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“So… Do you mind telling me about this?”
“...About what?”
“What you’re wearing right now.”
Inside the Rodriguez residence, standing in front of Basil Delaney, was his best friend—Sunny Suzuki—in a rather ‘outlandish’ getup he’d seen so far in his life:
“Basil… I can assure you, this is completely normal.”
A pink bunny costume.
“...Yeah?”
“Mhmm.” A curt nod from him. Totally normal…
“...Is this one of Kel’s bright ideas for um– a friend’s get-together thing?”
“Surprisingly, no.”
Quite the shocker. For the first time in Basil’s life, someone else had taken the reigns behind the absurdity he was seeing now.
“Got this idea and the suit from some good friends of mine, back at home in the city.”
“From Elsewhere City?”
“Yep.”
He recalled back the words of four individuals in the back of his mind:
“Since this is the year of the bunny, why not try something daring for the day? Like… wearing a bunny costume! Not the PG-18 kind though, eugh~ God forbid that kind of clothing…”
“Sunny, knowing what you said about your close friend, Aubergine. Ohoho~ I guarantee she would definitely love it. Chicks dig confidence, my guy.”
“I’m with the big oaf here. It’s pretty cool for you to try this out, Sunny. Make some memorable memories with her to remember by, don’t you think so?”
“...” Not a single word from him. Instead, he did a thumbs-up for Sunny.
“...Knowing them, it’s gonna turn out fine… somehow.”
Through thick and thin, they did it all together. Fond memories, they were to him.
“Hmm, sounds like a lively bunch. They certainly made you a bit more talkative than before, eh?”
“Oh, trust me… We’ve had our fair share of adventure back in Elsewhere. But enough about that, check this out.”
His body spun around, and something was on his bum for Basil to see.
“...Huh?”
“It’s a cotton ball tail. 100% pure rabbit fur. Supposed to bring me good luck.”
“Where’d you even get the fur from–”
“You can thank Kel and Hero for that, actually.” Sunny answered, “They know someone who had a surplus of rabbit fur at the time, and would’ve you know it — it’s finally being put to good use, I’d say.”
“...Well, I have to admit: It does look fitting, knowing you and your plushie collection.”
Looks rather charming to him. Basil could see why Sunny's new friends in the city wanted him to do this; It fits the bill for the upcoming sunset date.
“You know me so well, Basil. Now help me out here, it’s like being in a sauna while wearing this.”
“You’re not gonna wear it for the day? Like one of your friends in the city said to you that time?”
“Basil, I know that she means well. But~ I’m definitely not gonna wear this for the rest of the day. Aubrey’s eyes only, remember?”
“So… what about me, then?”
An oddity in the equation. What makes Basil here get to see the main traction of today's agenda first?
“You’re like one of the few beta-testers to see me in this. The fifth one, if I’m not mistaken.”
And this was Sunny's answer to it.
“I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t work like that, Sunny.”
“Pish-posh, dear good friend of mine. Anyways, where was I… Ah, yes! The first to the fourth, you obviously know who I’m referring to.”
“Right~”
“With you being the fifth, that checks out my quota for this little, bunny suit review. Now then, help me get off from this thing, please?”
“Sure can do.”
With the review marked as a green light for Sunny, Basil then goes to the back and pulls down the zipper, hidden somewhere beneath the laces of the outfit.
However, it was proving to be a rather arduous task to do for him.
“...You alright there, Basil?”
“Y-yeah, just– the zipper’s a bit stuck. No need to worry, though.”
“...Mmm, that reminds me of something. Basil, after this– could you uh… help me out in buying some stuff at Other Mart?” Another request he'd asked the blonde gardener. “I asked Kel and Hero before, but they have their hands full with helping their parents at the moment.”
“What about your mom?”
“She’s helping me out with bringing some of the good stuff for tonight’s Lunar New Year party here. We’re spending it together with the Rodriguez household this year. On the other hand, this one-time gig I’m doing is for this evening’s prime event — snack time at the secret hangout spot, looking at the sunset and all that jazz.”
“Do the brothers know about this, along with Aubs?”
“I’ve already told Kel and Hero about my plan yesterday, so they won’t bother me and Aubrey at the time. On a side note, I sent her a note to meet me there by dusk; Even asked her to bring Bun-Bun along if she could. However, she doesn’t know about this little stunt of mine.”
