Neko and Shoto looked up quietly at the individual with glasses, Kazami gulped quietly before beginning to speak up.
"Th-that's him." You can tell he's nervous since this is the person he was referring to. Neko however, started to laugh, surprisingly Shoto thinks it's insane that a cat can laugh, but here we are.
"That's him? I thought he was going to be some kind of huge person!"
The individual with glasses crouched down to look at the cat with a funny, confused expression on his face, his eyes a greenish, blueish color and he has a small sweat appearing on the left side of his face. His name is Hikaru Tomika,
"D-did that cat just talk.."
Shoto looked at the cat then at Hikaru, shaking his head no quickly. "Y-you didn't hear an-"
Neko cut Shoto off abruptly "The Blue color tips on your hair makes you ridiculous dude, seriously."
It was too late for Shoto, as much as he wanted Hikaru not to believe it, the cat is already speaking. Endless tears rolled off the cat's face, shoto fell to his knees, almost as if he was defeated, but there's more to it.
Hikaru rose back up, adjusting his glasses slowly before giving a serious expression to the cat and the boy. "It's not like I am going to keep the color on my hair, I will dye it back to brown soon. However it's not important, Shoto.." he pointed at Shoto as his face suddenly got angry. "Today is the start of our Rivalry and it's also the day I will defeat you!!"
The boy who was crying earlier, also stood up slowly. You couldn't tell how he was feeling since his face was down, Neko was beside him more confused. Finally, Shoto looked at Hikaru with a funny nervous/angry expression on his face. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Hikaru was taken aback by his yelling, letting out a tch. "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, WE TALKED ABOUT IT SINCE WE WAS LITTLE YOU DUMBASS!"
"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER ANY OF THAT!?! The cat let out a derpy face before grinning devilishly at the two.
"So are you two long lost lovers or-" Shoto and Hikaru slightly blushed then looked at the cat quickly both saying. "WE'RE NOT FUCKING LOVERS!" The cat laughed, as Hikaru sighed, grabbing and opening his bag, before pulling out a metal Bow and arrows.
"Look Kazami, Today is finally my chance to destroy you once and for all!" Shoto nervously let out a nod, he knows now Hikaru wouldn't listen to what he has to say. However, just like before, the cat stabbed him in the back with an arrow. Shoto's head slumped downward. During this, Hikaru would ready his bow, and immediately launch the arrow towards him. Without hesitation, Kazami would move back quickly, letting out a loud roar for the whole school building to hear, his muscles began to tense up like before and his green eyes dialated to white as he looked ferociously.
Hikaru looked at Shoto, not even surprised at his little miraculous change. The young archer starts to aim his arrows one by one and attacks him recklessly, just so he can get at least one strike at him, Shoto however keeps dodging them like it's nothing, letting out a scream every time he dodges an arrow.
Haiku then aims his bow and another one of his arrows upward. He shot it up, the arrow freefall then it suddenly split into 50 more arrows, making its way towards Shoto like it was on Autopilot. Without hesitation, Kazami leaped towards the arrow, and started to run across the arrows like it was nothing. He grabbed one of them and stared directly at Hikaru, leaping once again towards the young archer.
Hikaru tried to move back, but it was too late. Shoto lands behind him and turns to his direction, Hikaru looks at Shoto, in his eyes it was like a shadow devilish look, like he was a monster. However, shoto returned to normal, tapping the arrow on his head softly, like it was a game of tag. "Chill out for a second.."
Hikaru slightly blushes, then quickly looks away at his rival. "Tch, don't think because you tap me on the head you wo-"
The cat kicks Hikaru on the head with his legs, standing proudly like a young boy towards Shoto and Hikaru. Neko would then explain everything to him, about his reincarnation, to the whole followers' story. Hikaru would take off his glasses quietly nodding to himself
"I see.. well if that's the case I'll join you." He would then stare at Shoto, smiling at him with confidence. "If we ever get the chance, even at the smallest inconvenience. You and I are gonna fight for real."
