AN: please don't kill me i know its super duper late

Hana2- oh you're fine. i understand. and i appreciate your reviews! you have no idea how your reviews make my day so thank you as well!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 9: Practice

Ayame yawned as they walked towards the field, already in their training clothes. They had their string bags with them, ready for training. It was the fourth day since they started camp, which meant that the combined practices will be starting from now on. As much as Tsubasa tried assure her that it will work out somehow, she still had doubts. Though maybe those stolen kisses from her boyfriend dispelled most of them.

But there was still that churning in her stomach that wouldn't disappear. She was still a little apprehensive about this whole thing, but she was forcing herself to ignore it. It was no use worrying about it, so she couldn't understand why she still felt that way. She hoped it wasn't her conscious telling her that something was about to go wrong.

"You look constipated," she was snapped out of her revere by her cousin's unfiltered mouth. Ayame was giving her a weird look, and she only ignored it.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Just… fine."

Ayame gave her a mischievous smile, "Do you want me to call Tsubasa to kiss them all away?"

She felt her cheeks flare up and she immediately faced her cousin, her smile turning into a smirk she wanted to wipe off.

"W-why in the wo-"

Ayame snorted and crossed her arms. "Don't even try to hide it, Sanae," she said. "We're not stupid. We know that you guys are probably making out when we can't find both of you anywhere."

"We're not making out!" she tried to deny then lowered her voice in a whisper, "Not all the time, anyway."

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Still doesn't change the fact that you eat each other's faces in private."

"We're not that ba-"

"Sure, sure," Ayame dismissed as they got nearer the fields. "I guess. Aside from our group, nobody knows anything about the two of you. Don't know how though. You guys practically come back all disheveled and bruised lips."

"S-shut up!"

"Might as well," she shrugged, "I already spied your 'eagle' warming up."

She gave one last glare to Ayame before turning in front. Tsubasa was there already, doing some stretches while talking with Misugi-kun and Hyuuga-kun. There were also girls on the field as well, also doing some stretches. Though it seems like everyone decided to split up on different sides again, but at least there weren't any animosity between them. It was nice to see Yumi-chan and Izumi-chan giggling at Jito-kun's and the Tachibana twins' antics.

It was a little nerve wracking to see all coaches huddled close together, talking about something. It was probably something about practice today. Hm, wonder what they were going to do first.

"Yo," they were greeted by Rika-chan as they put their stuff right where she sat on the grass, doing her stretches.

"What up."

"Hi."

They greeted their friend and immediately followed her example. It was always the right decision to stretch first before doing anything. The pain that follows if you didn't stretch right was not worth it to ignore stretching.

The other members started appearing as well, and once everyone was here, the coaches ordered them to warm up by running three laps around the field. Once they were all done running, the coaches ordered them to sit down in front of them, a look of barbaric excitement on their faces.

That's when everything started to somewhat change.

Right as she sat between Ayame and Shiori-chan, she knew that something was going to happen. There was something bothering her when she directed her attention at their coaches.

"Listen up everyone!" Coach Gamo roared. "As you all know, today's the start of combined practices. First thing, we don't tolerate any rough plays at all. You throw a punch or pull someone's hair, then you're off the field. Got it?"

All of them nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Good," he said. "Second, we will not tolerate any thing that disrespects us as coaches. We don't need someone who's arrogant that thinks they can do things on their own. Remember, all four of us coaches have been part of the World Cup team and Natsukawa-san and Nagasato-san actually won the Women's World Cup three years ago. If you guys think as much as talking shit, whether you're a guy or a girl, then talk it to us like adults. You're not five anymore." Both female coaches hardened their faces, but both of them didn't say anything.

That's one way to say that any sexists' remarks was off and would not be tolerated. Maybe then Ayame would stop tackling anyone that undermines any of the girls' capabilities as a soccer players. It was a little satisfying to see the unbelieving expression on their faces when they found out how the Women's team won the World Cup before the men did.

"Alright, that's it," Coach ended. He looked around them before clearing his throat.

"To start this off, Natsukawa-san and I decided a friendly match between you girls and boys," he smirked.

Oh Lord, this didn't sound good. She's willing to bet that this was all Coach Mikami's idea. He'd seen all their mixed matches ever since they came from Germany and probably thought this was a good idea.

