80s Fashion Nightmare
IMPORTANT: In this AU, Sena did reveal herself as Eyeshield 21. HOWEVER, they do not know Sena is in fact a girl.
To add further, I personally like 80s fashion.
'Sure, it's comfortable, but at what cost?' Sena tried not to grimace as other partygoers stared, tugging at the hem of her oversized magenta sweater. One arm crossed over her chest, she tried to obscure the words boldly displayed in neon font, 'Jog Girl'. Suzuna thought she was so funny.
True, her billowy sweater was made of the softest material she had ever had the fortune of placing upon her body, but it hung scandalously off of one shoulder, exposing most of her collarbone. Thankfully, she was allowed to wear a turquoise tank top to make it decent. Her tights, also made of some heavenly fabric, were the same blinding blue with a pair of loose, small black shorts to go over it.
Sena insisted on that last part, Suzuna had wanted just the tights, despite the fact the shorts were hidden by the sweater. The line needed to be drawn and Sena had dug her heels in until the other girl relented. After all, they were dressed as an 80's couple for the Halloween party and Sena, who was supposed to be a boy dressing as a girl, had a noticeable lack of male parts. Despite that, Suzuna grumbled over the degradation of the outfit she had personally assembled. To appease her, Sena begrudgingly agreed to legwarmers, which were also an audacious magenta. Her sneakers happened to be the only item she was wearing that actually belonged to her.
Still, she was lucky in a sense. Sena shuddered as she recalled how close she had been to wearing a unitard. Yikes.
"Hey," a voice purred from behind her. Sena jumped, assuming someone had (correctly) mistaken her for a girl. Spinning around, she was met with a grinning Suzuna, who had dressed as a combination of Bender from The Breakfast Club and J.D. from the Heathers. With her black hair combed back roguishly, the cheerleader looked devilishly handsome.
Sena was extremely envious and voiced it. "Why do you get to look so cool and I look like I should be doing a workout video?"
"You agreed to dress as a pair, you didn't specify as what," Suzuna responded gleefully, throwing an arm around her friend's waist. "Now, let's go, babe."
Suzuna was very devoted to playing her part as the 'boyfriend' and Sena, who again was thought to be a boy, was to behave as the 'girlfriend'. Honestly, she didn't know how Suzuna had convinced Hiruma that this was even a remotely good idea. Her cover as a very male Eyeshield 21 could be blown at any slip-up, because surely not all football players were dumb enough to ignore the truth when it was right in front of them.
"Whoa, Sena-kun, nice costume, or should I say, Sena-chan," Mizumachi guffawed, leaning down to ruffle her short hair. His skin, that wasn't covered by his swimsuit, was painted with greenish-blue scales. From his fake fins, Sena assumed he was supposed to be a merman, or maybe the creature from the Black Lagoon. She smiled tolerantly, searching for and not spotting Kakei, who usually hung around the blond swimmer to rein him in. "For a dude, you don't look half bad in tights." He snorted again, almost spilling his drink as he ducked to stare at the tiny pair.
While Sena adjusted her hair and sweatband, Suzuna stepped forward and squared her shoulders, retorting, "Oi, paws off my lady, pal."
The tall man held up his hands apologetically, smile growing wider as he struggled to contain his laughter. "Alright, alright, I get it, bro. I won't touch your woman. Sorry." He let out another cackle, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at Sena, who blushed in indignation.
Suzuna appeared to accept his request for forgiveness, although she drew the runningback closer to her side. At this act, understanding dawned on Sena; this whole macho façade was probably to help keep her true identity safe. 'Clever,' she thought.
"I'm hungry, let's get something to eat." Sena said, leaning her head close to Suzuna's ear to be heard. The music from the party was loud and so many people had come, their additional voices nearly rivaled the noise. "I think there might be candied apples." She whispered conspiratorially and she felt her partner straighten with interest.
"To the food table!" Suzuna announced, grabbing her partner by the hand and leading them through the crowd.
"Who the hell let Sena dress like that?" Jumonji stewed in annoyance, very aware of how many stares were being directed at their small runningback. "What is Hiruma thinking? Is he trying to give away her identity?"
