AN: have another one

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

Chapter 32: Backflips and Toes

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes she looked down at her boyfriend. He had his left foot raised on the table, a white bandage wrapped around most of his toes. He didn't seem to mind his predicament; he had a bag of ice on his toes while just sitting their eating some apple slices. He was also watching some kind of movie with the other guys, and all of them didn't seem bothered by her boyfriend's injury as much as she was.

"Anyone mind telling me what happened to my boyfriend and why his foot is suddenly covered in bandages?" she asked sharply. She was still glaring at Tsubasa, who pointedly ignored her while still eating the damn apples. Sanae couldn't help but feel proud that the boys were sweating underneath her gaze. That's right, be afraid of what she was going to do to them when she finally knows what the hell really happened here.

No one was looking at her, and even Wakabayashi-kun was hiding his eyes with his cap. He knew that even Shiori wouldn't be able to save him from her.

"I know you heard me," she remarked. The boys only kept their eyes on the TV but they were all starting to fidget uncomfortably. She could hear Ayame giggling from the door and Natsukawa-san asking one of the girls what she was doing, and one of them explaining it.

"Don't let me ask again," she said. The boys shivered at her voice, and she was sure one of them was going to crack soon. She continued to stare at them, while they all began to shake. Just a little more…

"Tsubasa landed badly after doing a backflip!" Kisugi-kun exclaimed suddenly.

There it is.

All the other boys turned to him with a dirty look. Tsubasa was basically trying to kill him with his looks. She didn't understand why he didn't even want to tell her. It's not like she was going to do anything bad to him. She just needed to know why his foot was injured on the day before a game. Granted it's only a friendly game, but the other team was expecting him out there. Seriously, why was he so careless to get injured right before a game?

"Traitor!" Taki-kun exclaimed. Everyone else looked at him like he did them a great misdeed. Tsubasa was fuming silently while trying to kill Kisugi-kun with his eyes.

Sanae rolled her eyes. What a bunch of babies.

"Don't listen to him Kisugi-kun," she assured the forward, who looked like he was about to cry from the way their captain looked at him. "You did right by telling it to me."

The other boys grumbled, and Tsubasa looked like he was pouting as he crossed his arms. Sanae looked around them. Natsukawa-san was whispering to the other girls in awe about how she was managing these guys calmly. Actually, even some of the girls and boys were watching fascinated about her control over them

"Now then," she breathed. "Anybody want to tell me why exactly Tsubasa was trying to do a backflip."

"Someone said that I wouldn't be able to do one," Tsubasa mumbled under his breath, but it was loud enough for Sanae to hear.

"And you thought it was a challenge?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Everything about it just screamed challenge," Tsubasa retorted. "I can't just ignore it."

"So you accepted it," she stated flatly, to which Tsubasa only replied by nodding innocently.

Sanae sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Can you even do a backflip?"

"Yeah I can," Tsubasa replied hotly. "Everyone can vouch that I can do a backflip. I just didn't land right that time."

"And I'm sure you could," Sanae told him in a tone she usually reserved for his brother. Honestly, sometimes she didn't know whether Daichi was the child or her boyfriend. "But did it come into mind that maybe you shouldn't have done that because we have a game tomorrow?"

The other boys looked down in shame, and she could figure out who challenged Tsubasa into doing this stupid thing. They probably had another bet over this.

Tsubasa shrugged his shoulders. "I did," he answered nonchalantly. "I didn't think I was going to be injured."

Sanae wanted to smack him. How in the world could he talk about this so easily?

"Besides, even if I'm injured, you'll be there to replace me," he said. Sanae gave him a blank look, telling him that she was so done with him. Tsubasa only smiled and continued. "And I like watching you play. You make the game seem so elegant and easy. Plus you look hot when you're sweating."

Well, how was she going to stay at him when he says stuff like this? But the whole sweating thing was a kind of gross.

"Oh my god, just get a room," they heard Wakabayashi-kun say. Sanae only gave him a glare with her pink cheeks and even then it made him shut up.

