Though the ingredients for breakfast and the bentos had been prepared, he had forgotten to turn on the stove.
He forgot to feed Inko-chan and change his water as well.
Because he was in a hurry when leaving, he later discovered that his socks were mismatchedâŠ
â⊠J, just what the hell am I doing, reallyâŠâ
RyĆ«ji muttered to himself as he looked down towards his feet â the right sock was black while the left was deep blue.
It was only when he arrived at the shoe locker by the school entrance to change into his indoor shoes that he discovered this regrettable error. There was nothing he could do now, even though the error was glaringly obvious.
But he had no time to think as it was getting late. The dean stood by the stairs ushering the students into their classrooms. Ryƫji nodded obligingly, trying not to provoke him. Unfortunately, he did not expect himself to trip as he climbed the stairs, missing the last step and hitting his shin, causing him to squint his strict-looking eyes in pain. For some reason, the lower classmen all shuddered at the sight of that when passing through.
As he sighed and rubbed his shin, he thought of one thing â the reason he felt so low was probably because of what happened last night when he parted ways with Aisaka.
RyĆ«ji was supposed to feel relieved at being liberated from the troublesome mornings and from having to go through the pain of making an extra bento; he was supposed to have gone back to that comfortable life from before â but now he was a terrible mess â When he considered that he might have become used to living his life as a dog, he couldnât help but feel pathetic. Yet for some reason, he didnât feel as spirited as before without those yells every morning.
Ryƫji limped slowly while thinking of useless stuff. (Though he thought of that, he himself went to buy food from the convenience store.)
He cast away those thoughts in self-pity, and opened the classroom door. As he was about to enterâŠ
ââŠWhoa?!â
He exclaimed and backed off, closing the door along the way.
He returned alone to the corridor.
He couldnât think of an answer no matter how hard he tried, he had to go inside to confirm for himself. Taking a gulp, RyĆ«ji once again put his hand on the door handle, and carefully slid the door open.
â⊠Do I make myself clear?â
Ryƫji was stunned.
He felt a deep foreboding voice entering his ear with an intent to kill. Determined words that struck down everyone on sight.
Standing in the center of the classroom, with her back towards RyĆ«ji was Aisaka Taiga â also known as the Palmtop Tiger.
Surrounding her were a bunch of her classmates struggling to keep their distance from her while hugging the walls, all nodding their heads vigorously.
Besides this question, RyĆ«ji could think of nothing else to say, no matter how many times he repeated itâŠ
â⊠I hope Iâve made myself clear. I do not like to repeat myselfâŠâ
The tiny tiger repeated. âYessirâŠ!â Everyone, both the guys and girls, replied feebly, shuddering in fear.
Upon closer inspection, the desks and chairs around Aisaka were all thrown over, the bags and their various contents were scattered everywhere. The whole classroom looked terrible, resembling a wreckage that just got devastated by a passing typhoon. Though Aisakaâs voice was calm, her shoulders trembled exhaustingly, as though she had just yelled loudly.
âOh⊠TakasuâŠâ
ââŠW, what happened? ⊠What is it?â
And then Aisaka turned her head as well and silently exchanged glances with him, she didnât even say good morning. Instead, she lifted her chin ambiguously, and simply told the whole class âDismissed.â
Their trembling classmates who were huddled together began to return to their seats in groups of twos and threes. One of them came towards Ryƫji.
