Xx The Difference xX

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Theme 30. kiss

It was different.

For the first time in a long time he found himself eating a cup of lukewarm instant noodles with his laptop for his dinner companion. The mutt wasn't even around anymore. It was him, himself, and no one.

There were several pairs of used socks scattered across the furniture and there was no one to tell him to toss them in the laundry basket. There were hair ties in his bathroom that weren't his but he didn't throw them away like he knew he should. The slurping of his noodles seemed impossibly loud, the hum of his computer almost deafening. He felt small. It wasn't a feeling he was familiar with and he hoped it wasn't going to last.

He wondered how long it would take him to get used to being alone again.

He ignored the inkling that he really didn't want to find out.

It just didn't feel right.

Here he was a healthy attractive young man with an equally healthy attractive young woman. The atmosphere was romantic, because he could be romantic when he chose to be and anyone who said otherwise could shove that lie where the sun don't shine. She wasn't his normal type but if he played his cards right he knew that he wouldn't be going home alone.

And if there was one game he was good at it was cards.

So, despite the odd churning feeling in his stomach, he put on his most charming smile and put on a show that should have won him some sort of an award.

He didn't say a single cross or curse word. He was the perfect gentleman, the kind woman tripped over their feet to bring home to meet the folks. There were compliments and pretty words. At one point he even pulled out her chair for her, something he'd never done before. Yet there was this nagging little back burner of a thought that kept telling him that She would have seen right through him. But he beat it into submission and laughed at nothing.

It was all wrong.

His date was left very confused. One minute they were sharing a very nice kiss that had the very real potential of ending in a bed and the next thing she knew she was being dropped off at her own place without so much as a phone number to contact him.

To be fair she wasn't the only one in a state of confusion. Several blocks over he was speeding through the streets wondering just what the hell was the matter with him. Something had to be the matter with him. No normal person did things like this. He fully admitted he wasn't like most normal people but he was sure that he never half assed anything. Even when he wasn't enjoying himself he didn't leave things unfinished. He certainly didn't bolt like a deer in the headlights.

Except for tonight.

Tonight he had fled without shame. Fled because he couldn't take that feeling anymore: that awful somersaulting that had consumed him, growing tighter, tenser until that kiss. That kiss had undone him. Her lips were warm and suddenly he couldn't pretend anymore. That was why he was swerving around corners in ways that would have had Her scolding him for his recklessness.

Then, just like that, he knew what he had to do.

Maneuvering his way into an empty lot by a bit of fancy driving and breaking several traffic laws, he pulled out his cell. Without looking at the keypad he dialed and waited for the other person to pick up. After what felt like a never ending line of rings he heard a familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

His eyes closed as that one little word said in Her voice washed over him.

"Mamori."

For the first time that night the anxious butterflies weren't present.

"Youichi?"

It was going to be good.