Author's note: 2/22/09: enjoy reading! ^^
Disclaimer 1: I don't own Eyeshield 21, but I do own Kamiya Mayuri (and her immediate family).
Disclaimer 2: OOCness, probably… as well as some purposely off-Canon events. :P
Disclaimer 3: SPOILER ALERT! (Just in case.)
In Her Own Little World
Chapter 9: Confusion: of Family, of Friends, and of Self
~off~
During the days of her best friend's absence, Kamiya took the advantage to practice running. Instead of taking public transportation—or making her brother drive her—she would run as she completed errands.
Although for the errands that required more traveling, she would take a wheeled vehicle, some way or another.
Unfortunately, a week or two into summer vacation, Anezaki called from America to say that she would be unable to return home as soon as expected. She told Kamiya that "The whole team will probably be staying over another month and a half."
Once Anezaki and her team returned to Japan, though, they were very busy. Kamiya began to spend more time with her newfound track buddies, rather than spending her weekends with Anezaki as often as they had before.
~on~
The workload of an American football team manager, as well as that of a discipline committee officer and a reputable student, began to take its toll on Anezaki.
The first two weeks of the team's return to Japan found Anezaki almost always busy in the clubroom. "File this. Okay. I've got to get these papers signed ahead of time… And I have to finalize the team's schedule. Oh no! I forgot—"
"Oi, manager! Talking to yourself again?" called a voice from the doorway. "It's already nine. Go home."
"Stop that, Hiruma-kun. You're distracting me," Anezaki asserted. "The fall tournament starts tomorrow! I have to finish my manager's duties! And you'd better be thankful, okay?" Her voice sounded strained, even as she lightly scolded the captain.
"Che! Fine. I'm going home, then," he muttered as he walked away.
~off~
Several more weeks passed. Anezaki and the rest of the Deimon Devil Bats began the fall football tournament in high spirits. They had trained long and hard days—no, weeks—throughout the entire summer, and had improvements to show for their efforts…
~on~
"Mako-nii? Wanna take a break from school next weekend?"
The football season had kicked off to a great start for her friend's team as September neared its end. Kamiya was currently on the phone with her brother, in the progress of convincing him to join her in watching one of the Devil Bats' upcoming games.
"Maybe," her brother replied. "What kind of 'break' will it be?"
"We'll go to watch one of Mamori's team's games. The next one is on Sunday, the 25th," Kamiya answered. [1]
"I don't really want to, Mayu-chan…" said Makoto. "Unless you can tell me with logical reasons that their game will be good. JUST KIDDING! I'll probably go, don't break down on me!"
"Yaaay~!!" she cheered. "Their game is supposed to be good! Mamori told me about their other ones too. She said that their team improved a lot over the summer, and that's why she wasn't able to come back to Japan until almost the time school started again. They were in America doing amazingly hard training! And Mamori told me that they won their first two games in the tournament! Wait, let me check the note she passed me earlier…" She paused. "They won 38-8 against the Amino Cyborgs, and they won 56-6 against the Yuuhi Guts! Doesn't Mamori's team sound great? We've got to go cheer them on!"
"Hai, Hai…" Makoto sweatdropped. "Yes, they sound great. I'll come. Which team is Mamori's team playing next?" Actually, though, I barely remember those teams from when I was in high school…
"They'll be playing the Kyoshin Poseidons," she replied. "Mamori said they'd watched Kyoshin's last game and said they were really good! So it SHOULD be an exciting game!"
"… Well, that's good." He paused. "Wait. Don't tell me you suddenly want to go because a guy called you?" He asked suspiciously.
"NONONO, it's not like that! Mamori had been asking me for a while! … Though you're partially right… but only partially! PARTIALLY! And you can probably already guess who called me! You of all people should know!"
"Okaaay… if you say so. Then I'll be home on Saturday afternoon. I have to leave after dinner on Sunday though. Bye then!"
"Kay byeee~!!" she finished.
Kamiya immediately sent a text message to Anezaki.
[SENT TO A. MAMORI] mamori-chan!!! i am going to sunday's game~! with makonii. save spots for us? thank you
~off~
That Sunday, Kamiya and her brother managed to arrive at the stadium in which her friend's team was to play. At the moment, they were lost in the crowds milling the bleachers.
"Meh… I can't find anyone…" Kamiya grumbled. "I guessed that these Amefuto games would be crowded, but not this crowded!"
"All right. I'll look around too, and meanwhile I'm going to buy some snacks. Call me if you find them and our seats!" her brother replied.
