A/N: This crossover is for the lovely AIRAMness M who loves flailing about Prince of Tennis and Chihayafuru with me. I love you Ria hehe. 8D
Swift Waters Parted by the Jagged Rocks
Swift waters parted by the
jagged rocks are joined at
river's end.
His body swayed with the train as it sped all the way from Yokohama to Tokyo, its occasional rumbles from one station to the next made him want to compute the change in inertia and some other physics-related topics that his mind absolutely loves. He had a talent for mental math, and approximating these kinds of values was no difficult task for him. He just loves Physics a lot and was actually very excited to go home and do his homework, but his grandmother had so sincerely asked him to do a favor for her.
And so there he was, sitting on a seat on a train to Tokyo. In the previous years, his grandmother frequently asked him to do the same task—that is, to go to Oe Traditional Clothing Shop and claim the kimonos and yukatas that she pre-ordered. And so, this semi-annual trip to Oe Traditional Clothing Shop was nothing new to him. Besides, the shop owners know him fairly well now because of his grandmother.
Yanagi Renji stood up as the train stopped at his station, holding on to the nearest handle so as not to tumble off due to the change in momentum. He went out as soon as the doors opened and immediately started walking towards the street leading to his destination.
He needed to go home as soon as possible. He still had homework to do and data to organize after all.
"Kanade!" Her mother called out to her as she was about to head out of the shop. "I'm going to head out to a neighborhood meeting so watch the shop for me, okay?"
"Hai!" Oe Kanade obediently said as her mother went out.
She was reading a classical Japanese novel by Natsume Souseki when her eyes wandered to her copy of Ogura Hundred Poets on top of the table. She loves classical poetry. She really does, especially those written by female poets because you can feel the seasons and modesty in a way that can't be found in modern poetry.
Would the mountain cherry
blossoms return my affection for
there is no one else out there?
This poem is about loneliness, Kanade thought with a half-smile as she recalled the way her female classmates called her a "Classics Freak" and how they said that she "wasn't born in the right era", even calling her a "Classics Otaku" and other ill names.
She mentally recited the poem again as she closed the book she was reading and stood up to look around the shop, marveling at the different beautiful fabrics displayed. This poem expressed the loneliness of her heart, the feel of being secluded because of her love for traditional things. It was even more heartfelt as she looked around their shop, like no one other than kimonos share her distress.
Suddenly, the doors opened and revealed a smiling Ayase Chihaya, eagerly walking towards her.
"Ayase-san!" Kanade greeted her.
"It's beautiful," Chihaya said with awe in her eyes as she looked at a nearby kimono with the pattern of red autumn leaves and a flowing river. "Looking at this, I'm starting to understand why you like kimonos, Kana-chan."
However, Kanade looked down and said with an apologetic tone, "Is this about the karuta club again?"
"Well, you seem to like karuta," Chihaya smiled sweetly, mentally wishing that somehow Kanade would change her mind and join the Karuta Club.
"As I said earlier, my love is fundamentally different from yours." She said with a defiant voice, referring to her love for the poems used in karuta, not competitive karuta itself.
"But I also have a poem I really love!" Chihaya stubbornly, but politely replied and continued on to quote her favorite poem."
"Impassionate gods have
never seen the red that is
the Tatsuta River.
"I even know what it means!" She said with one index finger pointed up and continued, "This poem is talking about how the Tatsuta River is so beautiful when it's completely red!" She explained, talking about how red autumn leaves from the trees beside the Tatsuta River make the water appear red during that season.
Kanade knew an interpretation that was better than that, of course.
"Classic poetry becomes more fascinating when you know the history behind each poem."
Renji walked inside the shop, the automatic sliding doors closing behind him as a soft two-second melody started, an indication that a customer was inside. However, he found the desk empty so he walked quietly and saw the shop owner's daughter engaged in a conversation with a taller, pretty girl. Perhaps they didn't hear the melody because they looked like they were too engrossed in their talk, so Renji decided to sit down on the chair near the door to wait for Oe-san. After all, it would be rude to just interrupt.
