After a few very relaxing days at home, it was time for the rest of their class to get back from their trip and they would have to go back to school. The thought would usually be tiring, but they had been able to relax for quite some time so it wasn't too bad. Even Taiga had been able to get up without too much trouble that morning, actually seeming quite energetic compared to the usual mornings.
"R-Ryuuji!" She nearly exclaimed, standing in the doorway in her pajamas, looking like a nervous wreck. "L-Let me… let me help you with making lunch boxes!"
"Eh?" Ryuuji uttered, staring at her in disbelief. "This early in the morning? R-Really?"
"I want to be helpful!" She uttered, her lips twisting a little. Was it really that difficult for her to ask him something so simple? "I promise you, I'll do my best! I-I-I… I even brought my lucky charm!" She exclaimed with closed eyes, looking a bit embarrassed as she was obviously hiding something behind her back.
"And… what is that?" Ryuuji asked with squinted eyes, his lips twitching.
"I can't let you see. That'll ruin its power," she frowned, shoving it into the pocket of her pajama pants. Ryuuji chuckled a little and shrugged.
"Oh well, I don't have a problem with it. You can start with… hmm… filling the onigiri, okay?"
"Y-Yes!" She replied, nodding furiously as she ran over to the rice and the filling. She was still shaking a little. "R-Ryuuji… I need… uhm…" She looked down at her feet that were curling nervously, and Ryuuji smiled gently as he bent down and left a kiss on Taiga's forehead, ruffling her hair with his palm.
"Good luck," he nearly whispered before returning to what he was doing, preparing the food. Taiga could feel her body calming down a little, though her cheeks flushed completely red.
"Thanks," she said with a shy smile, turning back to the food. "T-Time to work."
After they had finished making lunch boxes, they sat down by the table to eat breakfast. Taiga was taking tiny sips from her tea, her oversized pajamas hanging over her hands as she held the cup. Ryuuji was lazily flipping through the newspapers without really paying attention to it as he ate his breakfast. He took a sip from his tea, but it got stuck in his throat when he saw something in the newspapers.
"WHA-" he coughed brutally, hitting his chest to make himself breathe properly. Taiga looked at him with big eyes, nearly dropping her tea-cup.
"W-what is it?!" She exclaimed, and Ryuuji handed her the newspapers. She read what was there and looked at the tiny picture, and suddenly she was laughing.
"Ryuuji, what the hell is this?!" She nearly cried, tears gathering in her eyes from laughing, and Ryuuji was clutching at his stomach as he had started laughing too. Taiga read the headline while trying to choke her laughter. "Teenage boys on a trip away from their hometown make the biggest sand castle the city of Okinawa has seen in 10 years. Here are the proud boys, including head of class representation, Yusaku Kitamura."
"I seriously can't believe it," Ryuuji laughed, rubbing his eyes.
"Look, it says something about the accident too. Not much, though, but… something about someone almost drowning. You're popular, Ryuuji, you're in the newspapers." She joked, smiling fondly up at him.
"I'd rather it didn't happen at all, though," he huffed and rolled his eyes as he rubbed the wounded spot on his back. "Oh well, I guess it's time we got going."
"Okay," Taiga nodded and finished up her breakfast in a hurry before they left for school. There was a chilly wind outside, so they both huddled close as they walked, trying their best to hurry to school.
When they reached their classroom, they were met by a few curious gazes from around the room. "What?" Ryuuji growled, and they all giggled a little. He frowned, and then Kitamura and some of the other boys came over. Noto and Haruta were off to the sides, while Kitamura was standing there with a big grin.
"You didn't happen to read the newspapers, did you?" He smiled, earning a sigh from Ryuuji.
"Yeah, I did…" He murmured. "Congratulations on that, I guess."
"Thanks," Kitamura grinned before his expression turned more serious. "But, Takasu-kun… how are you feeling?"
"Huh? Well, except from a sore back, I'm just fine." He said, shrugging.
"That's good," Kitamura sighed, patting Ryuuji's shoulder carefully before turning towards the classroom. "Class is about to start, so sit down," he said to his fellow male students who did as he said, and they sat down at their seats. Yeah, starting school again wasn't too bad, Ryuuji thought.
The first half of the day was pretty uneventful, and relaxing enough that they only had to take notes of whatever their teacher was siting. As lunch arrived, Ryuuji and Taiga joined Haruta and the other boys' table, where also Ami was seated with an idle expression on his face. They all shared stories about the things that had happened at the resort after Ryuuji and Taiga had left.
