It was only a split second. However, in that moment, Higo saw clearly in his clairvoyant vision that he could get higher than Jui Hata’s jump. So, the boy didn’t even hesitate here. He had his eyes in the air, staring at the ball until it started to descend. The moment it was within his reach, the boy rushed immediately, jumping straight next to the dumbfounded Jui Hata.

’Shit! I get this!’

Honestly, if it were him before going to Yokohama, Higo would never dare to do anything reckless like this. No, his psychological shadow from the collision against Esashi High would drag him down in the last moment. However, the boxing training that he did with Miyashi was a big help in overcoming this. Right now, he didn’t even care about the collision, just extending one hand to reach the ball first.

Thud!

BRUGH!

"Argh!"

As he pounced on the ball in the air, Higo also collided with Jui Hata. Right after that, the referee blew the whistle, indicating that a foul had happened inside the box. For a moment, all the Hakodate Nishi High players tensed here, wondering whether it was their fault or not. After all, it would be terrible to suffer a penalty at the beginning of the game, right?

Fortunately, the referee was on their side right now. "Hannan University High Jui Hata clashed with Hakodate Nishi High’s Ryusuke Higo in the six-yard box, a foul for Jui Hata! A free kick for Hakodate Nishi High!"

"YES!" Right after the announcement was made, Jun clenched his fist, secretly letting out a relieved sigh. "Come on, Senpai! Good job!" He offered a hand, helping Higo get up from the ground.

Higo just nodded slightly, accepting the help before turning around to the twins. "Don’t let them get an easy cross. At least, put pressure on whoever is on the flank so that the ball doesn’t go easily to Jui Hata’s head. We cannot afford it."

Just in two aerial duels earlier, the boy could see that his defensive line couldn’t hold Jui Hata that much. So, the best way to do this wasn’t to confront the boy directly, but to cut off all the supplies flying toward him.

"Sure, Senpai!"

"Consider the job done!" The twins nodded simultaneously, knowing what to do.

Meanwhile, on Hannan University High’s side, Jui Hata just shook his head helplessly. The boy could feel someone tugging his jersey at the last second before he jumped, probably his marker. However, that trick was quite normal in a dense area during the corner kick. As long as the referee didn’t see it, everything would be okay.

He had faced this trick so many times in the past, as the other team’s defenders couldn’t really match his height. At this point, Jui Hata had already gotten used to this. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be annoyed here.

"Sorry, everyone. I got pulled again, cannot reach my highest point." He said to his teammates helplessly.

"Again?" Kei Murakami clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Okay, don’t think too much about it. Just get ready for another ball, Big Man!" He patted the boy’s back reassuringly.

After this, the game continued again, and after such a crazy start, both teams slowed down the intensity simultaneously, wanting to play with the tempo a little bit more. For the next ten minutes, the ball just moved around the midfield, unable to get through the two penalty boxes on the pitch.

The main problem here was that the game started to turn rough. More physical contact was made, and the whistle was blown so many times by the referee in the last couple of minutes. Hell, just in the first ten minutes, the amount of fouls had already reached 6, with Hakodate Nishi committing 2 and Hannan University High getting the rest of them.

No dangerous foul was made yet, but this constant pause in the game was enough to disturb both teams’ momentum, preventing them from unleashing their true potential.

"Hiroshi-senpai, behind you!"

"Pass it again! Pass it again!"

"Usami-senpai, don’t go too far! You are being surrounded!"

"Pass it back! Pass it back!"

BRUGH!

FWEEE!

Another collision was made. This time, the victim was Takaaki, as he got knocked down by Matthew Edwards, who was so eager to snatch the ball. This time, the referee finally gave the first warning of the game. "This is your third foul of the game. One more, and I don’t care how light it is; I have no choice but to give you a yellow, okay?"

"Yes... Sorry, Sensei, I was a little bit reckless..." The afro boy answered with perfect Japanese, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Takaaki himself got up with Jun’s help as the tall boy couldn’t help but ask, "You okay, Takaaki?"

"Yeah, this is nothing..." The boy adjusted his glasses a little bit. "Still, we will get overwhelmed physically if we don’t fight back. We have to do something here." He frowned a little.

Indeed, the amount of contact here was a little bit excessive. This made Takaaki uncomfortable, forcing him to distribute the ball faster. As a result, his accuracy dropped, and he failed to send it to the frontline several times already in this game. So far, it was clear that the opponent’s pressure was heavily on his side.

It seemed the others also noticed this. Usami, his partner in the midfield, said, "Drop back a little, start from the backline. I will be around you; just make sure you will not get surrounded by the opponent again."

This was a declaration for Usami that he would protect his friend. Takaaki was stunned, but he also nodded quickly. "Yeah, thanks, I will try to avoid any physical contact for a moment."

The boy did what he said. After this, he moved back to the backline, controlling the tempo from his own area. Usami also dropped a little here, adding more numbers there. It created a gap between the midfield and the frontline, but this was necessary if they wanted to control the tempo.

However, the benefit wasn’t just that. Once Usami dropped back to help Takaaki, he could see everything better, and on one occasion, a familiar flash of inspiration suddenly hit him hard, and in the next moment, the boy couldn’t help but mutter, ’I can take this!’