Chapter Text
“… R-really?” Arata stammers face completely red but with a growing smile.
Chihaya, the girl he had spent the last seven years dreaming about, who moments ago had fought beside him in the most important Karuta match of his life, and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen was actually asking him out on a date. Him.
Truly, this must be his reward for all of his hard work and patience. Because My god, had Arata been patient— it had almost been a year since his confession. He didn’t mind waiting though, not when it was for her. His feelings weren’t going to change.
Completely overtaken by emotion, he grabs Chihaya and pulls her into a tight embrace. Though Chihaya was caught a bit off guard by the sudden motion, she welcomes the hug easing into it.
She too could finally exhale. She won.
Chihaya Ayase, the Queen of Karuta.
All the pent up tension— the weight of all those years spent of chasing a seemingly impossible dream, dissipates in Arata’s strong and capable arms. Here it feels comfortable and warm. Familiar somehow. Though she has never actually hugged him before.
All of this was so surreal. After all this time she was finally at the top of the mountain. She could comfortably gaze down and enjoy the view no longer having to think about the way up to the top.
Best in the world.
…
Now there was no excuse for her to neglect her personal life because of her life’s mantra “Karuta comes first”. Though school was her still her biggest rival— and right now it was kind of kicking her ass, she figures that now is the right time to sort things out with Arata. After all, it is the last time she would see him for a while. Their relationship together has always been steady like a stream; so why should she fight against the direction of the current? It was inevitable. King and Queen. It was destiny. It was fate.
When she put it like that it made it seem like her feelings for Arata were out of her control; but there was a plethora of reasons why she likes him. Arata was the one who first showed her Karuta, breathing her dream into existence, and planting a seed in her heart. But even as a person, there was a lot she liked about him; her childhood friend with the glasses.
He was steadfast and earnest with his feelings; never once wavering, which was a trait she envied.
But most importantly the way Arata played Karuta had her simply bewitched. Watching him was like drowning— like being swept away by a strong wave and being carried deep out into the sea. She felt completely and utterly submerged, floating endlessly in a pool of his immeasurable talent. Arata was, in all sense of the word, a genius. She was in awe of him, inspired by him. She wanted to be like him.
Even off of the tatami mats, the smallest little things like a look, a word, or a touch between them made her heart flutter uncontrollably. Ever since they had reconnected in highschool, he had had that effect on her.
Next year she is sure when Arata to Tokyo for school their relationship will no longer be hindered by the massive distance between them. They could see each other every day and of course, most importantly, keep playing Karuta. Together.
That’s what it’s all about right? She had really only played a single game against Arata as “new and improved” Chihaya: the one who could take more than just a few pitiful cards from him. She had even won against him— the most talented Karuta prodigy she had ever met. But despite that massive accomplishment, she couldn’t remember it. Try as she may, the time they played together was a blank spot in her mind— like trying to play an empty reel of film. She wished she could remember. What did she do to win? How did she feel? Was it well… fun? She supposes it doesn’t matter now. They have all the time in the world to make new memories. Lots of new memories. When he is in Tokyo and well, of course, tonight.
“So Chihaya my Queen,” Arata says, breaking her out of her train of thought, “what would you like to do for our date?”
He is now holding both of her hands in his.
His hands…Oh my god, she thinks, she’s actually holding Arata’s hands.
It’s with those large but elegant hands that he strikes cards like a swift and quiet blade; a perfect balance of strength, purpose, and control. But the way he holds her hands is different. It feels softer and more tender, like a kind of reverence. She knows what she longs to see those hands do…
“Let’s play Karuta,” she replies without missing a beat.
…
Arata blinks a couple of times as if he can decipher with his eyes whether or not he’s heard her correctly. But of course he has. At this moment he feels cursed with his perfect hearing.
“You… want to play Karuta…” He says trying to hold back the disappointment from bleeding in between his words.
Chihaya, to her credit, has gotten much better at reading people. Though he hasn’t said it directly, she instantly clues in by Arata’s tone that he doesn’t want to play Karuta right now. Yet she can’t help but be selfish.
“Yes!”
“On a date… Well usually two people do more… Uh…” Arata struggles to find the right words, “couple things?”
“Karuta is a couple thing,” Chihaya re-affirms.
Arata shifts awkwardly letting go of Chihaya’s hands. When Arata confessed he told her he loved her without quivering and promised they would play Karuta again someday as an unspoken invitation to live together. But right now, he can’t even look her in the eye let alone, figure out the right words to say.
“Right. It is. And I would love to play you again. But we just finished our matches not a couple of hours ago. I… Well I want to try doing something else that we couldn’t do before we started dating.” He said with the type of sincerity that was just so typically Arata.
