AN: so the women's world cup finally ended, and US won. i knew that they were going to win and im happy they won, i just tried to hold on the belief that japan could have given them a harder time... on to the olympics!

Mimiii- i wish i could do something more original with Tsubasa's and Sho Shunko's confrontation, but my brain was fired by that point sorry :( tsubasa definitely wrecked Sho Shunko I promise, and they had a nice talk after that. Sho Shunko also apologized profusely to Sanae and Wakabayashi. if you want, just read it in the manga, that's what basically happened anyway. just try and imagining it in last half of the second half lol. i dont know how to make original shots, tbh. thats why the girls have no original shots whatsoever. id like they play realistically, but that's a lie. anyway, thank you so much for still reading and reviewing and i hope you have a nice day too!

Thao Nhi- yeah, but no worries! Tsubasa got his revenge, even if Sanae thought it was unnecessary. She won't be able to play in the last two matches tho, but she'll be able to play in the tournament. it's only a sprain no worries. she just had to rest her foot for a while. anyway, thanks fore always reading and reviewing! love you 3

Chapter 26: Prepation

Man, she hated getting injured. The last time she got hurt was back when she got an ankle injury like this was in the winter of her second year of junior high. She was so deep in thought about something, she didn't realize she was walking on ice. The next thing she knew, she was on her ass with an injured foot. She had to use crutches for a week before her foot stopped being swollen. Do you know how hard it was to walk with crutches in three feet of snow? And don't even get her started about the stairs.

She really hated getting injured. And it's only the third day. According to Doctor Himura, she couldn't put any pressure on her foot for two-three weeks. Not to mention, her body was so sore from playing in three straight matches. Granted, she got substituted before the end of the last one, but the strain her body was receiving was just hitting her right now since she must have unconsciously ignored it when she was preparing for the games. She needed to go to the spa.

"Don't you look like a ray of sunshine," Ayame remarked amusingly as they took the elevator down to go to the dining area.

"My body hurts," Sanae replied while they got out of the elevator. She hobbled along with her cousin, trying to refrain from cringing in pain because of the crutches. "And these crutches are not helping."

"I can always carry you, you know," Tsubasa's voice appeared over her shoulder, Misaki-kun right behind him. She jumped in surprise and stumbled forwards. If it wasn't for Tsubasa's arm grabbing her around the waist, she would have probably fell on the floor like newborn deer. "It'll make life a whole lot easier for you, and maybe for me too. It's painful watching you try and hobble along with those crutches."

Did he just- did he just insult her?

"I gotta agree with Birdie here, Sanae," Ayame voiced her thoughts. "It's really pitiful watching you try and move along with them. You're not even doing it right."

"Well, sorry to be such an eyesore for you guys," she remarked sardonically. "It's not my fault that crutches just aren't part of my life often enough. And I didn't want to be injured either."

"See, look at what you've guys done, you made her angry," Misaki-kun taunted the two with a teasing smile. Tsubasa only glared at him while Ayame flicked him off with her middle finger. Much to their ire, he only chuckled in reply.

Tsubasa rolled his eyes at his friend before turning his attention back on her.

"Hey, don't be like that," he said. "We're just trying to point out why carrying you would be a much better idea than you using crutches. We didn't mean to make you angry."

Sanae gave him a dry look just as Ayame gave out a fake coughed while Misaki-kun elbowed her and Tsubasa her a glare. She promptly stopped coughing.

Sanae sighed looked up at Tsubasa. "Are you sure you want to carry me? I mean, won't I be…heavy? And besides, you have a match today. I'll only strain your body."

He gave her a dry look. "Sanae, I've carried you on my back many times now, and you barely weigh anything. It's not going to do anything to me."

"Why do you think Hyuuga-kun can lift you up easily, or any guy in the team for that matter? Anego, they like to carry you up in the air because you're so light we're tempted to throw you up in the air like they do with babies. At least I am. It always makes me wonder what you'd do if we do throw you up," Misaki-kun added.

"Don't you dare," Sanae threatened the midfielder.

"That sounds like a plan," Ayame agreed. "When should we do this?"

"Kiseki Ayame!" she cried. Ayame just shrugged nonchalantly.

Tsubasa interrupted before things escalate. "So," he said loudly. "Ready to get on my back?"

