Author's Note: Well, I admit I got distracted by an engineering student design competition recently. We were going to Internationals in Canada and it was kind of a big deal for us. Even more so when we got first place.

Yes, I'm a world champion engineer. Not many can say that.

Song: Play the Game Tonight is by Kansas, I do not own it.

Songs for Daddy

Chapter 47: Play the Game Tonight

Two days before the Rice Bowl and Kakei found himself sitting across the table from someone he hadn't expected to see. Hiruma had scheduled a meeting rather randomly two days before the Rice Bowl. Kakei was sure there was significance to having the meeting at this time, but it was lost on him.

Since Emiko's diagnosis, there had been once a month therapy sessions between Mizumachi and Emiko. Kakei was aware that this was too small an amount, the girl should have weekly meetings considering her age and state of development. Unfortunately the Welfare Center did not have enough personnel to provide such a service, so once a month was the best they could do. Mizumachi did find ways around this, however, and prepared a means by which Hiruma and Anezaki could provide Emiko help themselves. Most of what Emiko would need, Mizumachi realized, was guidance and immediate correction of social behaviors. Those were the sort of things fell on the parents anyways because a therapist could not be on hand every day, all day, like a parent was.

Normally Kakei would have a yearly check up with Emiko's case in a meeting that would house Emiko, Hiruma, and Mizumachi. Should Anezaki marry Hiruma, she would be invited to attend the meetings as well. So having a meeting between himself and Hiruma outside of that seemed a bit odd.

"I'm taking Emiko to the Rice Bowl and I don't want her to be over-stimulated by it," Hiruma announced without any preamble, "how do I do this?"

Not what Kakei had been expecting but it had made sense. Mizumachi's specialty was therapy and treatment, Kakei handled affairs but he also handled finding an appropriate tool to suit the disabled child's need. Hiruma had come to him because he was fairly sure he could use tools as opposed to technique in this case.

"Has she seen videos of football games?" Kakei asked.

"Hundreds of times," Hiruma answered.

"Have you given her a clear picture of what it's like to be in the stands live?" Kakei was just going through basics to gather information.

"Yes."

"Her biggest stressors are going to be the amount of people, the unpredictability of those people, and the noise." Kakei explained. "I hope her love of football will be enough to allow her to focus on the game, if she does this being around that many people ought to be bearable."

"That's what I was betting on." Hiruma admitted.

"As for the noise, some sort of ear protection should do just fine." Kakei mused. "Anything from headphones to ear plugs will do, just use whatever is most comfortable for her."

"What about the color?" Hiruma knew Emiko could be over-stimulated by color.

"Usually football fans dress to match their teams so I don't think it'd be too much of an issue." Kakei remarked. "Don't be surprised if she gets distracted by the score board."

Hiruma chuckled. That thought had already crossed his mind.

"Is she going to be with someone?" Kakei asked curiously.

"Mm, yeah, Mamori," Hiruma answered.

"You would be the best person," Kakei explained, "but I know you can't play and be in the stands at the same time. Anezaki-san makes an excellent second choice."

Hiruma nodded.

"My old man is coming too- Emiko won't have to sit next to a stranger." Hiruma added.

"I was going to suggest something along those lines, but you beat me to it." Kakei laughed. "I'm going to say your family is all set to attend the Rice Bowl."

For once, Hiruma was easy to read. He was relieved and it showed.

"And do kick those Saikyodai's asses for me would you?" Kakei requested. "I'm not impressed with their behavior this season and I think they need to be put in place."

"I can do that." Hiruma half-cackled, half-chuckled.

"You have no love of your alma matter." Kakei observed.

"I would be doing those brats no favors if I didn't murder them at full strength." Hiruma smirked. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of." Kakei admitted.

Sadly Kakei did overlook something. He completely overlooked half-time along with entering and exiting the stadium. Those same things were also overlooked by Hiruma and Anezaki, while Yuuya assumed the other two had thought of everything.

Rice Bowl, four hours before

The only people in the stadium four hours before the Rice Bowl were typically the teams playing, the stadium staff, and the officials. Occasionally you had a few people up in the VIP rooms or die-hard fans with pre-ordered tickets milling about. In an hour and a half they would open seating for the game and sell last minute tickets. This year they were expecting a full stadium mostly due to the fact that the infamous Hiruma Youichi might be playing. Hiruma had an amazing following as a player and was a crowd pleaser whose fans easily rivaled those of NFL players. Everything from playing style to personal appearance, Hiruma Youichi was a man all to himself. His tactics often continually baffled expert football strategists. No one was able to pull off replicating Hiruma's way of controlling the game, no one except Clifford D. Lewis of the New England Patriots.

Though, Lewis did not copy Hiruma's way of playing and everyone knew this. Lewis had a similar playing style, but it was distinctly different than Hiruma's. Both players were compared as being the same kind of quarterback, but with two different interpretations, which is why they can easily mimic the other's playing style but they chose not to.

Normally Lewis was not brought up as a subject in the Japanese football scene, beyond the occasional comparison to Hiruma or beyond the occasional mention as the man that recruited Kobayakawa Sena into the NFL. But today was special, very special.

Clifford D. Lewis was attending the Rice Bowl as an English speaking announcer with no disclosed reason for doing so. The Patriots had just finished the season and were going in for the playoffs; it was not a time for a professional player like him to be abroad. Yet he was. So far he hadn't arrived in the stadium yet, but Hiruma assured anyone there that Lewis would be showing his ugly mug any minute now.

Anezaki and Emiko were there, they came in with Hiruma. Yuuya had not arrived yet, much to Emiko's confusion. Hiruma explained his papa was picking someone special up, and that's why he was running late.

"Hey, Hiruma!" Takekura greeted his old friend. "Why don't you take Emiko out to see the field before we mess it up?"

"The field?" Emiko's face lit up.

Hiruma nodded. "Tell Clifford where I am if he asks." And with that he led Emiko out onto the spacious green field. Once out into the open, Emiko bolted ahead of Hiruma to go stand in the center of the field and look around at the empty stands around her, awed.

Papa was going to play here! The field was big! Really big! Emiko hadn't ever seen something so big! It was awesome!

She then decided to run around the sidelines. Hiruma didn't move from where he was standing, he just silently watched over Emiko as she ran about, her eyes wide open in wonder. It kind of reminded Hiruma with his first experience with football, the field was so big it had intimidated him. Emiko wasn't intimidated, but she was amazed by the size.

Without much warning, Emiko's attention snapped onto something and she went running for the benches. Hiruma frowned and realized she was looking at something, no wait, waving at someone. He turned his gaze to follow Emiko's path to see Lewis standing on the edge of the grandstands, Yuuya beside him.

Like usual, Lewis was wearing one of his feathery purple jackets that looked overly lush and very expensive. His cold blue eyes showed remarkable amusement and his fair blond hair was shorter than Hiruma recalled it being, but it still had that dramatic bang that covered most of his face. Hiruma could make out some sort of manly pink and white combination under the ensemble, to show which team he was supporting. Oh, well how about that? Lewis was actually waving back to Emiko.

Lewis was used to having young children come running at him and waving. A side effect of being a famous player meant having lots of young, starry-eyed fans. The best thing to do with children was to smile and wave back. Of course right now he didn't have the choice; he was standing next to the girl's grandfather after all. It only took three minutes in the car with Yuuya to see how much his son resembled him.

"Papa look!" Emiko cried. "It's Clifford! And Grandpapa!"

"So it is." Hiruma sounded amused and was faking some surprise. He wasn't surprised; he had arranged this meeting after all. Kobayakawa had wanted to attend this Rice Bowl and see Hiruma play again, but his son had fallen sick and he hadn't been able to come. Lewis had volunteered to come in Kobayakawa's stead and wouldn't let Raimon do it.

"I want to watch my one rival get reborn, so sue me." Lewis had remarked on the matter. Raimon understood this and backed down, begrudgingly, but he did it all the same.

"So how did you manage to sire such a cute kid?" Lewis called from the edge of the stands in prefect Japanese. He was smiling honestly, sincerely happy to be talking with Hiruma for the first time in eight years. The two were rivals despite playing in different countries; they had grown to have a mutual respect and a strange sort of friendship that amazed many.

"It was her mother's fault." Hiruma called back. That was always his comeback to that statement. Emiko only snorted, she did not agree.

Smoothly, Lewis swung himself over the rail and fell to the grassy ground bellow. Landing in a crouch, Lewis stood up, clearly uninjured and with a great deal of dramatics.

"Show off." Hiruma retorted in English while Emiko squealed in delight. Her hands began flapping quickly, but Clifford didn't seem to notice or at least be openly bothered by it if he had.

"An audience of one is still an audience." Lewis pointed out with sly smile in English. He then returned to Japanese. "Ah, so you are Hiruma Emiko-chan?"

Emiko nodded and bowed, only to right herself again immediately. She was practically bouncing in place.

"Oye," Yuuya called, "I'm going to go use the stairs, like a normal person."

"Have fun!" Emiko wished Grandpapa sincerely.

Yuuya broke out a smile and retreated. Hiruma looked pleased with it.

"You are your dad's son." Lewis commented in bemused Japanese.

"I suppose I am." Hiruma admitted with a frown while continuing the conversation in Japanese. It wasn't something he chose to be proud of.

"The field is big!" Emiko exclaimed.

Lewis took a moment to look around at the stadium around him. It was about medium sized for him, but that did not surprise him. Football wasn't Japan's number one sport after all. He looked out at the grassy field. When was the last time he played on grass?

"Ah, yeah, it is big, isn't it?" Lewis commented thoughtfully. Three yards was longer than a man was tall, and trying to get the ball that distance to score a touchdown could be just about impossible at the best of times. The field was big, very big.

And Lewis had forgotten that.

Children did have the power to remind adults of the most important, basic facts in life. Lewis did often forget the small things; he knew this better than anyone. Being a celebrity took most of the fun out of finding pure, childish joy in the things in life. Still Lewis continued to pursue that joy and he only really found it when children were about to show it to him. This wasn't something he was proud of, but he considered himself better off than most celebrities because he did still manage to find that joy in life.

"Mm. Yeah, it's plenty big." Hiruma smiled. "Plenty of room to get around the defense." The last statement issued an understanding chuckle from Lewis.

Emiko seemed to like that thought, if the increased bouncing and flapping was anything to go by.

"You're wearing pink." Hiruma teased. "How feminine of you."

"Your mascot's the Babies," Lewis pointed out, "I don't mean to offend your CEO, but seriously, that's the most ridiculous mascot ever."

"Ridiculous?" Emiko didn't know that word.

"It means really silly." Hiruma clarified.

"The Babies aren't silly, they're good." Emiko frowned.

"He's being a jerk, you can ignore him." Hiruma assured Emiko, who just nodded.

Lewis only rolled his eyes.

"Hiruma," Lewis began, more seriously this time, "I'm going to leave to go talk to the staff here in a moment."

Hiruma turned and met Lewis's serious gaze.

"I've got one bit of advice for you," Lewis went on, "win."

It wasn't the advice Hiruma was expecting, but it was the right advice. He nodded, taking in what was not said. Lewis didn't bother to suggest plays or strategy, he had confidence Hiruma could make those calls himself. Lewis also believed the Babies had a shot at winning this thing.

Though Hiruma didn't care about what the fans thought, it was comforting to have a foreign quarterback come all this way to say, with his professional opinion, that he believed Hiruma still had what it takes to be a good quarterback.

