Chapter 1 - Reunion


The tiger was grumpy on her walk home.

Ryuuji could be such a bonehead sometimes. She had wanted his confession to be anywhere but at that school. She wanted it to be a more romantic setting, perhaps out on a date, where Taiga would be wearing her black dress and Ryuuji would look at her lovingly across the dinner table, and with an uncharacteristic break in his stoicism, he would softly say "I love you," as he caressed her hands with his own.

Yes, Taiga already had the whole scenario mapped out in her head. Unfortunately, he said it after finding her hiding in a classroom locker like a piece of discarded reading material. The confession caught her so off guard that her immediate reflex was to headbutt him and berate him with her usual verbal lashings.

Stupid dog, she thought to herself. This is so typical of him.

And yet, underneath her irritation, she felt a warm glow somewhere inside of her. It was a mixture of bliss and elation and butterflies and calmness and victory. Those words had lifted a weight off her shoulders that she didn't even know was there. Underneath her grumpy exoskeleton, the tiger was truly happy.

Of course, she'd never admit all of that to Ryuuji.

"What are you smiling about?" His voice was tinged with amusement.

Taiga found herself stunned momentarily. Ryuuji's sudden question had pulled her out of her cloud of smug satisfaction.

"It's been a long time since you've cooked for me."

"Yes, it has. Tonight, I'll cook you anything you want. Take your pick."

"Hmm..." Taiga tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Meat."

"More specific."

"Hmph. How about your signature pork cutlets?"

"I'll make you the best pork cutlets you've ever tasted."

"You better."

The tiger and the dragon continued their walk home with cat-like grins plastered on their faces. After some time, Ryuuji broke the silence again.

"Taiga."

"Hm?"

"Did you learn how to cook while you were out on your own?"

Taiga huffed indignantly. "Of course. I wanted to learn how to take care of myself. I'm not the best chef by any means, but I can make a few things."

"You'll have to cook for me sometime then."

"Obviously. A master must never forget to feed her dog."

Ryuuji stared at Taiga quizzically for a moment.

"...Are you going to feed me kibble?"

Three blocks away, a child playing on the sidewalk heard what sounded like a slap in the distance.

...

"Taiga, we were so worried about you!" Yasuko hadn't loosened her bear hug on the poor girl since she had walked through the door.

"Mm srry fr makig yu wrry," Taiga said meekly, her face buried in Yasuko's chest.

Yasuko pulled away for a moment and held Taiga at arm's length. "I'm just so glad you're back! Ryuuji was asking every day, 'Do you think Taiga's alright? Do you think she's okay?' We were just..." She pulled Taiga back into her suffocating embrace. "So LONELY!"

From inside the hug of death, Taiga shot a sideways glance at Ryuuji. He didn't meet her eyes. He was too busy staring at the ground and blushing. Taiga bit her tongue to stop herself from giggling.

Ryuuji coughed sheepishly and cleared his throat. "I'm going to get started on dinner then."

Yasuko's demeanor changed immediately. "Ooh! What are we having?"

"Prk cutlss", declared a muffled voice from her boobs.

...

Despite the passage of time, dinner at Ryuuji's place was mostly the same as it'd always been. Taiga had been stuffing her face with food while she tried to tell the two about her experiences over the past few months. (Ryuuji scolded her at least three times to 'swallow, them talk'). From what Ryuuji DID manage to comprehend, he gathered that she had stayed in contact with her parents, but told them she didn't want any more of their money. She got a job at a sweets shop and had saved up enough cash to rent out a small apartment for a few months. She said she learned how to clean up after herself, and that she kept her place in spotless condition.

"But most importantly..." she had said in between mouthfuls of rice, "it had a STOVE."

She described her experiences in cooking with all the extravagance and gall of an experienced dramatist. She told of her first experiment in the culinary arts, which ended in her almost burning her apartment down. So did the second and third. By the fourth time, however, all she burned was the pan she was cooking with. By the seventh attempt, she had produced a meal that she described only as "edible". After many more attempts, she had memorized a few recipes and was able to follow most others as they were outlined in her cookbook. Overall, she sounded confident in her abilities as a chef, and Ryuuji could not have been more proud.

...

After dinner, Ryuuji moved to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Who knows, he thought to himself, cleaning a glass in one hand, maybe I'll appoint her as my sous chef one day.

He glanced at Taiga beside him. She was washing plates with practiced efficacy.

Or maybe she'll surpass me altogether.

...

Ryuuji stepped out of the shower and changed into a T-Shirt and a pair of sweatpants. During the summer, it could be uncomfortably hot to wear sweatpants at night, but he was never keen on wearing just his boxers when Taiga was staying over. She'd probably call him a pervert, a dog, a pervert-dog, and any other insults she could think of off the top of her head.

Still, it's not like he would have minded. In fact, at that moment, he would have found comfort in one of her tirades. It had been so long since he had received one.

As he stood in his bedroom, drying his hair and thinking about tigers, he heard a small voice coming from the living room.

"Hey."

Ryuuji turned to see Taiga standing demurely at the doorframe. She had one hand on the door post, and she was gazing at Ryuuji with her head slightly bowed. She was wearing her frilly white nightgown that he thought made her look like a doll, perfect in her innocence and purity. She was blushing.

Ryuuji felt a pang in his chest.

"Hey."

Taiga held her gaze for a moment longer before breaking it and staring at her feet.

"Ryuuji, I was wondering if you... wanted to..."

"...Taiga?"

Taiga looked back up and made eye contact with Ryuuji, her stare now filled with determination and resolve. "If you wanted to cuddle."

Ryuuji's heart skipped a beat. His brain lost the capacity to form a coherent thought. His lips felt impossibly chapped. It took everything in his power to croak out a single word.

"Yes."

Taiga paused for a moment, not reacting to his answer. Then, slowly, she walked over towards Ryuuji's bed. He lifted the covers, and the two climbed in wordlessly. As Taiga settled down in front of him, Ryuuji wrapped his arms around her small frame, pulling her face into his chest. He felt her body heat against him. In that moment, he knew that he would never want to let her go. Not when the morning came, not during the next night, not ever so long as he drew breath. He wanted to stay like this for as long he possibly could. She was just so small, so vulnerable, that every fiber in his being yearned to protect her from the outside world, to hide her away from everyone and everything, to hold her all for himself.

As his emotions swelled, Ryuuji could not stop himself from saying what he said next, not that he would have wanted to anyways.

"I love you, Taiga."

Ryuuji felt Taiga's body go tense for a second before relaxing. When she spoke, it was so quiet that Ryuuji could not hear her reply, but he could tell what she had said from the vibrations in his chest.

"I love you too."


Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I was struck with a hollow feeling after finishing Toradora for the first time earlier, so I wrote some fluff to fill the gaping hole in my heart. This is my first time publishing anything under a specific name, although I have written short one-off fics for other communities anonymously. As such, any and all feedback/criticism is greatly appreciated; I do want to improve as much as I can. I may continue this particular story but no guarantees.