Author's Note: Merry Christmas everyone! This is a small one shot gift fic written for all my friends over at the Taichi Appreciation Thread :) Contains some spoilers from the manga. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Chihayafuru
...
"Where do you want to set the tree, Kana chan?" Komano asked.
Nishida grunted, "Can we decide on a spot later and just set it down for now? It's heavy!"
"I KNOW!" cut in Chihaya excitedly, "Set it by the window, that way more freshmen will be attracted to the karuta club next year!"
Kana balked. This girl! Was karuta the only thing she ever thought of?
Komano grinned, "Ok Captain! By the window it is!"
Carefully, Nishida and Komano set the giant Christmas tree by the window of the karuta club. It was the day before Christmas, and the third and second years had decided to get a tree as a surprise for the freshmen club members.
"Do you think they suspect anything, Kana chan?" Chihaya asked.
"Hmm, Hashidate kun was wondering why we cancelled practice today. But I lied and said it's because we needed to prepare food for the club party tomorrow. Hehe!" replied Kana.
"Nice save, Kana chan." Komano smiled.
Chihaya noted the subtle red blush that spread on Kana's cheek. Even though neither Kana chan nor Tsukue kun acknowledged that they were dating, Chihaya felt they must have a mutual understanding of some sort! She smiled and thought how they complemented each other so well! She recalled their first official match together, and how they had managed to bring out the best in each other.
"The best in each other, ne," she mused silently. She let her mind wander over to her red-haired best friend. "Isn't that what we used to do for each other, Taichi? Why aren't you back to the club yet then? Why is …"
"Ahhhh!"
Her thoughts were loudly interrupted by a shriek from Sumire.
"Did you guys start decorating without me? I told you to wait! None of you has any sense of style whatsoever." Sumire exclaimed.
"I resent that," Tsukuba said, "As the best player of the – "
"Hai, hai! That's enough out of you." Sumire cut it. "Here! Help me get all these ornaments out of here. Be careful! I spent hours making these."
Kana peered inside the bag and took an ornament out.
"Wow…" she whispered, almost reverently. "This is amazing, Sumire chan."
Chihaya looked up to see the object in Kana chan's hand. It was a square shaped ornament, with a sparkling green border and a white –
Chihaya pouced on Sumire. "You made ornaments out of Karuta cards, Sumire chan?! This is…this is incredible!"
Sumire laughed, "Well they're not real cards. I knew Kana chan would have a fit if I punched holes in real cards. Although that would have saved me a lot of hassle."
She took a card and showed it to Chihaya. "See it's just a cardboard cut-out. I punched a hole for the string and used a green glitter pen for the border. And I know traditionally the writing is in black, but I thought using different coloured pens for the writings would brighten things up."
"This is so beautiful," Chihaya said quietly, a tear forming in the corner of her eyes. She hugged the petite girl.
"Senpaiii! Wha- what are you doing?"
The third years were all laughing.
Komano smirked "Sumire chan, your devotion to the karuta club has probably just made you Chihaya's best friend."
Sumire blushed. "It's nothing. I just wanted our tree to look prettier than the other clubs!"
"OUR TREE WILL LOOK THE PRETTIEST, SUMIRE CHAN!" Chihaya was bawling by now.
"Come on now, captain." Nishida clapped Chihaya's back. "No time for tears! We've got some decorating to do!"
...
"Hmm, that's an autumn card. Let's put it with the red ornament over here." Kana suggested.
"Mou. You and your weird placement, Kana chan!" Nishida exclaimed.
"Don't listen to him, Kana chan!" Chihaya cried. "It looks perfect there."
She looked at the card in her own hand.
"Hano no iro wa," she recited softly.
"Ah senpai. Can I put that card up?" Sumire asked. "It's one of my favourite poems."
Chihaya smiled. "Is that why it's written in red?"
Sumire blushed, but didn't answer.
Chihaya handed over the card and looked through the cards that were remaining. 'Kaku to dani' and 'Shinoburedo' were also written in red. "Those must also be one of her favourite cards," Chihaya mused.
Just then, a card in bright blue caught her attention.
"Yura no to
Wataru funabito
Kaji o tae
Yukue mo shiranu
Koi no michi kana"
Looking at the card, she briefly wondered why Sumire associated the colour blue with this poem. In her mind, the card was a burning red. She loved this poem. It was after all what had won them the Omi Jingu.
With Taichi.
Unbidden, Taichi's last words before his departure from the club taunted her.
"The cards are all black to me."
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Are the cards really all black?" she thought.
