Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.
A/n: Yep, it's that time of the month again when you feel that sudden awareness of the things going on around you. And you raise your hands in the air shouting, "SINGLE LADIES FTW!" 8D
Anyhow, read, enjoy and don't forget to review! Happy Single Awareness Day to everyone! XD
~o0o0o~
This was one of those frequent times when Mamori would meet up with her long time best friends Ako and Sarah. Despite each of their busy schedules, the 3 of them had made it a ritual to meet each other once a week at a coffee shop located near their universities. They would talk about everything, plans, projects, gossips, and most especially news about Mamori's love life. Which was at this point, Mamori found highly amusing.
She was always the first one to arrive at their usual meeting place. The shop was unusually filled with a lot of people on this day, Mamori thought. Most of them were couples who seemed to be in their own little worlds. She just shrugged the observation aside and focused on the papers in front of her. When the two girls arrived, she was busy making notes to a project which was due the following day.
"Mamori! Sorry to keep you waiting!" The two girls waved and took their seats in front of her, Mamori smiled brightly at them.
"Don't worry. I kept myself busy while waiting," she said and took a sip of her ordered coffee.
"Mamo-kaasan is always keeping herself busy," Ako teased Mamori with her usual nickname. Mamori merely laughed and shook her head.
"My astrology report is due on Monday so I need to finish it today," she continued to write some more notes on her paper while the other two took their individual orders. After the orders were taken, the 3 girls chatted like they normally did during their high school lives in Deimon.
"So….," Sarah started, a big grin plastered on her face. "What are you girls doing for Valentines tomorrow?" She asked both girls the question but her eyes were glinting at Mamori. Mamori looked at the window and noticed the big red hearts displayed on the other shops' windows.
'So that's the occasion, huh?' Mamori mused.
"Hey, Mamori…," Ako waved her hand in front of the girl. "You haven't answered Sarah's question. Anyway, I think we know what you'll do tomorrow. I'm sure you'll stay with the blonde demon quarterback of yours." She teased and nudged Sarah's side. The two girls giggled together which made Mamori blush.
"Mou, you two!" Mamori said blushingly. She took another sip of her coffee but cringed at how cold it had gotten. She looked at her grinning friends and sighed. "It's not what you two think. Hiruma-kun and I, there's nothing between us."
Ako and Sarah both rolled their eyes disbelievingly. "How many times have we heard you say that, Mamori? It's like the most common use reason for couples who deny the chemistry they have for each other!" Ako raised her hands dramatically.
"Well at least Mamo-chan has someone for Valentine's day," Sarah pouted. "Ako and I are forever single ladies on that day, right Ako?" She held the other girls hands while tears brimmed dramatically at the corner of her eyes.
"Right, Sarah," Ako replied with the same dramatic intensity. "Single ladies for the win!"
"Mou, you two. Stop with that dramatic act. I'm sure there are a lot of men lining up for both of you," Mamori chuckled amusedly. She took her pen and scribbled some notes on her paper once more. To be honest, she wasn't thinking of anything special for Valentine's Day. She got busy with all the preparations going on for their practice game against Oujou University, submitting of her school projects and part job applications that she completely forgot about it. Her week was packed with nonstop schoolwork.
Mamori looked at her best friends once more. Ako was looking outside the shop's glass window while Sarah was idly poking her cake with her spoon. A minute longer both girls sighed at the same time. Mamori furrowed her brows together.
"But I don't like this event when you're single. Valentine's Day makes you feel like the world is laughing at you. When you're surrounded by couples doing lovey-dovey stuff while sitting at a café all alone, it feels like single awareness day," Ako exclaimed and crossed her chest. Sarah nodded in agreement while Mamori smiled in amusement.
"I thought it was single ladies for the win?" she grinned at the two.
"Of course, it is!" both exclaimed at the same time.
"We're single…," Ako started.
"…and ready to mingle," Sarah finished, grinning. Mamori just shook her head and laughed at the reasoning of her friends. "We're heading to a goukon tomorrow with some university students. What a better way to enjoy a singles' life than drinking parties, right?" Sarah winked at Ako. The girl winked back.
"How about studies?" Mamori interjected, teasingly.
"Awww… Mamo-kaasan," the girls pouted.
"Enjoy your single life, Mamori. Come on, it's not every day you get to enjoy such liberties," Sarah commented.
"She's not single anymore, Sarah," Ako nudged the girl's side. "Mamori already has a special someone who, I'm sure, will demand her to be by his side." Mamori blushed furiously at the statement. The two girls giggled at Mamori's cute reaction. "See what I mean?"
"Will you two stop teasing me already? I told you. There's nothing going on between me and him. And if I do spend Valentine's together with him, it'll be because we need to do some club work together," Mamori argued defensively and crossed her arms to her chest. Ako rolled her eyes.
"Yes. Yes. Fine, you two are not the sweet couple type. So stop denying that there' nothing going on between you two. Because I bet a whole month's allowance that he likes YOU a lot," Ako smirked. She raised her chin and quirked a challenging brow at Mamor. Mamori just sighed deeply. This was an argument she knew she would never win if it's against these two. They chatted for a while longer then decided to go their separate ways for the day.
