"COME ON, SAPPORO OTANI!"

"WE SEE, WE COME! WE CONQUER!"

"COME ON, YOU SAPPOTANI!"

"WE WILL ALWAYS BE THE BEST!"

The moment Higo stepped into the pitch, he couldn’t help but flinch, somehow feeling his eardrum was about to pop. It was still the warming-up session, and yet, the chants from the home team’s crowd were deafening, probably enough to make the whole of Sapporo listen to their song.

The most intimidating part, though, was that those home supporter spanned from the southern side of the goal to the stand right above the tunnel, making their sound echo louder than ever in the locker room. This was like a double intimidation with the purpose of bringing down the opponent’s morale in half before the game even started.

"Bloody hell... They filled almost one-fifth of the stadium?! How many fans do they have here?" Higo couldn’t help but curse at the sea of sky-blue waving on the stand in front of him.

Even though less than one-fifth didn’t sound impressive, this was the Sapporo Dome. Its full capacity was around 40,000 people, so the number of Sapporo Otani’s supporters today should be around 6000 to 7000. That was a hell of a display, especially for a high school game like this.

"Well, don’t focus too much on them." Makino suddenly replied, making Higo realize that he was speaking out loud. When the boy turned around, he could see that his captain’s gaze was on the northern part of the stadium. "There, our people are waiting."

True enough, much to Higo’s astonishment, he saw a small group of people wearing black-and-white attributes, jumping and cheering enthusiastically. Even if their number was way smaller, their shouts, chants, and the rhythmic sound of Taiko being hit there were enough to combat the crazy atmosphere that the home team’s side showed.

"Shit! That is sick!" Higo’s grin widened more than ever. "Come on, Teme! You have to greet them first, right?!" He dragged the captain without bothering about his complaint at all.

Not that Makino was complaining, of course, since he himself also wanted to go there. The moment they got closer, though, cheers erupted on that side immediately.

"Kyah! That’s Makino-kun! Look, he is so manly!"

"That jersey does him right! Look at the muscles! They are so fit on him!"

"Hey, this is going to be weird, but don’t you think his stern expression is hot?!"

"Yes, yes! I can see it right! Compared to Kenji-kun’s immature grin, I prefer him to scold me more!"

Just as expected, all the girls on the stand started to cheer for Makino. Higo couldn’t help but have the corner of his lips twitching as he became a background here, sometimes forgetting that Makino was the most popular bloke in the school. Nevertheless, he couldn’t care that much about him, not when he was still focusing on searching for one person there.

Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to find that person. Even though she was a petite woman, amidst the people with black-and-white jerseys on the stand, she was the only one who had the green outfit, the goalkeeper jersey that was the same as what Higo wore. She had her usual cam recorder to shoot the game, and the moment their eyes met, the woman rushed enthusiastically to the front of the stand.

"Ryukkun! Here!" She waved, her smile beaming from ear to ear.

"Mom! It’s good to see you here!" Higo came closer, ignoring the cheers for Makino around them. "When did you arrive?"

"About half an hour ago, with the other parents! Some of them have already met their kids and moved back immediately to let the students get to the front line, but I still want to see you!" She explained. "Anyway, you look good today! Look ready for everything! Don’t mess this up, okay? Someone is waiting for your confession!" She giggled teasingly.

Higo himself felt his face flush instantly, realizing what she was talking about. Who would’ve thought that his mother still remembered Higo’s promise to Kumiko if they won the final and realized that this was the day that it could happen?

"Don’t talk nonsense, Mom! Also, don’t say that out loud, people will gossip!" He hissed embarrassingly.

"Oh, yes, I know, I know..." She smiled knowingly. "Anyway, I can see your teammates doing a warm-up there. Just go, okay? We can talk about everything later."

Even though Higo knew that she was right, that didn’t mean he had to like it. This was the first time he had seen his mother in the last four days, and honestly, there were still so many stories that the boy wanted to tell.

In the end, he just nodded reluctantly, turning around before shouting at her, "I will go first, Mom! Wish me luck!"

Soon enough, he went back to the rest of the players, joining the warm-up session. Everyone was so enthusiastic right now, especially after seeing so many familiar faces far from their hometown. Even though they were still being surrounded by enemies everywhere, that didn’t diminish their excitement.

Meanwhile, all the Sapporo Otani players also finally came out of their locker room. Unlike Hakodate Nishi, though, this was a normal sight for them. They just waved at the fans politely before starting to do their warm-up, unfazed by the distraction around. Hell, for them, this was probably just another Thursday at work.

As Higo watched them start their warm-up, his gaze somehow landed on one person. Of course, it was none other than the most dangerous person in this building today, the one and only Yuwell Carlson from Sweden. The boy could be seen chatting and laughing with Yuma Igari, somehow making him seem like a normal high school boy.

He could still remember vividly what Kumiko said about that boy.

’He is quick, agile, and dangerous not only on the top, but even when he drops back to the middle. Even though Sapporo Otani is far from being the best team in Japan, Yuwell is recognized as the best foreigner in the tournament, and if his team could go far, people favored him to be the top scorer of everything. So, the most important task in this game is only one, and that is to stop him from scoring at all costs!’