Episode 78

"It's rare but not impossible"

For real though...?

"What should be done now?"

What are they talking about? I can't hear them...

"For that I would need to know what exactly happened in that situation"

Why is she not coming in....

"It all started at that time"

"What time?"

Oh, she's looking at me...

"The time he got abducted"

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"Ah yes for the decorations, okay okay, no no it's completely fine, can we meet up first? Sure"

"What is it, did they agree?"

"Yeah finally"

"Damn finally"

Zhuang closed a thick diary full of contact numbers with a huge sigh after Aoi got off the phone.

"Well it's not surprising, not alot of people would agree upon arranging a huge wedding in such a short time" Zhuang reminded her.

"Now that you said it, I'm doubtful, are you sure this person can get it done?" Aoi asked being a bit skeptic "It's a huge thing, we can't afford mistakes"

"I don't know much but the person seems competent as they started their business with nothing and in a few years they were able to do wedding planning for a few celebrities" Zhuang checked up.

"Alright, hopefully, if they are taking such a risk knowing this could either make or ruin their whole career then they must be something" Aoi relaxed a bit.

"Aoi, you okay?" Zhuang asked.

"Yeah, why?" Aoi asked.

"I've never seen you being unsure about something, you're always so sure of yourselves when you take a step" Zhuang replied.

"You noticed too? Mari and Alex felt the same, is pheromonal sensitivity always this intense?" She asked "or am I just going soft...?"

"Neither, something's clearly wrong with you, I mean I don't know what it's like for fated pairs but I'm pretty sure your pheromonal sensitivity is not in a normal range, you're acting more anxious than caring" Zhuang said.

"Honestly, Natsuro's pheromones these days are very strong, they make me somewhat nauseous and I feel like I'm being choked sometimes, I can't think" Aoi replied.

"Alright, as a father of two kids and probably a few more in future, I assure you, this is definitely not pheromonal sensitivity" Zhuang claimed.

"The weird part is it's opposite for Natsu, he looks like he's high on adrenaline, he's managing triple the work that I'm doing right now and he's still super fresh, it's like he's feeding off my energy, the more I am with him, the more tired I feel while he gets more energetic and sharp" Aoi told him.

"You guys should totally consult a specialist, doesn't sound much normal to me" Zhuang told her.

"Ahhhh right now all I'm worried about is meeting up with this wedding planner" Aoi laid her head upon the table and stretched out her arms.

"Come on, don't stress yourself out, leave this paper work for now, I'll compile a report for you later, let's take a break and have some snacks first" Zhuang tapped her shoulder.

"I really need a good massage" Aoi got up closing her PC.

"Shall I recommend some masseurs?"

"Yeah please do"

"Coffee or Soda?"

"Coffee please"

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"How dare you....HOW FUKIN DARE YOU...!!!!!"

"AKIO SAN!"

Kei's voice made Akio turn around from the door where Mari stood with somewhat of a bent head.

"Kei, how dare this shameless- how dare she fukin show up at our door!!!" Akio almost yelled scaring his own daughters that were clinging to Kei's feet, hiding behind his legs.

"It's- okay..I wanted to see...her" Kei replied only making Akio more confused and angry.

"Kei, why would you- don't you remember what she's done?! I should freaking call the cops on her!" Akio replied aggressively.

"Akio san...please take care...of the girls...for me..." Kei spoke shyly

"I want to go...out with Mari for some...."

"I don't allow this, you're forbidden from going anywhere with her" Akio said.

"Don't mind if I interrupt this" Ian came out from the side behind Mari "This is between these two, I don't think you or anybody should be coming in-between them"

"And who is this kid now?" Akio glared at Ian.

"Ian Strauss, please remember my name" Ian replied with the same aggressive gaze.

Akio realized which Ian Strauss it was since he'd been watching Kei go over and over on the case of Strauss estate. He had seen the boy a few times since his injury but never talked to him directly.

"Akio san...please..trust me..." Kei tried to convince Akio.

Akio glared a bit at Kei, to which Kei looked down abruptly, though he melted a bit, he'd always been weak when it came to Kei.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna be with them, so I'll keep my woman in check" Ian spoke with a frown while resting his arm on Mari's head, using her as an arm rest.

He did realize Akio's anger was just but he also felt that Kei and Mari needed to talk. This whole communication gap had fuked everything up in the first place.

Akio looked at Mari skeptically.

"If something happens to him, I won't give a damn that you're a woman" Akio spoke in a threatening tone.

