AN: sup everyone let me just barf this one out

SoccerGirl- hey long time no see (read?)! yeah, tsubasa can be a very frustrating person to watch sometimes because he's just... yeah. anyway, in terms of serious competition um... maybe not exactly in this story? i mean subaru's one but he's not that of a big competition. i've been reading the manga and watching the anime again and the photographer dude in the anime, man did he bring ideas to me. though i dont know if i would ever write it. sorry. thanks for reading!

Hana2 (your pm wasnt on so i hope you would be fine with me answering here)- Thank you! i try to write as good as i can be (though im pretty sure im not that good. i dont even know what im writing half of the time) because those are the kind of stories i like to read. also, the story for tarou and ayame is published and its called "So This is Love" hope you check it out. So far, i dont have any other works planned for Tsubasa and Sanae. I have ideas, but not really a plan. i checked out the story you recommended and with the help of google translate i managed to read the first chapter, albeit with difficulties. it was good, but the length of the story was a little terrifying. thanks for the recommendation though! also thank you for reading and reviewing

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 33: Decisions

Roberto sat on the bed in the Oozora's guest room. He couldn't believe that he's stay in Japan would be ending in three days. It still felt like yesterday that he saw Tsubasa not sticking out in a crowd of brown skinned Brazilians. Man was that a sight.

He was actually lucky the Oozora's let them stay here. He didn't exactly like Tokyo that much, and Nankatsu was just a small peaceful town. If he was going to go on a vacation, might as well just stay here.

But then again, he wasn't exactly in Japan for a vacation. The higher ups didn't even want him to spend two weeks here and wanted him to return right as he found who he was looking for. He wouldn't have any of that. He hadn't been to Japan in years, he fucking will spend that two weeks in Japan. Besides, it was amazing seeing how the very first group of kids he coached improved to great heights. They were the reason why he even started coaching, and look at him now, Sao Paolo's head coach as well as the Brazilian Youth coach for the upcoming World Youth Cup.

Speaking of the Brazilian Youth, he did find who he was looking for. Luiz Santos was studying here in Japan, right in one of the prestigious soccer schools in Tokyo. He knew the boy when he played for the U-15 team in Argentina. He was good, almost as good as Santana. Well, they did form a good team in that tournament.

It was actually impressive to see him on the field in the flesh. His technique was impeccable, his speed was great, and he was definitely a natural. Of course he gave Santos an invitation to join the World to join the World Youth team of Brazil, to which he readily agreed, but he would join all the campaigns just after the National Tournament.

Well, that certainly changed a few things, but he could work with it. Though there must be a reason why he was willing to stay until the tournaments, or really why in the world was he in Japan for that matter.

The young man told him he was here to play against someone, someone who had an amazing soccer sense.

A king, Santos declared with an excited smile.

At first, Roberto thought that he knew exactly who he was talking about. It did sound a lot like Tsubasa, but he was surprised when it wasn't the soccer prodigy at all. Santos looked at him in confusion and told him he never heard of his student before.

It was Koizawa Subaru.

That was the first time he heard of such a name, and he didn't exactly watch the U-15 tournament that much to know this other Japanese soccer genius. Santos told him how they've known each other since childhood, when they fought in a small U-10 tournament in Spain. Apparently, they've been rivals from that point on and any kind of confrontation between them seemed to be something of a big deal for some groups of people.

That made Roberto curious for this boy, and as fate would have it, he was in Nankatsu. He was even in the same team with Tsubasa and the others. And the game they let him watch was the first time he saw the "king" play.

And he was good. He knew exactly what he was doing. He could see why Santos would like to keep an eye on him. Which also meant he had to rework all the strategies he'd made against Japan.

That is, if it was Koizawa's team who will be the Japanese representatives.

He just heard this from Santos, but it seemed that the U-15 team that he played against had totally different players than the U-16 team. Not even anyone from the U-16 team he heard from the Nankatsu boys were even in that team.

It was a good thing he met Katagiri Munemasa when he was strolling in Tokyo, looking for a place to eat lunch. He was lucky they met in France, both of them seeing Tsubasa's unparalleled potential in soccer and supporting his endeavors overseas.

But that wasn't they talked about. Katagiri already why exactly he was in Japan, and he knew it's not exactly for Tsubasa. The association already did release who were the coaches for the World Youth that was around the corner. The Japanese representative probably knew what came to Japan for.

So they left it at that and chatted about other things.

But knowing them it always came back to soccer, which then led to talking about who will be the Japanese representatives. Of course, Roberto guessed that it would be the same team that played for Japan last year in the Junior International Youth Team, since they did win the tournament.

"The Japanese Association is actually still debating about the members," the sunglasses-clad man answered, "I have given them who I picked, but they told me that someone else turned it a different list. He was the one who picked the Japanese team for the U-15 World Cup in Argentina. The association is considering to combine that team and mine. Not only because of Tsubasa's and the other's victory last summer, but the other team's efforts reaching them the semifinals of the U-15 World Cup."