Perhaps that was the real reason Lewis showed up.

Because both Hiruma and Lewis knew that if the situation was reversed, Hiruma would have done the same thing.

"I plan to." Hiruma told Lewis. The other man looked him over carefully with those cold blue eyes, as if he was weighing the truth of that statement. Knowing Lewis, he probably was. He was taking into account every probability, examining every subtle unconscious signal Hiruma was admitting and comparing it to the chances. Hiruma was masking his emotions, the fear and nervousness, the doubt in his heart. Every player had those on some level, especially when they were about to face a strong opponent. But Hiruma also held determination, love, and excitement inside. He was ready to face whatever this game would become. Hiruma knew those blue eyes could see all of this, no mask he could make would be a match for Lewis' gaze.

Lewis nodded.

"I'll be on my way then, I'll see you after the game." Lewis told Hiruma.

"Bye." Emiko waved as Lewis began to leave. He turned to wave back before he disappeared inside the stadium proper.

Without any prompting Emiko went straight back to the field to run around on it. Hiruma watched her for a bit more smiling.

"Ten yards!" Emiko yelled and proceeded to run ten yards. It was then Hiruma recalled he had a stop watch in his pocket. Taking it out, Hiruma turned to his daughter with a bright smile of his own.

"Oi! Emiko!" Hiruma waved the watch in the air. "Do you want to clock your 40-yard dash time?"

It was 4.80 seconds.

Hiruma was damn proud.

Rice Bowl, one hour before, the American Announcer Booth

"Hello sports fans! This is Bob Hendrickson here live from the Tokyo Dome! It's a nice day for football folks the sun's shining and its 20 degrees cee- wait what does that mean?" Bob Hendrickson was a middle age man with a handsome face and a fashionable, but professional hair cut. He was pretty nondescript for a sports announcer, physically anyways, Lewis knew otherwise. The man could read and follow a game just as well as he could. His announcing, for the football related parts, was very detailed and succinct. But everything else, well….

There was a reason he wasn't a quarterback after all.

"That's 68 degrees Fahrenheit." Lewis prompted. "A bit chilly for the day to day, but just about right if you're running around in a uniform."

"Ah, thanks." Hendrickson smiled. "Ah, now here with me today is Clifford D. Lewis of the New England Patriots, here for 'undisclosed reasons'. Say Clifford, would you mind disclosing a few of those reasons?"

"Well Bob," Lewis began, looking a little thoughtful, "I can disclose one."

Hendrickson sat up and leaned forward, suddenly very attentive.

"I came here to see Youichi Hiruma's revival." Lewis admitted. He knew that the press had been all over his relationship with Hiruma. It had offended several people that Lewis' only acknowledged rival was some 'hick out in Japan'. Their words, not his. Lewis never did explain his reasons for having Hiruma be his only rival publically, but privately everyone knew the answer. Hiruma was the only quarterback in the world to ever over take Lewis' lead in a game and bring it into overtime. If Lewis was leading going into the fourth quarter, he always won the game and never had overtime. Hiruma is the only one to have challenged him to that point.

Needless to say after that game between Team USA and Team Japan, Lewis learned that he wasn't the best at playing quarterback in the world. Hiruma had the right to that title. He took an inferior team, bound it together and forced a tie with the strongest team in the world with some serious setbacks.

"You're sure he's going to play?" Hendrickson asked. "I mean, there's been the whole debate about whether or not he'll make an appearance. Or if he's even back from his disappearance."

Indeed it had been a rather amazing debate. Hiruma was on the official team roster, but out on 'personal reasons' of some sort. It had been left vague. There had been images of him at practice that the paparazzi had revealed, so everyone assumed there'd been a horrible family loss keeping him at home on the weekends instead of at games. Certainly the distracted looks at practice had been enough to help with that. But the leave he had been recently specified as 'medical' which confused many. Would he really be returning? Was his name and presence there to be a scare tactic? No one knew.

"He's back." Lewis said solemnly.

"Well even if Hiruma is back he hasn't been seen on the bench at any of the prior matches-" Hendrickson went on with his anti-Hiruma's return argument. They decided Hendrickson would support the Saikyodai Wizards while Lewis would support the Takekura Babies.

"I checked the X-league rules, a player is allowed to be exempt from sitting on the game and still be eligible to play in further games under certain medical condition clauses." Lewis showed the particular 'sheet' to Hendrickson. They'd discussed this part of the discussion of the live broadcast in advance, so the prop was prepared.

"Oh, I see, if the guy's sick he's allowed to play in future games and ordered off the bench." Hendrickson nodded.

"I would presume Youichi's case is something of that sort." Lewis remarked.

"Then there's also been that talk about his mysterious 'personal reasons' that prevent him from playing." Hendrickson pointed out. "The rumor is someone in his family's got terminal cancer."

"Knowing Youichi, that's probably one of seven reasons." Lewis then proceeded to be slightly offended by the dubious look Hendrickson was giving him. "Youichi sincerely loves playing football and he's a man that's not easily bested by things. If he's got 'personal reasons' keeping him from the field there'd have to be a lot of major things going on in his life for it to make enough of a difference."

"…So you think he's back." Hendrickson observed.

"Not think, know." Lewis clarified. "He was in the locker room earlier."

"Ah, so he really is here?" Hendrickson waited for the nod. "Well now we go back to the debate about him playing. Even though there is a clause in the rules that allows him to play, there's still the official ruling to contend with and the fact he hasn't played all season. The Babies' roster has changed a great deal from when he was last on the field, I'm not sure the coach would let him.

"Not to mention that Saikyodai has been officially dubbed the roughest team in Japanese football. These kids are strong, tough, and they play hard. There's a great deal of concern that the Babies will suffer some serious injuries during this game play. And of course, even if they do manage to withstand the physical on sought, they have to contend with Takeru Yamoto's expert strategy and one hundred percent prediction. Even if the Babies have Youichi on board, will it be enough?" Hendrickson asked Lewis.

"It'll have to be if the Babies want the championship." Lewis answered. Hendrickson gave him a baffled look.

"By this point in the game all the hands are dealt, it's just a matter of playing them to the best of your ability." Lewis explained. "Besides, the Babies have Youichi and no one can beat him at football strategy."

"That's assuming Youichi actually plays…." Hendrickson pointed out. Lewis gave him a look that clearly said he was tired of disagreeing with that statement.

"You know, Clifford, you're the Invincible Gambler, what's the chances Youichi's gonna play?" Hendrickson asked. This was the point in which the rehearsal stopped and the improve began.

"The chance is one hundred percent." Clifford announced with absolute confidence.

"What do you mean, one hundred percent-!" Hendrickson protested.

"-She's in the stands today. The chance is one hundred percent, the safest bet." Lewis told Hendrickson firmly.

"Who is this 'she'?" Hendrickson asked only to get small, smug smirk in response.

"Youichi's daughter."

Rice Bowl, three minutes before player introductions

Emiko was not happy.

She was wearing some headphones, which made things better, but she still didn't like it (they pinched her ears). Her patience and endurance for all these people and waiting was wearing thin awfully quickly. Papa and Mom didn't say there was going to be a lot of waiting, Emiko didn't like waiting. She rocked in her seat uncomfortably, trying to calm herself and be good.

If she was bad, Papa might get in trouble and then he couldn't play anymore and that would be bad and sad and nasty and Papa might not forgive Emiko and that would be even worse!

So Emiko was going to be good, even if it was going to be really, really hard to be good.

"Now presenting the Takekura Babies!" The infamous Japanese announcer, Machinegun Sanada, announced. Football games just weren't football games without him.

Emiko fell silent and her gaze turned excitedly towards the entry way.

"From the depths of Hell this man has risen up to once again to haunt the fields of football, give it up for the devilish commander from Hell, Quarterback Hiruma Youichi!" Sanada wound up the crowd just right to make it explode. Emiko couldn't help it, she was sucked up in the emotion and screaming along with everyone else.

Out of the dry ice ran Hiruma, helmet under arm and gun over his shoulder. The crowd was wild and pleased to see him back. His perpetual smirk dawned his face as he ran further onto the field to await the next introduction. Subtly though, Hiruma's eyes scanned the crowd briefly, trying to find Emiko in the mass. He'd almost forgotten where Takekura had told him her seat was at. Ah there they were, her brown eyes and that smile….

Papa saw her and winked! Most awesome thing ever!

Anezaki was no fool; she saw that Hiruma found his daughter and it made her smile. The rest of the Babies came out with the same introductions they had been using all season. Most of the team seemed to be weary of Hiruma and his gun. That's right- this was their first game with him on the field. He hadn't been completely off the wall bat shit crazy at practice, Kurita and Takekura had told her this. Instead he'd been unnervingly polite and parental. They knew he was going back to his old tricks with the opponents they were facing but….

Would his new bonds with his teammates be strong enough?

"And here are the Saikyodai Wizards!" Sanada announced, sending the other half of the crowd into furry. Emiko let out her own excited squeal. Papa had showed her all of their games this season while he was analyzing them. She knew lots about them!

"Ah, their coach, Yamato Takeru is the first one on the field today. He said he wanted to have a look at the enemy first so he could start using his 'one hundred percent predictions' on them right away. Looks like he's got his eyes set on the prize!" Sanada used his words to further rally the crowd.

"Not one hundred percent." Emiko frowned at the words. "Papa and Sena broke it during the Christmas Bowl."

"Your Papa plans to break it again." Yuuya commented loud enough to be heard over the crowd and the headphones Emiko was wearing. She nodded.

Yamato was staring at the smirking Hiruma. A light nervous sweat broke out across his entire form. Those green eyes were seeing right through him, like they always had. The expression on Hiruma's face told Yamato that he was more than ready to kick his ass and knock his team down a few pegs today and that he'd also seen through Yamato's tactics.

"Still unnerving, huh?" Yamato smiled brightly. This was going to be a challenge and there was nothing better than a blood-stirring challenge.

"Coach," Ishimaru Shinichi, the quarterback, began, "what's with Jersey One?" Frankly the man looked like he was trying to imitate a punk and was being remarkably successful for an older person. Something about that gun and confident smirk was unnerving.

"Hiruma Youichi, age 36, offensive captain and starting quarterback for the Babies' line up." Yamato answered. "More commonly known as the 'Commander from Hell', because he makes hell for anyone whom he fights and often his teammates in the process. He's a master of trick plays and comeback victories."

"I know that, but what's with the gun and the hair?" Ishimaru pressed.

"Part of the 'from Hell' part. He's trying to mess with our heads by coming off as demonic." Yamato explained.

"He doesn't look like much." Ishimaru remarked, flipping open a clipboard full of data. "I mean his dash time and bench press, its weak."

"Physically he's not much of a threat," Yamato admitted, "but tactically he's arguably the best in the world."

"The best football tactician in the world is Clifford D. Lewis, seconded by yourself." Ishimaru spoke as if this was fact.

"Shinichi," Yamato looked his trainee in the eye, "Hiruma is the only person Clifford ever acknowledged as his rival for a reason."

Ishimaru's eyes went wide.

"He-he's that Hiruma Youichi?" Ishimaru had been forced to watch footage from all of Hiruma's previous games along with footage from Lewis' games to get a feel for trickster quarterbacks. Yamato hadn't been sure that Hiruma was going to play, but he decided to not take the foolish risk of assuming he wasn't. He did have anti-Hiruma tactics prepared, hopefully it would be enough.

