The route Hiruma forced you to take to go to school was surprisingly easier than you thought, ever since you found out you didn't have to jog your way through.
"Just complete the route with your own two feet." he said. "If you wanna walk, sure, if you wanna make actual progress, run." he smirked.
You frowned again just thinking about it. Screw him, walking for this long was just as tiring for you. You just looked less of a mess. It was bearable and you will take it! For now at least...
As you waited on the sidewalk for the crosswalk's light to turn green, you remembered yesterday, when you almost passed out from exhaustion on the very same spot you were standing on. You sighed, then noticed a vending machine across the street. Ow man, you thought, if you weren't so focused on jogging, you could've noticed it and you would've bought yourself a snack or a drink to recover some energy. You sighed. Farther down the route was another vending machine. You paused when you passed by a third one, it had a Devil Bats sticker on it, and it made you wonder if the other two also had one. You took out your phone and looked at the map Hiruma sent you. The location of those three machines were equally spaced out, like checkpoints in a video game level.
'Did he know?'
You pursued your lips, not sure how to feel about this. You bought yourself a can of your favorite soda, which was available in all the machines you passed by. And yes, all the ones you passed by after that did have a Devil Bats sticker on them.
When you got to school, you and the other students were welcomed by more Devil Bats propaganda. The school's newspaper wrote an article about yesterday's match against Zokugaku's Chameleons, and it would seem that Hiruma printed it out hundreds of times, then posted it all around the school. There was a statement from 'Eyeshield 21': 'Ya-ha! That dumbass linebacker was no match for my elite skills! Listen up Deimon! You wanna be a lady killer? Play football! You wanna get better at fighting? Play football! Wanna get rich? Play football! Just shut up and join the Devil Bats! We're recruiting new members!'
'Why did he start this with the lady killer bit?' you thought with a raised eyebrow.
The writer of the article added: 'Eyeshield 21 becomes a completely different person - a silent warrior - the moment he steps onto the field. Such a display of gallantry on the battlefield of American football.' Which made you snicker. There was also a photograph of some of the Devil Bats members. You remembered threatening the poor photographer to not take pictures of you. You didn't like your face in pictures.
"Football might be kinda fun!" you heard students say.
"Eyeshield 21's running was so cool, right?!"
"Yeah! That was something else!"
You were glad to hear that the Devil Bats were the talk of the school throughout the day, in a positive way foe once. Well, Eyeshield was, mostly... You were mostly happy that none of that attention was on you. Which was rare, there was always at least one shithead that crossed your path. If that was what happened when the football team won, then you hoped they won all the time.
"Alright Impie!" Hiruma turned to you as soon as classes were over. "Let's get ready for the interviews!"
"Now?! The very next day after the match?" you looked at him with big eyes. "You really don't waste any time do you?"
"Kekekekeke! Better act quick while the hype is high!" he took out a stack of bills and tossed it on your desk. "Take Fatty and the kids with you and go buy creampuffs!!"
"I'm not taking your crime money."
"It's not a crime if you never got caught." he smirked.
"It's very much still a crime." you couldn't help but smile at this dumb conversation. "Also, I'm pretty sure that's *too* much money!"
"With what you got left go buy yourself somethin' then!" he waved a hand. "Like perfume or a hammer- whatever girls are into these days."
"What?" you blinked twice. "No, I'll just give you the change!"
"Oww~" he furrowed his eyebrows, though he was clearly mocking you. "You sure you don't wanna buy a 1kg dumbbell? Would that be too much?"
"Oh fuck off!"
"Kekekekeke!"
"Oh boy, we don't have a lot of time before the team entrance interviews." Sena said as the four of you were waiting in line at the bakery. "Thank goodness this place's close by."
'Always worried about something this one...' you sighed.
"You're a regular here Kurita, what do you recommend we get?" Monta asked.
But when he looked at him, he saw that his upperclassmate was sleeping standing.
"He told me he got so excited last night he could barely sleep." you explained. "Anyway, get a bunch of different flavors, I dunno."
"Alright... But then, how many...?" he looked at the displays. "Should we get ten?"
"Wouldn't that be too many?" Sena asked, unsure.
"Take a hundred."
"A hundred?!" they both looked at you. "That's WAY too many!"
"Better too much than not enough." you nodded to yourself.
"K-Kurita?" Sena gently shook him, asking for help.
He snapped awake.
"Gimme one hundred!!!" he exclaimed with a big smile.
While the two boys were shocked even more, you smiled. He looked so happy on the way back to school, singing a little tune while the four of you carried all those boxes full of creampuffs (you took one and he carried most of them). And he should be happy, after the depressing disaster that was last year's recruiting meeting. Kurita and Hiruma waited until sundown, not even one person showed up. You remembered that day, you heard some brats saying they'd show up as a joke. You confronted them and made sure they ran home crying.
