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.

Canon
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.

Season One
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.

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, which means she's sincere in her apology and has finally learned to trust him. 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.

Kudo 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 shoos 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.

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. Hozuki later finds out about his injury and blames herself for it. As they're recovering from the mistake in their performance, Hozuki remembers what Kudo said to her about giving her best ( check quote section ).

Season 2
After their performance, Hozuki buys Kudo a bag of strawberry snacks to compensate for her guilt of having indirectly caused Kudo's injury. Then, she happens to overhear Kudo and Ootori's conversation about their performance. Ootori insists that Kudo and the others aren't qualified to play koto with Hozuki and comments on how the quality of Hozuki's tone has been tarnished and become half-hearted because of amateur players like them. Hozuki is evidently disheartened hearing it but is shocked after hearing Kudo reply that her sound didn't become half-hearted or that she became a bad player, but that rather it had become gentler compared to when he first heard her play. She tears up when he says he much prefers her current sound. Ootori runs away and Kudo sees Hozuki eavesdropping on their conversation all along. She asks him what he knows about her sound and he replies he was only saying what was in his mind. As Kudo starts to walk away, Hozuki grabs the back of his shirt and thanks him while bowing, taking Kudo aback. He is about to place a hand on her head when their friends come to interrupt their conversation. With her embarrassment taking over her, Hozuki hurriedly gives Kudo the bag of snacks and runs away with a beet-red face. Sakai complains about how Hozuki brought snacks only for him and asks for him to share but Kudo refuses by kicking him away.

Meanwhile, Hozuki, who ran away, has a relieved and happy expression.

In Episode 15, Kudo is delighted that his injury has healed in just two weeks but Hozuki comes and reminds him that if he's not careful, he might get hurt again. Then, Kudo takes notice of her hair and comments that he hasn't seen her wearing it down in a long time. Hozuki asks if there is a problem with that to which Kudo replies that it's fine either way, pissing Hozuki off.

Hozuki hangs out with her classmates and listens to them reacting to Kudo's unexpected penchant for strawberries. They call his happy expression "cute" which surprises Hozuki. Then they ask her what Kudo is like in their club to which Hozuki awkwardly replies that he's just a normal guy. They also ask her if there's anyone in the club she likes. She defensively denies with a startled and flustered expression. Later, while making a menu for the Japanese-style cafe their class is preparing, Kudo laughs at Hozuki's drawing skills. Some of their classmates are surprised to see him laughing and Hozuki suddenly covers his face with a cardboard, implying that Hozuki doesn't want others to see Kudo's happy expression. Although, she isn't aware of this herself. An amused Kudo asks her what she was doing and she takes back the cardboard, abashed at her reflex action.

Kudo points out that the menu board is slightly bent and offers to fix it. As he reaches out for the tools, Hozuki notices a nail sticking out right where Kudo is about to kneel on, jolting forward to stop him. They inadvertently end up leaning too close to each other. Kudo pulls back frantically and apologizes. Hozuki apologizes as well but both of them are taken aback when she suddenly cries. Hozuki runs away, leaving a dumbfounded Kudo behind. She runs in the hallway and crouches down while covering both ears, looking distressed because she feels "hot".

Tension builds up between them afterward that even Kurata takes notice of it. Kudo is evidently bothered by the awkwardness and makes an attempt to apologize but Hozuki unintentionally looks away then berates herself for it. Resolved to focus on their training and get rid of her awkward feelings, she apologizes to Kudo, and asserts to put what happened behind them. However, Kudo feels dissatisfied with how she settled things, especially when he sees that everything isn't back to normal yet and she is still avoiding him. While checking out pieces for the national qualifier, Kota calls Kudo over to look at the CDs. He stands next to her, causing her to flinch which he immediately notices. Then, he tries to convince himself that everything will go back to normal in time.

However, the day of the school festival comes and the tension between them is still there. When one of the customers forcefully asks for Hozuki's name by refusing to let go of her hand, Kudo intervenes and breaks the boy's grip on her. He gives him his personal information instead and dares him to probe further while staring him down. Kudo and Hozuki then lock gazes but Hozuki pulls her gaze back first. She feels frustrated because she still can't look at Kudo and her face won't stop burning up, while Kudo walks away looking dejected. Later, in the club room, the others go out to buy food from the booths, leaving Kudo and Hozuki alone with each other. Hozuki attempts to go with the others to escape but Kudo stops her before she can. He bashfully asks her what he can do for her to forgive him, apologizing to her for the nth time. But before Hozuki can reply, Takinami and the others come and interrupt their conversation. After hearing that the upcoming national qualifiers is Kurata and Kurusu's last chance to go to the nationals, both of them become serious and seem to have set aside the awkwardness between them.

In Episode 17, Hozuki gives an insulting remark to Kudo's morning appearance and they bicker with each other. Kudo turns away and smiles at the fact that they're back to normal.

Bothered by Takinami choosing the piece she played in the nationals the previous year, Hozuki is crouching on the ground when Kudo sits beside her to eat his lunch. She asks about his thoughts when he heard the piece before and is horrified to hear him say that it sounded painful, contrary to the emotion she intended to convey. Then, they listen to its audio file together. Hozuki has realizations and thanks Kudo afterward, assuring him that she's already fine. This has helped Hozuki make the decision to choose the piece for their national qualifier. Hozuki plays its new arrangement, leaving Kudo and the others in awe. Kudo takes notice of the change in her tone, stating it's stronger and more resonant than before. Her improvements motivate him to learn how to play the 17-string koto and catch up to her faster.

