Songs for Daddy- Chapter 47: Play the Game Tonight (Part 5 [first exchange])
Part 4
“Same reason I play.” Hiruma commented thoughtfully, surprising everyone, especially Nakamura.
“R-really?” Nakamura wasn’t sure this was happening.
“You heard me; I play football because it’s fun.” Hiruma repeated himself, “which is why I’m baffled by your stupid-fuck fear.”
Nakamura didn’t follow.
“Why the fuck are you afraid of something you enjoy?” Hiruma asked Nakamura piercingly.
Nakamura didn’t have an answer; frankly he’d never looked at the problem that way.
“Go back there, on that field,” Hiruma pointed at the green expanse beside them, “and remember how you felt the first time you played this damn game.”
“H-hiruma-” Kuroda began only to get cut off by a look.
“You do remember how you felt, don’t you?” Hiruma asked Nakamura, “that simple, childish joy of having fun?”
“Yeah.” Nakamura nodded.
“Then go fucking out there and have some fun~” Hiruma told Nakamura with a kind, happy smile. He went over and ushered the linebacker back onto the field in a kind of boyish way that freaked out most of the team. Nakamura blinked a few times and kind of awkwardly stumbled onto the field with the rest of the defense.
“Was there a point to that?” Takekura asked.
Hiruma popped a piece of gum in his mouth before answering.
“Just increasing his output,” Hiruma explained, “and giving those defenders a nasty surprise.”
“With joy, huh?” Takekura muttered, bemused.
“Love’s as strong a weapon as fear.” Hiruma remarked cryptically. Well not that cryptically, everyone knew that Emiko had taught Hiruma that lesson.
Banba was pissed. These boys weren’t listening again.
“I told you that you shouldn’t just aim for exploiting number 40!” Banba snapped again. “Hiruma just did something to the guy, didn’t you just watch it!?”
The Wizards only turned their noses and walked out onto the field. Ishimaru looked better, after Hiruma’s failed play. He’d been watching Hiruma intently during that chaos. That man had failed that play and was mad. He also watched his bizarre behavior on the bench just now.
“Oye fucking team!” Hiruma yelled from the bench. “Ishimaru’s wearing pink underwear!”
What the hell?
“It appears as though Hiruma Youichi has just made a statement about the color of Ishimaru Shinichi’s underwear.” Sanada remarked. “I wonder how true that is.”
How did he know!? Ishimaru stared in both fear and awe. The pink hadn’t been intentional, his mom had washed a red sock with his whites and it was clean but-! Still that was just freaky!
“Is he really wearing pink underwear?” Kurita asked.
“Look at his fucking face.” Hiruma pointed, amused. “That bluff would have either freaked him out beyond belief or it would have pissed him off.”
“Wow, he really is wearing pink underwear.” Toganou muttered.
“Ke ke ke!” Hiruma cackled happily. He wins!
“Okay, we’re going with a long pass.” Ishimaru told the team and issued routes. He hoped they would listen to him. Usually the receivers were good about the pass routes but the line had a habit of blue skying anyone, regardless of the kind of play.
Juumonji studied Ishimaru slightly and nodded to himself. The kid seemed, unsure and worried. There was some tension between him and the linemen and Juumonji was certain that was because the line usually went blue sky regardless of the kind of play. And blue skying allowed for back defenders to get through easier if you managed to tie up the opposing linemen while you fell….
“It’s a long pass,” Juumonji told the defense, “which is why the safeties will be playing counterbacks for this play. Nakamura, you blitz. Everyone else try to crush, or give up on the crush and tangle.”
“Ya-ha!” The Babies broke their huddle before the Wizards were ready. They could only stare at the opposing team in awe. How did those guys work so fast? They weren’t like this in the main season!
Ishimaru carefully looked over the field, a bad feeling in his stomach. The Babies were quiet and collected, all of their eyes on the opponent before them. Nakamura, the failed player from the previous play was staring him in the eye with a smile. A happy smile, it was creepy.
“Set!” Ishimaru threw aside his emotions to play, to crush. “Hut! Hut! Hut!”
Snap! The ball was in Ishimaru’s hands. He assumed a passing stance immediately and watched his receivers run forth onto the battlefield. He gasped loudly when he discovered both receivers were marked by two people. His safety back was staying behind the line as added defense when the linemen flattened their opponents.
One of the Babies fell, Gaou specifically, creating a gap in the line. Ishimaru frowned as his center was currently tangled up with Gaou. That was unusual.
Then Nakamura came shooting through the newly made gap, making Ishimaru gasp. His tight end was not quick enough to react to the charging linebacker.
