Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The beep of the moving trucks was loud and embarrassing, especially because it was 10 pm at night.

Basil sighed as he imagined the grumbles of the neighbors. There goes any chance of making friends on his street. 

“Okay, Basil, I got our mattresses inside!” His new caretaker, Polly, was standing in the doorway along with a couple of movers. “You wanna head to bed, kiddo? We gotta meet your teachers bright and early tomorrow.” 

Basil shook his head. “No thanks, Polly. I’m not tired.” Polly gave him a skeptical look. 

“You sure? Because you have had zero hours of sleep today. And you were in a car all day. And we have to get up at 6:15 am tomorrow if we wanna get to the school on time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be fine, I have coffee.” Basil knew that he shouldn’t be drinking coffee at the age of sixteen, but some occasions called for it.  

Apart from not feeling tired, he didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same living space as a woman he had met eighteen hours ago. He clasped his hands together and kept looking around at all the houses nearby, hoping that no one would care much. 

His prayers went unanswered. A girl with pink hair dressed in bunny-patterned pajamas and fluffy slippers came storming across the street. She stopped in front of him and stared at him. Yet, she didn’t seem angry, though her previous walk suggested otherwise.  

“Rowan?” she said after a moment. “Is that you?”  

“Umm…” Basil said, not sure of how to respond. The girl stared at him for a few more seconds, then her face changed. She laughed and jump-hugged Basil, making him stumble back in surprise.

“Dude! I thought you moved! Welcome back, man!” she exclaimed. Basil started to get more uncomfortable, as he was now committing identity fraud. 

“I, uh-”

“Awesome, you dyed your hair! Thought your mom would freak if you did that! Honestly, blond is a better look on you. Woah, hang on, your eyes are a different color. How are they- wait, did you get contacts? They look cool! Ugh, damn it, I should’ve worn mine!” 

“Um, listen, I-” 

“Did I tell you I got contacts? Oh, and also, I dyed my hair too! Well, you can already see that. My mom doesn’t really give a shit how I look. Hey, I swear you were shorter. How much did you grow? Is it even possible for someone to grow that much?” 

“You have the wrong-” 

“OH MY GOSH, I SHOULD TOTALLY GO GET THE OTHERS! ROWAN, WAIT HERE!” With that last part, her eyes shone as if there were stars in them, and she skipped off. 

Now what? Does he continue to pretend to be this Rowan? Does he shatter this girl’s dreams and humiliate her in front of her friends by telling her that he is in fact, not Rowan? 

Oh, no, she’s waking her friends up in the middle of the night! Er, at 10! Now they’re all gonna come over here and see that he’s not Rowan! 

Maybe he could pretend to be Rowan. But what if they talk to the real Rowan and find out that he’s not Rowan, but in fact, Basil? And then Rowan kills him? 

But if they find out that he’s not Rowan, that girl’s heart will be crushed and her friends will be mad at him and they’ll tell everyone, leaving him friendless! 

Unless they’re fake friends, in which case, they won’t be mad on her behalf. But if she’s friends with fake friends, and Rowan was also friends with fake friends, then there’s two ways this could go.

He could pretend to be Rowan and then be stuck with fake friends that psychologically manipulate him. Or he could tell the truth and then when that girl saw that her friends didn’t get upset, she would be sad because she’d find out her friends are fake! 

But Basil can’t let her stay with fake friends! So, if they get upset with him, it either means they’re pretending or they’re genuinely mad. He doesn’t want them to be pretending, but he doesn’t want them to be mad. But they need to be upset, otherwise they’re fake friends for sure! But then he might not get any friends, and he needs friends! 

But what if the new friends find him clingy? Then he’ll have to go back to the friends that he’s not sure are fake friends or not, and then what? If they’re not fake friends, then- 

“Hey, Rowan? Dude, are you good?” a male voice said, snapping Basil out of his thoughts. He found himself curled up on the ground. Like a cat.

Basil took a peek from his hidey-hole to find four different people staring down at him with varying degrees of concern. One of them was Polly, one of them was a tall guy with awesome hair, another one was a slightly less tall guy with long-ish hair, and the last one was the girl from earlier. 

