Chikawa

"Catch up... Catch up to me."

- Hozuki to Kudo

Chikawa is the het ship between Chika Kudo and Satowa Hozuki from the Kono Oto Tomare! fandom.

Season One
Both Hozuki and Kudo in the start of the series are in class 1-F and the school's official koto club. They are both currently still in the same koto club and also ended up in the same class in second year (2-F). During both the anime and manga series, there were heavily-hinted feelings.

When they first met, Hozuki had an instant rude attitude after finding out he apparently broke the koto instrument causing her to believe he didn't genuinely want to play the koto. This automatically made them despise each other. Kudo during episode 2 had a lot of thoughts about what she said to him and those words made him more determined. After finding out she was in the same class as him, he wanted to talk to her about "how to have what it takes" but of course she didn't answer him and instead made a rude remark at him. Later on, she finds out that Kudo has been helping in fixing the koto that was broken and how determined he was to 'have what it takes' which brings her a little shock.

In Episode 4, when Kurata invites the whole club out on a dinner together, Kudo pulls Hozuki back as she attempts to leave, telling her she should hang out sometimes. This and his advice to her about admitting when she doesn't know how to do something later in the restaurant pave the way to breaking the ice between her and them, and within herself. Kudo's advice, especially, resonate with Hozuki, given how her mother had strictly disallowed incompetence in the past.

Still believing in her own truths, in episode 5 she learns about Kudo's grandfather through his close friend Kota and is filled with instant regret about the things she said... She starts running with tears in her eyes, and the memories of all the bad things she had said to him flooding her mind, thinking of what she should do in order to face him. Then, her thoughts get interrupted when she bumps into Kudo. Kudo realizes she's crying but she says it's just a hay fever. So, he places tissues on her head for her own usage. As he walks away, Hozuki is reminded of Chika's words and actions that had proven his good character, and finally wills herself up to apologize to him (check quote section), understanding where he's coming from, and acknowledging how she had said a lot of terrible things to him despite knowing nothing. This brings Kudo quite a shock, only to ruin the moment by teasing her with, "You're scary when you're nice." He gives her a genuine smile, much to her surprise, and just laughs it off, considering her worries of offending him to be a "trivial matter". He then teases her with, "So you can be cute sometimes, huh? Satowa-chan?" meaning he finds her attractive. This makes her blush furiously and kick him in the gut, but leaves with the thought that "Music won't lie. Music shows one's true colors," implying that she finally sees Kudo's true character through his music.

As proof of the sincerity of her apology, during the day of their promised performance for the Vice Principal, Hozuki entrusts the carrying of the 17-string koto to Kudo, and offers to carry his instead Kudo replies that if he carries her koto, he might damage it to which Hozuki retorts with, "Then, you'll compensate me for it." to which Kudo replies with a smile.

Despite their rough relationship in the beginning, Kudo has admitted and implied many times that he looks up to Hozuki when it comes to playing koto. In Episode 6, when Mrs. Nishina gives him the last koto his grandfather made, he says someone better than him should have it instead, with Hozuki's face flashing in the background.

Kudo is also shown to be very observant of Hozuki and often senses her emotional struggles. As a result, Kudo has great faith in her and understands her very well, despite barely knowing anything about her background. He easily detects Kurusu's lies, even downright dismissing her claims by saying he only believes what he hears straight from Hozuki herself. When Hozuki chides him for bringing his grandfather's straight-grained koto to the club, Kudo gives in without second thought, despite Kurusu's counter-argument, implying that Kudo takes Hozuki's words seriously. He also tells Adachi to apologize to Hozuki personally for having said something that might have hurt her by assuring him that Hozuki would understand that Adachi didn't mean anything bad by what he had said.

Kudo has proven her respect for Hozuki isn't superficial, given his opinion of her didn't change at all even after seeing where she currently lives, totally quashing Hozuki's fear and insecurities. He even goes as far as staying the night at her place because he can't leave her home alone while she's sick, as well as cooking egg porridge for her, which made Hozuki cry.

Another proof of his caring for her is the fact that he knows Hozuki is struggling with socializing, so when he sees her eating lunch alone again, he offers to eat together. However, he immediately takes it back with an obvious lie as he sees their classmates pass by, shoving her to them instead. After their classmates invite her to eat with them, Hozuki realizes Kudo's intention of doing so, and is shown to be touched by his gesture as she watches his receding back.

