Archive of Our Own ^beta

Aubrey knocked on the door of a familiar house. The first-floor window had a light on since it was quite dark outside. Mari opened the door for her.

"Aubrey?! Why did you come alone? I told you that Hero and I would pick you and Basil up. It's getting dark fast now. What if something happened?"

"But nothing happened." Aubrey pouted.

'She knows my weakness, but she's hiding something...' "Okay, you can't be denied. Come on in. It's just me and Sunny at home."

Sunny and Aubrey's parents had gone to their parents' house for the weekend. Mari hurt her leg, so they couldn't all go together, and Sunny was left behind because he was very worried about Mari. It's the perfect day to have a sleepover, isn't it?

Aubrey went into the house and looked around. There was firewood burning in the fireplace, which added to the coziness of an already cozy home. It also reinforced the fact that it was already quite chilly outside.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" Mari took off Aubrey's hat and put it on the shelf. 

"Sure! Your hot chocolate is the tastiest thing in the world." Aubrey's eyes lit up and seemed to turn to stars.

"Hehe, don't exaggerate. Actually, I didn't make the hot chocolate yesterday. Whoever made it for you put all his love into it. That's why it turned out so good."

"Wha- I, uh... who made it then?" It wasn't an easy question. Everyone was here yesterday as they saw off Sunny and Mari's Mom and Dad. 

"Well, it certainly wasn't Kel for one thing. That leaves you three."

"Don't forget what everyone did yesterday while you were watching cartoons. You can go up to Sunny's if you want. I think he'll be pleasantly surprised by your unexpected arrival." Aubrey nodded to her.

Yes, this is great food for thought. 'Who could it be: Sunny, Basil, or Hero. No, Hero had been cooking all day and running errands for Mari. Sunny was always distracted by his father, Basil or Kel. And Basil? He was always busy, too.' 

Being in a cloud of thoughts, Aubrey didn't notice as she climbed the stairs and came to the door to Sunny and Mari's room. Knock? Of course, Mari said Aubrey came in early.

Knock Knock Knock "Can I come in?"

Sunny looked away from Mari's computer. Sunny couldn't hear the speech over the music, just the knocking. 'Why would she knock? It's her room too? "M-Mari?"

"Sunny, it's me, Aubrey. May I come in?"

'A-Aubrey?!?! Life hadn't prepared him for this kind of thing. Thank goodness Mari insisted on cleaning the house. No, Sunny always kept things tidy, but sometimes things got out of hand... like yesterday. 

Sunny got up and went to open the door. When he opened it, he saw the same face that kept him going every day, encouraging him to keep going no matter what. Aubrey felt the same way when he opened the door. 

"Um, come on in." Sunny let her into the room. "You came in before the others?"

"Oh, um. Didn't want to stay home. There's another argument. Besides, Mari could see what was going on at my house."

"It's good that you came here." Even though Aubrey didn't want to tell Mari and the others about the situation at her house, Sunny wanted her to tell everyone.

"Have you been playing on the computer?"

"No, just sat on the Internet and listened to music."

Aubrey looked directly into his eyes and smirked, "The same one you were listening to yesterday?" Sunny nodded.

"Enjoying each other's company already?" Mari peeked through the ajar door. Aubrey and Sunny momentarily averted their gazes, Aubrey at the window and Sunny at the computer. This made Mari giggle even harder. 

"Okay, I'll leave you two alone. I brought you your hot chocolate and all sorts of goodies. We won't eat properly until my personal chef arrives. But first, we have to go get Basil and the store. So, I'll leave you here," Mari began slowly, closing the door and looking through the crack, "alone, all alone," The door was about to close, "no one will be home, only you alone."

The door opened abruptly. "By the way, Aubrey. The hot chocolate might not be so good because I made it. That's it, don't be bored" The door finally slammed shut.

Weird.

"Let's get something to eat." Sunny held out her mug to Aubrey. Technically, it was Sunny's mug, but Mari gave it to Aubrey. 'Mari......'

"Still, Mari's hot chocolate is divine. But she said she didn't make it yesterday. Who could it be?"

Sunny stared into his mug, trying not to look up. It would be evident from one look that he was the one making her chocolate. 

Sunny had been asking Hero for advice lately; this was another one of those days. Hero was more experienced in terms of love. After all, he had dated Mari, even though he denied it.

"Hmm, do you want to do something for her?" Hero put down the washed glass and proceeded to wipe the other one.

Sunny stood looking at him as if his life depended on it. 

"You don't have to answer, but you want to do something for Aubrey?" 

Sunny nodded. She'd taken all the blame for the mess in the house on herself, helped clean up Sunny and Mari, and now she was relaxing watching cartoons. Hero began to look around. 'What can you do to please the person you love?'

There was nothing in sight. Hero opened a couple of nightstands and gathered what he could find. An idea popped into his head. "That's right, Mari wanted to make hot chocolate. Well, Sunny, pray no one comes into the kitchen while we make hot chocolate for the lady of your heart."

Sunny involuntarily blushed when he remembered this.

"Why aren't you drinking your hot chocolate? I accidentally ate almost all the goodies while you were daydreaming."

"Oh, just wondering."

"About what?" Aubrey looked up at him. A big mistake in word choice, Sunny. Before Sunny could say a word, Aubrey noticed his red cheeks and ears.

"Are you sick?" Aubrey got up and walked over to Sunny. Mari always checked his temperature by touching his forehead. She touched his forehead, which made Sunny literally burn.

