Stats Published: 2022-01-22 Words: 14,084 Chapters: 1/1
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/36578872.
“How did the welcome home party go, little brother?” Mari sets the phone down on the table, and begins eating in front of it. She slurps noisy and hurriedly.
Sunny frowns and crosses his hands. “You didn’t tell mom you were coming home two months late?”
In which Sunny plays Pet Rocks obsessively and tries to power through a life in Mari's shadow.
02.25: I'm still really proud of this fanfic.
The curtains are closed, the door is shut, and there is a single source of light emanating from a gaming console’s dim monitor.
Sunny is very still, except for his index fingers that hover over the game console’s trigger buttons. He twitches ever so slightly as his weary eyes focus on the draining hearts of the opposing Pet.
Time crawled at a snail’s pace as each heart container broke. It seems like the game animations are taking twice as long. Sunny squeezes tight on his Switch, releases the grip, and squeezes again. The anticipation is killing him. Then, finally, it happens. The other Pet’s hearts shatter, indicating that their heart points are depleted. It’s a one hit K.O! Sunny threw a fist up in victory.
The clash isn’t over just yet though.
The opponent has one Pet left.
This is a close match. Papa Chip carried the last two rounds with his OHKOs, but relying on his best move was risky. Each use lowers Papa Chip’s attack by one stage. He won’t be able to dish out a killing blow the next time unless the opponent was at a severe disadvantage. Sunny’s strategy is risky, relying heavily on the randomized game mechanics to land crits. It’s not something done in competitive play, most veteran players opt for more secure paths to victory, but this was a strategy crazy enough to win Sunny the match.
It’s a long shot, but Sunny just needs to be lucky for one more turn. If Sunny predicted his opponent’s team composition correctly, then the next Pet sent out will be at a severe disadvantage.
The other player sends out a Rose Lad.
Heh. Easy win.
Sunny commands Papa Chip to unleash his best move one last time, the damage done will quadruple a regular attack even without a critical hit since Rose Lad’s type is vulnerable to Fire moves with the unfortunate typing of Grass/Paper.
Rose Lad goes down in just one hit, and the round is called. Virtual confetti surrounds his party, as his trainer character performs a winning animation.
Transitional animations play, and Sunny’s rank and name bumps up in lights and glitter. The in game announcer finally says, “Congratulations,” which cements the whole surreal experience.
Sunny stares in awe at the VG leaderboards for Pet Rocks: Obsidian Edition.
1. OMORI
2. Xu_KING
3.JASHFAN99
4. PaChipDude
5.134fish
Number One. He’s made it to the very top of this season’s leaderboards. He hasn’t lost a single match in the last three months, and all his hard work had finally paid off.
Granted, the season is ending tonight, and with it, his rank and status will reset like everyone else. But he’ll be up in the Hall of Fame. At least today, he’s the very best Pet Rocks player in the whole world.
Sunny celebrates to himself, pumping his fists in victory and grinning so much it hurts after a bit. Sunny’s too excited to grab his phone, and uploaded the screenshot to social media directly from his Switch.
How long has he been playing? He presses the console’s home button and takes a quick look at the date and time. He started playing… Saturday morning. And currently, it should be -
Shit. It’s Sunday night.
Sunny looks around his college dorm, and the lights are completely out. He can hear his roommate, whose snoring was loud enough to pierce through two shut doors. Sunny’s mouth is cotton dry, and he coughs. He vaguely remembers eating in the morning, and drinking sometime when the sky was orange but the exact time intervals are a little fuzzy, really.
His phone is ringing.
Sunny curses as he gets up to grab his phone. He stumbles, because he’s been lying in bed for hours now. There are some social media notifications. About eighteen missed calls. Most calls from his mother. About two from his father. Last few are from Mari. He missed the last call.
He sees that Hero has liked the Pet Rocks post on Twitter, and Aubrey finally replied to one of Sunny’s comments on Instagram. She’s about a week late, but she gets so much interaction on her account, it’s hard for her to keep track of when her friends have engaged with her posts. Kel uploaded a photo of another strange juice concoction he’s made and mentioned Sunny with the caption “Yoo, you gotta check this shit out.”
Is that… Orange juice and coffee? No thanks Kel.
Sunny thumbs the notifications away, sighing. Basil called on Friday, but only to mention he was going to be working on something big for the weekend.
His cell rings again, and this time, Sunny answers it before the first tone.
“Sunny! Why haven’t you answered my calls? You’ve missed five in a row,“ Mari’s scolding knocks the lethargy out of Sunny and induces the lingering sense of pressure Sunny tends to feel whenever he speaks to his sister these days. The pressure pounds at his head, and Sunny doesn't know if this stems from the stress of reporting life updates to Mari until she deems that he is living on his own sufficiently or just speaking to Mari in general. It's all too much.
“M’sorry, I’m alive…” Sunny mumbles trying to sound tired instead of annoyed. He fully gets up from bed and stumbles around his room, hands pressed against the wall in search of the light switch. He gives up after tripping over a couple of luggages in the dark, and settles right back in bed instead. It’s too dangerous to roam around his room since he doesn’t remember where everything is. He turns on the desk light by his bedside and his eyes strain from the stark brightness. Oh, he’s really overdone it this time.
Mari sighs. In condemnation? Exasperation? Sunny doesn't know. “Did you finally answer any of mom’s calls yet? Summer vacation started this weekend, and I hope you haven’t forgotten, but your ass is supposed to be on it’s way to Faraway Town tomorrow. Do you have your plane ticket? Is your stuff packed? I will scream if you just woke up.”
Ah, his dear sister always manages to baby him and scold him all in the same breath.
“I’ve been packed since Friday,” Sunny manages to say. He finds a bottle of water left in his school backpack since Friday and gulps it down sloppily. He’s also starving. There’s cereal somewhere in this dorm, right?
“What have you been doing then? Mom hit up my phone twelve times today, distraught, and in tears. Sunny…”
Sunny grimaces at Mari’s tone. He’s nineteen, and doesn’t need to be coddled, or babied, alright? Before she can speak, Sunny interrupts her. “I was doing something important. Had to use all my focus,” he says.
“Oh, working hard, little brother? I hope you’re not pushing yourself to exhaustion.” Sunny shakes his head, a tad bit guilty for unintentionally lying to Mari.
Well, not correcting an assumption isn’t lying. It’s, bending the truth a little. Gaming does take up a good chunk of his mental capabilities and his concentration, so Sunny can settle with a minor lie.
“I can’t imagine art classes could have any tests,” she says with an off-handed snort.
Sunny puffs up at her condescension - Mari doesn’t understand why he’s chosen an art college over a better tech school somewhere in the west coast. Sunny liked being close to home, and he wanted to study art.
There’s more to art than… just colors and shapes, Sunny almost bites out. He stops himself though, because it’s Mari.
“Well, focused or not, you really shouldn’t worry our mother like that.” Mari huffs. “You already know that I won’t be back home until later in the summer, so please be on your best behavior, for her sake.”
Sunny shrugs. He’ll try.
He spends the rest of the day recuperating and getting ready to fly back to Faraway Town. He’s not anticipating much fanfare - he’ll be the first to arrive home. Well, aside from Basil who was still in Faraway Town running a small flower business. Aubrey was traveling, Kel was in California for a sports scholarship, and Mari and Hero were both studying at prestigious universities in New York.
They all promised to come back to Faraway Town for the summer. Mostly to celebrate their youngest member’s birthday. Sunny was going to turn twenty this year. Technically not fully legal, but he can now protest that they can’t call him the baby anymore.
Sunny glances at his phone and notes his dark reflection staring back at him. No notifications since he last picked it up, so Sunny sets his phone down again. He paces in his now, slightly better lit room.
Sunny doesn’t feel like he’s changed. He doesn’t feel any older, or any more adult-like than he did last year. More than anything, Sunny feels slightly aimless. Sure, he’s picked his school and his major, unlike his sister who was locked into law school the moment she exhibited potential.
When Mari became twenty, she applied to be an exchange student in a foreign country while she was a full-time college student. She had to write an essay on why she should be picked, had to take a part-time job to pay for her living expenses abroad, and had to take an additional language class because it was a requirement for the course.
Mari got in, one of the only students selected from their state. Mom and Dad were extremely proud. When she got back, she had a magazine in her hand, an article of something she’s written, some sort of memoir of her trip.
“I can’t believe they had it printed,” Mari said humbly. “It wasn’t even that good, really,” she told their mom with a smile.
Sunny can’t even finish a one-page reflection on the museum exhibit he went to last week, much less cobble up an entire essay. Sunny and Mari, were two very different types of people.
Same childhood home, same friends, same parents. Two paths diverging.
Sunny arranges his luggages neatly against the wall and does a quick sweep of his room for his belongings (He’s not a particularly neat person, but he’s picked up the habit after losing cherished childhood toys in hotel rooms during family trips.) Once everything was accounted for, Sunny threw himself into bed, closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.
