Chapter 2 : The plan is put into action!

Yui couldn't wait for Saturday and finally it arrived. She wore a pair of short jeans and a sleeveless top in a black color. She matched her outfit with a pair of also black vans snickers. She let her hair loose, falling down just a little bit below her shoulders. When she was satisfied with her look she went out to meet with Sanae.

"Wow you look beautiful!" Sanae commented.

"Oh no! Should I have worn my sports uniform since we are going to the field first?"

"Don't be silly, I haven't worn my uniform either." Indeed Sane had opted for a pair of khaki shorts with a black T-shirt.

"Oh, okay then."

Practice came and went quickly. When Sanae offered everyone to go eat an ice-cream, the boys immediately agreed, only a few of them having other things to tend to. Luckily, Wakabayashi also accepted. When they arrived at the parlor, a large table was already arranged for their big group. Sanae pushed her down to sit next to Wakabayashi, while she and Tsubasa sat beside them. A waitress approached them to ask for their orders.

"I'll have the vanilla ice icream please." Genzo said.

"Me too please." Yui said as well, surprised by the fact that Wabayashi liked the same flavour as her.

"Make that two then." Wakabayashi said again. When their icecreams arrived, everybody started chatting away.

"So tell me again why does Tsubasa and Wakabayashi get to sit beside the girls. I mean I get it that Sanae would never waste the opportunity to be near Tsubasa but you Yui... Ouch!" Ishizaki didn't get the chance to finish his ranting because Sanae stepped on his foot hard, throwing him a glare in warning.

"So Yui you arrived at Nankatsu this year right?" Kisugi asked.

"Yeah, I transferred here but actually I have been born here it's just that we had to move because of my father's job." She explained.

"Where did you live before?" Genzo asked this time.

"We lived in Germany."

"So how is it there?"

"Oh it is great there. The school system is a little bit different but still it is a great place to live. Oh, and football is a big deal there as you might already know. The training fields in Hamburg were thousands."

"I know I have seen them." Genzo answered.

"You have?"

"Yeah I'm planning on continuing my football career there if it's possible of course."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be great. Not that you aren't now of course."

"Haha thank you."

"Great start girl!" -Sanae whispered in her ear, which caused Yui to blush.

Everyone enjoyed the evening and Yui had the chance to exchange a few other words with Wakabayashi. Sanae's planned had worked perfectly. She made a mental note to thank her later. After everyone was finished they were about to head home.

"Wakabayashi, - Sanae said. - Can you accompany Yui home?"

"Uh? There is no need Sanae, I will take her home, we live in the same neighborhood anyways." Tsubasa asnwered instead of Wakabayashi. Sanae rubbed her temples in frustration. Why were boys so dense? "You can't Tsubasa you promised to help me clean up at the parlor remember?"

"Ah yes! Sorry."

"So will you Wakabayashi? It's getting late and it's no good for a girl to walk alone."

"But there is no need Sanae really. I can go myself, it is not too far." Yui said, not wanting to bother Wakabayashi but also fearing that he would say "no".

"No, no there is no problem. I can take you." Wakabayashi said, throwing her a reassuring look.

"Okay then, thank you."

Say something Yui! This is your chance, you should not waste this opportunity. She said to herself as she and Wakabayashi were walking home.

"You live in Tsubasa's neighborhood right?" Wakabayashi asked.

"Yeah, our houses are next to each other. So, um, are you excited for the Nationals?"

"Yes of course, we're all looking forward to facing Toho."

"They are your biggest rivals right? Sanae has told me a little about them and their powerful striker, Kojiro Hyuuga."

"Hyuuga is good but this last two years he hasn't really been himself."

"Hasn't been himself?"

"Yeah, he was much more aggressive in the past. We've managed to win two years straight but still we must be prepared. The guys have been slacking off since we win all the time."

"Haha, I know. Ishizaki is always telling everybody at school that it is guaranteeded that we will win again."

"Haha Ishizaki is an idiot. Stay away from him it might be contagious."

