All It Costs Is Your Love! (And A Magic Song)

by Athena (AthenicHamster)

Summary:

Sunny and Basil told the truth.

Their friends took a little, but they eventually forgave both of them, letting Sunny and Basil's years of self-torment be their punishment. The group stayed true to their promise, keeping in touch even after Sunny's move; it wasn't uncommon for a very annoyed Hero to have to shut down a 2AM chatroom about Captain Spaceboy, or Sweetheart, or whatever had caught the younger teens' eyes that day.

It's been a year since that day in the hospital, and Sunny has mostly settled into his new life, finally going back to high school in the city, and visiting Faraway whenever Hero was back from college. His (admittedly nice) mundane existence is interrupted by the sudden return of a certain someone, and he couldn't be happier about it. He *had* forgotten one thing though.

Mari was So. Damn. Annoying.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

Chapter 1: Music Is The Language Of The Soul, Literally

Notes:

Me: I should be writing the next chapter of New Game Plus…

Also me: NEW LONGFIC BAYBEEEEE

Sunny gently closed the door behind him, listening for the satisfying *click* before he threw the bolt. Stepping into the main room of his (technically his and his mom’s) apartment, he let out a loud yawn, tossing his bag on the couch next to him. The apartment was nice, easily big enough for him, and probably big enough for a few guests to stay comfortably; not that he’d tried yet, they were all busy with various things. There was the living room/kitchen area, which he was currently in, his bedroom, his mom’s bedroom (which went unoccupied), and a bathroom, as well as a few small nooks for appliances spread around. The living room was spacious, decorated with framed copies of photos from the album, as well as a few plants that Basil had given him as moving presents. A TV sat across the room from the aforementioned couch, and a small table sat in between the two.

 

The living room was connected to a moderately sized kitchenette, fitted with all sorts of modern appliances. He wasn’t quite sure where his mother got the money to pay for such an upscale place, but he figured it was at least due in part to how much she was away from home. She was basically only home on holidays, and even then it was a toss up. 

 

He stretched his arms as he stepped into his room, cracking his fingers in anticipation. He glanced at the wall, finding the calendar he had pinned up. Days had been marked out with a red marker, all the way up to the 17th; that date being circled a number of times. He sighed as he grabbed the marker from his desk, marking it off.

 

July 17th; the day that, one year prior, he had confessed the truth of Mari’s death, finally letting him and Basil move on. He had been preparing for the day for a few months now; even going as far as to compose (technically recompose, he had just lost the sheet music) a piece of music to play in her memory. He wasn’t able to visit Faraway due to his mom asking him to be at the apartment for its inspection, so he’d have to just have to make do playing it for Mari here. 

 

He walked to the corner of his room, kneeling down in front of a moderately sized case lying in the corner. He gently laid it down, opening the latches as slowly as he could. His breath caught in his throat as the smooth wooden surface came into view, allowing the lid of the case to fall softly backwards with a soft clack. The surface of the violin was incredibly pristine; the finish on it shone like it was brand new, not a scratch to be seen on its surface. Sunny was proud of how well he took care of it (even if it was admittedly a little obsessive), seeing it as yet another way he could atone for what he had done. He had tried to repair his original violin, but it seemed that no matter how much glue and rosin he used, it’d never play like it did before. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just fix it with the power of friendship like he had in Headspace either; it was doomed from the moment it hit the landing.

 

His fingers ran along the smooth surface as if in a trance, the tips barely touching the polished wood. He lifted the instrument from its case with an inhuman amount of caution, placing it on his bed alongside the bow. A breath he didn’t know he was holding escaped his lungs, and he felt the unconscious tension in his body dissipate, his posture slouching once again.

 

He retrieved the sheet music (not that he needed it, he knew the whole piece from heart), placing it on the small stand with reverence. He raised his violin, pressing the wood against his cheek. The familiar weight settled on his shoulder, and his fingers found the strings almost unconsciously, the thin steel rolling comfortably into the grooves on the tips. He almost didn’t feel the bow in his hand as his mind drifted; he wondered if Mari was here with him now, waiting for him to play. A smile snuck onto his face at the wishful thinking, and he raised his bow, setting it on the strings. After a few minutes of warming back up and shaking off rust, he turned his attention to the sheet music, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

 

He began.

 

His hands moved on their own, the muscle memory of years past still burned into his body; into his soul. The piece was one he had played hundreds, if not thousands of times in the last few years; one that had controlled every aspect of his life for an entire four. Now though, he controlled it; he controlled the rhythm, the cadence, how loud he played, how fast the piece was…

 

It still felt like something was missing.

 

He didn’t have anyone to play the piano, but even if he did, he wouldn’t want them to. He had taken the piano away from the piece, after all; it would be disingenuous for him to allow anyone to replace it; to replace her. It was ironic, then, that he felt like she was with him when he played it, cheering him on like she always had.

 

He missed her more than anything else he had lost.

 

The song was over before he knew it, and he was left alone once again. Tears pricked at his eyes as he slowly went about putting everything away, taking extreme care to leave everything in as perfect of a condition as he could. He closed his case, dropping the latches.

 

Then the dam broke.

 

Tears ran freely down his face, falling onto the carpet in droves. He didn’t bother holding anything in, his sobs quickly becoming soft wails, muffled by the sleeve of his jacket over his mouth. He… He missed her so much. 

 

He wished he could tell her he was sorry, that he could hear her voice, that he could watch her tease Hero shamelessly in the kitchen, intentionally getting flour all over his chest. He wished he could watch her take care of Aubrey, brushing her hair and braiding it, before taking it back down and trying a different style, laughing when the two came across a particularly rough or weird one. He wished he could watch her give Kel an affectionate noogie as he raced past, or how she would always have a hidden bottle of Orange Joe, just for him. He wished he could watch her help Basil take care of his plants, asking all kinds of questions about everything she saw, and listening with her full attention when he started to ramble. He wished he could feel her arms around him after a bad nightmare, that he could apologize for everything that he had done.

 

He’d never get any of that though…

 

And it was all his fault.

 

“It’s okay, little brother… let it all out.” A voice spoke, an ethereal echo coating its words.

 

He whipped around, turning towards the source of the voice, only to find nothing there. He wiped the tears from his face as his mouth pulled upwards into a small smile. 

 

Maybe… maybe she was watching over him.

 

——————————————

 

He opened his eyes, groggily sitting up in bed. A strange clanging noise had pulled him from his slumber, and it seemed to be coming from outside his room. He slipped out of bed, gingerly opening his door and peeking through with his good eye.

 

…there was nothing there.

 

He opened the door fully and stepped into the living room, doing his best to see in the (nearly) pitch black apartment. After a few seconds of futile resistance, he stumbled over to the light switch, flicking it on. What he saw was pretty much the last thing he had expected, which was saying something.

 

A black and white girl stood (technically floated) in the kitchen, rubbing her head and mumbling profanities. She was slightly transparent, just enough for Sunny to make out the outline of the fridge behind her, but not enough to see detail. The hallucination of Mari continued mulling about for a few seconds before finally seeming to notice Sunny, the boy standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, his brows furrowed in annoyance.

 

“What, Sunny? Did you suddenly get your body back after five years? I didn’t think so.” It snipped.

 

He raised an eyebrow, doing his best to hide the pang in his heart. This… was an extremely realistic hallucination. He wasn’t sure if he was impressed or pissed, but it was definitely one of the two. He sighed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion as he suddenly spoke.

 

“I know she’s dead. I know it’s my fault. You can disappear now.” He said sarcastically, realizing quickly where his feelings on the hallucination lay.

 

His spiel was one he had fine tuned over the last year, the words specifically chosen to dispel these hallucinations. It was almost funny how formulaic his mind had gotten; hallucinatory Mari appears, tell it he knows it’s dead and that he killed her, it disappears. He’d probably laugh if it wasn’t a representation of how horrifically traumatized he was.

 

He was pretty pissed, then, when the hallucination didn’t disappear, instead just looking at him in pity.

 

“This is the part where you go away.” He spat. It was… 2:54 AM on a Tuesday, he shouldn’t have to deal with this right now. Couldn’t his trauma just wait until morning?

 

“Sunny…” Hallucination Mari said, its gaze softening. Its eyes suddenly flew open and it zipped across the room, startling the boy with its speed. “Wait, you can see me? ” It cried, disbelief spread across its face.

 

“Yeah, and I’d really like it if you'd, ya know, poof” He mimed an explosion with his hands at the last word, taking a step away from the apparition. It looked genuinely hurt, its posture dipping slightly. 

 

“I really don’t have time to deal with you right now. I have stuff to do tomorrow, and since mom refuses to get me a therapist, I’m left to deal with my crippling trauma all by myself!” He laughed dryly at his situation; who else would be up at 3 AM talking to a hallucination of their trauma? Okay, maybe Basil, but he didn’t count. He wasn’t even sure why he was giving it the time of day; maybe it was the sleep deprivation, maybe it was the desperation, maybe…

 

Maybe it was how much it really did seem like her.

 

“Do you… do you think I’m not real?” She It asked, tilting its head.

 

“Of course you aren’t. People don’t just come back from the dead.” He retorted, turning away again and doing his best to hide the tremble in his voice. He walked to the light switch, flicking it off once again. “Now be a good trauma demon and go the hell away.”

 

She It was silent as he gently closed his door, pressing his back against it. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly slid down the door into a sitting position, eventually pulling his legs up to his chest. Tears ran down his face and his breath hitched as his composure shattered, its face burned into his mind.

 

It looked so… real.

 

It acted so real.

 

He…

 

It couldn’t…

 

…

 

No.

 

He couldn’t let himself believe in fantasies anymore.

 

He wiped the tears from his face, doing his best to get settled back into bed. Thankfully, his ability to fall asleep had remained untouched, the quiet night swallowing him whole once again.

Notes:

Few statements, for clarity.

Sunny is much more self aware in this fic, mostly because I think sarcastic Sunny is very fun.

Sunny doesn’t believe it’s Mari because he knows how much he hallucinated not even a year prior. To have him be like “Oh hey it Mari!” knowing all that would be disingenuous of me as an author.

This fic will be mostly fluffy stuff! The first few chapter have necessary angst as Sunny slowly realizes Mari is real.

The POV will be Sunny like, 99% of the time.

I think that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next chapter!

- Thena

Chapter 2: Apparently You Can Bring Your Sister Back To Life With A Violin

Notes:

I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG

FINALS KICKED MY ASS, THEN I GOT COVID, THEN I LOST ALL MY MOTIVATION CAUSE A FRIEND I ONLY GET TO SEE TWICE A YEAR WAS IN TOWN

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SOCIALS AND STUFF I GUESS:

athenichamster on Instagram
@AthenicHamster on Twitter

* BEEP *

 

* BEEP *

 

* BEEP *

 

* BEEP *

 

* BEEP *

 

Sunny slapped weakly at his alarm clock, groaning loudly as he finally shut it the hell up.

 

He lazily rolled out of bed (not without some considerable effort); throwing his blanket at the wall to signify his disgruntlement. Stupid wall. A ding from his phone saved the wall from further torment, the noirette turning his focus to the device.

 

The Boys (And Aubrey)

9:43 AM

 

OrnagJoey: SUNNNTTY

 

OrnagJoey: SUNNTUTYUY

 

OrnagJoey: SNSNNNUSUUUUUUUYYYYYYY

 

BunnyBitch: kel, what the FUCK are you spamming about at 10am

 

OrnagJoey: ITS SUNMYS BIRGTHSAY IN TWO DAUS

 

BunnyBitch: that doesn’t mean you have to be spamming the fuckign groupchat this realy in the mornign

 

ItsTheBagels: I vote that it does! ^.^

 

OrnagJoey: SEE BAEGEL AGERES!

 

BunnyBitch: how tf do you even mess up that bad

 

OrnagJoey: STFU HOE

 

BunnyBitch: whoe*

 

OrnagJoey: STFU WHOE

 

ItsTheBagels: Kel… it’s spelled “hoe”

 

OrnagJoey: THEN WHY DID

 

OrnagJoey: AUBD YOU MOTHERFUCEER

 

BunnyBitch: LMAOOOOO

 

Hero: Language. Also…

 

Hero: It’s 9:40, who isn’t awake by now?

 

OrnagJoey: BOOMER

 

BunnyBitch: boomer

 

Hero: …

 

ItsTheBagels: B…

 

Hero: Basil, please.

 

ItsTheBagels: Boomer. 0.0

 

OrnagJoey: DAHSDB HIUASDHIJASDFI

 

BunnyBitch: GET EM BAGEL

 

Sunny let out an audible chuckle at his friends’ antics before quickly realizing that Kel had a point; his birthday was in two days. He wondered if his mom would let him off housesitting duty to go back to Faraway for it…

 

Sunny >>> Mom

9:51 AM

 

Sunny: Is it alright if I visit Faraway for my birthday?

 

Sunny set his phone down while he waited for a response, stretching his arms out behind him as an involuntary groan of satisfaction was pulled from his mouth. For the next couple of minutes, he busied himself with his room; tidying up his dirty clothes hamper here, doing his routine maintenance on his violin there, until finally she responded.

 

10:12 AM

 

Mom: Sure thing Sunshine! I’ll be back from my work trip in the next couple of days, so just make sure the door is locked!

 

He groaned again (this time in annoyance) at the pet name. After all she had done to him (technically all she hadn’t done), she still thought that they were close enough for things like that. As far as he was concerned, she was a stranger who happened to let him live in her apartment.

 

No, he didn’t have a very high opinion on his mother, how could you tell?

 

“She really hasn’t improved very much, has she?” His sister said, leaning over his shoulder to peek at his phone.

 

Sunny nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden intruder, his phone catapulting unceremoniously across the room. He spun around at light speed, damn near teleporting to the wall behind him in his haste to get away from the sudden voice. In the center of his room, right where he had just been standing, was the specter he saw the night before, floating calmly with raised eyebrows. She pushed a lock of hair back behind her ear as she turned to face him, giving him a small wave and a wholesome smile.

 

“Hey, little brother!” She said happily, gently floating towards him once again.

 

“Okay, seriously. Why are you still here?” He replied, venom dripping from his voice.

 

She frowned, looking genuinely a little hurt at his reaction. His heart panged with guilt at the look on her face, and for just a moment his mask slipped, his expression softening. It wouldn’t hurt him to play along for a little while… right?

 

He just wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand seeing her so sad.

 

He had already done enough wrong by her.

 

“I-”

 

She held out her hand to interrupt him, puffing her cheeks out in the process. She put on a clearly-fake angry face, suddenly placing her hands on her hips.

 

“I. don’t. wanna. hear it.” She said, annunciating each word and turning away from him with a loud ‘hmph!’.

 

Sunny couldn’t help the small release of air at his sister’s the hallucination’s antics, unintentionally drawing its attention again.

 

“Hey!” It She complained, puffing her cheeks again in indignation. Sunny wasn’t able to stop the laughter this time, starting as a small giggle but quickly growing into a loud belly laugh. For the first time in a long while, he felt… happy. Genuinely happy, not the fake smile he often wore on his good days, and certainly not the half-assed one on his bad days. He wasn’t sure why, but he was captivated by the specter; the way it acted, its voice, its emotions, none of those had been captured to this extent by even his worst hallucinations… but here? He felt almost compelled to believe in her real-ness. It was nice to believe in something like that again.

