Disclaimer: The Eyeshield 21 manga and anime series do not belong to me

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Chapter 2: Rivals Reunite

When they woke up that morning both Haruto Sakuraba and Seijuro Shin thought that it was going to be a perfectly normal day, well as normal a day as was possible for a wide receiver idol and the strongest linebacker in Japan. They weren't expecting a meteor falling from the sky, they weren't preparing for a sudden blizzard, nor where they fearful that a time travelling dinosaur appearing on the street and trying to eat them. As such they weren't prepared for what looked like a tiny brown hurricane hurtling in their general direction on their way to school, they couldn't say what it was but the distance between them was decreasing rapidly.

"Hey watc-" Sakuraba vainly tried to warn someone, Shin or the hurricane he didn't know which, but it was too late. With an "ooph" and a crash the hurricane came to an abrupt halt, using Shin as a break. He watched shock as Shin was actually pushed back by the force of the collision. Through the confusion Sakuraba was able to see the slight figure of a young girl, maybe a year or two younger than them, and she was falling to the ground. Instinctively he reached out, hoping to catch her before she hit the concrete, but, as usual, Shin was there first.

His team-mate grabbed the girl by the waist and easily lifted her into a standing position, she looked so thin and light it wouldn't have been hard for even him to do it, and placed her on the ground. Sakuraba caught sight of wide brown eyes under a mop of brown hair as the girl blinked in confusion. Then something even odder happened.

The girl went white as a sheet, as if someone had literally sucked all the colour out of her skin, and her eyes seemed to grow even bigger. She looked like she was about to faint. Her eyes switched from him to Shin at an alarming pace, almost like she was struggling to process what had happened. Inwardly praying that it wasn't one of his 'fans' (he had no idea how scary girls could be before Jari Productions) he smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

"Are you alright miss?" he asked. This was apparently the wrong thing to do because she went even whiter and actually took a step back. She looked like she was afraid that they were about to attack her. Sakuraba found himself wanting to frown; 'fear doesn't belong on her face'. The silence began to get awkward, at least to him, he didn't think that Shin knew the meaning of awkward silences.

"Are you injured in anyway?" Wow even Shin was speaking to her. This was apparently the right thing to do; the girl blinked once more before shaking her head. When she looked back at them, some of that fear had disappeared and, his heart sunk, he now saw recognition beginning to form in those brown eyes.

"N-No I-I-I'm fine. T-Thank you." She said, bowing her head a little. Her entire body screamed meekness and vulnerability; this girl had managed to push Shin back? Even her voice was shy and quiet, though the softness was a nice to change to the screams of "Sakuraba-kun!" which he usually heard. He kept the smile on his face when her eyes landed on him but he felt a jolt run through his body; those eyes…they were looking at him not just with recognition but knowledge too, he felt as if she knew him, those eyes weren't the eyes of a stranger.

Another blink and the look was gone, this time replaced by horror and embarrassment. She suddenly sank into a deep bow, startling him out of that strange feeling of knowing.

"I-I'm so sorry Sakuraba-san, Shin-san. I wasn't looking where I was going an-" She stopped, he wanted to groan and Shin just stared at her with an oddly frightening intensity. That feeling of fear seemed to surround her again and he couldn't think of anything to say. He was disappointed that she knew of him, if she was a fan that might explain that strange knowing look, but he had hoped for a moment-

"How do you know our names?" Shin's calm voice cut through his thoughts. 'That's right, how does she know Shin too? Most fans only know me on the team.' The girl's face screamed panic and she shifted her stance a little, as if she was going to run away. What happened next would puzzle him for some time. Shin's aura completely changed; he wasn't Sakuraba's socially inept, training-obsessed friend anymore he was Japan's strongest linebacker. His gaze was locked on the girl, his posture straightened and he actually flexed his fingers. He was facing prey, an opponent, not a teenage girl. The whole thing reminded Sakuraba of a nature documentary he'd seen, that of a lion about to chase a gazelle, and that hadn't ended well for the gazelle.

'Sena, you absolute moron!'

How could she be so stupid as to address them by their names? Especially considering she'd never met either of them before in her life! But…she couldn't help it. Some stupid sense of familiarity from that stupid dream had caused her to blurt out their names like it was perfectly natural. She could almost remember speaking with and meeting them before: Shin-san's spear tackle, visiting Sakuraba-san in hospital, etc. For a second she had been him and he was apologizing to two other players.

Her head felt like it was going to split open as images rushed to the front from the times that he had faced them.

She needed to get away.

Her body instantly lowered into a running possession, she was ready to run away like usual, run away like she always did. Then Shin moved too.

Her reaction nearly frightened her.

Here was this huge, strong, competitive, American football player looking like he was about to Spear Tackle her across the road and all she could feel was excitement? She must have hit her head on Shin-san harder than she thought. Why wasn't she screaming "Hiiieeeee!" and running in the opposite direction? Why did she feel like smiling?

