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Chapter Text

It was a nice, calm evening at Faraway Town. The sun shone above the orange, darkening sky and the buildings below showered on its golden rays of warmth. The peace was only rarely ever interrupted by the chirping of the birds and the sounds of passer-by cars driving through the streets.

However, Hero didn’t seem to mind anything about the beautiful day outside.

He was sitting on a plastic chair in the cold, white room of a hospital, alongside his friend Aubrey, a girl with bubblegum pink hair and a teal ribbon, and his brother Kel, who had brown hair and sported orange and white clothes.

All the 3 of them were keeping watch of the hospital bed in the room where a familiar person, a blonde boy named Basil rested, after resulting severely injured in a fight the night before and, therefore, being hospitalized for his bruises.

Hero just kept rewinding the events of the night before in his head. They were having a sleepover at Basil’s home, and everything was supposed to go fine. Sleepovers are a fun thing, right?

That was what he thought, until being woken up in the middle of the night by shrieks of pain, and noticing two sleeping bags were empty. He looked over to Aubrey and Kel, who, in a similar manner, had been woken up. Hero was the first to go check what was going on, and the scene he was welcomed into when he burst into the blonde’s room was something he wishes he could erase from his mind.

Basil was laying unconscious on the floor, with his hands and his blue sweater stained by crimson, as his favorite gardening tool, the shears, were dropped by his right hand, the blood covering them revealing the horrible purpose they had been used for. However that was only the least gruesome part of the whole scene.

There was another person on the floor, seemingly dead. His dark hair was the only thing that didn’t have a hint of dark red, while all his clothes and his face were stained with blood. That wasn’t the worst part of it, though. His face had blood sprouting from it, and his right eye had been torn to shreds, leaving the bright red of the socket to the view of everyone and explaining why the blood stained gardening shears were in such state.

Hero could only stare in shock and terror at the gruesome scene, unable to think straight. But the boys were losing more blood every second, and required medical help to survive.

Maybe by cruel irony, or by turns of fate, Hero was a doctor (almost, he was finishing his last year), but none of his knowledge could help him in this situation, so when he was snapped out of his shock by the screaming of the Aubrey and Kel, who apparently had followed him, the only thing he could do was yell back.

“CALL 911 NOW! SUNNY AND BASIL ARE DYING!”

This brings him back to the present, where he sat by Basil’s bed, who, albeit severely bruised, survived such injuries, while the other boy, still slept in his own hospital room.

That was what he thought, however he was soon proved wrong as a familiar person showed up through the door.

The raven haired boy, Sunny, walked into the room, and his friends quickly noticed him. He was clean of all the blood that stained his body on the previous night, and instead of his usual clothes wore a clean white hospital gown. The thing that stuck out the most, though, was the white eyepatch that covered his right eye, where there was only a hole now.

His friends quickly came up to him, worried for his current state.

“Sunny! What are you doing here? You should be in your bed.” Aubrey said, surprised.

Sunny didn’t answer. He just stood still at the doorframe, lightly shaking. Hero walked up to Sunny, who turned to look at him. He seemed… sad? He could understand for Sunny to be angry or sad after losing one of his eyes, but it appeared he was sad for a different reason.

“Hey there Sunny, let me help you get back to your room. You shouldn’t go around walking so much, your wounds could reopen and-“

“Wait.” Said Sunny, interrupting Hero. His voice sounded dried out and rough, probably due to not being used for about four years. Hero just stared in confusion, as everyone else gained Sunny’s attention. They were all oblivious to what was about to happen.

“I have something to tell you.”

…

Hero was hardly managing to process the words that kept coming out of Sunny’s dried mouth.

Mari hadn’t killed herself at all.

Hero sat at the same plastic chair, being tormented by Sunny’s words. He explained what happened the fateful day of the recital, how he murdered her by pushing her down their own staircase in a fit of rage and frustration, and how Basil, the same friend they had been watching over so preocupied, so worried, had helped Sunny stage it as a suicide.

It was too much for Hero. He couldn’t stand this torture any second longer. His only love, his Mari, had been murdered in a cruel way by her own brother. All this years he spent blaming himself for not being good enough and not noticing the signs that led to Mari’s “suicide”, all the times he discharged on Kel pointlessly, all the great days he could have spent with his friends if nothing had happened, it all meant nothing.

Mari was dead, and the murderer was right in front of him.

What started as small sobbing turned into bawling as Hero sat on the chair with his hands on his forehead, shaking and crying out of sadness, pain and frustration. Aubrey and Kel could only look at him, still trying to process what was happening, as they suffered from the revelation too.

“Y-You… You m-murderer…” Hero spit through his clenched teeth as he gripped his own hair in fury and sadness, almost like trying to pull it out of his head.

He could only think about Mari. She was the most important person in his life and the best thing that ever happened to him. She was the only one who truly comprehended him, the one he could always count on and she would never let him down. The only person in the entire world that made him feel truly happy, the only one that made him feel loved, and he loved her back.

And now, she was gone. Forever.

“HERO, WAIT! STOP!” Kel’s voice echoed in the clean, white room.

Hero’s mind only seemed to catch up on the actions of his body after having already furiously lifted Sunny by the collar of his gown, his expression threatening to end the one eyed boy’s life right there, with his bare fists. It was only then, though, being that up close one to the other, when he noticed Sunny was crying too. His look was one of pain, shame and at the same time, guilt. He was shaking and the tears that travelled downwards from his eyes were leaving marks on his cheeks and staining his clothes.

His mind couldn’t help but to think about how things went down on his side. He had murdered his sister in an accident of frustration and confusion, had to stage it as a suicide to avoid bigger consequences and made everything worse, and then having to endure the guilt of such atrocity eating him up from inside everyday, all up to this evening. Things weren’t sweet for him, either. He closed himself off for four years because he didn’t want to hurt us anymore, dammit!

Realizing all of this, Hero slowly let go of Sunny’s gown, while resisting the urge to look away from him. Only now, Hero truly saw into the raven haired boy. He looked almost the same from four years ago, before the lifes of the both of them lost their motivation, almost like time hadn’t passed and Sunny was still the same twelve year old kid. Quiet, modest, yet comprehensive. Except now, after everything that happened, he was malnourished, pale, and weak.

"Hero..." The voice of the bubblegum-haired girl called.

He couldn’t look back to his friends. He wouldn’t have been able to withstand the shame and pain from looking back to their faces. The faces of their friends, the ones he promised to look after and then left behind, to fend off from the world by themselves.

He lightly pushed Sunny to the side as he walked through the doorframe and silently left the room, but his friends didn’t seem to try to stop him. He walked down the white, calm hallways of the hospital, and as he walked, the pace of his walking augmented, until he was full-on running towards the exit of the building, as tears of pain, anguish, and rage kept running down his face.

He could barely register what was going on anymore. The only thing he wanted was to leave the hospital and get home as soon as possible.

Mari, Mari, Mari. He could only think about her.

They could have had a perfect life. They could have spent the rest of their lives side by side, looking out for each other in a happily ever after up until their very last days.

But Mari was dead. And nothing he could do would bring her back.

Chapter Text

It has been a week since Sunny’s departure to his new home.

Even though the date for his moving had to be delayed a bit due to his injuries, he still had left soon after getting discharged from the hospital. Not like Hero cared about what Sunny did with his life now though. He remembers the days after getting back home from that terrible, terrible evening in the hospital. 

After arriving home he immediatly went and locked himself up in his room, ignoring the barrage of questions from his parents, or the worried looks on their faces. Feeling horribly sick all he could do was stare into the ceiling as tears clouded his vision. His eyes hurt from crying so much, yet he couldn’t gather up the strength to stop it.

Maybe this is all just a nightmare. A terribly cruel and realistic nightmare. Maybe, and just maybe, if he closes his eyes and lets himself drift onto dreamland once again, when he opens them he’ll be back into his fifteen year old self, with Mari, his precious Mari, by his side. Only then he will be able to hug her one more time, while telling her how much he missed her, as tears roll down his face and his breathing becomes shaky. And then he will hear her voice, her soothing voice, telling him everything is okay, telling him just how much she loves him.

But that won’t happen. She’s dead. Worse. She was murdered.

He suddenly had snapped out of his delirium by the sound of the door opening, and a familiar teenager coming in. Kel looked so relieved to have found his brother after he had ran away from the hospital, but Hero didn’t care about that. The teen standing by his bed was trying to say something, but all the words were just deafening ringing to Hero’s ears. He doesn’t remember most of what happened afterwards from that.

He didn’t leave his room for the rest of the day. He didn’t leave his room for the rest of the week. Kel talked to him about being scared of him falling back into his old habits, but he didn’t listen. The only one he would listen to is Mari.

His beautiful Mari. Long black hair shining under the moonlight, with a cute smile showing under her pretty eyes. Her gaze is fixed on him, as the both of them blush. An elegant white dress envelops her, one that suits her in a way that makes her even more precious for Hero. The dress looks just like the one she was wearing for the day of the recital. He knows because he saw her when he walked into her backyard that evening, with such beautiful white dress covering the figure that hanged from-

“HERO! Are you even listening?!”

Oh, right. Aubrey had practically broken into his house to force him out of his self-induced coma. She just showed up at the door in the morning and busted into Hero’s room without advice, as his parents were unable to stop the pink fury. He turned to her as she saved him from the direction such daydream was heading to.

“Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” Hero makes the most forced smile ever, but Aubrey doesn’t buy it.

“Yeah, I can tell!” She’s clearly annoyed by Hero’s behavior, although it’s not as terrible as the day he rescued Sunny and Basil from drowning at the lake in the old hangout spot.

He hopes they had drowned.

“… Anyways, I was telling you about Sunny.” Hearing that name makes him feel sick. “I don’t know if you're aware, but he left to his new home already.”

“Yeah, I think I heard Kel talk about it.” He actually hadn’t, but if he did he still does not care about what that murderer does. “What about it?”

“No one showed up to say goodbye to him.” She looks… sad? Why is she not mad? Does she actually care?

“Oh yeah? That’s so sad.” He doesn’t attempt to hide his sarcasm as he talks to the girl sitting in his bed. He continues talking.

“Not even Ba- Not even Basil?” His throat feels rough when he says that name.

“No. He’s legally not allowed to.”

Hero looks at Aubrey perplexed. This truly caught him offguard.

“Legally?” There’s a slight hint of disbelief in his tone of voice. 

“Yeah. Honestly, I can’t blame his mom. If I was her and my son’s friend slashed his fucking eye out, I would totally get a restraining order too. Heh.” Her laugh sounds faked and devoid of life.

Several seconds passed where both of them stared off into different sides of the room before the delinquent broke the silence again.

“There was nothing restraining you, however. So what held you back?”

Hero stiffs at the question. It’s something he doesn’t feel ready to answer yet, but if there’s something he knows about Aubrey is that when she asks something she wants an answer. He takes a deep breath before gathering up the courage to speak.

“I… don’t care about what he does. Not after what he has done.” Hero turns away from her before speaking. As much as he wants to believe his own words, he actually can’t get the image of the boy with the eyepatch before him crying until his eyes burnt out of his head.

“You’re lying.” Hero turns back to her quickly and forces out a dried laugh.

“Is it that obvious?”

Aubrey sighs and blinks slowly before looking off to the void.

“I understand how you feel. You hate them don’t you?”

Hero ponders this question a while. Does he hate them? They are the direct cause of Mari’s departure from this world. It’s their fault his life stopped being worth living, and they’re the reason he can’t move on yet. But they were still his friends, and memories are not easy to erase from one’s mind. Before he can answer, though, Aubrey rips the words out of his mouth.

“I want to hate them. I really do. I want to forget they ever existed and just go on with my life, who knows, maybe that way I would finally be happy.”
Hero stares at Aubrey for a few seconds as she tries to find the correct words for expressing her thoughts.

“… But even then… I can’t. After everything we all went through, I can’t bring myself to forget them. Especially when I know what it feels like to be in Sunny’s place. That's why I couldn't attend to his farewell."

Hero knows what she’s talking about, but instead of interrupting he lets her continue.

