AN: do you ever have that moment when you think about your fave couple doing cute things and you just have stop whatever your doing to gush over them like facing a wall to just smile to yourself about what they're doing?

SoccerGirl- thanks! i'm glad you liked it. yeah, tsubasa does need to confess, but i wonder what happens in this chapter or... (*wink, *wink) lol, anyway thanks for reading and reviewing continuously! i really really appreciate it.

Hana2- yeah, we do know who's going to win, but hey a soccer match makes everything exciting lol. now that i think about it, its sort of like in the manga where tsubasa had to literally kick a guy's face because he's fighting for sanae awww. except i don't like violence so kicking or punching for this hehe. thanks for reading and reviewing!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 37: War

She was actually nervous for this match. It's not that she thinks they would lose. She had faith that they could hold themselves on their own. Besides, she visited them in their training camp and from what she saw they have a great chance of beating the other team.

Well, she didn't exactly know. She never did went to Subaru-kun's camp in the other side of Shizuoka. Frankly, she didn't… really… care about them that much… Yeah, she knew they were formidable opponents, but she believed that her boys and their team could beat them.

But still, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious about this game. She didn't even know why she was feeling this way. It also didn't help that Tsubasa seemed to be taking this more seriously more than necessary. Sure he should be taking this seriously. Come on, it's a huge deal to represent the country for the World Youth, of course this should be important to him.

But she had this feeling that it wasn't just that was on the line for him. As if this game is worth more than that, that this was worth everything to him

And it scared her. It scared her that whatever he was working hard for would be for nothing.

She didn't want that, because then he would be sad and the last thing she wanted for him was to be unhappy.

She hoped it never came to that.

She was standing outside the locker rooms, leaning against the wall while waiting for the team to come out, for him to come out. She needed to talk to him. Well, not exactly per say. But she thought that maybe she just needed to be close to him, to touch him, then everything would be alright.

She didn't want him to lose because she couldn't bear the thought of her being with someone else that she knew never had a chance for her heart in the first place.

She was playing with her necklace when the door opened. She stood up straight but it didn't seem that they noticed her as they continued to walk straight down the hallway. Okay, maybe the boys noticed her, considering they were snickering when they met eyes. She only glared at them.

The only people that noticed her was Misaki-kun and Tsubasa himself.

Misaki-kun looked at the two of them before giving a knowing smile.

"We'll see you out there," Misaki-kun patted his shoulder before following the others out of the hallway.

They watched him leave, until his silhouette disappeared. When it wasn't in their range of sight anymore, only then did she turn around to face him.

"Hi," he greeted her with a comforting smile. But for some reason, she couldn't return it back.

"Hey," she replied weakly. She knew she should have forced to sound more cheerful like she usually is, because he knew too well that he could easily see what wrong's with her.

Just like she could with him.

And sure enough, there was a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked closer to her.

She didn't meet his eyes, and instead looked down.

"Sanae?" she heard him say in concern. She didn't look at him again, she didn't know how to.

"Sanae?" he called out to her again, this time she knew he was closer than before. She could feel his warmth and she so badly wanted to be warped in.

Ah, fuck it.

She took a deep breath and slowly looked up to him. "Promise me you'd win," she said, and she didn't even notice the desperation in her voice.

She saw him blink at her in surprise and she almost wanted to punch herself for blurting that out loud.

She heard him chuckle and she gave him a glare, but that didn't last long.

He took her in his arms and hugged her close to him.

"Silly, of course I'll win," he told her, still not letting her go. Hearing him say it with confidence made her relax a little, but her anxiety was still there. She could only wrap her arms around him.

"I think I can guess what you're worried about, seeing that you can read me like a book," he chuckled. "I know you noticed why I seemed to be more invested in this match than necessary."

"It's not how you usually are when you're focused on a game," she mumbled against her chest.

"No, it's not," he agreed with a small laugh. "It's not."

"So why exactly?" she looked up to him.

"Let's just say that there's more in the line than just the World Youth," he answered vaguely.

She fucking knew it.

"Then," she looked up to him, "ignore that. The World Youth should be your priority. Whatever that could be could wait. This is your dream, Tsubasa! Don't let it get away."

"I can't," he answered her, and she was surprised by how his voice changed into steel, as if he was offended by what she said. "I can't just ignore what's on the line."

"Why not?" she challenged.

"Because you're on the line!"

Oh. Oh. Oh my god.

She heard him sigh and saw him ran a hand through his hair.

"Koizawa told me that he likes you," he told her as he looked away from her. "And he said that he was willing to do whatever it takes to make you like him back, and beat me here too so that he can prove to you that he's worth someone to give a chance to, as well as say that he's better than me in soccer."

Well, this explains a lot.

She put her hand on his cheek and gently had him face her. "You know that's not true. You're in so many ways better than him." Then she tried to give him an encouraging smile. "Besides, my heart can never belong to someone else but you."

He looked surprised again, but that didn't last long before it melted into a smile that she never saw before.

It made her heart skip a beat.

"I know," he said as he grabbed onto her hand that was on his face before turning to face it and giving it a chase kiss.

She felt her heart race. Oh my god, he just didn't do that.

"But that doesn't mean I won't fight for you," he added as took her hand off his face, but didn't let go of it. "I will." Then he squeezed her hand tighter. "Besides, I'm never giving you up."

She couldn't say anything, nor was she able too because she found herself in his embrace again.

"So I'll win," he said as she felt him kiss her head. "I'll win, for the both of us."

