Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a relaxing day on Faraway town, the calm breeze of the air flew right through the whole town as the trees’ branches moved slightly because of the air. It was surely a peaceful sight to many, such as to girl who was sitting down a blanket and staring at the sky with a smile, she seemed to be in such a good mood, how could she not be? Afterall things in her life were looking to be heading in a good direction.

“Kel! Did you seriously eat my slice of sandwich?!”, a girl asks in a serious tone as she looks at a boy sitting on the side of a picnic blanket in front of her. Said boy whose name is Kel just laughs it off as he looks away, “I wouldn’t be sure Aubrey~ Why would you ask me that?”, Kel answers as he tries to hold back a laughter while Aubrey just glares at him. “Oh I don’t really know Kel.. Maybe cus of the crumbs you have on your mouth!”, she exclaims as she points a finger at him, as if this were a case in Ace Attorney. Kel just laughs while a voice interrupts the two of them, “Settle down you two, there’s still plenty of sandwiches left for all of us, right Mari?”. The boy glances at Mari who was looking at the sky and looks back at them, “Mhm! Hero is right. There’s a lot left, so make sure to eat as much as you want~”.

Aubrey feels her anger settle down by what Hero and Mari said, but despite that she looks give Kel a mean look as she grabs another sandwich. “Thank you Mari! Sunny can you pass me the orange juice?”, Aubrey asks as she looks at a boy sitting next to Mari, this boy was the smallest of the group. Sunny nods as he hands Aubrey the juice, “How’s the garden coming along Basil?”, Kel asks a question to certain blonde kid sitting next to him. He wasn’t like Sunny, he wasn’t quiet, he was more.. reserved but still expressive with his friends. “Oh! It’s.. going good actually, Grandma has been helping me a lot, she bought me some seeds the other day, I was hoping to plant them soon”, Basil expresses as he looks at Kel. “Oh man, I hope they’re fruit seeds! That way we could eat as many fruits as we want!”, “That actually sounds pretty great!”, Hero mentions as a warm smile forms on Mari’s face as she looks at her surroundings.

Being able to enjoy the weather with the warm environment she shares with her friends is something Mari enjoys a lot, she enjoys seeing her friends and her little brother happy and smiling. Which is why her smile widens as she looks at Sunny and stands up, Sunny looks at her without saying anything and stands right next to her as the two siblings gather the attention of the group. “Ahem…”

She says in a calm way which gets Hero’s attention as he signals Kel and Basil to stop talking and to pay attention to Mari. “As you guys know… Sunny’s violin lessons have been quite effective, his teacher is impressed with his progress and we had a talk with our parents~”. Mari look at Sunny and gently holds his hand, the small boy looks up at her sister and then they look at their friends. “Sunny will be playing in the recital with me! We’re going to be hosting a duet!”, Mari gives out the news with an expression that can only be described as filled with excitement.

The whole group reacts to this new in different ways, “No way! Sunny that’s awesome!” Kel responds first as he stands up, while Aubrey looks at Mari. “Wow Mari! Those are good news! You and Sunny are unstoppable when it comes to music!”, she says as she remembers perfectly the peaceful and relaxing music Sunny has played before. “I’m looking forward to seeing you two play”, Basil says as he smiles while Hero just looks at Mari, he knows exactly how much Mari enjoys playing the piano, he knows exactly how much she has been looking forward to the recital, so her playing a duet with her brother is something that matters a lot to her.

“I better wear something nice then”, Hero says playfully as Mari just giggles and imagines Hero in a suit. “Oh come on Hero, you always look handsome, even right now~”, she teases as Hero just laughs it off and looks away shyly, Sunny smiles slightly by his friend’s reactions to the news. At first, he was worried about playing in the recital, he has played music with his sister before in the past but… something felt different about it this time. Seeing his friends glad about the news definitely helped him feel better. The group continued with this for a while until the sun was starting to set down, reminding them that it was time for them to go back home.

Hero and Mari start picking up the things on the picnic area while the rest are picking up some trash that was around, they always held their picnics on their so called “Secret Hideout” at the park. Despite it being a “secret”, they always made sure to clean it after they held a picnic to avoid any potential issues in the future. “So, what are you wearing for the recital?”, Mari asks as she folds the blanket of the picnic while Hero glances at her.

“Oh, knowing Mom it’ll be something fancy”, he says as he picks up some of the leftover sandwiches. A smuggish smirk forms on Mari as she touches his shoulders from behind, “Oh my~ Are you still a momma’s boy despite all this time Hero?~”, she asks playfully as he just feels embarrassed. “Y-You know how Mom is Mari… Besides, I’m sure you’ll like what I wear..”, he answers embarrassed. Hero then feels Mari’s hands hold his as she faces him and smiles. “Oh.. I know exactly that Hero…”, she leans forward as she plants a gentle kiss on him.

Usually he would feel quite nervous and embarrassed by this, but seeing as how the rest are distracted, he goes with it and responds to the kiss by placing his hands on Mari’s waist as he holds her gently and kisses back. This goes on for a bit until they stop when they see certain girl heading to their direction. “Interrupting something?”, Aubrey asks sarcastically as she looks at the two and Hero looks away shyly, “Maybe, are you guys done?~” Mari asks as Aubrey nods and Hero picks up the blanket and the small basket where they have some of the leftovers. “Okay! We should get going then”, Hero says as they begin walking away.

Just as they were leaving, Mari stops when she feels Aubrey’s hand gently hold hers as she looks at her in the eyes. “I… have to talk with you.. Mari.” Aubrey says as Mari looks down at her, seeing Aubrey’s eyes and the way she said that gave all the signs Mari needed to know that Aubrey was wanted a private conversation with her. She looks at Hero, “Hero, could you accompany Basil to his house and take Sunny with you to your place for a bit? Aubrey and I will have some… girl talk~”, Mari made sure to stand out the last bit of her sentence as Hero nods at her as a he smiles a bit and looks at Aubrey.

“Alright, let’s go Sunny, Kel you can help me by carrying the blanket.” Hero says as Kel frowns, “What? Why me? I don’t want to!”, he complains as an idea forms on Hero. “Oh? Is that so? Then.. Sunny, stay still for a bit-“, Hero says as he grabs the blanket and gently puts it on Sunny, making sure to form a small knot on him to keep it from falling off. “If that’s the case Kel, you won’t have any complains with Sunny using it as a cool cape won’t you?”.

Sunny looks at the blanket which is moving by the breeze like a cape, he is surprised by this and looks at Kel, who is now feeling jealous and frustrated that he had never thought of this before. “What?! Hey! I want to use it now!”, he heads to Sunny as Hero just laughs and Basil smiles. He makes sure to take a picture at the scene as Mari smiles, seeing her small little brother smile will always bring her joy. Aubrey herself seemed happy too as she sees the rest of her friends leave. Leaving Aubrey alone with Mari now.

“So…. What’s the matter?”, Mari asks as she looks down at Aubrey. “The… recital, it’ll be in a few days, right?”, Aubrey asks as Mari nods. “Mhm! Why do you ask?”

“Well um… I…” Aubrey glances at Mari and lets out a sigh. “I know it’s going to be an important day! So, I want to give you and Sunny something special..”, she confesses which forms a warm smile on Mari.

“Aw Aubrey, you don’t have to worry about that! But we appreciate the gesture~”, Mari says as she pulls in Aubrey for a hug, Aubrey has always seen Mari like a big sister, being able to have these types of talks with her has helped her a lot, specially considering how she doesn’t have any other maternal figures to talk with properly. “It’s… Sunny, I want to give something to him, and since you know him the best, I was wondering wh-“. A huge smile forms on Mari when she hears this, her eyes shine all the way through as she looks at Aubrey. “Oh. My. Gosh! Aubrey? Since when?!”, she asks as she slightly raises her voice in excitement, causing Aubrey to feel more embarrassed then she already was.

“N-No! W-We’re not!.. Ugh… Mari!...”, Aubrey says as she pouts a bit from her embarrassment as Mari laughs at this sight. “Hehe~ Okay, Now.. Tell me everything~”. She says while Aubrey just stares at her. “Look… I.. I know you and Sunny will give your best on the recital so.. I wanted to give him.. some flowers.. or.. you know.. something that makes him smile…”, she confesses leaving Mari with a genuine smile as she hugs Aubrey once again. “Oh Aubrey… You know Sunny will love anything you’d give him! I know him too well~ Give him something he will cherish!”, she says comforting Aubrey, who smiles back at her, still blushing slightly as they begin walking back.

“Also Mari, could you.. keep this a secret from the rest? You can tell Hero but.. don’t let Kel or Sunny know please… He would never shut up if he knew about this..” Aubrey says as she cringes at the idea of Kel teasing her about her crush. Mari just smiles at her and giggles, “You don’t have anything to worry about Aubrey~ Your secret is safe with me~”

Aubrey smiles at her as they arrive to Aubrey’s house, today was definetly a good day for her, she had a good time and felt better now that she talked with someone about what was on her mind. Sunny has always been there for her to listen to what was troubling her, but she couldn’t tell him about this or else it would be too obvious. She turns around and gives Mari a hug before leaving. “Thank you Mari! I’ll see you later!”, Aubrey says with a smile as Mari hugs her back.

“Hehe, I believe in you Aubrey, have a good night.” Aubrey runs off to her house and leaves, Mari thinks about what Aubrey said as she imagines her giving a flower to Sunny. “That’s… adorable..”, she thinks to herself one last time as she leaves back to her home.

As Mari walks back to her house, she sees Hero playing with Kel and Sunny in front of their house, “I can fly all the way to the mooooon~”, Kel says as he runs around with the blanket on, using it like a cape as he runs and runs, Sunny is laying on the grass as he stares at Kel, he is the first to notice Mari walking over to where they were sitting at, she smiles as she sees Kel and looks at Hero. “Kept you waiting?~”, she asks as Hero chuckles a bit.

“Nope~ Right on time, is everything okay with Aubrey?”, he asks as Mari looks at Sunny and right back at Hero, “Yeah she’s fine, I’ll tell you the details later tonight~ Right now, I gotta take Sunny home before it gets more late”. Mari says this just right as she picks up Sunny, he stays quiet as she holds onto her and she smiles. “I’ll see you two later okay?”, “Bye Mari! Bye Sunny! SuperKel says goodbye!”, Kel says this as he salutes them off and Hero sighs.

“Take care you two! And thank you for the sandwiches!”, Hero says as Mari just smiles while carrying Sunny, she takes the basket with her as they arrive at their house and see their Dad writing some thing on a piece of paper. “Welcome back”, that’s all he says as he goes back to what he was doing. “Oh, Mari, Sunny, how was the picnic?”, their mom asks as Mari smiles and Sunny gets on his feet. “It was great mom, we told them about the recital, they’re looking forward to it”, Mari says this as she smiles at their mom and she smiles back.

“That sounds really great, don’t you think so hun?”, she says as she looks at their dad and he just nods. Sunny just walks forward to his room while Mari takes the basket with her. “I’ll go take a bath~”, she dismisses herself as she goes upstairs. “Oh by the way Sunny! We have to practice for the recital”, she says as he looks at her and nods. “I’ll take a bath first, but we can try practicing a bit for today, how does that sound?”, once again Sunny just nods in approval as she smiles at him and pats him. “Okay, you can take Mewo to accompany us to the piano room if you’d like, I know how much she enjoys our music~”, Mari says this as Sunny smiles slightly.

Mari goes upstairs and heads to her room, she makes sure to leave the basket right next to her bed and takes a towel as she heads to the bathroom, she then takes her flip phone and proceeds to message Hero.

maricle: heyyyyyyy, guess who has crush on sunny!!!! ヽ(*⌒▽⌒*)ﾉ
HeroFw: What no way :0
maricle: yes way!!! I told you I knew there was something btween themmm (¬‿¬ )
HeroFw: Oh my gosh, Tell me what happened!
maricle: well, aubrey wants to get something to sunny for the recital, shes thinking of flowers, wdyt she should get him?
HeroFw: Hm… Flowers sound nice, but.. Maybe she could give him chocolate?
maricle: oooooh I like that a lottt ＼(≧▽≦)／ ima help aubrey w this when I see herrr

Hero smiles as he reads this, he can tell that Mari is probably smiling silly right now and he chuckles by imagining that.

HeroFw: Tell me how it goes then! Good luck, I can try talking with Sunny if you want me to help?
maricle: oooh about that, please don’t tell sunny or kel, at least wait until aubrey makes her decision
HeroFw: Okay, I got it!

Mari smiles and sends Hero a few heart emoticons before logging off as she takes off her clothes and takes a quick bath. Once she’s done she hears some music from downstairs, she can tell it’s from the piano room. She gently walks down the stairs as she realizes it’s a violin, she walks down and sees Sunny with his eyes closed as he plays the violin. She realizes it seems to be an easy to learn melody as she gets closer. Mewo is sitting on the piano as she seems to enjoy the relaxing melody Sunny plays.

A warm smile forms on her face as she listens to it, “If Basil was here he would surely take a picture…”. She thinks to herself as she gently sits down on the piano bench and begins playing a simple piano song that accompanies Sunny’s melody perfectly, he opens his eyes and just sees Mari playing, he closes his eyes once again to concentrate and continues. The two of them play their song for a while, their parents look from the door and see their two kids enjoying themselves, “Look at them hun…”, their mom says as their dad just smiles. “I am..”, and just like that. Some time passes…

It’s been a few days, every one has been getting for the grand day, they’ve all been so busy to the point where they haven’t had the chance to talk with one another. It seems everyone is looking forward to the recital; Basil was watering his flowers as he hummed a simple melody to himself. He was concentrating on this so much he didn’t even realize Aubrey was walking towards him. “Hey Basil! Good Morning!”, Basil stops humming as he turns around and sees her and smiles. “Woah.. Aubrey you look.. pretty… m-more than usual.. I mean..”, Basil says this as he feels a bit embarrassed but Aubrey herself feels more embarrassed, “Gee.. You think? Thank you!..”.

She decides to change the topic to avoid making the situation any more embarrassing than it might already be for themselves. “Um, Oh right! I was wondering, do you have any tulips?”, Basil is surprised by this. “Huh? Oh yeah, I do, why do you ask?”. Aubrey walks a bit closer and sees a few of them and looks at Basil, “I was wondering if I could um.. buy you a few, I want to make a gift with them..”, she says this while Basil smiles. “Oh Aubrey! That’s pretty good! I can give them to you, but if you don’t mind me asking.. um.. who are they for?”

Aubrey looks at Basil and lets out a sigh. “Promise not to laugh..”, she says as Basil tries to reassure her not to worry. “Oh, Y-You know I’m not like that.. Your secret is safe with me!”, he says as Aubrey smiles at him, “Heh, that’s the same thing Mari said!”, the two of them share a small laugh right before Aubrey decides to talk. “I.. want to give them for Sunny, it’s a bit weird but.. they remind me of Sunny, there’s something relaxing about them that make me think of him and, since he is going to work a lot on the recital, I thought he would like it if I gifted him..”, she confesses which surprises Basil. “O-Oh… I.. I see…”

Basil tries to smile as he looks at the tulips and takes a few, handing them to Aubrey. “Here you go… Im.. Im sure he’ll like them a lot Aubrey, break a leg..”, he says in a gentle and sweet manner which makes Aubrey smile as she hugs him. “Thank you Basil! I’ll see you tonight at the recital okay?”, she says as he smiles gently and watches her leave. “Bye… Aubrey…. I hope Sunny likes them….”, Basil thinks to himself as he holds his own chest. “Maybe.. I should visit him..” He gets a weird feeling, so he decides to do so after he’s done.

We now change to Kel and Hero. The two of them are in their house on their rooms, after so many days of shopping and looking for what to wear, their mom had found the perfect suit in her eyes for them to wear. Right now she’s grooming Kel’s hair as Hero watches. “Mama! Te puedes apurar? Quiero jugar con Sunny!”, Kel says as she just continues and looks at him. “Ya casi termino”, that’s all she says as she focuses on Kel while Hero chuckles.

“Come on Kel, it’s not the end of the world, Mom is almost done. Besides, Sunny is probably too busy with Mari for tonight..”, Hero says as he looks at him while Kel just frowns. “Great, now I’ll be bored all day…”, he says then her mom lets go. “Listo, mirense.. todos guapos y hermosos…”, their mom says as she takes a picture of the two, “Okay Mom… Can I go play now?”, Kel asks as Hero sighs. “It’ll be a long day….”,

Meanwhile…. With Mari and Sunny. The two of them have been practicing their duet for the last few days. It’s all they’ve been doing, as they play the song Sunny looks at Mari, she was focusing on her own notes and accidentally plays the wrong note. Cuasing her to let out a loud sigh and facepalm herself. “Tsk… Let’s start again…”, she says as Sunny looks down at her. “Huh? But Mari… We c-“, “No. I’m sorry Sunny but we cannot afford to make any mistakes, we’ve been planning this for so long and…” she sees that Sunny is looking at her really tiredly.

She stands up and looks at him, she slowly holds his hands. “Sunny… Listen to me…. There are a lot of people that want to hear us play.. We have to give our best effort.. Do you understand this?.. We can take a 10 minute break..”, she says as he looks at her nods slightly. Not feeling okay he decides to go upstairs to his room and sits on his bed, letting out a sigh. This wasn’t at all what Sunny was expecting when he first got the violin on Christmas.

He enjoys playing music with his siter, he enjoys it a lot. But… this is different, he is giving his best effort on the music, he knows that if he plays the music the way he wants to it’ll be better. But it’s like if nothing he does will ever please Mari, that’s all she does… complain about him and the way he plays the…. The violin.

Sunny looks at the violin right next to him and slowly holds it as he feels his own hands tremble a bit. “The violin….”, not thinking straight. He exits the room and sees Mari in front of him, “There you are.. Come on, let’s continue. Mom and Dad will arrive soon, we need to practice before they arrive..” She says this as she walks downstairs but sees Sunny is standing still looking down. “Sunny, we don’t have any time to waste..”; she says but Sunny looks at her, she can see a look of anger in Sunny’s eyes, which is something that rarely happens. “Sunny, what are y-“, but suddenly Sunny walks to the stairway and throws down the violin, shattering it.

Mari’s eyes widen completely, she has an expression completely filled with horror and shock as she looks down the stairs at the broken violin. “Sunny…”, she says as she holds herself as she trembles a bit and looks at him with fury in her eyes. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”, she yells at him with complete anger in her voice. Sunny is taken back by this, he is still upset but he has never seen his sister like this. “DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TIME AND MONEY WE SPENT ON THE VIOLIN!?!”, she yells at him as she holds him and he looks away. “T-That’s all you care about! You only care about the stupid recital! You don’t care about how I feel!...”, he yells back but not as loudly as he tries to get away from her and she tries to grab him but accidentally pushes him... causing him to slip.

He falls down the stairs as the last thing he sees is his sister looking down at him until sudd- everything goes black. Mari’s expression changes completely as she runs down the stairs. “SUNNY!”, she yells as she goes to him and holds him. “Oh god no no no no no!...”, she can feel the tears forming in her eyes as she holds him and sees him bleeding from the head. The same fear she felt when Sunny almost drowned is back on her, but this time completely worse than it was last time, panic feels her body. “Please wake up.. Please…”, she says this as she cries and holds Sunny, but it’s no use. She calls to him and he doesn’t respond, she places her hand on his neck and that’s when she feels it. A pulse… a slight weak pulse, “He’s still alive!..”, she thinks to herself as she quickly grabs her phone, calling 911 without wasting one more second as she does everything in her power to keep her brother alive…

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Chapter Text

“Man… They aren’t playing anything fun today….”, an impatient Kel says as he changes from channel to channel on their TV trying to find something to keep him entertained. Usually, he would just go outside and run away until he got tired but unfortunately; This wasn’t an option thanks to his mom telling him that he had to avoid doing that just for today. “Hero, can’t we just go to the park and wait there until the recital begins?”, he looks towards the direction of his big brother as he looks at his phone. “Kel… You know we can’t do that, Mom would kill us if she found out, she wants us to look good for tonight, trust me, we’ll make it.”

Hero says the last bit trying to reassure his little brother to make him feel better, however Kel is not having any of that. He stands from the couch and heads to where Hero is and looks at his phone, “Welp~ I can always use your phone and prank call some people to pass the time~”. Kel says as he smiles and tries not to laugh remembering all the times he had used Hero’s phone before to do some of his endeavors. Hero lets out a sigh as he remembers all the scolds he had received thanks to Kel’s little “pranks”. “No, you’ll have to do something else I am afraid, my phone is already being used for tonight.” The elder sibling explains as he looks at his phone and Kel peeks, “Well watcha doing then? Are you texting Mari?”.

“Mhm! We were chatting earlier today, she told me she and Sunny were going to practice for a while until it was time for the recital, she isn’t responding though… Maybe she’s still at it..”, Hero comments the last bit as he gains a bit curiosity but also understands how Mari acts when it comes to her piano. “Ooooor… Maybe they are done and Sunny is just as bored as I am! It’s a job for SuperKel to visit his sidekick, Sunny!”. Kel exclaims as he heads to the door but Hero stops him.

“Wait right there, that doesn’t even make sense! Besides, Mom made it clear Kel, we just gotta stay here until the rec-“. However, the conversation between the two siblings is interrupted by the sound of some sirens nearby, they get closer and closer until they pass by their house and go right to the end of the street. “Huh?... Was that an ambulance?”, Hero wonders as Kel opens the door. “We gotta check this out!”, he yells as he opens the door and Hero has no choice but to go after him. “Kel! Ugh… Wait!”

