The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 163: Homework Again...

After they were back at Hakodate, everything went back to normal. Even though they still had about four days before the summer break was over, the training session didn’t stop at all, not even after they brought back the second place in the tournament in Niigata.

"Even the better team than you are still practicing right now, so what right do you have to stay lazy and have more days off than them?"

At least, that was what Kumiko said to force them to move. However, no one really complained about that. The girl really succeeded in distracting them from a painful loss against Shimizu Higashi High, putting a bigger picture in beating Sapporo Otani in the future.

This was definitely enough to motivate all 16 members of the team, keeping them running even when their fuel was almost empty.

Of course, they didn’t just spend their last few days of summer break in training. No, even though Kumiko really wanted to do that, reality was cruel here. The school was about to begin, and that meant they had to finish their summer homework as quickly as possible, and that was... A lot.

A fucking lot.

Just for her and the other senior year students, they had to finish a book full of extensive kanji drills, half a book of math exercises, and review several thick Chapters of history and geography. Not only that, but they also had to finish at least three English essays for the preparation for the University Entrance Exams.

Fortunately, all the senior members of the club were self-conscious, knowing that they had to take it slowly so that they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by a lot of homework once the break was almost over. Higo was also the same, as even though he was not the smartest of the bunch, with Kumiko’s help, he still managed to do some of his homework even during their stay in Niigata.

At least, now that school was about to begin in four days, most of his homework was finished already, leaving only some that he had left deliberately for the last.

"Urgh... Kumiko-chan, can you help me with this exercise? How should I derive the function if there is a trigonometric function inside?" The boy rubbed his forehead with the tip of his pen, starting to feel a headache after spending a full evening staring at the math exercise book in front of him.

"Oh, that’s easy. Here, I will give you an example, and you try it on your own." Kumiko picked up her pen and started scratching on the paper on the table.

Higo was so lucky that he had Kumiko as his neighbor. She really showed her extensive knowledge as the top student of the school, being able to answer every question from kanji to physics without even batting her eyes for too long.

The others, though, were definitely not as lucky as he was, especially his kouhai. All the members from the freshmen to the sophomores were still not self-conscious enough, leaving all their homework to do at the last second. Now, they were getting overwhelmed, with some even asking in panic whether they could copy each other’s work or not.

"What are you laughing at?" Kumiko suddenly asked. She leaned closer to him, peeking at the phone without any reservation for his privacy. Not that she would need to, since he didn’t really mind her doing that.

"Here, just another Hiroshi pleading to copy someone’s work." Higo chuckled, showing the team’s group chat.

"I told him and the others that they had to start working slowly, and they didn’t even listen to me..." Kumiko sighed helplessly.

"Eh, don’t worry about them. At least, they are conscious enough to realize the importance of their homework." Higo waved his hand nonchalantly. "Anyway, if you have to feel worried about someone, try to think of our bunch of freshmen, especially Kenji and the twins."

When those three were mentioned with the word ’homework’ in the same sentence, Kumiko’s helplessness only grew more. Indeed, those three were really the troublemakers of the group, not even caring about their schoolwork. Sometimes, the girl wondered how they could survive middle school with that kind of attitude.

"How could Sano-kun, the fiercest-looking boy, be the most reliable one among them all?" The girl moaned in stress.

"Eh, don’t bother with them for too long, you are not their mother. They are 15 already; they should know their responsibility as students." Higo said, trying to cheer her up.

However, before the girl could say anything, Higo’s phone suddenly rang, stopping any conversation between them. The boy frowned, wondering who was calling him right now. However, the moment he saw the name, he was so taken aback and accepted the call immediately.

"Yes, Aida-sensei, what can I do for you?" He greeted the one on the other side of the call immediately.

Kumiko was startled when she heard the name. Aida-sensei was their homeroom teacher, so if he called, that should be due to something school-related. Still, she thought for a moment and couldn’t really find anything worth the man to call her best friend like this, so the girl just waited eagerly beside him.

"Ah... Right now? Do I have to?"

"Yes, yes, I know... So, the headmaster’s request?"

"Can I bring Shishida-san with me?"

"Sure! Thank you, Sensei!"

It took about a minute, but the call was finally over. Kumiko herself was so surprised here. Even though she didn’t eavesdrop on the conversation, at least, the girl could connect the dots based on what Higo said, and yet, she was so confused right now.

"Why would the headmaster ask you to go to school?" She asked.

"I don’t know." Higo frowned before shrugging helplessly. "Aida-sensei asks me to be quick, though, so I need to change into my uniform first. Want to take a walk together to school?" He invited with a hopeful tone.

"Do you really need to ask?" Kumiko rose from the floor, going straight to her home first. "Just wait for me! I will change into my school uniform as well!"