Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunny stood up for what felt like the first time since the night of his sister's demise. Clutching his hand over his heart, it finally felt whole.

Yet, a burden weighed heavily over it, weighing him down under its crushing weight, one his dreams of delusion could no longer hide.

The pain of knowing he abandoned his friends for four years.
Four years of lost time. Four years that Sunny could have supported Aubrey through her tribulations. Four years that Kel could have had a companion. Four years Hero could have had more help to overcome his troubles.

The least they deserved to know was the truth-- a truth that loomed over all of them, something that caused the group of friends to shatter in the first place.

A tragedy orchestrated by sheer chance, an overprotective child, and comatose inaction.

He left his hospital room, traversing through the halls as he recollected his memories of days gone by, lost in his head, provided with the mirage of his friends. Their best traits were preserved as a memento in his head, giving him comfort with a taste of Hero's cooking, a touch of Kel's mischief, and a drop of Aubrey's caring love.

He saw the mirage of his former 'friends' tempt him.
The three discussed amongst themselves, deciding where to go next. Breaking formation, 'Kel' ran up to him, jumping in place as he said, "Hey, OMORI! I wanna go to the rooftop! We can catch a ride from pluto out of here!"

Sunny sighed, and OMORI's heart tingled at the familiar comfort of his friends.

Just as he had when avoiding his fears. Sunny shook his head, declining their advances.

'Aubrey' cutely twirled, her blue dress swaying in the wind, pleading, "Oh, come on, OMORI! It'll be fun!"

Taking the initiative, 'Kel' ran off, and 'Aubrey' chased after him.

Slugging behind, 'Hero' stood, glancing at Sunny as he asked, "You aren't still afraid of heights... are you, OMORI?" And a moment later, he turned away, following the others.

Sunny sighed, left in the dust by the memory of his friends, feeling abandoned as he knew he could not follow them, just as he had after Mari's death. Those countless nights, left behind to linger, with the comfort of only an absentee mother's pleasantries.

He steadied his breath, persisting despite the odds. He had to be strong. It's what his big sister would have wanted, yes?

...

He didn't even wish to entertain the alternatives of the life's thread he cut short could desire for him, shaking his head as he dismissed the cruel hypothetical malicious sentiments that haunted his mind, plaguing him like a poison.

Yet, he felt a forgiving breeze flow through the silent halls of the hospital; the weight that hung over his scarred soul lifted ever-so-slightly.

Catching his breath, he approached the door and entered Basil's hospital room.

Inside he saw his friends turning their attention away from the wilting flower to acknowledge his presence with concerned looks, surprised to see the hospitalized boy leaving his room without assistance or prompt.

A steady beat reverberated from the heart monitor, sending chills down Sunny's spine.

He spoke softly, forcing the words out of his dry throat, "I have to tell you something..."

Chapter Text

The three were left confused by Sunny's declaration, remaining still, calm as he gathered his breath to hand out his confession, something buddling under the surface for years, a secret he almost took to the grave.

His words flowed forth from his lips, filling the room like a discordant symphony, "Mari didn't kill herself."

Aubrey cringed, Kel's jaw dropped, and Hero winced.

Beneath his sheets, Basil's breathing raced.

Disturbed from the sight, he closed his eyes, his hands curling into fists, alarmed by the anxiety-inducing images surrounding him.

"I was frustrated by the constant practice. I missed my friends. I tried to tell Mari I wanted to quit, and she wasn't taking that as an answer."

Already, he could hear Hero mutter something under his breath. If that was a genuine comment or his mind's imagination, he could not tell, as his brain forced itself into the familiar white space to cope with the reality of his actions.

"I left our room and threw the violin down the stairs, breaking it."

He let out deep huffs, catching his breath for a minute, and could swear he heard loud noises.

He couldn't recognize them anymore-- he hadn't been able to for a while.
Everything felt fuzzy to him, filled with static, less like people-- and more like sirens, and that was for the better.

"Mari was enraged that I'd break the prized gift. She demanded I answer for my sins."