â⊠T, Takasu⊠I, Iâm terribly sorry. Itâs all because of our strange rumorsâŠâ
âHuh? Strange rumors?â
âIâm so sorry, weâll never imagine such weird things again!â
â⊠Wha? Imagine what? Just what are you trying to say?â
Even Noto, who normally got along well with him, said,
â⊠Hey Takasu,⊠Now Iâm not thinking of anything funny here, I just genuinely think that youâre an amazing fellow⊠and I guess Iâm a bit envious as well! Iâm so sorry, Iâll never think of anything strange ever again!â
He said with a nervous expression on his face, as he was about to walk away, Ryƫji grabbed him by the shoulder, and frantically inquired as to what he meant,
âJ, just hold on a second! What the hell are you talking about? What on earth just happened? This is Aisakaâs doing, right? What has she done this time?â
âNo, wellâŠâ
âYou explain this at once!â
Notoâs expression looked quite embarrassed, his eyes were shifting everywhere. Noto was one of the few friends not intimidated by RyĆ«jiâs eyes, even when being questioned by him. Nevertheless, RyĆ«ji could not let go of Notoâs shoulders, he was not letting go until he got an answer⊠Noto understood this as well, so he responded vaguely, âWell, how should I say this?â
âItâs like⊠we kind of eavesdropped⊠we were spreading gossip about you and the Palmtop TigerâŠâ
âGossip?â
âWell⊠yeah, gossip about⊠you two dating each other⊠In the end, the Palmtop Tiger went ballistic because of this. She said âI have no relationship whatsoever with Takasu-kun!â And then all hell began to break loose⊠That was just too scary, really⊠This was the first time I actually saw the Palmtop Tiger wreaking havoc. Iâll never go against her will again. She then added âNo more nonsense! No more premature conclusions! If anyone dares to spread that gossip around again, Iâll kill them! Each and every one of them!â Not even Kushieda could stop her⊠Right, Kushieda?â
Noto called out to Kushieda Minori, who just happened to pass by⊠Normally, she was supposed to be the only person who knew the Palmtop Tiger well, but now her face lacked itâs usual sunshine-like smile.
âUâŠumm, Takasu-kun, IâŠâ
Her solemn eyes seemed to be considering something as she looked at RyĆ«jiâs eyes⊠And thenâŠ
â⊠Minorin, donât spew any more useless nonsense, or Iâll get mad, even at youââ
Aisaka promised forcefully behind her.
âMinorin, you must apologize to Takasu-kun as well⊠Tell him that you know that it was all a misunderstanding yesterday⊠You must apologize sincerely! This is all thanks to those classmates spreading these rumors⊠Because I want Minorin of all people to know that this is all a misunderstanding.â
â⊠Taiga.â
âSay it, Minorin!â
Aisakaâs mouth turned into an inverted-V shape as she became more and more agitated like a child. Her eyes glared straight into Minori without flinching or looking at RyĆ«ji, while her brows were locked in place.
Minorin remained speechless for quite some time, and simply received Aisakaâs glare. In the end she was completely defeated, and said âAll rightâ while turning to RyĆ«ji once again,
âTakasu-kun, Iâm sorry I misunderstood you yesterday.â
â⊠W, well⊠t, thereâs not really⊠any need to apologizeâŠâ
âTaigaâŠ!â
RyĆ«jiâs crush now revealed a pair of troubled eyes. Even though she had apologized to RyĆ«ji, she still showed a face of dissatisfaction,
â⊠It was Taiga that told me to say that. She wanted me to tell you that I know this is all just a misunderstanding. But⊠I canât believe Taiga would actually do something like thisâŠâ
âOr perhapsâŠâ As she was about to continue, the delicately balanced mood was brokenâŠ
âWhoa?! What the hellâs up with this mess?! I canât believe that the order of the classroom has been messed up this badly even though your class-rep was only a little late!â
Kitamura arrived with a show of pomposity. Minori swallowed what she was about to say and left RyĆ«ji behind and gave a slap on the back of Aisakaâs head, âDonât look so gloomy!â She said, going back to her usual cheery demeanor before returning to her desk.
Afterwards, under the instructions of the completely oblivious Kitamura, everyone began to tidy up the messed up desks and tables.
âCâmon! Hurry up folks! If Koigakubo sees this, sheâs gonna be so shocked that she could delay her wedding!â
Under RyĆ«jiâs gaze, he saw Aisaka walking towards Kitamura. Standing at a very close distance from him, she said something which only he could hear.
Kitamura instantly revealed a puzzled expression, before quickly reverting back to his happy-go-lucky smile and nodded to Aisaka.
RyĆ«ji saw Aisakaâs lips say â â Or something like that.
She said things smoothly this time. She didnât stutter due to nervousness, she didnât even trip, nothing else happened. Aisaka had finally succeeded in calling Kitamura out, and without help from any dog.
* * *
So ended another day for the seemingly strange Class 2-C. In fact, RyĆ«jiâs eyes never left Kitamura and Aisaka.
