Chapter 2 – Don't ever leave, my Valentine.
As he stood there dumbfounded, Ryuuji couldn't help but feel nostalgic, and a little sad. The reason for his melancholy revolved not around the beautiful young woman standing in front of him, but in the girl she had been and conversely, the boy he had once been. The couple's high school years had long since passed, 'Well…' he thought to himself, 'It hasn't been THAT long, but that doesn't change the fact that it feels like an eternity'. As he mulled that thought over in his head he realized that there was no possible way for him to have been more concise. It had only been a little over eight months since his high school career had ended with both Taiga's return to his life, and their former place of learning.
She had transferred schools in the year she had left, so it wasn't as though she had simply run away and let all her years of schooling fly out the window by choosing not to finish the final one. He recalled her recanting tales of all the troubles she had encountered, and endured, the shenanigans she had gotten up to and friends she had made. And then of course there were her grades, which had been average (actually quite good in fact, in the eyes of anyone of average intelligence, Ryuuji was often known for his seemingly effortless genius), in their second year. He had been surprised, pleasantly, to learn that in the time they had spent away from each other she had improved them considerably. It was not until several months after her return that she sheepishly revealed, upon questioning, that she had done it solely in hopes of impressing him.
Impress him it had, in fact when she had revealed the grades to him shortly after her return, he had run around his house with the paper containing them, her report card, as she sat embarrassed the living room. He took no notice of this of course, as he was too busy being ecstatic about the fact that they could, if they so chose, get into any university they pleased together. She was still not quite on par with him, as he had pulled up his socks in his final year as well, but good enough by far to get into most any career she wished.
But as happy as Ryuuji was with her efforts, no accomplishment could overshadow the fact that she had spent a year away from him, and left him in the lurch in a place where he would normally see her on a daily basis. School had been a very lonely and forlorn place without her, not just for himself, but all parties invested in the legend that was Taiga, the Palm Top Tiger. In the final days of his last year at the school, the end ceremonies approaching, stories could be heard told and retold in the halls of the tiny girl with enough ferocity to, metaphorically of course, take down a Grizzly bear and a Silverback Gorilla, all at the same time. The time that class 2-C had won it all at the cultural festival, and the gaping wound that all the seniors, most of all that legendary tawny haired girl who only some had met in person, but all had encountered in tales told in passing, or at length over a good boxed lunch, would leave. All of these memories, ringing in his ears a thousand fold on the voices of all attending the place of his education only made the separation more tangible to him. It was almost hard to believe that one small girl could make so many large impacts, but Taiga had.
And all of this, as heart-warming as it was to hear, had only made him more miserable, and caused the hours to drag as days, days as weeks, weeks as months and months… well you get the idea. Time had appeared to flow like molasses that entire year, and it seemed far longer than it had been. He had busied himself with the earning of money; he started out part time at the bakery at which the two of them had volunteered at not that entirely long before. His plan was to work the rest of that school year, and then the year after high school full time so that his poor, devoted mother would have an easier time of things. Yasuko had been taking even more shifts and pulling even more long hours than usual lately to 'Put away a little extra so her little Ryuu-chan could go to school'. He had noticed immediately and felt guilty in a similar timeframe, so he had vowed to himself to do his best to make sure that she would not work herself to death.
This had turned out to be a good thing for him, because of the pressure of the part time job, and the extra hours he was putting in a day on top of his normal routine of cleaning, cooking, and schoolwork he had actually been forced to try. And both his pay and his grades reflected it. The more he thought of the woman he had proposed to, the more he missed her, the more he poured himself into his work and studies, flying about his kitchens, home and bakery, like a daemon, and cleaning or studying every other waking moment. He had felt like Kushieda, no time for anything other than what was already crammed into his busy life, each day he went to bed exhausted thoroughly, and woke each morning sore, but happy. He was contented in his newfound, whirlwind lifestyle, and though it was true that he could never quite bring himself to put Taiga from his mind, the constant motion, and perpetual effort had helped to keep him sane, and make her absence bearable.
He had stuck to his plan and would have confronted his boss at the bakery about a full time position after he got out of school, had his boss not beaten him to the punch. He had offered, no implored, for Ryuuji to take the position. Ryuuji, being Ryuuji, had gratefully accepted, and redoubled his efforts yet again.
