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.

Meanwhile, during the events of the evening while Monta and Shidao were getting over an early threshold in their relationship by holding hands, another pair was setting out to have a far more cardiovascularly active evening.

Sena and Suzuna had quickly made their way to their favorite local konbini in Point Crest known as Dawson's. It had all your typical fare that general convenience stores had across Japan including various bottled beverages, junk foods, to go meals, and more. This particular Dawson's had a hot bar where one could order various dishes as take away. There was karage, kare-pan, and even fried onigiri with various fillings amongst other crispy oily confections.

As the pair entered through the automatic sliding glass door, they were greeted by the handful of employees that were working. The wild haired brunette and his raven-haired partner greeted in kind and began to hunt and peck their way through the various aisles for goodies for their romantic night in.

Suzuna zipped right over towards the junk food and began perusing through all of the chocolates. In short order she nabbed a couple of sakura flavored kit kats, and some dark chocolate covered cherries as well. Still sliding around on her rollerblades, she scooted on by the coolers and grabbed a melon flavored oolong tea to enjoy as well. The lithe cheer captain also managed to find room in her paws to pick out another small rectangular box for… tonight's festivities.

Her beloved boyfriend meanwhile grabbed a pair of salmon roe onigiri from one of the open coolers and a pack of daifuku mochi. He then traipsed over to choose a lemon-flavored cola for himself and met up with his azure angle at the hot bar counter to pick out their mains.

An elderly gentleman behind the hot bar counter asked the young couple, "Ah yes, what can I get for you?" The wrinkled crow's feet that grasped at the corners of his eyes shifted upwards as he offered them a welcoming smile.

Sena politely responded, "Ah thank you. Could we get two of the kare-pan please?" The brunette running back then pointed to the desired items in the case. With a nod the older fellow grabbed up a pair of silver tongs and with quick precision nabbed a couple of the curry filled fried dough balls. In rapid order he bagged them up in neat little wrappers, complete with Dawson's store logo and handed them over to the tailback.

With their haul in hand the two lovers checked out and made their way back into the winding streets of Point Crest. Suzuna looped her arm through Sena's and the pair enjoyed their casual trek back to the young runner's apartment. While on their way there the azure angel questioned, "Do you think Monta and Shidao are doing alright?"

Sena frowned pensively and answered after a moment's pause, "I'm sure they're doing alright." He paused once more and narrowed his eyes at Suzuna adding, "I just hope no one is spying on them… would hate for that to happen."

The cheer captain's antenna perked up briefly before she smoothed it back out and babbled, "I have NO idea what you mean SIR!" Trying to play off her interest as innocently as possible only drew a knowing look from her beloved. "Whaaaat? You have to be at least a little curious about what they're doing and if it's going well don't you?" the raven haired teen blustered.

The lightspeed running back simply sighed and relented, "I guess… but I'm ok with waiting to find out tomorrow and let them enjoy their evening. Besides." He shifted his arm out of hers to wrap around her waist, "I'm more interested in my current company than I am in their business." Sena then saw fit to stick out his lower lip in a pout and tease, "Aren't you?"

A red hue rushed to the frazzled cheeks of Suzuna Taki as the lithe teen stammered, "H-HEY! That's not fair! You i-idiot!" and pushed away playfully slapping at her boyfriend's toned chest. He wouldn't relent his grip however and she surrendered as he pressed a kiss to her lips. The warm tingle left her feeling tipsy and she relented, "Ohhhhh alright… you win," before pressing a quick peck of her own back on his handsome face.

Sena laughed warmly and added, "Come on. Let's go eat." and continued to walk home with his beloved hand in hand. The brunette running back could already feel the fluttery little butterflies building in his stomach in anticipation of the evening. To be fair the pair had shared relations a number of times since that beach trip which seemed forever ago at this point. Still, the super star runner became a stammering and stuttering fool when the subject was broached by Suzuna. The red tint to his face followed them all the way back to his apartment as he turned the key to open his door.

Suzuna skated in and shed her rollerblades before neatly setting them near the door. She too felt the nervous fluttering of insects in her stomach as she also was imagining the proceedings of their night. Glancing towards her wild haired boyfriend she bit her lower lip hungrily and allowed her eyes to navigate his form as he bent over to take off his own shoes. The azure angel certainly would be considered the more brazen of the two when it came to matters involving intercourse. Not that she ever heard a complaint from her timid partner about it that is.