“Y’know, when I pushed flower kid to the lake? I thought the world was ending. For a few seconds I had thought to myself, ‘Man, I just murdered a person’. But then you saved both of them, and everything was fine. Except Sunny didn’t have that same luck. No one showed up to save her sister the same way.”

Hero notices the girl is starting to tear up, yet she seems to ignore it as she talks, her breathing becoming more shaky with every word that comes out.

“I can’t imagine going through what Sunny went through. He had to deal with what he had done, alone, because we all left him behind. And the same goes for Basil, too… dammit, we all left each other to their own back there, didn’t we?”

As much as Hero wants to deny it, what Aubrey is saying is nothing but true. Sunny did suffer all by himself after that day with no one being there to comfort him. He remembered the promise he had made to Mari, that incase anything happened to her, he would look after everyone.

He absolutely did not keep to that promise.

Aubrey began talking again through choked sobs.

“I-I don’t forgive them… not yet. But I don’t hate them. All im asking for you is to comprehend them. They were scared kids, dealing with something their young minds were not prepared for. Hell, no one could ever possibly be prepared for that atrocity. You don’t have to forgive them, but please don’t hate them.”

Before he could notice, there were tears running from his own eyes too. He enveloped Aubrey in his arms as she cried, trying to comfort her, just like how they would do it when they were young people in a sleepover watching a horror movie, or when they had a group hug with everyone, Mari included. Maybe it’s not too late to keep to that promise.

Some minutes pass, and after a few deep breaths, they both feel calm enough again.

“It’s getting late. I need to go before Kim and the others get pissed off at me for skipping on a meet.” Aubrey lifts herself off Hero’s bed, before looking back to him.

“By the way, I need to give you something.”

She brings her hand into her jacket’s pocket and takes out a small piece of paper, which has numbers on it. Hero stares at it while Aubrey talks to him.

“It’s his number. You should talk to him when you feel ready.”

She turns around to leave before feeling Hero envelop her in a comforting hug.

“Thank you so much for everything.” Hero kindly smiles, not the forced type of smile he has been doing around everyone, but a pure, real smile. Aubrey can’t help it but to smile too.

“Heh, no problem.” For the first time in a while, her laugh feels real.

Aubrey leaves the house in direction to the plaza, and Hero leaves his room for the first time in a whole week.

A piece of paper calmly rests by Hero’s drawer, near the phone.

Chapter Text

The town of Faraway was a small place, where not much used to happen. The biggest issue there could be is Aubrey’s gang, and even then the most they did was steal some candy from the stores and gather around the plaza and the hangout spot. In such a nice, small town, you could expect everyone to be happy, yet the charm of such place had been lost long ago for a group of teenagers.

It had felt like years since the last time they were happy walking around the streets of this town, but as with everything else, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hero was out of his house again, hanging out with Kel and having fun the weeks before returning to college.

Aubrey was overcoming her anger issues that had resurfaced lately, and was meeting around with the hooligans for more shenanigans.

Kel seemed to be back into his happy self since that day at the hospital. Despite not seeming like it, the orange boy was hurting too because of all that happened, and Hero knew this better than anyone. Seeing him happy again made the feeling spread to himself.

It seems things were going fine for everyone. Perhaps they can go back to the way they were before the accident that happened years ago, the one that washed the friends out of their happiness. Everyone was fine… except for one person.

“Y’know man, I’ve been trying to get a hold of Basil for a while!” Kel said to Hero as they both walked down the streets of Faraway, while holding a basketball under one of his arms.

“Oh… Basil… I haven’t really heard about him either.” Hero looked away awkardly. He hasn’t even tried to establish communication with the blonde since running away from the hospital a few weeks ago.

“Maybe he misses Sunny? They used to be very close, so him going away must sure have affected him. Sucks he can’t visit Sunny because of what happened.”

Kel had already forgiven both teens. Hero knew that his brother was comprehensive and always tried to keep things upbeat, but he was still surprised the day Kel talked about it so casually.

I can’t be mad at them forever man! The entire thing was a complete accident! I forgive them because they never meant for it to happen, and they didn’t know what they were doing. After everything they had to deal with they need to ease that burden for sure!

It was ironic. Kel always told everyone about how he wished to be as smart or great as Hero, and yet the older brother would do anything for being able to be as upbeat as his sibling. Even though he’s trying his hardest, it’s still hard to get over it entirely. The fact he has started to hallucinate Mari again since that day in the hospital doesn’t help, either. Sometimes she’ll show up outside his room wearing a white dress, large raven hair covering her face. He tries to fight back with everything but it appears futile.

“Hey look! We’re outside his house!”

Hero turned to where his brother was staring at. A light brown house with a green ceiling stood in front of the two people standing on the sidewalk. The house had plants and gardening tools of all types littered everywhere.

Gardening shears. Eyes. Crimson.

He shook his head, trying to dismiss those gory memories. He didn’t need them to invade his mind while his process of recovering still took place. When he looked towards the house again his brother was walking up to the front door, about to knock.

“Do you think he’s in there?” Hero quickly approached his brother, standing closely behind him.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Kel said, seemingly excited for reaching out to the flower boy.

Knock knock. No response.

“Hmm… looks like nobody’s home…” he tried to look through the window, but it was too dark inside so he was only met by his reflection staring back at him.

“It was worth a try.” Hero noticed the worry in Kel’s face and tried to lighten the mood.

“Yeah… I guess so. Aubrey has been keeping contact with him, though, so that means he hasn’t ran away or something! It surprises me, to be honest.”

“What does?”

“Aubrey does. She is still talking with him even after that day at the hospital. I would have expected her to hate him for doing that to Mari, but she hasn’t tried to beat him up or something like she used to do, at least from what I know.”

Hero is thinking about the conversation he had with the pinkette a few days ago.

“I think it was what happened at the lake.” He responded. “You know, when she came the other day to force me out of my dorm she talked about how she empatized with Sunny because of almost doing the same thing.”

Hero’s face is turning paler. The thought of Aubrey closing herself off even further because of accidentally murdering someone shakes him to his core.

“I kinda feel like a hypocrite.” He concludes.

“What? Why do you say that, bro? You’re like, the opposite of that.”

“No Kel, im not. I simpatize with Aubrey for something that almost happened, but I can’t bring myself to forgive Sunny and Basil even after being aware of all the pain they had to endure. I ran away from everyone and yet im selfish enough to not let their guilt go.”

Hero is staring at the ground, ashamed of himself and his actions. Kel has never been the best with his way of words, but he knows that if nothing is said, he won’t be able to help his brother.

“It’s not that, bro… I think it’s mostly that you miss Mari. No one can blame you for that, right? You were the closest to her out of everyone anyway. That’s why you’re struggling the most to let go, but you need to see it from their sides too. I bet they miss her just as much as you do.”

Hero is still looking at the ground, letting some tears travel from his eyes.

“… You know, Kel? Sometimes you are really good when it comes to being there for the rest, thank you for that.” He looks up again, wiping his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt.

“Aww, I just don’t wanna see you sad again! C’mere bro!” Kel gives Hero a warm hug from his side, to which his brother reciprocates, standing a few seconds envolving each other in positiveness. Letting go from each other, they jump back a bit after hearing the door open. From the other side of the entrance a woman in her twenties shows her face.

“Oh, hi Ms. Polly!” Said the orange teen. “Is Basil home?”.

Polly frowns a little before turning to the inside of the house and back to the pair of teenagers outside her door again.

“Oh, no, he isn’t home. I haven’t seen him in the entire day, actually… please let me know if you find him! I want him to be back home before it starts raining in a few hours.”

“Raining? In such a sunny day?”

“Weather Forecast says so, and well, you never know. Make sure to have an umbrella at the ready, just in case!”

“Understood, we’ll make sure not to get our clothes wet under the rain either.” Hero replied out of courtesy, not really convinced by this hypothetical rain. They both began walking away. “Bye Ms. Polly!”

“Bye kids!” The woman went back inside and closed the door.

…

Polly was right. Only a few hours had passed since that conversation outside Basil’s door and there was already a downpour going on outside their windows.
Hero was laying down on his bed, arms behind his head. He sighed. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he was worried about Basil’s whereabouts. From what he knows, the blonde boy always lets Polly know when and where he’s heading out to, so her not knowing was definitely odd.

He turned to his right, and there was still a piece of paper sitting on his drawer, catching dust. Should he call? Even though he definitely didn’t feel ready to hear from Sunny again, he knew he had to actually do something if he wants to be able to forgive.

Before giving himself more time to think about it and chicken out, he sat up on the bed and reached for the paper. A phone number can be read on it, and he knows exactly who’s number this is.

After taking out his phone, he slowly but surely pressed the buttons on it accordingly to the number on the paper. His finger lingered a few seconds over the green “call” button, before gathering up the courage to finally call.

The calling sound ringed a few times, and then, from the other side of the line, a soft voice could be heard.

“…Hello?”

Hero stayed silent for a few seconds. Listening to his voice again made him shiver. He took a deep breath and spoke up.

“H-Hey Sunny, this is Hero.”

“…”

The call was cut abruptly. A few seconds of shock after, Hero lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it in disbelief. After the confussion settled in, he realized. Sunny is scared of him.

He let a long sigh out of his mouth and then lay down again, looking at the rain falling out the window. As he started to doze off, he concluded this was enough pressure for a single day.

Maybe he should have a talk with Basil tomorrow…

…

TW: Panic attack.

Hero shot awake. Darkness enveloped him, making everything harder to see. Finding his phone after looking for it around the bed for a few seconds, he noticed the hour. 3 AM.

Oh dear god, no. Not this again.

His heart started beating rapidly just from being aware about the situation that is about to take place. His breathing was fast and irregular. And then a voice echoed through the dark, one that made his heart drop.

“Hero…”

It’s happening again. Something is outside his door. 
He tried to remind himself it’s all just a horrible nightmare and to calm down, but his lungs fought to breathe.

“Im finally here… Hero… please open the door…”

“You… y-you’re n-not Mari…” He’s struggling to make coherent sentences that can leave his mouth.

“What do you mean, silly…? Im finally here… with you…”

He tries to force himself back to sleep, but his mind is running at a thousand miles per hour. Keep breathing.

“Hero… please open the door… don't you miss me...?” Something repeated. Its voice sounds so similar to her, yet clearly different at the same time. Hearing it so close to him sends chills down Hero’s spine.

You feel like your life is in danger. Try to keep breathing.

He tries to hold himself back, but his body does not want to. He desperately tries to back away, but it seems all he can do in the end is watch helplessly as his hand reaches for the doorknob, shaking. He turns it around and slowly lets the door open by itself.

The figure revealed is as terrifying as it has been every other time this hell on earth took place. She’s impossibly tall and her skin is paper white, appearing necrosed. All of her limbs hang loosely from her body, which is enveloped in nothing more than a white dress, tinted in faint crimson. Her hair, even darker than the dark that surronds them both, covers her face, leaving a single eye out for view, a bloodshot eye that stares him down from above. Her neck is bent in a way that is impossible for a human, and a torn rope chokes the base of it.

