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Chihaya Furu - Volume 1 - Chapter 2.2

Published at 17th of January 2016 06:42:15 PM


Chapter 2.2

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MIDDLE SCHOOL EDITION – VOLUME 1
chihaya’s chapter – 2

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chihaya’s chapter
waga mi hitotsu no aki ni wa
(autumn for me alone)

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2 – kimi ga tame (for your sake)

-

A few days after Chihaya met Inaba and Yamabe, Chihaya was in a classroom after school, pushing the desks to the sides of the room. She put down the mats for martial arts classes that she had brought from the distant P.E. equipment room.

‘Can’t believe one girl did this by herself…’ said Yamabe, looking shocked as she came in with Inaba, who had her crutches

'It’s no good if it’s hard to pick up cards from the floor directly. Tatami would be better, but the school didn’t have any.’

Chihaya laid out cards on the mat. She tried knocking one away, but then her expression turned glum.

'Eh, the cards won’t leap up the way I want them to. It’s completely different from tatami.’

'I think it’s because these mats are made with material that doesn’t have much rebound so that it won’t hurt even if you hit it during judo,’ replied Inaba. She walked up and took a card in her hand.

'These are different from the ones at homes. They have fall leaves on the back and are smooth. These white ones with no words are… Ah, just in case you lose some? That’s good preparation.’

'These are official cards for competitive use. I think the ones you have at home are probably for personal use. They have pictures on the yomifuda and you can play bouzu mekuri with them, right?’

'Oh, so they’re different.’ Yamabe peered at the cards.

Chihaya had been kneeling properly on the mat even as they talked, swiftly lining up the fifty cards into two groups of twenty-five. Using the length of her arm from the elbow down, she measured a good location to put the cards. Inaba watched with interest.

'Inaba-senpai, I’m finished with the preparations. Please sit down over there.’

After Chihaya said that, Inaba looked troubled.

'Eh… Chihaya-san and Nonoka can play first.’

'Please don’t restrain yourself. I’ll explain how to play.’

Chihaya put a finger on the 'matsutoshi kikaba’ (if I hear you pine for me) card in front of Inaba.

'For example, this “tachi” card in front of you… Er, the poem is “tachiwakare / inaba no yama no” (Even if I depart / and go to Inaba Mountain), but if you hear 'tachi’, you take the “motsutoshi kikaba ima kaeri kon” card. Since “inaba” is on this card, please remember it – ’

As Chihaya kept talking, Yamabe put a hand on Chihaya’s shoulder. She looked irritated.

'You blockhead. Nao’s knee can only bend to a right angle! She can’t kneel.’

Ah… Chihaya looked at the supporters on Inaba’s two knees and then bowed her head.

'Sorry, I was just really into it. Let’s use a desk. We can do this in chairs.’

Chihaya had invited the girls in her class a number of times and played on desks. When Chihaya took cards after only a few syllables, not listening to the rest of the poems, the girls were put off and everyone ran away. It seemed that those girls thought that you looked for the torifuda after the yomifuda was read.

Chihaya put together four desks and laid down the cards again. Then, she and Inaba sat opposite each other. Yamabe stood beside Inaba.

'Then can we start? You have fifteen minutes to memories. Remember where the cards are in your own cards and your opponent’s. Please do what I do,’ declared Chihaya, putting on airs.

In the end, Inaba and Yamabe just stared at the cards for a while. Inaba asked in resignation, 'Chihaya-san, is there a trick to remembering these? Why are you moving your hands?’

Chihaya, who had been murmuring while moving her hands with her chair at a distance from the desks, hurriedly sat up again. However, up until now, everyone had just been avoiding her. Being asked about something was a big step to making friends who played karuta.

'Er, well, this is image training. I imagine myself taking the card to remember it. This helps the cards get into my head more than just memorising them. I mean, as the competition goes on, the position of the cards changes, right? I imagine I’m tying each card with a string to my hand, making them my own.’

Chihaya supplemented her explanation with excited gestures, and Yamabe and Inaba nodded, but they couldn’t even memorise half of the positions of the cards.

Soon, the fifteen minutes were over.

