Chapter 655: The End of the Derby Game!

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

"YES! YES! YES!"

"COME ON!"

The moment the referee blew the whistle, the supporters roared immediately, knowing that they had just beaten their bitter rival convincingly. Well, at least, this was a consolation prize for the first team’s loss against Dortmund in the Bundesliga. It wasn’t even, per se, since the second team didn’t weigh the same as the main one, but it was still something worth celebrating for.

Higo himself felt his shoulder sag, as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from there. The last fifteen minutes were really torture, not from the opponent’s pressure, but more from the eagerness to end the game as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Dortmund players didn’t really have any spirit to create something more, making his job to protect the goal seem easier.

He couldn’t help but grin widely right now, and after hugging some of the boys around, the goalkeeper jumped to get through the advertising boards to get closer to the supporters’ side.

"YES, HIGO! YOU ARE THE BEAST!"

"THANK YOU FOR THE WIN! YOU ARE THIS TOWN’S HERO!"

"COME ON, WAKABAYASHI!"

Higo couldn’t help but choke when he heard the last part, shaking his head amusedly. Who would’ve thought that someday, he would be compared to the goalkeeper from the legendary anime Captain Tsubasa, Genzo Wakabayashi, in this foreign land?

Still, this was the highest praise that they could give, telling the boy that his ceiling was so high it entered the fictional realm.

Higo bowed deeply at them before getting up, waving at the supporters there and shouting, "THANK YOU FOR COMING, EVERYONE!" This was followed by deafening cheers from the guys there.

Unfortunately, Higo couldn’t stay longer to celebrate with the others, as he had to go to the hospital to check on his head. Even though he felt like he was okay and nothing was wrong with his head, the collision earlier was still scary, and it was important for him to get checked straight away to make sure there would be no lasting effects.

Higo himself complied when he got dragged by the assistant coach, Tomasz Waldoch, to the team’s car. Why would he, when everyone was cheering for him all the time until he finally left the pitch?

Even Waldoch himself just shook his head in awe and exasperation here. "You know what? I have been with this team for more than 5 years, and this is the first time I have witnessed a second-team player receiving so much love from the supporters."

"Haha! I aim to please, Sensei!" Higo laughed relaxedly. After the game was over, all the tension lingering in him was gone immediately. Well, at least for that moment, because a second later, his face grew paler when he remembered something. "Um... Sensei, you bring my bag as well, right? Can I get my phone?" He asked nervously.

Waldoch was confused for a second, not knowing why Higo suddenly had a drastic change of mood. Still, he gave the bag to the boy, and once the phone was out, Higo scrolled through it with his trembling hands. Soon enough...

"RYUKKUN! YOU FINALLY ACCEPTED THE CALL! WHAT IS THIS HEAD INJURY THAT KUMIKO-CHAN TALKED ABOUT?! ARE YOU OKAY?! HAVE YOU GONE TO THE HOSPITAL?! SHALL I GO THERE?!"

Higo flinched instantly at the voice that could break his eardrums. Not just him, but the three other people in this car also jumped out of shock, not expecting someone to scream so hysterically like that.

"I’m okay, Mom, I promise! You don’t have to go here! I’m still on the way to the hospital right now; I’ll tell you the result later!" Higo answered so quickly before closing the call in a heartbeat, not wanting to get nagged by his mother for now. Inwardly, he couldn’t help but mutter, ’It is around 01:30 in the morning back home; how could she still be that energetic like that?’

After an awkward silence for a moment, a little chuckle finally broke the atmosphere here, and in the next second, it grew louder until it became full laughter. The first one to laugh was Waldoch, followed by one person from the medical team who joined this group and the driver on the front seat.

"Man, I have never thought I would hear my players getting scolded like that. Is that your mother or girlfriend?" The assistant coach asked teasingly.

"...Mother. I save the girlfriend part for later." Higo mumbled depressingly.

"Good lad, you are so brave." The driver was still chuckling as he looked at Higo from the rearview mirror. "My advice, though, is to accept whatever they are saying to you. Just nod quietly, don’t say anything, and the storm will be over. Don’t overcomplicate things, okay?"

Higo could feel the corner of his lips twitching once again. "How could it suddenly become a relationship counseling session for me?" He groaned speechlessly.

Still, at least, this topic allowed them to get through the awkwardness in the air, and those four started chatting about everything there. Well, mostly about the game today, since Higo played arguably the biggest role in this derby.

"You know what, my two sons are watching the game from the stands! They would be ecstatic when they heard their old pops is driving their idol to the hospital!" The driver laughed boisterously.

"Yeah, at least I can brag to my fiancée that I treated a big shot of the town today!" The person from the medical team chimed in with a little giggle.

"Wait a few years, you will be able to brag about him more when his name is big enough in the football world," Waldoch said with a smile on his face. "At that time, let’s see if he could still remember his humble beginning here!"

The others laughed together, and while Higo didn’t find anything funny, laughter was always something that could spread so easily, as he found himself joining in. For a moment, everyone forgot about the game earlier, finding themselves getting engrossed by the conversation inside the car.

As they went further, Higo checked the view in the rearview mirror for a moment, finding the stadium got smaller in his line of sight, and the boy couldn’t help but let out a deep, relieved sigh.

’The derby is finally over... Now what?’