Chapter Text
The tires of a white car pulled into the driveway belonging to an average sized one-story house. In the back seat, Sunny sat up straight, glaring out the window at the house. So this is where they will be staying now? Sunny wasn’t sure about moving to a city. He’d rather move to another quiet town.
“I know it’s not as big as our last house.” A heartwarming voice spoke to him. It was his mother's. She had turned her head around to face him. She was smiling. “But, I can assure you that once we get settled down, it will start to feel more like home.”
Sunny slouched back down in his seat. His expression was emotionless. His eyes were blank. Sunny wasn’t entirely awake. Of course, ever since that night, Omori has been in control. Thankfully, Omori will still be able to pass on what he sees and hears to Sunny’s memories, though.
Sunny’s mother shows a look of concern. “Are you ok, sweetie?” She asks her son. She was gravely worried, as Sunny had not spoken a single word since he got in the car. He just looked out the window, unbothered to answer his mom’s questions. “Are you nervous? Did I do something?” She awaited a response, but no surprise, she got none. She bit her lip and stared down a bit before looking back up at her son. “How about you go check the place out. You know. Start to get used to it. That’ll keep you busy while Mommy needs to figure out where the moving truck ended up.”
Sunny nodded and grabbed the handle of the car door, opening it and stepping out before shutting it closed behind him. His mom said a heartwarming “I love you!” before he closed it all the way. Sunny glanced in the window of the driver's seat. His mom now appeared to be on the phone, probably calling for the moving truck. Sunny walked towards the front door of his new house and then fumbled around for his own new key for the place which his mom gave him. He assumed he wouldn’t be using it much anyway. He just wanted to go inside and then stay inside. He hoped there was at least some comfy furniture in there already that he could rest on.
Sunny unlocked the door and slowly opened it, wondering what he would be met with once he was inside. That wasn’t the case though. He was met with a completely empty hallway when he stepped inside. There were door frames on each side of the halls. One actually had two glass doors that led into a smaller room on the right. The one on the left led into a quite bigger room that had a fireplace. Sunny chose to go into the room on the right. It led to another room with white flooring and counters. Ah. The kitchen. The kitchen was also connected to the bigger room on the left. This would probably be the living room. Sunny went down another hall from the living room. The hall had several doors on both sides. These were probably the bedrooms and bathrooms and such.
Sunny went into one of the bathrooms. It was much smaller than the one at his old house. This one also only had a shower head and no bathtub. Before leaving, Sunny checked out the mirror.
….
Omori stared back at the body he was in control of. Something wasn’t behind him. Omori was doing a good job. Omori wouldn’t let Something hurt Sunny. Omori would protect Sunny. Omori had to protect Sunny. Omori is the only one Sunny can rely on. ….But, Omori was getting tired. Omori knows he can’t stay in the front for too long. Soon he would have to take a break, and Sunny would have to be in control again. And when he does, Something will come back to haunt him. Omori doesn’t know how to stop it. Omori wishes he could. Omori wishes that Sunny would just forget about his friends. It would make everything so much easier. ….Maybe he could.
….
Sunny left the bathroom. He decided to check out the bedrooms next. Overall, this place wasn’t so bad. In fact, he felt safer here. Maybe his mom was right. Moving to a new place means he can start anew. He can be a new person. He can make new memories. ….He can forget the old ones. He will push back anything that brings him pain.
- - - - -
It has been a few months since Sunny and his mother moved into the city. Overtime, Sunny had been trying to get better. He can’t remember what even brought him down in the first place. He just knows that it was something so traumatizing that he is just thankful that Omori could protect him from it. He didn’t care if Omori never told him anything about what he is hiding from. He just hopes those problems don’t find him again.
