Volume 3: Retribution

'..Aoi...'

A faint whisper made her head turn and she looked around wondering if anyone else had heard the voice as her. Yet neither reacted.

Hiromitsu Akio was sitting there constantly fidgeting and playing with his thumbs out of nervousness. Uzawa Keitarou was much calmer standing next to him. There was no sign of the kids being there, they obviously wouldn't have brought them to the hospital like this anyways.

Alex Hughes was nowhere to be seen, it seemed like ever since the news of a certain incident had been on news, he'd somewhat coiled himself into solitude, unwilling to see or talk to anyone.

The story of arson at what was identified as the 'old Hughes family mansion' spread like wildfire.

Especially one particular picture, where two dead bodies were found holding onto each other, burnt beyond recognition, to the point where they were glued to one one another and could not be parted.

A bunch of other dead bodies were also collected from that mansion in a remote area. Besides, if some of the dead bodies that were identified hadn't been Ivan Strauss's men, the incident wouldn't probably even get the recognition that it did.

Moreover with that, the story of a woman named Clara Hughes who died with her whole family in a road accident resurfaced. People were now revaluating everything.

What was the connection between Hughes family and Strauss family?

What were the men doing there?

Was it simply a coincidence or planned arson?

Was the death of Hughes family an accident or was someone behind it?

Alot of questions popped up, alot of journalists were interested. Yet nobody could find Ivan Strauss to answer that question and half the bodies had yet to be identified.

The disappearance of Ivan Strauss and this incident occuring around the time when Ivan Strauss was already going through a lawsuit due to his share in the Kirihara estate and possible connection with human trafficking networks raised alot of fingers. Some even believed it was a conspiracy to draw away attention from some other issues.

Theories, theories, theories....

What's worst was that some were more interested in that photo itself rather than the arson. They declared the photo of the two deceased ones holding hands and leaning onto each other as a romantic tragedy, others screamed about the insensitivity of the journalists to reveal such photos and called for the privacy of deceased, hoping to take those pictures down. How does one even stop such news from spreading anyways?

People are born insensitive....if one was to point it out, surely they'd come up with a million reasons to justify their actions than to admit their wrongs, insensitivity comes to them as normally as breathing.

All that could be done was to be the third party, that mourns in silence avoiding both the ones in support and the ones with justifications.

Alex Hughes was the same. He neither cared which side was winning, nor did it effect him in anyway... The only thing he was sure about was the identity of the bodies by the bracelets they both wore. Raina Strauss's dragon bracelet that was worn by Nicolas Strahovski and one worn by Joshua Hughes that refused to perish, leaving behind the identity of the ones it had chained down for so many years. It seemed like anyone who wore that bracelet was destined with calamities and grief.

Aoi knew it too and hence she couldn't complain about it...but neither could she be there for him.

Especially at a time like this.

It had been some nine hours or so since this all started.

How funny is nature, it doesn't stop to mourn back for the deceased, rather welcomes new life by each second...

The end of one's life, is a beginning for another.

"Ms. Aoi...?"

As the door flung open and the man dressed in blue robes walked, everyone but Aoi stood up. Not that she did it intentionally, she was simply lost in her own train of thoughts, overthinking everything and then dealing with her own silliness by herself.

"Ye-" she pretty much stuttered, breaking out from the bubble of her thoughts as she joined in along with Hiromitsu Akio and Uzawa Keitarou.

"Congratulations"

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"There's no use"

Zhuang placed a hand over the boy's shoulder who was about to raise his hand to knock at the door.

Ian Strauss stopped midway and with a guilty expression upon his face he walked back out to the living room where the children were are all sitting in a disciplined manner before Kirihara Mari. Seemed like even children feared her a bit. She was calmly having tea with the little ones sitting with their legs folded and hands over their thighs infront of her. It almost gave out the impression that she was some sort of mafia boss and the three little ones were her underlings.

"Why are they sitting like that?" Ian Strauss asked soon after coming out.

"I don't know" Mari replied putting her cup down.

"Get up, get up... what are you guys afraid of here" Ian squatted down and helped the little ones up.

"But Mari say she's a tich (witch) ,she eat us if she angry" Little Adrian replied with his bubbly teary eyes while both Leah and Sia held onto his clothes, hiding behind him.

"Mari san!" Ian turned to Mari to give her a stare.

"Ah they told you" Mari clicked her tongue.

"She's not a witch and she won't hurt you, come on get up and play all of you" Ian helped them up and took out their toys for them, even though they were still a bit fearful

"Stop glaring" he smacked Mari's head lightly since she was still intimidating the kids with her eyes.

"Also where's Lian?"

"Ah, I saw him with Mr. Zhuang a little while ago" Mari replied.

" Wasn't he going to go to the hospital to visit sensei?" Ian asked, not that he didn't already know the answer " Why take Lian? It's not good for him remember?"

" Ian..." Mari didn't answer him, rather she moved closer to where he was sitting and stole a kiss from him whilst the kids weren't looking. He also stole one back taking a chance too.

"Now you're being romantic suddenly, what is it?" He asked with a light smile upon his face.

" That was Joshua Hughes and Nicolas Strahovski.. right.." She paused, Ian's expression changed right away.

" What..are you feeling right now.."

She searched his expression, for the first time trying to study what the other felt. She had no luck in this, unlike Aoi, she couldn't read other people's emotions just by looking at their faces, she needed words....

"I don't know what I feel..." Ian finally replied "To me...it still sounds unreal...I don't know how to explain it..." Ian replied "Amongst all the people that died there, I recognize a lot of them were my father's men"

" Do you think Ivan Strauss, died there?" Mari asked the most difficult question.

