Review Responses:

Sugar Spice Rush: Masquerade's goal in life is to give Shun a hard time, LOL. But jokes aside, all of your questions will be answered in this chapter so please stay tuned for that! o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

Innocent-Diamond: Your predictions will be revealed in this chapter so stay tuned for that! But small spoiler alert: Grandfather Gehabich and Masquerade will have some words exchanged between the two of them (in Russian, of course, LOL). o(*/▽/*)q

MagicxMusicxMelody: A good chunk of your questions will be answered in this chapter, so please stay tuned for that! As for Masquerade, he's admitted to Shun many times that he wasn't bothered to learn about his family history because "why should I care about people who have been dead for years?" so there is a possibility that Grandfather Gehabich DID tell him about it but he chose not to listen, LOL. ผ(•̀_•́ผ)

Angel Mak1: Alice is older than Shun - she was 19 when she died 72 years ago while Shun is currently 20 (as of 2017 when I wrote this work.) Hopefully that makes sense! `(*﹏*)′

cherry-tree-of-life: Small spoiler alert: you'll find out in the later chapters who exactly the receptionist is, but I'll give you a small hint - you've seen her before in one of my other works. ;) And more about the family history will be revealed in this chapter so please stay tuned for that! \^o^/

Guest: Thank you so much! q(≧▽≦q)

Chapter 10: A Complicated Family Tree

"What's your last name?" Shun repeated his question, undeterred.

"Gehabich." The Russian male said in an accent that the Japanese male knew he could never imitate.

He jerked his chin to the manila folder in the other male's hands. "What's Alice's last name?"

"No." Matthew shook his head. "Shun - "

"Matthew. Please." The desperation in his voice must have caught the blond off guard, because the blond actually obeyed and examined the contents of the folder.

"You've got to be kidding me." Matt let out a hollow laugh.

"What's her name?"

"Alice Gehabich."

Shun's breath was caught in his throat. "That means...Alice - "

"We should go home. I...I need to see my grandfather." Matthew interrupted, turning alarmingly pale.

"Give me your phone - I'll call him for you. You shouldn't be driving." The Japanese male took charge, extending a hand out towards his friend. The blond didn't put up a fight, dialing his grandfather's number before passing the phone to the raven-haired male. It wasn't long before Grandpa Gehabich picked up the phone, answering in Russian.

"Um, sir, it's Shun. Matthew and I are at the police station - " Shun began in Japanese.

"Police station?! What happened, are you boys hurt?" The elderly male asked in a rush.

"We're fine, sir, nothing happened to us. Matthew needs you - I think it's about his family history."

The Russian male let out a breath of relief. "Oh, is that all? I'll be there soon." Was all he said before hanging up.

"Thanks." Matthew murmured, taking his phone back as he slumped into one of the seats that lined the wall of the police department.

"Don't mention it." Shun settled into a seat next to his friend. "Some day, huh?"

The blond barked out a laugh. "You could say that again." A pause. "Do you...Do you really think that the ghost and I are related?"

"Her name is Alice. And, I don't know." Shun admitted. "Why? You don't want to be related to her?"

"It's...It's not that." Matt hesitated. "It's just...everything that I ever thought or believed in is unraveling in front of me. I kept denying that there wasn't a ghost in your apartment, that it was all in your head. I kind of still believe in it." He forced out a smile as Shun scowled. "But this..." He lifted the folder in his hand. "I can't explain this one away with what I've been believing my whole life."

"There's nothing wrong with changing your beliefs. You know that." The raven-haired male replied. "When we get back from break, you should come over to my apartment. You and Alice could bond over Russia or what it's like living in another country."

"Thanks, Shun." Matthew let out a small, genuine smile. "But I'm going to have to pass. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you flirting with my ancestor." The blond snickered as Shun frowned.

xoxo

It wasn't long before Matthew's grandfather burst through the doors of the police department, his eyes scanning the waiting room. When he finally spotted the two friends, he walked over as fast as he can, speaking in rapid-fire Russian to Matthew.

"I'm fine, Grandfather. Just in shock." The blond responded in Japanese.

"What about?" The elderly man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This." He handed the manila folder to his grandfather. "Our ancestor is the ghost of apartment 86."

"What are you talking about?" Matthew's grandfather was looking at his grandson as if he had grown two heads. "What ancestor?"

Shun explained everything to the elderly man. How he was living in the apartment that Alice was murdered in. How the real reason why he was here was to help bring her closure so that she could move on. How he and Matthew just found out that Matthew's ancestor who died in Japan was her.

"I see." The elderly man nodded. Turning to his grandson, he snapped at the blond in rapid-fire Russian, to which Matt responded back with equal ferocity. Based on the annoyed look on Matt's face, Shun guessed that the blond's grandfather was lecturing him about not paying attention to his family history.

"Okay, okay, I get it, Grandfather. I can barely remember what I ate for dinner last night - how am I supposed to remember an ancestor that's been dead for years?" Matthew sighed, rolling his eyes.

"We ate beef stroganoff for dinner yesterday and she is not your ancestor - she is your great grandaunt." Grandfather Gehabich retaliated.

"What?" The two young men said in unison.

"That can't be - Alice and her grandfather only had each other." Shun shook his head.

"That is true, Shun, but..." There was a glint in Grandfather Gehabich's eyes. "Alice had an older brother."

"What - how - "

"His name was Masquerade. He was 5 years older than Alice. No one knows why, but their parents disowned him when Alice was a baby - we can assume that she never knew that she had a brother. After Alice's and her grandfather's deaths, the Gehabich bloodline continued on."

"What the hell?" Matt murmured in disbelief.

"Masquerade married some time after his sister and grandfather's death - it remains unclear if he knew about them or about their deaths. He married and had three children - two boys and one girl. One of those boys is me." The elderly man smiled, softly. "And of course, I married your grandmother and had one son, who also married and also had one son." Grandfather Gehabich patted his grandson's shoulder affectionately.

"What the hell?" Matthew repeated.

"Is that all you can say, Matthew?" The elder Gehabich male frowned.

"I can say worse." The blond offered, which earned him a slap upside his head as well as some harsh words spoken in very fast Russian.

"Then...Then would you let us have her body examined? To find out how she died?" Shun spoke for the first time in a long time.

Grandfather Gehabich paused for a moment before he spoke. "Does she mean that much to you?"

"More than anything." Was the raven-haired male's immediate response.

A small smile crossed the older man's lips. "Then yes. You have my blessing."

End of Chapter 10.

Note: I am back with an update on this work that didn't take years to be updated! AND! And I FINALLY made it to chapter 10 of this work! I am FINALLY in the double digits! Are you proud of me? ＞﹏＜

All jokes aside, I am officially done with teasing y'all and finally revealed the big secret...which is the fact that Alice and Matthew are in fact related! But I'm sure that you guys already know that because you're all smart beans. (*^▽^*)

(Also, I apologize if the family history title thing is confusing - basically, Masquerade had a son who is Grandfather Gehabich who then had a son who is Matthew's father who THEN had Matthew. Which essentially means that Masquerade is Matthew's great grandfather. Which means that Alice is Matthew's great grandaunt. I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong. ＞﹏＜)

Now that that is over with, it's now time to get into the real mystery of finding out how Alice died PLUS who her murderer is! That will be continued in the next chapter, so please stay tuned for that! (。・ω・。)

As always, please leave a review and I will see you in the next chapter~! OwO