Chapter 4

The plan was simple.

They were currently playing basketball in PE class. PE was split into

two halves, male and female, and each group played games on opposite

sides of the gymnasium. However, until they finished preparatory exercises,

they were co-ed. They would get into groups of two, stretch, and pass the

ball for ten minutes.

The PE instructor didn't even care who they paired with. Everyone

always paired with their friends or whoever they wanted.

After getting into his gym clothes, Ryuuji briefed Aisaka on the plan

along the way to the gymnasium.

"Well, since you don't talk to him very often, I figure we might as well

start now. Pair with Kitamura. That's all there is to it."

She walked next to him, playing with the ends of her braided hair, her

lips narrowed.

"Easy for you to say that we should just pair up," she said, "but…the

girls and boys never pair together. I'm always with Minorin and you always

pair with Kitamura-kun. I wouldn't suddenly ask him to pair up—not even

on pain of death would I…"

The end of her sentence trailed off. Ryuuji waved his finger at her

reproachfully and began to announce the plan he had proudly concocted.

"That's the point. Listen, if you want to make it seem casual, like you

paired up with him by happenstance, you just need a little finesse. To start,

I'll pair with you, Aisaka."

With a doubtful look, Aisaka looked up at Ryuuji's face. "…And then?"

"Then, out of necessity, Kitamura will pair with someone else, right?

Then during warm-ups, I'll casually throw the ball and 'accidentally' hit

whoever he paired up with. They probably won't get hurt, but I'll make a

big deal about it and take them to the nurse's office. Then, who would be

left over?"

"…Me and Kitamura-kun."

"Right? Then you'll be like, 'Oh well—guess the people who are left

over have to be partners!'"

"Were you just making fun of me? I'm not stupid. Like, would that even

work?"

"We'll make it work. Where there's a will, there's a way."

They put on their gym shoes and lined up with the other students around

the PE teacher.

"Let's play some games of basketball," the teacher said, like he did

every day, then gave his customary explanation of the procedure.

"So, let's start with preparatory exercises. Why don't you start to pai—"

"Hey, Aisaka!"

"I'm here! Let's pair up, Takasu-kun!"

"Right, let's pair up!"

"Pair up and spreaaad out. Seems like we've got a couple of real eager

beavers today…"

Moving quickly, Ryuuji and Aisaka paired together and scuttled to one

corner of the gym. Frightened voices chimed in from around the room.

"Wow…Takasu's really reckless…"

"He's gonna be the Palmtop Tiger's next meal…"

The two of them didn't notice. They were in the corner whispering to

each other.

"Anyway, we've cleared the first stage," Ryuuji said.

"Right," Aisaka agreed, as they nodded slightly and exchanged glances.

However, because of Ryuuji and Aisaka's unusual behavior, the class

started going in a strange direction. From somewhere outside the frightened

group, someone piped up, "Wha—is today that kind of day? Then I'll pair

with a girl, too! Someone pair with me!"

That carefree voice started a ripple effect.

"Yeah, yeaahhh—I want to pair with a boy, too!"

"Sure, it's nice to mix things up every once in a while."

"Sounds like it might be fun!"

The class suddenly worked itself into an uproar. Other than a few who

vowed to protect the usual divide, the boys and girls began to mix. In order

to pair up, they were practically using pick-up lines.

As a result of that…

"Maruooo! Sorry—I mean, Kitamuraaa, pair with me!"

"Hm? Ohh, no problem. I just got abandoned by Takasu, anyway."

"Urkh!" Aisaka griped and hit Ryuuji once in the back, then said, "Wwait, why is Kitamura-kun with that weird girl?!"

The girl she called "weird" was Kihara Maya-chan, who could actually

be considered one of the more striking students. She was a full-bodied

seventeen-year-old. She had a coat of mascara on her long eyelashes, subtle

pink lipstick, and cute, light makeup that wouldn't get her in trouble with

the school rules…

Ryuuji kept those thoughts to himself, however, and said, "She's not a

'weird girl,' that's Kihara-san. Anyway, she's our classmate, so don't badmouth her. But this did turn out a bit different from how I expected…

Wha?!"

This time, it was Ryuuji's turn to exclaim.

"Kushieda, wanna pair with me?"

The boy who had so shallowly flagged her down was originally from

class A, a good friend of Ryuuji's. It was Noto Hisamitsu-kun, an incredibly

fresh-faced seventeen-year-old. His attempt at fashionable black glasses

was the opposite of flattering. What's with that guy?

As Ryuuji turned to face him, Minori said, "Okay! Let's do it!" and

hopped right to Noto's side and joined him.

"Hey, that's, wha—?!" Ryuuji said. "Kushieda-san is pairing with that

weirdo?! Really?!"

"…He's your friend, isn't he? Hmph! It's because of things like this that

I call you a mutt. You didn't even account for something like this in your

plan, did you?"

"You didn't exactly point it out, either!"

While they both viciously shifted the blame onto each other, the

instructor's whistle echoed across the gym. At the order, everyone lined

back up and started first with exercises broadcast over the loudspeaker.

Aisaka got in front of Ryuuji and swung her braids obnoxiously as she

began to move. With a stare and a click of her tongue, she menaced another

student when she accidentally encroached upon his space. The pitiful victim

frantically apologized while giving even more space up to Aisaka.

