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The gentle embrace of her arms wrapping around me. The warm feeling of her body as she hugged me to sleep.
"Sunny. Did you have a Nightmare?"
Nightmares. No. I never had nightmares. Thanks to her. The mere knowledge of her keeping him safe was enough to ward away any and all creatures hiding inside my room.
" Yes. Can I sleep with you?"
Despite it all, I still lied. I wanted to be with her. Her hugs. Her warmth. The smell of her hair. I wanted to feel all of it as my sister followed me into the beautiful world of my dreams.
"I'll always be here for my baby brother. "
Mari Suzuki. A flawless example of the person I wanted to be. A kind, soft-spoken and gentle young person who always did everything without mistakes.
My perfect big sister.
I loved my sister because she was always kind to me and my friends. It didn't matter if we bickering, yelled at eachother. No matter how often Kel and Aubrey argued, her and Hero always settled the matter in a calm manner.
"Come on, you two. Calm down, take a deep breath and apologize. Anything can be fixed with words!"
They also loved her. Hero loved her. Kel loved her. Aubrey loved her. Basil loved her. I loved her more than any of them did, but I didn't mind sharing my sister with others. After all, making others happy made her happy. I wanted her to be happy. I lived to make her happy.
One day, Mari started getting into piano. I liked listening to her. The sound of her fingers against the piano released a melody into the air that was comparable to heaven on earth.
"Sunny! Do you want me to play you a song?"
I always nodded before sitting down. The sound of her notes against my ears felt just as warm as when she hugged me. I wanted to hear her at all times. I wanted to be with her every single time whenever she played. I remember telling her that my dream was to play piano with her.
My prayers were answered when one day, my friends gifted me a Violin. I was so thankful to them i could've cried right then and there. I could finally play with Mari. Being the person she was, she offered to teach me.
Violin practice wasn't that hard at first. I learned the basics by myself easily while she cheered for me.
"Just like that! Well done, Sunny! I'm proud of you! You're doing very well."
Those were the happiest times of my life. We'd just spend hours upon hours in the piano room. Sometimes she'd sit down and simply listen to me practice, while other times we'd take a break as she played something for me.
We were closer than ever. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I loved Mari.
Loved Mari
Loved Mari
Loved Mari
…I loved Mari so much.
"Sunny. Another nightmare?"
I started to lie more. I just wanted to spend more time with her. I wanted to smell her hair as she slept next to me. I felt protected. I felt safe. I felt loved.
"Alright, Sunny. I'll sleep with you again."
"Don't be scared, Sunny. You can sleep by yourself from time to time, right? You're a big boy."
From time to time, I'd hear her sigh as she tugged me in and laid next to me. Other times, she'd straight-up refuse. Maybe I was taking it too far. Maybe I was expecting too much kindness from her. No. It couldn't be. This was Mari. My perfect sister. She always did everything with enthusiasm and a smile on her face.
Sleeping alone from time to time felt lonely. Without her presence by my side, I could feel as the eyes in the walls stared at me. Criticized me. Judged me. "Bad. Brother. Bad. Brother."
Then, one day, Mari came towards me with an offer. An offer to play with her at the Concert. I couldn't say no. The possibility in my mind to refuse a play with my beautiful sister didn't even exist. I wanted to play with her, so I agreed.
"Really?! Thanks, Sunny! But we're going to have to practice a lot. We're going to give the best performance anyone has ever seen. You and me, Sunny. We can do it."
Thinking back on it, those words of encouragement were probably what kept me going for so long.
Practice started easily. She'd play the notes slowly, while I did my best attempt at playing along. Things were going well. I was happy.
"We did it. Now let's increase the tact by just a bit."
With time, practice slowly got more difficult. Mari would still wait for me, and it was still fun, but I could feel a sense of pressure against me. Her expectations for me were high, and I had to accomplish them. Despite trying all I could, I started feeling a sense of discomfort on my arm and my fingers.
"C-Can we take a break? My arm hurts a bit."
"It's… fine. Take your time. If you need help, just tell me."
Mari would give me all I needed. She'd let me take a break. When I felt discomfort, she'd notice and help me. But I could still feel a sense of disappointment from her. How couldn't I? I was failing her. I was being weak. A bad brother.
"Ouch!"
I'd hurt my finger from time to time. But my sister believed in me. She believed that I was strong. She believed that I could do it. No matter how disappointed she was, she still seemed to believe in me. As expected of someone like her.
"It's just a small cut. We can still do it, Sunny! Just trust your big sister!"
Practice didn't get easier, and neither did the strain on my mind. It was getting harder for me to appreciate the notes from her piano. No longer were they soothing to my ears. Now they were just instructions. Mindless noise I had to follow along to. It didn't sound like her.
It didn't sound like Mari. It didn't remind me of Mari. I started to lose motivation. My sister believed in me, but the stress was still getting to me.
"My fingers hurt. I'm going to the bathroom."
"Come on, Sunny! It's just a scratch! We have to do this!"
