AN: i was reading the manga one time and i got to the part when Sanae told Tsubasa she was pregnant and i was hit with the realization (like a punch on the face) that THEY HAD SEX. THEY DID THE DO. THEY FRICKLE FRACKLED. TSUBASA WAS MAN ENOUGH TO THINK OF THINGS OUTSIDE SOCCER.

kleinerrable- hello! thank you for reading and reviewing. i think it would be a good idea to have the boys be teenagers still, because all that soccer in their head shouldn't be good for them. Even if they take soccer seriously, they should have some life once in a while and act like the teens that they are

SoccerGirl- whew, that what i was hoping. i wanted them to act like normal people for once because really they need to talk about something other than soccer. they should have fun doing other things because they're missing out on things teenagers usually do (except those bad things, they can skip doing them).

can-can- thank you for reading and reviewing and here's the next chapter

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 23: Not the Only One

After that disastrous first match against Hamburg, and the sudden shrug off of the Italian team, All Japan Junior Youth played more games after that. But with his arrival, the team managed to win from then on, with their campaign ending with three wins and two loses.

It wasn't so bad. They just need to have this going and they're for sure going to win the tournament.

After their campaign though, Wakabayashi-kun was finally given permission to play for Japan, but even then, he's been criticizing the team with their playing. He could see that his team was getting pissed at him, but him and Misaki both knew that he had a reason for doing that. Foreigners did have a different way of playing soccer. They should know, they were the only other ones who played with non-Japanese players, and they were ruthless.

They arrived in France to have Katagiri-san welcoming them and congratulating them for their campaign. Aside from France, it seemed like they were the first team to arrive in the country. Well, there was still three days left until the tournament begins. They have all the time in the world to arrive.

Coach Mikami told them that they could take the day off, but he just couldn't sit still. He was too excited for the game they have in three days. Finally, they could have their payback for Italy for dissing them.

So when they arrived at the dorms, he and the rest of the members from Nankatsu took up Misaki-kun's offer of a tour of Paris. He said that this way, they didn't have to get antsy just staying the dorms, since he knew that they wouldn't take a break anyway, especially him.

But even then, they didn't forget to bring a ball with them. Actually, the six of them were just passing the ball among each other as they went around the streets of Paris as Misaki-kun told them some random facts about the places he pointed out.

That was also the time Wakabayashi-kun told them why he was being a huge dick to the other people.

Now, they were in one of the parks of Paris, playing a game of keep away to past time because they really didn't want to be coped up in the dorms. They might know the reason why Wakabayashi-kun said all those things, but that didn't mean everyone did. They didn't really need a fight between teammates just before the tournament. Everything they worked on would be for nothing them.

He passed the ball to Taki-kun to prevent Kisugi-kun from taking it, but his curly haired teammate was quick to switch his attention to Taki-kun, thus it lead to the guy kicking it harder than necessary and it rolled farther away from them.

"Really, Taki, really?" Izawa turned to his friend. "You had one job!"

"What? I can't help it!" Taki tried to defend himself. "I didn't want to get rammed over by Kisugi."

"Hey, don't bring me into this. You're the one who kicked it!"

The three of them started to banter and he heard his two other friends sighing from where they are. Wakabayashi-kun even started to scold them, but they quickly shut him up by telling him that nobody asked for his opinion.

That was their first sign that maybe these boys were spending too much time with the girls' team.

"Wow, you guys. You're in Paris and you chose to still play soccer and bicker," they heard a familiar voice join them. "Good job using your time in a country you don't visit often."

They turned to where it came from and was surprised to see who it was.

There was a girl their age who had their ball under her feet. Her straight dark brown hair was unbound and fell across her back like waterfalls. Her eyes were covered by huge sunglasses and only then when she pushed it up to rest on her hair did they recognize who she was.

"Ayame-chan!" they exclaimed.

"What up?" she greeted as she kicked the ball back to them and started to trek towards them.

"What's the matter with you guys?" she asked as she reached them. "You looked like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-you're here!" Taki-kun exclaimed. "H-how?"

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Sanae tell you guys? My family and I are going to be in France. We've been here since a few weeks ago." Then Ayame turned to him. "Actually, I would have thought you would remember since I left before you did."

He raised his arms in defense, "A lot of things happened okay? I forgot."

"That is still no excuse," she countered. "She told you guys again when you guys called her that one night."

"How do you know about that, Ayame-chan?" Misaki-kun asked curiously.

"Because I was chatting with her too," she answered. "I rarely catch her awake at that time since there is a seven hour difference between France and Paris, so I took the chance to bug her. It turned out she was only awake because of you." She pointed an accusatory finger at Tsubasa.

The glare she gave him spoke something deeper than what she just said, and he figured she knew what happened between Sanae and him.

Then she sighed. "Well, whatever," she said. "I guess now you know that I'm here now." Then she uncrossed her arms and perked up. "So how's it going so far? Sanae told me that you guys lost to Wakabayashi-kun's."

They all had a sheepish look cross their faces. Why did she have to tell Ayame only the bad news? She was making them look bad.