She looked over at her club mates laughing and decorating the tree. She wasn't sure if it was because her vision was blurred with tears, but all she could see was a dazzling array of colours and light. There was no darkness here. Sumire chan's beautiful karuta ornaments blazed in the colours she had assigned to them, dispelling any and all darkness.
If only Taichi could see this. If only she could colour the cards for him…
Chihaya gasped. Maybe, just maybe she could do something.
Walking over to Sumire, she tugged her sleeve and asked. "Sumire chan…I have a big favour. Actually, I'll need all of your help."
...
"Taichi, are you done packing for Sapporo?" his mom asked impatiently. "We have to leave in two hours."
"Almost," came the swift reply.
Taichi's mom sighed. Ever since her son had quit the club, his answers had been brief and curt, if not monosyllabic. She wondered if there was something she could –
Ding Dong.
"I'll get it. You can finish packing," she called out to her son while walking to the foyer.
"Who could it be at such an odd hour?" she wondered. Opening the door, she was surprised to see a very disheveled Chihaya at the top steps. "Chihaya chan? What brings you here?"
She silently appraised the girl. Why was their so many colour stains on her face and clothes? And what was the box she was holding? Sometimes she really had trouble understanding why her son was head over heels for this girl.
"Ah, Mrs. Pres – Mashima. I know Taichi can't go to our club Christmas party since you are all going to Sappora, so I thought I'd drop off Taichi's gift at his home."
Taichi's mom raised one eyebrow "I thought Taichi quit the club?"
"Oh." Chihaya looked crestfallen. "He did – but we invited all our old members too."
"I see." Taichi's mom felt a wave of sympathy for Chihaya for the very first time. Was Taichi being as cold to everyone else as he had been to her? That boy! She stepped away from the door. "Would you like to come inside, Chihaya chan? You can give it to him yourself?"
"I – ah – no. You see our Christmas party is today and I still have to run some errands before that."
Taichi's mom sighed. Best not to interfere, she decided. "Okay then, I'll be sure to give this box to Taichi. Merry Christmas, Chihaya chan."
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Mashima."
Closing the door, she saw Taichi had walked into the living room. "Who was that mom? It sounded almost as if – "
"It was. Chihaya chan dropped off your present. Here you go."
"Oh." Taichi took the box from her hand but didn't make any move to open it.
"Well…what are you waiting for? Go ahead and open it."
Taichi's hand hovered over the box. "I don't know if…"
She raised her eyebrow. "If what?"
Taichi didn't reply.
"You know, I don't remember raising you this way," she snapped. "It's rude to not open a gift. Chihaya chan came all the way to deliver it even!"
She looked at her son. His expression was neutral, but that didn't mask the myriad of emotions in his eyes. Almost on instinct, Taichi lowered his head, his hair hiding his eyes.
Taichi's mom softened her expression. She knew she had raised her eldest son a lot stricter than most parents. She wondered if that was why Taichi was being so hard on himself. It's true that she had threatened to make him quit karuta if his grades dropped, but she had never thought he would willingly inflict the penalty on himself.
"Taichi," his mom began softly, "What are you so afraid of? I know we've been strict on you, but it was so that you could meet any challenges in life head on and win."
Taichi's head snapped up. "And what if I can't win, mom?"
"Well – Hmm." She should have seen that coming. She paused for a minute and reflected. "Well, in the rare case that a Mashima can't win, you be happy in the knowledge that you did your very best."
Taichi threw back his head and laughed. "Mom. That's not what you told me earlier. Wasn't I supposed to only pick the battles I could win?" He couldn't help the sarcasm that seeped into his voice.
Taichi's mom sighed. She didn't respond.
"I'm going to finish packing," Taichi said dismissively and turned to head out of the living room. When he was almost to the stairs, he heard a soft reply.
"What was that, mom?" Taichi asked turning around.
"I said – Parents make mistakes too."
Taichi was stunned. Did his mother just admit she made a mistake? He had never heard his mom concede. Never!
She continued, "I did my best with you, you know."
Taichi looked at his mom, unbelievingly. He didn't know how to respond. As the silence stretched on, she saw a small tear slide down his mother's cheek.
He rushed over and hugged her. "I'm sorry, mom. You did a great job raising me."
When she didn't respond, he continued, "I know I've been difficult the past few months. I thought I was sorting things out, but I've lately realized that I was only running away."
His mom snapped, "If you already realized you're running away, why didn't you sort things out sooner?"
Taichi smiled. Ahh, his mom was back to her normal scolding self. Walking over to Chihaya's present, he replied, "I guess I didn't know how to take the first step."
