"It is so good to be able to breathe easily like this...Christmas season here sure is worse than Japan, huh?" Kumiko let out a relieved sigh once they arrived at Higo’s flat. She paused for a second, scanning throughout the whole room in a melancholic mood before muttering, "This should be the first time I come here, right?"
"Yeah, because besides the first game you came to this town, you have been busy with your studies," Higo answered without even blinking, brewing a green tea to warm them up. "Anyway, how is your study? Where is Sakura-chan, by the way? Is she back in Japan? I thought your holiday in this term is quite short?" He barraged the girl with questions.
"Oh, don’t mention her! That traitor!" The girl huffed annoyedly, throwing her body against the comfortable couch in the living room. "Don’t you know that Kawabe-kun is coming here?"
"Wait, what? Really?" Higo raised one of his eyebrows curiously.
"Yeah, the J-League season is finally over, and he has a lot of free time back home. That’s why he comes here to visit his girlfriend." The girl explained, still with a pout on her face. "The problem, though, is that she has the audacity to ask me to go away, so that they can live together in our flat during this period! Can you believe that?!"
Higo choked instantly, looking at the girl in disbelief. ’No wonder Kumiko-chan insisted on spending her holiday here...’ He mumbled lowly. ’Still, a couple sleeping together under one roof... Kawabe-kun sure moves fast, huh?’
"What?!" Kumiko turned quickly, looking at the boy with a sharp gaze. It seemed that Higo muttered it too loudly for his own good.
"N—Nothing!" He couldn’t help but stutter, finding his face so red in embarrassment. However, when the boy thought about it carefully... "A couple living together under the same roof... Isn’t it just exactly like us right now? Are you afraid that I will do something... Naughty?" His eyebrows wiggled mischievously.
Of course, Kumiko realized what he implied straight away. Her face turned red so quickly, and she stammered, "W—What are you talking about?! You wouldn’t dare to do t-that!"
However, there was no anger in her tone, just a girl being so shy at her boyfriend’s suggestive tone.
Of course, nothing really big happened between those two. They still slept in different beds, not daring to cross the line. Even though they had already known each other since they learned how to walk, both Kumiko and Higo were still amateurs in a relationship, still learning a lot of things. It was always better to stay patient, not rushing things up that could make them awkward with each other.
In the end, they just enjoyed their holiday peacefully. Not a single football topic was brought up, and they just talked casually about their daily life. Higo told the story about people in the neighborhood, and in return, Kumiko also told him how her studies went. Then, once they didn’t have any topic to talk about, they would turn on their television, watching the latest show under their warm blanket.
In such a cold winter in Germany, even though no intimate gesture was made, they both were truly at peace, looking like an old couple who had been living together for so many years.
On Christmas Day, they also took their time to call back home, establishing a group call not only with Minami and Ayaka, but also with Kumiko’s big family. Even though they just lived next to each other back in Hakodate, this call made everything feel so festive, soothing their aching heart that started to miss home.
However, at the end of the day, they didn’t go crazy like any other family outside. Christmas was never a big deal in Japan, so those two just spent their time quietly at Higo’s flat, watching the television show about a competition of who could cut a pretzel evenly while also enjoying a bucket of fried chicken.
They only left the comfortable flat on New Year’s Eve, going to a city called Munster a few hours to the north of Gelsenkirchen. Oh, they didn’t go out at night, not wanting to fight against the crowd who celebrated the new year outside.
Right in the morning, though, before the sun could even peek from the horizon, those two teenagers left the hotel room where they stayed, starting to walk in the dark to climb a hill called Baumberge.
At this point, it had already been a tradition for them to climb the highest peak in their city on the very first day of the year, but unfortunately, Gelsenkirchen didn’t have any mountain or hill in the vicinity. Hell, even this Baumberge hill wasn’t that high, just around 190 meters above sea.
Still, it wasn’t about the place itself, but the journey that they took.
"Come on, Ryukkun! We are so close to sunrise time!" Kumiko urged him to walk faster while she grabbed her hiking sticks tighter, speeding up through the dark and stony path in front of them. "I don’t want to miss the first sunrise of the year here!"
"Wait, don’t speed up recklessly, Kumiko-chan!" Higo shouted, panting slightly while also wiping the sweat on his face. He couldn’t help but shiver, finding the weather to be too cold to go out right now, and honestly, the boy was also still quite sleepy, making this hike harder than ever.
"Oh, come on! You are the athlete here, so how could you be the first one to get exhausted?!" Kumiko asked in a mocking tone. "It seems that you have been slacking off during your time on the bench. Shall I ask your physical coach to increase your training portion?"
Higo just grumbled while throwing so many rude hand gestures, trying to keep his breath steady.
Fortunately, the hill was not that high, so it was quite easy to reach the top. Then, when Higo finally arrived, the sun had just started to pop from the horizon, turning the dark sky into a beautiful red hue.
Seeing this, Higo and Kumiko looked at each other for a moment, and a similar smile spread quickly on their face.
"Yay! We did it again!"
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter