Chapter 932: Traveling Back Home (II)

"MOM! We are here!"

The moment they left the plane and arrived at the waiting area, Kumiko jumped immediately at the sight of her mother waiting there. She even left the luggage on Higo, bouncing excitedly before hugging the older woman with her fierce hug.

"OFH!" Poor woman, she was taken aback by her daughter’s unlimited energy here. "Why are you jumping around like that? Don’t you know how dangerous it was? You are not 10 anymore, Kumiko-chan!" She chided her daughter gently.

"Ehehe..." Kumiko just giggled, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. "You don’t know how I miss you, Mom..."

Higo himself just watched everything from behind with an envious gaze. At this moment, he couldn’t help but think, ’It would be great to have Mom or Aya-nee here, right?’

Unfortunately, the older woman caught his expression, and she couldn’t help but tease him here.

"What? Regretting your decision to keep this as a secret?" She snorted unladylike. "I told you that it was a bad decision, you know? You watched too much of a drama, I swear!"

Well, the boy couldn’t really defend himself here. He just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, knowing that this was indeed his fault.

The woman just let out a deep sigh, finding herself to have had enough of his shenanigans.

"Anyway, come here! Give your aunty a hug!" She spread one of her arms open while the other was still holding Kumiko, inviting him to join.

Higo didn’t need to be invited twice. Even though he was a little bit gentler, the boy didn’t hesitate here, letting himself be engulfed by that tiny hand.

"It’s good to see you again, Yumiko-obaasan..." His mumble was muffled by the thick jacket that the older woman wore.

"Yeah, thank you for taking care of my girl, Ryukkun... You have turned into a fine young man, you know..." The woman, Yumiko, rubbed the back of Higo’s head with a trembling hand, trying her best to hold back her tears.

Higo just nodded silently while memories of the woman who hugged him flashed inside his head.

He remembered quite well his disapproval toward her in the past, always thinking that the older woman was not responsible enough for her family, as she always worked, never sparing her time for Kumiko at all.

That feeling was still lingering inside, but now, looking at the wrinkles on his aunt’s face, coupled with her tired expression, everything seemed to be melted away at that moment, as Higo just held her tighter than ever.

"Anyway!" Yumiko finally released the bear hug, snorting a little while also wiping a single tear from the corner of her eye. "Let’s go back quickly before the sun is out! Come on, my car is outside!"

Indeed, even though it was still around 15:00, the journey would at least take almost three to four hours, and in the winter season, the sun would set at around 16:53.

They would definitely be on the road when the sky turned dark, and in such snowy weather, it would be difficult for the driver to guide the car safely.

Well, they didn’t need to be told twice.

Both teenagers—no, not teenagers. They were already young adults, at this point—followed the older woman behind, also wanting to get back to their hometown as quickly as they could, especially after almost a full day of traveling.

Still, now that there was a familiar figure in the journey, the joyful atmosphere exploded once again, with Kumiko humming all the way to Hakodate cheerfully.

Higo himself sat on the front seat, glancing at everything on the road and marveling at how much the place had changed since he left here a while ago.

"No, Ryukkun, this place doesn’t change that much." Yumiko smiled knowingly at Higo.

The boy blushed instantly, not even realizing that his girlfriend’s mother read perfectly. Kumiko also giggled before it turned into a full laughter, finding her boyfriend’s reaction to be amusing.

"Ryukkun, you are just away from home for one year and a half! No need to act like an old person, okay?" She asked teasingly.

"Well, can you blame me?! Everything looks so different compared to Gelsenkirchen, okay?!" Higo retorted, trying to defend himself.

"Oh? Then, what’s so different? Can you even tell?" The girl asked once again, having the corner of her lips twitching in amusement.

"Urgh... That..."

Somehow, his brain froze here, failing to imagine in his head how the city was before he left.

The boy had lived as an NPC for too long here that he just took everything for granted, never really engraving everything that he saw daily into his memory. As a result, now, his mind went blank, unable to come up with a good answer to the girl’s question.

They kept bickering for a while with Yumiko sometimes chiming in with a question or two, mostly about their lives in Germany and what had they learned so far in the process.

However, exhaustion finally kicked in, and before Higo knew it, his consciousness finally slipped away to the dreamland. Not just him, but Kumiko even snored cutely in the backseat, letting her body curl like a cat in a cramped space.

Yumiko just shook her head in exasperation, slowing down a little without even stopping her car for a second.

The journey in the next hour was basically spent in pure silence, with only the sound of snores from two sleepyheads and the humming from the car that could be heard there.

Higo didn’t know how long he had been on the road, but the next moment he regained consciousness, the car was already stopped, and the lack of the engine sound was enough to wake him up.

"Urgh... Have we arrived already?" He groaned, blinking repeatedly while trying to regain his soul.

It wasn’t until his eyes recognized the house where he grew up that the boy was finally fully awake.

"Yup! Come on, Ryukkun!" Yumiko chirped happily while also taking off her seatbelt. "It is time for you to surprise your family! Good luck, okay?!"