"Yes, he is that Hiruma Youichi. He will be the most impressive quarterback you will ever see up close. Shinichi," Yamato paused for dramatic effect, "win or lose today, watch him closely. You'll learn a great deal."

"The pointy eared guy is coming this way!" Nakashima Kureno, kicker, exclaimed as Hiruma started walking over. Introductions had finished and for some reason that no one understood yet, Hiruma was crossing the field. A few referees appeared at Hiruma's sides. Technically Hiruma hadn't done anything wrong but they wanted to make sure he didn't.

Crunching the white grass beneath his feet, Hiruma stopped on the sideline just before the bench. Now that he was close, Ishimaru could see the little crow's feet and forehead wrinkles on Hiruma's face. He was not a boy, he was a man, a veteran of this game.

Everyone amongst the Wizards felt intimidated by this amazing presence before them.

"Two things." Hiruma announced, holding up two long fingers to prove his point. "First thing, I don't give a shit about fucking alma matters. Just because you also went to Saikyodai doesn't mean I'm going to be fucking sympatric to your plight."

"You went to Saikyodai?" Ishimaru muttered, then he recalled the Saikyodai games Yamato had wanted him to watch and he hadn't, dismissing them as going over his team's mistakes as opposed to Hiruma's games.

"Fuck yeah." Hiruma gave the young quarterback a bemused look. Then he turned to Yamato. "Didn't know you got so forgetful, fucking shiny."

Then Hiruma's expression turned thoughtful for a moment.

"Or are you trying to set them up for the biggest fucking defeat they will experience in their college careers?" Hiruma mused.

"Hey old man! We're better than you!" One of the linemen roared, clearly having lost his temper.

"Oh?" Hiruma raised an eyebrow, looking at the kid, still bemused. He then shut his eyes.

"Kojima Taiki, number 73, linemen. Started playing his senior year of high school after being kicked off the sumo team for fighting with his teammates. Went from center to defensive tackle because of his lack of respect for a quarterback's orders. Average sacks per game, 4.03. Has a nasty habit of breaking the bones in opposing teams' quarterbacks when sacking." Hiruma listed the statics in a soft voice. The sort of soft voice he used to calm a confused and upset Emiko.

"Taiki-chan," Hiruma opened his eyes, "I'll be fucking frank, you're not nearly as nasty as Gaou Rikiya."

"His sacking average is less than mine." Kojima pointed out. "Why should I be afraid?"

"Gaou's sacking average is less than yours because it takes him less time to fuck up the quarterback, kid." Hiruma pointed out dryly.

The rest of the team could only stare, pale.

"But remarking about how fucking inferior you are to Gaou isn't one of the reasons why I'm here." Hiruma went on, only serving to provoke Kojima further. Almost all of the linemen were holding him back.

"Then why did you come?" Yamato demanded. His team had been somewhat demoralized by Hiruma's psychological attack, this was not a good start. But it was promising, Hiruma was taking this seriously and he was using every trick he had. Perhaps he felt intimidated by Yamato's line up after all.

"To remind you that your fucking wife wants to eat dinner with you sometime this week." Hiruma told Yamato with a pleasant, sweet smile. "I do hope you take her somewhere nice, she's been putting up with a remarkable amount of your shit recently and all."

Yamato could only stare. How did Hiruma know about that-! Wait this was Hiruma, Hiruma knew shit about people.

Hiruma just turned around with a 'see ya' kind of wave, his smirk even wider. He did just demoralize the opposing team and freak out Yamato. Those kids hadn't had any real challenges this season and Hiruma was going to present them with the biggest challenge they ever had.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Kojima announced with a growl.

"Taiki-kun!" Yamato snapped, angry for once.

The Wizards were quiet as they looked from the player to coach. They'd never seen Yamato this mad before.

"Taiki-kun you have fallen into Hiruma-shi's trap." Yamato told the boy with a menacing look. "By getting mad you've allowed yourself to be controlled by him."

Taiki went still and silent, his eyes wide. Yamato was right and he knew it.

"Hiruma-shi came here to intimidate us, to rile us," Yamato began, "and in fact he did just that but- it has made me realize something."

The team learned forward, hanging on their coaches every word.

"He's afraid of us." Yamato announced. "He's afraid of losing so he's seeking to use more covert means for victory. I want you to show him, make him feel, just how afraid he should be."

The Wizards let out an enthusiastic roar and Yamato hid a smirk. Oh yes, this was going to work out very nicely.

Across the field Hiruma had read the man's lips and could only chuckle.

"Something funny?" Takekura asked his old friend.

"Fucking shiny thinks I'm scared of his team." Hiruma answered.

"I don't think they are scary." Kurita remarked thoughtfully.

"They aren't fucking scary. They're a bunch of overly strong idiots with no respect for the fucking rules or technique." Hiruma elaborated. "Their fucking quarterback isn't half bad, but he has no control over his fucking teammates."

"I suppose we'll just have to cut them down a few notches." Juumonji remarked, looking slightly bored with this.

"And crush their spirits." Kuroki added.

"And give them a dose of realism with defeat." Toganou added.

"This will make for an interesting Rice Bowl." Gaou remarked from behind the three friends with a grin.

American Announcer Booth

"-make for an interesting Rice Bowl." Hendrickson finished. They had just been discussing what Hiruma was doing talking to the opposing team. Lewis' main idea had been to sow some seeds of intimidation and fear. He'd also commented that those college boys hadn't had a real challenge yet this season so they had gotten cocky. Lewis thought that perhaps Hiruma wanted to put a little reality into them before they faced off.

"All the more reason to have come to see it in person." Lewis added with a smug smile.

"Ah- it looks like they are going over for the coin toss now." Hendrickson announced. "The Babies are being led by Youichi Hiruma, while Takeru Yamato is leading his quarterback, Shinichi Ishimaru. Clifford is it just me, or does that boy look defeated to you?"

"I don't think 'defeated' is the right word," Lewis explained, "he definitely looks like he's encountered something much bigger and fearsome than he imagined. Youichi definitely stuck some harsh reality on this kid."

"Why would Youichi do such a thing? Do you think he's afraid of the other team?" Hendrickson asked.

"No, he's not afraid of them. He's actually being respectful." Lewis explained, got a blank look, and found himself having to elaborate again. "He's fighting his opponent at top strength. This isn't to secure a victory as much as it is to make the game more satisfying for those playing it. No one likes a hollow victory."

"Well, you would know best Clifford." Hendrickson was clearly taking the other man's word for it.

"Of course I would, I'm a player." Lewis smiled. "Youichi is going to pull out everything he's got and spare his opponent nothing. That'll be entertaining at the very least."

"Ah, here they are." Hendrickson nodded in approval when he was handed a piece of paper from off screen. Lewis only gave the man a curious look. "The casino bet statistics."

"Oh?" Lewis raised an eyebrow and waited for Hendrickson to elaborate.

"1 to 333, in favor of Saikyodai." Hendrickson announced. He jumped in his chair when Lewis let out a barking belly laugh.

"Looks like the Babies' victory has been sealed." Lewis smirked almost predatorily. "After all, Youichi plays best when the odds are stacked against him."

The Field

Flying up, every eye in the stadium watched withheld breaths as a single golden coin spun in the air. Would it favor the Babies? Would it favor the Wizards?

The referee caught the coin deftly and looked Hiruma in the eye, waiting for Hiruma's choice.

Yamato and Ishimaru mentally sighed, knowing they just lost their first offense and potentially their one chance at winning.

"Will you take the field, Hiruma-shi?" The referee asked, finding Hiruma's silence and blank expression unnerving.

"No, we'll kick." Hiruma corrected the man.

"W-what!" Yamato and Ishimaru gasped. There was no way in hell Hiruma would have done that!

Yamato went cold at that realization. The moment you think 'there's no way in hell he'd do that' it would be exactly what Hiruma would do. Right off from the start of the game Hiruma was controlling everyone with his unpredictable, unexpected behavior. Yamato knew from all of his years of experience that there was one thing, only one thing he could predict reliably today.

His team's chances of winning were not as large as everyone thought they were. In fact they were getting smaller by the moment.

The team leaders broke off and Hiruma called a huddle for the Babies.

"Fucking old man," Hiruma pointed a sharp finger as Takekura's chest, "kick the ball to number 24."

Takekura only nodded solemnly while the rest of the team bit back protests. They all knew that number 24, Yumi Shigehito, was their ace runningback. Surely there was a reason for doing this, a plan behind Hiruma's madness.

"Fucking freckles," Hiruma addressed one of his own teammates, "your job will be forcing that fucking ace of theirs to fumble."

"W-what?" Nakamura Tadayoshi, the only man on the team with freckles, gasped. He was a fast linebacker but he had low self-esteem and often made things worse when he was on the field because of this.

"You're the only one who can compete with that fucking ace in speed." Hiruma reminded the linebacker bluntly. "All you need to do is knock the ball out of that so-called ace's hands. Should be damn easy, the brat's got a loose one arm grip."

Everyone stared at Hiruma as he said this. It was news to them.

"Even a pathetic idiot like you could pull it off," Hiruma went on, "just make their fucking ace fumble."

"What about the fumble?" Kuroda Shinji, number 82, wide receiver, asked.

"You, fucking doughnuts," Hiruma pointed his vicious finger at the wide receiver that was fond of eating doughnuts, "will catch that fumble if fucking freckles here can't."

The team was silent.

"Why are we doing something so risky?" Kuroda asked softly.

"Because they aren't fucking ready for it," Hiruma answered confidently, "they're preparing for a fucking squib kick-"

Which was completely true, the Wizards were convinced Hiruma Youichi was intending to mock them by using a squib kick.

"-and that means their defense will be shattered when faced with such an extreme change of plan." The Babies nodded, understanding the logic even if it bothered them.

"It will also scare those brats shitless." Hiruma added smugly.

"Is scaring a bunch of over-confident kids necessary?" Nakamura asked. He just knew he would find a way to fuck up this job.

"Whoever scares the opponent first wins." Takekura told Nakamura calmly. "That's a simple football rule, isn't it Hiruma?"

"Fuck yes." Hiruma agreed with a happy, devilish, smile. "Now kiddies, time for your next lesson."

Gulp.

"We didn't come here to defeat our enemy," Hiruma began using his fatherly correction voice, "we came here to slaughter them."

"Now that's something I haven't heard in a while," Juumonji began,

"It just wasn't the same when you were gone," Kuroki went on,

"But I think we all agree we're damn glad its back." Toganou finished.

"Oh you taught these kiddies?" Hiruma grinned happily at the thought.

"'Course we did." The three 'brothers' grinned back.

"We'll fucking kill them. Ya-ha!"

American Announcer Booth

"D-did we get a censor on that?" Hendrickson asked, a bit startled by the English huddle shot.

"No." Lewis answered, he didn't appear to care. "There's no point in censoring it."

"What do you mean?" Hendrickson asked, still a bit uncomposed.

"That's Youichi's huddle shout," Lewis explained, "He's been using it since middle school."

"Just because the behavior is common doesn't make it appropriate." Hendrickson pointed out.

"Maybe not, but this isn't a football game with Youichi Hiruma on the field unless he's out there swearing." Lewis countered. "Besides, Sena leads all sorts of horribly inappropriate huddle shouts in Japanese all the time. If it's acceptable in the NFL, it can certainly be acceptable here."