He remembered the mystery of Aisaka's nickname. "Because of her

name, and because she'll pretty much bite anyone who wasn't careful

(except Minori), she was called the Palmtop Tiger," a new friend had told

him. No wonder she got called a tiger when she acted like that. Did she not

realize how she might come off to Kitamura, even though she was a girl?

But as Aisaka did her exercises right in front of his eyes, he reflected

that she didn't really seem like a girl who could have such a ferocious

nickname—what with her short height and small frame. If he hadn't known

anything about her, she would have seemed like a frail beauty. Actually,

when they first started school, she had been considered the prettiest new

student and received an incessant stream of confessions of love. Ryuuji

could definitely see why.

Even compared to other girls, her small physique was on a whole

different level. The tracksuits that everyone else wore normally would drag

on Aisaka, so she had to cuff the hems very slightly. Even her backside was

small; her build was terribly delicate.

To be honest, even after seeing a more complete picture of her, Ryuuji

couldn't help but think Aisaka was cute. Of course, that applied strictly to

her looks, but when their eyes would meet by surprise, his beating heart

didn't lie… But then, the sweat that oozed out of him at her glares didn't

lie, either.

If she weren't such a tiger on the inside, she would even be—no, what

was he saying?

"You moron," Aisaka said. "What are you spacing out for? Maybe your

tiny excuse for a brain finally rotted away?"

While he was distracted by a whorl of involuntary thoughts, the radio

exercises had finished.

"Yeah, just keep on talking," he retorted. "I'm way too sophisticated to

stoop to the level of insults that crude."

Aisaka coldly turned her back to Ryuuji and sat down with her legs

stretched out in front of her. Next were stretches.

"How did I get stuck pretending to be happy doing stretches with you?"

he wondered out loud. "Now that I think about it, we don't even use the

balls until the very end."

While laying on her complaints about Ryuuji's plan, she extended her

slender fingers to lightly grab the tips of her sneakers. If he were going to

help push on her back, he would have to touch her, with only her shirt

between his hands and her skin. He hesitated for a moment, before

regaining his composure.

"You sure are flexible. It would have been nice if you got to have this

conversation with Kitamura instead, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

Although he was exchanging pleasantries with her, he was actually

incredibly flustered. It might have been because he was thinking about

Aisaka's looks, but now he couldn't help but be oddly aware of her body.

The shoulder blades that protruded from her back were warm—

probably because she had been moving. The lines of her bra were just

visible underneath her tank top.

I might have accidentally made all the boys in the class awfully happy,

Ryuuji thought.

"It's a little… Hey, take it easy. Don't push that hard."

But with that thought, Ryuuji worried about Kushieda Minori. Like

Aisaka, Minori might also be showing the faint lines of her underwear to

Noto.

"Ryuuji. That's uncomfortable. Hey! That's too hard! Ow, that's too…"

Even as he pondered that, his gaze focused on the area between the nape

of Aisaka's neck and the part in her hair. It might have been because it

didn't get hit by the sun, but it was completely white. The back of her ears

and nearby carotid area didn't have a single blemish. Her skin was smooth

like marble. It was as though touching her would inevitably leave

fingerprints. Just looking at it, his heartbeat sped up, and it got hard to

breathe…

"Urk… Urm… Urf!"

"…Hm? What's up with you?" he asked Aisaka.

When he let go, she threw her head back momentously, like a diver

breaking the surface.

"I-I'll switch with you right now… Here, you wanna switch…?" he

asked.

Aisaka looked at Ryuuji with an expression he'd never seen before—

she grinned. Ryuuji couldn't understand what in the world had happened.

Maybe something good?

Then, a few dozen seconds later, he was sitting with his legs out and his

back to Aisaka. Don't push too hard, Ryuuji thought and glanced back.

That's when he saw it.

From a little way off, she ran straight at him. She took off and soared.

"Hey, stop—aaack!"

Carrying more force than her body should have allowed, the tiger nearly

broke his spine. A sound of sheer destruction came from his waist.

"Damn… That'll be sore for a while…!"

"I'm sore, too. Consider this payback."

After wasting each other's HP, the long-awaited passing practice finally

arrived. After enduring that jumping body slam, he felt like his lower half

had been smashed to pieces, but he continued to participate in the exercises,

somehow. Miraculously.

"Hurry up and do it, just like we planned earlier. Are you ready?"

Aisaka moved about five meters away from him. The other students had

started practicing passes, and the satisfying sounds of basketballs echoed

here and there throughout the room.

Of course, their earlier plan was for Ryuuji to casually throw the ball

during warm-ups and gently hit the person paired with Kitamura. But there

was one problem.

They'd positioned themselves so that Kitamura's partner, Kihara-san,

was diagonally behind Aisaka—or diagonally in front, from Ryuuji's

perspective—but Kihara-san was a girl.

No matter how gently he tried to throw it, intentionally hitting a girl

with a ball…it made him hesitate. For the time being, Ryuuji did a chest

pass to Aisaka.

"Why are you still passing normally?"

Her large eyes glinting dangerously like the edge of a knife, Aisaka

glared at Ryuuji.

