For a moment, no one really knew what was going on there. Hell, some of the Shohei High players even had their faces fall, probably thinking that the whistle was to end the game. However, who would’ve thought that the referee would run toward the penalty box hurriedly, pointing at the white spot there before dropping the bomb out of nowhere.

"Hakodate Nishi’s number 6 pushes Shohei High’s number 16. A penalty kick for Shohei High."

Everyone was so stunned that they couldn’t even react there. However, once everything sank in on everyone’s head, hell broke loose immediately.

"Wait, Sensei?! What the hell?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Where the fuck is the push?! He fell onto his own!"

"Fuck! Fuji is one foot away from him; how could he trip that little shit?!"

All the Hakodate Nishi players—yeah, all of them—charged onto the referee instantly, surrounding the man while also shouting so loudly that people were afraid they would do something stupid here. However, at this point, no Hakodate Nishi players cared about this. No, right now, they were fighting for the injustice that they were about to suffer.

"Stop! Stop! Stop it!" The referee was pushed to step outside of the box to avoid the crowd. "Are you guys trying to question my judgement here?!" He glared at all the players with the black-and-white jersey sternly, trying to establish his authority. However, if anything, this only enraged the boys here.

"Fuck it! Yes, I question your stupid decision!" Fujinaga’s face was so bleak as he screamed on top of his lungs. "You look at the footage later, and you will see that I am nowhere close to him! Bastard, how much did you get paid for this?!"

The referee was so grim at the accusation that he didn’t even hesitate, flying another red card for Fujinaga. However, the boy couldn’t care less right now. No, this was so close to the end of the game, and right now, he was driven purely by his anger and frustration.

"Come on! Who is afraid of whom?!" Fujinaga shouted, having to be held back by Kuroki, who ran from the bench to stop this commotion.

Another heated argument also happened on the sideline, with Kumiko and the fourth referee starting to lose control of their emotion there.

"Watch out for your players, Girl! Teach them how to respect the referee!"

"Respect the corrupt referee, you mean?! This is a fucking disgrace!" Kumiko spat back with a fierce glare. If any of her players saw this, they would be dumbfounded to see how the usually calm girl suddenly turned into this kind of demon. "Also, Girl?! Are you fucking serious?! You call the other coaches a boy? Old man?! Or is it just me?! Put some respect on my fucking name, or I will ruin your career, Bastard!"

It took a while, but the commotion finally ended with a red card for Fujinaga’s excessive protest and two yellow cards for Hori and Jun, who pushed the referee to the brink. The penalty also stood, which left all the Hakodate Nishi players dissatisfied. Hell, some people on the stand also frowned, questioning the decision here.

"Hey, you record everything, right?"

"Yeah, I’ll send you the video, and I can assure you that the number 6 doesn’t even touch that number 16."

"Fuck it! If Hakodate Nishi lost because of this, it is going to be the biggest scandal in the tournament’s history!"

Some journalists who sat there also started to get busy, writing an article that would be a headline tomorrow. Even though those two were far from being the top team in the tournament, this game was so full of drama and intricacy that it would attract the public’s attention.

Soon enough, the referee was finally able to take control of the game again. The penalty box was cleared, leaving only Higo and Kawabe standing there. The goalkeeper just stared at his opponent coldly, feeling a storm raging in his stomach.

’He doesn’t even feel any guilt or remorse. A fucking dirty bastard....’ He hissed venomously.

Well, not that anyone could blame them. After all, in a desperate moment, any team would throw away all of their sportsmanship out the window. Screw with respect; people would only remember them for losing the game if they didn’t take their chance.

FWEEE!

After waiting for a while, the referee finally blew the whistle, signalling the penalty to start. Unlike earlier, Kawabe approached the ball steadily, not wanting to mess around. His movement was also a little bit restrained, clearly still getting bothered either by the commotion earlier or his failure in the first half.

Not that Higo cared, as his clairvoyance ability had already flared up right now. An image flashed into his head, and the boy moved immediately in that direction.

’Left again!’

BAM!

Unfortunately, even though Higo managed to react correctly, even touching the ball with the tip of his hand, this time, Kawabe used all of his power to whack the ball to the top bin. As a result, the only sound that could be heard right there was the ball slamming the net before Kawabe started to run and roar toward the stands.

"AAAAAAH! FUCK YEAAAAAAAH!" The boy kicked the corner flag passionately, punching his own chest quite hard. A thick vein even popped on his neck, showing how tense he was at this moment.

"FUCK YEAH, CAPTAIN! GOOD PEN!"

"FUCKING HELL! THAT’S OUR CAPTAIN!"

All the Shohei High players also celebrated shamelessly, not even caring that their penalty came from such a controversial means. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the result was what mattered the most.

"FUCK IT! Just a few millimeters away!" Higo also cursed, punching the ground frustratingly. He could feel the ball bruising his hand, and yet, the boy still failed to make a save. "DAMN!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

All the Hakodate Nishi players also fell into depression right now. The mood was somber, with each one of them being so close to exploding on the spot. The frustration they felt from everything in the last couple of minutes was indeed a bit too much, and coupled with how shameless their opponent’s celebration was, it took the patience of a saint for them not to crash out right now.

"Come on, Chibi, don’t blame yourself too much here, Man." Makino suddenly patted his shoulder, not in a reassuring way, but in solemnity that Higo had never seen before. "Get your mental state back to normal again, because after this, we will need you to step up once again to save our ass."