FASH: Hey, long time no see, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth (yet), but I'm still really busy. The next chapter I upload will hopefully contain the entire game against the Nagas and whatever happens afterwards, but I'm not sure when I'll manage to get it up.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena flicked his hand in a quick 'follow me' gesture before making his way to the front door, Agon trailing behind him, smirking in a familiar, infuriating fashion.

"And where exactly are we going?" He asked, apparently amused at Sena's behaviour.

Sena turned and blandly answered: "Outside."

Because he had the distinct feeling that if he just lead Agon up to his room, his mother would hover around the closed door and listen in.

And if he happened to lead Agon far enough away that none of the neighbours would be able to see them, hear them, and spread rumours that got back to his mother, well, then that would just be good planning on his part.

When he finally figured they were far enough from his house he abruptly pivoted around and stared up at the older boy, trying to figure out what he should say to begin with.

Agon rose an eyebrow at his silence and Sena blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Have I told you what a nuisance you're being lately?" He asked and immediately regretted it when Agon just rose his other eyebrow in response.

'Nuisance' was a word you'd use to describe a yappy dog, or a cat that enjoyed sharpening it's claws on the furniture a little too much. Agon had been a whole lot more than a nuisance.

"And by nuisance, I mean lowlife."

"I think I managed to catch on to that train of thought when you stormed off of the field." Agon replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"And you do understand why my opinion of you has dropped, right? And if you say something like 'you're being too sensitive' I swear I'll kick your ass!"

Agon didn't bother holding back his chuckle, apparently finding the thought laughable.

Sena, already being on a behemoth of a roller coaster of emotions as it was, predictably took a turn for the worst.

"What exactly is so funny?"

Agon gave him a look as if to say: 'as if you don't know.'

"Just looking at me isn't an answer."

"Come on Sena, even with the advantage of surprise on your side you wouldn't be able to take me down, I'd see you coming." Agon tapped at the rims of his sunglasses. "And since you're the only decent player on your team, well, the outcome of our game is obvious. I bet you won't even be able to score one touchdown."

Sena frowned and planted his hands on his hips. He wasn't usually one for betting, but he was going to make an exception for this.

"When my team wins, I'm going to make you apologize to Mizumachi-kun. Sincerely apologize."

Agon paused and stared at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Oh? What do I get when I win?"

"Oh, uh." He hadn't really thought of that, since he was going to win no matter what. "I don't know, if you guys win I suppose I'll do whatever you want."

Agon's face went completely blank, like someone had just hit his 'off' switch.

"Don't just promise to do whatever someone wants, think things over thoroughly."

"But we're going to win, so I can't think of anything to offer. Even attempting to think of something would mean I think there's a possibility we'll lose, so I'll just promise to do whatever you want."

"Don't be reckless, what if you were making this sort of bet with a pervert?!"

"You are a pervert, so stop changing the subject."

"Not with guys!"

"A pervert's still a pervert no matter what their preference." Sena responded firmly. "And now that we've cleared that matter up, leave."

"Why?" Agon asked and Sena was beginning to think he was being annoying on purpose.

"Because I don't want to talk to you anymore." Obviously.

"Jeez, you take thing too seriously." Agon folded his hands behind his head, completely at ease.

"You aren't taking things seriously enough. You sent one of my friends to the hospital Agon-san, and I will make you apologize for it." Sena crossed his arms and glared harshly at the older boy who seemed irritatingly amused at his behaviour.

Why wasn't Agon taking him seriously?! He would have hit him again, but the dread head would definitely see it coming and stop it before it connected.

'This is so annoying.' Sena's glare hardened and instead of saying anything else that Agon could likely poke fun at he silently turned around and walked back to his house. Agon, thankfully, seemed to understand that the conversation was over and didn't bother following after him.

It was when he reached his room that he realized that he'd been too irritated and eager to leave to remember to ask Agon if their bet was on, despite the way Agon had reacted upon hearing what he'd get if the Nagas won.