“H̴̨̙̹̞̰̩͇̦̤̔̓́̽̒͋̽́̐͛̒͑̊̐̂͗͆̋È̷̛͕̜͓̱̘͇̻̠͙͍͉͇̖͖̲̜̤̀͗̀̈̍̑̈́̐̎̀́̀́̔͆͛̽̋̄̚͘͜͜͠͝R̸̻̿̈́͂̇̉͐̀̓̃̇̈́͂̈͆̾͗͘̕͝͠͝͝Ȍ̷̰̔͑͒͋̑͐̈́̏͐̽͋͛̿.̷̡̥͎̘͈̹̜̮̟̜͔̓͋́̀͆̈̏̈́̕̚͠͠.̷̡̺͕͇̺͍̻̲̹̗͓̟͉̼̱̠̬̞̪͈̱͛͋̏̎̑͊̏̈̌̊̄̽̍̈́͆͜͜͝ͅ.̴̜̩͈͈͎̼̜͚̺͍͎̜͉͕̗̼͌͑̀̉͂͛̎̐͌̃͛̔̚ͅ ̷̥̫̦̩̜̀̾̀̒̽̈́͜͜͝ͅḬ̷̢̢̩̺͕̟̮͔͈̤͉͍͍̝͒̓͒̈̎͗ ̷̢̨̛̻͚̣̦̯̙̰̺̪̪̟͎̭̐̐̉͆̅̍̌̆̓͛̽̔̓͐͊̈́̍̈́̿̃̒̉͘͜͜ͅL̷̢̢̡̢̦̠̠̝͎̻̠̮̺͓̘͙͔̹͚̬͙͙͚̤̳̎̄͂̓̆̑̄̚͝Ơ̴̡̯̬̼͇̺͎̼̼̞̺͇̔̈́̑̂̈́̾̉̀V̶̛̛̠͔̝̙̺̼̼͙͙͙͇͙͔̞͔͓͉̭̘͖̉̐̃̎̔̅̋̇̈͊͆̎̀͗̇͒̄́̂̽̑͘Ę̸̛̲̞͍̜̗͍̹̖̰̼̲̭̮̥̰̞̰̐̀͑̀͗̀̓́͊̽̎̾͒̈́̉̑̿̂̑͜͜͠ͅ ̵̺̬̇̈́̈͐͒Ÿ̴͓́͊͒̂͗͊̒̆͐̀̈́̐̅̂̋́͘͘͝Ö̸̠̟̩̤̭̼͕̮̣̻̟̪̟̾̊̒́̈́Ữ̴͇̗͓̄́̃̈́̀̒͊͂̉͘̕͝͝͝.̸̨̤̺̹̤̞̟̲̺̩̭̱̹̯̻̗̲͎̹̹̈́̽̋͌̿̓̇͗̏̈̾̊̏̈̄̔ͅ.̴̞̘̓́̌͗̀̀̄̋̂̌̅̐̃͛̀̂̈̌̇͘̕͝.̷̨̡̺̟͕͖̹̮͈̖͖͕̤̤̖̓̐͑̎͆́͊̔͛̿̈́̈́̾̓͐̄́̅̓̕͘͜͠͝ͅ”

Hero blasts the door shut. The thing standing behind it seems to dissipate, as he collapses in front of it, placing his hands on his knees and pushing his forehead on the wooden gate. Sweat drops from his forehead and tears are clouding his vision. Still greatly struggling to breathe, he falls to the floor and curls himself into a fetal position, before letting the tears drop towards the cold floor below him, crying until he can’t remember what is happening anymore.

Hero shot awake, for real this time. He’s breathing rapidly and he can feel his eyes burning. There no longer a vantablack darkness surrounding him, instead the warm rays of the sun and the cheerful chirping of birds welcome him into a new day.

“I need to talk to Basil.”

Chapter Text

The Rodriguez have always been the early bird type of family. The parents are used to waking up in the morning and preparing for work, or for doing things around the house. Hero and Kel get up early, too, to help their parents around or go meet up with friends. The only one who really gets to sleep until late is the little baby of the family, Sally.

Even though they’re always going around at these hours, Hero’s father couldn’t help but to stop him when he saw his son getting ready to leave the house in a rush.

“Hey champ, where you headin’ to?”

Hero turned around at the door to look back to his father, trying to not let his nervousness show in the outside.

“O-Oh, I’m just heading to Basil’s…”

Mr. Rodriguez lifts a brow. Hero can’t tell if his dad is suspecting something or if he’s just worried for his son, but either way he hopes his dad doesn’t make him stay inside.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? You look pale. You should stay inside until you feel-“

“NO!” Hero interrupted, before realizing how suspicious he’s being. He tries to fix it. “I-I mean, you don’t need to worry. I’ll be okay.”

Mr. Rodriguez lets out a sigh and gives up, letting Hero relax. “Fine, I won’t try to stop ya. Just gimme a call if you feel bad and I’ll go pick you up, alright?”

“Sure thing! Te veo luego, papá!” Hero says with a wide smile as he opens the door and closes it behind him.

Now he’s standing outside his own house awkardly. He takes a deep breath and sighs. This isn’t going to be an easy talk.

“Maybe I should’ve brought Kel with me…”

Hero thinks outloud as he walks down the street towards Basil’s house. For the better or for the worse, his destination is not too far away from his own house.

While he walks through the streets he takes a look at his surroundings. There are some cars going through the roads, heading to work. It is a Monday after all. The sun peeks over the mountains from the east, covering the town of Faraway in light and warmth. Birds are chipping above, casually flying from one tree to another, and some people open the door to their front yards to tend to their plants.

Plants…

It was then when he snapped out from his daydream and realized he was standing outside Basil’s house. The same house with the green roof and the light brown walls stands before him in a way that is almost menacing to Hero.

He walks up to the front door, making sure to not kick anything over accidentally in the process. He lifts his fist towards the wooden door, preparing to knock. He tries to steady his breath as his heart beats out of his chest. Before he realizes, he has already called.

Knock, knock. The sound of his fist making contact with the door multiple times resonates through his own mind. It’s not too late to run away, right?

This was a bad idea. He should come back another day.

He’s already turning around to leave when the sound of the door being opened made him stop in his tracks. He turned back slowly, expecting to see the blonde boy he’s come looking for. He looks for something to say desperately but his thoughts don’t seem to be able to connect with his actions. He quickly gives up and turns around completely, however he’s met instead by the image of a familiar young woman.

“Oh, hi Hero! Are you looking for Basil again?” Hero notices the look of worry and tiredness in Polly’s face.

He didn’t reply, instead standing there for a few seconds in an awkard way, staring at Polly. He only gives signs of being alive when the woman at the door shifts her look to one of confusion.

“O-Oh, uh, yeah. Is he here?” Hero quickly says, even though a part of him wishes for the answer to be no. 

“Oh Hero, im so sorry…” She let out a worried sigh, and Hero already knows what this means. “He’s not here. He actually didn’t come back since yesterday… im so worried for him.”

Wait, what? Basil didn’t come back since yesterday? Does that mean he’s missing?

“He isn’t answering his phone, either. Im trying to be optimistic and believe it’s out of battery or something, but I still can’t shake off the thought that maybe something happened to him…”

Polly lets her hands hold her head while looking through her phone, probably in an attempt to reach the flower boy. Hero is left dumbfounded. Basil is not like this at all! He would never just dissapear from the face of earth without letting a single person know where he’s going. He has a sense of dread that tells him if he lets this situation go on, something bad will happen. And so, he spoke up.

“Do you… want me to look for him?”

Polly lifts her face again to look at Hero, failing to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

“Oh, no, no! It’s okay, Hero! I don’t want to bother you, and im sure he’ll come back by his own eventually-“

“Ms. Polly, I insist. Basil would never do this by himself. Someone has to go look for him.” He cuts her off. She eventually sighs and turns her gaze to the floor.

“Please let me know if you find him. Im really worried for him.”

“Will do.” Hero responds, as a weird surge of determination flows through him suddenly. He can’t remember the last time he felt this ready.

…

The first place Hero thought of searching through was the old hangout spot he and his friends used to go to, before Sunny almost drowned in it’s lake after a bad jump. Ironically, in the future, this would be the same lake where the raven boy dived into in a futile attempt of rescuing Basil from the depths of it. Thankfully, Hero himself had rescued them both afterwards. Funny how things work out.

After walking through the wide plaza and behind the deep foliage of the trees he found himself in a clear field, with said lake shining in the center of it. There was a small wooden dock built into it, mainly made for diving into the lake. A familiar pink-haired girl sat by it, with her feet submerged in the cold, sparkling water. 

Oddly enough, none of the hooligans were chilling around her. Aubrey was completely alone there. She noticed his arrival and turned to look at him.

“Hey, Hero.” She said as the young adult approached her swiftly.

“Hi there, Aubrey. What are you doing here?” 

The pinkette turned his gaze away from him, instead staring at the water below them both.

“I just needed some time alone without the hooligans, to… think.”

Hero does not answer, instead choosing to sit by her side with his legs crossed. A few seconds pass before he speaks up again.

“By the way… do you happen to know where Basil may be? Polly said he didn’t come back since yesterday and she’s really worried.”

Hero notices Aubrey’s eyes widen for a second before she quickly turns her eyes away from him. He noticed she’s getting nervous.

“N-No, I have no clue of where he is.”

“Are- Are you sure? You’re acting really we-“

“I said I don’t know!” Aubrey hissed, startling Hero and making him jump back a little.

The girl turned back to stare at the water again for a few seconds, before Hero quietly tried again.

“Aubrey… it’s alright. You can tell me. I- I promise I won’t do anything to him.” As much as it pains him to have to even say this, he feels he needs to clear it up just in case.

However, she doesn’t answer him. But Hero is not going to give up, not again.

“Do you… remember the promise I made? I said last time we all made the mistake of leaving each other when needed the most. But I promised that this time we’ll stick together. And I will keep that promise… no matter what.”

Once again, silence. Hero is about to get up and leave Aubrey alone to continue searching, but then a soft voice emanated from the girl’s lips.

“… He’s visiting Mari.”

Now it was the turn for Hero’s eyes to widen. The image of the blonde boy kneeling in front of the gravestone that belongs to the woman she helped murder invades his mind. He can’t recall the last time Basil visited Mari’s tomb, actually. Aubrey’s voice broke the silence again.

“Yesterday, he walked up to my house. He asked if I wanted to visit her with him, so we both went to the church. We both left flowers for her. It got late, so he stayed over at my house for the night. Mom wasn’t home thankfully, she was probably going around drunk or something.”

Aubrey turns her gaze away from the distance and looks towards Hero, directly at the eyes.

“Im sorry for not wanting to tell you. I just didn’t want to upset you again.”

“Aubrey…” Hero starts. “Thank you. You are still supporting Basil even after all that happened. You are much better of a friend that I am…”

“Don’t say that, dork. You are still trying your best, and that means a lot. Im sure Basil will be happy to see you again.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Mhm.”

Hero turns away. As much as he wants to believe it, he can’t shove the idea of Basil running away from him, terrified, out of his mind. He still remembers the attempt of phone call he gave Sunny yesterday. If just a phone call managed to make the raven haired boy so scared, he doesn’t want to imagine how showing up from nowhere in front of Basil will turn out.

“I guess we’ll have to see…”

He got up from the docks and starting walking away back to the entrance of the hangout spot.

“Thank you Aubrey. I’ll see you later.”

A few seconds pass before he hears the girl shout at him, making him stop in his tracks.

“WAIT!” She cried. When Hero turned around he saw Aubrey sprinting up to him. “I want to come with you. If im there things will go better than if it’s just you.”

“Oh, sure, no problem. Let’s go.”

And so, they made their way towards the church located down Aubrey’s street in silence, before coming to a stop in front of it’s large, dark doors. The pinkette turned to Hero.

“Are you ready to go in?”

He looked forward, determined.

“More than ever.”

…

The priest greeted them after they approached him. The old man looked at Aubrey in the way someone looks at an old friend.

“Welcome back, Aubrey. Are you looking for your friend outside?”

“Yeah, I am. He’s still there, right?”

“Yes, he is.” The elder turned to Hero. “I assume you are a friend of Aubrey too?”

“Yes, sir. My name is Hero.”

“Ah, wonderful. It is truly a pleasure, Hero.” The priest said as they shook hands. “I have heard about you before, from Aubrey.”

Hero turned to the teen mentioned, who was looking away awkardly. The question lingered in the air, unspoken.

“Yeah, I have talked with him about y’all. Even Sunny and Basil.”

“That’s really nice of you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Aubrey took a deep breath and turned to the priest. “I guess we’ll be going now.”

“Alright. See you later, Aubrey. It’s always wonderful to see you come here.”

They both walked away afterwards, towards the doors that lead to the graveyard behind the church.

“I didn’t know you like coming to the church.”

“I do it ever since Mari passed. I try to visit every day im able to, too. I just hope one day im able to meet her again in Heaven.”

