"Taiga, stop!" The blue haired boy shouted. People in the streets turned their heads curiously, completely baffled by what they saw. They didn't understand what was going on, and not all of them really wanted to know either.

"THAT BIRD IS A MONSTER!" The tiny girl wailed. She was barefoot and running in her pajamas, a lamp-screen over her head. She probably couldn't even see a thing. The blue haired boy dashed after her, also just wearing pajamas. It was, more or less, the most peculiar thing to happen in that town for a long while. To even begin to understand, it would be a good idea to go a little back in time. Let's say 30 minutes.

…

"Water.." Taiga muttered, unsteadily walking across the tatami mats in the living room. Her eyes were heavy, with dark lines under them, and she only wore pajamas. "The big frog is telling me to get water." She mumbled and looked around. Yes. She was sleepwalking. It was about 9 am, which for Taiga on a day where she had stayed up late the night before, was way too early.

"Ah, you're awake." Ryuuji huffed from the kitchen, a bit surprised. "Taiga?" He asked when she didn't respond. She just wavered around the living room, mumbling something about frogs and water.

"So this is where the water is." She smirked lightly, pulling away the tiny curtain. It was the birds cage.

"I-I-Ink.." The bird stuttered. "I-I-IMBECILE!"

"ORYUUUUUUUH!" Taiga screamed, her back arching impossibly much. She fell back towards a drawer, knocking the lamp screen off of one of the lamps, making it land on top of her head. "Monster!" She wailed, and in only seconds she was running out the door with Ryuuji behind her.

And this brings us to the present.

"For how long are you going to run?!" Ryuuji exclaimed, trying to catch up to Taiga. What he'd now learned was that catching up to a scared tiger was almost an impossible task. After a while, though, Taiga had tired down and Ryuuji was catching up. One he caught her, he lifted her up and hanged her over his shoulder, instantly heading back towards the apartment. Taiga started ramming her fists into his back, wailing loudly.

"Don't bring me back to the Demon's Lair!" She cried, and Ryuuji had to explain to her that she'd been sleepwalking and that she'd seen Inko-chan say something really improper. Finally she understood, but Ryuuji didn't risk putting her back down until they were back.

Once they entered the house, Ryuuji sat Taiga down on the floor and she instantly crawled over to the table and rested her face on it, humming lowly to herself. "Ryuuji," she said after a while.

"Uh-huh?" He responded from the kitchen.

"We should get a kotatsu," She murmured.

"What?" Ryuuji uttered. "We have a kotatsu already, but there's no use bringing that out again yet. It's starting to get warmer outside, remember?"

"But I get so cold when I'm tired," She pouted childishly, rubbing her eyes while she looked over at Ryuuji. He shook his head and sighed.

"You could just use a blanket or something," he said, turning back to finish doing the dishes. It was quiet for a while, and Ryuuji thought that Taiga might have finally given up. But then he heard the sound of feet tapping hurriedly over the floor, and before he could turn around, Taiga was perched onto his back, pulling at his shoulders.

"Kotatsuuuu!" She wailed. Ryuuji's eyes widened in panic as he felt himself being pulled backwards, balance about to leave his legs.

"T-Taiga!" He exclaimed, and they both fell to the floor with a loud crash.

…

"Warm and good, heated and smooth, it's a kotatsuuuu ~" The girl sang happily with closed eyes, kicking her legs up and down under the heated table, her face and shoulders being the only thing sticking out from underneath. "I knew I could talk Ryuu-nyan into getting the kotatsu ~"

"More like beat me into it," he replied from the kitchen, sighing heavily. After a while he could hear the sound of his mother opening the door to her room. He heard her footsteps in the living room and instantly wondered how she would react to the fact that he had brought the kotatsu out. He walked into the living room and was greeted by the sight of Taiga and Yasuko lying next to each other under the heated table, wiggling their legs happily with their eyes closed.

"Seriously…" Ryuuji sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his head.

…

As the day progressed, Ryuuji witnessed how a heated table was literally able to make Taiga stupid. She rolled around under it and muttered incoherent words as if she was drunk. She also refused to leave. Didn't she get tired of just being under there all the time? It had been hours already. Even Yasuko had left the kotatsu and actually went out to do some shopping. She suddenly felt a bit more responsible now that she had two kids living in her house, and she wanted to buy groceries and such for the upcoming week. Ryuuji was surprised, but he didn't really mind.

He didn't know what to do about Taiga, though. She was just lying there, doing literally nothing at all. Suddenly, though, Ryuuji felt a bit cold. He made himself a cup of tea and sat down with his legs under the kotatsu, accidentally bumping into Taiga's legs. She groaned in discontent and kicked at Ryuuji's legs stubbornly. She didn't seem particularly happy with the fact that he had woken her up from her blissful slumber.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Ryuuji sighed and slowly started drinking from his tea. Taiga uttered another growl and calmed down, pouting to herself. After finishing his tea, Ryuuji slumped down on his back, realizing how comfortable it actually was to have his feet under the kotatsu. So that's why Taiga had been there for so long. He sighed and closed his eyes, deciding to relax since he didn't have much else to do. He scooted a little more under the table, half his torso and his head being the only thing sticking out from underneath it. He could slowly feel himself grow tired, his consciousness drifting away.

He awoke a while later as he felt incredibly warm, as if someone was holding a bath of fire above him. He opened his eyes and saw a head on his chest, staring up at him.

"So you ended up falling asleep yourself, huh," Taiga giggled lightly up at him and tilted her head. Ryuuji sighed.

"It's really warm with you on top of me like this…" He muttered, squirming a little. "It feels as if I might die, so-"

"That's too bad. I like it here," Taiga replied without hesitating, cuddling more into Ryuuji's chest. "It might be warm, but it's comfortable too." She smiled contently and closed her eyes. Ryuuji just sighed and lowered his head onto the floor in defeat. He guessed he could get used to this sort of thing. It would be easier to wake up Taiga before school too, when they lived in the same house, so he really didn't mind. It would be a nice change, even though it would pose quite a few challenges when it came to Taiga's neediness all the time. But moments like these were nice.

"You're a nice boyfriend, Ryuuji," Taiga said. She was trying to keep a calm composure, but it was impossible. She'd never called him that before. The blush was quite apparent on her face, and her breath was heavy. Ryuuji looked up at her in surprise, his mouth hanging open a little.

"U-Uh… you too. You're a nice girlfriend." He stuttered, and Taiga squealed.

"This is so embarrassing!" She pouted. Ryuuji was just about to reply but Taiga shot up and kissed him suddenly, too embarrassed to listen to what he had to say. He was surprised for a moment, but gave in and returned the kiss. The kiss, in addition to the body contact and heated table, made him even warmer. It literally felt like he was about to catch fire, but it was nice at the same time. After kissing for just a few seconds, Ryuuji felt something warm drip onto his cheeks. He broke the kiss and looked at Taiga, noticing her tears.

"What's wrong, Taiga?" He uttered in concern, brushing his thumb over her cheek. Taiga just shook her head.

"Y-You called me your girlfriend… I'm so happy that I can't help but to cry," she sniffled, a big smile on her face.

"Jeez," Ryuuji muttered, a soft smile on his face. "Come here."

He pulled her in for another kiss, and she returned it happily. And so they lay there for a while, just kissing and cuddling, not paying any attention to Inko-chan's repeated calls of "Perverts! Perverts!"

I've been neglecting my fanfictions for way too long now. I just haven't had the motivation to write, I guess. This chapter was quite random, but I need some time to actually get back on track with the actual story. I'm so sorry for delaying this story without saying anything. –sobs violently in a corner-