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Komiya Korin Barē ganbare!  ― Dajare pun used by both frequently, translating roughly to "Do your best in Volleyball/Ballet!" (バレー頑張れ and バレエ頑張れ are pronounced the same.) Fukumiya
Relationship Information
Fukumiya is the ship name for the relationship between Komiya Korin and Fukunaga Shōhei. Contents [show]The two met by coincidence on the day of the entrance exam, Fukunaga finding Komiya’s lost admission ticket (the wind smacked it in his face) and returning it to Komiya who had started crying from the stress. About two months later they were assigned to the same class at Nekoma High, Komiya approaching Fukunaga to thank him properly by insisting she treat him to a cake shop after school. (She also did this in the hopes that he wouldn't reveal her moment of weakness to anyone, and while it's not like Fukunaga would do something like that she didn't know that, he might get some rumor going that she was a crybaby or use it against her as leverage or something.) Despite it being awkward and kind of quiet, they did find out that they liked similar kinds of books and movies during the "dessert date" and the two slowly grew closer over the course of their first year,  Komiya discussing them with him (mostly her talking and him happily listening) from time to time in-between classes. They'd also lend/recommend each other books and movies they thought the other would like and Komiya grew more comfortable about making jokes and puns. There were also things such as being assigned to the same group during the first years' beach field trip, which included a class vs. class beach volleyball tournament. The final ended up between their class and the one Yamamoto and Kenma belonged to, the latter of the two not interested in putting in any effort on his class's behalf. In the end their class won thanks to Fukunaga's receives, earning him the spot of class hero for about 5 minutes. Komiya can’t stress the exact moment she fell for him. It was a gradual thing, him doing small, often wordless things like helping her carry supplies when her hands were full, showing her a funny picture on his phone when she seemed down, getting her something edible when she spent her break finishing work for the class, wordlessly breaking up a fight outside the classroom etc. It was a similar thing for Fukunaga, admiring her assertiveness, dedication and all the things she would do for the others in class, trying to help others despite having so much on her hands already, lending out her textbooks and notes if someone had forgotten theirs etc. She also showed an interest in and patience for his opinion like few others and sometimes he didn't even have to say anything for her to understand him. Because of their initial meeting, her fragile side being the first thing he knew about her, he was also able to see through her "perfection" façade almost immediately and was perhaps even a bit protective of her. Fukunaga was also one of the few people Komiya eventually felt she could be vulnerable in front of. The two would go around for months mutually liking each other, each being too shy to confess their feelings, both trying in subtle, lowkey ways show that they liked the other. Both also had a hard time differentiating between whether it meant something or if they were just being kind and friendly. Komiya especially wrestled with the feelings that she wasn’t good enough and in combination with her being terrified of rejection it eventually became painful to be around him. Fukunaga noticed her uneasiness and, thinking that it was something he’d done to make her feel uncomfortable, he kept his distance, which she misinterpreted, yadda yadda... It was a really dumb misunderstanding. After about two months (which included winter break) of kind of avoiding each other, Komiya (after watching the live stream of the Prix de Lausanne and reflecting over past mistakes and missed opportunities) decided to confess to Fukunaga. She approached him during the after-school-cleaning, Fukunaga left alone to finish up mopping in the chemistry lab. Breaking the awkward silence Komiya blurted out that she liked him and asked him to accept her feelings. Fukunaga, who did not see this coming at all, kind of short-circuited and just stood there staring at her. As the silence was unbearable she told him, voice shaking, that he didn’t have to give her an answer. That she kind of preferred things as they were. Really. ( In school, as they were no longer in the same class in their second year due to the allocation system (Komiya now attending advanced classes), they start eating lunch together a lot more often (which also became a way for Fukunaga to make sure she was eating properly instead of using the time for student council work), either of the two occasionally surprising the other with a homemade bento they could share. They do however attend the same elective class – calligraphy – and study together for their mid-term and final exams, usually in the school library. For after school hours, both quite busy individuals overall, Fukunaga with the volleyball club and Komiya with her student council work, ballet classes, competitions and performances, not to mention her mother hounding her to keep her grades high, a lot of the time they spend together is dedicated to everyday tasks, (mostly at Komiya's place) – like grocery shopping, cooking dinner and studying, watching movies if they feel they have the time or Fukunaga helping her out with student council work. So they have a lot of "home dates" that doubles as "study dates", somewhat placating Komiya's "education mother" who for a long time regards Fukunaga as little more than a distraction from her daughter's studies (which Kotoko already deems suffers from all the time dedicated to ballet), despite Komiya being a top student. It takes long time for her mother to warm up to the idea of their relationship, but she allows (aka tolerates) it as her daughter keeps her grades high. During weeks when they both have a lot on their hands they try to create moments to spend together, like Fukunaga taking a later bus home after his volleyball club activities so he could meet up with Komiya after her ballet classes, the two spending some time talking while Fukunaga accompanies her to the train station. Or meeting up very early in the morning during weekends before their respective training. They did try running together (jogging, interval training, etc.), but as volleyball and ballet require very different types of stamina (volleyball a long endurance game while ballet is very explosive) it usually ended with Komiya feeling bad that Fukunaga had to overly pace himself for her to be able keep up with him. He was very supportive about it though. Like all couples they have their struggles, misunderstandings and minor fights, most unrelated to their surroundings and solely stemming from their own shortcomings, some due to miscommunication and assumptions. They are however able to work through them together, willing to talk about their problems, see the other's point of view, compromise and forgive. For example, after a certain incident Komiya makes sure