hey all im back!

this chapter is a little shorter, but i hope you enjoy it

Masaki scanned the school yard.

Club Recruitment week had finally struck and it came in full force. On his first day he intervened in no less than three verbal spars that had escalated quickly, two brawls that were the result of an additional confrontation that got out of hand and four all-out magic fire fights. Those definitely got out of hand.

Not that he minded in the least. In fact, if he was to be completely honest with himself, he rather enjoyed being a part of the force that controlled the hectic atmosphere.

Except that incident where an overzealous recruiter unleashed a particularly powerful shockwave. The student had knocked over several tents and displays...those clubs were not too happy about that one. It took two-thirds of the Public Morals Committee to stop that one fight. Everyone had agreed not to talk about that one.

Other than that, it helped him take his mind off other matters. Political matters.

Ten Master Clan matters.

The wind whipped in his face, causing the tail of his jacket to flare in the gust. Up this high the bluster of the wind could be felt in full; it made him feel alive with the breeze dancing around him. The setting sun created long shadows in the grass, the end of another long day. He wasn't sure if he was allowed on the roof of the school building, but he didn't think anyone would mind.

Probably.

Anyway, it gave him the best view of the entire yard; dropping down from this height would not be a problem, and it was quicker than weaving through the throngs of potential club members meandering through the area, visiting the tents each group had set up. He could keep track of all the going-ons in the area and spring into action if need be.

Masaki frowned.

When did life get so complicated? It felt like only yesterday otou-san's dealings were a world away. The minute I step onto Third High's grounds, and I'm right in the thick of it.

He knew that being a part of the pinnacle of Japan's magic community would have not only its benefits, but also some rather unsavory conditions. He knew he would be watched. He knew that events would be manipulated around him. Heck, he might even be an assassination target. But it was part and parcel.

I think otou-san might have overreacted slightly.

He turned that thought over in his head then cast it aside. The person who had made that statement was Yotsuba Maya, Queen of Night, Demon Lord of the Far East.

No, that reaction was entirely within reason.

When his father asked him for all the names of the people he had met or interacted with, he didn't think he would go through each of their personal files. Even people he had met in passing were not exempt from scrutiny.

Except he didn't mention Hana.

He didn't know why, except that a part of him felt like he shouldn't bring her name up. He felt slightly guilty about not telling his father about her after all the lengths he went through to clear each person's background.

Idiot. You barely know her and you've talked to her a total of two times, both of which she blew you off.

If he didn't know better, he would have thought he was attracted to her. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, or how she fought with the grace of a dancer, or even her rare beauty. He had overheard more than one boy in the halls talking about that particular Course 2 girl…

Idiot.

Masaki growled to himself.

Focus. You have a job to do.

Masaki went back to watching the people in the school yard.

I'm not in love...right?

A flare shot up from a corner of the school. Rather than using the terminals, Soshiroda-senpai had a rather...eclectic way of communicating trouble to the committee.

"Yo! Ichijou!"

Masaki looked down to see another member of the committee run up to the side of the building and shout towards him.

"There's been a confrontation at Practice Room 2. All personnel available are requested to report."

"Gotcha."

Masaki leapt off the top of the building, activating magic. As he flew through the air, he closed his eyes and focused on the wind in his face and felt his jacket rippling as he arced towards the ground. Considering his impressive interference strength, he soared above the yard, his jump taking him halfway across the campus towards the Practice Rooms. Nearing the ground, he decreased the effects of gravity and activated a self-acceleration spell.

He strode into the room; he was the first to arrive apparently. There was a ring of people in the center of the room; the glow of psions were a tell-tale sign of magic being constructed.

Reacting more than thinking, he jumped off the ground over the crowd huddled around the hubbub of activity with the aid of some weight-type magic and landed between the hostile parties.

Just in time.

A general singularity move-type magic shattered on one side of his interference armor. A familiar electric whip splintered on the other side.

I find I'm being used as a human shield more often as of late….

"Ok, what's going on over here…"

Masaki's stare met that of a certain Juuichiban Akisada.

"None of your business Ichijou," he snarled, "Now if you'll excuse me…"

"Oh, but I think it is, Juuichiban-kun."

Masaki pointed at his armband, indicating his connection to the Public Morals Committee. Akisada glanced back and forth between Masaki and the armband.

"It's my duty to see that order is maintained and no one ends up incapacitated."

Akisada narrowed his eyes, a sure sign that he was about to do something incredibly stupid. The crowd, feeling the tension rise, slowly backed up to give the two some room, original conflict forgotten. The chance to see the top student at Third High in action created a sense of anticipation.