Her blood was pounding. Her head was screaming. Her heart was pumping. Her legs wanted to run.

She wanted to run against him again…for the first time…once more….she didn't care which one she wanted to fight him again. The feeling of power that flowed through her body was incredible, she actually felt confident. She was confident that she could run against him, she believed in her own abilities for perhaps the first time. She couldn't explain why, she only knew that it was happening and it felt amazing.

It was like she didn't care that he was better than her in almost every single way, because she was better than him at speed. A smile spread across her face as her panic ebbed away into a corner of her mind. He wanted to know how she knew their names? Fine, she would tell him. She didn't want to run away again.

"I know your names through American football." She dropped her stance and straightened back up. For a second she was the running back for the Deimon Devil Bats and she could meet these players on equal ground because she was one of them.

Her answer served to apparently shock Sakuraba-san and relax Shin-san, his aggressive aura dropped and he looked less like he was going to plough her into the ground. She felt Sakuraba-san watch her.

"Wow, really, which team do you support?" Instantly, she was back to normal.

"I-I just got into it r-recently really, but I-", she paused and then beamed up at the two of them, not seeing the redness beginning to spread across Sakuraba's cheeks, "I think that the Ojou White Knights are one of the best teams I've seen."

"W-Well that's very kind of you miss?"

'You forgot to introduce yourself idiot!'

"Kobayakawa Sena, and I'm really very sorry for running into you." Sakuraba nodded, and his smile didn't look as strained as it did previously.

"Well it seems you already know us but, my name is Sakuraba Haruto and this is Shin Seijuro, whom you probably know is our best player." Shin looked like he was about to speak but Sena found herself speaking instead.

"I think that Sakuraba-san is a very good player too." The boy started and then stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and shock. "Maybe he isn't the ace player now but he definitely could be. He's really tall and could be an amazing receiver, that pass in the…(her mind remembered a small boy in hospital who admired Sakuraba-san since he made that pass in..) Deimon vs. Ojou game was fantastic. Even if he doesn't have as much natural talent as others," she looked down remembering a team-mate struggling in the rain to catch up with the others in the death march, three linemen who went from delinquents to playing against the Taiyo Sphinx pyramid line, a short, but powerful, boy who overcame Mizumachi's height, and a catcher who had no natural talent at all, who just kept on chasing after a ball until he beat Taka Honjo, "he should chase after them, as far as his normal abilities will let him." She remembered a player with the God Speed Impulse and that exhilaration of overcoming him. "Because even though it seems impossible, the only way we can answer the question if it is or not, is if we try."

Suddenly realising that both of them were now staring at her rather intently she decided it was time to go.

"W-Well it was very nice meeting you both, but I need to get to school." And with that she grabbed her bag and bolted away from them.

Shin stared after the girl. She wasn't an athlete. From what he could see she did no intensive training, at least power wise and she didn't appear to have confidence in herself or her body. But that speed. His eyes caught sight of a book lying forgotten on the path, he bent down and picked it up, leaving Sakuraba to his wildly spinning thoughts, it was a maths exercise book.

"She will need this." He informed his stunned friend, before setting off after the girl, Sena Kobayakawa.

She wasn't that far ahead, her speed was that of an average middle school student and he felt a twinge of uncertainty, had this girl really forced him back it seemed impossible. He reached out a hand to stop her, a very, very, very, very weak version of his tackle.

As if she sensed him her head snapped round and their eyes met.

Electricity sparked. A primal bond was created, or opened again. A moment of instant comprehension and recognition.

You are the one whose abilities I will acknowledge. You will be the measuring stick for my own skill. You are the one I will fight against.

The chase began.

Her speed accelerated, and she took a sharp turn down an alleyway. So sharp that most players wouldn't be able to follow her. But Shin wasn't most players.

He turned the corner and kept his gaze locked on the back of his target. He had committed himself totally to chasing her down. It was as if he was back on the playing field only something was different. There was a roaring in his ears, his heart was beating far quicker than normal, and he actually felt excited. The only time he had felt something close had been during the game against the Shinryuuji Nagas, and that had been tempered with anger at himself for not being strong enough. This feeling was less tainted. It was pure competition.

Another turn. He followed.

A third turn. He wouldn't stop.

He could hear the harshness of her breathing, she was getting tired; her stamina was not strong enough to endure the chase must longer. He was going to catch her and the both knew it. He reached out his arm once more.

But at the last second her shoulders squared, her resolution formed, and even though they both knew her body would be in tremendous pain later, she pushed herself into the world of the speed of light. There was a green flash, his fingers stretched out to reach the back of her school uniform, they brushed against fabric and then…

She was gone.