Everyone erupted in chatters and talks, and Ayame was even shaking from trying to contain her excitement. Even Shiori was as excited as everyone else. They probably think this was going to be a rematch for all their mixed games, since the past games have always ended in a tie. Oh god, Tsubasa's probably shitting himself because he's been bugging her for a match but schedule conflicts and her just straight out refusing for a rematch made it impossible for them.

She turned to where her boyfriend was, and coincidentally, he turned to her as well. The two of them met eyes and soon after that Tsubasa pointed to her before pointing his thumb to the ground. Oh, she sees how it is.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stuck her tongue out. She turned away from him with an annoyed huff.

Oh he was on.

"Okay everyone, turn it down!" Natsukawa-san finally spoke. "I'm sure some of you are saying that it's unfair, especially you girls, since that physically, boys are stronger than us ladies. But don't worry, it's possible for us to keep up with them, according to Coach Mikami. Apparently, our national champions have been doing this since they were in junior high, if I remember correctly."

"Third year junior high, actually coach," Kisugi-kun corrected. "Anego thought of it when she became captain of the girls' team." Really, even here, he would still call her "Anego?"

"Oh, yes thank you," Natsukawa-san said though she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Idiot," Ayame exclaimed as she got up on her knees to see Kisugi-kun. "Coach doesn't know you call Sanae that. The heck do they know about this 'Anego' person."

"Oh, my bad. I meant Sanae-chan."

"Thank you," she mumbled under her breath. At least he finally got her name right.

"Right," Coach Natsukawa drawled unsurely. "Anyway, Coach Mikami thought that this would be a great ice breaker for all of us. Besides," suddenly there was a gleam on her eyes, "this would help us to actually see if you have potential for the tournament."

It was as if the whole team lost their breaths, and she felt the tension rising again. This was going to be a bloodbath.

"So we expect everyone to give everything they got, alright?" Natsukawa-san ended jovially, as if she was looking forward to this.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "Now for this match, it'll be a full 90 minute match with unlimited substitutions. Same rules as any other friendly matches, the only difference is how you play it. Coach Gamo and I will act as 'stand-in' coaches for each teams; me for the girls, and he for the boys. I know its cliché, but since this is a trial, we could stick to them for now. We'll be switching it up as we move along.

"Anyway, since nobody have any experience on playing like this, we decided to pick some people from our group from Nankatsu as part of the first line up to show us how it works," She paused and raised her eyebrows. "Though, Coach Gamo might have do some choosing on who to play."

Coach Gamo gave a nod and Coach Natsukawa continued.

"So, I guess that's it," she said, "Now can the girls come to the left side and follow me." She gave a sideways glance to Coach Gamo and Coach Mikami, a small smirk on her face. "We need to come up with something to beat these boys."

Damnit, Natsukawa-san! Don't fuel the fire. See, you just offended the whole half of the team.

"Beat us? Dream on, Natsukawa," Coach Gamo retorted, the boys howling in agreement.

This time, the girls gasps in offense. Ayame even yelled "Oh hell no!" indignantly.

"Wanna bet?" Natsukawa-san challenged with that glint in her eyes. The girls were fuming behind her and glaring towards the boys. The boys retaliated by giving them a thumbs down.

Well then.

"You're on," Coach Gamo said. "Winner gets to pay for drinks next time we all go out."

Wow, seriously. They're betting over this? Over alcohol no less?

You know what, she gives up. There's no point in trying to rationalize this.

Natsukawa-san smiled.

"May the best team win then."

She was on the field, waiting for the match to start. As usual, she was playing midfield again. Once they separated from the boys to start preparing for the match, Natsukawa-san immediately had them talk about their experience in playing a game like this. Of course they gave a thorough explanation of how they played it, and everyone seemed to understand it. After explaining and retelling their tales of their previous mixed matches, Natsukawa-san was in deep thought, with Nagasato-san occasionally whispering something to her ear.

Then she looked up and informed them of what they were going to be doing.

Sanae didn't expect that they'd be doing a 4-2-3-1 formation. But, now that she thought about this, the boys' offense was strong, but their defense –and she meant this in the nicest way possible- was shit*. Based on their matches last year in France, they had a lot of holes in their defense, and she didn't think that they managed to fix that yet. Compared to their offense, where they have Tsubasa, Misaki-kun, Hyuuga-kun, Nitta-kun, the Tachibana twins, and more, their defense seemed to be lacking something. Of course, Jito-kun and Soda-kun are formidable defenders in their own right, but they're too hot blooded? Plus, they're very impulsive players -which wasn't exactly a bad thing, but against technical players who changes strategies on the fly, it's not going to be great for them.

