Chapter Text
Ah yes. Saturday. Undoubtedly the best day of the week. A day Sunny can complete without fail by doing his favorite hobby: sleeping. Saturdays are reserved purely for sleeping—a way of coping from the torment he faces on the weekdays that is also known as school. Ugh, school. Just the thought of it sends him shivering. It’s not that it’s hard, it’s just… not the most fun place in the world. He just would rather not be stuck in a classroom with nineteen other kids, some of which shove crayons up their noses, and a teacher who looks to be on the brink of tears. So yeah, he’s thankful for Saturday. Who wouldn’t be?
Of course, this Saturday is no exception. Sunny has created a fail proof routine at this point. Saturdays are for sleeping and Sundays are for playing games. Sounds like a well-spent weekend to him. Well, in hindsight, at least, but perhaps Sunny had forgotten an important aspect.
“Sunny!” A girl’s voice calls out before the blanket lying on top of him is suddenly pulled away, exposing him to the bitter cold known as air conditioning. He buries his head into his pillow to hide from the light filtering through the window. For someone named ‘Sunny,’ he’s not quite fond of the sun. “It’s time to rise and shine!” She continues.
Ah right. His older sister Mari is that forgotten aspect. Mari is a very… punctual person—he learned that word while overhearing a heated conversation between the angry principal and his sobbing teacher. In other words, she’s a complete opposite of Sunny himself. So it should be no surprise that Mari has decided that they both would wake up at 9 in the morning, even on a weekend, to eat breakfast and create a schedule for today.
But… bed is… so comfy.
He mumbles out a muffled protest through his pillow as his sister attempts to yank him out of bed by his leg. He remains unmoving, however. She underestimates his sheer determination to sleep for 24 hours straight.
“Sunnyyy,” Mari whines as she releases his leg to tug at his arm instead, “you can’t sleep forever, y’know!”
Is that a challenge?
He’ll have her know that he's practically notorious at sleeping. It’s his middle name. Sunny “Sleeping” Suzuki. Sure, he may have absolutely made that up right on the spot just to spite her, but spiteful is also a part of his middle name. Sunny “Spiteful Sleeping” Suzuki. Yeah. They totally call him that.
“There’s steak for breakfast~” Mari mentions in a singsong voice once she realizes Sunny’s persistent refusal to move.
He takes it back.
That causes Sunny to lift his head from his pillow, peeking up at her through his bangs now that she has caught his attention. Alas, he underestimates her persuasion skills. With a yawn escaping his mouth, he sits up in his bed, blinking rapidly to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness. That’s when he spots Mewo peeking over the bed, gazing at him with her iconic sleepy stare—Sunny is sure he has a similar look on his face as well. Huh. Even their lazy little cat managed to wake up earlier than him. She takes after Mari too much.
Taking the tiny feline into his arms, he slides out of bed. His bare feet reach the cold floor as he makes his way to the door, his stomach already lurching at the thought of freshly-cooked steak awaiting him downstairs. That is, until Mari quickly rushed in front of him, blocking his path.
“Hold on there! Before you go down, change out of your pj’s first. We’re gonna be going somewhere!”
Sunny tilts his head at her—the cat in his arms follows suit as if she’s listening in on their conversation and Mari giggles at how in sync they are—wordlessly asking where they’re going to go. That’s a nice thing about Mari, she can easily read his mind without him having to say a peep.
Mari holds a finger to her lips with a smug grin, “It’s a secret! I can’t spoil the surprise!” She twirls around to walk out the door, her skirt spinning with the motion. Before leaving, she turns to add one last thing, “It’ll be lots of fun. I think you’ll like them!”
‘Them?’
Whilst stuck in his thoughts, Mewo jumps out of Sunny’s arms to follow Mari out the door. It’s soon closed shut, leaving Sunny standing alone in their shared bedroom. With a sigh, he looks through his closet as questions weigh heavy on his mind. He just can’t stop thinking about it. Them? Who is… them?