"You are such a dork," she said while walking towards her boyfriend and started to push his hair out of his face. Tsubasa only laughed softly and looked up to her, reveling in her touch.

She smiled softly as Tsubasa pulled her close. She heard someone start gagging from behind her and she narrowed her eyes. Ugh, boys.

See if they could still make fun of them after this.

While still keeping herself in Tsubasa's hold, she turned to face the other boys with a smirk on her face.

"Pay up suckers," she said. "You saw him backflip, now time to turn in the money you bet."

Hearing them groan like that still felt good.

Tsubasa didn't seem to be as bothered as she was when using crutches. In fact, he did them just fine, which was totally unfair since it took her at least two and a half weeks to get used to them.

"I've used them before when I was in Brazil," explained her boyfriend nonchalantly when she pointed it out. "I do a lot of minor injuries to myself back there. So every couple of months you could see me using crutches at the school. It became less though when I started playing for the B team." Then he laughed.

The first thing that popped into her head was that he got injured more than he did here? What in the world did he do there? Couldn't he take care of himself more?

Really, she didn't know whether to yell at him for being careless or cuddle him and smother him with all her love and care.

She looked up from where she was warming up to the bench, where her boyfriend was sniggering at Kisugi-kun's attempts at impressing Saya-chan. Too bad Saya-chan wasn't really impressed. She wasn't exactly attracted to the opposite gender. Last time Sanae heard, she was still having skype dates with a girl she met in America.

Tsubasa was hiding his mouth with his hand as Saya-chan rolled her eyes and asked Sorimachi-kun to switch with her, tired of Kisugi-kun's hopeless flirting. Well, at least he was having fun. She was worried that he did want to play today and was lying about the whole watching her thing, but it seemed like he was really fine with it. And when she did observed him, he seemed almost relaxed, like he needed a break from soccer or something. He didn't try and touch a ball so far ever since he got crutches. Which was weird considering this was Tsubasa they were talking about.

But hey, if he needed a break, then he'll get a break. God knows how much he worked hard all his life.

"It's so weird seeing Tsubasa with crutches," she heard a voice beside her. She turned to see Matsuyama-kun standing beside her, looking at Tsubasa in a curious manner. "Normally, he'd be jumpy to get on the field, even if he's injured. Now he just looks so relaxed it's almost scary."

"I know right," she agreed with a laugh. "It's worrying to see him actually be okay just sitting there."

Matsuyama-kun nodded. "From the way I see it, he seems almost relieved that he doesn't have to play today."

Sanae blinked, and turned back to Tsubasa. He was just sitting there, talking quietly with Wakabayashi-kun. At first she couldn't understand what Matsuyama-kun meant. It didn't seem like there was something different to him, but then she began to notice it.

It wasn't really that noticeable unless you look closely at him. Usually, Tsubasa sat straight up, like a king waiting on his throne before he had to join the war. Now he's slouching a little bit, and there was something in his eyes that said that he'd rather sit this game out. He wasn't even fidgeting his knees like he usually did whenever he wanted to be on the field. It really did look like he was relieved to be resting.

Sanae had some ideas why he wanted to rest, and she believed that he did deserve it. After all, Tsubasa was only human. He needed a break every once in a while.

"I guess he does," she remarked softly, watching him as he shared a few chuckles with Wakabayashi-kun. "He needs a break anyway."

Matsuyama-kun looked at him with a puzzled look.

Sanae chuckled at his face. "Tsubasa's been stressing out about the team, the school's team I mean. It's his first year as a captain of a school team where it's basically the captain that calls the shots.'

"I see," the defender said in understanding. "He was probably kind of overwhelmed with all that responsibility. I imagine he usually had coaches be in charge and suddenly being in charge of team was too much for a first timer. I was like that too when I made captain back in junior high."

Sanae nodded, "Yeah. It's a good thing that Izawa-kun helps show him the ropes. And Wakabayashi-kun kind of took over training the goalkeepers, so that's another plus. He still had to plan everything else though." Then a dark look appeared on her face. "Then there's this one first year girl who just wouldn't stop bugging him."

