AN: ei, summer finally started for me! hopefully more frequent updates? but i doubt it :(

Hana2- man, writing Tsubasa's reaction in seeing Sanae in a bikini would have been fun to write, but sadly i didn't know where to put it. he'd probably pull her somewhere private and ravish her senseless. jk, they're minors. but at the very least they're gonna have hot make out sessions probably. thanks for reading!

yeah i don't own captain tsubasa

Chapter 22: Lucky

He thought it was a little funny that people think he was actually down for being on the bench today instead of starting on the field. Normally, he would be disappointed and maybe try and convince the coaches to put him out there, but considering who was going to be taking care of his role as game maker for the match, he didn't mind sitting this match out. After all, Sanae could take care of the team all by herself. Besides, she wasn't the only one that was going to be playing, Misaki-kun and everyone else will be there with her.

They'll be fine.

He knew that almost everyone (the boys anyway) wasn't sure about Coach Gamo and Coach Natsukawa's decision to put Sanae as the starting central midfielder instead of him. They didn't think that she could be as good as a game maker as he was, which was totally untrue because Sanae was great being a game maker, maybe even more than him. The thing with Sanae was, she was calculative. If he could think of possibilities, she, on the other hand, could predict them. He could think of a way to get a goal, she could think of any possibilities and pick out the move that would be the most advantageous. Even if it was the riskiest play ever. No matter what, she will do whatever she could to get that point.

There was a reason why she's part of the Miracle Duo with Ayame-chan after all. She's the one who triggers Ayame's Miracle plays after all. She's one of the people who could keep up with Sanae's insane strategies.

Really, the only reason why they weren't confident with Sanae was because they just didn't want to take the time to actually observe her. Their team was so full of talented players, some were being ignored. And one of them was Sanae, which really frustrated him because she's a great player! She was just being wasted if she stayed on the bench.

This match will let her shine, to prove to everyone that she didn't belong on the bench.

Speaking of… He looked towards the entrance of the dining room, just in time to see Sanae come in with a yawn. Ayame wasn't with her, probably still sleeping. She rubbed her eye with her hand and he couldn't help the smile that grew on his lips. She didn't look like she was rattled, which was a good thing. Being anxious wouldn't help her for the match today.

She looked around the room, searching for a place she could sit in. Technically, she could sit anywhere since it was still early, but it was kind of lonely and awkward sitting all by herself. Her eyes landed on where he sat with Matsuyama-kun and Misugi-kun, who woke up at almost the same time as he did. So the three of them decided to eat breakfast together while they wait for everyone to wake up.

He raised his hand for her to see, and immediately a smile blossomed on her face, making him smile in return. He turned to her direction just as she started to head towards him.

"Good morning," she greeted him when she arrived. Matsuyama-kun and Misugi-kun were too engrossed in their conversation they didn't notice her.

"Morning," he greeted back childishly before pulling her to sit on his right leg, her legs in between his. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her lips a lingering kiss. She looked surprised for a moment, before breaking into another grin.

"Slept well?" he said.

She shrugged. "I had a hard time falling asleep last night."

"Nervous?"

A thoughtful look entered her face. "You know," she started, "Not really. I mean I am a little bit, but I'm mostly excited, I think. It's my first appearance after all."

He chuckled at her answer. "That's good to hear. Being anxious won't really do you any good."

She gave a small giggle. "I know," she replied while bopping his nose with her finger. "But thanks for worrying."

"I'm your boyfriend," he said with a light scoff. "It's my job to worry over you."

She gave out a small laugh. "Now you know what I feel. Anyway," she said before patting his cheek twice. "I'm gonna go grab something to eat. I'm starving." She stood up from his lap, kissing the same cheek she just patted.

"Can you grab me some of the fruits while you're up there?" he asked before she started heading to the buffet.

"You got it Eagle Man."

He stared at her figure for a few seconds, a tender smile unconsciously forming on his lips.

"You know, for a really nice guy, you can be mean sometimes," he was pulled back to consciousness by Matsuyama's voice, and he turned to his teammate in confusion. Both he and Misugi was looking at him. Matsuyama had his hand support his chin with a small frown on his lips, while Misugi had a tight smile on his face.

