"So the roof just blew up on its own?" Musashi raised an eyebrow.
"Yup. And you better repair it fast fucking old man." The devil quarterback said as if it was the carpenter's fault that the roof had been blown up.
"Of course it did." Musashi said. "Why does it have to be now? It is summer holiday."
"It's cos the fucking weather man said it'd be heavy rain tomorrow so you'd better hurry."
"I don't know if I can repair the entire roof on my own. Everyone else is on holiday." The carpenter shrugged.
"I'll give you a hand if necessary." Hiruma said halfheartedly.
"How generous of you." Musashi said and moved towards the little shed that served as the former clubhouse for the Deimon Devil Bats.
Hiruma had for some reason fired some kind of machine gun through the roof and now bits were falling down. It was a job that was easier said than done. The whole roof had to be torn down and then built up again. Musashi started with moving all the things inside the clubhouse to the sides and then he proceeded to take down the remains of the roof. The carpenter chuckled. That idiot, he thought to himself, even though he now goes to Saikyodai he still looks after the Deimon clubhouse. He is probably the one paying for all the repairs as well. It took most of the day to repair the roof, being good at his job it didn't take that long for Musashi to finish, that and the shed wasn't that big. The whole time Hiruma had been out of sight not helping out at all. When he finally did appear Musashi was done and was putting things back to their place in the clubhouse.
"Thanks for your help." Musashi said over his shoulder.
"Yes you owe me."
"Where have you been?" The carpenter asked as he found a box with embarrassing pictures of unlucky students who had fallen victim to Hiruma's devil note book.
"Sorting out a training match with your team and mine." Hiruma grinned. He made it sound as if he owned the Saikyodai team.
"Is that so? And when is the match?" Musashi was far too used to the twisted quarterback to be surprised by the power Hiruma had and the odd schemes he did.
"Eight days from now." Hiruma took the box of pictures to see if there were any he had missed. Musashi smiled a crooked smile. Hiruma knew that the Takekura Construction Babies had a week of holiday and didn't mess with it. Either Hiruma had gotten soft or he just wanted people to go full out on each other. But then again, if you turned the thought around. The Construction Babies would be at a disadvantage with no special training or being prepared for the match unlike Saikyodai would be.
"You do realize that Kid-san will have to call the team members back from their holiday now, right?"
"Yes." Hiruma said and got up. "If I'm not there to pull you by the ears all the time you won't get any proper training fucking old man. If you want to get to the finals you have to train all the time."
"Hah, you're just saying that because you want to face me in the finals." Musashi chuckled.
"You wish." Hiruma said and went outside.
"You know you could at least help out putting the things back in place." He called after Hiruma.
"I could." Came the reply.
Musashi sighed and continued cleaning up. After about half an hour he found another box it was newer than the other boxes in the room, he could tell since there wasn't any dust on it. The carpenter expected more embarrassing pictures, but when he opened it surprise was written all over his face. It contained some pictures along with a couple of documents.
"What's this?" He muttered to himself and took up some of the pictures up and looked at them then he chuckled. "That idiot."
The pictures were of the former Deimon Devil Bats on different occasions from their first match against the Koigahama Cupids to the match against Seibu Wild Gunmen to the match against Shinryuuji Naga to the match against Teikoku Alexanders and finally to the match against America. And the documents were all the different training programs and tournaments they had signed up for.
"Getting melancholic fucking old man?" Hiruma appeared in the door.
"Yeah." Musashi said and looked through the pictures. "Our dream really came through, didn't it?"
"We still didn't beat America." Hiruma said casually.
"No, but we won the Christmas Bowl." Musashi said.
"Yeah, we did. Lock up when you are done." Hiruma said, threw a pair of keys to the carpenter and took the last boxes of garbage and went outside. Musashi finished cleaning up and took his things and locked the clubhouse. He looked up at the sky. It was already threateningly dark and heavy clouds were blocking out the sun. Suddenly there was a loud crash like noise and someone yelped. Musashi rushed to where the sound had come from and found that Hiruma had actually fallen down his old weapon silo.
"What happened?" Musashi asked, there was a trace of surprise and amusement in his voice. Hiruma had a photographic memory, there shouldn't be a reason that he would forget where his former weapon silo was and fall down it.
"I couldn't see because of the boxes so I just walked on top of it and then I fell through." Hiruma said annoyed. "Some shit ass work you did here fucking old man."
