"The World is Full of Fishes, But I Trust You" [ TEMPRARILY DISCONTINUED ]

Friendship (Prolougue)

"So, Sunny, you excited to be in the duet in a few weeks?"
Mari had asked.

Sunny let out a quiet, yet audible "mhm"

In all reality, he was, of course. Sunny hadn't at first, but he found that he grew fond of playing his violin. Not to mention that he liked the idea of being with Mari, even if it was on stage- he knew she'd understand if something went wrong. He had practiced every single day from two months ago. He even showed his part of the duet to Aubrey one time. 

Mari and Sunny were on their way to Faraway Park, a loud and bustling yet quiet and humble park as described by a memorial rock in the park. They were right by the park by now. Today was a more quiet day over at the park, though it was most likely to lose that trait in a bit, because Sunny and Mari's friends were all meeting up. 

Sunny had multiple friends, mostly introduced by his big sister, Mari. 

He knew Aubrey, Basil, Hero, and Kel. He enjoyed the time he spent with these people despite not showing this clearly. He was more quiet and blank compared to his big sister. Some people found this to be strange, thinking Sunny would've talked more because of how many friends he had, and how many times they'd hang out. 

Sunny and Mari had arrived in the park, they were waiting for their friends on a picnic table, and Mari laid down a basket onto it.
In this time, Sunny quietly looked down at the ground, slightly tapping his fingers on the rough texture of the table. 

"Hey Sunny! Hey Mari!" 

Sunny looked to the side, seeing Aubrey running over to where they were. 

"Hello Aubrey, do you know where everyone else is?" 
Mari asked.

"Um, I saw Kel And Hero on the other route here, Basil said he couldn't come over because his grandma said he couldn't."

"Aw that's a shame..."

Just then, Sunny heard a loud "HEY!"

No doubt that it was Kel and Hero. 

Sunny looked behind him to see them, giving a slight wave. 

A high five was then received from Kel, and Sunny smiled slightly. 

Hero sat next to Mari, both leaning on each other. A romantic atmosphere formed between the two, this was normal considering they were dating, this felt like a sign to leave due to the awkwardness. Kel and Aubrey were probably already fighting over some tiny thing, and most likely to be initiated by Aubrey's eggplant plush.

Sunny walked over to where they were, which was under a slide. This is where they normally were, no matter a fight or a bit of chat. 

Cards were on the wood chip ground, Aubrey and Kel were playing go fish, it seemed. Sunny couldn't tell who was winning- not because it seemed like a tie, but they were just arguing over the rules. He couldn't tell who was winning over that argument. It looked like any fight they had over a tiny thing that could most likely be solved in a small sentence or two. 

"No! you give seven cards because it's the rules, I saw it!"
Kel said.

"But we normally play with five right?!"

Both of them were completely unaware that Sunny was right next to them. 

"Give me the rules then!" 

"This card deck doesn't uh... have any... I lost it."

"See this is why we never use anything from you!" 

"Oh but you can somehow bring cards that are chewed up and torn by your dog?"

"Hey! At least they look better, your cards are just black and white..."

"Well yours are stinky!" 
Aubrey nearly screamed. 

Of course, this drew over Mari and Hero. They'd always come over whenever someone would scream, even if they both knew it was some petty fight. Mari had told Sunny to try to break up their fights, but Sunny didn't quite know how to break up fights, so he'd wait for Mari to break them up. Whenever Sunny would try to break up a fight, he'd just trip over his words, or not find the right ones. 

"Alright you two, what's going on now?"
Mari asked in a soft and slightly annoyed voice. 

"Aubrey doesn't have a rules card and now she's not listening to me!"

Mari looked at Aubrey, then Sunny.

"Well, it looks like you didn't see someone who could stop you from that argument, Kel and Aubrey."
Hero said.

Sunny jumped at the sudden attention pointed to him, after all, he didn't really have any involvement in the argument because it was constantly going on, making it so he couldn't intervene in any pauses between words because his words would get drowned out compared to the arguing children's loudness. 

"Uhm... I think you give five for more than two people... a-and seven for two people."
Sunny spoke lightly.

"See? Now, no more arguing for today."

Aubrey pouted in defeat while Kel stuck his tongue out at her.

"Kel, that doesn't mean make fun of Aubrey for being wrong." 

Sunny heard a low groan from Kel as he crossed his arms, passive aggressiveness in his stance.

Mari tapped on Sunny's shoulder and gestured for him to follow him. Sunny had a feeling he was about to be lectured about how he should stand up or something along those lines. He knew it was all in good intent but it was so tiring listening to what felt like the same words. 

Mari had led Sunny over to the table Mari had set up for a picnic. 

"Sunny, why didn't you try to stop them?"

It sort of felt weirdly serious considering the reasons as to why the argument started in the first place, but then again, he was right there, most likely able to stop the argument if he would speak louder than he always would. 

"I couldn't stop them... they were constantly talking. I'm sorry I-"

"Nonono no apologies, you answered my question and that's all I wanted, I understand now, okay?"

Sunny nodded and looked over to Kel, who was very obviously eavesdropping behind a tree a bit far from the table. 

"Ok Sunny, you're free to go, besides, it looks like somebody wants to talk to you..."
Mari said as she looked over to the tree Kel stood behind, resulting in him jolting upwards, yet still you could see him, just peering slightly to the side of the tree. Mari giggled a little.

Sunny walked over to the tree and looked Kel in the eyes.

"Dangit! your sister's good at spotting people, I thought for sure nobody would see me this time..." 

Sunny smiled a bit.

"Well um, I didn't bring cards but what I did bring were jacks pieces! so I wanted to ask you if you wanna play a game of jacks?"

Sunny nodded.

"Alright! let's go over to the table, it has a better surface."
Kel grabbed Sunny's hand and ran, as if reminding him that if he hadn't grabbed his hand he'd be as slow as a snail trying to get to the table.

Sunny felt warm, like this was a moment he had relived so many times, yet was always comforted by it.

Sunny awoke, darkness surrounding him, he lost the feeling of comfort at this point, knowing he had woken up in a place where nobody was there, even if he pushed others away and full well knew the consequences.