#Japanese coaching center | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

narcjsistx · 6 days ago

Text

𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 | OS

sae itoshi x fem reader ; words: 10k (10.051)

plot: having just arrived in spain, Sae notices that he's having trouble learning spanish. so he's advised to download an online game, but he never expected to play with the country's champion, who unexpectedly... is a girl?!. what if he has a crush on this girl who lives kilometres away from him?

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; take a look, trust me!

SAE ITOSHI knew he was a genius, whether it was sports or anything else besides school. He was Japan's rising prodigy, having just moved countries just to undergo training that would bring him to absolute perfection. If that meant he wasn't a genius, then he didn't know what was. He had skills that kids his age didn't have, whether it was dribbling or simply passing the ball to a teammate, who was usually his younger brother Rin. He had the potential to become one of the best in the world, if not the best, at the tender age of 13, when the kids at his old school were still just starting to decide what to do as an after school job. He knew he was a genius, a prodigy

What he knew all too well was that school and its activities were not for him. Not that he did not have the ability, but objectively he had spent more time on the field than in the classroom since he was a child. The time that technically should have been spent at school was spent perfecting his technique or competing in some tournament in his prefecture, and all of this was impacting his ability to learn something new academically, like a new language. He was no longer in Japan

Japan and Spain were different

Japanese and Spanish were different

And of course, inside a football school in the center of Spain, in Madrid, he couldn't bring himself to speak Japanese anymore. For the first few days he tried, but no one understood him; then he tried with English, but that didn't work very well either. Sooner or later he would have to learn Spanish, and that moment had come true exactly one week after his arrival, when the coach had advised him to attend the free course that the school offered to foreign soccer players

He hated it, but he had started talking a little

"Mi nombre es Sae, mi apellido es Itoshi... mi deporte favorido es el futbol, yo soy un jugador de futbol de el club de el ReAl..." the boy repeats under his breath, writing down in his notebook the sentences that his mind formulates. Spanish was not like Japanese, which was written in a completely different way. It was a bit complicated, but he would never admit it out loud. Furthermore, he was the only one in his class, besides his teacher. The other foreign players had left, at least he knew that, already knowing a basic level of the language. Not him

"Still having trouble, Sae?" asks the man, leaning over to read the boy's notebook. He didn't dislike the professor, but his subject "No" says the boy, even though he doesn't yet know how to write the word 'apellido'. The teacher looks at the notebook for a few more seconds, then sighs as he sits down in the chair next to the boy, who watches him. He knew very well that he was stressing the man with his mistakes, very often made also due to few attention. He didn't blame him when he was nervous precisely because of him "You know, Sae... I think you have a problem with Spanish. I mean, you can write it pretty well and you're starting to speak it a little bit with the team members, I know that... but you're constantly forgetting it. You're forgetting the basics because you don't have something that's constantly pushing you to speak or write it" says the man, and this catches the attention of the little striker "Excuse me, what?" says the boy, seeing the man having a bit of difficulty explaining it to him "I don't even know how to explain it to you well. I've been teaching foreign members of ReAl for years but no one has ever been like you. You know, but you forget. You can say a sentence in perfect Spanish now and not know a basic rule of grammar in twenty seconds" says the man, and this makes the Japanese kid turn up his nose a little "Do you have proof of that?" asks "Can you tell me the names of the soccer roles in Spanish?" the man asks, and Sae thinks about it "Portero, centrocampista, defensor... atacante" says the boy, and the man nods "Good. And the '!' rule? How does it work?" he asks, and this time it's Sae who sighs. He doesn't even remotely remember it

The man nods, taking the notebook from him as he writes something on it "The '!' should be placed at the beginning of the sentence and at the end of the sentence, if it is an exclamation. At the beginning '¡' and at the end '!'" he writes and repeats aloud, and Sae can't help but admit that he's right. The room where they are both is silent for a few seconds, then the man writes something else in the notebook, placing it in front of him. Sae looks down, reading the name of something he has heard before "Futbolandia?" he reads aloud, and the man nods "It's an online game. It's about soccer, so you should like it. You can talk to other Spanish people while you play, or write in the chat, in Spanish of course. My daughter plays it, that's why I know it" the man says, and Sae looks at him a little perplexed "I've never played video games, not even when I was in Japan. I find them boring" he explains, but the teacher silences him almost immediately "You'll learn to love them. You want to become the best in the world, right? If you can't even beat a boss in this game, how can you expect to get to the Champions League?"

And so, in his dorm which was basically a small apartment, Sae was putting the game card into the console he had received thanks to the team staff. He still thought video games were boring, but proving the teacher right would have cost his dearly young ego. So he had spent a part of his salary to take this game online, which actually cost really little. Thanks to the internet he understood that it was simply a game where you were a soccer player without a salary, and the more you beat people online in random matches the more the teams offered money to join their team. The teams were real ones, like ReAl or the Italian Ubers, or even teams created by users. The more you entered a famous and rich league the higher your salary went, and once you reached a certain amount of fake money you could create your own team or become president of a group of teams. The game wasn't that boring, maybe

Sitting on the edge of his bed with the joystick in his hand the television turns on, revealing the game's start screen. After registration, an avatar appears that can be customized, and Sae had decided to change only the color of his hair, opting for a reddish color. He was a little more like his avatar now. He had started "play" immediately after, happening in the first game: they were all members probably newly registered like him, since they had no visible salary. There was voice chat open, but for the moment he preferred to remain silent: he heard people screaming in Spanish, and he understood little of what they were saying as they played. It wasn't time to talk

Unexpectedly, the game was more interesting than he thought. It had basic rules, but the online casual games were fun enough to play. And so, from having a zero salary, a few hours later his avatar already had the possibility of joining a team, since the real and created ones had made him offers. However, he had not yet spoken in the voice chat, still a little perplexed. As he waited for the new game to load, Sae noticed that his avatar had been matched with a much higher level team. The team was called "Kombucha Salty", which made him chuckle a bit. As the match begins, Sae notices how the team is noticeably very strong, but he also notices how the voice chat is calm, not full of shouts like he has always heard it until now. And until now he has always heard only male voices. Now, among the many, a female one stands out, and it's quite pretty. He doesn't even know why, but the calm reassures him that he can open the voice chat this time

"Hola" says the boy, and for a few seconds everyone is silent "What player are you?" asks a male voice "The number 27" replies Sae, and he can hear more than one person nodding "You're great" says someone else "Thanks" replies the boy, but he's trying to hear the female voice again, which has suddenly disappeared since he spoke. The match continues, the team scores the first goal "That was a good pass, right Y/n?" asks a male voice "It was!" the female voice replies

Sae, hearing the voice, stops moving the joystick for a few seconds. He hears the girl giggling, while she continues to play her game. It's strange to hear her talking among the many male voices surrounding her and her avatar, but it's as if he can separate her just to hear her voice. It is a particularly beautiful voice to his ears, which could easily be that of some singer; it's almost melodious, even though he has always heard many female voices, whether it is his mother's or his classmate's. But this one, this one he likes more than he normally should like a single voice

"Are you still alive, madridfan?" the voice asks, and Sae comes to life, moving his joystick "What? How did you call me?" he asks, and the female giggles "With your username. You have to earn a certain amount of salary to change it to a personalized one" she says, and her avatar passes the ball "I thought I had it set up differently. But then, why madridfan?" he asks, a little perplexed as he tries to steal the ball "The site creates the usernames by taking the position where the users play and putting the word 'fan' next to it. Are you from Madrid?" he asks, and Sae nods "I'm in Madrid at the moment" he replies, and the girl nods "Madrid is beautiful. My mother often sends me photos of the city, she lives there" the girl says, and Sae is intrigued "Aren't you from Madrid too?" he asks "No. I lived there for a little while when I was little, but I don't remember anything" the girl says, and her avatar freezes for a few seconds, then starts moving against the ball again "Do you like Madrid?" she asks, and he huffs a bit "Quite. I haven't visited it properly yet" he admits, stealing the ball as his avatar starts running, followed by the girl's "I thought you were born there. But you actually have a foreign accent. You speak good Spanish, though. You even know how to play this damn game" she replies, and he nods "Thanks. I'm Japanese, actually" he says, the ball approaching the net "Are you in Spain for a vacation?" she asks, stealing the ball "Sort of" he admits, and the girl giggles "Cool"

The game goes on in silence, proving quite difficult for both. Sae often tries to signal goals, but each time the girl's avatar steals the ball from him, passing it to another player. It's not stupid that she has such a high salary, after all she is really good. Also, the strange thing for him is that she is a woman: not that he has any prejudice, or maybe he does, but he has never seen soccer or online games about soccer as something for girls. The girls in his school preferred classic dance, instead of soccer. He has always been used to this, furthermore his prefecture did not have a women's soccer team. They were two opposite things for him, soccer and women

But this Y/n was damn strong at this game

The ball, in a last ditch attempt, is passed to a member of the team, who however has it stolen by a member of the girl's team, who immediately passes it to her. Her avatar runs so fast that it is impossible to catch up, while the ball quickly approaches the net, scoring a goal. The boys' voices explode in a satisfied scream while Sae, annoyed, puts the joystick down next to him. It was a pretty tough match, but he wanted to win, a bit like in everything he does. But when he hears the girl's carefree laughter, his annoyance vanishes a bit. The end of game appears on the screen, marking the last 5 seconds before voice chat closes. Sae doesn't know what to say, he was so fascinated by the girl's voice that he is surprised that now he has to abandon her, with the absolute certainty of not being able to hear her anymore. After all, these are random matches, there is little or no chance of ending up in a match a second time. It all started and ended in less than 15 minutes, that perhaps marked him a bit

He didn't even know why he was reacting this way, so out of character. Maybe it was the lack of home that made him react this way. Maybe the voice sounded a little like his mother's or Rin's, that's why he was so surprised. After all, he had left Japan relatively recently. Maybe this really was the cause, even if he didn't believe it was

The game officially closes voice chat, displaying Sae's profile screen, complete with his avatar and a slight increase in his salary. The girl is officially gone, her voice no longer filling his dorm room. Sae feels a strange sensation in his chest, he can't explain how and it bothers him; he's never been good with words, he knows that, but why can't he explain to himself this sudden attachment to such a trivial thing, a voice?. It's as if, since he arrived here, these 15 minutes were the most peaceful he's ever lived. He would never admit it, but his life is so complicated now that he often doesn't even have time to think. It's different from being at home in Japan, with Rin scoring goals thanks to his passes and the crowd cheering every time the ball ends up in the net. Here he has even more precise timetables than he already had in Japan, and although he got used to them right away, sometimes he finds it tiring to do everything, whether it's training or just spending time in the cafeteria with his teammates. This voice, on the other hand, seemed to have calmed him down, letting him think and breathe. It's so strange

So, while he picks up the joystick again, he decides to at least look at the girl's profile. He goes to the section of users he has recently interacted with, and clicks on the icon that resembles that of the girl's profile: what is shown before his eyes is practically the perfect account, probably one with such high ratings that he has never seen anywhere else. The account features all kinds of things available from the game, be it uniforms or special badges, while above the girl's avatar appears a writing that surprises Sae even more "#1 Official of Spain", title inserted by the game itself. He expected her to be strong, he had seen her playing, but not that strong. Yet, the title stood out on the account tab, which made Sae even more curious about the girl

On her profile she was listed as the president of the largest group of teams in Spain, president of 15 of the 25 in the league. Her salary had 10 zeros, making the number even difficult to pronounce. She was listed as having been in charge of the title for more than 6 months, while the registration had only taken place 10 months before. If this wasn't strange or surprising, Sae didn't know what was. How could she have come up with such a title in such a short time? How much time did she actually spend on the video game? Was she one of those unemployed adult women who found satisfaction in online games?

Nah, she couldn't have been an adult. Her voice was too shrill for that, maybe she was even younger than him. But this was impossible, since the minimum age of the game was 13, so maybe she was a little older than him. This did not change how surprising the result was, so surprising that Sae didn't immediately notice the notification at the side of the screen

"Kombucha Salty" offered you a new salary"

Without even seeing the offer, Sae had clicked accept. He didn't even know why he was doing that, after all, what were the chances that it was that girl who sent him the offer? Besides, only presidents were allowed to send offers, and he wasn't sure if she was the president of that team

The console screen showed the page dedicated to the team he had just joined, marking which members were active and which were not. The team's personal voice chat was open, but did not show who was in. Honestly, he didn't really care about making a fool of himself if he went in and out once he was sure she wasn't in the voice chat, he just cared about hearing her voice again and knowing she was there. Maybe he was exaggerating, after all he didn't know anything about her and the team, but there was something in him that told him he had to check, and now

Entering the chat, Sae noticed that no one was talking about soccer, but more about very random things, like school. There were about 5 or 6 people online, but he immediately recognized the girl, who was probably talking to a friend of hers. As soon as he entered many fell silent, everyone but her "You again, madridfan?" the girl asks, but not in a mean tone, more in a joking way. Sae nods, a little uncertain "Me again. Someone offered me entry to the club" the boy says "It was me" the girl says, and Sae can swear that for the first time since he's been here in Spain, he feels a small smile form on his lips. Luckily it's all online, it would have been embarrassing to see him smile "Oh. Thank you"

The girl giggles, a sound that makes the boy's muscles relax a bit "You were pretty strong in the game, I must admit! We only want strong members here, members who hate Kombucha"

This is the comment that makes Sae frown. He loves Kombucha, it's practically his favorite thing in the world. Especially the salty one, it's delicious

"The club name is misleading. I thought you liked Kombucha... not that I do" he says, and she nods "I know. That's why the group is strong, because we create confusion!" she says happily, and some of the men laugh with her. It's not exactly the answer he was expecting, he didn't even expect to lie about his tastes, but at the moment doing so seems like the right option. Sae nods, thinking a bit "I see. Cool" he says, and the girl seems a little uncertain "Don't tell me you like Kombucha" she says, and he shakes his head as if she can see it "No" he says, and she snorts "You're not telling me the truth!" he says, and Sae is a little in trouble "What would be the consequences?" he asks, and he hears her giggle "The enormous wrath of the champion of Spain" she says, and this makes him relax a little "I can't imagine how big it's. Bigger than the whole Japan" he says, and she laughs even louder "Of course! Wait, which is bigger, Japan or Spain?" she asks, and this makes the boy think a little, confused "I think Spain?"

In that moment, Sae hears his phone ring. He turns around, noticing the time on the screen: he should have been at practice for 5 minutes already, yet he is still sitting on his bed, and the coach is calling him. Before he even has a chance to hear the girl respond, he disconnects the voice chat, grabbing his phone and his workout bag, and storming out of his apartment. He was never late, he was always punctual, and yet that simple girl had made him lose track of time. He hated being late, but now he hated not being able to hear the girl's voice even more. It was strange, all

So, during the 4 consecutive hours of training, Sae did nothing but think about this strange situation. While kicking the ball he thought about how the girl could be physically and character wise, and he didn't know why but he imagined her with short black hair. She was probably a little older than him, maybe 15, but he wasn't sure. He just knew he wanted to talk to her one more time, and then another, and another. She had completely changed the cold and weird nature of the boy, who maubey was looking for a minimum of affection and compliments, the ones he was used to at home in Japan, from someone. And that someone seemed to be her, suddenly

Back in his apartment, hours later, he remembered that he had left the console with the game on. He had been running, so it remained as he had left it. It wasn't that strange after all, but as he approached the screen he noticed how there was a +1 on the private chat, something he had never used. It could have been anyone, right?

"I checked, and Spain is bigger"

The bag hit the floor as he reached for the joystick, typing the letters as quickly as possible

"I expected that. Although I think there is little difference between the two countries. Maybe Japan has more inhabitants"

"I don't think so"

She was also quick to respond to his messages

"I should be worried about having... wait, your name is Y/n, right?"

"Yeah! Can I know yours? Maybe you heard mine from other members of the voice chat"

"My name is Sae. Yes, I heard it from other members. I hope it doesn't bother you"

"Why should it bother me? I'm chiller than you think"

"I see. I expected more aggression from the country's champion"

"Only with those who don't cooperate with me during the random games. Usually I don't even bother talking, I just laugh"

"Cool"

"Do you only know how to use cool at your age?"

"You don't even know how old I am"

"I think about 15. Maybe less"

"I have 13, actually"

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THE SAME AGE AS ME???"

"are you 13 too?"

"YEAH!!!"

"I thought you were a few years older than me, honestly. But your high pitched voice gave my theory away"

"Is it really that high pitched? I thought you were older just because of your tone of voice, but maybe it's just the Japanese accent that makes it deeper than it really is"

"It could. Do you understand Japanese?"

"You're the first Japanese person I know, honestly. I've never left Spain and I speak English well... but that's it"

"It's not a small thing to know two languages. I know Japanese because well, I am, but my Spanish is not that good. For now"

"I think the opposite, honestly! You have really good pronunciation, maybe just a little bit in the grammar when you speak... but it doesn't really show that much"

"I have to improve. I have little time to do it"

"Before returning to Japan?"

"More or less"

"I can help you. If you have time, we can play a few games together before I go to sleep. Only if you teach me a little about Japan, though"

"Yes, it can be done. Which server?"

"Wait, I'll send you the link"

This girl was strange, but strangely so easy to get along with. Bedtime games had turned into all night gaming sessions, something Sae had never done; he held his nightly routine sacred, yet it was 2:00 AM and he was still talking to this girl on voice chat, playing yet another game. He wasn't tired, he liked listening to her talk and helping him with his pronunciation. Also, he had the chance to speak Japanese again after a long time, so it was fine with him. The conversations were calm, not going on any serious topic, at least not for that moment: the girl had told him about another girl in her school that she couldn't stand, and he had told him about his younger brother Rin, who he teased about his chubby cheeks. They were normal things, as teenagers as they both were, and yet they sounded so important to Sae's ears, that he didn't miss a single word that came out of the girl's mouth. Maybe he reacted like this, with so much attention, because he actually had no one to talk to about the normal things of adolescence, neither here nor at home

At home in Japan, he was the budding striker prodigy, already famous for his nascent career

Here in Spain the other teenagers like him were busy training for the team of ReAl

Everyone, both at home and here, treated him for what he was, a prodigy. No one treated him for what he really was but which he also hid a little because of his cold nature, that is, a simple teen

Yet this girl didn't know who Sae was, she didn't know anything about him. She didn't treat him differently. They were just chatting like two teenagers would, with an unusual, at least for him, tranquility. It wasn't a given, not at all

"I think I have to go to sleep. We can play tomorrow afternoon, if you want" says the girl after yet another match won, while Sae has tired and sleepy eyes "I don't know if I'm free. In the evening?" he asks, and she nods while her avatar goes offline "Okay. Goodnight, Sae"

The boy turned off the console, while he too was hugging the warm blankets, with the noise of the cars of Madrid in the background. He had recently downloaded that game and yet he was already thinking that it had been one of the best decisions of his life. He would think about the tiredness due to the lack of hours of sleep when he woke up

The next morning, while he was lazily getting ready for practice, he turned on the console just out of curiosity. Not for any reason in particular... maybe. Or at least he liked to believe so. And just as he was logging into the game, a notification appeared on the screen. It came from her

"You didn't specify whether you go to school or not, but if so, have a good day!"

