See The Big World


Chapter 9: A Slowpoke's Motive


"No," Sena answered.

"But why?" Pappy groaned.

"Because I sworn to myself that I won't see Reiji unless he gets on his knees and ask for forgiveness. But until then, no."

"You're such a downer," he sighed.

"Okay, I'll go!" she said, exasperated.

"Yay!"

Sena doesn't like to be referred as a downer.

"By the way, did you get the flowers that Reiji had sent you?"

She frowned. "No, he didn't."

"Are you sure? I was sure that he made a delivery yesterday."

She shook her head. "But I did get flowers from another. I forgot his name but it sounded Portuguese."

"So you didn't get Reiji's flowers but rather a Portuguese guy?"

She nodded.

"What in the world is he doing?" Pappy sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Was his name Marco?"

Sena's eyes lit up with recognition. "Yeah, that's his name. How did you know?"

"I'll tell you some other time."

It turns out that Reiji's football game happened to be on the same day when the Devil Bats were playing against the White Knights. So Sena called Pappy that she couldn't make it. Pappy told (tempted) her that he won't tell her who this Marco person was unless she went to Hakushuu and watched the game there.

"But I'm the manager! I can't just leave them," she said.

"Well, Marco is just a person," he mocked, "so I guess that I don't have to tell you. Nyan!"

Sena hanged up on him, peeved.


Her eyes swept across the area, surprised to see the doubled numbers of spectators than their last game. Apparently, the White Knights were popular if they had these many viewers to come to watch them play against a relatively weak team such as the Devil Bats. Let's be frank—there weren't any genuine player aside Hiruma and Kurita, and perhaps Ishimaru since he's a pretty neat runner.

(Captain of the track team. Woot.)

"YA-HA! We're gonna kill them!" Hiruma crowed, who was next to Sena and blowing her ears out. After seeing her twitch, Hiruma cackled, firing his gun and causing the smaller girl to jump. He then fired at the other players to get on the field.

'Cruddy blonde.'

From the corner of her eye, Sena couldn't help but recognize a stumpy yellow dog munching on a chunk of meat while walking off. She didn't want to think that it was Cerberus.

'Cruddy blonde. Again.'

Cerberus was Hiruma's dog that he always brought to school for some strange reason. Whenever Hiruma's not there to torment her, his dog takes his place. Sometimes the mutt would pretend to chase her, and then bark (sneer). She tried to bribe him with food to prevent these chases, and it worked—often. But Cerberus digests his food so quickly and, um, poops them out the next second, and Hiruma forces her to do doo-doo-cleanup.

What was that dog doing here?

Whatever. Knowing Hiruma, things never make sense.

She exhaled noisily and sat on the bench, setting her manager stuff next to her and holding the camera in her hand. She plopped her chin on her other hand, prepared to watch another boring game of football. To the girl, sports were really dull to watch—part of the reason why she didn't want to come to Reiji's game. And who knows? She might fall asleep, and that's why she had a pillow by her side.

Really, she didn't understand how people were so fascinated in the sport. All there was to see were guys getting pummeled and guys running and guys chasing after a ball, all while wearing gear that made you brawnier and tight-fitting pants. It was interesting at first when she saw it in America, mainly because she saw this guy break his finger and was on the verge of tears, but had fallen asleep eventually.

When she was snoozing, this guy chucked the ball while getting tackled, hitting her head and rendering her unconsciousness.

Now Sena's reconsidering about falling asleep for this game.

"KYAAA! SAKURABA-KUUUN!"

"Haruuuto-kun!"

"HARUTO-SAN! Look over here!"

"Sakuraba-sama!"

On the bright side, with these girls screeching out this guy's name, there's no way that she would fall asleep.

The same dashing lad from before was dressed in football garb. He was standing next to other White Knight players, wearing their jersey. She took it that he was this Sakuraba fellow regarding what happened previously and also because he was glancing at the crowd with nervousness.

