Toradora! (Español):Volumen2 Capitulo2

Capítulo 2

Con el final de las vacaciones, el siguiente shock llegó temprano a la mañana siguiente.

Apenas eran poco más de las 8 de la mañana.

Su tutora llegó antes que nunca, y con ella, la tutoría también empezó antes de tiempo,

"Ooh..."

---Se armó la de Dios.

Esta debe de ser el tipo de situación donde es aplicable esa frase. Incapaz de detener su lamento, Ryuuji se sentó sin poder creérselo. Era difícil de creer, o mejor dicho, no quería creerlo. Pero, no parecía que fuese un sueño.

Con su boca totalmente abierta, se giró hacia Kitamura y rápidamente le exclamó, "Nunca oí nada de esto", pero Kitamura tan sólo levantó su mano de forma casual con un "Hey" con una expresión de indiferencia.

De todas maneras, no podía ignorar la realidad.

Parcialmente paralizado, la mirada de Ryuuji era 3 veces peor de la usual y no podía hacer nada sino aceptar la infernal situación tal y como era.

La causa del estrés de Ryuuji se subió sobre la plataforma que había en la clase para el profesor con sus finas piernas y su precioso pelo que se balanceaba a cada paso.

Mirando al frente con un poco de vergüenza, su sonrisa casi se confundía con la gentil luz matinal. Con suficiente seguridad, mientras lentamente levantaba sus ojos---

"A partir de hoy, seré una estudiante de este instituto; mi nombre es Ami Kawashima. Por favor, cuidad de mí."

---Una remarcablemente pura y sincera apariencia.

Esto es ridículo.

"¿...Cómo, llegó, todo, a esto...?"

Nadie le prestaba atención a estos lamentos. Y olvidándose de Ryuuji, que se encontraba en shock, el resto de la clase continuó a lo suyo,

"E, eh, esa chica, ¡¿No salía en una revista?!"

"¡¿Cómo?! ¡¿En serio?! ¡Pero, es guapísima!"

"Imposible", "No puede ser cierto", "Increíble, es increíble"... Las chicas a quienes les gustaba seguir las modas estaban a punto de empezar un gran alboroto. Y casi todos los chicos, por otra parte, estaban sospechosamente apagados, quedándose extrañamente en silencio y tan sólo mirando fijamente maravillados y con apasionados ojos el perfecto ángel que se encontraba sobre la plataforma. Noto Hisamitsu, el amigo de Ryuuji que llevaba las gafas negras y que se sentaba en frente en diagonal, muy lentamente se giró,

"¡Bingo...!"

Murmurando encantado como si estuviera maravillado hasta lo más profundo de su corazón, Noto miró a Ryuuji y levantó su apretado puño.

"...B, bien..."

Ryuuji respondió vagamente, pero más que levantar su puño en respuesta, simplemente tragó saliva.

Ami se veía preciosa sobre la plataforma. Su piel parecía incluso más suave y fina que ayer; y sus ojos como grandes gemas parecían tener también más brillo que ayer. Sin olvidarse de sonreír, inclinaba su cabeza según observaba la clase. Su de alguna forma infantil apariencia era posiblemente debida a su pequeña barbilla, pero tenía una perfecta figura de 8 cabezas de altura (Nota: proporción en cuestiones de moda en la que se suele comentar que una mujer debe tener una altura proporcional a 7 u 8 veces su cabeza). Ami era el epítome definitivo de belleza, casi hasta el punto de ocultar su sentido de la realidad. El dolor de cabeza de Ryuuji también se había vuelto definitivo.

Secretamente se giró para mirar al asiento situado más o menos en el centro de la clase. Ahora mismo, la persona que debería estar experimentando el peor impacto estaba sentado en esa dirección. Esa sería la que llamaban Taiga.

La encontró.

Entonces,

"...Oh..."

Inmediatamente dejó de mirarla. Estaba poniendo una cara que no debería ser vista.

Sus cejas estaban enarcadas casi verticalmente y sus ojos se habían empañado con la humedad, pareciendo como si se hubiera derretido en una espeso y burbujeante corriente de lava. Sus labios que estaban como una rosa, temblaban visiblemente y estaban levantados amenazantes; su cara se había hinchado como si estuviera llevando una bomba en su boca, posiblemente una manifestación de su apenas contenida furia dirigida contra el mundo real al cual no podía soportar. Parecía como si una persona debilucha pudiera morir simplemente de cruzarse con su mirada.

Desde donde estaba, Ami posiblemente también podía notar a Taiga bombardeándola con su fuerte instinto asesino desde el centro de la clase. Por apenas un instante, Ami enarcó sus cejas apenas visiblemente. Aunque, actuó exactamente como uno podría esperar de una profesional acostumbrada al público.

"¡Que todo el mundo me llame Ami, por favor!"

Sin equivocarse en su pretensión de no darse cuenta, sonrió preciosamente y de todo corazón. Pero esa simple acción era más que suficiente para inspirarle pánico a Ryuuji. ¿¿Las mujeres eran realmente así en general? Temblando por un repentino escalofrío, instintivamente se abrochó un botón de su abierto uniforme gakuran.

