Chapter 14: Aftermath

Alex knocked on the door and waited, after a few seconds he decided this was taking to long and was about to walk in until Minatsuki opened the door and leaned against the frame.

"You're back, why?" Alex shrugged.

"I was in the area and had nothing better to do. Sooo." Minatsuki scoffed and joked.

"Trying to get into my pants already?"

"No I ju-" Alex paused as a smirk appeared on his face. "I mean what are my chances?" She chuckled to herself before curbing any ideas he had of actually getting laid.

"Zero point zero." Alex while a little let down but was still bored and Minatsuki seemed fun enough to waste time with.

"In that case how about just some fun between friends?"

"We're friends?" Alex dramatically placed his hand on his heart and put on his best shocked face.

"Oh how you wound me, but really, I don't hate you, and as far as I can tell you don't hate me. So you either have a friend who happens to be loaded or you just know someone who's loaded." Minatsuki thought about it and decided why not.

"Screw it I'm not doing anything today, lead the way Mr. moneybags." The two ended up in a small restaurant. Nothing fancy, honestly it reminded Alex more of an applebees than anywhere actually worth going but as far as Alex was concerned that was part of the fun. Alex had handed off one of the cards Yo gave him and they got their drinks. While he didn't drink that often he determined it was time for one almost dying and all, He ordered apple rum and she ordered orange juice.

"Not much of a drinker?" Alex asked leaning back.

"No not really, my dad used to drink a lot after the red hole." Alex paused, that was a bit ominous.

"Oh... Did he..." Her face turned sour as she shook her head.

"I never gave him the chance, I got Yo to beat the shit out of him, but that stopped doing it for me." Alex was taken aback. Was she bragging?

"That's... Pretty fucked up."

"Then I killed the fucker." Hearing this Alex's blood ran cold. She didn't even miss a beat, she just said it as if it was a natural part of the conversation and not an admission of killing her own dad who seemed to have not done anything.

"What?" How could she be so callous about that? Well yeah she was like that with pretty much everything else he had spoken with her about but this was... to put it simply. Fucked.

"He was pathetic, when he wasn't drunk off his ass he was crying over his fucking wife." Alex honestly didn't want to hear more, he had done some screwed up things but this crossed a line. He tried changing the subject to something else she seemed to hate.

"Didn't get along with the step-mom huh?"

"She wasn't my step-mom." If somehow possible her face turned even more sour "She was my mother." On one hand Alex knew he had stumbled onto a touchy subject and was in for another brutal and downright disgusting story. But on the other hand he was also very curious as to what could make her hate her parents that much. He figured 'Screw it' and asked.

"Your mother? Don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Her eyes narrowed at him causing Alex to flinch, honestly he wasn't sure if she would try and kill him.

"No. Didn't Yo or the brat tell you?" Alex simply shrugged, truth is he hadn't had much contact with either of them since Yo hired him. "The bitch abandoned me, in the middle of the god-damn red hole she just fucking ran away with a pot of flowers in her hands." He briefly thought about putting a supportive hand on her shoulder but decided against it.

"So is that why you're so..." Before he could figure out a nice way to say 'bat shit crazy' she spoke up.

"Fucked up? Yes." She sounded strange and for a moment Alex couldn't figure out why. Then it hit him, she was trying to keep her composure and not doing the best job of it. She was somewhere in between looking calm, livid, and heartbroken all at once. Alex could only assume this is what being abandoned did to someone.

"I'm sorry to hear that, really." This had put a lot of things into perspective. An event like that would change anyone and he doubted it would ever be for the better. He sure as hell didn't condone what she had done but he felt he understood her better, even if just a little.

"What about you?" Minatsuki spoke regaining her composure.

"Well what do you want to know."

"I wanna hear about your family, it's only fair." Alex shrugged, why not? She had spilled her personal life with him, he could do the same although his probably wouldn't be as interesting.

"Not much to say really, I never knew my biological parents and the couple that adopted me died five years ago."

"How did they die?" Now it was Alex's turn to try and hide how he felt, unfortunately for him he was much worse at it when compared to Minatsuki who watched closely as his face contorted to a a pained expression before he shook his head to get control of his facial features back from his knee jerk reaction. He hesitated before starting.

"There...there Was a break in, we came home in the middle of it and dad tried to fight them off and got himself shot. Mom didn't last much longer, she grabbed me and tried to run but then we both got shot." Alex looked away. This hurt more than he thought it would. Minatsuki seeing this put a hand on his shoulder. Alex couldn't tell if she was genuinely sympathetic or if this was just another manipulation tactic but he decided he didn't care, it felt good that she was even acting like she cared.

"What happened then?"

"I killed them, followed one to his house and..." Alex closed his eyes. No. That wasn't who he was anymore, he was changing himself to be better than that. Even if progress was slow. "After that I was on my own, so I did what I had to in order to get by and eventually made a name for myself."

"You were all alone? No uncles or grandparents or anything like that?" Minatsuki felt as though she had struck a nerve with this and a damn good one should she decide to have some fun with him. But for some reason she didn't feel that like tormenting him with this information. She just felt pity.

