AN: BEHOLD MY MASTERPIECE

SoccerGirl- yeah, but this chapter might open tsubasa's eyes hehehehe thank you for reading and reviewing

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 20: Confession

It's been a few days since the end of Nationals and almost everything went back to normal. The only thing out of the ordinary was Wakabayashi-kun had gone now for Germany and the five boys chosen for the International Junior Youth were in Tsumagoi, training for their matches in France that would soon be coming up.

Tsubasa should have been with them, instead he was here in Nankatsu, waiting until his shoulder has been healed.

She knew that he must be going out of his mind by now. She'd known him long enough to figure out what he must be feeling. But they both knew he couldn't do anything. If he desperately wanted to play, he should be sitting tight and resting.

The little bell on top of the door of the shop jingled and she looked up from her sit behind the counter to greet the newcomers.

"Hi, welcome to- oh hey there Tsubasa-kun!" she said in surprise. He usually didn't come to the shop all by himself. Only when Daichi felt like eating some food from the shop did he come at all.

"Hey," he greeted back as he walked towards the counter.

She noticed from the corner of her eyes a group of girls sitting in one of the shop's tables, turn to his direction, whispering and giggling as they pointed to him.

She felt a small tug of possessiveness hit her chest, but she ignored it. She didn't have the right to feel that way. Tsubasa wasn't even her boyfriend for god's sake. Why the hell would she think that?

She's not even sure if he felt the same way.

"You're alone today?" She asked as he arrived in front of the counter. She felt the eyes of the other girls on her as she leaned forwards on the counter.

"Yeah," he answered as he too leaned in the counter. "I just came home from Tsumaigo to see how everyone was, and it was only Tou-san at home. Kaa-san and Daichi are out shopping for groceries, and since it was only Tou-san, naturally I couldn't find any food to feed myself with. Then my sweet tooth kicked in. I figured this would be the best place to get food."

She chuckled at his answer.

"Of course you would want to eat something sweet just as you get home," she teased lightly. "Don't eat too much though," she warned as she pinched his arm lightly. "Next thing you know, you'll have trouble running because you got too chubby."

"Ow!" he exclaimed as he took his arm away from her and cradle it close to him. "What is wrong with you and hurting us boys? Especially me?"

She only snickered and stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"And for the record," he started. "I am not chubby. A man doesn't deserve to be called chubby. Besides, I burn all those sugar playing soccer anyway."

She only shook her head her fondly.

"Whatever Chubby Eagle," she teased once more.

"I am not chubby!"

She rolled her eyes at him jokingly. "Just tell me what you want. And they shouldn't all be sweets. And also, no more chocolate. Goodness knows how much sugar you've eaten by now, you're going to die of diabetes when you grow up."

"B-but chocolate-"

"Tsubasa-kun," she warned.

He made a small pout (which she found really cute because he looked so much like Daichi when he did it) and crossed his arms like a little child.

"Fine," he grumbled. "You choose what I eat, since you don't seem to approve of my choices."

She chuckled as she thought about what she should give him.

"Well, I guess I could get you some turkey sandwich and just to satisfy your unhealthy obsession over sweets and chocolate, I'll give you a strawberry vanilla cupcake along with a milkshake."

"That sounds good," he remarked as he gave her a smile that made her heart beat 389 miles a minute.

"I-I'll just get these for you and ring them up quickly," she said as looked away from him, hoping to god that he didn't notice the blush on her cheeks.

She quickly got the things she ordered for him and she could feel his eyes on her and prayed she didn't drop anything from her nervous.

She didn't know why she was feeling like this. She wasn't like this a few weeks ago. This just started with Nationals when she did all those bold things (suddenly hugging him, lacing his hands onto his, and getting a hug back). Ugh, and she was doing so great not stuttering like a wood chucker! Now, she's almost back to square one.

But, that didn't seem like a bad idea. She could fall in love with him all over again.

"So how were the boys?" she asked as she rang up his food, and also to get her mind of off her deep feelings to the boy paying his food across from her.

"They're…" He began as he took his food.

Oh fuck, his mood deflated. Something must have happened when he was there. Gotta think of something fast.

"You know what," she interrupted. "Why don't we take a walk and you can tell me all about it then?"

"A walk?" he said skeptically. "Are you sure? Aren't you still working? Won't they need your help?"

"Don't worry," she assured him as she began to untie her apron. "It's not busy today. They'll be fine without me. Besides, I need a break. I've been working since morning. Be right back."