Sanae released a breath and looked up to him. "I'm not going to win this, am I?"

He only gave her a smile. "Nope!"

Letting out a defeated sigh, she turned to look at Ayame, who blinked at her innocently.

"You, carry my crutches," she ordered firmly. Sanae shoved both of her crutches to her cousin, who was spluttering in a frenzied manner, probably angry with her demand. But she didn't care, if she was going to make fun of her limp, she might as well make herself useful.

Ignoring Ayame's grumbles (which Misaki-kun teased her for), Sanae hopped on her good foot behind Tsubasa, who was already prepared to let her climb on him. Without wasting any time, she situated herself on his back.

"Good?" Tsubasa asked her.

"Yup," she answered as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

"Alright then," Tsubasa stood up as his hands supported her knees. The four of them started to head to the dining area once more. They chatted as they walked, talking about random things to pass the time.

When they arrived in the room, they saw it getting full of their teammates, but it still didn't stop them from spotting Wakabayashi-kun and their friends already eating at one of the tables. They immediately set out to head there.

"Well, look at the two of you already in that mood so early in the morning," Taki-kun remarked once they arrived.

Sanae rolled her eyes while she got down from Tsubasa to sit in a nearby chair. "Shut up, I wasn't the one who thought of this."

"She looked pitiful trying to walk with crutches," Ayame announced while giving her the aforementioned sticks of pain. In reply, Sanae hit her leg softly with one of them. Ayame gave out a pained yelp and gave her cousin a glare.

"It's probably not as bad as Wakabayashi trying to use his left hand to eat," Kisugi comforted her before taking a sip from his cup.

Of course, Wakabayashi-kun's hand was injured as well trying to stop Sho Shunko's shot in the match against China. Being the proud person that he was, he blocked the powerful shot of the Chinese because he didn't want Sho Shunko to get another goal outside the penalty area. He did say that he wasn't going to let anyone shoot outside of the penalty box. A noble goal, but look at where it got him.

"I don't think he even got anything to eat."

"Shut up," growled the goalkeeper. His right hand was bandaged and a sling was thrown over his shoulder, supporting his hand.

Ignoring him Kisugi-kun continued. "So Shiori-chan finally helped him since he looked so pitiful. She's been feeding him ever since. It's quite adorable actually."

Shiori-chan, who was sitting beside the goal keeper and had her hand ready to feed Wakabayashi-kun, flushed a deep red. Even her hand holding the spoon for their keeper matched the shade of her face. Wakabayashi-kun wasn't far behind. His whole face was red as well, and if looks could kill, Kisugi-kun would have been buried six feet under. Kisugi-kun only smirked in triumph.

"You little piece of shit," he hissed. "You're going to pay for this. You better watch your back."

Kisugi-kun paled considerably and chuckled nervously while they all snickered at what he brought to himself. He should have remembered how Wakabayashi-kun was with grudges and revenge before opening his mouth. He was and always will be ruthless to those that cross him.

Wakabayashi-kun took the food from Shiori's hand and grumbled softly as he chewed his food, though there was still tell-tale signs of a blush on his face while Shiori-chan immediately looked down in embarrassment. Man, they're too cute.

Seeing that she couldn't exactly get food for herself, Tsubasa and Ayame offered to get her something to eat from the buffet (Ayame whined for being ordered but she knew her cousin well enough to know that she was going to do it herself anyway). That's why she loved their group of friends. They'd always help each other when they're in need.

"I see that the injured life is treating you well," she remarked once the three left to get food.

"More like humiliated," the goalkeeper grumbled again as he accepted food from Shiori again.

Sanae chuckled and leaned over the table. "Welcome to the club."

"Don't worry, Wakabayashi-kun," Rika-chan comforted as she took a seat beside Shiori-chan. She just arrived with Izawa-kun from getting food. "You're going to get better soon. Just give it time, and let Shiori-chan feed you. This way not only are you able to still eat normally, but you and Shiori-chan will become closer, and hopefully get together soon because god knows how long we've been waiting for it."

Shiori-chan, who took a break from feeding Wakabayashi-kun and was instead eating her own food, choked roughly and quickly grabbed her glass of water to chug the whole thing. Wakabayashi-kun was blushing yet again and glared at the female defender.