“...Since when did you learn how to make puns out of a whim? I thought only Hero does that with that joke book of his?”
“Again, picked this habit up from a good friend of mine. He reads a lot… and knows much more stuff than I do, honestly speaking.”
“I see, I see… Ugh, this thing. I-It won’t budge.”
“...Should I be worried now?"
"No, no, no– everything's all under control." Through many of the consolations the gardener gave, what's written on Basil's face says otherwise for Sunny to see behind.
"About your– grr, grocery shopping at Other Mart, I really want to help you out, Sunny. But at the same time, oof– I-I'd promised Polly that I'll be helping her to cook for the Lunar New Year's party too this afternoon."
As much as Basil wishes to lend a helping hand to his best friend, a promise is still a promise. Basil wouldn't dare to let Polly down now, would he?
"Sorry, Sunny."
"Hey, it's fine, Basil. No need to beat yourself for it. On the plus side — I think it's great that you're spending more time with Polly."
"Yeah… Need to make it up to her for all the time I've spent inside my room by myself. She's been worried sick about me, and I didn't even try to open up at all."
"One step at a time, Basil… One step at a time." Words of comfort Sunny tossed to his best friend, as he was happy for him that Basil was making an effort to be better. "You'll get there, eventually… Like um– like this zipper problem we're having."
As for the case of the zipper, however… For some odd reason, Sunny couldn't help but be slightly worried about it.
"Hrghhh… why you little–" He could hear Basil getting more agitated by the second. Stubborn, puny thing — The plastic in his hands.
"Just. Needs. A good… P-Pull–!!"
CLINK!!
…
…
…
"...Uh oh."
…
"What do you mean 'uh oh'?"
…
He turned around; An alarmed Basil with a broken zipper held in one of his hands.
…
Well, that can't be good.
"Aubs, tell me again: Why are we in the produce section instead of the candy shop, which is right over there?"
"I'm buying groceries for tonight's party at Kel's place. Also, food for Bun-Bun."
Two rowdy hooligans skimmed through the fresh produce in front of them. One was bored out of her mind—dawdling back and forth and searching around for a mere semblance of entertainment. Meanwhile, the other one had a shopping list gripped in her hands.
"But you don't need this much now, do you?"
"I've got other plans for today, Kim."
"Which is…?"
"Now that~ would be ruining the surprise now, wouldn't it?"
"Tch… Grumble… Grumble. "
Low audible grumblings coming from her mouth. It appears that Aubergine Williams here has something scheduled for today. ‘No hooligans allowed just for a day, no funny business, and most importantly… No Kel .’ She said to them this morning.
“Ah, lighten up, will ya? It’s just a quick run-in for some carrots.” An exasperated sigh Aubrey gave off to her close friend, as Kim’s amber eyes still lingered in the hallway leading to the candy shop.
“We’ll get your stupid taffies after this. Just… don’t steal too many, or else we’re gonna get the ‘smiley-smiley’ treatment from that cashier again.”
“Heh, with these hands, Aubs… She’ll never see it coming.”
“Yeah, yeah… Now then, use those fast hands of yours and get me some spices for tonight’s stew, would you?”
“...”
“...Pretty please~?”
“Gagh! Alright, alright, fine… geez.”
Giving into the pleadings of an eggplant-named girl, Kim reluctantly skidded herself to another section of the mart. The seasonings aisle, where the prosperous silk road of spices meets the modern times of today.
“...Wait, what did Aubs say to look for again?”
A fuzzy memory appeared inside her head, as the pink delinquent listed off the items of their search on the way here:
“-Mrs. Rodriguez wants us to fetch some eggplants, carrots, a whole chicken, some star anise, cumin, gala– galangal– how do you even pronounce this?!”
…
“...Yep, no idea.” It was also proving to be quite difficult for Kim, Half of the items on the list were somewhat foreign to her.
“...At least I should start with the star anise, whatever that is…”
And so begins her search for the star-shaped spices for Mrs. Rodriguez's chicken stew of goodness.
“Star anise~ Star anise… hmm hmm hmmm~” Humming to herself, Kim inspected the tags imprinted on the bags. Adjusting her specs to get a clearer view, the items she now holds were not the ones she knew.
