Chapter Forty Six: The Order of Things

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Song Playing: The Bird and The Worm- the used

Theme 9: Cheat

It wasn't very often but every once in a while Youichi Hiruma failed to recognize the warning signs of a situation that was rapidly spiraling out of control.

In fact it was less of a not-very-often and more of an it-had-never-happened-before.

Ever.

Therefore when the day came that he did, somehow manage to be completely and utterly oblivious to any and all signals that were predicting an inevitable collapse of the new and therefore fragile relationship with his until recently football manager, he was completely blind-sided with no basis for damage control possibilities. He hadn't realized it at the time but their current conversation was the beginning of something very, very bad.

Wide slightly startled eyes blinked at him. "What did you say?"

"I said if you were still planning to visit your grandma in the summer you should get your plane tickets now." He looked up at the feeling of her burning holes in the back of his head with her glare. It wasn't an unusual circumstance, just unexpected for the moment. She normally only gave him that look when she felt he had done something wrong and as far as he knew he hadn't said anything she should have disapproved of. "What?"

She looked extremely suspicious. "How could you possibly know that? I've never said anything to you about it before."

"You go every summer." He really didn't see what the big deal was. He was offering a piece of friendly advice. Trying to get her cheaper tickets so she wouldn't be worrying about it later. He was being a good boyfriend and she was staring at him like he had done something wrong.

Her eyes narrowed. "I know I go every summer. What I want to know is how you know I go every summer."

"The usual way." He kept eye contact with her, though on the inside he was starting to feel defensive; like he should start preparing himself for a fight. Which was ridiculous. There was nothing to fight about. And yet...

She was tense. Probably for no reason, she had to admit to herself. She was over-reacting, something she did more than she cared to admit. It was one of her less endearing qualities. He had probably heard about it from her mother. They were close in a way that almost made her uncomfortable. Still she couldn't stop her hands from clenching. "What do you mean the usual way?"

He gave her a you've-got-to-be-joking-me look.

When she continued to be unrelenting with her stare and her knuckles were practically bone white from lack of blood flow, he sighed. Producing a familiar book from the depths of his pockets he felt their conversation take a horrible nose diving turn for the worse. His muscles braced themselves for what was he was anticipating was going to be an explosive response.

He wasn't wrong.

The realization that he had someone look into her personal history had her bristling. "You can't just go around looking up things about me!"

"I don't." It was only because she knew him so well that she saw he was slightly insulted that she had insinuated such a thing. She was almost going to apologize, give him the benefit of the doubt. After all it was entirely possible that he had heard it from her mother. Her mother did like him and their favorite thing to talk about when they were left alone was her. But then he had to go and open his big fat stupid mouth and flash that damned book again. It was almost like he was trying to get her angry. "They were already on file; I just had to review them."

Her jaw dropped. "That's even worse!"

"What the hell is wrong with you this morning?" He tucked the black book back into the confines of his pocket.

It really was the worst possible thing he could have said at that moment.

She blinked large blue eyes in complete disbelief. Her cheeks were flushing in righteous anger. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me is that my boyfriend has no respect for my private life."

Now he really was insulted. He had plenty of respect for her, more respect than he had for most. "You knew about the book before we started dating. You knew you were in it, even if I didn't tell you- you knew. But I never threatened you with it like I did everyone else. Did you notice that? Fuck! I respect you more than I do anyone else."

She didn't hear a word he said. "What else does it say about me in that book of yours?"

"Basic information." Her glare was absolutely piercing. "You broke your arm when you were eight trying to steal an orange from your neighbor's tree. You cried when you got an eighty nine on a math test in middle school. Up until you started high school you-"

"That's cheating!" Inwardly she had winced as soon as the words left her mouth. It sounded so childish when she said it like that. This time she tried a more mature way to express her distress. "You're supposed to ask me about this kind of stuff. We're supposed to learn these kinds of things about each other. You're not supposed to go around collecting information about me when I'm dating you- you- jerk!"

She was never her most mature around Hiruma.

He was just getting ready to throw out some of his own insults when she turned on her heel and headed for the door. He followed quickly behind her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home." She bit out, not bothering to turn around.

This was absolutely insane. He was dating a crazy woman. "You're being ridic-"

"Don't talk to me!" She yelled over her shoulder. Throwing the door open she continued her furious pace across the football field. When she continued to hear the familiar footfalls of his steps she added, "And don't follow me!"

As he watched her go he tried to calm down the bad feeling he was developing in his heart and his gut. This was just another fight. She'd cool down. She'd call him later and they'd sort this out. Really, this was too ridiculous to last for long.

She was never able to hold a grudge this long before.

He wasn't showing it but this was really starting to freak him out. The forced politeness out of her when she was forced to interact with him due to team duties and the withering look she gave him when she didn't have to be polite. Then there were the sad little looks she'd get when she thought he wasn't looking. Plus he found himself starting to miss the little things. Like how she made lunch for them or how he walked with her to her place when they were out late even though he lived on the other side of the university. It was enough to distract him in their last game for him to completely miss catching the snap back at the start of play.

By the time another game rolled around he knew he couldn't take it anymore. He was focused and calculating but not enough to ignore this for a whole game again. If he didn't resolve this they were going to lose. There was no way for him to completely block out the churning feeling he got in his stomach every time she looked at him like she was disappointed. It was absolutely nauseating.

And she wasn't showing any signs of letting up either. If this thing between them was ever going to be resolved he would have to do something about it. He was going to have to be the one to take the first step.

He managed to get her alone just before they were due to storm the field. Everyone else was outside getting ready to run onto the field and that left them with a few minutes of privacy in the locker room. He tried to make himself look as non-threatening as possible, a difficult feat since he spent most of his time trying to do the exact opposite.

"I get it now."

He watched her with a critical eye as her posture relaxed and she looked up at him with less anger and more hope. "You do?"

"Yeah." He felt that constriction around his heart loosen. He gave her a smile that showed all his teeth, his hand finding its way to the small of her back. Gently he began guiding her to the exit that would lead them out to the field. "Now hurry it up we got a game to win then I'll take you out to dinner."

There was a moment where she allowed him to guide her. One brief moment of happiness. That he had understood but then she caught a glimpse of his eyes and the moment ended.

He was playing her and her heart dropped.

She stopped, just before they reached the door. "...No."

He looked down at her. "What?"

"No, you don't get it." She spoke slowly, as if she was hand choosing each word before she said them. "I can see it."

"Of course I do. I just told you I did, didn't I?"

She shoved his arm off her shoulder, turning her body to face him fully. "No you don't and you're lying about it. You expect me to just believe you and go on like we're okay when we're not okay. If you can't see why I'm so upset and have to lie about understanding then I'm sorry. I can't do this."

Her voice had trembled at the end but she had held her ground. Now, for the first time in his extensive memory, she was walking away from him. She was leaving him.

"Hey!"

Despite the way his voice ricocheted off the walls, he kept her steady pace towards the exit.

"Fucking manager!"

He felt something deep in his gut that he hadn't felt in a long time. It was a panicking feeling that he couldn't shake off, like if he didn't stop her now it'd be too late. Which was ridiculous because this was just a stupid fight. They had hundreds of them over their association with each other. They'd get through this one.

Right?

"Mamori!"

She walked out the door.