"Thank you. You too"

And so, for the next two weeks after that night, Sae found himself spending every night locked in his dorm, voice chat on and a few drops of eye drops. He had started skipping gym before going to sleep, or rushing to dinner at the canteen, just to turn on the console before. He always played with her, both as a duo and as a team, but honestly he didn't care much about the mode, he just liked hearing her voice and hearing her laugh every time a move went wrong. She treated him like he was normal, while outside that room everyone was scrutinizing him every second of his life; it was a way to break away from the expectations of an entire nation, or maybe two, to be with her. Maybe he was getting soft, he who for 13 years of his life had categorically hated video games, all because of a single voice to which he didn't even give a face, given that in fact neither of them had ever spoken about themselves in an extremely personal way. Not that it weighed on him that much, but he was extremely curious to see who this voice belonged to, which he was starting to dream about even at night, in the few hours when the console was off

“Can I ask you something?” the girl asks, and Sae pauses the game “Tell me” he says, a little curious “Would it be weird if I asked for your phone number? We could just talk... more, if you want"

If this was the god of soccer who was pardoning him after years of pure sacrifice towards this sport, Sae had to thank him, really deeply

"It's not a problem. I'll write it to you in chat" says the boy, but he can't repress the little smile that has formed on his lips, which haven't curved like this for a while now. A small, chuckle can be heard from the voice chat, and Sae couldn't ask for more. What the hell was happening to him?

A few hours later, with his console off and one more contact on his phone, Sae was lying on his bed talking to the girl. He still had to read the messages his parents and his brother Rin had sent him, but he had promised himself that he would do it shortly before falling asleep. Talking to her through messages wasn't that different in the end, but deep down he liked the fact that it was their chat, and that no one else but the two of them had the chance to see what they were talking about. Not that they were serious topics, no, not that yet, it was already a miracle that she had given him her number, honestly if he had been in the same situation he wouldn't have trusted it online. But she was her, he didn't know her very well yet but she didn't seem like a bad person to him. He had never trusted the online world so much, in Japan it was often a place for perverts or anime fanatics, which disgusted him a little, not for the fact itself but for the way these weirdos behaved. It was a bit of a strange place, and even if he wanted to he didn't have time, at home, to be online: if in Japan there were many training sessions, here they had tripled

"Anyway. Do you have any other friends online?"

"You're the first. I've never been online, actually. I didn't have the time or the inclination, honestly"

"This is not cool. I practically live online! jk, but I spend a lot of time there. So I'm your first friend?"

"If you want to put it that way, yes"

"This is cool tho! Wait, so you don't know much about friendship stages, right?"

"Not very much. Zero"

"OH. so you don't know about face reveals or voice reveals...? we skipped the voice stage, but okay. it's normal"

"I don't know anything about it"

"Then, wait"

Before he realized it a picture of a girl appeared on his screen. It was her, it was definitely her. And hell, to say she was beautiful was an understatement, he hadn't expected that. I mean, she was pretty, sure, but this was beyond his standards. She had done it so unexpectedly that he remained staring at her for a few seconds, practically enchanted. He had seen many girls his age but perhaps now the spanish girls, especially her, had an extra place on his list. He noticed the second message after at least a minute

"This is me. It's a face reveal. You don't have to do it, just do it when you feel ready!"

And before he even knew it, he was already sending a photo of himself, one from a few days earlier. Not that there was much difference

"It's okay?"

"MORE THAN OKAY. I imagined you with dark hair, but you're cute, Sae!"

He had received many compliments, but all about his talent, about his ability to play without appearing tired. Never about his physical appearance, it wasn't common

"My brother and my father have dark hair. I could have taken after them"

"Wait, no! I like your reddish. it's special. now I understand why you put your hair that way, on your avatar"

"You are right"

It was from that moment that Sae began to realize that he had a soft spot for that girl. Y/n was simple, she didn't know who he really was, she treated him like no one else treated him. He liked being thought of as normal, at least in his room, when he was on a call with the girl. He could easily be the prodigy of Japan outside his dorm and still be Y/n's online friend. He liked the balance that had transformed during the first weeks, which had now transformed into three months. It was a bit of a special time for Sae, soon he would have his first U-18 match as a member of ReAl. He wasn't anxious, he trusted in his knowledge, but he was worried about something else, something that seemed huge to him, like a big heavy rock: he didn't know if she followed soccer. In fact, she had never said anything very personal about herself, maybe she was reserved in that aspect. Not that he cared. But it was strange, considering how extroverted she was about the rest of things. What would he have done if, by chance, she had seen him?

"Shall we play tomorrow afternoon?" the girl asks, her microphone not receiving the signal well. He has the match tomorrow afternoon, and he's worried about her finding out, not about the match "I... I don't think I can. No, I'm not there" he says, scratching the back of his neck "You usually can! You have something important, you have to meet a girl?" she says jokingly, but he immediately approaches the microphone "NO. I just have to... do some things. I probably won't be there until the afternoon after" he says, but he hears a jolt from the other end "I understand. See you then"

The girl left the game. Silence

Perhaps a more convincing and kind excuse should have been used, since he hadn't explained himself well and perhaps even seemed rude

Maybe Y/n was angry?

Holy shit.

And so, a few hours later on the ReAl bus, Sae felt practically dead. Maybe Y/n had been offended, and besides, tomorrow would be his birthday; he wanted her wishes, yet he was convinced that he would not receive them. He was worried, but he didn't show it outwardly. Not that he had ever done so in the last 13 years of his life, but that wasn't the point. Maybe he should have written to her, asked her if she was offended or even apologized directly. But that wasn't his style. So Sae played the whole match with a little discomfort in his chest, not so big as to confuse him from the main objective, the victory, which happened with a good score of 3-1, with a goal scored by him. The cameras had been filming him since he'd practically entered the field, his name had been shouted so many times by the commentators that the walls probably knew his name by now. If this was a way for Y/n to find out, even though he still hoped not, he was doing it perfectly. Damn. He was hating soccer a little bit

He didn't get his phone back until after midnight, only realizing it was his birthday. He was officially 14, and Y/n hadn't wished him a happy birthday...

"When were you thinking of telling me you were a soccer player? A good one, I must admit"

"You found out"

"Well, my sister is a ReAl fan. The game was also important. When I saw you, I had a shock"

"I can understand it"

"Why didn't you tell me you were famous?"

Maybe it wasn't the right time. But he had to

"You're the only one who treats me like a teenager. Others treat me like a prodigy, you don't. And it's nice to be normal, at least when I talk to you or when we play. I thought you'd change your attitude if you found out"

"I wouldn't have any reason to, Sae. None. I treat you for who you are, for how you deserve to be treated, I'm sorry that it's not a given for you. But you don't have to worry about me, because for me you're just Sae, not Sae Itoshi"

"It's not a given for me. Thank you"

"Please don't lie to me anymore. I hate it when people do that, especially people I care about them so much"

It was strange to feel butterflies in his stomach. For him, at least, it was strange. He didn't even know why he was reacting that way

"And I forgot, happy birthday ♡"

Maybe he knew why she was reacting that way. Maybe he didn't just have a soft spot for her

If the first months were like that, the following ones became the confirmation, at least for him, that perhaps he felt love for her, just for her: he was sure it wasn't even a crush, because he knew it was different. He was really in love, and it worried him a little. He knew about the beautiful side of love, the one where you kiss and hug; his parents loved each other, and often when they kissed he and Rin were disgusted. Sae preferred to run on the beach near the house with a ball between his feet, not to give kisses to anyone, not that he had anyone. But that was in the past, before he came to Spain and met her. The problem was that he didn't even know what love was, since he had never experienced it before: he knew the practice, but after? What happened?. But the problem was that there wasn't even the possibility of practice here, since he was in Madrid and she was in Seville, so many kilometers away

During the other months, she had told him a lot about herself: she lived in Seville, her parents were divorced but still on good terms, her parents worked between Madrid and Seville, especially his mother who was a photographer. She lived with his older sister, who was 21 years old. She was a few months younger than him and loved to keep her hair loose. Also, despite being the champion of the game, she didn't even know how to kick a ball in real life. It was all information that he had recovered over time, thanks to calls and other, but which was important to him, very important

They were separated by 530km, a distance that more than once he had thought of eliminating by using a part of his salary, taking that damned plane ticket that he had saved a few months ago. He wanted to see her, smell her hair, have the chance to hug her. He simply wanted to be for a while by her side, and not on the other side of a screen that often didn't work due to the connection. He simply wanted the chance to hold her hand, if she had ever let him

"I don't think I've ever told you something" the girl says, the screen showing her face as she paints her nails "Remember Kombucha Salty?" she asks, and Sae nods as she heads toward the team's infield "Remember what I told you back then?" she asks, and he rolls his eyes "That was 2 years ago. I don't remember that well" the boy says, and the girl laughs "Okay, we've known each other for a long time, but it seems like a stretch not to remember. Is the color nice?" the girl asks, holding up her reddish nails to the screen. Sae looks at them, nodding "Nice. What were you saying?" he says, and she composes herself "Oh, right. I told you I didn't like kombucha, because I hated it" she says, and Sae suddenly remembers. Actually, she doesn't know that it's his favorite drink, he never told her before that statement "I remember" he says, coming into the infield "Well... I lied to you. I really like kombucha, especially the salty kind! But... I wanted to look cool in front of you, I don't even know why. It's stupid, I was stupid at the time. But now I think about it and I actually never admitted it to you" she says, and Sae's eyes widen a bit "Do you like Kombucha?" he asks surprised, then goes back to his usual demeanor "I like it, I like it a lot. Too bad that here in Seville they make it disgusting, it tastes like shit" she says, and he chuckles internally at her comment "Can I tell you a revelation too?" he asks, and she nods "I love Kombucha too" he says, and this time she's the one who's surprised "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" she asks through the phone, and he nods "Very serious. They make it pretty good in Madrid, I must admit" he says "Fucking lucky, as usual. I want it too" she says, disconsolate

Seeing her like this, Sae can't help but tease her in her head. She's so damn adorable when she does that, whether it's for this or anything else

"As soon as you come to Madrid I'll take you to the place where they do it best. So you can say I'm right he says, but his comment almost seems like an invitation to a possible date. Sae notices how the girl has gone silent, but also the way she's smiling through the screen "I would love to" she says, poorly hiding her embarrassment

If only she knew how much he really wants to do this, take her everywhere, where she wants. If only she knew how much teasing her makes him laugh

"You know, I was thinking" he says, trying to fill the silence that had arisen "I was wondering, we'll see each other sometime, right?" he asks "Well. I think so" she says, yet looking a little uncertain, in Sae's eyes "You think so? Not sure?" he asks, and she snorts "I mean, it will happen sooner or later. But... I can't explain it to you. We've known each other for two years and I trust you, but it would be strange to meet you in person" she says, and this raises an eyebrow to the boy "What do you mean?" he asks, a little defensively "I'm used to the idea of you online, or rather, of the Sae I know. Not the one who plays for ReAl and who kicks the ass of some foreign team every month" she says, and even though her answer makes him chuckle a little, he's not convinced "You didn't answer my question" he says, and the girl seems to be a little under pressure "Forget it" she says, but this makes Sae a little nervous "I'd rather talk about it, and now. Don't you want to see me?" he asks

He doesn't even know why he's getting so nervous, since it's not something he does that often. But the uncertainty in Y/n's eyes doesn't affect him very well. Maybe there's something wrong that he doesn't know about

The girl looks down, nervously playing with a lock of her hair. It's like she's nervous like him, but for other reasons "I want to see you, Sae. But there are other reasons..." she says "What?" he asks

"I don't know whether to hug or kiss you"

If he had been nervous before, now his body was paralyzed. He didn't even want to understand if he had heard the words correctly, perhaps they had come out strangely due to connection problems. But no, it couldn't be. She had said what she had said, and damn, this surprised him so much that for the next 10 seconds he held his breath, as if he were underwater. But actually, since he had known her, he had always been under water: it bothered him to admit that he had grown fond of her in a few hours, that they had now known each other for 2 years, and that for the past 1 year he had considered her as more than just a friend. But Sae wasn't familiar with love, he didn't know how it worked with a person by his side, and above all she wasn't by his side. But actually, at the beginning, he wasn't even familiar with Spanish, which he now spoke perfectly. Could he do the same method with this too, even though she was so far away from him?

And then, after this, he didn't even know what she really thought. He had imagined it many times, but he had always preferred not to talk about it. He had often wondered if he even liked her a little, but she often mixed irony with seriousness, so it was difficult to understand her. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he didn't. It was in one of these moments, a fairly important one

"Sorry, what?"

"I'm sorry" she says, a little panicked, bringing the phone closer to her face "Forget it. Pretend that I never said anything, that this conversation never started-" she says "Stop. We can talk about it tonight, calmly ?" he asks. He sees her sigh heavily, a little defeated, as she nods. The phone call ends like this, with her hanging up

The training he was participating in wasn't working. There were another 4 hours left before he could talk to her, lock himself in his dorm and finally clarify the situation: would he have declared himself? He didn't know, although he was considering the option. He knew Y/n, and beyond her usual irony, she really seemed very serious when she said it, and the subsequent panic had betrayed her false irony a bit. He didn't know how to feel, honestly: anxious, maybe a little, but more perplexed. He wasn't afraid to declare himself, he would have done it sooner or later anyway, but the sentence she had said, in that unexpected way, had completely paralyzed him. He had been perpetually anxious for months and months about making strange comments that might have made him disgusting in her eyes and she had come out like that?. Maybe he really didn't know her that well, if he hadn't read her language for so long to understand that, maybe, she had feelings for him too, like him

But if he had eventually declared himself, what would have happened? Would they get together like a couple? Would she have rejected him?

And if they became a couple, how would they make it work? There were the kilometers as obstacles, like the walls that Sae smashed, in his head, when he headed towards the net to score a goal. Would it have been an online relationship?

He was too serious a person to even be anxious about this. He was fucking Sae Itoshi, yet he was becoming a softie for a girl he met online

Maybe he had always been a softie and never realized it, ignoring it by playing soccer in Japan

So finally, without having had dinner, Sae found herself locking himself in his room, once again skipping his nightly gym time. It was anxiety, she hadn't written to him since she hung up and that was unusual, as she often texted him even when she knew he couldn't reply. Without even taking off his sweatshirt he threw himself on his bed for calling the girl, who he sincerely hoped would answer. He didn't know what was going on in her head, maybe she didn't want to talk about it

"Hey" says the girl's voice. She was lying on her bed, little plushies surrounding her while her hair was a mess. She was gorgeous. Sae clears his throat "Hey. Have you eaten?" he asks, and she nods, sighing "Look, can we talk about it right now? I've been dying of anxiety since it happened this afternoon, I've spent hours believing you hated me... wait, you don't hate me, right?" she says, sounding almost sad. He chuckles, mollified by her behavior "Obviously not. If I hated you, I wouldn't have called you back to talk about it" he replies, and she seems to breathe a sigh of relief "Thank goodness. So... what should we say?"

Admitting right away that he had loved her for so long was maybe not the right option, at least not at the moment. Even if he was tempted to do so

"You said something pretty important today" he says, a little hard to explain "It's not something you'd say to a friend, I think. You were serious or?" he continues, waiting for an answer. Through the screen he sees her in a bit of difficulty, biting her nails "Would it be a problem if I said I was serious?" she says, and he can practically feel his heart beating so hard it might pop out of his ribcage "Oh" he says, but curses himself when he sees her getting agitated "Is that a problem?" she asks nervously, but he shakes his head "No. It wouldn't be. Sorry, you took me by surprise" he says, trying to find the right words "What does that mean though...? Is that what I think?"

She didn't know the answer. Sae saw real, pure difficulty in her eyes, as if she had a block she wanted to overcome but it was too big for her

"Look. Can I speak first?" he says, trying to help her. She nods, frowning her eyebrows "Go"

Maybe it really was the right time

"I'll try to be as direct as possible, you also know how much I don't like not being precise. It's quite simple to explain it to you, but I admit that I'm having trouble too... the reality is that I like you, and quite a lot. And it's not something new, I think I've been in love for a year and a half now if not more... the truth is this. I didn't tell you before for the simple fear of distancing you, and distancing the only person who treats me like 'Sae' and not 'Sae Itoshi' might have made things a little heavier for me. I don't know exactly how you feel, but well, if you feel the same way about me I would seriously like to be your boyfriend, Y/n. Not just yours friend. But I can't read your mind, so, how do you feel about me?"

If this was the feeling of lifting a heavy boulder off your shoulders, Sae was experiencing it right now. It had taken so little, yet it had explained everything he had felt all this time. He was more peaceful, but he had yet to hear her words

"It's just that I like you too, Sae. And a lot. A big lot, I don't even know how to quantify it. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I won't deny that once I even dreamed of us kissing... maybe that's when I realized that you weren't just a simple crush. The problem is that distance scares me"

His heart was abandoning him. Maybe he was dying, but at least from happiness

“I can understand that. But I... I want to make things work. I seriously care about you, about us, about what could happen if we were a couple"

"Me too. But... how do we do it?"

“Let the time take effect and my wallet get some money out to make me come to you?”

"That might work. But..."

"I'm just as scared as you are. But I trust how I could make you happy"

That's when Sae knew he finally had his first girlfriend. Maybe he was dead and didn't realize it, but he was happy, fucking happy. He was probably so happy that in his life he had never felt a sensation like that, the one that perhaps his parents also feel when they kiss. He was with the girl he loved and he honestly couldn't ask for anything better than to have her in his arms. He really cared about her so much, he didn't want to make things difficult or burdensome for her: he seriously wanted to make her happy, the happiest

He was inexperienced, for the first time in his life he seriously didn't know what to do, many times he had doubts about how being in a relationship actually worked; but he saw you smiling, so maybe he was doing something right. You spent more time on the call, each on your own business, but you both liked the idea of having the other watching you. It was as if you were in the same room, but chilometres apart: he cooked, you did your skincare, he trained alone and you studied. Distant, but present, and you were fine with that

After less than a month, the girl was the first to say 'I love you', even though they both knew they had been doing it for a long time. But that was just absolute proof that Sae had to do what he had in mind since day one: go to her. The problem is that she was studying and he couldn't go so far from Madrid, due to special training and monthly matches. Furthermore, the campus was very strict with the players, who only rarely let them out on off days. And Sae was certainly no exception, he had the same rules as everyone

But the opportunity presented itself when they had already been together for two months: Y/n was going to be in Madrid for a week, to spend time with her parents. Sae nearly choked on his dinner food when she told him the news: they would meet, he would finally have the chance to hold her in his arms, and if she wanted, he would even kiss her. Sae's family didn't know he was with a girl, while she had mentioned that only her father knew, because he was the parent she trusted slightly more in matters like these, but he honestly didn't care. If her father would have asked him to show up, he would have done so. He didn't want to tell his family or the world because he simply believed it wasn't the time, not because he was ashamed of her: he simply believed it was his thing, his only thought, he was famous, but he also had a private life. He wanted to enjoy his privacy with his pretty girlfriend

"Are you already in Madrid?"

"Yes! the taxi is taking me to where my father works, I will stay there for about an hour and then after I will arrive to you"

"Allright. I can't believe it"

"ME NEITHER!! are we really going to see each other in an hour after spending almost 3 years writing to each other online? :<"

"It's happening. I can't wait"

"I can hug you as soon as I see you, right?"

