This is a request from @NayairaRamos.

I met my master in the woods surrounding the Kido Manor. Our meeting happened in the same year Seiya was sent to Greece. Child me was walking down a path, when I watched a figure holding a bow in their hand, seemingly aiming at a target stuck to a tree. The way the person was holding the bow looked so majestic that I was awestruck for a moment. The moment they released the arrow, I gasped in shock because the arrow missed the target completely. Hearing my little gasp, the person turned around and gave me a soft smile "You liked it?"

I didn't expect the stranger to talk to me and asked a little dumbfounded "How can you look so cool doing it but still miss the target?"

Chuckling, my master replied "I didn't miss." He asked me if I was willing to retrieve the arrow and when I ventured deeper into the woods to search for the arrow, I found it stuck on a tree, having pierced multiple leaves. Inspired, I asked the stranger to teach me archery and ever since then I had been their apprentice.

Archery is a sport practised even before ancient times, maybe since around 20,000 to 40,000 years, an activity that is as refined as it is savage. The physics behind a bow and an arrow are surprisingly simple. First there is the potential energy used to draw the arrow on your bow, then there is the elastic force of the bow used to thrust the arrow forward upon releasing the string, and then there finally is the kinetic energy which is the converted elastic potential energy of the bow used to make the arrow fly. My master taught me that saints used their cosmos to make their arrows fly farther, meaning they would convert their cosmos into kinetic energy to push the arrow.

I never intended to become a saint or the sort and my master also never told me to become one. Still, training was almost as excruciating as a saint's with my master forcing me to venture through the woods under their strict surveillance. More than once I wanted to give up my training but my master always told me that I still had the potential to reach farther with my arrows. Saying that, my master gifted me a yumi, one of the traditional Japanese bows, made out of Himalayan spindle, a wood used during the Nara Period. I still don't know what I want to become but I chose to believe in my master and the future they saw in me.

After that day I decided to live with my master in a small house near the woods to concentrate on my training. Even though my master was strict during training, they were still charming and quickly got permission from my parents, as long as I still attended school like any other child in Japan.

Oh, my master wouldn't let me slack off at school.

My master forced me to learn so much physics, it was one of my best subjects during school, together with maths. Of course, in action I can't simply measure the distance of my arrow and my target. My master taught me to estimate distances with a glance. And trust me, it was one of our worst training regimes possible. Needless to say, I got a hit or another to the head because I made ridiculous guesses and almost shot my master.

In all the years I lived with my master, I never really questioned what kind of person he really was. His identity was a mystery to me. Except for their name, they never told me anything about their origin, their past nor their family.

That's why their true name shocked me immensely.

It all started on the day Seiya returned from Greece, the first day of the Galaxian Wars. I just finished my archery lessons in school and was on my way home with my bow secured on my shoulder. All around people were listening to the radio or watching TV to watch the first match: Jabu of Monocerus vs Ban of Leo Minor.

I had no interest in the match and was on quick steps to reach my home I shared with my master and to get changed, so I would look appropriate for when I met with Seiya at the harbour. Suddenly, I sensed something moving above my head. Looking up, I saw the shadow of a person jumping right past me, using the rooftops to move unnoticed. At first I wanted to ignore it but remembering how my master always told me to fight for justice, I decided to discreetly follow that shadow until I was near the Grand Coliseum. I heard people cheering in excitement, meaning the match was in full swing. Walking around the building, I finally noticed multiple people standing on top of the globe, seemingly watching the match. From the faint cosmos they were emitting, I could sense that they had no good intentions. I decided to climb on top of a roof and started to quickly equip my bow and an arrow. The shadows were quite a distance away from me, which was why I needed to trust in my cosmos to know its way to my target. Taking a deep breath, I calculated the path my arrow would need to take, corrected my aim and concentrated the cosmos on the tips of my fingers, which were pulling the arrow. With another breath I finally released the arrow and with a little burst of my cosmos, the arrow was sent flying through the air. But a moment before the arrow was to meet the shadows, my cosmos split the arrow apart into multiple arrows, hitting almost all people but one, who caught the arrow with his bare hand. But to his surprise the arrow was so hot with my cosmos, that he had to let go of it, making it drop low to the ground, attracting the attention of a security guard. Cursing, the shadows fled the scene for the day and I was still standing on the same roof.

