AN: dude i promise im going to move plot next chapter if there is a plot to this

Sone- thanks bud, its kind of hard to write this to since im basically rebuilding the story. i mean, i feel like since tsubasa went to shutetsu, all of everyone's personalities wouldn't be the same in canon since tsubasa became who he is because he went to nankatsu. so now instead of the arrogant, slave driver tsubasa in the middle school arc, we have an awkward teenage tsubasa who doesnt know what he's doing. wakabayashi took over the arrogant slave driver captain lol


Chapter 7

Never in his life did Tsubasa think he was going to be constantly checking his phone for messages. Sure he texted with his friends in Shutetsu, but they weren't one to text excessively like he was. The most they texted about was about the World Cup last year, and even then they usually gathered at Genzo's mansion to watch the games in his large as fuck TV.

He didn't think he would be able to talk about normal teenager stuff like movies, or crushes, or any of that sort.

He didn't think he would have an ongoing Snap Streak with his Sunshine girl either. It felt nice to see her face every time she wanted to talk.

He couldn't help the smile on his face when he opened the Snapchat she sent him of the view of the sky from Nankatsu's rooftop. She was right, it was beautiful. But it wasn't as beautiful as her.

Just as he was about to reply, Mamoru suddenly got his attention.

"You know, Tsubasa," he said, pointing his chopsticks towards him. "This is the first time I've seen you on your phone too much."

"Right?" Teppei exclaimed in agreement. "Like, how many days has it been? I don't know… five days? You're on your phone a lot these days."

Crap. He didn't think they would notice.

"I'm telling you guys, it's a girl!" Hajime repeated. "Why else would he be excessively texting like that? He's talking to a girl, definitely."

"No I'm not," Tsubasa tried to deny weakly. "I'm just talking to some other friends."

"Other friends?"

"You have other friends?"

"Who?"

They all asked simultaneously. Tsubasa felt like an arrow pierced him.

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed with red cheeks. "You make it sound like I'm unfriendly."

"Well, you kind of have that thing going on," Teppei pointed out. "Like, we know you're the nicest dude in the world, but you don't necessarily talk that much. People think you're antisocial when in fact you're like the shyest kid in the planet. That and they get intimidated by how amazing you are in soccer."

"And that's why girls like him more than you," Mamoru sang as he put food in his mouth.

Well, that's not wrong. He really wished they stop putting letters in his locker. He just wanted to get his shoes and go. He didn't have time for relationships, not when he planned on leaving right after graduating.

He didn't want a relationship. Right?

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate.

Sunshine: Hey want to drop by Sunny's today? Atsushi and his friends can't come to the field today since they're having a test tomorrow. They're hanging out at the house to study and we're all there to tutor them. We have food.

He couldn't help another smile to form on his lips. Did she really think he would pass up free food?

Not to mention, he was going to meet up with her.

Tsubasa: I'll be there. ;)

Sunshine: xD

"See, he's smiling that smile again!" Tsubasa looked up from his phone just to see Hajime pointing an accusatory finger at him as he looked at Mamoru and Teppei. "I'm telling you he has a girl!"

"And I'm telling you a miracle has to happen before Tsubasa starts talking to a girl!" Mamoru replied.

Tsubasa didn't know whether to be thankful or offended that his friend thought of him that way. But either way, it still saved him from a conversation that he never wanted to be talked about.

They started to argue, and Tsubasa went back to ignoring them, checking his phone to see if the others lit up the group chat again. Seeing that they didn't send any other messages, Tsubasa finally went back to eating.

"But think about it though," Teppei suddenly began, scrunching up the wrapper of his yakisoba pan. "Can you imagine, Tsubasa having a girlfriend. I mean, I can't even see it to be honest. I don't even know what kind of girl that would go out with him."

"I'd feel bad," Mamoru said. "The poor girl would have to compete with the ball for Tsubasa's attention." He sighed dramatically before putting his chopsticks in his mouth.

He wasn't that bad.. At least Tsubasa hoped he wasn't. It's just that, the ball and him had a special relationship. If it wasn't for it, he wouldn't even be alive today. Plus, Roberto always told him that the ball was his friend.

And he was sure that he wasn't going to ignore his girlfriend over a ball. Nope, not at all.

He wouldn't ignore Sunshine over ball, ever.

...Wait, why was he making it sound like Sanae-chan's his girlfriend. They haven't even been friends that long. Besides, he didn't like her that way…

Right?

"And that's why this guy can't keep a girl either," Mamoru added, pointing his thumb at Genzo, who was staring blankly out of the window as he sipped on his bottle of sports drink. He turned to Mamoru slowly, blinking at him owlishly.

