Penalties are only missed by those who have the courage to take them.

This was the famous quote from Italian legend, Roberto Baggio, as he missed one of the most iconic penalties in the world. Some old dudes might still remember that moment quite well, when the ball flew far into the sky, which also gave the World Cup trophy 1994 to Brazil.

Somehow, though, the quote resonated quite well in this situation. Out of everyone else in Hakodate Nishi’s team, Kenji was the one who felt the most confident in taking the penalty. Hell, the boy didn’t have any nervousness in his bones, just walking straight to the penalty spot with his head held high. In his mind, he even started thinking about what kind of cool celebration he would have once the penalty went in.

’I should’ve spread both my arms wide like Zlatan, right? No, that is not iconic enough. Hiroshi-senpai has done something similar in the past. I have to think of another cool celebration.’

Unfortunately, this was just another case of counting the chickens before the egg hatched. When Kenji finally hit the ball, the boy himself felt at the last second how he had hit it at the wrong spot, slightly below the point where he intended to be. The slippery pitch really messed him up here, as even though it just made him slip for a heartbeat, this was enough to shake his timing. As a result...

CLANK!

The ball ricocheted far too high to his liking, and even though Kang Do-Jin failed to reach it, the course defied too much, resulting in the ball hitting the crossbar.

"YOSSHAAAAAA!" The moment Kang Do-Jin heard the sound of the crossbar getting hit, he jumped immediately, roaring so loud his voice pierced the sky. "COME ON! WE ARE STILL ALIVE!"

"YEAH! WE ARE ALIVE!"

"GOOD JOB, DO-JIN! THAT’S WHY YOU’RE THE GOAT!"

Even though the miss had nothing to do with the goalkeeper, all the Shimizu Higashi players laughed happily while also cheering at Kang Do-Jin as if he were the one who made the save. In their mind, the boy’s presence between the posts was the reason that caused the miss earlier, and they couldn’t be happier than this.

After getting pushed so close to the edge, they finally had a room to breathe.

Meanwhile, Kenji walked back with his eyes so hollow right now. The thought of him missing the penalty had never crossed his mind, but he couldn’t deceive his brain anymore. The thought of him becoming the culprit behind the team’s defeat started to grow in his mind, crushing him like the most poisonous venom in the world.

"Senpai... I—I don’t—I mean—"

If the situation were normal, everyone would be surprised to hear the confident Kenji stuttering like a mess like this. However, they could understand the boy’s difficulty right now, and Kumiko didn’t even hesitate to hug him and pat his head reassuringly, just like how she did for Denji earlier.

"Don’t think too much about it. If there is one to be blamed for this, it should be me." She whispered softly.

This only made the boy stiffen more. This was basically Kumiko accepting the blame for him, probably using the classic line of ’Too young to handle the pressure’ or some shit like that. This definitely didn’t sit well on his stomach, and yet, the boy couldn’t do anything about it. He knew that the root of the cause was his failure to execute the penalty for the team’s win, and if somehow, they lost today’s game, he would have been haunted by everything for the rest of his life.

"Don’t worry, Brat, don’t think too much about it." Makino also joined to console him. "You still have Chibi in front of the goal. With him there, everything could still happen."

Indeed, the current score was still 3-2 for Hakodate Nishi, and if Higo managed to block the last penalty later, they would still win the game. However, this was definitely not an easy task, since the next one to step in was Mamoru himself, the one-in-a-century genius. Carrying the hope of the whole team on his shoulder, the best player from both teams was going to fight for this decisive matchup.

"COME ON, HIGO! BLOCK IT AWAY!"

"MAMORU, YOU CAN DO THIS! SHOW US YOUR TRICK!"

Cheers also buzzed from all over the stand right now. All the people there shouted as loudly as they could, trying to make sure that their voices could be heard by both players. Well, unfortunately, neither one of them cared enough about the noises around, treating them all as a distraction. No, right now, they had their eyes locked into each other, wanting to probe each other’s thoughts with stares.

While waiting for the referee’s whistle, Mamoru also took a deep breath, staring at Higo with a complicated gaze. Somehow, in that moment, his mind flew back to the first time they met each other in the past.

’At that time, you should just be a decent goalkeeper from Hakodate, while I was already one of the best youngsters in the country, right? Time really flies, and now, you are even a better prospect than I am. You sure are amazing, Higo-san...’ He let out another melancholic sigh. However, in the next second, his gaze hardened instantly. ’Well, you can be a better player than me for all I care, but I will never let you block our way today!’

FWEEE!

The moment the referee blew the whistle, Mamoru made his move immediately. He even stuttered his run a little bit, trying to confuse Higo until the end. However, when the boy saw that the goalkeeper didn’t even move, he scowled, finally gritting his teeth here.

’Oh, screw it!’

BANG!

He aimed the ball straight to the top left, and with the combination of power that could be compared to Park Han-Gyeol and the accuracy of Miki Yamane, the ball went far out of Higo’s reach. It slammed the top corner of the goal, and no matter how good Higo’s prediction was, hell, no matter if it was the best goalkeeper in the world, they would never be able to save it.

The goal was valid, and the penalty shootout continued.