Number One: Does He Know How to Wind You Up?

"America."

The Deimon Devil Bats knew that they had really done it this time. If Kiyoko Yasukah, the team's secretary, was flipping out, everyone had a reason to be scared.

Everyone, that is, except for Yoichi Hiruma, who was scared of absolutely nothing. Good thing he handled Kiyoko.

"Yeah," Hiruma responded blankly.

Maybe it wasn't for the best after all.

The rest of Deimon's football team quickly scattered, knowing how Kiyoko, though demure and collected most of the time, had violent if infrequent flares of anger. Even Mamori Anezaki, Kiyoko's close friend and team manager, knew to steer clear, and retreated to the relative safety of the middle of the football field.

Running some fingers through her hair, Mamori caught some snippets of the argument unfolding like a train wreck behind her.

"You have NO IDEA how stupid this is! The principal is FURIOUS, Hiruma! We're all going to be in huge trouble!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, damn tea girl?! I have it under control! Keep your nose in your own business!"

"But what if you DON'T have it under control? Then what?!"

"I DO have it under control! Stay out of my business!"

"You obviously DON'T have it under control, if you brought TWO JAPANESE STUDENTS back! They aren't even from our school!"

"At least they're JAPANESE, right?!"

Mamori walked over to Sena Kobayakawa, her best friend since birth and fellow team manager. Sena was doing his best to ignore the threats and accusations, electing to pump up footballs with a bicycle pump. It was a fairly mindless task.

"She's really irritated this time, isn't she?" Sena mused, watching Kiyoko completely lose it.

"Apparently she didn't know that we left for America," Mamori explained.

"Oh," Sena laughed nervously. Truth be told, very few people had known about it. Sure, the team members had told their families and such, but Sena doubted that any school administrators were even aware of the absence.

Sena and Mamori observed Kiyoko try to escape the argument by going into the clubhouse, but Hiruma followed her in. Mamori sighed.

"Thank goodness," Mamori smiled. "It's almost over, then."

Taro Raimon, the football team's ace receiver, sat down next to Sena, scowling. "Those two don't get along at all."
"It's scary how much she hates him," Sena agreed.

Mamori almost laughed at the two boys' ignorance. Kiyoko didn't hate Hiruma at all. On the contrary, Kiyoko was secretly in love with the hellish team captain. Why Kiyoko was attracted to such a demonic man, Mamori had no idea, but thinking about the blonde deviant obviously gave Kiyoko a rise of some sort. It wasn't anything to worry about.

Nearby, Kazuki Juumonji, platinum-blonde ex-delinquent, was reading the latest edition of the school paper. He scanned a few pages before something made him stop dead in his tracks.

"I didn't know that Pervert Uten used to be Kiyoko-san's boyfriend," Juumonji finally said plainly.

Mamori ran over to Juumonji's side. "WHAT?!"

Raimon also jumped up. "Pervert Uten?!"

Sena stayed put. Better he didn't interfere.

"Maybe this is why she's so pissed," Juumonji reasoned. "Says here that Kiyoko-san declined to comment…"

"Obviously," Raimon spat. "Why do you think he's called Pervert Uten? He's disgusting."

Mamori, however, viewed this in a totally different light. "Who wrote this?"

Juumonji and Raimon were taken aback, but they skimmed the article quickly.

"Sango Umi," Raimon read off. "Mamori-chan, why are you so -?"

Mamori tromped off, seething and muttering some very colorful things. Raimon and Juumonji stared after her as she walked off.

"Do you think Mamori-chan's going to kill someone?" Raimon wondered.

"Monta, shut up," Juumonji spat, reading the article. Something told Kazuki that this Sango Umi person was in for a serious tongue-lashing.

"I don't see why you care so much about those two! I brought back a tight end! We need one really badly – not that you would know anything about that –"

Kiyoko clenched her fists, her wiry black hair quivering with her body. "I don't care about your damned tight end! What I'd like to know is why you brought back a FREAKING CHEERLEADER!"