She didn't know what to say, but for some reason her tears just won't stop flowing as she clung to him while her heart rejoiced inside her.

When he arrived by the entrance, everyone was already there, chatting up as they waited for the event to start. He saw everyone talking with the kids they were supposed to be going out with. He could even see Daichi talking with the other boys. Of course, the Nankatsu guys were playing with him, while the other ones were quite amused by his little brother. No doubt because of their similarities. And maybe also because he was wearing Nankatsu's Junior League uniform that made him look a little like him when he was young.

"Hey, little man," he greeted as he ruffled his little brother's hair. "I see you're quite the star today with my teammates."

"Nii-chan!" he exclaimed as he raised his arms, the unspoken request of wanting to be carried in them. And who was he disappoint?

He took him in his arms and carried him up.

"Man, you guys look too much alike," Soda remarked as tickled his little brother.

"And it's not just that," Izawa said. "Both are soccer geniuses too. According to Tsubasa's mom, Daichi was just like Tsubasa when he was young. You can't take away a soccer ball from them."

He chuckled as Daichi stuck his tongue out at Izawa and buried his face on his shoulder. "What can I do?" he asked rhetorically. "Soccer is life," Daichi declared with him.

The both of them looked at each other before he smirked and offered his hand to his brother for a high five.

"Yup, you guys are brothers all right," Hyuuga remarked as he ruffled Daichi's hair.

"Hi Kojiro-nii-chan!" Daichi greeted him.

"What's up?" he asked as he took the child from his older brother. "Whoa look at you. You've been gotten heavier since the last time I carried you."

"Nii-chan said it means that I'm growing right," Daichi answered.

"You know him too, Hyuuga?" Jito questioned the forward.

"Yup," Hyuuga confirmed as he returned the younger Oozora to the older one. "The squirt got lost in Tokyo one time and I helped him find his way back to his mom. Totally surprised me though when I found out he was Tsubasa's brother. But then he found a soccer ball and everything made sense."

"Why do guys like picking on our love for soccer?" Tsubasa complained as he put down Daichi to the ground, who then left to join with the other children in the vicinity. Apparently he got tired of his nii-chan's friends making fun of him and his nii-chan.

"It's your fault for being soccer obsessed," Soda retaliated teasingly, to which Tsubasa countered by sticking his tongue out at him. Very mature, right? "Don't you think of anything else besides soccer?"

They heard someone scoff and they turned to look at Wakabayashi, who was smirking knowingly.

"I can assure you he does," he remarked as he crossed his arms. "Especially because he's been thinking a lot about someone for quite some time now."

He gave a discreet glare to their goalkeeper as everyone denied Wakabayashi's statements. Come on, Tsubasa, think about a girl? Impossible.

Yeah, he could, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oh of course he does," Misaki joined in the conversation. Oh hell no. Fuck no. Great, he'd humiliate him even more. "In fact, he just talked to this someone a few minutes ago." The other midfielder then looked at him with that teasing glint in his eyes. "How did your talk with Anego go anyway?"

He was this close to flip his friend off, but for the sake of his brother and the children around them, he won't. At least he'll try to control himself.

"Anego?" Jito sounded out. "She's that one girl that hangs out with you guys right?"

"Yup," Misaki confirmed, "She was waiting outside the locker room for Tsubasa so I left them alone to have some privacy if you what I mean."

Soon, everyone pretty much whistled and catcalled, teasing him for "getting some action" and "finally you made a move." You can pretty much guess how embarrassed he was. Why was he friends with all these people?

"I hate you so much right now," he told Misaki who could only wink back as he shared a high five with Wakabayashi.

"What are friends for?"

He was about to retort something along the lines of not humiliating your friends, but was interrupted by the announcer telling everyone that they would be going outside the field in a few moments. So they all scrambled to their places, him going up front since he was the captain.

When he arrived, Daichi was already there, berating him about him almost being late. He apologized sheepishly, before looking up.

That was the first time he noticed Koizawa.

They met eyes, but they didn't say anything. Koizawa gave him a nod, before returning to face the front and wait for them to be called out to the field. He didn't even manage to think about it since Daichi was yanking his arm excitedly as they were called out to start the event.

The two teams ran walked out of the field, holding their child escorts' hands. The cheers inside the stadium was deafening and he didn't exactly know who the crowd was cheering for. But he didn't really care, because the person who he wanted to support him the most will never leave his side.

Nor will he ever leave hers.

He spotted her quickly in the crowd, clutching something under her shirt. He knew what she was holding onto, because he was feeling for her charm too.

He didn't know whether they met eyes or not, but when she smiled, as if it was directly at him, he beamed.

The referees called both captains up as they ushered the children out of the field. Daichi said his goodbyes to him and wished him a good luck. He even said to him that if he loss, he wouldn't be his nii-chan anymore. So he swore that he wouldn't lose.

Not when he's doing this for another reason. An important reason.

When he arrived in the center circle, Koizawa was already there and the referee started explaining the rules of the match. But he knew that neither of them was listening. They've played many games now, they knew the rules word for word.

Instead, they stared at each other. The unspoken declaration of war coming from their eyes. But there was another message in them, a message that only they both know.

I won't give up on her

I'm not giving her to you

They both know that they'll do everything they could to win against each other.

End Chapter

AN: does that count as a confession or? idk i didn't think it through it just happened and man did it make me feel all happy and gooey inside. but then the second part i can just light on fire. bleh, im just going to think about the first part because its soo cute!

well, anyway thanks for reading and please review! cya soon