[Just a heads up! This is a Hiruma fanfic, but still a few other characters will have a crush on MC, for that sweet sweet drama 😌👌
Also, /!\ trigger warning /!\ there's some fat shaming in this chapter
Alright, enjoy~!]

By an incredible coincidence, ever since middle school, you and Hiruma Yoichi have been in the same class, even when you entered Deimon high-school. But you've only interacted on very rare occasions, you were always just classmates. Still, that didn't stop you from cheering on him and his two best friends from afar as they started the American football club together. You had to admit, their determination and their love for the sport was admirable.
You felt so bad for them when Musashi left the club *and* the school. But that didn't stop them from using every trick in Hiruma's messed up book to try and get new members. You wanted to help them out - weirdly enough, Hiruma was never *that* scary to you (but maybe that was probably just because you were never a target of his) - , but you had your own problems going on. We'll get to that soon enough.
Let's just say that, between your situation and the American football club having only two members and a bad reputation, it was a pretty bad time for everyone.

That was until one day, during your second year of high-school, you heard that the Devil Bats have won their first match of the year (their very first win in fact). That made you turn your head and listen closely. There were rumors about a new member named Eyeshield 21, he sounded like a big deal.
'I bet they're over the Moon about this.'
Curious, you went to check when their next match will be and who they will be against: the Ojo White Knights. You inhaled through your teeth. From what you knew, those guys were crazy strong, like, one of the best teams in Japan.
'But with this Eyeshield 21, maybe they have a chance...'

The day of the match, you were in the audience. You didn't want to risk Hiruma or Kurita seeing you. But you didn't want to sit in the middle of Ojo's Sakuraba's fangirls either, they were pretty intense. So you sat at the very last row at the top, right next to the Shinryuji Naga: the actual, number one best team in Japan. Throughout the match, they talked about the teams, analyzing each members and their strategies. You actually learned a few things by listening to them, it helped you understand the ground rules. You did your best to make yourself as small as possible and to not say a word. But at some point, you couldn't control yourself.
Looking at the Devil Bats playing, how fast Eyeshield 21 was, how they got that first touchdown. Even when they only gain yards and advanced on the field, it hyped you up.
At one point, the White Knights threw the ball, Sakuraba, their receiver, was supposed to catch it, but Eyeshield was able to block him. However, he also wasn't able to catch the ball (despite being incredibly fast, he seemed to be a total amateur in this sport). It was just about to touch the ground when Hiruma came out of nowhere and caught it! At this point, you gasped and stood up from your seat, flabbergasted. He then made a run for it, but the White Knights' line of defense was there to tackle him. But just as he was approaching them, he turned around and threw the ball again for Eyeshield to catch it. Then *he* made a run for it! That would've been another touchdown if it wasn't for him being pushed off the field. Very close though!

"Let's gooo~!" you let out a cheer.
"Mmh?" the guy next to you, Agon, with sunglasses and long dreads looked at you. "You're not one of Sakuraba's fangirls?"
"Ah!" you quickly sat back down and looked at your lap, blushing, you shook your head. "I...I'm from Deimon, s-so of course I'm cheering for them."
He cackled.
"Well you're really the only one!"
That made you frown. After that, things went smoothly for a while. The Devil Bats steadily and rapidly advanced towards the goal line, with only a few meters separating them. Now that the attention was solely on Eyeshield, they could very well trick their opponents into thinking he had the ball, so that the player who actually did have it could have open field.

However, it all changed when Seijuro Shin entered the field.
They did their best, but no one could get passed him, and no one could stop him. After a while, you didn't even dare to look at the score. Throughout the four quarters of the match, all they got so far was that one touchdown at the beginning, and they didn't have enough time to even catch up. Eyeshield kept trying again and again to get passed him, but to no avail. And from the way he was getting tackled, you could tell that it hurt.

You sighed. Maybe if they were against another, weaker team they could've won that match too. It was just very, very bad luck.
'At least they got one win.'
Then, you saw something that made your heart drop. You watched as Hiruma took off his helmet and his gear, he packed his stuff and began to walk away. His team looked panicked, and you were pissed off.
'He's giving up...?' you frowned and clenched your fists. 'Seriously?! Out of all the people in this team, most of them forced to do this, *you're* giving up?!'

