The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 99: Before the Last Day
Well, that was definitely not the mission that could be done in one night. However, it was still enough to keep him awake until past midnight, and the moment he was awoken by the others, the sun was already quite high.
Higo didn’t even need to look at himself in the mirror. He knew that he had a deep bag under his eyes, giving him an impression of a panda. His body also ached, as it was always the day after the game that all the pain started to bite him in the ass.
Fortunately, the team didn’t have anything too taxing to do here, so he could just relax for a little bit longer. However, unfortunately, they still had a game to play tomorrow, so he had to recover as quickly as possible today.
Hell, Kumiko even asked the inn to provide a pool full of ice, forcing all the players to have a long ice bath to help them recover better. She also did that while grumbling lowly, complaining to the organizer about this inhuman schedule.
’What the hell?! Even the Premier League doesn’t have this kind of devilish schedule! They have at least two or three days of rest, right?! What are those old geezers smoking outside?!’
The others also wanted to help to some extent, but they were kicked out by the girl immediately. In her words, they were the most exhausted ones after the game, so they deserved to relax a little bit more today. Also, some of their parents were still here, so it was better for the players to stay there and entertain them all.
Higo himself was not bound by that constraint. His mother still had to work, so she took the earliest train to go back to Hakodate. Of course, the woman didn’t forget to gush over him and Kumiko, starting to read all the list of concerns she had for them. In the end, she was finally gone, but not before giving her last message to the two teenagers in front of them.
"I know that you both will do it, but please, take care of each other, okay? I cannot bear the thought of one of you hurting here, so please, have each other’s back until the end..."
Well, Higo had half of his mind getting offended for his mother to say this, since he always had the girl’s back. However, Kumiko nodded so solemnly, treating his mother’s words like a gospel.
So, yeah, that was the origin of the current situation, where he was still sticking with Kumiko while the others had this sour expression as they got entangled by their parents.
’Oh, Mom... Thank you for your great assistance...’ He smiled smugly, especially at the sure-kill gaze from Makino. ’What? You want to be here? Dream on, Teme!’
He snickered secretly at the sight of the captain making some rude hand gestures in the air, just to be flustered when Kumiko suddenly coughed, staring at them both like a mother catching her sons stealing a cookie from the jar offhandedly. However, the girl’s lips were still twitching, showing that she was in the mood to play around here.
"Anyway, Kumiko-chan, what are you doing?" Higo asked, getting closer to the point, their shoulder touching each other a little bit intimately. "I swear, you haven’t taken your eyes from your laptop since the morning. Shall we go out for a moment to take a break?" His tone was warm and full of concern.
Kumiko herself didn’t really bother the boy for this gesture. They had been in a more intimate position in the past, so just a mere shoulder contact wouldn’t make her flustered. Instead, she yawned big while stretching her upper body, making some boys gulp with their Adam’s apples bobbing unconsciously at the incredible sight.
"I know, I know... I am still researching our opponent tomorrow, though..." She grumbled a little, wiping her tired eyes silently. The girl didn’t know; her action just triggered so many nosebleeds among her players.
"A—Ah, yeah, our n—next opponent!" Higo cursed when he heard himself stuttering. "A—anyway, who is going to be our opponent?" He asked quickly, wanting to change the topic here.
"Oh, we are going to play against Akkeshi Shoyo, a new team from the eastern part of the prefecture," Kumiko answered, not even noticing anything wrong here. "They have a decent tournament so far, but in the semifinal yesterday, they were defeated by Esashi High 5 – 1, and I don’t think that this team is good enough to be here."
Well... To lose 5 – 1 in the semifinal, in Sapporo Dome itself, nonetheless, would be a huge blow.
However, some of them caught the one who beat them immediately. "Wait, you mean Esashi is going to advance to the semifinal and challenge Sappotani for the national ticket?!" Fujinaga blinked as he slammed the table in disbelief. "This is a fucking joke!" He cried out loud.
Indeed, Esashi High was definitely not a new team for Hakodate Nishi. Higo, in particular, remembered it quite well, as that was his first-ever game with the team. However, in his perception, that team wasn’t really that strong.
The only one who impressed him at that time was the short old man on the bench who kept shouting for the entire game, not even slowing down or taking a drink, even for a second. That man was a proper coach through and through, a standard that Higo unconsciously put to any other head coach who wanted to manage him in the future.
"Yeah, that Esashi High. I read the news yesterday." Makino nodded somberly. "Goddamnit! To think that we could beat them in the past, and yet, their achievement would be higher... Damn!"
The frustration that was still hidden after yesterday emerged once again. Kumiko herself just sighed helplessly. "Well, what do I tell you? The entire tournament is still based on luck, right? If you are not the best team in the drawing, you have to pray a little bit more, because such a team has to be avoided at all costs!"
Some of them nodded solemnly, having been traumatized by the drawing moment a few weeks ago. In the end, Kumiko clapped once again, snapping those who were busy chatting to the living plane again. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Anyway! We only have one day remaining, so we’d better take advantage of it with more practice! Come on, I will show you our opponent’s intelligence, so get ready and listen carefully, Boys! Let’s bring back the bronze medal for us!"
