You're back, Mari

Chapter 2: Familiar Flowers

"Goooooood morning, Sunny! Rise and shine!" Hero opened the door with a beam, seeing Sunny standing not too far away. Could've accidentally hit him with the door, Hero thought with a wince. "I noticed the To-Do List with the chores your mom gave you, so I finished them all! Hope you don't mind!" Hero clapped his hands together. "Also, I made you breakfast. Come down and get it while it's still warm...Kel's already on his second plate!" He chuckled and then turned right back out of the room.

Hero heard the door open and close again once he was by the stairs. Against his better judgment, he sneaked a glance at Sunny. Sunny headed toward the bathroom, eyes...unfocused. Hero quickly turned away, rushing down the stairs and biting his lip hard. It wasn't itching. It wasn't itching.

After getting back into the kitchen, Hero watched Kel continue to inhale everything he had prepared and sighed fondly. He went back to the pan and started placing on more bacon for Sunny, figuring Kel wasn't leaving anything for his friend.

"Top of the morning, Sunny!" Hero jumped a bit at Kel's shout, having not heard Sunny even walk in. "You better..." Kel spoke with his mouth full, "start eating before I finish it all! I already ate most of the bacon though..." Kel mumbled the last part.

"Another plate of bacon, coming in hot!" Hero prepped the plate and placed it right next to where Kel's plate was. Hero looked to Sunny and smiled.

"Oh, boy! All for me? Thanks a bunch, bro! Heh heh!" No, Hero wanted to say, that definitely wasn't for you. Instead, he just shrugged at Sunny, who didn't seem very interested in eating anyway. At that thought, Hero clenched his fists, looking down before anyone could see his expression. Stop it. It's fine. Sunny's just not hungry right now. It's...it's normal. It isn't like it explains completely why Sunny looks so unhealthy. Ha...ha...

There was knocking. "Who could that be? I'll go get the door." Kel wiped his hands on his pants–Kel, gross–and walked out of the kitchen. Before Hero could grab the plate and maybe try and convince Sunny to eat, there was a loud spitting sound. "IT'S YOU!"

"EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW! What is all this!? What the heck, Kel!?" Hero had a feeling Kel might have just done something unnecessary again. He walked out of the kitchen, hearing Sunny following behind him.

"Huh? What's going on over there?" Hero glanced at Kel's defensive stance. A girl sporting a side shave with, unfortunately, eggs in it, was grumbling and wiping at her head. It was Kim.

"Dangit, Kel...Now I have eggs all over me..." Kim patted her blue hoodie, grimacing.

"Well...I'm sorry, but..." Kel rubbed the back of his neck. "You're the last person I'd expect to see here." After Kel stopped emanating confusion, his whole body tensed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Kim tapped her foot, grumbling under her breath. "I was just about to get to that!" After snapping, her expression calmed. She adjusted her glasses and glanced down, biting her lip. "It's just...it's Aubrey. She's not answering her door...or her back door...or the rocks we've been throwing at her window." She rocked back and forth. "She was really upset yesterday...I KNOW THIS IS YOUR FAULT SOMEHOW! Tell me what you did to her!" Hero winced at the sudden outburst. He also noticed Sunny hunching into himself. Was it the yelling? Did he not like yelling?

"We didn't do anything! She's the one with the problem!" Kel bit back. Sunny looked even tenser, and Hero frowned. He had to break this up.

"Hold on, Kel..." Hero walked up to his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If Aubrey is that upset, we should at least try to do something to help. This is Aubrey we're talking about. We've all known each other since we were kids!"