Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2021-06-24
Updated:
2021-06-30
Words:
5,562
Chapters:
2/?
Comments:
76
Kudos:
352
Bookmarks:
54
Hits:
5,291

Porcelain Heart, Full of Cracks

Summary:

Sunny hasn't left the house in four years, but when his mother is hospitalized after an accident and no one has any idea when she'll wake up, Kel has to go inside the house to check on his old friend.

When Kel sees the state Sunny is in... he wishes he had tried breaking the door down in the past.

(In which I take "Parents Know" and "Sunny's mother is abusive to some degree" and mash them together before taking it to the extreme.)

Notes:

I don't personally subscribe to the "Parents Know" interpretation, but this idea popped in my head and I had to write it. Sunny is not okay in this. If I miss adding a tag, please let me know.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Discovery

Chapter Text

Kel has always been very quick to fall asleep. It’s kind of a given, considering how he’s always jumping and running around, so his body is very receptive to the idea of taking a break. Inversely, it means that getting him out of bed is a herculean task, especially when there’s no school and thus no obligations that require Kel to be up and about before noon.

 

And so Kel wakes up, not of his own volition, but by being shaken awake by his mom. Not an uncommon thing to happen, actually, but it’s summer vacation for goodness sake! Groaning, Kel looks at the alarm clock on his bedside table and sees that it’s not even 9 AM yet.

 

“Uggh…” Kel groans, pulling himself into a seating position. Is he being overly dramatic? Maybe. Is it warranted? Oh, definitely. “What’s going on?”

 

If Kel’s brain wasn’t so slow right after waking up, the way his mom was acting would have caused alarm bells to start ringing inside his head. As it stands, he was too busy mourning the fact that he got woken up from his dream of swimming in an ocean of Orange Joe to notice the way his mom seemed to fidget.

 

“Please… get yourself presentable and come downstairs.” Kel’s mother finally said after a few seconds.

 

Still groaning, Kel got up and started looking for clothes that would pass the sniff test. Once Kel’s mom was convinced that her son wouldn’t crawl his way back to dreamland, she left the room. Another thing he failed to notice was how his mom didn’t reprimand him for the sorry state of his side of the room like she usually did.

 

Still tired but now much more awake than before thanks to a visit to the bathroom, Kel made his way downstairs, still bitter at being woken up. Geez, someone better be dying, or worse!

 

Stifling a yawn, he arrived at the living room where his parents were sitting on the sofa. They looked… rather serious.

 

“Uh… something wrong?” Kel asked.

 

His mom said nothing but instead patted the seat next to her. Kel sat down and his parents turned around to face him.

 

“Hero called us.” Kel’s mother started. “Sunny’s mom got into an accident.”

 

Wait, what?

 

The confusion on Kel’s face must’ve been obvious, as his mom quickly grabbed his hands and bit her lip. Kel’s father coughed and began to elaborate on the situation.

 

“She got… hit by a car while walking on the sidewalk. The brakes had failed… a total accident. She’s at the hospital, unconscious.”

 

“Wait, hold on… why does Hero know what happened to Sunny’s mom?” Kel asked. He still hasn’t processed what’s going on, but for some reason that detail jumped to his mind. Hero was currently halfway across the state, studying (ew) to be a doctor.

 

“It wasn’t here in Faraway, that’s why word hasn’t gotten around. She was visiting Neiburgh, but we don’t know why.” Kel’s dad answered. Wait, wasn’t Hero’s university in Neiburgh? “Hero was throwing away the trash when he noticed an old newspaper from two days ago. They had a small report on the accident, and the name of Sunny’s mom happened to cross his gaze.”

 

Kel blinked. Then he blinked again.

 

“Whoa…”

 

That was all he managed to say.

 

“You know how Sunny has been ever since Mari… left,” Kel’s mom said as she gave his hands a firm squeeze. “We don’t know how long it’ll take for his mom to wake up, and what if he runs out of groceries or something?”