Mari was starting to act weird. She'd stopped smiling as much. She still did, but there was a sense of frustration behind them. The disappointment behind those eyes were stronger than ever. I never thought someone like Mari could feel something like that towards someone. I still don't.
Something told me that whatever those feelings were, they weren't Mari's. Mari was perfect. Mari was kind. Mari was loving. Mari would never be so disappointed in her little brother. Something was affecting Mari.
I could sense darkness forming around her. It started small. She'd scoff, she'd pout, but that was it. As time went on, however, she started to yell. At me. It was affecting her. It was controlling her. Everytime it happened, the warmth around me from being with my sister vanished. I could tell. Something was wearing my sister's skin during these moments.
Whatever this was, it wasn't Mari. It wasn't Mari. Not Mari. It was something else. A darkness that took over her. It was the on explanation. Mari would never scream at me.
"Sunny! It's just a single note! We have to get it right! This has to be perfect!"
"Stop complaining, Sunny. We're not leaving this room until we're finished."
"Come on, Sunny. If you don't do it, you're going to ruin my recital!"
Despite how intense of a grasp the creature had on my sister, it seemed to be locked within the confines of the Piano room. As soon as we left, it'd detach itself from her, returning me my Angel once more.
"Sunny. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. Come here."
Of course you didn't, sister. That wasn't you. You'd never do that. It was my job to make sure that creature never took control of you again. I had to work harder. I couldn't make a mistake. I had to make sure the creature had no excuse to appear.
"It's useless! Sunny! Why can't you just get it right?!
"There's only three months left and you're still messing it up! You're ruining this!"
Something inside me already knew that I'd still fail. No matter how hard I'd try, the discomfort around my arms and the pain on the tip of my fingers. I was giving the creature more power with every mistake. It was eating Mari up, and I didn't know how to save her.
Eventually, the creature became strong enough to sneak a part of itself outside of the room. I could see it in Mari's eyes. It was taunting me. Telling me that I was failing her. I was failing Mari by allowing this darkness to eat her up.
"You can sleep alone, Sunny. Goodnight."
It's grip on her only seemed to get stronger. She'd stop comforting me. She'd avoid me around the house. She'd raise her voice. But I found comfort knowing that no matter how harsh her words were, it was okay. Because this wasn't Mari. These were the words of another.
"I'm tired! I'm going to my room!"
"One more time, please!"
Mari asked me to stay. She had grabbed my hand gently, trying to convince me to stay. But I couldn't. I was too scared of the creature taking over once more. But I never knew that this would be where it showed it's true colors.
"Just let me go, please. I need to sleep."
"You're not going anywhere! Sit down!"
The hand that violently pulled me wasn't Mari's. It was cold. The sense of comfort was gone. Mari wasn't here anymore. Whatever that creature was, it had taken over. It grabbed me and forced the violin into my hand.
"We're doing it One.More.Time."
I couldn't help but nod. Maybe if I got It right this time, it'd subside and let me see her again. Somehow, I managed to do a job good enough to appease it. I could sense it's form creeping back and retreating into the darkness. I could sense her again. My sister.
"There we go. That wasn't so hard, wasn't it? Don't cry. Come here."
Everytime the creature came out, Mari comforted me in the end. I could endure it all if it meant seeing her at the end of the tunnel. But it was only a matter of time until my failures as a brother caught up to me.
Even when I got it right, the creature wouldn't subside. It's judgment laid clearly on me. I started to realize that this creature was my punishment. For being a bad brother.
"Alright. We're done for the day. Now go to bed. We have to practice again tommorow."
Even when I finished playing, the creature refused to leave. It was growing too strong, even for Mari. I had failed to save her, and this was my punishment for it.
"You're useless! Get.it.RIGHT!"
It slowly started to find more extreme methods of torturing me. Punishing me. I could feel my back aching as it pushed me towards the wall.
"Stand up. It's only a scratch. You're fine."
I could hear small glimpses of Mari's voice behind the disgusting hatred the creature let out. It seemed like after all of this, she was still trying her best to reach to me.
Things only got worse when my mother told us she was going on a business trip. She'd be gone for a month. With my father absent, I had no one by my side besides the creature and the small glimpses of Mari that managed to break themselves free from time to time.
The creature was aware that my mother was my protector. So with her absence, it's methods of punishing my sins got worse. I could remember the sound of the key turning as it locked me in the darkness of the storage room downstairs.
"Please! It's dark in here! Let me out! I promise I'll keep playing! Let me out!"
"That's the Sunny I like. Come on. Grab your violin."
It forced me to continue practicing, threatening to place me in that dark abyss once more. I was too scared to refuse. And even when I didn't refuse to play, it only took one or two mistakes for the creature to launch itself against me.
"Shh. I'm sorry for hitting you. Come on. I'll get you an ice pack, Sunny. Just don't tell mommy about it, okay? I'll sleep next to you tonight."