"Not anymore, well there was one person, this was much earlier and we weren't actually siblings but she was the closest thing I've ever had."

"Tell me about her."

"Her name was Kaede, we both ended up in an orphanage outside of Kamakura. I was sent there after the red hole but she was there her entire life."

"That had to suck."

"You have no idea, I was her only real friend, and she was mine. Eventually she started calling me her little brother and I just went with it." He smiled at the memory of the girl they had grown rather close in the year and a half they knew one another. "It made her happy to finally have someone on her side. Who she could trust."

"What happened to her?"

"Truth is, I don't know." Alex lied, in truth he had a basic idea but he was keeping that card to his chest for now. "I tried tracking her down about a year ago but the trail stopped in Osaka about three years ago." Then the waiter came back with the card in hand. And bent down whispering into Alex's ear. He sighed and pulled out the other two cards and handed them over before downing his drink. Minatsuki raised an eyebrow at that.

"What was that about?" Alex shook the aftertaste off and leaned back with a smile.

"Lets just say I'm going to kill your brother."

Hunter sat in a restaurant eating his meal, a nice juicy hamburger with everything he could want on it, onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, it was delicious. After the ordeal with the Undertakers he decided to treat himself to a reward for not dying. Then out of nowhere a young woman sat in across from him. She sized him up not saying a word as Hunter stared awkwardly. She flashed a toothy grin as she spoke.

"So you're the Falcon? Honestly I was expecting more, but hey, it's whatever." Hunter blinked who was she? He remembered seeing her from somewhere but couldn't quite figure out where that was.

"I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Oh right, my name is Rin Tanaka." That didn't help at all, Hunter was awful with names and on top of that he didn't know many people in G-Block besides those he met in gen pop. She seemed to understand this and clarified. "The Ostrich." Now it clicked. She was Alex's opponent in the carnival corpse.

"You fought Alex." She shrugged at this in a nonchalant manner.

"I've fought most people here." She chuckled at that before continuing "But yes I did fight your friend."

"So what are you here for revenge or something?" She laughed shaking her head

"What? No, besides that crap with his branch aside it was good match."

"So why are you here?"

"Can't a girl just get to know someone?"

"Hey Rin!" Her face went from a sweet smile to what Hunter could only describe as a look of 'God damnit'.

"Oh shit." Well that worked too.

"What?"

"I kinda owe him money." She shrunk trying not to be seen this obviously didn't work as she had already been seen and the man began to approach the table.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" She then looked up to Hunter toothy grin back on.

"We're friends right?" This bewildered Hunter, did she really think this would work just because she had a pretty face?

"Do you even know my name?"

"Nope I don't need to, that how good friends we are." Now the man was standing behind Rin with a completely unamused face.

"So are you gonna just sit there and pretend I don't exist or what." She put on a face that almost looked quizzical.

"I'm gonna go with 'what.'" The man's jaw dropped.

"Really Rin? Just give me my money and we can be done with this." Hunter sighed and sat up.

"How much does she owe you?" The man turned to him and shot him a warning look.

"Really? Kid trust me she's not worth it." Hunter sighed, he wasn't about to play white night and get into a fight over a stranger but this needed to end.

"Look I just want to eat in peace so just let me pay whatever she owes you and leave alright."

"Fine its seventy five thousand cast." Hunter groaned at this.

"I... Don't have that much..." Then man put him arms over his chest. Then Hunter got an idea "How about this, I'll give you a piece of candy and you call it even?" The man thought about this for a second before saying.

"Deal, you got lucky this time Rin, next time don't make bets you can't pay!" With that he took Hunters candy and walked off. Hunter sat back down and rubbed his temples as Rin smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"Can I eat now?" Rin rolled her eyes dismissively.

"Oh don't get so pouty, it's your fault I owed him in the first place." Hunter blinked in bewilderment. What? How did that make any sense?

"And how is that?"

"You beat Robin." Hunter paused and stared at the blond woman confused before he came to the realization.

"Wait, you bet on me to lose?" She shrugged.

"It seemed like a safe bet at the time."

"Well glad to prove you wrong." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a cast card.

"Here." Hunter looked up in surprise as she held it out to him. "I couldn't pay him, but I can buy a burger." Hunter paused well that was nice, sure she had just cost him a piece of candy but in all fairness she didn't have to pay him back albeit at a fraction of what he gave.

"Well thanks." He said taking the card.

"So what's your name, y'know, your real one?"

"Im Hunter." She smiled and held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you Hunter." He smiled and shook her hand, well she seemed nice enough.

Alex walked through the door to see Shiro once again on his bed looking rather sad but miraculously her legs were. Alex sighed and walked over before taking a seat next to the albino girl.

"Okay out with it." He said gently trying not to upset her. She leaned against Alex before looking up at him.

"Shiro can't find Ganta." Alex flinched remembering how Ganta was put into solitary after the final battle with the Undertakers. Quickly coming up with an excuse he said.

"Ganta...had to go to school for a bit." Shiro just looked confused with this information.

