Wouldn't It Be Nice (A Toradora Soulmate AU)

3: Memories Are Made Of This

Ryuuji passes through the school courtyard while striding home. It's empty because school has been out for twenty minutes, and anyone that has to stay after is inside the building. Ryuuji can hear his footsteps hitting the pavement. He pauses for a moment to enjoy the silence that doesn't frequent the place, but footsteps continue from behind him. He turns to look and sees Taiga walking towards him. "Oh yeah, we live near each other, right?" He calls to her. She nods. "Walk with me then."

He waits for her to catch up to him, and then they continue on together. They don't talk for a few minutes, until Taiga asks about their plan of action. "Won't it be weird if we suddenly start being friends? Yuusaku might be suspicious if you suddenly start setting us up." Ryuuji smirks. Taiga either really likes Yuusaku, or overthinks a lot.

"Well, we can say we've been friends since this summer since we live close by. That'll be more believable," Ryuuji suggests. Taiga murmurs in agreement and then pulls out her phone. After tapping around for a moment, she hands it to Ryuuji, pointedly looking away. He takes it, realizing that she's asking for his phone number. He hands it back after typing it in and sending himself a message. The two reach Ryuuji's house, and Taiga goes to enter the apartment complex next to it.

"Wait, you live there?" Ryuuji remarks. He knew she lived near him, but not that they were next-door neighbors.

"Is there a problem with it?" Taiga shoots back with narrowed eyes, defensive.

"Not at all," he says, backtracking before she decides to throw another punch. "I just didn't know." She seems to accept this answer and goes inside.

The next morning, Ryuuji waits outside his house before leaving. "Taiga sure is taking a while," he grumbles. They hadn't agreed to walk to school together, but as they were friends now it only made sense for them to. When she leaves the complex,-Finally, Ryuuji thinks- she says nothing of her lateness. "Don't you worry about being late? Don't your parents make you get up sooner?" He presses, not wanting their little agreement to foil his attendance record.

Taiga glances at him, her face bleak from the earliness. "I live alone." That's all she says about it, and although Ryuuji is wondering how that came to be, he doesn't push his luck.

As they approach the school, a voice that they both well recognize bounds up to them from a branching street. "Good morning Taiga!" Minori calls. "Who's your friend?" Taiga smiles and accepts her hug before the three of them continue. Ryuuji, despite looking everywhere except at Kushieda so as to hide his crimson-turning face, is mentally keeping track of everything Minori says. He knows it will be her words on his arm when he turns sixteen, and he wants to remember the moment she says them vividly.

Taiga coolly sticks to the story they planned, saying that she and Ryuuji had met this summer because they happen to be neighbors. This is the same story that Ryuuji gives to Yuusaku later in the classroom in response to the raised brow and glances between him and Taiga. Before his friend has time to process it, Ryuuji turns to where Taiga and Minori are sitting and says they have room at their lunch table, and they could all sit together. Evidently, Taiga didn't think Ryuuji would make such a sudden request, because her eyes dart down at her desk and she giggles nervously. Minori replies for her, remarking that that sounds like a lot of fun.

Lunch comes, and the four of them find a table to sit at. It's a little awkward for all of them at first except for Minori, who incites conversation between them all easily. Once the four of them start talking, it's clear they'll make a solid group. Well into the conversation, Ryuuji feels a light kick on his leg. It's forceful enough that it was probably done on purpose. He moves his gaze in front of him, where Taiga gives him a thankful smile. It's short, and nobody else notices, and that makes it even better.

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After a few weeks of eating together every day and working on school projects together, Ryuuji, Yuusaku, Taiga, and Minori have become a true friend group. Ryuuji has definitely become a lot more comfortable hanging out around Minori, no longer blushing when she speaks to him. Taiga is making progress with Yuusaku too, though she still needs to work on blushing.

"Hey, do you all want to hang out at the Cafe later? One of my old friends is flying in and I thought it would be fun for us to meet with her." This comes from Yuusaku near the end of the school day. The other three all say yes with varying levels of excitement. "Alright, then how about 5?" He receives agreement to this too.

Taiga is anticipating the event much less than the other three. She's stuck on something Yuusaku said: "meet with her." "her." His old friend is a girl. What if.. What if they're soulmates? What if she completely ruins any chance I had with him? She stares down at her desk, hands quivering at the thought. She presses them together. No, it's better this way. If they're secretly in love, this would be the moment we find out. Taiga continues to reason with herself while packing her bag.

Ryuuji stands up and turns around when he's ready to leave. Taiga is nearly done packing up too, but her reaching hand strays almost a foot away from her bag. She doesn't seem to notice, considering she's completely zoned out, eyes unfocused and unaware. He doesn't know what she's so torn up about. She gets to see Yuusaku outside of school, after all. This'll be the first time she's seeing him in normal clothes instead of their straightforward school uniform. In her position, I would be thrilled. Though I suppose I am in her position. Minori won't be wearing the uniform either.

5 o'clock comes, and Taiga, Ryuuji, and Minori all find themselves sitting at a booth in the cafe. The girls are sitting on one side, facing the door, and Ryuuji is facing them. They're all expectant, waiting for Yuusaku to show up with his friend. Ryuuji doesn't need the doorbell to know when his friend walks in. Taiga's distressed gasp says it all. Ryuuji gets out of the booth and stands, checking out Yuusaku and the girl.

Ryuuji can see why Taiga had that reaction. The girl is tall and slender, with long, straight hair. "She could be a model with those proportions," Minori comments. Taiga's face sinks a little when she hears that, knowing it's completely true.

Ryuuji pulls a chair up to the end of the table and sits down so that Yuusaku can sit with his friend. The two of them slide into the booth, with Yuusaku across from Taiga and the girl across from Minori. "Hi, I'm Ami! I've heard so much about you guys, so it's nice to finally meet!" Her smile is infectious, and thus returned by everyone, even Taiga. Yuusaku introduces the rest of them to Ami and they all order milkshakes.

The waiter comes back soon after with two strawberry shakes (Minori and Ami), two chocolate shakes (Ryuuji and Taiga), and one vanilla shake (Yuusaku). They sip on their drinks and make small talk for the next twenty minutes. No matter what expectation they came in with, everyone is having fun by the time all the shakes are finished.

Minori is the first to go, saying that she has to make dinner and that it's getting late. Next to excuse themselves are Yuusaku and Ami. "We really should get back now, but I'm really glad to have met you three! I hope we can become good friends in the future." Yuusaku nods goodbye to Ryuuji on their way out the door, and then it's just him and Taiga. They're on the same side of the booth, because Ryuuji took Minori's spot when she left. He turns her and asks if she's ready to go.

As they walk home, Taiga recalls how close Ami and Yuusaku seemed in the Cafe. "When they were looking at each other and laughing, they weren't uncomfortable at all. Do you think I'll ever be able to do that with Yuusaku?"

Ryuuji considers it. "Maybe if you talk to him more openly instead of hiding your face whenever he asks you a question." He says this teasingly, and she laughs.

"Ami's actually really nice. I hate it. Makes me feel bad to have her as my rival." Taiga frowns. Guilt isn't very well known to her, but it's starting to creep in.

"Don't think of her as a rival then. Think about it this way: If she and Kitamura liked each other, don't you think they would have done something about it by now?"

"Yeah, I suppose so." Taiga walks a little more confidently, a smile beginning to curl up her face. Ryuuji mirrors her, and they march home together, like two soldiers that just won a battle.