Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Author's note: Because Sena X Suzuna is cute too.

Short Pass: Flowers

Hiruma Yoichi's version of a pep talk.

The Deimon Devil Bats returned from the not-so-secret meeting with the Dinosaurs' manager in a somber mood-Gaou was probably the most terrifying lineman they had encountered yet and all the flowers Marco had sent them were now depressingly appropriate if for their funerals.

Hiruma took one look at his downcast team and decided that some cheering up was on order. In true Hiruma-fashion, this meant ordering them to pile all the flowers on the field so they could blow them sky-high.

"So did you think she was pretty?" Suzuna asked suddenly. They were walking together with armfuls of flowers.

"Who?" Sena asked.

"You know," she said, but she wasn't looking at him for some reason, "the other team's manager."

"Oh." Sena set his armful down. "I guess? I mean, I wasn't really paying attention. Not to be rude or anything! I know girls like to be told that they are pretty. I think. That's what Mamori-neechan said to me once. Or maybe it was my mom? Or...er...anyway, I suppose she was pretty? But then I got scared by Gaou so, er..."

"What would you have done if it was a love letter?" she teased.

"I don't know. I never gotten one before so didn't really believe it when we all thought that's what it was..." He laughed nervously. "I mean, who would like me, haha..."

Suzuna smacked his arm playfully as they walked back to the clubhouse to get more flowers. "Lots of girls, silly! Everybody thinks Eyeshield 21 is really cool now, you know." She looked at his face and frowned. "Hey, isn't that a good thing?"

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head. "It's weird. Eyeshield 21 isn't me. I mean, he is, we're the same person, just...not. I'm not really as cool as it looks from the stands, I'm sure. I'm not real strong like Kurita, or really smart like Hiruma, and I can't catch or kick like Monta or Musashi...all I can do is run-ow!"

Suzuna was pinching his cheeks and stretching them out. She let go. "Don't be silly," she said, handing him a bunch of blooms. "I think that Kobayakawa Sena is just as cool as Eyeshield 21. Cooler, even, because I met Sena first."

"Oh." He blushed, looking down. "Thanks." And I think that Suzuna is cuter and nicer that Maria, he thought, but didn't have the courage to say that out loud.

"You're welcome," Suzuna told him brightly, picking up her own armful. They walked back to the middle of the field but Suzuna paused before putting her flowers down. "I know that Marco did it just to be mean, but it's still kind of a shame to just blow them up, don't you think? The flowers are really pretty."

Sena looked at her for a second before rummaging around in the pile. "Here."

Suzuna blinked at the bouquet in front of her. "What?"

"If you like them, you should keep some," he told her. "I mean...if you want."

"Oh." She beamed at him. "Thank you."

"Aren't they cute?" Mamori said fondly. She was watching Sena and Suzuna from the clubhouse door.

"What are you talking about, fucking manager?" Hiruma didn't even look up from the table where he was trying to decide which rocket launcher to use first.

"Sena and Suzuna, on the field-oh never mind." Mamori picked up her broom. She had been sweeping up the remaining blossoms that had fallen from the bouquets Marco had sent. "It is a bit of a shame though," she said after a minute. 'They are really pretty flowers."

Hiruma blew a bubble at her. "You do realize, that was not the point. That bastard Marco is trying to psych us out."

"I know that!" She bent down to push the petals she had swept from the floor into a bag. "But it's not their fault. Flowers can still be pretty."

Mamori froze as a pair of warm fingers touched her ear and looked up in surprise at Hiruma. He stood up, leaving a lily behind, and laughed at her.

"Kekekekeke! You can be such a girl sometimes, fucking manager. C'mon." He slung the bazooka over his shoulder and walked out.

"There's nothing wrong with being a girl," she told him, grabbing the bag, but she smiled where he couldn't see.

"Come on, fucking brats!" Hiruma roared. "The Dinosaurs are nothing to be afraid of. If we meet them on the field, what are we going to do?"

"We'll kill them!" everyone chorus.

"What are we going to do?!"

"WE'LL KILL THEM!"

"YA-HA!"

The heap of flowers exploded into a fireball of flame, sending sparking petals shooting into the air. One caught Taki on the seat of his pants as he spun around, causing him to shriek like a girl. He ran running across the field before Monta and Sena tackled him to beat the fire out. Cerberous gave Butaberous a look drooling with pig roasts. Suzuna sniffed deeply at her bouquet and Mamori fingered the bloom in her hair. Everyone laughed, including Doburoku-sensei, and the Devil Bats felt their optimism rise with the sweetly scented smoke.

The real dinosaurs went extinct, and the Devil Bats would send the Dinosaurs to join them.