A sudden gurgle from her stomach overpowered her other hunger and she reminded herself that they had all evening for other things. Right now they had some fresh kare-pan and other junk to enjoy. Making her way towards Sena's living room area she plopped down on his dark blue couch. The lithe cheer captain began digging through the bags of goodies they bought from Dawson's and pulled out the two perfectly packaged kare-pan just as Sena sat down to join her. She held out one of them to him and asked, "So stud, do you think we'll have a bunch of new students come to the try outs this week after watching our debut?"

Sena accepted the neatly wrapped confection and began to tear it open before answering, "I imagine we'll get at least a few that might want to try out… the only bad part is most of them probably won't make the cut." as he took a bite out of the curry stuffed fry bread he added between mouthfuls, "Dante's a harsher critic than Hiruma sometimes." and he let out a defeated sigh.

The raven haired beauty had also begun nibbling on her own kare-pan while she listened. After swallowing the first savory bite she replied, "Mmm. I guess that's to be expected. If they haven't played football before, it's hard to expect them to be any good at a college level right?" The azure angel took another bite before speaking through it with a cheekful of curry, "Unless they're a monster like Suitokkun!"

Enma's team captain nodded and agreed, "Right. Suitokku was definitely a special case. I doubt we'll get that lucky a second time." He took another bite of his curry filled bread and sighed as he chewed it slowly, "It would be nice to get another serviceable receiver. Riku and I can only do so much. Dante helps us a lot at tight end, but it's not the same as having another deep threat that can reliably catch the ball." The forlorn running back blinked at his hands as they cradled the kare-pan. "Heaven knows I'm not ready to be called reliable in the catching

department." Sure he could catch a pitch or a quick toss out of the back field. But blasting down the field and jumping to catch a deep pass at the height of its path, that was a different story.

Between bites of her own food the raven haired beauty went on, "It would be nice to help Monta out back there. He's always getting double covered. Sometimes triple." The lithe cheerleader paused and put down her kare-pan to crack open her melon tea. After a sip of that she continued, "Who knows maybe we'll get lucky at least a little bit and another athlete who was unfamiliar with football will join. Kinda like Monta did back when."

Sena frowned pensively at this and slowly nodded as he finished off his spicy kare-pan. "Maybe. It is true Enma did not have a football team until Kurita and Unsui formed it a couple years ago. It wouldn't be too weird to think other athletes might want to check it out after seeing us in action." He crumpled up the wrapper he'd been using to help hold his meal and put it back into the Dawson's bag before fishing out one of the salmon roe onigiri he purchased. Crinkling back the clear plastic that contained the salty rice ball he added, "I guess we'll find out later this week at least." and offered Suzuna a hopeful smile.

Seeming satisfied with that, and hoping for another diamond in the rough, Suzuna finished her own crispy curry filled bread and immediately went after her sakura kit kats. Her antenna perked up deviously and she snapped off one of the candy bars and held it between her teeth before leaning her head out towards Sena's. She made a short yoohoo noise to get his attention and then rose her eyebrows suggestively.

The wild haired teen lifted his own eyebrows and turned her way to see the offered candy bar and blushed slightly before giving in with a laugh. Stretching his own head out towards her he caught the other end of the wafer crisp in his own teeth as Suzuna nibbled towards the center. Their lips met in the middle and the lithe cheerleader happily stole a kiss to pair with her chocolate.

And that kiss would be but the first of many as the couple of young lovers spent the remainder of their evening and into the night in one another's arms. Between the chocolates and various other forms of entertainment shared between the passionate pair that evening they both ended up sleeping in the next morning.

Suzuna awoke in Sena's bed, nestled against his chest. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent before pressing her lips against his exposed upper torso. He gave a soft moan and moved a still sleepy hand around her hips to rest at the small of her back. Thinking back to the night before and all of the… ahem… calisthenics they did with one another brought a tinge of pink to her cheeks. A quick glance past her boyfriend towards his desk found the box of chocolate covered cherries. She smirked impishly remembering what else she used them to "cover" the night before and how a certain running back ate them right off her…

A sudden loud vibration beside the empty chocolate box echoed from Suzuna's phone, drawing her from her perverted reverie. The azure angel rolled atop Sena's chest and stretched out to reach her phone. Doing so however, pressed her bare breasts against his torso and the still half asleep running back subconsciously wrapped his arms around her waist as his hands travelled southward, giving the cheer captains bottom a firm squeeze.

Suzuna let out a little playful shriek and warned, "Sena!" before batting his chest and getting pulled in for a kiss. Well the text on her phone could wait for now she thought, as she was swept up and rolled onto her back by her boyfriend. And buzz as it may, buzz as it might, those texts were ignored for a little while longer as the pair shared in some morning bliss.