Anomalies to the index of Kel’s mom’s grocery list.
“Nope… Nope… Nada… Not this one… Hey, this shouldn’t be here.”
A crude hammer was lodged in between the racks, looks like it belonged to the hardware shop—Fix-It—next door. The price tag was still on the handle, as Kim could clearly see.
“Looks like someone’s getting fired today…”
Nonetheless, her search continues… Eyes trailing up and above now for the upper racks of the shelves.
“Cinnamon… Thyme… Oregano… More Cinnamon… Man, what’s with this mart having too much cinnamon?”
Within each passing second, the spices aisle was beginning to become much more peculiar for Kim to be in. Various brands of the same cinnamon spices, as far as her eyes could see.
After a few good minutes of scrutinising her eyes…
"Ahah! Gotcha!"
Lo' and behold — a bag filled with star anise was in her hands.
"That's one down, now… what else is on the agenda–"
However, before Kim could continue what she was about to say,
"...The heck?"
Two pairs of fluffy ears were poking themselves from the top shelf.
"...Are those… bunny ears?"
Taking off her glasses, hastily she rubs her lenses using the seams of her purple hoodie, before wearing them once again.
The ears were now gone…
"...Okay~ Not going to stay here much longer than I want to…" Taking the bag into her hands, hurriedly Kim trekked herself out of the lonesome aisle.
“ Must’ve been my imagination screwing with my eyes… Yeah, that must be it.”
Absurdity was beginning to creep up in her head. The imagery of a giant bunny meandering around town was nothing but a ridiculous concept for her to think of.
It was either her eyes were playing tricks on herself, or yesterday’s taffies were something out of this world — where the side effects were finally kicking in today.
“Alright, alright… Calm down, Kim. Just gotta find me some eggplants for Aubs, and we’re good to go–”
“-Excuse me, ma’am. Do you happen to know where all the grape soda bottles went?”
“Umm…I’m afraid that we’ve run out of stock, young man… But, we do have cherry sodas available at the moment. The freshest batch of the month.”
From within her earshot, a voice could be heard over at the other side of the aisle, where Kim was currently standing.
“...Mmm, no, thank you. Have a nice day, ma’am.” He sounded quite disappointed from what Kim could hear. Even so, discourteous was never in his books, as the stranger bids the employee goodbye with much politeness.
“Likewise, Mr. Rabbit sir.”
…
“...I’m definitely not hearing things right now.”
Curiosity took a hold of Kim with an iron grip. She sprinted across the aisle, with the hopes to see the weirdo who had been referred to as ‘Mr. Rabbit sir’.
And yet, when she’d gotten to the other side… there was no one there to see, other than the aforementioned employee, who was arranging condiments diligently onto the shelves as busy as a bee.
“ Grumble… grumble… Missed my chance.” Kim’s inquisitiveness had failed to be satiated, and her utter disappointment was increased two-fold.
Nevertheless, a prominent lead to the mysterious bunny boy was afoot; Standing in front of the young lass was the key witness to Kimberly’s ever-growing novelty of the day.
“...Excuse me, miss. Did you happen to see a, uh… strange fella loitering around here?”
“Oh, you mean the young boy in a pink bunny costume?”
“...Yeah, that … Do you know where he went?”
“I think he went over that way–”
DING DONG!!
“That fast! H-How–”
“...Ah, he just left.”
Could the day be ever so ‘’nice’ to Kim once in a while? An odd fella was ambling his merry way around these parts of town, and she just missed it not once — but twice in a row. In a small town like Faraway, no less…
“-Hey, Kim. You got the things I’ve asked for?”
Oh, she forgot about it for a brief moment. Making her way up to her side, was none other than Kim’s best friend—Aubrey—herself. A scrutinising look which the pink hooligan directed to her friend, befuddled by her current predicament.
“Hello~ Earth to Kimberly. Did you get the stuff already?”
“...Only the star anise at the moment… Say Aubs, do you happen to bump into a giant, pink bunny now, do you?”
“...Kim, no offence, but that’s some wild stuff coming from you, girl.”
“...They seriously ran out of grape soda today? Just my crummy, old luck…”
Walking amidst the bushes and shrubbery of Faraway, was Sunny Suzuki in a pink bunny costume.
