Work Text:
Chihaya is panting. As always, she barely made it in time for the train, her long hair and scarf streaming behind her. The scarf Chitose chose for her is cute but so long that she was scared that it would catch on the door and strangle her. She was equally helpful and hair-tearing level annoying as she pulled together “halfway decent outfit for your first date” no matter how many times Chihaya screeches at her bestest volume that “it’s not a date, sis, sis, siiiiis!!!” It was hard to convince her though because apparently her logic of “What else is skating on Christmas evening? Specially after a confession, kid, I know this business better than you” is ironclad in her head. Still though, she thinks Arata would have made clear that it was a date when he called if it was. He just happened to be coming in on Christmas day and since he will only be there for a day and half, of course he called to hang-out! Also, he sounded as calm as ever, so, it’s really not 100% clear as Chitose thinks. In the end, though, *she’s* so nervous that she’s nearly vibrating in place- she’s might or might not be heading to her first date ever!
Chihaya is still worrying over this as she boards the train and finally manage to find a spot where she’s unlikely to bump into anyone when she spaces out. Though even if she does, it seems like not many would even notice being bumped. Everyone is in such good mood that they seem to almost glow and sparkle along with the Chritmas decorations around them. She tries to see who amongst the obvious couples are on first dates and who are not new to each other. But she really must suck at all romantic things as Kana-chan says, because she really can’t tell. She is happy that they are happy though and is still buoyed by that familiar excitment of getting to see Arata but the jitteriness that comes with “A DATE? A DATE? A CHRISTMAS DATE?” loops and loops in her head.
Such excitement and anticipation, Chihaya wonders if she’s being cruel and seaweed-causing by going to see Arata on such a romantic day since she still has yet to find an answer to his confession. From Taichi’s “Do you think I am made of stone?” she definitely knows now that her obtuseness can result in pain for others. She does not want to cause any pain for any one, specially to her dear friends, but one is already hurt and distanced from her and if she can’t figure out her stupid heart and give an answer, will she lose Arata too? Though Arata seems to have just reverted back to their usual friendly rhythm on their phonecalls, maybe with some added awkward silent stretches when they both seem to remember the confession simultaneously and sputter to put the conversation back on. She is also worried about how she should act - even starting with the greeting! Out of the three of them, he was always the least touchy-feely. Still, they had gotten used to hugging when they see each other, she feels like she will burn up into cinders if he so much as looks at her, let alone hug.
Still, it’s so great to get to see him today, specially since it’s only the second time she will see outside tournaments where they only seem to be able to snatch a few minutes at a stretch. She did not even have time to think of the implications before the yes slipped out of her mouth when he said he’s visting Tokyo to see his relatives and if she was free! So she is finally putting her resolve together to just go see his friend, maybe ask if it’s date directly in the beginning so she knows how to act better (miniscully better probably, but still), but then the universe seems bent on bringing on nerve-wracking event one after another.
She ducks down on instinct when she sees Taichi board the train, shaking off snow from his hat. More importantly, he has iceskates slung over his shoulders. She can’t be that unlucky, right? There are several seasonal rinks besides the main one so chances must be slim that they are headed to the same place! How does she handle this if he catches sight of her? Her knee-jerk reaction is to invite him along and include him, but what if it *is* a date! Even she’s not that insensitive, you know! But she can’t think on it long since Taichi is already making his way towards her even though she crouched down as far as she could. Thankfully, he seems to be moving slowly, almost seeming just as relucant and awkward as she is. So she just has to bite the bullet “Merry Christmas, Taichi - um, are you going skating? Of course you are, I mean you got skates, and that’s not something you just bring along everywhere. Bah, I am just babbling, where are you skating?” Though he’s facing slightly away, and the train is louder than usual, amazingly it sounds like the exact place she’s headed to. If she wasn’t so confident in her hearing she would ask him to repeat himself. She’s trying to imagine just how she can get ahead of this situation. She briefly considers running and hiding behind pillars and then going around later to get to Arata and drag him someplace else, as bad as it was to admit, he probably knows that she will somehow run late. Though, it seems weird and almost wrong to be so sneaky anyways.