"I swear," Ami said in the middle of it all. "Once Aisaka-san and Takasu-kun had left, I was stranded there with nothing but unintellectual idiots around me." She murmured, looking pretty displeased. "Tell me, Taiga," She said with a cold look, pinching the fabric on Taiga's sleeve. "Why did you have to leave me behind with all these idiots? Tell me."
"U-U-Uh… s-sorry, but I had to take Ryuuji h-home, and… I… uhm…" She swallowed nervously, surprised that Ami was acting so friendly. Well, friendly in its own way, that was.
"Then tell me, Ryuuji," She said, turning to Ryuuji with the same dead glare. "Why did you have to go ahead and almost drown?"
Ryuuji was just generally taken aback by the fact that Ami was nonchalantly using his first name, nonetheless seeing her act like that. "U-Uh, well… it wasn't exactly on purpose." He said, scratching the back of his head with a nervous chuckle.
"Tsh," Ami scoffed, turning back to her food. Ryuuji and Taiga had started eating too. Or well, Ryuuji had. Taiga was staring at him as he took his first bite out of the onigiri. His face lit up a little, as if he'd have a pleasant surprise.
"H-How was it?!" Taiga exclaimed, making the people at the table look at her with big eyes. It wasn't exactly an inside voice.
"Eh?" Ryuuji uttered in surprise, turning to look at Taiga. He had practically forgotten that she was the one who had filled the onigiri. "Oh… uhm, perfect amount!" He said, and that was the truth. "Tomorrow, I'll let you make a more important part of breakfast."
"O-Okay!"
"Just make sure you're properly rested, and don't use too much time talking before we fall asleep. I don't want you messing up lunch because you're too tired."
"Don't worry, I'll do my best!" Taiga beamed, seeming quite pleased with herself. She blushed a little and started wiggling in her chair, her hands clutching at her chest. "I'm sure I'll fall asleep quickly if Ryuuji hugs me to sleep," she giggled lightly under her breath, looking like she was completely out of it. It was silent by the table, and when she looked up even Ami was blushing furiously.
"W-W-Wha…" Ami uttered, her mouth hanging wide open. They'd both forgotten the fact that no one knew they lived together now. The whole breakfast thing was old news, but now Taiga had made it quite obvious that it wasn't only the mornings they shared.
Haruta gasped and pointed at Ryuuji. "Ryuu-tan! What is this blasphemy? Have you sullied Aisaka-san's innocence?!"
"I-I have not!" Ryuuji exclaimed with a look of horror on his face. Everyone was kind of staring at them, and suddenly Taiga was almost blushing herself under the table.
"Y-You see… my dad sold my apartment, so I had to move back home, and then…"
Suddenly, Minorin appeared behind them with a dead expression on her face, having just dropped in on the conversation. "What?" She asked, looking at Taiga. "Taiga, what are you talking about?"
"Huh? Minorin…" She muttered, remembering that she hadn't seen her since the trip. "No, it's…"
"Are you moving back to him?" Minori asked, her voice sounding almost dead. She'd dreaded this moment ever since she met Taiga's father that one time before.
"No, you see… that's kind of the thing," Taiga giggled nervously, wriggling in her chair as the blush crept longer up on her face. It was simple to say, but it made her really shy to talk about. And she knew people would probably react pretty wildly to it, too. Ryuuji swallowed deeply, hoping no one would be mad at him. He had good intentions, after all. "Uhm… I kind of…" She mumbled something under her breath, and everyone moved a little closer to her.
"What did you say?" Ami asked, looking genuinely interested, a little blush still on her face.
"I kind of… live with Ryuuji now." She repeated, looking down at her lap. There was a complete silence with everyone looking surprised, Ami looking really embarrassed which definitely wasn't alike her, and Minorin suddenly attacking Ryuuji. Or well, he thought she was attacking him, but she actually tackled him off his chair and hugged him.
"You're a savior!" She yelled with her arms around his shoulders, laughing loudly before pulling back with a big grin. "O Savior Takasu-Sama!" She exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. "You made sure she didn't have to leave! Thank you, thank you!"
"U-Uh… no problem," Ryuuji gulped with a nervous chuckle as he stood up, brushing some dust off of his clothes.
