It was a Saturday morning, a rare day off for Shoto, who had finally finished all his schoolwork. As he headed down to the kitchen, he found Neko, Ryuji, Hikari, and Ren already there. Ryuji wore a white tank top and blue sweatpants, Hikari was in a white button-down shirt and black formal pants, and Ren sported an Olympic locker room uniform. They were quietly eating omelets. Ren noticed Shoto first, waving with a smile, his mouth full. "Good morning, Shoto!" he greeted.
Shoto's aunt, Mai, handed him a plate with his own omelet. "You're finally up! I didn't know some of your friends were coming over for a club meeting. You should've told me, silly," she said, petting Neko before happily skipping back to the living room. Shoto stood in a daze. Hikaru slowly looked up and pulled out a seat for Shoto.
"Sit. We have a few things to discuss." Shoto blinked and then sat next to Hikaru, starting to eat his omelet. Hikaru took off his glasses and began cleaning them with a cloth.
"There are two more left, aside from Wind and Ice. I have a few people in mind." Hikaru pulled out some papers with students' profiles from their school. "First, the student body president, Hina Shinako. She may get perfect scores in class, but when it comes to athleticism—"
Ren interrupted, picking up the paper. "She's amazing. Do you know what they call her? The Red-haired Goddess and De—"
Hikaru snatched the paper back, clearly not wanting to discuss it further. "I know what they call her. We'll save her for last. Next is Yuumo. Like me, he's a boy genius, with one exception."
Shoto looked at the paper. "He's a gamer."
Hikaru glared at Shoto. "How do you know that?"
"I saw in an article he won a shooting game tournament."
Hikaru averted his eyes to Neko, who shrugged and lay down on the table. Tomioka went back to the paper, sighing as he saw one of the names. "If you hadn't kicked him, Shoto, we could've had the second fa—"
Ryuji looked confused, staring at the kitchen. "Um, do you have a little brother, Shoto?"
Shoto shook his head. Ren also looked at the kitchen, tilting his head with his mouth full. "Rhen fho is zaftt?" he mumbled, pointing ahead. Hikaru, Shoto, and Neko turned around to see a very young boy, maybe six or seven, wearing a dark sweater, kicking his feet on the kitchen countertop, and reading a strange book.
The boy looked up at the group and smiled cheekily. "Hello!" The group stared as Ren finished chewing and wiped his mouth slowly. "Hey, kid, why don't you get down from there and I can take you home—" The boy disappeared and reappeared sitting in the middle of the table, taking a few bites of Shoto's omelet.
"Eugh, eggs aren't really my thing, but this is good, I guess." Shoto, Hikari, and Ryuji quickly got out of their seats. Shoto tried to get the boy off the table, but in an instant, the boy vanished and reappeared where Hikaru was, poking Neko repeatedly with the book on his lap. "Aww, such a cute little cat."
Hikaru put his glasses back on slowly, pushing them up as he looked at the young boy with caution. "Kid, how are you doing that?"
The boy looked at Hikaru, holding up the book. "With this! Is what I could say, but this book is special."
Ryuji's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Can it make me stronger?" Ryuji tried to touch it, but the boy disappeared and reappeared a moment later, leaning on the wall.
"I will show you." The boy opened the book and turned the pages fast. The book began to shine as the boy's appearance changed completely. He looked ten years older, wearing a black jacket with "Endo" on the back and jeans, with a modern emo look but a different personality. The boy closed the book and tossed it on the table recklessly, moving back his long black hair.
The group's expressions turned cautious, even the cat seemed shocked. Shoto tried to creep closer, but Endo slouched down to his face, giving him a closer look. He grinned and teleported to the living room to look at the pictures on the wall. "That's one hot smoking lady," he said, turning to the others with the same grin. "The younger version of me did it again, huh?" Mai was asleep during all of this, but Endo didn't want to disturb her. He just shrugged, looking back at the pictures of Mai and Shoto when he was younger.
Ren blinked a few times, trying to touch the man. "Look, uh, sir? Maybe you should return to normal and, um, find your par—"
Endo cut him off. "I don't have any parents, not even a house." He snapped his fingers repeatedly before teleporting to the front door, knocking on it slowly. The group and Neko ran over as Endo opened the door slowly.
"Let's play a game. If you can catch me or touch me before the end of the day, I will go back to normal," he said in a calm tone that quickly turned aggressive and mean. "If not, I'll kill everyone you encounter today." He smiled and opened the door. "See ya! Or not." He then teleported away.
Ryuji, Ren, Hikari, and Shoto were shocked by his words. The cat, however, walked slowly to the front, blinking to himself a little before looking back. "You guys are in trouble…"