Eiyuu
By The Mauve Lantern
Chapter 1: The Fastest Man Alive!
Deimon City is an average metropolis: it has its sleepy suburbs and its bustling city, its homes and its skyscrapers. The streets are sometimes quiet, sometimes busy; it is filled with various businesses, all of them meeting the needs of Deimon's citizens. There is a modest level of crime, but the police have been capable, thus far, of combating it. Thus far, that is, until today…
Today, the First National Bank of Japan is being held up by a team of criminals, known as the Crime Brothers, and they are here for all the money in the building. They are armed with machine guns and bombs, and they will not be stopped.
"Put the money in the sack," Sho tells the woman at the counter, "and no one will be killed by my friends." He gestures to the other "brothers" with his gun, who are strapping bombs to the quivering hostages in the room. This is their fail-safe: if the police even THINK of coming in, they, and all the hostages, will be blown to kingdom come!
Sho laughs to himself. "I can't believe how smooth this is going," he thinks to himself. "Of course, this is all because of my ingenious planning and plotting. No one will dare come in, for fear of killing the others in the bank; this plan is fool-proof!" He laughs maniacally, and shouts, "There is no one who can stop us, boys!"
His partners-in-crime join in his sadistic merriment, howling with laughter. They don't stop until they notice Tora has been thrown into the wall, as if by some kind of invisible force.
"Who's there?!" roars Sho. "Show yourself!"
"Sorry," a disembodied voice replies, "I don't think I'll be doing that." A blur of red and black dashes by two more men, and they are stripped of their weapons and knocked out by a blow to their guts.
Soon, all the criminals are disarmed, save for Sho, who has randomly shot at where he thinks this invisible enemy is, only for the bullet to stop and fall to the ground. "Out of ammo?" asks the voice when Sho stops to reload his gun, "Well then, you won't need this!" The gun begins to glow red-hot, and he drops it before it can burn his hand.
"Wh-Who are you?" Sho whispers, unsure of whether or not he wants the answer.
The dark-colored blur stops in front of him, revealing a tall man, trim and muscular, with the physique of a runner. The man is wearing a skin-tight costume: it is red with a black stripe down the center, with a crimson "21" in the center; his boots are a fiery red, and he wears red gloves with black undersides. On his head is a helmet that is patterned after his costume, and has stylized bat wings coming off the side. A green eyeshield obscures his face, though his mouth is let exposed, revealing a cocky smirk.
"I'm Eyeshield 21," says the man, "and you are entering a world of pain." In the blink of an eye, he is in front of Sho, and has punched him right through the wall, running at a speed upwards of 300 miles per hour.
After untying the hostages and stripping them of the bombs strapped to their chest, the hero dusts his hands off, and boldly declares, "Well, my work here is done!" and he dashes out of the building and into the distance, where, undoubtedly, another crime is being committed. Such is the life of a hero.
The hero…EYESHIELD 21!
---
Young Sena Kobayakawa put down the comic book his cousin in America had sent him, and sighed. "Man, what I wouldn't give to be a superhero, just for one day!" He looked at the cover again: The Flash was fighting his archenemies, the Rouges, who were bombarding him with lightning, fire, ice, and all other sorts of death.
"Never mind," the young man said, realizing the pain superheroes must go through, "I could never be one of those guys. Doing something crazy, like stopping a bunch of robbers? Not for me."
Sena is, or will be, a student at Deimon University. Technically, students don't have to move in until January 10th; his mother was sick of him pacing around the house, however, so she forced Sena to move into an apartment. His friend Mamori had been gracious enough to allow him lodging at her place. After all, she was a second-year at DU.
The not-quite-a-student glanced over at the clock on the wall, and almost jumped when he saw the time. "Oh my god! Nine o' clock already?!" He dashed into his bedroom to grab a pair of clothes. "I told Mamori I'd meet her at the bookstore in ten minutes!"
When he hurried into the bathroom to take a quick shower, Sena couldn't help but look in the mirror, amazed at how much he had grown since high school. Just a few years ago, he had been a mere 5'1", one of the smallest guys in his class; now, the boy had gone through a growth spurt, and had reached a height of 5'7", which was just fine with him. As he gazed at his reflection, Sena brushed away a lock of brown hair that was hanging in his eyes. His mother had always nagged him about getting a haircut, but Sena preferred his hair longer; it might have helped if he attempted to tame it down, but the boy couldn't be forced to do that.
