The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 114: The Problem from the Newcomers

As the midterm exam was about to come, it wasn’t just Higo who was stressed. In fact, the other players also felt the tension here. After all, if they failed to pass the grade, they had to join the remedial class during the summer break, and they could say goodbye as well to their chance to go to Niigata with the entire team.

That was why, a few days before the exam date, the football team created a huge study group to help each other get through this hassle, just like what they did before playing against Sappotani two months ago.

"Come on, Hiroshi! You cannot slack off! Keep going!"

"Jun, if you didn’t finish that exercise, I swear to God, I will ask Kumiko-chan to let you run twice as much as the usual!"

"Fuji, don’t sleep! Recite some more English words about advertisement for me! One mistake means one set of push-ups! Come on!"

Makino really turned into a dictator right now, supervising everyone’s study with his hawk eyes. Fortunately, out of all the old players here, only three were quite troublesome, which were Jun, Hiroshi, and Fujinaga.

At least, while the others still needed some help, they were willing to put more effort into studying by themselves, which also alleviated the pressure on the captain’s shoulder.

However, what Makino didn’t expect was that the most troublesome part came from the newcomers here. Yeah, out of the four new players, none of them really gave a sense of reassurance for the boy, especially when he looked at their attitude during the study group.

The twins, Denki and Denji, were just fooling around lazily and only got serious whenever Hiroshi was nearby. Honestly, no one knew what kind of deeds Hiroshi had done in the past that made those two so devoted to him, as the boy was the only one who could control them. The only problem, though, was that their grade was fucking terrible.

"Stop whining, you two!" Makino frowned, having a big ruler in his hand that was ready to fly on the back of their hands once they lost concentration. "Out of 14 subjects, you only get a pass on three, and they all are the P.E., Arts class, and Home Economics. Do you have any shame here?! Even your beloved Hiroshi-senpai is doing far better than you!"

Those two were sulking when they heard that, and one of them couldn’t help but moan, "We are a football player! We don’t need to have a good grade!"

"Yes, yes! Even Lionel Messi will not be able to pass so many classes in his high school, right?!" The other twin whined.

For this, everyone felt déjà vu here, as they all answered simultaneously, "You are not Lionel Messi. Before you can get 1 percent of his annual wage, just follow the instructions and suffer silently." This was followed by a round of snickers from all around the room.

Those words were the ones that Kumiko used in the past whenever someone dared to bring up Lionel Messi’s name here, and it was quite effective to shut them up. The twins just pouted more, but they were still obedient in this case.

Well, at least that was until they started to lose concentration again, and Makino had to hit the back of their heads to snap them out of their daydreaming state quickly.

Meanwhile, the problem coming from Kenji was a different one, the kind that Makino was very familiar with, yet still gave him a headache up to this point.

Besides laziness, Kenji couldn’t really join the study group on time, since he would always be surrounded by girls after school hours were over. Not that the Playboy made any effort here, as he was definitely enjoying the attention. It forced Makino to come and pick him up from his classroom, which created a little bit of commotion there.

"Huh! That arrogant senpai is ignoring us all! He is so cruel!"

"What if Kenji-kun’s face is bruised or scarred?!"

"Kyah! No, that cannot do!"

"Wait, if he has a scar... Does that make him manlier?"

"Yaaah! You are right!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Makino, who overheard the conversation, felt the corner of his mouth twitching here. While he was also a popular guy, his fans were never this brainless, swooning over everything that he had and even ’could possibly’ have here.

"Oh, I cannot help it, Senpai... It is the risk that a handsome boy like me has to bear for the rest of my life..." The boy sighed in a narcissistic tone, taking a small mirror out of nowhere before fixing his hair again.

Makino was too speechless to say anything here, but in the end just gave the boy a warning. "I don’t care if you have four or five girlfriends at the same time, but make sure you won’t cause a problem, okay? I am not just saying this as your captain, but as your senpai, I have to warn that once one of the girls breaks down, everyone will be on your ass. Just remember that."

Unfortunately, Kenji just brushed off his concern nonchalantly, not even getting bothered at all. Honestly, Makino sometimes asked her, what the hell did this boy try to get by joining this club?

He didn’t even listen to anyone else, for God’s sake! The only one who could make him submit was Kumiko, and he always did that with so many flirts and sweet words first before succumbing. This was definitely enough to make everyone uncomfortable, since Kumiko was the only girl in the team.

As for Sano...

Honestly, it was surprising to see that the gangster-looking boy was the least worrying dude among those four. Not only did he not cause any trouble—besides his troublemaker appearance, of course—but the boy also studied hard for the midterm exam.

He was the same type of student as Higo. While his grade was not the best one, it was still above average, putting him into the upper rank of the pack. Once again, it was surprising, considering he looked like someone who would skip and fight on the back of the school against any gangsters outside.

This just reminded the boys not to judge the book by its cover.

Still, looking at the troublesome kouhai in front of him, Makino couldn’t help but let out a long, tired sigh. His eyes gazed outside as he let his mind wander far.

’Those three are good for the team, and the camp to Niigata is important to help them integrate fully into the team. But... Is it worth all of my effort here?’