"Oi, Felix," an all too familiar voice calls into the third room of a small, ill-kept apartment. "You're gonna be late again!"
Felix rolled off of his mattress and gave a sigh as he stared up to the ceiling. Light was beginning to break through the curtains and shine upon his face, illuminating the bandage placed across his nose in a half-assed fashion last night. It was summer, so it must have been their usual wake-up time of around 5AM. The girl standing at the door was his younger sister, Maria. She was peppy, always had the energy that he definitely lacked at times. She also had the drive to make anything happen, even what most would seem impossible. The only thing that she lacked was the same thing that he did; money. "I'm up," Felix announced as he sat up from the ground, slapping his cheek in order to wake himself a little more.
"Good, then I'm heading out. Boss wants me in at 6 so I can do an extra two hours before school," Maria exclaimed as she stretched her arms a bit. Similar to her brother, she was toned and certainly fighting fit. This wasn't surprising, since the only thing that she did besides school and work was train in mixed martial arts. Fighting was something that she had grown up with; both her and Felix didn't exactly have a normal childhood.
"They're seriously making you take more damn overtime? Do they not realise you have a life," Felix scoffed as he approached his little sister and ruffled her hair a little. She puffed her cheeks out at him, but that only landed her a poke in said puffed out cheek. "I'm not wrong though. Those assholes really want to work you into the ground."
"Hey," Maria yells as she rushes in front of Felix again, hands on hips as she leans forwards. "At least I have money coming into the house too, y'know!"
"I know," A small laugh escapes the male as he once again ruffles the hair of his younger sister before walking into their main room. By the window hung a school uniform, freshly ironed and cleaned just for Maria. She was always home extremely late, so it was the least that Felix could do. "Your lunch is in the refrigerator as usual. Text me when you'll be home, I'll make sure something's ready for ya. Be careful."
Giving a nod, Maria ran her hand through her hair in order to remove the ruffling her older brother brought upon it. She grabbed her uniform and stuffed it into her duffel bag shamelessly before grabbing a cereal bar and rushing out the door. Felix couldn't help but wince at the fact that his ironing had been for absolutely nothing, but at least she was prepared for school that day. "That girl, seriously…"
Sitting down, Felix would watch from above as Maria dashed out of the apartment complex onto the road. She made sure that she walked as much as she could; sitting down in one place for too long was more than enough to drive her up the wall a lot of the time. The male gave a sigh once she was out of sight before heading over to the refrigerator himself and grabbing a couple of eggs out from there and releasing yet another sigh. After all, his little sister had once again left her lunch at home. "That girl, seriously… she's gonna be starving by the end of the day."
Around an hour passes before Felix's phone buzzes. Every time he hears that buzz, he can't help but be relieved; it meant that Maria had managed to arrive at her destination safely. He didn't need to worry, considering that the girl was eighteen and could more than easily break any punk trying to harass her in half like a twig, but what kind of brother would he be if he didn't worry? Picking up the phone, his eyes would widen.
[Yo, only gota do a morning shift so will be done after school today. I'll meet you at the school gym at 6PM, 'kay?]
The fact that the girl actually had an evening to herself was nothing short of a miracle. On a Friday, her boss would normally show no mercy, but not to have an evening shift at all was extremely rare. "Huh, guess he does have a soul," Felix mutters to himself as he stands, tossing his plate into the sink to get washed later on. For now, though, he would grab his jacket as well as a small rucksack. Maria may be the only one with a job, but that didn't mean that she was the only one bringing in money for the household.
The impact of fist against flesh echoed throughout the empty shell of a building. A tall male doubled over in pain before falling onto the floor in front of Felix's feet. He coughed a couple of times before getting back up to his feet. The concrete helped to mellow out the sound from outside, so the cheering was silenced once it reached outside the walls. Felix showed no mercy, as a vicious knee erupted from the male, slamming into the cheek of his much taller opponent. The strike had clearly caused some damage as a splatter of blood escaped from his mouth and landed upon the unforgiving concrete underfoot.
"The winner, Felix Jackson!"
Around half of the crowd of fifty people circling the two of them began cheering in delight, whereas the other half began groaning in frustration as Felix stepped back into the crowd. He locked his gaze upon a person in the back, counting notes by the fistful. He seemed more alert once the victor in the brawl approached him. "Felix," he exclaimed. "Good fight out there, you really showed that guy what's what—"
"Cut the shit," Felix interrupts without even looking up from his phone. It was clear that this was one of his least favourite places to be. He glanced at the time; 5:30. He needed to leave fast if he wanted to keep his promise that he made. He slid his phone into his jeans pocket before offering his hand out. "You know I'm here for one thing and one thing and one thing only, Chaos."
