The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 17: Clash & Challenge!

Honestly, Kumiko started to regret this. She should’ve seen this coming. No matter how much she loved her senpai, she knew they always wanted to gatekeep the club, only allowing those they accepted to join the team.

This was the toxic tradition inherited from their senpai last year, making it hard for the team to develop further. That was why the team didn’t have that many players, considering how it was only exclusive for some ’special’ people who only God knew how they were chosen.

Kumiko should also see that her best friend would bite back when he was provoked. For all the self-claims that he lived a boring NPC life, Higo was more active on social media, venting out all the frustration he had there. He would be willing to go to war against someone he had never known or even seen, just for the sake of an argument about which girl was prettiest.

Yeah, Higo was a certified keyboard warrior, complete with all of the colorful language and toxic traits that followed along. That was why, when her stubborn senior met her crazy childhood friend, she should’ve expected an explosive clash like this.

"Miyashi-senpai, Junya-senpai, Ojiro-senpai," Kumiko narrowed her eyes dangerously, enough to make the three senior boys gulp. "I know that you care about the team a lot, and I am grateful for your service. However, please, don’t interfere too much with our internal, okay? We are here out of respect for you guys, not to be mocked by you guys."

The three older guys could only nod silently. The bald-haired one opened his mouth, trying to complain. However, Kumiko’s glare was enough to shut him up instantly.

’That’s my girl...’ Higo stared at the girl lovingly, not even hiding his feelings right now. Makino had to hold back the urge to throw up, wanting to poke the boy’s eyes more than anything else.

"You too, Ryukkun!" She snapped her head so quickly, scaring the shit out of the boy. "Yes, I know that what they said is unpleasant, and I know you are not here voluntarily, but can you mind your words before saying it out loud?!"

"Hey, why is it my fault? I mean, I am just retaliating!" Higo tried to defend himself.

"Yes, and I can understand that, but you don’t have to bring up that painful memory!" She stomped on his foot in annoyance. "You know what that game means to me, right?! I even cried at your home after that game! And now, you have the gall to bring it up out of your frustration?!"

This time, Higo turned his head away slightly, feeling guilty for forgetting about that. However, before he could say anything, the bald boy, Ojiro, narrowed his eyes dangerously, catching something suspicious in what Kumiko was saying.

"What do you mean by crying at his house, Kumiko-chan? Who the fuck is he?!" He growled, demanding an explanation.

Kumiko groaned instantly, realizing that the tension she tried so hard to ease was back to the peak once again. Not wanting to help her, somehow, Higo just let out a smug and infuriating smile, answering the question first with a faux solemn tone. "Psst... The adults are talking here, so no interruption, please. Also, this is our family problem, so you don’t need to know about it."

The bald boy had his face so red that he was about to snap, and this time, he wasn’t the only one here. Kumiko was the football team’s princess, so to hear that she had a close relationship with the boy whom they didn’t know about, close enough to the point that she even went to his home to cry, was definitely not something that they could tolerate.

"Well, well, well... This is an interesting development..." Makino smiled a little. However, the smell of jealousy spread so strongly among them all, to the point that anyone could see he was about to retaliate here. "Well, this is a difficult conflict to solve, with both sides unable to stop provoking each other. However, since we are all members of the football team, what about solving it all in a way that we are all familiar with?"

"Interesting..." Ojiro grinned maliciously, catching what Makino wanted to do.

"Oh, let me join the fun!" Miyashi also nodded, starting to warm up. "I have been stuck on the exam preparation for a long time; it’s time for me to move my body a little bit!" He didn’t seem to care about the conflict, but the thought of being able to play with his friends won out inside his head.

The last one, Junya, even started to tighten the bun on the back of his head, saying, "I haven’t been kicking a football in the last few months, so please forgive me if I am being rusty."

Kumiko narrowed her eyes dangerously at those four, knowing that they were up to no good. However, before she could say anything, Higo just shook his head immediately. "Kumiko-chan, we are going home." He stated as a matter of fact, grabbing Kumiko’s hand and guiding her to get out of that place while also ignoring them all.

This silenced the rooftop instantly, and Kumiko was too stunned to say anything, just letting Higo lead her to wherever he wanted. Only a few seconds later, when Higo and Kumiko were already halfway through the stairs, did the four of them react.

"Wait a second!" Makino rushed. Higo stopped for a moment, turning around at him with a mocking smile.

"What?"

"Why are you running away like that?! Is this how you solve a problem?! Like a coward?!" He shouted, trying to stimulate Higo’s emotion.

Unfortunately, Higo was at his calmest state right now, just looking at Makino mockingly and sneering. "Yeah, I am a coward. Why? What do you want to do about that?"

Makino was so dumbfounded, never expecting someone to openly admit that he was a coward. He didn’t even know how to answer the question here, just freezing still while the other three senpai looked at the team’s current captain in pity.

"Um... Is there any reason for you to refuse?" Miyashi asked awkwardly, trying to defuse the situation.

For that, Higo just shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, I know that you are planning to gang up on me, but I don’t see any benefit in my following your plan. I mean, what would I get? Also, you don’t have anything to threaten me, right? Denying me a place in the team? I mean, I am not one of you in the first place, and I will be happy to leave immediately. Preventing me from talking to Kumiko-chan? We are neighbors, for God’s sake! Our parents know each other. So, what else do you want to use to threaten me?"

The four boys who were planning to bully Higo were stunned instantly, realizing that their intimidation plan failed here. However, that didn’t mean they would let it go, especially since Higo smiled so infuriatingly at them.

In the end, Miyashi, the calmest one out of them, took a deep breath before asking, "We are just going to have fun, we promise that no violent incident will happen. So, what would it take for you to join?"

For that, the grin on Higo’s face widened instantly. "Now, we are talking..."