I own neither Eyeshield 21 nor Katekyo Hitman Reborn, nor the characters therein. (Characterizations on the Nihon Machine Guns, not the actual team, are mine.)


The football arched up into the devastatingly clear blue sky. Try as he might, Sena couldn't keep an eye on it as it reached its pinnacle into the glaring rays of the sun. He gave up on following the football's path and concentrated on the players who could be receiving it. He carefully moderated his speed, so that if called upon he could light-speed tackle the receiver. He didn't want to run too fast however, otherwise he'd arrive before the ball and he'd have to double back. Beside him, his best friend Monta was running full-tilt and keeping in step with Sena's easy lope.

The same sun that had attempted blinding him while he was watching the ball warmed his shoulders and what little of his face visible thought the infamous eyeshield and his helmet. The slight chill in the air from the early spring wind cooled him nicely, ensuring he didn't bake under the sun's rays. It was a beautiful day, he was running, he was with his best friend, his little brother was watching him, and he was playing his most favorite game in the world. Sena let out a little breathless joy-filled laugh, delighted with the day, his life, and the change that had happened to it in the span of one year.

"Fucking chibi! Get your ass in gear and out of the clouds! Number 42!"

Sena grinned at the one who had changed his life so dramatically, giving him purpose and joy at the expense of pain, tears, and effort. His captain had given him an order and far be it from him to argue. With the knowledge of where the ball was despite not having seen it get caught, he sped up, leaving his friend behind to win back the ball and really start the game.

Due to an unlucky coin toss (disproving the rumor that Hiruma possessed latent telekinetic powers), Deimon began the match on defense. Hiruma wanted that damn ball and he wanted it now.

--+--+-

"Looks like Sena-kun's going in for the tackle!" Sakuraba commented, energy brimming in his voice, excited to see the young running back cut loose and charge at the Nihon's receiver. He purposely ignored the odd (and adoring) looks from the group of people that had been talking about #21 as Oujou was arrived from their own game, filling up the empty seats. Sakuraba had intended to talk to the large group, seeing as they were sitting in Hiruma's block of seats, but then the women in the group let out a super-sonic squeal and all but assaulted him in an attempt to get his autograph.

The tall receiver had wanted to sulk; everyone knew that Hiruma blocked these seats, and everyone knew that if Oujou didn't have a game they would've commandeered said seats to watch their rivals. And instead of just kicking out the interlopers like Takami (and Ootawara- both who were visiting them from university ) had suggested, Sakuraba had convinced him that if they knew Sena-kun, they couldn't be that bad. It was just unfortunate that of the four females in the group, three of them were fans. And only one of the fans was under 30!

Takami smirked at Sakuraba's plight; the boy should really have listened to him. He, on the other hand found a wealth of information in Eyeshield 21's 'little brother' who was more than happy to exchange details of the MVP's private life in exchange for Takami explaining just what was happening during the game. He wasn't positive, but he was almost sure that Shin was listening in as well, at least to add into the explanation of the game.

"What did Sakuraba-san mean about Sena-nii going in for the tackle? Doesn't he just run with the ball?" Tsuna asked.

Takami opened his mouth to explain, but was cut off by Shin.

"Because Eyeshield is so fast, he can compensate for his height and low body weight by tackling at full speed. If he does not manage to stop his opponent completely, he is still able to slow them so that a linebacker will be able to complete the attack, or at least put the opponent off balance enough to trip over his own feet." Shin explained methodically, as if he was cataloging Sena's moves for the next time they faced off than explaining to Eyeshield's little brother.

Oujou had moved into the empty seats behind and around Tsuna's group, worn out from their previous game (which they had won), but pumped up to watch their rivals' first match.

Gokudera snorted, "Tripping over his own feet? Idiot."

"Actually it's not that uncommon, look at Sena-sempai's feet as he dodges through the crowd of linebackers." Yamamoto suggested handing over his binoculars.

"…"

"Ahaha, I expected to be farther up in the stands- I guess Sena-senpai really takes care of his family." Yamamoto laughed (unknowingly justifying the reason the group was there) with one arm around Tsuna to emphasize his point, the other still offering Gokudera the binoculars.