This year sure was different: a crowd of people were waiting outside the clubroom. You were happy your prediction was correct, there will surely be enough pastries for everybody. While Mamori was handing out drinks and creampuffs to help them wait, you and Kurita took a peek outside, you gulped.
'We won't actually interview *all* of them, right?' you looked back at Hiruma, who was leaning back in his chair, pressing his back on the wall behind him and typing on his laptop. 'We'll be here all day!'
"There's so many people!" Kurita smiled, crying out of joy.
Seeing him this happy made you smile.
"Okay," Hiruma said, closing his laptop. "we'll go ahead and ask them the position they want." he placed his hands behind his head. "But we'll decide what they're best suited for."
"'Suited for?' How are we supposed to know that just by talking to them?" you asked as you and Kurita took a seat at the interviewer table.
"We can at least know if they belong on defense or offense." Kurita explained.
"By the way they enter the room." Hiruma added. "For example: someone who sit upright is a professional and will execute a strategy with precision and efficiency. They belong on offense. On the other hand, someone who just drops down on the chair without a care in the world is a wild animal who will use their instinct to catch their prey. They'll go on defense."
"So I guess that means I'd be put on offense?" Sena thought out loud.
"And me on defense." Monta added.
'I'd be on offense. But...' you looked down at how you were sitting and shifted so you'd appear more careless, then you made a mental note to always sit like this from now on when you're at school.
"Sena, what are you talking about?" Mamori sat beside him. "You're a team manager, you don't go on offense or defense."
"Th-that's right!" he nodded, feeling Hiruma's stare on the back of his head.
'Let him participate! Geez.' you huffed. 'I'm starting to feel bad for the guy.'
"E-excuse me!" someone outside said.
You all looked over to see a young man coming in. He was skinny, tall and he had a massive forehead, unfortunately due to an early residing hairline. But weirdly enough, it suited him. He looked nervous as he sat on the chair facing you guys, as stiff as a stick.
"Offense." the boys all said.
"Um..." he blinked twice. "I-I'm Manabu Yukimitsu, from class 2-4."
"A second year?" Hiruma lifted an eyebrow.
"I-is it bad?"
"Oh no no no!" Kurita quickly shook his head.
"What the heck am I supposed to ask for interview questions?" Sena thought out loud, looking even more nervous than the guy who was being interviewed.
"Come on Sena, ask him something." Mamori said.
"S-so... So what's your favorite food?"
You covered your face in second-hand embarrassment as your other club mates almost fell out of their chairs.
"You stupid manajerk!" Hiruma cocked a shotgun and made his way towards him. "That has nothing to do with anything!"
"Of course it did!" Mamori quickly tried to push him away.
"It really didn't."
She glared at you, you ignored her.
"What were you doing last year?" you asked, which surprised Yukimitsu and your club mates, except Hiruma of course. "Most students join a club when they're in first year. So what's your excuse?"
Yukimitsu gulped, seeing you right in front of him when up to this point, he did everything in his power to avoid you and anyone that might cause him trouble. He glanced at you and Hiruma before looking down, nervously played with his thumbs as he answered:
"W-well... I've never been allowed to join any clubs before. But, as I watched the game against Zokugaku yesterday, it felt like a fire had been lit inside me."
Your eyebrows lifted slightly. This felt familiar.
'I can't believe I'm relating to this dork.'
"I've been going to cram schools ever since first grade," he continued. "and next year will be dedicated to college entrance exams. I get depressed thinking about how my time in high-school will end if I keep going like this. I..." he looked up at you guys. "I just want one memory of-"
"Memory?" Hiruma stood up and fired two riffles in the air, scaring the crap out of the poor guy. "Memories?! We're here to win games Baldini!"
"Of course! If I were to play, I would play to win!"
'He's got guts for sure.' you hummed.
"I know I'm not in very good shape." he continued. "But seeing how Eyeshield became a hero from Notre Dame, and how he stands up to anyone in his path without fear or hesitation... I want to learn from him!"
You glanced at Sena and suppressed a chuckle. He looked pale and nervously laughed.
"Umm, there's no need to make such a fuss over Eyeshield 21..."
"No, he truly is incredible!"
"B-but..."
"I hope you'll consider me joining." he bowed. "Thank you very much."
'We'll probably hear a lot of praises to Eyeshield today.' you thought.
That gave you an idea, and you took out a sheet of paper and a pen. After dismissing Yukimistu, Mamori called for candidate number two. There was a rumble outside and you all leaned over in anticipation. The door shook.
