The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 125: Stealing A Goal Out of Nowhere!

Higo could feel his heart beating so loud right now that he could even hear it clearly. His palm was sweating, and as Riku got closer, his legs quivered for a second. This was probably the most nervous he had ever been in his life.

’Come on... Where are you going...’ He licked his lips unconsciously, eyes never turning away from the boy who was rushing to his side.

Honestly, this scene reminded Higo of the time during his first conflict with his senpai. The boy could still remember clearly the American-style penalty, and the situation right now resembled that time a lot.

He also ran forward a little, not too much to warrant any chip shot again, but still enough to cover the wide area in the middle. It wasn’t still enough, though, as the other areas were basically exposed right now. However, this was the risk that he had to take for this to happen, and Higo was ready to bear the consequence if he conceded a goal.

’Everything is ready, now... Left!’

Once Higo received the warning from his brain, his body moved unconsciously in that direction, ready to block the shot. However, in the next second, that image interlapped with a new one, and it was also a completely different scenario.

’Fuck it! I lose my balance! No, I have to jump!’

Yeah, the shot to the left that Higo saw in his vision turned out to be a bait. His brain sent another signal in the next second, telling him that Riku would use a big chop to turn to the other side, taking advantage of him shifting his weight to get through the right side.

It was a devious strategy, one that Higo himself still failed to understand how the boy pulled it off. However, it was not the right time for him to ponder it.

Fortunately, the second clairvoyance came at the right time. Even though Higo had already lost his balance due to shifting his weight to his left side, the boy could still stop in time, and before Riku could get through him, he had already jumped to get the ball.

Brugh!

"Ouch!" Riku cried as he fell on the ground. "Ref, penalty!" he complained immediately, while the other players also surrounded the oldest man on the pitch without hesitation.

However, the referee just shook his head, indicating that no foul was made. Higo did everything perfectly, getting the ball without even touching Riku’s body. The fall was due to the boy losing balance, not something that Higo inflicted on purpose.

Seeing this, Higo didn’t hesitate. He got up from the grass immediately, and before anyone from Echigo could respond, the boy had already thrown the ball to Fujinaga in the midfield.

"COUNTER! COME ON!"

This sudden move startled everyone else. It had been quite a long time since Hakodate’s team launched an attack, and honestly, some of Echigo’s defenders forgot about that. They were far away from the area that they should have protected in the first place, giving room for all the Hakodate players to launch a decisive counterattack.

"Fuji! Here!" Hiroshi ran toward an empty space in front of him, asking for the ball.

Then, the pass came in a second, and without even delaying, Hiroshi started his run. Hell, he didn’t even control the ball, just letting it run in front of him before he chased it from behind. This allowed him to speed up the attack, preventing the opponent from going back in time.

"Come on, Hiroshi-kun

! Move!"

Even Kumiko rose from the bench for the first time, waving excitedly so that the attackers could rush forward. Without even being told, though, everyone knew what they should do.

Kenji was still being his lazy ass, strolling around behind while also letting the others get through him first. However, Yuji and Usami had already occupied the space between the opponent’s midfielders and defenders, creating a distraction to let Hiroshi make a move.

The boy had more time to look around, and once the opponent got closer to clash with him, he had already sent a scalpel-like pass to get through the half-space on the right flank, and to everyone’s surprise, the one who was there was Ishinori.

’Fuck! I get this, I get this!’ The boy ran at full speed, the wind breezed through his hair as he tried to chase the ball. ’Keep calm and no need to panic... Keep calm and no need to panic...’

Somehow, in this kind of situation, his traitorous brain suddenly dug deep into the memory of the game against Sappotani, the one where he got cramped in front of the opponent’s goal during a crucial moment.

Even though no one really blamed him, the boy was still haunted by the memory that day.

’If only I could stay calm and not get nervous, maybe I wouldn’t get cramped in that moment, and not only would the team not concede a goal, but maybe I could score that goal as well. If only...’

Unfortunately, no matter how many ’what-ifs’ scenarios prevented him from getting a good night’s sleep, the end result couldn’t change anymore. No, the team still lost, and what Ishinori could do was to move on and make sure that history won’t repeat itself again in the future.

Yeah, this kind of moment was why Ishinori tried so hard in practice, and he really didn’t want to mess this up. So, after glancing sideways to see his teammates’ position, he took a deep breath, and with just a calm touch, the boy sent a low diagonal cross straight to the middle.

Thud!

For a moment, no one really knew who got the ball. However, once the sound of it hitting the net echoed throughout the entire pitch, silence followed, as all people just stared in disbelief. It took a moment, but the first one to react was one of Echigo High’s defenders, as the boy fell on the grass with both hands covering his face.

"OH! OWN GOAL!"

"Fuck! He is so unlucky!"

While the crowds reacted, Higo also grinned with his face flushed red, celebrating the goal that he had initiated. ’Yeah, even though I still don’t know why my clairvoyance ability changes a bit, at least, it is not the time to think about it. Let’s just celebrate the goal first!’