"WAIT, WHAT?!" Everyone had their eyes widened in shock as they watched the news. "YOU ARE BEING OFFERED A CONTRACT BY SCHALKE?!" They all had their jaws dropped as their gaze fell on Morita.
The boy in focus, though, just shrugged nonchalantly at the gazes he received. "What is so surprising about this? I have played so many good games in this tournament, so it is normal to gain some clubs’ attention, right?" He grinned lazily. However, those who heard it were still shocked, with some even dropping their utensil to the floor.
It was two days before the game against France, and during breakfast, the news exploded out of nowhere. Higo himself didn’t know who the source was here, but looking at Morita, who didn’t deny the question at all, he also had the same bewilderment as the others.
"You mean, you get offered by t—that Schalke?" Higo stuttered a little bit, still in disbelief. "The same club as me?!" His pitch went high unconsciously.
All the boys paused for a second before realizing that, indeed, before Morita, one of them had already signed a contract with Schalke first. Morita himself also grinned at this question, but it was more of excitement than the lazy one that he had earlier. "It is not fixed yet, and they are still communicating with FC Tokyo right now, but if everything goes well, we are going to be teammates in the future, Higo."
Silence followed for a second, before varied reactions exploded inside the room.
"Fucking hell! You both are going to play with each other in Europe?!"
"Man, I am so jealous here! Why wouldn’t anyone offer me something?!"
"Fuck! Next game, I have to dribble at least five players in one go and make sure some European clubs shoved a contract to my mouth!"
"That’s disgusting! Don’t do that!"
The boys just looked at Morita in jealousy right now. However, they didn’t feel strong negative emotion toward him, as everyone knew how capable Morita was. The boy was basically the team’s best player in this tournament.
He wasn’t just the team’s top-assister, but the boy also held the midfield line quite strongly. He dictated the tempo well, running more than anyone else to cover the whole ground, quick when the defensive line needed support, and had the discipline to keep everything stable at the center.
It was as if he was able to do the job of three midfielders by himself.
"Damn! This is going to be awesome!" Higo couldn’t help but grin right now. Out of everyone else, besides Makino himself, Higo was probably the one who was excited the most right now.
At first, the boy had already accepted the fact that he would be alone for the first couple of months before Kumiko arrived in Germany. It wasn’t like he had a problem with that, since Higo himself had already braced himself for that challenge.
Still, knowing that there would be a friend once they were fighting in the foreign land was a big deal, enough to let go of a big chunk of pressure on his shoulder.
Kumiko herself also heard about the news, and she couldn’t help but feel happy about her childhood friend. "Everything is not finalized yet, so don’t spread it around. However, it seems that Morita-san is optimistic about it, so that means his team should’ve already given him a green light to go."
Higo’s eyes were beaming brightly when he heard that. "Yeah, this is going to be awesome. Who would’ve thought that Schalke would recruit one more Japanese player here? I know Frohling-san said that he keeps his eyes on me, but I don’t think he would also do that to the others here." He sighed in melancholy.
"Well, I am not surprised here," Kumiko said casually while enjoying the sausage on her plate. "If anything, it is quite surprising the lack of interest in him. Some of the clubs in Europe should’ve made contact with him in the last couple of days."
"Wait, what? What makes you think that?" Higo blinked before leaning forward like an old woman hearing a good gossip.
The girl paused for a second, pondering how to answer this before finally saying, "You might not know this, but players from Japan are highly sought by middle- to bottom-tier teams in Europe. We are less egoistic as players, willing to do the dirty work for the team, and not seeking too much attention that could be destructive for the team."
When Higo heard that, he couldn’t help but feel the corner of his lips twitching in speechlessness. How could he not know that the players from his country had this reputation? Then, imagining some boisterous people like Naoya and Kawabe, he shuddered a little bit, somehow praying that those two wouldn’t mess up this hard-earned reputation.
"Most importantly, unlike some players from South America or other European countries, we are cheap labor."
"A cheap labor?" Higo parroted her words. This time, he frowned a little bit, not liking the implication.
"Yeah, our price is lower in the market, and we are well known as the team’s glue. Then, you have Morita, who not only excelled in all the good qualities that a Japanese player should have, but he is also technically gifted with the ball. So, what is there that prevents the club from signing him?"
Well... When she put it that way, it was indeed strange that Morita didn’t have any other offer than this. It should be that he had some clubs contacting him, but Schalke was the most serious one, and that was why he dared to break the news to the boys today.
’Eh, it doesn’t really matter!’ Higo shook his head quickly before a grin formed on his face. Kumiko stared at him questioningly, but the boy was already in his daydream, thinking about the future. ’Man, with Morita being on the same team as me, which team will be able to beat us? Our combination will be awesome!’