"Only if I can kiss you afterwards"

"Acceptable. CAN'T WAITTT"

"Me neither. See you soon, love"

"You can count on it! love u ♡"

But Sae had decided that he would show up there well in advance; he wanted to get her some flowers and maybe a cold drink, since it was damn hot. As he left his dormitory and walked across the ReAl campus, the boy was realizing how it was so unexpected and yet so beautiful. He knew he loved her, that he wanted to make her happy, to simply stay by her side until the moment he could no longer due to greater forces, such as death. To him, she had become everything in such a short time that he wondered how he had managed to keep his feelings private for so long: he had deprived himself of the love of the most fantastic girl in the world out of a stupid fear, yet now they were an actual couple, she was his girlfriend and he was her boyfriend, the first for both, and hopefully the last. But to put a ring on her finger maybe he would have to wait a few more years, maybe 10, even though he was still convinced that she was the one

As he walked towards the exit of the campus, he noticed how the teacher who had made him download Futbolandia was walking towards the class he still managed for foreign students: Sae hadn't attended that class for a long time now, he now knew Spanish as like his native language, yet it was thanks to that man that he had met the one who was currently his girlfriend. He had never been someone to say thank you to someone, but maybe he had to this time. He absolutely had to

"Profe, I have to tell you-" says the boy as he approaches, but is petrified when he sees who is a few steps away from the teacher “Y/n, my daughter. How was the flight, dear?"

In front of him, less than 5 meters away, was his girlfriend, there was his Y/n, and, if he understood correctly, she was his teacher's daughter

Sae didn't need to say anything, the girl automatically turned around recognizing the sound of the voice. They looked at each other, this time without a screen dividing them; they could see their reflection in each other's eyes, smell their scent, the way they were dressed entirely. The boy's heart had left his chest, perhaps to go and take the girl's hand, who had also abandoned her body. It was as if, although surprised by the discovery, for him now only she existed, only and exclusively her among all the billions of people in the world. He was in love, he really was

"Sae, what are you doing here-"

Neither of them heard the teacher's words, as they threw themselves into each other's arms: as if automatically the boy's hands ended up on the girl's hips, while her arms tightened around his neck, in such a sweet embrace to be special. The contact, what they had sought for so long, they were finally experiencing: for Sae, the girl's smell and warmth was hid new favorite sensation, as her skin tightened under his hands, holding her as close to him as possible, as if afraid she might go back behind the screen. He couldn't believe it was finally happening, after dreaming so many times that he could do it; finally, everything he wanted was here, here with him and only him

And even before he realized it, Sae was already lifting her chin so he could kiss her, as if he wanted to finish everything off by putting the icing on the cake. Her lips were soft, sweet, fresh; if this was heaven, the world cup, anything he liked, he wanted to be left like this, with his girlfriend hugging him. It was a kiss that he had often imagined, and that he was now experiencing with an emotion that almost made his stomach weak, due to the butterflies. Everything was perfect, she was perfect, his love for her was perfect. Perfection, for him, was this moment

When they broke away, Sae couldn't help but hide the smug smile on his lips, which was small compared to her girlfriend's "Maybe you should have told me about this detail about your father" says the boy, caressing her face "Maybe. But I didn't know it either until a few minutes ago"

"You're here"

"I'm here because I love you"

Sae finally turned to his teacher, the girl still held tightly in his arms. He wouldn't let her go easily

"Did you see, Profe? I learned Spanish"

316 notes · View notes

slamdunkhcs · 10 months ago

Text

This is something I’ve thought about for a hot minute and i wanted to make an essay on it :))

socioeconomics in slam dunk

Like many things in life, basketball is a money sport. While inherent talent and skill is incredibly important, without the resources and opportunities to succeed, you can only get so far.

Throughout Slam Dunk, the importance of money and how it has a massive role in the world of basketball is not explicitly stated, but through the depictions of different teams in the series, it is prevalent.

We are first introduced to Shohoku High, a public school in Kanagawa. Shohoku is not a “poor” or “ghetto” school, but it is by no means a prestigious school either. Shohoku is initially depicted to be an ordinary school, but we are also shown how it has delinquency and school fights — especially among its protagonist and his “gang”

Shohoku’s normalcy is extended into its clubs, in particular, its basketball club. This club isn’t necessarily “run down” or “at risk of not existing anymore”, but aside from its coach (Coach Anzai, a man who used to coach the Japanese national team) and Akagi, their star center, Shohoku’s basketball team doesn’t have much going for it. Due to being a public school, Shohoku doesn’t have the money incentive to recruit star players (like some other schools I will mention soon), and most stars (besides Rukawa LOLLL) won’t go to an ordinary school “on a whim”

Moreover, the financial disparities become even more personal through the experiences of the characters themselves.

Sakuragi is hinted at to be poor, and the notion that basketball is “pay to play” is first explored through him in volume three, where Hikoichi (a player from Ryonan who “scouts” their competition) points out that it is strange Sakuragi doesn’t have basketball shoes, but he is quick to tell himself that it is likely because Sakuragi can’t afford them. Many basketball shoes, especially the Jordans that Sakuragi obtains throughout the series, are well over the $150-200 USD price range. While it is possible to play without basketball shoes, not having shoes that are designed for basketball automatically puts a player at a slight disadvantage.

This brings into question how resources—or the lack thereof—can subtly but significantly influence the trajectory of a player’s journey and a team’s potential for success. Sakuragi was lucky to have gotten practically free basketball shoes due to the generosity of a store owner, but those costs were his own out-of-pocket expenses. Unfortunately, a public school without special stipends for their programs cannot provide financial assistance to provide some of the resources to nurture potentially talented players.

While schools like Shohoku do not have funds to incentivize players or potential talent to come their way, they also do not have the funds to incentivize star coaches to coach at these schools. While Shohoku was able to have gotten Anzai (who wanted to retire by coaching highschool basketball), many public schools do not have that same luck.

In fact, the reason that two of the starting players, Mitsui and Miyagi, even decided to attend Shohoku was due to its coach, Coach Anzai. I think this goes to show that if a school invests in incentives like star coaches or a star basketball program, then these talented players will want to attend.

In terms of schools who provide ALL the incentives, and has thus led to star teams, I want to focus on Kainan, Shoyo, and (especially) Ryonan.

All are labelled as prestigious, private schools with amazing basketball programs, with Kainan having a stellar track record at nationals. But why is that? How did they get so.. good?

If I had to best answer this, money.

Ryonan is known to have scouted its star players, with Coach Taoka even scouting Sendoh and Fukuda from a junior high in Tokyo. For reference, Kanagawa is about two hours away from Tokyo, so Coach Taoka has to provide incentives for these boys to move to a different prefecture rather than staying in a city that likely has many powerhouse schools. In his case, these incentives would likely be full rides to Ryonan, as well as extra stipends to cover these student’s additional costs (such as food, money to move away, etc). Since Ryonan has the funding to do this, Coach Taoka is able to travel around to different areas, find these hidden talents, and bring them over to Ryonan. Public schools like Shohoku, who do not have allocated funds for sports programs, do not have this opportunity… and thus, are at an automatic disadvantage.

It is not explicitly stated how prestigious of a school Shoyo is, but having a program-related disadvantage affecting their players is prevalent. They do not have an official coach (for an unmentioned reason), and their star player Fujima has to coach his teammates as a result. Unfortunately, this additional responsibility prevented him from focusing on his own skills. I do believe Shoyo IS a school that has funding, but this highlights how a program being neglected directly impacts the strength of a team.

Another team I wanted to point out is Toyotama, a team that faced some of the most immense pressure in the entire series.

While Minami and Kishimoto, the team’s leaders, are characterized as “brute assholes”, it is shown that their irrational behavior stems from their pressure to perform well in order to potentially bring back their former coach, Coach Kitano.

Although Toyotama is 8th in the country, for the investors in their school’s basketball program, this isn’t enough. And thus… Coach Kitano was fired in the hopes of getting a coach who could lead the team to a better performance.

For these prestigious schools, their end goal is making a return on their investments. After all, what is the point of pouring all that money and resources for a team that doesn't even land them in the news?

While this is sad, it is very realistic. And as a result... even though Toyotama has a prestigious program, they felt even more pressure to *make a return." and this pressure poured into the team and their behavior.

However, the school that truly encapsulates the opportunities that money and resources provide for their players is Sannoh Technical High School.

Sannoh is practically a world class basketball team, with "anyone in Japan who gives a damn about basketball knows them", a team that had won nationals for years on end.

But how can one team be so good, let alone having a lasting legacy of greatness?

While their players are undoubtedly talented, Sannoh has invested aplenty into nurturing their players' talents.

Like Coach Taoka of Ryonan, Sannoh’s Coach Damoto scouts the best and brightest for their team. Eji Sawakita, although residing in a different prefecture, was discovered and scouted by Sannoh. While it isn't explicitly said how many players they scouted, or what incentives they provided Sawakita (aside from opportunities and their prestige), it can be inferred that Sannoh likely looks for the best and brighest to be apart of their teams.

In addition to the money and resources spent scouting, Sannoh provides their team with immense opportunities that most schools do not.

It is stated that Sawakita had been sent on a trip abroad to play basketball in America, and that he even learned new techniques during his trip. To say the least, a trip like that is... expensive. To send students to a country across the world just to play basketball is a hefty price to pay, and yet Sannoh was willing to pay it.

To prepare for Shohoku's match, Coach Damoto arranged a practice match with Sannoh alum who have a similar playstyle to Shohoku. While it is possible that these alum were willing to volunteer their time doing this, Damoto going out of his way to bring them all together and schedule that practice match is something that likely cost a significant amount to make happen. And it is certainly an opportunity that many schools would not provide.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to compete with money, and this sentiment is universal for any sector.

But what makes Shohoku’s victory over all these powerhouse schools, especially Sannoh, so shocking is the fact it is an “ordinary, no name school.” Theoretically, Shohoku would never beat a team like Sannoh, especially given the fact that Shohoku didn’t even have half the money, resources, and opportunities that Sannoh does.

Yet… Shohoku did it. And I think this part of why Slam Dunk is such a beautiful story: an ordinary team was, even for a moment, able to be extraordinary.

228 notes · View notes

perfectsunlight · 4 months ago

Text

21 ⸺ TYPE

warnings: infidelity, angst, swearing

word count: 3.2k

part of the series: LOGICAL

when aeri read it, her heart stopped. she read it again, and then again, trying to make sense of it. somi? with chaeyoung? the two people she trusted most? she hadn’t seen it coming. not even a little.

at least, that’s what she tried to tell herself. deep down, she always feared this moment would come.

aeri had always felt like she wasn’t enough for somi, but now, seeing the confirmation of her worst fear in that single text, it all came crashing down.

and all she could think about was how she wasn’t the type of girl somi really wanted.

or maybe she never had been.

jeon somi had more ex-girlfriends than she could count on her hands. she was tall, blonde, and very athletic—anything a girl could have ever wanted. similar to lisa, girls followed somi around like moths to a flame. whether it was her charming smile or her flirtatious nature, somi had no trouble finding someone new, someone fun. she thrived on the chase, always seeming to have someone wrapped around her finger.

but aeri had been different.

the japanese girl wasn’t like anyone she had ever met. somi usually went for the ones with carefree attitudes and a bit more rough around the edges. tattoos, piercings, and wild nights out were usually her style.

but aeri was serious, quiet, and more grounded. she was always around the basketball team but never part of the spotlight. as the team manager, she kept her head down, organizing schedules, making sure everyone had what they needed, and barely giving somi a second glance.

and maybe that was what had intrigued somi in the first place.

aeri didn’t care that somi was the best center in the league, or that every other girl in the gym was vying for her attention. she didn’t care that the taller girl had a fanclub that waited to take pictures with her after every game, some even asking for her number as well.

to her, somi’s achievements and popularity were irrelevant.

the first time somi had asked aeri out, she’d been friendzoned faster than she could blink.

it was after a particularly exciting game against hanyang university, where ygu had won by a massive margin. the gym had buzzed with the energy of the win, the crowd’s cheers echoing off the walls as the team celebrated. the players, sweaty and exhilarated, were starting to disperse, while aeri was methodically packing up the equipment, her focus on tidying up the chaos left behind.

somi approached, her usual confident character on display. her dyed blonde hair was damp from sweat, sticking to her forehead in a way that made her look more approachable. she grinned broadly, the kind of smile that was more than just a bit friendly, and leaned casually against the table where aeri was working.

“hey, aeri,” somi said, her voice bright and casual. “you up for celebrating with the team tonight?”

the japanese girl barely looked up from the clipboard she was scribbling on. with a practiced efficiency, she finished jotting down notes and then glanced at somi with a polite and disinterested thin smile.

“no,” she replied, her tone steady and unflustered. “i’m not interested.”

somi’s smile faltered for just a moment, her eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise. she straightened up, pushing off from the table, but her body language remained open, trying to keep the mood light. “oh, alright. well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

aeri nodded, already turning her attention back to the clipboard. “i won’t be changing my mind.” and with that, she turned on her heel, walking briskly towards coach irene and coach taeyeon who were discussing the game’s highlights.

as she watched the shorter girl walk away, somi’s shoulders slightly slumped in defeat.

the energy she had carried into the conversation had dissipated, leaving her standing alone, a lingering frown creasing her brow. she watched as aeri moved towards the coaches, blending back into the background of the post-game routine, and realized that the casual rejection had not only stung but had also stirred up a deeper, unsettling awareness of aeri’s indifference.

jeon somi knew she had to try again. she just had to. the first rejection had stung more than she’d let on, but it hadn’t deterred her. instead, it had fueled her determination. she convinced herself that persistence might win out in the end, that maybe if she kept trying, aeri would eventually see her in a different light.

the second time somi asked aeri out, it was during media day, a high-energy event where the team was swarmed by reporters and photographers. the gym was buzzing with the activity of the media, flashing cameras, and the loud hum of excited chatter. the team’s new uniforms were on display, and everyone was in high spirits, mingling and preparing for the season ahead.

somi spotted aeri amidst the chaos, standing near a backdrop where players were taking their promotional photos. aeri was dressed in her usual managerial attire, a sleek blazer over her team polo, her hair pulled back neatly. she was chatting with a couple of reporters, her demeanor calm and professional. somi took a deep breath, steeling herself for another attempt.

with a confident stride, somi made her way over, navigating through the crowd of reporters and camera flashes. she approached aeri with a warm, friendly smile, trying to exude an air of casual charm.

“hey, aeri,” somi said, her voice rising above the background noise. “got a second?”

the dark haired girl looked up from her conversation, her eyes meeting the center’s with a mixture of surprise and a faint smile. she was clearly busy, but she made a polite effort to engage.

“yes?”

somi took a small step closer, leaning in with a hopeful grin as she clasped her hands together. “i was thinking, with the season starting soon and everything, maybe we could have dinner tomorrow night? just the two of us. what do you say?”

the japanese girl’s smile widened, but it was accompanied by a hint of incredulity. she laughed lightly, shaking her head with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. “you’re really persistent, i’ll give you that.” her tone was warm but laced with a gentle mockery.

the blonde’s grin faltered just a touch, but she maintained her hopeful gaze as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “so, is that a yes?”

aeri’s laughter was soft, almost incredulous. she shook her head again, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “no, i’m not interested. you should know by now.”

somi’s smile dimmed, and she nodded, trying to mask her disappointment. “alright. maybe another time? when do you have some time? what’s your schedule like next week?”

aeri offered a sympathetic smile but turned her attention back to the reporters, signaling that the conversation was over. somi lingered for a moment, the weight of the rejection settling heavily on her. the lively atmosphere of the event felt distant now, overshadowed by the sting of the repeated rebuff.

as she walked away, she couldn’t shake the mix of frustration and resignation. despite her persistence, it seemed that winning aeri’s affection was going to be far more elusive than she had ever anticipated.

but the more aeri resisted, the more somi wanted her.

by the time she considered trying a third time, somi was determined. she didn’t even care about aeri’s supposed indifference anymore. it had turned into a challenge, something she needed to win. but what somi hadn’t expected was that, somewhere along the way, it stopped being just about winning aeri over.

she had started falling for her—hard.

everytime aeri came in for practice, somi lost all focus. the sight of her managing the team with that efficient grace, the way she interacted with the players, her infectious laughter—it all had a magnetic pull on somi. even the simplest gestures, like aeri adjusting her glasses or brushing a strand of hair away from her face, became captivating. it was as if somi was seeing aeri in a new light, each moment amplifying the depth of her feelings.

one evening, after a particularly grueling practice, somi found herself lingering by the gym’s entrance, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and anxiety. the players had dispersed, but aeri was still there, packing up her things. somi watched as aeri’s movements were precise and deliberate, her focus intense. it was a side of aeri that somi had come to admire, the dedication and professionalism that seemed to shine even in the smallest details.

taking a deep breath, somi approached aeri, who was now organizing her clipboard and making last-minute notes. somi’s heart raced, not just from the anticipation of asking aeri out again but from the realization of how deeply her feelings had grown. she could no longer deny that this wasn’t just a challenge—it was something much more profound.

“hey aeri,” somi began, her voice slightly hesitant but filled with genuine emotion. “uh, can i talk to you for a minute?”

aeri looked up, her eyebrows slightly raised in curiosity. she set down her clipboard and gave somi her full attention. “sure, what’s up?”

somi took a step closer, her gaze steady. “i know i’ve asked you out a couple of times before and you’ve turned me down. i get that. but i need to be honest with you. i really like you, aeri.”

the other girl’s expression softened, but there was still a flicker of surprise in her eyes. she considered somi’s words, her gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before meeting somi’s again.

“i appreciate your feelings, somi,” aeri said with a sigh. “but i have a lot on my plate right now. tomorrow night, i’m completely booked with team obligations and personal commitments. it’s just not a good time for me.”

somi’s heart sank slightly, but she tried to maintain a hopeful smile. “i understand. i didn’t expect you to be free.” the basketball player rubbed the back of her neck in defeat, trying to ignore the pang in her chest.

the japanese girl began to gather her things, preparing to leave. somi simply watched her, feeling a mix of sadness and resignation. just as aeri reached the door, she paused, her hand resting on the handle. she turned back towards somi with a thoughtful expression.

