Rock Between Us (Stardew Valley Fanfic)

Snap and Crack

"What's going on is I don't like you. Sebastian is my brother," Maru thought to herself, slipping into being unfriendly towards Sebastian's other half-siblings. However, she didn't say anything, her hands clenching the counter she was behind as Harvey took a deep breath.

"Do you know what Sebastian was up to today, Maru?"

"Mountain climbing," Sam said, but Yuichiro looked surprised, then worried, glancing away.

"Shit," Sebastian's half-brother said.

"Oh, dear. I'd better call the adventure guild to start looking—do either of you know where Sebastian would be climbing?" Harvey said.

"The trail."

"Okay. I'll tell them to see what they can find, but hopefully, they can get to him. No telling what Marlon is up to, and Gil doesn't do much of anything anymore. He doesn't even come down here for a check-up, the old coot."

To which the doctor disappeared into the back room. The young man looked down at the ground, folding his fingers together. "So..."

"You're Sebastian's brother?"

"We've got the same dad if that's what you're wondering."

"Well, duh. I kind of knew that" Sam laughed, even though it wasn't a laughing situation.

"Sam!" Maru snapped, and then—she noticed Yuichiro looking at her. "What?"

"Are you his girlfriend or something?"

Sam started laughing at her expense, and she let out a snort. "Hell no. He's dating Abigail."

"Sebastian's not dating Abigail, Maru," Sam laughed.

"Well..." she started, only to stop when Yuichiro began saying the same thing.

"...that means you have a chance, don't you?"

"Wow. You're as dense as he is," Maru said, glaring at him.

His mouth twitched. "He's not your type?"

"Of course not? I'm not into incest, thank you very much!" To which she saw him sit up straight, tensing, looking at her in horror

"I—I didn't know," he said, before looking away, looking guilty, which made Maru feel good, mainly since she knew, definitely knew, she was jealous that those two had a better relationship with Sebastian, and she hated that. He then looked up. "Wait. How are you related to Sebastian? Are you Aunt Robin's niece or something?"

Maru's entire body stiffened up as Harvey watched, saying nothing, although she didn't know when he'd gotten back from making the call. "My mom is not your aunt!"

He paled, despite already being pale just like Sebastian was pale. "What?"

"She remarried, just like your dad, but Sebastian chose us," Maru said.

"Maru! Knock it off!" Sam snapped as Harvey let out a sigh. "Stop acting like you actually have a good relationship with your brother! Because you don't. Otherwise, he wouldn't think that you hate him."

"I don't hate him," Maru said, suddenly feeling like crying. "Why would he think I hate him. Why?"

"Because you easily get irritated with him, and I've seen it. And don't act like things are good between Demetrius and him either because you know how things are between them."

"It's bad for him here as well?" Yuichiro asked, making Maru startled, looking at him, still feeling like crying.

"What do you mean by that?"

"His stepmother, my mother, is a right witch towards him as our the older two of our sisters. And I wasn't any better, bearing the name meaning firstborn only not to be the actual firstborn. Sannon's different, so don't treat her like crap. In her mind, Sebastian can do no wrong."

Suddenly, Sam burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh. He'd be turning red in the face if he heard that, particularly with him always saying he thinks he's the worst brother ever."

"He is, though, isn't he? Not ever getting involved like an older brother should," Maru said. "And Sannon, she said she got that plushie from him, whereas we always got into fights."

"Yeah. And how many times did you go and break his things?" Sam sighed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know, tearing any mechanical device apart so you could use the parts to build some form of the new contraption or figure out how it worked without always putting it back together," Sam said, pointing a finger as she felt the heat in her cheeks, her mouth opening to stammer. "And don't deny it. I asked Robin, and she says it's true."

"That, that..."

"Sounds like neither of us has the kind of relationship with him that we want," Yuichiro said. "But that's why I came. That, and Sannan really wanted to see him. And..." He looked at the ground. "Dad wanted her away from the war, but don't tell her that. And let me tell Sebastian that's what's going on, else he'll have a complete meltdown which will be a complete pain to deal with."

"Oh, I actually know what you mean. Though he's gotten better since I've met him," Sam said. He pointed the finger at Maru. "Although, one could argue this one's grown up a bit."

"Hey!" Maru looked at the counter, then—she couldn't help it, as it was bothering him. "I want to know if Sebastian is okay or not."

"Marlon is checking the trail," Harvey said. "And informing Robin and Demetrius. But..."

"I'd like to go up and check myself, but could you tell Ms. Jodi I'm headed up. And can I leave our suitcases here for the time being?"

Sam sighed, heading over to the suitcases and grabbing one. "Nope. While I'm not taking back what I said about Sebastian not wanting to see you, particularly after what you said, Robin's another matter. Particularly since you, for some reason, call her Aunt Robin, which is totally weird. She'd be pissed if you didn't stay, so let's get these things up the mountain to their house. It will also be closer to what's going on."

He then stopped. "Wait. Which one is your sister's in case she stays at our place with my mom? I mean, just in case..."

"Something else is wrong?" Yuichiro pointed to the pink suitcase. "Isn't it obvious?"

"So you have the most luggage."

"It's tradition to give hosts gifts, but it's been a while since we've seen him!" Yuichiro snapped, glaring. But then he paused, suddenly looking at Maru.

Her mouth twitched. "I don't want a gift."

"Well, too bad for you. My dad apparently does know you exist because he insisted on me, including a few things saying I would definitely need them for someone when I got here. But get over the fact we're family, Maru," Yuichiro snapped.

"We're not related."

"Sebastian means we're family," he argued back. He then stood up, grabbing one of the bags. "Let's get going before I strangle her."

"Yeah. You're not much different from Sebastian, though I've never heard him threaten Maru with bodily harm. Just Abigail."

"Wait? And she thinks he likes this Abigail chick?"

"Well, it's mostly him telling her he'll kick her butt if she doesn't get out of his room when she barges in, but yeah! He never does it!"

"She does what?" Yuichiro shook his head, looking even more irritated than before.

And Maru stayed, or she would have.

Harvey had other ideas. "Look. I'm not punishing you for, well, being a brat to Sebastian's relatives. That young man wasn't much better. But you really need to get home to see what's going on with your brother Maru."

"Yeah." As such, she ended up being stuck walking up the path with those two.