Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
One response from Arata would have such a drastic change.
Would it? They even met not so long ago and then Arata chased the train, no less, on his bike. I can't really see how one mail would be such a big deal after that.

Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
I'm unsure if the situation has anything to do with it though.. is Chihaya so obsessed with Arata because he's out of reach while Taichi's right there with her? Besides the fact that he's (likely to be) stronger than her and she likes a challenge (as well as her old team of three).
I don't think Chihaya has once in her life thought of romance, so her obsession with Arata must spring from karuta and the fact it was Arata who taught it to her. Despite knowing he dropped it for a while, she must still consider him some sort of karuta god. But who knows, maybe there are some underlying feelings she's not consciously aware of. Taichi at least is afraid there are. Arata himself gets no screentime, but based on the fact he doesn't contact Chihaya directly, it's safe to say he's not all business anymore.