"¡A todos! ¡Llevémonos bien con nuestra nueva amiga! ¡Ahora, démosle la bienvenida!"

Extrañamente llamativa en el aplauso de bienvenida, su tutora y bien asentada soltera, Yuri Koigakubo (29), levantó su voz. Situando un brazo sobre los hombros de Ami con demasiadas confianzas, "¡Todos son buenos chicos, así que os llevaréis bien de inmediato!", exclamaba mientras marcaba una pose de victoria... Ryuuji se preguntaba si algo había pasado en las vacaciones, ya que parecía que su personalidad había cambiado completamente. Ella solía llevar modernos conjuntos rosas, pero ahora mismo llevaba un vasto jersey con capucha,

"¡Bueno entonces, es un fresco comienzo para la clase 2-C~!"

Dio un vigoroso OK con el pulgar.

"...Tch."

Parecía que ni un chasqueo de la lengua de Taiga, que emanaba un sofocante aura de molestia mientras la miraba desde abajo, era suficiente para calmarla hoy.

"...Hey, ¡Parad ya con esa clase de sonidos! ¡Intentad sonreír felizmente al menos por un día!"

"...Tch."

"...Tan sólo por hoy si eres capaz, para darle la bienvenida a nuestra nueva amiga."

"...Tch."

Nugunuguu---Reducida a hacer sonidos sin articular palabra, repentinamente agarrándose la cabeza. Entonces casi como haciendo un salto mortal, giró sobre sí acabando en su mesa pareciendo deprimida y escondiendo su cara entre sus brazos.

"¿Se, Señorita Yuri...?"

"Um, ¿estás bien...?"

Como era de esperar, la clase se quedó en silencio ante tal escena, mientras Ami, quien estaba cerca, dejó de sonreír mientras miraba. La soltera finalmente levantó su cara, después de que pasaran 15 completos segundos. Mientras temblaba ligeramente y con la cabeza colgando un poco, sonaba en arrepentimiento mientras, con cierta dificultad, empezó a hablar sobre sus problemas privados.

"...Durante las vacaciones, yo, mi última oportunidad... la verdadera última oportunidad,... ¡acabó en desgracia...~! Así que, pensé que debía dar mi mayor esfuerzo, necesitaría esforzarme en mi trabajo, pero, pero... Tan sólo olvídalo! ¡No es como si alguno de vosotros fuera a entenderlo de todas maneras! ¡Vosotros, estoy segura que lo entenderéis cuando seáis mayores, así que...! ¡Kitamura-kun, por favor, encárgate del resto!"

"Está bien."

Habiendo sido reclamado, Kitamura se puso en pie y, girándose completamente poniéndose de cara al resto de compañeros, habló,

"Todos, por favor escuchadme. Ami en verdad es una amiga mía desde hace algún tiempo. No tenía ni idea de que iba a venirse a nuestra clase, pero por favor, intentad llevaos bien con ella. Bueno, eso es todo en la tutoría de esta mañana. ¡En pie! ¡Saludad!"

'Ya está bien~!---Como en una explosión, el lamentable llanto de la solterona resonó por entre la ruidosa clase antes de deshacerse totalmente.

* * *

"¡¿Ka, Kawashima-san, te ayudo a moverlo?!"

"¡No, lo haré yo!"

"¡Te ayudaré con eso, en serio!"

"¡No, no, elígeme! O mejor, simplemente siéntate y déjame hacerlo."

En un momento, un grupo de chicos se acercó a los alrededores de Ami, quien por su lado estaba a punto de colocar su mesa y silla. Los más callados observaban la muchedumbre en la distancia sintiéndose celosos. Parecía como si todos quisieran acercase a conocerla de un modo u otro, pero ya que estuvieran cerca o lejos era tan sólo cosa de su atrevimiento.

"¡No es necesario, en serio! ¡Como mínimo debo ser capaz de hacer esto yo misma! ¡Tampoco es que sea tan debilucha, ¿vale?!

Así que sin pedir ayuda a nadie, Ami exclamó '¡Yoisho!' y levantó la mesa con sus finos brazos.

"¡Ah, cuidado!"

"¡Kawashima-san, déjanos ayudarte!"

"¡Dije que está bien, así que dejad de preocuparos!"

Zigzagueando por entre el montón de chicos que querían echarle una mano, se alejó rápidamente por su cuenta

"...¡Veis! ¿No os lo dije? Algo así no es problema."

Habiendo situado su mesa y su silla en el lugar indicado, sonrió una feliz sonrisa angelical. Con ese giro de los acontecimientos, los chicos rápidamente perdieron su excusa para hablar con ella. Se alejaron descorazonados mientras calmadamente decían, "¡Si surge algo, te ayudaremos!", y fueron reemplazados por chicas que se acercaron a Ami.

"Ehh, Kawashima-san, ¿lo hiciste tú misma? Podías haberle pedido a los chicos que lo hicieran."

"Cierto, cierto, o más bien, tengo la sensación de que todos esos chicos intentaban desesperadamente hablar con Kawashima-san. Estarían encantados si hicieras uso de ellos, estoy segura."

