Toradora! Vol. 8 Read online

  That’s idiotic… Ryuuji thought to himself.

  Ami’s childhood friend, Kitamura, stepped in. “Okay! Having her in this position is kind of risky, so no one else get involved!”

  He firmly grasped Ami’s on-all-fours form and yelled, Upsy daisy! Then he hoisted her buried body out of the snow. He even batted off the snow stuck to her head.

  “Ami! Keep it together! Are you okay?!”

  “Where am I…? What happened…? Am I dying…?”

  Dressed in the terrible uniform, Ami looked lifeless. Neither her goody-two-shoes mask nor her true dark underside were showing. Her eyes were empty, and her mouth was half-open.

  “Oh! She really has lost her will to live, poor thing…”

  “Anyone have a marker? If we draw a Chanel mark on her clothes, Dimhuahua will come back to life.” Taiga’s eyes were serious as she searched for a bold-tip marker.

  “Okay! We’ve got everyone here! Please get right into your groups and form a line! Bwah ha!”

  All of their eyes suddenly turned in one direction. Before them was the bachelorette (age 30), also known as Koigakubo Yuri. She was the only one in her own clothing, in fashionable snowboarding gear—and on top of that, it was white! Shameless! She was desperately keeping her gaze on the ground.

  “Everyone…you’ve got some amazing gear on…I couldn’t have imagined this…”

  The students stared back at her, lined up in their intense purple and hot pink with turquoise on the side, and Koigakubo Yuri couldn’t keep her laughter to herself. The giggles she couldn’t stifle began to spill from behind the attendance sheet she hid behind.

  Correctly intuiting the class’s will, Kitamura became the champion of a revolution. Ami stood up with a dark grudge in her eyes. Aim for the skies, down with the castle. Kitamura raised his right arm.

  “Ready your aim!”

  All of 2-C took snow from their feet. They packed it together in their hands.

  “Huh? What? No! What are you doing? Huh?”

  “Fire!”

  At Kitamura’s command, they all released their snowballs and hit the bachelorette (age 30) without mercy. The other classes and general skiers pointed and laughed.

  ***

  After they had all finished their greetings and warm-ups, the second-year students scattered in groups, creating pink and purple dots on the gentle snow slopes. In preparation for taking on the full-scale practice courses after lunch, they were spending an hour beforehand getting used to the snow and figuring out what their individual levels were.

  The nine-person group that Kitamura led was on the vast, expansive slopes on the gentle foot of the mountain as they put on their ski gear.

  “Oh! I-I’m starting to move! What am I supposed to do?!”

  It was the first time Ryuuji had put on skis, and though he had just barely prepared himself, he started to slip down the slope while still half-bent over.

  “You need to be perpendicular to the slope!” Kitamura quickly advised him.

  “Huh?! Perpendicular?! But how…ahhh?!”

  “Use your poles! If that doesn’t work, you can sit down! Just keep calm and don’t hurt your knees! Put your weight in front of you!”

  “Huuuh…whoa?!”

  He couldn’t use the two poles, which just flailed in the air. The more his skis slid, the further his legs separated, until he was doing the splits. Ryuuji started to panic that he’d hurt himself, lost his balance, and flipped over magnificently.

  “This isn’t fun!”

  He looked at his two skis, which were reaching up to the blue skies, and groaned.

  “It’s been too long! This snow’s pretty nice! Oh, oh. There, there. Oh, oh, oh, oh.”

  Perched on a section of hard snow that had been packed into a mound, Minori was shuffling her weight forward and back as though testing the snow. Then she lined up her skis perfectly and thrust, twisting her hips above the mound, and jumped several times to the left and right.

  Ryuuji had no idea what she was trying to do, but eventually, Minori yielded to the mound and fwooshed forward a short distance. She sent snow flying as she stopped herself. She had perfectly controlled her skis by only shifting her weight.

  She looked unusually cool when she did that. Ryuuji forgot that he was still sitting down, unintentionally captivated at how confident Minori was with her skis. Her beanie rested lightly on her head, and her short hair was forced into a ponytail so it poked out at the bottom. That was also so unusually cute that Ryuuji already couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  From a short distance away, as though acting as a spokesperson for Ryuuji’s feelings, Ami patted her gloved hands together in applause.

