September 19, 2009
Awoken by the alarm clock, Kyo woke up at around 7:00 AM. At first, he was cursing the clock because he couldn't sleep in, but then he remembered just what was going on today: UCF's major football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were ranked, 2nd in the country. The thought of that instantly made thousands of butterflies flutter in his gut. Of course, a look at his roommate Jimmy Michaels, the quarterback, showed something else. Instead of nervousness, Jimmy was getting dressed with an almost emotionless face. But Kyo did not know that deep down, Jimmy was preparing in his own way. Although the game was at 6:00, it was not too early to get ready.
As the morning went on, Kyo's nervousness began to grow while Jimmy stayed (relatively) calm. Kyo felt himself sweating with anticipation of the game and had to take a shower even though he took one last night and was probably going to do it again. Eventually, Kyo's nervousness got to his mouth and he said something that he really didn't intend to talk about. "I didn't really have a good family life," he said out of the blue. Jimmy glanced over at him as if he was wondering just what Kyo was talking about.
"You're talking about that now?" Jimmy asked, looking over his playbook. "And where the hell did this come from?"
"My family hated me," Kyo said. "I was an outcast in my own family and the only one who was kind to me was my martial arts teacher and Tohru."
"Really?" Jimmy asked. "What else?"
"My dad was an abusive asshole, my mom probably secretly hated me, my cousin and I would fight a lot (as you can see), the family patriarch was a complete bitch and just about anything else that you can think of," Kyo said.
"Okay, so it was bad," Jimmy said. Kyo's attempts at being sad were not working on him. "Now RELAX!" Kyo jumped at Jimmy's words. But then Jimmy got another idea and put on some relaxing piano music. Kyo let out a deep sigh as the music began to calm him down. The beautiful piano music filled his ears and he listened intently.
"Who is this?" Kyo asked.
"Raindrop by Chopin," Jimmy replied. Kyo's eyebrows raised as Jimmy said this.
"Chopin?" He asked. "I thought you liked heavy metal."
"I do but I have to like the classics," Jimmy replied. "I listen to metal to get pumped before the games and classical piano to calm me down."
"What else you got?" Kyo asked.
"Ashitaka and San from the Princess Mononoke soundtrack for one," Jimmy said. Jimmy eventually changed the piece when the music got dramatic, and Kyo felt the relaxing effects of the piece.
"I love Miyazaki," Kyo said.
"He had some good stuff," Jimmy replied. The morning continued with the two listening to calm piano pieces.
[][][]
Eventually, it was time to leave for the game. It was in the afternoon and since preparation for the game would take a while, they had to leave to give them some time. The two dressed nice and left, walking to the fieldhouse. From there, they would prepare for the game. Well now, we will stop focusing on them and start focusing on Karen, Tohru and Yuki.
In their apartment, Karen and Tohru woke up later, probably around 11:00 (it's a standard college student wake-up time). Their time was a little more relaxed, simply them watching TV. Tohru mostly worked on her computer for a while.
"So who's coming to the game?" Tohru asked.
"Well my parents called and they'll show up," Karen replied. "But they live in the Orlando area and have season tickets so it's no big deal. What about that Yuki guy you've talked about?"
"Um, Kyo told me he was here, but I haven't seen him lately," Tohru replied.
"Oh well," Karen replied. "So how psyched are you for your first American football game in America?"
"Isn't that redundant?" Tohru replied, lampshading Karen's question.
"Actually, I meant American football the sport," Karen replied. Fair enough.
"I'm not sure," Tohru replied. "I did go to Kyo's games in Japan, but those weren't really this big."
"Football here is very different," Karen said. "I think in the Southeast it's pretty much as big as soccer in Europe."
"Is that true?" Tohru asked.
"It's about as close an analogy as I can think of," said Karen.
Most of the morning, which soon turned into the afternoon, things went somewhat uneventful until the time Jimmy and Kyo were to leave for the Densch Sports Center. It happened when they heard a knock on their door. "Come in!" Karen said.
"Hey, how's it goin'!" Jimmy said as he poked his head in. He was dressed nicely and soon walked in, as did Kyo. Karen walked up to Jimmy and gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek.