You opened your mouth but then stopped and looked around. You gulped.
"Uh, excuse me?"
Agon and his team looked at you, you blushed.
"I-I'm so sorry but... Can I, can I borrow your glasses for a quick moment? I swear it won't take long."
The young man blinked twice and glanced at the Devil Bats team, then at you. He was curious as to what you were planning.
"Heh, sure." he took them off and handed them to you. "Just bring them back in one piece or else you'll pay double for new ones."
You didn't say anything and took them with both hands.
'I'm far away, with these, there's a chance he won't recognize me.' you thought, putting them on and ruffling your hair. 'Even then, we're just classmates, he probably doesn't even remember my face. Still, better safe than sorry.'

When you looked up, Agon's lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Your expression changed completely, you now had a certain spark in your eyes. You stood on your seat and deeply inhaled.
"Oi!!! Blondie, you fuckin' dumbass!!!" you shouted at the top of your lungs.
He burst out laughing, holding his stomach, wondering what the hell happened to the awkward girl he was just talking to.
Here's the thing. You were always a chubby kid, and people throughout middle school and high school made fun of you for it. Not only that, but you were never the fittest, on the contrary. To give you a few examples: you could never get up a flight of stairs (even the one at your own house) without getting out of breath; standing still for too long would hurt your knees; and everytime you'd try to open a new bottle of anything, it would hurt the palm of your hand and it'd even turn red, even if you did manage to open it. So people also made fun of you for being the physically weakest person around. To countermeasure that, you've built yourself a mind of steel. You decided to fight fire with fire, and talk shit back. With all the years of experience, you became pretty good at it. But you always did it to defend yourself, right now would be the first time you'd try and shake someone up.

Everyone one the field turned around to look at you in surprise, but you kept your focus on Hiruma.
"You're gonna give up just like that?! Since when are you such a coward?! What kind of captain walks out on his team?! Get a hold of yourself!" you pointed at him. "If you're gonna lose, go out with one hell of a bang!!!"
For a short moment, the two of you just looked at each-other, he seemed surprised, his mouth open agap a little bit. He probably never expected someone to cheer on his team, especially when they're against the White Knights. You sat back down and sunk into yourself, disappearing into the crowd from his perspective. You took off the glasses and handed them back to Agon.
"Thank you." you quickly said, blushing
"No, thank *you*!" he smiled widely as he took them back.
Your whole face turned red and he cackled again as he put them back on. He was nice enough to not tease you about it for the rest of the game, he thought you were embarrassed enough.

As you were brushing your hair back together, you could still see the two teams on the field. Kurita whispered something to Hiruma who then kicked him away. Then Eyeshield 21 said something to him. Hiruma thought for a moment before firing two riffles in the air and putting his gear back on. Your face lit up, happy that he stayed in the end.
With their new found determination, the Devil Bats tried even harder to get even just one more point before the match ended. And with very little time left on the clock, Eyeshield was finally able to get passed Shin, by running as fast as light itself. From where you were, he became a blur for a moment and suddenly reappeared on the other side of the field, passed the goal line. It was beyond amazing! Even though the score was '68 - 12', the fact that they manage to get a touchdown at the very end was a win in your book. Everyone was so happy, even you stood up from your seat again with your fists in the air.
But still, in the end, it was still a crushing defeat. When time ran out and the winner of the match was announced, you watched as Kurita fell to his knee and openly cried. He was always such a sweet and cheerful guy, seeing him like this broke your heart.

"One thing's been confirmed." Agon said as he and his team stood up to leave. "This year's Ojo team doesn't have the power of last year's team. At best, they can probably make it to top 4."
'That's incredible! Are you kidding?!' you thought.
"Surprisingly." one of them, a guy with a shaved head, smiled and looked as the two teams thanked each-other for this game. "However, Deimon's on the rise."
Agon cackled, then he looked back at you.
"Good luck!"
You frowned, blushing. He cackled louder.
"Now *that* was hilarious!" he walked away. "Probably the highlight of this game!"
"You motherfucker..." you mumbled.

