A.N.: I am SO sorry for the overly long wait. This chapter could've been out WAY sooner than that. School and my own GODAMN LAZINESS are to blame for this. ANYWAY, here's the long awaited fourth chapter of "Afterstory". Please, enjoy.

After a moment, the two reunited lovers unfortunately had to break their first kiss. They simply stood there, both with a smile on their faces and the faint trace of a blush on their cheeks, staring into each other's eyes. No words were needed, only the person.

Right now, Ganta couldn't be more happy. Shiro was awake. Awake! After so long, she was finally back to him. Her magnificent ruby red eyes, her soft smile and her angelic voice, they were all real. At last, he could finally give her the normal life that had been taken from her since the beginning. And they'll be together to experience it.

It was the same for Shiro. As she looked at Ganta, with his soft grey eyes and the trademark lock of hair at the top of his head looking like a candle's flame- she always found it comical -, a warm, comforting happiness was all she could feel.

It was at that moment that her gaze fell on the scar resting on his face. It started from the bottom of his right cheek and went diagonally across it, before stopping around the middle. Instinctively, she brought up her left hand and traced her fingers over it, earning a soft sigh from Ganta. As she did so, Shiro wondered where he got this scar. Ganta didn't have it when...

All the warmth inside Shiro was instantly drained away to be replaced by cold horror as realization hit home. The horrible reality of what she did, which had been cast away by the overwhelming happiness of their reunion, came crashing back down painfully onto her. The hatred, the desire to kill him, all of it... How could she? Just how could she?

Shiro instantly brought her hands back- her right one was still linked to his left land -, as if to prevent Ganta from being infected by whatever plague she carried, leaving said boy confused.

"I... I did this to you..." said Shiro with a voice filled with shame and horror, her hands covering her mouth. It barely took Ganta half a second to understand to cause of her distress.

"Shiro..." Ganta said softly. He knew. For a month, he already knew that it would come up eventually, but with the way things were going, he had hoped that it wouldn't, allowing them to enjoy their reunion to it's fullest. But this hellish past just couldn't leave them be. In an attempt to comfort her, he tried to reach his hand out to her, but she started to talk again before he could.

"I'm so sorry... I never wanted to... It's all my fault... " she whimpered, looking down in shame as tears fell down her face. She sounded so broken Ganta felt his heart shatter. "A... all of your friends were k-killed and... and everyone accused you ev-even though it wasn't you. You got sent to p-prison where you got h-hurt really, really bad and... and almost died." She took a quick pause before exclaiming: "All because of me! I... I even tried to..."

Shiro didn't finish, for in the next moment she found herself being held tightly in Ganta's arms, her head resting against his left shoulder.

"G... Ganta?" Shiro asked with a small, shaky voice.

"Shhh... It's okay Shiro, it's over. This nightmare... is all over." responded Ganta with a slight quake in his voice, softly stroking the back of her head.

Shiro couldn't even reply. She would've said something, anything to tell him it wasn't okay, but she simply couldn't. To have Ganta hold her in his arms after what she did to him, combined with her bone crushing guilt, prevented any words from escaping her mouth. It the end, it just became unbearable and with a strangled cry of despair, Shiro once more broke down in tears, this time crying bitter tears of guilt and sorrow.

"I'M SORRY! GANTA, I'M SO SORRY!" Shiro wailed in despair, her body shaking with strong sobs as she held onto Ganta for dear life. The young boy had to show a great deal of self-control to not break down in tears himself. The previous time had been expected and welcomed, not this one. To see Shiro like this, one of the most cheerful person he's ever known in such a state... It was simply torture.

"Why? Why did it have to be her? What did she ever do to deserve such a life?" Ganta asked himself for maybe the thousandth time, tears now running down his own cheeks. She wasn't a monster, she was just a girl. An innocent little girl who wouldn't even hurt a fly. If he was given right now the chance to go back in time and prevent all this horror from ever happening, he would've taken it on the spot. But all he could do at the moment was hold his precious albino in his arms and whisper soothing words to her as she cried her poor heart out.