Sunny’s mom was proud of him. Sunny had started getting up earlier in the morning and eating full meals again. He started to go outside again. He would try to help his mom more often. Usually going to the store to pick up groceries, or taking some quick jobs to make some extra cash. He also went outside of his own will just to take walks and explore the city’s streets. There were a lot more people here than at Faraway. Luckily none of them ever bothered him. He still wasn’t confident enough to open up to anyone yet. However, his mom has been trying to convince him to at least try to find someone close to his age, and talk to them. Maybe he could make a new friend. Then he wouldn’t be so lonely. Sunny continued to walk along the street as he thought to himself. Luckily he could think freely since there weren’t as many people walking around as usual. In fact the streets were almost empty. Strange. ….He continued to think.
….Was he as lonely as he thought himself to be? He was confused. He has an imaginary sister that always looks after him. She is always there in his dreams. But…. She also watched over him at night in reality. She just… looked a bit different. Surely that means he wasn’t entirely alone right? He also had Omori with him too. Hm…. Omori. Omori had been with Sunny for the longest time. Yes. He wasn’t alone. He just felt like it sometimes.
….
OOF!
Sunny tumbled to the ground as someone had run right into him. Sunny snapped out of his thoughts and came back to reality.
“Sorry!” The voice of a young boy shouted out. He quickly grabbed Sunny’s hand and pulled him back up to his feet.
Sunny held his head a bit. He focused on who bumped into him. When his vision became more clear he could see-
….
No….
It couldn’t be….
….
Basil-
(No. Look again. You don’t know this person. You don’t know anyone.)
Sunny felt a sudden surge of pain in his head before he cleared it again of any sudden thoughts. He stared at the boy in front of him. He had blonde hair that stuck out at the bottom a bit. His blue eyes seemed a bit emotionless. He was wearing a gray hoodie with a gray mask covering up to his nose.
“You ok?” The boy asked. His voice was muffled a bit by his mask.
Sunny nodded. “M’fine.”
“Ah. Good!” The boy tilted his head. “You new to the city?”
“Been here for a couple months.” Sunny replied.
“Cool.” The boy appeared to be smiling a bit though it was a little hard to tell. “I’m Russell. What’s your name?”
“S-Sunny.” Sunny shook Russell’s hand after he had held it out to him.
“Are you a high school student? Sorry, I’ve never seen you before so I’m not sure.” Russell asked.
“I uh….” Sunny was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to respond to that? “I work from home.”
“Ah. Homeschooling. I see.” Russell nodded in understanding. “Say…. Could you maybe help me out a bit?”
“Help you?”
“Mhm! You see…. There are these mean people after me.” Russell pulled his mask down a bit so Sunny could see the rest of his face. He looked up at him with pleading eyes. “And I uh…. Really need a place to hide.”
Sunny tilted his head. This sounded a bit strange. But, this boy was just a kid, right? What kind of trouble could he have gotten into?
Russell looked behind himself and then back at Sunny. “I ran as far as I could right now, but I don’t know when they’ll find me again. And I’m getting awfully tired, so if you could just help me find a place to hide, that would be great! Please? There’s no one else around that can help me!”
Sunny looked left and right until looking back down at Russell. He nodded. “A-alright. I can help.”
“Really?!” Russell exclaimed in excitement. “Er- I mean- Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Come with me.”
Sunny gestured for Russell to follow him. Sunny couldn’t help but feel that he had to help him no matter what. He had to save him. ….Save him? From what? From those people that are after him, right? That had to be it. But, why could he trust this boy so easily? For some reason, being around this boy makes him feel really anxious, like something bad is going to happen, but he also feels safe somehow. He feels as if he has known Russell before. Or…. Well…. He wasn’t sure anymore.
———
Russell followed Sunny until they reached what he assumed was his house. He noticed how the driveway was empty.
“Does anyone else live here?” He asks after the two walk through the front door.
“Just me and my mom. She’s usually at work most of the time, though. I rarely see her cause of her job.” Sunny replied. He sounded a bit upset.
Russell looked around. This place was pretty nice. Much better in comparison to his house. He limped a bit after taking another step. He sucked air through his teeth, trying not to let out a sound. He didn’t want Sunny to notice anything off. Unfortunately he did.