 

It took a minute for the onyx-haired boy to calm down, catching his breath and wiping the tears from his eyes. Whether they were from his earlier fear and anger, or the sudden joy he had felt, he had no idea.

 

“So… are you coming back to Faraway with me?” He said, suddenly serious. Her face lit up at the very mention of the town, so he figured he probably knew the answer even before she spoke.

 

“You’re going back to Faraway?!?” She cried, her sisterly composure shattered. He was pretty sure he saw stars in her eyes, but he was also pretty sure he was hallucinating, so he took it with a grain of salt.

 

“My birthday is in two days, and I refuse to spend it alone in the city.” He replied. Mari’s expression softened as sadness crept into his tone; it was partially her fault, after all. If she hadn’t been so hard on him…

 

Sunny felt her softly place her hand on his shoulder, the ghost gently spinning him around to face her. Tears threatened to run down his face as their eyes met, and for just a moment, all Sunny could see was his sister. The same sister who had always comforted him when he had a nightmare, the sister that had carried him home from the park, the sister who had saved him from drowning, and the sister who had met her fate at the bottom of the stairs. Mari Suzuki floated in front of him, not some hallucination fueled by guilt. He wasn’t sure how, or even how he was sure, but she was back.

 

Mari was back.

 

He nearly tackled her in a hug as the long held-back tears streaked down his cheeks, the boy sobbing loudly into his sister’s shoulder amidst a waterfall of endless apologies. His throat was sore by the time he finally calmed down, wiping the rest of the tears from his face with a nearby kleenex. His sister sat down on the bed, patting the place next to her with a smile. Sunny wasted no time in sitting down next to her, dropping his head in her lap with a deep sigh. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while until Mari spoke.

 

“I’m sorry, Sunny.”

 

He rolled over to make eye contact with her, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. What did she have to be sorry about?

 

“I’m sorry I pushed you so hard during the months leading up to the recital. I was so stressed from cram classes, and our parents, and trying to keep a functional, healthy relationship with Hero, and everything else, and I just… took it out on you.” She started, taking a deep breath, “I took you for granted, and… you didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve anything that’s happened in the last five years, and it’s all- *hic*”

 

Her monologue was interrupted by a sudden waterfall of tears, falling to just above Sunny’s face before disappearing in a sparkle of light. He quickly sat up, pulling her into a hug of his own. Her tears should have soaked into his shirt, but he felt nothing through the fabric as she sobbed endlessly; the elder sibling taking their turn to grieve. He felt useless as she cried in his arms, until an idea hit him. Mari would always tell jokes when he was sad, it would distract him enough to get him to stop crying, and from there, he would feel better.

 

“I literally killed you, so I’m not sure you can get much worse than that, Mari.”

 

His sister instantly fell silent, leaning back with a look of utter bafflement on her face.

 

“Where the fuck did that come from Sunny?” She questioned, clearly shocked at his attempt at dark humor.

 

“I mean… you always told jokes when I was sad, so…” He rubbed his neck in embarrassment, a habit he had picked up from the Riveras over the years.

 

Mari’s response was simply: cackling.

 

She laughed so loudly that he was sure he was going to get some noise complaints, which on one hand would be annoying, and on the other, would bother his mom, which he was very fine with. He decided it’d be fine to let her go. Probably. Plus, she needed it!

 

He simply smiled at her display, unspeakably glad that he could hear her voice again.

 

“Oh! About going back to Faraway, do you think they’ll be able to see you?” He suddenly asked, unable to stop his curiosity. Mari’s response was belated (due to the aforementioned cackling fit), but the girl did stop to ponder the question for a moment, placing her thumb and forefinger on her chin in the stereotypical ‘thinking’ pose.

 

“I hope so. I refuse to miss out on prime Hero teasing real estate.” She replied, her signature smug grin appearing on her face. The familiarity of it got a chuckle out of him, and the boy began to fish his phone out from behind his bed (where he had launched it a while prior).

 

“Just in case they can’t…”

 

The Boys (And Aubrey)

11:46 AM

 

BunnyBitch: kel, you acnnot eat laundrey detergent

 

OrnagJoey: BUT THE FORGITTEB SNOE

 

Hero: Kel, for the love of God don’t eat detergent.

 

OrnagJoey: NEVWERRRR

 

BunnyBitch: ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Hero: Kel, how have you already caused this much grief for Aubrey? I’ve been gone for like, 17 minutes.

 

BunnyBitch: mfer counted the exact minutes he’s been gone to make a point

 

BunnyBitch: respect tbh

 

Hero: Basil, please help me.

 

ItsTheBagels: Kel, please don’t eat the laundry detergent? UwU

 

OrnagJoey: …

 

Hero: …

 

BunnyBitch: …

 

0mori: …

 

OrnagJoey: SUNNUNUYIUYITYITYIUYTIYYYYYY

 

BunnyBitch: ayyyyyyyyyyy sunny wuzzup

 

ItsTheBagels: Hi Sunny! ∖(＾-＾) ∕

 

Hero: Hey Sunny!

 

0mori: hey Hero, Aubrey, Kel

 

BunnyBitch: DAMSLKDMLDFNM

 

ItsTheBagels: What about me?????? (ↄ˚ ˃⌓˂ )ↄ

 

0mori: hey Hero, Aubrey, Kel

 

ItsTheBagels: (ↄ˚ ˃⌓˂ )ↄ(ↄ˚ ˃⌓˂ )ↄ(ↄ˚ ˃⌓˂ )ↄ

 

Hero: Say hi to Basil, Sunny. I can hear him screaming from my house.

 

OrnagJoey: thats not a joke he has potent lungs

 

0mori: hi Basil

 

ItsTheBagels: [^◡^]

 

BunnyBitch: you thought it was bad? try literally being one room over.

 

BunnyBitch: one time i ran in there at like 5am and he was wailing because his sunflower lost a single petal

 

BunnyBitch: ONE

 

BunnyBitch: PETAL

 

ItsTheBagels: THATS ENOUGH PLEASE

 

0mori: can I talk plz.

 

OrnagJoey: OF COURSE BESTUIE

 

BunnyBitch: thats the closest youve gotten to a full, correct sentence

 

OrnagJoey: SHUT

 

0mori: anyways, im either hallucinating really, really hard, or i’ve got the coolest present ever when i get back to Faraway

 

OrnagJoey: WHAT ID IT

 

Hero: I’m more concerned about the hallucinations, are you safe physically?

 

0mori: yeah i’m fine, just a very persistent one this time. follows me around and keeps annoying me

 

0mori: is currently pulling on my hair to make a point

 

0mori: bastard adult

 

BunnyBitch: …bro wtf

 

OrnagJoey: DO YOUY NEED TO SEE A DOCRET???????

 

0mori: nah i’ll be good. either i’ll sleep it off or i’ll die i guess lmao

 

Hero: That’s not okay!

 

BunnyBitch: its a mood tho

 

OrnagJoey: SAME

 

Hero: What the fuck is wrong with all of you.

 

Mari audibly gasped over Sunny’s shoulder at the profanity, overdramatically placing her hand over her mouth like a dainty princess.

 

“How dare he use such words! I’ll have to scold him when I get back!” She cried, mock fainting behind the boy. Sunny chuckled, but his attention was drawn to something else on his screen. Something that’d be a much, much harder conversation.

 

Basil >>> Sunny

12:04 PM

 

Basil: It’s about Mari, isn’t it.

Notes:

I promise (not) that it won't take this long next time.

Promise. (not promising that actually)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! I'm sorry if it was too short for your liking, or if the "Sunny believes Mari" thing was too fast; I just really was stuck on if there was a way to prolong that, and I don't think I've got the chops for that kinda maneuver with this story.

I'll see you all next time!

- Athena

Chapter 3: Invisible (Wo)Man

Notes:

Little longer than usual, but I’m sure nobody is mad about that.

Basil >>> Sunny

12:04 PM

 

Basil: It’s about Mari, isn’t it.

 

Sunny didn’t even have time to type a response before he was interrupted by a call.

 

“Yes, Bage-“

 

“Sunny! A-Are you o-okay?”

 

Sunny sighed deeply, pinching at the bridge of his nose. He loved Basil (as a brother, he wasn’t sure he could see him as more than that given their history), he really did, but god did he have a tendency to overreact. Though, with their history; he didn’t necessarily blame the boy. Rehab had been hell for both of them.

 

“I’m alright, Bas.” He replied, trying not to let his exasperation deep into his words.

 

“A-Are you sure? D-Do I need to come over there?”

 

“No, Basil. I’m okay.”

 

There was a few seconds of silence before either of them spoke, eventually broken by the boy on the other side of the phone.

 

“Okay… I just get worried, what with what happened last summer and the hospital and-“

 

“Basil. You know we already forgave you for all that right?”

 

Another few seconds of silence.

 

“…y-yeah.”

 

“If anything, you should be the one forgiving me. I killed Mari then left you alone with the guilt for four years.” Sunny said, lying on the ground and staring at the ceiling. Basil’s response was an uneasy silence.

 

“It doesn’t help that the first thing we did once we both knew what had happened again was to brawl to the death.” Sunny continued.

 

“I-I’m sorr-“

 

“Basil. It’s okay. ”

 

Yet another pause.

 

“A-Alright… I’ll let you go now.”

 

“Thanks Bas. I’ll see you soon, alright?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

*beep*

 

*beep*

 

Sunny sighed again, dropping his phone on the floor next to him. He wished Basil could see things from his perspective sometimes. Things would be so much easier. He did feel a little bad for kinda blowing Basil off; in any other situation he would’ve sat with the blond and walked him down until he was calm again, but this wasn’t any other situation. He needed to pack, clean up the house, and worry about his seemingly freshly resurrected formerly-dead sister.

 

“That didn’t sound like it went well.” Aforementioned sister said suddenly, poking her spectral head into his vision.

 

Sunny did his best to hide how hard he jumped at her sudden appearance, playing it off with a loud cough as he sat up.

 

“Really, Sunny? A cough?” Mari teased, falling into a laughing fit. He pretended to ignore her as she laughed so hard that she accidentally floated a backflip; in reality, he was embarrassed, yes, but his sister was back, so he really wasn’t that bothered about it.

 

He did already miss the silence of solitude (he lied to himself).

 

A few minutes later he had gotten his belongings packed up (with Mari’s help as he almost forgot his violin) and was on the way to the station. The bustle of the city was something that he had grown increasingly happy about; he loved the way that he felt like nobody when he was lost in the huge crowds, and the tendency that big cities have to have the wildest conversations ever as he passed by. There was this one time that he walked past a dude who was talking to his friend, barely catching the “And they were roommates” the guy whispered in his friend’s ear. He had to spend nearly half an hour catching his breath after that.

 

The walk to the station was surprisingly uneventful, though it did worry Sunny. It seemed like nobody could see his sister as she floated along, ruffling people’s hair and unzipping backpacks. He had asked her to stop, but in her own words, “I’m a ghost, I might as well behave like one.”

 

Oddly, they didn’t just seem to not notice her, but seemed adamant on refusing that anything she did was her. There was one time she took someone’s beanie off, dangled it in front of him, then threw it across the crosswalk. The dude literally blamed it on the wind.

 

After about half an hour (and a lot of poltergeist behavior), the duo reached the station, rolling through the security check with little issue. Mari once again decided that her job was to be as much of a nuisance to train TSA as possible (not that he blamed her), immediately hitting every button on the security panel after Sunny had left the area. He only realized she was gone from the blaring noise of the security gates.

 

They eventually (somehow without dying or being arrested) managed to get on the train, the two settling into a comfortable silence as the scenery began to zip by.

 

Sunny couldn’t help as his attention was drawn back to his sister, again and again. There was a part of him that still didn’t believe she was real, but that couldn’t be right…

 

Right?

 

She was so real, so tangible and so much more detailed than his usual hallucinations, but it would explain the strange reactions everyone was having if he was just having one really huge hallucination. In fact, that would make more logical sense than his sister coming back to life seemingly out of nowhere. Sunny was suddenly struck with the rare urge to initiate conversation, turning to his sister (who seemed to be very entranced by the scenery flying by).

 

“Mari?” He tested, getting her attention. The girl reluctantly turned to face him, tearing her eyes away from the window.

 

“Mhm?” She hummed in response.

 

“What was the afterlife like?”

 

There was a pause before she sighed, her head drooping downwards. Sunny was worried for a second, until she suddenly threw her head back, groaning loudly.

 

“So. Boring. ” She loudly complained. Sunny chuckled quietly as she continued, the elder beginning to swing her arms around in exasperation. “When I wasn’t trying to keep you barely sane in your dreams, I was just floating around our house, bored out of my mind. As it turns out, being a ghost means you can’t do stuff like eat and sleep, so I spent most of my time just playing piano while you slept until you ran into me again.”

 

“So that time in the piano room…?” He questioned, connecting the dots in his head.

 

“Yeah, that was me. One of the few times you were able to see me, though I’m not certain why. Maybe because you weren’t quite lucid.” She replied, returning to staring out of the window.

 

The train suddenly lurched, beginning to slow down in preparation for its stop. Sunny grabbed his things, watching as Mari slowly began to clip into the chair in front of him; she clearly didn’t notice until her head was submerged, at which point she shot out of it, returning to a sitting position. He raised his eyebrows, a smug smile on his face as she smoothed her dress out, coughing into her palm in an attempt to seem nonchalant.

 

“Really Mari? A cough? He teased, his smugness intensifying exponentially with his victory of wits.

 

“Shut it.” She began, turning her whole body to the side so as to not see him. “It’s not my fault you’ve only ridden in a vehicle like twice in the last five years. Keeping up with a train is hard!”

 

Her complaints raised a question in his mind, one he quickly voiced to her.

 

“Do you have to manually keep up with the train?” He asked, confused (and a little impressed, though he would never let her see it).

 

“If I get too far from you, I get yanked in your direction. It’s really uncomfortable, so I’ve been floating at the speed of the train since it got to speed.” She replied.

 

He nodded, satisfied with his answer. He did, however, make a mental note not to piss her off. He didn’t need to get body checked by someone going the speed of a train.

 

Speaking of the aforementioned large steel vehicle generally used in public transportation and transportation of cargo, it had stopped. Sunny (and his dead(?) sister) quickly gathered up Sunny’s things, working their way off of the train and onto the awaiting platform. Sunny had conveniently forgotten to text his friends that he had arrived, so he had some time before they realized he was in town. He definitely didn’t leave them in the dark on purpose. Toooootally not.

 

The siblings took their time walking from the station to Kel and Hero’s house, allowing themselves to soak in the sweet sweet scent of Faraway Town; as nice as the bustle of the city was for his nerves, it smelled atrocious comparatively. Besides, Faraway had its own way of calming him; the calm surroundings and general lack of people was just as serene as the hustling crowds of the city. Mari in particular was fond of pointing out every single person, having somehow memorized the names of all of them. She seemed to be enjoying being around the town again; in her own words: “You didn’t leave the house for four years, and then I only got to see the town for three days before you moved away. Let me enjoy this.”