"My apologizes." Musashi said. "Are you alright?"
"No I don't think so."
"Try moving." Musashi said and the sentences earned him a glare. He knew well that Hiruma would never admit an injury, unless forced and the fact that Hiruma glared at him was proof that he was injured.
"My ankle."
"Broken?"
"Don't think so. Sprained maybe."
"Ah well could be worse." Musashi said and at that exact moment there was a lightning stroke and the rain started to pour down.
"Excuse me, but just how can it be worse?" Hiruma said and this time annoyance was written all over his face.
"I'll come down and get you." Musashi said and started to climb down the ladder. The weapon chamber hadn't been used since Hiruma left Deimon and most of the weapons had been moved to some other place at Saikyodai. The shelves and the few weapons left behind were dusty and there were cobwebs all over the place.
"Alright come on." Musashi said and helped Hiruma back on his feet. He winched when he put is left foot down. "Hmm doesn't look like you can climb the ladder." Musashi said more to himself than the demon next to him.
"Just carry me up." Hiruma said it was clear that he was annoyed over his own helplessness. Musashi walked towards him, put one arm around his waist and lifted the demon up like he was a plank of wood, but then he saw that entrance was to small for two persons to go out at the same time. And besides the rain had made the grips on the ladder slippery, he would need both hands to climb. So he put the quarterback down again and knelt down with his back to Hiruma.
"And just what the hell are you doing now?" Hiruma asked.
"I will need both hands to climb the ladder so piggyback is the easiest way to carry you up."
"Oh." Hiruma said and got on the carpenters wide back. The extra weight didn't seem to bother Musashi at all. The only thing that seemed to bother him was the rain. It made it hard for him to see, but he managed to climb without loosing his footage or grip.
"Alright stop." Hiruma said. "It's gonna be too small for both of us to climb at the same time now."
"You aren't climbing at all." Musashi muttered.
"Here." Hiruma said and took a hold of one the grips. "You climb up now and I'll hang here. Your arms ought to be long enough to reach down here and pull me up afterwards."
"Alright." The carpenter said and with some wriggling and squirming Musashi was able to climb up and then reach down for Hiruma who hang just by his arms and one leg and pull him up. The rain had been pouring down the entire time and both of them were soaked.
"Do you need to go to the hospital or a doctor and have them take a look at your foot?" Musashi asked. "There is a doctor not so far away from here."
"Alright fine. Bring you car around." Hiruma said.
"Didn't bring it." Musashi said and wiped the rain of his face, with the results that three seconds later it was the same again.
"Oh great!" Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Well no matter. We'll just hijack someone."
"I'll just carry you again. There is a doctor not far from here." Musashi said. The devil quarterback glared at him. His pride had been hurt once already and to be carried piggyback down a street was too much. He flipped open his phone and dialed a number, but who ever he dialed was either busy or smart enough to not answer the phone.
"Hopscotch." Musashi suggested.
"What?" Hiruma put the phone back in his pocket.
"I'm not going to hijack someone's car, you won't let me carry you so your only option is to hopscotch." Musashi smiled. Hiruma gritted his teeth. He knew the carpenter was right, the best option was to let the carpenter carry him. Musashi saw that Hiruma had "surrendered" and knelt down so the quarterback could climb his back again. Again the weight didn't seem to bother Musashi on the contrary this time it seemed to amuse him.
"Comfortable back there?" Musashi smirked.
"Shut the hell up fucking old man." Hiruma replied. It took them a little less than half an hour to reach the doctor and while the doctor examined Hiruma, Musashi went to get his car that apparently wasn't that far away from the doctor. But halfway through the door he remembered that he forgot to bring his keys.
"You're useless fucking old man!" Hiruma scowled.
"Hey!" The nurse said and looked Hiruma in the eyes. She was an older woman with short blond hair. "Don't talk like that to your father!"
It took a second for Hiruma to understand what the nurse just said and he burst out laughing. Musashi on the other hand looked like a child whose candy had been stole or something.
"What?" The nurse asked confused.
"Uh… I'm not his father." Musashi said.
"Oh… well then what are you to him?"
"We were former classmates." Hiruma said and grinned. The nursed looked like someone had punched her in the face.
"I-I'm so sorry sir. It's just… you just… look uh…" She stammered.