“How did the welcome home party go, little brother?” Mari sets the phone down on the table, and begins eating in front of it. She slurps noisy and hurriedly.
Sunny frowns and crosses his hands. “You didn’t tell mom you were coming home two months late?” He points at his laptop in accusation. “I had to break the news to her after the welcome party…” Mewo has the audacity to eye his laptop charger with her big cat eyes, but Sunny merely sends her a fierce glare. She evacuates to the kitchen. Attagirl.
“It’s… hard. You know how she is…” Mari replies with a loud slurp. Sunny finds it weird that Mari isn’t half as disgusting on video calls with Hero or her female friends. Seriously, some manners would be appreciated here, thank you. “This internship is important to me. And I… I didn’t know what to say to her. Mom was so excited. I haven’t been home -”
“In a whole year, Mari,” Sunny says, trying to put an emphasis on the word ‘year’.
“I had those scholarship essays last semester… I know, I missed out on Christmas, aaand my birthday, but one slip up and I’m done. I’ll miss out on all the opportunities that are just waiting for me to knock on their doors. Opportunity don’t take kindly to late-comers with apologetic cookies and a charming smile, you know? That tactic may work on Hero, but it doesn’t work here. ” She pauses, then bites on her lip.
When Sunny replies with nothing but a sigh, Mari takes her chopsticks, and points them at the screen, launching miniscule rounds of wet debris. “I’ve been busy, alright?”
Sunny rolls his eyes. “You’re always busy,” he finally comments without any bite. Well, it’s true. ‘Chill out’ or ‘Take a break’ didn’t exist in Mari’s dictionary.
Sunny had wanted to be like her when he was younger. But after an extremely messy mental breakdown that resulted in him rushing into their bedroom and locking himself in until Basil had come around and talked him out of his tantrum, Sunny stopped aiming for the stars and humbly settled for lying back in the grass and watching clouds roll by. The recital was still done, but begrudgingly. Sunny retired from anything extracurricular immediately after that and devoted himself to a life with low aspirations.
Mari, however, is the gifted child amongst the two, and is the type to not only aim for the stars, but to set out a whole expedition for Andromeda. And, knowing his sister, the feat will be accomplished in no time.
Once that’s accomplished, Mari will go out once more for something greater, brighter, farther and farther away until she touches the edges of the known universe. It’s what she’s ordained to do, it’s what she’s expected to do. Sunny can only dream of reaching up.
“I promise you, I’ll be in Faraway Town for your 20th birthday. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mari assures, then promptly gulps down the rest of her lunch. “Gotta go, need to hustle and make up some internship hours. See you when you’re back at home!”
Sunny doesn’t have time to wave as his sister hangs up. He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose.
Speaking to his sister is frustrating for him. Not only does she make him feel inferior, she makes him feel worried. She overworks herself a lot, and she doesn’t realize it, but she tends to push people to their breaking point with her. He hopes that Hero’s infinite patience and understanding will knock his sister down a level before something happens to her - or before someone snaps.
Sunny puts his laptop to sleep, and leaves it on the living room table. He can still hear his mother chopping up ingredients for dinner tonight, but in between the uniform tapping of the wood is a tiny sniffle, and the occasional suppressed sob.
Great. He’s anticipating a mild headache later on.
Sunny doesn’t have the social skills or tact to comfort his mother when she’s being emotional. He’s vaguely aware that he should attempt to ease his mother's worries, but he’s not Mari, nor is he Hero, and he really doesn’t know how.
The best he can do is put a hand on her shoulder and ask her what drink he should fetch. Then, he’ll just sit in the kitchen with her as she attempts to make awkward small talk with him until dad comes home.
Another loud sob. No attempt to suppress it this time around. There’s a series of loud ‘meows’ that follow it. Oh Mewo, Mom isn’t singing with you today.
What’s with his family and not being able to ask for simple things like, “Hello dear, your sister isn’t home, and I’m devastated because I bought the ingredients to her favorite dish. Can you keep me company?”
Sunny sighs. He was about to tell his friends he’s back home in the group chat, but it’ll have to wait for tomorrow. There’s a sad mother he needs to comfort.
Sunny doesn’t exactly know when he started dating Basil.
It… just happened.
The same way the north and south poles of magnets will tug and pull towards each other if put on a flat surface with nothing in between them. It’s elementary, it’s the way of the world. Two objects with pulse, electricity will attract. Depending on the strength, it might happen slowly. But it still happens nonetheless.
They will come together. And it will be nearly impossible to pull them apart.
Sunny was aware that Basil was working on a big event yesterday, but since the weekend is over, he should be free. When Sunny wakes up, he doesn’t go back to bed like he usually does. He showers, gets changed, and stampedes right out the door.
Basil is an early riser, a trait that Sunny had once found annoying. Sunny’s entire family consists of early birds. They had an inside joke that everyone in Faraway Town rises before the Sun(ny).
And because Sunny's house was active early in the day, Basil had really liked spending his mornings there.
Basil had once said it was because he didn’t want to wake his grandmother up to make breakfast, but Basil was competent enough to cook on his own. It was something else that drove Basil to come to the Kanashii household every morning.
In due time, Sunny had begun to like the early birds tittering in his home. His mom always prepared breakfast, and Mari always practiced on her piano before heading to school. Sunny didn’t like coffee, but the smell of his father’s morning cup was a familiar scent that wafted upstairs into his room. And whenever he’d head downstairs, he’d always see Basil, huddled over the kitchen table, reading the latest book he’s borrowed from the library. Or if he didn’t have a book, he'd swipe one from Mom and Dad’s collection. There would be two cups of juice on the table, one usually half-drunk and the other completely untouched.
Maybe Sunny fell in love then, not in one fell swoop but slowly. A love built over long winded conversations, fine literature, and the ever-present company of a good friend. A love that bloomed.
Sunny rushes to Basil’s place, texting his mom to let her know he won’t be home later in the day. Sunny’s walking pace was a leisure stroll, at its fastest. If he was feeling particularly rushed, Sunny would, at best, walk very briskly.
Sunny sprints.
Basil’s house comes into Sunny’s view, and he catches his best friend through the kitchen window. The curtains, the window frame, and some of the flowers on the window sill obscure most of Basil, but the mere sight of him hastens Sunny’s pace. He can see that the other boy is entirely focused on an unseen task. Basil is leaning forward, and his gaze is concentrated, busy, as usual.
Basil’s flower business really kicked off in high school. Mari and Hero were seniors, the rest of the group were sophomores. Basil had constructed a few flower arrangements for Mari to use in her senior portrait. The concept was an instant hit.
The business doesn’t have a focus, not exactly, because Basil himself can’t decide on what he wants to do. He liked making flower arrangements, but Basil was a gardener at heart. He liked nourishing seeds into flowers, he liked making bouquets for brides and romantics. He liked going to other people’s gardens, and he liked to teach them how to improve them.
Basil didn’t have plans for where life is going to take him, but as long as he can be around life, as long as something can grow in his hands and be sustained in his care, he seems to be very happy. Somehow, this makes Sunny equally happy.
Sunny uses his spare key and unlocks the front door.
Sunny doesn’t greet the other boy at all, he simply throws the door open, and rushes to Basil with a big hug.
Basil is sitting in the kitchen, surrounded by his gardening tools, ribbons and sheets of paper. There's a plethora of craft materials too, along with interesting handmade jewelry, bookmarks and other flower-based merchandise. There are also flower crowns on the table nearby.
Basil is working on tying a mini bouquet of roses together, but stops to excitedly hug Sunny back.
“These are new," Sunny says as he observes the additions for a brief moment. It’s not what he wants to say though. He wants to say, ‘I’ve missed you.’ He wants to say, ‘It’s been too long.’ He wants to say a lot of things right now, all incoherently sentimental, so instead he holds the flower boy close.
“Trying to branch out to an online storefront. Thought it’d be fun,” Basil replies with a shrug. Sunny’s eyes are trained on the pressed flowers, some looking a little more dry than others and without missing a beat Basil is already replying with, “Gotta monetize the dying ones somehow.” He looks guilty for turning his plants into profit. “Ideas from Tiktok,” he adds.
“The cat video app,” Sunny says in a flat deadpan tone.
“Unlike you, not everyone’s feed is full of cat videos,” Basil tuts.
Sunny feels one of the roses in Basil’s hand brush against his check, and he wrinkles his nose at the sensation. Itchy, but he catches the sweet scent and a wave of nostalgia spent in Basil’s company hits him.
Flowers smell like home. Home smells like Basil. Home was a person, Sunny thinks, but isn’t sure where the quote hails from. Sunny considers saying this, telling Basil this, but stops himself.
"The flowers smell nice,” Sunny says instead as he presses his face into Basil’s shoulder.
"That's funny, I swear most of these are polyester. If this is an attempt at flirting, I'll have you know that I have a boyfriend."
Sunny chuckles very lightly and remains very still for just a moment.
