14 Kazehaya Gin

At half past seven in the evening, the VIP hospital ward was quiet, save for the vague, distant sounds of machines beeping. But, since Suzuki Ara was free from all the apparatuses attached to her, the silence in the room was more comfortable. It felt like she was just in her own bedroom, relaxing.

Because she had exhibited strength and mobility at her checkup, the doctor allowed her to skip wearing soft casts, but cautioned her about straining her limbs too much. As usual, she agreed to everything the doctor said so she didn't have to deal with them for long.

Whatever they said, she had already decided that as soon as she's out of the hospital and back at home, she'd start her own exercise regimen so she'd regain most of her strength anyway.

She's not worried about overexerting her body. It wasn't as if it's the first time she'd broken some bones. In fact, when she was just only eight, she was quite mischievous. She had snuck into the arena during one of the festivals and accidentally landed in the ring where a Minotaur had gone berserk. She had been trampled so badly and slammed so hard she broke several more bones than in her car accident.

Her injuries at that time were so severe, that even the cool headed Alistair snapped for the first time. She had never seen her older brother nearly going crazy in anger before, killing the Minotaur for hurting her. It was at that moment when she felt so loved, the proudest for having an older brother like him.

"AHHHHHHHRGH"

Ara pulled her hair as she scolded herself for letting her mind wander, unearthing unwanted memories of the Ritz King. Regardless of how kind and gentle Alistair sometimes treated her before, there was no denying that he had betrayed her in the end.

"It's that weird guy's fault," she grumbled as the image of Kazehaya Gin flashed in her mind.

He looked too much like Alistair, that she first thought it was really him who came to this world like she did. It was a good thing that she was a soldier trained to assess things first before attacking. If not, the weird guy would have been pummeled to death by her the moment she saw his face.

When her gaze landed on him, she froze as rage filled her to the core. But then, the gaudy clothes distracted her until it finally put a screeching halt to her animosity. Although the blue suit and colorful tie looked good on the man, it was something Alistair would never ever get caught wearing – not that they had the same fashion in Ritz anyway.

After the clothes, the other differences came to her one by one. The hair, the eyes, and the overall disposition were different. The Ritz king was aloof and quiet. Kazehaya Gin was like a chipmunk on energy drink. He had talked nonstop since he showed up.

Ara felt she lost a lot of energy enduring all his chitchat the whole two hours of his visit. The man asked her a lot of questions about herself, but did not push when she seemed reluctant to answer some of them. She was grateful he didn't pester her since she didn't want to tell him much either.

Even if she's Ara now, it still felt like she's gossiping about someone else's privacy when she talked about her body's owner.

"Strange guy," she muttered again.

She tried to think about the purpose of the guy's questions, but no matter how much she assessed him, that Kazehaya Gin really seemed to be interested in her life. There was neither malice nor any other type of negative energy surrounding him when they talked, so she let her guard down and humored him.

Suzuki Ara – even the real one had never met anyone like him before. Most of Aki's business partners just asked her how she was out of politeness, but never really took time and effort knowing her.

Even if she disliked his face, if she closed her eyes, he seemed to be a likable fellow. Just…

Just he talked too much.

"Chipmunk," she chuckled to herself just as the door opened and Suzuki Aki came bearing food.

"Oh, someone looks happy," he commented as he crossed the room bearing paper bags, and the delectable smell of mixed spices permeated the air.

Ara lifted her face and took in the scent, and her stomach grumbled in anticipation. The smell was unfamiliar to her but it was so good she felt like salivating from anticipation.

"What's that?" she asked as she inspected the bags while Aki set up the table so they could eat.

"What else? It's your favorite," Aki answered, and Ara's eyes glittered.

Oh, she knew what Ara's favorite food was. But she had never had it before so she did not recognize the smell. "Coco Ichibanya's Chicken Curry…"

"That's right," Aki chuckled at her eagerness. The mentioned was a very popular curry place in Japan. "But sorry, the doctor said you should not force your tummy yet so I got you a non-spicy one."

