Welcome to the leagues

I woke up in a bed with white sheets, it seemed I was in some kind of recovery room, not a hospital, the walls were not from one. I still had my outfit on, I woke up and saw the monitor and some intravenous in my hand.

I took the serum holder and the moment I let a foot out of my bed, I tripped, my whole body was numb, but I manage to hold to the holder and walk outside, there I could see nothing, I walk for a bit more and saw the light, what I saw was Yoru, Tatsu and Yuki sitting on a sofa eating a big pizza.

“Hey! Ren, you woke up, are you okay, man?”

Said Yuki while eating a big slice of pizza.

“Come on and eat some kid, is going to be over soon”

“It just arrived, so is hot, Kazeki”

I went towards them and sat down on a part of the sofa and held a slice and ate it. I wasn’t saying a word, just savoring the flavor of victory in my mouth.

“This is great…”

I smiled and continued eating until the entire box was empty, I sighed and looked at the ceiling.

“Where are we?”

“This is one of my apartments, I use it when I had to deal with some of my fighters”

“So, you had to manage other people” —I said to Yoru.

“Of course, what? You think I was some inexperienced dude who only knows how to play board games?”

Yuki and I look at each other and then look at Tatsu.

“Okay, jeez… your gazes hurt more than simple words, I have experience in this field kid, that’s how I was able to deal with all this crap in the first place, I’m not a trainer either way so I can just arrange stuff for you”

“So, this is what I needed right? I got into the championship?”

“Hold your horses, is not that easy, this was a test for your abilities”

“I thought you said if I won this I would get into the championship”

“I did yeah, but they are still some other matters to do, this was a closed event”

“Meaning?”

“That your journey just begun, look kid, to make it to the championship, you need to make a name of yourself first, this win is only to make you enter in the rookie category”

“But that wasn’t the first plan”

“Did you really believe that you could get on stage just like that?”

“I mean…”

“Look at yourself, this was rookie fighters, and you get yourself beat like that”

“Yeah but…”

“There is no “but” is the facts”

“Ren, I think you are misunderstanding things, you are in man, this fight, the next fight is going to be a one on one you won the elimination process”

“What?”

Yuki got up and it pressed on my shoulders.

“I didn’t get it at first either, but this means that you are going to need to keep working hard and you will become a better fighter until you reach the last step in the ladder”

“The championship is just a formal name to call the big show, you want to get on stage with all the people and be cherished for that, right?”

“I just like to fight… and the championship is my goal”

“Then you are going to have to earn it, here”

Yoru threw me his cellphone and I saw a profile, it was mine.

“Ken Kazeki, wind user, rookie… my stats… power… abilities… fans?”

“Welcome to the leagues, kid”

I got it, it made me click.

“God, you making it sound so confusing”

I am already on the leagues, the championship, what I thought it was the championship is just a big fight where you fight, the biggest battles, and the biggest prizes are on there

“I HAVE MADE IT!- Ouch…”

“Easy man…”

I lift the phone and then I sit down quickly.

“What’s the plan now, Yoru?”

“Hmm? I told you I am your manager not your trainer, I would recommend to search for one, once your wounds heal, I will set up a fight, it would be easier this time”

“Got it”

“A doctor already prescribed you some medicine, take it and rest well, as for your punches and other stuff… you are going to need a good excuse”

“Huh?”

I look down to my body and saw a bunch of bruises

“As long as I don’t show off too much, I’ll be good, is great we are near winter”

“Alright, in any case enjoy, this is your celebration, I’m dropping near your place when you are ready to go”

“Thanks, Yoru”

“Thanks to you kid, here”

Yoru threw me a white envelope.

“What's this?”

“Your payment, remember?”

I opened the envelope and I saw a total of 31,000 yens

“W-W-W-WHAT?!”

My eyes opened wide and I started to shake.

“This much?!”

“Now you get why I told you I didn’t want you to lose the fight, I got my inversion back and extra, and that’s your part, 70% percent of the fight”

“Jeez… I know they will pay you a lot but… this much… is just… unbelievable to see it real” —Yuki said.

“You should get some good equipment, the higher your go, the more you will need something that helps you out with your powers and against others”

I took a part of the money and gave it to Tatsu.

“What are you doing?”

“You help me out, you need a part too”

“That’s 10,000 yens, Kazeki…”

“Yeah, I know… take Tatsu, please”

Tatsu hesitated and then took the money.

“Thanks, Kazeki…”

I nodded and I gave Yuki another part, leaving me with 11,000 yens. We fist bumped each other and we continued with our little party. It got late and Yoru drove from his apartment to a store near my house, dropping us off and leaving.

“What a day huh…”

“You said, Ren… “

We took a drink from the vending machine and started to walk to my home, it was already dark, and there wasn’t so much to talk about other than what we were going to do tomorrow.

“Tests are still running, what time is it again?”

“Almost 1 AM, it is a good time I believe, we have sleep less haha”

“You are right, but it's been a really long day, make sure you don’t oversleep”

“I’ll try, it felt like the day wasn’t going to end at all…”

“Welp, technically we already pass the day”

“Shut up”

We laughed and we finally reached my home, we prepared ourselves to sleep and I went to my room.

I took some clothes and went to take a bath to take out all the sweat. Once I was done cleaning myself, I got into the tub and my thoughts started to overflow.

That anxious feeling… is gone… my eyes do feel heavy… What a day… I managed to beat two people in the arena and a final fight against two opponents… My legs feel heavy… feel like I just ran a marathon, my arms feel like if I was just pushing a train all day, my back feels like if I hold a giant boulder against the mountain, my whole body feels exhausted, but I am happy, I feel like I just did my best, and I won… I really won…

I got out of the tub and after drying and dressing myself, I threw myself to the bed, moment after, my thoughts were cloudy, I couldn’t think of anything else since I fell asleep, and I heard a voice calling me after a few moments.

“REN, WAKE UP MAN! IS ALREADY LATE!”

“Huh?...”

“SCHOOL, WE ARE LATE, COME ON!”

“OH!”

My eyes opened and I got up off the bed quickly only to fall on the ground.

“Shit…”

I try to stand up but it hurt a lot, I took my school clothes and dress as fast as I could while getting downstairs, Yuki was already there and he threw me a can of coffee.

“Wake up, man, let’s go”

I opened the can and put my shoes on while we left the house in a hurry and went to the train station, we got lucky with our timing and managed to get on and then run to the school, we made it to the gate and we stopped there to catch our breath.

“I told you… not to… oversleep…”

“I cannot help myself… you know how bad I was yesterday…”

“You mean early morning?”

“Shut up…”

We went to the vending machine and took two bottles of water and then the bell rang.

“Good luck with the test”

“You too”

We went to the same building and separated midway to get into our own class, I sat down and took my things fast, the test was about to begin in no time and I… was anything but ready.

“I am so toasted…”