatriated to the outside. She thrust the bat in her hands at Taiga.
"Here, you're the next victim. Careful, that's a genuine demon of a
teacher. He's abnormal. Ahh, I can't humor him anymore."
Who's next?! I'll teach you, so hurry up and get here! The demonic
coach's voice made Taiga hesitate a little, and she looked at Ryuuji.
"Go ahead," he said. "Let him give you a good coaching."
"Okay… Right. Right! Kitamura-kun, I'm next up to bat!"
Taiga took off her cardigan, put up her hair, and turned up the net.
She had more than enough fighting spirit as she stood at the plate. Taiga
was also a beginner at batting, but she faced the ball with a wide, straight
swing. The way she held her left arm, even in her dress, made her seem like
she had been possessed by the living spirit of Ichiro himself. Suzuki Taiga
had come onto the scene.
"Okay! First, we'll do a seventy kilo! We're going, Aisaka!"
"Okay!"
At around the same time, Ami sat down next to Ryuuji as she combed
through her messed up hair with her fingers to fix it. A brisk sound went
off, and Taiga's bat suddenly made contact with the first ball right on a
sweet spot. The ball mostly flew straight off, nearly hitting a round target
on the opposite wall. Whoa. Ryuuji applauded automatically.
"Amazing," Ami said. She didn't actually seem interested at all.
"Huh, I hit it? Is this okay? It seems kind of too easy. Kitamura-kun,
maybe I can do it a little faster."
Her frilly dress swayed. Kitamura turned to her with glittering eyes.
"Yeah…I might have discovered a diamond in the rough! Whoa,
Aisaka! You're exceptional. Why didn't you join the softball club?!"
"It was because I had my fill of sports clubs in junior high. Is my grip
fine like this?"
"Let me see, yes, yes, that's good! I didn't even show you and your
grip is perfect! Amazing, Aisaka, you have outstanding reflexes!"
"Well, I don't compare to Minorin."
Ehee hee. Taiga became incredibly shy, and her face turned peach
pink as she smiled. Kitamura seemed to be having fun, too—it was fine as
long as he was having a good time, wasn't it? This time, Ryuuji rubbed his
eyes with the palms of his hands to make sure he was reading Kitamura's
expression correctly.
"Hey, Takasu-kun, I'm kind of bored. And it's cold here… Do you
want to go get something warm to drink?"
Ami's white fingertip tickled him slightly. Her large, upturned eyes
glistened as she instantaneously sidled up to him. Before he knew it, she
had taken his arm and was right on him.
"Can we?"
Ami ever so slightly pouted her charming cherry-glossed lips and
tilted her head. Her brown, clear eyes reflected Ryuuji's face. They
quavered invitingly, as though trying to transport him to another world.
Incredibly, they made his common sense waver.
"Okay, let's go…"
"H-huh?"
He didn't even push Ami away or get mad, but simply stood straight
up. Ami was the one who had exclaimed in surprise. She looked up at
Ryuuji as though she were disappointed, and her eyes glinted as though
searching for something. He beckoned for her to stand.
"What, you invited me. There's a vending machine by the front desk,
so let's go."
"You're kind of different from usual. That's weird… What are you
scheming?"
"I'm not scheming anything. I'm not like you, and that's rude."
"I've never schemed at anything. Well, I guess we can do whatever."
Ami's eyes narrowed, and she stared back at Ryuuji for a moment.
Then she got up.
"If they're doing that, we've got our own things to do."
She grabbed Ryuuji's arm. She clung tight, practically hanging off of
him.
"Hey…wait!"
The smell that wafted to his nose was of a sweet flowery perfume.
"Oh my, what's wrong? Did something as small as that fluster you?
Are you really prepared for this?"
Their heights weren't that different, so Ami's pale face was
practically adhered to Ryuuji's neck. Even if he tried to run away, her arm
was firmly locked to Ryuuji's elbow and wrist. They were snuggled right up
to each other like lovers.
"We're going to take a little break~!"
"Right! Look, Aisaka, the hundred kilo is coming!"
"Yeah! …Yeah?!"
The statement went right past Kitamura, who was feverishly coaching
Taiga. Taiga, however, opened her eyes wide in surprise for a moment at the
nestled-up duo. Because of that, she turned back late and spectacularly
missed the easy straight ball.
