(Part 7)

"Ah, about that, it's been raining on and off. Instead of booking the open arena, we've arranged a closed one with nets in place. Outside the arena, you can run laps and train. I'll send you the location," Seles informed, reaching for his phone before realizing.

"Dead phones..." Alan, Aigou, and Orion recalled.

"Ah, right," Seles chuckled, rubbing his temple, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. I'll ask Coach Yusuf to take you all there," Mir said, heading inside.

Rauf took a deep breath and turned around, with the rest, along with Alan, following. Suddenly stopping in his tracks, Rauf glanced aside.

"What is it, Rauf? Remembered something?" Haris asked.

"You all... aren't pushing yourselves, are you?" Rauf asked, his expression doubtful.

Hearing him, the high schoolers gasped, exchanging glances with each other. For Rauf to be saying such mindful words and listening to them so much... something wasn't quite right, or was there?!

"Boss... you haven't eaten something off, have you?" Orion raised his brow in disbelief.

So direct! The last thing one could ask!!

Noah pulled him by his collar, covering his mouth with his hand. "Haha, it's alright. Don't worry. He didn't mean it in a wrong way." immediately dissolving the misunderstanding.

"Hmph...!" Orion grunted, struggling within his grasp.

Nagi exhaled speechless.

"Yeah, don't worry. We really aren't pushing ourselves. Do you think those who slept the entire journey can feel any fatigue now?" Aaron winked.

"Thank you for asking, Rauf," Isa smiled, patting his arm. Rauf looked at them, confused.

Kazuna glanced at Senri who too shrugged his shoulders astonished over Rauf's bizarre behavior.

Rauf's expression immediately altering to a mischievous one he uttered, "Good to see that you are all so lively. It's going get intense shortly after all."

All mood in the drain…

"Pft! Haha…" Alan chuckled clapping his hand against Seles's. "I thought only middleschoolers were capable of being this adorable. Who knew you all boarded the ship too, haha…" he remarked.

"Adorable…?" Evan tried to process the alienated comment.

"Is that a praise?" Aigou asked.

"You bet, come on. Let's race to see who reaches the training arena first." Alan challenged.

"But, the floor and roads are wet…" Nagi warned.

"Don't worry, we'll half walk and half run, how's that?" Noah winked showing a thumbs up.

"Yup, the only immature answer I could expect came from you today, congratulations." Nagi responded unamused.

"Haha," Ren and Isa laughed.

"Yeah, by the way, you take our phones, Seles, and ask the middle schoolers to charge them," Senri handed his and Kazuna's phones to Seles.

"Yeah, mine too," Noah, Aigou, Ren, Isa, and Alan added.

"Ours as well," Nagi, Orion, Aaron, Zachariah, and Haruf followed next.

"Oh dear... I don't think my hands can grab them all," Seles said, realizing the challenge of carrying so many phones. Carefully, he stacked them one atop another, making sure not a single one gets damaged or dropped.

Rauf and Evan, slightly hesitant to place their phones in Seles's overloaded hands, glanced at each other.

"Don't worry, you both keep your phones in my coat pocket," Seles reassured them with a smile. "I'll keep yours with me."

Following his instructions, the two nodded.

"Look Coach Yusuf is here. Come on, one, two, and three… Go!" Aigou called, suddenly sprinting off.

"Hey! I wasn't even ready. That's cheating!" Orion followed soon joined by Isa, Noah, Alan, Ren, Senri and the rest.

"What's going on here…?" Yusuf however, questioned Seles puzzled.

Seles smiled, "A race it seems. Coach Yusuf, I hope you can take care of them. The rest of us will also be there, shortly."

Yusuf nodded, "You don't have to mention it. Catch you later." he waved, following the highschoolers.

After 10-15 minutes, the highschoolers standing before the arena panted.

"Huff… huff… that… didn't took long." Aaron puffed, immediately pushing his hairs back and standing straight. Haruf patted his back. Light gasps of air escaping his mouth.

"Y-yeah, no wonder my sides are aching," Aigou replied ironically, tightly grabbing the sides of his stomach.

"That's because you sprinted off all of a sudden, huff… huff," Alan exhaled, grabbing Zachariah's jacket for support. "Thanks, Zach." he expressed.

"Don't mention it," Zachariah ruffled his hairs.

"Still, I am first!" Aigou twirled around happily.

"Cheater," Ren rolled his eyes.

"Rude!" Aigou puffed his cheeks, playfully hitting his back.

Will, still energetic hopped around Haris and Elias. "Hehe, he's the liveliest one out of all," Senri caressed his fur.

