[FIC] Love and Football: First Half
Title: Love and Football: First Half
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance
Fandom: Eyeshield 21
Pairing: ShinSakuraba
Summary: Shin gets the oppurtunity to go play football for a college in the U.S.
Love and Football
First Half
Shin Seijuro was going to America. And Sakuraba Haruto couldn't bring himself to care.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Shin's mother asked him, at Shin's graduation party. Every one was there- the coach, the team, Shin and Sakuraba's friends from school. "He's the first Japanese boy to be offered a football scholarship to Michigan. We're so proud of him; you must be proud as well, Haruto, no one's closer to him than you."
It wasn't official yet. Shin hadn't accepted the scholarship, not yet, and there was still a chance that he would stay in Japan. But Sakuraba was close to Shin, closer than any one, and he already knew what the other boy would choose. Shin would go to America. Shin would make history, a tidal wave in the already deep ocean of American football. And Sakuraba, despite his best efforts, would be left behind. The bitterness sat heavy in the pit of his stomach.
"Yes, I am," he replied, smiling up at the woman who had been like a second mother to him since junior high. "Shin's an amazing person."
Sakuraba knew what inspiration tasted like. He had felt in once, sitting thick and heavy on his tongue, as he watched Japan win a gold medal in the Olympics. It melted as he watched the team cry and cheer, stumble and fall in joy, and it's warmth dissolved as those proud men took the podium. The Japanese national anthem started playing, the most beautiful song he had ever heard, and he wanted to cry as he thought that he might be tasting pride as well.
I want that, he thought. He wanted to be the one on that podium. He wanted to carry that heavy pride; not just for himself, but for his teammates, his family, and for his country. He swore that one day he would be able to do exactly that; he wanted the national anthem to play for him.
"Sakuraba!!"
Sakuraba sighed, knowing just who that loud, boisterous voice belonged to. Sure enough, he turned to see Ootawara charging at him, and he sidestepped to narrowly miss being "hugged". Ootawara's hugs were like his tackles; the hulk of a boy didn't know how to be any other way.
"Great party, isn't it!" Even his questions sounded like exclamations. "You should see the sub they got! It must be a whole forty yards long!"
Sakuraba and Shin met when they were twelve, on their first day of Junior High. Sakuraba was the kind of boy who drew stares wherever he went. His blond hair and pretty looks ensured the attention of many girls, and not a few other boys as well. Shin was the kind of person who ignored people and things that drew attention. He was too skinny, even scrawny, and almost short, the kind of boy who kept to himself. But Shin came right after Sakuraba in the alphabet, and the two boys found themselves seated next to each other in the classroom.
"Hello," Sakuraba had said that first day, smiling at the dark-haired boy. His fingers had accidentally brushed the other boy's back as he made his way to his seat. "My name is Sakuraba Haruto. I hope we can be friends."
"I'm Shin Seijuro," Shin answered, his tone terse and clipped.
That day, when Sakuraba accidentally dropped his pencil, Shin picked it up for him, and when Sakuraba asked the other boy if he wanted to eat lunch together, Shin didn't say no.
"What club are you going to join?" Sakuraba asked as they were walking home, his stride a light gait. A messenger bag hung casually on his right shoulder, while Shin's spine was pulled straight by the heavy back pack he wore.
Shin shrugged. He hadn't thought he would join any clubs. After a minute he came up with what he felt was a suitable solution, being as he had only made one friend so far in school. "I'll join whatever club you're joining."
"That'd be great!" Sakuraba enthusiastically responded. "We're going to have so much fun."
It never seems, looking back in retrospect, that life moves on a linear timeline. Instead, life jumps from one moment to another, then back again. An array of disjointed events are what frames one person's life, tainted memories that can't be corroborated save with the witness of others that were there.
Sakuraba and Shin remembered the moment when they became friends. It was a conscious decision, made by both boys, instantaneously, separately. It was a moment born from Sakuraba's open smile, Shin's indifference, and Sakuraba's fingers ghosting over the cotton of Shin's shirt.
Sakuraba and Shin also remembered the moment that American football started to consume their lives. It was at the club fair, and Shin was doing his best to stay behind Sakuraba as the taller boy made his way from booth to booth.
"You should join the basketball club," a boy from the basketball club told Sakuraba, while Shin lingered in the background. "We could really use someone as tall as you."
A representative from the volleyball club said something to the same effect, as did members of other clubs the two boys looked at. Finally, though, it was the shaky footage on an old television that had caught Sakuraba's interest.
"What's this?" he asked the club members, who were all staring up at him with starry eyes.