No, no, that's not it, Ryuuji thought. He desperately shook his head
and made eye contact with Taiga. He had thought they would disappear to
give Taiga and Kitamura some pleasant time alone together. Kitamura was
in a good mood with Ami around, but the dark energy that emanated from
her drew attention. That was why he was going along with Ami's
mischievous behavior for once.
As she pulled Ryuuji's arm, Ami turned to Taiga and happily stuck
out her tongue. "Nah nah."
"…!"
Taiga stood stock-still and got a second strike. In this crisis, an even
hotter fire burned in the eyes of coach Kitamura.
"Ho ho ho, now we're alone together. ♥ Just kidding…"
Once they closed the door of the reception area that shared space with
the golf practice field, Ami practically sent Ryuuji flying when she threw
away his arm. "Hmph," she snorted. He had thought it would end like this,
so he wasn't surprised.
"Heh," he said. "I can see through your behavior now. It's not fun
clinging to me without Taiga around, right? Look, sit over there. I'll buy the
drinks."
"I'm buying my own, so it's fine. Ahh, this is really boring."
Ami indifferently turned her pretty face away and walked quickly,
trying to outpace Ryuuji. As he watched her narrow shoulders, Ryuuji, who
was always the victim, felt mischief brewing in his heart.
"What? If you're going to cling to me, do it right."
"Eek?!"
From behind, he grabbed her shoulders and, copying her,
immediately overtook Ami.
"Eek. But. Eek!"
Ami actually seemed surprised as she turned and jumped away. He
pointed teasingly at her. He was always the one being made fun of, getting
flustered, and being toyed with. Giving it back every once in a while could
be fun.
Ami's mouth was still open. She was turning red either from the
anger or the humiliation of someone like Ryuuji scaring her.
"I…I can't believe you! Fine, I'll have you treat me to drinks!"
Standing imposingly, she pointed at the old paper-cup-type vending
machine. The seventy-yen sticker price and the establishment from a
bygone era was enough to laugh at.
"Right, what do you want?"
"Melon soda."
"Are you sure? Should a model really be drinking a lump of sugar
like that?"
"It's fine! Leave me alone! Seriously, you have me all riled up,
sticking your nose into my business!"
He bought Ami's melon soda and a coffee for himself and sat at the
shabby eating area's single counter.
"Don't be so irritated," he said.
"I'm leaving you alone, aren't I? Don't even talk to me. Don't even
look at me."
It seemed he had really made her angry. She put her cheek on her
hand on the counter. Her entire body was turned away from him as she
sipped the carbonated beverage that was blatantly artificial in color. Such a
harsh aura wafted in his direction along with her faint perfume that even
Ryuuji was uncomfortable.
"I said I'm sorry. It was a joke. You're the one who's always messing
around with me by clinging to me."
"It's not that… It's fine."
"What? What is it?"
"It's fine now. There's a lot to it. You wouldn't understand anyway."
Turned to the wall, Ami spat the words out, and with that, ended the
conversation. She snipped the conversation short by punctuating it with a
forceful period. Though Ryuuji acknowledged he had been ignored, he tried
moving the conversation forward, just a little forcefully. They had the time
anyway.
"By there being a lot to it…do you mean work not going well and us
spoiling Kitamura and me getting on your nerves? Is it all the little things
adding up that's irritating you?"
Ami unexpectedly gave him a curt reply, though she was still looking
at the wall.
"No… That's not it. It's not as simple as that."
In Ryuuji's head, it was like pulling on a string. He felt like Ami
wanted to tell him something more than what she actually said. But he
didn't know which string would pull it out. Just as Ami said, it really did
seem it wasn't that easy.
"You're a complex girl after all, Kawashima. Whenever I try to
understand you fully, I always run into trouble."
"If you're not even willing to deal with that much trouble, I won't
humor you. Well, there is some value to making things a little difficult,
right?" She spoke arrogantly, roughly pushing up her long hair. Finally, Ami
glanced at him. Her gaze was as cold as usual. It was a lot more
comfortable having her look at him than at the wall. He felt a little better.
