Disclaimer: I don't own Eyeshield 21, and Thread really belongs to theif-uchia.

Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, bad writing, alcohol, ect.

Enjoy and review~~

This is in dedication to theif-uchia, who had unfortunately passed away. Here on , we never know what happens to an author unless we are that close to them, but I feel that the people who have been fatefully following this story deserved to know. So, theif-uchia, here's to you. The last chapter of Thread because when you died, you took this story with you.

RIP thief-uchia.

Thank you for being with this story to the very end. It may not be very satisfying to you, but the notes of the story will be put up sooner than later.

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The laughter was unlike any other, with celebration echoing through because they had won.

Sena gulped and looked up towards the sky, hopefully and happy and everything he wasn't even a couple of months ago.

"Thank you," he whispered softly.

To the sky, to the field.

To his legs.

To coming to Oujou because he had fallen in love with the best thing that has ever happened to him.

"TOUCHDOWN!"

Sena, with adrenaline pumping, turned and grinned because he had found something that he never realized was possible (because him? With a sport?)

"OUJOU WHITE KNIGHTS WINS!"

Sena remembers being held and being thrown, being caught and that's all the difference.

They won. All those hours and tears and blood and sweat was not wasted because they had won and they-

Sena's eyes snapped open with a rapping on the dorm room and he rolled out of bed and opened the door.

"Hello..." he yawned as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eye.

"Good morning, Kobayakawa-kun."

Sena blinked before his face went scarlet red (how had he missed his alarm?), "Oh. I... Um... please give me a little time to get dressed," he barely squeaked out before nearly disappearing as he sprinted away for the bathroom.

Shin allowed himself into the room, the door closing behind him as he pulled his water bottle out for a drink. He put the bottle away back into his pocket and stood calmly at the doorway.

Sena came back, in record time, with his training gear on and ruffled, but the male looked ready to go, big, bright eyes staring up at Shin as the two made their way out.

On their morning jog, was Sakuraba Hayato, joining them with a bright hello. Shin responded with a nod and Sena stuttered one out.

Sakuraba carefully noted how the male still wasn't very used to him.

Sena and Sakuraba talked little of some drama and radio shows before they were too out of breath to continue talking.

"But in honesty though," Sakuraba panted out, "I'm really glad you joined football."

Sena blinked at him and gave a soft smile, "Really? Oh... I um..." he paused for a moment, and then smiled back as confidently as he could. "I'm really glad I decided to join. Football is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

It wasn't a lie.

And the trio took a warm bask in memories as they entered the school once more, moving to go eat some breakfast before going to football practice.

Football practice was every bit gruesome, dirty, and sweaty that Sena remembered and grew to love like it was the only thing he ever had (and in a sense, it was). He also loved every drop of water he could get during breaks, but couldn't muster up any form of hatred because of the lack of it.

"I love football," he blurted out during practice.

It was after coaches yelling that they weren't good enough. It was after Sena was slammed down into the ground because Shin does not know how to hold back. It was after three hours in the sun without a break. And the team, at first turned to stare in astonishment and a little annoyance, but soon melted into soft snickers themselves.

Sena just looked so happy and dazed that they couldn't help at his sincerity in his voice.

"Hey Shin, you finally did it. You hit one of our players so hard he just lost it," one joked.

"SHIN DID WHAT?!" Wakana's voice was short of venomous and the Coach snapped at them to focus.

Sena blinked a little and before he knew it (too soon, on top of that), he was told that he had to go and actually go pay attention in class.

"Eh? Already?"

More looks of astonishment, and Sena blushed a little more, and scurried to class.

Class was boring and dull and lame and Sena spent most of it thinking about another new way to train as he yawned.

He then was called up to the front to explain and answer a problem that looked like gibberish to him, and was publicly humiliated.

It was no secret that people didn't like him. He didn't blame them. There was nothing to like about him.

No Sena, you said you wouldn't go down that road again. Not when you have football to go back to.

Sena gave a soft sigh as he tried to make himself focus onto Japanese Literature.

"Okay class, think of it like this," his teacher brought out a piece of string, "Every single person has their own thread. But, when people meet," he pulled out another thread and intertwined the two, "they create a bond. It doesn't matter how you feel about them, you could know everything about them, or nothing at all. But that doesn't mean that you are not intertwined with them..."

Sena blinked and vaguely wondered how messy his thread was, because there were so many people that he had to thank. There were so many people that had made an impact on him, one way or another.

And then they were dismissed for lunch, and for once, Sena didn't jump out of his seat and go sprinting down for lunch where the football team usually ate. He packed slowly, eyes finding some of his classmates group off and walk away, vaguely wondering how everyone was connected.

He quickly shrugged it off to go talk about some cooler ideas for an offensive formation for him and Shin-san.

Lunch ended with bright happy laughter and hurried motions to get back to class, and Sena thinks that Mamori-neechan would be extremely proud of him.

He had real friends. He had a real team. He had everything that he had ever wished for really, except winning the Christmas Bowl but he could work for that later.

Kobayakawa Sena walked to practice that day with his head held high because he was a knight.

And he needed to bring glory to the kingdom.

(But first, he'll bring his kingdom to the Christmas Bowl. And win it.)

-Fin...?

A/N: I may/may not be uploading mine and theif-uchia's notes for this. But, thank you for reading this entire time. I'm sorry that this couldn't explode out into the full story I wanted to (because the Hakushuu match was going to be fun). I hope that this ending feels like an actual ending and I'm sorry that it's a little rushed but I think this is a good place to stop.