#(we concede again in the 92nd) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wishingforatypewriter · 6 years

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May I request something? I wondered about that matter since Chapter 9 of "On Casual Commitments", since it was brought up there. I was too shy to ask earlier, but I'd really like to know what happened between Yuki and Marui when they met at Polar Star to help Fumio-san moving out. So yes, may I ask for that? I am still enchanted by the two other One Shots you wrote about them and thought I could ask. Have a good day or night :)

Sure! I hope you enjoy it!

Yoshino Yuki woke up in her luxury suite at the Totsuki Imperial hotel. Ah, let’s just take a moment to let that sink in. After her first class, nonstop flight from New York City to Tokyo, Yoshino Yuki—the lifetime lover of all things decadent—had checked in to a room on the top floor of of a five star hotel and did not have to worry about the price!

Sometimes when she missed home or got tired of filming or woke Ryoko at 4 o’clock in the morning because she forgot about the time difference, Yuki wondered whether the cosmopolitan lifestyle she had chased so tirelessly was really worth it. But now with the silk sheets beneath her and the city streets below her and a remote control that could turn day to night in her room, she was sure that she had chosen correctly.

With a click of a button the sunlight was absorbed by dark curtains. That was nice. She stretched and rolled over in bed, hoping to fight the jetlag with a couple more hours of sleep. Her plans were promptly foiled all of fifteen minutes later when her cell phone started ringing.

Yuki groaned, rubbing at her eyes. If it was her producer again she swore she was going throttle him. What part of ‘vacation day’ was so difficult to grasp? “You’ve reached Yoshino Yuki,” she said, trying her best to put on her TV voice despite the ungodly hour.

“Good morning, Yoshino-san. I’m a few minutes away from your hotel, so you can come downstairs.”

Fuuuuuuck. She had completely forgotten that Marui offered to drive her up to campus. She’d gotten so accustomed to taking taxis everywhere. “Ah…um…about that…” She hopped out of bed and started rifling through her luggage for something to wear while simultaneously unpinning her hair rollers. “I’m not quite ready yet, but I should be down in ten minutes.”

“Yoshino-san,” he said, his voice laced with disbelief.

“Okay, twenty minutes,” she conceded, sighing. “A half hour tops. I just overslept so—”

“Figured as much,” he said, and she could almost see him smugly adjusting his spectacles. “Truthfully, I haven’t left my house yet. Do you think you’ll be ready in an hour?”

“Damn it, you almost gave me a heart attack!” Yuki huffed, hands resting on her hips. “That’s so mean of you, Marui.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You’re always running late, ever since we were in school.”

“Whatever.” Yuki rolled her eyes, annoyed that she had fallen for it. “An hour should be fine, though.”

“I’ll see you then.”

When she finally made it downstairs, wearing oversized sunglasses and a navy jumpsuit from Neiman Marcus, Marui Zenji was waiting for her. She smiled a bit when she saw him in his tweed suit jacket and slacks; he looked more and more like a professor every time they met.

“What are you doing dressing like that to pack boxes?” she asked.

“You’re one to talk,” he said, gesturing at her designer diggs.

“I have an interview later with this really cool magazine,” she explained, blushing a bit. She remembered the first time he’d looked at her like that, when she had gone to a school dance in that silly cherry dress.

“And I have a review session to run,” he said.

Yuki nodded. They were both still busy—the same kind of busy that had broken them up close to a decade ago. “That’s exciting!” She beamed at him. “You’re almost like someone reliable now.”

“What do you mean ‘almost?’”

The drive went by relatively quickly; they chatted amicably about the ambitions that had come between them and the precious godchild they shared.

By the time they made it to the Polar Star, they had fallen into a synthetic version of their old rhythm―her giving him flack and him flipping it back on her. But a sense of hesitation coated their interactions; after all, it would be too easy to fall back into old habits. And that would hardly be appropriate given that he was engaged to be married.

“There you kids are,” Fumio-san said as she ambled out into the hallway. “You’re late. I’m already halfway done.” And, of course, by halfway done she meant that all the boxes were open, but had nothing in them.

“Fumio-san!” Yuki dashed to hug the old dorm mother, who she hadn’t seen in two years.

“There’s the Hollywood star,” she said. “You know the only reason I kept paying that damn cable bill was to watch your shows.”

