Chapter 98 - Sorry, You're a Bad Liar

For the past few days, Misha had been acting oddly, even more than usual. He thought he had hidden his inner turmoil pretty well, but his face was still like an open book and his white lies were as bad as ever. Anyone that took the time to observe him would realize something was off. At first, Gabriel and Masha thought it was due to Mrs. Brown's first anniversary of death; however, they realized it wasn't the case after visiting the cemetery. There was something else that was bothering Misha, but what?

They both knew that if they asked what was wrong, the boy wouldn't answer and instead flee who knows where, using whatever excuses he had in mind to escape. He had been doing so for the past year and a half, after all. And so, they tacitly decided not to ask and keep an eye on him, silently watching over his every move. Unlike Misha, they weren't obvious about their intentions, and the kid didn't notice the two pairs of eyes following him everywhere. The day went in this way until evening arrived.

After dinner, it felt like the child couldn't wait for his family to fell asleep, urging them to go to bed, saying that they appeared drained after visiting the graveyard. It wasn't false, but it didn't mean they were dead tired either. Still, they didn't protest, and everyone went to bed a bit after eleven in the evening. At any rate, an additional couple of hours of sleep wouldn't hurt them.

However, after lying in his futon, Gabriel didn't plan to go to sleep immediately, having a hunch Misha was waiting for him to be in deep slumber before doing whatever he had to do. Thus, Gabriel turned his back to the boy and pretended to fell asleep, gradually slowing down his breathing. And just as expected, the child left the room after a dozen minutes or so. Misha tiptoed his way outside the bedroom, trying to be as silent as possible. If Gabriel had indeed been sleeping, he would never have heard him. That kid was surprisingly good at sneaking out.

Afterward, Gabriel waited for a few seconds to pass before following the child, his footsteps almost inaudible. When he saw the boy enter the kitchen to make a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, Gabriel hurried downstairs and hid inside the first-floor bathroom, leaving the door half-open to peek inside the living room. He was certain Misha wouldn't find him; that child vehemently refused to use that bathroom no matter what, always going upstairs even when he was on the verge of wetting himself. Gabriel didn't know why the kid hated that bathroom so much, but it worked in his favor.

Then, he waited, and things took a turn he could never have expected. He was shocked by the man's sudden appearance, and the conversation that followed left him even more speechless. Yet, it also answered a few questions he had in mind for a long time. So, Misha was an a.d.u.l.t in the body of a child. It was a hard pill to swallow, but that would explain why he could act with so much maturity at times and why his mental disability seemed to have vanished overnight. It was because it did. The disability that Misha had caused a delay in cognitive development, but it wouldn't matter much once a.d.u.l.t. A two-three-year delay in mental abilities didn't affect an a.d.u.l.t in his twenties, contrary to young children who were in the process of growing up.

Leaning against the wall, Gabriel quietly listened to their conversation until Santa Claus told Misha he couldn't go back in time and, ultimately, couldn't save his mother. Hearing Misha's voice break made Gabriel's heart swell with pain. He didn't need to weigh the pros and cons for long before deciding to open the door and show himself, offering to take the boy's – no, the man's – place.

Walking up to the sofa, Gabriel looked into Misha's teary eyes, and for a second, he seemed to freeze. The child's bewildered face was somewhat adorable, but the tears that had started to roll down his cheeks, reddening his eyes, only made him appear pitiful, giving rise to protective d.e.s.i.r.es in Gabriel's heart. Today, the boy seemed frailer and thinner than usual, as if he could break any time.

He didn't like that sight. Seeing that strong 'kid' breaking down was distressing, just like the day he bawled his eyes out after his mother's death, burying his head in his stomach while hugging his waist tightly. But Gabriel wasn't feeling as powerless as that day, knowing he could now do something to alleviate Misha's sorrow.

"So? How about it?" repeated Gabriel after a short while, c.o.c.king an eyebrow as he sat on the other side of the sofa. "If he can't do it because of his age, then I can travel back in time in his stead. It should be feasible, right?"

"…It's indeed possible," answered Santa Claus after coughing to clear his throat, glancing at Misha, who was still out of it.