"For luck," she said.
"For you too Kyo," Tohru said as she hugged and kissed Kyo. He too appreciated the sentiment.
"Thanks Tohru," he said.
"I hope you guys can win," Tohru said.
"We don't need luck," Jimmy replied. "We can beat them on our own."
"I hope your ego doesn't get to you," Karen replied, earning a disdained look from Jimmy.
Suddenly, Jimmy heard his cell phone ring and took it out of his athletic bag, looking at the screen before answering the phone. "Hey Scottie," he said. "What? Oh, speaker? Okay, hold on." Jimmy took the phone from his ear and pressed a button on the phone before holding it out to the quartet in the dorm room. "Okay Scottie, you're on speaker now," Jimmy said.
"Hey guys," Scott's voice said. "How's it going?"
"Not bad," said Karen.
"Um, hello," Tohru said. "I'm Tohru, I'm Karen's roommate."
"Oh, hello," Scott said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine!" Tohru said, bowing even though she couldn't see him.
"Relax!" Scott said. "Anyway, I know you guys have stuff to do, so I'll make this quick. I wish the both of you, Jimmy and Kyo, best of luck against Ohio State. I hope you can make them your bitches like the Gators did to them!"
"Thanks, bro!" Jimmy said, laughing.
"Thanks Scott," Kyo replied.
"Oh, by the way Karen," Scott said again. "Maggie's in Orlando scouting for Celtic and she's going to be at the game."
"Oh, really?" Karen asked. "Well I'll try to find her. Thanks a lot!"
"No problem," Scott replied. "Anyway, I gotta go, see ya!"
"See ya!" Jimmy replied as he hung up his cell phone. "Alright, Sohma and I have to get out of here—oh, by the way, Sohma's cousin got a ticket so he's probably going to show up. Anyway, see ya!"
"Bye!" Karen said as she waved good-bye to the two.
"I'll try to find Yuki," Tohru replied. Kyo groaned in response before leaving the room. Karen looked at Tohru to laugh while shaking her head.
[][][]
Sometime later, after putting on some sunscreen—they don't want to get sunburn—and clad in black, 'Blackout' t-shirts, Karen and Tohru left for the Memory Mall, which is where most of the tailgating was. It was warm, humid and there was not a cloud in the sky; the perfect day for a football game. They also brought along some bottled water in case they needed it. Because of the humidity it would be wise to bring some.
They got to Memory Mall, which makes up most of the north-northwest portion of the UCF circle. The mall was filled with tents where people were tailgating, and Karen's parents were no doubt among them.
Tohru was hit by the smell of many grills and the sound of music being played. This was obviously the first time she had been to a tailgate like this, and it was a pretty overwhelming experience for the girl. Karen looked as though she had done this before and instead was looking for her parents. The mall was awash in black some gold, mostly as trimming. A few 'UCF BLACKOUT' shirts were seen and were most likely students. Separated from these fans were ones clad in scarlet and gray/silver; the colors of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"O-H!" One called out.
"I-O!" The rest responded. This call-and-response cheer, arguably the most famous by the Buckeye fans, could be heard all over the mall.
"My, there's a lot of them isn't there?" Tohru asked her voice slightly shaky.
"Yeah," said Karen, her voice more disinterested than shaky. "But I'm not too worried about them."
"So where are your parents?" Tohru asked again.
"They're supposed to have a tent around here somewhere," she replied. She looked around the mall, trying to find just which one was her parents' tent.
Apparently, they forgot to tell her which tent they had gotten.
"Um, do you know where they are?" Tohru asked. Karen suddenly stopped where she was before turning around. She was smiling much like Tohru had done when she had forgotten something. And then the dam burst.
"No, I don't!" She wailed, comical tears pouring out of her eyes. "They didn't tell me where they were gonna be, they always tell me and since they're not in their regular spot, I have no idea what to do because I'm hungry and I want some hot dogs!" Tohru watched this scene wondering if she was her long-lost twin or something like that.
"Um, can you please calm down Karen, you're making a scene," said Tohru. When did she become the mature one?
"But I want my mommy!" She wailed again. Really, she's in college, what the hell is going on here? Her worries had some merit. Several people were gawking at Karen and were making Tohru uncomfortable.