He seems to have read up on her expressions though before she can come up with a better plan. “You too? Can you even skate?” and follows up with “just who are you going with? I know all the club members are doing something else and Arata is coming along with me”
”Eeeeh? Arata is skating with me! I thought it was ou …” A blush quickly overtakes her face and her brain does that overheated stalled mode whenever Arata comes up now. Taichi’s head tries to finish the sentence and he does not like any of it. Chihaya, however, feels momentarily relieved from the lift of expectations from the date but then her stomach seems to drop just as quickly. So it’s definitely not a date then. So what is it?
”So, I guess he just invited us both to hangout and forgot to tell about it to the other then? He did sound pretty frazzled, but then again, a last minute trip on Christmas Eve to Tokyo would frazzle anyone. You know? His nephew was born a month earlier than planned! Day before Christmas nonetheless, and poor kid, he's always going to have one combined Chrismas and birthday gift. I wonder if the nephew came out alright! Think he has pictures of the baby? He’s so bad at taking pictures you know” Chihaya has to shut her mouth with an audible click as she realizes that her defensive babbling is just making his face darker. Taichi visibly composes himself and says “You know, does he know about… about why I left the club?”
“No… no, I haven’t told him, he doesn’t even know that I ”
“That you… what?”
Unfortunately, that’s exactly when the train lurches to a stop and Chihaya gives a start once she sees Arata in the station windows. Taichi is once again grappling with wrestling down his jealousy that he almost forgets what she’s talking about:
“That I left the club too ”
“You?? Left the club, why?” He has been so careful not to even brush against her since the aborted kiss, but he simply has drag her away from the train doors to where Arata is waiting so they can both shake some sense into her. “Come on Chihaya, don’t do that, don’t leave the club - not because of… not because of something I said or did, I… I will be fine, I actually am playing with Suou nowadays and and I am really enjoying karuta you know? Maybe for the first time - for its own sake.”
____ _________ ___
##
“Wheew” Relieved sighs come out in stereo as as both Chihaya and Arata rush to hug him from both sides. After a while Taichi clears his throat, mindful of the passerby’s eyes that seem to be questioning the scene just shy of blocking the train doors and has to haul them both out of there. “Guys, guys, come on, it’s getting embarrassing. Also, Chihaya, I am not coming back to the club. I just don’t have enough energy for both med school prep and Meijin prep - and Arata, I am gunning for you next year, whether for the Challenger or Meijin seat, so don’t get too comfy!” Arata just smiles, relief belying his teasing when he says “Best not lose to anyone else before then.”
And off they go, continuing to bicker on their way to the rink, through the long long queue - all three of them desperately trying to keep the mood light and normal and falls back on karuta and club-founding talk till they part at the men’s and women’s changing rooms.
Once on the cozy benches, Arata is strapping the last of his shoelaces when Taichi bumps his shoulder and speaks while carefully avoiding his eyes “Just so you know, I did ask her out. But it seems I took too long to not be a coward, I was too late - story of my life, huh?” Arata is stumped for a moment, feelings of relief and sadness for his friend warring inside him. He hums while he think through how he can reach to uplift him and the only thing he could think was “Sometimes I think, there’s an option beyond only winning or losing in karuta - there are losses that I treasure more than wins because those games were exhilerating and just so so so much fun to play. I was always jealous of the fun times and moments you two were having in Tokyo and thought what I would not give to be back here with you guys. I am not sure if that makes much sense, but… I hope you still treasure those moments and that it does not hurt too much to… to come back” Deep breath. “When I heard from Coach. Sakuzawa that you two both quit, I was worried that karuta has become too painful for you keep going, like it did for me when Jii-chan passed away. I couldn’t even look at cards without feeling like my heart was getting shredded. Dr. Harada said then that it’s okay to have more than one reason to enjoy karuta, and you guys pulled me back in when Jii-chan’s memory was too raw. Now it is a comfort, I feel a connection to my grandpa, you guys, Murao-san, allies, rivals and friends and senpais and kouhais - all of you. Mizusawa team is yours and Chihaya’s. I know it’s really painful now but I don’t want you to regret missing out on time with your club later on, as I regretted taking time off from karuta. There’s more to Mizusawa team than Chihaya, right?”
