Episode 66

"That's an interesting development"

Aoi relaxed back into the chair and put the file onto the desk in front of her.

She had to step by her office and Natsu's school for today to sort out some official issues. She visited the office first and found Zhuang waiting for her there. He showed her his recent findings.

"Aoi, what do you think? Do you think Raina Strauss and Clara Hughes are both related to this case?" Zhuang asked.

"I think they are" Aoi sighed "When I met Alex, he'd already lost his parents and he was quite old compared to other classmates, I did hear that he isolated himself long time after the accident before continuing school again"

"Yeah he told me, it took him alot of time to get over the death of his family and also to recover from the injuries he suffered, it almost took him five-six years before he was able to get back on his feet" Zhuang replied.

"I met him even later, the only person who knew him before me was Kirihara Liliya, they used to be in the same class until he just stopped coming after the accident and got left behind by alot of grades" Aoi spoke thoughtfully.

"Do you think Kirihara Liliya has had any contact with Clara Hughes?" Zhuang asked.

"I don't know, that's what you need to look for, also did you look into their relationship history?" Aoi sighed.

"I did, seems like both were close since school days, at that time there weren't any birth tests so the two only learned later that they were alpha and omega, yet this never impacted their relationship even though it did drive alot of people away from them, friendships like that weren't common that time"  Zhuang reported.

"Kind of like me and Alex" Aoi spoke a bit in a nostalgic tone.

"Yeah, eventually Raina was made to marry Mr. Strauss as some sort of business deal it is not mentioned what and with whom, this created a rift between her and Clara Hughes who was completely against this and she cut ties with Raina for a long time" Zhuang started arranging the papers and pictures from that time in front of Aoi.

"Sounds reasonable to me, she was looking out for her friend" Aoi went through all the stuff Zhuang placed before her.

"A few years later, Raina Strauss was expecting her first child, though it resulted in a miscarriage around the last month, that was when she and Clara Hughes came in contact again" Zhuang told.

"Miscarriage? In the last month?" Aoi seemed like she had something bothering her.

"It happened too suddenly, so Mr. Strauss only arrived quite later, so only Clara Hughes was present with her around that time"  Zhuang explained.

"I see, so what about Clara Hughes herself? Was she seeing anyone at that time?" Aoi asked.

"Seems like she was, she had married an omega and was happily settled with him" Zhuang told.

"So what happened next?" Aoi asked curiously.

"Seemed like Mr. Strauss was really baffled about it and even attacked Raina for killing their child, he started having mistresses and ignoring her"  Zhuang said.

"A**hole" Aoi mumbled "What about Clara Hughes?"

"She and her husband welcomed their first child Alex around that time, so things were quite well for them while they were hell for Raina Strauss" Zhuang explained.

"What about the accident?" Aoi asked.

"Clara Hughes and her husband seemed to be heading to leave the country with their four children by the time the accident happened, their car simply slid off the roads and broke through, falling from height, luckily the car didn't blow but the blunt force  and the damage killed the family on spot, Alex and one other sibling were taken out pretty much dead, the sibling passed away after fighting three days in comma while Alex woke up after a month or so without any recollection of the accident" Zhuang spoke with a sad tone.

"I can't ask Alex to remember what happened on the day of the accident but I find it highly fishy.. Look into the details of the accident and how was the matter covered.. And what happened to Raina Strauss after she learned about this?" Aoi asked.

"It appears that Raina lost her sanity after the death of her beloved friend, she even made visits to Alex while he was in comma, though her repeated panic attacks and tantrums caused her to be locked inside home so she wouldn't taint the family name" Zhuang explained.

"The more I learn about this person Mr. Strauss, the more disgusted I feel" Aoi spoke spitefully "he sounds exactly like the person who'd sell out his kids"

"About that..." Zhuang hesitated.

"What is it?" Aoi asked.

"Although there's no proof of this or anything but I feel like... there's lack of that fatherly feeling when it comes to Mr. Strauss" Zhuang stated.

"What are you implying?"

"What if Mr. Strauss isn't just the father of Ian and Lian Strauss?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you mean he isn't present?"

"Like I told you student, he is on temporary sick leave" The teacher responded a bit agitated at the kid.

Ian left the office with a bad mood. His so called company quickly gathered around him.

"Man your birthday party was so cool! We saw it on TV and damn you're really rich!"

Those ignorant mutts gathered around him made him feel suffocated.

"We also heard you got engaged the first thing after you turned 18"

Others showed fake concerns.