"Mamori's team against the Kyoshin Poseidons… that'll be so cool!" she sighed dreamily. She quickly tiptoed off the edge of one of the bleachers, shading her eyes with one hand as she scanned the arena. Her other hand held tightly to her bag. "Mamori… Mamori… Mamori… I don't see her!"
From the corner of her eye, someone familiar was waving frantically in her direction. Kamiya turned to spot Anezaki approaching her with a shorter, bluish-haired girl in a cheerleading outfit.
"Mayuri-chan! Hiii~!! I'm glad you could come!" exclaimed Anezaki happily. "Oh yeah! Let me introduce Taki Suzuna, our unofficial cheerleader. Suzuna-chan, this is my best friend Kamiya Mayuri."
"Yoroshiku, Mayuriin~!!" Suzuna gushed, her voice oozing cheerfulness. She was a cheerleader, after all.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you too, Suzuna-chan," Kamiya replied.
"Are you going to watch me cheer? YAAAA~!! GO DEVIL BATS~!!!" Suzuna demonstrated, drawing several odd stares.
Anezaki interjected, "Oh yeah! I saved seats for you!"
She led Kamiya towards a small section of the bleachers in the midst of the Deimon fans and spectators. Several bags occupied the reserved area.
"These are our extra bags of food and clothes. Please watch them for us… and, well, we've got to go soon. Would you please take some pictures with your camera, please, Mayuri? Thanks! Let's hurry, Suzuna-chan!" Anezaki and Suzuna then left, almost as quickly as they'd come.
After saying goodbye to the two girls, Kamiya sat down. As she called her brother to tell him about the seats, she took the chance to look around.
All around her, the excited chattering of the crowds electrified the atmosphere. Apparently, most of the Kyoshin fans were occupying the bleachers across the stadium. They seemed even more excited than those on the generally "Deimon side" of the bleachers.
Her brother finally found their seats just as the athletes made their entrance. The excitement in the air heightened as the spectators called out the player's names. Across the stadium, the Kyoshin spectators, also caught in the excitement, had started up a 'wave' and had begun cheering in rhythm.
"Makonii! You're just in time!" Kamiya cried exuberantly.
"Yeah? I guess so," he replied.
Far below, a miniature Anezaki could be seen camera in hand, waiting at a bench just off the sidelines of the field. The cheerleaders and athletes finished last-minute preparations.
"Hey? That tall Kyoshin cheerleader looks familiar," muttered Makoto.
"Which one? Oh—ahahaha~! Yes, he is. What a major goofball! Mizumachi-kun is just too funny!" she laughed.
The 'cheerleader' in question then performed a stunning somersault mini-show for the audience before he swiftly changed into his game uniform and rejoined his humiliated teammates.
Then, each team huddled for their pre-game chant before taking their positions...
As the game progressed with amazing plays by both Deimon and Kyoshin, the crowds became even more excited.
So did Kamiya. She cheered left and right, "Go Mizumachi-kun! Nice play, Komusubi-kun! GO DEVIL BATS! Go Poseidons! Go Shun-chan~!"
At her last phrase, people from around her began to give her odd looks. Finally, her brother asked her, "Mayu-chan… you know, people are staring because you keep cheering for Kyoshin too. And the people around us aren't exactly the best Kyoshin fans. Not to mention your somewhat obvious favoritism in the midst of the opponent of Mamori's team."
"Why? Isn't that normal? Of course Shun-chan would be my favorite," she blinked innocently.
And throughout the rest of the game, Kamiya continued cheering for both sides.
~on~
During the halftime break, Hiruma finally got a chance to have a nice, long drink of water as he rested half a bench away from Anezaki.
He'd been eyeing a particular girl the entire time, and he didn't really like her cheering habits. Sometimes, he just wished he didn't have such sensitive ears. Hey… she's MY neighbor, MY tutor! Che! And she's cheering for our OPPONENTS! Someone needs to teach that girl a lesson… and what's up with the 'Shun-chan'?
"Hey, manager. Did you get a good video so far? I'd like to see it before we start again."
"Yessir, right away!" Anezaki was in a good mood today. Her fingers deftly whisked about as she complied with his request.
Good. The game is progressing exactly as planned, Hiruma thought. With the score 0-7, we still have a very high chance for a good comeback. Kekekeke….