"Well, you're not the only one who's hard to read. Take Kitamura, for
example. He said the reason why he did that to his hair was because he
doesn't want to be the student council president. He said if he rebelled like
that, no one would expect anything out of him. What do you think,
Kawashima? Do you think that's true?"
Huuuh? Ami's pale face finally turned towards Ryuuji straight on.
"Like I said, whether it's true or not, Yuusaku is expecting someone
to think that for him… Actually, never mind. I said I don't want to be
involved with that stuff. Don't go reporting all the dirty details to me. Being
with Yuusaku like this is already idiotic enough as it is."
That was when it happened. Suddenly, an incredibly loud siren
started blaring from inside the door that partitioned them from the batting
center.
"Whoa?!"
"Wh-what?!"
It sounded like it could have been an emergency drill or an actual fire
alarm. Ryuuji and Ami stood up in surprise at pretty much the same time.
The old ladies behind the reception desk seemed in a leisurely mood. They
were merrily saying, "Well," and, "Oh my, oh my." A fifty-year-old looking
old lady with super thick makeup heaved out a large package.
"Congratulations!"
"You got it, congratulations!"
"Who was it that hit it?!"
The workers started applauding.
"She's the one who hit it! Isn't it amazing?! And she's just a
beginner!"
Happily flaring his nostrils, the fervent coach who appeared pointed
with a radiant smile at the diamond in the rough, Taiga. Taiga's smile
twitched with embarrassment; she stood frozen in the congratulatory calls.
The makeup-wearing lady forced an idiotically huge stuffed animal that
would obviously be a nuisance to lug anywhere into Taiga's hands. It
looked somewhat like a certain mouse that they had seen somewhere else
before, with some differences. There was a ribbon around its neck that read,
"Celebrating a big home run!"
Ryuuji approached Taiga and couldn't help but ask what had
happened. "Wh-what did you do?!"
"Uhh…it looks like I hit something. When I really went for the ball, I
hit it right on the target, and then suddenly the siren went off…"
"Isn't it amazing that something like this happened?! Aisaka is a
genius! Unlike Ami! She did it, she did it! A home run!"
"I don't need genius like that anyway. Seriously…"
She gloomily looked back at Kitamura's face as he became happier
and more worked up. Ami, seeming exasperated, chugged the rest of her
soda. Taiga asked Kitamura, "You want it?" She handed him the stuffed
animal and Kitamura took it while jumping for joy.
Ryuuji felt the need to check in with the makeup lady.
"Is a big hit something that's really good?"
"No? We generally have two in a month."
"I see…"
"You've got eyes like a raptor… Hey, everyone, take a look at this
kid, he's got raptor eyes."
"Oh, it's true."
"Well now, he sure does."
"No way, let me see."
"A raptor? That's a snake! He's got snake eyes!"
Kitamura was so elated by everything that Ryuuji was fine with this.
The faces of the powdered-up grannies surrounded him and Ryuuji became
a slightly stronger kid.
Eventually, the sun started to slant, and the wind was surprisingly
cold. The three of them that were returning to the Takasu house, and Ami,
started going down separate roads when it happened.
"Ohh. ★ What a surprise, what a coincidence~!"
"Oh, how unexpected."
Coming from down the road was a makeup-free Yasuko, whose skin
cells had seemingly revived. She might have been out shopping, since she
held bags from a drug store and was wearing clothes that were worn out but
seemed a bit better than Ryuuji's tracksuit. She happily approached them.
Then she caught sight of Ami's face.
"Oh my, Ryuu-chan, you've got another friend~! Uhh, you were
definitely around once before, too? It's nice seeing you again~! Oh, this is
great, I bought four puddings, too~! Let's all eat them at home. I'm an
adult, so I don't need one!"
"Wah, it's so nice seeing you again! But I'm just about to go home.
I'm leaving for today."
Ami, who had on her goody-two-shoes mask, tried to quickly sneak
home as though she were avoiding trouble.
"Ryuu-chan! You stop her! I need a little more help!"
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"Just hurry~!"
Unusually fast for her, Yasuko sneakily whispered an order into
Ryuuji's ear and mommy's boy couldn't not do what he was told. He
quickly went after Ami.
"Haah~? Why do I have to stop by your house?"
He had to appease her suspicion with a, Well, anyway, there's
pudding. He somehow got her to come to their house, even though he didn't
know the real reason why he was doing it.
Then…
"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha…"
It was when they were all peacefully surrounding the table and had
finished the pudding Yasuko had given them that they understood her true
intentions. Ryuuji, Taiga, Ami, and then Kitamura opened their eyes wide
and looked up at Yasuko as she appeared in the living room.
Her tracksuit bottoms were pulled up to the knees. She had an old
apron on over her T-shirt. She wore floppy plastic gloves on both hands.
What she was holding in those hands was…
"Ryuu-chan! Now! Hold Kitamura-kun~!"
"R-right!"
…a black package that read, "Make any color super pitch black in
one go! The strongest black hair dye for men!" Around the same time
Ryuuji understood the situation, Kitamura also gathered the danger and
leapt up like a vaulting horse.
"Taiga! Hold him!"
"Huh?! O-okay!"
"Kawashima, get around to the front door and block it!"
"Huh, this is what you wanted to do in the end~? Okay okay,
seriously…"
From the back, Ryuuji pinned Kitamura's arms and Taiga held
Kitamura's struggling legs from the front. They were practically carrying
him.
"Wait… This position is a l-little…ahhhhhh!"
"What are you doing getting all riled about, you idiot! Keep a tight
hold of him!"
"Yoooooouuuuuu traaaaaaiiiiitooooooors! Takasu, you schemed
against me, didn't you?! Yasuko-san, weren't you on my side?!"
"Hmm, sorry. ★ I definitely want you to be a good friend to Ryuuchan going forward, and since I phoned your father just earlier and he
seemed pretty angry, I thought it'd be better to send you back home as
normal first."
"Kuh, you were conspiring with my parents…I guess no matter how
young you seem, a parent is still a parent!"
"Ryuu-chan, make sure you're keeping a good hold of him. Amichan, help me over here."
Yasuko had Ami hold the package and squeezed the dye cream onto
the brush. Yasuko firmly held onto Kitamura's face. Ami also grabbed him
by one ear and helped keep his head in place.
"Ahh. Your blond hair was so short lived, wasn't it Yuusaku? Just
accept it."
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Not knowing when to give up, Kitamura struggled and shook his
head as much as he could. At that time, Yasuko and Ami lost their grip on
him.
"Noooooooooooo!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaah!"
They screamed. Kitamura had hit the tools they were using out of
their hands. The dye spewed out everywhere and, of course, it rained down
on Yasuko and Ami's heads.
"Noooo! This is bad, this is really bad! Hurry and get to the bath, the
bath! The shower! If we don't wash it off, it'll dye us, too!"
"Ueeeeeeeeeh! I-It stiiiiiiings~! M-my eyes hurt!"
"The cold cream?! Where is it?! Uwaaaah, it hurts it hurts! It got in
my eyes, too! And it stinks! If we don't get it off, we're really in
trooooouuuble!"
It was a scene straight from hell. Ryuuji also wanted to scream. The
tatami, the floor, the ceiling, the walls…no, it was really the people who
were most important. Giving up on holding on to Kitamura, he tried to rub
away what he could of the dye on the two girls' crying faces so they could
open their eyes. Ryuuji pushed them towards the cold cream and bath. He
could hear the sounds of their clothes coming off in the bath and then the
shower running.
"See, you should have just left me alone!"
Without even letting the place settle down, Kitamura came at them.
"Whaaat?!"
At Kitamura's remark, Ryuuji forgot to even wash his hands. He
turned around with his ogre mask fully in place. It looked like he was
thinking, What did you just say, you damn insolent straw-head?
That, in fact, was what he was thinking.
My tatami… No, that's not important right now. This guy's attitude.
Yasuko only went this far because you came into our house. Now you've
done it, you jerk. How are you still talking like that when you've been
acting this reckless?
"Don't screw around, you! You come into our house and you want us
to leave you alone?! That's rich, after making us worry! And now you've
got that attitude?! Don't screw around, you damn kid! You can go right on
home where your angry parents are ready to flip you upside down and whip
you!"
"D-don't you tell me to go home! You traitor! I believed in you!"
