Ryuuji, on his school graduation day, is reunited with his lover, Taiga. Now that Taiga is 18, she has her own free will and proceeds to live with Ryuuji. How will their relationship develop from this point on? What obstacles will be thrown at th...
It has been a week since the accident. Minori had locked herself up in her room for the whole period of this time, becoming engulfed by the guilt more and more as each long second goes by.
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Deep inside, she felt as if she was actually being selfish by keeping herself alone for she hadn't gone to see Taiga. Maybe it would've been too hard to see her best friend lying on a bed without any sign of consciousness. In any case, she certainly couldn't face Ryuuji in her current state; not until she had cast her lingering feelings away.
Outside of her little bubble, Minori heard a knock. And another. And another. Three slow knocks to her door and to her heart. Neither of them opened. All she returned with was a simple grunt.
"Onee-chan! You can't keep yourself in there all the time..." She heard her little brother weep. She let out another grunt. There was a pause.
"I'm worried about you onee-chan. You aren't even going to work!" He spoke again. Minori blinked her eyes.
"You promised onee-chan. You promised you were going to work for our sake. I'm too young to work." He ranted. She gritted her teeth and held her eyes tightly shut. Tears escaped from the cracks and ran down her shamed self. The pity for herself built up and she hastily slammed the wall. Following this, her face lit up with the color that had faded from her.
"Ah..." She started. "I'm sorry I've let you down, little guy. You see, onee-chan's been an idiot who can't sort out something so simple."
"Onee-chan..?"
"I'm going to settle my feelings once and for all! For your sake! For Taiga's sake! For my own sake!" She yelled as she leaped towards the door. She vigorously slammed open the door. And at this point in the time the door to her room was open and so was the door to her heart.
Ryuuji was waiting on a bench in a park after having received a text from none other than Minori. He hadn't seen her since the accident so adrenaline was flooding his whole existence. He felt like he was going to drown in it. The day was cold, yet he was so warm from the nerves that he was sweating. The sweating rapidly increased as he caught sight of Minori as she was walking towards him. He opened his mouth but was quickly shot down from the most unexpected line.
"I love you, Takasu-kun."
His presently open mouth turned into a jaw-drop. His body didn't know how to react, so he just sat staring into her sparkling eyes. Upon staring, he noticed that they weren't just sparkling, they were sparkling with her held back tears. It was the beautiful sparkle of her resolve.
He let out a deep breath. His eyes naturally glanced away from her eyes and to the cold floor. In shock, Ryuuji's eyes then widened and his head swiftly turned to face Minori's face. She started laughing.
"Hahaha! Don't worry, Takasu-kun. I'm already aware of your answer. You love Taiga." She said. He grew a frown as he opened his mouth once more.
"Then why? Why would you say that?"
"I think it's obvious. I just had to tell you. That's all." She smiled broadly. He was still confused and so he had a creased forehead.
"Ah~ You still don't get it? I got it. I'll tell you. I just had to get out my feelings to you." She then put her left hand upon her heart. "You've already known that I felt like this. Even so, I felt the need to let you know up straight. Now that it's out of my chest, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my chest." She turned her left hand into a fist. "And now that we don't have this to worry about, we can focus more on Taiga, right?" She punched out her fist in front of Ryuuji. As if it was second nature, he bumped the fist of hers with his own. He smiled for the first time in that week. Minori made the most of this smile by staring at it for the next few moments.
Both Ryuuji and Minori went together to the hospital. Unlike Minori, Ryuuji had been there constantly everyday. They strolled through the traumatizing white-themed hallways of the hospital. The color made them feel uneasy for it was everywhere in this place which held the tiger captive. She couldn't escape because she wasn't even conscious.
Staring at the hospital bed with the wild animal on top of it, Minori felt the built up tears leak. Ryuuji stepped right up to the bed and held the paw of the tiger with both of his hands gently. He pulled the paw towards his face and he leaned his forehead against it. As if to not generate jealousy again from Minori, he restrained himself from kissing Taiga's hand.
Taiga laid in the the hospital bed. Surprisingly, she didn't have any serious injuries from the accident. Unfortunately, she was in a coma.
"This feeling of warmth... It can be none other than Ryuuji." Taiga thought to herself. "Thank you, Ryuuji, for being with me all this time. I really, really, really wish I could return your kindness." She tries to force herself to move, but it's no use. She hasn't got any control over her body. She lies there, motionlessly, with Ryuuji and Minori telling her about what had just happened. "I can hear you, you two. I'm glad that got sorted out. I can rest in peace for now then, I guess..."