Taking a calming breath, I took a look at the time and cursed, since I was late to meet Seiya.

Forsaking my intentions of getting changed into an appropriate outfit, I dashed in my school uniform to the harbour and hurriedly tried to dismantle my bow in its holder while I was still running. By the time I arrived my bow was safely secured on my shoulder in its holder and Seiya was already standing with the Pegasus Cloth next to his feet, his eyes wandering around in search of me. Out of breath, I called out "Seiya!" and waved my hand to catch his attention.

Taken off guard, Seiya needed a second to recognise me and finally a happy grin spread across his lips, feeling relieved that I actually came to see him again after all those years "There you are!"

Excited, I threw myself in his arms and hugged him happily "I'm so happy that I am not late!"

Chuckling, Seiya hugged my back and laughed "And here I thought you forgot me."

"As if!" I leaned back to get a look at his face but once I actually got a look at it, I was quickly captivated by his reddish brown eyes, the same shade as the sun at dawn. As awestruck as I was, Seiya also simply stared at my eyes, caught in their sharpness and how deep they seemed to venture into his own.

A beautiful pair of eyes.

Finally snapping back into reality, I freed myself out of Seiya's arms with a slight blush and fixed my uniform. Clearing my throat, I composed myself a little and gave Seiya an honest smile "Welcome home, Seiya."

His eyes were twinkling in delight and the smile on his face could have been the sun itself beaming back at me "I'm home!"

...

Sighing, I was circling my awfully stiff shoulders, trying to massage the knots in them away. Ever since the first day of the Galaxian Wars, the shadows had reappeared day after day, so I shot them down every time I got the chance to. Needless to say, I was a little bit tired of just scaring them away. But oh well, my master instructed me not to go into combat with them, since they were clearly aiming to interrupt the Galaxian Wars somehow.

And I mustn't be involved with it.

"Stupid master..." I grumbled "Telling me to fight for justice but not to get involved with Kido Saori... Stupid, stupid master." I kept on nagging.

Since I was at home in the garden, I didn't expect anyone to hear me say those things. But surprisingly there was someone who heard every word I said "Who is your stupid master?" Seiya asked, clearly excited to have escaped the hospital.

Surprised, I shrieked and spun around to see the boy sitting on my wall "Why aren't you resting?!"

"Miho is nagging at me for getting hurt so recklessly! So, I figured you would be more fun!" He teased me and jumped down from the wall "But this isn't your family's home, right? Why did you move? It took me so much effort to find you."

Sighing, I pretended to be offended by his rude comment but let it slide with a smile and a calm explanation "After you and the other boys from the orphanage were sent out of Japan, I met an archery master who was willing to take me in as their student. And in order to learn more from him, I decided to live with him."

"Oh, so you are into archery!" Seiya was reminded of our reunion and remembered that I was carrying a bow holder on my shoulder "Can you show me?"

"You think that is interesting?"

"It's at least more interesting than Miho nagging my ears off!" He joked and watched intently how I prepared my bow and fixed my posture. In our garden we had only one target, simply for show, when visitors appeared. Taking a deep breath, I quickly aimed and hit the bull's-eye without the use of cosmos "Awesome!" Seiya exclaimed "I can tell that you trained really hard!"

"It's not as impressive as the training you did in Greece. You are a much more formidable warrior than I am." I tried to be humble, after all I was still a student in training.

"Don't be shy now!" He laughed and then seemed to remember a story Marin told him once "Did you know? Normally, the use of weapons is strictly forbidden within the ranks of saints. Marin told me that true strength doesn't lie in the use of magical weapons, since their strength is only borrowed. Still, there are only a handful of weapons still used among foot soldiers and guards in Sanctuary, not to forget the very elite of the saints, the gold saints. And among them, the strongest of the gold saints is the Sagittarius Gold Saint, the leader of the gold saints. Marin told me that he uses the bow as his main weapon but not because he can't fight without it. The golden arrows he fires... are meant to open paths for his fellow comrades, so that he can lead them to victory."

