Chapter 4

Toradora! Volume 3 Chapter 4

“I’m really impressed by the students of this class! You’re all so diligent, unlike the first-years, who fell asleep after their swimming lessons!”

Standing on the teaching podium, the teacher smiled and looked at the students of Class 2-C. The current atmosphere in the classroom gave no indication that the students had just returned from swimming lessons. Everyone was quietly listening to the lesson being taught with their eyes wide open. Yet the teacher did not realize that within this silence, a peculiar feeling was being transmitted amongst the students like an electric current.

Ryūji was among the students with their eyes wide open. He was unable to read anything in his textbook, as his unnerving anxiety affected his eyes’ ability to focus. He only could think about what had happened during recess.

As he was chewing on the end of his pencil…

“…Huh?”

A tiny folded note was thrown onto his desk from behind. It seemed like it was originally intended to be thrown to the person sitting in front of Ryūji, but it bounced off the back of that person’s chair and landed on Ryūji’s desk instead. “Oh shit…” The person behind gasped softly. Just when the kindhearted Ryūji was about to poke the person in front and pass the note to him…

He noticed something written on the outside of the note: “To everyone in Class 2-C!”

Using his textbook as a shield, he opened the B5 size note. His usually dangling triangular eyes now gave an even piercing glare as he read:

“Why the hell do they have to turn it into a library!?”

Taiga’s voice reverberated throughout the dark streets. Hearing her yells, Ryūji felt his plan crumbling like the ruin and decay before his eyes.

In a room inside the holiday mansion, Ryūji was sitting on a sofa when Ami came in carrying a plate of fruits and wearing only her swimsuit. She boldly sat beside Ryūji’s lap,

“Hee hee hee~ Does it matter? We’ll definitely have lots of fun! Come, have some fruit~!”

“Say, ah~! These pears are harvested from our own gardens~ They’re~ ripe~ already~! Try one and see!”

…although he thought that way, he did not feel comfortable pushing the swimsuit-clad Ami off like that. So Ryūji had no choice but to obediently open his mouth. At that moment, someone else came in…

“Takasu-kun! You’ve gotta play with me! It’s boring when Taiga isn’t here! C’mon, let’s play softball! What position do you prefer? First base? Second? Or… third…?”

Minori, also wearing a swimsuit, stood by the door. She wore a baseball glove on one hand while waving at Ryūji with her other hand. Driven by his basic instincts and desire, Ryūji prepared to wobble towards Minori when…

“Hey, Takasu-kun! You’ve got to stay and eat some pears with Ami-chan!”

“No way! Takasu-kun needs to run back to second base with Minorin!”

“You need to enjoy some tropical fruits together with Ami-chan!”

“You’ve gotta fly like a bullet with Minorin!”

Ryūji wriggled out of Ami and Minori’s arms and rushed back to his second floor apartment, and opened the door. But it was already too late!

Lying on the floor of his apartment were three mummified bodies: Inko-chan, Taiga, and Yasuko. Yasuko had even written a final message on the tatami with her fingers: “Mom’s starving”

“Hey…you look gross…”

“What…?”

“Your face! From just now you were suddenly laughing and crying at the same time! That’s just disgusting!”

Standing before the entrance to the heated pool, now a pile of debris, Ryūji was brought back to reality.

But the problem was…

“Oh man, what are we gonna do!? Does that mean we have to go back to the school swimming pool to practice!?”

“We’ve got no other choice, haven’t we? We’re gonna have to adjust our attitude and ignore other people’s gazes…”

“How am I gonna do that!? Kitamura-kun will be watching…”

Ryūji could find no answer for Taiga’s simple question.

* * *

For the next two weeks, the rain never stopped falling.

During this time, swimming lessons were cancelled. Unable to practice, Taiga remained a land-lubber, though she no longer had to worry about having to practice in the school swimming pool.

“Stop raining already~!”

“At this rate, Team Takasu won’t be able to practice, would they?”

Although it was daytime, the sky was unusually dark. The lighting in the classroom glowed pale white. The students were supposed to be having a swimming lesson now, but were now confined in the classroom, spending their free session in boredom.

Murmurs filled the classroom as everyone gossiped about how the duel between Taiga and Ami might not even take place.

“I feel so depressed…”

“Don’t worry too much about it.”

Taiga lifted her head from reading a sports magazine swimming special that was used to aide her in her mental training. Ryūji sat beside her like a coach,

“Right now, we can only rely on mental strength!”