"He does?" Hendrickson blinked.

"His current favorite translates something on the lines of 'unpleasant destruction of a man's gentiles.'" Lewis put some fingered quotes on the words to make his point clear. Hendrickson paled. "But much cruder of course."

"O-of course." Hendrickson muttered.

"Don't worry too much Bob," Lewis assured his co-announcer, "Youichi's going to be the only one taking heat for his swearing."

The Field

"He's planning something." Yamato muttered to himself. He knew Hiruma was going to do something and for once he was at a loss as to how that was. It was a small comfort that Hiruma would not actually be standing on the field with the kicking team, but that was the only comfort. He was hoping that Hiruma had ordered a squib kick, but because he suspected that play it probably wasn't going to happen. He warned his team, of course, but he didn't think they took his warning seriously enough. Yamato's only hope was that his team would figure out that Hiruma Youichi was very much a threat and that Yamato wasn't shitting them about the added caution.

"When is he not?" Banba Manoru, the giant tanned ex-linemen and Yamato's assistant coach, asked humorlessly from behind Yamato. He'd been busy making sure the line had proper taping and warm-ups before the match to have talked to Yamato about Hiruma. Only now that the match was moments away from starting could he find the time to talk about how many issues they were going to be having.

"These boys have no idea how much trouble they are about to be in…." Yamato muttered sadly.

"Then let them learn by doing." Banba highly believed in learning by doing. He also knew instead of raising a proper team this year, they'd guided a group of ruffians that had just been meaner than anyone else. A smack around from Hiruma might accomplish something in an hour that Banba had been attempting all season.

"Don't you want victory?" Yamato asked with a frown.

"Of course I do and I'm confident they'll flatten their opponent if they get serious about it." Banba explained. "Hiruma will take the lead and knock them around in the first quarter then they will man up and have a lead by the beginning of the second half."

"Banba-sama, I didn't know you made predictions." One of the benched linemen almost sneered. The boy was a known trouble child so Banba benched him.

"I only state facts." Banba explained to the kid tonelessly. "Just sit and watch this play, we're going to lose possession of the ball."

Takekura stretched his leg out. Ten men beside him, 11 men, well boys really, before him. 11 against 11, comrades beside you, stadium a mass of cheers around you, and Hiruma's small smirk on the sideline.

How long had it been since he'd played football like this? Too long really, part of him had felt that time had stopped for him and Kurita when Hiruma ran out of practice that one day over six years ago. His legs felt light and strong, youthful really. He'd done fine as a professional kicker, but he'd never done anything spectacular without Hiruma there.

Maybe it was time to show them what happens when Takekura returns to his old self.

After nodding briefly to his teammates, Takekura stood in position and waited for the referee to blow the whistle and start the game. The roar of the crowd became deafening after the whistle blew, everyone was hanging on this moment. Step, step, step, pulling back his leg, restraining all of its power until the last moment. His cleat made a clean contact and the cannon went off, sending the ball soaring farther than the eye could see into the chilly sky.

The crowd was awestruck, the announcers were babbling senselessly about the beautiful kick off. Without any hesitation, Nakamura and Kuroda went bolting forward at the sound of the ball being blasted into the sky. Both had their eyes set on Yumi, everyone else was ignored as they blasted past the stunned team.

To say the Wizards were caught off guard was an understatement. Every single one of them was staring at the sky for three seconds, trying to find the ball. This hesitation was fatal, the Babies were on them and in their faces. Most of the Wizards didn't have time to get into proper blocking form (not that they used it anyway) when they encountered their opponent. The Babies didn't show any hesitation and proceeded to blue sky anyone in their path, roughly pushing the young boys to the ground.

"The Wizards are falling like flies!" Sanada exclaimed. "They have completely, helplessly fallen into Hiruma-shi's trap! What an amazing kick off!"

Yumi found himself running backwards a bit to catch the ball. Takekura hadn't kicked it terribly far, just extremely high. He could catch this-! What the hell!

The ball was completely unstable and tumbling in the air. Takekura had managed to kick it out of sight with it tumbling like that! Yumi spared a glance at the kicker only to watch him flatten their ace linemen without batting an eye. Suddenly Yumi became acutely aware the entire Babies team was running towards him, destroying any obstacles in their path. They knew, all of these men in pink knew the ball had been kicked to him. They knew it been a hard-to-catch kick and they knew that the Wizards hadn't been expecting it.

"Like hell!" Yumi swore. He wasn't going to let these guys win. He was going to catch that ball and run it past all of them for a kick-off return touchdown. Pulling his gaze upwards, Yumi readied himself for the ball. Damn that thing was falling fast!

Bong!

Yumi managed to catch it but he held it awkwardly in his arms, defenders were closing in. The nearest was only two yards away. To Yumi, two yards was plenty. Without any hesitation, Yumi started to run, aiming for the gaps in the tight defense.

"…Bad plan." Emiko muttered with a frown. It went unheard in the noise around her.

Nakamura came closing in on Yumi, his hand out stretched to snap the ball out of that kid's arm. It was going to be impossible, Nakamura realized quickly, the kid had locked the ball (rather poorly, but it was hard to tell) in both arms and was charging at full speed just off an intersection course. Nakamura was wishing he'd been able to convince Hiruma this was a bad idea, because right now he was about to cost their team its first points.

Yumi managed to escape Nakamura, whom he sneered at as he ran by. He spun past two more Babies only to slam right into Juumonji's chest.

"Hey kid." The scary bescared man remarked with a menacing smile. "Let's have a good game."

"Wha-?" Yumi muttered only to find out he'd just impaled himself on the linemen's unforgiving hand. Falling backwards, Yumi found the air gone from his lungs before he hit the ground. With a loud crash, Yumi hit the unforgiving field, back first, right on the twenty yard line.

Hiruma only went 'tch'. The plan hadn't come off perfectly, as he suspected it might. He could use that though. The kids were going to definitely expect some kind of trick play, probably poorly executed, from now on. This meant he could use fundamentals to crush them; which was much more fitting.

"Saikyodai ball!" The referee called. He was looking pale. Never before had he seen a kick off like that, it sent shivers down his spine.

"Looks like you were wrong, coach." This was the general consensus from the Wizards' bench. Banba looked unsettled.

"…They could have had it." Yamato muttered. "We got lucky."

"No, number 40 is a coward, no confidence. He didn't have enough spirit to complete the play." Banba corrected. "Hiruma looks annoyed."

"Ah he just revealed a weakness." Yamato frowned. "But was it on purpose?"

"It's going to be now." Banba muttered. "We should have lost possession."

Nakamura walked back to the bench, looking defeated. He was probably going to be benched for that fuck up.

"What the fuck was that?" Hiruma demanded. "Tell me, Nakamura, what. The. Fuck. Was. That?" Hiruma spat his words acidly. Everyone on the bench cringed. They all knew Hiruma was one hell of a beast when angered ever since the day someone decided to mock the water bottle Emiko had given her Papa.

"I-I-!" Nakamura found himself speechless under the gaze of this green eyed devil before him.

"Why," Hiruma pointed at the man's face, "are you playing this game, you fucking coward?"

Nakamura could only stare on in horror.

"Answer my question!" Hiruma snapped.

"B-b-because I like it?" Nakamura confessed and prayed.

"..." Hiruma glared at him as he examined the truth of that statement. "Tch."

The team grew tenser.

"Same reason I play." Hiruma commented thoughtfully, surprising everyone, especially Nakamura.

"R-really?" Nakamura wasn't sure this was happening.

"You heard me; I play football because it's fun." Hiruma repeated himself, "which is why I'm baffled by your stupid-fuck fear."

Nakamura didn't follow.

"Why the fuck are you afraid of something you enjoy?" Hiruma asked Nakamura piercingly.

Nakamura didn't have an answer; frankly he'd never looked at the problem that way.

"Go back there, on that field," Hiruma pointed at the green expanse beside them, "and remember how you felt the first time you played this damn game."

"H-hiruma-" Kuroda began only to get cut off by a look.

"You do remember how you felt, don't you?" Hiruma asked Nakamura, "that simple, childish joy of having fun?"

"Yeah." Nakamura nodded.

"Then go fucking out there and have some fun~" Hiruma told Nakamura with a kind, happy smile. He went over and ushered the linebacker back onto the field in a kind of boyish way that freaked out most of the team. Nakamura blinked a few times and kind of awkwardly stumbled onto the field with the rest of the defense.

"Was there a point to that?" Takekura asked.

Hiruma popped a piece of gum in his mouth before answering.

"Just increasing his output," Hiruma explained, "and giving those defenders a nasty surprise."

"With joy, huh?" Takekura muttered, bemused.

"Love's as strong a weapon as fear." Hiruma remarked cryptically. Well not that cryptically, everyone knew that Emiko had taught Hiruma that lesson.

Banba was pissed. These boys weren't listening again.

"I told you that you shouldn't just aim for exploiting number 40!" Banba snapped again. "Hiruma just did something to the guy, didn't you just watch it!"

The Wizards only turned their noses and walked out onto the field. Ishimaru looked better, after Hiruma's failed play. He'd been watching Hiruma intently during that chaos. That man had failed that play and was mad. He also watched his bizarre behavior on the bench just now.

"Oye fucking team!" Hiruma yelled from the bench. "Ishimaru's wearing pink underwear!"

What the hell?

"It appears as though Hiruma Youichi has just made a statement about the color of Ishimaru Shinichi's underwear." Sanada remarked. "I wonder how true that is."

How did he know! Ishimaru stared in both fear and awe. The pink hadn't been intentional, his mom had washed a red sock with his whites and it was clean but-! Still that was just freaky!

"Is he really wearing pink underwear?" Kurita asked.

"Look at his fucking face." Hiruma pointed, amused. "That bluff would have either freaked him out beyond belief or it would have pissed him off."

"Wow, he really is wearing pink underwear." Toganou muttered.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma cackled happily. He wins!

"Okay, we're going with a long pass." Ishimaru told the team and issued routes. He hoped they would listen to him. Usually the receivers were good about the pass routes but the line had a habit of blue skying anyone, regardless of the kind of play.

Juumonji studied Ishimaru slightly and nodded to himself. The kid seemed, unsure and worried. There was some tension between him and the linemen and Juumonji was certain that was because the line usually went blue sky regardless of the kind of play. And blue skying allowed for back defenders to get through easier if you managed to tie up the opposing linemen while you fell….

"It's a long pass," Juumonji told the defense, "which is why the safeties will be playing counterbacks for this play. Nakamura, you blitz. Everyone else try to crush, or give up on the crush and tangle."

"Ya-ha!" The Babies broke their huddle before the Wizards were ready. They could only stare at the opposing team in awe. How did those guys work so fast? They weren't like this in the main season!

Ishimaru carefully looked over the field, a bad feeling in his stomach. The Babies were quiet and collected, all of their eyes on the opponent before them. Nakamura, the failed player from the previous play was staring him in the eye with a smile. A happy smile, it was creepy.

"Set!" Ishimaru threw aside his emotions to play, to crush. "Hut! Hut! Hut!"

Snap! The ball was in Ishimaru's hands. He assumed a passing stance immediately and watched his receivers run forth onto the battlefield. He gasped loudly when he discovered both receivers were marked by two people. His safety back was staying behind the line as added defense when the linemen flattened their opponents.