"Hey isn't she like in her twenties? And an alpha on top of it? How are you both gonna do it if you're both alpha? Wait, how will you both have kids?"

Some had their minds in gutter.

"We also heard Himari Aoi attended the party, she is as beautiful as they say she is, I wonder who her partner is, must be some elite super model or something or we aren't accepting them otherwise"

Some were judgemental and ignorant.

Yet Ian walked past all of it and paid no heed to whatever they'd say. It bothered him that Natsuro wasn't present. He felt a bit annoyed too.

He wanted to see him but how?

He'd made up his mind to somehow get someone to spill his whereabouts.

Until he thoughtlessly bumped into someone and they fell back while he remained standing.

"Huh? Watch where you're going, ya tyranny" One of his self proclaimed followers spat.

The others followed his lead.

Ian was barely in mood for any of this he walked past her without caring.

She helped herself up and went after Ian.

"There's someone who wants to see you in the auditorium" She whispered to Ian who almost got excited in expectations and ran off leaving the guys behind.

He ran as fast as he could through the building and almost pushed open the door with a lot of force.

His excitement vanished when he saw Kirihara Liliya standing there.

"Were you expecting someone else?" She chuckled.

Ian walked in "What do you want?"

"I must say, Aoi took advantage of me being down and quickly let Mari take over the state but are you really sure you want to marry this woman?" Liliya smirked.

"If you're here to talk trash, I'm leaving" Ian turned around.

"Do you know why she attempted suicide?" Liliya mumbled and Ian stopped.

Suicide? He didn't know about any of that.

"What do you mean?" He seemed interested.

"She almost lost her ability to walk, didn't you know she attempted suicide? Do you even know what a monster she is? What she has done?" Liliya chuckled and walked closer to him still holding onto her ribs as it hurt while she moved. Ian had done her alot of damage in his struggle.

"Stop playing games and just tell me what you want to" Ian said clenching his fists.

Liliya slipped her hand inside the coat she was wearing and pulled out a usb handing it over to Ian.

"This contains details about every crime Kirihara Mari has committed so far, that has been covered by Himari Aoi"

Ian was shocked, he stood there staring at the usb as Kirihara Liliya left.

He gathered some courage and moved, running towards his locker to get his laptop and ditched class to go upstairs and check the contents of the usb in isolation.

What he saw gave him goosebumps, he went through it twice. He wouldn't have believed if it were only written things but there were actually video recordings of Kei's assault present in there, all 23 videos with their dates and timings all of which were recorded by Mari herself.

The records had everything that could completely destroy Kirihara Mari.

He was beyond horrified. He almost trusted in these women, he thought he'd finally get out of this....

He almost bit on his tongue out of frustration and fear.

All his gratitude towards her died out, he almost felt it all had been planned out from the start to win his sympathies all along.

Kirihara Mari was no less a monster than his father, there was afterall only one person who was genuine, one person he admired and could turn to...

"Natsuro Sensei..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"You seem tensed"

"Do I?"

Akio bought Alex a cup of coffee while he was checking Kei's temperature and vitals.

The kids were just running about with no care in the world.

Kei was able to sit up properly too.

"I guess I am tensed" Alex sighed.

"Why..?" Kei asked.

"It turns out that my mom had some connections with the Strauss estate and that her accident might have something to do with it" Alex had just contacted Zhuang so he was even more tensed than before.

"This gets even more complicated" Akio said whilst busy cleaning and randomly moving furniture around.

"If only I could remember what happened on the day of the accident" Alex sighed.

"Maybe you blocked it out yourself to protect your mind, it must be a defense mechanism" Akio stated.

"Maybe" Alex still did not feel convinced, he really wanted to remember.

To his surprise Kei extended his hand and placed it on his head.

He was really taken by surprise. It had been too long Kei would initiate physical contact with anyone.

"You're recovering.." Alex mumbled.

Kei smiled a bit nodding.

"Wow, miracles of a hard fu-" Before Alex could complete Akio completely shut his mouth with his both hands.

He legit jumped in from such a distance knowing Alex would sprout some shameless nonsense.

"Wrong.. Akio san...is very..gentle" Kei shook his head, he just had to correct Alex's misconceptions.

"Eh really?" Alex excitedly moved Akio's hands.

"Yeah.. during..." Kei was about to start off and Akio had to let go of Alex to cover Kei's mouth instead.

These two bold guys were getting on his nerves.

"Oh Akio san, your ears are all red" Alex pointed.

"Shutup" Akio almost snapped.

"Hey come on, why so shy" Alex shrugged.

