I'm so sorry for the delay Here's Chapter 3 of 'An Angel Appears '
I don't own Eyeshield 21
Ayumi sat on the upper half of the Oshiire the guys offered her (A/N: An Oshiire is a closet with sliding doors where futons are stored, it's divided into two parts, like the one Rukia of Bleach sleeps on when she stays at Ichigo's house). There is only one room in the house and their coach wouldn't approve of her sleeping in the living room because the door has no locks, at least not from the inside and the other quarter which their coach planned on using is located on the distant end of the football field and is too far from the main house, not exactly a safe place for a single girl to spend the night alone. After some discussions, their coach decided to stay on the far quarter, as he originally planned and had Ayumi use the Oshiire inside the boys' room.
She has been waiting for her turn to use the bathroom for about ten minutes now. The guys offered that she use it first but she insisted that they go ahead. She climbed down the closet, uninjured foot landing the ground first, and rummaged through her huge bag for a book she packed the night before. Just as she pulled it out, the door slid open and Takami followed by Sakuraba, Shin and Ootawara showed up.
"Ayumi-chan" Takami spoke, "It's your turn to use the bathroom"
"Oh, thank you" she placed her book back and carried her bathing stuff, "I'll be going then" she stepped outside the quarters and went to the bathroom limping a little as she stepped forward..
--
She came back already on her pajamas and a towel wrapping her hair after her bath. Most of the people were already on their designated places and already sleeping except for Sakuraba who was talking to Shin who was lifting some weights. She walked towards her place, the little closet on the side and searched through her luggage for something, her precious hair dryer, she only uses it when she needs to sleep right away because she feels uncomfortable sleeping with her hair still damp. After a few moments, she finally found it and immediately plugged it on the corner, just a few steps from her oshiire and started drying her hair. For a slight moment, she felt uneasy. She looked behind and saw the others staring at her.
"Ehehe…" she blushed, "Is it, too noisy?" she questioned the two boys in hushed tone, turning her hair dryer off.
"Oh, no not at all, and you don't have to worry about them, even a drumroll won't disrupt their sleep" Sakuraba kindly replied, "
"Oh, it's good they're not light sleepers then"
"Ah" he laughed, "Ah, Ayumi-chan, do you often come to your brother's game? I don't recall seeing you often"
"No, their game against Yuki was the first"
"Why didn't you come on their past games then?"
"I just came back from America about three weeks ago"
"So you're from America… You must have seen some nice games there, right Shin?" he acknowledged the presence of the other guy who seemed to be fond of lifting heavy objects.
"Hm" was his only reply,
"Well, yeah I did. There are some interesting games there, lots of interesting people"
"Must be fun, I wish we'd get to play with those people" he remarked
"Some of them had transferred to Japan, like Kakei Shun and..." she paused for a while "Akaba Hayato"
"Huh? You know them?"
She nodded, "I met Kakei-kun, at an interschool tournament back in America, and Haya—Akaba Hayato is from my school, he's an… upperclassman."
They felt something strange with her mentioning Akaba's name, but noticing her seemingly discomfort over it, they did not bother asking.
--
A few moments of chatting with Sakuraba and he bid her goodnight and fell asleep. The only people awake at that time were herself and the ever silent Shin. He hasn't been conversing with them minutes ago and as far as she could tell, he wasn't that much of a talking person. Although she must admit, that he's really kind and she's especially thankful for the help he's given her moments before. About two more silent minutes later she understood his personality a bit.
"Ne, Shin-san" she started,
"Hm?" he stared at her.
"Do you fancy lifting weights?" she asked out of the blue, just to get into a conversation, she doesn't feel too comfortable with the silence,
"It's good for strengthening the muscles. It helps a lot in American Football"
"I see… what's your position then?"
"Linebacker"
She paused at the statement, but later on realized his attention on her,
"Ah" she faked a laugh, "Gomen, I guess I'm just getting a bit sleepy. Aren't you going to sleep yet?"
