Of course, before they went to the school’s game, there was one more agenda item to be held first. In fact, it came out of nowhere that the announcement caught both Higo and Kumiko off guard. It was the final list of the Young Samurai team, finally being announced officially by the federation.
Higo himself didn’t realize the news was out until Kumiko gave a quick call. It was quite early in the morning, and since the girl had already said that it was his day off, the boy just grumbled as someone woke him up from his sleep.
"What?" He asked snarkily, his voice hoarse.
"Ryukkun! Open your LINE and see the federation’s official announcement!" Kumiko didn’t waste her breath here, not even caring about Higo’s tone at all. "The list is out already! Go check it out first!"
At first, Higo didn’t understand what was going on here. What list? And why would this be enough to make Kumiko excited like this?
After processing for a while, though, his brain finally caught up with what happened, and somehow, his finger pressed the button to end the call immediately. He would apologize to Kumiko later, but for now, his fingers moved so quickly to check the federation’s account.
True enough, there, Higo saw a list of names being posted, each one with a photo included there. He also saw his face, sneaking out of nowhere and being placed second right after Zion’s face.
Official List of Japan National Team U-20 for the World Cup-20 2019!
Zion Suzuki – GK – Urawa Red Diamonds
Ryusuke Higo – GK – Schalke 04
...
The list was just plain, nothing special in it. However, the significance of his name being there was enough to send relief to the boy’s brain. Even though he knew already that he would get chosen, the confirmation was still enough to make his knees weak.
’Even the team has already been updated, huh? Not bad...’ The boy nodded in satisfaction. ’Wait, how about Teme?!’ His eyes widened in realization before they narrowed quickly, trying to find a name there. It didn’t take a long time, as the boy saw the one he was searching for.
Tomoaki Makino – CB – Yokohama FC
"Yes!" He clenched his fist secretly. "The duo from Hakodate Nishi is back in the national team!" The boy let out a loud laugh out of nowhere, startling his mother and sister in the kitchen.
"Ryukkun, are you okay?!" Minami shouted, worried.
"Don’t worry, Mom! Everything is okay!" Higo shouted back. "Wait a moment, I’ll tell you the good news later!"
For a moment, silence followed before Minami shouted back from her place. "Okay, tell us when you are ready!"
Higo couldn’t help but smile when he heard that. Honestly, he didn’t know what kind of good karma he had done in his past life so that he could get such a supportive and awesome family like this.
Still, right now, he couldn’t care less about that. No, his fingers danced on the phone quickly, and within a few seconds, he tried to make a phone call with several people simultaneously. Fortunately, it seemed everyone was also on the same frequency, as right after that, the call was connected one by one.
"Hey, hey! Please welcome the new member of the Young Samurai team!" Makino’s laughter filled the room instantly the moment he was connected to the call. "Come on! Give me a proper welcome! This is something worth celebrating, you know?!"
Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching when he heard that. "Why would I do that when I myself am also a part of it? You should be the one who congratulates me first, Teme!" He retorted, yet no heat could be heard on his tone.
"...Tch, you party pooper! You sure know how to ruin the whole mood, huh?" Makino snorted amusedly.
"Hey, hey, two national players! How could there be such good news early this morning?!" Kuroki joined the call; his tone was full of joyfulness. "Can I brag that I have two friends in the national team right now? Man, I cannot believe a high school from the small corner of Hakodate would be this awesome in my era!"
"Make it three, Kuroki-kun." Kumiko suddenly chimed in, shocking everyone else with her short announcement.
"Wait, Kumiko-chan, you mean..." Higo felt his voice trail behind, and yet he couldn’t hide the excitement in his tone.
"Yup! Sakura-chan and I will also be joining the official team as the assistant coaches, so you will see us more in the next few months!" The girl chirped happily as if she had just announced the weather outside. "So, please be kind to us girls, okay?"
"Damn! This is awesome!" Makino’s laughter was getting louder. "The trio of Hakodate Nishi is back for the national team!"
"Don’t forget, though, that we are just going to start as the bench warmers." Higo couldn’t help but say, with the corner of his lips twitching, somehow wanting to ruin the mood with his playfulness. "If nothing goes wrong, we wouldn’t even touch the pitch, right?"
Indeed, this was really a problem. Even though Higo and Makino were chosen, they were never the first choice in the first place. For Higo’s part, Zion’s presence would be hard to beat, while for Makino, the duet of Hiroki Ito and Ayumu Seko was too hard to break.
The only hope Higo got was his last performance against Jubilo Iwata, and he himself doubted that it would be enough to get him as the team’s first choice.
"Tch! Who cares about being a bench warmer?! The fact that you three are already there is awesome enough, something to brag about for the rest of your lives!" Kuroki spoke so proudly as if he were the one who got called up. "Don’t think too much about anything else! You are going there to represent the national team, so hold your head high and be proud of it!"
Well, Kuroki was right about one thing. While it would sting to be just a bench warmer, not everyone got a chance to play for the national team. Now that Higo was chosen, he had to make sure that he had as much fun as possible there.
’Also, I have a feeling that I would get a chance in the future... Let’s just wait and see how the tournament unfolds later...’