Several emotions flashed across the boy's face one after another, making it go through many different colors. Seeing this, Gabriel barely managed to maintain a serious expression. That open book sure was easy to read, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry at what he saw. There was embarrassment at being seeing crying; there was confusion as he tried to understand how Gabriel could have popped out of thin air; there was also a deep rotten fear as if he was afraid of Gabriel turning his back on him. Many more emotions appeared on his face, but those three were the main ones.

"How… Why? Why are you here?!"

Finally, that was the only thing Misha could ask, seemingly not having heard the words Gabriel had just said. He needed to understand what was going on first, and he would think about the rest later. Did Gabriel hear everything or just a few bits? And why wasn't he frozen in time? There were too many questions swirling about in his head, so much so that Misha felt somewhat dizzy. His heartbeat also didn't want to calm down, furiously beating against his rib cage.

"Well, do you want the honest answer or a lie?" smiled Gabriel, looking at Misha with a bit of helplessness.

"…How about the truth?"

"From the first day we met, I noticed something was off with you, so did your sister after a while. We only pretended not to know, though we did try to pry. Well, you always avoided the subject, so that was without much success. I'm sorry, you're not a very good liar. And for these past few days, you've been acting very oddly, especially so today. It put me on alert, and I decided to keep an eye on you, pretending to fall asleep. I noticed right away when you left the room. While you were in the kitchen, I took the opportunity to hide in the bathroom. Although I have to admit I never expected you were hiding such a huge secret."

"…"

As Gabriel went on and on, a blush spread on Misha's cheeks, and he pinched his lips in embarrassment, slouching his shoulders as if to make himself appear smaller. This was awkward, very, very awkward. He had thought he had managed to fool everyone, but it turned out that they had only been humoring him all this time. That was quite a significant blow to his ego. At least, earlier, he hadn't talked about the feelings he held toward Gabriel with Santa Claus, or else the situation would be even more embarrassing. That was the only good point that could comfort him right now.

"…And why isn't he frozen in time?" grumped Misha, glaring at Santa Claus from the corner of his eyes while rudely pointing at Gabriel.

Ultimately, he decided to blame the old man. It was all his fault if Gabriel overheard everything! Gabriel would never have figure out he was an a.d.u.l.t in the body of a child if he hadn't eavesdropped on them, even if he knew he was hiding something. Time travel wasn't the first thing that would have come to his mind, you know!

"The device doesn't allow you to unfrozen a single person but an area, and to unfroze you, I had to unfreeze the whole first floor of your house, which includes the bathroom. I didn't expect someone would be hiding in it!" grunted Santa Claus, feeling wronged deep down.

"In any case, what's done is done," interrupted Gabriel. "Now, let's talk about what to do. If Misha can't go back in time to save his mother, I can do it in his stead."

"…Why do you seem to have taken the news so well? You look like a fish in water," mumbled Misha. "Shouldn't you be shocked? Or, I don't know, be at least surprised! How can you talk about time traveling so easily?!"

"Being shocked or refusing to accept reality won't be of any help," responded Gabriel with a shrug of his shoulders. "If there's a possibility to save your mother and your sister, I won't hesitate to take it, no matter how absurd it appeared at first."

"You're weird."

"You're one to talk."

"Ahem," coughed Santa Claus, drawing their attention back on the matter at hand. "So, as I said, I can send Gabriel back in time."

"Really?! But wait! If you do that, won't I forget everything about this past year?" cried out Misha as the realization struck him. If he weren't the one to travel back in time, then the timeline he existed in would disappear, and no memories of it would be left.

"Yes," solemnly nodded Santa Claus, not beating around the bush.

"But I! I!"

I don't want to forget! Misha didn't want to forget this past year, no matter how painful it had been. Because if he did, it wouldn't only be the bad memories that would be forgotten. He would forget how his sister and Yuki fell in love, how much Gabriel did for them, how his father didn't turn into a monster, and most of all, he would forget his feelings for Gabriel. A year ago, Misha had started to open up, but he was still holding a grudge, not knowing the truth about Masha and Gabriel's relationship.

…Did he really have to forget all those precious memories to save his loved ones?

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