She wondered if he noticed how nice he was.
He was the type of person who could be considered 'too nice for his own good' sometimes, but it was also what made him likeable. She still laughed every time she thought of how he got separated from the rest of the players because he was helping an old lady across the street. He didn't try to be nice, he just was. Even to the point that he never seemed to hold a grudge against anyone, if he even has one in the first place.
Everyone who knows him would say that was one of his better qualities, but also one of his worst since it made it easy for people to take advantage of it.
Suzuna would admit the young girl was pretty with her long dark hair and large expressive eyes.
The girl was obviously very likeable as well, Suzuna could tell from the never ending smile on the-not-so-short-anymore Chuubou's face that he certainly had a 'more than friends' like for her.
The blunette didn't see much of anything to dislike about the girl. (By this point, she realized she had already forgotten the girl's name.)
She didn't see anything she disliked, except for one thing.
"Eyeshield-kun!"
The vein above Suzuna's right eye twitched in irritation.
Ever since Chuubou had arrived at the college campus clubhouse for a surprise visit, with his surprising guest, that was what every one of the young girl's sentences started with.
The cheer captain wasn't jealous, at least she didn't think she was. But hearing how this girl, who looked barely out of middle school, talked about how she and 'Eyeshield-kun' had met by fate, with some tale about how he rescued the girl's stuffed toy or something like that, was really grating on Suzuna's nerves.
She took a deep breath to calm herself and stole a glance at the other occupants of the clubhouse.
It caught her off guard to see the former Devil Bats members, and a few of the other players, watching her with some concern. Maybe even a little fear.
She understood why.
She looked to the one on the receiving end of such extreme attention to find Sena looking both flustered and uncomfortable. He really didn't know how to handle the full focus of this girl, that's why Suzuna usually tried to help him avoid such encounters.
Back when they were all still attending Deimon, Suzuna self-appointed herself in the role of Sena's agent. That entailed not only making sure the ace running back didn't get swarmed by other sports clubs wanting him on their team, but fans -especially girls- fawning for any of his attention. She had no real issues with this, she liked that Sena was getting the recognition he deserved. Once Sena had gone to Notre Dame, it was easier to keep people at bay. Especially because everyone, except Sena, was aware of Suzuna's one and only peeve.
She only had one peeve that needed to be avoided if a girl wanted to try and get closer to him.
"So…" Suzuna started gaining the attention of everyone present, Monta and Kurita noticeably backing away in preparation. "What do you like about Sena?"
Chuubou's smile had faded at the realization of what was about to occur.
"Wait, Suzuna-san, Yumi-" he began trying to prevent the inevitable.
"Because he's Eyeshield-kun, of course!" 'Yumi' stated proudly, not even realizing what her classmate was trying to stop.
Dead silence.
Monta slowly let out a hiss of sympathy.
Suzuna didn't even look to see what Sena's reaction was.
Yumi had done it. She achieved the only peeve Suzuna had involving girls and Sena.
The cheer captained smiled pleasantly at the young girl.
"Leave."
Yumi blinked in shock, but before she could even get a word out, Suzuna was pushing her out the clubhouse door, shortly followed by Chuubou bowing in apology to everyone, and had the door slammed shut behind her.
Suzuna held the door shut, not to try and keep the girl out, but rather, using it as support for whatever reaction Sena might have.
"Wasn't that a little harsh?"
She turned to him, arms crossed and feet parted, ready to face him head on in what she felt was the right thing to do.
"Maybe…but I'm not apologizing for it."
"…"
His expression was hard to decipher. Sena didn't really seem angry, but he looked upset by her actions.
Disappointed even.
Suzuna felt her stomach squirm at this, feeling sick knowing her best friend wasn't happy with her.
But she still wouldn't apologize.
"It was pretty rude…"Sena tried.
When she didn't reply, Sena's frowned deepened, causing her own to deepen as well.
It hurt for her to know he was upset with her, even if she felt justified. It hurt almost as much to see most of the football team looking at her with mixed emotions. Those who understood why she did it with sympathy, others with displeasure.
So, without any hesitation she left out the same door she escorted their guests, this time closing it slowly behind her.
Suzuna had gone to a nearby park, to calm herself and just be away for a while.
By the time she came back to the clubhouse, she figured the team was gone, having finished practice and either heading home or to other classes.
This proved to be true, until she walked in and saw Sena waiting for her.
She could understand how other players could be intimidated by him, he was fierce when he wanted to be, staring you down, making it hard to look away.
Even if he wasn't rushing at her at light speed on a football field, his sheepish smile still floored her.
"Hi." He said shyly.
"Hi." She replied back just the same.
The silence grew more uncomfortable the longer it lasted.
Sena was the first to break it, nervous habits kicking in as he tried to form a sentence.
"L-look," he gulped, scratching the back of his head and trying to piece the words together. "The guys said I should let you explain what exactly upset you about what happened earlier."
Of course.
Of course they would help by getting her out of a tough spot and then backing her into a corner.
But…
It really wasn't fair to Sena either, he had no idea what she was mad about, because she just hadn't told him.
Suzuna looked at her feet as she spoke.
"It's because….it's because of what she said."
"Which would be…?"
She licked her lips before continuing.
"That she liked you because you're Eyeshield 21…"
She made eye contact with him at that moment, and watched as his expression slowly changed to confusion and almost hurt.
"…What? Why would that upset you?"
She could feel annoyance rise up in her.
"Because it should be the other way around!"
Sena blinked in confusion, any hurt or upset was gone, replaced by sheer bafflement.
"I don't-"
The fiery young woman cut him off, in full rant mode now, as she began to pace the floor before him.
"It should be 'I like Eyeshield 21 because he's Sena', not 'I like Sena because he's Eyeshield 21'!" Suzuna huffed out an angry sigh. "It's not the name that matters, it's the person! Honestly, you don't how many times I have heard-"
She cut herself off, finally realizing what she just revealed.
Sena's face finally cleared of any confusion, comprehension dawning.
"This isn't the first time this has happened."
It wasn't even a question.
"…No." She was back to not looking at him. "No, it's not."
"And it's been upsetting you…you've been getting upset for me?"
She remained silently for a moment, knowing she needed to be truthful with him.
"You deserve the attention. You've worked hard for it. But…" She looked at him again, seeing him look at her, in a way that made her heart squeeze pleasantly.
"But, not like that. Where you still get taken for granted like that. So, I wouldn't let any of the girls try and get close to you because of it."
For moment they just stared at each other, and then the next thing she knew, she was in his arms. Suzuna felt the heat in her cheeks and didn't mind one bit, especially when the memory of that moment after the game against the Bando Spiders came to mind.
"Thank you for caring." Sena whispered lightly, resting his head atop hers.
Suzuna didn't think she'd ever stop smiling after this, as she laughed slightly and wrapped her arms as far around his torso as they could go.
"You're very welcome."
A/N: I have been trying to finish this for a while, but life and school are things that take priority sometimes. However, even though it didn't turn out how I had planned, it somehow went back to my original idea instead of what I changed it to, I'm pleased with the utter gooey fluffy-ness of it! I also believe this is the longest one so far. There's just one more to go! But don't worry, I have some other stuff in mind for these two. Enjoy!