“Wheee!” Nakamura cried happily as he proceeded to smack the ball out of Ishimaru’s hand and snatch it. He took it and ran like a bandit with it.
“T-touchdown!” The referee called, stunned.
“Ke ke ke!” Hiruma burst out laughing. “What fools! They can’t even guard their quarterback right!”
“Dammit!” Banba swore. “He was tricking us!”
“What the hell was with that guy?” One of the Wizards muttered. “He was going ‘whee!’ like a little brat!”
“O-ouch!” Ishimaru muttered. That linebacker had snapped the ball out of his hand very forcefully. The guy was strong, stronger than Ishimaru had thought.
“Hmm, touchdown or kick?” Hiruma pondered loudly by the confused assembly of the Wizards. “Whatever should I do?”
That only just pissed them off. They knew now, Hiruma Youichi was messing with them. It didn’t help that the crowd’s excitement grew when Hiruma stepped onto the field for the try for point. Kurita put on his helmet and went from being a kind, happy man, to a fierce, boiling beast that put Gaou to shame.
“…I haven’t seen Kurita like that in a few years.” Banba muttered.
“Hiruma brought that back.” Yamato frowned.
“…I bet he’s going to break through just to show them how pathetic they are.” Banba muttered.
“With a fake from Musashi I think.” Yamato added as Takekura stepped out onto the field.
“So what is the plan, oh commander from Hell?” Takekura asked mockingly in the huddle.
“It’s a kick.” Hiruma answered quickly and bluntly. “They’re waiting for a trick or a trap.” He pulled away from the huddle to turn around and smirk mockingly at the Wizards before returning to his own huddle. “Now we just stand around here as if I was explaining something complicated.”
“Stretching out their nerves, huh?” Toganou muttered thoughtfully.
“You betcha fucking sunnies.” Hiruma’s smirk grew wider.
“Should we act like it’s going to be a breakthrough?” Kurita asked.
“Nah, act like you’re thinking hard about something.” Hiruma suggested. “I want them to think we’re going to be doing something complicated. If you can’t act like you’re thinking hard, then just be fucking blank.”
“We have eight seconds left.” Takekura muttered thoughtfully.
“Shall we?” Hiruma invited with a grin.
“Ya-ha!”
Startled by the Babies, huddle, the Wizards looked up. Ah, it was time to get in place then right? Those Babies were so totally going to fake this kick, so they should focus on the breakthrough.
“Set, hut!” Hiruma called quickly, starting the play immediately. Kurita flawlessly snapped the ball and slammed himself unforgivingly into Kojima. The kid hadn’t been expecting a strong lineman like this.
Takekura came in and kicked the ball Hiruma set up, sending it swimmingly through the goal posts.
American Announcer Booth
“-and it’s good!” Hendrickson called while Lewis let out a small ‘whoop!’.
“That was an amazing start to a game. Youichi has clearly set the tone and the pace.” Hendrickson summed up the first play perfectly.
“This is the power of a trickster quarterback.” Lewis remarked. “Youichi only plays the hand the other team is expecting least, be it a fundamental, simple play, or something completely unorthodox.”
“You’d know all about that being a trickster quarterback yourself, wouldn’t you Clifford?” Hendrickson commented in good humor.
“Youichi’s better at tricking than I am.” Lewis remarked with a dead seriousness. “And he hasn’t lost his touch in his absence.”
“What a fearsome opponent.” Hendrickson commented, a bit startled by Lewis’ words.
“Troublesome is more like it. His one weakness in this game is the fact he’s not used to playing with most of the Babies’ lineup. We’ll be seeing more slips like that kick-off for the rest of the game. But we’ll also be seeing his deadly ability to turn a weakness into a strength as well.”
“…Is there anything the Wizards can do?” Hendrickson asked.
“Cool their heads, get serious, prepare for anything,” Lewis answered ominously, “if you can accomplish all three things you can keep your head around an opponent like Youichi. Unfortunately with the Wizards’ style of play I don’t think that task will be easy.”
The Stands
“Papa’s in trouble!” Emiko cried to Anezaki, fear all over her face. She wasn’t facing Mom, she knew Mom would understand.
“Emiko?” Anezaki looked down at the girl curiously.
“Wizards will be mean now!” Emiko wailed. “Very mean! Papa will get hurt!”
Anezaki couldn’t really hear Emiko that well over the crowd while the next kick off started. She turned to the field where Emiko was fixated. She gasped in confusion along with the rest of the stadium.
The Wizards weren’t moving. The ball had landed in the middle and they saw no reason to move and pick it up.
