Disclaimer: Any original characters are property of myself and myself only. Eyeshield 21 is a series created by Riichigo Inagaki and Yusuke Murata. All characters of Eyeshield 21 are property of the original creators, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. Any references to the NFL and its players are copyrighted by the NFL and credited to their respective teams.

Natsuhiko Taki brought back his arm, cocked and ready to fire the football downfield and guffawed, "AHA-HA!" before letting the ball soar towards the open Nishi receiver. Somehow the haphazardly launched missile managed to maneuver through the risen arms of Kakei who attempted to swat the pass out of the air to no avail. The moronic tight end was so proud of his pass he immediately started into an exaggerated y-balance pose and continued to laugh raucously.

As the oblong ball sailed lopsidedly through the air the Ligers' defense watched it soar. Dante instantly dug his heal into the turn and turned to rocket towards its landing point. Kakei too, wasted little time rushing in that direction as well after getting reset. The ball continued teetering through the air until it did finally arrive in the waiting hands of the Koi Fish's receiver, completed for an 18 yard catch, with more yet to come.

The furious foreigner roared in anger as he watched the Nishi receiver take off towards the endzone. What dead man was supposed to cover him huh? A quick glance revealed that their rent a corner was chasing behind the rapidly disappearing receiver. Dante grinded his teeth together and surged forward, but despite all his great speed he knew he would be unable to close the distance until at least their own 20-yard line. But luckily for him, he did not have to.

Out of his peripheral vision the lion-like linebacker saw a white blur. He was barely able to make out the number 21 on the back of the jersey as he watched Sena use that mind-boggling speed of his to drive into the back of the Nishi receiver and tackle him to the ground. In total what could have been a 42-yard gain was shrank to a 22-yard gain thanks to the lightspeed running back.

A trill whistle from the referee called an end to the play and they announced it would be first and ten at the Enma 40-yard line. Luckily for Enma this still placed the Koi Fish out of their effective field goal range. Their kicker was decent for sure, but he as no 60-yard magnum, and sinking a 57-yard field goal from here was certainly not a guarantee. If anything, it was nearly a guaranteed miss if anything else.

All this quick mental math tallied away in Dante's cranium as he arrived at the new yard marker for the next play. The shrimpy little bastard may have saved this drive for Enma's defense. The bushy browed beast nodded his appreciation towards number 21 and then centered his attention on Nishi's offensive formation. Relying on their defensive lines' prowess may not be enough to topple these slippery little koi. They continued to make a mockery of Suitokku's experience, and while Mizumachi was indeed an accomplished athlete, he was also not the sharpest knife in the draw. There was a strong chance the Koi would use that to their advantage and continue to dump off the ball just before either of them could reach Hanada. It was still early in the game, only about 6 minutes into the 1st quarter. There was a lot of time left.

Hanada broke the huddle and moved his offense up to the line. Dante narrowed his crystalline blue eyes and made a split-second decision, "Fuck it. Gotta risk it for the biscuit." he thought to himself before roaring, "Omaha one! Omaha one!"

Sena for the briefest of moments glanced in the direction of the tenacious middle linebacker, and then turned his attention to Hanada. That specific code was different from the "no look pass lookout" phrases. No, Dante was intending to change the play entirely. And this one was a risky play indeed. But, Sena couldn't help but smirk as he felt the muscles in his leg twitch with excitement as he anticipated the play to come.

On the Enma defensive line Kurita heard Dante's screech and ground his cleats into the turf. He knew what this play meant. Beside him on the interior of the line Chuubou shifted slightly closer to Kurita and casually held one free arm partially in front of himself in his three-point stance. If this play was to work, it was essential that he and the big man in the middle played their parts perfectly.

Meanwhile on the exterior of the defensive line Mizumachi edged slightly further to the edge and Suitokku shifted closer to Chuubou on his side. Their role in this designed play was far less critical to its success. But knowing they had to occupy their man still kept them at the ready. Suitokku even shifted in such a way that it practically forced Nishi's right tackle and guard to block him simultaneously again.

As Hanada hiked the football, the momentary silence was lifted and the combined forces of Enma's front four roared as they rocketed forward. Grinding their feet into the gridiron the pressed into their opponents mercilessly.

Instead of attempting to swim around his match up, Mizumachi instead purposely tangle up with his opponent to keep him occupied. Suitokku too, instead of blasting into the inept Banko and right guard of the Koi Fish, pressed his massive palms into each of their chests and pressed them forward. In the process he still pushed bother of them backwards, effectively collapsing the pocket.

