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featherymalignancy · 4 years ago

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PART ONE — The Eyes of Texas: A Rowaelin Origin Story 🏐 🍺 ❤️

Long before Cash and Nesta, there was Rowan and Aelin.

Rowan Whitethorn—a Navel academy graduate and recently discharged second lieutenant from the United States Navy—takes a break from studying of the police academy exam in Los Angeles to fly back to his native Hawaii and compete in a twos volleyball tournament with his ex, one of the best sand players on the amateur circuit.

Beyond Remy’s devious machinations to win Rowan back, the biggest impediment to victory is the so-called Ashryver twins, a pair of cousins from Miami with a reputation of their own. Rowan can’t help but admire the gorgeous and sharp-tongued Aelin Galathynius, who’s more than ready to give Remy a run for her money—both on the court and in the race for Rowan’s affection.

This takes place in the same AU-verse as my Nessian story In Vino Veritas, about four years before.

This is a two-part story, you can jump to Part Two here. ♥️

The Eyes of Texas, Part ONE

No matter how many times he made the journey, Rowan Whitethorn always found a wonder in returning home. He’d been glued to the window on the plane’s final descent into Maui three days ago, drinking in the sight of the Kahului Bay’s glittering waters and the distant peaks of Haleakalā rising up like silent guardians in the distance. It had only been six months since he’d last been home, but it still made his heart race; he doubted it would ever fail to take his breath away.

It had only gotten better when he’d landed and found not just Cash and Fen waiting for him, but Lorcan as well. The self-proclaimed success story of the friend group, Lor had gotten a full-ride to MIT and graduated with a 4.0 before being recruited to some tech giant in the Silicon Valley. It didn’t matter how times Rowan tried to point out that he himself had needed a recommendation from a US Senator to get into the Naval Academy; Lor would simply start rattling off college rankings and acceptance rates until Rowan conceded defeat just to shut him up.

Even though they lived down the California coast from one another, Rowan rarely got to see Lor. So far as any of them could tell, Lorcan’s whole life was his job, and despite his obscene salary, he rarely took days off, let alone vacations. So for him to come to see Rowan play in the tournament--Ro didn’t think he needed to tell his friend what it meant to him. Not that it would have mattered if he had; the only thing Lor wasn’t good at was talking about his feelings. A likely culprit for why he didn’t have a girlfriend, considering their friend Essar had once dubbed him “the hottest man on all eight islands”.

From the airport they’d driven across the island in Cash’s beater pick-up, Rowan in the cab and Lor and Fen riding in back. It had reminded Rowan of old times, of being 18 and carefree. It reminded him of life before his mom had died, before the Academy and his naval service, before Lyria and the cancer and all the heartache that had come after.

Sitting in the truck, the radio blasting and Cash’ squawking tunelessly along with it, Rowan had felt more himself than he had in months. The stress of studying for the detective’s exam had been wearing on him more than he’d realized, and in that moment it had struck him how badly he’d needed this distraction. A glance at Cash had told him his friend was thinking the same thing.

Cash had been Rowan’s best friend since before he could honestly remember, and despite Lor’s obnoxious declarations to the contrary, Cash was hands-down the smartest person Rowan knew. It had come as a surprise, then, when they’d all started growing up and talking about college and Cash had shown no interest. Neither had Fen, but that Ro had expected. The free spirit of the lot, he seemed perfectly content to stay at home and work odd jobs so long as he could still surf every day. But Cash...he’d always seemed a little lost to Ro. Just a late bloomer, his mother had always insisted. Some of the best people take the longest to develop. Still, Rowan had assumed that now that they were in their mid-twenties, Cash would have figured it out. As far as he knew, though, Cash was still working at the same stuffy restaurant he’d worked at when they were teenagers, though he’d thankfully graduated from a dishwasher to a server and an occasional bartender.

As if he’d known what Ro had been thinking, Cash turned to grin at him, a secret smile that traditionally had spelled trouble, getting grounded, and occasionally running from the police.

“I have some news,” he’d said, eyes twinkling. “Remind me to tell you later.”

Ro had meant to ask the minute they’d gotten back to the house, but suddenly there was a shot in his hand and everything else had faded away. They’d partied all night and well into the next day, a decision he’d regretted when they’d all piled onto the ferry to Waikiki for the tournament. Thankfully they’d still had half a day to recover at the hotel before the tournament began, though the trip had gotten decidedly less restful when they’d arrived to find Remy waiting for them, already pissed off.

According to his friends, Remelle St. James was Rowan’s greatest sin. They’d dated on-and-off through high school in what Cash had generously described as a slow-burning dumpster fire, but had lost touch after Ro had left for the Naval Academy and Remy accepted a scholarship to play volleyball at UC Irvine. It was only after Lyria’s diagnosis, and—a devastatingly short six months later—her death that Rowan and Remelle reconnected. For all her other faults, Remy had also lost a sister to cancer young, and she’d been there to counsel Rowan through the worst of his grief.

Her romantic pursuit of him the following year was admittedly less admirable, and Rowan had been quick to lessen his connection to her when it became clear what she wanted from him. Still, that had been almost a year ago, and when she’d called to suggest he come to Hawaii and play in this invitational with her, it had been an offer he couldn’t refuse. Remy was one of the best amateur players on the circuit, having just missed the opportunity to play professionally on the AVP tour the previous year. It was why she’d called, she claimed. This tournament was a great way to get exposure, and mixed doubles was a much higher profile division than that of female twos.His friends, on the other hand, had immediately called bullshit.

“As much as I want to see you,” Fen had said when Rowan had first called with her proposal. “She’s playing you, brother. No offense, but there are tons of guys here she could recruit if she wanted. She asked you because, once again, she’s trying to dig her claws in.”

“Hate to agree,” Cash had chimed in. “But he’s totally right. She just wants in your board shorts.”

“Are you saying you don’t think I’m good enough to win?” Rowan had countered.

He could picture Cash rolling his eyes from 2,500 miles away.

“Of all the things we just said, how was that your takeaway?”“I never get to play anymore,” Rowan had admitted. “And I miss it. I think I’m just going to do it.”

“In that case, can’t wait to see you, brother.”

And that had been that. It had seemed a great idea up until he’d spotted Remy glowering at him in the lobby yesterday, and now, in the midst of the fourth set of the semifinal match, he was wondering if his friends hadn’t been right.

Game Point, he reminded himself. Just one more point and they’d be in the finals. Just one more point and he could take a blessed break from Remy and all her castigations.He stretched a hand behind him as Remy stepped back to serve, flashing two fingers to signal he would be blocking cross. He could hear her huff of disapproval even with his back to her. They’d been having problems with their coverage all game, and though Rowan could have very reasonably argued it was because of Remy’s defense, she’d blamed his position on the block.

“What’s the point of being a giant,” she’d snarled after the last point they’d lost. “If you can’t shut a hitter down at the net?”

“I’m trying to force the spot you keep saying you want,” he’d snapped back. “Maybe after this game you might want to look into a digging clinic.”

He heard the snap as the ball was served, tracking his opponents through the net as they received. It was a less than stellar pass from the guy, and though the set his teammate gave him was decent, Ro could see the swing was going to be exactly where he wanted it.

He lingered to the left until the last moment, feigning a block that would force the hit line. He struck just as the hitter began to make contact, taking a quick step to the right before exploding up. Rowan could feel in the way his muscles uncoiled that it had been a perfect jump, and he turned his face away to avoid a broken nose as his hands made contact with the ball. He could tell from the sound alone how dominating a block it had been, and he wasn’t surprised as he watched the ball fall into the sand on the opposite court, it’s angle so punishing there had been no chance for a defense.

The gathering crowd erupted in cheers, and Rowan turned to Remy in celebration, only to find her lips pursed.

“Nice block. I hope this means you’re going to actually listen to me next match.”

Too annoyed to respond to that, Rowan turned to shake hands with the opposing team before stalking past Remy to where his friends were lounging. Unsurprisingly, she was right on his heels, pushing the water bottle he’d about to take a sip from away and scowling at him.“I told you that you needed to be more aggressive on the block,” she said. “Would it honestly kill you to admit I’m right?” “Every block can’t be a roof, Rem! You need to be quicker at reading the coverage or we are going to lose in the finals.”

Remy crossed her arms.

“You’re just mad because you don’t have the stamina to keep jumping like that.”

“Don’t start with me about stamina,” Rowan said. “For someone who is hoping to get on the tour, you’re lagging on defense.”

Rowan was unsurprised when she reached back and slapped him in the face, though the blow had admittedly come fast enough that he hadn’t had time to avoid it.

“You’re an ass,” Remy snarled, tears in her eyes.

Once, that might have been enough to get him to soften his tone. After ten years of dealing with her gaslighting, he was now sure that they were manufactured.

“Do not do that again,” he said in a quiet voice. At this more tears welled, and she reached up to touch his face, her small palms resting on his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Ro,” she said, eyes flicking briefly to his lips. “I’m just--there’s a lot riding on this for me.”

“Our next match is in twenty minutes,” Rowan said, peeling her hands off of him. “Get some water and walk it off.”

She seemed put out at the dismissal, but she must have known she had little recourse to argue after slapping him, so she simply nodded and turned away, giving his friends a hateful look for good measure before stalking off. Fen watched her go with unveiled distaste before turning to Rowan and shaking his head.

“Dude, I know I’m gay, but I will never understand what you see in that girl. She straight sucks.”

Cash bubbled his lips in agreement.

“There’s nothing to see,” Lor said. “She’s a fucking nightmare.”

“Here, here,” Cash said, and Rowan rolled his eyes.“We’ve been playing together forever,” he protested. “And Remy knows we aren’t...seeing each other anymore.”

“Does she?” Lor drawled. “Just because you’re not banging her right now doesn’t mean she’s done with you, Whitethorn. Remelle St. James is not a girl you can just walk away from.”

“We’re twos partners, not soulmates,” Ro said. “And if playing with Remy means winning this tournament, I don’t really care what you jackasses think of it, or of her.”

“The sets cannot be worth it,” Lorcan drawled, sounding bored.

“She’s the best amateur female player in this tournament,” Rowan snapped back.

“Please,” Fen said. “She’s barely in the top five.”

“And who’s number one, then?”

Fen grinned, dark eyes fiendish.

“You haven’t heard? There’s a chick here from the University of Texas, and apparently she’s—”

“Holy shit,” Cash interrupted, eyes skating over Rowan’s shoulder. “Who is that?”

Rowan turned in time to watch the hottest woman he’d ever seen saunter towards them. She was taller than average—easily exceeding six feet—and corded with a sleek musculature that would have heralded her as a volleyball player even if they weren’t at a tournament. Her gorgeously tanned legs went on for an eternity, and he felt his mouth go dry at seeing the minuscule bikini bottoms she wore, the burnt orange Lycra hugging a toned ass that told him she probably had a damn good vertical. Her long blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail and braided in the popular style, and when she turned to smirk at him in a flash of pearly teeth and dazzling blue eyes, he felt a little weak.

“Goddamn,” Cash said, interrupting Rowan’s reverie. “She is fucking gorgeous.”

“That’s her,” Fen said. “From UT. Aelin Galathynius. Ro, I hope you and Remy can pull it together for this match. Otherwise this girl is gonna fuck you up.”

They all watched as she trotted onto the court, bending over in a stretch Rowan was afraid was going to make his board shorts too tight.

“God lord, she is perfect,” Cash said, tilting his head slightly to better admire her well-formed assets.Rowan felt a prickle of irritation at his friend's appraisal, but before he could address it, or—more realistically—dismiss it, Lor gave an unimpressed snort.

“She’s too tall.”

“I don’t understand how a guy pushing seven feet can have a maximum height restriction for the women he dates,” Fen said.

Lor only shrugged with a smirk, but Rowan was barely listening. He felt another twinge of displeasure zip down his spine as he watched a muscular blonde frat star stride onto the court towards the Galathynius girl, who beamed at seeing him.“That her boyfriend?” He asked, trying not to sound overly put-out by the idea.

“Cousin, I think,” Lor said, expression gloriously bored. “Aedion Ashryver. I played him in a tournament in Miami last year. He’s marginally above average.”

“High praise, coming from you,” Fen said, earning only an eye roll in response.They watched as Ashryver took several exploratory swings, Aelin working out her wrists as he did. Rowan admired her flawless form as she gave her cousin a tight set and he crushed the ball into a sand on a punishing downward trajectory.

“Nice hands,” Cash said, eyes alight with appreciation as she shot Aedion a quick set to a similarly successful result.

“I can block him,” Rowan said, trying to read Aedion’s form for flaws. “He’s swinging hard, but he’s hit that same spot every time.”

“That’s not going to be enough on its own,” Lor said dryly. “Your best bet is to force Galynthius to receive first then shut her down on the block. I bet her swing is weak.”

“That opinion is completely baseless,” Cash said. “You have no idea what her swing is like.”

“I know that cocky assholes are never as good as they are obnoxious,” Lorcan retorted, gesturing to the Galythinius girl again.She’d seemed to have taken note of their attention, hands on her hips as surveyed Rowan from head to toe. Something about the way she looked at him—her tongue tucked almost suggestively into her cheek—had pleasant goosebumps breaking out on his arms.

Given her brazen assessment, Rowan felt justified in studying her as well, trying to school his expression into that of a player sizing up an opponent for weaknesses. In reality, he was just admiring her.The sports bra she wore did nothing to minimize her gorgeously firm tits, and her stomach was an alluring tapestry of muscle, the smooth bronze skin unblemished save for the corner of a tattoo which peaked out from the top of her bikini bottoms. From it’s color and shape, Rowan thought it might be a flag, though he couldn’t see enough of it to tell which country. Before he could stop himself, Rowan imagined peeling the offending garment off her and getting a better look. Rowan tried to get his mind right as Aelin Galynthius gave him a smouldering grin and turned away, but he was still so caught up in her that he flinched when he felt Remy’s fingers trailing down his back.

“You ready, babe? Let’s do this.”Rowan definitely debated telling her not to call him that, but not wanting to reignite the tension when they were so close to winning he simply nodded and headed towards the court to warm up as well.

“Good luck, champ,” Fen said. “Make sure you find out if she’s single for Cash.”

Rowan flipped him off and jogged onto the court, trying to ignore the way Aelin Galynthius’s eyes raked him appreciatively as he passed her.

Still relatively loose from the previous match, Rowan sped through warm-ups, not wanting to give the Ashryvver cousins too much insight into his skill level. When they were done, the tournament organizer came over to congratulate the four of them on their place in the finals before briefly running through the rules.

“There will be a line judge to settle any disputes, but you’re mostly expected to police yourself. We’re all adults here, so I expect everyone to behave like it.”

At this the Ashryvver cousins exchanged a mirthful look that failed to go unnoticed by any of the assembled. Rowan could feel Remy bristling beside him. She only grew more rigid when Aelin let her dazzling blue eyes slide to Rowan and she winked.

“It’s best of five this match, first to twenty-five, win by two, cap at 30. Switch on hard sevens. Any questions?”

“I have one,” Aedion said, a bronzed grin stretching wide enough to reveal dimples in his cheeks. “When we win, am I going to get lei-ed?”

Rowan rolled his eyes, fighting down a searing stab of annoyance. Ethnically, his family may not have been kānaka maoli, but Rowan had lived in Hawaii his entire life, and the culture was important to him. Why wasn’t he surprised that this haole douchebag had just gone for the most tired pun in existence?

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he told Ashryvver. “The losers don’t get shit.”

At this, Galathynius laughed, the sound low and musical.“I love a man who knows how to dream big.”

“Shall we?” The coordinator cut in, his gaze flitting between Aelin and Remy, who Rowan presumed was scowling.

They nodded and he flipped a coin, which Rowan called in the air.

“Heads.”The shaggy-haired coordinator extended his arm to show them the gleaming head of Sacagawea on the gold dollar coin.

“We’ll serve,” Rowan said, forcing himself to shake Aedion Ashryvver’s hand as he did.

Enough of this bullshit, he was ready to beat this punk into the dusk. He was also ready to put some distance between himself and Aelin Galathynius before her beauty robbed him of any good sense. Together or no, Remy would have his balls on the grill if he openly flirted with someone else in front of her, and it was a complication he couldn’t afford this close to victory.

It was easier said than done when Aelin slid her hand into his, squeezing in a way that felt oddly suggestive. However, it only lasted a second before she was turning on her heel and strutting to her side of the court.

“Good luck,” she said over her shoulder, brushing the long tail of her braid down her back. “You’re going to need it.”

Remy growled something that sounded suspiciously like “bitch” as she took her place behind the serving line. Rowan gave her what he hoped was an encouraging nod as he made his way towards the net, hand stretched behind him to give Remy the block signal.

Aelin Galathynius grinned at him through the net, blue eyes glittering before she slid on a pair of sunglasses.

“So,” she said as Remy continued to prepare. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”

There was a pleasant cadence to her voice when she spoke, the trace of an accent he couldn’t quite place.

“Trying to get in my head?” he shot back, willing himself not to fall for her tantalizing games.

Aelin gave a sultry laugh.

“More like your pants.”