When the hopeless single lady clad in her trendy red dress left the classroom after the class had sent her off at the end of lessons, the classroom became lively once again. There were people rushing off for club activities, people going to meetings, people waiting to go home together, people continuing their conversations from before the end of class â as well as people who exchanged glances and walked out of the classroom together.
Without realizing it, Ryƫji had left his seat and walked quickly behind Aisaka and Kitamura who just left a while ago.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Though he kept on having doubts, his feet still continued to move forward silently.
ââŠ!â
The feet that were originally following those two stopped dead in their tracks on the staircase.
Ryƫji asked himself again,
RyĆ«ji fretted his brow and squinted his fierce eyes, as though a dangerous beam was being fired⊠though he wasnât mad. Though no one would really understand, that was not the real reason.
He breathed deeply.
â⊠I guess Iâll go home!â
He forcefully changed directions with his feet and walked away from the two that had left, back towards the classroom. Without anybody noticing, this person seemed to have grown a few centimeters in the past few days.
Noto and Haruta, whom Ryƫji recently got acquainted with, had invited Ryƫji to go somewhere with them, but he turned them down and returned to his desk. So instead Ryƫji decided he would go kill time in a book store.
As he made preparations to go home, And so he walked alone down the corridorâŠ
After walking past someone who had just wiped his hands dry, Ryƫji found himself alone in the bathroom, which was eerily quiet, an abnormally strong fragrance of the detergents could be smelt.
As he washed his hands in the basin, RyĆ«ji stared at the face in the mirror â it was the same, boring face. Though that was nothing new to him, in fact, he was getting a bit tired of that, soâŠ
RyĆ«jiâs thoughts werenât directed at his face, what he was thinking was insteadâŠ
â⊠Her expression sure looked scaryâŠâ
For the whole day, whether during lessons or recess, RyĆ«ji was constantly glancing at Aisakaâs face. As the end of school approached, every second Aisakaâs expression would change considerably. By the end of the last period a while ago, there was no longer any expression on her face â It was neither red nor green, but pale white.
Ryƫji thought,
Speaking of dense, he now recalled that commotion this morning, when she wrought havoc upon the classroom, and even frowned at her best friend Minori. It was because it was Minori that she made such a serious expression.
It was all done for Ryƫji.
She did it so that his crush Minori would stop misunderstanding him. It was for this sole purpose that she had created such a ruckus.
When you think about it, Aisaka never did the same thing for herself, that is, end Kitamuraâs misunderstanding of her â namely because Kitamura wasnât around when she went ballistic.
In other words, she did all this just for RyĆ«ji, that was why sheâŠ
ââŠWhat a⊠what aâŠâ
As he sighed, the words he wanted to say disappeared as well. In the end, RyĆ«ji couldnât say it.
RyĆ«ji genuinely believed that, Without realizing it, he had used such a laughable adjective to describe the Palmtop Tiger. But he couldnât help it, as it was true.
âGentleâŠâ RyĆ«ji said softly. The one crying and lamenting about how sheâs no good at being gentle to people was actually the most gentle person of all. Those who never hung out with her would never know, but at least to RyĆ«ji, this was definitely true.
âWHOA!â
A sudden yell caused Ryƫji to turn his head in reflex.
A schoolmate who had just entered the bathroom simply stood still and yelled in horror. âWhatâs wrong?â Asked the person behind him, before he too exclaimed, âWhoa! I, Iâm sorry to disturb you!!!â They were both intimidated by the intense glare that RyĆ«ji had suddenly shot at them. To other people, both RyĆ«ji and the Palmtop Tiger were classified as dangerous â as usual.
Since he wasnât in the mood to see anybody, this was just fine for him.
Ryƫji thought, He began to walk towards the window to open it as his obsession for cleanliness got the better of him.
He unlocked the handle, pushed opened the window⊠and then he froze.
âKitamura-kun! I, Kitamura-kun⊠Kitamura-kun⊠w⊠well⊠ummâŠâ
RyĆ«ji screamed at the bottom of his heart as he stood there petrified. He grabbed his head, No, it wasnât. This meansâŠ
He could hear Aisakaâs voice very loudly and clearly.
This menâs room was situated on the second floor, below it was the visitor bathroom, and right outside that was the school garden â A space sandwiched between the bathroom window and the row of trees ahead. Feeling incredulous, he slowly stuck his head out to peek, hoping he had heard wrong. Sadly, even that glimmer of hope was dashed.