~o0o~
Mamori was busy the following day. She stayed the whole day at their university library finishing up her report which was due the following day. She didn't notice that it was already evening until her phone rang. She flicked it open and saw an unregistered number calling. She furrowed her brows and wondered who it could be.
"Hello?" she asked uncertainly.
"Oi, fucking manager! Where the fucking hell, are you?" yelled the voice at the end of the line. She knew it was the moment she heard those well known curses. She sighed.
"Mou Hiruma-kun! When will you stop calling me that?" Mamori said annoyed but smiled despite of it. "Is there something you want?"
Hiruma cackled at the end of the line. "Of course, there's something I want from you. You have the fucking data from Oujou compiled yet?" he inquired. She could hear him pop his gum on the phone. She chuckled.
"Yes, I've already sorted them out. And I've already figured some game plans we can run through that might help us win against them during our practice match next week," Mamori chirped happily. Hiruma smirked. It never ceased to amaze him how she kept up with all of his demand with flying colors. He respected her greatly for that.
"Keh. Looks like fucking manager did her homework well," Hiruma teased her and laughed. Mamori felt heat rising up her face. And even if Hiruma didn't see her, he knew she was blushing beet red.
"So where are you now?" he inquired.
"I'm at the university library. Just finishing up my report for tomorrow." She answered, jotting down her final notes. "But I'm finished now. I'm off to buy ingredients to cook for dinner because I'm sure you haven't eaten a single decent meal for the whole day. Then I'll go to your place to discuss about the game plans." Mamori arranged her things together and tucked them under her arm, her other hand holding the phone to her ear.
"Tch. Fucking mother hen," Hiruma chuckled. "I'll see you soon then." Mamori nodded.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon," she chirped happily.
~o0o~
At the grocery store, people were also busy with their own dinner shoppings. Mamori noticed a stand selling chocolates in one corner and reminded her what day it was. 'Oh yeah, today's Valentine's Day.' She thought. 'Hmm… I wonder if I should buy some chocolates for him.'
Mamori stood in front of the chocolate stand and looked at the different cute chocolate designs. "Would the beautiful miss buy some delicious chocolates?" the stand owner offered her. Mamori shook her head and told the owner she was simply looking at the cute designs. 'I can't give this kind of chocolate to him. He's allergic to sweets.' She added in thought, chuckling. After grocery shopping, Mamori walked towards Hiruma's apartment.
Hiruma was busy typid idly in his laptop when his door bell rang. 'Must be the fucking manager…' He thought and walked towards opening his apartment door. He saw her with a couple of grocery bags on one hand and papers tucked underneath the other. He noticed Mamori's flushed face and took the grocery bags without a word. He lived on the second floor of the building and felt a pang of guilt letting her walk all the way up with so many things on her hands.
He left the grocery bags on top the kitchen counter while Mamori was already looking inside his cabinets for pots and plates. "Kekeke… Are you fatting yourself up, fucking manager?" he teased her. Hiruma looked at the contents of the grocery bags and saw ingredients for miso soup, chicken teriyaki and a box of sushi. Mamori glared then pouted at him.
"I'm not fatting myself up. I just thought we could eat something decent tonight. 'Sides, you haven't anything for the whole day so I'm stuffing you up tonight," Mamori grinned at him. She found the utensils to be used and started preparing their dinners. Two hours later both of them were leisurely sitting on Hiruma's living room couch after finishing the sumptuous meal prepared by Mamori.
Mamori was busy looking at some notes and papers while Hiruma was busy typing stuff in his laptop. Paper caught the quarterback's attention and stopped typing. He took a glanced at the paper.
"Job application resumes?" Hiruma asked out loud.
"Hmm? What?" Mamori said distractedly. The blonde man took the paper and read its contents.
"You're filing job applications, fucking manager? What for?"
"Oh, I'm planning on applying to some part time jobs. I wanted to gain some experience in the actual work field," she explained to him. "I've already prepared an application for this small kindergarten school." Mamori smiled at him. He felt his heart skip a beat for some odd reason. 'Fucking heart,' He cursed mentally.
He scanned through her application form and cackled. "Looks like you missed filling up something, fucking mother hen." Hiruma pointed to the status portion. It was left blank. Mamori looked at it herself.
"Oh, I forgot to check what my relationship status is," Mamori laughed. "I should check box for single. And maybe add at the end 'ready to mingle' as described by Ako and Sarah. Single ladies for the win, I guess."
Hiruma looked at her weirdly. She was about to check the box meant for singles when he grabbed it from her hand. Then drew another box below the last status option and beside it wrote "Taken". And then check the box for it.
Mamori watched him write that one word and took her sometime for it to register what it meant. When realization hit her, she was blushing furiously. He cackled with glee at her reaction.
"I don't think you'll be a member for their club, fucking manager," Hiruma grinned at her and slowly wrapped a protective arm around Mamori's waist.
Mamori laughed at the sudden turn of events. "I guess Valentine's Day really is single awareness day." She pinched his nose lightly and smiled broadly at him.
"Tch. You're not single anymore, fucking Mamori," Hiruma grinned back at her.