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.
The coming week would bring about more strenuous practices and film study for the Enma Ligers. Their next opponent was a team many of the former Devil Bats were familiar with. Or at the very least, contained some players they were quite familiar with. The Shuei Doctor Fishes.
The former Devil Bats players on Enma's roster would immediately look forward to a reunion with their former teammate Yukimistu, and many of them were quite familiar with an old rival quarterback in Takami. This team was heavily favored in only one aspect, their intelligence. It was seen already that their physical prowess left something to be desired. That said, they fared pretty well against their first opponents and lost a close game to the Tokai University Bears. The doctor fishes put up an impressive effort, but failed to make a full comeback, falling 24 to 17.
During their first session of film study on Monday before their Saturday game, Dante and the others were quick to point out obvious flaws in their offensive schemes and their lackluster defense. They simply lacked the physical talent to overpower their opponents and enforce their brilliant ideas. But the fiery American cautioned his teammates, "Any given Sunday! Remember that folks! Don't be complacent, go at them with everything you've got!"
"What are the odds that they'll beat us?" Monta asked curiously. He and the other former devilbats were pretty accustomed to Hiruma attaching numbers to these sorts of things, and it was hardwired into his little monkey brain.
Dante frowned at that and said, "Don't matter if their odds are a bazillion to one or a hundred percent against us, you do what you do Mitts and forget about the damn math!"
The simian simpleton frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. "Fair point…" he grumped and let out a sigh.
The bestial linebacker then clapped his strong hands together loudly and rubbed them together before segwaying, "As for other announcements I secede the floor to Twinkle Toes." With that the hairy foreigner made a gesture introducing Sena to the speaking podium in the club room and moved to take a seat nearby.
Sena bowed and made his way to the stand. He set his hands atop its square frame to settle his nerves. The wild haired brunette still couldn't get used to public speaking, whether it was in front of his trusted teammates or otherwise. Briefly he looked to Suzuna who shot him a double thumbs up. Swallowing his nerves and with a nod he cleared his throat before announcing. "As you maybe already know uh, our recent home game has got us some attention the team didn't have before. Juri was kind enough to post sign in sheets around campus with our team contact information regarding joining the team. We got a…" and he paused to rifle through a few printouts Juri had provided him with and continued, "28 applicants!" This brought a resounding cheer from the room.
"That's more than we ever got in our first two years!" Kurita bouncily blubbered as he quaked the ground beneath him. His chair groaned against the up and down movements caused by his excited gyrations.
Juri quickly followed up, "That is likely because more students are attracted to a team that showed a substantial victory and a winning effort instead of how we've fared in the past. Plus other first years may be attracted to a sport they've not had experience with in their high schools."
Unsui raised a hand and asked a clarifying question, "Do we know if any of the applicants have any other athletic experience? Or if we're getting raw recruits with none?"
Sena quickly stammered, "Uh uh.. Um!" and began to quickly shift through the papers until he got to a print out that surveyed that exact question. Jeez Juri was prepared. He'd have to make sure to thank her. "Here! Uhh, let's see. Yes there are a few athletes listed. There seem to be a few track and field athletes, a soccer player, and a gymnast?" He gave a quizzical expression and furrowed his brow at the last one. That seemed odd to him, but then again their sport was probably one of the most uncommon team sports in Japan so he would take what they could get.
Setting the papers back down in a neat stack Sena continued, "Anyway the team will be holding tryouts for the interested recruits on Friday before our next game against Shuei. That's our rest day before the game but I'm looking for anyone to help set up the field and run skills drills." and before he could finish the entire team raised their hands. It wasn't unexpected. He knew his teammates were dedicated and always ready to help. He bowed deeply and said, "Thank you all for your help!" When the running back stood back up he rested his hands on the podium once more and added, "Juri and I will begin working on assigning duties for Friday. We'll still have our usual practices tomorrow through Thursday. That is all for today!" The brunette then took another curt bow and stepped away from the podium as the room began to stand and collect their things. The lightspeed tail back trotted over to Suzuna and Monta joined him.
The sideburned receiver asked, "You think any of them might be a good fit for wide receiver?" He was keen to try and gleam if there might be any prospects that could help out the team in that department. It was their only real glaring weakness at the moment. That and perhaps another linebacker so Unsui could focus solely on offense.