'OK, for the CD, we’ll start with the opening poem. The poem called “sakuya kono hana” is called the opening poem. It’s not in the torifuda, and it means “get ready”. We take cards starting from the poem after this one.’

Chihaya used a remote controller to operate the CD player, which was on another desk, and then opening poem played.

<naniwazu ni
sakuya kono hana
fuyu gomori
ima wo harube to 
sakuya kono hana
ima wo harube to
sakuya kono hana>

(In Naniwa Bay,
now the flowers are blossoming.
After lying dormant all winter,
now the spring has come
and the flowers are blossoming.
Now the spring has come
and the flowers are blossoming.)

Suddenly, the air around Chihaya changed. Yamabe let out a small 'Ah’ noise, as if she’d noticed.

<aki no>

The moment Chihaya heard 'no’, her right arm shot out, making about half the cards in front of her scatter, falling from the desk to the floor.

'Ah, wait, wait!’

Chihaya hurriedly stopped the music player.

'It’s slippery! The table is slippery! If I play seriously, all the cards will fly off!’

Chihaya hadn’t realised this before because everyone in her class had run off before she could play seriously. She had gone at full power without thinking.

'You’re so fast that I didn’t understand what was happening at all, Chihaya-san,’ said Inaba, sounding troubled as Chihaya picked up the cards from the floor.

'Ah, er, there are these things called kimariji, and when you hear them, you know which cards you can take, so you take the cards when you hear them. That’s karuta.’

'I’ve heard about this from my granny, but…’

'In the fifteen minutes before the match, you imagine which cards to take when you hear which syllables and how to take cards if there are similar sounds. There are fifty cards, so it’s only half of the hundred cards – you imagine which cards won’t be read too.’

'I… I understand, but… let’s do this more slowly – ’

'I played with someone amazing at first too. That’s how I found out that karuta was amazing!’

Chihaya was serious. Her shock when she first saw Arata’s karuta – she wanted to somehow express the impact she had received from Arata then. That was what had made her so focussed on inviting so many people to play.

'Is that OK? Let’s go on to the next one.’

After confirming with Inaba, Chihaya pressed the remote controller’s button. She focussed on her ears –

<haru su>

Another twenty or so cards flew again, and this time, they were on Inaba’s side. Chihaya stuck her head forward, which made Inaba lean back in surprise.

'Ah, they flew off the table again. It looks like I’ll have to take the cards by pressing them down.’

'Wait, wait. I didn’t hear “su” now… You took the card before it was read.’

'I heard it though. The first breath of the “s” of “su”.’

Chihaya looked pleased, but Yamabe had her arms crossed and made a clucking noise with her tongue as she stood beside Inaba.

'How can we tell!? Chihaya, you just want to play, don’t you? Teach properly.’

'Yes… Sorry.’

'We know this poem too – it’s in the third-year’s Japanese textbook. It’s Empress Jito’s poem the Manyoshu, right? The Manyoshu and the Hyakunin Isshu use slightly different words though. There’s something strange about you being faster than Nao for this,’ said Yamabe with a frown.

'Manyoshu…?’

’… You don’t know it?’ asked Inaba.

Chihaya nodded.

'You’re not playing karuta because you like old texts and waka and that sort of thing, Chihaya-san?’

'I play because I like taking the cards…’

Inaba looked even more troubled.

'I like waka and the elegance of poems about love, so… competitive karuta is different then.’

'A-anyway, if you play, you’ll see how amazing and interesting it is!’

(I need to show her how amazing speed is. The amazing karuta that I know! I’m the only person who can express it, here and now.)

'Karuta is a competitive sport. Speed, attack, the desire to win… That’s what’s interesting about it!’

'Ah… That’s true, but then aren’t the poems just a means then…? From how you’re saying it.’

'Yes!’

'That’s… different, I think… from the karuta I want to play. Using the elegant correspondence of love poems in a way like this…’

'Not… the karuta you want to play?’

Chihaya was troubled. What karuta did Inaba want to play then? She looked at Inaba.

Inaba chose her words before speaking admonishingly.

'I want to immerse myself in world of dynastic love. Love from a thousand years ago, love letters in poems, falling in love through a poem without even seeing the person7s face. With vexing yet restrained feelings growing… I want to let my heart flutter in a world like that.’