"You gotta slide it!" you exclaimed.
Instead, the person tackled the door out of its hinges, making you all gasp in surprise, even Hiruma took out a two guns out of instinct. A small boy fell on the floor face first, knocking the chair out of the way.
"Defense." you and the boys said.
"Class 1-1." the boy sat on his knees and looked up. "D-D-Daikichi Komusubi!" he looked at Kurita. "D-Disciple!"
"Disciple?" he tilted his head, confused.
"D-Disciple!" he repeated.
'Form a sentence my guy.'
"Are you saying you want to be Kurita's disciple?" Mamori asked as she put the door back up.
Komusubi nodded. Kurita gasped and stood up to better see him.
"You mean you want to be on the line?!"
The boy kept nodding.
"Hurray!" his face lit up. "A new friend on the line! Let's both work extra hard!"
Komusubi started crying out of joy and ran out, busting down the door once again. Kurita was too happy to care.
The interviews went on. When asked why they wanted to join, the answers you heard were as you expected:
"I think Eyeshield 21's the man! I wanna be just like him! And maybe be on tv too, so girls will like me."
"I just wanna get Eyeshield 21's autograph!"
After a few of them, Hiruma noticed you were writing something.
"Oi Impie. What'cha doing there? Don't get distracted!"
"I'm not." you said without looking up. "I'm doing a survey, see which ones are just shallow dumbasses."
"Ah, I was wondering why you were being so quiet."
"Trust me, if it wasn't an interview, I would make them wanna kill themselves."
"(Y/n)!" Mamori glared.
"Who cares about why they wanna join, as long as it motivates them to win." he thought for a moment. "But do keep track of those reasons, it'll help with our propaganda."
"I'm already doing it." you glared at him. "Don't ask me to do it as if it was *your* idea."
"Just keep doing it!"
You huffed. When you turned back to your paper, you noticed Monta was leaning over to look at it (you were sitting between him and Sena).
"Get outta my space Monkey-boy!" you pushed his head away. "I can smell the jungle filth from here!"
"Write down a new category!" he said, determined. "'The receiver is awesome sauce!'"
"No one says that!"
"In fact, make a column for every place on the team." Hiruma added. "It'll be easier and quicker that way."
You groaned while rolling your eyes and turned the paper over to start again. The survey you previously made consisted of just a line in the middle separating the 'shallow assholes' and the 'genuine dudes' - so far, there were only two in that category. As the interviews went on, no one seemed interested in the passes or Monta in general. Which was kinda sad, since he was being acclaimed during the last match. But it was also kind of hilarious seeing him making poses to try and impress people. And Sena looked pretty awkward since most of them kept prasing Eyeshield. It all made you snicker.
"Oh! But the passes are cool too!" someone finally said.
The three of your faces lit up.
"Especially the guy who throws them!"
You cackled as the two boys sunk in their seats.
"And that is one for Hiruma." you said when the interviewee left.
Monta groaned in frustration.
"I swear I'll become a hero! Down with Eyeshield!"
He leaned towards Sena, which made you wish you could've swapped seats. You leaned back as far as you could to create some distance, though you could still hear what Monta said.
"We're teammates and rivals at the same time!"
"Yeah, say that louder for everyone to hear." you pushed his face away so that you could sit normally. "Get outta here."
"You little..." he groaned and glared at you.
You ignored him as the next candidate came in and sat down like he owned the place. You immediately didn't like this guy.
"I'm Miyake from class 1-3." he said with a carefree smile. "I'm pretty good at most sports, right now I'm kind of bouncing from one team to the next. Clearly you don't have many members, but perhaps you can convince me to play now and then?"
You and Monta frowned.
"I really admire you Hiruma." he looked at him, who just yawned. "So much money in your treasury, so many people at your command, you even managed to tame Deimon's Imp-"
"Tame?" your eyelid twitched.
"Oh, or do you call it charity work?" he kept his eyes on him.
"The only charity work to do here would be to put your parents out of the misery of having you around." you said, looking him dead in the eyes with folded arms. "No charity here. You work your ass off and you die trying. If you can't handle it you can go back to being passed around by every club in the school."
Hiruma snickered.
"Mmh." Miyake looked away, then chuckled.
You wanted to say more so badly, but you refrained yourself. Besides, that hum was coming from the back of his throat, you knocked him down a peg. Trying to keep the control he never had, he scratched the back of his head.
"Sounds fun, I hope you consider me." he stood up. "Good day to you."
He walked out.
"Nice one (Y/n)!" Monta smiled. "You really showed him what for!"
"I could've said more." you mumbled.
"Don't look disappointed!" Mamori exclaimed. "I do understand this time but..."