“Excuse me? Did you say Rowan?” Polly asked. 

No, Polly! Abort! ABORT!  

“I’m afraid you have the wrong person. This is Basil. I’m his caretaker, Polly. It’s very nice to meet you.” 

Great, now Basil was in for it. 

“Oh, so you’re not Rowan? Damn, that’s embarrassing,” the girl said sheepishly. “Sorry about that, haha. You must’ve been confused. I’m Aubrey.” 

Basil quickly stood up and dusted himself off. Once he rubbed the dirt out of his eyes, he glanced at the two new people that had arrived. Based on their similar facial features, Basil could deduce that they were related, most likely brothers. The taller one had more signs of being older, making him more likely to be the older brother.

The older brother rubbed the back of his neck and said kindly, “So, we already introduced ourselves. Now it’s your turn. What’s your name?” 

Oh! They wanted his name! But… his name could lead to further interaction… but that was good! Maybe he could impress them with plant knowledge or general intellect! 

“Uh- I- um- name- uh- my- Basil!”  

Great. Now they’re very impressed.

The tall but slightly less tall than his brother guy piped up. “Nice to meet you! I’m Kel, and this is my bro, Hero.” Kel gestured to the taller guy, Hero. Odd name.

“Oh, I already know you’re brothers,” Basil blurted out. 

WONDERFUL! NOW, THEY THINK I’M A CREEP!

The expressions of the trio certainly conveyed the thought of believing Basil was a creep. 

“Well- um- I- your faces are very similar, and- um- you have- um- almost identical bodily builds, and- it’s actually very obvious? I MEAN, I’M NOT CALLING ANYONE DUMB, I JUST- I- WELL- YOU SEE, WHAT I MEANT WAS-” 

Basil was failing. 

Do you want to use escape mode?

Yes       No  

Basil ran into the house.

Chapter Text

The new house was so… barren.

Obviously.

Basil started wandering around a bit. The house seemed pretty standard, in all honesty. Living room, small kitchen, dining table, other rooms (presumably bedrooms) upstairs.

Where’s the bathroom?

Basil needed to use the bathroom after such horrible social dealings. It might be upstairs.

Basil headed up the stairs and opened the door on the left. Not a bathroom. He opened the next door. Yes! A bathroom!

No toothbrush. That’s alright, he’ll just… do a rinse!

But he needs to have good breath for tomorrow, when he meets his teachers…

No, that’s tomorrow, he’ll brush his teeth tomorrow!

Wait, his toothbrush is in his suitcase, which will take some time to unpack. He’ll end up unpacking it tomorrow, anyway, when he changes his clothes.

But should he unpack it now? It’ll take a while, and he’s already tired…

He can drink coffee tomorrow! Ugh, but that’ll ruin his breath, and then the teachers won’t be impressed!

Wait, he can just brush his teeth! But his toothbrush is in his suitcase, and he doesn’t want to unpack his suitcase right now. But if he does it tomorrow, he’ll just be rushing, and get tired, and be cranky in front of his teachers, and then they’ll hate him!

But, won’t they hate him also if he has bad breath? Or if he’s jittery from the coffee? Oh no, what if he gets jittery from the coffee? Then he shouldn’t drink it, just to be safe. But if he unpacks his suitcase now, then he’ll be tired tomorrow, and he’ll need the coffee! But if he doesn’t, he’ll be rushed and stressed tomorrow, and still need the coffee! Will Polly even let him have coffee?

Well, sugar’s always an alternative option. But too much ruins your teeth, and Basil can’t afford to have rotting teeth upon meeting his teachers. He’ll just brush his teeth again. Wait, his toothbrush is in his suitcase, and if he unpacks it now, then-

“Hey, does he do that a lot?” Aubrey inquired, coming from out of nowhere. Basil was once again, yanked out of a spiral, and once again, curled up on the ground. Like a cat.

“Apparently this can happen up to seventy times a day,” Polly answered. “That’s what his last caretaker told me.”

Thanks a lot, Polly. Basil sat up and scooched over to the top stair. Everyone else was at the bottom, staring up at him with concern, this time the degree of concern not varying at all.

Except for Kel, who looked confused. 

