Chapter 291 - Monsters

"Aki, calm down."

Asou Chiaki placed a hand on her fiancé's shoulder as the two of them sat in the car on the way towards the Cedar Palace. Earlier that afternoon, he received a message from Miharu that Ara had been taken by men along with Rin and Hiroaki after their exams on the way to the shopping district. It was followed by a video clip of the kidnapping itself.  However, it was already evening when he was able to see it as he had been in a meeting the whole day.

As soon as he saw the video, blood drained from his face, and it took Chiaki a while to find out from him what happened. Knowing that he was thinking the worse and blaming himself, she had called Miharu's number to ask about what happened as well as the school.

To their shock and confusion, none of them seemed to know what happened. In fact, they're very much confused when they asked if it's Okada Koharu's doing. Why? Because, apparently, that delusional girl who had been hounding Ara had been dead days ago from suicide.

What's going on?

Aki and Chiaki had both been worried sick after talking to Miharu and the school. They said that Ara was picked up by Ryuu since she was not feeling well. But the video and the message Miharu sent him said otherwise.

They called Ryuu, but he was not answering his phone, and so they called Kazehaya Gin instead. Homura International's CEO tried to tell Aki the same thing as Miharu did, but the older Suzuki wouldn't have any of it.

"I know the truth. Okada didn't commit suicide and you know it. Gin, don't lie to me. Tell me what happened," Aki demanded, and the other was not able to do anything but drop the act and told him to be calm and to go to the Cedar Palace.

"I'm sure there's a good explanation to this," Chiaki told Aki who turned to him with a small smile and nodded.

She was worried about him since he nearly had a break down when Ara had her accident. Upon seeing the video earlier, he received another shock that he froze. But, since Gin seemed not to be worried enough to sound so urgent, she believed that Ara was fine even if the information was confusing.

Everyone they asked seemed to have amnesia and a different set of truths from what they knew. They wondered if they're recollections had been altered. Kidnapping was a serious offense that the Homura House dealt with seriously. If there was death involved, it might be that the Cedar Palace was trying to cover things up and resorted to wiping people's memories.

They didn't know how that was feasible, but for the most powerful and influential clan in Japan, anything was possible.

Soon they arrived at the gates of the Cedar Palace. It was the first time for Chiaki to come to the place so the sight surprised and impressed her. It was a place without time. However, she didn't have time to appreciate the place or to see the beautiful surroundings even under the brilliant lights, as Aki started fidgeting as if he couldn't wait to get out of the car.

Instead of the driveway in front, however, the servants signaled for the car to continue driving towards the inner part of the court to the private residential area of the place. They stopped in front of the receiving and dining hall for the Koutaishidenka's family and got out of the car.

Yayoi and Kazehaya Gin stood on the wooden corridor to welcome them, while the servants took their shoes and handed them slippers.

"Gin, what's going on?" Aki asked as soon as he stepped on the corridor, but when he looked up and saw the other closer, he stopped. "What… happened to you?"

Suzuki Aki was talking of course about his change in coloration and the length of his hair. His hazel eyes and chestnut hair were gone. He now sported golden tresses which wisps fell on his shoulder and golden eyes.

Gin laughed at the other's expression and inclined his head towards the lady he was with. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend first, Big Bro Aki?"

Reminded by his faux pas, Aki pulled Chiaki's by the arm gently and ushered her in front. "I'm sure you've met each other before at the IBEC, but let me still introduce you two. Gin, this is Chiaki, my fiancée."

"Oh, my," Gin and Yayoi exchanged looks and delighted smiles.

"And this is Homura's CEO, and Yayoi, Homura House's Head Housekeeper," Aki finished his introduction and Chiaki exchanged greetings with them.

Afterwards, they all went to the receiving room where Aki and the others had their meals when Ryuu proposed to his sister. Speaking of which…

"Where is Ara?" Aki asked; his body tensed. He had stupidly forgotten to ask about her first as soon as he arrived. "Were you able to save her?"

"Relax," Gin told him in a very soothing manner, and so Aki's anxiety lessened.

Aki had sent Gin the video clip of Ara's kidnapping and Miharu's message so the latter had an idea of what he knew. This was why he had given up on lying to him.

"She's resting in the room with Ryuu,"Gin explained as he held out his hand and Yayoi came forward with a folder.

Aki watched as Gin opened the file and took out a photo and showed it to him.

Huh?

"What's…this?"

It was a picture of a spider monster fighting with a figure wearing a fox god's mask. Aki was stumped.

"I'm asking about Ara," he reminded Gin who shrugged and gestured towards the photo and started blabbing.

"So I'm showing you your sister fighting with Okada Koharu,"Gin answered, and both Aki and Chiaki looked at the picture in confusion.

"Ah!" Chiaki somewhat recognized the mask. She had bought the mask for Ara at the summer festival last year. She had the same one at home. Still, it could be someone else. Also, there's a monster.

"I don't understand," Aki said in frustration as he placed the photo back on the table. "I just came here because my sister got kidnapped. Then when I started asking around people didn't seem to know what happened and that they told me that Okada girl is dead."

"Because she's dead," Gin answered seriously, his golden eyes glinting as he leaned over the table to prop his chin with his hand. "Koharu was actually a host to a very nasty dark elemental. This is why she's very mentally unstable. She and her stepfather kidnapped Ara, yes, but Ara's strong so she dealt with the kidnappers, but some died. So we had to cover up. As for Okada, she turned into the spider monster suddenly ahead of schedule so my clan had to deal with her too. She's also dead."

Aki and Chiaki's jaws dropped. "What are you talking about? Ara killed someone?"

"No. She killed three people in total," Gin said matter-of-factly. "It's why we had to wipe everyone's memories. But we were not expecting Miharu to have sent you a message. We were planning not to tell you yet, but I guess it's better this way."

"I don't understand. Please stop joking. What do you mean, and what monsters are you talking about?"  Aki snorted. He had never heard anything so incredulous in his life. But the other was not smiling, so he faltered.

"I'm telling you that we're not humans," Gin said just as a loud squawk was heard on their side, and both Aki and Chiaki whipped their heads fast to the side where six pairs of sharp eyes stared at them and they inhaled sharply.

"And I'm talking about that kind of monsters," Gin continued as he waved at the harpy sisters who checked them out. "It's fine, babies," he called out to them just as Aki and Chiaki lost consciousness and dropped on the tatami with a plop and Gin smiled sheepishly. "Or not…"