While people started leaving, you hide somewhere and waited for the coast to be clear, scared that you'd run into Hiruma on the way back. While you were hiding in your corner, sitting down with your knees close to your chest, you replayed the events of the game in your head. You never knew much about American football, you weren't that interested in it either. But even then, just by watching, you felt this rush of adrenaline. The excitement, the joy and the dread.
'If it's just by watching, imagine actually being on the field.'
You imagined being tackled by Shin and you winced.
"Yeah, no thank you." you said to yourself.
Still, the Devil Bats kept going, despite all the odds being stacked against them. And after all these years of struggle... It really inspired you. You huffed and stood up.
"It's decided," you said to yourself with a clenched fist. "I'm going to start working out!"

The very next day, after class, you went to look for a club that would allow you to workout. But there was one big problem. As previously mentioned, you didn't have the best reputation either. Even your defense mechanism only resulted in more loneliness. The jerks made fun of you for your appearance, and everybody else avoided you for being agressive. Because you were so used to people making fun of you, you didn't want to be friendly to anyone. You didn't want to risk being caught off guard. Throughout middle school and high school, you were alone and picked on. And so, every single club you tried to enter rejected you. Some genuinely couldn't afford new members since they were full, other only said that as an excuse to not let you in. And others...
"(Y/n)-chan~!" the captain of the cheerleading club opened the door you just knocked on. "So the rumors were true!"
You frowned. You were greeted by yet another trio of mean girls (you've seen your fair share of those throughout your school life). You didn't expect them to be here. Still, you didn't want to let that stop you. You asked to join.

"*Now* you're trying to join a sport club?" one of them asked with a smug look. "Isn't that a bit too late for that? You're kind of a lost cause." she giggled. "Just tryin' to help out."
"We don't want you to get hurt, you get out of breath just by walking to school." another faked a concerned look, but it was clear she was trying not to laugh.
"Even if you do join a club, it'll take like *years* for you to lose a right amount of weight! Maybe start with a diet fir-"
"I couldn't give less of a shit about being skinny."  you sternly said.
They blinked twice and laughed.
"Then what the hell are you doing this for?!"
"I mean, good for you if you wanna stay like this!"
"Love that for you!"
"Ahaha! My stomach!"
Your left eye twitched, your cheeks getting redder from anger.

"I'd rather stay fat than be a shallow brat! Which is exactly what you are!" you pointed at their leader. "And I bet that's why your boyfriend's cheating on you!"
The two other gasped.
"How do you know that?!"
"Wait! So it's true?!" the girl looked at them.
"Wait, really?!" your eyes widen. "I just said that to piss her off!"
"And you two knew about this?!"
They nervously looked at each-other. She scoffed and took out her phone.
"That jerk!" she dialed a number as she ran away.
"Wow! Thanks a lot (Y/n), you ruined a relationship!" her two friends glared at you before following their 'friend'.
"Well next time, maybe mind your own business!" you glared back and pointed at them. "You guy are terrible friends! I have none and even I know that's fucked up!"

All the other clubs you tried to enter had more or less tact in rejecting you. At the end of the day, you let out a heavy sigh as you crossed the last option on your list. For a moment, you just looked down, your back pressed against the wall. You looked outside the window and noticed other sport clubs' members training. Yesterday's game popped in your mind and you shook your head, giving yourself little slaps on you face.
'If I can't join a club, I'll just workout by myself!' you thought with a determined face.
The next day, after class, you changed into your sport clothes and went to the gymnasium to get to the equipment storage room, looking for anything that wasn't being used at the moment. You spotted some dumbbells and it took everything you had in you to lift the smallest one.
"H-how heavy is this thing?!" you asked in between your teeth.
You checked: it was two kilograms, one for each side. You pursued your lips and took a deep breath. You knew you were weak, but reminders like this always stung a bit.
"We all start somewhere I guess." you said as you took the weights off the bar.