He reached over to open the ribbon, but paused. Chihaya terrified him sometime. All his life, he had tried to push this girl away. Tried to bury his intertwined feelings of love and guilt deep in the dark recesses of his heart. But Chihaya – Chihaya was like the sun. Warm. Passionate. Unafraid. Every time he hid in darkness, she radiated even brighter and pulled him back into her orbit - into the world of karuta.
Did he want to go back? He had made so much progress on his own. He was playing in his own way – free from anyone's shadow. Would they accept him as he was, if he showed them his true colours?
"Heyy, what are you doing?" His mom had cut the ribbon on the box with a pair of scissors.
"Well, you said you didn't know how to take the first step. So I took it for you." She smirked.
"Mou. Why do I have all these headstrong women in my life?" Taichi cried internally in his head.
Shifting his attention back to the box, he lifted the cover up. Inside was a note. He couldn't help the tremble of his hands as picked the paper up.
"Taichi," it read, "Let us colour the karuta cards for you again. From your teammates at the karuta club."
Lifting the note, he saw what looked like karuta card cutouts, with the poems written in brightly coloured markers. He picked the first one up, written in bold red letters.
"Yura no to o," he recited softly. She saw Chihaya had scrawled something in the back of the card. "Taichi, this card is definitely not black. Don't you see the red? It won us Omi Jingu!"
He clenched his fist as his mind replayed what he had so cruelly told Chihaya.
"The cards are all black to me."
Guilt coursed through him. He had been so unkind. It was his heart that was black that time, not the cards.
Sighing, he picked another card, and then another. Each and every card had notes from his team members in the back. Most of it were from Chihaya, Kana and Sumire.
"Kana chan taught me that the reeds in this poem are from spring. So when I play, I see it as green – Chihaya."
"If you look at the history of Lady Koshikibu, this card should be represented by a bright orange – Kanade."
"This is a poem about a love that cannot be concealed, so it's a bright red colour for me – Sumire."
The boys had written on a few cards too, Taichi noticed. But they weren't always about colour!
"Why do I have to pick a colour? This is stupid. Fine, I choose brown. Not just any brown, like the kind you see in well-done meat - Nishida."
"Not sure about colour – but my success rate for taking this card is 84% in matches. P.S. – Chihaya says I have to pick a colour, so I'll go with blue since it's about water."
"This is my favourite card. So I see it as green, my favourite colour – Tsukaba."
Happiness coursed through Taichi as he read the cards. And Relief! He had thought that his team members would blame him for leaving them behind at a critical time. And even if they didn't blame him, he definitely hadn't expected them to go through so much trouble and effort to cheer him up.
He hit the bottom of the box. The very last card inside was the 10th poem.
"Kore ya kono
Yuku mo kaeru mo
Wakarete wa
Shiru mo shiranu mo
Osaka no seki"
"Truly, this is where
Travelers who go or come
Over parting ways
Friends or strangers - all must meet:
The gate of "Meeting Hill."
He flipped to the back, where Chihaya had written, "Taichi, just like this poem, I think our club is the gate of the meeting hill. Whether you travel with us as a team member or part ways and go about on your own, know that you will always have a special place in the club that you and I started and built together. Merry Christmas! – Chihaya"
Taichi felt tears stinging his eyes as he read the last card. "Chihaya – " He couldn't fight her. She was so straightforward, so honest. He was right in thinking of her as a sun. No matter what he did, she had always managed to make him gravitate back into the world of karuta.
His mom sat down beside him. "What's all these colourful cards?"
"They were trying to show me how they visualize the karuta cards when they play." Taichi replied.
His mom scoffed. "How they visualize the cards?! Seriously, no matter how I try, I cannot see your club friends as anything but plain."
Taichi laughed. His mom had no qualms about slicing the knife into someone. He was about to launch a protest when his mom said, "And anyways – I don't see how this will be useful. Doesn't everyone visualize the cards in a different way?"
Taichi gasped. Suddenly his path forward was very clear. Putting his hands on his mom's shoulders he said, "Mom, I have a favour."
...
"Sumire senpai, this is so creative! Are the ornaments why your hands are bandaged up?" Hashidate asked.
"Ah no. Well yes. It was for the second batch." Sumire replied.
"Second batch?"
"Long story. I made the ornaments, then Chihaya decided it would be a great gift for our president. So I had to make them again. We were trying to hurry so I got a little careless."
The ever inquisitive Tamaru piped up, "The president? The one we've never met?"
