Kumiko woke up quite late in the morning with a foul mood. Well, not late in the morning, it was closer to noon than ever. The effect of staying up late started to get into her head, as the girl felt a little bit dizzy after getting up from her bed. Even a glass of warm water was far from enough to help her alleviate the symptom.

The day seemed to get worse instantly as she checked the group chat, finding so many people asking her with full concern. After inquiring for a moment, the girl finally found out about the cursed article from the Daily Sports, and her pupil couldn’t help but shrink abruptly when she read from top to bottom of it.

’I am holding them back?’ Kumiko couldn’t help but frown. She recalled all of the players in the team, especially those whom that damn platform deemed she failed. "Takaaki-kun, Hiroshi-kun, Kenji-kun, and Usami-kun... Indeed, my style cannot accommodate them the best. Still, is the situation really that bad?"

Right now, even the girl herself has fallen into self-doubt. All of her achievement in the last couple of months was thrown away in the bin instantly, all getting dismissed by the single thought coming from her mortal enemy. After all, if there was one thing she feared the most, it wasn’t losing the game but her failing the players who entrusted themselves to her.

Mom: I read about that damn Daily Sports. Don’t worry, Kumiko-chan, I will handle this!

The headmaster: Don’t think too much; we will handle that damn platform from here!

Erika Sawada: Hiya, Luv! Do you need me to write something about them?

Minami Higo: I read the whole article, and how dare they! Don’t worry, Kumiko-chan, we will always have your back!

So many people close to her had already sent their concerned messages to her phone. Usually, the girl would feel touched by this simple gesture. However, right now, her mind was too occupied by a lot of things that she couldn’t muster any energy to answer this.

After washing her face, she picked up her jacket, tightening it around her body, and left her room. Kumiko didn’t even notice that her players weren’t around right now. No, she just wandered aimlessly outside, wanting to calm her mind.

’The Daily Sports... They are right to say that I am too conservative. If I want to, this team has the potential to play a beautiful style. But... Would we be able to go this far with that style? No, that would only fall into another ’what-ifs’ scenario. But my style also prevents people from noticing Takaaki-kun and Hiroshi-kun’s talent. They are two of the most technically gifted players on the team, and yet, they hadn’t had a lot of chances to show off, and this is purely my fault... Damn, what should I do?’

If it were any other experienced head coach, they would just brush it off as nothing, probably even scolding back the media for their outrageous attack. However, at the end of the day, Kumiko was still a teenage girl who cared a lot about the public’s opinion, and while in the past, the girl was still strong in facing all the storms outside, this time, the Daily Sports really got her Achilles heel.

Getting drowned in self-doubt, the girl didn’t even notice that she had already arrived at a small fast-food chain slightly far from the hotel. That was when the sweet smell hit her nostril, and her stomach finally grumbled in complaint.

"Yeah, I was too engrossed with this matter that I forgot to have breakfast." The girl smiled wryly. Fortunately, she carried her wallet, or things would be awkward here.

"Can I have two croissants and a cup of latte, please? Make the latter extra sweet, please." She requested. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The one behind the counter perked up for a moment before nodding slightly. "Two croissants and one cup of latte, extra sweet, are coming!"

While waiting, Kumiko decided to sit at the furthest table from the counter, one close to the window. There, she could see the bustling street of Yokohama in the middle of a cold winter like this, and her mind gazed far. It was only due to the buzzing on her phone that the girl was brought back from her daydreaming.

"A video from Erika-san?" The girl felt one of her brows knit. "I wonder what this is..."

Once she clicked it, though, the girl was surprised to see that all of the boys were gathering there together with Erika Sawada. She herself didn’t know how they met each other, and the girl also had just realized that she hadn’t seen any of the boys since she woke up earlier. Curious, she pressed the play button, watching the video intently.

"... The Daily Sports point out that you are a team with talented players whose potential is the sky, and your head coach, Kumiko Shishida, is the one holding you back. What do you think about it?" Erika Sawada’s question was straight to the point.

The first clip showed Makino as the one who answered it. "That is total bullshit. I can tell you that without her, we would still scrap around the third round of the prefectural tournament. She is the sole reason we are here, so how could she hold us back?"

Then, the clip changed to Higo, and the goalkeeper answered without hesitation, "Even last night after the game, she was the only one who didn’t sleep, reviewing the content of our next opponent’s game. Her dedication to the team is unquestionable, so it is clear that the Daily Sports just wants to sow some discord here."

After him, some more players voiced their opinion one by one, and listening to this, Kumiko felt like all tears were about to fall from her eyes, while words stuck in her throat. The warm croissant in front of her was left untouched as the girl continued listening, and soon, she reached one player she was most concerned about.

Takaaki.

"I don’t understand why they are targetting Shishida-senpai." The glasses boy furrowed his brows tightly. "Before joining the team, I was just a nerd who could only sit in the classroom. It was Shishida-senpai who thought I had potential and taught me from zero, from a blank page, to where I stand right now. She taught me how to play with my brain, how to see and calculate everything on the pitch, and so much more, and you tell me that she is hindering my potential? Then, what else does she need to do here?"