Chapter 363 - Better Candidate

"They will. It's why you have to stay here with us for a while," Gin told Yuuka just as his phone rang, and he frowned.

He just talked to Aoi earlier when they arrived at the Maki Household, informing him about the intensity of the miasma surrounding the house. His brother asked him what to do in case they were too late and a shadow lurker had already been born from all of the negative energy. He told him to deal with it. His only concern was to get the Maki couple safely. But if Aoi was calling, it meant that there was a bit of a setback.

"Excuse me, I'll just answer this call," he said as he left.

He didn't bother waiting for the others' reply. He just rushed to the other side of the house so that they wouldn't hear his conversation. "What is it?" he asked as soon as he was out of hearing distance.

Well, at least out of Yuuka's hearing distance. The deities in the house could clearly listen to him.

"Brother, I guess we're too late,"Aoi told him, and Gin inhaled sharply as he understood what it meant.

But before he said anything, a menacing voice sounded from the other end. "Yes! Too late! Yuuka will marry Suzuki Aki and not that sŀutty secretary!"

Damn!

It seemed Maki Eito was already infected.

He had told Yuuka that her parents would be okay since they were dealing with a harpy. But it seemed they had underestimated Ozomene's negative energy and didn't bank on it giving birth to shadow lurkers so fast. It hadn't been long since the IBEC when Daizo's seal had been unlocked after all.

In the end, they were already too late. He just hoped that they were not that late to still try and extract the shadow lurker from Eito's body. But the latter was totally tricky to do. They had to deal with the person's obsession, to make the host think that he would get what he wanted so that the negative energy he was feeding the parasitic elemental would stop. Because the more the host was aggrieved, the stronger his negative feelings were, and the more power he was feeding the shadow lurker.

Just like what happened with Okada Koharu, who Alinea and Ryuu purposely angered, the incubation period of the parasite became shorter and the shadow lurker also multiplied faster. She was almost a disaster if they were not able to destroy her in time. 

But how would they deal with Maki Eito's obsession?

Asking Aki to pretend to agree to marry Yuuka was definitely a big NO. It would be rude to everyone involved, and he had a feeling he would be killed by either his niece or his brother if he did that.

Gin frowned. Perun had already told him that he would not meddle with the Earth's guardian's business, but at times like this one, he felt he needed to ask him for some advice. Stribog might be one of the strongest deities in the Celestial Plane, but the gods' divine powers differed. As the God of the Wind, he was more the brute and destructive type, same with Kresnik. If they were the ones who'd extract the shadow lurker from Eito, Gin was not confident he'd be able to keep his promise to Yuuka to keep her father alive.

Hmmm…

He guessed, talking to his twin would be the smartest move at the moment. He sighed, feeling disheartened. If only he had the same power as his brother, this purification thing would be so easy. Perun could do it with his eyes closed. He wouldn't be as problematic as he was now.

"Capture them first!" he ordered Aoi before ending the call.

He then walked farther from the group to a secluded area and released his wind. He shot towards the sky, high enough to see the estate from above. He was searching for his brother. Although with the nȧkėd eye it was impossible for him to spot where Perun went due to the trees, his twin's divine energy, although subtle could still be felt by him since they're twins.

Ah…

Stribog was not at all surprised upon sensing his brother's energy beneath the biggest cherry blossom tree in the huge yard. He should have known, Perun loved lounging under them. It was funny, totally baseless, and totally unscientific, but sometimes he thought that the reason why lightning loved striking trees was that his brother liked going to them.

He descended towards the tree at great speed. Soon he landed on his feet just a few steps away from his sleeping twin – or at least he appeared to be sleeping.

"What is it?"Perun asked with his eyes closed as soon as he came.

Gin smiled sheepishly. Perun was greater than an alarm system. Even if he didn't make a sound he'd know.

"Er… I kind of have a problem," Gin told him, his golden eyes focused on his brother's expressionless face.

He watched with his breath held as Perun opened his eyes, and looked at him with his amethyst gaze as if asking him what he wanted. Gin cleared his throat.

"Well, I kind of promised Yuuka we'd save her parents," he started.

"But?"Perun asked with his silver brow raised. "Speak fast. You don't have to be so scared all the time. It's not as if you're still the little imp you were back then. Brother recognizes your maturity, okay?"

His words sounded so frustrated that Gin felt a bit guilty. He spoke nervously with his brother because it was an ingrained reaction towards him. After all, Perun had been so strict with him before since he had always been the unruly one. Without his brother's strict and merciless guidance, he'd have caused a lot of destruction already.

"Well," Gin grinned, feeling his confidence boosted, and he told Perun of what had transpired. "So you see, brother, it would be a shame if Eito dies."

Well, if he had already promised, then it was true. Gin's words were Stribog's promises, and breaking that would be a big problem. It was as if a deity had broken his vow.

"What do you have in mind?" Perun asked. He had already told Gin that he wouldn't meddle but it seemed his brother really needed a bit of help from him.

"The only way to safely remove the parasitic elemental would be to stop feeding it. If it's still too young and suddenly didn't have nourishment to sustain it, it would die on its own," Gin said which confused Perun as he knew about this fact already.

He wondered why Gin still bothered telling him this, but he kept quiet.

"I was thinking of appeasing Eito's obsession," Gin explained. "He was adamant that Yuuka marries Aki because he thinks that Aki is the best husband material for her."

There were several seconds of silence before Perun spoke. "So? Will you ask the child to pretend to be Yuuka's fiancé?"

"Of course, not," Gin denied at once. Perun's voice didn't have anything in it – but it was safer to explain things. "It's not appropriate since Aki's engaged already and it would only make things awkward with everyone."

Perun didn't say a word again, but Gin knew his answer passed.    

"I'm thinking more of introducing a better husband candidate than Aki," Gin announced.

"Oh? Who?"Perun inquired and he looked like he was thinking who among the men in the Cedar Palace would fit the bill.

Gin grinned. "Kazehaya Sora."