Shin watched as the men on screen, swathed with helmets and shoulder pads, ran and crashed on green grass, while spectators cheered and clamored in the background.
"It's American football. It's really fun, you should sign up. With your height you'd be a natural receiver."
"Is it always this exciting?"
"Oh, yes. And it gets more an more popular every day.."
The club members clamored to explain the sport to Sakuraba, who at the end was more than happy to sign up.
"What about you?" he asked, turning, smiling at the boy who had become his friend so quickly. "Aren't you going to sign up, Shin?"
Shin had picked up the pen only to stop, his name half finished, when he heard the other club members snickering at him. He looked up at them and it was clear from their expressions what they were thinking.
"Actually," he said to Sakuraba. "I don't think I will."
Sakuraba looked surprised, the club members apathetic. But then the third years had shown up, and one of them pushed the pen back into Shin's hand.
"Don't you want to join?" he asked, smiling at the younger boy. "We could always use more recruits."
Shin nodded and finished signing his name on the sheet.
Later on that week, Sakuraba borrowed video tapes of football games from the club, and the two boys watched them while they ate popcorn in Sakuraba's living room. Sakuraba was strewn across the couch while Shin sat cross-legged on the floor, reading over a rule book. It was the first of what would seem like millions of afternoons devoted entirely to football.
"I want that," Sakuraba confessed, his voice a whisper. He was staring in awe at the tape, at the cheering crowd as a touchdown was made. "I want that."
It made Shin want it as well. If Sakuraba was going to reach for the stars, he was going to be there beside him.
Then, football club had started, and while Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, Shin never missed a catch. Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, and some one shouted "Forty yards in 5.2 seconds!" from across the field. Sakuraba wasn't really sure what it meant to run the forty in 5.2 seconds, but from every one's reactions, it was an extremely fast time for a twelve-year-old boy. There, at the end of the forty yards, with his hands on his knees, was a boy who was too skinny, even scrawny, and almost short.
That day, Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, but Shin didn't drop it once.
Later on, Sakuraba and Shin walked their bicycles home, too tired to actually ride them.
"That was a good practice," Shin stated simply. His face was still flushed from practice, and he was glowing from the knowledge that he could actually do this. He could play football. He wasn't the strongest, but he was fast, and the coach had even told him that he had a lot of potential.
"Yeah," Sakuraba agreed. "Hey, do you mind if we don't hang out today? I'm kind of tired."
Shin stopped in the middle of a step, and Sakuraba had to stop as well to turn and look back at him.
"That's all right, isn't it?"
It would have been the first day since they met that they didn't spend time outside of school together. Shin forced his feet to move forward. "Yeah. It's fine."
That day, Sakuraba marked out fifty yards in his backyard, and he ran. 5.6. No matter how fast he was, how hard he tried, the best he could do was 5.6, and 5.2 haunted him as though possessed. It started raining, but he didn't care. He had to, at the very least, keep up with Shin.
Their first year bled into their second, and their progress became predictable. Little by little, Shin became faster, conquered the basics of football. Little by little, Shin was getting stronger. And Sakuraba was proving himself to be little more than average.
Shin spent that summer before high school at the beach, on his father's estate. Sakuraba promised to join him towards the end of the summer, two weeks before they were supposed to go to football camp and four weeks before fall term started. When he got off the train he stumbled with his suitcase, right into a well muscled chest.
"Sakuaraba?" came a familiar voice. "Are you okay?"
He couldn't move, could only feel the muscles pressed against his chest. Over the summer, Shin had a growth spurt. Over the summer, Shin had dedicated himself to the gym. At the end of the football camp, Shin had made newspapers as an athlete to watch.
When some one approached him about becoming a model, and he was still in shock. Shin was on the newspaper, and he wasn't. He said yes.
Once upon a time, Shin had even been willing to give up football for him. Once, their freshman year of high school, Sakuraba was a newly famous personality while Shin was the rising star of the football team.
Sakuraba was in the habit of complaining about his fangirls, but he didn't seem to mind when there were only a few of them. He didn't seem to mind at that moment, laughing at a joke some girl had made, leaning in just a tiny bit towards her, as Shin watched from his locker. Shin strode towards Sakuraba, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You said you wanted to do some weight training with me today," he said.
"Aww, can't Sakuraba stay and talk to us? He doesn't need any more practice."
"No," Shin answered, pulling Sakuraba away from the girls and towards the weight room.
When they got there, Sakuraba jerked his wrist out of Shin's grasp. "That kind of hurt, you know. And you were kind of rude back there."
"We'll start on bench press," was Shin's only reply. He was already making his way to the machine. "I'll start you off with thirty."