Chihaya didn’t really understand what Inaba was saying, but she could easily tell that Inaba was disappointed by Chihaya’s words and attitude. But Inaba had said she would play karuta. Chihaya didn’t want to give up here.

'Chihaya-san, I don’t need to karuta to be amazing. I just want to like waka.’

('like’, rather than being amazing… Ah, I get it. I love karuta now. At first, I might have just thought karuta was amazing, but that changed to 'like’ soon after.)

Like, like, like – that word grasped Chihaya’s heart and echoed in her chest.

(I see! I just need her to 'like’ karuta somehow! Even if it’s not fast.)

– 'Other people might think it would be more fun to play without competing, right?’

Chihaya could hear Taichi’s words in her ear.

'Right, you won’t like it if it’s not fun. Sorry for being selfish. It’ll be best to play in a way that you’ll think it’s fun. I want you to enjoy karuta too, Inaba-senpai.’

’… Then I’d be happy if you’d play slowly with me. It seems I’m more familiar with love poems, so let’s remember them together.’

'OK!’

With this change in mood, Chihaya played the CD for the third time.

<ashi>

Though Chihaya’s hand swung in the air, Inaba’s hand was on the 'ashi no maroya ni / akikaze zo fuku’ card in Chihaya’s upper left row.

'biki no / yamadori no o no / shidari no o no’ continued to play.

'That was a karafuda just now. The “naga na” card that isn’t here… That one’s completely different. It’s “yuu”.’

'Ah, sorry. I just…’

'One of my cards will go to your side then, since you touched the card. Please put it wherever you want.’

'Oh, so there’s a penalty,’ said Yamabe in admiration.

'When you take your opponent’s card, you send one of your own too. These are called okurifuda.’

Chihaya pointed at the cards and began to explain moving the cards.

'You win if you get rid of the twenty-five cards in front of you first.’

'So you get rid of all the cards in front of you first. I do feel excited when I see your speed though, Chihaya,’ murmured Yamabe, sounding like her curiosity had been piqued.

'Yes! Yamabe-senpai, I’m so happy you understand!’

Yamabe hurriedly hid her surprised face. Inaba started giggling.

'Chihaya-san, you’re really energetic when you play karuta.’

'Yes! Please receive my energy!’ said Chihaya, in high spirits since she felt like Inaba had forgiven her.

'To the next one then! Let’s go slowly, slowly.’

She played the CD.

<tako>

Chihaya, slowly putting out her hand, could tell that Inaba was reaching for the correct card as she swept both the card and Inaba’s hand away. Inaba fell off her chair from the recoil.

'Ah, ouch…’

Chihaya was shocked by this unexpected event. She couldn’t believe that going slowly would have the opposite effect.

'I’m sorry!’

'What are you doing? Be careful!’ yelled Yamabe as she helped Inaba up. 'Nao’s legs are weak now, so it’s the same as sitting without her feet on the floor. That means her balance is bad and she’ll fall over easily.’

'I’m sorry! I’ll be more careful!’

Yamabe glared at Chihaya, who apologised furiously.

'Chihaya, it’s your fault for being so rough.’

'It’s… my fault?’

Inaba looked at Chihaya, who was cowering. Yamabe spoke clearly to make Inaba turn towards her.

'Nao, let’s stop this. Play with me instead. Chihaay’s dangerous – she doesn’t look at other people at all.’

'But I… let me play with Chihaya-san a bit more.’

Inaba stared at the cards.

'I mean, Chihaya-san’s so serious. But how do I say it… I don’t want to let go of the cards for the poems I like either.’

Ianaba placed two cards on the table. 'mono ya omou to / hito no tou made’ and 'hito shirezu koso / omoi someshi ka’.

'Both are poems about painful feelings. I don’t want these cards to be taken in a violent manner like Chihaya-san’s, so I want to take them faster myself.’

Violent… It was true, Chihaya reflected with some remorse. But only friends would directly tell you your bad points. These two were like Taichi in this way. It made Chihaya happy. She was also happy that Inaba had cards she liked.

'Ah, I finally get what I want to ask you, Chihaya-san.’

Inaba looked relieved.

