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

9: Tonight You Belong To Me

Getting home after the day's festivities and changing into a stuffy suit and tie is not Ryuuji's idea of fun. All of his friends except for Minori are going though, so he's kind of forced into showing up. Besides, he couldn't leave Taiga all alone at the dance with Ami and Yuusaku. One of the girls would surely end up third wheeling. So he combs his hair, digs up his dress shoes, and waits for Taiga to finish her snack so that they can leave.

Per tradition, the beauty contest winner doesn't change out of her dress, so Taiga was just helping herself to Ryuuji's pantry while he dressed up. He walks towards her and jokingly offers his arm. "Ready to go, m'lady?"

She laughs and stands up. "You're such an idiot." They start walking to school, not talking very much. Ryuuji takes notice of the silence.

"Are you.. Did your dad get back with you yet?" She looks down at her feet.

"No. I don't expect him to." Taiga sighs. "He'll probably call in a few days and apologize and have some stupid excuse and then never call again after that until he needs something. I honestly shouldn't have expected any different." She looks up with fierceness in her eyes. "But I'm not going to let that ruin the dance! This is gonna be fun."

Although her expression says otherwise, Ryuuji still thinks it sounded halfhearted. Of course she's disappointed, she doesn't have to hide it. She has a crappy dad. But if she wants to ignore it for now, I'll give her that. Ryuuji changes the topic, and conversation comes a lot quicker the rest of the way there.

The dance is outside in the courtyard, with a large bonfire in the center. It isn't a formal dance or anything, more of a celebration, so there was no need to hold it inside. Taiga and Ryuuji stand near the perimeter, leaning up against a fence. As people keep joining, many students congratulate Taiga for the contest win. Her crown sparkles under the light of the fire, but people would recognize her without it.

"It's a shame Minori isn't going to be here," Taiga says, glancing up to see Ryuuji's reaction. "You could have danced with her." He shrugs.

"It's alright. I think that if we end up together, it'll happen at some point anyway. Also, she's at work. It's not like she had a choice." Taiga accepts that. It's a great excuse to not be disappointed, except for the fact that Minori's not my soulmate, has no interest in me, and we aren't going to end up together. He chuckles to himself.

"What?" Taiga looks over at him. They had been standing there for a good ten minutes now, and the bonfire just got lit a few minutes ago and isn't very warm. Most of the girls there hadn't considered that it might be too cold for short sleeved dresses, including Taiga. She has her arms wrapped around each other, and her cheeks and nose are turning pink. Ryuuji takes his suit jacket off and rests it on her shoulders. "What are you doing, dummy?"

"You're cold. At least leave it on until everyone gets here and the dance starts."

She slips her arms through the sleeves as she considers it. "Whoa, this is warm!" It didn't take much to convince her. "Thanks," she says with a stubborn look on her face, as if there was actually a chance of her giving it back after she put it on. The bottom of the jacket nearly goes down to her knees, and she has to roll up the sleeves to see her hands.

Ryuuji smiles and looks away. That's really kind of cute. Ami and Yuusaku walk up right then, and Yuusaku gives him a funny look because he doesn't usually catch Ryuuji smiling the way he just was. Glancing over at Taiga, who's still wearing the jacket, Yuusaku pulls Ryuuji away from the two girls for a second. "Did she say your--"

"No."

"Do you like--"

"No."

"Okay." Their whispered interrogation ends, and they walk back over. Almost everyone is here by now, and The music has started up. A few popular songs play, getting everyone hyped up for the night. Even the usually quiet kids are singing and dancing. The coldness is forgotten by many as they move around and the fire heats up the area. Taiga takes off Ryuuji's jacket and hands it back to him with a thanks again.