“Hang on, you’re not his mom?” Kel asked.

“No, I’m just his legal caretaker, as I mentioned earlier,” Polly clarified.

“Where are his parents? If you don’t mind me asking,” said Hero.

“Oh, I- um, I don’t think, uh- it’s not my place to say. Do you want to tell them, Basil?” 

Polly had diverted the attention to Basil. She probably thought she was being helpful. This woman did not realize that Basil had a habit of being awkward. And when he was awkward, he was prickly. Like a cactus. Hang on, that reminds him, are his plants okay? He should go check…

Oh yeah, Hero had asked a question.

“Uh- my parents are travelling businesspeople, and they- they, uh- not around a lot? I used to live in Mondstadt City-”

Aubrey interrupted him. “Hang on, Mondstadt? Like, from Genshin Impact? Hmm… now that I think about it, you do look kinda like Sucrose. Except Sucrose’s hair is-”

“Mint!” Basil finished. Aubrey’s eyes shone with stars again, and she squealed like a Childe.

“Do you play Genshin Impact?” she squeaked. Basil nodded vigorously.

“NOOOOO, THERE’S TWO OF THEM!?” Kel screamed, falling to his knees and crying. Basil and Aubrey ignored him.

“Who’s your favorite character?” Aubrey asked.

“I have to think, but the one that comes to mind initially is Zhongli,” Basil replied. Aubrey gasped.

“No way! Zhongli’s my main!”

“YOU HAVE ZHONGLI? COOL! Wait, you main Zhongli? Isn’t he better as a support?”

Aubrey ignored that last statement.

“Do you have Shenhe?” she asked.

“Yes! I’d been saving my Intertwined Fates just to get her!”

“Dang, lucky! But I have Layla.” Aubrey flipped her hair and shrugged like it was normal for her to get awesome characters like that. What she didn’t know was that this was a character Basil also had.

“Same.”

“And Hu Tao.”

“WHAT!?” Well, bringing up the list of one-up strategies that Genshin players used on each other, Aubrey was probably going to use the old mediocre-and-then-several-awesomes strategy.

“And Venti. And Bennett.” Yup, as Basil suspected. It was this strategy.

This means war.

Well, Basil had a few tricks up his own sleeve. 

“YOU’RE MAKING ME FEEL BAD ABOUT MY PULLS!” he shrieked. Then he relaxed. “Well, I have Eula, so…”

Ah, yes. The freak-out-and-then-bomb-drop.

“Seriously!?”

It had worked. Now the continuous-shelling-to-distract-from-critical-hit.

“And Alhaitham. And Ayaka.” Basil smiled smugly. Aubrey’s expression was stunned.

“Yo, what!?” she exclaimed. Success.

Basil knew this was the moment. The moment where he hits her with his final attack. His ultimate character, his best fighter, his main…

“And Diluc. My main.”

There was a moment of silence from Aubrey. Basil started to panic. Did he say something wrong? What if she hated him now? What if she came up here and shoved him down the stairs? What if-

Aubrey started giggling.

She giggled some more. Until giggling became laughter. Then laughter became rolling on the floor and gasping for breath.

“Dude,” she began, wheezing and clutching her stomach “Diluc is- hahahaha! One of the >gasp!< worst five-stars in the game… and why would you main him when you have Eula!? Or Alhaitham!? Or AYAKA!?” she continued hitting the ground and laughing uncontrollably, while everyone else looked thoroughly confuzzled.

“What language are you guys speaking!?” Kel exclaimed. 

…

Basil was crushed. How could Diluc be one of the worst!?

“B-but…” he tried.

Basil failed. Aubrey had won this battle. The others looked around, unsure of what to do. Then someone spoke.

“Anyway…” Hero began. “So, Basil? You wanna tell us why you were, uh… curled up on the ground just now?”

Great. They had gone from Genshin Impact to talking about his tendency to launch into spirals.

Switching flustered mode on. Again.

“Well- I- um- er-” 

Nope. Try again.

“Um- you see, there’s-”

Still failing.

“So, there’s this- um- I have this- I mean, sometimes I get- uh-”

Hero jogged up the stairs, sat down next to Basil, and placed his hand on Basil’s head.