"Shut up! I don't care what you think, especially when you've got no
idea how worried you've got everyone around you, you stupid jerk!"
"Oh, I see!"
"That's right!"
The sound of Kitamura stomping went down the stairs, but then he
came back to grab the home-run rat-mouse he had forgotten. This time he
left the door wide open as he left.
"You idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I don't care about that guy anymore!"
Ryuuji felt like throwing salt behind Kitamura as he went over to the
door and banged it closed.
"…Hhh!"
At his feet, Taiga staggered, fell, and had one hand outstretched to the
person who had left. She was soundlessly vocalizing. She looked like the
Omiya statue at Atami beach being kicked away by a geta sandal. She was
pleading to Kanichi, the mirage of a man invisible to their eyes, still in her
pitiful pose. Her fingertips shook.
***
"That's why I said it from the start. Anyone who humors someone
like that ends up looking like an idiot. Oh, this is good. ♥ I almost went
with pizza, but we definitely made the right choice!"
"You can get dessert, too. ★ I'm really sorry, Ami-chan…for making
you help… Are your eyes feeling better? And I'm really sorry for getting
your uniform dirty…"
"It's completely fine now, I'm telling you~! I washed it right away, so
my face, skin, and hair were all fine. Plus, our uniform is black, so if I can
get the smell out, it's all fine."
"Make sure to get the cleaning bill to me, okay?"
"Noooo~! You're already treating me more than enough right now!
Actually, I might have gotten lucky today. I got treated to so much!"
Ami smiled. She had dried her hair by tackling it quickly with a dryer
and wore the parka and sweats Taiga had slept in the day before. They had
taken what emergency measures they could for her clothes and put them in
an ecobag for her to take home. Next to Ami, Taiga was prodding and
twirling the same tomato pasta Ami was eating with a fork.
As they waited for Ami and Yasuko's hair to dry, the four of them ate
dinner inside an Italian chain in the station building. Yasuko had said she
wanted to treat Ami to dinner after causing her trouble, and this was where
they had ended up.
"Kawashima, you sure you're fine with this place?"
"Yeah, why? Isn't this good? I like it."
"That's not what I mean, weren't you eating pasta for lunch, too…"
"Huh, Italians eat pasta three times a day, don't they?! Huh? No way,
Takasu-kun, did you think I'm that oblivious~? No way, no way, don't think
of me like that! Everyone says that about me! Hey, Aisaka-san, you don't
go misunderstanding me either."
They hadn't seen Ami-chan with her ironclad good-girl mask on in a
while. She turned a smile to Taiga, who was sitting next to her. Taiga, still
silent, seemed bored as she continued to pick at her pasta. Yasuko peeked at
Taiga's face.
"Taiga-chaan… I'm sorry that I made it turn out this way after we
just had a nice sleepover… I came on too strong and made Kitamura-kun
mad…"
Taiga raised her face in a fluster.
"N-no, I'm not mad at you or anything, Ya-chan! I was even holding
Kitamura-kun, so I made him mad, too…"
She shook her head from side to side, but Taiga's voice still definitely
lacked spirit. She might have been down because she was worried Kitamura
was also mad at her. She looked like she didn't have the will to even get the
pasta on her fork, and she was even sitting calmly next to Ami.
If anyone asked Ryuuji, though, Kitamura's anger was selfish and
stubborn. Taiga didn't have a reason to be down in the first place. Now that
it had come to it, that was all he could think. He just couldn't understand
the reasoning of someone who would act in a way that make others worry
and then get angry about it and say "Leave me alone." He didn't see any
point to it.
"Does it matter what happens with Kitamura? It was just like what
Kawashima said."
Oh dear. Yasuko apologetically looked at her son, who was taking a
bite of peperoncino.
"Ryuu-chan, you can't get mad at Kitamura-kun. I know you're
worried, but you can't say that. Okay? Look, we have a cute guest like
Ami-chan tonight. Aren't you happy about that~? Hey hey, look, smile
now~?"
"Oh stop, Yasuko-san! Takasu-kun isn't the type to cheer up because
someone like me is around!"
"Whaat~? Really? That's so strange, but you're so cute Ami-chan."
"It's because Takasu-kun is already dead set on a girl!"