The heart-wrenching sound of her cries had the effect of amplifying Ganta's hatred for Hagire and Sorae, which was already enormous, a million times more and hoped that they both burned in the darkest depths of Hell for what they did. But on the flip side, it also had the effect of making his resolve to help and cherish Shiro grow just as much, if not more. It could take a thousand years, he will help Shiro get through this, no matter what. And if anyone wanted to harm her in any chape or form, they'll have to get over his dead body.

"It's my turn now. Now, it's my turn to be Aceman." Ganta thought resolutely as he took a deep breath to regain his nerves.

After what seemed like an eternity, Shiro's cries finally ceased, replaced by sniffles and shaky breaths. Her head was resting in the crook of his neck and her arms were wrapped tightly around his chest, as if fearing that he would disappear if she let go. They stayed like this for a good minute, allowing her to relax further in his arms.

"You're feeling a bit better now?" Ganta then asked softly, turning his head a bit to look at her as he gently rubbed her back. He felt- more than saw -her nod slightly.

"Good." was his simple reply. "First thing we'll do when she's out is have her get an haircut." Ganta suddenly thought as he looked at Shiro's way too long hair that was spilling off the bed and nearly touching the floor. Went to show the importance that bastard gave about taking care of Shiro's appearance.

"Ganta, promise me." Shiro then said weakly, removing Ganta from his thoughts. The sound of her voice made him frown sadly.

"Anything you want." he still replied.

"Don't leave me alone... Please, don't leave me alone..." begged the young girl in his neck, trembling with fear. The rotten seeds of doubt had started to grow within Shiro's heart. A part of her was starting to think that despite all the kindness Ganta had showed her so far, despite him drawing his mark on her hand, she didn't deserve it. Worst, that behind all of it, deep down, lied a dark hatred aimed at her. After all, Ganta did say: "Even if I don't forgive you". The idea of him hating and abandoning her, to never be able to feel the warmth again, simply terrified Shiro to no end.

Hearing Shiro say these words simply made Ganta want to keep holding her in his arms and never let go. She sounded so terrified, so lost... He needed to do something, he had to do something. And so, without a moment of hesitation, Ganta did the first thing that came to mind; he kissed Shiro on the side of the head.

The sudden contact made Shiro freeze in surprise, before her cheeks grew a red tint. Ganta just... kissed her. Again. How long had it been since she last received one? She couldn't tell. The sensation had almost become foreign to her. The only other person she knew who would give her kisses was Sorae.

"But," Shiro then thought, "when you kiss someone, it's because you care about them, right? Would this mean that... Ganta doesn't hate me?" It was a fool's hope surely, but she still held on to it nonetheless.

When Ganta pulled away, Shiro slowly removed her head from his neck to look at him, her hold on him never weakening. What greeted her was the sight of a teary-eyed Ganta with a warm smile on his face. Her heartbeat quickened for some reason when she saw it and then she looked into his eyes. What she saw was a mixture of pain, great determination, kindness and... something else. That same thing that she was just starting to discover.

Love.

For Ganta, what he could see in Shiro's puffy eyes was fear, guilt, doubt, confusion, but also a spark of hope. A spark, yes, but well enough to fuel his will.

"I promise. I promise I will never leave you alone. Ever." Ganta said with a warm smile, wiping away stray tears from Shiro's eyes with his left thumb as he said it. After drying his own eyes, he added: "And I told you, didn't I? That I could face all the absurdities and all the pudding of the world as long as I was with you?"

Shiro produced a small smile at that, his words making her feel a bit warmer inside. Sadly it soon vanished, for it unfortunately had little effect on the guilt that was still very present within the albino's soul. She couldn't help it and looked away from the raven haired boy.

"But... I did so much evil... To you and everyone else." Shiro said with a pain stricken voice. Removing her arms from around his chest to look down at her hands, she added: "Those hands... They've spilled so much blood... I'm a monster." she concluded, a cold shiver running down her spine. "How could you not hate me?" she added in almost a whisper, mostly to herself.

What happened next left Shiro completely stunned. Ganta suddenly took hold of her hands and brought them to his mouth, where he started planting soft kisses on her fingers.