“It’s alright, man. Take your time.”

What was this warmth? There was a fuzzy feeling in Basil’s chest. Was this what being emotionally connected to someone was like?

“I- um- you see, I have this- uh- this thing where I- uh- I get nervous about random things and then I start thinking about other random things and then I get nervous and um-”

Basil started fidgeting and biting his nails. Aubrey came up the stairs and crouched in front of him. She reached out and pulled his hand away from his mouth.

“Hey, dude, I’m gonna need you to take a deep breath. In…”

Basil inhaled.

“…and out.”

Basil exhaled.

That felt… a lot better, actually.

“What were you nervous about?” she questioned. “You can tell us when you’re feelin’ alright.”

Basil took another deep breath. “N-no, it’s fine. I was nervous because…”

Another deep breath.

“I wasn’t sure whether I should unpack my suitcase now or tomorrow. If I unpacked it now, I’d lose sleep, but I need the stuff inside. If I unpacked it tomorrow, though, I’d be rushed, because we need to head out at 6:15 am to meet my teachers.”

Hero furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, why would you need to get up at 6:15? The high school isn’t far from here.”

Oh. They thought he was going to the public high school.

“N-no, I’m not going to the school in town. I’m going to the Allan Pierce High School. I-in the next town over? Have you guys heard of it?”

Aubrey, Kel, and Hero gasped. 

“Yoooooo, that’s the best school in the state! You’re going there?” Kel clapped his hands happily.

“Hey, you’re going to the same school as me! I can show you the ropes!” Hero beamed. 

Everyone seemed happy…

Except Aubrey.

Aubrey was frowning.

“Yeah, that’s great. But you know who else he’ll be going to school with there?” she grumbled. Immediately, Kel and Hero groaned.

“I really wanna punch that guy,” Kel growled.

“I don’t normally dislike people to that degree, but honestly, same,” Hero agreed.

What? Who are they talking about?

“Uh… who are you guys-”

“Sunny,” Aubrey spat. “That’s his name, and I hate him with every fiber of my being.”

“Wh-why’s he so awful?” Basil asked.

“I don’t think you want to know. His sister’s nice, though. Anyway, Kel, Aubrey, let’s get back on topic. Basil, since you’re nervous about unpacking, do you want us to help you?”

Wh-

HUH!?!?!!??!!??!!?

S-say that again, please!?

“Uh- but- it’s late, and- your parents- sleep is necessary, and- and- you don’t even know me!?” Basil spluttered. Kel shrugged.

“Well, yeah, but that’s what friends do, man! Consider us your first friends!” Kel came up and clapped Basil on the back, causing him to nearly fall down the stairs.

“Th-thanks!” Basil gave an awkward smile. Aubrey pulled him to his feet.

“No problem. Hey, why don’t we just sleep over? I can go grab my things,” Aubrey offered. 

“Yeah! I’m going to the same place as you tomorrow anyway.”

“And our parents won’t really care, so…”

Basil didn’t know what to say.

“I- I don’t know what to say! Th-thank you so much!” Basil stammered. Kel put a hand on Basil’s shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it, man! Hero, let’s go get our stuff!” Kel bounded out of the house, followed by Hero and Aubrey.

Basil was currently trying to process what had happened. He was making incoherent sounds. 

“Aww, isn’t that sweet! You made some new friends!” Polly chuckled.

“…Yeah. I guess I did!”

Chapter Text

Aubrey, Kel, and Hero helped Basil unpack his suitcase. In between, they also cooked Basil and Polly a meal with a tulip and some boxed noodles, unpacked all the furniture, assembled the beds, and set up the TV.

However chaotic they were, Basil had to admit that they were efficient.

“So, what do you wanna watch?” Basil asked, with a mouthful of tulip pasta.

“Ooh, we should watch-”

“Kel, if you say Spaceboy, I will kick you,” Aubrey threatened. Kel rolled his eyes.

“Aubs, I love CalebCity as much as you do, but making references is my thing,” Kel grumbled.

CalebCity? Basil loved his videos!

“Do you also watch him?” Basil asked.

Kel dropped his fork on the floor. There was a loud clattering noise.

