Well, the journey somehow took longer than Higo expected. They got delayed for several hours in Tokyo before their plane was finally ready to fly, and they started to depart from the capital city at around midnight. Fortunately, nothing bad happened again, and they arrived at Düsseldorf International Airport at around 2 in the afternoon.
Unlike in Hakodate, the weather in Düsseldorf was quite nice. The trace of winter had already gone at this point, and the temperature had already reached 18 degrees Celcius, a pleasant one to hang out. This could also be shown by how crowded the airport was, full of people arriving from all over the world.
"This place sure is more crowded than Sapporo, huh?" Higo couldn’t help but mutter.
"Well, this city is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, a massive metropolitan and industrial region in this country. Still, I can assure you that Sapporo is more crowded. I have read the data before, and this city is just smaller, so the crowd is more concentrated than on our island." Ayaka answered.
At this point, she had already taken off her jacket, wearing only a white shirt and jeans, just like those people around who were here for the holiday.
"In fact, this city is probably the most suitable one for any Japanese to live abroad." Koisuke Fujita suddenly chimed in. He still wore his formal suit, not even getting bothered by the rise in temperature here. "There is a place called Immermannstraße, which local people call ’Little Tokyo’. There, you will find ramen shops, izakaya, manga café, and so many things related to home. That street is where Japanese people usually live in this city, so if you miss anything from back home, you can probably come here for a visit."
The man said it casually, but Higo had already put the information on the back of his head. He knew that once he went abroad, homesickness was a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to escape at all.
"Anyway, let’s go! We still have a little bit more journey before arriving at Gelsenkirchen, the home of our next team, Schalke 04!"
This time, they didn’t use the train as they intended to. Instead, Koisuke Fujita rented a car, guiding them through this big city while allowing them to look around.
Higo had to admit, though, that the journey was quite mind-opening. Everything was so different than in Tokyo. Hell, the architecture style was so unique that he felt like everything came out of a video game, which was definitely a surreal feeling.
His sister also didn’t stay quiet in the back. She took her phone out, snapping so many photos before posting them on her social media. Higo just snorted quietly, pressing the like button while also pretending that he didn’t see the post itself.
In the end, the final journey took around 50 minutes, before they finally arrived at VELTINS Arena, the home of the legendary big team that resided in this city, Schalke 04.
Honestly, the first time Higo stood in front of the arena, he didn’t feel anything here. No awe, no bewilderment. At least, his reaction wasn’t as big as when he played at Sapporo International Dome for the first time ever in the past.
This VELTINS Arena might just be slightly bigger and has a cooler rooftop that could be retracted, while the Sapporo Dome had one fixed, rigid one. However, other than that, the basic information was still the same. It was a nice, modern stadium to play football in.
Nothing more and nothing less.
Still, that was if he only talked about the building. In terms of atmosphere, though, VELTINS definitely won against Sapporo Dome by miles. Even right now, in the middle of a weekday when no game was played, the surroundings were still quite full, with so many people from the neighborhood community bringing their children to play football around here.
Not only that, almost everyone wore the same blue jersey, showing off their pride over the club they supported.
"The football atmosphere here sure is quite bustling, huh?" He couldn’t help but make a comment.
"Well, yeah, I read that this is one of two big clubs in the region, with their rival only several kilometers away from the city," Ayaka replied. "Anyway, come here for a sec, Ryukkun! She raised the phone in her hand, signalling for a quick selfie.
Higo complied, making a casual pose before she snapped a photo of them. Looking at the result, the girl couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction. "This is going to be a report to Mom that we have arrived safely. Don’t you need to do the same for Kumiko-chan?" She smirked knowingly.
Higo could feel heat creeping up his face for a moment. He cleared his throat, ignoring the teasing glance from his sister, before his fingers started to dance on the screen.
You: Just arrived at VELTINS Arena. You will love the place.
He also didn’t forget to attach the image, knowing that Kumiko would love to come here on her own. Not long after this, the message he had waited for finally came.
Kumiko-chan: What a nice stadium! Man, I am so envious!
Kumiko-chan: I cannot believe that you will be able to see the stadium first! I want to go there as well!
The smile on Higo’s face softened for a moment as he texted back immediately.
You: Then, I will wait for you next October. Come on!
After that, he shut his phone down, putting it back in his pocket. Then, his eyes glanced around at his surroundings, finding that at one of the pitches, a training was being held. Even though it was from afar, his eyes still caught everything, and looking at the level of the training session, the boy couldn’t help but nod slightly.
’Is that the Schalke team or their junior one? Based on their young-looking faces, it should be the latter, right?’ He couldn’t help but mutter. ’Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow, I will know about them more, so let’s just hope that they are going to be my teammates soon...’