Chapter 29: Mini Exodus


After the game, Sena hopped into the changing room, showered, and dressed in her uniform all within fifteen minutes. In time, she skedaddled out of the building before the boys flooded inside. She caught a glimpse of Habashira and his gang who were just about to jump on their motorcycles. How interesting; the Chameleons coming over to watch their loathed rivals play against the Sphinxes—perhaps they were hoping to see the Devil Bats lose? They must be disappointed then.

Sena literally skipped towards Mamori, happy to get the hell out of here (the heat was starting to get to her now). However, it was much to her horror when Mamori told her that they were going to Enoshima to watch a football game ('UGH.'). And seeing how the whole school lot was up and walking to elsewhere, she took it that they would be following the crowd.

'One of these days,' Sena swore inwardly, glowering at the dirt. 'One of these days, Hiruma will get what he deserves!'

Not that the girl could guarantee that, but it would be nice to get some revenge since the captain had arranged this. He probably did this on purpose just to get under her skin. The bastard.

Did Sena have a choice in this matter? That she could simply skip watching the game and go home, taking a wonderfully long and cold shower? Heck no. It would be an ecstasy, but she wasn't granted with such promises of happiness and bliss and etcetera. Life is cruel like that.

Monta bounced next to Sena, about to mention about the game they played most likely, but said instead, "Whoa! It's an Exodus!" when he saw the Taiyo students moving out.

"I'm surprised you know the Biblical story," Sena said, brows rising under her fringe.

"Hey, I'm awesome like that," he said, shrugging. Yeah, as if he was going to impress Mamori like that.

And so the team hitched a ride on the train. Sena, at least, tried to escape; nonetheless, Hiruma's eyes see all—he caught the girl attempting to sneak away and handcuffed her to him. It was much to her horror (again) that he told her that he wasn't going to let her free until the end of the game.

"What!" she cried, jerking her wrist up and down stiffly and making the chain jangle. "What!"

"Behave, fucking shrimp!" With that said, he whacked her with a rolled up magazine.

'One of these days…'

At the stop, they exited the train and step onto the lands of lovely Enoshima—indeed Enoshima was lovely. There was a white sandy beach that stretched far, and the waters glimmered before her eyes. Sena even saw the Taiyo students going to the beach with surfboards—it must be the reason why they were so tanned, they surf frequently under the blazing sun. Those who weren't going for surfing approached to where the game was being held.

"Move! Move! MOVE!" Racing past them was a familiar boy in a wheelchair, and the one gripping onto the handles for dear life was none other than Sakuraba. They were going by so fast that they didn't even see them.

"Hey, that's Sakuraba and Toramaru!" Sena said.

"Uh, I think it was Torakichi," Monta said.

"You sure?"

"Hmmmm…Not really."

They took their seats. Hiruma pulled her down, forcing Sena to land on her bottom painfully, and Mamori took Sena's other side. She observed that her older sister figure was practically squirming in excitement.

"What is it, Mamo-nee?" Sena asked, curious.

"Oh, Sena, you don't know? This game is the Ojo White Knights versus the Shinryuuji Nagas!" Her eyes glistened with glee. "We get to see Agon and Unsui play!"

From the corner of her eye, Sena saw Hiruma's features sharpen, but she paid no mind. She was too busy being in shock. "Holy moley! Seriously?"

She nodded. "Yup! I never really took the chance to watch their games previously, but now that I'm the football manager of Deimon there are opportunities that I get to!"

"You think we might be able to watch Reiji play?"

"Aw, Sena!" Mamori giggled, nudging Sena in the ribs.

Sena groaned. "Mamo-nee, will you get over that confession at the airport? It was three years ago!"

"But it's still cute no matter what!"

"I take it back; it wasn't even a confession. Just him asking if he turn cool then I'd like him."

"An indirect one?"

"No! Not one at all!"

"Uh, S-Sena-kun, Anezaki-san," Kurita began, almost too hesitantly, "h-how do you know the Kongo twins, if you d-don't mind me asking…?"

"Oh, you know them too, Kurita-kun?" Mamori looked up at the big fella.

"W-well, in a way," he murmured, looking away.

'He's nervous.' Sena pursed her lips to keep herself from frowning. 'Wonder why.'

"Strange, they never mentioned you before, Kurita-kun," Mamori mused. "But then again, I presume you three were merely acquaintances?"

He nodded.

"We were childhood friends," Sena answered the question. "Good friends that we all were and are."

Kurita looked as if he swallowed a bug (maybe he did after his gaping). "Ch-childhood friends?" he reiterated incredulously. "Really?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Really."

"O-oh. I see."

Silence fell upon the four.

"So, there sure are a lot of people here. Just to watch the game, ya know?" Sena spoke up, breaking the tension.

