Hello, everyone! It's been a while (like nearly a year lol), and here's the chapter that I've finally written for the (official) continuation of this fic!
Enjoy!
(Chapter unedited. There will be mistakes.)
1 – Kick away and Catch it: Encounter
5. WIN CHRISTMAS BOWL
Sena looked again at the words that Hiruma-san wrote on her notebook yesterday, and for some reason, she can't help the smile stretching in her face. Why is she happy, she thought, even though these words might not even she wanted to come true personally, but for others to be granted? It's so strange. Strange that it even suited so much to Hiruma-san who wrote this bucket list on her notebook.
And also, why am I reading this so early in this morning? she thought incredulously. It's still five am in the morning, and somehow her body refused to go back to sleep. She wasn't even restless or anything like that, she just did. And before she realized what she doing, she had sat up, walked to her desk, and the first thing she did was open this particular notebook. Or more accurately, to read this particular passage about Christmas bowl.
Sena found herself sighing. Hiruma-san really was just an opportunist as usual, even writing this to her notebook. But still, she added, this might not be, at least currently, her personal goal, but now as an American football player winning the Christmas Bowl is the team goal. The ultimate goal. The dream that Kurita-san wants to fulfill.
But was she even an actual American football player? she wondered. Not as Kobayakawa Sena, she guessed, but as Eyeshield 21 she is one. She sighed once more. Even though she was both person, somehow, imagining as Kobayakawa Sena playing in the field—that thought is way too far for her. She can't perceive it. At least, not now.
As Sena leaned back to her chair, she felt something in her foot, an object that wasn't supposed to be under her desk, but somehow felt so familiar. She crouched down to see it what it was, and then her jaw dropped. Why is this here? she thought in surprise, as she grabbed the familiar brown oval shaped ball and grasped it with her own hands. She looked at the ball skeptically. Did Hiruma-san put this here on purpose? It seemed likely, but she was confused why he would do it. Perhaps to remind her of something?
"We're improving the fuck out of your kicks tomorrow. Don't forget that." Hiruma-san did say something like that, but didn't he already reminded her about that yesterday? She scratched her head. Maybe Hiruma-san just forgot about this…no, that's not likely. He may look like a demon, but he's not that forgettable. But still, it's strange. She doesn't have this before though.
Be the bullet after the trigger—
"Ah!" she exclaimed in realization. Riku! she thought, but then she hanged in head dejectedly, black clouds of depression floating above her. Right, it was Riku who put this here, and she had completely forgotten about it. Sena looked at the ball glumly. If she remembered right, Riku's father was a rugby player, but Riku himself wanted to be an American football player. At least, that's what he told her.
"Riku…" Sena still doesn't know where her friend had gone into. To add to that, when she had made a fuss out of petty reasons, she wasn't able to make up with him. "Ah, geez!" she whined, wanting to pull her hair. Why is she remembering this now? She wanted to cry at the embarrassing moment that just suddenly resurfaced in her mind.
Not realizing what she was doing, Sena threw the ball to the wall at the humiliating memory of her past self, the past when she was yelling at Riku, as she cringed at herself, and it bounced and completely smacked right back at her face. She fell backwards, grabbing her face in pain. "Ow, ow, ow!" She rolled the floor pathetically with tears about to spill from her eyes.
That was probably the first time she was crying in pain first in the morning.
After embarrassing herself when her mother barged in her room, as the older woman freaked out at the state of her daughter, Sena finally walked at the cold morning outside to catch the early train. Her had mother whipped up a breakfast for her earlier, not asking any questions why she had bruise on her face, although Sena already had an inkling that the older woman already knew—she knew that her own daughter was clumsy and that this bruise is self-inflicted. Sena reached an silent gratitude to her mother who had tended the bruise and put a band aid (since it was a small bruise thankfully) across her nose, as she scratched it while walking to her destination.
This day is not going to be great, Sena was sure of it. Walking up early and hurting herself—what a bad start of the day. She opened her bag and grabbed the brown oval-shaped ball from it. What was going to do with this? she wondered. Leaving this to her room would have been a sound decision, but she has a strange inclination that she should bring this with her.
Sena clutched it to her chest. Now that reminds her, what was the right way to hold the ball while running? She had it already figured that holding it carelessly is not an option, and she had been holding it with her arms 'X' positioned around it, protecting it. I really should ask for an actual, proper basic training, she thought, of course from Kurita-san, she added. Hiruma-san's way of training was too bizarre for her to take, especially during that time when they had that Spear Tackle session a few days ago.
When she finally arrived at the train station, Sena hurriedly put the ball back to her bag and ran to the door of train just before it closed. She sighed in relief at the timing and walked to the nearby seat. They weren't much people in the train since it was still early, as she glanced up to the digital time in the train that it was still six am, except for the nearby middle-school students who have been talking animatedly to themselves. Wow, they're really energetic even though it's still early morning, Sena was impressed at them. One of them caught the eyes of her, and gave her a smile as he bowed. Despite startled at the gesture, Sena managed to return it with her own bow.
