Chapter 742: A Bad Start Before the Away Game

When in excitement, time sure passed by so quickly. Before Higo knew it, he was already two days away from the first game in the lockdown, and he had to go with the team for an away game to Signal Iduna Park, the home of Borussia Dortmund.

"Here is the key to the house. Please take care of everything, okay?" Higo gave the key to Kumiko before leaving his humble abode.

Yeah, Kumiko and Sakura were still living in his house up until now. Even though football was allowed to be played again, it was just a special case. Normal people still had to accept the restriction, not being able to move around the city freely.

"Don’t worry, we will keep everything clean and safe." Kumiko smiled gently. "In return, fight with all your effort and don’t forget to have fun, okay?"

Higo’s face softened for a moment before he kissed her fondly on the lips. At this point, they didn’t even hide it anymore, making Sakura, who just witnessed everything, turn green with envy.

"God, I hope that Hiroki-kun will make a move here sooner or later..." She sighed helplessly.

Kumiko’s cheek reddened instantly, but she just blew a raspberry at her friend playfully. Even though she was still embarrassed to show affection in front of her friend, the girl had already gotten through the worst phase, which was complete avoidance. This was enough for Higo to tease her just like he did earlier.

"Anyway, I’ll leave first! Take care of yourself here!"

"Yes, you too, Ryukkun! Remember, no unnecessary interaction and keep your distance from everyone else!"

Right after that, Higo finally left the building in a great mood. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a while, because the moment he arrived at the training ground, where the bus that would carry them to Dortmund was already there, his face darkened immediately when he saw that only a few people had arrived so far.

Higo checked the watch on his wrist, finding that it was already 09:58, two minutes before the time arranged for the team meeting. The fact that only 10 had just arrived out of the 18 players that would go to Dortmund showed that the team really lacked discipline here.

I mean, about 50 percent of the squad was late, for God’s sake!

’No wonder Frohling-sensei is always furious... No one really treats this competition seriously.’ Higo mumbled secretly.

Well, he didn’t really want to look at his coach’s reaction right now. No, that would be a suicidal move. Instead, the boy went to Morita, who had already been asleep on the back of the bus, and he found a familiar face there as well.

"Nassim? You are with the team?!" Higo blinked in surprise.

"Of course, I am! Don’t think you can leave me for this fun!" The Moroccan winger grinned widely.

Yeah, that was Nassim Boujellab, the magician on the right side of the pitch for Schalke II. Higo didn’t know that the boy would be on the team, but after thinking carefully, everything seemed to make sense.

The right side was always a big weakness for the team. Benito Raman failed to get into his best form after coming back from his injury, and Amine Harit was not suitable to play right now, not when he had gained so much weight and hadn’t been able to recover to his best state yet.

With limited choice like this, even though Nassim was an inexperienced player, Frohling would rather pick him than any other players available here.

"Damn! With you here, we would be better!" Higo dapped the man excitedly. Then, he leaned slightly, with a voice barely a whisper. "You might know this, but we haven’t been able to score in the last four games, and Sensei is furious. Morita-san is also helpless, what with all of the chances he created being wasted straight away by the others. As long as you can score a goal, you will have a solid place in this team."

"I know, Morita has already said that to me." Nassim nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry, as long as the pass is decent, I will be able to score! With you guarding the back and me destroying the opponent’s defense, we will bring a storm to the league!"

Fortunately, they just chatted in a whisper, or if anyone could hear this, they would smack those two for their boastful remark. Two young players who had just gotten into the first team recently- what right did they have to brag like that? It made them sound like a bunch of country bumpkins who didn’t know how big the world was, honestly.

As they chatted with each other, time passed by, and more players also arrived in the process. Of course, more than 5 people were late, which was not a good thing here. The coach was not impressed at all, glaring at every single player who came out late as if he was trying to remember those guys thoroughly. This act alone was enough to send a shiver down everyone’s spine.

In the end, before the bus could go, he just said something short, addressing this matter quickly.

"Whoever comes up late will have to pay fines to the club; the number will be determined depending on the result of our next game. Also, unless I have no choice, I will not put those lazy bums into the main roster, so just sit tight and get ready to watch the game from the bench."

This silenced the whole bus instantly, as those who were late earlier flinched straight away. Their salary itself wasn’t that high in the first place, so any fine would hurt their finances immediately. Then, the punishment of not being able to play was also a slap in the face, and if the media smelled this news, they could say goodbye to this town next summer.

A heavy atmosphere spread instantly, and Higo himself couldn’t help but sigh, feeling helpless right now.

’Yeah, right before we play the game, and we are in shambles right now... What a nice start, huh?’