Using a rope, you tied the bar to your waist and you held the two small weights in you hands, on for each. Then you went to run laps around the school building. Just walking outside took a lot of energy out of you. Still, you pushed through and started jogging. Students who were leaving school and from sport clubs were staring at you, but you ignored them, mostly because you were too exhausted to even acknowledge the world around you. And even if you did, you'd still ignore them since you knew they were just making fun of you. You were wrong about one of those students, who quietly observed you.

It took you a long time to get even halfway through. You were drenched in sweat, your face red from your efforts and you were panting loudly. You were getting flashbacks of P.E. classes throughout your school life. During track races, you'd always collapse or fall before even finishing the race. And lately, you'd just stop and give up before you could become too tired. Now, just like many times before, your muscles and lungs were burning, your body screaming at you to stop.
'No! One! Let me at least finish one lap!' you thought, panting like crazy, your eyes glassy. 'If I could complete just one, I'd be proud! For once! Come on! Almost there!'
Finally, steadily enough, you've reached your starting point. With one lap complete, you collapsed on the ground. Physically, you felt like shit, completely out of breath and unable to move. But mentally, you were overjoyed.
'I did it!!!' you smiled, facing the sky. 'One lap, that's where I'm staring!'

Once you've caught your breath, you sat up, untied the rope and put the dumbbell back together. You planned on getting a bottle of water at the vending machine when-
"There she is!"
You looked back to see a group of guys from the baseball team walking up to you. They looked angry.
"(L/n) (Y/n)? I'm not surprised." one of them shook their head.
"What do you want?" you frowned and stood up.
"You made my girlfriend break up with me!" the one in the front pointed at you.
"Oh! You!" you pointed back. "Sorry I exposed your cheating ass!"
"I didn't cheat!"
"Her friends spilled the beans! Good for her honestly for breaking up with you!"
"How do you even know about that?!"
"I'm telling you dude!" another one said. "This chick's just as evil as Hiruma! Except even more crazy."
"And you're just as useless of a man as a peephole on a glass door! But you don't see me shouting that from the rooftops! And you!" you glared at the guy in front, he flinched. "If you really think your relationship problems are *my* fault, then you are as dense as this dumbbell!" you gave it a little kick. "Now get out of my face and leave me alone, jerkwads!"

On other days, this could've worked and they would've indeed leave you alone. But then, the ex-boyfriend recognized the dumbbell.
"H-hey! Isn't that from the equipment storage room?!"
"Shouldn't you care about your commitment issues first?"
He seemed hurt for a moment, luckily for him, his friends backed him up.
"Dude, it is!" he pointed at you. "You thief!"
"I'm still *in* the school!"
"It doesn't matter! You don't have permission to use this! Give it back!"
"It's not yours either!"
"Unlike you, we're a club, we have permission to use school sport equipment." the one in the front walked up to you. "And I say: we need this dumbbell."
"Why don't you try lifting up your ego instead? Oh wait, I don't think even Kurita could carry that much-"

You let out a yelp as he pushed you to the ground. You looked up at him, then glared. But it was too late, it only lasted a second, but it was enough for him to see how you were truly feeling. For a second, you looked scared. Maybe it was because you only shouted at small groups before, or maybe your reputation has given you some sort of shield, but no one has ever been physically violent to you before. Maybe it was the team spirit that gave him more confidence. It didn't matter now. A big smile formed on his face.
"Oh~ no way!" he laughed. "Guys! She's scared!"
You felt your heart sinking.
"Really? Her? Hard to believe dude."
He suddenly raised a fist and bluffed you into thinking he was going to punch you. You gasped and protected your head, turning away like a kid. The boys burst out laughing.
"She's all bark and no bite!"
"That is pathetic! To think we were all intimidated by her!"
"Well, wait until we tell the whole school about this!" he picked up the dumbbell. "No one will be scared of her ever!"
"Your reign of terror ends here!"

Finally, your expression fell, your tough facade dropped as they walked away, disappearing around the corner. Your life wasn't ideal before, soon it'll be a real nightmare.
'Reign of terror?' you looked down. 'I just wanted to be left alone.'
You brought your knees closer to your chest, sniffing as tears built up in your eyes, but you did your best to not let them flow.
'Just when I wanted to do...something. Just when I wanted to be better. That's not fair.'
"...That's not fair." you whispered, shaking your head and pressing your forehead on your knees.