But the real show was coming down the middle. Kurita bellowed, "FURURGHBAH!" as he manhandled Daisuke into the ground. Absolutely leveling the center, the doughy defensive tackle had succeeded in his part of the play. And beside him Chuubou was able to blast a delta dynamite into the chest of his opponent as well, also sending his adversary toppling. And this created a wide open path for the hunter. As soon as the opening presented itself, Dante flew through it hungrily.

Hanada screamed in fear and he spun out to the cleaner looking lane on the left. Somehow his left tackle had miraculously taken care of that gangly force named Mizumachi which left him an escape path. Or so he thought.

As the flustered quarterback fled for his life from the predator that had already shaven a few years off it earlier, he encountered a spatial distortion. An apparition appeared before him and he felt the sudden warmth in his gut as the speeding bullet collided with his waist. "What was that?" Hanada could only wonder as he was uprooted and launched backwards into the ground. As his thoughts returned and his senses settled, he looked back to see number 21 slowly standing after the tackle.

On the sidelines Suzuna's cheer squad erupted with glee as their super-fast flying ace recorded an 8-yard tackle for a loss and a sack at that! "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Senaaaaaaaaaaa!" the azure angel shouted through her megaphone. "That's more like it! En-ma! En-ma! Fear our Roar! En-ma! En-ma! Win for sure!"

Her rallying cry was practically drowned out and completely muted by the even louder cacophony coming from the crowd. Fans were on their feet chanting, "De-fense! De-fense!" and began a wave motion that flowed through the stands. Their support for their home team was immense, despite their club being so small. One would have figured Enma would have a larger football team considering how many fans they had in the stands. But to the keen onlooker, it appeared that Enma's actual student section was a bit lacking, and many of the fans in the stands were fans of the sport in general. Either way their cheers were directed to the home team and they were deafening. And on the field Suzuna did all she could to rile them up even more.

"That play came together perfectly!" Dante clapped as the liger's returned to their defensive huddle. He snapped a congratulatory finger Mizumachi's way and said, "Your Oscar's in the mail Fish Stick! Great job keeping that tackle 'caught up'"

The former Poseidon puffed out his chest and proudly replied, "But of course!"

A wicked chuckle leaked from the American as he continued, "If they want to be tricksy on offense then I have no problem mixing it up for them on our end too hehehhe." He then savagely pressed his fist into his open palm and twisted it strongly. "Let's keep the heat on them. Burn em alive!" And with that he barked a play call before breaking the huddle.

For the remainder of the half, despite Nishi's best efforts to out wit the Ligers, the just could not surmount the difference in talent. Enma had too much speed in the middle of their field and in their secondary to get any real separation with any consistency. And their front four was a cruel joke to a line short one of their starting linemen. Between the brute strength of Kurita and their monolithic rookie Suitokku, and the cunning and well cultivated techniques of Mizumachi and Chuubou; it took every stunt the Nishi Offense had to manage to get even just two field goals during the first half.

Enma's offense on the other hand methodically marched down the field on each of their possessions. They were easily able to expand their already substantial lead by four more touchdowns in the first half. Sena ran two in himself while Dante and Monta each picked up a receiving touchdown. And by the time the whistle blew for half time it was painfully obvious which team was outclassed. With the score of 42 to 6 at the half, it certainly did not look promising for the Koi Fish.

As the two teams made their way to their respective locker rooms for the intermission Banko said to Daisuke, "Are we dead yet?" to which the elder Hamatsu brother simply replied dryly.

"Shut the fuck up Banko…"

As the boys were resting in the locker room Suzuna continued to lead on her cheer squad to keep the excitement of the crowd going. Her little halftime show involved some pyrotechnics and confetti cannons as well as a few different choreographed performances by the squad. And the kicker at the end was the t-shirt cannon.

She had to admit she always enjoyed blasting the pneumatic bazooka into the stands. The lithe little cheer captain even began to understand why Hiruma took so much enjoyment in his firearms. They were so much fun! Along with a handful of other girls from the cheer squad, Suzuna began to launch t-shirt as far as the air cannon would allow them to do so. As the navy haired teen scanned the crowd for enthusiastic targets she spotted a familiar face amongst them.

"EEEE! Shidao!" exclaimed the bubbly cheer captain with a wave. In the stands the mint haired teen waved back in kind. Suzuna enthusiastically waved her down towards the field. Shidao seemed hesitant at first but after a few seconds of double guessing she did make her way down to the railing above the field level.

"How's it going girl? Did you see that crazy tip Monta had earlier?" Suzuna gushed in greeting as Shidao was now only a few feet above her level in the stands.

The younger Sawai sister responded with uncharacteristic happiness, "Yes! It was an amazing play! His pick six was also fantastic! And his touchdown in the 2nd quarter! EeEeee!" she finished by excitedly clapping her hands together.

