The trip to Sapporo went quite fast, with the traffic being quite light. It was almost the beginning of November, and snow had already started to fall outside. Well, that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm inside the bus, as the whole vehicle had already turned into a giant karaoke box. Everyone sang at least one song each before they entered Sapporo three hours later.

The moment they were in the vicinity of the Sapporo Dome, though, the atmosphere changed 180 degrees, as if they were in a completely different place right now. The song was gone, and as they started to prepare their kits, the air was quite suffocating.

It was around 11 in the morning, and honestly, even though they were close enough to the dome, they hadn’t seen a big crowd walking to the stadium. Well, this was understandable, since they were the opener of the day. The main show was definitely Sapporo Otani High’s game later, as they were playing against Ritsumeikan High, which was also one of the best offensive teams in this prefecture.

Still, that didn’t mean the first game was less tense than that.

"Okay, get ready, everyone! Also, don’t eat too many snacks right now! If you have to, get some bananas for a quick carbohydrate meal!" Kumiko instructed while also carrying the bag on her shoulder. "Five minutes later, we are going to enter the dome! For most of you, this should be your third time, so I don’t want to see any hint of nervousness there!"

"Yes, Ma’am!"

The only one who still felt nervous was probably Sano here. Even though he had the toughest face, the boy was always soft-hearted, and he didn’t have a lot of experience in a big occasion like this. It also didn’t help that he was going to play from the start, and added to everything that happened here, he was so overwhelmed, feeling his hands trembling before even seeing the dome properly.

"Nervous?" Ishinori, who sat next to him, suddenly asked. At Sano’s little nod, his expression softened for a moment before the boy said, "It is good to be nervous. That means you treat this game seriously. One tip from me, though. No matter how nerve-wracking the situation is, always listen to Higo-senpai’s instructions. He is our God in the backline."

Well, even though Sano felt it was a bit exaggerated, he just nodded lightly, knowing that Ishinori had a point here. Even Makino himself had to stop and listen whenever Higo made a move. After all, the goalkeeper had been saving the team’s ass for a long time, and he always seemed to know what he was doing.

It also helped that if anything went wrong, Higo would be the one who took the blame, so at least, there was no pressure on his side.

After waiting for a while, the bus finally started to slow down, as it had entered the Sapporo Dome’s parking lot already. The moment they opened the door, though, coincidentally enough, another bus also took a park there, and when they saw who came out of that vehicle, everyone froze immediately.

"W—Wait, Hakodate Nishi’s players?!" Someone from the other side of the bus pointed at them in utter shock. "What are you doing here?!"

Makino, who came out of the bus first, narrowed his eyes immediately as he caught the jersey the boy wore. "Esashi High’s players... Oh, what a coincidence here..." He muttered sarcastically.

The air suddenly turned heavy as more players came out of the bus; the situation became more tense. Everyone glared at each other fiercely, trying to intimidate each other with their gazes.

"Oh, what do we have here, our opponent today!" Suddenly, an old voice greeted them from the opponent’s side, smiling sarcastically at them. "Just a bunch of wild kid being let loose by their parents. Where are the adults here?! Oh, I forgot that the coach is another kid; her father was probably still wetting his pants when I started my coaching career."

Well, it was a long-winded insult, and honestly, anyone who heard this would yawn at him. However, the mocking tone in his voice really ticked everyone off the wrong way here. Before they could say anything, though, Kumiko came out of the bus with a surprised look.

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?!" She gasped mockingly. "How did you get up from your bed? Without your stick, even! Come on, you need to go to bed quickly! No one wants to hear your dull story, you know?"

This time, some of the Esashi players choked for a moment, trying their best to hide their laughter. In their lifetime, they had never seen anyone dare to mock their coach, and yet, here they were, witnessing a girl their age having no mercy, slaughtering him in the battle of words.

"Tch! Younglings nowadays don’t have any respect for their seniors, huh?" The old man, Jirokichi, clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, based on his dark expression, it was clear that he was furious right now. "Come on, Brats! We need to go inside first! Give ’em a lesson on how to do it properly!"

All the Esashi players followed along like a bunch of ducklings, leaving the Hakodate Nishi group in silence. However, it only took a few seconds before the atmosphere was broken, and this time, everyone was just watching the girl in awe.

"Holy hell, Shishida-senpai, I swear, I don’t know you have it in you!" Hori stared at the girl in awe. "I mean, I know you can hold on your own ground, but not like this!"

"Yeah, don’t you see that old geezer’s speechlessness?! You hit straight at his sore spot!" Hiroshi added, somehow also getting annoyed earlier for being called a wild boy. "Is this what you said by killing your opponent with your politeness?"

Higo himself looked at the girl proudly. He knew that she had it in her. After all, they had been friends for so long, and while he wasn’t as active as he was in the past, Higo was a strong keyboard warrior before. There was no way in hell Kumiko didn’t learn one thing or two from him.

Meanwhile, Kumiko just gave a thin smile, and yet, the glint in her eyes definitely told Higo that she was satisfied with the result. After a while, she finally coughed, silencing everyone else immediately.

"Well, this is just a little bit of a psywar between us coaches. However, at the end of the day, everything still depends on you players, so I will rely on you today, okay?! Don’t make me embarrassed!"

"Yes, Ma’am!"