what_we_dream | Eyeshield 21: Punt

I've been kind of AWOL lately, eh? I haven't been doing a whole lot of writing, but I am working on the sequel to Heavy Silences in earnest now, so with any luck that should actually be coming... some day...

I was trolling through my harddrive today, though, and found this snippet that must have been written way back when Eyeshield 21 was just starting. ES21 is the only show I've ever gotten in on at the ground floor - I started watching when ep 3 was airing in Japan. Thus a fic about something that was resolved before I could think about posting it. ^^

Title: Punt
Series: Eyeshield 21
Pairing: None
Rating: G

Summary: Why does Hiruma never punt?

Another game finished, another meaningless victory for the Deimon Devil Bats. The Nanaki Ninjas (motto: shurikan win!) had already retreated from the field, supremely embarrassed at having lost a practice game on home turf, leaving the Devil Bats to pack up their gear. Or, more accurately, leaving the fill-ins to pack it up after their repeated pass-fumbling resulted in penalties.

Eyeshield 21 sat on the bench, crowded by Mamori and unable to escape to the safety of the changing room. She was keeping a firm hold of his scraped shin, injured in an attempted two point conversion after the Devil Bats' last touchdown. Monta sat next to the running back, rolling a football back and forth over his arms.

“Mou! If Hiruma punted for once, instead of always pushing for the two point conversions, these sorts of things wouldn't happen!” Finished cleaning out the scrape, Mamori began wrapping it.

“I- I'm sure Hiruma-san had a good reason...” Eyeshield 21, sweating coldly under the helmet, surreptitiously checked the surrounding area for Hiruma. The demonic captain was standing on the field, talking to Kurita. In one hand he held a ball, in the other an AK-47. He looked ready to use either against the linebacker. Eyeshield 21, seeing that Hiruma was clearly out of hearing range, relaxed slightly.

“A good reason for going for the conversion every time? Honestly, it's ...” Mamori hesitated, “...unwise, to say the least.”

“Curiosity, MAX!” Monta suddenly leapt up, threw the ball into the air, and struck a pose. A minute later the abandoned football fell back down and bounced off his head, knocking him over sideways. He popped back up again, undaunted. “Why does Hiruma-san never punt? Perhaps...? Oh, I can see it now! A child, playing innocently with a football! Ah, the beauty of youth! But wait! Untrained, the young boy sets the ball on the grass, aims for the stars, and kicks with all his might! CRACK! He kicks improperly, falls down, and breaks his ankle. So traumatized, poor Hiruma-kun never tries to punt again! Ah, the tragedy of childhood!” Monta wiped a tear from his eye, then turned immediately to Mamori, smiling brightly. “How was that, Mamori-san?!”

“A-ah, I suppose it's possible...”

“More likely that in the past he punted, and accidentally killed someone sitting in the bleachers behind the goalposts.” Eyeshield 21 shuddered.

“Buuuut, Hiruma, why don’t you just try to punt?” Kurita’s voice, raised to the whining-tone which he frequently adopted around Hiruma, cut clearly into the spectator’s conversation.

“Butaman! You know damn well why!”

“But Hirumaaa! Just try!” Kurita reached over, took the ball, and planted it firmly on the grass. Hiruma walked around to stand behind it, took a little skipping run up, and kicked the ball.

The three watchers stared at it, tracking its progress. It flew up, up, forwards, left, and passed the goal posts. A good ten meters to the left. All three sweat-dropped simultaneously. “Hiruma-san... sucks at punting.”