~off~
"POSEIDON! DEIMON! POSEIDON! DEIMON!" The cheers of the audience grew deafening at the close of the game. The two teams had alternated in scoring touchdowns. The Poseidons had shown their strength with the tactics of its several extremely tall members and the previously unrevealed plays 'High Wave' and 'Poseidon', successfully countering many of the Devil Bats' scoring attempts. The Devil Bats also performed well, as they 'evolved' over the course of the game with new plays such as Eyeshield 21's 'Devil Bat Hurricane' and 'Devil Bat Dive', as well as the coordinate team effort in pulling off the complicated 'Wishbone' play that had quite defeated the Poseidons. Overall, the Deimon team had in the end clinched the score with brilliant plays, scoring a touchdown even during the last two seconds of the game; they ended up closely finishing the game with a winning score of 18-17.
At the moment, some of those watching might have noticed that the tall American junior high ace Kakei Shun and the rising star Eyeshield 21 were having their own private little talk in the center of the field. From the expression of Deimon's cheerleading captain as well as that of the Devil Bats' wide receiver, their conversation must have been rather oddly humorous…
~on~
After the athletes had disappeared into their respective team locker rooms for a while, and the crowd had begun to ease a little, Makoto told his sister, "I'm leaving now. But I have to say, that game was exciting! Very, in fact. I'm glad you invited me, and I'm glad I came. I'm also glad to see that someone has improved a lot in his football skills over the years. Sayonara, Mayu-chan…"
"Already leaving?" Kamiya pouted. "Okay bye Makonii! Thanks for coming with me!" Awww and Mamori is busy cleaning up down there… too bad it's kind of off-limits to spectators.
Then she headed to wait outside the exits to the team locker rooms.
After a few minutes, the members for both teams began to trickle out. Soon she spotted who she was waiting for.
"HiHi SHUN-CHAN~!!! I haven't seen you in FOREVER! GLOMP ATTACK!" Kamiya exuberantly grabbed the slightly perturbed Kakei as he emerged from the locker rooms.
"Oh… hello, Mayuri-chan," he replied. Regaining his composure, he dropped his sports bag and hugged Kamiya back. "I'm glad you could come. I was afraid you might not," he teased.
"Of course I would! Anyway, Mamori-chan had asked me before. I just hadn't decided when to go, and this seemed like the best time."
~off~
As the athletes continued to trickle out of the locker rooms, the playful twosome, Kamiya and Kakei, began to attract greater attention.
Among the Kyoshin group, someone whispered enviously, "Who's that with Kakei?"
Two other extremely tall boys, one with blond hair and glasses and one with dark spiky hair, began arguing. "She looks familiar," the dark-haired guy, Ohira Hiroshi, claimed.
"Of course she does! Kakei introduced her once to the team!" cried the blond Onishi Hiroshi. "He brought her to one of those underclassmen dances, I think."
"Well, I noticed first. So I ought to be, for sure, Master Kakei's Number One Disciple!" Ohira proudly exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? I told you before, I am Master Kakei's Number One Disciple! I'll bet you don't even remember the girl's name!" retorted Onishi.
"You two, break it up," remarked Kakei's goofy buddy Mizumachi Kengo, who was for some reason only wearing his favorite khaki boxers.
"Good job, Mizumachi!" interjected another. "I was going to say that too, of course, but I thought it might be better for an underclassman to be the mediator—"
"And please, Ohira, Onishi, stop calling me 'Master'! We're the same age! And I told you guys already today," Kakei announced seriously.
"… Anyways, hello, Mayuri-chan!" Mizumachi greeted. "Nice to meet you again."
"You too, Mizumachi-kun!" she replied.
Suddenly, Mizumachi froze. He pointed to the enormous evil aura that was cackling from behind Kakei…
~on~
Hiruma had been watching the scene ever since he'd slipped, unnoticed, out of the locker rooms. He had been in a rather good mood, for him anyway, after the Deimon chibis had showed their determination and won the game. He didn't even feel like nagging the others for taking so long to change.
However, he was in for quite a shock as he saw who was hugging his opponent. Not that he didn't respect Kakei, but to have his tutor hanging on to him… that felt like a pure insult. It felt horrible, actually. To think she rejected being my tutor but would just go grab my opponent in front of my eyes… "Che!"
He fiercely blew another bubble of sugarless gum. Then he whipped out his favorite out of his many choice firearms, his trusty AK-47, and stationed himself behind the offender…
~off~
… Which brings things to the current situation.
The malevolent ghostly aura exuded by Hiruma simmered as he kept his firearms pointed towards Kakei, who slowly turned around to face the figure Mizumachi had been pointing at.