"I can't do repetitions of thirty pounds."
"It's what I do."
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not you."
"Then I'll lower it to twenty-five."
Sakuraba gave a frustrated sigh. "What the hell is this about, Shin? Don't take things out on me just because you're jealous."
Shin dropped the weights he had been holding. Sakuraba's words had struck too close to home, and he was left frozen as he realized that Sakuraba knew. Maybe Sakuraba had known for a long time, had never seen fit to acknowledge it. Sakuraba probably didn't even care; suddenly, Shin felt very much like a fangirl.
"Don't talk to me about jealousy," he muttered. "You've been jealous of me ever since we started football, but it's not my fault you aren't as good of a player."
One look at Sakuraba's face and Shin regretted what he said. The boy was ashen now, unable to even form a retort.
"Sakuraba..." he managed to whisper, and now his throat was dry. "I'm sorry."
"Forget it. You're right, I'm no good. Maybe I should just quit."
"No, don't quit."
"And why the hell shouldn't I?"
Shin didn't know what to do, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just stupidly shattered everything Sakuraba had been working for. So, panicked, he chose the worst possible moment to do what he did next. He grabbed Sakuraba's wrist, pulled him forward, and kissed him. It was the most awkward thing he had ever done. Their lips pressed together for just a few seconds, the kiss too dry, too firm, and when it was done with all Shin had was regret.
"If you quit, then I'll quit too."
Just one year later, everything had changed. Every day, Sakuraba watched as Shin became a better football player, watched as the gap between them widened.
"You can't defeat him," he had said to Eyeshield 21 about Shin, when they had played against the Devil Bats. "Just give up."
But it felt as though he were talking to himself. And now, today, Shin would announce his decision. Sakuraba was close to Shin, closer than any one, and he knew.
"Excuse me," announced Shin's father, a commanding man who drew the attention of the whole room. Today his usually stern expression was replaced with one of pride, as he looked down at his son. "Seijuro has an important announcement to make."
Shin took a step forward, his posture too straight. He always was bad at speaking in front of crowds. "I've decided to go to America."
There was a round of applause at the announcement. Ootawara started cheering and whistling. Every one was clapping, it seemed, except for Sakuraba. Sakuraba had known... he knew that, given the choice, Shin would pick football over him. He had known, had thought he didn't care, yet... something inside of him still hurt at the thought of it.
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance
Fandom: Eyeshield 21
Pairing: ShinSakuraba
Summary: Shin gets the oppurtunity to go play football for a college in the U.S.
Love and Football
First Half
Shin Seijuro was going to America. And Sakuraba Haruto couldn't bring himself to care.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Shin's mother asked him, at Shin's graduation party. Every one was there- the coach, the team, Shin and Sakuraba's friends from school. "He's the first Japanese boy to be offered a football scholarship to Michigan. We're so proud of him; you must be proud as well, Haruto, no one's closer to him than you."
It wasn't official yet. Shin hadn't accepted the scholarship, not yet, and there was still a chance that he would stay in Japan. But Sakuraba was close to Shin, closer than any one, and he already knew what the other boy would choose. Shin would go to America. Shin would make history, a tidal wave in the already deep ocean of American football. And Sakuraba, despite his best efforts, would be left behind. The bitterness sat heavy in the pit of his stomach.
"Yes, I am," he replied, smiling up at the woman who had been like a second mother to him since junior high. "Shin's an amazing person."
Sakuraba knew what inspiration tasted like. He had felt in once, sitting thick and heavy on his tongue, as he watched Japan win a gold medal in the Olympics. It melted as he watched the team cry and cheer, stumble and fall in joy, and it's warmth dissolved as those proud men took the podium. The Japanese national anthem started playing, the most beautiful song he had ever heard, and he wanted to cry as he thought that he might be tasting pride as well.
I want that, he thought. He wanted to be the one on that podium. He wanted to carry that heavy pride; not just for himself, but for his teammates, his family, and for his country. He swore that one day he would be able to do exactly that; he wanted the national anthem to play for him.
"Sakuraba!!"
Sakuraba sighed, knowing just who that loud, boisterous voice belonged to. Sure enough, he turned to see Ootawara charging at him, and he sidestepped to narrowly miss being "hugged". Ootawara's hugs were like his tackles; the hulk of a boy didn't know how to be any other way.
"Great party, isn't it!" Even his questions sounded like exclamations. "You should see the sub they got! It must be a whole forty yards long!"