"In three minutes"
She gave him a smile, "Then, I'll be seeing you in the morning, good night" she stood up and headed her way to the closet when she accidentally slipped. Her foot was still not well. She was about to crash to the floor, her eyes already closed, expecting and preparing for collision when … 5 seconds… She didn't hit the floor. She opened her eyes and saw Shin and then, a sudden realization… his arms were around her preventing her fall. They just stared at each other for another 5 seconds when she felt her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.
"er… G-gomenasai" she mumbled softly,
"Are you ok?"
She nodded, "thanks… S-so, Shin-san…"
"Hn"
"I'm all right now"
"Hn"
"I better go to sleep now"
"Hn" he said again, his eyes still fixed on her.
"You can let go now" she gently said.
Shin realized that he was still holding her on his arms and immediately let her go, "Gomenasai"
"er… no, it's-it's all right, j-ja… Good night" she said, her head facing the floor and she turned around as she felt her cheeks blush a deeper shade.
She climbed inside the closet and slid the door close. For some reason, Shin felt like watching her until her figure got blocked by the sliding door. He kept staring at the already close closet until he concluded that he's already sleepy for doing something so senseless so he stood up and turned off the lights.
-o-
The next morning when Ayumi woke up the room was already deserted. She went out of the closet and walked to the kitchen then to the living room only to find out that nobody but herself is inside the house. She looked outside and found them running from downhill and already sweating a lot.
"Ayumi-san" Sakuraba saw her from the door and cheerfully waved at her. She waved back at him. They proceeded to the football field near the house and ran more around it.
-o-
She took her morning bath and took her bow and arrows, pieces of colored paper and wore her protective equipment. She walked outside limping slightly carefully spotting a place where she could practice. She found a decent place in a matter of time. She set up afterwards, attaching a piece of thin paper on an arrow and randomly aiming them away from her.
She made a lot of hits when she felt someone staring at her.
She lowered her bow and turned to look behind. She still recalled the incident last night but dismissed it from her thoughts
"Gomenasai" he spoke, "am I interrupting you?"
"No, not at all Shin-san" she smiled her ever sweet smile, a trait very different from her brother. Her lips were now uttering something, but Shin contemplated on the distinction between her and the commander from hell and felt something different inside him. Something he couldn't understand that well.
"Shin-san?" she spoke,
He noticed her features, her angelic face, the way she aims an arrow, it was like—
"Shin-san?" she repeated,
He blinked twice, as if he just woke up,
"Was there something you'd like to tell me?" she asked kindly, she has already asked him about it before but he wasn't paying attention.
"…" Finally getting back to his senses, "They asked me to tell you that it's already time for breakfast."
"Oh, I'll just clean up and then I'll catch up" she started packing her things.
Shin glanced at her foot. He helped her pick up her things, "T-thank you" he heard her say,
"Is your foot all right?" he asked as he stood up and took the things she was carrying from her hands.
She nodded, "It's so much better now, it's all thanks to you"
"Hn"
When they reached the dining room, everyone, including Ootawara who's supposed to have a bottomless stomach, was already done eating and was already leaving the dining area.
"Last one on the table gets to wash the dishes" Ootawara told them and then laughed at himself.
The both of them sat on two chairs facing each other and started to eat,
"I'll be washing the dishes" she offered, feeling guilty of having him look for her and late for his breakfast and for staying with them on their training camp.
"I'll be washing it" he spoke ever so stoical, "your foot is still not well"
"It's already ok" she lied, "besides, washing the dishes doesn't really have anything to do with my foot."
He thought about it and then, "Ok"
-o-
Ayumi was humming a beat while diligently washing the cutlery they used. Shin was sitting by the table observing her. He offered to help her earlier but decided that it was a bad idea as he managed to break five plates earlier just by holding them.
"Shin-san?"
"Hn?"
"Aren't you going to train with them yet?"
The question hit him. It wasn't like him, Shin Seijurou to slack. It was still their break time, but he would normally take the time to jog, lift weights or do something to improve his build, but that moment…
"Training will resume on 9:30" he said… so unlike him, he sighed… at that moment… something inside him wants to stay with her.
-o-
I know not a lot happened here, I'm planning some events for the next chapter, but I'm still not sure about them…btw, thank you so much for reading, and please tell me what you think. : )