It also explained the majority of girls who attended to the game. Of course they wouldn't be interested in football (unless they were); they came just to root for that guy with the stupid looking cowlick so that by any chance he would notice them. Well, it was more like being paranoid by them, but who cares.

'Wonder why he's so popular,' Sena thought absently.

Sena's thoughts were interrupted by the players from Deimon making their complaints aloud. "Just as I thought, we're gonna die," cried out one of the Devil Bats players.

"Wasn't it last year that someone had broken his leg because he was tackled?"

"Oh man! I don't want broken limbs!"

"I heard that the Ojo White Knights are really tough and scary."

"Where are the cheerleaders?"

'The poor suckers.' Well, at least Sena wasn't out there playing with them. And besides, she was a delicate girl, so she would definitely be not playing.

"Looks like we'll need the secret weapon," Hiruma said, smirking at her direction.

Sena gulped.

"You mean Eyeshield 21?" Kurita said hopefully.

"No way," the guys said in disbelief.

"The amazing player from Notre Dame?"

"He's here?"

"Kekekekeke! You doubt me?" Hiruma waved his gun, in which Sena cringed at the sight. "Oi, fucking shrimp, go get Eyeshield." In other words, he meant to say, "Oi, fucking shrimp, go get changed or I'll sic Cerberus on you." So that's why that monster was here.

Sena stifled from gawking openly at the captain because it certainly was bewildering Right after their first game, Hiruma made her wear the garb again including the padding and the pants. The pants were uncomfortable since it hugged her thighs and made her rear itchy. And then he shot footballs at her (they were like freaking bombs)—he called it "practice", but what Sena saw it was "torture". She believed that he was doing this just to get on her bad side, not that these numbers of practices were actually practices.

She weighed her choices: either act defiant or just go along with it (whatever the devil boy was planning). She was intimidated by Hiruma, however she knew that Aunty Mio was far more scarier. Whereas Hiruma had his firearms and blackmail, Aunty Mio had firearms, blackmail, and…well, everything else was pretty much unclassified. Sena knew her aunt, but there were other info that she wasn't allowed to hold knowledge of. But regarding to her ties to the mafia, Aunty Mio was an extreme person.

More extreme than Hiruma.

But then again, even though Aunty Mio held a notorious reputation in the world of weapons and propaganda, she was her aunt. Her aunt who made food nicknames for many, who behaved like a loony, who was a Christian woman (ironically), who wondered how ice cream would taste like when drizzled with steak sauce, and who loved her. Generally Sena wouldn't be afraid of her because she grew up with danger, along with the mafia and their enemies. Hiruma made her nervous nonetheless.

And so Sena rushed to the closest restroom to go change.

When she was done, Cerberus barged in and dragged her to the field in his teeth. "Your master doesn't trust me, does he?" Sena said.

The mutt growled.

She sighed glumly.

"So you didn't run away," Hiruma said to her when his dog trotted to the field and let her go.

"I know better than that," she remarked, getting up.

He smirked. "Deepen your voice, fucking shrimp. You sound like a guy who hasn't hit puberty yet—eh, too late, you're a fucking shorty anyway."

"Then I'll be a late bloomer," she sighed. When the boy laughed, Sena looked at him with confusion. "Now what?"

"You already are."

She twitched.

"Just make your voice deeper whenever you're talking to them," he said, gesturing to the team. "And don't reveal your identity."

Sena raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Use common sense, fucking shrimp."

She looked at him askance. Why shouldn't she show them that the crazy quarterback had forced her—the delicate manager who would bruise very easily—to become a player? Doesn't make sense whatsoever! And she thought that he was the brilliant one—who would let a girl (who is delicate and would bruise easily) play football? Was he becoming desperate for the win? Kurita did tell her that they had faced the Ojo White Knights before and had lost by default.