Hozuki's sound has always fascinated Kudo. He notes it to be beautiful and capable of leaving him in awe every time. He was left breathless, collapsing to the floor, the first time he hears her play. Meanwhile, Hozuki notes Kudo's tone to be gentle and heart-warming when she, along with Kurata, hears him playing the koto one time during their after-club practice. In Episode 3, Hozuki also once comments on Kudo's hands being absolutely graceful when playing the koto and a compliment about him having a good master, which made Kudo smile.

In Episode 9, when Kazusa Ootori attempts to snitch Hozuki away to transfer to their school, Kudo grabs Hozuki by the wrist and pulls her to his chest, causing Hozuki to blush furiously. He shooes Ootori away and tells her to give up because Hozuki already said it herself that she likes it with the Tokise koto club. Ootori rebuts and insults their club to be low-level and no match for Hozuki, to which Kudo retorts that it'll be fine as long as they can catch up with her. This, along with the other members' response, makes Hozuki smile and blush. Later, in Episode 10, Kudo tells Hozuki to not lower her level for them and just do her best, ending with another banter between them. Although, it is shown that Kudo's words did have an impact to her. After their practice, he gives her a Papico after seeing her curiosity and she takes it with a small blush on her face.

During their training camp, Kudo asks Hozuki for a demonstration of the part he has a hard time playing and sits too close to her to properly see her hand movements. Afterward, he compliments her sound as beautiful. This leaves Hozuki speechless and she is reminded of what Kudo and the others said about catching up with her, boosting her determination to stay with them. Later, after overcoming some hurdles in their training, Kudo excitedly asks for Hozuki's validation for their improvements. Hozuki smiles at him in return.

In Episode 11, while listening to her thoughts regarding the message that "Eternity" conveys, Kudo stares at Hozuki, stunned, then comments on how she looks like she's having fun. He teases her about how much she likes playing koto with them which made Hozuki blush and jolt forward, tripping on the koto in the process and ending up falling on his chest as he quickly catches her. She looks up to him with an extremely flustered face, and Kudo, seeing such expression from her, stares back at her with wide eyes.

During their encounter with the duo from Eidai High School, Hozuki uses her charms on Sentaro Miya to appease the conflict between him and Kudo. This gives Sentaro a nosebleed and Kudo jeers at him for it, saying Sentaro probably thought of something naughty after seeing Hozuki. When he turns to Hozuki, he only receives a glare and a smack on the head.

While they're tuning the instruments before their performance, Kurusu's koto almost falls on Hozuki. Hozuki covers her koto with her body and Kudo rushes to shield her, injuring his hand in the process.

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Quotes
"It might irritate us if it were a family story about someone we don't care about, but it's different in your case. We care about you."

- Kudo to Hozuki, Episode 21

"Sorry!, I heard about your grandfather and everything.. I said so many horrible things.. Not knowing anything about why you joined the koto club.. I'm so sorry."

- Hozuki to Kudo, Episode 5

"I don't know why you're in this club, nor do I care but anyone who is willing to damage the instrument, doesn't have what it takes to play the koto."

- Hozuki to Kudo, Episode 2

"I have to hurry up and stand alongside her. I have to... hurry up..."

- Kudo about Hozuki, Episode 21

"Wow!, You two are like a couple!"

- Kota about Hozuki and Kudo, Episode 23

Fanon
Hozukudo is the most known and loved ship in the Kono Oto Tomare! fandom, the fandom is severely underrated giving Hozukudo barely any chance to rival many ships, but known rival ships are Kurakudo and KuruHozu. Hozukudo is also often compared to the canon ship Kyohru from the Fruits Basket fandom due to their many parallels. Despite being the most popular there is only a few AO3 results due to the fact which was already stated, that this anime/manga series is extremely underrated but this ship means a lot to the fandom because of how both characters have struggles in their life like not being approved and losing someone dear to you which many people could relate to.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Hozuki can be seen blushing many times in the series due to Kudo´s kindness especially when defending her.
 * Kudo described her as "Cute" and "Beautiful"
 * Kudo was the first one to have a little clue about her situation.
 * Hozuki admitted to herself about liking Kudo after he mistaken her as a pillow.