He took out the previous magazine issue and showed it to a depressed Taiga.

“We’re just reading magazines here. I still can’t swim!”

“Better than having nothing to do. Besides, haven’t you been practicing kicking your legs at my place?”

What Ryūji meant by practicing kicking involved placing a cushion on the tatami, and then having Taiga lie horizontally on top of it so her legs could kick freely in the air. “Good, very good! Kick harder! Faster! Wow! There’s a new burger store in Asakusa! Mmm, that looks delicious…” “Why on earth are you watching TV!?” “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” The pain from the kick that Ryūji received on his back was evidence that she now knew how to kick her legs.

“That kind of practice isn’t enough!”

“Didn’t you practice in the bathtub as well?”

“Well…yeah… Those training should have some results…”

Taiga beamed confidently from ear to ear. What Ryūji meant by practicing in the bathtub involved Taiga dipping her head into a tub filled with water, and holding her breath for as long as she could with her eyes open.

“I can now open my eyes freely inside the water.”

“Amazing!”

“Heh, heh, heh. I can even hold my breath for up to three seconds now!”

“Hey, we can win this!”

The crowd (consisting of two people) attempted to spice up the atmosphere, and prepared to make a high five, but tripped as they missed each others palms.

“Man… This is boring… I really want to practice in a pool. Why did that heated pool close down!?”

“Yeah…”

The two came to their senses and sighed depressingly while looking at the ceiling. Someone whispered from afar, “Oh dear, wouldn’t they be finished at this rate?” Hearing this, Taiga only twisted her lips and remained silent. She couldn’t even be bothered to roar.

“Ha!”

“Whoa!? What the…? Oh, it’s you.”

Seeing some paper planes fly before their eyes, Ryūji quickly turned around, and saw Kitamura standing aside and smiling. A loud sound thundered beside him, and he realized that Taiga had fallen on the floor with her chair.

“What do you mean ‘what the?’ Well? How’s the practicing? The duel with Ami is almost up.”

“How’s the practicing? …we can’t even practice in this weather, right, Taiga?”

Taiga blushed slightly and nodded lightly as she returned to her seat. As she attempted to adjust the position of her desk… “Whoa!” She ended being buried by the avalanche of sports magazines.

“I guess you’re right. There’s no way you can practice in this weather. I don’t know if this would help, but think of it as a goodwill of mine.”

“This…you mean those?”

Ryūji looked at the papers that just flew past him, and discovered those were tickets to the public swimming pool.

“My mom’s an insurance agent, and those were supposed to be discount vouchers for her clients, but she got two extras, so you guys can have it! Actually, I’ve placed my bet on Aisaka winning this.”

“Eh…”

Taiga widened her eyes and yelped, while looking surprisingly at Kitamura.

“When I saw that note that was being passed around and found Takasu very confidently wagered on Taiga winning, so I thought, Afterward, many people changed their minds and wagered on Aisaka. Takasu, you’ve got a huge responsibility on your shoulders now!”

Kitamura pushed his glasses and smiled genuinely. Taiga looked frenetic, and cleared her throat many times before saying,

“W-W-Wagered on… me? Does everyone think I can win?”

“Yeah.”

As if having an allergic reaction, her face went even redder.

“How should I put this? Aisaka’s the type that shows her potential when push comes to shove, so she’ll definitely make a great turn-around. To use a superhero description, she’d be , and I don’t mean .”

Ryūji scratched his head in confusion, but…

“Ah…you mean the prince…the main character…?”

Taiga lowered her very red face and smiled.

“Yup. And unexpectedly, Ami’s the type that screws up when it comes to the big occasion, so I think the result is far from decided.”

“Can’t you use them…this way instead?”

Ryūji handed one ticket to Taiga, and handed the other to Kitamura. Before Kitamura could react, Taiga had already widened her eyes,

“NOOO!!!”

Yelling in a strange voice, she intercepted Ryūji’s hand and snatched the ticket he was about to hand to Kitamura, clutching it tightly to her chest. Seeming as though she was about to erupt, Taiga’s face was completely red as she glared fiercely at Ryūji. Seeing Taiga looking so embarrassed, Kitamura said,

“Well then, good luck! And hope it doesn’t rain by then!”

There was no trace of unhappiness in Kitamura’s smile, who raised one arm and waved farewell.