Kel is surprised when he realizes the ambulance stops at their neighbor’s house, Sunny & Mari’s house… “Huh?...”, he slows down as he looks a few paramedics exit their vehicle and head to inside the house, “Kel! I told you to…. Wait… Huh?..”, Hero has the same expression as he stares at the ambulance and looks at them enter the Suzuki residence.

Without second thoughts he runs immediately to their house as Kel goes behind him now, “Hero! Wait for me!”, he yells but Hero is already inside. “Mari!”, he yells as he sees the paramedics lifting someone from the ground, Sunny. He feels his heart sink inside his chest as his eyes widen when he sees them taking him, his head was bandaged already but he can swear he saw some ears of it red due to what he assume was blood. But he snaps out of it as he sees Mari running after the medics. “Sunny!”, she yells as she tries to follow them but she’s stopped by the medics.

“Please! He’s my brother!.. I-I have to…”; she tries to talk but she’s clearly a mess, her face is full of tears as she stares in anguish and despair, she feels an embrace from behind and sees Hero holding her. “Mari… Please… I know this is difficult… but… calm down!..”; Hero says as he doesn’t understand the whole situation completely. All he saw was Sunny in bad shape being taken care of by the medics, right now the only thing he can actually do to make things better is comfort Mari. “H-Henri… H-He… Sunny… Oh my god…”, Mari says lowly as she hugs Hero tightly and lets out an outcry of emotions all while Kel watches. “W-Was… Was that Sunny?... M-Mari! What happened to Sunny?!”; Kel demands an answer as he is surprised by seeing his best friend in the world in such a condition.

Mari is in no place to talk at all, she just cries harder as Hero looks at Kel, “Go get Mom and Dad, now.” Hero says as Kel looks at him for a few seconds, seeing Hero give this serious look was not something Kel was used to, he knew this weren’t time for fooling around, he dashes to his house as he yells. “Mama! Ven rapido!...”, Hero turns his attention to Mari and holds her tightly, she’s still crying as he tries comforting her.

“Please… Breath in… Breath out… Follow my rhythm…”, he says gently as Mari does so, slowly and steady recovering herself to a point where she’s at least somewhat able to talk properly. “Sunny… Oh my god… We… I… I have to see him!”; she says as Hero, still holding her hand; looks at her in the eyes. “I know Mari, we will. Right now, what we have to do is stay calm and be strong, Sunny is the toughest kid I know… We have to believe in him…”, Hero says as Mari drops in tears once again. “I.. I gotta call Mom and Dad..”; she says as she takes out her phone.

Meanwhile… with Aubrey. She was in her room by herself as she fed Bun-Bun. She looks at the small creature with a slight smile and proceeds to head to her mirror, looking at herself and the dress she was wearing. “Hey Sunny, you played really well~”, she says and looks at herself closely.
“Mari! Sunny! That was incredible!.... No… Um..”, she tries looking at her own gestures and tries again. “Hey Sunny, I loved it! Here!... Ugh.. Why is this so difficult...”, she talks to herself and lets out a sigh, she looks at her bed where some chocolates and tulips lie, Mari helped her pick the best chocolates they could find for Sunny, she wanted to make sure Sunny liked them. Not only that but, she also made sure to wear a bit of make up, wanting to look good for him even though she rarely uses any kind of it. Closing her eyes she visualizes Sunny playing with Mari and she smiles, breathing in to prepare herself. “You guys were amazing as always…. Specially you Sunny, you worked so hard for this and… Here… I wanted to hear more of it.. We could go to a picnic just the two of us!...”; she says as she blushes and smiles, feeling like she hit the jackpot she looks at the clock, realizing it’s almost time for the recital. “Come on Aubrey… Don’t panic, they are counting on y-“. “AUBREY! GET DOWN HERE!”.

Aubrey comes back to reality when she hears her Mom yelling from downstairs calling her. She feeds Bun-Bun once again and heads down and sees her Dad looking at her, “Yar friend is here to see ya, hurrah it up.” He says as he sits down on the couch and turns on the TV while Aubrey looks outside to see Kel standing there, he was wearing his suit but he was a mess, his hair was all messy and his clothes were a bit dirty. It’s like if he had been running a marathon or something, “K-Kel? What’s up?..”; she asks as he looks at her in the eyes, some tears form on his as he jumps at her and holds her tightly and cries.

“S-Sunny… Sunny…He’s on the hospital…”, he says as Aubrey’s expression changes completely, she feels so heavy she can fall to the ground right there, “W-What?....”; she lets out a question as she can feel herself shaking a bit from what Kel just said. “No… Kel… Now’s not.. It’s not the time for your jokes…” Aubrey says this as she separates and looks at him with a shaky voice. “You’re... just messing with me.. r-right?...”; she asks but Kel has a dreadful face, he just places his hands on Aubrey’s shoulders and cries. “Sunny was taken to the hospital… he.. suffered an accident…”, hearing those words, knowing that Kel was NOT joking made Aubrey flinch as she cried. She couldn’t give a damn about the recital at this very moment, she had to see it for her own eyes, “We have to go see him…”, she says as Kel nods in agreement. “I.. I went to Basil’s home first but.. he wasn’t there…”; he says but Aubrey ignores that.

“We can find Basil later… Right now, we have to be with Sunny..”, she says as she runs alongside Kel, Meanwhile at the hospital, it’s been minutes since Sunny was taken into the ED, he was bleeding a lot thanks to his wound and was being taken care of. Mari and Hero are sitting while they wait for hopefully good results. Hero holds Mari’s trembling hand as she looks at the floor with her eyes shaking, “Sunny.. please.. you can’t…”, she says in a low voice, she lost all the strength to talk thanks to the cries of despair she’s been letting out today.

Hero looks at her and gently holds her hand more tighter as she looks at him. “Mari.. We have to keep looking forward… Sunny.. you know he is really tough.. he will get through this.. and we will too, we gotta stay strong and keep a big smile and welcome Sunny with a hug when he does… do you understand this?..”, he asks as Mari just closes her eyes and lays on Hero, she was feeling weak. She couldn’t even think properly anymore, she couldn’t take any more of this. She craved being woken up from this bad dream or nightmare as she couldn’t handle one more second of this.

“Please… hold me… don’t let go…”, she says as Hero complies, he is feeling pretty miserable too, seeing Mari, the love of his life in a state like this hurts him a lot. But he knows perfectly that he can’t cry, he has to be strong and protect everyone, he has to… “Shhhh… Remember that day at the lake?... When he fell on the water?...” he asks as Mari just nods slightly but he holds her. “You didn’t hesitate.. you went after him.. you saved him Mari… you are his big sister.. you will always protect him right? And right he needs you to be strong…”, Hero as those words echo into her heart, shattering it as she feels guilty. How can she be a good sister if she did this to her brother? She asks herself as she tries to yell in frustration can’t find any more power to do so.

“Mari!”, a voice yells from the hall, they turn to see Ms and Mr Suzuki run towards them as Mari stands up, hugging the two of them as they look at her. She was a complete disaster, her cute dress she bought for the recital was all dirty with tears she had done to herself thanks to her emotions. “Sunny… he… Mom.. he..”, she says but her Mom interrupts her. “It’s okay Mari… It’s okay… We’re sorry we were late…”; her Mom confesses as she looks at her husband, who nods and looks at Hero. “Hero… Thank you for being here… but.. you can go for tonight.. we’ll be here..”, he says as Hero wants to respond. He doesn’t want to go! He wants to stay with Mari and be there with Sunny but he knows that it’s been a long day, he can’t cause any more issues.

“Yes sir…”, he says as he looks at them and hugs Mari one more time, she tightens the hug before letting go. And just like that, Hero is exiting the hospital, he is too worried about Sunny at this very moment, he finds Kel and Aubrey running towards the entrance and they slow down once they see him. “Hero!”, they yell as he looks at them, “Sunny! Is he o-“, Kel was about to ask but Hero just hugs them. “I’m sorry you guys…”, he says as he feels himself breaking apart but holds himself. “Sunny! We have to see him!”; Aubrey as he nods. “I know.. But, he’s in the ED Aubrey.. We can’t see him… not right now.. we have to wait and.. hope..”, he says as Aubrey feels frustrated. She wants to see Sunny now, she wants to tell herself that HE is okay.

“What… What happened to him?...”, she asks as Hero stays in silence, he doesn’t know what happened, Mari hasn’t told him yet. But he doesn’t care about that now, he cares about Sunny coming back to them. “I don’t know but.. he suffered a head injury.. he was.. he will be okay.. you know Sunny right?.. He might be as gentle as a leaf, but he’s tough as a rock..”, he says as Aubrey feels reassured by this, “Y-Yeah.. Hero’s right.. I… I know he’ll be okay…”, Kel says as he holds Hero and looks at him. “Right now, we need to go back home.. we can visit him tomorrow..”; he says as they protest but he looks at them.

He shares their frustration but right now the best thing to do is to remain calm and just let the medics do their job. “Mom will pick us up.. We’ll drop you by your house Aubrey…”, he says but she doesn’t want to go. She doesn’t care about anything but Sunny at this moment. “No! Please Hero.. I have to.. I have t-“, Hero just hugs her. “I know how important he is to you Aubrey… I know how important he is to us.. If we stay here we’ll just be making things more complicated than they have to be.. Please..”, he says as she feels her own tears from feeling so useless fall down and she looks away.

“Let… Let me stay with you guys.. I don’t want to be alone…”, she says as Hero nods and looks at Kel. “Let’s go home..”, he says as their Mom arrives, they explain the situation to their parents which surprises them and they feel bad. The Rodriguez were always friendly with the Suzukis, of course they would feel bad about the current situation, their kids are dating after all. “Poor Sunny… I hope he’s alright…”; Kel’s Mom says as she hugs her own kid and Hero looks at Aubrey. “You can sleep at my bed Aubrey.. I’ll take the couch..”, Hero says as Aubrey tries to protest, but she knows that Hero won’t take no for an answer.

A few hours pass, no one ever expected things would turn out like this… The duet was obviously cancelled, there was no way Mari could play it even if it was a solo. She wasn’t in any condition to do such a thing, all she wanted to do was hug her brother and apologize, never letting him go. She would wait as long as it took for the doctors to finish so she could see him again. “Mari… Mari…”; her Mom calls to her as she looks at her Mom, not saying a word as her eyes are completely red from all the time she’s been crying.

“Please… Get some rest… I know it’s hard but… You have t-“, “No.” It’s all she answers as she stares at the direction where Sunny was taken, she wants to be ready for when Sunny comes back, she has to, she has to… “I am hurt by this too Mari… But, you are so devastated, please Mari… Sleep for now, we will wake you up if anything happens..”, she says as Mari looks at the worried face of her Mom, she knows that her Mom is right, she knows that she needs to sleep or else she will collapse any second. And just like that, she lays on her mom as she cries herself to sleep onto her, not being able to take any more of this hell…

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ _ _ _ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ _

Chapter Text

Mari slowly opens her eyes as she feels something vibrating close to her. She realizes it’s her phone as she picks it up and opens it, the first thing she sees is the time, being surprised that it’s morning already. She looks at her phone’s notifications and realizes she has a lot of missed calls from many of her friends, she snaps out of it and wakes up completely as she remembers everything that happened. “S-Sunny!..”, she is about to stand up but her Mom sees her, “Mari!... Please.. Calm down..”, her Mom says sitting next to her. “You’ve been sleeping all night..”, Mari sees that her Mom is clearly holding on, she realizes how much hurt her family is thanks to her stupid mistake.

“I’m so sorry Mom…”, Mari says as she feels herself wanting to cry once again, but her Mom holds her back. “It’s okay Mari… It’s okay… Your Dad spoke with the Doctors, they should bring some good news for us in a few minutes.. For now.. We have to remain calm and wait.” Mari remains in silence as she grips her hands in frustration, that’s all she has been doing this whole time. Crying and waiting, she is tired of it. “Mom… Dad… I… I’m sorry… Sunny… Oh my god…”, she says as she tries to talk but she can’t do it, she doesn’t feel as strong as she once did.

Her parents feel just as bad as she does, all they can do for the moment is pray and pray for the best. Just as Mari was about to cry again, she hears a voice calling her. She turns to see Hero alongside his parents, Kel and Aubrey walk towards their direction. She stands up and hugs him immediately, to which he does again. He felt bad for having to leave her, he wanted to remain by her side. Hero’s Mom goes to hug Mari’s Mom as she gives her a few words, “I’m so sorry you are going through this… I know how much it must hurt..”, she says as Kel looks at the whole area, “How is Sunny? Is he okay?”, he asks worried about his friend. He could barely get some rest, his mind kept bringing in the worst scenarios, he is scared and worried.

Before anyone could say anything else, a man in a white coat approaches them, “Good Morning, sorry for making you wait. We.. have some news about Sunny..”, he says in a gentle tone which caught the attention of everyone. “Please tell me he’s okay..”; Mari’s Mom says as he looks at him. The doctor looks right at her and nods slightly, “We.. did everything we could Maam, your Son.. he’s.. he’s on the room, you can enter and see him for yourself… but..”

Mari doesn’t waste anymore time, she just runs to the room where Sunny is as everyone else is in shock by what the Doctor said. “No… It can’t be…”, Kel as Aubrey just drops to her knees, not being able to take any more of this, Hero is completely shocked as well. “My.. Sunny… No…”, Mari enters the room and that’s where she sees Sunny, laying on a bed with his eyes closed, head bandaged as he sleeps peacefully… Tears fill Mari’s eyes as she gets closer to him, seeing him like this is bittersweet for her. “S-Sunny?...”; she asks weakly, voice trembling barely being able to contain herself from crying. “Sunny’s head suffered a severe injury, his brain was damaged by it, he…. He won’t be able to wake up for some time, he’s on a coma.. I’m sorry…” The doctor’s words echo through everyone’s head as they react differently by the terrible news. “Oh my god…”, Hero says as he holds onto something while Kel stares at the doctor in disbelief, “Please.. Sunny… It’s me… Mari…. Your big sister.. Please.. w-wake up..”, Mari says as she gets closer to him, slowly placing her hand on his cheek as she tries not to cry.

Mari’s parent enter and see this, they’ve been holding until now. Seeing their son, they’re sunshine, like this. This was what tore them down, they burst into tears as they get closer to Sunny. “This can’t be happening…”, their Dad says as he looks at Sunny while her Mom hugs him. “Please… Sunny..”, she says but it’s no use. He just lays there, sleeping.. peacefully… with no idea of what is happening.

No one is in a good condition right now, Hero finally lets some tears out by the news. He has to stay strong.. he has to.. he ha-, but he feels his Dad hug him as he looks at him. “I’m so sorry Son..”, his Dad says this to him as Hero hugs him back. No parent would ever want to be in a similar situation. Kel’s Mom just hugs him tightly, Kel couldn’t even react properly, he just stared in silence, how can this be happening? It’s got to be a dream.. a nightmare.. right?... “Sunny..”; he says as some tears fall from him while Aubrey holds something in her hands, she’s holding the gift.. the gift she worked hard on, she wanted to give this to Sunny, she.. she wanted to see Sunny.

“Why is this happening?...”, she asks as an image of Sunny forms on her face, being distorted by darkness as she stands up, trembling she somehow manages to walk towards Sunny’s room. Kel tries to move too, but he can’t. He can’t move at all, Aubrey enters and sees Sunny’s parents, crying as Mari is right next to Sunny… Laying on the bed sleeping, seeing him like this made something inside of her snap, she squeezes the gift as she walks inside and remembers the memories she’s had with him… All the gloomy days she’s had and he’d been there for her.

“Sunny?....”, she asks as her lips immediately form into an expression filled with sorrow. She squeezes her eyes shut not wanting to see this, she couldn’t… she… ..

. . .

. . .

W E L C O M E . . .
T O

Y͉̭͟o̷̮̹̫̳̫̺͕U̜͡r̠ ͇̝͜ş̙͇̫̱̟̖L͏̜͉̲U̼͈̦̮͠ṃ̪̲̖͇͘ͅB̤̭͢E̟̭r̟͎̜̹̤̮̗̀

It was a relaxing day on Slumberland, the calm breeze of the air flew right through the whole are as the trees’ branches moved slightly because of the air. It was surely a peaceful sight to many, such as to a group of friends who were sitting down in a blanket and staring at eachother with a smile, they seemed to be in such a good mood, how could they not be? Afterall things in their life were looking the same as always.

“Kel! Did you seriously eat my slice of sandwich?!”, Aubrey asks in a serious tone as she looks at Kel sitting on the side of a picnic blanket in front of her. Kel just laughs it off as he looks away, “I wouldn’t be sure Aubrey~ Why would you ask me that?”, Kel answers as he tries to hold back a laughter while Aubrey just glares at him. “Oh I don’t really know Kel.. Maybe cus of the crumbs you have on your mouth!”, she exclaims as she points a finger at him. Kel just laughs while a voice interrupts the two of them, “Settle down you two, there’s still plenty of sandwiches left for all of us, right?...” The boy glances at nothing, as if he was expecting someone else. He looks at his friends and then at Sunny, who was sitting down staring at them. “We can always go get more”, Hero says as his friends look back at him.

“How about we ask Basil? Maybe he has some!”, Kel suggests as Aubrey seems to agree, “Sounds good to me then! What do you think Sunny?”, the boy just stays in silence, he stands up and his friends follow behind him. “Awesome! Let’s go then! Lead the way Sunny!”; Kel says as the group follows Sunny. They walk through a field of grass as they pass by a playground, an empty picnic blanket lies there… it reminds the group of W̨͉̗̮̗̣̼͙4̷̟̤̭̭̬͙̯R̫̬̻̭͍1҉͇̹̙͕̤͎.

. . .

Of no one, it’s time to continue with their quest.

They walk through a forest, filled with many and many trees. “What should we do when we get to Basil’s house?”, Aubrey asks as the group thinks their options. “Well, he has sandwiches, right? We can ask him to share some with us!”, Kel says but this doesn’t seem as convincing to her. “What if he doesn’t have any sandwiches then?”, she asks once again but this time Hero answers. “We could go to the playground!”, he says as Aubrey thinks for a few seconds and looks at Sunny. “What do you think Sunny?”, she asks as the boy just stares back at her, he looks back at the path and continues walking, after a few minutes of walking through the trees. They arrive to what seems to be a garden of some kind.
“Basiiiiiiil~”, Kel yells as they look around. “This is odd.. Basil would usually be around here…”, Hero mentions this as he looks around with the rest of his friends. Sunny steps on something by accident and looks down, that’s where he sees Basil’s camera, “Guys look! Sunny found something!”. She exclaims as they gather up and look at the camera, the group starts to get worried as they look at it closely. “This is odd.. Why would Basil leave his camera here?”, Aubrey asks worried as Kel replies. “That’s the thing, he wouldn’t!”, he says as Sunny looks at the path and continues walking.

“Sunny is right! We should look at Basil’s house! Maybe he just dropped it by accident~”, Kel says as the group continues their quest. After walking for a bit, they find Basil’s home, it looks like it’s been damaged by something, some type of weird green goo has damaged it. “Ewww! What is this stuff?!”, Aubrey asks as she steps on it by accident as Kel lays down and sees it closely, “Coool! Sunny look at this!”, he says as he grabs a bit and stretches it.

“Kel stop that”, Hero says this as Kel just annoys Aubrey with it. Sunny and Hero open the door to Basil’s house and sees that the inside is just as damaged as the outside, “What do you think happened here Sunny?”, Hero glances at Sunny, he just looks at Basil’s bed, in which he finds a note. “Guys, come here!”, Hero says as the group gathers around and sees the note. “Letme read it!”, Kel exclaims as he grabs the paper and begins reading it.

“ D e a r Humans
W e Took Y o u r Friends , b r i n g us t h e device a n d we w i l l let t h e m go
- W i t h love, t h e Aliens “

“Why is it written like that?..”, Aubrey wonders as they finish reading it. “Woah! Aliens!”, Kel looks at the note and sees the rest of his friends, “You guys thinking what I’m thinking?”, Kel asks as the rest of his friends look right at him with no guesses. “Captain Spaceboy! He must know something about the aliens! We can find Basil if he helps us!”, Kel suggests as the team brightens up. “Good, now.. where do we find him exactly?”, Hero wonders as they look at the note. “We can ask around!”, Aubrey says as they nod once again and continue with their quest.

The group wanders around in search for a clue, they couldn’t find anything to help them. It wasn’t until they came across another empty picnic blanket that Hero spoke. “What is it Hero?”, Aubrey asks. “If she was here maybe she could help us out..”, he says as Aubrey wonders. “Who?”, she asks and Hero looks at her, “W̧͔̣̪ͅ4̟͔͞-

. . .

“No one in particular”, Hero replies as Kel gets an idea. “Oh my gosh! It was so obvious! I know where we can find Captain Spaceboy!”, he says as the group wonders. “Where do you think we should head to?”, Hero asks as Kel smiles and points to the sky. “OTHERWOOOORLD~”, he says as the group looks at the sky in wonder. “Oh my gosh! You are right! For once you came up with something Kel!”, Aubrey confesses as Kel just poses. “Mhm! Now what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”, he says but Sunny stays still.

“Huh? What is it Sunny?”; Hero asks as Sunny just looks at Otherworld, Aubrey is the first one to realize what might be the issue, “Are you afraid of the height?..” she asks as he just stays quiet once again and nods. “Don’t worry! You’ve got this!”, she says as Kel joins in. “Right! No need to worry Sunny! It’s just a matter of going forward!”. Sunny looks at his friends and nods slightly, marking the way on their quest towards Otherworld.

The group reaches a tall ladder, said ladder will take them towards Otherworld. “I don’t think this will be an issue for us!, let’s g-“, Kel was about to say but suddenly… “HOLD IT!”, a voice yells as a big bunny shows up. Aubrey looks at it as if it were some divine entity while Kel yells, “Who are you? Let us through! We’re trying to go to Otherworld!”, Kel yells but the bunny just looks down at ‘em.