“Hey uh…. Are you alright?” He questioned.
“Ah. Yeah I’m ok.” Russell lied. “I just fell and scraped up my knee a bit while running away from those people.” A selfish lie. He had been shot in the leg a few days ago. He wasn’t going to let that stop him though.
Russell had been lying to Sunny this whole time. Telling him that he was running away from a group of thugs. And while that was true at times, he was actually mainly running from the cops. He had been running as fast as he could from that wretched place. He even stole a bottle full of the Happy Dream sample. He also had his syringe with him. Escaping from that experiment prison was tough, but worth it. Honestly, they should have just executed him from the start. His Aunt however, just had to bury herself in the funds she would get out of putting him through that. Jokes on her though. Russell ended up enjoying the Happy Dream. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it forever if he would just go along with the experiment, so instead he escaped. He wanted to experiment with it more himself. He became addicted to the way it made him feel. He hasn’t been as happy as that in a long time. He didn’t want to let it go. Russell, however, needed somewhere to go after escaping. He couldn’t stay out in the open forever. He had been keeping his eyes on Sunny for a while. Learning his routine. He found out Sunny was new to the city, and oblivious to news and rumors, therefore he wouldn’t know who Russell was. So Russell waited for the time he could finally speak with Sunny, and get his help. And now, he was finally at that step. Now to gain his trust and convince Sunny to let him stay.
“You can stay here for as long as you want.” Sunny assured him. “I’m sure my mom will be fine with it. She doesn’t come back until late night though.”
“Thanks.” Well that was easy.
“We have a house phone you can use too, by the way.” He informed. “Do you need to call your parents or anyone? If you want they can come pick you up or-“
“No.”
Sunny trembled a bit at Russell’s stern tone. “H-huh?”
“S-sorry.” He apologized. “It’s just…. I don’t really want to call my parents. They…. Aren’t the best of people.” A half lie. It’s true he didn’t have the best parents. ….But he didn’t have parents at all anymore. He didn’t like thinking about them. “They’d probably yell at me instead of feeling bad for me if they find out I got into trouble.”
“I-I understand. ….I think.” Sunny responded. “Do you not have anywhere or anyone else to go to?”
“Afraid not.” Russell replied.
“Alright. Just stay here then. We can figure something out, I guess.” Sunny told him. “Just make yourself comfortable in the meantime I guess….”
Russell watched as Sunny aimlessly walked around the living room before finally turning towards the fireplace and setting a fire.
“I can take your jacket if you want it off.”
Russell nodded and took his jacket off so Sunny could hang it up in a closet next to the front door. He then started to look around the house a bit. It seemed like a very nice place. He looked to the other room on the right, a strange white flower in a pot, set on top of a polished wooden table, caught his attentive gaze. He found the strange petals to look kind of familiar to another kind of flower he learned about once. Except, that flower was red, not white.
Russell walked over towards the flower. “Hey, what kind of flower is this?” He asked as he looked back at Sunny while pointing to the flower.
“White egret orchid.” Sunny responded after he had finished hanging Russell’s jacket up in the closet and closing it.
Russell looked back at the flower. “Never seen it before. Never even heard of anything like it.”
“Do you like flowers?” Sunny asked curiously. He stepped forward to also admire the orchid’s beautiful white petals.
Russell shrugged in response. “Somewhat. I just think they’re neat. Especially the ones with very strange meanings or phrases to them.” He looks back up at Sunny with a curious look in his eyes. “Does this one have something like that?”
Sunny glared at the orchid longingly. Russell wondered what was going on in his head. At first, Sunny wore a comforting expression, but then it slowly faded and became nervous. Russell thought to himself as well. He should probably say something to him, should he?
“Hey! Sunny! Are you alright? Earth to Sunny!” Russell called to him.
