Toradora!

That Way

Run me in circles
Like you always do
Mess with me on purpose
So I'll hang onto you

Taiga ran into her condo. As soon as she closed the door behind her that separated her from the rest of the world, she dropped to her knees crying. She didn't care about the multiple scars and bruises she'd knocked and damaged.
She just wanted to be alone.
After about 15 minutes of sobbing, she heard her phone ring from her pocket. She took it out. Ryuuji. She answered the phone.
"Taiga? Where are you? I thought you were meeting up with us at the diner."
"Oh I came home because I forgot something. I'm not actually feeling that good, so maybe I'll leave it today."
"Are you okay? You want me to come back to you?"
Of course he'd say that. Ryuuji was the only person who really cared about her.
"I'm fine, just got a headache"
"You sound like you've been crying"
"No I haven't"
"If your not coming here, I'll come to you"
"Fine, I'll come."

Taiga went and splashed cold water on her face, trying to wipe all evidence of her breakdown. She picked up her bag and headed out. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice Ryuuji a little up the street. Walking with her head down, she heard his voice.
"Taiga?"
"Hm?"
She looked up and saw him with a concerned look on his face.
"Why are you here? I thought you were waiting for me there?"
"I don't know, I just felt worried if you were walking alone"
"Okay"
She didn't know why, but she enjoyed the company.
When they arrived at the diner, Taiga saw her best friend Minori, her crush Kitamura, and her enemy Ami.
Ugh, I can't deal with this today.
She sat down next to Minori, and of course got a very energetic welcoming. She was already tired.
They weren't getting food from the diner, just a drink.

Ryuuji looked at Taiga, confused. She was definitely acting weird. She was hardly talking to anyone, not even Minori, and had a dazed face the whole time. After her first drink, Taiga stood up and said she was heading home. That was Weird. Ryuuji finished his drink quickly and said he'd go aswell. Taiga just left some money on the table and walked off without even saying bye. Ryuuji quickly left his money and ran after her. Somehow she was gone.
Ryuuji decided to head home, thinking maybe she'd gone fast to get away, but when he arrived she wasn't there. Maybe she'd decided to go somewhere on the way home. He decided to start cooking dinner for when she got home.
5 hours passed, it was now 8pm. Taiga still hadn't returned. He had been watching out for the whole time. He was starting to get worried, and Taiga wasn't returning any of his calls.
It was 4am before Taiga came home. Ryuuji had been awake the whole night waiting for her, and hadn't got any sleep. He went out of his house and knocked on Taigas condo. Soon enough, she opened the door, and looked a complete mess. She had a dark bruise on her eye. Her school skirt was torn at the ends, one sock rolled down and one normal. On the exposed knee he could see countless cuts and bruises all over. He knew several were from before, she was a klutz after all. But there were some bleeding and much more noticeable than others, obviously from today.
"Taiga.. what happened?" He asked?
"..."
She didn't reply.
"Taiga?"
"It was nothing, I was walking home and I walked into a wall, that's all."
Did she think he was stupid?
"Did someone do this to you?'
The look on her face was indescribable. A mix of shock, surprise, guilt, sadness.
Fear.
Ryuuji walked into her house before she could protest.
"Who was it?" He asked.
"Nobody hurt me Ryuuji! I already told you what happened!"
He could tell she was lying.
He walked towards her, and she shrunk back as if he was going to hit her.
"Let me see..."
He knelt down to look at the bruise on her eye. It was obviously painful, but she wouldn't let anyone know that. He touched it gently, and she whimpered. There wasn't much he could do about the bruise.
He looked at the cuts on her knees now. They were bleeding and bright red, and had dirt all over her knees. He brushed the dirt away so the cuts wouldn't get infected, and managed to stop the bleeding. After he'd finished, he looked up at Taiga's doll-like face. He didn't know what kind of person would hurt her.
He wanted to find out.

Song name: That Way by Tate McRae