Other than that, there was nothing eventful in the train until she arrived at the designated station.
Sena was now on her way to Deimon High School with birds chirping nearby and the sun still not too far from the horizon, indicating that it's still early in the morning. Waa… this is the first time for me walking in a deserted side walk. Usually the side walk would have been full of strolling students, but now because it was still early, Sena was completely by herself. And I never expected that I would be lonely without other students walking around me, she thought dejectedly at the realization.
As she expected when she arrived, the school was still deserted, save for some early personnel walking around. Sena went her way to the clubroom that was outside of the school.
It was locked.
Huh? she blinked. Isn't the early personnel supposed to open this door? "Um, excuse me," she called out to the nearby worker which she just realized was working around their clubroom, swinging his hammer as he stopped when he was called out. "Why is the door still not open?" she asked.
"Hmm? Ah, you one of the members?" the worker with the gray tank top and a white headscarf said. "Kurita is usually the one early so he has the key with him," he told her.
"I see." He knows Kurita-san. Perhaps he's a regular worker here? she thought.
"Since Kurita is not around, you can take this one."
Sena nearly dropped the object that was tossed to her, realizing it was a key. "Thank you, umm…"
"Gen Takekura. Most people call me Musashi."
Mu…sashi? Where did she hear that before? she wondered. She gasped in realization. "Umm…! I'm sorry if this was sudden, but are you—"
"A former member of American football club? That's right. Did Kurita told you about me?" said the worker, who was actually Musashi.
"I… I mean, I mean…" she stuttered, scanning the appearance of the person in front of her. You don't look like a student! She wanted to say, looking over at his tall stature, the stubble in his chin, and the adult presence he had.
"Yeah, I know." He chuckled. "I look old for my age."
Sena was about to ask why he quit being a student, but she recalled Kurita-san's words. That's right. He took over his father's business. It would be nosy of her if she asked about it.
"…if you wanted me to come back, I—"
"Please teach me!"
"Huh?" Musashi threw her a confused glance.
"Please teach me!" she repeated. "Please teach me the proper way to kick!"
"Are you a player, kid?"
"Huh? Wait, no, I am not—"she sputtered, realizing what she just said.
"I see. So Hiruma finally found a kicker, huh?" Musashi mused, making her pause. For some reason, he looked strangely sad, but it might be just her eyes tricking her.
"No, not really." She scratched her head, laughing nervously. "I'm more of a running back than a kicker…"
"Oh, you're a running back? That's quite amazing for a girl player."
"Wait, I mean—"Why did I just said that?! she scolded herself, inwardly hitting herself. "I'm more of a secretary, I mean!" She forced a laugh. "That's right, a secretary. I'm in the sidelines more than in the field."
"So you're just a kicker then?" he asked confusingly.
"I…" Sena wants to cry at her predicament. Why does she have to be so bad at lying?
"Oh? Is that you, Sena-chan? You're early." A familiar voice interrupted them, making her look back seeing the approaching large figure of Kurita-san behind her. "Good morning, Sena-chan," Kurita-san greeted her with his usual warm smile before he looked up in surprise. "…oh, good morning to you, Musashi," he also greeted Musashi-san, but Sena noticed he did it a bit sadly.
"Yeah, good morning, Kurita," Musashi-san returned his friend's greeting indifferently, going back to his work of slamming his hammer which Sena just now noticed that their clubroom looks a little different. No, 'a little' was an understatement, it was about to be transformed into something else.
"By the way," Kurita-san's voice snapped out her out of her surprised reverie. "Hiruma said there will be no morning meeting, but we will have one later after school. You don't have to go here for now, Sena-chan," he told her.
"Really? Thank you for telling me, Kurita-san." She bowed in gratitude.
"You're welcome."
Sena watched her large friend opening the clubroom with his key, reminding her that she was currently grasping the key that was given to her by Musashi-san. She looked at the key in her hand and looked up at the occupied person perched above their clubroom, renovating it into not-so-looking like a clubroom. She doesn't realized that she was staring at Musashi for so long until Kurita-san went out from the clubroom, donning his American football uniform. "Are you doing morning practice, Kurita-san?" she asked, looking her senpai carrying an equipment.
"I am. Can't afford to waste time after all, and since it's still early in the morning," Kurita-san replied.
"Oh…" Sena glanced at Musashi-san once again before she entered the clubroom, changed out from her school uniform and wore her Eyeshield 21 garb. She didn't looking back at Musashi-san when she went outside, and followed after Kurita-san to the field as she joined him for the morning practice.
After they did brief stretching together and was about to enter the morning drill, Sena decided to break the silence. "Umm, I'm sorry if this is a bit sudden, but what was Musashi-san like as a kicker?" she asked carefully, not wanting to upset her large friend.
