Ryuuji. I write this letter because I am uncertain. I'm uncertain about a lot of things. I'm uncertain as to if or when I will give you this letter – but if you are, in fact, reading it – it means that I have left. I want to clarify why I left. I'm just not sure if that's doable.
Ryuuji sat up on his futon and stared at the wall. There were dark lines under his eyes, and he could barely keep them open. "No sleep, huh?" He groaned. "Ahh, this sucks." He mumbled as he started to stand up. He wasn't motivated to go to school. He wasn't motivated to go to the ceremony that marked the end of the school year. He didn't want to do that alone.
When Ryuuji got into the living room, he saw Yasuko leave the bathroom, looking way worse than he did. But she damned her cancer, and she damned her shaved head and her incessant puking, and she smiled at her son. "We'll fight on, won't we? For her?"
"Yeah, mom." Ryuuji mumbled. "We'll fight."
"As soon as you get that girl home, you marry her, you hear me?" Yasuko yawned as she started walking back towards her bedroom. "That way, you won't ever be able to let go of her again."
Ryuuji hesitated for a moment before nodding, his eyes cast down as if everything he said was just because he needed to say something. "Sure, mom."
You never really know what someone's going to mean to you when you meet them. I remember the first time I met you. I remember how I thought I was going to hate you, so I hit you in the face. But right from the bat, when I tried to kill you in your house at night, you were willing to help me. You're such a kind person. Way too kind. The way you were acting towards me, I'm surprised I didn't see the fact that I was going to fall in love with you from miles away. Instead, it just hit me like a brick, straight out of the blue.
The ceremony kept going for what felt like ages. People gave speeches, and students got their diplomas, and Ryuuji could barely be happy for his friends in the senior year. He couldn't take his mind off of everything that was going on. He couldn't take his mind off of the fact that Taiga had left without saying anything. No letters, no calls, nothing. Just radio silence.
After the official ceremony was over, and the school year was finished, Ryuuji and the others met up with their seniors in the movie club's club room. Apparently, they had some kind of plan for the upcoming night.
"Well, aren't you looking all grown up?" Ami smiled as she saw Yukuri with her diploma in her hand. Yukuri smiled crookedly and went to hug Ami. They both seemed kind of sad, but everyone knew they'd figure something out. Everyone knew that they needed each other, just like they knew that Ryuuji needed Taiga.
"We're throwing a party tonight. My place, of course." Yukuri said after she was done hugging Ami. "Everyone's invited. Literally, everyone. We'll view the movie on our big screen. It'll be like premiere night."
"This is a surprise." Minori gasped, and she did, in fact, look quite surprised. "I haven't heard anything about this."
"It's a new plan. We were supposed to do it differently, but… this is for Ryuuji." Tamura said, a soft smile on his face. Torya nodded and held onto Tamura's arm, looking a bit sad. "We can't leave you behind while you're still sad, Ryuuji. Friends don't do that."
"Thanks." Ryuuji mumbled, and he was genuinely grateful. Maybe, just maybe, this could do something to take his mind off of everything. "Is it okay if I get really drunk?"
"As your friends, we should not encourage an ideology as barbaric as using alcohol as a solution to your problems. But this is us we're talking about. We'll supply you with as much booze as you could possibly get into your body, and we'll stay right on your tail. If you go bonkers, we'll do it with you." Julian said, holding his hands in his pockets, looking completely relaxed.
Don't think I left because my feelings for you changed. I love you, Ryuuji, and I believe that will never change. But my presence in your life makes it difficult for you and your mom. I can't be a hindrance to Yacchan's treatment. I need for her to get healthy again so that the two of you can be happy. One of the things I want the least in this world is leaving you. But the thing I want the very least is for you to be unhappy, so if you're reading this and I've left, it means it was the only solution I found to ensuring your happiness. Maybe you won't be happy about it now, but looking at the big picture, I think it is best.
It was that day, after school, that Ryuuji found the letter. In a way, he wanted to check out everything that even slightly reminded him of the girl he loved, so he went to the wall in his house. He still remembered how Taiga had tried to stab him with a wooden sword and ended up impaling the wall. He looked at the tiny piece of pink paper she had given him from her love letter to Kitamura. He had stuck the paper over the wall to cover up the hole, but now he saw that it was starting to peel off. He looked a bit sad as he approached the wall, flicking softly at the bit of paper with his finger. He noticed then that something was stuffed behind it. An incredibly brutally folded piece of paper. He pulled it out in a hurry and started unfolding it, and it turned out it was a full sized sheet of paper.
"How the hell did you manage to fold it this much? This is insane!" He exclaimed, looking all over the letter before he dared to start read it. "I cannot accept such brutal handling of valuable paper, Taiga!"
I'm probably selfish to say this, but I hope this is not the end for us. I hope that one day, when everything is solved, we will find each other again. For now, I think I will travel. If I'd gone to my parents, you'd know where to look for me, so… I'll be on my own for now.
"You have shown me light… in this world. I thought there was only darkness, but… it doesn't matter. It is too late. This town is in ruins, and all these innocent people, they are…"
"You can make it good again. You can fight for the light, now that you know it is real. You can do it with me by your side."
"No, that cannot possibly… your job is done, is it not? You were assigned to me to prove the existence of good in the world, and you have done so."
