Chapter Text
Immediately after telling the truth, Sunny ran back home and went into his room.. He was desperately trying to find a steak knife, but no matter where he looked, it was nowhere to be found. He gave up and was going up the stairs, before suddenly freezing up in place. This is where everything went wrong, where Sunny ruined the group that were so close together. He started shaking and was about to pass out before hearing a voice.
‘Don’t be afraid… it’s not as scary as you think.’
Sunny takes a deep breath and calms down. The darkness surrounding him fades away. Sunny opens his eyes again and walks the staircase to his room.
Opening the door, Sunny sees the shadowy figure of Basil appear in front of his bed and turns around.
"You won't run away again, will you?
The silhouette fades away as shivers go down Sunny's spine. He stands by the bed and stares at it for a moment.
A nice comfortable bed. Would you like to go to sleep?
>Yes
No
1 month passes by…
Sunny’s dreams have been strange lately. Things felt empty even though nothing seemed to be missing. At least Mari was still on her picnic blanket for picnics. Mari must’ve still been in college, as he hadn’t seen her in a long time outside of his dreams. As Sunny wakes up, he hears something going on outside his door and hears a couple knocks.
"Hey □, it's □□□□□□. I-I've noticed how you haven't moved yet and want to get you out of here. The others aren’t with me right now, they were busy. I’ve forgiven you, i-if it means anything.”
Forgiven… him? Who were they talking about, and who was even at the other side? Curiosity takes over Sunny as he walks to the door. He hesitates for a moment before grabbing the doorknob.
Would you like to open the door?
>Yes
No
He turned the handle on the door, and on the other side of the door was a younger girl with purple hair and a turquoise dress. This sight really confused Sunny, but before he could even react, the girl spoke up.
“Hi, Omori! I was hoping you’d come out of that room by now! It’s rude to keep a girl waiting, you know.” Sunny was entirely speechless as the young girl had stars in her eyes smiling brightly. He did not know what was happening. The girl grabs him by the hand. “Come on! Hero and Kel are waiting for us outside! They’ll be so happy to see you!” The girl practically drags the boy downstairs before he could even attempt to object. Hero and Kel were familiar names to Sunny, but he couldn't remember what they looked like. The name of the girl wasn't familiar to Sunny either.
When the girl opens the front door of the house, Sunny looks outside to see a vast forest in front of him. Right in front of the door were two boys. The shorter of which speaks up.
“There you are, Aubrey! We were wondering where you went!"
“Kel, she was only gone for a few minutes. Pipe down.” The older boy calms the younger one down. The younger one’s name seemed to be Kel, which probably meant the older one was named Hero. Kel pouts and looks away.
Hero was wearing blue pajamas and had blue hair, while Kel wore a colorful tank top with shorts, also with blue hair. All three of them had light-purple skin, nothing Sunny had seen before. Looking back at the girl, who was apparently named Aubrey, had an annoyed look on her face. She sighs lightly and puts on a lighter look.
“Anyway, look who I found!” The little girl points to Sunny, who waves back to the two boys.
“Omori! Where have you been? Mari’s been all worried about you!” Sunny didn't remember his name being Omori, but he didn't want to correct him.
“He’s been inside for so long! Did you two want to hang out with us?” Hero sadly shakes his head.
“Sorry, I would, but we have work to do.”
"Aw, man! I guess we'll have to just hang out, only the two of us, Omori." Aubrey's sweet smile and words make Sunny's face heat up a little bit. Sunny nods and the two walk down the forest toward a playground, a familiar playground.
🌸
Sunny had been acting rather strange, but Aubrey didn't mind as she was glad to have at least taken him outside his home after over a month of him locking himself away. He was also looking around like he had never been in this town before, which is strange to Aubrey. She had seen him walk around town and make friends with nearly everybody, even seeing all the flowers they had brought to him in the hospital. The hospital… That place did not bring back good memories for her.
'I have to tell you something.'
The first time she had heard him speak in so long… only to tell her something horrible. Even though she knows what he did, Aubrey knows that she'd be a hypocrite for resenting Sunny. She had been angry for too long, and wanted to fix things.
As they made it to the playground, Sunny stops by the metallic yellow cat and puts his hand on it. Aubrey walks over to him.
"Does that cat bring back memories?" He nods back. "That makes sense. You've always struck me as someone who really likes cats. We used to go in here when it rains. Too bad we can't fit in here anymore." Aubrey laughs slightly with the last statement. Sunny doesn't appear to react, instead turning around to face the trees that would lead to the hangout spot.
"Sunny… Where are you going?" He ignores her and walks anyway. Aubrey sighs and continues walking behind him.
The two teens make it to the lake and Aubrey sits down at the empty picnic blanket. She gestures to Sunny to sit down with her on the blanket. It may not be Mari's picnic blanket, but it was almost as comfortable. He hesitates, but he sits down with her. Aubrey looks up at the sky and reminisces about the past.
"Man, this place, huh?" She scoffs. "I like to think about the good memories associated with this place… but it always comes back to me pushing Basil into the lake. Sometimes I wish I could go back and fix my mistakes… I'm sure you would too." Sunny nods lightly. He looks at her then back to the picnic blanket. He only mutters one word to her that she could barely hear.
"...mari?" Aubrey looks back at Sunny.
"Did you want to visit Mari, Sunny?" He nods. "Alright, let's go."
🌷
Sunny and the young girl walk out of the spider-filled forest back out to the normal forest. They walk for a while before eventually making it to a seemingly out of place Church in the middle of the forest. Sunny stops in front of the church, confused.
"What's wrong, Omori? Didn't you want to find Mari? Let's go inside!" Aubrey walks inside and Sunny follows suit. They make it to the backdoor which leads back out into the forest. In front of some trees in the large open space was Mari on her picnic blanket. They walk over to her and everything seems to change. Aubrey's tone of voice completely changes when she starts to speak.
"Hey, Mari. Sorry it's been a while, this time I just have Sunny with me. He told us what happened and the group broke apart again with Sunny staying inside once again. L-Luckily I managed to get him outside… but I don't think Hero has gotten over what he said."
Sunny was surprised with the sudden tone change and her calling him Sunny, but when he looked back to the young girl, he instead saw someone his age with vibrant, pink hair and tear covered cyan-colored eyes. Sunny had no idea what was going on, but when he looked back to Mari, he instead found a gravestone.
HERE LIES
MARI SUZUKI
1988-2003
'The sun shined brighter when she was here.'
Everything went dark. The forest went black and white. In front of the gravestone stood Mari in a white dress. She turned around to look at Sunny and said three words.
'I forgive you.'