"Musashi?" Kurita-san turned to her, unexpectedly cheerful. "He's an amazing kicker! Although, its rough but he's got powerful legs to compensate for that! He's just a super amazing kicker!" he said enthusiastically.
Sena laughed nervously. He really said amazing twice—Musashi-san must have been really amazing.
"Ah, is this about Hiruma improving your kicks?" her large friend guessed. "Don't worry about that. You're amazing in your own right, Sena-chan. Musashi might have powerful legs, but yours has more accuracy and control," he assured.
"I am worried, Kurita-san," she insisted, paling slightly. "I mean, its Hiruma-san were talking about."
"That's true." He laughed sympathetically.
"If possible, can you help me during the kicking drill? Of course, if you have time…" she hurriedly added.
"Of course I will! You don't have to worry about taking my time, we'll always help each other!"
Now that reminds her, she thought, American football club doesn't have much regular members. With her, now they have three members in the club. Only three members. But Musashi-san used to be the third member, she added, and she can't help but worry that she was replacing his place, especially now that she was also the kicker of the team. Should I back down as a kicker? she thought. If she did, the firepower of the team would lessen, and that means less chance winning the Christmas Bowl.
Is there a chance of Musashi-san going back to the team? She had no idea. But for now, she will ask him again later if he can teach her how to properly kick a ball.
After they did their morning practice, they both changed back to their school uniform, and went to their respective classrooms. Sena was making her way towards her when she saw her pink-haired childhood friend walking out from the faculty room. "Mamori-neechan, good morning," Sena greeted, waving her hand.
"Oh, good morning, Se—"Mamori-neechan replied with a smile, but it was immediately replaced with a worried frown. "Sena, what happened to your nose?!" she asked, grasping her face inadvertently squishing her cheeks.
"No, this is nothing, Mamori-neechan. I did this to myself. It was a ba—"Sena immediately stopped, realizing what she was about to say, and she amended hurriedly, "I-I mean, I tripped at the stairs in my home. No one did this to myself," she added, knowing what was on her childhood friend's mind.
"Oh, I see. Make sure to be careful, alright? Even at your home." Mamori-neechan let her go.
"I will."
"Anyway, did you just arrive?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Eh? Uhh…" It would be bad news if her childhood friend found out she had have spent her time, as she arrived early at the school, for morning practice, Sena thought worriedly. "Umm, uh, yeah, I just did." She forced a smile to make her words convincing, and she added, "I… woke late up this morning and I just arrived."
"I see. Make sure to not stay up too late at night, okay? It would be troubling if you became late coming to school. And also, make sure to watch your step," her childhood friend advised good-naturedly. "See you later at lunch. I'll be going to my classroom." Mamori-neechan waved at her as she walked on her way opposite to her, to the second year classrooms.
Watching her sister figure in the corner, Sena expelled a sigh. Is this going to continue? she thought sadly. She doesn't like lying to her of all people, but because it's Mamori-neechan she has to lie, or else… she sighed sadly again, and went her way to her classrooms just in time as the bell rang, indicating that it's time for classes.
The morning classes went by, and the same goes for lunch where Mamori-neechan gave her a spare lunchbox and now she had two lunchboxes to eat. Sena ate both without complaints despite how full her stomach was, and as soon as she was finished, it was time for afternoon classes.
Classes for the day has finished, and when Sena arrived at the lockers, she noticed they were lots of students gathering at the door. Changing her indoor shoes to outdoor ones, she peeked between the arms of tall students, trying to see what was going outside.
Huh? she thought, finally seeing who caused the students' fuss. What is Hiruma-san doing at the gate? He stood looming at the gate with a ball in hand, tossing it up and down. It was obvious he was assessing every students that went out to the door, for a reason she still doesn't know, as his eyes darted in every students that fearlessly tried to ignore him and simply wants to go home. Sena cautiously approached Kurita-san who stood beside Hiruma-san, wearing an apologetic look every time there's a student flinching at the gaze of his demonic-looking friend. "Um, Kurita-san, what… are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"Looking for an eligible receiver," he replied, not long after he threw an apologetic bow to a student who ran away from them.
"Receiver? Ah, wide receiver?" Sena remembered that. "But… why here?" She looked confusingly at Hiruma-san who threw the ball to an unsuspecting student. Sena was startled when he did that, looking over at the poor student whom Hiruma-san aimed the ball, but she blinked in surprise when the student caught it, although messily. Hiruma-san didn't waste any breath and also threw him a flyer that she was unfamiliar of, and he moved on assessing other students. She gingerly picked up the flyer that fell on the floor, and realized why Hiruma-san decided to… 'recruit' for more players in the gate. "I see," she said eventually, reading the flyer in her hand. Eyeshield 21 scored two touchdowns against Ojou White Knights, there it said flauntingly. And there's another the hero of University of Notre Dame has come to Deimon! Looking for more recruits wrote on it.
