Chapter Text
“Let’s go let’s go let’s go!” Kel’s voice basically echoed around the whole neighborhood as he held Sunny by his shoulders, pushing him ahead. Sunny's feet scraped against the concrete floor, his shoes becoming more dull as his feet tried to avoid what was happening. Kel met some new friends at the park while playing ball, older friends. Kel said they were super nice and even bought Kel ice cream afterwards, and he wanted Sunny to meet them too! So he told them to meet at this time at the park because he was sure they’d like Sunny just as much as Kel does. But Sunny was nervous, he wasn’t much of a talker and overall older kids just scared him. They’re bigger and meaner, what would they say about him not talking? Sunny tried to decline sweetly, but Kel was determined, as if he was a kid waiting to open their presents on christmas morning, practically dragging Sunny down the street. “Kel-” Sunny spoke, only to be shushed by Kel. “There’s nothing to worry about Sunny! They’re gonna love you just as much as I do, I promise!” Sunny looked down, avoiding eye contact as Kel proudly took a hold of Sunny’s hand, now that Sunny was too far away from home he might as well go. “I’ll be here for you, okay Sunny? We’re gonna have a fun time!” Still looking away from Kel, Sunny nodded. He needed to have a little hope, he was just scared, but Mari always says it’s good to face your fears.
Fingers still intertwined as they walked down the street, Kels smile becoming bigger and brighter as the park came more into view. Sunny slowed his breathing just like Mari taught him and tried to gather his confidence together, maybe he was overthinking, he should give this a shot. From where the two stood, it didn’t look like anyone was in the park until they made it to the basketball court. A group of older kids, maybe around Hero’s age or older, all playing ball with each other and laughing. “GUYS!!!” Kel's voice, filled with excitement and urgency, echoed in Sunny's ears as he released his grip on Sunny's hand and dashed towards the source of the commotion. Sunny watched from afar as the boys all gathered around Kel as he stood proudly talking to them. Three boys. One with black hair, tall, and wearing a blue t-shirt and brown shorts. His eyes are barely visible due to his hair covering up most of his face. The two others were brunettes, one slightly lighter than the other, or atleast the sun made it seem that way. One was wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans, while the other wore a hoodie and sweatpants. Odd to wear for this hot summer weather.. Sunny can’t even go outside without wearing shorts. “Oh, yeah!” Kel said, turning back around and grabbing a hold of Sunny’s arm, causing Sunny to fall away from his trance, dragging him to meet his new friends. “Guys! This is the friend I was talking about! Say hi!” Kel said, showing off Sunny as if he was a prized toy.
Sunny nervously looked up to the older boys as they stared him down, but he kept his pace and started to communicate using ASL. ‘Hello, my name is Sunny. What is your name(s)?’ Kel stared at Sunny proudly, while the other boys looked a little confused. “What was that? He deaf or something?” The boy in blue said, a snicker escaping his mouth, as if he thought Sunny was pathetic. “What? Sunny isn’t deaf! He just doesn’t talk much!” “Why not? He got a squeaker voice or something?” The hooded boy asked, poking Sunny’s side, making him jump back a little. He didn’t like to be touched by people he didn’t know. “Hey, don’t touch him, he doesn’t like being touched!” Kel said, swatting away the hooded boy's hand. “Doesn’t speak and doesn’t like being touched? What is this kid, a freak?” He asked, laughing in Sunny’s face. “Uh guys..” The boy in yellow spoke, only to be cut off by Kel. “Sunny is not a freak! He’s my best friend!” Kel said, trying to stand up tall and puff himself out like a bird to try and seem more threatening. “You’re best friends with a freak? Geez, and we thought you were cool.” The hooded boy spoke, leaning against his other friend in the blue. “I sure am cooler than you, I don’t bully people for things they can’t control!!” Sunny tugged at Kel’s sleeve, but it didn’t budge. “You’re just a bunch of bullies!” “Guys..” The boy in yellow spoke. “And what are you gonna do about it?” The boy in blue said, getting up in Kel’s face. Sunny backed away, scared of what was going to happen since it looked like it was about to get physical. Kel stood brave and tall, not scared as to what was about to happen. “GUYS!!!” The boy in yellow spoke from behind them, finally catching the other boy's attention and they both whipped their heads around and spoke in sync. “What?!”
