[2022 update: FINALLY DONE UPDATING although it only took me about an hour to do, lol. This story had a shit ton of grammatical errors, and it still is laced with past/present tense switches at random intervals. I can't find it in me to do a thorough edit to fix those mistakes because I am literally cringing as I go through and edit this. The spelling and grammar will have to do...I'll probably get to part 2 soon...which was received even better than this...which is crazy to me, 17 years later lol.]

[original below]

Ok, I THINK this may be the final chapter...Anywho, I'm going to reply to reviews now...even though there are 70...Hmmm, maybe I'll just be lazy and not reply, eh? Don't worry, if you REALLY want me to reply to your review, just mail me Yepperz, I think thats it. Who knows, this may not be the final chapter...? Well go on, why are you reading this? Read the friggin chapter already! Oh, before I do, Jass-sorry for it being mean, even though I have no idea how it was. Oh well, on with it!

Life and Soccer

Please Understand

"We're late! Hurry up, Odd, you're so friggin slow! Theo can keep up, why can't you?" Ulrich hissed as they ran to practice. The three boys had just gotten out of detention, which ended right when soccer practice started.

"Get off my back, will ya? I, for one, actually want to be able to feel my legs when we get there!"

"Fine, just shut up and hurry!"

"Boys, you're late. I also heard you have detention for the next month because of that little stunt you pulled. Do you know that states are in weeks? You're lucky this time. I got permission from the principal for you three to skip detention that week for the games." The coach said when the three panting boys were close.

"You know, I always wondered how we always seem to slip out of trouble." Theo whispered to Odd.

"Mhm, you're telling me. I tripped Sissy the other day and a teacher saw it and just winked at me!"

This made Ulrich and Theo shake with laughter, and they ran out onto the field. Ulrich spotted Yumi talking with Emily. He approached her.

"Hey, whats u-" He didn't get to finish, because the girls had taken one look at him and walked away to the other side of the circle the team was forming. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, turning his attention to the coach.

"Well, team, you ready to go to states?" This was followed by loud cheers and hoots, Odd jumping up onto Theo's back and running around swinging a towel above his head.

"Ok, ok, that's enough play." Odd snickered and jumped off of the other boy's back. "As you know, each team has to have captains. Two captains, and this year I want the team to decide who they're going to be. Any nominations?"

Ulrich looked at Odd with a meaningful look.

"I nominate Ulrich!" Odd chirped, getting the point. This was followed by nods and whispers.

"So, everyone thinks Ulrich should be a captain?" Everyone, besides Ulrich and Yumi, said yes. The new captain saw Yumi hadn't agreed, and suddenly getting an idea he smiled devilishly.

"I nominate Yumi," said Ulrich. Yumi jumped and backed away, but everyone seemed to agree that Yumi should be a captain also.

"Everyone want Yumi to be a captain also?"

She looked around and everyone was nodding and smiling. Glaring at Ulrich, who was now smiling at her, she mouthed, "Why?"

He only put a playful smirk on his face and shrugged, knowing she already knew the answer to her question.

"Ok, well, Yumi and Ulrich, go get the captain's bands in that box on the stands. Everyone else, line up for some sprints."

The rest of the team left, complaining under their breath about the upcoming running, leaving Yumi and Ulrich on the sideline.

"So, you liked my song for you?"

"What do you think?" The girl answered, not meeting his eyes and pretending her nails were suddenly interesting. "You got my note, right?"

"I think," He answered, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "you like to play hard to get." Wow, she smells really good. I really need, no, not the time...

"Hmm, hard to get? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, I just really don't like you?" He smells really good, and his arms are so warm..No, you don't like him. You do NOT like him, Yumi.

They were walking behind the goal now, towards the stands.

"Well, if you didn't like me, you would've refused to be captain. We'll be spending all that extra, unnecessary time together, otherwise. And, if you really didn't like me, you would be fighting to get out from under my arm by now." He smiled slyly, feeling the little jump she got when she realized that she hadn't tried to get out of it.

How can he fool me like that? She scowled herself as she pushed his hand off her shoulder. The coach's whistle interrupted her.

"I don't know what you two are talking about over there, but it sure doesn't look like soccer! Hurry and get those bands and join the team on the line!"

.

.

Two weeks went by, and each passing day Yumi's feelings for Ulrich grew, hating it all the while.

Ulrich's feelings were also growing, and it was almost impossible to keep concealed within. He knew that if he did something wrong, Yumi would just push him away even more, but every time he saw her he wanted to walk over and hug her, kiss her, do anything that would make her happy. When other boys tried to get Yumi to look their way, Ulrich came and quickly got things settled.

