Note: the story takes place a month prior to Kai's arrival in Gakuen Alice

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

Onii-chan… Onii-chan… I heard a familiar voice calling out to me. I made an irritated noise, it was still early to wake up and I was still tired from staying up last night. Onii-chan! It called out to me again but this time a little more forceful joined by a pair of small hands shaking me awake. I made an irritated noise again as I swatted his hands away from me.
"Give me a break, I've been up all night." I said as I covered my face with a pillow to blot out the rays of light that had managed to shine on my face. I waited for some sign that he was still trying to get me to wake up but nothing came. I smiled inwardly as I tried to welcome back sleep unto my eyes. I was just about to fall asleep when I felt something hit my stomach so hard that the impact made me sit up and cough out all the air I had in my lungs. Goodbye my good friend the sandman… When I opened my eyes there I saw him, burying his face unto my chest and his messy hazel brown hair right in front of my face.
"Good morning!" He greeted me with a smile.
I glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that Ken!" I yelled at him.
I saw his smile disappear as he looked down somewhat sorry for what he did. "I-I'm sorry." He said without looking at me. I sighed. Oh well… let it pass it is his 6th birthday after all. I said to myself as my face softened up into a smile. "Sorry isn't good enough, you have to suffer!" I declared mimicking the voice of an old villain from those cartoons we used to watch every Saturday morning. I threw him down unto the bed and started to tickle him. He laughed when I did so. He kept begging me to stop but I wasn't about to let him off that easy. I pulled up his shirt exposing his small round tummy, I took this chance to press my lips near his belly button and blew hard earning a rather loud squeal and giggles from him.

"O-Okay that's enough." I said panting as I sat up to catch my breath. He smiled at me.

"Nii-chan can I see that magic trick you always use? Please?" He suddenly blurted out while giving me his cute and innocent puppy-dog eyes. Ugh… I hate it when he does that.

"Alright alright." I sighed, defeated yet again by my little brother. I took out a small blade from my pocket and cut my finger and soon blood was oozing out of it. Nobody else knew of this "magic trick" it was our little secret, and I always remind him of that since I was afraid that maybe someday someone will find out and hunt us down or something. He watched closely as the blood trickling down my hand started to float and started to form a shape. I had no idea what to make but then I realized, It is his birthday right? Why not make something that he'll like. I concentrated and soon enough I heard him gasp as I felt a warm crystal on my hand. It was a flower, a red crystal flower that was made of my blood. He watched in amazement and I can tell just from the look in his eyes that he was so happy. I twirled the crystal flower in my hand and offered it to him. "Happy Birthday Ken."

Chapter 2: The Gift

After breakfast instead of our daily routine I asked Ken to play at the public playground for today. He nodded cheerfully and as soon as I said that he can go, he quickly dashed out of the room. I looked around for a bit and started cleaning up. After making sure everything was okay for Ken's surprise party tonight I took my makeshift eye patch made of some rubber and cloth and tied it around one of my eyes. Though some people say that it made me look weird well my eyes were weirder since they had different colors. I remember some kids who always made fun of me because of my eyes so I was really glad to see that Ken wasn't a freak like me. I closed the door to our room and made my way down the old and dusty corridors and out to the backstreet. I looked up at our building, just an old abandoned hotel. I remembered when me and Ken first moved here and thought that it was a haunted house but so far no ghosts or ghouls dared to lay a hand on us. I made my way down the street and started to look through the stores. I had everything ready for Ken, I had managed to steal a cake from a pastry shop yesterday using a stink bomb to clear the place before I snatched a chocolate cake from their fridge, I also managed to get some bread, cheese, pork and beans, butter, and some peanut butter from the grocery the other day. All I need now is a gift. I said to myself. I pondered on and on for the rest of the morning, I was finally about to give up and decided to show him another magic trick when it suddenly hit me. The circus up on the hill was opening tonight and I also remembered that Ken never had the chance to go to a circus before. Okay that's settled circus it is… All I need now is to get the money needed to pay for the rides and the other stuff.

Chapter 3: A Broken Promise

"Wow!" He must have exclaimed for at least a hundredth time as we walked around the circus. I can really tell that he was so excited.
"I wanna ride that one next!" He cried out, using his cotton candy to point at the merry-go-round.
"Sure! Whatever you want." I smiled as we made our way to the merry-go-round. After the merry-go-round we tried every booth that we saw from those booths where you have to shoot the target down to those booths where a fortune teller predicts your future. Ken just laughed his heart out in everything we did and enjoyed the night to his heart's content. But after a few minutes I noticed that we were running low in cash. So much for this wallet. I said to myself as I threw it to the ground and snatched up a new wallet from a guy beside us.