Blech! The spicy togarashi got stuck in Ryuuji's throat just at the
right time. What are you talking about?! he wanted to say, but his gagging
only produced coughs.
Yasuko once again tilted her head, "Whaat~? This one?"
Blergh! This time the one to cough was Taiga, probably surprised by
Yasuko suddenly pointing at her. She kept her face down as she coughed.
Sitting across from Ryuuji, she was like his mirror. She had a heartfelt
grimace on her face.
Ryuuji wasn't sure what Ami was thinking, but she was smiling like
an angel. "No? Not her, another girl."
"Whaaaaaat~! It's not Taiga-chan?! Whaaaaaaaat! But I was looking
forward to the day when Taiga would officially become part of the family
as his wife~!"
"Wh-what are you doing deciding that all by yourself…cough!
Kawashima! What do you think you're saying!"
"Oh dear, Takasu-kun, are you the type who doesn't want your
parents knowing about this stuff? If you hide it and something happens
between you two, then she would immediately know that it wasn't Aisakasan. But it's fine! Yasuko-san, if you want her as your daughter, you could
just adopt her. It seems like she doesn't have a good relationship with her
parents anyway!"
"Oh, I could do that~! But I don't know what Taiga-chan's mom is
like yet…"
"Seriously, you two! You're making way too big a deal about this!
Cut it out! How're you being so selfish?!" Of course, Ryuuji interrupted the
conversation by raising his voice. They didn't really know what they were
talking about, and he was afraid their conversation was skimming too close
to reopening the wounds that were still on Taiga's heart.
"Ryuuji, you're making the biggest deal out of this." Taiga's
expression didn't change at all. She smoothly pushed back her hair.
"I don't want you, or anyone, to interfere in my life. I like where I am
now. I'm fine like this. I have money, and I can wash stuff, and I know how
to make eggs now, so there isn't a single issue with me being alone. I don't
have a single concern about the future!"
You can…make eggs…? Ryuuji automatically had the impulse to
question her.
"Uwah! What a lonely girl! What a hermit!"
"Say whatever you want. It doesn't matter what you think,
Dimhuahua."
Unshaken by Ami poking fun at her, Taiga simply continued to wolf
down her pasta. At that, Ryuuji suddenly wanted to ask Taiga about
something else. When she said she wanted to live alone, she was just saying
that because it was convenient, wasn't she? Of course, she wanted to
actually be with Kitamura, didn't she? But there wasn't much hesitation in
Taiga's expression as she said she wanted to live alone. She didn't seem
reluctant about it at all, so maybe she really did think that. For the first time,
Ryuuji felt doubt.
Maybe the Taiga he was seeing and the real Taiga were completely
different. Maybe he didn't really know what was in her heart. Maybe they
didn't really understand each other either. Maybe they weren't that close to
each other. The truth was that reality might not match up with how he
imagined Taiga to be.
He could hear Ami muttering to herself as though she were
exasperated.
"You really think that you're fine by yourself? I would think someone
like you would be the one least likely to forgive Yuusaku, and the most
likely to be angry at him…"
In the end, they took Ami home after spending the whole day with
her. The Takasus and Taiga started heading home as a group of three.
Yasuko lead the way on the night road, and somehow, they ended up
walking in a line.
"Hey, Ryuuji."
Taiga kept pace with him.
"Dimhuahua just said something to put the scent on Minorin, didn't
she? And then I started thinking… Minori loves horror, so she always says
she hates horror, right?"
"Yeah, she's using reverse psychology."
"Didn't Kitamura-kun say he didn't want to become student council
president? Do you think that he really thinks the opposite and that he really
wants to be president?"
You're talking about Kitamura again, Ryuuji was about to say, but he
kept his mouth shut.
Sure, Kitamura had said that. And it seemed like something really
had happened with the student council president before that. He also
wouldn't respond when they asked him about it. And even though he
thought Kitamura was being a jerk, Ryuuji also still wondered how he was
doing.
"That might be true."
"And the situation is at a deadlock. I can't think of anything else, so
if it comes to it, then…"
"We need him to become president, don't we?"
In that moment, Ryuuji had a devilish idea.
The next day was Sunday. They had more than enough time to
prepare.