The question not only stumped Kumiko, but also made Higo, who sat behind, stunned for a second. He then narrowed his eyes slightly, finding the casual way Yumiko brought this topic up to be suspicious. It would be a lie if the boy said that he didn’t have any bad feelings here.

"Of course, I still want to. I mean, we have already researched it together, right?" Kumiko, who didn’t find anything wrong, asked confusedly.

Indeed, the source of confusion was valid here. After all, Kumiko and her mother had spent so many hours figuring out which program the girl should aim for, from her interest, the difficulty of the study, the requirement of her grade, to the work prospect and the possible wage itself. It was also Yumiko who suggested this sports science program, so to hear the mother questioning this again put some doubt in the girl’s mind.

"Well, yeah, I suggested that, but the situation is different now..." The woman sighed, showing a hint of tiredness for the first time today. Her gaze was still on the road as she drove, and after waiting for the answer for a while, Kumiko finally got it from her mother’s mouth. "What if you get an opportunity to continue your pursuit in football? I mean, not just from behind the scenes, but still doing the same job as you did right now, being the head coach?"

If anything, though, the question only made the girl more puzzled, staring at her mother as if the older woman had just grown a second head here. As long as she could remember, Kumiko had never heard her mother pay any interest to football, so how could she suddenly say something like this?

"Is there anything wrong here?" Instead of answering, Kumiko threw another question; her tone was cautious.

"... It is just... Someone from the JFA made an informal call about me, wanting to inquire about you." Yumiko finally decided not to beat around the bush. "They said that the federation has a scholarship program for an outstanding female student who is serious about football to be sent to Germany for study, and they said that your name is at the top of the list."

"... Wait, what?"

Kumiko blinked rapidly, trying to process everything here. She also glanced at her mother carefully, trying to detect any hint of playfulness in the woman’s eyes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anything else here, just a pure seriousness as the woman intended to be.

Higo himself was also bewildered here. This was definitely a topic that he had never prepared to listen to before, and the boy himself also thought that this was just some sort of a prank.

"No, Ryukkun, this is not a prank," Yumiko smirked a little when she saw the boy’s incredulous gaze from the rearview mirror. "Someone from the federation indeed tried to get in touch with you, wanting to invite you to their scholarship program. Let’s be real here, you are definitely one of the most inspiring girls in the country right now, and they want to make sure that they can nurture you further for the national team in the future by sending you to Germany, the home of modern football, to study there. They felt like the atmosphere in the Nadeshiko team was not right, and they wanted more young blood to rectify this in the future. So, what do you think?"

Silence...

The whole car suddenly went dead quiet, as the two teenagers stared at the older woman in disbelief. The bomb dropped here was indeed so outrageous that they didn’t know whether this was real or not.

In the end, Kumiko was the one who broke the silence here, asking weakly, "Are you sure that this is legit, Mom?"

"Of course, this is legit. Do you think I will make fun of your future planning?" Yumiko snorted slightly. Her gaze softened in the next second as she added, "Trust me, I have already checked everything, from the man who called me earlier, his contact person, his supervisor, and even the program itself. Everything is clear, no tomfoolery around."

If the atmosphere wasn’t that tense, Higo would snort amusedly at what she said. Tomfoolery... That was definitely the word that they would only find after swiping so many pages in the dictionary.

Hearing that everything was legit, Kumiko’s eyes lit up slightly. It was clear that she was interested here. "So, what is the catch, Mom? What is this program about, and what would I study in German?"

"You will still have to go to the university, and the subject has to be related to football. It can be sports science that you originally want, management, law, or anything else. However, in your free time, you will also have to follow all the courses from the most basic one to get the highest coaching license possible. I heard that it would take about three to five years to complete, and you will also have to go for an internship in one of the local teams there..."

Yumiko started explaining so many things there that even she herself didn’t understand. Everything was explained in the most basic explanation possible, clearly showing the lack of knowledge on the mother’s part. However, it was clear that she was attentive here, getting all the necessary information for her daughter.

"What about my study? I mean, it shouldn’t be easy for me to enter a university in Germany, right?"

"Well, yeah, but you don’t have to worry about that." The woman answered again. "I have checked your grades beforehand, and everything is already above the standard. As long as you can prove your English is sufficient, and you are willing to learn the German Language for at least a year, I don’t think there would be a problem. That person from the JFA also mentioned that they will cover all the costs of your study, so you don’t have to worry about anything else." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The more she heard this, the more Kumiko got hooked on the information. However, the same couldn’t be said of Higo, as the boy was at his most alarmed state right now. Hell, even though he looked calm and composed, his mind was screaming in panic right now, with only one thing lingering inside.

’Wait, if Kumiko-chan went to Germany, what about me?!’