"Ah! Mom's giving me the go?!" you smirked.
"Never!"
When the last person left, the sun was setting. You and Monta yawned.
"That reminds me..." Kurita said, looking a little sad. "Those three didn't show up."
"The brothers?" you tilted your head.
"Maybe they hated playing in the Zokugaku game..."
'But,' you glanced to the side. 'when we won, they looked pretty happy...'
"We don't need people with no drive." Hiruma said, adding the last person interviewed in his laptop's data-base.
"I wish we could use everyone who came today." Mamori said.
"That's *way* too many people." you shook your head.
"Impie's right." Hiruma said. "We need to have tryouts."
"Tryouts?" Sena blinked.
"A'ight, everybody go home." he closed his laptop and stood up. "We'll hold 'em tomorrow. Impie," he took out his notebook and began to flip through the pages once your club mates left you two alone. "got a mission for ya."
"Again?" you frowned.
He took out a small piece of paper and handed it to you.
"Call this number and say we're renting the place tomorrow."
You took the paper, it only had a number on it, nothing else.
"That's it?" you looked back at him, suspicious.
"Want a medal with that?" he raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"What are we renting exactly?"
"If you wanna know, you can just ask them." he walked out.
"I'm not gonna ask what number I'm calling! Do you want me to look stupid?!"
He ignored you and closed the door behind him. You huffed and called the number once you were at home.
"Good evening, how can I help you?"
You inaudibly sighed. You were hoping she'd state the name of the place.
"Yes hello." you said. "I'd like to rent your establishment for tomorrow."
"Rent it?"
"Yeah." although you sounded normal, your face twisted, you wanted to hang up so badly.
"Aha, I don't think you understand what you're asking for here. A lot of people have bought tickets already-"
"I'm speaking for Hiruma Yoichi." you used your joker immediately.
There was a gasp.
"Excuse me a moment." the man quickly said.
You then heard a lot of panicked shouting in the distance. You expected this reaction, but at the mere mention of his name? You didn't know whether to be impressed or scared, and weirdly enough, you leaned towards the first option.
"Thank you for waiting." you finally heard the man again. "For tomorrow, correct?"
"That's what I said."
"R-right. And for what period of time-?"
"Are you deaf? I said for tomorrow. Opening to closing hour, and even later than that- Until we all leave the building!"
You heard the man gag in disbelief before clearing his throat.
"Very...very well then, understood."
"Cool. See ya."
You quickly hung up, as you realized that Hiruma didn't say anything about payment. You supposed you guys will figure it out once you're on location.
'I still have zero idea where we're going.'
You sighed and let yourself fall back on your bed. You'll worry about that tomorrow.
'Not like I'll be doing anything.' you thought.
The next day, despite being the weekend, you went to school early in the morning. Hiruma sent a text to everyone saying to go there at a certain time for the tryouts. When you got there, you saw Hiruma, putting a bunch of big bags in the trunk and the back of a bright red car that was parked in front of the school. He noticed you and smiled.
"You're right on time Impie! And you're only just looking like you're dying. Congrats!"
You took a moment to catch your breath, leaning on the car and fanning your face with your hand. Once you felt better, you looked around and noticed that you were the only ones here.
"Where...Where's everyone?" you asked, panting.
"What you mean? They're at home."
"But...the text."
"Yeah, the text I sent *you*." he looked at you after closing the trunk. "The tryouts actually start right after lunch."
"What?!"
"They'll meet us on location. Come on!"
He grabbed your wrist and opened the car's door for you before pushing you inside.
"Wow, how courteous." you glared at him as he went around the car and sat in the driver seat besides you.
"Seatbelt on Impie." he turned on the engine.
"What are these for?" you looked back at the bags.
"Don't worry about it. Seatbelt."
"Do you even have a driver's licen-?"
"Put on that fuckin' seatbelt!" he took out a gun. "Or else I'm tying you up! Ya hear?!"
"Okay okay! Fuckin' hell."
The second you put on your seatbelt, Hiruma went full speed through the streets and to the highway. You were fearing for your life at first, but he turned out to be a very skillful driver, though very reckless in his maneuvers.
"Aren't you scared to get pulled over?" you asked.
"Scared?!" he cackled. "You don't know me at all do you?" he glanced at you before looked back at the road.
"I do a little bit."
"Oh do you now?"
"We have been in the same class for years now."
"...Have we? Never noticed."
"Geez, way to go photographic memory." you rolled your eyes.
"So what, you've been watching me this whole time? You're such a stalker- Maybe I should be scared after all!" he leaned away from from you.
"With you shitty ego punk satan cosplay?! No one can't notice you!" you glared. "When you're see someone everyday, you get the hang of a few things about them."
