Six months after Gwen started living with Alex.
A lot of things happened during that time.
Among them, Alex would meet Meruem and Sukuna once a month in his dreams, where they fought to measure his progress and teach him a few more things.
But every time they appeared, something in Alex would change, sometimes he found it easier to manipulate cursed energy, other times his body simply became stronger.
Alex also noticed something else.
Meruem and Sukuna seemed to be getting stronger each time, but sometimes they would suddenly stop what they were doing for a while, then continue as if nothing had happened.
And Alex understood something, their final fights with him were getting closer, but neither of them seemed willing to talk about it, so he chose not to interfere.
Another thing is that Gwen still hasn't been able to return home.
The gang threatening her family is still active, and they even tried to kill her father.
Fortunately, it didn't work, but it made everything worse.
Before, George would sometimes meet his daughter at a park to ease the longing, but after that attack he stopped showing up entirely.
Gwen knew he was okay because of the messages he sent her.
Nothing particularly interesting happened, aside from a few things Alex learned from Sukuna and Meruem.
Like how Sukuna can launch a fire arrow that explodes with great force, although Alex still hasn't managed to replicate it because there's something missing that he still doesn't understand.
Meruem also taught him how to read an opponent and predict hundreds of thousands of possible attacks, but that was still difficult for Alex, since he could only do it against one person at a time.
Peter was also doing well.
Most of the time he used to get bullied, Alex was nearby to stop it, of course it's not like Peter never got hit, but whenever things started, Alex would find him and prevent anything serious from happening.
Another thing Alex learned was how to sense people using Nen and cursed energy.
Even though he can't use Nen, he can still perceive it, which is basically almost everything.
It works almost like echolocation, allowing him to feel presences within a radius of about 100 meters.
Fortunately, this is a technique he can keep active 24 hours a day.
Of course, other things happened too, but nothing really worth mentioning right now.
One bad thing, however, is that Alex still hasn't returned to trying to be a hero, since he has trouble controlling cursed energy when he's emotionally unstable, so for now he gave up on that idea and focused on improving his control.
Present time.
Alex is sitting on a bench in the park near his house, reflecting on everything that has happened to him so far.
Like the fact that he is apparently a fusion of three extremely powerful souls, and that he has an enormous potential for growth because he's still just a damn teenager.
The fact that his mother has been working nonstop in part-time jobs because the market where she used to work is struggling and she can barely find stable employment.
Always staying close to Peter so that nothing bad happens to him because of the bullies, while still studying and continuing to look for another job.
He also takes care of the house finances, so he's always the one doing the calculations to make sure they have some money left for tomorrow.
All of this was starting to overwhelm Alex.
It was too much for someone his age, but at least he has his friends and family by his side, so he always has someone to talk to and relieve some stress.
Also, the fights he has with Sukuna and Meruem in his mind strangely feel relaxing, almost like a massage in a spa.
SIGH!
Letting out a long sigh, Alex still feels the weight of everything, but at least it's not as bad as it would be if he were alone.
So at least, he has something to be grateful for.
Realizing he had been zoning out on the bench for too long and that it was already getting brighter, Alex stands up and starts heading back home.
Since Alex started fighting Sukuna and Meruem, he has only been able to sleep a maximum of four hours a day, and no matter how much he tries, he can never sleep longer than that.
So his day always starts early, around three or four in the morning, and since he has nothing to do at that time, he goes to the park every day to warm up and do some shadow boxing with Sukuna or Meruem, but without using techniques so he doesn't accidentally cause damage or attract attention.
After that, his day continues normally until the afternoon, when he leaves the house to train his cursed energy control somewhere abandoned in the city, always changing locations so no one notices anything strange.
At night, he studies and then goes to sleep, and of course there are many other things in between, but listing all of them would take a lot of paper.
When Alex arrives home, it's around 5:30 AM, so he enters quietly so he doesn't wake anyone.
As soon as he steps inside, he starts checking the mail as usual, but this time something catches his attention.
There is a different letter among the pile, from some kind of office judging by the sender.
The letter is addressed to Nora, his mother, and Alex opens it thinking it's just another bill, since he is usually the one who handles the house finances and keeps track of the mail.