An odd silence permeated the clubhouse air. Hiruma was confused from the beginning – usually, their arguments were inconsequential – but it seemed that Kiyoko really did have a reason to hate him. Kiyoko grabbed her forehead, frowning.

"Why…?" Kiyoko murmured. Hiruma made a noise of discomfort, finally realizing that he screwed up badly.

Hiruma pulled the reeling Kiyoko into his embrace. "Why the hell would I want a pipsqueak like her? She's a loud obnoxious mess."

Kiyoko was still frowning. "But she's here, isn't she? Why is she here?"

"I really don't know. Her brother's here, so I guess…"

"And her brother's the tight end?"

"Yeah."

"And she doesn't want you?"

"Even if she did, I don't care."

Kiyoko finally returned his embrace. "I missed you."

"Yeah…"

Kiyoko grinned. Hiruma was not good at verbalizing his feelings. Seeing as he wasn't very touchy-feely with the football team – the exact opposite was true there – it didn't surprise Kiyoko that he couldn't say what was on his mind.

"You know, my parents want me to invite you to dinner again," Kiyoko smiled.

Hiruma's face soured. "Even after what happened last time…?"

"We all got food poisoning, nothing to do about that," Kiyoko shook her head. "They like you, Yoichi…"

Hiruma let go of Kiyoko and slumped into a chair. "…Okay."

Kiyoko stared at him for a long time.

"What?" Hiruma asked.

"I love you," Kiyoko randomly blurted out, sitting in the chair next to his. Hiruma looked at Kiyoko with a devilish smile.

"What?" Kiyoko giggled. She playfully tried to push him away, but she really wanted him to kiss her. And that's what she got.

"Umi-chan, you've gone too far!" Mamori screeched.

A girl with brown hair done into a bun and wire-rim glasses looked up from a printing press in the journalism room. She stared at Mamori blankly.

"It's a juicy story," Umi-chan shrugged. "I'm a journalist – what was I supposed to do?"

Mamori silently fumed. "You're her best friend, Umi-chan! Kiyoko-chan told us to keep that a secret! Why'd you put it in the summer edition of the paper?!"

"She did, didn't she," Umi-chan murmured, her face falling. Umi-chan stepped away from the printing press, going towards the window. Umi-chan watched pensively as, below her on the football field, scenes began to unfold. Monta threw a football to the Devil Bats' benchwarmer, Manabu Yukimitsu, who caught it awkwardly. Koji Kuroki and Shozo Togano, linemen, sat by a drinking fountain and read comic books. Fellow linemen Ryokan Kurita and Daikichi Komisubi trained with the tackle dummies, while Juumonji and Monta continued to read the newspaper. Kiyoko walked out of the clubhouse, a smug smile on her face. It would appear that she won the argument.

"You always do this, Umi-chan," Mamori spat. "If someone tells you a secret, you have to tell the world."

"It's a bad habit," Umi-chan admitted. "Don't you think that boy is cute, Mamori-nee-chan?"

"Which one?" Mamori asked confusedly.

"Kazuki Juumonji, of course," Umi-chan sighed airily before covering her mouth. Mamori smiled gently.

"See? You can't even keep your own secrets," Mamori chastised lightly. She shuffled through the papers lying all over a nearby desk. Mamori's eyes widened when she caught sight of one of them. "What's this?"

Umi-chan shuttered. "Oh that! It's -!"

"A piece on the Deimon Devil Bats?" Mamori read off of the yellow memo pad paper. Mamori turned to Umi-chan. "Were you going to do this?"

"Seeing as I know most of them," Umi-chan scoffed haughtily.

"Okay then," Mamori grinned. "I have a deal for you."

Umi-chan gulped. "Okay."

"You know that if Yoichi Hiruma gets a whiff of that article, he'll kill you."

Umi-chan's skin went a shade paler. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that."

"He's not going to trust you," Mamori predicted. She fiddled with the tie on her uniform. Umi-chan, still observing the scenes below with a detached air, chewed on the side of her mouth nervously.

"Kiyoko-chan's going to give me hell," Umi-chan realized suddenly.

