Author’s note: Thanks to DanghisKhan, Crazyjr_96, Hattorin, Ventallion, AbigailXavier, and so many more for sending their Golden Ticket for this story! I really appreciate it!
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Soon enough, the players from both teams ca onto the pitch again. Higo huffed a little as he ward up again, his breath even visible in this cold temperature. He glanced for a mont at the stand, a little bit dumbfounded when he saw the scene there.
"Fuck! More than half of the people there are out?" He asked himself incredulously.
"Well, yeah, who do you think wants to watch a full 90-minute ga in such weather?" Makino shrugged, pulling on the gloves to keep his hands warm. The others were also the sa, not wanting to fight blindly. "It might still be okay before. People could still ignore the coldness since the ga is quite interesting. But once they have to wait another fifteen minutes of delay, they would go ho imdiately, not wanting to deal with this shit again."
"Also, it helps that we have already entered the 70th minute." Hiroshi chid in. "Any of the scouts who co here to watch us would’ve gathered all the data they need at this point. So who still haven’t left the stand yet are the ones who feel like the ga still has sothing interesting for them to watch.... That, or they are going to be our next opponent." He added the last part after pondering for a second.
Higo nodded slightly, his eyes still gazing at the stand. Makino also noticed his dazed state, and the captain couldn’t help but smack his friend on the back quite hard.
"Ouch! What the hell, Te!" He flinched, glaring at the boy heatedly.
"Well, that’s what you get from daydreaming"! Makino scolded him with the sa heat. "Co on! You need to lock in before the ga begins. We will have to rely on you to have our back later!"
The goalkeeper finally took a deep breath, trying to get his mind into the right state. His expression shifted, and the boy nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry, even if I die, I will never let them score a goal again."
"Atta boy! That’s the spirit!"
While they were chatting around, the referee was still communicating with his assistants to make sure that everything was ready. At the sa ti, Hori also ca in as a substitute, followed by one Hannan University High player who ca from the bench to replace Matthew Edwards. It seed that the Japanese-Arican boy wasn’t in his best state and was quite under the weather, so it was no wonder he was being subbed off right now.
So far, both teams had already used two substitutions, and with new blood coming to the pitch, it was clear that sothing big was going to happen.
After waiting for a while, the referee was finally ready to continue the ga. Since the last mont before it was delayed was the clearance from Hannan University High, the ga would start from a throw-in for Hakodate Nishi. This ti, Hori picked the ball up, and the mont the referee blew the whistle, he threw it back to Sano on the backline.
"Co on! Let’s take it slowly!"
"Usami, drop back a little!"
"Keep an eye on your shoulder! Don’t stop after getting the pass!"
Just like before, the ga went to Takaaki’s feet quickly, and the glasses boy started to exert his strength in the midfield area. He kept commanding everyone, acting like a puppeteer who controlled his teammates to draw the opponent’s players toward the area he wanted them to be.
If before, he always struggled to show off his best ability, this ti, everyone could see how good Takaaki was. It was as if he had a map where everyone’s movent was tracked inside his head, letting him guide them all without even moving a single inch.
From several aningless-looking passes where things would end up back at his feet, the boy managed to drag three of the opponent’s defenders out of position, and in a crucial mont, he just sent a through ball to Hori, who managed to take advantage of that.
Thud!
"Fuck, Takaaki! That ball is class!" Hori grinned as he took control of it with the tip of his boots. "The flank is empty; I can take it on my own!"
Right after the ball arrived at his feet, the boy started to speed up, leaving the opponent’s fullback three steps behind.
"Fuck! Tiger, cover it!"
"Delay! Don’t let him cross!"
With Hori being left open, Taiga Nagai also had to make a move, shifting toward the flank while also leaving the middle area on Ritsu Onishi alone.
Still, he didn’t rush recklessly here. No, he just put both hands on his back to prevent a handball while also using his big body as a cover, wanting to block all the crossing routes while slowing down the play. The aim was simple. So Hannan University High players were still out of possession, so it was always a better idea to let them recover first.
Unfortunately, Hori had a different idea. After taking a quick glance toward the box, instead of crossing it normally, he took a direct shot from that spot, catching everyone off guard.
BAM!
"What the hell?!" Taiga Nagai was dumbfounded.
With Hori on the flank being guarded by Taiga Nagai, the angle was so tight that the boy only had two choices for shooting. Either he aid at the near post where the goalkeeper would pick it up so easily, or he would go for the far post just to let the ball travel wide to the other side of the flank.
Well... That was exactly what Hori wanted.
The ball traveled so fast to the other side of the flank, clearly showing that it was a terrible shot. It didn’t even get out of the baseline, closer toward the sideline on the other side of the wing. Hell, Hannan’s goalkeeper just watched the ball cross his face, not even bothering to catch it. However, at the last second, soone suddenly burst with his lightning speed, sneaking from everyone’s blind spot before diving with his head first, anticipating the ball’s route with a header.
Thud!
For a mont, silence descended on the pitch as everyone couldn’t comprehend what was going on here. However, the mont the ball hit the ground, cheers finally exploded, all started from the Hakodate Nishi players on the pitch.
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