“You are now one of us. There is nothing you can do about this, Basil,” Kel stated cultishly, licking pasta sauce off his fingers.

“Kel, I’m not just making references anymore. I will kick you,” Aubrey growled.

Hero rubbed his temples and inhaled sharply, scooping a chunk of tulip into his mouth.

“Do you like any basketball teams? I’m a fan of the Detroit Pistons,” Basil said.

“Why? That team sucks,” Hero responded in an irritated manner.

Aubrey yawned. “Maybe forget TV, we need to finish dinner and I’m tired.”

Basil muttered something about basketball.

“Do you even have a basketball?” Aubrey grumbled. Kel brightened.

“I brought mine!” he said happily. Aubrey gaped at him, baffled.

“…Why?” 

Kel waved at her dismissively. “In case this happened.”

No one had anything to say after that.

Some time later, everyone finished up their food and Polly set to work washing the dishes.

“So, where did you kids get the ability to assemble beds?” Polly inquired, scrubbing one of Kel’s plates.

After a bit of a pause, Aubrey said, “Oh, yeah! So, many summers ago, me, these guys, and Rowan built a treehouse near the-” 

Aubrey’s eyes widened as if she had let something slip.

Everyone went quiet. Basil, having graduated from the school of understanding people, took this as his cue to speak.

“Ooh, you have a treehouse? Could I hang out with you guys there some time?” Basil asked hopefully.

Aubrey slammed her hand on the table and said in a deceptively calm voice, “No.”

Ouch.

Well, that hurt.

“O-oh. Uh- o-okay, then. I- I’m s-sorry I a-a-asked.”

Basil was stupid to think he could have any friends.

Aubrey, suddenly realizing that Basil could take this the wrong way, immediately tried to remedy her mistake.

“NO NO NO, WAIT, THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Aubrey said frantically. “I- UM- WELL- WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY WAS THAT THE TREEHOUSE DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE!” 

She slapped a hand over her mouth as if she had let something else slip.

Basil’s expression of despair changed to one of surprise.

“Oh? Really?” he said.

Huh. Apparently Basil could have friends after all!

“Yeah,” Hero said wistfully, staring up at nothing in particular. “I miss the treehouse.”

“How about we talk about something else?” Aubrey suggested.

“Hey, did you guys see that beetle over there?” Kel gasped, obviously trying to make the mood better with some random-ass statement.

…

No one said anything for the rest of the evening.

Chapter Text

After the awkward evening and the restless sleep, Basil woke up with a bad attitude and eye bags. Lovely. Just what he needed to greet his new teachers. 

He trudged downstairs and made himself a nice cup of black coffee. He had told himself he wouldn’t, but…

“Hey, good morning, Basil,” Hero greeted, sneaking up on Basil from behind. Basil jumped, and his coffee spilled on his pajama shirt. He frowned at the mess.

“Good morning,” he grumbled. Hero ruffled Basil’s already very messy hair and grinned.

“Can you pour me a cup?”

“Okay, fine.”

Basil noticed that Hero also had eye bags, though Hero’s were less prominent than his own.

“Are eye bags a normal occurrence when going to this school?” Basil asked sarcastically. Hero chuckled sheepishly.

“Yeah, but don’t worry! Normally people don’t notice because they’re too tired. And besides, if you ask nicely, Aubrey will lend you her makeup.”

Makeup?

“You use makeup?” Basil snorted, pouring Hero a cup of magic wake-up potion. 

“Yes. Please don’t tell Kel, he’ll make fun of me till I die,” Hero begged.

Basil hummed, pondering the life-or-death situation. “Mm, I’ll consider it.”

Even though there was banter and laughs between the two, there was also some unspoken tension. It hovered in the back, tainting the friendly conversation with its presence. 

Basil felt like something was watching them.

He felt like this something wouldn’t go away unless he spoke about what had caused its existence in the first place.

“So…” Basil began. Hero made an affirmative sound to show that he was listening. “What was up with the treehouse?”

Hero choked on his coffee. Basil panicked and rushed to get him a napkin while Hero coughed.