"Is that jealousy I hear, Sanae-chan," Matsuyama-kun smirked. "A rival finally appeared to take Tsubasa away from you?"

Sanae scoffed and crossed her arms. "I would hardly even call her a rival," she retorted. "Tsubasa doesn't like her that much. If anything, he might even think she's a nuisance. If only she wasn't one of the competent managers that applied, Tsubasa would have ignored her entirely."

And as if someone cued her in, a familiar high pitched voice entered their ears.

"Tsubasa-senpai! Do your best!"

"Oh are you fucking with me," Sanae exclaimed as she smacked her face with her face. Damnit, she was hoping Sugimoto wouldn't come today, considering they're all the way in Tokyo.

"I take it that's her," Matsuyama-kun smirked. "She's not bad."

"Don't let Yoshiko-chan hear you," she teased him. They heard Sugimoto ask her companions where Tsubasa was, and even they were clueless to where he was. Sucks to be them, Tsubasa won't be playing today.

"Like anyone can match Yoshiko," the defender retorted. He looked back towards where Sugimoto was and crossed her arms. "Don't worry about her Sanae-chan. She can't match you. And besides, Tsubasa would be an idiot to leave you."

Sanae felt her cheeks flush and looked away from him. "Who says I'm worried," she denied. "I trust Tsubasa. And even if he decides to leave me, then who am I to get in the way of his happiness."

She didn't see the way Matsuyama-kun looked at her in worry, and he was about to say something when she beat her to it.

"Come on, Matsuyama-kun," she said as she turned to jog towards their other teammates on the field. "Let's go before they scream our ears off. The game's about to start."

If she looked back, she would have seen another person looking at her figure.

Tsubasa wasn't lying when he said that he liked watching Sanae play. Something about her playing just made it seem so pleasing to watch, even if she's probably sweating like a waterfall and making the weirdest faces. It adds to the charm he liked to think. But seriously, there wasn't going to be any other person who could look so beautiful even when she's dripping with sweat and her hair clung to her face and her uniform stuck to her skin like a second skin.

And when its pouring rain? Damn, she looked hot.

Even if she just suddenly slipped on mud.

To be honest, it was getting really hard to keep his hands off of her. Every second he sees her, she just becomes more and more beautiful.

See, she just kicked a long ball with mud on her face but she still made it look gorgeous. Diaz looked miffed when he found out that he wasn't going to play, but he seemed to have changed his mind when he saw Sanae immediately stole the ball from his foot once the match began. Sanae did hate being underestimated by anyone, especially guys. Diaz's teammate, Michaela Garcia if he remembered correctly, was laughing at him when Sanae yet again proved to him that she wasn't someone to be looked over when she just made a long shot and straight to the goal in the 17th minute.

After that, it became a really close game. Argentina managed to equalize at the 25th minute courtesy of Pascal and one of the female players, Elena Rossi, new combination play. It was actually pretty cool, and Tsubasa could feel that they were going to be a pair to look out for. Of course, their team wouldn't let themselves be walked all over by the opposing team. Misugi-kun showed his tactical genius as he used the full field to his advantage, leading everyone by doing quick passes, and eventually scored a goal himself in the 33rd minute. After that, Diaz managed to pass through the Japanese defense with his acrobatics, catching Wakashimazu-kun off guard and getting a point by the 40th minute. Hyuuga-kun, in his total kind of violent fashion, took back the goal and with a powerful Raiju Shot in the 42nd minute. The first half ended with a score of 3-2 in favor of Japan.

The second half proved to be as intense as the last one, albeit neither team was able to score. There was a lot of chances for either side, but that was the time when Sanae kind of didn't feel like playing anymore since she's been tripping and slipping every now and then. Even Elena didn't seem as eager to play when she kept on laughing at Sanae and tripping herself as well.

