A/N: I've been seriously obsessed with this anime for a good while now. And so far, Hiruma/Mamori pairings are my most favorite. Can't get enough of this pairing! So, I wanted to write this I was listening to Fall Away by The Fray while I wrote this, so spare me. Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Title: Locked In

Rating/Genre:T-Romance/Humor

Characters: Hiruma, Mamori, mentions of others

Warning: strong language from Hiruma, and later warnings!

Locked In

Today had been more stressful than usual for Anezaki Mamori. With all the preparations that had to be made for the Devil Bat's upcoming game against the Hakushu Dinosaurs, not to mention tests and exams and random student council meetings, all Mamori wanted to do when she got home was take a hot bath and bury into the warmth of her bed.

After checking twice that she had everything necessary to take home, she headed for the door of the clubhouse, passing a certain blond-haired quarterback as she did.

The said quarterback was heavily concentrated on the screen of his laptop, his fingers moving over the keys so fast it was almost like a blur. The sight made a twinge of emotion erupt in Mamori's heart. It was already 9:30pm. Didn't he ever get tired and go home? When did he go home? Did his family worry?

The Devil Bat manager sighed quietly and stopped walking, turning around slowly to face the distracted boy.

"Goodnight, Hiruma-kun." She called quietly.

"Nngh."

The grunted reply took her a bit off guard, although it was the most expected reply out of anything.

Mamori cleared her throat and repeated, "I said; goodnight, Hiruma-kun."

His fingers slowed for a split second and his eyes flashed in her direction, but then his fingers continued their lightening speed and his eyes turned back to the screen.

"Tch."

Mamori wasn't sure if it was her run-down nerves or the feeling of being ignored, but the sudden action had awakened an unknown pet peeve deep within her and before she knew what she was doing, she was standing directly in front of Hiruma, her hands on her hips and a pout on her lips.

"You know, you could at least say something back. No one is here for you to put on that fake attitude of yours."

All at once, the speedy typing halted, and dangerous crystal blue eyes darted up to stare into her ocean blue ones. One side of Hiruma's lip pulled up in a half-snarl.

"What do you want me to do? Sing you a fucking lullaby?"

The nerve of that...! Mamori could feel a vein popping out of her forehead. She rarely got this angry, but with being around Hiruma so much, it was becoming more and more occurring.

"Fine! Be that way!" She growled and stomped towards the door. "Shoving my kindness in my face? Well, that's the last time I show you any!"

Her hand grabbed the handle of the door and pulled back. "I'll just leave and--!"

She pulled on the door, but it didn't move.

Blinking once, she pulled again. "I'll just..."

The door didn't even budge.

"Eh?" She squeaked. Placing both hands on the handle, she pulled again. Still, it didn't move.

"Kekeke! A little weak are we, fucking manager?" Hiruma cackled from behind her.

Mamori's head whirled a 180 and sneered back at the blond devil. "I'm not weak! The door's just...well...I think it's locked."

"Pfft! It's not fucking locked! You're just a weakling!" Hiruma placed his laptop on the nearby table and stalked over to Mamori. Mumbling a few curse words under his breath, he locked both hands on the handle and gave a mighty heave.

The door did not move.

There was an awkward silence that followed. In the distance, a cricket chirped.

Mamori folded her arms and smirked. "I'm a weakling, huh?"

Hiruma shot her a deadly glare and growled at the door. "Fucking door..." He gave another mighty heave, and the stubborn door proved its strength against him.

Mamori let out a sigh, closed her eyes, and rubbed her aching temples. Oh, how she wanted to be home more than anything and block out all the stressful events of the day. Especially when--

CH-CHIKK

The familiar sound of a gun being cocked instantly brought the brunette out of her thoughts to see Diemon's psychotic quarterback with a rocket launcher rested on one shoulder, aimed at the ready.

"Kekekeke! This door's gonna be opened one way or another!" His trademark grin flashed as he put a finger on the trigger.

Being quick in action, Mamori flung herself in front of the door. "What are you doing!? Stop!"

"Fucking manager, move or I'll blow you along with it!"

"No! The Devil Bat's budget can't afford to fix anymore repairs done to the clubhouse!"

"The whole place is locked down! This is our only option, so move it!"

"Well, we'll just have to think of something else! Now put that thing down!"

It took a few seconds of heated staring before the rocket launcher was lowered. "Argh...whatever."

"Good." Mamori sighed exhaustedly. Hiruma tossed himself on the couch in a huff and stared at his manager as she was deep in thought.

They could call someone, like Sena or Kurita, or even Doburoku-sensei to come and unlock the door. But then again, Mamori had left her phone at home, and Kurita had accidentally sat on the only one that Hiruma would bring with him to practice a few days ago and crushed it flat, and since the clubhouse had yet tohave phone-wire installed yet, that plan was obviously a fail.

Why didn't anyone carry a key with them? Surely, Hiruma would have been entrusted with a key, so why didn't he have it with him today of all days? But Mamori couldn't put the blame on just Hiruma. As manager, she was supposed to have a spare with her at all times, but alas, she had left that too home along with her cellphone thinking that these things weren't needed today.

For the first time, Mamori was starting to get a headache from all the thinking. 'I guess it's the exhaustion.'

"We could bust out a window or som--"

"No damage to the clubhouse!" She reminded loudly. From behind her, Hiruma huffed and sunk deeper into the cushion of the couch.

"Feh, well you better sprout out a plan soon, because this whole place'll go down in flames if it has to."

