Disclaimer: I do not own Chihayafuru.
Chapter 4 - A promise
He met up with Chihaya on Sunday.
They took a walk around the hospital grounds, tentatively catching up on various things. He talked about his work in New York, Chihaya babbled on about upcoming karuta tournaments, both avoiding the painful topic of Arata's health.
Noticing a vending machine, Taichi stopped to rummage through his pockets, coming up with a few 100 Yen coins. A minute later he was holding onto two cans of coffee.
"Chihaya, catch," he said, throwing one of them in her direction. Chihaya yelped, quickly fumbling to catch it. "Taichi, you meanie!" she shouted at him, scrunching up her nose in annoyance.
He chuckled, sitting down on a nearby bench, Chihaya joining him seconds later, already sipping at her drink.
A particular chilly gust of wind left Taichi shivering in his coat. He tightened his grip around his still unopened can. Looking down at his cold hands, he tried to remember where he had left his gloves.
Chihaya shifted slightly beside him, blowing at her coffee, her breath appearing in puffs of white smoke. Her hair was tied back in a messy bun, a few strands having fallen out of it, were moving slightly in the wind. He smiled to himself noticing she was wearing the red scarf he and Arata chose for her a long time ago.
Something in his chest squeezed painfully, and he looked back down at his hands.
Thinking about Arata hurt.
Thinking about the future hurt.
He worried about Chihaya constantly.
He let out a sigh, thinking back to the previous two weeks. The first thing he did after dropping off his things at the hotel was to take a taxi to Tokyo General Hospital. The next few days were spent looking for an affordable place downtown and visiting Arata and Chihaya.
It took him a week before he contacted his parents. His mother was furious at him for suddenly quitting work in New York. His father, although more understanding about his reasons, still expressed disappointment at Taichi's brash move. Sitting at the kitchen table getting scolded by them, Taichi didn't feel like he was 32.
Rika had a good laugh at his expense, but afterwards she gave him a big hug, and was the first to welcome him back.
"Mother is just angry that you didn't come visit us first," she told him when they met up later for a drink.
He shook his head, finally popping open his can and taking a sip.
"I have to go back to school tomorrow," Chihaya spoke up.
He looked at her. Her brows were furrowed, and he frowned at the bags under her eyes.
"I've already taken two weeks off. I'm pretty sure the principal would let me take more, but…it's not fair towards my students. I have third years, you know? And they have their entrance exams this year. And it's only for so long I can ask Amano-sensei to substitute for me. And Aki-chan and Take-kun said they wanted to become A-class players before the Summer Tournament starts."
She set down her can on the bench. "I have classes the whole day. I can probably sneak out during lunch times for a bit, but I won't be able to leave until 5 pm, and on karuta days 7 or 8." Chihaya hid her face in her hands.
She looked exhausted and he wished he could do something for her. He hated seeing her like this.
Worst of all, he hated how calmly she took everything in. Chihaya had always been a person who wore her heart on her sleeve, cried when she was sad, laughed when she was happy, always, always loud and alive. This subdued Chihaya, Chihaya that looked as if she had the whole weight of the world on her shoulders, he wasn't used to.
He hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder and when she looked up, eyes void of tears but filled with so much sadness, he knew what he could offer at the same time as she whispered to him,
"I don't want him to be alone."
He brought her closer, "I'll come stay with him. Every day."
She shot him a grateful smile. Slowly relaxing in his hold, Chihaya buried her face in his shoulder.
"Thank you, Taichi."