Nishida yelled from the corner, "Are you guys done admiring the tree yet? It's time for the Secret Santa gift exchange!"
"Haii coming."
...
Chihaya looked contentedly at her team mates laughing at all the silly gifts they had given each other. Only Kana chan wasn't amused with her gift. She still looked scandalized at the daddy bear patterned yukata Chihaya had given her.
"Come on Kana chan. I had it special ordered!" Chihaya nudged the dark haired petite girl.
Kana grimaced, "One of these days Chihaya chan, I will have to teach you what the symbols and patterns on traditional clothing mean. Daddy bear has no part in it. Humph."
Chihaya laughed at the expression on Kana chan's face. She so wished Taichi could see this.
Noticing the shadow on Chihaya's happiness, Kana murmured, "Chihaya chan, it couldn't be helped. Buchou's cousin is getting married in Sapporo. He can't miss that."
Chihaya hastened to smile, "Of course. Ha-ha. Silly me."
Looking to change the subject she added, "Now that secret santa is wrapped up, shall we clear everything and call it a night?"
Namida kun spoke up "Actually, Chihaya chan, I think we forgot one. See, there's another wrapped present under the tree."
Chihaya exclaimed, "Another present? But I don't understand, didn't everyone already have a turn?"
"Hmm, maybe the Empress left us something?" Komano suggested.
Sumire walked up to the tree and picked up the present. One look at the expensive wrapping and she knew who it was from. But when did he -?
"Open it, Sumire chan. Let's see what's inside," Chihaya urged.
Sumire shook her head and gave the present to Chihaya. "I think you should open it, senpai."
Bewildered Chihaya opened up the packaging to find a card ornament, similar to the one they had made. The se o hayami poem was written in a bright blue colour. Turning it over, she gasped when she saw Taichi's neat handwriting. Reading aloud she said, "Though divided, I will keep on flowing forward to find my own colours so that we can unite someday. And until then, I will use the colours that you all lent me to keep afloat in rushing waters of the karuta world. Arigatou minna. From Taichi."
Chihaya was stunned into silence. It wasn't until she found herself enveloped in a bear hug by all her teammates that she found her voice and whispered. "We did it minna. Our voices reached out to Taichi."
Se o hayami. Taichi would be back. Chihaya couldn't wait to see what colours he would bring back with him. Half laughing and half crying, she exclaimed that this was the best Christmas ever!
...
Author's notes: I wrote in a rush, so it's not my best work, but I still wanted to put it up in time for Christmas! Hope this brings you some Christmas cheer :)
Other things: It was fun to write Taichi's mom, but difficult as well. For most of the manga we see this strict, seemingly heartless woman. But the last few chapters have started to draw the curtain back on the woman inside. To balance both sides, I tried to make her warmer towards her son, while trying to retain her strict and snappy personality. Don't know if I was able to do that. Reviews will be much appreciated! Thank you for reading my fic.
Poems used (in order of appearance in the story)
Poem 7: Hana no iro wa/ Utsuri ni keri na/ Itazura ni/ Waga mi yo ni furu/ Nagame seshi ma ni
English translation: Color of the flower/ Has already faded away/ While in idle thoughts/ My life passes vainly by/ As I watch the long rains fall.
Poem 40: Shinoburedo/ Iro ni ide ni keri/ Waga koi wa/ Mono ya omou to/ Hito no tou made
English translation: Though I would hide it/ In my face it still appears/ My fond, secret love/ And now he questions me/ "Is something bothering you?"
Poem 51: Kaku to dani/ Eyawa ibuki no/ Sashimogusa/ Sashimo shiraji na / Moyuru omoi o
English translation: How can I tell her/ How fierce my love for her is/ Will she understand/ That the love I feel for her/ Burns like Ibuki's fire plant?
Poem 46: Yura no to o/ Wataru funabito/ Kaji o tae/ Yukue mo shiranu/ Koi no michi kana
English translation: Like a mariner/ Sailing over Yura's strait/ With his rudder gone/ Where, over the deep of love/ The end lies, I do not know.
Poem 10: Kore ya kono/ Yuku mo kaeru mo/ Wakarete wa/ Shiru mo shiranu mo/ Osaka no seki"
English translation: Truly, this is where/Travelers who go or come/Over parting ways/Friends or strangers - all must meet/ The gate of "Meeting Hill."
Poem 77: Se o hayami/ Iwa ni sekaruru/ Takigawa no/ Warete mo sue ni/ Awan to zo omou
English translation: Though a swift stream is/Divided by a boulder/In its headlong flow/Though divided, on it rushes/And at last unites again.