De cara a las chicas con una sonrisa incluso más brillante que la que les había mostrado a los chicos, Ami meneó sus manos frente a su cara jugueteando.

"¡Estoy bien~, ya que algo así es fácil!.... O eso dije, pero, entre nosotras, en verdad soy del tipo de chica que se acaba poniendo nerviosa al hablar con chicos."

"Eh, ¿en serio?"

"En serio. No sólo eso, ¡gracias por venir a hablar conmigo! Esta es la primera vez que las chicas han venido a hablar, ¡estoy tan feliz! !No me importa si tan sólo me llamáis Ami, ¿ok?!"

Después de decir esas cosas educadamente, estaba a punto de sentarse en su silla cuando,

"¡O-ow!"

Golpeó su espinilla contra la pata de su mesa. Con una mueca, casi hasta el punto de ser cómica, Ami parecía estar sintiendo verdadero dolor.

"¡Ahh, jooo! ¡Qué mal! Incluso aunque queriendo dejar una impresión de chica con estilo y moderna aprovechando que acabo de ser transferida aquí... ¡Supongo que soy del tipo cómico al fin y al cabo~!"

Respondiendo al autodesprecio que Ami estaba comentando, las chicas le comentaban mientras reían.

"Kawashima-san... Quiero decir, Ami-chan, ¿podrías ser una patosa natural?"

"De alguna forma, ¡parece tan natural! Joo, aunque tienes suficiente suerte para ser guapa, ¿por qué estás poniendo una cara tan graciosa?"

"¡No digas que es graciosa o nada parecido~! ¡En verdad intentaba parecer estilizada~!"

Jajajajaja~---Acabó más o menos así.

Mientras tanto, descansando su barbilla en sus manos mientras se sentaba cerca de la ventana, Ryuuji en silencio observaba el corrillo agitado centrado alrededor de Ami. Faltándoles su brillo usual, sus ojos parecían extrañamente vacíos mientras se preguntaba, ¿Así que también puede hacer este tipo de actuación?. Por alguna razón había acabado volviéndose un poco desconfiado de las chicas.

Según sopesaba sobre eso, accidentalmente acabó cruzándose con la mirada de Ami. Mientras pronunciaba un 'Ah' de su boca ligeramente abierta, Ami pestañeó sus grandes ojos como si se sorprendiera. Ryuuji se preguntaba si en verdad se acababa de dar cuenta ahora de que él estaba en la misma clase sin siquiera notar la presencia de Taiga. Ami señaló a Ryuuji con un fino dedo,

"¡Ehh, Imposible! ¿No es ese Takasu-kun?"

"..."

Fue completamente un acto reflejo.

Por reflejos, acabó girando su cara hacia otro lado como si no hubiera oído nada. Parecía exactamente como si estuviera dejando de lado algo que le molestara. Aunque fue sólo por un momento, se preguntó si había dejado una excesiva mala impresión... pero no tenía suficiente confianza como para mirar a Ami nuevamente. Así que como manteniendo una falta de atención forzada, Ryuuji sólo podía escuchar como las chicas continuaban su ocupada conversación.

"Ami-chan, ¡¿conoces a Ryuuji Takasu?! !¿Cómo?!"

"Bueno, cuando fui a un restaurante familiar con Yuusaku, nos encontramos por casualidad y nos presentaron, pero... por alguna razón, ¿parece que no le gustara? Si no mira, me está ignorando ahora mismo..."

Podría haber intentado ser discreta, pero la voz de Ami con facilidad llegaba hasta los oídos de Ryuuji. No, quizás intencionadamente le estaba dejando escucharla... Que Ami hiciera algo así, probablemente no debería sorprenderse lo más mínimo.

"Ehh, Takasu es tan sólo un tipo antisocial, así que no es que te odie o nada parecido. Estoy segura que tan sólo es tímido."

"Eso es verdad, antes de que fuéramos compañeros de clase, todos verdaderamente pensábamos que era un delincuente a lo grande y estábamos demasiado asustadas de acercarnos a él por su permanente terrorífica expresión, ¿sabes?"

---'Parecía malvado por su comportamiento antisocial.' Ryuuji tan sólo miraba por la ventana, pero en su interior, eso en verdad le hirió.

"¿Entonces Takasu-kun no es realmente malo ni nada?"

"Él es simplemente distinto. Los novatos y el resto de estudiantes de otras clasesparece como si siguieran temiéndole, ¡pero Ami-chan no tiene que preocuparse por nada de eso!"

"¡Eso eso!"

"Ehh... Así que así son las cosas..."

Fu~n…He could feel an appraising glance on the back of his neck. Like an unbearable itch, the sound of their voices brushed against his neck. He became unable to pretend he wasn’t listening, though it was for just a moment. He was shifting his back against the itch when he ended up inadvertently looking at Ami.

Thereafter---Ami smiled faintly. Agitated, Ryuuji’s expression took on a gleam like that of a sharp knife.

While they had certainly only connected for a moment, Ami’s eyes were apparently moist.