 

The duo eventually arrived at the Rivera household, Sunny doing the honors of knocking on the front door. After a few seconds of waiting, the two exchanged a nervous look, both asking the unspoken question of the hour.

 

What if they don’t see her?

 

The door suddenly opened, the man behind it sporting his prolific brown hair, the tips swept to the side in a perpetual, gravity defying dance, the forces of his magnificence and the laws of physics in a constant war for dominance. The man’s name?

 

Hero.

 

“Sunny, why are you just standing there staring at me?” He said, leaning on the doorframe.

 

Ah, he was daydreaming again. Hero raised an eyebrow at him, his gaze not leaving him for a second. Sunny knew that was significant, but he couldn’t remember why…

 

“C’mon in, ya goofball. I’ve got something cooking, so I need to get back to that, but welcome back! It’s good to see you.” Hero turned around, striding quickly back into the kitchen. Sunny only just noticed at this point the apron around his neck; apparently his mind had been too fixated on his magnificent hair to notice that detail. Oh well, he and Mari would-

 

Oh shit Mari.

 

He whipped around, finding his sister with his gaze. The floor of his stomach dropped out at her expression, the boy instantly moving to his sister’s side, pulling her in for a hug. Her skin was painfully cold to the touch, but Sunny didn’t care, simply hissing the pain away.

 

“He… He couldn’t see me…” She said, looking almost shell shocked at the revelation. 

 

“It’s okay Mari… it’ll be okay…” He whispered, lying through his teeth. He wasn’t sure what to do now, they had just been staking their hopes on the gang just, being able to see her. Really, the only thing they could do is move forwards and hope that something would change.

 

“I… I’m gonna go for a bit…” Mari said, her voice barely above a whisper. Immediately after Sunny’s nodded response, she quickly dematerialized, disappearing entirely to the onyx-haired boy. The first time she had done that it had given him a heart attack; he had needed to take a second to collect himself even after she reappeared, explaining the situation hastily.

 

“Sunny! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I did it out of habit…”

 

“… what did you do?”

 

“I can let go of my physical body and float around without one. It takes some effort to maintain a physical form, so I use it to rest.”

 

That had been her explanation. He still didn’t like it, but it wouldn’t be fair to deny her the comfort of solitude right now. The boy grabbed his bag, entering the Rivera house and closing the door behind him with a soft thud. A wonderful smell emanated from the kitchen, and Sunny couldn’t help but poke his head into the room, a curious expression on his face. Hero was bent down in front of the oven, peeking through the glass window intently. After a few seconds he rose to his full height, stretching his back with a loud groan. He seemed to notice Sunny in the doorway, turning around to face the younger boy.

 

“Ah, Sunny! Before you run off to go unpack, do you want me to let everyone know you’re back in town? I’m assuming you didn’t just leave me out of the loop, given that Kel hasn’t blown the front door down yet.” Hero asked, slipping on a pair of oven mitts.

 

“Nah, fuck ‘em.”

 

Hero let out a loud, sudden laugh, hunching over and holding his stomach as he leaned on the counter for support.

 

Oops. Thought out loud again.

 

“Well, if you change your mind,” he started, struggling to gather his wits again, “let me know. Kel can make it here from the plaza in 79.52 seconds on a good day.”

 

Sunny stared at Hero incredulously as the brunette gradually resumed his chefly duties; he knew it was rude to stare, but who just knew stuff like that?

 

Hero’s strange memory aside, Sunny was on a mission. He had played the duet perfectly yesterday, true, but in the words of his sister, “No amount of practice is ever enough.”

 

Though, that sentiment did get her killed.

 

The journey to Kel and Hero’s room was long and arduous (less than 10 seconds), and Sunny found himself faced with many insurmountable obstacles (bag heavy), but eventually the brave knight found his way to his treasure. Sunny did his best to ignore how hand he was breathing from carrying his suitcase up the stairs, plopping down on Kel’s bed to catch his breath. He could unpack now, but he really needed to practice. He was going to play the duet for them, and it needed to be perfect.

 

It had to be perfect.

 

He retrieved his violin from its case, not even bothering to find the sheet music somewhere in his backpack. If he had it, it’d be for semantics; he’d known every note for years now. A quick few warm up exercises later, he readied his bow, placing it on the strings with unearthly reverence.

 

He drew the bow across the strings, and it began.

 

—

Hero

—

 

Hero was mid-retrieval of the lasagna when he heard a familiar sound, though it wasn’t one he had heard in a long, long time. Five years, in fact. It took all of his willpower to gently set the tray on the counter, closing the oven as gently as he could so as to not disturb the sounds emanating from his room. He lasted 3 and a half minutes.

 

Then it began.

 

Whatever was in his hands suddenly felt numb as he tore the apron off, racing out of the kitchen at speeds he hadn’t felt since the day at the lake the summer prior. His feet carried him up the stairs three steps at a time, skidding to a stop in front of his room. He quieted his breathing as much as he could, leaning an ear up to the door to hear better.

 

A song was being played, one that Hero was intimately familiar with. Hero couldn’t help his fingers as they tried to play the accompaniment, tapping on his legs idly as his heart pounded in his ears to the beat. There was a point in time where just hearing the song would have made his heart race with excitement; excitement that only felt magnified when he finally got to meet up with his love after their practice.

 

It was their duet.

 

But now…

 

It was just a broken boy, playing half of a melody that’d never see completion.

 

He didn’t even notice his hand twisting the doorknob; didn’t even notice as he stepped into the room, staring on in complete awe. The song rang in his ears, a testament to Sunny’s willpower, and a requiem for the girl he had loved.

 

The song finally drew to a close, the onyx-haired boy pulling his bow across the strings in the final few drawn out notes. Hero felt something resonate in his chest, though he wasn’t quite sure what it was. Sunny didn’t notice the brunette as he stared on, watching the younger boy place his violin back in his case, seemingly satisfied for now. The soft sounds of the violin sounded deafening in his ears, his heart longing for something to fill them. He almost didn’t notice the figure behind Sunny.

 

Almost .

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

“M-… Mari?”

Notes:

Cliffhanger!

I love this story, and I love writing these characters. We’re almost to the soft squishy stuff, so hang on if you’re waiting for that!

As always, I hope you enjoyed! Leave any comments in the comments! (L for redundancy)

Have a wonderful day/evening!

P.S.: This is the fifth time I’ve uploaded this chapter due to technical difficulties. I am in Spain without the S.

- Athena

Chapter 4: I Love You

The cold nipped at Hero’s nose, the snow crunched under his feet, and an angel ran around in the midst of his friends. The angel’s name?

 

Mari Suzuki.

 

They had been friends since forever ago, and at some point in the years since they met, they became practically inseparable. It helped that their younger siblings got along; Kel was energetic enough to pull Sunny out of his shell, and Sunny was smart enough to ensure Kel never got into too much trouble. That’s not to say he never got himself into situations he couldn’t get himself out of; there were a number of times Hero had taken the blame for a broken vase or window around Faraway, despite the fact that it was well known who actually did it.

 

Hero was a loving kind of guy, not afraid to give parts of himself to everyone he met, always wearing a charming smile and a reassuring tone. He excelled in academics, the fine arts, and everything else he got himself into; the wall of trophies on his wall served as testament to that much, at least. However… Hero wasn’t without weakness. He had two, specifically.

 

The first was that he took on too much for any normal person to handle, in every aspect of his life. He had always strove to excel at whatever he did, always needing to be number one. This, understandably, led to lots of late nights spent practicing something or another, not spending time with his friends. He wasn’t bitter about it, per se, but there were times he would find himself wishing he had just a little push; something to force him to take the first step to enjoying himself. More often than not, those pushes would come from his other weakness, the aforementioned angel in front of him. Her long, silky black hair fluttered lightly in the wind, her beanie doing little to keep it together. Her eyes sparked in the dim winter light, the little bulbs of curiosity darting around, following their brothers and Aubrey, always ensuring they never got too rowdy. Her smile was brighter than the sun, he decided, doing his best to silence his footsteps as he approached.

 

Everything she did left greatness in her wake; plants bloomed better, people smiled wider, even the weather seemed tamer when she was around.

 

She was, in every way, perfect.

 

She stepped back from the younger group of friends, smiling as their snowman quickly became a snow weapon, the poor guy being torn apart for prime snowball material. Hero wasn’t watching them, of course, as he was about to execute his master plan…

 

“Boo!” He suddenly shouted, throwing his arms around the girl, wrapping her in his embrace.

 

She jumped slightly, quickly composing herself before spinning around in his arms. Her hand instantly flew up to his face, and her fingers latched onto his cheeks with as much force as they could muster in the cold.

 

“You rascal.” She admonished, pulling on his cheeks. The cold had left a light dusting of pink on her face, almost unnoticeable on her pale skin. Hero took his opportunity, capitalizing on her being so close and dropping his lips onto her forehead, pecking her lightly. She gasped lightly, squirming uncontrollably in his arms.

 

“Your rascal.” He replied, flashing his signature smile. She turned away, puffing out her cheeks as her blush deepened.

 

“It’s no fun when you do it…” She pouted, crossing her arms. Hero’s response was to simply pull her closer, drawing the girl’s head into a resting place on his chest. They stood like that for a moment, listening to the giggles of the other kids in a content silence, both letting out a deep breath. They only felt this way around each other; they only could relax when they were together, when they were holding one another in their embrace. Hero leaned down, putting his lips next to her ear, eliciting a giggle from the onyx-haired girl.

 

“I love you.” They whispered to each other, hiding their words under their breath.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hero laid on the couch at Basil’s house, Mari nestled into his neck at his side. He was supposed to be watching the other kids, but all he could see was the girl beside him, her eyes lightly lidded and her breathing calm. He couldn’t pull his gaze away from her sleeping figure; from the angel he was currently sharing a couch with; from the girl he had come to realize he loved more than life.

 

A particularly loud thunk finally pulled his attention away from her, however reluctantly, and he heard her breathing suddenly hitch. Her head moved ever so slightly upwards, her eyes opening an almost-indistinguishable amount as she slowly regained her senses. Hero placed one hand on the top of her head, gently guiding it back down to his chest before turning to the rest of the kids, placing a finger on his lips to shush them.

 

The perpetrator of said crime against Mari was, unsurprisingly, his own brother. Said brother proceeded to blow a raspberry at Hero, grabbing Sunny’s hand before making a mad dash out of the room. The two remaining, Aubrey and Basil, watched on in amusement, their attention eventually turning back to Hero. Two pairs of sympathetic eyes was all he got from that duo before they resumed their task: building the Lego garden Basil had gotten earlier. The aforementioned blond suddenly turned back to Hero, whispering as quietly as he could.

 

“T-Thank you Hero. This has been the b-best day of m-my life.”

 

Hero turned his gaze back to the once-again sleeping girl beside him, whispering his response both to her and the boy across the room.

 

“Thank Mari. She organized it all, down to the number of party hats.” He paused, smiling fondly at Kel’s antics earlier that day. “She somehow knew Kel would pull something like that.”

 

Neither of the other two responded besides a few light giggles, so Hero assumed the conversation was over. He might’ve been a little hyperbolic with what he had said, given that he did his fair share of set-up, but he hadn’t been lying when he said that she had organized it all. He was continually amazed by her foresight, along with her ability to somehow predict their brothers’ next moves before even they knew them. She was, without a doubt, the most amazing person he knew. In fact, he would go as far as to call her

 

Perfect.

 

Little did he know, she was still awake, now blushing profusely at his praise.

 

“I love you.” They whispered to each other, hiding their words under their breath.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The trip had been the best time of his entire life, even if he did get caught napping on Mari’s stomach once. The amount of teasing he had endured over the last 5 hours would kill any normal person. He was, however, no normal person.

 

He was the luckiest man alive.

 

The sparklers from a few minutes prior had finally begun to burn out, their twinkles ebbing into the dark night sky, becoming one with the stars above.

 

That was how she made him feel, he realized. Like he was walking among the infinite expanse of stars, dancing an infinite waltz with the goddess presiding over the world. The goddess he mentioned walked among them, even now, wearing a round, soft face, and silky black hair, neatly covered by his jacket. He would be flustered if she wasn’t so cute. The sand filled the gaps between his toes as the waves washed over his ankles, the small amounts of sea-flora that had been washed up nipping at his toes. The goddess stood next to him, their hands locked at their sides as they stared out over the ocean; over her domain. She really was the greatest thing he had ever seen, more than fit for the title of goddess. To him, she was immortal, a being far beyond his comprehension as a mortal, and far, far out of his league.

 

Yet, she had chosen him to be friends with.

 

Friends. That’s all they were.

 

Despite how many times they had held hands like this, neither had ever managed to say those three magic words to the other. Tonight was no exception. The moon shone over the pair as they both turned slightly away, masking their voice with the waves.

 

“I love you.” They whispered to each other, hiding their words under their breath.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She was perfect.

 

She was supposed to be his forever.

 

Then why…

 

Why would she do this…?

 

Why…

 

Why would she leave him alone…?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Visiting her was the hardest thing he has ever done. The sun shone down on the group as he kneeled in front of her gravestone, placing a hand on the dirt above her. The grass tickled his palm, but he didn’t notice, his eyes already becoming wet with tears.

 

“Hey Mari... I'm sorry I haven't visited you yet.”

 

Why was he here, above her?

 

“I was being selfish, I think... It's been so long, but I still miss you more than ever.” 

 

She was supposed to be better than him.

 

“I'm... I'm sorry I wasn't there.”

 

She was supposed to be more than him.

 

“I'm just... really sorry…”

 

Then why…

 

Why was he here, where she could never be?

 

Why, Mari?

 

…

 

Why did you leave me?

 

Why did you leave us ?

 

I would’ve done anything for you…

 

I would’ve held up the sky, if you had asked…

 

I would’ve parted the seas, if you had asked…

 

So why…

 

Why did you never say anything?

 

The sun shined brighter when you were here, Mari. Everything did.

 

“I love you.” He whispered to her, hiding his words under his breath. He didn’t bother to wait for a response.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There was a boy, stricken with grief.

 

In front of him was a girl.

 

Not an angel.

 

Not a goddess.

 

A girl.

 

A girl who made a lot of mistakes.

 

A girl who paid far too much for them.

 

A girl who he had loved more than anything.

 

A girl who had made everything better, just by being around.

 

The boy stepped forwards.

 

The girl responded in tandem.

 

Their arms fit perfectly around one another, as if they were made for each other. As if they were never separated.

 

The world around them vanished, leaving just the two.

 

The girl leaned back.

 

The boy responded in tandem.

 

“I love you.” They said to each other.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed. It’s a little different from my normal writing style, but I hope it worked.

Thank you all for the 1000 hits, it means the world.

Next time, Hero and the siblings set out for their friends.

Until then,

-Athena

Chapter 5: He Who Would Defy Fate

Notes:

Kel chapter Kel chapter!

—

Kel

—

 

Swish

 

Kel snatched the ball before it could roll too far, slowly making his way back to the three point line once again.

 

Swish

 

The summer sun beat down on his neck, the sensitive skin only given a slight respite by his hair, now grown down to his shoulders and coated in sweat.

 

Swish

 

The ball felt at home in the boy’s hands, as if they were made to fit together. His fingers knew the surface of the ball from heart; every crack, smooth spot, and line recorded into his muscle memory.