Mamori gently smiled. "She already gave that to Hiruma-kun. You'll get something milder, I'm sure."

"UMI-CHAN!"

Umi-chan turned to Mamori, who stood absolutely still, bowled over by Kiyoko's still explosive temper.

"You said she wouldn't be mad," Umi-chan spat at Mamori. Mamori pretended not to listen, instead observing a stray strand of reddish-brown hair on her head.

Kiyoko tied a green ribbon in her hair swiftly, never averting her piercing gaze away from Umi-chan. Umi-chan gulped.

"Why did you write that article?! I told you about my past on the condition that you kept it in the strictest confidence!" Kiyoko blathered angrily.

Umi-chan sighed gratefully. Kiyoko was using her extensive vocabulary again. Maybe she wasn't too mad after all.

"You know that Hiruma-san is going to kill you for doing this," Kiyoko muttered. "Secretary or not, I'm still part of the team."

Umi-chan ground her teeth irritably. "You talk about him so casually, like he can't touch you."

"I'm not special like that," Kiyoko answered mindlessly, biting her lip and calming herself. Mamori recalled the good old days, when Kiyoko barely used this technique as a last-ditch effort to regain composure. Now it seemed like all Kiyoko did was bite her lip, thanks to Hiruma's constant aggravations and Umi-chan's vigorous transgressions.

Kiyoko leaned against the wall of the football team's clubhouse. "Well, Umi-chan, I've heard that you're going to write an article about the Devil Bats."

Umi-chan jumped. "How do you…?"

"The president of the Journalism Club came to me today, asking for permission to do the article," Kiyoko responded. The three girls began to walk home. Kiyoko seemed to be looking behind her, as if waiting for someone. Umi-chan perked up and gave Kiyoko a coy smile.

"Who're you looking for?" Umi-chan chirped.

Kiyoko gave her a death glare. "…Umi-chan, even if I trusted you, I wouldn't tell."

Mamori shook her head. Kiyoko's stupid crush.

"I don't trust you at all," Kiyoko bluntly said. Umi-chan blinked.

"Why not…?" Umi-chan murmured.

"Every secret I've ever told you has ended up broadcast to the world."

"Oh come on. Not EVERY secret."

"How about when I liked Ishimaru-kun?"

"One time!"

"Pervert Uten."

"Twice…"

"My cosplay modeling job? My sister-in-law's first marriage? Cerberus? The flamethrower? I can go on…"

Umi-chan frowned. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But, seriously, who were you looking for?"

Kiyoko turned to Mamori. Mamori noticed the glint in Kiyoko's eyes – it was subtle, but very easy to understand: Kiyoko had a plan.

"Well, Mamori-nee-chan has been keeping a secret from you for a long time, Umi-chan. Maybe if you can keep that secret…"

Umi-chan was giddy with excitement. "Of course! I can keep it!"

Mamori seemed worried, but sighed. "Kiyoko…"

"Can you keep the secret for the entire time it takes you to write this article on our team?" Kiyoko wondered aloud.

"Definitely!" Umi-chan cooed.

"You better, because if Hiruma-san finds out you broke our trust…" Kiyoko mimicked a guillotine coming down on her head. It was disturbing, to say the least.

"Okay, Light, I get it," Umi-chan grimaced. "So what's this secret of Mamori's?"

A/N: When I decided to write a sequel to 'Sleeping With the Television On', I wanted something as freewheeling as its predecessor. That's where I came across the idea of using Umi-chan, one of the bit players from the first story, as a catalyst for an entire second story about life and love… mostly love. It was also a subconscious desire of mine to continue with Kiyoko's story, seeing as she was the first OC character I really connected with… and since she wasn't a Mary Sue, that was nice.

A/N 2: Like 'Sleeping With the Television On', 'Wipe Away Your Inhibitions' has titles all taken from song lyrics. Once again, I encourage you to guess… and the title is also a song lyric, taken from Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel's 'Bop to the Top' (from 'High School Musical').

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Sorry about that.