"Stalker~."
You hit him on the arm, to which he cackled.
"And anyway, if someone should be scared here, it's you."
"Me?"
He stopped in the middle of the highway, making you gasp. Thankfully, there wasn't any cars around, but when one passed, they would honk loudly.
"Yeah." he fully turned to look at you. "You're alone with me on the highway, you have no clue where we're going, and you probably didn't tell you're parents about it either."
You narrowed your eyes. In this moment, you wondered how much exactly he knew of your personal life.
"Could be a kidnapping for all you know." he leaned closer, and you leaned back.
You could see the dark evil energy emanating from him. But you weren't scared.
"You would never." you said. "You love football too much to risk being a criminal, even if you'd never get caught."
He let out a 'heh' and kept driving. After a while, you've arrived in Tokyo, and here you were, standing in front of the Tokyo tower. The manager of the place recognize Hiruma and had his employees take the 'luggage' out of the car. A whole crowd of people who came to visit were held back and they were pissed off. You didn't say a word until it was just you and Hiruma, just in case the staff would recognize your voice.
"Alright!" Hiruma said after putting all the bags in the elevator. "Only one of us can fit in there now. You're gonna have to take the stairs."
"I fuckin' knew it!" you pointed at him. "This is just another work out thing!"
"Call it whatever you want. Your mission today will be to bring the most important item up that tower."
"The most important?" you repeated.
He tossed towards you a cute ice shaver in the shape of a bear. You shook in anger.
"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me- I will shove this thing up *a* hole of yours and crank it!"
"I'm telling you," he was unimpressed with your threat. "without that thing, the tryouts are pointless."
You kept glaring at him. He groaned, then took out an axe and walked to the pile of bags. You watched, confused, as he searched through them all before taking out a cage, with Cerberus inside. You didn't even notice him!
'For such a scary looking dog, he sure can be quiet sometimes...'
Using his axe, Hiruma broke the cage open. The dog stepped out and shook his head and body like it was a everyday occurence for him. Probably because it was.
"Go with her." Hiruma said.
The dog barked.
"Yeah. That way you'll get to scout the space, it'll be easier to chase your targets after that."
"What...?" you mumbled under your breath. "Wait, targets?!"
"A'ight, have fun you two~!" he waved. "I'll be setting up the obstacles~ Let's see who gets to the observatory first! Kekekeke~!" he cackled as the elevator closed.
You clicked your tongue in annoyance.
"What an asshole- Ah."
You watched as the dog made his way to the stairs, but before he could go up them, he turned towards you and barked.
'He's waiting for me!!!' your face scrunched up, feeling your heart squeeze.
What can you say, you love dogs.
Now, the observatory was 250 meters off the ground, around the 450's floor. Once you reached floor five, you let yourself fall to your knees. Cerberus, WAY ahead of you, looked down at you and barked. He must be getting pissed since this was the fourth time you've stopped.
"I...I'm sorry okay?!" you exclaimed. "Stairs are a level beyond walking on flat ground!" you hung you're head down. "I...I'm not strong enough for this yet."
'I'll never get there in time.'
Then, something clicked.
'In time?'
You figured that you had to get up there before the tryouts start. But you realized that, technically, Hiruma never gave you a time limit. You chuckled under your breath.
"You bastard." you grabbed the rails to help you stand up. "Don't you look down on me. I have the whole morning to do this, that's plenty of time." you took a deep breath. "WATCH ME MOTHERFUCKER! I'LL SEE YOU UP THERE!" you shouted at the top of your lungs.
You voice echoed throughout the entire tower, for only you, the dog, and Hiruma to hear.
"Kekekekeke!" he cackled wherever he was.
'Inhale for three steps, exhale for two.' you remembered Shin's advice as you went on, going at a more steady pace. 'Shoulders down and back, broaden the chest and arms relaxed...'
When you entered the observatory, you pressed your back on the walk and let yourself slip down to the floor, completely out of breath. You heard Cerberus bark and you were expecting to also hear Hiruma's famous cackle, but you didn't. You looked around the room and realized that he wasn't there. Instead, on a table, you saw a can of your favorite soda and a timer counting up.
'He timed me?!'
If that were true, that means it took you hours to make it. But...you really thought you would take longer, so you were pleasantly surprised. As you sat on a chair and drank the can, you got a text from an unknown number.
'Hi (L/n)! I've arrived at the tower! (^ ^)/~* Where are you?'
You frowned. Just as you were typing 'who the fuck are you', the person sent a second tect.
'(This is Mamori by the way. ( >u<") )'
"Oh."
You replied with a double text:
'Hey' 'I'm at the observatory but I haven't seen Hiruma in a while'
'He was here when I arrived, but he left to go get the others when I told him where you were' she replied after a moment.