40 yards in 4.2 seconds. A speed that meant all his power was useless. He hadn't caught her. His run slowed to a jog then a stop. His heart didn't stop, his blood was still stirring and that excitement was still there. His eyes stared down the road trying to see her but it was like she had disappeared.

She had gotten away. She escaped him.

He looked down at his hand and clenched it into a fist. He had almost had her, he had almost been able to catch her. For the first time in his life Seijuro Shin felt a burning desire to improve, to chase after this Kobayakawa Sena again and catch her. He needed to get better.

He had a goal to aim for.

He looked down at the book still held in his other hand and flipped it open to the first page.

The sight of an address given if lost on the inside of Sena's math book was one of the few things that made Shin smile.

Sena's day passed in a near blur after that. She didn't pay much attention in classes, only took a few notes, and nearly walked into ten different fellow students. Her muscles were in agony, she honestly wanted to lay down on the floor and not move an inch. She practically inhaled her water bottle and her walking was rather shaky at times. She didn't have her book for math class, which was odd because she was sure that she'd packed it in her bag, and more than one teacher told her to wake up.

Yet the smile on her face hadn't moved an inch.

When Shin had reached out to grab her she had thought that she'd be content to give in, she had run away he had chased her down fair and square…for what reason she didn't really know. Then her vision had shifted, she was looking through an eyeshield at a goal line during her second game ever, she hadn't wanted to run away….her team was counting on her…and she wanted…she wanted to beat Shin, and she had. Her legs had pushed forward her resolution to win carried her onward and she had outrun him.

Victorious was a new feeling for her, and she loved it. Confidence was something that she had resigned herself to never having, she could admire people who had it like Mamori-neechan, Riku-niisan, and Hirum-, other people but she would never have it. At least she had thought so until that run. The self-assurance that she would beat him had come out of nowhere; but it had felt right and she had felt strong. It was wonderful.

Though it may have been a little better if she didn't currently feel like she was about to collapse.

Fucking shrimp, how do you expect us to win if you collapse after a single fucking run!

Anyone watching the timid girl would probably wonder why her smile softened, why it seemed to light up a little bit and why she started to quietly chuckle to herself. The answer would probably surprise them.

Somehow she managed to make it home. Collapsing on her bed she stared at the ceiling, just letting herself feel the ache in her legs. She wanted to do it again. With that thought in her head her eyes started to droop as exhaustion finally began to win over the small brunette, and she fell asleep.

For about 10 minutes.

"Sena-chan, there's a boy at the door asking for you." Her mother's gleeful tone managed to drag her from the land of sleep and she gazed stupidly at the ceiling.

It took about 3o seconds for her to process exactly what her mother had said before she dashed downstairs. Her hair was messy, her clothes were untidy and she was still sweaty from this morning. Dimly, she was aware of her mother's disapproving gaze but all she could focus on was the figure in her doorway holding a slightly bent maths book.

'Shin-san is in my house'

"Sena-chan, why didn't you tell me you knew such a nice boy?" her mother asked and Sena inwardly cried, her kaa-san was undoubtedly planning out her wedding and the names for future grandchildren. Perfect.

"I just met Kobayakawa-san today, she dropped her maths book and I came here to return it to her." She shook her head and focused on Shin-san, trying to ignore the wink and smile her mother gave her as she left the room. Pasting a smile on her face she stepped forward.

"T-Thank you Shin-san." He made her stutter even worse, she couldn't help it he was just so…powerful? Masculine? Cool? The only time she or he had ever felt on equal footing with him had been when they ran against him. Shin-san was amazing, there was no other word for it; he was one of the super-humans.

"You need to work on your stamina." She blinked, taken aback by his blunt tone and equally blunt voice. He was staring at her intently and she could feel herself beginning to fidget under that heavy gaze. Not knowing what to say she just nodded. Taking this as his signal he carried on.

"You could become a very good American football player." Again she only nodded but a feeling of apprehension, no not as bad as that it was a mix of suspense, hope, and fear.

"I jog every day to keep up my stamina." She very nearly blurted out "I know" but after the mornings mishap she was able to stop herself, because then she would start to look like a stalker.

"Do you want to jog with me?" Her head snapped up so fast she thought she had given herself whiplash.

"I-I'm sorry, c-could y-you repeat t-that p-please." Surely she had misheard.

"Do you want to jog with me in the mornings?" Apparently she hadn't.

"W-Why would you a-ask me that?" What was going on, was this another dream of hers? A dream within a dream as not what she needed. She never noticed that she always called it a dream and not a nightmare.

His eyes locked on to hers and it was like she had been turned to stone.

"I want to see how good you can be, and then I want to beat you." She almost smiled; it was so Shin-like; blunt, to the point and no-nonsense. Her mind was reeling; jogging with Shin-san, it seemed so unreal. It was something that would happen to him not to her.