"This poem is talking about how the Tatsuta River is so beautiful when it's completely red!" Renji heard an unfamiliar voice say. Possibility that it was the taller girl: 100%.
Tatsuta River?
Renji was an expert at classic poetry so the first poem that came to mind was the one that goes, "Impassionate gods have never seen the red that is the Tatsuta River."
"Classic poetry becomes more fascinating when you know the history behind each poem." Renji heard someone with a very familiar voice say—possibility that it was Oe Kanade: 100%. He had to admit though that he completely agreed with her, and that he knew that this poem was about love, not autumn scenery.
Renji heard her continue, "I believe that this poem is about passionate love."
"Huh? Love?" Tall Girl asked in return. "It's not about scenery?!"
"That would be the universal interpretation, but did you know that the author of this poem was the ex-lover of the Emperor's wife, and that he tried to run away with her?" Oe Kanade-san asked the other girl without waiting for her to answer.
"I like how the author concealed his passion for her in a scenic rendering since he wasn't able to forget her," she said and paused to take a deep breath.
"The phrase 'impassionate gods' implies great force, which might be interpreted as the Emperor. I believe that the crimson leaves reflected by the Tatsuta River do not symbolize autumn season, but instead represent a love that never faded even after the separation—a passionate love."
There was a moment of silence.
For some unknown reasons, Renji had goosebumps after hearing Kanade render her own explanation for that poem. That was a beautiful interpretation, Renji thought. It made him want to hear her opinions about other poems too.
"Sugoi," the other girl said softly and then repeated this word several times, each louder than the previous, "Sugoi, sugoi, SUGOI! Teach me more, Kana-chan!"
Renji heard a shuffle of noises, a zipper being unzipped, and then a notebook being flipped open with the clicking of a pen.
"Starting from The Autumn Paddy!"
"Eh? All one hundred poems?" Kanade asked reluctantly but complied nonetheless, reciting the first poem of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
"Of the autumn paddy, shacks have
rough thatching. Sheltering there, my
sleeves are wet with dew.
"A paddy shack is a small cabin for farmers. When the farmers rest under the rough roof of sedge and straw, they discover that their sleeves are wet with dew," Kanade continued with an air of one whose area of expertise was classic poetry, "So this poem might have been written to convey the idea of an ideal emperor who understands the hard work of the farmers."
Renji was enjoying listening to her interpretations, and he found himself wanting to talk to her about a lot more things about poetry and classical literature in general. He had talked to her once or twice before when he was on his semi-annual trip to their shop to fetch his grandmother's orders but he never knew that she was… so into poetry. He thought that she was just being an obedient girl who was supporting her family's business but never really genuinely loved poetry like how he does.
Renji was slowly becoming fascinated.
"Oooh!" The other girl exclaimed in delight, eager to learn more from Kanade. "Next one! So Spring Ends please!"
Kanade recited the next poem, memorized with all her heart:
"The spring has passed and the summer
comes again; For the white robes are
spread to dry on the Mount of Kaguyama.
"This poem written by Empress Jito shows the beautiful contrast between green mountains and white robes—a landscape poem depicting summer scenery," Kanade started her explanation slowly to add a more ethereal effect. "During her time, there was a palace ceremony of Koromogae or updating the wardrobe during summer season, and so the ladies-in-waiting at the Imperial court hung their summer clothes out for airing."
Renji believed that it was indeed a summer scenery type of poem but he didn't know that this was how the author of the poem got the idea of contrasting robes and a mountain. He had read several books about explanations and various interpretations of the poems in Ogura Hyakunin Isshu but all he ever read about this poem was that it was a landscape poem.
Kanade continued, "Seeing the white robes hung on Mount Ama-no-Kaguyama, the Empress Jito imagined the beautiful scenery was like a work of heavenly ladies with white robes, for the legend said that the Mount of Ama-no-Kaguyama in Nara Prefecture had fallen from the heaven."
Renji was swelling with excitement and eagerness. It was like the feeling that people get when they find out that one of their not-close-friends shares the same hobbies and interests, and it just sort of… amazes you because all this time, you never knew that person well enough and you never knew how similar the two of you are.