Sunny’s able to speak to Basil everyday through texts, calls and photos. How can Sunny keep in contact with Basil nearly 24/7 and yet still say that he misses Basil? He misses him a lot more than he realizes. Sunny inhales slowly, and squeezes Basil very tightly.
“Missed you too, Sunny,” Basil says with a content sigh.
Sunny releases him, but only after he notices Basil’s sneaky attempts to return to work.
“Workaholic,” Sunny mutters as he settles in the seat across from Basil.
Basil only rolls his eyes and continues his task. “You grew up with Mari too. It’s ‘the hustle life,’” the other boy says placidly as he leisurely ties ribbons together.
Sunny picks up a pink tulip from the table and twirls it absently. He watches Basil in comfortable silence as the gardener delicately and meticulously picks through the cut flowers, and adds them to the bouquet.
Suddenly, Basil’s phone begins blowing up. Wordlessly, Basil picks up his phone, and hands it to Sunny. Once Sunny is holding it, Basil inputs the passcode then signals Sunny, with a flick of his palm, to look through the messages for him.
Sunny navigates through Basil’s phone with ease. He’s tempted to launch Basil’s Pokemon GO app (the inferior rip-off of Pet Rocks, but Basil seems to like it) instead of doing what he was told to do, but Sunny resists. He finds the chat client that Basil uses to communicate with his customers and pulls out the latest messages.
Sunny clears his throat, and proceeds to read. “Emergency,” Sunny says in a flat tone. He rolls his eyes.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Sunny snorts out.
“Please don’t be mean to my customers,” Basil says as he goes across the room and ties a couple of intricate looking leaves to his arrangement.
“You never say anything bad about anyone. Wouldn’t it be nice to speak your mind? Really tell someone that they're a lost cause, and flowers won’t save their sinking ship?” Sunny doesn't speak his mind either, and constricts all thoughts and opinions into a tight corner in the back of his mind. But he likes fantasizing about releasing his inhibitions one day. He knows Basil shares some of this madness with him, the desire to let the world know how they really feel inside. One day maybe they’ll let loose together. Might be fun.
“It wouldn’t be polite,” Basil says while shaking his head. He returns to the table and sets the flowers down. “It would hurt people’s feelings, and I’m a pacifist - I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You’re way too nice,” Sunny mumbles. Basil shrugs.
Sunny looks at Basil's phone and continues the message. “Mother-in-law made a last minute decision to visit the baby shower. Hates pink and red. Please change all bouquets for tomorrow to white and blue to not offend her.” Sunny felt a small tinge of annoyance on Basil’s behalf.
“Thanks Basil,” Sunny reads a little more cheerfully. “You’re the best! - Sean.”
Basil sighs and slumps over the table defeated. Sunny takes Basil’s hand and pats it reassuringly.
Basil comes back to life after a solid minute of laying face down. With half of his face still pressed firmly on the table, Basil shoots Sunny a pathetic expression. His eyes are wide and teary, much akin to a sad cat, Sunny’s only weakness, and simply pleads very quietly, “Help…”
Sunny huffs, his intent to kick back and slack off at Basil’s place isn’t going as planned. They spend the rest of the morning pulling out pink flowers and replacing them with blue.
Basil knocks out on the couch in the afternoon. He had wanted to take a short nap, but Sunny couldn't find the heart to wake him. Sunny couldn’t move, too endeared by his sleeping boyfriend to maneuver Basil's slumbering head off his lap.
Fortunately, his Switch was nearby. He wanted to show Basil the Pet Rocks screenshot from Sunday night. Basil wasn’t into competitive Pet Rocks, but he still liked playing the newer games casually. Basil was vaguely aware of the effort that goes behind the scenes of competitive gameplay. There was training, egg hatching, special moves, etc. It’s a lot of work to get a Pet Rock ready for elite clashes.
Sunny wanted Basil to congratulate him on the accomplishment, (Because, really, the only adult aside from Sunny who understands how cool being on the leaderboard for the season is Basil. )
Sunny plays a spin-off Pet Rocks game while he waits for Basil to rouse from his slumber. Knowing Basil though, he'll be out like a light for at least a few hours. That's the trouble with morning birds, they can't keep up with night owls.
After a while, Sunny begins to feel tired himself and the prospect of sleep is very alluring. He's considering what's the best position to sleep sitting up, so as to not to disturb Basil, when Sunny sees a surprising notification ping from his console.
Mari is online.
His sister wasn’t a gamer. She used to be when they were growing up. She liked the same games Sunny did, and was the original owner of the household NES. She picked the hobby up again, sometime when one of her favorite childhood RPGs was rereleased on the Switch. She dabbled in a few games after that, and to Sunny’s surprise, she often asked him for guidance.
It’s nice having something in common with Mari. They grew a little distant after the big fight they had. Amidst Mari’s piano lessons, high school clubs, a part-time job, and her college prep classes, Sunny hardly spent any time with her.
Mari usually plays the games Sunny recommends to her, or in rare cases, the games Kel or Basil recommend.
Mari is playing a version of Pet Rocks that recently had a remake, Pet Rocks: Diamond Edition. Sunny has a copy himself too, but he doesn’t like it as much as Obsidian. The remake is definitely flawed, and has a lot of the problems from the original game that the devs opted not to fix.
Mari seems to like the game immensely though. Diamond is still a good game. It had been Sunny’s favorite when it initially came out, and it was one of the last games he sort of obsessed over. Sunny decides to launch the game too, intending on joining Mari in the underground mini game and go digging for gems until Basil wakes up.
Sunny’s phone buzzes, and he can see a message sent from Mari flash by.
Mari: Wanna clash?
Sunny stares at his phone with confusion and mild surprise. Mari doesn’t really like clashes. She doesn’t like losing - a trait that Sunny shares with her very strongly. Actually, Sunny hasn’t ever seen Mari attempt to clash whenever she played Pet Rocks. She’d usually passed that mantle to Sunny, and let him compete for her.
Sunny: aren’t you busy with your internship?
Mari: I got sent home early! Isn’t my mentor sweet?
Mari: I wanted to stay, the hustle never stops, but she practically forced me out the door!!
Mari: Don't have anything planned tonight and I saw you were online
Mari: So, what do you say?
Mari: Come on…
Mari: Let’s clash!
Sunny is hesitant, but sighs and concedes. Well, once Mari loses he’ll ask her to play mini games.
Sunny: alright…
Mari: : D
Sunny launches Pet Rocks: Diamond Edition. His team isn’t as good as his Obsidian team, but they should be able to take down whatever team Mari had cobbled up. Besides, Sunny was a pro Pet Rocks clasher. He could devise a strategy on the spot, but he has an inkling that for this battle, he won’t have to.
Mari had already sent an invite. The mail notification dances on the lower right corner of his screen, but Sunny ignores it and pulls a few Pets from the in-game computer.
For a moment, Sunny considers giving his Pets items and shrugs. He’ll give One-Winged Jash an emergency healing item for hearts. That should be fine.
Sunny confirms the clash invite and the system launches into a battle menu. Mari sets the battle parameters - a basic 3 v 3 out of their teams of six. Alright, not a full team. Even easier.
While they’re selecting their Pets, Sunny texts out:
Sunny: i should warn you
Sunny: i’m very good at this game
Mari: Thanks for the warning, however it’s entirely unnecessary
Mari: I don’t intend to lose ; )
Sunny laughs out loud, almost stirring Basil awake.
Basil merely shifts to a more comfortable position, and returns to snoozing in Sunny's lap. Sunny considers taking a photo - but well, although Basil likes taking candid photos, he’s against having photos taken of him without his consent. Sunny stares though, and takes a mental picture instead. He brushes Basil’s bangs back.
A ping from his Switch indicates that Mari’s all set and ready. Sunny confirms as well, both characters having checkmarks appear besides their clasher profiles. The battle selection sequence launches. It’s a friendly match, not a competitive one, so Sunny isn’t allowed to see the six members of her team.
Sunny picks his team at random, no strategy in mind. As long as his team hits hard and hits fast, then this shouldn’t be a problem.
Sunny readies up, and Mari’s quick to confirm her team too. The Pet Rock’s catchphrase flies across the screen in a stunning display.
ARE YOU READY TO CLASH?
Mari’s clasher is decked out in some of the higher tier cosmetics which surprises Sunny a little bit. She’s done some post-game stuff to unlock the fancy dress her character is wearing. Sunny’s own character is still dressed in the default outfit from the start of the game. Why use his hard earned money on cosmetics when he could get items useful for the adventure?
After the introduction animations are done, the first Pet is finally sent.
Sunny anticipates a Pet from the starter locations. A Bunny or an Octotaco. To Sunny’s surprise, Mari’s first Pet is a mythic pet.
These Pets are the crème de la crème of their respective games. They’re top tier, have the best stats once you catch them and don't require hours of training to get them ready for competitive clashes. They’re not banned per say, but using them in ranked games is heavily frowned upon.