Aisaka and Kitamura were standing right there in that ambiguous spot.
âSeriously⊠why does she⊠have to pick right outside the bathroomâŠâ
Ryƫji grabbed his head and moaned, and then squatted under the window.
Without touching the ground with his backside, Ryƫji was close to suffocating as he squatted with his head between his knees just like that under the opened window.
So Ryƫji decided to stay here for a while. That was what he planned.
Just as RyĆ«ji was about to stand upâŠ
âHold it a second!â
Hearing Kitamuraâs voice, he remained still.
âI think I know what you want to say, but Iâd look like an idiot if I guessed wrongly, so before I hear you out, Iâd like to make sure of something⊠OK, here goes, are you going out with Takasu?â
His heart skipped a beat. Although that was what he told himself, when he heard his own name, he couldnât help but listen.
âT, Takasu-kunâŠâ
Even though thatâs what he had in mindâŠ
But he couldnât move. RyĆ«ji seemed to have been tied down by Aisakaâs high-pitched nervous voice.
âTakasu-kun is, heâs⊠heâs, heâs⊠heâsâŠâ
There were no words coming out after she repeatedly uttered the word âheâsâ many times.
RyĆ«ji screamed inside, while squatting there silently. But Aisaka just couldnât continue.
Under such intense silence, she couldnât even utter the word âheâsâ anymore.
Ryƫji clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, he even forgot to breathe, and yet Aisaka remained silent. It seemed like this silence would go on and on.
Ryƫji closed his eyes in resignation.
It was at that momentâŠ
âMy relationship with Takasu-kun was all a misunderstanding by Minorin! T, the person I really like isâŠâ
There came a breeze.
â⊠Kitamura-kun!â
RyĆ«jiâs legs lost their strength and he nearly ended up falling on his backside. He quickly held onto the wall.
Holding his breath and trying not to make any noise, he kept his mouth shut. Eventually, he even covered his mouth with his hands while exclaiming repeatedly in his heart,
As the word âlikeâ was uttered, RyĆ«ji the outsider felt like he had been shot by a shining arrow filled with determination and pureness. The arrow carrying Aisakaâs feelings no doubt had been fired into Kitamuraâs heart as well and into his body.
âYou like meâŠ? The thing with Takasu was all a misunderstanding? Did Kushieda get it wrong? She misunderstood you and Takasu?â
â⊠Y, yes. I told her, but Minorin just wouldnât believe meâŠâ
Kitamura thought for a while and remained still, in the end he finally understood and said,
âI see. Then Iâm really sorry that I got it wrong. This is because Kushieda can be quite assertive with her thoughts⊠Yeah, I think I understand now.â
âUmmâŠâ
Kitamuraâs voice was as calm as usual.
Aisakaâs was as ambiguous as usual.
Ryƫji sighed with his hands over his mouth to prevent any sound from coming out.
The silence quietly filled the menâs bathroom, as he squatted and tried his best not to make a sound, RyĆ«ji felt the silence vibrate around him.
RyĆ«ji wanted to get rid of his incessant breathing and stand up, so he could close the window and go homeâŠ
âB, b, but! But!â
At that moment.
Aisakaâs voice outside the window once again spoke loudly.
âBut, I definitely donât hate Takasu-kun at all! Absolutely not! When I was with him, I didnât feel like my breathing had stopped! I always thought I would suffocate every time⊠but Takasu-kun⊠RyĆ«ji would even prepare some tasty fried rice for me! Whenever I needed someone to be by my side, only RyĆ«ji was there! He encouraged me even when it meant he had to lie! Itâs always been like this, thatâs⊠what I think! Even now! It feels painful, as though Iâm being torn apart, me and RyĆ«ji⊠no matter when⊠even now! Because RyĆ«ji was at my side! Itâs because he was with me that Iâm able to be hereâŠ!â
Ryƫji instantly froze.
At that moment, Aisaka was proclaiming loudly to the point of tears,
âI definitely donât hate him. To me, RyĆ«ji⊠heâŠâ
âIs that so?â
Kitamuraâs voiced sounded cheerful.
