Tiger's Goddess

Chapter 1

I was playing against Taiga at the street court and we were both panting really hard. I used my shirt to wipe some of my sweet off before going after Taiga who tried to get passed me. I blocked him making him stop.

"Still can't believe someone as small as you can stop me from getting passed you." He said and I shot him a look.

"I'm not that short!" I all but yelled at him making him smile before he got passed me and dunked. I groaned some but got the ball.

"You did that on purpose, you ass." I said making him smile.

"Maybe, I did. Maybe, I didn't." He said and I rolled my eyes before I started to bounce the ball.

"Last round, because I'm starving and I told mom I would take her shift at the library while she headed to the office." I said and he nodded.

"Sure. I'll buy us burgers." he said as he wiped off some of his own sweat.

"Naw, you're sweet." I said and he rolled his eyes before dropping into a defensive stance. I let out a deep breath and focused. We both started to watch each other closely before we started moving. I stopped moving at a fast rate, right in front of him before I spun and took off leaving him stumbling behind me before he ran passed me. I smiled at him before I jumped into the air. He followed suit and I twisted my hips so I turned and threw the ball into the net cleanly, before we landed on the ground.

"Damn it." he said and I let out an airy laugh.

"Come on. Let's go." I said and he nodded before we headed to the bench. We grabbed our stuff and we both drained the water we had before we started walking to the closest fast food place.

"Yo, Taiga, Yukiko, the usual?" We heard Liam ask.

"You got it. How's it going, Liam?" I asked him as I leaned against the counter some.

"Not very exciting. It's just work." He said as he put our order in from memory.

"Outside of work." I said.

"Just gearing up for school and for the next street ball competition." He said.

"Can't wait to see what you developed to use against me." I said with a smile making him laugh while Taiga handed him the money for our food.

"You got it, Yukiko." He said and Taiga and I went to sit down to wait, after we fixed our drinks. I was staring at Taiga's ring that was hanging off his necklace as I sipped my drink, thinking about how Tatsuya and him had a falling out.

"What are you thinking about so hard, Snow?" He asked me.

"Your falling out with Tatsuya." I said and he stiffened some before he reached to touch his ring.

"Don't worry about it. We'll fix our relationship." he said and I looked at his face.

"Please. It's weird seeing you two act so cold to each other. I don't like it." I said before I looked down.

"I know and I'm sorry. Just don't beat yourself up about it. Tatsuya and I will fix our relationship soon." he said as he sat his hand on my head.

"I'm not, I just want to see you two going back to being like brothers." I said with a small smile and he nodded before he stood up to go get our food. A moment later, he sat back down and we started to eat through the mountain of burgers, ignoring all the stares from the other customers.

He was soon walking me home when we both heard a dog barking. I started laughing as he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"It's not funny, Snow!" He yelled at me making me laugh even more.

"Yes it is! The tiger is scared of a little dog!" I said as I pointed to the dog that was sitting at the gate.

"It's not even the size of a skateboard and you want to jump out of your skin!" I said as I went back to laughing only to stop when he started growling. I looked at him to see he had a weird glint in his eyes and I swallowed heavily before I started running.

"Get back here, Snow!" he yelled as I heard him running after me.

"No!" I yelled back before I rounded the corner. I heard his loud footsteps getting closer making me let out a weird scream as I started to run faster. I was almost at my house when he caught me. I screamed some before we both started laughing. We soon collapsed onto the grass outside of my house where, we laid there panting until he sat up.

"I better head home." He said and I nodded.

"Alright. Let me know when you get home, please." I said and he nodded before he stood up. He turned and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

"I will as long as you let me know, you got to the library safely, and then when your back home." He said.

"Deal." I said and he nodded before he waved at my front door before he left. I turned around to see my mom standing in the doorway, smiling some.

"Hey mom. I'll go take a shower!" I said.

"Okay. We leave in an hour." she said and I nodded as I walked into the house.

"You need to tell him your feelings." She said after the door shut.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship if it turns out he doesn't like me." I said as I sat my bag down.

"He'd be stupid if he didn't love you." She said and I looked at her.

"Mom, look who we are talking about here." I said.

"Right. He is a bit of a blockhead. Though, my statement still stands." She said.

"I know." I said softly before I turned and headed for my room.