“I am The Ladder Guardian! To pass you must defeat me!”, it yells as a bunch of bunnies hop around them, making sure they cannot escape. “Oh no, they’re… so… adorable!”, Aubrey exclaims with brightness on her eyes as the group gets surrounded.
What will SUNNY and friends do?

Sunny looks at Kel as they nod in unison getting an idea, Kel throws a ball at Sunny as he throws it at the guardian, making it flinch a little bit as it takes a bit of damage! Aubrey feels SAD when she sees the bunnies get hurt, but despite that she gets ready and is about to swing as she glances at Kel, who just laughs. “You can do better than that!”, he yells as she gets ANGRY and hits one of the bunnies, making it hit a few others knocking them out. “I’m sorry little ones..”, she says as she looks upset.

The guardian calls more rabbits as they hop in on Sunny, making him take damage as Kel and Hero help him. “Sunny! Here!”, Hero hands Sunny a cookie, making him feel better as they stand up. After the battle goes on for a while, the team starts getting tired.. feeling like they’re outta juice and can’t take any more. The guardian stops, “Enough!” You have shown you can go on!”, it exclaims as the team lets out a breath of relief, “Good..”, Kel says as Aubrey jumps ahead and hugs the Guardian, planting her face in it’s round and fluffy soft body.

“Thank you! But, why?”, she asks as it looks down at her. “Despite the obstacles, you showed concern to my children and chose not to use any lethal force, you are worthy.” And just like that, the guardian hops away letting the group go ahead.

SUNNY’s party was victorious!

“I wanted to pet it more…”, Aubrey says disappointed. “I’m sure we’ll find more Bunnies..”, Hero says trying to make her feel better. “Like Space Bunnies?”, Kel asks as Aubrey smiles. “That sounds so adorable!”, she yells as she is about to climb the ladder but stops as she sees Sunny, standing still looking at the ladder in intimidation. “Hey… Don’t worry.. We’re here for you!”; Kel says as he looks at Sunny with a smile, making him feel better.

Sunny just closes his eyes, he breathes in and out, feeling relaxed as he opens his eyes once again and heads towards the ladder, he goes up first as the rest follow through, the whole team heads all the way up to Otherworld in hopes of finding Captain Spaceboy.

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ _ _ _ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ _

S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ has been added to the Hangman... 6̡͇͍͉ ̢̘͓̮̪R͇̪̙̫͝E̝̝̦M̮̹̹̫A̪̟͔͕̩͚I̠͞N̜̭̠̬̬ ͖̙̝̜̰̪͇͞.͓̣͚̦͙.̪̘̗̬̤̠.͇̣̦̖̰͟

Chapter Text

“So…. Where do we go now?”, a confused Aubrey asks as the whole group stares in wonder and admiration to their surroundings. The best way Sunny could describe Otherworld’s first impression was like if the word “Galaxy” manifested into a physical thing, “Duh! It’s obvious, to Captain Spaceboy’s lair!”, Kel replies as if he had found Aubrey’s question unnecessary.

“Okay Captain Genius, and where is that? Do you happen to have a map or something?”, she asks as he just laughs it off and looks at the distance. “SuperKel needs no map! He’s got something better… HECTOR!”, he says as he holds a small rock in admiration and throws it, “He’ll show us the way!”. The rock just lands a few feet in front of them and the group stares in silence. “Any second now~..”, Kel says as he laughs while Sunny begins walking.

“The sooner we do this, the sooner we find Basil Kel”, Hero says as they begin walking north while Kel quickly runs to get Hector before tagging behind them. “Fine! Hector’s skills are needed somewhere else anyways!..”, he says as the group continues with their quest. They find some kind of…. Town with a lot of different houses. Sunny and the group stare at it in different ways, but Aubrey is the first one to react. “Guys look! I think it might be there!”; she exclaims as they all look what seems to be some kind of oddly shaped place, describing it would be difficult…

“Let’s go then!”, Kel says as they walk towards their next objective. They pass by many different places, a big TV, some cars for some reason, and many other odd things that only a kid could dream of. “Hero! Can we take that TV with us? We could totally use it to watch many things!”; Kel says as Hero looks at it and smiles. “I don’t think we could carry that down the ladder Kel..”, Hero answers honestly as he tries to imagine themselves carrying it down the ladder, accidentally dropping it and landing on someone’s head, clearly something he wouldn’t want to happen.

But, just before Kel could reply, Hero stops walking as he stares at an empty blanket on the side of their path. He stares at it for a few seconds, those red and white colors seemed familiar, he wasn’t sure or certain of what it was. But before he could ask the group if they felt the same way too, they hear a voice yelling at them. “State yarr name and business!”, Hero snaps out of it as he and the group find themselves in front of two individuals, “SuperKel and Co. We’re here on hero business!”, Kel replies immediately as Aubrey with no hesitation shuts his response down.

“We’re looking for Captain Spaceboy!”, she says as the individuals answer cautiously, “The Captain is busy! Why would he talk to you?!”; they ask while Hero answers. “We want to talk with him about the Aliens.” Hero says as he begins to regret it when he sees the individuals, which are now Space Pirates begin to glare at them aggressively. “Aliens huh? I betcha they sent you to attack The Captain!”; it is at that moment where the group gets surrounded by the Space Pirates, initiating a battle…

What will SUNNY and friends do?

One of the Space Pirates goes straight ahead and slash their sword at Sunny, causing him to take damage. Aubrey readies herself as she headbutts the Space Pirate, beginning to groan in pain as she thinks that might’ve not been such of a good idea. “OwOwOw…”, the Space Pirate groans in pain aswell as he lays on the floor while another one shows up. “Arrrgh!”, he yells as he runs directly at a distracted Hero while Kel sees this. “Hero!”, he yells and throws his ball at him, Hero catches it and throws it at the pirate, causing him to stumble and crash on another pirate, defeating them as only one more Space Pirate remains.

“No… This can’t be! The Aliens are getting stronger!”; the Space Pirate says as he begins feeling nervous, “We’ll have to deploy the Interstellar Kraken at this rate!”; he yells as the rest of the crews cheers him on. “Let’s do it!” It is like that, when a giant silhouette appears in front of the group, it’s the biggest thing they’ve seen as they look at it in shock. “WHATTHEHECKISTHATTHING?!”, Aubrey yells in shock while Sunny opens his mouth a bit, himself being surprised too.

“Behold! The greatest attacker on the whole Universe, the Interstellar Kraken! The creature attacks the group, making them all take damage as they’re barely able to stay on their feet. “And now… PERISH!”, the Space Pirate says as he orders the creature to attack once again, it raises it’s tentacle as it’s about to swing it. “ATT-“

But suddenly….

“Oi! Who the heck is making that ruckus?! And why is my Kraken awake?!”, a voice asks from above. The Space Pirates stand in fear and the creature immediately retreats it’s attacks. “Who.. is that?...”, Aubrey asks as they see a figure. It hops down in between the group and the Space Pirates.

“You better have a good reason to wake me up from my nap… You were making a LOT of noise down here.” The person says as the Space Pirates crew shakes in fear, it’s as if they were right in front of the devil himself. “C-Captain!”, they yell this as they cower but Kel has a different reaction. “CAPTAIN SPACEBOY!”; he says as Spaceboy looks at him. “Tsk, FIRST MATE.” He yells as a Space Pirate runs immediately next to him, “Y-Yes Captain?!”, he asks obediently while Spaceboy looks at the group then at him.

“Who are these brats?!”, he asks demanding an answer as Aubrey gets clearly upset at how they’re being refered to. “Brats?!”; she asks as the Space Pirate replies, “T-They came here looking for you C-Captain! They wanted to talk about the Aliens!”, he says as Spaceboy grips his hand by the mention of the extraterrestial beings. “Ugh…”, he turns his head towards the group. “What do you want?”, he asks very rudely as Hero decides to talk.

“Um.. The aliens abducted our friends Sir… Um.. Captain”, he explains as he hands Spaceboy a note, which he takes from Hero immediately and reads it for a few seconds then rips it apart. “It’s not my problem! Now, get lost before I feed you to my Kraken!”; he says as he turns his back at them and begins walking away. “But! Please!.. We need your help!”, Hero says and Kel joins in. “Yeah! We’ll do anything?! Right guys??”, he says as Spaceboy stops walking and thinks for a few seconds. “Anything huh? Alright, we’ll do this then.”

He looks at them, specially at Aubrey and walks towards her. Handing her a note, “You want me to read this?...”, she asks in confusion but he changes his expression to one filled with anger. “No, read it and I’ll find each one of you and make you s u f f e r for eternity. I need you to deliver this note to someone.” He says as they all listen to his words, “Who?”, Hero asks and Spaceboy just stands in silence.

“T-That’s not important.” He says changing his attitude to an embarrassed one. “What?! Hey! How are we supposed to deliver it if we don’t know to who?!”, she asks but Spaceboy scowls at them. “It’s for Sweetheart! She’s hosting a concert on THE SHOW at the Mushroom Kingdom or something. Give her that letter for me, if you do so, I’ll help you find your friend.” He says as the team look at each other, ending the fight.

SUNNY’s party was victorious! They gained 0 XP!

Sunny begins walking down the direction they came from, the group follows him as Hero is the first to break the silence among the group. “Well… That was something..”, he says as he is still weirded out by what just had happened. “You bet! That thing was disgusting..”, Aubrey adds to the conversation as Kel just looks at them in disagreement, “What?! No way! That was amazing! The size of that creature is cool! It’s like a Godkilla Monster!”. “Is not!”, Aubrey says as he looks at her upset.

“Yes it is! What do you think Sunny?! Wasn’t that thing awesome?!”, he asks and Sunny looks at him.

     👉 It was.

          It wasn’t.

“See! Even Sunny agrees with me!”, Kel says as he feels like he had won the argument. Aubrey just rolls her eyes as she decides to ignore Kel, the group climbs down the ladder and it just hit them. “Um… Where is THE SHOW even supposed to be at?”, Hero asks as they all stand in confusion.

“We could ask around!”, Aubrey is the first one to reply as they are about to head to the playground but… they hear the ground shake a bit. “Huh? Did you feel that?”, Kel asks as it shakes again. “I definitely did”, Hero says as suddenly they see an avalanche of Sprout Moles roll down towards their direction. “Let’s scram!”, Kel says as he is the first one to run and the rest follow right after him.

They climb up some trees as they wonder what had happened. “Jeez, what was that about…”, Aubrey hops down the trees and sees a Sprout Mole stuck on the ground, she helps it stand as it yells. “LETMEGO!SWEETHEARTISGONNAPLAYHERCONCERTSOON!”, it says as Aubrey is surprised by the sudden noise and just lets go of the thing and sees it run away.

“Wait, did you guys hear that? If we follow them we’ll find Sweetheart!”, Hero says as Kel agrees. “And we can deliver the letter!”, they all agree in unison as they follow behind the avalanche of Sprout Moles. Said avalanche was leaving behind a devastating trail of destruction, it took them a while but they saw the avalanche fall down a hole in the ground. The group immediately stops as they stare down at the empty abyss bellow them.

“Poor things…”, Aubrey says as she feels bad for the moles but Kel just laughs. “Woooah, ANYBODY DOWN THERE?!”, he yells as he hears his own voice replying, “DOWN THEre…. down there… down th…. do…”, he chuckles by findind the echo amusing. Sunny looks at the group and looks down at the abyss, he can faintly hear a familiar noise coming from down there. “Sun… ny…”, he hears a familiar voice as he steps back. His friends don’t even seem to react at all to the boy’s reaction, he just stares at the abyss eye widen as if he was looking at something that shouldn’t exist.

Hero stares at it too, as if he were remembering something. But suddenly, “Well, Let’s get going you guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyysssssssssss!.......”, Kel yells as he suddenly jumps down and the team looks at him. “H-Hey wait for us!”; Hero says as he looks at Aubrey and Sunny, they jump down as they feel the air for a few seconds, suddenly….

They each land on really small mushrooms as they see a bunch of Sprout Moles there as well, each of them on their own mushroom. “Hey… Wait… Is this a.. stadium?”, Hero asks as suddenly, some curtains drop down as the Sprout Moles cheer loudly, “SWEEEEETHEAAAARTTTT”, they yell as Aubrey covers her ears.

“OwOwOw! Why are they so loud?!”; she asks as a figure appears on the stage. “Are you ready….”, a voice asks the audience as they all increase their excitement and pink smoke fills the stadium, “To meet…. SWEETHEART herself?!....”, suddenly. The lights go out, as a pink neon light shines the stage, lights turning on to reveal a girl right there. The crowd cheers as she smiles, “Of course you are, It’s a…. LIFETIME EXPERIENCE! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!~~~~~~~~~”, she laughs as they all cheer while the group sits down awkwardly, “Ugh.. Why are we even here?”, Aubrey asks as Sweethearts begins her show.

“Fact #1 about SWEETHEART!... Wanna hear one CUTE fact about SWEETHEART! Wait, you don’t because SWEETHEART has INFINITE CUTE facts! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!~~~~~~”, she says with a laugh.. a laugh so annoying for Aubrey that she begins look at her surroundings, looking at her right she sees Hero and Kel just seemed to be so focused on the show that they were not listening. She looks at her left and sees Sunny, he just sits still and watches Sweetheart in a clear uninterested manner, she grabs him by the arm and runs away with him.

“Oh gosh this is terrible! How can people like her and her stupid laugh?!”; she asks as Sunny just shrugs and Aubrey sighs. “I don’t want to be here at all! And Kel and Hero don’t seem to mind! Let’s… just deliver her the letter and get this over with!”. She says and Sunny just continues walking, the two of them are now alone and walk among the hallways of the stadium. It had a lot of mushroomish decorations, “What’s with the shrooms?”; she asks as she looks at a nearby window, seeing a long line of Sprout Moles, all of them chanting Sweetheart’s name.

She cringes by this and looks away as she holds Sunny’s hand, guiding him. “You walk too slow Sunny, we need to hurry!”; she says as she guides him. But she stops when she sees a nearby mirror and sees herself with Sunny, he who had a slight blush on his face and she realizes and lets go of him immediately.

!!

“S-Sorry!.. I wasn’t hurting you.. was I?..”, she asks as she looks at him worriedly, she looks at his hand and gently holds it. “See? Is that better?”; she asks as she looks up at Sunny, he just stares at her with an unusual expression, he was about to answer but suddenly. “YOU CAN’T! PLEASE! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!”, a Sprout Mole yells out as he gets kicked out from a room by some Sprout Guards.

“SWEETHEART’S MUSHROOM-ROOM IS OFF LIMITS!”, they yell as Aubrey and Sunny hide. “Sunny look, that’s Sweetheart’s private room, if we get in there, we should check it out!”, she says as she thinks of a plan and Sunny goes along with it. They walk towards the door and the guard stops them. “WHO GOES THERE?!”, he yells as Aubrey answers. “We uhhh… We’re uhhh…… Mushroom service!”, she says as the guards puts down it’s weapon. “GOOD! HURRY IT UP!”, the door opens as the two enter, Aubrey herself being surprised with her plan working properly.

“Hey.. It’s kinda dark in here..”; she says as she touches around and touches something soft, “Huh? What is this?..”, she thinks to herself as she holds it slightly and feels it’s a bit warm, suddenly a light switch is touched by Sunny, turning the lights on and sees Aubrey’s hands right on his face, her face becomes red as she dashes away, separating from him as he looks eye widen by this. “U-U-Uhhh…”; she says as she looks away.

“Oh look what’s this?!”; she yells as she sees a bunch of pictures and paintings of Sweetheart, the whole room had a bunch of things of Sweetheart, “Well.. What should we do now…”; Aubrey asks as she sees a small doll that looks like Sweetheart. “Well look at that..”, she says as she pokes it slightly, it falls down, triggering an alarm.

Meanwhile, at the Stage…

“Fact #199 about SWEETHEART!... What’s SWEETHEART’s favorite thing in the world?... SWEETHEART HERSELF! OHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOH~~~~~ OHOHOHOHOHOOH~~~~ OHOHO-“, suddenly she stops when she feels her phone ring. “WHAT DO YOU WANT? CAN’T YOU SEE I AM BUSY?!” . . . .  “Huh? An alarm triggered?... IN MY ROOM?!”, she hangs up and grabs the mic. “SWEETHEART has to check her room, so for now… YOU!”, she points to a random Mole on the crowd. “LIST ALL THE PERFECT THINGS ABOUT ME WHILE I’M GONE!!!”, she orders to the small Mole as she dashes off.

She gets to her room in a flash and sees Sunny and Aubrey in her room. “INTRUDERS!”, she exclaims as they both freeze as she looks at Aubrey and Sunny. “PREPARE FOR THE CONS-“, but suddenly. She sees Sunny holding a letter as she picks it up and reads it. “Huh? A letter from Spaceboy? WHY WOULD I… Huh? It’s an apology letter?... WHY WOULD I… Huh? He says he is different… SWEETHEART WOULD NEV…”

Sweetheart looks at the letter and glances at Aubrey and Sunny. “If Spaceboy wants to see me…. HE COULD ALWAYS VISIT ME~ OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO~~~ OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO~~~~~~~~ OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO~~~~”. Aubrey just signals Sunny and they leave, they return to the stadium and see a small Sprout Mole with a mic. “Sweetheart is…. Pretty. Sweetheart is…. Pretty. Sweetheart is…. P-“.

“Maaaaaaaan, why is this so boring?!”, Kel asks as he rubs his eyes while Hero sighs. “I think we should go…”, they see Aubrey and Sunny. “Oh there you are, where were you two?!”, Kel asks as Aubrey answers. “We gave the letter to Sweetheart!”, she says happily while Hero sighs in relief. He had been getting tired of this aswell, “Okay… So what did she say?”; he asks and Aubrey stays quiet.

“She…. Said he could visit her…”; she says as the group stays in silence, they couldn’t tell that to Spaceboy. “This was a waste of time!”; Kel breaks the silence as he facepalms while Sunny begins walking. “No Kel, a waste of time would be standing here doing nothing, we should tell Captain Spaceboy the news”, and just like that. The team leaves the Mushroom Stadium, returning all the way over to Otherworld.

The Space Pirates immediately notice the group, “Back so soon?”. They ask while Aubrey responds, “We’re here to see Captain Spaceboy!”, she yells as the Space Pirates let them through, the group gets inside of the Space Pirate’s Lair and sees him looking at the window. “So? What did she say?”, he goes straight to the point as Aubrey answers.

“She well um… She tore the letter and.. and… she said you could just visit her..”, she tells him as the group feels a dark aura right in front of them coming from Spaceboy. “Is that so….”, suddenly he just laughs it off and smiles at the group, “That sounds exactly like something she’d do, I suppose I thank you for doing this”. He says as the group lets out a sigh of relief, “Just one question, why didn’t you deliver the letter yourself?”; Hero asks as Spaceboy answers immediately.

“T-That does not matter now does it!”, he responds as he avoids the question. “Now, your friend.. he was kidnapped by the Aliens correct?”; he asks as the whole group immediately remembers why they were even in here for the first place. “Yes! Please! You have to help us rescue him!”, Kel says as Spaceboy just laughs. “Tsk, fine. I did say I would help you… The Aliens’ UFO is located here in Otherworld, we will get in there Guns Blazing and get your friend!”.

The whole Space Pirate crew just cheer on their Captain as the group stares quietly. “Wait, You are telling me the Aliens were in here the whole time?!”, Aubrey asks in disbelief, “Why didn’t you tell us?! We could’ve saved so much time and energy!”, she says in frustration as Spaceboy just ignores her. “As I said, It doesn’t matter now! Anyways, let’s get going! Set sail for the UFO!”, he orders as his Crew proceeds to prepare their ship.

Suddenly, the house begins transforming, some type of rockets appear in it’s sides as they turn on, making the house fly as if it were some kind of ship… with rockets. “W-Woah! This is so frickin cool!”, Kel says in amusement as he stares at the view while Hero looks at Sunny.

“Hey Sunny, I was thinking.. once we find Basil, we should continue with the Picnic, we do deserve a small break, don’t we?”.

      👉Sounds like a plan.

          Let’s do something else.

“I’m glad you agree, Basil’s gonna be so happy when we find him.” Hero adds as they arrive to what seems to be the Aliens’ UFO. “Prepare the laser cannons!”; Spaceboy yells as his crew begins preparing said cannons, “FIRE!”. The UFO receives an impact on it’s surface, causing a big hole to remain on where it was shot at.

Something begins leaking out of the UFO, a green familiar liquid that the group recognizes. “For a long time we! The Space Pirates have been at war with the Aliens! Said war, it ends tonight!”, Spaceboy raises his blaster. “LEAVE NONE OF THEM STANDING!”, he yells out as his crew runs right behind him and they get off the ship, beginning a fight with the Aliens.

The Aliens seemed to be made of a weird greenish goo, “Basil is probably inside of that UFO!”, Hero says as they all look at Sunny, he quickly begins heading towards the UFO, the group following behind.

They enter the UFO and that’s where they see some sort of pods, inside of the pods where many different creatures, some Sprout Moles, some Bunnies, and… Basil. In one of them, “Basil!”; the group yells as Aubrey grabs her Bat and swings in at the pod, trying to break it to free her friend but in vain. Her bat just sinks in the pod and bounces right back off, making Aubrey almost hit Hero before he dodges.

