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Mari and Hero were the golden children of both of their respective families. Not that their parents didn’t love their younger siblings, but there clearly was some kind of preference and unattainable standard for the both of them. Mari was young when she first showed the sign of perfect pitch, mindlessly pressing keys on her uncle’s old piano, not realizing that she had created an actual melody. Her parents were proud. And then came Sunny, her dear baby brother.
Oh, she loved him with her entire heart. The first day she had met him, she swore she was going to protect him and teach him everything that she knew of. Yet, she was scared. Scared that he would succumb to the same kind of expectations their parents had put on her. She didn’t want it for him. And neither did Hero.
Hero had a little brother too. Kel was so much more energetic and wild than Hero ever was, but that didn’t matter to him. He loved his brother all the same, even if he was a bit of a bizarre child at times. The two were extremely close, as everyone in their friend group was. Yet he somehow always felt that something was going to happen between the two of them.
Mari and Hero took solace in each other. Being the two gifted kids of the group does that. They knew they could be less than perfect around each other with no judgement, and they dearly needed that kind of companionship. One of the many reasons why they loved each other so much.
They stood in front of the tree, holding hands.
Sunny had gotten a violin a few months prior, for Christmas. The entire friend group had put in money into this gift, to which Mari had proudly presented to him. She had seen his nervous expression as he took it, and she felt that she had done something wrong for once. She knew he liked it, but it might’ve had come across as her pushing it on him, she eventually realized.
Both of their breaths shaky, as Mari’s face was expressionless. A blank slate.
The recital. Everything was going perfect. Mari was perfect. Sunny was, too. Something broke though.
Sunny didn’t feel that way. Crying, as he kept telling her he couldn’t do it. She clenched her fists, trying not to cry too. She had done everything for it to be perfect, and he had to not feel adequate for it at the last minute. She begged him, telling him that everything was going to be okay. It was their chance to make both their marks. To be perfect.
He threw the gift she had given to him. Somehow her body had moved by itself, grabbing his wrist to stop him. What had he had done, she thought. Furious, he put his hands on her.
Pushed her. They were both ridiculously close to the stairs, yet she found the way to shift her weight back, and instead, grabbed him, as he tripped backwards and fell instead.
The sound of him screaming was the last thing she had ever heard from him.
Mari and Hero stood in front of the tree, holding hands. She looked at the body of her baby brother staring at her. Yet, she for some reason could not stop looking at it. She heard Hero cry. As she still held his hand, she turned her gaze to his face.
‘’What did we do, Mari ?’’ He asked her.
They were perfect. And they had conducted the perfect crime together.