Gokudera accepted them gingerly, as if he feared that if he touched them he'd catch Yamamoto's fanboy-ish-ness. Curiosity won out, and he lifted them to check why tripping oneself was an acceptable practice in American football. He watched as Sena ran sideways, zigzagged hazardously, and at one point, stopped completely just to bolt forward in an almost perpendicular path to the one he had been taking.

"How is he even standing upright?" Gokudera asked incredulously, watching the diminutive running back try to snag the ball from #42.

"Hiiiiieeee!" Tsuna cried out in fear, watching his brother get tackled.

"What the hell?" Demanded Gokudera, pissed.

Yamamoto grabbed Gokudera's dynamite just before they touched his lit cigarette. "How come Sena-senpai just got tackled, Takami-senpai? He should have been blocked, but there was no reason to tackle him!"

"To-ler-ate," Lambo whimpered, causing Tsuna looked over at him in surprise. Since when had Lambo even met Sena, let alone grown to like him that much?

Nana laughed and pulled Lambo into her lap. "Sena had always been good with younger kids. That's how they play the game Lambo-chan!"

The five-year-old looked up at her questioningly, eyes watery from suppressed tears.

"See, because the guy who caught the ball after Musashi-san kicked it was trying to block Taki-san on his other side, Eyeshield was able to duck under his arm and get the ball away from him. He would have had it around him and into the end zone if 42's teammate hadn't alerted him," Takami explained, simplifying his words so the group could understand.

"The Nihon Machine Guns have heavy emphasis on intimidation and speed. Intimidation is useless with Hiruma leading and speed is useless with Kobayakawa running," Shin stated.

The group watched him, waiting for an explanation on why the information was relevant.

"Eh… what Shin means is that Sena-kun wasn't injured with the tackle. He has tackled him countless times, and if Sena can stand up and surpass him every time, a team built on speed won't be able to hurt him," Sakuraba explained, sweatdropping at the team captain's complete lack of people skills.

"Monta-kun has gotten faster too; he's broken the five second barrier just by trying to keep up with Sena during practices. We'll need new stats before we play them this year." He muttered to himself and pulled out a camcorder to catch the game.

"Ano… Sakuraba-san, what's the five second barrier?"

Sakuraba looked down at the youngest fangirl with brown hair that was so light, it looked orange and explained.

"Average players can run 10 yards in five seconds. If you can run it in 4.8, you can easily become the ace on your school's track team. It was said that 4.2 was the limit of human speed, the speed of light; but there were reports that Sena-kun hit 4.1 in our match last year in the fall tournament. Either way, he's running at pro-NFL speeds."

"Wow. Do you have a shrine to him in your closet too, trash?"

--+--+-

Sena smiled as Hiruma kicked him on his back wordlessly. They were about 40 yards from the Nihon's end zone, and it was only 16 seconds into the game.

"Huddle up!" The demonic quarterback called. "I'm passing to fucking baldy. Zig out. Fucking three brothers, do a sweep. Fucking shrimp, run like Cerberus is on your heels, or I will set him on you. On the fourth. We will FUCKING KILL THEM!"

"YA-HA!"

The team took their positions and set up for the fake out. Before Kuroki reached the line, he gave Sena a thumbs up, as if Sena was really running the ball and counting on the line to clear him a path.

"Set! Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!" Kurita snapped the ball and Hiruma faked the hand-off to Sena. The line easily folded to Deimon's power and opened up an avenue to Sena. What they didn't count on; however, was Nihon's #90 waiting on Sena to rush though and smashing the running back.

'Fortunately,' Sena thought, dazed at the impact, 'I don't have to worry about fumbling.'

"Deimon 12 yard gain!" The announcer crowed with delight. The Devil Bats crowded around Yukimitsu, congratulating and kicking him.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Number 90 demanded, staring down at Sena, seemingly just noticing his lack of the football. He loomed over Sena threateningly.

Sena shuddered in fear. This wasn't going to end well.

"Aki. Let's talk."

Sena looked up at his savior. Er… perhaps not. Player #14, the Machine Guns' team captain who had been really upset at the beginning of the game collected his linebacker and walked away in silence.

"Sena? What are you still doing on the ground? EH? Are you hurt?! WAHH!! We need an ambulance!!" Kurita cried throwing Sena over his shoulder and running for the sidelines where Mamori stood wringing her hands in worry.