“what about the day after tomorrow?” aeri asked, her tone a bit more tentative. somi’s eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope, her sadness momentarily forgotten. “the day after tomorrow? are you sure?”

aeri nodded, offering a small smile. “yeah, i should be free then.”

somi’s heart swelled with a renewed sense of optimism. she couldn’t help the grin that formed from ear to ear. when aeri finally said yes, after months of persistent flirting and half-serious jokes, somi felt like she had conquered the impossible.

once they started dating, things were a bit rocky. aeri had always felt out of place in somi’s world.

she wasn’t like the other girls somi had dated, and she knew it. somi had never said it outright, but aeri could feel it in the small, subtle ways—the way somi’s gaze would linger just a little too long on other girls, or the way her friends would make comments about somi’s type.

aeri had tried to ignore it, tried to believe that somi really wanted her, but the insecurity never left.

maybe that’s what had slowly started to pull them apart.

aeri had always feared that one day, somi would wake up and realize she could do better—find someone more exciting, someone who fit her lifestyle. she had always worried she wasn’t enough, and now, standing in her apartment, staring at lisa’s text, it felt like all those insecurities had been right.

she had never been enough for somi.

son chaeyoung was somi’s best friend since college started. they had met at one of the many parties thrown during welcome week and they clicked instantly. chaeyoung was everything aeri feared she wasn’t—confident, carefree, and spontaneous. where she tended to overthink and second-guess herself, chaeyoung just seemed to live in the moment.

she fit perfectly into somi’s world, the one aeri always felt slightly out of place in.

how could she not have seen it?

sure, she had known about somi’s history—about the exes, the flings, the friends with benefits. she had always been surrounded by people, and aeri was just always hovering on the outskirts of somi’s chaotic, lively life. but even though aeri had friend-zoned somi more than once, she’d let her walls down eventually, let herself believe that maybe, just maybe, somi had chosen her.

but maybe somi had never really chosen her at all.

she thought about the little things—the way somi would glance at her during practice, the shy, teasing smile that only aeri ever seemed to notice. the way that the taller girl would wrap her jacket around her during winter practices, knowing how cold the gym was. or even how everytime somi scored, she’d make the letter “a” with her fingers and put it on her heart.

was it all a lie? did anything have any meaning?

“aeri,” somi’s voice was heard from outside the japanese girl’s apartment door. “please. let me explain.”

the mentioned girl stood frozen, her hand hovering over the doorknob. somi’s voice, muffled but pleading, cut through the numbness that had settled in her chest. explain? what could possibly explain this? but something in her still wanted to hear it. maybe it was the part of her that didn’t want to believe it was all over.

maybe it was the part of her that still loved somi, despite everything.

with a shaky breath, aeri unlocked the door and pulled it open. somi stood there, her eyes red-rimmed and glassy, tears streaking down her face. she looked a mess, and definitely heartbroken. but aeri wasn’t ready to feel sympathy—not yet.

somi took a hesitant step inside, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “i—i’m sorry,” she stammered. “i just, look, i didn’t mean for any of this to happen once, let alone twice.”

aeri stayed silent, closing the door behind her. her arms were crossed, more out of self-protection than anything else. “what exactly didn’t you mean to happen, somi?” her voice was cold, a sharp contrast to the trembling girl in front of her. “what do you mean it happened twice?”

the blonde’s gaze fell to the floor, the weight of her confession hanging heavily in the air. “aeri, please,” she took a step forward, her hands raised as if to ward off the distance. “it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

she felt her heart race, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the features on her girlfriend’s face. “what do you mean it happened twice?” she repeated, the tension in her voice palpable. she had known something was wrong, but she had convinced herself that she was just being paranoid.

she wasn’t.

somi hesitated, her breath hitching as she tried to find the right words. she ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply before looking back at the shorter girl. “the first time was just a kiss,” she finally admitted, her voice shaky. “i was with chaeyoung, and it happened when we were out celebrating. i was drunk and i didn’t think it meant anything.”

aeri felt her heart drop. she had never known about that. and the fact that the girl she loved kept it a secret for so long seemed to make her feel even worse. “a kiss? you kissed her? and then you slept with her? how is that supposed to make sense?”

“no! i didn’t sleep with her then. that was a mistake, too. but last night? that was different.” somi’s eyes were wide with fear, her voice rising with desperation. “i swear, i didn’t mean for any of it to happen! i was confused. i thought we were okay, and then—”

“clearly, we weren’t okay. you knew we weren’t okay,” aeri shot back, her voice trembling with hurt. “how could you do this to me? i trusted you, somi. i thought you loved me.”

“i do love you!” somi cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. her heart was entirely the japanese girl’s. even if she didn’t show it “you have to believe me. but at that moment, everything got blurry. it was chaeyoung, and she was there, and i didn’t think—”

“didn’t think what?” the brunette’s voice was low and dangerous, her heart racing. “didn’t think about how i would feel? didn’t think about what it would mean for us? didn’t think you were making a mistake?”

somi’s shoulders slumped as she struggled to articulate her feelings. “i didn’t want to hurt you, aeri. i thought it was just a moment, something that wouldn’t change anything between us. but then i woke up next to her and realized...”

“realized what?” aeri pressed, her voice icy. “that you made the wrong choice? that you let someone else in when you should have been with me?”

her girlfriend swallowed hard, her hands trembling as she reached out toward aeri. “i didn’t mean for it to happen. i promise. i wanted to be with you, but—”

“but what?” aeri challenged, her heart aching. “you tell me that you wanted me, but you didn’t think twice about sleeping with your best friend?” somi’s eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head. “no, please don’t say that. i care about you more than anything. but i messed up. i messed up so badly. and i hate myself for it.”

aeri felt a deep pain in her chest, a raw ache that wouldn’t go away. “you think saying you hate yourself changes anything? you’ve already made your choice. and now, you’ve lost me.”

the taller girl stepped back, her face crumpling in despair. “please, aeri don’t do this.” the center fell to her knees, continuing to plead with tear-filled eyes. "i can't lose you. i can't—" her voice cracked, her heart visibly breaking before the japanese girl’s eyes.

her hands trembled as she stared down at the blonde, her chest tightening with emotions she couldn’t entirely suppress. she had told herself not to give in, not to let somi’s tears sway her, but seeing her like this made it so much harder.

“you already have,” aeri whispered, her words making somi’s head spin and her heart shatter into the remaining fragments that were left of it. “i’m done. we’re done.”

the next day at practice, the team manager felt as if she was watching a stranger on the court. somi was clearly off her game, unfocused and distracted, a shadow of the dominant center she usually was. her movements were sluggish, lacking the usual power and precision that made her such a key player. every missed shot, every fumbled pass, only seemed to deepen the frustration etched across her face.

it truly did pain the uchinaga girl to see the girl she loved like that, but somi had done it to herself.

lisa shook her head everytime the center fumbled a play or missed a shot, leaning over to y/n with a scoff. “she’s a mess today,” the thai girl muttered, her frustration evident as she watched somi stumble through another drill. “she needs to get her shit together.”

y/n frowned, her eyes following the blonde’s every move. “something must’ve happened,” she whispered quietly, concern creeping into her voice. she glanced at aeri and then made a quick glance towards her girlfriend.

because although it was unusual, y/n couldn’t help but feel like her girlfriend had something to do with this, too.

TAGLIST ⸺ ✭ @silantryoo @rosiehrs @niniwhiskers @cwpiqwon @jisooftme @1luvkarina @scarfac3 @santasbitch @lisas-earlobe @wallfl9wer @aerihiltonn @unforgivenangel @uzumakioden @skydreamed @haerinfangs @la-douleur-ne-finit-jamais @haerinkisser @giginings @lilsvx @milanlaia @pandafuriosa60 @wifey-badalee @slowlyturninggay291 @dreamingst99 @7daysronnie @thefckghost @drawing-into-the-night @xszn

#smau #kpop smau #blackpink #blackpink smau #lisa x reader #lisa manobal #blackpink x reader #lisa manobal x reader #kpop angst #wlw #angst #blackpink angst #original work #logical #perfectsunlight

66 notes · View notes

triptychgrip · 7 months ago

Text

Yuri!!! on Ice post-canon headcanons - Part 1

-Yuuri becomes the first skater to ratify the quad flip in-combination, with a triple toe-loop. When he lands the combo at the 2018 Winter Olympics, it predictably breaks the internet and becomes known as the Katsuki Combo. Phichit becomes the second person to cleanly land it

-Minako bartends at the Viktuuri wedding reception in Hasetsu, and is single-handedly responsible for getting everyone trashed on their 'Stammi Vicino' signature cocktail. Things get pretty risque towards the end of the night when the new grooms begin to make exceedingly over-the-top declarations of love for one another. Neither Hiroko nor Toshiya bat an eye at any of this

-The first 'Viktor and Friends' ice show -- even with the Chihoko drama -- was such an incredible success that the Katsuki-Nikiforovs make it an annual excuse for all of their friends to get together in the off-season. The Hasetsu City Council becomes so fearful over liability issues when they notice how many tourists try to scale Hasetsu Castle to get pics in 'Shining Chihoko' pose, that they permanently install guardrails on the top of the Castle

-Viktor begins learning how to pole-dance under Yuuri's instruction. It's a 50-50 in terms of whether their lessons are actually productive versus them just ending up having sex, lol. B/c they are the most extra ppl imaginable, they work with Christophe to come up with a routine to perform at the 2022 Beijing Games banquet. This is their "last hurrah" in terms of banquet shenanigans, as the 2022 Olympics marks Yuuri's last competition before retiring

-Mila and Sara begin dating during the 2019 off-season, and Sara eventually moves to St. Petersburg so they can live together. Mila has Viktor choreograph a gala skate proposal routine, and when she performs it for Sara, everyone thinks it's amazing/adorable that she caps it off with her new fiance's damnably difficult signature jump combo (the triple lutz-triple loop)

-After a few years in St. Petersburg, Viktor and Yuuri move permanently to Fukuoka, Japan, where they coach/train at the same rink as Kenjirou (who never quite gets over his Yuuri hero worship, but does learn to tone it down...somehow). The move to Japan allows the Katsuki-Nikiforovs to begin working with the Nishigoris on long-term plans to expand Ice Castle Hasetsu into a top-tier training center

-Once Yakov retires, Yurio "follows" Viktor/Yuuri to Fukuoka and becomes Viktor's second student. This "works" in some respects, and is a disaster in others. With his ample free time upon retirement, Yakov attempts to repair things with Lilia

If any of the above headcanons sound interesting to you, you might be interested in my 2018/2022 Olympic Games fic series, which is currently comprised of 7 different parts! When I first began posting part 1 (currently at 212K words and counting) last November, I didn't do a great job of promoting it. So, as it (and the overall series) gets closer to completion, I'm striving to do better around that!

I originally set out to write an in-depth, post-canon series for two main reasons:

1) I find the politics of competitive sport really interesting and, obviously, canon Yuri!!! on Ice doesn't really touch on this in just 12 episodes. But politics/bureaucracy truly do weave into just about every aspect of an athlete's career, and particularly with such a talented/prominent Japanese skater moving to St. Petersburg to live and train alongside the sport's "Living Legend", I found myself ideating around what the implications of that would mean in-universe, particularly for the Winter Olympics

and 2) I wanted to see more of the "give and take" that we know to be true of Viktor and Yuuri's relationship. Naturally, as Viktor grows into his role as Yuuri's coach in canon, the narrative is largely about how he supports Yuuri, and I wanted to be able to explore more of the opposite (Yuuri learning to support Viktor in a more overt way than is implied).

Part 1 of the series is centered around the 2022 Olympic Games, but jumps back and forth in time so that you are able to get glimpses of how their relationship has evolved from their earlier days, as well as to see the ripple effect of a big event that took place at the PyeongChang Games.

Last but not least, if you like reading post-canon Yuri!!! on Ice but don't have energy/interest in reading a very long WIP, I have lot of other stories up on ao3, which you can find here

#yuri on ice #yuri!!! on ice #yuri on ice headcanons #viktuuri #victuuri #viktor nikiforov #victor nikiforov #yuuri katsuki #katsuki yuuri #my writing #yuri on ice fanfiction #post canon yuri on ice

55 notes · View notes

remypat · 10 months ago

Text

In 2016, I heard many of my friends talk about a new anime centered around figure skating. I was eighteen years old, closeted, and I had never given figure skating a second thought. It just didn’t seem appealing to me. Well, after a couple weeks of having my tumblr page be flooded with clips from Yuri on Ice, I caved in and watched it. After all, you can only see butt-naked Victor so many times before finally saying “You know what? I guess I’ll give it a try”

And Oh My God. My life was never the same.

First off, the story that is woven in this anime is so beautifully hilarious. Like, you’re telling me, that this 27 year old living legend got swept off his feet by a drunk Japanese man and he dropped everything to go be his coach? At eighteen, it seemed ridiculous but now as an openly queer 26 year old, all I can say is: I GET IT. I would have been in Japan yesterday. I’m a writer that loves campy humor and this was not just my cup of tea, it was like ambrosia sent from the gods of olympus. I love it.

I also fell in love with figure skating. I’ve watched Worlds, the Grand Prix, Nationals, and both the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics through my TV screen. I was so into figure skating, I still remember when Nathan Chen said that it was really hard for him (a straight man) to compete a gay-dominated sport. (Yeah, no one wants to bring that up since he won his gold medal.) But my point is, Yuri on Ice means a lot to me. It always will. Thanks to YOI, I fell in love with figure skating and it’s thanks to that love that I have created my own little story centered around figure skating.

My story is called Why Lie Now?

Yes, it is a queer romance and yes, it is about figure skating, but it’s not Yuri on Ice. I cannot possibly ask you all to fill the void in your hearts with my story, but I implore you, that if you like queer romances, and you like figure skating, you just might really like this story too.

I am updating in parts but for the meantime, please check it out!

#yuri on ice #yoi #ice ado #ice adolescence #yuuri katsuki #viktor nikiforov

30 notes · View notes

p5x-theories · 8 months ago

Text

What We Know About Mont

(last updated 2/1/25!)

Kotone Montagne, codename Mont, is a famous figure skater who suffered a major injury. Her Arcana is listed in the files as Glory, which seems to come from angel decks. She joins the team as a "Phantom Idol", or cognitive teammate.

A separate version of Kotone (Dancer Kotone) was added Version 3.0.1, and has a separate post documenting her combat information. Note that Dancer Kotone cannot be on the same active team as Mont.

Her files are named with the codenames "Frost" or rarely "Snow" instead of her canon codename Mont. The exact significance of this, if any, is unknown.

Her Japanese voice actress is Shino Shimoji.

Kotone has not appeared in the main story, but she does feature prominently in Tomoko Noge's Confidant, as they bond over being athletes who suffered injuries that prevented them from participating in their sport. She and Tomoko spend a lot of time bonding, though there's a bit of distance between them for a while, as Tomoko hesitates to ask her about the progress of her physical rehabilitation. However, Kotone eventually reveals that she already completed rehabilitation and is able to return to the rink, but she's felt too overwhelmed by outside pressure to actually ice skate again. Tomoko gets her school's band to play the song they used to use to cheer for Tomoko for Kotone, which motivates Kotone to return to figure skating.

Kotone later had her own Confidant added to the game, set after Tomoko's Confidant. It focuses on her struggles in returning to the rink and mastering a new choreography, which is centered around the theme of love. More information about Kotone’s Confidant can be found here.

Kotone also had a special animated promo video focused on her.

Interestingly, Kotone was originally stated to be an adult by promotional media, but this was retconned with the addition of her Confidant, and she is now a second-year high school student.

Even within Tomoko's Confidant, aspects of her personality are apparent. She maintains a somewhat closed-off, though superficially friendly, demeanor, and comes across as a mature person who can be social but keeps interactions to a minimum. However, she's touched by Tomoko's actions towards her, continuously going out of her way to help Kotone. This eventually leads to a friendship, although Kotone keeps a bit of a wall up as she can't admit to Tomoko the real reason why she hasn't gone back to figure skating.

While she can seem friendly but just a bit distant, she's revealed to have many typical interests that Tomoko can bond with her over, and enjoys sillier things like trying a special signature pasta dish at a restaurant with Tomoko and Wonder. She also lightly panics after having a fight with her coach, leading to her seeking out a flower shop that can give her a bouquet with a ridiculously large amount of her coach's favorite flowers within a single day. Kotone seems mature and somewhat aloof, and she is those things, but she also cares more than tends to be obvious, and has the self-awareness to realize quickly if she was the one in the wrong after an argument.

Kotone gives the impression of someone who bottles their emotions up until they overflow. She breaks down into tears outside Shibuya station when she finally admits to Tomoko that she finished physical rehab a while ago, but has a mental block preventing her from skating like she used to, even crouching down to hug her knees to her chest (possibly so she wouldn't have to face Tomoko and Wonder when she admitted it). She cites the reason for this mental block as hateful comments online about her, which she was previously able to ignore, but hit harder now; her injury seems to have made her feel more vulnerable, or perhaps more fearful of messing up again.

While she's moved past some of this in her Confidant, a core theme is still how easily people's words can get to her, which is something that Wonder (and to a lesser extent, her coach) help her grow past over the course of its story. Her Confidant also reveals that her somewhat closed-off personality is largely just her own inability to express her feelings, which bleeds into her performances as well, which are technically perfect but lack much emotion behind them. Kotone has trouble understanding the emotional side of things as opposed to the logical side, which can lead to frustration when her coach only explains things in vague, emotional terms rather than a concrete explanation of what Kotone can do to improve it.

Despite her struggles, however, this is something Kotone genuinely wants to improve on. While at first she attempts to understand how to express "love" by reading and watching romance genre stories, showing that she's one to thoroughly research a problem if she can't figure it out, she later suggests fake-dating Wonder (before immediately backtracking that idea). In the end, it seems she learns best by doing, as she comes to realize how to express "love" by becoming aware of the love she has for her coach, her fans, and Wonder (romantic, in his case). Notably, while she directly confesses to Wonder after this realization, she takes a rejection (if the player chooses to) gracefully, and while she still seems to hold onto her love for him she never pushes a relationship after that point.

An official description of her also mentioned she's French-Japanese, has been figure skating since she was a child, and is a perfectionist.

Mont's Persona Terpsichore (based on the Greek muse of dance and chorus) is categorized as an Ice type, and resists Ice while being weak to Psychokinesis.

Terpsichore is a Resist Persona, meaning she’s good at targeting single enemies, and her trait gives her "ice crystals" whenever a teammate attacks, which let her inflict a followup attack at the end of her own turn. She has three ice attack skills: the first hits all enemies with a chance to cause freeze, the second hits one enemy and gives her four ice crystals, and the third hits one enemy, doing more damage the lower their health is, and doing extra damage if Mont has ten ice crystals. Her passive skills increase her chance of inflicting freeze, and give her three ice crystals when an enemy is defeated.

In combat, her melee weapon is a sabre (though she can also use Dancer Mont's alternate sabres), while her ranged weapon is a bolt action rifle. Her Highlight is shown from 2:40 - 2:53 in this video, and it hits one enemy with an ice attack that does more damage the lower the enemy's health is.

Her recommended card sets are 1) 4 of Cups (Luxury) + Knight of Swords (Focus), 2) 4 of Coins (Power) + Page of Coins (Growth).

The game recommends teaming her up with 1) Closer and Cattle, 2) Leon.

#mont #terpsichore #character info #open beta

14 notes · View notes

thefinalcinderella · 1 year ago

Text

Tsurune Book 3 Chapter 6 - Genuine (Part 2)

My brain as I was translating this: what is bro yapping about

also please don't ask me to clarify anything that happened in this chapter, i also have no idea. i'm pretty sure only the author knows 😂all i know is that they were definitely doing kyudo.

TW: suicide mention

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

A saijiki is an almanac of Japanese seasonal terms used for poetry

Asahina's name (朝日奈) contains the characters for morning sun

Adults (成人) and saints (聖人) have the same reading (seijin)

A box-like structure where rain shutters are stored when not in use

Previous | Next

Masa-san, there’s something I want to tell you.

Don’t laugh and just listen to me.

The competitors from both schools met face to face at the prefectural finals. The sky began preparations to show off its triumphant end.

Asahina and Minato faced each other.

“Looks like ‘Minahead’ worked. Thanks.”