“C’mon, that’s not true,” Yuki replied. “You’ve been watching those soap operas since we were in middle school. Right Marui?”

“I can’t remember. Don’t bring me into this.”

Yuki crossed her arms. “That’s so half-assed of you. A man with glasses should be more assertive.”

“Why do you insist on attributing so many characteristics to the fact that I wear glasses?”

“Because it’s true,” she quipped.

He sighed. “On what basis does…” And then they were back to their banter.

Fumio watched them go at it for a few minutes, smiling as she leaned heavily against her cane. “Hey now,” she said finally. “Did you come here to stand around and bicker all day? Start packing up the bookshelf while I make lunch.”

The bookshelf was a wealth of knowledge. Over the years, generations of Polar Star residents had left behind textbooks, recipe books, travel guides, and a host of manga volumes for new cohorts of students. All of these, Fumio-san would be leaving at the dorm. The only thing she would take with her was the yearbooks—one for every class she had nurtured until graduation.

Because they were only human, they stopped to peer into the lives of the famous generations—the Polar Star’s golden age, Shinomiya Koujirou’s class, and naturally their own jewel generation.

“Look at the Elite Ten page,” Marui said after Yuki flipped to it. They were all lined up in front of Totsuki’s Parliament for a group photo, smiling in front of the fresh blossoms.

“They’re all paired up now,” Yuki noted. “Megumi and Takumi, Alice and Kurokiba, Hayama and Hishoko-chi, Yukihira and Erina-chi. It’s so cute.”

“And a little frightening,” Marui replied. “I can only imagine the next generation.”

“Well, that’s your problem now, prof.” Yuki laughed a little bit of the thought of him having to contend with their crazy classmates’ offspring. Then she turned the page to reveal the students’ individual photos. Yuki groaned when she saw her picture. “I was so plain back then.”

“That’s not true,” Marui told her.

“How?” Yuki pointed to yearbook again. “Look at me and then look at Erina-chi, Alice-chi, Nikumi. Compared to them I practically faded into the background.”

“You were always vibrant,” he said. “Even when the people you mentioned were present, it was you that lit up the room every time.”

Yuki smiled a little bit. “Well, you were biased back then.”

Later, she gestured to another page as he was about to turn it, their fingers brushing in the process. “It’s the pregame before senior formal. How did that make it into the yearbook?”

“The better question is how did the pregame make it into my room?” he asked, scowling at the memory.

“I think we convinced you somehow,” Yuki said, grinning as the memories came back to her. “Besides, I helped you clean that time.”

“Literally only because your room was overrun with baby animals and you wanted to crash in there.”

“Details, details.” She waved the comment off. “Anyway, I don’t remember you being upset about my presence there back then.” Now that she thought about it, that night had been special in more ways than one. She turned the page again, trying to change the subject in her own mind. “Remember senior ditch day?”

“I remember carrying you back from the beach because you fell asleep,” he noted.

“Well I remember running up and down the beach to look for your stupid glasses.” In the end, Yuki had narrowly saved them from being pounded with a baseball bat—that watermelon game had always done more harm than good.

They remembered, and they remembered. And the more they remembered the more they forgot how they had ever been able to manage without one another.

They finally reached the photos from the alumni banquet—the event that had changed everything for the 92nd generation. “It’s almost a little bittersweet when you think about it,” she said as she read through the initial career choices of all their classmates. “Hayama and Hishoko-chi were over by the end of the night.”

“Ibusaki and Sakaki found an apartment together by the next day,” he added.

“And Megumi turned down her best offers to follow Yukihira to New York,” Yuki recalled. “Not that she ever told him that.”

“In the end, that’s probably what doomed their relationship,” Marui said somberly. “A sacrifice like that…” He shrugged. It was unimaginable for most people.

“I don’t know,” Yuki said. “From where I’m standing, I still wouldn’t call it a mistake to value a relationship that much. I mean, if I could do everything over…” She trailed off. No. She couldn’t take it there.

Marui suddenly spoke up. “I’d follow you,” he said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “If I could do it again, I would follow you to Munich, to Prague, wherever.”

“I would stay.”

They let the truth hang between them for a moment, and then neither mentioned it again for the remainder of the visit.