One of the Babies fell, Gaou specifically, creating a gap in the line. Ishimaru frowned as his center was currently tangled up with Gaou. That was unusual.

Then Nakamura came shooting through the newly made gap, making Ishimaru gasp. His tight end was not quick enough to react to the charging linebacker.

"Wheee!" Nakamura cried happily as he proceeded to smack the ball out of Ishimaru's hand and snatch it. He took it and ran like a bandit with it.

"T-touchdown!" The referee called, stunned.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma burst out laughing. "What fools! They can't even guard their quarterback right!"

"Dammit!" Banba swore. "He was tricking us!"

"What the hell was with that guy?" One of the Wizards muttered. "He was going 'whee!' like a little brat!"

"O-ouch!" Ishimaru muttered. That linebacker had snapped the ball out of his hand very forcefully. The guy was strong, stronger than Ishimaru had thought.

"Hmm, touchdown or kick?" Hiruma pondered loudly by the confused assembly of the Wizards. "Whatever should I do?"

That only just pissed them off. They knew now, Hiruma Youichi was messing with them. It didn't help that the crowd's excitement grew when Hiruma stepped onto the field for the try for point. Kurita put on his helmet and went from being a kind, happy man, to a fierce, boiling beast that put Gaou to shame.

"…I haven't seen Kurita like that in a few years." Banba muttered.

"Hiruma brought that back." Yamato frowned.

"…I bet he's going to break through just to show them how pathetic they are." Banba muttered.

"With a fake from Musashi I think." Yamato added as Takekura stepped out onto the field.

"So what is the plan, oh commander from Hell?" Takekura asked mockingly in the huddle.

"It's a kick." Hiruma answered quickly and bluntly. "They're waiting for a trick or a trap." He pulled away from the huddle to turn around and smirk mockingly at the Wizards before returning to his own huddle. "Now we just stand around here as if I was explaining something complicated."

"Stretching out their nerves, huh?" Toganou muttered thoughtfully.

"You betcha fucking sunnies." Hiruma's smirk grew wider.

"Should we act like it's going to be a breakthrough?" Kurita asked.

"Nah, act like you're thinking hard about something." Hiruma suggested. "I want them to think we're going to be doing something complicated. If you can't act like you're thinking hard, then just be fucking blank."

"We have eight seconds left." Takekura muttered thoughtfully.

"Shall we?" Hiruma invited with a grin.

"Ya-ha!"

Startled by the Babies, huddle, the Wizards looked up. Ah, it was time to get in place then right? Those Babies were so totally going to fake this kick, so they should focus on the breakthrough.

"Set, hut!" Hiruma called quickly, starting the play immediately. Kurita flawlessly snapped the ball and slammed himself unforgivingly into Kojima. The kid hadn't been expecting a strong lineman like this.

Takekura came in and kicked the ball Hiruma set up, sending it swimmingly through the goal posts.

American Announcer Booth

"-and it's good!" Hendrickson called while Lewis let out a small 'whoop!'.

"That was an amazing start to a game. Youichi has clearly set the tone and the pace." Hendrickson summed up the first play perfectly.

"This is the power of a trickster quarterback." Lewis remarked. "Youichi only plays the hand the other team is expecting least, be it a fundamental, simple play, or something completely unorthodox."

"You'd know all about that being a trickster quarterback yourself, wouldn't you Clifford?" Hendrickson commented in good humor.

"Youichi's better at tricking than I am." Lewis remarked with a dead seriousness. "And he hasn't lost his touch in his absence."

"What a fearsome opponent." Hendrickson commented, a bit startled by Lewis' words.

"Troublesome is more like it. His one weakness in this game is the fact he's not used to playing with most of the Babies' lineup. We'll be seeing more slips like that kick-off for the rest of the game. But we'll also be seeing his deadly ability to turn a weakness into a strength as well."

"…Is there anything the Wizards can do?" Hendrickson asked.

"Cool their heads, get serious, prepare for anything," Lewis answered ominously, "if you can accomplish all three things you can keep your head around an opponent like Youichi. Unfortunately with the Wizards' style of play I don't think that task will be easy."

The Stands

"Papa's in trouble!" Emiko cried to Anezaki, fear all over her face. She wasn't facing Mom, she knew Mom would understand.

"Emiko?" Anezaki looked down at the girl curiously.

"Wizards will be mean now!" Emiko wailed. "Very mean! Papa will get hurt!"

Anezaki couldn't really hear Emiko that well over the crowd while the next kick off started. She turned to the field where Emiko was fixated. She gasped in confusion along with the rest of the stadium.

The Wizards weren't moving. The ball had landed in the middle and they saw no reason to move and pick it up.

"What are they doing?" Anezaki muttered.

The Field

Hiruma popped a bubble while he watched the play. They were being given the ball it seemed, clearly with the intention of tackling whoever went to get it. It was a trap, they intended to murder whoever got that ball.

"Ora!" Juumonji called and blotted forward into the mass of the opposing team and grabbed the ball. He then fell down on his knees instantly, giving Babies possession at that spot. But one of the Wizards didn't 'see' this and went in for the attack. He was foiled by Juumonji ducking down to make a tiny ball and letting the guy trip over him.

"Ha?" Juumonji asked the kid who just got a face full of dirt. "You do something?"

The kid only spat the dirt out of his mouth and glared at Juumonji. Clearly this wasn't over yet.

Hiruma stepped onto the field solemnly, eyeing the Wizards and their stoic looks carefully. Their expressions weren't revealing much but their intent was clear.

"They want to murder us." Hiruma announced in the huddle. "Not that surprising, it's what these brats excel at."

Everyone nodded.

"They aren't going to go after the ball, they're going to go after me, after you." Hiruma explained. "It doesn't matter if the play ends, they'll find a reason to hurt you."

"What's the plan?" Kurita asked.

"Watch your back, watch the back of the person next to you if your hands aren't full." Hiruma answered. "We're going for a short pass."

"Eh? Why not a run?" Kuroda asked, confused.

"It'll increase their chances of getting a penalty and decrease our chances for injury. If you think for one moment those fucking kids are going to mess you up, hit the deck if you've got the ball." Hiruma told Kuroda firmly. "It is too early in this damn game to be sending people out on injuries."

"But if you do get fucking injured I want to see you busting your ass like that injury is nothing." Hiruma told the team. "Make them think that we are invincible, that injuring us won't stop our offense."

"Hiruma," Toganou began, "follow your own advice."

"Of course I am." Hiruma looked slightly offended by that. No way in hell he was going to get injured in front of Emiko.

The Stands

"No!" Emiko muttered. Papa had to stop, they were going to do bad things. He was going to get hurt. It was going to be horrible! Something, someone, save Papa! Protect Papa!

Please…!

American Announcer Booth

Lewis went silent with a tight frown. He had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling. Hendrickson's voice was distant the field before him grew very narrow. Something was about to happen….

And it wasn't going to be pretty.

The Field

"Set, hut! Hut!" Hiruma cried to start the play. He took a step back and surveyed the field.

Shit.

The linemen let themselves fall only to copy Gaou's tangle trick. The linebackers and safeties came rushing forward, nothing between them and Hiruma. They weren't going to stop until they took him out, regardless of whether or not he had the ball. He looked out at Kuroda, who had looked back to see what the fuck the defense was doing that was so bizarre.

"Catch it and score." Hiruma mouthed then threw the ball perfectly, completely unperturbed by the fact he was about to slammed into by three large bodies. Hiruma forced himself to relax since he knew it would lessen the damage.

The last thing he remembered before the world went black was sky coming into view. It was a pretty sky, very nice day for a game. His mind went out to Emiko briefly, hoping that she wouldn't be too upset over this.

Papa would be okay in the end, he hoped she knew that.

-break-

Emiko was able to hold back how very upset she was until half-time. She exploded into tears and screams that startled those around here the moment they called half-time. Anezaki knew the cause: Hiruma had been taken off the field in a stretcher, much to everyone's amazement. The Babies had held on, leaving the score at 52-20. Takekura had managed to get in two kicks, but there were no touchdowns beyond the first two. On top of that there had been no news on Hiruma's condition.

"Take her into the hall." Yuuya suggested. Anezaki nodded and managed to haul Emiko out of the stands into the hall. Once there Emiko was startled by some noise and blotted into the building, screaming all the way. Unfortunately Emiko was faster than Anezaki and that made it impossible to keep up with her. Not to mention the crowd was parting for Emiko and doing nothing to help Anezaki.

Emiko didn't have a plan. She was getting away from the noise, from the bad things, and she wasn't going to stop. Her little feet carried her away from the noise, from the people and down into hallways where she didn't belong, not that she knew that.

Lewis had left the announcing booth to get some news on Hiruma directly because no one was sending it up. Hendrickson let him go and promised to handle the half time summary by himself. Needless to say Lewis was a bit surprised to find a bawling Emiko in the middle of the hallway, just outside of the announcer's booth. She was rocking back and forth and her arms were flapping.

"Autism….!" Lewis muttered in English, his eyes widening in surprise. So that's what that 'jiheishou' disability meant."[1] He sighed and took off his jacket.

"Fluffy comfort blanket." Lewis announced in clear Japanese and dropped the coat on Emiko. She let out a small surprised cry, then stopped crying. She rocked some more and seemed to calm down. One of her hands had poked out from underneath the coat and was petting the feathers. If it weren't for the fact Emiko was extremely upset, Lewis would have found the situation very adorable.

"Emiko-chan," Lewis began as he crouched down to get his head about level with hers, "would you like to see your Papa?"

The Babies' Training Room

Hiruma was laying on one of the beds in the room, a towel over his face. He was suffering from a concussion and probably some sort of fracture in his right hand, as it had been stepped on. Munakata Atsushi, the Babies' athletic trainer, was worried. Hiruma might be suffering from some permanent brain damage since he didn't come to right away…..

That's when there was some excitement outside the door. Munakata frowned, he had especially forbid anyone from coming in to visit Hiruma during half time.

Lewis didn't get a fuck about the Japanese people in front of him. He kicked the door open.

"Sorry, I don't know those Japanese words." Lewis told them in English and marched into the room, Emiko under his coat in his arms, and shut it behind him.

Munakata had gotten thinner and less shiny, but he was still a blocky sort of man with very chiseled features. Lewis gave him an indifferent look and set down the Emiko-bundle beside Hiruma on the bed.

"Go wake up your Papa." Lewis instructed Emiko in soft, fatherly toned Japanese, completely ignoring the particularly annoyed look Munakata was giving him.

Emiko crawled out from underneath the coat, shocking Munakata with her pointed ears and features. She was clearly Hiruma's child. The devil child he'd heard about during practice but couldn't actually believe existed! With a determined expression she went over and blew on Hiruma's ears, making them twitch.

"Papa!" Emiko called, poking Hiruma's forehead. She blew on his ear again, this time getting him to cringe and turn his head away from her on sought. Emiko kept blowing, poking, and speaking 'Papa' loudly until Hiruma let out a groan and opened his eyes.

Hiruma was not expecting to find himself answering to a grumpy Emiko when he came to.

"You're not supposed to sleep during a game." Emiko told him with a frown. "Take a nap before if you are tired."

"Yeah, sorry." Hiruma apologized with a soft tone.

"52-20." Emiko remarked and jumped off the bed, dragging Lewis' coat with her. Hiruma sat up with a grunt and looked forward.

"Not the worst." Hiruma commented absently.

