Review Responses:
Sugar Spice Rush: It's only been 2 full days into the break and Masquerade is already going THROUGH things, lol. Small spoiler alert, but Shun will be visiting Alice's grave in this chapter so please stay tuned for that! \( ^0^ )/
MagicxMusicxMelody: When you're still in school, those 3 months will fly by FAST. Grandpa Gehabich, Alice, and Kato aren't going anywhere - Alice especially, lol - so the process won't take as long as expected! (^^ゞ
Innocent-Diamond: I didn't even know that! I just Googled something along the lines of 'how long will it take to get a body exhumed' and 3 months was the answer so I just threw it in the last chapter, lol. But thank you for the additional information! Small spoiler alert, but Alice will be in this chapter, just...no connection needed. o(^▽^)o
cherry-tree-of-life: PREACH. The best way to let go is to forgive - though that's not applicable to me, lol. The murderer will be revealed in the later chapters, so please stay tuned for that! (〜￣▽￣)〜
Guest: Hello there! I'm assuming that both of these reviews are from you, so I'll address both of them. This is my work and whether or not I choose to include original characters or keep the Bakugan characters is entirely up to me - this is a Bakugan fic, so it would be odd to have a Bakugan fic with little to no Bakugan characters. I'm not entirely sure what you meant by "Bakugan without Bakugan makes no sense", but if you're talking about the Bakugans themselves, this is a college alternate universe fanfiction, where the work is set in the modern world, hence why there are no Bakugans - I included the "College AU!" in the story description. I am not offended by your comments, but I am puzzled as to why you are reading this work if you do not like the Shun x Alice pairing - I included both of their names in the story description so if you saw the description, you would have realized that this work would focus on the two of them. This is common sense, but if there is a work on a pairing that you do not like, do not read it - simple as that.
Chapter 12: Homebound
"I'm home - "
"Oh, Shun! You're back!" Shun jumped in surprise as he dropped his luggage, taken aback by Alice's sudden reappearance in front of him. "How was your flight? Were you able to sleep? How was Russia, did you learn anything new? Did you do anything fun? Did - "
"Whoa, Alice. One question at a time, please." The raven-haired male laughed, bending down to take his shoes off. "The flight home was better this time because I actually got to sleep this time. And Russia was fun, surprisingly." And he was honest about it. Despite all of the surprising information he learned about Alice and Matthew's family history, Matthew and his grandfather made the last few days of the trip memorable.
"Oh, that's good to hear!" Alice beamed, and Shun swore that if she was still alive, her smile would have been radiant. "Oh, I almost forgot! You must be hungry! Come, I made you some food - you can eat while you tell me all about your trip." Alice floated aside to reveal the dining table full of food as well as a small sign that read 'Welcome Home!'.
"Th-Thank you, Alice." Shun managed to muster out, emotions overcoming him for a reason he couldn't pinpoint. "I was able to find information about - "
"You can talk about that some other time. I've been the topic of so many of our conversations - it's about time you get to talk about yourself." She dismissed as she focused on pushing the small bowl of miso soup towards him. "Did you do anything fun?"
xoxo
~Day 3: Wednesday~
"Come on, it'll be fun."
"I know, but...but I feel guilty - "
"About what? We already did all that we can and it's not like we can do anything else to speed up the process." Matthew scoffed, leaning against the kitchen table. "Sitting around waiting for the results isn't going to make any difference. Well, it's not like going to visit the Red Square is going to speed up the exhumation process either, but at least you'll have fun and get to learn some history about Russia."
"Well, yes, but - "
"Come now, Shun." Grandfather Gehabich interrupted. "I understand that you are anxious about finding more about Alice's cause of death, but you must admit that you have found a lot of information, yes? You have been working hard for all of these months - you deserve some time to rest. Besides, you don't want to make me and Matthew look bad, do you? What kind of hosts would we be if you didn't show you around our hometown?"
"I - "
"Come on, Shun. Do it for me. Please." The blond threw in the last word softly, as if he didn't want Shun to hear him plead.
Shun took a deep breath in before he let out a rather loud exhale - God, the things he would do for his friend. "All right, I'll go."
"Knew you'd come around." Matthew grinned, throwing an arm around his friend. "Make sure you got enough space on your phone - you'll be taking lots of pictures."