"I-it's just hot in here."

"Let's go into the living room. It's a little cooler there." Opening the window was a bad idea, so Aubrey found an alternative.

They would sit on the couch and wait for the others until Aubrey remembered what they had done yesterday. "Sunny, let's fight."

"With me? When did I become your sparring partner?" Yesterday the main fight was between Aubrey and Kel. Kel didn't win fairly because he used another pillow, which he threw right at Aubrey's head, causing her to fall.

"Kel's a freak who doesn't play by the rules, and you and Basil were busy yesterday. And by the way, Mari won. She tripped Kel."

"Remind me of the rules, please. "

"The carpet is our arena, and the pillows are the weapons. The main goal is to knock your opponent down. We play on the carpet because I don't want anyone to get hurt." Aubrey threw Sunny a pillow. "If you want, we can say phrases like the characters in that anime we watched yesterday."

Sunny was worried about the last one; after all, his voice wasn't as cool as the main villain's. "I'll try..."

Sunny got down on his knee. Aubrey realized what was going on and got into character pose as well. She used her sword as a fulcrum to stand up.

'There it goes' "War of attrition, then?" Sunny tried to make a longer, lower voice. "The kings of yore are on hand, calling you forth... to oblivion."

Aubrey didn't hold back a chuckle, which upset Sunny "I knew I shouldn't have even tried."

"Come on. You should have said it in your own voice. It would have been cooler. Do you want me to try to repeat the main character's words?" Sunny nodded faintly, "As you wish."

"This time... you can rest in peace. Close your eyes, for time eternal." Aubrey gestured at the protagonist's final words.

"Hey, do you really think you've beaten me already?" Even for someone as calm as Sunny, this raised questions.

"Ahahahahaha, you're already getting into the role of the main villain." 

Sunny smirked, "Well, if that's the case, let this game begin."

Both didn't lose a chance to step up and strike the first blow. Because of their abrupt actions, both almost lost the advantage of the first move, so they had to retreat. 

Sunny saw out of the corner of his eye the way Aubrey had fought yesterday. Usually, she threw a pillow over her shoulder and took a solid swing, trying to hit the head. And using that, he went straight for the forehead.

Aubrey was interested in this approach, but against Kel, such a technique worked without fail. But she didn't consider one thing, Sunny isn't Kel. He's just as smart as Mari. Sunny used the information, dodged, and hit Aubrey in the back of the head. It made her stagger but not fall.

"A King in name alone." Sunny started to say in his voice, "I'm really disappointed. You really can't do any better than that? Ten years and you don't even have anything to show for it."

"Hey, I think you're getting a little too into the role."

"The villain is awesome. His clothes, his voice, his weapons."

"You learned his lines."

"I just couldn't get it out of my head. I might try again."

"Only after I win." Aubrey took her chance and dashed forward.

Sunny took Aubrey's words seriously and repeated the character's movements. He made slow movements, smooth and precise. They were like a taunt to the energetic and quick Aubrey.

"Yes, you really aren't, Kel. It's much more interesting that way. "

"Enough with the words. Prove your words in action."

"You'd make a great villain at some children's matinee."

Aubrey and Sunny were getting pretty tired. Obviously, the outcome of this battle was about to be decided. Luck was on Aubrey's side because she was more trained. Playing basketball with Mari had made her physically stronger, so she still had some energy. 

"Let's finish this, and be sure you lose."

Sunny put his hands up, "The kings of yore are on hand-"

"Blah, blah, blah. I get it."

The final fight, which would be assured by a single blow, began. The moment Aubrey was able to get behind Sunny, she decided to make her next amplified pillow swing from behind her back.

"IT'S OVER, SUNNY!" Aubrey threw one last punch, knocking Sunny to the floor. This swing made Aubrey lose her balance and fall right on top of Sunny.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry-"

Sunny breathed heavily before quickly interjecting. "That's nothing. I'm okay. Didn't get hurt or anything, so..."

Aubrey stood up and held out her hand to him. 

"You know, that was really fun, a lot more fun than yesterday."

"I'm glad... that you had a good time," Sunny was still breathing heavily. He was in pain from Aubrey landing on top of him, but he continued to endure it anyway.

"I'd better sit down."

"Sunny, I don't think it's okay. Maybe we should call Mari." Sunny nodded in response, "It doesn't hurt, I just need to catch my breath."

"Okay." Aubrey sat down next to him.

"By the way, I won because you fell early." Sunny nodded, "I don't deny it."

'Come to think of it,' Aubrey looked at Sunny, 'I feel really good with him.' Aubrey couldn't explain these feelings, something seemed to change her whenever she saw Sunny or thought of him. It wasn't surprising since he helped her a lot, sometimes making sacrifices. So she took responsibility yesterday so that Sunny wouldn't be punished.

Aubrey continued to stare at Sunny, dreaming and blushing. 'Is that called falling in love?' Her head was spinning violently, she was thrown into a fever, and it was as if a colony of butterflies had appeared in her stomach. Sunny noticed this and decided to help her, so worried was she about him today.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sunny put his hand to her forehead. It made Aubrey burn just as much as Sunny had a little earlier. 

"I-I a-am..."

The idyll was shattered by Basil, who entered the house first. When he saw Aubrey and Sunny, he was incredibly surprised. "Damn, our timing isn't right." He gently closed the door, "Keep going."