"Why don't you just call them?" Tohru asked. It must have worked, because Karen stopped and slapped her forehead.
"Why didn't I think of that?" She asked as she dialed her parents on her cell phone. "Hello? Um, you didn't tell me where you were… okay! I'll be there soon! See you!" She hung up and turned to Tohru. "Okay, no need to panic," she said. Tohru thought that should have come earlier.
With their directions, Karen and Tohru only took a minute to find their query, Karen's parents. Eventually they found them; their tent was close to the UCF Arena. "Mom! Dad!" Karen called out as she ran towards them. Indeed, her parents noticed her and waved back. She greeted the both of them with a big hug that almost looked like she hadn't seen them in years—either that or she was just really glad to see them. Tohru was a little uneasy when she approached them, but the friendly smiles on their faces told her they wouldn't be so bad. "Mom, dad," Karen said. "This is my roommate Tohru Honda."
"It's nice to meet you Tohru," said Karen's mother, a woman who looked to be in her late 40s or early 50s with brown hair like her daughter's. "You know, actually it's interesting, because your last name is Honda and we own a Honda!"
"Really?" Tohru asked. "I didn't really think much about that."
"Well, we don't really meet many people named 'Honda'," said Mrs. McKenzie.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my dad," Karen said, gesturing to her father. He was also in his late '40s, early '50s, and had a graying beard. Neither he nor his wife looked bad; they must have taken good care of themselves. He was working on the grill, cooking some hot dogs and burgers.
Man, they smelled good.
"When can we have those?" Tohru asked, tempted by the food.
"When they're done," Karen's mother, named Janet replied. "George will tell you when it's done."
"Ooohhh," Tohru groaned.
"It's okay," said Karen.
"Oh, by the way, Tohru," said Janet. "I have someone for you to meet." That's when she gestured to a woman who was talking to George. "Maggie!" She called. The woman turned around to look at Janet. She was about 4 years older than Tohru and a smidge taller than Karen. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes, and she looked pretty good.
She was, as the Scots would say, a 'Bonny Lass'.
"Tohru, this is Maggie Gordon," said Karen. "She's Jimmy's brother's friend."
"Hello," Tohru said, bowing.
"Nice tae meet ye," Maggie replied. Tohru had no idea what she said. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry if ye didn't understand me."
"No, not at all!" Tohru replied in her usual way. "I didn't mean to misunderstand you, I-I-I-I mean, I—"
"Tohru, chillax!" Karen said, grabbing her. "It's okay; I didn't understand her at first. It takes a while to get used to that Scottish accent."
"You mean—" Tohru said.
"Aye, Ah'm from Glasgow," said Maggie. "Ah'm a Bonny Scottish Lass!"
"Oh, that's nice," said Tohru. "So what are you doing—I-I-I-I mean, what's—no, that's not what I meant!" Maggie had a confused look on her face while Karen tried to calm Tohru down.
"I'm sorry," she said. "She's really polite, but that's not a bad thing. I think what she's trying to ask is why you're here."
"Och, tha's nae too bad," Maggie replied. "The club sent me here tae scout some players in the area. Because of Scott, the club is interested in mere American players."
"Club?" Tohru asked, genuinely confused.
"Celtic," Maggie replied. "Ah'm a scout fer Glasgow Celtic F.C."
"Oh," said Tohru.
"And since I was in the area, Scott asked me tae come tae Jimmy's game tonight," she said. "I might as well, besides, it'd be a good way tae tak in my first American football game!"
"That's nice," said Tohru.
"Sae, Karen," Maggie said as she turned to her. "How have things been goin' fer ya?"
"Not bad," she replied. "I've been doing well in my classes and my job has been going well. What about you?"
"Nae bad," Maggie replied. "Ye already know why I'm here, of course."
"You two know each other?" Tohru asked.
"Yeah," Karen replied. "Jimmy and I went to Glasgow for Spring Break [should have gone to Key West] and we met Scott and Maggie there, as well as his teammate Tai Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi [1]."
"They even got tae see a Champions League match," said Maggie. "It was against AC Milan. Scott didn't score, but Tai did."
