Chapter Thirty Four: Lazy Happy Summer Days
Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.
Song Playing: Everything Is Tickety Boo
Theme 58: Summer
On a bright sunny summer day two figures sat atop one of the many tall buildings that made up the skyscraper skyline of modern day Tokyo. These two figures were in fact a young man and a young woman. Both were young, second years at a university that was only a few train stops away from their current location. Lounging in surprisingly comfortable lawn chairs that managed to avoid the afternoon heat by way of a large overheard canopy, the warmed cement topped roof that they resided on was in a state of organized mess. Water bottles in various stated of fullness were all within arm's reach of either student and were surrounded by (in some cases on top of) stacks of papers and folders. Also in easy access was a cup filled with an assortment of writing instruments: pens, pencils, mechanical pencils, highlighters, and a lone eraser. In addition to all of this was a single running laptop.
Not to mention the giant widescreen television complete with a DVD player and speakers that could probably knock a person's pants off if the person who had the remote wanted to, occupied quite a bit of space a few feet in front of them and dead center. The fact that every neighboring building that lived behind the couple could see, not to mention hear, what was playing on the entertainment system was proof enough to it's quality.
Yes. All in all the two casually attired occupants of the roof appeared to be making the most of their summer by relaxing in a way that was both awe aspiring and extensive.
"Have you gone completely bat shit?"
Unless you were in hearing distance, of course.
The woman looked up from the file she was scanning over with a distinctive frown of her face. Glaring, she took a half eaten Popsicle out of her mouth and spoke. "No I haven't. It's a logical counterattack to their defensive strategy. You said it yourself, our only chance is a dive right through the center."
"Don't shove your crazy plans in my mouth." The man, whose hair was a frightening shade of bright blinding blonde, nearly bit through the stick that held his summer treat together. "I said the center was their weakest link, which isn't saying much because their weak spot can still crush our front line. Now how did you get let's make the fucking glass jaw fight his way through that out of what I said?"
"That's not what I said and you know it." She scratched absentmindedly at a bug bite on her knee and tugged her tank top back down so it covered her stomach. "You make it sound like I'm trying to toss him into a pack of hungry wolves."
"That's exactly what you're doing. And people call me the fucking heartless one." Finishing off the last bit of his half melted dessert, the angry looking man stared critically at the sticky wooden stick he had left in his hand. "Why didn't the rooster cross the road?"
Not at all affected by the abrupt change is subject she seemed to ponder the question for a moment. Seemingly not being able to come up with a reply she shrugged her shoulders in defeat.
"Too prove he wasn't chicken." Scrunching his nose in disgust, the man tossed the stick away from him. It landed with a barley noticeable sound a couple of feet away with similar sticks that had suffered the same fate. Meanwhile the blond had opened the ice chest that was between him and his companion and pulled out another Popsicle from the nearly full reciprocal. Discarding the wrapper, he resumed the conversation without any sign that he had ever strayed from the topic at hand. "Fucking glass jaw is fast but he ain't fast enough to avoid the suicidal collision you're setting him up for."
She gave him a smile as hastily kept her own snack from melting all over her hand. "Am I hearing right? Hiruma-kun actually showing concern for hsi fellow team mate? When did this new found sense of caring for others come from?"
He just scowled at her before returning to his own pile of game plans. "I can't go around replacing players every time you decide to kill them off on the field, it's a waste of time that could be spent practicing or making a plan that keeps me from having to blackmail people into a team every game."
Her own eyes narrowed at his word choice. "I'm not trying to kill him and you mean recruit."
"Recruit what?"
"You mean recruit not blackmail." She corrected him just as she finished the last of her popsicle. Holding it a little further away from her person, she read off what was printed on the small piece of wood. "What happened when the shark became famous?" Not even bothering to wait for a response from her friend, he hadn't so much as looked up at the last three she had read out loud, she answered her own riddle. "He became a starfish."
"What dumbass came up with that one? Sharks aren't even fucking fish."
She shrugged and reached into the cooler for another one. "Where's the disk of that game from last season? The one where Hajime-kun dislocated his shoulder. I can show you exactly what I'm talking about instead of denying the fact that I'm not trying to land Aki-kun in the hospital."
"It's already in." The man picked up the remote and began getting the footage ready. "And you can't deny it because it would be lying and I never took you for a filthy liar."
The woman let out a deep heaving sigh and cleaned up the slightly sticky dribble that managed to land on her shorts. "Just shut up and start the play Hiruma-kun."
A rather unusual way to spend a beautiful warm summer day: reviewing game footage, taking notes, reading and re-reading game strategies on top of a hot roof with a person you spend most of the time arguing with. It was not how any sane reasonable person would want to spend one of their few precious days away from school work, study group, extracurricular activities, and family obligations.
Yet neither of them could think of any other place they would rather be.