"...you're really going to attack a member of the Disciplinary Committee, Juuichiban?"

Masaki was surprised to hear a familiar voice, it's owner materializing out of the crowd. Mugura Hana stopped a few steps away from Masaki and Akisada, hands on hips and an annoyed expression on her face. Masaki involuntarily held his breath.

Akisada's face visibly darkened, and he shifted his look from Hana, to Masaki and then back to Masaki.

Shit, he's going for her instead of me.

Before he could react Akisada had activated a self-acceleration spell along with the electric whip and darted towards Hana. Masaki cursed and activated his own sequence, but it seemed like he was worried for nothing.

This time Hana was ready.

She activated a self-acceleration spell as well, nimbly ducking Akisada's strike, and delivered a few quick strikes. Akisada collapsed unconscious onto the ground, suffering his second humiliation in a matter of days. The entire room was silenced.

Masaki's eyebrows rose.

"You know Mugura-san, handling improper use of magic is the Disciplinary Committee's role?"

"Well," Hana said, getting up, "good thing I'm wearing this right?"

She pointed to the band at her arm.

Masaki gave a start. He had been so mesmerized with her that he hadn't noticed the black band on her arm, the one that belonged to members of the Public Morals Committee.

"I thought you declined the offer?..."

"Let's just say Tsuzuya-senpai can be...convincing."

She looked uncomfortably at the crowd, which was still silent in shock from what just happened.

"You can handle the rest right?...Thanks!"

Hana darted off, crowd splitting for her, mixed looks of astonishment, indignation and even some respect following the slim figure.

"Hey! I didn't say…"

Masaki sighed and then smiled, staring after her.

You certainly picked an interesting girl, didn't you.

Masaki attempted to shove the buzz of conversation in the room to the back of his head. Closing his eyes, he laid his hands on the screen of the machine, psions dancing in his palm. Snapping his eyes open, he poured all of his phenomenon-rewriting power into the CAD.

The device at the other end began rotating quickly and then started rising off the ground.

Keep it going…

He managed to hold the device in the air for a good five minutes. Feeling his power draining, he decelerated the spinning and lowered it to the ground. He exhaled as the device touched the floor and the timer stopped.

"Impressive as always Ichijou-san! As always, your interference strength scores top marks. I think you might be able to break the school record for the activation speed as well! We haven't had someone so adept at multi-casting as you in ages!"

He ignored his teacher's dronings and smiled and nodded with practiced politeness. He glanced over to where Shinkurou was standing at his station, eyes focused in concentration.

And then there are times like these when I wonder whether enrolling in High School was a good idea…

Even if he was one of Japan's most powerful magicians, the fact of the matter was that he was still a student, subject to the system. And that system mandated regular assessments.

The bell dismissing the class to lunch interrupted his teacher, who somehow still found things to talk about.

"Oh! That's lunch. We'll talk later Ichijou-san."

With a polite bow to his teacher, Masaki walked over to where Kichijouji was finishing up and muttering to himself.

"Still need to adjust the CAD a bit more...slightly off from the optimal settings..."

"George, you ready? It's lunchtime."

Kichijouji absentmindedly looked up.

"Oh, Masaki. Sorry, but I have some Council work to finish up. I won't be in the lunchroom today...or probably the rest of the week for that matter."

Masaki waved his hand.

"That's fine; I'll catch up with you later."

He turned to walk out of the testing room.

Well, looks like I'll have to find some people to sit with. George's busy, not sure where Airi, Shiori and Touko are. Maybe I'll just go to the roof.

Since no one really checked the roof, he had sort of claimed it as his personal thinking space.

He chuckled to himself. He hadn't realized how few people he actually interacted with. He didn't hurry on his way to the lunchroom. Some other students turned at his presence; he have them polite nods of the head. They were getting better at acknowledging that he was a student, just like the rest of them.

The left wall of the hallway leading to the cafeteria was a one long window, looking out into the schoolyard. The cherry blossom petals were dancing in the wind. He stopped. She was standing in the middle of the yard, eyes closed, face upturned to the wind. He watched for for a few moments.

Who are you Hana?

She was an enigma. She didn't seem to have many friends - or any friends for that matter. She was easily the most beautiful on campus. And those combat skills. Why would she need those? And what he saw of her magic wasn't too shabby. Which gave rise to the question as to why she was a Course 2 student. A strange thought popped into his head, and he immediately wished it hadn't.

What if she's part of...the Ten?