âItâs alright, I think I understand Aisakaâs feelings. Anyway⊠you and Takasu really do get along quite well. Seeing you say that, I feel relieved.â
âR, relievedâŠ?â
âYeah, and do you remember? It was exactly at this time last year that I confessed to you. I remember saying how I was smitten by your beauty and your directness in expressing your anger, I think.â
RyĆ«ji was so shocked by this revelation, which he had just heard for the first time, that he came close to tears. Aisaka remained quiet. The only one whose legs were trembling from all the shock was RyĆ«ji, the only one who didnât know anything was RyĆ«ji.
âThough I was rejected in the next second.â
â⊠Yes, I remember! How could I⊠forget? It was a strange confession, only Kitamura-kun could have pulled it off. From that point on, every time when you came to our class to find Minorin to discuss club matters, I would always think, âAh⊠that was youâŠâ I remember everything!â
âSo you do remember! Since you never seemed to notice my existence, I had thought you had forgotten already! I confessed to you back then because I thought you were really beautiful, but when you started to hang out with Takasu, you looked even more captivating⊠because you would always have such very interesting expressions.â
âI, interesting expressions? Me?â
âYup, whenever you were with Takasu, youâd always make some really interesting faces, so I was relieved. Takasu really is a nice guy! And for him to be able to understand a girl like you, I really think that heâs amazing.â
Kitamura seemed to be smiling cheerfully. And thenâŠ
âW, w⊠WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!â
Realizing her blunder, Aisaka screamed.
âW, wait a minute⊠What was I saying? ⊠And Kitamura-kun, what are you saying?! I already said thereâs nothing between me and RyĆ«ji, that⊠eh?! My face looks interesting?! No⊠Ehh?! No, wait! Wait! Did I just confess?! Did I really just confess?! But⊠no way! Ehhh?!â
âOh no, how did it come to this?â The Palmtop Tiger kept on repeating as though she had lost her bearings. If it were anyone besides Kitamura, they probably wouldnât know how to handle this,
âAisaka, itâs all right.â
âA, a, a, a, all right?! What do you mean all right?! I donât even know what on earth I just said! How can this be all right?!â
âIâm very grateful for your feelings, and Iâm really happy. Iâm sure weâll become good friends from now on.â
â⊠F, friendsâŠ?â
Aisaka was so shaken that she became lost for words.
âYes, good friends.â
Ryƫji thought.
She was supposed to, but,
â⊠Friends⊠Me and⊠Kitamura-kunâŠ?â
She was expected to say it, but,
Aisaka never said it, she never said . In the end, Aisakaâs whispers became harder to hearâŠ
⊠She never properly repeated the most important part of it all.
The supposedly ultra self-centered Palmtop Tiger was now trapped by her own claws. âUmm,â she uttered, backed down and was finished.
âWell then, Iâll see you tomorrow!â
Kitamura said in his usual carefree style. The good news: his attitude was still the same as usual; the bad news: he had completely no idea what just happened.
Aisaka also picked herself up, calmed her frantic mind, and reverted to her deadpan style,
âSee you tomorrow.â
Ryƫji lowered his head in dejection. He scratched his head and closed his eyes. From the sound of the footsteps, he could tell that the two of them had walked off in opposite directions. All that he could do was moan,
â⊠Such a dense girlâŠâ
Getting up on his stiff, cold legs, Ryƫji slowly walked out.
âGoodbye.â
Question⊠What should Takasu Ryƫji do now?
Answer⊠âSimple, really.â
Though he said it with confidence, even he wasnât so sure. He wasnât answering with his head, but with his heart, skin, bones and flesh, with this body that had spent a lot of time together with Aisaka.
* * *
On the path towards home, under the rays of the usual sunsetâŠ
â⊠What do you want?â
Ryƫji finally caught up with Aisaka and grabbed her on the shoulder⊠They were in a quiet residential alleyway with no one else in sight.
