Chapter Text
His knuckles burned white.
Clutching his violin until his nails scratched the wood, Sunny gritted his teeth. His eyes were warm, tears urging to come out, and he sniffed as to avoid that outcome.
The wretched instrument sat on his legs, mocking him.
His chest was burning in rage and he jolted up, slamming the violin on his bed, landing in a soft thud.
Their recital was planned for that evening and he still made mistakes. He put his hands in his hair, closing his eyes.
If only... If only he was like his sister. Mari didn't have any problems. Despite what she would claim, her perfomances were effortless.
But his...
Sunny had started to grow tired of music. One moment he'd feel in tune with the melody, his hands following the instructions perfectly... And one moment later, the sharp pain of shame as a note struck badly.
In those moments, his sister would lower her hands, interrupting their work. She would raise her gaze towards him, as cold sweat fell from his forehead.
«I'm... I'm sorry», he'd say, not daring to look at her.
«Let's try again», she'd say, positioning her hands on the keys. «Keep your focus, alright, Sunny?»
«Y-yes.»
But no matter how focused he was, he still made mistakes.
Mari would sigh, and Sunny would feel his chest burning in shame.
In the light of his room, Sunny kept pacing back and forth, the violin laid still on the bed.
He panted, clutching his hands in fists.
«I...»
Wide-eyed, he stared at the violin. An undescribable feeling overwhelmed him.
He grabbed the instrument and slammed the door ajar.
He wasn't thinking, his panting wild, and with heavy steps went to the corridor.
In one motion, without hesitation, he threw the violin down the stairs.
Its crackle sparked a glint of relief over him.
In the splinters of his instrument, he saw his life getting light again.
He begun to breathe again. A small smile on his face.
He looked down at his hands, they didn't feel hot anymore.
The sound of a door opening made him turn around.
Mari was standing outside her room, concern on her face.
«Sunny!» she approached him. «Are you alright? I heard a-»
Her eyes widened at the sight of the violin. She turned back to him.
«Sunny...?»
He couldn't bear to stand that gaze. He looked down at his feet, his mind swirling in a white vortex. Static filled his ears, as he felt his eyes warming up again.
«Sunny», his sister's voice broke through the haze. «What have you done? Our recital is tonight!»
He didn't answer. He just looked at her sister's hands.
«Sunny!» her voice was polluted by anger. Sunny wanted to cry. «Answer me!»
He started panting again, as a bubble of rage swelled up inside him once again. He clutched his hands again and just turned towards the stairs. The broken violin was the problem? He'd clean it up and be done with it.
«Sunny!» his sister blocked him. «I'm not done talking!»
Sunny didn't see anything anymore. The white vortex filled his mind. He raised his gaze towards Mari, who looked at him wide-eyed.
«Sunny, are you...»
He raised his hands and pushed her.
Just leave me alone, he thought.
Sunny’s heart skipped a beat and jolted his eyes open. Mari stumbled backwards, hitting the handrail.
Horrible visions of a familiar looking corpse flashed in his mind, and his eyes hurt.
«Sunny... You…»
The boy crashed onto the ground, burying his face on the floor.
He let the tears come out.
«I'm sorry», he muttered. «I'm so sorry.»
Mari stood still for a few seconds, watching his brother cry in front of her before regaining her senses.
She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and pet his back.
«It's alright. Nothing happened.»
«I'm so sorry, I...»
«It's alright, Sunny. It's alright. Take some deep breaths, okay?»
She pulled back as the boy raised his eyes towards her. They were red with tears.
«Deep breaths», she repeated. Motioning with her hands, she took a few deep breaths and Sunny imitated her. «There. Feeling better?»
Sunny had stopped crying, his cheeks were pulled due to the dry tears. He nodded.
Mari helped him stand up and squeezed his shoulder. «Let's clean it up, alright? I don't want mom and dad to see this.»
«Y-yes.»
«We'll just say that I was helping you fixing it and I dropped it. Alright?»
His eyes shot up: «What?»
«The violin. I broke it. Alright?»
He shook his head: «N-no. No, I will say the truth.»
«I want to hear that too.»
Sunny's blood turned cold.
«But first», Mari started getting down the stairs. «Let's clean up. Do you want to help me out?»
Sunny nodded and followed her.
After having cleaned up - a silent, awkward moment, where Mari tried to read her brother's expressions to no avail - they climbed the stairs once again.
Sunny was going straight to his room when Mari's hand on his shoulder blocked him.
«Sunny. We have to talk.»
He simply nodded and let his sister go into his room.
They sat down on the bed. Sunny kept his gaze on the floor, his mind blank.
The violin was gone. He was ashamed that he felt relieved.
He wondered how Basil's plants were doing. He wondered how Kel’s Pet Rock was doing. He should have given him a few tips he had gotten from his strategy guide. Maybe finally he was doing good?
Aubrey looked cute in her new raincoat.
«Sunny. Can you explain to me what happened?»
Mari's voice stirred his attention back to reality, but he didn't dare turn his gaze.
His throat was dry. He kept rubbing his hands one over another.
«I promise I won't get angry. Just... tell me. Why did you break the violin? Was it because of the recital?»
He still didn't answer, closed into his shell. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept silent she would leave him alone.
He grimaced at the thought. He was sorry.
Mari sighed. « Sunny, listen. Have I... Have I been pushing you too hard? Regarding practice and...» she motioned with her hands. «Everything else.»
Sunny's eyes warmed up again. A sob escaped his lips, as his thoughts started to leak with his tears.
Mari pulled him into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, sobbing into her chest.
«I'm sorry, Sunny. I’m really sorry. I should have been more careful.»
«I just... I... wanted to spend more time with you», Sunny pulled back, brushing his sleeve onto his nose. «You were so busy with your college prep classes that I... I... missed you.»
«Oh, Sunny...»
«So I thought I could spend more time with you if we could play together...» Sunny brushed his sleeve onto his teary eye. «But I... I was angry. I was angry at myself, for the constant mistakes. I was angry at... you, for your constant nitpicking at my mistakes.»
Mari stayed silent for a moment, squeezing his shoulder, letting him open up about his thoughts.
«I was so angry», he said. «I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.»
Mari didn't know what to say. She pulled him closer to her and ruffled his black hair. He still sniffed, but at least he had stopped crying. She really hated to see his brother cry.
«Sunny. I'm really sorry for what I did», she squeezed a bit harder. «I don't want you to think that I think any lesser of you because of your mistakes. You're such a bright young man, Sunny. I'm sorry I brought you to this point.»
Sunny didn't answer back, and buried his head on her shoulder.
«What will we do... regarding tonight?»
«Don't worry. We'll solve it somehow.»
A soft knock on the door jolted them from the hug.
Basil's face peeked out from the frame. «Huh...»
«Basil!» Mari got up. «What brings you here?»
«I... huh...» the boy was playing with the camera in his hands. «Am I interrupting something?»
«Oh no, you aren't», Mari stood in front of the boy. Sunny got up and approached his friend. «Can I get you something, Basil?»
The boy shook his head: «No, thanks... I came here to cheer you up for the recital.»
«Oh, thank you, Basil!»
The older girl led the boy out of the room, while Sunny looked at them.
He took a deep breath. He looked at the window, the tree of their treehouse swayed softly in the wind, filtering the light.
He granted himself a small smile.
Maybe, just maybe, everything would be fine.