///// Author note/////
I decided to reveal the villain's side story after the whole thing ends or close to ending so I'll be continuing with Alek's side of story. Yeah... Please don't be angry with me.
///////////
Alek was running. She carried a couple of notebooks in one hand, and from the other shoulder hang a big ass blue bag. The blue bag was bigger than herself and looked heavy and hard, but nonetheless, she didn't look like she was struggling. She had no time to admire the mystical courtyard in the middle of the house and went straight to the washitsu.
Running for what you may ask. She was running for-
"I'm here, I'm here!!" The girl slid to the open door with ragged breathing and apologised to the woman in her kimono waiting calmly for her on the floor.
"Let me guess, your mother?" The woman had wavy white hair in a simple bun and wore a white kimono with a dark light black obi. In front of her sat a koto.
"Yes," Alek answered her grandmother and immediately sat in front of the other formally after removing her own koto from the blue bag. She was wearing hakama that was a white flower designed top with a plum coloured bottom that matched her decency. "Actually, everyone was teaching me, but mum was the one holding me back."
Mikoto carefully observed her granddaughter, looking for any mistakes she made during the preparation of the musical instrument. "Anyway, I don't want to waste anymore time of mine, so lets do our lesson."
"Yes, ma'am." The girl straightened her back and bowed her head to show respect before doing today's koto lesson with her grandmother.
A month had passed since the day Alek shifted into Iori, the brachiosaurus as she later turned out to be. Iori didn't answer the question that day and managed to get free from Alek again.
******
Alek knew that interrogating Iori wouldn't help her in getting the information she wanted. So after she finally got to shift back into her human form and made it back home, she immediately called out to her older brother who reluctantly appeared.
At that moment, she felt the missing piece of a puzzle. She didn't need any explanation from him. She knew. She finally understood what Aether meant when he said that his strength was going to be hers.
The future head of Minazuki didn't feel like she should be blaming her brother for that. Aether must have felt intimidated since he didn't meet her eyes for a long time. The girl just silently embraced her brother that felt nothing more than thin air.
"Thank you." She said as she hugged him. Since she was on her knees, her face was on top of Aether's shoulder.
"Thank you to you too." The brother put his hands on his sister's back.
Alek chuckled to send off her tears, "Is that even English?"
"I think so. Even if its not, I'll just make it as my own language." He knew what his sister was feeling so he decided He also didn't to get along with it.
"Aetherian?"
"Yes, Aetherian. It sounds nice."
"It does." Nobody interrupted their hug since Alek had told her family not to come into the room, Aether's room.
Alek was the first one to pull away from the other. She looked into his eyes for some time before saying, "Isn't it time for you to tell me everything?"
Aether sighed defeatedly and visibly and obediently sat on the bed. There, he explained how he managed to transfer his ancient form in time but failed to transfer his modern one. The moving of Iori caused Alek's both forms to merge into one for Iori to take over the space. But because a huge part of himself was still alive and doing well, he couldn't fully die and became a ghost. Or at least, that was his theory.
"Do you regret passing Iori to me?" Alek asked from next to Aether.
He answered without skipping a beat, "Not even for a second," He turned to her and smiled. "I'm actually happy because Iori can have a life that could have ended because of me. I am thankful that you are giving him a chance to live, and I hope this continues."
Alek nodded to that and looked down. "What was your modern form. Mum told me that you were planning to show me."
Aether chuckled as he smiled, "I don't think you'd know..."
"Just tell me and I'll figure it out! Come on!" She excitedly sat on the floor in front of him and smiled energetically.
"So, I am close to mum but I also have some relations to aunti. What am I?"
Alek closed her eyes and concentrated, "Mum's lizard and Aunti is a sea turtle... Are you a land turtle?"
"Nope."
"Gekko?"
"Nope."
"Snake?"
"No."
"Elephant? Fish?"
Aether busted out the laugh he held in for a long time, "Where did that come from? Remember, we are a reptile shfters."
Alek lay on the floor while pouting. "Then what are you?!"
"I am an armadillo girdled lizard." Aether once again laughed at the questioning look on his sister's face. "I'm not lying. It's a real thing."
"Fine, I'll look up when I'm done with you." She came to sit in between Aether's legs and rested her back on the bed. The boy caressed the hair he couldn't touch affectionately. "You know, when I think about it, Kiryuu can see the things I see and feel the things I feel, right. And the same goes for Iori. But, Kiryuu is female. Iori is part of you, meaning male. This is messed up."
Aether stopped caressing and cracked up laughing. This made Alek turn to her brother with a blushing face, "What are you laughing about?! I'm serious!"
Aether said in between his laughs, "Alek, they are spiritual animals. They don't have genders."
"How do you know?"
"I just know," He shrugged his tiny shoulders. "So you don't need to worry about that."
"I'm taking your word for it," Alek squinted her eyes and sat back into the position. "I think you know but I haven't told everyone about the identity of Iori. Can I do that?"