Aisaka turned and gave a puzzled expression, she then looked at Ryƫji, who was still trying to catch his breath, and said,
âStop it already⊠Youâre no longer my dog, thereâs no need to follow me anymore!â
She stated coldly, pushing RyĆ«jiâs hand off as she continued to walk forward. RyĆ«ji spoke towards her back,
âSaying that even though you feel like crying. Youâre feeling depressed because your confession failed, right? Though his response was not quite exactly a rejection.â
ââŠ!â
After leaping backwards quite a distance, Aisaka exclaimed,
âY, you⊠saw?!â
â⊠Let me put this straight, I didnât mean to eavesdrop on you. Itâs your fault really, how can you be so stupid as to do your confession just outside the window of the menâs room of all places? I just happened to hear the whole thing while going to the bathroom.â
Under the rays of the sunset, RyĆ«ji could still make out that Aisakaâs face was becoming very red as she muttered, âR, really?!â
âWell, what now? Shall we go buy ingredients for dinner tonight? Or do you want to go to last nightâs family restaurant to commemorate your failed confession? I can listen to you moan about it all night, and itâs my treat, but just for today though!â
â⊠W⊠What, are you talking about?!â
Aisaka stood motionless while facing Ryƫji, her eyes widened as though she had just seen something incredible.
âCome to think of it, thereâs a sale on pork meat today!â
âWhat pork meat?!â
âOr do you want to have beef tonight?â
âNot beef either! Thatâs got nothing to do with it, none of it! ⊠Whatâs wrong with you?! Why?! Youâre no longerâŠâ
âOr do you want to cook yourself?â
âEnough! ⊠I said⊠enough! Stop it already! Itâs allâŠâ
âIâll be by your side.â
Aisaka was left speechless by that clear declaration, and fretted her brow painfully. RyĆ«ji looked straight into Aisakaâs eyes and continued to elaborate,
âIâll be by your side, Iâll cook for you, you can come to my place to eat as usual, and Iâll make bentos for you as well as picking you up every morning, soâŠâ
âSo what?! ⊠What the hell are you doing?!â
Aisaka yelled, her voice echoing across the alleyway,
âWhat on earth are you talking about?! Weâll get misunderstood again! Minorin still doesnât believe us, youâll make her misunderstand you all over again, is that alright with you?â
âYeah.â
The answer came out easier than expected,
âWhen that happens, then itâll be my turn to go ballistic! Iâll make sure Kitamuraâs in the classroom and turn the classroom into a war zone just so he wonât misunderstand you again.â
âW⊠whyâŠâ
The tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Ryƫji thought to himself,
âWhy, why⊠Why would you do such a thing?! Didnât I already say youâre no longer my dog?! You donât have to do this anymore!â
â⊠I donât know either, but I just feel like doing it⊠Since youâre crying, I canât leave you alone like that. Because Iâll get worried, worried whether youâre getting hungry⊠At least thatâs what my gentle side thinks.â
âW⊠what the hell?!â
Despite her watery eyes, Aisaka still stared at Ryƫji fiercely,
âNobodyâs asking you to do this! Iâm not a kid, so leave me alone! I donât need you worrying about me!â
Ryƫji next said,
â⊠Ahh, so thatâs why!â
He finally understood.
Why he wanted to be by her side so much.
Why he was so worried about her, and why he couldnât leave her alone. This was all becauseâŠ
âItâs because Iâm not a dog⊠thatâs why Iâll stay by your side.â
â⊠What?!â
âActually, dogs canât really stay by your side!â
That was all.
Despite this, RyĆ«ji decided to go on, because at that moment he wanted to say it no matter what, he wanted to let Aisaka knowâŠ
âIâm a dragon, and youâre a tiger⊠Since ancient times, the dragon has been the only beast that could stand equal to the tiger. Thatâs why I have to become a dragon, so I can stay by your side.â
In order to stand equally with the Palmtop Tiger, Takasu Ryƫji had to become a dragon. He had decided to do this, even if it meant getting laughed at, even if it meant being treated like a fool⊠but,
â⊠Ai⊠sakaâŠ?â
He wasnât called an idiot and he wasnât laughed at either.
Standing before him was a girl who couldnât make any sound. She stood with her feet wide apart, her cheeks were soaked wet by tears as she raised her head to look at RyĆ«ji.
She looked very angry, and very sad at the same time; she looked a bit fearful, yet also a bit troubled, as well as a bit surprised.
Her tiny body was filled with emotion, ready to explode at any moment. As she clenched her fists tightlyâŠ
â⊠TaigaâŠâ
At the mention of her name, her body shook as though she was being struck⊠Aisaka Taigaâs eyelids twitched.
