Chapter 957: Visiting an Old Friend (II)

Well, it didn’t take a long time before the door was opened. There, a Japanese little girl, around ten years old, coming with her nose red probably from the cold, and when she saw him there, the girl couldn’t help but squeal in joy.

"Ryu-nii! You are here!"

"Oh! Calm down, Chiaki-chan!" Higo laughed as he picked up the girl who was jumping straight at him. "How are you doing? You haven’t been a naughty girl for your dad, right?" He asked teasingly.

"Oh, she is a menace, that little monster." This time, a middle-aged man popped in with a chuckle, finding the scene to be quite amusing. "Always demanding to go out, not knowing the world is so close to the apocalypse right now."

"Rawr!" The little girl roared while showing her tiny claw when she heard the word ’monster’ coming out of her father’s mouth, enough to make the two adults laugh.

"Well, it is good to see you again, Koji-san. Where is your wife, anyway?" Higo asked.

"Still inside, preparing the food. Come in, come in!" The man invited, and Higo followed as he took off his shoes while still carrying the little girl at the same time.

Yeah, right now, he was in Koji Yabu’s residence. For those who forgot about him, the man was a native Hakodate who had been Higo’s fan since the World Cup U-20 two years ago, and they had been chatting with each other for a long time even before this.

The man was also a regular presence at the Veltins Arena last year; he and the girl, at least.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to go back and support the team this year due to the pandemic, but they still showed their support to Higo with one or two short chats before almost every game that he played this season.

Then came the invitation yesterday, which also arrived at the best time when Higo had nothing to do.

That was why he was willing to drive across the city to be here, meeting a friend that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

"Dear, Ryusuke-kun is here!" Koji Yabu called.

Higo couldn’t help but blink when he saw the man’s wife. Honestly, she looked like a model coming out of television, what with her tall figure and that smile that could hypnotize all the men in the vicinity.

The contrast created by her humble appearance, wearing an apron while also cooking something in the kitchen, made her look more stunning than ever.

"Uh... Ah! This is the first time we meet, right? My name is Ryusuke Higo. Thank you for allowing me to be here!" Higo bowed politely, blushing a little at the awkward stutter earlier.

"Ah! My name is Misaki Yabu; it is nice to meet you as well!" The woman giggled merrily. "Thank you for always taking care of our little monster whenever she went to the stadium, by the way. She sure loves being carried around the stadium to greet the other people."

"Yeah, yeah! I can see a lot of people waving at us!" Chiaki waved her tiny hands while still being held in Higo’s grasp, trying to chime in to the conversation.

Higo chuckled once again before he finally remembered, "OH! I also brought gifts in the car! Please, wait for a second!"

"Gift!" Chiaki’s eyes lit up when she heard the keywords, jumping instantly and scampering around to follow her brother outside.

Both Koji Yabu and his wife just smiled and shook their head exasperatedly. However, their shock was palpable when, in the next second, their daughter came back squealing while carrying a huge box that was even bigger than her body.

"Dad! Dad! Look at this!" She grinned, showing off the box. "It is from Frozen! Look, Anna is here!"

"Ryusuke, you don’t have to do that!" Koji gasped, picking up the box and examining it thoroughly. "It should be expensive, right?"

"Eh, don’t worry about it. Don’t you guys know how profitable being a professional footballer is?" Higo grinned, waving off the concern nonchalantly.

"Anyway, I also got more things for you! Here!" He handed another bag to the wife, who was still looking at everything in disbelief.

After that, the family checked everything that Higo brought for them, and the boy couldn’t help but feel satisfied with the reaction they showed right now.

"Oh! This is the snack that I used to have when I was just a child! I cannot believe that this still exists nowadays!"

"Wait, is that the A5 wagyu that is only sold in the best steakhouse in the town? How could you get one?!"

"Mama! Look, the cake is so beautiful! Can I have a piece?!"

They were all clearly enjoying all the gifts here. However, in the end, Koji just looked at Higo with a solemn expression.

"We really appreciate everything here, Ryusuke, but after this, you don’t have to bring us anything whenever you come here."

"Yes, Ryusuke." Misaki also nodded; her eyes were clear as she stared at him with a serious gaze.

"I know that you mean well, but we don’t want to get used to this and take advantage of you in the future. If you want to bring a gift, don’t go overboard, okay? Keep it modest, not just for yourself, but for us as well."

When Higo heard this, he just rubbed the back awkwardly. Honestly, this scenario had never crossed his mind on the road earlier, but when the boy thought about it carefully, he knew where the family was coming from on this part.

"Yeah, sorry, I don’t really think about it before. I will try to be more careful in the future." He nodded.

The couple’s gazes softened in a heartbeat, knowing that indeed, Higo meant well here. It also helped that their girl was basically enjoying the LEGO, starting to take them out of the box and build them on the spot.

"Oh, well, it is what it is. Come on, let’s forget about this and have lunch first!"