“How are we supposed to break this thing?!”, she asks furiously but that’s where they hear a voice. “There y o u are. . .”, a green blob appears. The team gets ready to fight, “Let go of Basil and everyone else!”, Kel yells but the blob just “laughs” as it shakes and makes a weird noise. “Hu H u Hu H u! !! ! No, d i d you n o t read t h e letter?!” W e want t h e device!”, it “speaks” as the team looks confusing. “Um… Didn’t the letter mention some device?..”, Aubrey wonders as the group thinks. “Well, to be fair you never specified what device did you?!”, Kel asks it as the blob just laughs.

“Hmm… H m m…. Hmmm…. Y o u are c o r r e c t… We s i m p l y forgot!”; it says as it laughs once again, causing the group to stare at it in silence. “If we bring in this device, will you free our friend?”; Hero asks as the blob just shakes. “The d e v i c e is a l r e a d y here . . .”. It says as it points towards the camera, Basil’s camera. Which has been holding all this time.

“Wait, you want Basil’s camera? Why?”, Hero asks as he stands in front of Sunny. “I t matters n o t, give i t to u s. . .”, the blob demands as it begins morphing, changing it’s size while the Kel and Aubrey stand alongside Hero, protecting Sunny. “We won’t let you take it!”, Kel yells as Aubrey joins in. “Yeah! This is Basil’s camera, he values it a lot!”.

The blob just stares, “So b e it, y o u will a l l perish.” A fight has begun…

What will SUNNY and friends do?

The blob identifies itself as “Alien King” and calls for some help. Two other smaller blobs arrive, “You w i l l regret t h i s . . .”, it says as one of the blubs throws some of it’s goo at the whole group.

SUNNY’s SPEED fell… AUBREY’s SPEED fell… KEL’s SPEED fell… HERO’s SPEED fell…

“Oh no this is bad…”, Hero says as he tries freeing himself from the goo. The ALIEN KING prepares for an attack…

Sunny uses a Banana Smoothie, the whole party recovers some juice. Aubrey frees herself first, she looks at Hero and frees him. “Go get help Kel! I’ll get Sunny!”, she says as Kel and Sunny are freed.

“It i s so e a s y. . . Just l a y down a n d die.”, ALIEN KING launches an attack!

A wave of goo is thrown at everyone, this one burns down the whole party, making them all loose some health. “OwOw!”, Kel says as he prepares for an attack, he focuses and throws his ball at the Alien King, however… it literally just sinks inside of him. “WHAT?! HEY GIVE IT BACK!”, he yells but the Alien King grins as Hero holds Kel back.

“Calm down Kel!”, he says and the team begins thinking of a plan. “We can’t use Kel’s ball… Do we have any toys left?!”, she asks Sunny but he shakes his head as he looks in his empty backpack that was filled with junk.

The ALIEN KING prepares for an attack. . .

“Hero! Please tell me you have food left!”; Kel says as Hero begins making a quick snack as fast as he can. The whole team guards, preparing for the next attack.

ALIEN KING launches an attack! A ball of goo is thrown at the team, it misses Kel and Hero and is about to hit Aubrey. Sunny runs and pushes her away, making the ball hit him. “Sunny!”, she yells as Sunny groans in pain.

SUNNY did not succumb. . .

He stands up, low in health and looks at his friends, he has a look that was different from him, it’s as if he wanted to do something specific. All this time they’ve been trying to dodge the attacks of the Alien King and couldn’t fight back. It was time to….

RELEASE ENERGY!

SUNNY and friends come together and use their ultimate attack!

Everyone gives their best attacks, combining them into a powerful and amazing combo worthy of being called the ultimate attack.

The ALIEN KING took 0 damage!

“WHAT?! HOW! HUH?!”, Aubrey yells in frustration as the Alien King begins laughing. “Ho H o Ho H o Ho H o!! ! ! !! ! !!”, he takes a stand and glares at them. “We a r e invincible, s u r r e n d e r now.”,

“We can’t give up…”; Hero says as Kel looks at the Alien King angrily. “This isn’t fair!”; he says as he throws a random piece of trash at it and sees that it fills the inside of one of the Aliens making it explode.

“Huh? Wait..”, Aubrey sees what Kel did and throws something at another Alien, making it get filled by it and explode. “OKAY NOW IT’S ON!”, Kel yells as he begins throwing trash after trash from Sunny’s backpack at the aliens.

Each of them get filled by the trash that is being thrown and defeated. One after another until the Alien King is left. “No…. N o… No…. N O O O O O O O O !!!!!!”, it yells.

ALIEN KING prepares an ultimate attack.

The group throws the junk that was left on Sunny’s backpack, none of it remains as they see they need one more thing. “We’re out of junk!”; Aubrey exclaims as Hero looks at the backpack, “Oh no.. This is bad..”, but suddenly….

A lightbulb turns on Kel, he gets a smile as he gets in front of everyone, “Worry do not guys, SuperKel has this covered… HECTOR!... Go get ‘em!”; he yells as he throws Hector at the Alien King, it was the time for Hector. It flies to peacefully directly towards the alien.

The Alien King stares at it in terror as suddenly Hector sinks inside of him, filling him up and making it explode, all of the things that were stuck inside of it burst outside.

SUNNY’s party was victorious!

The pods open as the group quickly goes to get Basil. He coughs a bit and gently opens his eyes. “H-Huh?.. Sunny?.. Kel.. Aubrey?.. Hero?.. Is.. that you guys?..”, he asks as Kel jumps in to hug him.

“I missed you!”; he says as Hero joins in on the hug, Aubrey goes in for it as Sunny does too. They all share one hug as Captain Spaceboy and his crew raise their weapons at the night sky, “THE SPACE PIRATES ARE VICTORIOUS!!!”; they all yell in victory as they cheer on.

And just like that, some time passes as the team enjoys their well deserved victory.

. . .

It was a relaxing day on Slumberland, the calm breeze of the air flew right through the whole area as the trees’ branches moved slightly because of the air. It was surely a peaceful sight to many, such as to a group of friends who were sitting down in a blanket and staring at each other with a smile. “Kel! Did you seriously ate all of the sandwiches?!”, she asks as Kel just laughs it off and looks away. “Oh come Aubrey! You can’t blame me! They’re so delicious! Right guys?”, he asks as he looks at Basil and Hero and Sunny.

“Settle down Aubrey, you do gotta admit Kel is right. We still have some candies left for you”, he says as Aubrey pouts and grabs some candy. “Hmph, I know.” That’s all she says as Basil sits next to Sunny, “So… You guys went to see Captain Spaceboy to find me?”; he asks as Sunny nods. “That’s correct Basil, after that we went to some kind of Mushroom city and met Sweetheart herself, we went to a concert and… fought the Aliens that kidnapped you..”.

Hero says the last bit as he lets out a sigh, none of it made any proper sense now that he thought about it. “It was quite a hazzle but fun adventure!”; Kel adds as they all share a laugh while Basil smiles gently. He raises his camera and takes a picture of the picnic scene. Sunny is laying down as he stares at the sky, Aubrey is sitting next to him while she eats some Candy, and Hero and Kel are talking. Basil just stares at it happily, “Thank you guys for saving me.. I’m glad we’re all here together.”

Basil says as he smiles at his friends. “No biggie! Besides, things wouldn’t be the same without any of us!”; Aubrey says as she looks a bit sad at the idea of loosing one of her friends. “Yup! Aubrey is right, each of us mean something!”, Kel says as Hero smiles gently and suddenly Basil talks.

“Oh I know that, I just wished Mari was here with us, she always made things better.” He says as suddenly Sunny opens his eyes and stares at him in disbelief, “Mari? Who’s that?”, Aubrey asks as Hero looks as if he just remembered something. “Basil! You.. You remember her?!”; he asks as he gets closer to Basil which surprises him. “Y-Yeah! She’s Sunny’s Big Si̥̯͎̼S̼t̡̘̠̫̗͇E̵̳͓͓r҉̪̩̝-

. . .

I̸t's̕ no͜t̨ ͝e̡nou̕g͜ḩ.̀

. . .

Hero opens his eyes slowly, he stares at the roof of his own room for a few seconds as he lets out a small yawn and looks at his surroundings for a few seconds. Seeing his room, he realizes Kel’s bed is empty and sees his small brother on his chair, reading something. “Hey, Good Morning.” Hero says as he breaks the silence and gets up from his bed, looking at the window to see the sun slowly rising, beginning another day.

“Oh! Hey Hero, Good Morning!”; Kel says as he goes right back to reading. Hero smiles slightly by seeing his little brother, it’s been 2 years since… Sunny’s accident and he knows that his little brother misses his friend a lot, they’ve all reacted to the news in different ways, Kel was heartbroken for the first months but Hero stood by his side and has seen how slowly his brother has gone back to himself.

“What are you reading?”, he asks as he decides to get closer to him, gaining curiosity on what Kel is reading. Kel just closes the book letting Hero read the title, “It’s this medical book I got from the library! I was reading some things and.. did you know that some people in a coma might react to the things on their environment? How crazy is that! Or how they could wake up sooner than first expected to?!”; he says as Hero smiles slightly.

It all makes sense to him why Kel has gotten better. He still believes Sunny might wake up soon, “I see… Do you want to visit Sunny today? I could take to the hospital if you want”, Hero says this but Kel shakes his head. “Nah it’s cool, thanks anyways! Besides, I’m going to Basil’s place first, he said he wanted to give me something.” Kel says as Hero nods.

“Well, I’ll see you later then. I’m.. going to visit Mari”, Hero says as Kel changes his expression slightly, “I see.. Well, tell her I say hi”, Kel responds to Hero as he just smiles. “I will”, and just like that Hero leaves his own room. He walks down the stairs and sees his parents on there. “Buenos dias!”, he says with a smile as they smile back at him, “Ire a ver a Mari, vuelvo despues”, he then says as his parent nod, giving him permission as he leaves his house. He stands on the sidewalk for a few seconds as he looks at Mari and Sunny’s house for a while. He remembers the first time he met Mari and eventually Sunny, they’ve been neighbors for as long as he remembers.

He finds himself in front of the Suzuki residence as he knocks on the door, waiting a few seconds as it opens and he sees Ms. Suzuki, “Hello, Good Morning Maam”. Hero as she smiles at him, “Oh, hey Hero.. Good Morning, You came to visit Mari right?”, she asks as he nods at her. She welcomes him inside and he looks at Ms. Suzuki for a few seconds, he could tell she had a pained smile, how couldn’t she? Her son is in a coma, her husband had left her and Mari over a year ago and her daughter hasn’t seen the sun in months.

He was about to head towards the stairs but he hears Ms. Suzuki call him, “Oh and one more thing, could you please give this to her?”; she asks as she hands him a plate of food. “It’s Mari’s breakfast.. Please help her eat something..”, she asks him this nicely and worriedly as Hero nods, he wants the best for Mari afterall. “I will make sure of it”, he says as he continues.

He heads upstairs, each step of the stairs feeling like a memory he’s had since meeting Mari. “Nice to meet you, I’m Mari!...... Henry? That’s pretty!........ This is my little brother, don’t be shy! His name is Sunny!..... Nice to meet you Kel!......”. For some reason, remembering all of this makes him feel emotional, but now is not the time for this, he holds himself back as he arrives a door, the door to Mari’s and Sunny’s room.

He knocks on it gently, “Mari? Good Morning.. It’s me, Hero. I came to talk with you..”, he says as some slight noises can be heard from the other side. He hears some steps coming closer to the door, after a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the door’s lock gets unlocked as the handle moves slightly, opening slowly as Hero’s lips form into a smile.

“Good Morning”, he says as he sees Mari standing there. She was wearing her PJs as she looked so much different then she once did, she had noticeable eye bags thanks to her lack of proper sleep, her hair was a mess as she’s not been taking care of it properly. And she seemed more thin then she looked a few years ago. “Hey.. Henry..”; she says in a fragile and low voice as she opens the door slowly. Letting him enter to her room, Hero feels a cold air from inside, it’s like if he was entering some sort of different realm than the outside world.

Upon entering the room, Mari slowly closes the door. Hero sees that the entire room is a mess, Mari’s old organized and well kept side of the room was now completely different, he could see that the windows where shut and no light could enter from the outside. The AC was on and it made the entire room cold. The only light source the room had was Mari’s laptop and the small light the AC had as it barely lit the place, but despite he could say Mari standing right behind him. He laid down the plate of breakfast and turned to her, hugging her gently as she hugged him back.

It’s like If she had been waiting for this, “Henry… Henry….”; she says lowly as she hugs him and closes her eyes shut, as if all of these was just a dream she didn’t want to be waken up from. “I’m here Mari…”, he replies gently as he holds her and she lays her head on his chest. “I’m sorry… for everything…”; she says but he continues with the hug. It wasn’t his first time doing this, since Sunny’s accident she had been avoiding the outside world completely.

Mari has been on her room all this time and refusing to talk to anyone but her Mother and Hero, this wasn’t healthy at all but, he knew he had to help her somehow. Every single time he had visited Mari it always ended the same way, she would just hug him and cry as if she was hoping to forget about everything for a while, Hero felt bad but he had no other choice, he hated seeing Mari like this, he missed seeing her bright eyes and gorgeous smile.

He feels Mari’s hand slowly touch his cheek as he looks at her, Mari’s black and empty eyes stare at him, with barely any signs of brightness in them, they reflect the light of Mari’s laptop as he takes Mari to her bed. He grabs the plate of food and a fork as he looks at her, “Your Mom made you breakfast Mari.. I need you to eat this.”

He says as Mari just stays in silence, “I don’t want to… Henry.”, she says as she looks away avoiding looking at the food. “Mari… You know you have to eat something.. please, you have to do it for me..”; he says as she grips her hands on the bed and looks back at him. She couldn’t possibly lie to him, she was feeling pretty hungry, but didn’t want to eat. She felt like her body and mind were at war with each other. She gently opens her mouth as she lets Hero feed her.

Seeing this Hero remembers all the times he had to fed Kel when he was just a small toddler for some reason, he decides to start talking as he feeds Mari. “You know.. Kel’s begun going to the library actually… the other day he rented a book and he showed it to me today…”, Hero says as he continues while Mari doesn’t reply. “Hector has been growing a lot… The other day we were helping mom cleaning the house and he accidentally broke a lamp she had.. Heh.. He’s always been so energetic..”

Hero says this as he smiles slightly, but Mari just continues eating as she seems “uninterested” by the stories Hero is telling her. It took a few minutes but he managed to help her finish all of her food, once she was finished he used a napkin and gently cleaned her lips. “Thank you…”; she says with her voice as he picks up the plate and puts it aside. “It’s nothing Mari.. You know that..”; he says as he smiles gently at her. Mari just turns around and goes back to her computer as she types something.

Hero walks towards her and looks at her screen. “How’s the writing coming along?”; he asks as she stops typing for a few seconds and looks right at him. “It’s going good.. but… Nothing”, she continues typing as Hero reads a bit of the text. It’s been for a few weeks but, Mari has been writing on her laptop her own thoughts, she’s been using it to get distracted, Hero slowly hugs her from behind as she stops typing and turns her laptop off, she turns to him and hugs him back.

“Henry?...”; she asks gently as he looks at her. “Yes Mari?”, he feels her hands go towards his cheeks as she holds him. “How’s Sunny?....”; she asks as a few tears form on her face. She hasn’t seen Sunny for herself ever since they got the terrible news. The guilt has been completely killing her, she hasn’t told anyone what happened that day. “Sunny is… resting on the hospital Mari…”, he answers carefully.

He knows he is threading on thin rice right now, every time he had tried talking about Sunny with Mari before had ended horribly, he knows that it’s better to help her one step at a time. She moves her hands to Hero’s hands as she pulls him gently, he could tell she was weaker and that this was the strongest pull she could do at her current state.

She pulled him on the bed as he laid next to her staring at her, their faces being lit by the light of the AC. “We need you Mari…”; he says softly as she holds him by the hands. “Who?...”; she asks as he lays his hand on her cheek, her skin feeling cold. “Me… Kel… Aubrey… Basil…. Sunny… He’s gonna need his big sister once he wakes up…”; he says but he feels Mari digging her nails on him, it hurted a bit but he looked at her as she gave him a pained and damaged look on her eyes.

“No… Sunny.. Henry… Hero…. He…”, she let’s go of Hero as she closes her eyes and looks at the wall. “I can’t… I’m sorry I can’t…”; she says as she tries not too cry, “Mari… I want to help you… I can’t… we… we can’t do this forever…”; he says as he places his hand on her shoulder and gets closer to her.

“Why… not?...”, she asks as she turns slightly at him, looking at him worriedly as he feels his heart breaking, he had been dreading the day he would tell Mari this but, he knew it would be worse if he kept it for a secret any longer. “Mari… I…. Mom and Dad… They want me to go to Westlake in California for College…”, Hero confesses as he can see Mari freeze. She immediately jumps at him as tears fall from her eyes, “Oh no no no nonono please nonononononono…”, she begs at him as she has a completely devastated and destroyed look.

Hero feels his heart break into pieces by seeing Mari like this, she has tears in her eyes now as she holds him tightly, not wanting to let go of him at all. “Mari.. Please..”; he says gently as he holds her and she cries more. “Don’t leave me… Please…”; she says really weakly. “Mari… I…”, Hero can feel his own voice break as he looks down at Mari.

He just pulls her in for a hug as they hold each other, “I won’t leave you… I promise I’ll be here… I’ll help you…”, Hero says all of this while Mari just cries more and more, letting the tears fall down her cheeks as Hero stays there with her.

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ _ _ _  Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ P̤̼͙̭͙̟̤͇̜̌̋̄͑͡  S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ _

P̤̼͙̭͙̟̤͇̜̌̋̄͑͡ has been added to the Hangman... 5͍̤͚̖̐ͥ̏ͤ R͇̪̙̫͝E̝̝̦M̮̹̹̫A̪̟͔͕̩͚I̠͞N̜̭̠̬̬ ͖̙̝̜̰̪͇͞.͓̣͚̦͙.̪̘̗̬̤̠.͇̣̦̖̰͟

Chapter Text

Kel walks with a smile on the sidewalk as he heads towards Basil’s house. “Good morning, Ma’am!”, Kel says with a gleeful tone to a neighbor as she smiles and waves back at him, “Good morning Kel, how’s your Mom doing?”. The woman asks as she looks down at Kel, she seems to be watering her yard as he replies, “She’s doing a-okay!”, he says with a smile as the woman just laughs a bit.

“Wonderful, tell your parents I say hi will ya?”, Kel just nods as he continues on his way towards Basil’s house. He crosses the street and continues walking, until he reaches Basil’s house. He hops towards the entrance and knocks on the door a couple of times, he whistles patiently as he hears a few steps heading towards the door, the handle moves slowly as he sees Basil’s grandma open the door and he smiles. “Oh well… Good Morning Kel, how are you doing today?”, she asks as Kel smiles back at her.

He has always appreciated her, every time they were at Basil’s house she had been so attentive and helped them with everything they needed. “Mhm, Good Morning! I came here to see Basil!”, he says as she lets him inside. “Basil is in his room, make sure to knock before entering”, Kel just nods as he walks towards Basil’s room. He knocks a few times, “Hey Basil! It’s me Kel!”.

The door opens and he sees Basil, who gives him a small smile. “Hey Kel um… How are you doing?”, he asks as Kel enters the room. “Pretty good actually, I went to the library and got this~”, he shows Basil a medical book as Basil looks at it for a couple of seconds before he steps back. “T-That’s... interesting, are you going to become a Doctor?”, he asks as Kel shakes his head.

“Nah, you know I’m not interested in that, I am however interested on... learning!”, he says as he opens a page he was interested on. “Did you know that there are some cases where people react to their environment when they’re in a coma?”, he mentions as Basil stays in silence. “Oh... That’s wonderful but... you think Sunny might be able to hear us then?..”, he asks as Kel just smiles and nods. “I’m not sure, but, maybe he is listening to what is happening around him, I was thinking of visiting him tonight, do you want to tag along?”

Basil stays in complete after hearing Kel’s invitation. “I’m… not sure Kel.. I invited you today because I wanted to give you this…”, he says as he opens a drawer and takes out a book, a book Kel recognizes immediately. “Woah, is that our memory album?”, Kel asks surprised as Basil nods slightly.

“I.. wanted to give it to you”, he confesses which surprises Kel. Kel looks at Basil in disbelief. “Huh? Wait, why? Basil you can’t!”; he says but Basil ignores him. “Kel.. Please.. I need you to take good care of it.. I don’t think I can keep it..”, he says while Kel’s expression changes to a worried one as he gets closer to his friend. “What’s the matter?..”, he asks and Basil’s mouth trembles a bit.

“I can’t… look at it.. if I keep it.. I’ll burn it..”, he says as Kel is surprised. “W-Why would you do that?”, he asks and Basil stays in silence for a few seconds. He remembers a few things, the time she met Aubrey and she invited him to her group of friends, all of their picnics, the time they want to the beach, the last picnic they had…. The night of the recital. “I can’t tell him about what Mari did… He wouldn’t believe me… No one would…”, Basil thinks to himself as he looks at Kel. “I… I miss you all… You… Aubrey… Hero… M-Mari… Sunny..”

Kel sees some tears are forming on Basil’s eyes as he begins crying. “But… it’s all over… Sunny is in a coma…. Mari isolated herself… Hero is too busy studying and with Mari… Aubrey she… she ….. she changed… and you Kel.. you’re still the same.. how?..”, he asks as Kel just gets closer to Basil, he wraps a gentle and warm hug around Basil.

Basil continues crying while Kel holds him steady with a warm smile, “Basil… No one is gone, our friends are still there.. They just need our help, Sunny is sleeping but, he will wake up one day and when he does, we will welcome him properly! Hero might be too busy with school and Mari but, he would still accompany us if he got the chance! And Mari, Mari needs us to help her, you know she is hurt by what happened to Sunny.. And Aubrey…”, Kel stays in silence as he thinks, he hasn’t seen Aubrey since… a while now that he thought about it.