"Yes... I think I... have heard that story before." In fact, it was my master who told it to me at the beginning of our training.

Nodding his head, Seiya added "I think you are picking up a very... noble way of fighting. I am sure that you will eventually achieve something great with it."

"Yeah..." My reply didn't sound as convincing as I wanted it to be because I myself didn't know what I was actually training for. Suddenly I could sense an aggressive cosmos and Seiya sensed it too because he immediately pushed me to the side. On the spot I stood seconds prior, a crater appeared, whose force would have seriously injured me. Looking up, I saw a shadowy person stand on top of the roof, grinning down at us.

"Who are you?!" Seiya questioned him and carefully positioned me behind him.

"That's none of your business." The opponent replied and had his attention on me "We finally managed to track you down. You had been quite a pain in the ass to our plan. But now we finally have the higher ground." And before we knew it, me and Seiya were completely surrounded by three more shadows, grinning at us as if they had already won. Cursing with a sigh, Seiya regretted having given his cloth to the Grand Foundation. Not that it was really his fault, since he was unconscious after his battle with Shiryu.

Assessing our situation, I decided to further question "What are you trying to get from the Grand Foundation? Why have you been spying on the Galaxian Wars?"

"They have been spying on us?" Seiya wondered out loud.

Laughing about how clueless the boys had been, the shadowy figure mocked "What would be the use of telling you? You all will die anyway!" And that was apparently their cue to attack.

The first to arrive attacked first, charging at us with a simple air strike from above. Me and Seiya easily dodged in opposite directions, splitting us on opposite sides of the garden. While Seiya started to dodge attacks by blocking them with punches, I used my agility to dip underneath their attacks and sprinted up the wall to shoot the enemies from above. I didn't need to use cosmos at such close proximity, so I could easily pierce a foe in the shoulder, when he tried to attack Seiya from behind. Since Seiya wasn't wearing his cloth, he avoided taking hits directly and waited for the opportunity to grab one of the opponents to toss him into another, making their heads crash into each other. Watching him, I was suddenly confronted with the last man standing, who had jumped onto the wall next to me and was about to attack me. I managed to slip out of his reach and aimed my bow at him as I backed away. But he was a little too fast, so I had to cancel my counter attack and was ready to jump down the wall. But then an arrow struck between us and I was so shocked that I lost my footing and fell from the roof. Luckily, Seiya noticed in time and quickly caught me in his arms.

Confused by the surprise attack, my attacker looked around, only to be startled by slow footsteps coming out of my house "You are quite rude fellas. Trespassing in my home like that." I instantly recognised my master's voice, sounding much deeper in the face of a foe.

Snarling, the shadowy figure asked "Who goes there?!"

My master finally stepped out of the door and glared at the foe with a dangerous glint "Leave while I am still patient."

"Hmpf!" Not taking the warning seriously, the shadow charred at my master but was quickly defeated with an arrow I shot at them from behind.

Worried, I rushed to my master and asked him "Are you alright?!"

In just a second that scary glare was gone and back was the soft smile and the warm palm caressing my hair "How could I be in any trouble with my reliable student?"

"Student?" Seiya repeated, looking back and forth between me and my master "So, that's the master you have been telling me about?"

I nodded my head "Yes, he has been taking care of me ever since you left for Greece."

Chuckling, my master patted my head for the last time and stepped forward to get a closer look at Seiya "I have already heard of you, Seiya of Pegasus."

"You know my name?" Seiya questioned, already thinking that there was something suspicious about my teacher.

My teacher in question chuckled and said "I heard of you on the radio. The Galaxian Wars are hot news around the globe. Especially your match against Shiryu of Draco, yesterday."

"Oh..." And just as quickly the suspicions were gone. Curious, Seiya then asked "And what is your name?"

Stretching out his hand for a handshake, my master introduced himself "You can call me Rito, for now."

For now?

I questioned his wording but Seiya didn't seem to have caught it. Just when I wanted to ask him about it my master suddenly said "I would recommend you to return to the Grand Coliseum. Something is going on with the match between Andromeda and Monocerus." His eyes then wandered to me "You should accompany him."