"There's this thing called 'timing.' Hey, c'mon, pass it."

"…"

With displeasure clear on her face, she returned a sharp pass. And then,

when Ryuuji took the ball in hand, Aisaka motioned at him with her chin.

Do it.

She was giving him an order.

"…Well, uh… well…"

With just the right amount of deceptiveness, he threw one more pass.

Aisaka caught the ball, but her mouth distorted into a scowl.

"Hey. I'm telling you, hurry up and do it…"

Then, slowly, with a stability learned through experience, she dribbled

the basketball repeatedly. Bam. Bam. Bam.

"There!"

"Whoa!"

She hucked the ball like a bullet, right at his face.

"Y-you…"

It was close, but Ryuuji barely managed to catch it in time. One of his

cheeks twitched brutishly, but he wasn't angry. Well, okay, he was a little

angry, but even more afraid.

"Hey, Ryuuji, hey—pass it, paaass it."

Aisaka wore one of her calm expressions. With each of her beautiful,

near-on aggravating side steps, her gym shoes squeaked. Of course, since

she hardly intended to receive a pass, both her hands swayed playfully. I

should show her the pass of a real man. Ryuuji concentrated his strength

into both his hands, but…

"…Oh."

He stopped in his tracks, caught off guard when Aisaka glanced away.

"What're you looking at?"

Right in Aisaka's line of sight, Kihara Maya ran after her ball, as it

quickly tumbled away. "Heyy, Kitamura, where do you think you're

throwing that?!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Out of all the places it could have gone, the ball hit Aisaka's feet.

"…"

She was dazed.

With an unfortunate expression showing on her face, Aisaka picked it

up.

"Oh, Aisaka-san! Sorry, are you mad?! I'm so sorry, it wasn't on

purpose!"

It might have been because they were both girls, but Kihara smiled

broadly and waved her hands, showing none of the fear a boy would have.

"Throw it here." But then she noticed that her shoelaces had become untied.

Kihara quickly crouched down to fix them.

In her place, someone else called Aisaka's name.

"Heey, Aisaka! Sorry, but could you pass it over here?"

It was the honor student with the glinting glasses, Kitamura Yuusaku.

As expected of Kitamura, his easy, natural attitude with girls never

changed.

Screech! Like a motor all out of gas, Aisaka suddenly stopped moving.

From where he was, Ryuuji couldn't see her expression, but he had a good

idea. Her twisted back snapped straight as a board.

Krrik krrik krrik… Clank clank clank. Aisaka took several precarious

steps, the robotic sounds practically audible. Right hand, right leg; left

hand, left leg—each moved in conjunction. She approached and found a

suitable position, but she threw the ball silently, without even a "here you

go" or "here it comes." No, she just threw the ball away—with an

abruptness that made you want to cover your eyes.

The ball, seemingly fired at random, bounced several times. But it

rolled straight ahead, right where it was supposed to go…until it rolled right

into Kitamura's hands.

"Right, thanks!" he said, making a somewhat outdated hand gesture—

he threw her two finger guns. The hem of his t-shirt was tucked squarely

into his tracksuit, and the drawstring bottoms of his pants were cinched

super tight.

Does Aisaka actually like that guy? Watching on, Ryuuji maintained

fundamental doubts.

"A-Aisaka…?"

"…"

Aisaka, who actually did seem to like that guy, had ceased all living

functions—or at least, she sure looked like it. Without answering Ryuuji,

she stood in the middle of the other students' passing practice, a

conspicuous nuisance. She didn't so much as twitch.

After calling out several times, Ryuuji gave up and gingerly approached

her. Then, doing his best to avoid rousing her anger, he said, "Hey, Aisaka."

"…"

He gently pinched her T-shirt sleeve and softly tugged her along as he

walked. Aisaka was surprisingly obedient as she followed in tow back to

their starting position. He glanced at her silent face.

"Whoa…!"

Reflexively, Ryuuji was taken aback. Aisaka Taiga was grinning. It

wasn't easy to notice, but you could tell if you were up close.

She had narrow eyes, like a cat with a full stomach. Her cheeks puffed

up with air. Her lips pursed into the shape of a triangle, and her neck turned

the color of a peach. Her earlobes got even redder. Though she didn't

vocalize the sound, if you listened very, very closely, you could just barely

hear her breathing out, "Heh heh heh heh heh."

She was laughing.

"H-hey, wait… Aisaka, what's the matter with you?"

"Heh heh… What? Now who's the absentminded one? You should be

happy, too; it suits a mutt like you."

"I should be…happy?"

Hearing such an unexpected word, it was Ryuuji's turn to pause in

between the other students. Just what was he supposed to be happy about?

Despite how angry Aisaka was a minute ago, now she was in a great mood,

for some mysterious reason. She swung her braids around, one in each

hand. She was skipping…and dancing?

But how? Why? Ryuuji felt like he could get away with asking and

while he endured being whipped by her braids again and again, he furrowed

his brow and tried asking an extremely simple question.

"Hey… hey, just what am I supposed to be happy about?"

Suddenly, Aisaka exclaimed in surprise and raised her head.

