AN: it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when i take too long to update

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 6: Talks

She was not expecting for Tsubasa to be this angry about this. She could tell by the first text she got from him privately. In fact, she was actually expecting him to be, well, surprised by it but he wouldn't actually mind it.

But for the love of her, she have never felt anymore dread than when she read his text. And it didn't help that even in the group chat, he sounded pissed.

She wanted to tell him everything away, but Asaki and Hiyazaki suddenly texted in their group chat that one) Hyuuga-kun was throwing a fit at Noriko-chan for "possibly" knowing about this (she did, and as everyone else, Natsukawa-san told her to keep quiet about it) but didn't tell him and now Noriko-chan wanted her calm the Toho captain down, but seeing that Saya-chan was trying to ask her some questions. Unfortunately, Irino also flooded the chat thread because apparently, Wakashimazu-kun joined Hyuuga-kun as well as almost everyone in the Toho girls' team in their own school group chat in harassing the girls for the possibility of knowing about this news. Saya-chan and Yumi-chan almost got into a fight and she had to calm both of them down.

That fiasco didn't end even if the interview with the JFA started, and when it finally cease, Natsukawa-san was already introduced and they were almost done naming the girls chosen to be potentially part of the team. That's when she knew that it was already too late to try to hope Tsubasa wouldn't be mad at her because not only did she refuse to tell him about this, but she didn't say to him that she would be part of the team with him.

That's why she couldn't help but tighten her hold on her phone as she waited for him to answer his phone. She was in the kitchen, leaning on the wall. At least by here, she could still see what's going on the TV while also distracting herself from the dread she could feel in her stomach.

She took a deep breath when he finally answered.

For a moment, neither of them of spoke. Maybe because they both didn't know what to say. Maybe he was waiting for her to start saying something. Maybe she just couldn't say anything because she was scared.

Of what?

But before she could think anything through, she heard herself saying, "I'm sorry."

She could barely hear Natsukawa-san explaining how she chose the girls she picked for the tournament and she hadn't heard anything from him.

Suddenly, she got really anxious. It's unusual for him to be this silent, especially when talking to her. The only time he wouldn't talk is when he was seriously irritated about something. And apparently this is one of those things.

To be honest, she was a little disappointed that he would be annoyed with such a little thing like this, okay maybe it wasn't a small thing. But she expected him to understand that they just couldn't say something like this freely. Rika-chan even said that they weren't even supposed to say anything about it. She would have thought their friends would understand, instead they threw a fit over it.

It would be stupid to have a fight over something so trivial like this.

Natsukawa-san finally started explaining how they all had to keep this from everyone since technically, no one was supposed to know about this, but since they didn't wanted to ask for their permission. They weren't going to force anyone to play if they didn't want to.

She heard him sigh from the other line and unconsciously stood up straighter.

"It's alright I guess," he spoke, but even then she could still hear how unhappy he was. "They told you guys not to tell anyone, and you were only following it."

She waited for him to continue, but it seemed like that's what all he was going to say.

"You're still upset," she pointed.

"… I'm not," he hesitantly denied and both of them knew how half assed that was.

"Tsubasa," she sighed. "Look, we both know you're still a little mad at me, maybe it's not even a little, but I did really want to tell you, all of us wanted to tell all of you guys. But, that was the first thing that Natsukawa-san told us. Nobody has to know."

She didn't even realize that she was telling him that while Natsukawa-san was telling it live on TV.

"I know," he answered. "I just… I just thought that we can tell each other everything. I mean, you can trust me."

"I do," she replied, "but sometimes, things get in the way of letting us tell everything." She sighed and leaned against the wall once more, running a hand through her hair. "Believe me, I wanted to tell you so bad. I was really excited that I would have the chance to play with you, and I kinda thought you would be as well. I just never thought you would be unhappy about this."

"I am happy about it," he said. "It's great that we can play in an International Tournament on the same field. I'm more upset that you didn't tell me directly that you did know something. I could have understood if you told me that you couldn't say exactly what it would be."

That's true. But she only wanted to surprise him. Everything turned out a whole lot different than what she wanted.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"I am too," he sighed. "For over reacting. I guess next time we just have to talk it out first."

This time she managed to make a small smile. At least they weren't upset with each other, sort of.

"Let's just talk about this tomorrow," he said, "It's getting late and I'm sure not everyone knows what I know now. You guys still need to do some explaining to do with the others."

Ugh, don't remind her. If talking with Tsubasa was like this, just imagine how it would be with all the other boys. She's not even looking forward to it.

She sighed dejectedly and ran her hand through her head again. "This is going to be ugly."

He hummed his agreement. "It will be, but they'll be fine. They'll understand if you told them everything you told me. They'll be upset like I was, but they'll understand."

She turned back to the TV right as the Natsukawa-san and the others said they're goodbyes.

