Disclaimer: this scene is not an actual chapter of Wayward Dreams! Rather, it's going to spliced into a future chapter told from Takeru's perspective giving a little peek into his psyche and mindset. The attempt is to make him a bit more sympathetic and likable in the eyes of the reader since he's basically been a colossal shithead since his introduction. This conversation he has with Mira really explains some of Takeru's actions and represents an important shift in his attitude towards Kakane.
“Y’know, Takeru, at this point, I gotta ask… Do you hate Harper?”
Takeru nearly spat out his drink. He looked at Mira incredulously.
“I thought it was pretty straightforward,” Mira said with a shrug, mind-bogglingly unfazed. “So? Do you hate him or not?”
“There’s nothing more I want than to bury Rags ten feet under the sand,” Takeru growled. “If I do that, there’ll be nothing stopping me from becoming Aupuniotiaki’s strongest warrior! I’ll have that bastard groveling at my feet when I’m through with him! That’ll teach him not to mess with me! That’ll show `em all! The next time we meet, Rags is going down for sure!”
“I… What?” Mira blinked. “Wait, does this have to do with what happened back in school? How is beating Harper in a fight gonna prove anything to all those bozos who picked on you?”
“Because if I beat someone like Rags, they’ll have no choice but to acknowledge my strength!” Takeru seethed. “D’ya really think those weaklings would last two seconds in a brawl with him? Maui’s great blue ocean, they’d get trashed! So if I defeat Rags, it means I’m better than him. It means I’m better than them. It means everything they said about me—about my weakness, uselessness, about being magicless—it’ll all be moot. I gotta be the strongest around here. I gotta be the best. That ain’t happening so long as Rags can go around doing as he pleases.”
“Oh. Oh, I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“Takeru, how much do you respect Harper?”
“Respect!? Whaddya mean respect!? I just told you that I wanted to kick the hippocampus dung outta him! What part of that makes you think I respect the guy!?”
“You literally just praised the hippocampus dung out of him,” Mira countered. “Ignoring Megrez, you think he’s the strongest guy around here, don’t you? Second only to yourself, presumably, but you have to prove that first by beating him in a fight. Am I wrong?”
“I…” Takeru faltered. “I don’t respect him,” he finally said flatly.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that to convince me.” Mira sighed. “Takeru, what’s wrong with respecting Harper?”
“I’m not supposed to—or gonna—give a hippocampus’ arse about someone who’s weaker than me!” Takeru snapped. “Rags is gonna fall to me and I’m gonna shove it in his smug face when I’m through with him!”
“But you respect Megrez,” Mira pointed out, “and you’ve never once beaten her in a fight. Hasn’t she, how shall I say it, kicked your arse every single time?”
“That’s different!” Takeru scoffed. “Megrez is my sister. We fight literally all the time. Besides, she’s got her own job to do as Aupuniotiaki’s Fearless Princess. Someday, I’ll have a title like that and we can work together!”
“So why can’t you do that with Harper?” Mira asked.
“Were you listening to literally anything I’ve been saying!?”
“Well, you respect me plenty, or at least, I think you do, and in any case, you don’t seem to have a problem with me,” Mira said.
“That’s because you’re straight useless in a fight,” Takeru replied. “I’m not gonna waste my time with people like you. Besides, you do other stuff that helps Kai and Megrez out. And you’re my friend; you have been since we were little. There’s no point in figuring out which one of us is stronger because we both have different strengths.”
“So why can’t you do that with Harper?” Mira asked again.
“Because— Because—”
“You respect Megrez even though she’s stronger than you because she’s family. Well, if Harper’s your friend, why can’t you do the same with him?”
“Rags isn’t my friend!”
“He might as well be!” Mira insisted. “And if not, why don’t you just simply befriend him? So what if you can’t beat Harper in a fight? You can’t beat Megrez in a fight! Obviously, it’s not wrong to strive for more strength or to be better than. But instead of trying to force this weird egotistical power dynamic with Harper, why not just settle for things as they are now?”
“What!?” Takeru was outraged. “I refuse to be on the same playing field as Rags! I have to be better than him! And if I’m not, I’ll train until I am!”
“And what if he does some training of his own to keep up?” Mira sassed. “Admit it: you don’t like Harper because he’s just as strong as you are! But isn’t that okay? I think you’d lose something very, very precious if you continue trying to force your ego on him, Takeru.”
“And what would that be!?”
“I think you’ll figure it out soon enough. And with due time, I think Harper will too.”