There are a total of eight mythics in Diamond Edition, the most any Pets Rocks game has seen to date. Sunny can already feel waves of exasperation that this battle is going to bring. Mari has brought in Medusa, one of the three slime girls that are hidden after beating the in-game Rock League.
Medusa is annoying. She’s a staller Pet. Her main gimmick consists of poisoning an opposing pet, then spamming shields and healing moves until the toxic depletes a pet’s heart completely.
Sunny is only hoping that Mari is a complete novice and doesn’t know how the moves work.
A round of rock-paper-scissors is played, and the winning clasher goes first. From there on out, the game will calculate a pet’s speed to determine which Pet will go first.
If Mari does happen to know the strategy, Sunny needs to move first, and knock out Medusa before she does her set-up. Sunny had already picked his starter pet, and he regrets his choice. King Crawler wasn’t the right pick, and he’s rocking a type disadvantage.
Sunny doesn’t want to switch out, because it’ll give Mari an extra turn.
King Crawler is faster though, and doing damage is better than not doing anything at all. Sunny takes a chance, and selects a high powered move. It’ll be neutral damage, but it should take down a few hearts and lower Medusa’s defense.
Mari seems to have anticipated this somehow, and commands Medusa to perform a move that flinches King Crawler. After a few turns of Sunny aiming to strike Medusa down, and Mari commanding Medusa to deflect it, Sunny is forced to switch out.
Stupid shields, stupid recovery moves. Ugh.
It’s… so unfair.
Sunny recalls his King Crawler, he might have mashed his ‘A’ button too quickly though. He lands on an information chart instead of confirming his next Pet. He backs out furiously, and then carefully selects Jawsum.
This battle would be a breeze if Sunny had his real competitive team. But, he has to work with the hand he’s been dealt. Of course, once Sunny switches out, Mari’s Medusa gets a free hit.
It’s a critical hit. The Pet Sunny has just sent out, Jawsum, goes down immediately.
Sunny gapes, and clenches his fists against his controllers. No fair! That was pure luck, no strategy behind that move. With just one bad decision, the tide of battle has turned on him, and has chosen Mari’s favor.
Sunny silently fumes, as he plans out his next strategic move. Professionals don’t choke though. Experience beats out luck every time. And if Mari does win, Sunny will attribute her victory to luck, and he’ll move on. It’s one battle, in a remake edition. If he loses, no one will know.
Sunny’s phone chimes on the living room table.
Mari: What? Am I about to sweep your entire team with one pet little brother?
Mari: Surely you have a little more fight than that ; )
Sunny: havent seen anything yet : )
If Sunny loses, he will have to acknowledge that Mari’s beaten him at something he genuinely believed he was more skilled in than her.
Sunny feels rage. Mari might be playing around, but Sunny doesn’t appreciate her tone. Not if he’s going to lose and she’s going to win. Doesn’t his older sister have enough victories under her belt? Does Mari need one more trophy, one more accomplishment to loom over him? Does she have to be literally the best at everything?
Sunny puffs, the breath escaping from his body hot and laced with ire and competitiveness. The default emotions of any younger sibling challenged by an older, but a rare sensation for Sunny. He’s not one to try to outshine the sun.
But, everything, everything Mari has done, or will do, is so far above what Sunny will ever be capable of. She’s brighter than any star in the sky, and if she puts her mind to it, Mari can do anything. And, this is terrifying.
Sunny spent his entire life behind the cast of her great shadow. Can’t she let Sunny have one damn thing that’s his, and only his? His own accomplishment, his own achievement, without her light tainting it?
Mari can’t take this away from him. Sunny’s not going to play around anymore.
Sunny isn’t an emotional person. Well, except when he is. Most taunts and jeers he can shrug off pretty easily. There’s an armor of indifference that comes with being the youngest child in the family.
But, Pet Rocks was one of Sunny’s passions. He loved it because he knew no one in Faraway Town was as good at the game as he was. Pet Rocks was his turf, and he won’t stand for anyone traipsing over his self-imposed title of being the very best clasher in Faraway Town.
Mari is going down.
King Crawler is too weak to be sent out. Luckily, Sunny’s emergency Pet will be of use after all.
One Wing Jash is a beast if a clasher knows how to use him. Sure, the Pet is overrated just a little bit, but it’s because a lot of novice players like to use only one of Jash’s best moves.
Fools.
Jash has one of the best competitive kits in the older games. Buffs, a healing move, and high health can transform One Wing Jash from a mere attack Pet to the paragon of nightmares.
Sunny sends his pet, his finger mashes on the confirm button harder than necessary. He starts off with a harsh attack, a risky one that drains his hearts too, but it does it’s job and finishes off Medusa.
Good.
One Wing Jash’s healing item brings his hearts back to full.
It takes a few good seconds before Mari sends out her second Pet. Sunny burst out laughing, jarring Basil awake.
Mari sent out an underleveled Pet, Bunny. Probably freshly caught. Mari did say she enjoys fulfilling the Petlog more than battles. Maybe she forgot that clashes didn’t consist of one Pet anymore, but whole teams.
“Hmm? Is… it’s night already?” Basil mumbles half awake. “I told you I just wanted to rest my eyes,” he said as he covered his eyes with his forearm. He’s quiet for a moment, before finally reaching out for Sunny’s shoulder and using it for purchase to haul himself upright.
While Basil staggers up from his comfortable resting position, Sunny is quietly snickering to himself. Curious, and a little annoyed that his directions weren't followed and Sunny had allowed him to fall asleep, Basil nudges Sunny away from his Switch and intrusively leans in to peer at Sunny’s screen. But, after seeing that it was just Sunny having too much fun destroying someone at Pet Rocks, Basil merely huffs, partially in amusement, partially in exasperation.
Basil then rests his head on Sunny’s shoulder and watches idly as Sunny takes a screenshot of the game. Sunny has quite the sinister expression on his face.
“This game makes you toxic,” Basil comments sleepily, his nose scrunching in distaste.
“It’s fun to win,” Sunny counters, turning to give Basil a brief kiss on the corner of his mouth. A soft apology for waking him up. Then, immediately Sunny focuses his attention back on his game.
Basil shakes his head, and attempts to hide a light laugh.
“How are you not hungry after all that work?” Basil then stands, and makes his way to the kitchen. “There’s some leftovers from the dinner Polly made last night. Want some?”
Sunny nods. He’s famished actually.
Well, this won’t be a long battle. He just needs to knock out Mari’s pathetic excuse of a Pet, and endure whatever comes next. Should be a few minutes tops.
Sunny commands One Wing Jash to perform a brutal attack, knocking down Mari’s Bunny. It should have fainted, but Mari’s Bunny persists with a sliver of heart left.
Sunny squints his eyes at his screen in confusion.
It has an item.
Sunny groans. He didn’t expect Mari to use strategy in this clash. This is the FEAR strategy: Focus item, which endures any hit and leaves a Pet with a single heart; Endeavor, a Pet move that allows a Pet to lower it’s opponent’s health to match their own; Attack, some Pets have priority moves that allow them to strike first; And the ‘R’ simply stood for regret.
Mari’s Pet is already making it’s attack. Bunny uses Endeavor - taking out One Wing Jash’s heart pieces until there was just one left.
Sunny could switch out to King Crawler right now, but Mari still has a Pet with full health. It’ll be a problem. King Crawler stands a better chance against Mari’s unseen Pet than Jash who’s used up his only healing item, and is down to the one heart. Sunny’s going to have to sacrifice Jash.
Mari cornered him, and she knows it.
Older siblings, huh. Crushing dreams, and never letting you forget that they’re the better child.
Sunny watches as his superior Pet gets taken down by a mere little Bunny. He finishes the little monster off with King Crawler, but when Mari sends out her last Pet, Sunny knows it’s over.
Rose Lad isn’t a good competitive Pet, but it’s at a higher tier than King Crawler, and it’s resistant to King Crawler’s move set. Sunny accepts defeat, and watches as King Crawler’s hearts deplete to zero.
He lost.
“Hero beats me all the time, so Mari beating you is the same thing! Just don’t let it bother you.” A day passes, and Kel is back at Faraway Town.
Sunny has been moping, is moping still.
Basil is good at consoling Sunny, but this time around his patient care only made Sunny feel worse. Basil can't understand the tension that's arisen between the Kanashii siblings, and as devoted as he was to Sunny, Basil also has a strong sense of loyalty towards Mari. They were friends. Mari gave Basil his photo album. She gave him the idea to start his flower business. They call each other once a week. Sunny can't bring himself to put a wrench in their relationship.
Also, Sunny is vaguely aware that he shouldn't let his boyfriend be his damn therapist. There are reddit threads about people like that, and those types of people tend to be oblivious to their lack of emotional development. Plus, Basil can't and shouldn't solve all his problems, no matter how much the blond tries.
Sunny is just grateful that Kel arrived just in time for Sunny to unwind and complain. He’s the only friend who can truly relate to Sunny’s sibling problems.
