So... it's been a minute. I still love Toradora! (and am anxiously awaiting more manga chapters) and would love to see this story to some kind of completion but honestly when I left it I really wasn't sure where else to go. I'm hoping now--years on--I'll have some sort of direction or at least be refreshed enough to continue. Anyway, if anyone is still reading these, enjoy.
Taiga and Ryuji continued to work on packing away the tons of baubles, trinkets, and other largely untouched possessions plaguing the girls apartment. The two even managed to sell a few of them, to classmates and people in Taiga's complex (which was difficult, as the greatest familiarity many of these neighbors had with her was from her reckless behavior early in the morning and late at night). Ultimately by the end of the month and the end of her renting period they had made a sizable dent in the ridiculous amount of (useless) items which had occupied her former home.
This isn't to say, however, that their work was entirely perfect. There were a few items that Taiga was inexplicably attached to and refused to be rid of, and others, like clothes, would obviously be kept. Taiga's penchant for frilly dresses meant that many of these also took up a lot of room.
And so it was that the already "cozy" Takasu residence became quite a lot "cozier". Some may have said it was even cramped. Ryuji was nearly driven to tears. To him, it was another mess--one which couldn't be scrubbed away so easily.
"Well... this is as good as its going to get for now," Ryuji whimpered to his girlfriend and now-official house-mate.
"Y-Yeah. I guess it's better than it was," Taiga replied, half embarrassed by her immense collection of random things l, and half disappointed at losing many of her so-called valuables.
Ryuji took a deep breath, centered himself, and sighed, "Right. It's a situation we'll have to make do with for the time being, at least until we can find a better place for all this... stuff."
"Maybe... we could ask your landlord if she has any room to spare?"
Ryuji thought about it for only a short moment, then grumbled, "I hadn't even thought about it, and I doubt Yasuo has either, but I don't think it'd be such a great idea to say anything to her about any of this," again sighing and adding, "If she finds out you're living here for good now, she might want to raise our rent, despite whatever good graces we happen to be in."
"Well... we'll figure something out. Like I said, maybe I can get a job and do more to help out instead of just sitting around all the time." Taiga replied excitedly.
Ryuji smiled. Taiga had a way of catching him off guard with this occasional positivity, and though it was still a strange feeling he was happy and relieved to have her settled in his home with him, in spite of the mess she had brought with her (in more ways than one).