She went to the kitchen and told one of their employees that she would be taking a break for a while. They just told her to have fun.

She arrived into the shop area to see him casually slipping on his milkshake. She noticed one of the girls from that group stood up from her seat, probably dared by her friends to speak to him.

She didn't where it came from but she ran from where she was to where he was standing and grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"Come on, Eagle," she said as she dragged him towards the door. "We don't have all day."

"H-hey wait a minute!"

She only chuckled as he spluttered from behind her, but she looked to girls from the corner of her eyes, daring them to move, challenging them to do something.

She directed her gaze back towards the front and the two of them left the shop.

She was oddly satisfied to see the dumbfounded looks on those girls' faces.

She should have expected this, but when it came to him, it always came back to soccer. Or a soccer field at least.

They were sitting on the slope by the soccer field near the river. He was finishing eating his cupcake that he bought earlier before. He couldn't exactly eat while walking, so they stopped by the field so he could eat.

He was in the middle of telling her how the guys beat the combined upperclassmen of Toho and Nankatsu, who were specifically asked by the coaches to help train them. They were members of the winners of Nationals, and with their combined talents, they were bound to be strong opponents.

But with the J-boys determination and perseverance, they managed to win 2-1.

"They gave me something too," he added, his voice oddly soft.

"Really?" she asked as she hugged her knees.

"They gave me the number 10 shirt," he answered as he leaned back, supported by his hands. Then he chuckled, "They already picked out there jerseys, and nobody wanted to take it. You wanna know what they told me?"

She gave him a curious look. "What?"

She thought right then that his grin could have ended wars.

"They told me that nobody deserved to wear the number 10 jersey but me," he turned to look at her with that smile on his face. "Just like what you said."

Her heart skipped a beat.

She looked away from him, a light blush gracing her cheeks. She started playing with a peace of grass near her feet.

"I guess the boys and me just have the same thoughts," she muttered, still not looking for him.

He chuckled at her answer and looked at the orange sky.

"They'll be going to Germany the day after tomorrow to play a friendly match with one of the teams there."

"Wakabayashi-kun's team right?" she guessed with a smile.

That made him turn to her in surprise. "How'd you know?"

She chuckled and answered, "Shiori-chan told me. Because of their same fondness for dogs, they managed to hit it off and found themselves as online pals. Wakabayashi-kun even asked her to look after John the whole time he's gone."

"Well, I guess you know now," he chuckled, but then he sighed. "Knowing that they're going to go against Wakabayashi-kun made me more excited to go to Europe than ever."

She noticed that he reached unconsciously for his shoulder again.

"Hey," she patted his arm with an encouraging smile. "I'm sure if you continue your recovery, then you'll be able to go to Europe and join everyone else."

He returned her smile with one of this own.

"The doctor told me something yesterday," he started as he took his hand off his shoulder.

"What did he say?" she asked as she took her hand off his arm.

"He said to wait just a few more days," he answered happily. "Just a few more days and I'm fully recovered."

"Really?" she exclaimed joyfully. "That's awesome, Tsubasa-kun!"

He chuckled again at her reaction. "And I might be able to join them sooner than we all thought."

He sighed again in happiness and laid down on the grass. "I can't wait."

She smiled but it slowly, slowly turned into a tiny frown.

She's happy that he finally recovered but she couldn't help but think that he was leaving again. Granted, it was just for a short while and not as long when he left for Brazil. But he was leaving again, and the world will probably turn their attention on to him. He would reach greater heights and finally leave them behind, leave her behind.

He was leaving again, and she couldn't help but think that he'd finally forget about her.

It was 10:30 in the evening and she wasn't home at all was instead at the hill of Hikarigaoka Park, gazing mindlessly at the stars. Her mom was gone for the week and wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Ayame went to Paris with her family for their yearly summer trip. Apparently, it was her turn to pick where they were going this year, and she just knew her cousin has another motive to go to Paris than just visit the place. Sneaky girl.

With her cousin and mom gone, it made for a great time for her to leave the house and have time to think to herself. It was dangerous when she starts to think, because she usually gets terrible ideas.

Like finally confession her feelings for him.

He was leaving for Germany tomorrow. The doctor was right and his shoulder healed faster than they all expected. Their friends, those that were left here in Japan, tested his shoulder in a little game of "try to pass us and score" a few days ago, and he of course did it easily, proving that he really did recover. Since he was so happy to finally be healed, he started to find a flight to Germany right away.

