The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 9: Higo’s First Mistake?!

Silence fell on the pitch for a moment as everyone stared at Higo in disbelief. Makino’s reaction was the strongest, as he had his jaw dropped and even rubbed his eyes as if wondering if they deceived his brain.

The reaction, while full of exaggeration, was understandable. What Higo demonstrated, while at first glance looked simple, just cutting off the opponent’s cross, in reality, everything was very complicated. First, he had to keep an eye on the opponent’s striker position to prevent a blind-sided attack. Then, he also had to time when to jump perfectly, and while leaping forward, the boy had to brace himself for any contact that could possibly happen in the air.

This had to be done in a split second before the cross happened, and it was impossible for a novice goalkeeper to be good at this matter on his first time saving a cross. That was why Makino had quite a big reaction here.

’Hmm... Are you impressed?’ Higo couldn’t help but smirk when he saw Makino’s shocked reaction. ’Come on, praise me! This is just the beginning, don’t hesitate to shower me with your admiration!’

Suddenly, gone were all the panic and anxiety that he felt just a few seconds ago. With the ball in his clutch, Higo somehow felt so smug, wanting to rub it on Makino’s face for doubting him earlier. So, seeing the captain in such a dumbfounded state was definitely an achievement for the goalie.

However, the reaction he got from Makino a moment later somehow startled the boy. Instead of getting any praise, the first thing the captain did after getting snapped out of his thought was to shout at Higo.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU ARE WASTING OUR TIME! SEND IT TO HIROSHI! QUICK!"

’Um?!’ Higo was startled at the sudden command, but as Makino pointed at the middle, where Hiroshi, the sunny boy on the team, waved his hand at him, he knew exactly what he had to do. The boy dropped the ball from his hand immediately, ready to kick it as strongly as possible.

Or... So that was what he envisioned inside his head.

Unfortunately, reality was never as good as any drama in the world. Due to the slippery field, right before he could hit the ball, his pivotal foot slipped, and it made the ball go out of control. Hell, it even almost hit the opponent’s bench, and Higo could feel blood rising on his cheek.

Poor Hiroshi, he had to run toward the sideline to catch the ball before it was out of the field. Unfortunately, his speed was far from enough, as, even though he had already slid and extended his right foot far forward, the ball still slipped through his grasp, resulting in a throw-in for the opponent’s side.

"...What?! This is not in my job description, okay?!" Higo defended himself weakly.

Kumiko, who was on the bench, was deadpanned when she overheard that. Since it was a friendly game, no one could be seen other than the members of both teams, so the conversation between each player could be heard pretty loudly echoing throughout the field. Even though Higo didn’t say it out loud, Kumiko still felt like the excuse was aimed at her, who recruited him.

’Yeah, indeed, I was the one who said that his main task is to prevent a goal at all costs. But to be this bad at kicking the ball...’ She shook her head in exasperation. ’I should’ve expected something like this, right? I mean, Ryukkun has always been so clumsy with his feet since he was a child. Let’s not blame him too much, because he has really done a good job with that cross.’

She rose from the bench, giving a signal for Makino to keep calm and not blame Higo for this small episode. The captain could only sigh helplessly. Even though he wanted more than anything else to mock Higo, as a captain, he still had a responsibility to keep his teammates’ morale up, and since he also knew how bad Higo was at sports, he didn’t want to blame the man too much.

"Just... Do your job as a goalkeeper. If you have a ball later, wait for me to go down, and I will kick it for you." In the end, that was the only thing that Makino could say for Higo.

Higo just flushed in embarrassment, turning around and going back to protect the goal. Somehow, Makino’s words hurt more than any reprimands he was prepared to receive. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about it, as indeed, the last ball was his mistake.

The game continued, and as if they were not convinced by the display that Higo showed earlier, another cross came again a moment later. This time, the quality was higher, going straight to the striker’s head. However, once again, everything was within Higo’s clairvoyance ability.

He could see the ball’s trajectory for the next three seconds, and without hesitation, the boy took two steps aside, getting closer to the opponent’s striker before leaping forward, plucking the ball in the air.

Thud!

"Oh! Nice catch!"

"Good job, Senpai! Keep it up!"

The opponent’s striker, a tall boy around 185 cm, showed a hint of helplessness in his face. After all, the goalkeeper had both hands to be used, which meant a further distance to reach. Even though Higo was only 165, it was not strange for him to win the ball. Also, if the attacker charged too hard, it could result in a foul, and sometimes the attacker might even get a yellow card.

So, yeah, in this kind of situation, the goalkeeper was definitely the most favorable one to win the aerial duel.

Everything happened so fast, and the opponent’s players were still getting caught off guard by Higo’s play. This time, though, Higo learned from his embarrassing experience earlier. Instead of feeling smug and boasting his save, his head turned around to scan his surroundings before finally finding Makino pointing toward the left flank where he was running to at the moment. Noticing the movement, Higo didn’t hesitate to throw the ball there, and within a second, the situation changed drastically. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"A COUNTER ATTACK!"