Chapter Text
"Hm, hm hm~" Mari hummed, as she hanged up a shirt and stepped back. "Aaand that's all!" She smiled.
She dusted her hands with an exaggerated flair as she stepped out of the bedroom. It wasn't even noon yet, and everything was spotless. 'Now if only Hero wasn't off with Sunny....' Mari thought with a sigh. It was such a beautiful day outside, and the forests were perfect for a romantic stroll. 'Oh well, I should go see what's on television. It's not like I'm expecting anyone--'
The slam of a door cut off her thoughts, complete with a startled yelp.
"MARI!?" Aubrey cried out, distant.
Mari blinked and cupped her hands. "Aubrey?" She said.
One set of footfalls later, she found Aubrey rushing into the hall. "Mari!" Aubrey stormed up the stairs, hair wild and eyes wide.
"--Aubrey, what's going on?" Mari met her halfway across the second floor. "Did something happen?"
"It'sSunny!" Aubrey fired off, as she grabbed Mari's arms and shook her. "Sunnywantedtoproposehewantedtopropose!!"
"C-Calm down, Aubrey! Ican'tunderstandwhatyou'resaying!"
"S-Sunny. Proposal. Sunnyproposing!"
Mari's eyes widened. "Wait, really!?"
Aubrey nodded so fast that Mari almost feared for her friend's life. "He was going to propose with that ticket! Fromthebadminton!"
"Oh my!" Mari smiled. She reached out to embrace Aubrey. "That sounds so romantic! I'm so happy for you--"
"Buthecouldn't!!" Aubrey interjected, shaking Mari out of her hug attempt.
Mari gasped. "--Wait, what?"
"He didn't win, he doesn't have the ticket!!"
"Er, we could just give him one--"
"Itwon'twork, he won't just take one!"
Mari tried to sigh. "Okay, slow down for a second Aubrey--"
"Hewon'ttakeitIneedthatproposalbuthedidn'twin!" Aubrey's hands flew right to her forehead, and she started to vibrate. "WhatdoIdowhatdoido!?"
"Aubrey, get a hold of yourself!!"
SMACK.
"I...." Aubrey muttered, as she cradled her bruised cheek. "I needed that. Yeah, I needed that...."
"Okay, good." Mari took a deep breath. "Now, first off. Why won't Sunny just 'accept' a ticket?"
"W-Well, he said it wouldn't feel right. I think-- Ow." Aubrey winced. "I think he wanted to earn it and surprise me with it."
Mari hummed and held her own chin. "Okay, that makes sense. So.... You want him to propose to you with a 'one time do anything' ticket, right?"
Aubrey nodded.
"Well, there's a simple solution to that!" Mari declared, clapping her hands together. "We just do everything over again."
Mari's bright smile wavered against Aubrey's stare. "....Uh, what?" The delinquent asked.
"The tickets were for the badminton match, weren't they? So, if we do it again, but we make sure to lose...."
"....Then Sunny would get the ticket." Aubrey's eyes widened. "Why didn't I think of that before....?"
"Oh, I don't know...." Mari's smile twisted as her (in)famous smug aura began to manifest. "Perhaps you were too busy thinking about my brother--"
"A-Anyways!" Aubrey cut in, raising her voice and trying not to show her blush. "Are you sure that they'll play again?"
Mari raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Sunny was kinda upset about how we won...."
"Did he hold it against you?"
"....Not for long...."
"There you go, then. If he's already over it, then we have nothing to worry about."
Aubrey bit her lip. "And Hero....?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about him." Mari beamed with a wink. "Let's just say that Hero can't say no to me~!"
A few hours later, Mari's jaw fell. "--What do you mean, no?"
Hero rubbed at the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "I mean...." He said, hesitant. "When we did it.... It was--"
"You cheated." Sunny interjected from his seat on the couch. He flipped a page of his book.
Hero winced, glancing towards Aubrey for a moment. "....Yeah.... That wasn't very fun, you know?"
Mari felt the onset of a headache. It was just a game, for god's sake! She made up a prize to make things exciting, not turn the match into a competition! But Sunny looked resolute in his declaration, and she could tell from the look in Hero's eyes that her boyfriend was only reluctant about her younger brother's bluntness.
Mari looked over at Aubrey. She brought her friend along to help, but the pink-haired girl became entranced with Sunny once again. One hand propped up the delinquent's cheek, the other clenching her heart as she got lost in those locks of short, dark hair. 'Look, Aubrey, I'm happy that you can't get enough of my brother,' Mari thought, clamping down on her tongue. 'But can you not fantasize about him for like, two seconds?'
"Look, we're sorry about teasing you like that." Mari said, hands clasped together. "You're right, it's not fun when someone plays dirty. That's why we want to try it again. With the same stakes, but no cheating whatsoever."
Hero was silent for a few moments. "Well...." He started, and Mari tried not to grin. Sure, she put her foot in her mouth earlier, but she knew how Hero ticked. But then Hero followed up with, "If we paired up by couple...."
