"FOUL!" The first one to shout here was Usami. The boy was the closest one on the scene, and he witnessed with his own eyes how Park Han-Gyeol tried to murder Higo. No matter how shy he was, there was no way in hell the boy wouldn’t complain after seeing this. "SENSEI, A FUCKING FOUL!"

FWEEE!

The referee also reacted, blowing his whistle before giving Han-Gyeol a yellow card. The Korean striker himself just nodded in acceptance, knowing that he was in the wrong here.

"Yes, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean it. My focus was on the ball, and I failed to see him coming. I will accept all the punishment here." Park Han-Gyeol admitted it all, wanting to leave a good impression. Hell, he even offered a hand to Higo, checking him for a moment to see whether he was okay or not.

As for Higo... Well, the boy was definitely not in a good state, but he had also experienced a lot of worse things in the past. Right now, he was groaning at the sharp pain that spiked to his brain, but other than that, everything was okay. He might even say that this collision wasn’t as bad as what he experienced against Esashi High in the past.

"Don’t worry, no nose crack or blurry eyes. I am okay." He said after being offered a hand by Makino. "Still, this is the second time something like this happened today. It is either a pure coincidence, or they want to pull the same as when we played against Esashi. I have to get ready for another rough game." He smiled wryly, wiping the dirt on his nose a little.

Hearing this, all the Hakodate Nishi players nearby were stunned before they scowled simultaneously at that game again.

"Fuck it! This dirty trick again?! Why is it that so many teams want to do that?!" Jun stomped his feet angrily.

"Maybe because we only have one goalkeeper, you know? One incident to send Chibi off, and we are in shambles." Makino answered with a wry tone. "Still, even though we don’t know whether they did it deliberately or not, we have to keep an eye on this. Tell Denji and Hori to block all the fat crosses to the box, and Chibi, no taking a stupid risk like before, okay?" He gave several instructions in one breath.

In return, though, Higo just snorted not-so-amusedly. "Stupid risk, you say? I just saved our asses again because you guys are too late to come back, and Usami got overwhelmed, and you said it is my fault? That audacity of yours sure is awesome! I would love to see how you would do once you are down by two goals, Bastard."

Well, this caught everyone off guard, with no one expecting Higo to answer it heatedly. However, after thinking for a moment, Makino could only rub the back of his head awkwardly, knowing that he had said the wrong things here. Higo indeed had just saved the team again, and yet, somehow, his tone was full of accusation.

Unfortunately, no amount of apology would be enough to solve this matter immediately, and they still had a few more moments to spend before the first half ended. The captain just sighed helplessly, signaling the rest of the players to give that boy some space. Even though they were worried, there was nothing else they could do when Higo himself was still fuming like this.

After the medical team gave one last checkup to see Higo’s condition, the boy finally rose from the ground again, patting the dust on his jersey as if the last contact was nothing. This gesture somehow was enough to make Park Han-Gyeol’s eyes shrink on the spot.

’The first time can be said to be a coincidence, but the second one? No matter how hard it is to believe, it seems this is the conclusion here! He really has a strong body like a fucking ox...’ He mumbled secretly, staring at Higo with a scowl.

Honestly, his plan earlier was clean. The position allowed him to recreate Jamie Vardy’s spectacular goal, and he had already calculated everything inside his mind. However, once Higo left his own territory, Park Han-Gyeol changed his mind instantly, still not convinced that the first weakness that the coach had said in the past would have no effect.

Well, now he knew, since Higo himself had already risen after a hard collision twice today. This was not a lot, but at least it should leave Higo scarred. And yet, here Park Han-Gyeol was, finding the boy to be extremely fine.

"Han-Gyeol-a, a message from Miki-senpai." Someone suddenly approached him from behind, whispering something. "He said not to do something like this again. We abandon the first weakness, just wait to see how they would reveal their own weakness later. Understand?"

The Korean striker just nodded solemnly, knowing that this was not the right time to question that decision. ’Oh, well, at least those two attempts are enough to give us an idea here.’ A small smile tugged on the corner of his lips, not too obvious that the other people could see it.

After this, it was a free kick for Hakodate Nishi, with Higo pushing everyone to move forward. At this point, 21 players had already gathered in Shimizu Higashi’s opposition half, waiting for the hail merry pass to be launched. No one cared enough about the defense, knowing that this was probably going to be the last chance of this first half.

BAM!

"I get it! I get it!"

The moment the ball came slightly toward the left side, Kenji spread both arms to signal that the ball was his. The others also spread apart instantly, getting ready for the second ball. Unfortunately, at the last second, their captain suddenly appeared out of nowhere, jumping while using Kenji’s back to help him elevate himself further.

It was a foul, no matter how they looked at this situation. Unfortunately, before they could do anything else...

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

The referee finally blew the whistle, ending the first half of the game.