Sena could only offer a shrug and stated, "I don't know to be honest. Out of the applicants that said they played other sports the only one that uses their hands to grab things would be the gymnast right?"
Suzuna nodded in agreement, "Right, because track and field stars don't practice catching anything, and a soccer player would never use their hands unless they were a goalie. But gymnasts have to use their hands for like, all of their routines right?"
The simian simpleton could only offer a shrug at that, "Yeah I honestly have maxi-no idea on that." The main sports he followed were baseball and of course football. Everything else outside of that range kind of fell into a gray area for the wideout.
This drew a shrug from Sena and his beloved as well. The wilde haired brunette reiterated, "I guess we'll find out in a couple of days."
And as the week toiled away the various workouts and practice continued to center around improving Suitokku's skills as well as continuing to acclimate Kakei to an unfamiliar position. It seemed as though the two towering freshmen had their work cut out for them. Kakei seemed to pick up the instructions faster than Suitokku did, but it was just a matter of building stamina and the mentality to execute them properly. The massive Okinowan on the other hand needed to continue basic drills with repetition in order to grasp them. However, once Suitokku figured something out, it stuck to him like glue and he was able to use his immense strength to implement it with terrifying power. He had a long way to go however until anyone could call his raw techniques skilled.
Meanwhile Sena and Riku continued working on pass catching drills with Monta and Dante. The bestial linebacker was determined to make a receiver of Twinkle Toes yet and constantly hounded the timid runner with each error. Monta did his best to tutor his friend, but unfortunately was not a good teacher. His natural innate talent for catching the ball came across as second nature to him, and he couldn't quite figure out how to translate that prowess into something useful to clue his teammates in. Riku did however continue to improve and seemed to have some potential as a slot receiver if nothing else. However, his hands were nowhere near as strong as Monta's, so winning catching battles with taller opponents would be difficult at best. And considering the lithe blonde's slight stature, it would definitely be a problem in games to come. He would need to be utilized wisely.
Everyone else seemed to be doing well and improving themselves. The most vital part of this was their team synergy developing. Deimon grew stronger together the longer they played with each other. Enma was starting to show signs of this cohesiveness as well. Kakei and Mizumachi already had great chemistry and worked together well, and with Kurita and Chuubou's assistance they too were slowly grooming Suitokku into a worthy lineman.
The receiving core's cooperation was already well established. Sena and Monta have been playing together their entire careers, Riku was a quick study, and Dante was a freak of nature when it came to athleticism. It was Unsui out of all of them that seemed to be in the slow track in building chemistry with passes that were just too far out of reach or just too shy at their feet. But he too had already improved dramatically in recent weeks.
These were all positive signs of team cohesiveness. If they could continue improving their overall teamwork, then they would be able to mask some of their weaknesses and potentially contend with monsters like Saikyodai. And that was the goal of each and every player here. Hopefully come Friday, there would be a few more cogs to add to this machine.
And so the week passed by. Practices continued. Budding romances continued to blossom between young lovebirds as texts were sent and received. Dates were promised after another victory, and a welcome celebration for any potential new recruits were to be added to the festivities. Then Friday finally arrived.
All of Enma's faithful players were down on the field helping to set up for the larger group of hopefuls arriving later that morning. Kurita and Suitokku were helping to move the heavy lineman sleds out onto the gridiron. For them it was a paltry chore, for others it was impossible. Their immense strength showed quite impressively with how easily they maneuvered the heavy objects.
Elsewhere the remainder of the linemen group had brought out a bench press and several kilos of circular weights to add to the bar if they were lucky enough to recruit any more monolithic monsters for the O-line. Once they had finished up there they joined Kurita and Suitokku to set up some agility course cones meant to measure lineman strafing speed and footwork. Strength was certainly important, but so too were quick feet.
Meanwhile Sena and Riku were busy measuring out a portion of track to align a starting and finish line for a 40 yard dash station. Sena and Riku were tabbed with keeping track there considering that was their strongest stat line. The pair of light weights had stopwatch timers around their necks to compare their finished times with one another to confer their accuracy.
