ChikaIta

ChikaIta is the slash ship between Chikage Utsuki and Itaru Chigasaki from the A3! fandom.

Canon
Itaru and Chikage likely first met at an unspecified time before the events of Year 1 Main Story (2017). Itaru has been working in a prestigious trading company since he graduated from University in 2016 while Chikage, as his Senpai (Senior), had been working there for an unspecified longer time. Their relationship during this time is mostly unknown, though they were likely only passing acquaintances since they worked in different departments and Chikage was usually sent abroad on "business trips" (which were usually missions for The Organization).

The first reference towards Chikage was near the end of Act 4, when a mysterious threatening message attached to a bouquet was found after the 2nd Gen Winter Troupe's Debut Play Sympathy for the Angel. It is later confirmed that Chikage got the tickets from Itaru, having made up a newfound interest in theatre as an excuse.

While only mentioned after the event, the first time Chikage saw Itaru act was during the 2nd Gen Spring Troupe's 3rd Play A Clockwork Heart in which he played the supporting role Boyd. He states that this was when he truly began to become a fan of Chigasaki Itaru the actor. According to him, he also kept up with the actor's blog which is how he knew Mankai Company was recruiting new members in Act 5 of the Main Story.

When Chikage first expressed interest towards joining the troupe, Itaru informs him that they would be roommates by default, to which Chikage says works out well since they already know each other. They also establish a personal contract primarily concerning Itaru's late night gaming and streaming habits. Said contract, according to Itaru later on, is as follows:

1. Do not expose my slovenly dorm lifestyle to the outside world.

2. Do not get in the way when I am immersed in games.

3. Do not disturb the perfect placement of electric wires and cords in my room.

4. Do not move my gaming consoles or my computer.

5. You are banned from entering the room when I am taking videos (primarily from 10 PM to 12 AM on weekdays).

As Chikage gets acquainted with the Spring Troupe and director, he sometimes tells lies that he plays off as jokes. Most fall for them at first, but Itaru easily realizes when he's lying. It's worthwhile to note that while Masumi is usually on edge whenever any guy is alone with the director, he says Chikage is probably fine, likely due to sensing the latter's lack of interest in women.

The next few episodes focused on the troupe getting Masumi back from his father, to which Chikage was minimally involved in, only getting dragged into it when he arrived in the morning (after "staying overnight for work") just as the group was about to leave for the airport. He actually initially didn't want to go, only doing so when told that they were all Masumi's real family. During this time, Chikage is hardly ever in his room with Itaru and the latter maintains that he's never seen him sleep in their room once.

After numerous instances of foreshadowing, Chikage ends up kidnapping the director in order to destroy Mankai Company as an ill-guided act of revenge towards Hisoka, who he believed was a traitor to The Organization and the reason why their adoptive older brother, August, was dead. As expected, the members of Mankai are in a panic at the sudden disappearance of the two. Itaru asked his other co-workers but the only details he was able to find was that the two had supposedly decided to leave on a business trip in a hurry. After Hisoka regains (at least partially) his memory, he's able to find the hideout where Chikage is keeping the director hostage. Chikage tries to kill Hisoka, but after an explanation of the truth as well as the revelation of their backstories, repents and lets the director go.

The three go home to Mankai after Hisoka calls it their new family, and Sakuya notes that Chikage's acting has changed. Before their opening performance of the 2nd Gen Spring Troupe's 4th Play The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz, Itaru described Chikage using otaku/netizen slang, which he realizes that Chikage understands, prompting him to call Chikage a netizen too. He then remarks that birds of a feather flock together and that Chikage should show that side of himself more often.

The night after their first run of the play, Chikage leaves their dorm room with his suitcase. Itaru claims to have been up due to collecting log-in bonuses for his games, but in truth he was cautious of Chikage leaving since he and the director noticed something off about him earlier that day. He asks Chikage where he's going at such a late hour, to which Chikage merely says that he's lending the suitcase to someone and is thinking of getting a new one. Though Itaru can easily tell that it's a lie, and Chikage might have known that Itaru saw through him, he pretends not to know and lets Chikage leave. Itaru sadly mutters about how he doesn't intend to come back before calling Sakuya, having decided earlier on that their bright and innocent young leader would do a better job at convincing his senpai to stay.