"Hey, midget, what the hell are you doing there standing around like nothing else to do?!" Sena jumped at Hiruma-san's voice as he talked to her. Before she knew it, she was holding a bundle of flyers resting her arms. "Don't space out and go put out these flyers!" he told her intimidatingly, causing her to nod fearfully and ran back inside to put these flyers, not looking ahead where she was going.
And not looking ahead bit her back as her flyers flew out from her arms since she bumped to someone else in front of her. This is bad, this is bad, this is bad! she thought hastily, panicking as the paper slowly descends. Hiruma-san is going to yell at me! She reached out the papers, trying to catch it, but someone beat her to it.
Or rather, someone had grabbed the papers and she can only look at the person who grabbed them like a deer caught in headlights. That was too fast! Sena didn't even see his hands when he reached them.
"Be careful," the student with a band aid across his nose told her, with an appearance that resembled Sena of a monkey for some reason, as he offered the flyers back to her. "Don't close your eyes when you run ahead, or else you'll injure yourself," he scolded her, making her lower her head in apology.
"I'm sorry…" Sena can't believe that her bad habit of closing her eyes while running away came back to her… "I'll be careful." She bowed to him multiple times. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"N-no! You don't have to bow to me that many times—what the?!"
The exclamation made Sena raised her head, and her jaw dropped when she saw an incoming ball about to hit the person in front of her. "Look ou—"she yelled at him, but she stood in shock when she saw him caught it in one hand, as the ball still spun before it stopped, seeing him flinching in pain at the spinning ball in his hand. She can only look back at Hiruma-san incredulously, who had the look of satisfaction on his face.
Sena paled slightly at the implication of his look. Oh no… she thought, before looking at the student sympathetically who had an annoyed look. "Hey! Who threw this ball?!" the monkey-looking student demanded. "It's not safe to suddenly throw a ball to a person, you know!"
"But you caught it," Hiruma-san pointed out, as he walked closer to them, wearing a pleased smirked.
"Well, of course I did! That's what I'm good at." The student puffed his chest proudly.
"Oh, really?" Hiruma-san's smirked deepened, making Sena tensed. "How about we make a great use of that and join the American football club?"
"American football? No, thanks. I'm already in baseball club so I can't."
Hiruma-san stared at him threateningly.
"S-seriously, I can't!" the student said jumpily. "B-besides, baseball is my dream sport so I can't just suddenly change. Anyway, our afternoon practice is gonna start so I'll be going," he said hurriedly, bowing at Hiruma-san as he gave the ball back to him and ran away from them, going to the direction which Sena guessed to be a field where the baseball club will be practicing. She looked at her blond-haired senpai and saw him wearing an indifferent look.
"Umm, Hiruma-san…" she started, not knowing why she started to talk.
"What the hell are you still doing here?!" Hiruma-san snapped, making her jump. "Go start running and put those flyers out there!"
"Y-yes, I will!" she replied hastily as she didn't waste any more time and ran ahead, but this time with her eyes opened.
Sena put up the last flyer to the wall outside the school, beside the other advertisement flyers similar to what she just put up from sports club. She swept her gaze to it, reading what their flyers said. They were various flyers with different words printed into it. Almost all had different approach to appeal recruits, although she had to admit that theirs has the most credibility because of Eyeshield 21, but they all have similar ends: play our sports because it's fun. At least, that's what Sena could gather from their flyers.
One flyer caught a particular attention from her. Baseball club… she thought, staring at their flyer. According what she read, they needed rounded players in the field, as this was the necessity for playing. Swinging a bat, running, catching, and pitching—this was the essential for baseball. Of course, the flyer added in the corner, strategizing is also vital, however, not really much since hitting the ball is the most important.
Strategizing, huh… Sena thought as she read it. She can remember Hiruma-san saying something similar to that. And then she thought back of the student who caught Hiruma-san's thrown ball. That was amazing, she recalled. If only he could become a wide receiver on their team, but unfortunately, he was already in Baseball club.
A high-pitched 'plik!' made her turn to a certain field. Turning around, she realized that she was standing close to where the Baseball club was currently practicing. Curious, she walked closer as she watched them, now standing close to the benches where, Sena guessed, was their coach mentoring them.
Swinging, batting, pitching, and running—as what the flyers said, it was definitely a straightforward advertisement. It was exactly she had expected from the sport. The players running as they hit the ball, sliding the ground trying to reach the base, catching the ball and the exclamation 'out!' when the player didn't reach the ball in time; Sena suddenly herself getting invested into the game until she realized. She forcibly snapped herself out and shook her head.
"CATCH MAX!"
