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Hero had always loved hands.
They are the part of the body that is intimate yet accepted, not thought about yet important, and selfish yet giving. There are so many contradictory ways to describe them.
What is more fascinating is that each hand has a story...and Hero's was no different.
Mari's hands were warm and full of talent.
Hero sat beside her on the piano bench, watching as Mari's delicate hands flew across the piano keys, playing a gorgeous and wonderful melody. He could only watch in awe, and, when Mari was done, Hero clapped with a wide smile.
"That was amazing, Mari!" Hero smiled.
Mari's cheeks turned a light shade of red, making Hero blush as well. Mari chuckled, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Thank you. Now, you try."
Hero cleared his throat, and he began to play the beginning of the song Mari and Sunny were going to play at the recital. He wasn't the best at playing piano (acoustic guitar was more his style), but he enjoyed trying nonetheless. He paused, unsure of what to do next.
"Here." Mari motioned for Hero to sit between her legs. "Let me show you."
Hero swallowed, and he moved to sit. Mari's head rested on his shoulder, and he almost died on the spot when Mari moved closer.
"M-M-M-M-Mari?"
"Hm?"
"Y-Your ch-chest is against my back," Hero squeaked.
It was silent for a moment. Hero looked at Mari, whose lips were turned up into a grin.
"Is that so?" Mari pressed closer to him, hugging him from behind to help prove her point. "Are you enjoying yourself~?"
Hero let out as quiet of a screech as he could manage, earning a laugh from his sweetheart. Mari moved her hands so they were atop Hero's, and Hero locked his fingers with hers.
"Hero," Mari chuckled, "I was going to show you how to play my part of the duet."
Hero sighed, bringing up one of her hands. He kissed each of her five fingers and murmured, "I just can't help it. I love your hands. They're so soft and warm and talented. They make me happy."
Hero felt Mari nuzzle into his shoulder. "I'm glad."
Hero was happy that day.
Basil's hands were rough but full of reassurance.
Hero sprinted through Faraway from Hobbeez, gripping Basil's hand tightly.
"Tell me what happened," Hero demanded. "What happened to Mari!?"
"I-I don't know!" Basil whimpered, struggling not to slow Hero down. "I don't know! I-I was walking with Sunny before the recital, a-and the next thing I knew, she was—"
Hero let go, making it to Sunny and Mari's in record time. Hero raced through the house and to the backyard, stumbling to a stop as his blood ran cold.
There, hanging from the tree by a jump rope...was Mari.
Hero swallowed, going up to her. He felt her wrist, which was scratched up with splinters. He felt her other wrist. He felt her neck.
No pulse.
In fact...she was a tad colder than she should be.
Hero gasped, stepping back. He stepped back and back and back until he tripped on a rock and fell backwards. He didn't care, his gaze fixated on his dead partner.
"W-Want me to call the police?" Basil stammered.
Hero robotically felt his jean pocket, taking out his cell phone. He handed it to Basil, still staring.
It wasn't until Hero felt a hand on his that Hero snapped out of his trance.
"NO!" Hero screamed, tears flowing down his face. "No! Mari! MARI! Oh, God, please! PLEASE!" He scrambled to his feet and tore the noose away from his lover's neck, sobbing and screaming incoherent sentences. He caught Mari's lifeless body in his arms, and he sat on his knees, brushing her bloody hair out of her face.
"Mari, Mari, Mari," he wept, holding her close. He could barely breathe, and he watched for any signs of life. Any rise or fall of her chest. Any twitch of her mouth or fingers. Anything to say this wasn't happening.
"Hero? What's going on?"
Hero's head snapped around to see Kel and Aubrey at the entrance.
"Y-You guys shouldn't see this," Hero choked out, trying to hide Mari from them. "P-Please, just go get help. Please."
Kel nodded once, taking Aubrey's hand. "We'll go get the grown ups."
"Mari," Aubrey whispered, her eyes wide as she was dragged away by Kel.
Basil sat beside Hero, his bottom lip trembling. He didn't look at Mari once.
"Everything is going to be okay," he whispered, placing his hand on the back of Hero's.
Hero could barely speak. "Everything is going to be okay."
Kel's hands were tough but only kind.
Hero pulled his sleeves over his burning arms, trying to feel something other than this miserable depression. He wanted nothing more than to die.
Die. Die die die die die—
"Hero?"
It was Kel's voice.
Hero didn't answer.
"S-So, um, hey. I talked to Aubrey and Basil today. We all really, um...really miss you. It's not the same without you."
I miss her.
"It's been over a year, Hero. She's...she's not coming back."
I know.
"You need to..." Kel audibly hesitated. "You need to move on."
Hero stopped.
Move. On.
"Move on...?" Hero sat up, his muscles aching due to being in bed most of the day.
"Y-Yeah," Kel stammered. "I mean, look. You barely eat, you barely go to the bathroom. Moping around and being depressed isn't going to bring her ba—"
"MOVE ON!?" Hero screamed, throwing his covers back. He got out of bed quickly, storming up to Kel with a murderous expression. "I'm supposed to just move on from Mari!? FROM THE GIRL I LOVED!?"
"I-I didn't mean it like that," Kel stammered, eyes wide.
"God damn it, Kel! I knew you were a fucking idiot, but this is bullshit!" Hero slammed his fist against the wall behind Kel.
