Gakuen

It was a dark and calm morning.

Sho quietly closed the front door to the Shihoin Ryokan, equipped with a sweater, sweatpants with a letter in the back pocket, a fancy digital watch that tells you your heart rate, and a headlamp in hopes of seeing in front of him.

He stood alone in silence, still enveloped by the black of the morning. A sudden circle of light emerged from his head as he turned on his headlamp and started his stopwatch. He slowly jogged out of his residence out onto the street.

The cold wind caressed his face as he continued on his run to a nearby private school 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) from his home and back.

As Sho continued to pace himself, he grabbed the letter from out of his back pocket and slowly read out the sender of the letter.

Shizuoka Gakuen Junior High School located at Omote-sando Avenue

Sho remembers reading about this school in one of his magazines. Shizuoka Gakuen Junior High School is a school famous for its football program. This school is constantly talked about on the internet, football magazines, and even occasionally on the radio.

Since he was within walking distance to Omote-sando Avenue he decided to open and read the letter while walking to the school.

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Dear Shihoin Sho

Congratulations on a job well done. Through your hardwork and determination you have proven to be a student athlete. Suruga's (ward in Shizuoka prefecture) Athletics Foundation wants to recognize and encourage your athletic efforts for years to come.

This is an invitation to Shizuoka Gakuen Junior High School.

Yearly it costs 8,500 dollars (927,010 Yen) but Suruga's Athletics Foundation will pay for half of it. So your parent(s) or guardian(s) will have to pay 4,250 dollars (463,505 Yen) yearly or 12,750 dollars (1,390,515 Yen) for all 3 years of schooling.

Sincerely, Suruga's Athletics Foundation.

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The sun slowly creeped up to Sho as he excitedly finished reading the letter, as he was about to turn back to go home he saw in the distance, a fairly tall built guy in his 40s holding football equipment, walking through the front gate of the school.

He curiously made his way up to the front gate of the school, and almost immediately observed how huge the school truly is. Sho turned off his headlamp and gently tapped the older gentlemen on the shoulder and asked

Sho: "Excuse me, do you work in this school?"

The older gentlemen quickly said

???: "Yeah I do, why do you ask?"

Sho didn't know what to say, but decided to show him his invitation to go to this school.

The older man carefully read it and almost immediately saw the name in the letter and unknowingly grinned.

???: "Well alright how about I give you a rundown about what this school is all about, I'll even show you around."

Both Sho and the unknown man made their way into the school. As they walked into the football locker room the older man pointed out the carpet flooring, and each locker with players names on them. He even showed off the 2 football fields the school had.

The older man pointed out the small details of things he likes about the school and walked Sho towards the cafeteria. In the cafeteria room the older man said

???: "This school just has a junior high school football team. Since we're pretty famous for football, we get a lot of kids trying out for the team. The football team here has 3 strings. We host tryouts every 3 months and are having our first one of the school year in about 2 weeks.

As they were walking back to the front gate to send Sho off, the older man said

???: "The practice at Shizuoka Gakuen Junior High School is tough. We have an excellent coaching staff, and skilled players, which keeps every player on their feet. You don't want to get your spot taken from you."

Sho: " I still don't know if I'll be coming here, we'll see. Thanks for showing me around Mr.

???: Mr. Kataoka.

Sho: "Mr. Kataoka, thank you for the tour. You really sold me on why I should come here, but the final decision falls to my family."

Sho took off his headlamp and put it in his pocket as he raced back home.

Sho shuffled his feet through the gravel driveway as he thought about how to ask to go to this school. He sat at the living room table and patiently waited for Yoruichi to wake up and confront him.

After 30 minutes of waiting Yoruichi slowly walked into the living room and saw Sho impatiently looking into her eyes. He directed her to the chair next to him and placed the letter in front of her.

After hours of talking back and forth, it ended with Yoruichi guiding Sho to the local football field so she can see if he's truly serious about this.

For nearly 2 hours Yoruichi put Sho through the ringer. She'd make him do dribbling drills, nonstop for 30 minutes then kicking practice for another 30 minutes. For the last hour they played 1 on 1. With Sho being so much more exhausted she'd easily steal the ball from his possession and score it. He was both physically and mentally incapable.

As Sho was about to kick the ball into the goal he slipped in a pool of his own sweat. Laying their staring at the deep blue sky.

Yoruichi slowly walked into Sho's vision and said

Yoruichi: "Making sacrifices is tough. The question is what are you willing to sacrifice for your goals?"

Sho hung on every word she said and took it all to heart. He closed his eyes and thought about everything but only came up with one question

'What am I willing to sacrifice? What am I willing to sacrifice? What am I willing to sacrifice? What am I willing to sacrifice?'

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by Yoruichi as she said

Yoruichi: "I'll pay for the 3 years but after that you better get a scholarship. I'm going to put you through hell, from the things you eat to how to train your body.

Sho stayed laying down while happily talking to Yoruichi for another half an hour before she had to leave to get ready for customers.

Before she did, Sho got up and tightly hugged her, quietly saying

Sho: "Thank you for everything."

She responded with an even tighter hug and lovingly ruffled his hair. Sho walked off the pitch with Yoruichi and asked

Sho: "Do you need any help with anything, like doing the dishes or even cleaning?"

She thought for a second before she handed Sho 5000 yen (45 dollars) and a grocery list

Yoruichi: "How about you go to the grocery store around the corner and get whatever's on that list.

Sho: "Alright, I can do that. By the way could I go to Bachira's house tomorrow?"

Yoruichi nodded and went off towards the ryokan. For the rest of the day only one question was on his mind

'What am I willing to sacrifice for my goals?'