Sakuraba and Shin met when they were twelve, on their first day of Junior High. Sakuraba was the kind of boy who drew stares wherever he went. His blond hair and pretty looks ensured the attention of many girls, and not a few other boys as well. Shin was the kind of person who ignored people and things that drew attention. He was too skinny, even scrawny, and almost short, the kind of boy who kept to himself. But Shin came right after Sakuraba in the alphabet, and the two boys found themselves seated next to each other in the classroom.
"Hello," Sakuraba had said that first day, smiling at the dark-haired boy. His fingers had accidentally brushed the other boy's back as he made his way to his seat. "My name is Sakuraba Haruto. I hope we can be friends."
"I'm Shin Seijuro," Shin answered, his tone terse and clipped.
That day, when Sakuraba accidentally dropped his pencil, Shin picked it up for him, and when Sakuraba asked the other boy if he wanted to eat lunch together, Shin didn't say no.
"What club are you going to join?" Sakuraba asked as they were walking home, his stride a light gait. A messenger bag hung casually on his right shoulder, while Shin's spine was pulled straight by the heavy back pack he wore.
Shin shrugged. He hadn't thought he would join any clubs. After a minute he came up with what he felt was a suitable solution, being as he had only made one friend so far in school. "I'll join whatever club you're joining."
"That'd be great!" Sakuraba enthusiastically responded. "We're going to have so much fun."
It never seems, looking back in retrospect, that life moves on a linear timeline. Instead, life jumps from one moment to another, then back again. An array of disjointed events are what frames one person's life, tainted memories that can't be corroborated save with the witness of others that were there.
Sakuraba and Shin remembered the moment when they became friends. It was a conscious decision, made by both boys, instantaneously, separately. It was a moment born from Sakuraba's open smile, Shin's indifference, and Sakuraba's fingers ghosting over the cotton of Shin's shirt.
Sakuraba and Shin also remembered the moment that American football started to consume their lives. It was at the club fair, and Shin was doing his best to stay behind Sakuraba as the taller boy made his way from booth to booth.
"You should join the basketball club," a boy from the basketball club told Sakuraba, while Shin lingered in the background. "We could really use someone as tall as you."
A representative from the volleyball club said something to the same effect, as did members of other clubs the two boys looked at. Finally, though, it was the shaky footage on an old television that had caught Sakuraba's interest.
"What's this?" he asked the club members, who were all staring up at him with starry eyes.
Shin watched as the men on screen, swathed with helmets and shoulder pads, ran and crashed on green grass, while spectators cheered and clamored in the background.
"It's American football. It's really fun, you should sign up. With your height you'd be a natural receiver."
"Is it always this exciting?"
"Oh, yes. And it gets more an more popular every day.."
The club members clamored to explain the sport to Sakuraba, who at the end was more than happy to sign up.
"What about you?" he asked, turning, smiling at the boy who had become his friend so quickly. "Aren't you going to sign up, Shin?"
Shin had picked up the pen only to stop, his name half finished, when he heard the other club members snickering at him. He looked up at them and it was clear from their expressions what they were thinking.
"Actually," he said to Sakuraba. "I don't think I will."
Sakuraba looked surprised, the club members apathetic. But then the third years had shown up, and one of them pushed the pen back into Shin's hand.
"Don't you want to join?" he asked, smiling at the younger boy. "We could always use more recruits."
Shin nodded and finished signing his name on the sheet.
Later on that week, Sakuraba borrowed video tapes of football games from the club, and the two boys watched them while they ate popcorn in Sakuraba's living room. Sakuraba was strewn across the couch while Shin sat cross-legged on the floor, reading over a rule book. It was the first of what would seem like millions of afternoons devoted entirely to football.
"I want that," Sakuraba confessed, his voice a whisper. He was staring in awe at the tape, at the cheering crowd as a touchdown was made. "I want that."
It made Shin want it as well. If Sakuraba was going to reach for the stars, he was going to be there beside him.
Then, football club had started, and while Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, Shin never missed a catch. Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, and some one shouted "Forty yards in 5.2 seconds!" from across the field. Sakuraba wasn't really sure what it meant to run the forty in 5.2 seconds, but from every one's reactions, it was an extremely fast time for a twelve-year-old boy. There, at the end of the forty yards, with his hands on his knees, was a boy who was too skinny, even scrawny, and almost short.
That day, Sakuraba fumbled with the ball, but Shin didn't drop it once.
Later on, Sakuraba and Shin walked their bicycles home, too tired to actually ride them.
"That was a good practice," Shin stated simply. His face was still flushed from practice, and he was glowing from the knowledge that he could actually do this. He could play football. He wasn't the strongest, but he was fast, and the coach had even told him that he had a lot of potential.
"Yeah," Sakuraba agreed. "Hey, do you mind if we don't hang out today? I'm kind of tired."
