A/N: This is a one-shot I made years ago. I revised it recently but you can see the old version on other sites. Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield or any of it's characters except my own character, Kanako.

Through Thick and Thin

Hiruma Youichi didn't really care for much except for football and sometimes even his…friends. He wasn't really polite unless he had to be, he pointed his guns at whoever he wanted to threaten or whoever pissed him off, he found it rather entertaining and challenging to find out people's secrets. It was so much easier to get dirt on other people because his slaves brought other slaves and those slaves brought on even more slaves and so on. He liked to think that he was superior to whom ever it was that he was blackmailing.

But with all the information he got, he had to be careful. People could be vengeful and would want to get back at him (which probably explains all the guns). That was one of the reasons he disposed of so many cell phones, never gave any information about himself to anyone (which is where the blackmailing would usually come in handy at this point), and his image came in handy when intimidating others.

In some occasions he didn't even need to have the dirt on anyone. Either people already knew of him or he merely said "You wouldn't want people to know about that." Every person had their dirty little secrets and some people were easy to unnerve.

All of this was, of course, outside of football.

Things concerning football, he had everything; daily schedules, address, phone numbers, credit or debt cards, school, grade, hobbies, likes, dislikes, height, weight, connections, etc. This was for both teammates and rival players.

Another great asset in his possession was Cerberus. Sometimes he didn't even have to say anything to people. He just showed them Cerberus and they were begging to make them do anything he wanted. For his teammates, he carried around a case that contained an item that had belonged to them. He used this to trace them down in case any of them were chickening out on their duties or training.

And so even after all this…this hardened attitude and not letting himself get close to anyone and letting his calculative mind take over situations, he seemed to lose it all when he had got to know one of his closest friends, Okawa Kanako.

She was a girl he had met in middle school. Kanako would usually watch him and Musashi and Kurita practicing on the field, from early afternoon to late at night. She would just stand there watching them. It wasn't until a few weeks later that she asked Hiruma out of the blue, "What's this sport called?"

Since then she would usually help Hiruma with things, such as legal sports paper or timing their 40 yard dashes. She had admitted to Hiruma that she hadn't really paid much attention to the sport until she saw them practicing.

Hiruma, surprisingly, didn't gather information on her until about a month after meeting her. It turns out that she lived with an older brother who worked during the day as a teacher assistant at a local elementary school. Her parents were rarely at home, away for business trips. She didn't have many friends both in and out of school. All in all, there was hardly any data to collect on her. She didn't have any dirty little secrets and this intrigued Hiruma even more.

So he spent the rest of his middle school days with Kanako, Musashi and Kurita. She didn't really scare easily. She didn't flinch when he cackled or grinned sadistically, nor when he pointed one of his weapons in her face, and not even when he introduced her to Cerberus. Instead she smiled innocently when he cackled, she calmly moved the gun away from her face with a smile, and beamed at Cerberus, who was freaked out as well, as he had never dealt with anyone who took his appearance so calmly.

Then the first year of high school came.

Kanako ended up following Hiruma, Musashi, and Kurita to Deimon High. Hiruma had made Kanako the manager for the Deimon Devil Bats, seeing as she finally learned all the rules, positions, and plays.

She had opened up a great deal during their time together. She was actually a very shy person underneath the somewhat distant exterior. She laughed a lot more. And she got on great with Musashi and Kurita. She always cheered them up after losing a game and motivating them during practice. She would be the peacemaker whenever they had quarrels. She, in a sense, was what was keeping them together.

And as they became closer Hiruma discovered that he had developed feelings for this strange girl. He didn't deny it, but he never admitted it either. So that's the way they stayed, as friends.

And then the incident with Musashi's father happened.

Musashi had gathered Kurita, Kanako, and Hiruma in an empty classroom two days after having left his team on the field. Hiruma felt confident that Musashi would accept his offer of blackmailing the principal to give the Takekura group money to pay for any debts. Musashi declined, saying that the workers would not accept the money.

The room had gone silent. Hiruma glanced at Kanako.

Her expression was difficult to read. Her face was stoic, but her eyes…her eyes told a different story. She was heart broken, she was sad, and she was devastated.

Hiruma looked back at Musashi, unable to look back at Kanako's sad filled eyes. Hiruma couldn't hold back some of the sadness that creeped into his voice, "Is there no other way?"

Musashi looked him square in the eyes. It was so difficult for both of them- no, it was difficult for all four of them. And so Musashi finally replied, "No…there is no other way."

Hiruma could hear Kurita's sobs. Musashi got up from the chair he was sitting on and walked toward the door.

"Please don't go!"