It should be easy to pass them. They've already played with Wakabayashi-kun many times to find out a loop hole in his defense.

The problem was, their offensive players. To say that they were ruthless would be an understatement. Golden Duo combined with Hyuuga-kun's fierce plays, Tachibanas' air soccer, Nitta-kun's Falcon Shoots, and Misugi-kun's technical miracles, total nightmare for them. Hopefully having Rika-chan and Noriko-chan as their centerbacks would even it a little bit. Besides having Mika-chan and Izumi-chan as fullbacks was comforting. If it wasn't for them, their expedition two years ago would have fallen. Combine this whole defensive line with Kaede-chan protecting their goal, it's probably the best defense ever.

Besides, if anyone's going to really give them trouble defensively, it would be Saya-chan. Playing as a defensive midfielder was her expertise, and that's how she always gave her trouble. Add Yumi-chan beside her, then their whole defense was like a wall. Technically, anyway. They didn't really have the physical attributes (like height and strength to name a few) to clash against the boys head on. Though she was sure Saya-chan will be able to think of something.

She looked to her sides to and analyzed their offensive players. Sure, they weren't as many as the boys, but they could hold their own, even if there's only four of them. Sachi-chan was on her left, something she was used to. It was actually awesome to have her there because everyone in their team knows that she'll make whatever chances for them to score. Same with Ayame on the right, with her "miraculous" plays. She made it a point to liven up to her last name. Kiseki. Miracle. She's going to score that goal, even if the play seemed impossible. Then, they had her in the last midfield position. Sure, she's familiar being the central midfielder, but there's just something about Tsubasa that intimidates the shit out of her. Of course, she probably knew half of his plays, but he has different players to use and that's going to be difficult to predict. There are going to be lots of possibilities in this match. She just hoped that she could keep up.

Hopefully, Shiori-chan could save them. As the lone forward, she probably have the biggest pressure of all. She's actually a little worried about her friend. She's not exactly tall, standing a few inches smaller than Ayame, but she guessed she makes it up by her extreme speed and real awesome technical plays. She's usually the one scoring the goals for them after all.

Maybe they could actually win this.

She looked across towards the other team to give one last observation. Okay, their assumptions were pretty spot on. As expected, they have Tsubasa as their playmaker, as well as Wakabayashi-kun being their goal keeper, but Wakashimazu-kun could be easily switched in. That was something they should probably look out for. Their forwards was as expected, Hyuuga-kun and Nitta-kun. Noriko-chan said she'll take care of them. She scanned the midfield and saw that almost everything was according to their plan.

Wait, was that Misugi-kun in defense? Oh god, please don't him be center, please don't let him be cen-

You have got to be fucking with her! They made him their libero!

She whipped her head to look at Ayame, who met her with a raised eyebrow. She tilted her head towards the boys' field, and seemingly understanding her, Ayame turned towards the other side and scanned the boys for few seconds, before her eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth dropping.

It seemed like they shared the same thoughts. Those nasty little pieces of poop.

If Misugi-kun was added to their defensive line –as a sweeper no less- then chances of them winning just got very slim. Impossible, even. There was no denying that Misugi-kun's practically a genius, and whatever position you put him in, he'll probably own it. Not to mention he knows how to do that freaking offside trap. Misugi-kun will probably lead the defense to block them, as well as cover the holes they were leaving open. With a straight line done the middle of Wakabayashi-Misugi-Tsubasa-Hyuuga, this was the dream team.

To put it simply, they were doomed.

She sighed and looked around some more. As expected, Jito-kun and Soda-kun were in defense, with the last one fullback position being filled by Takasugi-kun. Their midfield as expected, was made up by Misaki-kun, Matsuyama-kun, and of course Tsubasa. With Matsuyama-kun finally back on midfield instead of his old place as the center back in the Junior Youth Tournament, the team probably fortified their already too strong of a midfield. Plus, his Eagle Shoot? Totally something hard to catch. She finally reached the forwards and she could exhale in dejection. Of course, as she said before, Hyuuga-kun would be leading the offense. And Nitta-kun was there too. Sorimachi-kun was there last forward and she knew that they barely have any chance to snag this win. She just hoped that they won't go down with a fight.