“Ahh…you idiot…”

Ryūji couldn’t resist but gave Taiga’s puffed up cheeks a soft playful punch. Taiga did not resist or complain, and allowed Ryūji’s fist to stop on her face. She didn’t even look at Ryūji as she remained silent.

Ryūji sighed and took away the swimming pool ticket she had been clutching tightly in her hands,

“You’ll definitely lose it if it’s left with you. The date on the ticket is for this weekend. It’ll be great if the weather’s fine… Man, I’m thirsty. I’m gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?”

Taiga simply shook her head.

“Wah!”

“Whoa…”

Two people, in breach of school rules, bumped into each other in front of the vending machines outside its permitted time of usage.

“Takasu-kun’s skipping class~”

“You’re in no position to talk.”

Ami squatted alone by the wall and drank her milk tea. “Come sit over here!” After Ryūji had bought his iced coffee, she urged him to sit by her side.

“So you’re all alone in this place? What an autistic girl you are.”

“You too are in no position to talk~”

The two squatted shoulder by shoulder under the shadow of the wall. “Ah-choo!” Ryūji couldn’t help but sneeze as he squatted down, causing Ami to giggle,

“Really. Are you tired?”

“Couldn’t you tell? And just whose fault was it anyway?”

“Hmm? I wonder if you’re referring to Ami-chan?”

“Of course. Seriously… Whenever you’re up to some tricks, I’m the one that has to suffer.”

“What tricks~? Ami-chan doesn’t get it~”

“Why you… you can feign ignorance all you like! Keep on wearing that mask until your facial muscles go into spasms.”

“Fu fu…” Ami’s smiling face was in stand-by mode. She took off her innocent mask, and a pair of mischievous eyes appeared on her perfect looking face.

“You must be tired wearing that as well, huh?”

Ryūji couldn’t resist lifting his can and tapped Ami’s can. “Cheers.” Ami’s amber eyes blinked a few times in surprise,

“Eh?”

The next second, she squinted them, as though she had seen something interesting,

“How rare for Takasu-kun to be paying attention to Ami-chan. What is it, huh? Could it be that you got bullied by the Palmtop Tiger?”

“You talk too much… That happens often… Do you have any idea how many times I’ve been stung by Taiga’s abuses ever since the day you tried to embrace me?”

Ami chuckled like a pigeon and said,

“Isn’t that cute? A jealous tiger!”

“Cute my ass! Besides, she isn’t jealous, she’s just being pissed off by your provocations. If you were to do that to Kushieda, she’d be fuming as well.”

“No, she won’t. Are you an idiot? Do you really think if I tried to embrace Minori-chan like I did to you in front of that fellow, she’d treat Minori-chan with stinging insults as she does with you?”

“Don’t call me an idiot… That’s because you and Kushieda are girls! As well as friends…”

“Sigh… Alright, alright! You’re the one who’s right! ‘I’m not jealous at all!’ …haha, you’re really like her. ‘Aren’t you jealous?’ ‘No, I’m not!’ …both of you said the same things. Takasu-kun sure is funny!”

Ami softly tossed the can she had emptied, and it landed beautifully inside the dust bin. Not a single drop spilled out of the can, nor did it hit anything or bounce off the edge of the bin. Ryūji had no chance of showing off his specially prepared wet towel used for cleaning up the mess of clumsy people.

“This is not funny. Seriously, stop provoking Taiga with that attitude anymore. I’m the one that ends up getting the stick here! As for that mansion… I don’t think you wanted to invite me at all. If you really win, have you ever thought of what to do next? I’m sure you’ll just act as though nothing ever happened afterward! Since all you wanted was just to drive Taiga insane, that’s why you used me…”

Ryūji stood up, prepared to toss his can.

“What if I say I’m not going to pretend nothing’s ever happened?”

The unexpected answer caused Ryūji to turn to look at Ami.

Ami remained squatted by the wall and smiled at him with her angel mask,

“Sorry, but I’m seriously thinking of winning this. And I’m genuinely hoping to be able to spend the summer vacation with Takasu-kun once I win. Of course, I also hope to see Aisaka Taiga make a fool of herself, but I’m more concerned about what to do after I win… What’s with that expression? You surprised?”

Ryūji couldn’t say anything… He could no longer tell whether or not Ami was joking as usual. Seeing his reaction, Ami remained smiling, and stretched out her tender finger, pointing to herself and Ryūji,

“I think it’s interesting. Don’t you think…that we’re a match for each other?”

“AAs if!”