You looked out the window and watched as Hiruma's car left in a flash. There was a small dot in front of the tower, it must be Mamori you thought. Speaking of which, she sent another text.
'Did you see Hiruma's car's license plate??? "CH4OS K1NG"? How weird is that?! ( >A<#)'
You laughed.
'NO???? I DIDN'T SEE IT OMFG!!!' followed by an 'I'm dying' emote.
You then took a picture of the view from up here and sent it to Hiruma, saying 'Made it mf'.
He texted back almost immediately.
'4 hours and 45 mins! Good job Cherry! YA-HA!!!'
'He had a timer of his own?!' you thought, not knowing if he was being sarcastic or not.
After that, you went back down - via the elevator this time, thank god! - to join Mamori and wait for the others. She had a stand with a bunch of coolers that said must be filled with ice cubes. You helped her prepare for the tryouts and you both took the opportunity to share theories of what Hiruma's plan must be, you managed to put some of the pieces together. By the time you were done, you saw a big red bus with the Devil Bats' logo on it. It parked in front of the tower before Hiruma stepped out, along with the dumbfounded contestants, and the rest of the club. The crowd of people who came to visit the Tokyo Tower have now doubled in number, and the manager was crying in his corner.
"We rented it for the day!" Hiruma cackled.
"How does he do it?" Sena mumbled to himself.
"(Y/n)-chan!" Kurita went up to you, panicked. "Have you seen the ice shaver?!"
"Yeah, I brought it up there." you pointed up.
"Oh thank goodness." he sighed with great relief. "Today would've been ruined without it, thank you."
That made you smile. The two of you waved goodbye as he took the elevator.
"Hey manajerk! We got the ice?" he asked.
"Don't call me that." Mamori quickly corrected. "Yep, tons of it."
He then fired two riffles in the air to get everyone's attention.
"Listen up ladies! The rules are simple: the goal's the top viewing platform. Fatty's up there and waiting to have himself a snow-cone, so bring him some freakin' ice! You can carry as much as you want, if it melts, you're free to come back for more. The point is, if you manage to get any ice to the top, you make the cut. Are we clear?"
Sena took one ice cube, which turned liquid within seconds.
"This stuff melts really easily..."
"We put sugar in it so it would melt quicker." Mamori smiled with furrowed eyebrows.
You felt bad for these guys already too.
"Hey, other manajerk!" Hiruma turned to Sena. "Where's Eyeshield?"
"Huh? I thought tryouts didn't-"
He yelped when Hiruma fired his rifle.
"Find him and drag him over here!" he smirked. "Today's also a demonstration, so I want him running with everyone else! Even Impie did it!"
"HUH?!?!?!" everyone was looking at you, shocked. "HER?!?!?!"
You folded your arms and just looked back at them, looking unbothered.
'I want to crawl into a hole and die now.' you thought, facing all this attention.
Also, you saw a few impressed people and you weren't used to it at all.
"Yeah!" Hiruma's smirk grew wider. "She made it to the top way before all of you losers! Kekekekeke!"
"If that's the case, then this challenge must be easy!" that one pretentious prick from the interviews smirked.
"You will die." you bluntly said. "And it will hurt. But go on." you gestured to the stand.
He clicked his tongue at your threat.
"So we gotta climb this?" people started asking themselves. "How long will that take?"
"Maybe I should take more ice...?" Sena, as Eyeshield, said as he looked at his small bag of ice cubes.
"No way," Monta said. "it'll weight you down. Taking a light load and rushing all the way up's the easiest way to get first pla- First place?!" he suddenly looked up and began daydreaming.
He giggled and blush so hard that his ice melted. You gave him a weird look.
"Ah. It melted. Let's rumble Eyeshield 21!" he turned towards his friend. "I can't beat you in a footrace, but my jumping ability will get me to the top before you!" he said as he stretched.
'Man, he sure is determined.' you thought, nodding.
"You think you can beat me?" Sena smiled.
'Oh! It's contagious!'
Monta chuckled, then the two of them stood at the bottom of the stairs, side by side. Hiruma readied his bazooka, covered an ear which you took as a sign to cover yours, and shot out fireworks.
"Go everyone! Hell Tower awaits! Ya-ha!!!"
The two friends immediately ran up the stairs, which surprised you to be honest. Hiruma placed a hand on your shoulder, making you flinch.
"Come on, let's go!" he then dragged you to the elevator.
You joined Kurita in the observatory and you sat down to watch the cameras on Hiruma's multiple laptops, see how everyone was doing. He opened a bag of snacks and took a piece before handing the bag to you, which you declined, but you later discreetly took some when nobody was looking. He was too busy cackling at the contestants anyway.