"Won't you feel the same way if I asked you about Zhuang and you?" Akio said moving his hands away.

"Eh why didn't you say so!" Alex realized something.

"Huh?" Akio was dumbfounded.

"So you want to know how we go about it? You should have said so!" Alex said tapping Akio's shoulder.

"Ehhhh, what, no" Akio tried to stop him.

"So there was this one time I thought we should try public and he was totally against it..." Alex started.

"What...next" Kei was completely indulged.

Akio was done. He just legit picked up the kids and ran from these shameless guys leaving them alone.

"so now... that we're alone..what do you...want to say..?" Kei smiled.

"You knew?" Alex rubbed the back of his head.

"I've known..you...long..enough" Kei said.

"Well true, you see the thing is Aoi has fears about Liliya, you know that woman, she's malicious and unpredictable" Alex started.

"Aunt.. Lili.." Kei recalled "yeah..."

"Aoi fears that Liliya might come after you this time, Mari is barely a challenge for her since she has too many past mistakes that can be used against her but you're different, you're an actual threat for her if she wants the estate, especially since you get to name an heir" Alex told.

"I..understand.." Kei looked a bit frustrated.

"I know Akio san will not give her any chance to get through to you but still be very careful.." Alex slowly reached his hands and took a hold of Kei's hands without freaking him out.

"I'll..be careful...thankyou...for worrying about..me" Kei smiled really brightly.

"I am normally into buff daddies but damn I'd make an exception for you, so bright!" Alex covered his face, pretending to block the angelic rays coming out of that bright smile that Kei gave.

"You're..being dramatic...again" Kei laughed a bit.

"Of course, I was born dramatic!" Alex's expression softened too as he smiled.

"Speaking of...buff...daddies..me too.. I like..too"

"I know right? We have similar tastes"

"Yep..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Its been a long time since she's gone, I feel so bored being here... Ugh...

I sat up and went through my phone but simply put it away after a little, everything feels boring... I miss the hustle and bustle of life, being sick is totally.... It's tiring me out emotionally...

The door to my room opened and I almost excitedly turned expecting her to be back only to be shocked at the person who actually stood there.

"You... How'd you..."

I couldn't believe my eyes, what's this guy doing here?

"Natsuro sensei.. " He had a sadness to his voice, seemed like he'd cry at any moment.

"Ian.. Right? What are you doing here?" I was a bit confused, he immediately rushed over and hugged me for some reason.

Almost freaked me out a bit.

"Hey hey, okay, at least talk first, what's wrong.." I tried to understand the situation but the more I did, the less it made sense to me.

"It's okay.. I still have you, you care about me right?" He parted from the hug and started mumbling some incoherent stuff.

"What are you...?"

The next thing he did made me shocked to the point of fear,

He kissed me out of nowhere....

I freaked out and pushed him away quite hard and he almost fell back but balanced himself.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

I wiped my lips, this felt wrong all of it did..

"Sensei I lo-" He was about to say something with a desperate look on his face when the door opened a second time and it was Aoi who stood there.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a bit surprised tone as if she knew him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked back, even more shocked than her.

"Ah Aoi, he's one of my students?" I tried to interrupt and settle the somewhat uncomfortable situation.

Thank goodness she didn't see what happened a moment ago.

Ah, My heartbeat won't calm down, it's like I've done something wrong and am hiding it from her...

"Oh, why didn't you tell me sooner, are you here to see your teacher, kid?" Aoi said with a welcoming tone.

"What's..your relationship with Natsuro sensei"

He asked with a hesitating tone and clenched fists.

Even I felt the nervousness as he asked this and for some reason a feeling of guilt.

"I'm his lover" Her reply almost turned his face pale and his lips purple, it was as if somebody had choked the life out of him.

"You're...one of them..too" He mumbled some incomprehensible stuffs again and then suddenly made a run.

"What's up with him?" Aoi asked once he barged through the door.

I don't know what he meant by suddenly kissing me...

but I have a bad feeling about this....

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"There you are"

"I'm here"

Liliya smirked and held out her hand to the boy sitting in an enclosed alley, almost appearing like some sort of escort at this time of night.

"Is my brother involved in this?" Ian asked staring at her hand.

"He isn't but the man he's living with is" Liliya replied.

Ian reached in and held her hand, she pulled him up.

"My brothers..shouldn't be harmed in any of this.." He mumbled.

"If you help me out, I will help you save your brothers and destroy what you hate the most.." Liliya spoke with a promising tone.

"Alright, I'll help you"