'The love poems in the Hyakunin Isshu that I like. Please teach me how to protect the love poem cards from my opponent and how to take them.’

'Taking the cards you like – the cards you don’t want to let go of earlier than your opponent… There are many strategies, like how you put down your cards.’

'That’s it! I’ll tell you which cards are the love poems that I like, so teach me tips and strategies to take the cards quicker. I want to protect my favourite love poems with my own hands.’

Even if they thought differently, Chihaya expected that if they walked together with the feelings of fondness for the cards, the path ahead would open up. Chihaya and Inaba smiled at each other.

'Hey, Nonoka, let me play a bit longer.’

Yamabe reluctantly let go of Inaba.

'Today, we can go by the poem numbers first. I want to see how your hands can go so fast, Chihaya-san.’

'An example then. I’ll do my best!’

Chihaya pressed down the feeling of being so happy she could float and bowed. She pressed the remote controller button.

&ltoku>

The card in the bottom left – just as Chihaya noticed the loud sound, her foot was in midair. Her stomach heart. Chihaya’s body had hit the table, which fell over, and now she was bent over. Her ankle hit the ground.

'Hey! Chihaya, move that away!’

'Eh… Ah!’

Underneath the fallen table, Chihaya could see Inaba and Yamabe’s sailor uniform tops. A number of cards had fallen on their shoulders and heads. The two of them were on the floor under the table, the cards all around them.

'Move it away already!’

Chihaya picked up the desk and Yamabe crawled out from underneath.

'Nao, Nao! Chihaya, help me pull her up!’

Yamabe’s voice, nearly a shriek, went over the CD player’s 'aki wa kanashiki’.

'It hurts…’ moaned Inaba, clutching her knees. Her face was pale. Yamabe must have seen that, because she sat up, pushed away Chihaya’s proffered hand and yelled, 'Leave! Nao’s never going to play karuta with you again!’

* * *

(I did something awful to Inaba-senpai… Even though she was nice enough to play karuta with me…)

Chihaya, depressed, burrowed under the covers of her bed.

(At a time like this, what would Arata… what would Taichi do? How do you better show your friends how fun karuta is?)

Chihaya had just let out a sigh when her older sister, Chitose, came into the room.

'What are you so gloomy for? If you’re showing remorse for something, it might end up snowing tomorrow.’

'Maybe lightning, if there were a typhoon…’

'Don’t joke about that. My outdoor shoot is tomorrow since it was delayed after the typhoon… Come on, I’ll give you a special treat and let you see the newest magazine I’m in.’

Chitose tapped Chihaya with a fashion magazine through the blanket. Chihaya truly respected her sister and her work, so normally, she would have jumped up in happiness.

'It’s fine…’

'Even though I went out of my way to let you see? Somebody thought you were a pain for trying to get them to play karuta again, right? Stop playing karuta already! It’s so old and uncool.’

Chihaya didn’t have the energy to object. Chitose might have lost her will to continue since Chihaya didn’t retort, as she just flipped through the pages of the magazine unenergetically… And then her eyebrows flew up.

'Wait, what is this!? It’s so ugly and lame! I don’t want my photo on the page after this!’

Chitose threw the magazine onto Chihaya’s pillow and stomped out of the room.

Even if Chihaya was depressed, she really did look forward to seeing her sister’s photos. Curious, Chihaya reached out from the blankets for the magazine. She glanced at the open page.

'Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!’

She shrieked in a strange manner and thrust her blankets off her.

'I-i-i-i-it’s so cuuuuuuute!’

Chihaya’s older sister had declared it ugly, but the new fashion goods character had gripped Chihaya’s heart. It looked like a bear, but the design made you think of an exhausted middle-aged man.

'How do you read this English? Da… Da… Daddy… bear? It’s brilliant! Super cute!’

This was the moment that Chihaya fell in love with Daddy Bear.

-

On the weekend a few days afterwards, Chihaya invited Michiru and took the private line from the closest station. Under the school rules, when leaving the city, they needed permission from the school and wore school uniforms.

'Chihaya-chan, is it that cute?’

'Yeah! It’s the cutest things I’ve ever seen. They have a showroom in the character shop building at K Station, and you can only buy the goods there.

