Chapter Text
“Damn it, Sunny!” Mari screamed, slamming her hands down on the piano keys.
Sunny gritted his teeth, but quickly stopped playing his violin, warily eyeing his sister. He had messed up again! Why couldn’t Mari understand that he would just never get it? He could never be as good as her!
Mari sighed heavily, closing her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and kept her eyes closed for a moment. Sunny watched this all in silence, feeling his heart beat rapidly in his chest. Mari then opened her eyes, looking completely drained. She stood up, disoriented for a moment, and then blinked. “Sorry,” she whispered, not looking at him. “I didn’t mean to yell.”
Sunny gripped his violin bow so tightly he could feel it pierce into his skin. He wasn’t concerned about that though. His fingers were already cut and bruised from all the playing, what was one more cut? Sunny looked down, and kept silent.
“It’s just… don’t you understand, Sunny? Do you really understand how important this is?”
Sunny opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when he saw the look in Mari’s eye. No… why was she looking at him like that? She eyed him with complete and utter disappointment. Sunny felt his heart drop. He ran out of the room, violin gripped tightly in his hand. Mari made a confused noise, but quickly ran after him.
He couldn’t take this anymore. This was just too much. Why did he ever agree to this? He should have known that Mari would always outshine him, no matter how hard he tried. Did he really think he could do something right in his life?
Sunny ran, guilty that he felt glad that Mari’s bad knee was most likely slowing her down. He just couldn’t be near her right now. He saw the stairs come into view and felt a strong urge to do something he would most likely regret. He stopped in front of the stairs, looking down. He could feel a headache forming, and tears were welling in his eyes. Despite the stress of everything, he just couldn’t find it in him to be angry at Mari, it wasn’t her fault. It was his. Still, he felt resentment towards her.
He scowled at the violin in his hands. It was all because of this stupid violin! If he had never gotten it in the first place, he wouldn’t have to deal with any of this! He could be out playing with his friends, not practicing for something he could never be good at anyway! Sunny hardly noticed when his hands raised, ready to throw his violin down the stairs. It was only when he heard loud thumping behind him that he quickly dropped his hands, realizing what he had almost done.
“Sunny!” Mari shouted, stopping behind him. She stared at his trembling form, and the harsh grip he had on his violin. As she studied her brother, she felt her heart clench when she noticed the tears in his eyes. And that’s when she noticed the cuts on his hands. Her eyes widened in horror.
Sunny felt his sister grab his hand and he almost pulled away. He suppressed a flinch when she gently rubbed over the cuts on his fingers. He looked up at her and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. Just before she was so angry… And now she just looked sad. “S-Sunny…” Mari stammered, voice wobbly.
Sunny just gave her a tired look, anger leaving his body in almost an instant. He hated when Mari cried…
Mari wrapped him in a hug, making him drop his violin on the ground next to him. While Sunny flinched at the sound, Mari ignored it, only gripping him tighter. “Mari…?” He whispered, blinking in confusion.
“Sunny, I’m so sorry! I should have noticed how tired you were… I'm so sorry!”
Sunny frowned, hugging his sister back. He couldn’t really understand what was happening, but he knew one thing for certain: He didn’t want Mari to be sad. “No it’s fine… I should have said something,” he whispered, blinking away tears.
Mari sniffled, releasing her brother from the hug. Sunny stared up at her, teary-eyed as well. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a thump from downstairs. The siblings quickly turned to look at what had made the sound and were surprised to see Basil standing on the bottom step of the stairs, looking nervous. The flower boy gasped when he saw they noticed him. “A-Ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt…” He said shakily, looking down.
Mari quickly regained her senses. “Oh, Basil! No, don’t worry, you didn’t interrupt anything!”
Basil gave a shaky smile, but it fell when he looked at Sunny. The blond boy eyed his friend in concern. “S-Sunny are you alright?”
Sunny wondered how long Basil had been listening. Did he see Sunny almost throw his violin down the stairs? For some reason, the thought made him sick.
“I’m fine, Basil…” Sunny said quietly, looking down.
Mari fought to keep the smile on her face at her brother’s obvious sadness. She looked back at Basil, who was now eyeing her sadly. He could tell that the smile was clearly forced but he said nothing. Mari tilted her head. “What are you doing here, Basil? The recital is tonight, remember?”
Mari tried not to notice Sunny’s flinch at the mention of the recital.
Basil blinked up at her before giving a nervous laugh. “I wanted to take pictures of you guys before we went! Um, I didn’t realize you guys were busy… I swear I didn’t want to interrupt!”
