Love and Beasts

Chapter 17

After making sure that the girl was in the room, Akira closed the door and went to kitchen. In there was waiting for him Akito. Then the men started conversing in Japanese. "Soo? Did you sleep with her?" "Yes, I did." "Were you two intimate?" "What?! No, of course not. After this incident, I took her to her home, to her bedroom and tucked her, making sure she would be covered. Since that guy ripped her shirt, I tried my best not to look there."

"It still doesn't explain why you two spent the night together. After something like this, people mostly fear those from opposite sex." "She wasn't raped, but I saw that she was clearly shaken up. When I made sure that she was covered, I decided to leave thinking the same as you do now. But she asked me to stay by her side and keep company, in case someone showed up. I questioned her, because that guy also was a beastman like us. But she told me that she trusts me and is certain that I am a good person. I was reluctant but decided to keep her company. She cuddled to me and then fell asleep, after calming down and relaxing in my embrace."

Akito calmed down. He was proud of his brother, that taught his son how to treat people right. But then he thought about this Ivan Chernit. He didn't get it why, but he had a strange feeling whenever he heard his name. He had exactly the same strange, guttural feeling telling him that something is wrong: same one he had, before Yukiko died. He also felt as if he already heard this name somewhere. Yes, people talked about him at his workplace. He still tried to remember where he first heard it, but failed.

"Akira, keep your eye on Iza." "I already am doing it." "But you need to be more careful." "Huh? Is there something you know uncle?" "This 'Chernit' guy is from Russia, right?" "Exactly." "As I recall well, in Russia around 80% of beastman population consists of bear beastmen. I have a feeling that people from Chernit Corp might be bear beastmen too." "Probably. Why do you bring that up?" "What do you think of this Ivan Chernit?" "To me he's a peculiar man, but nothing else." "Have you ever smelt him? Did he have any specific scent, that would define if he's any kind of beastman?" "Not really. He doesn't have any scent familiar to me. He wears a cologne that women love. Because of his traits like wealth and looks he has quite a few fans, that want to date him."

"And Iza? Is she also interested in him?" "Not really. Yes, he took her out sometimes which I saw myself. But I'm sure she doesn't think more of him than just a friend. Especially after this weird situation. Maybe he has something to do with this?" Akira said, thinking out loud. "With what?" "Well, some time ago Iza allowed me to stay the night in her guest room, in her place. At one moment I had to go to the bathroom. When I was passing by her room, I had a feeling in me telling me that something is off. I entered her bedroom and saw Iza sleeping soundly. I was about to close a window in her room, when I felt another presence. By smelling the air, I knew there was a male, bear beastman. He noticed me and we engaged in a fight. I have badly scratched his face, and when Iza turned the light on, he had a very deep scratch on his left eye. It happened around 2 weeks ago. Iza said herself, that Ivan didn't show up at work for these 2 weeks. And he then appears with a scar on the left eye. Exactly where I injured him." "Hmm. Everything seems like Ivan was this beastman."

"But we can't be sure. He's a CEO and maybe he was simply attacked by someone?" "Still, I think he might be a beastman, even a bear one. That's why make sure she is kept company with either you or this other guy courting her." "Yeah. I'll be careful and will talk about it with Michael soon." "Good. Does she know that you were one of the beastmen there?" "No. But I should tell her soon. She needs to know that there's a possibility of Ivan being a bear beastman. And that he might want something from her." "I'll make sure to warn Anna about it." "What? Are you crazy?! How can you be so su-" "Don't worry about her. I can clearly see where from Iza-chan takes her cleverness, because Anna has never ever neglected beastmen. Besides, there are some things I need to talk with her about."