He fought the urge to punch himself in the gut, continuing,

"I tried to run, escape the nightmare I brought upon myself..."

His face fell into his palms, tears clouding his closed-off eyes, a wall of water around his disassociating fortress.

"She stopped me, and I--"

He flinched, struggling to find the will to continue.

Sunny gave out.

In his stead, OMORI stood.

Inside his pure white space, where nothing surrounded him but his quiet room, the brr of his comfortable laptop, the pages of his venting sketchbook, a cat that purred because of his presence, and a door to infinity. He took his hands away from his eyes, giving the rest a detached stare expression.

His arms confidently at his side, he saw a confused 'Hero' raise his eyebrows, 'Aubrey' on edge, sweat running down her cheeks, an enraged Kel approaching him, and 'Aubrey' glancing at 'Kel', her arm slowly reaching to restrain his.

Time stood in slow motion as OMORI patiently worked through a script to get him through the waking hell Sunny had subjected them to suffer.

OMORI used sad poem.

"She fell like hell.
My sis, into abyss."

'Kel', stopping mere inches away from OMORI, opened his mouth and furled his hand into a fist, slowly mouthing out words OMORI couldn't pay mind.

"Without care, scared.
Sunflower's willpower.
Her debris on a tree.
Cover-up; break-up.
Youngthing became something."

The fist of 'Kel' collided with his skull, sending him to the ground, disoriented as his world of white grew colorful, and an 'eye' gave out, giving way to pitch darkness.

If sights are worth living for, he was half alive, or perhaps half-dead; OMORI was never one for optimism.

The pink-haired girl gave the brown-haired athletic a tug on his arm, pulling him back from his second strike as incomprehensible screaming filled the room.

OMORI hated going outside, and this was why.

Nonetheless, he continued,

"His confiance, my compliance.
A world shattered, my mind battered.
And yours, scattered."

Tears and screaming wailed from the has-been Hero; shouts of accusations that strung yet rung true echoed through the room.

A girl's tear-ridden face as she fought with her once-friend, her mind unable to comprehend.

The declaration to make one's life hell-- a thoughtless act of reckless revenge with a stare of pure hurt, the culmination of years of pain that one refused to process, a desire for something resembling retribution for the crimes against him as well as his family.

And at the end, a flatline sang, adding its beautiful sound to the symphony of chaos in the disturbing room.

Chapter Text

Sunny rested upon his hospital bed, and then his eye shot open as he awoke.

Grasping his eyes, he shut their lids, rubbing against them with his palm, his missing socket protected by the bandages covering his face.

Rubbing the sleepy seed out of his exposed eye-- he blinked, surveying the area.

Around him, he saw the room just as it was before he had ventured out of his bed. A television stood in front of him. On his right is a lounge chair for guests to relax. Plants surrounded his bed, donated by those his heart touched during his brief stint outside his house.

Yet, a light illuminated the room, that of the sun setting, falling from view, showing the time that had passed since he gave his friends a well-deserved truth.

He sighed, dismissing it and their reactions as a dream, lying to himself, a comfortable habit for the disassociative child.

He sat, staring at the static, losing himself inside the white noise, feeling his mind drift away from the bothersome world he felt trapped inside.

As he stared into the static abyss, he made out a face.

Fuzzy at first, clearer as the static created a whole.

Before Sunny stood a monochrome still of 'Hero' with a hurt face, his eyes glancing into Sunny's soul, a trail of heavy tears to his cheeks, eyebrows quivering in sorrow.

Sunny tried to shake away this horrific sight, yet he felt glued to the image before him, the grief he had given his friend, the pain he subjected the man that was like his second father to endure.

As his pain intensified, 'Hero' began to move, crying out in a loud screech, "Mari!".

Sunny's mind repressed the sight, shutting his eye and shaking his head, banishing the vision to where his nightmares lay.

Deciding he had enough of reality, he turned to his side, clutching his pillow, and hugged it as he once would his dear sister to help him fall asleep.

It wasn't long until his battered and beaten body got whisked away into a land of pure imagination.