Sunny explains it all, Mari’s delayed visit, the impromptu clash, and Sunny’s flaming desire for a rematch. He’s been fuming, livid, actually, since his sister one-upped him in his favorite game.
Kel tries to talk him down, telling Sunny to let the anger go. “Look,” Kel shrugs. “You have to admit that your sister is just a little competitive. She won one match, and you know that it wasn’t your main team. Why stress out about it?”
“Doesn’t it drive you crazy though?” Sunny groans, his face pressed down on Kel’s dusty bed pillows. No soft cushions, doesn’t smell like flowers, not as comfortable as Basil’s bed. There are orange juice stains. 3/10 Kel.
Kel tilts his head inquisitively. “What should drive me crazy?”
Sunny turns over, and scans Kel and Hero’s shared room. The trophies and awards have been lovingly dusted off and polished, reflecting Kel and Sunny within their clean surfaces. “Their… perfection. Isn’t it a thorn in your side? I love them, we love them, I mean but -”
“I don’t think they do this to make us feel bad,” Kel sighs out.
“It makes me feel awful, intentional or not,” Sunny replies, huddling in on himself. He’s tired, and sleepy. Sunny wants to retreat and take a nap for the rest of the day. He thought Kel would have the same conflicted, angry feelings regarding Hero. But, maybe this was a flaw on Sunny’s part.
“I guess I’m being overdramatic,” Sunny mutters. “I just hate being compared to her all the time, you know?”
“Well, that’s why I left,” Kel says honestly. “Hero went east, I went west. We’re an entire country apart. It’s working out for me. No one knows that I have an older brother, and I kind of like it that way. “
An uncomfortable silence lapses.
Sunny stares hard at the back of Kel’s head, his mouth slightly agape. He fumbled trying to find something to say to Kel. Sunny couldn’t decide between words of reassurance or words of agreement. In the end, Kel just says, “And if you’re wondering, if Hero went north and decides to become Santa Claus, then I’ll head south and become a penguin. That way, no one could expect presents from me for Chirstrmas.”
Kel looks thoughtful for a moment, and then grins to himself. “I’m using metaphors, Sunny. Our eleventh grade English teacher would be so proud. Ha, look at me: I’m so wise, so profound,” Kel tuts smugly. Kel laughs a little, but Sunny doesn’t laugh with him.
“Kel…”
“Some space will help, I think,” Kel says, not giving Sunny the space to analyze his friend’s words any further. Sunny knows when to back off - when things should be left as it is. If Kel says it works for him, then it works. No need to prod around and stick his head where it doesn’t belong.
“It’s so simple for you,” Sunny complains. “Hero isn’t obsessed with perfection. He’s just naturally good at everything. And Mari’s vision of perfection includes me, you know? She can’t leave me alone for one minute. She’s… relentless, like a predator. Always in pursuit, never stopping, never faltering until she gets the results she expects from not just herself, but her whole pack.”
Sunny throws his hands in the air, and lets gravity pull them down onto the firm mattress of Kel’s bed. The thud it makes is satisfying, and Sunny is aware that Kel isn’t as good at reading at the unspoken words behind Sunny’s nuances like Basil, but if it wasn’t evident, the thud means, Fuck it. I’m done.
“It’s admirable,” Kel comments, but his tone rises at the end in a questioning manner, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of Sunny’s metaphor.
“It’s insanity, Kel.”
“Tell her Pet Rocks are your thing and you called dibs. She has to find her own game to be a pro at,” Kel suggests.
Sunny groans. “It’s… not just the game,” he admits.
“I feel like I'm not good enough compared to Mari. I'll never be at her level, no matter how much I try. Our family… has expectations. They are either ordained by our parents, our grandparents, or some other relative who’s ‘made it’ or self-imposed, like Mari. Trying is not equal to succeeding, Kel. And, everyone in my family ensures we're aware of that. It’s suffocating. It really is. I didn’t notice it when I was a kid, but the older I got, the more they wanted some sort of pay-off from me. Like one day I was going to be the person they thought I could be.”
“It can’t be that bad,” Kel says.
Sunny sits up, and holds a finger up. “Remember, I wanted to take art classes for college from the start, and my mom pushed me to take computer science classes instead? I flunked everything, because, fuck, I didn’t want to go. I hated it. But, I didn’t want to disappoint her at first… And, this pattern repeats.” Sunny holds up a second finger. “The violin thing, remember that? I wanted to play with Mari, but ‘decent’ wasn’t good enough for her. That sucked.” A third finger. “Let’s not discuss the softball thing either. Ever. Dad’s recommendation, by the way. ” A fourth finger. “Japanese classes, because we needed to ‘get in touch with our culture again.’ Thanks grandpa. Disaster, all I remember from those lessons is how to sing ‘Mary had a little lamb.’ I'm nothing but a failure, Kel. They've given up on me a long time ago, and let me do whatever I want. All of them except for Mari.”
Kel is quiet for a moment, and contemplates as he twirls in his brother’s study chair. Kel comes to a halt after he gets dizzy though, and instead contemplates further as he turns to look at the wall with all of Hero’s achievements.
Sunny isn’t a mind reader, but the expression on Kel’s face is something very familiar. It’s a strange mixture of pride and love. There's a lot of pride, yes, a lot of love too. And the smallest hint of weariness and exasperation. Just a little bit.
“Have you tried talking to her about this? About how you feel? That she pushes you too far, or that roping you into her hectic life drives you crazy?”
“I can’t tell her that, it’ll break her heart,” Sunny flops back down onto Kel’s bed.
“Hmmmm,” Kel says. “Hmmmmmmmmm.”
Kel shrugs. “Sometimes you need to have a difficult conversation. I mean, dude, Hero and I got into a fight when I was still in high school and he had just started college. It was a bad one, I don’t even remember what we fought about. Or, uh, I remember some of it. Grades, responsibilities,” Kel threw his hands up. “Something like that, it doesn’t matter now, really. I had to set Hero straight though. He was expecting too much out of me. And, gosh, I’m not him. I can’t do the things he can.” Kel huffs and sighs, and for a moment he looks a little remorseful.
“Maybe I should have tried harder to be like him? I don’t know. But, believe it or not, I did try. And I couldn’t hack it, Sunny.”
Sunny is quiet for a moment, before speaking up. “I think I remember that,” he says. “You went to that cram school the summer before our junior year,” Sunny’s nose crinkles in disgust. Aubrey could hardly believe it. She thought Kel was being blackmailed, or dared to go, but it wasn’t the case at all. Kel was… miserable, but he was there willingly. He never explained why he did it though. Kel had stopped going about halfway through the summer and went back to doing Kel things. He never really brought it up after.
“Yeah, god that place sucked, Sunny. I remember getting home tired, too tired to even do my daily jog after. I had enough. I called Hero. I told him it was too much. I have my own things I’m good at, and I’d rather stick to it. Sure, he’s concerned for my future and whatever, but it’s my choice to make, y’know? So what if Hero planned out the rest of his life when he was like thirteen? I’m not him. Sometimes siblings need to learn that we aren’t a mini version of them. We have our own dreams, our own lives to live. We can’t follow their lead forever.”
Sunny sits up, his hair fraying out in odd directions. “Wow. Kel, that… Actually kind of helped, I think,” he says, surprised.
“Just don’t let her get you down, little man,” Kel says as he rises from his seat, a little wobbly, and puts a hand on Sunny's shoulder. Kel is a literal tower, despite Sunny having grown a few inches.
Sunny merely nods, and the two head downstairs.
Kel was right, Sunny can't follow Mari's lead.
He’s got to break free.
“Eat,” Aubrey says, shoving a spring roll into Sunny’s mouth.
To Sunny’s right, Basil watches with mild concern. There’s plates around the table, and in the center an array of food trays and dessert. Sunny had only grabbed a serving of beef stir fry, and finished it early during their reunion lunch. Basil had arranged it, Aubrey is currently enforcing it.
“Well, I did tell you to eat, or else,” Basil says after a moment. “Thanks, Aubrey.”
“If your boyfriend continues to be stubborn, I’ll be happy to help again,” Aubrey replies, returning to her seat on the other side of the table.
Sunny chews as he glares at the two conspirators. He sets his Switch down, and drinks a glass of water to wash down the food.
“You gotta stop playing to take care of yourself,” Basil scolds discreetly. And yet, the tone is off. Yes, Sunny can hear the agitation in Basil’s voice, but behind that, there’s something tender, something concerned and laced with a deep anxious worry.
Basil has seen Sunny at his worst, and when Sunny gets, well, emotional, worry eats at Basil to his core. Sunny gets worried back, and they become an unhealthy feedback loop of churning anxiety.
Sunny concedes, but only because he didn’t want to make his friends worry over him. He turns the console off, thinking of ways to optimize his training strategy while spending the least amount of time playing. There’s got to be a way to get his Diamond Edition pets in top shape without sacrificing precious friend time.
“What’s gotten you so obsessed, anyway?” Aubrey wonders. She reaches for her phone and continues to tap out a message.