Now both fully awake and with Sena taking a shower Suzuna scooted towards Sena's desk and sat on his computer chair. She was wearing one of his shirts and nothing else as she spun to face the desk. Snatching up her phone she quickly opened it and began to dig into the contents of her messages. One was from her brother commenting on how it was impossible that they lost and yadda yadda… "Deleted." was all she said to that before erasing that message.

"Ahhhh here we go!" she crooned eagerly as she saw a couple of messages from Shidao. Here's the juicy stuff she was hoping to find when she heard her phone vibrating earlier. Rapidly she opened the message and began to read as her antenna bobbed to and fro.

"Hi Suzuna, I hope you and Sena had fun last night. I had a good time with Monta. Don't worry he didn't do anything worth killing him over. We had some delicious miso ramens at Sari Ramen and he walked me home. He even held my hand! 3!" read the messages as Suzuna swayed side to side in the chair with excitement for her friend. Aw! Monta held her hand! How adorable! She remembered the first time Sena did that, what a cherished memory!

The raven haired cheerleader quickly typed a response back to her friend, "Aww that's so sweet! I am glad you and Monta had a good date last night! And yes, Sena and I had a great time last night as well! Sari Ramen is the place Riku talked about I think? Either way it sounds great, we'll all have to go together some time. Maybe we can do a double date!"

As she sent the message she tapped the phone against her chin and thought about just that. A double date could be really fun. But at the same time she didn't want to overstep any boundaries too soon. Glancing towards the bathroom door and still hearing the water running from Sena's shower she had to admit she did enjoy her alone time with her own boyfriend. She simply shrugged and thought that if Shidao liked the idea then they'd do that some time, and if not, that was ok too.

It was not long until she received a text back however saying, "That sounds like fun! Just let me know ahead of time. Idk if I could spontaneously do that :S" and with that Suzuna seemed satisfied. That was fair enough thought the navy haired teen. With that she set her phone on the desktop and sighed contentedly. The sound of water flowing from the shower head however perked up her antenna once more.

Spinning to face the hall she smiled deviously and said, "Why not…?" and tip toed towards the door and slipped inside.

Again during the prior evening another group of rambunctious youngsters made their way through the winding avenues of Point Crest. Their fiery ringleader raucously leading the way to Lone Star's for a victory feast. In total the group included the entirety of Enma's offensive line, their aloof safety Riku, and the Notre Dame Lion himself. That added up to seven ravenous athletes that could put a hurting on any dining establishment. Luckily Lone Star's was used to hosting big appetites.

Dante led the rowdy bunch of hungry hungry footballers up to the entrance of the open pit barbeque restaurant and made arrangements with the hostess for a table for seven. The spritely little brunette behind the podium nodded and welcomed the group inside. This place practically knew Dante on a first name basis at this point with how frequently he ate here. That and he did successfully beat their immense eating challenge. Even Suitokku had garnered some recognition or the same feat and was being greeted by various members of the staff as they strolled through the dining room to their table.

"This place is nuts dude!" Mizumachi exclaimed as they made it to their seats. The gangly blond lineman was looking all around. The interior was darker than he expected, with the most obvious source of light being the glowing coals of the open pit fire towards the back side of the dining room. In a way it was kind of like those ritzy hoity toity "view the kitchen" establishments. Only in this case the kitchen in question was a massive set of brick ovens and wood fire grills with a giant centralized vent taking the smoke and other gases harmlessly outside. That did nothing however to dissipate the overwhelming aroma of slowly roasting meat.

Taking his own seat across from them Dante smoothed out his jean shorts and gave a course agreement, "Right? I can't tell you how excited I was to find it. No offense, you guys tend to turn your steaks into well… not steaks." He lifted a napkin off the table and continued, "Shit, you guys practically sliced ' em thin as this! PAH! That ain't a steak!" With that he tossed the paper tissue and it floated haphazardly back down on the table.

Riku was quick to retort, "To be fair most people from here don't eat nearly as much as your countrymen do in a single sitting."

Dante put on an unimpressed face and instantly pointed a finger towards Suitokku and his other hand then pointed a finger at Kurita.

The aloof blond just as rapidly spat. "Hey! I said most."

A heavy snort blew from the american's sharply angled nose and he seceded the point. "Well whatever man, get whatchu like it's on me!" This naturally brought a chorus of retorts from some of his teammates refuting that generosity. The only two that didn't openly object were Mizumachi and Suitokku. One because he had no shame, and the other because he was broke and knew better than to argue. And as the waitress appeared and asked if it would be separate checks Dante chirped, "ONE!" and silenced their rebuttals then.