“We could visit Aubrey soon”; he suggests but Basil stays in silence. He cleans some of his tears off and looks at Kel. “Let’s visit Sunny..”, he says as Kel smiles seeing his friend feeling better. “That’s the spirit! We can bring him some of your flowers! I’m sure he would appreciate it!”. Basil nods slightly, as he gives Kel one hug and closes his eyes. “Thank you Kel…”, he says but Kel hugs him back and gives him a huge warm smile. “No problem, Basil! That’s what friends are for~”

Meanwhile… at the hospital. We can see the entrance door opening as a girl walks in. Said girl had some dyed hair, pink hair to be specific. That would be the thing that stood out the most of her appearance, she is carrying something in her hands. As she heads towards the front desk, “I’m here to see Sunny Suzuki”.

She speaks in a calm manner, as she stares at the receptionist who authorizes her to continue. She continues walking as she stops at a door, she takes a deep breath as she gently opens the door and walks in. She sees Sunny in there, the same place where he’s been resting for the last two years.

She walks closer to him and sees him closely, he wasn’t wearing his bandage anymore, his wounds had healed but, he was still in a coma. She laid down what she was carrying, some white tulips. “Hey Sunny…”, she says gently as she smiles at him and looks at him. “It’s me… Aubrey.. I came to visit you again.. I brought some.. flowers for you..”, she says as she looks down at him.

Some memories flood right back in as she begins feeling a little bit emotional. Ever since Sunny’s been in a coma, she has been visiting whenever she could, if she could she would do it daily but, she couldn’t. Every single time, she brought him flowers, hoping one of the days she’d visit him he would be awake to receive them.

“I.. came to see how you were doing and.. to talk with you…”, she says slowly the last part. Sunny’s always been there alongside her to listen to what was troubling her, she couldn’t know how to explain it but, she felt like despite him being in a coma, he was still listening to her somehow.

“D-Dad… Dad…”, she clutches her hand in anger as she continues talking. “Dad left us a few days ago… Mom hasn’t been taking it too well…”, she says while she feels so frustrated and looks at Sunny.

“S-Sorry.. I know I shouldn’t be troubling you with my problems… I.. I met a new friend the other day, her name is Kim and… She is pretty cool, I’m sure you two would get along..”, Aubrey has a small smile as she says this and slowly gets closer to Sunny. “I…. just wanted to say that… I miss you a lot…”, she gently holds Sunny’s hand as she closes her eyes and tries not to let out a tear. “We really miss you.. specially Mari.. I haven't seen her in a long long time…”, she feels Sunny’s soft and barely warm hand against hers as she holds it for a bit longer.

“I.. I have to go for today.. I’ll see you next w-“, she was about to say but suddenly, she feels Sunny’s hand give a small, slight and barely noticeable squeeze. Aubrey’s eyes widen as she looks at Sunny closely, “S-Sunny?... C-Can.. Can you hear me?..”, she asks as she stays still with a trembling voice. Not making any more noise to see if she can notice any other signs of the boy being awake, she waits and waits but… unfortunately that doesn’t happen. She begins letting out a few tears as she smiles weakly, “I-I… I’ll make sure to visit you… p-please be awake next time…”, she says as she lets go of his hand and walks towards the exit of the room.

Before leaving the room she turns around to see him, giving him one quick glance hoping for anything, but Sunny just lays there still, sleeping. “Goodbye… Sunny…”, she says as she exits the room and walks all the way to the entrance. When she leaves the hospital she feels the breeze of the air flow right through her, making her hair move slightly as she closes her eyes, “One day…. One day I’ll come back and he won’t be here anymore…”, she thinks to herself as she tries to not imagine the worse scenarios, she hopes that Sunny will be awake one of these days when she visits him.

She opens her eyes and was about to head home but, that’s where she sees Basil and Kel arrive. She stands in silence as they get closer, they stare at each other as Kel breaks the silence. “Aubrey! You dyed your hair! Nice!”, Kel says as he gives her a thumbs up and she looks at Basil, then at Kel. “Thanks”, that’s all she says as she begins walking away and Basil moves out of her way as Kel catches up to her.

“Hold on! Wait, you came to visit Sunny right? Wanna come with us?”, he asks as she looks at him and at Basil. She glares at Basil for a few seconds, causing the blonde boy to give a few steps back. “I already saw him”, she gives a brief and cold answer as Kel talks. “Wait! What happened Aubrey? We used to be a team before! Now look at us! Sunny wouldn’t like it if w-“, he was about to say but Aubrey snaps at him.

“Don’t tell me what Sunny would’ve liked! And what happened? What happened?! You should ask Basil! Maybe he will tell you!”, Aubrey yells at them, making a small scene at the entrance of the hospital as Basil starts getting weary. “K-Kel.. W-We should get going..:”, he says but Kel is having none of that.

“No Aubrey! What I mean is… What happened to you! You changed!”, he says but she glares at him. “Oh? I changed? I am the only one who checked up on Sunny every single time I can while Mari isolated herself! Hero just focused on her and Basil.. Don’t get me started on Basil…”, she says angrily while Kel is surprised by her words.

“What about me then? Did I disappoint you too Aubrey? You know this damaged Mari a lot… Hero wanted to help her… And Basil, leave him alone Aubrey.. This hurted all of us more than you think..”, he says but Aubrey stays in silence and walks away. Leaving the two standing in the entrance as Basil looks down.

“I-I’m sorry…”, Basil says as Kel turns to him, giving a smile trying to make him feel better. “Oh, don’t worry Basil, this is just Aubrey being Aubrey, she’ll get over it soon!”, he says but Basil just walks slowly, towards the direction of his house. “Huh? Basil where are you going?”, he asks but Basil doesn’t respond and leaves. Leaving Kel by himself as he lets out a sigh.

“This is getting really difficult… What a mess we’re making.. don't you think so Sunny?.. ”, he thinks to himself as he enters the hospital, going to visit his friend. Once inside, he sees some white tulips. “Did.. Aubrey bring these?..”, he asks himself outloud as he holds the flowers Basil wanted to give to Sunny and turns to Sunny, leaving the flowers next to him as he sits down. “Hey Sunny! It’s me, Kel!”, he says as he smiles at him.

“You’ve sure been sleeping for a while don’t you think? I hope you’re having a good dream heh… I would totally love to have a long good dream, there was this time where I dreamt I was a Basketball player and I went to space to fight some aliens!”, he says as he lets out a laugh and looks at Sunny. A bittersweet smile forms on Kel, he starts to remember the first days of when Sunny got into his coma. He remembers the void and pain on his heart that that tormented him for so long,

But… One day he started picking himself back up, with the help of his family, with the help of Hero. He had the strength to stand once again, he knew that being gloomy all day and not doing anything wouldn’t help. So he begun studying a bit and trying to make things better, his view on everything changed once he realized that Sunny could and would wake up one day.

He knew perfectly that Sunny wouldn’t like at all the state of his friend group if he saw them like this… Mari shutting herself out from the outside world, Hero studying himself to death and worrying too much about Mari and Aubrey… starting to change too much for him to recognize her. It’s as if he and Basil where the only ones that didn’t change.

“We really miss you Bud..”, he says as he looks down and lets out a sigh. “I just can’t help but remember all the great things we once did… Like that time Hero and Mari made some green jelly for my birthday and we thought it was an alien of some kind! Or that time we went to the forest and I tripped landing on a mushroom!”, he laughs as he remembers those warm memories.

“But… My favorite memory.. has to be the one where I first saw you smile..”, he says as he smiles slightly and looks at Sunny. He takes out the memory album and sighs. “Basil.. wanted to come but, he wasn’t feeling too well heh.. He’ll come next time, I promise~ For now, letme remind you some of the things we’ve been through~”. Kel says as he reads the album to Sunny. After a couple of hours of Kel being with his friend, telling him about a lot of the things that have been happening, he laughs and stands up as he stretches. “Just know, I hope you are listening to my words! Because when you wake up I’ll be taking you to Gino’s~”, he says as he imagines Sunny eating Pizza with him and his friends.

“I… I know I might be a goof sometimes but.. you can always count on me Sunny.. Sleep well”, he says as he smiles at him and walks away. Leaving and heading towards his house, the second he leaves Sunny’s room. Tears form on his face as he gives a pained smile and tries not to sob, “Be strong Kel… Be strong…”, he repeats to himself as he cleans his tears and corrects his stance as he walks out of the hospital.

Meanwhile, with Hero and Mari. The depressed girl lays her head on Hero’s lap as her gently caresses her hair, he looks down at her with a slight smile as she closes her eyes, enjoying the closest thing to happiness she is able to feel at the moment. “Henry?...”, she asks as she opens her eyes weakly, she stares right at Hero as he nods at her listening.

“Do you hate me?....”, she asks this while Hero stops moving as he is surprised by her sudden question. He didn’t expect her to ask that at all, so he stays in silence for a couple of seconds, causing Mari to tense up as she imagines the worse type of answers he could give her. “O-Of course not Mari… You know I would never hate you..”, he answers with a genuine smile as she moves away from his lap and looks at him.

“Why then?...”; she asks as he looks at her confused, trying to understand what she’s asking. “Why what?...”, he asks in a calm low voice as he starts to get worried by what might be going through Mari’s head at this moment. “Why are you going to leave me?...”, she asks as her voice breaks a bit. Hero feels as if he was being stabbed when he hears this, his blood feels cold as he looks at Mari.

“M-Mari… I’m not… abandoning you…”, he says as she starts getting closer to him, her hands moving to hold his’ as she lays him on the bed, her starring down at him. “Why.. don’t you stay with me?...”, she asks as she gently holds his cheek.

While Hero stares at her empty dark eyes, she sees her for a few seconds as his hands automatically move towards Mari, he gives her a hug as he feels her cold body against his. “Mari… Please… We have to change things… This… This isn’t healthy at all.. I need you to trust me…”, he says but Mari doesn’t hug him back, she just stays in silence as suddenly, Hero’s phone vibrates a bit.

He lets go of the hug and turns his phone on, himself being surprised when he sees it’s already late, he sees a message from his Mom asking him if he’s coming back home. He turns towards Mari and sees her staring right at him, as if she was reading his mind and knew already what he was thinking. “You’re going to abandon me…”, she says in a low voice, Hero gets closer to her as he gently kisses Mari in her forehead, he hasn’t kissed her in a long time because he knows perfectly Mari doesn’t need that now.

“Please don’t ever say that again Mari… I’m never abandoning you.. I want to spend the rest of my life with you…”, he says as he feels her slowly hugging him, this makes him feel better. “Thank you…”, she says as he hugs her back and stays like this for a while. “I… I have to go but…”, Mari lets go of the hug and looks at him, waiting for him to finish what he was saying. “Tomorrow… I’m taking you to somewhere else.. okay?..”, he asks as she just looks away, not wanting to answer she just closes her eyes, Hero knows she doesn’t want to leave her room, but he wants to take her somewhere to make her feel better. “I.. I’ll see you tomorrow Mari, please take care..” He says as Mari looks at him, “Bye… Hero..”, she says as he smiles gently at her and leaves, closing the door behind him as Mari lays on the wall next to her bed.

She hugs her knees as she looks down, her mind was a mess right now, she didn’t know what to think. She felt bad for the way she was treating Hero, she knew he was doing everything in his power to help her but.. she couldn’t help but feel like that wasn’t enough for her, she slowly sinks her nails on her leg as she opens her eyes and stares at the roof. “Make it stop….”; she says lowly as she closes her eyes and tries to get some rest, she sleeps peacefully for a while until she hears a small knock and slowly opens her eyes. “Huh?...”, she asks to herself as she hears a voice coming from the other side of the room.

“Ma…..ri…..”, a familiar voice says as she starts shaking and looks at the direction where the voice was coming from. Sunny’s bed, which has remain the same ever since that horrible day two years ago. “Ma..ri…”, the voice says again as she sinks her nails deeper into her leg once again, out of fear and anxiety. “Sunny?.... Is.. Is that you?...”, she asks as the voice once again talks. This time more distorted from before.

“M̵͢a̧͠r̢i̢͢….. M̶̰̜͞à̞̹̦̳̦̗͡r̦͙̣̗̞͚i̹̠͚̜̘…”, the voice speaks once again as Mari looks at the direction where it’s coming from in fear. “N-No…”, she says weakly as she stares at the bed, seeing a shadow form as the voice continues talking.

“This… Ḿ͕̼͖̻̬͙͘a̬̠̤̣͚̯̫r̡̢̭̼̜̹̤̜̖ͅi̛̮͉… This.. Is… ÝO̡U̲̘R̶̖̲͎̺ F̯̙̲̒͌̿̏A͈̼̞͈̟̅̀ͯ̎U̡̬͓̱̪̙̮ͣ̍̅̀̔ͫ̀͘͘L̨̝͓̤͔͔̲̪̺͑͌̈́̿̌̆͌̔ͮ̑̔̈̆̃͋̑̔͢͝Ṱ̸̸̸̠̘̘͕̗̺̬̯͉̣͙̭̣̌͒ͨ̑̂̈̎̏̏̃ͣ̾̽ͬ̑̀͞ͅͅ”.

The voice says this time more loudly, the shadow begins revealing itself, it's own shape can only be described being identical to Sunny as it gets closer to Mari, causing Mari accidentally cut herself with her own nails as she sunk them too deep on her own skin out of the fear she was feeling. She lets out a loud outcry as she cries. Suddenly the door opening as her mom rushes in, she quickly turns on the light as she sees her daughter holding herself in her bed as she cries. “Mari!”, her Mom yells out as she rushes towards her daughter.

Mari just hugs her Mom as she cries and Mari’s mom holds her. “It’s okay Mari… I’m here… I’m here…”, she says as Mari just cries onto her. She sees some blood from Mari’s cut but she doesn’t say anything as she holds Mari for a few seconds being there with her. “I-I-I-I Mom I…”, she tries talking but she can’t. Mari is a complete mess, she keeps shaking and cries more and more as she doesn’t know what just happened, the only thing she knows is that she doesn’t want it to happen again.

. . .

The next day.

Hero slowly opens his eyes as he lets out a sigh and sees he woke up earlier than usual, he turns to see Kel sleeping peacefully as he smiles. “I shouldn’t wake him up..”, he thinks to himself as he leaves his room and heads downstairs, he hears some some voices coming from downstairs as he hears it’s her mom and dad talking with someone else.

He walks closer and goes to the dining room, where he sees Ms. Suzuki with a cup of coffee talking with his parents about something. “G-Good Morning”, Hero says hoping not to interrupt an important conversation. “Oh, Good Morning, how did you sleep?”, his Mom asks as he answers, sitting down next to them. “I slept good Mom”, he says while Ms. Suzuki talks. “I’m… glad you’re here Henry.. There’s.. a favor I have to ask..”, she says while Hero changes his laid back expression to a more serious one, he could tell she wasn’t joking around.

“I…. I got a new position at work the other week… but.. I have to move away for a few months.. This wouldn’t be an issue at all but.. Mari.. you know she’s in no condition to accompany me.. and she’s not in a condition to be left alone neither…”, she says as Hero nods slightly, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

“I… I need you to take care of Mari please…”, she says as she looks at the Rodriguez family, she leans her head down as she knows this is too much for her to ask. But Hero takes no time to answer as he replies immediately. “I’ll do it”, he says while his parents look at him. “Akari Suzuki.. We’ve been neighbours for a long time.. You know you can always count on us Cielo”, Hero’s Mom says this with a smile as Ms. Suzuki feels so relieved, she feels like a huge load of weight had been taken off from her shoulders.

“Thank you… You have my eternal gratitude..”, she says as Hero answers. “Don’t worry Ms. Suzuki, I know what Mari is going through.. We’ll take good care of her”, Hero says as she smiles slightly. “Thank you, but, I need you to tell you a few things in private Hero..”, she says while he nods.

After a few minutes she takes Hero to her house and she looks at him, “Please take a seat… this might be difficult for you to hear…”, she says as Hero sits down and looks at her. “Mari… had a breakdown last night…”, she says as Hero immediately looks at her with his full attention, he feels his heart drop as he replies carefully. “Is.. Is she okay?..”, he asks and she nods as she looks so stressed.

“Mari.. saw Sunny.. she had an hallucination..”, she says as Hero looks completely surprised, Mari’s words echo into his mind from last night. “You’re going to abandon me…”, those haunting words echo into his head as he feels guilty. “Mari… She didn’t want me to leave her….”, he says slowly outloud as he places his hands on his face, letting out a sigh while Ms. Suzuki looks at him, “Henry… You’re the only person that Mari is willing to listen to right now.. I’ve tried helping her a lot before but.. She’s just not ready..”, she says stressed as Hero looks at her.

“I.. I promise I won’t let you down..”, he says as she thanks him. “Here… I’ll be going now.. Please take good care of my daughter, I know she’s in good hands..”, she says as she gives Hero some money for food and other things he might need. “Thank you..”, that’s all he says as she looks at him, “Mari is sleeping right now.. She’s on her room but, make sure to knock before entering..”.

Hero nods at her as she leaves, closing the door behind him. He stands in silence as he starts to realize what is happening, “Fuck me….”, he says as it starts to sinking all that’s been happening, Mari has been giving some signs that she needed him.. and all he did was ignore them and left her by herself. He starts to feel heavy but he holds on and looks at himself in a mirror.

“Now’s not the time… They’re counting on you..”, he says as he decides to go to the fridge, it was still morning so he decided to make some breakfast for himself and Mari. He opens the fridge and sees some food in there, “I could make an omelet with this..”, he thinks to himself as he takes the eggs and a few others things and gets to work.

He finishes and looks happy with the end result, by the time he had finished cooking he realized it’s been a long time since he had last cooked something for Mari. He started to remember all the times he had cooked something for her before but, this time he knew it would be different. He carries the food upstairs and goes to Mari’s room and knocks the door.

He doesn’t hear a response for a few seconds, he decides to speak. “Mari? It’s me Hero, can I come in?”. He stays in silence for a few seconds and hears a low voice reply. “Y-Yes…..”, Mari says from the other side of the door as he gently opens the door. The second he does, he is surprised when he sees the room different than before. This time she had a lot of her clothes thrown on the floor as Mari is covered on her blankets.

Looking at the door as Hero walks in and gently sits down next to Mari. She just stares at him with a scared look as she talks lowly. “Henry?....”, she asks as he puts the plates of food aside as he gets closer to her slowly and talks. “It’s okay Mari… I’m so sorry I left… I’m h-“, but she just jumps and holds him tightly, she held him as if he was going to leave if she ever let go of him. “Please don’t go…”, that’s all she says as he hugs her back. “I won’t… There’s some things I have to tell you..”, he says as she just holds him.

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ A̙̖̘͈̰̥̯̘ͣ̏̌̂̋ͨ̒̾ _ _ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ P̤̼͙̭͙̟̤͇̜̌̋̄͑͡ S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ _

A̙̖̘͈̰̥̯̘ͣ̏̌̂̋ͨ̒̾ has been added to the Hangman... 4̢̰͖̯̰̼̟ͥ̽ͅ R͇̪̙̫͝E̝̝̦M̮̹̹̫A̪̟͔͕̩͚I̠͞N̜̭̠̬̬ ͖̙̝̜̰̪͇͞.͓̣͚̦͙.̪̘̗̬̤̠.͇̣̦̖̰͟

Chapter Text

Mari’s hands and arms stretched out to meet Hero’s body as she held onto him tightly, making sure to not let go of him, Hero responded to this by wrapping his own arms around Mari, giving her a warm and gentle embrace. One which Mari receives joyfully as she has her own face buried in Hero’s chest, “I-I-I.. I’m sorry for everything...”

Mari’s voice sounds weak and completely destroyed as she says this, Hero just remains in complete silence as he holds Mari still, keeping her company and trying to make her feel better with his support. “Mari, it’s okay. I’m right here, you’re not alone.” Hero’s voice is heard by Mari as she digs her face deeper, as if she lacked the ability to tell if the Hero in front of her was real or not, she didn’t want him to leave her ever again, she didn’t want to see what she saw last night.

“P-Please.. don’t ever go... l-last night I..”, Mari’s trembling voice echo into Hero’s head as she can’t continue with her sentence, she was terrified to even think about what even happened. Her grasp on what was even real or not had been compromised, she didn’t know what to think or do, she was a complete mess, even worse than before.

She is brought right back to reality by Hero, who holds her trying his best to prevent her from panicking, he could tell how hurt Mari was. He felt responsible by her current state of mind, he felt like he could’ve prevented all of this if he had just stayed with her like she wanted him to yesterday, his mind kept reminding him this.

But now was not the time for any of this, feeling guilty and blaming himself wasn’t going to help Mari. He had to do something, he moves his hand towards Mari’s cheek, gently holding it as he looks at Mari’s eyes, she had a frightened expression on them as all she could see was darkness. A darkness so vast and deep that she felt like she could never be able to escape it, but suddenly…

“Mari, I need you to focus... focus and take a deep breath... Please, listen to my words.” Hero’s gentle words land on Mari’s head and mind as she starts recovering herself, she starts seeing a small light, her own vision getting clearer every second she focused and followed Hero’s instructions. Before she knew it, she was right back at the place she had been these years, her own room.

She wasn’t alone, she was with Hero, who remained by her side every single second, she starts to remember what was even happening as her mind starts to clear. She blinks a couple of times, making sure she had returned back to reality as she begins to tighten the embrace between her and Hero.

He responds to this by smiling at her, a warm and gentle smile Mari had always cherished. “T-Thank you... I-I..”, she tries to find the correct words to give to Hero, but she is unable to, she didn’t want to talk, she wanted to enjoy the moment forever.

