Hidden Mysteries

More Questions, But Less Answers

AN: This chapter is really split in half, technically? I decided to cut this chapter in half purely because I felt like the chapter was getting too long already. (As of now, the chapter itself is 5k words post-split...and I'm not even done with the second half.) I'll try to have the next half out as soon as I can! :)
I don't think there's anything I need to warn about in this chapter, but if there is just let me know! Happy reading!

We had decided to investigate the basement the following night. Test Tube and Fan could easily leave the house late without suspicion, being teenagers, but Balloon and I weren't as fortunate. Luckily, Test Tube had thought things out for us.

"Just go about your night as normal, act like nothing's up at all," she had told us. "Then once your families are all asleep, leave the house. Me and Fan pulled this stunt all the time at your age to go stargazing at the park, they hardly ever notice."

So here I was, playing a kart game in the den with Knife and Balloon (who had stayed over for dinner). Balloon wasn't doing so bad, but me and Knife were neck-and-neck for first place.

"Don't get cocky, Suits!" Knife cackles. "Might've been a while since we've raced each other, but I still got it!"

"Hah! As if!" I lean over to the right slightly, my tongue poking out of my mouth as I focus in on the final lap. "I've had tons of practice with Balloon, I'm still on top of my game!"

"We'll see about that then, kiddo!" Knife grins, his character grabbing an item box, only to get blasted by a spiky shell. "What the?!"

Balloon snickers. "Guilty as charged!"

"Well played, Balloon! But that won't stop me from beating you two!"

I scoff slightly, squinting as me and Knife approached the finish line. It was a very close call, but I was the first to cross the finish line, my older brother placing second behind me. "Ha-HA! Told ya I'd win!"

"Aw, beat me again!" Knife groans. "Man, Pickle'll never let me live this down."

"I'm not surprised. Suitcase is ruthless at video games, she's beaten me every time so far!" Balloon chuckles. "She doesn't even go easy on me."

"That tends to run in the family, heh." Knife ruffles my hair. "Gets it from yours truly!"

"Knife!" I giggle, pushing my brother's hand away from my hair. "C'mon, stop it!"

Nickel comes into the den, knocking lightly on the doorframe. "Knock, knock. How's it going in here?"

"Hey Nickel." I smile up at Nickel, while Balloon only waves timidly. He's still a bit uneasy around Nickel, probably because he knows Nickel doesn't like him too much. Really, I'm positive Nickel only tolerates Balloon because Baseball told him to. "Things're going fine in here, we just finished another game."

"Suitcase creamed the both of us. She doesn't even have sympathy for her own brother." Knife just narrowly misses getting beaned in the head with a throw pillow.

Nickel snickers. "Well, I'm glad you guys and Balloon are having fun, but Tea Kettle's here to take Balloon home for the night."

"Aaaawwwww!" Me and Balloon chorus. We're not really upset, since we know we'll see each other in a few hours, but obviously our families couldn't know. It had to look like we wouldn't see each other until school the next day.

"You have to go home already?" I turn to Balloon. "It feels like you just got here!"

"Time flies by, doesn't it?" Knife chuckles, ruffling my hair again. "Don't worry, you two'll see each other tomorrow morning, right?"