"FUCK!"

Higo cursed once he saw the ball changed direction here. It was not a powerful header, just a gentle flick as if the ball only bruised the boy’s hair lightly. However, the movement was enough to get the ball away from Higo’s path, and with the boy freezing a moment ago, it was impossible for him to react and make a save.

For a moment, he was even helpless here, ready to hear the sound of the ball hitting the net. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

However, when he was in despair, the hero Higo didn’t know existed suddenly appeared. He didn’t have the cape, and he didn’t come flying. No, he just announced his presence with a dramatic acrobatic overhead kick, clearing the ball away while also sacrificing his body as he hit the post.

BAM!

"ARGH!"

Together with the ball flying so high in the air, the scream of pain could be heard echoing throughout the whole stadium, enough to make everyone flinch. It was an excruciating collision, especially since the boy himself hit the post with his head first.

"Fuck! Sano, you okay?!" Higo, who was the closest one here, reacted immediately, checking for his kouhai’s situation. "Hey! Clear the ball first! He hit his head!" The goalkeeper shouted, asking for an immediate pause.

FWEEE!

Fortunately, the referee saw this incident clearly, so he blew the whistle to stop the game. Even though the Esashi players were reluctant to comply, especially since the ball itself was still within the vicinity of Hakodate Nishi’s box, they had no choice but to catch the ball with their hands.

This was one of the emergency cases that, no matter what happened on the pitch, everything had to be stopped. After all, anything related to head injury had to be treated seriously, as one late treatment could even lead to death here. There were so many similar cases that happened all around the world, and even without the regulation to rule this, the referee would never dare to risk letting the game on for this scenario.

The medical team moved fast, checking how severe the injury was.

"Okay, your forehead is bleeding right now, so we need to bandage you first." The man said. "Anyway, you still remember where you are playing today?"

"Sure, the Sapporo Dome, right?" Sano answered immediately, complying with the medical team here.

"Any idea of who scored the goal earlier?"

"Hiroshi-senpai."

"Good. Any dizziness or nauseous feeling?"

"Just a little bit of dizziness. My ears are still ringing right now. Other than that, everything is okay."

The others just waited in tension as the medical team threw so many questions here. They wanted to make sure that Sano was completely okay, not losing any immediate memory or orientation after the collision earlier.

On the sideline, Kumiko also bit her lips, somehow feeling nervous. She had already asked Jun to do his warm-up, getting ready in case Sano couldn’t continue the game. However, truthfully, the girl didn’t want to make a move right now, not especially when Sano himself had done a good job in the first half of the game.

"Come on, Sano-kun... You cannot get any injury right now..." She prayed inwardly.

Fortunately, what she was most afraid of didn’t happen. After waiting for a while, the medical team finally gave an OK sign to her, and the girl could also see Sano getting up from the ground. His forehead was bandaged heavily, and there was still a trace of redness from the blood there. However, at this moment, he looked like a true warrior, climbing from hell itself.

"Goddamnit! He is so manly!"

"Yeah, with his tough face, he looks like a fucking mafia boss!"

"Come on, Boy! I remember you!"

As the crowd started to dissipate and the supporters on the stand could see Sano’s appearance clearly, they couldn’t help but stand up, giving the boy a round of applause. Other than a good game, what the supporter wanted to see the most was this: the gritty spirit of never giving up, no matter what the difficulty was.

The play forced everyone to remember Sano’s name, the delinquent-looking boy who didn’t know how to give up.

Of course, it was just the supporter’s sentiment. Kumiko cared more about the situation, so the moment the medical team left the pitch, she asked immediately, her voice laced with worry. "So, what is going on, Sensei? Is he okay, or is he just putting up a tough look?"

"Don’t worry, he is good." One of the men there answered patiently. "We have already stopped his bleeding, and the recommendation here is to get him to the hospital for a full check. He still insists on playing, though, so we will give you a warning. Observe him carefully, and the moment you see him acting strange, you take him off immediately. You understand?"

Kumiko nodded rapidly, her ponytail hair swaying up and down. A sense of relief also washed over her shoulders as she realized that everything was under control. Her eyes then landed on the pitch where the boy was, and coincidentally enough, that boy was also staring at her.

’Good job!’ The girl sent a thumbs-up instead of any consolation here, knowing that the boy should’ve received so many of those earlier. ’You saved our team today! We owe you one!’ She mouthed silently.

Sano paused for a moment as if trying to understand what she said here. In the end, a huge grin formed on his face as the boy nodded rapidly. ’Don’t worry, Senpai! This is what I should do!’

Of course, amidst everything that happened here, the one who was relieved the most was Higo. After all, he had already given up, and yet, Sano still managed to bail him out of hell. He just stared at the center back with a complicated gaze before patting the boy’s back quite strongly.

"You did a fucking great job, Sano. A week of lunch from me." He murmured.

Sano nodded silently as if he wasn’t affected by the praise. However, anyone close enough could see his eyes shining, clearly ecstatic by the praise.

After this, the game continued again, and since Esashi’s last attack had to be stopped abruptly, they got the ball again once everything continued. However, this sudden stop was enough to disturb their rhythm, and they couldn’t even get back into the same intensity for the rest of the first half.

FWEEE!

In the end, they had to be satisfied with this result, as the referee finally blew the whistle, ending the eventful first half with Hakodate Nishi being up by one goal.