The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 53: Holding Their Own Ground!

Just like her brother, Ayaka was never a sporty person. She spent most of her free time in high school either studying or taking care of the home. Well, maybe hanging out with friends too, sometimes. But never doing anything that would make her sweat like sports.

Honestly, she thought that her brother would also follow that path. After all, it was the silent agreement between the two to take care of their busy mother, who had been working hard to keep everything afloat.

The thought of her brother, the one who always preferred to stay home and do anything there, suddenly joining a sports club, a football one, nonetheless, really surprised her. The girl thought it was a joke at first, and she only believed it right after her mother sent so many photos of her brother in action.

Still, it was completely different than seeing it with her own eyes.

Here she was, on the sideline, watching her brother having his head in the air, keeping eyes on the ball before leaping backward, punching the ball out of the pitch to prevent a goal from happening.

When Ayaka saw this, especially at how her brother fell on the ground, she couldn’t help but flinch.

"Ouch! That should be hurt, right?" She rubbed her shoulder unconsciously, feeling the phantom pain there.

Her mother, though, didn’t seem as concerned as she was. "Don’t worry, this is not the first time he has made a big jump like that."

Ayaka blinked in disbelief for a moment, but after that, Higo really proved that her mother was right. After taking a deep breath, the boy just rose from the ground, wiping away all the dust before starting to shout at his teammates again as if what he did earlier was something common.

"You see, it might be unbelievable, but Kumiko-chan told me that the first thing she taught Higo after joining the club was how to fall." Minami just smiled fondly.

At Ayaka’s disbelief gaze, the woman added, "She said that being a goalkeeper hurt, and if Ryukkun doesn’t know how to navigate himself in the air, he would only torture himself out there. So, yeah, Kumiko-chan taught him how to maneuver his body in the air, which part of his body has the best resistance, which part he should avoid using when falling, and so many things. It is complicated, and Ryukkun often went back home with more bruises than I could count. Still, you can see the result here."

Her tone showed how proud she was of her son, and she had a valid reason to feel that way. After all, it was only a month, yet Higo came all the way from being a rookie who always whined about how being a goalkeeper was torture to the point that he could take this kind of scary fall so easily, not even batting his eyes at all.

Hell, she could still remember the many times her boy came back home asking weakly for band-aids or antiseptics, and now, here he was, standing so tall in front of the goal to protect his team.

Ayaka just nodded numbly, yet her attention shifted again as she heard what people said around.

"Damn! Who is that goalie?!"

"I didn’t expect that we would have another talented one after Miyashi-kun retired!"

"He might be small for a goalie, but he sure has the gut!"

"Yes! I mean, how many times has he saved his goal today? Four? Five times already?"

"He is a Spiderman, I tell you that! Did you see how fast his reaction is?"

Almost everyone here talked animatedly, and every single conversation was about how good her brother was. Even though Ayaka herself still didn’t understand how things had developed this far for her brother, that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel proud of him.

No, as the praises and cheers echoed loudly, the girl felt her heart swell with pride, looking at her little brother with a fond gaze.

’It seems... You are about to fly out of the nest as well, huh, Ryukkun?’

-0-

Meanwhile, back on the pitch, Higo himself was not having a great time. The team had been bombarded by the opponent’s attack for more than thirty minutes at this point, and some of the threats were real.

Besides the first chance and the curve free kick that Iwai took, he also made two more saves, which in total made him save four shot-on-target attempts. It was a lot, especially considering the first half wasn’t over yet.

Not only that, but he also made some important catches, intercepting most of the crosses from the flank. Even though it was less flashy, this one was what Higo preferred the most, especially since he could take advantage of his clairvoyance ability.

Still, it was clear, though, that while the team’s defense is as tough as ever, it had several moments where cracks appeared, and it seemed that Ritsumeikan attackers had a sharp instinct to see one immediately and try to punish them. Fortunately, Higo was on fire today, and he hadn’t allowed a single goal yet, ever.

However, some things needed to change, so once the ball went out for a throw-in, the goalie grabbed his captain’s shoulder and said quickly, "Ask Ishinori-kun to move to the middle and solidify the center. Jun-kun is always too clumsy and becomes a huge target today. We need to cover him."

Makino was stunned, but he was also unsure whether to do it without the coach’s approval or not.

"Don’t worry, Kumiko-chan is not someone who is strict with her instructions. As long as we have a logical excuse, she would understand." Higo added, noticing the hesitation in his captain’s eyes. "Also, it is not like Ritsumeikan’s attack from that side is strong. Even if their right back suddenly decides to infiltrate, we still have Usami-kun to cover."

Well, that was a valid reason, and Makino didn’t have any excuse to reject that. Indeed, he saw that the opponent always started to attack from Hori’s side. He didn’t know whether it was because they saw Hori as a weakness or because their right winger was a bit weak, but this alone was enough to pull Ishinori to cover for the center.

The decision turned out to be the best one here.

Ishinori might not be the tallest or strongest, but he was definitely the most stubborn player on the team. The boy didn’t even hesitate, duelling everyone who was able to get through Jun’s defense fiercely. It didn’t help that his technique was clean, and he had never committed a single foul since the game began.

With the leak being covered, Higo also found that he could breathe a little bit easier. While the attack was still coming, Ishinori’s presence allowed the entire defense to react better, covering more important ground for the rest of the first half.

Ritsumeikan still made some attempts, but with Iwai getting fouled all the time, combined with the layered defense that Hakodate Nishi pulled, Higo didn’t even have any chance to show off his ability for the last five minutes of the game.

In the end, the referee finally blew the whistle, ending the first half with the home team taking the lead.

Hakodate Nishi High 1—0 Ritsumeikan High