Toradora! Vol. 1 Read online

  No way!

  There was a problem with her face—he couldn’t show her like this! His sense of guilt becoming his strength, Ryuuji picked up Aisaka.

  “I-I did something terrible! I’ll take full responsibility and bring her to the nurse’s office!”

  Making a big commotion, he pushed that face against his body to hide it and made a mad dash for the nurse’s office. After that, the only thing left was an excited commotion among the boys. “That amateur Takasu brought down the Palmtop Tiger! It was impossible to look away from, even for a second!”

  Unexpectedly, they had followed the broad outline of the original plan—except that every single thing outside the outline had gone wrong.

  The event had a great influence on making Takasu Ryuuji become serious.

  Even though it wasn’t on purpose, even though it was the Palmtop Tiger, he had still given her a nosebleed. He’d gone so far as to knock her out. Her revenge would doubtless be terrible, but even more than that, it was a guilty conscience that tortured Ryuuji.

  The aim of his plan was to see them all eating lunch together. If he could casually invite Minori, who was always eating with Aisaka, and also invite Kitamura, who was always eating with Ryuuji, then Aisaka would happily get a chance to sit with Kitamura. Ryuuji would be happy, too, since Minori would be there. The plan was foolproof.

  Thus, when Aisaka returned to the classroom safe and sound during lunch break, he said, “Hey, Aisaka! I know it’s sudden, but do you want to eat lunch with us? I wanted to properly make it up to you for what happened at the gym. You don’t mind if Kitamura and Kushieda join, right?”

  Kitamura, who knew nothing about said plan, showed not even a bit of hesitation. He simply raised his hand and replied, “Yeah, of course I don’t mind. It’s good having a fresh face around. Well, then—we should put our desks together in a circle. That’s fine with everyone, right? Kushieda, Aisaka?”

  “Yeah, yeah, that sounds great, let’s all do it! Taiga, come on. Takasu-kun is asking us to. He says he wants to apologize for what happened in the gym. Hey, hey—he’s quite a guy, huh?”

  Minori took Aisaka’s arm and dragged her in front of Ryuuji. Ryuuji held his handmade bento bag to his chest. For some reason, Aisaka kept silent. Ryuuji could clearly see the word “nervous” stamped across her strangely stiffened cheeks. Is this girl really okay?

  Unease filled his chest, but then Kitamura made an audacious statement. “I guess we don’t need four desks; we can just have two people split each one.”

  “You’re right,” Minori said.

  The two next to Ryuuji then started noisily moving the desks.

  “Then I call this one,” Minori said and—smack! She lowered herself onto one chair. Ryuuji looked at her suddenly.

  Then Kitamura said, “Guess I’ll go here,” and simultaneously took up a position across from Minori.

  Next to Kushieda?

  Or next to Kitamura?

  Of course, there was only one choice Ryuuji needed to make: to sit next to Minori, to share one desk, and be right next to her. But then Minori patted the spot next to her, opened her mouth, and was about to say—Taiga, over here, over here.

  I won’t let that happen, Ryuuji thought, eyes glinting sharply. But he didn’t have the courage to jump to Minori’s side, so he exclaimed, “Ohh, my foot is slipping!” and faked an accident. He shoved Aisaka’s back as hard as he could, sending her forward.

  “……!”

  It seemed Aisaka had understood Ryuuji’s intent. With the momentum from the push, she stretched her small body, attempting to get to the seat next to Kitamura. In order to get her butt to properly hit the goal, she tried to modify her course, precisely balancing herself. That’s right, good, Ryuuji thought, clasping his fist—but it seemed the force he had used to push her had been too strong. Fighting in vain, Aisaka missed the seat and ended up on the ground—almost!

  “It’s not over yet!” Ryuuji muttered. There was no way he would let her fall. With a frantic look, he grabbed Aisaka’s hand. Then he planted his feet and—looking like a couple of competitive dancers—he twirled Aisaka’s body around until he could turn-push her magnificently into the chair next to Kitamura. The remaining force nearly sent Aisaka toppling out of her seat, but…

  “Hmph!”

  She gripped the desk with both her arms, opened her legs in a bold stance, and somehow held on through sheer strength. When the four chair legs all safely landed on the ground, Ryuuji also made his landing.