'But then again, Hiruma-san doesn't seem like the type to put up a scary face and inwardly be frantic.' She pursed her lips, thinking, 'He's definitely the scary type all-round.' Like Aunty Mio. 'In that case, he sees that I do have something beneficial for the team. Not that I see it.' But the boy was an intellect despite his demeanor—he doesn't just use terrorization, but also his acute cleverness. Very much like Aunty Mio, and that was quite horrifying.

'Okay, so I might be useful, but why hide it that I'm me?' That was the question. Maybe she really was a secret weapon. Maybe he didn't want others to know who she is. Maybe she would be taken away if they knew who she was. Maybe there was a particular person he wanted to avoid being queried with accusation.

And that's when it hit her.

Mamori. Duh.

'Mamo-nee is in the disciplinary committee, and therefore they are on bad terms because Hiruma-san always does bad things. If she hears that I was forced to play football, she'll go into hysterics! And then she'll go worry-wart on me and scold me for not telling her that I joined the football club. And then I'll jump off a cliff.'

Sena didn't tell Mamori that she had joined a club yet.

Even though it wasn't confirmed, Sena could tell it was because of that reason. And likely more. But for now, she'll settle with Hiruma not wanting to deal with Mamori. And frankly, that was understandable. It was the reason why Agon tried not to peeve her too much.

"Oh. Okay," Sena said. "Then can I be the benchwarmer?"

"No."

"Ugh."

He grinned and yelled over his shoulder, "Hey, fuckers, it's Eyeshield, the hero of this match."

"Whoa, it really is him!"

"So cool!"

The team gathered around her. She avoided eye contact by closing her eyes. The next second she was bombarded with tearful praises.

"Please sacrifice yourself to those monsters!"

"We'll never stand a chance against them unlike you!"

"Use your power to protect us!"

"Yes! Please protect us!"

Didn't they notice that she was shorter and flimsier than they were? And they were asking her for protection?


Stepping on the turf was an experience taking her to a whole new level. There were several vibrations that shook under her feet, in which brought a tingly feeling to her sensitive legs. This certainly was different than when she was practicing with Hiruma and Kurita. Attention turned to the new player, both from the White Knights and the audience. The field was like the stage and she was the star. There were noises around her, and she couldn't tell which was which.

It was nerve-wrecking, frightening, and exciting.

"Fucking shrimp, remember our practices?" Hiruma asked.

She eyed him dryly. "When you chuck flaming footballs at me and nearly caused me to burn to death?"

"No, when I chuck balls with bombs inserted inside at you."

"Yeah."

"We'll be doing that, but with Ishimaru instead of fucking fatso."

She bit her lip and said, "But Ishimaru-sempai runs fast. How am I supposed to catch up to him?"

He blew his gum. "By running fast."

Oh no.

"U-um, about that—" But she was cut off when Hiruma called for a huddle. While he was explaining a brief game plan, she tried again. "Hiruma-san I—" and he kept ignoring her. "We'll kill them! YA-HA!" they chanted, except for Sena, who thought that the chant was…crude. When they scattered to their position, she tried one last time. "I can't run, Hiruma—" and he whacked her with his gun (he would have shot her a glare just to silence her, but that wouldn't be fun anyway—he enjoyed whacking her).

'But I can't run!'

Sighing, she dragged her feet to her spot (surprisingly, she wasn't confused of where she was supposed to go). And she knew where to run (Hiruma made sure about that—she's most likely to run the opposite way if not warned). They were playing offense. After the Devil Bats' captain called out "Hut!" he feigned a pass to the receiver and tossed it to Ishimaru. Ishimaru then passed it to Sena (who was behind him?) before getting tackled.

After nearly fumbling the ball, she quickly latched onto it and swerved to the direction where the goal was. Sena was running really slow. It was like an idle jog and yet it doesn't seem like a jog at all. However, Sena was really trying to run—if only it wasn't that incident years ago.