The boys happily hurried back to the gymnasium to get changed, some took out their phone to tell everyone about their new discovery. But then they stopped and looked ahead in horror, as the shadow of the Devil himself was cast on them. A maniacal cackle resonating. Soon they will hear it every night in their nightmares.

"Heads up!"
"Huh?" you looked up. "Aaah!"
You tried to crawl back but in the end you had to catch that dumbbell that had just been tossed at you. It took the air out of your stomach but it was a successful catch.
'So heavy!'
You checked: two kilograms again. (Not knowing this was the exact same one that was taken from you a minute ago,) You looked up and saw none other than Hiruma Yoichi, standing a few meters away from you, one of his many riffles resting on his shoulder. He smiled.
"Sorry 'bout that." he extended a hand, palm facing up. "Mind giving that back?"
You quickly sniffed and hoped to god your face and eyes weren't red from trying not to cry. You stood up and walked up to him.
"Tossing dumbbells at people?" you mumbled, then sighed. "Whatever dude. I'm over it toda-"

You handed it back to him, but then he took one giant step back. You blinked twice, confused for a moment. With his hand still extended, he gestured you to go ahead and give it back. You walked up to him again, but he once again moved out of your reach. You both kept going, a bit faster everytime, until you basically chased after him. You went full speed while he was on a casual trot.
"Get your stupid weight back you bastard!!!"
"Kekekekekekeke!!!"
"Now I get why people don't like you! You're an asshole!"
"And you really are Deimon's Little Imp who spits out fire whenever she talks!" he glanced back at you with a big smirk.
"Imp?! You little-!" you then called him every insult in the book.
"Kekekeke! Exactly!"

He kept laughing. Trash talk didn't work on him it seemed. You gave up and stopped, panting furiously with your free hand on the knee, your face all red. You looked up, he was in front of some sort of outdoor storage room. He looked at you and smirked.
"Come on Impie, give it back." he said with a taunting tone.
"Impie?!"
"Or are you too weak-willed to finish a second lap?"
"S...second?"
You looked to the side and noticed that, indeed, the distance it would take you to get to that storage room was the same it would take you to get to your starting point again.
"Wait...H-How do you even...?"
You looked at him again as he snickered and went inside. You groaned. With heavy steps, you walked up to the door and slammed it open. Yes trash talk didn't work on him, but at this point, you needed to get your frustration out.
"Now listen here you little shit! I-"
"Oh, hello."

You were taken aback when you saw Kurita, who just politely greeted you, and two other students in what seemed to be a club meeting. One of them was a girl, you knew her from the school's discipline comite, but for some reason, she was also at the game against the Ojo White Knights as Devil Bat's manager. The other one was a small guy (well, he was a tad taller than you) you've never seen before. The girl glared at Hiruma.
"Hiruma, why did you bring her here?" she whispered. "You're gonna get us in trouble."
You frowned, you could clearly hear her.
"Please." he rolled his eyes before pointing at you with his thumb. "I was doing some scouting. Got ourselves a cheerleader."
"What?!?!?!" everyone exclaimed.
"Huh?" you blinked twice, equally as confused.

"Well, not exactly." he smirked. "This is only another card in our deck: the anti-cheerleader!"
"Anti-cheerleader?" the small guy tilted his head. "What even is that?"
"Devil Bats' personal Imp." a dark energy began emanating from him. "Spitting out hell's fire whenever she speaks! Getting under the opponents' skin before the game even starts! Bringing down their defenses with her trash talk and making them easier for us to step on!" he pointed at you, a devilish smile on his face. "Impie, the anti-cheerleader!"
The other three members seemed to be perplexed but intrigued by this presentation. You let the dumbbell drop on the floor, making a loud noise, and sent daggers at him.
"You, and your sick jokes, can fuck off." you said before leaving, slamming the door behind you.