to be very honest and clear with Fukunaga in regards to her ballet partnering and what it will entail, as she suspects that Fukunaga would rather "suffer in silence" than tell her that something she loves doing bothers him. This despite Fukunaga not really being a jealous person. One of the bigger things testing their relationship came with Komiya being awarded the one-year scholarship for the Australian Ballet School at the beginning of their 3rd year at Nekoma High, meaning she'd be going abroad to study ballet after graduating. While Fukunaga was immensely happy for her, both because it alleviated so many worries Komiya had in regards to her future – Komiya basically guaranteed work experience through touring and performance work – it made him anxious that it would make the two drift apart or that she'd break up with him because of it, wanting her to go and not go at the same time. Komiya on the other hand worried that she'd be holding Fukunaga back with a long-distance relationship. So they talked about it, and with neither wanting to break up they decide to give a long-distance relationship a try. They managed the distance through a lot of communication through text messages, phone calls and face-timing, not to mention having weekly, scheduled “face-time dates” (like face-timing while eating, watching a movie etc. and talking throughout it), making effort to set time aside for one another on a regular basis. (Melbourne and Tokyo are only 2 hours apart from a timezone perspective, so it’s manageable.) The distance however made it very hard at times and with neither of them making much money they rarely saw each other in person. Hearing that Komiya'd had been presented with the opportunity to tour with the Dancers Company a second time in relation her graduation from the Australian Ballet School, Fukunaga (while very happy for her) kind of began to resign himself to the fact that it would become a trend, that they'd grow more and more apart. However, Komiya surprised him by returning to Japan in late 2014 having turned down the offer (she also returned due to visa hassles, see Plot) so that she and Fukunaga could check up on each other – to see where they were in their relationship after about a year apart. They happily discovered that they each still held strong feelings for one another, wanting to stay together. Having very long conversations about their future and their relationship they addressed the fact that Komiya had every desire to continue ballet dancing, but to do that in Japan she would have to sacrifice a (potentially) more secure and prosperous career abroad in favor of their relationship. Komiya expressed that it's what she wanted, but was open about the reality of it, that ballet as a career in Japan is different than it is the west (for example not being recognized as a profession, usually paid per performance rather than having a salary), and that she'd likely not have the same kind of payment or pension she would abroad. That even if she managed to join one of the bigger ballet companies in Japan she’d likely have to work part-time to make ends meet, just like how he who wanted to make it as a comedian would have to work part-time to stay floating. They'd have to work hard and struggle – her struggles would be Fukunaga's, just like how his struggles would be hers. The two decide to remain together. (And while the distance relationship was hard on them, it did give them room to grow as individuals, which was especially healthy for Komiya, learing to love herself more.) With Komiya auditioning for and joining K-Ballet Company seated in Tokyo (one of the few Japanese ballet companies that does provides salaries for dancer of rank "First Artist" to "Principal Dancer") in August of 2015, she moved in with Fukunaga shortly afterwards. As of November 2018 they are still together. Section is still a WIP (work-in-progress) and subject to changes... The two got married in February 2019. They love each other and had been dating for 7 years, but their engagement and marriage was in large for practical reasons, as the two wanted to get a bigger apartment and unless they were engaged or married (or renting with immediate family), they wouldn't be allowed to merge their incomes when calculating the required income threshold.[link] (By technical definition, Komiya lived in Fukunaga's apartment the 3 years prior, Fukunaga making the income threshold on his own while she obviously split the rent with him.) They chose to have a "paper wedding", aka just signing the marriage license rather than having an actual ceremony. The reason: Short answer: Monetary reasons (getting a bigger apartment was a bigger priority for them) and because of Komiya’s family situation. Long answer: They’re both young and with both of them having performance jobs (very unstable trade, Fukunaga as a comedian and Komiya as a ballet dancer) and working part-time jobs they’d been saving up and working their asses off to get to a position where they would be able to get themselves a bigger apartment (since the rents in Tokyo are outrageous). Fukunaga had actually wanted to ask her to marry him for a long time, but while they didn’t have a formal discussion about it, (Komiya moving back to Japan to be with Fukunaga was a big commitment in of itself), they did have a kind of silent agreement that they wanted to live together for a while before taking such a big step. People change. Grow up. Maybe to the point where they after living together would find that they were unsuited for each other. After living together for 3½ years and dating for 7, they’re good on that end. It had instead kind of flipped in the opposite direction, that Fukunaga kind of wanted to wait until they were more financially stable before asking her, wanting Komiya to have that fairy tale wedding he suspected she secretly wanted. And weddings are expensive! But then there was also the issue of Komiya’s estranged father and half-brother. Even if she and Fukunaga had been together for a long time, it continued to be a touchy subject for her. If they were to have a ceremony, a part of her would really like to at least invite them to the ceremony… but given that she at this point in time hadn’t even really approached her father or revealed her existence to her half-brother, she obviously didn’t want to taint her and Fukunaga’s celebration of getting married with a potentially really messy and dramatic family situation. Not to mention that approaching her estranged family because of the wedding would certainly be taken in the wrong way, due to the common tradition of family members financially helping out with the cost of weddings. She wouldn't want them to think she reached out to them for monetary reasons. They did however sign the papers with a bit of fanfare – dressing up a little for the occasion, buying wedding rings afterwards, going plum blossom viewing in Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens (they actually met a photographer there who took a few couple pictures of them at a fair price) as well going out for a celebratory dinner at a fancy restaurant in the evening.
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