AN: i figured i might as well post this since i'll be gone
yeah i dont own captain tsubasa
Chapter 25: Inch by Inch
He looked out the window and saw the Pacific Ocean glittering underneath them. Man, this brought back memories. It wasn't even a year ago that he was met with the same scenery. Except this time, he wasn't coming back from Brazil, he was coming home with an International Title.
His experience in France was amazing. Not only did he get to play with everyone, but he also went against strong players. Of course, he had experiences playing with strong foreign players, Brazil was known for its soccer players, but European players were a league of their own. He couldn't wait until they all meet again on the field, and hopefully it would be at the World Cup.
But right now, it would be great if he could rest for a while. That last game with Germany kind of made his shoulder hurt again, and with Nationals and Junior Youth Tournament occurred one after another, it left him exhausted. When everything finally passed, only then did he feel the fatigue.
But most of all, he could have the time to think about everything, about them.
He was actually lucky he didn't lose that much concentration during their matches. What Ayame told him before the start of the Tournament really bothered him. He didn't know why though.
He knew he shouldn't be surprised that other guys would like her. She was smart, funny, friendly, and beautiful, so he could understand why others would be attracted to her. It's just really stupid of him to be bothered by it.
But he always felt irritated when he tried to see her in the arms of someone else. He couldn't stand the thought of her sending those smiles to someone else, those eyes looking at another person the same way she looked at him, those words being said to someone other than him.
And he was never more relieved to know that such person didn't exist. Yet. Hopefully never.
He knew he was sounding like a possessive boyfriend already, even though they weren't dating yet. Officially anyway. Hopefully soon.
He just felt that he wanted to wait a little longer, because he wanted to return her feelings back wholehearted, to say those words back to her with the same passion she had for him, because she deserved nothing but the best, and he was more than willing to give her that.
Until he was sure that he would give her all he could offer, would he finally say those words back to her. Until he could definitely say that he was completely, undeniably, madly, deeply in love with her, because that's what she deserved.
He took out his phone and browsed through his pictures. He scrolled through them, until he finally saw what he was looking for.
He couldn't help but smile whenever he see this picture.
It was the two of them, back when they were celebrating both of their victories in that one yakiniku restaurant. She was holding his phone at arms' length as she tried to fit both of them in the screen. Their grins were huge and bright, clearly showing much they were enjoying the celebrations. He couldn't even believe that he was in a slump earlier that day. She always knew how to cheer him up.
He also knew she always had a gorgeous smile and he was lucky that he would be able to see it whenever he could.
"That's a cute picture of you and Anego."
He jumped in surprise hearing Misaki-kun's voice and almost let his phone slip from hand. Good, thing he had fast reflexes.
He turned to his friend who he hadn't notice to have woken up from his sleep. He was quite nervous seeing the look his friend was giving him.
"When did you guys take it?" Misaki-kun asked, surprisingly without any tone of teasing in them.
He scratched his cheek as they continued to stare at the picture. "It was on the day we had our celebrations."
"You guys make a great couple," Misaki-kun remarked nonchalantly, but he knew that his friend was onto something.
He felt his face heat up as he refused to meet his eyes. "D-do we?" he faked innocence, kneading the back of his neck. "I never thought of it like that before." That wasn't really a lie. He never did think of anything like that before, but ever since that night, it's been on his mind countless of times.
Misaki chuckled from beside him. "You're such a bad liar Tsubasa-kun," he said cheekily.
He could only gave him a wry smile. He knew he could never keep something from his quiet friend.
"You know, I never did believe what you said when we found out that you were chatting with Anego," Misaki told him. He already locked his screen again, feeling for it absentmindedly as he listened to him. "About nothing happening between the two of you."
He took a deep breath, but didn't reply to what his friend said.
"Sometimes, you get this far away look in your eyes," Misaki said to him. "And there were times too that you unconsciously feel for Anego's charm on your chest."
He was honestly surprised that he did all those things.
"And I figured Ayame-chan must have said something to you that made you frown more than necessary when you think no one was looking."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was no use lying to Misaki-kun. Out of every one of them, he was the most perceptive.
"I- we never exactly told this to anyone yet, except when she told Ayame, but I haven't," he admitted.
Misaki-kun widened his eyes. "So something did happen?" he asked in a hushed whisper.
"Yeah," he answered pathetically. "More or less."
"Well, come on," Misaki-kun nudged his side, "Tell me what happened. You're getting me excited."
He chuckled at his excitement, but it quickly died down when he took a gulp.
"Sanae-chan-she," he licked his lips, "She confessed to me the night before I left."
Misaki gave a sigh of disappointment from beside him. "I thought you guys finally started dating."
He scowled, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, what do you think it's supposed to mean?" he retorted back cheekily. "No offense, Tsubasa-kun. I think out of everyone you're the only one who haven't noticed how she felt for you. Everyone could see how she had this one smile reserved for you, the longing looks she gives you when you're not looking, and sometimes, she gets this face when a girl tries to talk to you, which is actually pretty amusing."
He didn't even noticed it, but he was smiling. He was smiling because, she was still into him even him if he was oblivious to all those things she did.
"So, what did you say?" Misaki-kun interrupted his thoughts. "You must have given her answer, didn't you?"
He sighed as he licked his lips. "I- I told her to wait."
"Why?" His friend asked incredulously. "I can see you like her too, so why didn't you tell her that?"
He ran a hand through his hair again in aggravation. "It's not that easy," he admitted. "She told me she was in love with me. All throughout the years I wasn't in Japan, she held on to all her feelings for me. If we started dating then and there, then she might have think I'm only dating her because I felt bad for her. I don't want her to think that. I want her to know that yes, I feel the same way, that I am certainly, irrevocably in love with her too."