No that's ridiculous. All of the Ten families had fairly public personas...except...that one. No. The other clans had branch families as well; there was no way for everyone to know all the families related to the Ten. No, she couldn't be a…

Yotsuba.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds and landed on Masaki's face. Rolling over to face the offending light rays, he blinked several times and stifled a yawn. He propped himself up on his elbows and glanced groggily over at the clock.

8:24…

He promptly crashed back down in his pillow and rolled over, pulling the sheets back over his messy hair.

Thank God recruitment week is over. I think I can reward myself with a few more hours…

As he was just about to doze off, a sharp pounding on his door pulled him back into reality.

"Nii-san! Kaa-san said you could accompany me to Tokyo for some shopping! We're leaving in 10 minutes."

Masaki rubbed his eyes and groaned as Akane's footsteps retreated.

When did I get volunteered for this? I just wanted a few more hours…

He grudgingly threw the sheets back and threw his legs over the side of the bed.

Nothing else but to get dressed I suppose…

The sibling duo sped down the highway, Akane holding tight to Masaki's torso. Masaki wove in and out of the traffic; he enjoyed times like these when he could leave behind his identity as Ichijou Masaki, Crimson Prince and just ride.

Behind him, Akane practiced casting sensory-type magic in an attempt to help her brother avoid trouble spots. Normally the trip would take at least three hours, but Masaki carefully applied additional speed cutting the time down to an hour and a half.

Masaki parked the bike at the edge of the mall and the siblings got off the bike. Akane took off her helmet and shook her hair loose.

"So? Where do you want to go Akane?"

The two of them strolled throughout the bustling mall. Akane darted into every clothing shop in sight; Masaki followed distractedly but made sure he had sights on his sister at all times. Every so often she would come out of the dressing room and ask his opinion. She even pulled him into a men's store, picking out some outfits for him.

Akane was trying out some clothes at one store when a girl caught his eye. Her back was turned to him, but he would recognize that long dark hair and slim figure anywhere. Her arm was wound around the arm of another boy, average height, and messy dark hair. He thought he felt a sharp stab of jealousy. She didn't have a boyfriend did she?

"Hey Akane, stay here for a bit?"

Without waiting from a verbal acknowledgement from his sister, he ran after the couple; a few steps from them he called out.

"Mugura-san!"

The boy stopped and turned his head; at this the girl turned as well. Silence stretched awkwardly before the group.

"Can we help you?"

The cold tone snapped Masaki out of the moment; he finally got a good look at the boy. He was rather mundane-looking, dark hair with bangs reaching bright periwinkle eyes, but well-built. His voice was expressionless, but carried a hint of something dangerous.

"I just wanted to say hello to Mugura-san."

Masaki nodded to the girl.

At first there was no response, but after a few seconds she broke out in clear, tinkling laughter.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Miyuki. Shiba Miyuki."

Masaki just stood there for a moment, mouth gaping. She looked exactly like Hana.

Who?... How?...

"S-Sorry. I guess I did mistake you for someone else. I'm Masaki. Ichijou Masaki."

His name seemed to evoke a reaction from the boy, who raised his eyebrows, ever so slightly. He turned away slightly.

"Well, if we're done here, let's go Miyuki."

The boy walked a few paces off, then turned his head expectantly at Miyuki.

"Of course, onii-sama."

Miyuki turned and back to Masaki before leaving.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Ichijou-san."

She bowed and turned to follow the boy, and catching up, promptly latched onto his arm again. Masaki was left there standing alone.

Siblings?...

He wasn't sure how long he was there, but he suddenly found Akane at his side.

"Nii-san?"

Tatsuya watched the Ichijou heir from his vantage point on top of a skyscraper. He had left Miyuki looking around at a bakery for him to observe Masaki for a bit. From this high, it was hard to get a good look at the boy, but Elemental Sight made up for this lack.

Ichijou Masaki, the Crimson Prince. He had never met the boy, but had heard many things about him. From this first encounter, he could tell that he was a first-rate magician, but still no match for himself.

Tatsuya shook his head.

He had been designed to be a guardian; comparison of strength had become second nature to him. He never looked at individuals as people, just threat levels. He wondered if he could ever have been friends with him.

A futile thought.

Tatsuya turned away from Masaki to go look for Miyuki. This one would have to be watched carefully; taking interest in Yotsuba operatives was never a good thing. He made a mental note to notify the clan head. In all her years of spying, Hana had never been noticed before; she was slipping in her methods.

But before that, he had some terrorists to take care of.

sometimes i wonder at some of the things i make up

but anyways, i think we're getting around to the climax; probably lots of fighting in the next chapter (ho boy, still don't know how to write fight scenes)

thanks for following along and as always, review, message; criticism and ideas always welcome!