"Hey, man, relax, it's a costume party, no one is going to take them seriously," Kuroki replied, shrugging nonchalantly. He sat slumped in a chair with Togano resting against the wall next to him, reading a Halloween issue of Shonen Jump. The trio had chosen not to dress-up, but for some reason people seemed to think they were wearing delinquent costumes. Adjusting his glasses, Togano continued, "Yeah, besides, Suzuna's with her, she'll be fine. She's a 'he' as far as they know, anyways."
Jumonji remained standing, glaring across the room at anyone who caught his eye. "Whatever."
By the food table, Sena had to drag Monta away after some other football player flirted, slightly, with Mamori, who had come as a teacher of all things. "I wanted to set a positive example for Sena," she had explained as Suzuna pouted over the waste of perfectly good excuse to dress up.
"You could have been a sexy teacher at least, Mamo-chan!" The cheerleader shook her head, huffing.
Mamori raised an eyebrow. "You chose to dress as a guy."
"Yeah, a HOT guy."
"Monta, please, calm down, he was just paying her a compliment!" Sena cried, arms wrapped securely around her best friend's chest, trapping his arms as he struggled. "She does look very nice!"
After they moved far enough away to lose sight of the perpetrator of the admiring comment, she let go. Monta rounded on her, glaring defiantly. "I saw his eyes! They were the eyes of someone with impure thoughts! How dare he gaze upon Mamori-chan's delicate, sophisticated beauty like that!"
Long suffering, Sena nodded and remarked, "Sure, but so do you."
He turned beet red, nearly matching the stripes of the baseball uniform he wore as a costume. "T-that has nothing to do with this!"
"Right." She deadpanned, patting his shoulder consolingly. "Keep telling yourself that."
A chuckle sounded from behind her. "My, my, what a lively pair you two are."
"Yamato-san!" They said in unison, turning to the original Eyeshield 21. Sena, aware of her outfit yet again, flushed and inched closer to shield herself behind Monta. Her friend made a challenging noise in his throat when he spotted Taka Honjo, his rival receiver, following close behind the former Notre Dame student.
"Such a cute costume, Sena-kun! What are you supposed to be exactly?" Yamato asked, his friendly stare locking onto her. He smiled radiantly; sparkling charismatically like the Caesar he was dressed as would have. As a stoic Centurion, Taka simply tilted his head to indicate his curiosity as he awaited her reply.
"A-ah, I'm an 80s…," her mouth closed awkwardly as she really didn't want to include the next part, "g-girlfriend. Suzuna's my b-boyfriend, we're- We're a pair. It makes a lot more sense when we're together, r-really."
Both Yamato and Taka looked like they wanted to remark on that, but politely chose not to and she was eternally grateful.
"Hey, who's the babe in pink?" A crude voice asked and Sena sunk into herself, horrified. 'Not him,' she panicked. 'Oh, please, don't let it be him.'
"Actually, Agon-san, it's Sena-kun," Yamato informed him, his smile growing brighter. Oddly, Sena had the feeling that the more luminous his expression, the more danger you were in. 'Suzuna, where are you?' She thought, sending a pleading glance back towards the food table, her view obstructed by other partygoers. 'This is not a good situation for me to be in!'
Thankfully, she still had Monta. "Uh, let's head back to the others, Sena," he suggested, detecting the growing tension. Her love for her friend solidified into near worship.
"Oi, not so fast."
Agon had wandered up to the group because he had spotted a nice pair of legs. He did not expect them to belong to his puny runningback rival. At first he was irritated, having lost an opportunity to get another girl, but Sena's uncomfortable expression perked his interest. Plus that Yamato bastard and his receiver lackey where here, so he could conveniently menace them all at once.
"So, Sena-chan, you like dressing like a girl?" He asked, throwing an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "Is that what you're into, freak?"
"I-I-I-It's a costume!" Sena managed to stutter out, frozen but frantically searching with his eyes for a way out.
"Mah, Agon-san, don't tease him, it is Halloween after all, he can dress how he pleases," Yamato reproved. His sparkling face was nearly blinding. Taka took a step away, observing the situation reservedly, making occasional glances at the arm around Sena. He had no doubt that if Sena truly wanted to he could escape Agon's hold, but that would most likely make his situation worse. Taka sighed. Where was that Unsui when you needed him?