At this he heard the snap of the ball being served, and he swore as he watched it sail into the net. It wasn’t like Remy to make service errors, but the dirty look she gave him as he retreated to receive Aedion’s serve told him she considered it his fault.

“Are you done flirting,” she hissed as he passed her. “Can we focus on winning now?”

Rowan longed to snap back a retort that he hadn’t been flirting and she was the one who seemed to be lacking focus, but by this time Aedion was behind the line, preparing to serve. Rowan watched the toss and adjusted his position the minute Aedion made contact, easily receiving the ball. He called for a hit outside, but Remy’s set drew him into the interior of the court instead, almost as if she were trying to pull him away from Aelin.

Adjusting his position, Rowan swung. It was Aelin who received the dig and Rowan quickly retreated along the net, ready to stuff her on the block. He was in the perfect position to cut off the diagonal hitting lane, leaving her to either tap it over—an easy receive for him—or shoot line. Rowan thought of what Lorcan had said about her weak swing as she approached, and part of him hoped she would attempt a cross so he could show her how it was done.

He crouched, muscles burning in anticipation to spring up and stuff the ball right back in Aelin Galathynius’s smug face.

Except, he didn’t.

Aelin exploded into the air as the ball reached her, her vertical impreeven given her height. In a flick of her wrist, she’d tattooed the ball right down the undefended right line. Remy made a dive for it, but Rowan could tell from the minute Aelin had hit it that it was a point.

It was—she was—

Rowan shook his head, slightly dazed. Whatever skill Rowan had expected from her, she’d just blown right past it. She was phenomenal.And what was more, she knew it. When Rowan had finally gathered his wits enough to glance at her, it was to find her grinning back.

“Welcome to the majors, Big Boy,” she purred, and Rowan couldn’t decide if he wanted to kiss her or throttle her as he retreated back to his receive position.

Ashryvvers: 1 Remy & Ro: 0.

Rowan’s warring aggravation and admiration raged on all through the first set, which he and Remy lost...badly.He tried to ignore his friends’ jeers as he retreated to hydrate before the second set began, trying to analyze Aelin’s game for flaws.The problem was, there were none, at least that he could see.

“So what’s she like?” Fen asked as Rowan took another sip of gatorade. “Seems like you two were really hitting it off out there.”

“Annoying,” Ro replied. “She’s got Remy all riled up.”

Remy had refused to speak to Rowan after the set, and she was currently standing alone in the middle of the court, glaring daggers at the Ashyrvver cousins.

“Like I said,” Lor said in a dry voice. “That she-demon has plans for you. She doesn’t like that Galathynius is moving in on what she sees as her turf.”

“What are you even talking about ‘turf’?”

“I think he means your dick, man,” Cash added, grinning when Rowan turned to glower.

“I do,” Lor said.

“I’m not sleeping with either of them,” Rowan said, trying to reassure himself.

“Sure you aren’t,” Fen said, shooting Lorcan and Cash a conspiratorial wink. “Do you mind if I quote you on that in my best man’s speech? Aelin seems like a girl who appreciates irony.”

“You aren’t going to be his best man,” Cash said. “Obviously it’s going to be me.��

“Ro can’t choose a best man who's already slobbered over his bride,” Lor pointed out. “So it has to be me.”

“It will be none of you,” Rowan said. “Because I would never marry a girl like that.”

Cash gave a bemused laugh.“Like what, gorgeous?”

“Athletic?” Fen added.

“Sharp-tongued?”

“Talented?”

Rowan growled.

“Remind me why I bother with any of you,” he said, tossing his empty bottle to Cash before jogging on the court.

One good thing about his friends’ teasing: it had fired him up. Even with Remy obviously still mad at him, he dominated in the second set, and the third. Between both Ashryvvers’ ability to jump and play defense, he never managed a clean kill—the kind he normally wracked up by the dozens against other, lesser opponents. Still, it was enough.

Unfortunately, Aelin continued to make comments and give him sly looks even as the score turned against her, and Rowan could feel it wearing on Remy. By the fourth set, Remy was visibly flustered, the sizable lead Rowan had given them late in the game shrinking as Remy continued to make useless mistakes.Rowan fought not the swear on game point as Remy went against Aelin on the block and was smoked.

“Lucky shot,” Remy said as she was forced to shake Aelin’s hand to signal the end of the set. Aelin flashed Remy a taunting smirk that Rowan could tell meant trouble, and he debated the merits of interfering just as Aelin said, “There was nothing lucky about that, and we both know it. Please don’t embarrass yourself.”

“You think you’re better than me?” Remy demanded.

Aelin only laughed.

“No,” she said.

Rowan may have relaxed at hearing that, but before he could Aelin added, “I know I’m better than you.”

Remy turned, lip curling up.

“Not what the scoresheet says.”

Aelin pushed the sport sunglasses she was wearing on top of her head, presumably so Remy could see her roll those sparkling azure eyes, ringed at the iris with pure gold.

“I think we all know why the score looks like it does,” Aelin shot back, pausing to give Rowan a bone-melting smile.

Honestly, there was so much sexual charisma in it that he had to actively fight his body’s natural reaction. His brain might not have been a fan of Aelin Galathynius, but his cock sure was.

Remy jammed her hands onto her hips, the rage in her eyes cold enough to burn as she stared Aelin down. Rowan, she ignored.

“I don’t need him,” she snapped.

Aelin smirk went slightly wicked.

“Good, then you won’t mind when I take him home later and give him the ride of his life. After my cousin and I bury you in this match and win the tournament, that is.”

Aelin flashed her pearly teeth in a razored smile, letting it rake over Remy before falling on Rowan. He should have been insulted by her objectification, but in reality it just turned up the tension that had been simmering between them since the match had begun.

Remy’s answering laugh was cold, and Rowan braced for impact. Despite her bravura, he doubted the Galathynius girl understood what she was starting. Remy could be downright cruel when provoked, and the gleam in her eye told him she was preparing to go from the jugular.

“As if he’d be interested in a flat-chest, loud-mouthed cunt like you.”

At this Aedion growled, the first serious emotion Rowan had seen him display all day.

“Hey,” he snapped. “Watch your mouth.”

“That’s enough, Rem,” Rowan cut in. “We didn’t come here to talk trash.”

Remy turned, sneering.

“She started it.”

“That can’t honestly be the retort you’re going with,” Aelin said, crossing her arms with a smirk. “I expected better from you, short stack.”

At 5’9, Remy was above-average height for a woman, but compared to Aelin’s towering frame she looked positively impish, a fact Rowan knew probably filled her with rage. She wasn’t used to being looked down on the court, either physically or metaphorically.

Rowan caught her around the waist a second before she lunged, causing Aelin to laugh.

“You’re a bitch,” Remy snapped.

“I’ve been called worse by better,” Aelin said, tossing the ball to Remy with no small amount of force. “Better luck next time.”

Remy let out a small grunt as the ball knocked some of the wind out of her, but she seemed determined not to give Aelin any more than that. Tossing the ball to the ground, she made a show of storming off.

At this Aelin turned to her cousin, cocking her head back in Remy’s direction.

“Voy a destruirla.”

Aedion laughed and gave a longer response in the same language, and Rowan found his eyes trailing down to Aelin’s tattoo again. At this close distance he could clearly see the white star set into a red triangle, inverted by the position of the tattoo.

The Cuban flag.

Good god, and he thought she’d been distracting before. Knowing that she spoke Spanish…

When he glanced up it was to find Aelin grinning.

“Don’t look so surprised,” she said, running the column of her braid through her fist in a way that had him inevitably imagining her wrapping her hands around something else. “They don’t make gringas this gorgeous.”

“Is this your strategy?” Rowan shot back, desperate to find his footing with her. “Work my partner into a frenzy so we’ll lose?”

Aelin laughed, though her gaze had chilled somewhat.

“I don’t need tricks to beat you, handsome. I think I’ve already proven that.”

“At yet that match is still all tied up, two sets a piece.”Aelin and Aedion exchanged a dangerous smile.

“Maybe I just wanted to prolong the match so I could spend more time with you,” she said. “Clearly I shouldn’t have bothered. Try not to be too embarrassed by what comes next, mi amor. It’s going to get ugly.”

“I can handle it,” Rowan shot back before adding, “And you.”

Far from seeming unnerved, Aelin preened a bit at that, clearly pleased by the challenge.

“Prove it, big boy,” she said, hands on her hips as she squared up to him.

He took a step in her direction, standing toe-to-toe with her now even with the net still between them. She may have been tall for a female, but at 6’6 he still had to tilt his chin down slightly to meet her eye.

“I intend to,” he said. “Repeatedly.”

She bit her lip at this, the first blush he’d seen burnishing her beautiful bronze skin.

“Basta, Aelin,” Aedion called, cocking his head. “Dale.”

“Good luck, Hulk Smash,” Aelin told Rowan, turning on her heel towards her cousin.

Rowan couldn't’ find the good sense to move his feet as she sauntered off to join her cousin, the two of them bantering back and forth in rapid Spanish. Cash was going to die when he found out Aelin was Cuban.

Half-Brazilian himself Cash worshipped Latin women, and for the most part, they—like most women—worshipped him right back.

Ro tried not to let the idea of Cash and Aelin hitting it off bother him as he continued to watch the Ashryvver cousins. Perhaps Aelin would be immune to Cash’s easy charm, though Rowan had to admit it was unlikely. Unlike Rowan, who often came off dour despite his best efforts, Cash was engaging and almost impossible to dislike. More likely than not, Aelin Galathynius would take one look at that million-watt smile and enviable head of dark hair and forget she’d even met Rowan.

The thought was surprisingly irritating, and Ro forced himself to put it aside as the line judge called for the final match to begin. He glanced around in time to see Remy striding back onto the court, her expression more neutral than when she’d stormed off.

“Ready?” he asked simply.Her eyes blazed with a determination she’d lacked since the Ashryvver cousins had gotten in her head.

“Absolutely,” she said. “Let’s end this.”

Something in her bearing had changed, and Ro felt adrenaline surging through him.

This was the player who’d dominated in the matches leading up to this one; this was the teammate who was going to help him shut the Ashryvver’s down once and for all.

They lost the initial coin flip and the Ashryvvers elected to serve, Aelin blowing him a kiss as she stepped behind the line. Rowan ignored her.He had bigger fish to fry.

She had a punishing jump serve that stung Ro’s arms as he received, but he still managed a decent pass, and the set Remy gave him was damn near perfect. Aedion and Aelin shifted as the former dropped back for coverage and the latter prepared for the block. She’d yet to stuff Rowan, but he couldn’t deny she had hops enough to cause him real problems if he wasn’t careful.Still, the set had drawn Aelin farther into the court than he could tell she liked, leaving the line undefended. Rowan intentionally approached at an angle as if he meant to swing cross before changing his body position last minute and aiming line.

Aelin jumped, but her effort was futile. Her left hand just missed the ball, which sailed down the line and struck deep.Rowan’s first kill of the entire match.He couldn’t help a glance down at Aelin as he smiled.

“Welcome to the big leagues, Galathynius.”

Aelin only rolled her eyes, but she offered no retort as she retreated to Aedion, switching to Spanish presumably to discuss strategy.

With Remy more in the game, she and Ro got out to an early lead, a fact that he could tell filled Aelin with fiery displeasure. As hard as he was swinging, Rowan had finally figured out Aedion’s swing, and though Aelin tried to move him around the court with her sets to avoid Rowan’s block, they were finding only middling success.

Rowan didn’t permit himself to think too much about it as they steadily racked up points, but when he looked up to find the score was 24 - 18, his pulse sped up.

It was match point.

One more point, he told himself. One more point and he and Remy would have won the whole damn thing. It was so close he could almost taste it.Still, as he watched Aelin take note of the same thing, her blue eyes flashing, he knew it wouldn’t be as easy as all that. Aedion finally managed a kill the next point, and when Aelin stepped back to serve, everything in her posture signaled danger ahead.

Rowan watched the ball spin as she tossed it in the air, timing her jump to perfection. Remy adjusted to defend the line, but the ball unexpectedly hit the top of the net instead, the force of the blow pushing the ball over onto their court. Remy dove for it but it was no use; it was in the sand even before he hit the ground.

24 - 20.

Aelin gave a self-satisfied smirk as Remy tossed the ball back to her.

“Dare you to do that again,” she snapped, and Aelin’s smile only widened.

Tossing the ball, she did just that. The ball hit the tape and fell in the same spot, proving it wasn’t a lucky shot. She’d clearly practiced utilizing the net, and now it had cost them back-to-back aces.

24 - 21.

Remy gave a small scream of frustration as she went down hard for a second time, brushing sand out of her hair and off her face as she glared at a preening Aelin. She readjusted closer to the net lest Aelin try the tricks third time, her body poised to spring. Except Aelin didn’t try it a third time. She aimed for the back corner instead, tattooing the ball into the space Remy had just abandoned.

“Goddamnit!” Remy snarled, storming towards Rowan. “Switch me.”

24 - 22.

Repositioning again, Rowan was blessedly able to receive her fourth serve, Remy’s set putting him tight on the net. He’d expected Aedion to cover him but in a flash Aelin was there instead, exploding upwards just as he made contact.He heard the snap of the ball against skin, and only had time to cast a hand out blindly as the ball came back onto his side. Unfortunately, it wasn’t high enough for Remy to get to.

Aelin beamed as Rowan turned to gawk at her. It was rare at his height and speed that he got stuffed on the block. Even Aedion, who was close to his height, hadn’t managed it.

24 - 23.

“I told you it was going to get ugly,” Aelin purred. “I don’t make idle promises.”

“You’re still behind,” Rowan said, but Aelin only smiled.

“But we have the momentum,” she said. “And chiquita looks like she’s running scared.”

A glance at Remy told Rowan Aelin was right; she looked flustered, and when she caught Rowan looking at her she scowled.

“Let’s just finish this,” she said. “Sideout. No quarter.”

If they scored now, they’d win the match. But if Aelin and Aedion got more up on them, it would force at least two more points as they had to win by two.

Aelin only chuckled at this, heading back to the serving line for a fifth time. She served a floater this time, the lack of spin on the ball sending it sailing over the net at an unpredictable angle. Remy received, and after Rowan put her slightly too close to the net, Aedion stuffed the ball back in her face.

24 - 24.

The next point Aelin won on a deep roll shot to the right corner, and suddenly it was match point in the opposite direction.

24 - 25, match point to the Ashryvvers.

Thankfully this time, Rowan and Remy were ready. Rowan went head to head with Aedion on the block and won, earning only his third kill of the entire match.

25 - 25.

The next point was a service error from Remy after she attempted to tickle the tape the same way Aelin had, resulting in another scream of frustration.

25 - 26, match point for the Ashryvvers again.

Rowan gave Remy a set off the net and she managed to catch Aelin off-balance for a rare shank from the blonde.

26 - 26.

Aedion shot Aelin a quick set to the middle and she had the ball in the sand before Rowan could even react.

26 - 27, match point for the Ashryvvers.Service error from Aedion after a bad toss for his jump serve.

27- 27.

Rowan wiped sweat from his eyes as he tried not to dwell on the score. With a cap at 30, there were only a possibility of four more points either way. He let out a steadying breath as he stepped up to serve. Aiming deep, he caught Aedion in an awkward position that resulted in an unredeemable pass.

28 - 27, match point for Rowan and Remy.

One more, Ro told himself. One more just like that and they would have won.He aimed for the same spot only to realize that Aedion and Aelin had switched positions, and where Aedion was powerful but cumbersome in the sand, Aelin was lightning fast. She managed the receive Aedion couldn’t, and when Aedion set her tight, she crushed the ball cross-court, right into the corner.

Remy threw up her hands, beaming.

“Out!” she said. “It’s out. That’s the match! Ro, we won!”

However, Rowan could tell in her bearing something was off, and he let his eyes flit to the line judge to investigate. The man came over just as Remy made a move to casually swipe at the sand with her toe, and he gestured to the imprint of a ball still visible in the sand.

“In,” he said, giving Remy a warning look as the Ashryvvers murmured to one another. “Point to the Ashryvvers.”

28 - 28.

Rowan tried not to tense at the realization Remy had been willing to cheat. It set his teeth on edge, and served as a reminder why he normally kept his distance from her. It was a rule he’d have to remember after today.

Aelin stepped up to serve with an unkind smile twisting at her full mouth, and tattooed the same deep corner she’d just hit. The line judge--not waiting for Remy’s assessment this time, ruled it in.

28 - 29, match point to the Ashryvvers.

Unfortunately, Aelin miscalculated as she attempted to hit the same spot with her next serve, and this time it was ruled out.

29 - 29, the final match point.

Whoever won the next point would win the set and the match. One point to decide who would be the tournaments champs and who would be the losers.

Rowan’s could see the same thought in Aelin’s eyes as the both approached the net, Rowan’s hand stretched behind his back to signal his block to Remy.

“So,” Aelin said as Remy went through her pre-serve ritual. “Where are you taking me to celebrate after?”

Rowan flashed her a feral grin.

“Didn’t take you for a girl who celebrates her losses.”

“I’m not,” she said. “But buy me a few congratulatory drinks when I win and maybe I’ll show you what type of girl I really am.