"Hell Tower's not as safe at it looks!" he said to no one in particular.
"I hope everyone makes it up here in one piece."
'I highly doubt it.' you thought, then turned to Hiruma. "What are these obstacles you set up anyway?"
"Kekekeke! See for yourself!" he pushed his chair a bit to the side.
You watched one of the screen he pointed at to see Sena and Monta, halfway through already, stop in terror when Cerberus attacked them to eat their sugar ice cubes.
'That's where he was this whole time!' your eyes widen.
"Barrier number one: The Hellhound!"
The dog chased them down for a few floors before Sena had the clever idea to throw ice at him. Which worked, but now he had non left, so Monta gave him some of his own. Sena refused at first, but his friend insisted, probably because he wanted a fair duel.
"Aww~." you let out without knowing.
"You know, if you wanted some, you could've just said yes from the beginning."
"Huh?"
You look at Hiruma, who was taking some snacks again.
"I can tell you took some." he said. "Don't turn down my rare generosity if it's to backpedal seconds later."
'He can tell?!' you blushed, frowning. 'Why is he even upset anyway?!'
"Cherry."
He didn't follow that up with anything, he just pointed out the fact that you were blushing.
"Shut the fuck up you blond bitch bast-"
"Oooh hold on hold on!" he leaned closer to the screen, excited. "They're getting to the second barrier!"
You looked too. Sena and Monta stepped into a room that was full of heaters, their ice cubes melted in an instant.
"The Caldron of Hell!"
Curious, you went to the door and opened it. Listening closely, you could hear screams.
"Yeesh."
"Can't you make it a little easier?" Kurita asked.
"Yeah, don't you *want* new players?" you raised an eyebrow. "This thing's near impossible."
"That's the whole point!"
"The hell does that mean?"
He didn't answer. You sighed and went back to watching the boys. They ran back down to get more ice and passed by Yukimitsu, that one bald guy. He was carrying probably his weight in ice on his back.
'He went for quantity. He must've known it would take hours for him to climb to the top.' you thought. '...He looked as exhausted as I was.'
Once again, you couldn't believe you were relating to this nerd again. You just looked at him for a while, so when Sena and Monta dashed passed him, it caught you off guard. It was the first time you saw Sena glaring and pushing around an opponent. Seeing these two so fired up over something this stupid made you laugh. Eventually, the door busted open and Monta leaped in with a front flip, landing with his iconic pose.
"First place!" he exclaimed, out of breath as Sena came in right after him.
Hiruma took a closer look at his bag.
"Your last one melted." he nonchalantly before typing on his laptop.
You could see Monta's hopes and dreams getting shattered before your eyes. You cackled and pointed at him while Sena handed his bag to Kurita.
"Sena's second place!" he happily exclaimed as he put the ice in the ice shaver.
"Second?" you, Sena and Monta repeated.
"Yeah, (Y/n)-chan got here first after all."
"N-no!" you quickly shook your head, flustered. "That doesn't count! I didn't carry anything!"
"Are you serious? You brought the ice shaver." Hiruma pointed at it, frowning. "Without it, what the hell would be the point of all this ice? Don't undermine its importance Cherry!"
"Okay okay! Fuckin' hell." you mumbled and looked away, hiding your red face.
"That means...If I don't hurry up..." Monta clenched his fists, fired up again. "I won't even make it to the top three!!!"
Then he left with a roar and came back a short hour later, with a bag of ice as big as him, to make sure NONE of it melts.
"Monta's in third place!" Kurita smiled while you laughed in your corner.
A little while later, you saw the three brothers having a race against Komusubi. They looked pretty fired up too.
'I guess these three just need the right motivation.' you thought before Komusubi also jumped into the room, busting the door open.
"Great job Komusubi!" Kurita beamed.
The boy rubbed the back of his head with both his hands, flustered and happy.
"Fatty Jr. makes the cut!" Hiruma exclaimed as he types on his laptop.
Just then, the three brothers came in and all collapsed on the floor.
"The three Ha-ha brothers make the cut too."
"We're not related!!!" they all said at the same time. "Wait. Why did we actually pass?"
Just then, Sena got a call from Mamori, asking him to go down to help refill the ice. So he left, still dressed as Eyeshield. While everyone was eating shaved ice, you and Hiruma stayed by the screens. You followed Sena on the camera footage to see how long he'll realize he messed up. He eventually did, halfway down which made you laugh. But then something caught your eye on another screen: Yukimitsu was being restrained by the pretentious bastard, while another one was stealing his ice cubes. You slammed your hands on the table and suddenly stood up, almost knocking over your chair. You were about to go give them a piece of your mind, but then Hiruma placed a hand on your shoulder.
