It was a half-time break, and right now, all the Hakodate Nishi players were gathering inside the locker room. However, the atmosphere was so heavy inside, as the air was so suffocating. Everyone tried their best to avoid one’s gaze, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

Oh, no. The boogeyman here was not Kumiko. The girl was still discussing something with the other senior members outside, letting the freshmen and sophomore students rest first. No, the one who put them on edge like this was none other than Sano, the delinquent-looking boy who was just sitting silently while scanning the whole locker room like a beast.

No one really knew what was inside his mind, but the boy sure had this yakuza air surrounding him when he was serious. More than that, the bandage also added more personality here, and coupled with a trace of blood on his forehead, the boy looked like he had just arrived back after a war with the gang from the neighborhood city.

Even though their logical mind knew that Sano was their teammate, and he would never do any harm to them, their instinct screamed danger right now, wanting to switch the trigger so that they were in the fight-or-flight mode.

Fortunately, a moment later, the four senior members finally entered the room, breaking the awkward tension in the air.

"What the hell is going on here?" Makino frowned when he noticed the bizarre state inside the room. "I mean, I get that some of you are tired, but this looks like a fucking cemetery! Are we really that weak here, to have such a pathetic atmosphere even when we are up by one goal?!" He scolded everyone in the room without hesitation. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

It seemed the captain misunderstood their silence, seeing them coming from the exhaustion in the first half.

"Urgh... Senpai, that’s not the case here..." Hiroshi tried to explain awkwardly.

"Then, what?" Makino snorted, showing his dissatisfaction.

Instead of answering verbally, they all turned their head slowly to Sano. The boy himself didn’t seem to realize that he was causing a big trouble here, just sitting silently like he was the Buddha himself, not getting affected by the whole world. Seeing this, Kumiko frowned, kneeling a little in front of the boy so that they could face eye-to-eye.

"Sano-kun..." The girl spoke gently. "Are you okay? If you feel unwell, how about we go to the hospital after this? We need to check on your condition first, okay? If so, I can ask the medical team to accompany us here, and Jun will also replace you for the second half. Is that acceptable?"

Makino and Higo just stared at each other for a moment, then turned to Sano as if they had just found a common enemy here. If before, they just treated the boy like a normal Kumiko’s fangirl, this time, they knew that the boy’s position in Kumiko’s heart had shifted slightly.

Even Higo, who had already made a romantic promise with the girl, couldn’t help but feel insecure right now, getting burned by jealousy.

"Damn! After this, I cannot let them go out alone!’ He clenched his fist in determination, somehow forgetting everything in the game earlier.

Sano himself blinked slowly before the boy finally realized that all the eyes were on him. He felt his face flushed for a moment, a sight that was hard to see on a tough boy like him.

"Uh... Yes, Senpai, I am okay! Don’t worry, I am just thinking about my performance earlier!" He stammered a little bit here. "I just want to make sure that I don’t repeat my mistake in the first half and can play better to defend our goal later!" He declared boldly, alarming Jun here.

"No, Sano! If you are not feeling well, going to the doctor is the best choice you can make! What if you have any hidden injury that has to be treated quickly?! Don’t worry, I won’t snatch your position! I will just fill in until you are back later!"

The anxiety lacing in his tone was enough to trigger some snickers here and there, and Sano himself just smiled helplessly at his simple-minded senpai. "Don’t worry, Jun-senpai, this is nothing. You can take a rest more and leave everything to me." He answered with the exact same playful tone as Jun, which was enough to stun everyone else here.

"Wait, since when did you know how to crack a joke?!"

"No way! No fucking way! He can be funny with his thug appearance?! I swear, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life!"

"Hey, hey! If you feel funny, how about we open up a mic?! With your personality, that would be a hit!"

Sano was speechless at the jokes, slash sarcastic words he received here, before putting the suffocating air back in the room and silencing everyone else immediately. While he didn’t mind one or two banters, the boy couldn’t stand someone making fun of his appearance like that.

"Okay, okay, enough for the shenanigans. Let’s focus on the second half first." Kumiko finally took over the meeting here. "Honestly, not a lot of things I can speak about here. A hats-off for Sano-kun and Denki-kun for fighting for their life, and a big round of applause for everyone else who played solidly in the first half. We did a good job, preventing all the leaks on our side so far."

Besides Sano and Denki, who held their head high smugly, the others applauded politely, knowing that the first half was indeed a masterclass in defense. Apart from the last attack, where Sano had to sacrifice himself to clear the ball, everything was under Hakodate Nishi’s control, with them killing any momentum that the opponent wanted to build.

"Still, you guys know that the job is not over, right?" Kumiko continued. "We still have another 45 minutes to play, and anything can happen in that period. So, I want you guys to secure this win as quickly as possible, starting with getting the second goal! The attacking line, can you hear me?!"

This time, Hiroshi, who didn’t really do a lot in the first half, showed a sinister smirk as he chuckled. "Don’t worry, Senpai. I have been waiting for you to say this!"