"You're right Sena," Mamori said, joining in. "The White Knights must've really impressed spectators with their latest match."

"Every football team in the Tokyo area—high schools and colleges—are here," Hiruma said, finally speaking up. "Even sports writers. But they're mainly here for the Nagas."

Sena turned to him, blinking inquisitively. "Why? Are they that great?"

"If they weren't, then they wouldn't brought so much attention, wouldn't they?" he sneered.

Sena nodded, totally not affected by the rude deride. Mamori shot Hiruma a disapproving look before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't mind him, Sena," she told her gently. "And look! The teams are here!"

Indeed they were. The White Knights appeared first, and instantly Sena recognized Shin—he was stern-faced as ever. Then came along the Nagas—they ALL looked like monks! Especially the old man with the cane!—was he REALLY their coach? Unbelievable!

"I see Unsui," Sena said, pointing at him.

"He looks so serious," Mamori noted.

"Ain't he always?"

"I guess you're right."

"Hey, that guy looks like Buddah!"

"Sena!"

As the White Knights prepared themselves in the typical football player fashion (or whatever it should be), the Nagas did it rather differently. They watched the monks align in a row, sitting down cross-legged and closing their eyes into a concentrated expression.

"What are they doing?" Sena wondered aloud.

"That's Shinryuuji linemen tradition," Kurita sighed, turning away. "They're doing it to unify their wills before the game."

'Unify wha…?'

The scruffy man in the same uniform (wasn't he too old to be wearing that?) ordered Unsui something, from what they were seeing at this distance. Unsui nodded and took a deep breath, and then bellowing, "KATSUUU!"

This shocked EVERYONE.

"Mother of Dumbledore!" Sena faced Mamori, wide-eyed and worrisome. "They turned Unsui into a weirdo!"

Hiruma actually chuckled at that, not that Sena noticed.

"But look!" Mamori gestured to the linemen. "Despite that, those guys didn't have their concentration disrupted at all!"

They were at still, but that didn't seem to convince her. Sena's brows furrowed at this. "Well, they were prepared for it, weren't they? I mean, they must've heard the order that guy was giving Unsui before the yell. Obviously, they were ready for it."

"They might not be as impressive as everyone thinks them to be," Hiruma sniggered, smirking.

"Uh, Hiruma-kun," Kurita spoke out weakly, "do we have to watch the game?"

"Kurita-kun, what's wrong?" Mamori asked with her tone laced with genuine concern. ('Motherly as always.') "When we mentioned Agon and Unsui, you looked very unsettled. Is something wrong?"

"He used to be an ex-Shinryuuji student," Hiruma said nonchalantly, peeling the wrapper off of a piece of gum.

The team turned to Kurita with bewilderment. Kurita said hastily, "It's not like that! I-I could never be part of the strongest team …"

"So that's how you knew the twins?" Mamori brought a hand to her lips. "Wait, don't tell me that they bullied you! Agon, I can understand, but Unsui too?"

"N-no! No! Of course not!" He shook his head vigorously.

"Well, you were uneasy when at the mentioning of their names, Kurita-san," Sena pointed out, biting her lip.

"No, n-no need to worry about it, you two!" he assured them firmly, his eyes pleading yet filled with gratitude. "Th-thank you, but really, please don't worry on my behalf. They didn't bully me or anything of the sort!"

The girls exchanged glances before relenting. It wouldn't feel right if they kept pushing it anyway, but they knew something was up. Maybe someday they'll confront the Kongo twins.

"Alright, Kurita-kun, if you say so," Mamori said. Sena nodded in agreement.

"So," Sena said, "you said something about the strongest team…"

"Yeah, ever since you said that, I'm curious," Monta piped up behind Sena. "I thought that the White Knights were the strongest!"

"Would you like to find out? Would you all like to know?" Mamori said, digging through her backpack. Sena resisted sighing, knowing that when Mamori was using her mommy voice, then she'll treat them like children. This was going to be embarrassing. "Then watch this and you'll learn the history of the Kanto Area Tournament!" She plopped down a seat above them, situating a stack of boards on her lap.

"A picture book show?" Sena deadpanned. Oh man, this girl really took it TOO far. These boys were HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, for goodness sakes! This was worse than the time with the underwear in Christmas!

"Wow! You really made it?" Kurita, on the other hand, was impressed and approving. What a nice guy.

"What a dumbass! Look, everyone! She's a dumbass!" Hiruma, however, expressed this quite the opposite. He threw his head back, blowing a bubble, and grinning with amusement while throwing a look full of mock.

"You were the one who told me to do it!" Mamori protested, flushing angrily. Evidently, this was all planned out to help the amateurs get a grasp of the football history, and thus Mamori was forced to do something ridiculous as this. 'What the heck is this? School? Do we have to take a test too?'

