Re: Ascension Rebirth – The angel in devil’s clothing

Prologue

In front of me was a crying girl.

No, calling her a ‘girl’ wouldn’t be quite accurate. In truth she was a 32 year old woman, but still, her stature was small enough to be mistaken for someone 10 years younger and even without her make up on she looked considerably young for her age.

Also, she wasn’t exactly in front of me, but was looking at me through the camera on my tablet. We were in a video conference call when the television in her room interrupted us.

“In other news, the CEO of [Mobius Industries] has announced his wedding taking place tomorrow at the Royal Ares Amphitheatre. An estimated 4000 people will be in attendanc-“

“Geez, they’re broadcasting our wedding like it’s any of their business!”

Getting up from the sofa she shut of the broadcast in haste; embittered with seeing her beloved fiancé’s face plastered all over the media, or so I would love to think that was the case. Eh, actually it probably was the case.

The young woman with short black hair and a baby-like face was my fiancé [Erin Callahad], or so that would be her new name once she’s married to me [Aran Callahad].

“Just let them be, that’s how the media world works anyway.”

I responded to her exasperated and cute whining.

As the news had aptly put it, I was the CEO of [Mobius industries] a leading tech company that has since evolved into a mega-conglomerate, in fact I don’t even know what we’re making anymore aside from the tech side that I invested my time into most.

“But still~ there’s a bunch of women out there who are trying to steal you away from me! Like that oriental woman who’s always with you; she’s definitely suspicious. You’re not having an affair behind my back or anything are you?”

She glares at me with puppy dog like eyes. How could I even think of cheating on someone like her? I’d be mad to not be satisfied with this amusing- I mean adorable fiancé of mine.

“Oriental woman? Ah, you mean [Kirisaki Yui]? She’s my bodyguard so of course she’s always with me. Besides don’t you think you should at least show her some confidence? She’s the one that has been protecting me for the last 2 years you know?”

“Kuh~ if it’s only about being a bodyguard why does it have to be a woman? There are plenty of other men that would fit the role right?”

“Now now, don’t say that, Yui’s a veteran with an impressive resume, she’s just as good if not even better than any man I know. She’s someone I can trust my life with so you should show her some trust as well.”

“But, but! Fine. Then at least give me a goodbye kiss.”

As she says, her lips cover the screen.

“Huh? How am I supposed to do that through a camera?”

I know I asked but I can kind of see where this is going, and as much as I love her this is a little embarrassing, with the only saving grace being that no one was in my room right now.

“I don’t know, just kiss the camera or something~”

“Really, can’t win against you huh? Erin…”

Such an unreasonable request but even this side of her is adorable. After much hesitation I decided to go through with it out of sheer love.

In an awkward pose I placed my lips on the camera of the tablet I was holding.

“Kyah~ we kissed! Alright, I’ll trust you so make to be on time tomorrow~”

Right, as the news had said before, tomorrow was Erin and my wedding at the Royal Ares Amphitheater. Just thinking about how many people will be in attendance is rather nerve racking, I just hope I don’t screw up or something.

“Alright, alright. Then my plane comes shortly so I’ll have to hang up now.”

“Okay, bye~ darling!”

“Goodbye Erin.”

After finally finishing up our hour long conference call, I slumped back into the large leathered chair and loosened up my tie. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking back to how much I’ve managed to accomplished up til now, it’s amazing even when I think about it. There are still some things left but right now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that, the wedding was tomorrow after all.

“Really, it’s been a long trip, I guess it’s time to go home.”

To be honest it would’ve been easier to book a private jet to fly but for some reason I never liked flying too much. So I prefer to fly on a public airline with people to distract me from my dislike of air travel.

I don’t even know why I chose a profession which requires so much air travel, maybe I should just quit and retire with Erin. I mean we have enough money to last our and our children’s and their children’s lifetimes.

I guess that would be rather disingenuous to my employees though. Since I only became CEO recently I can’t be good for a company to change management that often, and that quickly. I suppose I can grit my teeth for a few more years.

Opening the door I was met with a pair of watchful dark brown eyes gazing back at me; [Kirisaki Yui]. She had her jet black hair tied up into a ponytail and her suit didn’t give much away in terms of showing her figure, that was because underneath that suit was protective Kevlar, for emergencies.