--------------------------------------------------------------

                                      Welcome to White Space.

            You've been hiding here for the past four years of your life.
--------------------------------------------------------------

OMORI found himself in his familiar white room, breathing in the sterile air as his imagined lungs sprung to life once more.

He didn't want to spend long within this realm; he needed to escape. Omori needed comfort; he needed someone to tell him everything is going to be okay-- that he shouldn't just die.

He needed his friends.

Quickly, his heartbeat raced like a train as he desperately reached for the door to the outside world, the door to a paradise constructed in the image of his most comforting memories.

He opened the door and slammed it behind himself as he rushed into the familiar Neighbor's Room.

To his surprise, no one was there; everything was as it had been, except untouched, the cards neatly stacked, suffering from disuse, the plushies neatly stacked together at a corner of the room, the toys stacked up together atop the counter, and the plates out of sight.

OMORI mouthed out to himself, "This is not home.".

Seeking to find his friends, he sprinted up the stairs and approached the exit.

A voice shouted out to him as he tried to leave, "You cannot leave without your friends."

OMORI fell to the ground of the steps, his hands propping himself up against them, sorrow taking hold as tears fell down his cheeks, creating a fantastical stream of water which fell elegantly down the steps and into the cat-shaped hole, pouring into the sky of his headspace, the realm painted blue by his tears' immense weight.

Desperate, OMORI turned his gaze to the sky and let out a loud screech as the dream shattered, the Neighbor's Room splitting into pieces of debris as it collapsed.

He found himself falling through his trail of tears, like a slide, into the hospital room of one particular patient, Sunny.

He fell into his counterpart, absorbed by the familiar form, and OMORI woke up where Sunny once slept, eye wide awake in the hospital room.

-----------------------------
            Welcome to reality.
    Wake up and smell the roses.
-----------------------------

Suddenly, the door opened, and Sunny's mother arrived inside his room.

The middle-aged ginger sported a proper business attire, her face covered with sweat like any worker would be after a long shift.

She told her son, concern weighing over her voice, "Sunny... are you alright?"

OMORI shook his head horizontally. He wasn't alright; his head felt like a fire raged over his neurons, his life in shambles, and not even his space of pure white could calm his worked-up nerves.

She sat down on the bed, grasping his palm in her own, and glanced towards him with pained eyes, "Did you... start that fight with Basil, son?"

Once more, OMORI shook his head. He hadn't-- nor had Sunny. Sunny wished to save his friend from the danger he was in, lost in his web of lies, alone, scared, and confused.

OMORI couldn't care less either way.

She sighed, telling him, "I thought so..." Biting her lip as she said, "Maybe I was wrong about taking you to see Kel..."

Agreeing with her sentiment, OMORI gave his mother a thumbs-up. OMORI hated going outside, much less the experience of watching the polar contrast to his idealized world, the damage still fresh in his mind.

"You... know what happened to Basil, don't you?"

The words rang throughout them, spiking their anxiety as he shook their head.

"We're going to have to go to court, Sunny."

OMORI thought to himself, "Of course, he took our eye..." refusing to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, and turned his head as he blankly stared into the wall of the hospital's room.

The noise battered against him, a familiar haunting hymn taking hold of his ears, a flatline for the ages, despite his best efforts to pretend otherwise.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she released her grip over his palm and hugged her son, telling him, "Don't worry, honey... mommy will make sure you're safe."

Surprisingly, for once, OMORI felt warm.

It would never compare to Mari, but it was still good.

He missed his sister.

He sobbed into her chest, tears covering his eyes, his tears drenching her suit with puddles of water.

Silently, she brushed across his head with her palm, "There, there, honey... Mommy made sure to make sure your new bed is even comfier than your last..."

She sighed, "Maybe you'll finally have some energy again. I missed seeing you run around the neighborhood with your friends..."

Forcing a chipper tone, she carried the conversation on, "And with how dense the city is, you'll be able to get anywhere on the tram system!"