âThis is part of being equal, right? ⊠Since you call me RyĆ«ji, then Iâll call you Taiga.â
Just as he had finishedâŠ
â⊠What are you trying to pull?!â
A shadow stretched from her legs, it felt as though it had suddenly expanded.
âWhat is this conceited nonsense about? Why should I let you call me by my first name?! ⊠What the hell is this nonsense about being equal?! How shameful! Be aware of where you stand, you idiot RyĆ«ji!â
âEhâŠâ
The bomb had exploded.
âYou probably have no idea what youâre talking about! If you really did, how could you have said such insolent stuff? Besides, what the hell is this?! Ahh, I see now, could it be that youâŠâ
After releasing a torrent of abuses, Aisaka suddenly stopped. Just like that, she was the scariest thing imaginable standing there just like that. Her eyes glared venomously towards her opponent while she glided and approached him from below, emitting an aura that would intimidate anyone into paralysis.
Those were the true colors of the Palmtop Tiger.
â⊠Donât tell me youâve fallen in love with me!â
â⊠Donât be ridâŠâ
âHmph, I didnât think so! How could you of all people have the nerve to do something so suicidal?â
â⊠Ugh⊠ahâŠâ
Aisaka smiled while staring at RyĆ«ji â though RyĆ«ji didnât dare look at her eyes, he still did his best to respond,
âWell, of course not!â
But there was one thing that was sure, Ryƫji really wanted to take care of that Palmtop Tiger known as Taiga.
â⊠Oh shoot, we need to move! To the supermarket, to buy some pork!â
Without hesitating, Ryƫji raised his spirits and took off in great strides.
âIf we can get some good pork for today, then we can make a hotpot! Ah, perhaps a simple barbecue pork would do as well⊠And whyâre you not following?!â
Noticing Taiga wasnât following, RyĆ«ji was forced to do a steep U-turn while still walking in big strides and hurried back to her side. âHurry up already!â He urged, though he didnât grab her by the hand, instead simply poking her elbow with the corner of his bag.
âRyĆ«jiâŠI want to have a yogurt sundae.â
âHuh?! What the hell, in the end you still wanted to go to a family restaurant? And I was so looking forward to preparing food tonightâŠâ
âWe can have pork afterwards⊠we can have pork with ginger⊠no, we should have braised pork, the soft and juicy ones!â
âHuh? Well, Iâm fine with braised pork, but can you eat all of that? Itâs already five now, dinner in my house always starts at six since time immemorial⊠Hey, stop ignoring me! And whyâre you walking ahead of me?!â
â⊠RyĆ«ji!â
Taiga, who had walked in front of RyĆ«ji on her own, stopped suddenly and turned around, staring at RyĆ«ji with her transparent eyes. âUgh!â RyĆ«ji found himself lost for words,
â⊠What? T⊠Taiga?!â
He answered frantically while quickly moving his gaze towards the evening sky. ButâŠ
â⊠Can you shut up for a bit?â
As the mean words entered RyĆ«jiâs ears, he wondered if he had heard wrong. âAhhh~!â Taiga purposely sighed in front of RyĆ«ji and said,
âYou should realize how depressed I am right now! How can you not be worried? Iâm counting on you for our strategy next time, I still havenât given up on Kitamura-kun, you know? And you, what was that you said? A dragon? Ah well, it doesnât make any difference whether youâre a dragon or a dog, but since you said youâll be by my side, then you should work very hard towards my happiness!â
The Palmtop Tiger was still the Palmtop Tiger and with just a few cruel words coupled with contemptuous eyes, RyĆ«jiâs heart was dealt a heavy blow.
Just how sharp were those claws and fangs? How far will this ferocious, man-eating, Palmtop Tiger be left unopposed?
And, what will become of him now that he has declared that heâll stay by her side?
âMaybeâŠâŠ.I was a little too hastyâŠâ
Groaning on reflex, Ryƫji stopped dead in his tracks. This might have been a mistake. Thinking so, he firmly shut both his eyes.
Thatâs why, he couldnât see it.
He couldnât see the appearance of Taiga, slightly away from him, smiling with her face down, as she watched RyĆ«ji.
â⊠He said, âTaigaââŠâ
He couldnât see the expression on her face as her stifled, ticklish laughter turned into the chuckling of a dove.