Sorry for the late update guys. I totally forgot that I was going to be at a volleyball clinic the entire day, so I didn't have a chance to update until now. Still, happy Labor Day, for those of you reading this on Monday!
As always, thank you guys so much for reviewing and keeping this fic going! Right now, Covers has safely passed Grind to enter the top 5 most reviewed Toradora stories, so I just want to thank you guys a ton for making that happen!
Guest: Yeah, well, I always thought about how different Toradora would be if Ami was the main girl, and I think that now, we're going to find out for ourselves!
Xayase: Thanks! Megumi is honestly one of my least favorite parts of Say I Love You, but I will admit that I do ship Megumi with Takemura pretty hard, so I guess that she's not all bad. Thankfully, there won't be a character like her to throw cogs in Ami and Ryuuji's relationship like that.
Chapter 7
I watched as her eyes narrowed in frustration and her breathing hitched ever so slightly, causing her chest to catch for a moment before it continued heaving up and down in rhythm to her breathing. Her lips pursed and her brow furrowed as she entered into a state of concentration that I had never seen from her before, with her determination specifically surprising me, considering the circumstances. Her thin fingers moved back and forth deftly, threading the needle in and out of each available seam at a speed that frankly surprised me. Sewing and Ami just didn't seem to mix at first glance.
"Ouch!"
Maybe I spoke too early.
"Stupid needle, and stupid Taiga." Ami muttered under her breath as she returned to her torrid pace of sewing with a renewed fire, being rewarded by yet another accidental prick of the needle. I had wanted to step in and take over, considering that my work on Taiga's "enhancements" was already completed. But of course, Ami didn't want to solicit my help, instead choosing to stubbornly plug away at it until she finished. A part of me admired her persistence while another was worried sick by the fact that she was covering her fingers in tiny holes due to her inexperience.
It would probably be a good idea to go get some band aids now. Knowing that Ami was too engaged in her work to notice my disappearance, I got to my feet and hustled over to the bathroom, where we kept some of our medical supplies. I quickly snatched up some medical cream and band aids before I returned to the living room, nearly tripping over a sleeping Taiga as I did so. Speaking of stubborn girls, Taiga had refused to go back to her house, reasoning that "If the Stupid Chihuahua could stay up all night, then I can too."
Well, I couldn't really fault her for trying. Surprisingly, she was civil to Ami, probably secretly grateful for someone else coming to her aid, other than me. For someone who wasn't used to people taking concern for her, when usually she was treated as an object of fear, it was probably hard for her to come up with anything to say in particular, and thus, she stayed silent for the entire night, including dinner. While I was glad to have some peace and quiet for once, it was also strangely unnerving to see two of the loudest women I knew to be dead silent.
"Here," I offered, gently pulling Ami's hands away from her needlework, "It's for the cuts."
I squeezed out a little bit of the white substance inside of the tube of medical cream out onto my fingers and swept them atop of her digits, coating them evenly in white. Removing the white plastic with my teeth, I wrapped a band aid around each of her fingers, taking care not to wrap them up too tightly so that they were still comfortable to wear. All the while, Ami just stared at me with an absolutely shocked expression, her violet eyes wide in surprise.
"Oh, thanks." She said quickly, motioning to return to the needle, but I stopped her with a firm grip on her shoulder. I didn't normally use force when I talked to girls, but I knew that Ami, stubborn as she was, would not allow me to take her away from working on faux chest without me stepping in and prying it away from her by force. I knew that she wasn't going to be happy with my decision, but I didn't have much of a choice.
"I'll take care of the rest. You've done enough already." I spoke, cutting her attempted protests short. What was it about the girls that I knew and their absolute refusal to accept any sort of help?
"But I'm not finished!" Ami insisted, trying to break out of my hold, but I stayed rigid, refusing to allow her to budge prom her position.
"It'll only take me a few minutes to finish it. You, on the other hand, could really use some sleep." I chided, standing up and pulling her up along with me, not intending to allow her to interrupt me, as I invariably knew that she would try to. I know that we were dating for real now, but in that moment, I was seeing her with only eyes of concern. Easily falling into my familiar role as a caretaker, I escorted her to my bedroom, which was the only free room available at the time. Luckily, the futon had already been set up, and I had little difficulty with easing Ami under the covers, considering how utterly exhausted she must have been.
"You really wore yourself down for this. You must really care about Taiga." I teased, knowing that such a comment would get Ami flustered.
Unsurprisingly, she took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. She shook her head, "No way. I'm only doing this because I didn't want to see you working into the night alone. We both know that Taiga wasn't going to help you, you have school tomorrow."