"Rika-chan!" Shiori-chan exclaimed with a red face.

"What?" the defender teased. "I'm just saying. The sooner you guys start dating, the sooner I'll get money."

She's probably talking about the betting pool they all made. It's been going on ever since the middle of January. And surprisingly, it just wasn't them in it. Even their parents joined on. Like, Shiori-chan and Wakabayashi-kun's family were in it. Wakabayashi-san actually had the biggest bet last time she checked.

"Wait, are you telling me you guys have a betting pool about if we're going to be in a relationship?" Wakabayashi-kun demanded.

"Well, of course we do," Ishizaki-kun answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Remember, we had one for Anego and Tsubasa."

Oh Sanae remembered that clearly. They had managed to collect as much as ¥10,000 for that one. She didn't have any idea how they did it, but according to sources, it was actually Tsubasa's mom who won it. The joy the Oozora matriarch felt when she found out she won. Not only was she ¥10,000 richer, but she also found out her son was finally dating the girl she wanted for him (Sanae was humbled by this).

"We always have betting pools on couples. The only reason why we never had one for Rika-chan and Izawa is because everyone was thrown off by it," Taki-kun said. "No one expected them to get together."

"Wrong," Sanae retorted. "The girls' team had one. Chieko-senpai and Rinko-senpai started it right from the beginning of the term in first year when they saw Izawa-kun helping Rika-chan around campus. I won ¥5,638 from that one."

"What the fuck? Why didn't we know about this?"

"We could have made a bigger pool!"

"That's unfair!"

"I don't give a flipping shit about Izawa and Rika-chan's betting pool," Wakabayashi interrupted. "Who's in this stupid bet about me and Shiori?"

Strike one, Wakabayashi-kun. Never drop an honorific unless you want people to think more about the relationship you guys have.

Everyone around the table except Shiori-chan raised their hands without shame.

Wakabayashi-kun's jaw dropped while Shiori-chan leaned on her chair and sunk slowly. She knew about this betting pool considering they weren't exactly discreet about it. Besides, she joined in the past two bets so she would already figure out there's a bet about them sooner or later. It's a surprise Wakabayashi-kun only found out about it today.

"This isn't all of the people in it," Taki-kun assured. "Misaki-kun and Ayame-chan's in it. Our parents are in it. Some other people are in it…"

"Our parents?" Wakabayashi-kun repeated dumbly.

"You're dad has the highest bet followed by Shiori-chan's dad."

"This is unbelievable," he exclaimed in exasperation.

"Don't worry bud, you get used to it," Sanae tried to comfort him.

Wakabayashi-kun only produced an unintelligible sound while covering his face with his uninjured hand.

"What's wrong with him?" they heard Ayame's voice. The three of them finally arrived back from getting food and took a seat around the table. Tsubasa grabbed the empty chair beside his girlfriend and set a plate of food before her. Sanae muttered a small thanks to him and deposited a kiss on his cheek. He replied to her with that cute smile of his that she oh so love.

"Wakabayashi found out about the betting pool for him and Shiori-chan," Izawa-kun explained for them.

"Oh the betting pool," Misaki-kun said while he sat beside Tsubasa, Ayame sat on Sanae's other side. "Must have been a shock to him."

"You have no idea," Wakabayashi-kun muttered.

"I feel you," Tsubasa remarked to the goalkeeper. "I remember finding out about ours. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory."

Sanae smiled from behind her glass. Oh she remembered that event. It was hilarious seeing Tsubasa's face when she told him one night when they were at Hikarigaoka Park when they weren't dating yet. He was frozen in disbelief for a moment before finally ready to wage war on everyone that made a bet. If she remembered correctly, he was going to sic each and every one of them with a Drive Shot to the gut. Except his parents, he never did tell her what he was going to them.

"Speaking of," Taki-kun suddenly turned to Tsubasa who was chewing on a piece of toast. "It always confuses me why you never joined."

He gulped down his food and answered, "I just don't see the point."

"Finally someone with some sense!" Wakabayashi-kun threw his hand up in the air, while Shiori-chan looked at him with puzzled surprise.

"I mean, they're already dating so I don't see how it was going to work," he added nonchalantly while taking another bite from his toast.

Wait, hold up.