“That is really sweet of you. Perhaps we will see her again one day.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

…

Here they are, Faraway’s graveyard. Everyone in town who has passed away is resting in this place. Inbetween the tombstones, a specific one is highlighted from the rest. A familiar yellow haired head pokes out in front of it.

Basil is planting some flowers in the dirt covering Mari’s resting place. A white egret orchid rests calmly on top of it. The blonde recalls the meaning of the beautiful flower.

My thoughts will follow you into your dreams.

He wipes some tears from his face and gets up from the ground, cleaning the dirt off his knees. Things feel nicer lately, even if he misses Sunny everyday. Aubrey has been supporting him even after what he did, and it’s really helping him pull himself back together. Almost like he was summoning her, he heard her voice from behind him.

“Heya, Basil.”

The blonde boy smiles and talks to Aubrey without turning around.

“Hi Aubrey! I just finished with the flowers.” He said, looking at his work proudly.

“We came to check up on you. Polly said she’s worried about you.”

Wait. Who’s we?

Basil turned around to look at Aubrey… and the person behind her. His heart sunk.

You feel like your life is in danger.

Basil took one, two steps back, much to Hero’s dismay. The boy in front of him quickly became stressed out. He was starting to hyperventilate.

“W-What is he d-doing here?” The flower boy tried to articulate through his stutters.

“Basil, it’s okay, we just want to ta-“ Aubrey tried to say as both her and Hero slowly approached Basil, in an attempt to calm him down.

“NO! S-STEP BACK! L-LEAVE ME ALONE!” He interrupted Aubrey as he continued walking backwards. Then he brought his shaky hand into the pocket of his pants and took out the gardening shears, welding them as a threat. Wait, aren’t those the same ones that-

“B-Basil, it’s alright. Im not going to do anything to-“ Hero tried to say through his own nervousness, but was interrupted again. This is going just like he imagined.

“P-PLEASE! I ALREADY SAID I-IM SORRY!” Tears were already forming on Basil’s eyes. It seemed he was about to finally turn around and run away, just like Hero did back in the hospital. But then, he tripped and fell. Even then, the blonde tried to skitter away until colliding with one of the tombstones.

This is it. Hero convinced Aubrey to beat him up again. He has no escape. He's going to die here.

“Please…” He sobbed while pathetically trying to shield himself with his arms. He realized his shears had slipped out of his hands when he tripped. “D-don’t hurt me…”

He heard the two people crouch in front of him, but he didn’t care to stop them anymore. He was already struggling to breathe through his cries. Then he heard Hero talk to him, and he could only barely understand what he was saying.

“Basil, I need for you to take deep, steady breaths, okay? Follow my lead.”

Basil merely nodded while shaking, still shielding himself with his arms. He could hear Hero taking deep breaths, and slowly, but surely, he started following his pace, until he stopped hyperventilating. He lets his arms fall by his sides, and slowly opened his eyes again.

He expected to see Hero trying to hit him, or Aubrey rising her bat, about to do a homerun on him. But instead of any of those threatening sights, Hero was there lending him a hand, with a worried Aubrey by his side.

Hesitantly, Basil reached for the hand and slowly got up, before being enveloped in a tight hug by Hero, to which Aubrey joined in soon after.

“It’s okay, Basil. I forgive you.”

This was too overwhelming. The flower boy in his arms broke down again while hugging back just as tightly.

“T-Thank you… hic So much…”

…

A few minutes have passed, and now the three of them were gathered around Mari’s grave again. Basil looked a lot more calmer than a few minutes ago. Aubrey decided to speak up first.

“Hey Mari, it’s me again.” She started. “This time I also brought Hero along with me. Im sure you would be happy to see him.”

A few seconds passed, and now it was Hero’s turn to talk to Mari.

“Hi Mari… Im sorry for not visiting before. College has me really busy and I don’t have enough time to come to Faraway often.” He gulped down a few times and continued talking. “I forgave Basil. Im sure that would be what you wanted, for all of us to be friends again.”

He noticed Basil was looking at him with a shy smile. He couldn’t help it but to smile too.

“Im also trying to talk to Sunny. I just hope you feel happy with this.” His breathing was becoming shaky. “I… I still love you. Im sorry for not coming here before. It’s hard to deal with the fact im... never going to see you again. I- I really miss you, Mari…”

Hero began crying quietly. Small water droplets fell from his eyes and landed near the beautiful orchids planted on the dirt covering Mari. Then, he felt warmth envelop him. His friends were here, and they were supporting him even after everything. He hugged back.

“I promise im never going to let everything fall apart again, for the sake of everyone.”

They slowly let go of each other and sat down in front of the gravestone, looking at it with a mix of feelings.

“OUR DEAREST MARI”
“THE SUN SHINED BRIGHTER WHEN SHE WAS HERE.”

A few minutes pass where only the serene silence of the nature envolving the resting place can be heard. Basil decides to break the silence first.

“Hero… you mentioned Sunny earlier. Are you going to forgive him too?”

Both Hero and Aubrey turned to look at the flower boy. He felt uncomfortable and tried to backtrack.

“I- I mean, you don’t have to i-if you don’t w-want to! I-I was just suggesting…”

A few awkard seconds pass by after that, where everyone either looked off to the distance or to the ground.

“I actually want to.” Hero said, lifting his gaze to look at the blonde in front of him. “I think it’s what Mari would have wanted.” He pauses for a second and sighs before continuing. “I tried to call him yesterday but when he realized it was me he cut the call. I think he fears me…”

“A-At least you’re trying!” Basil responds, and then lowers the volume of his voice again. “I-I’ve been talking with him, too. H-He told me he misses everyone, but that he doesn’t f-feel ready yet.”

“Oh, so Aubrey gave you his number too?”

“Well, he actually gave it to me, but yeah.” The pinkette spoke up. Hero looks oddly surprised at this.

“Wait, didn’t you have a restraining order? How did you get his number?

Hearing this, Basil’s eyes suddenly widen before looking away nervously.

“W-who told you t-that?”

Hero realized that Basil was not aware of him knowing about the restraining order. He’s about to apologize before Aubrey cuts him off.

“Well… I may have slipped up a little the other day, when I went to his house. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“I-It’s fine…” Basil takes a deep breath before continuing the topic.

“I-I got it from him after everyone else had left the h-hospital.” Bitter memories come back to Hero’s mind. Memories of running away from his friends once again, without looking back. He tried to shove down those memories while Basil continued talking. “I could swear I saw s-something behind his back dissapear. I t-thought I had finally ‘killed the monster’ that haunted him.” Basil made air quotes at the word ‘killed the monster’. “I-It was hard to come to terms with the f-fact there never was a monster. I-I have to thank my therapist for that.”

Hero and Aubrey looked down. Basil really did everything he could to try and protect Sunny from what was done, didn’t he?

“I have been t-talking to him ever since. H-He’s now living in Sunrise City.” He lets out a nervous chuckle. “The n-name’s quite ironic, don’t you t-think?”

The blonde’s smile slowly faded away. The next part of the story isn’t really pretty.

“H-He’s… not doing well…” He looks away in an attempt to hide the sadness that was showing in his face. “P-People in school are bullying him…”

The schools hallways are white and cold, filled with lockers everywhere. It reminds Sunny of the hospital. He doesn’t like it at all. Said raven-haired boy is walking through them, in his way to his next class. People always give him odd looks when he passes by. Who wouldn’t? He has a freaking eye-patch covering his eye. The view behind it is not pretty either. He doesn’t have friends. In fact, people turn to walk away from him when sitting down on a table in lunch. He misses Faraway.

“Hey, Spaceboy! Where you goin’ to, freak!?” Multiple voices and chuckles resound behind him. It’s these guys again. He tries to run away, but his weak legs aren’t able to pull him away fast enough before being shoved to the ground.

“Trying to get away, eh? Haha, you’re so fucking stupid, Spaceboy.” They don’t even remember his name. It’s not like it mattered, anyway. They were not nice people.

Sunny feels a kick to his stomach. He holds it in pain, which only causes the people around him to laugh louder. He recieves another kick to his back.

“You should just leave this school, you fucking psycho. No one wants a murderer here!” That’s right. Somehow, people had found out about what happened back in Faraway, and the rumors spread at the speed of light.

They say no one wants him here. They say everyone hates him. He believes it’s true. Who wouldn’t, anyway? Even the people who he thought were his friends left him behind. Only Basil talks to him, and he knows it’s from pity. A disgusting murderer. It’s all what he is.

After the beatdown session, he slowly got up and somehow ran away again, like he always does. Everyone behind him laughs loudly at his cowardice, but no one follow him. They seem to be done, for now. He wipes his eyes trying to hide the tears that were running from them, before entering his next class. After going through the door some gasps and chuckles can be heard. There’s no rest for him.

Hero’s mouth hangs loosely. His eyes are wide and unbelieving. Aubrey is trying to hide her sadness by shoving her face into her hands. Basil’s eyes are watering up, but he finishes the story nonetheless. Hero can’t believe this. There’s no way what he just said is true. His head and heart ache together.

“I-I… I had no idea, Basil… I-Im so sorry…” Hero couldn’t stop himself from crying. “Im a terrible friend. He needed us the most and I left him behind.”

“T-That’s not even t-the worse part.”

“…What?” He says, in horror.

“There’s s-someone inside his head.”

“S-someone? And who is that?"

“Omori.”

Sunny got home after a long school day. His mother opens the door and welcomes him back. She tries her best to hide her face of worry behind a happy mask, but Sunny can see it anyway.

“Hi sweetie! How was your day at school?” She says, trying to lift her son’s mood up.

“… okay.” He lies. He doesn’t want to tell his mother how badly he gets beaten every day just for walking around, and even if he did, there’s nothing his mother could do about it. They had already tried.

“That’s wonderful! I made steak, your favorite! Come get a plate.”

“… not hungry.” He dismisses her. All he wants to do is get to his bed and cry until falling asleep. But there’s no rest for him ever, not even within his own mind. When will this stop? He misses Faraway.

“Oh. Don’t worry, dear! You can just grab some later! I love you, dear.”

“… thanks mom. I love you too.” This is the first sentence he says that is not a lie. His mother is always trying to be supportive of him, even after what he did, even after he murdered her daughter. He just wishes he wasn’t such an useless burden to her. Maybe Mari should have been the one who made it out.

He got to his room, left his backpack fall to the floor with a loud thud, and lay down face-up on the bed. Even though his bruises hurt still, he quickly started to doze off into his dreams.

…

Welcome to White Space.
This is the only place where it’s safe.

“Welcome back, dreamer.” A monochromatic, younger looking version of Sunny stood in front of him. He doesn’t answer.

Sunny doesn’t know why, but Omori had somehow come back to torment him ever since life decided to fight against him.

“Your day was terrible, just like the rest. Am I correct?” The monochrome kid says. Sunny doesn’t answer.

“Everyone hates you. They always will." He continues. “Even your so called friends left you behind. You’re being nothing but a burden for everyone around you, and you are aware of it.” Omori doesn’t even show any type of emotion while spitting daggers at Sunny. His voice is monotone, just like everything about him. “Your life will continue being hell everyday.”

Sunny looks down. He doesn’t want to believe anything the kid in front of him is saying, but he still knows it’s true. His life is hell. He’s nothing more than a sick murderer. He deserves to be left to rot.

“However.” Omori says again, his voice reverberating through the endless white void they’re both standing in. “I can make it all end. You will be happy again. All you need to do is give me the control of-“

“NO!” Sunny shouts, interrupting Omori’s monologue. “NEVER! I HATE YOU!” 

Omori doesn’t seem startled. It’s not the first time this situation happens.

“… fine. So be it.” He said before quickly moving to stab Sunny’s stomach with a shiny kitchen knife. And he smiles doing so, because he knows that everytime this conversation takes place, he’s convincing Sunny just a little more. It will not take much time for the eyepatch boy to give up, and then it will be his time to shine.

Sunny slowly opened his eyes and let out a sigh. He misses Faraway.

