Alinea

"Alistair?"

The handsome stranger raised a brow as he scrutinized the girl in front of him.

Not bad, he thought.

She had skin that was white as snow. The hair that landed softly on her shoulder was ebony. She had a small, innocent face with lips as delicate as rose petals, cheeks that were pinkish due to her bath, and a pair of unique eyes the shade of icy grey. She looked like an angel minus the wings.

Also…

His hazel gaze scanned her frame and nodded in approval. She's also tall for a woman. The average height for Japanese women was five feet-two inches or a hundred and fifty-eight centimeters. Judging her height against his hundred and ninety-two centimeters, she should be around a hundred and seventy-five centimeters tall or five feet-seven inches.

He had taken an extra effort to come here in person to check her out in spite already having someone who kept tabs on her. After all, meeting in person to evaluate someone was much better compared to what several pages of reports said.

Hmmmnnnn… not bad, he thought again.

Actually, his assessment of her appearance was more than favorable. With looks like Koutaishidenka's who was prettier than most women, his partner should be crazy beautiful as to not be overshadowed by her own husband. The position as Homura's wife was actually tragic if she's someone with lesser aesthetics than this girl.

So far, in the looks department, Suzuki Ara passed.

As for her disposition…

According to the reports, she had a very contradictory personality. She was both hot and cold – and most of her temper flare ups was when she's with her brother. When she's at school or other places, she was mostly aloof, quiet but really cold.

Ara was a "cold hearted bitch" as she was called by her schoolmates. She's one who liked to sit and watch as her minions bully people in her stead. The only other time she ever threw a temper was when she confronted the girl the boy she liked when she accused the latter of bullying one of her minions.

So far…

Well, so far – nothing. The girl hadn't said a single word except "Alistair" the whole time they'd been standing there. She just looked at him with a c.o.c.ktail of emotions on her face it was quite funny.

As he was one of those rare people who embodied the word "total bishounen", a very, very pretty boy, he was used to the female specie fawning over him the moment they saw him. This girl however not only didn't look pleased the moment she saw him – she even looked at him like she's contemplating whether to plant a fist on his pretty face or not.

Her initial shock had turned to frosty animosity, then confusion – it was almost enjoyable watching her emotions flip if it weren't for the fact that the unreasonable enmity was directed at him.

He decided to ease the atmosphere. "Ah ojou-chan, stop staring at me. You're making this oniichan blush." He cupped his cheeks like a bashful maiden as he said this, trying to be cute.

As expected, his words broke her internal scuffle, and she blinked as her already pink from the bath cheeks turned darker in shade. "S-sorry..."

She looked obviously mortified. She turned her gaze away as she slowly walked towards the hospital bed and sat there. But she looked up to him again with quizzing, distrustful eyes.

He didn't know why, but this girl seemed to dislike him a lot. He had a feeling his conversation with her would be like a boxing match.

He was not wrong.

"I am Kazehaya Gin, you may call me Gin-nii," he said charmingly, but his words made her serious face suddenly break as she snorted in merriment.

"Genie?" she quipped as she gestured as if she's rubbing a magic lamp, and Gin's face fell.

Round 1: Gin 0 Ara 1

This mean girl…

"Kaze-nii then," he pouted. His hazel eyes however glinted. Suzuki Ara's witty for sure. But he never expected her to have a sense of humor – or if she did, he hadn't expected her to display it to strangers.

"You break my heart ojou-chan. Why would you bully a stranger you met for the first time?" he complained.

"I wouldn't call a stranger I met for the first time 'nii' as well nor would I let myself be called 'chan'," she countered cheekily. Those were suffixes reserved only for people whom one had a close relationship with.

"Urgh…"Gin totally didn't have any answer to that.

Round 2: Gin 0 Ara 2

"I wonder what," she looked at him before she continued speaking. "Kaze-nii came here for?" she inquired, emphasizing his nickname, and he flinched.

"You are not from my school, and I don't remember seeing you in my brother's circle," she added as her gaze dropped to the flashy piece of cloth on his c.h.e.s.t. "I attended most gatherings my brother went to, and I couldn't remember seeing anyone as colorful as you."

"Aya, ojou-chan, don't bully my necktie too," Gin covered his red, yellow, green, and blue tie; his face had a hurt look.

The mean beauty didn't say anything else though. She just stayed quiet, waiting for him to explain, and he chuckled as he walked towards the bed, grabbed a stool and sat there so he'd be close to her.

"I came here to visit the sick on behalf of someone," he announced as he pointed at the bouquet of red camellias on the table next to the bed. She followed his finger with her gaze, and she looked confused once more.

"Homura?"she asked.

Hearing her say the name, Gin got excited. "You know him? You know him?"

"Him? It's not a company? " Her confusion grew, and Gin's face fell again, disappointed that she really had no idea who and what Homura was.

Technically, Homura was Homura International, the giant global company handling several types of businesses ranging from hotels, to restaurants, to leisure places, etc. But Gin was here of course because of Homura International's sole heir, the crown prince, Homura Ryuu.

But he couldn't say that yet. Koutaishidenka still didn't say anything about wanting to announce the engagement. Also, even if Ryuu did, it would be rude to do it without communicating first with Suzuki Aki, Ara's guardian. Although technically she's already of legal age at eighteen, she's still under twenty, and needed Aki's approval to get married.

"It's a company," he grumbled in the end and her confusion vanished.

"Then thank you," she said politely afterwards. "It's so kind of your company to show concern for a business partner's family member."

"Ojou-chan, don't go being formal with me after bullying me many times," Gin scolded her teasingly, and for the first time, she smiled. It was a small one; nonetheless, it's a genuine smile.

For Kazehaya Gin, it was somewhat a win.

Round 3: Gin 1 Ara 2

"By the way, earlier, you called me Alistair. Who's that?" Gin asked. In the reports, there was no one named Alistair so he was curious.

Ara looked startled at the mention of the name, and seemed slightly upset as she shook her head. "No one. Just someone I knew in the past."

Oh? Gin took a mental note to check up on that.

"He looks like me?" he pressed and she hesitated a bit before nodding.

"Except for the hair, eye color and…" she eyed his clothes with a frown. "…sense of fashion, you look similar."

Gin was dumbfounded. The way she checked his clothes was a bit off. Did he just get insulted?

"Ojou-chan, you don't like my style?" he asked, and her expression became bland.

"Well, you look weird," she retorted, and Gin placed his hand over his hurting heart dramatically.

Round 4: Gin K.O. Ara wins

"Aya aya ojou-chan, you're savage..."