I wanted to refuse but seeing how strangely calm he was about the whole thing, I knew that something bad was about to happen. Not wanting to risk anyone getting hurt, I urged Seiya to follow my master's advice and we left together.

As it turned out, my master had foreseen Ikki's attack on the Grand Coliseum and how he was about to steal the Sagittarius Cloth in front of everyone. The black saints he had sent to me were meant to keep me occupied, so I couldn't interrupt him from stealing the gold cloth.

But he didn't think that Seiya would assist me.

We reached the coliseum in time for me to fire an arrow, successfully interrupting Ikki's escape attempt. With another arrow I forced him to let go of it and securely sat on the roof to have the best view of the happenings below me. Angered, Ikki called his strongest black saints and the bronze saints quickly had their hands full to deal with the new threats. As soon as the black saints started to attack at random, people were trying to flee the scene, creating a chaos for me to observe.

"Where is Ikki?" I mumbled, trying to find the Phoenix Saint among the panicking people. Luckily, I sensed his cosmos in time to dodge and to quickly counterattack with an arrow. Apparently, he thought of me as the bigger threat and had jumped up to the roof to fight me in close combat. I avoided that by running around and shooting arrows at the same time.

Irritated, Ikki yelled "Stop intervening! Get lost!" He tried to hit me with his Illusion Demon Fist multiple times but I managed to dodge it in time so far. I didn't even attempt to block his attacks, knowing that, unlike the bronze saints, I had no armour that could protect me from a saint's lethal attacks. Like a rabbit I was running from the predator, using my agile legs to avoid being caught in the claws of the phoenix. With a mocking grin, Ikki taunted "Despite your clear interference, you are rather quick in running away, aren't ya!" Ikki finally changed his aim from my head to my legs "How about I chop off those quick legs? Let's see how you are going to stand in my way now!" Our game of catch lasted for almost five minutes until I finally managed to get on opposite sides of the circular roof. Taking the chance. I used the fraction of a second to aim with my bow and to release an arrow which grazed the scar on Ikki's forehead, successfully getting rid of his helmet. Angered, he grumbled "How dare you..."

I sensed his murderous cosmos and managed to jump off the roof in time, before Ikki set it ablaze in his rage. The whole roof was quickly engulfed in flames, leaving me no other choice but to stand amongst the fighting bronze saints. Everyone else also paused in their battle to watch Ikki going on a rampage, chasing after me like I was his mortal enemy. Worried for me, the bronze saints chose to forsake their battles with the black saints and tried to assist me in my run away. At first the black saints were trying to interrupt me but when two were accidentally burned to ashes because they were caught in Ikki's rage, the remaining black saints chose to flee the scene.

"Brother, get back to your senses!" Shun tried to snap Ikki out of it but he was quickly shoved into a wall. Since Shiryu and Seiya didn't have the chance to have their cloths repaired, Shiryu couldn't use his shield to block the blazing attacks. Instead he and Hyoga tried to hold the raging saint in a choke hold. Unfortunately Ikki's flames of anger were so hot that they couldn't hold on and were smoking on the ground.

"Ikki is like a mad dog!" Seiya commented "If it goes on, Tokyo might as well go in flames!"

I wracked my brain to form a plan but once Shiryu and Hyoga were out of the way, Ikki continued his pursuit on me. And as it had to happen, I slowly started to reach the limit of my stamina "If this goes on *gasp* I will tire out!" Seeing my struggle, Seiya chose to risk it all, turned around and charged at Ikki. Palm to palm, the two boys were immersing themselves in a shoving battle, both of their cosmos were surging and burning until their two forces were seen pushing for dominance. Shocked, I yelled "Seiya, don't! You aren't wearing your cloth!"

Just as I said it, Seiya's hands were starting to smoke and to smoulder because of the heat coming from Ikki's body. Panting, Seiya glared at Ikki and exclaimed "I won't let you reach her!"

Showing no mercy, Ikki flared his cosmos and engulfed Seiya's body in flames, fully intending to burn him alive. I didn't hesitate to pull my