"Hey, we won three more matches after that," he tried to defend themselves. "It wasn't all that bad."

"But that was because you were there," she replied nonchalantly. "If you were there, then the team's chances would have been higher, but it still wouldn't win you the game."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kisugi-kun demanded from her.

She made a light giggle at his reaction, and he knew she just wanted to bristle their feathers, because really, this was Ayame. She made it a living to get on their nerves.

"I didn't mean it like that," she assured them and they were surprised by how sincere she sounded. "I just mean that, you guys were still missing a person. Wakabayashi-kun wasn't playing with you guys."

She smiled at them proudly. "A team can't bring out its whole potential without everyone in it, right?"

They stared at her in silence, flabbergasted by how such a thing could come from her, before Misaki-kun chuckled.

"You had us worried for a moment, there Ayame-chan," he remarked. "I would have thought you would say something like we were still lacking in training."

"If anything, I think you guys would be the team that never gets tired of training," she retorted, then she mumbled in a lower tone, "Soccer-obsessed freaks. Couldn't even take in the sights of France and just went straight to soccer."

"But I gotta admit though," Wakabayashi-kun started, "What you just said sounded to be something Anego would say."

That's true. Sanae was usually the one giving them these kinds of talks.

"Well, I promised my dear cousin of mine that I'll look after you guys," she replied. "I've already done all my shopping and my family has to stay a few more weeks here because my mom still has a fashion show to do."

"Oh yeah, you told us your mom is a famous fashion designer," Taki-kun thought out loud. "I guess since Paris is a major city for fashion, she would be here."

"Yep," she answered dryly. "We're showing the summer and fall collection by the end of the month and my parents thought it would be a right time to finally tour Paris."

Huh, well Sanae told him differently.

"But I remember Sanae-chan told me that you were the one to pick Paris for this year for you guys' family vacation," he asked in confusion.

She flinched in surprise and her face started to flush into a light pink.

"W-well, it turned out I didn't have to pick because my parents already has this trip planned," she turned away from them. "It's not like I wanted to watch you guys play or anything."

"Your face is red, Ayame-chan," Misaki-kun pointed out cheekily.

"Shut up Misaki-kun!" she roared at him, "I wasn't purposely planning on watching every single game you guys will play."

"Oh you're watching all our matches?" Misaki-kun continued to tease.

"I- wha- argghhhh!" she exclaimed as she hid her face behind her hands. They all snickered as Misaki-kun smirked to her as she glared at him from the spaces between her hands.

He gave a glance at his friend from the corner of his eye as he dodged Ayame-chan's punch, laughing all the way. His friends joined in the teasing as well, and that earned them a glare as she proceeded to chase after them as well.

But he never knew that Misaki-kun could act like that, especially towards a girl. He was always that one person who watched in silent amusement when their friends joked around. He would join in sometimes, but it wasn't often. But this teasing?

Now he was curious to what exactly they talked about in French.

With Ayame's insistence, they brought her along back to their dorms. She said something about needing to talk about to Coach Mikami. That puzzled them greatly. Why would she need to talk to their coach? And how did they stay in contact.

Well, she did answer their second question. Apparently Coach Mikami sent her an email, which he got her address from Shiori-chan, whose email he got from Wakabayashi-kun.

They turned to the goalkeeper, who only pulled down his cap and answered, "Don't ask."

So they didn't, but all of them knew that he was going to get interrogated late.

As for their first question…

"Well now that's a secret," she replied with a teasing wink.

They tried to get it out of her, but she wouldn't budge, so they ended their attempts for now anyway.

They arrived back to the dorms to see it deserted. They met Misugi-kun as he was leaving the place and they took that chance to ask him where everyone went.

He told them that Hyuuga-kun went to training with Wakashimazu-kun while the others all went somewhere he didn't know. Probably touring the city.

That was also the time he finally noticed Ayame was with them.

He greeted her in surprise and she only said hi back nonchalantly before asking where Coach Mikami was, but he didn't have to answer because he appeared right as Misugi-kun was about to answer.

Coach Mikami exclaimed in surprise and the two of them huddled close together in a corner. They talked in hushed whispers but it didn't seem like something was wrong because they exchanged some bows after their talk.

Ayame left after their talk as she gave them quick goodbyes and said that she'll see them tomorrow.

They could only look at each other in confusion before shrugging it off.

So now, here they were practicing yet again in preparation for the tournament. It seemed like everyone was both tensed and excited for the game coming up in two days. He couldn't exactly blame them. He was as excited as they are.

He just shot a ball towards the goal line from outside the penalty area and Wakabayashi-kun never failed to live up to his claim of catching the ball that was shot outside of the penalty box.

"What kind of kick was that Oozora? That looked lousy as fuck. Put some more power in it!"

Why was he hearing Ayame's voice?

They turned to the sides to see Ayame in a red sweatshirt and black sweatpants along with a string backpack on her back. She had her hands on her hips as her hair was bunched up in a high ponytail, something she usually wear when she's playing.

