The annoying high pitched ring of Enna’s phone buzzed right near her ear, she stirred in her soft bed, her thin summer blanket tangled around her legs from a night of violent kicking, her mouth twitched as she unwillingly woke, her eyes opened only halfway as though they weren’t ready to face the day ahead, well… its more of a night ahead.

Enna let out a yawn as soft and subtle as a newborn pups and stretched her thin pale arms far above her head as the phone continued buzzing away. Her eyes shot down at the phone, a spiteful hatred now looming behind them.

I wish this stupid thing would stop waking me up, I hate the sound of this new alarm, do I even really need to be up at this time?

She snapped up the phone and turned the alarm she had set off, her head turned to look out of the open window in her room, the moon was bright tonight but barely a star could be seen as much as she searched for one.

That’s light pollution for you, this stupid blanket is always so hard to get off in the morning!

She span her legs out of bed, struggling for a moment as she untangled the blanket that had kept her so warm, free from the bed her feet slipped into two fluffy and warm slippers that were styled like red foxes. Enna exhaled a long cold breath out of her chest and gazed down at her mobile.

It’s 11pm already?! I’m going to miss practice at this rate, huh what’s this?

She looked at the unexpected notification on her phone, she had been tagged in a post on Twipper, her thumb swiped the message and the app opened up showing the post that Becknam had tagged her in.

“Just got into Grandmaster, Enna better catch up or I’ll be coming for her spot on Team Usagi.”

That little BASTARD! How dare he even… I’ll show him, little dumb loser, he’s not even that good, I bet he mains one of those easy characters like Kale or something!

Enna locked her phone, her nose twitching with frustration, she had recently been kicked out of grandmaster rank on the popular MOBA Championship of Cheers and had been moved down to just master rank, she was sure it wasn’t her fault, her teammate had been feeding the whole game and no matter how many times she told him to back off he just kept charging into lost fights, she played perfectly…

He’s right though, a pro player in master rank, the coach won’t let me stay on the team if I don’t rank up soon, I better get not waste any time.

Enna stood and grabbed her white dressing gown, sliding her arms into the sleeves and tightening the drawstring around her waist, the soft cotton felt good against her now cold skin and put a small smile on her face.

Heading out of her room, closing her door as quiet as she could, trying not to wake her roommates, she really didn’t want to deal with Eli grilling her about dropping down to master rank, she’d have her practising against bots for hours…

She moved down the stairs and passed Elis door, sweat dripped down her four head, her lip trembled, the nerves in her stomach threatened to burst her open like a fireball spell would blow up a low level hero in Championship of Cheers.

One more foot step and I’m in the clear… I just… have to… get past Riko…

The small Shih Tzu that lay on the ground in front of Elis rooms began to open its eyes, there was no slow waking like there was with Enna, the dogs eyes opened so quick it was like he has never been sleeping and it stared deep into her eyes, Enna raised her hands to give the dog a pet, hoping that would lull the dog back into a deep slumber.

“Hey Riko… why don’t you lay your head down and…”

“Bawwwwwwwwwwwww!”

The dog yelled at the top of its lungs, shot up from the bed and began running circles around Enna wagging its tale as though this was some sort of game, Enna did not think it was a game, she was worrying for her life right now.

Slam!

Elis door rocketed open, crashing hard against the wall, stood proud and proper as she always did and brimming with energy Eli looked wide eyed at Enna shaking with fear, her skin went cold, like it does during the jump scares of horror movies.

“Hey Eli, I was just gonna grab some breakfast would you like some…”

Elis head tilted, the blood curdling smile that grew across her face made Enna’s heart race, Riko had betrayed her, this was it, she tensed her body and closed her eyes preparing to face whatever horror Eli had planned.

I’m too young to die please don’t kill me…

Elis face turned red, she inhaled a deep breath, clearly preparing to give Enna a stern telling off for her failures, it looked as though her face would burst as she began to shout.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Oh breakfast? You have time to eat but you don’t have time to stay in GRANMASTER?! Do think my job as a coach is a joke? Do you think I make us get up this early for fun? Get your butt back up those stairs and pop it in your chair, I want to see you in practising against bots when I get up those stairs with your food! Go! Go! Go!”

Enna couldn’t move faster, she scrambled for the stairs, nearly losing one of her slippers as she raced to her room slamming the door behind her, too frightened to worry about if she woke up her other room mates, she stood there, her back pressed against the closed door, trying to catch her breath as a drop of sweat dripped off her nose.

The speed in which her chest rose and fell began to slow as the safety of her room began to bring comfort from the hellish Eli who resided down stairs.

Eli was Enna’s E-sports coach, she’s one of the best in the industry but is known for being ruthless when it comes to failure, she has each of her players on a strict diet and practice schedule, the difference between Enna and all of the other players Eli coached is that they don’t have to live with her…

Theres no time to fear what my failures breakfast will look like, probably plain rice and cabbage…

Determination washed over Enna’s face, she settled her body with a single breath and swung open her wardrobe, for a day of training like this she would need the proper gear.