Aether bent over and hugged his little sister in his child's arms. Although Alek couldn't feel the flesh, she somehow knew that her brother was hugging her. "There is no point in hiding, so yeah. Why not?"
"Okay."
"Yep..." A long silence followed after that until Aether said cheekily, "You know everyone has been waiting outside the door for the past thirty minutes, right?"
"Maji?" Alek looked at her brother in disbelief and heard some hurried noise from the door. Her family was something else. "I guess I'll go."
"See you later then." Aether released Alek and stood up from the bed. The girl simultaneously stood up from the floor as well.
"Matane." Alek waved at her as he slowly merged with his surroundings, becoming invisible again.
When the future head came out of the door, she saw her family acting weird. Panacea was wiping the utensils that were already dry, Robin was reading the newspaper he read in the morning, Bia was stretching out of nowhere, and Kai was escaping to his room.
"I don't think I need to explain what happened in there." Everyone halted whatever they were doing and guiltily turned to look at the eldest daughter. "So yeah. Iori is Aether's ancient form that he passed onto me before the accident which made my forms into one for Iori to enter. In short, I am not normal."
Panacea kept the towel down and approached her daughter. "Sweetie, we are sorry. We didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation with your brother." This sentence made Alek raise her eyebrow with a questioning and doubting look. "Fine, we did mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. We were there from the moment you called out Aether."
Bia looked at her mother in disbelief, "Really mum? You could have just said nothing."
Kai nodded, "I agree."
Robin continued, "Me too."
Alek went around her family's faces and said, "I actually don't care. I just want to know what to do from now." With that, the five of them wordlessly sat on the nearby sofas in the living room. "I'm not human. I'm next on the throne of the supernatural world that I only got to know recently. My older brother isn't dead dead dead. School already started. There is an incoming war and I am hiding this from my two best friends I trust so much. This is just so much to take in."
The family couldn't find the words to comfort Alek. They didn't know how she was feeling.
Since the girl didn't get answers, she concluded herself. "I'll think about this after I meet up with Alex and Mel. It's almost time so I'll go." She sat up from the sofa, changed her clothes in the room and went to the cafe where her friends already waited for her.
They waved at her the moment they spotted her. Her drink was already prepared next to them, being lovey-dovey with excitement.
"Ooh, you look so good in white shirt. You look like your age now." Mel teased her first before Alec continued.
"I've seen Bia wearing suit and stuff but never you. What happened to you. You are weird in a good way."
Alek took a seat directly in front of them and settled down. The long pleated banana coloured skirt flowed down the red seat like it was alive. She wore light coloured clothes today to feel and appear happy in front of her best friends. "A lot of things."
"Tell us from the start." Mel demanded and listened attentively along with his boyfriend to Alek's story. Of course, the girl left everything supernatural out of the talk.
"Holy sh*t," Alec mumbled in shock. He had an open mouth along with mushed eyebrows from hearing her story.
"I am so sorry." Melvin came to sit at her side and hugged her softly.
"Thank you. I'm also sorry for not contacting you sooner." She replied.
"That's fine. What matters is that you are okay now." Alex smiled at her warmly.
Right at that moment, Alek's stomach growled. Alec guffawed as Mel looked confused.
"My stomach growled. I might have skipped breakfast." Alek explained with a blush at how she didn't even bat an eye at the food offered by her grandmother, Vibia after she shifted back and portal home just to lock herself in Aether's room to have a talk with her brother. Then she remembered she hadn't had any food since lunch the day before.
"It's already past noon anyway. Let's order something to eat." Mel took out the menu from the side and passed it to her friend. The three ordered different things for themselves and chatted until the food came.
The blonde took the photos of the food like a pro for about ten minutes until the eager two were finally able to eat.
"It's been a while since I ate spaghetti meatballs from here. I forgot how tasty it was." Alek swallowed down the food as if her stomach was a black hole with no limit.
"You are going to choke. Relax." Alex commented and continued to eat. There was no conversation from there on because everyone was so concentrated on eating.
As Alek wiped her mouth after they were finished, Mel pointed out, "You have sauce on the collar. That's going to be a stain if you don't remove it now."
"Where?" Alek looked down at her white shirt in panic but couldn't find the stain. She had no choice but to unbutton the first three buttons to see it. "Ahh. Found it. I'm going to the bathroom to wash it off." She announced and stood up from her seat.
But as soon as she turned around, she bumped into a waiter carrying two glasses of soda which poured onto her clothes without any care.
"I am so sorry!!" Alek immediately apologised and helped out the waiter with broken glasses and a wet floor. The waiter was also apologising almost as if he was about to cry. He brought her napkins to wipe herself. "Thank you. I'll be paying for the broken glass and the soda."
The waiter didn't know what to do but bow and rush to the kitchen to tell his boss.
"This is sticky." Alek turned towards her best friends who were by her side with worry. She forgot that her shirt was soaked and the buttons were undone.
"Is that a tattoo?" Mel frowned when he saw the exposed, glowing pink mark in the middle of his best friend's chest while he helped her wipe.