"It's okay," Ara answered. Her favorite food was the super spicy curry from the restaurant, but she wasn't sure about eating that level yet.

Suzuki Aki spread the food and handed her a spoon. She had just removed her cast, so he was thoughtful not to make her use the chopsticks yet. Ara was touched. She really liked this gentle brother so much.

"So? What happened to you the rest of the day?" Aki asked conversationally as they ate.

The older Suzuki was very busy today so he was out the whole afternoon after bringing her clothes. He had posted a guard at her door however, but he hadn't had time to ask him anything since he immediately came into the room with food.

"Nothing much. Just had a visit from a weird big brother," she answered nonchalantly as she continued eating.

On the other hand, Suzuki Aki stopped eating with a frown.

"Which weird big brother?" He froze. Did the guard let some weird pervert in his sister's room?

"Just an underling from one of your associate companies. He probably came here to represent his enterprise to brown-nose properly," Ara answered in between spoonful of the tasty dish.

"Ha?" Aki looked puzzled. "Which one?" he asked, as he picked up his glass of water for a drink.

"Kazehaya Gin," she answered which made her brother spit water out of his mouth.

"W-Who?" Aki sputtered, and Ara quickly helped him wipe his mouth with tissue.

"Kazehaya Gin."

"What do you mean Kazehaya Gin? There's only one Kazehaya Gin I know, but he's definitely not someone's underling."

Totally not.

"Well…" Ara hesitated.

She had been sure the weird guy was an underling tasked to do PR to improve business relations with the Suzuki Raiden Group. But based on her brother's reaction, she might be wrong. She was thinking about how to explain to her brother when she remembered something.

She quickly turned to the bedside table and grabbed the card from the bouquet of camellias and showed it to him.

"Homura…" Suzuki Aki was shocked.

"What's wrong big bro?"

The way Aki reacted seemed like he was troubled, and she wondered if she should really have punched the guy earlier. If he's someone Aki disliked then she would be happy to do it – most especially since he looked like Alistair.

"Brother?"

Aki snapped from his thoughts, clamored to get his phone, searched someone online and showed it to her. It was the picture of the guy.

"Yes, that's him," she confirmed.

"Oh crap, it's really Kazehaya Gin," he said in awe, and Ara couldn't help being curious.

"Why? Do you know the weird guy?"

"Of course," was his immediate reply.

Suzuki Raiden Group, their family's company was one of the companies that flourished well at the national level. But the person mentioned belonged somewhere that even a big company like them couldn't reach: Homura International.

In reality, Suzuki Raiden Group had been preparing a proposal for many months to pitch to the giant company, but they hadn't progressed to the point of making contact yet – but even if they did, he couldn't think of any reason why he would come visit his sister.

"Ara, he's Homura's face."

"Face?"

"In Homura International, there are two young prodigies that are the company's core: Homura Ryuu, the real heir, and Kazehaya Gin, a son from the branch family. But the real heir disliked going out and socializing, so it's Kazehaya Gin who's always representing the company in public. They're like the sun and moon. One is out while the other hid in the shadows."

"Oh… no wonder he was so bling bling. He's the sun," Ara smirked, recalling the colorful necktie.

Ara finally understood why even if she couldn't remember Homura, it sounded familiar. It was the biggest company after all.

"In short, he's Homura's mascot?" she asked innocently, and Aki looked like he wanted to cry.

"Li'l sis, he's the CEO. What mascot are you talking about," Aki corrected her. "What did he want by the way?"

Remembering how Ara described him, Aki broke out in cold sweat. He hoped against hope his sister didn't do anything to offend him.

"I hope you didn't call him weird to his face," he said optimistically, and Ara gave him a guilty smile.

Ooooops...

"Erhm… sorry big bro. I did…"