"Huh?" Tsubasa said. "What do you mean? What did I do wrong?"

"Flaunting that your girlfriend's here with you," Matsuyama answered simply. "I mean Izawa does it more obnoxiously than you, but at least he only shoves it to people without any relationships. You do it in front of two guys who are committed and would do anything just to see their girlfriends. You're awful, Tsubasa. Am I right, Misugi?" He turned towards their other teammate with a smirk.

Misugi nodded solemnly. "I don't exactly agree with the 'awful' part, but this is kind of mean, Tsubasa-kun. It's a little bit enviable that you have Sanae-chan by your side here."

"Hey," Tsubasa said while raising his arms. "It's not my fault that she's part of the team. Besides, I didn't mean to make you guys angry. I just… want her close." And he wanted to kiss her too. But they didn't need to know that.

Matsuyama laughed lightly. "We're kidding," he said. "We know. You don't have a mean bone in your body even if you try. Besides, we know what you mean. I'd want to keep Yoshiko close as well."

"It'd be nice to see Yayoi," Misugi confessed. "I don't exactly feel right without her beside me."

Tsubasa raised his eyebrows in mild amusement. Misugi wasn't really one of those people who talks about his relationship to the world (unlike him), and hearing him admit something like this was new. He could just figure out how ecstatic his childhood friend would be if she heard what her boyfriend just said.

"You're lucky Sanae-chan's here," Matsuyama repeated with a sigh. Misugi drinking from his glass silently.

He chuckled at his friends. "If it makes you feel any better, we just have another week to push through and its back to Japan for us. And if we qualify, then you guys can do whatever you want to celebrate with Yoshiko-chan and Yayoi-chan."

The two guys gave him a smile, a little bit happier by that thought.

"So what do you think's going to happen to today's match?" Misugi changed the subject while checking his phone.

Immediately, the three of them got into a deep conversation about the game with Uzbekistan later. They talked of the probable outcomes of the match, as well as strategies to overcome some of the physical disadvantages they as Japanese players will have against them. They barely even noticed Sanae arrived back with her food. She took the seat to Tsubasa's left, quietly setting a bowl of fruits by her boyfriend before proceeding to start on her own food. The boys were still focused on their conversation, Tsubasa began to forget about the fruits he asked for.

Sanae rolled her eyes while taking a bite out of her toast. Of course, trust them to forget about their surroundings when it comes to soccer. She sighed through her nose and decided to continue eating her food. She'll feed Tsubasa later.

She continued to eat while listening to their conversation, occasionally checking her phone for any texts. Her mom was asking her for some good recipes to do for next week. Valentine's Day was coming up after all.

Finishing the last of her yogurt, she picked up her fork and took Tsubasa's bowl of fruits in her hand. Technically it was theirs. She piled a ton of fruits in it so they could just share. Besides, she wasn't a big eater.

She noticed Tsubasa haven't talked for a while, listening intently as Misugi-kun explained something to Matsuyama-kun. Taking advantage of it, she nudged her boyfriend with her elbow. She had a piece of melon stuck on her fork, ready to offer it to him.

"Hmm?" Tsubasa turned to her, and had a surprised look on his face. He probably only realized that he asked her for some fruit.

His lips broke into a grin.

"Thanks," he said before leaning in to take the fruit on her fork with his mouth.

They heard the tell-tale sound of a camera clicking on a phone, Tsubasa's mouth open halfway and was about to grab the melon from her fork.

The both of them turned to where the sound came from and saw Matsuyama-kun with his phone towards them, a smirk on his lips. Misugi-kun was in the middle of taking a sip from his glass, but he was definitely hiding a teasing smile behind his drink.

"Huh," Matsuyama-kun remarked as he looked at his phone. "This… this is actually pretty adorable." Misugi-kun was finished drinking his drink, and he was peering over Matsuyama-kun's shoulder.

"You're right," he agreed. "You should keep that. Maybe you can use it against Tsubasa-kun someday."

"Good idea, Misugi. Maybe I can finally beat him at something."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes and proceeded to finally eat the melon from her fork.

"Go ahead," he said while chewing. "It's not like you guys haven't seen us like that." That was true. But still, it didn't stop her flushing lightly. "It could have been worse."