”Rowan heard the short whistle to signal Remy was asking for a re-toss on her serve, and he focused his attention back on Aelin momentarily.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he challenged.

She bit her lip, eyes falling unmistakably to his cock. Her gaze was like a fist around his dick, and he had to fight back a groan.

“You know exactly what it means,” she said.

At that moment Remy served the ball, saving Rowan from his pitiful lack of retort. He forced himself to refocus as Aedion received, trying to forget the offer of casual sex Aelin had just thrown onto the table. Or perhaps she was just teasing him, trying to get under his skin so he’d forget what he was doing.Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t so easily rattled. Tracking Aedion as he received the ball and swung, Rowan forced him cross on the block. Remy returned with no issue, and Rowan’s muscles coiled in anticipation as Aelin dug the ball. Aedion set was right where Rowan now knew Aelin preferred it.

She swung hard but met his block, and just when Rowan started to think he’d won the point, she threw out a hand on blind instinct, sending the ball back up into the air on her side of the court. Instantly Aedion was there to feed her a quick set, and Aelin swung again just as hard.

Again Rowan jumped and managed to block her, and again she recovered.

Breathing hard, she approached a third time, exploding upwards at the same time Rowan did. This time, however, she pivoted mid-air, managing to avoid his outstretched hands and send the ball careening down.

Everything seemed to slow as Rowan turned to watch Remy dive for the ball, but it was too late; it had already hit the sand.

That was it; game, set, match.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the line judge made the official designation, and Aelin beamed.

“Nice game,” Rowan told her, stretching his hand out to her. “I thought I had you.”

Her smile only widened, eyes glittering as she tugged off her glasses and slid her palm into his to shake.

“Play your cards right and you still might.”

Rowan opened his mouth--though to say what, he wasn’t sure. Before he could formulate a response, he felt the brush of a hand down his back as Remy appeared at his side.

“Congratulations,” she said coolly, her arm slithering around Rowan’s waist now even as he subtly tried to peel her off. Undeterred, Remy tightened her grip as her eyes flitted to Aelin’s tattoo.

“Not bad for a pair of--”

“I would think very carefully before you finish that sentence,” Aelin warned in a soft, dangerous tone. “And take your hands off him; he’s clearly not interested.”

Remy scowled.

“That is none of your business.”

“You made it my business when you started manhandling him in front of me. He’s too polite to embarrass you, but I’m not. Keep your hands to yourself.”

At this Remy loosened her grip a bit, even as she turned to glare up at Rowan.

“Are you serious going to let her speak to me like that?” she demanded.

“She’s not wrong,” Rowan said, wishing they could do this without an audience. “We’ve talked about this before.”

Remy only gave a cold laugh.

“Oh I see. Some slut offers to suck your dick and suddenly you have no loyalty. You’re a pig, Rowan.”

“Don’t call her a slut,” Rowan said, losing patience. “And stop acting like this is anything new between us.”

At this Aelin huffed a laugh, and Remy snarled.

“You are a miserable bitch, and you fucking deserve each other.”

At this she stormed off, and Aelin turned her bronzed grin on Rowan.

“She’s lovely,” she said. “You make a charming couple.”

“We’re not together,” he said uselessly.Their exchange just now had already made that clear.

“I know,” Aelin said, waggling her eyebrows as she gave him another suggestive up-down. “Lucky me.”

Rowan debated for half a second if he actually wanted to take this girl up on her tantalizing offer, even knowing it could never be anything more. After this weekend he would go back to Los Angeles to continue studying for the detective’s exam and she, presumably, would return to school in Texas. It wasn’t just the distance, either. Something about the idea of a one-night stand with her left him feeling a bit hollow. He’d gone through a ‘casual sex’ phase in the dreary months and years after losing Lyria, and now mindless hook-ups--even with a girl as hot as Aelin--had lost their luster. Besides, Aelin seemed like a girl who deserved better.

On the other hand, Rowan was only human, and goddamn him, there was a part of him which very much wanted to accept. Before he could stop himself, Rowan imagined stripping off Aelin’s bikini and teasing her until she begged for his cock. As dominant as she was on the court, something wicked told him she would be submissive in bed.

However, before he could make a decision either way Aedion appeared, flashing Rowan a cocky grin as they shook hands before throwing Aelin over his shoulder and jogging towards a throng which had gathered at the center of the court. They were young--mostly likely still college students like Aelin--all of them dressed in various articles of burnt orange clothing, chanting “Ashryvver” at the top of their lungs.

Rowan could help himself as he tracked Aelin through the adoring crowd, beaming as the tournament administrator fought his way through the mass to place a beautiful fresh lei of white orchids around her neck. As when the man handed both Aelin and Aedion a crystal vase—serving in the place of a trophy, their throng of admirers burst into even louder cheers as the opening bars of All I Do is Win by DJ Khaled blared over the speakers. Rowan fended off a sensation dangerously similar to disappointment as Aelin scrambled up to sit on the shoulders of a sickeningly-handsome man with dark hair and striking blue eyes. Rowan watched as she strung a hand under the stranger’s chin to grin down at him, his smile similarly enraptured as they traded a laughed.

Rowan forced his shoulders to drop from their rigid position. Perhaps she had just been teasing all that time. After all, she didn’t seem to remember Rowan even existed as she swayed to the music, fingers casually strung through the strangers hair to keep herself steady.

Forcing himself to look away, Rowan retreated back to where his friends waited. It was fine, he told himself. He came here to play, not get his dick wet, and he’d done that, and done it well. Now was the time for celebrating being back with his favorite people, not sulking over some girl he barely knew.

“Great game, man,” Fen said as Ro approached,accepting the Gatorade in his friend’s outstretched hand. “That was a tough break at the end.”

“No shame in that match, Ro. That girl is just unstoppable,” Cash added.

“And one good thing about you losing: I think you shook Remy for good,” Lor said. “She stormed over her to spew a bunch of bullshit about how much she hated all of us before she stormed off. Don’t think we will be seeing her again any time soon.”

“Oh amen to that, brother,” Fen said. “That’s worth losing a match any day.”

“I can’t say I was sorry to see her go,” Rowan admitted. “You were right; she had ulterior motives.”

Lorcan pretended to examine his nails in feigned indifference.

“I, for one, am shocked.”

“Speaking of ulterior motives...” Cash said, eyes trailing to where the Ashryvvers were still celebrating, Aelin perched on the mystery man’s shoulders. “Talk to me about Galathynius.”

Rowan clenched his jaw, debating the merits of making up a lie before relenting and saying simply, “she’s Cuban.”

“Oh fuck,” Fen said. “You’re in trouble now, Kahukore.”

“I knew it,” Cash said, grin wolfish. “She’s perfect.”

“Cousin’s pretty hot, too,” Fen observed, eyes tracking Aedion as he posed for photos for the tournament website. “What have you got on him?”

“He’s a douchebag,” Rowan said. “The first thing out of his mouth before the match started was a joke about getting lei-ed.”

Fen only laughed, teeth bright against his brown skin.

“Lighten up, man. If I dismiss every haole guy who makes that joke, there won’t be any dick left!”

“There’s an obvious solution here,” Lor said, cuffing Fenrys affectionately by the back of his neck. “Stop chasing after white boys.”

“No promises,” Fen said, grinning. “Let’s go get drunk.”

“Can I shower first?” Ro asked, pushing his silver hair out of his eyes. “I feel like a vagrant.”

“And you smell like one, too,” Cash said. “You’re a jackass,” Rowan said, though he couldn’t help laughing as he strung an arm over his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“You owe me fifty bucks, by the way,” Cash called to Lor.

Lorcan rolled his eyes.

“You said she was Puerto Rican,” Lor said. “She’s Cuban, so I don’t owe you shit.”

“At least a drink, then. Fen thought she was Swedish!

“We don’t know!” Fen said, laughing. “One of her parents could still be Swedish. We’ll have Ro ask her later. Double or nothing, Kahukore?”

Rowan’s jaw clenched, and he fought not to scowl outright. A quick glance back at the court told him that though Aelin had finally alighted from the brunette’s shoulders, they were now kicking sand at each other like children. He wondered how long it would take him to get her bright, infectious laughter out of his head.

“If you want to know, you better ask her now.”

“Wait, seriously?” Cash said. “You didn’t get her number? What is wrong with you?”

“She’s not my type.”

“What does that even mean, ‘type’?” Fen said. “I don’t like even women and she’s still my type. Don’t turn into Lor unless you’re cool with dying alone.”

Having no reasonable response to this, Rowan just rolled his eyes.

“Rude,” Lor said, not actually sounding bothered by the comment.

“Let’s just go already,” Rowan said.The sooner he got drunk, the sooner he could forget about Aelin Ashryvver-Galathynius and all the promises he’d seen in her dazzling eyes.

“Last chance,” Cash warned. “Are you sure you don’t want to ask for her number? If nothing else, she looks like she’d be willing to give you the ride of your life.”

Rowan had to admit he was tempted, especially as he remembered Aelin promising him the same thing. Still, when he watch the same dark-haired guy string an arm around her shoulders and kiss her temple, his mind was made up.

Jerking his head towards the parking lot, he permitted himself one final glance in Aelin’s direction before he turning his back to her for good.

Several hours hours later, Rowan found himself sitting on the beach with a beer in hand, watching the sun set over the glittering azure water. Oahu wasn’t quite home— not in the same way that Maui was—but Rowan hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the islands until that moment. It was the familiar sound of the surf and the balmy air, much cleaner here than in LA.

More than that, though, it was being here with his friends. He couldn’t remember the last time all four of them had been together, and he didn’t want to think about how long it might be before it happened again. He just wanted to enjoy the evening and...forget for a while

.“What are you thinking about?” Cash asked from beside him. “You look a million miles away.”

Not wanting the dampen the evening’s light mood, Rowan took a swig of beer and said, “

Just wondering if I should take out a bigger insurance policy on my motorcycle. Remy knows where I live, and part of me is afraid she’s already en-route to the mainland to destroy all my shit.”

At this, Lor laughed.

“Listen, you’re not wrong.”

“Just please tell me we are done with her,” Cash said. “I don’t think I have any more fake nice left in me after this weekend.”

“We’re done with her,” Rowan confirmed. “Also, she is never going to make the tour.”

“I don’t think AVP was very even on the table,” Fen said. “She just made that shit up to get your attention.”

“It might have worked, too, if Galathynius hadn’t stepped in,” Cash said, holding up his beer.

“At the very least, we’d be stuck entertaining her all weekend while she tried to slither in your pants,” Lor told Rowan. “For that, at least, I’m grateful to Galaythius.”

“Now, she will make the tour,” Cash said.

“Future Olympian, no doubt,” Fen agreed. “And Ro missed his chance to be right there with her. Instead he’ll be watching her win gold on tv and jacking off into a pool of his tears.”

“Are you done?” Rowan said, lobbing his empty can at Fen.

“No,” Fen said. “I have enough material to last us the night, at least.”

Rowan rolled his eyes as they all labored to their feet and headed towards a rowdy pub farther down the beach. No one had to ask where they were headed; drinks at the Hideaway had always been their tradition when they came to Waikiki.

Despite the early hour, the bar was already bumping by the time they arrived, and as soon as they walked in and surveyed the scene, Cash burst out laughing. Lor, who’d followed his friend’s gaze, gave a good-natured groan.

“Oh you’ve got to be shitting me.”

There, sitting on top the bar, was Aelin Ashryvver-Galathynius, her usual coterie fawning around her as she tipped her head back to drain a shot of tequila. She’d traded her bikini for a pair of cut-off over-alls worn over a distractingly lacy bralette, her long blonde hair falling to her waist in two French braids.

She still wore her lei from earlier, the white standing out brilliantly against her burnished skin.

Everyone she was with cheered as she held the glass aloft, and before Ro could think to make a quick exit and save himself the awkwardness of having to face her. Aelin’s mouth stretched into a sensuous grin as she surveyed his blue button-down and slim-fitting chinos.

“So we all agree now, right?” Cash said, giving Rowan a gentle shove. “Ro has to go over there and talk to her.”

Rowan’s stomach twisted unpleasantly as he watched Aelin lean over to whisper to the same dark-haired guy she’d been with earlier.

“Definitely,” Fen said. “It’s fate.”

“No,” Rowan said, turning towards the bar in an attempt to block Aelin out. “And I think she has a boyfriend, anyway.”

“Only one way to find out,” Cash said, grinning as he slid past Rowan. “Wish me luck, boys.”

Rowan had to actively fight a scowl.

“You’re seriously going over there?”

“Listen, brother: if you’re really not going to take your shot, then I am.”

He gave Rowan a challenging look as if daring him to call his bluff, but Rowan only shrugged.

“Go for it, man.”

Rowan told himself not to look, but curiosity got the best of him as Cash approached. Aelin watched him do so with keen interest, eyes glittering as she slid from the bar to her feet. Rowan was too far away to hear Cash’s opening line, but whatever it was, Aelin tipped her head back and laughed, her hand inadvertently falling to his arm as she did so.

“I need a fucking drink,” Rowan muttered, flagging to the bartender and gesturing for three shots of whiskey.

Draining his, he glanced over again. Cash’s head was bent slightly as he spoke in Aelin’s ear, her smile dazzling as she listened.

Lorcan reached for his own shot, but Ro grabbed it before he could, throwing in back in a single movement before taking Fen’s as well.

“Damn boy, you’ve got it bad,” Fen observed.

“Cash better take her somewhere else to fuck,” Lor added, frowning. “She strikes me as a screamer, and I forgot my earplugs.”

“You both suck,” Rowan said, resisting the urge to look at Cash and Aelin for a third time. He already felt pathetic; he didn’t need to look it, too.

However, after a beat he couldn’t help himself, and he glanced up just in time to see Cash brush a kiss on Aelin’s cheek before retreating back towards them.

When Aelin caught Rowan looking she crooked a finger towards him in an obvious “come hither” gesture, and Rowan felt his stomach flop pleasantly. Cash grinned as he reached their group again, jerking his head in Aelin’s direction as she crossed her legs in an expectant gesture.

“What did you do?” Rowan demanded.

“Greased the wheels for you,” Cash said, smiling. “Go get her, champ.”

At this he turned to Fen, smile widening.“And the cousin’s bi, by the way. You’re welcome.”

“Good work,” Fen said, clapping Cash on the back before turning to frown at Rowan. “What are you even still doing here? Go already, before she comes to her senses and chooses someone else!”

Flipping him a casual middle finger, Rowan smoothed back his silver hair and headed towards her, trying to seem more suave than he honestly felt. Jesus, he hadn’t been this tied in knots by a girl since he’d met Lyria as a first-year cadet. Normally the idea would pain him, but in that moment he had the oddest sensation of her standing beside him, smiling as if to say, “make me proud.”

Aelin smirked and uncoiled to her feet as he approached, grin widening as he said, “You stalking me?”

She gave a lover’s laugh, low and sensuous.

“Oh, you know how the songs goes: The Eyes of Texas are upon you, do not think you can escape them.”

He couldn’t fight his smile at this.

“I should have known,” he said.

“I’ll forgive you this once,” she said. “But you owe me. Why don’t we start with...your name? I’m Aelin, as I’m sure you already know.”

Not wanting to give her the pleasure of agreeing, he simply said,

“Rowan.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” she said. “Took you long enough. I thought I was going to have to kiss your friend just to get your attention.”

“He would have loved that.”

Aelin laughed.

“He’s charming, but too pretty for me; I have a rule of not dating guys who have better hair than I do.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Rowan said. “It will go to his head.”

“Quite literally,” she said. “Let me introduce you around,” she said as Aedion approached.“My cousin, I think you know.”

Aedion only grinned, holding up the lei of purple orchids around his neck. “Told you I would.”

Aelin rolled her eyes as she ran a hand down the back of the dark-haired man she’s been with earlier, seeking his attention. When he turned, she gestured to Rowan.

“Galen, this is Rowan. Rowan, this is my other cousin, Galen.”

“Nice to meet you,” Galen said, his accent thicker than either Aelin or Aedion’s.

Her cousin.

It seemed so obvious now. Though his hair and skin were darker than hers, he had her same brilliant eyes, as did Aedion. Rowan was never going to hear the end of it from his friends.

Galen gave Rowan a quick up-down before firing off in rapid, staccato Spanish, the words so fast Rowan couldn’t even pick out a single one.

Aelin only gave her cousin a good-natured eyeroll before pushing on his chest.

“Vete,” she said. “no me molestes.”

“Let me guess,” Rowan said. “He threatened to string me up if I even so much as blink wrong?

”Aelin gave a look of theatrical mock surprise.

“No way, you speak Spanish?”

“Tell him I come in peace,” Rowan said.

“He knows I can fight my own battles,” Aelin replied with a strug. “He and Aedion just like to prove their usefulness. Where were we?”

“I think you were introducing me to your court,” Rowan said, gesturing as the legion of people surrounding Aelin.

“Everyone else can wait,” Aelin said, gesturing to the bartender for drinks. “I don’t feel like sharing you quite yet.”

When two tequila shots and two beers appeared on the bar, Rowan threw down a fifty before Aelin could put it on her tab.

“Trying to butter me up?” She asked, batting her eyelashes coquettishly.

“Do I need to?” He replied, accepting the shot from her.