  “Hahh…” he said, collapsing naturally into the seat next to Minori. Maybe I overdid it, he thought to himself, but then he raised his face.

  “What’s wrong, Aisaka?” Kitamura asked. “If you move your desk around like that, you’ll spill your tea. You’re such a tomboy.”

  Meanwhile, Minori was saying, “Today’s side dish is! ♪ Today’s side dish is! ♪ Today’s side dish is what…? ♪ Oh, it’s fried chicken! You say it, too, fried—”

  Kitamura and Minori proceeded at their own pace, in high spirits, while their classmates made a commotion.

  “Wasn’t what happened between the Palmtop Tiger and Takasu just now amazing?”

  “It sure was!”

  However, that nonsense didn’t reach Aisaka’s ears. More amazingly, she was about to blow a fuse. Her hand shook as she tried to take the lid off her bento. While still utterly stiff and expressionless, she scratched at the box’s lid. One of her eyes glinted with a dangerous fire. Asking Aisaka, who currently couldn’t even manage a conversation with Kitamura, to suddenly eat a bento next to him? That might have been premature.

  But, very close by, Kitamura said, “Ohh, Aisaka you have a bento, too. Was it your mom? Or did you make it yourself?”

  With a carefree expression, he’d asked something that required strong ad-libbing skills. Ryuuji gripped his chopsticks, and involuntarily swallowed his breath. You can do it, Aisaka! You can’t run away now—not when you’ve gotten this far! Start up a casual conversation and get more intimate. But then…

  “…Hm? Me?” she said.

  Her expression betraying a woman strained to her limits, Aisaka bluntly pointed her chopsticks…at Ryuuji’s face.

  Uhh. Ryuuji’s eyes became distant. Come to think of it…the person who made that bento…was me…

  “Huh? Takasu? Takasu was the one who made your bento?”

  But wasn’t it better not to admit that? No, it wasn’t a matter of whether she admitted it or not…

  “Eep!”

  Without thinking, he made a noise. Nearly a shriek.

  “What is it?” Kitamura looked over at him.

  Minori, however, was looking only at her karaage.

  Ryuuji quietly closed his mouth, paralyzed. Dumbfounded by his own stupidity. Come to think of it, he was the one who had made Aisaka’s bento. The contents were exactly the same as his. Seeing something like that, what would Kitamura and Minori think?

  With a shaking hand, he firmly held the top of his bento, which he hadn’t opened. What should we do? He looked aside to Aisaka, but…that was useless. She was so completely air-headed over Kitamura that her face resembled some blank-minded animal’s. Opening the lid to expose the simple contents of his bento, his eye wandered restlessly. Aisaka’s chopsticks were still pointing at Ryuuji.

  “Takasu? What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

  “Y-you think so?!” he said—and then an idea flashed in his mind like divine intervention. He could just pretend he suddenly wasn’t feeling well and escape with his bento.

  Then, just as he stood up, Kitamura said, “Hm? A visitor? For me?”

  Suddenly, Kitamura’s gaze was aimed into the distance beyond Ryuuji. When Ryuuji instinctively turned around, looking in the direction Aisaka’s chopsticks had pointed—in the direction of his own head—he saw a boy who looked like a first-year student.

  “Kitamura-senpai, Kushieda-senpai,” the boy called out.

  “Isn’t that kid the manager for the firs
t-years?” Ryuuji said.

  Kushieda had noticed as well and urged Kitamura to stand from his seat with her. They stood together and chatted for a while with the boy. When they came back, Kitamura said, “Sorry! Something just came up!”

  “He said we’re having an emergency club meeting!” Kushieda added. “Sooooorry! They told us to gather immediately at the clubroom with our lunches! Taiga, Takasu-kun, we’re going to drop out! You can invite us again any time!”

  In a rush, the two gathered the bento they’d laid out before and then, with apologies, they left the classroom.

  At this sudden development, Ryuuji vacantly watched their retreating backs, unable to get his brain working again. He only came back to himself once he had completely lost sight of both of them.

  “H-hey! They le—” he started to say, then turned to Aisaka. “Whoa!”