"W-Wha?" was all Shiro could reply. Ganta was... kissing her fingers!? She was completely frozen in place, her eyes opened wide with a great blush on her face, her heartbeat quickening. She could also feel a warm tingling travel from her fingertips to her heart. Once he was done, Ganta looked back at her, his eyes filled with such intensity that Shiro's breath got caught in her throat and she looked away in reflex. She suddenly felt two fingers take hold of her chin and tilt her head upward. This time, Shiro realized something else with Ganta's eyes; they now held a lot of pain and... guilt?

"Shiro." Ganta then said with a determined voice, looking straight into Shiro's red eyes.

"Y-Yes?" Shiro replied tentatively.

"You-are-not a monster. If there's something that you absolutely aren't, it's that. And please, don't believe that I hate you for what happened. None of that was your fault, not one bit of it."

Shiro simply looked at him without saying anything before looking back down, her face flushed red in shame as she realized Ganta had heard what she said. But she was also puzzled by his last sentence. Nothing that happened was her fault? How could that be? Shiro knew the cruel truth; she was the "Wretched egg". And yet, Ganta said that it wasn't the case? Why?

Once again, Ganta lifted Shiro's head back up to look at him, but this time he also brought her head forward so that their foreheads were connected. The action made the albino blush once more, but she kept her gaze focused on her lap.

"I'm not mad." Ganta said in a softer tone, moving a stray lock of white hair behind her right ear. "I'm just sad that you would say things like that about yourself. Please, don't say that again, okay?" the boy asked, earning a small nod from the girl inches in front of him. He then added: "And what I just said earlier? About nothing being your fault and me not hating you because of it? I meant it. Every word."

His last sentence made Shiro's eyes look up at him and Ganta could see hope building up in them. Slowly, but surely.

"But... the "Wretched egg" was me. I was that monster." Shiro replied, trembling as she remembered the words it said to her during a nightmare.

"I HATE everything. KILL everything. RUIN everything."

Shiro was brought out of her thoughts when she felt and saw Ganta intertwine his left hand with her right, before giving it a light squeeze of courage. He then gave her a soft, yet serious look before pursuing.

"I told you, this monster was not you. The only thing the "Wretched egg" had in common with you was your body that it dared to rob whenever it felt like it, nothing else. Do you know what a true monster is, Shiro?" he asked, to which the young girl shook her head negatively. "It's something that has no conscience and is manipulative. Something that shows no mercy, no love and kills simply for the sake of killing and bringing pain to others. And it's eyes hold nothing more than pure insanity, just like those of the "Wretched egg"."

"Though said monster may have had some degree of humanity." Ganta added internally, but kept it to himself. "But you, you're nothing like that. You're the complete opposite of a monster. When you told me that... that you didn't deserve to know happiness," he frowned as the memory played back in his mind, before smiling back and pursuing: "I could see it in your eyes. I saw in them that you were completely human."

"What did you see in my eyes?" Shiro then asked, her hope growing more and more. Ganta gave her the warmest smile he could produce before speaking.

"I saw you, Shiro. I saw the girl I love. The cheerful, candy-loving and perfect girl that I fell in love with. The girl with which I want to spend the rest of my life. And also the girl that saved it." The more Ganta said, the more the sides of Shiro's lips were curling the create a beautiful smile, but his last sentence made Shiro pause.

"I... saved your life?" Shiro asked, surprised.

"Yes. If you hadn't kicked through the window of my cell that day," Ganta let out a giggle at the memory before pursuing, "and told me that I didn't really want to die, then I would've died long ago. It's because you showed me the truth that I kept my will to live through Deadman Wonderland, that I could keep my sanity. No, actually, you kept me going through it all." Right now, Shiro had the most magnificent smile Ganta had ever seen.

"I did?" she asked with a voice filled with emotion and feeling tears starting to gather at her eyes.

"Yeah. I didn't realize it back then, but now I know it. It was your very presence that allowed me to keep going through all of it. Your childish side, your love for candies, your cheerfulness... Heck, everything about you was keeping me going. You were my beacon of light in this darkness. My angel inside this Hell."