Shin stopped in the middle of a step, and Sakuraba had to stop as well to turn and look back at him.
"That's all right, isn't it?"
It would have been the first day since they met that they didn't spend time outside of school together. Shin forced his feet to move forward. "Yeah. It's fine."
That day, Sakuraba marked out fifty yards in his backyard, and he ran. 5.6. No matter how fast he was, how hard he tried, the best he could do was 5.6, and 5.2 haunted him as though possessed. It started raining, but he didn't care. He had to, at the very least, keep up with Shin.
Their first year bled into their second, and their progress became predictable. Little by little, Shin became faster, conquered the basics of football. Little by little, Shin was getting stronger. And Sakuraba was proving himself to be little more than average.
Shin spent that summer before high school at the beach, on his father's estate. Sakuraba promised to join him towards the end of the summer, two weeks before they were supposed to go to football camp and four weeks before fall term started. When he got off the train he stumbled with his suitcase, right into a well muscled chest.
"Sakuaraba?" came a familiar voice. "Are you okay?"
He couldn't move, could only feel the muscles pressed against his chest. Over the summer, Shin had a growth spurt. Over the summer, Shin had dedicated himself to the gym. At the end of the football camp, Shin had made newspapers as an athlete to watch.
When some one approached him about becoming a model, and he was still in shock. Shin was on the newspaper, and he wasn't. He said yes.
Once upon a time, Shin had even been willing to give up football for him. Once, their freshman year of high school, Sakuraba was a newly famous personality while Shin was the rising star of the football team.
Sakuraba was in the habit of complaining about his fangirls, but he didn't seem to mind when there were only a few of them. He didn't seem to mind at that moment, laughing at a joke some girl had made, leaning in just a tiny bit towards her, as Shin watched from his locker. Shin strode towards Sakuraba, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You said you wanted to do some weight training with me today," he said.
"Aww, can't Sakuraba stay and talk to us? He doesn't need any more practice."
"No," Shin answered, pulling Sakuraba away from the girls and towards the weight room.
When they got there, Sakuraba jerked his wrist out of Shin's grasp. "That kind of hurt, you know. And you were kind of rude back there."
"We'll start on bench press," was Shin's only reply. He was already making his way to the machine. "I'll start you off with thirty."
"I can't do repetitions of thirty pounds."
"It's what I do."
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not you."
"Then I'll lower it to twenty-five."
Sakuraba gave a frustrated sigh. "What the hell is this about, Shin? Don't take things out on me just because you're jealous."
Shin dropped the weights he had been holding. Sakuraba's words had struck too close to home, and he was left frozen as he realized that Sakuraba knew. Maybe Sakuraba had known for a long time, had never seen fit to acknowledge it. Sakuraba probably didn't even care; suddenly, Shin felt very much like a fangirl.
"Don't talk to me about jealousy," he muttered. "You've been jealous of me ever since we started football, but it's not my fault you aren't as good of a player."
One look at Sakuraba's face and Shin regretted what he said. The boy was ashen now, unable to even form a retort.
"Sakuraba..." he managed to whisper, and now his throat was dry. "I'm sorry."
"Forget it. You're right, I'm no good. Maybe I should just quit."
"No, don't quit."
"And why the hell shouldn't I?"
Shin didn't know what to do, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just stupidly shattered everything Sakuraba had been working for. So, panicked, he chose the worst possible moment to do what he did next. He grabbed Sakuraba's wrist, pulled him forward, and kissed him. It was the most awkward thing he had ever done. Their lips pressed together for just a few seconds, the kiss too dry, too firm, and when it was done with all Shin had was regret.
"If you quit, then I'll quit too."
Just one year later, everything had changed. Every day, Sakuraba watched as Shin became a better football player, watched as the gap between them widened.
"You can't defeat him," he had said to Eyeshield 21 about Shin, when they had played against the Devil Bats. "Just give up."
But it felt as though he were talking to himself. And now, today, Shin would announce his decision. Sakuraba was close to Shin, closer than any one, and he knew.
"Excuse me," announced Shin's father, a commanding man who drew the attention of the whole room. Today his usually stern expression was replaced with one of pride, as he looked down at his son. "Seijuro has an important announcement to make."
Shin took a step forward, his posture too straight. He always was bad at speaking in front of crowds. "I've decided to go to America."
There was a round of applause at the announcement. Ootawara started cheering and whistling. Every one was clapping, it seemed, except for Sakuraba. Sakuraba had known... he knew that, given the choice, Shin would pick football over him. He had known, had thought he didn't care, yet... something inside of him still hurt at the thought of it.