Author’s note: Fucking hell... I just woke up and check my notification, just to find out that Chato12 sent this story 44 Golden Tickets! Yes, 44~! I know this is a double Golden Ticket event, but I don’t care! 44! What a madman!

Thanks a lot for your support, I really appreciate it! The double-update day for this contribution will have to start in the next month, since the schedule will be full at least until 29/5. Please, wait for the schedule to be released.

Also, we are finally at the end of the Prefectural Tournament’s arc, and after this, we are going to enter the National Tournament’s arc and getting closer to the Professional Arc! Please, comment below, where would you want our main character to go for his first club? Let me see your opinion in the comment!

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"YAAAAA——!

"—HAAAAAAAAAA!"

The moment the whistle rang in the air, both Higo and Makino roared from the top of their lung simultaneously, knowing full well what that whistle meant for the team. Then, all the Hakodate Nishi players, either those on the pitch or who had just sat on the bench, followed behind, swarming their area before hugging each other like crazy.

"CHAMPION! WE ARE THE CHAMPION!" Kenji had already thrown his tops off, waving them in the air like a lunatic while also showing off his muscular body. "COME ON! WE ARE THE CHAMPION!"

"FUCK YEAH!" Hori laughed, jumping on his friend’s back in a piggyback ride.

While the atmosphere was joyous, so many people cried here. Makino was one, followed by Kuroki, Takaaki, and even the quiet Usami. All of them were there since the beginning of the game, going through the dark phase of getting beaten 7-0 in the final last year. Who would’ve thought that they could take revenge like this?

"We really did this, right?!" Takaaki’s glasses were so wet that he couldn’t even see anything right now.

"Yeah, Taka! We won!" Usami even laughed hard with joyous tears, not caring about his image at all. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The one who cried the hardest was, of course, Ishinori. He was so close to being the team’s sinner for causing the penalty earlier, but now that everything was over, he could feel the mountain-sized pressure on his shoulder was alleviated immediately.

"Thanks God, we won... Thank God, we won..." He kept repeating those words over and over again with tears in his eyes while getting hugged tightly on his shoulder by his friend Fujinaga.

Higo himself didn’t care about the others right now. Even when he was swarmed by his teammates, his gaze was still on the bench, especially toward the girl who was still sobbing silently there.

"Okay, okay! Let me go first!" He shouted, struggling to get out of the crowd.

Once the boy found a way, he rushed immediately with the last remaining stamina in his body, crashing into Kumiko with the biggest bear hug he could muster. The girl also saw him coming, opening both arms wide before receiving it in one go.

"Umph!" All her voice was muffled by the jersey drenched with sweat that went straight to her face. However, the girl didn’t complain, accepting the hug readily.

"I told you I will complete my promise..." He whispered, his voice was husky.

"I know... I know..." Kumiko nodded on his shoulder, still sobbing with tears in her eyes.

The crowd saw this, and they all cheered immediately for this public affection display that was being shown toward them.

"OH! Is this something we can really watch live?!"

"Hey, you underage children, cover your fucking eyes!"

"Come on, Shishida-senpai! Higo-senpai! We are rooting for you!"

"Hell, yeah! You are our favorite couple here!"

On the stand, Minami also wiped a single tear from the corner of her eyes, her heart swelled by the overwhelming cheers from the stand. Her gaze fell on the two kids she had been watching growing up for so long, and seeing them now achieving their dream like this, the woman couldn’t help but cry silently, thanking whatever deity above for being good to her family.

Meanwhile, when Makino saw the scene, he couldn’t help but feel so sour right now. Dried were all the tears before, and even with the sweet feeling of the victory, he could still feel the bitterness of jealousy burning in his heart.

"What? You don’t like what you are seeing?" Kuroki nudged the boy lightly.

"You think I am that petty?" He scoffed indignantly. However, his gaze softened in the next second, as he said with a wry smile, "They look good together, though, right?"

At this point in his life, Makino knew that he couldn’t win against Higo in this race. Well, honestly, he should’ve known when he got rejected the first time, since Kumiko’s excuse at that time was because of Higo. He had been in a denial phase for too long, and now, the boy was finally in his acceptance phase.

Kuroki also saw this and knew that his friend had just become more mature right then. Well, that didn’t mean he couldn’t drag the captain into crashing this romantic encounter, as with a mischievous smile, they both joined the group hug with Higo and Kumiko.

"Come on, you two! Don’t think that the world is just yours!"

"Come on! Come on! Let’s celebrate!"

"Hey, Higo! Lift her up! She is our coach, she deserves the world right now!"

"Oh! A good idea!"

"Oh, no! No! No! Kyah! Stop it!"

In the next second, Kumiko found herself being taller than anyone else on the pitch, with her vision being clear, seeing everything there. Her face flushed from the excitement and the embarrassment from being the center of attention, but when the girl heard all of her teammates chanting for her, the grin on her face spread wider than ever.

Of course, while there was joy, there would always be sadness to follow. In this case, Sapporo Otani’s side was dead silent, with no one saying anything there. The atmosphere was grim, with the captain still staring at the opponent’s celebration longingly. The others weren’t better, with so many still in a daze, while the rest were crying on the ground.

No one could believe that their dominance would be stopped right now, not when the team had the strongest striker in the country.

Speaking of Yuwell, the boy could be seen walking straight in Higo’s direction. No one knew what he was thinking, and once all the Hakodate Nishi players saw him coming, they frowned immediately, wondering if the boy wanted to cause trouble here.

Well, they were clearly overthinking here, as the boy suddenly asked Higo, "Can we exchange jerseys?"

Higo was stunned for a second, not knowing what the boy said. Fortunately, Kumiko and Makino, the two smartest students in the school, were there, translating the words for him. Still, this only added confusion, since the boy himself had never expected this. However, seeing the genuine look on Yuwell, he finally nodded, taking off the jersey for an exchange.

"Good game. You have done an amazing job in front of the goal." Yuwell Carlson muttered while hugging the boy politely. "Today, you win the game. But in the future, I will beat you in the professional stage. Just wait for me there."