Author's Note: First draft. Not edited. I know nothing about football but I LOVE Eyeshield 21 and am an unapologetic Mamori/Hiruma shipper XD.
Sideline
A Word of the Day Ficlet
By Kysra
There are four minutes left and there are 90 yards and 11 White Knights between the Devil Bats and one last attempt at a touchdown and another win.
Mamori sits upon the bench at her usual spot along the sideline, her clipboard abandoned somewhere near the edge, on the ground, in the locker room . . . somewhere. She doesn't honestly care. The time for note taking and play bouncing has past. Now, there is only the Bats and the field and the ball.
Ocean blue eyes darting to and fro, she tries to anticipate Hiruma-kun's strategy; but knows he'll probably surprise her anyway. He's brilliant - scarily so, because he takes every necessary risks (and a few unnecessary ones as part of his publicity campaign) but more because he knows every strength and weakness of each of his teammates.
He has been an active force in honing those strengths and weaknesses; and the wealth of his knowledge sometimes concerns her for she is positive more than a few of their core players are talented, skilled, and charismatic enough to become powerful influences in college - possibly professional - teams in the future. Hiruma-kun, of course, being one of them. And considering it would be next to impossible for them to find themselves on the same team a second time, it is a foregone certainty that these boys will one day meet their former quarterback as an opponent.
In such a happenstance, she doesn't know if she will feel lucky or torn to bear witness to such a showdown. After all, she knows from experience that Hiruma-kun is a scrupulous cad both on and off the field, completely capable of using all of his resources against even former teammates.
She grinned a little, even as her heart began to beat just a little harder, a little faster with the growing noise of the audience behind and around her. Two minutes left and she knows now that Eyeshield 21 will attempt to run the ball till the bitter end. She also knows that - in the future - her boys will rise to any challenge Hiruma-as-opponent would deign to throw at them. In a way, they have an even greater advantage - they know to expect the unexpected and that even a .00001% chance at winning is still a chance.
If nothing else, Hiruma-kun has not only built a cohesive, functioning team but an army of football players who will still give their all even in the worst circumstances.
Wincing as the slam of protective padding, helmet, and bone blunts out all other noise, she seeks out their fearless quarterback and finds him giving Monta a stern talking to. She giggles a little, wondering at the disbelieving look on the wide receiver's face, but decides, ultimately, that she doesn't want to know. They will no doubt implement some sort of plan to feint a passing game.
Time is running out with the White Knights still leading by one point, and when the play is put into action, she can't help but jumping from her seat and screaming with the rest of the people in the bleachers; and it suddenly occurs to her the undefinable talent Hiruma Youichi possesses when moving his men across the yards.
To everyone else, the action on the field looked like wild, untameable chaos. To Mamori, it looked like a dance choreographed and counted off with sharp precision, martial but graceful as well; and as she stands, hands raised and fisted with anticipation as the clock counts down the last few seconds in the fourth quarter, Mamori Anazaki knows they never would have gotten this far without the Hiruma-kun's cut-throat determination and luck.
And more than anything, in this moment, she wants to follow him wherever he may go and keep watching the dance from the sidelines.
Word: Wushu