“Haha, look who’s mad.”

“Why you! There’s a limit to messing around with people. And if you’re done with your drink, go back to class!”

“I’m gonna stay here for a while longer… Shouldn’t Takasu-kun be going back instead?”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!”

Ami waved farewell to Ryūji as he walked off. Even though she had finished her drink, she remained squatting in the gap between the vending machines…

* * *

“I suddenly realized, tomorrow’s the fated day already.”

“…”

“The weather looks strange… Though it’s not raining…”

“…”

“The weather forecast said tomorrow’s a cloudy day, but…”

“Buwah! Ryūji did you see that!? Did you!?”

Deciding not to tell her that, Ryūji simply gave Taiga a nod.

“Heh, heh, it’s amazing, right? I must’ve held my breath for about ten seconds there!”

Taiga proudly puffed up her phony breasts. For some time, she had been holding tightly onto Ryūji while practicing holding her breaths by the poolside.

“Yeah, ten seconds already!”

Ryūji, on the other hand, sat by the side of the children’s pool.

“Hey! There’s a delinquent there!”

“No, Aa-chan! You mustn’t go near those people!”

The housewife who brought her child trembled as she said that. This pool was supposed to be reserved for small kids and babies, so the water only reached Ryūji’s kneecaps.

“Hey, Ryūji, do I look like I’m swimming?”

Taiga let go of her hands from the pool side and began crawling on the bottom of the pool like an alligator…

“Wah!?”

Her hands probably slipped as she submerged into the water, creating many bubbles. After splashing for a while, she finally stood up. As she choked on the water and yelled non-stop…

“Oh no! Aa-chan! You can’t do that!”

Aa-chan had taken out an elephant-shaped sprinkler and sprayed water on top of Taiga’s head.

“I’m so sorry about this! You mustn’t do that, Aa-chan!”

“Wah…”

Aa-chan finally got carried away by his mother. Taiga remained silent and walked towards Ryūji with an ambiguous expression,

“Even I wouldn’t use violence against the innocent antics of little kids…”

“As high-school students are not supposed to be in a children’s pool, we are in no position to complain.”

“Was that the reason why that kid was so pissed…?”

In this rainless Sunday, the public swimming pool tickets Kitamura gave them were finally put to good use.

Ryūji and Taiga arrived here in high-spirits after a 20 minute bus ride. Yet the sun did not appear, and the sky remained gloomy while the temperature had hardly gone up at all, meaning the swimming pool water was icy cold. Maybe as a result of these factors, there weren’t many people today. The four main pools were as quiet as they could get.

“Taiga, let’s go to the big pool over there! It’d be great if only they had slides…”

“There’s the ‘wave pool’ as well, since the water flows like a river… Hey, are those people crazy?”

Taiga left a tiny footprint on the ground while laughing at the junior high students “meditating” under the “waterfall pool.” Just when Ryūji was about to tell her that Kitamura had done exactly the same thing, he discovered something nearby that could be put to good use.

“Here!”

“Whoa!? Hey! What the?”

Ryūji had lopped a floating ring over Taiga’s head. He found it lying on the ground, no doubt dumped by someone after they were done using it.

“We can’t help it, can we? If you don’t want to drown, you’ll need to grab onto this. You can’t touch the bottom, right? Come on, we’ll go to the ‘wave pool’!”

“This… is too embarrassing…”

Ryūji stepped into the round-shaped pool with one foot and jumped in. Trying not to trip over the floating ring, Taiga carefully entered the pool right behind Ryūji.

“Wah! M…my feet can’t reach the bottom!”

Grabbing onto the floating ring that Taiga was wearing and drifting along in the flowing water, Ryūji said,

“Anyway, it’s already too late for us to start practicing on freestyle. We’ll just have to rely on floating rings or boards tomorrow…”

“No way! Oh man…that’s just too embarrassing! …why’d it come to this!?”

“Well, we don’t have a choice, do we? If you say you’re quitting because you can’t swim, you’ll just fall straight into Kawashima’s plans! Besides, no one ever said you have to swim freestyle anyway. The competition method merely said “Any style of swimming,” so I guess floating boards are allowed.”

“Any style… Ryūji, does that mean we are free to choose any method we want?”

“Hey, quit it with that sinister looking smile! First try kicking your legs. Since there’s a current in this pool, you should be able to move forward comfortably.”

“Mmm…”

Ryūji gently pushed the floating ring. He swam forwards in breaststroke with his head above the water, moving along with Taiga.