"Kurita-san, I'm al…" Sena was cut off by a gunshot.

"Fucking porker, put the midget down and get back on the line. You're running the sweep for real this time." Hiruma directed at Sena.

"Yeah," Sena agreed, still a little dazed from the event.

--+--+-

"Did you not see his wristband? The kid has Vongola protection, you idiot!" Aki looked up at his boss sullenly.

"That asshole made a fool of me." He replied petulantly.

"Vongola aren't stupid. They know the rules; tackle him as hard as you want during plays, but for every finger you lay on that brat after the whistle's blown, they will break an according number of bones in retaliation. If you give him so much as an unnecessary nosebleed, we'll all be coughing up blood for a month, dumbass."

Aki crossed his arms in a huff.

Player #14 lifted him up by his throat.

Aki uncrossed his arms.

--+--+-

"Agon-san!" Keisuke, Oujou's running back exclaimed in mock surprise. "Obviously Shinryuuji would be scouting Deimon after your humiliating loss to them last year, but what brings you down to the level of us lowly plebeians?"

"You've got quite a mouth on you for a guy I could break like a twig." Agon replied with a sadistic grin. "Move."

Keisuke's bravado melted like sugar in water and he fled to the back row of seats in Hiruma's block.

"Oi, don't forget to take you litter with you." Agon taunted, pleased, and gave a meaningful glare to the other Oujou in the front row.

The row steadily emptied until only Shin, Sakuraba, Takami, Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto remained.

Agon tried glaring again. The little one shook a bit, but other than that, no results were forthcoming. "Good enough." He grunted and dropped his bag next to the linebacker. "Unko-chan and Ikkyuu can sit next to me, the rest of you, scatter." He instructed making shooing motions with his hands.

"I am a little surprised you'd bother, Agon-san," Takami offered, leaning around Shin and Sakuraba.

"Didn't you hear? I'm a changed man!" The creepy grin was back. "I even made team captain this year." He glanced back at Takami, "What's with the kids? Ya' babysitting?"

"This is Eyeshield-kun's little brother and his friends. They want to learn about American football," Takami said innocently, nudging Tsuna a little so that Agon could tell who was who.

"That's great." Agon answered with his sweetest, 'how could you imagine me breaking the rules' smile that always worked when he was picking up chicks. "What did I miss?" He asked looking back to the field.

"Eyeshield just scored." Was Shin's blunt answer.

"What! And you didn't bother to tell us?" Sakuraba demanded.

"I thought it would be a little obvious with him dancing." Shin responded guilelessly, pointing a Yamamoto doing a little victory dance, and trying to draw Tsuna into it with him while Gokudera was trying to punch the taller boy.

Sakuraba sweatdropped. It was going to be a long game.

-+--+

"Target player #89. Don't let him go, no matter what. If you die, drag you bloody corpse after him. I don't care, just mark him."

Sena stared at Hiruma incredulously. "But Hiruma-san, shouldn't I mark #34, the fastest according to your data?"

"No. Don't ask questions." Hiruma snapped.

Sena sighed. It was going to be a long game. He reluctantly got into position and sized up his target. While not tall, the receiver still had a good nine inches over him. Sena shook away his childish thoughts. Had Hiruma ever steered him wrong? A memory of the poster with him unknowingly giving a camera the middle finger popped up in his mind, along with countless others. Er…

"HIKE!"

Sena ran, sticking to 89 like a second shadow. The other boy watched Sena, shocked. Why would the famous Eyeshield mark him? And how could he keep up so effortlessly?

The whistle blew, and Sena trotted back to the line, looking around. Looked like a three yard Nihon gain. The scenario repeated itself twice more, with Nihon actually losing yards due to Taki's assignment of blitzing the quarterback, before Nihon, with no more downs went to punt the ball away. The kicker came out onto the field and stretched a little, getting ready to get down to work.

"Set! Hut! HUT! HIKE!"

'Wait, was that…?' Sena watched in unmitigated delight as Toganou found an opening and darted though, deflecting the kick and catching it as it arched down. Toganou looked down at the ball in mild curiosity, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with it now that he had it.

"Run you fucking idiot!"