A couple hours later, I was walking back into my house with a tired sigh. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Taiga before tiredly walking to my room where, I barely changed before falling asleep.

Two days later, I was in the middle of cooking some breakfast when the front door opened.

"Hey, Snow. Can I talk to you?" I heard Taiga ask.

"I'm in the kitchen. Want some pancakes?" I asked him.

"I don't mind some." He said as I heard him walking closer, before he turned into the kitchen. I looked at him to see he looked upset.

"You seem sad." I said and he sighed.

"I'm moving back to Japan." he said and I nearly dropped bowl I was holding.

"What?" I asked him softly.

"I'm moving back to Japan, and it's looking to be indefinite." he said and I sat the bowl down, before I walked over to him and he wrapped his arms around me while I cried into his chest some. I clung to his shirt as he gently rubbed my back.

"I don't want you to go, but I know you have to." I said softly as I pulled back. He wiped away the rest of my tears.

"I'll make sure to talk to you as often as I can." he said and I gave him a look.

"You better!" I said and he chuckled.

"Let's finish making breakfast, before you kill me." He said making me laugh some before we started cooking.

At the end of the week, I was standing in front of him at the airport, holding back all my tears.

"Let me know when you get there." I said and he nodded before he dug through his bag he had.

"Here." he said and I took the small box he had, and opened it to reveal a ring on a chain. I picked it up to see it was nearly identical to the ones Taiga and Tatsuya had.

"I found the lady who sold Tatsuya our rings and bought that one because of how it was nearly identical to ours." He said and I wiped away a tear and smiled softly.

"Thank you." I said before I put it on. He went to say something before there was announcement calling a plane.

"That's my flight." He said and I rushed forward and hugged him tightly, as a few more tears spilled out. He hugged me nearly just as tight before we slowly let each other go.

"I'll miss you." I said softly as I wiped away my tears.

"I'll miss you, too." He said and before I knew it he had put his jacket around me.

"You can keep that one." he said as he patted my head once more before he walked away. I tugged his jacket closer to my nose as more tears spilled out. I wiped them away before turning and walking out to see my mom standing there on the phone. Once she saw me she ended the call and opened up her arms. I sobbed before I practically threw myself into her arms, where she just held me not saying anything until I calm down.

"Since I don't have to go to work until three, let's go get some ice cream and watch movies." She said and I nodded as I dried the rest of my tears.

It's been almost two weeks since he left, and I was currently standing at the basketball court, watching Alex teach Tatsuya. He's leaving us too. I thought as I wrapped my arms around myself. Hours later, Alex left so it was just Tatsuya and I standing at the court.

"Are you going after him because of that promise?" I asked not looking at him.

"Partially. I got accepted into Yosen High in Akita." He said after he drained the water he had.

"Look. I'm going to tell you what I told him. You better tell me when you get there safely and you better make some effort to at least send me a text saying your okay, or something." I said.

"I will." he said as he sat his hand on my head. I bit my lip and sighed.

"I'll miss you, Tatsuya." I said softly.

"I'll miss you too, Yukiko." He said before he drew me into a hug.

"Ew! You're all sweaty!" I yelled as I fought to get out of his hold making him laugh but hold me tighter.

"Tatsuya!" I yelled and he finally let me go with another laugh.

"Jerk!" I yelled at him and he just smiled some as he held up his hands innocently. I sighed but smiled some.

"Come on. Let's get some burgers or something." I said and he nodded before he grabbed his bag and we both left the court.

A week later, I watched him take off. I walked to the courts and sat down at the bench as I watched memories of all three of us playing together and Alex randomly coming in to play and kick our asses.

"So he's gone too, huh?" I heard Alex ask snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to see her standing beside me with a sad look.

"Ya. They're both gone." I said and she walked over and sat down. I sat my head on her shoulder and we sat there in silence.

"Come on. Let's practice. I'm sure you want to kick some ass in the next street ball competition." She said as she stood up.

"Ya, I do but I'm not feeling it today." I said only for her to start pinching my cheeks.

"I. Don't. Care. Get. Up. We're. Playing." She said.

"Fine!" I managed to get out of her squishing my cheeks. She stopped and smile. I stood up and took off my regular long shirt, before doing my stretches.