The familiar voice perked her attention up, as she raised her head and saw the student whom she had bumped earlier. He strikes a pose, which Sena supposed to be a victory pose, with a finger pointed to the sky and one of his knee touching ground. She can only stare confusingly at him why he did that.
"Raimon! Back to home!" one of the players shouted to him.
And he threw it back to home. But somehow, even though it was obvious he had thrown it back to home, the ball trajectory changed and it was charging right straight to her. Trusting her instinct, she crouched down and put her hands to head protectively, closing her eyes in fear. It took her a while to open her eyes when she heard someone being scolded in the field.
"Seriously, that Raimon," she heard the coach remarked frustratingly, "he's got great catching ability and his tenacity to do it, but everything else, he's just very bad." The coached sighed, face palming while shaking his head.
Sena was still in her crouching position when suddenly she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, startling her. She opened it and paled when she saw the recipient. Ya-ha! the screen showed, and she warily opened the message.
Where the hell are you, you damn midget? Don't you realize we're having a meeting?
Oh, no! she thought, remembering what Kurita-san told her earlier in the morning. I forgot about it! As she briskly stood up, she immediately went to her running mode and left the field, leaving a trail of dust.
"…who was that?" she can vaguely hear someone ask.
"Dunno…" she can barely hear someone reply since she was already far away.
Since the clubroom wasn't too far away from the field, she had already arrived there which Sena felt was only a split second. But unfortunately, with a gun on resting Hiruma-san's and an annoyed look he wore, it apparently wasn't the case. "What seriously took you so long?" he asked with a scowl. "Did fat-ass didn't tell you about the meeting today?"
"No, he did tell me…" she looked down guiltily, preparing for any punishment she might receive.
"Oh, really? Then take a seat if you already know it. We don't have the damn time in our side."
Sena sighed in relief as she timidly took a seat to a nearby chair. Kurita-san was already there as he gave an apology smile. She returned it with her own. She took a glance around the clubroom and… "Huh?" she said as she noticed something. "Where's Mamori-neechan?"
"Currently stuck with the meeting," Hiruma-san said with a knowing grin. "Don't worry about that damn manager for now, we have important matters to talk about." As he finished saying that, she just noticed a remote control on Hiruma-san's hand. He pressed a button and suddenly a projector showed at the wall as it showed a familiar scene of their match against Ojou White Knight. "Tell me, midget, how does it feel to be in a match against them?"
"Eh?" She didn't expect that question. "Umm, it was pressuring, I guess…? And also, I think it went well when Shin-san wasn't in the field, I think…!" she hastily added when she saw the dissatisfied look on the blonde quarterback.
"As for me," Kurita-san said. "Even though we lost against them, but that was probably the first time we scored against them without depending on field goal."
"Yes, that's right," Hiruma-san agreed. "Against them, we scored a touchdown, and that's how important a touchdown is," he shot a grin at her, causing her to stiffen. "However, that was because that monster, Shin, wasn't on the field."
"I did though," Sena interjected. "Twice," she added, remembering how she swatted Shin-san hand and in the second half where she had managed to outrun him, to her surprise.
"And how does it feel, midget?" Hiruma-san asked.
"Huh?" Once again, she didn't expect that question. "I think, um…" she looked up thoughtfully. "There was a satisfaction, I think. And also, the rush? The adrenaline? I dunno what to call to it, but I was surprised that I was able to keep going since it was my first proper match."
"So you were tired during that, huh?" Hiruma-san pondered, which made Sena surprised since that was the first time she saw him made a thoughtful look. But that image was instantly erased when he grinned evilly. "We definitely worked on that stamina yours, midget, along with your kicks."
More hell training like Spear Tackle session, huh… she wanted to cry just by imagining it.
"And we should definitely work on her basic trainings too," Kurita-san said. "I think we should do that."
"And that's your responsibility, fat-ass. Drill the basic trainings to her until it becomes part of her instincts."
"I will, Hiruma!"
"As for you," Hiruma-san turned to her. "That part when you interjected Shin's Spear Tackle—I'd say great job, kid. You definitely remembered our Spear Tackle sessions."
Sena felt herself getting flustered at the sudden compliment from her blonde-haired senpai. "N-no, it's because you made me experience your Spear—"Her words came to a halt when felt a finger on her forehead, or to be more accurate, the sharp nail touching on her forehead.
"Take the fucking credit, you fucking midget. You fought back, that's what matters."
Fight back, the subconscious words that always pesters her somehow agreed to his words. "Thank you very much, H-Hiruma-san…" she said in gratitude, but still she actually doesn't know how to react to his sudden flattering words, to the point she wondered if he was being genuine about it.
"And that action when you swatted his hand—that should be definitely useful in upcoming matches. Take a great care when you use it."
"Y-yes, I will."
"About the matters of wide receiver," Kurita-san eventually said. "Is this really okay? I mean our way of recruiting."
"It's an effective way of recruiting," Hiruma-san corrected.