The article in the magazine had said that. Chihaya had asked her parents to give her her allowance in advance so that she could buy Daddy Bear goods.

The train was rather crowded. All the seats were filled, and there were the same number of people standing.

'Ah… Inaba-senpai.’

Inaba, with her metal crutches and in her uniform, was standing in the back of the same car. Though she was leaning against the door, she staggered every time the train shook. It looked difficult.

'I heard that she has to go really far for physiotherapy,’ murmured Michiru.

'I need to say sorry. I haven’t met her since that – she’s taken a break from school,’ said Chihaya to Michiru. Then, she walked p to Inaba, who was staring out the car window vacantly.

Outside the train window, which had stopped at a signaling point, there were students who were doing athletic club activities on the weekend, running along the tracks as they shouted. Inaba looked away from the sight and watched her footing.

Chihaya spoke in a voice as strong as the sound of the train wheels, which had started to move.

'Excuse me… I’m sorry!’

Inaba staggered in shock and hit the railing. It looked painful.

(Senpai has no strength in her legs.)

Chihaya hurriedly supported Inaba’s shoulder. Michiru ran over as well.

'I did too much. I’m really sorry. I’ll be careful from now on.’

(I’ll think of karuta that Senpai can play too. Karuta that Senpai will enjoy, karuta that’ll cheer her up.)

Chihaya reconfirmed those thoughts as she supported Inaba, thinking all the way that Inaba’s hair smelt nice.

'No, I was the one who asked. I’m sorry too. Nonoka said some rude things.’

'Not at all! Yamabe-senpai really loves Inaba-senpai – I thought it was nice.’

Inaba smiled, looking embarrassed.

'Will you play karuta with me again? I’ll think of a way that you’ll be able to play too without it being dangerous!’

Inaba nodded.

'Your eyes really sparkle when you talk about karuta, Chihaya-san.’

Inaba’s words made Chihaya so happy her shoulders went up to her ears. Her heart was fluttering, and it felt a bit impatient.

'I need to like karuta more too, so that I won’t lose.’

With a smile, Inaba started explaining, bit by bit.

'When I was hospitalised for my injury, my granny came to the hospital every day instead of my mother, since she was busy with work, but we didn’t have anything to talk about… It wasn’t like this when I was a kid, but there weren’t any topics that we had in common.’

When Inaba was in hospital, she showed a few pages of her summer workbook “Get to Know Waka” to her grandmother. When her grandmother explained the points she didn’t understand to her, Inaba felt like she had found the poems for the first time.

'Then I suddenly had tears in my eyes… I don’t know why…’

It had made her remember how much she loved her granny when she was a child, and how her granny had done so much for her, watching over her until now. Inaba’s eyes were distant.

'I had forgotten since I was focussed on living in the present, but I remembered that warm time from when I was a kid with no worries, and then I thought about how I would never be able to return to that time, and it was painful.

'To cheer me up, Granny brought old books and manga about Heian princesses which I had really liked when I was younger… And then I completely got into it. Books with old poems and analysis books on the Hyakunin Isshu – my granny brought them all for me.

'I kept reading to forget the pain in my leg. Even the difficult books… Izumi Shikibu, Michitsuna’s mother, Murasaki Shikibu… Even people from a millennium ago felt many things with their big hearts. I just thought people were amazing.’

'Izumi Shikibu… and whose mother?’

'For the Hyakunin Isshu, in order, they’re “arazaran”, “nageki tsutsu” and “meguri aite”.’

’“arazaran”! There are a lot of cards that start with “a”, but that’s the first I remembered.’

Chihaya leant forward, which made Inaba laugh slightly.

'You have the word of karuta inside you, don’t you, Chihaya-san. A world with fifty white cards lined up perfectly.’

'Ah… Yes, hm… Yes, it feels like my whole body is filled with karuta.’

'I have the world of the Heian era within me too. The cards with love poems are connected to my world. That’s why I don’t want to let anyone take them. I realised when I was playing karuta with you, Chihaya-san. At first, that feeling was vague, and I just wanted to play karuta, but now I understand it clearly.’