Sunny lets out a groan of frustration beneath his breath, already dreading how this day will play out as he selects the outfit he’ll wear—black shirt with some shorts, nothing crazy. They’re going to visit people, strangers most likely. You see, Sunny doesn’t exactly have… friends. It’s nothing he’s ashamed of, part of him actually prefers it this way. He doesn’t feel particularly close to his classmates and he’s never needed anyone else other than Mari.
However, knowing Mari, she’s going to try to introduce him to some… strangers. Sunny doesn’t like strangers. Meeting strangers means he’ll have to… talk. Sunny does not like talking. Of course, he could just have Mari talk for him the entire time, he usually relies on her to be his voice anyways, but then these strangers are going to think he’s weird for not speaking—for having to rely on his sister to speak for him. His classmates already think the same. It’s what everybody thinks of him.
If only he could just be a… cat . If he were a cat, he wouldn’t have to worry about these things. He wouldn’t have to meet strangers or wake up early or talk to people. He could just stay inside all day and sleep and look cute. Sounds like paradise.
Finally, he’s changed out of his sleepwear and into his outdoor clothes before making his way to the bathroom to freshen up. Fortunately, he doesn’t take long, exiting the bathroom soon after to greet his delicious steak. Yum.
He trots down the stairs with a slight pep in his step at the thought of having his favorite dish for breakfast. His mom greets him at the entrance to the kitchen instead, leaning down and wrapping her arms around him to pepper kisses over his cheeks.
“Good morning my little Sunshine!” She exclaims between smooches. He can hear Mari’s amused giggles as she watches their exchange from further in the kitchen. Sunny squirms in her hold, embarrassment red and apparent on his face as he tries to lean away from her overwhelming affection.
When she finally does release him after what felt like eternity, she remarks in an upbeat tone, “You usually take longer to get dressed and ready. Excited to meet some new friends, aren’t you?”
Not exactly.
“Mom! Don’t spoil it!” Mari complains from behind her which earns her an apologetic look from the older woman.
“Sorry, sweetie!” She walks away from the kitchen’s doorway, allowing Sunny to enter. She returns to her spot in front of the stove. He spots Mari sitting on one of the stools on the outer side of the counter. “Just forget I said anything, yeah?” Mom says to Sunny with a sheepish grin. Mari sighs at her as he settles into the seat beside his sister.
In his mother’s defense, it wasn’t that much of a spoiler. It confirmed his suspicions more than anything, really. Though, he wishes it didn’t. He absent-mindedly plays with the hem of his shirt, trying to distract himself from the thought of having to talk to people. It makes him feel uneasy. He desperately hopes he’s got it all wrong, somehow… in some way.
His worry must be apparent on his face since Mari leans over, patting a reassuring hand on his arm. “Don’t stress about it too much, alright? I promise it’ll be super fun!”
Sunny should take her word on it. He trusts Mari, obviously. If she says it will be fun, it most likely will be. But… there’s this hint of doubt in his chest—hesitation stirring in his stomach. He shouldn’t think like that though. As long as Mari is there, everything will be fine. He’ll just stick by Mari the entire time.
“I’ve got a very special breakfast for you, my little Sunshine!” His mom announces as she hides a dish behind her back. He already knows what it is but can’t help but get excited anyways, perking up in his seat as the smell soon wafts up into his nose. Finally, his mom reveals the dish, “It’s your favorite!” Steak!
On top of the golden brown steak—freshly seared and still steaming—is a delicate sunny-side-up egg with the yolk just slightly running down. His mom’s steak is his favorite steak—and the only one he’ll ever agree to eat. His mom has titled this specific dish her “Sunny Steak.” Mainly because it’s Sunny’s favorite (duh) and because of the sunny-side-up egg included. He thinks it’s a bit embarrassing, but the steak is good so it gets a pass.
She places the plate elegantly in front of him like it’s an $1000 meal from a five star restaurant, and it might as well be. That’s just how good it is. He wastes no time scarfing it down. Mari and Mom laugh as they watch, entertained by his eagerness.
“I should make steak for you everyday if that means you’ll eat all your food!” His mom banters, leaning against the counter with her eyes creased closed in laughter.
