#06: Family

"I'm insane.."
I muttered to myself, as I turn to the crowd, silent now. Their mumbles and worried looks widened my grin. I was about to laugh in their faces, until the sound of cachinnation came from below. I jump back, standing ready again, as Miko jumps right back up.
"You're still up?" I say, in awe. Miko laughs, turning his back to me. "Ladies and gentlemen. Behold, your winner!!" He points towards me, smiling to the crowd, as they all scream out my name. "Huh..?" I lower my guard, tilting my head to the side, in confusion.
"RINNN!!" Just as I gather my thoughts, Leonardo jumps at me, us both toppling to the ground, "Leo—". Miko walks to us, cleaning the blood off from his lips. "Damn, Rin-kun. I must say.. I'm so glad you're a Thunder Fang." Miko smiles, falling onto Leonardo. "Eh-..?" I lie, under two athletes, in utter confusion. "Seriously! We're already at the bottom of the barrel, but now.. with one of the Baladeers, Miko, Me and now you, we're a shoo-in to rank top 3 this year!" Leonardo manages to squeeze out from under Miko and quickly dives with his elbow onto Miko. Fortunately, Miko jumps up to stop Leonardo and finally gives me space to breathe. I quickly roll to the side and sit up. "Wait.. Baladeer? Top 3? You all spitting random words, but my brain isn't braining right now, man. I just got clobbered by Miko." I say, barely managing the words, with such little oxygen in my lungs. Miko chuckled, jumping up. "Well.. each year, a business known as Rumble Entertainment hosts a street fighting tournament between different gangs in all of Tokyo." Leonardo sprung onto Miko's back. "Yeah! And it's called.. The King Program!" My eyes light up with excitement. "And when is this tournament?" I walk to Miko's bare chest, punching it over and over. "The end of the year." Miko says, throwing Leonardo off him. "Each gang selects seven fighters to participate." Leo sits on the floor, crossing his legs. "Then we compete in a few challenges and earn favors. The team with the most favors at the end of the month win." I join Leo on the floor, turning to him.
"If you two were apart and then this other.. Baladeer were apart. Who were the other four?""Well, it was Eve; my big sister, Chihiro and two others who'd rotate." Leo said, flopping down to the floor, lying."Since when did you have a big sister??" I said, flopping down next to Leo."Oh wait- You haven't met her or Chihiro yet." 
Leo hopped up. He grabbed my arm and yanked me up. He quickly sprinted towards the back of the warehouse."Not so fast-" I say, barely on my feet, as we make it to the back of the warehouse."There they are!"We walked to a table. The loudest table in the warehouse. There we saw an older woman, who looked like she was in her 20s, she was the one making all the noise. She had short blonde hair and a nasty grin. The second girl was someone who looked around the same age as me. Her hair was long and smooth. She had blue eyes that trapped me. She tried calming down the older woman, embarrassed."And allow me to introduce my sister, Eve and Chihiro!" Leo ran to the older woman, who assumed to be Eve. They both quickly looked at me, before Eve stood up, walking to me."So you're the guy who made a tremendous entrance." She said, smirking at me. Leo ran in front of her, scratching the back of his head. He put his other hand in front of me, as if he was presenting me."Sis. This is Rin." He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. She glared at me."You ain't a weirdo, right?" She said."I am definitely not." I gulp, my eyes lowering from her face a bit.She grabbed my chin, pushing it up to face her eyes again, before moving away from me."Alright. Then i don't have to worry about you pulling anything with Leo." She said, walking back to her beer. Leo walked to Eve, as the other girl looked at me."Welcome Rin. Hope we can be friends." She smiled at me."Yeah. Me too!" I smile, awkwardly, sitting down next to her. "So you two participated in The King Program?""Hell yeah!" Eve said from across the table, slamming her beer down on it."I was forced to. I don't enjoy fighting." Chihiro said, smiling. You could see slight embarrassment in her face. That slight embarrassment somehow put a small grin on my face.
"Well, look at us!" Leonardo yelled out loudly, throwing his arm over his sister's shoulder. He left us all in shock, as he beamed brightly."A big, happy family!" Leo stared at me, smiling. "Get your hands off me!" She yelled, throwing him over the table, as we all broke out laughing."Sure, Leo." I say, lounging my elbows on the table. Eve pounced at Leo, as they begun trading blows. I was in utter guffaw, while from the corner of my eye I notice Chihiro. I turn to her, before we locked eyes. At that moment, I knew I fell for her and there was nothing I could do. I was completely lost in her eyes and in my thoughts. After what felt like thousands of years, I was snapped out of my thoughts. The loud bang from the warehouse's gate brought me back to my senses. Me and her realizing what had happened, quickly turn to face away from each other. Suddenly, my eyes set upon the man at the entrance of the warehouse. The place went silent, as little murmurs were heard throughout the perimeter.
"Guess who's back?!" The mysterious man says, grinning widely. The entire warehouse essentially shook from the sheer volume of everyone's cheers. Even Eve and Leo stopped fighting and ran upto the man."He's back!" Chihiro jumped up, walking past me."Who exactly?" I ask, dumbfounded. Chihiro turns to me."Our very own Baladeer.. Akiyama Megumi." She beamed at me, before running towards the growing crowd. It looked like I was the final one to get up and meet him. By the time I got there, Miko had his arm around him, while Leo rambled to him from the side. I tried hiding behind everyone in the crowd, but Chihiro managed to notice me, gesturing for me to come forward. I shook my head, flustered."Come on. It's time you meet him." Eve said from behind me, casually pushing me towards Megumi. He immediately sets his sights on me, grinning mischievously."So you're the talk of the town, huh?"
TO BE CONTINUED.