For some reason Ian's eyes reddened a bit and he blinked hard " Even if he did, can I really walk forward?" He asked "The people that shouldn't have died, died painful deaths, the people who shouldn't be living... I'm fearful they always survive, maybe I'm just paranoid..." He took a deep breather.

"Are you afraid of him?" Mari asked.

Ian remained silent before answering "He was my first r-pist, what do you think?"

"I'm sorry" Mari answered with a guilty tone to her voice. She lowered her head for a moment wishing if she could go back to the past and undo everything she had done in quite a similar manner as Ivan Strauss.

This guilt would always pop up whenever she was with Ian Strauss and she regretted things to her core.

Mari knew she didn't deserve Ian Strauss.

"You're right, the ones who shouldn't be living, always survive...." She repeated his words.

Not that he could justify her out of this.

"Josh and Nicolas... everything could have been way different....Me, brothers, mom, even Clara Hughes...I wonder if father wasn't between us, things could have been way different... but I also feel relieved, that mom and Aunt Clara are no longer alone...I always felt those two were hiding something big from me, especially Nicolas...you guys should have told me sooner... maybe I could've stopped them from this suicidal mission..." Ian made an incoherent rant, yet his real emotions were finally surfacing, the ones that he'd throughly suppressed for the sake of Alex.

" Joshua Hughes, never planned to end this on a happy note" Mari reminded him.

It wasn't like there was any possible " happy end " for them anyways.

What would Joshua Hughes do anyways after his revenge was fulfilled? Would he face Alex?? Would everything magically become better?

If anything Joshua was a coward who'd rather write his words rather than speak them.

"I'm sorry I just need this right now.." Ian just leaned forward opening his arms and Mari took him in hugging him tightly just like he wanted while she rubbed up his back.

"Ah they hugging" Little Leah spoke up getting attentive.

Sia ran over to Ian knowing he was weeping with his face hidden in Mari's chest.

"Where is you hurt?" She babbled with teary eyes.

Adrian too felt it, something that he couldn't really describe but a kind of an atmosphere that he'd been feeling around the house since yesterday.

His chin puckered up as he approached Ian's leg and hugged it.

Mari was even more of a mess, considering she had to handle four different people at the same time and she couldn't stop either of them.

But if these people were like this...then she couldn't imagine what Alex was like being in that room by himself since yesterday.

"There, There..." She patted on Adrian's little head and rubbed up Ian's back too at the same time.

'What a mess.....'

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"He isn't awake yet.."

"Hmmm"

Aoi nodded her head looking intently from the glass of the room, she hadn't moved from there for a while now.

"How's she..." Aoi whispered with a distressed look on her face.

"All babies are ugly at birth"

Akio replied to which Aoi almost choked on her own breath.

"Akio san, how could you call your granddaughter ugly" Aoi spoke looking completely done with him to which he smiled.

"Yeah, I'm a grandfather now" He spoke with a bright little smile.

Aoi smiled back "I want to see her so bad but I'm afraid if Natsu wakes up, I won't be the first one with him.. maybe he'll think I like her more than him"

"There's no competition between a parent and a child, you can just go and see her" Akio replied "even if he wakes up, he'll understand"

"Yeah but.." Aoi was about to whine yet again when Zhuang arrived holding little Lian's hand.

"Zhuang san" she rushed over to him and looked behind him as if searching for someone.

"He didn't come..." Zhuang replied understanding that she was probably looking for Alex "He wouldn't come out of his room..."

Aoi too knew the situation very well and hence she didn't question it. She wanted to be there so badly as well, but coincidentally both the things had happened together and she couldn't.

" Sister Aoi, is the baby here?" Lian asked rather innocently, distracting Aoi.

"Yes, do you want to go see her?" Aoi asked leaning forward with her hands on her knees. Lian nodded and she offered him her hand which he took with a little blush.

"I'll go see her then, if Natsu wakes up, please tell me immediately"

She said before Akio turned her away.

"Just go" He said and watched her walk away with Lian.

Zhuang also peaked into the room meanwhile.

"Is he okay?" Zhuang asked.

"I think he'll be fine..." Akio replied rather reassuringly "The baby might stay in the incubator for some time under observation depending upon her condition.. but we can see her from the glass"

" How is she?" Zhuang asked to which Akio blinked at him rapidly.

" All babies are ugly at birth" Akio repeated himself and almost caused Zhuang to choke as well.

" That's our granddaughter " Zhuang coughed.

" Yeah that's my granddaughter " Akio replied yet looking happy again.

On the other side Aoi finally went over to Kei who was already standing outside the incubation room.

"Which one is she?"

Aoi asked him yet before Kei could reply Lian pointed it out to her surprise.

"He's right..." Kei replied in amazement too.

"How'd you know?" Aoi asked him squatting down near him and holding his little hands in hers.

"She has a jasmine flower scent" Lian replied.

"You know how to describe well heh" Aoi ruffled up his hair "I see, it's like that" and at the same time she wondered what she smelled like to Natsuro.

She finally took a deep glance at the baby, her pitch black hair and delicate features as if everything on her face had been molded thinly by a porcelain craftsman, her skin was somewhat pale white and nothing about her looked like Natsuro. Though it was too early to tell anyways. She opened one eye momentarily, the little blue orb, before closing it again as her tiny fingers twitched. Maybe she had her mother's eyes as well... yet it was too early to tell even that too, since she might have a different color later.

"Congratulations Aoi" Kei broke her out of her trance like state where she was both in awe and admiration of this little creature before her.

"Akio san was wrong.." Aoi mumbled to which Kei looked at her interrogatively.

"She is beautiful"

Kei smiled without understanding the reference.

"Yeah she's beautiful" He looked in the direction of the child with admiration as well.

"Did you guys think of any names beforehand?"

Kei asked to which Aoi nodded with a gentle look upon her face.

"Yui, she's Himari Yui"