The Pretenders
By eliza natsuko

Pairing : HiruMamo

Disclaimers : Eyeshield 21 does not belong to me.

Summary : Hiruma and Mamori are supposed to collect data on the opponent team. But what does this got to do with a date? And pretending?

A/N : Hello there! This is my first time writing Eyeshield 21 fic. HiruMamo is my favourite pairing in ES21. So, I though 'Hey, why not I give it a try?' and this is what it turned out. It might be a little ooc and since I've only watched till episode 38, my knowledge on the characters are limited. Hope you don't mind. Also, I try to reduce Hiruma's cursing (but I can't. he curse too much –swt-) and I replace the word 'fking' with 'damn'. Alright now, on to the fic!

"Hey! Kuso manager!" the quarterback, also the captain of the Deimon High American football team shouted across the clubhouse.

"Mou! I have a name! It's Mamori!" the manager of the team said, flushed with anger and embarrassment.

"Whatever. You're meeting me here tomorrow at 5 p.m., got it?"

"Why?" Mamori asked.

"I'm gonna collect some damn information about the bloody Blood Vampire team (1)" Hiruma spoke while polishing his favourite MAX 4.21 (2)

"And what has that got to do with me?"

"You're the damn manager and it's your job to do so!" Hiruma gave his gun a last wipe and stuff it into his bag. "No more bloody questions! Just meet me here tomorrow." Before Hiruma walked out of the room, he turned and said, "And, dress up."

"Huh?" That left Mamori hanging. 'What did he mean? Dress up? Why can't I wear my usual sportswear to collect information?' Questions begun to fill up Mamori's head but she kept quiet as she knew well enough that Hiruma would just shake her questions off and ignore her.

-&-

Mamori, being a very obedient manager that she was, waited in the team's clubhouse for Hiruma. She wore a white tight-fitting top and a milky pink skirt. The hem of the skirt fell a few inches on top of her knees revealing her long legs. She tied her hair in a half-pony tail, looking neat. And a pair of one inch-high white heels to go with her outfit. Just one word to describe the current Mamori…

'Stunning!' Was what was in Hiruma's mind when he opened the door just to see his team manager waiting impatiently. "Alright. Let's go." Hiruma then walked out of the room, followed by Mamori.

"Hiruma-kun! Where are we going?" Mamori quickened her steps to catch up with Hiruma.

"A date." Hiruma replied casually.

"WHAT!" Mamori instantly stopped.

"I said a DAMN DOUBLE DATE!" Hiruma stopped as well.

"I thought you told me that we're collecting some information on Blood Vampire."

"Yes we are and how the hell are we supposed to do that? A damn date, dammit!" Hiruma raised his voice. He continued in a lower voice when he saw the surreal look Mamori had. "Look, I made a deal with the damn captain of Blood Vampire. He's a love-struck freak and agreed to hang the hell out with me if I brought along my girlfriend. And the only way we could collect some damn data on the bloody amefuto team is from the stink-ass captain."

Mamori looked shocked, surprised, flabbergasted. She did not know how she should feel or what she was currently feeling. "You mean.. I am supposed to be your girlfriend?"

"Pretending, dammit!" Hiruma took out his Devil Treat Book and begin flipping the page on the captain of the team, Natomura Makoto. He read Makoto's profile to Mamori as he walked. "Natomura Makoto is a love-struck idiotic 3rd year guy. He had 27 girlfriends before and only hung out with people with girlfriends. This bloody guy loves girls with short hair, fair skin, tall, and polite."

After recovering from the shock, Mamori walked next to her captain and peeped into his notebook. "So, am I supposed to follow his taste?"

Hiruma stopped and think for a while. He then scanned Mamori from head to toe and back to the head before answering, "No. You'll follow my taste."

"And what is your taste?" That question left Hiruma speechless.

"Just be your damn self!" Hiruma looked away from Mamori. "Just do whatever lame-ass lovers usually do."

"I don't know. I've never dated anyone!" Mamori continued. "I have no experience."

"Then just follow what the damn couple we're meeting does."

-&-

Finally, the Deimon High 'couple' reached the venue they were supposed to meet the Blood Vampire couple. The venue turned out to be a very sophisticated café. There were tables outside the café as well, and most of the tables had an even number of chairs.