 

Kel can see where his parents are going.

 

“You want me to check on him? I mean, I can try but…”

 

He has tried. Multiple times, even. Back when the... incident... was still fresh, he would go multiple times a day, either by himself or with Aubrey and/or Basil. But Hero kept getting worse by the day, and everyone started drifting apart so Kel just… stopped.

 

Kel’s mom let go of his hands and took something out of her pocket. It was a key.

 

“Back when… that hadn’t happened yet,” she began, “Sunny’s parents gave us a copy of their house key to be used in emergencies. Your dad or I would go check on him ourselves, but I think it’d be better if you went instead. At least for the first visit.”

 

That makes sense. Kel doesn’t know how Sunny is after a full four years locked up inside his house, but even he can tell that he’d appreciate a visit from a friend more than two adults he barely knows. Kel nodded vigorously and grabbed the key from his mother’s hand, not bothering to wait until she handed it to him.

 

“Got it. I’ll be going now.”

 

Without bothering to say anything else, Kel jumped out of the sofa and sprinted outside. He chose to pretend not to hear his mom yelling at him to slow down.

 

Once he was in front of Sunny’s front door though (huh, the “For Sale” sign in front of the house now had a big “SOLD” written over it, when did that happen?), Kel began to feel nervous. It was kinda shameful to admit, but back when Kel was still trying to get Sunny to come out, he kinda resigned himself at the end to the idea that Sunny was going to ignore him. Now though, Kel was definitely going to see him face to face.

 

That being said, just using the key from the start would be rude. What if today happens to be the one day Sunny answers the door? What if he hears the doorbell and opens it, thinking it’s his mom coming home after disappearing for two days? He’s gotta be worried, right? Wait, no, Sunny’s mom wouldn’t ring the doorbell, she’d just use her own key.

 

Well, it doesn’t hurt to try!

 

“Sunnnnnnny! Sunnnnnnny! It’s me, Kel! I gotta talk to you, this is important! It’s about your mom!”

 

He tried yelling. He tried knocking. He tried the doorbell. He tried yelling and knocking. He tried knocking and ringing the doorbell. He tried yelling and ringing the doorbell. He tried yelling while knocking on the door with one hand and ringing the doorbell with the other.

 

Welp, he tried. Time to use the key. Hopefully Sunny’s mom hasn’t changed the lock in the last four years.

 

…

 

And she didn’t! Sweet! Cautiously, Kel opened the creaking door and entered the house.

 

The house looked… mostly identical to what he remembered. Even the old stain of Orange Joe on the carpet was still there (yikes). There used to be a big family photo hung up on the wall by the door to the backyard, but it seems that after Mari’s death and the divorce, Sunny and his mom decided to take it down. Other than that, everything looked okay, if slightly… off . Kel didn’t know how to explain it, but this house didn’t feel like a house.

 

“Sunnnnnnnny! I’m inside the house now! This is really important!”

 

Okay, now Sunny should know that Kel is in the house, wherever he is hiding. Now when he finds Sunny, his friend won’t be as startled.

 

The dining room and the kitchen were empty. Remembering what his mom was worried about, Kel opened the fridge to take a peek and…

 

Oh .

 

Kel’s mom had hit the bullseye. The only thing inside the fridge is a piece of something that Kel thinks was meat once upon a time. Kel might not subscribe to the “food goes bad immediately after the expiration date” school of thought, but not even he would give something like that a try.

 

Kel left the kitchen and made his way to the stairwell, and he couldn’t help but stop and stare at the bottom of the stairs, even though there was nothing there. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get his bearings. God, if he feels like that just from looking at the scene of the accident, Kel can’t even imagine how Sunny and his mom must feel, since not only did they see the actual aftermath, they have to live in the same house and pass by this location every day.

 

He checked the two other rooms downstairs, but no sign of Sunny. The closet was super dusty, and the sight of the piano rooms brings too many memories. Kel looked inside, saw that Sunny wasn’t there, and left before the memories would overwhelm him. Okay, only the upper floor left.