"Thankyou" Kei kissed Akio on the cheek.

Though Leah and Sia were still somewhat scared so they wouldn't go over to Akio even though he extended his arms.

"You should keep your temper in check in front of kids" Ian came in like he owned the house

Ian extended his hand.

The girls were hesitant at start but then they stared a bit at Ian and then scooted over to his side.

Ian lifted them both up in each arm while they curiously kept staring at Ian, surprisingly, without biting like they usually do, it was as if they were in awe.

"How long will you be out?" Akio asked.

"We'll return before dark" Ian answered.

"Akio san...what about..." Kei was worried about Akio being alone at home.

"I won't go with you, I can't stand her, might do something I'd regret later" Akio spelled it out. All this while Mari was silent.

"Then I'll...call Alex, he can give you...company..." Kei said.

"Do whatever you want" Akio mumbled walked off to his room, closing the door with a bit of a bang.

"What the hell, is he on menopause" Ian commented.

"He's...expecting..." Kei replied with an awkward smile.

"Oh sorry" Ian said "Ladies if you keep staring at me like this I'll get shy" Ian spoke to the little girls who just wouldn't stop looking at him with those starry eyes and started giggling whenever Ian spoke something, without even understanding what he'd said.

"...go..ahead..." Kei spoke awkwardly after he finished texting Alex and got a response from him.

Kei moved to Ian and took the girls from him.

He went over to the room where Akio went and used his foot to push it a bit before getting in.

Mari and Ian turned away, they didn't really want to hear what went in there since Akio started arguing the moment he went in, though eventually the voices died down and Kei came out gently closing the door behind him.

"Let's...go"

Mari and Ian walked ahead while Kei locked the door behind them and followed from a distance.

"Popular with the ladies huh, good for you" Mari slapped Ian in the back while walking ahead.

"You jealous?"

"Who the hell did you call 'my woman'"

"What, aren't you?"

"You're the one who's my woman"

"Why the hell are you so competitive damn"

"Don't talk to me, talk to those girls that you're getting all chummy with"

"Wait, are you literally jealous of babies?"

"Who's jealous? You are jealous, I'm not jealous"

"Always so defensive"

Kei watched them bicker as he followed the two around the hallway to outside.

A little smile appeared upon his face.

It was then that he finally felt peaceful with himself and decided to step forward and closer to them.

"Don't...fight.." Kei whispered lightly

"I'm not fighting, look she's being unreasonable by being jealous of little girls" Ian replied.

Mari stuck out her tongue at him.

"Did you see that older brother, did you see that! She's definitely being rude to me!" Ian complained to Kei.

Kei smiled a little and extended his hand a bit slowly and lightly tapped at the back of Mari's head.

"Don't...tease him..." Kei whispered.

Mari lowered her head in a nod, somewhat hiding her face under her bangs.

Though she couldn't keep up and suddenly turned rushing to hug tightly around Kei's waist.

It freaked him out for a bit but he gradually relaxed in the tightness of her grip.

"I guess I'll catch with you both in the car" Ian said going ahead first.

Kei stood there awkwardly with Mari stuck to him for a while before he put his hand on her head gently stroking her hair.

Nothing was being said but a lot was already exchanged between the two in that moment.

"I'm-sorry"

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"What was your name again?"

"Joshua, but Josh is fine"

"Okay Josh, did you read over the demands I have? Are you sure you can meet them all?"

"I wouldn't be here if I hadn't"

The man's reply made her a bit satisfied.

"If you really do manage to do so I'll make sure to pay you really well" Aoi told him.

"I already know that" The man replied.

"Hmm" Aoi went over things "Perfect, you checkboxed almost everything, I thought you'd make me exempt a few things"

"Why would I, it's the idea of a perfect wedding for you, the planner is supposed to turn your imagination to reality" He replied.

"I like your motivation, if this works out well, I might ask you to plan my wedding too" Aoi said a bit pleased.

"I'm happy" He replied.

"Mind if I ask?" Aoi pointed at the huge burn scar on his hand.

"Ah, this is a bit old but the mark doesn't go away, when I was bit younger there was a fire, I got caught up, though I was rescued but on the brink of death, It took me forever to recover from third degree burns on whole body and I could only get surgery for the face, so I started working in order to save up for the rest of the surgery" He told Aoi.

"That sounds quite scary, but maybe your goals are why you're so motivated" Aoi replied.

"It is that too but I simply enjoy what I do as well" He replied "as for the tasks, can we exchange emails, I'd like to send daily reports, so you can keep tabs on how much have I done" He suggested.