"Looks like an old man?" Hiruma ended her sentences.
"Yes! Ah! I mean no! You just look a little older than a high school student." The nurse said.
"It's alright. I get it a lot." Musashi raised a hand to make the nurse take it easy. There was a very awkward silence while the nurse wrapped bandage around Hiruma's foot.
"S-so… how do you boys plan to get home in this weather?" The nurse asked when the silence became too awkward.
"I don't live too far away from here, about two kliometers, so I guess that's where we're going." Musashi said more to Hiruma than the nurse.
"My place is closer." Hiruma replied.
"Great. I'll take you there and then go home." Musashi said and found a newspaper to read.
"I could call a taxi for you." The nurse said to Musashi. "On the house." It was clear that she was still feeling bad about calling him Hiruma's father.
"Great." Hiruma said. "Here's the address."
The nurse took the note Hiruma gave her and went to the phone to call a taxi.
"Which address did you give her? Yours or mine?" Musashi asked over his newpaper.
"Mine." Hiruma said and took a look around the room.
"Oh great thanks. So I have to walk home in this weather?" Musashi asked, yet he didn't sound overly upset.
"Nope. I have money at my place. You can take a cab from my place then." Hiruma said.
"The taxi will be here in five minutes." The nurse stood in the doorway and gave Hiruma a pair of crutches. "Just make sure to return those in three weeks and don't put any weight on your foot for three days and don't go playing any wild sports for a week or two."
"Yeah yeah." Hiruma said and moved towards the door.
"I'm serious. There is a tiny crack on you foot and if you do any sports you might end up making it bigger and you will need a cast on it."
"Saikyodai can manage without you for one match Hiruma." Musashi said. "Or you could just delay the match for a few days. It will serve no one good to have you sit on the bench due carelessness."
"Che." Hiruma groped down his pocket and fished up a phone, dialed a number. "It's delayed two weeks." He said and hung up then called another number and said the same thing.
"The taxi is here." The nurse announced.
The taxi driver kept forgetting where he was supposed to go so it took twenty minutes to drive a trip that should have taken less than ten minutes. Yet Hiruma didn't even pay the man, he just showed him a picture in the devil note book and the driver wished him a continuing good day in a very high pitched voice and was fast to drive away.
"Come on in." Hiruma said. "You'll catch a cold out here."
Musashi followed the quarterback inside the apartment block. "Do you live here?" He asked.
"Some times." Hiruma replied. He was clearly having trouble with the crutches. But he finally managed to open the door to his apartment and turned on the light. The room they entered was surprisingly tidy and clean. Hiruma stumbled into another room and a few moments later a towel came flying.
"The lightning strikes are getting more and more frequent." Musashi said to more or less no one. "Do you have an extra futon somewhere?"
"No, but the couch is comfortable." Hiruma said from what Musashi thought was the bedroom. "There are sheets in the closet behind you somewhere."
Musashi found the sheets and a pillow and there were three sharp knocks on the door and someone ran down the hall with a shriek.
"Ah that will be the pizza." Hiruma said and went to the door and came back with a ridiculously huge pizza. He sat it down on the coffee table and tore it in two and whistled. One and a half second later Cerberos stormed the table and took one half and ran back to where ever he came from. They ate in silence and when they were done Hiruma pulled a little bag from his pocket, it contained five white pills.
"What's that?" Musashi asked.
"That odd nurse said I should eat one after I ate dinner. It's for the pain or something." Hiruma said and swallowed one of the pills without any water and turned on the TV. It was some sport channel and it only took half an hour then Musashi was fast asleep. The strong painkiller the nurse had given Hiruma started to take affect and Musashi deep breathing made him fall asleep only minutes after the carpenter.
Some hours later Musashi woke up. The TV was still going and Hiruma was resting his head on the kicker's shoulder. Musashi reached with his free hand to turn of the TV and then he gently adjusted his position, careful not to disturb Hiruma's sleep, so that Hiruma's head more or less was resting on his chest and Musashi had his arm around the quarterback's shoulder. Hiruma shifted in his sleep and Musashi instinctly held his breath. To his surprise Hiruma lay on arm around Musashi's waist. The kicker exhaled and gently stroked Hiruma's hair a few times and fell asleep again.
Both of them knew that the other one had been awake, but it was a matter that neither ever talked about.