It was the next day, when Higo and Kumiko had already found themselves sitting on a plane comfortably. Right now, they were just waiting for it to board back to Sapporo, while Makino decided to go straight to Yokohama for his trial.
During this waiting time, Higo’s mind was still haunted by the information he received yesterday, and he couldn’t help but ask the girl next to him.
"Um? Miyaichi?" Kumiko blinked, taking off her earphones when Higo asked her about that. "You mean Ryo Miyaichi from Chukyo High? Of course, I heard about him. I told you about him as well, right? A few months ago, after Draxler-san came to you for the first time ever."
Higo gulped for a moment. Indeed, he remembered it well now. Kumiko told him worriedly about the only player who went abroad after the high school tournament, and the man didn’t do well outside. At that time, though, Higo was still drunk from the offer, and the explanation just went straight over his head.
"Eh, don’t worry too much about it." Kumiko noticed his worry and waved it off nonchalantly.
"What do you mean, not to worry?!" Higo snapped his head at the girl in disbelief. "This is related to my career, Kumiko-chan~! If I failed, this would be embarrassing!" He cried childishly.
"That is the thing you care for?" Kumiko snorted amusedly. "Still, I say this not to make you lower your guard, but because you really don’t have anything to worry about. I have analyzed the reason why Miyaichi-senpai failed, and that could be concluded to three things." She showed three fingers to Higo.
"Three?"
"Yeah, first of all, he, an outfield player, dared to challenge the England football straightaway, the most hardcore place in the world in terms of physicality. You can imagine how bad it would be for an 18-year-old Japanese boy who had never played professionally to come to that kind of place, right?"
Well... Yeah, the image was played quite vividly inside his head. At this point, Higo knew that England was supposed to be the toughest place to play football. How tough it was; that was only something he would understand when he played there. But thinking of a boy, 18, coming from Japan to that place...
Yeah, that image was so ugly that Higo had to wince at his own thought,
"Then, we have his lack of adaptability, always insisting on a flashy style that would attract more fouls from the opponent. As a result, he got fouled a lot, and his injury record is not pretty."
"So, the second reason is still related to the first one, huh?" Higo pondered.
"Indeed, he was trapped by his former glory in high school, so he failed to accept that his playing style is not as effective outside of that small circle." Kumiko nodded solemnly.
This time, Higo couldn’t help but gulp. The more Kumiko explained, the more he could see the resemblance between him and Ryo Miyaichi, and this scared the shit out of him. Even though he would only go to German, a far weaker side compared to Arsenal in England, the route was still the same. What if he couldn’t survive the harsh reality outside?
"As for the last, and probably the most crucial reason..." Kumiko’s voice was so eerie that, amidst the crowded plane here, it still gave a goosebump on the back of Higo’s neck. "Even after playing for more than a year in England, he still failed to establish good communication with the others, which I believe became the biggest reason behind his failure."
"...Eh?" Higo blinked, confused.
"Yeah, his main failure is because he couldn’t get the knack of English quickly enough, making it hard to communicate with others." Kumiko nodded in confirmation. "I mean, can you imagine again? A boy, whose strength is not good enough to impress the others, and he also struggles to communicate with his peers. What do you think his career will end up?"
Yeah, Higo shuddered once again at that nightmarish image. That was definitely a recipe for disaster for any player in the world. No wonder Ryo Miyaichi failed to gain a foothold even abroad...
"Wait, is that the reason why you torture me with that ridiculous English lesson? Forcing me to answer even the stupidest question in English during my most exhausted state?" Higo suddenly asked in realization.
Yeah, this reminded him of that Spartan lesson from the girl, and even up until now, he could still feel the effect quite clearly. I mean, hell, this conversation happened in English without him noticing, which showed how much progress Higo has made so far in the process.
"Yup!" Kumiko nodded in confirmation. "There are so many more examples of talented players getting ruined because they couldn’t adapt to the language soon enough. It might sound simple, but this will leave a huge impression once you are in a new circle. I don’t want you to suffer from any injustice because of a lack of preparation.:"
Silence followed as Higo once again was so touched at Kumiko’s thoughtfulness. This was not the first time she had taken care of everything silently for him. Hell, this had been so many times that Higo himself couldn’t count it with his fingers anymore.
For a moment, no one spoke between them. The sound of the plane engine could be heard humming, and the flight attendant started to walk around to remind them to wear their seatbelt. It seemed that the plane was about to depart.
After fixing the seatbelt for a moment, in the end, Higo couldn’t help but ask, "So, what is your final assessment? After all of the effort preparing me to this point, am I ready for the competition abroad?"
Much to his surprise, though, Kumiko shook her head without hesitation. "Right now? No. You will only become a bench warmer at most." Then, in the next second, a wicked smile followed as she added, "After this month, though, once you are finally flying to Germany, I will make sure that you are ready for everything..."