Chapter Text
A boy named Isagi Yoichi was borned timid. He gets scared at the sound of the kettle boiling, a dog on a walk, a cicada’s cast-off skin, a teddy bear and the sight of mosquitos. He is a boy who is sensitive enough to notice the change in the sky, the smell of the air, the moisture in the wind, the scudding clouds and can sense if it's about to rain or not. A boy named [Isagi Yoichi] was blessed with a wide field of vision, high spatial awareness, eyesight, kinetic vision, sense of smell, hearing, and skin sensitivity which will lead him to the success of his life of soccer.
At the age of four, the turning point for his life came. He went to watch the J-League football match together with his father who received the tickets from a friend. While watching how the players play football, he thinks to himself, ‘I want to play soccer too…’.
For the first time in his life, Isagi Yoichi has obtained something he wants to do from the bottom of his heart.
And on the way back home, Isagi asked to buy a soccer ball to his parents whom they agreed and buy it immediately. Both of the parents were so happy that their son who is very timid and shy asked for something for the first time and decided to support whatever their son wants to do.
From that day on, Isagi asked his parents to send him to soccer lessons, and when there was a live soccer game on, he would sit and watch it on TV. He plays soccer all the time during his lunch break and after school. He made friends through soccer, and Isagi, who used to be a crybaby, became more and more active. Even so, his timid and quiet personality does not change. He never gets into fights with his friends and never disobeys his teachers. He is athletic, but not very good in his studies, a simple boy who loves to play soccer. Isagi has always been that mob character until one day, when he was 6 years old, something astounding happened. Through the TV, he met a player. It was the young Noel Noa, who scored goals without ever changing a single facial expression.
He thought Noel Noa was so cool and aimed to be like him one day. He spent every day practising, filling his mind with Noel Noa's soccer.
‘One day, I will represent Japan and score a goal in the World Cup Finals and become the best striker in the world!’, he always thought while playing soccer.
Isagi Yoichi’s life was very blessed, having supportive parents, a nice childhood, good friends who always played soccer with him together. But life is cruel and unfair for everybody. And for Isagi too, he faced the cruelty of his life for the first time at the age of 7 .
Isagi suddenly collapsed on his way to bathe one night. He was immediately rushed to hospital to get treatment. At the hospital, he got tested by the doctor but found nothing except having a slight fever. But that slight fever is not severe enough for a person to faint so the doctor asked Isagi’s parents to do a detailed check-up on Isagi. So, after Isagi woke up the next morning, he underwent a detailed medical check-up which the result will be out in three hours.
“Don’t worry! Our Yocchan is a strong boy so there won’t be anything wrong”, Isagi’s dad reassured his wife who is peeling an apple for Isagi who is sitting on the hospital bed.
“Of course! It might be due to fatigue. Yocchan has been playing soccer everyday so his little body just collapsed when he got a slight fever.” his mom answered with a smile.
But Isagi, being a sensitive boy, noticed the worries in both of his parents’ expressions.
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“Eh….? What do you mean…….doctor?” Isagi’s mom, Iyo, asked shakily to the doctor, who luckily happened to be their neighbour since Isagi was a baby.
“Yocchan is diagnosed with the disease called Motor Neurone Disease , a rare disease which slowly degenerates the human nerve systems. The cure for this disease is … not found at the moment..” the doctor, named Arata, answered with a sad face. Yoccan is a boy who he has known since he started working as a doctor.
The boy is very timid and scared of people but strangely, when he met Arata, he smiled brightly at him which surprised both him and his parents.
“Oh my!! Our Yocchan must really like Arata-kun. He is usually not good with people he meets for the first time.” Isagi’s mom told Arata.
Arata, who was an orphaned boy, got help from the Isagi married couple in many ways since he moved next to them, thinks of the Isagis as his own family. So, when their first child, Isagi Yoichi was born, he immediately thought of him as his own little brother who he will always be there for if he needs help.
Now, the little boy is diagnosed with a rare disease in which the cure is not even found yet…
“Arata-kun, what do you mean the cure is not found yet..?” Iyo asked Arata.
“This disease is usually inherited from the genetic but I believe both uncle and aunty don't have the disease so it’s a rare case for Yocchan. Only 2 in 100,000 people develop this Motor Neurone Disease each year and unfortunately, the cause of it has not been found yet..” Arata answered.
“Then, what will happen to our Yocchan from now on..?” Iyo asked again.
“Motor Neurone Disease affects the human’s motor system, which is made up of the nerves and cells in the brain and spinal cord that control muscles. Over time, these cells will gradually stop working, which leads to muscle weakness and wasting….” Arata explained.
“....And… the lifespan for the patient since diagnosed is … 10 years” he finished.
There is silence in the room. And slowly, sobs from Iyo were heard. Her husband, who was also in tears, just comforted her without saying anything and Arata too, just watched the couple with a very sad face.
‘How could this kind of misfortune happen to the kind-hearted family…’ he thought to himself.
Little did they know, outside of the doctor’s room stood Isagi with his back on the door.
‘10 years…’, he thought.
Isagi Yoichi was forced to grow up at the age of 7….
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Isagi returned back to his house together with his parents that evening. There were normal conversations between him and his parents but a strange unexplainable atmosphere was there. Of course, Isagi noticed it and even if he didn’t notice, he could see the redness under both his parents’ eyes.
“Then, I will return to my room and rest” Isagi told his parents and returned to his room.
After he closed the door, he slid down on the door slowly. After sitting there without doing anything for a while, he got up and changed his clothes. Then, he sat on his bed and took the magazine with Noel Noa cover on it and looked at it for a long time.
“What should I do from now on… with only 10 years remaining, will I still be able to represent Japan..” he said to himself, tearing slowly sliding on his cheeks. He never thought his dream would be forced to end like this.
He removed the tears roughly and made a decision.
“What if I have only 10 years left. I will make use of this 10 years and make a name for myself! If I can’t make it in time to represent Japan in the World Cup, I will represent Japan in the U20 World Cup!” he thought to himself.
That night, he confronted and confessed to his parents that he knows about his situation, how he has little time left compared to a human’s normal lifespan and explained how he wants to achieve his dream in this short time.
His parents, understanding and supportive as always agreed with him and promised they will respect and support whatever decisions he makes. They all cried to their hearts’ content that night. And for the first time in a while, Isagi fell asleep in his parents arms thinking to himself that he is really blessed to be borned as his parents’ son.
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