Day 4 | Whatfriends have I who know my heart
FavoriteTeam → Arata, Taichi, and Chihaya
All through her elementary years, Chihaya thought karuta was nothing more than a card game people played for fun every so often. Sure, her school had a tournament every year, but Chihaya was never really interested because she had trouble memorizing all of the Hyakunin Isshu Poems. Karuta never appeared to be more than a simple game to Chihaya. However, once Arata arrived in Tokyo, her opinions began to change.
The first time Chihaya played Arata in a match, she felt like she was underwater and struggling to swim. Arata was different. He would easily slice through the water and take the card he was aiming for. Chihaya was swept into a different world and was able to see karuta was much more than she imagined. That year, she actually decided to compete in her school’s tournament, and because of certain circumstances, she won.
With her interest in karuta growing, Chihaya wanted to visit a karuta society, so one day after school she and Arata went to visit the Shiranami Karuta Society, with Taichi tagging along. When Chihaya inappropriately walked in on a practice session, she had realization about karuta that made her cast away the last of her old opinions: karuta was a sport.
Arata, Taichi, and Chihaya became a team that day. An unorthodox team, but a team nonetheless. They defeated Retro and his friends in three-on-three Genpei match, and because of their victory, began to practice and prepare for an upcoming team tournament. A lot happened between then and the tournament: Arata had to move back to Fukui after he graduated and Taichi chose to enroll in a middle school too far away from the Shiranami Karuta Society for him to continue practicing there. Chihaya began to feel like she was all alone, but she soon realized she was not the only one who was suffering from loneliness. Just as she was, Arata and Taichi were both devastated over the fact that the three of them could not play karuta forever as they promised.
Chihaya realized something though: karuta would always keep her connected with Arata and Taichi. When she and Taichi went to say goodbye to Arata, she told them she believed that as long as they had karuta, they would find their ways to each other again.
“As long as we have karuta, we’ll see each other again, won’t we? As long as we keep playing, we’ll see each other again! I just know it!”
-Chihaya to Taichi and Arata, Chihayafuru Episode 03