“Please don’t make surprise attacks like you did the other day.”

“Hahaha, sorry. The protection around you was strong, so that was the best I could do.”

Eddie pushed up his hair. “We have no need for superstition anymore.”

“That’s right, partner.”

Asahina and Eddie bumped elbows. They were like children who played a secret prank on their parents.

Haneina’s coach, Tsucchi, and Masa-san faced off.

“My archers are in top form. We’re going to win.”

“I don’t know about that. Kazemai can use the wind, after all.”

“I don’t want any funny tricks. Show us what you can do.”

“Go easy on us.”

The archers from both schools entered the shajo with orange and yellow-green headbands tied around their heads.

Haneina High School had Eddie, Matsuda, Kanuma, Igarashi, and Asahina.

Kazemai High School had Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao, and Minato.

They each stepped onto the shooting line and spread their legs.

The oomae of Haneina was Eddie. His golden hair fluttered in the sun. Spreading his white wings, the archangel descended upon the land of the east. The eccentric was an assumed figure, and the truth was revealed.

He objected to the strange land of Japan, where everyone wore matching outfits to find jobs. Who told them to wear black? Was it because it wouldn’t stand out even if they settled down in a graveyard? Those who prepared loyalty tests for the company would have been promoted and given a nice apartment. Ceasing to think for yourself was what politicians wanted you to do. Misguided servility made the conceited even more fattened. If you were going to dance the same dance, then dance in your own colors.

The arrow was aimed at the demon’s heart. But Eddie and Kaito hit the center.

Next was Matsuda on the second target. One day, a house party was held. The servants, who were usually unsmiling, broke out into big smiles as soon as the host appeared in the room. Before he knew it, everyone in the room had smiles pasted onto their faces. “Supporting the disabled is my purpose in life. We are very concerned about you. With this product, you can reduce your anxiety about your future,” they whispered, but the bow made no distinction between the disabled and the able-bodied. The love that asked for nothing in return was always there.

The released arrow shattered the window glass. Ryouhei followed as well.

Kanuma on the third target opened his haiku saijiki. (1) Beautiful phrases that reflected Japan’s weather, astronomy, geography, and human affairs were lined up side by side. The finely honed senses of their ancestors that resided in each phrase hadn’t faded away even now.

Words were twisted, woven, knitted, and tied together. Weaving brocade was the living wisdom and culture of creatures without fur. The clothes we wore revealed our environment and thoughts. Those who could manipulate words and know the hidden power of words could transcend the concept of time and fly to the moment at any time. Right now, Kanuma has composed a song.

Kanuma and Seiya summoned tsurune.

Brain, be deceived. Make a miracle happen.

Taking the sound of the matooto as a signal, Igarashi raised his bow. Anyone could step into his flower garden. Flowers such as bellflowers, gentians, and campanulas were preferred, and the bells rang when the wind blew. Bees and butterflies frolicked amidst the flowers, grass lizards and rainbow-colored lizards lay in the grass, and red-flanked blue tails rested on the branches. He picked the withered flowers and thinned out overcrowded foliage. A garden that took time to grow was a treasure. Igarashi applied that image to his own bow. He slept every night holding his bow, of which only one existed in this world.

As Igarashi and Nanao’s arrows flew, flowers bloomed along the path.

In the stands, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo gasped. Since there were a lot of hits in quick succession, they braced themselves so they wouldn’t miss the chance to cheer.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful.”

“Both schools are sparkling.”

“This is exactly what ‘brilliance’ is.”

The ochi Asahina, as his name suggested, was the embodiment of the sun. (2) His red hair burned in the twilight.

Fire.

Fire knew what you had done.

It also knew the name and face of your accomplice.

If you wanted to purify yourself, go to the sea. If you wanted power, go to the mountains. Whichever path you chose, he would be a torchbearer and a guide. Heaven watched the deeds of those who lived on earth. Three children were born out of the fire. At any given time, there existed something that recorded the events on earth. Memories that were passed down became stories.

Asahina and Minato released their arrows.

For the second shot, nobody missed.

For the third short, the sound of the matooto didn’t cease.

The wind blew through the kyudojo, where conversation and even breathing were taboo.

Where was the wind going? Who was it bringing with it?

A memory of a day he spent with Masa-san flashed through Minato’s mind.

Yata Forest, where the crescent moon hang in the deep blue sky. The sound of rustling leaves sounded like the trees were welcoming them as the two walked along the white path illuminated by moonlight.

“Masa-san, there’s something I want to tell you. I had a strange experience a long time ago. I haven’t even told Seiya and Ryouhei about it. They’ll probably think I’m crazy or just laugh at me and say I was dreaming. Will you listen to me?”

“I will.”

“You won’t laugh?”

“I won’t.”

Minato took a deep breath.

“I was a bit out of it that day, and when people told me that it was Setsubun today, I was like, ‘Huh?’ It seemed like I got the date wrong by a day, and I had no memory of the day before Setsubun.”

“Hmm.”

“After scattering the beans, I slept like usual, and the next thing I knew, I was paralyzed. My arms and legs were numb, and I couldn’t move my body at all. While I was panicking, I heard three sounds. It kind of sounded like something used in an old sci-fi movie. Then, all of a sudden, a beam of light hit me from right above my head to my feet with a ker-wham. Just as I was thinking Oh crap, what do I do, I heard the three sounds again, and then I was hit on the top of my head with a wham. I still couldn’t move my body, so I was thinking about reciting the Heart Sutra when my dad woke me up. Apparently I was crying out in my sleep.”

Masa-san’s eyes widened. He burst into laughter.

“So you laughed at me after all. I’m a chuunibyou even in my dreams.”

“No, I was laughing at the onomatopoeia. I wasn’t laughing at what you said.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“I had a similar experience. I never told anyone about it, so it’s a secret.”

Masa-san began speaking.

I’ve told you before that when I was in my third year of high school, I got target panic and my master gave up on me. I’ve also told you that in my first year in university, my father sent me a notification of my brother’s death, but actually, when I was nineteen, I got into an argument with my master. I declared that I will never forgive the person who made my brother disappear and that I will take revenge, but my master just lectured me in the usual way, saying that revenge was a foolish thing and that my anger will burn me to death. I asked him why he had been ignoring it until now, and why is it that you, my own family, didn’t understand me. I showered my master with the hateful words that should have been directed towards my father. That ended up being our final conversation.

When I was twenty, in my second year of university, my master passed away. I overcame my target panic and received invitations from several kyudo schools to join them, but I had lost sight of the significance of drawing the bow. I kept asking myself why I was drawing a bow—and then I realized it. No, I finally admitted it. I wanted to be acknowledged as an archer by my “master Yasaka,” no one else. And that will never come true.

In the spring of my third year, I completed shooting a hundred arrows, but all I felt was a sense of emptiness. My father casually sent us letters, as if he was unaware of the despair and threat he posed to us. Was it okay to just do nothing? Would I have no choice but to take these negative feelings with me to the grave?

As summer approached, I began to deeply regret the last words I spoke to my master. Every time I entered the kyudojo, my body became stiff, and I found it hard to breathe. Before I knew it, I couldn’t sleep soundly, and the doctor’s comforting words and medicine didn’t make me feel better. My mother, unable to just watch, took me to a temple in Shikoku.

The chief priest was a quiet person. He read sutras in the morning and sat in front of the Buddha at noon and night. He would visit me from time to time, and we would talk about casual everyday things before going home. During that time, I remained lying on my bed.

Several choruses of cicadas passed by. Everything that lived was covered in shame, and I longed to disappear, but I couldn’t commit suicide for the sake of the family I would be leaving behind. At night, I closed my eyes, hoping that I would never wake up again. If I could at least forget everything, I could live.

I closed my mouth in the morning and laid down on the ground during the day and night.

Sleepless days. I couldn’t escape the memories that replayed over and over again.

One night, as I was looking back on my life and regretting every detail, I heard a voice coming from the upper left corner of my head. Just a single “Good.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

It was a strange feeling of empathy with each other.

Ah, that’s right. Someday, when the time was right, I can tell others about this day. When the truth dwells in Minato’s words.

When Masa-san finished, he grinned.

This was a secret between master and disciple.

“Good.”

The sixth voice was heard.

With three scales, arrows of light descended from the heavens and pierced through Minato’s body. His whole body went numb and his head became hazy.

The sounds came again.

When he decided to “come,” the arrows passed through his body and spread from the soles of his feet to the ground.

Meigen. That was the sound of the dawn.

Three sounds and arrows of light fell from the sky.

The arrows of light pierced my body.

The ultimate goal of kyudo was “the true, the good, and the beautiful.” True archery didn’t lie, deceive, or betray.

Truth in archery was proven by the brilliance of the bow, the tsurune, and hitting the target. What was true was beautiful, and what was good was also beautiful. Once you met the genuine article, you would never be confused again.

Hayake—Yips was a state in which the body became warped due to accumulated fatigue and stress, and the brain ends up malfunctioning. That was why beginners didn’t get target panic. It occurred when the brain remembered the experience of failure so strongly that it issued an emergency alert every time those memories replayed. This became a regular occurrence, and if proper treatment wasn’t taken, it would only get worse. In archery, hayake was called “target panic,” and it was an accurate description of this sickness.

The solution was to regulate one’s breathing. It was to get rid of the distortions in one’s body and allow the brain and body to rest.

There were actually very few people who could maintain a natural and comfortable posture. Regulating the autonomic nervous system and improving the functioning of the central nervous system was the key to good health. The autonomic nervous system referred to the nerves that were responsible for unconscious processes such as pulse, breathing, and digestion. The sympathetic nervous system was dominant during the day, and the parasympathetic nervous system was dominant when sleeping at night. The central nervous system were the nerves that acted like a command center, issuing commands to various parts of the body.

Anxiety and fear were a kind of self-protective instinct. Once living things experienced something scary or painful, they tried to avoid it next time. When it was overreacted to, they became stuck in the memories of the past, worried about the future, and unable to take even a step forward.

When you drove a car, you got too scared to drive if you thought about what would happen if you caused an accident. You made sure you were in good physical condition and inspected your vehicle before driving. Even so, if you caused an accident, you would have to pay for it for the rest of your life. If you were willing to accept all of that, everything else would become possible.

Cars run on gasoline or electricity, but what did the human body need to move? Oxygen. Oxygen produced heat. “Breathing” was an important way to obtain oxygen efficiently. Because modern people breathed with their chests, they were unaware that they were about to drown due to the lack of oxygen in their brains.

Let’s slowly take a deep breath.

You could see what you couldn’t see before.

You could touch what you couldn’t touch before.

The days I spent with you.

The days I will spend with you from now on.

Who should I thank for this happiness?

Right now, I’m breathing.

Blessed are the creatures that shed their fur.

They have rented lodgings on earth and eaten many lives.

Now, I offer a moment of silence.

The fourth shot began. The ten’s heartbeats grated.

Gradually, slowly, the surroundings were dyed in green, like vines were creeping around. This place, with its spreading leaves and blooming orange flowers, was just like the earth after humans have left.

Those who gathered in the Land of the Rising Sun. Kaito, who had just been born, let out a single cry. The roar that announced the joy of birth hit right in the middle of the target.

Ryouhei also raised his voice. What beautiful stars, what delightful companions. Now, let’s set off. Let’s row the boat. What kind of place would the new continent be? What kind of encounters await us?

Seiya followed suit. I knew you were worried about me. I was taking advantage of your kindness. Thank you for being by my side. Thank you for getting angry.

Nanao was enjoying himself, happy, and sun—. The place I belong is where I draw my bow. I want it, I want it, I want it. But it didn’t come true. I got an abode that I should have given up sometime ago. Someone whispered to me that it’s okay to stay here, that there’s no need to leave so quickly. When he blew a whistle, the matooto resounded at the azuchi.

Minato was standing on the earth.

We are temporary residents who are renting a part of the earth.

His memory flew back to a few weeks ago, to something Saionji had said with blooming azaleas behind him.

“Narumiya-kun, please try to explain the ‘Heart Sutra’ to me.”

“Yes. The universe is emptiness. If you think something exists, it exists. If you don’t think it exists, it doesn’t exist. You can see it if you try to see it, and you can’t see it if you don’t try. It’s dyed in every color, and it’s not dyed in any color. The mind is emptiness. The mind is the body, and the body is the mind. Although they are considered different things, they used to be one and the same. The ‘box’ that is me contains all the necessary software. Now, recite the password called an incantation and open the box. The box will then start up normally.”

“That’s a bold interpretation. It’s very interesting. Continuing studying in that vein.”

“Thank you very much.”

“It’s not about right or wrong, it’s about how you feel. That is the answer of the current you. Religion was originally meant to be a guidebook to help you live a better life.”

The mind and body were the same person.

The heart was responsible for pumping blood, the stomach was responsible for digesting food, and the brain was responsible for thinking. All were functions of internal organs, and each had a role. It was just that the roles were divided, and it didn’t mean that the brain was the best and the others weren’t. Confusion arose because only the brain was viewed as special.

Humans tended to rely on vision when obtaining information, and were creatures who liked to take things apart before observing them. However, if you were too short-sighted, you would lose sight of the true essence. If you take a step back, you could see the whole thing. Man and woman, good and evil, the surface and below, real and imaginary numbers, joy and anger, sadness and healing, health and illness, life and death, meetings and partings. Dualism was just one classification method, and the classification depended on the time and situation.

The two couldn’t be separated. They were intertwined from the start.

They were one from the beginning.

A spell was a mysterious word that went beyond human comprehension. Although words could be shown to have special power, the basis for the current phenomenon couldn’t be explained. Because it was “power beyond human understanding,” it was difficult for ordinary people to understand, much less put into words. Just because you couldn’t see, hear, or quantify it doesn’t mean that it “didn’t exist.” It was only latent, not yet manifested.

A text that had been simplified by an expert in the field by only extracting the important points was, on the contrary, even more difficult for beginners to understand. Rewording the text into concrete episodes, in other words, accumulating stories, helps to deepen understanding. Stories were the perfect tool to convey something. It was hoped that someday, someone would explain it in an easy-to-understand text.

Minato and Asahina’s arrows pierced their targets.

Ten people. Forty perfect hits.

This was in the exact region of a hundred shots and a hundred hits.

Viewing this amazing scene, there was a standing ovation in the spectators’ seats.

Ren, who was watching in the stands, squeezed his hands. Seiya’s brother Gaku hugged himself.

“It looks cold. How long will this continue?”

“…I hope it doesn’t end like this.”

No winner was decided, so it became a shoot-out. Each archer released a shot, and the school with the most hits won. If it couldn’t be determined in one round, it was repeated until the ranking was decided.

The oomae had begun to raise their bows.

Roaring bows. Arrows that cut through the wind. Summoning thunderclouds, colorful dragons swam through the archery range.

Dizzingly clear paths of light bounce, dance, and splashed. Legendary creatures ran to the end without turning around or stopping. The “insect” contained in the kanji for “wind” and “rainbow” meant dragon, and although they were feared as gods in the East and monsters in the West, they weren’t influenced by human expectations. Each went their own way. Their colors and speeds were different, but they all arrived at one place—somewhere bright.

Once more, everyone hit.

The people watching the ten, who never missed, felt a thirst in their throats. What were they witnessing? Did something like this truly exist? Were they becoming witnesses to history?

Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao, and Minato faced the target.

The five melted into one and returned to that day. They were hearing Greensleeves.

Minato was talking to his mother in a dream.

“This song is about the moment when a disciple told their master the answer to a problem, right? I think the moment the master heard this, they smiled with joy.”

Greensleeves was a “Song of Naru.”

After completing his trials, the boy became an adult.

It was a rite of passage, an initiation.

Farewells and encounters were one and the same. On the winter solstice, the sun died and was reborn. Rather than having two sides, rather than being parallel, it was a chaotic thing that blended and mixed together. Today was like yesterday, and tomorrow was like today. Time didn’t exist there.

“Goodbye” was a magic word. It was devised from the beginning.

The sound of knocking on the door. A ringing sound.

Yearning, chasing, wishing.

Cowering, struggling, being doubted, despised.

Raging, despairing, cursing.

When you repent, mourn, accept death…

And give up.

Bow your head, love, and forgive. The door finally opens.

With a “welcome.”

Love meant forgiving yourself and others.

Could you embrace the person in front of you who you hated so much that you wanted to kill?

Those who cleared this final task were called “adults (saints)”. (3)

Admiration for the opposite sex and affection between parents and children were biological desires based on the perpetuation of descendants, and it wouldn’t be too difficult to love someone who had been kind to you. True friendship was rare and beautiful. Those who walked on the same path, master and disciple and friends. The two would be on a journey that would never end. The only difference was whether one went first or went later.

Even if one, two, three, or even four people finished, the match wasn’t decided.

The fifth, Asahina and Minato, began to raise their bows. They opened their chests wide and stretched their limbs in all directions. Two crosses emerged in the shajo dyed by the sunset. The boys flew into the sky. Migratory birds passed between the clouds, rivers meandering across the land, and cows grazing. A dragonfly rested its wings on the tip of an ear of wheat and flew away, seemingly uninterested in human activity.

A beautiful bow with a length unparalleled in the world. That was a divine implement. The sacred instrument inherited by archers chose its user. It looked for those with clear, unclouded eyes. The sun was a form of unconditional love. An existence that shined on everyone, both good or bad, without distinction. The Japanese called that star Amaterasu Oomikami.

When Minato’s arrow was sucked into its target, Asahina gently brought down his bow.

It was at that moment that Kazemai High School’s victory was decided.

Exclamations and screams arose at the long battle. The applause and cheers were deafening. In the stands, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, Seo, and Gaku were crying.

Kaito and Eddie, Ryouhei and Matsuda, Seiya and Kanuma, Nanao and Igarashi, and Minato and Asahina bumped gloves.

Asahina laughed. “That was so much fun. Let’s do it again.”

“Yeah, I had fun too.”

After they finished leaving the shajo, the first years Kanbayashi and Himuro ran up to them, and the members of Kazemai High School’s kyudo club hugged each other’s shoulders.

Minato and Kaito were screaming.

“Woooooooo!”

“Yeaaaaaah!”

“You don’t have to do your yagoe here. You’re hurting my ears,” Seiya chided them, but made no move to remove their hands from his shoulders. Ryouhei put his weight on them, causing the seven to lose their balance and collapse to the ground.

Nanao’s eyes were wet with emotion. It was not a little frustrating for him to be left out of the lineup in the preliminaries. He didn’t want to admit that he was frustrated, not wanting to show such an uncool part of himself, and unconsciously tried to keep up appearances. The other members all noticed this. They had the same feelings. Kaito, Seiya, Minato, Ryouhei, and even Himuro and Kanbayashi patted Nanao on the head. Nanao did the same thing back to them. Tommy-sensei watched the seven boys with a smile as they seemed to return to their childhood. Masa-san picked Nanao up and walked around with him. “Pick me up too!” Ryouhei badgered him.

The appearance of the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club was deeply etched into people’s memories.

After the awards ceremony, Kazemai prepared to go home. The support group that brought the cars walked ahead, followed by the club members. The championship cup was held by the president, Seiya.

The feeling of elation couldn’t be contained. The scenery they usually saw was more color saturated and lacked a sense of reality. On the stage of the finals, all five of them achieved six shots without missing. This was exactly a dream came true.