There was a tense lull in the conversation after Yamato spoke and both he and Agon held each other's stare. The threat level was rising rapidly and from the way Sena flinched, it appeared the grip on his shoulders was not a gentle one. Sena was making unblinking eye contact with Monta, asking for help or death who knows, and Monta could only shake his head powerlessly, appearing just as terrified as his friend.
They all jolted when someone's cell went off, the cheery jingle disturbing the bubble of silence.
"A-ah, that's mine," Sena said, pulling up his sweater to reach into his shorts' pocket. Monta took the opportunity to prep for a run as the others in the group zoned in on the exposed upper thighs and hips of his best friend. He knew Sena was a girl but they didn't, so he couldn't understand the interest. Sena was trying to speak quietly, despite everyone still being able to hear every word, "Hello? Ehh?! What? No, I didn't- I'll be right over!"
Sena snapped the cell shut. "Sorry, I've got to go. That was Hiruma-san," he stated, as if that explained everything. However, when he tried to step away from Agon, the hold on his shoulders didn't budge. "A-ano, Agon-san, I have to go."
"Do I look like I care what that piece of trash Hiruma wants? I'm not done talking to you," he replied coldly, his face half covered by his dreadlocks.
Sweat dripped down the back of her neck, and Sena felt stupid for having mentioned Hiruma. Of course, that worked with other people when she was in a bad situation, but Agon wasn't afraid of Hiruma. In fact, he most likely would bother her more just to get back at her demonic captain.
"Ah, Agon-san, he said he needed to leave," Yamato pointed out sunnily. His beautiful eyes hardened as his smile grew. "So let him go."
Sena was certain she was going to have a hand shaped bruise by the time she got home. As expected, Agon did not take someone ordering him around well. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, you fucking shiny bastard?"
"You, Agon-san," Yamato responded, still beaming. Taka took another step away, gesturing faintly for Monta to run for it. "My, my, do I have to repeat myself?"
Sena and Monta shared alarmed looks, and she subtly jerked her head in the direction of the food table. Monta nodded slowly. As one, they bolted, Sena ducking out of his grip and throwing herself into the crowd.
"OI!"
"Ah, not so fast, Agon-san." Yamato chided.
Taka let out a breath of relief.
"We MAX almost died!" Monta shouted as soon as they reached relative safety. "I thought they were going to start throwing punching for sure."
"They still might," Sena said, rubbing her aching shoulder.
Monta nodded, half-heartedly listening for a brawl. "Wait, didn't you say that Hiruma-san called you?"
"I lied," she admitted, scratching her head, "It was Suzuna. She wanted to know if I wanted her to me a caramel apple. I thought that maybe he would let go if I said I needed to leave. But I forgot he and Hiruma-san hate each other."
"True." He crossed his arms. "Still, you tried your best."
"Thanks for not bailing on me," Sena said, gratitude filling her voice.
"What?! Of course not, you're my best friend! If we die horribly, we die horribly together." He declared then both of them nervously looked around to see if the coast was clear. They sighed in unison.
Sena grinned. "Still better than the clown."
"Yeah, that was pretty much the worst." Monta laughed.
Someone cleared their throat behind them and they turned. The clown from before stood by the punch bowl.
They screamed.
In the hallway outside, Hiruma shuffled through photographs. "Is this all you got?"
"It's all I could get before Sena bolted," Suzuna defended, her hands tucked into her coat pockets. "Unless you want the ones with Agon in them."
"Feh," he huffed in disgust, pulling out his lighter. "No one wants to see that shit."
"Hey, what are you doing?!" She shouted, watching in horror as he lit half of her photos on fire.
"Like I said, no one wants to see that," Hiruma stated dispassionately. "I'll take the rest, however."
He tossed her a wad of cash. "Nice doing business with you."
"Yeah, yeah," Suzuna grumbled, glumly kicking the ashes of her photos. Sullen, she waited until he left and pulled out another stack of photos from her deceptively deep pockets. She grinned like a fox. "And now for the rest of my clients…"
Critiques and comments are welcome (and are very motivating). Suzuna is going to be in a lot of trouble when Hiruma eventually finds out about her double dealing, but profit is profit.