"I just told you! Are you saying you forgot the goal we're working

towards? Woow, just how stupid are you? Is your brain even smaller than I

thought? Hah, it's no joking matter, if you can't follow something that

simple. But I'm in a good mood right now, so I guess I can explain it for

you. But will you listen? You're listening, right? I-I just practiced passing

with Kitamura! Heh heh!"

She capped it off with another laugh, "Heh heh heh heh heh."

Ryuuji thought for a while, then eventually he said, "Uhhh, how can I

say this…?"

"Wait. You don't mean…a mere dog like you is going to complain?"

"It's not a complaint. Sorry for raining on your parade, but are you sure

you're looking at this the right way? I'm just saying. You didn't practice

passing with him just now, you just tossed the ball to him once. And was

passing practice even really what you set out to do? Didn't you want to go

beyond practicing and do things like have a conversation with him and

become friends?"

Huh. Some of Aisaka's sharp logic came back into her grin.

That's right. Ryuuji gained confidence and dug in even more. "And

what was that? Would you really call that exchange a 'conversation'? You

were silent, weren't you? You just tossed back their stray ball and got a,

'Thank you.' Like this."

While still cradling the ball in one hand, he used his other one to mimic

the stupid pose Kitamura had made.

"Hmph!" Aisaka's spirit flashed. With all her strength, she swung her

tiny hand downwards. BAM! She knocked the ball under Ryuuji's arm down

to the ground.

With terrible force, the stricken ball flew up almost to the ceiling, and—

bop! It landed directly on Ryuuji's head.

A certain someone caught the ball that bounced off him and said, "You

might actually have a point, there. Whoa, looks like even a broken clock is

right twice a day. Hmph. Anyway, for now, let's stick to the plan."

You can't get any more pompous than that. The arrogant Aisaka was

back. She practically kicked Ryuuji up from where he had collapsed on his

knees. She blamed him for being slow and resumed position for pass

practice. Then…

"Hey, Ryuuji!"

"Whoa!"

He got a super-high-speed chest pass. He hadn't regained his balance,

and instead of catching it, he took it dead on in the chest.

"Damn, that hurt!" Ryuuji cried out without thinking. But Aisaka's

bright eyes twinkled dangerously, almost burning with madness. The flame

was stronger than before. Her fire was flaring up. It seemed like her delight

over that momentary, chance interaction had sparked a fire of love in

Aisaka. She was being an absolute menace.

"Go ahead and do it," she said. "Stick to the plan, and this time, I'll

make sure it succeeds."

"Uh…it wasn't really a plan, so much as…"

"What are you saying? It's the plan you came up with, isn't it?! We're

almost out of time, here!"

Whatever happened, what was most important was going through with

the plan.

No way can I do this. Ryuuji took a quiet sidelong glance at Kitamura's

partner and shook his head. She was a girl, and even if the plan was to hit

her gently, he just couldn't do it. In fact, it would be better if practice time

just ran out.

That's it.

Ryuuji opened his eyes, enlightened. That was it. If he just kept on

wasting time, he could stall until the end of class. Of course, Aisaka would

probably be furious, but he could always try running from the consequences

of two-timing her. There was nothing I could do, he would say to her. It

wasn't on purpose.

"You idiot, what is taking you so long…? Ahh, jeez, even at a time like

this…my nose is getting kinda…itchy…"

There was his chance! While Aisaka vigorously rubbed her nose, Ryuuji

pelted her with banter, machine-gun fast.

"Hey, hey, what's with the long face? Come to think of it, you were

sneezing a lot yesterday, too. Do you think it could be an infection? If not

that, maybe a cold? Or could it be allergies? Maybe your sinuses got

wrecked by household dust? When was the last time you cleaned? Well, it is

you we're talking about, so I'm going to guess never. That nice rug is

wasted on you. That's right, that rug—where did you buy it? I sure wish I

had one. It wasn't made in Japan, right? Man, I'm jealous."

"Hahh?! You've got a big mouth all of a sudden," Aisaka sneered.

"What are you going on about?! I don't care about any of that… Ugh! My

nose… Uuuh… Ach, jeez! None of that matters right now, I'm telling you tto hurry up… Uuuughh!"

Aisaka, her irritation growing, wiggled her nose just before…

"Hurry up, come on! Hey, hey, hey, hey! Paaaaaassssss iiiit!"

She made a low growl and stretched her arms out like a jorou spider.

Her eyes told him that if he actually threw the ball to her, he wouldn't be

easily forgiven.

But what was one more pass to kill time? Ryuuji made a naïve

calculation and felt like he could get away with one more pass back and

forth. It might have been because Aisaka's nose was still itchy, but her face

distorted into a wrinkle.

"Uh, uhh… Fluh…"

"Okaaay, I'm going for it Aisaka!"

Ryuuji threw one final, strong pass. To his surprise, Aisaka threw her

head back and…

"ACHOO!"

"Aaah!"

At the very same moment he threw the pass, Aisaka sneezed. The

sound of it rang throughout the gym, along with Ryuuji's yell… It

wasn't on purpose. He swore it wasn't on purpose.

But, unfortunately, just at the moment Aisaka was about to sneeze, the

chest pass hit her square in the face. Aisaka flew back. The ball bounced

fruitlessly and rolled away. Ryuuji just stood there, dumbfounded, for

several seconds. Eventually he came back to himself.