“Family squabble,” Sunny replies and does not elaborate. Aubrey and Basil wouldn’t understand…
Kel, thankfully, does not disclose anything that was discussed in confidence, and simply continues to watch a video on his phone and munch noisily on his spring roll. Phone speakers on, by the way.
“So it’s Mari,” Aubrey concludes.
No one is allowed to have secrets in this friend group. They all know one another too well to lie properly. It’s all those games of poker, probably.
“Is it me or are you and Mari ‘disagreeing’ over something, like, almost every other month? Is that a new Kanashii tradition? What’s going on with you two?” Aubrey prods, uncaring if she’s stepping over, or crashing through some unspoken boundary.
Basil winces, and Kel slowly puts his phone down.
Unlike Kel, Aubrey is keen. Unlike Basil, Aubrey has audacity.
“Aubrey,” Basil says, his voice soft, but protective. “We shouldn’t pry. We don’t need to know everything about each other’s lives. As long as we have one another…”
“I’m just a little curious,” Aubrey argues, but Basil shakes his head.
“Some affairs we should keep to ourselves. Even I…” He unconsciously wraps a hand around Sunny’s forearm. Sunny places his free hand on top of Basil’s and squeezes slightly. He reassuringly sets Basil's hand back on the table, but keeps his own hand nearby as they eat.
Aubrey frowns to herself, and nods very slightly. “Hmph, right as always, Basil,” she replies.
Sunny sighs. He’s thankful for the years spent with Basil as his mouthpiece, and this problem with Mari is something beyond the soft-spoken boy’s understanding. This time around however, Sunny wants his intentions to be known.
“I want to defeat her,” Sunny says, simplifying the whole issue.
It’s an impossible feat, out of context, and Sunny quickly corrects himself. “At Pet Rocks,” he adds. There seems to be a sigh of relief among the table.
Basil nudges his plate of food in his direction, and Sunny can take the hint. He’s apprehensive to take from Basil’s plate though, because, well, Basil practically has an all vegetarian diet, and Sunny has a healthy appetite for meat. Somehow they make their difference in taste work out.
“At your nerd game?” Aubrey rests a check on hand with a bored expression on her face and takes a long slurp of pasta.
“Yes,” Sunny says as he takes a bite of his fried tofu. It’s completely drenched in soy sauce, but that’s how he makes it taste better. Basil can eat them, no condiments needed. Ugh.
“She’s coming back to town early. Same day as Hero,” Sunny announces.
“I think she mentioned that in the group chat?” Aubrey wonders out loud. Instead of second-guessing herself, Aubrey checks her phone. “Yup, sent this morning.”
Sunny nods. Mari’s professor had to leave the country for the summer, so her internship will be delayed for next semester. Mari had texted this to Sunny after their clash, but he was too upset to read it all, and just skimmed through the details.
“I think a break will be good for her. I mean, she wasn’t able to come home for Christmas or New Years even though Hero was here,” Basil says as he picks through the food trays and reaches for the one full of cut fruit. Sunny pushes it towards him.
“What’s so important about your nerd game anyway?” Aubrey asks as she reaches for her drink and takes a sip. “So, you lost, or something. Basil told me her win was just a fluke and you’re freaking out over nothing,” she comments. To which Basil starts slightly shaking his head and making a vague ‘cut it out’ motion in Sunny’s peripheral. When Sunny turns his head, Basil has the sense to look a little guilty.
“Oh, stop coddling him, Basil,” Aubrey says. “We don’t get sibling rivalries, I get it Sunny, but you should give yourself a break too. Don’t get so into your sister’s business that you forget your own. Basil’s been waiting all semester to see you and your face is glued to the screen like it’s your mistress.”
Sunny frowns and Basil’s face is as red as the roses in his bouquets. The flower boy shakes his head even more profusely. “A-Aubrey!”
“Sorry,” Sunny says as he faces Basil. He turns back to Aubrey, but squeezes Basil’s hand quickly. The hidden meaning in the gesture: We’ll talk about this later, alone.
Basil releases his hand, slowly. A silent confirmation.
Sunny turns back towards Aubrey. “I’m… distracted. A little bit. It’s been bothering me, losing, all the time. So, I’m taking Kel’s advice.”
There’s a beat of silence. And suddenly, Basil lets out a discreet giggle, and attempts to cover up his face with both hands. Aubrey guffaws loudly.
“That’s amazing!” Kel says in excitement, finally joining in the conversation. “Did you all hear that?” He swings his arms and does a fist punch, however the action launches his roll into the ceiling. It splatters, sticks to the roof for a whole second, before unsticking and landing back onto Kel’s face. The entire scene turns Basil’s giggle into a full burst of laughter. Aubrey is practically dying on the floor. She pounds and hammers her hands on the table while her body makes its way to the floor. There she holds her stomach and laughs harder.
Thank you, Kel. Your comedic timing is impeccable as always.
Kel laughs a little too, but not as hard as Aubrey and Basil are. In fact, he almost sounds a little melancholy. Sunny takes a quick peek at the table. That was the last spring roll.
Hide the tears, Kel. Hide them.
Kel takes a small moment to mourn, and recover. He sits back down, and glances at the spot on the table where the spring rolls had once been. He sighs.
“Well, anyway, good on you Sunny. I’m very wise, and you’re a smart guy. It’s great that you’ve finally seen the light. Quick question though, uh, what advice did I give again?”
Basil is helping Aubrey off the floor, but each time she laughs, he laughs back, and the two end up in a fit of giggles all over again. It’s going to take them a while to recover.
“Well, the Pet Rocks thing, that’s just me being spiteful. But after, I’m going to tell her what you told me. I don’t need her anymore, she isn’t my boss, and she can’t keep me in her shadow. I’m going to break free, like you did.” Sunny explains, determination ablaze in his eyes. “Exactly what you said.”
Kel furrows his brow, and thinks. “Uh, that doesn’t sound like-”
“Plus, I think beating her at something will show her that I can put my mind to the things that I like. Maybe then she’ll start leaving me alone like the rest of my family,” Sunny concludes.
Kel closes his eyes in deep concentration and holds his hands to his face like in prayer. “I think that's similar to what I said the other day… If that’s your game plan, then there’s no doubt it’ll work out.”
“Of course it’s going to work out,” Sunny replies. “It’s going to go exactly as I imagined it.”
Lunch concludes but only hours after they’ve finished eating.
Aubrey shares stories about her travels, the people she’s met, the crazy things she’s done.
Kel enthusiastically pulls out his phone and shares photos of blurry photos that he insists are of celebrities. Aubrey doubts some, but suddenly Kel pulls up a photo of him and a familiar looking person, to which Kel merely swipes away. He comments, “Oh yeah, while I was working my part-time job, my coworker wanted us to take photos with this rando who came in. I mean, I guess he’s… handsome? But, really, it was just some dude.”
Aubrey punches him on the shoulder. “That was Spiderman, Kel!”
“How would I know, Aubrey?! He always wears a mask, like, what the hell?”
“I might have to side with Kel on this one,” Basil says. “There’s… several actors who have played the same character in the past decade. How are we supposed to keep track?”
Aubrey makes an incredulous noise, and laments on how all of them grew up reading the same comics. How could they not watch all the movies? Or read the latest comics. What do they mean when they say they fell off the ladder? Aubrey can’t see it, but she's as much of a nerd as the rest of them. She just hides it better.
Sunny leans into the table and takes in the nostalgic scene. Some things never change.
Mari is coming back home. Mom and Dad insist on picking her and Hero up. The Alegrias offered to pick them up instead, but Mom and Dad were just too eager to see Mari. Sunny, despite having minor issues with his sister, wakes up early in the morning and goes with his parents to the airport.
As they neared the airport’s parking lot, Mom grew increasingly emotional, and increasingly loquacious. She had a habit of speaking when she was nervous, excited, emotional, well, feeling anything other than calm. Mom just liked to talk a lot. Sunny’s more like his father. Stoic, but a very good listener.
“Oh, Takashi, is that her plane? It must be!” Mom taps Dad’s shoulder rapidly. “It’s parked - Oh I hope she’s been eating well. I know you aren’t too keen on Hero, dearest, but he’s training to be a chef. He must feed her, so she must be eating like a queen! Unless, oh dear, unless he’s been too busy. Oh, that boy… He took Mari so far from us you know? To chase after his own silly dreams. He should have been like dear Basil. Sunny comes home every holiday. And, sure, it’s too see Mommy, definitely, but a good half of that must be because of his little sweetheart.” Sunny’s mom looks behind at Sunny. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
Sunny suppresses the urge to groan out loud. “Mom…” He says, but what comes out of his voice sounds a lot whinier.
The conversation drops once the car is parked and the family gets down. Sunny walks ahead of his mom and dad.
He’s trying to get his thoughts together.
Mom doesn’t remember, but wasn’t she the one who pushed Mari to take all those cram classes? To strive higher and higher until no one could see the girl behind the bright star?