When he realized he had spent a couple of minutes admiring his physique in the mirror, Sena gasped, and a look of panic crossed his eyes. "Mamori is gonna kill me!" he screamed as he jumped into the shower.
***
Fifteen minutes later (he had drifted into a daydream while showering), Sena was sprinting down the street to the library, his brown hair flowing in the breeze. His face grew concerned when he checked his watch. "I'm sososo dead!"
Mamori was a sweet girl, that's for sure, but sometimes she could be like a mother to him. If he ever aced a test ("Yeah, right!" Sena thought to himself.), she would be there to offer some advice, along with some sugary treats; when he ever committed some heinous blunder, the auburn-haired girl would yank him by the ear and give him a stern lecture. "And yet," he says in his mind with a laugh, "she's still better than Mom!"
While he was running, full-throttle, down the street, he noticed a petite girl riding on a pair of bright, white roller skates. She had short hair, the color of a midnight sky, and large, almond-shaped eyes; her dark irises glistened in the sunlight. Because it was winter, this girl wore a dark, indigo jacket, which matched her hair, and tight, purple sweatpants.
"Woah." Sena couldn't help but feel his breath taken away by this girl, who he has never met. The way the new-fallen snow glistened around her only helps to image more awe-inspiring. "She's…beautiful…" For what seemed an eternity, the boy stood there and watched her skate around at the top of a set of steps. It wasn't until a BEEP-BEEP resonated from his cellphone that Sena turned away.
Flipping open his phone, he discovered a text message from Mamori, which read, "Sena! Where r u?! Ur late!!! :-("
"Aw, man! I'm so DEAD!" he shouted as he resumed his race to the bookstore. He didn't get far before he was stopped by a shriek of fear. The boy turned to his right, and immediately started into a dead-sprint. The skating girl has gone off a high wall; at the angle she was falling, she would surely break her neck or her skull. Either way, she seemed a goner.
Sena pushed his legs with everything he had, until he found himself just a few feet away from the girl. At the speed he was going, however, he would not make it. "Come on, come on, come ON!"
"I'VE GOT YOU!" he shouted, as he jumped through the air in an effort to catch the screaming girl. Through some miraculous stroke of luck, Sena found himself right below her, though not in the way he planned…
THUMP! Sena crashed onto the ground, his face hitting the pavement. "Owowowowwwwwww…" He grimaced as he lay there on the ground until he felt someone on his back. Turning his neck as much as he could, Sena found the skater girl slowly righting herself, nary a scratch on her body.
She mumbled something incoherent, though it sounded something like, "What did I hit?" before her large eyes locked with Sena's chocolate ones. "Who is he?" she asked in her mind. "Why is he- wait, did he just…was he the one who saved me?!"
Below her, the young man said "Umm, hi." She realized, just then, that she was lying on the poor guy's back.
"OhmygodI'msosorry!" The girl scrambled to her feet, which she handled rather deftly, considering the fact that she was wearing skates. "Are you okay?! Do you need help?!"
Sena coughed, but managed a weak smile. "No, I'm fine." He picked himself off the ground and brushed off his coat. "Are you?"
The girl blushed, realizing that this guy might have saved her life. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Di-Did you save me?"
"Y-Yeah," he replied, a little nervous, "I…I did, yeah."
"Thank you."
The two of them stood there, not exactly sure of what to say to each other. After all, what exactly do you do in this situation? "Okay, think, Sena, THINK! What would Wally West do?!"
"Um…I'm Sena. Sena Kobayakawa," he said as he extended his hand.
She shook his hand. "Suzu-" Before she could say her full name, however, a beeping from her phone startled her. "Suzu" looked down at the device, and gasped. "Holy cow! I'm late!" She put the phone back in her jacket before turning back to Sena. "I'm so sorry, I have to go!"
Sena was a little disappointed, but he calmly said, "Okay. And you're sure you're all right?"
She gave him the thumbs up sign, and told him, "I'm fine, really! Don't worry about it!"