"Well, this is a reason to celebrate, wouldn't you say? After all, we get to keep our beloved tiger," Kitamura smiled with a little laugh. "There's something I want to talk to all of you about after school, so meet me outside of the school, okay?"
…
The rest of the day went on with ease, and even though what Kitamura had said was pretty plain, it really bothered both Ryuuji and Taiga. The curiosity was practically eating at them from the inside. It probably wasn't anything big, but they wanted to know.
"I see you're all here," Kitamura smiled as he counted Taiga, Ryuuji, Ami, Minori, Haruta, Noto, Nanako and Maya. He crouched down in front of his backpack and pulled out several plastic folders, handing one to each of them. "I want you all to read these before the weekend. We'll get together at a café on Saturday and discuss it, and we can take the celebration at the same time." He smiled, studying everyone's confused expressions.
"What is this?" Maya asked, wrinkling her nose as he turned the folder around in her hands.
"Yeah, it's not some boring school assignment, is it?" Nanako huffed, earning a laugh from Kitamura.
"It's a manuscript," He informed, nodding towards the folders in their hands. "Me and some third-years got together and wrote it all in a couple of weeks. They wanted to do something special before they graduated, and they wanted our help, so I said yes. I hope you will too. Trust me, it's quite interesting."
"A movie?" Ryuuji asked curiously, looking at Kitamura with a questioning gaze. "How do we get the resources for it? And… editing, all that?"
"We'll do it together. And trust me, some of those third years are more than just a little skilled with editing. I know one of them is aiming to become a film-maker after finishing her studies."
"Interesting," Ryuuji muttered, earning a surprised look from all of them. Ryuuji wasn't the kind of person to usually take interest in this kind of stuff.
"And of course, you're allowed to come with suggestions. This isn't the final draft, so feel free to comment on characters or the plot in general." Kitamura said, and they all nodded.
"What kind of movie is it?" Taiga asked, staring at the folder with big eyes. Even she seemed interested in it.
"I hope it has lots of explosions!" Haruta exclaimed, Noto nodding in agreement.
"And hackers." Noto added.
"It's… a little bit of lots of stuff." Kitamura said after pondering his answer for a while. "You'll see when you read the script… it's pretty unconventional, and original in its own ways. Though it does of course contain some of the usual clichés, but that's good sometimes."
"Alright," Maya nodded, a determined look on her face. "I will definitely read this before Saturday!"
"Me too!" Nanako exclaimed.
"Yup!"
"I'm in!"
Kitamura smiled contently. He had been looking forward to this project, and it seemed getting actors for the roles wasn't the biggest worry at all. This could definitely be an interesting thing to spend the last months in second grade on. He hoped the third graders would appreciate their help too. That would be the best.
After putting the manuscripts into their backpacks, they all went each their way towards their home, though Minori followed Taiga and Ryuuji.
"So this is your new home!" Minori exclaimed with a big grin, looking around the room. "It' so nice and cozy."
"It's good enough," Ryuuji said. "The mold is getting on my nerves, though," he murmured, silently flexing his fist as if declaring war on the mold yet again. Minori smiled and sat down by the table, stretching her arms with a yawn.
"Honestly, Taiga, before you said you moved here, I was really nervous you were actually going back to your family," She said, pulling Taiga into her arms, fake crying as she hugged her.
"But I am going to live with family," Taiga said with a confused tone to her voice. Minori pulled away from the hug and looked at Taiga with big eyes.
"What do you… oh." She said, suddenly smiling softly. Taiga nodded.
"Yup. Ryuuji and Yasuko is my family now. And you're part of my family too, kinda," She said with a petty voice, her hands folded in her lap. "I'm glad to… be with family."
A little gasp could be heard from the next room. "Taiga-san! ~" A voice wailed, and Yasuko emerged from her room, hurriedly kneeling down to hug Taiga. "That is so sweet! You will always be part of this family, I hope." She said.
"So this is your family?" Minori said with a gentle smile, and Taiga grinned up from Yasuko's embrace.
"Yes. Yes, it is."
"That settles it then! All three of us, sleepover on Saturday, right here!" Minori exclaimed.
"Ah, that sounds fun, Ryuu-chan!" Yasuko smiled, standing up while facing Ryuuji. "Can you have a sleepover here, pretty please?"
"… Fine," Ryuuji sighed, scratching the back of his head. "We'll head back here after we've been at the Café with Kitamura and the others. But for now, we should start reading that script."
"Okay!"
