AN: i can feel this ending soon.

yeah i dont own caotain tsubasa

Chapter 38: Winner

Everywhere in his body burned, but he ignored it. There was only 10 minutes left and the score was still in a stalemate of 1-1. For all the 90 minutes of the game, Koizawa's team managed to score the first goal in the 56th minute when Niwaki outwitted Wakabayashi and flicked the ball to the other side from where Wakabayashi dived to.

They were all surprised by how such a simple trick could beat them. It was almost even underhanded, but it was perfectly acceptable.

But they couldn't help but be disappointed at themselves for not thinking about Niwaki's creative actions. They were teammates for heaven's sake! They should have prepared for Niwaki's unexpected plays.

What's more frustrating was it was Koizawa who assisted him.

He had to admit, he felt a little ticked when he saw the other team celebrating, because even if they didn't say anything to them, the look they gave to him and his team said it to all to them.

They were gloating, and they weren't afraid to show it.

So, as his team's motto, they took back what they lost.

On the 64th minute, Hyuuga and he rallied through the other team's defenses, and finding the perfect chance to make a cross, he passed the ball to the fierce tiger that Hyuuga used for a magnificent Tiger shot that made the equalizer.

This time it was their turn to gloat, but they didn't say anything. Instead, he took the ball from goal and dashed to the center circle for the kick off. He only glanced at Koizawa, who was frowning deeply, before ignoring it to play more.

The war continued on.

From then on, the score hadn't change.

He could see every one of them getting frustrated. He could understand. He's frustrated with what's going on right now. It was a miracle no one in their team was given a card yet.

The referee blew his whistle to call out a foul made by one of the defenders in the other team. Matsuyama was given a free kick and this could actually be an advantage for them. It was a good position for him to make his Eagle Shot, or he could bluff it and make a cross to Nitta instead.

The referee had the wall stand a few feet away from where Matsuyama was preparing to shoot. Matsuyama looked at him and their eyes met, before they nodded at each other.

He was going to be the getting the ball.

The whistle blew, and immediately Matsuyama dashed towards the ball. The other team's wall jumped didn't move, preparing for his low shot, but as their plan, Matsuyama hit it over their heads towards him.

He received it with no problems and kicked it straight to the goal.

It would have scored, if it weren't for Koizawa managing to block it right before it could pass the goal line.

Damn it. Specifically, damn him.

But he knew that it was all part of the strategy. He was tasked of marking Koizawa and Koizawa was told to mark him. He already knew beforehand that's how it was going to be, but it was still irritating when everything he tried to do in order to score was blocked.

He knew Koizawa was doing everything he could to prevent him from winning because then it would mean that it's the end, that he lost.

And it was the same for him. He couldn't afford to lose, not now, not ever.

He wasn't giving him the chance of taking her away from him.

They all waited as Misaki prepared for a corner kick. As expected, Koizawa was marking him again, trying to block him from getting the ball. The guy knew that if he got the ball, then it would mean that it's over got them, for him.

It's not like Misaki was kicking it towards him anyway. Koizawa needed to remember that he wasn't the only one playing for their team.

Misaki hit the ball, and instead of kicking it near the goal where most of their offense were, directed it all the way to back, where Misugi overlapped and started to dash through the field.

He heard everyone from the other team gasp in shock and he couldn't help but smirk. There was a reason why their whole team have a great deal of trust towards Misugi. And making a decision like this was one of them.

Taking advantage of Koizawa's surprise, he quickly ran back towards Misugi. He knew time was running out, and if he manage to score win this goal, then everything would finally be over. There was bare a minute left, and this ball would decide everything.

And Koizawa knew that. That's why he was running hard to catch up to him.

But, it's all over now.

"Misugi-kun!" he shouted to his teammate.

Immediately, Misugi heard him and kicked it towards him. Koizawa slid and tried to tackle his legs, thinking that he was going to trap it.

That wasn't his plan at all. It was risky, but he knew he had to do it. It was the only way to win this match.

Dodging Koizawa's tackle, he jumped with all his power in the air, and all according to his plan, the ball was in the perfect position. He twisted his body in an overhead position and with everything he got, shot the ball straight to the goal.

The ball zoomed past everyone, flying across everyone's faces in the blur. The other team's players tried to block it, but they were too slow. And when it reached their goalie, even he was too late to save it.

He fell to the ground just as the ball hit the net. They all stared at it spinning against it before finally dropping to the ground and whistle blew just as the ball rolled on the grass.

All of them didn't move for a few seconds, until all of the sudden the crowd cheered, along with Ishizaki's shout of joy.

They won. They finally fucking won.

He was still in his state of disbelief when he felt someone tackling him from behind, and all of the sudden he was surrounded by his teammates cheering and celebrating and praising him for his shoot.

When Hyuuga finally punched him in the shoulder, only then did he finally realize what was going on.