"Can we not talk about those two right now?" Karen asked.
"Oh, sorry," said Maggie. "Tohru, what are ye studyin'?"
"Um, I'm not sure right now," she said. "I haven't decided on my major."
"That stinks," said Karen. "You're going to have to choose one soon."
"Oh no!" Tohru shouted, getting a surprised reaction from the others. "I didn't know that I had to do that so soon! I still haven't figured it out and—"
"Tohru, relax!" Karen said, grabbing her shoulders. "Don't worry about that right now, it's okay."
"Oh, sorry," Tohru said. "I guess I got a little too worked up."
"I'll say," said Maggie. "Is she always like this?"
"Sometimes," Karen replied. "I'm not sure why she gets so neurotic, but at least she tries to be polite."
"Food's ready!" Mr. McKenzie called out, interrupting the ladies' conversation. Instantly, Karen rushed over to the grill and grabbed a patty from the grill, and putting it on a bun and some cheese on it. Mrs. McKenzie handed Tohru a hot dog and Mr. McKenzie gave Maggie a burger as well.
"So where are ye sittin'?" Maggie asked, just out of curiosity.
"Student section," Karen replied. "It takes up the entire south side of the stadium."
"Tha's big," Maggie said, not used to sections that big. "What are ye goin nae be doin'?"
"We're going to be cheering, chanting, standing, all that," said Karen.
"Sounds like a football match back home," Maggie said.
"I'm not sure about that," said Maggie. "Because we don't sing unless it's the fight song and—Tohru, are you looking for someone?" Tohru was a few miles away, looking around for someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, snapping back to her senses. "I was just distracted."
"Anyway, we're going to be sitting in the front row," said Karen. "We're going to get to the gate early so we can get the best seats."
"Is that—Hey, Yuki!" Tohru called out suddenly. Her sudden spurt got Karen and Maggie's attention and they looked over to see who Tohru was talking to. A gray-haired young man about Tohru's age was looking around confused until Tohru noticed him and he came over to the tent.
"Miss Honda?" Yuki asked. "What are you doing here?"
"It's good to see you again Yuki," Tohru said. "I didn't know you were here at UCF. What are you doing?"
"Well, Kyo and Jimmy convinced me to go the game," he said.
"Oh, you mean you saw Kyo?" Tohru asked.
"And you saw Jimmy?" Karen asked.
"Yes," Yuki said. "But I haven't met you," he said, pointing to Karen.
"I'm Karen, I'm Tohru's roommate," Karen said, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," Yuki said.
"Ah'm Maggie," said Maggie, obviously. "I'm a friend of Jimmy's brother."
"Oh, okay," Yuki said. "So you're going to the game, Miss Honda?"
"Of course!" Tohru replied. "I want to see Kyo play."
"I guess I want to see him play too," said Yuki. "But I'm not really crazy about it. I hate crowds."
"Well then, man up pretty boy!" Karen said, slapping his back, like Jimmy. "We're going to be sitting in the front row!"
"Oh great, another Jimmy," said Yuki.
"So how do you know Tohru and Kyo, anyhow?" Karen asked.
"Kyo's my cousin," said Yuki. "We… haven't gotten along that much, though."
"Whatever, you're going to be cheering him on tonight, no matter what!" Karen said. Yuki was confused as to what she was saying.
[][][]
Waiting in line for the game isn't so bad usually, but when you have to wait for 30 minutes for the gates to open, it's a little dull. Yuki himself wasn't too comfortable among the throng of students who were anxious to get in but Karen and Tohru were doing their best to keep him comfortable. The Knights had already entered the stadium and warm-ups were just about to begin while the fans waited outside. Eventually, the gates opened and the fans came pouring in.
Karen, Tohru and Yuki got to the front row of the student section right behind the goalpost. Some of the players were already warming up in their warm-up outfits, but not in their regular uniforms. Players tend to do that, especially quarterbacks who have to get their arms warmed up much more than most other players.
"So which one is Jimmy?" Tohru asked. It was a fair question.
Karen looked around, trying to spot her boyfriend and UCF quarterback. Eventually, she found him throwing footballs around. "That's him," she said, "The one in the blue shirt, green shorts and the silly-looking hair." They watched Jimmy and some other players warm up until they left the field for the locker room.
