Mamori stares at him. Her eyes are unmoving, holding on to his gaze. His words slowly sink in, repeating again and again inside her head.
"I need you to get out of the fucking team." His words repeated in her head once more.
He wants her gone. After everything they have been through he suddenly wants to get rid of her.
Mamori pauses to think. She cannot remember doing something wrong. She knows she has done well as a manager and she knows she has contributed a lot to his team. She even went to America for them! She also knows that even though Hiruma is deceitful and sneaky in nature, he has a good side and usually acknowledges the skill and effort of his teammates.
She just cannot see why this is suddenly happening.
"I will not leave Sena…" she starts.
"Oh bullshit! You know that Sena can handle himself already! Are you still treating him as a child? Fuck that! It stopped being about Sena a long time ago… you know you already enjoyed the job of being a manager." He says, almost shouting.
Mamori looks away, she holds her hand close to her chest and opens her mouth again.
"So you do know… that I am enjoying this position… that I have come to like the team and American football…" Mamori looks at him once more, her eyes twinkling as she bravely fights back the tears, "then why?"
"I just want to fire you. That is all. Now go." Hiruma says motioning to pick up his laptop once more.
Mamori goes nearer and places her hand over the laptop. Hiruma looks up. Her face only inches away from him, for a moment he wants to go nearer but as soon as the thought comes to mind he fights it back again. He goes back once more to his stone cold emotionless face.
"You're too close." He says simply. "Too fucking close."
Mamori steps back, blushing a bit. "I'm sorry."
"…And that is the problem." Hiruma finally stands up.
Hiruma towers over her, trying his best to emit an aura that will intimidate any one. But he knows it was futile, this is the only person in this whole school who already stood up to him so many times that he even did not bother counting. She is the only soul brave enough to defy him and to push inside his safe zone. She is the only one who could match up to him when it comes to intelligence and wit.
She is unique and admirable in ways more than one… and those are the reasons why he must push her back.
"You're fired! Get the fuck out of here!" Hiruma shouts.
Mamori stands her ground, "Tell me why."
Hiruma is frustrated. The longer she stays and be this brave, the further down he falls. He finally decides to use his trump card…with this she will surely leave.
"I have cameras and microphones set up inside everyone's room." Hiruma starts, pulling his lips into a wide grin, "I know all your movements and all your secrets."
Hiruma's aura darkens even more as Mamori slowly realizes what this means for her.
"So... you knew..." Mamori says as she blushes furiously.
"Yes!" Hiruma says with a devilish smile, "and I do not want such a woman on my team!"
Mamori shook her head fighting the blush away, "there's nothing wrong with what I am doing. I am a grown woman and... and...it's a perfectly healthy thing."
She tried her best to say those words with complete confidence but she failed. In the end of her sentence the redness of her face was undeniable.
Hiruma laughs. But he isn't laughing just to push her away; he is truly enjoying the sight of the blushing manager. He finds her very interesting and fun to tease. He always had.
Somehow, he slowly realizes that he must stop enjoying himself like this. He is being put off track once more by this woman.
'Fucking focus.' He tells himself.
"You're so cruel!" Mamori shouts over his laughing.
Hiruma stops, that is the response he is expecting. "Yes. Indeed I am." The devil declares.
"Quit the team and I'll get rid of all those bugs." He continues.
"I won't." She stands firm.
'There is something wrong with this. Hiruma usually uses blackmail to keep people inside… not the other way around.' Mamori feels it. She cannot understand his motives and she surely cannot understand why he is truly doing this. From the beginning when he told her to leave, she already felt that it was odd. She tries so hard to understand him but she cannot do it. Usually she gets him, but this time she definitely reads him wrong and slowly it frustrates her.
"So would you rather have me watch you fucking masturbate every night?" Hiruma leers, "I certainly have no problem with that."
Mamori's eyes starts to water. It was embarrassing but she still holds her ground.
"If it's possible I want you to stop watching." She says.
"That's fucking impossible. I am the master of blackmail. I will use your greatest weakness… no matter how humiliating or degrading it is, to do what I want."
"And you want to fire me… so that's why you brought that up." Mamori answers back.