 

Swish

 

See, despite what most people seemed to think, Kel wasn’t stupid.

 

Swish

 

He was a little dense, maybe, and certainly pretty bad with implications, but stupid?

 

Swish

 

Absolutely not.

 

Swish

 

However… he continued to act that way. He put up a façade of a goofy, unshakeable airhead who couldn’t read a situation to save his life. 

 

Now, why would he do that?

 

Swish

 

If you caught him off guard and asked him, he might give you a real answer. He’d say something like “Oh, it’s just how I really am!” and brush you off, quickly changing the topic to something other than himself.

 

Swish

 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like talking about himself (he actually didn’t mind that), it was simply that he would only answer that question with a half-truth. Kel knew he wasn’t a good liar, so he had devised a way to get people off his back without spilling his guts to them.

 

Swish

 

He’d tell people something that wasn’t entirely false, but wasn’t entirely true either. It was easier to keep people off his back that way, and it tended to satisfy anyone who could see through him. There was just one problem…

 

Swish

 

After what happened with Mari, there was only one person who always saw through Kel; one person who could always get him to open up and share his mind. Kel wasn’t even sure how it happened, but he somehow found himself spilling his worries to his friend every time things got a little too much to handle on his own.

 

Swish

 

Sunny had been there for Kel for most of his life, which made it all the more tragic when Mari hung herself. His biggest regret in his life, even to this day, was not being there for his younger friend. The night they found her body was still burned into his mind; the vacant, empty eyes of his best friend haunting his dreams.

 

Swish

 

Then Sunny disappeared. For four years, not a single soul other than Kel saw the younger of the Suzuki siblings. Only Kel even knew he was still alive, and even that knowledge was fleeting; a silhouette in the window for a fraction of a second, the occasional movement of the blinds in his room, the rare few notes played on the grand piano in his home.

 

Swish

 

He knocked every day for months. Sunny never came out.

 

Swish

 

At some point he gave up. He was still ashamed of it, but even he couldn’t bear to hope any longer after he lost count of the number of times his knocking went without response.

 

Swish

 

Then everything changed. A for sale sign appeared in Sunny’s lawn, and all of a sudden he felt his long-burnt-out hope renew, like a trick candle. He was telling the truth when he said he hadn’t expected Sunny to come out that day.

 

Swish

 

Those three days running around Faraway with his best friend were some of the best in his life. Watching his long lost buddy scampering around the town doing every single favor he possibly could was something he still looked fondly back on, even a year later.

 

Swish

 

However, not everything good lasts forever. He should’ve seen something coming between those two, given how they had been interacting. He hadn’t, though, and he had cost Sunny an eye for it.

 

The ball rolled around the rim lazily, his throw having  faltered by just a beat.

 

Swish

 

It fell through, and Kel couldn’t help but let out a fry laugh about the irony. The connection to how his life had fallen apart again was automatic. He remembered the day in the hospital maybe better than any other in his life.

 

Clang

 

The ball bounced off the rim, rolling across the court slowly, stopping at his feet. He suddenly realized he was panting, unsure of whether it was the heat, his thoughts, or the exertion. Regardless, it was clear it was time to take a break. He rolled the ball with his foot, flicking it up into the crook of his arm as he walked over to his stuff, tossed haphazardly on the side of the court.

 

He dropped down next to it with a grunt, snatching his water bottle. Silently thanking his brother for the amazing birthday gift, he took a huge gulp from the still-ice-cold water. He wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but it kept his water cold even with the sweltering heat all around him. He wasn’t gonna ask questions that didn’t need answers, though.

 

His mind drifted as he idly sipped at his water, eventually arriving back at his previous train of thought. The events leading up to and taking place at the hospital were seared into his brain even more than the night they found Mari, even to the point where he could still remember the exact smell of the air, and the sticky, greasy feeling his whole body had as a symptom of the heat combined with the stress. Aubrey hadn’t looked much better. Hero had looked even worse.

 

It was unfortunate that the first time Sunny had spoken in four years was to tell them that he killed Mari and was complicit in hanging her corpse. Mari would probably be mad at him for his bluntness there, but that was what had happened, and Kel refused to describe it as anything other than that. Basil and Sunny had really done some fucked up stuff that day.

 

But despite all that…

 

Hero had started smiling more, and more earnestly. He had depressive episodes less and less as time went on, and he visited Mari more often, coming home looking better instead of worse.

 

Aubrey had softened up some, even admitting to him how she saw him and Hero as brother figures to her. She’d never admit it, and she sure as hell made it seem the opposite, but he knew she valued their company. She’d even gotten the Hooligans to calm down a little with their minor crimes, going as far as to discourage Kim and Vance’s shoplifting endeavors.

 

Basil had begun opening up again, slowly working on his stutter and becoming comfortable in the presence of the group. He and Aubrey had become nearly inseparable again, even despite everything between them, and he and Sunny had gotten close once again, despite everything between them .

 

Sunny started speaking to them again. Apparently getting the truth off his back allowed him to inherit the Suzuki sass, since he was a snarky, witty bastard when he wanted to be. Occasionally, Kel would catch him in a mood, and the noirette would ramble about some art project that he was working on, or some furry commission that made him wanna claw his eyes out. 

 

Despite all that though, he was still the same quiet, caring kid that Kel knew him as from all those years ago, never one to shy away from helping his friends where he could. He would always listen over the phone as Kel ranted about his parents, or someone on the team, or a girl that was being mean, or how one of the Hooligans tried to mess with him, or even mundane things like a new issue of Captain Spaceboy or Sweetheart. Sunny would always know when to give a soft hum to let Kel know he was listening, never interrupting with anecdotes or stories of his own unless prompted. Kel couldn’t help but feel… seen around Sunny.

 

He’d even go as far as to say that he didn’t know if he could live without the boy anymore. He certainly didn’t want to think about it, even if there was certainly a world where that happened. Sorry, other universe Kel.

 

“Hey, Kel!” A voice called out to him, pulling him from his Socratic musings. Kel’s head tilted up enough to spot the invader of his train of thought, a man known as none other than his own brother.

 

Betrayed!

 

“Wuzzup Hero?” He replied, lazily getting to his feet. Hero’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, the older boy clearly failing to find his words.

 

Odd. Hero never struggles with stuff like this…

 

“What, does my magnificence in basketball have you tongue tied in knots, dear brother of mine?” Kel asked, raising an eyebrow. Hero simply raised his own, a competitive smile appearing on his face.

 

“Oh it’s on.” Hero said, stepping in front of Kel and snatching the ball. “I’ll show you the power of the elder Rivera brother!”

 

Hero suddenly darted forwards, taking Kel by surprise and zipping across the court, making an easy layup into the basket. Kel stood still, staring in shock as his brother grabbed the ball, tossing it to him.

 

“Where did you learn how to do that?” Kel asked, unable to believe what he had seen.

 

“I asked Aubrey to help me practice in case something like this ever happened. Looks like it was worth it!” Hero said, flexing his nonexistent biceps to accentuate his point.

 

“Oh it’s on, chicharrón .” Kel replied, cracking his neck in what he hoped was a menacing fashion.

 

“That doesn’t even make sen-“

 

Hero’s admittedly correct objection was interrupted by Kel’s lightning fast movements; the younger brother making an effortless show of nearly teleporting the distance to the basket, slamming the ball down through the net with a massive leaping dunk. Hero’s face hardened as his competitive streak ignited, and the brothers began their dance of death.

 

Kel’s body activated his tried and true autopilot as he quickly got into a groove, his hands and legs moving almost automatically. He wasn’t bored, but he was certainly running on muscle memory. Usually Kel would simply turn his brain off and let his body run itself in one-on-ones like this, but today was different. His earlier thoughts stuck to his brain like spilled Orange Joe, not bothering to politely leave him alone. He found himself drawn deeper into the recesses of memory as the harsh sun continued to beat down on him, until he finally felt something change. His foot simply ignored his brain, and he went tumbling down to the tarmac, staring up at the sun.

 

Time seemed to slow down as reality blurred, and Kel was finally pulled fully into his memory.