"I hope you're right, Tsubasa. I hope you're right."

To say that it was uncomfortable right now was an understatement. The tension in the room was almost suffocating if it weren't for Daichi's naïve humming as he played with his toy cars on the table. There was just too much animosity between girls and the boys right now that she's not sure whether this end would the way she wanted it to be.

There was something frightening in the way both groups were glaring at each other. Okay, maybe it was only Ayame who's doing all the glaring for the ladies, while almost all the boys were looking pissed at her. The only ones who weren't glaring at her were Morisaki-kun and Misaki-kun, but that's because Morisaki-kun was too good for his own good. Misaki-kun on the other hand, has a different way of showing his anger, which involves having a face that shows no emotion and silence. It is batshit scary.

And when you combine it with Ayame's pissed mood right now, then she's scared for what might happen. Those two when angry –at each other no less- was not a good combination.

It's a little bit comforting though, that she was just standing by the sides, out of harm's way. You know, if ever they start throwing things at each other. Well, Ayame starts throwing things at them. Ayame's a huge bitch when she's pissed and she's not ashamed to show it. Knowing their friends, they would not take any of Ayame's shit and retaliate.

All in all, she should be prepared for a war.

But, of all places, why did they choose to meet up at her house? Where innocent bystanders were eating and relaxing just downstairs. Didn't they think that they would be disturbing everyone that have no idea about what is going on?

If they were going to war, couldn't they have just done it at someplace else?

She sighed and looked between the two groups that still wouldn't stop glaring at each other. Tsubasa was sitting across from her, and it seemed like their talk from last night helped a little. He refused to side with anyone –just like her- and sat by sides as well, Daichi on his lap. He wasn't angry at her anymore, and they were talking, but for reasons they both knew, it was better if they barely do any talking to each other for now. It would only blow the whole thing up more than it already is.

Honestly, this was getting too troublesome to deal with.

She produced another sigh and went in the kitchen, grabbing the plate of sandwiches she made for everyone in case they get hungry. Though, with how it was going on right now, she's not really sure whether they're in the mood to eat.

Well, whatever. She'll just drop it on the table and see if anyone takes one.

She carried the plate and dropped it on the center table, and she could feel everyone's eyes on her. She almost wanted to run back to the kitchen because their stares was just so intense she wanted to cry.

Praise God for Daichi for his obliviousness and just simply grabbed a sandwich. He ate without even any care of the people now turning their eyes on him.

She didn't notice Ishizaki's eyes turning to her in suspicion.

"Oi, Anego," he called. "Are you trying to bribe us?"

Bribe? What? Why would she need to bribe them?

"What?" she exclaimed, puzzled. "Bribe? Why would I-"

"Because you all need our forgiveness, and you think that we'll give it to you easily if you feed us," he explained snobbishly. "Well, guess again. We're not forgiving you that easily."

"The hell?" Ayame shouted.

Oh dear, here we go.

"Who says we need your forgiveness?" she asked harshly. "We don't need it. You guys are the ones throwing a huge fit over this."

"'Throwing a huge fit?'" Wakabayashi scoffed. "We're not children, Kiseki. We're furious that you didn't tell us something like this."

"But, Wakabyashi-kun," Shiori-chan joined in, her voice as even and icy like never before. Oh my God, even she's not happy anymore. This was not good. "We had a reason for keeping it from everyone, and I'm sure you heard what that reason is last night."

Wakabayashi-kun narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't say anything. Shiori didn't continue as well.

"Yes, we understood that," Misaki remarked. Holy shit, he sounded scary. "But what we're more upset about is that you lied to us about not knowing about this."

"What, did you expect us to come up to you and say, 'Guess what guys? FIFA's making the tournament mixed gendered, but we're not supposed to tell you, but oh well,'" Ayame said, her sarcasm very much evident.

Ugh, Ayame! They didn't need her sarcasm right now.

Misaki-kun narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not what I meant, and I'm know you knew that," he said, giving her cousin a glare. Naturally, Ayame didn't back down and retaliated with her own glare.

"We would have understood if you just told us that you knew what was going on, but couldn't tell us," Misaki-kun continued to argue.

She felt someone looking at her, and she turned to where she thought it came from and saw Tsubasa looking at her. She knew that this was what Tsubasa told him last night, and she could only sigh.

"Do you think we even wanted to do lie to you?" Ayame hissed. "That for the whole time you guys were trying to figure out what was going on, we had to grit our teeth from saying anything. It was fucking hard."

She looked back to Tsubasa, who this time was the one who sighed. It seemed like they were having a silent conversation, a repeat of last night.

"You didn't have to lie directly in our faces," Misaki argued again. "At least tell us something."

The boys agreed by nodding their heads, but Sanae saw her cousin tighten her jaw and she unconsciously drew a breath in.