"Sooooorry! Are you okay?! Hey!"

Flustered, he rushed over to help her, but he was shaking. It was terrible

—ah, she had a nosebleed, she'd fainted… For some reason, the images of

Inko-chan and Yasuko from that morning floated into his mind. They had

both been on their sides in strange positions. And now, Aisaka was like this.

Could it be what I saw this morning foreshadowed what's happening now?

Ryuuji shook his head. How could he think such meaningless things to

himself at a time like this?

"Tell me what happened, Takasu! Who got hurt?! Was it Aisaka?!"

The instructor, along with the class representative, Kitamura, had both

come running over. For a moment, Ryuuji thought he could entrust Aisaka

to Kitamura—but then he looked down at Aisaka in his arms.

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. Takasukun 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 first-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 violently, 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 rosecolored 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…"

He hadn't gotten through to her at all. Reflexively, Ryuuji also felt like

making a fool of himself. But that was Kitamura's role as Maruo and thus,

he stood firm on both feet and said, "…Tomorrow is fine arts—so, be sure

you don't forget anything! Rise! Bow! Goodbye!"

"Goodbyyyee," everyone said in a chorus, followed by, "Let's go home,

let's go home."

They ended homeroom on their own. The unmarried person also

(almost) seemed fine with it. She obediently left the classroom but sobbed a

bit as she said, "Maybe I'm not cut out for this line of work…"

"A-Aisaka—"

Ryuuji stood up and followed Aisaka with his eyes. Aisaka stood up

quickly.

"Awah!" Flustered, she dropped her own bag from the top of her desk.

How clumsy can you get? Ryuuji turned to look for Kitamura.

"Ohh, it's already so late… I'm going to get in trouble with the

president again."

Lightheartedly holding his shoes, Kitamura started quickly running to

the classroom door. This was bad. They needed to catch him before he went

into the student council meeting. After that, there wouldn't be another

window to catch Kitamura by himself. Panicking, Ryuuji rushed to Aisaka.

"You don't need shoes! Hurry up and go stop him!"

"Ah, uh…! Ki. Ki—Ki…"

What are you doing? He scratched his head. Aisaka stood up, but

though she reached a hand out towards Kitamura's back, she couldn't call

out his name. Kitamura-kun. It seemed she had magically forgotten those

five syllables. Her face distorted, as though she were about to cry, and she

opened and closed her mouth.

"Ugh, he just left! We're going to run!"

"Ah—okay!"

Ryuuji gave Aisaka's small back a strong hit and forced her into a run.

He followed after her with long strides. This clumsy girl—if he left her

alone, he didn't know what stupid thing she might do.

Holding the package of cookies to her chest, Aisaka jumped out of the

classroom to pursue Kitamura. Ryuuji went with her. Down the hallway,

they saw the back of their target for a moment as he turned a corner.

"Over there! After him!"

As the flow of students began heading for the entrance opposite their

direction, Aisaka increased her speed. He thought it would be difficult for

her to part the sea of people as they were heading home, but…

"Get out of my way!"

With just those curt, violent words, the people standing in Aisaka's way

exclaimed:

"Look out! It's the Palmtop Tiger!"

"Everyone get out of the way! Danger, incoming!"

They parted themselves to the right and left as though she were Moses.

After she'd passed by, the people divided in her wake began to return to

their places, until…

"Sorry! Please let me through!"

At Ryuuji's very normal words, they panicked again.

"Look out! It's Takasu!"

"The second villain is coming through!"

Thus, it was another Moses-moment. It seemed that word still hadn't

gotten around to the other classes that Takasu wasn't really a thug. He

paused in a momentary depression, but this was not the time for that; he

immediately started following behind Aisaka again.

In that one moment of delay, however, he had lost track of Kitamura. He

just barely glimpsed Aisaka's hair as she went up the stairs. Kitamura and

Aisaka were both unexpectedly fast. Mediocre Ryuuji was out of breath.

Using all his strength to get up the stairs, he quickly followed them to the

second floor.

But suddenly, he realized he didn't actually need to catch up with them.

If Aisaka could successfully stop Kitamura, and he could just confirm that

she got to him, that would be good enough.

"…Haah, haah…"

Holding his heart, which felt ready to shred apart, he stopped climbing

the stairs to catch his breath. Then, he looked nonchalantly upwards—what

a terrible coincidence. Reflexively, he shouted.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

At the very top of the stairs, Aisaka slipped trying to take the last step.

Pow! She threw out her arms. Somehow, she had come into Ryuuji's field

of vision at the very moment she began to fall.

He screamed—and a superhuman strength awakened in him.

With unthinkable speed, Ryuuji flew.

"…!"

He got her with a sliding catch. Ryuuji, who had jumped out onto the

landing, miraculously stopped Aisaka's fall. But he couldn't stop the

momentum. Still holding her small body, Ryuuji crashed into the wall.

"Guh!"

The noise he made was right out of a manga. He opened his eyes wide

in pain. Then, right before his eyes, he saw a familiar package fly out of

Aisaka's hands. It traced an arc through the air and fell out of the open

window.