"Heh, sorry."
"S'okay."
They stood there in an awkward silence, until Suzu lunged forward and kissed Sena on the lips. She backed away, and giggled a little, a nervous smile crossing her face. She quietly says, "Thank you, Sena." Then she rolled away on her skates.
For a split-second, Sena's mind went blank. "Was…Was I just kissed by a girl? On the lips?!" His mind returned to reality, and he turned and shouted to the quickly retreating girl, "Wait! What's your name?!"
She yelled back to him, "Suzuna!" before she turned back and skated away.
Sena touched his lips with his fingers, his mind returning to its frazzled state…BEEP-BEEP! It returned, that is, until another text message arrived.
"Im waiting…"
"Crap! She's gonna KILL me!" As he made a mad-dash sprint for the bookstore, however, he couldn't help but smile and think, "Totally worth it, though."
***
Sure enough, Mamori Anezaki delivered a harsh scolding to Sena upon his arrival. "Sena! Where were you?! You were supposed to meet me here fifteen minutes ago! I thought something bad must have happened! Oh my god, what happened to your face?!"
The boy felt his chin with his hand, and found blood on his hand. "Must have been from when I saved that Suzuna girl…" he bemused in his mind.
Mamori reached into her purse and fished out a handkerchief, which she used to wipe away the blood and dirt on Sena's face. "How did this happen?! Were you mugged!? Did someone mug you?!?"
He sheepishly waved his hands. "N-No, i-it's not like that, Mamori."
"Well, what happened?"
Sena related to his friend what happened on the way to the bookstore, right down to the minutest detail. When he finished, Mamori could only gape in awe; this was Sena? Sena Kobayakawa, who never found the courage to stand up for anything in his life, Sena?
"He's grown up so much," she thought to herself, "Saving someone's life and getting his first kiss? And all in one morning?"
"…Mamori?"
When her friend called her name, she snapped out of her trance, and asked, "You're okay? Nothing besides the scratches on your face?"
"N-No! That's all."
The auburn-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief, and ruffled Sena's hair. It's a habit she has; whenever she is feeling proud of Sena, she will mess with him in some way or another. "Come on; let's go get your books."
Mamori Anezaki had been by Sena's side ever since they were in diapers, and she's been protecting him from danger for about that long. Despite the fact that Sena has gotten taller recently, he is still fairly cowardly and tends to run from his problems. This made for a perfect system: Sena would get into trouble, and Mamori would save him. When he was picked on, Mamori would be there; when he would be forced to do the bidding of bullies, she would be right there to save him. It had been that way for nineteen years, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, it seemed.
When they were browsing through the various aisles, Mamori told Sena, "Now, I want us to get done here as soon as possible, Sena. I have an important lab meeting for my Science Club!"
"Ah, you're still doing that?"
She smiles and nods her head. "Yup! Right now, we're working on this particle accelerator; it's coming along nicely, though there are some things that we need to talk about."
"Okay."
"Would you like me to go into detail?"
"No, no that's quite all right." Sena and science mixed like water and oil; that is to say, not in the slightest.
Mamori brushed a lock of her auburn hair away from her face. "You'd like our president, Manabu Yukimitsu. He's…he's kind of like you, Sena! I mean, there's not a bad bone in his body, and he's really cool, calm, and collected!"
"This isn't," Sena said with a sigh, "about making me meet new people, is it?"
His friend scoffed. "Sena, you can't just hang out with Monta and me for the rest of your life! Occasionally, you will have to talk to some new people!"
When he tried to respond, Mamori interrupted. "And this Suzuna girl you saved this morning doesn't count!"
"Fine, fine. If you want me to go, I'll go. But I'm not happy about it!"
***
At the lab, twenty minutes later…
Sena sat on the edge of his seat, his eyes wide as dinner plates, as he paid rapt attention to what Manabu Yukimitsu was explaining.
Yukimitsu was a graduate student at the university, although he was only a year older than Sena; he was just that smart. His black hair was neatly combed so that it covered his slight bald spot on his forehead. He was rather tall, perhaps six feet or so, and his limbs were awfully gangly. With pale skin liken to snow, it was easy to make the assumption that he never left the lab. He spoke with a kind voice, and had some confidence, though he seemed tired.