What? No! If that happened, there was no way that Sunny could get the ticket! "Hero, that won't be necessary." Mari whipped up a chuckle. "We can just use the same teams!"
"That wouldn't be fair for Sunny, though." Hero pointed out. "Don't you remember how the game went?"
Urk. That's right, he paid so much attention to Aubrey that he kept getting distracted.... Damnit, Sunny, why did you have to go and fall hopelessly in love? "T-That's why I'm putting the tickets back up for grabs! He was completely focused when I threw those in!"
"I don't know." Hero shook his head. "He still got distracted after...."
"Come on, Hero, I said it wouldn't happen again! It'll be--"
"Mari." Hero interjected. His eyes narrowed, and his demeanor turned to stone. 'Oh crap.' Mari realized. He's doubling down on her. "I appreciate that you want to make up for what happened, but we shouldn't keep the same teams."
Mari started to wring her hands. This couldn't have gone any worse. "O-Of course. Uhm...." She felt her blood start to rumble. She needed a distraction. "--Oh! Didn't you say that you wanted to teach Sunny one of your recipes today, Hero?"
"Huh? ....Oh, right!" Hero snapped his fingers. "Hey, Sunny. Do you want to learn how I baked those cookies?"
Mari's younger brother perked right up from his book and made an enthusiastic nod. 'So he can impress Aubrey, I'm betting.'
"Great! Let's go to the kitchen. We should have all the ingredients...." Hero's voice trailed off as he stepped out of the living room. Sunny wasted no time putting his book down and following suit.
Okay. Now she could let her blood boil.
......
When Sunny stepped out of her sight, Aubrey snapped back to reality, looking around to and fro. "Huh, what-- Oh." She said, her cheeks flaring in embarrassment. She didn't mean to space out, but Sunny looked so focused and sounded so sure.... It was such a rare sight, too! She couldn't help but admire her boyfriend's strict side. 'What I wouldn't do to see more of it.... Maybe even--'
Aubrey shook her head. "So, uhm." She cleared her throat. "That didn't work, huh....?" She looked over at Mari, and her face soon became pale.
Mari's brows furrowed deep as she peeled back her lips in a snarl. Her hands strangled one-another with death grips, and she shook with restrained indignation.
The pink-haired girl only saw this side once-- back when her trouble-making antics were at their worst, and just before she toned them down too. "M-Mari....?" Aubrey squeaked, trembling.
Mari's grip tightened. Then she went still and let out a gigantic sigh. "That didn't work." Mari said, in-between deep breaths. "That did not work."
Yeah, and the older sister should be well-aware of Aubrey's inaction. The delinquent winced. "Sorry...."
"No, no, it's fine." Mari sighed again. "I should've known it wouldn't be that easy, but it's not the end of the world."
"Right...." Aubrey took a deep breath. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well...." Mari let her hands fall to her midsection. "Redoing the badminton match is a bust, but that means we just need to focus on Sunny."
Aubrey raised an eyebrow. "You mean I have to play badminton with Sunny alone or something?"
"You could." Mari smiled. "Or you can play tennis. Or race him. Or play charades, or his favorite video game."
"What?"
"We only need Sunny to win the ticket, right?" Mari gestured. "So, you just need to challenge him. It can be any contest, just as long as he would win that ticket."
Aubrey blinked. "....Seriously?"
"Mhm. You could even challenge him and then lose on purpose, as long as he gets the prize."
Was it really that easy? Aubrey loo- wait, no, her jaw was hanging. She closed her mouth, and then looked back at the kitchen. "Wouldn't that be really obvious, though?"
"Not if you play your cards right." Mari stepped closer, and Aubrey turned her attention back to her friend. "I can goad Sunny into a challenge, and then you can play along until the last moment. My little brother is very perceptive, but he wouldn't be suspicious if, say, you happened to hit the wrong button at the last moment."
"....Huh. When you put it like that...."
"Was there another way to put it?"
An overdramatic scene where Aubrey did everything she could to lose, only for Sunny to catch on, feel insulted and deny her their cuddle session? The pink-hair girl shuddered and shook her head. "No...."
Mari smiled and placed her hand on Aubrey's shoulder. "Don't worry, Aubrey. It'll all work out. You can trust me when I say that you'll get your proposal and I'll get the little sister I never had."
"Mari...."
....And then Mari's smile turned smug. "And no, Sunny won't stop snuggling with you, either."
Aubrey almost jumped out of her skin. "HOW DID YOU KNOW!?" She screeched. A second later, her eyes bulged, and she covered her mouth.
"--Auby?" Sunny called out, poking his head out of the kitchen. His eyes were full of concern. "Is something wrong?"
U-Urk! "N-No, Sunbun, everything's fine....!" She squeaked, giving him a shy little wave of the hand.
Mari, the devil she was, snickered away behind her. 'Damnit, Mari!'