Musashi, Kurita, and Hiruma looked at Kanako. Tears were building up in her eyes. She held her hands in a tight grip. She bit her lip but continued on, "Please…don't leave. Everything you three have worked so hard on…everything…please you can't let it all go to waste…I…we need you here Musashi. So please…don't go."

Musashi's heart broke. This was one of the last things that he wanted to do. But he couldn't just abandon his family, but then again he didn't want to abandon his friends. And watching Kanako there, hands and voice trembling, it was too hard to face her. He turned his eyes toward the door and forced out his next words, "It's too late…good-bye."

He slid open the door and he was gone.

Kurita broke out in sobs again. And Kanako could no longer hold back the tears she fought to keep in. She dropped to her knees and wept. Hiruma walked over to her, not caring that Kurita was in the room and embraced her. She didn't mind nor did she seem to care. All she wanted was someone to tell her that this was a bad dream, that Musashi didn't walk out that door and leave, that he didn't say good-bye, that his father hadn't collapsed. She hugged Hiruma around the waist and gripped his blazer; for fear that Hiruma might follow after Musashi.

Hiruma held her. In other circumstances, he would have secretly jumped for joy at this physical closeness, but the thought didn't even cross his mind. He merely held Kanako's small form in his arms.

"He'll be back soon enough," he thought.

But he couldn't tell if he was trying to convince Kanako or himself.

And so they moved on with their lives, not completely, but just enough so as to not tear up and cry at every mention or reminder of Musashi.

Kanako was the one who was hurting the most. She had gone back to her shell for a few weeks until she felt it was okay to go back to smiles and laughs. But none of them were a hundred percent themselves. Kurita had lost some of the flare he displayed on the field. And Hiruma had stopped some habits and seemed to be a lot more withdrawn than usual.

So their freshmen year passed.

Then things took a big turn.

Hiruma had found a running back. Not just any five second running back; a true running back that could reach light speed. Kobayakawa Sena was reluctant at first, but after a game or two, he was beginning to like the sport. Then more players were joining in; Monta, Komusubi, Jumonji, Togano, Kuroki, Taki, and Yukimitsu. Hiruma was probably the happiest, to finally have a team where everyone wanted to win, where they wanted to rise up from the ground and make it to the Christmas Bowl, to prove to others that they weren't half-assed. Of course Musashi was still missing, but Hiruma said he'd be back.

And too right he was.

Near the middle of the Seibu game, Musashi came to them, well shaven and a nice crisp uniform on. Kurita cried of happiness and Hiruma just smirked and announced that he was late.

Kanako was crying as well. Musashi patted her on the head saying, "I'm sorry for making you wait so long."

She just nodded and he went to go get changed into his football gear.

They had lost the game, but that didn't mean they were out of the competition.

No, they fought their way up, beating Bando, Shinryuji, Ojo, Hyakushu, and finally the Teikoku Alexanders. Sena defeated the real Eyeshield 21 and Deimon had won the Christmas Bowl the first team to ever win other than Teikoku since its founding.

So here they were, celebrating their victory at a restaurant. Hiruma sat to Kanako's left and Musashi to her right and Kurita next to Hiruma. They were smiling, all four of them. Kanako, who was just so happy, grasped Hiruma's hand.

Hiruma, who was initially shocked from the gesture, let her hold his hand and even stroked his thumb across the top of her hand. She smiled widely and giggled as they played around with each others hand. Musashi looked over, having heard Kanako giggle and saw what they were doing. He quietly stood up and walked off, leaving the pair to their own devices, aware that this had been a long time coming.

After a while, Kanako became sleepy, and laid her head on Hiruma's shoulder. She could faintly remember something touch her lips.

Team Japan had returned from America, having lost valiantly to Team USA. Kanako had stayed behind, watching the highlights of their game through the internet. She was proud, to say the least, of the Japanese team because they made a big impression on the world.

Then it was the end of the year and Hiruma, Musashi, Kurita, Yukimitsu, Mamori, and Kanako would be going on to their third year. Hiruma had elected Sena as team captain as he, and the rest of the third years, would no longer be able to play in sports as was the school rule in Deimon.

Kanako, during this time had built up enough courage to tell Hiruma that she liked him. He grinned saying, "Yeah, I know." And he leaned down and kissed her.

Hiruma thought that life was good. He had accomplished his goal of winning the Christmas Bowl, he had even gained friends, and he even got himself a girlfriend. Hiruma noted to Kanako that now he was going to aim for the Rice Bowl. She smiled up at him, "Yeah I know. I'll be going with you. You need someone to look after you or one of these days you really will kill someone with those guns of yours."

Hiruma cackled at the thought.

End

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