“I am honored to have been so highly evaluated by you.”

“Yui, so you were listening to all that? It’s not a nice hobby you know, eavesdropping I mean.”

She lowers her head to me as she apologizes. I understand it’s a kind of oriental tradition to lower one’s head when apologizing but I wasn’t too accustomed to such traditions myself so it felt a little uncomfortable, but since I was the employer, this too was something I had endure and act the part.

Out of habit my hand went up to adjust the glasses on my face, not because it was crooked or anything but it was something that had become a habit of mine whenever I feel disturbed or displeased.

“I offer my most sincere apologies.”

“That’s fine, you were just doing your job so I can’t blame you.”

“Thank you.”

“Our plane will be here soon so let’s depart.”

“Understood.”

She answers succinctly and follows behind me, watching closely at our surroundings for potential danger. Not trying to pull my own horn here but I guess I was a sort of ‘VIP’ in this world so the possibility that some people are after my life aren’t nearly as low as I would like.

In that regard, Yui is a terrific guard. Maybe I should raise her salaries?

* * *

A72. That was the seat number indicated on my ticket; business class just as I like it. I do feel a little guilty that some people have to ride in a less comfortable manner but that’s just how the world is.

I was feeling a little melancholic after that conference call with Erin but was cheered up as I was given the seat next to the window. Though the view was obstructed by the presence of the plane’s left wing, a fact that slightly sullied my enjoyment but I can live with it.

In fact it was impressive to see the miracle of science at work here; I was sitting in a large metal cylinder in the sky. Truth be honest I guess I was just trying to distract myself from thinking about my wedding tomorrow, not because I didn’t want the wedding but because I was a little nervous.

Even with all my accomplishments, ‘marrying’ wasn’t one of them, but now I will taste what it’s like for those married men. I don’t hear a lot of good things about it, but I think with Erin as my wife it will work out just fine.

“A73. Sorry for leaving my station.”

Yui returned from taking care of her ‘business’ and sat beside me. As she plot herself down next to me the air around her started to smell good… ah, no, no, no. I’m getting married tomorrow I can’t start having these thoughts now.

To distract myself further I took out my smartphone started playing around with it. I didn’t have that many apps, only work related ones, perhaps that shows I’m a boring person but whatever. I just kept opening and closing random applications and playing around with my settings.

Since internet functions had to be shut off during takeoff and landing it was a little boring, perhaps I should’ve installed something to stave off time in situations like this. My lack of foresight in the entertainment department of my life has failed me.

Now that I think about it, Yui isn’t married either. I wonder how old she is? She was introduced through the company so I didn’t exactly get to see her resume or anything. From the looks of it she seems to be bordering around her 30s as well, perhaps late 20s? 28? 29? 30?

She definitely seems younger than me, when you think about it that way it does seem a little odd that I’m having someone younger to protect me. Like hiding behind a little sister but she definitely does have the talent to protect me so I didn’t voice any objections when she first signed on.

“Is something the matter?”

She asks me.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

I turned back to facing forward and played around with my smartphone once more. You’d think a busy CEO of a mega-conglomerate would have something to do in such times but nope, most of my work was handled by the vice-chairman and secretaries.

“Ah.”

Yui exclaimed.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“Ah, no, I was just thinking that it was a cute strap. I don’t mean to be rude but it’s rather unexpected.”

She was talking about the strap attached to the phone, it was a small plastic banana. This was supposed to be cute? Erin said the same thing, I just don’t get the aesthetic sensibilities of women.

“Thanks, Erin gave it to me as my birthday present last year. She said it was supposed to be some rare end of the line series or something? Sorry, I’m not sure about such things.”

“Miss Erin has good tastes.”

Was that supposed to be some sort of pun? I didn’t really take Yui as the kind of person that would joke around with her boss; I pictured her as a kind of no nonsense, safety first kind of person, guess you can’t really tell a person by their external appearances.

“I’ve also had one as well, the manufacturers supposedly went bankrupt and these straps have been a sort of collector’s treasures, some even go as far as costing thousands of US dollars.”

She takes out her smartphone to reveal she also has one, her version is a small plastic strawberry. So these are super rare huh? I hope Erin isn’t spending money on something useless like this just for the sake of it, I’m starting to worry about her future.

“We will be taking off shortly, please turn off all electronics until we have reached a stable altitude.”