“S-So… you mean that guy inside his head… Omori… is telling Sunny to…” the rest of the words linger in the air. Hero’s too uncomfortable to say them, especially in front of Mari.

“Yes, h-he is… hic I w-wish I could be t-there for him…” Basil is crying. Aubrey has stopped trying to keep her tough facade up and is crying too. Hero knows he has to be strong for the rest now.

“Guys… I need you to pay attention for a second.” 

Just like he asked, both Aubrey and Basil turned to look at Hero, who had a deadly serious and determined expression on his face.

“I have an idea.”

…

Kel is just chilling on his bed at his shared bedroom. He just got back from basketball practice and is waiting for his brother to arrive. He knows he’d left early in the morning for something his parents didn’t quite remember. He was starting to doze off when suddenly the door blasted open, making him jump out of bed.

“Kel.” Hero said. Kel noticed Aubrey and Basil standing closely behind his brother. He’s not given time to question what’s happening before his brother speaks up again. “Pack your things up.”

“We’re going to save Sunny.”

Chapter Text

Mornings are always the most busy part of the day. People always need to get out of bed and do something or travel somewhere. The multitudes walking around the bus station are a statement to this rule. Hero was sitting on a bench in that station, waiting for the bus alongside his friends Aubrey and Basil, and his brother Kel. Everyone had some  baggage on them, be it either backpacks or suitcases, all filled with clothing and hygiene stuff. The sounds of machine engines running and people walking around quickly were the only noises enveloping them before Kel spoke up.

“Man, I hate waiting… when does the bus arrive?”

“A-According to the GPS tracker, it should be arriving in 20 minutes.” Basil answered. He was looking at his phone keeping track of the bus’ satellital position.

“20 minutes? I can’t wait that long.”

“Ugh, shut up Kel, that’s nothing. It’ll be here before you notice.” Aubrey growled at Kel. She looked sleep deprived and annoyed, so Hero could only assume she didn’t sleep well. “Besides, I have been waiting for longer.”

“Oh yeah? How much, eh?” Kel responded, rather annoyed by her.

“I didn’t sleep last night out of nerves.” Hero turned his gaze from the ground to her face, she really looked tired. “It’s been a while.”

“Ohh I see what’s going on here, eh?” Kel said, his previous angry tone replaced by a teasing one. It’s surprising how fast his mood can be lifted up. Hero would be lying if he said he didn’t envy it. “Someone’s excited to see her boyfriend, right?”

Aubrey’s face turned into a shock for a second before becoming one of embarrased anger. She was about to start shouting before Hero interrupted.

He sighed. “Cut it out, you two. You act like little children.” Then he chuckled. Some things really never change. It’s just like those times when they were young, fighting over who gets to play with Mr. Plantegg in the treehouse. A small smile formed in Hero’s face as nostalgia filled his mind. They really were happy back then, weren’t they?

His smile turned into a frown. He misses that, he really does. It’s not the same now that everyone is grown up, without the treehouse, or Sunny, or Mari.

“Mari…” he mumbled sadly, before looking down to the floor again. Why did things have to go this way?

“Hey H-Hero, is everything okay?”

He lifted his gaze up one more time and it was met with two blue eyes. Basil was standing in front of him with a worried look on his face. Did he hear him?

“Oh? No, don’t worry. It’s just…” He knows Basil will feel guilty if he talks about Mari, and he doesn’t want to ruin the mood. “Im just tired, like Aubrey.” He lied, even if he didn’t like to.

Basil doesn’t look quite convinced, but chose not to press on, instead sitting back besides him. Aubrey yawned and laid back on the bench too.

“Y’all are really gonna leave me standing up here?” Kel asked.

“Yes.” The three said in unison jokingly, except that Aubrey sounded scarily serious when saying it.

Laughter broke out in the group from the unplanned joke. Basil and Hero were laughing a bit more quietly but Aubrey and Kel were wheezing uncontrollably. Hero felt happy at the sight, because when was the last time they all had laughed together like this?

“You know, heh, for mutual haters, you two seem to get along just fine.” Hero chuckled to himself. He realized that was a mistake as the laughing suddenly stopped, but Hero was already prepared for his fate.

“What the hell, man!? I could never!” Kel cried like the twelve year old kid he used to be, a view that only made Hero chuckle more.

Aubrey simply let out a single “Ew.” It was somehow more hurtful than anything else for Kel. Basil joined in the chuckling too, much for the embarassment of the two teens in front of them.

“Y-Yeah, Hero’s right! It seems Sunny w-will have to make a run for it i-if he wants to win Aubrey’s heart!” The blonde said teasingly, which only fueled the fire erupting from the teens.

“WHAT THE FUCK, BASIL?” Aubrey shouted, making Hero’s chuckling turn into loud laughter. “KEL IS DISGUSTING!”

“SAYS WHO? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO DYED HER HAIR PINK!” Kel shouted back at her, making a strong remark on the word pink. He really hates that color. “YOU HAVE NO SAYING!” Basil was laughing loudly too.

“Al- Alright… wheeze That’s enough, you two!” Hero could barely talk over his laughter. “The- The bus will be here soon!” He wiped tears from his eyes. Basil looked glad to see Hero being happy and laughing. He really missed this, being able to laugh with his friends like there was nothing to worry about.

Soon enough, a orange-red colored bus stopped by the station. In the cabin there was a cardboard sign that said:

“23 : SUNRISE CITY.”

“That’s our bus! Let’s go!” Kel shouted in joy. He was probably the most excited to go see Sunny out of everyone, even under the given circumstances. After everyone else had gotten into the bus, Hero took a deep breath as he climbed the first step to enter the vehicle.

“Here we go.” He muttered under his breath. This was it, there was no going back or chickening out after this. He was really going to meet Sunny again after everything. It was kinda funny for him, just a few weeks ago he would have shouted a rotund no at anyone who happened to talk about doing something like this, and now he was the one taking the initiative.

“Psst.” A whisper came from his side as he walked towards his seat. He instantly recognized the owner of that voice as Basil, who was sitting by the window alone. “Sit with me. That way Kel and Aubrey will go together.” Basil snickered at his own plan.

“Wow Basil, when did you get so evil?” Hero said dramatically, before snickering too and sitting in the empty seat. Their friends noticed Hero sitting down and stared for a few seconds before realization hit them.

“Aw man, im gonna have to sit with Pinkie Pie…”

“WHAT DID YOU-“ She was shushed by the three of them, but that didn’t stop some passengers from staring at her. “… Sorry.” She redirected her attention to Kel. “Never call me that again if you wish to keep breathing.”

“Understood m’lady.” Kel answered mockingly, to which Aubrey just huffed, trying to contain her rage. She plopped down on the sit beside’s Kel, who was by the window.

“Heh, I get all the cool views and you don’t!” He kept trying to push her, however she was the one who laughed it off this time.

“You dork. Soon you’ll realize how nice it is to not get hit by the sun constantly. Im gonna chill here while you get a sunburn.”

“Ohhh, but I thought you wanted to be hit on by Sunn- OW” Kel rubbed the back of his head in pain after getting whacked by the pinkette by his side. She couldn’t help but notice Hero and Basil trying to hide their snickering.

“Im gonna murder you both when we arrive.”

“That’s fair.” Hero said nonchantly as he kept laughing to himself.

Basil looked off to the bright sky outside, thinking. He wonders how Sunny is doing right now.

…

“Honey! Get up, you’re gonna be late for school!” Sunny’s mother called him from outside with an anxious tone in her voice. He shuffled in his bed trying to go back to sleep, being still tired from everything. He would shout about how he doesn’t wanna go but his voice can barely come out even when talking normally.

She was used to this by now. Her son tends to skip school and she can’t do anything to get him out of bed. She thought that him hanging out with his friends would make him forget his old lifestyle, but they haven’t contacted him at all since they left.

She just wishes he was more motivated. He’s more worth than what he thinks of himself, but he refuses to see that. Maybe one day. For now, she’ll let him stay in bed for today.

She walked into his room and left a plate of noodles on his drawer. He looked so peaceful, calmly letting his chest rise and fall while he dreamt.

“… Faraway…” A whisper came out of his mouth. He must really miss that place, doesn’t he? A sad smile curled to her lips as she gave him a kiss in the forehead.

If only she knew, Sunny thought to himself. If only she knew that they hate him.

“And always will.” Added Omori.

…

“Kel’s already snoozing.” Said Basil to no one in particular while gazing at the sleeping teenager aforementioned.

“Heh, that sounds like Kel alright.” Hero responded, looking at his brother too. Aubrey was fiddling with her phone, glad that Kel decided to lean on the window instead of on her. “What are you doing with that?” He asked to the pinkette.

She turned her gaze from the phone’s screen to look at Hero. “Im trying to talk to Sunny. He doesn’t answer, though. I guess he might be asleep or something. It’s the first time im talking with him since, y’know.”

Hero looked confused, to which Aubrey answered to with her own confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“How are you talking to him? You’re not calling him or anything from what im guessing.”

She snickered a bit before showing him her phone’s screen. There was a chat app displayed on it. “This is a chat. It’s like emails but faster.”

“That looks nice. But I don’t think my phone would support it.”

“Yeah, your granny phone can’t handle it.” A grin formed in her lips as she mocked him.

“My what.”

“Anyway, I’ll let you know if he messages me back.” She took her phone back and sat down properly again, ignoring Hero’s question. Kel mumbled something in his sleep.

“Im dead…”

“Sure you are buddy.”

…

Basil and Hero were talking about Sunny, although it was mainly Basil telling him about what things he has been doing and thinking, while Hero listened. Aubrey had already stopped fiddling with her phone and snoozed off, similar to Kel.

“… his dreams are really detailed, too. H-He told me there was a giant world inside his mind, a-and he called it Headspace. Apparently I k-kept going m-missing, and you guys would go look for me.”

“Oh yeah? Did we ever find you?” Basil was surprised Hero seemed actually interested in what he was talking about.

“I-I don’t think so. At least not until the last cycle.”

“Cycles? What do you mean by that?”

“H-His dreams kept r-resetting after a certain point. Everything would go back to how it was b-before I went missing, just t-to repeat it.”

“Well… what changed?”

“He- O-Omori… fell into a different place. Sunny said it was c-called Blackspace. That’s where all the b-bad stuff was kept in.”

“Oh… so you mean, like…”

“Y-yeah… that’s where I-I was, too. T-There was one version of me there for every cycle that had p-passed.”

“So… he rescued you and the dream continued?”

Basil didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at the ground, a look of worry quickly appearing on Hero’s face.

“He didn’t. I was m-murdered by Omori every single t-time. I think it’s safe t-to assume that he h-hates me.”

“Well… that’s Omori. Im sure Sunny doesn’t feel the same.”

“I-I hope so.”

A few awkard seconds passed by where neither knew how to keep the conversation going. Finally, Hero spoke up again.

“What else was there in Blackspace?”

“S-Sunny described it as a paper sheet with scribbles and nonsense d-drawn all over it, chaotically.” Basil said before his tone shifted to one of sadness. “He was repressing a lot…”

Another thought crossed by Basil’s mind and he quickly lifted her gaze from the ground below him to look at Hero, who was trying to find a comfy position in the chair.

“Y-You looked sad for a moment e-earlier, before we got on the bus. A-Are you sure you’re just tired?”

Hero looked away for a few seconds before turning back to look at Basil again.

“I-I guess I just miss the past. We all were happier back then. I don’t hold it against you or Sunny, though.” Not anymore, he added in his mind.

“T-That’s fair…” He looked away uncomfortably. “… im sorry, Hero.”

“Hey Basil, look at me.”

Basil turned and saw Hero looking at him with a comforting look. “It’s alright. I already forgave you. You don’t have to keep beating yourself up for something that already happened. I just want all of us to be friends again, like in the old times.” He gave Basil a small smile trying to comfort him. A sad smile formed on the blonde’s lips.

“I think Mari would be proud of you, Hero.” He said determinantly.

“The same goes for you, really. She would be glad to see how much you have grown up.”

“Maybe she’s watching over us, somewhere. I like to think she still checks on us to see how we’re doing.” Basil said while looking at the ceiling with a more confident smile in his face.