"You're not seriously thinking of going out there-!" Munakata protested.

"Of course he's going to- he's a football player." Lewis cut him off.

"…Emiko where did you get that?" Hiruma asked, having noticed the coat. If you could call that gody monstrosity a 'coat', it was one of those overly lush and arrogant coats Lewis favored after all.

"Fluffy comfort blanket!" Emiko announced.

"She was having an over-stimulation attack in the middle of the hall, so I gave it to her." Lewis answered in quick English. "For keeps."

It took Hiruma a few seconds to translate the 'for keeps' expression. It wasn't one he heard often. He nodded slowly.

Damn he had a headache! His vision went white when he made that nod. With lips pressed tight, Hiruma managed to keep in his desire to cry out from pain. Carefully he took two calming breaths.

"Anyone else have injuries?" Hiruma asked Munakata.

"Er, no. Not really." Munakata answered. "Let me do something about your hand."

Hiruma looked at is bruised hand and flexed the fingers. He didn't have the metallic taste in his mouth, nor did anything hurt more when he moved them.

"Don't need it." Hiruma said after a moment and got off the bed.

"…I'll take her back to her seat." Lewis assured Hiruma.

"Her seat." Emiko parroted.

"She's on the 50, six rows back, west side." Hiruma told Lewis.

Lewis wordlessly picked the newly re-made Emiko-bundle.

"Hiruma, win." Lewis advised Hiruma and left. Emiko's eyes poked out from beneath the coat and remained fixated on Hiruma as she was carried out and away.

"Still believing, huh?" Hiruma smiled and went out into the locker room.

"Well, well, fucking kiddies," Hiruma announced to the stunned locker room, "nap time's over, now let's turn this fucking game around."

Wizards' Locker Room

"Did you see what I did to that guy's hand? There's no way he can throw after that!" One of the linebackers laughed.

"You've realized you might have just broken the best quarterback in the world's throwing hand?" Yamato hissed in disapproval.

"Who cares! He's not coming back to bother us!" The linebacker roared in laughter.

Yamato only frowned.

"Are you satisfied with that?" Banba asked.

"What?"

"Are you satisfied with beating the great Hiruma Youichi because you destroyed him in the third play of the game?" Banba looked down on all of the players in the room. "You didn't beat him fair and square any victory you earn will be hollow."

"…."

"Hiruma was right to think the lot of you as cowards! You can't even face him straight on!" Banba snapped.

The team was silent for a moment then they sneered and went back to gloating. Banba found this better than he'd hoped. His words had, for however a short a time, struck home. For the first time that season.

American Announcer Booth

"Clifford! You lost your coat!" Hendrickson gasped.

"Had to give it away- there was an autistic girl in the hall and you know how they get when they're stressed and over-sensitized." Lewis explained as he sat down.

"Ah yeah, not much you can do but give up the coat then." Hendrickson nodded.

Pause.

"Well, what's the news on Youichi?" Hendrickson asked.

"The trainer said that we'd see by the start of the second half." Lewis answered tonelessly.

The Field

"Hiruma why the fuck are you out here!" Takekura barely held back screaming at his friend. "We all know how bad you got messed up!"

"Munakata exaggerates shit all the time and you know it." Hiruma snapped back as he put his wrist bands on. The rest of the Babies watched the exchange silently. "He wouldn't have let me out if he didn't think I could play!"

Takekura shut his mouth to keep from yelling out his anger.

"I know you weren't there for that huddle," Hiruma went on, "but I do intend to follow my own damn advice, got it old man?"

"Your own advice?" Takekura muttered dubiously.

"'Busting your ass like that injury is nothing.'" Toganou quoted.

Takekura stopped and looked at Hiruma tiredly.

"How the fuck am I supposed to face your little girl if you get crippled or worse!" Takekura asked, sounding desperate.

"How the fuck am I supposed to face my little girl if she's the one that woke me up to play if I don't go out there?" Hiruma demanded almost hysterically, looking a bit upset. "Please don't ask me to choose between you two."

Wordlessly Takekura understood: Hiruma would always choose Emiko over anyone. It wasn't fair to ask him to stab a friend in the back.

"Let him go," Gaou told Takekura curtly, "it was a failure on the line's part anyways."

"Gaou?" Takekura blinked at the man.

"It won't happen again." Kurita assured Takekura as he snapped his helmet back on.

-break-

"Hiruma came out!" Ishimaru gasped, the rest of the Wizards couldn't help but to stare at the guy. He had a purple bruise on his right hand and his eyes were clearly dilated.

"…Why the hell is he out there?" Kojima stared. Even he knew better than to step out on the field that fucked up.

"It's the level at which your opponent is playing." Yamato explained. "Hiruma-shi is playing at his fullest and most reckless for the sake of victory."

"Isn't that what we do?" Kojima asked.

"No, Hiruma's different from every one of you." Yamato shook his head. "He won't lay waste to his opponent to win, he'll just beat them outright, broken hand, concussion and all." Actually Hiruma would way waste to his opponent to win if that's what needed to happen and Yamato knew that. He just wanted his boys to see perhaps there was something sportsmanlike about their amazing opponent.

The team stared at Hiruma. All he did was look back and smirk at them while sticking a bit of gum in his mouth.

"The second half is now starting, please return to your seats." Sanada requested over the speakers.

"Say you fucking babies, are we ready?" Hiruma asked his teammates.

"Orraaa!"

No one knew what to think when Hiruma stepped out onto the field for the second half. This time he'd set up into a formation that no one was expecting: the shotgun.

"He's not seriously going to be throwing with that hand, is he?" Kojima muttered, a bit freaked out.

"Damn straight he is kid," Kuroki chuckled at the boy before him, "he'll even throw you a nice long bomber."

Normally it's considered horrible strategy to tell your opponent what you're going to do next, but right now everyone was sure Hiruma couldn't throw. So was this all a lie for a runner's sake? Or was this really coming?

"Set, hut!" Hiruma cried, caught the snap and got into a throwing stance. His line became a passing wall and his receivers went out. The one runner went shooting around the right with no ball. And in that confusion while everyone was trying to focus on the runner and receivers, Hiruma faked a throw and snuck around the left.

After about 15 yards, someone finally figured out that Hiruma had the ball, shouted then went after him. But this itself was a trap because the linebackers that were once chasing the runner were now focused on Hiruma. Pity because Hiruma, with his left hand, tossed the ball to the runningback and he took off at full speed.

"Amateurs!" Kaitani Riku scoffed and blasted past all of the defenders, using his Rodeo Drive and Romping Rodeo Drive techniques as he saw fit.

"Kaitani is running alone! At the 40, 30, 20, 10- touchdown!" Sanada roared, the crowd joining him.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma laughed at the frustrated linebackers. "Did you really think this game was going to be easy?"

"Because I'll tell you something, next play, won't be a kick." Hiruma informed then with a grin, "one hundred percent prediction," and a wink for added effect.

"Wha-!"

Hiruma casually ignored the sputtering and walked over to Kurita.

"Stop holding back and blast those brats into next Tuesday." Hiruma informed Kurita quietly.

Kurita nodded gravely.

"Oye fishlips, switch out with Gaou." Hiruma ordered.

"Looks like its comeback time." Musashi grinned.

"Damn straight, fucking old man." Youichi agreed.

Needless to say there was nothing Saikyodai could do to stop Kurita, Gaou, and Takekura ramming into them. The line crumpled like aluminum foil and Hiruma causally walked into the touchdown zone. This pissed off the Wizards but there was nothing that could be done about it. Mostly because trying to stop Gaou and Kurita was going to be damn near impossible, especially with how strong they were.

"You fuckers were holding back on me!" Kojima screamed. He was a lineman, he knew how these things worked.

"…Yeah, sorry." Kurita bowed slightly, sincerely apologetic. He just couldn't get into it when Hiruma wasn't around….

"Fatty!" Hiruma called from the newly-forming huddle.

"Ah, coming!" Kurita waved to the Wizards and hurried over to Hiruma's side.

"…He just crushed us and then runs off like it's the most causal thing in the world." Another lineman shuddered.

"I'm going to kill that Hiruma!" Kojima vowed as his teammates dragged him away.

Yamato, on the other hand, was starting to feel pressured by all of this. He found himself calling a time-out to try and impress the urgency of the situation onto his team. The Wizards found the fact a time-out was called by Yamato very strange. These boys couldn't help but to look over at their coach's angry face in confusion. What was going on?

"They have the entire second half to recover 24 points," Yamato told his team, "after that try for point, I think we can expect eight point conversions from now on."

"Three touchdowns." Banba held up three fingers. "Just three and they catch up."

"A single kick or safety can tip the balance then," Yamato went on, "we might have the lead right now but this does not guarantee our victory!"

"You must widen that gap at all costs." Banba told them sharply.

"But the Babies can't score-!" One of the wide receivers protested.

"You fool! Did you not remember the first four minutes of this game!" Ishimaru snapped at the guy. "The Babies scored 14 points in those four minutes! They stopped scoring touchdowns because Hiruma left the field, but now he's back! And the first damn thing he does is score another 8 points! We're not even a full minute into the second half yet!"

Most of the Wizards were staring at Ishimaru's words.

"He's right." Yamato remarked gravely. "Hiruma Youichi's specialty is comeback victories. In every single professional game he's been in he scores about 30 to 40 points in the second half."

"If he can get 40 points on a good day, then we need to score three times to keep him from being able to catch up." Banba told them gravely. "The effort here does not solely rely on the defense, the offense has to keep scoring or we will lose this game!"

"So, since they have the second half to make up those three touchdowns, I'm sure they'll keep up their current kicking pattern in favor of attempting interceptions or shutting you down in defense." Yamato told the team. "Now go out there and receive it!"

"Oye, Tetsuma," Hiruma went over to the large, power receiver, "I need you to catch the old man's squib kick, can you do that?"

"Affirmative." Tetsuma nodded, stood up, and stoically walked onto the field.

"Gaou, you're on kick team, crush anyone you see." Hiruma added the order and went and sat down on the bench. His head was still throbbing up a mess and his hand wasn't responding as well has he had hoped it would.

"Do you want some ice?" Juumonji asked, looking at that purple hand. Hiruma would be a fool if he thought he could throw with it.

"I need what little feeling I have." Hiruma left it at that. Juumonji was someone he could trust completely with his actual state. Mostly because Juumonji wouldn't try to stop him if Hiruma decided he wanted to do something stupid.

"How's your head?" Juumonji asked.

"I should be going straight to the hospital when this is over." Hiruma left it at that.

Juumonji said nothing in return mostly because he had a feeling Hiruma would not be going to the hospital right after this game. He'd be going out to dinner with everyone else. Probably because Emiko would want to go and Juumonji did observe that Hiruma had issues denying his daughter the few times she asked for things.

At least that's what he noticed in the times he occasionally visited the Hiruma-Anezaki house hold.

Takekura pulled back his leg and the Wizards backed away, waiting for that boomer of a kick. Who were they to think it would be an on-side kick? The Babies were in their normal kick formation and everything, even Tetsuma had been playing with the kick team this entire time, nothing out of ordinary.

The stands issued a loud gasp when the ball stumbled sideways and Tetsuma dove for it. It was painfully clear the Wizards had little practice with how to handle a sudden on-side kick as they crashed into each other and froze in the confusion. Not only that, but Tetsuma went running with the ball, Takekura as his lead blocker.