"Don't even!" you glared. "These fuckers wanna play dirty?! I'll make them wish their dads were-"
"Do you really think I didn't plan for something like this?" he pushed you down on your chair and stood up. "Time for barrier number three."
He cocked his gun and took a few more. With big eyes, you followed him to the elevator where instead of stepping, he climbed on top of it.
"Impie, press the button to the first floor." he said as he loaded his weapons.
"Are you gonna kill them?"
He chuckled at the genuine concern in your voice.
"You wish. Come on now!"
You did as told and watched him go down.
"Barrier number three." he smirked when you two were at eye level. "The Guardian of Hell."
"Go get 'em!" you nodded.
He just gave you a thumb up. You then went back in the room to watch. You saw Sena comforting Yukimitsu on the floor, the two bullies now gone. Yukimitsu simply stood back up and went down to get more ice. You felt your heart squeeze. You watched as every other contestant quit one by one, eventually, he was the only one left, and he looked exhausted. But he kept going.
'Am I...Inspired by this dude?! I think I'm inspired by this dude!'
Mamori came in, along with Hiruma.
"There's no one else downstairs." she said.
"'Kay." he closed his laptops, startling you in the process since you were so focused on watching. "Guess it's time to pack up then." he stood up.
"H-hey wait!" you stood up too. "We can't leave yet, it's not even closing hours!"
"(L/n) has a point, we should enjoy Tokyo tower while we have it all to ourselves!" Monta exclaimed.
"And besides," Mamori looked around. "where's Sena? He went up a little bit ahead of me..."
"Well, he's not here." he said.
"How strange..."
"Yeah right, we have to wait for him!" you exclaimed.
Hiruma sighed and sat back down. After a while, the sun was starting to set. You stayed in your corner, anxiously fixing the door, hoping to see Yukimitsu.
'Yeah I am rooting for him!' you admitted to yourself. 'I may not be a football player, but still, I played Hell Tower on easy mode, while he plays by the book. And he hasn't complained one bit. He's a good guy.'
You replayed his interview in your head.
'We really are similar huh.'
Just then, Sena joined you guys. He excused himself for being late and you could tell he was hiding something.
"Let's go home." Hiruma turned his back on everyone. "Clean up manajerks."
"W-wait!" both you and Sena exclaimed.
"Someone might still be climbing!" he added.
"...No one else is coming."
"How can you be so sure huh?!" you glared.
A loud thud made you all look over to see Yukimitsu collapsed on the ground. Your face lit up.
"Yukimitsu!" everyone except you and Hiruma exclaimed before rushing up to him.
"You made it!" Sena said.
"Yukimitsu, I'm so proud of you!" Mamori fanned him.
"You rock dude!" Monta added.
Meanwhile, you watched as Hiruma picked up the boy's bag and poured its content into a bucket. Your heart dropped when you saw nothing but water inside.
"It's all melted."
Everyone looked at him, shocked.
"No way!" Kurita exclaimed before they all looked back at Yukimitsu. "And he finally made it to the top..."
"All this hard work, just to fail..." Monta frowned, knowing how that feels.
"Yukimitsu..." Mamori said under her breath.
You clenched your fists and turned to face Hiruma.
"He didn't fail." you said quietly so that only he could hear it. "He proved that he's got the drive to play and win. That's what the Hell Tower's all about, isn't it? That was the whole point." you looked him in the eyes. "I may be a complete novice when it comes to football, but I can tell you one thing. This dude," you pointed at him. "is a true sports player."
Hiruma's expression didn't change, the two of you just looked into each-other's eyes for a moment. Finally, he picked up an ice cube from the ice shaver and dropped it in the water. Your eyes widen.
"Oh? There's one last cube left." he smiled and pointed at it. "Baldini passes!"
The others cheered. You were still speechless. Did Hiruma just do a nice thing?! You were the only one watching so there's no way anyone would believe you!
"That's awesome Yukimitsu!" Sena exclaimed. "You made the cut, you made it!"
"I..." he looked up with a faint smile. "I own it all to Eyeshield. I'll work extra hard!"
Hiruma sighed then looked at you, his smile dropped when he saw the look on your face. You shock has went away and now you were just really happy, with a big bright smile on your face. He looked at you for a moment before pinching your cheek, before anyone else could see it.
"H-hey! What the-?!"
"Stop making that face, it's weird."
"I will bite your fingers off!!!" you struggled, but it was no use. "You'll have to use your toes bitch!!!"
"Kekekekekeke!!!"
"These two are at it again." Monta mumbled.
"But...I think they're happy too." Sena smiled.