“That sounds nice.”

Hero pulled Basil into a comforting hug for a few seconds before letting go. The conversation seemed to be over when Basil took out his phone for something. Hero noticed he was talking with Sunny on the same chat app Aubrey used before, so he peeked over Basil’s shoulder to see what was going on.

Sunny: hey

Basil: hi sunny!! how’s everything?

Sunny: i guess its okay. mom let me skip school today

Sunny: i dont like that place so im happy she didnt force me

Sunny: piano’s still being an ass tho

“Piano? Who’s piano?” Hero couldn’t stop himself from saying out loud. Basil turned to see Hero peeking and moved his hands so the phone would be in the middle of their seats.

“T-That’s how he nicknamed Omori. He told me h-he was created from M-Mari’s piano.”

“Oh… that’s right. I remember her piano had golden letters that spelt Omori.”

“I-I never noticed, t-that would be cool if it wasn’t for w-what Omori does.”

“Yeah…”

A few seconds of awkard silence ensued before Basil’s phone vibrated again. Another text from Sunny had been delivered.

Sunny: wbu

“What about you?” Said Basil, answering Hero’s question before he could even ask it.

Basil: its pretty nice!! ive been hanging out with aubrey recently

Basil: we went to visit mari a few days ago too!!

Sunny: thats nice. i should visit her soon too when i can

Sunny: i miss aubrey tho

Sunny: hows she doing

Basil: well,,, her home situation is still kinda awkard, but were doing our best!! she seems happier than before, too!!

Sunny: nice

Sunny: what about hero and kel

Sunny: have you heard about them

“If only he knew.” Said the flower boy, snickering. Hero tilted his head in confusion, which Basil realized. “I haven’t told him about the visit yet. I-I want it t-to be a surprise.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe it would be better if he was prepared before we get there.”

“D-Don’t worry! I-I’ll figure something out! I b-bet he’ll be happier if it’s a s-surprise!”

Hero wanted to press on, but chose not to, instead letting out a sigh. “Oh well… im counting on you, Basil.” Another vibration came from the phone. They both realized Sunny’s messages were left unanswered.

Sunny: are you there

Basil: ah!! im sorry!!

Basil: i was talking with hero, they both seem to be doing fine

Sunny: hero’s there?

Basil: oh!! yes, were talking right now!!

Basil: do you want to talk to him??

Sunny: oh

Sunny: uhhh

Sunny: okay

Basil’s phone was passed from his hands to Hero’s, who hesitated for a few seconds but then began typing.

Basil: Hi Sunny! How are you?

Sunny: uhhh its been good i guess

Sunny: well not really but yknow

Sunny: how is faraway

Basil: Things are going well, honestly. What do you mean by not really, though?

Sunny: i dont wanna talk about it

Sunny: sorry

Basil: Oh, it’s okay, just know you can tell me if you want to.

Sunny: thanks

Sunny: how are you doing

Basil: Much better than before.

Basil: Im sorry for the stuff I did before, too.

Basil: We all miss you.

Sunny: you do?

Basil: Of course! We’re still friends, aren’t we?

Hero notices Sunny is taking longer to answer his messages. He nervously shifts Basil’s phone from one hand to another.

Sunny: i guess so

Sunny: i miss you guys too

Sunny: im sorry

Sunny: for everything

Basil: It’s okay, Sunny. It’s all in the past now. Let’s look forward to the future now, okay?

Sunny: if you say so

Sunny: hey i gotta go

Sunny: mom is calling

Basil: Oh well. See you later, Sunny!

Sunny stared at the turned off screen for a few seconds before setting his phone aside. His mom was not calling, he just didn’t want to keep that conversation going.

Why is Hero lying? Why can’t he let out just how much he hates him? “Look forward to the future”? His future looks like repeating the same thing everyday and coming home afterwards to get bullied in his dreams. He doesn’t want to look forward to that.

Tears ran from his eyes as he tried to stop them by covering his eyes with his palms. He would prefer Hero to be honest, even if it meant facing all the hatred. But this is so much worse. He’s lying to him in his face just to shove him down further.

He knows they hate him. There’s no way they wouldn’t. He killed the most important person in their lives. They will never forgive him, no matter what he does.

He curled up in his bed again and broke down crying. He wishes these last four years were all just a nightmare.

…

Nothing much happened for the next hour. Hero tried to drift off to sleep so he would wake up when they arrive, but his nerves wouldn’t let him. That wasn’t the case for Basil, however, who calmly slept leaning on Hero’s shoulder.

He simply let his thoughts wander while staring at the ceiling, waiting for the ride to be over. A lot of stuff has happened during the last weeks. He just hopes this was worth it. Would Mari be proud of him for doing this?

He needs to apologize for what he has done to her little brother. A phone message is not enough, especially knowing what his situation is.

“Hang on, Sunny.” He thought out loud. “Everything will be okay.”

…

The bus began to steadily slow down as it reached the bus station. Big, tall buildings could be seen outside the window. There were way more cars driving around the streets than back there in Faraway. The city was a big place.

All four teens got out of their seats and began walking towards the bus door. They all had woken up some time before from their respective dreams. Hero remembers Kel screaming about a silver he lost or something, he didn’t really pay attention to it.

After leaving the bus and retrieving his baggage, Hero looked around. Here they were, Sunrise City. He was left at awe by how big and astonishing everything around them looked. Kel’s excited voice broke Hero out of his trance.

“Alright! So, how do we get to Sunny’s?”

“Wait, so you didn’t get his address before we left!?” Answered Aubrey, threating to whack him again. Basil quickly brought the situation down by showing them his phone.

“I-It’s alright! I have his address h-here!”

“Phew. Thank you Basil, you sure are better than this dork.”

An annoyed hey! came from Kel, which everyone chose to ignore. They started walking through the streets looking for Sunny’s house as Basil stared at his phone.

“Maybe we should call a Taxi. We’d get there faster.”

“Nah, I don’t think it’s that far. And I think we could all use the exercise!” Answered Kel walking backwards, facing Hero. How he didn’t crash with anything or anyone was a mystery.

He turned back to continue walking normally. Everyone kept going through the city’s streets looking for Sunny’s address in silence. There was nothing really to talk about, which left Hero with nothing to distract himself from his growing feeling of nervousness.

He waited until Kel and Aubrey were ahead of him to talk to Basil, who walked by his side. “H-Hey, Basil?”

The blonde jumped a little at the sound of Hero’s voice. It seemed he broke him out of a daydream. “Oh, yeah, Hero?”

“Are you…” He looked for the correct word for a few seconds, holding his finger in the air. “…excited? To go see Sunny?”

“W-Well… I-I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. I-I miss him a lot and I really w-want for everyone to meet again, but I-I’m really nervous too!” Basil said as he rubbed his hands together, like he was washing them.

“Hey, at least you’re not the only one.” He let out a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m nervous too.”

“T-That’s fair… especially knowing w-what we-“ The words die in his mouth and he can’t finish the sentence.

“Yeah… but hey, it’ll be okay!”

“I-I hope so.” He said, pausing for a few seconds before continuing. “A-At least we have each other.”

“Yeah!” He said excitedly. “Maybe everything will be alright.”

Basil didn’t answer. He continued walking while looking towards Aubrey and Kel, who were already arguing about something they couldn’t quite hear. Hero noticed the blonde looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Hey, is something bothering you?”

“Oh- D-Don’t worry! It’s okay. It’s just that last phrase…” He looked off to the buildings in the distance before continuing. “I-I used to say that a lot, when I was alone. I… kept trying to convince myself it was fine, b-but nothing was.”

“Oh. Sorry Basil, I didn’t know.” Hero pouted.

“I-It’s okay! T-Things are different now. I think.” A genuine smile formed in Basil’s face. They continued walking for a few seconds in silence. Only the sounds of the city and the tapping of their shoes could be heard around them.

“… is something bothering you, though?”

Hero turned to look at Basil perplexed. That was a question he wasn’t prepared to answer. He was trying his best to be alright, but there definitely was something in the back of his mind.

“Im… not sure, actually.” He started. “I guess it’s just everything that happened so far. It’s all been so… fast. I don’t even know how to explain it.” Hero wants to be strong for the rest, just like he promised Mari, but at the same time has his own insecurities. He fears about what will happen when he meets Sunny again. Will Sunny be okay? Will he be okay? The dread crept on him the longer he thought about it.

“I-I get that. It’s hard to put your thoughts into words. B-But remember, we’re still here for you, Hero.”

A sad smile formed on Hero’s mouth. “Thank you, Basil. That means a lot to me.”

“I-I should be the one thanking you. You still want to be f-friends even after everything I-I did.”

“I think it’s what Mari would have done. She wouldn’t have wanted to see us split up.”

“I think so too.”

…

About 30 minutes had passed since then and now the entire friend group was standing outside an apartment door awkardly. Kel was holding a greasy paper bag for lunch because he “had burgers on his mind.” Hero shuffled from one side to the other nervously, waiting for Basil to knock on the door. Kel, Aubrey and Hero were standing out of the way so Sunny would only see Basil at first. The blonde said it would impact him less that way. He looked back, knuckles waiting to knock.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Go ahead.” Said Aubrey.

“Yeah dude!” Said Kel.

Hero wanted to say no. The spark of determination that flamed inside him had long since faded out. He wished to chicken out and run away back home. But he knew he had to do this, for the sake of everyone. For the sake of Mari. “Yes.” He finally said.

And so, Basil knocked. The sound ringed in his head. This was it.

Sunny was shuffling on his bed when he heard knocking coming from the door. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before slowly getting up. Mom must be home early, he thought. He slowly walked from his bedroom towards the front door, before grabbing the latch and turning it around, opening the door.

The person standing in front of him was not his mom. In fact, the person in front of him shouldn’t be here at all.

“… Basil? How- What are you doing here?”

“It’s… been a long time. We wanted to see you again.”

Basil hugged him tightly, but he didn’t hug back.

“… We?”

His eyes widened when he heard familiar voices outside. Then the owners of those voices made their way into the apartment.

“Hey Sunny!”

“Heya.”

“Hi, Sunny!”

Basil slowly let go of the hug and standed alongside the other three teenagers that came to visit Sunny. He could only stare in disbelief.

“… why? Why are you here?” His voice was cracked and filled with anguish, yet way softer than that day in the hospital. Silence ensued for a few seconds, during which Sunny only stared incredulously. Hero spoke up.

“I think it was time. We all missed you and-”

“What?” He interrupted. “But don’t you guys hate me?” He was starting to tear up, the pain in his voice becoming more acentuated.

“What- Why would we?”

“What do you mean why would you?! I’m a murderer! I killed Mari! It’s my fault you lost everything!” He closed his eyes trying to stop the tears from falling down his face, when suddenly, he felt warmth enveloping him entirely. His eyes shot open to see all of his friends giving him a group hug.

“Hey man, it’s alright. It’s all in the past.” Kel said with an oddly comforting tone.

“We can’t leave you behind. I’ve made mistakes too, you know.” Said Aubrey, her tough facade falling apart.

“W-We all have. Isn’t that right, Hero?”

Hero took a few seconds to answer. The weight in his chest felt heavier at the reminder of all the things he has done. Running away and hiding from everything, and threatening the eyepatch boy in front of him during that day in that cold hospital room. “Yes.” He finally got out. “We all have.”

Sunny thought he should feel better at their forgiveness, but he couldn’t. They were comforting him. Even after everything, they still were there for him. He can’t bring himself to hug back. After all, they don’t hate him, but he doesn’t deserve it. Murderers don’t deserve friends and comfort.

After they let him go, he fell to his knees and covered his eyes with his palms, but it didn’t help to stop him from crying. They rushed over to him again, but he dismissed them by waving his hand.

“… I’ll be alright.” He lied. Nothing in here was alright. This was his breaking point. This isn’t fair. Why are they forgiving him? He killed her, and they are forgiving him for it like it’s nothing? Like he didn’t lie and hide for four years?

