Team Game (III)

"Kiro. Did you receive it?" Kyle's voice boomed loudly behind him in excitement.

Kiyro was hitting the punching bag and sweating proficiently. He stopped and grabbed the swinging bag before it hit him and knocked him back. "Receive what?"

"You didn't receive it yet?" Kyle asked with disappointment in his voice. "I thought it was possible that you got the A-Class mission from Demon Fox." He punched the punching bag with frustration. "Damn it."

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I got it too." Kiyro smirks a mischievous grin. "You fall for the same old trick over and over again. Don't you ever learn from your old mistakes?"

Kyle's body slammed the punching bag, making him fall backward onto his back. Air escaped his lungs as he settled on the ground with his arms splayed out. Kyle barked out loud, laughing with enthusiasm. "Finally, we get to do an A-class mission together, and it's our very first one. Let's go and get ready." He helped pull up Kiyro from the ground.

"Yea. Yea. Keep your pants on. It's not like the mission is going to run away any time soon." Kiyro pushed past Kyle and went to grab a towel that was hanging on the chair. "If I were you, I would just go meditate to calm down your nerves. You won't be able to sleep and be fully rested tomorrow if you keep up this obnoxious high energy."

"What are you talking about? I'll be fine." Kyle scoffed at the idea of what Kiyro stated. He puffed out his chest and bragged out loud. "I'll be fine. You know me. I can stay up for three days with very light sleep, and I'll be fine."

"You do know that today is your third day. Don't you? Your time is running out. Aren't you worried you might fall asleep throughout the whole mission?" Kiyro placed the towel around his neck.

"Don't worry about it." Kyle patted him hard on his shoulder and slung his arms around him. "If it's you and me, our tag team is always invincible. We have never failed in our missions ever." He chuckled.

"We didn't have many missions of high-class level, to begin with." Kiyro peeled his brother's arms off him. "Just get ready for tomorrow. We can't mess this up. If we fail, our name and our Academy's name will be on the line."

"I know. I know. You're such a spoilsport. Why are you so serious? You have such a close personality as father's that sometimes it's creepy." Kyle pretended to shiver in front of Kiyro.

Kiyro rolled his eyes. "Don't say that. It's creepy. If I know any better, your stubbornness is exactly like father."

"You got it all wrong." Kyle folded his arms in disagreement and frowned. "You do know we don't see eye-to-eye lately."

Kiyro sighed and raised his hand as if he had a headache. "I know. Let's not talk about that." He knew that if he pried any further, the conversation would not last into a positive discussion. Whenever his brother got irked or angry about specific events or people, he did have a tendency to take it a bit too far.

Kyle turned towards him and snuck up like a creepier, "Do you want to know something interesting."

"What is it now? I need to take a shower." Kiyro asked with a tired voice.

Kyle grinned from ear to ear. "I know that if we succeed in nine A class missions, we have a chance to take on an S Rank. Demon Fox has specifically stated that he will give us one if we succeed in every single one." He giggled like a little girl excited at the prospect of taking on an S-class mission. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Getting one of these is like getting a special step into the celebrity world. We could possibly get hired by a rich, famous, and even powerful group of people. Don't you see how many connections that have?"

"Yes. I know. Connections are everything in this time and age. I wonder how deep our master has? The last time I saw him, I think he was with a male celebrity doing a protection service. He has been the rising star for rock bands these past few years. I think it was something like D-Rock?."

"Wait, do you mean D-Rock?" Kyle asked, astounded at what Kiyro was saying." Really? I would love to meet them and get their autograph. Did you by any chance get it?" He hopefully glanced at Kiyro with sparkling eyes. Kiyro backed away a little, trying to get some space between them.

"I did." Kiyro quickly replied. He didn't want to be grabbed and shook if he didn't get it. He knew his brother too well.

"You did! I can't believe you did! Where?" Kyle grabbed him by the collar like a maniac.

Kiyro raised his hands and pried Kyle's fingers off him. "I'll give it to you later when we finish the mission."

"What! Come on, bro, give it to me now." Kyle looked like he was almost about to weep for the signature.

"It's a piece of paper."

"Not just a piece of paper. It's D-Rock paper which could be sold for a high price! He's like the next Michael Jackson!"

"Calm down. You'll get it." Kiyro pushed him back. "Let's go get some sleep. The paper not going to suddenly disappear in a day."

"Fine." Kyle heavily sighed as if he was defeated. "Fine." He pouted like a little baby and turned around.

"Kiyro." Kyle spoke. "Kiyro. Kiyro."

"Kiyro. Are you alright?" Eve asked out of concern. She peered up at him while she lightly shook his sleeves.

Kiyro returned back to reality in seconds. "I'm fine." He lightly pushed her hands aside. He turned his head towards Isabel, who also looked concerned at him. For a split moment, his eyes matched Isabel's, and she quickly looked away, embarrassed. He couldn't help but smile slightly.

