Chapter 1 The tiger is back in his palm
The last day had been pure bliss for Ryujii Takasu. Not because he had graduated, that only added some to his elated joy. But because the girl that he loved and had promised to marry had come back after over a year of torturous waiting. He had had a couple of opportunities to talk with her on the phone during the year, though never more than 10 minutes and there conversations were limited as Taigas mom had regulated their entire conversations. Not that it mattered much to him. Just being able to hear her voice was what motivated him throughout the school year. Without those times he wasn't confident he would be able to keep going.
During the long elapses between phone calls he had mostly spent his time thinking about her and their conversations. He had planned to say "I love you" the first chance he saw her, basically a year in advance and he thought about it often. He had never said it to her when she was there, but he knew that she knew how he felt. The rest of his time was spent working at the bakery, doing school work, and cleaning his house as well as Taiga's old apartment. Her family had kept paying the rent just in case she decided to run again and he felt it was his duty to keep it in perfect condition if she ever came back to it. That and it was full of many memories of the two of them and it made him content if only for a few minutes to be in her old room. After he left her apartment he always felt a hole in his heart, but he kept at it anyways.
But that was all in the past now. Taiga had finally come back! He wasn't sure how long it would be before he would finally get to see her. But she had come the day of graduation to surprise him. He had seen her hair in the old 2C classroom and without hesitation he had run up the stairs to see her. He slid the door open but she wasn't there. For a second he had thought he was hallucinating but he searched the place he had thought she might be. He found her in the same locker that she had rolled out of the first day he had met her. Knowing that she would probably reflexively hit him if he started out with "I love you." He decided to complement her first by telling her she had grown. With a scowl she replied "Not even a millimeter. Sorry." he knew he couldn't put it off any longer so he simply said "Taiga! I love you!" she blushed put her head down in embarrassment and head butted him. Of course he knew her better than to think she didn't like it. He knew she appreciated it, and figured he would have to get hurt no matter when he said it. "A head butt to the chin is better than a kick in the balls like she did with Kitamura when he confessed" Ryujii had mused in his head.
After that they had snuck out of the graduation party and he spent the rest of the morning talking with her. At first she was a little shy and let him do the talking. Probably because of the long absence and how they had last left off. But it didn't take her too long to warm up and they were soon talking about anything and everything as they had done so long before. She talked about how difficult it was with her mom and how close she was to running back many times. She didn't quit though and after some of the issues with her mom started to settle down, she had to convince her about Ryujii and how she wanted to marry him. Her mother was extremely opposed to it at first. After all the only time she had seen him was when he had run away with her daughter, so he felt that it was understandable. But eventually she had agreed to at least let her see him, on the condition that they wouldn't get married until she was convinced that he was worthy of her. He would have to meet with her and her mom at least once every week for her to decide if he was ok or not. But he didn't mind, it was an extremely small price to pay if it meant he could see Taiga again.
They talked until about 12:30 PM (the graduation ended at 10:00 AM) when Taiga's stomach started to growl. Ryujii gave a heavy sigh. She had started eating convenience store food again, after she had left as neither her mom or stepfather cooked and for dinner, they always went off to her stepfathers family's house with Taiga's half-sister; Leaving her to find food for herself.
