The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 172: A Fight at the Rooftop!

Of course, in the end, Kenji was the ultimate winner here. Even though the boy always slacked off in the training session, he was still tall and as strong as an ox, and with Hori and Higo, who were among the smallest members of the team, it was so easy for the youngest boy to bully his two senpai with his overwhelming strength.

After playing for fifteen minutes, they finally stopped, with Kenji not even looking like he was sweating that much, while Higo was panting heavily on the ground, so knackered after running for the entire game with his life.

"Damn... I just realized..." Higo said in the middle of his heavy breath, "That being an outfield player is so tiring! I swear, being a goalie is easier!"

"Ha! That’s just you being too weak, Higo-senpai!" Kenji laughed, smiling smugly at his victory.

Hori himself was so quiet right now, his expression complicated. No one really knew what he was thinking right now, but the two boys next to him could see that his mind was in turmoil. They communicated silently, with Kenji finally nudging his head slightly to convey his message.

’Come on, Senpai! This is your turn to shine!’

Higo was startled for a second and pointed at himself confusedly. ’Me? Why?’

In return, Kenji just shrugged, indicating that he didn’t want to do the dirty job here. Seeing this, the older boy somehow sighed one more time, pondering for a second before saying, "Don’t leave the club, Hori."

"Um?!" The boy was startled for a second. "Sorry, Senpai? I don’t think I hear you clearly right now." He asked back, rubbing his ear as if he had misheard something.

"You hear it clearly. Don’t leave the club. Everyone still needs you." Higo nodded in confirmation.

"...I would really love to, but don’t you see my situation?" Hori smiled wryly. "With the twins being here, sooner or later, I would be put off the starting roster and just warm the bench. Nori is still alright since he is a solid defender, but I myself am a liability. There is no way Shishida-senpai wouldn’t put Denki on the pitch just for my sake." His smile was so bitter.

Even Kenji nodded all along right now, recognizing his senpai’s point. Kumiko was a lot of things, from smart, beautiful, to cute. However, if there was one quality that made her a good leader, it was her bravery to use the team’s merit to choose players rather than just depending on seniority, banishing the system that allowed all the senpai to gatekeep the team for themselves.

This allowed the entire team to get out of its shell, but on the other side of the coin, some seniors, like Hori, would be sidelined so easily, enough to make him have self-doubt like this.

Before either Higo or Kenji could answer, though, a new person suddenly came, tapping Hori’s shoulder a little bit roughly out of nowhere.

"What the—"

Brugh!

"FUCK!"

Both Higo and Kenji were startled, but none was more shocked than Hori, who got a punch straight to his face. Yeah, literally.

That person was Kazawa, the one whom everyone tried their best to get away from Hori as far as possible. All the football club members who secretly witnessed everything from the stairs were also surprised to see the boy rushing in so recklessly like this, basically nullifying everything Higo and Kenji did in one go.

However, the boy couldn’t care less about that right now. After throwing a powerful jab to Hori’s cheek, he grabbed his friend’s collar violently, yanking it so that he could face Hori’s eyes directly.

"Listen to me, you cowardly Bastard!" He growled. "I can accept any other reason, but this?! This is a fucking cowardly! You want to run away from the first sign of trouble?! Again?! I don’t even know why I am friends with you, Bastard!"

"Then why are you friends with me?!" Hori was also a boy with a temper, so he struck back with his head immediately. "You don’t know how it feels to be stepped on by your genius Kouhai!"

"You fucking idiot! I know, because I have been the team’s bench player for forever!" He roared, landing the second punch to Hori’s other cheek.

"Fuck! Fuck~! Don’t let them fight like that!" Makino started to panic when things went out of control. "Kenji, what are you doing there?! Go and separate them! Fuji, you too! Get into Hori first, I will handle Kazawa!"

His panicked shout was enough to snap everyone out of their dazed state, as they started to work together to appease the situation. Of course, it wasn’t that easy, since both boys were hot-blooded, even lashing out at the others.

Ishinori got a strike to his head.

Makino was slapped straight on the neck.

Even Hiroshi, who didn’t really want to join the chaos, got elbowed straight to his stomach.

"ENOUGH!" Kumiko suddenly shouted, which turned the hell on the rooftop into a cold one. A frozen one, they could say, but still a hell, nonetheless.

"I know that everyone is so emotional here, but let me remind you that we are still at school." She spoke; her tone was icy. "A bigger commotion than this, and the teachers would start to come and bust our asses together. So, for the love of God, stop thinking with your knee and start acting like a civilized human being, do you understand?!"

"Yes, Ma’am..."

The scolding from the girl was like pouring cold water on the fire. It killed the heat instantly, making all the players there ashamed of themselves. It also helped that this was the first time they saw a real anger in Kumiko’s tone, since she herself had never shown any negative emotion before this.

Hori, who was the victim of the commotion, cursed slightly while also wiping away the bruises on his cheek. He wanted to rebel here, complaining about how he was not on the team anymore. However, a single glare from Kumiko was enough to shut him up, and when the girl’s attention was fully on him, the boy couldn’t help but shudder in fear.

"So, now that we are all here, shall we start having a heart-to-heart talk, Hori-kun?"