The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 139: An Encounter with the Mysterious Genius!

It happened so quickly. One moment, Higo was still ranting about his study, and in the next second, his brain sent a clairvoyant image for the next two seconds, putting him in an alert state. Then, in a swift move, he grabbed the girl with one hand, and used another hand as a shield as a ball suddenly came out of nowhere.

BAM!

"Holy fuck!" Higo couldn’t help but curse, feeling his forearm stinging a little from the powerful ball. Then, he glanced around, just to find a boy—a little bit taller than him, but probably around the same age—who came with an apologetic look.

"I am so sorry, Oniisan! I didn’t see you there, and I lost control of the ball! I am so sorry!" The boy bowed instantly.

All the irritation built up inside him vanished instantly when Higo faced this gesture. It would be unreasonable for him if he made a fuss, as the apology was already sent here. Moreover, after getting out of her shocked state, Kumiko herself wasn’t hurt, giving an ok sign to tell him that she was alright.

"Just... Be careful, okay? You are lucky that I saw the ball coming." Higo sighed, handing the ball back to the boy. "What are you doing here, by the way? Playing with the ball so early like this, I mean. Are you a local?" He asked, couldn’t help but be curious.

Well, Higo had already had a guess about that. The boy didn’t look like he was going out of his home. No, the shirt he wore looked too good for that, too neat. Coupled with how he also glanced at everything curiously, Higo could guess that the boy was a tourist just like them.

"Oh, no, brother! I am here for a tour with my school!" True enough, the boy gave the exact answer that Higo expected. "I just woke up early, and since my friends are still asleep, I am just playing around. My hotel is there." He pointed at a modern building in the middle of the alleyway.

Higo just nodded in understanding before he was ready to leave. After exchanging more polite words, the boy also continued playing around with the ball again, kicking it to the wall and receiving it again over and over. This was definitely not something interesting for a date, so there was no way Higo would stay here and watch.

Well... At least that was what he thought. However, it seemed Kumiko had a different thought here.

Before he could leave, Kumiko stopped him, putting her finger in front of her lips while also signaling the boy to stay quiet. Higo was confused for a second, just to find out that his best friend was looking at the boy so seriously, as if she were observing an experimental subject here.

’Is there something wrong here?’ He whispered the question to the girl.

’Just observe, and you will find that he is an extraordinary player.’ She replied mysteriously.

Well, having nothing to do, Higo just shrugged, putting his eyes back on the boy they had just met today. At first, he didn’t take it seriously, just watching the boy with bored eyes.

It was also a normal repetition, kicking the ball to the wall and controlling it back with his right foot. However, Higo had to admit that the boy did it with grace. Everything was done so naturally, from the kick to the control, as if the boy controlled where the ball would go.

Hell, Higo even doubted that there was a magnet in the boy’s shoes, just for him to remember that the ball didn’t get attracted by it.

’If he is this amazing with his ball control, how in the hell did he miss that ball earlier? Did he do that deliberately or what?’ Higo couldn’t help but grumble with a grumpy face.

As time went by, though, the bored eyes were gone, and right now, Higo frowned so deeply at the scene in front of him. The boy believed he caught something, and yet, he wasn’t so sure if this was real or not.

’Is this my imagination, or...’ He whispered to Kumiko, confusedly. ’Does the ball always touch the same spot since the beginning?’

Kumiko’s smile lit up instantly as she nodded. "Good observation. Indeed, you can see the trace of the contact on the wall and on the ground, and they are formed by the same object hitting the same exact spot over and over again. However, you know what is more amazing here?"

"There is more?" Higo blinked in astonishment. After all, in his mind, what the boy did was something that he couldn’t imagine was possible. Well, at least, he couldn’t think anyone on the team could do the same as the boy did here.

However, what Kumiko revealed next really blew his mind.

"He hasn’t taken any step away from his original spot." The girl said solemnly. "You see, from the beginning, the ball only touches three spots. One in the wall, one on the ground, and the last is his right foot. Besides that, it is still within the same path, as if it were programmed by a computer to follow the same direction over and over. His control is amazing, the best one I have ever seen for a high school student."

And that told Higo a lot here. After all, she had been coaching Hakodate Nishi for two years, and she had a fair share of observations on a lot of high school players during that time. To say that the boy was the best one here... Higo shuddered, couldn’t imagine how the boy would be on the pitch.

They kept watching the boy doing his routine in silence, with only the sound of the ball hitting the wall could be heard. After a while, that boy finally realized that they hadn’t left yet after their encounter earlier, so he just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and asked, "Is there anything else you need, Brother?"

Curious, Higo didn’t hesitate to ask, "What is your name, by the way? Are you in a high school team?"

"Ah, that’s what you are curious about?" The boy blinked in surprise. "I mean, we are going to play against each other tomorrow, right?"

"Um? This time, it was Higo who was taken aback here. "You mean..."

A mischievous smile grew on the boy’s face as he offered a handshake. "Yup! My name is Mamoru Suzuki, and I am playing for Shimizu Higashi High! Nice to meet you, Ryusuke Higo and Kumiko Shishida from Hakodate Nishi High!"