"You did great Sunny!" Mari exclaimed backstage, hugging her little brother. The crowd roared with applause, Mari was so proud of herself and Sunny and she felt nothing could ruin this moment backstage behind the red curtain. Until...

She hears a song pierce her ears, that sound she's heard a dozen times before. A song that should be over.

"Sunny?" She asks as she turns to face him.

He is unresponsive, he plays the song once more with a deadpan expression on a face. A look of intense focus and despair is in his eyes. He plays that duet once more, Mari approaching him, "Sunny... You can stop now. It's OK."

Sunny offers no response.

"Sunny it's OK the recital is over," Mari chuckles awkwardly, "Come on let's go."

Sunny offers no response.

"Sunny?" Mari asks, becoming worried now, "Come on put down the violin. You did great. Let's go home."

Sunny only continues to play.

"Sunny?" Mari asks, gently shaking him out of it, "Sunny, stop it's OK."

Sunny is unresponsive...

Mari snaps awake at three am that night to music, that same music. Mari yawns as she stretches, knowing now something is deeply wrong as she walks down the hall, each footstep echoing on the wooden floor. She opens the door to that room, and like he had been for weeks, Sunny stands there, still in his recital clothes. He repeats that song, that duet, once more. The same as before, making the same mistake he did at the recital, and he starts again. The sounds have become shrill, piercing, like they've been twisted by Sunny's damaged mind, filtered through some malformed speakers that is his psyche.

"Sunny?" Mari asks.

Sunny offers no response, only those shrill malformed notes, that sickening song piercing the night air, warm, the song a duet with the Summer cicadas. She tries to speak to him, get some response from him, "Have you eaten, Sunny? Why don't we get you something to eat?"

Sunny does not respond.

"Come on anything you want," Mari assures with her sweet smile to hide her deep worry, "Ice cream? Bacon? Anything at all? Some water or soda, Hell, I can go to Othermart and grab you something as long as you eat something, just tell me what you want to eat. Please."

Sunny only continues to play.

And something, an idea, weighs heavy on Mari's mind. Is this her fault? She was the one who wanted to play the recital, she was the one who pushed Sunny, her dear little brother, to practice for hours and hours. She demanded perfection of him and pushed, sometimes skipping lunch or dinner due to losing track of time, and now something in him seems to have snapped, he is lost in that moment, that practice eternally playing.

"Sunny please stop," Mari begs struggling to maintain composure as self blame weighs heavy on her, "Please just stop. Come on, let's get some food and some sleep. It's OK, you've done enough. Just stop."

Sunny does not stop playing.

Mari starts to cry as she embraces Sunny, "Stop. Please just stop. Please..."

The warmth of an embrace does nothing to melt the frost that has frozen his mind in this moment. Mari eventally decides that at the very least, she should stay by his side until morning, out of worry for his safety, and call Hero then. Maybe he has an idea.

Mari sits by her piano, assuring Sunny as she maintains composure, "It's going to be OK Sunny. Just, sleep when you feel tired. I'm here for you OK?"

Sunny is unresponsive.

The song is... ALMOST perfect, just one note, that same note, again and again ruins the gentle lull of the duet, and while she tries to focus on it, just to keep herself awake, it eventally lulls Mari into a gentle slumber.

She awakens in the wee hours of the morning to a pounding on her door...

And that same duet that served as a lullaby.

The air smells of blood, Mari panics as she sees Sunny's fingers bleeding, the bow held tightly in his hands. She doesn't notice as the front door opens, to busy rushing to Sunny, demanding, "Sunny stop!"

She tries to grab the violin from him, swiping away the object of his torment in hopes it'll snap him out of it, the wood soaked, stained a crimson red, much as the floor is. The bow, once white, is dyed a deep crimson. Mari's heart breaks as he continues to move his bow, playing as if the violin is still in his hands when it is halfway across the room.

"Sunny snap out of it!" Mari screams in a panic, "Stop it! You're bleeding! Stop!"

Mari doesn't notice as the door opens, as she is now crying, seeing Sunny's state. A voice demands from the doorway, "What did you do to Sunny?"

Mari turns to see Aubrey, with anger in her eyes. Deep, genuine anger as Aubrey demands, "What did you do to Sunny!?!"

"I don't know!" Mari screams trying to collect herself, "He just won't stop playing!"

Aubrey looks Sunny, and she hears him mutter something, his voice hoarse and strained, "Has to be perfect. Has to be perfect. Has to be perfect."

"What did you do to him?" Aubrey demands, instantly knowing that Mari must be connected to Sunny's mental state.

"All I did was practice the duet with him for the recital!" Mari retorts bitterly, "I wanted it to be perfect!"

"You did this!" Aubrey screams back, "Look at what you've done! Hammering that perfectionist filth into his head and forcing him to the breaking point until this was all that's left!"

"I would never hurt Sunny," Mari snaps back, the mere idea to much to even cope with, the idea of hurting Sunny, her little brother who was her whole world along with their friends, nay, the mere concept of harming any of them as an idea she could not accept, "There must be some explanation!"

The two continue to argue, Sunny can't take it anymore. He can't get the music right. He can't be perfect like Mari wants, and now Aubrey and Mari, normally so close, are fighting. He wants them to be happy, and this is all because of him. Because he wasn't perfect like Mari wanted.

They didn't see him leave.

They didn't hear his footsteps.

They didn't hear him jump.

But they did hear him land.

There was a loud crash, which snapped the two out of their fight. Mari and Aubrey dashed out of the room to see Sunny, laying motionless at the bottom of the stairs. Aubrey tries to rush to him but Mari grabs her by the hair in a panic.

"Ow! Ow ow ow! Let me go!" Aubrey screams.

"You can't move an injured person!" Mari retorts, "Go call 911! I'll tend to him!"

Mari rushes down the stairs to check on Sunny, he's bruised, but he's breathing. She breaks down crying, Sunny's eyes meet hers and what he says shatters her very soul.

"I'm sorry... I wasn't... perfect like you..."

Mari disassociated. What happened next was a blur of crying, yelling, fighting, and Hero trying to keep the group together.

Her parents. Where were they? She didn't know.

She recalled the important parts.

Sunny was going to survive, but his hand was broken he couldn't write or let alone play for weeks. And worst of all...

He was to be kept in the mental health wing, no visitors due to his suicide attempt.

Aubrey refuses to speak to Mari, Kel felt lost on everything, Basil however, needed answers. Basil was ANGRY, nay, FURIOUS, based on what Aubrey had told him. Hero insisted they speak to her together, to mediate the conversation and prevent miscommunication. He hoped, nay, knew there had to he some explanation.

Mari sat crying in the hospital lobby, overwhelmed by self hatred as she considered if this was truly her fault. What a horrible sister, nay, horrible person she was. She wanted it to be perfect but this...

This was the perfect torture for her.

This guilt this pain, she could name none greater.

Hero greeted her, worried as he noticed how tired she looked. Her eyes were red from crying, her hair a mess, and tear streaks stained her face.

He asked her gently, Basil by his side, "Are you OK?"

Mari shook her head, her throat to hoarse from crying to speak much.

"What... happened?" Hero inquired.

Mari took a deep breath and conceded, "I don't know where it went wrong..."