Kazuna rubbing his sweat glanced at Rauf who walked over lastly. Not even a drop of sweat wasted. The highschoolers gathered around him and Yusuf. "Tch," went the click of his tongue as Kazuna looked away. "Even his sight annoys me." he thought, raising the collar of his shirt and wiping the dripping sweat from his jawline.

"Alright, stack your gear bags under the tree before the arena's entrance before you all line up." Yusuf instructed.

The highschoolers placing their bags one by one, stood before Yusuf in rows of 3 and columns of 5.

"Very well. First and foremost, you'll jog 10 laps around the arena. Take intervals of rest; don't strain yourself too much. Afterwards, you'll run 3 laps, and we'll meet here again for further training. Am I clear?" Yusuf inquired.

"Yes!" Alan and the high schoolers responded in unison, promptly proceeding to perform their task.

_____

Back at the hotel, the middleschoolers gathered around on the gymnasium floor.

"Where's Adam?" Seraph asked Cassiel.

"He's coming with Ryan. I asked them to check the highschoolers phones if they were charging." Cassiel replied, handing him a drink.

 "Haiz~ who thought we'd run around and workout rather than taking a rest?" Poseidon smiled at their enthusiasm. Resting on a flat bench, sweat dripped his bangs as he stared at the view outside the glass windows.

"We are facing PSL champions, after all. Despite not being the part of the team this time, I still can't even wink just by the thinking of how powerful Islamabad might be." Ezekiel wondered.

"Indeed," Seraph agreed.

Heber, Mikael and Feng sleeping on the mats beside Helios and Kenzo who were experiencing jerks of sleep and abruptly waking up once they felt like they were falling. The two finally gave up and rested their backs on the nearby wall.

"Stop being persistent and rest, both of you." Xavier patted Helios's shoulder.

"Hm…" Helios agreed, drowsiness taking over him, his head gradually leaned on Kenzo's shoulder.

"Hehe… so cute," Heber giggled before the two, secretively taking a picture beside a confused Azazel and a speechless Gabriel.

Suddenly the door opened with a loud bang! "We are back!! And their phones are still charging!!" Adam exclaimed, barging inside the room.

"Sh!!!" immediately Damian, Seraph, Heber and Poseidon went. Fingers on their lips and expressions slightly upset.

Feng and Kenzo twitched, once again drifting back into sleep.

"Oops, sorry… there." Ryan immediately comprehended, tiptoeing inside. "Brother Feng is also asleep?" he sat behind Feng's back, soon opening his book on spin bowling and reading it.

"I want to try the treadmill, Sera, Sera!" Adam exclaimed in a whisper.

Seraph sighed, "Alright, I'll help you use it, just quiet down a bit."

"Now that I think about it… where might the highschoolers be by the way?" Cassiel wondered raising the dumbbells up.

"Hmph, probably goofing around somewhere." Gabriel responded sharply.

Xavier exhaled unable to respond.

"I wonder…" Poseidon sat up clouded in thoughts. 

_____

Organizing themselves before Yusuf the highschoolers, kept their water bottles aside lining up. Their shirts wet from sweat and hairs lifted up by hairbands and some tied up into disheveled buns and ponies. They smiled at each other ecstatic.

"Get ready for the warm-up exercises now. Divide yourself in pairs of two and we'll begin shortly." Yusuf informed.

"Good thing it won't rain, anymore." Isa looked at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun rays.

"I agree, I hope it stays the same way on the day of our match too." Noah said.

"Indeed, I despise those rain cancellations. They disrupt the flow severely," Nagi agreed.

Performing vigorous exercises next, the highschoolers worked and rested, worked and rested continuously.

"Alright, good job. All of you." Yusuf clapped his hands, gesturing the boys to dismiss.

"Augh~ I am broke." Orion embraced Lou Wang tiredly who in turn patted his back.

Nagi huffing took his glasses from Zachariah who had rubbed them clean. "Thank you." he said.

"Kazuna, will you pass me my bottle?" Aaron asked settling down beside Alan, Haruf and Haris.

"Honestly… those middleschoolers don't know anything…" Aigou whispered lying flat on the grassy ground, "We too work hella hard." he kept his hand on eyes revealing a dejected smile.

Sun rays hitting the grass and weed flowers, a light, cool breeze blew providing comfort to their over worked selves.

Alan ruffled Aigou's hairs consoling, "You're right."

"They are still kids. Just let them be." Nagi said.

"Aigou, don't let it get to you. You'll do your best in the next match." Zachariah sat beside him. A little playfulness coming over him. He tickled his tummy.

Aigou flinched immediately retorting, "Hey, that tickles…!" his voice immediately falling low, "I know that but answer me honestly, Elias. In the last match, were you all really playing around?" he asked seriously.