"You shitty ass-!" Kojima cried as he went for Takekura only to get side-tackled by Komusubi.

Takekura chuckled and ran on to crash into an unprepared lineman. Clearly the fact Takekura was a strong, muscular construction worker didn't seem to translate to his ability to crush and smack around an opponent, at least in the eyes of the surprised Wizards. Since forming the Babies, Takekura choose to keep up his practice as a linebacker so that in situations like this he wasn't a useless player on the field like Kotaro was.

Tetsuma continued forward, literally carrying any opponent that managed to get their hands on him with him down the field. It took 40 yards before Tetsuma was finally brought down.

Hiruma put a piece of gum in his mouth and stepped onto the field, happily chewing while he thought of plans. What to do, what to do? Something tricky? Something complicated? Something simple? What were those fucking opponents expecting?

Green eyes narrowed.

Pop.

"Oye, huddle up." Hiruma said casually, the gum back in his mouth and the smirk present upon his face.

American Announcer Booth

"How disappointing! I was hoping for one of those clever, trick formations Youichi's famous for." Hendrickson sighed when he was looking down at the usual offensive formation. In fact the formation was one of the basic ones, so basic it's the number one choice for teaching to a team as their first formation.

"No." Lewis up a hand while he scrutinized the formation below, his expression intense. "It only looks that way." Lewis' expression turned from one of extreme concentration to one of pleasant surprise and satisfaction.

"What do you mean Clifford?" Hendrickson asked with a frown, what did Lewis see that he did not?

"The runningback is probably a foot to the left than what would be 'correct', but since the second runner isn't giving any signals of being confused by this, I can safely say that's intentional." Lewis explained. "Which is a curious choice considering that Youichi is a right handed quarterback…."

"You're right!" Hendrickson muttered in amazement. "How come the Wizards' defense hasn't noticed?"

"Same reason why they can't see Sena do the same thing." Lewis chuckled at some personal joke.

"Sena? As in Eyeshield 21?" Hendrickson. "Your teammate?"

"Yup!" Lewis smiled almost evilly. "You see, Bob, both Riku and Sena are abnormally small football players, if they duck down just a little bit, you can't see them through the line at all."

"So the reason they haven't noticed is because they can't see Riku?" Hendrickson paused after he said that. "Wait-! Why aren't they panicked they can't!"

"They never saw him to begin with," Lewis answered, "normally Riku's head is hidden by the quarterback's body, and it's been like that in all of the plays in this game. Also because the distance isn't that much different than normal, the bench isn't going to be aware anything is amiss. The reality is only spectators like ourselves can see there's something amiss."

"So they don't know this is a trick formation." Hendrickson concluded.

"Of course not," Lewis scoffed at the thought that the Wizards might actually have noticed, "which is just the first trap."

"The first trap?"

"The second will be whatever he's planning to do with the play once it starts."

The Field

"Set, hut, hut, hut!" Hiruma called and pretended to catch the snap that had been aimed directly at Kaitani. Then while Kaitani went running to the left, Hiruma pretended to make a hand-off with the second runner, Gouto Kenta, a younger man, just out of college. This was only his first season playing with the Babies, it was his first game. He was replacing the original starter, who was injured in the last game. Ironically, Gouto had once complained about warming up at practice until Hiruma, his role model, showed up and told him off. He was nervous, of course, to be playing on the field with Hiruma.

And that was exactly why Hiruma had no intention of handing the kid the ball yet.

Gouto 'held' the ball tightly, looking very determined and serious as if he actually held the ball in his hands. The tight end came forward and helped lead block for him, to help with the illusion he actually had the ball. Gouto kept dodging and maneuvering as if he held the ball, drawing the defense towards himself.

Kaitani on the other hand was just lazily running, purposely not looking serious as if to say 'why are you wasting your time on me when my teammate so clearly has the ball?'. This was very effective as the Wizards' entire defense closed in on Gouto.

"Ya-ha!" Kaitani cried and burst off with a sudden rush of speed just as the defenders realized that Gouto did not have the ball, something he should have had in the normal play. Kaitanti was already past the entire defense save one lone safety. Without any hesitation Kaitani blew past the poor kid before he had time to react.

"Touchdown!" Sanada cried.

"W-we haven't even touched the ball yet!" One of the Wizards protested.

"Is there a particular reason we're in such a hurry to get points?" Kaitani asked as Hiruma came up for the try-for-point.

"I want to get in the lead without them touching the ball," Hiruma answered, "I want to show these fucking brats we've been toying with them this entire fucking game."

"Are you asking them to try and kill you!" Kuroki protested.

"They won't fucking touch me," Hiruma explained, pointing at Banba, "fucking scar-head over there gave them a fucking talk about 'hallow victories' shit when I got knocked off the field. And I fucking bet they're freaked out that I've been scoring on their asses without using my fucking hand."

"Oh." Kuroki took a moment to stare at the opposing team. Well, that certainly made sense as they looked extremely demoralized and stunned.

American Announcer Booth

"Three more touchdowns." Lewis announced suddenly.

"Three? But there's only two until a tie-" Hendrickson protested.

"-If Youichi can keep the Wizards from gaining possession in three more touchdowns, he's won the game." Lewis explained.

"Are you sure?" Hendrickson asked.

"If at the start of the second half your opponent manages to keep you from touching the ball for four straight touchdowns and by doing so steals the lead from you that means when you get possession for the first time it's because your opponent is letting you have the ball." Lewis explained. "Honestly Bob, I can't think of a better way to completely demoralize an entire team."

"Oh." Hendrickson blinked. "So this next kick off is a squib kick then?"

"Not necessarily," Lewis responded, "it could be a repeat of the first play."

"A repeat?" Hendrickson paused. "But that was a failed play!"

"Do you honestly think it's going to fail a second time?" Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Because the chances of that are zero percent."

The Field

"We're going to redo that fucking first play." Hiruma announced. "Fuck it up and I'll kill you."

Tense pause.

"Well no, I'm not going to fucking kill you," Hiruma corrected himself, "you're just going to wish I fucking killed you."

Nakamura nodded. He'd been doing much, much better after being told he ought to be doing this for fun. But he did know that it's a lot harder to have fun when someone on your team got badly hurt, which is why he didn't do anything impressive after Hiruma's disappearance.

Kuroda nodded as well. Everyone knew how that play was supposed to go, so they were going to do it right.

"The fuckers are expecting another fucking squib kick, make sure they think it's one." Hiruma added and then sent out the kick team.

The Wizards were nervous especially since their reliable coach (whom they were pressured enough and desperate enough to actually listen to this time) with his one hundred percent prediction confessed he had 'no clue' what was going to happen with this play. When someone demanded how that was possible, Yamato then remarked that Hiruma Youichi often tricked him with his plays in the past and since there was no determinable pattern with his methods right now, anything he'd suggest them doing would just be a wild guess. The entire season, regardless of whether or not they listened to Yamato, he always knew what the opponent was up to. Bamba had been silent too.

During their huddle, the Wizards decided it was probably a squib kick. It would make sense if the Babies really wanted to trash their moral by keeping them away from the ball. They were weary and perturbed though.

It was like walking into darkness, blind. The Wizards began to realize, slowly, that they had been lucky in the first half. Very lucky.

Hiruma Youichi, he was an advanced player, a veteran of this game, he was the only rival of Clifford D. Lewis and with good reason. The man was an unreal player. And these poor boys were just now starting to realize what kind of danger they were in. Nothing was guaranteed anymore. This game wasn't necessarily theirs. Never before had the Wizards been in this situation.

Takekura deftly kicked the ball at that number 24, Yami of the Wizards, the ace runningback. The Wizards were again caught off guard, having been diving for the squib kick, only to see that the Babies changed out of the squib formation at the last minute. Yami ran back, catching the ball in around the five yard line only to see the Babies had once again smashed their way through the opposing team and where almost on him.

Nakamura of the Babies came running forward. He was smiling and almost laughing as he rushed forward with the intent of smacking the ball. Yami only rolled his eyes and retreated a bit to make preparations for cutting away when Nakamura's massive hand came down and swatted the ball.

The ball echoed loudly in the stadium as it fell down, fumbled. Yami actually didn't hold the ball completely correctly and relied on his speed to keep it safe. Hiruma had been right, he did have a lose grip. Nakamura laughed and then went to block Yami from retrieving the ball.

Shinji only smiled and let the ball continue bouncing away. They were in the end zone due to Yami's retreat, and he decided letting the ball get out of bounds would be better than grabbing it.

"Saikyodai Safety!" The referee called after whistling.

Hiruma smirked like a fool. He could get a lead in two touchdowns now. How fitting.

Yamato swore.

Up in the announcer booth Hendrickson was yelling in amazement while Lewis smirked approvingly.

It was only a matter of time before victory was sealed.

American Announcer Booth

"It seems like Youichi really does have a hand injury, he's been really banking on the runs this entire offense." Hendrickson commented with a frown. Earlier Lewis had suggested that Youichi might have a hand injury and they watched a reply of the play where Hiruma got taken off the field in the first half. When they saw his hand getting stomped on, Lewis' blood went cold.

You should never destroy the hand of a quarterback. Doing so is only an act of cruelty. Lewis was now worried about the injury and what it meant for Hiruma long term. Hiruma wasn't young anymore; a hand injury like this could mean this was his last game. And the fact it was his return game-

-Lewis caught himself. There was no point in plotting to murder some overly hormonal Japanese brat. Yet. Hiruma was important, yes, but he was also his own man. Lewis had to be respectful of Hiruma's wishes of murder first before he could do anything.

"…Yeah." Lewis agreed, almost absent-mindedly. It was hard to watch someone like Hiruma get injured like that.

Hendrickson made the motion to cut to a commercial and then discretely muted the mikes.

"Are you okay?" Hendrickson asked. Lewis had gone pale and tight-lipped and had gotten extremely intense about something.

"The extent of his hand injury isn't clear." Lewis explained. "And he's running around there with a concussion."

Hendrickson swore. That was just astounding.

In Lewis' mind was a dreadful thought he couldn't shake.

What if this was Hiruma's last game?

The Field

"His hand really is injured." Yamato confirmed with a pair of binoculars a few downs into the next offense. "He's using runs because that's the only thing he can use."

"Except that even with only runs he's still steadily advancing." Banba observed.

"It's because of the kind of running plays he's doing. There's at least three, no four, separate running patterns and every runner is capable of tossing the ball to someone else if needed." Yamato explained. "And because it's Hiruma, there's no pattern to the runs or runners at all."

"First down!" Sanada announced. "15 yards to go."

"Coach-!" One of the defenders was pleading for help.

"…Crush his line and blitz, concentrate the defense on the sides, nothing's going to be coming up center." Yamato advised with confidence.

"It's time to pass it." Hiruma announced. "Trap Shotgun Formation." A trap shotgun was when you sent out four receivers, but they didn't appear to be receiving. They were closer to the start than usual in their running sets, but they all looked like they were about to run.

"Can you really-?" Kaitani protested.

"I fucking can, now you're on shotgun!" Hiruma left it at that. He wasn't about to explain that despite the injury, you can still throw a reliable spiral as long as the wrist and arm were uninjured. The hand stayed in about the same place during a throw, so he'd be okay for throwing.

