Sunshine and a Blue Castle Prince

Chapter 29: New Bonds

A few days after Shouyou and Iwaizumi return to Seijoh with Akiteru and Sakusa in tow, a fall blizzard descends on Seijoh castle.

The second day of the blizzard, Oikawa closes off the common room that usually belongs to him, Iwaizumi, and the lovebirds. Once the room is secure, he sits on the couch in between next to Kageyama.

Iwaizumi and Shouyou take their seats on the next couch over, while Sakusa brings over a chair.

"So?" Oikawa asks. "Why did you want to see Iwaizumi and I?"

"I'll start at the beginning, because I didn't give the full story to Iwaizumi and Shouyou. I gave them a brief overview of phantom magic and told them that it could solve Shouyou's issues, but I said no more than that. Now that you're here and I have confirmation on certain things, it's worth giving a full explanation."

"We're listening."

"A little over a week ago, Osamu-san and Kenma-san were on their own business when they triggered a little known subset of magic. According to Osamu-kun, this subset of magic is only possible when a pair of Lights were mates in their previous incarnations and are of opposing schools. In that case, two mages who's magic might cancel out will instead form a rare type of neutral magic called "Phantom" magic."

"What does that have to do with Iwa-chan and I?"

"My Ryo checked with your Raiden and Iwaizumi's Akane. They were indeed mates in their previous lives."

Oikawa nods slowly. "My primary magic is air and Iwa-chan is an Earth mage. Based on your given prerequisites, we should be able to use this Phantom magic."

"Exactly. The other reason I wanted you here is because there's also a chance that Kageyama and Shouyou may be a phantom pair as well."

"You can't ask Kei-chan and Kageyama's Light?"

"If Kei was a Yamshita," Iwaizumi says, "she may not have met her mate before crossing the river. In that case, she and Kageyama-kun's Light may not know either way."

"Huh. Wait, what do you mean 'a Yamaoka'. You mean those Yamaoka's?"

"Mhmm. We had an interesting conversation at the Dragon Temple."

"And you didn't tell me. Menaie Iwa-chan."

"It never came up."

"If we can return to the topic at hand," Sakusa interjects, "I would like to bond you two and then move on to Kageyama-kun and Shouyou-kun."

Oikawa narrows his eyes. "If Iwa-chan and I are an Earth/Air phantom pair then..."

"Yes, they should be a Light/Shadow phantom pair."

"That's risky, Saksua-san."

"But it may be Shouyou-kun's only chance."

Oikawa humphs, "We'll do it. How do we go about this?"

"Simply cast a spell in the same place."

The Seijoh crown prince looks over at his cousin, who meets his eyes.

Almost simultaneously, a ball of air and a cluster of pebbles appear in the same space, only to vanish from sight.

"What the..." Oikawa scowls. "I can still feel the magic but---"

"This is the point of phantom magic, Shittykawa," Iwaizumi interrupts, banishing his own spell. "Is the bond formed, Sakusa-san?"

"Ask your Lights."