“Like this?”

Huge splashes were created. Now able to float, Taiga’s leg kicking became formidable. As Taiga continued to accelerate at breakneck speed, Ryūji could no longer catch up using his breaststroke, and had to start paddling his arms forward.

“Hey! Wait up!”

The splashes finally stopped. Gently using the momentum generated by the floating ring, Taiga floated while changing directions, and even looked at Ryūji, who was catching up, in disbelief,

“What now? Do I really swim that fast? Or is this normal for this ‘wave pool’?”

“N-No, you really do swim fast, since I’m also in this ‘wave pool…’ Hey! Wait… I’m…out of breath…”

“Really? Then I’m going to start swimming seriously, and you’re gonna have to seriously try catching up with me!”

The powerful water kicking began once again, and Taiga’s body quickly moved forward.

“Are you kidding me!?”

She was so fast that Ryūji couldn’t even catch up with just paddling his arms, and had to start swimming freestyle. All this time, he had been training her in something he was good at in order to get her to think highly of him, so there was no reason why he shouldn’t have been able to catch up with someone in a floating ring.

“H-How is this possible…”

Taiga, giving it her all, swam forward along with the current. Gradually, the splashes she created grew smaller and smaller. Ryūji was also swimming at full speed, but just couldn’t catch up with Taiga.

At this point, Taiga had stopped swimming, and simply looked back at Ryūji,

“You really are a useless dog! Does that mean I’m amazing? I may be able to win that…”

“Don’t…get…complacent…! There’s…a current…in here… after all…!”

Lifting his head above the water, Ryūji was already trying to catch his breath by the time he had caught up with Taiga and grabbed her floating ring.

“That’s gross! Why’re you panting like a pervert?”

“…I’m…out of breath…huff… Can’t help it…puff… Oh boy…”

Ryūji now let himself drift along the current, while trying to get his breathing back to normal,

“Phew~ It’s been ages since I swam with all my energy…”

As Taiga was about to open her mouth to say that, she found herself yawning, the tears coming out of her eyes trickled down with the water on her face. Ryūji found himself feeling relaxed, and looked dumbstruck at Taiga’s tears.

After kicking the water and drifting for a while, perhaps it was the sound of the water or the effects caused by floating on the water, their minds became gradually soothed. They remained silent for some time, and allowed themselves to drift along the water.

“I feel like…I can just sleep like this…”

Taiga yawned a second time. Ryūji too made a big yawn. Looking aside, they saw a frail old man lying on a floating bed and drifting forward. Beside him was a kid who seemed to be his grandson, who wore a duck-shaped floating ring, swimming beside his grandfather.

In other words, no one in this pool was moving forward on their own. Everyone allowed the current to take them along, at a relaxed pace…

“Ah~ Looks like we’ve come to the quietest pool…”

“I really feel like sleeping now…”

“Me too…”

That was to be expected. He had woken up at seven just to look out at the weather. As they made preparations while watching the weather forecast, by the time he decided to leave his apartment, it was already eight.

Afterward, Ryūji had to prepare Inko-chan’s meals, and had to look at his hideous sleeping face. He also had to take care of Yasuko, who came home drunk, and sat and wept while half-sleeping, though she didn’t wake up in the end. He also had to go back home because Taiga had left her hair clip in her apartment… By the time they got on the bus, it was already nine. And by the time Taiga had changed into her swimsuit, it was already ten before they finally entered the pool.

Ryūji had a feeling that even before arriving at the pool, they had wasted quite a lot of energy already.

“How’s the weather tomorrow?”

“It looks like it’ll rain, and the pool will be closed.”

Both of them opened their mouths dreamily, and held onto the floating ring while lifting their heads and looking at the slightly gloomy sky. Like a sleepy kitten, Taiga found even lifting her head to be bothersome, and lazily rested her face on the floating ring,

“I feel like…this is better… I think…it’s fine like this…”

Taiga obviously looked exhausted. Ryūji understood that feeling very well too…

“Don’t say that. Kitamura’s placed his bet on you, after all! You must’ve been happy when you heard that, right?”

In an attempt to get Taiga motivated, Ryūji had used his only 'spark,” hoping to ignite her eyes with flames of passion…

“Umm…”

“What’s with the ‘umm’!?”