"What do you think, Kiyro? Fire and Ice is a book store. What do you think we need for us to go there?" Eve asked again.

"The only thing I could think of is information. Why else would you go to a bookstore for."

"That's what we all agreed on as well, but these days and age, we find information through the web. So what purpose would a book serve?" asked Alex.

"Well, there are still people who would buy books for old time's sake. But, it's the feeling of the rough or smooth texture of reading a book in-between the finger, opening the crisp new page, and the smell of new books that makes it worth reading," said Isabel.

"What you are saying is weird."

"It's people's preference; some people are like that," said Jack. "We all have different oddities."

"We are arriving in Midtown. Midtown." A muffled voice of the intercom speaking loudly with a gruff male voice.

"This is our stop," said Jack. He walked towards the door.

The train slowed down and halted with a slight jerk, sending the people forward. The door slowly opened, letting the people out. Kiyro's small band of people followed after squeezing past the busy crowd of people. They walked out towards the beaming sun that scorched their face. Kiyro clicked his Alive gear glass on the side, turning the shade on, allowing him to see in the bright sunlight.

"The sun is too bright. I wish the sun was blocked for one day so the harsh sun doesn't damage my skin. I start breaking out if I don't put on sunblock," said Jack. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small sunblock.

"You carry that with you all the time?" Isabel asked as she pulled up next to him.

"Yea. It's a lifesaver, especially on days like this. I would usually get bad Eczema on my neck area." Jack squeezed a bit on his hand and pasted it on his neck. "It's all because of my stupid genetics." He sighed, defeated at his own comment.

The bus passed them and stopped at their local spot to pick up waiting customers.

"Are we going to get on?" Jack asked. He looked towards them, waiting for their answer.

Kiyro shook his head, "The map is stating it's right around the corner. It should be a walk away."

"In this hot weather?" Jack let out a small squeak. "Damn, I was hoping we could have gone under some shades." He wiped the sweat off his face with his hand.

"Let's get going." Alex cut in and went ahead with his hand in his pocket. "I want to get this over with."

"Alex. Wait up!" Eve ran forward behind Alex and pulled on his sleeves. "What are you doing?" He pulled back his arms out of her hands.

"Wha-?" Eve tilted her head at his odd behavior. "Was that a little too much skinship?"

"I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting it."

Kiyro walked up next to them. "You guys okay?"

"Yea. Everything is fine," replied Alex. "We should go."

"Ok?" Kiyro said, slightly confused. He thought for a moment that there was a slight tension in the air between the two people.

"Hey guys, wait up," Jack waved them down while Isabel followed closely behind them. Isabel peeked over Jack's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening.

"Are you guys going out?" Isabel asked Eve and Alex while they were walking toward their destination.

"Excuse me?" said Alex.

"No. No. It's nothing like that. We're just friends." Eve quickly replied. She shook her hands in front of her, denying anything happening between them. "He just doesn't like to be touched. See." Her finger slowly reached over towards his bare skin, and Alex pulled back quickly before she could even touch him.

"You don't have a phobia, do you?" Jack asked. He was inching towards Alex mischievously but stopped when Alex gave him a glare.

"No. I just don't like people touching me."

"Well, I thought you guys had something going on. You guys would look nice together. Almost like a perfect picture of beautiful people." Isabel couldn't help but feel jealous of how Eve and Alex looked. Their tall figure and perfectly defined body would be considered a rarity few people had.

"No. Look at his face. It would be a sin if he didn't. He probably already has someone in his life." Eve snickered. She continually teased him, trying to poke him with her finger. "It wouldn't make sense if he didn't."

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"You jest." Eve gasped. Even Kiyro had a hard time believing that he didn't. He thought he would have a couple at his fingertips. "You're saying that all that flirting and you have not received one number?"

"I already have enough numbers as it is. I just don't see the point in my life in having someone to distract me from my goals. They could become a hindrance to what I need to do. But indulging in a few ladies here and there doesn't harm anyone."

"You're such a player." Eve rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't be surprising if you had a couple kids somewhere out there."

Alex laughed. "Would you like to know?" His eyes glinted dangerously mischievously.

"Pass."

"I could probably have one or two. Maybe." Alex shrugged it off as if it was nothing. "Don't need to rack your brains too hard. I'm not the type to have any anyway."

"Lies."

"Gentleman's honor." Alex raised his hands.

Will pointed out. "Either way, it does not matter at this moment if he has a kid or not. Our priority is to finish this quest and see the end of it all."

They all nodded in agreement. While everyone was talking amongst themselves, Kiyro diligently led the group to their destination. They had passed large numbers of small stores that were clustered together in small shopping districts. It was like the old southern buildings were converted into tourist shops that gave various restaurants and even trinket stores. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by the number of different things to see. From his left to the right, there was a Native American shop, small trinket stores, art stores, general goods, and various cultural restaurants.