A pin-drop silence fell onto the room as everyone was too dumbfounded by what they saw. It wasn’t like Kumiko had never done that. No, the girl was quite expressive in showing her gratitude or apology. However, this was more... heartfelt, enough to make them fall into an awkwardness.

Kumiko herself raised her head immediately before starting to address the issue. "I don’t know which one of you has the idea, from where you knew about Erika-san’s contact, and everything behind, but I saw the video. I read that damn article as well, and you don’t know how terrified I was at all the accusations there. My body couldn’t move, and any taste coming to my mouth seemed to be full of bitterness. The thought of failing you guys..." She shivered instantly, not being able to finish her words.

Well, she didn’t need to, as everyone else was ready to fill in the blank here.

"Senpai, you are far from failing us here!" Someone spoke.

"Yeah, without your guidance, let alone being criticized by the Daily Sports, even standing in the national tournament seems to be a pipe dream for us, and yet, you still lead us through thick and thin." The others chimed in.

"I mean, screw potential! I am only playing football in high school. After graduate, the level I am playing at best will be casual, so I don’t care that much about what they said!" Takaaki added a piece of his mind.

"It would be better if you could give me more time to play, but I am not complaining here." Yuji also laughed in the background.

Kumiko felt a lump on her throat as her eyes went watery, unable to express her feelings right now. The love she received was so overwhelming that she could only nod, trying to hold back her tears.

In the end, she just swallowed all of the grievance she had earlier, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes before saying once again, "Thank you..." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The rest of the team just stared at each other awkwardly. Honestly, the girl was always so composed, a rock-solid presence that had become the team’s psychological anchor in any situation they faced. It wasn’t often for them to see her breaking down like this, but once it happened, they couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.

"Anyway, this little video is definitely far from enough, right?" Makino coughed, couldn’t bear the somber atmosphere inside the room. "The legal action should still be taken, or they would only attack you more, Kumiko-chan. Do you have an idea of what to do?"

"Shall I ask my father to get our family’s lawyer team? I am sure he could deal with this." Usami also chimed in quietly, startling everyone else. After all, they knew how much the boy hated flaunting his wealth, and yet, here he was, offering Kumiko his family’s lawyer, probably one of the best in the country, to deal with this situation.

In return, Kumiko just smiled lightly at Usami. "Thank you for your offer; I will truly consider it. For now, my mother, the headmaster, and the others have just started coordinating with each other to take legal action, so we have to wait and see first."

Some of the boys sighed in relief when they heard that. "Still, that damn platform is a bit too much! Once can be said to be a coincidence, twice maybe, but three times? They are definitely having a grudge against us!" Kuroki grumbled.

Indeed, just in the last few weeks, they had been targeted by this media.

First, it was when they said that Hakodate Nishi was the weakest among all the National Tournament teams because they lacked experience and were being coached by a little girl. Then, the second time came after the team won against Shohei High, when the platform suddenly crashed onto the party by questioning their playing style. Lastly, it was today when they didn’t even hide their malicious intent against Kumiko.

It was as if the mere presence of her, a young girl, leading a team into the top 8 stage of the tournament, offended their whole existence.

"Oh, well, no need to think about those psychos anymore. Let’s move on and start discussing what matters the most." Makino suddenly spoke with a solemn tone, enough to attract their attention. "So... After breaking Sapporo Otani’s record, what kind of prize do you think we will get?!"

The moment the record and prize were mentioned in the same sentence, all the eyes lit up immediately.

"I heard from my homeroom teacher that Hakodate’s mayor had already prepared for a parade!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah, and so many wealthy companies are ready to sponsor the bonus here!"

"Damn! We are going to be rich!"

At this point, they were all so giddy at the prospect of their future. After fighting for the school’s honor in the national tournament, at the end of the day, they were all still teenagers. A monetary prize was always enough to get them into this over-excited state.

"Well, we have already reached the top 8 right now, and every win we achieve will be another history for the Hokkaido prefecture." Kumiko couldn’t help but smile when she said this. "Still, don’t put too much pressure on your shoulders. The most important thing is to have fun in the process. You have already achieved all the targets that I set for you, so don’t worry about anything else."

She didn’t dare to give a grand speech about how they were just three wins away from getting the number one place or something like that. After all, the closer they got to the final, the harder everything would be. Not only did they have to battle against physical and mental exhaustion, but the rest of their opponents were all the top teams in the country.

No weaklings or easy opponents remained here. In fact, from the other teams’ perspective, they should be the small fries that everyone hoped they would face in the next round.

While they all were still chatting animatedly, Kumiko suddenly felt her phone buzzing. She frowned a little, taking it out of her pocket before reading the new message on the screen. The moment everything registered through her brain, though, the girl froze immediately, too shocked to say any words here.

’This... This finally comes to us!’