Sunny nods excitedly at her suggestion. Steak everyday? Now that sounds like paradise. Though Mom just chuckles at his response, neither confirming nor denying the idea.
He pushes the plate away as soon as he finishes his breakfast, patting his stomach as he leans back in the chair. Man, he’s full.
Suddenly, though, Mari jumps up from her seat, her eyes wide and panicked. “Oh crap! We’re gonna be late!” She exclaims as she moves to gather her book bag from the table. “Ready to go, Sunny?”
“Mari, language!” Their mom scolds with a hand on her hip.
Language? English. She’s speaking English. What else would Mari be speaking? Though Sunny supposes she knows a few Japanese words but—yeah, no, Mari is definitely speaking English.
“S-Sorry, Mom! We’ll be back at 1!”
At 1? He glances at the clock displayed on the microwave. If it’s 9:30 right now and they’re going to come back at 1, that means they’ll spend around four hours with these new “friends” as his mom had described them. If he did the math right, that sounds like a long time. Sunny isn’t exactly looking forward to this. At least Mari looks excited.
With one last wave of goodbye to their mother, Mari holds Sunny’s hand, guiding him through the living room and out the front door. The shine of the sun on the other side hits him like a slap in the face. He squints, a hand hovering above his eyes to shield himself from the blinding rays. Mari appears unphased by it however, casually closing the door behind them and walking down the sidewalk with Sunny in tow. She does go out more often than Sunny does so it’s only natural she’s accustomed to seeing the sun. Most days, Sunny stays inside and plays video games or sleep, only ever going outside if dragged out by Mom or Mari. After all, why else would he go outside? All he’s ever needed is in his house.
“Luckily, they’re right next door! So we can visit them whenever we want!” Mari comments beside him.
Right next door? Oh, so their neighbors? Now that she mentions it, he’s never met their neighbors before. He’s never even seen them before. He’s only ever seen their dog. Though clearly young, the little scamp would constantly end up sneaking into their backyard. Sunny isn’t the most fond of dogs, but the little guy would be pretty friendly whenever he would encounter it.
He hopes its owners share that same friendliness.
Walking with Mari hand-in-hand, they approach the front steps of the house. The doorbell lets out a cute, rhythmic chime when Mari presses on it. A muffled “Coming!” is heard through the door soon after. As the two siblings wait, Sunny spots that oh-so familiar dog out of the corner of his eye. It must live in the front yard judging by the red-roofed dog house and food bowl on the grass. The dog seems to notice him as well by the way it stares right at him, its tail wagging and a tennis ball stuck in its bite. Sunny isn’t sure if it’s meant to be welcoming or threatening, but he never does get to find out in the end because the door finally opens, interrupting his thoughts.
On the other side reveals a brown-haired boy a little bit taller than Mari, and maybe around the same age as her as well. There’s this charming, comforting aura to him, which puts Sunny at some ease, but he’s still wary of him. He’s still a stranger after all. Sunny doesn’t like strangers.
“Oh, Mari! Come in,” the boy steps aside, allowing the two siblings to enter the house.
Sunny immediately notices the similarities of the neighbors’ living room to their own. With the exception of the decor and the lack of a sliding door to the backyard, it’s nearly identical.
Still, it’s unfamiliar to him. He doesn’t like it. He squeezes Mari’s hand tightly. He’s relieved when Mari reciprocates.
“Where’s Kel?” Mari asks the brunet boy as he returns to them in the living room.
“Oh, he should be down in a bit.”
As if on cue, he hears a commotion of pounding footsteps from the other room where he assumes the stairs are. A small boy—who he assumes must be Kel—with a similar appearance to the other brunet boy comes barreling into the room like a mini tornado. Brothers most likely.
“Hi!!!” The tornado-personified boy greets as he stands beside his brother, his hand waving high above his head.
“Hi Kel!” Mari kneels down to Kel’s level, waving back politely. A smile graces her features—a smile Sunny is all too familiar with. Though not directed at him, the smile manages to put him at ease. That’s just how powerful it is. “I’m Mari!” She continues, “I’m friends with your brother, Hero! I’m so happy I finally got to meet you!”
