After dinner Shinichi begins to question Nico about camp as they take a small patrol around where they are staying.

Shinichi raises his small arms in a stop motion "Wait - you mean this camp you stayed at teaches you how to kill? "

"Monsters yeah, but more on how to survive."

"No, it still teaching you how to kill. You stated there is a war happening. Are you telling me there have been no demigod casualties?"

Nico remains silent.

Shinichi stares at him and comes to a realization. "Your sister was one wasn't she?"

Nico's head snapped up.

Shinichi continues to speak. "I remember you described a camp that rejected you and distrust you have for a person to save your sister...The way you described it didn't seem like an accident and your reaction show you weren't there when she died. She was involved somehow and got killed because of it."

Tears sprang forth from Nico's eyes. His eyes began to glow with power, his pale face redden and his brow furrowed in anger.

"She went on a quest to go rescue an immortal goddess and she was killed in the gods' junkyard. When they came back from their quest the camp cheered and the hunters my sister was with celebrated for the freedom of their beloved goddess and mourn for the other hunter that died on the quest but not Bianca. Not Bianca since they only knew her for less than a week. Not Bianca when she was a nobody compared to Artemis lieutenant. "

Tears dripped and began to fall on the floor. Nico arms shake and he grabs his arms in a fail attempt of comfort. "She was all I had. Did I get an "I'm sorry" from that goddess or her troops? NO!"

The air dropped in temperature and cracks form into the earth. Shinichi patiently waits and watches Nico struggle to continue but determination filled his eyes and Nico tightens his shaking fist.

"B-but the other hunter that died she was treated differently. She was sent to the sky where her constellation will be for the end of time. What did Bianca get? A death in GARBAGE-I "Nico take a deep breath and wipes the tears from his eyes.

"I-it's not even a proper burial place for a child of Hades. If she wasn't father's favorite she wouldn't have been allowed to rest. She would have been stuck as a ghost in a junkyard. Even worse was as a hunter of Artemis I wasn't allowed near her before she left on the quest. And now I can't even visit where she was buried. She doesn't even have a grave!" Nico yell hoarsely. Cries escape from his mouth. Nico rubs his fist against his eyes clearing the tears from his face. Nico takes a deep breath and continues.

"When I first met you I was trying to bring her back to life. She refused to meet me and when she finally does it's to tell me it's wrong to hold a grudge against Percy and that I was actually angry with her."

A bitter laugh escape his throat. Nico looks straight at Shinichi and a twisted smile appears on his face, "You know what? Sis was right. I was angry at her and I still feel angry...it hurts to know that she left me for a group of girls she knew for less than an hour and I had to be okay with it. "We've got no one but each other" is what she used to say..." his voice broke.

"It hurts to know she was ignoring my summons. It hurts that she ignored me when she was alive and that she continued to ignore me when she was dead. It hurts to finally see her only to be scolded."

Tears escape from Nico's face and his hands covers his eyes. Nico settles himself on the floor no longer having the energy to stand. Shinichi continues to wait for Nico for however long he needs to be able to continue to speak.

After a while Nico takes another deep breath and whispers out, "I knew something horrible would happen that night she left. I dreamt it. I dreamt her body being c-crushed by metal. I ask for someone to watch her and protect her ... instead I began to see repeats of the dream, along with her getting attacked by monsters and then watching her soul leave her body. I continuously dream of her journey to the underworld where she waited to cross the river and be Judge. I wished for my visions to be just a nightmares but I learned that it was all real when the same guy I ask to protect her told me she was dead."

Nico wipes the snot and tears away from his face. Shinichi reaches down for his backpack and pulls out a pack of tissues handing it over to Nico who silently accepted them. Shinichi sat down next to Nico in solidarity.

After Nico breathing calmed down Shinichi glanced at his face before he spoke, "I was 5 when I came to the realization that my mother couldn't stand to be around me." Nico looked down at Shinichi with disbelief.

"Don't misunderstand, she cared for me and love me but she could not stand the number of dead people we would find every time we went out. By the time I was a teenager I was desensitized to the smell of corpses and the gory images of a bloody crime scene.

By the time I was 14 I learned that it was more than she can't stand to be around me but there was a part of her that feared me. My father would be the one who raises me and taught me to see the dead as people instead of corpses. If it wasn't for him I might be more of a sociopath. How can I view them as a human being when it was much easier to see the dead bodies as things and not be emotionally attached?

In elementary my nickname was Shinigami Shinichi. There was the saying that if you hang around me you will die. It was because every week someone I would meet would die or in some cases would be a murderer. It was a cruel name but a surprisingly large number of parents would keep their kids away from me.

When I shrank I became friends with three school children. We went on a treasure hunt for gold and ended up getting kidnapped and in danger when we actually did discover the gold. Everything turned out well in the end until the next day my guardian was visited by their parents who told him that they no longer wanted me to associate with their children and that I was a bad influence.

They brought up the previous incident when we entered a haunted house and blamed me for it. I knew there was more to it when I later overheard them talking about how unchildlike I was and that I came across as creepy. Then a rumor circled around school that I was with the Mouris was because my own parents can't stand me. It hurt more than I expected."

Nico laughed bitterly, "Look at us Death's champion and son of the Dead. Who would want to be around us?"

Shinichi looked up and his azure eyes made contact with Nico to convey sincerity, "You'll be surprised, while yes I see death quite often I also see the good in humanity as well. You're special in your own way Nico. You're important and if others don't see that or if other fear us then that's their loss. I'm sorry your sister impulsively left you but to me you're the best little brother ever. I'm glad to have met you." Shinichi looks at Nico with a smile.

Nico looks once again down at Shinichi and snorts. "I think right now I look more like the big brother than you."

Shinichi laughs out, "Brat" Nico gives a smile back at him. After a moment Shinichi states, "... Also I have something I've been meaning to give to you."

Nico pondered at that statement. Shinichi reaches for his pocket and pulls out two photo. The first was the school picture of Bianca di Angelo.

"When I was researching for Luke Castello I also tried to find more information of your past. This is the most recent picture I found of her."

In the picture was a portrait of Bianca dresses in the school uniform. Her brown eyes were looking off camera and her lips were absent of a smile. Her brown hair was tied in a low ponytail . The next picture was a class photo where she was standing in between two girls although she was hidden more by standing behind both of them.

Nico gently grabs the photo taking in the olive skin tone and the freckles splashed across her nose. Fat tears began to slid down his face and he grabbed Shinichi into a hug.

"Thank you.." he croaked out. Shinichi nodded and returned the gesture

End of chapter


Author note: I actually don't hate Bianca. She was selfish but she was a kid without adult guidance the past year. I always felt that Nico needed a moment of to mourn and vent.