135 Pancakes dipped in honey

[two weeks ago]

when he wakes up, he finds himself next to a woman. he stares hard at her. she looks a lot familiar. where did he see her before? he's sure that he shouldn't be on a bed with a woman. 

when he moves, she pulls him closer to her as if he's a pillow. he frowns at her. when he pulls his hand out of her hold and lifts it to push her away, he stops when he sees his small hands. did they shrink?

um... what's going on here?

right, he should be dead. that woman shot him. she wasn't one bit hesitant before killing him.

then, why is he breathing now? who is this woman next to him? moreover, why are his hands small?

"yuta...awake so early...," the woman mumbles softly. she knows his name. he looks into her eyes - beautiful and familiar, full of love. he's stumped for the words. where did he see them before? "are you hungry? i will make pancakes for breakfast."

a distant memory resurfaces in his mind. his mother used to make him pancakes dipped in honey.

"mother." he can't believe it. his mother died when he was 5. it's been so long that he forgot the face of this woman next to him. is this a dream? 

umezaki rie kisses her son's forehead and hugs him. "i need the energy to get out of bed."

yuta is still dazed. it feels too read. did he get reborn in the past? a second chance?

his mother is still alive. then, can he change the future? 

"yuta?" rie sees the tears welling up in her son's eyes. "what's wrong?"

"mother." in this young body, he is overwhelmed by emotions. yuta might have died at the age of 24. but he has craved for the love of family for his entire life.

since the age of 5, he has never been hugged like this. he remembered crying in dark for his mother until he realized that she would never come and hug him again.

after his mother was killed, he was raised by that man who killed his mother.

by the age of 10, he was already a black hat hacker like his mother. he was trained as an assassin by his mentor.

at the age of 15, he found out the truth. his mother didn't die in an encounter by the interpol. she was killed by that man because she wanted to leave dh. 

"i had a nightmare that you died." he coils his arms around her neck. her warmth is real. she's real.

his mother's name was umezaki rie.find authorized novels in webnovel，faster updates, better experience，please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.

at a young age, he used to have dreams about her. later, he remembered less and less about her. then, he sank deeper into the dark world. good memories began to fade, leaving only her name. 

"i am not going to die," she tells him soothingly. she pats his back softly. yuta doesn't close his eyes once. he's afraid that his mother will disappear if he reopens his eyes. "your mother is invincible. she won't die before she sees her grandchildren."

yuta smiles sadly, not saying anything. she pinches his cheeks. "don't make that face. i am sitting in front of you. i am not dead. i won't die anytime sooner."

"mother, i will protect you this time." yuta looks at her with misty eyes. "i won't let any evil man hurt you."

she chuckles. "i should be the one protecting you."

"i will protect you." he hugs her again. "nothing bad will happen this time."

"i am not worried since yuta will let you protect me." rie thinks that he's affected by the dream too much. she carries him out of the bedroom and places him on the kitchen table. "do you know what takes away bad nightmares?"

"what?" yuta asks her curiously.

"pancakes dipped in honey." she grins. "i am going to add extra honey. then, you will have sweeter dreams."

yuta doesn't say anything, but he is feeling warm. his mother loves him so much. he watches his mother make the pancakes and humming a tune. he realizes that he used to hum the same tune whenever he was relaxed in his past life. now, he knows where he picked it up from. even if he nearly forgot her face, his heart remembered this tune.

that man took everything away. if she didn't die back then, his life wouldn't have turned out like that. she wanted to leave dh because when she found out that that man was interested in him because of his talents. she didn't want him to become a black hat hacker like her. when she threatened the man to reveal his identity to the world, he killed her.

"mother, when is my fifth birthday?"

"your fourth birthday was last week." rie looks over her shoulder. "yuta, slow down a bit. don't be in a hurry to grow up. i won't be able to carry you if you grow big too soon."

there's time - nearly a year. 

before his mother died in his past life, he didn't know that she was a black hat hacker. he found out much later why she became one. learning about his mother's past made him cry. he wanted to know everything about his parents. it was tsuchiya tsumi who revealed everything to him when he tracked her down.

dh wouldn't have left her alone if she didn't come willingly. she didn't have much choice back then. umezaki rie, known as instant, was a legend even after she died. nobody could match her skills except him. 

but his mother has a big misunderstanding about his father. she is living her life believing that his father chose another woman over her and cheated on her. 

"mother, please tell me about my father."