"Initiate," he ordered languidly, waving his hand.

"Hmmph!" But she did so anyway. Mamori took the board and placed it behind the stack, revealing a board with a picture attached to it, and it was one crude drawing. You can't tell it apart from a six-years-old drawing from Mamori's. In fact, little Sunao could draw better than her, and he was four! "The history of the Kanto Area Tournament can be pretty much be summed up as the history of the rivalry between Ojo and Shinryuuji."

Her drawing was a terrible picture of the Nagas. It was kind of funny.

"Ever since the Shinryuuji first started playing at the tournament, they established a dynasty of never losing a single game!"

The next picture was not as bad, in Sena's opinion, but with Mamori's attempts on making the stick-like figures tackling each other, she felt pity for the older girl. If Sena had such a talent as to mess up the meaning of art, she would never let anyone know. Poor, poor Mamori.

"However, three years ago, a group of top-notch players known as the Golden Generation entered Ojo High. With their incredibly strong defense, they managed to stall the Shinryuuji so that their point differences were in small numbers."

"Those drawings…" Monta trailed.

"Mamo-nee's grade in art was always lower than her other grades," Sena said.

"S-Sena!" Mamori huffed, blushing.

"Go on, Mamo-nee," she urged.

"Very well," the older girl sighed. "Then after Shin Seijuro had joined, they finally beat Shinryuuji in score." As Mamori switched pictures, Sena reflected her past encounters with Shin on the field. "With five minutes in the game, Ojo lead 16 to 3. Everyone thought that the Shinryuuji dynasty was going to end, but that was until the Nagas' coach decided to put Agon and Unsui in the game." She switched to the last picture, but this time it was an article showing a photo of Unsui and Agon in their football gear. "It resulted the Shinryuuji winning with 17 to 16, 17 to their favor."

"Whoa!" Monta gasped. "And in only five minutes!"

"Agon didn't have dreads that time!" Sena gawked.

"It's a miracle how Miki-baa-chan doesn't know," Mamori sighed.

"She'll get a heart attack if she ever finds out."

"So what happened to the Golden Generation?" Monta asked and discreetly making sure that the girls would stop straying from the topic. Seriously, they need to stop because he had no idea what they were talking about.

"They graduated last year," Kurita answered.

"Looks like Ojo is gonna have a hard time," Hiruma remarked airily.

Sena looked down at the teams below. There was Unsui, but…where was Agon?

'Sure, Agon had always gloated about being remarkable in his skills, but I would have never guessed that he and Unsui could bring his team into victory. And in five minutes at that!' She searched for the dreadlocked boy, but couldn't seem to detect him. And even though if he WAS wearing his football gear, he would stand out amongst the crowd, right? 'Where is he?'

Then there was a clink! Sena blinked and saw that the handcuffs were removed. "Eh?"

"Fucking shrimp," Hiruma murmured, leaning to her ear, "go change into Eyeshield."

Her eyes went wide. "Eh?"

"Just look around and see the many reporters here! I want to take this as my advantage and make a profit out of this," he explained. "Get yer ass moving."

When she gave him a defiant glare, he waved his gun in a threatening manner and said "Kaitani."

"I hate you, I really do," she grumbled, standing up to leave.

When Mamori was done talking to the person sitting nearby (apparently, he thought that her pictures were adorable), she turned back to see Sena walking away. "Sena, where are you going?" she called after her.

'Oh bugger.' She swallowed and called over her shoulder, "I l-lost my student handbook. I think it's a-at the bridge."

A lie, a complete and total lie, but Mamori wasn't able to see her face so surely she wouldn't find out.

"Oh, okay."

'Phew.'

"I'll come with you and help."

'Argh, dangflabbit.'

The two girls made their way back to the bridge. Perhaps with Mamori in the way, Sena won't have to change into Eyeshield 21; she sure was glad, those white tights were such a pain! She could never tell why the older girl didn't notice about her disappearance every time Eyeshield makes 'his'. Mamori was probably too busy in her new managerial duties to pay attention.

"Is it here somewhere?" Mamori asked, bending over and scanning the area with her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so," Sena lied through her teeth.

After a few minutes of searching, an approaching figure called out, "Oi! What are you guys doing here?"

"Huh?" Mamori broke into a smile. "Oh, Agon! There you are!"

The boy quirked a brow. "Hm?"

"Shouldn't you be at the stadium dressed in your football uniform?" Sena piped up. "Not your pajamas?"

"Rude," he scoffed. "And these aren't my pajamas; these are my school clothes."

"He just put them on backwards, Sena," Mamori said.

"I did not!"

Sometimes Agon wondered how much Aunty Mio influenced the girls.