"I can't keep a what now?" he asked.

"A girl!" Mamoru answered. "You're too damn obsessed with your soccer ball to even care for your girlfriend. They always come to me complaining how you don't seem to do anything but talk about soccer and what not."

Genzo shrugged nonchalantly before taking another swig from his bottle. "It's not my fault they couldn't understand that soccer comes before them. If they're dating me, they should have known how I would be."

"Argh!" Mamoru exclaimed as he ruffled his hair. "See this is why you're not going to have a lasting relationship. What the hell are you going to do when you need to find a wife, huh? Tell me?"

Genzo looked at him as if he was the dumbest guy in the world. "I'm 15," he said. "Why do I need to find a wife at this time?"

Mamoru only screamed and muffled with it by hiding his face behind his hands. Then he whipped his head to look at Tsubasa, making him jump in surprise.

"If you ever get a boyfriend," Mamoru started, "Don't ever be like this asshole. Talk to me, okay? Me! Not him."

"You haven't even had a girlfriend before," Genzo pointed out blankly. "How are you even going to help Tsubasa?"

"At least it's better than asking you!"

As his friends began to argue, Tsubasa sighed and looked out the window.

He couldn't wait to see Sunshine again.


"Are you guys going to the Schools Tournament?" Teppei asked as he changed into his workout clothes.

Tsubasa was planning to. Atsushi was playing, and he wanted to see how much he actually improved. He wanted to see how much everyone improved! After all, he helped them. It's the least he could do. He wasn't exactly sure if they'd be able to beat Shutetsu, but as long as they held up a good fight, and gave all of their effort, he was glad.

Plus, he kind of already made plans with Sanae-chan and everyone else to hang out with them.

"Oh yeah… that's coming up," Hajime grumbled under his breath as he put on his shirt. "I have to. My brother's in the basketball team. My mom wants me to go."

"Same," Mamoru sighed. "My little brother's in the tennis team too. They don't want me to miss it. They says it's unfair since Eiji came to my games, I have to go to his."

"We're all in the same boat," Teppei sighed, closing his locker. "Little sis is injoin the softball team. And as the loving older brother that I am, I can't miss it. She literally threatened me to see it."

"We should all go then," Mamoru suggested. "That way it wouldn't have to be so painful."

What? No. Tsubasa couldn't do that. He already made plans to meet up with his other friends. He couldn't go with them.

"Hey, maybe we could even go to the soccer game," Hajime added. "We could see if they're still keeping tradition of beating the shit out of those Nankatsu kids."

Not this time. He was sure that Atsushi and the other kids will be able to match them this time.

"Of course they are," Mamoru scoffed. They all began to head out of the club room, and Tsubasa wished they weren't going to look at him. "They'll be a huge embarrassment if they can't even beat a small team like Nankatsu."

That's it they were going down.

"We'll watch then," Genzo finally spoke. Oh shit, if Genzo says they'll go, then he couldn't say no anymore. "Maybe they'll have more motivation to beat the hell out of those kids. Besides, I have nothing better to do that day anyway."

"All right!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Here's to another year of beating up Nankatsu."

Tsubasa did not sign up for this kind of life.


He ruffled his hair as he opened the door to Sunny's, the bell ringing familiarly. He didn't think about it that much, seeing as he was still thinking of what his friends decided to do for the Schools Tournament. And just not to make them suspicious, he didn't think he could do anything else but go with them.

He was looking forward to hanging out with Sanae-chan and the others too.

"Hello, Tsubasa-kun!" he heard someone greet him. He looked up to see Nakazawa-san behind the counter, his Sunshine missing from his sight.

Seeing his confused expression, Nakazawa-san chuckled and explained.

"They're at the back," she explained. "The study session is going on, and Sanae did tell me that you were coming to help in tutoring the kids with their tests. Here, why don't you come in," she told him to follow her as she went to past the arch and into the room. She began to explain that since it was getting hot, they usually chose to hang out here, where most of the freezers are for the ice cream.

"And besides, we always have at least three tubs of ice cream ready for everyone, whether it's tests week or not, you're more than welcome grab some too."

"Tsubasa-kun!" he turned away from Nakazawa-san to see his Sunshine, a large smile on her face as she waved from where she sat by a group of kids looking over their work. Soon, the others looked up from their tutoring to greet him as well.

He took one of his hands from his pocket and raised it in greeting.

"Tsubasa-nii!" Atsushi shouted before barreling into him, hugging him tightly.