"Ch'! Look's like this café is designed for couples. This Makoto bastard must be freaking rich." Hiruma mumbled under his breath.

"Hiruma-kun, stop cursing. Makoto-san might just appear and hear you." Mamori whispered softly to Hiruma.

"Call me Youichi." Hiruma suddenly say.

"What?" Mamori sounded unbelievable.

"We're a couple now. So call me Youichi." Hiruma repeated.

"Ha.. Hai." Mamori answered softly. A blush crept up his cheeks.

"Why the hell are you blushing?"

"No.. It.. It's just weird calling you… Youichi." Mamori looked up at Hiruma and smiled awkwardly.

"Baka!" Hiruma scolded and turned away so that Mamori couldn't see the light red colour on his cheeks. In his mind, he kept denying that he actually liked how his given name rolled from Mamori's tongue.

"Hiruma!" Someone called from a distance. He's tall and well-built. "Ooi! Hiruma!"

"Ah. It's damn Makoto." Hiruma told his 'lover' and waved back at Makoto.

Makoto, a tall guy, about three inches taller than Hiruma, with long black hair styled into the latest fashion, wore a branded blue T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He brought along a girl, his girlfriend Mamori thought. The girl has about the same height as Mamori. She was clad in a tight mini-skirt and a sleeveless top. Her hair was up to her shoulders.

"Wow. Makoto looks great." Mamori whispered under her breath, particularly under her breath. "No wonder he can change girlfriends ever so frequently."

"Remember! My damn taste!" Hiruma reminded Mamori. A pang of jealously suddenly hit him.. though he denied it.

"Ah! Hiruma-kun, sorry I'm late." Makoto apologize. "Oh.. Allow me to introduce my date. This is Narusegawa Miki, my current girlfriend."

"This is Anezaki Mamori. My.. girlfriend." Hiruma added awkwardly. Mamori felt warm and blushed a little when she heard that.

"Nice to meet you." Mamori offered a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Anezaki-kun." Makoto took her hand and shook it, even refused to let go even when Mamori showed sign of being uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I call you Mamori?"

"Ah.. No.. No.. Please do." Mamori tried to free her hand from the grasps of Makoto but failed miserably.

"Shall we go?" Hiruma casually took Mamori's hand from Makoto and held it in his. "We're running out of time."

"Yes.. yes! Let's go. We'll first eat our lunch then we'll go for a movie. How does that sound?" Makoto suggested.

"Whatever, you damn-" Mamori pulled Hiruma's hand slightly and shook her head as a 'don't say that' sign to Hiruma. Hiruma, to Mamori's surprise, followed her order.

-&-

The four of them sat opposite each other. Mamori sat next to Hiruma and opposite Makoto. They ordered their food and chatted while waiting for the food to arrive. Mamori cut Hiruma's word whenever he tried to curse which earned a glare from Hiruma whenever she did that but Hiruma soon understood Mamori's intention and reduced his curses.

"Excuse me. Here's your food. Thanks for waiting." A waiter probed into their conversation and served them with their respective dishes.

"Mako-chan, this is your favourite. Here, have some." Miki sliced her steak into two and gave the other half to Makoto.

Hiruma and Mamori eyed each other. 'What am I supposed to do?' Mamori asked herself. 'If I had a boyfriend, how am I supposed to treat him?' While Mamori was busy thinking of ways to act like a good girlfriend, Hiruma ordered a drink and told the waiter to bring extra straws.

"Why don't you order one, Mamori?" Makoto asked, eating his favourite steak.

"It's ok. We're used to sharing. Right?" Hiruma answered for Mamori and sent her an eye contact as a sign - telling her to play along.

"Y- Yes. We share almost everything. Ne, Youichi?" Hiruma almost choked on his meat loaf when he heard Mamori's sweet voice called him by his given name, which earned him a soft chuckle from Mamori.

"You like fries, don't you? You can have mine." Hiruma offered, trying to speak as gentle as possible.

"Arigato." She smiled sweetly at him.