Hero felt two hands on his chest, and Hero was shoved away. Able to catch himself, he turned and kicked his wall, making many of his trophies fall to the floor and break.
"I LOVED MARI! I LOVED MARI, AND I COULDN'T SAVE HER! WHY!?" Hero needed to destroy something, so he rolled up his sleeves and punched the wall. The pain in his knuckles somehow felt...freeing. "WHY DIDN'T SHE TALK TO ME!? WHY DIDN'T MARI TALK TO ME!? AND YOU!" Hero whirled around and picked up a trophy, hurling it towards Kel's head. Kel ducked, leaving the trophy to smash into pieces behind his head.
"YOU CLAIM YOU LOVED HER, BUT YOU MOVED ON TOO FUCKING FAST FOR THAT TO BE THE CASE! YOU ARE A FUCKING LIAR, KEL! A. FUCKING. LYING. BASTARD! YOU DIDN'T LOVE MARI AT ALL!"
Hero finally stopped yelling, and he gasped.
Kel was sitting on the floor, broken pieces of the trophy around him. He had tears pouring from his eyes, and he stared, wide-eyed and stunned.
"Oh my God," Hero whispered, falling to his knees. He ignored the sharp points digging into his legs, and he felt himself begin to sob. "Oh my God. Kel..."
"HERO!"
Hero hugged himself close, unable to stop crying as his parents burst into the room. Mom and Dad quickly brushed the shards away and pulled Hero into a hug.
"Oh, Hero..." Mom whispered. "Todo va a estar bien..."
"Respira, hijo." Dad's voice was firm but kind.
Hero sobbed even more, the stabbing in his legs cutting into the skin and the cuts on his arms burning from contact. They were done bleeding, but they still hurt.
Hero looked up, and he saw Kel having a panic attack. Hero scrambled out of his parents' arms and took Kel into his own.
"Hero," Kel blubbered.
"Shhh. You're okay now. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Hero whispered, holding Kel as tightly as he could. "I'm so, so sorry..."
Aubrey's hands were scarred but gentle.
Hero laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
He wasn't in a terrible state like he was four years ago, but he was still trying to get over the shock of what Sunny and Basil had confessed to the group.
Sunny killed Mari. Basil helped to hide it.
Hero groaned and covered his face. It was too much to deal with sometimes—four years of pain and hurt could have been lessened if those two said something sooner.
There was a knock on the door.
Hero sighed and sat up, opening the door to see Aubrey.
"Hey," Aubrey greeted. "Can we just...hang out? Your brother and the other one is driving me crazy."
"Oh. Okay." Hero nodded, understanding. "Come on in."
Aubrey and Hero laid side-by-side on the floor, staring at the ceiling together. Finally, Hero reached over and took Aubrey's hand in his.
"What's that for?" Aubrey asked.
"You just seemed like you needed it," Hero muttered, not turning to meet her eye.
"Well, uh...thanks, I guess."
Silence continued to follow. Suddenly, Aubrey began to laugh.
"What?" Hero inquired, turning to look at Aubrey.
"It's funny," Aubrey wheezed. "Mari would be scolding us right now for not forgiving those two yet."
Hero began laughing too, his heart lightening. "Yeah. I can hear her now." He raised his voice in pitch, batting his eyelashes. "Aubrey, you should be checking in on Sunny, you dummy!"
"Hero, oh Hero!" Aubrey did the same. "You should be making flower crowns with Basil, you big ol' sexy hunk of a man!"
"Hey!" Hero snorted, squeezing Aubrey's hand—his form of a punch on the shoulder. "She did not talk like that!"
"Yes, she did!" Aubrey grinned. "She was totally in love with you. It was sickening, thinking back on it."
Hero and Aubrey could only laugh, squeezing their hands together while holding back tears. Eventually, they calmed down, and Hero sighed.
"I miss her," Hero mumbled, "but I can't forgive them yet. Maybe one day, but not now."
"Yeah," Aubrey agreed. "Maybe one day."
Sunny's hands were stained with blood, but they gave Hero hope.
Hero sat with Sunny, waiting for Kel to come back.
"So," Hero said, "has your mother had the baby yet?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Does she have names picked out?"
Sunny nodded. "If it's a boy, it'll be Avery. If it's a girl, it'll be Mercy."
"Wait, so you guys don't know yet?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Huh." Hero turned to the television.
"...I'm sorry, Hero."
Hero looked back at Sunny. Sunny's eyebrows were furrowed, and his mouth was in a line.
"...What?
"I'm sorry for all the pain I caused."
Hero hesitated. He took Sunny's hands—the very same ones that accidentally took the life of his lover.
"I forgive you."
Sunny looked up at Hero, his eyes wide and shimmering with tears. Hero could only pull Sunny into a hug, closing his eyes.
"I forgave you at Christmas. I will continue to say it until you can learn to forgive yourself. I forgive you, Sunny Hamilton Suzuki."
Sunny sobbed into Hero's shirt, but Hero didn't mind. He felt himself tear up as well, but he knew that everything was going to be okay.
That was the day that Hero's fascination with hands finally made sense. He found that they could break and mend, destroy and comfort, hold and push away, bring up and shove down. They could protect the life of another, or they could take that very same life away forever.
Hero could only remember what Mari's hands felt like with a smile. He could never hold or kiss them again.
But, with Kel, Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny...
Maybe there were plenty of hands to hold him up.