Rock Between Us (Stardew Valley Fanfic)

Shaken

"Why does he have to be so stubborn?"

Never once did it occur to Maru. She was also stubborn about Sebastian going up into the mountain to climb on the trails. Instead, she mulled over how her father seemed perfectly okay with Sebastian doing something dangerous that their mother wouldn't be pleased to find out he was up to, or at least Maru was sure she wouldn't be.

"And why does he have to be such a lousy older brother, half-brother? Why couldn't I have had a normal one," Maru thought as she sat behind the desk at Harvey's clinic, still steamed that Sebastian was doing something dangerous while not realizing she cared if something happened to him. "Not that he cares. And if he does get hurt, he'll be stubborn and not come to Harvey to get it checked out. Goodness knows the number of times I've caught him treating himself for some scrape he should see Harvey for."

The clinic's door, and Sam—Sebastian's best friend, stepped in. "Yo!"

"And what are..." Maru stopped asking Sam what he was doing there, watching as Sam held the door open for another person—two to be exact. Sam being helpful was strange enough, given how he and Sebastian more often caused trouble with Sam creating the chaos and her brother being at the helm. Yet, the stranger thing was how Maru couldn't help but notice that the two who entered actually looked like Sebastian.

They looked like Sebastian, something which would never be the case between her and her older-half brother.

Yet, as she stood there, Maru couldn't help but shake the feeling that she'd seen the older of the two before, that he was the third person in the photo Maru caught a glimpse of, the other two being Sebastian and the man she guessed was Sebastian's father. Which meant that this person—

"So, Maru. Brought these two to the clinic because she tripped and needs some first aid for some scrapes."

To which Maru frowned, taking in the suitcases the older of the two pulled, on top of which was a pastel pink slime doll grinning at her as if mocking her at that very moment, for she knew it was odd for strangers who looked like they could be related to Sebastian to show up suddenly out of nowhere. The older two turned and looked at her. "So, I'm Yuichiro..."

Maru felt her eyes widen; her mouth open slightly. "I thought so. I thought he was the person Sebastian and dad were talking about, or at the very least someone who had a connection with Sebastian."

Only, what Yuichiro said next, made her heart sink.

"And this is my little sister, Sannan."

"Little sister?" Maru asked, attempting to smile at them while—Sam was definitely smirking, enjoying the moment and waiting to see what would happen, almost as if he'd figured out who they were already.

"We're here to see aniki," the girl said, holding out her hands to show they'd been pretty scraped up.

"Aniki? I'm not familiar with that word," Maru said, knowing the word was likely from another language. After all, she'd heard Sebastian mutter things in a language she didn't understand, making her feel left out when he did, yet never asking lest he verbally chewed her out for invading his personal space.

"It's what you call your oldest brother," the girl said. "Our of respect."

"Oldest brother. As in..." There was that feeling, a definite feeling of jealousy at what that girl said. In particular, it suddenly felt like Sebastian was more of a brother to that little girl than he'd ever been to her, but thinking that at that moment hurt.

"Sannan," Yuichiro shook his head, placing his hand on his sister's shoulder. "You don't need to bother the nice lady."

"Is he a nice older brother?" Maru said, keeping her voice calm or hoping she'd managed to, so she at least looked professional.

The girl pointed, wincing a little as she did at the pastel pink plushie. "He got that for me."

Maru didn't remember Sebastian leaving the valley for an extended period—not since he turned sixteen. "That seems like a super awesome brother thing to do."

"I know!"

"Sort of," Yuichiro muttered. "And can we get her scrapes looked at?"

"Sure. I'll go get Doctor Harvey," Maru said, getting up from the desk, before heading into the back. "Doctor Harvey. You've got patients. Some out of towners."

"Oh. Coming," her boss said, coming forward, only to stop as he looked at the two now sitting in the clinic chairs, waiting for Harvey to come out and take care of the scrapes, with their luggage pulled to the side. Sam was leaning against the clinic entrance while Yuichiro glared at him.

And if the situation wasn't awkward enough—

"Maru..."

"Yes?"

"Are they related to..."

"Please don't," Maru said, not wanting to think about how a family of her half-brother she didn't know about had suddenly shown up out of nowhere. "In fact, I've never really thought about how much there is. I don't know about Sebastian, not that he would have ever told me anything about himself, what with how aloof he is. But the idea he might have actually acted like a big brother even somewhat."

"Maru?"

"I'm fine," Maru said. Her name didn't seem to faze Yuichiro, meaning he didn't know who she was, but then there was no way for him to see that she and Sebastian were also siblings, given how, unlike him and Sannan, she didn't look like Sebastian. "Funny how dad mentioned something about calling him my half-brother, insisting that he was my brother."

She watched as Harvey walked over, taking a look at the little girl's hand, still feeling frustrated as Sebastian's Sam watched as if wondering how she, of all people, would react to the presence of Sebastian's other siblings. Her boss didn't seem fazed. "These are pretty nasty."

"I tripped on my suitcase, so nii-chan is now carrying everything."

"Stardew Valley is rather remote."

"We're visiting family," Yuichiro said.

"I figured as much," Harvey said despite Maru asking him not to say anything, or at least she hoped that she implied as much.

And she wondered what she should do, given they were related to Sebastian, albeit she was surprised her brother hadn't mentioned anything about them coming.

And then the earth shook—an earthquake.