"Yes, but…" Kurita-san's eyes lit up. "That's right. The person that bumped to Sena-chan earlier, that was very impressive, isn't it?"
Hiruma-san smirked. "Yeah, it definitely is. We're getting him to our team no matter what."
Is he gonna blackmail him to our team…? She thought, hoping it won't be the case.
"And that's where you came in, midget," Hiruma-san said, turning to her with a malicious grin, as she paled at the sight of it. "Make sure to recruit to him to our team."
"Eh?!" Me?! she thought in panic. "B-but isn't he already in Baseball club?" she tried to dissuade him.
"Is he?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "In any case, use any means to recruit him."
"Eh…" Is Hiruma-san really serious about this? She can't just pluck out someone who was already in another club in here…
As their discussion ends, Mamori-neechan entered the clubroom. And as usual, she and Hiruma-san bickered back and forth.
"Go hit a home run, midget. Use any means to do it."
And then the door was closed behind her, leaving behind her childhood friend, the blonde-haired devil, and Kurita-san inside the clubroom. Sena doesn't know why she was sent home first, and she wondered what kind of discussion they would have when she wasn't with them. I hope it doesn't escalates badly… she thought worriedly, knowing that Mamori-neechan and Hiruma-san doesn't particularly get along. Well, as long as Kurita-san, I'm sure it will be okay, she hoped.
Hit a home run, huh… It was obvious from Hiruma-san's words that he was pushing her to recruit that student, which she realized that she still doesn't know his name. Walking to certain direction, she went to the field where she had stood as a spectator earlier, but when she arrived, there were barely any people left in there. Sena let out a sigh. Of course, they were already done with their afternoon practice. Dejected, she decided to go home.
She was on her way to go to the train station, strolling at the walk way close to the river—her usual road to go. In the corner of her eyes, they were people playing at the side of the river. There were father and son doing volleyball, as they hit the ball going back and forth. They were children, grade school kids Sena noticed, playing tag, smiles on their faces. She gazed at them with a smile on her own, their happiness affecting her, but then she noticed a figure lying down in the grass ahead. As she walked closer, she noticed that it was the student whom she had bumped earlier, and the same student that Hiruma-san told her to recruit.
How should I even recruit him… she stopped in her tracks as she was now directly before him. Fortunately, his eyes was closed and he looked really relaxed. Use any means, he said, I don't even know any means… she thought despairingly. If she doesn't know, then she'll use what she knows most. "U-umm, are you interested in joining A-American football club?" she said, her words stumbling out from her mouth in nervousness.
"Huh?" He opened an eye, looking at her. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kobayakawa Sena!" Her words came out loudly than she intended. "And also, um, I'm the secretary of American football club."
He sat up, brushing away the grass that clung to his uniform. "American football club? Aren't you the one who tried to convince me to join?"
"Y-yes, we did…"
"Hmm? Wait a minute, didn't I bumped to you earlier?"
"Yes, it was me…"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." He finally stood up. "I'm Raimon Tarou, nice to meet'cha!" he said energetically. "As for recruiting me, why are you insistent about that? I thought I already said I'm already in the Baseball club."
"It's because we're short in members…" she admitted.
"Really? Unfortunately, I'm not interested. Being the best catcher is my dream, and I can't do it if I'm not Baseball club." He started to walk away, giving her a backwards wave. "Anyways, good luck. Go look for someone else who is interested."
"Wai—"This is bad, this isn't supposed to go this way! She thought hastily, use any means, use any means, use any mean… Ah! She hurriedly opened her bag while she ran after him. "Please, wait! Wait!" she called out. "How about we go in the catching trial and see if you're qualified for it?" She held out the brown oval-shaped ball to him.
He stopped in his tracks, looking back to her and the ball confusingly. "…didn't I already rejected you?" he said eventually.
"W-well, yes, you did," she sputtered. "But we're just doing this for, umm… fun! Yes, fun! I don't have any hidden motives about this or anything!" she explained hastily.
He frowned. "You know you're acting very suspicious, right?"
I know that… she thought, crying inwardly.
"But oh well, there's no harm in trying out, right?" He shrugged. "So we'll be having a catching trial here?"
"Eh? R-really?!" Sena tried to contain her excitement. "You… you're accepting my suggestion?"
He shrugged again. "Why not? It could be interesting."
"Really?! Thank you so much! Thank you so much!" She bowed repeatedly with enthusiasm.
"You don't to bow that much to me, you know…"
With a little bit of preparation they have, undressing their respective blazers so that they can move more easily, they approached at the side of the walk. They faced each other with some distance between them, as Sena held the brown ball in her hand. Now that reminds her, she realized, she haven't tried throwing a ball. Hiruma-san only made her try to receive a few days ago. I hope I'm not bad at this, she hoped. "Now, Raimon-san, I'm throwing the ball," she said.