She only smirked, grabbing his fist and running her tongue down the back of his hand before covering it with salt. He had to fend off a pleasant shudder. The gesture had shot straight to his cock.

“We’ll see,” she said, offering him a lime now, too. “Ready?”

He lifted his glass to her, but before he could lick the salt, she grabbed his wrist.

“You can’t drink without a toast, are you insane?”

“I don’t have one.”

She rolled her eyes before coaching his arm up above his head.

“Arriba,” she said before gently guiding his hand down. “Abajo. Al centro,” she prompted him to clink his glass to hers in the center. “Por dentro.”

With that she licked the salt off her hand before throwing the shot back easily and sucking on the lime. Rowan decided not to read into the suggestive look she gave him as she did so.

When they’d finished, Aelin grabbed his hand, gesturing for him to pick up his beer before she pulled him away from the bar.

“Where are we going?” He asked, hazarding a glance back at his friends to see them all watching him with knowing smirks.

“Somewhere quieter,” Aelin said, leading him up a set of rickety stairs that lead to an upper lounge.

The low couches were open to the air and overlooked the beach, and considering how things with Aelin had begun this afternoon, it felt…dangerously romantic.

You can’t fall for this girl, he reminded himself.

She didn’t live here, and neither did he. He was busy studying for the detective exam, and she was still in college, for Christ’s sake. Whatever he did, he couldn’t catch feelings for her.

However, it was an idea that felt easier said than done as Aelin yanked him down beside her on a couch, her head propped on a fist as she studied him with those mesmerizing blue eyes. She was so beautiful it was almost hard to breathe.

“So,” she said. “Start at the beginning.”

He laughed.

“The beginning of what?”

She grinned, her lips the most kissable shade of pink.

“Everything. I want to know it all.”

IF YOU LIKED THIS AND WANT MORE, CHECK OUT PART TWO, OUT NOW! 🏐 🍺 ♥️

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annepikachu · 4 years ago

Text

MORSE CODE AND CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS (EXO Xiumin × Reader)

(FANFIC)

- Anne (Pikachu)

Note: Reader= Yn (Your name) (female)

13 chapters. Fluff. Lots of beautiful smiles.

(Also, there’s a small reference to Taylor Swift's lyrics because I love her.)

Happy reading!

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Yn sighed and plopped down on the seat in her favorite corner of the library. She has a painful assignment to complete. Yes painful because she has been procrastinating until the day before she has to hand over the assignment.

“Humm, lately this library has been bustling with so many visitors”, she observed. “What’s up? Are they giving out chicken drumsticks for free?” Her eyes wandered around trying to figure out the reason. “Aah, that must be it" as her gaze stopped and hovered over the librarian’s desk. There’s this unrealistically cute guy who joined the post of the librarian a few days back. His predecessor had retired. And since then the library is mostly housefull. “Okay Yn stop staring at him as if you’re looking at a pizza. You look like a creep right now. Do your homework”, she mentally slapped herself and put on her headphones, opened her favorite Playlist and focused on her assignment.

Kim Minseok was surprised at the drastic change in the number of visitors in the library since the third day of his joining. He had heard from his predecessor about the library being usually empty. He was actually relieved by this fact. He was happy to see that a puppy eyed guy and a Yoda eared guy who seem to be a couple, a guy who always wears a bear hoodie and sometimes accompanied by two toddlers, a pair of cute granny and grandpa, and a clumsy handsome young lady are the only daily visitors. But it seems that his relief was short-lived.

The library has turned into Dalian Beach these days. The girls come with the pretext of reading books here but end up gushing about how handsome he is. One of them didn’t even realize that she was ‘reading’ her book upside down and yet another straightaway came up and put a can of coke on his desk. But these don’t bother him much because he is used to the flood of compliments coming from people irrespective of gender and age. Thankfully the library gets quite empty an hour before closing.

“Oh that handsome girl is still writing. She must have a huge assignment. She usually reads some interesting books at this time of day”, he kept looking at her. “Later on I should suggest her some of my favorites as well". He resumed his work but was soon distracted by the sound of a continuous tapping. His eyes narrowed.

Yn was frustrated by the last portion of her assignment and soon found herself tapping her fingers to the beat of the music playing in her headphones. “Screw it, I give up.” She paused. “Oh well I’ll just do the rest after having my supper. Don’t wanna upset Professor Junmyeon.” She slammed shut her notebook and was startled to find the cute librarian standing right in front of her.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

“Umm sorry for startling you, but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?” Yn was confused. What could this cute guy possibly want to know?

“Did you miss your lunch? Or are you craving for chicken drumsticks just for the sake of chicken drumsticks?”

“Huh?”

“I mean I heard you saying ‘chicken drumsticks’ over and over just now, tapping, to be precise”

“I did not. Well I had thought about it a few hours ago but not now. What makes you think so?”

“Those tapping sounds you made just now. They kinda translated into ‘chicken drumsticks’ though.”

“Really? Are you talking about Morse code?” Yn replayed that portion of the song and tapped consciously, noting down the codes while Minseok looked at her with amusement. “Holy Guacamole!” She sprang up. “You are right. Wow this is amazing!”

“So you were just tapping to the beat that turned out to be saying chicken drumsticks?”

The next moment they collapsed on the floor laughing at this curious conversation.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

III

Yn couldn’t spare time to go to the library for a week but finally she was back on her usual routine. She waved back at Minseok and broke into a giggle as she remembered the conversation about ‘chicken drumsticks’. After sometime she got up to search for another book and almost bumped into Minseok, shrieked and fell on her butt. She got back on her feet, “Whoa, you really do have a knack for scaring off people”.

“My bad. It was you who bolted in here though.” His pout made Yn's heart go UwU. “Anyway which book are you searching for?...This? Okay. Here you go"

Just as she turned and started walking back to her desk, Minseok suddenly asked “By the way Yn, you didn’t ask me my name yet".

“Oh right.” She proceeded towards him. “What is your name Mr Minseok Kim a.k.a Xiumin?”

“H-How did you know my name? Even Xiumin?” He stuttered.

“Doesn’t everyone in the college? You’re probably the only librarian who has a fan-page dedicated to him.” She chuckled in amusement.

“Wow, I had no idea", he whispered.

“They post your pictures from shooting range so I guess those are already pretty much on public domain. But you can check if they have posted any private picture of yours and maybe hit report", she suggested. “Anyway I’ll borrow this book for a week.”

“Huh? Oh right. I’ll issue it right away.” He was dazed from the information overload.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

“Earth to Minseok. What are you thinking about? And what’s with the occasional smile too? Did you inhale Nitrous Oxide?” Sehun asked puckering his brows.

“Uh just two weird conversations I had with a girl. By the way, do you know I apparently have a fan-page dedicated to me?”

“Really?” It was evident that Sehun was feeling nervous for some reason.

“It seems you know something about this. C’mon spill.” Minseok insisted.

“Err well it was I who created the fan-page. Because you’re undeniably the coolest one here in the range. I even added the tagline ‘that’s right, my type’!"

“You little rascal!” He flicked Sehun's forehead. “I had the shock of my life when I came to know about this!”

“But Xiu, who’s the girl you were talking about?” Sehun had a mischievous glint in his eye. “Is that why you were smiling just now? Tell me more about it!”

“Dude it’s not what you think! She is a regular visitor in the library and we had just two conversations. I was surprised that she knew my arcade name Xiumin. And it was she who told me about the fan-page.”

“You have a crush oh her, don’t you? How is she like? Did you ask her out?”

“Relax Hun. We just talked about Morse code.”

“Ugh that’s such a turn off.”

“But she’s quite interesting. She’s handsome yes. And cute too.”

“I knew it! You’re whipped for her! Ask her out.”

“Calm down Hun. I’m not sure about how I feel and I don’t even know if she has a lover. Or if she is at all interested in me.”

“Don’t you underestimate your charm Xiu. And she isn’t interested in you? You get so many love letters, did you forget that? She might be charmed by your smile but probably doesn’t show it. She has a set boundary maybe?”

“I don’t want to draw inferences” Minseok sighed. “But yes I’d love to keep talking to her.”

“Use Morse code.” Sehun chuckled.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Finally it’s FriYay night and Yn couldn’t be happier staying in her pajamas and being lazy for the next two days. But what the hell! She can’t find her headphones anywhere. And she doesn’t remember where she had last placed them. They were a gift from her cousin. Chanyeol would be upset. She will ask his boyfriend Baekhyun to calm him down and herself buy a new one in the meantime.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing.

“Hey Yn, Minseok here. I got your number from the library register. Sorry to call your number without your permission but I just found your headphones in the library and thought I should inform you right then.” He sounded sheepish.

“Phew, I’m so relieved! I was searching for them everywhere and almost decided to buy a new one. Thank you Minseok! I’m glad that you found them.”

“Uh it’s okay. I’m relieved too. So do you need these urgently? Then I can wait in front of the library and hand them over to-"

“No no, I don’t need them right at this moment, but… Umm can you please keep them with you until Monday? I visit the library everyday anyway. I’m too lazy to step out now.”

“Hahaha, okay okay. Don’t worry about that. See you on Monday”

Yn rolled back on her bed smiling. “I’ll have to treat him to chicken drumsticks for real.”

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

“Thanks a lot Minseok." Yn took back her headphones and smiled with her heart eyes now making Minseok's heart go UwU. “Even if it’s not a big deal for you, I am really grateful to you and so I got something for you as a token.” She then started tapping on the desk. Minseok looked at her inquiringly but soon started interpreting the codes as she tapped away. “Got a box of chicken drumsticks for you. Hope you like them.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Who does not like drumsticks? You did not really have to do this though. Thank you for this.”

“Bon Appétit”, she said as she gave him the box. “Well, I need to hurry now. See you later.”

“Why is she so adorable?” He wondered while staring at the box in his hands.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

VII

Yn was having several bad days at a stretch now. She spent weeks without sleeping at night and watched FIFA world cup instead. Her favorite team was eliminated in the semifinals. And now the lack of sleep was taking a toll on her. She barely managed to complete all her pending assignments on time. Professor Junmyeon was still upset with her because she omitted a portion of her assignment carelessly. Her neighborhood cat disappeared without a trace. She avoided a freak accident but witnessed several persons getting severely injured. She has grown tired of her menstrual cramps which were being very cruel to her this time. And the last nail in the coffin: she had a quarrel with her bestfriend Jongdae today. Physically and mentally exhausted she placed her hand on her stomach and sat on a bench behind the canteen of the college and started sobbing silently.

Minseok was leaving early today because the library was practically empty today. Even Yn didn’t come. He suddenly spotted someone sitting hunched on a bench at a distance. It seemed that the person was hurt in the stomach. He rushed over there.

“Yn? What happened to you? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere? Tell me what’s wrong.” Minseok sat beside her worriedly, held her shoulders and turned her towards him. She buried her face in his chest and burst into loud sobs. He instantly engulfed her in his hug and patted her head. “It’s okay Yn. Let it out.” Over the months he grew close to her. They both had a lot of friendly banters and of course some crazy conversations through Morse code. Seeing her cry now tugged at his heartstrings. “Breathe Yn. Take deep breaths. Yes. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I hate crying. I-I don’t want to be like this.” Yn said between her sobs. “I had way too many bad days to handle and-" she paused abruptly. The cramps were back again. She curled up in pain.

“And you are having cramps?” He finished her sentence. “You’ll be fine. Yn. Just endure a bit, okay?” Still holding her tight in his hug he reached out for his bag and took out a heating pad. “Here, Yn. Take this.” He kept on stroking her head and occasionally rubbing her back while she tended to her cramps.

“You okay now?”

Yn pulled back from the hug when the cramps subsided. “Thank you Minseok. Yes, I feel better now.”

“I’m glad.” He handed her some tissue paper. “Now wipe your tears and come with me” He led her to the canteen.

“Here, have a cup of hot chocolate. You’ll get relief… That’s right yes. Drink slowly.” He sat beside her and stroked her head. “Done?... Okay"

Yn started sniffling. “Yn, is everything okay?” Minseok panicked.

She nodded her head. “I’m just touched by your gesture. Thanks for making me feel better.”

Minseok smiled. “That’s what friends do. Well, it’s pretty late now. Let me drop you off at your house. Let’s go.”

“I have an extra helmet and I drive pretty well and my bike is well maintained.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Yn giggled.

“Well I just made a declaration so you don’t feel threatened. Just don’t fall asleep that’s all.” He was relieved to hear her laugh again.

“Aye aye Master Xiu.”

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

VIII

Yn saw that Jongdae wasn’t present in the classroom. She decided she’d visit his house later today and sort out the misunderstanding. She walked out of the classroom during recess hour. Suddenly someone hugged her tight. She smiled and hugged him back. She knew it was Jongdae. “I’m sorry Yn. There was a misunderstanding. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay Dae, I realized that. And I would have anyway barged into your house had you not come to college.”

“So, are we good now?”

“Of course!”

“Okay then pretty please! Help me pick out a pendant for my girlfriend. I’ve selected some of them but couldn’t finally decide among them. Come with me to the shop later today.”

Yn scowled. “This is why you rushed to patch it up with me huh?”

“Gosh! No no no that’s not it! I’ll treat you to ice cream. Okay?”

“Okay. Deal"

Jongdae sighed. “The way you react to food, I’m pretty sure you’ll drop me in a heartbeat if someone offers you food.”

Suddenly Ji-eun appeared out of nowhere and fake punched Jongdae's face. “How dare you make my Yn baby upset? Yes Yn drop him right away. I’ll treat you to a truckload of ice cream.”

“Guys!!” Jongin appeared and walked towards them making the corridor his runway.

Yn couldn’t deny once she had a tiny crush on him.

“Guess what? Kyungsoo cooked Spaghetti for us!” Jongin screamed. And the four of them dashed to the canteen.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Yixing was already there with Kyungsoo when they reached the canteen. “Dig in guys", Kyungsoo said as they huddled around the table.

“Okay guys! I’ve some tea to spill", Ji-eun announced while looking at Yn intently.

“Spill! Spill! Spill!” They chanted in unison.

“Apparently Yn has gotten herself a boyfriend and decided to conceal the fact".

Yn almost choked. “Wha- when? Even I don’t know I have a boyfriend?”

“Oh yeah? I saw that cute librarian dropping you off at your house yesterday night. You turned to hug him but you seemed shy.” Ji-eun added with a glee “And friends don’t feel shy Yn.”

Yn protested. “I had my reasons. He’s not what you guys think.” She remembered that she hugged Minseok out of gratitude towards him for taking care of her. She had hesitated initially thinking whether it would be appropriate. But she hugged him anyway.

Suddenly someone put their chin on Yn’s left shoulder and yet another put their chin on her right shoulder and both said in unison, “Well well Yn, you never told us anything about this!”

Yn almost fell from her seat. She turned around to see Chanyeol and Baekhyun smiling mischievously at her.

“So is he or is he not-” Chanyeol said while taking a seat. “Your crush?”, added Baekhyun.

Yn shrugged. “I am not sure. I’ve way too many crushes at this point and you guys know that.”

“The most recent crush is our senior Jessi, right", Yixing asked.

“Well yes but I can only admire her from afar”, Yn replied dreamily.

“Anyway get to the point guys.” Chanyeol took the reins. “So apparently it seems he has a soft corner for Yn. I’ve noticed that. And now we must root for Yn and make sure they end up together. So whats our plan?”

“How about kidnapping him and threatening him to date Yn"? Kyungsoo asked excitedly.

“No way!” Jongin protested.

“You’re going to get all of us in trouble, Soo", Baekhyun chuckled.

“Isn’t that the easiest way out?”, Kyungsoo pouted.

“That’s not how things work, Kyungsoo-ah", Jongin said while poking at Kyungsoo's cheek.

Yn could sense that everyone noticed something was brewing between Jongin and Kyungsoo but unsurprisingly they chose to focus on Yn today.

“Well even I agree that’s the easiest way out but we don’t want to get in trouble.” Jongdae said seriously, “so Yn you better speed up and ask him out. And don’t deny that you don’t feel anything for him.”

Yn was again reminded about how she felt fuzzy while being engulfed in Minseok’s hug. He’s definitely a good friend. But she didn’t want to rush things up.

“And Yn if you want to daydream instead of eating that last spoonful of Spaghetti”, Yixing got up and snatched her spoon and finished off the remaining Spaghetti. “Let me have it.”

“I swear to God Yixing!” Yn sprang up. “I’m gonna train Inzaghi to chase you!”

“Now who’s Inzaghi?” Jongin asked suspiciously.

“It’s the Vincenzo effect.” Baekhyun explained. “It’s a neighborhood pigeon and the naming courtesy goes to Yn", Ji-eun added.

“Don’t you guys dare to give out spoilers, some of us are lagging behind an episode or two”, the rest of them warned.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Minseok was standing in the balcony of the library replaying in his head the events of yesterday. He didn’t expect Yn to hug him again and make his heart beat erratically. Sehun was right. He is falling for Yn gradually.

“Hey Minseok are you alright?” Minseok heard Yn’s voice and realized he had zoned out thinking of her. “You seem to have caught a cold.” Yn was worried.

