Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go belongs to Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata.

Flashback - Bold and Italics

"Speech" - Double Quotes

'Thoughts' - Italics and Single Quotes

Narration - Nothing

Enchanted Curse

Chapter Five - Same Different

An advanced soccer program specialized for Haze Middle School existed, one sponsored by the Japanese Football Association. Receiving an invitation to the Japanese National U-17 Football team was his primary goal, and the first step towards it required entering into Haze Middle School. Those who played for the U-17 usually went on to become pros once they passed the age of seventeen. Preliminaries would be difficult no doubt, but the chance to play against soccer teams from other countries was enough for most people his age.

But Hikaru was not like most people.

Although he was currently attending elementary school, rarely did one get an invitation at his age. That fact did not mean the notion was impossible, just highly unlikely. However, he knew he was at a constant disadvantage, being shorter than average for someone his age. A lack of milk definitely was not the problem, for he actually liked milk quite a lot. Nevertheless, it also meant that he constantly had to make up for his lack of height. Training and exercising became his solution early on, resulting in the creation of his daily morning schedule.

When he started his self-training, his mother fretted on how he could overexert or injure himself. Akari thankfully helped him reassure their mother that he would be fine, and that he needed to work hard to become the soccer professional he envisioned. Afterwards, his sister still took him aside and forced him into a solemn promise to continue maintaining a steady grade. The tight hug she gave him had a slight tinge of desperation or worry, and it made Hikaru wonder whether it was for him, for herself, or both.

So, at the age of nine, Hikaru had gotten into the habit of waking at 6:00 in the morning.

It had been difficult from the start, seeing as how he loved to sleep in, but his determination trumped his lazy tendencies. When he managed to cut down the alarms he used to wake up back down to one, a sense of accomplishment flowed through him that morning. Eventually, his body had gotten so used to waking up every morning that he managed to get up before his alarm would ring.

Then there was soccer club practice.

When spring break started, their coach immediately reconstructed the old training regimen to pave a more rigorous schedule. While there were those who complained slightly, everyone stuck to it to the best of their abilities. Thanks to his schedule, Hikaru had built up his endurance, speed, and maneuverability, so he didn't really mind the extra training. Honestly, he was grateful for it.

He was kind of surprised though. Coach Genta Katsuji was an interesting instructor to say the least. The man was not only creative and easygoing, but his sly nature and firm belief of soccer also made him one to admire. Considering that they were all elementary school students, he wasn't one to push his students too hard. There were physical limitations to being so young, and Coach Katsuji had taken that into consideration. To see a new agenda that could potentially push everyone to their limits was different, if not slightly unexpected. Perhaps Hikaru should have expected it though.

After all, Coach Katsuji would always tell his students with a mischievous smirk: "Soccer's s'pposed ta be fun, but don't skimp on it, ya hear?"

So why did a chill go down his spine at the start of spring break soccer practice?