The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 64: At Yakiniku Kintaro

The game was finally over, and after sending off Ritsumeikan High, all the people started to leave one by one. Minami and Ayaka were also the same, but not before they chatted with Higo first.

"...What?" Higo squirmed uncomfortably under his sister’s scrutiny.

"Just... Checking..." Ayaka narrowed her eyes, patting his shoulder several times to make sure that this was indeed her brother and not just an impostor. "I have so many questions inside my head right now that I don’t know where to ask..." She mumbled.

"How about we do it properly later?" Minami suggested. "I mean, your friends are also waiting for you, you know?" She nudged her head forward, signalling those two to look in that direction.

True enough, all the Hakodate Nishi players were staring at them, some with disbelief at the sight of two beauties in front of Higo, and the others with the lecherous leering that made the boy want to strike their eyes straightaway.

"Yes, sure, we can talk about it later." Higo smiled stiffly, trying his best to hide his scowl. "Anyway, thank you for coming, Mom! Oneechan! But I will have to go first!"

"I know, I know! Shu! Shu! Just don’t be late for dinner!" Minami chuckled merrily. "Also, congratulations on the win! I am so proud of you!"

"Kumiko-chan, if you are free, come with Ryukkun later! I brought something interesting from Tokyo!" Ayaka added, waving at Kumiko on the back.

Kumiko was startled for a second, but a sweet smile spread on her face immediately. "Sure, Aya-nee! I will be there!"

Everyone watched those two beauties leave until they disappeared from their sight. Once that happened, though, all eyes turned to Higo immediately, some even with resentment. This was enough to intimidate the boy, who just tried to maintain his bravado here.

"What?!"

"How could you, Chibi?!" Makino was the first one to scowl. "You have already had two hotties in your home, and yet you still want to bag Kumiko-chan?! What do you want here, to be a harem king?!"

"You sick pervert!" Higo scowled back. "Those are my mom and my sister! Anyone who makes an inappropriate comment about them will be in for an eye stabing!" He smiled with a dark aura behind him, clenching his fist threateningly.

Fortunately, this was enough to make them all back down quickly. Even though they were still in awe over Higo’s beautiful family members, they knew when to stop when they saw the line they couldn’t cross here. Even Makino went quiet, not daring to make a crass comment about it.

Kumiko just sighed helplessly, not even bothering about what Makino said earlier. "Anyway, since we’re all done with everything, change your jersey quickly! Let’s have a yakiniku party for lunch! She announced, which was followed by cheers from the boys.

"Yatta!"

"Long live Shishida-senpai!"

"Long live Kumiko-chan!"

-0-

Five minutes later, all thirteen teenagers arrived at the quite old restaurant called Yakiniku Kintaro. Higo himself had never been there, so his eyes were just wandering around curiously. However, by the look on the other players, it was clear that this was not the first time they had gathered here.

"Ojiisan, the usual, please! For twelve people, okay?" Kumiko asked politely while the boys went for an empty space near the wall.

"Oh, Ojou-sama is coming with the team? I heard you just won the game, right?" The old man there, the cook himself, just smiled teasingly.

Kumiko blushed for a moment, yet still smiled. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Ojou-sama, Ojiisan?! Also, how do you know that we won the game? It has only been thirty minutes since everything is over, you know?"

"Bah! You don’t know this, but news travels fast here! The whole neighbourhood knows that you guys are winning against that Sapporo team!" The old man bragged proudly as if it were his achievement.

Kumiko sighed helplessly before saying, "Well, we will wait for you in our usual place, okay?"

"Sure, Ojou-sama! A complete set of yakiniku for Hakodate Nishi football team is coming!"

Higo just stared with his jaw dropped when he saw how Kumiko handled the communication. Well, he always knew that the girl was a pro in this matter, but it seemed her charm was more lethal than he had ever thought. Hell, the old man even called her Ojou-sama, for God’s sake!

"What?" Kumiko’s face flushed when she noticed the gaze from her best friend.

"... Nothing, just never expecting to see you like this." In the end, Higo mumbled.

The atmosphere was ambiguous among them, and couldn’t stand it, Makino decided to be the third wheel here. "Anyway, how about we talk about the game first?" He suggested.

The others—Kumiko’s simps, they all were—agreed immediately, wanting to separate Higo and Kumiko as quickly as possible.

"Yes, Shishida-senpai! Let’s hear about how we do it first!"

"Oh, sure..." Kumiko sighed once again before she took her notebook out of the bag. "Well, first of all, let me say congratulations to you guys! Today is definitely the hardest win that we have ever earned, and I cannot be prouder right now!"

This made some of them blush in embarrassment, as even though they were used to the praise, it still came from Kumiko, enough to give everyone butterflies in their stomach.

"Ah... It is nothing..."

"Yes, Senpai, you are just exaggerating here..."

Kumiko just smiled, finding the boys’ reaction to be quite cute here. "Well, I will not say that we are exaggerating. I mean, in total, we only have three shots today, with one of them being on target, and it resulted in the only goal in the match. So, let’s give a round of applause for our hero tonight, Hiroshi!"

The boy’s face was so red that everyone praised him, bowing slightly while also trying to hide his face with his hands.

"However... If there is one better player in this game, I think you all know who it is, right?" Kumiko smiled knowingly.

The other players just nodded, and while Makino scowled, not liking to admit it, the captain had to accept that this was the reality here.

"So, let me announce it!" Kumiko smiled cheerfully. "With 15 saves!" Some gasped. "Nine aerial interceptions! Also including the crucial double-save from the penalty shoot, today’s man of the match is... None other than our amazing goalkeeper, Ryukkun!"