 

Kel remembers that the middle room is the bathroom, but he doesn’t remember which bedroom was Sunny’s. He tried knocking on the bathroom first, then he tried calling Sunny’s name. A bit apprehensive, he grabbed the doorknob and gave it a turn. Kel opened the door while covering his eyes, just in case Sunny really was in the bathroom, just ignoring him.

 

But that turned out to not be the case. The bathroom was as empty as the rest of the house. Well, only two places left now, right? And surely Sunny must have heard Kel this time. He wasn’t being exactly subtle when he yelled in front of the bathroom door.

 

For the last two doors, Kel chose one at random… and picked the wrong door. Damn. Well, at least he now knows where Sunny is. He quickly made his way to the final door and opened it. Best not to stop and think of the fact he’s going to see his best friend for the first time in four years and just do it. Like ripping off a bandaid in one go.

 

Because, well, where else would Sunny be? He has to have noticed that Kel is inside the house and has been yelling for him. He’s either too scared to face Kel (understandable, since Kel himself can feel the sweat on his palms) or he’s wearing headphones or something.

 

In contrast to how the rest of the house seemed to be frozen in time save for a few minor changes, Sunny’s room looked remarkably different. There was only one bed, which made sense. Sleeping in the same room as Hero’s empty bed already felt bad enough when his brother first left for college (not that he’d ever admit that to Hero himself), so Kel can’t imagine what that would feel like if Hero was dead instead.

 

What didn’t make sense was how… empty the rest of the room was. There was only the bed and the wardrobe. No posters on the walls, or any trinkets, or anything . Kel’s heard of minimalistic people before, but if anything Sunny was very attached to his toys and plushies back then. Also, what was this smell ? It’s like an animal died here.

 

But speaking of Sunny, there he was. He was under the covers, but Kel could see a mop of black hair peeking out. Sunny slept through all of that? And Kel’s mom thought he was bad at waking up! Not bothering to be quiet, Kel approached the… surprisingly small shape on the bed?

 

“Sunny… Sunny…” Kel called out as he gently shook Sunny with his right arm. He kept going, increasing his strength and volume of his voice bit by bit. Eventually, it seemed to work, as Sunny began to move. The covers were lowered, enough for Sunny’s face to show. He blinked slowly, not seeming to recognize what was going on. If Kel could try and describe it, he’d say “the lights are on, but there’s no one in the house.”

 

And now Kel could see where the smell was coming from… it was Sunny’s smell. He reeked like he hadn’t taken a bath in days, and he looked the part too. And why did his eyes look sunken in? His hair was so… long, and unkept.

 

“Sunny? Buddy? It’s me, Kel.”

 

Kel tried to get a reaction out of Sunny, but to no avail. He started by waving his hand in front of Sunny’s face, but grew increasingly nervous as his friend didn’t respond to being shaken or having Kel snap his fingers right next to Sunny’s ears. He was… only physically awake.

 

Kel gulped. He doesn’t know what’s wrong, but he knows that Sunny needs help. Should he try to figure out what’s going on or call his parents? Crap, where was Hero when you needed him!? He could probably charm Sunny into getting out of bed or something.

 

“Please… just say something. Anything!”

 

Sunny continued staring at Kel, blinking every once in a while.

 

Argh! Think, Kel, think! He can figure out strategies on the spot when playing basketball, so why can’t his brain be at least halfway as competent outside the court!?

 

He began pacing inside the room, hands in his hair. Sunny’s gaze didn’t even follow him, he kept staring at the place where Kel was standing before. Dude, what the he-

 

Clank.

 

Kel’s foot hit something. He looked down and saw… a chain? What in the world was a chain doing inside Sunny’s room? It looked quite long too, with one end bolted to the wall.

 

What is this chain for anyway?

 

Kel’s gaze followed the chain to… the bed? Under the covers?

