A week later, Higo had already found himself back at Narita International Airport again. The boy had already forgotten how many times he had been here in the last couple of months, which was a novelty since usually, he would pick a train to go anywhere else.
Still, he wasn’t alone in his escapade. Around, the boy was surrounded by Makino and Kumiko, as they were also waiting for the others to arrive. Both still had earphones on their head, a sign that they had just left the plane a moment ago.
"I swear, Kageyama-sensei said the others are waiting at Gate 8, right? Where the fuck are they?" Makino grumbled, looking around grumpily.
"Be patient a little bit. I have also tried to call someone, you know?" Kumiko replied. However, based on her sweaty face and uncomfortable expression, it was clear that she also wanted to get over this shit as quickly as possible.
It wasn’t just the weather that made them uncomfortable. While yes, it affected them, in truth, the temperature was still just around 23 degrees Celcius. A little bit higher than in Hakodate, where the temperature was just around 15 degrees Celcius, but at least, it was still within a tolerable range.
No, what infuriated them the most was how crowded the airport was. It was in the middle of May, the peak season of tourism in Japan. This was when the weather was at its nicest, and Sakura flowers were blooming everywhere. So many foreigners came from all over the world, which was nice, if only the situation were better.
Hell, even one of the best airports in the world had a hard time handling this situation, and Higo felt like everywhere he moved, he would crash into someone here. For him, and for the other two boys who grew up in a quiet place like Hakodate, this atmosphere was indeed a bit too much, overwhelming them completely.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to search for so long. After making several calls with the members of the national team, Kumiko finally found a familiar person, who, coincidentally enough, was searching for someone.
"Kusakabe-san, here!" She waved enthusiastically, even raising her voice so that the man could hear her.
Yeah, it was Soichiro Kusakabe, the staff member who introduced them to the national team, who searched for their presence here. Poor man, he was sweating profusely, and his shirt was drenched as if he had just fallen into a pool or something like that. The moment the man heard Kumiko’s voice, his face brightened immediately.
"Ah, here you guys are! I have been searching for you three for about fifteen minutes!" Kusakabe-san panted heavily, holding his buckled knees as if he had just done a full marathon.
The three teenagers just looked at each other guiltily. Still, they also searched for anyone from the team, so there was no need to feel guilty, right?
"Anyway, come on! Everyone has been waiting for you! You three are the last to arrive!" The man said before leading them somewhere else.
The three teenagers just followed along before Makino couldn’t help but ask, "So, we are the last? But the departure time is still nine hours later, right?"
"Yes, but the coach wants to have a meeting first before we depart." Kusakabe nodded.
Yeah, right now, they were about to fly to Poland for the World Cup U-20 that they had been waiting for. The event itself was still in a week, but it was necessary to arrive early so that they could adapt to the environment first.
It was clear that Makino and Kumiko were ecstatic. Even in this sweaty atmosphere, they were still buzzing, asking so many questions of the man. Well, it was understandable, since this was going to be their first time going abroad.
Higo himself was excited, but since he had just come back from Germany, the enthusiasm wasn’t as high as the others. He just looked around, wondering where they were going to lead.
In the end, though, Kusakabe-san brought them to a VIP room in the airport, where all the players had already gathered with their luggage. It seemed that they were still doing a check on each player’s documents, not wanting to find anything missing right before they departed.
At first, no one noticed their arrival here. Higo just went toward the person he knew better, the narcissistic defensive midfielder from Toin Gakuen who was also his roommate in Chiba, Naoya Takahashi. At least, they hit with each other quite well, so the boy whispered, "What are we doing now?"
Makino was also the same, approaching Tagawa, who was still having his head bobbing up and down following the rhythm of the music in his earphones.
"Higo-kun, fuck! You scared the shit out of me!" Naoya yelped out of surprise, his chest rising a little bit faster. "Why the hell are you sneaking around like that?! Did you just flirt with someone’s girlfriend or what? No, wait, don’t answer that. I know what you are going to say!"
Higo could feel the corner of his lips twitching speechlessly at the boy here. Naoya was a good friend to hang out with, but the boy was always dramatic and thought that everything revolved around him getting a girl. Honestly, it started to get boring talking with him like this.
"No, I am not flirting with someone’s girlfriend, thank you for the accusation." He just said it flatly. "I’m just wondering if there’s something we missed that was talked about by the coach before we arrived here?"
"Nah, other than the old man’s rambles, you don’t miss anything. You would be glad, though, that you miss that part." Naoya waved off his concern nonchalantly.
Higo just rolled his eyes in exasperation. Out of everyone else here, the boy in front of him was the only one who had the guts to call the coach an ’old man’ straight in the man’s face and probably got away with it.
At the same time, Kageyama-sensei finally noticed Kusakabe-san’s presence, and when he turned around and saw Higo and the others finally arrive, he finally raised his voice here.
"Okay, since the Hakodate gang is finally here, let’s start the meeting today!"