Yanagi Renji loved classic Japanese literature a lot, that's why even during his lunch breaks at school, he would go to the library to read books especially those novels by Natsume Souseki. And sometimes after tennis practice, he would go to a nearby literature house while drowning himself with his favorite type of music—old Japanese court music.
"Wow," the other girl said in awe.
"You see, this is why classic poetry becomes more fascinating when you know the history behind each poem."
Renji nodded even though no one can see him from where he was sitting.
"Next one!"
"The next poem was written by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and—"
Riiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiiing. Renji's phone rang with a dramatic amplification, and in that moment it was the only thing that could be heard inside the shop. He quickly fished out his phone and turned it off, flustered that the two girls were now aware of his presence. Immediately, Kanade walked briskly towards the source of the sound with Chihaya trailing behind her, and saw him.
"Y-yanagi-san!" She exclaimed and bowed briefly. "Were you waiting for a long time already? I apologize for not attending to you as soon as possible." She was embarrassed, feeling the heat creep up to her cheeks. Yanagi Renji was no stranger to her. His grandmother had always been a regular customer of their family business, and he would always be the one claiming her orders for her.
"I'm really sorry, Yanagi-san," she bowed again.
Renji stood up and waved it off politely and said, "It's okay, Oe-san. I'm just here for my grandmother's clothes."
Kanade's eyes lit up in remembrance of the kimonos and yukatas that her mother packed a while ago before heading out, saying that Yanagi-san was going to claim them today. But Kanade was pretty sure that she didn't hear the automatic doors open… or maybe she was just too engrossed in her conversation with Ayase Chihaya. After all, no one can stop Kanade from enjoying any talk about poetry.
"Hai," she said with a nod. "I'll bring them here right now."
She went to the desk and found three large paper bags underneath and took them carefully, bringing them to Renji.
"They have been paid for already, Yanagi-san," She said with a bow. "Thank you for your purchase. Please come again."
Renji nodded and realized that he must go home now, and that he can no longer sit quietly on the chair while listening to Kanade's interpretations of the poems. He was slightly agitated, but it was okay. He can invite her for tea or coffee some time anyway.
So it was in this decision that Yanagi Renji thanked her and proceeded to go out of the shop, the automatic sliding doors closing behind him as he heard the unknown girl say, "Kana-chan, whozzat?"
Renji had never seen met a girl who loved classic poetry as much as he did. Sure, there were other people who love it, or rather, liked it well enough, but he has never really met someone who loved it so much. Maybe other people like him do exist, but definitely not in his school. Almost everyone in Rikkai was too… modern, perhaps. Or maybe he was just not observing the students enough? But then again, he was Yanagi Renji. He was pretty sure that he knows almost everyone in school.
He had always liked visiting literature houses. It was his favorite place (as well as tennis courts), and he wished that he had a friend whom he would like to invite there with him; someone who loved classic literature as much as he does. At first, he thought of inviting Yukimura and Sanada… but Yukimura had to maintain the school rooftop garden and Sanada had kendo after school.
He couldn't invite Akaya. Or rather, he didn't want to. That kid would just stand there clueless, not knowing what to do.
Marui, Niou, and Jackal were all out of the possible candidates because… yeah.
He thought that maybe Yagyuu wouldn't mind going with him, but then he had student council duties.
Renji sighed, sadly realizing that he wanted to talk to someone so badly about classic Japanese literature and poetry. Everything almost always seemed to revolve around tennis when he was in school, and Renji wanted a change of air some time.
And that's when he thought that maybe, maybe he should invite Oe-san to a literature house? They could have tea (he loves traditional tea ceremony) and talk about a lot of things about that one thing that he was sure they both love—poetry and literature.
It took several moments of battling no, I can't invite her and yes, that is a good idea. It wasn't like he wanted to woo a girl. Yes, that's right, he said to himself. It was just going to be a casual conversation—an opportunity for making a new friend.
He decided this with a nod as he went to his grandmother's room to ask for the telephone number of Kanade's family business' shop because he didn't have her cellphone number. Oh, yeah. Maybe he should ask for it next time.
End of Chapter 1! Weeeeee~