 

Kel suddenly felt like he had tried to swallow an entire apple and it got stuck in his throat. With dread, he pulled the covers to reveal Sunny’s body and…

 

Small.

 

That was the first word that came to Kel’s mind. Sunny looked like he had barely grown up during the past four years, if he had at all. He was wearing some kind of old sleeveless camisole showed off how skinny his arms were and…

 

WHY WAS SUNNY’S ANKLE CHAINED!?

 

On one end of the chain was a shackle locked on Sunny’s right ankle. The other end of the chain was bolted to the wall.

 

WHY WAS SUNNY CHAINED TO THE WALL OF HIS OWN ROOM!?

 

Kel grabbed Sunny’s leg to examine the shackle closer. He probably should have done that in a more gentle manner, but his brain was currently hyper-focusing on “get Sunny free this very second.”

 

Okay, good news: there was a keyhole on the shackle. Bad news: he has no idea where the key is. Or even if the key is in this house.

 

Dad. Dad’s tools.

 

Kel’s dad is big into DIY stuff, so he has a bunch of tools.

 

Grab one. Cut the chain.

 

Kel ran. As fast as he could. Threw the front door open and ran to his own house. He ignored the way his parents were shouting at him. Something about explaining what’s going on, but he doesn’t have the time to. He goes straight to the garage where the tools are kept and grabs the first thing he sees that can cut: a saw.

 

Kel runs again. His parents seem even more alarmed once they see what he’s holding. He’s probably not even holding it correctly. One trip and he might seriously hurt himself or something. But that doesn’t matter. He returns to Sunny’s house, sprints upstairs, and starts trying to cut the chain.

 

Keyword: trying. He can’t seem to make any progress. Crap. He just grabbed the first thing he saw… Why is he so useless!? You can’t cut a chain with a saw! He should have asked his dad or something!

 

He keeps trying to cut the chain anyway, his vision becoming blurry from the tears that are springing to his eyes. Kel doesn’t notice the voice calling his own name until its owner barges into the room. It’s his dad. He must’ve followed Kel once he saw his own son return from what should have been a visit to an old friend, only to run back in there with a freaking saw .

 

And that’s the scene Kel’s father sees. His son’s childhood friend chained to the wall, while his own son is trying to cut the chain with tears in his eyes.

 

“Dad.” Kel sobs, and it manages to startle his father out of his shock.

 

“S-Stay here!” Kel’s father yells in a voice louder than necessary. “I-I have something to cut that thing!”

 

Kel’s father runs outside, leaving Kel and the unresponsive Sunny alone (dear God, what’s wrong with him, staying quiet for so long!?). The saw falls from Kel’s hands with a clatter, and Kel stays there, sitting on the ground and gripping the chain with both hands.

 

After a while, he can hear footsteps again. And more than one set. Kel’s dad barges in the room again, this time holding a pair of giant pliers, while Kel’s mom follows him, begging for an explanation before she “ends up having a heart attack.” Once she looks at the situation and the reality of it has sunken in, she lets out a sharp cry.

 

“Sunny!? Sunny!?” She kneels next to the bed and tries to get a response out of the boy, but he continues staring at nothing. “Dear, cut this damn thing off already!”

 

The pliers cut the chain so easily, it’s almost like a joke. The shackle is still attached to Sunny’s ankle alongside a small part of the chain, but they can take care of that after they take Sunny out of this place.

 

And so Kel takes the initiative. He jumps to his feet, picks Sunny up and runs outside, followed by his parents, who tell him yet again to slow down, all the while trying not to think of how light Sunny feels.

 

The family of three fails to notice how a certain boy wearing a blond wig saw them rush outside of a house carrying an unconscious child back to their own.

Chapter 2: Cake and Spiders

Notes:

The reception this got was way better than I expected, so thank you all very much! Every comment and kudos brings a smile to my face.

I don't have an update schedule. I'll try to upload at least a chapter per week, but not on any set day.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Come back here!” Aubrey yelled, running after the chicken.

