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

5: You'll Never Never Know

A few weeks after Ryuuji had the soulmate talk with Yuusaku, he stands in the exact same spot and talks about his words. Yuusaku is with him. "So, your birthday is tomorrow. Are you nervous?" Ryuuji goes to say he is not, but falters. Am I nervous? Yuusaku sees him open his mouth and then promptly close it, and continues. "It doesn't hurt or anything. You just wake up and they're there."

"Is there a specific time they show up?" Ryuuji starts sweating, feeling unprepared even though he's known this would happen since he was a kid.

"They show up the first time you're asleep after midnight on your birthday. So even if you stay up until midnight, they won't show until you wake up tomorrow morning." Ryuuji nods and holds his arm up, staring at the place where the words will appear. "Do you think you know who'll say them?"

Ryuuji looks up at Yuusaku. He almost doesn't want to tell him that he's hoping they're Kushieda's, just in case he's wrong. He does anyway, looking behind his shoulder and down the hallways first. "I.. hope that they're Minori's. I've liked her since middle school, and if they're not hers... I don't know what I'll do."

Yuusaku nods, understanding his predicament. "Either way, it'll turn out okay. Even if your words are from someone else or nobody's said them yet, you can still pursue Minori. Follow your heart, not your arm."

"Yeah... I will."

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Ryuuji lays in bed for an hour without falling asleep. It's nearly 11pm when Yasuko opens the front door and skips to his bedroom. Ryuuji rolls over to greet her, seeing that she couldn't even wait long enough to take her shoes off. "Ryu! Are you excited? My baby boy is turning sixteen tomorrow! You're all grown up now! You'll get your words!" Ryuuji has no time to react before she leans over and hugs him.

When she pulls back, he's met with a huge grin filling his mom's face. He smiles back, joyful that his mom is this happy. "You don't even know if anyone's said them yet!" He teases.

Yasuko giggles. "Yeah, but now you'll know what the sentence is. It's just so exciting!"

He yawns dramatically. "Well, if you want to know what they are, you'll have to let me go to bed and wait for tomorrow!" She kisses him on the forehead and hastens to turn off the light and shut the door. Ryuuji rolls over again and closes his eyes, sleep overtaking him after only a few minutes.

He wakes up suddenly, as if pulled out of a dream where he was falling and then hit the floor. He sits up, not drowsy at all. His right arm is pressed against the blanket, and Ryuuji stares at it before flipping it over to see if his fated words are there. His heart pounds and he notices the tips of his fingers shaking. This could determine his whole future, and waiting a few more seconds in the 'before' isn't going to hurt. Finally, he takes a deep breath and turns his arm over.

Yuusaku and his mother weren't wrong; the words are there. They're in a plain, dark-colored font, just as he was expecting. He reads his sentence, from quotation mark to quotation mark, and then rests his head in his hands. His eyes remain open and his breaths become ragged. He scans over his arm again and again, trying to process. He isn't sure what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this.

"Don't call me the palmtop tiger!" The words don't come with sound, but he can hear her as clearly as if it had just happened. Over and over again, she shouts it before punching him squarely in the chest.

"Taiga.. Aisaka Taiga... is my soulmate," he whispers to himself as if he doesn't already know. "But... I like Minori.. She's who I'm meant to be with... Taiga hardly even likes me as a friend!" Ryuuji stands up and gets ready for school with his mind still racing.