Catching drills were of course left to Unsui and arguably the players with the best hands on the team, Monta and Dante. This essentially had a few football launchers lined up along opposite sides of a single yardline marker. Each was about 20 yards off the marker and would alternate passes to a receiver running down the yardline marker from one sideline to the other. The exercise tested the quickness of receivers, their flexibility in being able to turn to catch a football projected at them from opposite sides of their path, and of course their catching ability. Once it was set up Monta and Dante took turns testing it out. Juri and Suzuna helped by loading the football cannons with ammunition as they passed by, running at top speed down the yard marker. The final pass once they reached the opposite sideline would be a deep bomb thrown by Unsui to gauge a receivers ability to catch a deep fade route over their shoulder.
In total there were 5 foot ball cannons. All of which were "procured" by the help of Suzuna and a certain hellish credit card of sorts. But it made for an excellent test gauntlet for any would be wide outs. Dante, Monta, Juri, Suzuna, and Shidao once she arrived would be the hands that fed the beast, while Unsui would be on standby for the final toss.
The remaining players would assist elsewhere as needed. Sena and the others had wanted to set up a kicking station but Kotaro's pride would not allow for that. There was room for only one perfect kicker at Enma as far as he was concerned. So instead Juri stuck him with gopher duty. If they needed anything or any one station needed extra hands, he was unanimously volun-told to do it.
At around 9am, the predetermined starting time of the tryouts, a large number of applicants that had applied began to filter in. As expected many of them weren't exactly what you would call athletic per say. But hey if Yukimitsu could play for Deimon then anything was possible.
Juri helped each of them sign in on a sign up sheet and Suzuna helped stick a piece of printer paper with a number on the back of each of their shirts to help keep track during drills. The elder Sawai sister reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone to text her late sister. "Where the hell are you Shidao? You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"
It was another few minutes before she got a response. "Sorry I am running late, the university kitchen screwed up our order for the players so I'm going to be a little behind!" Juri sighed and said aloud, "COME ON ENMA!" and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What's happening blue bell?" Suzuna asked as she skated back to join the team manager on the sideline.
Juri sighed in annoyance, "The damn school cafe screwed up our order for all these animals… so Shidao's going to be late.
"That's ok I had the beefy boys bring down some extra water buffalos. Knowing our kitchen's track record I didn't think they'd get it right. Should I send the gopher to go give her a hand?" the azure angel replied curiously.
"No I'll get him… he's my idiot." dryly replied the elder Sawai sister. The light blue haired team manager brought her whistle to her mouth and let out a shrill screech. "KOTARO! C'MERE!" she shouted at the absent minded kicker who was currently helping out to organize the various recruits into groups based on the positions they had applied to try out for.
The suave kicker pulled out his switchblade comb and slicked back his greased hair. Sashaying his way over to his main squeeze he asked, "What's up babe?"
"Go check on my sister at the University Kitchen and help her bring the after event food back here ok? They screwed up the order so they're taking too long, and knowing Shidao, she's already freaking out about it. Just help her get it here quicker so she doesn't panic and mess something else up without meaning to." replied the manager.
With a salute of his comb he barked, "Yes ma'am!" and was quick to start jogging off in the direction of the university kitchen to offer a helping hand.
Suzuna skated over to stand beside Juri as Kotaro took off and asked half jokingly, "Think he and Shidao will be alright or should we send one of the other guys?"
Juri shook her head and answered, "No they'll be fine. It's only some onigiri and some orange slices and Shidao has mom's car for today." Shen then turned and scribbled something on her clipboard grumpily before turning her focus to the groups of new recruits. Of the 28 of them, 9 were trying out for skills positions on offense, 10 were trying out for defensive positions, and the remainders were attempting to try out for the line positions. And whether they realized it or not, if they were trying out for any of the skills positions on offense or defense, they were also going to be run through the other skills drills as well. Enma's roster wasn't large enough to really favor one sided players in most cases.
The teal haired manager blew her whistle in three short bursts to get their attention. "All right! Thank you all for coming to Enma University's football tryouts! You have already been placed into your respective groups. Skills players! You will start at the stations over there!" and she paused to point to the cones and catching gauntlet where Dante, Unsui, and Monta were all waving their arms to gather their attention. Juri then continued, "If you are part of the line group you will begin over there!" and the foxy junior pointed towards the sleds with Kurita and the other linemen standing by. "And finally, if you are trying out for defensive positions we will have you start at the 40 yard dash!"
