“How come our lil’ devil still sleeps with his mother? Didn’t you say you were too old for that?”

When the half-asleep Misha heard the mocking voice, he flung open his eyes and dashed out of his bed, suddenly wide awake. He pounced on the teenage girl standing in the door frame before she could react, wrapping his arms and legs around her waist. The boy then hung around her like a koala, refusing to let go.

“What? Did you miss me that much?” Masha chuckled, raking one hand through his hair until his head looked like a bird’s nest. The other hand was busy supporting the boy’s weight—her brother was petite, but he wasn’t exactly weightless. “Mish’, it has only been one night!”

Misha turned a deaf ear to her teasing and didn’t retort, knowing that he’d bawl his eyes out again if he were to open his mouth right now. Thus, he only nodded and tightened his grip, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

“He had a bad dream,” Gulnas explained as she made the bed. “And it seems to have been a nasty one.”

“Oh, I see. So even devils have nightmares,” Masha teased, poking her brother’s cheek. “You learn something every day!”

“Hn,” Misha let out a sound of acknowledgment.

“But like it or not, you’ll have to get off of me and take a bath!  We’ve got a busy day today, so hop, hop, hop!” Masha tried to pull her brother off, but he didn’t budge, leaving them in a deadlock. “I don’t remember having a leech as a brother! Come on, get down!”

Misha pursed his lips, his hug tightening. “I don’t want to take a bath….”

“Why?” Gulnas asked, puzzled. “You love to take baths!”

Her son was the kind of child that could stay in the bathtub for hours, happily playing with the foam, the water, or the rubber ducks until he turned into a prune. Every time he stepped out of the bathtub, his tiny hands and feet were wrinkly and sickly white, almost like some weird paste. Getting him out had always been an ordeal, and now that mermaid boy didn’t want to take a bath…?

“I don’t like it anymore,” Misha grumbled, his voice so small that his sister almost didn’t hear him, even though he was glued to her.

“Why?”

“I just don’t like it anymore!” Misha groaned, peering at them with watery eyes.

That pitiful expression tugged at their heartstrings, and they both fell silent instantly. Forget it. If he didn’t want to take a bath, they wouldn’t force him to take one.

“…”

It wasn’t like Misha wanted to throw a tantrum right off the bat, but he absolutely couldn’t take a bath. He knew that the moment he slid into the water, he’d panic. Then, not long after, he’d be barfing all the content in his stomach on the floor. Honestly, he’d be lucky if he didn’t straight out faint at the sight of the bathtub.

After such a scene, his family would of course worry, and several questions would arise. But it wasn’t like he could answer any of their inquiries, and he also didn’t want to.

No matter how many years flew by, Misha couldn’t forget the horrible sight of his sister’s corpse floating in a blood bath. The rotten scent, the eerie silence, and the oppressive heat from the radiator, which hadn’t been turned off; he remembered it all, and the simple view of a bathtub tended to bring that memory up. Thus, the bath was out of the question.

“Can I take a shower instead?”

“Sure, why not. As long as you wash yourself clean,” Masha shrugged before sticking out her tongue, “It’s gonna be faster anyway, but you better hurry up, or we’ll have to leave without you! Don’t forget, it’s my birthday today, and I don’t want to waste my time waiting for you, little princess!”

Misha froze when he heard her say ‘birthday’, and everything else went in one ear and out the other. Holy crap, was it already that day?!

If he was nine years old, then his sister turned seventeen today, which also meant that they were going out to celebrate her birthday with her best friend and her boyfriend—boyfriend whom they would be meeting for the first time in an hour or so. At this point in time, his sister and Gabriel started dating not too long ago. Maybe a week or two?

‘Couldn’t he have chosen an even worse date?!’ Misha couldn’t help but silently curse Santa Claus. He was still in the process of accepting that he went back in time, and he wasn’t ready to confront that jerk yet! Moreover, he wasn’t used to this kid’s body, which felt foreign. He knew even less how to act like a child, and neither did he remember how he behaved at that age! It was a dozen years or so ago! Have mercy!

How was he supposed to drive the bastard away without revealing himself? He was a terrible liar to start with!

With these kinds of thoughts swirling in his head, Misha sighed and dragged his feet to the second floor’s bathroom, the one with a shower and no bathtub.

Well, he was complaining, but it could have been worse. At least his father was on a business trip for the whole month of June, far away from Canada, and couldn’t come to Masha’s seventeen birthday. It shouldn’t be any different this time, which gave Misha a few weeks to prepare himself to meet that man again. Perhaps, with a suitable brainwashing method, he’d be able to keep himself from trembling like a leaf in his presence.

