The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 109: Back to Training Again!
It was two days after the recruitment day, and it was also the day when the first official training would be held. All the Hakodate Nishi players had already gathered one hour before the meeting was held, somehow discussing the new prospect for the team.
"So, do you think we will have anyone good?" Fujinaga asked.
Takaaki just pushed his glasses upward and said, "At least, there would be one or two newcomers who are impressed with our achievement last year. Even though in the end, we lost 7 – 0, we showed a huge promise to be the second-best team in this prefecture, so at least, some players who are decent but not good enough for Sappotani could fall into our hands."
The others also nodded in understanding before Hiroshi himself asked, "Why is it based on last year? I think we did a better job in the last Inter-High, right?"
The others also turned to Takaaki, waiting for an answer. The glasses boy paused for a second, looking at them with the ’Are you kidding me?’ gaze here. When he found out that they were serious here, the boy finally let out a deep, tired sigh.
’Gosh, I am surrounded by idiots...’ He grumbled lowly. "Of course, it couldn’t be based on the Inter-High! Didn’t any of you notice that the Inter-high pre-elimination itself began right after the school’s entrance exam? The schedule clashes, so no matter how impressed they are with us, if they weren’t registered at the school at first hand, they wouldn’t be here at all!"
The collective ’Aaah...’ From his friends only made the boy roll his eyes more in exasperation.
Hiroshi, who had been cleaning his shoes quietly during the conversation, suddenly chimed in, though. "Don’t worry, we will have at least two good players coming to our team." He grinned widely, clearly showing an excitement that no one could understand the source of.
"Oh? How so?" Fujinaga asked curiously.
"Hehe, I saw two of my kouhai during the recruitment day, and I know those two quite well. In fact, I couldn’t understand why they chose to go here, but I am more than happy to see them in this team!"
This information alone was enough to pique everyone’s interest.
"Oh, Hiroshi’s kouhai?! And two, nonetheless?!"
"He should be from Saitama, right?!"
"Damn, if they come from the same middle school as Hiroshi, our new team is going to be a blast!"
Higo also perked up for a moment, somehow wanting to hear more. This was also one of the topics that he had been curious about for a long time.
In his mind, Hiroshi’s origin was so mysterious. Such an amazing player, how could he land in this no-name team? Even in Hokkaido, the boy should have an easy time getting through Sappotani’s starting eleven, right?
Unfortunately, that was a question for another time, because Kumiko finally arrived and called for the training to start.
"Okay, I hope you guys are done with your warmup, because we all will have a physical training first today! Let’s finish the training first before we greet our new kouhai!"
Everyone groaned, but not a single one of them complained here. Right after this, the only sound that could be heard was the heavy breathing from the players, the whistle, and the constant shout of command from Kumiko on the sideline.
Fweee!
"Come on, Hiroshi-kun! Run! Run faster! Run!"
Fweee!
"Take a deep breath, but don’t stop moving! You can jog, but get ready to run again!"
Fweee!
"Come on, Jun-kun, Kuroki-kun, show us that you are not just a big boy here!"
"Makino-kun, you are the team’s captain! Show me more spirit!"
Right now, they were in the middle of an interval run, combining 30 seconds of sprint with 90 seconds of jogging for at least thirty minutes. This was pure torture, and even though Higo felt confident with his physicality after the spring break training with Kumiko, he also felt like this was a bit too much here.
"Gosh... Hah... Why... Why the fuck... Do I have to join... This..." The boy heaved, staggering a little bit as he felt his lungs were burning right now. "I... Am... A fucking... Goalkeeper!"
Unfortunately, he chose to grumble in the wrong place here, because Kumiko could hear his thought clearly. "Oh, it seems you still can complain here, Ryukkun! Then, we will go for another round!" She chirped happily.
Higo’s face turned pale instantly, and the others snapped their head and sent their sharpest glare to the boy. After all, if one person was punished, the rest of the team had to suffer together here, so they had no choice but to continue this inhuman torture again.
"Just... Shut up, Chibi..." Makino gritted his teeth, starting to speed up again once the whistle was blown.
On the sideline, Kumiko watched her players running frantically with a big frown on her face. She checked the stopwatch on her hand, and the girl clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.
’Only ten minutes passed, and some started to show a decline in their physical state? It seems some of them are slacking off too much during the break.’
Well, fortunately, she found this out far before the next tournament began, so at least the girl had enough time to fix this problem. Once they had to face a tournament with a game every week, it was impossible for her to ask them for endurance training like this.
After forcing them all to run for at least fifteen minutes more, Kumiko finally took pity on them, letting her players take a rest. Right after she gave the green light, all twelve boys there collapsed immediately, breathing so heavily with their eyes closed to avoid sweat getting into them.
"Okay, I know that you all are tired here, but straighten your legs! Wiggle it a little more, let your blood run throughout your body! Keep your breath steady, and don’t drink the whole bottle of water in one go!" Kumiko kept talking amidst the dead-tired boy here.
Then, from the corner of her eyes, she could see four teenagers watching the team, and a smile spread once again on her face. "Oh, so you guys are finally here! Come in, let’s introduce you to the team!"