"Now, I know this won't exactly make me a popular guy, but I have to ask if some of you guys can work night shifts this week." His request was met with groans. "C'mon, guys, we're on the verge of making history with this; however, if we don't meet the deadline, it will all have been for nothing!" Still, there was some dissent in the room.
Mamori stood up from her chair. "I'll stay after hours this week to work on it, Yuki-san!"
"Thanks, Mamori," he replied with a warm smile, "Is there anyone else?"
No one else wanted to volunteer; in fact, Mamori probably made things worse. One student could be heard mumbling "What a brown-no-" before being interrupted by a gun going off.
"Who's the dead man that said it?" growled a low voice from the back of the room. "Ke-ke-ke…come on! Who said it?" A tall, limber man stood from his seat and searched the room for the student who had insulted Mamori. He had a tan complexion, and golden hair that stuck up like some cosplayer. What was bizarre was his outfit: white, leather pants, white cowboy boots, and a white, fuzzy jacket; the whole ensemble screamed money, like this man was rolling in it.
Yukimitsu began to sweat nervously. "Hiruma, this isn't necessary…"
"Fuck you, fucking baldy. The only one who gets to insult the fucking manager is me!"
Mamori shot out of her chair. "Hiruma, how dare you! You shouldn't talk that way to Yuki!"
The blonde demon fixed his gaze on her and he deviated from his original path. He slowly made his way over to Mamori until he was mere inches from her face. "And what are you going to do about it, fucking manager?"
"I'll…I'll…" Mamori racked her brain for a rebuttal. "I'll make sure that you won't be able to get into the lab! How about that?" Strangely, this did not affect Hiruma. He merely laughed off the threat.
"KEKEKEKE! Yeah right! And who'll replace me in my shifts? These fucking morons?" When he said this, a few boys got out of their seats, but sat back down when Hiruma pointed a sawed-off shotgun in their faces. "Stay out of this, you goddamn losers; you're out of your element!"
Yukimitsu decided now would be a good time to intervene. "Hiruma, put the firearm away! You KNOW that I do not allow your guns in this room!"
"I'll do what I damn well please!"
"Hiruma, stop!"
He almost replied, but he was interrupted by the feeling that there was something missing from his hand. Hiruma looked down to find that his shotgun was gone, and was currently being held by a young man with messy, brown hair. "Holy shit!" he thought to himself, "I didn't notice that at all!"
A wicked thought came to his mind, and he grinned wickedly as he set his plan into motion. The blonde demon said to Sena, "That's pretty good, fucking punk." He then reached into his jacket and withdrew a handgun. "Unfortunately for you, I always pack extra." Hiruma turned back to face Mamori.
"So, fucking manager," he smiled with fang-like teeth, "Where were we?"
Mamori gave him a look that would have boiled water. "We were talking about your expulsion from the Science Club. Leave. NOW." She pointed a finger at the door to emphasize her point.
The grin did not leave Hiruma's face as he walked out the door, handgun tucked away within the confines of his jacket. As he walked down the hall, his cackling laughter could be heard by everyone on the second floor of the Science Department.
Once he was gone from the building, Mamori brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen into her face. She strode over to Sena and swiped the shotgun he awkwardly held in his hands. Deftly, she opened the gun and withdrew the shells inside, making it effectively useless now. The manager safely stowed the bullets within her coat pocket, and then handed the gun to Yukimitsu, who sighed and placed the gun into a large box that said "HIRUMA'S CONFISCATED WEAPONS" and contained all sorts of military-grade weapons. Sena was sure that he had even seen a few of them in pictures from his history books.
After the gun had been disposed of, Sena suddenly felt very shaky and anxious. What had he just done? Had he actually saved someone's life by taking a gun away from a bad guy? A thrill of excitement ran up and down Sena's spine, but he also felt every nerve in his body quake with fear. Just now, he had put himself in harm's way; his life had been thrown on the line. "I was…a hero."
"Sena? Sena, are you okay?"
The bushy-haired boy shook himself from his thoughts. Mamori was trying to wake him up by gently shaking his shoulders. When he came to, the older girl gave a sigh of relief and said, "Thought you were spacing out for a second." Then, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you go home now, Sena? Get some rest. You look all shaken up."
