Chapter 50: National Showdown Begins


AN: As I stated before, it would be unknown who Sena would be OFFICIALLY paired up with (if she ever gets paired up anyway) because the story is still far from over. If there are any of you who immediately assume that Sena and Panther would be a couple, please don't jump to conclusions.


"Man, I am so pumped for the game tonight!" Monta cheered, punching the air.

"Meeeh," moaned Sena.

"Look, Sena, I know that you don't wanna do this and all, but can't you at least show some football spirit?"

"Monta, for the hundredth time, I—" She was cut off when her mouth fell.

Yukimitsu blinked at the sudden behavior. "Hmm? Sena? What's wrong?"

"Look." She dragged Monta and Yukimitsu to stand beside her and pointed at the guy who walked across the crosswalk across from them.

Simultaneously, the boys' mouths also dropped.

"He's MAX tall!" Monta observed.

"Incredibly tall," Yukimitsu agreed.

"He looks a lot like Aunty Mio!" Sena gasped.

"WHAT?" Monta cried.

"Who?" Yukimitsu said, confused.

"YOU'RE RIGHT!" Monta wailed.

"Huh?" Yukimitsu said, still confused.

The guy stood way over six feet, towering any other person walking by, but that wasn't the only thing that Sena had immediately took notice of. The boy had a sharp jaw, black hair, and piercing blue eyes. Whereas Aunty Mio could make her blue eyes appear friendly, they were merely concealed from the acuteness of her stare.

They looked alike.

(Well, the boy was a more masculine and serious version of her aunt, but whatever.)

"…He looks so grim though, like he just murdered someone," Monta later noted.

"…I think I'll dub him as Miomaru," Sena said.

Miomaru it was.


"And I told Kageyo that it wasn't a Squirtle, but a Wooper!" Sena laughed. "And then she gave me this look and marched off. Oh boy, that was funny."

"Um, I'm sure it was," Ishimaru replied, smiling awkwardly. Apparently, Sena behaves more out-going whenever Pokemon is mentioned.

The team walked onto the football field where the game was being held. From the first row all the way to the top, people filled every seat and sent their cheers and hollers out to the team as support for their Japanese representatives. To Sena, the voices delivered something equivalent to that of a soft wave brushing against the shore; this brought forth a tingly sensation on her knees.

If the game were to be held at a later time rather than six o'clock, Sena wouldn't be able to feel sleepy anyway since the crowd was making so much noise. The stadium lights that stood high above were glaring, casting out any darkness that would've lingered by.

"So many people," Kurita whispered, simply awe-struck. The others shared his reaction, glancing around and slowly taking in the excitement.

"Kekeke. This isn't like the game with the Sphinxes," Hiruma said, recalling back to their previous game. "The audience is on our side now."

Hiruma was right; things had changed differently. At that time, though there were many attendees, the audience put down the Devil Bats as they rooted for the team that they deemed as the strongest. However, the smaller, the apparently insignificant team had shown them up by tying the game by 20 to 20.

Nearly tripping over a patch of grass, Sena caught herself and looked up. "Ah," she noticed afterwards, "a camera."

Perched on a high seat was a man steering a large camera across the field. "Fuuuwaaa! My blood is boiling now!" Monta whooped.

Then came the rant from the popular football narrator, Machine Gun Shinda. "This is the match that everyone has been waiting for! Will these American high school students show us Japanese their true strength of football's origin? Or will the Devil Bats' star, Eyeshield 21, unleash his skills and ring home a win? This is truly the mystery of the night! A match worth watching for!" There was a pause. "WHOO! Here come the Americans!"

'Ugh, doesn't that guy ever shut up?' Sena thought, rubbing her throbbing ears.

Lo and behold arrived the American football players, all donned in their white uniforms. After trotting onto the field, the boys commenced stretching in order to get warmed up for the game.

"SENA!" screamed out a familiar voice.

'Oh no!' Sena's shoulders stiffened, her eyes landing on Panther who was enthusiastically waving at her, grinning from ear to ear. 'Shame. Shame.'

"Is that Panther from Hiruma-san's video?" gasped Monta. "How'd you get to know him?"

"Long story," sighed Sena.

Jyuumonji frowned. "The guy looks…too chipper. I don't like him."

"You don't like anybody, dude," Kuroki snorted.

"That's not true," Jyuumonji muttered.

"What's this?" the stadium's megaphones bellowed from Machine Gun Shinda's microphone. "The representatives of both teams are coming towards to greet each other."

While it was true that Hiruma and the American coach, a tall European descent man with slicked-back blonde hair, came over and shook hands, the coach immediately pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his hands. Hiruma, however, remained unperturbed.

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah," said Apollo. He didn't really say that, but since he was speaking in English, it sounded that way to Sena.

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah," replied Hiruma in English.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"What are they saying?" Sena wondered aloud as the two males continued to taunt at one another.

"…Insulting each other," Mamori said simply.

"What's a Jo-hon-son d-dick?" Monta attempted to pronounce carefully, picking up the English word that he was able to hear.

"I-I don't know," Mamori said again, quickly walking away while blushing.


"Bunch of arrogant fools," Hiruma cackled, watching the American team huddle together. "To think that they can defeat us so easily." He turned back to the players and called out, "Huddle up, men. It's time to…" His eyes landed on Sena, who was not dressed in her uniform.

"OI! FUCKING SHRIMP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Hiruma growled, firing his gun multiple times. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE AND DO YOUR JOB!"

"Hiii!" Sena swiveled and rushed to the changing rooms as fast as she could. She didn't get the chance to change because all the boys were taking their sweet time doing so. Now, because of them, she got yelled at.

'Ugh.'

She tripped.

'UGH!'

Dragging her bag behind her, Sena scowled and kicked every possible grass clump out of pure hatred. 'Stupid Hiruma and his stupid gun. Stupid Hiruma and his stupid bleached hair. Stupid Hiruma and his stupid creature-mutt. Stupid Hiruma and his stupid temper. Stupid Hiruma, stupid Hiruma, stupid Hiruma!'

"Hey there."

Without thinking, Sena dropped the bag and withdrew her pepper-spray. She turned and locked the spray in position with the person's eye level. Much to her surprise, the person who she was about to spray was Kid.

"Eh?" She blinked when she realized that there was some pressure on her wrist. Looking up, she saw that robot boy from before, Tetsuma, holding her firmly. This shocked her since it was instant that the boy held her immobile.

"Sorry about startling ya, Kobayakawa-san," Kid said, smiling leisurely and tipping his hat upwards.

"Kid-san?" Her eyes floated over to the new figures materializing next to him. "Reiji? Pappy?" She frowned as a line formed between her brows. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Sena," Reiji said calmly, freaking her out, "we need to talk."