“Mari, it’s okay. I need you to listen to me okay? There’s a few things I have to tell you, but right now-” Mari feels Hero separating from the embrace, she stares at him in confusion as she sees him picking up the tray of food, she snaps back as she realizes there’s a smell coming from the food; A warm, delicious and familiar smell that starts to reawaken some memories within the depths of her own mind.

Hero welcomes Mari’s nostalgic expression with a friendly gesture as he gets closer to the bed, this time making sure to make Mari feel as comfortable as she can be. “Right now, I need you to eat this please, I promise you it’ll make you feel better.” Hero continues talking as he takes out a small fork, Mari gazes at the tray of food right in front of her, it was an omelet.

One of her favorite meals she and Hero used to cook all the time. Hero is able to see Mari’s expression change as her lips start to form into a smile, a small smile but still noticeable, it didn’t seem forced or fake. “Your food always makes me feel good...”, Mari mentions this in a low and gentle voice, herself starting to feel emotional over this. It’s been a long time since Hero had seen her smile, even if it wasn’t the usual smile she had always given to him and her friends before, Hero felt relieved and happy seeing her like this.

It’s like if all of the difficulties and hard times they’ve endured had been worth the struggle. A smile also forms on Hero’s face as he grabs the fork, taking a piece of the omelet, beginning to feed Mari. She slowly opens her mouth; she seems to be shaking a bit as she welcomes the warm and tasty piece of egg into her mouth as she begins chewing it slowly.

A feeling that Mari could only describe as “Welcoming” begins to fill all of Mari’s body, she makes sure to taste every single bit of the egg as she swallows it. She turns to Hero, who was observing every single detail as Mari’s smile widens a little bit more, making Hero smile right back at her.

He continues feeding Mari, this time being completely different than the previous times he had fed Mari. It wasn’t like before, Mari only ate to “survive”, she had lost all of the joy she once had. This time Mari was eating like if she was enjoying every single second of it. Hero felt relieved and happy by seeing her like this, it’s like if he had gotten his Mari back, the Mari that he had met all those years ago, the Mari that cared for her little brother and her friends, the same Mari he had fallen in love with.

Mari herself was feeling pretty happy, it might’ve been thanks to her hunger, her fear, she wasn’t exactly sure of what was it exactly but.. she was feeling something she hadn’t felt in a long time, happiness. She didn’t realize it at first, she was too busy enjoying that warm and amazing feeling on her chest as she continued eating, getting a lot of memories. “Hey Mari?..”, Hero’s voice manages to disrupt Mari’s own thoughts as she turns to him, her eyes looking at him, giving Hero her full attention.

Hero himself has a satisfied expression; he starts talking as he seems to be sharing Mari’s nostalgic feelings. “Remember that time, when we first met?”, he asks as Mari starts to remember it, she remembers the first day she talked with her neighbors alongside her family. She starts feeling surprised as she realizes she hadn’t remembered that day in a long time, it’s as if she had forgotten about it, as if her own conscience dug her memory somewhere and hid it away from her.

“I remember I baked cookies... back then I wasn’t as good as I am now, I was a beginner but, Mom wanted me to bake a few for the neighbors that just moved next door.” Hero continues sharing with Mari the nostalgic and fond memory, she listens to every single detail, awaiting to hear more from it. “The thing that stood out the most for me that day.” Hero stops talking, his eyes focus on Mari’s as she stares right at him as he wears a simple smile, a genuine and adorable smile that Mari had always adored seeing on him.

“Was seeing you enjoy my cooking… You were in shock from my cookin-“

“It was amazing.”, Mari interrupts him, she says in a louder but gentle voice, her words are coated in a tone that Hero hadn’t heard from her in a while. He remains in silence as the roles shift, listening to whatever Mari wanted to say to him. “Your food.. it’s still as amazing a-as… as the day I met you..”, she confesses.

She had a few tears on her face as she said this, she looks down at her lap as she held onto the fork and the now empty tray of food, eating this... made her remember. It reminded her of those warm feeling she has been rejecting out of her own guilt, why did she even forget this? Was it because she thought she didn’t deserve happiness? Mari remains in wonder as she goes to Hero, wrapping him in a hug once again.

He was able to feel Mari’s happiness through the touch, it felt different than the previous embraces he had given and received from her. He welcomes it, he returns Mari’s affection with a hug as if he was welcoming a person he hadn’t seen in many years. Mari keeps her eyes shut as she hugs him more and more, not letting go.

. . .

Aubrey remains in complete silence as she stands by herself on her room, she doesn’t let out a single noise or sound as she stares directly at the mirror for a couple of seconds, she kept doing one thing and one thing only. She looked at her own reflection, on the mirror, her gaze focusing on her eyes as she tried to reflect on what just happened today, it felt like a puzzle she tried figuring out but wasn’t able to.

She wasn’t sure if what she felt was real or not, did Sunny react to her holding his hand? Or was it just her imagination? She could swear it was real but, she might just be lying to herself as a way to cope for what is happening. Not only that but, she doesn’t know what got into her, why did she treat Kel like that? She hadn’t seen her old “friend” in a long time, today was the first time she saw him and she couldn’t bring herself to act nicely.

Her heart didn’t want her to do so.

She just wasn’t sure how to feel right now, she was upset at everyone, at everything. Life isn’t fair. That’s all she could think right now, she could see her own reflection’s expression change, her eyebrows start to fall as she shuts her eyes in disappointment, not wanting to look at herself anymore. She could never bring herself to truly hate them, Mari, Hero, Kel, Basil… Sunny. They were her friends, she had to do somethi-

Aubrey’s phone starts ringing. Her attention immediately shifts to her phone as she walks towards the bed and picks It up, realizing it’s a phone call from Kim.

She wastes no time and answers, immediately greeting her friend. “Hey Kim, What’s up?”, she asks as she puts the call on speaker so she can multitask. “Good Afternoon Aubs, I wanted to know if you wanted to do something later”

“Sounds good to m..” Aubrey stops talking as she looks like if she had just remembered something, she stays in silence as Kim starts getting worried something might’ve happened. “Aubrey?”, she asks but Aubrey answers.

“Is it fine if we do it tomorrow? I don’t think I can hang out today, sorry.” She explains briefly, Kim herself understanding. “I see, it’s cool. I’ll see you around”, she says while Aubrey hangs out as she lets out a disappointed sigh, she squeezes her hands in frustration as she looks at the mirror once again.

This time, she sees herself... herself from two years ago. The same Aubrey that still had her innocence and joy for the world, the same Aubrey that wanted to remain by her friend’s side forever. She knew that if that Aubrey saw the state of her friends, she would cry. “What a damn mess...”, Aubrey thinks to herself as she makes up her mind and heads towards Bunbun, making sure to feed the little fluffy thing before leaving.

Aubrey heads downstairs as she starts entering the living room, it is there where she accidentally steps on a can, she glances and sees a lot of empty beer bottles and cans all over the place. Her mom is sitting down with a bottle in her hand as she begins drinking it as Aubrey decides to let her be, she didn’t like being home, she hated it, the only reason why she even went back in there was because of Bunbun.. and because she’s still a child, so she can’t exactly walk away.

The second she steps outside she’s welcomed by warm rays of the sun and looks at the sky. “Today’s going to be a long day..”, she thinks to herself as she walks towards Kel’s house.

. . .

Hero picks up the tray of food and fork in a gentle and cautious manner, he does this without making any noise as he glances at Mari, who was laying on her bed with her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. He can’t help but feel in peace by seeing her like this, he could tell how tired and exhausted Mari was. How couldn’t she be? She barely slept at all thanks to the hallucination she saw, he couldn’t help but feel bad for her in a way.

He left the bed as he carried the plates of food and glances at Mari, feeling a little bit guilty for having to leave her side once again, except this time it would be different. He was going to head downstairs to wash the dishes real quick, hopefully she’d still be sleeping by the time he’d return.

Hero starts walking towards the door, just as he was about to leave the room he stops, looking back to see Mari one last time before he heads downstairs. Mari lays peacefully on her bed as she rests, lowering Hero’s concerns as he proceeds to walk outside of the room, closing the door gently to not wake her up. Mari needed the rest afterall, he didn’t want to disturb her.

Hero begins walking down the stairs, each step he took made him realize what just happened, he starts feeling some sort of triumph within himself, he felt great about what he saw and did. Mari was smiling, she was enjoying herself and actually feeling good. He could tell she enjoyed it a lot more than he did, he knew that he had to keep working hard and giving it his best to keep that smile on Mari’s face.

He proceeds to lay the dishes down on the sink once he arrives to the kitchen. Just as he was about to begin washing them, he hears a small noise coming from the living room area. He turns his attention towards said noise, where he sees a small feline creature enter the kitchen, one Hero recognizes immediately and greets with a smile as he kneels down.

“Mewo! It’s been a long time!”, he exclaims as he stretches his arms to meet Mewo, who accepts Hero’s greetings as she allows herself to be petted by him. Hero feels glad to see her, a purring noise can be heard coming from her as he just smiles. He hadn’t seen her in a while, “You must be hungry huh? Well, don’t worry. I’m going to feed you.” He says as he gets back on his feet and begins searching for something.

Hero looks through the whole kitchen as he finds what he was looking for, a can of cat food. He makes sure to not waste any more time as he opens the can and proceeds to serve it’s content to Mewo on a plate. The feline dashes towards it and lowers her head, she begins eating it as her tail proceeds to move in a gentle manner, indicating her joy.

Hero smiles briefly at the sight, as he turns his attention back to the dishes, he turns the sink on and begins cleaning them with a sponge. It doesn’t take him a lot of effort or time to do this, he was used to cleaning and washing. He wasn’t exactly sure why but, he found this moment to be quite peaceful.

It’s been a long time since he was able to feel satisfied with something, it’s not like he had stopped enjoying his life. It was quite the opposite actually, he had just been feeling overwhelmed with everything going on around him; School, Kel’s depression with what happened to Sunny, and the thing that had been haunting him the most, Mari’s own depression. All of those things had been taking a toll on him,  which is why seeing Mari smile like that for the first time in a while made It feel like the greatest reward he could receive.

A smile begins to form on Hero’s face as he thinks about it, seeing Mari smile and enjoy his food made him recall all of the times he’s cooked for her before. Back then it felt like a daily thing in his life he could enjoy, but now. It felt like the greatest treasure he could have.

Once he finishes with the dishes he decides to head over to the living room, where he finds the house phone and begins dialing a number, Ms. Suzuki’s number. He felt like he had to tell her about what just happened.

A few seconds pass as the phone rings, Ms. Suzuki picks up the call as she answers with a simple hello. “Hello, is this you Henry?”, she asks, being a bit surprised by the sudden call, hoping she wasn’t about to receive bad news. Hero kills those concerns with a greeting, “Yes, It’s me Ma’am. I wanted to call to let you know that Mari had breakfast a while ago, she really seemed to enjoy it”, he says, making Ms. Suzuki feel relieved and glad about her decision on letting Hero help her with her daughter.

It takes a while but she replies back to those wonderful news, “I understand, I.. I am glad to hear that, thank you Henry.”, she says while Hero replies back to her gratitude, “It’s nothing Ms. Suzuki, besides. I also fed Mewo and washed the dishes, your daughter and house is on good hands”, he says making Ms. Suzuki feel better as a small smile forms on her face, “I know it is, thank you for everything Henry, I’ll call you tonight to check on things.” She says, as the call ends before Hero could even say goodbye.

Hero places the phone right back where it belongs as he ends up letting out a small yawn, he realizes it’s been a few hours since he had woken up, since he entered the Suzuki Residence and promised Ms. Suzuki he would be taking good care of her daughter. He wants to help Mari, but.. he knows it’ll be a difficult task.

He can’t convert Mari to her old her self with a snap of his fingers, if he wanted to do that it was going to take a lot of time. But, despite his own doubts on the matter, seeing Mari smile like she did today, that made Hero realize how much worth it all of this would be in the end.

He managed to get Mari to eat, that alone felt like a huge leap forward in the progress he’s going to be making. He needed Mari to start showering properly again, fixing her sleep schedule, and making her go outside. These might be simple things to a few but, he perfectly that in Mari’s current condition all of this was a huge task for her.

Hero starts towards the stairs, heading upstairs as he wonders what he could do next, if Mari was still sleeping he wasn’t going to disturb her, but he knew that if she was awake she might’ve realized he was missing, he dreads the idea of Mari having another hallucination and him not being there with her when it happens.

As he arrives at the door he knocks on it gently, not hearing a response he proceeds to open the door gently. His eyes shift towards the direction where Mari’s bed is at, he notices that Mari is laying right where he left her before, in her bed. Sleeping peacefully, this makes him feel glad knowing she didn’t wake up and assumed he left her.

He was about to close the door once again but, he is surprised when he sees certain feline enter the room. Mewo walks right through the gap of the door as she begins meowing, causing Hero to enter the room right after her. Worried this might wake up and bother Mari, he kneels down and picks up Mewo, gently petting her hoping this would stop her meowing.

Mewo stops her noises as she receives Hero’s gesture. However, Mari starts to wake, slowly opening her eyes as she gently raises her head towards the direction where the noise was coming from, that’s where she sees Hero carrying Mewo. A puzzled expression starts to form on Mari’s face as she doesn’t understand what just happened. “Huh?..”, is all she is able to let out from her lips as she starts rubbing her eyes as she starts waking up completely.

Hero lets out a small sigh of regret, he wanted Mari to sleep more but, it seems that wasn’t happening today. He gets closer to Mari, still carrying Mewo as he lays on the edge of the bed while Mari lets out a small yawn and looks at the two, “Sorry Hero.. I was really tired.” Mari apologizes for her having to rest right after that delicious breakfast she had, Hero however, denies her apology.

“Hey, it’s alright Mari. Don’t worry, I already washed the dishes and fed Mewo, however this little rascal woke you up..”, he says as he glares at Mewo, petting her slightly as Mari turns to him then at Mewo.

Mewo looks right back at Mari as Hero lays her down on the floor gently, she hadn’t been feeding Mewo at all, for some reason she’s been avoiding her all this time. “I… I have to use the bathroom..”, Mari says as she tries standing up, Hero moves aside letting her stand up and walk. “Mari?”, he says as she stops walking, giving him her attention. “I.. I’m going to be staying here for a while. Your Mom is going to be occupied with her job, she wants me to help you with everything you need.”

Hero explains, being as brief as he can be to avoid any misunderstandings. Mari digs in the information Hero just gave her, she blinks in confusion as she tries understanding what he had just told her. She gets a puzzled look until she realizes what this means. “W-Wait.. What?.. D-Does this mean.. you’ll be staying here.. with me?..”, she asks as Hero nods at her gently. “Mhm, exactly. I’ll be helping with everything I can Mari, so don’t worry about a-“, but Mari jumps at him, wrapping him in a huge of relief as he hugs her back.

“Thank you.. Henry..”, it’s all she says as she tightens the embrace she has with him, Hero hugging her back.

. . .

Aubrey wasn’t completely sure of what she was even doing. She had been standing in front of a door for a while now, said door was the front door of the Rodriguez residence. She hasn’t been here in a while, she still hadn’t forgotten where it was located it. She could recall perfectly how she used to wish she lived closer to her friends, that way she could spend more time with Sunny, Hero and Kel.

She takes a few steps forward as she gives knocks on the door. Her conscience begins telling her to go back and retreat, as if she was trying to remind herself that this is a huge mistake. But, it didn’t matter now, it was too late for her to leave. The door opens as a woman answers the door with a smile, “Hello, Good morning... Wait, Ay Dios Mio! Aubrey? Is that really you?”

The woman recognizes Aubrey with joy. She stares down at her as she has a pleasant and welcoming aura coming from her, Aubrey can’t help but nod as she gives her a slight smile as well. “Good morning Mrs. Rodriguez, I came to see Kel.” She says while Mrs. Rodriguez just can’t help herself but compliment Aubrey’s new look. “Come in! I love how your hair looks Cielo!”, she compliments Aubrey while she gets a bit embarrassed, accepting the invitation and entering the residence. “T-Thank you.”

The second Aubrey enters, she feels a wave of memories through her body as she begins to see the living room. The Rodriguez’s family pictures, the furniture, it was all the same as it was a few years ago when she was little and had sleepovers here.

Aubrey’s little moment ends the second she hears a few barks coming from the kitchen, it is there where she sees a dog running towards her as she looks at it surprised, recognizing it immediately.

!!!

“Hector!”; she exclaims happily once as Hector welcomes Aubrey by trying to lick her, she is surprised by the sudden action and answers with a pat.

Hector’s tail wags happily as she can’t help herself but smile thanks to Hector’s affection. She has known him since he was just a small pup, seeing him all grown up was certainly surprising to her.

Mrs. Rodriguez has a pleasant smile as she watches the scene unfold, it’s been a long time since she had seen Aubrey on her home, seeing Aubrey playing with Hector was something she was fond of. “Kel!”, she yells out, calling her son as some steps can be heard coming from the staircase.

“Que paso Mama?”, Kel asks as he arrives and wonders if something had happened. Kel’s expression changes once he sees it’s none other than Aubrey. “Hey Kel.” Aubrey’s voice sounds calm and flat, trying not to come out as rude or angry like she might’ve yesterday. “Yo! Aubrey! G’Morning!”, he answers with a completely different aura, one filled with a warm and welcoming vibe.

Kel’s mom gives the two of them a warm smile as she heads over to kel, playing with his hair for a bit, “I’ll be at the kitchen, if you two need me please call me~”. And just like that she proceeds to leave, Kel being a little bit embarrassed from his mom’s actions, Aubrey herself just stares at him as an awkward silence fills the room.

“So... what’s up?”, Kel breaks said silence with a simple question. Aubrey responds to his question in a different way, she raises one finger as she begins talking, “Listen to me. I came here to explain a few things, okay? Don’t expect me to bow down or anything like that.” Aubrey’s voice sounded cold and serious as she said this, surprising Kel.

“Wait, what are you talking about? You’re not here to apologize for what happened last night?”, feeling surprised, Kel asks all of this with a slight hint of annoyance coming from his voice. “No, I won’t apologize. What I will do instead is explain to you.. why, I acted like that.”

Aubrey answers, she looks away, not wanting to look at Kel. She didn’t want to do any of this, she hated that she was even here in the first place. She wanted to ignore that feeling she’s been having but, she knew she couldn’t.

“I have to tell you something about Basil.” 

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ A̙̖̘͈̰̥̯̘ͣ̏̌̂̋ͨ̒̾ K̦̪̝͐ͨ _  Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ P̤̼͙̭͙̟̤͇̜̌̋̄͑͡  S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ _ _ _ 

K̦̪̝͐ͨ has been added to the Hangman... 3̡̫̪̙̤̥̫͇ R͇̪̙̫͝E̝̝̦M̮̹̹̫A̪̟͔͕̩͚I̠͞N̜̭̠̬̬ ͖̙̝̜̰̪͇͞.͓̣͚̦͙.̪̘̗̬̤̠.͇̣̦̖̰͟

Chapter Text

"Hmmm.... would this be.... No No... That's no good... Maybe if I...." 

Aubrey murmured to herself in a low voice as she held her pencil and sketches something in her notebook, she was in the middle of a class completely bored. She had been drawing a lot of doodles and random sketches on her notebook for what felt like an eternity as she tried to distract herself to avoid dying from boredom. 

Aubrey made sure to glance ocassionaly and pretend to pay attention towards whatever her teacher was saying to avoid being called out like she had been before in the past. Back on whatever the bored girl was drawing, she gave up on her current sketch as soon as she made a mistake, proceeding to scratch that idea and moving to an empty part of her notebook's page.

"Come on...", Aubrey begins drawing a small and round circle slowly, she was taking the right measures to be as cautious as possible, she was taking this very seriously. The second she finished the circle, she gave out a sigh of relief from how it looked, she made the next step; adding some kind of ears on the top of this circle, after that was done, she added a few spots on it, it semeed to be it's eyes. Aubrey couldn't help but wear a silly smile on her face as she admired the end result, she saw the small doodle as if it was some kind of treasure for her.. a cute adorable lil bunny. She felt proud and happy with the end result, she even considered on sharing it with ev-

DING DING DING DING!!!

!!

A loud ring is heard through the whole class as Aubrey realizes it's the beginning of lunch break, most of the students in her class wasted no time on getting out of there, they piled up on the door as they all dashed and left the classroom, not giving any free space for anyone else to leave.. or enter. 

Aubrey proceeded to stand from her chair as she closed her notebook and got her backpack, she opened it and placed her pencils and notebook where they belonged, her hand digged in deeper throughout her backpack as she searched and searched for something. She felt the touch of a cold and metallic thing, it was right was she was looking for, her lunchbox.

The second she got out of her classroom, she saw the state of the hallways... every single corner of it was flooded with students. It was still as chaotic as ever, Aubrey held onto her lunchbox tightly as she adventured herself into the crowd, she dashed alongside it as if they were some kind of stampede and before she knew it, she had made it into the cafeteria.

Many students were lining up to get something to eat but- not her. She had learned her lesson from eating the cafeteria's food. She had always prefered to bring in her own lunch, she looked down at her lunchbox to made sure everything was okay, and it was. She held this lunchbox with love, it was a simple Captain Spaceboy lunchbox she received in the past from Kel, she might had not been the biggest Captain Spaceboy fan as much as the others were but- she treasured the gift like they had no idea. 

Now that she had arrived to the cafeteria safely, it was time for the next step: finding somewhere to sit down. Roaming throughout the whole place, a defeated Aubrey was seen in a depressed mood as all of the usual places she had eaten at before were now taken by other students. She could feel herself starting to loose hope as she was didn't feel thrilled about the idea of meeting a new face at this particular moment, she was even about to consider on giving up until suddenly, she saw someone.