Taichi slumps further down in his seat to hide his wet eyes and starts chuckling “Man, you and your earnest selflessness, here I thought you were going to ask if she said no because of you, but there you are, trying to comfort me first. You guys really are perfect for each other”
“Ah I have many doubts about that, in some ways it is selfish because I want to keep playing you as much as I can, I wanted to put my team against yours. Also, she has not given me a reply yet you know. Anyways, now that I am saying it though, Taichi, now I realize that I want to keep our friendships no matter what. Even if you didn’t play karuta at all, maybe I can be the one to reach for your hobby this time. Maybe we can play soccer? I will be pretty bad, but I will try my best”
“She has not given you an answer? Come on, it was at the Challenger match right? So it’s been over a month! Man that Chihaya can sure be an insensitive idiot at times” Arata smiles, despite his claims of selfishness, here Taichi goes too, thinking of him first.
“That’s alright, I didn’t even know I was goin’ to confess before I already did it, I put her on the spot, so I do not mind waitin’. Though how did you know it was then?”
“How would I even miss it! You guys are both obvious idiots, she was a mess right afterwards and whenever your name came up, she became even more of a useless blubberhead”
“Hahaha, blubberhead eh? What a vocabulary, Future Doctor. Is that a real condition that many people suffer?”
“Yes, yes, it’s quite contagious. Come on now, let’s go skating before she combusts out of curiosity or break down the door to the men’s changing room. She actually barged into the boys’ room on our class trip because she wanted to know who won the Challenger games, you know”
“Haha that’s just like her.”
________ _________ ________ ________ _______ ________ ________ ________
Meanwhile, Chihaya really was twisting herself into a frenzy (only figuratively, because it turns out, she is a not capable of spinning on ice). So many negative imagery scenes flit through her head and she tried her newly learned skill of studying to take her mind off things, but that turned out to be dangerous in this context. So now she was desperately scanning the skating crowd to study how skating is done, but there’s too many couples and there’s 2 avenues of new dangers there.
1. It puts her mind straight back to the two boys who confessed to her in the last month in one room, saying who knows what!
2. There are girls who seem to suddenly un-learn how to skate when they come near her, bumping into her quite often and dragging their boyfriends behind them while she scrambles to get out of further collisons.
So she is laser-focused on the one kid she found who came along their parents’ date (cuuuute!), and is mimicking her every move, and it’s good because her parents are also teaching her the tips and tricks. She was just mastering the push-push-glide rhythm to go forward when the two came out of the changing room and disrupted it all to hell and she fell back with a whoomp. The boys came rushing in, though in Arata’s it was more like hobbling in and Chihaya had to bite back tears at the sight and sounds of them bickering just like they used to “Why did you even suggest ice-skating, if you are this hopeless at it?” “We’re always crouching on the tatami, I thought it would be good to stretch our core and learn better balance on lateral legs” “Of course it comes back to karuta, you karuta freak”
She looks between them, answering their uncertain smiles with hers, looks at the hand Arata has stretched out and is just about to take it when he pulls it back and elbows Taichi instead. At this, Taichi raises his eyebrows and after flash-seconds of eye battles between them, Taichi sighs and also extends his hand so they can haul her up with one hand each. She can’t resist pulling them both into a huddle hug and crying her heart out, likely adding a fresh layer on the ice for the zamboni to level later.
Looking at Arata’s genuine smile at smoothing the ice between Taichi and Chihaya, Taichi once again finds himself having to scold himself for assuming that Arata must have called him to tell him to either back off Chihaya or to tell them they are dating in a cruel fashion. His feeling worse off increases when he pulls out two pairs of mittens from his bag and hand one to each of them. His has a little cartoon bear with stethoscope and Chihaya’s has a Daddy Bear on it, which she takes gleefully with a squeal and promptly falls down in her excitement again. Taichi is handing over the box of sweets (just for Arata, since he didn’t know Chihaya was coming). Chihaya is of course moaning about being the worst and not bringing a gift for anyone. She perks up just as quick though and says “Not to worry! I will get you guys two gifts each at the New Year to make up for it! I will see you both at Omi Jinguu right?” Looking at her hopeful face, he can only nod. Arata is saying “I am pretty sure there will be a car or two from Narumo society, can’t miss seeing Dr Harada challenge Suo, so sounds like we will all get to hang-out again, I am really glad. Shun and Hiro might come too, I would love to introduce you two guys to my kouhais”
Chihaya is barrels over the kouhai topic immediately at the perceived slight to Queen’s matches. “You are not excited to see Shinobu-chan? Only paying attention to the Meijin games eh?”
“Ah well, both Shinobu-chan and Io-chan are childhood friends so I am going to have a hard time supporting either one, so I am just going to focus on the Meijin game.” At Arata’s mention of Jr Queen, Chihaya’s face briefly darken and tighten in a way Taichi is painfully familiar within himself and wonders how she still doesn’t know her own feelings at all.
He’s glad, in a way, that he won’t have to watch them get together too soon, might give him some more time to get himself together, to get ready to look happy for them and maybe, just maybe, be truly happy for them in parts too. Arata is of course, just as oblivious and says “Chihaya, no need for regrets, you will get a stomachache, next year, we will all be there as Challengers and not supporters” with that implacable confidence and surety that Taichi both admires and despises in turns. It’s hard to stay mad at him when he’s telling Chihaya that he went into the holiday shops for warm mittens because keeping your fingers in ship-shape for the next tournaments and new year. When Chihaya is done admiring hers, he fully expected her to launch a full frontal assault to bargain/trade/plead her way into getting his pair with the Non-Daddy bears too but while she sends wistful look at the mittens, she refrains. Maybe she is growing more considerate, or she’s still not fully comfortable around him now. Which sends him a pang, but he is comforted by thinking that she is not doing that with Arata either. But then again, Arata’s mittens feature a practical pin of geometrical patterns and no bear to speak of. Or, actually, maybe it’s because his hands seem to be easily two or three sizes larger than hers and Taichi’s. He’s reminded of the conversation where Nishida was (manfully, he insisted) whining about how big Arata’s hands gotten since grade school as yet another example of how karuta gods favored him unfairly and has to sigh out his agreement in his head and goes off to show his two loser friends how to skate.
---
— x —— x —-x — -x —-x —— x- ——x ——-x ——x ——x ——x ——x ——-x —-x —-x —-x —-
When ice was conquered (somewhat) and hot chocolate drunk, they start their long walk to the illumination shows since buses were too packed. Even while complaining of the weird ache of post-skate legs and resulting waddle-walk, Arata shoots off like arrow when he spots an elderly couple who spilled their Christmas shopping all over the streets. While he’s occupied searching for the tiny baubles that rolled away in millions of directions, Taichi draws Chihaya back from going off to help and take the opportunity to make himself a better friend:
“How have you not given Arata an answer yet? It must have been over a month since he confessed”
“He… he.. he told you about that???”
“No, and he didn’t need to, I knew the same day from your stupid half-struck cow face actually”
“Ah well, well, it’s just hard! I don’t know what to think or what to say and all I keep thinking about is taking down Shinobu-chan first, you know?”