When Akira Dojima is hired as their instructor, Kudo tells Takinami that they have Hozuki but becomes frustrated of himself when Takinami tells him that Hozuki teaching them will take away a lot of her time for practice. When Kurusu confronts him regarding his compliance to Akira's instructions despite the doubts surrounding her motives, Kudo admits that it's because they're terrible players that Hozuki and the club are being looked down upon, so he has to catch up to her as soon as possible. The next day, Hozuki tries to teach him how to play properly but he turns her down. Hozuki, however, only calls him an idiot for caring too much about what Takinami said. She grabs his necktie and clarifies that teaching them has never been a burden to her, leaving him speechless and eventually giving in. She smiles when he finally allows her to teach him.

When Kudo learns to play the basics clearly, Hozuki is amazed and thinks to herself how he has surprised her like always. In their after-club practice, Kudo is frustrated at the unclear sound he was producing. Then, he grabs Hozuki and rubs the tip of her finger, causing her to blush and pull her hand away. He tells her he only wants to know how hard her fingers are but he calls him a pervert, which reminds him of the accident with the menu board, making him worry if she's still mad at him. When he notes how she seems quiet that day, she dismisses it off as a sore throat. He then gives her a strawberry candy. She blushes as she thanks him.

In Episode 21, Kudo is shown to have become more driven to be good enough to stand alongside Hozuki, especially after they had listened to Hozuki and Akira's ensemble. He notices how easily Hozuki can play with Akira, someone at her level, and yearns to play like that, too. In their class, he is bending backwards with a notebook covering his face, then he lifts it up a little to take a peek at Hozuki beside him, filled with thoughts of hurrying so he can stand alongside her. He ends up practicing too much to the point that his fingers are bruised and Kurata has to forbid him until they heal.

In the same episode, Hozuki bumps into Kudo's chest when he requests to talk with her. Their classmates who witness the scene squeal, thinking he's going to confess. In reality, though, Kudo inquires about the "Tenkyuu" piece. Hozuki tells him everything and Kudo suggests she share it to the others but Hozuki argues that they won't like to hear it. Kudo retorts that it might be boring if it were about someone they don't care about, but she's different because she does matter to them. Hozuki is touched by his words and ends up treating him to Caplico. Thanks to him, she musters the courage to tell everyone about the story behind the piece. Kudo smiles as he watches her being embraced by the other members.

On the morning before the showdown, Hozuki gives everyone a lucky charm. Kudo immediately walks away after receiving his to hide the extreme happiness he feels. He is amazed that she made him a lucky charm, which might be his first time receiving one, and is shown to be blushing profusely.

After Hozuki gives Akira a lucky charm, Kudo asks about her own. Since she didn't make one for herself, Kudo writes Hozuki's first name, "Satowa" right above his. Hozuki blushes seeing it and Kudo stares at her expression agape. Then, Kota appears behind them and gives a remark about how they look like a couple, much to their embarrassment. Kudo wonders about the happy expression he saw her make.

After their performance is over and Hozuki tells everyone that her mother came to watch, Kudo is the first one who grabs and scolds her for not saying so earlier. Later, while the others are reprimanding Kota for ruining the mother-daughter moment, Kudo engages in a heartfelt conversation with Hozuki's mother where the latter thanks him for supporting Hozuki. A faint blush is seen on Kudo's face as he thanks her back for the compliment.

Manga Omakes and Extra Pages

 * Hozuki asks Kudo what he likes as a birthday present the day before his birthday. She admits that she has mulled it over and over, but because she didn't want to get him stuff he didn't need, she figures it's best to ask him about it, even if it's weird doing so. Hozuki also admits that she doesn't have any sense in choosing presents. Kudo looks at her, dumbfounded, expressing his surprise for Hozuki to even consider giving him a present, and mulling over it so much, much to Hozuki's embarrassment. Kudo tells her he doesn't want anything, because he already received something good. When Hozuki asks him what it is, Kudo smiles at her and says that it's a moment in her mind. Hozuki blushes profusely at that and calls it idiotic, while Kudo only teases her about it.
 * In an omake entitled "Mine", Hozuki gives Kudo strawberry-flavored chocolates for Valentine's Day. Kudo asks whether it's his and not Takaoka's. Hozuki is confused at his question, asking why she would give it to Takaoka. She tells him it's his, much to Kudo's delight. Later, Takaoka asks him if he doesn't need chocolates that year, given how Kudo used to get so excited when Takaoka received chocolates the previous years. Kudo proudly retorts that he doesn't because he has his own that year. He is shown to be staring at Hozuki's gift, with sparkles around him.

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 "You don't have to lower your level for us. Sure, everyone's telling us that we're leagues below you, but you must do your best."

- Kudo to Hozuki, Episode 10

"Your sound is beautiful."

- Kudo to Hozuki, Episode 10 "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
Chikawa is the most known and loved ship in the Kono Oto Tomare! fandom. The fandom is severely underrated giving Chikawa barely any chance to rival many ships, but known rival ships are Kurakudo and KuruHozu. Chikawa 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 admits to herself about liking Kudo after he has mistaken her as a pillow.
 * Kudo's aunt, Isaki, seems to be fond of Hozuki. She even teases him about her.