Sunny wanted to give Basil a smile and reassure him that he hadn’t interrupted, but found that he could only gaze tiredly. Another thing he wasn’t good at… He wasn’t surprised that Mari, who was good at everything, quickly did the job for him.
“Basil, please, you didn’t interrupt anything! We would love to pose for you, we just have to get ready first! Why don’t you go see how Aubrey is doing?” Mari suggested, giving a reassuring grin.
Basil smiled at that. “O-Okay!”
Sunny watched as Basil gave them one last look before leaving. When they both heard the front door open and close, Mari sighed. “Basil is so sweet…” She whispered, smiling faintly.
Sunny found himself nodding in agreement. Basil really was a kind person, always looking out for those around him. Sunny bitterly wished that he could do the same. He felt Mari gently grab his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Sunny, let’s get your fingers bandaged up and then we can get dressed.”
Sunny frowned, an uncomfortable knot forming in his stomach. “Mari… do we really still have to do the recital? I’m not…” Sunny wanted to say he wasn’t good enough, but he decided not to. He’s already made Mari sad enough as is.
Mari looked down at him sadly. “I.. I know you don’t want to do it Sunny, but we have to.” She then perked up. “But, after this you don’t have to play the violin anymore, I promise! This can be our last performance!”
Sunny swallowed, but nodded, knowing that this was as much as he could get. “Alright.”
Mari led him towards the bathroom and they both walked in. She flicked on the light, before bending down to look for ointment and bandages in the cabinet below them. Sunny watched her for a few moments before turning away to gaze at the mirror casually.
He nearly screamed when he noticed that instead of just seeing himself staring back at him, there was someone behind him. The person in question… looked just like him! However they were extremely pale, and seemed to be wearing some sort of pajamas. They were staring blankly from behind him, but malice seemed to be swarming in their eyes. Sunny turned around quickly but didn’t see anyone behind him. He shakily turned back to the mirror and saw that the strange figure was gone.
Mari noticed him moving and looked up from the cabinet. “You okay, Sunny?”
Sunny didn’t look at her, still focused on the mirror. “Sunny?” She repeated, moving to stand up.
Sunny jumped, snapping out of his daze. He looked down at his sister’s worried face. “I’m fine,” he said on auto-pilot.
Mari frowned, but didn’t say anything, going back to shuffling through the cabinet. Sunny looked back up to the mirror and only saw his own face staring back at him. He swallowed, completely shaken. Could he have imagined that person behind him? Sunny found that he was uncertain.
Mari made a happy noise, finally finding the bandages and ointment. She grabbed them and then closed the cabinet, standing up. “Alright Sunny, I’ve got the stuff!”
Sunny watched in mild amusement as Mari grinned victoriously at him, waving the “stuff” around in the air. She calmed down, placing the bandages on the sink and uncapping the ointment. She quickly squeezed a bit of it out and then motioned for Sunny to put out his hand. He obeyed, watching in awe as Mari carefully rubbed the ointment on his fingers, before wrapping a bandage around each of them. She noticed his surprise and gave him a grin. “Hero taught me how to do this,” she explained, wrapping the last finger. “Alright, done!”
Mari let go and Sunny wiggled his newly wrapped fingers around. He gave his sister a small smile. “Thanks, Mari.”
She smiled sadly, angry at herself for not noticing her brother’s pain sooner. Well, either way, they just had to get through the recital and then her brother could finally relax. Surely he could just try his best for this one last time? Mari watched Sunny inspect his hands for another moment and then he motioned towards the door in a questioning manner. Mari sighed and nodded, and they both left to make their way towards their shared bedroom.
Once inside, Mari immediately picked up the dress she had picked out for the recital, eyeing it with excitement. Likewise, Sunny picked up his suit. While Mari was clearly excited, Sunny felt nervous. Sure, Mari had agreed that he wouldn’t have to play the violin again after this but he could tell that she was still expecting him to play perfectly at the recital. The weight of expectations once again fell on his shoulders. He looked down with a blank look, and then clutched the suit tightly in his arms, as if trying to destroy it. Mari noticed and gave him a concerned look, “You alright?” She asked slowly.
Sunny immediately loosened his grip. “I’m going to the bathroom,” he mumbled, leaving without waiting for a response.
Mari wanted to call out after him, but eventually decided not to. She watched him leave and then turned back to the dress in her hands. Well, time to get ready.
In the bathroom, Sunny was fiddling with his collar when he heard a knock on the door. The person who knocked didn’t wait for a response, and opened the door. Sunny wasn’t surprised to see it was his dad, but that didn’t make him any less uncomfortable about it. The thing is, ever since Sunny can remember, he swears his dad has always considered him to be lesser than Mari. Of course he wasn’t wrong, but it still hurt whenever Sunny’s dad would give Mari special treatment.