 

Kel, being much faster, quickly shot past Aubrey and Omori and tried to pounce on the chicken, only for the flightless bird to swerve to the left at the last moment, making Kel faceplant on the ground instead. Thankfully, the third floor of Dino’s Dig was literally made out of cake, so the only thing really hurt was his pride.

 

Aubrey and Omori, not feeling like there was anything to worry about, ignored Kel and went after the chicken. However Basil, who was lagging behind everyone else, stopped and kneeled down next to his fallen friend.

 

“A-Are you okay there?” he asked.

 

But Kel didn’t answer. Worried, Basil crawled closer and asked again… and it was then that Kel shot up, rising to his feet faster than the lights turning on after someone had flipped the switch. The movement almost made him headbutt Basil, who had fallen on his back with an “eep!” after miraculously dodging by an inch.

 

Kel’s face was covered in pink frosting, and his cheeks stuffed full of cake. He didn’t seem to mind though, as he used his hands to clear the frosting covering his eyes and left the rest alone.

 

“Basil, what happened to you? Why are you on the ground?” Kel tried to ask, but as his mouth was still full of cake, Basil was unable to understand him. Ugh, whenever he talked some crumbs would fly out of his mouth and fall on top of Basil. Gross.

 

Bawk!

 

“Ow!”

 

On the other side of the room, Aubrey had cornered the chicken and tried to hit it with Mr. Plantegg, only for the bird to sidestep the swing and hop on top of Aubrey’s plushie, and then hop again to the top of her head. Omori stood still while holding his knife in a reverse grip, unable to strike the bird without hurting Aubrey too.

 

Kel, suddenly remembering their original objective, shot off after the chicken yelling something that vaguely sounded like “Come back here, you stupid bird!”. Basil sighed, getting himself up and swatting the crumbs off his overalls.

 

Twenty minutes later, the chicken was finally defeated and their wallets were considerably heavier with clams.

 

“Who-hoo!” Kel cheered and raised a hand, expecting a high five. Aubrey returned it. The euphoria they were feeling after finally completing their task was enough for the duo to set their differences aside. At least for the five seconds it took Aubrey to remember that Kel’s hand was still covered in frosting, and now so was hers.

 

Basil, who had better stamina than Hero but not by much, was leaning on the giant spoon they had bought at the counter of the pyramid’s first floor like it was a cane. Honestly, he’d rather deal with the weird rabbits instead. Sure they hit way harder, but at least it doesn’t take forever just to start the fight.

 

“Oh, thank goodness we’re done here.” Basil said between wheezes. “Let’s finish digging for treasure and then go back.”

 

And hopefully never return. Basil knows that he’ll end up folding like a piece of wet paper if Omori asks him, so he’s praying that Kel and/or Aubrey speak up soon. Surely they must be getting tired of this.

 

Omori tapped Basil’s shoulder. After catching his friend’s attention, Omori extended his arm and pointed towards something.

 

“Hm? What is it?” Basil looked in the direction Omori was pointing and saw… another chicken.

 

Oh, no.

The four friends limped their way back to Mari’s picnic basket in front of the orange juice lake. Kel’s entire body was covered in frosting and cake, but his friends weren’t unscathed either.

 

It started when Aubrey complained about how Kel looked gross and should take a bath ASAP… and so he naturally decided to give her a bear hug. Basil had gotten a picture of the moment, and then another picture of Kel running away from a flustered Aubrey. 

 

When Aubrey got tired of running after Kel, he gave the same hug to Basil and Omori, just so they wouldn’t feel left out. Mari giggled at the sight of her four friends.

 

“Oh my, everyone,” she said, “did you fight a giant cake inside Dino’s Dig or something? That must’ve been quite the battle!”

 

“Mariiiiii, Kel got me all dirty!” Aubrey flopped down next to Mari on top of the picnic blanket.

 

Mari took out a handkerchief from her skirt’s pocket and started cleaning Aubrey’s face.

