TAICHI

"No. I don't want to."

"You have to. You're the President," Chihaya said.

"We don't want a bunch of … people… signing up who aren't really interested in karuta. Do you even remember what happened last year?" I said.

"We got Tsukuba-kun and Sumire-chan, didn't we?" she argued.

"Yeah. They were the only ones who stayed out of…I don't even remember how many." I scanned the faces of my teammates, seated around the club table, looking for their support.

"Um, can I make a suggestion?" Hanano-san asked. "I think you should have a short match as a demonstration. That might get some people interested and turn off girls who aren't serious."

Chihaya jumped on that. "That's exactly what I proposed last year! See, we can…"

"Not you," Hanano interrupted. "The match should be between me and Tsukuba-kun. That way it won't look too scary and you can say that we both just joined last year."

"And look how far you're come in just a year," Komano finished her thought. "Yes, that's a good idea."

"And I can hold up the trophy and remind everyone of how we won Nationals," Tsukuba added.

Komano continued. "I think it would be good to have Kana-chan read one of the poems, to encourage the interest of other people who like poetry.

Kana-chan sent him a grateful look and he blushed. "And we'll wear our hakamas, right?" she wanted to know.

I shook my head. This was getting out of control quickly.

"But," Hanano said, holding up one finger. "Taichi and Chihaya definitely need to be on stage. We have to put our best faces forward."

"All right, all right!" I called them to order by standing. When they were quiet, I said, "Chihaya and I will introduce the club and the first-years. Tsukuba-kun can bring out the trophy while Hanano-san brings the cards. While they set up the game, I'll do a quick explanation of how we play and Kana-chan can talk about one poem as an example. We'll wear the hakamas and read three or four cards for the sample match. Chihaya can finish by telling them when and where to meet."

"Does Chihaya actually have to speak?" Hanano asked, a dubious look on her face.

I had my own misgivings but stood firm. Finally I looked at Komano and Nishida. "Are you okay with this?"

They quickly assured me that they had no desire to appear on stage. "All right, it's settled then. Now let's spend some time thinking about our goals for this year."

-0-0-0-0-

CHIHAYA

I paced around the club room nervously, shuffling cards through my hands without really seeing them. The long window curtains billowed as a refreshing breeze deposited pink cherry petals on the sill. Scuffling noises from above indicated the band was moving their instruments.

They probably gained some new members. I hope we will too! Lots and lots!

The hall door slid open and I looked up expectantly.

Kana-chan smiled. "It's just me."

"Ah." I returned to my nervous pacing, but the door kept opening and closing as regular club members arrived.

"The teachers are putting so much pressure on us now that we're third-years," Desktomu was saying to Taichi.

Porky jumped in. "I know, right! It's like they're giving us triple the homework and a lecture about exams every single class period. It's stressing me out." He tore into a meat bun.

One after another, my teammates dumped their things on the club table. Hanano took the nail file from where we kept it and began buffing her fingernails. "Well, our teachers are already going on about the Career Survey, and how we need to start planning now, blah, blah, blah…"

A firm rapping at the door startled us. I jumped, lunging for it. Throwing the door wide, I found two boys, one short and one tall. Their faces showed surprise at my sudden reception.

"W-welcome! Are you here for the karuta club?" I asked breathlessly.

The taller one had the build of a basketball player—lanky but well-muscled. He cast a glance over my shoulder before answering. "Ah, yes! I'm Yukimura. You're Ayase Chihaya, right? You were in the Queen match last year."

My lips trembled. He knows about the Queen match! He must actually know karuta!

Taichi had come up behind me during the exchange. He answered for me, his tone cordial. "That's right. Come on in. Did you watch the match or how did you hear about it?"

I was turning to follow them when another girl appeared in the doorway. She looked timid, wringing her hands and looking up through glasses and a long fringe of bangs. The rest of her hair was plaited in a single long braid.

"Hi!" I said enthusiastically. She jumped. "You're here for the karuta club, right?" I grabbed her hand and dragged her in the door before she could run.

Two more girls (who clearly had eyes for Taichi) and a nerdy-looking guy trickled in before we decided to call the meeting to order. We'd seated everyone on the floor so we could give an introductory overview.

I stood at Taichi's side as he began. "Thank you all for coming. I know there is a one-week trial period, so we appreciate you coming to check out our club first. I hope it means you've caught some of our excitement for the sport of…"

The door slid again, and a pair of anxious-looking, amber eyes filled the opening.

"Yama-chan!" I cried with delight. I caught a glimpse of Taichi's shocked expression as I raced past him to greet her. "What brings you here? How did you even find us?" I stopped in front of her, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

Rion looked at me, looked nervously past me, and returned her gaze to mine. "My- my father's job transferred to Tokyo. I'm going to school here now."

My jaw dropped, and I stared for several long beats. I took in the uniform that matched my own. "Wha— You're going to Misuzawa? Now?"

"Y-yes. My family moved here and I just couldn't imagine going to high school anywhere else." She looked past me. I couldn't account for the apprehensive expression she wore. "I hope that's okay."

Finally, I recovered myself. I took her hand and led her inside. "Okay? Of course, it's okay! It's better than okay—it's incredible! But you should have told us. Right, Taichi?" I turned to include him and found his response was less enthusiastic than my own. There was heightened color in his cheeks, and the gaze he'd fixed on Rion was both stunned and… uncomfortable. Huh. Weird.

At my direct question, he pulled himself together. Summoning a half-hearted smile, he said, "Yeah, that's great. So you're here to join the team, then?"

The way their eyes communicated, it felt like there was no one else in the room.

"Yes. I'd like to." She sounded hesitant.