After that, Inaba told Chihaya the love poems she knew until she had to get off the train a station earlier. All Chihaya could respond with was the kimariji for the poems.

-

'So love has that meaning… There were so many love poems…’

Chihaya got off at K Station. Her cheeks were hot, as if she had a fever. She held hands with Michiru so that they wouldn’t get lost and went through the crowd towards a shopping plaza.

Michiru said earnestly, 'Waka have deep meanings that remain in the hearts of people they touch, so that’s why they remain now, right? Even after a millennium.’

Chihaya cocked her head, which made Michiru laugh slightly.

'Well, it’s fine. Thinking at length about something like love will just make me embarrassed.’

'Hahaha, that’s just like you, Chihaya-chan. I like that part of you.’

Michiru’s words didn’t appear to reach Chihaya, who had started running when she spotted a sign on the outside of the building that had Teddy Bear on it.

Chihaya energetically ran towards the character shop building. There were many official character shops on each floor, like a kingdom of dreams.

Then, ten minutes later…

'So cuuuuuute! That, and this, ah, and that too!’ yelled Chihaya, clutching numerous Daddy Bear goods to her chest. At a step… ten steps back, Michiru was watching her with a smile. Cute… or not, that was up to taste, but Chihaya didn’t know that Michiru was thinking that.

Chihaya bought Daddy Bear goods for Inaba and Yamabe too, since she had promised to play karuta again with Inaba.

However, after school the next day, when Chihaya went to Inaba’s classroom with a Daddy Bear eraser in hand – Yamabe ran out and spoke in a low voice, glaring sharply.

'Don’t come, Chihaya. Don’t bother us any more.’

'Wait, Nonoka.’

Inaba dragged her feet over as quickly as she could.

'It’s because you’re so wishy-washy that selfish kids like this stick with you. If you don’t like it, tell her clearly not to come!’

'No, I…’

Ignoring Inaba’s words, Chihaya continued yelling at Chihaya.

'Got this, Chihaya? Because you knocked that desk onto Nao, her foot got worse. Are you happy as long as you’re happy?’

'Your leg got worse?’ Even the carefree Chihaya was shocked. 'I’m sorry – really sorry. I just wanted you to be happy, Inaba-senpai…’

'Kids who can’t look out for other people can’t make any excuses. It just sounds selfish.’

'Then what should I do so that you’ll listen? Inaba-senpai, do you really hate me?’

'Of course she does! Right, Nao? She doesn’t want to hear anything you have to say any more!’ said Yamabe. She interrupted Inaba, who was shaking her head slightly, and shut the door firmly.

'But… I haven’t heard Inaba-senpai’s feelings properly yet…’ Chihaya sank to the floor.

She returned to her classroom in low spirits. She looked for Michiru, but it seemed she had already gone to club.

'Inaba-senpai probably won’t play karuta with me any more… If Yamabe-senpai is with her… It’s true though. I really did too much without thinking.’

Chihaya reflected on her actions as she murmured, counting her mistakes on her fingers.

'It really was bad that I knocked over the desk… How can I stop myself from going that far? I’ll think about “Karuta that Senpai can play” – but it has to be “karuta Senpai wants to play”, and “karuta where I can’t take the love poem cards” – wait, no, before thinking about “karuta we can play”, I should figure out what I did wrong so I don’t make the same mistake. Er, then what should I do?’

She thought about a number of things… which made her head hurt… and then, she realised there was something she had to do first.

'I wonder how I can at least get them to let me apologise properly.’

Though it wasn’t wrapped properly, she had two Daddy Bear erasers in small paper bags. She looked at them in her hand.

'Even though I thought we’d become friends…’ she murmured. She vacantly looked out the open window towards the courtyard. A gentle breeze blew through Chihaya’s hair.

Members of sports clubs had started to warm up. Chihaya could hear the sound of trumpets and clarinets from the brass band in the music room.

It looked like the track and field club members were gathered near the track’s start line. Michiru was there. Yamabe joined her, running up in a jersey.

'Yamabe-senpai…’

Yamabe’s running form was beautiful. Yamabe broke through the members running the hundred metres to get into first place. However, after she finished running, she seemed a bit down. The male teacher in charge seemed to be asking her what was wrong.