Immediately facing the girls with a smile, she went right back to their group, but…somehow she seemed to be embedded with an unspeakable sadness. As if it had been burned into his retina, he couldn’t erase the image from his memory. Rather than anger or bitterness, the expression of anxiety as she looked at him vividly remained for some time. Still amidst the group of cheery people, Ami’s eyes were cast with a dull light like the reflection off a still pool of water. Looking exactly as if she was secretly tearing up, he got the feeling he could hear her voicelessly speak. ‘Hey, why are you being so cold to me…?’

"…N, no, that wasn’t my intention…it really wasn’t."

Shaking his head vigorously, Ryuuji erased the afterimage from his head. It wasn’t like that, it wasn’t, it probably wasn’t.

Even though he should know how dreadful her beauty was, having already witnessed her true character yesterday, he was on the verge of being tricked by her chastely beautiful façade.

Pulling himself together and standing up, he went over to Kitamura’s desk. As it was, he couldn’t even be sure that what he remembered of yesterday’s events wasn’t just a dream...He could easily believe that. He needed to talk with someone else who had also witnessed what happened.

"Hey, Kitamura…Isn’t that remarkable?"

When Ryuuji indicated Ami and the others with a flick of his head as he spoke, Kitamura gave the rambunctious group a glance before sighing with a bitter smile.

"Ah. As expected, she really knows how to get people’s sympathy, doesn’t she."

"…Why didn’t you tell me yesterday about the transfer?"

"Hmm? I didn’t?"

"Don’t play around. I was really surprised, seriously."

Leaning against Kitamura’s desk, Ryuuji reprimanded his best friend in a quiet voice. His eyes were extremely intense as he glared at Kitamura, but of course, Kitamura was aware that Ryuuji wasn’t doing it on purpose. Kitamura lightly scratched his head and laughed,

"My bad, sorry. How should I put this…I’m hoping that Ami will get along with people properly while remaining her natural self. So, when we met yesterday, I opted to not mention that you guys would be attending the same high school. I knew that if I had, she would have put on a complete front and then become immediately deceptive."

"…Isn’t that just what she did yesterday anyway."

"She showed her actual nature to Aisaka at least. And so Ryuuji, you saw it too. Right?"

"Could you possibly want to expose Ami’s true personality? She’ll just be despised for it."

"I don’t plan to spread it around, of course. I have no right to do that after all. But, I hope that it eventually gets out. It will surely be better than the deception, for Ami as well.---If she is despised as a result of it, maybe it’ll convince her."

"…Convince her, you say …I don’t really get what you mean."

"Is that so? Hm, and I thought what I said was easy to understand..."

Taking off his glasses and wiping them with a cloth, Kitamura gave Ryuuji a glance with his unexpectedly large eyes.

"I don’t hate Ami’s real self at all. It’s all the deception that I want to end. I think it’s best for people to just be themselves. To tell you the truth, it makes me a little sad now when she greets me with that facade…About when she started modeling, she suddenly started doing that good girl act even to me…Anyway, I think it would be nice if more people would like Ami for who she really is. That’s kind of what I meant."

Looking into the eyes of this passionately idealistic and just man, Ryuuji couldn’t reply for some reason. Even though there was just one thing that he wanted to say.

It’s probably impossible. That’s all.

The automated juice vending machine was meant to be used only during afternoon recess, but it was fine as long as none of the stricter teachers noticed. Especially with the second year classrooms being very close to the separate two-story building with the vending machines, students violated the rule all the time.

Soon after third period math ended, Ryuuji left the classroom with some pocket change, intending to violate that very rule and get a drink. He had some lukewarm tea he brought from home, but today had been unexpectedly stressful. He needed to do at least this much to relax.

In the separate building he quickly walked down the empty corridor before stopping in front of the three vending machines lined up side by side near the stair landing. Should he get a can of coffee or soda; while stingily counting his change, it was time to make his selection.

"Excuse me!"

A white hand that suddenly appeared from the side was blocking Ryuuji while putting coins into the machine. Surprised by the interruption, he turned around,

"…Oh…"

And was even more surprised.

"Ehe, so the vending machines were in this kind of place, were they?"

An angelically innocent smile was blooming directly in front of him.

The one sweetly smiling while looking at Ryuuji was the source of his stress---Ami.

Tilting her head while her eyes sparkled,

"I wonder what Takasu-kun planned to get. Let me try to guess, hmm…How about this one?"

Out of all the possible choices, she selected the nastiest looking energy drink and pointed at its picture with her pink-colored fingernail.

"Eh?!...No…That…C, coffee, actually."

After he replied in a shamefully nervous and excited tone of voice, Ami said ‘I see’, nodded once, and pushed the button for coffee. Then she turned to Ryuuji and presented him with the can that had rolled out noisily.

"Here you go. It’s my treat. Actually, I saw Ryuuji-kun leave the classroom, and I followed you here."

"Huh? W, why?"

As he was rigid and unable to understand just what was going on, the can was deftly placed into his hands. Ami put some more coins in without replying to him,

"I wonder which one I should get…Maybe this one?"

After a bit of meandering, she pushed the button for straight tea. The sound of the falling can brought him back to reality, but it was already too late,

"Ah, wait a second! Here, buy it with this!"

