The Mother Is In the Rescue

He was delighted to discover the ball control upgrading to a B- grade, but then again, he was uncomfortable to find out the most crucial Technical Skill as a striker - Shooting - was still a C+ grade.

As his gaze lingered on the grade of the shooting technical skill, he was itching to upgrade it.

However, as much as he wanted to do so, he managed to restrain himself for now. 

He glanced at his Ego Points, slightly surprised by the amount – 27 Ego Points.

Although he could upgrade three any physical capabilities or technical skill to a B- grade, he realized, at this point, he had to be meticulous in spending his Ego Points.

If upgrading to a B grade already costs 8 Ego Points, how much would it be for an A grade?

Curious, he asked the system.

[The host must find out by himself first.]

That was what the system responded to, causing Aoi to sigh. He knew becoming the best striker in the world was easy.

Perhaps it would be in a prefecture.

Aoi shook his head, perceiving the negativity slowly creeping into his mind, discerning it as a bad sign.

He sighed.

"It's only the first day, and I've already become the best striker in the club. There are still many days to come before the prefectural tournament starts. I can still harvest Ego Points by then."

Aoi mumbled to himself.

To distract himself, Aoi opened the closet and searched for the right clothes for his first date.

He could not help but tremble in excitement.

If Aoi did not possess the memory of a middle-aged man, he would have just chosen the clothes he was comfortable in and be done with it.

Of course, the clothes he was so comfortable in were just a casual gray t-shirt and shorts, seemingly having little effort at all.

However, now that Aoi was not a young man anymore – in mind, of course – Aoi meticulously sought the perfect combination of clothes he wore.

Even then, there was a problem…

"Aside from the uniform, why does this moron only have casual gray and black t-shirts and shorts?"

As Aoi was grumbling in exasperation, he heard the knock on the door. 

He turned and saw it was abruptly opened by his mother, seemingly having a set of clothes on her arm while staring at her son with an ecstatic expression.

"Son! I figured you must not have clothes for your first date! You preferred to keep it casual, after all. So, you told me to discard those fancy attires I bought for you, but I did not! I was hoping you might choose to wear it if we go on vacation, but I did not expect it would come in handy.

You will use it for your first date, at that!

To be honest, if you tell me you are lying right now, I will believe it."

Aoi shrugged helplessly, pacing forward to receive the attire. 

It was a bright yellow polo and blue jeans, a perfect combination for him, or what he thought was a middle-aged man in mind.

He said, "Thank you."

His mother was taken aback, scrutinizing Aoi's expression, as the latter was staring dazedly at the clothes she brought.

She exhaled, feeling a slight relief in his heart.

If she saw her son smiling while thanking him, she would be shocked.

After all, Aoi had always been apathetic; even receiving a thank you from him was the first time she received for… how many years?

She tossed those unnecessary thoughts at the back of her head as she recalled the main reason she intruded on her son's room in the first place.

"Ah, by the way…" She grabbed Aoi's hand, startling the latter, opened it, and placed something on Aoi's palm.

Aoi could feel the surface of the stack of papers on his palm, surprising him, and then staring at his mother with a questioning gaze.

His mother smiled brilliantly and said with an ecstatic tone, "You might be the one to pay for the bills on your date, so I figured of giving you fifteen thousand yen. Don't worry about the money. It's mine."

Aoi was flabbergasted.

He had indeed planned on borrowing money from his parents, but, of course, he did not want the amount to be five digits. Even ten thousand yen would suffice.

Izumi might have grown up as a rich kid, but he knew how humble Izumi was. 

She would even occasionally ask him if he could share his food with her, to which Aoi did not really mind since he was not a gluttonous person. 

In fact, someone eating half of his food saved him from the endless scolding of his mother if he did not finish it.

Furthermore, they would just be dating in a coffee shop anyway. 

From his rough idea of Izumi, she would really just order a coffee that might cost less than a thousand yen, and he would order the same out of respect. By then, he already imagined they would just talk a lot and lots, especially how talkative Izumi was.

He was planning to be just the listener since talking was not his cup of tea.

Feeling the stack of papers on his palm again, as his mother forced him to close his palm, he quickly stopped it.

His mother was startled and glanced at his son while the latter grasped her hand and said, "Fifteen thousand yen is too much. Ten thousand should already suffice. Get this five thousand yen for now."

Not wanting his mother to reject him, he quickly counted five thousand yen, grabbed his mother's other hand, and placed the five thousand yen there. 

To assure his mother, seemingly hesitating and doubting his words, he blinked at her and smiled lightly.

"Don't worry, we will just visit a coffee shop anyway. Knowing here, she might only order a cup of coffee, and we'll just have a conversation. You know how meaningful that is."

His mother was stunned and then nodded enthusiastically.

Her face suddenly formed a mischievous expression, poking her son's cheeks.

"Since when did you know how to be romantic?"

Aoi tilted his head sideways lightly and seriously answered.

"Games."