“It’s, uh, nothing, really,” Hero lied in between gasps and wiping his face. “Just a place we used to go to a lot.” Basil frowned and raised an eyebrow.

“Aubrey said it didn’t exist anymore, though,” Basil pointed out. Hero’s eyes went wide before his face morphed into a relaxed expression. It looked practiced, something Basil noted.

“It’s not important. It had to be taken down because it was in the way of some construction. Aubrey’s still upset about it, so we try not to bring it up much.”

That was a very blatant lie, but Basil chose not to press the issue. 

Suddenly, a thought struck him. What was the time? He glanced at the clock on the microwave and shrieked, spilling his coffee again.

It was 6:20 am. Hero also saw the time and cursed under his breath. They exchanged looks and rushed upstairs, spilling so much coffee. So much coffee.

“Ay, what’s the commotion?” Kel mumbled, stumbling out of Basil’s bedroom in a sleepy daze. “It’s like, six o’clock in the morning.” 

Basil waved him off while dying inside. “Oh, i-it’s nothing, we’re just a little late, is all,” he stuttered. Hero gave him an incredulous look.

“Basil, you do realize that we have to be at school by six forty-five, right? We’re going to be more than a little late.”

At this shocking new revelation, Basil uttered so many curse words under his breath that even he was shocked he knew them.

It would make such a lovely impression on his new teachers if he was late.

“We’ll brush our teeth and change now and eat breakfast and lunch at school,” Hero declared. 

School meals? Gross.

Upon noticing Basil’s disgusted expression, Hero quickly reassured him.

“Oh, it’s fine! The Cooking Club makes the school meals, not the cafeteria staff. And it’s legal because the cafeteria staff supervise us. Also, I run the Cooking Club, so anytime you want something specific, just let me know!” Hero gave a charming smile and patted Basil’s shoulder.

Basil wasn’t sure how legally or morally sound that was, but the idea of having someone who could make you what you wanted at all times sounded good, so he’d look the other way.

“Okay, let’s do stuff.”

Basil and Hero hastily got ready, with Basil pulling on a white turtleneck and jean shorts, completed with his signature flower, and Hero wearing his school uniform.

When Basil came out of the bathroom, he was surprised to see everyone (save for Polly) standing in the doorway staring at him, stunned.

“Uh… what’s going on?” Basil asked, starting to get anxious.

“Dude, it’s crazy how much you look like him,” Aubrey breathed.

Looked like who?

Hero fumbled for something in his backpack. Once he had found what he was looking for, he beckoned Basil to come down and take a look.

Basil couldn’t see the resemblance.

“I guess we have the same hair clip?” Basil suggested. Aubrey turned to him indignantly.

“Dude, how do you not see how ridiculously alike you look!? YOU EVEN HAVE THE SAME BOOK!” 

Basil stepped back, startled by Aubrey’s sudden rise in temper.

“Hero, we really should be going-”

“@&#$, you’re right! Let’s run, Polly’s honking at us.”

Hero and Basil waved to the gang and ran towards the car. Kel was cheering them on and Aubrey yelled at Basil to have a good day, and if anyone (Sunny) picked on him, she’d kill them.

The drive to the school was quiet, the silence occasionally being interrupted by Polly asking Hero an icebreaker. Basil wasn’t really listening, though.

What was up with that Sunny kid everyone keeps mentioning? Why do they hate Sunny so much?

Aubrey mentioned that Sunny goes to this school. That means he’s either incredibly smart and got a full ride scholarship, or he’s incredibly smart and rich. The latter was more likely.

Maybe it was case of Snobby Rich Kid, then. Although, such a case wouldn’t elicit such a deep-rooted hatred (and Basil knows this is a deep-rooted hatred because even Hero hates Sunny), more like surface-level hatred at most. Perhaps they hate him so much because Sunny’s family is like Sunny and Sunny’s family was rude to their families?

No, Hero had mentioned that Sunny’s sister was nice. But that could very well be a unique case. 

Hold on, let’s think about this.

If they have such a bone-deep hatred for Sunny, yet they don’t seem to have a problem with his sister, that means they have interacted not only with him on his own and his sister on her own, but they’ve also interacted with Sunny and his sister together, and they’ve interacted with the pair together enough times that they’re able to make a mental distinction between the behavior of the two. 