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Kyo took a deep breath and pulled on his shoulder pads. With the second warm-ups coming soon, the team was getting dressed. He couldn't find Jimmy, but it didn't really matter, anyway. Kyo's locker was in between Marley's and Oakley's lockers, putting the freshman in between the sophomore and the junior.
Marley had his headphones on. Kyo couldn't hear the actual music, but he could hear Marley singing along to the music. "Who is that?" He asked out of pure curiosity.
"Bob Marley," Marley replied. "I listen to him to get ready for the game."
"Oh, I see," Kyo said, going back to putting on his cleats.
Jimmy, meanwhile, was in front of as mirror. He had put on his quarterback pads and was writing on a strip of eye black. He wrote the number '847', Northfield's area code on one of them. On the other, he wrote and interlocking "NT". He put the '847' strip under his left eye and the "NT" strip under the right eye. He smiled and gave a quick nod before returning to his locker to put on his jersey.
Jim Oakley watched Kyo nervously put on his black jersey. The Japanese freshman had clearly not been in a situation like this before. Obviously he was pretty nervous, almost scared. In an attempt to calm his teammate down, Oakley put his hand on Kyo's shoulder. "You okay, Sohma?" He asked.
Kyo turned to him. His eyes showed anxiety and a hint of fear. "Yeah," he lied. "I'm fine."
"No you're not," Oakley replied. "You're scared stiff. You should relax."
"I'm not entirely sure how to do that Oakley," Kyo replied. Jim frowned a little. He searched his mind for something to help Kyo, eventually coming up with something.
"Can't you do something like tai chi?" He asked. "Or meditation?"
"I tend to meditate for 20 minutes," Kyo said. "And since we don't have much time for meditating, I guess I'll have to do some tai chi."
"There you go!" Oakley said.
"You tryin' to help him, Oakley?" Jimmy asked as he came up behind the two of them.
"He's pretty nervous," Oakley said. "I suggested that he do some Tai chi. Should we also give him the UCLA and Liberty Bowl talk?"
"Yeah," Jimmy replied.
"Thanks, but I'd rather do tai chi," said Kyo. Jimmy and Oakley just shrugged in response.
Kyo could only do a couple of minutes of Tai Chi before Coach O' Leary called for the team to come out for pre-game warm-ups, the last ones before the start of the actual game.
They came out to the cheers of the fans that had gotten into the stadium. Many of the remaining spectators had yet to reach their seats for the game. They spread out, in a square, and began doing jumping jacks. "U! C! F! K! N! I! G! H! T! S!" They chanted in lieu of counting their jumping jacks before gathering in a big huddle and chanting again before breaking up to warm-up.
It was then that Kyo got a look at the Ohio State players locking arms and getting ready to warm-up. There they were, wearing their famed silver helmets with a red stripe going down the middle flanked by two thinner white stripes and two thinner black stripes. They wore their white jerseys with red numbers and the sleeve stripes were much like their helmet stripe. Their gray pants included the same stripes going down the sides of the legs.
They were big! They practically looked NFL-sized, even the receivers were bigger than him and Jimmy!
"Sohma!" One of the coaches said, snapping him out of his reverie. "Don't worry about them. Worry about yourself!"
"Sorry, coach!" Kyo replied.
"Which one's Kyo?" Yuki asked as he, Karen and Tohru watched the warm-ups.
"I think he's number 80," said Karen. "That's Jerry Rice's number."
"Who?" Yuki asked, since he had no idea about football history.
"He's a famous wide receiver," Karen replied. "Jimmy's number 5."
"Those… guys… are… big!" Tohru sputtered as she marveled (in intimidation) at the Ohio State players. "And we're playing them?"
"Yep," Karen replied. "Actually, I think the UCLA or Kentucky guys were much bigger than those guys."
"Shouldn't he be afraid of them?" Yuki asked.
"Afraid?" Karen asked, almost offended that someone would ask that kind of question. "He's not afraid of them. He's more likely to come up and spit in their faces instead of being afraid. He's not afraid of anything… except spiders, they kind of creep him out."