"Alright Ken where do you want to go next?" I asked with an enthusiastic smile.
"Uhm… There!" He pointed to a large wheel that extended far off the ground and into the sky.
"Okay! The Ferris wheel it is." I said while gripping his hand tightly so that he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. We slowly pushed ourselves through the crowd taking the less populated routes to the Ferris wheel, but that was our greatest mistake. We were walking down a small makeshift cobblestone path when Ken suddenly stopped midway.
"What's wrong Ken?" I asked while staring at him confused.

He didn't answer but instead I felt his grip on my hand tighten as he stared at something in the distance. I followed his gaze until I saw what he saw, a woman with long hazel brown hair just like Ken's. I couldn't believe it at first but then I saw her face, it really was her.

"Mama?" Ken voiced out what I was thinking. We haven't seen her since she left and now here she is right in front of us at Ken's birthday, I thought it was a gift from the heavens above but that was before I saw what she was holding. A baby! She's holding a baby! H-How could she have a baby? Our dad was dead! How in the world can she have a baby? My thoughts screamed at me, but then again the answer was right in front of me. A black haired guy in a formal suit snaked his arm around her waist and kisses her neck.
"Oh god… no way… she got married…" I thought out loud. I felt Ken's hand tighten around mine and when I looked at him tears were running down his cheeks like a faucet. I kneeled down in front of him and buried his head onto my shoulders.
"Sshh… don't look." I soothed him and stroked his hair. I could feel him shaking as he cried onto my clothes, his hand clutching my shirt as if it was a life-line. It took a few minutes for him to calm down but then he turned away from me and started to run away.
"K-Ken!" I called out to him so loud that I caught the attention of the woman we once called mother. I saw her eyes widen when she saw me. I glared at her, sending shivers down her spine as she clutched onto her husband's hand. I turned away. Finding Ken was my first priority I said to myself as I started to head to the direction where Ken left. "I will come back for you two when everything has been settled." I recalled her words when she left us.

Chapter 4: An Accident

"Ken! Ken!" I called out his name. I have searched every nook and cranny of the carnival and found no sign of him. Maybe he went back to the hotel.I told myself as I searched the roads that lead up to the hill. Though inside the circus was noisy as a warzone its surrounding area was so silent that it only took me a second to hear Ken's screams from a distance.
"Somebody help!" I heard him, it was no mistaking it, it was Ken!
I dashed down the road using every ounce of strength I had to run faster than I ever did before. With my steps echoing through the night, my eyes were scanning my surroundings and my ears listening for any noise. I made my way down the road. It was so dark by then and it took my eyes sometime to adjust but when they did I saw them, six drunken men standing around something, a lump of some sort. It was only when I got closer I saw what it was or rather who it was.
"Ken! Ken! Ken!" I cried out as I made my way towards them. I was so confused at that time, I didn't know what I felt, it was anger, worry, sadness, rage mixed together. I finally got to him and I instantly knelt down beside him only to see blood oozing out of a wound on his head"
"W-Who did this…" I asked as I looked from face to face. They just smiled. Then and there I realized that I was no match for six grown men but I wasn't scared. Instead a picture of a flower flashed across my mind. I bit my thumb until I broke the skin making blood ooze out. Y-Yes… a flower…a beautiful little flower… but… some flowers have thorns. I gently said to myself and then I blacked out.

Chapter 5: Goodbye

When I came to my senses a distinct odor instantly registered into my mind, it was metallic and salty, it was blood. I looked around me and saw six bodies crumpled in heaps, blood spilling out from dozens of puncture wounds.
"W-Who did this?" I trembled.
"You did my dear child." A voice answered. I searched for the origin of the voice through the darkness and finally found it. It was a man wearing a long black trench coat and a white mask.
"Please help me. M-My brother he hit his head on something. Please help me get him to a hospital." I begged him. I didn't know what I looked like right now, probably covered in blood, so I didn't expect him to help me at all.
"Okay." He said with a smile and offered his hand to me.

"R-Really?" I asked. And he nodded in response. I was relieved, someone has finally agreed to help us.
But as soon as I touched his hand I got dizzy, that was when I realized he had tricked me.
"Y-You…" I managed to say before my feet betrayed me and sent me falling to the ground. I stared at him as he looked down on to me.

"Ken…" I whispered softly as I fell unconscious.

After then woke up in a place they called Gakuen Alice, having no idea where I am and what had happened. I tried searching for Ken day after day, maybe just maybe he was here too but he wasn't. Then I heard the news from someone that they had found the dead men on the road. They said they were all dead none were found alive. Ken died because of me… and I'll make that man pay for not helping us. I'll kill him… I'm gonna kill Persona!