He thought where this was going.

"Ayame-chan?" the members of Nankatsu exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping you train, what else?" she said as she took off the bag from her shoulders.

"You?" Jito scoffed. "Train us? I doubt you can even help us."

Wrong move Jito.

Ayame glared up to him and the other members of the team as the six players from Nankatsu flinched and tried to move away from her.

"Watch it, assface," she warned. "I can pass you in three seconds." Yes, she could. They are the proof. "Be happy I'm willing to even be here because of the boys."

"Why you-" Jito roared. "Who even called you here?"

"I did, Jito-kun," Coach Mikami answered. "Kiseki-san is here by my request."

They all turned to their coach in surprise. Why would he need to ask Ayame to be here?

"Her, Coach?" Soda-kun asked skeptically. "No offense, but what reason would she need to be here?"

"Kiseki-san is here to help train all of you for the next two days as well help us coaches in making decisions for player positions."

He knew that was the reason she was there.

"What?" The team roared. "Why her? What if she can't even keep up?"

"She can and she's getting tired of all the sexism rolling in the air right now," she interrupted already out of her sweatshirt and pants into a pick tank top and black shorts.

"She has already experienced playing against boys," Coach Mikami explained. "I assure you that she can keep with all of you. I chose her because it would be beneficial to have the thoughts of someone who's won National Titles for four years now as well as winning the same tournament for girls last year."

"Word."

"Are you serious?" One of the Tachibana twins exclaimed.

"If you want any more confirmation, you can even ask Izawa-kun, Kisugi-kun, and Taki-kun."

Izawa-kun nodded. "Ayame-chan's been part of Nankatsu's Girls' Soccer Team since we've started junior high, and you guys already know she's part of the high school team as well, who just won Nationals."

"Along with the other girls of the U-15 Japanese team, they won the International Cup last year," Taki-kun added.

So if Ayame got in the team, then Sanae probably got in as well. She never told him about this. But still, he couldn't believe that they're girls team was that amazing.

"Plus, she could also give Misaki and Tsubasa a run for their money," Kisugi ended confidently. "She can totally live up to her name as a 'Miracle'. You shouldn't underestimate her.

Misaki-kun chuckled from where he sat. Tsubasa has a bad feeling about that chuckle because when he did that (which wasn't often), he just knew that he was planning something.

"I remember Ayame-chan completely stealing the ball from under my foot the last time we played against her. I wouldn't be surprised if she did it again against all of you," he taunted.

He saw his teammates bristling in anger. What in the world is he thinking trying to piss them off.

Wakabayashi-kun smirked and added his two cents in. "Yeah, and she could definitely outscore all of you."

He could just feel the tension rolling around the field and Misugi-kun could only shake his head in exasperation.

"Okay, you big bullies," Ayame interrupted before they could add anymore. "As much I love you guys praising my awesomeness on the field, I am not as great as you I am. If you really want to do those things, then Sanae deserves it more than I do. She was who led the International Team last year. And also, don't listen to these idiots. I'm physically weaker than all of you guys, but I'm going to be helping you try out strategies for this tournament base on my experiences from last year. Just really ignore them."

The other guys blinked owlishly before looking at each other and shrugging in confusion.

"That doesn't mean that I won't be a challenge," she added icily. "If you thought that then get that out of your mind because I'll be working your asses off for the next two days."

She gave them a glare and he felt the Shuutetsu trio hide behind him while shivering. Even he had a bad feeling about her training.

"Now, that's over," she sighed. "Oozora on the field now." She ordered as she walked past by him. "We need to talk."

He thought he figured what she wanted to talk about.

He nodded and followed after her, ignoring the confused looks he got from his teammates. They were probably wondering why she would need to talk to him, but they didn't have to know.

When they arrived in the middle of the field, only when did she decide to talk.

"She told me everything, you know," she said to him. "About what happened before you left."

He knew this was coming.

"Oh," he mumbled.

Then she sighed. "Look, I know that you're still undecided about what to feel for her, and she's willing to wait all eternity for you."

He took a deep breath. He already knew that and that's why he's trying to figure out everything as fast as possible.

"But," she started. "I'm not letting her wait for you forever because if I find out you were just leading her on, then I will not hesitate to crush you. So you better be willing to hold that promise."

Then she added nonchalantly, "Don't think you're the only one who likes her. There are other guys out there waiting for her too."

He looked at her in surprise, but he didn't have time to ask her anything more when she called all the other members out on the field.

Someone, he knew what she said to him would stay on his mind for a long time.

End Chapter

AN: still will never get over Sanae and Tsubasa doing the do.

Anyway, this is the first time we see Ayame without the Sanae and I hope you guys like her because she's my bae. I haven't actually expounded on her that much because I don't usually focus on her. Ayame's really complicated in my head and I just need to find some place where I can explain her in here. Also, Tsubasa was hit by a harsh reality he never thought before and when he comes back to Japan he will be surprised hehehehehe.

that's it with this chapter thank you for reading and please review. cya next chapter