With the gameday coming soon, tension started to appear on the team as well. Even though their opponent was just Sapporo Kita High, a real cannon fodder team that would always be bullied by the stronger team in the prefecture, this was going to be Hakodate Nishi’s first game after vacuuming for a while, and they were worried that they would get rusty because of that.

"Come on, everyone! Your movement starts to become sloppy here!" Kumiko shouted, standing in the middle of the pitch while overseeing the overall training here. "Don’t forget that we will have a home game! Your friends will be watching the game! Your parents as well! Is this what you want to show?!"

Some who were panting heavily just gritted their teeth, starting to run again more desperately than ever.

In fact, the training itself wasn’t that bad. No, the intensity was even decreased, what with them being so close to the tournament already. It would be stupid and risky to force them into a high-intensity one like the endurance shuttle run or something like that, putting the players so close to the injury threshold.

No, in the last few days, the training session focused more on a simulation part, where Kumiko would give so many scenarios that could possibly happen in the game, and they had to do them to the best they could. This was to ensure that their game sense was still there, trying to avoid them getting jittery the moment they stepped onto the pitch again.

Still, while the first few days were okay, the closer they were to the game time, the more they were in a mess. It wasn’t just for the nervousness of playing again, but also the fact that Kumiko would announce the starting lineup just 24 hours before the game began.

Everyone knew that Kumiko wasn’t the type to throw a threat out of nothing, so when she said she wouldn’t stick with one lineup, she definitely meant it, and the first game was the best way to prove it.

In the end, they finally arrived at the day before the game, and right after the light training session, everyone just chatted around inside the club, trying to ease the tension they had on their shoulder right now.

"God, I know that we are just playing against Sapporo Kita, but I hope that I will be on the first team tomorrow..." Fujinaga groaned slightly, trying to hide his shaking legs.

"Ha! Get ready to be replaced, Fuji! Kazawa has been eyeing your spot for so long, you know?!" Jun couldn’t help but mock his friend here.

"Bastard! Don’t think your position is safe! Don’t you see how much improvement Sano has since he started playing?!" Fujinaga retorted back.

Higo just shook his head when he saw his kouhai’s antics. He was probably the only one who didn’t need to worry, though, since his position was the most secure one on the team. While yes, Sano was acting as his backup, in reality, as long as he wasn’t injured, he was an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle on the team, not having to worry about anything else like the others.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could slack off. Hell, with him as Kumiko’s best friend, the girl tended to be harsher as well, wanting him to surpass his best every day. His training session was always insane, with the other players often involved in an encircle scenario where he had to fight one versus many.

It was a brutal one, and even as a goalkeeper, he often came out as the one who trained the hardest in every session. Still, Higo gained a lot during that time, as this helped him understand his ability better, so the boy had no room to complain here.

After chatting for a while, Kumiko finally arrived at the club room, and it was like she was the harbinger of death itself. The moment the girl took a step inside, everything went quiet instantly, with everyone straightening their back as if they were facing the army’s commander. Seeing this, Kumiko didn’t have the heart to tease them, just going straight to the point.

"Tomorrow, against Sapporo Kita. An opponent that we know so well at this point." She spoke with a solemn tone, showing the gravity of the situation. "Starting lineup, goalkeeper, Ryukkun."

"Yes, Ma’am." Higo nodded, accepting his role readily.

"Four defenders, Jun-kun, Makino-kun, Denji-kun, and Denki-kun."

This time, there was a little bit of surprise, since both the twins were on the team at the same time. Usually, Denji would be left out on the bench since Ishinori was always solid as a rock. However, the boy had been impressing everyone in the last couple of training sessions, so Ishinori himself didn’t complain about this decision.

"Four midfielders, Kazawa-kun, Takaaki-kun, Usami-kun, and Hiroshi-kun."

Fujinaga threw a sting glare while Kazawa laughed silently at his friend. However, no one made a fuss about it, especially since Kumiko had told them beforehand that they were going to be rotated regularly.

"Finally, two strikers, Kuroki-kun and Kenji-kun."

Yuji clenched his fist so tightly his knuckle started to turn white, clearly unwilling to accept this situation. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anyone to be mad at but himself here, since his offensive power was always lacking compared to Kenji’s on the team.

"So, that’s our starting lineup for tomorrow." Kumiko shut her little notebook silently, glancing at everyone still with a heavy gaze. "Based on the list, I know that you can already guess what kind of style I want to play, right?"

While no one answered verbally, everyone just nodded, indeed having a clear guess about that.

"Tomorrow, I want you guys to start attacking from the beginning! Put pressure on them, don’t let them breathe comfortably! Keep pushing and pushing! I want a quick goal! The second one! Even the third goal in the first half!" Kumiko said so passionately that everyone couldn’t take their eyes off her right now. "I want us to get a quick win, sending a signal to our rival that we are back in the tournament again! I want a dominating win! Can you give me that?!"

The speech was a hot-boiling one, and the boys, being the boys they were, shouted with the same intensity.

"YES, MA’AM!"