He started cackling to himself, most likely enjoying a pleasant mental image of himself fully loaded with weapons and walking from a huge ball of inferno that was once the clubhouse. It was times like these that had Mamori totally questioning his sanity. Sure he was nuts, but she was sure it was just a front; a fake to hide his true self, but she was more and more rejecting this thought.

Ignoring her insane schoolmate, she stared at the door. The more she did, the more her ideas swiveled into nothing. The clubhouse door had been replaced countless times. From tired and cranky football players after a practice to Kurita's overexcited fits, every time the door was destroyed it was decided that a stronger one was installed to endure stronger abuse. It had been weeks since the newest one had been installed and so far not a single scratch was on it, even when Jumonji was thrown against it in a friendly battle with Kuroki and Tagona and Sena had run so fast that he couldn't stop in time and smacked right into it.

Finally, Mamori let out an exhausted sigh and walked towards the couch where Hiruma was and plopped herself next to him. "It's hopeless..." she muttered feebly.

There was an awkward silence that filled the room. Mamori maneuvered herself to relax more into the cushiony comfort of the large couch and rested her head back. Hiruma on the other hand, suddenly sat with his back straight and one long leg floppily slung over the other. His lip twitched, his shoulders shifted, his folded arms would readjust themselves tighter to his chest.

"Can't believe two geniuses were beaten by a fucking plank of wood."

He was right, Mamori thought. Anezaki Mamori and Hiruma Youichi were two of the smartest beings on the Devil Bats, maybe even in Deimon. Their strategic plans and last minute brain-blasts knew no bounds, and anyone that knew them could tell you that if these two minds were to work together as one, the whole world would be at their command.

And as cunning as they were, who would have thought that such intelligent minds would be brought down by a single locked door?

Hiruma continued to grumble to himself, but was cut off as he heard strange sounds coming from the other side of the couch. His ears twitched. It sounded...cute. It reminded him of...happy things.

His head snapped to the side to the cause of the noise. Not much a surprise when he found out that it was his manager, although the surprise came later when he found out that those strange little noises was her trying to stifle giggles.

"The hell you laughing at?" he asked angrily.

"Oh nothing," she continued to giggle with a hand covering her mouth, "it's just...what you said...it reminded me old stories that my mom would tell me when I was little."

Hiruma's eyes widened a bit, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Tch..."

Mamori glanced up at him through her long eyelashes. "Come on, doesn't it remind you of any old children stories?"

"Nope."

"What about Grasshopper and the Spider?"

"Never heard of it."

"The Old Lady and the Thief?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Surely you've heard of the story where the small mouse outwitted the mischievous cat and--"

"I'm not fucking Mother Goose's Story Time Book, okay!? I don't know any of these kiddy little fucking stories!"

Mamori tilted her head in confusion, her brows knitted together. "Hiruma-kun...you're parents never told you stories when you were young? I mean, not even when you had nightmares or couldn't sleep or anything like that?"

The reply she got was something she never would have expected from the Devil Bat quarterback. She watched as dozens of emotions flashed through those solid crystal blue eyes of his. His breathing picked up a hastier speed and his lips slowly pulled back to show vampire-like teeth starting to chatter with anger.

Mamori had never been scared of Hiruma like everyone else had. The first time she saw him and his demented actions, she knew right off the bat that it was a fake. But it was different this time. She couldn't help the small jump of pain in her chest...the small feeling of actual fear when she stared at Hiruma's sudden feral looking reaction. This was not some front or distraction...no...this was real.

"H-Hiruma-kun...?" She called out to him hesitantly.

In one fluid motion, he stood up, and the action caused Mamori to jump slightly. She looked up to see that his now rigid back was facing her and his face was hidden from her scanning eyes.

"...I'm gonna go take a shower..." he grumbled, then turned to walk out of the room and toward the shower rooms. Mamori stared at his retreating form, thinking whether or not it'd be a good idea to stop him.

'Great...just great, Anezaki. You manage to make an awkward situation worse by saying something stupid instead of keeping your mouth shut!' Her mind scolded her. She felt like punching herself in the head.

Hiruma was almost out of the room when he stopped at the entrance. "Hey." he called out without turning around. Mamori quickly snapped out of her thoughts and was at full attention. "Yeah?"

"...Get some sleep. I will not have you're ass dozing off during practice tomorrow." And with that, he left the room, leaving the brunette girl in awe. Her mouth dropped slightly and her eyes widened. Was he...showing kindness? To her? After what had just happened, she thought that surely Hiruma would have wanted her dead, but this was something totally out of the blue.

She grabbed her now pounding head in her hands. 'It feels like someone is kicking me in the head. Hiruma-kunis right; I do need some sleep.' She glanced at the couch, and the thought of sleep sounded wonderful at the moment. And with that, she stretched her exhausted body on the couch and used her hands as a pillow.

'Today has been so awkward. Hopefully tomorrow will be better after we get out of here. That is...if I even survive the night. What I said back there must have really struck a cord in Hiruma-kun. I only wish I knew why...'

She yawned

'...I could help him...'

Her eyes began closing

'...be there for him...be his shoulder...'

Her breathing relaxed into a soft and steady rhythm

'...Hiruma-kun...'

To Be Continued...

A/N: finally! I didn't want this to be one long story, so I broke it down into chapters. Sorry. I'll update as soon as I can!

Lets see what happens to these two unlikely pair in the next chapter! A Hiruma/Mamori story! Hehe

Hope you all enjoyed so far!

Lots of luv,

-Joker and the Thief