Yamabe shook her head and said something. Then, she tried to run out of the courtyard with her face turned away. However, the club members surrounded her, and she crouched on the floor.

'Are they having an argument? What’s wrong?’

She felt like she heard Yamabe scream, 'I’m sick of this!’ Perhaps it was her imagination, but Yamabe looked so pained that Chihaya ran without thinking.

-

Chihaya ran towards the track, not caring that her skirt was a mess.

'Nao’s not here, so I… can’t race. Even if you tell me I keep saying that… I can’t. I could run because Nao was here, and I just can’t run like I did before – ’

Chihaya could clearly hear Yamabe’s pained voice.

'Yamabe-senpai! Er, I – !’

Chihaya was out of breath, so she couldn’t speak properly.

Michiru gulped. The older club members looked at her, astonished.

'Get out of the way! Don’t step on the track line.’

'Please, um – ’

'Get out of here, outsider.’

'Chihaya-chan, if you want to talk, I’ll listen later, OK?’

Michiru tried to get Chihaya to leave.

'Do you want to join the club? You came at an amazing speed – you could be a good runner.’

The one who interrupted in a loud voice was the male teacher who was in charge – Seki-sensei from P.E.

'Ah, Class 1-3… Ayase, right? I had an eye on you. If you’re not in any other club, join ours.’

Seki-sensei’s cheerful voice made Yamabe lift her head, eyes flashing open. Her angry eyes glared at Chihaya.

'Sensei, this kid doesn’t want to join the club.’

'Then what is it?’

'That’s…’

Yamabe stopped speaking and glared at Chihaya more. Chihaya thought about it a bit, but once she came to a decision, she didn’t waver.

'E… er, please let me race. With you, Yamabe-senpai… I think that with people in the track and field club, a competition in track will make things more clear. If I win, please at least listen to my apology – you don’t have to accept it.’

'Chihaya, what are you even saying?’

'I realised I can’t just do things I like and am good at. That’s why I’ll do what you’re good at, Yamabe-senpai. With Inaba-senpai, I’ll play karuta that Inaba-senpai can play and wants to play.’

'Wha!? I don’t understand what you’re saying.’

(No, that’s not it, er…)

Chihaya put her hand on her chest as she looked for the right words.

'I thought that you weren’t running with all your heart, Yamabe-senpai. Since Inaba-senpai isn’t here. The reason you can’t run isn’t that you’ve lost your goals or your base, but probably just because you’re holding back, I think, since you’re thinking about whether it’s OK for you too run by yourself when Inaba-senpai can’t – wondering whether you can do what you like.’

For a moment, Yamabe was lost for words, but then, with red cheeks, she retorted, 'What are you saying? What od you mean, I can’t run… Where – Horikawa! Did you say something?’

'No, Horikawa-san has nothing to do it! Really! Please don’t drag Horikawa-san into this.’

Chihaya stood in front of Michiru.

'I just heard what you were saying now.’

Seki-sensei’s eyes were sparkling. He looked interested.

'OK, do you have a jersey? Get changed and come back here. Yamabe, if you think about things you don’t need to and don’t take this seriously, you’ll lose to Ayase. Relay members, join Yamabe.’

-

It was decided that Chihaya and Yamabe would do a 200-metre sprint.

Yamabe was the furthest out, with three relay members next to her, so Chihaya was the furthest in, where the curve was tough. Michiru sighed beside her, probably because she thought there was nothing she could do to stop this any more.

It was a crouching start.

'On your marks!’

Chihaya watched the others to see how to position herself. She placed both hands on the ground, lowered one knee and took position. Then, she saw Seki-sensei pick up a pistol, which gave her a jolt.

She had completely forgotten how much she hated the loud sound of a gunshot.

(Pistols are scary… I always lose balance when I hear the loud noise, so I’ll need to move my body before then… I wonder if I’ll e able to hear the sound of the trigger. If I run without hearing anything, that’ll be a flying start… and then I’ll be out.)

Though it was a bit late, Chihaya was starting to become nervous. Would the trigger make a sound?

(But I feel like I heard it during practice for sports day. A click… E-er, maybe that was the sound of a misfire though.)

'Set!’

