Title: Crossing the line
Summary: He's always been in the sidelines, just watching, cheering on, never really part of the "team". But now, finally, he's going to cross that line.
Disclaimer: I don't own Eyeshield 21; not even this story. I'm just telling it some other way.
x x x x x
It's just less than two yards away, that line. Marked in white, only a few inches wide, almost too insignificant, yet to him, it's like a big wall barring the way to his dream – to be part of the Deimon Devilbats.
He had almost given up on being part of an athletic team. He had tried, he had failed, he had been laughed at, and he had learned to accept it; sort of.
"Sports just don't suit me", he'd told himself all those times. And that had stopped him from doing anything, for even trying. But when he saw the ragtag Deimon team play; it seemed to wake him up. They, who actually have the guts and the raw talent to play, have been ridiculed by almost everyone, yet they kept on proving that that won't keep them from reaching their goal, as a team, to reach the Christmas Bowl.
From then on, he had been determined to learn, to work himself hard, and to change what he was: a coward, beaten down by his weakness.
And now, it's finally time. The field is beckoning, the atmosphere of the crowd almost ready to burst. But oh, that line seemed so formidable from his bench.
Why did he have to feel so jittery now?!
This is his moment right?; the moment for the unknown receiver / bench-warmer / unofficial member of the team to stand up and be recognized.
Slowly, slowly, he stands up. His legs tall and thin; steady even though his stomach feels like jelly.
I have no talent.
I am not strong. I am not fast.
I don't really believe in myself that much.
Those guys from the Shinryuuji Nagas sure scare me.
But I've learned to love this game; this American football, meant for big and strong men.
My silence and my resignation for seventeen years are finally going to end.
I am this close; not as far away as I've felt before.
This is not really a wall; just a line; and I know I'm ready to cross it.
Yukimitsu Manabu
3rd year Deimon High student
Receiver of the the Deimon Devilbats team
Also known as "The Ambusher"