“Oh yes it was raining in my area yesterday and I got drenched".

“Uh oh I’m so sorry. You wouldn’t have gotten drenched had you not accompanied me to drop me off.”

“Well it was raining for quite a long time and I’d have anyway gotten drenched even if I had reached my place earlier. So blame the clouds Yn.” Minseok chuckled making Yn giggle at his explanation.

“But seriously though, you don’t look good. I think you have a fever too.” Yn put her palm on his forehead. Minseok was flustered looking down at her worried face. Yn didn’t realize she was standing at almost zero distance from him. Before he could utter anything Yn grabbed his wrist. “You need to visit the doctor right now", Yn said dragging him downstairs towards the doctor’s room.

“He’s running a high fever. I’m giving some medicine.” The doctor took out a file of capsules. “And I think it’s better if you lie down and take rest in the sick room until your fever goes down.”

“But the libr-" Minseok tried to protest but was cut off by Yn’s stern glare.

“Library can wait. Health first Minseok". Yn crossed her arms.

“Tell your assistant about your situation. He can handle the library for sometime.” The doctor suggested.

“You should head back to library Yn. You went there to read, right? I’ll stay here until my fever goes down. Don’t worry I won’t run away from here.”

“I can read later. Now you close your eyes and take rest.” Yn said sitting on the chair beside the bed while stroking Minseok’s head absent-mindedly.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Yn could sense that Minseok was staring at her for a long time. The library was crowded as usual. She mouthed “what happened?” but he just smiled and shook his head and resumed his work. He seemed tensed for some reason.

She heard him tapping on his desk when the crowd thinned. Her eyes grew wide. He- did he tap “will you go on a date with me?” She saw him walk towards her.

Minseok spoke hesitantly, “I know I asked you all of a sudden, but I like you. I’ve been debating whether I should tell you this for weeks but I couldn’t hold back any further. You don’t need to tell me right now about how you feel. Take your time. And it’s absolutely fine if you don’t feel the same way. But can we maybe go on a friend date atleast?”

Yn thought for a while. “Sure. Let’s have a friend date.” She smiled. “Where are we going then?”

“I was thinking of taking you to my shooting range. We can play some rounds and have snacks later on there. How about this Sunday afternoon?”

“Sounds great!” Her eyes lit up. “But! On one condition.”

“And what’s that?” He asked cautiously.

“Bring me a bouquet of chicken drumsticks that day.” Yn replied with a wide grin.

“As you wish.” He smiled widely as he touched her nose-tip with his forefinger.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

XII

“This is such a cool place!” Yn ran around inside the shooting range, looking at everything in awe. Minseok watched her with an amused smile. Yn picked up a gun and aimed at the target.

“Wait.” Minseok came up behind her and held her arms. She felt her back against his chest. Her heart started thumping. “Focus Yn. Keep your arm straight while holding the gun. You don’t wanna hurt yourself when the gun recoils.” He adjusted her arms. “Now fire.” She hit the target.

Yn was ecstatic. “Minseok let’s play a round then. I’ll go first.”

He kept on smiling and hyped her up every time she aimed with the gun. She was just unbelievably adorable. And a sharpshooter too. She missed the target only once. He fell for her deeper every time she flashed an adorable smile at him after hitting the target.

“It’s my turn now. And I’m going to beat you in this round.” He winked at her.

Yn gaped at him while he shot the targets one by one. He looked darn sexy in that pose. He got ready for the last target and was just about to press the trigger. “I like you too, Minseok!” She blurted out. Minseok was shocked and turned his face towards Yn. The trigger went off and he missed the target.

“It’s a draw! It’s a draw! You didn’t beat me!” Yn jumped and danced gleefully around him.

“So, you- you said that just to make me miss my target? And nothing more?” Minseok looked at her sadly and turned his back to her.

“No! Oh no no you got the wrong idea.” She tugged at his sleeve. “I really meant it when I said I like you.” Minseok turned towards Yn in surprise. She went on, “I have been thinking about it ever since you told me about your feelings. I had already decided I’d tell you about my feelings today. But I couldn’t just suppress the urge to fool around a bit when I got the opportunity to.”

“You’re such a cheeky girl!” Minseok exclaimed and chased her.

“You won’t catch me that easily! I run fast.” Yn shouted while running ahead of him.

“Well not faster than I!” Minseok wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the ground and spun round, making her blush.

“It’s getting late, Yn, let’s go now.” Minseok said tugging at her.

“I’m not able to handle this gun properly.” Yn pouted.

“It’s okay, I’ll show you how to. But later, okay? It’s getting really late now.” Minseok couldn’t stop chuckling at her antics.

Minseok and Yn bumped into Sehun outside the shooting range. “Yn, this is Sehun, one of my teammates in the shooting range. And a TMI, he’s the one who created that fan-page.” Minseok gave Sehun a fake glare. “And Sehun, this is Yn, my date.”

“Nice to meet you, Yn.” Sehun gave her a warm handshake. “Do you like this place and my bro here?”

“I love it here! I’m gonna come here often now.” Yn replied. “And yes I like him too.” She said looking at Minseok shyly.

Minseok blushed. “I’m dropping her off at her house. I’ll see you tomorrow Hun.”

Sehun smirked and managed to whisper into Minseok’s ear, “you are lucky that she’s into Morse code. So did you confess to her using Morse code?”

“Don’t give me that look you cheesy little brat.” Minseok whisper-yelled at him.

Yn stopped by her gate. “I really had a great time with you. Thank you for today Minseok.”

“I’m also glad to spend some time with you. See you tomorrow.” Minseok stopped before turning back to his bike. “So are we dating officially now Yn?”

“Yes. A thousand times yes.” Yn smiled.

He walked closer to her, leaned close to her lips and locked his eyes with hers seeking permission. She nodded nervously while standing on her tiptoes and placed her hands on his shoulders. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her in and she was a little more brave. It’s the first kiss, it’s flawless, really something. It’s fearless. Yn didn’t care now if Ji-eun was sitting by her window and keeping an eye on her. Yn would tell her group of friends everything tomorrow.

But the thing is, Ji-eun really saw Yn with Minseok. She had a triumphant smile on her lips.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

XIII

Yn saw that everyone in her squad was giving her a cheeky smile while swarming towards her. “Guys, I can explain. I wanted to tell everything face to face. That’s why I didn’t text anyone.”

“And I saw them kissing too!” Ji-eun said excitedly and made a kissing gesture towards Yn.

Yn had a flashback of yesterday. He was very gentle with her. She absolutely melted in his kiss.

“I bet Yn is having flashbacks of that moment.” Jongdae smirked. “Look at her. Her face is a beetroot now.”

“You guys!” Yn stomped her feet.

“Okay, okay calm down Yn. Let’s have a lunch together today, shall we? Tell Minseok to join us.” Chanyeol spoke.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, call him.” Everyone shouted in unison.

“Okay. Okay. Chill.” Yn giggled while dialing Minseok’s number.

Minseok blended well with Yn’s noisy and cheeky friends. Yn was glad how things turned out.

“So, Yn and Minseok. Tell us how did you two end up together. What was the catalyst? The squad wants to know.” Yixing said holding up a spoon as if it were a mic.

The couple turned to each other and smiled. They both knew what they were about to say. Minseok and Yn turned again towards the squad and said, “not just one. There were two catalysts. Morse code and Chicken drumsticks.”

-----(The end)-----

_____________________________________________________________

P.S. Those who are wondering how did Minseok know Yn’s name (in chapter III), I leave it to your imagination. ;-)

He might have seen the library register, or might have noticed the name on her notebook when she shut it, or maybe her headphones were customised to bear her name on them and he noticed that. The choice is yours. And why did Yn not get surprised? Well she’s quick-witted too.

I hope this wasn’t too boring. This is my first time writing a story. Thank you for reading :-)

If you wish you can take a look at my fanart account on Instagram. Here's the link.

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Thank you Ayushee for hyping me up. She has written a fanfic too. Check it out.

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midorichan10 · 5 years ago

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KnB Stageplay Ultimate Blaze Report (5/5, 5/11, 5/19 Livestream)

Okay I know I said I’d do my report after my second viewing on the 11th but then the finale was on the 19th so I thought I’d wait til then so it’d be easier to remember everything. A 3.5 hour play is super long....

So I watched the play live on the 5th and 11th, and the finale on livestream on the 19th. This is the very last Kurosute ever...Thank you Kurosute for 4 years of wonderful casting and performances. I also want to thank Ono Kensho for once again doing an outstanding job of his role as Kuroko.

FYI, for those who also watched the livestream or plan to purchase the delayed stream, sharing pictures/screenshots or clips in public is prohibited. As such, I will not have any pictures included in this report. Please support the franchise by purchasing the DVD or Blu-Ray.

Major spoilers ahead. Proceed if you only wish to be spoiled. Again, this was a 3.5 hour play so this is VERY, VERY, long.

EDIT: This took me two days to type out ORZ

Before the play starts, Tsuchida’s actor has a voice over on the intercom about stageplay rules and manners. Turn off/mute your phone, no recording, etc. It’s nice that they had him still do his rules even though he wasn’t in the play. ;w;

The play opens up with the Yosen and Seirin scoreboard and Haizaki walking in the audience

Haizaki goes up to a random girl in the audience and flirts with her asking for her phone number.

On the show on the 5th the girl just tried to ignore him lmao

Kagami walks on stage and sees him and calls him out. Haizaki then confronts him saying he beat Mukkun and taunts him until a ball is thrown from the side at him. Kise comes on stage and the whole Haizaki and Kise bickering proceeds.

Haizaki gets REALLY close to Kise like literally breathing down the neck kind of close. How Mario didn’t flinch is beyond me.

Kagami learns that Kise has never beaten Haizaki, and eventually Haizaki leaves. Kise tells Kagami to leave Haizaki up to him.

Kise leaves and Kuroko comes on, using misdirection on Kagami. Kagami asks Kuroko who Haizaki is and that he’s met him. Kuroko explains he’s a former teammate but that he was still a regular so regardless he’s a strong player. Hyuuga and Seirin come telling them off and says they’re going to watch the first quarterfinal match of Kaijou vs Fukuda Sougo.

The opening song for this play’s dance is “Memories.” Personally this is my favorite one so far. I think I have the team order for this correctly...

Opens up with Seirin then switches to Kaijou proceeded by Shuutoku. Then there’s a Kaijou Shuutoku and Haizaki segment.

I just want to say how good Haizaki’s actor is and how his moves were so appropriate as Haizaki....wow

Seirin comes back on for a bit then exits with Aomine and Momoi taking over.

Oh, for the 5th I had Airi (new Momoi) and 11th and 19th were Arisa (original Momoi)

Mukkun does his own dancing segment between Aomine and Momoi

for the 19th finale he danced with a lollipop in his mouth. Isnt’ that dangerous? Lol

Akashi comes out with his jacket on his shoulders to the front of the stage, Then quickly takes it off and runs back. Rakuzan then dances in the front (without Akashi) and Seirin joins back on.

For the instrumental intermission, Kuroko goes to the center and each of the GoM come out and then surround him and do a short dance ending with a dance motion of their signature move/pose.

GoM exit and Kuroko watches Akashi run off (who went directly back) with a pained face, and Ogiwara runs out all smiley (seriously protect this boy he’s so pure) . Ogiwara runs off to the side and Kuroko chases after him. As Kuroko still looks pained, Kagami comes out on the other side and the two walk towards the center and meet in a fist bump.

The last chorus everyone (except Ogiwara) comes out. (Yes, including Mayuzumi). The song ends with each team forming a group pose (Except Rakuzan, Mayuzumi runs off before they form a pose)

All the other teams run off leaving Seirin left, and the senpais then exit leaving only Kuroko and Kagami to do one last running motion as the display title falls on the back. The two of them fist bump again as the title falls.

The play resumes with the match against Kaijou and Fukuda already starting. There are two other members on Fukuda besides Haizaki (apparently they are Ogiwara and Mayuzumi’s actors in black wigs hahahaha)

As always, the match more or less follows the manga/anime so I’ll leave out most of the story details. Most of it is gameplay anyway.

In this play, they’ve really incorporated more ball handling, aka using the real ball.

Seirin is watching in the back. At some point Aomine and Momoi join in to watch. (I can’t remember if Mukkun joins in to watch here or later...I’m almost certain he joins later)

After the match with Kaijou’s victory, Kise limps off with his injured leg. Then Haizaki walks back on stage, looking for Kise. Aomine sees him and tells him Kise hasn’t come out yet from the stadium. The two have their argument and Haizaki tries to punch Aomine but Aomine beats him too it. Aomine always says some sort of variation of “Oops..I did it....Eh, he’ll be fine”

Scene changes to Kagami calling someone, which is revealed to be Kuroko, saying his shoes broke. Kuroko replies how his feet are unnecessarily big (Kagami: OI!!). Kuroko says he’ll have to call ‘that person.’

‘That person’ is revealed to be Momoi as she runs up and gives Kuroko a tight hug. She tells Kagami that Aomine will give him one of his many shoes and that Kagami’s the type that wears by model rather than care for color.

As Aomine and Kagami are playing basketball in the back (Aomine lecturing him) , Momoi tells Kuroko about Aomine punching Haizaki.

Aomine finishes the quick game and convinces Kagami to accept the shoes.

The scene ends with Kagami and Aomine stupidly arguing and Momoi and Kuroko are literally dragging them off the stage.

For the May 5th show, they just literally drag them off

For the May 11th and 19th, Kuroko jabs Kagami in the stomach and pushes him off as Momoi pulls Aomine off.

Midorima walks on stage prepared for the semifinals.

His lucky item is a giant shogi piece

The rest of Shuutoku join him and the senpai question why the shogi piece is so big. Miyaji asks Midorima what rank is Cancer that day and he says 2nd and he gets mad. Takao says Midorima is never wrong with Oha Asa but Miyaji asks for a pineapple from Kimura (off stage) anyway.

Shuutoku is introduced as the first team of the semifinals with Rakuzan following (except Mayuzumi).

Seirin is in the back again and Hyuuga explains how the other Uncrowned Kings are in Rakuzan with Akashi.

The Shuutoku supporters are ‘jacket mob’ actors which are Haizaki and Kaijou

Haizaki’s actor kept dancing around with Mario.....

Ogiwara’s actor is the referee for this match.

Again , more gameplay here. For the actual story read the manga or watch the anime.

For the May 11th show, there were a lot of ball handling errors here.

Otsubo was supposed to pass a ball to Midorima but Nebuya accidentally caught it instead, so he quickly passed it back to Otsubo who passed it to Midorima again.

Midorima ‘shot’ the ball but the ball bounced against a railing and into the audience. It was during the part where he and Takao do the miracle shot. In the script, the senpais pat and hug Midorima and Takao for pulling off the play anyway but for this show they gave Midorima extra hugs and paps for the mistake. How sweet.

One of Reo’s shots also bounced against a railing but it was towards the back so the ball just rolled behind the front fence

Akashi uses a real ball for his Ankle Break. He dribbles the ball around his legs and finishes with the ball going between his legs and catches it. I’ve never seen him mess up nor seen any reports of him doing so.

Mukkun joins Aomine and Momoi in watching the match.

During Hayama’s speed dribble, everyone who is watching ‘shakes’ to the vibration. I don’t know whose idea it was but Mukkun excessively shakes to the point he looks like he’s being electrocuted or something haha. Oh yeah, he’s eating Pocky in this match, real Pocky.

Mayuzumi was out most of the match but occasionally you see him run past between the main fence as he ‘passes’ the ball to Akashi.

When Shuutoku loses, Takao and Midorima are crying real tears. For the finale, everyone was crying...

The scene immediately changes to playing Punky Funky Love and Kaijo senpais practicing. Talk about a mood change. I was still crying over Midorima crying....

It’s a flashback of when Kise joins Kaijou and Kasamatsu explaining how the senpai have worked longer than him.

Just as Kise leaves, Kuroko and Kagami join the stage and they make eye contact with each other.

Of course as usual, before a break there is the Kagami vs Kuroko janken game. Usually involving Kuroko asking for a longer break and him mostly losing. For this break, it was 10 minutes.

May 5th janken- Kuroko tells Kagami that ten minutes is fine, much to Kagami’s surprise. Instead, Kuroko wagers that if he wins, Kagami must treat him to this fancy eel later. Kuroko wins and Onoken posts on Twitter that Yuya did indeed buy him the eel lmao

May 11th janken-Kuroko again tells Kagami that a ten minute break is fine. This time if he wins, he’ll switch to speaking ‘tameguchi’ which is using the casual form of Japanese (like basically everyone else, aka not using ‘desu/masu’). He actually switches to ‘tameguchi’ as he’s talking to Kagami, and Kagami’s trying his best not to laugh. At some point he says it’s annoying haha. Kagami wins so Kuroko’s like ‘well I guess I’m not speaking in ‘tameguchi’

May 19th- it’s their last time to do janken so Kuroko suggests that this time they just play janken for the heck of it. Kagami’s surprised but goes with it. Kuroko wins to his delight, but Kagami being stubborn begs for one more chance. Kuroko allows it, and they have one more match. Kagami wins and Kuroko kneels in defeat.

