Recap / How I Met Your Mother (And How I Met Your Father) Despair Arc Chapter Ten: Pool Party and Renewed Training!

Despair Arc Chapter Ten: Pool Party and Renewed Training!

Original Release: September 24, 2020 (Fanfiction.net), September 25, 2020 (AO3)

Summary

With summer having arrived, Hina decides to throw a pool party, and Sakura asks Kyoko to rejoin their regular training sessions.

Tropes

• Call-Back:
  • When Aoi suggests that Class 78 have a pool party, she notes that it's the one-year anniversary of the pool party they had before they went on summer vacation.
  • When Sakura asks Kyoko if she would want to join her and Aoi in a sparring session, she mentions how they used to train together before Kyoko and Makoto got together.
• Déjà Vu: Both Makoto and Kyoko think to themselves how the pool party they and Class 78 are throwing is quite similar to the one they had last year.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Downplayed. While Aoi isn't nasty, her over eagerness ends up working Makoto and Chihiro so hard that they can barely move at the end of it, though Present!Kyoko notes that her more energetic side has mellowed out with age.
• Gut Feeling: After sparring with Sakura and Mukuro, Kyoko thinks to herself that while she trusts that Sakura wouldn't hurt her, she still feels on edge around Mukuro.
  Kyoko (thinking) I don’t honestly care if Sakura’s stronger than me. I trust her not to hurt me. Ikusaba though…I can’t put my finger on it, but something about her just makes my hair stand on end. I hope that I’m wrong, but if I’m right to be on edge around her…then I need to make sure I can stand up to her if the need presents itself. Makoto’s life may very well hang in the balance if I’m right…
• Pool Scene: The chapter starts with the group, at Aoi's suggestion, heading to the pool for their "summer vacation".