"School? What's that?" Alex's jaw dropped. How could she not know what school was? He knew she wasn't exactly bright but this was something he never thought he would need to explain, especially not to a teenager. But now it looked like he had no choice.

"Well its a place where you go to learn with other people." Shiro looked confused before exclaiming.

"Wow that sounds fun!" Alex laughed at that. He hated school, the giant books, the homework, the other kids who annoyed the hell out of him. Dropping out was one thing Alex didn't regret. Well drop out is inaccurate, he more or less dropped off the face of the earth once he decided he wasn't going to live a normal life anymore.

"Listen the point is Ganta's gonna be back soon so you just need to wait for a while okay?" He tried to appease her with the knowledge that Ganta would indeed come back and it somewhat worked but then brought about a new issue.

"But how will Shiro sleep?" Alex honestly was at a loss now. What did Ganta have to do with her sleeping?

"I mean in a bed would work wonders." Alex had no idea how close that smartass remark almost got him hit as Shiro pouted.

"It's hard for Shiro to sleep on her own." Her pout disappeared and she looked away sadly. "It always has been Alex knows that. " That was right Shiro somehow knew who Alex was. Alex had a theory but decided to ask her first.

"Shiro...how Do you know me?" Shiro looked back at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"When we first met you said my name and the way you acted..." A look of hurt spread over her face as Alex instantly regretted the question. "Look I'm sorry I don't remember you if we've already met but..." Alex then decided to test his theory. "How old was I?" Shiro was still hurt but now confused on top of that.

"What?"

"When we last met before I came here. How old was I?" Shiro thought for a moment and after some math came to the conclusion.

"Alex was eight." That explained it. Alex had lost all his memories around the same time he turned nine. Apparently he had suffered a blow to the head that should have outright killed him but luckily he survived but whatever hit him wiped his brain clean. He rubbed her back soothingly and said.

"Shiro im sorry but... I don't remember anything from that part of my life." Her heart sank hearing this.

"Nothing?" Alex shook his head.

"Nothing." Tears started forming in her eyes. He didn't remember her? Why not? What made him forget? She tried to just be happy that she had him back but being forgotten... Well it hurt.

"It's okay Alex, Shiro doesn't care as long as you're back." She said burying her head in his chest and hugging him. "I'm just glad my family is here." Family. There was that word again. It meant a lot to Alex, there was nothing more important in this world to him but then again hindsight is a cruel teacher. Alex had lost two families that he could remember. The first was Kaede a two person family that was rather short lived but as far he was concerned it counted. The second his parents Scott and Lauren Kato, they had adopted him and swore they were going to adopt Kaede as well, whether that was an outright lie or just poor timing on their part he would never know. They were dead, killed in a home invasion just as he told Minatsuki. What he didn't mention is that was the first time Alex used his powers to kill. But that was so long ago. He looked down the the strange albino as his sight went fuzzy as he saw another vision, in this one he was holding a small pale baby with white hair. A older woman with light brown hair sat next to him making sure he held the child correctly.

"This is Shiro, your new sister."

"Sister?" The older Alex's surprise echoed the younger ones who looked in awe at the tiny human in his arms. He carefully tried to move his arm before the baby woke up and started to whine.

"No no no no it's fine you're fine see?" The boy said slowly rocking the albino infant who made some sort of noise he didn't understand.

"I think she likes you, she never calms down that fast for me or Sorae." Alex felt his chest flutter at that.

"I'm gonna be the best big brother ever!" The woman laughed at the younger Alex's declaration and then started talking but Alex didn't hear it as his memory ended as Shiro continued to hold him.

"Shiro, Im so sorry. I never meant to forget about you, I'm an awful brother." Shiro looked up in shock, but with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"You remembered?" Alex smiled and brushed some hair out of her face.

"Yeah just now." He pulled her into a tight embrace as the siblings were just happy to have each other once again. "I don't know how or why I forgot about you but it will never happen again." She looked at him, her eyes started to water as she all but whispered.

"Promise?" Alex nodded.

"I promise." And with that Alex laid down scooting over far enough to give Shiro enough room to herself. She had a different idea and laid her head right against his chest. Alex shrugged and wrapped an arm around her before they drifted off to sleep.

"You know I never could figure out how Alex mattered to your little plan but now it makes so much sense." Tamaki smiled looking down at the file on Alex. Not the one he gained when he first came to Deadman Wonderland but one on his as a child. "It wasn't because he is somehow needed to kill Zeus. But rather because he IS Zeus!" Jason started at Tamaki his hood down revealing a face almost identical to Alex's.

"Yes sir."

"Tell me, just how do you plan on committing fratricide?" He then turned to Hades and with a sinister smirk looked him in the eye. "Jason." Jason's fists clenched as he heard his real name come from this monsters mouth. He hated this part of the plan, but it had to be done.

'Alex' had to die.

A/N: Hey guys I'm just letting ya'll know i'm going to be visiting my family for thanksgiving so there will not be any chapters next week but I will resume normal updates next Friday (The 30th)