AN: First Eyeshield 21 fanfiction. Set in an alternate universe where Mamori does not exist and instead, Sena ends up having Akaba as his childhood friend/protector. There will be eventual AkabaxSena as well as many other peoplexSena (because Sena is so obviously uke).
Warnings include: male/male pairings, OOC-ness, erratic writing and some bad grammar.
Disclaimer: Eyeshield 21 is not owned by Eternal Dumas due to the fact that said author cannot even draw stick figures properly.
Edit: I've also added a new part in the beginning of chapter one originally meant for chapter two in order to make things flow better. Enjoy!
Akaba Hayato, even at the small age of nine, realized that he was a very unique sort of person. For one, he disliked socializing with his fellow peers (or at least, the ones whom he thought totally clashed with his rhythm) and preferred to seek solace in his guitar rather than his classmates. This was very unusual, especially for young boys whom, at such an age, would usually be seeking praise and attention through their actions.
But Akaba was no normal nine-year-old. In school, he carried a guitar case everywhere he went and, during lunch time, would take the guitar out and begin strumming it. He had also developed a habit of speaking in musical terms i.e. "today my rhythm is rather off-beat from it's usual tempo" in his every day speech but eventually toned it down enough for people to understand what he was saying at least half of the time. Still, other children would distance themselves from him because of his strange behavior and did not like talking to him until the need arose (if only so that they wouldn't be confused by his "musical" speech).
Kobayakawa Sena, though, was different. Where Akaba was slender and polite (and a bit eccentric), an almost perfect example of maturity, Sena was small, shy and cute; the perfect example of childhood innocence and a typical bully target.
Having been neighbors with the Akaba family ever since he was born, it was only natural for Sena to one day meet their son, Hayato. Since Sena's mother, Kobayakawa Mihae, was also a close friend of Hayato's mother, Akaba Suzumi, it also became natural for both Sena and Hayato to spend time with each other.
It was a mystery to many, though, on how the two ever managed to become such close friends when they were both so different. But like in the case of many such relationships that boggled the mind, no one ever bothered to raise the question.
*~*~*~*~*
Ducking beneath the low-hanging branches of the willow tree, his right shoulder lightly brushed past a few glittering, wet branches heavy with rain. The leaves on the branches rustled at contact, causing the water upon the leaves to shake themselves free of the greenery. In his ears, the sound of the falling water almost sounded like grumbling spirits, irritated that they had been disturbed from their sleep.
Yet that was not the sound he was listening for. His mind focused, his ears honed for something else. Like sitting down to an orchestra concert, waiting for the orchestra to finish their last movement so the first quavering note of the violin solo could emerge.
The branches he had disturbed finally stopped rustling, the last of the raindrops falling towards the ground.
Plop.
Plop.
Plink.
A small triumphant smile tugged at the corner of his lips. 'Sounds like he's here after all.'
There was a small "eep" followed by more rustling of the willow branches, only this time on the opposite side of the tree. He could already hear the younger boy's rapid footsteps as he desperately tried to run away from what he thought were more bullies.
Letting out an almost inaudible sigh, the first boy, a slender child of almost nine with vibrant red hair, reached out with both arms to grab a fistful of the other boy's t-shirt, successfully stopping him from running away.
The second boy, who was much smaller than the first with messy chocolate brown hair, let out another cry of terror, believing that the bullies he had so desperately tried to run away from had once again caught him.
"Shhh," came the soft voice of the red-headed boy. "It's alright Sena-kun, it's only me."
Immediately, the younger boy's cries ceased. His eyes, filled to the brim with tears, turned to look behind him. His vision blurry, he had trouble focusing on the boy holding his shirt but the red hair was unmistakable.
"H-H-Hayato-niisan?"
The boy, known as Akaba Hayato, smiled—it was too minuscule to see through the brown-haired boy's tears—and released his grip on Sena's soaked t-shirt.
"I told you to wait for me at the park if you ever got in trouble, Sena-kun. Why did you run away before I could find you?" Akaba lightly chided.
The brown-haired boy, Sena, flushed in both embarrassment and shame.
