Review Responses:
Sugar Spice Rush: Happy REALLY belated holidays! Never mind the fact that it's been WELL over a year since I updated this work. (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) Small spoiler alert: there will be some mention between Masquerade and Alice at the end of this chapter, but more will be revealed in the later chapters so stay tuned for that! （￣︶￣）↗
Innocent-Diamond: So I was about to make the title of the previous chapter a reference to Ten's debut song, but it was actually the title of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe! There's an old clip of Jaehyun reading the poem, so I used the last few words as the title of the chapter, LOL. But good eye though! ( •̀ ω •́ )y Small spoiler alert: a VERY small teaser will be hinted at the end about Masquerade and Alice, so stay tuned for that! ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
MagicxMusicxMelody: So...I haven't explained how Alice and Masquerade are related but stay tuned for the end of the chapter for a small teaser ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) And their Thanksgiving break is a week long! (。・ω・。)
cherry-tree-of-life: Perhaps they met in another life when he was a ninja sabotaging her suitors~ ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• ) But all jokes aside, Shun doesn't know someone like Alice in his (current, Hauntingly Beautiful!) past. And you'll see a very small snippet of Shun's train of thought in this chapter \^o^/
Chapter 9: What's In a Name?
"Matt."
"Yeah?"
"I need to ask you something."
"O...kay, what is it?"
"You know how you mentioned that you had a family member die in Japan?"
"Yeah? But like I said, they probably died in World War II or something - "
"What's their name?"
"Hell if I know." The blond male threw his hands up in exasperation. "Did you not listen to me when I said that I could care less about family members who, one, I don't even know and two, are dead?"
"I know, I know." Shun replied, struggling to suppress a sigh. "Do you think you could ask your grandfather for that family member's name?"
"No way." Was Matthew's immediate response. "If I did, he'd give me a lecture on how important it is to remember the dead family members and he'd yell at me for not remembering. If I can be spared from both, I'll take it." He narrowed his eyes at his friend. "And what's with you wanting to know about my family history, anyways? Are you trying to marry me or something?"
"Absolutely not."
"How romantic." The blond grinned at the raven-haired male's scowl. "You know, you don't need to know my family's history to marry me. I've always wanted a proposal, somewhere private. Like, maybe somewhere where the sunset is visible- "
"Stop."
"Whatever you say, darling."
xoxo
"Can't believe I have to go to the police station again. And I didn't even do anything." Matthew grumbled as the two friends made their way out of the blond's car and into the front doors of the police station. It was the next day, and as soon as Shun woke up, he pestered his friend into going to the police station once more. The blond didn't seem to happy to be woken up at "such an ungodly hour" - read: 10 A.M. - but the raven-haired male was persistent. They were at the police station at 10:30.
Shun ignored him. "You're going to have to translate for me."
"No, duh." Matthew snorted, opening the door. "Ladies first." He smirked at Shun's scowl before catching up with him at the receptionist's desk.
The receptionist, a pretty crimson redhead, looked up from her computer and at the two friends, smiling as she rattled something in Russian - a greeting, if Shun had to guess. The blonde answered back her greeting, and before long, the two were engaged in a pleasant conversation from what the Japanese could tell - the receptionist was currently blushing at something Matthew was saying. He rolled his eyes at that - it didn't matter if he couldn't understand what his friend was saying, leave it to Matthew to flirt at a police station. It wasn't long before the girl got up from her seat, stumbling and blushing as she made her way to who-knows-where.
"Did you disgust her that much that she left in such a hurry?" Shun asked, sarcasm lacing his voice.
"Are you jealous, darling?" The blond smirked. "But, no. She wasn't the same receptionist who was here yesterday so I had to tell her about our...situation. She also repeated the same information about how we can't just dig up the body without her family's permission. But..." There was a mischievous glint in Matthew's eye. "But...I did manage to get her to ask the head chief of police or detective or whatever to let us make an exception. Just for me." Shun sighed at the wink the blond threw his way.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Matthew."
"It just did, darling."
xoxo
"What is she saying?" Shun whispered.
"Shh." Matthew hissed from the corner of his mouth, nodding to whatever the receptionist was saying. From the way the blond was looking with his brows furrowed, Shun guessed that their good luck streak must have hit an end. God, what is he going to tell Alice -
"What's her name?" Shun was startled by the piece of Japanese thrown his way.
"Huh?" He asked, intelligently.
Matt tsked. "The ghost. What's her name?"
"Alice."
"You don't know her last name?" The blond raised an eyebrow.
The raven-haired shrugged. "I never had to ask." Which was true. Looking back at all of their conversations, Alice never brought her last name up and it didn't seem important. "But they should have her records, right? Unknown cause of death, died in Japan."
Matthew paused for a moment. "Hmm." Was all he said in response before continuing his conversation with the receptionist in Russian. Shun zoned out, appreciating the sound of the foreign language. He tuned back in when he noticed the receptionist leaving once more.
"What's going on?"
"She's checking their records. It probably won't take too long - I doubt many people died in Japan and had their body shipped back to Russia."
"What about your ancestor?"
"Well, minus them and your ghost, obviously. Other than that, I'm pretty sure there's no one else."
Shun opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when he saw the receptionist make a reappearance. She held out a faded manila folder that looked to be at least twenty years old at the very least, and rattled something off in Russian to Matthew. The blond's eyebrows furrowed once more, as he replied back to her. Their conversation lasted for a bit longer before Matthew broke it, giving her a slight yet hesitant nod.
"What's wrong?" Shun asked.
"It...It's so strange." Matt's eyebrows were still furrowed in confusion. "She said that this is the only record they have of a girl named Alice who died in Japan and had her body shipped back to Russia."
Shun raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that good? That must be her."
"I asked her if there were any other people who also died in Japan and had their body shipped back to Russia. She said that this is the only one."
A million thoughts raced through Shun's mind. "Your ancestor - "
"It can't be." His friend interrupted. "They died in World War II. They must have."
"Matthew." Shun's heart was beating so fast he was surprised it hadn't jumped out of his chest yet. "What's your last name?"
"Are you trying to marry me?" He forced out a small smirk to which the other male scowled. It was laughable at how he had the audacity to joke at a time like this, the imbecile.
"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."
End of Chapter 9.
Note: I LIVE! ＼（〇_ｏ）／
I hath returned from the depths of Hell to give you this humble offering. Please accept my apology. ORZ
But in all seriousness, I apologize for barely updating this fic! Out of all of my other works, this one is the hardest one for me to write, and when you add in schoolwork, that is not a good combination at ALL. BUT! But I have made it a goal to update at least one work a month so you'll be hearing from me more often! But whether or not I update this work often is up for debate (。﹏。*)
But anyways! Onto the work! I FINALLY stopped my teasing and revealed to you what you all knew this entire time - Alice and Matthew/Masquerade share the same surname! BUT! But is she actually his ancestor? Are they actually related? You gotta stayed tuned for the next chapter to find out (￣_,￣ )
As always, please leave a review and I shall see you in the next chapter! Au revoir! \( ^0^ )/
P.S: Please turn your alerts back on to get notified whenever I update! （￣︶￣）↗