 

~~~

 

Kel slowly turned the handle of the door, stepping in as quietly as he could. He wasn’t sure if Hero was asleep yet, and he didn’t want to wake his brother. Hero was never a morning person, and the incident at the hospital a few days earlier seemed to only serve to make him more cranky. Normally Kel’d just ignore him, but it gave him some involuntary reminders of an event he really would not like to revisit, thank you.

 

“Where ya been, Kel?” Hero asked, turning around in his chair like a Bond villain.

 

“Oh ya know… jogging!” Kel replied, tossing his bag down at the foot of the bed and quickly attempting to leave the room. He was an absolutely terrible liar under pressure, so he knew it was only a matter of time until-

 

“You were visiting Basil again, weren’t you.”

 

Kel let out a deep sigh, unsure of whether the cause was exhaustion, exasperation, or something else. Well, he was pretty sure it was that second one, but he didn’t like pinning things on Hero.

 

“I thought we all agreed to wait a while before talking to them, Kel. ” Hero said, the last word dripping with venom.

 

Kel finally turned around, facing his brother. He really didn’t like doing this. He wished his brother would just see a damn therapist instead of spiraling like this every time something big happened. He was tired of being Hero’s emotional lap dog.

 

“You and Aubrey agreed to that. I said nothing.”

 

“Kel.”

 

“Don’t. Don’t “Kel” me. I know what I’m doing, and I know that you don’t like it.”

 

“Then why are you doing it?”

 

“Because unlike someone in this room, I bothered to think about how they feel. They’re lonely, Hero.”

 

“So? They killed and hung Mari, Kel. They literally committed murder and covered it up for four years, I think I have the right to be a little mad.” Hero stood up as he said that, crossing the room to get closer to Kel. For a few moments the room was quiet, the silence broken by Kel’s muttered response.

 

“They didn’t murder her.”

 

“ What? ” Hero spat.

 

“They didn’t murder her, you asshat!”

 

Hero stepped backwards in shock at his brother’s outburst, visibly recoiling from Kel’s shout.

 

“They were children, Hero!” Kel continued, 

 

“It doesn’t matter! They took her from us!”

 

“They took her from themselves too! Have you even bothered to think about why Sunny was crying so hard in the hospital?”

 

Hero paused, his momentum completely derailed. He uselessly flapped his lips a few times, vague noises of complaint escaping his lips. The brothers’ eyes met for an instant, and in that moment, Kel could see the walls in Hero’s mind cracking.

 

“What if it was you?” Kel suddenly asked, his tone softer, quieter.

 

“W-What?”

 

“What if… what if I had killed you. On accident, just like Sunny did. Would you want everyone to hate me until I died for it?”

 

“Of course not!” Hero cried, his eyes suddenly flying wide in shock. Kel watched in real time as the connections were made in his brain, culminating in the elder brother dipping his head. “I… I’m sorry Kel.”

 

“…for what?”

 

“I’m sorry I’ve been such an ass. I… I got too wrapped up in myself again. I…-”

 

“Don’t apologize to me.” Kel interrupted, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Apologize to Sunny and Basil.”

 

Hero nodded and the two embraced, Kel pulling his brother in tight. Hero’s breath quaked slightly as they hugged, his voice shaky as he mumbled in Kel’s ear.

 

“Do… do you think this is our fate? To just get hurt and to hurt each other, over and over?” Hero’s voice became more and more unsteady as he spoke, his attempt at holding back his tears quickly failing.

 

Kel wasn’t sure what to say. In the end, he didn’t say anything, simply tightening his grip on his brother as he sobbed, patting his back reassuringly.

 

Kel never figured out what to say. He laid in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, and only one thought came to mind. It was cheesy, and it was like something ripped from a comic book, but it was really how he felt.

 

If this were their fate, then he’d do everything he could to change it. If nobody else would, he’d defy fate for them. For all of them.

Notes:

I really hope my depiction of Hero here wasn’t *too* out of character, I really wanted to depict how grief can make people act irrationally, but it always annoys me when Hero goes on a hate crusade against Sunny and Basil in fics (unless that’s the whole premise of the fic). He’s always shown as such a caring, forgiving character, and I just don’t see him being a villain to them, especially since they’re basically his siblings.

Also, Kel is a deep character. If you disagree, run these hands.

For clarification, this takes place after the previous chapter chronologically. I’ll reveal what happened immediately after in the next one!

I hope you all enjoyed, and as always, I’ll see you next time.

- Athena

Chapter 6: Believe

Notes:

Just in case it wasn't super clear, this chapter takes place at the same time chronologically as the last one. Hero and Kel's basketball game is at the same time as the events of this chapter.

Edit: I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR 2000 HITS DUDE WHAT THE HELL THIS STORY WAS 5 CHAPTERS LONG WHEN WE HIT THAT WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Mari giggled softly as she looked to her side, her eyebrow drifting upwards at the boy seated next to her.

 

“Y’know, Hero, you don’t have to hold my hand so hard. I’m not gonna just disappear.”

 

To his credit, Hero kept his cool, only the smallest of blushes appearing in his face.

 

“According to Sunny, you actually can do that. You also apparently scared the crap out of him the first time you did it.” He retorted, sending a (playful) accusatory glance in her direction. Mari giggled again, throwing her hands up in the air.

 

“Noooooooooo, how dare you attack me like this! I don’t deserve such betrayal !” She cried, overdramatically ‘fainting’ and falling backwards, plopping down on the couch with a soft plomph .

 

Their antics were interrupted by a soft gagging sound from across the living room, the two twenty-somethings turning their attention to its source.

 

“Gross.” Sunny said, turning away from them poignantly.

 

“Sunny, I have seen your dreams, do not try me about gross things.” Mari started, a smug smirk coming onto her face as the boy spun back around. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the many times we watched Dream Basil die.”

 

She shuddered at that last thought, sitting up straight.

 

“Though, speaking of him…” she rose to her feet (well, floated), brushing off the nonexistent dirt from her dress. “We really should go find the others. I’m sure the’ll want to know Sunny’s here.”

 

Sunny and Hero looked at her incredulously, the latter raising his eyebrow as he responded.

 

“You just came back from the dead, and you’re worried about them knowing Sunny is back in Faraway?” He asked, standing.

 

“Well how else are we supposed to throw him a birthday party?”

 

If Hero and Sunny were baffled before, they were simply awestruck now.

 

“You… really need to get a priority check.” Sunny said, moving towards the door.

 

“What? Why?” His sister cried in response, quickly tailing the younger sibling.

 

—

Aubrey

—

Some might say that Aubrey lacked introspection. Whether from a lack of ability, or a lack of want, they’d say that she simply didn’t reflect upon herself, her situation, or the world around her.

 

While there was some merit to what they would say, they would be, for the most part, very wrong. Aubrey would never say it out loud, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to disappear for a few hours to the swings to stop and think. Now, she couldn’t go admitting that, especially not to the Hooligans, but she could certainly take part in a little self-reflection now and then.

 

There were days past, however, where the gossip surrounding her lack of self-awareness was true. Where anyone that said she didn’t bother to think about the consequences of her actions would be 100%, verifiably correct. In fact, they would’ve been right just a short year prior, when she was the Pink Demon of Faraway, untouchable leader of the band of misfits and felons known as The Hooligans. Now, though? The actions of a particular black haired boy had changed her. The knowledge she almost wished she didn’t know was now hers to hold, and well…

 

These days she wasn’t the Pink Demon.

 

She was just Aubergine Williams. Aubergine Williams the social outcast, the kid that her peers would report for “being a danger to the school” on a regular basis, and the kid that absolutely needed a therapist of some kind. If her money wasn’t currently going to Basil for rent (despite how much he complained), she might look into it, as hilarious as that sounds. A kid like her, getting professional help? If you had told her that a year ago she’d have laughed in your face. Then maybe punched you. She wasn’t proud of that phase.

 

That was what Basil had always called it: a phase. An altogether short period of time where she lost her way, but not something indicative of her as a whole. She… didn’t know how to feel about that description. Sure, he was right in saying that she was different now, but she had done what she did with a fully functioning mind. It wasn’t like what happened that night at Basil’s, or even the night Mari died. She had chosen to be evil.

 

God, I fucking hate emotions.

 

Her wrist snapped forwards, the stone that was firmly lodged in her grip firing out like a frisbee of death over the surface of the water. It skipped once, twice, three times, four times…

 

She lost count as it slowed down, unable to distinguish the bounces. The pile of stones clacked as she grabbed another, the more precariously stacked ones sliding down onto the dock next to her. For whatever reason, she had chosen to come out to the hideout today, instead of going to her usual spot at the swings. She wasn’t quite sure why.

 

A soft crunch from behind her alerted her to the presence of another, the pattern and weight of their footsteps unfamiliar to her. Only a few people knew about this hideout, especially nowadays, and of the people who did, there was only one whose footfalls would be unfamiliar to her.

 

“Hey, Sunny.” She called over her shoulder without turning around, uncharacteristically quiet. The boy didn’t respond until he was a few feet behind her, his voice soft and calm.

 

“Room for one more?”

 

She scooted over, drawing the pile of stones into the center of the dock as the boy dropped down onto the planks to her right. He didn’t speak as she nabbed another rock, flicking it across the lake. She waited for a moment as she noticed him taking one, interested in his stone skipping capabilities.

 

He drew it back… and shot it straight down into the water.

 

Aubrey almost felt bad when a loud, bark-ish laugh echoed across the lake, the girl falling over backwards as her laughter escalated into an uncontrolled cackling.

 

Eventually she had the tact to sit up, stifling her laughter (not without some difficulty) before clapping Sunny on the back.

 

“It was a good try, Sunny.” She said, barely resisting another laughing fit. He simply glared at her in response, suddenly leaning forwards to flick her forehead.

 

“Ass.” He muttered, kicking his feet above the water. A small blush of embarrassment had formed on his face, but he made no move to cover it. Aubrey was a little jealous of him in that way; he never tried to hide how he was feeling from others, at least not anymore. She wished she could say the same.

 

A moment of comfortable silence passed between the two before a low rumbling echoed through the clearing, the telltale sign of some kind of thunderstorm rolling their way. Aubrey glanced up at the sky, observing the clouds that had rolled in while they were relaxing. It didn’t seem like it’d rain for another few hours, but it was definitely on its way. Her musings were interrupted by Sunny suddenly speaking up, his gaze focused intently on something in the water.

 

“Aubrey,” he began, waiting for her attention. A small hum of affirmation was all he needed to continue, turning towards her. “Do you believe in the supernatural?”

 

She… wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. She believed, at least loosely, that there was some kind of God, so…

 

“I guess? Why?”

 

“Do you ever think people that… people that died still watch over us?”

 

Ah. That’s why.

 

She leaned back on her elbows once again as she answered, not moving her eyes from the sky.

 

“I think… I think that somewhere, they still are. I think Mari would be proud of you.” She responded. She heard a small but sharp intake of breath from the boy, but decided to allow him the comfort of her non-attention. She’d want it in his situation. After a few moments, he spoke.

 

“She is. And she’s proud of you too.”

 

She chuckled as she finally turned her attention to him, cocking an eyebrow in skepticism.

 

“You say that like you know.”

 

“Because I do. She’s here with us now.”

 

Her eyes widened at his sudden sentimentality, and she couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at the corners of her lips.

 

“Thanks, Sunny.”

 

“No I mean, literally. She’s right there.”

 

Aubrey couldn’t stop herself from whipping around to where he pointed, her heart dropping when she saw…

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

“That… that’s not funny, Sunny.” She said, any former happiness gone in an instant. Suddenly, something clicked in her head. “You… you said you were hallucinating again, right? I… there’s nothing there, Sunny. She’s gone.”

 

He shook his head, staring intently at the spot he had pointed to.

 

“I thought so too, but she’s really right there. Hero saw her.”

 

That got Aubrey’s attention. Hero didn’t have any kind of history with this sort of thing, much less shared hallucinations. Unless Sunny was lying to her, which he would never do, then maybe…

 

“Prove it.” She said, standing up defiantly. She refused to get her hopes up for nothing, so why not have him prove she was real?

 

The noirette bent down to grab a stone, walking over to the spot in the air he had indicated.

 

“Alright Mari, hit the statue with this rock.” He said, holding the stone out to the air. The instant that his hand stopped moving, a weird sensation broke out in her brain, like someone had turned on a fog machine. She wasn’t sure what it was, or even why it had happened, but she refused to bend to it. She had to see this through.

 

The stone floated up into the air.

 

In a manner that she could only describe as like a video game glitch, her vision suddenly shifted, Sunny seemingly teleporting a foot or so over and standing on a large stone she was absolutely certain was not there a few seconds prior. The rock suddenly fired out of his hand like a bullet, rocketing across the pond and slamming into the statue hard enough to chip some of the stone off.

 

“Do…” she tried to speak, but the strange fog made it exceptionally difficult. Maybe she should just… maybe she should just chalk it up to a weird coincidence. Yeah, that’s all it was, a weird coinci-

 

No. I know what I saw.

 

“Do it again. That tree.” She suddenly said, pushing back against the fog. She would not bend to something as stupid as brain fog. Not when so much was on the line.

 

As if on queue, another stone rocketed across the clearing, slamming into the tree with enough force to punch a hole in it, straight through the center of the trunk.

 

She could feel something getting closer in her brain, almost like… almost like she was on the precipice of something. Sunny looked at her expectantly, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“I…” She was so close! She needed Mari to do something that couldn’t possibly be explained off, something so irrefutable that even this strange fog wouldn’t be able to do anything.

 

“Pick me up.”

 

There were a few moments of silence before she felt the wind suddenly change direction. She could feel something… someone in the air in front of her. An otherworldly chill settled over her bones as she stood still, and she couldn’t help but shiver at the change in temperature. The frigid cold wrapped itself around her like a pair of arms, then…

 

Then…

 

She was…

 

She was floating!

 

She was really floating!

 

She looked at Sunny in astonishment as the fog vanished from her brain, the boy simply raising his hands in a gesture resembling “Hey, I didn’t do it.” .

 

Hold on, if Sunny wasn’t carrying her, and she was magically floating in the air…

 

“Mari?! ” She cried, accidentally squirming so hard she fell out of the ghost(?)’s grip. For a fraction of a second, Aubrey was certain she could see a faint mirage of a person; not detailed at all, just a simple outline of a girl with long hair, but it was there. The wind wrapped itself around her once more, this time in a warm embrace, the chill having been driven from her with her acceptance.

 

“She says she missed you. And that you need better deodorant.” Sunny said, seemingly translating. Mari’s hug vanished suddenly as Aubrey felt the wind blow past her, only for Sunny to suddenly cry out in pain, holding the back of his head with his hands. “Hey! No need to hit me that hard.”

 

Aubrey watched the air, still in what she was pretty certain was shock, as Mari presumably responded. After a few seconds, Sunny turned back to her, rubbing the back of his neck (a habit he had presumably picked up from Kel).

 

“Okay, she says that no, she didn’t make the deodorant comment, and that I need to apologize. Sorry.” He said halfheartedly, glancing at the air next to him. Aubrey stood in shocked silence for a few seconds, her brain still a few minutes behind at this point. Could you blame her though? Her (second) best friend came back to Faraway out of nowhere, dropped that his sister (her older sister figure) wasn’t dead, then proved that not only is that true, ghosts are too! Anyone would be overwhelmed in her position. She suddenly felt something wet and warm begin to run down her cheeks, the girl reaching up to touch them in surprise.

 

Ah, she was crying.

 

Fuck.

 

The strength in her knees vanished as she fell down, burying her face in her hands. Tears flowed freely down her face as she began to sob loudly, Sunny quickly dropping to his knees next to her and pulling her into his embrace. For a moment she was confused by something, only realizing after the unfortunate truth of the matter.

 

He got taller… no fair.

 

The wind wrapped itself around her like a weighted blanket, drowning her in its warmth. A sense of peace settled over the three as Aubrey cried, as if there was nothing else in the world but them; nothing else to worry about or cry over, nothing else to hurt for or bleed for. If the world had ended in those moments, Aubrey would’ve been happy. Well… there was one person missing that she really would like to be there.

 

“...B-Basil…” she choked out through the last of her tears, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket. “W-We need to tell him y-you’re here.”

 

Her words were unsteady, and interrupted by soft hiccups, but the siblings understood. They did need to tell Basil after all, especially given… everything that’s happened between the siblings and him. A sudden buzz from Aubrey’s phone caught everyone off guard, dispelling the dreamy feeling that had settled over the trio.

 

Babesil >>> Auby

12:04 PM

 

Babesil: Hey, do you have a minute? I could really use your help lugging around some bags of fertilizer I bought.

 

Babesil: Pretty please? 

 

Sunny choked back a laugh at her contact name for the flower boy, barely managing to get his words out of his mouth.

 

“Babesil? Really?” He teased, the signature Suzuki smug grin appearing on his face.

 

“Shut up shut up shut up!” She cried, swinging her hand wildly in his direction. “I don’t need you of all people to tease me about who I am and am not interested in!”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunny responded, raising an eyebrow.

 

“You literally were crushing on all of us at once before Mari died, dingus!”

 

“Ah… yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck again as Aubrey took a deep breath, doing her best to compose herself (and get rid of her stupid blush).

 

“Now. I am going to text Basil, we are going to get him, and you are never telling anyone you saw this. Am. I. Clear.” She said, putting heavy emphasis on each of the last few words. Sunny paled at her tone, his arm flying up in mock salute.

 

“Yes ma’am!”

 

Aubrey sighed as she tapped out her response. Kel really had been rubbing off on Sunny, hadn’t he. She was also pretty sure there was something going on between them, even if neither knew it yet. Right now though, she had other things to worry about.

 

She really wasn’t sure how they were going to break this to Basil.

 

–

Sunny

–

Mari floated next to him as Aubrey led them from the clearing, the trio starting on their way to the abode of the resident horticulturist of Faraway Town. Something came into his mind as he turned to his sister, the boy noticing a change in her appearance. Her body seemed less transparent, and the tiniest bit of color had been returned to her otherwise completely monochrome skin.

 

“Are you more… tangible than before, Mari?” He asked, not quite loud enough for Aubrey to hear. He wasn’t trying to hide it per se, but he just didn’t feel like talking for two people right now. That was surprisingly exhausting. 

 

“Hmm…” his sister started, taking the time to investigate her form, “I think you’re right! Good catch, Sunny!”

 

He hummed in response, taking a moment before speaking again.

 

“It happened with Hero too. I think each person that we convince makes you a little more… real.”

 

There was a short silence between the two before Mari responded.

 

“Do you think I’ll go back to the way I was before? Before I… died?”

 

Sunny turned to her, surprised at the rare moment of vulnerability. His sister almost never let any of her emotions slip, especially not ones like insecurity or uncertainty. He… liked it, actually. He was happy she was saying something to him. He wasn’t certain he could handle another incident.

 

“Hello, Earth to Sunny?” She said, waving her hand in front of his face.

 

He jumped slightly, his wandering train of thought broken. He took a moment to focus his thoughts before responding, a rare look of determination on his face.

 

“I do. I think… I think we just need everyone.”

 

He wasn’t sure if he was bluffing or not, but honestly? He didn’t really care.

 

He was just happy to have her back at all. There was one thing he was particularly concerned about, so much so that he voiced his opinion to the pinkette in the lead as well.

 

“How are we going to break this to Basil?”

Notes:

Thank you all for reading! This was a really hard chapter for me to write, so both to make up for the wait, and because I found a rhythm and couldn't stop, it's an extra long one!

I hope my depiction of Aubrey wasn't too far off. I always pictured her as letting her guard down around Sunny. Even if he definitely did some messed up stuff, he's still her confidant.

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time for the Bagel chapter!

- Athena

Chapter 7: A Home For Flowers

Notes:

A little bit short, but I was scrugglin to finish it. I’m also on 20 hours with no sleep, so forgive any pacing issues this chapter may have.

“How are we going to break this to Basil?”

 

Aubrey shrugged, turning around and walking backwards as she responded.

 

“I have no idea. I’ll leave that to you fuckers.” She said, flashing finger guns at the siblings as she turned back around. “You convinced me, so Basil should be easy by comparison.”

 

Mari looked at Sunny confusedly, raising an eyebrow. “And why’s that?” She said, tilting forwards slightly as she floated along.

 

It took the siblings a whole ten seconds to remember Aubrey couldn’t hear Mari. Sunny, desperate to maintain some semblance of dignity, spat out the question, doing his best to maintain a straight face. He was very good at that, after all.

 

“You forgot I can’t hear Mari, didn’t you.”

 

Sunny sputtered, futilely attempting to respond.

 

“How did you even know?” He asked, attempting to act nonchalant.”

 

“I can hear the embarrassment in your voice, dude. Did’ja really think I wouldn’t be able to?” She responded, not turning around. He silently thanked her for that; whether it was to preserve his honor or simply because she was lazy was left a mystery though.

 

“Anyways, Basil has… had it rough, just like you. I’m sure he believes in all that ghost crap.” She finished, looking back over her shoulder at the pair. “No offense.”

 

Mari simply giggled, repeating “ghost crap” under her breath over and over, giggling again each time. Sunny nodded in response to the pinkette, pointedly ignoring his sister. He wasn’t quite sure who the “no offense” was intended for, but he took it to mean both of them.

 

~~~5 Minutes Later~~~

 

The trio finally arrived at the home of the flower boy, stopping just in front of the door. The familiar scent of the home was comforting to Sunny, even if there was certainly a period where even a hint of a floral smell made him sick.

 

Aubrey took action for the group (as usual), knocking loudly on Basil’s door. Well, it was more like she was almost punching it, but that’s semantics. After a few moments of awkward silence between those waiting, the door swung open, revealing the boy of the hour.

 

“H-Hey guys! Come on in, I’ve got a lot of bags to move.” He said, turning to Sunny as he finished his sentence. “You’re helping, I don’t care how decrepit your arms ar-“

 

He suddenly stopped, his eyes firmly fixated over Sunny’s shoulder. Normally, they’d pay it no mind, but that was precisely where Mari was floating, so they were paying it some mind. A few awkward seconds passed until Aubrey realized what was happening, the girl promptly clearing her throat and drawing everyone’s attention.

 

“Basil, can you see her?”

 

His head snapped to her in a mixture of confusion, shock, and awe, his lips flapping uselessly for a few seconds.