Even though he knew she liked him, he also knew she wasn't going to let herself admit she did.

It was the day of the state championships, the Kadic team beating everyone in their path to get there. Ulrich stepped out of his car, breathing in the crisp Saturday morning air. He looked around and saw he was the only one there. He locked the doors and strode down to the field, throwing his stuff on the sideline and laying down next to it, closing his eyes and waiting for the rest of the team.

"Haha, man, you better wake up before Yumi hears you sleep talking about her!" He heard Odd say.

He sat up and yawned. Yumi stepped out of her car over in the parking lot and made her way toward the field. Yumi started a conversation with another teammate as the two walked out onto the field and started to pass a ball.

"Was I really sleep talking?" Ulrich asked Odd.

"Hell yeah! OOoooh Yumi, please forgive me! Yuumii, I'm Sooooo sorry! Yumi, Yumi, Yumi..."

Odd and held his hands to his heart as he made fun of Ulrich's words.

"Shut up, idiot!" Ulrich threw his water bottle, hitting his friend in the stomach.

"That hurt! Seriously, I think that you've gotten meaner since you met this chick. Let's go warm up next to your looooover!" Odd whispered that last part and bolted away from the angry boy on the ground. Ulrich grumbled as he got up and followed his friend out onto the field.

.

.

As the game started, everyone quickly found out that this team was harder than any of the others they had played. After Yumi scored the first goal in the first half, and their opponent's best player scored two, the Kadic team was tired and out of spirit.

"Oh, come on guys, we're only down by one! We can come back!" Yumi said. She sat next to Emily in the team circle.

"Easy for you to say, you're the only one who can score!" Odd gasped back.

"Ok, you guys, let's not start a fight. Yumi, good job with the goal, let's get more when we get out there! Ok, on three, one, two, three." Ulrich said, and everyone put in their hands and yelled, "Team!"

Ulrich held out a hand, and Yumi took it. He he pulled her up. "You're doing great out there, keep it up. We need you to keep playing just like that." The compliment made Yumi's heart flutter.

The kickoff for the second half went to Kadic.

Yumi was passed the ball, as she ran downfield to take the shot. She could faintly hear the other coach yelling at his defense to get her when she shot the ball. Suddenly someone slide tackled her, and her feet were taken out from below her. A jolt of pain from her knee made her scream in agony. She fell to the ground, rolling in pain and holding her knee to her stomach, sobbing as she rocked back and forth.

Her scream tore through Ulrich's heart, as he pushed people out of his way to get to her.

"Yumi, are you ok? What hurts?" He asked. He went down on his knee and put a hand on her back. She was still crying and only nodded to her knee. She lifted her hands and let Ulrich look at it. The ref and the coach ran to her, and Ulrich lifted her up, draping her arm around his shoulder as he escorted her off the field and sat her down.

"You're going to be ok, don't worry. Sit tight and we'll win the game for you." Ulrich promised. He smiled at her, but she merely nodded as a doctor checked her knee. There was not much room for her to think about anything except the pain, and the fear that she'd be too injured to play soccer. Ulrich ran back out to the field, angry and ready to battle.

"The shot was a goal!" The ref said. The Kadik team lightly celebrated, quietly stressed about having lost one of their top players for that goal. Ulrich sighed and looked worriedly over to the sideline. The doctor was still checking her over, so he averted his gaze to the other coach, who was smiling and telling the player who had taken Yumi out good job. A fire was lit inside of Ulrich and the game resumed play.

.

.

There were under 30 seconds left in the game, and Kadic was down by one.

Yumi found out that her knee was sprained, and that she wouldn't be going back into the game. She fought with the coach, telling him she was fine, but he refused.

Ulrich had found his stride in the second half and managed to gain some momentum, but even after scoring 2 more goals, the other team managed to get 3. Everyone on the Kadic team was on the verge of tears, thinking that they had lost the championship game by a single goal.

Yumi stood from the bench during a timeout and walked over to Theo, who was now in her spot on the field. She tried to talk him into letting her back on.

"Please, Theo. I'm begging you!"

"Yumi, no. If I let you and you get hurt, I'll feel terrible. Plus, not only will coach kick me off the team for going against him, but," He looked around and dropped his voice to a whisper, "Ulrich will kill the crap outta me!"

This made Yumi smile. "Don't worry, I won't let either of them do anything to you, ok? And I promise that I can play for thirty seconds...it's just thirty seconds! Please."