All of the hopeful new recruits reported to their assigned stations. And from just giving them a cursory look over, some of Enma's faithful could already foresee many of them would not make the cut. The way they walked and held themselves didn't inspire confidence. There were however a few promising looking exceptions.
One of them happened to be one of the three track and field athletes. He had a short buzz cut and thick black gnarly eyebrows. A wide chiseled jawline and a small scar that traced from his chin to just past his upper lip beneath his smile line. When he arrived at his station his dark brown eyes locked on to Sena and he bowed abruptly. A deep belly resonating voice rumbled out as he said, "I am Kuzuri Kotai! Thank you for having me!"
Sena leapt a bit at the sudden volume and depth of the man's voice. He couldn't have been an inch taller than Sena was, but his stout build belied any real difference that brought on. Kuzuri was thick with taught muscles, his knotted forearms were also covered in small scratches, indicating the boy was quite active. Enma's team captain bowed in return, "Thank you for coming, Kuzuri, and everyone else." Sena turned his attention on the small group of players and explained to them how the 40 yard dash would work. Each of them would take a stance at the starting line and run as fast as they could towards the ending finish line where he and Riku would be waiting. Sena was quick to clarify they would do it one runner at a time.
With that Sena demonstrated by setting up in a three point stance and waiting for Riku to blow the whistle. When his older "brother" let rip the wild haired runner bolted off like lightning down the track. The onlooking hopefuls gasped and many jaws dropped agape. As Sena crossed the finish line Riku held up and waved the stopwatch and announced loudly, "4.2 seconds!" Nearby Sena was demonstrating how to walk after completing the run with his two hands relaxed on the back of his head and continuing to walk back towards Riku.
Once he joined his fellow liger Sena then grabbed up the clipboard nearby and called out the first numbered player to run the 40. And so it went down the line for all of the defensive hopefuls. All of which posted sub par 5.0 40 yard dashes or worse. Sena and Riku struggled to hide their disappointment as the last contender set up in a strange two point stance. It was Kuzuri. He jabbed his right elbow into his leading right thigh and lined his flattened hand up with the line he was about to run. When the whistle was blown the squat track star rumbled down the track as great speed. It wasn't pretty to look at with his short legs squabbling frantically down the track, but it got results. Sena and Riku both stopped their watches and compared their times as Kuzuri blasted past them. "Fo...Four point five seconds!" Both runners looked towards the panting little ball of muscle and then back to each other. There might be hope in this group yet.
While a certain stout track star was wheezing for breath down at the 40 yard dash station, another group was getting started at the skills position section of the field. Dante quickly explained the cones drills to the would be hopefuls and rapidly ran them through the skills test. Again many of them did not show any great promise. One of the other track and field players posted alright numbers. Not great, but not awful. Dante sighed and wondered if that was the best they were going to get. But the last guy! Holey moley, did he have some quick feet. His movements were elegant and graceful and showed incredible agility. Color the fiery American impressed.
As he ushered them to the catching gauntlet he approached Monta. "Keep an eye on number eleven. Guy can move!" and pointed in the direction of who he was talking about.
Monta quickly stole a glance at the group and searched for number 11. When he finally saw him he noted that the guy was looking right back at them. He had piercing gray eyes and feathery looking eyebrows. His long hair was tied back into a tight bun atop his head. Sharp angled features chiseled a delicate yet impressive visage of confidence.
Dante gave Monta a quick push to the shoulder and added, "Lets see if these lambs can catch a cold let alone a football yeah?" and jogged over to his own football launcher as Unsui was finishing up giving instructions to the group.
Monta nodded and prepared his own cannon for the first participant. And as feared, most of them were not excellent at catching the football. Sure a handful of them managed to catch a couple of passes, but none of them showed any real ability to consistently do so. Most of them ended up dropping balls that hit them right in the hands! Monta could feel the frustration mounting already when it came down to the pretty boy's turn.
