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"I wonder if they'll ever add karuta to the Olympics."
The remark makes Taichi snort as he looks over his laptop at his girlfriend. She's sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his TV, half watching the current sports coverage, and half scrolling on her phone.
"It's a Japanese card game. You have to know Japanese to play," he points out the obvious. "Besides, you practically won the gold medal for karuta by becoming queen."
Chihaya shrugs. "I guess so. But it'd still be fun to play in front of the whole world, y'know?"
It's already nerve-wracking enough playing for the meijin qualifiers or the All-Japan tournament, so playing on a world stage sounds downright abysmal to him, but he keeps his comment to himself. He returns his focus to his laptop screen, trying to find the last paragraph he left off at. There's only one week until his university lets out for summer break, and he needs to finish studying for this last exam before—
"Hey, did your parents want you to go to the Olympics? Is that why they made you play so many sports, hoping one would stick?"
Taichi glares at her from his spot at the kitchen table, but Chihaya's still idly thumbing at the screen of her phone.
"I don't know, maybe," he finally obliges with an answer. "I was pretty good at soccer."
Even after two years of dating and almost a decade of friendship before that, this news seems to surprise her. She whips her head up to look at him, eyes wide.
"Really?" she asks. "Good enough for the Olympics?"
"Hardly. I was good in middle school," he clarifies. "And then when high school came around, someone convinced me to join a karuta club instead, so it's been a while since I've played." He furrows his eyebrows at her in mock annoyance, but Chihaya simply grins at him, unabashed.
"Karuta is waaaay more fun than soccer, so you made the right call." She says it so smugly that Taichi can't help but roll his eyes, even though he's smiling too.
A sudden cheer from the TV has Chihaya's attention glued back to the screen, and Taichi peeks at it too—a pole vaulter from Sweden just broke a world record—before he reminds himself that he needs to be studying.
Normally the TV doesn't distract him, but he didn't exactly account for Chihaya, who is definitely a lot more distracting than the TV. Even without her random questions and interruptions, just her presence is enough to entrance him. He'd spent almost a full ten minutes just watching her earlier, after she'd arrived and promised she wouldn’t bother him while he finished his work. Her university went on break a week before his, meaning the sooner he gets his last few assignments and exams done, the sooner they can enjoy spending a full two weeks of uninterrupted time together before his summer courses start.
He just needs to finish. studying.
He forces his attention back to his laptop screen, looking over the notes and textbook definitions he needs to memorize, but then Chihaya lets out a small gasp.
His eyes flit up to see her still watching the TV. He tries to ignore her, but after three more gasps and a quiet " oh wow " his curiosity finally gets the better of him.
"What's on now?" he asks, tilting his head to see the screen better.
"Table tennis," Chihaya reports. "It's Japan versus Thailand. Just look at that speed . I can't even see the ball!"
"It's all about the speed with you, isn't it?" he muses quietly, but finds he enjoys watching her watch the match more than watching the match itself. Chihaya is so expressive, and always has been. He watches her eyes tick back and forth, attempting to keep track of the ping-pong ball, and the way her teeth unconsciously gnaw on her lower lip, lost in thought and concentration.
Which leads to him just staring at her lips instead, which really isn't helping his focus at all.
"I bet they'd both be good karuta players," Chihaya comments. "And one of the players is from Japan, so she already speaks Japanese! I wonder if she has social media..." Her comment trails off and she returns to her phone, intent on scouting this Japanese ping-pong player. Then a moment later, she exclaims, " What!? She's only sixteen? Aww, now I feel old."
Taichi watches in fond amusement, taking in Chihaya's sagged shoulders and defeated pout (which only brings him back to staring at her lips again). He glances at his laptop screen, and can almost physically feel his resolve slipping away.
Technically, he still has one more day before his exam. He can just study tomorrow, right?
He's not normally a procrastinator, but Chihaya is right there and he hasn't seen her in person since her birthday two months ago. Before he can second guess his less-than-studious intentions any further, he snaps the screen close and makes his way towards Chihaya, sitting down right beside her.
Chihaya looks up from her phone, startled. "Huh? You're done already?"
Taichi tugs her until she's leaning against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist and holding her close. "No," he admits, settling his chin on top of her head, "but studying can wait. The Olympics only come around every four years, y'know."
"Tsk tsk," Chihaya admonishes with a click of her tongue, but makes no move to leave his embrace. In fact, she shifts even closer, and then turns her head to press a soft kiss to the edge of his jaw.
"I'm sorry for distracting you," she apologizes, evidently recognizing the true reason he abandoned his studies. "I'll make sure I don't bug you later."
"It's fine. I don't mind it when it's you," he replies truthfully, and revels in the sweet smile Chihaya gives him in return. She settles back into his arms, and he idly plays with her hair, letting his finger loop around the soft brown strands.
Sometimes he's not sure how he got so lucky. Part of him wonders if his luck will eventually run out, just like it seems to do on the tatami mats, but then Chihaya always manages to remind him otherwise. She'll smile and tug his hand and look at him with nothing but pure happiness written across her face, and he'll realize that he’s the one who makes her happy. That he's important to her, too. For so long he thought that he knew her better than she even knew herself, but even with all his knowledge of Chihaya and all her mannerisms and quirks, she still manages to surprise him every now and then. She surprised him when she confessed her love in their old clubroom, and she still surprises him every time she repeats those words, spoken with such reverence that it makes his breath catch in his throat.
It hurts, sometimes, thinking about how much he loves her.
"Japan won!" Chihaya suddenly cheers, her voice jarring him back to the present. "We're going to get the gold!"
"Chihaya, this is only the quarterfinals," Taichi points out, but receives a sharp nudge from her elbow in response.
"Taichi, where's your patriotism? We should celebrate!"
"Oh yeah?” he asks, letting his head drop until he's practically mumbling the words against the side of her neck. “And how should we celebrate?"
Chihaya twists in his arms until she's facing him, her cheeks tinged with pink at his sudden affections. "W-Well, I haven't thought that far ahead."
Taichi hums, letting his fingers card through her hair and pulling just enough so that her face is tilted towards his. "Every win deserves a kiss, don't you think?"
"It's not my win though," she says, but she's already leaning closer, her eyes half-lidded.
"Chihaya, where's your patriotism?" he parrots back to her, but his teasing is cut off when her lips press against his, and he remembers just how much he's missed this.
Missed her.
When they finally draw apart, an entire new sport is playing on the TV, but neither of them are paying much attention to it anymore.
"Should we do this every time we win at karuta, too?" she asks, her breath warm against his face.
Taichi can only imagine the horrified looks and disapproving stares they'd receive from the other competitors if they started making out after each match, but he nods anyway. "Sure. Why not?"
He should know better by now than to concede to her whims, but the brilliant smile she gives him in response is worth it every time.