Thinking about this and that, Misha washed his small body quickly. When he got out of the shower, folded clothes were left on the white counter, near the sink. He tiptoed over, and once he took a better look at the clothing, his face darkened almost instantly.

“…”

The get-up of the day was composed of a black denim short dungaree and a cute white shirt with long sleeves. Suddenly, Misha missed his old leather jacket and ripped jeans.

‘I’ll have to get used to wearing child clothes again,’ Misha silently winced, ‘especially since mom has always loved to dress me up like a doll.’

Pushing aside his reluctance, he put on the clothing. Then, his mouth twitched when he saw his reflection in the mirrored closet doors. Could he hide in a corner and not come out? Now, he was remembering things he didn’t want to! Because he was unusually short and delicate, he didn’t look his age, and the unisex clothes made it difficult, if not impossible, to tell his gender. Thus, people generally thought he was around six or seven years old when he was almost ten. And to add insult to the injury, they would often mistake him for a girl too.

A few memories flashed back in his mind, and his face darkened a little more. In his early teens, the clueless adults often told him that he was using the wrong bathroom, and when Misha tried to correct them, they wouldn’t believe him, insisting that they were right and he was wrong. But shouldn’t he know better than anyone what his own gender was?! It was so infuriating!

Misha took a deep breath and tried to comfort his wounded pride by telling himself that he’d grow into a tall and manly (not really) man after puberty. And to ensure that, he thought of adding a lot of milk to his diet. Maybe he’d grow faster this way.

Satisfied with this new resolution, Misha nodded and left the bathroom. He still had to think of a way to deal with Gabriel without antagonizing his sister and mother. There was only half an hour left before his arrival, and he wanted to use that time to think.

Misha could always improvise in the worst-case scenario—although his ‘improvisations’ rarely had a successful ending. Well, whatever. He willingly disregarded that fact and trotted the stairs down to the first floor.

“Come here, sweetie, I’ll dry your hair,” Gulnas offered, a soft smile stretching her lips.

“Hn.” Misha climbed on the couch, glancing askance at his mother. They looked even more alike under the morning light.

As Gulnas ran her fingers through his damp hair, Misha couldn’t help but think about how he had missed his mother’s pampering. Both his sister and his mother had always spoiled him rotten, treasuring him as if he was worth the entire world. Still, it felt somewhat weird to receive so much attention after so long, especially now that he was mentally an adult.

The hairdryer blew hot air over his head, and Misha refocused his thoughts on Gabriel. From what he could remember, he’d given him the cold shoulder treatment and mean gazes since the day they met, even throwing tantrums now and then to let everyone know that he didn’t like him. As a kid, he felt like Gabriel was threatening his place in his sister’s heart and thus acted childishly. His sister was his, and he wanted everyone to know it.

However, that didn’t have any effect back then. The bastard never lost his warm smile and gentle eyes, patiently enduring every outburst. Gabriel never complained, even when his sister placed him first. It often happened since Misha was her number one, and her boyfriend came second.

But even so, Masha didn’t listen to her brother’s demands, saying that he would get used to Gabriel in no time. After getting to know him, he’d know he was a good guy at heart.

His mother was also fond of Gabriel, who always helped out whenever he came over. Like everyone else, she bore with Misha’s fits of temper without getting angry, placating him with sweats and hugs.

In short, no matter what he did back then and how much he protested, pouted, or even screamed, Masha didn’t break up with the jerk. He was only a child, after all. So who would take his tantrums seriously? His words weren’t worth much in the end. It wouldn’t be any different this time.

Even if he were to tell them about their dreadful future, they wouldn’t believe him. Time traveling was hard to swallow, especially when it came out of a child’s mouth. Misha also didn’t want his mother to discover that her baby boy was now an adult. It’d break her heart.

So.

How could Misha get rid of Gabriel without committing any crimes, antagonizing his family, and giving himself away? Well, good question. He only thought about it, and he was already feeling the incoming headache.

Mini theater

MC: “manly (not really) man” … AUTHOR! Why the heck did you add that ‘not really’ part!? It’s unnecessary!  (ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

Author: Well… It’s okay if you want to deceive yourself, but you shouldn’t mislead the readers.

MC: As an adult, I am manly!

ML: Says the guys with teary eyes.

MC: You. Shut up.

ML: Yes, yes.