Mari couldn’t come home because she was working.
Hero didn’t keep her in New York. Mari stayed there herself. Because she had to. Because she was a perfectionist. Because she didn’t want to disappoint their parents. And yet, Mari loves them, her mom and dad. Sunny does too, despite the differences and the arguments.
It was… complicated.
Not many people poured out of the terminal. It’s early in the morning for one thing, and this was only a small destination city surrounded by smaller towns.
Sunny could recognize his sibling’s silhouette anywhere. It’s the hair, really. She keeps it so long, but it’s the one trait Sunny could count on when trying to spot Mari in a crowd. It saved him from being lost when he was younger.
From a distance it looked like Mari was alone. Sunny can already imagine Hero getting caught up in another shenanigan. ‘Oh, this poor old woman was pulling her luggage all by herself, so I carried it to her car.’ Or, ‘This young mother needed help with her baby so I calmed him down.’ Typical Hero…
It was strange seeing Mari for the first time in a year. All of his thoughts, the dark ones especially, faded away. The notion of defeating her, the notion of separating himself and establishing his life away from hers, seemed less important now.
Mari didn’t notice his approach. She was holding a pamphlet, probably an advertising brochure from the airlines, and texting out something on her phone. Sunny feels his phone buzz in his pocket, and he doesn’t bother to look. Instead, Sunny rushes toward her. He takes a quick second to blurt out to his conversing parents that Mari was there.
He calls out her name, and Mari turns. Once she spots him, she waves back, and he could see her smile as he approached. Sunny threw his arms around her, and gave her a hug.
Mari was smaller, and had been smaller since his growth spurt in his senior year. Mari only chuckles, and hugs him back. Sunny can hear his parents behind him, trying to make up the distance between the family. They all came together, finally, in a big family hug.
Sunny liked hugs. They were nice, and they say so much more than words ever can. Sure, at times, Sunny is at odds with his family. They had different ideals, different perspectives, but a hug was a hug. An ‘I miss you’ was an ‘I miss you.’
Sunny values his family, he really does. So whenever they clash, it hurts. But only because Sunny thinks the world of them.
Sunny is the first to release himself from the onslaught of affection though. Hero is coming around the corner and waves towards the Kanashii family.
Sunny waves back, and the rest of the family disperses. And that’s when Sunny notices. Mari looked very pale. The airport’s white walls and clean bright floors amplified her sickly appearance. His mother and father are chatting with Hero, welcoming him back.
Mari gives Hero a small wave, and he winks back at her. Sunny catches the slightest hint of worry on his face. However, Sunny doesn’t choose to comment on it. His family isn’t the type to pry into anyone’s business (out in the open.)
Instead, Sunny goes and grabs Mari’s luggage carrier, and pushes it for her. They wait for their parents to finish thanking Hero for taking care of their daughter, but for a split second, Hero looks away with a guilty expression.
“I’m trying my best,” Hero says.
Sunny turns to Mari and watches as his sister adjusts the strap of her bag. "Are… How are you?" Sunny asks.
Mari’s voice is hoarse, not unexpected after a long flight, but the waver in her stance catches Sunny completely off-guard. He puts a hand on her shoulder to stabilize her.
“It’s this darn knee,” Mari says with a hollow laugh. “I swear, it’s going to be the death of me.”
“Are you alright? What happened?” Sunny asks, alarm in his typically impassive voice.
Before Mari could answer any of his questions, Sunny’s dad and Hero were already at her side. “Oh, Mari. We told you that you can still rest at the hospital if you were still feeling ill,” Sunny’s dad said.
Hospital?
Mari pats Sunny on his shoulder, indicating to him that she’d like him to let her go. Sunny reluctantly releases his grip on Mari. She attempts to stabilize herself but there’s a wobble in her leg that nearly sends her crashing to the floor. Sunny isn’t fast enough to catch her, but fortunately their father quickly comes to her aid. She manages to stand on her own again, and once she’s back on her two feet, she sends Sunny a strained smile. Sunny watches as his father hurries her out of the terminal, his mother and Hero trailing closely behind. Sunny pushes the luggage chart and follows them.
Mom chatters away the entire ride home.
Hero answers most of the questions, in that good-natured Hero way.
Mari laughs when there’s a joke, smiles when she needs to, but stays quiet and stares at her hands for most of the ride. Hero does his best to lighten the mood, lighten Mari's mood too, but it’s evident that she’s worn out and needs rest.
When they get home, Sunny silently helps Hero unpack. He carries Mari’s luggage inside with his dad. His parents escort Mari out of the car and attempt to usher her inside. But, before she goes in, Mari pulls Hero who was standing awkwardly by the door and pulls him into a gentle hug. Once they’re finished, Mari and his parents head inside. Sunny walks over to Hero as the brunet is gathering all his luggages.
“I can help,” Sunny offers.
“I really can’t impose,” Hero says.
“Yes you can. We’re practically in-laws,” Sunny says flatly. Somehow this catches Hero off-guard and he launches into a flustered stutter. Sunny takes the opportunity and physically gets in between Hero and his luggage. He makes a shooing motion at the other. “You’re exhausted,” Sunny accuses with a frown. “Let me help.”
Hero lets out a shaky breath, and acquiesces. He moves aside so that Sunny can access the luggages.
“Something happened,” Sunny concludes. Hero looks away, an expression of guilt etched on his face. Sunny doesn’t press any further though. Hero tries his best to look after Mari, and although Hero doesn’t look as worn out as his sister, the older man is visibly distraught.
“You’ve probably heard from your parents. I don’t have much to add,” Hero says but Sunny shakes his head.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Oh, gosh, Sunny. Your parents didn’t tell you? Mari didn’t tell you? No, wait, hold that thought… Of course she didn’t tell you,” Hero mutters.
“Mari said her instructor, or professor, or whoever canceled the internship. “
Hero shakes his head slowly.
Sunny exhales. Unbelievable. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
Hero nods.
They manage to compromise on the luggages with each boy carrying two. They make their way back to the Alegria house. The sun had not risen yet, but Sunny could hear the town beginning to wake up. Birds were chirping and crowing their morning songs, and cars were beginning to pass by.
“She wanted to finish her hours in advance… And, well, there was an extra position for her: an office assistant at a nearby law firm. She wasn’t getting enough sleep though. She still had to study once she got home.” Hero grimaced. “Fuck, I should… Maybe I should have forced her to stop. We could have come home a week ago, but she insisted on just 2 months more. You know me, I can’t say no to Mari…”
They arrive at the front door, but Hero doesn’t make a motion to open it. He runs a hand through his hair, and Sunny has a gut feeling that Hero’s last few days in New York were rough on both him and Mari.
“She blacked out at work. She was, I’m not sure, I wasn’t there, Mari just dropped. The receptionist at the law firm just said she was carrying a bunch of boxes and suddenly, she tumbled over and was out cold. They brought her to the hospital on Monday, and once she woke up, she just wanted to come home.” Hero looks frenzied, but manages to calm himself down after a moment.
Sunny is stunned. Hero’s fortitude is something to behold. Sunny merely nods, not entirely sure how to proceed. He’s not great at comforting people, or reading people. Okay, his social skills are rather nascent due to his friend group’s overprotectiveness of him. When someone in the friend group needed help, it would come from Mari. She was always there for all of them.
Without another word, Hero unlocks the front door and steps inside. Sunny hauls in the two luggage he had on hand and sets it by the front door. Once he’s done, he retreats outside. Sunny waits for Hero awkwardly at the door, trying to come up with words of comfort. His mind fails him though.
Sunny’s good at imagining the words he could say to people, imagining the things he could do, the type of person he’d like to become. But, all of that imagining is futile in the face of actually putting plans into action. Sunny loses his nerves. Sunny can never pull through. He thinks, and thinks, and then the moment passes and then he regrets.
In some way, isn’t imagination a form of expectation?
Sunny can faintly recall the visions his imagination has conjured up over the years. When he was twelve, he imagined accompanying his sister as they played their favorite melodies together. And, when he couldn’t perform the way he’d envisioned, he accused Mari of having high expectations. The truth is though, the truth was though, Sunny wanted to quit.
If he wasn’t the best, then why should he bother. If he couldn’t play in the same fashion he fantasized, then why go through all the hassle? Why try at all?
Wasn’t this the case of a lot of the things he picked up and tried?
The only thing that he never gave up on, was the one thing he didn’t imagine himself getting good at. Sunny played because it was fun. Sunny did well because it was fun.
When… When did he stop having fun with his sister? When did his own expectations get in the way of his relationship with her?
Sunny stands at the door, mouth agape and eyes downcast. Get it together, a little voice in his head tells him. Sunny blinks, and shakes his head. Hero is kneeling down, and is pulling stuff from his carry on.
“Hero,” Sunny calls. Hero turns. “Get some rest, Hero,” Sunny finally says.
Hero sends a kind smile. “I’ll be sure to do that. Can… Can you make sure Mari gets some rest too?”
