FWEEE!

Soon enough, once everyone was ready, the referee finally blew the whistle to start the game. The kick-off started from Toin Gakuen’s side, and just like any other Hakodate Nishi game, the Hokkaido representative fell back immediately to their defensive area, using the wait-and-see approach at the early stage of the match.

"Come on, Kenji! Don’t stand still like that!"

"Denji, slow down! Don’t get dragged too far in their own area!"

"Be patient! Keep everything in shape!"

The midfielders, the first line of the team’s defense, were busy since the beginning of the game. The crowd on the stand also didn’t help here, as their voice was louder than ever. This made every shout harder to hear by the others, disturbing their communication line.

The home team’s side also seemed to be at the same frequency right now. They just played with the ball in their own territory, trying to make the players get used to the feeling of a competitive state again. It seemed that even an experienced team like Toin Gakuen also faced the same nervousness problem as the newbie on the opposite side of the pitch.

Slowly, though, their engine started to get turned on. Naoya, the toughest defensive midfielder here, dropped back a little to form a trio with the other two center backs behind for the last protection, allowing the two full-backs to fly forward without hesitation. Soon, Hakodate Nishi’s area was completely surrounded by seven of the opponent’s players, not giving any room for them to breathe.

Then the first chance that everyone had been waiting for finally arrived. With a dangerous through ball to the flank, one of the Toin Gakuen’s defenders sent the danger straight to that side, where their left wing, Tetsuro Goto, caught it before slowly observing his surroundings carefully.

"Shit! Kazawa, don’t get to the flank! Keep an eye on the second line!" Takaaki shouted, approaching that side quickly. "Leave this shit to me and Denki!"

Denki also moved closer, lowering his stance to face the opponents. However, they were getting overwhelmed here. Not only the full back and the winger, but the striker also dropped to that side quickly to add more numbers and drag Makino slightly toward that side, leaving the center quite open.

However, what they didn’t expect was that Tetsuro would be quite crafty. Even with Denki pushing him to the baseline, he still kept the ball stuck to his foot, and with a little complicated move in a compact area, the winger managed to tear a little bit of space here, enough for him to send a cut back to the pocket space straight in front of Hakodate Nishi’s penalty box.

"Shit! Kazawa, cover!"

"I get it! I get it!"

BAM!

Seeing that the ball was closer to the opponent’s midfielder, who made a run from behind, both Kazawa and Jun slid together to block the shot. However, that midfielder with the number 11 sent a scalpel-like shot straight to the near post, getting through the two players before going to the near post in a curl motion.

For a moment, all the purple-jersey players on the pitch were ready to celebrate here. However, right before the ball crossed the line, a hand suddenly appeared there, deflecting the ball away from the goal. As a result, it bounced off the pitch, denying the goal that the home team had expected before.

"AH! Shit!" That midfielder cursed, clutching his head in regret.

"Don’t mind, Shota! Don’t mind!" The others clapped loudly, trying to encourage the boy more. "Keep it up! We will have a chance again!"

Meanwhile, on Hakodate Nishi’s side, both Jun and Kazawa couldn’t help but sigh in relief right now. Their eyes turned to the goalkeeper behind them gratefully, knowing that he was the one who had just saved their asses earlier.

"Thanks, Senpai! We owe you one!" Jun dapped the boy enthusiastically.

"Don’t worry, just stay focused and don’t let this shit happen again," Higo instructed immediately while also wiping all the dirt on his shorts. "Anyway, a corner kick. Keep your eyes on the numbers 9, 11, and 15. Those three are tall enough to catch us off guard."

"Sure." Kazawa nodded silently before moving to the penalty box for the next action.

At the corner kick scenario, Toin Gakuen also seemed to have its own strategy here. They swarmed at least the six-yard box in front of Higo with more people, wanting to restrict all the space for the goalkeeper to move. Fortunately, the boy had already been expecting this scenario beforehand.

’What was it that Kumiko-chan said about? This depends on my confrontation skills, right? Then, she will not be disappointed today!’ 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

BAM!

Even with four players whose height was around 185 trying to get the ball in that forbidden zone, Higo jumped confidently to get it first. All the boxing training he did was not a waste here, as there was no trace of freezing in the boy right now. The moment he saw the ball flying close to his zone, the boy left his spot immediately, flying in the air and punching it as far away as possible.

He won the aerial duel in style, and not only that, the ball flew straight to Hiroshi’s feet outside of the penalty box, allowing the team to deliver a concise counterattack quickly.

"Fuck it! Hiroshi, this is our chance!"

"Come on! Don’t waste it away!"

Seeing that all the Toin Gakuen players moved back frantically, Hiroshi knew that there wouldn’t be a chance better than this later. He pushed the ball slightly, starting to run while also scanning his surroundings in a second.

’You are already there?! Tch, as expected, your smell in finding a loophole in defense is so disgusting. Oh, well... I will leave the rest to you!’

Thud!

Before even crossing the center circle, the boy sent a ping pass to the opponent’s right flank. There, Kenji was already in the very best position, receiving the ball with his chest calmly. The boy was grinning right now, especially when he saw that no one would be quick enough to stop him.

’HA! Nice pass, Hiroshi-senpai!’

However, before he could even make a run, someone pounced like a cheetah here, catching the boy off guard. Before Kenji knew, that person disappeared instantly from his line of sight, and then...

BAM!

The boy didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that his whole world just spun madly.