"Hey there, buddy," he said as he ruffled Atsushi's hair. "What's up? Studying hard?"

Atsushi separated from him with a proud huff, standing with his legs apart and his hands on his hips. "Tomorrow's test will be a piece of cake! I can't wait for this to end so I can play more soccer."

"Then I better see an 85 on your math test tomorrow," Nakazawa-san narrowed her eyes at her son, who jumped and hid behind Tsubasa in fright, nodding furiously with teary eyes.

Nakazawa-san stared long at him before nodding to herself and turned to head back to the shop area.

Tsubasa chuckled nervously as he watched the Nakazawa matriarch leave before he felt a tug on his shirt.

"N-ne," he looked to see Atsushi, who looked like he was about to cry as snot threatened to drip down his nose. T-that's a little disgusting. "Tsubasa-nii, are you good at math? I need help."

Wha- He said it was a piece of cake! Why did he need help all of the sudden?

"Mama would ground me and take away cake from me if I didn't get an 85."

Oh bother.

"Sure bud," he said. "What do you need help with?"

And soon, he found himself roped into helping too many kids who didn't know what the heck they were doing.

Not that he knew what he was doing either anyway.

He sighed as he took a seat in one of the open chairs around the room. He didn't think that tutoring would be this hard work. He didn't realize it, but it wasn't just the soccer kids there. Sure, not all of them were there, but he couldn't believe how many still came. Shingo's little sisters were there along with some of their friends, and there were also some kinds he didn't know that were there. The amount of times he had to jump from kid to kid just to help them in their studies and homework was tiring.

Didn't mean he hated it though.

He always loved kids to be honest, that's why he got along so well with Atsushi and his friends. Maybe because he was an only child and he really did kind of want a brother or sister when he was young, but because of his dad's job and how much of a problem his mother had when she had him, he knew that his parents were afraid to try for another one. It would have been nice though, having a sibling. Maybe he wouldn't feel as alone as he did growing up.

That's why he loved Atsushi. He was the brother that he wanted.

Which made watching the game with Genzo and others all the more troublesome. He couldn't support Shutetsu! Atsushi would be hurt!

He groaned silently and laid his head on the table. He did not sign up for this.

"Are you okay?"

He looked up to see Sanae-chan holding two bowls of ice cream in her hands, a concerned look on her face.

Tsubasa sat up straighter as she took the open seat beside him.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah. I'm good. Just… thinking some stuff."

"Problematic stuff?" she asked as she offered the bowl to him. He took it gratefully, setting it in front of him.

"Troublesome stuff," he clarified as he grabbed a spoonful, looking at it tiredly.

She chuckled and took the spoon out of her mouth. "Aww, cheer up, bud. You can talk to me about it."

Tsubasa sighed through his nose as he ate the spoonful of ice cream. The taste of mango not really doing anything to his mood. "It's kind of stupid, really," he admitted as he took the spoon out.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad," she said, as she leaned closer to him. "Come on, I won't judge."

Tsubasa sighed again, knowing she wouldn't let him go unless he told her. "Genzo and the others decided to watch the Schools Tournament and they want me to go with them."

"You don't want to go with them?" she asked.

"No," he answered, looking at her. "I already made plans with you guys. I don't want to bail on you guys."

"We wouldn't mind," she answered. "I mean, you did meet us just a few days ago. I figured you would be more comfortable with them than with us."

He was more comfortable with them than he was with Genzo and the others.

"But I promised Atsushi I'd cheer for him," Tsubasa said softly, looking down towards his melting ice cream. He didn't notice the way Sanae looked at him in surprise, her cheeks showing a splash of pink. Suddenly her lips curved into a smile.

"You are adorable!" she giggled as she poked his cheek. Tsubasa jumped in surprise, looking at her with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. "I'll take care of Atsushi," she continued. "Once we explain to him the situation, he'd understand. He wouldn't care if you sit on Shutetsu's side, I'm sure. As long as you still cheer for him, I'm- I mean- he's happy! Yup!"

Tsubasa stared at her long and hard. Was that intentional or was he just imagining it…

Suddenly, he felt a hand hold onto his.

"Really, Tsubasa-kun," she said. "I can never thank you enough for what you've done for my little brother. And knowing that you'll still cheer for him even if you're from Shutetsu is more than enough."

Tsubasa looked at her, her smile lighting up everything around her and he finally realized what this funny feeling he was getting whenever he was with her.

He liked her. He really liked her.

Shit.

End Chapter


AN: the ending is kind of rushed but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

thanks for reading and pls review!