Disclaimer: I don't own Eyeshield 21.

Warning: Grammatical errors, typos, and misspellings ahead! Read at your own risk.

For her, it was an unnoticeable thing.

The way she finds herself staring at his back while he barks orders to the team, the way her stomach felt like dropping when he would wordlessly wipe a single drop of sweat on her eyebrow when she's discussing a sudden change of plans in the middle of a game, or when he would grip her forearm whe she can't climb down from a platform after their team introduction before a match.

That all felt natural. Like seriously, no malicious meaning at all. She just thought that they were "friends" since high school and those instances or gestures were just simple actions.

Kekekeke. That's why she was dumbfounded when Suzuna pointed out that she's finally noticing the signs that Hiruma, somehow, cares for her and that she's in love with that man surnamed Hiruma. Of all people.

She was speechless and helpless while Suzuna kept shrieking quietly on their table in a local restaurant.

That night, she couldn't fall asleep even if her body is screaming at her to rest because she has many things to do tomorrow. Her mind was wide awake, asking, when did that thing hit her?

The realization came like a flash of lightning.

Maybe because it was so slow.

She fell in love with Hiruma-kun gradually. She never noticed it because it was a quiet, safely hidden... thing. She cares for everyone as much as she cares for him.

All of her confusions back then were now clear.

Uh, oh. She's really in love.

What a cliché thing.

For him, it was a nonchalant thing.

She's very pretty, that's already given. She's motherly, heck he calls her a mother hen when he wants to piss her off. She's admired by many, yes, since high school. Tch!

That thing really got him good. It must be laughing its ass off somewhere.

Well, he's not ignorant to the idea of love. He loves football damnit! He loves winning. He loves trickery, Cerberus, sugarless gums, bluffs, and his Devil's Handbook. That's love.

He may not show it but, as much as it sounds disgusting, he loves his old Deimon Devil Bat friends.

He would be lying if he says the fucking manager don't mean a thing to him because she's one of the important things.

She's not afraid of him, she cares for him, she understands him the most, she can keep up with him.

Well, maybe that's why he gets annoyed when he finds her so fucking adorable when she's stuffing her mouth with cream puffs during their short breaks.

Or maybe when he finds her distracting when she sweats a lot on a hot day during a match because she looks like a commercial model for a refreshment drink and it didn't help when his teammates would listen to her in a trance instead of concentrating on the strategies. That's why he always find himself wiping her forehead before he pull out his guns instead to fire at those damned idiots gawking at her.

Or when he finds himself frustrated when he finished saying so many things and she won't reply right away because she's busy struggling to climb down from a platform and he could only grip her arms to help her jump down.

Fucking manager. He's gotten used to being close to her when he's discussing something important for the play.

But when his teammate pointed out that he is especially close and caring to their manager, he neither confirmed nor denied anything romantic about it.

He already knew that thing got him exactly where it want him and he's on it.

The end.