Hibino Shintarou

**Hibino Shintarou** (Japanese: 日比野慎太郎, Hiragana: ひびのしんたろう, Rōmaji: Hibino Shintarō) is the 16 year old Japanese prince and a student of Momos Academy. He is a reoccurring antagonist introduced in Prince Series 07: Leaders of the Future: Innovation and a member of the student council . He is also the older brother of Hibino Junta.

## Biography

### Early Life

When Shintarou was 6 years old, he was sent to study in Italy. He was bullied by the other boys for being weak and not being able to fluently speak Italian. He hated every single moment there, and longed for home. His mother found out about his situation and introduced him to a Japanese home tutor named Honda Konichi. He was a very kind man who would do anything with Shintarou. Shintarou was very happy with his company and confided in him. Honda would even pick Shintarou up from school and scare the bullies away.

After a year, Honda made a promise to Shintarou to go to the beach with him. Honda had a mysterious call, which he went to answer in private. Shintarou then realized he forgot to tell Honda when they were going, and followed him. It was revealed that Honda was actually going to rob Shintarou's house. Shintarou heard the conversation, and Honda had to silence him by putting Shintarou in a box and burying him. Honda left a hole with a tube so that Shintarou could breathe.

The next day, Shintarou was found by Gion and Livio. They brought him to a building nearby and questioned him as to why he was buried alive. Although he was rescued, he did not want anyone to go near him and he did not want to talk to anyone, even scratching Livio when he got too close. After finding out it was Saturday, the day he was supposed to go to the beach with Honda, he dashed home. The two followed closely behind as they reached Shintarou's house, surrounded by police and ambulances. His world crashed right before his eyes as he saw a body on a sling.

The sling held Honda, lying dead presumed to be shot to death the police. Shintarou did not want to believe Honda was actually a bad person, but he was forced to accept the cruel reality. The reality that the only one who had ever cared for him, his one true friend was a monster. From that day onward, he never believed good humans ever existed.

The incident had a profound effect on him. Many days after the incident took place, Shintarou could be seen doing his homework in his room. Junta, his younger brother, then came inside the room and asked him to play. Shintarou did not respond and Junta touched his hand without knowing that his brother had a phobia. Shintarou reacted defensively and instantly scratched Junta's hand with a pencil, until it left a mark on his hand. He also told him to get out of his room. Since then, his relationship with Junta has been strained.

## Appearance

Shintarou has dark navy blue hair and dark navy blue eyes. He also has pale skin. His body is fragile and stands at average height. His facial expression are mostly him scoffing and furrowing his eyebrows. Shintarou is often seen with a pair of thin framed glasses, which he's been wearing since he was a kid.

At school, rather than wearing the standard Momos Academy uniform, he wears a Japanese gakuran.

## Personality

Shintarou is incredibly stand-offish and rude to the other students around him. He is afraid of being touched by anyone except his robots due to his phobia, and has shown the utmost care and love to them. Shintarou seems adamant at presenting this sort of "lone wolf" attitude and is easily angered, often insulting other people when they disagree with or complain about his actions. Shintarou is revealed to have extreme self-esteem issues concerning his past, distancing himself from others as he doesn't believe that good exist in people. As the experienced tech genius he is, Shintarou appears calculative, cold, and cunning by nature. His intelligence has been shown multiple times through the series with his talent of developing life like robots and functioning products.

Although his rude personality is constant throughout the series, Shintarou does have his rare moments of kindness. During the period when he had a strained relationship with Junta, he tried to make *sekihan* for his birthday. Since Shintarou hasn't often shown this side of himself to other people, Alexis and friends misunderstood and thought that he was planning something nefarious against Junta. This caring personality also shows up when the princes wanted to save the princess from Poposi Academy. He warned the princes that it was dangerous to save the princess without any plan. Although Felix realized that Shintarou was concerned about them, he still didn't want to admit it.

## Plot

### Defenders of Honour

A Jigsaw of Memories

Shintarou and other student council members were doing their duty inside the meeting room. Then, he got angry at Ciel and Albert because they were not doing their work and were making noise. At the same time, the student council received presents sent by Junta from Tokyo, Japan. All the princes including Gion and Livio received a gift except Shintarou.

## Etymology

The name Shintarou is derived by Japanese masculine name with the meaning "Cautious, Humility" (慎) (Shin) while (太) (Ta) means "Plump, Thick, Big around" and (郎 ) (Ro) means "Son, Counter for sons".

## Quotes

* *Why is God so unfair? We're all trapped in the dark. Why should they be the only ones saved? I hoped someone would help me, but no matter how much I called... No one could hear me. I was so afraid. I wondered if my death would go unnoticed.* (To Leon, The Leading Edge.)

## Trivia

* Shintarou started his own company two years ago, at the age of 14.

* Shintarou shares the same favorite food as Felix, which is Omurice.

* It was mentioned by Albert that Shintarou's hometown is located in Kyoto, Japan.

* Shintarou is said to suffer from haphephobia, the fear of being touched.
* Shintarou is said to suffer from claustrophobia, the fear of confined spaces.[1]

## References

1. ↑ In Prince at Work, page 151
2. ↑ Prince Series 10: The Leading Edge: Technologypage 13
3. ↑ Prince Series 42: A Jigsaw of Memories: Brain Games Page145
4. ↑ Prince Series 07:Leaders of the Future: Innovation Page39
5. ↑ In Prince at Work
6. ↑ Prince Series 10: The Leading Edge: Technology, Page 13
7. ↑ Prince Series 19: Defenders of Honour: Japanese Culture, Page 44