They were three stories above the ground.

What fell were the four cookies she had struggled to make.

"Eek!" he squeaked out. Aisaka, still in the position she had fallen in,

reached a hand toward the window. But it was too late—they had probably

already hit the ground.

"…Ah." Aisaka, he tried to say, but his voice wouldn't come out. He

had lost his breath when he had hit his back.

"Ryuuji!"

The small voice immediately followed his. It seemed Aisaka had

noticed. Her face changed color as she clung to Ryuuji. She was at a loss for

words, but settled on a scowl. Like she'd been paralyzed with poison, her

face froze in that expression for some time.

But, it wasn't a big deal—Ryuuji somehow regained his breath, then

waved his hand to show her it would be okay. It wasn't as bad as her

expression made it out to be.

More importantly—the cookies. And Kitamura. He pointed at the stairs

and window in turn.

"Ch-chase after him. Pick that up…" Somehow, he managed to squeeze

out his voice and push off Aisaka. He still had spirit. She had struggled so

much in making them, and since he had helped get them done, he wanted to

see them delivered to Kitamura, too.

She'd put in so much effort—he wanted the object of Aisaka's desire to

understand just how she felt.

But Aisaka didn't even try to look where he was pointing. "Ryuuji, are

you okay?! Argh, ugh, how could this have happened…?"

She was frantically feeling Ryuuji's neck and ankles, checking for

broken bones. Even the violent Palmtop Tiger was disturbed when someone

got hurt protecting her. His back ached, so he really wanted to stay sitting a

while longer, but…

"I'm fine, so… Here, see? I'm not hurt."

Ryuuji stood up and stretched for her, forcing himself to put on a

healthy face. Luckily, he didn't hurt anywhere else, and he could still move

his whole back. It seemed like he really was fine. Seeing him like that,

Aisaka finally breathed in.

"Ryuuji…I-I…"

She stretched both her hands out to Ryuuji. Wearing an expression he

hadn't seen before, she opened her mouth to continue speaking but was

interrupted.

"Heyyy! Which student just threw something out the window? Hurry up

and get down here, right now!"

"Guh." She shut her mouth. It was the voice of an infamously strict

teacher, a professional guidance counselor. With that happening, all hope of

getting the cookies to Kitamura was lost.

"…Bad luck. Oh well, better go down to get the cookie and get yelled

at. I'm going to wait in the classroom."

"But…at least let me walk you back, first."

"It's fine, I can walk by myself. Hurry, or she'll make a scene."

He pushed on her back to encourage her to leave, but Aisaka frowned at

Ryuuji and looked over several times before she finally went down the

stairs.

In that time, the teacher's voice heated up even more. It would have

been good if Aisaka hurried up, he thought. But was there really anyone in

the world that could shepherd the Palmtop Tiger?

Ryuuji walked slowly, muttering to himself in a small voice, "…Heh. I

used it up…"

He was thinking back to something Yasuko shared with him when he

was in elementary school. According to her, she was apparently "sliiiightly

psychic," and until the day of her death, she had the power to warp—no

more than three times. At any rate, Yasuko had used that power twice

already. Once when she was a kid, she got in a traffic accident. She was

thrown twenty meters into the air, but because she warped just before

crashing into the ground, she'd been fine. And then, the second time, she

used it when she ran out of the house to deliver Ryuuji, heading to the man

she loved (who had a magazine stuffed under his shirt). Although she didn't

tell him much about it, she had, of course, safely gotten to him because of

that miraculous warp.

And then, as for the last warp… "I'm going to give it to you, Ryu-chan!

Your mother doesn't have anything she wants to use it for," she said. Then

she went "Pah!" at Ryuuji, who was a kid back then, and gave it to him. She

said, "If something dangerous happens, you have to use this power and

come back to me."

Instead, Ryuuji had used it to save Aisaka. He'd wanted to use it several

times before, when he was running late—but it was good he'd saved it.

Sorry, Yasuko, he thought.

***

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Completely. We've already had this conversation a hundred times."

"Then, that's okay… Even if you are a dog, I wouldn't be able to sleep

right if you really got hurt." Softly muttering, Aisaka placed her forehead

against the window's glass. That's nice, coming from someone who came to

kill me with a wooden sword, Ryuuji nearly retorted, but somehow kept his

mouth shut.

Since she had picked up the cookies and come back to the classroom,

Aisaka's voice had no strength in it. Her spirit seemed extinguished.

The silent after-school classroom was deserted—only Aisaka and

Ryuuji were there. No one could see this profile of the Palmtop Tiger except

for him.

"…We've made mistake after mistake. Not a single thing went right."

She talked to herself, voice seemingly bereft of the energy it had earlier

that day, hoarse and fading.

"It's only been one day since we started the plan, right? It figures it

wouldn't go perfectly."

"…Is that all that's wrong? If I didn't make those mistakes, it might

have almost… And I got you hurt. Not a single good thing came out of

this…I don't want to do it anymore."

Aisaka turned her back to the window, slid down, and squatted. She

cradled her knees and sat on the ground by Ryuuji's feet while he stood

beside her.

She pulled at her long hair with her fingers. As though wanting to hide

her expression, she buried her face in her hair. "In the seventeen years up

until now, I never realized…but, I finally get it. I'm a klutz."

