After pretending to wake up, Misha waited for his mother to tell him about their decision to cancel their plan and visit the clinic, which she did almost at the very moment she saw him open his eyes. Since they didn't need to wake up so early in the morning anymore, she said with a gentle voice, her tone carrying a trace of worry, "if you want, you can sleep a little bit longer."

"No!"

Then, stomping on his pride, Misha threw a tantrum and tried his best to act like a spoiling kid – as an a.d.u.l.t, he was still stubborn, but his way of showing it involved his fists and some colorful swearing. After working in a few bars, the number of curses he knew significantly expanded over the years. Well, a child shouldn't have such a dirty mouth, though, so in the corner of his mind, he told himself to watch his tongue in front of his family. So the boy banned the bad words from his vocabulary and tried something else.

While repeatedly hitting the mattress with his small clenched fists, Misha stared straight into his mother's eyes. The corner of his eyes was still a little bit red from his sleep even though he had woken up almost an hour ago, making him look like if he was about to cry at any minute. The view made her mother flinch instantly. Her son seemed too pitiful, and she felt like a bully! But that still wasn't enough to make her change her mind. Visiting the clinic was for his own good!

Misha silently tsked. The pitiful stance and teary eyes failed.

Then, over and over again, the child screamed that he was fine. He was brimming with energy and could even bounce and run around for a few hours in a row. Moreover, he didn't have any headache. Well, a small lie wouldn't hurt anyone – his head did throb a little, after all.

"Believe me! I'm not tired at all anymore!" w.h.i.n.ed the little boy, puffing out his tender cheeks. "I want to go! I want to go! I want to go!"

In truth, his muscles were still sore, and his fingers, as well as his feet, felt numb, but of course, Misha didn't say it, keeping the real state of his body a secret. All in all, walking wasn't a problem. Even if the several mild pains were irritating the hell out of him, they didn't hinder him enough to prevent him from accompanying the group to the amus.e.m.e.nt park.

Since a few years ago, bad hangovers had been his daily routine, and he always handled it with ease as he went to work. At the moment, his whole body ached, but at least, he didn't feel like throwing up every time he moved his head.

"But…" his mother said, still unconvinced. Worry showed on her delicate face, making her look a little bit older.

"I want to go!" interrupted Misha, loudly sniffing and pinching his lips.

"Now I recognize your brother," whispered Camille into Masha's ear, chuckling discretely, while her friend shrugged. What could she say? They did spoil rotten their family's baby, after all, and they didn't plan on correcting their bad habit anytime soon.

After a few dozens of minutes, his mother dejectedly gave up. However, she did make him promise to tell them immediately if he was feeling uncomfortable. With a beaming smile, Misha agreed, and then jumped out of bed and darted to the bathroom to take a rapid shower. Yesterday, he sweated too much, and his body felt sticky all over.

Stumbling, his mother had to run after her son to bring him his clothes before the child closed and locked the bathroom door.

This time, his clothes didn't let anyone question his gender, although they could still be categorized as 'cute.' They looked somewhat like a sailor uniform in a more adorable version with a little navy blue short and a white t-shirt. There was even a small hat to complete the set of clothes.

Glaring at the outfit after washing his body, Misha pinched the bridge of his nose. 'At least, it's the boy's uniform, not the girl's,' he comforted himself, thinking that he wouldn't stay young forever, and thus, he should entertain his mother for the time being, although throwing another tantrum about those clothes was still very tempting.

Outside the bathroom, Gabriel was finally out of bed and getting ready, wandering around the room like a zombie with his eyes half-closed. The teenage girls couldn't help but laugh, and even Misha, when he opened the door and saw the scene, almost burst out laughing.

Just then, the teenager knocked his toes against the bedside table, yet he didn't react immediately and seemed to be dazed instead. It took a moment before he let out a muffled sound of pain as if he had just realized the existence of the throbbing pain in his little toe.

Soon, they checked out and left the hotel.

***

Built on a smaller island just beside the one of Montreal, La Ronde overlooked half of the island whereas a forest occupied the other half. From a few bridges crossing the Saint-Laurent river, which connected Montreal to the land, it was possible to catch a glimpse of the tall rollercoasters from time to time.

In the bus, Masha and Camille almost kissed the window as they stared at the rollercoasters, stars in their eyes. The bridge they were on was high and close to La Ronde, and thus offered a beautiful view over the small island. His mother also glanced at the amus.e.m.e.nt park once in a while, a smile lingering on her lips.

As for Misha, he didn't sit beside the window and didn't bother looking through it, resting his chin on his hand. In the future, there will be so many more rollercoasters, and they also will be more impressive and thrilling. The present ones weren't that much interesting in his eyes as they almost looked like a joke to him. Hence, he couldn't feel as excited as the two teenage girls. It wasn't like he could ride them, anyway.

However, when his mother looked at him from the corner of her eyes, Misha slightly bounced on his seat, tilting his head to the left, then the right, as if he couldn't wait to get out of the bus and stroll around the amus.e.m.e.nt park. The boy did insist on coming over and over again in the morning. Wouldn't it be weird if he seemed to be utterly uninterested as they got closer and closer to La Ronde?

Now and then, Misha told himself to keep his acting logical and consistent. He was so concentrated on his every action that he didn't have the time to think about Gabriel, or anything else. Since yesterday, the child had to be careful not to let any of his thoughts show on his face, but he had always been an open book. Thus, for him, acting was mentally draining, and he needed to use all of his brainpower on it.

The moment Misha let his attention slip, and his mind started to wander, he didn't seem to be 'himself' as Camille had said. Too calm, too silent, too m.a.t.u.r.e.

'I'm never going to become an actor in this life, or the next one,' grumped the boy in his mind as the bus stopped in front of La Ronde. He glanced at the big gates and the stone wall that enclosed the amus.e.m.e.nt park, a hint of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in his eyes.

Standing near a fountain, Masha was so excited that her cheeks were flushed red. She didn't know where to start, and her eyes were locked on the map of the amus.e.m.e.nt park in her hands as she carefully weighed the pros and cons.

Seeing her like this, Misha smiled. In his past life, he was still in a foul mood when they arrived. Thus, the boy refused to part with his sister, clinging to her as if his life depended on it.

Masha ended up accompanying her little brother with her mother, riding the rollercoasters made for the kids, while Camille and Gabriel went to do the bigger ones. Masha had to convince them to go without her, and with Misha glaring at them, they awkwardly parted only to meet again at noon for lunch and at the end of the day in front of the gates.

In the end, his sister couldn't do any of the big rollercoasters that made her eyes shone like a diamond.

Even though Masha didn't complain and smiled and coaxed her little brother for the whole day, she must have been utterly dejected inside. While seeing her so excited right now, Misha could easily imagine how she felt when she had no other choice but to accompany him in his past life, yet she never blamed him, only showering him with love.

Mixed feelings rampaged inside of Misha. Such a perfect older sister who loved him from the bottom of her heart, how could he have been such an insensible, stupid jerk in his past life? How could he had not been there for her when things were too hard to handle by herself? How could he not see that she was slowly dying inside over the years?

'Really, you only realize how lucky you were once you lost everything.'

Once again, Misha told himself that he would do everything to change her dreadful state. His resolve deepened, and it would certainly continue to deepen as time went by. In this life, he would be there for her, and never would he let her dazzling smile fade away.

_______________

ML: Dear author, the pace of the story is too slow, the chapters are too short, and the updates are even slower. Won't it take ten years before we get to the part where Misha doesn't felt like killing me every time he sees my face?

Author: No, no, it won't take ten years.

ML: It will take more time, won't it?

Author: Ha. Ha.