That number of interactions would mean that at some point, the group was friends with Sunny, or at least on good terms with him.

Wait. Rowan was around at that time, right? Everyone thinks Basil looks like Rowan. So, what if Sunny thought Basil looked like Rowan? Would Sunny try to talk to him?

Oh, and what if Hero sees Sunny and Basil talking? He’ll not want to be friends anymore. He’ll tell the others, who will tell the others, who will tell the others! Then Basil will have no friends!

Well, at least he’ll have Sunny.

But if Sunny really is as awful as everyone says, does Basil really want him as a friend? Oh, no! What if Sunny decides he’s still mad at Rowan for whatever happened? Then Basil would have no one! 

Maybe he could explain everything to Hero and the others.

Would they believe him, though? Because maybe Sunny lied to them about something and that’s why they hated him so much. Oh god, what did Sunny even do?

Gah! It’s just- it’s so complicated and Basil’s gonna lose his cool now in front of the teachers and he’s probably already curled up in a ball in the back looking stupid and-

“Uh… Polly? He’s doing it again.” 

Basil unfurled himself from his cat-like position and dusted himself off, trying to make it seem like nothing had happened.

“Doing what? I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve just been sitting here and listening to you two and definitely not doing anything similar to a cat’s behavior!” Basil rambled.

Hero looked at him skeptically, but he didn’t press the issue (thank the lord).

“Well, we’re here, and we barely made it, so let’s get moving.” 

The school was comprised of a main building and a cluster of smaller buildings surrounding the main one. The buildings had a circle of windows surrounding each different floor. 

Basil could see kids walking around the schoolyard as Hero and him approached. They were all wearing their school uniforms, making Basil feel very out of place.

Hero put an arm around Basil’s shoulders and smiled reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have time to change into the uniform they give you before classes start. I can show you where the principal’s office is if you-”

“That won’t be necessary.” There was an unfamiliar voice that piped up, calling Basil’s attention. When he looked up, he saw a young girl with short hair and glasses. She was wearing the School Uniform: Girl Version, and she was hugging a sketchbook to her chest like it was her child.

“Hello, you must be Basil. I’m Mincy, I’ve been assigned to show you around. If you and your parent or guardian could follow me, that would be great.”

Mincy gave a sheepish grin and beckoned Basil and Polly to follow her.

Basil was suspicious. The entire thing sounded very practiced, which probably meant Mincy had no actual interest in showing him around. 

Could he blame her, though? She probably would’ve rather spent her morning drawing in her sketchbook, but instead she was being forced to show Basil around this entire school.

“Go, you’ll be fine. Mincy’s really nice!” Hero whispered. Polly nudged him forward as if to emphasize the point. With one last long look at Hero, Basil trudged forward, trembling.

Schedule:

AP Bio - Building 143B, 143B-3-4, 7:00 am

AP English - Building 143B, 143B-3-2, 8:04 am

Pre-Calculus - Building 143C, 143C-4-4, 9:08 am

World History - Building 143B, 143B-3-3, 10:12 am

Lunch - Front Yard, 11:16 am

Enrichment/Drivers Ed - Front Yard or Back Yard, 12:20 pm

AP Psychology - Building 143D, 143D-4-8, 1:20 pm

Photography 101 - Building 143D, 143D-4-7, 2:20 pm

Intro to Filmmaking - Building 143D, 143B-4-10, 3:20 pm

Sport/Club Attendance - Building 143D or Back Yard, 143D-4-9, 4:20 pm

Pickup - Frontyard, 5:30 pm

This schedule was weird.

“Need any help?” Mincy asked in a cheery voice, leaning over Basil’s shoulder. After the meeting with the principal and showing him around, Mincy seemed to relax quite a bit.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Basil replied, starting to sweat at the intensity of the schedule. Even though Mincy had explained the school’s convoluted way of navigating classrooms, it had all gone over his head. And Polly wouldn’t be any help, seeing as she had already left.

Instead of giving a nice, detailed explanation, like Basil expected, Mincy reached into her bag, pulled out a folded up piece of paper, and tossed it to Basil, who shrieked and whacked it away.

