As Chihaya realizes she has no dreams outside of Karuta, Taichi devises a plan to help her find her other passions...but really he hopes she'll finally realize her love for him. COMPLETED.
Rarely did my parents yell at each other. When they did, it was serious. I didn't even want to know what happened this time. I just wanted to escape to my happy world and pretend everything was alright.
Rushing to my room for refuge, I leaped on my bed and buried my face in my fluffy pillow. But I couldn't drown out Dad's angry voice or Mom's wailing cries.
Just then my phone buzzed with a call. It was Arata. That's right. We usually talked around this time. Crazy how I barely thought of him all week.
He was so closely associated with Karuta in my mind, that when I thought of other things such as my future, he no longer was there. Instead...I don't know. This was unlike me. I always thought of him. And I always wanted to talk to him when he called. But not tonight. I wasn't in the mood.
My life was drained out of me. I silenced my phone and tossed it to the other side of my bed.
Suddenly, my room's door flung open, slamming against the wall. I flinched. It was Chitose.
"What?" I leaped from my bed to meet her at the center of my room.
"Well, it's official," she rolled her puffy red eyes, "Dad's fired."
Immediate tears bubbled in my eyes, "Fired?"
"They let him go today around noon. Said the finances were tight so they had to lay off thirty people."
"What...what does that mean for our family?"
"Looks like we'll be moving," her words were bitter and angry.
"How do you know?" I battled sudden lightheadedness as I took deep breathes.
"Are you deaf or something? That's what Mom and Dad are fighting about. Mom thinks we should move into a small apartment and Dad thinks we should stay."
"Maybe Dad could get a filler job."
"That's not the problem, Chihaya. Dad's income was the main source we paid the mortgage with...and even that wasn't enough. We were behind and barely able to pay it. Now we're living off of Mom's hourly money from the store."
Tears streamed down my face and I felt so incredibly sad for them.
"What should we do?" I wiped a tear.
"First, we can start packing. Second, you should find a job."
"I will! In fact, I'll do more than that! I'll start my own Karuta Society business and make so much money that Mom and Dad can live in a palace!"
Chitose frowned, her nose crinkling. She made that face every time she was about to insult me. It never failed.
"That won't happen. People who start a business have a lot of money to invest in getting it off the ground."
"No matter what you say, I've already made up my mind. It will happen," I glared back.
She shook her head. All I felt was fury. She never believed that I could do anything or become anyone. So...I believed that about myself. Ever since I was little, I lived in her shadow...praising and worshiping her accomplishments. But not anymore.
"I'll go to college, get a degree in business, and then open my Karuta Society. That's how it will happen."
"You're hopeless!" She yelled, her eyes filling with tears, "Why can't you just accept that you are an average person, living an average life, destined to do average things? You were born nothing and you will die nothing."
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"With that attitude then of course."
"That's not true. Look at Mom and Dad. They are good, honest people who worked hard their entire lives. Look where that got them...poor...struggling. I don't even know if Dad will ever get to retire. My point is, that they are average. Just like us."
I had no more words for her. She was cruel and mean...but more than anything she was scared. I pitied her. She had struggled so much trying to get her modeling career started...only to be rejected endless times. She seemed to see herself in Mom and Dad, and feared that their poverty would be her fate as well.
Would it be mine? To work hard and labor, but to always be average? To die without doing anything great? Was it true?
"There could still be hope for you," She said, as she cleared her throat and composed herself.
"How?" I blinked quickly.
"Marry him, okay? Promise me you will. After high school once you turn eighteen."
My stomach dropped...just like it did whenever I thought of ...Romance and marriage (which was basically never).
"Who?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Chihaya," she rolled her eyes, "Your friend you're always with. You know, the one with the strawberry colored hair."
"Taichi!" I panicked.
"Yes, that's it. That's his name! Marry him. With him, you'll be free. Free to live without fear of lack or having to labor in vain to make ends meet. You will always have more than enough. Enough to even start your own business. And you won't be average."
"That...that's not right. I don't know much about marriage or anything, but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be for getting rich," I sat back down on the edge of the bed to avoid passing out. Was it just me, or did the room feel like it was spinning?
"A lot of people marry for money. It's normal nowadays," She joined me on the bed.
Her hand reached for my cheek, as she caressed it. I was confused. My sister and I never hugged or touched each other to show sibling love.
"You're beautiful, Chihaya," her voice was soft, "Use it to your advantage. Otherwise, you will have used your beauty in vain."
Her words felt like burning hot and freezing cold water pouring over me at once. Compliments and threats mixed together.
"I don't want to get married at all!" I cried, "I want to play Karuta and teach others!"
She rested her hand on my shoulder, "Listen to me. Consider this sisterly advice. You can have it all easily, or you can have nothing by refusing to use your beauty for yourself."
Another round of Mom and Dad's yelling roared through the house. Chitose stood to her feet, looking down on me.
"Otherwise, this is all you'll be left with. And that would be a waste."
I cried again once she left. Strange, how the older I got, the more I cried. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.
It was too late at night for me to think or feel or understand. All I knew was that I was sad...and confused.
In vain.
That's what they told me.
I was beautiful in vain.
What did it that even mean to use my beauty to my own advantage?
