Sena dropped his bag on the floor and heaved a sigh. It had been a pretty long ride to the camp and his seating partner did not speak a word to him along the way. Sena had eventually dozed off, having slept unfitfully the night before caused by his anxiety at Taki's plan, and when he was jostled awake by one of the rough bumps on the road, he woke up to the staring face of Tomiya Yuri.

Sena gasped in mortification when he realised whose shoulder his head has been lying on. "G-Gomen!"

Tomiya stared at him for another moment before shrugging and turning away to look back out the window. Sena blushed in belated embarassment. It had felt so nice and warm lying against the lovely girl and he knew that her soft feminine scent had been a factor of his restful nap. Sena wondered how long he had been asleep as he peeked outside the window, trying to recognise the landscape that were passing by. God, I hope I didn't drool on her shoulder, Sena thought.

As soon as they arrived at the camp site, the girls all stood up to get their bags and Sena had to wait to allow them to get theirs first before attempting to pull down his. Tomiya had really pushed his bag further to the back... As soon as the middle of the bus was clear, Sena got out of his seat to let Tomiya through and the girl stood up to not only get her bag but Sena's as well.

Sena stared at his bag that was held out to him by Tomiya, before looking up at the girl in surprise. "Eh? Umm... arigato..."

Tomiya nodded and walked past Sena as the boy stood for a while longer trying to figure out what was going on. It was like having Mamori-neechan together with him on the trip and although he should felt comforted, he couldn't ignore the glaring fact that Tomiya Yuri was not her. Mamori-neechan was more like a big sister than a childhood friend and although she has stood by and encouraged him on his dedication for the American sport after finding out that he was Eyeshield 21, she still treats him like a younger brother to be looked after outside the field.

Sena knew that Tomiya Yuri only saw him as a short and awkward girl but as a real boy, he felt his pride being sorely tested.

Sena shook himself out of his musings and walked out of the bus to join the excited girls outside the camp area. As soon as all of them have been gathered, they were lead to their cabins by their designated instructors and that was where Sena found himself at the moment - inside the .... cabin. After placing his bag in the closet where the futons and blankets were stored, Sena joined his cabin-mates out to the messroom for their lunch. It was quite noisy in the hall and clusters of girls could be found at the counter where they served the lunch. Sena quickly got his food and expertly manouvered through the throng of campers before he was able to get a seat near the middle.

Not long after he sat down, another person sat across from him and the scent was enough for him to know who is was before he even looked up to see the person's face.

"H-Hello," Sena said, his nervousness eclipsing his awe at his luck.

Tomiya Yuri nodded before she picked up her bowl of pudding from her tray. As she pulled off the lid of the plastic bowl, she looked back at Sena to see the yellow-ribboned camper stare at her pudding. Looking at Sena's tray, she realised that it was lacking the normal dessert (Sena not wanting to stay too long being pressed by the line of girls, skipped on the dessert). After a brief hesitation, the girl held out the pudding to him.

"Uh-wha?" Sena looked up in surprise before he realised in embarassment at what he knew she might be thinking. "N-No! I don't want it! I was just thinking about something else!" he told her, not wanting to elaborate that he was actually thinking on how to start a conversation with her.

"Oooh, you should accept that," someone said from his right, "It's not often Yuri-kun gives someone else her dessert. And she always likes to eat it before the meal." Sena quickly turned around and saw that it was a girl with short hair cut above her chin, her smile as disarming as her cheerful voice. The girl stuck out her hand and as soon as Sena held it, she gave the boy a vigorous shake. "Tsuna Rei, nice to meet'cha!"

Sena's teeth clacked together at Rei's enthusiastic shake. "N-Nice to meet you too. T-Taki Suzuna."

"Suzuna-chan it is! We're going to be camping together for two weeks, so we all should get chummy from now on."

"Still as wild as ever Rei-san." A sigh came from his left. Turning now to his other side, he saw that the person beside him was a pretty girl with glasses with ribbons in her curly hair.
"You're new to this camp," the curly-haired girl stated. Then she seemed to be looking at Sena wonderingly, making him sweat before she smiled and bowed to him in greeting. "My name is Harada Makino. Nice to meet you."

Sena smiled at her nervously, a little bit relieved that the spectacled-girl has not given an indication that she has found out about him, before he bowed back in return. "Taki Suzuna. Nice to meet you, too."

"Ah! Stop being so polite!" Rei exclaimed patting Sena on the shoulder. Sena chuckled uncertainly before he felt the girl's fingers slowly start to knead his shoulder.

"R-Rei-san??"

"Hmmmmm... you have some muscles on you Suzuna-chan! Do you play sports?"

"Eh... well, there's American football..."

Rei stared at him in surprise. "American Football?? You??"

"Ah! I-I mean... I like American Football but I only play Flag Football," Sena hastily covered.

The short-haired girl's hands slowly slid down from Sena's shoulder. "Oh, that."

"Maybe we can play that here," Harada suggested, "I'm sure the instructors won't mind if we switch one of the games for a new one. Suzuna-san can teach us how to play."

"Sure!" Sena said with a wide smile, though inside he was panicking. He only knows about the rules of Flag-football from Mamori-neechan and he hoped that what he has learnt in theory and how much he has played on the field playing American football would be enough to cover his lack of experience in the game. He can't afford to blow his cover now when Tomiya Yuri has only shown him politeness (although stoic) and kindness from the moment they shared the same bus seat.

As Rei and Makino chatted, Sena looked towards Tomiya who was looking her two friends before she turned towards Sena, holding out her pudding again to him. Again, Sena found it hard to refuse and with a shy smile, accepted the dessert that was being offered.

"Arigato," Sena said, picking up his spoon to scoop up the soft-creamy goodness.

Tomiya looked at him for a few more seconds before she turned back towards her tray to begin her lunch.

~TBC~