An Eternity, in a White Room 4/4

The twins continued to rest, and eventually fell asleep this time, although it was too brief for dreams. Sunny woke up first, and saw that it was really bright out. Checking the clock, it was 2:45...they had to do their chores. Today was going to be a long day...

"Haru?" He said, as he tried shaking her awake. Eventually, she did wake. Haru really, really wanted to go back to sleep, so they could sleep the whole day off. "Chores." Sunny said sadly. Oh...they couldn't sleep it off. They'd been putting off their chores all week, and mom was home tomorrow...the two of them figured saving everything till the last minute would save time, time that could be spent sleeping, or playing.

..."Do we have to?" Haru says, wanting to stay in the warm blankets. "Mom might punish us if we don't." Sunny responded.
Oh, right...Mom said she would bring and make grilled steak when she got home. If she comes to a filthy house with dirty dishes, they might not get their steak...with a big yawn, and a slight tug from Sunny, Haru leaned up, and got out of bed. She checked the list by the door.

To do:
Sweep the floors
Dust the furniture
Wash the dishes
Leave laundry in the basket

It wasn't that much, in theory. But the first two, sweeping the floors, dusting the furniture, could take a whole day on their own. She looked at the broom and dustbin, and the feather duster. She decides to take the broom, and prepares to go sweeping. The twins step into the stairway. She notices that Sunny doesn't have anything, and he's by the bathroom door. "Sunny, where's the duster?" She asks. He looks at her. "I'm going to take a bath." And quickly goes into the bathroom and locks the door.

That jerk, he's getting out of it by taking a bath. It better not be a long one. Oh well...she turns back to the stairwell, and looks down it. She feels...frustrated that she made a scene last night. She could of held it in, she needed to do so. But, she just had to fall apart at the last second, and worry Sunny. It wasn't even scary, now that she looked at it. It was just so dark, just li-
She slaps herself, with a bit more force then she should have. She wasn't going to make that same mistake again.
She walked down the stairs, without incident. No memories, no nightmares, no reason to stop. Just walking down a flight of stairs, from the top floor to the lower one. After making it to the bottom, she just felt even more upset. Why did she make such a scene last night? There was nothing to be afraid of.

So, she gets to sweeping, sweeping the broom with a bit more force than she should have, but she still felt upset. Although, she started getting a bit more surprised, seeing how dusty the floor was. How did this much dust accumulate? It had only been a week...wait, were does dust even come from? Haru realized she had no idea what was making this dust. Maybe one of Mari's books had an explanation for it. Or Mom could tell her.

Mom...she had to do so much for them. She'd work till she was exhausted, and then she'd sleep all day. She never really had much time for them, although, she was spending all this time working for them. Ever since dad moved away...Haru still didn't know how to feel about that. Dad just left them all behind, without saying another word. She remembers when her and Sunny looked out the window, and watched him drive away, without so much as looking back. Yet, he still protected Sunny...it was thanks to him and Mom that she didn't lose her twin brother too...she didn't know how to feel.

Haru grimaced. She she shouldn't think of stuff like this. It just hurt, having to think of confusing stuff she didn't like. Sunny was lucky, only half-remembering this stuff in his nightmares. She'd much rather not have to think about any of this. Just forget it all, and only look towards the future...there was nothing to be gained by looking back on memories that only hurt now. That only made her feel like crying...remembering how she could of lost Sunny forever. How she still could...
Haru shivered. She hated doing chores. The monotonous work process just made way for lots of thinking. And in this house, every room contained memories, too many to count, each. She needed to take her mind off this, somehow.

She heard a door open, and realized Sunny must be done with his bath. Soon enough, she heard him coming down the stairs, and into the room with the feather duster. Sunny meets her gaze, and nods. He starts dusting off the room. That feather duster, it was black, and really, really fluffy. Fluffy...like Mewo. Haru missed Mewo...she didn't really know what happened to that cat.
Haru then realized something, she hadn't taken a bath in as long as Sunny had. "Should I help, or take a bath now?" She asked. Sunny paused for a moment. "You should bathe now." Haru nodded. She leaned the broom against the couch, and went up the stairs. She went into their room, and got clean clothes, and entered the bathroom. She saw herself in the mirror. It was still her.

Haru started up the bath, took off her dirty clothes, put them into the laundry bin, and waited for the water to fill up, and be warm enough. She smiled to herself, as she decided to put in some bubbles. Those were nice. Bubbles...heh. She played around with the bubbles for a bit, while cleaning herself more properly. She wondered what Sunny was doing. Well, he was probably dusting the living room. Dusting it with that fluffy duster...Mewo. Whatever happened to Mewo? Haru always assumed that Mewo ran away. Sometimes, looking outside, she'd see a big black cat, on the neighbors roof, or in the front yard. Was that Mewo? It could of been. Mewo, running free, her own cat. If it was Mewo, maybe she'd come back inside if she opened the door for her? Then, they could have Mewo back, and snuggle with the little kitty, like they used too.

Well, she bathed for long enough. Sunny needed help with chores, and she was being lazy at this point. She pulled the plug out, letting it all drain, dried herself off with a towel, and got her clean clothes on. Exactly like the last pair of clothes she had. Haru knew what she liked, and she'd keep wearing it. It helped that it made her match with her brother. She looked at herself in the mirror.

She saw Mari, looking back at her. Dark hair that went down to her shoulders, with a bored, tired look in her eyes.
...Haru hated this. She took her little bands, and tied her hair the way she usually did, and looked back in the mirror.
She saw herself, looking back. Dark hair in little pigtails, still with a bored, tired look in her eyes.
That's better.

Out she went, and there were the stairs. She really shouldn't focus on them, especially after thinking of Mari, so she tried thinking about all the dust. So much dust, and half a day and a full night to clean it all. So. Much. Dust. Haru made it to the bottom, and went into the living room. Sunny wasn't there, so she figured he was dusting the dining room, or kitchen. The living room looked clean enough, so she picked up the broom, and went to the kitchen. She started sweeping the floors. Sigh...sweep the tables, sweep the floors. What a fun day...another wonderful, and exciting day in their home...

Finally, Sunny came in, from the dining room door. She smiled a bit seeing him, and he nodded. "I'll sweep the dining room now." "Okay." And the twins swapped rooms. The dining room was free of dust on the tables and chairs, even the shelves with books had been dusted, from the looks of it. Sunny had dusted the living room and dining room in the time it took her to sweep the living room...she couldn't fall behind now. She began to sweep. Sweeping by the table, sweeping near the doors, sweeping the floors. Haru felt like her brain was melting. Chores. Her favorite part of the week.

Finally, she was done. Now, the last room downstairs, the bottom floor of the stairs.
...
She headed out the dining room, through the living room, and into the stairwell. Sunny wasn't in here yet. She...she didn't want to sweep in here, so there was one more place. Well, she had to sweep that room herself, since Sunny wasn't going to. The music room. Sunny had never entered that room, not since...Haru entered the room. It was untouched. The piano was the same, the stools were in place. It hurt...she didn't want to be in here, either. But Mom said to sweep the house, so she had to clean here. So Sunny didn't. She began sweeping the floors, as a chill prevailed the room. Was she actually cold, or was there a ghostly chill in-stop. Don't think that way. Haru went to the window, and opened it. Get some fresh air in here, and let the sun heat up the room.
...
...
...
Sheesh, there was so much, SO MUCH dust in this room! She could sweep it for hours, and probably never be done! She kept having to leave the room, empty the dustbin, and come back in, this was absurd. Nobody even used this room, why was she bothering? Sigh...but she still preferred this to the stairwell. Sweeping the stairwell, having to look at the ground...she decided to step out. Sunny was dusting the shelves.
"Are you done dusting this floor?" Haru asked, hoping he'd say yes.
Sunny paused for a second, and noticed which door she was standing in front of. "Yes." He said.
"Then, I'll take the duster. I'm sick of sweeping." Haru's annoyance was very clear. They swapped things, and Sunny started sweeping the floor.

His sister was so strange sometimes, but he could understand. Sweeping the floors was really, really tedious. He remembers one time he actually passed out after sweeping for a whole hour. That was embarrassing, and really scared Haru. So she usually took sweeping duty. Although, he wondered why she was sweeping the music room. They never used it for anything anymore. And he didn't want to be in there. Too many bad memories...