“You’re taking a while in here,” his dad said gruffly.
Sunny swallowed. “I was just finishing up,” he said quietly.
His dad eyed him with disdain. “I hope you don’t mess this up for Mari. I know how hard she’s worked for it. All I ever see you do is run around with those little friends of yours,” the man scolded.
Sunny felt his throat tighten up. He couldn’t speak. This seemed to just make his dad, who already seemed prickly, angrier. “Damn it boy, speak! If you never say a word, people will think you’re some kind of-”
“Honey?” A sweet voice called. Sunny’s mom stepped into the bathroom, frowning at the tension in the air. “What’s going on?” She asked, looking at the two.
Sunny took the chance to leave, running past his parents and out the bathroom. His mom shouted in surprise and he heard his dad yell something after him, but he ignored them, running back into his bedroom. He saw that Mari was finished, and was just putting on her shoes. She turned to him, confused. “Sunny? Why were you running?”
Sunny averted his eyes and didn’t answer. Mari observed the troubled look on her brother’s face with a frown. “Well, if you won’t tell me then we can talk about it later. We need to start heading out.”
Sunny could hear his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He swallowed, going to grab his violin. After picking it up he made his way out the room and down the stairs, Mari following closely behind him. As he started to get closer to the living room, he could hear some muffled voices. His heart began to race faster, hoping that it wasn’t-
“Sunny!”
Three curious eyes turned to him immediately. Aubrey, Basil, and Kel were already here, Sunny realized with dismay. For some reason, he was hoping that he wouldn’t have to see his friends right now, not when he was feeling so nervous.
Kel, who had shouted his name when he walked in, ran towards him with a wide grin. “Wow, looking good, Sunny! I’ve never seen you wear fancy clothes before!”
Aubrey gave Kel a bemused look. “You’re literally wearing the same clothes too.”
Kel squawked, offended. “I-I knew that, obviously!”
“Guys… please don’t fight!” Basil said gently from behind them.
Sunny observed them all. Kel was wearing a simple suit, like him, though instead of a white dress shirt which Sunny was wearing, Kel’s was orange. Aubrey was wearing a flowy pink dress, which Sunny thought suited her. Basil was wearing a suit as well, though instead of slacks he was wearing shorts. Sunny thought they all looked nice.
“Aww, did you guys come to wish us good luck?” Mari asked, grinning playfully.
“We sure did!” Hero said with a grin, walking into the living room holding a plate of cookies.
“Cookies!” Kel shouted, running towards his brother.
“Hey, wait a minute, Kel! These cookies are for Mari and Sunny! Though, I guess you can have some too…” Hero obliged.
“Aww, Hero! You didn’t have to bake anything!” Mari chuckled, walking towards Hero with a playful grin.
“I tried to make them like yours,” Hero said, blushing.
Sunny watched Mari tease Hero but then jumped when he felt someone grab his arm. He turned to see Basil giving him a worried look. “You okay?” Basil whispered, searching Sunny’s face.
“I’m fine…” Sunny mumbled, looking away.
Basil frowned. “That’s a lie, isn’t it?” Basil seemed unsure for a moment, before giving Sunny a determined look. “S-Sunny… I heard what happened before.”
Sunny felt his heart drop. “Y-You did?” He stammered.
Basil took a step towards him, reaching out an arm in a comforting manner, but Sunny stepped back. Basil stopped, a hurt look on his face. “S-Sunny-”
“What’s going on over here?” Aubrey had stepped over to see what was going on, and frowned at the tension between the two boys. The others looked over as well.
Basil floundered when everyone’s eyes were on them, and Sunny kept his head down. “A-Ah, it’s nothing, I was just asking Sunny something! U-Um…” Basil trailed off nervously.
Aubrey noticed Sunny looking down and gave him a concerned look. “Sunny, you okay?”
Sunny didn’t respond, feeling his headache getting worse. “Sunny?” Aubrey asked again.
Mari quickly stepped over, looking worried. “Don’t worry everyone, Sunny’s just nervous about the recital, isn’t that right?” She turned to her brother.
Sunny nodded, quickly grabbing the lifeline Mari had given him. Mari grinned. “But don’t worry, once we get on stage you guys will see just how much we’ve practiced!” She reassured the group.
Everyone except Basil took their attention off Sunny at Mari’s reassurance. Sunny could feel Basil sneaking glances at him, but he ignored him. Hero gave a smile. “Well that’s great. I think we should be heading out actually… Are your parents ready, Mari?”