Mizumachi let out a long whistle once he opened up the menu however. He was certainly glad the bestial linebacker was footing this bill. Some of these steaks exceeded several thousand yen. As the waitress began taking orders with Dante himself, the gangly lineman's eyes practically bugged out of his skull when the furry foreigner ordered one of the more expensive steaks, and paired it with several sides, an appetizer, and added on a rack of ribs as well. Hell, that order alone was more than Mizumachi was accustomed to eating in one sitting, and certainly more than he would normally spend.

Seeming familiar with the Okinowan leviathan the waitress took his order next. The big ox ordered the biggest steak that wasn't the eating challenge, a mess of sides, and a full rack of ribs as well. Not wanting to be outdone when the server came to him, Mizumachi mimicked Suitokku's order as well. The gangly blonde simply said with a shrug, "Hey when in Tokyo right?" This drew a snap of fingers and a gesture of approval from Dante across the table and the remainder of the crew also ordered steaks and some sides. Riku ordered the smallest portion, which was to be expected. Kakei and the other linemen ordered respectable portions for their sizes as well, and then there was Kurita. The rotund bouncy ball ordered the grill master platter which came with a selection of just about every meat the restaurant offered, a healthy portion of coleslaw, a baked potato, mile high Texas toast, and a heavy helping of black eyed peas. Before the waitress could ask if there was anything else the fiery American raised a hand and pointed to the signage above the barbeque pit.

"Excuse me, Akikio? What is the 'Hogfather Board?" he asked of the young waitress, whom apparently he also knew on a first name basis at this point.

Akiko turned her attention on the odd foreigner who seemed to be keeping this place in business more than any other customer and answered, "Ah, it is a party platter of a suckling pig, spit roasted for hours on our hickory smoker, with whatever sauces you would like, and fresh baked bread."

Dante's grin grew wider and wider as she described the dish. A pig roast? OHHHHH YEAHHH. "We'll take one of those for the table too!" he hungrily replied to the ghast of some of his teammates. Kurita however seemed to be drooling and cupping his face with eagerness.

Riku simply shook his head and sighed, "You guys are ridiculous…"

A while later Akiko and a literal team of other servers paraded out of the barbeque pit with trays of various grilled and smoked meats, baked sides, and loaves of bread. As each player had their respective meals placed in front of them they couldn't help but salivate at the aromas. And then they brought out the suckling pig. A literal wooden chopping block with an entire smoked suckling pig on it. The head chef himself brought it out on a rolling cart and carved the meat from the bones of the roasted beast. The sheer artistry of his cuts and the quality of the tender smoked pork had all of the players, yes even Riku, staring on with hungry eyes. When he had finished carving up the pig the head chef bowed and returned to the pit. The team of servers then carefully found room on the table for the massive platter of pork, ham, bacon, and more. Akiko swiftly returned with an arrangement of barbeque sauces as well for them to enjoy. Once done the team of waiters and waitresses bowed and then left their patrons to their feast.

Dante clapped his hands together and rubbed them eagerly, "Awww right! Dig in!" and immediately began tearing into the ribs he had ordered. The other players also began to cut into their steaks and took heaping portions of pork from the center platter. Drizzling sweet and rich deep red sauces over the smoked meats the boys dived right in. To passerbys and other patrons of Lone Star's it was not unlike witnessing a pride of lions gathered around a kill. One of them in particular seemed fit to lash out at any that would approach and they gave the table a wide berth. Only Akiko seemed undaunted and continued to orbit the table, refilling drinks and assisting by taking away cleared plates as they appeared.

And slowly over the course of the next hour the ligers did indeed polish off every last bit of edible material on that table. Many of the players were stretched out against the backs of their chairs with swollen bellies, groaning from having ate far too much. Dante leaned back in his own chair with a satisfied sigh and rubbed his own bulging gut. "Ahhhh delicious as always Lone Star's…"

Riku had remained modest in his helpings and snickered at the expressions on some of his friends' faces. Mizumachi in particular looks a few shades greener and seemed to be struggling to keep his meal in.

Kakei must have noticed as well because he was scooting his chair away from the positively green former swimmer. "Mizumachi. Are you ok? If you puke on me I swear…" was all the stoic heartthrob said as he continued to inch away as far as he could until he bumped into the side of Chuubou's seat.

Mizumachi held up a finger to indicate Kakei should hold on and he covered his mouth as a noxious sulfur burp leaked out. This caused Kakei to push out his chair and stand up.

Dante chuckled and asked, "Bathroom?" to which the gangly blond nodded emphatically. The bushy browed american pointed in the direction of the washroom and cackled as Mizumachi bolted off in their direction.