Number eleven lined up at the left starting line, ready for the whistle. When it sounded he took off down the yard marker. The first incoming pass to the left was caught with delicate finesse and ease. Just as he expected, nothing to it. He then quickly turned to the right, expectant on the next pass based on what he had watched the other participants go through. Another easily hauled in pass. His finely trained hands were experts on maneuvering to fit a variety of surfaces. Catching an incoming pass such as this was no less difficult for him than walking on his hands or flipping around on the bars. And just as he had easily caught the first two passes, so he did with the next two. And all that was left was the deep fade. Unlike the other players that had turned to look and see where the pass was coming from, thus interrupting their route and causing them to fall short, number eleven bent ever so slightly backwards and looked upwards, locking in on the descending football. Cupping his hands together his delicate and practiced digits created the perfect pocket for the ball to drop into. As he caught the ball he turned towards his would be judges and tossed the ball in their direction before doing a standing back flip to land perfectly on his two feet.
"WHOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Screeched Monta at the perfect performance. The exuberant ape leapt at Dante nearby and continued whooping, "Did you see that!?"
Dante shoved the excited chimp off of his back and mirrored the apes amazement. "Damn right I did!" and let out a howl of approval to join with Monta's.
In the distance number eleven rose a hand acknowledging their praise. And loathed as he felt to admit it, he was impressed with himself as well. His confidence in himself was already rather high, and proving that he could just as easily do this only added to it. A wicked snicker of a grin snuck onto his face as he turned away. "See… nothing that I couldn't do as well you simian simpleton…" And Kohando Yokatowaru carried that confidence with him to the remainder of the stations he participated in today. Surely this would catch the lovely Shidao's attention. She'd have to notice him now.
And so as the remaining hopefuls completed each of the tests the only true standouts were Kuzuri and Kohando. One of the other track players, a long distance runner named Genki posted some decent numbers as well, but averaged lower than the other two had done. Dante kept a mental note on Genki in case the team ever needed some additional filler help if and when anyone got hurt.
That said, Kuzuri was able to press out an impressive 220 lbs at the bench and did well with some of the cone drills which tested agility. For his size he certainly packed some strength and flexibility into his game. And while he wasn't a speed demon compared to some of the other members of the Enma roster, a 4.5 second 40 yard dash was nothing to shake a stick at.
And Kohando certainly turned some heads with his capability in the catching department. Effortlessly hauling in passes as he had done was no small feat. Adding to the fact that he ran a respectable 4.5 second 40 yard dash and had managed to press a meager yet acceptable 120 lbs on the bench certainly aided his chances in making the team. Those golden hands though were truly what impressed the players on Enma's current roster.
As the tryouts were winding down and the hopefuls were gathering around the water coolers to take a much needed rest, Shidao and Kotaro finally made it back. Horrendously late and stressed to no end, the younger Sawai sister frantically tried to make up for lost time and pulled right up beside the field in her mother's borrowed car. Kotaro hopped out of the passenger seat and jogged over before shouting out for an extra hand. Dante and Monta were within earshot of the suave kicker's decree and rose a hand of acknowledgement before hurrying over to help.
Before Shidao even had a chance to open the back hatch on the vehicle and take out the first box of onigiri, Dante and the others were there to take them off her hands. "I'm s-sorry I'm late!" she blabbered stressfully.
Monta was quick to soothe his friend saying, "It's ok, no worries! We're just wrapping up now so your timing is perfect!" He offered her a warm grin and a reassuring nod as he took a stack of onigiri boxes out of the back of her car and began toting them off to the field.
Not far behind him and not to be out done Shidao also grabbed a pair of onigiri boxes and followed quickly after her simian casanova. "S-still! This was m-my job and I was l-late!" she stammered as she trailed behind the wideout.
Monta adjusted his own load of lunches and replied, "Well it wasn't exactly your fault the kitchen keeps messing orders up. That's on them not you!" he was doing what he could to try and diffuse her flustered emotions, but he may as well have been a candle trying to remain lit during a hurricane.
As the pair arrived at the sidelines with Shidao still acting squirrely and flustered, Monta took the onigiri boxes off her hands after having set aside his own. He then placed a calming hand on each of her shoulders and forced her attention on him. Looking into her verdant yellow green orbs he repeated, "Its ok Shidao! No one is blaming you! In fact I'd say it's thanks to your efforts that they even made it here at all!"
