Chapter 109 - ...Big Brother?

Gently poking the puppy's nose, Misha watched it shake its head and blink its big, round eyes. It then sneezed three times in a row before trying to chew on the naughty finger, but it was without much success as Misha swiftly withdrew his hand, safely escaping the dog's wrath. All it could do was spin around, yapping and shaking its curly tail. And once it realized that it couldn't retaliate, it turned its back on the boy, seemingly pouting. At long last, the dog's antics managed to make Misha smile faintly, thinking that it was a little cute.

In his past timeline, that little pug was still alive; however, it was old, very, very old. Misha had grown accustomed to its white muzzle, having forgotten that it was once black, and seeing it so small and young again was somewhat perturbing. Before his transmigration, that old thing only knew how to sleep, but now, it was running around everywhere, rolling on the ground when it wasn't playfully biting people's ankles.

'Well, there are some things that do not change no matter the timeline. Dereck's parents still bought him a pug puppy for Christmas, still calling it Lady,' inwardly chuckled Misha, petting the squishy dog before pulling on its fat. 'It's as plump as ever, huh.'

"…Why are you teasing my dog so much? If you keep agitating her, she won't sleep this afternoon. She will take a nap this evening instead and stay up all night, causing trouble left and right," sighed Dereck as he entered his bedroom, holding a glass of water in each hand. "So? What did you want to ask me?"

Taking the glass of water his friend handed him, Misha lifted his eyes to glance at Dereck's confused face. Honestly, he wasn't very proud to ask a kid for advice, but bad habits were hard to break. Whenever he was stuck on something in his past life, he would always run to Dereck, slamming the door open to ask for his help. Since childhood, his friend had always been more m.a.t.u.r.e and composed, giving great advice that made Misha's life a lot easier. It helped him not do too many stupid things.

"I would like your advice on something, actually."

"Well, on what?"

"You see, I kind of have something to say to my sister, but I really don't know how to bring it up. It's something difficult to swallow and I'm afraid she won't believe me. And I know it'll also hurt her a lot, like a lot, and it makes me hesitate."

"Is it about Gabriel again?" wondered Dereck, tilting his head. "Do you still think he's a demon? Do you want her to break up and cut ties with him? If it's that, I think you should give up. I mean, Gabriel didn't even get angry once despite all the nasty pranks we did…."

Upon hearing those words, Misha choked on the water he was about to swallow. Hitting his c.h.e.s.t, he answered between two fits of coughing, "No, no! I don't want that anymore, trust me."

'To start with, they're not even dating for real,' inwardly added Misha, feeling a little embarrassed at the mention of his previous childish behavior.

Unlike what Misha had first thought, Gabriel wasn't a two-faced demon; no, if he was anything, then it would be his family's guardian angel. And yet, he had been so vicious to him, provoking and taunting him at every opportunity. It was a wonder how Gabriel hadn't lost his patience and stayed gentle and calm. If he had been in his shoes, Misha knew he would have blown up more than once.

"What I want to talk about with my sister is something else. It really has nothing to do with Gabriel. Well, it somewhat does, but not the way that you think. Anyway, I'm just not able to find the courage to tell her. Every time I try to, I've got this lump in my throat that makes talking difficult, and I end up saying nothing. Pathetic, right?"

"I don't think it's pathetic. After all, you're the Sis-Con King, so of course you don't want to do anything that would hurt your sister," teased Dereck, sitting beside his friend before taking the puppy in his arms, wanting to rock it to sleep. "But if there's no way out, then maybe you could tell her everything with someone else by your side, someone that would help you handle the stress and encourage you to continue talking? You know, someone like Gabriel."

Pursing his lips, Misha made a slight pout. Didn't he depend on the man too much lately? Just a little while ago, he had been bawling his eyes out in his arms. Argh! Simply thinking about it made him embarrassed as hell. What was he? A little kid?!

….But it was true that if Gabriel were to be present in the same room as him when he revealed everything to his sister, it would reassure Misha and give him confidence. Moreover, if he wasn't able to explain something concerning time traveling or the golden watch, which would surely be the case knowing his pea-brain, or if his sister had questions, Gabriel would know what to say.

"I wonder if I'm being a bother to him," mumbled Misha, propping his chin on his knees.

"What? Since when do you care about being a bother or not?" laughed Dereck, patting his back. "Don't worry, you can't ever be as bothersome as you were when you were pranking him days and nights. How can you do worse than that?"

"Pfft. Touché," grinned Misha from ear to ear, telling himself that he at least hadn't beaten Gabriel to a pulp in this timeline, unlike his previous life.

At any rate, it had never been his style to worry about that kind of thing. So what if he was a bother? If Gabriel didn't want to help, he should just say no. It wasn't like he was taking advantage of him. Well, maybe he was. But just a little. And for the right cause.

Oh gosh, why did it seem like he was making excuses…?