"Bring it to me!" he exclaimed with a pumped fist, eager to receive the ball.
He's so energetic, she thought, smiling halfheartedly. She closed her eyes, trying to recall how Hiruma-san made his throw, bringing the ball closer to her face. All she knows was that a baseball pitcher and a quarterback's throw are different. A baseball's ball is round and while what she got is oval. Then she opened her eyes, knowing what to do. And she threw the ball with the pointed end facing ahead.
And just like earlier, Raimon-san easily caught it. But, Sena noticed, that it didn't spin like Hiruma-san did earlier. Was she supposed to give it a spin before she threw it? That seemed hard to do though, she thought.
"That was easy," Raimon said with an easy smile, holding the ball. "Although, it was a little different than earlier…"
"Hiruma-san was a quarterback, so I can't exactly replicate his throw…" She scratched her head embarrassingly.
"Quarterback? What's that?" he asked curiously.
"A player who throws the ball to a wide receiver," she replied easily, reaching out a gratitude to Kurita-san for explaining her the positions.
"So if I'm in American football, I would be a wide receiver, huh…"
Sena perked up at that. "Yes, you would be." Is he getting interested now? she thought hopefully.
"It's all interesting and all, but…" Raimon-san shook his head. "No can do. Baseball is where I'll stay." He motioned the ball back to her. "I'm giving this back."
Aww… she thought dejectedly, at least I tried. She raised her hands to receive the ball, but when he threw it back to her, even though it was obvious it was aimed at her, the direction of the ball went off to a different way.
It went directly to the river.
And seeing this, only following her instincts with a strange panic motivating her, she ran after it as she jumped to grab it. And before she knew it, she was drenched from head to toe.
"H-hey, are you okay?!" Raimon-san's voice called out to her, as the reality finally sets in to her that she half-lying at the river, which was fortunately currently shallow. "Why did you run after the ball? That could be dangerous!" he scolded, helping her up.
"N-n-no, it's just that…" It's because this is Riku's ball… She can't bring herself to say her childhood friend's name.
"Never mind that. Let's get out of here."
The people who was also at the river approached them. The father who played with his son earlier good-naturedly gave her a jacket, telling her that she can return it later. The grade school kids also gingerly approached and asked her if she was okay, to which Sena replied that she was. They also gave her… something, and she guessed it was something to be worn, explaining they were giving this to her because the old man earlier, the father, gave her something. She accepted… the skirt-looking thing, hoping it won't be too short for her, thanking them.
"Today is just a really bad day for me, isn't it?" she remarked, laughing halfheartedly. "Getting hit by a ball first thing in the morning and then falling to the river because of the same ball…"
"Sorry about that," Raimon-san said apologetically. "That wasn't my intention, really. I really have a bad throwing control."
"No, no! It's fine, it's fine!" She waved her hands in assurance. "It's all my fault anyways. And I shouldn't have chased after the ball just like you said."
"But if you get sick, it would be my fault."
"No, no, no, really!" Sena said forcefully, at least, as forcefully as she convincingly could. "Don't worry about it! I don't easily get sick! I just got wet by river, not by a rain, I'll be fine!"…I think, she silently added, hoping that her white lie would come true.
But he was still not convinced despite her efforts. Sena decided to distract him by asking him if there's a nearby bathroom, which he promptly pointed to one. She changed out of her uniform and wore the jacket and the skirt-thing that was given to her. Fortunately, she looked normal (according to Raimon-san at least) and she may look out of place for a bit but she can manage, said Raimon-san. The 'out of place' made her nervous since she doesn't want people looking at her weirdly, but she scolded herself that jumping to the river was her fault so she should owned up her own mistake.
"I'll walk you home," Raimon-san suddenly suggested, surprising her.
"No, I can walk by myself…" she replied.
"I insist."
"But—"
"Okay, I lied." He sighed defeated. "That skirt is way too short for you. Let me at least accompany you so that no creep will touch you inappropriately at the train."
Sena tugged down her skirt for the umpteenth time since they had walked their way to the train station, blushing furiously. "R-really?" She smoothed her skirt. "But still I can walk by…"
"At least this once."
"…okay," she conceded. With Raimon-san in her side, she would feel a bit safe.
To their luck, there wasn't any people in the train. There are still unoccupied seats for her to sit, as she comfortably sat there with Raimon-san beside her, a considerable distance between them. As the train went to its destination smoothly, Sena looked around to make herself distracted since Raimon-san decided that being silent was a polite thing to do with her, and she saw the same middle school kid in the morning, this time by himself, sitting quietly a few seats from her. He looked up as if he felt her gaze on him, surprisingly brightening up when he saw her, and enthusiastically waved in her direction. Sena timidly returned his wave with her own. That was only thing worth noting in the train until they have arrived at the train station where they would disembarked.
"It's fine if you only accompany me until here," she suggested. "You can ride the train again to go home. I think I already caused you enough trouble."
