Chapter 737: Life in Coronavirus Era (III)

Well, with the announcement that the Bundesliga had to be cancelled for an unknown length of time, Higo basically had nothing to do back at home. Other than his daily training in one of the rooms that he basically turned into a home gym, the boy just spent all of his time watching television or playing with his phone.

Still, just one week since the disaster struck, he had already uninstalled all of his social media apps. This was the most logical thing to do, as his mind got bugged by all the news coming in, and he couldn’t even catch a break.

One moment he saw the statistic of how many people had already died, and in the next moment he saw how all the doctors in the hospital had to fight tooth and nail, couldn’t even get out of their protective gear all day, just to handle the virus right on the front line.

The news either made him panic or feel bad, and the boy felt like he would go crazy if he kept watching that.

The only fortunate thing here was that he didn’t stay alone in his flat. No, both Kumiko and Sakura were trapped in this little building as well, as they were already here before the country issued a restriction on public transportation. They couldn’t go back to Cologne, so those two girls had to stay longer until... Well, once again, no one knew about it.

Not that Higo would complain about this, of course. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if Kumiko wasn’t here with him in the last couple of days. No, he would be driven crazy at that point, breaking all the rules for something stupid.

As for Sakura... Higo remembered quite well the message he received from Kawabe.

Kawabe: Oi, Ryusuke! I heard that Sakura-chan is trapped with Shishida-san in your flat? Sorry that she intrudes on you there. Can you take care of her for me? Thanks, man, I owe you one!

Yeah, the man didn’t even give him a chance to refuse here. Not that he would, but still...

’Oh, well, just let him do what he wants. I would also do the same if somehow Kumiko-chan got trapped in someone else’s house.’ He shook his head quickly, not wanting to overthink this matter too much.

So, yeah, in the end, Higo lived this new normal with the two girls, having to be locked down all the time until they probably got tired of each other.

They also started to work together like a proper unit. Usually, when the girls were having their morning classes via online meeting, Higo would prepare breakfast for them all, and later, when the boy had a training session assessed online by Frohling, the others would do the other chores.

Honestly, if no one knew better, they would think of them as a perfect family here.

Of course, Higo didn’t just do training. No, the boy also worked with the PR team to make content for the team’s social media. From an online interview to playing a FIFA game with the other players, he had done so many things that could keep him from boredom.

Higo also felt grateful that he didn’t need to go out to buy some goods like food, drink, or toiletries. No, the club provided a delivery service for those who were still in Gelsenkirchen, making sure that everyone was safe and sound. Even though Higo would love to get some fresh air outside, when the outside world was in chaos like this, he didn’t dare to do so.

He also learned some new hobbies, from playing guitar to even crocheting. At this point, the boy had done almost everything to fill his time, not wanting to get killed by his own mind when he didn’t have anything to do.

Still, the boy was bothered by the lack of news about when this pandemic—yeah, the world had just deemed this a pandemic—would be over. If anything, even with the whole world stopped, it seemed that the number of victims kept increasing further, not showing any hint of decline.

"I heard that the higher-ups of the league have started a discussion with the government to continue the league in a closed environment," Kumiko said during one of their little chats on such a nice afternoon. "Still, I don’t know how it would work. I mean, sooner or later, they would have to start it again, but everything is still blurry here. Too much is happening right now that the paperwork will be a headache."

Higo couldn’t deny this part, as he himself was pessimistic about the chance that the league could be restarted again. After all, just in the last two weeks, more players got infected with this virus, and hell, some of the Schalke players were also the victims here. Fortunately, their situation wasn’t really that bad, just having their temperature rise and probably couldn’t smell anything around. They didn’t even need to be hospitalized, which was a relief to the team itself.

However, this showed that the hope for the league to be continued again was still quite slim right now.

Time passed quickly, and before Higo knew it, the snow had already melted, and the sun was shining brightly outside. It wasn’t the scorching hot temperature of summer, but the warm and comfortable spring that would be nice for people to hang out outside. Hell, in Japan, this was the best time to witness Sakura flowers blooming, and yet, this year, no one could really do that right now.

At this point, it had already been about one and a half months since the league was stopped, and while the panic was still around, at least people started to get used to everything. The only complaint here was that no big event was allowed so far, limiting the entertainment that people had at home.

However, that would change soon enough, as news that Higo had been waiting for finally arrived at the end of the week.