Hiruma cachinnates. "Yes I am using that to drive you away but it is also the reason why I'm firing you."
Mamori gulps. Her hands were shaking and she can feel herself on the verge of tears but she's fighting it back. She will not fold in front of him!
"Imagine a manager who fucking lusts over a member of the team. I don't think that's a fucking good thing for the fucking team!" Hiruma shouts, "You want to know the real reason why I'm firing you? It is because your actions could jeopardize the whole team. All our efforts towards the Christmas bowl would be ruined!"
Mamori opens her mouth to defend herself, but Hiruma cuts her off and continues.
"And also… I hate fucking bitches like you. So stop fantasizing about me…."
Mamori stops. She just stops. She stops fighting herself and holding herself in front of him. The words were too cruel. They were very painful even for a brave girl like her. The tears that she was fighting back the whole time finally fall from her eyes and cross down her cheeks. She starts to cry. She tries to hold herself back again but it is useless. She can't stop crying now.
Hiruma can see her twinkling eyes and tears that are streaming down from it. He fights back the temptation of being nice and being a hero. He's the evil guy. He was always the villain and villains never wipe away the heroine's tears.
"...you disgust me."
Each word is spoken sharply and clearly so as not for her to misunderstand anything… and she gets it. She gets it loud and clear.
Mamori feels her knees weakening and her eyes blurring. She can hear herself shouting inside her mind telling her to get out of there and hide away. But she isn't like that. She won't just go away without the final say.
"I understand." Mamori mutters, trying her best to enunciate the words through her tears, "I will quit my position as the manager of the Deimon Devil Bats… effective as of today."
"Good." Hiruma finally sits down pulling his laptop closer to him.
"I leave the team in your hands…" Mamori says, her voice breaking in the end, "Please… win the Christmas bowl."
Hiruma looks away biting his lips.
Mamori then turns around, gets her things and dashes out of the clubroom with the door slamming behind her.
Hiruma stares at the door for a few moments. "Of course we fucking will."
Hiruma then turns back to his laptop, but as his eyes go back he notices the food she left behind for him. He closes his eyes and sighs. His hand then extends as two long fingers takes a piece of egg from the small plate. He places it in his mouth and eats it.
'So fucking delicious… her husband will be the luckiest bastard in the whole damn universe.'
Hiruma felt he lost something valuable that day. For a moment he regretted his decision but as soon as he thought about it, it went away. He stood by himself knowing that he is right. He will never be that lucky bastard. He isn't good enough for her. He isn't good at all. If he lets this craziness continue he will ruin his life, her life and the team… and he will not let that happen. Mamori had become someone important for him but even though that was the case he still cannot let her be close enough. If she gets too close to him, she would burn. Hiruma might be cruel to the Devil Bats and downright evil to everyone else but if she would burn because of him he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
Mamori is an angel and someone like her doesn't deserve a demon like him.
xxx
DevilBats won with scores 72 to 6 with the losing team scoring a single touchdown. With the last touchdown made by Eyeshield 21 the Devil Bats sealed their victory.
"Ya! You did it!" Suzuna cheers rolling towards Sena and Monta.
Hiruma sits contentedly in the benches as he recalls in his mind the things that transpired in this game. He turns beside him as he already begins in his head the list of the tasks he wants the manager to do, but as he looks beside it is Yuki who is holding the video recorder.
"It was a very good victory indeed!" Yuki exclaims with enthusiasm.
Hiruma was taken aback a bit, almost forgetting that Anezaki Mamori was no longer a part of the Deimon Devil Bats.
"Of course it is, fucking baldy! That's how it supposed to be!" He shouts as he stands up and prepares to pack his things.
He slams his helmet with unnecessary force. He is annoyed and he isn't sure why. No one really messed up that badly today and even as he plays and replays the game there was no reason for him to feel this way. He is in a bad mood, and he feels weird about it knowing that they won the game splendidly than he expected.
"Where's Mamo-nee?" He hears Suzuna ask.
"I'm not really sure. She didn't come to practice yesterday…." Sena says sadly.
"I miss her Max…" Monta joins in.