Other adlibs I’ve heard were Kuroko asking Kagami to buy him boba tea, and the usual longer breaks like 3 hours.

The second chapter opens with one of the ‘jacket mob people’ making sure the audience’s phones are off. The rest of the jacket mobs come out holding various items, such as a camera, cheering horns, towels, and one member has a corndog.......

These are the Shuutoku+Haizaki and Rakuzan actors.

Akashi was the smallest one with the camera on the Rakuzan side. Also he just had Yohchans body structure anyway I mean-no

The corndog guy was on the Shuutoku+Haizaki side, I’m not sure which it was since it was harder to tell who was who (except Takao)

Seirin and Kaijou are introduced and the second semifinal match begins

May 11-Another mistake in this match. Kise jumps to knock a ball out of someone’s hand from Seirin, but the ball hits a railing and bounces back onto the court so Hayakawa quickly picks it up and throws it off stage

May 11- Kise shoots the ball but either doesn’t put enough power into it or shoots in the wrong curtain so the ball ended up going to Kiyoshi who was just coming out from the side.

The jacket mob members act as the ‘fans’ in the stands. Both support Kaijou at first then Rakuzan cheers for Seirin and Shuutoku+Haizaki for Kise.

For Kagami’s line “This is our drama!” Hyuuga and Kuroko had the most outstanding ‘wtf’ faces

When Kagami said it, he puts his hand and fists together. So Izuki repeats him and continuously punches his hand like a bodybuilder.

Hyuuga taunts Kiyoshi with the “Iron Heart” nickname. For the finale he gets everyone in the audience to chant “Iron Heart” with him and Kiyoshi gets mad, “EVEN IF ITS YOU OR THE AUDIENCE I’LL GET MAD AT YOU GUYS!”

When Kaijou loses, Kise cries real tears, every time when he says he wanted to win with everyone.

For the finale, the other members of Kaijou are seen crying too when they lose...

After Kaijou walks off stage with Kise crying, Seirin comment how they made it to the finals and look at the scoreboard which has now changed to Seirin vs Rakuzan.

Kagami walks on stage noticing his necklace is missing. He starts to look for it and Midorima walks on with his giant shogi piece with the necklace. After he gives it back to Kagami, Kuroko walks on with Takao following.

As Kuroko and Takao are talking, Kagami and Midorima are talking (whispering) to each other. Usually it’s about Kagami pointing out Midorima’s shogi piece and for the May 5th show he even tried to take it much to Midorima’s displeasure.

Midorima tells Takao they’re leaving before telling Kagami there’s two Akashi and tells him to ask Kuroko about it.

Here some really dark music plays and I wish they had a soundtrack for this play.....because wow I got chills

Kuroko tells Kagami that he’ll explain what Midorima meant by the ‘two Akashi’s’ by telling everyone about ‘our past’

At this moment, the instrumental for the Teiko ending song, Ambivalence, plays and Ogiwara runs out (Kagami exits and Kuroko moves so he’s behind Ogiwara who’s facing us). Ogiwara then says “Are you alone? I’m Ogiwara Shigehiro! Let’s play basketball together!” and the stage fades into darkness. This marks the end of chapter 2 and a 15 minute break before the last chapter of the play. During the break the instrumental for Ambivalence is still playing so we’re all just preparing ourselves for the feels.

*Note: The Teiko arc is briefly covered in the play, but the actual arc itself is covered in the Teiko Reading screening which was available to stream online and in select theaters before the play, including scenes with Nijimura and Coach Sanada. The Teiko Reading only goes up to right before the match between Teiko and Meiko. The play covers highlights of the Teiko arc and the Teiko vs Meiko match. For those who were unable to watch the Teiko Reading, it’ll be included in the Ultimate Blaze DVD/Blu-Ray.

The third chapter opens up with Ogiwara and Kuroko playing basketball together and Ogiwara confessing that he’ll be moving. The two promise to play against each other in junior high school.

Kuroko explains how by second year, he had moved up to the regulars and he and Ogiwara keep in contact with each other.

Each of the GoM come out in their Teiko practice shirts (and colorful shorts....)

Mukkun had red shorts and Kise had neon green.......

For every other GoM member, they had a dramatic DON! when they appeared. For Kise, he had a super *SPARKLE” effect as he did a double peace sign and smiled. Kuroko comes out last and his is his ‘misdirection’ sound effect that is often used in the play for him.

Oh yeah, Momoi is here too as she watches over them/Aomine.

The Teiko members do some practicing.

Akashi (who is receiving the passes from someone off stage) passes the ball to the rest of the members on stage.

The scene shows how Kuroko and Aomine work well together.

The scene changes and Kuroko narrates how Aomine has started missing practice. They discuss that maybe he had a valid reason and then the stage darkens to just Kuroko who confirms that the reason for Aomine’s absence was that he was ditching. He calls Ogiwara for advice, who said that Aomine is different from Haizaki in which he actually enjoys basketball and the problem is because he likes basketball. He tells Kuroko that since Aomine helped him, Kuroko needs to be there for Aomine.

Aomine comes on in his Teiko jersey, having regained his happiness with Momoi watching. However the other players give up and he in turn gives up playing his hardest. (there’s no players on the stage but you have the image based on the sound effects). Kuroko walks on smiling for a fistbump but Aomine walks away saying his “The only one who can beat me is me’ line.

Kuroko gets a call from Ogiwara later saying that he lost in the first round, and that their promise will have to wait til next year.

For the finale, Ogiwara was almost crying, or he was crying....save this boy please.

Kuroko and Momoi talk about Aomine, making no progress. And Momoi asks him if they’ll always be together, in which Kuroko is hesitant to answer.

Slowly, the other GOM members (minus Akashi) slowly realize their abilities.

Mukkun with his ability to block, Midorima with his ability to shoot.

Kuroko then finds Aomine by the river, and the whole “I don’t remember how to receive your passes” scene plays out.

Aomine’s face looks so pained here /cries.

Back at the gym, the rest of the GOM are wondering about Coach Sanada’s approval of Aomine ditching practice, and Mukkun wants to ditch too. Akashi tells him that’s not allowed and the Mukkun vs. Akashi match starts with Bokushi awakening.

Akashi’s acting was so good, the contrast between Ore and Boku. And the music for Bokushi’s appearance was spine-chilling....I want the soundtrack for this please....

They use a mix of actual ball-handling and using an ‘air’ ball. Even without the ball you can tell Akashi’s actor is really good at basketball.

Akashi declares as long as they win, no one needs to show up for practice, much to Midorima’s shock.

Kuroko returns and asks Akashi who he is, and Akashi responds, “Of course, I’m Akashi Seijuurou.”

Months pass and the GOM are unbeatable and getting bored in matches, so Kise suggests making it a competition of who can score the most, with even Akashi joining in.

Ogiwara happily tells Kuroko they made it to the finals, but Kuroko is unhappy with the current atmosphere of the club. He asks Akashi to let him start out in the semi-finals, which Akashi permits.

Ogiwara is impressed with how much Kuroko has improved.

Kuroko gets hit in the head by the other team and is taken to the nurse.

Ogiwara talks with Akashi about Kuroko, and asks Akashi if basketball is fun. Akashi responds he doesn’t understand such a question.

Kuroko asks to play but Akashi tells him no under doctor’s orders, and tells him Ogiwara’s message about playing each other agian someday. Kuroko asks Akashi to not hold back against Meiko.

Despite losing 111-109, Ogiwara is fighting back against Teiko, telling his teammates to score one basket and losing proudly.

Ogiwara shoots and misses, and Aomine complains how they gave him the chance and tells Mukkun to shoot it.

Ogiwara, on the ground, looks at them in confusion to why they would score on their own basket.

Kise happily announces how they reached their goal and that they’re all matching, and points to the scoreboard to reveal the score of 111-11.

Kuroko comes out to see a heartbroken Ogiwara, who looks at him before leaving the stage.

Kuroko talks how painful it is, and what is victory. Onoken’s acting here was emotional, as expected from already portraying Kuroko in the anime.

The GOM come out and line up behind Kuroko similar to the panel in the manga.

Kuroko announces his resignation.

Kuroko narrates how Ogiwara has transferred, and Ogiwara comes out on stage saying how the GOM had such cold eyes, but Kuroko can melt that coldness.

Kagami then comes out, and scolds Kuroko along with the rest of Seirin.

Hyuuga gets mad at both of them and sends Izuki and Koganei to drag Kuroko off and give him a tickle attack. Riko follows.

Kiyoshi and Hyuuga comment how it was a sad story and that Kuroko never talks about himself like that, so now they must win.

The next day is the Kaijou vs Shuutoku match for third place and the finals.

Mukkun meets up with Aomine and Momoi, who talk about who would win. They say third place is decided but the finals could be anyone.

Kise is on the bench due to his injury, and Shuutoku easily wins the third place match.

Midorima tells Kise their match is ‘postponed’ for now.

Kise gets annoyed saying, “WELL OF COURSE. IF I WAS IN THERE I’D WIN”

Kise and Midorima continue to bicker.

Kasamatsu and Otsubo just look at each other and let their kouhais fight it out.

Towards the second half of the runs, when Midorima points his finger at Kise, Kise actually bites his finger. No, I mean it. He actually bites it. Midorima gets grossed out by it.

Midorima: EW SO GROSS NANODAYO Kise: I’M NOT GROSS. I’M PRETTY.

^yes, those were actual lines.

Now it’s time for Seirin vs Rakuzan.

Haizaki’s actor is the referee.

For the tip-off, Nebuya gets upset that Kiyoshi isn’t the one jumping.

Seirin declares Mayuzumi not a threat since there’s little information on him, so Aomine asks Momoi about it. This is an adlib scene and varies per show.

May 5- Aomine asks Momoi to get ‘that’ (her notebook) from her bag. Instead she pulls out one of his gravure photobooks. She proceeds to put it back but Aomine hastily takes it away. Momoi asks Mukkun if it’s in his potato chip bag. He looks in it and pulls out..................a chip. Turns out the notebook was in her bag after all, much to Aomine’s annoyance.

May 11- Instead of her notebook, Momoi kept pulling out Mukkun’s empty potato chip bags. Aomine gets mad, but Mukkun only responds, “They were yummy~.” The notebook again was in her bag after all.

May 19- similar to the May 5 adlib.

When Hayama does his dribbling, Mukkun agains shakes vigorously on the side. This time, since he has chips, he sometimes dropped them on stage. So afterwards, you would see him picking them off the ground.

Both Reo and Mayu admit how loudly annoying Hayama is (they were running across stage too )

When Nebuya gets upset that Kiyoshi doesn’t remember what he told him 2 years ago, he literally throws a tantrum on the ground.

Everyone in both Rakuzan and Seirn:.............

When Akashi goes into the Zone, he actually dribbles around everyone with the ball across the stage. Talk about coordination!

Akashi’s shocked face as he’s starting to lose was perfect too. Sorry I have a lot of Akashi notes....

As he’s starting to lose, Akashi starts switching between Oreshi and Bokushi. Oreshi’s voice has like an echo/autotune effect but it’s not a recording or anything.

Thus, the monologue between Oreshi and Bokushi was amazing. The actor constantly switches between both sides very smoothly. Give this guy an Oscar please.

When Oreshi talks about his mother, a ball falls from the sky and he hugs the ball close to him as he mentions it’s what he has left of her.

You can actually visually see the difference between Oreshi and Bokushi in face expression.

As Seirin admits defeat, they’re all collapsed on the ground, even Riko, until Ogiwara comes out and cheers for them.

Aomine shouts out from the side of the stage. In the finale he was even crying.

Kaijou and Shuutoku go in the audience and cheer for Seirin from there.

For the May 11th show I had Kaijou right behind me. Literally -screams

Aomine was crying real tears when he says “So it was you all along, Tetsu...”

For the finale was sobbing more

For the final shot, the stage goes all dark as Kuroko says “I’m a shadow.” Then Kagami comes out from behind and makes the final dunk.

Lantana then begins to play as Kagami declares Seirin the winners of Winter Cup.

In the final performance, Akashi cried as he admits his loss and even when he shook hands with Kuroko.

After Kuroko shakes hands with Akashi, and says that they can play basketball at anytime, Seirin and Rakuzan make a quick bow and run off stage.

Final Scenes

The remaining GOM come out in their uniforms, each with a basketball, and happily dribbling around the stage.

Kise sees Haizaki walking out with his shoes, about to throw them away, but Haizaki hesitates and instead hugs them close to him. He sees Kise was watching him and Kise smiles knowing Haizaki didnt’ really hate basketball after all.

The different teams come out taking a stand in front of the stage and then having a fun match against each other.

Kaijou vs Shuutoku

Seirin vs Rakuzan

The players even go up against other players that we didn’t see during the matches. Everything was so emotional and happy.

The last scene ends with Kuroko and Kagami fistbumping each other and Kagami poses as he’s about to dunk and Kuroko kneels below him fistbumping towards us as all the other players are reaching out towards Kagami.

Curtain Calls

May 5th Aichi Finale - Akashi and Reo

Reo mentions how in high school he was the only one in his group who didn’t read KnB. And now he’s IN KnB.

May 11-Kiyoshi and Koganei

They got Hyuuga to go to the center and do a big “KUROSUTE FIGHT O” cheer with the cast and audience.

May 19th-Kuroko and Kagami

This one was really emotional as it was the final performance ever. Yuya starts crying over his talk over Kagami, and he even deeply bows to Onoken to thank him.

Onoken didn’t cry but he was on the verge of doing so, his voice was shaking.

I lost count of how many curtain calls there were for the finale, but there was a lot.

Highlights

Every show Rakuzan would high-five Akashi as they left the stage

For the finale Mayuzumi even hugged Akashi, and then for another curtain call afterwards all of Rakuzan group-hugged Akashi

Kuroko and Kagami asked if the director was around, apparently he wasn’t so they asked someone to say “Thank you” in his place instead. The cast chose Akashi to say it.

Momoi ran up to Aomine and Kise and walked off together.

On one of the last curtain calls, Aomine and Kise decided to have OnoKen thrown up in the air and got everyone to join in.

Every curtain call ends with Kagami and Kuroko fistbumping each other and leaving. For the very last curtain call, it was all of Seirin together.

Kiyoshi lifts Riko up in the air for a few seconds to celebrate.

And thus concludes my last Kurosute report....please consider buying the DVD or Blu-Ray when it comes out, you won’t regret it.

Once again, thank you for four years Kurosute. Thank you cast members for doing a wonderful job portraying our beloved characters. Thank you Fujimaki-sensei for creating such a beloved series.

#kuroko no basuke #kuroko no basket #knb stageplay #kurosute

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jrgsportsbuzz · 6 years ago

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Arrowhead shuts down Fond du Lac to advance to hockey sectionals

TOWN OF MERTON – When a hockey team creates ample opportunities offensively, the shots eventually start finding the net.

Arrowhead, the No. 2 seed in Sectional 8 of the WIAA Hockey Tournament, was constantly attacking No. 7 seed Fond du Lac’s zone throughout their 3-0 Thursday night regional final victory at the Mullett Center. The Warhawks out-shot the Cardinals 36-16 and made their chances count in the latter two periods.

“I think we had a heavy fore check today,” Arrowhead coach Carl Valimont said. “We knew what these guys do. We played them a couple weeks ago and knew they didn’t have that many defensemen, so we were getting pucks deep. We were putting a lot of pressure on them and, after about a period or so, they kind of wore out a little bit and we got a couple of goals.

Arrowhead was the aggressor in a scoreless first period. The Warhawks created two breakaway chances and had two power plays. However, Fond du Lac sophomore goalie Corbin Guy held serve, as he held Arrowhead scoreless during the frame despite the Warhawks’ 18-6 shots advantage.

The home squad’s best scoring chance in the period came when senior forward and team captain Kyle O’Connor broke free with just under four minutes to play. However, Guy turned away his chance along with two more rebound shots.

“Our goalie has played well all year and our defense; we kind of swarm them,” said Valimont of his back line. “We get all over the guys and we don’t give them a lot of room. Our idea is don’t give good players time to make good plays. Take time and space away. Our guys hustle and work at it. We’re a deep team. We play four lines and six defensemen. Our guys are always fresh and can do the work.”

The Warhawks’ offensive momentum continued into the second period. Despite having half as many shots on goal as the first, Arrowhead took the lead in the frame.

Neither team had a shot during the first four minutes as the defensive intensity picked up on both sides. However, the Cardinals committed two penalties that gave Arrowhead a 5-on-3 power play.

The home squad took advantage shortly after when freshman defenseman Zach Wolverton netted a shot from the right off deflections off shots from O’Connor and fellow senior Ethan Hill.

“I was just getting hyped up throughout the game and my teammate put a rebound right in front of me,” Wolverton said. “I just had to score it, so I did and then we just got so excited that we kept rolling.”

“We practice that,” said Valimont of 5-on-3 power plays. “When we get a 5-on-3, this is how our set is going to be. Let’s pass the puck, get it to the net and then go to the net.”

Fond du Lac got its own power play opportunity midway through the period but did not capitalize. The Warhawks doubled the lead three minutes later when senior captain and defenseman Connor Kruk fired an unassisted shot from the left that dribbled in after deflecting off Guy.

