Disclaimer: I do not own anything about Eyeshield 21; this is just a fanfiction

Mamori found herself standing in front of her closet once again realizing that she had nothing to wear. Not that she didn't have lots of cute outfits or (dare she think) sexy combinations that revealed absolutely nothing but left very little to one's imagination, it was just that lately a stray thought kept creeping its way into her mind… She couldn't help but wonder…

Will he like it?

Never in her life had the sight of the open closet doors been so tiring. It used to be so easy: just to pull out three or four things that caught her eye and all that mattered was that she felt comfortable wearing it. She shook her head at her foolishness; to think that he actually gave a damn, but at the same time felt confused about the way he had been eying her lately, from head to toe… He was definitely checking her out; she could tell that much.

Her thoughts were distracted when she saw that little denim skirt she loved to wear but didn't quite get the chance often enough. Right, also that top would look great with it, and I can finally wear those new white boots I bought on sale last week. With that and her brand new hair-cut, she was now finally ready to face the Kanto tournament draw.

For her, it was impossible to determine the moment when it all started happening. When was it that he openly started to show that kind of interest in her? If she had to bet on it, she would say it happened during the game against the Kyoshin Poseidon. There may have been some signs earlier, but they were skillfully camouflaged in a way only he could pull off; therefore, she would definitely bet everything on the moment he understood the message she was trying to send. The look on his face, the expression of shock, of the utter amazement…and then that insane grin of his he sent her way.

Yeah; he definitely started acting stranger and stranger after that.

It was never done openly so she couldn't judge it properly, but there were times when she could feel his eyes on her, like she was being closely watched; it always happened in the silence, while she was doing the paperwork that was always excessive. In the corner of her eye, she definitely caught his observant stare over the glowing laptop screen. At first she thought she was imagining things and that he was probably thinking something over, developing a new strategy or, B-option, some crazy scheme to blackmail someone and gain a new slave for his dark reign.

A few weeks had passed since the Kanto tournament draw and it started to bother her and she found herself unable to focus on all the work and statistic facts in front of her so she angrily decided to confront him about it. All she foolishly did was lock her eyes with him and all the anger she felt evaporated into the thin air. There was just something in his eyes; something she couldn't quite place or describe; so foreign yet so inviting at the same time, and it just took her breath away.

When she realized she was staring for God knows how long (and remembered how to breathe) she mumbled jadedly, "Coffee."

He just raised one of his eyebrows at her, and before he was able to comment on anything she quickly cut him off:

"I'm going nowhere with these numbers, it's been a long day and coffee might do the trick. Should I make some for you too?"

He made one of his "Tch-s" and started typing away on his laptop replying, "Whatever, fucking manager."

"Mou, Hiruma-kun, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" she glared at him for a brief moment and went to the coffee machine, feeling relieved that she was able to escape a very disturbing twist of things. She only heard "Kekekeke" over her shoulder as the discussion ended. Their day went on as usual: preparing for the upcoming game with the notorious Shinryuuji Nagas.

Hiruma on the other hand was not relieved by all this, but he kept quiet because there was actually a lot of work to finish before calling it a day (plus the coffee indeed was a great idea to recharge his batteries), so he let the matter drop. He'd been thinking about the way the damn manager managed to capitalize his free time, and it, of course, pissed him off. Therefore, in his mind, not doing small talk with her just now was a very mild way of getting even for that, even just a little.

She appeared to be on his mind a lot lately; he went as far to start strategizing about ways to approach her, to let her know he was interested in her in a way which had no connection to amefuto whatsoever. He watched her plotingly and often realized he had been staring for far too long; like what happened just now. Watching her made him start noticing things about her, things he used to never paid attention to… like the way she would genuinely smile to their teammates to encourage them, the goofy smile she had when the work was done, the intense look she had when editing video records and how slowly her hand would move across her forehead to get the stray bangs out of her way, the way she would worryingly eye the clubroom before leaving, making sure everything was clean and tidy.

Hiruma found himself particularly enjoying the way curiosity would fill her ever blue eyes when she listened to him speak about a new strategy, or the daring though a bit unsure look, when she suggested something new to him or wanted his opinion on something. Then there was the way her cheeks got red with furry when they fought, oh, and how he loved the hedonistic and predator-like way she ate her damn creampuffs… Yeah, he noticed a lot nowadays.… 'Fucking manager,' making him waste his time thinking about her when he should be focusing all his time and efforts on upcoming game with Nagas… and to make matter worst now she knows I fucking like her.

The matter was quite annoying actually, he should have just looked away and the damn figurative ball would still be in his fucking figurative yard. He would have had all the time in the world to make a perfect plan, but no… Hiruma didn't look away because she was angry about something so he just had to see it… see her eyes at that very moment because they always spoke volumes to him. So, he was naturally caught red handed staring at her. He couldn't help it really: he always found her reactions amusing, so while his mind screamed to look away his eyes betrayed him in more ways than one.

Unbeknown to him, she would have undoubtedly won the bet about the game against Kyoshin Poseidon because that was exactly when his functional black (not so little) world was severely invaded by the goody-two-shoes manager. How hadn't he seen it? That perfect opening for a pass, it was obvious actually but somehow he just missed it. The fact she saw the opening (she was smart and useful, more smart and useful than he ever gave her credit for) wasn't as disturbing as the fact that he was the only person on the field to comprehend what she was trying to say. Damn it, why was he able to catch her drift just like that? And why to hell did it feel so good to know she had his back?

…she had his back…

…and she would ask nothing in return…

Sure that was in her job description: give him basic facts and statistics about both the game and players, but to realize the next play? Damn it, that was his job. It was the job of the damn commanding tower to read any openings and weaknesses of the other team and to use them to their fullest. He didn't think he needed it, he never fucking asked for it, but just knowing she was there watching over him without being expected or ordered to be; just being there for him? He couldn't possibly comprehend the idea. He was struck down by it, amazed at it, overwhelmed by it. He had turned to his team wickedly grinning as he decided on their follow up play, but that wasn't the only decision that was made at that time.

That indeed was the moment he decided to keep her, all of her, all for himself, no matter the cost.

A/N: Just need to credit these awesome people who found some time to beta this for me:
Icybluegoddessfarie & Dyaoka and lots of love to TeenageCrisis & Jisa who are still kind enough to work on following chapters

This was originally an oneshot songfic that somehow turned into multichapter story, and I gave up on the song... Don't really know what happened o_O