But the moment he reads what's inside, he freezes completely.
"Hello, Mrs. O'Neil.
We regret to inform you that your application for the accountant position has been denied.
We recognize your excellent achievements and strong recommendations, but due to a certain individual in your family, we must decline your application.
Even though we need someone at your level, we cannot accept a candidate with a family member who is a mutant, as this may affect our company's image.
REJECTED."
'N-No… wait… this is…'
Alex is shocked.
This is horrible, the worst thing he has ever read, because if this is true, then the "bad market" his mother keeps talking about isn't actually the problem.
It's him.
The reason they can't have a better life without worrying about money…
Is because of him.
"No… this has to be fake… right?"
"Alex?"
Before Alex can fully understand what the letter means, he is interrupted by a voice behind him, which startles him and makes him quickly hide the letter in his pocket on instinct.
"G-Gwen, is that you? I forgot you wake up this early… haha."
Alex puts on his best expression, pretending he didn't just discover the worst truth of his life, but even so, Gwen notices that he seems a bit off and that he hid something in his pocket.
"What's wrong, Alex? You're acting strange."
"Ah… it's just that I realized I'll have to redo the house finances for this month because something unexpected came up."
Gwen looks at him for a few seconds.
She feels like it's not the truth, but it sounds possible, and maybe she's just being paranoid because of everything happening with the gang targeting her family.
So in the end, she decides to believe him
"That sucks, Alex… if you want, I can help you find a job to help pay the house bills. I've been here for so long that I'm starting to feel like a burden, you know?"
"You don't need to worry about that. I'll find a new job soon, and if it's not enough, I'll just get another one."
Gwen wanted to say it would be too much, but before she could, Alex avoided the topic and headed to the kitchen, already starting breakfast.
"Do you want to help today or rest, Gwen?"
He asked while moving quickly, clearly using it as an excuse to dodge the question that had been bothering him for days… and now, after the letter, it had only gotten worse.
Seeing that, Gwen decided to drop it for now and walked over, starting to whip the cream he had set aside.
Soon after, Nora woke up and sat at the table, drinking the coffee Alex had already prepared while going through a few letters.
They were all opened, but she didn't mind, she knew Alex handled the house finances.
Alex felt uneasy watching her pick them up, afraid she might notice one was missing, but she only read a few and set them down again, continuing her breakfast.
He almost sighed in relief when he realized she hadn't noticed.
Breakfast was ready quickly, and Gwen went to wake Trix so they could eat and head to school.
Soon everyone started leaving, but Alex stayed behind to "finish the dishes," which was just an excuse.
He wanted to be alone to analyze the letter, but the more he read it, the less it seemed fake… and it didn't even make sense for it to be fake.
'How many of these has my mom received?'
Realizing how bad that could be, he pushed the thought aside for now.
He ran toward school, taking the alleys since he had left his mask at home, reaching it in just a few minutes.
Not seeing Peter or Gwen, he walked in quietly, but as soon as he sat down, both of them noticed something was off.
He was always energetic, always greeting them, but today he just sat in silence.
"Hey Alex, are you o—"
"EVERYONE SIT DOWN, CLASS IS STARTING!"
Peter wanted to ask, but the class started right then, so he left it for later.
Meanwhile, Alex was stuck in an endless loop of thoughts, wondering how much he had ruined his family's life just by being born.
His father left because he was a mutant, he was constantly targeted, and his mother couldn't get a decent job because of him.
'No… that's not true. It's just fear. If I show them mutants can be good… they'll change.'
Trying to hold onto that idea, Alex started forming plans.
"ALEX!"
He snapped out of it when Gwen called him.
"Ah—what? Sorry, I was lost in thought."
"It's break time, idiot. You didn't even listen to what we were saying about going to the library after eating to check out some physics books Peter found."
Alex rubbed his face and sighed.
Sigh.
"Sorry… I was thinking about the bills again. It's getting hard."
"Hey, it's fine. You're overloaded. Actually… I've been learning some karate, so you don't need to protect me anymore. Look."
Peter said, making some ridiculous moves.
"HAHAHA" x3
They laughed, and instead of feeling embarrassed, Peter smiled.
Seeing them like that already made him feel better.
