FASH: I was going to write and post this yesterday, but I got called into work before I even got to go on the computer. Oh well, an anime enthusiast has got to make some money for her hobby. Anyways, since I know how completely incapable I am at writing a football game, we'll just sort of... Skip over that part...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena awoke with a start, hours earlier than he had set his alarm for staring at his ceiling with wide eyes.

Today was the day...

Yesterday there had been some light training in the morning before the team parted ways to preserve their strength for the oncoming game, each member preparing for the upcoming challenge in his or her own way.

Today was December twenty fifth and in several hours all of his training was going to be put to the ultimate test.

Sena jumped out of bed and began pacing around his room, now that he was up there was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep, he felt so alive, so full of excitement and energy that if given the chance he was sure that he'd be able to run around the city ten times before the game and still have enough energy to play in his top form.

But he settled on making breakfast instead, rocking back and forth on his toes ever so often as impatience began getting the better of him.

"Sena? Why are you up so early dear? Should you be resting up for your big game today?" His mother asked in between yawns as she entered the kitchen and moving to stand behind him so that she could peer down at what he was cooking.

"I woke up and didn't feel like going back to bed." Sena replied, shifting to the side so that his mother could better observe his progress.

"Not bad but-" She began before grabbing her apron and tying it on. "I am the master of this kitchen Sena." She patted his hair affectionately. "So I'll handle the rest of the cooking, and you can make some coffee for when your dad finally rolls out of bed." Sena nodded and complied, happy that he wasn't being kicked out of the kitchen like he usually was when he was trying to make something. 'I guess mom understands that I need something to occupy myself with so that I don't go insane from waiting.'

About ten minutes later his father meandered into the kitchen, stumbling around in an unsuccessful attempt to follow his noes to the coffee. Sena smiled lightly and handed hm a mug. "Ah, thanks."

He took his time eating breakfast and then took a long hot shower until his skin was tinged pink but time seemed to crawl by slower than ever before.

'If I had slept in until my alarm went off I would have gotten up eleven minutes ago.' He looked at his watch wearily, he was already dressed and ready to go.

"Sena, do you want to open Christmas presents now? It'll take your mind off the time for a while." Sena slowly shook his head. "I think I'll just leave now, I bet a lot of my teammates will already be at school by the time I get there anyways." "I see, your mother and I should probably head out soon too." Sena turned to face him, puzzled. "Already?"

"Of course." Began his mother as she strutted out of the kitchen. "We want to get good seats to watch our little champion fight." She took a hold of his face and kissed him affectionately on the noes.

"Moooom." Sena rubbed at his noes, blushing at the gesture before he turned towards the door.

"Well, I guess I'll see you after the game." "Fight on sweety! You can do it!" "Don't worry about a thing, you'll do fine." Sena slipped on his running shoes and looked over his shoulder at his parents one last time before he closed the door behind him and made his way to school.

Just as he had thought many of his teammates had already gathered outside the gate to wait for the bus, all of them looking restless and excited, greeting Sena with loud, cheery voices as Sena stood beside them.

Time passed by swiftly from that point on and in no time the were boarding the bus, getting suited up, playing against Seibu... They had nearly won the last time they played, they had been so close to winning...

After a game that seemed to fly by quicker than usual Sena found himself standing on unsteady legs, not able to move from his spot, not able to think because all the cheering around him was distracting him. He slowly was able to move forward towards his teammates, a grin becoming prominent on his face.

They had won.

"Sena." The Brunette turned to face Riku, his legs still a bit shaky from all the running he had done. "Congratulations." And without a second thought he had thrown himself into Riku's arms and wrapped his arms tightly around the other boys' waist. "Riku, we did it!" The fair haired boy awkwardly patted Sena's back. "Yeah, you did." He whispered before turning to look in the stands.

'For some reason, I feel as though there are people staring at me with murderous intent...'He shrugged his shoulders and vaguely began to wonder how long Sena was going to hug him for.