Kel giggles, visibly overflowing with joy. He beams, a smile that could almost rival Mari's. So bright that it could rival the sun. The boy then wraps his arms around Mari, leaning into a hug. Mari laughs and returns the embrace, letting go of Sunny’s hand in the process.
He hardly knows this boy, but Sunny can already feel the looming threat of Kel taking Mari away to be his own big sister. Oh no. What if he’s a better little brother than Sunny is? He certainly matches Mari in energy. Sunny will be sister-less. Or—well, he still has Mewo, he guesses.
Despite this, Sunny can’t blame Kel. Mari just has that kind of effect on people. If Sunny was in Kel’s shoes, he’d do the same.
As soon as the hug ends and Mari stands up back, Sunny immediately reaches for her hand again, sticking to her side and making sure there’s no way he could accidentally lose grip. If Mari notices, she doesn’t say anything, instead introducing the two brothers to her own little brother.
“Sunny, this is Hero”—she gestures to the taller brunet with her free hand—“and this is his younger brother Kel!”—she then gestures to the personified tornado—“He’s also seven, just like you!”
Oh. Same age as well? All the more reason to be wary of him. He mustn’t underestimate him. He could steal Mari from right under Sunny’s nose. Tornadoes are fast after all.
Hero crouches down in front of him. He’s also smiling, but it’s different from Mari’s and Kel’s. It’s smaller, lighter. It’s more like a comforting night light rather than a happy, shining sun. “Hey, Sunny. Mari’s told me a lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you,” he says gently with a wave. His voice is also like Mari’s, but smaller, lighter.
Sunny timidly waves back, overwhelmed from the amount of attention being given to him right now, but it’s tolerable. For now. Though he’s half-tempted to hide behind Mari for the rest of their visit. Hero steps back, allowing Kel to introduce himself now.
“Hi Sunsun!!” He exclaims. Sunny could have sworn he felt a bit of spit splatter on his face.
And… that isn’t his name, but Sunny doesn’t bother correcting him. Actually, it’s more that he quite frankly can’t. He can’t bring himself to utter a word to this random boy he’s just met, how could he have the guts to correct him? Sunny doesn’t mind anyways. It reminds him of the nickname that his mom gave him.
Mari at least appears to be pleased at the cute name, awwing from behind Sunny the second it was spoken. Hero reacted with a light laugh. No one made any effort to correct the boy.
The shorter boy smiles at him—he’s missing one of his front teeth, Sunny notices—as he exclaims, “I’m Kel!!”
Yeah. He knows. Mari kinda already said that.
And jeez, he’s loud. If there’s something Sunny doesn’t like more than strangers, it’s loud strangers. First impression? Everything about him seems a bit overwhelming. Sunny doesn’t think he likes it. Sunny hides behind his sister as Kel extends a hand out, presumably for a handshake.
Kel’s eyes widen at this, teetering to the side to get a clear view of Sunny from behind Mari. Sunny just buries his head further into Mari’s back, clutching at her shirt as if that’ll help him disappear. He doesn’t like this. He wants to go back to bed.
“S-Sunny! I’m so sorry, he’s shy,” she puts a careful hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. “Sunny, I promise it’s not as scary as it seems. They’re good people, and I’m sure they’ll make the best of friends. Just try, okay? For me, yeah?”
He shakes his head against her back, tightly shutting his eyes closed. Maybe if he doesn’t see them, they won’t see him. He can feel the hand on his shoulder move to his head, calmly combing through his locks in an attempt to soothe him. It’s nice, but he still wants to go home. He blocks out the talking of the two older siblings.
Sunny knew this would be a bad idea, and honestly, Mari should have known as well. Not only does Sunny just blatantly dislike strangers, he just doesn’t do well in front of new people in general. Mari’s probably right in the fact that they’re nice people, but that doesn’t matter to Sunny right now. He just wants to go home. In the security of his bed, sleeping away. Oh, to be a cat right now. Cats wouldn’t have this problem at all.
