“We’ll help each other.”
Ryuuji didn’t know what exactly he was signing up for. One moment he was dodging swings from a sword-wielding girl who broke into his house at midnight, and the next… they had a deal.
She would help him get closer to Kushieda Minori, the bright, athletic, slightly oddball girl he liked.
And he… would help Aisaka Taiga confess to his best friend, Kitamura Yusaku.
It sounded ridiculous.
But something about the look in her eyes made it hard to say no.
---
The Morning After
Ryuuji woke up with a stiff neck and a weird heaviness on his chest.
“…Mmm…”
There was something — no, someone — lying next to him on the futon.
Long chestnut hair. A small frame.
It was Taiga.
His eyes went wide. His heart nearly stopped.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?”
Taiga blinked slowly, still half asleep. “You had warm rice…”
“Don’t sleep in people’s houses without asking!!”
“I was hungry…”
“You can’t just — Ugh!”
---
The Plan Begins (Sort of…)
At school, Taiga acted like nothing had happened. In front of Kitamura, she was her usual silent self — cold, distant, intimidating.
Meanwhile, Ryuuji tried to act natural around Minori, but every time she looked at him with her bright smile, his words turned into mush.
Taiga glared at him.
“You’re pathetic.”
“Well, excuse me for being human!”
At lunch, they sat on the rooftop, discussing “strategies.”
“I’ll tell Kitamura how amazing you are, how cute you look when you’re not trying to stab someone,” Ryuuji offered, half-joking.
Taiga narrowed her eyes. “You’ll do the cleaning. The cooking. The laundry.”
“…What does that have to do with—”
“Everything. If you want my help with Minori, then become my dog.”
“Dog!?”
“You like cleaning anyway.”
“I don’t like it! I just… do it because no one else does…”
She shrugged. “Same thing.”
---
The Unseen Kindness
Despite her rough attitude, Ryuuji began to notice things.
Taiga, for all her strength and confidence in front of others, lived completely alone in a high-rise apartment.
Her fridge? Empty.
Her floors? Covered in junk.
Her life? Disorganized, quiet, and lonely.
She acted like a tiger, but she was just… a girl.
Small, fragile, and struggling to do everything on her own.
So Ryuuji — the so-called scary delinquent — started cleaning her room after school. Cooking meals for two. Making bento for her every morning.
And Taiga… accepted it all silently.
---
In Class: Rumors and Whispers
The other students couldn’t stop whispering.
“Why is Takasu Ryuuji always hanging around Aisaka Taiga?”
“Did they get in a fight?”
“Is he her new servant?”
“Maybe he’s into her!?”
The rumors got worse.
But neither Ryuuji nor Taiga cared.
Their strange relationship was built on mutual secrets. Mutual goals.
And a fragile, unspoken trust.
---
That Night: The Wind Blew Softly
Back at Taiga’s place, Ryuuji was sweeping the floor while she sat cross-legged, munching on rice crackers like a spoiled cat.
“You’re going to get fat if you eat that much.”
She threw a cushion at him.
“Shut up. You’re not my mom.”
“…I feel like one.”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
“You’re weird, Takasu.”
“And you’re a pain, Aisaka.”
A pause.
“…But thanks,” she mumbled.
He looked at her. She was staring at the TV, pretending not to care. But her ears were slightly red.
It was the first time she’d said “thank you.”
---
The Dragon and the Tiger — Closer Than Before
As the days passed, they didn’t just help each other with their crushes.
They started knowing each other.
The tiger, feared and untouchable, had soft sides she never showed anyone.
The dragon, misunderstood and avoided, had kindness in every action.
They didn’t realize it yet.
But the story of Toradora had already begun to shift from “helping each other get their crushes”…
…into something much deeper.
---
To Be Continued…
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