POV: Rai Shinsei
I can't think of a reason why he is following me as of now.
I doubt it's out of revenge, so why-
"Rai!" a familiar voice called out, abrupting my thought as I turned around to find Aria, whose exuberance seemed contagious as Sarah, who accompanied Aria, averted her eyes away from my own as the two of them approached me.
"The temperature is beginning to drop since winter is approaching. Are you not cold, Rai?" Aria asked with her hands inside of pocket of her blazer as the two of them wore long, thin black socks with their own colored scarfs while Sarah even wore a black beanie, but as for myself, I chose to wear my usual uniform, refusing to wear the blazer provided as despite the bleak weather, the cold never bothered me as I had built up quite a strong resistant due to the two years that I spent within the mountains.
"Not really." I replied nonchalantly as it took every fiber of my being to avoid noticing Jordan, who hid himself poorly as he pretended to scroll on his phone.
This idiot.
Can you not make it anymore obvious!?
"I see… are you okay?" Aria asked in concern as I clenched my jaw in order to restrain myself from glancing at Jordan, whose presence felt as if it was screaming at me within my peripheral vision.
If you're going to follow someone…
At least do it properly!
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just didn't get enough sleep last night. Are the two of you heading to class?" I asked in order to shift my focus elsewhere, despite them obviously heading to class as they had their school bags with them.
"We were heading there now. What about you?" Aria asked.
"I was just on my way." I replied, prompting the three of us to walk together as Aria walked on my left while Sarah walked on my right, arousing many curious gazes as we approached the academy, but despite the undesirable attention I was receiving, I found it much more tolerable as it helped me restrain myself from noticing Jordan, who began trailing behind me once more as I was curious to know what his intentions were.
"Did you decide to cancel your leave-of-absence?" I asked Sarah, who avoided my gaze as she remained expressionless.
"I did. If I want to become a hero, then I at least need to gain the courage to, even if it takes one step at a time." Sarah replied as her sensible answer left me surprised.
What a mature response.
Compared to when I first met her, she seems more reasonable now.
"Rai, have you heard about the new course Ms. Rylie is introducing us to?" Aria asked as we entered inside of the academy, where many students headed towards their respective class while others sat at tables and enjoyed a light breakfast, chattering with their friends in the midst.
"Arthur informed me earlier. It's about the Principle Of Aura, right?" I replied, asking for confirmation as Arthur is known to be an unreliable source for information.
"Yep! Before you enrolled, Ms. Rylie taught us about the basic procedures of becoming a hero as the mission we completed last week was the final exam for that course, which we should be getting our results back today, so I'm kind of excited for that, but I was wondering how much you knew about Aura Manipulation since you were able-"
As Aria nearly exposed my true power through her needless rambling, I swiftly pinched a small flab of fat on the side of her stomach, causing her to squeal awkwardly, stealing the glances of a few students nearby as he glared at me with a flustered, yet displeased expression as her sudden reaction startled Sarah.
"What is wrong with you!? Why would you do that!?" Aria questioned in a low tone as her cheeks flushed red while I shrugged with my shoulders, unwilling to explain the reason to her as it would lead to an unnecessary complication because amidst the crowd of students, Jordan was still trailing me from afar.
It's odd.
Although I can feel the clashing of Aspectual Forces between multiple students who decided to pick a fight with one another, within the mix of Aspectual Forces, I'm certain that Jordan is listening in on my conversation as I can sense his Aspectual Force, despite his lousy attempt in trying to conceal it.
Once you become an Aspector, your body goes through a tremendous change as all of your senses are considerably enhanced and with proper training, you can enhance them even further.
The fact that Jordan is desperately trying to conceal his Aspectual Force means that he doesn't want to be noticed and since he activated his Aspect in order to fully maximize his hearing, his sole purpose must be to gather information, but why?
After the day that I defeated him, he wouldn't dare to even look me in the eye anymore as we would occasionally cross paths due to being in the same year.
I'm sure the defeat he suffered from me is etched into his mind, so why would he risk following me?
"You are truly a despicable bastard."
Could it be…
"What a nuisance." I muttered amidst Aria's pestering as she demanded me for answers until I apologized, putting an end to her quiet outburst as she pouted, making it known to me that she was visibly upset as Sarah was left in the dark, confused and curious.
"Did something happen between the two of you-"
Abrupting Sarah's question was a random student, who unintentionally bumped into her shoulder as he was distracted with talking to his group of friends, causing her to stumble into me as I caught her within my grasp, bringing forth a subtle blush across Sarah's face as I expected the boy to apologize for his carelessness, but surprisingly, he feigned ignorance as he glared at Sarah with a scowl as if she was the one in the wrong.
The insolent boy seemed to be older than myself as he stood a few inches taller than me with a fairly built frame, but despite his physique, his insolence was a reflection of his own appearance as his face was marred with acne while his chin jutted out like a spear begging to pierce its victim.
Is he delusional?
"Watch where you're going, dumbass." The boy mocked irritably as his group of friends snickered at Sarah, who succumbed to her own trauma as she remained silent while her breathing became shallow, allowing her fear to reign control over her life once again as her nervous expression allowed them to walk away satisfied.
Provoked by their impudent behavior, Aria was prepared to confront them personally as I sighed, correcting Sarah's balance as I loosened my tie and glared at the boy of fault.
Sarah…
With my mood already ruined from being unable to comprehend Jordan's peculiar actions, Sarah being disrespected before me was only fuel to the fire as I prevented Aria from storming towards the group by placing my hand on her shoulder and instead, I took her place and began to approach them.
You can't just let these bastards walk over you.
As the supposed leader of the group tried to walk away, I grasped his shoulder with my hand, preventing him from taking another step forward as he turned around and glared at me with a contemptuous scowl.
Especially…
"What the hell do you want?" The boy demanded, his tone laced with arrogance as my actions gathered the attention of several passing students.
If he's weaker than you.