  “Minori-chan, you’ve got that handled! You’re great at skiing! Wouldn’t expect less from our all-around athlete!”

  “Heh heh, you think so? Actually, aren’t you pretty good, too?”

  “What, me? No way! I’m just average!”

  I’m average! Ami kept saying as she smoothly pushed herself forward on a mostly flat area of snow as though she were skating. She hummed as she leaned her weight on one leg and curved around, almost like she was doing an elegant dance, to return to them. If that really was just “average,” then what did that make him when he couldn’t even stand up? Was he just an abnormality? A fluke?

  Ryuuji was trying to get up, but when he moved his feet, his skis knocked together, and the curves at the tips tangled in each other so he got locked into place. To top it off, the backs of his skis were stuck in the snow, and he couldn’t move no matter what he did. He got tired and tried to turn over on the snow. His lameness was probably on another level.

  As he breathed and lifted his face awkwardly, he saw Maya and Nanako happily laughing.

  “Like a V…like a V…oh, I’m doing it! Aren’t I pretty good?!”

  “I wonder if I can do it if it’s just a bend. I haven’t been skiing since I was a first-year in junior high, but it’s like riding a bike.”

  Even they were sliding around like they knew what they were doing. Like Minori, Kitamura, and Ami, it seemed Maya and Nanako also had experience with skiing.

  Maybe he was the only one in the group who didn’t know how? If that were the case, he felt pretty left out. He wanted there to be another beginner like him. The moment he thought that…

  “Huh? What are you sitting around for, Takasu? Let’s go ski!” Though he was a little unsteady, Noto also slipped by ahead of him. The light from the snow reflected off his glasses. Then, after him…

  “I’m really a lot better at snowboarding.”

  His long hair fluttering audaciously, even Haruta looked cool as he slid by. He seemed to be having fun. Ryuuji was using all his willpower to keep the evil eye in his forehead from opening when he remembered—now that he thought of it, hadn’t Haruta said his grandfather lived right next to a ski resort?

  He felt incredibly left behind. Traitors, he muttered as he stared at his friends. He accidentally lost hold of one of his poles and quickly tried to grab on to its strap, but it slid down the gentle slope much faster than expected. He couldn’t even stand, much less go after it. He quickly followed the direction it headed with his eyes.

  “Oh, lost object spotted!”

  The snow scattered as someone made a tight and elegant turn.

  Minori grabbed the sliding pole and lifted her goggles up. She was always this enthusiastic whenever it came to sports.

  “Is this yours, Takasu-kun? You’ve got to put this strap around your wrist!”

  She sounded a bit condescending as she lectured him. Her face seemed too vivid, and he felt like he might be blinded. Coupled with the blazingly bright slopes, Minori really seemed to sparkle and glitter while standing in the middle of the snow.

  “Hey there! You listening?! Look, hold your pole properly now!”

  “Uhhh… Sorry!”

  As though he were being drawn into her smile, Ryuuji unconsciously stood himself up on the slope using only his remaining pole.
Huh, I can stand. Maybe I’ll be able to just start skiing like this right away? But the moment he thought that…

  “Whoa?!”

  Schloop! His skis started sliding down the slope toward Minori. He waved his one hand and pole around as he tried to regain his balance. His legs were incredibly jerky, and his skis were going in completely different directions as he went forward.

  “Ahh!”

  “Okay! Just jump into my open arms!” Minori boldly stretched her arms out in front of him.

  “Ahhhh! S-sorry! I’m ashamed of myself!”

  “Oof! It’s okay… Don’t worry about it!”

  Nothing could have been more awkward.

  He had pretty much run straight into Minori, which stopped him firmly in his tracks. They lay down on the hard snow together for a while.

  “I’m really sorry…”

  “Uh! Really, don’t worry about it!”