"What?" Ishizaki-kun exclaimed. "Them, dating? Tsubasa I think you got it wrong, bud."

All of them didn't notice how Shiori-chan and Wakabayashi-kun froze and flushed once more.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not," Tsubasa defended himself. "I mean, why else would Shiori-chan feed him without being red and we all know how much she tends to shy away from guys she's not familiar with. She's not even comfortable around us even though we're tightest group of friends. Why do you think Wakabayashi always chooses to sit beside her everywhere? I thought you knew."

Ugh, this was like the last time when they were talking about Ayame and Misaki-kun. This was really unfair from him. And how the hell did notice all of those things?

"Do you want me to tell you guys how Wakabayashi glares at anyone who even looks at her wrongly," Tsubasa added jokingly. "They're really amusing."

Wakabayashi-kun glared at him while Shiori-chan sunk even lower on her chair.

"Okay," Taki-kun leaned on the table. "Supposing, and I do mean supposing, you're right. When would you say they started dating?"

"I don't know," Tsubasa shrugged nonchalantly. "After New Year's? That was when he started sticking to her the way I started sticking to Sanae."

Well, dang. If he was comparing their relationship to the two of them, then something's really going on with those two.

They all turned to Shiori-chan and Wakabayashi-kun. They knew that if someone compared a couple's relationship with them, then it's getting pretty serious. In their own words, her and Tsubasa's relationship is the epitome of all relationships whatever that meant."

"So," Misaki-kun cleared his throat. "Is he right?"

Shiori-chan and Wakabayashi-kun refused to meet anyone's eyes, trying to look at anything but them. Their faces was another shade of red, and Sanae didn't think their faces even returned to their normal colors ever since they got into this conversation.

Are you kidding me?

"No fucking way," Ayame said under her breath in disbelief.

"I can't believe this," Kisugi-kun cried.

"Well, this is a surprise," Misaki-kun agreed, albeit he wasn't as affected by it as everyone was. He just continued eating like this wasn't a big deal.

"I told you so," Tsubasa retorted but he too went back to eating.

"Why didn't you guys tell us?" Taki-kun demanded. "I thought we were friends."

"We were going to tell you guys soon…" Shiori-chan mumbled softly, looking down while she twiddled with her hands.

"Well of course we were going to tell it to everyone," Wakabayashi-kun retorted, "but we didn't feel like dealing with things like this. Frankly, getting the same reaction from all of you like what you gave to Tsubasa and Anego would have been a nightmare for both of us." Then he added softly to himself, "Shiori might even break up with me."

Shiori seemed like the only one who heard him, gave him a pointed look as if saying, "No I wouldn't." Wakabayashi-kun only shrugged while Shiori put her chin on his shoulder, puffing her cheeks as she gave her a stubborn look. Wakabayashi-kun replied by giving her smile and kissing the crown of her head.

Oh my, that's so adorable. Gosh, now Sanae knew why they didn't want people to know. If they were this cute, they wouldn't have stopped gushing over them.

"Right now though," Takisugi-kun finally spoke. "I'm exactly shocked by them in a relationship. I kind of figured they had something going on by the middle of January." All of them looked at him in surprise too, but he ignored their looks and instead focused on Tsubasa who was eating a piece of pineapple. "I'm more curious as to how he managed to figure it out while every one of us was making ourselves poorer and stupider."

So it wasn't just her! That's good. That meant Sanae wasn't delusional.

"Yes, do tell," Misaki-kun teased as he finished eating, nudging his friend with his elbow. "Considering you're one of the slowest people we know when it comes to relationships, this is pretty shocking."

"Hey, watch it," Tsubasa glared at him. "And I know I'm slow, no need to remind me. Sanae already does it often enough."

To retaliate, she hit him lightly on the arm.

"Ow," he cried softly while nursing his arm. "I deserved that."

She huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance. He made it sound like she was nagging him.

"Anyway," he continued. "I'm more surprised you guys didn't notice it sooner. They weren't exactly discreet when their together. Wakabayashi holds her hand whenever possible."

"Nuh uh!"

"I didn't even notice that!"

"How the fuck do you know that?" Wakabayashi-kun exclaimed in embarrassment. "I only do it when nobody's looking."