He forced himself to stand up and wipe the tears from his eyes. He can’t be weak in front of them. He doesn’t deserve to be comforted.

“H-Hey Sunny, are you okay?”

Sunny opened his eyes. Hero was talking to him. He looked as uncomfortable as he was.

“… I don’t know.” He wished that was true, but he does know entirely. He is not okay. He has never felt this terrible before. Hero doesn’t believe it. He’s about to speak up again when Kel interrupts.

“Well, I, uh, brought this hamburgers for everyone to share as lunch! Do you wanna eat with us, Sunny?” Kel seemed so optimistic, like he didn’t just see his friend break down on the floor.

“… Sure.” He tried to force a smile. He has never been good at smiling, not even when actually happy.

And so, they gathered around the small living room table with plastic plates as Kel served the burgers, one for each of them. He also got a can of Orange Joe for himself.

“Please give that stuff up already, Kel. You’re gonna get cirrhosis or something.” Said Aubrey trying to take the can away from him.

“Hey, hands off my Joe, man!” He replied while moving it away from her reach.

“Fine. But don’t blame me when you die at age 30, idiot.”

Everyone was enjoying their food. Aubrey and Basil ate calmly while Kel devoured his burger. Hero chewed slowly, staring nervously at Sunny, who hadn’t taken a single bite of his burger. The raven haired boy could try to force himself to eat, but the knot in his throat made him feel like he would vomit any second. Hero knew something was very wrong, but he was scared to push Sunny further. Why was everyone else so chill? It confused him.

After what was supposed to be a nice time of eating and chatting, everyone had finished their burgers, except Sunny. The worried look in Hero’s face had slowly crept onto the faces of his friends, who looked at the boy attempt to eat his food. He finally gave in from the pressure of all those eyes looking at him. Sunny took a small bite from the burger while squeezing his eyes closed. It would have tasted nice if it weren’t for the bile in his throat. He resisted the urge of spitting the food out and swallowed.

The burger fell back into the plate as he layed down on the couch. “… I’m full.” He said. The rest stared at him dumbfounded.

“You’re full?” Asked Aubrey, incredulous. “You took a single bite.”

“I don’t want to keep eating.”

“W-What? B-But Sunny, that’s n-not healthy-“ Said Basil before Kel loudly interrupted him.

“Yo, do you mind if I take it?” He asked Sunny with a grin in his face.

“… Sure.” Was all he answered. He suddenly got up and walked away from the living room. “Excuse me.” Kel began digging into the burger much like he had done with the previous one.

Sunny locked the bathroom door behind him. His insides hurt like that time he ate frozen steak in the middle of the night. He didn’t know is it was because of the food or because of his nerves, but he had to get it out of his system. Kneeling over the toilet Sunny threw up everything he had eaten that day, which was remains of a toast and the piece of meat he was forced to eat. Shaking, he slowly got up and flushed the toilet, before being met with his reflection on a mirror.

Despite not looking as pale and malnourished as he did a few weeks ago, the bags under his eyes and his lifeless expresion exposed that something about him was still very wrong. There was nothing behind him except for the white tiled wall, and yet he still felt guilty. Perhaps that guilt will never leave him. He sighed just like all the times he has done before, and then he washed his mouth and face with cold water. Sunny unlocked the door and opened, just to be met with a pink haired girl standing outside.

“… Everything okay?” He said sheepishly.

“Sunny, you gotta tell us what’s wrong.” She said with the most serious look he had ever seen in her face.

“There’s nothing wrong.” He lied, his monotone voice a reminder of the person he so much hates. However, Aubrey can read him like a book.

“We both know that’s not true.”

Sunny’s eyes widened for a moment before returning to his stoic expression. He looked away for a few seconds before responding. “I… don’t want to talk about it…” He finally said, dropping the lie. He doesn’t want to bother her with his problems. It would be selfish.

Aubrey stared at him for a few seconds before closing her eyes and sighing. “I don’t get it. You’re closing yourself off again. Why?” The boy in front of her doesn’t answer. “We’re all so… worried, about you.” Sunny feels worse. She shouldn’t be worried about someone like him. Silence envelops them for a few seconds before she opens her eyes again, looking at her friend directly at his soul. “Just- talk to me if you need to, okay? I’m… I’m here for you.” She sounded seriously worried.

Sunny looked down. “… Alright.” He paused a few seconds. “Thanks…”

Aubrey and Sunny left the hallway that led to the bathroom to go back to the living room, where Kel, Hero and Basil were discusing something Sunny couldn’t pick up on. When they noticed them the conversation quickly died down. Kel turned his attention to Sunny.

“Yo, Sunny! We gotta ask you something!” He shouted while lifting a hand to get his attention.

“… What is it?”

“W-Well…” Basil started, rubbing his hands together. “I-It’s getting late, but we d-don’t want to leave you yet, so…” He trailed off.

“He wants to know if we can sleepover!”

“Y-Yeah… like we used to do.”

Sunny’s muscles tightened when he heard the idea. In the last sleepover they had he ended up losing an eye and almost dying from bleeding out. He wants to say no, but he knows they would insist. He doesn’t like that they worry about him, but Aubrey already proved that it’s too late to stop them from doing so. “… yes.” He ended up agreeing. "Mom is not home until tomorrow anyway."

“Hell yeah! It’s gonna be fun!”

“I-If you say so…” Said Hero. Sunny noticed how he looked the most uncomfortable out of everyone else.

…

The dark sky outside the windows let everyone know the night had already fallen. Kel and Sunny were on the couch, with the latter being enveloped in the blanket he had taken out of his bed while Kel layed down, barely awake. Hero, Aubrey and Basil were all laying on the floor covering themselves with multiple blankets everyone had scavenged around the apartment for. Oddly enough they were comfortable. A cartoon played in the television, it was more of a formality than something else.

“Y’know man, it’s nice to be able to do this even after Sunny moved away.”

“Y-Yeah, it is.” Hero answered to his brother. He had to admit having a sleepover even under such circumstances was strangely comforting.”

“Heh, yeah. Basil has been enjoying it a lot too, from what I can see.” Aubrey added, prompting everyone to look at the flower boy laying on the floor. Soft snores came from him as he dreamed.

“Heh, I might be joining him soon enough!” Kel could barely keep his eyes open. Everyone was feeling sleepier by the second.

“As much as I hate to say it- yawn Same here.” Aubrey answered while stretching.

“We should all go to sleep. It’s pretty late already.” Hero said before reaching for the remote and turning off the tv. “S-Sunny has to get good sleep too.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Said his brother. “Good night, everyone… snore” Hero let out a sigh before turning to look at Sunny for a few seconds. He was starting to doze off, like the rest of the friend group.

“Good night, guys.”

…

Hero was sitting on a nice spring field, filled with flowers of every color he knew in all directions his eyes reached. The sky was clear of any clouds and a nice blue hue tinted it. Sitting alongside him, there was Mari. She had vibrant colors and looked happy to be around him.

“All these flowers are so pretty.” She said. “Basil would love to see some of these.”

“Heh, he sure would. Now that I think about it, he never gave up on gardening.”

“I hope you haven’t given up on cooking either! Your treats are always so delicious!”

“You say that like your cookies weren’t the tastiest on earth!”

“Oh, come on, you know that’s not true!”

“They were…” He looked away. “At least for me…”

“Aww, that’s cute.” She said when she noticed his embarassment. Hero kept looking around the fields, feeling happy. It has been long since he felt this well. Perhaps everything was gonna be okay after all, right?

Suddenly, his eyes fixated on another figure approaching them. Mari’s voice turned into incoherent babbling. He couldn’t stop looking at the boy approaching. The flowers around them wilted a little more with every step he took. They sky darkened more and more as he approached. He couldn’t hear Mari anymore. The boy halted a few steps in front of him, staring through his soul. Hero realized he looked like Sunny. However the boy’s skin was paper white, and he looked younger than his actual friend, almost like a little brother. The figure opened his mouth to speak.

“I won.” Omori said. “I won, and you lost. Both of you.”

Hero’s jaw hanged low, shaking. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt terrified, yet he couldn’t move his legs to get up and run away. He turned to look at Mari. She was no longer made of shiny colors. Instead, she had a ghostly appearance, wearing the same dress he last saw her in before her death. Her skin was white just like the boy’s, and her previous cheerful expression was replaced by a serious look.

“Save him.” Was all Mari said.

Hero blacked out.

His eyes shot open. They took a few seconds to get used to the darkness as he sat up on the floor. He turned to look at Sunny. But he was no longer there. A feeling of doom crept on his mind when he noticed the front door was slightly open. Making sure to not wake up anyone, he made his way to the door and stepped outside, standing in the hallway. Just out of the corner of his eye, he could swear he saw a black cat identical to Mewo, Mari's old pet cat, turn around a corner. Hero knew what he had to do. Rounding the same corner, he was met by a row of stairs that ascended to two slide doors. These doors had signs on them.

“ROOFTOP – ONLY AUTHORIZED PERSONEL”

He peeked through the small windows the doors had, and saw Sunny walking dangerously close to the ledge. His heart was beating out of his chest. He had to make a choice, and fast. And then, within his mind, a spectral yet comforting and familiar voice that had no owner prompted him a decisive question.

Do you want to save Sunny?

[YES]

[NO]

Chapter Text

The stress made Hero feel like his spine was being torn apart. It reminded him of the sleepover back on that day in Basil’s house, waking up to the sound of wailing and rushing into a room covered in crimson. He will never forget the screams of desperation that erupted from his friends as they tried to keep the heavily injured teens alive.

But at least, back then, he could feel safer. His friends were there, helping him get through that, even during such a macabre situation. And now, he was alone, and his friend outside was about to let out his last breath. He felt stressed out. He desperately tried to get back on his feet, to walk up to Sunny and save him from himself, but his body was frozen in place.

He tried to take calm down, but his lungs struggled to breath. He tried to focus, but his heart was burning. It was just like the nightmares that haunted his mind almost every night, a nightmare that suddenly got too real. He fell down to the floor, barely managing to remain conscious.

It was over. Sunny was going to die, and it was his fault. He ruined everything, just like he did four years ago.

“Ma- Mari… I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes, and a single tear dropped down.

Complete silence. No one was gonna hear him cry. No one was going to save Sunny. No one was going to save him. That’s what he thought, but then, even through the fog that clouded his mind, he heard someone talk to him. A voice he could recognize immediatly, no matter how much passes. The voice of someone that made him happy.

“You can do it, Hero. I believe in you.”

The fog in his brain started to dissipate. No… He can’t give up yet. Do it for her, he thought. This new clarity of mind he was given let him focus and take deep breaths. Suddenly he felt capable of thinking straight again. He got in his feet and peeked through the windows, a new spark of determination having ignited within his soul. What happened now was his choice and his choice only.

“I’ll keep my promise, Mari.”

Omori was standing on the edge of the rooftop, looking down to the calm streets below. The lights of lampposts shone down on the streets. Even at these hours, cars drove slowly through them, leading people to the safety of their homes. He gazed off to the distance, taking a few minutes to take in all of the beauty of the city. It was a shame he was about to ruin such a beautiful night, but he was just doing what Sunny commanded him to do.

Omori lifted his gaze from the ground to turn around as he heard the doors behind him being pushed open. He was met with the sight of a young adult who, despite looking nervous, seemed determined. He sighed before turning around completely.

“Hello, Hero.”

“Sunny, get down from there. You shouldn’t be here.”

“No. You shouldn’t be here.” Omori echoed. His voice was monotone and lifeless. “You should be back there, with your friends.”

“They’re your friends too. Im not going to leave you behind.”

“And why should I trust that?” He spat with the smallest hint of anger. “You already promised that before, and then you forgot about me. All of you did.”

Hero’s muscles stiffened. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, the raven haired boy was right. He remembers that day back in the hospital in Faraway. The rage that surged through his body that day left a feeling of pain and regret now. Trying to get the memories of Sunny out of his mind, and leave him by himself. No one said goodbye to him, Aubrey had told him.

“Sunny, I…” He looked down to the ground for a few seconds before turning his gaze to Omori again. “I’m sorry. We… We shouldn’t have done that. But it’s not going to happen again, I promise.”