She released a disheartened sigh and turned to her team. Right away, Ayame's irritated expression caught her eye right away. She couldn't exactly blame her. How else were they going to face the other team who basically made a formation that would literally slaughter them, aside from her own pessimism? Hopefully she would channel her anger into this game. It would be funny seeing the boys try and contain her rage.

All of their other teammates didn't seem to be fazed by the other team. Their eyes was just burning with determination, especially Noriko-chan. She must really want to beat Hyuuga-kun that much, considering the glare she was given him was scary. If stares could kill, he would have been dead by now.

Kaede-chan seemed to be more pumped than usual. She's been punching her hand every now and then as they waited for Coach Mikami (acting referee because he's the only one who actually done this before. It was unanimous decision much to his chagrin) to blow the whistle to start their kick off. Bless her heart and her hands. She hoped that her hands wouldn't get injured by the end of this match.

Actually, she prays that no one would be injured by the time this finishes.

"Okay," Coach Mikami coughed, "You all know the rules. Don't take anything personal. Remember it's a practice game. Are we clear?"

"Yes!" They all answered.

"Good."

Coach then brought the whistle to his leaps and before she knew it, she heard it ring and Hyuuga-kun kicked the ball to Tsubasa.

Right away, all of them were on the move. The boys started running towards their side of the field, and the girls scrambled to block them from getting too far.

Tsubasa immediately passed the ball to someone when he saw her dashing towards him.

"Oh come on," she cried as she watched the ball that went towards the unmarked Matsuyama-kun. "The game just started!"

"Nothing personal, Sanae," he laughed cheekily while they ran down the field. She gave him a glare and only marked him more fervently.

"I'm leaving Matsuyama-kun to you Saya-chan!" she screamed as their defensive midfielder blocked the guy. Thank goodness she had better footwork than him because she got the ball immediately and passed it to Sachi-chan.

"All right Saya-chan!" the girl exclaimed as she dribbled the ball Misaki-kun, who was caught off guard by their play. Ayame took advantage of it to dash pass him and follow Sachi-chan.

"Yo, Sachi on your left!"

"Sup Ayame-chan!"

"Matsuyama-kun, follow after them!" Tsubasa roared as he turned around to follow after them. "Don't let Ayame-chan get the ball at all cost."

Why did Tsubasa have to be freaking fast? Okay, she could do this. She just had to catch up with Ayame and Sachi-chan.

Taking a deep breath, she sprinted down the field and passed Tsubasa, running just behind her teammates.

"Crap!" she heard someone cry, probably someone from the benches. "Now Anego's there. This just got worse!" Definitely from the bench.

She rolled her eyes and received the pass that Sachi-chan made to her before immediately kicking it towards Shiori-chan. Their forward jumped to get the ball, but Sanae noticed the whole defense players of the boys' team dash out of the penalty area.

Oh fuck.

"Shiori-chan don't!"

Too late, she already got the ball and the referee raised his hand.

"Offside!"

The boys all cheered, praising Misugi-kun for his quick thinking and leading the defense to do the offside trap she was trying to avoid. Really, they had to fall for it at the very beginning of the match. How embarrassing!

The game restarted with the ball in the boys' side. Immediately, they made a long pass towards the other side towards the free Misaki-kun. Lord, they were taking this too seriously. The girls on this side ran after it, trying to interfere before it could even go deeper in their field. Never mind, he got it.

Luckily, Saya-chan was there to lead their defense.

She took the ball silently from Misaki-kun, who was caught off guard by how deftly she got it from under his foot. To be honest, she was the most technical player amongst them so it was no surprise that she had the ball right as the boys thought they could start their counter.

Misaki-kun chased after her, muttering something under his breath. Matsuyama-kun closed in on her and Saya-chan turned to her right, noticing that Yumi-chan close by.

"Yumi-chan!" she screamed and kicked the ball towards their other volante.

Yumi-chan prepared to catch the ball, but someone got it before her.

Motherfu- damnit! Of all people why did it have to be Hyuuga-kun of all people?

"Of fuck!" Ayame swore under her breath, feeling the panic she's feeling right now. All of three midfielders ran faster to reach Hyuuga-kun to stop him from getting closer to their goal. Unfortunately, they were all marked by the boy midfielders. Watching Hyuuga-kun dribble unhindered made her realize how terrifying "The Tiger" could be after all.

"Noriko-chan!" she screamed in trepidation once Hyuuga-kun entered the penalty area.