At first, everyone on the field was scolding them to take the game seriously but in the fit of giggling and snickering with Elena, Sanae slipped on mud and landed on her ass, which prompted Elena to laugh harder. Ayame-chan just sighed and told everyone to ignore the two and keep playing. They heeded her, albeit reluctantly. It was kind of worrying when one of the best players from your team was laughing hysterically with a person from the opposite team.

Elena and Sanae still joined into the game, expect it looked like they were just playing instead of actually fighting over the ball, trying to keep it away from each other as much as possible. And with a whole team on either side, keep away got a lot creative. It didn't seem like they were trying to get a goal since the ball was at midfield most of the time. He'd think that the audience was going to be angry about this, but they actually looked quite entertained, from what he saw. The only people who seemed to be annoyed about this was Coach Gamo and the female Coach from Argentina. Even the officials were having fun watching them try and steal the ball from each other.

When the whistle to signal the end of the match, it had a happy tone to it, no matter how weird that sounded.

In the end Japan won, but Tsubasa didn't think anybody cared anymore. Once Sanae heard the whistle, she kicked the ball way up high and Elena tackled her to ground, soaking their uniforms with muddy water. All the other girls followed suit and went to where the two girls were, laughing as the rain pelted them. The boys only shrugged and just started shaking hands with each other. Girls were crazy.

"It's a shame you couldn't be on the field today," Diaz told him as he neared the Japanese bench. "It would have been a great game."

"Yeah," Tsubasa agreed, taking his crutches from beside him and hopped towards the Argentinian. "I would have joined, but you know," he gestured to his crutches. "Plus, they wouldn't have let me."

"What happened anyway?" Diaz asked as they started to head to the lockers. Everyone was in their own conversations, and Tsubasa saw his girlfriend talking animatedly with Elena and Michaela. They should be at there by now.

"It's a long story," he answered, hobbling along.

They heard a snort and they looked in front of them, just to see Sanae waiting for him.

"Long story my ass," she said. She leaned away from the wall and walked closer to him, a big smile on her face. "You just don't want people to know you sprained your toe doing a backflip."

"Hey, I made an awesome backflip," Tsubasa tried to defend himself. "I thought you believed me! You were telling everyone to pay up."

"Why wouldn't I?" She remarked. "You're using that money to treat me. Why wouldn't I want them to pay you?" She then turned to the Argentinian, who was watching their banter curiously. "Hey there, Juan."

Diaz raised a hand in greeting, thought he was still curious about their close relationship. Even in his team, no one was as close they were.

Sanae turned her attention back to Tsubasa. "Come on, grasshopper. Everyone's waiting for you in the locker. Besides, you can't stay standing too long. You're going to hurt yourself again."

Tsubasa looked at Diaz with a smile. "See what I mean. I always have someone who nags me to rest."

Sanae puffed her cheeks and poke Tsubasa at the side, knowing he was ticklish there. Tsubasa cried out in surprise and hopped away from her, saying how mean she was.

"You big baby," Sanae giggled. "Come on, let's get that foot to rest."

"Alright, alright," Tsubasa sighed. "I'll just say bye to Diaz. I'll follow you in a while."

"Fine, but I better see your ass in the locker room in five minutes," Sanae said before turning around the other way to walk away from them.

"My ass will be there in five minutes," Tsubasa confirmed. Sanae only raised her hand and continued to walk along the hallway.

"She seemed to be really concerned about you," Diaz remarked once Sanae was out of earshot.

Tsubasa shrugged. "In a way you could say has to be."

"Why? Who is she? I know she's your teammate and one of the better players in your team, other than that, I don't exactly see the connection."

Tsubasa turned to him and gave him a stupid grin as he prepared his crutches.

"My girlfriend."

He didn't know whether to feel offended or to laugh at Diaz's jaw dropped his jaw in disbelief. Was it really that hard to believe that he was in a relationship?

"Don't tell anyone though," he winked. "We kind of want to lie low until the end of the tournament. Anyway, I'll see you around Diaz. Good luck!"

As he hobbled along, Diaz could only stare at him and his crutches in a baffled expression.

End Chapter