Ryuji, Taiga and the rest of their class returned to their rooms to shower and change out of their snow-gear around 8pm. Slowly the students began filing out into the cafeteria of the resort and re-entered their regular groups. The couple ate with their friends and the group was in high spirits, though Noto and Kihara were left undistracted from their feud without skiing to keep them entertained, and continued to glare at eachother on occasion. Kushieda seemed slightly uninvolved in the conversation and a little spacey, but Taiga was grateful she was still cheerier than she had been during the holidays--especially since she had been so sure that she and Ryuji--her Ryuji--would be together.
Despite these conflicts the group of friends enjoyed their meal and were actually having a lot of fun on the trip so far, though they were still disappointed by the change of plans. Ryuji and Taiga lingered longer than the rest, which of course earned them a few jokes at their expense, but honestly they weren't really used to being apart, even in class. Taiga was as protective of Ryuji as always (though he reminded her that she didn't need to be) and eating someone else's cooking made her a little homesick... Not to mention that sharing a room with Ami wouldn't be easy.
Ryuji, too was nervous about leaving her. He liked the guys well enough, though Haruta could be a bit of an idiot (Kitamura too) and Noto tended to be a hot head, but he was also protective over Taiga in a "keeping her out of trouble" manner. It wasn't so much that she sought it out or anything (Taiga was actually a pretty shy person in the end) but she wasn't always thoughtful about how her actions or words could turn out after she says them--like what had happened when she fought with the former class president, Sumire Kanou.
"I'm a little worried about Minorin." Taiga confided when they were sure they were alone, her head resting in crossed arms on the table.
"Why do you say that? She seems like she's been doing a lot better since the new year." Ryuji replied, looking down at her with his head perched on his fist.
"I dunno. I just think she seems like she's... distracted or something," Taiga sighed.
"She probably is. Think about all the time she probably had to take off for this trip. She's probably just stressed out about missing work or something."
"Maybe you're right. Still... it seems different from the way she would normally handle it. She's always a little airheaded but she's still more energetic than this, right?"
"I guess so," Ryuji replied. He had been enamored with Kushieda for a while before meeting Taiga, but had only gotten to know her in the past school year, so truthfully he wasn't sure he'd notice a change unless it was really drastic like it had been at the school festival or at Christmas-time. "If it'll make you feel better, keep an eye on her tonight. You'll be sharing a room with her, afterall."
"You're right," Taiga replied. "Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna go to bed. Good night," she said as she stood up from her chair and started to leave.
"Yeah, me too. I'll see you in the morning, good night," Ryuji said back.
"Wait," Taiga whispered, turning back towards the tall boy.
"Hm? What's up?" Ryuji asked, assuming she had something more to say about Kushieda.
"I love you, Ryuji," Taiga told him, smiling (which still seemed uncharacteristic of her--unless it was a sadistic smile)
"I love you too, Taiga," Ryuji replied, chuckling and leaning down to kiss her on the top of the head.
"Good night. For real, this time,"
"Yeah, good night," waved Ryuji as he watched her head back to her room.