'God, I'm such an idiot sometimes.'

It was the second night Sena felt the need to scream into his pillow, although this time around it was because he was frustrated with himself.

All this stress couldn't be good for him.

Practice became not only a way to improve himself, but also a way to work off his aggravation, which spiked whenever Hiruma sent a knowing glance in his direction.

Hiruma's educated guesses were way too close to the truth, and it made Sena wonder if he should start checking his clothing to make sure he hadn't been bugged.

His mother was in a tizzy by the time he got home from practice the day before the game and babbled on about friends doomed to be on different sides of the battlefield.

He and his father had shared a glance, but didn't bother trying to stop her tirade.

He went to bed early, but could seem to drift off no matter how many minutes passed by. He hadn't found it this hard to get to sleep before a game in a long time, probably because he was giving himself a bunch of extra stress due to the bet whose terms he wasn't even sure had been agreed upon by the other party. Which meant that he'd have to briefly talk with Agon before the game and make him agree with it.

'I'm not sure how I'll manage to do that without someone else finding out about it though. How troublesome...' He shifted onto his side, laying like that for less than a minute before tossing back over.

Then his phone began to vibrate, indicating that he'd received a text message.

For a moment he thought it was Agon, since it had been previously proven that the dread head had no qualms about contacting him late at night or early in the morning, then he looked at the screen and saw it was from Suzuna.

He quickly tried to squash down the slight (completely unnecessary) disappointed feeling that had somehow wormed it's way inside him as he read the message which was asking, straight to the point, if he was freaking out because of the Shinryuji match.

He pursed his lips and quickly replied that he wasn't freaking out, he'd acted weird on the way home for reasons that couldn't be disclosed.

He wasn't entirely surprised when Suzuna's reply was: 'So if you told someone, you'd have to kill them?'

He laughed softly to himself and replied: 'Maybe, unless they were trustworthy enough.'

'Am I trustworthy enough?'

Sena paused, the only person he thought he may have to tell the entire story to was Hiruma, in case his 'educated guesses' started, probably purposefully, drifting further and further away from the truth. But Suzuna was pretty good at keeping her lips sealed, although writing everything down in a text message would take way too much time.

He did want to get some sleep tonight, after all.

'I suppose I could tell you tomorrow, if you're still curious about it. For now I'd better get some sleep.'

She quickly messaged him back telling him to get lots of rest and Sena, not bothering to turn off the phone, put it back on his bedside table. He was still feeling a little (inexplicably, and completely opposite to what he should be feeling) disappointed that it hadn't been Agon to text him, even when he told himself, quite convincingly, that he shouldn't feel that way.

Why should he care if it was Agon or not? Other than for the fact it would have been easier to deal with him now, not face to face. And once that was done with he wouldn't have to worry about any other awkward confrontations.

... Except for when he met up with Maruko, who Marco may or may not have informed about Sena's distinctively masculine chest.

But it was best not to think about that right now.

'Go to sleep, go to sleep.' Was the constantly looping mantra in his head, and he'd repeated it dozens of times when he finally began to drift off.

The next day was gorgeous, with a sky so blue it seemed like something out of dream, and clouds as light and fluffy as cotton, and on the opposite side of the field Agon was changing...

'Wait a minute, Agon-san is here already?' Sena squinted at the figure on the other side of the field, just to make sure it was Agon and not, say, Unsui wearing a wig and sunglasses.

Agon, on time? Early, even. And he seemed more intense than usual.

'Could it be that he's actually taking this seriously?' Just the thought of playing against a serious Agon sent shivers of anticipation down Sena's spine, no matter how frustrating the older boy was the majority of the time.

He was still staring in his direction when Agon turned his way. Their eyes met, and even from across the field Sena could spot the wicked smirk curling on the edge of Agon's lips. His body language practically screamed confidence, but it was one small gesture, a daring, almost playful, tilt of the head that told Sena everything he needed to know.

The bet was on.