“What are they doing?” Anezaki muttered.
Part 6
“Same reason I play.” Hiruma commented thoughtfully, surprising everyone, especially Nakamura.
“R-really?” Nakamura wasn’t sure this was happening.
“You heard me; I play football because it’s fun.” Hiruma repeated himself, “which is why I’m baffled by your stupid-fuck fear.”
Nakamura didn’t follow.
“Why the fuck are you afraid of something you enjoy?” Hiruma asked Nakamura piercingly.
Nakamura didn’t have an answer; frankly he’d never looked at the problem that way.
“Go back there, on that field,” Hiruma pointed at the green expanse beside them, “and remember how you felt the first time you played this damn game.”
“H-hiruma-” Kuroda began only to get cut off by a look.
“You do remember how you felt, don’t you?” Hiruma asked Nakamura, “that simple, childish joy of having fun?”
“Yeah.” Nakamura nodded.
“Then go fucking out there and have some fun~” Hiruma told Nakamura with a kind, happy smile. He went over and ushered the linebacker back onto the field in a kind of boyish way that freaked out most of the team. Nakamura blinked a few times and kind of awkwardly stumbled onto the field with the rest of the defense.
“Was there a point to that?” Takekura asked.
Hiruma popped a piece of gum in his mouth before answering.
“Just increasing his output,” Hiruma explained, “and giving those defenders a nasty surprise.”
“With joy, huh?” Takekura muttered, bemused.
“Love’s as strong a weapon as fear.” Hiruma remarked cryptically. Well not that cryptically, everyone knew that Emiko had taught Hiruma that lesson.
Banba was pissed. These boys weren’t listening again.
“I told you that you shouldn’t just aim for exploiting number 40!” Banba snapped again. “Hiruma just did something to the guy, didn’t you just watch it!?”
The Wizards only turned their noses and walked out onto the field. Ishimaru looked better, after Hiruma’s failed play. He’d been watching Hiruma intently during that chaos. That man had failed that play and was mad. He also watched his bizarre behavior on the bench just now.
“Oye fucking team!” Hiruma yelled from the bench. “Ishimaru’s wearing pink underwear!”
What the hell?
“It appears as though Hiruma Youichi has just made a statement about the color of Ishimaru Shinichi’s underwear.” Sanada remarked. “I wonder how true that is.”
How did he know!? Ishimaru stared in both fear and awe. The pink hadn’t been intentional, his mom had washed a red sock with his whites and it was clean but-! Still that was just freaky!
“Is he really wearing pink underwear?” Kurita asked.
“Look at his fucking face.” Hiruma pointed, amused. “That bluff would have either freaked him out beyond belief or it would have pissed him off.”
“Wow, he really is wearing pink underwear.” Toganou muttered.
“Ke ke ke!” Hiruma cackled happily. He wins!
“Okay, we’re going with a long pass.” Ishimaru told the team and issued routes. He hoped they would listen to him. Usually the receivers were good about the pass routes but the line had a habit of blue skying anyone, regardless of the kind of play.
Juumonji studied Ishimaru slightly and nodded to himself. The kid seemed, unsure and worried. There was some tension between him and the linemen and Juumonji was certain that was because the line usually went blue sky regardless of the kind of play. And blue skying allowed for back defenders to get through easier if you managed to tie up the opposing linemen while you fell….
“It’s a long pass,” Juumonji told the defense, “which is why the safeties will be playing counterbacks for this play. Nakamura, you blitz. Everyone else try to crush, or give up on the crush and tangle.”
“Ya-ha!” The Babies broke their huddle before the Wizards were ready. They could only stare at the opposing team in awe. How did those guys work so fast? They weren’t like this in the main season!
Ishimaru carefully looked over the field, a bad feeling in his stomach. The Babies were quiet and collected, all of their eyes on the opponent before them. Nakamura, the failed player from the previous play was staring him in the eye with a smile. A happy smile, it was creepy.
“Set!” Ishimaru threw aside his emotions to play, to crush. “Hut! Hut! Hut!”
Snap! The ball was in Ishimaru’s hands. He assumed a passing stance immediately and watched his receivers run forth onto the battlefield. He gasped loudly when he discovered both receivers were marked by two people. His safety back was staying behind the line as added defense when the linemen flattened their opponents.
One of the Babies fell, Gaou specifically, creating a gap in the line. Ishimaru frowned as his center was currently tangled up with Gaou. That was unusual.
Then Nakamura came shooting through the newly made gap, making Ishimaru gasp. His tight end was not quick enough to react to the charging linebacker.
