Title: Swept by the Tide

Pairing: Kakei Shun X Kobayakawa Sena

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21 or its characters. They are the property of Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata

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It was a scorching hot day as the sun shone brightly, the birds chirped and devilish laughter filled the air. Wait. That can't be right.

"Keep moving, you fucking brats!" shouted Hiruma, firing bullets at the Devil Bats. "If you slack off against Shinryuuji, I'll fucking kill you!"

The match against the Shinryuuji Naga was supposed to be held in a week's time, and Hiruma was mercilessly training the team. On top of morning and afternoon practice, he managed to blackmail the principal into letting them skip classes to practice for some more hours, and thus causing the team to be on the verge of collapsing.

"Hey, Sena. Let's go to the bath house! We'll be refreshed MAX!" exclaimed Monta.

On their way back home, Sena and Monta came across the bathhouse which was regularly frequented by the Kyoshin Poseidons. It was also the place where they had asked Kakei about Akaba.

Remembering about that incident made Sena's face flush scarlet. Seeing Kakei's naked chest was like a dream come true. He had had a crush on the tall linebacker after the match against the Poseidons. At first, he felt great respect and admiration for the linebacker, but somewhere along the way, it changed into affection and liking.

He liked everything about him, from his extremely tall height to his mesmerising aquamarine eyes. He hadn't told anyone, not ever Mamori-nee, about his crush because he didn't want to witness their reactions. After all, it wasn't everyday that the running back of the Deimon Devil Bats would tell the world he was gay.

"Hey Sena, you okay?" Monta's question broke Sena out of his trance

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go in."

When they entered the bathhouse, they encountered some familiar faces.

"Hey, Sena! Monta! Congrats for your victory against the Bando Spiders!" shouted the blond, energetically waving his hands. Apparently, the Poseidons had chosen the same day to visit the bath house.

"Good afternoon Kakei-kun, Mizumachi-kun."

"Good afternoon Sena-kun" replied Kakei in greeting.

Sena was blushing scarlet because of seeing his crush. He was so embarrassed that he lowered his gaze to the floor, unaware of aquamarine eyes staring at him with a foreign glint in them.

The two of them were alone in the bath as Mizumachi was once again trying to peep into the women's section while Monta, Ohira and Onishi were clinging to him, trying to prevent him.

"Your match against Akaba was very good." stated Kakei.

"Th-thank you, Kakei-kun" was Sena's shy reply.

"How is your practice for the match against the Shinryuuji Naga going?"

"We're all practicing very hard."

"That's good to hear, but don't overwork yourself."

Kakei's concerned statement caused a dark pink blush to stain Sena's cheeks.

This marked the end of their conversation as Sena was too shy to utter a word while Kakei was generally a very quiet person.

The rest of the time in the bath house spent too quickly for his liking. Soon enough, it was evening as Sena and Monta parted ways and headed towards their respected homes.

On his way home, all of Sena's thoughts were occupied by Kakei. He just couldn't stop thinking about him, but then he remembered about the match against Shinryuuji and knew that he could not afford to get distracted. He could almost picture Hiruma's voice in his mind, firing bullets and yelling "You fucking shorty! What the fuck are you doing, fraternising with the enemy?!"

Scared by the thought of Hiruma, Sena quickly rushed home and went over the different formations before finally calling it a day. He quickly drifted off to sleep.

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'The match is finally over', thought Sena. It was very exhilarating and the team was completely exhausted. They were suffering not just from exhaustion, but also from severe muscle pains and it hurt just to sit. Luckily, Hiruma decided to spare them from the hellish training and just told them to study Oujou's defence formation.

It was evening as Sena slowly made his way home from practice when he caught a glimpse of a familiar tall figure.

"Good evening, Sena-kun." greeted Kakei.

"Good evening."

"I saw your match against Shinryuuji Naga. Your running was excellent."

"Th-thank you…" murmured Sena, blushing bright red. "How is your practice going, Kakei-kun?"

"We are practicing regularly so that next year, we can defeat you."

"We won't lose either." replied Sena, with a look full of determination.

Kakei's eyes softened and he stared at Sena with an intense look in his eyes.

Before Sena could understand what was happening, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and he felt a firm, yet gentle pressure on his lips. His brain chose that exact moment to start functioning properly.

Kakei was kissing him!

Seeing that he wasn't responding, Kakei slowly and regretfully pulled away only to be stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer and lips softly touching his.

The kiss was long and sweet, when Kakei decided that he wanted more. His tongue gently traced Sena's bottom lip, who slowly parted his lips in response. Kakei's tongue slowly touched the roof of his mouth, exploring every nook and canny and tasting the sweet, unique flavour which only belonged to Sena.

Sena was completely drowning in the kiss, and if it wasn't for Kakei's arm wrapped tightly around his waist, then he would have fallen to the ground.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, while it was actually only a few minutes. When breathing became a problem, they finally separated.

"K-Kakei-kun…" whispered Sena, who was panting with a blush on his face.

His head was spinning, why did Kakei kiss him?!

Sensing what Sena was thinking, Kakei answered "Sena… For a long time, I've liked you."

Sena stood stiff with shock. Kakei continued, "When I first saw you as Eyeshield 21, I was enraged. I found it impossible to believe that someone so short and so weak could call himself Eyeshield 21, the perfect player. But when you defeated me, you opened my eyes. I realised that size didn't matter, and as I got to know you better, I fell for you…"

By now, Sena was blushing a bright scarlet, with his eyes wide open, a sight which Kakei found absolutely adorable.

"Kakei-kun… I-I li-like you too…" confessed Sena in a whisper.

The confession made Kakei so happy that he swept him up in another kiss.

"Sena, after your match against Oujou, let's go on a date."

They were walking to Sena's house, as Kakei had insisted to walk him home.

"Okay!" exclaimed Sena, happy to spend time with his boyfriend.

Boyfriend… Sena still found it hard to accept the fact that he was actually going out with Kakei. It was probably the happiest day of his life. As if sensing his thoughts, Kakei suddenly entwined their fingers together, and Sena tightened his grip in response.

While the two were walking together, they failed to notice a blond demon stealthily tailing them with a camera in his hand, and a wide grin on his face.

"Kekeke! You just got me the perfect blackmail material, you fucking lovebirds!" cackled Hiruma.

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I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Reviews and constructive criticisms are appreciated.

ecstaticme97