He hurriedly tried to give her his change, but Ami had already put her money into the machine a while ago. Then, looking up.

"Well, I bought it already."

Sticking her tongue out a little, she shrugged while making a mischievous expression.

"No, that’s no good. This just isn’t right. Take this coffee instead then."

"No way, it’s fine, it’s fine! Think of this as an apology for yesterday."

"Apology, you say…"

"Hey, why don’t we drink right here?"

With these words, Ami quickly pulled the tab on her can open, and without listening for Ryuuji’s response, she took a sip of her illegally obtained drink.

With things as they were, he expectedly couldn’t just leave her behind when it was her first day after transferring.

"…Buying a drink when it’s not afternoon recess, that’s a violation of school rules."

"Is that so? But, I don’t want to be told that by Takasu-kun, since the one who came to do so was Takasu-kun."

"…I suppose that’s true. Thanks…Itadakimasu."

Ryuuji couldn’t do anything but start drinking his coffee with her. While the two of them were drinking, it became quiet except for the low hum of the vending machines, which resounded with a hint of melancholy. Trying to hide his discomfort, he gave Ami a sidelong glance but couldn’t get himself to speak first. He just couldn’t figure out what he should talk about. So of course at a time like this, no other students or strict teachers showed up.

"Whew…It’s cold. It’s really good when it’s chilled."

Wiping her wet lips with the end of her finger, the one who started speaking was Ami. Side by side with Ryuuji, she leaned against one of the vending machines,

"That aside, I was pretty surprised to find out I'm in the same class as Takasu-kun. Even Aisaka’s there…Yuusaku, he didn’t say anything at all about that yesterday."

She smiled amiably as if saying ‘Right?’. But Ryuuji, while vaguely nodding, could only return a stiff facial expression. Of course his eyes also ended up becoming more wild. Even setting aside Ami’s actual personality, he was suddenly alone with an extremely pretty girl that he wasn’t all that familiar with, which made him feel constricted.

However, Ryuuji wasn’t sure how Ami perceived his response.

"…Hey, Takasu-kun."

She moved from his side and stood directly in front of him. With her gently shining eyes discreetly raised and her eyelashes weakly trembling, she whispered roughly.

"…By any chance, I wonder if you heard anything from Aisaka-san…Even though there isn’t really anything I can do if you were told…But, you know. I hope you’ll just forget about yesterday. This is…also for Aisaka-san’s sake."

"Y,…Yesterday you say, what do you mean?"

Nervous from being face to face, Ryuuji took a step back wanting to desperately escape, but his back was met with resistance from the vending machines. Ami made such an effort futile anyway by moving forward a half step. She wasn’t fazed at all by his bad expression. So what she meant about yesterday was, ‘the family restaurant’, ‘the slap in the face’, and ‘the breaking down and crying’; it was probably about those three points---

"I’m wondering… did Takasu-kun hear from Aisaka-san about what happened?"

Ami’s searching eyes, which somehow sparkled reminiscently of that Chihuahua from the commercials, were clouding over and even now looked as if they might start shedding tears at any second. He was desperately trying to come up with the best possible answer with a mind that had gone totally blank while continuing to look away from Ami’s sad pretty face.

"N, no…I didn’t hear anything."

He muttered it sincerely since it was technically true. The fickle angel holding her hands out in front of him was the liar. Though he justified himself thusly, the answer he replied with wasn’t actually a lie anyway. He had seen it all with his own eyes, so he didn’t need Taiga to tell him anything.

"…Really? I was so sure that you had…but maybe I was mistaken. If that’s the case, I still want to say some things…About yesterday, it was totally my fault. Aisaka-san didn’t do anything bad at all."

Her Chihuahua-like teary eyes were sparkling as she gently blinked.

"Hey maybe, that…I, I think that maybe because I seem kind of air-headed that I was making Aisaka-san irritated…Aisaka-san, when we were talking, she’d suddenly become really emotional and said all sorts of things that I didn’t really understand, like ‘conceited’ and ‘getting caught up in the moment’…I ended up panicking. Like ‘Eh? Eh? Why?’, just that sort of thing…so…"

What nerve, to make that kind of expression as she told such a story suited for her own benefit---Feeling that minor chill again, he gave a small sigh of near amazement. Interrupting him,

"…So! Aisaka-san didn’t do anything wrong."

Ami shook her head. Her Chihuahua-like eyes were shining even more and more,

"I…If I was more…If only I was a more level-headed person…So, I want you to forget about it. That…The truth is…Really you know, girls saying weird things all of a sudden like that, it’s…normal…So! I’m not going to worry about that kind of thing! It’s fine! I’ll keep trying my best!"

I’m the victim!---Ami was pleading that with her entire self when the bell started ringing. Speechlessly watching Ami’s theatrical display, Ryuuji felt like he had been saved.

"T, that’s the bell. We have to get back to the classroom…Come on, finish your drink. I understand what Kawashima wanted to say."

Haa, he certainly understood. In other words, Ami had come all that way to make excuses for herself and to keep him from talking.

As if swallowing his uncertainty, Ryuuji drank the rest of his coffee in one go. He momentarily narrowed his eyes intently at Ami’s somewhat satisfied looking smile.