“Ya like video games?!”
Opening his eyes, Sunny’s shaky gaze focuses on the boy now standing next to him, though a little ways away to give him space. Kel tilts his head as he asks the question, brown strands of hair falling onto his face. In his hands, he has a small handheld game console—it’s Game Boy. At least that’s what the little words below the screen says
The question came out of nowhere, but oddly enough, it did a good job at distracting him from his current discomfort. Kel doesn’t pressure him for an answer, he simply stands there with a friendly smile on his face as he holds the Game boy out for Sunny to take.
Cautiously, Sunny relinquishes his grip on Mari’s shirt, turning to face Kel properly. He approaches him slowly, as if he was a stray cat being lured in with free food. But… he doesn’t mind. He’ll let himself be lured in. Just this once.
Once he’s an arm’s length away, the timid boy hesitantly grabs the Game Boy, now carefully inspecting it. With it right in his palms, he realizes it’s actually a Game Boy Advance. He isn’t sure what that means, but it probably means it’s the cooler version. Though it seems pretty old, he wonders where Kel got this. The age of the thing is quite visible too. There’s some faded stickers stuck on the plastic and there’s a few tiny scratches on the screen if you look close enough.
Sunny looks back up at Kel—he’s still smiling, friendly and patient—and nods, answering his earlier inquiry.
“Me too! I have lots and lots of games!” Kel spreads his arms wide as if to demonstrate. He must have a ton of games then. The brunet hops excitedly in front of him, “We can play lots and lots of games together!”
Lots and lots of games? Sunny likes that idea…
Sunny shyly nods at Kel’s idea, feeling somewhat encouraged by his overflowing energy rather than overwhelmed. It’s a nice feeling.
Mari claps happily at their little exchange, “Wonderful! Hero and I have some schoolwork to do so you boys head upstairs and play, yeah?” She then nudges Hero’s side playfully, a smug grin on her face, “I hear Hero’s really good at baking so maybe he’ll make us some sweets later!”
The eldest brother’s eyes widen at the sudden compliment, the tips of his ears reddening ever so slightly. With a stutter, he says, “M-Mari! I’m not that good… I usually have to ask Mom for help…”
“Still! I bet you’re going to be an amazing chef when you grow up!”
“M-Mari…”
Sunny stands bewildered as he watches the conversation between Hero and Mari play out before him. It’s weird. They talk like Mom and Dad. Oh no. Could the big brother also be trying to steal Mari away? Hm. He’s not exactly younger brother material, so perhaps he won’t be as much as a threat. Still, Sunny will have his eyes on him.
A tapping on his shoulder brings him out of his staring. He sees Kel nodding his head to the stairs in the other room. Ah, he wants to go to his bedroom to play.
Sneaking away from the older siblings, Kel rushes up the steps as Sunny follows closely behind him. Hero and Kel’s room is much bigger than Sunny and Mari's. Sunny can sense the divide in the room, either side has a different atmosphere relating to whichever brother. He doesn’t pay much attention to Hero’s side, however, focusing mainly on Kel’s—his video games specifically.
He wasn’t kidding when he said he has lots and lots of games. On a bookshelf near the window lies a disordered pile of different game cards and disks. Varying sized stacks sit on random shelves, seemingly just placed there carelessly. He can’t help but notice that Kel also has action figures—a lot of action figures.
“Let’s play, Sunsun! Whaddya wanna play?!” Kel shouts, sneaking up behind him. Sunny flinches, not because of him sneaking up, but because of that nickname . He doesn’t think it’s going away anytime soon. That’s fine. He thinks he’ll grow to like it. Kel comes closer, picking up and putting down random games from the different piles. “Oh, there’s this one!! And this one!! I like this one!! Oh, this one too!!”
The two boys play various video games for the rest of the day, taking turns on the Game Boy and even occasionally switching to the T.V. beside Kel’s bed to play some two-player games. Even when he loses and even when Kel demolishes him in their fighting games, Sunny’s cheeks hurt from smiling ear-to-ear the entire time.
It makes Sunny wonder what he was so scared of in the first place.