Chapter 764: The Others’ Situation Back Home

After the call with all the Hakodate Nishi members of his generation, Higo seemed distracted by the crazy schedule waiting for him with Schalke. No, he took his sweet time catching up with all his friends back home.

The last time he saw them in action was in the Inter-High tournament last summer, when the team was getting beaten by Sapporo Otani. At that time, Higo was still busy with Makino and Kumiko, preparing themselves for the World Cup U-20 in Poland.

A year had passed, and somehow, all the busy schedule with Schalke made the boy forget about the friends who helped him climb the ladder to reach this point. It would be a lie if Higo said that he didn’t feel guilty here. That was why, even when the call was over, he still took his time to chat with everyone else via the messenger app to inquire about their situation.

After losing to Sapporo Otani in the summer, they seemed to get a lot of invitations to play outside. In the end, their head coach decided to go to Saitama, agreeing to play in one tournament there.Even though the opponents were not the caliber of Shohei High, where Hiroki Kawabe studied a year before, the team’s level there was way stronger than in Hokkaido, helping Hakodate Nishi polish their weapon to face the winter tournament.

As a result, somehow, they managed to beat Sapporo Otani in the semifinal of the prefectural tournament, taking revenge against them. That also became the worst achievement for Sapporo Otani, as they had never been stopped in the semifinal in the past.

In the final, Hiroshi and the others even destroyed Esashi High with the score 6-1, giving them the right to play in the National Winter Tournament. At the same time, it was their second consecutive winter in the national phase, and people started to call them the ’December specialist’.

As for the national tournament itself, honestly, they were lucky that it happened from the second week of January to the first day of February, as the coronavirus itself started to enter Japan in late February. At least, they still had their chance to showcase their talent before everything shut down, and true enough, their performance in that tournament was good enough to allow some scouts to contact them.

In the end, they managed to get into the top 16, just one round below what the team with Higo, Makino, and Kuroki achieved last year. Unfortunately, the culprit behind their defeat was still the same: Shimizu Higashi High with Mamoru Suzuki there.

"Fuck it, Senpai! That Mamoru is a fucking cheat code!" At least, that was what Hiroshi said in frustration when Higo asked about that during the call. "How could he gain so much strength in a fucking year?! His body is still lean, but the muscles are there! He couldn’t be brought down with a normal method anymore, just with a fucking foul, and he still maintains his agility and speed! If that is not a cheat code, what is?!"

’I... Don’t know, maybe my clairvoyant ability?’ Higo smiled wryly as he muttered to himself.

Still, at least, even though the team got defeated, Hiroshi and the others had already impressed so many people in their journey. Hell, Hiroshi and Takaaki were even offered a spot on Kashima Antlers, the best team in Japan right now, without any trial again.Unfortunately, they both refused it, having something already in mind.

Hiroshi decided to join Consadole Sapporo so that he wouldn’t be far away from his mother, while Takaaki went to Tohoku University to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. Yeah, the boy was serious here, getting into his dream university as the best student of his generation.

At least, even though it was a pity for Takaaki’s football talent, Higo could respect that dedication.

As for the others, the most surprising one here would be Kazawa. The tough holding midfielder who started everything from the bench was now being accepted to Ventforet Kofu, a team in the second division of the league. It was a small one, and climbing from there would be difficult, but it seemed that the boy also wanted to try his luck in the football world.

As for the rest of them... Well, they were quite realistic with their life choices. Most of them decided to go to the local universities in Sapporo, with only Usami probably flying far away from home.

The shy boy whose father seemed to know all the important people in Hokkaido decided to go to the States, or to be more exact, to UCLA, one of the best schools in Los Angeles. Higo could feel his jaw drop when he heard that.

"I mean... I don’t know what to say here. I don’t even know why you would want to study management that far, when so many good and more affordable schools are available back home. Still, I really respect your bravery here. You couldn’t even stand with your head straight forward the last time I saw you, but now, you are ready to spread your wings further than anyone else, Usami! Good for you!"

Usami just grinned sheepishly, and while he was still the quiet boy as Higo remembered, the boy now radiated more confidence from his eyes. Whatever his father did, it seemed that it worked well to get the boy out of his shell.

After knowing basically most of his kouhai’s current life, Higo couldn’t help but sigh; his gaze wandered far in a melancholic tone.

"Yeah, time sure passes by so quickly, huh?" He muttered to himself. "It seems like it was yesterday that we laughed so hard in the BBQ restaurant near school together to celebrate our win, and now, here we are, taking the first step into our adulthood. Man... Being an adult sure suck, huh?"

After that, he finally shut his phone, getting up from his comfortable couch before putting on his boots again.

After the game against Dortmund, the holiday was finally over, and it was time for him to fight again.