As they were leaving the kyudojo, the Kirisaki members came to congratulate them. The Young Prince’s eyes were more melancholic than usual.

Ryouhei put his arms around Kaito and Nanao’s shoulders.

“Ah, I’m still excited. I feel like running.”

“Alright, let’s run home.”

“You guys are gonna get wiped out if you do that,” Kaito said, but he couldn’t remain still either and started walking faster.

Minato, Kanbayashi, and Himuro formed the tail end of the group. After the match, they walked slowly from exhaustion.

“I’ve been inspired. I’m going to become an archer like Narumiya-senpai.”

“You’re making too much of me. I’m not even close to Masa-san or Shuu.”

“All three of you are amazing.”

Himuro nodded wordlessly.

“Kyah, I’m sorry!”

Someone appeared, interrupting Minato and the others’ conversation. A girl passing by bumped into him when he wasn’t looking, it seemed. The contents of the plastic bottle she was holding spilled onto Minato, and he wiped the liquid with his sleeve.

“Your collar got soaked. Do you want to change?”

“Some of it got into my mouth, but it seems to be just water. It’ll dry right away.”

By the time they finished loading their bags into the car, Minato felt sluggish. He felt nauseous, and his whole body was itching. When he looked at the inside of his arm, he saw that a rash had broken out.

“What’s wrong with me? I feel itchy, and kinda sick…”

“Your neck is turning red! Should I call Takehaya-senpai? He might have some medicine.”

“Ah, it’s fine. I’ll wait until we get back.”

But soon, Minato was crouching down in a corner of the parking lot. Seiya, noticing that Minato and the others were acting strange, rushed over. Minato was clutching his throat as he crouched.

“What’s wrong, Minato!?”

“…I don’t know, but I feel sick and lightheaded.”

“Could it be heatstroke? Do you have a fever? How’s your stomach?”

“It’s hard to breathe…my throat…”

His voice was raspy and his breathes came in short gasps. Nanao rubbed Minato’s back, and the other members formed a human barricade to guard him. From Seiya’s perspective, he was experiencing system symptoms such as nausea, sweating, dizziness, rashes, and shivering. What was going on?

Seiya’s brother Gaku, who had gotten into the car earlier, also ran over and put his nose on the back of Minato’s neck.

“Seiya, wait. It’s really faint, but he smells different than usual. …It’s an unpleasant smell. What is this, ginkgo fruit?”

Seiya and Ryouhei looked at each other.

“Minato’s allergic to ginkgo!”

“That’s right. A long time ago, when our families went to pick ginkgo fruits, we were shocked when Minato got a rash even though he never touched them with his bare hands.”

“But there aren’t any ginkgo fruits this time of year,” Gaku murmured. “Are these symptoms of anaphylactic shock?”

Seiya’s expression froze.

Anaphylactic shock was a condition in which an allergic reaction to food or other allergens caused a drop in blood pressure and deterioration of consciousness.

Masa-san pushed through the human barricade and went to Minato. He was lying limp in the laps of Kanbayashi and Himuro. His face was chalk white.

“Sorry about this, Minato.”

Masa-san suddenly lifted up Minato’s hakama and pushed something that looked like a thick pen into his thigh. There was a click sound. Seiya widened his eyes, and Kanbayashi blinked rapidly.

“It’s a self-injection of adrenaline. I’m allergic to wasp poison, so I carry it around with me.”

Gaku got out his phone. “Coach Takigawa, thank goodness. Don’t worry, I’ll get him to the hospital right away.”

The injection seemed to have worked, and after a while Minato was able to sit up on his own. His breathing had settled down, and it seemed that his life was no longer in danger. Minato was escorted to the hospital by the Takehaya brothers.

Afterwards, the dashcam in one of the parents’ cars parked in the parking lot showed the girl who was holding the bottle. Despite repeated appeals that the water in the bottle was suspicious, the case was shelved without much investigation, as it was assumed that Minato had just accidentally ingested food that he was allergic to.

Seiya had a pained expression on his face.

“I know someone whose hobbies include hacking into surveillance camera data and using AI to analyze internet articles. The girl from the dashcam is a Kuon devotee. We also confirmed contact between a detective and a Kuon family servant. Apparently, the detective got their hands on ginkgo fruits from a university lab. It seems like there are all sorts of people at Kuon’s house.”

“Why Minato?” Ryouhei asked.

“It’s probably jealousy. The Young Prince only has one brother disciple. No one can take Minato’s place.”

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo stamped on the ground in frustration.

“I can’t believe we can’t do anything even though we know that much.”

“It’s frustrating.”

“Yeah, I feel you. But wouldn’t it also be bad if the hacking is discovered?”

Masa-san, who had been listening silently until then, rubbed his cheek.

“We have to punish him hard for this.”

Kuon was spending the weekend at the villa.

“Has that woman’s identity been exposed? How useless. Hmm, no need to bother with a orthopedic surgeon’s son and a bunch of commoners.”

His phone rang, and the screen displayed a certain person’s name.

It was Fujiwara Shuu.

“Kuon Takumi, will you apologize to Minato?”

Perhaps it was because he was calling from somewhere far away, but there was so much noise in the background that it was hard to hear.

“What are you talking about? I’m on vacation right now. Do you mind if I ask you to refrain from calling?”

“He’s heading your way right now. I’m not going to be able to stop him.”

“He?”

Asahina and Eddie had pinpointed Kuon’s location. He was in a richly decorated mansion deep in the mountains. The heavy doors opened.

Masa-san leisurely walked from the central entrance to the front stairwell. A female servant of the mansion, suspicious of the smiling, cheerfully walking stranger, called out to him.

“Excuse me, sir? Are you a guest?”

“Hey there, young lady. I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”

“I’m afraid that I cannot let you through to the next room.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m very close to Takumi-kun.”

Masa-san smiled softly, and the servant felt cold air blowing on the back of her neck. Contrary to his words, his quiet anger was something that couldn’t be hidden no matter how hard he tried.

The woman screamed. “Takumi-sama, there’s a suspicious person here! Somebody help!”

Kuon sensed the man’s impending presence and hurried outside.

Masa-san got behind the men guarding Kuon and slammed his fist into the back of his liver. He dodged another man’s kick, and when he fell to the ground with a heavy thud, Masa-san jumped over the stair railing.

All the while, Kuon was running at full speed. His pursuer closed the distance in the blink of an eye, and Kuon, panicking, tripped on the grass and fell. Despite this, he still crawled on the ground, trying to escape, but couldn’t move forward.

Masa-san grabbed Kuon by the nape of his neck.

“Swear that you’ll never lay a finger on Kazemai’s students again.”

“O-Okay. I swear, so let me go first.”

When Masa-san loosened his grip, Kuon raised himself up and faced him directly. Immediately after, he saw the shadow of a muscular man behind Masa-san. Masa-san punched him in the face without looking back.

Kuon clutched at the soil.

“Who the hell are you!? There’s no way an ordinary person can do that!”

“I’m sure you know that I’m Kazemai’s coach. A long time ago, I learned self-defense. You don’t seem to realize what you’ve done.”

“Isn’t it just a little bit of itchiness? A long time ago, I had a classmate who got itchy after eating eggs, but it cleared up after a week. Isn’t this just a child’s adorable prank?”

“Don’t tell me that you’ve done the same thing in the past? Allergies can be life-threatening if you don’t take care of them properly. What you did was equivalent to poisoning him. Lately, I haven’t been able to control myself…whatever will I do?”

Masa-san put his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket. He took out a permanent marker, and after removing the cap, he placed the tip of the pen on Kuon’s cheek.

Approximately ten seconds later, Kuon’s face was covered with the same pattern as the one on the powder container Masa-san had received from his master. Yes, depending on how you looked at it, it looked like a bikini.

The look in Kuon’s eyes changed when he saw Masa-san turn on his phone.

“No way, you’re going to take a photo?”

“A souvenir. I borrowed the pen from Kazemai’s president, and it turned out to be a very tasteful picture, if I do say so myself.”

“You lowly citizen! I’ll call Father!”

“As you requested, I’ve already called him. ‘My foolish son has wronged your friend. Please scold him on my behalf,’ he said and invited me to this villa. Now that I’ve taken some pictures, I think I’ll send them to the Kirisaki twins.”

“Father would never… S-Stop it! Doesn’t Buddhism tell you to not take revenge even when something is done to you? Your real job is being a monk, isn’t it?”

“Everyone keeps calling me a monk, monk, monk. I’m not a monk, I’m a priest!”

As Masa-san’s finger was about to slide across his phone’s screen, the wind created by a helicopter made the leaves and branches of the mountains shake. It was a tremendous amount of dust. When he looked up, the door of the low-flying aircraft opened.

Shuu jumped down. His pale eyelashes were swaying.

“Kuon, if you’re going to use the power of your family, I won’t hesitate to borrow the power of my family as well. Have you forgotten my name?”

“…Fujiwara-senpai.”

Minato also peeked out from the helicopter.

“Masa-san, stop! Don’t do anything more than that! I haven’t learned pro wrestling yet.”

“Good grief, my disciples are always too soft!”

Masa-san and Shuu stood in front of Kuon, who bowed his head in resignation.

Young leaves danced in the sky.

Members of the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club gathered at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo.

A fleeting time of overnight practice. The warm sunlight that poured down upon them made them sleepy.

“Oh, what happened to the boys?” Tommy-sensei asked Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo.

“They went to see the dormouse.”

Masa-san pressed his hand to his forehead. “They got too much power, don’t they? Let’s get started on dinner.”

“Yes.”

Minato and his friends were in the forest. They were standing in front of an old mountain hut.

Nanao pointed to the door of the hut.

“At dawn, I volunteered to go look for Miyama stag beetles. Then, I saw it there.”

“Wow, that early morning walk was all about collecting bugs? I’m glad I didn’t go,” Ryouhei said, patting his chest.

Minato asked him to let him sit on his shoulders and peered through the gaps in the tobukuro.* It was a nostalgic scene for Seiya, who was watching them from the side as he waited for his turn to sit on Ryouhei’s shoulders.

“You guys are way too big to do little kid stuff like this,” Kaito said to Seiya.

“You don’t have to look, Kaito.”

“…I guess it’s fine to take just one look.”

Keyaki and Kanbayashi were searching around for new discoveries, and Himuro was listening to the voice of the forest’s master.

The mountains were shining.

The mountains were singing.

By the time the owl woke up from its sleep, Minato and the others had dinner.

Previous | Next

#tsurune #tsurune translation

29 notes · View notes

pavo-ocxllus · 2 years ago

Text

❝ 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐧—𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠-? ❞

𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡… two men who's share a single brain cell decides to give you their jersey in the most unconventional way possible 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠… atsumu miya x gn!reader, shoyo hinata x gn!reader 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠… fluff, second-hand embarrassment, 1.9k words (atsumu: 0.9k, hinata: 1k) 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬… sweaty atsumu = menace atsumu, definitely not realistic lololol, i guess it's suggestive?? it won't be in the rated-r tag; coming from a volleyball player, [name] mentions a play atsumu did that i'm not sure is entirely possible 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭… after who knows how long, i finally found the inspiration to write slightly based on this (https://youtu.be/71G7IXjUx6U) video of ronaldo giving a fan his jersey! you could also think of this as sort of a sequel to this post, just with different characters! happy late new year and pretend i didn't disappear for a bit <3

𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐲𝐚. ･ﾟ: *. — 宮侑

the victorious sentiment echoed in the stadium, the cheers specifically belonging the crowds adorned in gold and black. the match between the msby jackals and the ejp raijin had finally concluded, with the jackals coming out on top.

the thing about atsumu was that no matter what—once he gets into your life, he never seems to get out of it. you thought taking a job as a manager for the raijin (which, last time you checked, their home location was definitely not in osaka) would finally get you to part ways with the setter and heal from the obviously unrequited puppy crush that grew out of hand.

unfortunately, the japanese volleyball world seemed to be quite small, considering the numerous times the two teams went against one another. well, perhaps it was good luck for you; you weren't exactly ready to let him go as a friend yet.

(in your opinion, the word 'friend' was a bit of a stretch, but your point remained standing.)

atsumu, like always, was one of the players that were the center of attention in all his sweat-drenched glory; honestly, it was quite difficult not to notice him.

so, after congratulating the opposing team's manager and coach, you decide to be the good sportsmanship-like person you are and praise his performance (as well as stretch his already over-inflated ego... but it wouldn't be that bad, right?)

"miya-kun!" you called out once he was finished talking to some interviewers, running up to him when he acknowledged your presence with that stupidly big grin of his. once you eventually stood before him, it was as if the words you were mentally preparing yourself to say we're stuck in your throat. "y-you did great today!"

"didn't i tell 'ya to call me atsumu? 'ya know i'm not gonna let 'ya call me that when 'samu and i are in the same room, so why stop there?"

you flushed at the forwardness, though you respected his wishes regardless. "well then... atsumu-kun, you did great!"

he arched his neck back with his hands stationed at his hips, laughing for a while at how swiftly you corrected your "mistake."

"wow," the setter chuckled a bit before finishing with a cocky smirk. "didn't think i woulda had one of my fans be a manager for the raijin, out've all people."

you froze a bit slightly for some reason, but found yourself relaxing not long afterward. he never seemed to change. sometimes, you forget he's just as dorky as ever. you didn't hold back from comparing it to volleyball—he still played the same way as he did in high school.

"well, of course i am, atsumu," you've stated blankly, as if this were and obvious fact. before hearing those words fall out, the blond's head drifted slightly to study a nearby team warming up for a match. however, when he finally registered it in his head he widened his eyes, doing a double take. "you've come a long way from high school... and that rally when you faked a dump, a set, yet actually dumped was nothing short of incredible-"

not bearing to let you incessantly compliment him despite it being only five seconds, the man interrupted. "yeah, yeah... i know, i'm amazin', aren't i? is it gettin' hot in here? personally... i think they should tone down the heater right about now, heh."

you noticed that? was along the lines of the blond's thoughts as he tried to cool down the burning red on his face, blazing across his cheeks. the announcers kind of brushed it under the rug, much to his chagrin, yet it wasn't a big deal that he was noticed. why did you make it a big deal? most importantly, why did he?

"atsumu!" you called out, breaking him out from his thoughts by perching your hand on top of his shoulder. "you're heating up and spacing out... i know i'm not the jackals' manager but you really have to start lookin' out for yourself. though, i suppose it's kind of warm in here..."

"'ya know what? you don't gotta get me to the infirmary, [name]-san. it's scorchin' in here!"

not paying attention to the somewhat cryptic wording, your eyes bounced around the arena, attempting to find the quickest route to get atsumu taken care of. "right, just follow me okay—oh my god."

it all happened too fast—you swore he was wearing a shirt a few seconds ago, and now it was held snugly around his arms before he practically shoved it into your hold.

rather than resting your focus on his defined figure (though, to be fair, you couldn't but sneak a glimpse of it), your eyes were trained on his damp, black and gold jersey, displaying the number in bold font: 13. a part of you didn't even feel the least bit disgusted at the admittedly gross gesture, you simply were standing there, paralyzed in the sheer audacity of it all.

"i- atsumu, there's no way i can-"

"anythin' for a fan, am i right?" he smirked, paying no heed to suddenly grabbing the attention of various newscasters not to far from you two.

deciding to escalate the situation even further, he added something else to the conversation in a lower tone. "if 'ya want, i can give 'ya my shorts, too."

winking at you and flashing his teeth, you couldn't help but feel the urge to turn in your two weeks' notice.

𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚. ･ﾟ: *. — 日向翔陽

the awe of the crowd watching the tiniest player in the msby jackals soaring above his teammates and opponents couldn't even come close to holding a candle to your own expression.

it's only amazing to see that he's come so far... you remember when you first discovered HINATA on that low-quality, youtube video you discovered when searching for nothing in particular attempting to fill the void of having absolutely nothing better to do. even at his debut, even at the clumsiness he initially felt during the beginning of the match, you could feel that there was pure passion and skill behind it all.

when you heard that the infamous ninja-shoyo was coming to japan and made the msby black jackal's starting lineup, you knew you just had to purchase a ticket for one of his games as soon as your busy, hectic life would let you. and now here you are, already have been to seventeen of his games (and counting!) managing to somehow score the same seat in the middle of the stadium, particularly on the side with the gold and black team playing.

the excitement coursing in your veins still remained even after 30 minutes since the match had concluded. the little grin on your face continued to stretch as you ordered some onigiri near the food stand that had been set up right outside the volleyball court; not even the scene where one man (who, may you add, bore a strange resemblance to the owner of the food stall) and two others out of your peripheral vision were causing beside you, clamoring about how they deserve food on the house for "winning," wasn't able to break your attitude.

inevitably, your prior upbeat mood had toned down, now replaced by a strong sense of curiosity regarding the situation behind you. it was only a matter of time before you couldn't handle it, swiftly turning your head around to see what was up. though, you weren't necessarily expecting to have your eyes widen at the sight.

the blond one was somebody you recognized from the game earlier and behind him was a spiky, silver haired man, who also participated in the match. apparently, you didn't notice the obvious pattern, seeing as you still managed to widen your eyes even more when you noticed the fluff of orange hair right behind you.

for a split second, both you and hinata locked eyes, before you glanced away first. you directed your attention toward the onigiri stand, hoping that they could just hurry it up your order so you wouldn't have to stand around here for much longer-

"hey!" an unfamiliar voice called out. judging by the way it came behind you, there was an unfortunately high possibility of it being one of those three players. reluctantly, you glanced back, with the opposite hitter's eyes practically boring into yours. "didn't i see you before?"

he was met with confusion as you quirked an eyebrow. "w-what do you mean?"

you hope to the universe he didn't mean he saw you doing something embarrassing, like buying his merch in public or something of the sort.

a few moments pass, mostly consisting of hinata pondering a bit, glancing at you every now and then while looking down at his shoes trying to figure out your identity. how long was your onigiri going to take to get ready?!

"ah! i know!" hinata suddenly exclaimed, pushing the side of his fist into his palm. "you're the person i always see at our games!"

you take what you previously thought was embarrassing back—nothing compared to that tiny observation could be any more humiliating.

"bokuto-san, miya-san, i think we just found a fan!!"

"as if we don't see more than one everyday, shokkun," the blond disregarded hinata's discovery, going back to haggle the price of onigiri with the owner once more, the sounds of their bickering fading behind you.

"ah, it's your very first fan interaction!" the owl-headed one piped up—based on how loud he was, you were surprised he didn't cause an even larger scene. "they're really special, and they're regular too, which makes it super special! you should give them something!!"

ignoring the blatant display of total embarrassment shoved in your face, you noticed how hinata seemed to be thinking rather hard on this subject.

"you know what, i know what you can do!" might as well get something out of this, right? "my onigiri is taking a little while, and since your teammate seems to know the proprietor personally, maybe you can get it on the house for me-"

"i know!" the ginger-haired man interrupted your brilliant idea. regardless, you didn't say anything; you were curious what was in his mind that he believed was better than free food. "i can get you my jersey!"

you blinked owlishly, feeling the urge to cock your head to the side in confusion at the sudden outburst, only being able to muster up a, "huh?"

hinata nodded, almost excitedly. "yeah, i think that sounds good, doesn't it?"

