Hikaru pouted as he was dragged across the street toward his new school.
"Dad, hear me out!" he attempted to reason with his father.
"So I'm Dad now, huh?" Daichi replied, lips curling into a smile.
"Forget that! I think we both know I'm smart for a four-year-old, right?"
His father hummed to himself. "Well, that is true, I suppose."
"I'm way smarter than the other kids! Just give me more time at home and I'll finish school in no time!" Hikaru said confidently, still being unceremoniously dragged toward the building.
Daichi chuckled at his attempts. "Nice try, kiddo." His father smiled cheerfully.
The closer the building came, the more desperate Hikaru became.
"I'll do whatever you ask! Name a price and I'll pay it! Your wish is my command!"
Daichi stopped dragging him and turned to face him.
"You mean it?" His expression was hard to read.
"Yes!" Hikaru answered, elated at his success.
"Well then, my wish is…"
Hikaru leaned closer.
"For you to go to school."
"DAMN IT!"
Daichi gave him a light smack on the back of the head. "Language, brat!"
Hikaru looked back up at him and once again pouted.
"You are a cruel man, Father."
"You'll get over it," Daichi replied flatly.
Hikaru's new school was pleasant to the eyes. Bricked walls, colored warm red, and inviting white gates. A large empty ground could be seen beside it, with a basketball court and a football field on it.
The moment he had reached the gates, his father had quickly hugged him and run towards the car.
Traitor.
"Well it isn't the worst thing in the world." He tried to comfort himself. "It looks pretty homely honestly."
Sighing to himself, he quietly walked towards his new class.
Pushing open the door with the weight of a condemned man, Hikaru braced himself.
Chaos greeted him: kids running wild, apparently competing to see who could make the teacher cry first.
The door slammed behind him with a resounding boom. If his life were a reality TV show, it would have cued a laugh track.
Instantly, every eye in the room turned toward him. God damn it.
Hikaru groaned internally. Well if this was how he was going to be introduced, might as well try to do it on his own terms.
He stepped forward proudly and nodded towards the crowd watching him.
"Hello, my name is Hikaru Amateru and I will become the greatest hero in the world."
With that said, Hikaru scanned the crowd for reactions.
Silence. Dead Silence. Hikaru swore he could almost hear crickets chirping. Then – chaos.
A boy rushed up to him and shook his hand gleefully.
"You want to be a hero too?" he asked, flashing him a smile.
Hikaru nodded politely. "The greatest there ever was."
His eyes widened. He stared at Hikaru with a complicated expression. "Wow! Too bad for you, that's going to be me."
The boy had stated it so matter-of-factly that Hikaru was almost inclined to believe him.
Before Hikaru could answer him, the boy was shoved aside by a multitude of other kids, who all wanted a piece of the new kid.
Hikaru stumbled backward, attempting to avoid the crowd of kids from suffocating him. From the corner of his eye, he could see the teacher – a petite woman wearing a neat blue blazer - desperately trying to get to him.
However, the wave of children, just like the oceans it mimicked, was relentless.
The noise was deafening and the waves didn't seem to settle any time soon.
Panic clawed at his heart when he realized these overexcited brats were going to stampede all over him. He clenched his entire body and closed his eyes, bracing for impact, when he felt a strange "muscle" flex somewhere deep inside.
It wasn't in his arms or legs, but somewhere deeper. A chord within him felt like it had been plucked.
Just as spontaneously as it had come, the noise receded. Warily opening his eyes, Hikaru saw the entire crowd frozen, staring at him.
What are they looking at?
And then he saw it.
Huh? Did I do that?
Four floating mirrors, each nearly half his size, had shimmered into existence around him, forming a square barrier.
The mirrors that surrounded him felt like parts of himself. He could feel them and he knew, with enough practice he could control them.
The mirrors felt like extensions of himself. More familiar than even his own arms. The connection was deeper than that of brain and muscle. His very soul had ties to them. His heart thumped with an unfamiliar emotion. Blood rushed into his head, causing his cheeks to flush. I feel… free.
That was the word for it. He felt freer than he had ever been in his life. Like a bird that had finally unfurled its wings.
He tried to pull them back, but they only shivered. The shivering granted him greater awareness of the connection between him and them. Relaxing the strange new "muscles" he felt, the mirrors shrank and zipped back into his body. His body – it appeared – had also undergone some changes.
Holy shit I'm shiny.
His skin, normally light brown, was now glowing softly with pure white light.
This, however, was not nearly as significant as the other discovery.
Hikaru's shirt had been torn.
He groaned aloud. "Mom is going to KILL me."