"We have to hurry or we’ll be late for class!"

With a couple gulps, she similarly drank what was left of her iced tea in one go. After disposing of the empty cans in a trashcan, they took off down the corridor side by side.

"…Hey, Takasu-kun. You’ll promise me now, right? That you won’t say anything about this to anyone, right? That is---I’m really sorry that I ended up crying yesterday."

Ami’s teary Chihuahua-like eyes were searching for reassurance. Ryuuji deceptively nodded any number of times,

"I get it…I get it already. C, come on, hurry up."

Shaking off the sudden onset of fatigue, Ryuuji moved forward and continued to run in front of Ami. Because of that, he wasn’t able to see it. Ami, who was running behind him, gave a small laugh as if to say, ‘This guy, he's such a simpleton'.

However, even if he had noticed, it’s not like he would have been at all surprised by it.

[Why did you get back to the classroom at the last second together with Ami Kawashima?]

It came as the teacher had her back turned since she was writing on the blackboard.

A scrap of paper that someone else had recklessly thrown onto Ryuuji’s desk had those words written in pink ink. There wasn’t a name on it, but he could recognize the neurotic handwriting.

He knew he was right when he looked towards the center seats. Looking visibly displeased with her mouth in the shape of an upside down V, Taiga was looking right at him. With cold forsaking eyes Taiga whispered, arrogantly mouthing ‘Reply’.

Did he really have any obligation to reply or anything---He wasn’t sure how he should write about what just happened, and to begin with, he certainly didn’t want to get dragged into their little quarrel. He pocketed the piece of paper in a way that Taiga could see him do it and pulled the textbook he had out closer to himself. Like that, he planned to show her that he wasn’t going to be replying.

However, in his peripheral view, Taiga was making an underhanded throwing motion…

“…Ah!”

…By the time he noticed, it was too late. Well, it was late, but he was still saved.

Coincidentally, he had been scratching his head while holding a leather-bound pencase in hand. It was sudden---the pencase was pierced easily by a mechanical pencil dart. Really, it could easily have been the center of his forehead that was pierced. The four students who unfortunately happened to be sitting between Ryuuji and Taiga were all equally surprised, wearing stiff expressions as they looked for the shot that had just missed them.

“Wh…What the heck was that…”

She intends to kill. This girl, she really wants to kill me. Going ‘Che, how disappointing’, Taiga nevertheless kept a calm face…she snapped her fingers while making that cold and apathetic expression.

Staring at Taiga with rabid-looking eyes, Ryuuji swore resolutely in his heart that he absolutely wouldn’t reply. Just who was the one with the bad split personality; if you tried asking Ryuuji, he wouldn’t be able to say for sure. They were just about equally troublesome.

He caught a glimpse of Taiga mouthing her complaints, but he had no desire to get involved with her. First of all, if he went ahead and relayed what Ami had told him moments ago to Taiga, it was obvious that he’d just be adding fuel to their already treacherous dispute.

Deciding that he would try to completely ignore the situation, he casually started building a barrier around his desk with his textbooks and notebooks. He planned to use them as a defense against that violent girl’s troublesome attacks.

However, a few minutes passed. Again while the teacher’s back was turned, a folded piece of paper was thrown onto his desk by someone in front of him. Thinking it might be Taiga again, he was just about to throw it away, but,

"…Oh…"

TO: Takasu-kun

FROM: Minori

---He ended up seeing those words, and something akin to a sigh escaped from his throat. When he looked to the opposite side of the classroom, he even saw Minori going ‘He~y’ while looking his way and waving her small hand from her seat near the hallway.

Frantically waving back silently, Ryuuji gingerly opened the note with trembling fingers. He didn’t want to rip it…and he didn’t want to get it dirty…After all, this was the first time in his entire life that he had received a letter from the girl he liked. It may have just been a small scrap of paper, but even so, this was the treasure of a lifetime for him. Even when he becomes an old man, he was absolutely certain he wouldn’t forget this day and this moment in time.

However.

[Now look here, Takasu-kun! Minori is seriously angry you know!]

What’s with this beginning paragraph…? Ryuuji swallowed with a bitter taste in his mouth.

[I heard from Taiga; isn’t Takasu-kun being kind of suspicious with that transfer student?! I already told you before on the rooftop you know, that if you toss Taiga aside …I’ll punish you~! ]

…That’s how the first half went.

There was actually a skull mark on the very first letter he was fortunate enough to receive from the girl he liked. He continued on to read the latter half as he tried to stifle his incredulity.

[I’m just saying this in case, you know; that transfer student is certainly a very cute girl. But you know, things that are perfect, they’re not really interesting, right? As proof, my ever-insatiable Minorin Radar (my detector for sweet girls), it’s not responding this time even a bit.]

Well, that’s probably not the problem…Ami Kawashima is interesting…in a way… Rather than that…that bothersome Taiga had tattled to Kushieda. So she’s not only violent but a coward as well. He glanced sideways at Taiga, but she was giving him the cold shoulder, facing the other way and completely ignoring him. Her back was giving off a thick violent aura that said ‘You’re the one at fault, you know’.