Shoto tosses the Arrow back to him and Hikaru catches it like it's nothing. He scratches his back slowly staring at a different direction. "Yeah, sure. Whenever that ha- wait I thought you don't believe in Reincarnation and all those kinds of crap?"
Hikaru pointed at the cat, "There's literally a talking cat and you expect me NOT to believe these things?" He patted Shoto's shoulder before getting off the building, walking straight to the door.
"I got some people that can join this little group of ours, just.. wait till tomorrow.." he wouldn't look back, but he waved as he headed out the door. Shoto let out a big sigh of relief, falling straight on his back before looking at the cat with a soft smile on his face "S-see.. it worked out just fine.."
The cat stared at him with a dull expression on his face then dragged Shoto and him out the door. They successfully recruited another one into the group, Five more left.
[Chapter 2.5 - Hikaru's POV]
We were only seven years old. I didn't think much of because he looked sad. It was his older sister's funeral, after all. Both of our dads wanted to talk, so we did. For a while, we just sat there, but then I promised him that we would be rivals. A couple of years went by, and I was always better than everyone. Some think I am a prodigy of my dad, who was a genius; others call me his successor. I start my mornings as usual: wake up, brush my teeth, practice my archery, eat breakfast, and then head out for school. As I'm about to walk out the front door, my dad approaches it as well. We don't talk, but he glances at me, then walks away.
I wasn't sure what he was doing, but at the same time, I didn't really care. I started walking to school early, but on the way there, I saw him—my own rival in the flesh, Shoto Kazami. He was just standing in front of the school gate, nervous as always, with a cat beside him. Not that it mattered; I had better things to do than worry about that loser. School went exactly how I pictured it until homeroom started.
I was walking to the bathroom, and there he was again. Shoto was standing there, talking to somebody, so I went to check it out. I hid behind a wall and then saw her. Yumiko Chidari. Some say she's the popular girl in school only because her brother is a boxer. I had heard rumors that Shoto and Ryuji were going to fight, but I didn't believe it was true.
Yumiko turned around and smiled brightly. Shoto started to get flustered.
"Good luck. I hope you'll win, and if you do, then you can take me out sometime! It's a promise from me, okay? Cya!"
She walked away, and Shoto went the other direction. I stopped him in the middle of the hallway, glaring and wondering what his intentions were.
"So, you're going to fight Ryuji instead of me, huh?"
My rival started fidgeting with his fingers, unable to look me in the eye. "Wh-why do you wanna know?"
I shrugged at his response, putting my hands in my pockets slowly.
"No reason. Just make sure you don't lose. It's my job to defeat you, not his." When I said that, Shoto just nervously walked away. I was pretty sure he got the message. School was over a couple of hours later, and the sun started to set. Shoto's match must have been over by now, but I was going to see if he had been beaten or not. He's not really that strong, right? Does he even know how to throw a proper punch? I decided to go to the auditorium, where they usually set up the boxing ring. I planted my ear to the door. It was quiet at first, so it must have been over. It was a good time to go home, but as I walked a few inches away, I heard something—a loud punch.
I crept open the door a little, just to see what was going on. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like Shoto and Ryuji had exchanged blows for hours. They were both beaten and bruised, their knuckles slightly bloodied. That's not all—Shoto was totally different. That's someone I want to face.
---
So why? Why didn't you try to hit me, why didn't you attempt to kill me? I walked out, going straight back into the building. I heard everything I needed to hear about this reincarnated king and his loyal subjects or whatever that damn cat said. I didn't get far, though. The cat dragged my rival straight back in. He looked like he wanted to talk to me.
"Thank you for helping Mi'lord pick out his loyal followers," the cat said with a smile on his face. Since when can cats smile?
I just adjusted my glasses and set my bag down to put my bow in. "You should stop calling him M'lord, your majesty, and whatnot. This is 2021, not the late '80s." The cat nodded slowly. I could tell by the silence that he hadn't really latched onto that concept yet.
"I'm glad he recruited you first, Hikaru." The way the cat said my name, it was like he knew me way before. Was my past life something like Shoto's too? Either way, he should be glad. I have options for people to recruit, but I joined him so I can and will show him that I can surpass his limits.
End of POV.