Their center back moved accordingly and fiercely, blocking him from getting closer to the goal. This was her chance after all. Sanae didn't really care about their little contest because as far as she knew it was pretty one-sided but if that competitiveness would help them in this match, then go ahead.

"Can you please let me go?" she asked Tsubasa (of course he would be the one marking her) as she tried to break away from him. She was watching from the corner of her eye towards Noriko-chan and Hyuuga-kun who were still fighting over the ball. She was also keeping an eye on everyone around her, planning moves when she finally gets free from Tsubasa. Ayame and Sachi-chan were out of the question. Like her they were heavily marked by Misaki-kun and Matsuyama-kun (Ayame was also mouthing something aggressively, probably raging about Misaki-kun's persistence. She could tell from his amused expression). Another option would be to send it to their fullbacks, but that would only make them more cornered than they already were.

This long pass to Shiori better turn the tides.

"Sorry," Tsubasa apologized with an unapologetic voice. "A guy's got to do what a guy's got to do."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Sometimes he's dislike of losing was annoying. "It's only a practice match. Don't take this seriously."

"You know I always take things seriously," he remarked, trying to sound innocent. She gave him a dry look while he laughed it off. Both of them knew that wasn't true. Tsubasa was a goof when it didn't involve soccer.

"Haha," she laughed sarcastically before turning back to see what was going with Noriko-chan. They were still locked in battle, but Noriko-chan's face was telling her that she was getting frustrated. She prays that she wouldn't do anything reckle-

"Eat shit Hyuuga!"

Never mind. At least the ball was out of Hyuuga-kun's feet.

She took advantage of Tsubasa's surprised cry and took off from him. She ran after the ball as it flew in the air. Hope grew inside her as she almost sure that she was going to catch it, but she was not expecting anyone to overlap, especially him.

Before she could even process what was happening, Misugi-kun was already up in the air, preparing for an overhead kick. The next thing she knew, Kaede-chan was on the ground and the whistle already blew.

"GOAL!"

All of them stared at the rolling ball on the grass, shocked by how easily the boys scored over them. It didn't help that they were off celebrating their goal and praising the Young Noble of the Field.

She scratched her head in frustration, and sighed irritably. Even her teammates shared her frustration. She could see their faces twisted in the same annoyed scowled she probably had on her face.

This game was not going the way she thought it would be. She was expecting a really friendly game, where they would all be laughing and teasing, but these people just couldn't let the competition go and went all out. And she hated that she was getting riled up about it too.

"What's that face for?" Tsubasa approached her with a barely concealed smile. She didn't even think he tried to hide it. "Don't tell me you're actually upset by our goal."

She gave him a slight glare and scoffed. "Psh, no," she denied. She was actually very angry about it but hell would freeze over first before she admitted that. "I'm not upset, far from it."

She heard him chuckle and never had she wanted to make him stop that badly.

"It's only a practice match," she heard him say as he walked away from her, a light skip to his steps. "Don't take it seriously."

She blinked in confusion as she watched him go back to the center circle. That sounded familiar… Wait-

That was- Wasn't that-

That jerk! He was mocking her by repeating what she said. Oh he'll see. They're going to take that goal back and score four more.

She got back into position and took a deep breath. She looked between her teammates and when she finally met eyes with Ayame, she nodded while her cousin nodded back. If they thought that they'll let them get another score easily, then they've got another one coming.

She returned her attention back to the middle. They want a game, they'll give them a game.

They picked the wrong group of people to pick a fight with.

End Chapter

AN: okay i know its late, like almost a month since i last updated, but its here!... and its longer! i hope that made it up a little. i just got so busy with everything with finals and getting new classes for the new semester. i've just been swamped with homework for the past weeks and ugh i feel so bad for not posting so long... sorry. this chapter was still a little unsatisfactory for me but i guess its alright hope you guys liked it.

*if you think about it, the boys' defense do kinda suck. i mean, jito and soda are really the only defenders they usually play by world youth and no matter how much ishizaki was gutsy, that amount of own goals kind of made me dislike him. i mean as a character he was fine, but his plays are awful. also matsuyama and misugi are awesome defenders but they were midfielders at for most of their lives. and i know i kinda glorified misugi being added to the defense, but it didn't mean it was smooth sailing throughout the game. they only pulled off the offside trap once in the whole match. if you really compare their offensive line up to their defense, im sure you guys would understand.

i guess thats it for now.

thanks for reading and please review. hopefully i can update a little sooner but i doubt it.