“It’s too late for that. A choice has been made.”

“Please, Sunny. I forgive you. We all do.” Panic was forming on Hero’s expression, spreading to his voice.

“I don’t deserve forgiveness. I’m a murderer. I killed Mari. You should hate me.” Omori insisted, expressionless.

“But we don’t hate you! It was a mistake, Sunny!” Hero couldn’t stop himself from shouting out in a state of terror.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s over. Forget about me like you wanted to.”

“SUNNY, WAIT!”

But Omori was already leaning backwards.

“おやすみ, Hero.”

Omori closed his eyes before the feeling of the cold concrete under his feet became a soft breeze of air, as he fell down to the lonely street below. This is it, he couldn’t help but to think, a faint smile curling on his lips. That glint of happiness shattered when his fall was suddenly halted and a burning pain spread on his leg. He looked up and his eyes were met with the one’s of a terrified adult, holding onto his leg desperately.

“Let me go.”

“NO! MARI WOULDN’T HAVE WANTED THIS!”

“You don’t know about what she would have wanted.” He spat venom, yet remained expresionless. But Hero wasn’t going to budge, his knuckles turning white as his nails digged into Omori’s leg to not lose grip. If he were to let go, Sunny would die. Instead of replying back, he grabbed the leg with his other hand too and started pulling. He was glad Sunny was light enough right now.

“Let me die. It’s only fair.”

“IT’S NOT! I CAN’T LET YOU GO!”

Omori paused for a few seconds, still hanging upside down. And then, he simply asked. “Why?” He felt Hero’s struggles halt for a second, and thought that he had finally given up. He was wrong.

“… Because I already made that mistake once. Not only with you, but with everyone. I can’t and I won’t let it happen again. I can’t lose another friend.”

“This is for our own good. If i’m gone, everything will be okay.”

“It won’t. Nothing would be okay.”

“What makes you say that? If I never were here, nothing of this would have happened.” Omori could feel Sunny’s thoughts creep into his words. He was losing control, and it meant Sunny was going to listen too. It was too late to go back now.

He reached into the pocket of his shorts, and brought out a small kitchen knife that somehow hadn’t fallen off. “Let me sleep.” Hero’s eyes widened as he saw Omori point the knife at his own chest with an air of resolution.

“NO! STOP!”

No answer came back. Omori lifted the knife, preparing to strike himself.

“I’M SORRY, SUNNY!” Hero cried out, tears travelling down his face. A expression of terror covered his face, and Sunny could swear it was the same one Basil had the day he tried to kill himself. “I’M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! I’M SORRY I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING BEFORE!” Hero squeezed his eyes shut. “A-And… And i’m sorry, Mari… I failed you, again…”

A few seconds passed. Hero expected to hear the sounds of metal piercing skin, but nothing could be heard at all. He slowly opened his eyes again. Omori was gazing off to the distance. His eyes were stained with small tears.

“Mari…” He heard Sunny say. Silence again.

Let me in control, Sunny said.

No, said Omori. I'm going to let you dream.

I don’t want to dream, Omori.

Just let me finish the job. You will never hurt again. Your friends will be by your side.

I want to stay here. My friends are here.

It’s easier this way, Sunny, he said, turning desperate yet remaining stoic.

I don’t want to run away anymore.

If you come with me you’ll see Mari again.

Mari wouldn’t have wanted for me to give up.

Omori fell silent.

“Fine. You win, Sunny.” He said, before suddenly falling unconscious. The knife slipped away from Sunny’s hands, falling and crashing with the cold street below. Hero stared in shock for a few seconds before pulling his friend back up to safety.

Hero was checking for vital signs when Sunny woke up again, quickly being pulled into a tight embrace by the young adult. The eyepatch boy gazed off to the distance for a moment before finally hugging back and letting himself weep.

“Hero, I-I… I’m so sorry...” Sunny was trying to choke back sobs, but to no avail.

“Sunny… I’m sorry too.” Hero replied, crying as he held the boy in his arms as if letting go would make him dissapear.

“B-But, you don’t have to be sorry for anything…”

“I do. I’m sorry for not being there before.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me…”

“You’re my friend.” He paused for a moment. “And I forgive you. For real.”

Sunny looked down to the ground. “Why?”

“Because,” Hero let go of the hug, instead holding the raven haired boy by the shoulders while giving him a warm smile, despite being tainted by tears. “Doing a mistake doesn’t make you a bad person. We’ve all made mistakes, im sure of that. But we’re not bad persons. Not you, nor me, nor Aubrey or Kel or Basil. And I can understand how you feel, too. There’s a lot of things I wish I could change, but they’re just memories now. So let’s make happier memories from now on, okay?”

Sunny hesitated for a few seconds, looking away. But then he turned back to look at Hero and nodded decisively. “Yeah!” And then, even through the tears, he let out a genuine, happy smile.

Right now, in this moment, it felt as if everything was really going to be okay.

…

Hero woke up calmly, back in his bedroom. Wait, that’s not right. He’s supposed to be sleeping in Sunny’s apartment. Judging by the dark, it was still nighttime, so he reached for a clock he always left nearby his bed. The clock read 3 AM.

Another nightmare, he thought. He waited for that familiar sense of dread to spread all over him, but it never came. The voice outside his door did, however.

“Hero, it’s me.”

He immediatly noticed this time things were different. The voice that rang through Hero’s head didn’t sound abnormal or warped. It sounded… like it was really her. An odd sense of comfort washed over him as he walked over to the door and gently pulled it open.

The woman standing outside was beautiful. Her shiny raven hair flowed down from her head towards her body, which was enveloped in a beautiful white dress, as pale as her skin. Her face wasn’t covered by any type of hair, instead letting her pearly white eyes gaze at Hero. She looked like a ghost, but for him, she was more like an angel. She looked as happy to see him as he was.

“Thank you, Hero.” She said, before enveloping him in a warm embrace. It felt too real to be a simple dream. It was like she was actually there, and Hero was sure she was. He simply closed his eyes and hugged her back, enjoying every second of this heavenly reunion. A big, happy smile was on both of their faces.

“I love you, Mari.”

“I love you too, my Hero.”

…

He doesn’t remember how much time he remained there, hugging Mari, but he knows that at one point he had woken up inside a sleeping bag in Sunny’s apartment. The sunlight shone through the windows, and for him, the rays looked more golden than any time before. It was a beautiful morning in Sunrise City.

He looked over to kitchen and saw his four friends gathered together on the dining table, sharing breakfast while chatting and laughing together. They all looked happy and vibrant, Sunny included.

Hero sighed, and a small smile formed on his face. “Hey guys! Wait for me!”

END.

Chapter Text

The stress made Hero feel like his spine was being torn apart. It reminded him of the sleepover back on that day in Basil’s house, waking up to the sound of wailing and rushing into a room covered in crimson. He will never forget the screams of desperation that erupted from his friends as they tried to keep the heavily injured teens alive.

But at least, back then, he could feel safer. His friends were there, helping him get through that, even during such a macabre situation. And now, he was alone, and his friend outside was about to let out his last breath. He felt stressed out.

He tried to take calm down, but his lungs struggled to breath. He tried to focus, but his heart was burning. It was just like the nightmares that haunted his mind almost every night, a nightmare that suddenly got too real.

Hero realized he was not going to be able to do this.

And so, he was about to run away and leave his friend to die, when something made him look back, and gaze at the rooftop through the door windows. He shouldn’t have looked. He shouldn’t.

A single eye stared at him from the ledge before Sunny plummeted down.

Hero stared in shock at the now desolate rooftop for a few seconds. Shadows were clouding his vision. When had everything gotten so dark? He almost fell over before adrenaline shot through him and made him bolt downstairs, almost tripping and crashing down like Mari did.

Mari…

He doesn’t remember when he got there, but now he was inside his sleeping bag within Sunny’s house. Everyone was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of what had just happened. They didn’t know their friend was dead. He turned his view towards the doorway, and a black cat stood there, hissing at him. It was gone in the blink of an eye.

Finally, he passed out from exhaustion.

…

Hero shot awake, sitting up as he gasped for air. Terror had engulfed him until he finally managed to steady his breath, and calm down. He gazed around his surroundings, and was surprised to see his bedroom, just the way he had left it before leaving. It was dark outside, which meant he had woken up from a dream. Had it all been a horrible nightmare? Is this still the night before leaving his house and visiting Sunny with his friends?

… Is Sunny still alive?

His train of thought crashed when someone started knocking on his door. A feeling of dread he couldn’t really explain crept up his spine as he stared at the door, almost like trying to see through it. The knocking grew impatient, and then it turned into banging. Hero froze in horror, simply looking at the door moving just a little every time the person outside banged again. Finally, the door budged, crashing down on the floor with a loud thud.

A monochrome person was revealed to be standing on the other side. Someone Hero had already seen before.

Omori walked up to him calmly, contrasting with the loud banging that erupted from him before. Hero wanted to run away from him, but he couldn’t move his body. All he could do was stare at the monochromatic copy of Sunny, frozen in a mix of shock and terror. He flinched a bit when Omori revealed he was holding a shiny kitchen knife.

“You’re a liar. They will never forgive you.”

The deathly silence that had engulfed the room was suddenly broken by a scream of pain. Omori stabbed Hero in the chest. He desperately tried to breathe while backing up against the wall, but blood was filling his lungs. This was a nightmare. Why wouldn’t he wake up?

Omori lunged at him, and another shriek ringed through his own head. He wished to die right there, just for this torture to end. His mouth was gargling with crimson.

“You’re useless. Less than useless. You’re sick.”

Omori stabbed him a third time. This time, Hero felt it pierce directly through his heart. He tried to let out another shriek, but he was drowning in his own blood. He coughed and vomited while trying to cover his fatal wounds with just his bare hands. It hurts. It hurts so much. Please let me die.

“You should really just die.”

Omori stabbed his head, piercing through the cranium and slashing directly at his brain. Everything turned fuzzy and faded away, but the screaming remained there, ringing through his head.

Hero woke up and rubbed his eyes before realizing he had been crying while asleep. It didn’t take him long to realize he was back in Sunny's house. He also realized the screams of anguish were still there. He walked out of the apartment and stood in the hallway, before his eyes widened as he realized where the screams were coming from. The rooftop.

“SUNNY!”

“SUNNY, WHY?!”

“WHY WOULD YOU DO IT?!”

Hero walked into the same rooftop he couldn’t the night before, and was greeted by the view of three teenagers crying and screaming. He felt his heart being squeezed as his brother Kel walked up to him, an expression of angst in his face he hadn’t worn in a really long time. He tried to speak through the tears.

“Hero… why does this keep happening to us?”

He couldn’t bring himself to answer. This is his fault. He ran away just like he did last time, and now everyone was paying the price. Hero walked past everyone, unable to look back at any of their faces. He felt their eyes on him as he looked down towards where Sunny fell.

A crimson puddle stained the otherwise gray, cold street. He could barely distinguish the shape of what once was his friend. His limbs were twisted in wrong directions. Parts of his organs were splattered on the floor. Bones were poking out from his chest and his limbs. A blood stained knife was dropped nearby his body, but it seemed it wasn’t necessary.

Then he saw a single eye staring directly at him, like it was alive. The same eye that stared at him the previous night, before Sunny left them forever.

Hero ran away ignoring everyone staring at him. He just knew he had to get out of there. His heart was beating out of his chest, unable to believe Sunny was really gone. And he didn’t stop him, even when he had the chance to. This was his fault. He remembered Omori’s words.

You should really just die.

He ran back inside Sunny’s house and rushed for the bathroom, before kneeling over the toilet and pouring all the contents of his stomach out. Tears were running down his face as he shakily stood up, staring at what he had just vomited for a few seconds before flushing the toilet. He felt incredibly weak. Breathing made his sides ache and burn. He washed his hands before rubbing his eyes, feeling dizzy. He looked at the mirror, and his eyes widened as every sensation faded away to be replaced by pure and raw terror.

There was something behind him.

END.