Those small moments brought endless joy upon me. She was still here. Sometimes, she was able to reach to me fully and comfort me like she did before. My only wish was that she'd do it more often.
Of course I wouldn't tell mother. You weren't the one to blame. You're innocent. It's my fault. It was my fault for tempting the creature. For not being able to save you. You were hurting so much more than me. I'm sorry. I really was a bad brother.
"You Idiot! You Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"
"Don't you dare leave the room! Don't forget who's in charge here! Or do you want to spend the rest of tommorow on an empty stomach?"
It abused it's power. There was no one else to feed me except the creature. As much as I hated it, with Mari absent, I had no one else to care for me. I had no one else to tend tend to me when I was hungry or in pain. Not that it cared. But Mari would've.
"Please…my fingers are bleeding. It hurts so much."
"I'll show you what hurt is like when you spend another night in the storage room."
"No! Please! I'll play! I promise I'll play! Let me go! Let me go!"
It really felt like eventually, the creature stopped doing things out of convenience. Instead, it simply followed instinct, and it's instinct was to hate me. Not even trying my best was good enough. It seemed to enjoy hearing my desperate sobs from inside the storage room. It really hated me.
"I'm scared… it's so dark. It's so dark. My fingers… I can't feel them… please… Mari. Save me."
"It wouldn't be this way if you hadn't talked back. You're not coming out from here until I say so."
I don't remember how much time I spent in that dark room. For some reason, the creature decided to lock my violin in there alongside myself. A reminder that I had failed my friends and my sister.
The door wouldn't open very often. Every now and then, I'd see the creature enter before giving me what I needed to survive. It wasn't much, but food was food. It would then drag me out of the room and force me to play.
I'd cry. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I'd cry as my finger lost their sense of feeling, drops of blood staining the violin. The creature didn't care. It only wanted me to play. It only wanted me to suffer. It would always end the same way, with me being tossed back inside that dark room alongside my Violin.
Luckily, my mom came back one day. And with it, so did Mari. She seemed to have regained control, and I could feel her warmth once more.
"Nothing much happened. We just hung around and had fun. Isn't that right, little brother?"
I nodded. It was the truth. Mari had done nothing wrong. All she had done was protect me from the aftermath of the creature. And despite what the creature had done to me, I could bear to tell my parents.
Not only because the creature had threatened me not to, but because it was wearing the skin of my sister. It was hiding it's evilness behind the face of perfection and beauty I loved. I hated it. It had taken my sister from me. If it were Mari, those days would've been spent in happiness and bliss. The melodies from the piano would've brought comfort instead of fear and tears.
But that wasn't Mari sitting at the piano. It was always the creature.
I didn't even have time to process things until I realized that the recital was one night away. My mother was at work for the night, and Mari had one last chance at practice. But the moment she sat down on the stool, I could see it.
It's black and slime texture slowly perturbed out of my sister's back as it covered her entire body. A stare of disappointment and hatred that never seemed to leave it's eyes. Mari's temporary safety and comfort made me almost forget that it existed.
That night was the worst of all. The notes of the piano sounded like the cries from an eldrich beast, disturbing my mind with fear and sorrow. The blood of my hands never subsided, and neither did the loud cries of the creature as I did a mistake.
I looked at my Violin as I realized that it was the one thing that gave the creature power. It was the cause of all my pain. The source of all my suffering. Looking at it made me want to puke.
My mind went blank as I panicked. I couldn't look at it anymore. I desperately ran out of the room before tossing my suffering down the stairs, instantly shattering it.
The creature had decided to run after me. I was hoping that destroying it's source of power would somehow bring back my sister indefinitely, but it didn't.
"Sunny! What have you done?!"
My mind barely registered those words. Why was it still in front of me? Where was Mari? In my delusional state, my only instinct was to rush downstairs. I didn't know where I wanted to go, but I didn't want to be near the creature.
"I'm not done with you! Come back here!"
The creature extended its hands, blocking my path down the stairs. My mind was to panicked to even register that instead of hatred, that face was one of worry.
Where is Mari?! What did you do to Mari?!
"Sunny! You need to calm down! Let's go back!"
I could see the creature reaching its dark hand towards me. It was trying to pull me back towards the room. It was trying to force me to play again.
My mind couldn't process what was happening. It all happened so quickly. I just remember the feeling of my hands violently pushing against it.
You're not Mari!
My body reacted on instinct as I pushed the creature down the stairs.
"Sunny?"
Those were the last words I remembered as the creature tumbled down the stairs before it's body impacted the floor against the violin.
I slowly saw as the creature slowly retreated its black mass, completely vanishing. I could only look at the residue of what it left behind.
My sister, Mari.
I rushed down the stairs before holding her in my hands. I had saved my sister. I had saved her from the creature.
But something was wrong. Her grip felt cold. The feeling of warmth around her could no longer be sensed at all.
"Mari?"
The last thing I remember from that day was a figure I recognized appearing from the entrance of my house.
"Sunny… what did you do?"
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