 

“Kel, that was not very nice… Oh dear, I don’t think I have enough hankies to clean this.”

 

“If you hate cake that much, just go to Rain Town and open that valve.” Kel grumbled.

 

“But won’t that inconvenience the Veggie Kids?” Basil asked.

 

“I’m sure they can endure a little strong rain for a few minutes.” Aubrey pouted. “And I don’t hate cake! Food is for eating, not being covered in it. Omori, come with us! I’m sure they won’t mind if it’s a request from their almighty savior.”

 

As silent as ever, Omori immediately walked over to the lake and jumped in. Aubrey quickly gave chase.

 

“O-Oh, he must really dislike being covered in cake, huh?” Basil said. “Then again, so do I.”

 

Excusing himself, he then joined his friends and also jumped inside the lake.

 

That left Mari and the cake-covered Kel, who appeared to be quite content with his current state. In fact, he grabbed one of the candy apples that Mari had set on the picnic blanket and started eating it. While that happened, Mari racked her brain trying to find a way to convince Kel to get cleaned up.

 

But in the end, she didn’t need to. Aubrey jumped out of the lake, pouting, and dragged Kel by his ear back into the lake. Kel tried to say something, either complain about the way he was being treated or cry in pain, but his mouth was stuffed full of apple bits.

 

Well, that’s certainly a way for a situation to take care of itself.

The four children jumped out of the lake after a few minutes, sopping wet but cakeless. Like Basil predicted, the Veggie Kids weren’t exactly thrilled when the kids explained the motive behind their visit, but just like Aubrey said, they agreed once Omori stepped in.

 

“Ugh… now the sugar on the ground is sticking to my feet…” Aubrey complained.

 

“Would it kill you to not complain for five minutes?” Kel asked.

 

“If it weren’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place!”

 

“Now, now, there’s no need to fight.” Mari butted in the conversation by walking between the two of them. “You can save your energy for the monsters. I got some hot towels here with me, so feel free to use them.”

 

The four children accepted them and started drying themselves. None of them questioned where Mari had gotten them from. It simply wasn’t in their nature to do so.

 

“I don’t think the monsters will be a problem.” Basil said. “We spent so much time training inside the pyramid… I think we’re more than ready for anything. B-By the way, where did Mr. Dino get those monsters from, anyway?”

 

Omori shrugged.

 

“But did we really need to spend all that time training?” Aubrey asked. “Aren’t we supposed to be searching for Hero? What if he got hurt while we were chasing chickens?”

 

“Hero’s fine!” Kel assured. “You heard that Sprout Mole with the top hat and the mustache: on the other side of Pyrefly Forest, there’s a big pink castle where a perfect and articulate princess lives, and she’s just hired the best chef in the world!”

 

“I’m pretty sure that Sprout Mole said ‘immaculate’, not ‘articulate.’” Basil added.

 

“Potayto, potahto.” Kel rebutted.

 

“And I’ve been telling you: Pyrefly Forest is full of nasty, scary bugs!” Aubrey shouted. “How in the world would Hero even reach that castle? Ever since we came across that Sprout Mole, it’s like you stopped caring! What happened to the Kel who was worried sick about Hero and kept pushing us to look for him?”

 

Now it was Kel’s turn to pout.

 

“I care!” he shouted. “Hero might annoy me sometimes, but I would go to hell and back for him. My brother is the best cook in the entire world, so I know he’s the one working in that castle! And I’m still going to give him the scolding of his life for disappearing like that without telling any of us!”

 

“ The spiders .” Aubrey emphasized.

 

“Well... maybe he got over his fear! People do that.” Kel suggested. “I mean, Omori doesn’t like spiders either, but he’s still going! Right, Omori?”

 

Omori looked away.

 

“Omori?”

 

He turned his back to Kel.

 

“Omori,” Basil began, “correct me if I’m wrong but… did we spend all that time training in the pyramid so you could stall for time?”