“You, you absolute karuta freak. At least tell him what you are thinking about or that you don’t have an answer yet, it’s cruel to string a guy along like that”
“C-c-c-cruel? Yes, of course it is. Oh man what do I do, I really am useless at these things. Maybe Kana-chan can decide for me”
“No! Don’t make it someone else’s trouble. Figure it out yourself and tell him!” At her downcast look, Taichi sighs and decides that he’s done enough, but his mouth continues:
“You do know that the Jr Queen Io is after Arata, right? And she is in Fukui, same Narumo society, same high school team now even. You can’t afford to be dawdling around with useless hang-ups if you do want to take your shot so to speak.”
“Io-chan? B-b-but isn’t she 15??”
“She is? Well, she is certainly bold for a 15 year old, apparently she asked him out in between each of the games in Yoshino tournament, and they both had to have 6 or 7 rounds to be finalists”
“6 OR 7 times on that day alone??? Wow, she’s so brave, How? How do you even know?”
“How do you *not* know? This was the biggest gossip in karuta world for a while, this is Arata Wataya and Jr Queen we are talking about here, people pay attention”
“Eeh, so it’s like that, huh, hm, huh, hm”
“Yes, it’s like that, so unless you want to be beaten to the punch in both being Challenger and… and Arata’s person, you got to tell him how you feel. Or even if it’s a “sorry,” put the guy out of his misery, he’s way too considerate to let it show but I am sure uncertainty is just as painful as a rejection”
“Right right” pause “it’s a bit weird to getting scolded by you on this, but you are right, I will give him an answer as soon as I can understand how I feel. Thanks Taichi”
“Oi weh, just how dense can you be, but just don’t take too long. Or in words you can understand, speed is important both in karuta and in life”
Just then Arata walks back in from the elderly couple, and only hears the last of the sentences and is already nodding along.
“It’s exactly as you say, Taichi. We gotta speed it up if we want to see the illumination shows. Please lead the way”
“Why are you only asking Taichi to lead us? I live in Tokyo too! I am a full-blooded Tokyo-tarian”
“Yah, but can you point out North where we should head?” When Chihaya confidently points to the East, both boys start snickering and Taichi starts to lead the way, leaving a few steps between them.
— x —— x —-x — -x —-x —— x- ——x ——-x ——x ——x ——x ——x ——-x —-x —-x —-x —-
After debating merits of illumination show vs firework, Chihaya wins with the argument firework is just the devil for destroying game-sense and also scares off cute pets. The tension and awkwardness have dissipated little by little, starting from the ice skate and after the big impromptu snowball fight, it’s as if they are back to being children. All friends. All warmth, understanding, and gentle teasing. Both Chihaya and Taichi are filling Arata in on the stories of making the Mizusawa club and he seems to be itching to take down notes as he sits sprawling between them. After a long while they all fall silent, tipping their heads back to look at the stars. Arata exhales quite audibly as if to brace himself, and says “I was worried that it would be selfish to ask for advice in bringing up a club when you are both out of it, but it seems like you guys are returning right?” When Taichi and Chihaya look at each other and nod, his elbow seems to give out and falls backward onto the blanket fully lying out. He drags his arm over his eyes but tears are unmistakable in his voice as he says “I am just so happy, you guys brought me back to karuta when it went dark… and I wanted to help as you did, seems like you pulled yourselves together, I am so glad” Tears spring to his eyes unbidden and Chihaya doesn’t seem to be faring any better, in fact, she seems to have gone into the waterworks so deep that no sound is coming out, so he has to tough it out and say “Of course it was you bringing us back too” and keep elbowing him increasigly not-gently until Arata hiccups out a small laugh. Taichi lies down on his right and after a moment Chihaya too follows suit on Arata’s other side and basks in the Christmas miracle that was them coming back together.
— x —— x —-x — -x —-x —— x- ——x ——-x ——x ——x ——x ——x ——-x —-x —-x —-x —-
If I see that bridge
That is spanned by flights of magpies
Across the arc of heaven
Made white with a deep-laid frost,
Then the night is almost past.
- Otomo no Yakamochi (Poem #6 of Hyakunin Isshu)
.