 

“W-What?”

 

“Great follow up, Basil.” Sunny interjected, doing his best to lighten the mood a little. He failed miserably of course, what else did you expect? Mari clapped him over the head for that one.

 

Basil jumped in surprise at the specter’s sudden movement, stumbling backwards before promptly falling over. In a surprisingly out of character moment of concern for someone else, Aubrey rushed through the doorway, dropping to her knees next to him.

 

“You okay Basil? She didn’t mean to scare you like that…” Aubrey said, gently helping the boy into a sitting position as the latter rubbed the back of his head, hissing in pain. 

 

“Y-You guys can see it t-too?”

 

“ It? ” Aubrey asked, confused as to his word choice.

 

“Y-Yeah. It’s r-right behind S-Sunny” he started, slowly getting to his feet, his eyes trained firmly on Mari’s location. “ Something is right there.”

 

“Okay, Basil, my dude, my homie, my big squeeze, you’ve gotta stop with the pronoun game.” Aubrey said, leaning back on the nearest wall.

 

…

…

…

 

“That was the strangest thing I’ve ever heard you say. Never say it again.” Sunny said.

 

“Rodger, loud and clear. I regretted it the instant I said it.” The pinkette responded.

 

…

 

“ Ahem . So. Basil. What’s Something? ” Aubrey continued, desperate to get the topic off her.

 

“The physical manifestation of my trauma surrounding seeing Mari’s hanging corpse, and the form of the thing that haunted every moment of my life for the four years of my isolation. Basil’s took the form of a giant mouth with hundreds of teeth and eyes, a literal monster made of guilt, eating him alive. We got rid of them when we told the truth. For the most part. ” He muttered that final part, not quite ready to tell his friends the details of the horrific nightmares that still haunted him to this day.

 

All three stood in stunned silence, Aubrey finally breaking it with a surprisingly genuine tone. “Sunny, I think that’s the most you’ve talked since the hospital. I… don’t know how to feel about that actually.”

 

“Me neither.” Mari chimed in, looking on at him in a mixture of surprise and… was that guilt? Sunny decided to change the topic; he really didn’t like seeing Mari look guilty. Especially over this.

 

“So, Mari looks like Something to you?” He asked, turning to Basil.

 

“Y-Yeah, she doe-“ Basil suddenly stopped again, his head whipping around to the elder Suzuki sibling. 

 

“Wait, Mari?!” He cried.

 

She gave him a tentative wave, clearly nervous about scaring him. He paled a little, but waved back, a small, nervous smile appearing on his face.

 

“I-I n-never thought M-Mari would be disguised as your trauma demon, much less that S-Something would be w-waving at me…”

 

Aubrey raised an eyebrow at Basil, placing a hand on her hip.

 

“You’re sure taking this well. I cried for like, an hour, minimum.”

 

Basil turned to her, the reason for his calm quickly revealed. That boy was not all there.

 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve just gone into shock, actually. That or an insanely strong dissociative episode. On one hand, glad I’m not having a panic attack. On the other, coming back down from this is gonna be a horrible experience.” He said, his voice unnaturally calm. 

 

The other three shared a look (well, more like two and a half. Aubrey just glanced where she thought Mari generally was.) before leading Basil to the kitchen. Aubrey busied herself with brewing Basil’s favorite tea, the two boys sitting down across from one another at the small island. Basil met Sunny’s eyes as they listened to Aubrey work, the latter instinctively knowing what to say.

 

“She forgives us, you know.”

 

Basil looked at him blankly, tilting his head slightly.

 

“I wish I could hear that from her.” His eyes flitted over to where she was, quickly returning to Sunny.

 

A lightbulb went off in Sunny’s head as he leapt from his seat, zipping around the kitchen in a frenzy.

 

“What’re you doing?” Basil asked, a small amount of emotion creeping back into his voice. Sunny wasn’t quite sure what emotion, but it was something. That was probably good.

 

“Finding a pen.” Sunny responded, not bothering to cease his searching.

 

“First cabinet from the left, just below the counter.”

 

Aha! God bless Basil’s incredible memory, even when he’s dissociating. Sunny slid back into his seat, holding out his hand. After a few seconds of hesitation, the blond placed his hand in Sunny’s, the noirette brandishing the pen to the air.

 

“Mari, if you’d please?” He said, putting on a post British accent. He swore he heard her eyes roll, but she floated over nonetheless, snatching the pen from his hand. She bopped him on the head with it to ensure maximum sibling rivalry before clicking it, floating around to behind Basil. Her arms were thankfully long enough to reach past him, and her ghostly hands were thankfully solid enough to hold the pen without issue.

 

“I forgive you Basil. Just like I forgive Sunny. I’m not saying that what you did isn’t… really messed up, but I’m not mad. If anything, I’ve seen how much you and Sunny have hurt these last four years, and I don’t want any more of that for either of you.

 

I’m here now, Basil. It’s going to be alright.”

 

Her message drew on longer than she intended, so much so that at some point she started drawing down the length of his arm to get it all legible. At about the same time, the smell of the tea filled the room, wrapping everyone in its warm, peppermint-y embrace.

 

Tears began to drip down Basil’s face, the boy looking surprised as one landed on his arm. As if a switch was flipped, tears ran freely down his face; he was unable to stop himself from collapsing into Aubrey’s waiting embrace, sobbing loudly into her chest.

 

Ah, there we go.

 

~~~45 Minutes Later~~~

 

The gang had gathered in the backyard, finally (and begrudgingly for some), beginning to work on the reason Basil had even asked them to come over in the first place. He had somehow managed to order 100 twenty pound bags of fertilizer from Fix-It, and now it was their problem. Sunny wasn’t quite sure how he had gotten sucked up into this, but he knew better than to complain. Mari had already karate chopped him more than enough for today, thank you.

 

Speaking of the (un)dead sibling of his, she had undergone a significant change post-Basil-meltdown.

 

She appeared to be completely unable to float anymore. He assumed this for two reasons: one was that she was walking everywhere, and two was that she had asked Sunny to grab the stepladder so she could reach the top shelf of the cupboard earlier. Now if he was a betting man, which he wasn’t, but that was irrelevant, he’d probably bet that Mari would, under no circumstance, ever do something like ask someone else for help. That was about the most un-Mari thing imaginable.

 

“Sunny, you’ve been staring at me for twenty minutes, what’s wrong.” She said, tossing another bag of fertilizer onto one of the stacks. She seemed to be unable to fatigue as well, the lucky bastard. Sunny was drenched in sweat right now, trying his best to not keel over and die in Basil’s backyard. He had been going outside more since the hospital, but Jesus , did Basil need to order a literal ton of fertilizer?

 

“Sunny!” She shouted, waving her hand in front of his face. His wandering thoughts were brought crashing down under the tyrannical reign of his sister once again; her wrath knew no bounds, her fury no ceiling. He was but a mite in her prescience, a mere bug to a god in the face of her power.

 

“ Sunny !”

 

Ah, right.

 

“You’re walking.”

 

Brilliant, as usual, Detective Suzuki.

 

She stared at him in stunned silence before letting out a loud sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yes, Sunny, I’m walking. Could you stop slacking and grab another bag? This’ll take longer if you don’t help, and that means you’ll be stuck in the heat out here for longer.”

 

He sighed, resigning himself to his fate. At least his trials wouldn’t be in vain, as Basil suddenly provided him with what he so desperately needed: entertainment!

 

“Wait, you’ve been walking this whole time?” The blond asked, tossing his bag down on the stack. He made it look so effortless that Sunny almost felt bad. Sunny then remembered that his current plight was Basil’s fault, and he no longer felt bad. “I’ve just been seeing Something bob up and down for the last twenty minutes while carrying fertilizer menacingly.”

 

Okay, in Sunny’s defense, how was he not supposed to laugh at that?

Notes:

I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter is Kel being introduced to Mari (my favorite interaction in the whole fic) plus some fluffy shenanigans afterwards!

Two more chapters to go, and while I’m sad to see this fic almost over, I’m happy that it did this well, and I’ve had a blast working on it! I’ve been planning another Omori project too, so look out for that after this one is done!

As always, see you next time!

- Athena

Chapter 8: I’ll Always Believe You

Notes:

I got this chapter out Q U I C K

ALSO HOLY GARBANZO BEANS THANK YOU ALL FOR 3K HITS

—

Sunny

—

 

It had been an hour or so since they had begun to move the godforsaken bags to Basil’s backyard, and the clouds overhead had only darkened as they worked. Sunny would’ve been concerned about getting rained on as they worked, but to be perfectly honest, the lack of sun-derived heat was a welcome change of pace. Plus, he always liked the rain.

 

He, Aubrey, and Mari had found themselves seated around the island in Basil’s kitchen once again as the boy busied himself with making some more tea. Sunny was baffled at the choice; why you would make a hot drink after working out in the boiling summer sun all day was beyond him, but hey, it got Basil to calm down a little bit. As much as the gardener liked to pretend he was okay with Mari looking like Sunny’s trauma demon, he was very obviously not okay with the situation.

 

A small bell on the side of the stove dinged once, then again, prompting the aforementioned blond to hastily move the kettle off of the burner, flicking the stove off with a muted click . He poured himself a cup, turning around to the rest of them. Aubrey silently nodded and he poured another, setting her cup down in front of her as he took a seat opposite her.

 

“So,” he began, sipping his tea with a satisfied hum “who doesn’t know yet?”

 

“Kel.” Sunny responded instantly. Mari gave him a look he couldn’t quite describe, but he shrugged it off. He was more worried about the boy he had just named than anything. Being perfectly honest, he was probably more scared of telling Kel than anyone else; the idea of it tied his stomach in knots and sent his heart through his throat. What if he didn’t believe him? What if he thought Sunny was crazy? …why did Sunny care so much?

 

Cause he was just worried about his best friend thinking he was a nut job. Yeah. That’s it. Definitely nothing going on there otherwise. Nope. Absolutely not. No sirree. Nada. いいえ. Non. Nein. нет.

 

“Sunny, you’re zoning out again.” His sister said, pulling him from his thoughts. That was getting really annoying, but he silently thanked her this one time. 

 

“Well, if that moron is all that’s left, then this should be easy.” Aubrey snarked from the seat next to Sunny, leaning back in her chair.

 

“Why’s that?” Sunny asked, probably a little too quickly, if the repeated look from Mari was any sign. Aubrey looked at him like he was an idiot for a few seconds before scoffing, then responding.

 

“Dude, you’ve got him wrapped around your finger. You could tell him to go jump off a fucking bridge and he’d probably at least consider it.”

 

Sunny blushed slightly at the comment; Kel? Wrapped around his finger? Absolutely not.

 

“I can literally hear the denial from here, Sunny.” She suddenly said, placing her cup down on the table. “Look, believe me, don’t believe me, I don’t give a fuck at this point, but you and him have been about as obvious in your mutual pining as Basil was for you back when we were kids.”

 

A muted squeal suddenly emanated from the blond’s spot at the island, which was suddenly now somehow entirely empty, save for the cup of tea that was now placed on the table. He wasn’t quite sure how Basil did that, but it was really funny, so he wasn’t gonna question it. Besides, he’d come out from under the tab-

 

“Waitwhatdidyoujustsay.” He spat out, spinning back around to the pinkette. She took a long, loud spi of her drink, smiling smugly as she smacked her lips, sighing dramatically. She placed a hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes, and took a deep breath, obviously trying her best not to laugh.

 

“Basil was down atrocious for you when we were kids. Please don’t tell me you never noticed.” Another muffled squeak from under the table, then a sound that loosely resembled a sentence, then the sound of Basil slamming his head into the underside of the island.

 

Apparently that was all Aubrey needed, cause she instantly broke out into a laughing fit, doubling over and lying her head on the table, her laughter quickly devolving into cackles and wheezing. Basil slowly emerged from under the table during this time, rubbing the top of his head with a heavy blush on his face. Aubrey, who had just begun to recover, immediately broke down again, pounding on the table at the pitiful expression on the boy’s face. Sunny let out a sharp exhale at their antics, a rare genuine smile creeping it’s way onto his face.

 

How had he ever thought they’d leave him behind?

 

—

Hero

—

Kel emerged into the kitchen, now fully showered and clothed, somehow managing to travel the ten or so feet across the room in a fraction of a second.

 

“Oooooooowhatchamakinwhatchamakin?” He said(?), leaning over Hero’s shoulder, a habit that Hero had grown to dislike immensely. Somehow an expression that generally served as a sign of interest or affection just seemed annoying when it was his little brother, and that wasn’t even mentioning how he was bitter about the fact that Kel was now substantially taller than him. He wasn’t even sure how it had happened, actually; one day he had come home from college, and Kel was another 5 inches taller.

 

“Cookies, Mari’s recipe. I finally…” he paused for a moment, catching himself. He needed to reveal she was back when she got here. He wasn’t sure Kel would believe him on his own. “…figured out her secret ingredient.”

 

It was vanilla extract (of course it was, Hero had facepalmed quite loudly at that.), but since Mari herself had told him an hour or two ago, he couldn’t just say that. Seriously, was he just supposed to say “Hey bro, my very dead girlfriend is no longer very dead, and now only slightly dead, and I can see her and talk to her and stuff.” ? Yeah right. 

 

Kel seemed to have taken his silence to mean he was still hurting about her, which would’ve been correct until about two hours ago, and backed up, quieting his voice.

 

“Well, I’m here for you, bro. Whatever you need.” The younger brother said, reaching over to ruffle Hero’s hair. Hero nimbly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding Kel’s massive gorilla hands.

 

“You’re lucky, if you hadn’t just showered for what feels like the first time in weeks, I’d throw flour at you for that.” Hero said, shifting back over to his baking sheets. The oven beeped loudly, signaling it was time to insert the cookies, and Hero dutifully followed its instructions.

 

“Awww, c’mon, I shower like, once a day!” Kel responded, a mock pout on his face, his lip trembling violently.

 

“You sure don’t smell like you do. Every time I see you you somehow smell like sweat, Orange Joe, or some unholy mixture of the two.”

 

Kel simply huffed in response, flashing Hero a smile as he grabbed another can of the aforementioned ungodly beverage. Hero genuinely had no idea how he drank it, or how it was even legal. The amount of lawsuits he’d seen over it was insane, and the actual drink tasted like drain cleaner. Don’t ask him how he knew what drain cleaner tasted like. He was a stupid toddler.

 

Another crack of thunder echoed in the distance, pulling a drawn out groan from Kel.

 

“Ughhhhhhh, I was hoping to get a little more practice in before the storm rolled in.” He complained, slamming his face into the window. His features smooshed against the glass as he stared until he suddenly gasped, racing out the front door. Hero heard the surprised shouts of a few familiar voices, and one noise that sounded suspiciously similar to someone choking.

 

“Kel, put Sunny down before you kill him.” He ordered from the doorway, watching as his brother set the smaller boy down, who immediately gasped for breath.

 

“Sorry, hehe.” Kel said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I guess I got too excited.”

 

“No doy, idiot. Where’s my hug? Or Basil’s hug?” Aubrey responded, stepping past the group and through the door, clapping Hero on the shoulder as she passed.

 

“Well I see you two every day, I only get to see Sunny like… once every three months!” He whined, helping Sunny, who had fallen over as he gasped, back to his feet. 

 

Basil giggled as he walked past the two, and Mari shot them finger guns, winking as she walked past. Her fingers laced with Hero’s as she led him in, a feeling so familiar, so intrinsically comforting, that he almost forgot it was foreign these days.

 

Sunny and Kel trailed in last, the former wearing an almost indistinguishable blush. To anyone outside their friend group, they wouldn’t see anything at all, but they had all long since grown accustomed to reading his minute facial cues. Hero had some ideas as to why, but he wasn’t gonna press it.

 

“Does anyone else see the weird thing in the air over there?”

 

Hero’s head snapped to his little brother, finding the latter pointing casually over his shoulder, right at Mari.

 

“Weird thing?” Hero asked tentatively.

 

“Yeah, it looks like… like a… what’re those things called when it gets really hot right above concrete?”

 

“A mirage?” Basil asked, fully invested in Kel’s every word.

 

“Yeah, one of those. Why’re you all staring at me like that?”

 

Everyone took a second to meet each other’s gazes, nobody really sure what to say. It was safe to say that no one had expected this chain of events, given the fact that Kel was in the same boat as Aubrey, ghost-vision wise. He wasn’t involved in the accident or as much of a believer in the supernatural as Basil, and he hadn’t had whatever happened to Sunny and Hero happen to him, so why would they have expected it?

 

“Seriously, it’s kinda starting to weird me out… am I just hallucinating it or something?” He rubbed the back of his neck, nervously laughing. 

 

“I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me, but man… I thought I was in the clear for this stuff…” his face fell as he finished his sentence, the boy clearly distraught.

 

“You’re not.” Sunny suddenly said, breaking the silence. “We all see her too.”

 

“Oh! Wait, her?” Kel asked, his tone changing dramatically.

 

“Yeah. That’s Mari.” As Sunny spoke, Mari gave a soft wave, chuckling nervously herself.

 

“Kel’s not wrong. I can see something there too, if I focus hard enough. How’d you even catch that?” Aubrey added, turning back to Kel in confusion.

 

“Luck, I guess. Hey Mari!” He responded, waving back at the aforementioned ghost.

 

“…that’s it?” Sunny said, staring at his feet. “You just believe me? Just like that? What if I was hallucinating again? O-Or, what if I was just lying, Or-Or-“

 

“Hey. Sunny.” Kel interrupted, lowering his face down to Sunny’s level. “I believe you. You’d never lie about something like this. Never. I’d believe you if you said the sky was falling, or if you said that Hero had committed mass murder or something. Because I’ll always believe you. I’ll always believe in you.”

 

The moments that followed were filled with a stun fed silence, only broken by the sound of Sunny’s soft sobs, muffled by his face being buried in Kel’s shoulder. He motioned to the rest of the group to join him, and wrapped Sunny in his embrace. The others got the hint, joining the large group hug without hesitation. They all had to drop to their knees as Sunny collapsed, his soft sobbing turning into full on crying, his wails only quieted by the large boy in front of him.

 

“It’s okay, Sunny. We’re all here for you.” Mari whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Kel looked up at her and smiled, gently nodding his head even as she stared at him in shock. Hero was equally surprised that Kel had heard her, but he simply chalked it up to his belief in Sunny. 

 

Those two really did care about each other quite a bit, didn’t they?

Notes:

For the astute eyed of you, you might notice that this story has an extra chapter now! That’s would be because I was 1400 words into this one and 2/15 paragraphs into the planning doc, so I figured I’d split it off.

I hope you all enjoyed! As I mentioned previously, the interaction with Kel just, absolutely trusting Sunny is my favorite in the whole fic.

See you all next time!

- Athena

Chapter 9: Mari Orchestrates A Sleepover, And Sunny Plays A Magic Song

Notes:

The longest chapter in the fic, and by a pretty decent margin!

—

Sunny

—

 

Sunny stepped out of the bathroom, patting the last bits of moisture on his pants as he turned around to grab the door. The voices of his friends caught his attention, and he momentarily paused at the subject of their conversation.

 

“Kel… that was probably the gayest thing I’ve ever heard.” Aubrey said from the kitchen. Sunny completely froze, waiting. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for , but he was certain it had to do with their discussion.

 

Kel simply hummed in an inquisitive manner, lightly grunting in exertion. If Sunny had to guess, Kel had just hopped up onto the counter, something that he was often chastised for by his parents, but seemed to do regardless. Sunny suspected it had to do with Kel’s inability to stand still.

 

“Like, seriously dude.” Aubrey continued. “ i’Ll AlWaYs BeLiEvE yOu , SuNnY, nOw MaKe OuT wItH mE.”

 

Sunny had to suppress a laugh at the way Aubrey wiggled her voice, her mind only catching up a few seconds later with the contents of her barb.

 

Holupwaiyminute

 

There was a painful silence from the kitchen, even as Sunny strained his ears to listen in. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Kel spoke.

 

“I mean… I don’t think that’s totally accurate.” He started, his tone surprisingly serious. “So much has happened in the last year, and now with Mari coming back, I don’t think that either of us are really in a position to pursue something like that, especially not with one another.”

 

The silence like that was one of surprise, but it didn’t matter to Sunny the intent of the quiet. The faint ringing in his ears had escalated to a full on roar, and he suddenly felt very aware of his breathing. His lungs couldn’t pull in enough air and his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. Was… was that the extent of Kel’s feelings for him? If it was… why was he panicking so hard about it?

 

Kel had always been important to him, yes, but…

 

Oh my god.

 

It was all half a second from clicking in Sunny’s brain when Kel spoke again, completely stealing the noirette’s attention.

 

“But… it’s not like I don’t think that way about him. He’s always been the person I felt the closest to; the one I felt the most seen by. Honestly, had all this messed up stuff not happened, I probably would’ve asked him out years ago.”

 

And then it clicked.

 

Oh. My. God.

 

I’m in love with Kel.

 

Sunny slid down the wall, his face in his hands. How had he not realized that? How, in the year since he got back out of his house, had he not realized he was in love with him? It wasn’t like he had never had a crush before, he had had plenty of experience there, actually, but this was different. If his previous experience was like smelling a peach soda, what he felt now was like chugging an entire eighteen wheeler of the stuff.

 

His face burned as every fleeting glance fell into place; every prolonged stare at Kel’s back as he turned away, and every moment where he wished the brunette’s touch would stay seared itself into the front of his mind.

 

He.

 

Loved.

 

Kel.

 

As if on autopilot, his body reached up, looping his fingers around the doorknob. He could deal with those… feelings later. For now, he needed to get back to the others. He knew it’d look weird if he showed up out of nowhere right after Kel finished speaking about him, so…

 

SLAM

 

Slamming the door, he cried out in fake surprise as he fell backwards, landing on his rear with a not -fake hiss of pain. His friends rushed around the corner, various noises of concern echoing down the hall. He got up, rubbing at his tailbone as he deployed his elaborate scheme; his undeniable brilliance on display to the world. They were all but mere fools to him; playthings to someone with his advanced intellect. He was a G O D-

 

“I fell.” He said.

 

“Ah. You alright?” Hero asked.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“Anyone want some cookies? It’s Mari’s recipe.” Hero finally said, breaking the awkward silence. 

 

“ COOKIES?” Kel cried, sprinting to the kitchen. Hero sighed before turning to follow, calling after his brother.

 

“Yes, cookies. I told you like, half an hour ago.”

 

Everyone filed out of the hallway, leaving Sunny standing there in silence.

 

Okay, maybe I was giving myself too much credit.

 