The hands pulling on the hem of Ryuuji's pants were like a child's.

"Even you…even you think that, don't you, Ryuuji? You must be so

tired of me—of this hopeless klutz."

When he looked down, Aisaka stared up at him. Their eyes met. She

pushed her cheeks against her cradled knees, and her thin eyelids fluttered,

as though from some hidden hurt.

Her usual aggressive intensity was subdued, replaced by a rush of selfhatred that seemed to overflow from her eyes.

"During PE, that was my bad. The plan itself was flawed," Ryuuji said.

"That's not the only thing…that I failed at." Aisaka closed her eyes as

though exhausted, remembering their train wreck of a day.

Third period PE. The unlucky lunch. And then that horrible failure just

now.

Once she knew it was Aisaka who dropped the package of cookies, the

guidance counselor apparently hadn't been able to provide much guidance,

and so Aisaka pretty much immediately came back to the classroom where

Ryuuji was waiting.

He was glad it hadn't turned into a big deal, but…

"…Even though I put all that effort into making them…I just… Haah."

As Aisaka muttered, he saw a small scratch on her chin, left by a sleeve

button during his rescue. While touching the cut gingerly, she brought out

the newly returned cookie bag from her pocket. Inside remained the scant

few cookie crumbs that hadn't fallen out.

"When I wrote the love letter, I put it in the wrong bag. When I broke

into your house, I collapsed out of hunger. When I played basketball, I got a

ball right to my face. When I tried inviting him to lunch, he had something

to do with someone else. When I baked cookies, I burned them and fell

down and dropped them, and I'm just… I'm really…tired of it…"

"You forgot one. Remember the empty envelope?"

"…You're right."

He had meant it as a joke, but it came out badly. Burrowing deeper,

Aisaka put her head between her knees again and remained silent.

"A-Aisaka…"

No answer.

Still sitting strangely, she curled up into a small ball, like a snail

withdrawn into its shell. She didn't move in the slightest. She grabbed onto

her skirt-covered knees, slim fingers faintly trembling. As her delicate

shoulders tremored with her breathing, a strand of her hair slowly fell

down.

I definitely said the wrong thing, Ryuuji thought. Girls are so unfair.

Even though she normally acted so arrogantly, and caused people so

much trouble, when he saw her in this state, as a guy, he couldn't help but

feel his chest ache—because he couldn't stand a sight like this. Because it

was absolutely, completely intolerable.

Ryuuji scratched his head vigorously, then his eyes honed themselves to

a sharp point. He briefly went back to his seat. Then he got down next to

Aisaka and sat the same way she was.

"…Let's trade, Aisaka."

"…?"

He poked her shoulder; she looked up. Pretending not to notice the

moisture around her eyes, he put a bare, foil-wrapped package on her knees.

Then, in exchange, he plucked the cookie bag Aisaka was holding from her.

When he opened the torn bag, he found nothing but crumbs, but there

were a couple pinches remaining.

"Uh, wai…Ryuuji. You know that's already been on the floor, right? Aand, uh—"

"I only got the burned ones, so I wanted to know how they turned out,"

he asserted bluntly. Heedless of the wide-eyed Aisaka, he took a pinch with

his fingertips and tossed it into his mouth. Then…

"…"

Silence.

The burnt cookies she'd thrust into his mouth had been hot and bitter.

They'd choked him and were forced on him besides, so he pretty much spat

them out in disgust. This was the first time getting a real taste of the cookies

she had made. But…he was pretty sure she had mixed up the sugar and the

salt…

"Is… i-is it good?"

"Yeah, it's delicious!"

Aisaka's eyes, which had been trembling with worry, became round.

"Yeah, you made them really well," he went on. "It's just too bad you

didn't get to give them to him. Next time we get a chance, let's try and do

better."

He pulled through with the poker face of a lifetime. He urged her to eat

the cookies he'd given her. Opening them hesitantly, Aisaka once again

seemed surprised, and turned to Ryuuji.

"Wow…they're amazing.! These cookies turned out perfect! Are you

sure? You want me to eat them?"

"I'm the kind of guy who was just going to take them home to his mom,

so it's fine. Go ahead and eat them all."

The thin cookies, glazed in butter and sugar, were specially made.

Aisaka spent a while staring at their perfect glaze.

"…De-li-cious! They're great!"

She stuffed them into her mouth, and her eyes opened wide.

"That's the first time I've heard the word 'delicious' out of your

mouth."

"But this is amazing! They're better than the kind they sell in stores!"

"I speak from experience: things you bake at home generally are better

than what's sold in stores. I have my own favorites, but I think that's

particularly true if you like stuff that's fresh and soft."

"It really is… Wow, these are great. Super yummy!"

As she was absorbed in eating cookies, Aisaka's profile looked exactly

like that of a regular girl. Delicious, delicious. Her cheeks stuffed full, she

licked the sugar around her lips. "If only I had tea, this would be perfect,"

she said quietly to herself.

Just who knew?

Other than him, who knew of this Aisaka Taiga?