"Aaaaiiiiieeee!" I squealed in glee, grabbing her hand. "This is going to be so awesome! We can play each other all the time, and we'll be on a team together, and…"

"Chihaya, we need to get back to work," Taichi said curtly, turning away from us.

"Oh, right." I couldn't help grinning as I directed Rion to sit with the others.

With Yama-chan joining us, we can definitely win the team tournament again. I mean, we didn't graduate any players, and she was the best of the second-years at Fujisaki… Oh, no! Poor Coach S. She must be so disappointed!

My thoughts chased one another happily throughout the remainder of Taichi's lesson. As he wrapped up, I distributed the handouts with the poems to memorize and Taichi gave instructions about our next meeting.

I followed the braid girl out the door and cornered her in the hall. I learned that she was a poetry fan and she'd played some karuta in tournaments at her elementary school, much as I had. She was a first-year, and in the smart class, too, so I made sure to fill her in on Taichi's and Desktomu's rank and how their academic ability boosted their karuta play and vice versa. She looked a little overwhelmed, and maybe I was overly enthusiastic like I can be sometimes, but when we parted she gave me a genuine smile and promised to come again.

I headed back down the hall to collect my things from the club room. Through the open door, I heard the voices of Taichi and Yama-chan as I approached.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Yama-chan said stiffly.

"I was just really surprised. I didn't expect…"

They sounded serious. I paused outside the door, wondering whether I should interrupt.

"Didn't expect to see me again," Rion said, anger lacing her tone. "I'm sorry, I thought we had fun together, and it would be fun to be on a team with you and Chihaya and everybody you told me about."

"It's fine," Taichi said curtly.

"No, evidently it's not," she argued. "Look, I know what you're probably thinking, but I had nothing to do with this move and neither did Mom. Dad was offered a promotion, and since Arai's here already, they decided to pack up and come to Tokyo. I mean, I could have asked to stay behind, but why would I? You know how things were for me at Fujisaki. I thought it would be fun to spend my senior year with some real karuta friends." Her ire was fading and I could hear unhappiness creeping into her voice.

"Friends, right?" Taichi's voice was calmer now. "As long as you understand that's all we are."

"Am I making a confession here?" Rion hissed. "Don't worry. If you can stop being all full of yourself for a minute, we might be able to move on and have a great team here."

"Did you just accuse me of being full of myself?" Taichi's voice radiated disbelief. A few beats of silence followed.

Awkwarrrddd.

"Pfft." Taichi's chortle became full-out laughter. As his chuckles subsided he said, "All right, but we already have a Captain, you know."

"I'm not worried about that." I was relieved to hear she sounded normal again. "I'll listen to you and Chihaya-chan."

This seemed like a good time to show my face. I appeared in the doorway, saying, "What was that about me?"

Both Taichi and Rion blushed furiously, even though they were separated by at least a meter. I hadn't understood the cause of their disagreement, but seeing this reaction, I decided to keep my questions to myself.

-0-0-0-0-

That night I lay on my bed after dinner and pulled out my phone. Hitting a few buttons, I pulled up the picture of me and Arata in Fukui. My heart clenched. My thumb caressed his dark hair.

Ah, I miss him so much.

Wasting no more time, I found his number.

A husky voice answered. "Hello?"

"Arata! Can you talk?"

"Sure." I heard the sound of bedsprings, and, now that I knew his room, I could picture him laying back on his bed with the blue coverlet, staring up at the ceiling as we talked.

"I have some exciting news," I blurted. "Guess who showed up at our club today?"

"Uhh…"

"Yama-chan!"

"Yama-chan?"

"Yes, the girl I played against in the team finals last summer. She has really good game sense, so it was a really fun match." As an aside I added, "Her grandmother is an awesome reader, I forget her full name… it's Yamashiro something. Kana-chan loves…"

"Yamashiro Kyoko?" Arata asked.

"That sounds right. Gosh, you know everything!"

"No," he laughed that off. "I've just been around the karuta world a long time. Grandpa knew Yamashiro-san from way back. So I'm guessing her granddaughter is pretty good," he speculated. As an afterthought he added, "I don't remember coming across her in the tournament though."

"Oh, she was Class B back then. Taichi and I got to know her when we went to that Fujisaki training camp I told you about."

"Oh, so she goes to Fujisaki. That makes sense."

"Ha!" I said triumphantly. "Not anymore! Her dad's job got moved to Tokyo so she transferred to our school." I squealed. "Can you believe it? Our team is going to be unbeatable."

His throaty laugh lit a fire inside me. "You're really incredible, Chihaya."

"I'm so excited. I hope you can come watch us play this year. We got some first-years that came today too. I hope they'll stay."

"That's great. They're really lucky."

I had nothing to say to that. I wish I could be on a team with you again, Arata. I listened to the sound of his breaths.

He continued. "I have some news too."

"Good news?"

"I think so. I'll be in Tokyo in a couple weeks for interviews with those universities I told you about."

I gasped. "Arata, that's wonderful! When will you be here?" I jumped up, looking at the calendar on my wall.

He gave me the dates and I followed by asking, "How are you getting here? Is your mom driving you? Where are you staying?"

He laughed again, a really happy sound. "It's a pretty long drive, so I'll probably just take the train by myself."

"Then you could stay here," I offered. My heart was already wishing desperately for it.

"Well, I could ask Taichi."

"Oh! You don't remember what his mom his like." Thoughtfully, I added, "But the interviews might seem like a piece of cake after being around Mrs. Pressure for a while."

He laughed again.

"I'll ask my parents," I said. "I'm sure they'll want you to stay here since your family was so nice to me back before the Queen match. How are they, anyway?"

He filled me in on how his parents were doing, and we were still talking when Chitose rapped on my door. "Bath's ready," her muffled voice called.

We signed off and I promised to call him as soon as I got word from my parents.

Arata's coming!