A/N: This was super late. Sorry.
Koizumi Karin x Kobayakawa Sena
#61 - #80
61. Accuracy
Karin was a part of Japan's strongest team as their regular quarterback, meaning that she had to have the most accurate passes, the best eyes and the best mind to control the flow of the game, but when she was faced with Sena's doe-eyes, she found that her butterfingers made her drop everything in her hands, and her eyes would be constantly averted and flickering away from their target, and her mind would stutter and stop whenever he was around.
She didn't know what to do about these feelings she had, but she could deduce exactly what it was that she was feeling.
It didn't mean that she could pretend it didn't exist, however.
62. Irregular Orbit
Sena wasn't really the kind of guy that people would want to orbit around and get to know, but Karin couldn't deny that her boyfriend certainly had a strange charisma about him that made him special.
63. Cold Embrace
She couldn't hold back her shriek of surprise when Yamato threw her into the pool, instantly soaking her (and her clothes) from head to toe, before throwing Sena in after her.
"Have fun, kids!" Yamato all but cackled, a grin on his face as he promptly locked them inside of the swimming pool with an ominous click!, making Sena and Karin look at each other nervously.
Despite how warm his words were, they could feel a shiver running down their spin, as if something cold had just embraced them and chilled them to the bone.
64. Frost
Sena never liked the cold, but having Karin next to him, her scarf wrapped hazardously around the two of them in a futile attempt to ward off the winter chill, was something he wouldn't ever want to change.
Even if his toes felt like they were frostbitten, and his nose was going to freeze off of his face.
65. A Moment in Time
It was the moments when Sena and Karin were alone and quiet that they were most relaxed, not having to play up to anyone's expectations but their own—and even then, they just had to be just Sena and just Karin, because that was all they had ever wanted to be.
66. Dangerous Territory
Maybe sending the two cowards into the haunted house wasn't the nicest thing to do, but Yamato blamed Taka for not stopping him in the first place. However, even Taka couldn't deny that hearing Sena scream even higher-pitched than Karin was hilarious.
67. Boundaries
They hadn't had to establish many rules throughout their relationship, much to the surprise of their friends. Sena and Karin lived together harmoniously, and it was rare that they would ever have a disagreement over anything, and that was something that most would envy about the two of them.
"You're lucky, Sena," Mamori would say with a grin, even as she tucked an arm around her husband's torso. "Yuki-kun and I can only wish to be just like you two."
68. Unsettling Revelations
Looking rather nervous, Karin glanced over at a heavily bandaged Sena with worry evident in her gaze. How had he gotten so hurt? And why hadn't she known about it until after he was treated for his injuries? She turned her head to give her captain a beseeching look, asking him with only her eyes exactly how he had gotten injured under his supervision.
"Don't worry your pretty head over him—he's fine. He's even passed the test, Karin! Now we know he's worthy of you," Hera Kureji said with a boisterous laugh, as if unbothered by the fact that he'd severely injured an opponent outside of a match.
Yamato grinned, ruffling Karin's blonde locks. "He'll be right as rain by the end of the week. Hera-taichou was gentle with your boy!"
Well, that didn't really reassure her of her boyfriend's health.
69. Shattered
The window had shattered into a million pieces, scattered on the floor in a myriad of jagged crystalline shards. Outside, Sena could see the scandalised look on Karin's face at what just occured, and the embarrassed and rather terrified look on their daughter's face.
Unable to hold himself back, Sena couldn't help but laugh.
"You're just like your godfather!" He would remark later, ruffling his child's hair fondly. "Unable to throw, but able to catch them all…"
70. Bitter Silence
When she was told that she wouldn't be able to have any more children, Karin had retreated into herself. Self-blame and anger over something she knew was her fault had morphed her formerly gentle features into something colder and harsher.
Sena couldn't deny that she was still beautiful, but instead of the sweet sakura she used to resemble, she was more like porcelain. Aesthetic and hardened, but ultimately fragile.
And just like porcelain, she was untouchable, and she would spend hours staring at her bared abdomen through the vanity mirror, eyes reddened but not damp despite her obvious grief. Sena noticed that her fingers would constantly rub the scar that marred the skin beneath her navel, and he wished that he could reach out take her hand without the fear of rejection.
"Your mum still loves you," he would murmur to their daughter, kissing her gently on the forehead. "She just misses your brother very much."
71. The True You
"I remember reading about your match with the Bando Spiders," Karin said offhandedly one day. "And I've watched your games before and after that match. You were finally freed, weren't you, Sena-kun?"