He was muttering to himself, all the while looking at the groceries in his hands. The boy managed to purchase almost everything he needs without the girls noticing his… interesting choice of attire.
“Cherry soda… bleugh~ why does Basil even like that stuff, anyways?”
To this day, the drink forenamed would remain a stain in Sunny’s choice of beverage. To the young boy: that abomination was the epitome of carbonated hell sludge… The same level as Orange-Joe.
“Note to self: Buy some cashew nuts on the way back home. Thank god Lune gave me some tips on how to be quick on my feet.”
Afterwards, a mental note Sunny had embedded inside his mind. A little ‘thank-you treat’ to one of his close friends in the metropolis — for teaching him the ways of the inconspicuous beforehand.
“Now then… all that’s left is to get to the lake and set everything up–”
“Meow~”
The meowings of cat…
“Meow~”
Multiple numbers of mewings, in fact…
“Oh, hello there–”
The young boy spun himself around to greet the small, feline fluffballs. After all, cats were his favourite pets — other than rabbits, of course.
But what Sunny didn’t expect was to see… was a plethora of them following him from behind.
“...Oh my.”
Calicos, Tabby orange ones, Tomcats, and even a British short-hair were at the party. Like a charming pied piper, the bunny man was leading them all in a straight, disorderly line.
“Umm…”
Thing is, it was not the kind of pettings Sunny would mostly do, most of the time. These little, adorable felines were inching themselves closely to him — with sharp claws at the ready.
“Uhhh–”
Their eyes were not staring at the alarmed bunny man, no… On the contrary, they were staring at what he was wearing:
Cotton, rabbit fur… Perfect for scratching.
The main prize for the cats of Faraway: The cotton ball tail behind him.
…
…
…
“Meow~”
“...Uh oh.”
By far — this is the most confusing, yet horrifying moment for Sunny Suzuki, the current envoy of the bunnies.
“Get the tortillas ready, Hero! Imma make myself the most awesome, bombastic~ chimichanga ever existed in this world!”
“But Kel… we already ran out of tortillas at home.”
“...Really? Ah, crud!”
On the streets of their hometown, two brothers were making their way home after running some errands for their parents.
A delighted feeling was evident on the younger one’s face, but then it was shot down as swiftly as the wind when the mentionings of tortillas were rendered obsolete.
“How could this happen to me? On Tuesday Benifico day?!”
In layman’s terms: No more chimichangas.
“...We’ll buy ‘em tomorrow, Kel. At the very least, we still have cookies, no?”
“Hero, you don’t understand! On days like these, a chimichanga would save a helpless dude in troubling times, Hero! Gino’s pizza ain’t going to cut it!”
Words of pure wisdom — in the abstract form of Kelsey’s own vocabulary. His brother, however, does not get it, unfortunately.
“Without a chimichanga to satiate the soul, all balance in the universe would fail to be upheld. Ramens noodles would be found in most toilet bowls, cats would start to bark like our good boy Hector, and the weirdness of life would bleed into our reality akin to the normalcy of life, as far as we know it!”
“...Uh, Kel. I think yesterday’s Orange Joe might’ve done something to you–”
“-No, Hero! I could feel it with my own two pinkies…. Something is about to happen, all because the chimichangas were not prepared as the promised treaty of Papa Chip’s Chip-of-The-Old-Block Cookbook.”
“...Kel, seriously… There’s nothing wrong with today’s–”
“AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“Meow~, Meow~, Meow~, Meow~, Meow~, Meow~, Meow~, Bork~, Meow~ Meow~”
Across the street from where they were, a young boy in a bunny costume was running for dear life — groceries bags on hand.
What follows behind was a ravenous stream of cute Faraway cats, hellbent on making the boy’s costume their personal scrape toy.
One of them even borked like a dog — an imposter amongst felines.
Regardless, the runaway bunny in front of the bizarre sight was no ordinary boy of the block…
“...WAIT, I-IS THAT SUNNY?! IN A BUNNY COSTUME??!”
“W-WHAT DID I TELL YOU??! WE NEED TO HELP HIM, BRO!! AFTER THAT, WE GOTTA COOK, HERO!! CHIMICHANGAS SAVES LIVES!!”