Sure enough, "Those suckers are going down," Jimmy said as he stretched out his right leg. He wore his trademark cocky smile as he shook his head.
"So what's next?" Tohru asked.
"Warm-ups and then the pregame entertainment," said Karen. "I think the Ohio State marching band is here."
"Marching band?" A Scottish accent asked out of nowhere.
"Oh, hi Maggie," said Karen. "What, didn't Scott tell you about them?"
"Aye, but I did nae hear yer sentence," Maggie replied. "So who's—"
"Jimmy's number 5 and Kyo's number 80," Karen interrupted. Maggie looked at her a little offended that she interrupted her. "Sorry."
"Daen't do it again," Maggie said.
"Whatever. I want to see them to the 'Script Ohio'," said Karen.
"What's that?" Yuki asked.
"You'll see!" Karen said with a wink.
The time ticked down until game time. The warm-ups continued as fans continued to enter the stadium. Soon, the Bright House was filled with black, except for a pocket of scarlet and gray at the top of the north endzone seating where the Ohio State fans were gathering. And as the fans filled the stadium, the atmosphere started to get better. The electricity in the atmosphere could easily be felt, even by Tohru and Yuki, who be seen getting very nervous. "Hey Yuki!" Karen called. "Are you okay?"
"Not exactly," the nervous Sohma replied.
"Get used to it," Karen replied. "Besides, once the game gets going, you're going to forget about that."
With about 35 minutes until gametime, both teams gathered around each other—separately, of course. It was one last opportunity to get pumped up before leaving for the locker rooms. Then, with their warm-ups and tune-ups complete, both teams trotted off the field to the applause of both sets of fans; the dominant UCF fans and the minority Ohio State fans. Then, Karen pointed something out to Tohru and Yuki.
"I think that's the Ohio State band," she said, pointing to some people dressed in black with various instruments. Then, the group stepped out onto the field.
"Good evening Knights fans," the PA announcer boomed. "And welcome to tonight's pregame entertainment. Starting off for us tonight, we are proud to welcome The Ohio State University Marching Band; The Best Damn Band in the Land, as they treat us to the legendary 'Script Ohio'!" At that point, the band came out on the field and formed a large, block "O" and began moving. Tohru could see on the jumbotron the red-and-white-clad drum major leading the band out of the "O" in a single-file formation.
As the drum major continued towards the sideline, the band continued to follow him still in single-file. Then, when he reached the sideline, he led the band into a long curve that went upwards straight back towards the other sideline, all the while playing a marching tune. Then, the drum major led to another curve and the band continued to follow him.
Slowly, the drum major led the band through an intricate pattern that simply amazed not only her, but Yuki as well. The band had already created a letter "O" and was the process of writing a small-case "h" in a script format. It really did look like they were writing this word! Then they wrote the letter "i" before writing a small-case "o".
Then, when the "o" was finished, the drum major led another instrumentalist high-stepping away from the "o". Tohru watched with her mouth wide open as the drum major dramatically pointed at a spot on the grass just beyond the "i". The highly-partisan UCF crowd appreciated the moment and cheering loudly in response as the sousaphone player took his spot as the "dot" of the i. The player bowed deeply before both sides of the stadium before the band went into first the fanfare, then a capella version of the Ohio State fight song. When the band was finished, they doffed their caps and marched off the field.
Needless to say, Tohru was amazed. "What was that?" She asked.
"That," Karen replied, "was Script Ohio."
After a few minutes, the UCF band, the Marching Knights was set to take the field. The drumline came out first forming a block, led by three cheerleaders dressed like dungeon masters or something like that. "Goood evening Knights fans!" The PA announcer bellowed as the rest of the band took the field. "And welcome to pregame with the Pride of Central Florida, your UCF Marhiiiiiiiing KNIIIIIIIGHTS!" The rest of the band formed a block around the drumline before fanning out a little, scovering most of the field from the 10-yard line to the 40-yard line on the northern part of the field. The PA announcer bellowed something again before the band broke into a fanfare. Then, they began playing the fight song.