72. Pretense
No matter how much she would deny it, and how many times he would reiterate her words, Mamori couldn't help but wonder about their marriage. Did Karin and Sena still truly love each other?
73. Patience
"Sena… thank you," Karin murmured, sounding so delicately broken that he couldn't help but reach out to pull her into his arms. Holding her close, a hand cradling her head and taking in shuddering breaths against the crown of her head, he could feel her hesitantly reach out to embrace him in turn. Her grip wasn't as strong as it used to be, and her fingers were brittle and thin against his shoulders—but she was holding him.
No… thank you, Sena thought in response, eyes burning with unshed tears.
She was finally back.
74. Midnight
Yamato couldn't help but smirk when he caught sight of their identical, scandalised expressions as he walked in on them lips locked and hands roaming.
"Happy new year!" He called out teasingly, giving Karin an exaggerated wink and backing out slowly, making sure to mouth out a use protection to the both of them.
A shit-eating grin appeared on his face at their resulting blushes, even as the door slid shut to hide them from view.
75. Shadows
Karin had always jumped at shadows, but Sena—well, he could be worse, really.
76. Summer Haze
Karin wasn't sure if it was the balmy air, or the feeling of his fingers brushing through her hair that made her lean in, pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss. She could see his eyes soften up with affection despite the darkness of the summer night, and she couldn't help but smile.
No matter how much she hated the heat, she found that she would always welcome the warmth of his love.
77. Memories
By the time he was eighty-seven, his hearing had started to fail, and his eyes would make images blur together into a myriad of hazy colours. He couldn't recall very well his child's, and of her children's, faces even when they came to visit him and Karin in their home.
Their names? Oh, you'd have to remind him of his daughter's eldest child's name. Oh! It was Mi-chan? Or was it Sayuki? No, it was Nana!
They would laugh and tell him he'd gotten old, that he should write their names on his wall to never forget them. And he would smile genially back at Nana, and tell them the stories of his youth, of the victories and of the sorrows that he'd faced, of being Eyeshield 21, of courting Karin and marrying her, and all of the people he'd met as a teenager.
Because even if he would forget names and faces of the people he knew now, he would never forget his past.
78. Change in the Weather
The morning dawned upon them, sunlight creeping over tanned skin and slowly rousing the sleeping occupants of the room.
Stirring, their young daughter cracked doe-brown eyes open to stare at her parents with a bleary look on her face. Karin and Sena were apart, with their daughter separating them—but despite her lethargy, the little girl noticed that even in sleep, they were faced towards each other, Karin's arm tucked under Sena's head and their foreheads touching each other. They cocooned their daughter between them, and while it was so interesting to watch them, the girl soon got bored of looking at her parents.
Blinking once, twice, she then turned her eyes to look out of the window—and she noticed the snowflakes clinging to the frosted glass.
A toothy grin soon spread across her juvenile features, and she bolted up, jumping repeatedly on the bed.
"It's snowing!"
Startled awake, her parents soon dissolved into fond laughter as their young daughter rushed around the house, trying to locate her winter boots and her fluffiest jacket.
"Should we tell her?" Karin asked quietly, resting a hand on her abdomen. Her thumb rubbed against the growing firmness under her skin, and she couldn't help the smile from appearing on her lips.
Sena kissed her lightly on the shoulder, climbing out of bed to get dressed. "It'll be like a Christmas present," he remarked with a smile. "She'll be happy, I think."
79. Illogical
Sena and Karin were meant to be – everyone could see that.
But Unsui and Hiruma? Well, the less they thought about it, the better it would be for everyone involved. Even if it was completely and utterly mindblowing in its strangeness.
80. Only Human
Jazz rang out across the room, filling the air with the sensuous beat and the soft crooning of a man's voice.
Sena's monotonous English accompanied the track as he absently glued in various photos onto the page, labeling each of them with the date and a short caption with carefully printed Japanese.
Karin stifled her soft chuckles as she placed a cup of tea next to him. Brushing back his gravity-defying hair, she placed a kiss where the brown locks faded to grey.
"We've had a good life," she murmured lovingly, taking the book from his unresisting hands to flick through the album.
Twenty-eight years of marriage had left its mark on their bookshelves, covered in awards and photo albums and trinkets that were dated from decades to mere days.
Sena's lips curled into a beaming smile. "We're only human," he said in his accented English, pulling her down into another kiss. "I love you, Karin."
Her eyes softened, and she smiled back.
Yes, they were only human.
A/N: Miscarriage often leads to divorce and a broken family. They, luckily, won't be facing that.
#80 refers to Jason Mraz's song.
This was longer than the usual... but whatever. Hiruma's next.