“I’ll sleep on Mewo’s old cat bed if I have to,” Sunny replies. Hero sputters and laughs. Sunny waves as he closes the door behind him.
Sunny wakes up to the sound of a familiar but unknown language. He’s not used to waking up before sunrise, and immediately passed out on the couch once he returned home. It’s… Friday, so Mom and Dad are at work at the moment and…
“Pankeki,” he hears again. “Pankeki, pankeki, pankeki,” he hears repeated over and over again.
His stomach rumbles, and he hears a loud burst of laughter.
“Ah, he wakes,” Mari says in slight amusement. “Did you dream of pancakes?”
“What… Are you doing?” Sunny asks groggily.
“Multi-tasking. I’m recuperating, while also practicing my hiragana slash Nihongo,” Mari replies. She presses on her phone and a woman’s monotone voice enunciates the word again.
“Fairly sure that’s… uh, what’s the word? Kata-something,” Sunny hauls himself up. Mari is huddled in the other corner of the couch, with books and her phone out in front of her.
Sunny yawns. “Recuperating and practicing cancel each other out by the way.” He snatches Mari’s study notebook and gently tugs at it until she lets go.
“Hey-”
“Hero said you fainted because you weren’t getting enough sleep,” Sunny says plainly. It feels weird, turning the tables. Scolding Mari for not taking care of herself the same way she’s done to him. But, Sunny kind of understands now, where the exasperation and irritation comes from.
Mari shakes her head and frowns. “What was I supposed to do? I failed a class, Sunny,” she says spitefully. “I was trying to make up for my missing credits.”Mari curls up on the couch, and Sunny approaches her tentatively. Mewo jumps from behind the couch and immediately settles into Mari’s lap.
“What?” Sunny replies in shock.
“I. Failed,” Mari grits out. “Flunked. Bombed,” Mari tears up and begins to sob. “Hero doesn’t know though, neither does Mom or Dad. I’m such a failure, I let everyone down. My scholarships are still active but I’m going to have to pay to retake the course out of pocket!” Snot runs down her nose, and Mari’s previously sheet-white face is red and blotchy.
“How could I have let this happen?” She cries. “I hate law. I don’t want to be a lawyer. It’s depressing, reading, and reading, and then mock-trials, and then more reading. And then, paper work, and then you have to help awful people. People that want tenants off their land because they can’t afford rent, people who want to leave their wives for younger faces. I wanted to help people, Sunny. Not like this though. I… I couldn’t concentrate. I, just. Ugh.”
Mari puts her head in her hands. “I couldn’t put my heart into it. I wanted to quit.”
Sunny laughs.
Mari angrily takes an accent pillow and flings it at his face.
“Knock it off, Mom just bought those,” Sunny tries to say, but Mari quickly interjects.
“What’s your problem? I know we don’t get along that well anymore, but can’t you have a little sympathy?”
“I do!” Sunny replies, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I know exactly what you mean. You don’t want to let anyone down, and you’re doing what they expect you to do. You’re doing what you, yourself, expect to be done. I think… I think you should just quit,” Sunny says. “Don’t be a lawyer. Give it up and do something else.”
“Wh-what? I haven’t failed at anything in my life! Never, ever,” Mari replies a little vulnerable, a little defensively.
“Quitting isn’t failing,” the younger counters. “I quit all the time,” Sunny adds. “Mom and Dad don’t care.” Sunny blinks. He’s… surprised himself with the words falling out of his mouth. It’s true though, isn’t it? Mom and Dad won’t care as long as they’re both happy.
“I’m not you,” Mari emphasizes the last word by stabbing her pointer finger into Sunny’s forearm. She pulls her hand back and sulks into the seat. “I’m the older one, and I must succeed. Mom got her law degree before she married dad,” she sighs dejectedly.
“So? You’re not Mom or Dad,” Sunny says. “Also, I’m not you either.”
“Logical observation.”
“ You do realize that they don’t expect you to follow in their footsteps. They push you to strive, but, I’m fairly sure it’s in the general direction of success. I don’t think they want you to be exactly like them,” Sunny says with a shrug. Well, now that he’s saying it out loud, this advice… is awfully relatable.
“Wise words, little brother,” Mari murmurs. She pets Mewo who’s begun to cry for attention. “But, I don’t think it applies to me…” Mari sighs sadly and smooshes her face into Mewo’s dark fur.
“Did you… Talk to them about how you're feeling?” Okay, this conversation was feeling a little too familiar.
“No…” Mari turns and watches Sunny carefully. “Should I? Would it be a good idea?” Like Basil, she can read the smallest nuances of Sunny’s body language. She’s not as good, truthfully, but she’s well-versed enough to get a general idea of what Sunny is thinking.
“Do you have something you want to say to me?” She asks as she tilts her head.
Sunny inhales.
“Actually, yeah. I think you try too hard,” Sunny confesses.
“I think you work too hard to impress Mom and Dad who love you, and Mom’s too proud to say that she wants you home more often_._ And, well, when you push yourself hard, you stress yourself out, and you don’t realize it, but you stress me out too.”
“Oh, Sunny. I’m sorry,” Mari says after a moment of silence. “But, I don’t care if you do well in class or not. I just… Call, because I’m worried. And, sometimes… I don’t know what to say to you.”
Sunny grabs the accent pillow that was tossed at him and flings it right back at his sister’s head. “See!” he says. Mewo cries as she’s dislodged from her owner’s comfortable lap. She meows and goes off to look for a comfortable napping spot.
“Gosh, you’re so mean!”
“You don’t care if I quit or fail,” Sunny says smugly.
Mari lifts her finger in protest, and begins to deny his claim, but then shuts her mouth, and contemplates.
“It can’t be that simple,” she mutters.
“Advice from Kel.”
“No kidding?” Mari stares off into the distance, and continues to think.
1 YEAR LATER
“Look at this one, boss,” Mari calls.
“Please, do not call me that. It’s… A little weird for me,” Basil replies, as he brushes the dirt from his clothes and makes his way towards Mari.
“What about ‘little brother-in-law?’” Mari says instead.
“W-when did you become such a bully?” Basil whines, but Mari can tell he’s delighted by the title.
Basil leans close and looks at Mari’s flower arrangement. “It’s good!” the gardener compliments. “Joy would love it. Don’t forget to include the note her father wrote down,” he says as he heads back to the patch of flowers he was trimming.
“I can’t wait to see the look on her face,” Mari says as she claps her hands together excitedly. “She’s heading off to high school. Gosh, it feels like it was just yesterday Sunny was tutoring her.”
Basil simply hums in agreement, too focused on his task to properly reply. Aubrey stops by later in the day and helps Mari and Basil package some of the merchandise he’s been meaning to ship out.
“I really appreciate the help, Mari,” Basil says as he hands her a glass of water.
Aubrey grabs snacks from Basil’s pantry and merely calls out, “I’m taking my payment in food form if that’s okay with you.” Basil gives her a thumbs up, and Aubrey settles the food on the table.
“I really don’t mind helping. I’ve been jittery all day,” Mari replies with a laugh.
“You don’t need to worry, Mari. You’re going to ace that interview,” Basil encourages.
“The principal would be an idiot to reject you,” Aubrey adds. “Granted, you and I did start the hair dye trend back in high school… But it wasn’t our fault that people started copying us,” Aubrey ranted. “You’d be an awesome teacher.”
“Nerves are still nerves, I’m afraid. I’m glad that you two are here to cheer me on! I’ll be fighting the whole time, well, not physically fighting, but I’ll be keeping up a good fighting spirit!” Mari makes two very tiny fist pumps and Basil and Aubrey mimic her gesture.
“You have our full support,” Aubrey says. “And our vengeance,” she adds darkly.
“Mostly our support,” Basil says, unphased by Aubrey’s comment and malicious tone. He is smiling kindly.
“Oh, shoot. I should be heading to it now,” Mari says. She waves goodbye to her friends and goes outside. She’s in her car, about to start it, when she receives a text message from Sunny.
He should be getting on his flight back to Faraway Town tonight, and he’s supposed to be preparing. Her brother was doing what he did best, procrastinating. Mari shakes her head as she opens up the message.
Sunny: i totally forgot, but i want a rematch
Sunny: pet rocks
Sunny: diamond edition
Sunny: after your interview and after the plane touches down
Sunny: oh yeah
Sunny: good luck on that by the way
Sunny: 3v3
Mari: Gosh, I haven’t touched that game since I was stuck in a hospital bed!
Sunny: it’s for fun
Sunny: can’t we play for fun : )
Mari: I’ll have you know that I don’t intend to lose
Sunny: good.
Sunny: but i’ll have you know that not everyone has to be the very best
Later that evening Sunny wipes her entire team with just one Pet, but Mari laughs.
“You win this time, little brother, but I’m not giving up!”
Well, that's the end! I have some regrets with this fanfic - most notably the rush ending and including Sunny/Basil for no reason.
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