"Are you sure?" he asked, still not convinced.
"Yes, I am…!" she said firmly, fighting back the urge to tug the skirt again. "Besides, the neighborhood around here are familiar so there would be no any creep creeping at me." I hoped.
He stared at her as if trying to search her eyes before he sighed. "Fine. Just don't get sick, alright?" he said, walking back to the train with a backwards wave before train door closed. Sena waved at the train when it left the train station. Tugging her skirt for the last time, she knew a solution that would prevent her to feel uncomfortable and prevent some perverts to keep their hands to her bare legs. The solution that she knew so well and very easy for her to do:
Run, until she arrived at her home.
It was time for dinner. Sena, her mother, and father silently ate their food as the local news in the TV rolled across the screen. It was the usual news of criminals doing crimes, and idols and celebrities' controversies from national news. It was all pretty much in her expectation what would be on the news—just its usual monotonous events.
That is, until the local sports news came.
"Eyeshield 21, a player from Deimon—"As soon as she heard it, Sena nearly choked on her food. She immediately turned her attention to the TV. "—had amazing display despite losing to Ojou White Knights, where the idol Sakuraba Haruto plays."
A-amazing display…? She doesn't remember doing an 'amazing display' that this newscaster claimed. She just ran with all her might, but it wasn't against Sakuraba-san.
"An amazing display," continued the newscaster. "Of crashing against the idol causing him to be hospitalized."
Sena blanched. So that's what they meant… The newscaster really baited her. She remembered that this particular newscaster was infamously known for being a comedian.
"And we had an interview with Eyeshield 21." Sena started at those words. "We were asked to not play the audio to keep their identity so we will read the word-to-word transcription of what they replied to our question. We asked what they felt about crashing to Sakuraba Haruto and they said, not a paraphrase, of what they actually said," the newscaster looked down at the paper on his hand. "'Accident? Hell no! I'll screw someone who gets in my way! Why? We'll win! Get out of my way if you don't want to face my killer tackle! YA-HA!'"
"What!" She exclaimed in shock before covering her mouth. What is Hiruma-san doing?! she thought in disbelief. It was too obvious that this Eyeshield 21 they interviewed was him! Especially that 'YA-HA!' at the end!
"That's one aggressive player they got there…" Tou-san remarked in front of her, holding a newspaper now that he finished eating his dinner as he watched the news. He turned to her. "It's from your school, Sena, have you met someone like him?"
"Umm…" she stammered. If she said yes, thinking about Hiruma-san, they would make a fuss about it. Sena was sure of that.
"I hope not," Kaa-san said, standing up while carrying their empty plates to wash it. "Well, no matter anyways. Mamori-chan would surely scold that Eyeshield if they mess Sena."
"Yeah…" She can't help but agree to that. But the problem was that that the actual Eyeshield 21 was sitting in their kitchens. Their daughter whom they had no idea was an American football player.
"Well, aside from that," the newscaster said in the TV. "We asked what they feel about losing to Ojou White Knights, they said: 'Losing is not the end of line! Losing is an experience, not a goal! We may have lost and fallen from spring tournament, but we will rise up! Got that? We're f—uh, I'm not gonna say that—demons! We will rise from hell, and we'll make you experience hell!" The newscaster laughed evilly in emulation, suspiciously similar how Hiruma-san laughed. "And that's it for the local sports news. How's the weather—"
Sena didn't listened anymore. She just stood up with a sigh and walked to her room in embarrassment of what she just watched. She threw herself in the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Fortunately, for today, the teachers didn't assigned any home works for the students, giving them a momentary freedom. She can have her own time today, and she will do spend it by doing nothing.
There was nothing interesting happened today… if she doesn't count where she fell to the river. Sena raised herself from the bed, putting her hand to her forehead. Seems like her little white lie came true, as she still feel well—there was nothing uncomfortable happening to her body. She supposed it was small victory on her side.
Standing up from her bed, she walked to her desk. The notebook was still there—the notebook where Hiruma-san wrote the fifth bucket list. 5. Win Christmas Bowl, the words gaped at her as soon as she read it.
Sena can't still help but wonder if this will come true. Only three regular players in the club, and Hiruma-san was still looking for a wide receiver. Are they going depend to the helpers after all? This seemed to be likely if they went with this pace.
Trust, she told herself. That's what Kurita-san told her. Trust each other.
And so she will trust. She will trust what is written in this notebook. She will trust what Kurita-san had told her.
And, she hoped, she will trust herself and to everyone who will eventually join the club to do this feat. The feat from the measly team like them to reach Christmas Bowl.
She will trust.
…
Author's Note:
I do hope this chapter is okay since I wasn't exactly feeling this one (T_T)
What do you guys think, Raimon or Monta? I'm not sure myself which name our Sena-chan should call him.
See ya next update!