Sakuya ends up playing a coin toss battle against Chikage and roping him into a spring troupe tradition: sleeping on the theatre stage. He ends up telling Chikage stories about their time first year in Mankai, including how Itaru picked Masumi up from school during their run of Spring Troupe's 2nd Play Alex in Wonderland. Chikage begins opening up too, and the two fall asleep. A bit later, the rest of the Spring Troupe (including Itaru) end up joining the two. When the director arrives in the morning, they're all peacefully sprawled on top of each other in their sleep with Itaru's head on Chikage's shoulder.

After that, Chikage is able to make it through all the way to closing night and is even noted to look cheerful and refreshed at the end of the play's run. He sincerely apologizes to Mankai for the trouble he has caused, though with an elaborately spun lie of a story for an explanation since he cannot reveal the specifics of his circumstances concerning The Organization. To this, Itaru amusedly comments that he has nerves of steel to lie in an apology. By now, the rest can tell it's a lie, of course, but they acknowledge his sincerity and forgive him. Hisoka and Chikage somewhat reconnect whilst reminiscing about August as they stare at the moon. After this, Chikage starts regularly going to sleep in his shared room with Itaru.

Quotes
Chikage - "Didn’t you practice darts?"

Tsuzuru	 - "You said you couldn’t come because of work, so he quit."

Chikage -	"Really?"

Itaru - "Yup, yup. It’s senpai’s fault that I still suck. Nothing I can do about it."

—Scarlet Mirror Epilogue

Fanon
-It's one of the most popular ships in the A3! Fandom, being second only to JuBan in amount of AO3 Fanfics.

-Within the fandom, Chikage is usually regarded as Itaru's second love, with Tonooka (first appears in Knights of Round IV THE STAGE) as his first. Chikage and others who know of Itaru's backstory with him are somewhat hostile to him at first due to how much his betrayal hurt Itaru.

-Many within the fandom headcannon Chikage as gay (due to his disinterest in women, numerous remarks of disliking women, and general discomfort when a woman flirts with him). Meanwhile, Itaru is usually interpreted as bisexual.

-Hurt/Comfort as well as friends with benefits angst are quite common for fanfics of this ship. Many also dabble with the fact that Chikage's an MIA spy and might have to go back to that life one day, leaving Itaru or dying in the process. Chikage canonically would lay his life on the line to protect Mankai Company which he considers his new family, but he's most protective in particular of Itaru, Hisoka, and Izumi (the director).

-The main appeal that many fans agree on about this ship is that they're both well-known liars and fakers, often donning different personalities when not at home (where they're roommates), but it's due to this similarity that they understand each other the best. They have a lot of banter, but they always have an absolute mutual understanding of the other which would remind many of an old married couple.

-Expanding on the above, they're often treated as Sakuya's parents and sometimes Masumi's as well.

Fandom
FANFICTION The Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage tag on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Chigasaki%20Itaru*s*Utsuki%20Chikage/works

TWITTER ChikaIta Week 2020: https://twitter.com/chikaitaweek

Trivia
-Itaru is a popular gaming streamer who goes by the handle "Taruchi" and covers his face with a red panda mask (his motif animal) to conceal his identity. Chikage, on the other hand, runs a popular curry blog, "Chikausa's Curry Blog" which is know to all spicy food connoisseurs in Japan. The "usa" is a reference to "usagi" meaning rabbit (his motif animal). The kanji for "utsu" in his last name also means rabbit. Both of these are referenced in the Main Story. While Banri also games as NEO, he doesn't stream as Itaru does. Only Chikage and Itaru have a large following on online bases where they don't reveal their identities (while Kazunari has a notable following on his Inste/Instablam account, all members of Mankai Company have one as theatre actors and regularly update it on top of their actor's blog).

-Itaru regularly refers to Chikage as "Unromantic Senpai" or "Cheat Character" (referring to how Chikage appears to be a jack of all trades, much like how a broken videogame character would be good at everything) while Chikage in turn refers to him as his "Uncute Kouhai".

-Chikage actually doesn't need glasses, having perfect eyesight. He likely wears glasses to further separate himself from his past persona as April, who never wore them. Meanwhile, Itaru is one of a few members of Mankai that actually need glasses despite no longer wearing them, as revealed in Tsuzuru's blog post Megane Day. This is supported by the fact that he wore glasses during his highschool days. He likely started wearing contacts either at the start of his University Days or when he entered the trading company.