"And mine!" Kotaro was quick to quip as he plodded nearby them and placed down another stack of onigiri boxes.
Monta rolled his eyes and added dryly, "And you Kotaro… thanks!" he chuckled and shook his head in slight disbelief before patting Shidao's shoulders with his strong hands. "Don't beat yourself up ok? No one's upset. Now c'mon let's help hand them out!"
Shidao's trembling seemed to pacify and she took a few deep breaths to try and sway her anxiety. Monta's words went a long way in calming her down, as did his warm reassuring presence. She took another deep breath when he finished and answered, "Alright, thanks Monta." The mint haired beauty then joined her apish cohort and began handing out onigiri to the various players and would be hopefuls that attended today's tryouts.
As she began helping Monta to pass out the onigiri, her nerves began to settle. Several players came to grab a bite and she greeted each of them in kind, offering them a snack after all their hard work. After a few hopefuls got their food a sudden voice brought a chill down her spine and she froze.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that you Shidao? Well this is unexpected! How are you?" Kohando greeted her with a glimmering smile and a warm expression. His cool gray eyes seemed to shine in the warm sunlight.
The world around her just seemed to stop and move in slow motion. Why was he here? How did he find her? And most importantly why was he trying out for the team? With eyes wide in shock and surprise she stammered, "K-Kohando… w-what are you doing here?"
The gymnasts wide and bright smile pierced her soul as he responded with a warm laugh, "Well to be honest I was kind of curious about this football you had mentioned the last time we talked. So I did a little homework and found out more about it. I actually even went to check out Enma's home game here last week and I was amazed by the sport! When I found out that Enma was still accepting students and there were to be tryouts I just couldn't help myself!"
The pit in her stomach swelled larger and larger with each venomous word that slipped from his lips. "Me and my big stupid fucking mouth!" her mind screeched. She had been the one to drop Monta's name to get away from him last time. He must have looked him up online and found out he went to Enma. How else could she explain why this stalker would suddenly show up at her college, and try out for the football team of all things. She thought he was supposed to be a gymnast on the path for the olympics! This sudden coincidental passion for football was just too convenient for him to appear here. The world around her seemed to grow as she shrank further and further into her anxiety ridden brain. "I-is th-that so…?" she squeaked in reply.
As her world began to blur together the daunting form of Kohando seemed to loom over her like a predator about to devour its prey. That perfect shining smile of his seemed like the fanged maw of some grisly beast in her eyes. Her breath began to come in short panicked passes and she fought to maintain some aura of control. When she felt she was about to break down, a comforting touch found her shoulder.
"Are you ok Shidao? You don't look so good." came Monta's soothing and warm voice. When she glanced his way the fog cleared barely enough to show his worried expression. It pained her that she wasn't emotionally strong enough to handle seeing Kohando out of the blue like this. Showing this weakness to Monta must have made her seem pathetic.
The minty haired teen unconsciously reached up and wrapped her hand around his strong one and replied shakily, "I-I don't know… suddenly felt d-dizzy…" her yellow green orbs flitted and looked nervously toward Kohando who was starting back at her wearing a false face of concern. She didn't buy an ounce of what that creep was selling. "C-could you walk me to the car… I think I have something in there that will help…"
Monta nodded and offered her a supporting hand before turning to tell Sena, "Hey we'll be right back I'm gonna help Shidao to her car, she's having a sudden dizzy spell."
Enma's team captain quickly looked to the receiver and replied, "Oh! Ok! Let us know if you need anything ok?" and watched as Monta slowly began to lead Shidao away from the sidelines and back towards her vehicle.
Suzuna prodded the running back and asked, "I wonder what that's all about? Think she's ok? Or do you think Monta just wants an excuse to pull her away?"
Sena seemed unsure of that, Shidao did seem a bit pale all of a sudden. "I don't know…" was all he could offer the azure angel at the moment. Hopefully it was nothing.
Nearby a certain "nothing" watched with jealousy as Monta ushered Shidao to her car hand in hand. Kohando spat under his breath and took a bite of the onigiri.