Haru started dusting the shelves. Books on music stuff lined them, and music sheets, so she had to be careful. She remembered how Mari could play most of the songs in some of these books. She always did it so well...
After a while, she moved on to that...bench thing by the piano. She never did catch the name of it. Haru remembered the songs she'd hear from this room, all played while resting on this...stool? No, not a stool. The wooden stools near the back were stools, this was a bench of some kind.
And of course, the piano itself. Haru remembered how excited Mari was, playing songs for all their friends. Sunny always smiled...he so rarely smiled...
The Piano...she remembered when Sunny asked to join the recital. He was so determined, back then...before it all got too much.
Haru remembered, Mari asked her if she wanted to join. A part of the recital...three siblings, all playing instruments, together on a stage...

...No. She didn't want to. It wasn't for any good reason. A part of Haru was ashamed just thinking about it, but...she didn't want to play, just because it would be one more thing Mari would be better then her at. Haru would never surpass Mari in anything, she knew that. But there were times she tried. Of course, she'd always fail. So she got fed up with trying, so she gave up. A musical instrument would just be one more thing Mari was better then her at...she still feels so pathetic, that having been the sole reason she never even tried. Although, considering what happened, maybe it was better that way.

Trying to surpass Mari...Haru always let that get to her, more times then necessary. Whatever Mari was good at, she tried to surpass her in. She was never good enough. She wasn't going to accomplish half the things Mari could. And now that Mari was gone, all those memories felt bitter. It felt like she never truly cared about Mari, until she died...that thought alone made her feel ill. She did care...she was just so childish, always wanting to prove herself. And now that Mari was gone...now she had to take Mari's place, for Sunny's sake. Someone he can rely on, lean against. Someone who can protect him. She wasn't good enough to take Mari's place, but she still needed to. She had to. She must. For him...
She remembers how she did nothing. She let Sunny and Basil go through all of that, and she just-
ARGH, STOP IT!
She never did anything to help Sunny! She just let him suffer, every night up to that point. She couldn't help him, she never even tried!
She hissed at herself, and picked herself up. She couldn't stay in this room any longer. She swept it, she dusted it, and while it was still a bit messy, their Mom would probably forgive them for not being able to clean it. Haru quickly close the window, and left the room, closing the door behind her.
She hates chores so much. She never had to think of stuff like this any other time. Spending time with Sunny, their Mom, being in their dreams, she never had to think of this.
She was at the top of the stairs before she noticed. Sunny could see the irritation on her face. "Are you okay?" He asked, a bit worried. Haru blinked. Oh, she just stormed up the stairs and probably spooked him, worrying him even more. "Yes, I'm fine." She said. Sunny tilted his head, but didn't ask further.
They each decided to leave it at that. Haru started dusting the railing, and Sunny swept the floors some more.

They finally moved on to their room. Maybe it was because the music room had been dust incarnate, but their room didn't seem that dusty. The two began to sweep the room. It was an eventful process, done in absolute silence. No noises other then dusty dusting and sweepy sweeping. None of them wanted to open the window, so they just used the room light to see. Eventually, they were done, and moved to their Mom's room.
This was probably the second most arduous task, besides the living room. The twins felt the need to make sure this room was particularly clean and spotless. She did so much for them, they needed to make sure she had a nice, comfortable place to rest. They opened the windows, and started sweep dusting.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................they finished cleaning.

Finally. Finally, finally. Every room in this house had been thoroughly cleaned. How long did that take?
She checked the time. 4:36. She felt too tired to count the time, but that felt way longer then that.
They still had to do dishes. They still needed to look over the house again, just in case.
There's still so much work. Too much work to be done.
Haru felt a tugging on her arm, and turned to see Sunny looking at her.
"Haru?" He asked.
"Yes, Sunny?" She responded.
"Let's go to sleep now." He said.
That was good enough for her. She nodded, and they headed back into their room. It was a loooong day, they needed sleep. Dishes can be done when they woke up. Not right now. They can sleep more. If Mom gets back home before they do dishes, that'll be tomorrows problem. This wasn't a today problem. They went into the now mostly dust free bedroom, and got in bed.

Haru hugged her brother, as usual. And Sunny snuggled up to her. Snug...it felt really cozy. It was a really long day for them, with all the chores they did. They did so much work. Rest...sleep....and most importantly, dreams...wonderful dreams.