Seconds went by, and then Misha suddenly froze, his whole body gradually becoming stiff. Tell him, what was he supposed to do now? He had acted on instinct, momentarily forgetting his fear of touch, but sure enough, his stomach soon started to churn, reminding him that he wasn\'t fond of hugging others.

In the end, if the one cradled in his arms wasn\'t his mother, Masha or Gabriel, it simply didn\'t feel right, and it put him ill at ease whether he liked it or not.

But luckily, Tristan was just a little kid, and therefore, hugging him didn\'t feel disgusting, much less scary, although having the boy pressed against his ċhėst did make Misha feel slightly uncomfortable. For better or worse, panic only crept up on him when the other person was taller and larger than him, making his trauma act up—which was why this problem of his wasn\'t that bothersome once he reached ȧduŀthood, considering that he grew up to be quite tall. As a result, not many could tower him.

Taking in a deep breath, Misha finally let go of Tristan, averting his eyes as he awkwardly coughed:

"Anyway, if Gabriel ever dares to leave you behind, I\'m gonna go find him and grab him by the scruff of his neck and scold him to death and drag his sorry ȧss back and… Well, what I\'m trying to say is that you have nothing to worry about, really. You can count on me. So, just don\'t be too bothered by those dreams, ok? They won\'t ever come true."

Tristan\'s eyes grew wider as the words left Misha\'s mouth one after another, surprise filling his small, round face.. Since their first meeting, he had always thought that Misha didn\'t like him much and just put up with him like most ȧduŀts. Yet, it didn\'t seem to be quite the case now…?

Not moving an inch, Tristan stared blankly at the boy sitting across from him, appearing to be lost in thought. But soon, he regained his composure and suddenly smiled, his eyes curving into crescent moons. He then let out a childish giggle, saying:

"Ok, I\'ll believe you."

"Good, good," Misha nodded before scratching his cheek with his index finger, seemingly wondering what to add next. Eventually, he said, "How about finishing your castle? We still have a bit of time on our hands."

"Ok!" the boy laughed happily. "Will you help me?"

"…All right."

That being said, Misha turned around to rummage through the toy box, organizing the Lego blocks before taking one and handing it to Tristan, becoming akin to his little ȧssistant; the child told him what he needed, and he proceeded to find it in the box. In this way, they slowly built a magnificent castle, its fortification tall enough to reach their waists.

Truthfully, it was a wonder how Tristan managed to create turrets and towers and windows at regular intervals in the wall, or even roofs that were somehow pointed. If Misha hadn\'t known better, he would have thought that the Lego castle in front of him resulted from an architect student killing time by playing with Lego.

…Fine, he was exaggerating a little, but not by much.

"You\'re so good at this," Misha whispered after taking a look at the castle once again, amazement filling his voice.

"Not really? It\'s just that I often play with Lego at home. Before Gabriel started to play with me, I built all kinds of things with Lego every day. I had nothing else to do," Tristan shrugged with flustered cheeks, obviously feeling shy after being complimented. "It\'s nothing much."

"Nothing much?! I could never build something as awesome as this! Even with instructions! Believe me when I say that you\'re talented. Dude, I\'m in awe!"

"Really?"

As Misha was about to nod, Gabriel knocked on the window wall to draw their attention, indicating that dinner was ready with a tilt of his head. Thus, they left the playground and joined the others at the table. However, Tristan didn\'t immediately sit in his seat, and instead, he tugged on Gabriel\'s sleeve, asking in a timid voice:

"Can I sit beside Misha?"

"Yes, of course you can," Gabriel chuckled, gently ruffling his brother\'s hair before glancing at Misha, adding with a smile that wasn\'t quite a smile, "You don\'t mind, right, Misha?"

"…Right. I don\'t mind it at all."

Without further ado, they exchanged seats so that the children could sit next to each other. Two bench seats enclosed the table from each side, and therefore, on one sat Gabriel, Tristan, and Misha, with the little boy sitting in the middle, while on the other sat Yuki and Masha.

