Mari's return

Hero

“Wow, Mari! Your new hair color looks pretty good on you!” exclaimed Kel as he examined Mari’s new purple hair color while standing in the doorway to her house.

“Aw, thanks, Kel!” replied Mari. “Aubrey sure did a great job didn’t she?”

“Heh, it’s probably the only good thing she’s done,” joked the tan boy, as a firm hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Kel, even if Aubrey isn’t here, you shouldn’t insult her. But you’re right, Mari does look absolutely stunning,” complimented Hero while flashing his infamous pretty-boy smile.

A smug grin grew upon Mari’s face, “Oh my, is flattering me the first thing you decide to do after vanishing on me for three whole weeks?”

“H-huh? I didn’t- I mean- I just needed some space... to process things... and study, okay?” claimed the man as he became flustered from Mari’s teasing.

Mari laughed as she watched his reaction, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you Hero. Mom’s been keeping me busy anyway and with what happened… Well, it’s all in the past. But what are you two doing here?” She asked as the two brothers had suddenly stopped by her house unannounced.

“Well Hero’s been moping around the house for the past few-” before Kel could finish explaining, Hero placed his hand over the boy’s mouth to hide his recent apathetic actions.

“Actually, we were going to grab some lunch, and were wondering if you and...” Suddenly Hero fell quiet. Turning around, Mari could see just why the man had stopped as her brother appeared into view. Her attention was soon brought back to Hero as he cleared his throat and noticed small beads of sweat on his face, “A- anyway we were planning on picking up some sandwiches from Gino’s. We called ahead and ordered a few extra in case you guys wouldn’t mind joining us.”

“Oh, Hero, of course, we’d be delighted to join you,” beamed Mari, who was excited to spend more time with her friends. But the question was, did her brother share the same sentiment? Turning back to face him, “Wouldn’t we, Sunny?” she asked with a smile.

A faint murmur could be heard from the boy, yet no one around him could make out what it was. Realizing this, he just gave a thumbs up in response.

But that wasn’t the only thing he gave, Mari noticed as a few small changes in his cliff-faced expression peered through. Ever since the events at the hospital, Mari’s been helping the boy with his speech, expressions, and the plethora of schoolwork he needed to catch up on. However, watching the fruits of his training right now, Mari felt a tinge of regret as she saw how uncomfortable and scared her brother was at her suggestion. It was the first time she had seen him like this in a while. She wasn’t sure why he was so bothered by the idea, after all, Kel and Basil had come by a few times with some new games to play together. But, it soon became clear to her that it wasn’t Kel that he was bothered by, it was Hero. After all, the last time Sunny had seen Hero was when he stormed out of the hospital after explaining that his girlfriend was killed and hung in their backyard.

Sunny’s apology and confession still never received any acceptance from Hero for what happened to Mari. After all, because of him, Hero had been hurt, ruined, and broken. Even if he appeared fine and was content with the way he’d been living the past four years, there was no way to actually undo all the pain, anguish, and torment that he’d been through. It was devastating for Mari to see the two people she loved the most be incapable of being near each other. So to fix this, she decided to take a risk.

“Oh my, I almost forgot, there’s a leak in the sink. Could you take a look at it, Hero? I’ve never had to fix pipes in the other world after all,” lied Mari