Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Long Pass: Temper

Even angels lose it sometimes.

Anezaki Mamori had always been fairly popular. It wasn't uncommon in her high school days to get a few love letters a week, or a couple declarations a month. It only seemed to get worse when she started college. Hiruma had offered to "deal" with her admirers himself, but she turned him down—his way of dealing would involve copious amounts of unnecessary gunpowder and explosives. Usually Mamori could deter the would-be suitors with a few words and a gentle but firm letdown.

All except one. Generally Mamori thought that persistence was a good thing, but not in this case. The first refusal didn't work. The second didn't either. Neither did the third, the fourth nor the fifth. She'd caught his eye—and his heart, he professed, though she doubted that was the actual organ—that first day on campus when she was hanging posters for the American Football Club. He wasn't all that bad-looking, which really only made it worse. He thought that she was playing hard to get.

Even when she told him that she already had a boyfriend he wouldn't stop. He seemed to have her class schedule memorized and one day followed her to practice. She tried to ignore him as she booted up the computer in the clubhouse to start editing game videos for Hiruma but it was impossible to concentrate. Hiruma had managed to teach her how to use basic media editing software, but she still wasn't very good at computers and this guy nattering in her ear didn't help.

"…know you said you already had a boyfriend, but I never see him…"

Because we are in different classes! Mamori wanted to scream. His major is completely different than mine! Besides, it's a big campus.

"…deserve someone who will take care of you, keep you safe like your loveliness deserves…"

I can take care of myself, thank you very much.

"…American Football Club? Such a rough sport. A lady like you shouldn't be involved in that! What you need is a hero to sweep you off your feet and take you away from all this…"

That's it. Mamori was a patient woman—she had to be, to deal with Hiruma—but enough was enough. Sending the laptop to sleep, she stood up and glared at the idiot. "A hero? You think I need a hero?"

"Of course!" he grinned at her, in what he no doubt imagined was a charming manner. "And I am—wait, where are you going?"

"Yoichi!" Mamori yelled, walking out onto the field. "Yoichi!"

The quarterback was practicing pass routes with the other players. He turned around at her shouting. "Fucking manager, what?"

"Put the ball down."

"What?" he stared at her.

"I said, put the ball down. You'll need both hands for this."

He looked at her incredulously. "What the hell? What the fuck are you on about now—"

Mamori marched right up to him and yanked his head down. For a fraction of a second, Hiruma froze, just as surprised as the rest of the field that pretty, demure, ladylike Anezaki Mamori was suddenly giving him a hot, hard, passionate kiss in the middle of practice. But that was only for a fraction of a second. Grinning against her mouth, he dropped the ball and used both hands to pull her closer.

When they parted, he was still grinning. "What the fuck was that?"

"Sorry." Her cheeks were pink. "I lost my temper."

"Kekekeke! If that was you losing your temper, feel free to lose it any fucking time." He looked over her shoulder at the would-be suitor, who was suffering from a case of Slack-jaw even worse than the rest of the field. "I told you that you should have let me use the C4 on him."

Mamori sighed. "If this doesn't work, I may let you." She turned around in his arms to face her admirer and cleared her throat. "As you can see, my boyfriend is right here. And I don't need a hero when I already have a villain. I mean to keep him, so thank you but no thank you."

The guy gaped at her. "Uh…yeah. I mean, ok. Err, I'll just…I'll just go and…I'll go." He fled.

"Kekekeke!" Hiruma laughed. "And people say that I'm cruel."

"Well, I did try to be nice." She sighed and he reluctantly released his hands from her waist. Mamori kissed him on the cheek and handed him back the ball. "You can go back to practice now. I'm almost done editing the videos, and will be out after."

The quarterback grinned after her as she returned to the clubhouse. I love that woman. He turned around to face the rest of the field, who were all still staring at him in shock. Although they wouldn't deny it if anyone asked, he and Mamori hadn't really broadcasted their relationship—she didn't see how it was really anyone's business, and he agreed. This was likely the first real confirmation of the rumors that the other players had. Banba looked shocked, Ikkyu looked jealous, Yamato looked amused, and Taka looked bored.

"What, you never seen a kiss before, you fucking bastards?" Hiruma yelled. He yanked out the bazooka. "Get back in position!"

Mamori smiled at the sound of the explosion outside.

No C4 was necessary after that. Mamori was slightly embarrassed about it later, but news of the kiss between the angel and the devil during afternoon practice spread like wildfire around the university and Mamori was blissfully free of unwanted attention. Which was perfectly fine with her. Heroes were nice but could be boring—villains never were and she had the best one.