Chewing his lips that were dry with an inexpressible anger, Ryuuji still used a steady hand to tear a perfect square of paper from one of his notebooks. He’d make his objection to Taiga later, but for now anyway, he needed to reply to Minori.

To Kushieda

From Takasu

[There isn't anything suspicious going on between me and the transfer student, but before that, there’s nothing between me and Taiga either.]

He wrote that much with carefully arranged letters, then thought a bit,

[Anyway, excuse me for completely changing the subject. What does Kushieda think about people who label themselves naturally air-headed?]

…He tried to pad it a little like that. For some reason, he wanted to try asking her that question. Also, it seemed like she might get a little angry if he just wrote one sentence the first time, and it didn’t even seem very well put. In an email conversation, putting in questions would invariably help keep things going well. But this wasn’t email.

Aggressively hiding the throbbing feeling that was nearly bursting from him, Ryuuji passed his return note to the guy in the seat in front of him. Each time the teacher wrote on the blackboard or glanced at the textbook, his note made its way to Minori bit by bit---Soon enough a few minutes later, it arrived safely into her hands.

He was staring as she opened up his note, worrying futilely and wondering what in the world she was thinking when Minori slowly turned to face Ryuuji and stood up. The teacher had her back turned and was in the middle of writing a bunch of things on the board, but Ryuuji, Taiga, Kitamura, Ami, and pretty much all the other students had surprised looks on their faces and ended up staring almost involuntarily at the standing Minori.

Minori closed her eyes and, reminiscent of the crucified Christ, raised both hands so very slowly while wearing a peaceful expression. Her expression that had been like that of a dead person very, very slowly shifted into a smile. Her hands ended up making a large circle over her head…at least, that’s what it looked like at that moment.

Kuwa~!

With her face crinkled and her mouth opened as if she were crying out, both her hands crossed violently in a slashing motion. They ended up forming an X.

“Umm, and so…”

At the same time that the teacher turned around, Minori was already sitting in her seat acting as if nothing had happened. It might have seemed as if a single giant question mark was looming collectively over the students’ heads.

That X was probably the answer to the latter half of his letter…Ryuuji was puzzling over what just happened as well. He just seriously hoped that she wasn’t making that X in regards to the first half.

Then he thought. You might call a person like her naturally air-headed.

* * *

Even though Ami is such a beautiful person, she wasn’t prideful at all, she was easy to talk to, and just an overall good person!

…The overall opinion of the class unified like that before the period even ended.

There were a lot of guys who were trying to help Ami on her first day, and so no matter who it was, she would gladly say ‘Will you teach me this? Thanks!’, ‘Ah, so that’s how it is~! I’m so glad, you really saved me~!’, ‘Eh~, I’m so happy that I could talk with everyone~!’…Slyly putting on such a convincing smile, she showered her affection indiscriminately with a shining aura like that of an overly pure angel.

The three who were aware of Ami’s true nature were Kitamura, Ryuuji, and also Taiga, but it seemed like Kitamura wasn’t going to be doing anything more than necessary, so Ryuuji didn’t feel he had to waste his time going around telling everyone about Ami’s dual personality. After all, he didn’t want to get mixed up in things any further than he was already.

Then Taiga,

"…Go get me something to drink."

Looking angry and displeased, a trespasser was occupying the seat opposite of Ryuuji.

Partway into the lunch break, she had come to return the emptied bentou box, but it seems she intended to take the opportunity and make him fetch her a drink.

"…Um, you know, haven’t I been constantly telling you to wash the bentou box before giving it back?"

"Haven’t I kept telling you that the school sponges are old and disgusting?"

"And I told you that I keep some new sponges in my locker, didn’t I?"

"And I told you that it’s too troublesome, didn’t I?...Wait wait, it seems like something is bothering you."

He suddenly gave Taiga a sharp look,

"That reminds me…Just why did you say those weird things to Kushieda?"

But he still handed over the bottle of tea that he had brought from home to Taiga. She unscrewed the cap and poured some tea into it, using it as a makeshift cup.

"You’re the one doing weird things. Anyway, I didn’t even say anything. I wrote it…Hey, where did you drink from?"

"…Umm, about on that mark."

"Even if it’s on accident, I really don’t want to drink from the same spot."

She squinted suspiciously at Ryuuji, then,

"…Namusan!"

Horribly exaggerating, she shut her eyes and brought the makeshift cup to her lips. If it was that detestable, she could have just wiped it, but it seemed like instead of doing something like that, she would rather complain or just get angry. Anyway, they were already close enough that they shared food from the same plate. They had probably already exchanged saliva some time before---But if he actually said that to her now, he’d probably be killed in less than three seconds.

"Well then…what were we talking about again? Oh yeah, didn’t you go off with Ami Kawashima somewhere?"

"Are you bringing that up again? You’re so persistent."

"Well, you didn’t answer me!"

With an unusually agitated expression, Taiga cried out.

"Awawawa…"

She had ended up spilling some tea from the cup in her hand onto the desk.

"Ryuuji, tissue!"