...
"What'd I tell you, huh? Beats staying at home, huh?" Matthew grinned as he flopped on Shun's bed.
"Yeah, you were right." Shun let out a small smile as he swiped through the photos he took on his phone. The Gehabich men took Shun on a tour around the Red Square, which consisted of famous Russian buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum, and the GUM department store. The Japanese male did in fact snap a lot of pictures - the architecture was beautiful and unlike anything he ever saw before and he wanted to take some pictures to show Alice when he got back home. He also spent quite a hefty amount of money on souvenirs at the GUM department store but he couldn't bring himself to be upset. After all, who knows when he'll be able to come back to Russia? "I had a lot of fun today. Thank you, Matthew."
A small, genuine smile crossed his friend's lips. "Anytime."
xoxo
~Day 4: Thursday~
"What'd you think of the opera?" Matthew asked as the two friends shuffled their way out from the crowded theater, walking back to the car. They had just finished watching an opera at the Bolshoi Theatre, a historic Russian opera house. Grandpa Gehabich had bought the two friends tickets to watch an opera at the theater when he heard that the two were coming for the fall break. It was Shun's first time ever at an opera house and it looked exactly like what he imagined the opera house from The Phantom of the Opera would look like. While the opera they watched - The Maid of Pskov - was sung entirely in Russian, Matthew was kind enough to translate bits and pieces of the songs and dialogue for Shun to get the gist of what was going on.
"It was good. Thanks again for translating." Shun answered as he opened the car door before settling in. "It was similar to this whole situation, huh?" The Maid of Pskov was a long and rather convoluted - in Shun's opinion, at least - of a girl who was betrothed to a man she doesn't love and later finds out that the man who raised her wasn't her real father. While there was more to the story, it had very little in common with Alice's story but the convolution of it all certainly reminded Shun of the Gehabichs.
"Don't remind me." The blond scoffed, turning the heater on. "I didn't even think about it that way until you mentioned it. And I've seen this opera a few times."
"Is it your favorite?"
"No, but it's one of Grandpa's favorites. We watch it once every few years or so as a treat. One year, there was this one opera that I really wanted to watch, but Grandpa didn't want to watch it, and I didn't have anyone else who'd want to watch it, and I didn't want to watch it alone, so I never got the chance to watch it. Which sucks, 'cause that one never came back."
"What's the title?"
"I don't remember, but I do remember some parts of the synopsis. It was about a poor girl who left her lover for another man because that man was rich and her family needed the money. Her lover came back to her from who-knows-where and they have an affair while the girl's still married to that rich man. That rich man finds out about the affair and dies for some reason and her lover was in some shady business so they decided to run away from those bad guys to somewhere else."
"Did they make it?" Shun asked, surprised at himself for being so invested in the story. He knew that it was most likely a fictional story written by a dramatic and romantic-loving author, but there was something deep inside of him that just had to know the ending.
"I don't remember - it's been awhile." Matthew answered, shrugging. "One thing's for sure though - karma came for her. You can't just cheat on your husband and expect to get away with it scot-free."
Shun couldn't say anything to that. Because as much as he agreed that cheating is horrible, even if you didn't love the person you were with, he couldn't find it in himself to blame her. The poor girl must have went through so much inner turmoil, having to sacrifice herself to save her family while breaking her own heart in the process. He silently prayed that the girl and her lover were able to escape to somewhere only they knew.
xoxo
~Day 5: Friday~
"Can't believe I have to come here a second time this entire break." Matthew grumbled, dragging his feet across the grass.
"Don't step on that headstone." Shun warned, to which only earned him more mumbles from his friend.
On their last, full day, Shun requested to visit Alice's grave. Grandfather Gehabich had a dentist appointment and was unable to go, which explained why the two friends were currently in the cemetery by themselves, much to Matthew's chagrin.
"She's right here." Matthew stated, pausing in front of a flat headstone. The headstone had what Shun assumed to be Alice's name - it was written in Russian - alongside her date of birth and date of death as well as a small picture of her. "Great great grandfather is to her left. I'll wait for you in the car, give you some privacy." Before the raven-haired male could say another word, the blond turned on his heel and walked off.