"No problem, kindly send me your bank account too, I'll pay some advance" Aoi told him

"Sure" he took out his phone and forwarded it to her while she sent him her email.

"There, done, alright, thank you so much for taking this up on such short notice" Aoi stood up grabbing her bag.

The man also stood up and did a little head bow.

"I hope we can be of use for another" He said.

"Looking forward to it" Aoi replied and took towards her car while he sat in for another drink.

Though soon after Aoi got out of there, she ringed up Zhuang.

"I met him, seems like he can get the job done" She said and got in the car wearing her airpods and fixed her phone in the car's phone holder before starting it up.

"Then we can start off right away, we should inform Mr. Strauss now that we've already started" Zhuang said.

"Yeah I-" Aoi became silent and started pressing hard on the brakes.

"Aoi? Everything alright?"

"The brake..."

"What??"

"The brake isn't working..."

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"Try this..."

"It's too big for me"

Kei felt a bit disappointed and hung the dress back on it's place.

"Sir if you like it, we can get the same design in a different size" The sales woman told.

"Yes please" Kei replied and she took her leave to find the right sized bridal gown.

"How do I look?!" Ian came out excitedly from the changing room wearing a tux.

"Any ugly dress would look good if it's on you" Mari replied.

"Thanks I- wait a minute!" Ian realized what Mari had actually intended to say in that play of words.

"Are you calling me ugly!!!"

"I never said it" Mari shrugged.

"But you meant it!" Ian argued "Whatever I'm not asking you, Kei san, how is it" Ian turned to Kei.

"You look..good.." Kei replied.

"See, he's so nice, learn a few things from him" Ian told her.

The sales woman returned with the dress and handed it over for Mari to try.

She took it to the changing room.

"Hey I don't think it's-" Mari came out holding the front of her dress.

The size of the dress was perfect but the design needed bigger breasts and so it got all saggy and hanging on her chest to the point she had to hold it from falling.

Ian blinked and controlled hard.

"Pfffffffffft" He broke hard into laughter.

"It looked....better...in my imagination..." Kei was a bit confused on how it wouldn't look the way he thought it would.

"Ma'am should I get you a matching padded brassiere?" The saleswoman asked.

That was the limit for Ian, he just held his stomach while laughing to the point of tearing.

"She's so flat- get her three"

Ian commented holding his hurting tummy.

Mari tolerated it at the first part but the second one made her snap.

Even Kei backed away feeling the fiery aura.

Mari cracked her knuckles while Ian was still laughing naively.

Both Kei and the saleswoman gave her space.

A few moments later....

Mari came out of the dressing room wearing a tux.

"Come on, come out" She said pulling out Ian by arm from the same changing room.

"Wait, it's embarrassing..." Ian got pulled out wearing the bridal gown.

His chest muscles being slightly buff fit right into the gown's breast area even though the full length gown only reached his knees.

It really did look funny on him even though it fit well.

Both Kei and the saleswoman were a bit dumbfounded and a bit scared.

"What a scary woman"

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"Bad mood?"

"Yeah"

Alex turned the AC a notch up, Akio looked like he was feeling the heat more than usual.

"Aki uncle Kiii, look Leah snatched the toy from me again" little Adrian made a complain.

"Leah just share, look at your sister, she's sharing too" Akio got a bit annoyed but kept it under control.

"Here kids, come to me" Alex called them over since he could tell Akio was having a hard time.

"Let's build some blocks together"

Alex emptied the bag of blocks near him and made the kids scoot over and engaged with them.

"Am I being unreasonable, I just don't want him to repeat the same mistake" Akio spoke out of nowhere, surprising Alex a bit, but then Alex realized the situation and his frustration.

"Akio san, the problem, do you want to hear good words or bitter ones?" Alex asked.

"What kind of question is that, just say the truth" Akio didn't understand what Alex meant.

"Both I guess? The good thing is that you really do care about Kei, the bad thing is that you don't realize he's not you nor can he heal you" Alex replied whilst still keeping the kids engaged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" A frown appeared between Akio's brows.

"What you want is to make him completely dependent upon you,  you only feel control when you are able to control those around you, it didn't work with Natsu and it won't work with Kei" Alex replied.

"Are you picking a fight?" Akio raised a brow.

"I'd rather get fuked but no"

Alex sighed "I'm just saying, controlling the decisions of someone's life might fix their life but it will damage their self esteem, confidence and decision making skills in the longer run"

"Kei is actually getting better under my care, he wouldn't be where he is if I hadn't exerted that control" Akio argued.

