Chapter Text
Mari had lost track of all the things she said during these last 12 minutes, but she did it. She aired out everything she has done wrong to Sunny, big and small. Whether it’s overworking him during recital practice, even telling him to practice while she went to a sleepover with their friends without him, yelling at him and ordering him to get his part right, to eating the last of the grapes that he’s been saving for lunch one day.
With everything out on the table for all to hear and see, Mari was waiting for her friends to say something. Anything.
“Mari–” But before anyone could say anything…
“Mmph.” Like clockwork Sunny rose from her sister’s lap and stretched. “What happened?”
“S-Sunny?!” Still trying to dust the mental cobwebs from his brain, Sunny slowly turned his head towards the source of the sound, which was Aubrey.
“Oh. Hey Aubrey. Good morning. When did you get here?”
“But it’s three–”
“How are you feeling?” Hero asked, taking charge of the whole situation.
“Huh? Oh right, that.” Luckily he was awake enough to understand where this conversation was going.
“Just say the word and we’ll–”
“I’m good.”
“Talk to– I’m sorry what?”
“I wanna stay with Mari. And all of you too.”
“B-But she–”
“She. I. We. Made a lot of mistakes together.”
“Sunny I cannot in good conscious let you take the blame–”
“Nope.”
“But–”
“Denied.”
“Sunny this isn’t a joke–”
“Vetoed.”
Hero’s eye started to twitch, he could deal with one stubborn Suzuki, not two. So, he decided to play the trump card. “But Mari feels awful about what she did to you–”
“Is that so?” Sunny then turned towards Mari, “Then make me lunch. Then it’s fine.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m hungry and she knows how I like my sandwiches.” Sunny glanced at her again, “You do remember don’t you?”
“Of course I do. Toasted white bread with a light layer of mayo, topped with swiss cheese not american because you called it an abomination on sandwiches, with a layer of black forest ham, turkey, shredded iceberg lettuce, thin sliced tomato, sliced sweet onion, light drizzle of that vinegar–whatever gramps taught you how to make–”
“Vinaigrette.”
“Yeah that. Sliced diagonally for… as you say ‘optimal eating enjoyment’, with a soda–an ice cold Coke–and some chips on the side. Specifically, Lays Barbecue Chips.”
The room was stunned to hear Mari’s recitation of Sunny’s sandwich preferences. While Sunny just smiled warmly, “See? Nothing to worry about.”
“So… this was just a test?”
“I still want that sandwich, but it’s more so a reminder that she cares a lot. So, nothing to worry about.”
“But–”
“And I should have talked more, I only tried to talk to her once and never tried it again. So, with indisputable evidence–”
“What evidence–”
“We’re both to blame. Therefore, none of us are to blame either.”
“That’s not how that works–”
“So none of us are in trouble.”
Aaaaand there’s the eye twitching again. “Sunny, I’m getting concerned about how you’re not AT ALL mad at what Mari did.”
“Yeah she yelled at you.” Kel said.
“And made you practice a lot.” Then Aubrey.
“And went to a sleepover without you.” And finally, Basil.
“... I did do all of that.”
“Hmm… well all of those things made me sad more than anything.” Sunny admitted, “But, and bringing all of those things up did make something clear.”
“And that is…?”
“You should have asked more questions too Hero!”
“W-What?!” Hero was shocked at the fact that he’s being dragged into the blame too.
“Yeah, you should have asked Mari why I didn’t come to the sleepover.”
“B-But that’s–”
“He does make a good point there, Hero.” Aubrey said, arms crossed with furrowed eyebrows.
“I… Okay fine.” He conceded, “I’m sorry, Sunny.”
“Then help Mari make lunch for all of us.”
“That can’t be our only–”
“I want a grilled cheese sandwich with ham and some tomato soup please.”
“K-Kel?” Aubrey was shocked at how fast Kel surrendered.