***

After negotiating with Angela for days, Gabriel managed to secure a one-day-off every month; that is to say, he could go out and visit his 'girlfriend' once a month. It wasn't the best outcome, but it was always better than nothing. He knew he shouldn't push his luck, for the time being at least, so he didn't insist and thanked his stepmother with a bright smile instead. Inwardly, he thought that he would negotiate with her again later. As soon as she would start to perceive him as harmless, that was when he would be able to obtain more. Until then, he would bide his time.

All this to say that today was precisely his day off. And so, he left in the early morning to take the bus, running away to Masha's house, not without reassuring his little brother that he would be back soon. Because he was currently pretending to have amnesia, Angela would never let him use his car, saying it was too dangerous. Therefore, Gabriel had to do with public transport.

Once he arrived, Misha grabbed his wrist and dragged him upstairs to his bedroom, where Masha was waiting. The teenage girl was sitting cross-legged on the child's bed with a puzzled look on her face, seemingly wondering why her brother was acting so mysterious all of a sudden.

"What's going on, Mish'? You're acting a little weird," chuckled Masha, glancing back and forth between her brother and Gabriel, who hadn't had the chance to take off his coat. She then resumed in a teasing tone, "Why do you want to have a 'secret reunion' in your room? Are you planning to do something bad, hm?"

"No, well, maybe a bit, but essentially, no?" stuttered Misha, closing the door behind him before walking up to his sister, still holding Gabriel's wrist. "It's just that I've got something to tell you."

"You have…?" repeated Masha, instinctively peeking at Gabriel, inquiring with her eyes if what her brother had to say was what she thought it was.

As an answer, Gabriel nodded, letting Masha know that Misha indeed wanted to talk about what had been bothered her for ages. A few days ago, Misha had told him on the phone that he would reveal everything the next time he came to visit, though Gabriel hadn't expected that Misha wouldn't even let him take off his coat before pulling him upstairs, getting right to business. In a way, it gave him the feeling that the boy would lose the courage to speak up if he were to wait any longer.

"So, what do you think of time travel?" awkwardly started Misha, his grip on Gabriel's wrist tightening.

"Time travel? Well, it's an interesting concept, though you only see it in books and movies. Why?"

"Because… because, well, what would you do if it was real?" mumbled Misha, averting his eyes. "If, for example, I wasn't really a kid? Like, I'm from another timeline? I mean, if the a.d.u.l.t me came back to the past? Something like that…."

"What are you talking about? It doesn't make sense!"

"Misha," intervened Gabriel, his voice soft and gentle, "I think you should show her the video as it would be more effective and a bit more convincing than your babbling. I know there are some things you would rather she didn't know, but we agreed that you wouldn't hide her anything, didn't we?"

"…" Misha bit his lower lip, peering at his confused sister through a few strands of hair. "Fine… Let's do that. I'm bad at explaining things, anyway."

With Misha's permission, Gabriel gently broke away from the boy's grip and went to fetch the golden wristwatch, which they had hidden beside Misha's, in the crack between the wall and the head of the bed. While taking off his coat, he pressed the button, and the holographic image appeared in the room, reciting Misha's message. And as it played, Masha's eyes grew wider and wider. At one point, her jaw dropped, and soon, a foolish look distorted her pretty face, making her appear lost, just like a little child.

When the message neared its end, Misha tucked on Gabriel's sleeve, whispering, "You can stop it now, right? She heard enough, I think…."

"Hm? But I don't know how to," hummed Gabriel with a teasing smile that made Misha's cheeks burn up.

"You! You!"

The boy jumped, trying to snatch the watch from Gabriel, but the man swiftly lifted it above his head, making it impossible for little Misha to reach it. Before he could complain or even kick his tibias, Misha heard himself confess for the second time, and once more, he buried his beet-red face into his hands, wanting to crawl into a hole and never come out. His other self should just go and die, seriously.

While he felt like killing himself, he heard his sister say in a small, trembling voice:

"…Should I call you big brother from now on?"

That was the first thing that came to Masha after watching the video, and so she blurted it out, staring at Misha and Gabriel with a muddled expression on her face. It took her a second to realize that she had said aloud what was on her mind, making her a little embarrassed. Coughing, she tried to find something else to say and ease the atmosphere, but her mind was blank, and nothing came out of her mouth.

"No need. In my eyes, you'll always be my big sister," responded Misha with a laugh, lifting his head and lowering his hands so that his sister could see his facial expression clearly.

And as he said so, a bright smile bloomed on his face, so warm that it seemed to melt Masha's heart. It was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful yet melancholic smile, giving rise to an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Unconsciously, Masha stretched her hands and grabbed Misha's shoulders, dragging him into her arms.

"Yeah, you're right. You'll always be my cute li'l bro no matter what."

Masha sniffled, tightening her embrace around the boy. So many thoughts and questions swirled about in her head, but for the time being, they didn't matter. Currently, all she wanted to do was hug Misha, so she did just that, putting off all the bothersome stuff they would have to talk about to another time. For now, just let her be there for her little brother. That was all she wanted.

____________

Mini theater

Author: SEEEEE! I told you it would be this chapter!

ML: You did, right. Here, here, I'm proud of you.

Author: What am I?! A dog?!

ML/MC: Well…

Author: ….My characters have no respect for me. RIP.