It was a really strange feeling. Up until the day before, he, like everyone

else, had been afraid of the "Palmtop Tiger"—and not just afraid of getting

bitten, but also fearful of engaging in her world. He'd had no idea that

Aisaka Taiga was this kind of person.

But in truth, she was this kind of person: She had a rough temperament

and was either the daughter of a thug or a karate master; she was mean

enough to call other people dogs but couldn't even say the name of the guy

she liked in his presence; and she was unbelievably clumsy and so ashamed

of her clumsiness she could get completely depressed over it and cry almost

immediately. Plus, on top of all that, she was always hungry and had a

particular weakness for anything delicious or sweet.

What a weird girl. She was a nuisance. A troubled person.

But Ryuuji didn't particularly dislike her oddities, he suddenly realized.

He was glad he'd met her. That was the only way he could think of it. Right

then, at that moment, it felt strangely comforting.

That was right. She was perplexing, maddening, and a nuisance, but

when she was hurt, he wanted to console her, to a certain extent. When it

came to Aisaka, he felt…

"…Hey, Ryuuji, I figured it out." She jumped up.

When he came back to himself, Aisaka Taiga was looking at Ryuuji's

face from a very close distance. Even though she was small, her features

were deeply set, well balanced. When she blinked, stars seemed to fall in

her large, transparent eyes. They were exquisite. Even though her body was

small, she didn't have a baby face at all. That realization surprised him, and

a shudder ran down his spine.

Ahem, he cleared his throat. "…I-Is something wrong?!" He could only

manage a strange, flustered response.

"We've been failing because you haven't been working hard enough!

You're really a bad dog! You mutt!"

"…"

Aisaka heaved her shoulders and huffed in overdramatic exasperation.

She lowered a contemptuous stare. Somehow, it seemed she had regained

her spirit and, well, what could you do?

She's really irritating. What a bizarre person, Ryuuji thought. But, right

now, Aisaka was faintly smiling, so…for now, he decided he would shut up

and forgive her.

It wasn't a big deal.

***

Their homes were slightly apart from each other, but they still shared

the same route home.

Up ahead, Aisaka stopped just in front of the school gate. From there,

the athletic fields were visible from between the gaps in the hedges.

"What is it?"

"…It's the softball club. Minorin is there."

Minori was running energetically in the twilight where Aisaka pointed.

In Ryuuji's eyes, a spotlight suddenly shone down right on her and only her.

But he understood. Aisaka's gaze didn't follow the place she indicated

with her pointing finger. Instead, her gaze was focused over on the boy's

division as they stretched. She had taken note of Kitamura in the middle of

the group, and his undyed black hair.

Aisaka stood quietly still, right where she was. The orange sunset

outlined the silhouette of her profile with gold. Even though a slightly chilly

breeze blew, Aisaka's back did not budge.

It seemed that, somehow, she really, truly did like Kitamura Yuusaku.

"Hey. Come to think of it, I haven't asked you but…why Kitamura?"

Aisaka turned at the sudden question but didn't answer. She just

blinked, and stared back into Ryuuji's face with her transparent eyes,

colorless in the sunlight. Then…

"I'm going home first, so why don't you stay here for a little while?"

It seemed like a dodge, but it was enough for Ryuuji, because he was

trying to figure out why he'd just asked the question.

"…What do you mean, you're going home first?" he said.

"You want to ogle at Minorin some more with that gross look in your

eyes. You can watch her, but you shouldn't expect anything ridiculous like

you being with her any time soon. I know she's beautiful. I completely

understand why you chose Minorin. I'm not so cruel as that. Oh, and come

at eight o'clock to make dinner. Well, then—see ya."

See ya, she says. No, it was the part about dinner—that was the real

kicker… No, it was the see ya.

She left him no room for questions. She turned her back to him and

started walking off by herself. Then, immediately…

"…Wah!"

She turned on the klutz power at full blast. She reached slightly uneven

ground and tumbled over. Everything in the bag she was carrying flew out.

Like a child, she was defenseless.

"Uggh. What is wrong with you?"

Sighing, Ryuuji ran to her. He helped Aisaka up, while she shouted

things like you're nosy and leave it. Then he put the bag in her small hand

and brushed off the dirt that had gotten on her skirt. That's when he noticed

them. There were scars all over her defenseless kneecaps… She must have

fallen countless times, over and over again, while no one was looking.

How can I leave someone like that by herself…? He sighed again. Then,

he raised his head and looked at Aisaka straight in the face.

"How are we going to do dinner? I get to eat some too, right? And I get

to bring some home for my mom. Oh, and your house's fridge is completely

empty, I can't make anything with just that, so we've gotta stop by a

supermarket. You'd better be paying for all the ingredients. Oh, also—to

assault that kitchen, we'll need to buy mold killer and bleach!"

Guess there's nothing for it, he thought.

If Aisaka told him to do something, he couldn't turn her down. He

understood well enough after that day and the day before. At any rate, she

was stubborn, and pushy and unfair and self-centered, and her threats were

nothing to laugh at. And once she decided on something, she would

definitely do it. Because of that…she was someone to seriously watch out

for.

Because of that…he couldn't leave her alone. There was no helping it.

Not to mention the fact that the Aisakas' kitchen island was so dirty he

couldn't even dream of looking away.