The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 174: Will He Come Back or Not?

In the end, the conflict ended up with no solution, since Hori himself didn’t really know what to think at this point. Kumiko also didn’t pressure him, probably just asking the boy and Kazawa to apologize to the team for making such a great commotion.

Those two could punch each other all they wanted, for the girl’s care, but to drag the entire team, who didn’t have to do anything with their antics, was over the limit.

In the end, they just left with an awkward feeling lingering in the air, and no matter how much resentment Kazawa had for Hori’s cowardness, he didn’t dare to do anything. Well, not in front of Kumiko, at least. This was the kind of problem that needed to be solved behind the scenes, not in front of authority.

As she watched the entire team leave, though, Kumiko finally had her shoulder sag a little; a hint of weakness was shown for the first time today. "Ryukkun... Do you think I did the right thing here?" She asked softly, her gaze still wandering far.

Higo, next to him, pondered for a second before answering, "Honestly? Yeah, you did a great job in handling the situation. You are right in one thing. At the end of the day, Hori is 15 or even 16 years old; he doesn’t need to be pressured to make a choice. Let him think for a day or two, and in the end, if he truly loves the sport and the team, he will come back to us."

Kumiko nodded slightly before a wry smile formed on her face. "I really hope that I have the same optimism as you... I don’t know what to do if he doesn’t come back...." She mumbled lowly, low enough to escape from Higo’s range.

The next day came quickly, and everyone was so dreadfully afraid to know whether Hori would stay or not. Kumiko had already warned them all that the team was not an obligation, and everyone could leave if they didn’t feel comfortable in it. However, for the sophomore years, this was something that could break their unity.

"For God’s sake... Fuji, I swear I will kill that friend of yours..." Kazawa growled while waiting for Hori to come to the training session.

"Let’s not get too violent, okay? We don’t condone that here." Hiroshi smiled wryly, rubbing his aching stomach from getting elbowed by his friend during the fight yesterday.

The atmosphere was so tense right now, with Makino frowning deeply with a complicated gaze, not knowing how to handle this situation. The twins were also so quiet here. Since they knew that Hori was subconsciously targeting Denki, they had been lying low, not even sticking to their beloved Hiroshi-senpai anymore.

Well, they were just freshmen, and this was the first time someone threw away the sport they loved just because they were better than that person, so this definitely shook their minds a little bit. Fortunately, they were twins, so they had each other as their supporting system.

Meanwhile, the boy whom everyone was waiting for was just sitting on the rooftop again, chilling around while staring at the school pitch from the bird’s perspective. Unfortunately, it was far from being peaceful, since behind him, the same boy who had challenged him yesterday was also there, juggling the ball while also counting how many he had done so far, so casually.

"Twelve... Thirteen... Fourteen... Fifteen..."

It was another awkward silence between those two, one that Hori couldn’t bear for so long. "Why are you here, Kenji? Don’t you have a train to attend?"

"Nah, not really." Kenji just shrugged nonchalantly, kept counting his juggling. "Kumiko-senpai said that she had to go to the teacher’s office first, so Makino-senpai will have to lead the practice. What can he do if I don’t want to?"

Hori had the corner of his mouth twitching furiously, too speechless to say anything. The boy was probably the only non-senior member who was not afraid of the captain here. However, he also knew that Makino couldn’t do anything about Kenji, what with him being such a peculiar genius here.

Fortunately, Kumiko managed to get him under her fingers, so at least, he was still controllable in the game. Still, for Makino to allow this...

’Sure enough, it is so nice to be a genius, right?’ Hori sighed once more, this time bigger than ever.

"Um? What, Senpai? You tired?" Kenji asked.

"No, not really." Hori shook his head. Then, something popped, and he asked a question, "Why are you always counting your juggling, by the way? I’m sure you can do this forever if you want to. Also, why 30?"

This was something that everyone was wondering about since the beginning. Kenji always had a weird warmup session, where he would start both training and a game with 30 juggles first. It was strange, but all of his teammates could see the sense of ritual in it, so they just let the boy do whatever he wanted.

"Oh, this? This is just a habit." Kenji said while pushing the ball to the air with his shoulder, just to catch it back with his knee. "Urgh! Yes, this is just a habit grown onto me since I first started training for football when I was a child." He passed the ball to his senpai.

"Oh, really?" Hori controlled the ball easily before continuing the juggle.

"Yup! The first time I trained, my coach asked everyone to keep the ball up in the air for at least 30 times in a row. It looked like an easy thing at first, and indeed, I managed to get into 20 just in one go."

"20 in one go in your first time?! Damn, a genius sure is different, huh..." Hori sighed once again, lamenting the fact that their talent was like heaven and earth at this point.

"Yup! I did it just in one go." Kenji nodded, not even noticing the sigh from his senpai. "However, after that, I didn’t progress much, always struggling to get better. One moment, I only got 21, and on the other attempt, even just 14. Hell, there was a period where I couldn’t even lift the ball for more than ten times in a row, which is bad, if you think about it." He laughed.

Hori was so quiet right now, listening to the story intently. Kenji might be able to laugh right now, but Hori could guess how desperate the boy was at that moment. He had so many similar experiences in the past that he didn’t know how to get up anymore.

"In the end, though... I finally finished the task in 20—"

"—WHAT? 20 DAYS?!"