Hiruma turns to them with AK47 in hand, he then starts shooting.
"What the fuck are those faces?! Start packing those things and go home! WE WILL PRACTICE TOMORROW AT DAWN!" Hiruma shouts.
The two obeys the captain and starts preparing to go home. Hiruma sees Suzuna's face as well as Sena's. He is certain those two are still wondering what happened to Mamori but he let it rest.
Everyone goes back to the clubroom to put their things away. Slowly the team disperses, until all that's left in the room is their demon captain and their drunkard coach.
"I'll be going now." Doburoku says as he lifts his sake bottle.
Hiruma doesn't even stop the constant motion of his fingers, typing wildly across his laptop's keyboard.
"By the way, did you two have a fight?" He suddenly asks.
The typing suddenly comes to a halt as Hiruma lifts his eyes lazily to the coach. He lifts his eyebrow, "Which one are you asking about?"
"Hiruma-kun, you know exactly who I am talking about." His voice is rough and distressed trying his best to act mature in front of the student.
"She quit. From now on the position as manager is open… if only fucking skates is a student here then maybe she could fill in. But since she isn't I guess you can find someone to replace her."
Doburoku chuckled, "It's impossible to find a girl who would be willing to work under you as a manager."
Hiruma quietly agrees. He is aware of how weak the women in Deimon are. The only girl that stood up to him already became the manager but after her no one is brave enough to even come close. It was no competition, Mamori was the only candidate.
"I'm going home." Hiruma says as he stuffs the laptop in his bag.
Hiruma walks towards the door passing by their coach. Doburoku just stands there quietly letting Hiruma take a few steps away from him. He then turns around and shouts at Hiruma.
"I know you still feel angry." The old man says, making Hiruma stop half a step.
"You were looking at the benches during the game. I can see you waiting for someone to give you a signal or something. You seemed like you wanted Yukimitsu or me or even Suzuna-chan to confirm or deny whatever it is racing in your head."
Hiruma's jaw tighten, he thought no one would notice that. Even he didn't notice that until this fucking drunk pointed it out.
"But we don't know what's inside your head… we cannot even understand how your train of thoughts begin… even Yukimitsu, who is the closest one to your intellect, cannot decipher you."
"So what? I'm used to play this fucking game without anyone in the bench. I can form plays in my head better than any of you idiots sitting there. I never expect anyone to shout at me or fucking shout for me. I'm used to it, fucking old man, so this is nothing new."
"Ah." The old man the sips at his sake, "but you still cannot forget the feeling of having someone that understands you. You say you're used to it but you have already experienced how easy it is when you have someone to share the load with you. You can't deny it… but it is more efficient than before."
"Are you saying I went soft?" Hiruma asks as he faces the man, becoming more irritated than before.
"No. I'm just saying that you feel that way because you have lost a partner you can actually rely on."
"Tch. I'm going home. You're fucking drunk." Hiruma then turn around and walks faster than before. He wants to get out of here as much as possible.
He wants to be alone and think. He wants the solitude inside his own mind, so that he can try to understand why the fuck he is annoyed like hell. With each step he can still remember every word the old drunk said to him.
It was all true.
Somehow his job became a lot easier when Mamori came. He gave her the most ridiculous task that any girl would instantly turn down, but she still managed to do them and finish them with quality he didn't even expect possible. Even during the death march, he expected her to go home and enjoy Japan's summer with her friends but she stayed with them. She didn't give any complaints or qualms about the heat, about sleeping in the truck, or about being with stinky highschool boys. She was just there, caring about everyone and enduring with the team.
She was a gem and he wants her to be with him. He wants her to be with them until they score the last touchdown that will declare the win of the Devil Bats in the Christmas bowl.
However, he also knows that he wants her for reasons that are not related to American Football. He had never wanted any woman like this before.
But he can't have her, not until he completely removes all the other desires that hinder him from thinking rationally. Same for her as well...
He needs to remove the desire to pull her close, and embrace her in his arms. He needs to eliminate all thoughts of kissing her lips and conquering her. For as long as this carnal lust burns inside both them it will be hard to maintain a working relationship no matter how perfect it is.