"Hiruma-kun!" gasped Kamiya.
He remained silently staring towards her blue-haired counterpart.
Suddenly Mizumachi burst out laughing. "I get it! He wants to play hide and seek, RPG version, right? I want to play too!" He instantly reverted to 'playful mode'…
"Hiruma-san, please lower that gun. Is there anything you need me to help you with?" Somehow, the seemingly unfazed Kakei managed to retain his serious expression.
Hiruma only nudged his gun towards Kamiya, who was still standing beside Kakei from the time they were talking not too much earlier.
For a moment, all the athletes in the surrounding area remained eerily silent, including those who were more recently emerging from the locker rooms.
Finally, Kakei broke the silence. He looked at Kamiya, and ventured, "Oh. I see."
"Ah-ha-ha~! I see Hiruma-san too!" cried the overly flexible Taki male from the background.
"… Anyway, if you wanted to know—" Kakei broke off. "Mayuri is my cousin."
"WHAAAA?!?" The others, who had either forgotten or otherwise had not known, seemed to gasp in unison. Only Mizumachi and the two 'Disciples' remained calm, if not somewhat smug.
Only Anezaki, who had just barely arrived at the scene, had known the full truth and was the one who rescued Kamiya from the commotion.
"Oh hi everyone! And yes, Kakei-kun is Mayuri-chan's cousin. And yes, they have been very close since childhood, even though Kakei-kun went to America as an exchange student for a while. Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking her with me…" And the relieved Anezaki quickly dragged Kamiya away.
~on~
That night, as Hiruma sat in his temporary house typing away into the darkness as he usually did, he tried to dissect the surprisingly new information he'd discovered.
So. The girl is Kakei's cousin? How did I not know about that? My network is supposed to be faultless regarding the people I have to pay extra attention to. What happened?
And I know I'd been hoping she'd come watch my games. So why does it bug me that it seems she only came because of her cousin and because of the manager?
I know the manager has been in fairly close touch with the girl, though recently the manager has been more busy because of the fall tournament… so why didn't she watch our earlier games? And why does she drag her partly bipolar brother around?
"Che!" A popup kept disturbing his expert hacking processes, and it was very annoying.
"Mayuri-chan was also doing… uggghh… with the fox-eyes," Hiruma complained under his breath. [2]
Wait. Did I just say what I think I did? He pinched himself. Yep, I'm awake. I'm sober. I can't be delusional.
Or can I?
Why do I feel as if I wish, for that moment, I were able to take Kakei's place?
Am I jealous of the fox-eyes?
… No. That can't be it.
Author's note: How was it? [= Please review! They would be greatly appreciated. ^^
Lol in this chapter (and others, both previous/future), siblings will be differentiated by name. For example, in the Kamiya (OC) family, the brother, Makoto, is referred to by first name because his sister Mayuri (who is referred to by last name) is mentioned more often. This will be the case with the Taki siblings too – but though Suzuna will have more involvement, she will be referred to by first name, mainly because even in the anime/manga she'd asked to be called by her first/given name instead of her family name. So when you see the name "Taki" outside of dialogue, it's referring to Taki Natsuhiko. xDD
Thank you for all the reviews~
And to…
RoseJustice: lol, no the rating for this story will probably not go up. Or did I say that already? O.O
Ayla The Librarian: Ohayo Ayla-chan! ^^ Death March issue fixed, ne? [- is the usage here wrong? O_O]
xDarklightx: O.O I was so disappointed when Sena's run turned out all weird and slow… but Mizumach and Agon's hair, and in ch. 318 with Sena, the balcony, and Sakuraba—pure hilarity! xDD Right?
Ikari's Shadow: meh, who knows… Hiruma was probably just bluffing. Anyways the OOCness warning accounts for that, right? =D
Translations:
Yoroshiku: [This means, in effect, that it's] Nice to meet you.
Sayonara: [Good] bye
Chibi(s): little, cute, childish, youthful (etc.) [person(s)]
Please tell me if anything's wrong with the translations! Thank you!
References (just in case of unreliable memories like mine)
[1] I'm not sure about the exact date of the game. I checked the manga, and in vol. 12, ch. 102, the game for Deimon Devil Bats vs. Yuuhi Guts is set for 9/18… so I just assumed and added a week for the Deimon vs Kyoshin [Poseidon] game's date.
[2] Oh yeah! "Fox-eyes" was Hiruma's nickname for Kakei Shun of the Kyoshin Poseidons.
