Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 96. First Anniversary of Death

Regardless of people's feelings, days turned into weeks and weeks into months. In a blink of an eye, autumn left and winter arrived.

The colorful leaves fell off from the tree branches, leaving them bare, while layers of snow gradually piled up on the ground, burying the scenery in white. Soon, winter vacations started, and students were dismissed from their respective schools, sent back home for the next few weeks.

In other words, it was Christmas time.

But it also meant that Mrs. Brown's first anniversary of death was growing nearer, and the atmosphere in the house became bleaker with each passing day. Still, Misha did his best to smile and lift everyone's mood, scolding his father whenever his hands got too close to a bottle of liquor and teasing his sister at the slightest opportunity. With Yuki's help, he cooked everyone's favorite meal in turn. And when he wasn't cooking, he organized a few gaming competitions, knowing they would all have a good laugh out of it. His father had become better, but he still managed to die in weird ways that left everyone lost for words.

At some point, the boy became the little sunshine that kept his family from drowning in sorrow. He distracted their minds however he could, which often resulted in Gabriel having to handle his silly pranks and childish taunts—but at least, Misha wasn't as nasty as before. Of course, his antics were annoying; however, they didn't get on Gabriel's nerves. This time, the boy made sure not to go too far and banned everything related to bugs, meaning that he didn't bury insects in the man's food. He just wanted to make things fun, not anger-inducing.

Well, that was for Gabriel. As for Stephan, the poor lad still had to deal with the child's naughty deeds whenever he dropped by, and because Misha pulled his sister in, Stephan had to face pranks much more, let's say, original than usual.

Lately, Misha and Masha would often spend the evening brainstorming their next pranks, combining their twisted ideas to create something monstrous. Gabriel sometimes stumbled upon the siblings laughing maniacally, and each time, he turned on his heel and pretended he hadn't seen anything. He never forgot to light a candle for Stephan, however.

Dealing with only one sibling was already taking quite a toll on Stephan's mental health, so when the two conspired together, it felt as though all hell had broken loose, and his mental health crumbled. Sometimes, Stephan didn't know whether to be horrified or in awe at their never-ending imagination. He could never predict what they would do next, even though he himself was quite creative.

The siblings' pranks were about to drive Stephan crazy, making him wonder what he did to deserve this. Honestly, nothing. His dramatic and over-the-top reactions were simply hilarious to watch, and the siblings loved to bother him. All right, it was also true that seeing him rush to Gabriel's side to cry in his arms and complain irked Misha a little—just a little. As a result, his pranks became nastier, creating a vicious circle. But despite knowing what would happen, Stephan still popped up at their house every so often, almost begging to be beaten up.

That guy was a masochist, one big masochist.

Today, Misha acted as lively as yesterday, sharing his ideas on what to do next to torment Stephan, but his antics didn't have the same impact as they had the previous days. How could they? Tomorrow morning, they would go to the cemetery to lay flowers at Mrs. Brown's tombstone. His family tacitly decided not to celebrate Christmas Eve this year and mourn instead, though they did put and decorate a Christmas tree in the living room.

To make matters worse, a bit before noon, they learned that Fredrick had a heart attack last night and breathed his last in his sleep, leaving this world to be reunited with his wife. Mary had told him to take his time before joining her and their daughter, but life without his lifelong love was too hard to bear. His old bones couldn't take it.