Clawed & Flawed: A Nekoma Story

Chapter 17

Tuesday – 12 P. M.

He was woken up by the loud ringing of the school bell. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was violently greeted by a strong ray of sunshine. Kuroo sat up straight in a haste and looked around. Students had started to clear out of the class, and he saw Yaku smirking at him. He looked down at the empty page in his journal and up at his female classmate.

"Had a nice nap? You can borrow my book. Some of the words are in English, but I think you'll manage," she threw her book on his desk.

"What? Why did you let me sleep the whole time? How did no one notice?" he was baffled.

"I don't think they expected anyone to be sleeping. So, they didn't check. And you looked so comfortable, I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"When did you even get here?"

"Um, eight something? I walked all the way to school in a raincoat and got changed into my uniform when I got here. I thought I'd be late, but there was no teacher when I came. That was a relief."

"She was teru teru bōzu!" Yaku pointed.

"Excuse me?!" Shiro furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't have any umbrellas and the store near my house ran out of it."

"But the rain did stop when you arrive. Maybe you're not human after all, yokai-chan."

"Whatever, I'm hungry. Shall we go? I have some idea for the physical training and scenario practices."

"I'm still in a daze," Kuroo drank water out of his bottle.

"No shit, let's go. Get your blood pumping," the white-haired girl pulled him out of his chair. "Let's go! You owe me chocolate milk for a week, remember?"

The captain groaned as he stretched his arms out, "You're taking advantage of my kindness, yokai-chan. Don't you feel bad for your senpai?"

"Why are you complaining if you do it out of kindness? Besides, I let you get few hours of extra sleep to compensate for how hard I'm gonna make you work later."

"Oh yeah. Make him do back workouts. How are you gonna intimidate our opponents if you don't look the part?"

"Yakkun, I know you're confident in your ability to make people uncomfortable just by looking at them. My apologies, I'll try to come close to your greatness."

The two third years scowled at each other as Shiro strolled behind cheerfully; taking pictures of her silly classmates.

Tuesday – 3:30 P. M.

The whole team lined up according to their BMI in a descending order. Kuroo and Shiro stood side by side in front of the white board in the physical training gym.

"Alright! We all know what we're supposed to do today. Nekomata-sensei is not in school today, and Shiro will be presenting a new training regimen that she had calculated and formulated for each and one of you," he instructed as Shiro distributed a bundle of paper to them.

"Ah~" Tora hugged the paper as the manager passed him.

"What a weird noise," Yaku cringed.

The captain glared at the cause of the nuisance and put his hands on his hips.

"Our new manager had put herself in such trouble to produce those very detailed documents. If any of you have any questions, she will be happy to assist you with them. But, if you have any nonsensical comment or complain, I would gladly put an ease to your pain."

Though the words flew out of his mouth with a smile, they knew the true meaning and intention behind his tone. Obliging with the latter would only lead to humiliation and tears. Complaining about one's incapability was like an invitation to let Kuroo shamelessly insult them.

"No complains? I've read some of them. They looked pretty rough and taxing. Are you guys sure? Yamamoto?"

"Ehehe... Shiro-chan typed all of these herself. I must not disappoint her. I'm sure it's all for our own good, since we're aiming to reach the national stage," he blabbered.

"Good answer. Let's get to today's training day. Start with the usual stretches and warmups. Take turns to use the machine and cool down once you're done. Everything else should be written in your booklets. Anything you want to add?"

"The clippings are meant to be used as personal journal. A new plan will be in place once you've gotten used to this one. I will alter them according to your performance, result, and BMI. Write down a feedback or how you think you performed everyday and submit them to me. It's important for me to know the well-being of my players.

That being said, I'm confident that every one of you will be able to finish today's requirement. So, I don't want to see anyone slacking off. This was meant to push you to your limit without endangering your body. You have the next two hours. Space them out to your own pace. And no extra reps is needed. This should be sufficient. Don't forget to hydrate."

"Well said. Now let's not waste any more time. Chop-chop," Kuroo clapped.

Everyone began with their warmup and workout plan. Shiro went around to help out with their form or answer any inquiry. She took the liberty of filling up the bottle with electrolyte water and brought them fresh towels. Even Kenma the sweat-hater seemed to be doing well with his routine. On the other hand, the manager had to stop Tora from overexerting himself.

Though he said that he could go for more, she was forced to prevent the athletes from over-doing and straining themselves. The regimen was devised to allow the follower to feel at ease while conducting them. But once they were done with it, the soreness and pain would hit them all at once. Muscle buildup and stamina training were the main menu of the month.

It was crucial to ensure they were able to keep up the fight through long rallies and full sets. As a strong defensive team, Nekoma was required to outwit and outdo their opponents in terms of strategy, stubbornness, and endurance. A strong foundation was the key to a strong construction.