Of course, he questioned why the association wouldn't just do it. As much as he liked the children he taught and watched in their endeavors in Yomiuri Land and France, but sometimes they had to make sacrifices for the betterment of their team.

"The association, would love to," Katagiri answered as he took a sip from his cup, "Except the other man refused to comply with their wishes and believes that his boys are far more superior to Tsubasa and the others."

Well, that didn't seem to sound right, but when Katagiri mentioned some names in, he was surprised to hear the name Koizawa Subaru again. He was the one Santos considered a rival. If he was the one who led the U-15 team head to head against Brazil in the U-15 tournament, then this could change a lot.

So Roberto asked Katagiri what he was going to do about that claim.

"I can recognize those boys potential," Katagiri admitted, "But I disagree with his claims. Tsubasa and everyone else are better than them. I wouldn't be able to say anything for Tsubasa, Misaki, and Wakabayashi, but I've watched the others ever since they were fighting each other in Yomiuri Land. I watched them grow and still continue to do so, and I believe that they really are the Golden Generation of Japanese Soccer."

With that, the Japanese Association member informed him of the showdown between the two groups right after the National Tournament. That will decide whose team will represent Japan in the World Youth Cup.

That will be another obstacle for him to convince Tsubasa to come to Brazil. He was sure that his student that would rather stay in Japan to be a representative. It was his dream to win the World Cup for Japan and the World Youth was a stepping stone for that dream.

But that's not the biggest obstacle. Apparently, the soccer prodigy didn't have just soccer in his head anymore.

He wasn't saying that falling in love was a bad thing. It's actually about time that Tsubasa finally realized that yes, there was indeed a world outside of his beloved sport. He's not even surprised when he realized exactly who showed him things outside of soccer.

Sanae-chan would be good for him. He have seen them interact since they were children. She always did have a crush on him and Tsubasa's the only one oblivious to it. Of course, as an adult who found it amusing, just shrugged it off and pushed it off the back of his mind when the two of them went to Brazil.

He just didn't expect that she would still be into him when Tsubasa came back.

And he couldn't blame Tsubasa for feeling the same way.

Sanae-chan was everything a boy would be attracted too. She was beautiful, kind, intelligent, and not to mention the two of them have the same passion for soccer. Roberto honestly couldn't believe such a talent was just under his nose.

But that's not all. With just the way they acted together, he already knew they were in too deep for each other. Their touches, their looks, their hushed conversations, their smiles. There's no doubt that they were in love with each other.

Except they weren't together. Roberto was sure that it's all Tsubasa's fault. Sanae-chan was too much of a sweetheart (and probably the one who initiated their whole relationship) and too in love with Tsubasa to turn him down. Tsubasa's… just really slow when it came to matters of the heart (or anything else not relating to soccer). He's probably in the process of figuring things out before doing anything.

But he still needed to know whether he was coming back to Brazil for the season or not. That way, he could find someone to take his place for now until everything ends.

He looked out of his door just in time to see Tsubasa coming out of his room, putting his phone in his pants' pocket. There was a smile in his face, and Roberto could already figure out why exactly he was beaming.

Somehow, he already knew what Tsubasa decided.

He had a bad feeling about this talk with Roberto for some reason. Actually he might have figured out what his mentor would want to talk about. And it was making him nervous. He just didn't know how Roberto will take his answer.

They sat together on the slope by the field he and his friends played on whenever they couldn't use the school's field. This was also the field where he first met Roberto, where it all began for the two of them.

They were just talking about random things, how he liked his stay in Japan, if he met the guy he was looking for, how his friends have changed over the years, and how they haven't. It was nice reminiscing about their past, they could remember how they were all just huge goofballs over a sport played with a ball and feet.

It was nice to realize that they never changed from that.

"You know," Roberto started, but hearing the way he said it made him stop what he was thinking about and feel himself start to get nervous. "There's another reason why I came here."

He found himself unconsciously gulping where this was going.

Roberto leaned backwards, his hands supporting him as he looked up to the orange sky. "I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about," he said.

Of course, he's been dreading this conversation for a long time now.

"I'm leaving in three days," he continued, "and not once did we even talk about this. I think it's time we have it, don't we?"

He didn't answer, he couldn't and he only turned away from his mentor, playing with a piece of grass near his feet.

"I was surprised when you never brought it up," Roberto added. "I would have guessed that you would have taken this chance right away, but I was confused when you never mentioned it when you emailed me back after I told you I would be coming to Japan."

He still didn't anything, still fiddling with the piece of grass, and Roberto took that as a sign to continue.

"I thought that you didn't say anything because you wanted to talk it out with your parents first, but it seemed like that they didn't know anything about it judging by how your mother never talked about it even once."

He wanted to say that he did plan to tell it to his parents sometime, but that would be lying.

"You didn't seem to have told your friends about it too," he mused. And he couldn't help the guilt in his stomach from forming. "They would have joked how you're going to be more of a handful this time.

His mentor chuckled, "I guess just from those, I should have figured out why you never told them anything. And I did."