Following the flight instructions I turned off my smartphone.

Somehow I was feeling rather drowsy, odd considering that I’ve been getting enough sleep. It could be my body is starting to prepare for a change in sleep schedule once we depart for the other side of the world.

“Sorry Yui, it seems I’ve become a little tired, I’ll be taking a quick nap.”

“I understand. I will be keeping watch so please enjoy your sleep.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

“Sir Aran! Please wake up!”

I was being violently shook from my right. At first I wanted to ignore it but it only got more violent so I had to concede and wake up. To my right should be Yui.

“Nngh? What is it Yui? Did something happen?”

As I turned to Yui I saw a frantic face, one mixed with panic and despair. She was trembling as she clutched onto my shoulder, it hurt but she didn’t let go. This kind of attitude was rather unlike her.

“S- sorry, please forgive me.”

She pointed towards the window. Following her finger I noticed deathly, black smog emitting from the turbines underneath the plane’s wings.

“What?!”

Immediately I stood up to get a closer look but no matter how many times I checked, it was the same scene; the turbines were ablaze. I went around and checked the other windows across the plane and they too were on fire, so far 3 out 4 turbines were ablaze.

What kind of horror story is this?!

In my panic I dashed to the captain’s cabin, the two pilots were shaking in fear as they were trying to steer the plane, but to no avail.

“What the hell is going on?! Tell me this is a joke!”

“Aah…aah... no… it can’t be…”

I shook them but they wouldn’t budge, they had completely lost it; drowning themselves in despair. God dammit, what the hell is going on?!

This isn’t a joke…

Parachutes! There’s got to be some parachutes here somewhere.

“Hey, there should be parachutes in the plane right?! Hey!”

I shook them but like before they didn’t budge. Shit, they’ve already jumped off the deep end. With the pilots in such a situation this entire scenario was messed up, I decided to go back to my seat and call for Yui.

“Sir Aran! What should we do?”

“There should be parachutes, look for them.”

“U- Understood!”

She and I went off into different directions looking through horde of frightened people and into the lockers and cabinets. I couldn’t find any, I thought there would at least be some in case of emergencies, in fact wouldn’t it be weird for airlines to not carry them?

They weren’t at the front of the plane so maybe they were at the back? I decided to the regroup with Yui who went to check at the back.

“Yui!”

I called out to her. She was standing at the back of the cargo hold with a stunned expression.

“No way…”

“What’s wrong?!”

I moved her to the side and took a look myself. It was a horrible sight, the parachutes were indeed there but they were all torn to pieces. Who the?

With this kind of proof we can rule out that this was some sort of airline malfunction, this was at the level of terrorism. What kind of psychotic bell end would do something like this?! Why?!

I found myself adjusting the position of my glasses again, out of habit.

“I’m… sorry Sir Aran… I’ve failed…”

She fell down to her knees and quietly started sobbing.

That’s it then… this is game over…

Dammit!

It isn’t my death that scares me, what scares me more than anything else is the fact that tomorrow Erin will be waiting at the altar for a man that will never come. I’m so much of a failure.

“GOD DAMMIT!”

In our last moments, Yui clung to me, scared and shivering.

All I could do was hold onto her to alleviate even some of the anxiety.

“Sorry Yui, I’m a failure of a boss too, to let my cute subordinate die with me like this. I’m truly sorry.”

Her head that was buried in my chest shook.

“No, it’s my fault for not checking out the condition of the plane sooner. Please forgive me.”

I embraced her as we awaited for our end.

“Sorry Erin. Sorry Yui.”

Sorry.

Black…

Sorry Erin, could you ever find it in your heart to forgive such a failure of a man?

* * *

Standing in a large amphitheater with a crowd of thousands was alone woman in a gown as pure as the sky on a midsummer’s day. Waiting for her fiancé with an exhilarated smile on her face, she tightly clutched the bouquet in her hands.

Among the gathered crowd were many of her and her fiancé’s friends, families, business partners and other spectators. At any moment now one of the most powerful and coveted man in the modern era would walk down the rose colored carpet and take her hand in marriage.

The mere thought alone of her future with such a man put the woman’s face into a reddened state. Trying to clear her mind until the knot was finally tied she gazed up at the pure blue sky; nothing could go wrong with this day.

At any moment now.

Their future together.