"Looks like somebody was looking after all," Morisaki-kun remarked amusingly.

"You shut up!" Wakabayashi-kun ordered him, to which Morisaki-kun obliged with a teasing grin.

Everyone started teasing them again, much to the keeper's chagrin. Shiori-chan still flushed lightly, but she was grinning quite happily. Probably glad that they didn't have to hide from everyone. At least this way, she didn't have to do stuff without people looking.

"Aren't you guys a lovely bunch this morning," Natsukawa-san remarked as she reached their table. "What got you all excited this morning?"

All of them gave each other looks, and Wakabayashi-kun was giving every single one of them a glare, telling them to shut the hell up. But knowing Ayame, shutting up wasn't in her plans.

When Wakabayashi-kun met her eyes, her mouth morphed into a sadistic smirk.

"Oh nothing much Coach," she started saying softly, before raising her voice Sanae was sure everyone in the room could hear her. "Except we just found that Wakabayashi and Shiori-chan are finally together!"

Needless to say, it was a miracle breakfast ended without anyone maimed.

She crossed her legs and settled her elbow on her knee, her hand supporting her chin as she blew a strand of her hair out of her eyes. It was boring, sitting here in the stands. It might not have been so bad if she was sitting on the bench, but she couldn't even sit there.

Stupid injury.

She glanced beside her to see Wakabayashi-kun sitting calmly. It was probably just an act. He's left hand was clenched tightly after all. Shiori-chan was playing again, and Iran was targeting her most the time, committing fouls just to get her away from the ball. He's worried about her safety probably. Plus, this was the match that would determine whether they would qualify or not.

Sanae wasn't really worried. She knew they'd win this. Tsubasa was playing after all. He's going to make sure they're going to qualify. Besides, he was playing with Misaki-kun. They haven't played together since the Fall Interhigh since Misaki-kun travelled when the Prince's Cup was going on. If anything, Tsubasa's probably eager to get goals early in the match so he could just make combination plays with Misaki-kun.

See, he just scored. The third for the team, and his second one. He might even be looking for a hat trick this match.

"So you're watching from the stands today, Wakabayashi?" an unfamiliar voice called out to their goalie. They all turned around to see two blonde guys standing beside their seats. She didn't know who they were, but based on how familiar they were with Wakabayashi-kun, they were probably German.

"Schneider! Kaltz!" Wakabayshi-kun exclaimed.

Yup, they were German alright. The three of them started talking immediately and she started tuning them out, deciding to focus on the match instead. She didn't know them so it was better for her to stay out of the conversation.

There was another voice that joined them, a female one, but she didn't look to see who it was because Tsubasa was dribbling down the field again, Misaki-kun in tow. He's going to get that hat trick, she was sure.

"Why the hell aren't you there?" she heard someone say to her. Sanae turned to answer the person who asked but she was surprised when she saw who it was.

Suddenly the crowd cheered around them. Apparently, Tsubasa finally got another goal when she wasn't looking.

"Damn it, Frieda," she cried out in frustration. "You just made me miss it!"

Frieda Nacht, one of the best U-16, now U-18, girl's midfielder, was a friend of hers. They met each other while they played against them if the Semifinals for the U-16 tournament back in her third year in Junior High. They've been talking ever since then because instead of exchanging shirts like guys do, they exchanged emails and skype addresses so they could still talk even though they're not exactly in the same place. It's one of the reasons why she sleeps late in summer.

"So what?" Frieda retorted while plopping down beside her as Wakabayashi-kun scooched over while giving Sanae a questioning glance. "It's not like you haven't seen someone score a goal before. Besides, may I remind you that you've scored a goal before. You and I both know that it feels better when you're the one who scored."

"Well, yeah," she agreed reluctantly, "but still. I wanted to see that goal."

"Whaaat? Why?"

"Leave her alone, Frieda," Schneider told her, but she ignored him.

"Shut up Karl," she replied. "No one asked you." And she started pestering Sanae again, who was bent on watching the game while Frieda shook her body.

Wakabayashi turned to his German friend. "Damn, she's feisty. Who's she?"

"Frieda Nacht, a teammate. With the new rules, she was one of the girls added to the team." Schneider answered as he massaged the bridge of his nose. "She's in the U-18 Girls' squad in Hamburg."