  “Sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, ahh…I’m really so sorry…”

  The more he apologized, the more awkward it became. Minori was still on the ground, and his demonic face was pressed a little too close to her chest, and Ryuuji couldn’t stand up. The more he panicked, the more their skis clunked into each other. At least it was lucky for him that neither of them could feel anything beyond their gear (like really, really lucky!).

  “Takasu-kun, you really don’t need to worry about it, but you also really don’t need to panic either.”

  “No no no, s-s-s-sorry! I’ll get up right now! Just wait a second!”

  “Actually…whenever you move your skis, you’re really giving my butt a wedgie…”

  “Ahhhhh! Noooooo!”

  He couldn’t fathom where the brute strength came from, but Ryuuji pulled himself away immediately. He jumped back from Minori, his face as red as a devil’s as he hid his burning cheeks with his gloves. He sat with his legs folded to the side on the slopes and wriggled in embarrassment.

  “H-how could I have… This is too embarrassing… I’m done for! I can’t live anymore! You can leave me behind here! Please!”

  “I’m the one who’s more embarrassed! Anyway, it doesn’t matter, so just stand up! Okay?!”

  “Huh?!”

  Lightly skating, Minori came around to Ryuuji’s back and stuck her hands under his arms. Up you go! The moment she pulled him up, she balanced Ryuuji so he was upright.

  “Wh-whoa, wait… I’m moving! I’m moving!”

  “Oh, that was close… Oh, but see, you can slide! Keep it going!”

  “No! I’m not skiing, I just can’t stop!”

  With Minori supporting him from the back, they slid down the slopes while lined up with each other.

  “Now you’ve got to get used to balancing like this! We’re going to keep going like this for a while!”

  “You serious?!”

  Still holding on to Ryuuji under his armpits, Minori skillfully threw her poles onto the ground one at a time. She straddled Ryuuji’s skis with her own, keeping her balance firm. Ryuuji’s knees naturally relaxed and bent forward.

  “Whoa…oh oh ohhh…”

  For the first time in his life, he cut through the wind on skis. Surprisingly easily, the four skis seemed to dance as they went down the rough slopes. I see—because my ankles are supported by the boots, I need to use my knees to ski smoothly. His body understood the logic behind it, but not the rest of him.

  “Oh oh ahhhh! I-I’m definitely scared!”

  “It’ll be fine. You can’t go fast on slopes like these! Careful not to get tangled up with me!”

  “Ahhhhhh! Whoa!”

  “Actually, you’re really good! When I started skiing as a third grader, my dad taught me like this, too!”

  “B-but…it’s sort of embarrassing for me!”

  “Why would it be?!”

  “Because I’m not a third-grade girl, and you’re not my dad!”

  “Ha ha ha! Good one! Another!”

  Another what?! Ryuuji’s reply was blown away in the wind. They really were going pretty slow as they kept their skis in a V shape together while sliding down the slope. Little by little, he did feel like he was getting used to balancing.

  At the same time, though, rather than nerves or invigoration, a lot of other, much more turbulent things started swirling in his mind.

  For example, the feeling of the hands under his arms. And the breath he could feel immediately behind him.

  “…”

  He started wondering why she had only been willing to grab the edge of his sleeve earlier, when she was so willing to accompany him so closely today. He felt like no one would go to lengths like these if they hated the person they were with, and then he wondered what kind of look she had on her face in that moment.

  “Hey! Don’t you think you can ski by yourself soon?! Should I let go?! Are you okay?!”

  Then he thought, maybe he really could expect a different answer from the one she had given on the night of Christmas Eve.

  “K-Ku-shieda…”

  I want to know what your true intentions are, what your real feelings—

  “Ahhh, wait?! Don’t turn around!”

  “Whoa?!”

  They lost their balance and veered. In that moment, their skis clattered and tangled together. Before they knew it, Minori was on her side and Ryuuji was on his butt as they tumbled down the slope.

  Even though it was snow, they hit the ground pretty hard, and the breath was knocked out of them for a moment.

  “Ouch…are you okay?!” Ryuuji panicked a bit as he looked for Minori.

  “Oww…I’m okay! I’m okay! I’m completely fine!”

