Title: Insights
Fandom: Eyeshield 21
Disclaimer: Riichiro Inagaki, Yusuke Murata, Shueisha
Character(s): Yoichi Hiruma, Mamori Anezaki, Sena Kobayakawa, Suzuna Taki
Rating: K
Synopsis: The cheerleader who was supposed to be on another flight, and the manager who was not supposed to be there.
It was during their departure for the United States, the first time he noticed it.
Not trying to be dramatic, but he genuinely thought the World Cup was a sacred place where only the eligible, strongest football athletes could enter. He was positive that almost all of his current teammates were having the same thought.
So it was acceptable to not engage oneself to any trivial things that can distract them from their utmost goal—winning. And in this case, women are included in those trivial things.
That was he thought, before he entered the plane and heard a high-pitched voice echoing inside the aircraft.
"Yaa! Sena, let's sit together!"
A short haired, petite girl entered his field of vision. He didn't remember her at all at their match with Deimon, but he knew the small man she talked to. To be precise, there was no one who wouldn't be able to recognize the MVP of the Kantou Tournament and the Ace of Deimon Devil Bats, the winner of the Christmas Bowl.
He didn't quite personally know Sena, but at the very least he knew Sena was one of those quiet boys who would never bring girls just for their personal enjoyment.
However, contrary to his confident theory, the usually shy and timid man, looked so bright when he saw the cheerful girl, and told her something before she filled the empty seat beside his.
It was…. Quite surprising.
As long as he remembered, Deimon didn't have a female player like Teikoku Alexander did.
But looking at other Deimon's members and even a few of other schools' members, it looked like all of them were already familiar with her, seeing how they seemed comfortable when she talked with them.
With that, he concluded one thing. She might also be a member of Deimon. Maybe one of their cheerleaders or something. Then again, wasn't there a separate flight for cheerleaders and such?
Failing to find possible reasons behind it, he suddenly was reminded of Deimon's infamous captain, and currently the captain of Team Japan too…. Which in reality there was no official position of captain, but somehow it became a unanimous decision between all of them.
Once again, he also didn't quite personally know things about Hiruma, but he could see the man was strict about American football. There was little to no chance he wouldn't be upset if things didn't go as he planned, in this case, the surprising appearance of an unknown girl.
When he turned his head to where the mentioned captain was seated —which was actually across his seat —, another short-haired girl came into his field of vision. This time, the girl's height was taller than the first one. She seemed trying to find her seat, looking how she held a piece of paper, intently gazing at it while turning her head to left and right.
"Oi."
Hiruma didn't turn his head at all to any possible direction, not even spared a glance. However, the girl stopped her walking, like she perfectly knew it was directed at her.
"Sit there."
Even though he clearly said 'there', the fact that he pointed with his thumb on his left hand to the seat beside him told her otherwise.
More confusion clearly appeared on his face, but so did the girl. In fact, she didn't waste any time on being confused as she immediately asked the most important question. "Whose seat is this?"
When both him and the girl could only hear the continuous sound of the captain's typing on his laptop, it was clearly obvious he shrugged her off. And by the looks of it, the girl obviously didn't like what happened to her right now.
"Excuse me, Hiruma-kun." Even though she said it politely, the notion behind those words didn't show an ounce of politeness at all. "You may be dragging me anywhere as you like, but I still have to know what I'm going to throw myself into."
The girl was standing still at the front of his seat, looking so stern while placing her hands on her hips. Hiruma was being reprimanded by an unknown girl. Was this situation even real?
"Stop being fussy and just sit. You really think that's the fitting attitude for someone who helped you to keep monitoring Fucking Shrimp?"
Hiruma eventually stopped his typing and looked up at the girl, but an annoyed look obviously showed up on his face.
He noticed it, but Yoichi Hiruma lived up to his name. Even with girls, he didn't use less profanities. And the girl herself was amazing in her own way; she didn't yield even a bit to his taunting. She should have been awarded a tribute for being one of the few people who dared to argue with the infamous captain of Deimon Devil Bats.
Then again, bit by bit she looked familiar now. Who was she, again?
"In the first place, the one who deserves a monitoring is you. I don't know how you manage to put my name on the list when there's no official position for manager."
Ah, now he remembered it. He did see her once when they're having a match back then. Deimon's manager. What she did say just now wasn't wrong in the least, and made him a bit confused. Why was she able to get in the plane?
Hiruma once again didn't respond at her argument, instead he just smirked and switched the direction of his gaze, back to the screen of his laptop.
Rather than getting ready to shoot back more arguments, she just turned silent and eventually let out a sigh.
"Geez, you really need to stop that habit of treating people like objects, you know?"
With that, she finally filled in the empty seat beside him. And not before long, the two of them started to talk to each other again, but he could sense there was not so much the same animosity like earlier. In fact, he could see they might have actually had a good relationship.
The cheerleader who was supposed to be in another plane and the manager who was not supposed to be there...
He just smiled, decided he was already being too nosy about them. Some things were not really what they seemed.
Notes: The whole thing Hiruma took Mamori to America even though there wasn't any official position for manager is canon, people. You know what's his reason? She's that useful to the team. And do you remember Hiruma's type of g̶i̶r̶l̶ manager? A useful girl. And so, that's how this fic was finally born.
About the person who narrated this, I let you guys imagine whoever fit. It might be the usual people like Yamato and Akaba, or surprising ones like Banba and Taka.
Dedicated to Japanese event Eyeshield Super Players 5th down. You can search the hashtag (#es_SP5) on Twitter so make sure to see it!