Disclaimers apply.
I might follow up with a spin-off depending on the feedback. Chitose was an amusing character to write. Hope you enjoy.
Chitose Ayase may not seem like it—but she cares immensely for her little sister. But she would rather have the ground open and swallow her up before she'll ever admit it. Chihaya was already an airhead, so there was no need to pump any more to send her flying. Everything had to be low key.
So imagine Chitose's surprise (understatement), when Chihaya comes clean to her family about having a boyfriend. Not a guy friend. Not some elementary friend. A legit boyfriend.
A rush of emotion overwhelmed Chitose in an instant. First is surprise, Chihaya actually knew what love was! Second, is the relief that her younger karuta-otaku sister could actually be normal for once. This is followed by the curiosity of who would want Chihaya for a girlfriend (that Takashi?—Takeru boy?) and then, it is ultimately followed by her protective sisterly instinct of HOLYCRAPSHEISBEINGTOTALLYTAKENADVANTAGEOF!
Chitose bombards Chihaya with questions, and covers up her concern with the excuse of being nosy. Who is this guy? How old is he? Is he a classmate? Where does he come from? What does he do?
Chihaya answers every question without missing a beat and a smile perpetually plastered on her face. Arata Wataya. About my age. He was an elementary classmate of mine. He's from Fukui. He's studying here in Tokyo and he plays karuta.
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Of course.
Why was Chitose NOT surprised? She had initially pinned hopes that it could be that good-looking whatshisname that she saw once in a while but alas…
Geez. She thought. What kind of freak is her boyfriend? A sudden grip of fear takes her. Oh my god! What if he is a freak?! Oh. My. God. What if he also likes Daddy Bear?!
She glares at Chihaya, who looks at her startled.
"You have to bring him here!"
Chitose was expecting the worse—she did not expect Arata. Well, of course she expected Arata, just that she did not expect what he would actually be like.
He was tall, dark-haired, and had glasses. He was a little on the pale side but thankfully had passable features. His fashion sense could use some improvement though But all in all, he was…. actually normal looking. He had a funny accent though paired with a rather soft-spoken voice that Chitose had to ask him to repeat whatever he said, much to his embarrassment and Chihaya's annoyance.
"Stop it, Chitose! You're just doing that to be mean!"
She was actually defending him even when she didn't do anything wrong! Her little sister! Her little sister who used to be her fangirl! Chitose felt a twitch in her perfect face; it was a sign, that she would not like this Arata boy one bit.
Chitose vowed then and there that she would keep an eye on them. She would be like an eagle waiting for her prey to make an opening and she would not give them a moment of reprieve or a chance to do anything lovey-dovey. The ultimate cock-blocker! She gleefully and sneakily spied on them around the house, hoping to interfere. She could not help but gloat mentally.
They are never going to be romantic!
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They are never going to be romantic!
Two months had passed. Arata frequently visited. Chitose had expected some development—but everything was karuta, karuta, KARUTA!
If they were not having practice sessions in the living room or in her room (the thought of them doing anything but karuta was laughable to their parents), they were watching karuta matches on TV. Sometimes doing both at the same time!
What in Daddy Bear's name was wrong with them? Where was the handholding? The cuddles? The kissing? The hormones that teenagers struggled to keep their pants on? This was not normal! This defeated her grand plan before it even started!
She could only grit her teeth. This is not right!
One night when Arata leaves after staying for dinner, Chitose crashes Chihaya's room; her younger sister was just about to go to bed. Chitose explodes.
"What is wrong with you two?!"
Her reaction is a stupid face and a "Huh?"
"You two have got to be the most boring couple alive! Our grandparents are more romantic than you! It's boring having to look at you guys! All you ever do is play karuta! If it's not here at home, it's at that society place! Don't you two have a life?!"
Chihaya frowns, "We're not boring! Arata and I are just like any normal couple!"
"Yeah right! A normal couple void of any affection whatsoever!"
"H-huh?"
"I've never seen you hold hands! The closest is when your hands touch playing that stupid karuta game!"
"W-What?"
"I never saw a kiss! Not one! Not even on the cheek, much less a hug! What is wrong with you guys?! Has karuta drained you from your youth—from your hormones? You need to get fixed! Both of you!"
"You're just trying to be pushy, Chitose!"
"I am not being pushy! I'm just tired of seeing you do nothing but karuta and just that! I'm your older sister and sisters confide in all the romantic lovey-dovey stuff!"
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"Huh?"
"I—I mean! It's a young sister's role to be annoying about her relationship! You're already annoying at is but you're supposed to be even more annoying!"
"You want me to do that? I had no idea—"
"Just you wait! That Akira—"
"Arata!"
"-Arata guy will sooner or later grow tired! He may love karuta just as much as you, but he's a man! And despite his shocking (understatement) endurance, there's still a limit for every man! Every. Man."
"What do you mean by that?" Oh! Well that caught her.
"It means he's going to want more, and he won't be getting it. And trust me, I do not mean poker! You're hopeless!"
"What? Wait, sis—!"
Chitose closes the door after finally having said her piece. I can't believe I wasted all that time monitoring them! All those hours I could have used for my beauty regimen! Wh-what am I doing?