He suddenly stopped playing with the grass and slowly turned to look back at his mentor. So he already knew?

"But," he added. "I still want to hear it from you." Roberto looked away from the sky and stared at him deeply in the eye. "Are you returning to Brazil?"

He sucked in a deep breath.

He wanted to. He really did. If he returned, he could make his dream to play in Brazil come true.

But if he did leave, then he was going to be leaving everyone again. He would be leaving his family again. He would be leaving his brother who he was three years late to meeting. He would be leaving his mother that was always left behind to constantly take care of her children as his father worked to provide for them.

He would be leaving his friends behind. He would be missing all those memories that would be made between them. He would be missing the tournaments that they all poured their hearts and soul into. He would be missing all the times they were just being the idiots that they were.

And most of all, he would be leaving her.

He wouldn't be able to see her everyday anymore, wouldn't be able to hear her laughter, wouldn't be able to see her smile at him, wouldn't be able to feel her close to him. He wouldn't be able to see her continue to grow, wouldn't be able to see her lead her team to win Nationals, wouldn't be able to play against her. He wouldn't be able to talk to her as often, wouldn't be able to spend nights with just her in the park.

And he realized, he didn't want to be separated from her, not when he finally, finally could say that he was truly, madly, deeply in love with her.

That cemented this decision he's been agonizing over.

"I," he started, licking his lips, "I'm not returning to Brazil. At least not until I graduate."

There was a tense silence between the two of them as they stared at each other, the wind blowing harshly from behind them.

Then Roberto looked away, chuckling.

He blinked in shock. What?

"I was right," he said with a smile. "I figured that's what you're going to say."

"You're-"he spluttered, "you're not mad?"

"Well, I'm a little annoyed," Roberto admitted. "Since I have to find a different guy to take your position I originally I planned to place you. You are my main guy to take care of Santana."

He's sorry?

"But, I'm sure I can find someone," he continued. "I can always have Radunga mark him."

He met the man before and he was a really great player. "He'll be able to keep up with Santana."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But this also changes everything for you."

"How?" he asked his mentor.

"Well, the higher ups weren't really quite taken with the idea of moving you up to the main team, saying that you were still too young and lack the experience to play on the league. They only considered you when they heard the news that Flamengo signed a contract with Santana," he informed him. "They told me that this would be the only chance for you to get into the main team easily. But since you don't want to be back yet, they would have probably nulled the other contract they had with you about you playing when you turn 18. So now you have to start from scratch and prove to them more that you deserve to be on the team."

He could live with that. Besides, it wouldn't feel right if it was just given to him.

"And, I was hoping we would be able to play on the same side before all hell break loose."

"Huh?" he asked with knitted eyebrows. "What do you mean, Roberto?"

"You've heard of news about this before," he said nonchalantly. "The World Youth Cup is just around the corner."

He paused.

"And I'm the Brazilian team's coach."

He looked at his mentor in shock again. That- that was certainly news.

"And I'm already telling you we won't be an easy team to beat," he declared. "I'm going to make sure of that."

He already knew that and suddenly he felt excitement steer in his stomach. Roberto would be coaching the Brazilian team, and they were surely going to be a strong team. He wanted to challenge this team. He needed to be in the Japanese team.

"So, you make sure you be a Japanese representative," Roberto ordered him. "That way we could see whose team is better."

He nodded enthusiastically.

"The next news I should hear from you should be you getting in the team," he then added with a pat on his back. "And you finally manning up and asking Sanae-chan out."

He almost choked on his saliva from hearing that. "Wha-"he stuttered as he tried to hide his blush.

"Don't even hide it Tsubasa," he remarked, "I didn't let you stay for Japan just because you wanted to graduate. I know you just wanted to be with her longer (and maybe with everyone else). It's not like you guys are trying to hide how into each other you are. We're not blind."

"W-well," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck, still blushing. "Sanae and I a-are getting there. Well, she's already there and I'm almost there. We- I- she-"

"Don't hurt yourself."

He replied by glaring at the Brazilian, but he sighed in the end. "I'm working on it," he admitted. "I just didn't want to say anything yet because both of us are busy with Nationals coming up."

"Hurry up then, don't leave the poor girl hanging," Roberto advised. "She's been into you since you guys were young. I remember when I was your age-"

He rolled his eyes and tried to stop him from continuing. He tend to do that while trying to lecture him back when they were in Brazil. Man, he was going to miss those. Actually, he now that he was thinking about it, he was also going to miss a lot in Brazil, but for some reason that didn't bother him at all.

Because he knew, that whatever things would be happening in Brazil, he wouldn't turn back from his decision for staying.

End Chapter

AN: woot, tsubasa finally admitting he's in love with Sanae, to himself anyway. also, he is not going to brazil. revelations about the japanese football association was revealed. how in the world am i going to deal with that?

also, misaki's and ayame's story is up and its called "So This is Love" hope you guys check it out.

thanks for reading and please review! cya soon