The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 83: The Unexpected Presence in the Stadium!

Higo blinked repeatedly, his eyes darting in confusion. "Did someone just call me? Also, why is it that her voice sounds like Mom?" He couldn’t help but ask.

When he couldn’t find the source of the voice, though, he shook his head bitterly. "Now, my head is also messing with me. Man, I am pathetic..." He laughed bitterly.

However, after that, the sound rang again, and this time, it was followed by the mention of the other names from several unfamiliar voices.

"Ryukkun! Here! Here!"

"Hey, Brat! Why are you so gloomy? You are not embarrassing me, right?!"

"Fuji, raise your head high! You are my son, don’t you dare look down on yourself like that!"

"Come on, Hiro-kun! You can do this!"

This time, not just Higo, but all the players snapped their heads instantly, recognizing all the voices that echoed in the air. Then, they all gasped, finding the scene on the stand to be hard to believe.

"Dad, you are here?!" Fujinaga squealed like a girl before covering his mouth quickly.

"Mama, when did you arrive?! Why didn’t you say anything before?!" Hiroshi also approached one particular woman there; his face was flushed red in excitement.

"Old man, no one is asking you to be here!" Makino scowled at a middle-aged man with a giant flag in his hand. However, the captain couldn’t hide the excitement on his face, as new life seemed to be injected into his blood.

Higo himself was so stunned. In one stand behind the goal, the spot where it was empty in the first half, now was filled with people his teammates seemed to be familiar with, and if his hearing didn’t betray him, they seemed to be their relatives. That was not the most impressive thing, though.

No, one thing that got his jaw dropped was the fact that all of them had the same jersey as them, the black-and-white that was the team’s proudest color. Not only that, some giant flags were raised, with those muscular men being there to wave them proudly.

Their number might not be a lot, probably just around 75 people. It was definitely pale compared to the 1000 fans that Sappotani brought here. However, those 75 people were genuine fans of the team, and right now, their presence was like the twelve members on the pitch.

Then, Higo’s eyes suddenly fell onto a familiar woman who was smiling widely with the usual camcorder in her hand, waving at him cheerfully. He stepped slowly, yet as he got closer, the weight on his shoulder also started easing little by little.

"Mom... How are you here? I thought you had work to do?" He asked, his throat felt dry.

"Oh, you don’t think I forgot about my promise to come here and support you, huh?" She smiled with a fist raised playfully. "However, you can thank your thoughtful senior, since they are the ones who approached us first."

This time, more people chimed in on their conversation.

"Yeah, young man! That handsome boy with the bun hair came to me, even calling me sister, and said that I have to support my son in his most important game!" An aunty who came with a pan and a stick nodded all along.

"Oh? For me, that fierce bald brat is the one who demands that I come! Hah, that brat doesn’t know what fears like!" A middle-aged man who looked like a drunkard laughed.

As more people gave their testimony, everyone turned their eyes to Kumiko, and with a smile, the girl finally explained, "Let’s just say that this is their present to the club before graduating next week. Also, they are the ones who have the idea of crowdfunding your trip here, asking for our parents and the neighborhood, so that we can have the best facility and don’t feel awkward here. You notice the bus we used to come here? It is also they who help us rent it."

Now, this information was a bombshell, enough to make some brains short-circuit. However, the awe feeling and respect toward their senpai rose instantly, mixing together with the warm feeling of still being taken care of even from afar.

"Damn... They are such fucking cool senpai!" Kuroki choked as laughter stuck in his throat.

This time, Higo had to admit that he agreed here. Even though his first meeting with them ended up in a clash, honestly, as time went by, he also grew fonder of their three rough seniors, who didn’t know how to express their feelings clearly.

He could still remember that in all their home games, those three would always be there to support the team. And now, the action to support them financially like this... It was a bit too much to handle, especially when their hearts were at their most sensitive time right now.

"So, what stumps you right now?" Higo suddenly heard his mother ask, which snapped him from his thoughts.

"What do you mean, Mom?" He blurted out the question unconsciously.

"Oh, you don’t even try to hide it, you know? You look so gloomy, like at that time when your sister stole the last ice cream in the refrigerator. You remember that time?" The woman chuckled, eliciting chuckles from the others. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It seemed everyone was in this conversation right now, and honestly, Higo felt blood rushing through his cheeks as he was under investigation.

"What? Don’t tell me that you are like this just because of one goal you conceded in the first half?" His mother asked once again, and this time, Higo was genuinely stunned at her perceptiveness. Seeing this, Minami’s face brightened, knowing that she hit the right spot. "This should be the first time you concede a goal, right? No wonder you are so depressed like this..."

"Wait, Aunty! How do you know this is his first time?" Makino couldn’t help but chime in, which resulted in a strike straight to his head from his father. "Ouch! What the hell, old man!" He glared at his old father fiercely.

"Don’t just butt in on the other people’s conversation! That’s rude!" The old man scolded him mercilessly.

Minami herself just shook her head amusedly before saying, "Of course, I know it. I keep track of everything about my son’s career, you know?"

Higo just nodded numbly, but at this point, he couldn’t be surprised by anything anymore.

"You know... I don’t know enough about football to know your feeling right now, but it seems I need to remind you of something, my sweet boy..." Her tone was so soft that only Higo could hear it.

"You might feel useless, thinking that you haven’t done your job well enough. However, you cannot give up now, not when a pretty girl is placing her hope on you. Before you fall into darkness again, just remember this question. Are you ready to disappoint her?"