"...Fine, I need a break anyways." He said, with a little doubt in his voice as he ran off the field.

"Yumi, what are you doing?" Ulrich ran over and asked, worried. He didn't mean to sound like her mother, but he didn't want her to injure herself even more.

"Do you want to win, or not?" She asked. The coach was pacing the sideline, and when the ref shot him a questioning look, he only shrugged, and the game started.

The other team knew Yumi was trying to score, and that she was an easy target to take out. When she got the ball, all of the opponents charged at her. Doing her fanciest moves to try and avoid them, she made it to the goal, shooting it and letting out a gasp as her knee sent a shock of pain through her body.

"Goal!" Everyone on the team rushed to the fallen girl, jumping with joy as they tried to help her up. Ulrich walked over to her, picking her up bridal-style and taking her back onto the sideline. Her knee was throbbing, and her head was swimming as black came into the sides of her mind.

Stay awake, Yumi, you have to stay awake.. She told herself. The ref declared since there was a tie, they would have five penalty kicks from each team to decide the winner. Ulrich kicked the first one for Kadic, Odd the second, Emily the third, and Theo forth. After four kicks from each team, they were tied 3 to 3. The other team sent their 5th player out, and she missed the goal, big time. It was Kadic's last turn, and Yumi sat up, "I'll do it."

"No, you won't. I let you play for the last part of the game, but this is too much." The coach answered.

"I think she should. She was the one who won the game for us, don't you think? We might as well let her finish what she started." Ulrich put in, smiling at Yumi.

Everyone else seemed to agree with the statement, and the hurt girl stood up and walked out onto the field. She placed the ball on the ground and backed up, heaving out a calming breath. You can do it, Yumi. You can do this! She aimed, and kicked it. The goalie grabbed it No, no, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! She closed her eyes, just in time to miss the goalie drop the ball, and it land in the goal.

"Goal! Kadic High wins!" Screams of joy surrounded Yumi as her team and fans gathered around her.

Ulrich ran towards her and picked her up in a hug, twirling her around and setting her back down. She let a yelp of pain out when she landed, and Ulrich said a hasty, "Sorry!" Before reaching for her so she could lean her injured side onto him.

Suddenly Yumi felt the same sensation as she had that night when he had said he had doubts.

"Why did you have doubts, Ulrich?" Yumi asked, as all the other commotion became softer until all she could hear was her breath and his pants.

"I didn't say I had doubts. I said I had one doubt." He wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her weight against him and relieving all the pressure from her knee. "And the doubt was that I wouldn't be good enough for you."

This made Yumi's breath stop in her lungs, "Why would you think that?"

He smiled and leaned in, planting a kiss on her cheek. Her face flushed and she peeked at him from under her lashes.

"Well, you made me work for it and never hid the fact you thought I was just playing around. Of course, I would think that maybe you were right, and I couldn't treat you right." He leaned in again and pressed his lips right on the corner of her lips. Barely not a kiss. "And it was only a doubt since it was a fleeting thought. I know I can treat you right. I've said it plenty of times now, I'm very serious about you. And I intend to prove it to you."

The crowd around them was cheering, and her knee was on fire, but Yumi was completely focused on this smiling boy holding her up. It was a damned good answer, she had to admit. There were butterflies everywhere in her stomach at that moment.

What the hell, why not just give him a chance? It's what you wanted to do from the start, anyway! She screamed at herself. Every other time she'd pulled away right at this point, but she was so caught up in the moment of winning and this confession that it was easy to just fall into it.

"You missed," she teased. He cocked his head at her. She used her arm that she'd flung around his shoulder for support to pull his face down to hers. "This is where you're supposed to aim." Their lips met in a kiss, which quickly became passionate. Yumi felt the heat behind his movement, but she broke it after a few seconds. Now was neither the time nor place. They had plenty of time in the future to continue with that.

But not here in the middle of a soccer field, surrounded by a celebration.

He was lightly chuckling. "So, we're good now?"

She laughed a little, "Yeah, we're very good now." She readjusted herself on him, hopping off her knee. He welcomed it.

"Yumi?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to show you that I'll never hurt you. You know this isn't a game for me, right?" The boy asked, pulling her closer.

"Yes, I think I know that now." The girl answered, smiling.

I'm sorry for such a lame ending, but my mind is turning off from this break! Oh well, I think you get the point that they end up together and live happily ever after, ladeda. I'm starting a new story soon, as soon as I can think of it, lol...Review for this final chapter!

.StArRy.