Mari nodded. “They should be in the car, already! Well, is everyone ready?”
Everyone quickly chimed in, except Sunny, who only felt his dread growing. For some reason, he thought that maybe he wouldn’t have to go. But this was real. And there was no escaping the inevitable failure that was just waiting to happen. He could already imagine the disappointment on his friends faces as he completely broke down on stage.
As everyone started to walk out the door, Sunny blindly followed, feeling sick. They all filled into the car. Sunny quickly went to the back, and Basil and Aubrey followed. Kel, Hero, and Mari sat in the middle seats, while Sunny’s parents were seated in the front. Sunny’s mom was driving, while his dad rode shotgun. Sunny’s mom looked up into the mirror to give them all a smile. “Hero, your parents are coming separately?”
Hero nodded. “Yep! They’ve probably already left. We’ll meet them there.”
Sunny’s mom smiled, starting up the car. In the middle, Mari grabbed Hero’s hand and Hero turned to her in surprise. She gave him a small smile, though he could tell by looking in her eyes that she was nervous. He squeezed her hand back, giving her a reassuring smile. In the back, Sunny leaned his head into the window, closing his eyes. Basil eyed the boy with worry, and Aubrey grabbed Basil’s hand which made the boy look at her. She made a questioning gesture, to which Basil opened his mouth ready to tell her about his worry for Sunny, but then he quickly closed it, shaking his head. Aubrey frowned but relented, deciding she would ask again when they weren’t with everyone else.
As they rode towards the school, Sunny began to doze off, ignoring the concerned gazes of his friends.
Sunny clutched the violin tightly in his hands, anger racing through his body. He could hear footsteps approaching him, and he knew them immediately to be Mari’s. He raised his hands above his head and chucked the violin down the stairs, watching in morbid fascination as the instrument shattered below him, making a harsh noise.
“SUNNY!”
Sunny turned to face the furious gaze of his older sister. Mari stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and fury. She slowly walked towards him and Sunny stepped back reflexively. The shocked girl gazed down at the broken violin, before letting out a small laugh. Sunny watched, cautiously, as his sister began to howl, before she snapped towards him, eyes bulging.
“How could you do that, Sunny?! Our recital is tonight, are you kidding me?!” Mari screamed, face red with anger.
Sunny tightened his fists, ignoring the dull pain of his overworked fingers. He couldn’t say anything, not when his sister was looking at him like that. His silence seemed to make Mari angrier however, and she gritted her teeth before proceeding towards him. Sunny walked backwards, trying to avoid her. She let out a sharp laugh. “Now you’re running away? Just like you always do? Don’t you ever get tired of running, Sunny?!”
Her words didn’t make any sense. Why was she saying that? Sunny stared up at his sister with fear now. Maybe… Maybe this was a bad idea. He never thought Mari would get so angry. He had never seen her this angry before, and it terrified him. So, ironically, he tried to run away. Key word: tried. As he took a step away from Mari to sneak past her, she immediately blocked his path. “No, not this time! You need to face your mistakes, Sunny! Stop trying to run away!”
But Sunny didn’t want to face his mistakes. And he most definitely did not want to face Mari. “Leave me alone!” Sunny shouted, pushing his sister away from him.
Mari gasped in surprise, not expecting Sunny to push her. She tried to grab the railing, but her knees buckled, and her hand slipped. She grunted as she hit her arm on the railing, before beginning to fall. Fear took over her senses and she stared up at Sunny who looked shocked. Her body hit each of the steps roughly, and then she hit her head on one of the steps, losing consciousness. Sunny watched as Mari hit the bottom, right on top of his broken violin. Her body made a sickening crack as it collided, and then nothing. He stood there for a few moments, frozen in fear. “M-Mari?” He finally called out, voice cracking.
When there was no response, reality hit. Sunny raced down the steps, and bent down next to Mari, who had her eyes closed. She looked like she was sleeping… Despite that, Sunny didn’t feel relieved. Why didn’t he feel relieved? She was just sleeping! Sunny let out a choked laugh, going to pick up his sister. He just needed to get her in bed…
But before he could, he heard the creak of wood behind him. His head shot towards the sound, and he noticed a figure standing a few feet away, their body shielded by the darkness. Who could that be? Sunny got up shakily, beginning to walk towards the figure. Was it one of his friends? As he got closer, the figure suddenly lunged at him and he screamed. As Sunny flailed beneath the person on top of him, he realized he had closed his eyes and he opened them, before paling in shock. The boy on top of him looked just like him, though he was extremely pale and was wearing striped shorts and a black sleeveless shirt. In fact, the boy actually seemed to be black and white.