Truth be told, that arrangement was better suited to allow the two girls to chat and get to know each other. Sitting closer facilitated the discussion, and while Gabriel took care of the children, they could talk about whatever they wanted and hopefully grow closer. After all, the main purpose of today\'s dinner was to let Masha and Yuki meet and see if they could rekindle the relationship they had in another timeline; Gabriel simply took the opportunity to ask a few questions in passing.

Furrowing his brow, Misha couldn\'t help but lift his gaze from his food and scrutinize the nurse, wondering why his past self was so adamant about bringing her back into his sister\'s life. Unlike his other self, he didn\'t know Yuki well, the woman being nothing more than an acquaintance. The last time Misha had seen her, for instance, was already several months ago, and that was at the hospital. After Gabriel emerged from his coma and his stepmother abducted him, he hadn\'t had the chance to meet her.

In other words, they crossed paths a few times, but that wasn\'t enough to give him a good glimpse of her personality. Still, knowing that she stood by his sister\'s side in their past life made him see her in a favorable light. Not only did she nurse Masha, but she also took care of Gabriel. He held those two very dearly, so anyone who helped them was a good person in his eyes.

Absently poking the broccoli with his fork, Misha let his mind wander, vaguely thinking that once put in the same frame, Masha and Yuki did look good together, a bit as if they completed each other. His sister was just like the sun, bright and full of life, whereas Yuki appeared calmer and more serene, just like the moon. It was just a pity that he couldn\'t read the nurse\'s inner thoughts, her face being as expressionless as a doll.

\'Why couldn\'t she be an open book like me and not a block of ice like my father? For goodness sake, why is everyone around me so good at hiding their emotions? It\'s a little depressing,\' Misha inwardly sighed before finally tossing the broccoli in his mouth, chewing it slowly. \'But whenever I look at Yuki, I feel like I\'ve forgotten something very important. I wonder what that could be.\'

Well, if he had forgotten it, then it surely wasn\'t anything important, and there was no point worrying over it. He already had enough on his mind to deal with, no need to add more.

***

After dinner, they lingered a bit longer in the restaurant before going their separate way. Yuki left in her car while Misha and the rest rode the bus back home. Because there were still a few hours to go before supper, they gathered in the living room and decided to pass the time by playing board games. Of course, they didn\'t play anything too complicated considering Tristan\'s young age, but they nevertheless had lots of fun.

When Angela came to pick up her \'sons\', Tristan\'s joyful expression crashed instantly. Obviously, he didn\'t want to go back home just yet, but he knew that throwing a tantrum wouldn\'t do any good. So he obediently stood up and followed his brother to the front door, glancing back over his shoulder at Misha every step or so.

"…?"

Misha massaged his neck, wondering what was wrong with the kid. Could someone tell him why he kept looking back at him? Did he have something on his face?

Though perplexed, Misha didn\'t comment and also followed behind the two siblings to bid them goodbye. Truthfully, he was reluctant to let Gabriel go back to his golden cage, but even if he were to protest, there was nothing that could be done. Now wasn\'t the time to get on Angela\'s bad side, although it was very tempting; whenever he saw her face, all he wanted to do was punch it. As time passed, it became harder and harder to restrain himself.

"So, well, be careful on your way back," Misha mumbled, a slight pout twisting his lips.

"We will," Gabriel chuckled, his eyes becoming tender.

As for Tristan, he didn\'t answer aloud. Instead, he clumsily pounced on Misha and hugged him tight before quickly running back behind his brother\'s legs. Then, the boy gripped Gabriel\'s pants and tilted his head just enough to peek at Misha, his eyes sparkling with a thousand stars.

"See you soon," he whispered in a voice bȧrėly audible.

Taken aback, Misha took a second to process Tristan\'s words, battling with the shivers crawling down his spine. That hug was too sudden! Seriously, he hadn\'t expected it at all! Still, he tried his best not to show his inner turmoil and smiled stiffly, waving at the child as he said:

"…Yeah, see you soon."

And at those simple words, a bright, innocent smile bloomed on the boy\'s face, tugging at Misha\'s heart. Gosh, how could that child be so adorable?! It should be criminal!