~~~15 Minutes Later~~~

 

The gang found themselves sprawled around the living room, all of them fixated on whatever Captain Spaceboy rerun was on the TV. The cookies had been, as expected, just as amazing as they had been in his dreams. He was sure that was because Mari was back, and not because Hero was using her recipe. Nope. Speaking of the specter, she apparently saw it fit to interrupt the glorious Captain Spaceboy Episode 436: Journey to Otherworld.

 

“So.” She began, clapping her hands happily. “Who’s up for a sleepover?”

 

Kel nearly launched himself off the couch with how hard he raised his hand, almost taking Basil’s head off as collateral damage.

 

“Me!” He cried, waving his hand around in the air. “Though, we would have to worry about our parents coming home…” The energetic boy’s face fell as he realized the complication in his plan. Sunny was almost amazed this was the same person that said all that profound stuff fifteen minutes earlier. 

 

“Oh don’t worry, I already called Basil’s caretaker and asked if we could spend the night there!” Mari cheerily replied, drawing a cheer from Kel and a look or horror from Basil.

 

“You already called mo- Ms. Polly?!” He squeaked. “How did you even convince her you were trustworthy?”

 

“Oh that much was easy, I just told her I was Hero’s girlfriend, and she seemed to take that as a good enough excuse.”

 

Hero flushed as Basil continued to make various noises of discontentment, the blond eventually giving up on his mission to stop them from coming over with a sigh.

 

“Fine… I guess there’s nothing I can do about it if Ms. Polly gave it the green light.” He said, hanging his head.

 

“Basil, why do you even care? Mom is a good judge of character, and the house is in great fucking condition. You just spent the last 36 hours cleaning it all, you dumbass.” Aubrey cut in, lightly tapping the boy in question on the back of the head.

 

“Heh… you called her mom.” He responded, turning around with a smug smile.

 

“Yeah, cause’ I asked her if I could, moron. It’s weirder that you don’t call her mom, actually.”

 

His grin disappeared as he lost yet another verbal battle with the pinkette, and Kel produced his phone from what seemed to be the ether, tapping away frantically.

 

“793 to 4.” He said matter-of-factly, slipping his phone back into the pocket dimension of his shorts.

 

“Have… have you been keeping track of every time they argue?” Hero asked, dumbfounded.

 

“Yep! Aubrey is currently at 793 wins, and Basil is at 4. We gave up cheering him on a long time ago.” Kel responded, a proud look on his face. He clearly thought his ability to keep track of their arguments was impressive, which Sunny didn’t actually disagree with.

 

“Can we just go to my house, please?” Basil said, defeated.

 

The gang laughed (at his expense, but all in good fun), the pinkette and the blond filing off to their house, and the other four heading up to the brothers’ room to retrieve their things.

 

“I still can’t quite believe you’re back, Mari.” Hero remarked, stuffing a change of clothes and some hygiene products in his overnight bag; Hero had to know that Basil had things like shampoo and conditioner, but Sunny knew Hero wasn’t about to go use up someone else’s stuff. Besides, it was always good to be prepared, as the older boy often said.

 

“It’s definitely a weird feeling. You used to it yet, Sunny?” Kel called, his head buried in one of his dresser cabinets. He haphazardly tossed something over his back, the small object landing on his bed, bouncing a few times before settling under his extremely messy blankets.

 

“Nope.” Sunny answered as he grabbed his bag. His things were already packed, after all. He motioned in the vague direction of his sister, raising an eyebrow at her. “Somehow I think she’s the most acclimated of us.”

 

He watched as Mari bent down next to Hero, whispering something in his ear. She giggled softly as he recoiled, his face flushing in embarrassment. He whispered something back as Sunny’s attention was pulled away by the sound of gagging, the source obvious even before Sunny saw it. Kel made another loud gagging noise, dodging a pillow as it careened across the room before laughing and escorting Sunny from the room.

 

“I think they wanted a second to be alone.” Kel said, pushing Sunny along. He was sure to let the noirette go down the stairs at his own pace, a gesture that was not missed by the latter. “Besides, you and I are way cooler than them, right Sunny?”

 

Sunny simply stared at him in response, turning away as he felt his face begin to heat up; the conversation he had overheard rang in his head as he quietly responded.

 

“Yeah.”

 

~~~Another Half Hour Later~~~

 

Kel knocked on the door to Basil’s house three times, stepping back as they heard footsteps from inside. The door swung open to reveal a very disgruntled blond, who wasted no time in reprimanding the much taller boy.

 

“Kel, how many times do I have to tell you to knock softer? You’re gonna knock my door off the hinges one of these days.” Basil said, exasperation dripping from his words. Kel stepped past him, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

 

“Sorry, Bazzy Boy, but it’s not my fault if your door can’t handle the Kel-tron style.” He said, miming the motion of taking off a pair of sunglasses. Basil groaned in response, closing the door as the rest of the gang walked through.

“That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Kel.” Aubrey shot from the kitchen. Kel bounded towards the sound of her voice, already throwing back a sarcastic response of his own as Basil looked tiredly to the three remaining. 

 

“See what I have to deal with? You three are lucky you don’t have to constantly referee them.” He said, popping his neck and letting out a sigh, following after Kel.

 

“I’m not sure about that, I’m literally dead.” Mari laughed, leaving Hero and Sunny to follow her. By the time Sunny arrived in the kitchen, it looked like the Tasmanian Devil had attacked it; bowls were strewn everywhere, there was raw cookie dough all over the counter, Kel had a big glob of it in his mouth, and Aubrey was chasing him around with a spatula.

 

“Oughmph, heaugh, Summny!” Kel called, his mouth too full to understand.

 

“Gross, swallow your damn food, you animal.” Aubrey chastised, finally catching him with her weapon. There was a satisfying smack as it connected with the back of his head, and Aubrey grinned, satisfied. Kel seemed to not even notice that he’d been whacked, gulping down the entire mouthful in one go.

 

“Oh, hey Sunny!” He clarified, drawing looks of general confusion from everyone.

 

“You saw him not even 15 seconds ago, you don’t need to greet him again.” Hero pointed out, watching as Kel slipped past everyone, moving behind Sunny.

 

“Yeah, but he’s my best bro! He deserves a greeting every time I see him!”

 

Sunny felt his face heat up as Kel threw an arm around his shoulders, the latter completely dwarfing the poor noirette. He stared at Mari with absolutely no thoughts in his mind, getting a loud laugh from his sister in response. Hero did his best to hold it together, but Aubrey? Aubrey gave him no such mercy.

 

Aubrey instantly lost her mind at Sunny’s expression, doubling over in laughter.

 

“D-Dude, I’ve never seen- seen someone that perfectly fit- the- the- no thoughts, head empty m-meme as well as y-you” She choked out between laughs, barely even managing that much.

 

Kel glanced down at Sunny, loudly snorting as they locked eyes. Sunny couldn’t help but puff his cheeks at the disrespect, only drawing further laughter from the group.

 

Somehow, eventually, the gang composed themselves enough to clean up the great baking disaster of 20XX. The process wasn’t without some… hiccups (namely everyone frantically trying to stop Kel from ingesting frankly concerning amounts of raw cookie dough), but it got done.

 

The six found themselves in Basil’s living room, their various sleeping arrangements set up on the floor and couch. The younger four had been assigned the floor, as usual, and the older two slept on the couch together, also as usual. A comfortable silence had fallen over the group, and for those fleeting moments, it almost felt like the failed recital had never happened. It almost felt like they were just having another sleepover, just like they used to.

 

“S-So… what do you think causes us to be able to see Mari? You mentioned you and Hero could see her, Sunny.” Basil suddenly asked, pulling everyone’s attention away from Captain Spaceboy Episode 438: Ghastly Hijinks.

 

“Well…” Hero started, thumbing at his chin. “I wasn’t able to see her until I heard Sunny playing their recital. Maybe it’s that?”

 

Sunny shook his head immediately, taking the opportunity to voice his thoughts. “If it was the song, then I would’ve seen her a year ago. I’ve been practicing it since then. What’s the difference between then and now, save a few thousand practice runs?”

 

The group collectively hummed in contemplation, each member racking their brains for a potential answer. Sunny had a good point; if he had played it so many times, why then did it only work two days ago? Why didn’t it work on any of the other attempts?

 

“Did you… feel anything different when you played it at our house? Or at yours?” Hero asked.

 

Sunny thought for a second. He… he had, actually! It was a strange sensation, almost akin to a pulling feeling, starting from the time two days ago when he seemingly summoned Mari back from the dead.

 

“Yeah, actually. A weird pull in my chest and brain.”

 

“Me too!” Aubrey cried, shooting upright. “I felt that weird pulling too! There was a foggy feeling that I had to push through, though.”

 

“Kel?” Hero prompted, turning to his younger brother.

 

“I think so, yeah.”

 

“So then, we all felt it. But why now?” Hero continued, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

 

Why now?

 

What was significant around this time?

 

What could have tied them to Mari?

 

“You don’t think…” Kel started, sitting up with a look of realization on his face. It seemed he and Sunny had come to the same conclusion; his eyes found the noirette’s, and a silent understanding was conveyed. “Is it cause’ of Sunny’s birthday? It’s an event that we all care about, that’s around this time, and that Mari cares about enough to come back for?”

 

Sunny nodded in agreement, looking to his sister for approval. After a few moments of contemplation, she appeared to agree, nodding slightly.

 

“Mari thinks so too.” Sunny translated.

 

“T-Then all we need to do to see her is have him play the song!” Basil said excitedly, sitting up onto his elbows.

 

“Sunny, go grab the violin!” Kel ordered enthusiastically, pointing in the direction of Sunny’s belongings. Sunny had just managed to wiggle his way out of the pile of blankets when his sister suddenly called after him.

 

“Wait!”

 

He spun around, confusion rapidly writing itself all over his face.

 

“I… can we wait until we can visit me?” She asked.

 

Sunny tilted his head, asking a silent question as his friends looked on in a mixture of confusion and expectation. They seemed to get that he was talking to her, at least.

 

“I don’t know why… but I feel like if we’re going to do it, it needs to be there.”

 

After a moment of thought, Sunny shrugged, relaying the message to the rest of the group. They seemed generally a little disappointed, but not all together particularly bothered. Sunny supposed it payed off to have friends as cool as his. He slowly slipped his way back into his blankets, doing his best to stealthily slide over to Kel’s area. Apparently, he was less stealthy than he thought, as a chorus of giggles echoed from the others, and a large muscular arm wrapped itself around his shoulders.

 

“Y’know, if you wanted to come over here, you could’a just asked.” Kel said, chuckling softly, eliciting another chorus of giggles. Despite his burning pride, Sunny couldn’t help but feel… relaxed. The thunder and rain pattering on the windows combined with the comfortable warmth of the boy next to him began to pull him towards the inevitable slumber that threatened him. Comfort was a feeling he was definitely unfamiliar with; so much so that he actually didn’t even recognize it for a few seconds. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had begun drifting closed; it turned out that he was very tired from the amount of running around and resurrecting dead people he had done, and his brain had apparently had enough. He wasn’t even aware of when he drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