The demonic scream snapped him out of his stupor and he bolted to Nihon's end zone.

"Deimon with a shocking touchdown after deflecting the Machine Guns' punt! Incredible! And with the extra kick, it's the Devil Bat's lead at 14-0 with 10 minutes remaining!" The announcer yelled in joy. "Nihon is back on offence." He added, remembering he was supposed to be unbiased. "This was Deimon's #53's first touchdown! Let's hear it for #53, Toganou Shizou!"

The crowd roared it approval, and spurred on by Suzuna and the other cheerleaders, chanted the linebacker's name. "To-ga-nou! To-ga-nou!" His teammates surrounded him and attacked him with congratulations.

Hiruma kicked him silently and then commanded his troops back to positions. "Shrimp; now that you've been covering 89 this whole time, I want you to keep your formation in back field as if you were still marking him, but second play after they receive, I want you to cross with fucking beardy behind the line so they don't notice. They'll pass off to #34 to run with you covering #89, or so they'll think. Tackle their running back and force a fumble."

Sena's jaw dropped at Hiruma entrusting him with the plan instead of forcing the play out of him. "Ye… Yes! I'll try my best!" He declared, determined.

"Don't fucking try, DO!" Hiruma barked.

Musashi's return kick went smoothly, and all too soon it was time for Hiruma's trick play. Sena got into position, eyes on 89 unblinkingly. The receiver was showing signs of nerves with Kanto 's MVP marking him so intently. His hands shook slightly, and Sena finally understood why Hiruma had him mark the receiver so intently; he wouldn't be able to catch at all unless he snapped out of his paranoia, whether or not Sena marked him again. The Machine Guns started the play and Sena was off. Making sure to keep out of sight, he passed Taki quickly.

Ahead, the other running back had cleared the line, and not seeing the idiot marking him all first quarter, assumed he was home free. He sped up as quickly as he could and smirked, sure he'd score the first points for Nihon. He was completely blindsided by Sena. Absolutely shocked he was unable to stop himself from losing the ball to the smaller player.

Sena was sure he had the ball. He saw it and he could feel, it was all but calling to him to take it to end zone, but just as he was sure it was in his hands, all he could feel was pain.

The whistle blew as the officials called a flag on the play.

-x-+--x

"Sena-nii!!" Tsuna was in full out panic mode. He knew the game was rough, but Sena-nii looked like he was in a lot of pain. Around him, the stands were booing and hissing angrily.

"That fucking trash," Agon ground out. He knew that seemed odd coming from him, but if big, bad line backer couldn't keep it in the game, Agon might have to take it off the field entirely.

"What just happened?" asked Yamamoto, shocked at the outcome.

Agon glanced over at the one who had been dancing for Eyeshield's first touchdown. Had he not been paying attention? Oh, the brat with the afro had been blocking his view.

Before anyone could explain, they watched the referee's hands. The man held up his fist above his head and crossed it at the arm with an open hand behind it. "Personal foul, unnecessary roughness.

The crowd erupted with a mixed reaction of cheers that the harshness having been caught and angry boos still directed at the linebacker in question

"Fifteen yard penalty and player #90 will be ejected for the rest of the game," The referee called out, directing the player off the field.

The crowd roared its approval whilst simultaneously wishing for a stronger punishment for hurting their idol.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was moments away from hyperventilating and going into a panic attack.

"That's all well and good, but Sena-nii still hasn't gotten up. Why hasn't Sena-nii gotten up!?"

"Dame-Tsuna." Reborn kicked the back of his head, distracting him from his looming panic attack. "You." He looked directly at Shin. "Explain."

Without turning his head away from the field, Shin spoke.

"It would seem that player #90 had not let go of his anger from the second play and when he thought the officials weren't paying attention, threw a punch at Kobayakawa as he went for the ball. While Kobayakawa was protected by his helmet, it was still a strong blow. I would not be surprised if he were knocked unconscious from it."


Enjoy, and please review! Now beta'd... Wonderful Shinnie the Meanie helped me out. The hilarious example of just how Hirma leads Sena astray was provided by her (I lol'd) Shinnie's my hero X3

Sorry about the numbers, I hope they weren't too confusing, I just didn't want to bring in (any)too many OCs