Toradora! / Takemiya, Yuyuko

"Takasu Ryuuji might look like a thug, but he's actually a nice guy. Making friends when you've got an unintentionally scary face is tough--and don't even get him started on girlfriends. But with his secret crush in his class, the start of his second year of high school is off to a good start . . . until he crosses paths with Aisaka Taiga. Beautiful, frightening, and not quite five feet tall, the girl known as the Palmtop Tiger is the one person in school even scarier than Ryuuji himself--and he's just made the mistake of making her very, very angry"--Back cover.

Ryuuji and Taiga have found common ground in their dislike of the new transfer student, teen model Kawashima Ami, at least until the battle moves to swim class, where a fight over a tasteless insult results in a contest between Taiga and Ami--with Ryuuji as the prize.

Constantly misunderstood because of his eyes, which always look like he's glaring, Takasu Ryuuji hopes for better things from his junior year of high school, especially when he's seated between his friend Kitamura and his secret crush, Kushieda Minori. Things go wrong almost immediately, however, when Ryuuji gets on the bad side of the meanest girl in school, Aisaka Taiga, who happens to be Ryuuji's neighbor and Minori's best friend.