Chapter 791: Life of an Injured Player (I)

Getting injured suck.

Higo couldn’t take off his shirt properly; his movement was restricted, and hell, even taking a spoon from the plate was a battle of his own, before he had to give up completely.

However, who would’ve thought that it wasn’t as bad as he initially imagined?

After all, somehow, Kumiko took over everything here, taking care of him properly. Even with a lot of blushing and stuttering, in the end, she helped him take off his tops and even offered to help him shower—which Higo respectfully rejected. The boy wasn’t ready for that—and now, sitting in the living room, Higo grinned goofily as she fed him so patiently, like how Higo imagined a proper married couple acted in their daily lives.

"Come on, Ryukkun, open your mouth. Ah..."

Higo was so smug as he leaned his head forward, devouring whatever on the spoon that Kumiko offered like he was just a mere baby. Seeing this, Sakura just rolled her eyes in exasperation, not expecting her to be fed dog food like this.

"Gosh, I hope that Hiroki-kun can be here as well, and I don’t have to act like a third wheel like this." She muttered under her breath.

Fortunately, the couple didn’t go overboard. No, they still realized that they were not alone here, so except for Kumiko helping Higo in his daily life, they just acted the same.In the end, after having dinner together, the boy finally let his body slump on the couch, having all his energy dissipated in the air right in that second.

"Tired?" Kumiko smiled while fixing the dining table.

"Yeah, damn, today is quite draining for my emotions," Higo mumbled. "Anyway, I haven’t watched the news yet. What is the result of the game?" He couldn’t help but ask.

Even though the boy didn’t do much in that game, that was also the game that he had to leave early for this injury, so the boy wanted to know if his departure would really affect the team or not.

Both girls looked at each other for a moment with a complicated gaze before the girlfriend let out a deep sigh. "Well, the team managed to survive until the very last second, but that was when disaster struck."

Sakura followed with a long sigh. "In the fifth minute of the additional time, when even Union Berlin’s goalkeeper rushed forward to join the attack, their corner kick managed to create chaos in Schalke’s penalty box, and one random shot from the opponent got blocked by Ozan Kabak’s hand, which was raised quite high. The referee saw that clearly, resulting in the team suffering a penalty kick."

Higo could feel the corner of his lips twitching when he heard that. When it came to luck, his team sure knew how to defy every single deity above, right?

He also couldn’t blame his replacement for this. No, a penalty down to the very last second of the game was never the goalkeeper’s responsibility. It was good if he could save it, but if not, he could still hold his head high knowing that he managed to survive until that point.

Of course, if it was Higo, the boy would still be confident that he could stop that penalty. Well... He didn’t know what kind of penalty was thrown in that game, but at least his clairvoyance ability, coupled with his quick reaction, would be able to allow him to touch the ball. However, that would be a different matter.

After this, Higo decided to check on his phone, and the boy cringed at another inconvenience that he had to face.

He was always right-handed, so this injury in his right shoulder forced him to the point that he had to use his phone with his non-dominant hand. It was awkward at first, but the boy tried his best to ignore it.

Surprisingly enough, Higo found out that not a lot of messages were coming at him right now. It was a little bit narcissistic, but the boy thought some people would watch the game even in Hakodate. However, after pondering over it for a second, the boy realized that the time difference between the two countries played a big role here.

’Yeah, it should be around 11, close to midnight back in Japan when I got injured, right? No wonder no one is asking about me.’

Well, not ’no one’, per se, because so many messages and calls came from two people. His mother and his sister. Twelve calls from his sister, and his mother also contributed eight, and that still didn’t count the messages. When Higo opened it, the boy grimaced, somehow feeling like crap.

Aya-nee: Ryukkun, how is it?

Aya-nee: Have you been back already?

Aya-nee: Call us whenever you are back! Don’t think too much about the time here!

Aya-nee: Mom and I will wait for you!

Aya-nee: Hello?

The last call came twenty minutes ago, and at that time, when his sister was worried sick about him, the boy was still being lovey-dovey with his girlfriend, which made him feel more guilty. Not wanting to let them wait for so long, in the end, he decided to call her, and she answered in a heartbeat.

"RYUKKUN! YOU FINALLY CALL US!" His mother’s shout echoed throughout the whole room; her tone told everyone that the woman was worried sick about him.

"I am okay, Mom, I swear. Just a little dislocation on my shoulder, not something that cannot be fixed by the doctor. No, you don’t need to come here; the process will be too complicated. Kumiko-chan is here to take care of me as well, so don’t worry about my daily life. Yes, the report from the hospital is out. I will send it to you after this call."

Higo answered all the questions from his mother quickly, not even questioning the fact that he called his sister earlier.

They chatted for a while, with Higo mostly trying to reassure his mother that everything was under control and she didn’t need to come here. The boy knew that with his mother’s overprotectiveness, she should’ve already made several calls that could get her into Gelsenkirchen the next day, but with the travel restrictions in place, the problem with her coming here would be too big of a headache to handle.

He appreciated her effort, but the situation wasn’t as bad as his mother thought.

After finally managing to convince his mother, Higo couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh once again, shutting his eyes for a moment while muttering, ’Finally, I find some peace again...’