Chaos, as this guy liked to be referred to, simply nodded and counted through the notes that he had stuffed into his hand. He seemed intimidated by the frame of Felix, even though the male was far from the largest person here. "S-sure, Felix," he managed to stammer before handing over around $200 in notes. "I-it was a low turnout, so this is all I have—Yikes!"
Felix had snatched the notes from Chaos and was already on his way out. He'd dashed out of the building and soon onto the main street. At this pace, he'd be able to make it to the school gates fifteen minutes early. Slowing down to a walk once he was in view to the public, he'd glance on his own reflection in a shop window. Seeing he had a small cut upon his cheek, Felix gave a long sigh before continuing to walk towards the school gates. It was a good thing that her club activities meant that she got out late; most people who would see him would think of him as nothing more than a punk.
They were right about that, too.
Leaning against the school gates, Felix would place his foot up and wait for his sister to rush through. It wouldn't take long until the usual, faint call of "Felix," echoed from behind him. Just on cue, Maria appeared behind him and placed her hands on his right shoulder. She hopped up, over and in front of Felix, her hair still dripping wet from the shower. It was clear she'd ran over, as her tie was completely skewed and terribly put on. Then again, it was amazing she even remembered to put it on in the first place. Her smile faded before she ran a couple of fingers across his cheek; namely the scratch. "Felix…"
"I know, I know—"
"Don't give me that shit, Felix," Maria stated as she watched her elder brother flinch once her fingertips brushed against his cut. She knew exactly what that meant; and the fact she knew what it meant only pissed her off more than before. "You know I worry when you do this. What if someone pulls some crazy shit? You could get seriously hurt. Killed, even!"
Felix remained silent as he watched his sister stare daggers deep into his very being. He knew for a fact that she was right; after all, she'd always been the wiser of the pair of them. "Sorry," he muttered before offering to her the wrap that he had made for her to take to school with her. "You left this at home, by the way."
Glancing at the wrap and giving a pout, Maria takes it and bites into it almost immediately. The pout quickly turns into a cry of satisfaction however, as that food was exactly what she needed considering the lack of eating anything; especially after two hours of sparring with some of the other students. "I-I'm still mad at you!"
"Yeah yeah," Felix retorted as the pair of them began walking away from the gates. They would make small talk as they passed through the streets, asking the other about how their day was before getting to their usual stop before heading back home. This was their usual gym; their home away from home. The pair of them would train here on a daily basis, making sure that they were in their peak. Yet when they got there, they were stunned to find that the building was shut to the public.
"What do you mean nobody's allowed in," Felix questioned as the receptionist simply refused them entry into the main building. "This is a free to enter place, is it not?"
"Well, yes," the receptionist replied, clearly seeing that the male was annoyed about the fact that his plan for that evening had been completely screwed over by the fact that this was done so suddenly. "One person had booked it out for today and tomorrow. Apparently they are setting up an event that they will allow free entry in to view and to, um… compete?"
"Compete?" Maria tilted her head as she watched the clerk nod her head. She was keeping her professional atmosphere around her, yet it was clear that she was pretty terrified of the pair in front of her.
"Yes, so please, do come back tomorrow!"
"Hmph," Felix shrugged before turning around from the desk and heading straight back to the entrance of the building. He would only turn around when he realised that Maria wasn't behind him. He would see that she was actually stood at the door to the main gym, peering through. He was about to call her, until he saw the expression that was upon her face. It was not one of shock or surprise, but one of awe. He'd never seen her in such a way in his life. "Maria?" He would ask as he placed a hand upon her shoulder.
"It's incredible," she would whisper to herself before slowly turning around and rushing out of the building. To most, it would just appear to be a regular stage. But she recognised the layout of it; as well as some of the uniforms of the crew working on setting it up. "Felix, you know what this is?! It's a qualifier! An honest to God qualifier!"
Pumped up and raring to go, Maria sprinted out of the hall and leaped out from the steps up to the building straight onto the sidewalk. "Wait, Maria," Felix called out to her sister, but it was to no avail. From there, she broke into a full-on sprint heading straight towards their home. She'd managed to get herself overly excited and this was her way to calm herself down. She would get her uniform drenched in sweat since it was close to half a mile of running, but at this point she couldn't care less. Felix was still stood at the entrance of the gym, confused as to why his sister was so excited.
"…what's a qualifier?"