Sunny ended up moving in a little startled jump. He then shook his head before looking back at Russell. “I’m fine. Sorry about that.” He finally spoke. “Hey, do you like video games?” Sunny asked Russell, trying to change the topic.
“Ooh! What you got?” The mention of games caught Russell’s attention immediately. He loved video games. He wondered if Sunny had any puzzle, RPG, or fighting games.
“Well….” Sunny scratched the back of his head. “Are you aware of Sprout Mole Eater?”
“Haven’t heard of it. What do you do in it?” Russell tilted his head, curiously.
“Well….” Sunny began to explain. “You play as King Crawler, who is this centipede-like creature that eats these other plant-like creatures called Sprout Moles. The more Sprout Moles he eats the longer his body gets, and he can’t run into himself, else you lose a life. It’s basically just this more advanced version of the computer game Snake, but with a different theme. It’s still very fun though!”
“Ah.” That’s all Russell could say about it. He wasn’t that interested in small arcade games like that. “Uh…. Got anything else?”
Sunny slightly lowered his head. He seemed a bit disappointed. “You know what, you can look through the games I have, until you find one you are familiar with. How’s that sound?”
“Good enough for me!” Russell gave a thumbs up before following Sunny to his room. So far this is going really well. It may even turn out to be fun!
….
Before Russell fully turned away from the orchid, he could’ve sworn he saw it glowing for a split second. He turned back towards it too late. The glow, if it really was there and isn’t just his imagination, had already faded. Just…. What was that?
———
Close View City. ….It wasn’t a really big city. Really the only area of the city that ever got crowded was on the same streets that a series of apartments had been aligned. One of those apartments housed the lone hikikomori, Madotsuki. Sometimes, she would walk out onto her balcony and watch as the other people would pass by underneath it. Maddy didn’t recognize any of those people. She didn’t care about any of them. She wouldn’t care about any of them. Because what was the point of making new friends if they were just going to be taken away from her anyway?
….
People are cruel. The world is cruel. ….Is she also cruel for thinking like that?
….
Madotsuki’s brows furrowed. She wasn’t sure what she thought of herself anymore. She feels her dreams know her better than she knows herself.
….
Two years. Two years she has been cooped up inside. Well…. Two years was actually how long it took her to fall this far into this state. After all that had happened, during the beginning of the first year, it was like she completely lost that energetic self she felt she once knew. She spoke to her family less and less until she even started to seclude herself from them entirely. She didn’t like her family much. They could never understand the pain she was going through. ….No. They CHOSE to not understand. And even after Madotsuki had locked herself away from them, they didn’t even bother wondering about her whereabouts or what she was up to. Did they really not care about her that much?
….
A little while after that, Madotsuki then started going to school less and less until she stopped going entirely. It only pained her even more…. Staring at that empty desk next to her. ….Why did she have to leave her so suddenly like that? And that other little girl…. Once filled with so much outgoing energy, had joined her a few days after. The older one tried to save her, but was a moment too late. Instead of things being quick and painless, she had suffered until her last breath. And Maddy…. Maddy had watched all of that unfold before her very eyes.
….
Madotsuki would go back inside her room after watching a few cars pass by. Why was she even out on the balcony anyway? Did she still long to be entirely outside? Going to the park again? Going to her favorite stores and buying her favorite snacks? She wished she still had her friends by her side. She wanted to share her favorite snacks with them. She wanted to silently joke and laugh about their teacher’s appearance with her desk neighbor despite being in the middle of lessons. Hell, if she could only have the moments back of when they were caught and got in trouble, she would still take that over any other moment she wasn’t with her friends. Yet she knows…. She knows that no matter how much she wishes for it, they are never coming back. And her dreams taunted her for it. She was sick of it. So very sick of it.
….
Madotsuki stared over at her computer. Recently she has been chatting with other people online whenever she feels way too lonely. It only helps a little bit though. But no one on there was special to her. They could never be. It just wasn’t the same. It will never be the same.
….
Right?