Edward marched right up to the clubhouse and kicked the door open. "Hey, pointy-eared freak!"

Hiruma rose to his full height and loomed over the shorter blond. "What was that?"

"Why're you so picky about receivers being tall?"

"Because it means they can cover more area. They don't need skill."

Edward put his hands on his hips. "So if they had skill but weren't tall, it wouldn't be a problem."

Hiruma stopped glowering. "What, you find someone?"

Ed grinned. "He caught the ball one-handed, from six feet in the air, jumping."

The devil grinned. "Shrimp!" Sena jumped. "Do you know who blondie's talking about?" Sena nodded. "Get him to join the team. Blondie!" Ed scowled. "Come with me." Hiruma grabbed Ed's arm and tried to pull him into the clubhouse. He didn't budge. "Guess I'm going to have to explain," he growled to himself. "I found a way for you to play," He said, loud enough for Ed to hear him.

Ed grinned. "Then let's go!" He shoved the older boy into the clubhouse.

Kurita looked in wonder at the closed door. "I guess I'll just go start handing the flyers out to tall people." And he wandered away.

Inside the clubroom, Hiruma pulled out a roll of thin plastic padding. "We'll make a covering out of this for your arm. They can't pull you out if it's covered enough not to hurt other players."

Ed looked at the roll of batting. "We'd better make one for my leg too."

"What?"

Hiruma watched as Ed reached down and pulled his pant leg up. Steel glinted in the electronic light and he felt his stomach drop a notch. Ed flicked the exposed metal, making a muffled 'ting'. "We'll have to cover this too. Looks like you have enough." He pulled the pant leg back down. "So are we sewing the stuff to something, or just making a sort of sleeve out of…Hiruma, are you okay?"

Hiruma didn't look okay. He looked like he was going to be sick. "What happened to you?"

Ed shrugged. "I gave them up for something greater. We should get started."

Hiruma snapped back to the task. "Right. Take you clothes off, we need to get good measurements." Ed walked over to the door. "You're not getting out of this, blondie!"

"I'm locking it shut!" Ed growled at the other boy. "I don't want anyone else to see me like this. It's bad enough that you know!" then he glared at the quarterback. "If you tell anyone…"

Hiruma cackled as he took out his threat book to fill in the new entry. "You'll what?"

Ed grinned at him with narrowed eyes. "Well, you sure want me on your team. What happens when people find out? A double amputee playing football, no, he'll get hurt." He chuckled. "I'd be out of the sport before you could blink."

Hiruma put away his threat book.

Ed took off his shoes. Hiruma's stomach dropped another notch as Ed removed his jacket and was left with only his tank top. The arm went all the way to his shoulder? It plummeted again when he removed his pants. He'd seen veterans before, living near a base like he had, but this was…

He shook himself out of it and grabbed a measuring tape from beneath the counter in the change booth at the back. He uncoiled the first few feet and held it up to the boy's arm. Suddenly, he was holding nothing.

"I can do it myself," Ed growled at him, measuring the shin of his left leg. "You can stop staring and write down the measurements. Hiruma shook himself, again. Darn, the kid had him off balance. A pad of paper and a pencil were retrieved from the back as well and Hiruma wrote down measurements as Ed finished.

He finished and took the pad and roll of material to the door. "I'll give these to the sewing club tonight. They'll be finished by tomorrow."

"What will you tell them," asked Ed. If someone started asking questions, he was done for.

Hiruma cackled, finally back in familiar territory. "They don't need to know." Ed smiled.

Sena finally found Taro down by the river. Once he caught sight of the boy's spiky hair, he skidded to a stop. Coughing on the dust he kicked up, Sena walked down to where the other boy was sitting next to a pile of snacks. That's right, he thought. He wanted to celebrate with me about making first string, and for the football team winning their first game. "You're pretty fast," Taro said. "Do you play in the games too?"

"No, not really," Sena replied, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Huh, an athlete," he muttered to himself. "I can't even call myself an athlete anymore. See this glove?" Sena looked over. Taro did have a baseball catching glove on his hand. He nodded. "It was actually used by the pro ball player, Honjo." And he told Sena the story of how he found his idol, his goal. "I've been practicing ever since then, betting my life on my catching. But now…I have to deal with my first failure in life." He sniffed and Sena looked away. No one liked someone to see them cry. "I realized that it happens to everyone at some point." His arms came up around his face as he tried to hide the water trickling down his cheeks. He was amazed his voice was still reasonably steady. "I have to face that I'm never going to be a pro baseball player."

Then he swiped his sleeve over his face and got up off the grass. "Aww, this conversation is getting to be a drag. I'm going home." He gestured at the pile of snacks next to him. "Go ahead and eat whatever you want." He turned around and walked back up to the bridge.

"What about my team?" Sena shouted, racing after him. "We're looking for a player who can catch!" That's right, though Taro. I remember, on that poster. No, No! Baseball, I love baseball!

"You mean, since baseball didn't work, how about football?" he said over his shoulder. I can't run away like that."

"It wouldn't be running away!" Sena shouted at the other boy. Taro turned around. "At first, it was the same for me." He looked up and smiled at the other boy. "I really wanted to be a great manager, but I don't seem to be cut out for it. So instead, I've been trying to play the game a little myself." And it had been exhilarating. "It's totally different than what I had hoped but…now I'm having more fun." He shouted at the boy's turned back, "This could happen for you too!"

The words from that poster floated through Taro's mind. Especially looking for players who can catch, no other skills required. Maybe he could…No! "Thanks a lot…it's silly, but I can't turn back."

Sena called out again, "Wait!"

"No, it's your…"

He looked down and saw a massive rip in the legs of his pants. What was that from? Sena looked back at where they'd been sitting. One of the bottles had broken and a glass shard had a piece of black fabric on it. Sena scurried forward and grabbed Taro's arm. "We have to get you back to school, you might be hurt." Taro looked back at where they'd been sitting and nodded frantically. They headed back to the school together.

Hiruma found the way around the rules and Monta's just about ready to join the team. I did have to change up a few things, but I felt like it worked. What do you guys think of the way I'm setting up the relationship between Hiruma and Edward?