I smiled. Although she would vehemently deny it, Ami did care about Taiga, deep down inside. The two of them weren't best friends by any means, but they also weren't the mortal enemies that they often painted themselves out as being. Really, they were between the range of being acquaintances and friends, but then again, neither one would ever admit that they slightly enjoyed the company of the other.
However, right now wasn't the time to pick a fight with Ami about this topic, "All right, I understand. Thanks for the help."
"Jeez, what would you do without me?" Ami sighed as her eyes shut, despite her best efforts to keep them open and to stay awake. Slowly but surely, her blowing slowed to a crawl, and I tilted my head in amusement at her words. Even when she was dead exhausted, she had a way of sneaking in her egotistical comments in every conversation.
I glanced at the clock and read out the time. Eleven thirty. Considering that most of the work had already been finished, it likely wouldn't take me any longer than fifteen minutes to add some last minute adjustments. For me, it wasn't going to be any problem.
Wow. All I can say is…wow. I mean, sure, I guess I was pretty satisfied with my handiwork on Taiga, but seeing Ami in a swimsuit just blows that out of the water completely. I was starting to regret not getting a better look at her back in the department store, especially since I knew that all eyes were currently on her, a fact that surprisingly made me feel a little agitated. I couldn't possibly be…jealous, could I?
Shaking the thought out of my mind, I turned my attention to Taiga, who was in a state of elation due to a compliment from Kitamura. It was definitely a surprising sight, with Taiga's face red in embarrassment and softly whispering to herself, a far cry from the normal fiery personality that she possessed. Deciding that I clearly wasn't going to get anywhere trying to talk to her, and not having much interest in swimming myself, I found no other choice than to go talk to Ami, who was chatting with her own friends.
"Hello, Takasu-kun." Nanako greeted softly as I walked up to their little entourage. At this, I discreetly raised an eyebrow. Why was she suddenly being so cordial to me? After last time, I definitely would have thought that I would be number one on her list of enemies. Oh, right, last time. I had almost forgotten that Ami had basically intimidated her friends into acting friendly with me. Well, I guess fake smiles from Nanako and Maya were better than nothing, even if it meant that they probably hated me, deep down.
"Oh, hello, Kashii-san." I replied, doing my best to be respectful in addressing her. Whatever animosity she had towards me, I genuinely did want to erase, and I suppose that not overstepping my boundaries would be the first step towards coming to some sort of understanding with her.
"Ryuuji, you look good in your swimsuit." Ami complimented, giving me a once over that suddenly made me feel extremely self conscious. Darn it, Ami, why do you have to put me on the spot like this? Instinctively, I wrapped myself up with my arms in an attempt to cover up my naked torso, although it wasn't doing much good.
"Y-yeah, you too." I managed, staving off a blush that was threatening to appear, both as a result of seeing Ami and as a result of being examined by three separate pairs of eyes at once. I had no idea how Ami dealt with this on a daily basis. Didn't she ever get uncomfortable during photo shoots, knowing that all eyes were on her?
"I know, right? I mean, obviously, I have good style, but to pull off a normal school swimsuit like I am is pretty impressive, even to me!" Ami gushed, absolutely failing in her attempt to not sound arrogant. Actually, never mind. It was pretty clear to me that she had absolutely no intention in sounding anything less than supremely confident in herself.
As I expected, Maya and Nanako nodded in agreement, showering Ami with the usual slew of compliments that streamed out of their mouths. I wonder if Ami was aware how much they were trying to suck up to her. Given how intelligent Ami really was underneath her cover as an airhead model, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew exactly what they were doing and allowed them to continue in spite of it. As with everything, Ami was one step ahead of the game, and she was steering things in a direction that would be favorable to her. You know, I was really getting the feeling that Ami would make a great villain one day, if that career path became available.
"So, Ryuuji, do you want to go talk somewhere else? I can't let my skin get sunburned or anything." Ami asked, pointing to her ivory skin to emphasize the seriousness, or lack thereof, in my opinion, of her predicament.
"Sure, they have some shade over by the wall." I suggested, pointing to a portion of the pool that had been barricaded from the sun with an armada of umbrellas. As we made our way to the safety of the shade, Maya ran off on her own, citing the fact that Kitamura was currently sitting alone at the edge of the water, a fact that was likely to change within minutes, given his popularity with the opposite sex. I gladly welcomed the change, because that meant that there was currently one less person who wanted to kill me in our group.
"I'm thirsty. Stay here, and I'll get us some drinks!" Ami ordered, rushing off on her own to complete her task while I stayed in place, knowing better than to disobey her words. Even for something as trivial as this, it was better not to test Ami's patience.
