Now that I was standing in his presence, I could see why they called him, "The Prince".
HIs aura was so potent and powerful that it threatened to bring everyone around him to their knees. To bow before him like he was a great monarch. A prince.
Behind me, I could feel Hikaru tense, and unconsciously grab me, her entire body shaking a bit. Kamii was also shaking,
Everyone else was doing a good job of hiding the physical reaction that being in his Prescence caused. The only people wo remained completely unaffected by the prince's aura, were me, Suijin, and Yuri.
Suijin was staring directly into the prince's eyes, something that no one else was doing. She was the person who seemed to not even be shocked that the prince had appeared. She was just looking up at him, with an unreadable expression on her face.
Around me, I could feel his aura curling and wrapping around my body like a python. It slowly trailed its way all-throughout my body, leaving a chill running through me. It didn't feel good whatsoever, and so I prepared to release my own magical energy, in order to keep his away from me. However-
"You shouldn't do that." The prince said. His voice was resolute and powerful, although it had a hint of what seemed to be playfulness. He had directed his words to me, and I could feel his gaze bearing down on me. I looked up, locking eyes with his. They glowed red, a red that was just as bright as the massive spear that was next to him.
"When two strong aura's clashes, they create a fissure in space known as a, "Miasmic tear." Those things are still some of the more unknown aspects of magic. All that's known for sure is that nobody to enter one has come out intact. Dead, or Insane. those are the only two options when dealing with one. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be either of those things." He smiled.
At that moment, my own mind was set in stone. It was him. This was the guy who had canceled the magic ray shot from Minerva's gun. This is the guy that canceled my magic spell back when I had dueled Erika. I had finally found him. Here he was.
The prince.
"What gives you the idea that my aura is strong?" I asked, curious as to how he reached that assessment. I was suppressing my magical energy. I always did. Another habit that my father drilled into me through endless training.
The prince looked down at me with a calculating look. "Same way you can tell the difference between good pair of shoes and a bad pair." That answer was vague, as it gave no insight into how exactly he came to the conclusion about me that he did. However, that was probably his point.
"Shindo, what are you doing here?" Suijin asked. Her tone was friendly as always, but this time she was a bit more serious. I could see it in her eyes. The look that I couldn't read before was resolute determination.
"I can't stop by and say hi?" He joked.
"Considering the fact that you've been avoiding the student council for a while, I'd say no, it isn't exactly normally of you to want to stop by now of all times." Suijin kept staring down at Shindo, who was staring right back.
"Oww, that hurts. You trying to call me a shut in?" He made another joke.
I watched the entire interaction in silence, and so did everyone else. The one thing that I couldn't wrap my mind around was Shindo's attitude. From the way that students at the school reacted to just his name being spoken, I would assume he would have been a guy with a much more intimidating attitude. But he was almost like me in the way he interacted with others.
Cracking stupid jokes at the wrong time.
It made me wonder how people had misjudged his character so greatly. Besides his aura, he didn't purposefully try and act intimidating.
Suijin did not find Shindo's constant wisecracking funny, and so she didn't respond.
He sighed, before answering her question. "All right, I had a message for you and Yuri, but I didn't expect this many people to be here." His eyes scanned over everybody gathered on the glass staircase. "This must be in preparation for the upcoming culture festival. Don't worry, I'll keep my lips sealed."
"Is this something that you need to speak about in private?" Suijin asked.
"Not at all. I'll get straight to the point then." He turned to Yuri. "Whatever defenses plan you have already come up with, I'd recommend you fortify it even more."
"Why do you say that?" Yuri asked, almost immediately.
"You know that Wrath guy, well he's popped back up. And he strikes a trail. He's been tearing down monuments al over south America, to Europe, and very soon, he'll arrive in Asia."
"But isn't he only tearing down monuments of human history?" Masayoshi asked. His voice came out a bit shaky.
"That doesn't matter. If there's even a chance that he's in the vicinity, then it's better to prepare. Besides, there's also the fact that he probably is related to the white knight of Pride too."
The mention of both of these terrorists brought even more tension into the already charged air.
Shindo turned his gaze to Suijin.
"And secondly, this one's for you Suijin. I heard from the grapevine that the 10 grand magic families are planning some event. According to some very powerful people, the head of the 10 families, Heath, plans to announce it at the end of Theta's culture festival. Just another reason to increase security."
Suijin's eyes widened, and I could barely hold in my own reaction. I notice Kami visibly step back. This was information directly related to us.
"W-who did you hear this from?" Suijin asked, in visible shock. This was probably the most shook up I had ever seen here. I could see the anxiousness in her eyes increasing. She was probably throwing this into the already massive pile of things she had to worry about.
That being said I wasn't faring much better.
How long has this been in the works? Did Takeru know? Did mom know? What about Yuki?
It was jarring to learn that the ten grand magic families of Japan were actually coming together for once. These 10 grand families were always in eternal conflict, as they fought to try and get their child to be the next heir, the next person to inherit the title of, 'Head of the Grand Magic Families.'
Arguably one of the most powerful positions in the entire continent. The head had just as much power, if not more than the emperor of the continent.
So, why were these always fighting magic families now teaming up to schedule something? It didn't make sense.
"I can't say..." Was all Shindo said. He stood up, his white trench coat flowing in the wind. He turned around, reaching over to grab his spear. He pulled the long weapon from out of the ground, where it was standing. It was a double-edged spear, with carvings and designs on it. He spun it around in his hands for a bit.
Before he left though, he turned back to face Suijin. "Yuri's right, you know? You should really stop taking on so much responsibility. That includes worrying about others."
He stopped the spin of his spear suddenly. He then brought it over his head before swinging it down in an X shape. On the air, a literally red X was drawn, and it opened up into a portal. The air around the portal was distorted, and the inside of the portal was a blood red color. Before he took a step through, he turned back to face her.
She was staring back up at him, a completely shocked and off-guard expression on her face.
"What are you saying?" For the first time, Suijin was left speechless.
"I'll be fine. I'm The Prince, after all." With that, he stepped through the portal, and the rapture closed shut behind him.
His aura had vanished, and everyone could breathe and move normally again, but the tension was still left in the air. Suijin was standing in the center of it all, looking confused, and frustrated. For the first time, I had seen her unable to come up with a response that would help someone. It seemed to hurt her deeply.
"Damn you, Miyamoto." Was all she said.
My own eyes widened once again. Shindo was the son of the Miyamoto clan. He was the kid dubbed,
"The Ghost of the Miyamoto."