!!

Blue eyes, blonde hair, white skin... A boy sharing these characteristics can be seen sitting down in the back of the cafeteria, he had been starring at his small tray of food for what he felt like had been hours by now. In said tray, lied some fruit salad he had brought from home, he didn't really have much of an appetite at all, if it was up to him he wouldn't be eating this... But- he knew it wouldn't be healthy to skip out on eating. 

Right as he was considering on standing up and leaving this place, he saw someone heading towards his direction with a smile. He could feel his pulse increase as he recognized this person immediately, it was Aubrey. She approached him with a gentle wave, giving him a friendly smile as she finally talked. 

"Hey Basil! It's been a while hasn't it? Mind if I sit here?"

Aubrey asked this cautiously, it's been a while since she had last spent time with any of her friends. She missed all of them; Mari's sweet laughter, Hero's delicious cooking, Kel's unfunny but yet charming jokes, Basil's gentle gestures and- Sunny's presence. She would give anything to get a spend a day like that again. She knew she had to work hard if she wanted to make things right, that's why she's going to do everything she can to talk to her friends once again, starting with her friend in front of her. She looked at Basil with a smile as he slowly answered with a nod. 

She proceeded to sit down in front of him right as she got her answer, she placed her lunchbox in front of his tray and heard him talk. "I-It's... nice seeing you Aubrey. How have you been?", Basil asked this in a low voice, it was shaky at first, but he glanced at her and gave her a slight smile right as she sat down. 

This made Aubrey feel relieved, she was worried that Basil would reject her company. Hearing those words come from him made her realize how she had made the right decision. 

"I've been well.. busy with school, you know how it is~", Aubrey answered this as she begun to open her lunchbox. Basil remained in silence as he heard this, he wasn't good with conversations, specially with someone he hadn't seen in.. a while. "I see... Um... What are you eating?", he asked, hoping this would be a good next step to this conversation. Aubrey proceeded to move her lunchbox to it's side so Basil could see what was inside of it. 

Basil saw a small PJ Sandwich with some apple juice. "I haven't had one of those in a while", Basil commented making Aubrey to get an idea. She wasn't sure of how much of a good job she was doing right now. But, she wanted to act as natural as she could, even though Basil welcomed her company, Aubrey remained concerned that he might push her away if she said something she shouldn't have.

"Oh? Well... How about..", Aubrey said this as she thought about her next words properly, Basil gave her a curious look at to what she was about to say. 

"How about I give you half of my Sandwich for some of that salad?~", she proposed this as she gave Basil a brief glance. Basil responded to this by blinking a couple of times, he didn't expect her to propose something like that at all. His soft lips slowly shift into a small smile, he gave his friend a nod in approval as he slowly slid his tray of salad towards her direction.

Aubrey felt overjoyed by this, she wasn't too sure of what to talk about with Basil, even though she was glad to be able to conversate with her old friend once again, she glady accepted the salad and used Basil's fork to pass some of it into her lunchbox.

Once that was done, she proceeded to pass him a slice of her PJ Sandwich, one which Basil, still holding a smile, accepted with glee. Now that their lunch exchange was done, it was time to eat. Aubrey looked down at her food and started thinking on what she should eat first.

She glanced briefly at Basil and saw the blonde boy looking at her shyly, it seems he doesn't want to eat until she does first. She couldn't help but find the sight in front of her a bit adorable. Without giving it a second thought, Aubrey decided to eat the salad first, she made sure to taste and enjoy every single second of it as Basil watched, he saw her slowly munch and taste it as Aubrey gave him a sincere smile, one he had missed seeing. 

"I won't lie to you Basil~ Your salad is amazing", she confesses, wearing a smile every single of it. One which made Basil feel butterflies inside his stomach, his cheeks slowly turned into a faint pink color as he blushed by this. "-It's.. Um.. Thank you."

"Did you make it?", Aubrey asked as she found this to be a great conversation topic. "Mhm.. Yeah, grandma helped me." 

He replied and proceeded to look at down at the slice of sandwich Aubrey happily gave him. He held onto it and lifted it closer to him, he proceeded to take a small bite from it as Aubrey looked at him. "So? How is it? You're not allergic to peanuts are you?", she asked, feeling a bit worried by Basil's silence. 

Basil answered her question by taking smiling and replying, "It's.. pretty good! The peanuts and strawberry jam go hand to hand together. I like it a lot Aubrey!"

Hearing this made Aubrey feel better, her smile only got bigger as she nodded and continued eating both her slice of sandwich and salad. Basil did the same as the two spent some time together, it was surprising for the two of them on how natural things felt, it's as if... things had never changed. 

"We should do this more often-", Aubrey commented this while she ate, getting Basil's attention as he looked at her. 

"-spending time together I mean." She continued talking as Basil remained in silence paying attention to what she was saying.

"I know it's been a while but.. I've missed talking with you... Hero... Mari." Looking down as she said this, Basil spoke softly.

"I'd.. love to Aubrey." His answer made her look at him with a smile, he continued talking. "We.. How about you come to my house after school so we could.. study together?..", he suggested this as Aubrey gave it some thought. She couldn't help but remenisce in her memories, all the times they had gone to Basil's house in the past. 

DING DING DING DING!!!

The bell rung  once again, interrupting their conversation as many students proceeded to head back into their own classrooms. Aubrey glances at Basil and picks up her lunchbox as she gets on her feet. "After school it is then!", she answered while Basil stared at her with glee.  Aubrey couldn't feel more victorious than this, not only had she managed to restore contact with one of her closest friends, but she had also secured an opportunity to spend more time with him. The rest of class felt like an eternity for her, she tried doodling again on her notebook to distract herself but... nothing worked. She succumbed to the torture that was school and boredom, fortunately for her- 

DING DING DING DING!!!

-the bell rung once again, this time indicating the end of school for the day. Many of the students dashed out of their seats and headed towards the exit, beginning for them what was the start of the weekend. Aubrey followed right after them as she held her onto her backpack and walked through the hallways. It is right there were she saw Basil, standing still in a corner near the entrance as he waited for her. 

"Hey Basil! Are you ready to head out?", she asked, interrupting his thoughts as he nodded at her, being surprised by the sudden appereance of Aubrey. "Mhm.. Follow me." He answered this as he guided Aubrey. 

The two of them walked together towards Basil's house. They strolled around the many streets of Faraway together as Aubrey couldn't feel more happy, she had missed this.. this feeling of glee that made her heart so joyful. It didn't take a while for them to arrive at Basil's house, the second the door opened as Basil welcomed Aubrey inside, she got overwhelmed with a bliss of nostalgia she hadn't felt in a long time.  

Right as the two entered, they were both greeted by Basil's grandma. The old lady held a warm smile as she saw the familiar face of a girl she hadn't seen in a long time. "Welcome back Basil.. and Aubrey, it is very nice to see you today" - she spoke as she focused on cutting some vegetables on the kitchen area as she prepared tonight's dinner.

"Likewise Ma'am! Basil and I are going to be studying together!", Aubrey commented as Basil's Grandma looked at the boy and gave him a smile, causing Basil to blush slightly by embarassment and gently spoke. "W-We're going to be at my room um... A-Aubrey?", he got Aubrey's attention as she nodded at him and followed right behind him while Basil's Grandma couldn't help but giggle to herself by what just happened. She found this quite adorable and cute, she could tell what was going on on Basil's little mind. 

Basil opened the door gently as he stepped aside, allowing Aubrey to enter first, she walked inside as she looked at Basil's room with glee. "W-Woah.. It's the same as before..", she spoke outloud without even realizing as Basil closed the door shyly and walked behind her.

"Y-You know I'm not good with change Aubrey.. I've always liked my room like it was.." He commented as Aubrey turned around and smiled.

"Oh- I know that Basil! I was just surprised, that's all." Aubrey replied this as she walked towards Basil's bed and placed her backpack in there. 

"So~... What should we study first? I think I have this geography exam next week!", Aubrey said as she slowly held onto a Geography book she had and looked at Basil who gave her a thoughtful expression, he slowly nodded and placed his backpack next to Aubrey's.  "G-Geography's fine..", he answered as Aubrey looked at him with a worried expression, she could tell there was something in Basil's mind. He was probably as nervous as she was right now, the two of them hadn't seen one another in a while afterall. 

"Well.. How about we begin with the basic continents first?", she decided to take the lead as she begun opening the book as she sat on the edge of the bed, Basil remained in silence at first as he stared at her, he got closer to her as he slowly sat next to her on the bed. 

The two of them were now sitting side by side as Aubrey looked down at the book, she slowly turned her head towards Basil as she spoke. "Um.. Is everything okay?..", she asked as she noticed Basil's silence, her question made Basil snap out of it as he replied quickly.

"E-Everything is fine! I um.. I'm just.. I want to tell you something Aubrey..", he confessed this as his voice slowly died down and he spoke shyly. Hearing this made Aubrey realize her suspicions were spot on, she closed the book as she turned around and looked at Basil with a concerned gaze, "Basil.. You can tell me if something is wrong.. I-I know I haven't been there for you.. or for Kel or Hero or.. even Mari.. but-"

She gathered some courage as she looked at Basil and spoke with a determined look, "-we're friends. We can always count on each other.. you know that, right?", hearing this words made Basil feel something deep within him. He slowly backed away from her as he gave her a slight smile. "I-I know Aubrey.. I-I'm fine and.. I-I have to use the bathroom.. I'll be back." He answered as Aubrey nodded slightly, she wasn't stupid, she could tell something was bothering Basil and wanted to know. 

"I understand, I'll be here." She answered, deciding to trust Basil as she smiled gently. Basil proceeded to turn around as he left her alone and closed the door. The second she was left alone in the room, Aubrey decided to focus on her book to distract herself as she waited for her friend to return. She was worried and concerned about what could be troubling Basil- What if it was her presence? Maybe she is making him feel umcomfortable, maybe she is the reason her friend is feeling bad. She hated the idea but a part of her was starting to see it as a a possibility, maybe it'd be better if she left and-

No.

She immediatelly stopped those thoughts as she gathered herself properly. It had been a long time since she had last seen her friends, she had missed them a lot and wanted to fix everything with them. She had to, there were no other alternatives here. 

Aubrey was determined on this, she couldn't fail everyone and leave. She knew what she had to do, she knew th-

A small book laying on a shelf caught Aubrey's attention. She looked at it curiously as it looked strangely familiar, she got off the edge of the bed and slowly walked towards it. 

"This is..."

Aubrey said in a low voice as she saw the photo album, the same she and her friends have developed throughout the months, the same one that has pictures of every single one of their most treasurable moments. She kneeled down and picked it up, it had been a while since she had last seen it but, she was certain this was the same album.  

. . .

Basil locked himself up in the bathroom as he felt his heart pounding thanks to how nervous he was. He wasn't prepared for this, talking with one of his old friends. He had kept his own mouth shut out of fear of what would happen if he ever told anyone on what he saw, he knew that if he told anyone... they would never forgive him. 

"Aubrey..."

Basil said her name softly as he looked at himself in the mirror, he glanced at himself and knew that she had to know. It wasn't fair for her, she had to know what Basil saw that terrible day. She came up to him today with good intentions, she is looking foward to talking with him once again. Basil proceeded to pour some water on his face to calm down, he dried himself up and left the bathroom, heading towards his room. 

Basil stood still for a couple of seconds as he gathered enough courage to enter his room and finally confess to Aubrey what had been tormenting him, he gently opened the door and entered, wearing a smile in his face as he spoke.

 
"Sorry for making you wait Aubrey, I was-"

Basil stopped talking as he saw Aubrey on the corner of his room, she was holding a book. 

"Aubrey?"

Basil said her name in a low voice as he got closer to her worried. 

". . ."

Aubrey slowly turned around, showing to Basil what she had been holding on her hands. 

"Tell me."

Aubrey spoke as she held something in her hands. It was the photo album, the same photo album she had held with so much importance to. She was looking at the pictures, to her surprise, every single picture that included Sunny and Mari, they had been ruined, each and every single one that included them had been tarnised with a marker, Sunny's and Mari's face are hidden thanks to this. 

"What's the meaning of this?"

Aubrey asked once again, this time as she looked at Basil straight at the eyes. 

Basil's body froze. He felt goosebumps throughout his body as he begun shaking in fear, the same feeling that overwhelmed him that terrible day was slowly returning as he slowly succumbed to it. But Aubrey, she was having none of that as she demanded an answer.

"A-Aubrey..."

The blonde tried answering but he was unable to say anything.

"Why? Why would you do this Basil?! These pictures!.. T-They... They were our memories!"

Aubrey asked once again as she yelled in frustration and anger, Basil had dreaded this moment. He had feared the idea of this ever happening, "A-Aubrey. I-I.."

It was no use, he couldn't possibly talk properly in his current state. He was unable to give her friend a proper and well deserved explanation, and he hated that. 

"I-I'm really.. sorry."

Basil replied, he knew his words wouldn't be enough, he felt like he was the worst person in the world. He couldn't hate himelf anymore than he already did.

"T-Tell me why?!"

Aubrey demanded once again, Basil was barely able to reply. He wanted to look at Aubrey in the eyes and confess everything, he wanted to spill and tell her everything he saw but, it was no use. 

Aubrey herself wasn't feeling too well neither, she felt a lot of things inside her at this very moment. She felt like she had just been betrayed by one of her closest friends. Seeing as how Basil refused to reply, she didn't want to spend another second here.

An eerie silence remained on the room as Aubrey proceeded to close the album, she held it tightly as she begun walking towards the door. This managed to make Basil snap out of it as he realized she was trying to leave the room.

"Wait! Please! Aubrey!"

Basil finally managed to blurt out something, as if his own body moved by its own will he stepped up and held Aubrey by the arm as he begged her to not leave him, he had spend so many days and weeks by himself, tormenting himself for everything that had happened. Basil had felt a glimpse of happiness today, the first in a long time, he didn't want to loose that again. 

"I didn't do it!..." 

Basil yelled out, he yelled this as he held onto Aubrey to prevent her from leaving him, from abandoning him. 

"Let go of me!"

Aubrey suddenly yelled as Basil held onto her, she had some tears on her eyes. Seeing this made something inside of Basil break as he proceeded to let go of her, Aubrey took some deep breaths to calm herself down. 

"J-Just please... Tell me what's the meaning of this?!... I-I thought you cared about this album!"

Aubrey's last statement echoed into Basil's consciousness as he remained in silence.

"M-Mari..."

The blonde boy answered in a low voice, he tried thinking on how to tell her what he had seen, he tried answering but just wasn't happy about this.

"I-It's Mari's fault... she's the one that did this!.."

!!!

Aubrey's expression changed completely, her devastated expression had turned into a surprised one as she remained speechless and looked at Basil as she tried understanding what he had just told her. 

"What?... That can't... No."

Aubrey looked at the album as her hands shook a bit.

"How can you say that?!"

Aubrey yelled out as she suddenly tossed and threw the album at Basil, he barely caught in time as she glared at him, the rage and hate from before had returned as Aubrey glared at Basil. 

"H-How can you possibly say something like that?!... D-Don't you know how much this has affected Mari?! Why would you say it's her faul-"

Aubrey stops her ranting the second she hears a knock from the door.

"Basil? Is everything okay?"

Basil's grandmother voice came from the other side of the door, she sounded concerned. 

Aubrey stopped as she looked at herself and realized what just had happened, she shut her eyes in frustration as she looked at Basil one last time. 

"Goodbye Basil."

She said abruptly as Basil looked at her with despair on his eyes, he was unable to say anything as Aubrey left the room in a hurry, she apologized to Basil's grandma for the commotion and left in an instant. 

. . .

Aubrey opens her eyes slowly as she lets out a sigh of disappointment as she looks at Kel in the eyes, finishing telling Kel what had happened.

"You wanted to know what happened, that's what happened."

Aubrey said as Kel remained in silence, he had a look of sadness in his eyes as he heard all of this.

"That's why I had to change Kel, because dwelling in the past won't do any good. I tried fixing everything and it just made things worse. It's better to stop caring about the past and-"

"No, you're lying to yourself."

Kel's sudden accusation made Aubrey stop talking as she listened to him.

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't have visited Sunny! I know the old Aubrey is still there!"

Aubrey just looked at him with an uncaring look, she didn't bother to reply on that as she turned around. Aubrey's silence made Kel feel some relief, she wasn't denying it. 

"I've got to get going now. Please don't talk to me again Kel."

The pink hair girl left as she said this, she wasn't looking foward to reconnecting with anyone anymore, she had gotten over that idea. However, a part of her felt like she owed the truth to Kel, she felt like telling him what happened had been more than enough. 

Kel himself was feeling guilty about all this, why didn't he talk with Basil or Aubrey sooner?! Had he known about this before he wouldnt have hesitated to talk with them. Right now, he had to keep his chin up and fix things, that's what Sunny would want. 

. . .

Mari had been staring at her own reflection for a while by now, she was by herself in the bathroom as she looked at the mirror. She stared at herself, her pale skin, her empty eyes, her messy hair. What had happened to her?

A couple of knocks could be heard from the door as Hero's voice came from the other side.

"Mari? Are you okay?"

A concerned Hero asked as he waited for a response from her.

"-I'll be there in a minute."

She answered before looking at the mirror once again to look at herself.

". . ."

The pale girl remained in silence as she slowly turned the sink on and gently cleaned her face using the cold water from the sink. She hoped this would help her stay awake for a little longer. 

After a few seconds she opened the door and left the bathroom as she was greeted by Hero.

"Do you feel any better?", he asked, concerned as Mari just nodded. 

"Can we... do something together?"

Mari's question made Hero smile gently as he gently held her hand. 

"Always."

He replied, making Mari wrap her arms around him, hugging him.

Ẁ̜̘̱̖̝̗̝̌ͩ̓͑ͫͧ̀̚͝ͅ A̙̖̘͈̰̥̯̘ͣ̏̌̂̋ͨ̒̾ K̦̪̝͐ͨ _  Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ P̤̼͙̭͙̟̤͇̜̌̋̄͑͡  S̛̙̟͇̗͖̪̪̝̈̚ Ũ̍͐ͬ͏̰͓̗̗̩͓̱̠́͝ N̶̢̮̳̹̼̪̱̱͎͖̜̹̝̘̪͉͙̟͛̇́͊̂͋͐̽̌͠ͅ N̸̢͎̼̮̲̳̊͋͛͒͑́̕͝  _ 

Chapter Text

12/24 

It was the early morning of the 24th of December, the whole town of Faraway was covered in a white thick coating of snow. Winter had begun a few weeks ago, and as expected, Christmas season was here.

Kel could be seen walking through the snow as he left some footprints behind. The bright boy was wearing some warm clothing to prevent himself from freezing to death, he loved everything about winter. Everything but the cold that came with the winter but, once again, it wouldn’t truly be winter without the cold. The same very cold that makes hot chocolate so enjoyable for Kel. He was carrying two boxes, the two presents were both decorated using gift-wrap. Each present had a name tag with a different name on them. It didn’t take Kel too long to arrive at his first destination, Basil’s house. He rang the doorbell once, waiting a few seconds for the door to open, and once it did, he was greeted by Basil’s grandma.

“Good morning Kel, are you here to see Basil?”

She greeted him with a smile, Kel replied with another smile as he nodded.

“Mornin’ Ma’am! Mhm! Is he here?”

He’d ask as she stepped aside, answering and letting him in. 

“We were just drinking hot chocolate and decorating, please, come right in.” Basil’s grandma welcomed Kel as he entered. The first thing Kel noticed were the bright lights of the Christmas tree in the middle of the living room. As he got closer, he realized Basil was decorating the tree. He was too focused on what he was doing that he didn’t notice Kel arrive. 

“Great job with the decorations Basil!”

Kel exclaimed with sincerity. Basil, surprised by the sudden arrival of his friend, stopped what he was doing and looked at Kel. 

“Kel! Good morning.” Basil greeted his friend as he fully turned around and received a hug from Kel. This surprised the blonde kid as he remained in silence.

“Ah...!”

Kel separated from the hug as he held one of the present he had brought. 

“I have something for you~”

Basil saw a box covered in bright green wrapping, one which Kel placed under the tree. 

“Is.. that for me?”, Basil asked, he couldn’t help but feel confused. It had been years since he last received a present from his friends. 

“Well... it says here the gift is for someone named “Basil”! So... Who do you think that is?”

He’d ask chuckling as Basil looked at the present once again, smiling gently and laughing a bit. Kel’s sense of humor would always be appreciated and welcomed. 

“Thank you, really. I appreciate this.”

Basil confessed, making Kel smile. 

“No problem~”

Basil’s grandma approached the pair with a gentle smile. “Ahem, Kel, would you like some hot chocolate?”

She’d ask her guest as Kel’s expression slowly changed to one with excitement.

“Sure! Hot chocolate sounds pretty good right now!”

She nodded, walking towards the kitchen  as she held an empty mug. The mention of hot chocolate reminded Basil that he still hadn’t finished drinking his own mug of chocolate. 

Seeing as how Kel came to visit him, the blonde boy decided it’d be a good time to take a break from decorating.

He walked towards the couch and sat down, holding his own mug of hot chocolate as Kel sat down next to him. “So, what have you been up to?”

Kel asked as he joined his friend, Basil gave his answer some thought.

“Um... Just the usual.”

He’d answer as Kel smiled.

“Heh.. Been too busy with the garden?”

Basil nodded, making Kel chuckle.

“I suppose you haven’t changed much~”

Basil couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed by this statement. But, before they could continue, Basil’s grandma handed Kel his own mug of hot chocolate.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

She’d warn Kel as he smiled, grabbing the mug and blowing some air gently to cool it off.

“Thank you!”