"You two are just so close to each other. I'm jealous." Makoto said, interrupting their 'conversation' or it's more like just eye contact. He then let out a small laugh when the both of them looked away from each other. Mamori blushed a little while Hiruma cursed softly. "But Hiruma, you got yourself a nice girlfriend. Remember the time when we were in the same middle high school? You received love letters almost everyday but yet, you turned each of them down."

"EH! Hiruma-kun received love letters?" Mamori was beyond shocked. 'A devil like Hiruma actually had fans? This is unbelievable!'

Makoto nodded. "He didn't tell you about it? Well.. if I counted correctly, you're Hiruma's first girlfriend." He then shifted his eyes to Hiruma. "Right?"

"Yes, dammit." Hiruma answered shortly. Mamori was still shocked. She couldn't believe her ears.

"So, mind sharing the story of how you two got together? And how long has it been?" Miki asked, receiving an agreeing nod from her boyfriend.

"Eto.. erm…" Mamori stammered. She looked at Hiruma with eyes that read 'what-am-I-supposed-to-do?' Upon receiving no reaction from Hiruma, she decided to create her own story. "Erm.. We.. We first met each other during our first year.. and.. We.. We started dating after that." Mamori ended her story with a small laugh, hoping that they wouldn't ask anymore questions.

Unfortunately for her, Makoto asked another question. "How? I mean, was it a confession or an accident or whatever that had brought you both together?"

Mamori pulled Hiruma's hand slightly to ask for help. "We accidentally kissed each other and confessed after that." Hiruma answered, which earn a 'Oohhh..' from the Blood Vampire couple. Mamori just smiled in relief.

-&-

"Is a horror movie okay with you?" Makoto asked the other 'couple'.

"Yea.. Whatever. Just buy the da-" Hiruma was once again cut off by a slight pull on his right hand.

"Remember to behave, Hiruma-kun." Mamori whispered. Hiruma just rolled his eyes in return.

"Here are our tickets. Let's go get our seats." Makoto handed them their tickets and went into the theatre.

In the theatre, Mamori originally sat in between Hiruma and Makoto but she exchanged seats with Hiruma. He mentioned something about 'not being in the right spot' or something like that. It didn't matter to Mamori. She knew that Hiruma knew she wasn't comfortable sitting with Makoto. 'He's actually taking care of me?' The thought made Mamori blushed but thanked Kami-sama that it was dark in the theatre and no one noticed her blush.

The movie started. The first 30 minutes wasn't scary as it was only the introduction of the characters. To Mamori, a horror movie wasn't her cup of tea. She's actually afraid to watch one but she didn't object the idea when Makoto asked because she simply thought it was one of Hiruma's ways of collect data. After all, this date was actually intended to collect data, wasn't it? Entering the climax, Mamori spent most of her time in the cinema hiding behind Hiruma's sleeves. Hiruma did not shake her off though. Instead, he placed his hand around Mamori as though it would make her feel better or protected.

"Ne, Hiruma-kun." Mamori spoke from behind Hiruma's sleeve.

"Nani?"

"Is the movie over yet? I'm scared." This is the first time Mamori show her weakness. She was always tough, especially towards Hiruma.

"No." Hiruma tighten his arm around Mamori's shoulder. "It'll be over bloody soon."

Mamori nodded, face still hidden behind Hiruma's sleeve. Hiruma's softened upon seeing the un-Mamori-like act. Unbeknownst to her, a small smile was carved on Hiruma's lips. 'She's actually freaking cute.' He thought to himself.

-&-

After the movie, the both of them had been very quiet. They followed quietly behind Makoto and Miki, who were walking to an amusement park. No words were exchanged between them. Not even eyes or body contact. They walked separately. Both looked as if they were in deep thoughts.

"HEY!" Makoto shouted. Hiruma and Mamori looked at him. "Oh! Both of you finally head me. I've been calling you for the past two minutes!"

"Ah.. Gomen. What is it?" Mamori asked politely.

"I'm asking, why are you both walking so far away from each other?" Hiruma and Mamori looked at each other and realized that they were actually walking a few feet away from each other. Without further delay, they quickly moved to each other's side. "And, we're going to the amusement park. You wanna come along?"

"Yea.. Why not?" After answering that, they once again fell into deep silence.