“It started with the fore check,” said Kruk of his goal. “We got out on the ‘D’ hard, they just bumped it up to me and we’ve always been working on shooting the puck low and hoping for some good tips in.”

“I look at quality shots, not just shots,” said Valimont of his team’s efficiency in the second period. “We might’ve had 40 odd shots tonight, but the quality shots might’ve been 10, maybe eight. We had a couple breakaways or partial breakaways. Those are the things I look at.”

Arrowhead got the final insurance goal just over six and one half minutes into the third period. Sophomore forward Carson Heitman knocked in an unassisted goal from the right side close to the net to produce the final score.

The Warhawks nearly earned a four-goal lead three minutes later, but junior defenseman Colin Juenger’s shot from the right side bounced off the right post. Arrowhead preserved the shutout despite allowing as many shots on goal in the frame as they had allowed the first two periods combined. The Cardinals created desperation chances late that were helped by two Arrowhead penalties. Despite the increased Fond du Lac opportunities, the Warhawks still out-shot the road squad 9-8 in the third period.

“We feel great,” said Valimont of his team’s chances going forward. “We ended our season having a great game against Verona, beating them 2-1 in their building. That was a good segway into the playoffs. Now, we got Fondy, a nice team that works hard and has got some really good players. It’s how we play. If we do the things that we’re asking the guys to do, we’ll have success.”

Arrowhead will face No. 3 seed St. Mary’s Springs at home in the sectional semifinal on Tuesday. St. Mary’s Springs edged Brookfield 5-4 on Thursday night in the other regional final.

#arrowhead #hartland #fond du lac #wisconsin #high school #hockey

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rukopisi-ne-gore · 6 years ago

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Once Upon a Time in America

You know that feeling when you're about to take on something really important to you and you want to do it justice but no word can encapsulate the real essence of what you're trying to say? Let's just say that what I'm about to write is a story about an event that had a tremendous impact on the whole country, an event that kept the entire nation awake until dawn for almost two weeks, an event that brought joy like no other. This is the story of the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Here’s a poster for the 2002 WC. Do not ask where I’ve found it because I have no idea, I’ve digged for hours.

Our national team travelled to the USA as the reigning European and World champions. As we posed the biggest threat to the hosts, everything was orchestrated so that these teams wouldn't meet before the final, provided both of them won their games as expected. The stage was set for the ultimate showdown, just like it had been exactly 10 years before that, at the 1992 Olympics. But things went slightly awry, as they often do when you think you have everything planned. The setback wasn't as major as the one we had encountered a decade ago, but it was enough to complicate the situation.

Games in the group stage didn't exactly go according to the plan. In the first phase we suffered an unexpected loss to Spain. Bodiroga missed a shot that would take us to overtime and Spain prevailed, led by then 22-year-old Pau Gasol. Another shock followed in the second phase of the group stage, when we lost to Puerto Rico. It was a huge blow for a team that had dominated the European championship the previous year, winning every game by a margin greater than 10 points (except for the final, when we beat Turkey 78-69). However, we were still pretty confident. Until the unthinkable happened. The Dream Team lost, Argentina ended thier 58-game winning streak, which meant we were to take on the USA in the quarterfinal.

We have a saying here – ''Ili pukovnik ili pokojnik'' (You're either a colonel or a dead man), and I think that is the best way to describe the general mood in the country prior to this game. It was either going to be one of the best things to ever happen to you, or something you'd want to lock away and never talk about it again.

Pretty much everyone thought we would be the one to fall short in this game. But our coach wasn't one of them. ''We will beat the Americans tomorrow.'' he said at the pre-game press conference.

I remember that game vividly, mostly because I've rewatched it multiple times. I remember Vujanić's three pointer that gave us a 9-0 lead. I remember Vlade Divac shcooling thier centers in the first half. I remember Bodiroga approaching Reggie Miller and using his towel in a way that sent a clear message: ''We are not afraid of you.'' But I also remember every turnover and the USA's famous third quarter, the period they'd break most of their rivals. And they almost broke us. They were leading by 10 points after the thrid quarter, even though we had entered that period with a 4 point lead. But there was a glimmer of hope, and people chose to cling on to it. Gurović's three pointers brought us back to life, Jarić's free throws kept the dream alive... We were leading 81-79 and Americans had the ball. Miller missed a three-pointer. ''Šamar Drim timu! E ako hoće bolje, moraju da pošalju bolje igrače.'' iconic statement by Serbian commentator Slobodan Šarenac (''A slap in the face for the Dream Team! Well, if they want better (results), they'll have to send better players.'').

One of the things about this game that still amazes me is Marko Jarić's mental strength. He ruined almost every play in the first three quarters, lots of turnovers were his mistakes, but he still remained calm enough to make crucial free throws and a three pointer in the last minutes of the game.

That win was celebrated all over the country, it almost made people forget this wasn't the final. It wasn't over.

Everyone expected Puerto Rico in the semifinal after thier performances in the group, but as it turned out, we weren't the only ones to stage a surprise in the quarterfinal. New Zealand beat Puerto Rico and scheduled a showdown with Yugoslavia. We were down by 9 at the half time (that's when the famous ''slučaj banana'' happened) but we started playing better in the third period and didn't let New Zealand pull another surprise.

Slučaj banana – The Banana Case

While coach Pešić was talking in the dressing room at the half-time, Radmanović was eating a banana. Angered by his lack of focus, coach decided not to play him again.

The final would see the two teams that had beaten the USA at that tournament. Argentina were missing their best player Ginobili, who tried to play, but during the time he spent on the court he did more to help us than his team. Two and a half minutes before the end we were down by 8. It seemed to be over. But Bodiroga's 9 consecutive points brought us back to life and the winner was set to be decided in overtime.

Many people still talk about the last play and referee's decision not to call a foul on an Argentinian player in the last seconds of the regular time. I remember Stojaković once said in an interview: ''It wasn't a foul. Referees have kind of a rule among themselves not to be a deciding factor at the end. I think it was best to let the players decide the game (in overtime). If it had been the end of the third quarter, he may have called it. But in those circumstances... It wasn't a dirty play that would make the refs decide the winner like that.''

So we went to overtime. A scoreless minute exacerbated the feeling of suspense . But then Peđa Stojaković made a three pointer from the corner and got us started. The final score: 84-77. The final whistle marked the beginning of celebration in Belgrade. You want to know how much this title meant to people? Take a look. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this video's worth a million.

#this looks a bit weird because i had to add video from phone #and after that i couldn't edit it on computer? what type of shit is that?#formatting is really weird #anyway happy 16th wc title anniversary to me #basketball #sports #my (text) posts

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wrestlingisfake · 2 years ago

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G1 Climax Night 1 preview

This is the first night of New Japan Pro Wrestling's most prestigious tournament. This year's G1 Climax will be 20 shows over the next 33 days, with the finals on August 18. The winner will earn a trophy and a contract for an IWGP world championship match at the Tokyo Dome in January 2023.

The tournament format is different this time. For most of the last ten years, the G1 has featured 20 men in two blocks of ten, with each man wrestling everyone else in his block. After a total of 90 block matches, the wrestlers with the best win-loss record in each block would meet in the final. This time, it'll be four blocks of seven men. This means more participants (28 instead of 20) but fewer block matches (84 instead of 90). The four block winners will pair off in semifinal matches in August 17, to determine who advances to the final on August 18.

The rules for the block matches themselves remain the same. Each match has a 30-minute time limit. None of the champions will be defending their titles (although pinning a champion is a good way to get in line for a future title match). A win is worth two points, a loss is worth zero, and a draw is worth one point for each wrestler. In some edge cases, like a double forfeit or a no-contest, both wrestlers could get zero points, but it's extremely rare.

I've learned not to worry too much about the points until the very end. What it boils down to is that you don't have to win every match, but it doesn't take many losses to prevent you from winning the block. In the traditional 10-man block, it was tough to win with a 6-3 record, because you'd have to hope you get lucky in a three-way tie or something. Now the margin for error is tighter, because a 4-2 record will be on the bubble. The pressure to avoid a second loss will be huge.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb - This is for 2 points in A block. Okada is the leader of CHAOS and probably the most successful main eventer in New Japan over the last decade. Cobb is the absolute unit of Will Ospreay's United Empire group. When these two met last year, Okada was 7-1 and Cobb was 8-0 looking for a perfect streak. Okada gave Cobb his only loss, and then went on to win the G1 with a 9-1 record. So you have to figure the winner of this match would be heavily favored to go 6-0 in the block and cruise to the finals.

I'm normally bullish on picking Okada to win, but New Japan likes to throw curveballs on the opening night of the G1. Cobb has beaten Okada before, but beating him here would be a bigger statement. Plus, in one-on-one matches Okada is ahead 3-1, so now's the time to even up the score.

Jay White vs. SANADA - This is for 2 points in B block. White is the leader of Bullet Club and the reigning IWGP world champion. Odds are he will defend the title against the winner of this tournament, unless he wins it himself and gets to choose his challenger. Sanada is the shy quiet one in Los Ingobernables de Japon, Tetsuya Naito's gang of cool weird dudes.

I think Sanada can beat White. It'd make sense for him to score a big upset to set up White winning a rematch in September or October. But I'm not confident this is year. I've seen NJPW tease the idea that they're going to start getting behind this guy, and maybe he'll finally beat Okada when it counts or maybe he'll finally win the G1, and it never comes all the way through. I'm tired of getting my hopes up with this guy. Now watch them swerve me and do the upset.

Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo - This is for 2 points in D block. Ospreay is the leader of the United Empire, the IWGP United States champion (although Juice Robinson has his title belt), and the RevPro British champion. Phantasmo typically wrestles as a junior heavyweight, but his obnoxious charisma and even more obnoxious athleticism has made him a rising star for Bullet Club. This is a dream match I didn't even realize I wanted, probably because both guys are such dickheads.

In a weird way I expect this to resemble Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door. That is to say, Phantasmo will get his shit in and prove he can hang with Ospreay, but he'll still lose and get over in defeat.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Aaron Henare - This is for two points in C block. This will be Tana's 161st match G1 competition and Henare's very first. A few years back, Tana took the young Toa Henare under his wing and they became something of a tag team, but that all changed in 2021 when Toa turned heel and joined the United Empire as Aaron Henare. The former friends have since met in tag matches, but this is their first one-on-one encounter.

Every year Tanahashi is just a little more vulnerable to a big upset by an undercard guy. I never expected him to lose to Chase Owens last year, for example. So they'll be playing on our expectations that Henare could win the big one. But as much as I'd like to see Henare get elevated, I don't sense that they're as behind him right now as they have been with Chase. I think Tana wins, and the real upsets happen higher on the card.

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI - Naito's team represents Los Ingobernables de Japon; Ishii's team represents Okada's stable CHAOS. This match is a preview for Naito vs. Goto (July 20) and Takagi vs. Yoshi (July 23). Ishii also has a block match on July 17. Bushi is a junior heavyweight so he didn't make the cut for the heavyweight tournament. These preview matches are mainly for the live crowd that just wanted to see these guys in person even if they didn't have a block match. So they tend not to mean much for the viewer at home. I guess Naito's team wins.

KENTA & Juice Robinson & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku - Juice's team represents Bullet Club, and Sabre's team represents Suzuki-gun. This match previews Kenta vs. Sabre (July 17) and Archer vs. Fale (July 20). Juice and Chase are also in the tournament, but Taka is not. Archer is long-time member of Suzuki-gun but he's spent the past couple of years in AEW, so this is his first G1 tour in a while. I'm excited to see how he performs, but that doesn't mean he'll get a win tonight. I could easily see Bullet Club shenanigans winning this one.

EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi & SHO vs. Tama Tonga & David Finlay & Jado - Evil's team (along with Dick Togo) are the House of Torture, a subgroup within Bullet Club. Tama and Jado were recently kicked out of Bullet Club, and Finlay's tag team was broken up when his partner Juice defected to Bullet Club. It'll be Finlay vs. Yujiro on July 20, but that's the only block match between any of these guys. (Sho and Jado aren't in the tournament.) Evil will probably win with their usual cheap heat stuff.

JONAH & Bad Dude Tito vs. Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa - Jonah and Tito are regulars on NJPW STRONG, where they're affiliated with TMDK. (NXT viewers may know Jonah as Bronson Reed. TMDK's founders, Mikey Nicholls and Shane Thorne, also briefly appeared in NXT as The Mighty.) Yano vs. Jonah is scheduled for July 17. Tito and Oiwa are not in the tournament.

Yano always tries to win his block matches with guile and deception rather than straight-up wrestling, so we should get a glimpse of his strategy against Jonah here. I'm looking forward to the comedy on the 17th, but this is just an appetizer. I expect Jonah to squash Oiwa like a bug.

Tom Lawlor vs. Kosei Fujita - This was originally going to be Lawlor teaming with Royce Isaacs (his Team Filthy associate on Strong) against Fujita and Yuto Nakashima, but Nakashima had to pull out due to an injury. Of the four men in the original match, only Lawlor is actually entered in the G1, but his first block match isn't until July 26. Fujita is just a Young Lion, so this is basically a squash match.

#njpw #g1 climax

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andrewjaaeremy · 3 years ago

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They need to see you plain, a long-faced lad in an old black cloak.

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eagle-eyez · 3 years ago

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Eighth graders aren’t generally known as dictionary aficionados. But Dhroov Bharatia, 12, has a passion for language.

“Nothing can express an idea as effectively as a judicious use of words,” he said by phone from his home in Plano, Texas. This love of vocabulary has made him one of 11 finalists in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, adding him to a long line of South Asian American middle and elementary schoolers who have excelled at the competition.

It’s a well-documented relationship. Since 2008, a South Asian American kid has been named a champion at every Scripps bee. This year, two-thirds of the semifinalists were of South Asian descent, and at least nine of the 11 finalists are of South Asian descent.

Over the past two decades, spelling bees tailored to South Asian children have proliferated. So have spelling bee coaching companies founded by South Asian Americans. Flyers for local bees are handed out at Indian supermarkets, and the activity is spread through word of mouth at temple events.

A 2020 documentary, Spelling the Dream, followed four Indian American children preparing for 2017’s bee season and showcased just how much it means to South Asian American families.

“It is definitely a source of pride from an educational standpoint,” said Shalini Shankar, an anthropologist and the author of Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal About Generation Z’s New Path to Success.

But it is also something more: The bee has become an occasion for unity within the South Asian American immigrant community, and it all goes back to a historic victory more than three decades ago.

In 1985, Balu Natarajan became the first child of immigrants to win Scripps, prompting an outpouring of support from people of South Asian descent. “Many people who I’d never even met felt a connection to it,” Natarajan said. “I had no idea how much one could be embraced by a community.”

He became a well-known name in Indian American households around the country, which he described as humbling. “People in our community really do pay attention when one of our own is able to have success in something,” he said.

“Today, we have children and families in our community that are center stage when they go to the Scripps spelling bee,” Natarajan said. “It’s really a place of comfort. But back in the ’80s, we were just exploring it. We really had no idea that we were doing this for a community. We were just this tiny fraction of the participants.”

Natarajan has the photos to prove it: When he first competed in the Scripps spelling bee in 1983, he remembers only six contestants of Indian descent out of 137 students. A few of them gathered to take a photograph, documenting a small moment of togetherness — a stark contrast to the playing field of today.

The Bee Is Back

Every year, about 11 million children in the United States participate in school-level spelling bees. The first Scripps National Bee was held in 1925; because of the pandemic, it was canceled last year for the first time since World War II.

The words have gotten progressively more difficult over the decades — mostly because the kids have gotten a lot better. “Therapy” was a winning word in 1940, but in 2019, two of the winning words were “bougainvillea” and “erysipelas.”

In 2019, Scripps named eight winners for the cup — “octochamps,” they coined themselves. Previously, only two kids had ever tied for the win. Seven of the 2019 champions were of Indian descent.

“It’s not spellers against spellers. It’s spellers against the dictionary,” Ashrita Gandhari, a current finalist, said about the sense of camaraderie and companionship among the contestants.

That doesn’t mean she’s not in it to win it. Ashrita, 14, is spending about 10 hours a day practicing, and has three coaches to help her prepare. But part of her love for the bee has to do with the incredible support she receives from her community.

“I live in Ashburn, Virginia, and let me tell you, a lot of people here are of South Asian descent,” she said. “So many people — all my friends, my neighborhood, my community — they’ve all been super supportive. We’ve had parties, they even filmed a congratulations video for me, baked me cakes.”

Indian Americans are one of the younger, newer groups of immigrants in the United States. More than 60 percent of Indian immigrants living in the United States today arrived after 2000. “That’s not the case for most other Asian populations, Chinese, Filipino, Korean,” said Sangay Mishra, an associate professor at Drew University and the author of Desis Divided: The Political Lives of South Asian Americans.

Indian immigrants did come to the United States in earlier waves, particularly in the wake of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and the family-based immigration that followed. But the implementation of the H-1B visa program in 1990, which allowed for the entry of specialised foreign workers, brought in Indian immigrants in much larger numbers.

In 2016 and 2017, Indians accounted for almost 75 percentof all H-1B visa holders in the United States. This “changed the character of the community, in terms of skewing it more professional and more highly educated,” Mishra said.