"well, sure, but i think my onigiri would be even better-"

you suddenly sputtered, your words refusing to come out of your mouth as you watched hinata pull up his shirt, exposing his attractively toned body. understandably, not wanting attract too much attention and cause your onigiri to be even more delayed, you grabbed the hem of his jersey and yanked it down.

"i'm good! really, a selfie or something would do!" you panicked, retracting your hands away from him.

"but, wouldn't you want a jersey of your favorite player?"

"...you aren't wrong-"

"then it's settled then!" before your reflexes activated, he yanked his jersey over his head, handing it to you as he bowed. "i hope you support our team in the future!"

you weren't sure if this "souvenir" would encourage you to come to more of their games or swear off of watching volleyball ever again.

𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 <𝟑

159 notes · View notes

japanese-language-institute · 2 years ago

Text

Best Japanese Language Training Institute Delhi

Not all Japanese courses are created equal. Some are more comprehensive than others, and some are more expensive than others. It can be difficult to know which one is the right one for you. But, Can an institute provide all the amenities, provide high quality study materials, have experienced teachers, provide a friendly environment, organize many activities and offer important classes at the same time? Yes! We do. After completing our Japanese course today you'll be able to;

● Understand every movie, series or Japanese anime without subtitles

● Make all basic and difficult sentence structures without anybody’s help

● Teach Japanese to anyone

● Pass JLPT exams with amazing grades

● Travel to Japan with ease

● Talk with locals in Japan

● Get a high-paying job Click to Enroll!

#Japanese school in delhi #Japanese language classes offline #Japanese language school in laxmi nagar #Japanese course in delhi #Online language classes for japanese conversation #Japanese language school #Japanese language learning #Foreign language education programs #Japanese coaching center #Language classes for japanese #Online language class for japanese #japanese institute Delhi/NCR #japanese language #language #educacion #education #educatio

0 notes

m1ckeyb3rry · 7 months ago

Note

Ok…chapters 3 and 4 here….separating this out so it’s easier to read…but enjoy!! Yukimiya has me crying

3 - Talent:

Soccer’s fun! After Kenyu comes home from school, he takes his soccer to a nearby empty lot. There wasn’t a soccer club in his elementary school, and his friends were all too engrossed in video games, so he usually practiced dribbling on alone. The lot was a big rugged and uneven, scattered with pebbles and grass here and there. While it wasn’t an ideal place to play soccer, it was fun to dribble around the stones and dips, and Kenyu rather enjoyed the feeling of the ball sticking to his feet.

“Woof woof!” “Wah-?!”

One day, while practicing alone as usual, a large dog approached him. It was wearing a collar, and though it was large, it seemed to be friendly. It was hopping up and down, running circles around Kenyu. “Do you want the ball?”, Kenyu asks. He lightly passes the ball over, and the ecstatic dog hits it back with the tip of its nose. It continued to kick it forward, and once again started to skillfully dribble, much to Kenyu’s fascination. He chased after the dog, only for the dog’s owner, an elderly man, to approach. He called over his dog, whose name seemed to be Cannavaro, and apologized for the inconvenience. But Kenyu didn’t mind; Instead, he invited Cannavaro to continue playing. Cannavaro was a golden retriever. If he stood up fully on his hind legs, he’d surely be around Kenyu’s height. He was really cute when he was playing around with the ball. He had so much fun that he ran around playing ball with Cannavaro until dinner time.

“Let’s play again sometime!”

“Woof!”

That was Kenyu’s first 1-on-1. Every now and then, Cannavaro would come to the lot, and they’d play soccer again. As expected of a Golden retriever, his speed and reactions were both fast, he’d immediately snatch the ball from Kenyu. At first, he suffered utter defeat at the pass of Cannavaro, but as they continued playing everyday, he gradually got the hang of it. He learned to keep his touches narrow when he dribbled. If he made too wide of a movement, Cannavaro would pounce on the ball, so he needed to keep the ball at his feet at all times. He had to take small kick-like steps, keeping the ball trapped in between his feet. But Cannavaro was smart, he gradually began to read Kenyu’s movements, moving his body in the direction he wants to steal the ball from, successfully taking the ball. Truly clever. It seems like he’s reacting to how Kenyu aligns his center of gravity. Kenyu took advantage of that. He’d feint going right and then go left. And when he wanted to go right, he’d feint to the left first. When he successfully got past Cannavaro, he felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. He didn’t know what it was called at the time, but he had done a move very similar to drag scissors, a difficult feint technique, just by following what felt natural to his body. He got better at feints, and his steps became even narrower, his dribbling became top notch. With Cannavaro’s bottomless stamina, Kenyu gradually became tougher too.

“Today was Ken-chan’s win wasn’t it”, Cannavaro’s owner commented while spectating. “Ken-chan’s getting better and better.” Kenyu was elated at the older man’s compliments.

“Thank you! I want to become a pro soccer player in the future.” A pro soccer player, that was Kenyu’s innocent, childhood dream.

“That’s nice isn’t it. Ken-chan will become a pro soccer player and represent Japan on the national team. You’ll definitely become number 1.” The Japanese National team. The best in the world. The old man’s words had sparked excitement within Kenyu’s heart. He told the man he’d aim for number 1, and the man responded in kind. Seeing Kenyu so happy, the old man’s eyes crinkled to the max, narrowing as his smile pushed his cheeks up. The old man decided to mention that his own son had always played soccer and was now a soccer coach at a soccer school. He invited Kenyu to come to the school. Kenyu took up his offer with excitement. This marked another important “meeting” in his life. He got the name of the school from the man and immediately told his mom about it.

From the moment he entered the school, Kenyu’s talent had blossomed. The stamina and dribbling skills he had forged in his practice with Cannavaro, along with the athletic physique he was born with, and his one-track-mind stoicism. But above all, Kenyu was endowed with a strong sense of self confidence, believing in his self. Even though he was overflowing with self confidence, it wasn’t a childish sense of omnipotence that he felt. He’s happy when someone acknowledges him, a pure heart that responds to the trust of others. Becoming class president, being the anchor for the relay race, beginning soccer, they’re all a result of people looking out for him, helping him discover himself. The talents and parts of himself that even he wasn’t aware of. Thinking that people believe in things with their hearts, that was Kenyu’s honest thought process. Under his coach’s guidance and his rivalries with his teammates, Kenyu continued to level up his skills, establishing his position as a striker.

“Someday I’ll go pro. I’ll be on the Japanese national team and become the number one striker!”

Without a shadow of a doubt, that was Kenyu’s dream.

4: Straight and honest

By the time he entered middle school, Kenyu, who had been in the middle of his growth spurt period, continued to grow taller. But at the same rate he grew, the letters on the blackboard became increasingly hard to see. His eyesight had suddenly started to decline. He had to press his face up against his book to read it. Engrossed in his book, he subconsciously sat in a very hunched position. His mom would often warn him to sit up straight and keep the book farther from his face. The bookshelf in his room houses a variety of books including a series of biographies he has collected since he was a kid, classics like The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, and manga magazines like Shounen Jump and Weekly Shounen Manga. Reading the series of biographies now has led Kenyu to make a new discovery. Beethoven, Galileo, Joan of Arc, Nobuguchi Hideyo. These people blessed with talent have had their fair share of tragic difficulties in their lives. The reality is that these amazing people, who had succeeded despite those difficulties, had already passed and no longer live on in our world. That unspeakably sad reality had hit him with a wave of sympathy. He so immersed himself in all 30 of those stories, but he wonders if rereading them was a mistake. Maybe it’s genetics, since both his parents also wear glasses, but he went and got a thorough eye exam. Although he was disappointed, there were pro soccer players who wear contacts too. After Kenyu got contacts, his eyes became less of a hindrance on his plays. It was like his eyes were good as new. He beyond surpassed the typical abilities for is grade level, practicing with a passion despite being gifted with such talent. His love for soccer was honest and pure. In his free time, he’d kick the ball on his own. While he was in elementary school, he’d play in the empty lot. But now, he often took to the streets and roads. On days off from practice, he’d carry his ball in one hand and head to the streets. He’d choose times where the streets had few people, dribbling around obstacles like curbs and fire hydrants. Like there was a rubber band attaching the two, the ball never left Kenyu’s feet. Even on a familiar street, there were always new meeting and sights to be had while playing street soccer; Kenyu loved it. He became attached to the stray cats and would come across unexpected scenery. As if it was asking him to follow it, a stray cat meowed at Kenyu while he was walking home. Intrigued by the cat, he followed it while dribbling along. Just up ahead on the street, cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Kenyu thought they were beautiful. He had always loved cherry blossoms, it had probably been ever since he saw the falling petals at his elementary school entrance ceremony, beautifully blooming and cleanly scattered about* He was immersed in that fragility, feeling the beauty and sadness of the cherry blossoms, he was lost in thought. He loved those moments. The wind blows gently, making the petals dance. With the stray cat, Kenyu could gaze at the cherry blossoms forever.

Then, one day, while Kenyu had been practicing street soccer as usual, he had heard a voice call out from one of the side streets. Curious, he slowed down his dribbling. When he took a look, there was a building under construction, with only its framework in place, with four middle school students standing around. In between them was another middle school student, curled on the ground with his head bowed. He was wearing the same middle school uniform as “Hey, did you bring the money as promised?” Thud. The boy with brown-dyed hair kicked the stomach of the boy on the floor, who let out a pained grunt. This is bad, they’re extorting him. The surrounding boys continued to harass him for money; they kept kicking his back. “Please stop already….I don’t have any money…” the boy responded in a broken voice.

“Well if you don’t have any you better make some! Get a part time job, steal some from your parents, or find a way to extort some!!”

“I can’t….I really can’t…” his voice trailed off, to which the bully responded with a an angry “Shut up!!”, only to resume kicking him. Kenyu contemplated what he should do. One moment he was thinking, and the next he was running over to them. “Die!!!”, yelled the bully, to which Kenyu interjected with a yell, telling them to cut it out. The brown haired bully had his foot up ready to kick the boy again when Kenyu’s soccer ball had smacked him. The bully huffed. The surprise attack had smacked him right in the nose. “What the hell are you doing?!” He yelled to Kenyu. In a burst of anger, Kenyu punched the bully in one blow. The only problem was that he had no plan from there. The blatant injustice has caused his body to move on its own, but honor student Kenyu had never once gotten into a physical fist fight. Oh…..shit…he thought to himself. Coming to his senses, his legs went stiff. “That hurt, you bastard!”, the bully said. He hit Kenyu back, and a radiating pain spread across his cheek; this was also the first time he had ever been hit. The group of bullies began commenting amongst themselves, questioning Kenyu’s audacity. Before he knew it, Kenyu got punched in the stomach, causing him to double over. The bully then raised his leg and ruthlessly kicked Kenyu in the face. Kenyu was relentlessly beaten without even being given the time to strike back. There’s no way he’d be able to win against those four; the taste of blood had started invading his mouth. While the boys spat condescending insults to him, Kenyu had regretted not calling the police first. “Toodles ~ Justice Hero” the bully called out with a guffaw, tossing his now empty wallet, from which they pilfered all his money, into his face. Kenyu let out a groan as the four bullies walked away, cackling at the situation. At some point, the previous boy they were bullying had disappeared, running away while they targeted Kenyu. Kenyu had been beaten and stolen from, yet that boy had disappeared without a single word of thanks to his savior. After all, Kenyu had gotten angered and attacked without thinking; he had brought this upon himself. He laughed to himself solemnly, “This is the worst. I’m an idiot….letting something like this happen…I’m really an idiot.” Remaining on the floor, Kenyu looked up at the sky and masochistically laughed at himself. “It hurts..” When he laughed, his kicked ribs and cut lips hurt like hell. While holding back tears, Kenyu continued to laugh.

The next day, Kenyu ended up going to school with his face swollen. As he passed through the school gates, his classmates stuck their heads out from the windows and called out to him. You’d think that an idol had come to visit with how much of an uproar they were causing. Some people were leaning their bodies out to wave at him too. Kenyu wondered what was going on. It wasn’t just his classmates, but somehow, it was like the entire student body had their eyes on him. No, it wasn’t just his imagination, they really were looking at him. He thought it might’ve been because his face was swollen, but quickly rejected that idea. Even people he didn’t know were making a commotion: “Hey, is that Yukimiya?” “He’s so cool!” What exactly was going on? Still just as clueless, he entered his classroom to be greeted by his classmates swarming around him.

“Yesterday, you saved the board chairman’s son!?” “Did you really take on four other dudes?” “You’re so freaking cool!” Somehow, news of yesterday’s event had spread like a wildfire. Someone’s eyes widened, announcing that Yukki’s story had been written about and posted on the school site’s bulletin. It seems that yesterday’s bully victim, who ran way without even a word, had reflected and decided to redeem his actions. Kenyu had already left the scene, but his optometrist registration card had fallen out of his wallet in the scuffle. The boy from yesterday thought he had seemed familiar, but he never thought his savior would’ve been the soccer ace of his school. The boy who was bowing his head, crouched on the floor yesterday had then gone to the school’s bulletin and written about the event. The comments on the bulletin all praised Kenyu, calling him an ally of justice and complimenting his humbleness. It’s not like he did it for get praised, but he was happy receiving those compliments. The pain in his body, how pathetic he felt, and his regrets all flew away in that instant. He was relived, the his decision to move to help that boy out wasn’t a mistake. He felt so pathetic that he wanted to cry yesterday, but somehow it felt like God had been looking out for him again. That wasn’t all though. The boy he saved was the school board’s chairman’s son. Kenyu’s actions had given him courage, and the boy finally confessed to his father the entirety of the situation he had been caught in. His father had immediately contacted the police, reporting the details extortion and bullying of the perpetrators, and they were thus dealt appropriate punishments. Regarding Kenyu, since they didn’t want to associate the sports club with this incident of violence, they did not thank Kenyu publicly, a proper thank you was prepared. When Kenyu became a third year, he had a wide range of high schools he was recommended to. Above all his grades were good, but he behaved well and his soccer talent was top notch too. He didn’t have to take any underhanded paths, he fit the criteria for a standard recommendation slot. But with mediation from the board’s chairman, Kenyu was emphasized as the top priority recommendation. Kenyu ended up choosing Miyazaki’s prestigious school, Soranin High School. As soon as he had been recommended to their soccer club, Kenyu was able to focus on practice without having to worry about taking exams. God had, once again, been looking after him.

*the word cleanly used here to describe the petals used the same kanji and spelling as Isagi, the word being read isagiyoku

-Karasu anon

STOP IT YUKI IS SO CUTE WTF 😭😭😭 him learning to play soccer with a dog is adorable 🥹 and the way he jumped in and saved that kid too?? literally THE green flag of bllk truly none of the others can compare…the way he’s all like “idc abt other people’s lives” but is also so selfless he jumped into a 4v1 with no fighting experience is soook 😭😩 i love him

#answered asks #karasu anon translations

9 notes · View notes

electricea · 2 months ago

Text

From @thenihilistofthevoid.

Going through the post he got at Ryuji's, he nearly dropped the letter. "Oi, Ryuji... I can't read this letter, I'm too nervous. Could you read it for me?" The symbol on the letter was enough to induce anxiety as Saburo bit his nails. This was either the birth of his dream or it's smothering during infancy. The letter reads as follows: [Saburo Kusanagi Class 2-B Shujin Academy Tokyo, Japan

November 30, 2024

Dear Saburo Kusanagi,

We formally invite you to participate in the official tryouts for the Japanese National Swimming Team in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Your performance at the Kanto Regional Swimming Championships and your dedication to excellence have earned you recognition as one of Japan’s rising stars in competitive swimming.

The tryouts will take place on: Date: December 20-22, 2024 Time: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM (check-in at 8:00 AM) Location: Tatsumi International Swimming Center 2 Chome-8-10 Tatsumi, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0053

The selection process will include:

Timed heats across multiple swimming disciplines.

Endurance and technical assessments evaluated by national and Olympic coaching staff.

Personalized strategy and feedback sessions with Coach Satoshi Nakamura, head coach of the Japanese Olympic swimming program.

This event marks the beginning of preparations for Japan’s 2028 Olympic campaign. Athletes selected at these tryouts will be invited to join advanced training camps and international meets leading up to Los Angeles.

To confirm your attendance, please respond by December 10, 2024, via email or contact the Olympic Selection Committee Office. Upon confirmation, you will receive further details, including a comprehensive preparation guide and event itinerary.

This is your moment on the global stage. Your exceptional talent, discipline, and passion embody the spirit of Japan’s Olympic legacy. We are confident in your ability to make a profound impact, and we look forward to supporting you on this journey.

Best regards, Kaoru Higashiyama Director, Swimming Selection Committee Japanese Olympic Committee]

"You want me to read this for you...? I guess it must be something important then, yeah...?" Gingerly, he took the paper in his hands and began to unfurl it, eyes skimming over it as he tried to get an idea as to just what was so important about this letters - from how nervous Saburo was, he guessed it was something important.

He didn't know all that much about swimming but this letter seemed to be covering that.

An invitation to try out to swim for the national team, even...!

Plus being able to potentially get to attend the 2028 Olympics no less, that was definitely pretty impressive - a chance to try out and strut his stuff on a global stage...! Seemed as though Saburo had really gone above and beyond and turned some heads in the Kanto Regional Championship.

Admittedly it was incredibly impressive - he could only imagining how Saburo might be feeling (if he'd already read the letter, himself.) In his shoes, Ryuji probably would have been somewhere between exhilarated and terrified - the chance to potentially get to represent Japan as a national athlete, but the intimidation of potentially failing...!

Still, now wasn't the time to be pessimistic just yet! If anyone could do it, Saburo surely could! Not to mention, he'd be there to support him as well!

He was incredibly proud of Saburo all things considered and whether Saburo succeeded and made the national team or not, that much wouldn't change - although Saburo playing for the national team might mean he had considerably less free time to spare but surely they could work through that? Or if Saburo had...had to leave him behind to pursue his national dreams, he'd understand that as well.

Wasn't like he was exactly eager for a break up, quite the opposite - he didn't want to break up with Saburo, at all! But...he would never want to stand in the way of Saburo's ambitions or dreams, either.

Besides, he was getting ahead of himself - this could all just be him thinking worst case scenario - he wouldn't know what to do until the moment arrived so until then, so why stress about it? Besides, Saburo was still waiting to hear the news.

"It's an invitation to try out for Japan's National Swimming team later in December," He explains, gingerly holding out the letter so Saburo can read it. "Looks like they were pretty impressed by you,"

#thenihilistofthevoid #( v; unspecified. )#( answered. )

3 notes · View notes

perfectsunlight · 1 year ago

Text

03 ⸺ LIABILITY

warnings: anger issues, manipulation, language, toxic behavior

word count: 4.3k (half written)

part of the series: LOGICAL

seoul national university was one of the weaker teams last season. needless to say, that was far from true this year.

from the moment the game started, ygu was running into problems.

this wasn’t an official game, it was only a scrimmage, but this was collegiate basketball. and ygu was the reigning champions of last year’s national title.

coach taeyeon had the starting five picked out since the night before the game. seulgi was the starting point guard, lisa was shooting guard as always, yujin center, yeri small forward and rei power forward.

one of the issues was rei’s nerves. the second youngest player was making a few small mistakes due to her nerves, and both of the coaches understood why, but lisa was not as forgiving.

they were down by 10 by the end of the first half. 30-20, in favor of snu.