It took less than five seconds for the last year and a half of his life to come flashing before his eyes as he had stood there, dressed up in a suit and tie he bought especially for this occasion with some of the money from a recent promotion to Baker's Assistant, and a nice bonus that had come with it on account of all the heart and soul he had put into his job since day one of his training. He had chosen to slick back his dark hair to complete the look, business like, classy, and through it all still strangely menacing, like a delinquent. All on account of the sharp, dangerous features that he had inherited from his godforsaken father that made men cringe back and women day dream of tall, dark strangers. They had become even more pronounced as of late, his endeavours at the bakery, long hours of lifting heavy sacks of flour, churning, whisking, and beating and rolling had made the muscles of his arms, legs, and body on the whole more pronounced.
Taiga had undoubtedly taken note of this from across the room, as she was standing there, barefoot, waterfalls of hair cascading down the sides of her head staring at him, jaw slackened ever so slightly, just enough to lend her mouth the appearance of being somewhat agape. He, meanwhile, was in a similar situation.
"My god Taiga…" he managed finally, "You look… you look…"
"Well? I look what?" She replied with somewhat of a pout, the smile evident in her voice.
"A-Amazing," he stuttered, "Absolutely… amazing…" He knew it was lame, but for the moment it was the best he was going to get out.
`Well you stupid dog, are you just going to stand there all night with your jaw on the floor, or are you going to shut the door and come show your master how much you appreciate her? It is Valentines' day after all." She half questioned, half stated, hands on her hips.
'Back to the dog insults already are we?' Ryuuji sighed to himself as he chose the second option, shutting the door behind him and stating matter-of-factly as he strode forward, "That's not all today is, I hope you of all people didn't forget, after all you ARE the one who said yes." He was, of course, referring to the anniversary of their engagement. It had happened two Valentines' Days ago, after a confrontation in their homeroom at school, and he had wound up getting himself pushed off a bridge by the impossibly embarrassed love of his life trying to say it, but say it he had, and she had agreed. Unfortunately for the both of them they were interrupted before they could admit their feelings toward one another properly, and he did not receive another chance until the day of his graduation ceremony more than a year later, on account of Taiga's sudden flight to her mother's to straighten things out in her family life.
Ryuuji snapped out of his revere to realize that Taiga was now staring intently at the ground.
"No" she replied softly, a blush creeping up on her porcelain cheeks, "I haven't forgotten."
'She looks so absurdly cute when she's embarrassed' Ryuuji mused. Just then, the feeling that he had almost forgotten something very important overwhelmed him, and he realized suddenly that he had left the anniversary gift he had bought her back on his dresser. "Wait right here, I'll be back in a sec!" he yelled, much to his fiancé's confusion, having to stifle the overwhelming urge to face palm he turned on his heel, flung the door wide, and bolted down the stairs leaving Taiga standing in her apartment, wondering what she could have said to bring on his sudden flight.
He ran as fast as he could next door to his apartment, flicked the lights on, and bolted to his room, sending poor Inko-chan, who had been sleeping peacefully in the corner, into a flurry of squawks and feathers. The bird continued to hop around his cage, repeating accidentally learned profanity long after his owner had found the parcel he was looking for, and shot back out the door, flicking off the lights and streaming apologies as he slammed it behind him.
It took him less than two minutes in total to make the trip there and back, rushing up the stairs on his return trip to find a still very confused Taiga sitting on the floor of her apartment, staring at her hands and mumbling to herself.
"What on earth did I say to make him run out like that…"
"Taiga," Ryuuji said, clearing his throat and blushing himself as taiga had done earlier, he averted his gaze and extended to her the hand that held the package he had rushed so frantically home to retrieve. "I… Aherm, I got this for you, you know, to celebrate tonight and everything…" He trailed off fiddling with his hair, which had now fallen down to his face as it would do on normal days from all the commotion. He ventured a glance in her direction, and was rewarded with a very rare sight. The Palmtop Tiger actually had tears streaming around the gigantic smile she now wore on her still red face.
A/N:
This chapter was a longer one, shorter still than I hope to do in the future, but longer than the last. It mainly focused on Ryuuji's life since Taiga left for that year. It's been another late night, so I apologise if my vocabulary is not quite as articulate as it should be. The writer of a story I really love once said that one of the best parts of the Toradora! Fandom was that no one begs for updates, but I'll admit, if any of you enjoy it and would like to, I promise that I won't mind ;).