She lets out a deep exasperated sigh.
Two weeks pass by and nothing has changed, well…Chitose would not know because she'd be mostly away from the house every time Arata came by. She was also in an almost-silent war with Chihaya. Almost because she unconsciously snaps at her when she is being annoying about karuta or that ugly good-for-nothing Daddy Bear.
"She learns nothing!" Chitose huffs, blowing her freshly polished nails to dry. She was just about to apply a second coat when Chihaya comes in, shutting the door close with a rather uneasy expression on her face. In fact...it was her comical face of utter devastation.
Ugh. The only time she makes that face is when she loses in that stupid card game.
She swings her legs to the edge of her bed, eyeing her sister with her usual scowl.
"And what do you want?"
"Agsjdhirtrhtueyeiyuoteuyoukhaffksy!"
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"What?"
"AJDHWJDGJKSDKHADSHGFFJGKWF!"
"Chihaya! Calm down! I DON'T understand what you are trying to say! In fact, it's humanly impossible!"
Chihaya clenches her fist and takes a deep breath. A really deep breath. A really long, deep breath!
"Stop breathing!"
"Chi—Chitose…I think Arata hates me!"
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"Huh?"
Chihaya drops down into a huddle of despair, a depressing aura emanating from her. She starts sniffling loudly with snot coming out her nose.
"Well…I was thinking about what you said before…and I thought that maybe there was something wrong with me and Arata…" She takes a big gulp of air. "So I've been struggling these couple of weeks to try and change things."
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Oh. No.
"Chihaya… What. Did. You. Do?"
"Well, I…."
"What. Did. You. Do?"
"I might have told him the other day that we were boring?"
OH. NO.
"And—?"
Chihaya sucks back a long drippy snot to her nostril. Chitose was too engrossed with the situation to be disgusted.
"He…he got mad."
"Of course he would! Didn't you try to explain properly?!"
"Of course I tried! I sat him down and told him we should rethink our relationship."
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OH. THE. FREAKING. HELL. NO.
Chitose did her best to stay calm and she was having a hard time doing so. A really hard time.
"What did he say?"
Chihaya starts sobbing uncontrollably.
"He said…. 'If that's how you feel then I won't bore you anymore' and left! He hasn't returned my messages after that or picked up his phone!"
"Chihaya, I understand your intent but you did a sucky job trying to convey it!"
"He hates me! And we will never play karuta again!"
"STOP THINKING ABOUT KARUTA AND FIX YOUR DAMN RELATIONSHIP!"
"He won't talk to me!"
"Give me your phone now! You just need to get his attention!"
Chihaya looks at her with sparkling admiration. "W-wow, sis…you know a lot."
"Naturally."
"It must be from all your ex-boyfriends."
"Shut up and get your phone!"
Chihaya obeyed and fetched her phone. Disregarding her manicure, Chitose starts typing in a message and shielding the phone away from her sister.
"Let me see!"
"You just shut up and stay there."
After a couple of minutes, Chitose clicked the send button. She then handed the phone back to an anxious Chihaya who had the nerve to doubt her!
"Will this really work?"
As if on cue, her cell rang and Chihaya almost dropped it from shock. She looked at Chitose with worshipful tears.
"Sis, you're amazing!"
"Answer it already."
"Hello, Arata? Arata, I—Huh? What? WHAT? What are you talking about? WHAT? Arata, you're coughing too much. Can you just come here so we can talk in person? Bye."
Hanging up, Chihaya turns to her sister with a haunted expression.
"Chi—Chitose, what exactly did you tell him?"
Not waiting for a reply, Chihaya flips her phone out again and checks the sent messages.
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Arato (typo), what I was trying to say back then (emoticon) was that I wanted to do (emoticon) ecchi things with you (emoticon)(emoticon)(emoticon). Kyaaa! This is so embarrassing! (emoticon)(emoticon)(emoticon). XXX
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"And that", Chitose spoke with an air of superiority, looking at her frozen and gaping sister with a smirk, "is how you get his attention."
A couple of weeks passed since then and everything was back to normal again. Unfortunately. It was back to karuta again. It was a classic example of youth wasted on the young. But this was probably going to be the only relationship Chihaya will have and how many karuta freaks could stack up to this Arima guy? At least he was easy on the eyes.
Chitose was flipping trough a magazine, browsing an article about her when Chihaya came in with a goofy grin in place.
"Chitose! I'm going on a trip tomorrow!"
"Ugh, I know—a stupid all-expense karuta training week in that Omni Jinggle place. Mom already told me."
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"I lied."
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"What?"
"I'm going somewhere with Arata." She beamed.
"Just to play karuta?! That's taking it to a sad whole new level!"
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"It's not going to be just karuta. In fact…it hasn't been just karuta all week."
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"What?"
Chihaya smirked. Smirked! What…WHAT HAD SHE DONE?! Chitose could only stare at her in shock, mouth wide-open for flies. Chihaya, taking advantage of the situation, gleefully snatches an unopened Choco Choco Daddy Bear bar from the dresser.
Her parting words shot as she closed the door. "I might tell you about it sometime. See you!"
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Holy Daddy Bear…
Owari.