After school, he goes directly to the Shiranami Karuta Society, much to his mother's dismay. She wishes he would join the soccer team or something much more better suited for him; why he's in the karuta club goes beyond her understanding.
Harada-san patiently waits for Taichi and he constantly sees Taichi improve during the practice matches, but it pains him to see Taichi fall apart during the tournaments. Chihaya always comes to cheer Taichi on and Harada sees Taichi's gaze linger at Chihaya's direction. It seems her presence comforts him, as it should. They've grown up playing karuta together, after all.
Rika comes home from school and as she enters her room, she hears the dull voice of a female singing from her older brother's room. 'He's playing that karuta again...' she thinks and dismisses the thought quickly as she has much better things to worry about that some karuta game and her brother's stupid obsession.
Every tournament Taichi goes to, he sees Hiro-kun there and there's a fleeting wave of ambivalence. He wishes Hiro wasn't there but his presence offers Taichi a sense of familiarity as they're been to numerous competitions together. Hiro spies Taichi awkwardly avoid him and he quickly walks away, thinking "That damn Taichi again... why doesn't he give up?"
Nishida's hanging out with his old tennis team after school one day and he thinks to drop by the old classroom to sneak in some practice since it provides the best environment. At home, his sister's always talking or watching TV which ruins the environment for him to play any karuta, and it's a bit a of a drag to travel to the Suihoku Karuta Society for a couple of hours when he had homework. Nishida is about to enter but he sees through the window Taichi playing karuta by himself. He shakes his head and walks away, not wanting to bother him.
Once in a while, Taichi asks Tsutomu-kun to help him practice karuta and to offer advice. It pleases Tsutomu in a sick way when he sees the number one student in the class to ask "Desktumo-kun" for help, but it's only a small part of him. Tsutomu-kun genuinely wants to see Taichi succeed in making Class A as he's the one who helps Taichi outside of the club the most. With his insight, Taichi can quickly correct his faults and be aware of his nuances.
Kanade-chan sees Taichi play Chihaya during the practice rounds. She sees his eyes slightly widen as his and Chihaya's hands touch for the card, but it's a minuscule thing, one that she would generally miss. But lately, Kanade has been thinking about Taichi and Chihaya's relationship. They've known each other longer than anyone else in the club and from Chihaya's birthday celebration, her thoughts have been concrete about Taichi's crush. She wishes he would do something, anything to show Chihaya how he feels.
Of course Hanano would do anything to gain Taichi's attention, even devote herself to karuta. Which is why she tells herself that she joined the Shiranami society, so she could better herself at karuta and finally be good enough for Taichi. She won't acknowledge the thrill she gets when she finally gets a card or two during the game; she says to herself that the only reason she joined the Shiranami Society is so she has more of an excuse to see Mashida-kun more often.
Taichi calls Chihaya one Sunday and asks her to come over to practice karuta. There's an upcoming competition in a neighboring city but he doesn't want to let her know in case he fails and doesn't make Class A, so he uses the practice excuse. She asks if his mom will be there before coming over and as he's about to say yes, he realizes she's gone to see Rika's dance recital and tells her no. He can hear her audibly sigh and she says she will be over as soon as she can be. He hopes she's not too late and begins to mat the floor in his room mindlessly. In a few minutes, he hears the doorbell ring and he doesn't expect it to be Chihaya but at the mention of karuta, nothing can be put past her.
"Hi Taichi!" she waves hello and enters his house. He welcomes her and offers her something to drink, playing the immaculate host his mother raised him to be.
"I'm fine," she says, and not a second later, her stomach grumbles and her face tints red. She laughs weakly and Taichi grabs some chips from the kitchen with two bottles of water. As he hands them to her, she devours it within minutes and quickly finishes the water before asking him where they were playing.
"I thought we could play in my room today," he replies and her face lights up. He remembers the last time that she came and he was so ardent on refusing to take her to his room, but since then, he's begun to accept his feelings for her. He leads her upstairs and opens the door for her. She sets herself down and begins to place her cards as he sits down with the remote for the CD player. He taps the timer for the memorization time and then there's nothing but silence as they're both learning the positions of the cards. He recognizes her familiar method of placement and then the timer buzzes.
The game is usual as ever, hot and heavy until the last four cards, three on his side and one on Chihaya's. He knows that one card on his side is a dead card and suddenly's there's a 33% chance of her winning and then he looks at her. Her gaze is centered down on the game, her posture straight. Her hair is falling down against her face, some loose ends running stray from her ponytail.
Suddenly, the game is forgotten as he unconsiously leans forward and places the string of hair back against her ear and his hand is framing her face. She looks up, surprised at the sudden touch and the woman is singing but they both are preoccupied by his impulsive action. He feels the tip of his ears start to burn and their gazes meet. He leans inward as she closes her eyes and their lips meet, soft against chapped. It's soft and questioning, as if they don't know what's happening. His lips slightly trace her bottom lip as they both pull away, pausing to acknowledge what they have done.
"You would have won," Taichi whispers against her lips and her eyes open abruptly as the situation sets in.
"Um, sorry Taichi! I didn't even know what happened! I'm so sorry for disrupting the game!" she apologizes instantly, looking distraught. He laughs at her and pulls her towards him by grabbing her arm carefully. He leans her against his body and she feels his heat to her and he's on her and she then sighs and realizes this is what's been missing.
She looks down and wonders about the constant reminders from school, reminding her to think about her life beyond karuta. It's this; karuta could never give me this warm feeling that Taichi does, she thinks and melts her body against his. He's glad to feel her loosen against him, and he finally feels hope and possibly hope that something good can finally happen.