Chapter 1038: Meeting an Old Acquaintance

The journey took at least 17 hours, with them having to transit in Dubai first, just like the usual. Once both Higo and Morita arrived at Narita Airport, though, someone whom Higo was familiar with had already been waiting for them.

"Kusakabe-san? You are the one who picked us up?!" Higo blinked in surprise.

"So, a top goalkeeper in the world still remembers the little old me, huh? Hahaha! I can brag about this to my daughter later!" The man laughed happily as he hugged Higo with the fondness of an old friend.

The man was Soichiro Kusakabe, the liaison officer from the federation who invited Higo and Makino to the Young Samurai team in the past. He still had the same appearance here, a clean hairstyle with glasses as thick as an encyclopedia.

Looking at the man, Higo felt his gaze soften immediately, feeling a little bit nostalgic about the past right now.

"Anyway, it’s nice to meet you as well, Morita-san! How is the journey?" Kusakabe asked while also guiding the two boys to the car that would carry them to Yokohama.

"It’s good, Kusakabe-san. I just hope that I can sleep a little bit better there." Morita answered casually.

Yeah, just like Higo, Morita also knew Kusakabe-san quite well. After all, the man was one of the official staff members in the Young Samurai a few years ago, so he knew basically all the boys on that team.

However, the surprise didn’t end just like that.

No, after travelling for a few hours by car and arriving at the Marinos Sports Park in Kurihama, Kanagawa, they met another player who had just landed at that place as well, and coincidentally enough, the man was another part of the Young Samurai team in the past.

"Miki! I didn’t know you would be here!" Morita laughed while hugging the man on the shoulder.

"Yamane-san, it’s good to see you again!" Higo nodded politely while also looking at Morita with speechless eyes, not knowing how could the man be so friendly toward anyone who he met.

"Yeah, it is good to see you both again, Higo-kun, Morita-kun." The man nodded politely, still having the stoic face that both Higo and Morita knew well enough that it was his trademark.

The man here was Miki Yamane, the team’s right back who was also the captain of Shimizu Higashi High that sent Hakodate Nishi in Higo’s era back home from the national team.

Higo knew well enough about the depressing mood at that time, especially when he was the one who failed to execute the last penalty in the shootout against Shimizu Higashi two years ago.

Who would’ve thought that now, he would be on the same team as Shimizu Higashi’s captain in the Samurai Blue?

"Hey, hey, how could we not know that you are here? I swear, I remember all the names who are called this time!" Morita asked, still having one hand hugging the man’s shoulder.

"I am the last-minute addition." Miki Yamane just answered shortly. "One of the defenders reported that he got an injury from the game he played yesterday, and I got called this morning to fill in the gap."

It was already night here in Yokohama, but far from midnight, which would make the players tired and sleepy. This moment was the best for light conversation, so the three alumni of the Young Samurai team decided to have a casual chat here.

That was when Higo knew that Miki Yamane had already established himself as a solid fullback in this country, with him being considered a modern fullback whose ability to attack and defend was top-tier in the local league right now.

Unfortunately, Miki Yamane’s team, Shonan Bellmare, was still fighting in the relegation zone, so his amazing performance often got overshadowed by his team’s terrible defeats.

Other than Miki Yamane also heard the news about another person that was quite vivid in his memory, which was Mamoru Suzuki.

The boy was a genius youngster whom people believed to have a higher potential than Morita, with his mature playing style and incredible sharpness in his game-reading ability.

Still, since the boy was two years younger than Higo, the goalkeeper didn’t really pay attention to the boy until now, when Miki Yamane told him what the genius boy was doing currently.

"Well, he won the last winter tournament, his very last one before graduating next month." The fullback said.

"Still, he is also a member of Shimizu S-Pulse, having played so many games with that team in the last two years. Hell, he can be considered the youngest player who ever got 10 goals and 10 assists in the league, setting a record on his own."

Even though Miki Yamane said it all with his flat tone, Higo could still hear a hint of pride there. Well, how could the man not, since he probably witnessed how Mamoru Suzuki rose from the very bottom place to where he stood right now.

Thinking about him, Higo couldn’t help but remember his very first encounter with the boy in the past, when they met accidentally in the Niigata tournament two years ago.

At that time, Higo was still a rookie goalkeeper, while Mamoru Suzuki’s name had been hailed by so many big news platforms as one of the best youngsters the country would’ve ever produced.

Now, though, even though Mamoru Suzuki was still thriving, who would’ve thought that Higo’s career would shine brighter, even being considered one of the best in the game?

’Yeah, time sure flies so quickly, huh?’ He murmured in melancholy.

Higo didn’t know why, but somehow, he felt a little bit more sentimental in the last couple of days, always remembering something in the past.

Still, that was not a bad thing, and the boy just thought that this was the universe’s way to remind him about his origin.

After chatting for a while, though, the first yawn finally appeared from Higo. Yeah, after such a long trip, it was normal to get exhausted, so the boy finally got up first and asked to leave.

"Well, thanks for the chat, Yamane-san. See you on the pitch tomorrow!"