The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 68: Kumiko’s Preparation!
A week passed quickly, and before everyone knew it, there was only one day left before the exam began. Some of the club members were still panicking, but their confidence also increased after a week of Spartan cram class with their two demonic senpai.
"Damn, you are still memorizing that formula?!"
"Tch! Don’t think just because you managed to solve the problem that Kumiko-senpai gave, you can brag like that! You don’t know that the science exam often gives a tricky question!
"Tch! Don’t just memorize words! English can only be studied by using it, you know?! Try to use it!"
"Hey, I think my history result will be awesome! I can see it already!"
As the studious atmosphere in the club reached the peak, Kumiko herself also faced huge trouble right now, courtesy of the accommodation fee that they had to cover for the trip to Sapporo next week.
Yeah, her role in the team wasn’t just as the head coach, but as a manager as well. And for that, she wasn’t just responsible for the team’s tactics, but also the logistics. Just like in this situation, when everyone was so excited about having to be able to play in Sapporo Dome, she had to rack his brain quickly to think of a way to form a proposal to the school.
"Semifinal and final, so in total three days, huh? Then, travelling for 13 people will also cost quite a lot of money here... The bonus last year can still cover everything, but that would leave our wallet empty for the near future... Hmm, what should I do..."
Right now, she was just sitting alone on the rooftop, the place where all the football team members usually gathered besides the pitch and the club room. Unlike the others, she wasn’t really that worried about her studies, feeling so confident that she would be able to maintain the first spot later.
No, rather than that, she used the peaceful time on the rooftop trying to calculate the possible cost that the team would have to spend for the next session, and how much money she should ask for from the school.
"Hey, Kumiko-chan, what are you doing here, alone like this?" Someone suddenly greeted her, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. When she turned around, she couldn’t help but be taken aback by the person—or people—in front of her.
"Miyashi-senpai? Junya-senpai? What are you doing here?" She blinked in surprise. "I thought you didn’t have to go to school again after the university exam, you know? Also, where is Ojiro-senpai?" She turned around, trying to search for the bald boy with a loud presence who was usually with them.
The people who just greeted them were the retired members of the football team who had just taken their university entrance exam last week: Junya and Miyashi.
"What? Are we not allowed to visit our cute kouhai?" Miyashi laughed teasingly, but also in a polite manner without any flirtatious or lecherous tone in his words.
"No, how could that be?! You will always be welcomed to the club, Senpai!" Kumiko smiled, knowing that the tall boy wanted to ease the tension here.
"As for Ojiro... Well, let’s just say that his parents drag him to the shop, forcing him to learn everything from them." Junya laughed helplessly, feeling bad for his friend.
"Ah... So, that’s the case..." Kumiko giggled, could imagine the scene.
Ojiro’s family had a small stall in the market that sold all the local seafood, and it seemed his parents wanted him to inherit it in the future. The problem, though, was that the boy was always full of passion, and there was no way he would accept being contained in such a small stall for the rest of his life.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Junya leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the laptop on Kumiko’s lap. "A proposal asking for money? Ah! You are still the one taking care of this, huh?"
"I mean, who else? I cannot just dump this responsibility to Makino-kun, right?" She shrugged helplessly. "I mean, he still has a lot of responsibilities, and this is also my job in the first place, so of course, I have to think about it carefully."
Both Miyashi and Junya stared at each other with a knowing sigh. Honestly, for all of her perfect sides, Kumiko always had a problem asking for people’s help. She always wanted to bear the burden alone, and this wasn’t the first time she had done that.
Last year, when the team advanced to the final, she was also the one responsible for taking care of everything. The players just had to go all out, and the girl was the one to make sure that no problem outside of the pitch could bother them for as long as they were there. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Miyashi only knew how big the burden that Kumiko carried after everything was over, when the headmaster gave the bonus to the team.
"You guys don’t know this, but this little girl," The headmaster said while laughing at the embarrassed Kumiko, "Tried to blackmail me morally, asking, ’You don’t want your school to be embarrassed because we have to stay on the street during the final stage, don’t you, headmaster?’ While asking me for money! She had the guts to pull it off in front of me!"
That alone was enough to make the team appreciate the girl more, because they wouldn’t be able to work properly without her support. Also, this gave them a heartache, knowing that Kumiko should be desperate in taking care of this to the point that she crossed the line and threatened the headmaster so blatantly.
Fortunately, the headmaster was a nice guy, or she would’ve been dropped out of the school instantly.
Still, this time, they didn’t want to see her falling into that hole again, so...
"Let us help," Junya finally said, startling the girl.
"Help?" She blinked confusedly.
"Yeah, let us handle this problem. Don’t worry, the headmaster will still give us face here." Junya said convincingly, with Miyashi nodding in the back to support the argument. "In fact... Let us handle your financial problem. I think I know where to ask for money for you guys. Don’t worry, just treat this as our last mission for the team, okay?"