"I-I-Is that Hiruma g-guy always l-l-like that?" he asked as he made his way to the door.
"As long as we've known him," Mamori said with a scowl on her face. "Best not to pay attention to him."
"O-O-O-Okay, Mamori; whatever you say." Before he left, he thanked Yukimitsu for letting him sit in on the meeting. The balding boy smiled and said it was a pleasure meeting Sena, and he hoped to see him at future meetings. This was met with laughter, although Sena knew he definitely did NOT want to come again. Not if that Hiruma guy was going to be there…
***
When he walked outside, Sena took a breath of cold winter air to calm his nerves. Mamori was right: all he needed was a nap, maybe some tea and a comic book. Before he could begin to plan out his afternoon's events, however, an arm wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides, while a gloved hand covered his mouth with a white handkerchief. Sena could feel himself trying to scream, but no sound came forth. He could only feel himself being dragged somewhere, his destination unknown yet terrifying to him.
The hand released him, and Sena stumbled away screaming, "I don't have any money on me! There's nothing on me, NOTHING! DON'T KILL ME!"
"Ke-ke-ke," a wicked voice cackled from underneath a white hood, "I'm not going to kill you, fucking bush-head." The abductor yanked his hood off, revealing Yoichi Hiruma underneath. A vicious grin was spread from ear to ear, and his eyes were lit in sadistic humor.
"Wh-What do you w-w-want?"
"I need your help getting into the science lab."
"Wh-Why?"
Hiruma grimaced and said, "Those fucking idiots don't know what they're doing; if they try working on that thing, it could blow them up! So I need you to steal the fucking manager's I.D. card and bring it here, at midnight. If you don't," he withdrew his handgun again, "I will fucking hunt you down and blow your fucking brains out. Got it?" Sena nodded feverishly, preferring to keep his brains inside his skull and in one piece.
"Good," Hiruma smirked as he put the gun away, "Very good. Now, meet me here, outside the building at midnight, or I will show you why the punks on this campus call me 'Mr. Saturday Night Special'."
Sena dashed out of the janitor's closet he was in and sped off to Mamori's apartment, his heartbeat running like a machine gun. Would he do it? Would he actually steal from Mamori?? And who knew what Hiruma was actually going to do with the particle accelerator???
***
Sneaking out of the apartment had been easy enough: Sena had told Mamori that he was going to a concert with Monta; he had said that he would be back around 1 in the morning, maybe 2. His roommate had been a little apprehensive about this, but she knew that Sena was basically a man now, and he should be able to do what he wanted. He had pilfered her I.D. card from her wallet shortly before he left the apartment. She wouldn't need it for the rest of the evening, right?
Sena was standing out in the freezing cold, wrapped in a red jacket, with black jeans on underneath. A black snowcap with a red band on it was placed on top of his head, and he wore black gloves to keep his hands from going numb. He wore snow boots as well, and Mamori had insisted that he at least where some thick, wool socks. In spite of all his layers, Sena was chilled to the core, and shivering with every step he took; whether this was from the job he was about to undergo or the frigid air was unknown to him.
"I don't want to be doing this," he kept telling himself. "I would much rather be back at the apartment, curled up on the couch with a hot chocolate and the new Blue Beetle. I would rather go with Monta to a karaoke bar somewhere and listen to his crappy rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'!" or Komusubi's god-awful, "Mr. Brightside"." His sullen gaze turned to the starry sky above. "I would rather like to see Suzuna again," he said, his thoughts drifting to that girl with the roller skates.
"God, I should have asked for her number or email or something!" Sena had to stop and swat himself in the head, partly to berate himself, partly to regain feeling in his hands. "I'm such a coward, though. She'd never want to go out with a guy like me…" Despite these sad thoughts, Sena trudged on to the movie theater, where he was going to spend the evening until midnight.
"Hope whatever's playing is good!"
***
Four hours later, Sena walked out of the campus theater having sat through two showings of The Wall, which Mamori had recommended. "That was messed up," Sena thought to himself. He checked his watch: 11:55.
"Crap! I'm gonna be late!" He sprinted off in the direction of the Science Department building, hoping against all hope that he made it in time. The thought of what Hiruma would do to him was so terrifying that Sena pushed as hard as possible with his legs.