Taiga laid her face on the floating ring. Her eyes lacked focus as they stared ahead at the water. A drop of water fell from an eyelash, glittered then and dropped onto her tender wrist. As Ryūji watched that drop, he twisted his lips as he said,

“We’ve gone through a lot of trouble to come here. Even Kitamura’s cheering for us. Isn’t that attitude a bit wrong?”

Taiga did not respond, but instead, closed her thin eyelids, her long hair floating on the surface of the water.

Without realizing it, Ryūji felt angry. He remembered what Ami had said to him before, “Sorry, but I’m seriously thinking of winning this. And I’m genuinely hoping to be able to spend the summer vacation with Takasu-kun once I win.”

Drifting together with Taiga, for the first time, the thought of her possibly losing appeared in Ryūji’s head. Besides the natural disadvantage of being a land-lubber, not wanting Kitamura to see her work so hard for Ryūji’s sake was another reason for her indifference. Perhaps Taiga does want to win, but unexpectedly, she had fallen into a trap of weariness.

“It’s raining?”

“No way…”

Taiga raised her head as an icy cold raindrop fell on her nose.

As it was lunchtime, they decided to have some soba in the snack shop beside the pool while waiting for the rain to stop.

“Looks like everyone’s gone home instead of waiting for the rain to end,” Taiga said. She had stopped eating while sitting under the umbrella, still wearing her swimsuit.

“That’s their problem. Once the rain’s over, let’s go to the pool without any currents.”

“Hmm. Your lips are all green.”

“Well, your lips are stained with seaweed as well.”

Not concerned with the seaweed on her mouth, Taiga furrowed her brow and stretched her arms. Looking at the rain outside of the umbrella, she frowned even more…

“It’s raining cats and dogs!”

“Looks like it won’t be ending soon…”

“It’s getting colder as well…”

Taiga showed her arm to Ryūji, “Look, I have goosebumps already.” Her white skin revealed many tiny spots, evidence of how ruthless the elements have been to her wet skin.

“It’ll be over if you catch a cold. Let’s go back once you’re finished eating, okay?”

Ryūji’s suggestion was made out of concern for Taiga’s weary expression.

“Going home already?”

Taiga gave an enigmatic expression, looking innocent like a child, mixed with a sense of dissatisfaction. She looked at Ryūji and said,

“You’re getting goosebumps too, aren’t you? Besides, my lips are getting pale. We can’t go on like this.”

“You may be right…but we still haven’t practiced enough! We only drifted for a while just now…”

Taiga opened her mouth and slurped in the soba, stuffing her cheeks full. Ryūji looked at her stubborn face and thought,

“Not going home? But it’s getting colder now. Are you sure you still want to continue? Though I myself hope you can continue…”

“Yup, we’ll continue. Though it’s cold… I’m feeling hesitant…about many things…but I still want to try my best.”

Ryūji tilted his head and then realized,

“You’re right. Since Kitamura gave us these tickets, they contain his support for us. It would be a pity to just waste them like that.”

Taiga’s eyes looked upwards,

“That’s not the reason! No, it’s not. I’m working hard because… The reason I decided to continue is because… Forget it! Since it’s useless trying to tell anything to a stupid dog like you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!”

Taiga violently closed the box of soba she had just finished, and tossed the plastic chopsticks aside. Ryūji had no idea what she was so pissed off about. All he knew was that her mood had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. Yet, Ryūji felt troubled by the mood swing that had come from nowhere. In face, Ryūji had found himself getting frustrated.

“I… I’m feeling unsure about this, do you understand? If I work hard for this sort of thing, Kitamura-kun’s probably going to misunderstand our relationship again! But, but… I want to work hard, I want to! Because…because you…”

Ryūji and Taiga made eye contact. Under the umbrella in the gloomy sky, Taiga’s eyes glared strongly.

Normally, Ryūji would accept this glare straight on. No matter what Taiga wanted to say, no matter what she was thinking, he was always thinking of how to get her to feel better again. The degree to which Ryūji spoiled and pampered Taiga was becoming almost pathetic. This was because Ryūji was already a hopelessly kind person to begin with. Sometimes he would treat Taiga, whom he shared a dining table with, as a sister or a comrade in battle, and he knew very well about Taiga’s extreme clumsiness and inability to express herself properly.

Yet right now, he could not face that glare…

“It’s got nothing to do with you!”

After saying this, Taiga, as she usually would, turned her face and glanced coldly at Ryūji out of the side of her eye. Ryūji was further infuriated for some reason.