Kel got closer to the mug as he took one small sip from it, immediately regretting his impatience as he realized the chocolate was hotter than he thought it would be.

“Ack..!”

He’d exclaim as he took some quick breaths to cool his mouth. Basil glanced at him as he couldn’t help but find the situation “suitable”, it felt familiar. He took one sip from his own mug, definitely being more cautious than Kel was. 

“Heh.. Try being more careful Kel.”

He’d suggest as Kel chuckled by realizing what had happened. 

“I know~ I just didn’t expect it to be that hot!”

The two shared a moment together, getting up to date with one another. They hadn’t realized yet that they finished their chocolate by now. 

“I... have a gift for you.”

Basil stated, surprising Kel and making him feel curious.

“Oh? You do?”

Basil nodded as he got up, avoiding eye contact with Kel. “Mhm, I-I’ll go get it.” Basil seemed quite nervous about it, he left the room before Kel could even respond. Kel waited for him, he was starting to worry that maybe Basil was feeling uncomfortable about something he said, just as Kel was about to go check up on him.

“Ah...!”

He almost bumped into Basil on the doorway. 

“Whoops, sorry!”, Kel was quick to apologize, Basil looked away, embarrassed by this. 

“It’s fine, I took longer than I expected..”

Basil was holding something in his back, Kel noticed this and looked at it.

“I... I wasn’t sure on how I’d give you this Kel-”

Basil stopped talking as he looked at Kel, then showed him the present. It was a set of bright red flowers, Kel looked at them with amazement.

“Woah... Basil, these are.. they’re pretty!”

He’d say with a grin as Basil smiled gently.

“They are called Amaryllis.. They bloom on December and have a strong red color.. it.. it reminds me of you Kel.”

He’d comment as Kel happily welcomed the flowers.

“Thanks Basil! You’re awesome!”

Kel’s statement just made Basil feel a mix of embarrassment and happiness. Kel couldn’t contain his excitement as he leaped at Basil, hugging him and thanking him for everything.

This time, Basil returned the hug. Smiling and accepting the comfort of his friend.

. . .

Kel was feeling pretty satisfied with what had happened, he hadn’t seen Basil in weeks and was concerned he might reject his company and gift. He held Basil’s flowers close to him as he arrived at a certain doorstep. 

“...”

He had arrived at Aubrey’s house. It was time for him to deliver the second present, this one was for Aubrey. He walked closer to the door and placed the box on front of it as he knocked loudly. 

A couple of seconds passed before the door opened. “-who is it?!”

A pink haired girl yelled loudly as she looked around after hearing those knocks, seeing no one. “Hm..”, she was about to close the door but, she realized there was some sort of present on the floor. She got on her knees to look at it closer, all she could see was a present wrapped in a pink gift wrap with a name tag on it, it said “AUBREY”. It didn’t say who it was from.

Aubrey picked it up as a small smile formed on her face, “Heh.. This must be from Kim.”, she thought to herself as she turned around and entered her house. Kel was hiding from the distance as he saw this, he felt like Aubrey might reject the gift if she knew it was from him.  Either way, it didn’t matter now. Aubrey had accepted the gift, not knowing that it was Kel’s. This alone made him happy as he walked home. It took him a couple of minutes but, he had made it.

“I’m hom-”, before he could finish talking, Hector leaped at him as he was welcomed back home.

“Hehe~ I missed you too Hector!”

Kel was patting the good boy as his tail wagged crazily. He took his coat off and placed it on the coat hanger. 

“Ya volvi!” 

Kel yelled, announcing his arrival as he heard his Mom’s voice from the kitchen. 

“Welcome back, how did it go?”

She’d ask as he smiled at her. “Basil gave me these~”

Kel answered by showing her mom and dad the flowers he had received from Basil. 

“Ay dios mio! They’re pretty, did he liked your present?”

Kel nodded as he looked around. “Is Hero here yet?”

“He’ll be here with us tonight.”

Kel’s dad replied as Kel looked happy.

“-And-”, Kel’s mom interrupted.

“Mari will also be accompanying us~”

Kel’s mom said with a huge smile on her face. A look of surprise was filling Kel’s face as it slowly changed to one with excitement.

“No way! T-That’s amazing!”, he yelled out. Despite Mari literally living next door, Kel hasn’t seen her in a long time. He didn’t want to disturb her for any reason, seeing her once again.. that alone would make Kel’s da- No, that alone would make Kel’s year!

“I-I gotta go get ready for tonight then!”, Kel yelled out as he ran towards the stairs, going upstairs as his mom yelled. “No vayas tan rapido! Be careful!”, she yelled as Kel nodded and slowed down for a bit. 

...

Mari was looking at the snowing vista of her town from the window of her room. She didn’t make a single noise as she watched and watched the snow fall, it looked soft and white, how cold would it be? She had many questions in her mind as she saw it.

She felt something soft touch her leg. Right as she looked down, she realized it was Mewo. Mari didn’t waste a single second on petting the small creature with her hand. Mewo stretched herself happily as her tail moved from side to side. Mari had a small smile on her face as she did this, she was about to continue more but-

“Mari! Could you come down here?”

She heard Hero’s voice call her from downstairs. She stopped petting Mewo and opened the door, walking towards the stairway. Right as she arrived, she stopped and looked at her surroundings, seeing the stairway, made her remember... something. Goosebumps filled her body as she took a deep breath, she tried remembering Hero’s words. The last few months had been quite a journey for her, Hero had been living with her for a while now. He had been taking care of her and helped her. But, despite all their effort, it still wasn’t enough. Mari knew it and hated how she couldn’t be better than this. 

“-Mari?”

She heard Hero’s voice call down to her, it was closer this time. Mari opened her eyes as she realized she had drifted off again, she saw Hero down the stairs looking at her. “Are you okay?”, he’d ask, showing a slight hint of concern. 

Mari gently shook her head, “It’s nothing~.. I’m just.. happy.” She’d explain as she slowly walked down the stairs, hoping Hero wouldn’t inquire any further about this. 

Hero remained on the bottom of the stairs, Mari stretched her arms and hugged Hero the second she arrived. He smiled gently and welcomed her hug happily, hugging her back.

“Are you.. ready?”, Hero asked Mari remained in silence.

How... long has it been?

When was the last time I left..?

“It’s been a long time...”, Mari answered. She hasn’t left her house in a long time, but, she wanted to do it today. She knows how important today is for everyone, spending an important day like this with her loved ones is something she had to do. The two of them have planned this night for months in advance. 

“But-”, Hero felt Mari’s hand hold his. “-we got this..” She answered, smiling gently at Hero.

He looked at her and smiled back, leaning in and gently planting a kiss on her forehead. Mari looked away, blushing slightly. 

“We got this.” Hero replied, repeating her words as he smiled back at her.

...

A couple of hours passed as the two of them got ready. Each of them wore warm clothes, Hero was waiting for Mari to get dressed as he petted Mewo. He was pretty happy with how things were looking today, he felt like the last two Christmases he had were.. missing something. There was an aspect of Christmas the he missed, the environment of happiness and laughter that accompanied was gone, but, he still had something. He had his family, his friends, he had Mari. 

“-Henry...?”

He heard Mari’s voice, he turned his attention towards it and was surprised by what he saw.

Mari was standing in front of him, she was wearing a white coat and a scarf, a scarf he immediately recognized. It was the same very scarf he had given her many years ago. 

“You look... wow...”

Hero’s statement made Mari blush, she looked at him and opened her eyes widely as she recognized his sweater. “Is that...”

Hero looked down at his clothing and smiled, sharing Mari’s embarrassment. It was a sweater with an H on it, the same sweater Mari gave him the same night he gave her the scarf. 

“Mhm.. I figured it’d look good on me. Does it?”

Mari’s cheeks were red from her blushing, she smiled and got closer. “You look handsome~”

The two share a moment together before leaving.

They arrived next door and rang the doorbell. Once opened, they were both greeted by Hero’s mom. 

“Mijo! Mari!”, she welcomed the two and greeted them with a hug. 

“Good evening..”, Mari said softly. She was smiling slightly as she and Hero entered the house. The two of them  were carrying some packages of food that Hero had cooked. “I brought mashed potatoes and some other things Mom.” He’d announce as his mom nodded, she took them from him as she begun walking towards the kitchen.

Hero and Mari arrived at the living room. Mari was surprised by seeing how different the whole place looked, she got closer to a picture that caught her attention. It was a picture of Hero when he was a toddler. She couldn’t help but find it cute as she held it.

Hero got a bad feeling about it, “I hope you don’t see this as an opportunity to tease me..”

“Now that I think about it~...” Mari spoke, hiding a grin on her face with an innocent smile.

Mari placed the picture where she found it as she giggled. “I’m joking~... I just thought, you looked adorable in it.”

Mari expressed her own thoughts and was surprised by the sudden barking coming from the stairs. She saw Hector, dashing towards her and Hero. Hero immediately kneeled, welcoming the doggo into his arms as he played with him. “Hector!”

Mari was surprised by the size of Hector. Last she remembered, he was a small puppy. When did he get so big? She was genuinely amazed, it didn’t take long for Hector to notice and recognize her. He would immediately head towards her, Mari gently petted him as his tail was wagging with excitement. 

Hero saw the scene unfold, choosing to let Mari enjoy herself. He heard his mom call him. He didn’t waste any time on seeing what that was about. 

“Could you go get your brother please?”

Hero nodded and begun walking towards his and Kel’s room. He knocked gently on the door. 

“Just a second!”, Kel replied as Hero chuckled and opened the door anyways. 

“Hey! I told you to w-”

Kel turned around and saw Hero standing there. 

“Yo.”

Hero said with a smile as Kel ran towards him and hugged him. “Glad you made it! Is Mari here?”, Kel asked as Hero nodded.

“I can’t wait to see her!”, Kel said as he begun walking and was about to head downstairs but-

“Just.. be careful.” Hero said as Kel stopped walking, puzzled by what Hero had just said.

“Huh?”

“Mari, she’ll be happy to see you but.. please be careful with her.” Hero explained himself properly, Kel didn’t need him to tell him twice for him to understand what he meant by that, he just nodded and went downstairs with Hero. 

Mari had finished playing with Hector, she was looking at some of the pictures around the living room. Reflecting on how much time had passed since she had last left her house, she felt like a time traveler of some kind from seeing how much things had changed.. 

But suddenly, the sound of footsteps behind her made Mari turn around.

!!

She sees Kel in front of her, he and Mari both shared a look of surprised. Kel immediately noticed how thinner and different Mari looks now, while Mari was able to realize how much Kel has grown, he’s much taller than before. 

However, Kel was the first to react. He’d quickly dash towards her and hugged her, Mari was surprised by the sudden hug, a hug from one of her closest friends, a hug from someone she hadn’t seen in years. A hug she happily welcomed with her whole heart.

Kel felt Mari’s hands wrap around him as she hugged him.

“You’ve... gotten taller.” She said, breaking the silence as Kel had his eyes shut while he hugged her, he had a wide grin on his face.

“Have I? Just wait until I surpass Hero in height!”, he’d comment as Hero arrived and chuckled.

“As if that would ever happen.” Hero would remark as Kel separated from the hug.

“It’s very nice to see you again Mari!”

“I’m also happy to see you too... Kel.”

Kel was quick to notice that, there was something different in the way Mari spoke, but- he didn’t care. He was just happy to have her friend back. Mari on the other hand, realized that aside from his height, he hadn’t changed much. It’s as if the same little boy she met all those years ago was still there.

“Everyone! Come here please!”

Unfortunately, the calling of Hero & Kel’s parents made the two of them stop their conversation. It seems there will have to be another time for it. 

“Oh Mari! You’re just gonna love tonight’s dinner! Hero made some mashed potatoes a-and-”

“Uhhh.. Kel? Mari helped me make the mashed potatoes...” Hero stated as Kel looked at them awkwardly. 

“...?!”

“O-Of course I already knew that!”, he’d say as he chuckled and Mari giggled.

The three of them would proceed to enter the dining room.

...

9PM.

Aubrey’s digital watch marked the time as she looked at it. Seeing as how everyone else was busy tonight, for obvious reasons, Aubrey decided she’d spent her Christmas eve somewhere else. Kim told her that her family were going to be busy, so that wasn’t an option. 

Aubrey looked down at the watch on her wrist as she sighed, the warm breath of her body contrasted with the cold temperature of Christmas Eve night, forming some steam on the air. The streets seemed to be empty tonight, it’d made the most sense since most people would spend the night with their families back home. But, Aubrey didn’t want to, she hated being in that house she had to call “home”.

She was going somewhere else, she was going to visit someone else, she wanted to see him. She held the gift she had received earlier, she was puzzled by it, if it’s not from Kim... who is it from? Vance? Angel? Maybe it was from Mikhael.. or as he likes to call himself now, “The Maverick”. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d ever try to make a move on her, so there’s always a possibility this was just a ploy made by him.

The sole idea of that made her cringe, if that was the case then she wouldn’t mind tossing the present onto the trash. But- what if it was from someone else..?

Aubrey wondered who sent her this present. Maybe if she opened it, she could find out who it belonged to. Before she could do that, Aubrey stopped at the entrance of the hospital. 

...

“-And when I returned! Hector had eaten all of the sausages I left!”, Hero and Kel’s dad said as everyone on the dining table laughed. They were all sharing and having a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner. They seemed to be talking about the most memorable things that happened to them on this year. Everyone was adding something to the conversation, everyone but Mari.

She couldn’t help but feel alienated, she had remained in silence ever since she sat down. She was enjoying her time here but.. despite that, she felt like she might be disturbing them. Hero’s perception allowed him to notice some sort of discomfort on Mari, seeing as how he was sitting next to her, he got closer. 

“How’s the food?”, Hero asked as Mari looked at him. Hero tried not to show his concern to not ruin the mood the environment had, but, Mari was able to see he was worried about her.

“It’s.. delicious.” She answered, feeling bad for making Hero worry about her. 

“I’m glad you think so, the mashed potatoes you and Hero made were delicious!”, Kel exclaimed. It had been a long time since Hero and Mari cooked something together like they used to in the past. 

“H-Hero did most of the work..”, Mari replied as Hero chuckled.

“Give yourself some credit too Mari! You helped me plenty.”

Mari didn’t say a single thing, she just looked away as they continue eating together. 

“Ahem... We have some wonderful news to share.” Their dad said as everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention.

Their mom spoke, she held a warm smile and took a deep breath, giving everyone the news. “Kel.. Henry.. you’re gonna have a little sister soon~”

?!

Kel, Hero and even Mari look astonished. 

“Huh...?”

“Seriously?...”

“No way..”

The three of them had the same surprised expression, Kel was the first one to answer with excitement. 

“NO WAY! MOM! THAT’S...! 

Hero stood up, sharing Kel’s adrenaline. 

“When did this happen?! Mom that’s great!”

Mari looked honestly surprised by this, but, a smile formed on her face as she spoke.

“Congratulations..!”

The atmosphere of the dining room had shifted to a happier one. Everyone was sharing their own happiness now, Mari had properly joined in with the rest of them.

“It’s.. odd, now that I think about it..”

Kel mentioned, thinking.

“Despite being next door, it felt like you and Mari were far away from Faraway town.” 

“... Was that a pun?”

Hero asked, while Kel chuckled by his own joke.

“But.. you do have a point, it does feel like we are in a different place.”

Hero added, while Kel spoke.

“It makes me sad to think you’ll be moving to California in a few months..”

. . . ! ?

Mari stopped what she was doing as she heard what Kel had said.

“Huh..?”

She looked at him slowly, while Kel nodded. 

“Hero will be moving to Westlake to study for College.. didn’t you know?”

Mari looked at him in disbelief, Hero looked at Kel with disappointment. He forgot to tell Kel to NOT tell Mari about that. 

"B-But.. he told me he wasn't going to leave me.."

Mari had a pale expression as she stood up.

“I..I-I.... I have to go...”, she said in a low voice before leaving. This caught everyone’s attention as she dashed towards the entrance, Hero was quick to follow as Kel realized what he had done.

He let down his guard, their parents looked worried. Their mom was about to follow Hero and Mari but, she was stopped by her husband. He slowly shook his head.

Mari left the house and went back home, Hero was following her.

“M-Mari! Wait!”, he yelled out to her but it was of no use. She didn’t wait for him, she ran towards her room upstairs, almost tripping on the stairway as she slammed the door of her room. 

“Mari!”, Hero yelled out once again as he tried entering but it was of no use, the door was locked.

“Please Mari.. Open the door.” He tried pleading but it didn’t seem to work, Mari wasn’t responding...

...

Aubrey entered the hospital, she walked towards the room in which Sunny was in, she prepared herself and entered the room.

Aubrey wasn’t going to lie, she was still hoping to visit Sunny one of these days and see him awake. But, it seems she would just keep disappointing herself by holding onto that idea. Sunny was in his bed, as always, resting. She walked towards him and looked at the flowers right next to his bed, they were the same ones she had brought to him last time she was here. 

She sat down next to him and closed her eyes.

“...”

“Hey Sunny.. It’s Christmas Eve.. I figured you’d want some company for tonight..”

She spoke softly and looked at him, he remained in silence, eyes closed.

“I.. I couldn’t bring you a gift this year.. sorry.” 

Aubrey continued talking to herself, she placed her hand on top of Sunny’s, the warm touch of his skin contrasted with her own. She looked at his hand and then at Sunny, letting go of him and continuing talking. 

“But-”

“...”

“I wanted to... I wanted to see you wake up soon...”

Aubrey had a sad expression as she said this.

“Christmas.. without you, it’s just.. it’s not the same..” Aubrey remained in silence, still hoping her words would reach Sunny, hoping he’d open his eyes in this very moment.

“...”

Feeling stupid, she looked away. Clutching her fists in frustration as she couldn’t help but feel irritated with herself. There was nothing she could possibly do to make Sunny wake up in this instant, there was nothing she could do but wait. So... why was she still hoping he’d wake up if she talked with him? It’s pointless...

Before Aubrey could venture on with her frustration, she stops. She shouldn’t be stressing herself out like that, specially tonight. 

“Sorry.. I just.. miss you.”

She’d confess, looking down at Sunny with sadness in her eyes. The present she had gotten caught her attention, Aubrey slowly picked it up and shook it a bit, she felt that it had something heavy inside. She slowly begun to remove the gift wrap, unwrapping her present as she saw a white box. She’d proceed to open the box, her eyes widening by what was inside of it.

There was a note, she could see that it was written by Kel. But, next to the note was some sort of book, an album to be specific. 

It was their old memory album.

...

Hero was leaning on the other side of the door as he spoke.

“Mari... I’m sorry.. please open the door.. I have to tell you something..”

“...”

No response. Hero had been waiting for Mari to opened for a few minutes now. He hasn’t heard a single noise and was starting to get worried. 

He knew that Mari was agaisnt the idea of him moving to California for College. He knew perfectly that, right now, Mari wouldn’t take the news in a good way. He had hoped that by not talking about Mari would just forget about that and moved on but- It was of no use, Hero’s mistake have caught up to him, he had messed up.

“I.. I made a mistake by... not telling you the truth... I thought I was helping you..”

He looked down and looked at himself.

“All I did was prolong the inevitable... Because the truth is.. I am scared Mari.. of many things..”

He continued talking.

“You and I have always been taking care of the group... We used to watch over Kel, Aubrey, Basil... and Sunny. We made sure everything was going well but.. ever since Sunny’s... I felt like I now had to take care of you.. All I did was make things worse.. the truth is that I am scared of the expectations everyone has on me! I’m scared of not living up to them! I’m scared of loosing! Of loosing Kel.... loosing Sunny... loosing you... Without you guys.. “

Hero could feel the tears forming on his eyes as he spoke.

“Without you guys.. I’m not me..”

He confessed everything he had on his chest, everything he hadn’t told anyone, and he was starting to give up until..

He heard the door unlocking, Hero opened the door slowly and saw Mari standing, she had tears on her eyes as she cried.

Hero couldn’t hide it anymore either, he was in complete tears by now. Mari and Hero held one another tightly as they hugged. 

“Henry.... P-Please don’t leave me.. P-Please... D-Don’t..”

Mari’s voice was filled with fear and grief, she was a sobbing mess and Hero couldn’t feel any more guilty about it.

“S-Shhh It’s okay Mari... I’m never going to leave you... Gosh Mari I.... I love you so much...”

Hero’s voice made Mari cry more. She hugged him tighter.

“I-I love you too.. so much that.. I’d die without you...”

Those last words stuck on Hero. He could hear the pain in Mari’s voice as she said this. There was no way he could ever leave Mari’s side now.

“Mari....”

He said softly as she continued crying.

“P-Please.. l-let’s go to my bed...”

Hero didn’t waste a single second, he laid Mari on the bed.

Mari’s hand held onto him, she looked at him as she pleaded him to stay.

“I-I’m not going to leave you Mari...”

Hero laid on the bed next to Mari, she just hugged his arm and remained in silence. She didn’t say a single word, she just closed her eyes slowly.

Hero could tell how exhausted Mari was. He could tell how much he had screwed up tonight. Mari was finally able to go outside, she was able to see Kel and talk with him, she was able to smile and laugh. She able to be herself.

Things weren’t going to get any better soon and Hero knew that.

Ẁ̌̚ Aͣ̏̌ K̦͐ͨ E̶͌̆ Ũ̍͐ P̌̋̄ S̛̈̚ Ũ̍͐ N̶͛̇ N̸̊͋ _

Ë̴́͊ has been added to the Hangman... 1̷̐͝ R͇̪͝E̝̝̦M̮̹̹A̪̟͔I̠͞N̜̭̠S ͖̙͞.͓̣͚.̪̘̗.͇̣͟