The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 276: An Insult from the Daily Sports!

"Come on, Ryukkun... You have been ignoring me for two days... I have already said that I apologized, right?" Kumiko asked, poking Higo’s waist playfully.

"Yes, Ryukkun. You know that she did it all for you, right?" Minami also added, her lips quivering madly as she was so amused by this scene.

Higo just glanced sideways a little, his pout only becoming bolder at their teasing tone. In the end, the boy just huffed, turning his attention back to his phone while also ignoring the quiet giggle from the two women in front of him.

It was already the third day since Higo was forced to train in that boxing gym, and honestly, the boy couldn’t feel the appeal of the sports at all. ’I mean, why would you want to go just to get punched all the time? Is there anything wrong with your head or what?’ The boy grumbled grumpily.

Well, it was no wonder he couldn’t enjoy his time. After all, Miyashi only allowed him to defend, not giving any permission to throw a punch back. So, in the last couple of days, Higo had been tortured a lot by the older boy, getting hit left and right as a living punching bag without any chance to strike back. This was definitely enough to sour his mood.

"Well, you can be mad at me here, but you cannot deny that the effect is good, right?" Kumiko smiled knowingly.

Higo paused for a second, thinking of the team’s training in the last couple of days. Indeed, even though the problem wasn’t really solved, the boy started to be braver again, reacting quickly to pluck the ball in the air. He also started showing his dominance in a close battle, preventing anyone from intimidating him.

Although he still didn’t know whether it came from the boxing training or not, Higo had to admit that all the punches that Miyashi threw worked quite well, enough to at least raise his pain tolerance.

"Don’t think just because of that you are forgiven, okay?" He grumbled with his hand moving so animatedly, making the girl giggle harder.

"Okay, okay, I am so sorry..." Kumiko’s smile was like she was coaxing a child here. "Anyway, we are about to be late right now, so don’t waste more time! Come on!" She dragged the boy immediately, ignoring all the complaints left out of his mouth.

It was a sunny Saturday in Hakodate, a rare occurrence in a cold December like this. Still, the temperature was quite low right now, around 4 degrees Celcius. The moment they both stepped outside of the house, they couldn’t help but shudder, feeling the cold air piercing through their bones.

"Urgh... Kumiko-chan... Do all the professional teams outside work in the middle of such a cold winter like this?" Higo asked, his teeth chattering loudly.

"Um... I guess not that intense..." Kumiko answered hesitantly. "I mean, I know some leagues in Europe will still be playing in the winter. However, our league would only start after February, so no, in this country, except for the national tournament for high school and university, no professional team should be working in the middle of a winter like this."

"Then, why are we here?!" Higo asked again in exasperation.

Kumiko just sighed helplessly, letting the boy vent out all of his grievances here. Soon enough, they finally arrived at the mini-soccer field they usually trained in. However, instead of finding the other guys starting to do their warm-up, both Higo and Kumiko saw their teammates discussing something heatedly.

"Fuck it! Are we only in last place?! They underestimated us!"

"Not only that, but they also said that we are lucky for beating Sapporo Otani! Fuck them!"

"Which website is it?! Let’s report them all together!"

Hell, even Makino also had a deep frown on his face, which was a big indication that something bad was happening right now. Curious, Kumiko couldn’t help but ask, "Is there anything I should know here?"

That was when everyone finally realized that Kumiko was there, as they all were taken aback by her sudden presence.

"No, Shishida-senpai! I mean, yes!"

"Look at this article! This is so pretentious!"

"Yeah, they even put us in last place here!"

As everyone offered their phone, Kumiko took one of them to look at what caused this commotion. Higo also joined the fun, leaning sideways so that he could peek at the phone she carried. There, the boy could read clearly the bold title of the article on that phone.

Power Ranking of All the Participants of the High School National Winter Tournament!

This was an article published by Daily Sports, one of the biggest sports news outlets in the country, in an attempt to rank all the teams in the national tournament from the strongest to the weakest. Higo didn’t know the first two names at the top, but he noticed a familiar school as the third-seeded of the tournament.

’So, Shimizu Higashi is the third-best team in the country right now, huh?’ He pondered silently. ’They even include Mamoru’s photo? Oh, there is also one for each of their Korean players. Damn, at least the article’s structure is not that bad.’

However, Kumiko didn’t stay for so long reading each team’s introduction here. No, she scrolled through the bottom of the article, where she finally found her team’s name.

32 Hakodate Nishi High (Hokkaido)

A young and spirited team that creates a miracle by beating the prefectural powerhouse Sapporo Otani High. However, being led by a fellow female student, Kumiko Shishida (17), as their head coach, coupled with their inexperience playing in a top-level tournament, not a lot of people are optimistic about them.

Prediction: First-round exit.

The article was short and concise, but it definitely painted Hakodate Nishi in the worst way possible. Hell, they didn’t even forget to mention that Kumiko was just a female student here, trying to undermine all the things she had done in a single sentence.

The moment the girl finished reading the article, the air that was already cold suddenly turned freezing. Everyone shivered instantly, with some weak-willed ones trying to walk away from the girl right now.

In the end, Kumiko just chuckled darkly, inwardly muttering, ’A fellow female student, huh? Daily Sports... I will remember you...’