They had just finished the most mentally draining matches of their entire life and even he, the self appointed Karuta demon, wasn’t in the mood to play more. It just seemed like a colossal waste to spend their first night together doing something they could have done before they started dating. Their relationship was never just going to be swatting cards from each other in Karuta, was it?
“You’re right. Sorry. I’ve never dated anyone before,” Chihaya stammers in response, feeling Arata’s embarrassment rubbing off on her too.
“Me neither,” Arata says, giving her an easy smile alleviating her unease.
She smiles back. She can’t help but wonder if any other Karuta Kings and Queens have ever dated each other? It’s a romantic notion isn’t it? Two people working together to become the very best. I mean, Karuta in its nature is a game of pairs. You can’t play a game alone. You need an opponent sitting across from you; helping you get stronger as you help them too. A symbiotic relationship. Chihaya had learned what that meant for her upcoming biology test.
They are still looking at each other expectantly, each waiting for the other person to make the first move. Chihaya believed the burden fell on Arata for shooting down her idea of fun and Arata believed it was still up to Chihaya to decide because he had made the first move to ask. While they simmered, the silence between them grew increasingly louder.
Chihaya was the first one to break it.
“We could get food?” She suggested inspired by the growing pain from playing Karuta for like 7 hours on empty stomach.
“I won't get paid from my part time job for two more days,” Arata answered giving a polite excuse instead of an outright rejection. He couldn’t risk getting food; Arata’s stomach was too unpredictable for that. One wrong bite and he would spend the rest of their date hunched over a toilet in agony. He would never be able to live that down.
“No problem, it will be my treat!” Chihaya reassures him. Unfortunately, Chihaya missed what was implied by a person’s words half many times as she caught on.
“No?!” Arata snaps a bit more harshly than he had intended.
His stomach was one of two reason he didn’t want to get food; he also didn’t have any money. Unfortunately, due to Chihaya’s spontaneous nature, he hadn’t known their first date would happen tonight. Otherwise, he would have budgeted.
But the empty hole in Arata’s pocket only made the list of possible things they could do tonight that much smaller.
…
They decide to go on a walk— it’s free and relatively stress free. It’s dark outside now but the night is still young and the Kyoto nightlife is bustling. Even on a miserably cold night like this, lots of people are out walking around, hopping in and out of bars and restaurants. Arata and Chihaya’s hands have found their way back to each other almost instinctively. It is the easiest way to keep warm.
Chihaya now realizes this is one of the few times she has ever been truly alone with Arata. That will change as they train for the next Queen and King matches. Winning the title was one thing, but defending it? It was entirely different game. Especially since they were both at a great disadvantage: they wouldn’t have the luxury of participating in next year’s qualifiers.
How will it be when Chihaya is the one spectating: watching everyone competing for the chance to challenge her? Oh she already knows she will be very annoyed that she won’t be allowed to play all of the people competing, just the winner. Who will that person be? Will it be Shinobu, back to take revenge and reclaim her title like she had so passionately declared to Chihaya after losing. Or would Shinobu find that she had vastly underestimated the challengers who never made it Omi Jingu. Maybe it would be a difficult climb for her back to the top. That also begs the question: who will be facing Arata for Meijiin? There’s an answer to that question on her lips she dares not utter out-loud.
The silence between Chihaya and Arata becomes more and more comfortable when they realize they have little to talk about outside of Karuta. Even when they do try to talk about something else, like a boat that’s tethered to the dock the conversation inevitably drifts back. But Karuta isn’t safe territory to direct the conversation either, Chihaya quickly finds out. So many of her memories included him, her other childhood friend. Mashima Taichi. The one with big hazel eyes framed perfectly with those long fluttering eyelashes. Yet every time Chihaya mentions Taichi, she sees out of the corner of her eye, Arata’s face twitching involuntarily.
She wanted everything to go back to how it was when they were kids. When the three of them were best friend and playing on a team together. Back when things were simple.
Things were far from simple now— especially between her and Taichi.
After winning the title of Queen, Taichi who had made a last minute appearance at Omi Jingu, even stayed around long enough afterwards to congratulate her. At this point, she had no idea what she expected from him. Of everyone she knew, he was the most elusive and difficult to read. There was always something under the surface of the few words he spoke to her— things she didn’t understand. It made her so utterly frustrated.
“Congratulations Chihaya.”
That was all Taichi said— they were simple words really. Yet she couldn’t stop them from replaying in a loop in her mind. She could thank her impeccable hearing for allowing her to distinguish every little subtlety in the way he said it; so empty, unfeeling, formal. Though Taichi tried to mask with a soft smile; it was almost like he was saying goodbye. Yet another foolish idea of hers was that winning the queen match would bring him back to her. Whatever “bring him back” she thought had meant. Tacihi was already playing Karuta again, so what else was there?
