The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 38: A Sabbath Day?

"Urgh... I know Kumiko-chan said that a day after the game is the worst, but I have never thought that it would be this bad..." Higo groaned, walking out of his house with a body full of soreness. "Mom, I will leave first!" He shouted.

"Be careful on the road!" His mother shouted back from inside the house.

Higo just shook his head in exasperation. Honestly, he didn’t know what happened, but his mother suddenly changed. More... Warm? More approachable. Not that he would complain, of course, as Higo preferred his mother to be like this. It just left a question: what made her change?

"Oh! Ryukkun! Wait!" A moment later, Kumiko came out of the house next door, running hastily with a toast on her mouth. Right now, she really embodied the image of a student in a comedy anime, waking up late and running to school with toast in her mouth.

"You know, if all of your simps knew about this, they would’ve died of a heart attack immediately." Higo shook his head in exasperation. "I mean, who would’ve thought that their goddess could wake up late and so disheveled like this? Wait a second, let me fix the scarf for you."

He didn’t hesitate, not even asking for permission. The boy just grabbed her shoulder, turning her so that she could face him, and started fixing the messy scarf around her neck as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He might be a simp for her, but they had known each other for so long that this kind of thing was somehow so natural between them two.

Of course, that was what Higo thought.

If he looked closely, the boy would’ve seen a faint dust of pink on Kumiko’s cheek, as her temperature rose the moment she felt the boy’s hands bruising the back of her neck. In the end, she coughed lightly, desperately changing the conversation into what she felt comfortable with.

"So, how are you doing today?" She asked.

"Terrible, I tell you what." He moaned. "Don’t you see I have so many Band-Aids on my arms? Here! One! Another one! Also, in my knee! And don’t start with my shoulder! My mom has to massage me before I leave, worried that I wouldn’t be able to walk properly today!"

Kumiko giggled as she walked alongside her childhood friend, looking at him amusedly. She knew that this was bound to happen, what with the game yesterday being Higo’s first-ever professional game in his life. Still, it tickled her funny brain to see the boy who was always calm starting to lose his coolness, and it would be a lie if Kumiko said that she didn’t enjoy it.

"Anyway, what are we going to do today? Don’t tell me that we are back at training immediately, just a day after the game!" He was ready to complain.

Kumiko snorted. "Don’t worry, I can assure you that you are not the only one who is in pain right now. The others will kill me soon before I could even ask them to go out to the pitch if I forced to do that, you know?"

Well... Higo didn’t know. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He thought that it was a joke, since Kumiko herself was so popular in the club. Not just in the club, per se. She was the idol in the whole school, the student model whom all the teachers used as an example of brilliance. If something happened to her, even the headmaster would get involved immediately, chewing everyone responsible.

"So, what are we going to do later?" Higo shook his head, asking.

"Usually, the day after the game is a sabbath day, but that doesn’t mean you have to be lazy." Kumiko smiled. "Instead of doing nothing, why not watch the game of our next opponent?"

"Um? The next opponent has already been determined?" Higo was taken aback.

"Yup! All the first-round games were held yesterday, so the result came out immediately." Kumiko nodded. "Our second-round game should be easy, since the opponent is a team that we beat last year. But for the third round, though..." Her voice trailed behind.

"Yes...?" Higo asked, waiting impatiently.

"...Nope! That’s a secret!" Kumiko suddenly grinned mischievously, knowing that she had gotten him here. "Just wait, Ryukkun! You will know about it later!" She laughed merrily, running away and leaving the boy dumbfounded on the spot.

"That girl..." Higo shook his head wryly.

After this, everything went normal, and time seemed to slow down when it was a school day. Higo forgot to count already how many times he yawned today, not only because of the boredom and the fatigue remaining from the game yesterday, but also because he got distracted quite often, thinking about what Kumiko meant by their opponent in the third round.

Fortunately, he had already mastered the art of being an NPC. If he wanted to go unnoticed, the best choice was never sitting in the back row, but in the middle of the pack, surrounded by active students who always got a good grade. It was the best way to disguise himself, making the teacher put less focus on him.

After the school was finally over, he walked together alongside Kumiko and Makino to the club’s room, and there, he couldn’t help but blurt out the question that had been bugging his mind the entire day.

"So, mind telling me what is so secret about our opponent in the third round?"

This time, it seemed Makino also didn’t know about this matter, so he looked at the girl questioningly. "Who are we going to meet, by the way?"

"The second round is still quite easy. We are going to face Sapporo Kita High." Kumiko said.

"Ah... That school..." Makino nodded in understanding. "We beat them last year 3-0, right? If they didn’t change too much, it should be an easy win for us."

It wasn’t like the captain was being cocky, but for a defensive-minded team like them to score three goals... Well, that showed the opponent was quite weak. He might not say it out loud, but inwardly, the boy had already looked down on his opponent in the second round.

"So, who is in the third round?" Higo interrupted impatiently. This was the information that he had been waiting for, and he didn’t appreciate Kumiko for teasing him like this.

"Our third round’s opponent..." Suddenly, Kumiko turned solemn, which made them all think that they were going to face a difficult opponent. "Our next opponent is going to be Ritsumeikan High, the only school in Hokkaido that managed to force Sappotani into a penalty shootout last year."