xavier_institute_logs | (no subject)

WHO: Tenma and all other soccer enthusiasts/filthy casuals
WHAT: Marathoning the past two World Cups. In Spanish.
WHERE: Student lounge, or any space with a TV if they get kicked out
WHEN: Evening of September 27th, leaks to other days/nights
WARNING(S): Soccer. Maybe language

Snacks? Check.

Drinks? Check.

Setting early claims on the couch and TV in the student lounge? Check-a-roony.

Getting a laptop somehow connected to the TV? Check...?

Tenma gave a great sigh of relief. It wasn't an easy battle, but he managed to get everything set up for a World Cup marathon or two. Missing five years of his life meant he would miss a World Cup for sure. Unfortunately, the timing was bad enough to make him miss two tournaments. Two whole tournaments! But this time around, the stars aligned in his favor. He knew everyone needed a distraction, himself included, from the recent events that happened. Tonight, he wasn't going to worry about Jon Sublime, President Kelly, or the U-Men. He was going to have a great time with his friends and if someone tried to rain on his parade, he had plans. If someone wanted him to move, he knew of alternate rooms he could host this marathon. If someone tried to get him to go to bed, he would argue finishing up whatever match they were watching before continuing in the morning. If the power went out... Well he didn't have a plan for that, but he would just wing it if it came to that.

Nothing was going to stop him.

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Truth be told, his telekinesis helped out immensely with plugging and unplugging things. Not that it was necessary to reveal that information.

"I saw who the winner was, but I only heard the final match was amazing." Tenma confessed. "Even though I know the results, I still want to see each match with my own eyes."

"Of course! I checked some of the scores, too - " Read: mostly all of them. "But it's not the same as seeing it for yourself."

Shindou nodded firmly, then edged more firmly up against the far end of the sofa, so he could indicate the space beside him. They were the first ones there, but it just wouldn't do if he wasn't able to point out his favorite players to Tenma mid-game or get up a miniature cheer-squad for Japan's matches.

"Do you want to go ahead and queue up the first match? Hopefully people will start showing up soon..."

"I didn't have time to watch any of the matches." He mused. "So I'm glad we're doing this now."

It was mostly true. Between waking up, getting things together, classes, the Sublime rally, and Kelly's address, there was no possible time to watch the World Cup straight through. It was also something he wanted to experience with friends, a feat he was never able to accomplish back home. Even with his first friend, she didn't want to sit through the match with him without wanting to do something else.

"Okay, we can recap if people want to know what's going on."

A few clicks and an automatic ad later, the first match began to stream.

"Sure. It'll take a few minutes before kickoff, anyway..."

What with the commentators offering prelude to the Cup's opening fixture, while both teams marched out onto the field. Not that Shindou could understand a lick of it (the Spanish announcing was already coming at an enthusiastic clip), but...that didn't matter much in the end. He could fill in just fine, leaning forward to indicate some of the more noteworthy players warming up.

Hopefully Tenma really wanted to hear all about the more exciting luminaries on the Croatian national team? Brazil's side went without saying, of course, with Neymar...but, on the other end of things, Mandžukić was the leading scorer for Bayern that season! (Before he left for Madrid, obviously.) And Modric and Rakitic would be great in the center...

Fortunately, there wasn't too much of a wait before the teams set up for the match's first kick, and Shindou hushed, settling back.

"It's still so exciting, waiting for it to start..." Even though it was over and they had missed it. "It's strange."

Shindou seemed so happy to be talking about the different players that Tenma didn't have the heart to tell his senpai that he was prattling too fast. It seemed to him that the older boy never had a chance to do so, or at least he couldn't for five years, and there was no way he could take that away from him. So Tenma sat with a smile, listening and nodding. He did take note when Shindou mentioned something particularly interesting, but it was between things he could barely understand.

"I don't think it's that strange." Tenma finally said at the kickoff. "Soccer was just waiting for us."

"Hm?"

It was funny how, after so much time spent listening to Tenma since they'd met, the midfielder's declarations about soccer could still give him pause at times. But they could, and Shindou had to sit back for a second, head quirked, before he nodded comfortably.

Tenma had his own way of saying it, but that really was what it felt like -- home-y and almost welcoming, where so many things since they'd come back were simply strange.

"I guess that makes sense," he agreed, settling in to watch the back-and-forth of the game.

"No matter what happens, no matter how much the world changes, we will always have soccer." Tenma concluded. Yes, in those five years they spent asleep, when all their cherished friends from Raimon grew up and their good times became distant memories, soccer remained the same. There were different games and strategies now, but at its core, it was a comforting constant, as it always had been.

It was hard to put into words, but it seemed to make Shindou happy, so he guessed he conveyed his feelings through. He is content to watch the match, and jumps and cheers with the Spanish commentator whenever a goal is made.

"Did you see that?!"