"I'll keep that in mind. Is Shutetsu good by the way? I've heard it's one of the best private schools in the country."

"Yes I suppose, the teacher are nice and very well-prepared. There isn't really that much of a difference between Shutetsu and Nankatsu. Oh you know, the students from both schools can't stand each other."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, they consider themselves rivals and always compete who's the best."

"But you guys get on really well."

"Yeah, because we've warmed up to each other now but believe me at the beginning we were always fighting. Anyway, are you liking it here? In Nankatsu I mean."

"Sure, it is really great here. Everybody's been so friendly and welcoming. To be honest I've found a little bit of difficulty in the language because I was so little when I left that I don't remember anything but overall it has been good, the school, the people, the football team."

"Well the football team is the best thing around here of course." He teased.

"Haha yeah yeah." They had already arrived at her house and Yui wished the walk was longer. She bid goodbye to Wakabayashi and entered her home. She immediately texted Sanae to tell her everything. Her chest filled with a warm feeling when she started replaying everything that had happened that evening in her mind. The following week was hectic. Exams were coming up, more to study, more homework, her work as the football team's manager, everything was piling up. Luckily she had been studying regularly every lesson and didn't have any difficulties dealing with the subjects' problems. The same couldn't be said for Ishizaki and Urabe though. Both of them had paid little attention in class, hadn't opened a book at home and were in danger of failing. They had begged and pleaded her to help them with the studies to which she had agreed. So for the whole, she had been tutoring them after practice at her house together with Sanae, who was only struggling with Chemistry. Sunday rolled up pretty quickly and the guys had requested her to study at practice since they were going to be there all day. The Nationals are coming up they had said, we have to practice the whole day, they didn't have much time and other things like this to convince her to say yes. She had agreed so here she was at 2.30, with her bag full of books sitting at one of the benches, waiting for the guys to have a break so they could study. They had been divided in two groups and while the first group trained the other one could take a break. Ishizaki and Urabe came to her along with the others of their group to get their water bottles. She grabbed her books and a pen and motioned for them to take a sit.

"So listen here this exercise is pretty simple. All you have to do is memorize the formula." She said to them.

"Oh man! I'm so tired why do we have to study?" Ishizaki complained while Urabe nodded his head in agreement. She continued on to explain the rest of the exercise but the two boys weren't even paying attention, they would laugh at the pictures in the book, make one or two comments about how hard it was to be a middle school student and then they would avert their gaze completely to the group traning while Yui told them again and again to stay focused.

"I've head enough you guys!" Yui yelled, grabbing the attention of Wakabayashi and the others that were also taking a break. " It's 36 degrees, in the middle of a hot day and here I am trying to help you so you can get a decent grade but all you do is throw my attempts out the window and don't pay even just a little attention to what I'm saying! If you're gonna be this annoying then I'm done!" She got up and left the training field in a hurry. Yui sat in one of the benches out of the field, the farthest possible from the team. She wasn't going to stay long, she knew her reaction was a little exaggerated but she would stay only a few minutes until her nerves had cooled off.

"I thought you had completely left." A voice called behind her. She turned her head to see that it was none other than Wakabayashi.

"Of course not, I'm the menager remember? It wouldn't be right for me to leave. What are you doing here anyways?" She was surprised to see him when he called out to her.

"I came to talk to you. Ishizaki and Urabe really got on your nerves didn't they?"

"Yeah, I guess I overreacted a little. It wasn't right for me to yell that loud."

"You were right, they were being insufferable. But they didn't mean it. Anego gave them an earful after you left that's for sure."

Yui snorted. "That is definitely something she would do."

"They will apologize to you as soon as you come. They really feel sorry. I don't think they will do it again."

"I will apologize too for yelling."

"So, if you're feeling better now let's go to the pitch." He said, getting up from the bench and fixing his hat. Yui just nodded and followed him to the pitch. When she came, Ishizaki and Urabe did exactly what Wakabayashi had said, they apologized for their actions and promised to be completely focused from now on. Yui apologized to them too and got on to explain them the lesson yet again.