  She patted the snow off her gear and got up right behind him. She put her beanie back on as she looked back at Ryuuji.

  “If you come out to ski, you have to expect little bumps! This was easy! Look, now stand up on your own!”

  Like a teacher, she suddenly pointed at him. She didn’t even wait for Ryuuji to stand up as she turned to the skies and spread out her arms in a sweeping gesture. “Ahh!”

  “Ah well! It was going great though! Actually, I seem to be missing my poles…”

  She looked quizzically at her own empty hands. Ryuuji felt like he was going to fall over again.

  “You’re the one who threw your own poles down!”

  “Oh, you’re right! Oh no, when I grabbed yours, I left mine behind. Am I an idiot? I’m going to get them back!”

  Minori started to skillfully go back up the gentle slope with her skis still on and without her poles, as though she were walking. She left a reverse V behind her in the snow as she went.

  Left behind, Ryuuji simply watched her back. Incidentally, he still hadn’t figured out how to stand up.

  He did feel like he was doing good, though not in the way Minori had meant. He felt like things would turn out fine.

  Then again, maybe expecting things to keep going well was foolish. He was just being audacious for a boy who’d been rejected. He looked around at his current situation, left behind, and decided to make sure he didn’t anticipate too much. He would do his best to pretend he didn’t notice the faint hope that came bubbling up inside him.

  He breathed in and scowled. He took off the skis that were useless when he used them alone. However, his thoughts were already jittering, floating, and overeager in their turmoil. That was bad. He wouldn’t be able to really listen to what Minori actually wanted if he was in such high hopes.

  “Whoa?!”

  Ryuuji was sent flying forward by a sudden impact. His face was thrust right into the snow, and he raised his head to figure out what was going on.

  “Don’t just stand there, you useless doll!”

  He realized he had been run over.

  There was Taiga—smugly straddling a sled. Taiga, who was apparently recklessly sledding down the slopes, glared at Ryuuji with her face contorted into a brutal expression. Still on the ground, he was unable to quickly come up with anything to say back at her.

  “You…reall
y…you’re…actually…you’ve…seriously…you…”

  “Huh? What’re you saying? Ugh, bleh! You’re in the way! I was going down so great, and now you’ve made me stop!”

  Taiga sat back down on her red plastic sled, paddling forward with her rudely splayed legs. She got a little momentum and the sled started sliding down.

  “Whoa…”

  “Hmph!”

  She ran over Ryuuji, who was in front of her, again.

  “Seriously, what are you actually doing? Why’re you under my sled?”

  “You-you-you…why you!”

  As he stood up, Ryuuji snapped.

  “What’s with you?! Why are you like that?! Why’re you running me over?! Don’t do that! I don’t want to be run over!” he wailed as he approached Taiga.

  “Ew…what’re you yelling at me for? Did something bad happen to you? Okay, fine. I’ll hear you out on what happened, just this once.”

  Taiga shrugged her shoulders, pretending to look wise. “What happened?” She arrogantly thrust out her chin and even had a magnanimous smile playing across her face.

  It was just the way she said that and the look on her face…

  NGAAAAAAAH. Ryuuji squeezed out a scream of a kind that had never come from him before. If he were an American, he’d say “Goddamn!” If he were Chinese, “AIAHHHH!” In Ryuuji’s case though, it was “NGAAAAAH.” He held his head in his hands and then flung them up as he yelled as loud as he could.

  “Something did happen! I got run over! Plus! You did it twice!”

  “It wasn’t like I said I wanted to ride a sled.” Still perched right on the sled, Taiga put her chin in her hand and started to tell Ryuuji about something that had nothing to do with his anger. Ryuuji was about to tell her that her ears might as well belong in the trash if she wasn’t actually going to listen.

  “After I rented my skis, but before I got up here, I dropped them twice, and they hit the bachelorette (age 30) both times. So I went to grab the skis the second time, and when I turned around to follow everybody, I hit her with the skis again.”

  “Th…that’s something…”

  What she had to say actually seemed to be something worth listening to. He would never approach Taiga while she held anything long after this.