The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 115: The End of the Exam!
"Fuck it, I am done here!" Makino shouted loudly, finally taking a deep breath as he had just finished his last job.
It was the last day of the exam, and right now, he was probably the one who wanted to celebrate the most here. After all, his job was ridiculously hard, having to babysit a group of teenagers, with three of them being the biggest troublemakers in the school. Even the sanest people wouldn’t be able to do that.
"Thank you for your hard work, Makino-kun..." Kumiko smiled, giving the boy a bottle of water as they walked into the club room.
Higo just grunted behind, for once didn’t really mind Kumiko’s kindness toward Makino. He saw firsthand how the captain worked his ass off in the last couple of weeks, especially when he was handling the twins and Kenji. Somehow, those three seemed to try testing his sanity, always coming up with a new problem every day.
Kumiko felt so guilty for throwing away the responsibility to the captain here, as she couldn’t help but be stressed over it. "If only I could’ve helped you..."
"Eh, don’t fret over it, Kumiko-chan," Makino smiled politely, clearly appreciating the concern here. "You still have to prepare for everything before we can go to Niigata, right?"
Indeed, while everyone was busy preparing for the midterm exam, Kumiko also became the busiest one among them all, having to meet a lot of people to make sure everything went right.
First, she had to ask for money and permission from the headmaster, because Niigata itself was quite far from Hokkaido. Then, the girl met the parent community, the one who paid for all the team’s costs during their stay in Sapporo a while ago. The purpose was the same: to fundraise for their trip toward the coastal prefecture far to the west.
After that, she also had to prepare for the accommodation, from the train ticket to Niigata, booking a hotel that was cheap but still nice enough for sixteen teenagers, confirming the registration for their participation in the tournament, making sure that the jerseys were ready for everyone, and even the smallest problem that they could encounter like what to eat and what to bring over there.
So, yeah, she had done a lot of things behind everyone’s back, and as the cherry on top, the girl also did that while simultaneously preparing for this midterm exam. Her efficiency was definitely off the charts for that.
"Anyway, let’s just be glad that the exam is done," Higo grunted, stretching his body a little bit. "Teme, how confident are you that your students are going to pass this?" He couldn’t help but ask.
The captain grunted, thinking for a second before answering, "Just passing the grade, right? I think we can hope a little here. But don’t expect them to be excellent. Honestly, I don’t know how to handle Kenji at all, and I couldn’t understand what Hiroshi did to the twins to make them so obedient."
Well... Was that a million-yen question, though? No one really knew what Hiroshi did to the twins, but it should be something big that made them willing to go to this no-name school, even with their bright prospects.
Still, compared to the twins, Hiroshi was definitely more manageable. At least, the boy was still willing to study whenever Makino forced him, not even uttering a single complaint during the process. Even though the study was painful, Makino was confident that the boy could get a better result this time.
As for the twins... Well, let’s just say that the less said here, the better.
"Hey, guys, what are you talking about?" Kuroki suddenly approached them, walking side by side with Makino, and matched everyone’s pace.
"Just Teme’s luck with the brats." Higo couldn’t help but smirk teasingly.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it all, will you?" Makino grumbled while the others snickered secretly. "Anyway, let’s go back to the club. I am sure that the others are waiting there."
Now, with the midterm exam over, all the players could finally train with an easy mind. No one really talked about it, wanting to distract their mind from the possibility that they had to go to remedial classes.
They spent the next few days doing more simulation training, with Kumiko mixing and matching more offensive methods for the team’s arsenal. She tried her best to integrate the twins into the team without sacrificing too much of the defense on the flank, which was proven to be a difficult thing to do.
However, everyone was so motivated, following every training menu without any problem. Hell, even when they were doing the interval run or the parachute run, not a single one of them stopped running, and even though in the end, some people were still vomiting, at leastno one backed down from the session.
Well... That was, at least, until the result of the midterm exam was announced. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
It was the afternoon after the school day was over, and it was also quite rare to find that the football club’s room was quite empty. Higo just sat together with Kumiko, Makino, and Kuroki, as the others were still in their class waiting for their result to come out.
"No need to be that nervous, Kumiko-chan," Higo patted the girl’s hand softly, noticing how stressed the girl was. "Teme has done a good job guiding them; there is no way they would fall in this exam. They might be late because they are still celebrating with their classmates, you know?"
Makino snorted, yet also voiced his agreement here. "Yeah, my study group is efficient as hell. Don’t worry, Kumiko-chan, they are going to be here soon with their annoying laugh."
Kumiko just smiled weakly; words seemed to stick in her throat. She wanted to trust the boys, but the girl knew that some of the members here were not the brightest bulbs in the room. She would feel guilty if any of them couldn’t join the camp just because they had to go to the remedial class.
However, it seemed her worry was not necessary here, as a moment later, the girl could hear the familiar laughter from the outside. When her eyes rose, she saw the rest of her players walking there, and without hesitation, she jumped, asking, "So, how is it?!"
Hiroshi and the others paused for a second, glancing at each other slightly, which was enough to give the girl a slight anxiety. Fortunately, they took pity on her, as a second later, everyone cracked a grin with Hiroshi sending the biggest thumbs-up of the day.
"Don’t worry, Shishida-senpai, we’re all passed!"