Sanae pinched his arm, making him myelp in pain.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, "What the heck, Sanae? What did I do?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she chided lightly. "You know how rude that is."

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. He gave her cheek a kiss, and she couldn't help the smile to form on her lips.

"Fine," she sighed with fake exasperation. "You're forgiven. Now, let's just finish all of these fruits and please don't talk until you finished eating what's in your mouth."

"Yes ma'am," he answered as he grabbed a cantaloupe piece from the bowl and ate it.

They didn't notice their teammates raise an eyebrow in amusement.

"How is it that you act like his mom one moment, then the next second you guys can barely keep your hands off of each other," Matsuyama-kun pointed out. "It's cute, but weird at the same time."

Sanae felt another blush creep up her face, but she ignored it and gave a chuckle.

"Well," she said as she looked up to her boyfriend who was pretending oblivious to their question because he was busy shoving the fruits in his mouth. "As you can see, my man here can be an overgrown child sometimes. Someone has to keep him in line." She ruffled Tsubasa's hair with one of her hands, earning a whine from him in the process.

She only laughed in reply and gave his cheek a kiss.

They heard their friends' chuckles at them, and Tsubasa only sulked as they make fun of him.

"Ready for the match today, Sanae-chan?" Misugi-kun asked her as they started to stop teasing Tsubasa.

"Hmm?" she blinked as she turned to face his direction. "Oh! Sure. I mean, I guess."

"Nervous?" Matsuyama-kun said.

She shrugged her shoulders halfheartedly. "Not really," she replied. "I don't know why, but I just don't anxious at all. I guess it's because it's my first appearance for tournament? I'm not sure."

Misugi-kun's face lit with realization. "Oh yeah. This is your first game for tournament."

"Yup," Tsubasa answered. "I can't wait to see her on the field," he said as he wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close. She couldn't help but lean into him in comfort.

"That's a first," Matsuyama-kun remarked. "I would have thought you'd be fighting to be on the field."

"Usually I would be," Tsubasa said, "But I trust Sanae to be able to take care of everyone. She knows what to do. She didn't hold onto Junior High Title for three straight years for nothing. Not to mention, two years as Defending Champions for the High School Division."

"Everyone in the team worked to defend the title," Sanae tried to point out, and it was true. Holding onto their titles was a whole team effort. It wasn't just her who did all the work.

"Your teammates would argue you're the reason why they are right now. Besides, you're the only one crazy enough to completely destroy the American team's defense in the first three minutes of your match against them when you guys played them in the Girls Junior Tournament three years ago."

Misugi-kun and Matsuyama-kun had a surprise expression enter their faces, while Sanae turned to Tsubasa with a red face.

"How in the world do you know about that?" she demanded with embarrassment. "And I didn't destroy their defense, their team was still trying to adjust themselves, and I took advantage of it. Besides, you know how most people don't notice Shiori-chan. I used that to our advantage and had the first goal. Emily tied the score two minutes after."

"That's actually pretty ruthless," Matsuyama-kun remarked quietly.

"But it was a good move," Misugi-kun acknowledged. "Though that is pretty early in the match. Don't you usually wait a few more minutes to observe your opponent before you start on offense?"

Sanae sunked into Tsubasa's form and crossed her arms. "They were making fun of my team," she said lowly. "I didn't like it so I got mad and being a passive-aggressive, I just had to prove a point that we're just as good, if not better, than they are by getting the opening goal."

Then she added softly that she thought she was the only one who could hear. "I wanted to get it earlier but I didn't find their weakness until halfway into the second minute."

Tsubasa chuckled from beside her and only dropped a kiss on her head. He's heard about the stories when she managed to beat a team mercilessly because she got pissed at them for underestimating their team. Sort of like a mama bear. Huh, that's actually a cute image. A bear that looked like Sanae. Guess who just got a new nickname. This way he could finally have something to retort back when she calls him "Eagle."

"Impressive," the two said.

"So is it right to say that you know how to take care of the Uzbekistan team?" Misugi-kun asked, intrigued. His hands were clasped together on the table as he expects her answer.

Sanae shrugged. "We'll see. It depends on how match goes I guess. They do have a height advantage over us." She then got a pineapple from their bowl and ate it gracefully.

"Any plans to overcome that?"

