Chapter 348 - Scenarios

"Her name's Okada Koharu, my ex-classmate."

Alinea's voice came out biting. With the spawn within her body, she could naturally feel rage whenever she saw the girl who was her other part, Ara's mortal enemy. Even if justice was already served, and the crazy girl was gone, she still felt unhappy seeing her.

At the same time, she was also wondering not because the video existed because she already knew there was surveillance in the area but didn't care. She also knew that the Homura House took good care of it so she was not surprised they had a copy. What she wanted to know was why her uncle was showing the video to them.

She had already observed Yuuka earlier and still believed she didn't in any way harbored any shadow lurker within her. She did have to admit that the soul she was feeling within her was somewhat "strange".  But she couldn't tell why it was so.

Yuuka, on the other hand, still looked confused. She seemed to totally believe that the people around her were just joking.

"What 'rea'l are you talking about?" she scoffed. "Why did you show me this movie?"

Again, her questions were met with serious faces, and she started to feel disheartened, as well as a tad angry. Her own visage scrunched up in a disapproving frown; her lips clamped hard together, refusing to say anything more. Her light brown eyes met theirs, demanding to be informed.

"We understand that this might be confusing and hard to absorb, but there's no other way to tell you that you are in danger from something similar to that monster in the video."

EH?

The silence that followed was blatant that someone could drop a pin and they would hear it.  All eyes were on Yuuka, waiting for her reaction. Her body sat rigidly just earlier but she suddenly slumped as if the air was taken out of her. Her eyes wide, totally disbelieving, as she inclined her head, absorbing the words spoken to her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked shakily. "We came here to talk about my father and Suzuki Daizo. Why are you telling me about monsters now?"

Alinea also frowned at both Gin and Ryuu, her silver-grey eyes demanding an explanation. The only one who didn't really have a big reaction was Ivan. He looked on quietly at the side, sipping his cup of coffee.

"Yuuka, please calm down," Gin told her cajolingly, and the other nodded and smiled.

"Sure. Calm down. That's easy – who are you kidding me?" Yuuka's question ended in a growl; her face was comical that Alinea would have laughed if she weren't feeling impatient hearing the answer.

"We can't explain and you will not understand when you're in a panic," Ryuu's cold voice informed her, making Yuuka aware where she was and who she was with again, and she settled down.

Gin gave Ryuu a thumb's up before turning back to the lady to explain. "The girl in the video has a different type of infection that turns people into monsters – this is classified information by the way," he added in a rush.

Gin didn't want to inform her about gods and demigods of this world, and it would be easier for a mortal like Yuuka to tell her that it was some sort of infection instead. It was easier to take and easier to imagine as there were many films and games showing something similar.

"You mean like zombies?" Maki Yuuka played video games, and her favorite was Resident Evil and Kabaneri – both having zombies due to some sort of mutation caused by a virus.

"That's right!" Kazehaya Gin quickly nodded. He snapped his fingers, taking this chance to further explain the situation. "Sadly, the people in your house are infected."

Maki Yuuka looked alarmed. "My parents!" She stood up abruptly, obviously planning to return to her house. Alinea stopped her, and she was upset. "Why?

"Because you will only add to the danger," Alinea told her matter-of-factly.

By now she had an understanding of what was going on. She had noticed the way her brother had gone into a silent rage at the mention of their deceased parents earlier. She had noticed how her husband and uncle were observing Aki's reaction when her parents were mentioned as well. It already gave her an idea that the matters concerning Suzuki Akihiko and Suzuki Kaoru's death were not that simple. Now that she knew that her mother was from Ritz, there was no way she could have died from a simple car accident.

With the fight with Suzuki Daizo after their deaths, Alinea was sure something abnormal was involved. Suzuki Daizo was a shadow lurker host. He must be – and the reason why Gin and Ryuu wanted to see Yuuka was to check if she's a host as well.

But then again, if that were the case, Alinea would have known about it. There was no need for the two to come along and verify unless…

Unless it wasn't a shadow lurker involved – at least, not anymore.

An evolved one – and powerful at that...

Alinea narrowed her eyes at the two, silently prodding them with her unvoiced question. Both her husband and uncle nodded in verification and she grimaced.

Damn!

"What can you do if you go back there? Do you have any idea?"Alinea chastised Yuuka. When the latter looked like she wanted to argue, her voice became colder. "You, yourself said that you're not that daring and practical."

Alinea reminded Yuuka of her earlier claims, and the lady stopped moving, but her expression remained torn. She was aware; she knew that if this infection was real, there was nothing she could do by herself. In fact, she knew that her ignorance might be more dangerous not only to herself but for her family.

"What do we do then? Is there a cure?" Yuuka turned to everyone, studying their faces as if she could find the answer there.

"It depends," Gin answered honestly.

"On what?"Yuuka swallowed as fear started to seep into her ċhėst.

"On how far along their infection is," Gin continued seriously. "I think you already know the possible scenarios, Yuuka."

Yuuka's jaw clenched. She had seen too many related films not to know the possible situations. If the infection was just at the beginning stage, the people in the Cedar palace could still save them. If not…

They had to die for the sake of many innocent lives…