 

Omori stayed silent. Well, he was always silent, but this silence felt poignant. Aubrey skipped over to him and hugged the boy’s arm. Basil looked down while Kel scratched the back of his head and tried to laugh it off.

 

“D’aww, don’t worry! We got super strong from all that training!” Aubrey placed her head on Omori’s shoulder. “You can just close your eyes and the three of us will squish any nasty spiders in a second!”

 

“Spiders aren’t bad, Omori!” Basil said. “They don’t harm anyone! They even eat the actual nasty bugs and pests. I have lots of spider friends who help me in my garden, so I can introduce you to them someday.”

 

Aubrey let go of Omori’s arm and turned towards Basil, her eyes sparkling.

 

“That’s a great idea! Pyrefly Forest is close to the playground, so we can totally take a quick detour!”

 

“And we can give Daisy that flower puzzle we found in the junkyard.” Basil added.

 

“We’re here for you, buddy.” Kel wrapped an arm around Omori’s shoulder in a friendly hug. “Remember when I messed up Basil’s plants with my ball by accident and you had the idea to blame it on a rabbit?”

 

“Wait, that was you!?”

 

“Or when you helped me find my stuffie that a certain someone hid?” Aubrey asked.

 

“O-Or when you helped me water my plants when I got sick?” Basil decided to not ruin the mood they’ve got going. He’s still going to question Kel about the rabbit thing later, though. And Omori too, for coming up with the lie.

 

“But didn’t all of us help wateri- ow !”

 

Aubrey had elbowed Kel as hard as she could. In other words, it hurt a lot. The boy even let go of Omori to rub the place where he was hit.

 

“Omori.”

 

Mari was now standing in front of her little brother, smiling warmly. She hugged him to her chest, giving a firm squeeze. Omori’s face was as unresponsive as ever and he did not return the hug, but his shoulders visibly relaxed.

 

Snap!

 

Never one to miss a shot, Basil had immortalized that moment with his camera.

 

“Oooh, lemme see, lemme see!”

 

“Kel, keep it down or I’m gonna elbow you again!” Aubrey whispered. “Don’t ruin the mood!”

 

“I’m worried about Hero, just as much as the rest of you guys.” Mari said. “And I would be very happy if you overcome your fear of spiders, but that doesn’t mean you have to force yourself. But if you do want to, remember that we are all here by your side. Also, there are plenty of other places to explore too, if you want.“

 

“Y-Yeah, Mari is right!” Kel added. “Hero is safe in that castle. For all we know he’ll have charmed that princess into marrying him and become king! Oh, would that make me Prime Minister?”

 

“I’m pretty sure that would make you a duke.” Aubrey said.

 

“I could swear it was a marquis.” Mari giggled. She knew perfectly well what the “correct” answer was, she was merely playing along.

 

“I don’t think those are right either.” Basil added. “I believe only the person themself becomes a noble.”

 

“What!? That’s not fair! Hero becomes a king and I stay a peasant?”

 

“W-We don’t even know if Hero is at that castle in the first place.” Basil said.

 

“Please don’t go marrying your brother off to someone when his girlfriend can hear you.” Aubrey deadpanned.

 

Mari let go of Omori and ruffled his hair a bit. She then giggled when he immediately began to comb it back the way it was with his fingers.

 

The boy stepped away from Mari and walked over to his friends. They didn’t notice him at first, apparently too engrossed in a talk about… starting a revolution? But after a while, they did see him there.

 

“Oh, are we going now?” Basil asked.

 

Omori nodded, but for someone who wasn’t familiar with him it would’ve seemed like he didn’t move his head at all.

 

“Sure thing.” Basil nodded back. “By Pluto or by train?”

 

“Pluto.” Aubrey said.

 

“Train.” Kel said at the same time. The two glared at each other.

 

“Pluto is much faster.”

 

“You only say that ‘cause you don’t have to keep holding on to his leg. Try swapping places with me once, and you’ll see.”