Shiro was crying at that point, but those tears were tears of pure happiness. To have Ganta tell her, not only that he didn't see her as the "Wretched egg", but that she had been his very will to live through Deadman Wonderland, was the second most beautiful thing he has ever said to her.

"You really mean it? You really don't think I'm a monster? You really don't hate me?" she asked, feeling like she might burst with happiness. Ganta then took hold of her right hand and turned it so she could see the palm.

"I swear it on this mark. I never hated you and I never will. I love you, Shiro." And it was true. He would never go back on these words. Never.

"Me too. I love you so much, Ganta." And with that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips on his own in a blissful kiss. Ganta was stunned for a moment before he too wrapped his arms around her chest and bathed into sweet bliss.

They've made it. They've managed to get past one of the biggest obstacles on their way. Ganta knew there would be more along the way, but for now, they didn't need to worry about it.

As they both pulled away, Shiro hid her head inside Ganta's chest, but the boy had the time to see a colossal blush on the girl's face.

"M'sorry..." she mumbled in his hoodie. "...Did it without thinking..."

Letting out a chuckle, Ganta replied: "I liked it." Shiro was glad he couldn't see her face, because she thought that it was now as red as her eyes. Suddenly, a random thought popped in her mind.

"Ganta?"

"Yes?" he replied.

"When I asked Yukki-san how I got here after I woke up from the coma, she said that you called them, but she also called you my... "boyfriend". What's that?" Taken aback by the sudden question, Ganta took a moment to think about the best way to explain the "boyfriend-girlfriend" concept to Shiro. He then looked down at her and spoke.

"Well, "boyfriend" is how a girl calls the boy she's really in love with when said boy loves her just as much."

"So, that means you're my boyfriend?" asked Shiro with a soft smile.

"Yeah, and that would make you my girlfriend." replied Ganta as he held her closely to his chest.

Shiro's entire being was bathing in a comforting warmth right now. "Ganta's girlfriend." She liked the sound of that.

Sudden knocks on the door brought an end to the peaceful moment, making the two lovers jump.

"Ganta, can we come in?" came Yukki's voice from the other side.

"Yeah, it's okay." he replied as they broke the hug, though he did feel a bit annoyed at being interrupted.

"We?" wondered Shiro as she dried her eyes. The door opened and the brown haired nurse was the first to enter. Shiro saw that she carried two little wrapping in her hands.

"Well, I see the Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up." said a new voice from outside the room. It's owner walked in and Shiro flinched at the sight.

It was a man that looked around his mid-forties. He had short greyish-black hair and a short beard of the same colour. He wore what seemed to be a lab coat and a pair of glasses. The sight reminded Shiro of another doctor. One who wore a necklace of knives and scissors.

Having taken notice of Shiro's nervousness at the man's presence, Ganta gave her right hand a soft squeeze, along with a reassuring smile. She returned the smile, but was still a bit anxious.

"Let me introduce myself: my name is Eiichiro Kazuma, I am the doctor that was assigned to you. A pleasure to meet you." said the man before performing a slight bow, to which Shiro replied with a simple nod.

"It's alright, Shiro. Kazuma-san is a really nice person, you don't have to be nervous." said Yukki as she too saw how the girl reacted when the man had entered the room. "Here, I thought you both might be hungry, so I bought you sandwiches." she added, handing the two wrappings to Ganta.

Looking at the clipboard he held, doctor Kazuma added: "From the results Yukki-san gave me, you seem to be heading for a good recovery. Aside from the usual weight loss and temporary leg paralysis, you don't seem to be having any serious backlash from your coma. Did anything come up while we weren't here?" he asked her. Not used with being the center of attention, Shiro looked down at her lap before answering nervously.

"N-no... Just a bit tired... I guess."

"Alright." replied the doctor with a nod. Turning his attention to Ganta, he added: "Igarashi-kun, with the way things are going, we might need to keep her here for another four or five days in examination to make sure everything is perfectly fine. After that, she'll be good to go." said the man, to which Ganta replied with a nod and smile. He couldn't wait to show Shiro the outside world and to get her in his school.