But he was here in her house, and he was asking her to join him. There was a feeling of tension in the air, like this was a great decision in her life, which it was.

If she said no, she could retreat back to her world of yesterday; the world where she lived a peaceful, normal, though subservient existence. Where Mamori-neechan looked after her and chased away her bullies, where she never joined any club or made any close friends because she was so shy, where people could walk all over her and order her around. Normal but also boring and unfulfilling.

If she said yes then it was almost as if she was accepting the dream as real, as if she was accepting that these images in her head were really memories, glimpses of another world in another time, a chance for her to get ahead of the others and perhaps even change some things too. Pictures of future opponents and allies flickered across her brain. It was a dangerous path, she could get hurt, she would feel pain again, and it was very emotionally taxing.

But it was also fun and exciting. She wanted those friends that he had made; she wanted to feel those bonds that he had felt.

It was a cross in the roads and she had to make the first step. This was her journey. She opened her mouth to reply-

"I'm not going to do anything inappropriate." Shin said, vaguely recalling Sakuraba and the others talking about why sometimes girls were nervous around boys.

"Huh!" She gasped, doing a remarkable impression of the three Ha-Ha brothers. 'Inappropriate what does he me-' that's right she was a girl not a boy and that meant…

Shin noted that Kobayakawa had an interesting ability to change colour he had seen her go white, pink and her normal skin colour and now she went bright red. Nearly as red as an apple he noticed. Oddly enough there was something appealing about that colour on her. He did like apples.

Sena began to frantically wave her hands about in an effort to convey to Shin-san that he had been completely wrong about her silence.

"I-I-I'm s-sure that you won't. I wasn't even thinking that Shin-san would do anything i-i-i-inappropriate. I w-was just thinking, that' a-all!" He nodded and she let out a breath. Well now that she had been embarrassed completely. She stood up straight and looked him dead in the eye.

"Shin-san, I would like to join you on your morning jogs." Thinking she sounded a little rude she quickly added, "I-if that really is fine with you. I wouldn't want you to waste any time on me or anything like that."

Shin handed her the book, which she accepted with a quiet thank you, and turned to leave. He looked behind him one last time at the girl who had managed to beat him and didn't deny the stir of excitement in his chest at the thought of seeing her again.

"It's fine. I'll be here tomorrow at 5:30." He then left the house, leaving behind one gaping Sena.

"5:30!"

AN: OK I really don't have an updating schedule for this, especially since my exams are in about 3 weeks time but I'll see what I can do. I've been floored by the response to it you guys are amazing so here's a longer chapter as a reward From what I've read most of you guys want a SenaHarem, which I'm completely fine with so for now it'll stay like that. If there is any guy you really want in the harem please tell me and I'll see what I can do. Oh, and if there is any character that you want Sena to meet before she does in timeline A (the manga) please let me know too! I hope I managed to keep Shin and Sakuraba in character and that you guys like what I've done so please read and enjoy!

Reviews:

xXxIRISxXx: Yes it was Shin-san! Thank you for being my first reviewer on this story. There is going to be some Shin X Sena though it will take a little bit of time since they're both pretty dense when it comes to romance. Subtlety doesn't work with this FemSena.

Elma Avalonia: I really do hope that I can improve, I haven't written anything like this in ages so hopefully as I go on it will improve. Thanks for reviewing.

SleepyPuppy: Hope this upload was quick enough for you, but I don't know when the next one will be.

Dakka123: I'm glad you find it interesting, I like genderbend fics and I like time travel fics too. Eyeshield 21 has become one of my favourite mangas so I decided to combine all 3 things and hope it doesn't turn out too bad.

Wishyuki: Thank you for your support and I will definitely keep the story going, unless I completely murder the characterization of some of them. I hope you enjoy my version of time-travel.

Naruke3716: It's Shin and Sakuraba! Thank you for your review!

Nightmaric: All/Sena is looking good at the moment, I hope I am able to do this idea of mine justice and I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Heretogetthestory: I will keep writing! Please keep reviewing. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Razorgaze: I'm glad you like it. HirumaXSena might be difficult for me, if only because at the moment I find Hiruma hard to write, I really don't want to screw him up, but I am willing to try and write it because I love that pairing too.

Azalie-Kauriu: I'm thrilled that you like my version of FemSena, I think she's going to have a lot of moodswingy moments where she goes from being confident and sure of her self (channeling the male 18 year old post manga Sena) back to her normal 14 year old shyness and meekness.

The Neo Productions: I have time at the moment but I don't know how long it will last for sadly. Still thank you for your review!

SasoLOVE111: Hope this was worth your excitement!

Msdgirl: Correct guess. A Sena harem is very popular so if there's anyone you or any reader wants in it please let me know!

Wolf D. Dragon: I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and thank you for reading my story!