"Minami-chan, the game is about to begin! The boys are out already!"

Back in Hakodate, Kana, who always kept her eyes on television, shouted immediately when she saw the boys coming out of the tunnel. Then, in a shout that was even louder than before, Minami came down from the second floor of her house, running.

"Coming! Coming!"

She arrived with her heart still beating fast, her hair slightly disheveled. However, no way in hell the woman would let anything delay her from watching her son. The moment her gaze turned to the television, she could see all the Hakodate Nishi players running back to the pitch, and soon, the camera panned to Higo on the back.

"So far, besides Takaaki Morofushi, Ryusuke Higo should be the best player on the pitch, right?" One of the broadcasters asked.

"Indeed, besides that one unfortunate goal, he has already done all of his jobs correctly. Six saves, four aerial claims, and one clearance so far, you cannot ask more for a goalkeeper." The other broadcaster replied.

They were full of praise for Higo right now. However, Minami couldn’t care less about it. At this point, she had heard so many compliments about her boys that this didn’t move her heart anymore. Instead, her focus was completely on the boy who was shown chatting with the others on the pitch.

’He doesn’t wear a cap again. Does that mean the sun is on his side now? His hair is flowing well, but it would bother him a lot, right? Should I tell him to trim it?’ She dozed off for a moment, only coming back to the living plane when a tug on her shoulder registered through her brain. Turning around, the woman saw Kana looking at her concernedly. "What?"

"You are dozing off," Kana spoke simply. "Are you worried that we are going to lose this game?"

Minami pondered for a moment before shaking her head strongly. "No, even if they lost, I am sure they have done everything they could do. I think that is the best we can ask, right?"

Kana looked at her for a second, then nodded with a similar smile. "You are right, the result doesn’t matter, because they would do their best to win this game! Come on, we also have to support them from here!"

FWEEE!

The moment the referee’s whistle rang from the television, both women clapped their balloon sticks enthusiastically.

"Come on, Hakodate Nishi! You can do it!"

-0-

None of the players knew that they also received direct support from back home. Right now, their attention was completely on the referee, waiting for the man to blow the whistle. Once the moment they had waited for finally arrived...

FWEEE!

They took action immediately.

"Come on, Senpai! Don’t get left behind!" Kenji said his last word before rushing forward, leaving Hiroshi behind.

Hiroshi just snorted, passing the ball back to Takaaki before following Kenji from behind. Not just him, but Usami, Denji, and Hori also did the same, trying to overwhelm the other side of the pitch with their number.

The second half finally began, and since they had the right for the kick-off, they had a chance to initiate the Blitzkrieg attack once again. The last time they did it, after they conceded a goal earlier, Hiroshi managed to send a rocket volley from Usami’s chest pass, just for the ball to be saved by Kang Do-Jin. This time, they were a little bit more confident, especially with the information that Higo relied on them in the locker room.

"The sun is going to be straight into his face, coming from the left side," Higo said. "He might have already prepared himself with a cap or something like that, just like me in the first half. However, the first two or three minutes are crucial for his adjustment. That is the time when he is the most vulnerable. So, if we want to steal a goal, that is the window we are looking for."

Higo talked from his experience, as he also suffered from the same thing in the first half. There was no way in hell the boy would let Kang Do-Jin go through this period so easily.

Using his information as a reference, Denji, Usami, and Kenji worked together to occupy the left side. Seeing them mingling together, Takaaki didn’t hesitate, pinging the ball straight in their direction. His accuracy once again got highlighted, as it avoided all the players with white jerseys before falling straight on Denji’s chest.

Thud!

"Oh! Nice control, Denji!"

"Keep calm! You still have time!"

Well, Shimizu Higashi players also reacted accordingly. While they still didn’t know about the sun’s position, their defenders moved swiftly, covering that side with more numbers. Just within a second, two players arrived there, one keeping an eye on Denji while the other moved back to guard someone sneaking from the outer flank.

This was a reasonable arrangement, one that should be the best they could do in this situation. However, with the defense shifted to the left side, there was a little gap in the midfield, and Kazawa inserted himself perfectly into that hole.

"Denji!" He shouted, pointing forward.

Denji understood immediately, pushing the ball toward that side before the opponent could trap him on that side. As a result, the ball fell on Kazawa’s foot, and the boy made a solo run deep into the pocket space there.

"Shit! Defenders, cover! Don’t let him have the space!"

"I get it! I get it!"

"Tch!" Kazawa clicked his tongue when he saw a player was waiting for him. He stopped the ball right in front of the penalty box for a split second, turning his body around to cover it before sending the ball once again to the middle. "Well, Takaaki, this should be your food, eh?"

Then, as Shimizu Higashi’s defense was pushed back by Kazawa’s movement, Takaaki, the initiator of the Blitzkrieg attack, was already in a dangerous position. He was still out of the penalty box, but with three feet of distance between him and the opponent’s closest defender, he had all the time in the world to take this shot.

In the end, though, without even trapping the ball, he used his inside foot to fire a scalpel-like bullet, piercing through the two defenders in between.

BAM!