"You did provide Kei an anchor but actually it's your control that has held Kei from acting independently, yes he wouldn't be where he is without you, which is why you need to know when to let him out, if he's making his decisions again then why not support him?" Alex replied working up a block castle with little Sia in his lap.

"What do you mean?" Akio was back to frowning again.

"Why not let the bird out of the nest Akio san? Let him learn to fly all over"    Alex smiled.

"What if his decisions are wrong?" Akio asked.

"Then you are there for him, aren't you?" Alex replied.

Akio still had a tensed look on his face.

"Don't stress yourself out, not good for the little one" Alex reminded him.

Akio rubbed his temples but ended up being frustrated all over just by trying to not think about it.

"Lay down" Alex tugged at Akio's arm making him lay on the bed "take deep breaths.." He guided the other.

Akio did as told, he didn't really wanna lose himself.

He finally managed to calm a little after a few breathing sessions.

"Want me to give you a massage?" Alex asked "your muscles are all tensed up"

"No thanks" Akio replied.

"Don't worry, I'm a pure bottom so-" Alex was only talking when Akio hit him with a pillow.

"Why are you always horny!" Akio hit him a few times over, totally got the kids excited cause they thought it was a pillow fight, they grabbed pillows too and started going at Alex as well.

"I just accept my inner hoe" Alex said dramatically.

Akio snapped once again, for a different reason this time though.

"Kids, take him down"

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"Here, wash your hands first"

"Brother Natsuro, can I get more chocolate?"

"Did you finish doing the multiplication?"

"Yes!"

What a cute kid. I extended my hand and ruffled up his hair.

"I'll give you some but you have to brush your teeth afterwards" I told him.

"Then when will sister Aoi come back, she promised we will watch movies together" he asked me with those puppy eyes.

Aye gosh don't look at me like that, my little heart can't tolerate kids lately without fawning all over them.

"Ehm, she will soon, make sure you're done washing up by that time"

I made my voice a bit strict, can't spoil the kid can I

"Yes sir!" He said and-

Oh my goodness! This little adorable fuker!!! Calm down Natsu Calm down, you gotta act strict, don't spoil the kid- but freakin- he's so adorable I'm-

"Um brother Natsuro, your face is all weird" He said and I turned away.

"Alright-go play for now, I'll call Aoi!"

I said quickly moving away before I couldn't control my emotions anymore.

He ran off to his pile of toys in the living room, that Alex bought him.

I grabbed my phone and dialed up her number.

She's unusually late today, normally she returns home by evening.

"Oh hey- Aoi where are-"

Wait, who is this, that's not her voice.

"Hello, do you know the owner of this phone?"

"Who is this?" I asked the speaker.

"The owner of this phone got into an accident"

A- WHAT....?????!!!!!!!

"WHERE IS SHE?!!!!"

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"YOU SCARED ME YOU LITTLE-"

Zhuang smacked Aoi's arm.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch" Aoi said rubbing her arm.

"A scratch, I heard you hit right into a tree" Zhuang asked.

"Yeah I did it myself, thought it would stop the car, otherwise I could have ran someone over in that area" Aoi explained herself.

"Natsu's gonna be worried sick" Zhuang said "Did you call him?"

"No, I lost my phone during the incident but it's okay, no need, the nurse said I could leave, I just passed out because I hit my head, I used the hospital's phone to call you over" Aoi replied.

"Are you sure there's no injuries??" Zhuang asked being dead worried.

"Yeah I got the Xray done, the air bag opened in time, so luckily, no serious injuries" Aoi said.

"But what happened to the brakes anyways, I checked your car just in the morning, did it happen around the time you were in the cafe with that wedding planner?" Zhuang asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was, someone's been stalking me for a while now but I didn't think they were hostile so I let them be" Aoi replied.

"What could be their motive exactly? Did they really want to kill you?" Zhuang asked while being on his phone.

"Ugh why isn't he picking it up?"

"Who?" Aoi asked.

"Natsu, he's just not picking up his phone" Zhuang called again after the previous call went unanswered.

That's when a horror ran across Aoi's face.

She threw everything over and quickly changed out of the hospital's robe.

"Aoi??!" Zhuang didn't get the sudden rush.

"....my phone is missing...."

Aoi's voice trembled a bit, she even tied her boots all wrong.

"What does that mean???"

"The purpose...was my phone...."

"Aoi calm down and explain what's going on"

"Natsu's in danger!"