This only caused Suzuna to smile all the brighter because of her reaction. Shidao really was head over heals for the dumb monkey. It was sweet. The azure angel replied in kind, "He's having a heck of a game that's for sure! But hey! You know you're welcome down on the sidelines with us, I mean your sister is the team manager after all! In fact…" she paused to bring an index finger up to pensively poke at her lips. "We could probably give you a position to help out down on the field… even if its just arranging drinks and the like for the players… it would make less work for Juri." Suzuna then paused to gauge the younger girl's reaction and added suggestively, "I bet Monta would be really fired up to have you passing out drinks on the sidelines."

Suzuna had to suppress a chuckle as she watched the wheels turning in Shidao's head and as the younger teens face began to slowly glow redder and redder. After a brief moment of thought however, it seemed the mint haired cutie pie was in favor of the idea as a small smile appeared on her face.

"I-I… I th-think I can manage th-that." Shidao stammered from her place in the stands.

"Good! So, hop down and we'll get you to work!" the raven haired cheer leader quipped.

The abruptness of the answer seemed to fluster the poor shy teen and Shidao stuttered, "R-right n-now?!" Clearly, she wasn't expecting to do that very thing right this second. She didn't know where anything was or what to do or anything like that!

"Yeah! Here, climb down. Hey girls! Help Shidao down!" Suzuna exclaimed before giving a short burst on her whistle to grab her squad's attention. A couple of the taller lasses on the brigade answered the call and moved to the sideline wall to assist the younger girl down to field level.

Shidao awkwardly accepted the assistance once she carefully maneuvered the railing. "I-is this r-really alright? Won't I g-get in trouble?"

"Not if you move quickly you won't! Hurry up girl!" Suzuna teased.

"Ack!" yelped the poor verdant vixen as she took the last jump down with the help of some of Suzuna's cheer squad. Once on the ground she looked over to Suzuna and sheepishly laughed. "S-so what do you need me to do?"

"Atta girl!" Suzuna cheered before skating over to whisk away the minty teen to the benches and help her prepare a tray of refreshments for the group of colossal idiots before they returned to the field.

Up in the stands a seemingly invisible onlooker watched and listened in to that entire display. Maybe ten feet further down the railing from the pair of girls was Kohando, his collar still pulled upwards to hide his face. And while he was trying to avoid Shidao's detection, it still hurt his pride that she didn't recognize him when she came within only a handful of paces of him.

And again, all of this gushing over that ape faced athlete. Monta this and Monta that, Ohhhh Monta is just so great! Disgusting. Kohando watched as Shidao was helped down to the field and disappeared towards Enma's bench with that other woman before slinking his own way towards the tunnel the players used to get to and from the field and the locker rooms. Like a looming gargoyle he waited there for the ligers to return.

After a few more minutes of waiting, half time ended, and the Enma Ligers marched back out of the tunnel and onto their respective sideline. As each player passed, they donned their helmets and jogged onto the field. All the while Kohano kept a trained eye out for number 80 to get a better look at his face.

Good lord some of these gentlemen we hideous. Only a scarce couple of them could be considered decent looking. Number 92 especially seemed frightful in his appearance, what with that wild mop of red hair and that overgrown beard. But then he appeared, Taro Raimon. Kohando glared enviously, expecting to see some unrivaled Adonis chiseled in marble. To his rage and dismay however it appeared a literal ape was parading around in that jersey. Those wide ears and flat nose, and those audacious sideburns. Was this guy for real? That THING was what caught Shidao's heart?

Kohando slowly followed Monta with his eyes as the simian receiver put on his helmet and jogged back onto the field. How could the fair and fine Shidao Sawai have fallen for such a measly and grotesque beast? Why Kohando even quickly pulled out his phone to check his reflection in its camera to be sure he hadn't transformed into some horrible little goblin just in case. For, why else would Shidao have chosen this apish oaf over his own radiant brilliance?

No, looks couldn't possibly be the reason. If it were that alone he'd have beaten this Monta character in spades. He cupped his chin pensively and

furrowed his brow thinking of what it might be. The ardent pretty boy stewed for a few moments before his sparkling gray eyes fell back to the gridiron field in front of him. Could it be the sport he played? Or the position that he specifically played, what was it again? Wide Receiver?

Quickly he looked towards the bench as he heard a high-pitched whoop and saw the moronic monkey greeting the object of his affections. He ground his teeth together as he watched this Taro Raimon wrap an awkward painful looking hug around the beautiful mint haired girl of his dreams.

The fires of jealousy burned furiously in Kohando's heart and he went back to his phone to find out everything he could about this bizarre American sport and all of its finer details. And hell, while he was at it too, he figured he might as well begin heavily researching Enma University. The Olympic try out for gymnastics that had occupied his thoughts for the past few years seemed to all but disappear. After all, the heart wants what the heart wants.