“R-RIGHT!”
And so — thus came the Rodriguez duo to his aid, an unforeseen reinforcement for young Suzuki on the run.
5 hours later…
“Hmm… Bun-Bun, do you know what Sunny had in store for us today?”
“...squeak!”
“No clue too, huh? Hmmm, what could it possibly be…?”
The breeze of the woods, calming and soothing to her delicate skin. Her hair flowed freely by the currents, as she trudges her way through the shrubbery beyond.
A note he had sent to her, to meet at the promised lake. A request from him to bring Bun-Bun along for the ride; An odd appeal… But a welcoming one, no less.
Feeding a baby carrot to her beloved pet, the young girl carefully paces herself to not make any noise in the woods. A well-placed foot to the side of a broken branch, one less noise to worry about.
For Bun-Bun is an easily frightened critter, Aubrey would make sure that her actions were all but calculated — not even a miscalculation in place. She wouldn’t dare to make her pet distress now, would she?
Nonetheless, the sun’s radiant lustre glimmered at the horizon. Warming it was, as a fuzzy sensation nestles deep within her.
She had a good feeling about this…
“Meow~”
“...A cat?”
Ahead of her, a purring tabby cat rolled around on the grass. On its mouth and paws, some strands of cotton… Pink, woolly cotton.
“Weird…”
More steps ahead, and more cats she’d encountered. All of the felines lead into the trail of the secret hangout spot. She grew more curious as a result — wondering to herself why the cats of Faraway had decided to rest here, of all places…
Out she came to the clearing, and a blinding light she was met in her teal eyes. Afterwards, was the answer to her ponderings:
A blue picnic basket was on top of a blue mat, and besides it was a big bottle of grape soda. Sunny’s favourite drink.
From the corner of her eyes, she then founds something… interesting, to say the least.
A boy in a pink, somewhat tattered bunny costume, sitting at the end of the pier. He looks rather lonely at the moment, to be honest.
From the weird spectacle, a memory came to mind; Something about Kim’s odd remark at OtherMart.
“...Hey ‘Mr Rabbit sir’... ? It’s a little too early for the easter rabbit to come out, don’t you think so?”
His head poked upwards, jolting visibly as Aubrey could see. She must’ve startled him, the girl reckoned.
Nevertheless, the mystery rabbit then spun his head around — revealing the stone-veneered face of the boy she knows oh so well~
Her eyes widened in surprise at first glance, taken aback by the odd spectacle she was looking at… and yet, her countenance of shock would soon turn into a grinning one instead.
“Hehehehe~”
Scratch that — Aubrey was giggling like a mad scientist at this point. Holding Bun-Bun in her arms tightly to make sure she does not fall, the sight of Sunny in a bunny costume was definitely not what she had anticipated in her books.
His cheeks grew bright red from her giggles. As much as Sunny had stoned himself in the plight of a wardrobe malfunction, along with the trips he made around town while wearing the dreaded sauna mobile…
Aubrey’s laughter was the very one which made Sunny here a tad bit embarrassed.
“-Hehehe~ Sunny… what on earth are you wearing?”
“Uhh… Happy Lunar New Year, Aubrey…?”
A little confused by his remarks, but in a sheer instance… Aubrey knew what the boy had meant: This year was the Year of the Rabbit!
How poetic…
“Did Kel put you up to this?”
“Actually, no. This was my idea… Well, technically– me and my friends back in Elsewhere.”
“How thoughtful of you~” A teasing smirk Aubrey gave to the bunny boy in front, humoured by what she had seen so far. “Also, give my thanks to your friends in Elsewhere when you go back. Nice idea, by the way.”
“Heheh, I’ll let them know, Aubrey…”
Without wasting any more time, Aubrey lent out a hand to Sunny.
“Well then, shall we go and have a small evening snack by the lake, my dear courageous bunny?”
He accepted her hand, a small smile embezzled on his lips.
“Mhmm.”
And so, they went forth to the picnic mat placed, enjoying the upcoming springs of life in a beautiful sunset…
What a lovely Lunar New Year for these two lovebirds here…
…
…
…
“So… are the cats a part of this too, Pied Piper?”
“Yeah~ about that actually…”