Misaki could only stare at his friend for a few seconds before he bursted in to chuckles.
"Who would have thought that underneath your one-track soccer mind, that you're actually a huge romantic," he teased.
"H-hey!" he spluttered in embarrassment, "S-shut up!"
Misaki only continued to snicker at him, but it soon died down and he patted his shoulder. "But seriously, that's pretty nice of you."
He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I figured that if I'm going to return everything she felt, then I should return equal to what she did, if not maybe more."
Misaki-kun only chuckled again and leaned his head back on his seat. He looked at him at the corner of his eyes. "But if you asked me," he started with a smile. "I think you're already in love with her."
He only gave him a grateful smile.
When they all got back to Nankatsu, all of them decided that taking a long nap was what they all needed. It was a miracle they could even escape from their friend's clutches, seeing that they all were in the airport, welcoming them back from their trip as well as barrage them with questions about their matches again the foreign teams. He was never more grateful that his mom saw how the six of them were exhausted and told everyone that all of their questions would be answered sometime later when all six of them finally had some rest.
He really did wanted to see his friends, but at that moment he just wanted to sleep.
But she was the only one he wanted to meet. Unfortunately she wasn't there, no matter how hard he tried to find her.
It seemed like his mom realized what he was doing, that he calmly whispered to him that she wasn't there. She had to help out with the shop since one of their cooks was sick that day and she had to fill in for her.
He tried not to look disappointed, but his mom only giggled and patted his arm, telling him he would see her soon. She then teased him how much he was acting like a boyfriend who couldn't wait to see his girlfriend.
He could only splutter how they weren't dating at all.
When he got home, he was fortunate that Daichi was taking his afternoon nap because he didn't think he could keep up with his little brother's never ending energy.
After greeting his dad and having some talk with him, he excused himself to his room to finally get that much needed sleep.
He should have really thought about that nap though, because now he couldn't sleep. It also didn't help that he woke up at 8:24 at night.
He tried to back to sleep, but found out he couldn't.
Writing a quick note to his parents, he left it on his desk and another one on the dining table, he went out of the house for a walk.
He didn't notice it, but his feet led him towards Hikarigaoka Park. And just like last time, someone was there. She was there.
She was sitting on the grass, looking up to the stars, again. She was wearing a thin shirt and some shorts, hugging her knees. He couldn't help but ask himself how come she didn't feel cold at all. It was pretty chilly tonight.
At first, he didn't know what to do. The last time they did saw each other in person, it was a little awkward. And he's not counting those times they texted each other. It was still different talking face to face.
He took a deep breath and took a step, the scrunching of the grass reaching her ears, making her turn to where he was.
They stared at each other wide eyed for a long time, surprise written on their faces. Then she smiled at him.
He felt his heart skip a beat.
"Hi," she greeted him.
"Hey," he said back as he walked to where she was. He tried to ignore the fast beating of his heart as he took a seat beside her.
"You're up late," she remarked when he was comfortable enough. "I would have thought that you'd be snoozing at this time, seeing that you just came home."
"I took a nap right when we arrived," he shrugged. "Now, I couldn't sleep and I'm still suffering from jet lag. It is technically still two in the afternoon in France."
She chuckled from beside him, and he couldn't help but love hearing it again.
"Good point," she replied.
They were suddenly surrounded by silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable at all. They didn't say anything as the both of them watched the stars in the sky.
"Welcome back, by the way," she said. "I wanted to come to the airport to see you back personally, but Noriko-san called in sick and we didn't have any extra cooks I had to fill in."
"It's fine," he told her. "I know how busy you guys can get."
"But I already missed the first one, and I really didn't want to miss this," she whined. "This one's also better because you guys won the tournament too."
"Hey, really it's fine," he assured her, and she was about to say something again, but he interrupted her. "But if you really want to make it up, you could always make me some cookies again."
She stared at him incredulous, but then she suddenly laughed.
"Of course, you would want cookies," she teased. "But then I have to make everyone cookies."
He shrugged again. "I'm sure they won't complain. They would take everything you cook."
"That's true," she agreed with a chuckle.
There was another silence between them.
"You did great in there, you know," she said. "In the tournament I mean."
"Thanks," he replied. "But it wasn't just me. Everyone did great too."
"Of course they did," she said. "But you were the one did the best, in my opinion. You did lead them to victory.
"I wouldn't exactly say I did the best," he chuckled sheepishly. "Everyone gave everything they got, and we won because of that."
She chuckled again because of his humility. "You're too humble sometimes," she told him. "But then if you weren't, I would have ditched you already."
"I shouldn't change then," he replied with a smile.
They both shared a laugh before they became silent again. They turned back to the stars, gazing as they twinkled quietly in the sky.
He was just staring at the stars mindlessly, but all of a sudden, he felt something soft on his cheeks.
"Congratulations on being a step closer to your dream."
When he realized they were lips, her lips, it was already gone and when he turned to look at her, she was already standing up, stretching her arms above her head.
"Man, that stretch felt good," she remarked as she walked a few feet away from him. "But damn it's cold."
He stared at her incredulous before she looked towards him with a soft smile.
"Let's go home, Tsubasa-kun?" she asked.
He stared at her some more, before he smiled back.
"Yeah," he answered as he stood up. He walked towards her and laced their hands together. He didn't need to see the confused look on her face turn into a smile.
They started to walk back home and all throughout, they never separated their hands from each other.
End Chapter
AN: had another blast writing this chapter that's why i posted it early. also the title for the chapter came from the song moving closer by never the strangers. i guess i picked it because they're starting to be closer, inch by inch
yeah thats it for this chapter. thank you reading and please review! cya soon