Oh no.

"First of all, we weren't supposed to say anything as we've already countless of times now," Ayame informed them. "Second, we're not even entitled to tell you anything."

Shit.

"Ayame!" she reprimanded her cousin and even Shiori-chan warned her to calm down, but she ignored the two of them altogether. Damnit, she hated how stubborn she could be.

Misaki-kun's glare became harsher, but held his tongue. Ayame wasn't fazed by his glare, and only stared at him icily. There was a glint of victory in her eyes, and she knew that her cousin thought that she won this argument.

Which wasn't the point of their meeting at all.

Sighing, she met eyes with Tsubasa and they both nodded.

"That's enough, all of you," she said, gathering all of their attentions. "We're not here to fight even more. We were supposed to be fixing our problems."

Ishizaki-kun scoffed and she glared at him lightly.

"Don't be coy Ishizaki-kun," she warned. "Just because I brought out sandwiches didn't mean I was trying to bribe you, or anyone at all."

She looked around them again, and continued. "Yes, I'll admit that it was inconsiderate of us to not tell this to you guys, and for lying about this. And I'm sorry for that."

Ayame was about to say something, but one look from her silenced her overzealous cousin.

"But, don't be angry at us for keeping it to ourselves. We've said it before and I'll say it again, we weren't supposed to say anything," she explained again.

She gave out a sigh. "Believe me, we all wanted to tell everyone, but Natsukawa-san specifically told us not to say anything, and I really hope you think about that."

She heard grumbles and mutterings around the room, while Daichi, finally realizing that not everything was fine, stopped with his toy cars to ask what was going on. Tsubasa only told him not to find it.

"All I ask," she began again, "is that we get over this right now before it tears our whole friendships apart. We've been friends for years, and we can't just let something like this destroy it."

There was a pregnant silence filling the room, and she was afraid that another argument starting by the way everyone was looking at each other. God, she hoped that didn't happen.

"I agree," she heard her boyfriend's voice echo around the room, and she gave him a surprised look, to which he returned by giving her a small smile.

The boys started complain, but he silenced them.

"No, I'm not taking sides," he answered one of the unspoken accusations from the boys. "I'm thinking about this long and hard so I know what I'm doing." The other boys backed down reluctantly.

"But, I'm not willing to sacrifice our close friendships over something like this," he continued. "We've known each other for a long time now, and we've been supporting one another just as much. We can't just destroy that bond."

Then, a mischievous glint appeared on his eye, something she wasn't expecting to appear today at all.

"Besides," he said, "if we think about it, what other team out there have better relationship with the girls' team than us? The other players would have a hard time adjusting to a team consisting of both boys and girls, and considering we've done mock matches of a combined team, then practicing with them shouldn't be as hard. We have a higher chance of getting into the 28 than others."

That- that actually made sense. Toho's teams were amazing, but their rivalry against each other was terrifying. Some of the boys have no idea about the girls because they simply didn't care, and vice versa. Others would just clash so much they would fight everytime. So, really this would be in their advantage.

She watched as their friends stared at each other long and hard, at least for a couple of seconds. She and Tsubasa shared another look, hoping that they were thinking about it.

Next thing they knew, Misaki-kun sighed in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "I can see your point."

"Yeah," Wakabayashi-kun agreed. "That'll heighten our chances significantly."

Ishizaki-kun grumbled, but agreed as well. And everyone else soon started to follow. Immediately, the mood in the room changed. Soon, everyone was finally talking normally, or as normal as possible. There was still that uncomfortableness around the room, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Thank God.

"Well, that turned out alright," She turned to her side to see her boyfriend beside her. Daichi roped some of the others to play with him because he got bored playing alone.

"Barely," she mumbled as Tsubasa wrapped an arm around her. "It was a good thing you thought of that thing with advantages. Who knows what could have happened?"

"Don't even wanna know," he replied as he gave her a light squeeze.

"How did you even think of that?" she asked while everyone moved to the living room to watch something on TV.

"To be honest," he chuckled before leaning close to her ear. "I pulled it out of my ass right at that moment."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "You mean, you didn't even-"

"What? It worked! It made them stop."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why am I even dating you?"

"Because you love me so much," he answered simply as he turned her to face him, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"That I do," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and stood on her toes.

For some reason, the sound of their rambunctious friends fighting over what to watch fit when she gave him a kiss.

End Chapter

AN: yeah, this was rushed, but i wanted to get moving with it so i can move the plot. goodness knows it needed to move. i just hope you don't mind that. anyway, sorry for the late update and to apologize, this one is long like the last chapter. i didnt like writing this because it was hard making them all mad at each other! ugh, i have to right more things like that TT_TT

well, thats it for right now. and i'll be going on break soon. hopefully i can work on this. thanks for reading and pls review