As they played, they walked the length of the field, first stopping at the 50-yard line and then starting back up again. They played some dramatic music, making some intricate patterns. Now Yuki and Tohru have never seen college football marching bands, so this was a new experience for them. "That must take a lot of choreography," said Yuki.
"You have no idea," said Karen. Finally, the band finished and the PA announcer started up again.
"And now, we ask that everyone please rise, honoring our flag and out nation, as UCF director of athletic bands Ron Ellis leads the Marching Knights in our National Anthem with colors presented by the UCF Army ROTC."
"Tohru, stand up!" Karen said as the crowd rose to their feet. "And put your right hand over your heart, too!" Tohru and Yuki did as they were told and stood silent as the band began playing the "Star Spangled Banner". The crowd mostly stayed silent except for one part where everyone shouted out "KNIGHT!" during the anthem. For those who don't know what it's talking about, it's the part in the song that goes "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." Tohru, not knowing the words to the song, didn't notice this pun.
The song finished to the roar of the crowd and the PA announcer introduced the cheerleaders as the band made another design on the field. "Okay Knights fans, it's time to spell out the letters with your Marching Knights!" The band scrambled around before getting into position. "GIMME A U!"
The crowd replied, "U!" Even Tohru and Yuki got into it. Part of the band formed a "U" while playing part of the fight song.
"GIMME A C!"
"C!" The band formed a "C".
"GIMME AN F!"
"F!" The band formed an "F".
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In the locker room, the team gathered around Coach O'Leary and the white board, giving him full attention. He was giving them some final plays before his big pre-game speech. He outlined the plans for the offense and the defense on how to contain the Buckeye defense and to beat their defense. He outlined their formations and plays before finishing up. He was quiet, trying to find the right way to address the team. Finally, he spoke.
"Tonight, you guys are the underdogs," he said. He paused for a moment. "After all, they're ranked #2. But we like that 'underdog' term. It suits us, doesn't it?"
"YES, SIR!" The team shouted back, Kyo included.
"Hell, we love it!" O'Leary said again. "I think they created that term for us!" The team laughed, except Kyo. "But that doesn't mean we suck! We are a damn good team and we know it! They don't scare me, and they certainly shouldn't scare you! We can take them! They won't know what the fuck hit them! Don't you let up on them, one bit! Level them! We're gonna hold 'em by the nose and we're gonna kick 'em in the ass! We're gonna kicked the hell out of them and we're going to go through them like shit through a goose!"
"YEAH!"
"Now get the fuck out there and show them what we're made of!" O'Leary finished. The rest of the team cheered and gathered around him. "ONE TWO THREE!"
"GO KNIGHTS!" The team followed O'Leary out of the locker room and to the stadium.
It was gametime.
[][][]
"GO!" The band, who had gathered in front of the student section shouted.
"KNIGHTS!" The students responded. This continued on for a while longer. The atmosphere in the stadium was more charged than a Tesla coil. The pre-game tension had grown big time and now was so thick you'd need an axe to cut it. The Ohio State fans themselves had gotten into the act.
"O-H!"
"I-O!"
"This is… impressive," Maggie said as she got back to Karen's spot. "It reminds me of home."
"Yeah, but Celtic doesn't have an actual knight parading around on a horse," Karen replied.
"Aye, tha's true," said Maggie. None of them noticed the Knight Captains come out onto the field; but, they didn't really matter anyway. The clock continued to count down. Once it reached a set number, dramatic music began to play over the PA system.
"Oh, it's almost time!" Karen said, her body getting tense. The images flashed on the jumbotron, mostly UCF memorabilia. Then, instead of going into "He's a Pirate", the PA started playing a different song, which Karen mentioned to be "O Fortuna". The screen showed the highlights of of the season so far inter cut with images of knights in battle (it actually makes more sense, since O Fortuna is associated with the movie Excalibur, which is about the legend of King Arthur. In other words, they're going for the knights theme). When the song ended, a cheer erupted from the crowd.
And then "Thunderstruck" began. It was gametime.
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[1] Yes, they are Digimon characters, but they appear in the story "It's A Grand Old Team to Play For".
By the way, I'm sorry if this particular chapter sucks. But, it will get better in the next chapter when the actual game starts. That's where the fun begins!