Was it because it was getting cold? Or maybe he was tired? Could it have been because the soba tasted terrible? Or had those shameful comments on the betting note damaged his pride?

Or could the reason be something simpler? He would always treat Taiga nicely, yet Taiga would say, “Ryūji has nothing to do with me!”

“Ah… I get it now! Then forget it! Let’s stop training…since you never gave a damn anyway!”

Perhaps it was because all these emotions had been buried within his heart for so long.

Hearing Ryūji’s stiff voice, the intensity in Taiga’s eyes changed,

“What is that supposed to mean? Who says I don’t give a damn? Didn’t I say I want to practice? Didn’t I say I don’t want to go home and want to continue?”

“Don’t force yourself already, since I don’t have anything to do with you, right? Why not just cancel tomorrow’s duel if that’s the case? What’s the point in working hard? Besides, you can prove to Kitamura you don’t give a damn about me! I’ll go tell Ami and ask her not to bring him along. Kushieda won’t be coming as well, I’m sure you’ll be happy about that? You don’t need to worry about anything anymore, isn’t that great? You can always go buy boxed lunch sets in the convenience store, or order take out from the Chinese restaurant outside the station during the summer!”

Taiga glared coldly at Ryūji, her eyes filled with anger,

“…say that again?”

“I meant exactly what I said! You don’t need to practice, and you don’t need to accept the duel! You happy now!? Kitamura won’t be going to the mansion, and as long as your meals are sorted out, what else is there to worry about!? have no right, as well as no reason to interfere with whomever I want to go anywhere with!”

“…yes, yes, you’re right!”

A cold laugh emanated from behind Taiga’s bloodless lips,

“So you’ve shown your true colors, haven’t you!? If I had noticed it sooner, I wouldn’t have to suffer so much like an idiot!”

“What’s that supposed to mean!? Showing my colors?”

“You actually want to go, don’t you? To Kawashima Ami’s mansion? Don’t make me laugh! You actually want to spend the summer with cute girls, don’t you? Well, that’s understandable, since your vacation would be ruined if you were to spend it with me! If you so wanted to go, couldn’t you have said so in the first place!? Or could it be… I see! You’ve been using me, haven’t you!? You feel bad having to say it yourself, so you decide to use me as an excuse, and put on an appearance of ‘Oh, I actually don’t want to go, but I had no choice!’…are you an idiot?”

“You…”

Ryūji’s mind was blinded with rage.

“I REALLY don’t understand what the hell you’re thinking!”

“That ought to be line!”

Taiga roared back, but Ryūji did not understand what she meant. This only made him angrier, and he continued in rage,

“You’ve always been like this! Always! Saying you don’t give a damn about me, but deep inside, you’ve already jumped to conclusions and assumed I’m the one who’s in the wrong! Why must you always be like that!? So what if I embraced Kawashima!? Why must I put up with your abuses!?”

“Why must you mention again!?”

Taiga went ballistic as she turned the table over and stood up. She picked up the umbrella and threw it at Ryūji. The rain continued to fall. There was no one else around. Only the wind broke the silence by the poolside.

“WHY!? Tell me why? Why is it that you just don’t get it? I was never mad! Haven’t I been saying that since the beginning!? I was only feeling pissed off…”

Taiga placed her fist on her chest. Her voice was getting hoarse.

“…by people who think they know everything about what I’m thinking! That’s all! What the hell is this about me being pissed about Ryūji!? What the hell is this me wanting to say Ryūji belongs to me!? To hell with that! What do you understand anyway? Just who can understand how I see Ryūji anyway? How could anyone possibly ever understand!? I never even told anyone about this! I don’t even understand it myself!”

Ryūji only heard half of Taiga’s rants. He had fallen into the children’s pool while dodging the umbrella Taiga had thrown at him.

“Cough, cough… What…did you just say!?”

“I said I’m quitting! You can go wherever you like for all I care!”

Ryūji watched from behind as Taiga ran back to the changing room, rubbing her eyes.

“Suit yourself! Moron!” Although he had said that, deep down, Ryūji still hoped,

Taiga never turned back. She took a taxi home by herself.

She didn’t even come over for dinner, nor did Ryūji ask her to come over.

They seemed to have fallen out badly.

At eleven at night in the quiet Takasu residence, Ryūji faced the bird cage and said,

“I don’t think I did anything wrong, did I?”

Like any other parrot, Inko-chan only chirped, and avoided contact with Ryūji’s eyes…