Realizing I was now alone with Nanako, I silently began sweating it out, not knowing what she would do when Ami wasn't around to exert her influence. However, after several seconds of silence, I came to the realization that she wasn't planning on taking advantage of Ami's absence, which surprised me. I had thought for sure that she would have taken the opportunity to try and scare me off or something.
Against my better judgment, I decided to speak up, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"
Nanako looked surprised at my words, and a tiny bit confused as to what exactly I was saying.
"What?" She asked, totally lost.
"I mean, Ami's not around, right? Isn't this your chance to say how you really feel about me?" I continued, starting to get a little bit confused myself. Didn't she want to chew me out?
"Oh, right. You're a scary man and…" She trailed off halfheartedly, making a feeble attempt to look serious, but failing miserably at it. Strangely, I found that all of the fear I had once held of her was now melting away at the fact that she was, well frankly, rather harmless, now that I really thought about it. I had never really seen Nanako raise her voice at anyone in the past. Usually, she was just a bystander to Maya's more forceful method of dealing with others, without saying many words of her own.
"Do you not hate me?" I asked, causing her to nearly jump back in surprise at my sudden intrusion on her tirade that was more of a slight nagging at this point.
"W-well, you're scary, and I don't think that Ami should be dating you." She retorted, not really convincing me of her supposed anger towards me. In fact, I felt more of an aura of fear coming from her more than anything else, which was a step up from hating me, I suppose.
I scratched my head, "I don't try to be scary, you know. Believe me, I've heard it since kindergarten. It's just the way that I was born, and I can't help that I inherited my father's looks. And I don't want to be anything other than a normal guy, I really don't."
At this, Nanako's face fell and her mouth hung open for a moment as she grasped for something to say, before she settled on, "Sorry."
Well, it was nice to know that not everyone was deaf to my words.
"It's fine. I've dealt with this my whole life. What's two more years for me, right?" I laughed, making sure that I seemed as relaxed as possible. Really, I didn't want to scare off Nanako by seeming too engrossed in my own problems with fitting in. Once, being shunned by everyone had hurt me more than anything else, and I remember distinctly crying myself to sleep after the first day of elementary school, when no one wanted to play with me. But now, I was more or less numb to the way that people tried to carry on as if I didn't exist. They didn't want to make an effort to understand me, and I had no intention of doing the same for them. It wasn't perfect, but it was a solution.
She shook her head, "No, really, I'm sorry for thinking of you that way, when I really don't know you at all. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way."
"Really, it's no big deal." I insisted, trying to drop the topic, although it was apparent that she had no intention of doing so by the forlorn expression on her face.
"Let's just start over." She said, holding out her right hand, "Kashii Nanako."
I stared at her hand incredulously for a moment before I realized that she was waiting for me to reply. Giving her a thankful expression, I eagerly grasped her hand and shook, "Takasu Ryuuji."
"You know, I really don't mind that you're dating Ami, to tell you the truth." Nanako said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Actually, I don't know why, but ever since the two of you started going out, she's been smiling differently. Before, she always had a distinct way of smiling, like she was in a photo shoot or something, but lately, when she smiles, it feels different, like it's coming straight from her, and not from a magazine."
I knew exactly what she meant. Ever since Ami and I had kissed, I had felt her act differently around, not only me, but in public. She seemed less focused on making a perfect impression on everyone that she met, and instead, it was as if she was finally doing things for herself. It was natural and earnest, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't like it more than the way that she normally acted.
My smile morphed into a grin, "Kashii-san, you've been a good friend to her, and I really appreciate that. She could use more people in her life like you, who are concerned about who she really is, and not the popular image that the public knows."
"Oh, thank you." She replied, "Same for you."
"Hey, I didn't know what you wanted, so I brought you a soda!" Ami exclaimed, jamming a can of Coke in my face. I swear, she has a knack for showing up perfectly unannounced, and each time that she did it to me, I had a mini heart attack. Once I was convinced that my heart wasn't going to leap out of my chest, I gingerly took the ice cold can from Ami's fingers, allowing her to plop down in between me and Nanako, handing a can of tea to the purple haired girl.
Silently, the two of us exchanged a look that could best be described as one of understanding. We weren't friends, exactly, but we also weren't enemies. It was a relationship of mutual understanding that we wanted the best for the girl sitting in between us, one as a best friend, and the other as a boyfriend. I never thought that I would ever become acquainted with Nanako in this way, and yet, here was the reality of the situation, staring me right in the face.
"Hey, so Ryuuji, I was thinking that maybe we should start making plans for the summer." Ami mused as the three of us lounged around under the shade, watching our classmates play around in the pool. I couldn't help but to feel incredibly relaxed in that moment, watching as Kitamura and Minori ran around, dumping students into the pool while the sun beat down on us, with enough rays slipping the cracks of the umbrellas to keep me warm.
