An Old Friend

He walked down the street, his head still hurting from his headbutt earlier. his steps were soft and quiet as he doesn't want to attract his attention to himself. the stalls of food smelled amazing but none of them piqued his interest until he came across an amazing smell radiating from inside a restaurant. he opened the door to the restaurant a bell sound echoing through the almost empty shop. a man older that him but still young exits from behind the counter.

"oh, prince Oji… I'm blessed to be in your presence, what can i get for you today?" Oji walked over to the man behind the counter and leaning down.

"you don't have to be formal with me chef… what is that smell?" he sat down at one of the stools at the counter.

"oh, its a recipe my grandma found in an old cookbook a while back, It is called Takoyaki, there were other recipes in the book too. after learning the book was over several thousand years old, we had to open a restaurant selling them" Oji was taken aback a bit.

"a- a few thousand years?, i bet your grandma loves this shop? where is she?" the man looking behind the wall and into the kitchen before looking back at him.

"yeah, she's currently home sick… maybe even on her death bed…" the man looks away before looking back at Oji.

"so, do you want some T-Takoyaki then?" the man visibly and audibly distressed. Oji replied with the yes before the man speedily walked away and Oji found a seat at a table. he glanced around the shop eventually noticing someone wearing a hood sitting at his table across from him

"hey, who are you? and why are you sitting at my table?" the person chuckles and looks up at Oji. her long hair is a light blonde with blue eyes.

"nice to meet you, for your reference i was sitting here before you came in and sat across from me without noticing me" Oji is taken aback.

"oh…" the two sat there silent until the man from before comes by and drops off their food.

"that will be 42 Yakut sir" Oji grits his teeth and smiles giving him 84 instead.

"use the extra to help your grandma" the man's face lit up as he bowed and thanked him before leaving.

"so, back to you… why are you here in the first place" she looked away.

"i could ask the same about you" he squints at her before looking away. Oji starts eating his takoyaki and smiles, eyes widening.

"this is actually amazing" he starts stuffing his face with the takoyaki. he stops eating for a moment and exhales steam coming out of his mouth. shocking the girl.

"h-hey, The Takoyaki is spicy but i don't think its that spicy" sounding genuinely concerned about him.

"don't worry, spicy food is my specialty" he lifts his finger up catching it on fire momentarily before stopping. Oji finishes eating his takoyaki and is genuinely smiling as he leaves the shop thanking the man. he walks outside and sits on a bench where the breeze blows his hair. a hand rests on his shoulder from behind spooking him a bit.

"hey Oji, what ya doin' here in the Middle class?" Oji turned around surprised.

"Melius? It has been so long since I've seen you" Oji stands up and turns around hugging her.

"you still haven't answered me weakling named Ojira" Oji broke the hug.

"what did i say about calling me by my full name? It's Oji to you, I am here for the festival tournament." she laughed and flicked his forehead.

"okay sir Prince Ojira, have you made it to the finals yet? i bet you struggled a lot, there's a lot of strong fighters in this years tournament" Oji grits his teeth before sitting back down.

"yeah, no worries though, it was as easy as 1 2 3" she seemed surprised.

"but man, it has been what? almost 10 years ago we last saw each other? you've changed so much" she sits down beside Oji.

"don't turn this into another one of your pity parties Melius" she laughed even more.

"trust me, I don't really do that anymore, ya know… just reminiscing on old times" Oji looks away at the mass of people walking towards the Colosseum.

"oh, guess the finals about to start, better get going, talk to you again sometime Melius" he stands up and waves as he walks away. Melius left just watching as her childhood friend left. she looks at her hand as memories of a younger Oji getting dragged away from her by military guards appear in her mind. she tries to stop but cant help from crying knowing her best childhood friend is alive and well.

Frederic was leaning up against the wall of the entrance to the battlefield. light footsteps could be heard to his right as he turns to look there is Oji.

"took you long enough Oji" he stands up to look at Oji who stops in front of him.

"don't worry, just got caught up in the crowd of people flooding into the Colosseum" there was a silence, the only noise heard is the footsteps and talking of those entering the Colosseum. they both burst out into laughter and looked at each other yet again.

"guess we can finally decide who's stronger" Oji smirked as did Frederic as the seats to the Colosseum were packed and no more could enter. the king stands up quieting them down. Frederic and Oji looking out of the tunnel and listening.

"time itself can't be stopped, or even slowed down. and that is why we as humans keep evolving and changing to reach the goals we set for ourselves. but when we strive to keep our future facing the light at the end of the tunnel, shadows will always follow behind. but remember, our greatest glory is not standing up when he fall, its growing from it and rising to the occasion! the tunnel of your goals may end far far away, but remember, if you strive to reach your goals. not even shadows can knock you down!" the whole crowd cheers as Frederic looks at Oji.

"just as our old man said, i will defeat you here and now Oji!" Oji looks at him and smirks.

"i can say the same for you, Frederic" the walk to the edge of the tunnel still under its shade.

"the final match of the annual 93 " he paused "98th festival event, the Colosseum rambler's final match!, Oji Doyal of the low class Versus Frederic Doyal of the low class!" the crowd cheers knowing this would be a really intense fight. Frederic and Oji walk onto the field and the crowd is still cheering.

"final fight, BEGIN!"