At the time, Chihaya didn’t know what words she should say back, so she became his mirror.
“Thank you Taichi.”
Empty words. They weren’t enough. “Thank you” simply wasn’t enough for everything they had been through together.
How they built the club up from nothing. How hard they worked to get there, practicing almost every day. How he never let her worry about his own life despite how she knew deep down how difficult it was to balance everything: studying to be top of their class, Karuta Club President, and competitive Karuta player striving for the Meijin Title. How hard it was for him to be here at Omi Shrine after losing so brutally to Arata in his final match. How despite that he watched her. How his presence here had lifted her in the moments when she needed it most when she felt her dreams slipping through her fingers.
He was at times an absolute ass, but he was also one of the most selfless people she had ever met. If she was honest, she really hated him for it. It felt like no matter what she did for him, it never made him as happy as he had made her. He could keep his heart, his dreams, and his aspirations hidden from her and then turn around and say that he loved her.
She broke his heart that day, but the guilt she had carried had almost ended her too; swallowed her up whole. She was blind, completely ignorant to his feelings he had carried silently for so long. How was she supposed to guess how he felt when he never let her in? Never let her see him struggle, even though she knew he was.
Afterwards she gave him much needed space. It’s what he asked for; what he wanted. Thought she was selfish enough to still miss him. Even now, when it’s only a few hours since they last saw each other she misses him. But Taichi hasn’t been truly apart of her life for a while now so she’s become numb to that feeling.
She has found comfort in knowing Taichi will always be with her— in the thing she loves most, her Karuta.
Taichi helped her refine and polish it, into something strong, unbreakable, and perfectly balanced. In these precious years, Karuta had changed into something more than just a game. At Chihaya’s strongest, she used Karuta to help her understand her opponents. She could see who they were at their core through the walls they had carefully built to keep people out. Therefore, winning for her was never a matter of proving that she was better than them- just that she was finally able to recognize who they are.
Her opponents were the ones who made her great.
She thought all those times they played each other in the clubroom meant something.
Congratulations Chihaya.
She was wrong.
“What are you thinkin’ about?” Arata asks as he notices the blank expression on Chihaya’s face that she often has while she is deep in thought.
“Nothing,” she lied, getting a bit flustered. She might be new to dating but she figured it was wrong to be thinking of a different man while on a date with another.
After that last painful goodbye with Taichi, she promised herself that she would really let him go. As if on cue, a poem from the Hykunin Isshu came to her mind:
The depths of the hearts
Of humankind cannot be known.
But in my birthplace
The plum blossoms smell the same.
As in the years gone by.
It was silly just how much these poems had helped her in Chihaya’s lifelong struggle to navigate her feelings. Yet those those few stanzas soothed some of the pain she was feeling because time moves on regardless— nature is life’s constant. The plum blossoms will bloom again no matter what and they will always smell just as fragrant. Just like they did that day in the clubroom when Taichi said he was in love with her…
“So how did you find training with the Sharinami society?” Chihaya asked trying to shake those troublesome thoughts out of her mind.
“What?” Arata responded looking as guilty as schoolboy who had been caught cheating for a test.
Chihaya squinted at him.
“Harada-sensei already told me that you came to visit him. It's too late to try and deny it.”
Not that there was anything wrong with training against their sensei to prepare for Omi Jingu, but the fact he had been coming to Tokyo for weeks and didn’t even tell her annoyed her greatly.
Arata chuckled guiltily. “You caught me. I’ll admit that offensive Karuta has always been my weakness, so it was the best way to strengthen myself for my matches with Suou.”
“You couldn’t have asked me to train with you?”
“You were busy weren’t you? With your own life and your Queen match? I’m not going to burden you with that.”
“Burden me by asking me to play Karuta?”
So all this time, Arata kept his distance because he was worried that asking her to play was a burden? Was she not apart of the Shirinami society too? She was one of the few people who had actually won a game against him. More importantly, this was his first visit back to Tokyo after how many years, and he couldn’t even commit to seeing her a single time?
…
Her anger is not completely fair she realizes. Chihaya had told him that she was focusing on winning the Queen match. Then again, she never said she wanted him to completely ignore her until then either.
“No no,” Arata says softly shaking his head, “playing Karuta with you would never be a burden.” He brings her hands to his mouth and gives it a gentle reassuring kiss.
Chihaya could feel her face getting flushed. She had been walking around with Arata in a kind of victory trance that she had barely registered where in Kyoto they had wound up. When she looked away to regain her composure, she finally took notice of her surroundings. That’s when she saw the outline of someone behind Arata that made her heart drop.
It was Taichi.