Raiden opened the calendar on his phone to check the date.
October 15th, Year 3327.
It's been 15 days since he graduated. He had been so busy with life that he almost lost track of time, day and dates.
It almost felt unreal, the number of things that occurred in just 15 days. He got his first Terra Beast, his own farm, found out his long-dead Terra Beast of an aunt was alive, and his parents were hiding a massive secret, and may or may not be alive out somewhere.
He was already bearing a lot of burden, and now, he needed to prepare for the tournament. Winning it might solve all his problems directly.
Shaking his head, he started to walk outside the school grounds. Looking at the time, it was almost time for his little sister to return from school, so they might as well go home together. That way, he might save on some cab money.
When he was this poor, every penny counted. He leaned outside the wall of the school, waiting.
Woolie, who was already full of energy, had already run off somewhere inside the school, mingling with the Fire Fangs, the dual-headed fire dog-like creature that was in charge of security.
He let it be, not having the energy to deal with him as he started to create a plan on how to train Woolie and teach him some new moves.
Raiden didn't have to wait too long, as the school rang soon after, signalling the end of the day.
Watching the heads of students walking out, he quickly spotted Sylvia, her head full of silver hair sticking out like a sore thumb.
She was walking forward with her group of friends, laughing and chatting.
"Hey, little Sylvi~!! Your dashing Big Brother is here to pick you up!!" Ignoring all the looks he was getting, Raiden shouted loudly.
Hearing the shout, the crowd in the school stopped, and over half of them turned towards Sylvia with a weird look.
Sylvia, on the other hand, felt really embarrassed, having the attention of the whole school on her.
Her face completely red, she walked furiously towards Raiden.
"You! Why are you here?! Also, why are you embarrassing me?!" Sylvia hissed, practically trying to drag her idiot of a big brother home. But no matter how much force she applied, she wasn't able to budge him from the spot.
Raiden, on the other hand, felt refreshed. It was always good to embarrass his little sister.
"What's the hurry? I remember I've never met your school friends before. Let me introduce myself properly first."
"What? No!! Hurry up! Let's get out of here!!" Sylvia started applying more force than ever before, but he just stood there with a smile on his face.
Pretty soon, Sylvia's worst fears came true as her friends approached them.
"Hey Sylvia, who is this dashing guy? Is it your big brother? Do introduce us to each other~"
A high-pitched, flirty voice came over as the speaker revealed herself. It was a girl with flashy blonde hair and wearing golden hoop earrings. She was as tall as Sylvia, with a smirk on her face.
"Yeah, yeah. Your brother is nothing like you described: average-looking and thin. He looks really muscular and dreamy." Another voice called out, as a girl with short red hair and an almost tomboyish feel. She was taller than the other two, almost 6 feet tall.
"Eww!! Gina, Iris!! Stop! This is my brother, for god's sake!" Sylvia made a gagging sound.
To be honest, it wasn't her fault. Her brother was exactly as she described, an average-looking guy with a thin body frame. But it was all 15 days ago.
Ever since he signed the contract and started practising the training manual, it was like his growth hormones were on steroids.
Raiden grew a few inches overnight, now standing at 6'1 feet. His body also started to fill out with muscle, now sporting an outline of six packs, with thick muscular forearms.
Now standing there with his long flowing hair, even in a simple shirt and jeans, he looked like a model.
"Hey guys, thank you for taking care of my little sister. I know that she can be a handful. I'm Raiden." Raiden rubbed his little sister's head while greeting her friends.
"My name is Cindy! Nice to meet you, Sylvia's big brother!!" The blonde introduced herself, putting her hand forward, which Raiden shook.
"My name is Iris, nice to meet you, Mr Big Brother. Sylvia told us a lot about you. But weirdly enough, she didn't want us to meet you, I wonder why?" Iris also introduced herself, chuckling while checking out his biceps.
"You all already met and greeted each other! That's enough already!! Let's go home now, Raiden!!" Sylvia jumped in between the conversation, cutting it off and started pushing Raiden away once again.
Looking at his anxious little sister, Raiden didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed that no matter what happened, Sylvia wouldn't let him talk to her friends today.
"Alright, alright, stop pushing me. It was nice to meet you both. We'll talk later. See ya. C'mon Woolie!" After waving his hands, Raiden shouted for Woolie, who at an unknown point of time had gathered all Fire Fangs of the school and was giving them an impassioned speech, standing on top of an elevated bench as a stage.
Hearing Raiden shout, Woolie bid farewell to his new followers before appearing near Raiden with a swish.
Together, the family of three left happily, with Raiden teasing his little sister on the way. Looking at them go, Iris commented.
"They seem really close with each other."
"Yeah. They are cute together. Unlike the little gremlin that I have at home. Not cute at all. Always bothers me a lot." Cindy replied as she watched them go.
...
As soon as the siblings sat in a self-driving taxi, Sylvia started speaking.
"Brother, let me warn you. Don't fall for that, Cindy. She compliments everyone. And she changes her boyfriend every week. As for Iris, she is...gay! That's right. She is gay, not interested in you at all!"
Looking at his little sister, who was trying her best to keep him away from her friends, Raiden let out a little laugh, flicking her forehead.
"You little brat, what are you thinking?! I'm not interested in women at all. And even if I would be interested in someone, it wouldn't be such small school brats like your friends."
Pouting, Sylvia held her forehead in pain, while also having a sigh of relief. But then, she started thinking once again. If he is not interested in someone like her friends, maybe he already has someone else older in his mind?! Who could it be?!