He told them that he's flying tomorrow at 11 in the morning.

That was when her heart and her mind finally agreed that it was time to tell him how much she had fallen for him.

It's been years since she had started to have her feelings for him. Years since she tried to move on and get on with life, knowing that it was impossible for him to have feelings for her because they were young, and she's still naïve for keeping these feelings for so long.

She hated how much she's starting to get jealous from all the stares he gets from other girls they encounter, hated how they could shamelessly flirt with him and how clueless he was, and hated herself more for getting jealous of soccer of all things.

But, no matter how much she tried, how much she ignored them, she just couldn't get over him.

She didn't know if the only way she could finally move on was to finally tell him of all her buried feelings for him.

Or maybe it wouldn't but she knew, she believed that maybe it was time to say all these things to him.

She was laying down on the grass as the star twinkled above her. She mindlessly took a picture of the night sky and unconsciously sent it to him because the next thing she knew was that she received a text from him.

That looks beautiful. Where'd you take it?

Quickly she tapped a reply.

Hikarigaoka Park.

Immediately she got a message back.

What? Why are you there so late at night? Don't you know how dangerous it could be at this time?

She rolled her eyes and keyed in her answer.

Don't worry I'll be fine.

Her phone alerted her of another message.

Fine? You know what don't go anywhere and just stay there. I'm picking you up and walking you home.

Seeing that she couldn't argue with him, she just sighed through her nose and pressed the lock button before turning back to the sky, and waited for him to come.

Since the park wasn't that far away from his house, he arrived after a few minutes. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes when she heard the scrunching of the grass coming from his direction, but then she turned to watch the stars light up the sky.

"Hey," she heard him greet her as he stood beside her.

"Hi," she greeted back, still not moving from her position.

"So what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" he asked as he looked up the sky.

"Thinking," she answered nonchalantly.

"About?" he pried some more, not content with her answer.

"Stuff," she replied cryptically.

She heard him sigh and she didn't particularly care. He would know soon what she was thinking about anyway.

Because she made the decision to finally tell him, even if she already knew what his answer was going to be.

"Well, if you're done thinking about stuff," he started, "then we should probably get going home. It's already 11."

She hummed her response. "I'm done." Then she raised one of her arms. "Help me up."

He chuckled at her order but took her hand nonetheless. She used him as she got herself up from the ground, but instead of walking towards the direction where he came from, she walked towards the railings instead and looked all over the town.

"Ne, Tsubasa-kun?" She started. He turned to her in confusion, wondering what she was doing. "Have you ever thought of what your future would be?"

She didn't even need to look to know that his eyebrows were knitted together to show how much puzzled he suddenly became.

"What brought that up?" he asked. "But yeah, I have."

"What do you think about then?" she asked as she leaned her body on the railings.

"Well, you know," he started a little bit embarrassed. "Going Pro in Brazil, winning the World Cup for Japan."

She giggled at his answer. Why did even have to ask, of course it would be about soccer. "Silly Eagle, of course I knew about that," she said. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled. "I-" she licked her lower lip, "I mean have you ever thought of stuff aside from soccer."

"Not really," she heard him answer nonchalantly. "I mean, I could start thinking about that, but it's kinda hard because everything leads back to soccer for me."

She gave a sad smile, and she was lucky that she was facing away from him.

She gave a humorless chuckle. "Of course, why did I even have to ask? Soccer would always be your first priority."

"I- I don't get what your saying-"

"But," she interrupted him as she stood up from leaning against the railings, "But I just really have to say this I guess, because I don't know if I ever get another chance before I turn into a coward again." She gave a soft smile to herself as she looked down over the town.

She turned back to him, this time with a bigger smile. It was time, time to say everything she bottled up inside her, time to finally tell him what she'd been meaning to since so long ago.

Their eyes met and she opened her mouth.

"I like you, Tsubasa-kun," she declared as the breeze lazily passed by them, gently swaying her hair.

"No," she shook her head as the breeze continued on.

"I'm absolutely, irrevocably, in love with you."

End Chapter

AN: i did it, i made the other big reveal. I would have really thought she would be the one to confess first because Sanae was really the one who was obvious with her feelings while Tsubasa was just... yeah. So this chapter was made

Thank you for all your continued support and i hope you liked this chapter. See you next chapter