Ryuuji unlocked the door, entering the Aisaka apartment. Seemed a waste, to continue renting four walls and a roof you weren't using, but sensible spending wasn't a trait Taiga had ever demonstrated. Children often took after parents, so he'd heard.
Taiga had left basically nothing behind. Much like when she lived here, she left little trace of her former residence. This was truly a doll house, not a place for someone as alive as Taiga. He made his way to her old room.
She'd made the bed before she left. That stood out in his mind. A Taiga that did her own chores was a strong contrast against the Taiga that played video games while Ryuuji folded her laundry. He sat down on her bed, laying back, closing his eyes and breathing deep.
Her scent was already fading...
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A series of clinks of chopsticks, soft thuds as bowls and cups were placed down, and the quiet sounds of chewing. Inko-chan parted from his meal briefly, looking around. "Quiet." With that he dug back in, becoming the loudest thing in the room. Ryuuji put down his empty bowl, opening the rice cooker.
Looks like they had leftovers.
Suddenly he wasn't hungry anymore.
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Ryuuji threw a bag on the pile of trash. Hmm, seemed to be generating a smaller pile these days. He made way to the street, turning to find no-one.
No-one, nothing, save an empty street. Ryuuji walked. He met no-one on the way, nor saw a face he could name.
It was a quiet walk.
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Class was class. Homeroom, subject, teacher blathering on about something most of his students will have forgotten by lesson's end, even as they wrote them down. When he arrived, he saw it. When he didn't look at it, he felt it. When he tried to pry his mind from it, he'd overhear something about it. It was there, a splinter in his mind, a hole in his world, a reminder of the truth.
An empty desk.
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Lunchtime, and the rest Ryuuji's "group", or whatever word defined them, were busy.
Kuishedia: Sport's club business.
Kitamura: School council business.
Kawashima: Like she'd tell him.
Currently, Ryuuji was eating alone. Even on an oddly warm day, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, the warmth didn't quite reach him.
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Ryuuji put a bag of rice into his basket. His trip today was proving quick. Never let it be said Taiga made his shopping trips efficient. Many a time he'd find his basket getting heavier faster than it should've. Further investigation always found Taiga had slipped something he hadn't intended to buy. Knowing Taiga well enough, he'd just returned said products to their place, getting a death glare the whole time.
"Cheapskate."
"If you don't like it, go join another family."
"Hmph."
That exact argument, those exact words, who knows how many times. It'd become their mantra.
Was the store always this quiet?
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Yasuko was out, Inko-chan was grooming, and for the second time that day, Ryuuji was eating alone. He turned to the window, the empty, unlit apartment visible across the way. He put his bowl down, standing up. He could only pace around the room, trying to ignore the deafening silence, the growing emptiness. His eyes sought out an imperfection, something he could focus on rectifying. A patch of black hiding behind something. He'd take anything, orange, purple, green, brown p-
Pink
That imperfection. He walked towards it, his hand clasping over the signature of Taiga's first time in the Takasu household.
"I miss you."
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End
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Author's Notes: -sigh- I do have a habit of making characters suffer now don't I? Clearly, I require therapy, but nobody's brave enough to try giving it to me, especially after what I did to my last therapist...