Shun stood, awkwardly staring at the headstones. He couldn't just...talk to Alice's headstone because, after all, her spirit was still in his apartment and it wasn't like she could hear what he was saying all the way from the other side of the world. She did ask him to visit her grandfather and while he technically is visiting him, Shun wasn't sure of what to say or do.
"U-Um...hello, Mr. Gehabich." Shun winced - he wondered how he would look like to an outsider, talking to a headstone. "I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm Shun Kazami. I'm the current tenant of the apartment that your granddaughter, Alice, was murdered in. I don't know if you know this, but the reason why you haven't been reconnected with her is because her spirit is in the apartment. Your great great grandson, Matthew, and I are currently working on finding out Alice's murderer. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, which is good, because Alice deserved justice a long time ago." He paused, wondering whether or not he should say his next few words. "I'm glad I met her - she's a wonderful person to be around and it's a shame that her life ended so shortly."
He leaned down to touch Alice's grandfather's headstone. "I have to go now, but I promise that you will be reconnected with her soon." He turned over to look at Alice's headstone, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hear him but still wanting to say something. "I'll see you later, Alice."
As he straightened up, an orange butterfly reappeared out of nowhere and landed on his nose. It stayed there for what seemed like an eternity before fluttering off, but not before flapping its wings in front of him a few times. Shun let out a smile as he looked back down at Alice's grandfather's headstone.
"Thank you for trusting me."
xoxo
~Day 6: Saturday~
"You boys take care, all right?" Grandpa Gehabich alternated between hugging each of them, patting them on the back. "Finals are coming up, but do make sure to eat and rest - you can't do your best if you don't take care of yourself well."
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Gehabich." Shun nodded, patting the elderly Gehabich on his back. It was strange for him to receive such tenderness from Matthew's grandfather, seeing how his own grandfather was rough around the edges but Shun found that he didn't mind - it was nice to be doted on.
"I know, Grandpa. Don't worry." Matthew patted his grandfather on the back. "I'll come back home for Christmas break, and that's less than a month away."
"I know, but that doesn't stop me from worrying." The elderly man sniffled. "Oh, you two ought to go - you need to find your gate and get situated."
"I'll call you when we land - "
"Thank you again, Mr. Gehabich." Shun interrupted, cutting off Matthew. "For...For everything."
There was a short pause before the elderly man gave him back a small, genuine smile. "No, Shun. Thank you."
xoxo
"Oh you had so much fun! I'm so jealous - I haven't been to the Bolshoi Theatre in so long!" Alice sighed dreamily, chatting about her experience at the theater. While Shun desperately wanted to tell her all that he found about her, he found that he couldn't. Or at least, not yet. Instead, Shun kept quiet as he nodded along to whatever it was that Alice was saying, cherishing the time spent with her.
'Let me be selfish for just a bit longer.'
End of Chapter 12.
Note: Hello, friends! Welcome to another update on this work! There's a lot to uncover in this chapter so let's get straight into it, shall we? (∩^o^)⊃
This chapter is a little 'slice of life' moment, if you will, before we start getting into the deeper stuff about Alice and her cause of death! Like last year, I am planning on continuing my 'update one work a month' goal, so you'll be definitely hearing from me a lot more this year as well! If all goes well, I'm guessing that it'll take about 3 or so more chapters before we reach the end of the work, so it should *hopefully* be complete by this year! The end is almost near! ~\(≧▽≦)/~
But anyways! Like I mentioned, this is a small 'slice of life' moment where we follow what Shun did after that mind-boggling revelation that Alice and Matthew/Masquerade are family! Like the nice people they are, Matthew and his grandfather take Shun around the tourist-y places of Moscow, which includes the Red Square and the Bolshoi Theatre! I must make a small note that while the play that the two friends watched - The Maid of Pskov - is a real play that is performed at the theater, the play that Matthew mentioned that he wanted to watch to Shun is NOT a real play. It is in fact one of my own works - you get brownie points if you know what fic it is ;) - that I wanted to include just because I wanted to make small mentions of my other works, lol. Marvel Cinematic Universe who? I only know the LFC - ladyluck1668 FanFiction Universe. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
As always, please leave a review and I will see you in the next chapter! Farewell~! (づ￣ 3￣)づ