Chapter 684: First Training of the Year

It was still the very first day of 2020, and Kumiko still had two weeks of holiday to spend. Instead of going back to her own flat in Cologne, she decided to stay with Higo, especially when Sakura was going back to Japan for about a week to spend her time with her family.

"Really?" Higo had the corner of his lips twitching when he heard that. "Then, why would Kawabe need to go here in the first place?"

In return, Kumiko just gave him a side-eye, not impressed with his dull mind. "Of course, it is for Sakura-chan, duh. She said that she wanted to bring him strolling around the beautiful Cologne, so he just flew here immediately. What a romantic boyfriend, right?" She had the corner of her lips tugged mischievously.

Higo just rolled his eyes in exasperation, not answering the banter at all.

In the end, with no one waiting for her back in the flat, Kumiko decided to stay here, getting to know the town where Higo fought every day and the people there. Hell, within just a few days, she had already known all the family in the neighborhood, complete with their age, occupation, hobbies, and every little detail that Higo would never think of.

’Yeah, as expected, when it comes to socializing, she is truly the best.’ Higo chuckled wryly.

He would love to accompany her to stroll around the city, but unfortunately, his break was shorter this time, and he had to go back for the first training session of the year.

It was the fourth day of January, and the weather itself was still quite cold. The boy had to wear his scarf and beanie to fight against this harsh winter, almost covering his full body so that he wouldn’t get sick.

Still, the boy didn’t get bothered that much by this weather. In fact, he had already gotten used to Hakodate’s harsher winter, so this was like a walk in the park. Well... Not that easy, per se, but at least this was like Higo’s natural habitat, so the cold didn’t really affect his movement at all.

Hell, if anything, the boy was quite excited, as this was going to be the time when the coach announced the goalkeeper’s situation. At this point, everyone should’ve already known about the situation, and while the media outside portrayed that the team would go weaker without Nubel between the posts, all the people in this town knew that they only got a stronger guardian in front of the goal.

"Oh, you sure are excited to go to the training session, Higo. It has been a long time since I saw such joy in your face." Fabian couldn’t help but tease him. "So, ready to wreak havoc in the Bundesliga?"

"Ha! Of course! This time, I am finally going to join the party!" Higo’s grin was wider than ever.

Fifteen minutes later, all the players finally arrived, followed by Frohling and Waldoch, who came the latest. The coach scanned the whole team first before finally starting to speak.

"So... Our main goalkeeper is finally gone. I don’t know how you guys feel about that, but I can at least see one person is ecstatic about it."

Higo couldn’t help but rub the back of his head sheepishly while the others snickered in silence.

"Well, at least we know that Higo is on par with Nubel when it comes to goalkeeping ability. However, we still need to fix our weak defensive line, so we will try to get at least one or two defenders in this winter transfer. Backline, get ready; you need to step up your game if you don’t want to be abandoned from the ship."

"Yes, Sir!" A group of players shouted solemnly, knowing that they were in a terrible situation on the pitch. Not that they could blame the head coach, of course, since they themselves couldn’t show any performance worthy of a big club like Schalke in the first half of the season.

"As for any other transfer update, just wait for the news, but we will try our best to add some players to fix the holes that exist in the team. So, don’t worry, we are going to be stronger in the second half of the season!"

After this, the training session finally began, and Higo showed great enthusiasm by killing every menu like a pro, leaving the other two goalkeepers in the dust. It was as if he really wanted to show that he belonged to the team, and the delay in the last couple of months would only make him stronger than ever.

Unfortunately, he was one of the few who had a great training performance today. Most of the players here had already been battered in the first 30 minutes of the session, with some even panting so heavily like a dog in the middle of summer. Even Frohling himself couldn’t help but frown; his face was so ashen at this sight.

"Take a note on whoever gets battered right now and ask the medical team to check on their physical state." He whispered to Waldoch next to him. "Make sure that whoever crosses my bottom line will receive a hefty fine. A Christmas break doesn’t mean they can forget about their discipline here."

"Sure, Boss." The Polish assistant coach nodded quietly.

Frohling couldn’t help but let out a deep, tired sigh. It had only been the first day of the training session this year, but somehow, his boys had already given him a headache straight in the face.

Well, not that he could blame them. Christmas week was always crazy in Germany, what with family gatherings and grandmas making so many foods and feeding the kids forcefully like a pig.

Players gaining weight in this moment had always been a problem every year, and that was why he set up a bottom line before the break a few weeks ago. Whoever crossed it would be fined and punished with extra training, and now was the best time to hold this rule.

’Oh, well, let Frohling handle this matter.’ He shook his head strongly before his gaze sharpened. ’Now, it is time for me to prepare for the next game. I cannot mess this up!’