Standing outside in his outlandish outfit from earlier, Hiruma tapped his foot upon the ground rapidly, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his newest victim. When he caught sight of a young man in a red coat racing towards him, the blonde demon pulled a machine gun out of his jacket and proceeded to fire at Sena, barely missing him.
When Sena finally stopped running, he was at Hiruma's feet, the machine gun pointed right at his head. "You're late," he cackled wickedly. "Now, get up and use the fucking card so we can get in the fucking building."
Sena rose shakily and wobbled over to the doors to the building. He looked at a small box that was mounted to the left, and deduces that that was where he scanned the I.D. card. With a swipe of the card, the box beeped and the sound of the doors unlocking could be heard.
"W-W-Well, my j-j-job is done here, I'll b-be heading back no-"
Before Sena could run off to safety, Hiruma grabbed him by the collar and held him in place. "This guy's got monster strength!" Sena thought to himself, "I'm only a little shorter than him, but he's not moving an inch!"
"Your job isn't over yet, fucking bush-head." Hiruma dragged him into the lobby of the building and proceeded to let go of him. To make sure Sena staid, however, he pulled a handgun from his jacket and jabbed Sena in the back with it. "I also need you to open the door for me into the lab."
"And then I'll be done?"
"Yes, you'll be done then."
When Hiruma promised him his freedom, Sena breathed a sigh of relief, and felt a little better about his current predicament. With a push from behind, Hiruma led him to the lab, where Sena used the I.D. card again. Once inside, his captor shut the door and locked it, to make sure that no one could come in. The room was pitch-black, but Hiruma had a flashlight stored safely within his jacket. He turned it on and illuminated the corner of the room where the particle accelerator was located.
The machine itself was cylindrical in shape and had several grooves in its silver shell. Beneath the first layer was a smooth, blue canister, its containments a mystery to Sena. Supposedly, this thing was supposed to be able to create unlimited energy, but right now, there were several bugs in the system, which Hiruma was going to remove.
Hiruma cocked the handgun and pointed it at Sena's head one last time. "Make one move for that door," he scowled, "Your brains will be coating the fucking walls." Once Sena was planted firmly onto a metal stool in the room, Hiruma wandered over to the particle accelerator to get down to work.
While the demon was working, Sena was fiddling with his fingers and musing over the day, wondering how he had possibly gotten to this point. This shouldn't be happening to him. "I'm just a nobody," he sullenly thought, "A nobody with nothing better to do than be forced to work for Satan, it seems. I just woke up this morning, read a comic, saved a girl's life, shopped for my textbooks and went to a meeting with Mamori. Why is this stuff happening to me?"
Ten minutes passed in silence until Hiruma called over to Sena. "Oy, fucking bush-head, get over here!" Sena quickly worked his way over to the machine, using the light from Hiruma's flashlight as a means to avoid the various obstructions in the room. As he grew closer to the particle accelerator, the machine began to quake and tremble violently.
Hiruma's face contorted into shock, and he shouted, "NO! STAY BACK!" but it was too late. Sena crossed in front of the accelerator has it exploded, bathing him in a strange green light. Every molecule in his body screamed in agony for a split second, and then it vanished. He felt like he should run. Yes, running would be a good idea.
In the blink of an eye, he was outside, on the sidewalk, alone in the new-fallen snow. Sena realized that Hiruma was no longer around, so he took advantage of the disappearance of his captor and sped off for Mamori's apartment. He arrived there not a second later. "H-How did I do that?!" Sena wondered as he examined his hands and feet. "What have I become?"
***
Back at the lab, Hiruma has pulled out his cellphone, his devilish smile plastered across his face. He scrolled through his phone numbers until he came upon the number he was looking for. Hiruma growled when the other end was not picked up, but he left a message.
"Fucking fat-ass, I've got our speedster. Meet me at the headquarters tomorrow morning, 10:00 AM." He shut his phone with a CLICK! Hiruma looked out through the windows at the city, and he started laughing again. "Sena Kobayakawa, huh? Welcome to the Action Squad! YA-HAAAAAAAA!"
TO BE CONTINUED…