"Well, on that note, I'll bid you young people farewell. Have a good day." concluded Kazuma with a bow before exiting the room. Yukki followed after quickly adding with a smile: "You can stay for as long as you want, Ganta. We won't be bothering you again."

Once they were both gone, Ganta turned to Shiro with a bright smile.

"You heard that, Shiro? Just four or five days. After that, you'll be out. You're going to love it outsi-" Ganta froze mid sentence once he saw Shiro's state. Her face held an expression of pure fear and she was trembling like a leaf.

"Shiro, what's wrong?" Ganta asked with worry, resting his hands on Shiro's arms.

"Ganta... what if he comes to look for me?" His eyes widened at the sudden question.

"Who?" asked Ganta, even though he felt he had a good idea about who "he" was.

"Hagire." Shiro replied with a voice filled with pure terror. "He... he said he wouldn't let anyone come near me, that he... that he would... kill anyone who tries to take me away from him." Looking up towards him with eyes filled with terror, she frantically added: "If he finds me, he-he's going to kill everyone! Yu-Yukki-san, Kazuma-san and..."

"Shhhhh... It's okay, calm down. Just calm down." Ganta said soothingly as he took Shiro in his arms and started to rock her back and forth. Once she became less frantic, Ganta held her by the shoulders and spoke in a serious, but reassuring tone.

"Shiro, listen to me, okay? Hagire is dead. He's gone and he can never come back. He can't hurt you anymore and he won't be able to do it ever again." Shiro's eyes widened at that.

"D-dead? You're sure? You promise that he's gone?" Shiro literally begged. Ganta just had to hug her.

"I promise." was all he said and it was more than enough. No need to tell her than he was the one who killed Hagire.

"Okay. I just... when I saw Kazuma-san enter, it reminded me of him." feeling a bit ashamed.

"Shiro." Ganta said, making her look at him. "What you... we both went through, I wish I could erase it all, but I know that it's not possible. Still, like I told you, this nightmare is all over and now, nobody will try to hurt or use us like they want. We can make a fresh new start together."

"Yes. Together." repeated Shiro with a smile. She then quirked an eyebrow and asked: "Why did Kazuma-san call me "Sleeping Beauty"?" Her question had the effect of making Ganta laugh sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well on the first days when I came to see you, Yukki-san told me you were really beautiful and I... replied that you were the most beautiful girl ever. And that kind of started the nickname among the nurses." answered Ganta with a blush and looking away. Shiro was also blushing, but also had a warm smile knowing Ganta found her beautiful.

After that, both teens ate their respective sandwiches. Ganta had to hold back a laugh at the look of pure delight on Shiro's face as she ate. It was also sad, considering she used to eat nothing more than candies for the past decade. Speaking of candies, they dug through the box Ganta had brought once their sandwiches were done and spoke about everything and anything for the next hours. Shiro felt a bit sad when he brought up his school, but was soon overjoyed when he promised her that he'd get her to go to school with him once she was out. She was just as happy when he told her that all his friends were alright and surprised when she learned that they all came to visit her every time they could. She understood that most of the flowers in her room came from Minatsuki.

As they talked, the hours past one after another and soon it was 9:00pm, at which point Shiro was getting tired.

"I need to go now, I have school tomorrow." Ganta told her as he put the covers over her. He wished he could stay longer, but school wouldn't give him that luxury.

"Ganta," asked Shiro with a tired yawn, "will you come back tomorrow too?"

"I'll come everyday to visit you. I'll be able to stay longer this weekend." After planting a kiss on her forehead, he added: "Goodnight, Shiro."

"Goodnight, Ganta." replied Shiro before she fell into a peaceful slumber with a smile on her face. Ganta stayed there for a moment, simply looking at her peaceful expression, before reluctantly getting up. Casting one last loving look at Shiro's sleeping form, he left the room and exited the hospital.

As he walked down the street, Ganta took out his cellphone and looked at the date the screen showed.

09-27-2024

He would forever remember this date.