 

Omori ignored his friends’ usual banter and started walking in the direction of Pluto’s station, much to Kel’s chagrin. Aubrey playfully stuck her tongue at him.

Back at the playground, the four friends had gotten a daisy from Daisy as thanks for the flower puzzle. It was a pretty flower, but Omori didn’t know what to do with it, so he pocketed it for now.

 

“What a wonderful gift!” Basil said. “Daisies symbolize innocence and purity. And loyalty too, in some interpretations.”

 

“Wait, I remember you saying that but about lilies. What’s up with that?” Kel asked.

 

“Oh, you remembered that?” Basil’s eyes were shining. “Flower language isn’t exactly a science, and there are some national variants too. That means some meanings can overlap, and even the same flower can have completely different meanings!”

 

“That… doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.” Aubrey remarked.

 

“But we have plenty of words in our own language that mean the same thing,” Basil argued back, “like ‘hard’ and ‘difficult’. So it’s not only about meaning, sometimes your personal preference plays a role.”

 

“Okay, you convinced me.” Aubrey smiled.

 

“Cool! Now let’s go check on Basil’s garden!”

 

At Kel’s urging, the group started moving. Omori’s friends pretended not to notice how he was walking slightly slower. Once they arrived at the sunflower patch, Basil took the lead. He grabbed Omori’s hand and guided his friend to a certain spot near some trees. There was a moderately-sized spider web on the branches, which for someone scared of spiders like Omori must have looked gigantic.

 

“Don’t worry, we’re all here with you.” Basil reassured Omori and gave his hand a light but firm squeeze. “You got over your fear of heights, so I’m sure this will be easy. See? We’re this close to the spider and it’s done nothing to us. These aren’t the kind of venomous spiders you hear about...”

 

Basil kept talking, listing numerous facts about spiders meant to make those eight-legged monsters seem less threatening. In his quest to not look at the spider directly, Omori paid as much attention to Basil as he could, absorbing every fact like water in a sponge. Aubrey and Kel were there too, nodding along and asking follow-up questions at the appropriate moments.

 

Well, so far he has been in close proximity to one of those… things… and not be maimed to death. Yet.

 

…

 

Yeah, maybe he can do this after all.

Notes:

Some more notes about this AU:

- In canon, Basil is the one who always ends up uncovering the truth and going missing because of his connection to it. In here, none of Sunny's friends have any direct involvement with the accident, but Sunny is still repressing the memory. This means that the person who discovers the truth is chosen at random. It's truly random and does not follow any set of pattern. The same person may end up chosen multiple times in a row, but in the long run everything balances itself out.
- This means that, during cycles where Basil isn't the one to go missing, he joins the party. Like Hero, Basil is a support-oriented character, but his focus is on buffing the party instead of healing (let's be real, there are plenty of ways of debuffing enemies in-game, but not so many of buffing the party). He uses books as weapons, with the photo album as his starting weapon. The camera is a charm that increases hit rate (enemies can't dodge if they're blinded by the flash).
- Hero being the one to go missing in here doesn't have any kind of Special Meaning™ or anything of the sort. I just wanted to showcase a cycle where Basil was present.
- There will changes made to Headspace, but the bigger ones will become apparent later.

Next chapter we're going back to the real world. I have a Twitter and Tumblr too, though I haven't done any Omoriposting on those yet. It's been mostly Shin Megami Tensei these days.

Notes:

Some notes for this AU that are implied in the chapter but I may as well elaborate:

- Basil wasn't there on the day of the recital. Sunny's parents covered it up, but instead of framing it as a suicide, it was "Mari slipped and fell completely by accident."
- This story doesn't start at the same time as canon, but instead just a little earlier. Sometime from a few days to a full week before. Just long enough for it to be summer vacation already, but Hero is only scheduled to return home in a few days, not "tomorrow."
- The camisole doesn't have any special meaning. It's just kinda hard to wear shorts or pants when you're shackled 24/7.