An older woman wearing a safety vest stood behind them with her arms crossed and an expression of disappointment and anger. The other two boys' faces switched up, they’re confidence suddenly gone within seconds and they had a face filled with worry, as if they had just been caught stealing candy at a candy store. “Aw man..” One of them mutters, Sunny couldn’t tell which one. The older woman scolded both of the boys, leaving the boy in the yellow out of it since he didn’t really do anything wrong. Kel smiled as he made eye contact with the boy in blue as he got yelled at by the lady, and stuck his tongue out as he started to drag Sunny back to his house. The walk was a little silent, but Kel spoke eventually. “Aw man.. I’m really sorry Sunny, I had no idea they were jerks!” Kel said, flapping his arms in the air out of rage. “They never should’ve said any of that about you, you’re like.. The coolest kid I know! Almost cooler than Hero..” Kel said, watching Sunny’s facial expressions, but nothing really changed. “Did they hurt your feelings..?” Kel asked, picking at his arm, it was a bad habit of his whenever he felt bad or nervous about something. Sunny shook his head and turned to Kel, ‘Just scared.’ He signed. “Aw! Don’t worry about it sunshine, I'll always be here to protect you no matter what!” Kel shouted proudly, showing off his muscles on his arm. It wasn’t much but it definitely was more than Sunny’s, Sunny smiled and let out a soft laugh. “Still uh, I’m sorry Sunny. I shouldn’t have pressured you into coming with me until I got to know them first, heh.. I was just really excited and wanted you to be included.” Sunny nodded and signed ‘It’s okay.’
Kel chuckled, “You’re the best Sunny! Wanna play in my backyard? I found this really cool beetle the other day, its back was like.. Rainbow!” Sunny smiled and nodded, it was nice outside anyway. What’s better than spending time with two suns? Kel ran inside his house leaving his shoes on, dirt trailing behind him as he dashed his way to the backyard slide door, Sunny followed politely behind. “Kel! Your shoes!” Kels mother yelt from the kitchen, she’s so used to Kel running around the house with shoes on that she recognizes the noise, kind of funny if you think about it. “Whoops, sorry mom!” Kel said as he slid open the door to his backyard, to his surprise, Hero was sitting down in a lawn chair reading something, Kel didn’t care as to what it was but Sunny seemed interested. “Hey Hero! You’re not gonna believe what happened to me and Sunny at the park!” Hero looked up from his book, his finger sliding on the page it was on just in case he planned on closing his book. “Oh, hello Kel, hello Sunny. What’s up?” Heroes' attention was now fully on the two boys. “Remember the new friends I made? Yeah well turns out they’re jerks! They said mean stuff about Sunny when he introduced himself!” “Oh no, Sunny are you alright? They didn’t hurt your feelings did they?” Hero asked, turning to Sunny who had a blank expression. He shook his head before signing, ‘Just scared.’ “Aw, sorry to hear Sunny.” “I protected him! Because I’m super awesome and his best friend!!” Kel said proudly, looking up into the sky with his hands on his sides like superman. “Heheh, good job Kel.” Hero said, patting his younger brother's head making him snap out of his superman trance. “I’m sure Sunny appreciated it.” Sunny nodded with a light smile on his face. “What were we gonna do again?” Kel asked, turning to Sunny. Sunny giggled, before signing. ‘Bugs.’ “Oh!! Right! We’re gonna go catch bugs now Hero! See you later!” “Have fun you two, be safe!” Hero shouted to Kel who was already holding onto Sunny’s hand and taking him to the bushy parts of their backyard. Hero went back to reading his book.
It wasn’t long before Sunny received an apology letter in the mail from the yellow shirt boy. He was apologizing for his friends behavior and how rude they were, Sunny didn’t really care. Their words didn’t get to him, he was just mostly scared of how bigger they were than him. The note came with a box as well, he wasn’t sure how the boy found his address but Sunny didn’t really care either. Inside the box contained a blow-up beach ball that had bright patterns splattered all over it. It was a small gift, but Sunny was still grateful, he just wasn’t sure how to show it. Sometimes he would bring it over to his backyard when everyone was over and play with it outside, Kel always loved it while the others just saw it as your typical toy ball. Once, Mari found Sunny playing with it on the living room floor and whispering with Mewo. It reminded him of Kel, he would play with it whenever he hasn’t seen Kel in a while, and it especially reminded him of how Kel stood up to those bullies, he really is a good friend.