Kumiko's words were enough to slap Higo awake.
'Yeah, even though the others give up already, I cannot really do that, right?' He smiled wryly. 'What is it that Aya-nee said in the past? Oh, yeah, the road to greatness is always full of loneliness. I cannot follow the crowd blindly just because it is the easiest path here.'
With that thought in mind, Higo abandoned his previous attitude of just strolling around, wanting to try as hard as he could. At least, even though he would only embarrass himself, the boy would receive a great lesson from the best team in the country.
He also didn't have any illusion that working harder would motivate the other players to do so. After all, this was not a high school anymore, and everyone here was professional. They all had their own priority, so there was no way they would be swayed by a little attitude here. If anything, they just scoffed at Higo secretly, looking down on the boy when he was not around.