Suddenly two huge figures were charging at her. Her eyes widened and her lips parted for a gasp. Her arms motioned to reach for her shot-gun, but when realization came to her that she didn't have it with her she gritted her teeth in frustration.

In situations like this, like how men from other damned organizations would try to abduct her during her childhood days, she usually had her shot-gun on her person. If not then she would find places to hide; due to her small physique, the men could never get to her and would try to find a way, but eventually Sena would escape without being harmed. In this case, there wasn't a place to hide.

Think. What was her current advantage? Well, when she was younger, she used her height to crawl into holes, duck under hedges, appear to be that of a shadow, and whatnot. Her height. But what good would that be now? And she was terribly weak in comparison to these guys. She couldn't defend herself—she would be run over and squashed flat!

Amid her jog, she was struck with the sensation of strong vibration that transferred from her feet to her legs, tingling with it. The two players were large, which created a thundering tremor and her knees to buckle, however it was a somewhat slower beat than Hiruma's and yet faster than Kurita's. Her eyes took immediate notice of the gap between them—it was big enough for her to slip through!

She twisted her torso, her weak legs slowly following along, and ducked away from their grasps. 'It's just like how I was nearly killed by one of my abductors because I kicked him in the shin, except only they didn't pull a knife on me. Or carry any intentions of killing me.'

With success, she remained unharmed. 'Yay!' But she was exhausted. 'Gah. I never ran so much in my life!' Actually, Sena seldom ran ever since that incident.

Hiruma saw the girl's reflexes and was impressed. "That's Mio's niece for you." Though he couldn't help but wonder why she was running so slowly. It seemed that she was taking her sweet time.

She sensed a dangerous vibration and decided that she was going to get herself killed.

"She's going to get herself killed if she doesn't get her ass moving," Hiruma muttered under his breath.

"You know, Eyeshield-kun is rather slow," Kurita stated. "I wonder why he isn't sprinting."

"Here comes Shin."

Sena, unaware of Shin's presence but aware that something was coming, kept on jogging and kept on repeating inwardly that she was going to die. And then, as she became fully aware now, she was flying in midair and flipped and spun and thudded—someone just tackled her. Opening her eyes and clenching her teeth from the pain, she found herself looking up at the sky and voices blurring in the background. Her head suddenly was spinning, making her feel nauseous.

'I'm gonna vomit and all my entrails are gonna flop onto the grass. Hopefully, it'll get into whoever-knocked-me-down's eyes and contaminate his head—oh crud I'm gonna die.'

Currently, she disliked the person who brought her down. The stoic boy looked down at her with confusion and wondered why Eyeshield 21 didn't run at all. 'That is strange', he had thought as he jogged back to his side.

'Pain. Pain. Pain.'

"Oi! Eyeshield! Get your ass over here!"

'Shut up, Hiruma-san. Please. Your shrilly voice is making my head hurt.'

But Sena did so anyway.

'He's like Donatello in a way, but not considerate at all. Geez, what are with the people who I am surrounded with?'

"Oi, what was with that run?" Hiruma said, tapping her helmet with a gun. "That was fucking pathetic."

"I tried telling you that my legs won't let me run, but you were quite insistent on allowing a useless player on the field," Sena remarked, irritated due to her brain swimming and that her body in so much pain.

"Won't let you run?" he reiterated, raising an eyebrow.

"I was in an incident where I was nearly immobile. The only thing I can do is lightly jog. Can't jump either."

"Wow. Super fucking pathetic."

"Can I go home?" Sena pleaded. "I need a shower and a nap."

"No."

'What. The. Crud.'

"Why?" she whined.

"You're Fujioka Mio's niece, right?"

Her eyes widened. "How do you…"

"Let's say that she and I were associates at one point," he said, blowing his gum.

"Oh. Well then."

"So if you're her niece, then use your natural reflexes because I don't trust that brain of yours."

