Chapter Text
He was feeling…
Sad?
Sad wasn’t enough to describe the things he felt in that moment. Sad was an understatement. He’d never been very good at learning english, but he knew a word his teacher had taught him during class that eerily fit his situation.
Despair.
He felt despair at the fact that nothing would ever, ever, ever be the same again. He’d never see her smile or taste her cookies or sit on a picnic blanket eating sandwiches with her or talk to her ever again.
He felt tears flood his eyes as he stared at the body of MARI, laying in the casket below him. She was surrounded by beautiful white bell shaped flowers, a stark contrast to her dark, neatly combed hair.
She was still. Stiller than he had ever seen her, even when she wasn’t walking around or playing with him and his friends. Her face was fixed in a calm expression, like as if she were asleep.
The white dress she was wearing. The way she never moved from her place laying in front of him. Her pale skin, the color nearly faded to white.
He couldn’t look anymore. He shouldn’t look anymore. But he couldn’t move.
He couldn’t breath.
His breaths came out short and ragged as he held down a sob. He bit his cheek to muffle his voice.
Why was this happening? What had any of them done to deserve this?
She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be dead.
Who was going to be there for HERO?
Who was going to make him smile? To make him laugh and blush and be flustered?
Who was going to love his older brother after this?
He glanced over to HERO, who was standing next to him. His eyes were foggy, as if he weren’t actually there. He stared off into the distance, blankly past the funeral pier and into the woods beyond.
KEL realized that he was shaking.
He realized, with growing horror, that this event would most utterly destroy his brother.
HERO loved MARI, and that was a fact. He loved her more than he even loved KEL. Nobody would ever be able to live up to her, to replace her, to be her, in HERO’s world.
He would never be able to get over this.
KEL closed his eyes, allowing his tears to silently run down his face.
Not surprisingly, he could do nothing about it. He was too stupid, too dumb, too much of a dunce to help with this kind of thing. He’d screw up, thinking he was helping, and HERO would hate him forever for it.
He slowly inhaled, trying to be quiet. He opened his eyes, seeing MARI, laying there still. He quickly closed them again. He didn’t want to see it.
Why would she do this?
Did she not realize how badly this would hurt him?
How it would hurt HERO?
He felt anger begin to bubble up inside him. He quickly shut down the unfaithful thoughts.
He felt ashamed.
How could he hate MARI?
The one who baked cookies for them.
The one who hugged them when they were sad, rubbing their heads with sympathy.
The one who was deeply in love with HERO.
The one who was the older sister of SUNNY.
SUNNY!
He needed to find SUNNY. Maybe talking with him would help raise his spirits.
“HERO?” He winced at his watery, cracked voice. He cleared his voice.
“HERO, I’m gonna go find SUNNY and the others, okay?”
HERO inclined his head slightly to stare at him. He stared with his still milky eyes and stone cold face.
“W-will you be okay alone? I mean, I-I understand if-”
HERO turned away from him, going back to looking at the beyond.
KEL took that as a yes. He prayed it was, anyways.
He walked off, in search for the rest of his friends.