No, it wasn't throwing that would suck, it would be catching the snap. That required two hands and there was no way around the pain. Hiruma grit his teeth and prepared. One long pass, 15 yards in one shot. He'd sent out his fastest receivers, they were thinking it was going to be a run since that was his entire pattern this offense, this would work.

The Stands

Emiko bit her lip, worried.

Papa was about to hurt himself.

It was really, really hard to watch.

The Field

Hiruma forced down a yelp and saw stars when he caught that snap. He didn't stumble from the pain, but forcing his arm up into a throwing position was so very, very hard. His entire arm felt like lead.

Huh, under extreme exertion conditions, sweat is literally shoved out of your pours by the muscles tensing and straining. Logically Hiruma knew that already, but watching it happen in slow motion on his own arm was morbidly fascinating.

And with an inaudible snap, time went back to its normal pace, pain seared his vision, blurring it slightly. His headache joined the unholy throb in his hand and Hiruma only growled once. The Wizards had been successfully confused by the passing patterns that were happening. That was because there was another trap in this play….

All of the routes were Option Routes.

There was no predetermined pass route for any of the runners, it was just a matter of getting your sorry ass open and confusing the defense as much as possible.

Kaitani was going to be open momentarily in the End Zone even.

Someone was trying to blitz and all Hiruma did was grin and preformed a quick draw of his own. It wasn't quite as fast as Mushanokoji's, but it would give him plenty of time before the defender arrived to get himself out of relative harm. As it turned out the moment he tossed the ball, the would-be-blitzer could only stare at both the ball and quarterback in confusion. Hiruma dropped his football stance and allowed his posture to turn very casual from head to toe.

"Nice night for a game, no?" Hiruma told the stunned lad as if he was offering to have a casual conversation about the weather. The defender growled and made motions to tackle Hiruma.

"You know tackling an old, injured man like me in front of both the refs and the fans isn't going to earn you or your losing team any help." Hiruma pointed out. "Even idiots know you're not supposed to tackle someone who doesn't have the ball and isn't on the line."

Before the kid could completely lose his temper, another referee announced that the Babies had scored again. The Wizards watched in amazement as the linemen on the Babies changed up again. It was so obvious they were aiming for another touchdown conversion and there was nothing to be done to stop it.

"They're completely demoralized." Takekura observed as he joined his team's huddle.

"Ke ke ke!" Hiruma laughed loudly enough the other team could hear and shudder.

"They know we're going for a touchdown." Kaitani remarked.

"That's because we fucking are going for another touchdown." Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Except you're fucking running it down the side."

"Why?" Someone asked.

"Because they aren't expecting it."

And the Wizards weren't.

Now it was a single touchdown away from taking the lead back, the Babies were going strong, stronger than they had been all season.

American Announcer Booth

"It's over now." Lewis announced.

"What?" Hendrickson seemed started by the announcement.

"Youichi's shattered their morale completely." Lewis explained. "He can leave the rest of the game to Kid if he wanted to."

"-Watch it folks, here comes another on-side kick from the Babies! Oh it's good! Number 29, Riku Kaitani, just took the ball back to the 65 yard line. Excellent play!" Hendrickson announced, his eyes lighting up.

The Stands

Emiko smiled slightly. Papa was going to win~!

The Field

"He's passing." Yamato muttered in awe. "With a clearly broken hand."

"Is there any way we can stop him, Coach?" One of the Wizards asked.

Yamato glanced at the scoreboard. "Our only option is to gain possession and out score him but-"

"-that's impossible." Banba added. "The Babies are not allowing anyone but themselves to have possession right now."

"What about an interception?" Someone suggested.

Just then they did managed to intercept the ball, only to have one of the Babies screw bite it right out of the luck guy's hands and run it down for another touchdown.

"…Well, Ishimaru," Yamato began grimly, "have you learned something?"

"….Yeah."

American Announcer Booth

Hiruma hadn't played after the Babies took the lead, Mushanokoji had replaced him to give that poor quarterback's hand a rest. Because of the demoralizing that had been done, the Wizards no longer put their strength or their boundless youthful energy into their shoddy form. This made them easy pickings for the veteran Babies who just used an easy, fundamentals game to firmly crush their opponent. Every time there was a weakness, in form or in play, the Babies noticed and acted on it.

It had been a slaughter house.

102-52, in favor of the Babies. It was the first Rice Bowl in history to have a triple digit score.

Lewis had walked away 'highly satisfied' and left the end game summary to Hendrickson.

"It appears as though Clifford has left us for some more 'undisclosed' reasons." Hendrickson chuckled when the feed came on again. "I will have to agree with him, Youichi Hiruma was definitely the MVP in this match the difference he made when on the field was exceptional-"

Hendrickson ended the after-game analysis with a worried comment about the extent of Hiruma's injuries. After taking back the lead, he'd been benched the rest of the game. There his hand was tapped up and iced and he put on sunglasses, a clear sign he didn't want to harm his eyes from their concussion induced dilation.

Anezaki and Yuuya took the Emiko-bundle out of the stands five game minutes before the end of the game. In that five minutes two time outs were called, so it went on much longer in reality. Emiko was clearly grouchy and overtaxed, which was no surprise considering that she'd had a breakdown from being oversensitized once already. She did allow herself to be carried down to the locker room area, where it was much quieter, and finally showed signs of calming down.

Since the game wasn't quite over yet, Anezaki and Yuuya chose to wait outside of the locker room for a bit. This was where Lewis found them.

"Clifford-kun!" Anezaki hadn't spoken to him in ages. She had heard from Emiko that he would be here today, but she hadn't honestly believed it considering now was a pretty horrible time for him to be abroad.

Yuuya was mildly surprised Anezkai didn't realize Lewis was here. She'd been told by Hiruma and Emiko and by himself this would be happening. Hell, she'd even seen the coat he'd given Emiko! …Well in Anezaki's defense she'd been amazingly dense about Sena being Eyeshield 21, he supposed this had just been another one of those occasions.

Lewis waved once while he gaged Emiko's state. Being from America and being educated in the public school system, Lewis actually had been raised around autistic children [2]. Emiko looked like hell warmed over and Lewis suspected that the football game had been a bit too much and it was taking all of her power to not be screaming right now.

"You play right?" Yuuya asked without preamble and waited for Lewis' nod. "How long are we going to be waiting?"

Lewis opened his mouth to answer when the locker room door swung open and Hiruma stumbled into the hall. His hand had been notably taped now with ice and his head looked like it was slightly swollen. He looked pretty ragged by he was grinning like an idiot.

"You look horrible in pink." Lewis announced in English. And no, he wasn't joking either. Pink was not a flattering color against Hiruma's yellow skin, it made him look ill. Lewis, with his red (well pinkish really) northern European complexion looked a bit more flushed than usual, but wasn't clashing quite the way Hiruma was.

"But I wear it with dignity." Hiruma countered in English with one of his ferocious grins. His eyes turned to Emiko who had brightened her expression marginally since his appearance, but only marginally. She looked like she'd just had a very, very trying day.

"How's the hand?" Lewis asked much more seriously in English.

"My hand is fine- nothing's broken, just battered." Hiruma answered in Japanese. Anezaki let out an audible sigh of relief.

"And the head?"

"A small headache, I'll be fine." Hiruma waved it off again.

Emiko squirmed some. She wanted to be carried by Papa, not by Grandpapa. Of course the adults didn't really know how to interpret this other than it was probably time to take Emiko out of there.

"Youichi," Anezaki began carefully, "are you going to be at the dinner?" She knew he probably shouldn't go considering he'd gotten a concussion.

Hiruma nodded and made motions to say something else when someone called his name from inside the locker room.

"-I have to shower." Hiruma announced.

"Papa!" Emiko yelled. Maybe now he'd see she wanted a hug?

Hiruma reached over and gave Emiko a very affectionate pat on the head.

"You did great today." Hiruma told her, not bothering to hide how proud he was of her. "I'll be back really quickly, okay?"

Emiko nodded slowly and Hiruma took that as his cue to leave.

"So, Hiruma-san, I need a ride back to the hotel before this party…." Lewis began somewhat cryptically.

After Party

As usual, there was always dinner at a traditional Japanese steakhouse of some kind. Anezaki and Emiko had hung back at the stadium, waiting for Hiruma to finish cleaning up and talking to the press. There were dozens of questions concerning his condition, why he hadn't played all season and where he had been the last six years.

"I'm fucking fine- stop asking me that!" "Coach and doctor told me not to." "Had a kid."

The last one was most alarming. Hiruma had had a child! It seemed so surreal.

"I don't have any fucking pictures on me- I'm wearing a fucking football uniform, dipshit! It doesn't have fucking pockets."

Name, star sign, blood type, birthday, physical description, now please.

"Hiruma Emiko. And none of the rest of that shit matters."

Does she look like you?

"More like her mother- she's fucking adorable."

Who is her mother?

"My late wife, now if you don't fucking mind, I'm trying to get the hell out of here."

What?

"I'm taking her out to fucking dinner and she gets anxious when I'm late."

Wha-! Wait! Hiruma-shi!

…Where'd the team go?

Takekura had made it insanely clear that the Babies would be out and packed up quickly so that they'd be at the restaurant on time. Anyone who was running late would probably get shot by Hiurma had been his warning. No one who had played with Hiruma prior questioned this, but a few newer members did. Takekura had simply told them that Hiruma's autistic daughter got very stressed and anxious if he was running more than 30 seconds late and this translated to a Hiruma that was running late becoming upset at the notion of upsetting his daughter and he would be liable to take that out on others.

Needless to say the team was completely out of there and two minutes early to the restaurant they had selected. When Hiruma finally made his appearance in the restaurant of choice, he was pleased to see the noise level was reasonable. He'd allowed Emiko to have a small screaming fit to calm her down enough to handle the after-game party. She looked grumpy, for lack of a better word, but seemed in relative good spirits despite getting completely overstimulated earlier.

"Oye! Hiruma!" Kurita waved from the table where he and Takekura where sitting. They'd saved Hiruma and his company seats there. Without sparring a single moment, Hiruma quickly marched Emiko over and sat her down before she could be distracted or made more upset by something else in the room.

Emiko observed that everyone in the room got really quiet and looked at her as she and Papa walked by. Although what they were doing seemed strange and unusual, Emiko just smiled and walked along. Papa said dinner was going to be tasty and that Mom, and Grandpapa, and Clifford-san would all be there.

"Where's Grandpapa?" Emiko asked when they arrived at the table. Mom was just behind them, but Grandpapa and Clifford weren't.

Hiruma looked around a bit curious himself. Where were they?

Yes, Clifford is providing a cliffhanger. The pun is not lost on me and was intentional.

And also, I'm now a world champion engineer. Whoo!

[1] – Jiheishou, according to an online English-Japanese dictionary I found, is 'autism' in Japanese. It's not a word someone would know, even if they were bi-lingual. In Clifford's case he hadn't had a reason to learn the word in Japanese, therefore it was unfamiliar when Emiko's issues were first explained to him. If you wish to argue this, I will ask you this first: how often do you use the world 'autism' in your day to day speech?

[2] – Almost all autistic children in the US find themselves being schooled in the public school system. Private schools can reject a student because they "do not have the facilities" to deal with them (this happened to me). It is neither impossible nor improbable for Clifford to have had exposure to autistic children growing up, which is why he recognizes the behavior and knows exactly what to do next. The reason why I say 'from America' here is because the autism rate there is 1 in 150 (while Japan has 2 in 1000).