A/N: Hi again! Yes, yes, I'm a couple years late to the Eyeshield party. Oh well. Another ficlet, because I still can't get these two out of my head.

Warnings: ... None? Weird. I don't think I even cursed here.

Disclaimer: Don't own, but if I had the money, I'd pay to completely redo the anime.

Thank you for reading~! I hope you enjoy~

Pink and Black and Blue For You

"Are you sure about this?"

Sena glanced up at Juumonji, and nodded resolutely. Well, at least until his humility kicked in: "That is, if you still want to do this. I guess it is a pretty stupid idea, I just thought—"

"No, no." Juumonji rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand before eyeing Sena hesitantly. "I'm all for it. It's just, it's best to ice the bruise sooner rather than later." The blond proceeded to roll his eyes. "Tch. Only you would plan a date around getting beat up."

Flushing slightly, Sena tried to defend himself, saying, "I didn't get beat up, Juumonji-kun. That was just a… particularly rough tackle during the last quarter." He tugged on Juumonji's hand to make him walk faster—before wincing, as he had just used his right arm and, by consequence, his bruised shoulder.

Juumonji frowned as he noticed Sena's pain. "How much farther until we get to wherever we're going?" he asked, sounding more impatient than before.

"Ahaha… Not too much farther," Sena said in an attempt to calm the blond. He shifted his grip on the cooler in his left hand, and led Juumonji around a final corner. "We're here!"

"O-oh." Juumonji stared ahead in surprise. To most, the alley to which Sena had led him was not particularly remarkable. Typical shops on either side, typical dingy aesthetic about the interior. Still, Juumonji appeared more agitated by the second, shuffling his feet and glancing anywhere but at Sena. "So this is where you chose to go. There's, uh… There's some heavy memories here, huh?"

"That's why I chose it," Sena answered thoughtfully.

Juumonji finally raised his eyes to meet Sena's gaze, then looked at the alley once more. "Well, let's get to it."

Sena nodded again, and pulled Juumonji a few last steps before lowering them both to sit on the asphalt. As he started unpacking the contents of the cooler, he spoke softly to Juumonji, eyes still downcast, "Whenever we walk by here, you always speed up a little."

Juumonji watched as Sena laid out the icepack and towel. He eventually replied, "Like I was saying, this place reminds me of some things I don't like to think about." And as always, memories from barely a year ago entered his mind, unbidden. He thought of his father's angry, disapproving yells; of Kuroki and Toganou's dull, vacant expressions as cigarette smoke wafted around them; and worst of all, of Sena's pained cry, when he had shoved him so roughly the runt had stumbled out of the alleyway and into the street. With a jolt, Juumonji realizes it must have left a bruise on his shoulder, in almost the same spot as the one he sported now. And he hadn't even cared, had he? He had been so stupid, so thoughtless… Unknowingly, he'd clenched his hands into fists—it was only when Juumonji felt his fingers being gently stretched open that he fully returned to the present.

Sena smiled at Juumonji's startled expression. "Well, I don't want you rushing by here anymore, so I thought we could, maybe, redo things." He pressed the icepack, now wrapped in the towel, into Juumonji's grip.

Juumonji stared down at the icepack as its coolness seeped into his fingers. These same hands, not too long ago, had… had…

When he looked back up, Juumonji's eyes widened. Sena had moved to sit with his back facing Juumonji, and was now working on taking off his T-shirt. He took noticeable care when he moved the shirt around his right shoulder, but after some rustling, he finally slipped the cloth away to reveal the purplish bruise that was already blooming.

Juumonji swallowed as he looked over Sena's back; he was still slim, like a year ago, but there was now more muscle beneath the skin, more strength in those arms and lungs. He had reinvented himself inside and out, Juumonji thought, gone from cowardly to courageous in just a year. Here he was now, skin bared to his old bully—

And suddenly Juumonji felt short of breath, with a million questions whirling around in his head—

"Juumonji-kun." Sena looked evenly at him from over his shoulder. "Sometimes I don't think you realize how much you've changed." Then, with an expectant tilt of his head, Sena faced forward again.

Juumonji paused. At last, slowly, he lifted the towel to Sena's shoulder, and gently held the icepack over the runningback's newest bruise.

"Tch," he huffed. "Only you."