She had a thoughtful look cross her face as she chewed gingerly, then she gulped. "Well… There's various ways we can overcome it. There's our speed, almost all our starting eleven's pretty fast when you think about it. And being short can actually have its advantages no matter how absurd it sounds. Most people's instincts will have them looking straight ahead and there's a chance that they wouldn't notice someone like Shiori-chan passing by them to grab the ball. They'd be too focus on the view of the goalpost before them.

"Which also brings us to another way to play the game. Shiori-chan's a cunning player. She's not one to dabble on strength, but she'll know a goal chance when she sees it. It only takes a light flick of her foot to get the ball pass the goal line, and we're set. And if we really need someone with strength, there's always Hyuuga-kun and Nitta-kun. They can get a score easily.

"I can trust Misaki-kun with his technical abilities in the midfield, and I'm sure we both can handle midfield. Plus, Saya-chan's the defensive midfielder for this match. What more can I ask for? She might not have the height to match them, but she's been playing with Americans for years, she'll know what to do. And our defense, with Jito-kun and Noriko-chan leading, is probably one of the best defense our team can have.

"So, yeah there's probably going to be more ways for us to get goal chances when we finally see their set up. It shouldn't be that hard finding a hole in their defense," she finished before looking down towards the bowl again. "Oh!" she suddenly perked up. "And long shots. Long shots are one of their keepers' weaknesses. That's what I noticed when the coaches had us watch some of their matches three days ago." She then proceeded to grab another piece of fruit to eat. There's only a few pieces left. Both she and Tsubasa were almost done with it.

Matsuyama-kun whistled lowly. "Damn," he remarked. "You've really thought about this, didn't you?"

She pushed the bowl towards Tsubasa to finish the last bit of the food. "Not that much really," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "I mean, I prepare for it, but I'd rather be stress free until the game starts, you know."

"But it sounded like you already know what you're going to be doing for today," Misugi-kun pointed out with knitted eyebrows.

Tsubasa snorted from beside her right her.

"Sanae doesn't think of anything Misugi-kun," Tsubasa said.

"Hey!" Sanae whined.

Tsubasa ignored her and continued with a smile. "I ask her all the time if she has a plan to beat a team, but she always answers me with an 'I don't know.' She doesn't even sound worried about it."

"That's because I'm excited for a match," Sanae defended herself. "I don't want to worry when I'm going against someone who I've been meaning to play against."

"You don't even think about how you can beat them?" Matsuyama-kun asked.

"But that would take the fun out of it!" She replied. "I mean sure winning is an amazing feeling and I love to win just as much as any other person out there, but I'd like to have fun first. Isn't that why we all play soccer? To have fun?"

The two boys sitting across from them remained quiet in thoughtfulness. Tsubasa didn't even say anything. He already had the same conversation with her, and agreed wholeheartedly.

"Isn't it a bit too early to be asking those kinds of questions?" They heard Noriko-chan's voice drift around the room. They turned to the doorway to see her and few other of their teammates following behind her. "It's only-"she yawned, "-7:30 in the morning. And I know you haven't talked about that to the boys but give them a break. Do it at like, after they eat breakfast. Don't make them hurt themselves brooding so early in the morning and without food. That way they won't hurt their brains as much."

The girls started giggling as they all began to come into the room to get food. The boys looked appalled.

"Are you saying that we're stupid?" Hyuuga-kun hissed.

"I didn't say that," Noriko-chan remarked as she went in line for the buffet table. "You did."

Hyuuga-kun growled in anger, as Noriko-chan smirked in victory. Were they going to go at it again?

Sure enough, they started lobbying insults at each other again.

Even though they managed to be such a good combination on the field, they just couldn't get along out of it. Hopefully, this wouldn't affect how they play later today.

Sanae sighed from beside him, but when he turned to look at her, there was a content smile on her face. His lips curled into a smile without his knowing. He tightened his hold on her and she instinctually leaned her head on his shoulder. He dropped another kiss on her head.

Their team was lucky that they have her, but he was even luckier to her by his side.

End Chapter

AN: i wanted to add the Uzbekistan game here, but the call for fluff was stronger so yeah, have this. anyway, i have to leave soon so i gtg

cya thanks fro reading and please review!