"We won," he mumbled.

"We've repeating that for the past minute now," Hyuuga teasingly told him. "Where have you been?"

"In a state of disbelief," he snarked back with a smile. "I just did a trick that didn't look possible. You tell me how you would feel when you made it work."

Hyuuga only retorted by laughing and putting him in a headlock as he rubbed his knuckles on his scalp.

"Besides, if it wasn't for Misugi-kun, I wouldn't have scored that decisive goal," he added, looking at their sweeper. Misugi rubbed the back of his head bashfully as everyone praised him as well. It was true though. If he didn't overlap at that time, then they wouldn't have won.

They continued their celebration amongst themselves, barely noticing the confetti raining on them and the announcer's voice congratulating them over the speakers. To be perfectly honest, they didn't really care about any of those at the moment.

It was all over, they finally won. All their training and hard work finally paid off. They were going to be representing Japan. His dream wasn't going to be snatched away from him.

She wasn't going to be stolen away from him.

He looked up towards the stands, trying to look for her, but he was interrupted by someone he never expected.

"Oozora," he turned to see Koizawa approaching him. He felt everyone's eyes on them, but they both didn't mind it. They already knew what this conversation is going to be about.

"Koizawa," he said, facing him.

Koizawa sighed and smiled dejectedly. "I guess this is it, huh?"

He didn't answer, because he knew that if he did, he would only rub salt over the poor guy.

"Damn it," Koizawa mumbled. "I just can't seem to beat you can I? Whenever I think I'm getting closer to beating you, you always, always manage to become better."

There was a small sarcastic mumble of "Tell me about it," coming from Hyuuga, but he then yelped in pain when Matsuyama elbowed him in the ribs.

Koizawa only chuckled as he heard the forward's statement. That's right, every single of Oozora's teammates should know. They've played against him before becoming teammates with him. They would understand what he was feeling.

He turned back towards Oozora, who was chuckling at his teammates' antics.

They watched as both teams started to talk to each other, finally letting the wall between them crumble now that everything was over.

"I gave all I've got you know," he added softly. Oozora looked at him with a little bit of pity, and he was about to say something but he interrupted him. "But I'm grateful you gave everything you have too."

He offered his hand to him. "Congratulations," he said. "You deserve this. You all do."

Oozora stared at his hands for a couple of seconds, before producing a grin.

"Thanks," he answered as they shook hands. "You guys deserved it as much as we do. You guys did your best after all."

Koizawa shrugged. "But I guess our best wasn't good enough."

Before Oozora could speak another thing that was supposed to lift him up, he spoke.

"Do your best in the Tournament, you hear," he told him as he punched his arm lightly. "Don't make me regret losing to you."

Oozora laughed as he punched his back. "I won't. I promise."

He smiled again, happy that they understood each other.

"And," he began before releasing a deep breath. "Take care of her, alright."

That took the smile off his face.

Man, he didn't know it was this hard. It was hard letting go of someone you honestly thought was the only for you.

But, it was also his fault. His fault of liking someone that he knew wouldn't feel the same he did for her.

"Of course I will," Oozora declared.

Koizawa gave another smile. "Good," he answered. "But keep your guard up. You never know, others might take her away from you too."

He chuckled. "Then I'll do what I did with you," he paused. "I'll fight for her."

Koizawa stared at him in surprise, before he started sniggering. "Man, you guys deserve each other."

Oozora could only blush. "T-thanks I guess," he stuttered. "A lot of people had been telling me that. I uh I was just too dense to realize it."

"Well, at least you know now, and I can confirm that you guys feel the same way," he said. "I'm sure you guys will be together before you guys know it

"So," Koizawa started again. "Don't ever let her go."

Oozora smiled at him, "I don't plan to."

So with one last pat on the shoulder, Koizawa turned towards the exit, where his teammates were waiting for him and finally walked towards them, his head high.

Tsubasa watched them before they disappeared completely. Once they were gone, he looked up towards the stands, and spotted her quickly.

He could see the trails of her tears on her face, but she wasn't sad. There was a huge grin on her face and he couldn't help but grin back.

She was holding something through her shirt and his heart couldn't help but flutter inside him.

She didn't to tell him anything, because he already knew what she was feeling because he felt the same way.

He knew that you could ever love someone greatly as he does for her.

End Chapter

AN: yeah i dont really like this chapter but i wanted to finish it so i can work on the last chapter(s) (i dont know how long it's going to be. depending whether you guys this one part of the story i had planned where the world youth became a coed tournament. it would be more soccer oriented, but it would explore with everyone's relationship with each other. plus i might play around with wakabayashi and shiori, misugi and yayoi, and matsuyama and yoshiko in that. but if you guys dont want that then i could post the epilogue right after some stuff.)

anyway, im done for now. thanks for reading and please review! cya soon