  She was even more upset. Aisaka Taiga was depressed. She was sunk down, holding her face in both hands as she hunched over her bento. With her back bowed in misery, her already small shoulders looked even narrower.

  “A-Aisaka…”

  Noticing her quiet mumbling, he listened in. With a voice that sounded as though she were chanting a spell, she said, “Why, we just, bad luck, can’t follow, why, I can’t accept, something like this…” She was aimlessly putting together a list of complaints. Despite being paralyzed by nerves at her seat, Aisaka had probably allowed her hopes to grow, in her own way. Was this what the phrase “at a loss for words” meant?

  He couldn’t leave her like this, so…

  “W-we can invite him again tomorrow. Anyway, let’s eat our bento.”

  Ryuuji tried to talk to her in a voice as bright as possible. But…

  “…Tomorrow?”

  Pulling back her hair, Aisaka looked up at him with two seething eyes.

  “Then, you mean to say you’re going to hit me in the face with a ball tomorrow, too…?”

  “No one’s saying anything like that,” Ryuuji spoke bluntly, but then he hesitated—the glaring eyes Aisaka had trained on him were starting to tear up. Stop, don’t cry. He felt flustered.

  “But isn’t that what this was? You invited Kitamura-kun and Minorin to eat together today by telling them you were apologizing, didn’t you? You don’t have a natural excuse for it, do you, or what—what are you saying you’re going to do? I don’t want it to look like it’s on purpose, so I never, ever…”

  “O-okay, look! Eat!”

  As Aisaka was arguing, her eyelashes began to dampen, so he quickly stoppered her mouth…with the taro he had grabbed with his chopsticks.

  He’d cut the taro large, just the right size for Aisaka’s mouth. Unable to spit it out, Aisaka chewed on it. She chewed desperately. “…Uh, was that a little too big?” Ryuuji grew uneasy over how long it took, until finally, she swallowed it with a big gulp. Then…

  “…Die…”

  “You what? Don’t worry, taking care of people is one of the things I’m best at.”

  “Idiot dog! I nearly died!”

  She drank her carton of milk in a single go. Gluuuug. She finished drinking the carton, and when she put it down, all signs of her tears had dried up.

  Finally, Ryuuji breathed in. He opened his own bento and started to eat. It was at this point that he thought, It’s probably good that Kitamura and Kushieda had a visitor. If he had just stood up and run from his seat, who could only imagine the sorts of blunders Aisaka would have made, left to her own devices. The more he thought about it, the more he felt they lucked out.

  Yup, yup, nodding as he ate, Ryuuji firmly settled on that conclusion.

  “Oh…Ryuuji.”

  Aisaka, who had been unhappily silent, suddenly raised her face. She fixed her glare on Ryuuji.

  “What?”

  “…This bento has no meat in it…”

  “That can’t be helped. If you want to live in a house that has meat in the fridge all the time, go get adopted by somebody who can afford it.”

  With that, they were both at ease, and started eating their bento.

  All the eyes around the room voiced silent questions as they watched the surprising arrangement, but no one dared challenge the frightening pair out loud.

  A peculiar atmosphere remained in the second-year C class, but time flowed on and soon enough, the end of the day arrived. Neither Ryuuji nor Aisaka had paid any notice to the classroom’s atmosphere. PE, lunch break—they had to rise above those two bitter failures; they couldn’t allow the last chance of the day to escape them. Even if it were only slight, they wanted to leave some sort of impression on Kitamura’s heart.

  “Are you prepared? Aisaka.”

  “…”

  “A-Aisaka. Breathe, you can breathe.”

  “…Pah!”

  It was homeroom, right before school let out. In a corner of the tumultuous classroom, Aisaka’s face was the very definition of serious. At her side, Ryuuji was just as earnest. Guilt wrapped heavily around his whole body, like Shun’s nebula chain from Saint Seiya.

  “I-I’m starting to feel nervous… I wonder if this will just be a nuisance to him.”

  “What are you saying that for? Trust in yourself. There’s practically no guy alive that wouldn’t be happy getting homemade cookies from a girl. And Kitamura has a sweet tooth. He’s not the type to turn up his nose at handmade stuff—and at the very least, he doesn’t seem to not like you.”