Tilting her head, she asked, "Doesn't that sound nice, sweetie?"

OMORI felt happy; he smiled, wiping the tears from his eye as he glanced up at his mother.

Everything was going to be okay.

Yet, out the corner of his eye, he saw a strange figure, shrouded in the shadows, silently judging him for his sins, staring at him with those haunting white eyes.

Bliss with an uneasy undercurrent, a strange sensation, yet one OMORI found familiar.

He can live with this, as he has for the past four years.

OMORI will not succumb.

Chapter Text

Kel hated that building, he hated what they had done, Kel hated his rash and bold action, and he couldn't tell if he had ear damage or his brain had gotten five screws loosened because he could still feel the disturbing noise, that sudden flatline, ring through his ears.

Kel, Aubrey, and Hero were silently escorted out of the hospital after the flatline rang so that way the doctors could try to tend to Basil. A fruitless endeavor, his body wasn't broken-- his heart was, and Kel was to blame.

The failure Kel was the one who had journeyed into the dungeon, wrestling the dragon within-- who had sealed himself up for his crimes-- and unleashed him onto Basil, breaking his bones.
The dragon and the failure brought Basil's confrontation with the bully to new heights, as he nearly drowned at the bottom of the lake.
The failure foolishly thought checking on their injured flower would be a great idea, only to face the dragon's fierce roar.
His battle raging, as their blows hit one they never meant to harm-- the boy who needed nothing but comfort, instead got surrounded by discord and grief.
The failure failed to care for the injured sunflower-- and let him wilt away, alone, for years.

The second they got outside the building, Kel wanted to be alone. He needed to escape from the cruel reality he had manifested through his faultless actions.

Kel pushed Hero aside, rushing down the street, and Aubrey hadn't dared follow him.

Kel didn't know the landscape, but he took it well. Kel had been uncontrollable and unprepared, even as a child, relying on his instincts to get around. Kel retreated into his old habits, speeding by pedestrians, barely able to avoid ramming into the pedestrians he passed while trying to run away.

Kel didn't want to face the reality of Basil's death, Kel didn't want to see his brother's heartbroken face, and he didn't want to watch Aubrey sob over her old friend that he had slain through sheer stupidity.

Eventually, Kel ran out of breath, stopping inside the center of the street on a sidewalk, falling and landing on his hands and knees.

Kel watched as those around him gave him glances, looked at him like a freak, an idiot, a trespasser, and that's all he was-- a nuisance to his friends and others.

Aubrey recognized it first more than anyone else; she saw the true Kel, the Kel that couldn't do anything but cause trouble, the same Kel his parents saw, the same Kel who cost Basil his life, and the same Kel who'd lay a hand on a traumatized Sunny over his pent-up trauma.

Raising his head into the sky, Kel violently slammed it forward, vomit unleashing onto the ground, wasting the lovely meal he had delighted upon with his former friend and brother before going to see Basil, the worst decision of his life, the one that would cost Basil his own life.

At that horrid time, Kel might have hated Basil, he might have hated Sunny, he might have hated Aubrey, and Kel might even have hated Hero for being weak, too weak to help him when Kel needed it the most as a child-- but now, as that flatline rang through his head, overpowering the noise of the cars passing by, he could recognize it clearly, the only one deserving of hatred was himself.

If Kel wasn't such a terrible friend, he could have helped Basil before he ever had such dark and intrusive thoughts. If Kel wasn't an idiot, he could tell that something bothered Sunny, that something wasn't right with Mari's death, that it wasn't okay for them to abandon each other when they needed to depend on each other the most. If Kel hadn't been rash, he wouldn't have doomed his friend to eternal darkness.

If Kel had strength, he'd be with Hero and Aubrey.

He was weak, pathetic, a failure, and nothing compared to even the has-been Hero.

If he hadn't been exhausted to the point of collapsing onto his vomit, the shards of his chewed up grub, the disgusting orange-colored mess of stomach acids and greasy meals, he might've crawled into that street to put himself out of his misery.

Everything went black as Kel's body gave out.