"She's also his neighbor," Kaltz added cheekily while the other German guy glared at him.

Wakabayashi chuckled in jest, earning him a glare from the Emperor.

"What about her?" Kaltz gestured to Sanae, who was still being pestered by Frieda. "Who's she? She's a teammate right? She has a jacket on and the other guys seem to know her quite well. And Frieda's familiar with her."

"She's Sanae Nakazawa," Wakabayashi explained once Frieda finally gave up pestering her and the two of them started conversing with each other normally. "Yeah, she's part of the team. She was captain and central mid when Japan had that legendary victory against Uzbeskitan."

Kaltz and Schneider looked at him in surprise. She was the captain and game maker in that game. They thought it was Tsubasa leading Japan.

"Damn," Kaltz whistled. "Not only is she good, but she's pretty one too."

Wakabayshi smirked as they watched Tsubasa steal the ball from Iran's player. "Don't even try, Kaltz," he advised. "You don't stand a chance."

The small German looked at him in confusion, Schneider giving him a discreet glance of curiosity.

"Sanae Nakazawa already belongs to Tsubasa Oozora."

The referee blew a long whistle, signaling the end of the match. The Japanese team celebrated themselves on the field. They just qualified after all. They were going to the Cup. Tsubasa turned to look at the stands, finding them. Immediately his smiled widened they spotted them. All of they knew that his eyes weren't for them, so when he raised his fist in the air, the rest of the Japanese team didn't even bother to raise their hands in return.

Sanae was the only one who did, a proud grin on her face.

"Wait are you telling me, that Tsubasa, the Tsubasa Oozora, has a girlfriend?" Kaltz exclaimed in shock.

"You're joking right?" Schneider asked in disbelief. "You're talking about a different Tsubasa, right?"

"Do you know any other Tsubasa Oozora? Because I don't."

Kaltz let his jaw drop, his toothpick barely hanging on his mouth while Schneider blinked at him in surprise.

"Heilige scheiße."

Frieda, who was listening discreetly to the boys' conversation, turned to Sanae with a teasing smile. "So that's why you wanted to see that goal," she sang. Sanae, looking away from the field turned to her with a puzzled expression. Frieda giggled and crossed her legs. "Your boyfriend was the one who scored."

Immediately, Sanae flushed red. She couldn't exactly deny it. It was true. And Frieda and the others already knew she had a boyfriend, they just haven't seen him yet.

Frieda turned back towards the field. "So that's the famous Tsubasa Oozora. He's really good. You guys weren't lying."

Of course they weren't lying. It's Oozora Tsubasa, why in the world would she even lie about him, especially how amazing he is on the field?

"Karl was saying the same thing too," Frieda chuckled. "Aside from Wakabayashi, he was one of the people who got him so riled up. It was actually quite funny."

Sanae observed her German friend while she smiled down at the field, but someone she was sure that Frieda wasn't thinking about the Japanese team celebrating. She took a glance at Schneider from the corner of her eye. He was still busy talking with Wakabayashi-kun but she notices the little glances he sent to Frieda.

"Hey Sanae," Frieda called out to her, and Sanae turned to meet her eyes. "Get your foot fixed soon. This tournament won't be the same without you."

She gave her a grin. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Frieda returned her grin and nudged her with her elbow. "Besides, I wanna beat Japan's power couple."

She could only snort in amusement.

Like hell they were going to be beaten.

End Chapter

AN: they have dog dates at the dog park every week, meaning Wakabayashi and Shiori-chan see each other every week. JK, they just meet up to walk their dogs occasionally, and i guess they started talking and something happened. i've been alluding to them bonding over dogs for a long time now, and i figured i gotta move other couples somehow. and just to clarify, it was actually Shiori who asked him out after they separated themselves from everyone when they were all going to the temple for New Years. it was adorable in my head.

anyway, this chapter is really useless, in terms of plot (and the lack of TsuSan moments) unless you wanna read about Shiori and Wakabyashi (and the three Germans which btw, i finally introduced of the girls mentioned by Natsukawa-san in the second chapter. I hope you like Frieda), then go ahead, read it. But if not, then skip this chapter. i wouldn't blame you. i did had fun writing it so... hope you still like it?

anyway, thanks for reading and please review!

C ya soon