  “Y-you think so?”

  Yes, he nodded at her, and finally, managed to slightly ease Aisaka’s tense expression. In her tiny hands, she held a package of precious, handmade cookies that she’d made during the afternoon cooking class.

  It was a class for both boys and girls, so it didn’t really feel too much like a present from a girl to a guy, but there definitely were boys who wanted the extras the girls made, and there were some who specifically made cookies to give to their boyfriends.

  Aisaka, working sneakily so no one could see (sometimes using Ryuuji’s body as a shield), had baked slightly complex cookies with a checkered pattern. The plan was to give them to Kitamura casually, saying, I had leftovers, so would you like some? All this was to help make a better impression on him. But there had been an accident. Of the ten she secretly baked, six of them burned black. It was because she had made some sort of palm-sized blunder misreading the oven scale. Incidentally, in order to “destroy the evidence” she’d crammed them into Ryuuji’s mouth.

  There were four left over. Aisaka Taiga was betting on those four. Still, nervousness visible on her face, she held the package of cookies and clenched her fist. Seeing that behavior from thirty centimeters away, Ryuuji thought her sheer stress would cause another incident. He shuddered at that foreboding premonition.

  “H-hey, listen. Don’t tense up so much. Be completely casual. Don’t suddenly get all careless.”

  “I got it. Careless, right. Yeah, carefree…freeloader…freestyle…styleless…” Aisaka continued muttering, and then…

  “Okaaay, get to your seeeaaats, everyone. We’re starting homeroom now!”

  Her small frame jumped with a start at the teacher’s voice. They mixed in with the small groups of students heading to their seats. The 145-centimeter creature walked unsteadily between the desks.

  Ryuuji instructed Aisaka to talk to Kitamura as soon as the closing ceremonies were done. Chances were, the perennially busy Kitamura would go on to student council, and then when his work was done, club activities. It was hard work pretty much every day after school for Kitamura. If she were slow, he would leave the classroom immediately and be on his way.

  Because of that, once this homeroom ended, she needed to hurry and call out to him, but…

  “Hey, hey—hey, hey, hey, hey…”

  Ryuuji quickly glanced out the corner of his eye to check on Aisaka—and gulped.

  He knew she was nervous. But this was beyond his expectations. Aisaka clung to the desk with her shoulders rounded, as though her stomach hurt. Her legs were shaking violent
ly, and her face had past the realm of cute and was now the pale white visage of an ogress.

  “Oh, what a lovely aroma we have in the classroom, today!” said their teacher. “I believe I detect sugar, wheat, butter… Oh, right! You baked cookies in class today, didn’t you? I’m just mad for cookies, myself. Ha ha ha, it’s really nostalgic… Back when I was with my host family in England…”

  “…Tsk.”

  Aisaka was so wrapped up in her nervous frustration that the teacher’s useless chit-chat earned a stern click of her tongue. Sensei with the rose-colored glasses, as usual (Koigakubo Yuri, single, twenty-nine). The pigeon-toed teacher (Koigakubo, single) was shaken by a jolt and glanced fearfully down at Aisaka.

  “Let’s not cluck at teachers, okay?” she said, trying to provide guidance.

  Those around Aisaka began to tremble, and maybe her stubbornness was to blame, but she kept on with a…

  “…Tsk.”

  “L-Listen here, now! A proper young lady doesn’t…you understand what I’m saying, yes?”

  “…Tsk.”

  “Ahh, words just don’t reach some students’ hearts…”

  At this rate, they’d soon be dealing with an awkward scene that left the teacher covering her face in her hands and weeping over Aisaka’s rudeness. She shouldn’t have escalated things past the point where she could emotionally handle them in the first place. Yeah, there might have been reasons why she was single.

  “Teacher!” Kitamura stood up, rattling back his chair. “As it seems like this could go on for a while, will you entrust me, as the class representative, to settle things this one time?! Please, there are people with after school activities; we can seek a proper course to resolve this issue tomorrow morning!”

  In other words, I’m busy, so could you please end homeroom? But the unmarried person (Koigakubo, homeroom teacher, no boyfriend in seven years) tilted her head to the side quizzically.

  “…I don’t exactly get what you’re trying to say…”