"Geez, what are you doing, seriously…"

Wiping the desk incredulously, Ryuuji gave a long sigh. First he took care of the area that had gotten wet, then he finished by giving the whole thing a final rundown. After all, tea could be used as a cleaning agent.

He was already used to being with Taiga, who was usually clumsy like this. However---he still didn’t want to get involved with her quarrel with Ami. He didn’t like her being irritated like this, but he had already colluded intricately with Ami during the recent passing period.

"…Taiga, what was it that you were saying yesterday when we were preparing dinner?"

"Eh?...The maguro tuna, cut it rea~lly thin, I said…"

"That’s not what I meant. About Kawashima. You said you wouldn’t waste your time getting involved with her, but you’d be able to forgive her once you were mature enough."

"Ah…I didn’t say that…No, wait, I lied, I did say that."

"I really think what you were saying is right. It’s fine if you don’t make friends with her. Just forget about what happened yesterday and never go near her again. You can just keep living normally. Just because you ended up seeing her again doesn’t mean you have to become irritated again, does it? It’s not like she’s done anything to you…at least not today."

"…Yeah…That’s right, but…Yes, that is right…"

Quietly moaning before falling silent, Taiga’s sharp look started to soften albeit only very slightly. Maybe things would be okay like this. Even if she is the commanding Palmtop Tiger, it doesn’t mean she should just go do whatever she wants and hate other people. If she can live with a gentler heart, then there shouldn’t be any more of these incidents.

"Well then, let’s go wash our bentou boxes."

"…Huh? No way."

"Don’t say something so ridiculous; don’t you realize what will happen at this temperature? Are you going to be able to use that bentou box again with the rotting rice still inside it? Isn’t that disgusting? I know it is to me. So I’m going to wash mine right now. I don’t know about yours though."

"What’s with that? Couldn’t you just wash mine for me at the same time then?"

"This isn’t a matter of labor, it’s a matter of consideration and common sense. Since I made your lunch for you, you should wash the box before returning it. When the temperature is this high in spring and summer, you should clean out your bentou box. A word of warning about mold infestations, being unprepared for decay-causing microbes is the worst possible mistake!...The only microbes that I love in this world are ‘lactic-acid bacilli’, ‘bacillus subtilis natto’, and ‘the necessary bacteria that live in the mouth and intestines’."

He forced the bentou box back into the hands of Taiga, who was frowning with a look of serious disgust, and started prodding her into standing up. And then, just when he had finally been able to ever so slowly separate Taiga at least five centimeters from the chair,

"Takasu-kun! That was fun earlier~!"

…He just wanted to scream, ‘Why?!’.

"Y, yeah."

"I hope we can talk easily like that again sometime."

Leaving the group of girls, Ami had walked about halfway to where they were sitting. Facing Ryuuji and waving a slender arm, she had an unrestrained beautiful smile plastered over her entire face. The simple uniform fit her well-proportioned limbs almost criminally well, but in Ryuuji’s mind, she no longer fell into the categories of ‘cute’ or ‘beautiful’ or anything like that. The fact that she was two-faced outranked any of that.

…Or at least, that should have been the case.

"…Hey, you know…it’s about our secret chat from earlier."

"Y, yes?!"

Ami suddenly got really close. While he wondered what in the world she was thinking, Ami gently bent her slender body over and brought her lips close to Ryuuji’s ear. The warmth of her breath tickling his earlobes caused Ryuuji’s pores to open all the way. In a sweet voice,

"…Um, about what we discussed earlier. Really try to forget about it, okay…Please, all right?"

Her whisper flowed out gently even though the nearby Taiga was right before her eyes. Without saying anything to either Ami or Ryuuji, Taiga just…stared with a look cold enough to freeze water.

And then Ami pulled away from Ryuuji’s ear with a short ‘Ehe’---While her eyes hinted just a little bit of sadness, she displayed a praiseworthy smile. Then silently turning to Taiga, she gave a look of pitying or sympathetic kindness. Her eyelashes cast a faint shadow on her face, and Ryuuji unconsciously stared as if spellbound---

"…I have class work I need to do."

Taiga’s voice broke his trance. No good, he got caught again…Or maybe he should say, he was deceived again.

With a bang, the Taiga who had pulled Ryuuji back to the real world forcibly jammed the bentou box at his chest before getting up from her seat. At that instant, Ryuuji sighed thinking, ‘At least another quarrel has been avoided for now’. She should have let it go, but Ami followed after Taiga anyway. As Ami pestered her, saying ‘Hey’ and other such things, Taiga’s hair for just a second literally and truly puffed up like it had exploded.

"How surprising…I can’t believe that we ended up in the same class…You know, this is just my impression from up until now, but…Aisaka-san, do you not have any friends other than Takasu-kun?"

"…Shut up you damned brat, do you want me to make you cry again?"

---They clashed for only a moment.

No one---In that moment of confrontation unnoticed by anyone other than Ryuuji, Ami and Taiga exchanged glances only for that one moment.

The two quickly looked away from one another and walked off in their respectively opposite directions. It would be fine if this was as far as things would go, but…he tried to ignore the ominous chill of presentiment running down his back.

However, while the two had only now clearly identified each other as rivals, the fuse had already been lit a long time ago.

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