"But seriously, Alex, you can stop protecting me. Felix stopped going after me, and even if he tries, I'm good at running."
"I don't know… that might not be a good idea. You know how that bastard is."
Peter was trying to ease the burden on Alex, so he had started training to take some of that weight off him.
"It's okay, Alex. I'll be fine. I'll stay on my own today and show you I can handle myself."
"Alright… if you insist, I'll do that. But if you call me, I'll show up, okay?"
Peter nodded quickly, smiling like a kid.
Seeing the tension gone, Gwen suddenly shouted,
"LET'S GO! IF WE STAY HERE, WE WON'T HAVE TIME TO EAT!"
"HAHAHAHA" x3
Everyone laughed, even Gwen at her own overacting, and the trio headed to the library, smiling.
The library wasn't big, just a normal school one with shelves that almost no one cared about.
As soon as they stepped inside, they rushed to grab books and find a place to sit.
Alex, still with his mind full of problems, didn't pick his usual law books.
Instead, he grabbed books on ancient philosophy and poetry, quickly stacking seven of them, all thick, though to him they felt light.
After that, he located his friends with his "sonar" and walked over calmly.
When he reached them, Gwen and Peter noticed the change and exchanged looks.
"Alex, what happened? Why philosophy instead of law?"
"Yeah, you only pick those when you're really down."
That caught him off guard, but he chose not to tell the truth.
"Damn, you got me… I've got a problem. Trix has that school trip to some special lab or something, and we don't have enough money to pay for it. I can't bring myself to tell her."
It was the strongest kind of lie, mixing truth with lies.
Trix did have a trip, but it didn't actually cost anything, and since neither of them knew that, they just felt bad.
"Man… that's rough."
"If you want, I can tell her. I'm her friend, it might help."
"No, it's fine. I'll handle it."
The mood got heavier, and they all went quiet, focusing on their books.
'Damn… I hate lying to them, but I can't say it now… the fact that… I ruin everything I touch. First my dad… then everyone around me. My mom suffers every day because of me, my sister too… at least I know that's not completely true, otherwise I wouldn't even have friends.'
While lost in thought, Peter left to go to the bathroom without Alex noticing.
'Damn it, stop thinking about it… you're not a curse, you're not a monster… you're just you.'
Pushing those thoughts away, Alex tried to focus on reading.
'Now that I think about it… it's almost time for the monthly fight with Sukuna and Meruem. I wonder what they have planned this time… last time I almost passed out when that damn fire arrow hit me… and when Meruem started escaping my predictions, it was insane… hundreds of him, and I couldn't do anything.'
After a few minutes, break ended, and Alex and Gwen returned to class, but Peter wasn't there.
That was strange, he rarely missed class.
Then they remembered something.
Peter had recently gotten permission from a high-ranking teacher to help with some confidential research, so at first, they didn't think much of it.
But when classes ended, both of them started to feel uneasy.
Suddenly, they received a message from Peter's phone.
"Herlp231"
At first, they didn't understand… but reading it again, they realized it was a cry for help.
Immediately, both of them started running to find him.
In desperation, they split up, and Alex pushed his "sonar" to the limit, causing a slight headache, until he felt a strong concentration of negative energy coming from the gym.
Since the school was almost empty, he rushed there without hesitation.
When he arrived, he saw someone lying in the middle of the gym, covered in blood and bruises.
"P… Peter?"
_________________________
Hey guys, so I came here to say that we've officially opened the doors to my fic, and we've finally stepped into the real beginning of it.
I'm really damn happy that I can finally start properly developing Alex, because until now he's been way too innocent… and now the real Alex is finally coming out.
Let's go, guys, I hope you're just as excited for this as I am.
Oh, and yeah, this chapter was going to be really long, so I decided to split it in half so I could at least release this part tomorrow.
Oh, and I also changed the way the chapters are structured.
Do you guys prefer this new style, or the old one?
As always, if you enjoyed it, feel free to send power stones or rate the story, it really helps a lot.
And if you have any constructive criticism or anything that could help me improve, don't hesitate to say it, I always read everything.
Also, just so you know, I really enjoy reading your messages, it genuinely makes me happy to see people enjoying the story.
Good night.