“What? I’m hungry.” Kel said, “And besides. If Sunny isn’t mad at her then we can’t be mad at her either, right?”
…
…
“I hate it when Kel’s right. Fine. I want grilled cheese too.”
“Hmm… that Sunny Sandwich sounded nice, I want one of those too.”
“... Fine. Mari come with me to Othermart, if this is a punishment then we’re committing.”
“Huh? O-Okay.” The older siblings grabbed their stuff and headed out to do some grocery shopping. Leaving the four younger kids alone at home.
“So…”
“Meow.” Before Aubrey could say something more Mewo hopped onto the couch and curled up onto Sunny’s lap.
“Sorry, petting hour is non-negotiable.”
“Meow.” As Sunny scritched behind Mewo’s ears it was clear that he wasn’t going to be available for conversation until the hour was up.
…
…
“Video games?” Kel nudged towards the TV, glancing towards the Slim TS2 that has a thin layer of dust on it.
“You’re on.”
…
One grocery trip and a complete annihilation to Kel’s self esteem in Road Warrior III later, sandwiches (and some tomato soup) were made and lunch was served.
Kel was happily devouring his sandwich, Aubrey as well but as fast, Basil was intrigued by the blend of flavors in Sunny’s preferred sandwich, and Sunny?
“Savory meats balanced by the acidity in the vinaigrette, the subtle sweetness of the onions…” Well he’s in his own little world, but satisfied nonetheless.
Even Hero was enjoying his Hero Sandwich he picked up at Gino's (promptly ignoring Cesar’s glare of anguish at him ordering a sandwich at a pizza shop). So it would appear that everyone was having a good lunch.
… Well, everyone except Mari. Even though Sunny has forgiven her, said he was at fault too, and even managed to wordsmith Hero into accepting some blame she still felt that she doesn’t deserve forgiveness. Especially if her ‘punishment’ was making Sunny and the others sandwiches for lunch.
All of the actions she did to Sunny were eating away at her heart and playing in her mind on an endless loop. But the problem was that she didn’t know HOW to fix all of this. She didn’t know how to make it up to Sunny for everything she’s done.
… But she might know who would.
…
“Well that sounds like a giant mess.” Halley Suzuki muttered, recounting all the words her daughter told her.
“And I don’t know how to fix it.” Mari muttered, “Will canceling the recital fix it?”
“God no. In fact doing that might make things worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“You heard Sunny. He knows what this recital would mean to you and your future–”
“But I don’t care anymo–”
“But HE still does. This might be extremely obvious, but Sunny loves you. A lot. So much so that he would crawl through the pits of Hell if it would help you in some way.” Halley then tapped her forehead, “And you love him too. If you didn’t then you wouldn’t have told the person in charge of your punishment all of the things you did to him.”
“... Oh.”
“Speaking of. The Recital is next week. From today until Sunny's hands are healed enough, neither of you are allowed to practice for it.” Mari felt that punishment seemed too light, “If it seems super light. It is. But if I went harder then Sunny wouldn’t veto it. Selfless little snot that boy.” Halley slightly smiled before getting serious again, “As for how to make it up to him… well something like this would take time, a lot of it.”
“But–”
“Be patient. And don’t think about it too much or it’ll eat you up too. For now, start light and figure it out as you go.”
“But you’re not giving me an answer!”
“I know, and that’s the point. I’m just giving you a direction and a not so gentle shove in said direction. If I just GAVE you the answers on how to fix it then you wouldn’t learn anything.”
Mari hated to admit it, but her mother had a point. “Okay, I’ll try.”
“And that’s the first step. Trying.” Halley then clasped her hands on Mari’s shoulders and roughly turned her around, “Now go, show your brother how much you love him and how you won’t ever screw up with him again!”
Before Mari could even yell at the harsh handling of her person she was shoved out of her mother’s roo–
*SLAM*
Aaand the door slammed shut behind her. She was on her own now.
…
…
‘ Start light… I think I have an idea. ’