~~~The Next Morning~~~

 

Sunny stood in the graveyard, just in front of his sister’s grave. His violin pressed gently against his shoulder and chin, the weight almost as familiar as his own arms. The bow felt like nothing more than an extension of his fingers as he set it on the strings, and the slight morning dew hung in the air around him, dusting the tips of his fingers and his nose. He had come here many times alone, and the sight of Mari’s grave was no odd thing to him. This time, however…

 

He slowly turned around, unable to stop the smile from pulling at his lips as he took a moment to take in his friends, seated around the picnic blanket. They were here for him now, just like they had been a year ago, when all the chips were down and it was all on the line. They were a dependable bunch, and had saved Sunny’s hide more times than he could count. They had given so much to him… more than he could ever hope to return.

 

He’d do his damn best to though, even if he could only do it in this moment, with the instrument he held in his hands.

 

He played.

 

Memory blurred with reality as his bow glided across the strings; he wasn’t sure where one began and one ended, or whether the piano he heard was a figment of his imagination, or something more.

 

Familiar moments flashed through his mind; every amazing memory he had made with the equally amazing people in front of him pushed its way into the forefront of his thoughts.

 

Every inside joke; every shared laugh; every quiet sob in the arms of another. All of it passed through him; pulling at his heart in a way nothing else quite could.

 

Sunny closed his eyes in concentration.

 

He didn’t see the beam of sunlight break through the clouds.

 

He didn’t feel its rays fall upon him, cloaking the boy and the gravestone in its golden light.

 

He didn’t see it escalate with the music.

 

He didn’t see the light brighten.

 

He didn’t see it swallow the six of them.

 

He only saw her.

 

He played.

 

And played.

 

And played.

 

Until that final, somber note echoed from his violin, resonating through the graveyard.

 

The light brightened until nobody could see anything.

 

Sunny saw her.

 

And then he didn’t.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

—

Mari

—

 

The sun shined down on her face, the brightness of it enough to get through her closed eyelids. The wind blew across the graveyard, brushing gently past her hair and tickling her nose. The grass under her poked at her back; as if calling her to wake up.

 

So she did.

 

Her eyes opened, and an unfamiliar sight filled her vision. 

 

One of her hands passed in front of the sun.

 

Her hands were pale.

 

Her hands were alive.

 

A face poked its way above her arm, a wide smile spread across its visage.

 

“Good morning, Mari. Welcome back.”

Notes:

I really hope this chapter lives up to all of your expectations. I feel like it’s a little too fast, but I both really wanted to get it out, and felt like I couldn’t drag it on any longer than I did without bloating it.

This is the final chapter before the epilogue! It’s weird that the main portion of this story is finished, and I hope all of you enjoyed it.

As always, leave your comments down below, I respond to each and every one, unless something comes up or I’m a goofball. I love hearing what you have to say.

See you all in the epilogue.

- Athena

Chapter 10: All It Costs Is Your Love! (And A Magic Song)

Summary:

In which a story comes to an end.

~~~6 Months and 22 Days Later~~~

 

Mari’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the familiar ceiling above her. Her gaze traced the flower drawings that had been painted on the roof, covering the entire surface in their colorful patterns. She glanced across the room, unconsciously searching the bed at the opposite end for her brother. Her brain did a double take as it realized he wasn’t there, and she suddenly sat up.

 

Sunny never wakes up before me…

 

She looked around a little more, spotting a piece of paper, taped to the wall and covered in what appeared to be Sunny’s handwriting. She hopped out of bed (and took notice of her fully functioning knee yet again, thanks Sunny!) and walked over, pulling the paper off the door as she began to go about her morning routine.

 

“Hey Mari. You were up really late last night with all the college prep, so you were sleeping like a rock when we were supposed to wake up. I decided to let you sleep in a little. I told the others, don’t worry.

 

P.S. Hero is sad he didn’t get to see you sleeping. He says you look cute like that. Blegh.”

 

Mari giggled at her brother’s note, checking the clock out of the corner of her eye. It couldn’t be that late… right?

 

…12:30?!

 

Why had he let her sleep in this long? She was a full three hours late to the party now, thanks to him. She’d have to give him an earful later.

 

Though, it was rather nice of him to think about how tired she would be. She decided to let it go.

 

She hastily got dressed, grabbing her things before racing out of the front door, shouting a quick “Goodbye!” to Ms. Polly as she left.

 

In her haste she didn’t even notice that it was snowing; her first hint being the small crystals that settled on her nose as she stepped out of the door. Her smile widened as she jogged down the street, twirling around in delight. She couldn’t help but laugh at the picturesque moment, listening as it echoed off the houses. The lights glimmered from atop the houses as she passed, the red and green almost looking like little bits of glitter over the roofs and lawns, as if the whole town was one tiny model in a colorful snow globe.

 

She skipped up the steps to Basil’s house, knocking a quick rhythm into the door. After a few seconds it swung open, revealing Basil to be the one who had let her in. Sunny suddenly poked his head around the corner, a frown on his face.

 

“You’re three hours late. I thought you were supposed to be the perfect sibling?” He quipped, his expression not wavering even slightly.

 

“Sorry, Sunny, I gave up on that after you brought me back from the dead.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of the notion, shaking her head slightly. It really had been a very strange circumstance, hadn’t it?

 

“I miss the old Mari.”

 

A chorus of audible gasps was heard from around the house, the loudest from Basil right behind her. Mari glared at Sunny for a few seconds before her composure faltered, and she burst out into laughter once again, doubling over as Basil looked on in utter confusion.

 

“That Mari died at the base of the stairs.” She replied, earning a rare chuckle from her brother. The others stared in confusion for a few more seconds before going on with their work, only slightly confused by the siblings’ antics. 

 

Mari quickly made her way into the kitchen, swooping past Hero and dropping a peck on his cheek. The boy did his best to hide the blush that quickly covered his face, bending further down over the bowl of batter he was mixing.

 

“Morning! What’s cookin’, good lookin?” She said, giggling at his embarrassment. It was sweet to her that even all these years later, he was still as easy to fluster. He mumbled something into the bowl, bending down even further to hide his flushed face. Mari giggled again, dropping down into his field of view while brushing her hair aside, careful not to get any into the food.

 

“What, cat got your tongue?”

 

Hero avoided her gaze for a few more moments before finally relenting, sighing and turning his attention to her.

 

“You done yet?” He asked, his burning red cheeks betraying his true feelings on the matter. She hummed, tapping her chin contemplatively before smiling.

 

“Yep!” She said, finally allowing him some relief and slipping out of the kitchen. Basil had taken his place helping Aubrey put up the lights around the living room, feeding her the strands so she could tape them to the walls. Mari hummed along to the ambient Christmas music as she skipped around the house, looking for wherever her brother and Kel had run off to.

 

After a shockingly long time, (who knew Basil’s house had so many rooms?) she finally spotted them through the back door’s window panes. She barely caught herself from calling out to them as she realized what they were doing, instead stifling another laugh as she grabbed her phone, pulling up her camera.

 

K-CHK

 

Ah. She had left the flash on. Well, she could see whether her camerwork was adequate later, because she was now sprinting away from a very peeved, very flustered Sunny.

 

She dashed back into the kitchen, dancing around Hero as Sunny frantically chased her. Hero looked on in a mixture of amusement and confusion as the siblings played Ring-Around-The-Hero, not even bothering to ask what they were up to. The siblings’ game was ended for them with the arrival of Kel, who promptly snatched Sunny by the back of his collar.

 

“You know how Mari is, dude. This is a losing battle.” Kel said, raising an eyebrow at Sunny. Sunny shot one last glare at Mari before huffing, crossing his arms in visible displeasure.

 

“Do… do I even need to ask what just happened?” Hero asked, having resumed his chef-ly duties.

 

“Nope!” Mari responded cheerfully, taking the chance to slip out of the kitchen before Sunny could come after her again.

 

~~~Later, After Dinner~~~

 

The gang found themselves seated around the living room, each with a small stack of opened presents next to them. All, save Mari. For whatever reason, none of them had given her anything yet. She figured they had something they had gotten for her together, akin to how they had gotten Sunny’s violin, and not that they were just paying her back for abandoning them for four years. That last bit was a conversation that the group had had pretty soon after her miraculous revival, wherein they had unanimously agreed that nobody blamed her for what had happened. She disagreed with their judgment, but had been thankful for it nonetheless.

 

“Mari?”

 

She had done a lot of reflection over the last few months, actually. She had loosened up a lot from the perfectionist she had used to be, much to Sunny and Hero’s pleasure. They’d been the most worried about her after she came back, even if the others were very, very close behind in that regard.

 

“Maaaaaari.”

 

Honestly, she was happier now than she had ever been before she died. She supposed that the whole “dying and being brought back from the grave after years of trying to save her brother from his guilt” thing had done wonders to widen her up.

 

“ Mari.”

 

Mari finally realized someone was calling for her when something soft slammed into her face, the couch pillow that had been thrown falling into her lap with a soft thud.

 

“Ah! What’s up?” She asked, finding her assailant. It was Sunny, because of course it was.

 

“We have a gift for you.” He said, standing up and walking across the room to her. He handed her a small black box, a red bow wrapped around its surface. It fit into the palm of her hand comfortably, and was remarkably light. “Me, Aubrey, Basil, and Kel all pitched in. Even if it was mostly Basil’s parents’ money.”

 

Mari gently unwrapped the bow, pulling the lid off the box with as much care as she could. She removed the small amount of wrapping paper from the box, finding a small keychain inside. She lifted the item from its container, only then realizing that there was something attached. A few seconds later, she realized what it was.

 

“Is this… a car key?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“It’s for me?”

 

“Yep.”

 

She sat in stunned silence for a few seconds, unable to find the words to say what she wanted to.

 

“Why…?” She finally said.

 

“We figured that you’d probably need something to get around, given that you’re an adult now. Basil was happy to guilt trip his parents into giving him most of the money for it.”

 

Mari looked up to the blond in astonishment, getting only a nervous chuckle in response.

 

“I don’t know what to say…” she started, returning her gaze to her brother.

 

“Thank you?” He proposed. She laughed softly at his complete lack of tact, nodding before responding.

 

“Thank you. All of you. I’ll cherish it, I promise.” She said, looking up to the smiling faces of her younger friends.

 

“I got something for you too, even if it isn’t quite as extreme as that.” Hero said, grabbing another black box from beside him. This one was rectangular, and substantially heavier than the one from the rest of the group. “Since you missed a few years, I’m sure that the one that you had went missing. I thought I’d get you a new one, so that you aren’t always needing to use mine.

 

She popped the lid off of his gift with the same amount of care she had given the other, gingerly retrieving the contents. Inside was the most recent model of phone from the brand she liked, and it was even in her favorite color!

 

“I… I…” she stuttered, something beginning to prick at the corners of her eyes.

 

“Thank you, Hero.” She said, rubbing the tears away. “Thank all of you. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you…”

 

Sunny dropped down in front of her, balancing on his haunches as they locked eyes. He smiled, pulling her into a hug. 

 

“All it costs is your love.”

Notes:

I will apologize real quick for the delay. New job kicked my butt for a while, but I’m glad I got it out.

I’m actually really happy with how this story turned out in the end. There were some parts I was iffy on, and there are some I still am (some even in this chapter), but I’m satisfied with the final product in the end. I might come back and spruce up the bits I’m not a huge fan of at a later date, who knows.

Ending stories like this is always so bittersweet to me. On one hand I’m free to go tinker with other works (which I do have one cooking, keep an eye out for that), but on the other, each of these is so special to me that it’s a little weird for me to let go of them. I think that’s part of the reason I love writing so much.

Alright, that’s enough of my soap boxing for now. I appreciate each and every one of you. Really, this story would’ve never happened without your support. Reading your comments was the most fun part of writing the whole thing, to be honest. I love y’all so much.

Okay, that’s really enough. I’ll see all of you in my next work, but until then… have a lovely day.

- Athena