Sunny’s heart was beating erratically, and he continued to scream as the boy raised a knife, a sadistic smile on his face. The boy opened his mouth. “I’m just avening Mari, you sick murderer.”
And then the knife lowered.
Sunny jolted, gasping for breath. Immediately, he grabbed at his neck, expecting to feel it bleeding. Instead, it felt normal and Sunny realized that it was normal.
“S-Sunny, are you okay?” Basil whispered, shocked at the erratic way his friend had awoken.
“Did he have a nightmare?” Mari asked from the middle row, concerned.
Sunny clutched at his throat, unable to catch a breath. His head was spinning. “I c-can’t-” He choked out, terrified.
Aubrey was pale, worried for her friend. “M-Mari, he’s not breathing!”
Kel turned around to look, frightened at the commotion. “Sunny?!”
Sunny’s mom looked into the mirror from the front, trying to get a look at her son and also keep her eye on the road. “What’s wrong with him?!” She shouted, unable to see Sunny because of how dark it was in the car.
“Mom park the car, we’re nearly there anyway!” Mari ordered, unbuckling her seatbelt.
“M-Mari?” Hero turned to look at his girlfriend in confusion and shock.
Mari ignored him, climbing out of the car once it was parked. Basil grabbed Sunny, who still was struggling to breathe, and gently pulled him out of the car. Mari immediately grabbed Sunny once the two were out, rubbing his back. “Calm down, Sunny! Count with me! One… Two…”
Sunny started to feel calmer in his sister’s presence, and he followed her instructions. “T-Three…”
As the two counted together, Sunny caught his breath slowly, greedily taking in gulps of air. Finally, he was able to breathe again. Mari hugged him, shaking. “Thank goodness…”
Sunny hugged back, teary-eyed. Faintly, he heard everyone else getting out of the car, before running over. Basil had already been outside, and was crying in relief. The other kids watched the two siblings embrace with teary eyes as well. Sunny’s mom walked over, concern shown all over her face. “W-What happened? Is he okay?” She fretted, eyes roaming over Sunny, trying to look for any injuries.
Sunny’s dad was behind her, though he was silent, brows furrowed. Mari was unable to tell what he was thinking but she ignored him, turning towards her mom. “He’s fine mom, I think he just had a panic attack…”
Her father’s head shot up at the words. “Panic attack?” He grunted, eyes narrowing.
“My baby…” Her mother cried, going to hug Sunny. Mari let her brother go, allowing her mother to embrace him. While she was relieved that Sunny was okay, she still felt extremely worried. Sunny just had a panic attack… but he hadn’t had one in so long! As a kid, Sunny was prone to nervousness easily, so Mari was used to helping Sunny deal with panic attacks. However, as he grew older, he stopped having them, to which Mari was glad. Now though, he just had one, and it was the worst she had ever seen. What was going on?
“I-I’m glad Sunny’s okay!” Aubrey whimpered out, relieved.
Kel nodded. “Me too! I’ve never seen him like that before…”
Mari blinked, gasping. “The recital!”
Sunny flinched in his mother’s arms. His mother looked down at him in concern. “Sunny?”
“Mom, we can walk the rest of the way there. It’s only a couple blocks away,” Mari said, motioning towards the school.
“R-Right, but… is Sunny okay to play?” Her mother asked, brows furrowing.
At this, Mari turned to look at Sunny, realizing her mom had a point. Sunny did seem very stressed lately, but the recital…
“I-I can play,” Sunny whispered, squeezing out of his mother’s embrace.
“Are you sure?” His mom prodded, eyeing him dubiously.
“If he says he can play, then he can play,” his dad interrupted, eyes narrowed.
Sunny’s mom frowned, but relented. Mari gave Sunny a grateful smile. “I knew you could do it, Sunny!”
Sunny looked away, instead beginning to walk towards the school. Mari’s eagerness for Sunny to play confirmed it. He needed to do this for Mari. He couldn’t let her down. He couldn’t let his friends down. And his dad too… His dad, who he could feel the eyes of, burning into his back.
Even if he was unsure of what was happening. Of whether he was losing his mind. Who was the boy who looked just like him that he kept seeing? Why did he have such a terrible nightmare where that boy stabbed him? And why was that nightmare so vivid? Why could he still visualize how Mari’s body fell on top of his broken violin?
So many questions, and no answers. But none of that mattered right now. He just couldn’t mess up this recital. He had to play perfectly! He had to, or he would lose everyone!
Yes, Sunny realized miserably. He most definitely needed to play perfectly at the recital, because everyone was counting on him.