The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 285: The First Morning in a New City

The so-called research from Higo was definitely different from what Kumiko had done for the team. Somehow, he reverted to his state before joining the team, stalking each member of the opponent with bloodshot eyes, trying to find the stain on their life, no matter how small it was.

’So, Naoya Takahashi has already had a girlfriend, huh? Well, she is cute, but she doesn’t have glasses like Kumiko-chan. Also, what is that intimacy pose?! How could she allow him to grab her waist like that?!’

’Wait, Naoya Takahashi is not the only one! Holy shit! Six out of their eleven main players have their own girlfriend! This is bullshit! What are they trying to do?!’

’Holy fuck! His ex-girlfriend is so hot! Wait, she is a university student! He dated his senpai?!’

Yeah, all the research he did was useless, only satisfying his desire for gossip. This was something that Higo had done a lot of times in the past, especially toward Makino. After all, the boy was the most popular dude in the school, and yet, the captain still wanted to snatch Kumiko from his grasp. That was definitely not acceptable.

In the end, though, Higo spent the whole night doing this useless research before he fell asleep on his bed, only getting awoken by the sound of the alarm ringing through the room.

"Urgh... What time is it?" Takaaki groaned, rubbing his sleepy eyes while also trying to find his glasses on the desk.

Sano was the one who got his hand on the phone the quickest, as the boy narrowed his eyes slightly. "8:35... Damn, how could we wake up this late?" He groaned, feeling an ache all over his body.

Indeed, to their standard, this was definitely late. After all, their morning training usually started at around 7, even in the middle of a winter like this. However, they couldn’t help it. After all, the long journey yesterday really drained all of their energy, and even after a good sleep last night, it was still far from enough to make them recover.

Fortunately, Kumiko also noticed this problem, so she pushed everything a little bit late in their schedule.

"Urgh... So, what is our schedule today?" Higo stretched his body on the bed, still too lazy to wake up from his sleep.

"Let me see..." Takaaki narrowed his eyes while slightly adjusting his glasses, scrolling through his phone silently. "It seems this morning is going to be our turn for the pitch test. Shishida-senpai said that it is just going to be a light training to adjust our state in this new town, and after that, we will have one last meeting to talk about tomorrow."

Higo nodded silently, waking up from his bed while also dragging his heavy body into the bathroom.

Soon enough, those four finally left the room, finding all of their teammates already in their lobby. They all had a simple and light breakfast here, just a toast with slices of avocado and a sunny-side egg on their plate. Not a single one of them could really enjoy it, though, since they all seemed to have bad quality sleep. Hell, some of them moved so sluggishly, still in a dazed state right now.

Kumiko also frowned when she saw this. Unfortunately, she couldn’t help it. This was also the same when they went to Niigata for the first time a few months ago. The players seemed to have difficulty trying to adapt to the new places, especially when they had to sleep in an unfamiliar territory. Fortunately, they all arrived a day before the game started, so this could help them adjust to their state quickly.

"Okay, everyone! Once you are done with your breakfast, bring your bag outside! We will take a quick walk to the place where we have to fight tomorrow!" She raised her voice, attracting everyone’s attention.

"Yes, Ma’am!"

It didn’t take long before they all gathered in front of the hotel. Kumiko didn’t want to waste more time, so she led them all to the stadium where the opening game would be held tomorrow.

Yeah, since they were going to face the host of the tournament, they would also be the opener of the tournament. It would be a lie if some said that they were not nervous. After all, even though the scene against Sapporo Otani was crazier, this time, all the spectators would be more scrutinizing, with some even going to take notes on whether they were suitable enough to join the professional world or not.

Also, since this was the opening day, all the teams would be watching the game as well, from the top-seeded to those that were at the bottom of the rock-bottom. Even though no one spoke about it, not a single one of them wanted to showcase an embarrassing display, especially since they were rated so lowly by all the media outside.

’Yeah, it would be satisfying to slap them on their face later...’ Some of them clenched their fist in determination.

It took about ten minutes to walk before they finally arrived at the venue. It wasn’t the modern Nissin Stadium that would hold the final later, but the legendary Mitsuzawa Football Stadium that was said to be one of the oldest arenas around here. The place was a little bit smaller, and some parts looked a little bit dilapidated, but every scratch and bruise there held some history for the region.

"So, this is where we are going to play tomorrow, huh?" Higo couldn’t help but frown. "Damn, the distance between the stance and the field is not that far. The sound from the audience will be so loud tomorrow. Let’s hope that the host will not bring that much of a crowd."

Well, speaking of the devil, it came immediately. Right when they entered the stadium, they found a group of people already there. Those strangers all wore the purple vest that matched the color of Hakodate Nishi’s opponent tomorrow, and Higo and the others realized immediately what was going on here, and Kumiko couldn’t help but hiss.

’What the—? Why in the hell are they here?! I thought their schedule would be later!’