"Hiruma!" Mamori glared at him. "Once again, you were forcing someone into joining!"
"Oww..." Kurita looked down sadly. "And here I thought we had a new member."
She sighed.
"At least she didn't end up joining, we could've gotten into trouble."
"Why?" Sena asked. "What's the matter with her?"
"She's always very mean to everyone. Everytime me and other students tried being nice to her, she just ignores us or even insults us." she leaned closer to him. "She's very agressive Sena, don't get close to her!"
"Really?" he looked at the door. "Because, just then, she sounded hurt."
Hiruma said nothing, he kept looking at the door, his eyes narrowed a bit.

You kept mumbling angrily as you changed back into your school uniform and went to take your shoes out of your locker. At this time of day, students are either gone or at practice, so you were alone. The setting sun casting an orange light onto the scene.
"Stupid tall blond kpop idol bootleg-looking ass."
"(L/n) (Y/n)."
You turned around and frowned when you saw Hiruma. With, surprisingly, no fire weapons on him and his back against the lockers. He was reading his little notebook, with the personal informations of probably everyone in the world inside.
"Seventeen years old. A big brother who went to Zokugaku high-school. In the same class as me ever since middle school. Using her trash-talking skills as a defense mechanism against other. Gained a bad rep. All just a front."
"...What do you want from me?" you pressed your words.
"I want you to join my club."

"I don't want to! Just leave me alone you-!"
"Ah yes, what was the words you used again?" he tapped his cheek, looking amused. "'Blondie', 'fuckin' dumbass', 'coward'? The list goes on, really."
You gulped, but managed to maintain a tough front, despite feeling your heartbeat increasing.
"You really think some glasses would prevent me from recognizing you?" he closed his book and clicked his tongue, glancing to the side. "Now that's the most insulting thing of all."
"...*Fine*." you huffed. "Okay. I'll join your stupid club. You'll get your little revenge, I'll look like a fool, and my life is gonna be ruined. But let me make something very clear:" you took a step forward and looked him in the eyes, though he was unfazed by your dark glare. "I called you a coward because you were being one."
"Revenge?" he lifted an eyebrow. "Who said anything about that petty stuff?"
You blinked twice, confused.

"Who knows, maybe it's the opposite." he smiled. "Maybe I'm returning the favor."
You frowned, even more confused.
"You got rejected by every club in school, correct?" he smiled. "Luckily for you, American football focuses equally on both strength and stamina. It's the perfect package for you. By joining the Devil Bats, you get a workout ground, with full access to all the equipment you need, and we get you: the first anti-cheerleader in the history of sports!" he offered a hand for you to shake, and you could swear you saw bats fly around him. "It's a complete win-win situation for the both of us!" he cackled.

You pursued your lips.
"But it's not like I can play. And I don't know anything about American football."
"Who cares about that. You'd just tag along for the training."
"...Will I have to wear an outfit?"
"Do you *wanna* wear an outfit?"
You unknowingly covered your chest and glanced to the side.
"Not really."
"Then nope."
"And it's not like I have a choice, do I?"
He said nothing, his hand still raised. You looked at it for a moment, thinking. When you glanced up at him, you noticed that any maliciousness or mischievousness he had about him has now disappeared. He just patiently waited for your answer, looking into your eyes. At that moment, he didn't look like a devil at all. After a moment, you realized you were staring too much and quickly looked back down, your cheeks warmer. You took a deep breath and finally shook his hand.
"Deal."

He snickered, which then turned into a maniacal cackle. Out of nowhere, he took out two assault riffles and fired them in the air (how the school's ceilings are still intact, no one knew). You yelped and backed away in surprise, covering your ears.
"Welcome to the Devil Bats, Cherry! Pleasure doing business with you!"
"Ch-Cherry?!"
"Yeah," he leaned closer and pointed at your face. "'cause for a second there, you were as red as one."
You leaned back, blushing even harder.
"Kekekeke! Yeah! Exactly like that!" he snickered before walking passed you, his two riffles on his shoulders. "See ya tomorrow Impie."
"You're gonna switch nicknames like that all the time?" you mumbled, looking down. "Make up your mind you...you..."
You couldn't find anything to say, which never happened before. You just kicked the ground.