"I cannot leave you now. I have shown you the light, and you have… you have shown me…" Tenshi stood still for a while, her eyes fixed upon Karthamar. There was a glint in her eyes that looked very, very human. "You have shown me emotion. You have shown me… what love feels like, and I will not let go of that now. My feelings for you… they have come into existence, and I will… I…"
"Tenshi." Karthamar mumbled, looking at the entity – or girl, now – that suddenly looked so fragile.
"You are so beautiful." Tenshi suddenly said. Karthamar was on his knees in the rubble and the ruins of the city. Tenshi walked forwards and placed a hand on his head. "There's a beauty in you I did not know of. Humanity is… wonderful, is it not?"
Ryuuji took a huge swig of his drink. People were completely caught up with the movie, but this scene was a little bit too much for him. It wasn't exactly the best timing. He felt a firm pat on his shoulder by Julian who stood next to him. Ryuuji had never really realized how much these people cared for him and his friends. They were good human beings, all of them.
"It's gonna be okay, you know? Shit, man, it's a messed up situation, but it'll be okay." Julian said. Ryuuji nodded slowly and drank some more. He was sort of starting to feel it affect him.
Torya and Tamura held hands as they watched the scene where their characters died next to each other, and it seemed to move everyone who watched. These siblings who had fought together, now died together, covered in blood from head to toe.
"Isn't this kinda messed up?" Torya suddenly asked, looking at Tamura with wide eyes. Tamura turned to her, confused.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean, I first thought of it a few nights ago, when we were…" She whispered, a bit afraid of others hearing it.
"Uh-huh?" Tamura was suddenly grinning from ear to ear, and Torya smacked his shoulder playfully.
"Shut up!" She giggled. "What I mean is… we played siblings, and then… well, you know…"
"Oh." Tamura mumbled, suddenly looking a bit shocked. "I guess you're right, that is kinda messed up."
"Yeah…"
"That doesn't mean we're gonna stop… you know… right?" Tamura looked a bit nervous as he asked.
"Are you out of your mind? Never! I was actually thinking… when we get out of here…"
"Phew." Tamura sighed in relief. Luckily for them, everyone else were too busy watching the final scene of the movie that was between Tenshi and Karthamar, so they didn't notice Tamura and Torya's little conversation. Once the movie was over, everyone stood up and applauded, and some of them even had to wipe some tears away from their eyes. They went around and congratulated everyone involved in the movie on their great work.
"If only she were here, right?" Kitamura said behind Ryuuji.
"Yeah… if only." Ryuuji sighed. "I think she'd like it. I think she'd be proud." He said, sounding quite confident in those words. Ami was about to say something to him, but she disappeared outside when she saw her cellphone ring.
"We'll make sure she sees it." Julian said, standing next to Torya, Yukuri and Tamura. "It's not like we were planning to make any money off of this thing, so… we'll post it everywhere. She's bound to find it."
"Thank you." Ryuuji said, and Minori bowed deeply.
"That means a lot, Julian-sama!" She exclaimed. Ami suddenly came rushing in, and everyone at the party became quiet because of all the noise she made coming in the door.
"I was just…" She gasped for air, almost as if she had been running for hours, even though she'd just ran in the front door. "I was just talking to one of my old modeling friends on the phone. She called me to share a cute story with me, she's… I don't know, she likes cute things, okay?!" She exclaimed, almost looking a bit annoyed.
"Get to the point, then!" Yukuri ushered, rushing over to her girlfriend's side.
"She works at a café… The Ryu café, an hour away from here with the train. She said… she said some girl had come in and left a jewelry depicting a tiger, and that she said a boy would come by in a few weeks, and that… that… she were to give it to him."
"W-What does that mean?" Torya asked, looking slightly mortified by how Ami was acting.
"Quite a while back, I…" She looked at Ryuuji, and she knew that he had already understood. "I helped Ryuuji find a present for Taiga. In the end, he bought two jewelries… a dragon and a tiger, and I… Don't you get it?!" She suddenly shouted, looking at everyone apart from Ryuuji who looked confused. "The Ryu café! It was Taiga! She left it there for him!"
Everyone stood still for a few moments before Kitamura, Minori, Yukuri, Julian, Tamura, Torya – hell, even Noto, Haruta, Maya and Nanako sprung out from the crowd – and Ryuuji burst into action.
"When's the next train leave?!" Ryuuji shouted as he started pulling his jacket on.
"10 minutes! We can make it if we run!" Kitamura replied hurriedly.
"Right, you guys just… keep on partying!" Yukuri exclaimed. "I leave the house in your care!" And then they were gone. They had all headed out the door and made a run for the train station.
"We'll find her!" Minori shouted. "We'll definitely find her, right?!"
"Ye-" Ami was about to answer, but was cut off by Ryuuji.
"Of course we will!" He shouted, a big smile on his face. "She needs us to! She won't admit it, but she needs us just as much as we need her!"
"Yeah!" Ami and Kitamura replied in unison, everyone breathing heavily as they ran. Ryuuji didn't feel the alcohol anymore. All there was now, was adrenaline. In his head, the letter from Taiga resonated. Those words fueled him.
You're a dragon. I'm a tiger. Since ancient times, the dragon has been the only beast to equal the tiger. You told me that a long time ago, so… that's why, we'll always be together, right? Even if I'm not with you right now, we'll always be together. I promise you that, Ryuuji.