Chapter 1

[-]

The blizzard continued to die down over the course of the night, but for Minorin, Taiga, and Yusaku, sleep would be sparse and fleeting, due to concern over their friend, Takasu Ryuuji.

[-] Kushieda Minori's POV

For Minori, she would be struggling with her own feelings – because she was, in fact, in love with Ryuuji. Not that she had told anyone, including her best friend, Taiga. How do you deal with the revelation that the person you're in love with isn't in love with you?

She had, of course, her own suspicions regarding the relationship between Taiga and Ryuuji – who hadn't? They had been nigh inseparable for most of the school year, after all. Taiga claimed they weren't romantically involved, but Minorin had seen her cry for Ryuuji just before she straight-armed him after the Christmas Party.

Minori looks at the clock in the room – just about time to get up anyways. She gets up carefully, gets dressed, and heads out into the hall to sit down and watch the last gasps of the blizzard. Good riddance, she thinks, regarding the inclement weather. You almost took one of my friends.

Yuri-sensei is the first to emerge from the sleeping rooms, cup of coffee in hand as she rubs her eyes. Minori sees her pull out her phone and punch in a number, likely the hospital Ryuuji's staying at. She's soon followed by Yusaku, then Noto, then Kawashima and Maya, then Haruta, and the rest of the students. Taiga's the last to emerge from the room, eyes red and puffy from the almost sleepless night she spent. Whelmed by concern for her best friend, Minori stands up and walks over to Taiga as she sits down next to a window.

[-] Kitamura Yusaku's POV

Yusaku shifts, then sits up as Noto pulls the futon blanket off him. "Morning already?" he half-slurs as he stands up and gets dressed.

Noto nods. "Yeah, been trying to wake you up for a bit now. You sleep okay?"

Yusaku shakes his head. "My best friend is in the hospital – no I did not" Noto shakes his head. Given the circumstances, he shouldn't be surprised. Yusaku looks around, then out the window. "Alright, let's go join the others. Maybe Yuri-sensei has news about Takasu" he says, slipping into his shoes. Noto says something as he walks out of the room, but Yusaku doesn't register it.

As he walks into the hall, Yusaku sees 2C's homeroom teacher, Yuri-sensei, on her phone. He resolves to talk with her about Takasu after she's done, so he takes a seat nearby. Soon, he sees Noto come into the hall. He looks back to Yuri-sensei; still on the phone. The phone call continues as Ami and her friends make their entry, then Haruta, then some of the other students. Noto and Haruta sit down. "How long has Yuri-sensei been on the phone?" Noto asks.

Yusaku shrugs. "Since I got in here. I'll go talk with her after she's done."

The phone call continues as more and more students wake up and make their way into the hall. Some get breakfast, while others chat amongst themselves regarding the recent events. Yusaku eventually sees Aisaka make her way into the hall, her eyes red and puffy, probably from the past night.

It occurs to Yusaku that he'd never seen Aisaka like this. Well, once. Just after the pool race.

[-] Aisaka Taiga's POV

The hall is mostly full as Taiga makes her way in. She wipes her eyes for the umpteenth time and looks around. She sees Kitamura, Minori, and Baka-chi sitting at various spots around the room, then sees Yuri-sensei on her phone. She's scared to ask about Ryuuji. Her mind returns to the pool race, just before summer vacation… and how she was just as scared then after Ryuuji almost drowned.

Taiga makes her way over to a window, sits down, and looks outside. Hearing footsteps approaching, she looks and sees her best friend Minori walking over. She sits down next to Taiga, and promptly wraps her in a hug. Tears threaten to overwhelm her again, so Taiga rubs her head against Minori's chin. "I'm sorry, Minori. I can't…" Taiga says between sniffles, floodgates just about to burst.

Minori smiles, though it's a smile touched by sadness. Rubbing Taiga's head, she says "I know. I saw you when I went to the Christmas Party."

Taiga, shocked, looks up at her. "You… saw?"

