The morning had barely begun when Renji stirred awake. The world outside still lay in darkness, the faint glow of dawn yet to break across the horizon. His alarm had not even rang; his body moved on discipline alone. The clock read at 4:00 AM.
He rose without hesitation. As per Shin's approval, he will train with him. He agreed to his invitation to train with Renji's own personal basketball training.
Each step echoed softly against the empty streets.
His breath formed faint clouds in the cold air, but his pace remained steady. His mind was already working, analyzing, planning, and refining their training drills. He had watched them long enough. He knew what they lacked. More importantly, he knew what they already had.
He will train with Shin so he goes to their meeting place. He went to get his ball and then his sweater. Then jogged to their nearby local court. He will train him with his own training regimen... And so, he was excited. As per his observation, he will train them on what they have lacked. Renji will train their strengths as May will train their weaknesses.
They met in the local court and Shin was not alone, he was with others. Renji was surprised to see them..... Aizawa, Xin, Jin, Shin, and Shiki.
"Well.....Hello hello, I did not expect others to be here." Renji said with a warm smile.
"Well, I invited others and so they are here," Shin said.
"I didn't know you had convincing powers! Hahaha, well enough chat, let's get warmed up." Renji then instructed them to get ready.
He made them warm up with exercises of push ups, sit ups, side steps, and jog as a start.
They all went to have sweat trickled on their faces. And so they all wiped them.
Then they will have specialized training from Renji..... And so this will be it. Renji then made instructions to them and they all listened.
"Jin, you've got the power to dunk. That's your weapon," Renji said. "But you're not maximizing it. You'll do sit-ups and demi rolls, to build control for your slashes toward the basket. It'll be effective. Just trust me."
Jin nodded, already dropping down to begin.
Renji turned.
"Shin and Aizawa. You two will be pairs for now." Both responded immediately.
"Shin, you focus on shooting. Aizawa, rebounds. Fifty repetitions. Shoot, rebound, reset. Then rest… and repeat."
"Xin, you're the passer," Renji said. "So you train passing with me." Renji bounced the ball once.
"We go back and forth in a quick and precise pass. You adjust to movement. I'll mirror you."
"Shiki." Shiki then met his gaze.
"You're the playmaker. You handle the flow. Dribble, create space, then pass to Xin. From there, he executes the assist."
Renji stepped into position. "I'll take the role of scorer."
Renji wanted to replicate his passes so he volunteered to observe and learn....
They soon trained as they were told so, and they all treated it seriously. They all made their practice and learnings etched into their mind and muscle memories.
Shiki managed to learn passes that were timed and forced the ones passed with to shoot prescisely. Jin was faster to slash and could leap higher and faster. Xin could pass effortlessly and Aizawa managed to learn effective rebounds. Shin shoots more refined now and Renji managed to learn the most out of them. Just by observing, he could replicate more simple moves.
Maybe his copycat eyes were being itching to awaken. But not yet in a prodigy level.
He made them learn how to make the most of their skills and so an entire hour went by.
They all looked done in and so they were invited by Renji to the nearby convenience store.
By the end, their movements slowed. Their breaths grew heavy. Their bodies ached.
They were exhausted.
Renji clapped his hands once.
"Good work," he said. "Let's go."
They looked at him, confused. "Where?" Asked Shin.
"To the convenience store," he added with a small grin.
No one argued but they were excited. They walked the streets and then were breathing warm steamy breaths.
Moments later, they stepped inside, greeted by a rush of cool air-conditioning. The sudden contrast made them sigh almost in unison.
The place felt oddly comforting. They wandered briefly, eyes scanning shelves and glass refrigerators filled with food and drinks. It was simple, but after that training, it felt like a reward. They were more excited than normal to eat and drink after the tiresome training. They were even told by Renji to even eat lots of protein and carbs so they will be growing in muscle mass and strengths.
"There are two types of the ones who goes to the gym. The ones who build muscle mass and looks like a body builder. And another type which was on muscle strength, those were the athletic ones." Renji explained.
"Ah I see," some of them nodded.
"There are also some who wanted to trim off fat and ones that wanted to look fit. Well it will just normally come to that when you exercise and have a planned diet." Renji added.
Renji handled the order. He ordered warm burgers, still soft to the touch. Soybean drinks to cool their throats and protein. And a pile of french fries for carbs.
They sat and ate. Silence filled the space, not awkward, but heavy with fatigue. Their bodies demanded rest, and more than once, someone nearly nodded off mid-bite.
The exhaustion hit deeper now. But beneath it, there was a feeling of satisfaction.
Renji leaned back slightly, watching them.
This was just the beginning.
The clock ticked forward. 6:00 AM.
Reality returned and they needed to go to School. They stood one by one, stretching their sore bodies.
"Same time?" Shin asked.
Renji smiled faintly.
"Every day."
They exchanged brief goodbyes before heading off in different directions.
As Renji walked away from the store, the sun finally began to rise. And with it every morning routine had been born.