Chapter 2
[-] Kushieda Minori's POV
As soon as she says it, the floodgates break, and Minori starts sobbing relentlessly, her body shaking in waves. A nurse opens the door behind Minori, and she's surprised by the sight – she'd been expecting a simple checkup, not an emotional breakdown. The nurse turns and calls for some help, but Minori barely registers it.
The next thing she knows, Minori's being pulled up to her feet and taken out of the room. She doesn't resist.
[-] Aisaka Taiga's POV
As Minori is taken out of the room, Taiga watches the nurse check up on Ryuuji. "Welcome back to the land of the living" she says, checking, then changing a bandage wrapped around his head. "Though I'm sure after that display you'd like to go back to sleep."
It's at this moment, while the nurse is changing bandages, that Taiga and Ya-chan see something new in Ryuuji's features – something goes a little too perfectly with his father's delinquent eyes…
A scar, held together with several stitches, going up his head from just above his left eyebrow.
After the nurse finishes her check-up and leaves the room, Taiga stands up and walks over to Ryuuji.
"I thought it was just a dream" he says. "But I guess Kushieda heard everything."
[-] Takasu Ryuuji's POV
Ryuuji's mind pulls up the hazy memory of being brought up the slope. He's not sure who's doing the hauling, but it's too tall to be Taiga. He remembers saying something, but at the time, it's too hazy to recall perfectly. Whatever it is, the person bringing him up the slope stops for a moment. He thinks it's due to the exertion – it's not easy dragging a person up a snow-covered slope by yourself.
The words come back to him as he remembers the EMTs getting him into the ambulance.
"I can't die here, or Taiga will be alone again. And I don't want to leave her alone."
His head finally catches up with his heart. What would have happened, he wonders, if things had been different? What would have happened if Taiga, or Kushieda for that matter, had been the one needing rescue? Would his head have caught up before someone else got hurt? Or would he have made things worse somehow?
He watches as Ya-chan gets up and leaves the room, leaving him and Taiga alone. Ryuuji exhales and looks at Taiga. "I'm sorry, Taiga. I left your side again", he says, as tears start to pool in the tiny girl's eyes.
"W-why are you apo-apologizing to me? It's the job of a dog's master to get concerned for their pet, not t-the other way around", Taiga says, as Ryuuji smiles his trademark half-smile. He reaches up and wipes the tears from her eyes.
"Because I'm not just your dog."
His mind runs through all the things they had done since that night at his house. All the big things, like the plans to get Taiga with Kitamura, the swimming race where he almost drowned, the trip to Kawashima's beach house, the cultural festival, and the Christmas Party.
"I'm your Dragon, Taiga."
All the small things, like the nights spent playing video games when they weren't studying, making bento boxes for the two of them, spending lunch with each other, walking to school together… just about every day they had spent with each other.
He didn't have anything like this with Kushieda. The thousands of small things, tiny rituals, little quirks that defined their day-to-day. They had some big moments, sure – like getting trapped in the warehouse that time he and Taiga helped her out at work, or crossing the finish line after the cultural festival's beauty pageant. But nothing like what he had with Taiga.
Ryuuji remembers the night Kushieda straight-armed him, not even giving him a chance to speak before rejecting him. He remembers the feeling of being relieved and wondering why. "It's because I'm not in love with Kushieda. The love I've been looking for has been under my nose this whole time."
Ryuuji takes a breath and focuses on Taiga. He sees her blushing, eyes wide with hope.
"And I love you."
The effect is immediate and intense. Taiga's face turns increasingly crimson, and she starts to squirm in place, half smiling at him, eyes struggling to meet his ( A.N.: Picture the scene from the stinger in Episode 25, just before Taiga head-butts Ryuuji ). "S-stupid mutt. All that effort t-to set you up with Minori and you j-just…"
The squirming ends, and Taiga leans against Ryuuji's side, eyes gazing into nowhere. Slowly, she turns to look up at Ryuuji's face. "And you go and pick me" she says.
Ryuuji smiles at Taiga and runs a hand over her head. "I think we both know that love doesn't work like that."
[-] Kushieda Minori's POV
While Taiga was being a bundle of happiness and joy in Takasu's room, Minori was… brought would be the proper term, but her breakdown rendered her pretty much inert, so she was hauled to Yuri-sensei. She was then deposited into a chair and promptly left alone by the two who had hauled her here.
"So, did you hit your home run?"
Minori hears her question and smiles a little bit. She sniffs, and wipes her eyes.
"Yeah, but it went left field instead of straight", she says. The meaning is clear, it hadn't been perfect.
If that wasn't obvious already. After all, Minori looked a wreck, tear-stained face and red eyes betraying the anguish she'd put herself through mere minutes ago. She reached up and pulled the brim of her hat back over her eyes, so to hide that anguish writ large on her.
She feels a hand on her shoulder, an arm across her back. Minori looks at Yuri-sensei, a sympathetic smile across her face. "It's going to be fine. Those two will continue to be your friends, I'm sure."
But I can't remain their friend.
The thought burns through Minori's mind like a meteor through the atmosphere. It's painful, but at the same time, it feels right. She wipes her eyes again and smiles sadly at Yuri-sensei. "Thanks, but I think I'll have to cheer them on from the sidelines now" Minori says, before standing up. "If you don't mind, I'll go wait in the car" she finishes, heading outside.
[- Author's Panel ]
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am not happy with how long it took to write this chapter. Particularly the last part. I cut and re-wrote it three times before coming up with… this. I'm not satisfied with how it turned out, but it'll serve the purposes I need.
Okay, shout out time. I got two followers between the last chapter and this one.
Antivenom907, Otagema, thanks. I can't promise consistent updates, but regardless, your votes of confidence are much appreciated.
What's next? Well, a lot. I took some time yesterday and hammered out the plot points for this story. This marks the end of the introductory set, so we're officially on the first arc of this story. I hope it does justice to the canon works. See you at the end of the next chapter.