I’m not messing around today, I better break out the big guns.

She reached inside, grabbing the powerful artefacts that waited within, her white rabbit hair clips to keep her hair out of her eyes whilst she maintains focus, a light pink pyjama set that was soft and cooling but offered maximum flexibility, and the rabbit slippers that she kept for special occasions.

Now fully dressed and prepared for the night ahead she moved over to her desk, covered in anime figures and merchandise for popular cartoons and video games, sitting down in her large comfortable chair she turned on the foot heater that she kept below her desk and clicked the power button on her PC.

The neon lights began to power on, brightening the dark desk with a pink warmth, the shine from her screen hurt her eyes a little as they adjusted to the now illuminated bedroom, her slender fingers clicked away at her keyboard as she login into Championship of Cheers, the sound a bell rang in her headphones indicating that she was now ready to play.

She looked longly at the button labeled “play online” but didn’t want to deal with Elis anger and so she instead clicked “play against A.I.” and began to load into the game, settling herself as she saw the banner around her profile picture that showed her position in the pathetic master rank.

Pfft, I’m only in the top 1% of players now… Becknam better just wait, I’ll kick him out of ranked completely as soon as I get back in the zone…

All the bots loaded into the game and she chose fireball as her starting ability, she always chose fireball, it had the most damage and exploded into a large radius of damage but it’s pretty hard to line up the spell of a kill.

Prepare to die to stupid bots, I feel sorry for you poor A.I. playing against the masterful Enna, the greatest hero this game has ever seen!

click

click, click, click, click

The sound of Enna’s mouse echoed in her silent room, the occasional tap of her keyboard was the only thing breaking the repetitive noise.

As she played through the game, she dominated, bots aren’t very hard to play against but it allows players to practise using their abilities, they can focus completely on their own gameplay so when they play against real people they are far more prepared.

To win a game of Champions of Cheers you need to destroy the enemy teams mana crystal, which is well protected right next to their spawn point, you need to kill enemy players to gain xp and unlock better and more powerful abilities, as soon as you get the opportunity, you charge for the enemy mana crystal and try do as much damage as possible and get out before the enemy’s spawn again.

Enna obliterated the whole enemy team in a single fireball, and charged for the enemy mana crystal, she had so much xp at this point that she easily chipped away at the last few hit points that the mana crystal held onto, causing it to explode in a plume of blue smoke.

“Hell yeah! Easy as pie.”

The door swung open, so hard Enna feared it would come clean off its hinges, standing at the entrance to her room was Eli, holding a wooden breakfast tray, a warm and sweet smell rose from the tray finding its way into Enna’s nostrils and the saliva began to pool in her mouth.

“Breakfast smells amazing, I worried you were gonna have me plain rice and cabbage again.”

“Don’t be silly, you’ve got a full twenty hours of training ahead of you, we gotta keep those spirits up, it must have been a punch in the gut being moved down a rank so here.”

Eli placed the wooden tray on Enna’s desk, moving some of the figures as she did so, the feast that lay in front of her had Enna’s eyes glistening with hunger, a stack of thick pancakes coated in a golden coat of syrup, a large steamy mug of coffee and honey and colourful bowl of fruits awaited her taste.

“There is one thing before you dig in though Enna.”

“Yeah sure, what is it?”

At this point Enna was half listening, far too focused on the meal in front of her, Eli placed her finger under Enna’s chin and rose her head so she could face her, the soulless look behind Elis eyes sucked the warmth and light out of the room and Enna’s scared, wide eyes shook with distress.

Oh my god she’s going to kill me, she looks like she’d enjoy it too.

“If you don’t get back into grandmaster, I will kill you with my bare hands and you will be off the team…”

“You can’t kick me off the team! I’m one of the best players!”

Eli clicked her tongue in disapproval, looking down at Enna as though was a tiny little bug begging for its life.

“Silly little Enna you think that matters? To have a player on the honourable Team Usagi in master rank, that just can’t be now can it?”

Enna knew she shouldn’t answer that questions, she knew she was right but didn’t want to admit it, her eyebrows furled, she wasn’t one to give up, she had made it all the way to grandmaster before she could do it again, she grabbed her spoon as though it was a glorious and legendary sword, pointing it at Eli.

“You just wait and see, I’ll be in grandmaster by the end of the week and I’ll even do it without a single loss!”

Elis mood changed like a light switch, a comforting, caring smile let the warmth back into the room and a sweet blush reddened her cheeks.

“That’s what I like to hear from my little champion, now go get ‘em!”

With a smile and a nod brimming with confidence, Enna turned to her beautifully crafted breakfast and jammed her spoon into the pancakes, shoving the sweet spoonfuls down her throat a little too quick.

“ECHHHH AECHHH!”

Eli smacked Enna’s back saving her from the piece of pancake that blocked her airway.

“Don’t die before you win me a championship.”

I just nearly died and all you care about is me winning? Butt head…