Parents looked for hobbies for their children that prioritised “all kinds of educational attainment,” Shankar said. Spelling as an extracurricular activity soon began to spread by word of mouth. “They tell their broader ethnic community about it, and they bring each other to these South Asian spelling games, which are really accessible and held in areas where there’s a large concentration of South Asian Americans,” she said.

The hobby is also passed down — within families — to younger siblings and cousins. (“If the older sibling did it, the younger one often follows,” Shankar said.) That was the case for the 2016 Scripps champion, Nihar Janga, 16, whose passion for spelling was born out of a sibling rivalry going back to age 5. Watching his mother quiz his older sister, Navya, as she was preparing for the bee, Nihar started chiming in, reciting spellings even before Navya could finish.

“I looked up to the fact that my sister was participating in something like this, but I also wanted to be better at it. Eventually, it grew into my own love for spelling and everything it’s taught me,” Nihar said.

Navya and Nihar’s family, who live in Austin, Texas, first came across spelling bees through Navya’s bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance) teacher, who was involved with the nonprofit North South Foundation.

The foundation has more than 90 chapters, hosts regional and national educational contests in a variety of subject areas, and raises money through these events for disadvantaged students in India. A spelling bee is among the contests run by the organisation, and it’s common for top contenders to continue on to Scripps.

Natarajan is now the foundation’s president, and it has become a powerhouse incubator. Five of 2019’s Scripps octochamps were involved in the North South Foundation.

Another prominent spelling bee on the practise circuit is the South Asian Spelling Bee, which is run by the marketing agency Touchdown Media and has been sponsored by companies such as MetLife and State Farm.

“At its height, it was really pumping in a lot of capital into holding these bees,” Shankar said. “They’d have a title sponsor and numerous smaller sponsors.” This gave spelling bees a lot more traction and momentum, she added: “It has an entire engine behind it.”

“The community created an infrastructure for the kids to really thrive and excel in this area,” she said.

More Than a Memory Game

For many students, spelling isn’t just a study, but also an all-encompassing way to learn about the world.

“Spelling is not just taking these 500,000 words in the English language and memorising them and then you win the spelling bee — that’s not how it works,” Nihar said. “I want people to think of spelling just like any other competition, like wanting to learn the story behind that field and learning how that field can apply to the world.”

“You can’t just eat protein powder and then go be good at football,” he added.

Dhroov said that one of his favourite things about spelling is how it intersects with his other passions, including music. “I worked on the ‘Carnival of Venice’ song on my alto saxophone, and that’s a piece where the dynamics are very important,” he said. “Knowing all these words — for example, ‘crescendo,’ ‘diminuendo,’ ‘ritardando,’ which means to slow down, ‘fortissimo,’ which means play extremely loud” allowed him to “bring emotion to the piece, make it come alive,” he said.

The amount of concentration necessary also inevitably leads to significant time commitments, and plenty of pressure on the kids.

“The level of our competitors has definitely increased. Some of our students prepare for the spelling bee as any other collegiate athlete would with the amount of preparation, the dedication, and the amount of time that they study,” said J Michael Durnil, the bee’s executive director.

Tarini Nandakumar was, at 10, one of the youngest semifinalists competing this year. Before she struck out in the semifinals, on 27 June, she said she wanted to finish what her older brother, Pranav, had started years before. “My brother got 19th place in nationals, so I wanted to continue and try and win,” Tarini said. Of how it felt to have made it that far, “It’s exciting, but also scary,” she said.

The pressure was high. And when Tarini, who is from Round Rock, Texas, didn’t make it to the finals, she felt a lot of disappointment. Many tears were shed at first, she said. Her parents tried to comfort her, and within just a few days, she said, she came around and was asking for help to start studying again.

“I’m very motivated to get better next time,” she said. “Or at least get in the top five.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Anna P. Kambhampaty c.2021 The New York Times Company

from Firstpost World Latest News https://ift.tt/3yo1Kb8

#World

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toonstarterz · 7 years ago

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Having a lot of free time on my commute to boot camp has made me crazy enough to write an Ikarishipping fanfic. That ain’t a complaint by the way.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12660134/1/Empathetic

Rating: T

Pairing: Paul/Dawn

Summary: Gym Battles? Easy. Winning the Pokémon League? Child's play. Becoming Dawn's stupid boyfriend? Paul's greatest challenge.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, TPCi, or any of its properties. Bless you, Satoshi Tajiri.

~ Empathetic ~

Contrary to what people may think, Paul is not some stone-faced, unfeeling bastard. He has emotions just like everyone else. Serious. Bitter. Exasperated. That last one’s been happening a lot lately, and the cause of it comes from everywhere. His chimchar failing to meet expectations, the trainers in the corner that won’t shut up about Brandon of the Battle Pyramid, that blue-haired friend of Ash whose name alludes him that tries to get him to show a smidgen of compassion.

Paul is exasperated.

Paul’s hates useless small talk. He always answers people with only the minimum amount of words necessary–or a cold scowl if he can help it. But that girl–Dawn, right?–is tailing behind him after he exits the Pokémon Center and it doesn’t seem like she’ll leave him alone unless he talks to her.

He mentally groans. If he has to say something, he may as well be honest.

And so he talks. He talks about his dislike for Ash, his distaste for how similar the boy is to his brother Reggie, and how inane ideas like ‘trust’ and ‘guts’ annoy him to no end.

He expects Dawn to start spouting nonsense about how right Ash is, and how wrong he is. What he doesn’t expect Dawn to say is how people can have vastly different styles despite having similar beliefs, and how those contrary styles don’t necessarily make any one person wrong.

At least, that’s what she meant to be say. Her actual answer is much more simple-minded.

But the important part is that Dawn didn’t reject him like so many others, and when your training style goes against the majority rule, that’s oddly comforting.

Paul is thankful.

He runs into her again about a year later by chance. Yes, chance. He refuses to call it ‘fate’. He just so happened to be in the area following his win at the Lumiose Gym when he bumps into Dawn right in the middle of the north plaza. It’s probably his biggest surprise of the day, second only to the gym leader he’d just beaten that was also a talking robot. They exchange awkward pleasantries, and Dawn invites him over for lunch at Restaurant Le Nah. And it’s only because Paul has no excuse, and that he’s actually quite hungry that he agrees.

He plows through the double battle with just his weavile, and helps himself to an order of soup and breadsticks while Dawn enjoys her salad. She offers to foot the bill.

It’s only later that night that Paul realizes that, by pure definition, he went on a date with Dawn.

Paul is not displeased.

Paul is not fond of pokémon contests. They’re far too showy and impractical for his sake. But while he has no interest in contests, he can respect that pokémon coordinators need a mastery of skills are that are far beyond Paul’s level of understanding.

When he sees Dawn on the broadcast trounce the competition with a combination of discharge and ice beam to create a cage of electrically-charged ice, he is quite honestly impressed.

Next time they run into each other, he asks her to teach it to him.

So they set up a date, er, meeting the next day at a local park where they have a few practice battles and in no time, Weavile and Electivire have mastered the technique completely, albeit in a style more suited for battling. As a thank you, Paul offers to buy her a meal.

As they eat in silence, A girl with giant pink ringlets saunters up to them and starts giving them the third degree.

“This guy your boyfriend?” she asks, loud enough for the other patrons to hear.

“No, Ursula,” Dawn says, barely hiding the annoyance behind a smile. “This is Paul, one of Ash’s rivals from a few years back.”

Paul makes some sort of grunting noise that simultaneously says, “yes” and “back off” to this Ursula girl. She takes the hint and exits the restaurant with a satisfied smirk.

Paul is irritated.

Less than two months have passed, and word around the coordinator circle is that the esteemed Dawn is now dating some edgelord trainer named Paul.

Paul reads the excerpt in Coordinator Monthly, clicking his tongue in distaste.

If there’s anything Paul truly hated about being a pokémon trainer, it’s the publicity. Warding off reporters, kids badgering him for battling advice, that goddamned fanclub that arose when that photo of him in an undershirt leaked online. It’s why Paul travels alone, away from all the scrutiny so he can keep all his focus on training. But all of his attempts to keep a low profile were apparently all for naught.

Zoey is the first to confront him. He cooly brushes her off, simply stating that it’s mindless gossip and completely untrue. She leaves him alone after that, but not before giving him an eye that said “you try anything funny, and I’ll break your legs”.

Barry comes soon after that, demanding at the top of his lungs for an explanation lest he fine Paul for betraying him. Paul doesn’t know what he means by that, and frankly, he doesn’t care. He gives him the same answer he gave Zoey, word for word, and Barry eventually believes him.

At some point, Kenny steps up, and Paul saves the poor guy a lot of trouble by outright denying everything before he can even get a word in.

Paul is tired.

Paul excels at a lot of things. Training, battling, pissing people off, the list goes on. But the one thing he never got the hang of is being a socially functional human being.

So when Dawn invites him over to a banquet for coordinators as her plus-one, Paul is disinterested, as if trying to find some benefit to going that will help him be a stronger trainer.

“Why?” he asks far too directly, “Just ask someone else.”

“Everyone else is busy with other plans,” Dawn explains, a bit miffed. “And you’re my only friend left in the whole region!”

Paul stiffens, his mind stuck on the word ‘friend’. When was the last time anyone ever referred to him like that? Kindergarten?

“People will get the wrong idea,” he tells her gruffly. “And I’d rather not give them another reason to think that we’re dating.”

“Since when have you ever cared about what people think of you?” she counters.

Touché. Still, he’d like to keep the pests at bay, especially now that they’ve finally started to leave him and his nonexistent love life alone. But as far as he can tell, all the coordinators at the banquet will be people he’s already explained himself to, so the possibly of another rumor spreading should be exponentially lower.

“Fine.”

Paul is naive.

After a long day of training for the Pokémon League, Paul checks into the local Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy sympathetically tells him that they’re overbooked and that he’ll need to share a room with someone in order to stay. Not surprising, he surmises. The League challengers are always monopolizing the Center during this time. He’d much rather get his own room, but he can deal with bunking with some random trainer for the night.

As the nurse hands him the room key, it’s only then that he notices Dawn further down the reception desk, a room key in her hand marked with a number the same as his own.

That night, he glances from his book as Dawn exits the shower, clad in a white rope, and her glistening, blue hair hanging over her bare shoulders.

Paul is frustrated.

Paul is a man of routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, train, eat dinner, read a book, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. If something were to incorporate itself into his precious time, it would have to be something of great importance.

How Dawn managed to sneak her way in there, he’ll never know.

Today, Paul is listening with one ear as Dawn laments on making the semifinals of the Unova Grand Festival. She hasn’t made it this far since Sinnoh all those years ago, and understandably, she’s nervous out of her mind.

He notices Dawn’s fidgeting hand, so he places his own ice-cold palm on top of it in an attempt to calm her down. “You’ll be fine,” he says offhandedly, not even looking up from his phone.

Dawn eyes bug out, and she goes red in the face, as though Paul has violated her in some way. When she realizes that this was Paul’s weird way of showing affection, she smiles softly, and places her other hand on top of the pile.

“Thanks Paul,” she says with a sigh of relief, “You’re a good friend.”

Paul is ignorant.

“Do you want to go out with me?”

It doesn’t show on his face, but Paul feels like he was just blown back fifty feet by a hyper beam. He swerves his body to stare at Dawn as if she’s grown a second head. He scrutinizes her, looking for some trace of teasing on her expression, some hint of humor in her body language, any sort of indication that she’s only pulling his leg.

There is none.

“Why?” he asks, with all the careful seriousness he uses in battle. “I don’t date people.”

“I know, but…” Dawn bites her tongue, trying not to sound foolish. “I really like you, you know? I mean, you’re smart and determined and not as heartless as everyone says you are.”

Paul thinks she’s rationalizing. That she must be blinded by some great desire for romance that she’s ignoring all the very obvious reasons why he would not be a good boyfriend in any respect. At least, that’s what he thinks at first. He knows from first-hand experience that while Dawn can be naive, she’s not frivolous, nor is she the type to lead people on. In that case, she must honestly have some romantic interest in him, as absurd as that may sound.

And if he’s being completely and utterly and totally honest...he’s rather fond of her himself.

Just a tad.

“Fine,” he says curtly. “I’ll go out with you.”

A jubilent smile stretches across Dawn’s face, and she immediately starts listing off places to go on their first “official” date, while her boyfriend of three seconds grumbles in agreement.

Paul is content.

Paul nibbles down just below Dawn’s collarbone, eliciting a faint moan from the coordinator. He gently pushes themselves onto the bed, and slowly moves his tongue down Dawn’s figure while she straddles his waist.

At this moment, Piplup steps into the room and squawks in horror. In the shadow of darkness, all he can see is a big, scary man forcing himself onto his beloved trainer.

Piplup launches forward with a drill peck, and Paul screams loud enough to wake up the entire Pokémon Center.

While her boyfriend gets checked for rectal damage, Dawn takes Piplup into the hospital lobby to have a magnificently awkward talk about human relationships.

Paul is humiliated.

Paul isn’t sure how to feel at the moment. One the one hand, he’s just accomplished a huge part of his dream that many trainers could only hope for. On the other hand, he feels weak in the knees, as if all the attention on him is physically beating him down into the ground. Or maybe that’s just the solid gold trophy in his grasp.

“Congratulations, Paul,” Cynthia says to him with a tender smile. “May you carry the title of Sinnoh League Champion with honor.”

“Thank you.” Despite of himself, Paul smiles. As of now, nothing could ruin his relatively good mood.

At least until the press conference.

With the reporters and cameramen bombarding him like a machine gun, Paul resists the urge to curse them out and instead puts on a face of what he hopes is dignity.

“Mr. Champion, what’s the secret to your immense strength?”

“How do you respond to the allegations that you’ve abused your pokémon with illegal stimulants?”

“Is it true that you are dating Top Coordinator Dawn?”

“No comment,” Paul spits. “Next question.”

The next onslaught of paparazzi is even more ravenous, and after an hour of fending off the vullabys, Paul retreats to his hotel room. Dawn is there with a cup of tea and a comfy bed.

Paul is drained.

Paul hardly doubts himself. Oh sure, ninety-nine percent of things annoy him to no end, but barely anything makes him self-conscious. He’s so used to people chastising him for his harsh training methods that such things now slide off like butter. Years of being called a douche, a stick-in-the-mud, and an asshole has given Paul a lot of thick skin.

But when a young trainer actually called him a ‘nice guy’, Paul visibly bristles.

Worst yet, his former rival Ash Ketchum is there when it happened. As a precocious little boy dashes off in excitement after receiving the Sinnoh Champion’s autograph, Ash is giving Paul the most aggravating yet genuine shit-eating grin the latter has ever seen.

“A ‘nice guy’, huh?” Ash lightly teases. “I always knew you had a heart.”

Paul glares back at him as if to mentally punch him in the face. It isn’t the first time someone has accused him of getting ‘soft’, and it’s a trend that’s been bugging him for over a year now. They always say that it’s in the little things, such as the hint of warmness in his fierce eyes, or how he now compliments his pokémon about five percent more often than usual. And every damn time, they always say it began when he started dating Dawn. Paul cringes at the possibility of losing his edge to romance.

“No need to worry,” he tells the young man with the pikachu on his shoulder. “That’s just the image I have to put on as Champion. Absolutely nothing’s changed about me.”

Paul glances aside, having made his point. He hopes that Ash, is his infamous ability to take everything at face-value, will drop the subject after that. But when he sees the guy stifling a laugh, a surge of rage rushes over Paul’s body.

“What?” he barks.

Ash crosses his arms, knowingly. “You just said ‘No need to worry!’ You’re talking like her now!”

It takes all of three seconds for the the color to drain from Paul’s face. He races forward in shame, trying to hide his mortified expression from Ash’s exuberance. No amount of humiliating defeats could rival the terror that comes with adopting your girlfriend’s catchphrase. He stops in the middle of a clearing, his mind racing as Ash catches up to him.

At what point had Dawn brainwashed with all these flowery emotions? Paul considers smashing his head with a rock to self-induce amnesia and revert back to his old, happily unhappy self. But then he remembers there’s too much to lose.

Like it or not, Dawn had been good to him–like a spoonful of bitter medicine that tastes awful at first, but makes you feel better in the long run. Whenever he was doing more than his daily ten hours of training, Dawn would remind him to eat dinner. Whenever he forgot his ‘please and thank you’s, Dawn would punch him in the arm. Whenever the stress of being Champion was too much and he sentenced himself to solitary confinement, Dawn would drag him out so they could watch Cleavon Schpielbunk movies over ice cream sundaes.

Indeed, every ounce of logic was screaming that Dawn was ruining him. But in his shriveled up, raisin-like heart, he knows that Dawn is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him. And that feeling he gets when Paul realizes that he, the man who worked through blood, sweat, and tears to get to the top, couldn’t handle the fun-loving nature of his own wonderfully imperfect girlfriend can only be summed up in the most prominent word in his dictionary.

Paul is pathetic.

#pokemon #pokeani #dawn #paul #ikarishipping #fanfiction #zoey #barry #kenny #ash ketchum #cynthia #piplup #ursula

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