"I'm sorry Hayato-niisan, but Toka and his friends all started chasing me when they saw me at the playground. I was going to stand my ground like you told me to but then Toka's big brother was there too, with a bat. I got really scared! So I ran and…I'm really sorry," mumbled Sena as he noticed Akaba's disapproving stare. "I'm sorry Hayato-niisan, I was really going to try this time. I really was! I just….got too scared," he finished lamely, bowing his head even lower than before as he self-consciously began nudging the dirt with the toe of his mud-splattered white sneaker. A small voice in the back of his head suddenly reminded him that these sneakers were the ones that Akaba had brought for him on his birthday, costing the boy nearly half of his yearly allowance.
'He really does spoil you,' said the small voice in his head. 'Even though you're such an ungrateful brat and always embarass Hayato-niisan with how much of a coward and girl you are.'
Once again, Sena could feel the tears brimming in his eyes but desperately tried to hold them back, if only so he wouldn't embarrass Hayato-niisan any further.
They were silent, the two of them, for what seemed like hours, both of them waiting for the other to talk.
In the end, it was Akaba who made the first move. This time, when he sighed, Sena could hear it loud and clear. He cringed, waiting for the inevitable barrage of insults he had been expecting from Akaba for the last seven years.
Instead, he heard the clink of metal sliding into place and a 'whoosh' of air before a large, circular shadow was cast over both of them. Confused, Sena looked up to see….an umbrella?
Sena swallowed. "H-Hayato-niisan?"
"Fuu," Akaba breathed out. "You didn't expect me to come after you without an umbrella did you? After all, it's going to be raining the entire day today and you're already soaked to the bone Sena-kun."
Once again, Sena blushed in embarrassment as he realized what Hayato-niisan said was true. He had been so occupied with running away from the bullies that he had barely noticed the rain when it had come down and this was the result—his shirt sticky and wet, like a piece of see-through taffy stuck to his skin and his brown shorts (the ones that Hayato-niisan had passed down to him after he had outgrown them and were a size too big) uncomfortably wrapped around his thighs and knees.
"I'm sorry," Sena once again mumbled, bowing his head in apology.
Akaba closed his eyes and sighed again. "Why...?"
The brown-haired boy hesistantly looked up at Akaba, his wide brown eyes still blurry with tears.
"Why has the melody of your heart become so erratic, Sena?"
Sena bit his bottom lip. He had already known Hayato-niisan long enough to be able to understand the basics of his musical anthologies. That was why, he knew that when Hayato-niisan started mentioning the melodies of his heart, he was either very worried or very happy.
'Not only that, but he also used only my first name. That definetely means he's worried, ' Sena glumly thought. 'Or even worse, he's worried and mad.'
There was a rustling above them as the wind suddenly began to blow through the drenched willow branches, bringing a mini-shower of water droplets down upon the two boys. The droplets hit the umbrella with a dull 'thud', causing Sena to jump at the sudden sound.
Akaba chuckled quietly at the sight; his laugh barely heard.
It was times like these, when it was only the two of them; alone somewhere, free of both bullies and family, that Akaba could truly feel grateful for the miracle that was Kobayakawa Sena in his life.
He reached out then, with the one hand that wasn't holding the umbrella, to clasp his and Sena's hands together, making sure his grip was firm, but not tight. Sena looked up at him, his eyes wide and innocent just like any other eight-year-old. Yet Akaba felt that Sena's eyes were different, unique in their own way. Sena's eyes portrayed the unique melody of his soul, a beat both irregular and constant and matched well with Akaba's own.
"Let's go home now Sena-kun," he said, his hand still firmly gripping the smaller one. "Mother promised you fresh-baked cookies if you came over, remember?"
And as Sena looked into Akaba's smooth brown eyes, he saw no hint of anger nor disgust, only a calm, collected gaze reflected back at him.
'Hayato-niisan's not mad at me,' realized Sena as he felt himself being gently guided forward. 'He was never mad in the first place.'
Sena smiled at the thought. Perhaps being chased by bullies wasn't such a bad thing after all.
'But only if it's Hayato-niisan that finds me.'
AN: It gets really crappy towards the end, but since it's too late right now and I wanted to get this up as soon as possible, I'll have to edit it later. And as for Akaba's eyes, I made them brown cause the red eyes are because he wears contacts and since it's not very often you see a nine-year-old boy wearing contacts, I decided to keep them brown here.
Blaugh, now that I read this again, it sounds insanely crappy and corny.
Much thanks to avalokannon for pointing out errors in my writing and helping me improve my fanfic.