Instead of being offended, Sena blinked in surprise. 'How does he know about her hidden intelligence?' Because, really, Aunty Mio doesn't try acting smart—she's just a goofball. Sena decided to ask about that later. "And if I don't? I mean, I am a girl who cannot strain herself; otherwise I'll really be immobile for life."

"Then let me repeat myself: You are Mio's fucking niece. Despite your idiocy, you share the woman's damn blood, so that would mean that there's something worthwhile about you. I didn't put you on the field just to watch you fail." And then he added, "Maybe."

Sena twitched. She's been twitching often. "I'm the manager. I didn't sign up to be…um, what am I at the moment?"

"Runningback."

"Yeah, the runningback! Hold your horses, runningback? Someone who can't run be the runningback?"

"I didn't know that you had an injury issue," he snorted, writing it down in his black book. She stared at the book warily, wondering what else was in that book of extortion. Most importantly, how much does he know about her? Since he and Aunty Mio were…associates before, it was peculiar and iffy. She didn't like it.

"I don't want to," she bit back defiantly, feeling a swelling of fulfillment. She actually stood up for herself! At last!

And then she deflated when he told her that he would tell Kaitani Riku that Kobayakawa Sena carried a picture of him in her wallet until she was fourteen.

"Fine," she grumbled, trying to fight a blush, "but you better not tell anyone that."

He just grinned.

From afar, Jyuumonji, Kuroki, and Togano couldn't help but wonder how hard Eyeshield 21 had gotten tackled, because the scowl on that face was very, very, very grim. It reminded Kuroki of trying to heave-ho when you had serious constipation, and then all of a sudden your stomach is terribly cramped due to all that heave-ho exercise.


Back onto the field, Sena sighed her umpteenth sigh for the past thirty seconds. She recognized the black haired boy from the other side. 'He was with that Sakuraba fellow from earlier.' Her intuition filled her in that the stoic player was the one who tackled her. The one with the dangerous vibration. She grimaced.

'This proves that I will have to be more attentive.' She glanced at Hiruma. 'Maybe if I beg really hard, he'll grow tired of me and let me out.' Hiruma flashed a devilish smirk. 'Maybe not. Especially when he expects me to do something just because Aunty Mio is my aunt.' She needs to be attentive this time.

When they did the bomb technique once more, Sena manages to slip away from any opponents, and again she was alerted by the familiar presence of the black haired boy. 'Oh for goodness sakes—the Japanese population consists of black haired people!' Okay then, 40 (because that was his number) was coming at her. 'Alright, alright, alrighty right. I can do this,' she attempted to assure herself.

She understood his footwork due to the sensitivity of her legs and the buckling of her knees; however she couldn't read his arms—he was at an unpredictable angle. She closed her eyes and tried to detect where the vibration was coming from. 'Got it!' Her eyes shot open, twisted her torso like before, and bent backwards. His arm stretched forward, about to strike, but in time she cross-stepped and made a twirl. Apparently, he caught on too quickly for her liking: he turned at the same time as she and withdrew his arm, preparing for another lunge.

40 was amazing, Sena had to give him that.

She jerked back her chest, side-stepped, and shuffled ahead. He continuously attempted to catch her, and nonetheless continuously failed. The girl kept evading, and Sena didn't know that this was beginning to aggravate him.

It was a sudden cognizance: Whereas her legs were at a shaky and unhurried pace, her upper body portion continued to dodge away at the right time. 40 didn't know why her legs didn't sway swiftly, but would mind that later. He dived for her legs, the slowest part of her body (yeah, her brain's not that slow), however only managed to grab for her ankle.

And then Sena tripped.

"Touchdown!"

And the crowd went wild.


Smiles says: Yup, yup. Hiruma, Yamato, Kakei, Akaba, Marco, whatever. We'll just have to wait and see who Sena would end up with, right? IT'LL BE FUN! Like waiting for a Christmas present.

Question: Does this story seem adventurous to you?