Chihaya lifted her waist with her hands still on the ground.

(Listen. To Seki-sensei’s breath. Heart. Anything as long as it’s before the gunshot.)

Her heartbeat grew louder. Chihaya breathed out to relax, just like she did when she focussed her ears for karuta.

She definitely heard something. Right as Chihaya kicked the ground, the gunshot echoed.

She ran.

She only looked a few steps ahead in her own lane. Her hearing was sharp. She could hear Yamabe’s footsteps. Her back was in the corner of her right eye.

(Pass her!)

She turned the curve. It felt like her body was being pulled out, so she put more strength in her legs. However, the back beside her got bigger.

(Go, even if you trip!)

When she saw the finish line, she thought – I’ve reached the straight line. All she could see was the finish line.

Chihaya ran towards the white tape.

'Ayase and Yamabe are both first… no, just very close – Ayase is second.’

Seki-sensei’s voice came down on Chihaya’s head like a hammer. She was collapsed on the floor. It was hard to breathe. Her heart hurt. Her throat hurt too. Her feet felt heavy.

'Second…’ gasped Chihaya.

'You’re really something – you passed three relay members.’

Though Michiru was showing some restraint towards the relay members who were looking at Chihaya with astonished and exhausted faces, she walked up to Chihaya.

'Chihaya-chan, that was a really beautiful start. Are you really a beginner? How do I say it – your response was good, like you didn’t hesitate at all to go. It’s such a waste! Won’t you join track?’

'hm… Maybe I practised jumping out in karuta.’

She had heard something before the gunshot… Probably the sound of the ignition before the gunpowder exploded.

'Will you really not join, Ayase? This time – Yamabe went full speed.’

Seki-sensei looked at Yamabe, who was on the ground, stunned. Yamabe struggled on the ground like she was saying something.

'I want Yamabe to be able to run with a rival. Inaba is…’

Chihaya looked at Seki-sensei.

'I didn’t come because I wanted to replace Inaba-senpai. I don’t want to steal Inaba-senpai’s place.’

'I see,’ replied Seki-sensei. Then, after Chihaya sat up, he patted her on the head.

'Yamabe-senpai, I lost, so… Er, I caused a lot of trouble by suddenly forcing you to do this…’

'What? Don’t do this half-heartedly – apologise for everything. Not just for this race – about what happened earlier. I said I wouldn’t listen, but after you did this much, I would feel worse not listening.’

'Yes… I did something selfish. I am really sorry!’

Chihaya knelt on the ground and put her head to the floor, repeating the word 'Sorry’ so that she wouldn’t accidentally say something wrong.

'It’s fine already,’ Yamabe said quietly. 'If you’re going to apologise, apologise to Nao – ’

Then, Nao slowly walked up with her crutches in her arms. The club members started murmuring.

Inaba gave Chihaya a slightly strange smile and then looked at everyone. Then, she declared with some hesitation, 'Seki-sensei, I… was told that I won’t be able to run like before by the doctor…. I’m retiring from the club. I’m sorry, everyone…’

Inaba bowed her head deeply. Yamabe got up on unsteady feet and clung to her.

’… So what Chihaya did then – ’

'No, I was told this before… I just couldn’t tell you, since I heard that you were in a slump because of me. I tried to tell you earlier too, but you misunderstood and Chihaya-san came – ’

'I… see…’

'I saw Chihaya-san running for me, so I decided that I couldn’t hide it or make you worry any more.’

Inaba turned towards Chihaya.

'Thank you, Chihaya-san. I don’t hate you – ’

Then, she broke down, crying.

'Inaba-senpai!’

The female members of the club called out. Meanwhile, Inaba said in tears, 'I loved running. I loved running with Nonoka and everyone…’

In an even louder voice, Yamabe burst into tears.

For a while, Inaba and Yamabe cried with the other female members, and Chihaya felt like she would cry too from outside the ring of members.

Then, Inaba wiped her tears.

'I’ll find something new I want to do. No, I’ve already found it. Please don’t worry!’

Yamabe was still crying. Inaba hugged Yamabe’s shoulder and patted her on the back. The club members burst into applause, and Chihaya clapped as much as she could as well.





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