"The summer? Already?" I replied. Usually, I spent my summers at home, trying to help out as much as I could around the house and studying to keep my grades up. But now, it dawned on me that Ami was not the type to be content with just lying around all day, doing nothing. Personally, I always spent my summers at home because we couldn't really afford to go anywhere, not because I didn't want to.
"Yeah, I have a villa by the beach, and I was thinking that we should go." Ami explained, "Then we could spend the entire summer together!"
Instinctively, my face reddened at what she was insinuating, but I had to admit, it sounded like a good plan. I hadn't been out to the beach for a while, and I was sure that Mom would agree to it.
"Okay. I'll talk to my mom about it later."
"Ryuu-chan, I'm so proud of you!" Mom cried out, wrapping me up in one of her hugs that I found were impossible to escape, no matter how much I struggled. How was it that every girl I meet had an insanely strong grip? The chances of that happening were way too slim for it to just be a coincidence, as far as I thought.
"I already told you that we're going with everyone, so it won't just be the two of us!" I exclaimed, trying in vain to push Mom off of me, although I was met with absolutely no success. Again, I had no idea how she did it, but she was impossible to push off, no matter how hard I tried.
"Still, it's the first time you've ever had a chance to go on a trip with your girlfriend!" Mom added, grabbing on even tighter, if such a thing were possible. She nudged me softly with her head, "You know, when your Dad and I were dating, we did the same thing."
"Look, it's not that big a deal." I mumbled, not caring for the comparison to my bastard father. I know that she didn't mean it in a negative way, but still, being reminded that I was similar in any way to a man who would die and leave his wife and child behind to fend for themselves made me inexplicably angry. I knew that it was irrational. I mean, could I really expect someone to cheat death for their family? Of course, when I was a kid, I didn't really know better. All I knew was that he had left us, and that he was never coming back, and I remember feeling so angry about it that I saw red, and even though I know that it wasn't his fault that he was dead, I couldn't erase that feeling. Mom never told me how he died, and I didn't want to know.
"Right, but you can never be too prepared." Mom insisted, letting go of me so that she could reach under the table, pulling out a small package that she had apparently hidden there beforehand. Why she had such things already prepared for me…I didn't know, and I never want to know the exact reason why.
"W-wait, why do you have that for?" I stammered, feeling incredibly uncomfortable about what was to come. Look, I already knew all about the birds and the bees and all that, so I really didn't need her to tell me anything more about the topic. Call me naïve, but I wanted to keep my pristine image of my mother as a hardworking woman who wanted the best for me, and hearing her talk about…that was not going to help matters.
"Well, obviously, I want you to stay safe!" Mom replied, as if it wasn't weird that she was supplying me with a boxful of condoms. I know she meant well, but come on, did she have to be so blunt about it? Anything would have been better than shoving them straight in my face and expecting me to take them with the unspoken agreement that they would likely be used.
"That's definitely not going to be an issue!" I said quickly. I mean, sure, I would mind doing that with Ami, but then again, I was only seventeen! I had a whole life ahead of me to do stuff like that!
"Ryuu-chan, you can never be too careful!" She said with a pout that she normally used on her customers to get extra tips, or whenever she wanted me to do some extra chore around the house. And damn, was it ever effective.
"Fine." I grumbled, quickly snatching the box out of her hands and slipping it underneath the table so I wouldn't have to be constantly reminded of its presence. Believe me, I couldn't see it, and it was still making my brain hurt just thinking about it.
"So, let's talk about Ami-chan more! She's such a nice girl!" Mom continued, plowing ahead with an admirable amount of excitement, which somehow made the transition back into conversation that much easier, although it was still slightly awkward for me to just return to conversing normally. In an attempt to bridge the gap, I took a sip of water, doing my best to try and move on to the next topic.
"Well? Do you think that you two are going to get married?" Mom asked, causing me to spit out my drink.
So? What did you guys think? I don't remember a whole lot about Nanako in the original series, so if she already has an established character, then it looks like I'm making her to be rather OOC, which I didn't intend to do. However, with the fact that Ryuuji will come into more contact with Nanako and Maya as this story goes along, given that they are close friends to Ami, I thought that it would be important for him to establish some sort of relationship with both of them.
Please, I hope you guys will continue reviewing and will deal with my slower update speed! I think that from now on, Fridays are probably out of the question and that Sundays or Saturdays will be more likely days for my updates in the future. Still, I hope that you guys will read on and help me with my goal to reach the top of the Toradora category! Thanks so much for reading!