Akiko approached the table and watched Mizumachi darting towards the men's room. When she stopped beside Dante she asked, "Is he going to be alright?" She had short brown hair and amber colored eyes. She was fit, maybe in her early twenties. It wouldn't have been a stretch to think she may even be a student at Enma. Her work uniform was a black button down shirt and a red bandana tied around the collar like a neckerchief. A form fitting skirt and belt, both black in color made up the remainder of the outfit down to the nylon leggings and black dress shoes.

The fiery foreigner waved it off, "Aw he'll be fine. Just bit off more than he could chew."

The waitress seemed concerned but would have to take his word for it. Heaven knows she wasn't going in after him to check. Dismissing the thought she turned and presented the American with the bill. "If you say so, and thanks again for stopping by Dante, I hope everything was to your liking!"

He smiled warmly and answered, "As always!" he gave her a wink and added, "And it's all the sweeter any time I get to see you too!"

This brought a little color to the girl's face and she smiled back. "You're too kind." she seemed a bit off balance with the complement and was momentarily frazzled before adding. "I'll come back in a few minutes and check on you guys alright?"

With a smile and a nod Dante watched briefly as she walked off and then turned his attention to the rather pricey bill. Whew, this probably would have bankrupted anyone else at the table. But the hairy foreigner dug into his pocket and produced his wallet. He thumbed out the necessary bills and put away his wallet. He put extra in there as well for her and the wait staff. Dante still couldn't get used to the fact that they generally did not tip in this country. Especially when fantastic service was given, he wanted to give them something as thanks.

When Akiko returned she bowed as she took the receipt book and Dante told her, "Keep the change!" She gave him a quizzical look. This wasn't the first time the American had 'tipped' her or the other wait staff. While it was normally frowned upon here, their owner had told them to ignore it because of how good a customer he was and the fact that in his home country this was the standard.

That said she still commented, "You know I've told you that you don't need to do that right?"

He just frowned and waved it off, "I know I don't HAVE to, but I WANT to." The frowning american then switched his expression to a smile and gave her another wink. She on the other hand just gave him a bit of a warning look and he sighed, "Alright I get it, you don't tip in Japan. If that's the case then use the extra to pay for…" and he paused to look around and pointed to a random table with a family of four that had a couple little kids with them. "That table." and he finished it with a confident nod.

Akiko looked to the table he pointed at and then back to him. She slightly rolled her eyes and sighed, "All right." She then bowed to the table and thanked the group for coming before specifically telling Dante, "Have a good night big guy. Take care." And she even tossed him a little wink with those luminescent amber orbs.

"You too Akiko, thanks again!" and he trotted on out after his teammates.

The group had already scooped up and assisted Mizumachi outside. The sick lineman definitely tossed a few cookies back there from overeating. Once outside they all thanked Dante for the meal and promised to pick up the bill next time. The fiery linebacker waved it off dismissively and laughed telling them not to worry about it.

He and Suitokku watched as the group departed, Kakei giving Mizumachi support as they did so, and then the pair turned back in the direction of Dante's lofty tower. With a heavy sigh of satisfaction Dante rubbed his belly and commented, "Damn that place is good."

Suitokku nodded in agreement before giving the American a sideways grin. Reaching out with a mammoth hand of his he shoved his shorter teammate in the shoulder and teased, "I'm starting to think you keep going back there because of other things and not just the food."

Dante staggered under the immense strength of his roommate and asked densely, "What do you mean? Best steaks in town!"

The maritime colossus snorted and nudged him with his pylon sized elbow, "Uh-huh, looks to me like their steaks aren't the only cut of meat you'd like to get a hold of…"

At this point the thick headed American stopped and pressed his hands to his hips, "The hell you talkin about?"

Suitokku turned and gave the linebacker an incredulous look before gaping, "Oh come on, you flirt with that waitress every time you see her. Even I can see that!"

"Akiko?" Dante asked, seeming surprised by the accusation. He shifted his arms from his hips and crossed them across his chiseled chest. Stroking his beard he considered the giant's accusation. With a shrug he admitted, "Well I can't say I wouldn't…"

"I knew it!" Suitokku exclaimed as he jabbed a firm rebar like finger into the chest of the dense linebacker.

Dante shifted his feet and lessened the pressure from the spear like poke and moved the hand stroking his beard to the air beside his head and expressed, "To be fair she is a stone cold fox. But…" he shrugged. "Is what it is. Come say come saw."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" asked the now confused leviathan.

"Eh don't worry about it. Whatever happens happens, now come on I need to go into a deep food coma…"

Once more, when Suitokku thought he was beginning to understand the strange enigma that was his friend, he goes and pulls something completely new out of his ass. Suitokku simply sighed and shook his head before following his friend back home.