“get rei off the court.” lisa snapped at seulgi as she clutched her water bottle in her hand. the captain raised an eyebrow at her co-captain, scoffing lightly. “give the kid a break. she’s just nervous.”

the basketball star rose to her feet, raising an eyebrow. “then stop setting her up. she isn’t doing shit for us. just give the ball to me and i can bring us back.”

y/n noticed the way rei’s demeanor changed when lisa said that. the brunette scooted over to the japanese girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner. “you’re doing great, rei. don’t listen to her.” she whispered, just loud enough for the freshman to hear.

coach taeyeon intervened, her voice firm but composed. “we can't afford to play selfishly. if they start double pressing you, we lose our offensive advantage. rei will find her rhythm. just stick to the plays we practiced.”

y/n watched as her girlfriend clenched her jaw and scoffed quietly. lisa’s body language radiated irritation and restlessness. the point guard knew her girlfriend was aggravated, lisa hated losing, even if it was just for a moment.

lisa turned to face coach irene and coach taeyeon, setting her water bottle down on the bench before speaking.

“then give me my point guard. switch seulgi out for y/n so we can run the new plays.”

coach taeyeon exchanged a knowing look with coach irene. they both understood that they needed to gain a lead, and fast. coach irene nodded in agreement, giving her approval. “alright, we'll make the switch. y/n, you’ll go in right now. somi, you take yujin’s place too. yena, you’re going in for yeri. lisa stays in, but we’re keeping rei in too. ”

y/n nodded and quickly removed her warm-up pullover, revealing the dark forest green uniform underneath. she exchanged a determined glance with rei before heading onto the court. rei gave her a grateful smile, and y/n couldn't help but offer an encouraging wink.

y/n kim had played alongside lisa countless times. the pair knew each other better than the back of their own hands. every micro expression, every movement, every twitch in their muscles, they knew and could read it all.

needless to say that despite the volatile relationship, the two lovers had insurmountable chemistry on the court.

right before heading onto the court, y/n felt a tug on the back of her waistband. she already knew where this was going as she waited for her teammates to walk in front of her.

the shorter girl felt a pair of hands on her waist, guiding her backwards until she felt her back pressed into her girlfriend’s front.

“i swear to god,” lisa mumbled as she brushed her lips against the shell of her girlfriend’s ear. “you better not set rei up.” she tightened her grip ever so slightly, noticing how the shorter girl poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue.

y/n felt a shiver run down her spine, a mix of dread and trepidation. lisa's touch was dangerous, and it sent conflicting emotions coursing through her. she looked over her shoulder, her voice barely a whisper as she replied,

“i’m going to do what needs to be done.”

lisa's chuckle was dark and low, sending a chill down y/n's spine. “good,” she purred, her fingers tracing a tantalizing pattern along her girlfriend’s waistband. “but just remember you need me to score.”

the door slamming open caught both of the lovers off guard. yena stood in the doorway, a small scowl on her face as she glanced in between the two. she motioned with her head towards the court where the rest of the team was.

“hurry up.”

y/n quickly extricated herself from lisa's hold, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. lisa's expression had shifted from possessiveness to irritation, her eyes narrowing at yena's interruption. the tension in the air was palpable as y/n hurriedly made her way out of the locker room, leaving lisa behind.

“what was that all about?” yena asked, raising an eyebrow at her roommate. y/n shook her head as the noise from the crowd increased when the ref blew his whistle. “nothing. let’s just get ahead.”

the pair joined their teammates out on the court, waiting for the other team to join them. y/n glanced behind her at rei, noticing the way lisa was glaring at her. the point guard jogged over to the japanese girl, putting her hands on her shoulders.

“rei, look at me.” y/n said softly, shaking the younger girl gently. “you’re starting in the first scrimmage of the season. that means you are a great player. shake your nerves off, okay?”

the freshman timidly nodded, fully aware of the pair of eyes burning into the back of her head.

whistles from the referee were the signal for each of the girls to get into position, but just as y/n turned to jog back to her position, she shouted over her shoulder.

“i need you, rei!”

the vipers have always been known for their impressive offense, especially within the past few seasons with lisa being the star player. lisa may be the face of the basketball program, but true fans knew that y/n was just as important.

y/n was the only reason lisa could play the way she did. after all, lisa was only one of the pawns.

kim y/n was the game master, and she could choose which pieces she wanted to use, as well as the ones not to.

y/n did her best to support rei. she passed the ball to her whenever she could, boosting the freshman's confidence. rei, in turn, started gaining momentum. with each successful dribble and accurate pass, her nerves began to fade.

however, y/n's decision to focus on rei did not sit well with the superstar.

the star player was accustomed to being at the center of attention, and being the hero who always clinched the wins. now she just felt sidelined. her frustration bubbled beneath the surface, transforming her usual dominance on the court into a deliberate lack of effort.

during defensive plays, lisa would linger a moment too long, allowing her opponent to slip past her. when the ball came her way, she would pass it to someone else instead of taking the shot herself. it was subtle enough that the coach and other teammates didn't immediately notice, but y/n saw through it.

yena noticed it, too. but she knew better than to start arguing with her roommate’s girlfriend in the middle of a game.

“y/n! run yellow!” coach taeyeon barked from the sidelines. it was the middle of the third quarter and ygu was still down, 52-48. lisa’s head snapped in the direction of their coaches, only to return her gaze to her girlfriend as she watched y/n bring the ball down.

“you heard your mom.” lisa shouted, already implying what needed to be done. each of ygu’s plays were assigned color code names.

and yellow was the only play that involved lisa the most.

y/n knew she had no authority on the court at the moment. her girlfriend was the co-captain, and her mother was the head coach. she had no choice but to comply.

with a swift nod, y/n shouted out the play name. yellow was a play that only worked if they were guarding man-to-man, and not in a zone.

this meant that anywhere the vipers moved, snu’s defense followed. ygu was going to use it to their advantage.

yellow was a triangle offense play that utilized herself as well as lisa and yena. however there was one problem.

somi, lisa’s best friend and “yes” woman, was the center.

“somi!” lisa barked, and the tall blonde moved quickly, already knowing better than to disobey her best friend and roommate. the blonde positioned herself in the low post, using her height and strength to create space for lisa. she braced herself for the incoming defenders, determined to execute the play flawlessly.

her role was clear: be the reliable anchor in the paint.

y/n, with a sharp focus on the game, dribbled the ball near the three-point line, orchestrating the offense. she scanned the court, analyzing the defense and looking for an opportunity to exploit. rei looked at her anxiously, but made a small cut across the key, drawing the attention of her defender.

however, lisa was quicker than the japanese girl.

the older girl crossed over rei’s cut with her own, moving in front of the freshman after y/n had passed the ball into the opening. with a quick bounce and jump shot, lisa finished the play with the ball in the net.

the crowd from snu was loud, especially since this was just a scrimmage. but their basketball program this year was becoming increasingly popular, especially with their lineup.

and especially since their former star player, huh yunjin, was now playing for ygu.

“keep back!” lisa snapped at the japanese girl as they jogged back to their side of the court to defend the basket. somi nodded in agreement, looking down at the freshman. “yeah, you’re getting in the way.” the blonde added with a bit of venom.

rei looked down at her shoes as she ran, trying to concentrate on the game and not the way she felt like crying.

the bloodbath for possession continued until the end of the 3rd quarter, and coach kim and coach bae both were getting restless. the score was too close still, and the vipers needed momentum.

but ygu was still losing, 68-64.

“are we changing anyone in the lineup?” lisa asked as she side eyed a certain japanese freshman, who was fidgeting with her forest green jersey and trying to ignore the shaded question.

coach taeyeon nodded her head. “yeji, go in for yena. everyone else stay in.”

the thai girl licked her lips before nodded in disapproval, but knew that she had no control over the lineup. the whistle blew, and the fourth quarter began right where the third had left off.

lisa, yeji, and somi, however, had their own agenda. they kept exchanging covert glances, silently acknowledging their plan. their eyes would often drift toward rei, the talented freshman who had unwittingly become the center of their discontent.

it wasn’t personal, but it was about performance. and lisa was blaming the younger girl for the gap in the score and all the points they lost from her nervous mistakes.

rei tried her best to focus on the game. her movements were precise, her passes accurate, but every time she attempted to make a move, she found herself blocked out.

somi would either linger too long, and not help create the space rei wanted to make. yeji would fake passes in the younger girl’s direction, only to give the ball to lisa instead. and lisa?

well, she wasn’t one to share the glory that came from scoring.

the trio's strategy was working — they were isolating rei from crucial plays, effectively minimizing her impact on the game.

y/n knew this wasn’t good. it was bad enough lisa’s posse was bullying her friend. it was even worse because she knew rei wasn’t a pushover player.

the girl was starting in the scrimmage for a reason, and it was not to be blocked out and bullied into staying put.

but she knew they had to win. they had to.

basket after basket, ygu managed to claw their way back in the 4th quarter. it wasn’t easy, and there were a lot of issues with fouls, but they still stood their ground.they had narrowed the gap, keeping it within 2-4 points rather than 10-12. but time wasn’t on the viper’s side.

81-80, with only less than 1 minute and ygu still trailing.

there was one big problem; lisa, yeji, and somi, were all 4 fouls each. if any of the three received a fifth, they’d be benched for the rest of the game.

y/n hated what the trio was doing, but she knew that they were still good players. she couldn’t sacrifice the integrity of the game, but she also knew she had to sacrifice a pawn.

if she decided to set up somi, there was a risk that she’d immediately foul because of her position as center. if she went with yeji as the exploit, it would leave a hole in the defense.

and if she sacrificed her girlfriend, it would be betrayal.

she knew she had to sacrifice herself, because she only had 3 fouls.

coach kim was yelling something on the sideline, but her daughter wasn’t paying attention. y/n had 3 fouls already, and as she saw snu’s offense barreling towards their zone defense, she knew a 4th foul was incoming.

the crowd's roar echoed in y/n's ears as snu's player drove towards the basket, eyes locked on the hoop. y/n's mind raced, weighing the options in the split second she had. she couldn't afford another foul, and yet, she couldn't let her opponent score easily either.

with a burst of speed, y/n intercepted the snu player, her body moving on instinct. she jumped, arms raised, attempting to block the shot. the referee's whistle blew, and the gymnasium fell into a tense hush. it was a foul. y/n's heart sank as the reality of her situation settled in.

four fouls.

snu's fouled player and point guard, kim chaewon, stepped up to the free-throw line. the pressure of the game was evident on her face. the first shot left her fingertips, sailing through the air and landing perfectly in the net.

the score now stood at 82-80, snu still in the lead. the crowd erupted into a mix of excitement and anxiety.

the second free throw was about to be taken, and y/n's eyes narrowed in focus. she couldn't change the past, but she could influence the future. as the snu player released the ball, y/n willed it to miss.

the ball hit the rim and bounced off. a clear miss.

the point guard could feel the beads of sweat falling from her brow as she glanced at the scoreboard. the glowing countdown made the adrenaline in her body spike as she felt her vision tunneling in.

there was still time left on the clock, and ygu had one last chance.

she glanced at her teammates, and then her mother, determination burning in her eyes. for a moment, kim taeyeon saw a version of her younger self in her daughter.

the referee handed y/n the ball, and she dribbled past half-court. the gymnasium seemed to scream and simultaneously hold its breath as the vipers orchestrated their final play.

y/n’s heartbeat pounded in her skull as everything seemed to move into slow motion. her eyes scanned the court briefly, taking in the situation and analyzing the best course of action.

they were down 2 points. there was an 80% chance of them fouling again, and even though it wouldn’t mean much since the game was ending, y/n knew both her mother and coach bae would be livid if any of them fouled out. winning was crucial, but so was winning with a statement.

it’s why yunjin was benched for this entire scrimmage against her former university. they wanted to prove they could beat snu without using their former star player.

time was running out. but y/n still had one final ace up her sleeve.

she still had rei.

with seconds ticking away, the point guard made her decision. she saw rei, standing just beyond the three-point line, her eyes focused and determined. it was a risky move, passing up the opportunity to give the ball to lisa, her girlfriend and star player known for her clutch shots.

but y/n believed in naoi rei. all she needed was a decent chance at proving that to herself.

the point guard could feel the beads of sweat falling from her brow as she glanced at the scoreboard. 5 seconds left.

when y/n attempted to create an opening, somi quickly moved so her defender followed and crowded the other girl’s previously open position. this left two options.

lisa and rei.

y/n glanced at the japanese girl, who looked like she was a kicked puppy because of the glare lisa was shooting at her. it was a silent warning to not intervene.

lisa wanted this, the blood and the glory of being the one to push their school over for the win.

the shooting guard made her way to the top of the arch, ready to receive the pass from her girlfriend. but in one swift motion, y/n passed the ball to rei, who stood open in the far corner.

the gymnasium roared with anticipation as rei squared up, her shooting form flawless. the defenders closed in, but the freshman seemed unfazed this time.

“rei, now!” the point guard shouted as she took one final look at the clock. 0.5 seconds. it was now or never.

rei released the ball, a perfect arc guiding it towards the hoop. the crowd held its collective breath as the ball sailed through the net, swishing cleanly.

83-82. ygu had won.

y/n immediately ran to the freshman with a smile on her face, shaking the smaller girl as she hugged her.

the gymnasium was alive with euphoria, the sound of victory echoing off the walls. y/n couldn’t help the surge of pride that filled her. rei, the freshman who had been doubted, had just become the hero of the game.

as y/n released her in the midst of the celebration, she saw the disbelief and elation in rei’s eyes. “you did it, rei!” y/n exclaimed, her voice drowned out by the cheers around them.

the younger girl’s face lit up with a radiant smile. “i did it!” she screamed, her voice filled with a mixture of excitement and gratitude. “that was so scary, unnie!” she shouted back as she hugged the point guard tightly, but still holding that million dollar smile on her face.

the moment was interrupted by yuqi rushing over to the japanese girl, pulling her from y/n’s grasp and swinging the smaller girl around in a circle. “you did it, kiddo!” she shouted as the japanese girl laughed, wiggling out of the other girl’s arms.

the rest of the team swarmed around them, engulfing their second youngest in a sea of congratulatory pats on the back and hugs. coach taeyeon, her stern expression replaced by a rare smile, approached them, her eyes gleaming with pride. she clapped a hand on rei’s shoulder.

“fantastic shot, rei. congratulations,” coach taeyeon said, her voice carrying a genuine warmth. she then turned her attention to her daughter, and pulled her in for a side hug.

“good call.” taeyeon whispered to the point guard, who only gave her a small smile in return.

“i learned from the best.”

lisa’s eyes locked with her girlfriend’s, and y/n noticed just from the body language that she was upset. she didn’t go up to the shooting guard yet, wanting to savor the win for just a moment longer without having to deal with the drama.

eventually, it was time to get back onto the bus. the vipers gathered their things from the visiting locker room, and packed up to return back to their university.

y/n was in the middle of putting her hoodie on when somi bumped a bit too harshly into her shoulder. she knew it was a hostile move, especially coming from the center.

but it was always like this. if lisa was mad at y/n, somi was also mad at her too.

yeri saw what had happened and immediately rose to her feet, moving over to grab the center by her arm. the blonde girl looked over at her senior, raising an eyebrow.

“what?” somi said nonchalantly, earning an icy stare from the older kim family member.

“watch where you’re going, jeon somi.”

it was more than a warning. it was a threat.

the tension in the locker room was palpable as lisa entered the room, her jersey top draped over her neck like a rolled towel. irritation was evident in her demeanor as she slammed the door behind her shut, making sure everyone’s attention was on her.

the moment she locked eyes with her girlfriend, she turned her attention to rei, who was sitting on the bench in front of her. she subtly addressed the freshman with a venomous tone that sent shivers down everyone's spines.

“are we going to ignore how many mistakes were made? how much of an embarrassment that was?”

yeri raised an eyebrow at the star player, replying with a flat tone. “are we counting your fouls as mistakes too?”

the thai girl’s eyes narrowed in on y/n’s older cousin before she pointed a finger at the freshman on the bench.

“sure. but the majority are all rei’s. don’t forget to count that too.”

y/n felt a mix of frustration and helplessness as she watched lisa target her young friend. the freshman looked utterly bewildered, her eyes wide with shock and hurt. but despite the accusations, rei remained silent, not daring to argue back. the weight of lisa's words was crushing, but this time it seemed different.

“lisa, that's enough.” yuqi's voice cut through the tension, but lisa ignored her, her focus still fixed on rei.

yena, unable to contain her anger, stepped forward. “you're out of line, lisa. we win as a team and lose as a team. blaming rei for everything is unfair and petty.”

seulgi, the captain, stood up and spoke, adding to the conversation. “everyone made mistakes today. everyone is accountable for them. but we don’t need to point fingers.” she said sternly as she zipped her team jacket up.

lisa scoffed, dismissing yena and seulgi’s words. “unnie, if i remember correctly, you were the one who said you didn’t want freshman on the team this year because of things like this?” she said as she shot a glare towards her senior.

tears started to trickle down rei’s cheeks, her hands trembling in her lap. she was just nervous today, and she thought she had made up for it by winning the game for her team. however, that wasn’t good enough for lisa.

but nothing was ever good enough for lisa.

hanni, unable to bear seeing her teammate and friend so distraught, moved closer to rei, wrapping a protective arm around her. the youngest player also knew better than to talk back to lisa, regardless of what she said.

seulgi’s jaw clenched as she remained silent. lisa had hit a nerve, but she decided to keep going in at rei. “hey kid?” the shooting guard snapped as she looked back at the younger girl, who flinched at the co-captain’s words.

“remember that you just got lucky. the only thing you’ve proved tonight is that you’re just a liability.”

yena, who had been watching the altercation with growing anger, couldn't take it anymore. she lunged forward and tried to swing at lisa.

the small forward could handle a lot of things. she could handle yuri’s shouting, she could handle lisa’s temper, and she could handle people criticizing her.

but she drew the line when it came to her younger players.

“lisa you cunt!” she shouted as yuqi quickly held her back just before the girl’s fist could collide with the side of lisa’s face. the taller girl’s eyes wide as she looked next to her for help holding a very angry yena.

“yunjin, a little help!”

while yunjin helped yuqi, ahn yujin motioned with her head for them to start moving back to the bus so they could go home. yeji and somi both followed an unfazed lisa as she pulled her hoodie over her head and exited the locker room.

seulgi quickly shot a warning glare at yena, who immediately stilled her violent swings and sighed in defeat.

“put her down. let’s go.”

the rest of the team filed out, and the girls made their way back onto the bus. rei pulled her hoodie over her head tightly, not wanting her coaches to see her tear stained cheeks or her bloodshot eyes. y/n gave the japanese girl a soft pat on the shoulder as she passed by her row, and mouthed a quick “take care of her” to hanni before she made her way to sit next to yena.

yuqi was sitting in a row by herself, using the extra space to stretch out and sleep until they arrived back at the university.

yunjin looked out the window at the curb, noticing a familiar head of dark hair peeking out from a navy blue hoodie. the transfer student blew a small kiss, and if it wasn’t for the smile she saw on the other girl’s face, she would’ve thought that she didn’t see it.