Her mind goes back to that night, when she forced Ryuuji out of her apartment, still dressed in that silly but adorable Bear Santa costume, to go meet Minori at the Christmas Party. How, when she picked up his muffler, she had started crying, because she couldn't be by his side anymore. She remembers running out of the apartment, out of the building, into the snow-covered streets clad in nothing but the black dress she wore for the Christmas song and calling for Ryuuji at the top of her tiny lungs.

She remembers crying the whole night.

Minori nods. Taiga sees her tears. As Minori wipes her eyes, she smiles again. "I guess my heart is having a nosebleed."

Taiga smiles at the nonsensical statement and wipes her eyes again. She opens her mouth to say something, just as Yuri-sensei walks over to them, her phone flicked shut. Behind her is Kitamura. "I just got off with the hospital. Takasu is stable, but still asleep. I can take two of you over, if you want" she says.

Minori stands up, looks at Kitamura, then looks at Yuri-sensei. "Teach, there's a big home run I need to hit, and it won't happen if I'm not in the same room as Taiga and Takasu."

Yuri-sensei looks at Kitamura. "I'll stay behind. I think I know what Kushieda means" he says.

One drive to the hospital later…

Taiga and Minori make their way to where Ryuuji is resting, escorted by one of the nurses. On entry, they are greeted by a familiar face.

"Ya-chan? Ya-chan!" Taiga cries out, running to the arms of her surrogate "mother".

Yasuko Takasu gives Taiga a big hug, smothering her face with her chest. "Taiga-chan!" she exclaims, holding the tiny girl in their hug.

[-] Takasu Ryuuji's POV

Why is it so loud in here…

Ryuuji blinks as he starts to wake up. He looks around the room, seeing white walls, sheets, et cetera. All the things you'd expect in a hospital room. He turns his head to the side, and sees…

"T-taiga?" he says, before wincing. His hand goes to his head, and he rubs it. "Oowwww…". After a moment of rubbing his head, he opens his eyes back up, and sees Yasuko and Kushieda there as well. "Ya-chan? Kushieda?" he says, shaking his head some. Kushieda turns her head away slightly, but Ryuuji sees a pained smile on her face.

[-] Kushieda Minori's POV

"Ya-chan? Kushieda?"

She wanted to hear her first name, not her family name. She wants to be the one he loves, instead of her best friend. But that's not how it turned out, so Minori turns her head away from Ryuuji, and smiles a pained smile. She reminds herself what she needs to do, so she steps away for a moment, and shuts the door to the room.

Then she looks at Taiga.

[-] Aisaka Taiga's POV

Taiga hears the door shut, and turns away from Ya-chan. She sees her best friend standing in front of the door, meaning clear: You're not leaving until I say so.

She looks at Ryuuji, who returns a confused look.

Then she looks at Minori again, who's pulled her cap down over her eyes.

[-] Kushieda Minori's POV

It hurts worse than she was expecting. And she hasn't even said anything yet! So, she braces herself by pulling her hat over her eyes, so she can focus.

"Taiga…" she starts, swallowing her spit. "I know you've always been looking out for me. I know you wanted to give me Takasu, and yes, I do love him – I have since the beginning! And I know you want me to be happy, but…"

Why does this have to be so hard? She asks herself.

"I want to choose how I am happy!" she declares, the first tears rolling down her face. "And I can't take something that doesn't belong to me…"

"Kushieda…" Takasu says, sitting up in the bed.

Taiga walks over to Minori, face skewed between hope and fear in equal parts. "Minori…?"

The tears come faster now. Minori's body starts shaking, and she slides down the door to the floor.

"Taiga… his heart belongs to you, not to me."

[-] Aisaka Taiga's POV

As soon as she said those words, Taiga looks to Ryuuji, tears pooling in her eyes. She looks back at Minori, who's shaking and sobbing at this point. "He said so… on the way up" she manages to get out. "He said that he doesn't want to leave you alone ever again"