After they finished helping Fumio-san move, Marui dropped her back at her hotel, and they hugged goodbye for a second too long.

“Get home safe, Yoshino-san,” he said. “Text me when your plane lands.”

“Yeah. I will.”

That night the silk beneath her felt distant, cold, and she longed for the cotton quilts of days past.

#shokugeki no soma #maryu #yuki x marui #yuki x zenji #polar star #yoshino yuki #marui zenji

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footballflame01 · 4 years

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Ansu Fati of FC Barcelona (L) celebrates his goal with Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona (R) during the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Levante UD at Camp Nou on February 2, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.

Ansu Fati became the youngest player ever to score a brace in La Liga on Sunday by capitalising on two brilliant Lionel Messi assists to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Levante.

Fati, at 17 years and 94 days old, broke the previous record held by Juanmi Jimenez, who scored twice for Malaga against Real Zaragoza at 17 years and 115 days old in 2010.

Messi teed up Fati's quick-fire double with a defence-splitting pass and then a trademark weaving run before Ruben Rochina scored Levante's goal in the 92nd minute, which really should have come sooner.

Barca reduce the gap at the top to three points behind Real Madrid and begin to regain some rhythm under new coach Quique Setien after Thursday's 5-0 thumping of Leganes in the Copa del Rey.

"We could have won 8-2 or 8-3," said Setien. "We lost a little control in the second half and conceded too much but it was a good job from the team."

Yet Levante should have converted more of a handful of excellent chances in the second half, that suggested Barcelona's defensive problems and fragility when in the lead are far from solved.

Leganes and Levante, who sit 18th and 13th respectively, offered a relatively straight-forward route back to winning ways too for Barcelona, who were wobbling last weekend when they followed a last-gasp win over Segunda side Ibiza with a convincing defeat by Valencia.

Setien, who replaced Ernesto Valverde as coach last month, found his methods questioned and there was evidence against Levante to suggest he may have decided to introduce his style of play more gradually.

Barca played with more urgency and ambition, their dominance of possession sacrificed occasionally for riskier passes forward.

Yet Levante also pressed high and left gaps to be exploited, despite the likes of Valencia and Granada enjoying more success against Setien's team by sitting deep and bursting out on the break.

Fati has been one of the main beneficiaries of Setien's arrival.

He exploded onto the scene at the start of the season but was used increasingly rarely by Valverde, who may have been wary of burdening the teenager with too much too soon.

Instead, Setien has started Fati in all five of his games in charge so far and this was the first time his faith has really been rewarded.

"He is a boy who is emerging and has great potential," Setien said. "Today he had a historic day for his goals and for helping the team."

Messi's own excellent form also continues. He now has nine goals and four assists in his last 10 league games.

Less than two minutes later, Fati was in again. Levante lost the ball upfield and Gerard Pique fired straight into Messi inside the right flank, midway inside the opposition's half.

He drove into the penalty area and when he finally stopped by a cluster of Levante chasers, he slid left to Fati, who fired through the legs of Aitor Fernandez for a second.

Nelson Semedo crashed a shot against the crossbar and then hopped over Tono only for Antoine Griezmann to tap wide at the front post.

But Levante were more dangerous in the second half and could have taken a draw if they had been more clinical with a handful of opportunities.

The best of them fell to Gonzalo Melero, who blazed over, and by the time Rochina's shot flew through one pair of legs and in off the hands of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, there were only two minutes remaining.

There was time for one Levante attack and Sergio Busquets' weak header gave Rochina another chance but he could not keep his shot down.

Sevilla and Real Sociedad both lost ground in the race for Champions League qualification as Getafe beat Athletic Bilbao to climb to third.

Real Sociedad lost 2-1 away at struggling Leganes while Sevilla were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Alaves.

In between, Getafe had carved out a 2-0 victory away at Bilbao to put them in pole position behind Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Jose Bordalas' team are now ahead of Sevilla on goal difference, while Real Sociedad are five points further back.

Getafe missed out on fourth on the final day of last season but they continue to prove their challenge was far from a one-off.

http://www.footballflame.com.ng/2020/02/ansu-fati-hits-quick-fire-double-as.html

#IFTTT #Blogger

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scrumptiousqueenglitter · 4 years

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