While walking, Mamori slowly, gently, slipped her hand into Hiruma's, as if it was the most natural thing to do. Hiruma, on the other hand, didn't resist. He held her hand in his and continued to walk. As they continued to walk, Hiruma gradually released Mamori's hand (which made her frown slightly for a second) and his sneaky hand went around Mamori's shoulder. Mamori stiffened at first but relaxed after that. They walked all the way to the park in that position.

"GYAH! Makoto! I want to ride on the Ferris Wheel!" Miki exclaimed when they reached the park. Bouncing up and down like a little child who had just got a lollipop, Makoto couldn't resist his girlfriend's wish.

"Okay. Okay. Let's go." He trailed behind the over excited Miki.

"You wanna ride that damn thing?" Hiruma asked, not looking at Mamori.

"Mm!" Mamori nodded happily. She proceeded to pull Hiruma into one of the carts. "Come on!"

'Ch'! Getting overly excited because of this damn Ferris Wheel. How childish.' Hiruma thought. He was sitting in the cart while Mamori moved around looking at the outside view, occasionally pulling Hiruma to look at the view outside the cart. 'Childish but-'

"Hiruma-kun!" Mamori squealed, almost making Hiruma jump. ALMOST. "Look! Look! We can see Tokyo Tower from here!"

"What the-"

"And, oh! Look! Our school! It looked so small!" Mamori said excitedly pointing out the cart. She then moved to the other side of the cart, which causes the cart to stumble. "Look! My house is over there!"

"Ooi! Kuso manager! You better stop moving about. The damn cart is about to fall."

"Hiruma-kun! I have a name!" Mamori stomped her feet. The cart shook more vibrantly. "It's-"

Mamori lost her balance and fell straight into Hiruma's unoccupied arms. Hiruma, who before this sprawled across the seat in the cart, now had Mamori in his arms. Their faces were only millimetres apart. Suddenly, the cart stopped when it reached the top of the wheel which caused it to lurch forward a little bit. This caused their few-millimetres-apart-face to touch. Particullarly the lips. The 'contact' was short. Very short. Maybe just two seconds but they stayed in that position. Neither wanted to move. Eyes digging holes at each other. Breath caught at their throat. Hiruma could hear Mamori's heart beat. 'Damn, it's fast!'

"Mamori." Hiruma whispered. "It's Mamori, I know." A smile formed on his lips. Not the evil grin he always wore to threaten his teammates nor the ignoramus smirk he wore when Devil Bats won against other teams but one that Mamori had never seen.

"That's right. Mamori, not kuso manager." Mamori said as she moved forward slightly until her lips met Hiruma's and she slowly closed her eyes.

-&-

Two figures could be seen walking in the dark. One with spiky hair and another was slightly shorter than the first. They are walking next to each other, hands brushing as they walked. Silence hung in the air. Silent but comfortable. When they reached a junction, both of them stopped for a while.

"I'm going this way." Mamori said, pointing to the left then she pointed to the right. "I supposed your house is over there."

"I'll walk you home." Hiruma turned towards the left. They continued to walk and chatted a little about the team strategies and the player's condition until they reached Mamori's house.

"Uh.. Erm.." Mamori was lost for words. She did not know what to say. "Er.. Thanks for walking me home." Hiruma didn't reply. Mamori continued. "In the end, we did not manage to collect any data on them, ne?" She let out a chuckle to break the tension between them.

"I don't need them. Devil Bats will still crush the hell out of them." Hiruma answered proudly.

Mamori smiled. "Sou dane." Silence filled the air again. Hiruma turned but before he walked away, he heard a soft 'Good night, Youichi.' He turned back and looked at Mamori. He walked closer to Mamori and planted a light goodnight kiss on Mamori's forehead and murmured a soft 'Good night… Mamori.' and walked home. Mamori smiled sweetly in the background. 'Ah! I forgot to ask. How did he know that we accidentally kissed?'

Notes:
(1) Yes, this football team is created by me. There's no such football team in Eyeshield 21.. or so that's what I think. (hehehe…)
(2) This is supposed to be a gun model. Hmm.. I know there's MAX 4.5 but MAX 4.21? I don't know. Well, just assume there's such gun ne?

There goes my fic! Hope you enjoyed reading it! Please review, if you don't mind. Arigato!