The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 107: Planning for the Future
The first day of the term was finally over, and yet, somehow, Higo felt like his mind was still in the classroom. The thought of the career questionnaire still bugged him, especially since the boy himself didn’t know what he wanted to do after graduating from high school.
"What, still thinking?" Kumiko patted his back softly. "Come on, this is not a problem you can solve in one seat. Let’s get out and have a little bit of a breather, okay?"
"Well, it is okay for you to say, Kumiko-chan. I bet you have already had something in your mind, right?" Higo grumbled lowly. However, his body was still obedient, following the girl’s words without hesitation.
"Yup! U have one in mind already!" Kumiko chirped happily.
"Me as well." Makino suddenly chimed in, looking at Higo smugly. "I am trying to get one spot in Tokyo University for their Sports Science program. I have been eyeing that for a long time."
"Really?!" Kumiko widened her eyes in surprise. "Why Tokyo, though? I heard the one in Kyoto is better, right?"
"Yeah, but Tokyo University has a collaboration with Tokyo Verdy. Who knows, maybe I can still continue my path in the football world." The captain shrugged.
"Oh, what a coincidence, because I am going to apply for the same program, but at Kyoto University!" Kumiko said again, startling Makino a little bit.
"Really?! What a pity! It seems we are going to a different prefecture here." Makino sighed helplessly.
Somehow, while those two were chatting, Higo felt a little bit inferior here, as if he didn’t belong in this conversation. After all, those two had a clear vision of the future, and here he was, still thinking of what movie he should watch later.
’Hmm... I really need to start thinking about the future, huh? What kind of subject do I want to study at university? I should talk with Mom and Oneechan later.’ He set this inside his mind, not wanting to be left out by his friends.
He didn’t even notice that they had arrived at the club’s room already, with the freshmen, now sophomore students, already sitting there, chatting and laughing with each other. The moment Kumiko entered the room, though, a tense silence fell there, as everyone waited for the girl’s verdict here.
The girl herself just had her eyes wandering around, scanning all of her players one by one. In the end, she started to call out some names slowly, enough to make those who got called wince unconsciously.
"Jun-kun,"
"Y—Yes, Ma’am!"
"Usami-kun,"
"H—Here!"
"Makino-kun and Kuroki-kun,"
"We are here..."
"Then, Kazawa-kun..." Her eyes landed on the big boy who raised his hand timidly after his name was called last. Then, a smile curled on her face, one that made everyone shudder instantly.
"Well, since you guys couldn’t maintain your body form and even gained weight from the holiday break, you have to work harder to regain your ideal body, right? So, tomorrow’s training, your physical portion will be doubled, any questions?"
Instead of a question, she only got a collective groan as an answer, as those five started to regret their eating habit during the holiday. Still, not a single one of them complained, knowing that this was the agreement even before the break began.
As for the others, they just let out a relieved sigh, knowing that they had just escaped from death here.
"Then, let’s talk about the most important topic here." Kumiko’s tone finally turned solemn, while the others also had a similar expression here. The atmosphere was quite heavy before the girl finally dropped the bomb. "The recruitment day, and how should we prepare for that..."
Yeah, this was definitely the biggest agenda item they had at the beginning of the term. With new freshmen coming in, it was important for not just the football club, but any existing clubs in the school to replenish their members. This was an important task for the continuation of the club.
"So... What should we do?" Makino asked. "I mean, we need a lot of new players, right? What, with us only having Kazama-kun as a backup player?"
Kazawa just scratched the back of his head when his name was mentioned here. However, the boy secretly clenched his fist, having already set his eyes on being the regular player of the team this year.
"Yeah, you are right, Makino-kun, we need a lot of players, especially since next year, you guys are going to retire."
"Don’t forget, Kumiko-chan," Higo suddenly whispered, not loud, but enough to get everyone’s attention. "It is not just us who are going to retire, but you as well. We need to find a head coach for the team next year, right?"
The question stunned everyone here, as if they had just realized this matter.
Indeed, Kumiko had been the team’s head coach for two years, and sometimes, they all forgot that the girl was also a student here. With her graduation, there would be a vacant position, yet it would be hard to get a new one that everyone would be satisfied with.
All the sophomore students glanced at each other worriedly. If not for Higo’s reminder, they would never have noticed that Kumiko would only be here one more year before it was too late. Still, the thought of getting coached by other people didn’t sit quite well in their stomachs, since it had been the girls’ team since the beginning of their rise.
"Okay, let’s think about it later." Kumiko coughed again. "I will discuss it with the headmaster, asking how much budget we have to recruit a new head coach, and then, we can start searching for a head coach who could help everyone improve further in the future. However, right now, let’s focus on what is in front of us first, which is the recruitment day."
Even though some of them were quite reluctant to move on from the earlier conversation, they all knew that this was not a matter that they could discuss casually, so they accepted the girl’s suggestion here.
"Okay, so, we are going to need at least four players here. One as Ryukkun’s backup goalie, one as another defensive backup, and the last two are going to be attackers with a style different from Yuji-kun and Kuroki-kun. Is there any question here?!"