“Wheee!” Nakamura cried happily as he proceeded to smack the ball out of Ishimaru’s hand and snatch it. He took it and ran like a bandit with it.
“T-touchdown!” The referee called, stunned.
“Ke ke ke!” Hiruma burst out laughing. “What fools! They can’t even guard their quarterback right!”
“Dammit!” Banba swore. “He was tricking us!”
“What the hell was with that guy?” One of the Wizards muttered. “He was going ‘whee!’ like a little brat!”
“O-ouch!” Ishimaru muttered. That linebacker had snapped the ball out of his hand very forcefully. The guy was strong, stronger than Ishimaru had thought.
“Hmm, touchdown or kick?” Hiruma pondered loudly by the confused assembly of the Wizards. “Whatever should I do?”
That only just pissed them off. They knew now, Hiruma Youichi was messing with them. It didn’t help that the crowd’s excitement grew when Hiruma stepped onto the field for the try for point. Kurita put on his helmet and went from being a kind, happy man, to a fierce, boiling beast that put Gaou to shame.
“…I haven’t seen Kurita like that in a few years.” Banba muttered.
“Hiruma brought that back.” Yamato frowned.
“…I bet he’s going to break through just to show them how pathetic they are.” Banba muttered.
“With a fake from Musashi I think.” Yamato added as Takekura stepped out onto the field.
“So what is the plan, oh commander from Hell?” Takekura asked mockingly in the huddle.
“It’s a kick.” Hiruma answered quickly and bluntly. “They’re waiting for a trick or a trap.” He pulled away from the huddle to turn around and smirk mockingly at the Wizards before returning to his own huddle. “Now we just stand around here as if I was explaining something complicated.”
“Stretching out their nerves, huh?” Toganou muttered thoughtfully.
“You betcha fucking sunnies.” Hiruma’s smirk grew wider.
“Should we act like it’s going to be a breakthrough?” Kurita asked.
“Nah, act like you’re thinking hard about something.” Hiruma suggested. “I want them to think we’re going to be doing something complicated. If you can’t act like you’re thinking hard, then just be fucking blank.”
“We have eight seconds left.” Takekura muttered thoughtfully.
“Shall we?” Hiruma invited with a grin.
“Ya-ha!”
Startled by the Babies, huddle, the Wizards looked up. Ah, it was time to get in place then right? Those Babies were so totally going to fake this kick, so they should focus on the breakthrough.
“Set, hut!” Hiruma called quickly, starting the play immediately. Kurita flawlessly snapped the ball and slammed himself unforgivingly into Kojima. The kid hadn’t been expecting a strong lineman like this.
Takekura came in and kicked the ball Hiruma set up, sending it swimmingly through the goal posts.
American Announcer Booth
“-and it’s good!” Hendrickson called while Lewis let out a small ‘whoop!’.
“That was an amazing start to a game. Youichi has clearly set the tone and the pace.” Hendrickson summed up the first play perfectly.
“This is the power of a trickster quarterback.” Lewis remarked. “Youichi only plays the hand the other team is expecting least, be it a fundamental, simple play, or something completely unorthodox.”
“You’d know all about that being a trickster quarterback yourself, wouldn’t you Clifford?” Hendrickson commented in good humor.
“Youichi’s better at tricking than I am.” Lewis remarked with a dead seriousness. “And he hasn’t lost his touch in his absence.”
“What a fearsome opponent.” Hendrickson commented, a bit startled by Lewis’ words.
“Troublesome is more like it. His one weakness in this game is the fact he’s not used to playing with most of the Babies’ lineup. We’ll be seeing more slips like that kick-off for the rest of the game. But we’ll also be seeing his deadly ability to turn a weakness into a strength as well.”
“…Is there anything the Wizards can do?” Hendrickson asked.
“Cool their heads, get serious, prepare for anything,” Lewis answered ominously, “if you can accomplish all three things you can keep your head around an opponent like Youichi. Unfortunately with the Wizards’ style of play I don’t think that task will be easy.”
The Stands
“Papa’s in trouble!” Emiko cried to Anezaki, fear all over her face. She wasn’t facing Mom, she knew Mom would understand.
“Emiko?” Anezaki looked down at the girl curiously.
“Wizards will be mean now!” Emiko wailed. “Very mean! Papa will get hurt!”
Anezaki couldn’t really hear Emiko that well over the crowd while the next kick off started. She turned to the field where Emiko was fixated. She gasped in confusion along with the rest of the stadium.
The Wizards weren’t moving. The ball had landed in the middle and they saw no reason to move and pick it up.
“What are they doing?” Anezaki muttered.
Part 6