BEEP, BEEP, BEEEEEEP…. I let out an annoyed groan as I groggily woke up to the sound of the alarm.
"Uuugh… It's 5:30… Why do I have to be up so early…?" I get up and head to the bathhouse.
When I walked in, I saw Shiro already in the water. "Hey Namo! The water's still warm, and there's space for the two of us!" This guy had too much energy at a time like this… no wonder why Daki always slaps the goof off his face.
I get in the water, and the relaxing water soothes my body. "Ahhhh…. That feels nice… really nice~" I say while slowly getting comfortable in the water.
Shiro chuckles and shakes his head, "Hah! You look like a floating log in the water! Do you need some soap?" He suddenly puts a bar of soap on my floating chest, and I begin to wash up with it.
"Thanks… why are you up so early?" I say while lathering the soap onto my body under the water.
Shiro taps his chin as if in thought, "Chief Asami likes us to be up very early so we can train the lower ranks."
He paused before sighing.
"She says the earlier we're up, the more our brains can process throughout the day, which I find is a load of dango because I sometimes can't even remember what I ate for breakfast most of the time…"
I nod slowly, and I dump some water on my head to wash the suds out. "Are you going to teach me some things down at the obstacle course? And is Daki going to teach me some things down at the archery field?
Shiro nods, grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping it around his body, "Absolutely! You're one of the elites, so you're most definitely going to be taught everything you know, man!"
I grin and quickly nod, "Alright, that's awesome! What do I start with first?"
Shiro points at himself, "You will be starting on my training! Chief put me first because it will get energy pumping throughout your body when you first start your day."
Shiro then ruffles my hair before walking out of the bathhouse, "See ya on the field, rookie!" I grab a towel and wrap it around my body, and I dry off my hair.
After getting out of the bathhouse, I changed into the kimono the S.S.D.L. supplied me with yesterday, and I went down to eat breakfast with the others.
There were a few lower-ranked samurai who were chatting about their own things, and others who were just enjoying their breakfast.
I grab my breakfast, and I sit by myself. Unlike yesterday, Ms. Asami, Daki, and Shiro were all most likely getting ready, and I'm just sitting here, eating taiyaki for breakfast.
I take a bite into the taiyaki, and I turn it around, looking at its half-eaten fish head. "If I want to prove myself to Ms. Asami and the others that I can be a worthy samurai, I must first believe in my strengths. Mom was a strong fighter, why can't I be just like her…?" I mutter to the poor taiyaki.
This already looks bad, because now all of the lower ranks are watching a soon-to-be elite, MUTTERING to a taiyaki.
That's when I feel a tap on my shoulder, and Daki waves at me with a side grin. "Mornin' Namo-Kun! Why are you talking to your taiyaki like some psycho?" She says while tilting her head.
I let out a sheepish chuckle as I set the taiyaki down, "Oh, uhm… I was just thinking about some things. You know, about me being useful to the league and stuff?"
Daki rolls her eyes and takes a bite of her breakfast before waving her chopsticks in my face. "Here we go again… what did I tell you yesterday? You shouldn't worry about what the Chief said. You're letting her words make you go insane…"
She swallows her food before continuing.
"Even though I only met you two days ago, I already consider you a friend, so take my words seriously when I say this. Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't capable of anything. Once your mind focuses on your doubts for too long, that's when they really start happening."
For someone as young and annoying as Daki… her words really hit me hard. She's right, I have been focusing on my doubts too much, and that's probably why I still haven't found myself yet.
"Daki… thank you so much…"
I gave her a hug for the very first time, which of course made her tense up. "Careful, Namo-Kun, I don't want you to catch feelings on the job~" She said in a playful, teasing yet flirty tone.
I quickly let go and cleared my throat, "S-Sorry! I shouldn't have-" Suddenly, a bell rings, signaling that training sessions are about to begin.
"C'mon, Namo-Kun, I don't want Chief getting pouty again…" Daki and I make our way to the field where Ms. Asami is already standing.
"You two barely made it on time. Namo, it's time for your first training session with Shiro." Ms. Asami said in her usual emotionless tone.
I start stretching, and I prepare to start the training; however, I don't see Shiro anywhere… until I see him jumping off the large obstacle course with a twirling flip and landing like some sort of superhero.
"Hello, class! Welcome to S.S.D.L. Training 101! I'm your instructor, Mr. Shiro, and today we'll-"
Before he could finish, Daki threw a pebble at the back of his head with annoyance, "Just get on with it already, you idiot!"
Shiro yelps and holds the back of his head in pain. "Okay, okay! You don't have to be a damn barbarian…"
Daki gets even angrier and was about to hit Shiro again, but Ms. Asami just holds her back with one hand, knowing it's not even worth the time.
Shiro clears his throat, "As I was saying… Welcome to your first day of training, Namo! First, we're going to start with some simple stretches!" Shiro begins to stretch his arms out, then his legs.
"A nice stretch makes it easier to move around while exercising, so that your body doesn't stiffen up," Shiro says while cracking his back.
I follow his lead, doing everything he instructed me to. So far, I haven't run into any trouble, but little did I know, this was only the beginning.
After a few stretches, Shiro shakes his arms. "Nice job, now it's time for the mainstream exercises! This includes push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc." Hearing this already made me want to pass out. I was never used to this much exercise in one day, and I'm already tired.
"How many of those do I have to do?" I say with a bit of wariness. Shiro chuckles as if he can see through my expression, "Well, since it's your first day, I guess we can do 10 of each. But on day two and forward, we'll be doing over… fifty to a hundred."
This time, I actually did pass out from hearing how much I had to do.
A few hours later, I'm sprawled out on the ground, covered in sweat and on the verge of passing out again.
Shiro walks up to me and offers a towel to wipe off the sweat. "I told you it wouldn't be easy, man… my training is the second hardest." He says while shrugging his shoulders.
I can only look up at him and groan. "Man, I wonder how it was for those higher-ups of yours. Speaking of them, I haven't seen them yet. Where are they?"
Shiro gave me a confused look as if I asked where Atlantis was. "What are you talking about? WE ARE the higher-ups. We're the only ones with abili-"
Suddenly, Shiro just realized that he nor the other two told me that the higher-ups were the SAME PEOPLE WHO PRACTICALLY KIDNAPPED ME FROM MY HOME AND FORCEFULLY RECRUITED ME TO THE DEFENSE LEAGUE…
"Oops…" Shiro said sheepishly. Sometimes... Sometimes I wish I could smack the goof off
his face.