Then, realizing his mistake, Basil picked up the folder and opened it up, trying to look like nothing had happened so he could salvage his dignity.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting To Know Your Allan Pierce Schedule

By: Mincy Bishop

Numbers from 143A-143D indicate the grade building.

143A corresponds with 9th grade, 143B with 10th grade, etc. The exception to this is the main building, with the main building being the staff and faculty building. 

Numbers after the first hyphen indicate the floor numbers. For example, if the schedule says you have a class on 143A-1, that means you have a class on the first floor of Building 143A.

Numbers after the second hyphen indicate room numbers. For example, if the schedule says you have a class on 143A-1-2, that means you have a class on the second room of the first floor of building 143A.

If the schedule says “Front Yard”, that means you go to the front of the main building.  If you have Driver’s Ed, then you’ll go to the “Back Yard”, the back of the main building. This is also where gym classes and sports meetings/games are held.

Joining a club or a sport is mandatory.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This… made things much clearer.

According to the schedule, it was lunch time, so Basil and Mincy ran to the front of the main building. Mincy went off somewhere to sketch.

Students were everywhere.

Well, he was already in his uniform. At least he wouldn’t be out of place. 

There was a stand of some kind that a bunch of kids were lined up at. Basil joined the line, assuming this was where he’d get food. 

Oh, wait. He didn’t bring any money.

Maybe he could ask Hero for money…

But Hero’s done so much for him. Asking for money would be rude.

He could probably ask a random person or Mincy for money, but that would seem too forward.

Wait! Hero had given him a freebie! 

But that would seem so privileged in front of everyone!

Oh, no. What if-

Basil, you idiot! Do you want to lose any chance of making friends by curling up into a ball (which you will inevitably do if you continue down this path) in front of everyone!? ARE YOU STUPID!? ARE YOU ACTUALLY-

“Okay, jeez!” Basil whispered, knocking his head lightly to tell his brain to stop verbally assaulting him.

Yeah, “jeez” yourself. If you had said that any louder, you would’ve looked shtupid.

Basil was about to make a snide remark, when he suddenly remembered that he had no money. If he reached the front of the lunch line, they would expect money. He left the line, his head drooping. Ugh, if only Hero had reminded him to bring money. 

No, that’s not Hero’s job.

What was he gonna do!? He would starve if he didn’t eat something. He hadn’t had time to eat breakfast because of orientation and stuff.

Now that he thought about it, one of the students in front of him had smelt awfully good…

Wait, what?

NO, STOP BEING A CANNIBAL.

“You’re the one giving me those thoughts in the first place!” Basil hissed. 

Hm. Was the flower in his hair edible? 

It was a clove pink. He was pretty sure that was edible, and it had some medicinal properties.

If it wasn’t edible unless properly cooked though, he might die. Or at the least, have horrible diarrhea on his first day.

…

Yeah, you’re not risking that.

Okay, so the one solution he had went out the window. He glanced around, hoping to find someone with a big lunch.

He didn’t find anyone with a big lunch, but he did see a girl in a wheelchair coming towards him. She had waist-length black hair, and was wearing the School Uniform: Girl Version.

Sort of. Most of the girls had to wear leggings underneath their skirts. However, she wasn’t.

More importantly, she was holding a bag of chocolate chip cookies!

Was… was this what hope in your darkest hour felt like?

“Excuse me, young man. Where’s your lunch?” she inquired in a sweet voice.

Young man? Wait, how old was she? She looked around Hero’s age. Hero was a student here, right?

“Um, I forgot my money. I-it’s my first day, and I was a bit late getting up…” Basil expected the girl to scold him for oversleeping on his first day. Instead, she giggled.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I understand, it happens to everyone. Would you like a cookie? I wouldn’t want you to go hungry on this crazy schedule!”

Mari held up the bag to Basil. He took it in awe. Was she really a girl-slash-young adult? Or was she an angel sent from the heavens?

“Th-thank you so much, Miss…” he trailed off.

“Miss Mari! But most of the kids just call me Mari. What’s your name, flower boy?”

Flower boy? Really?

“Oh, my name’s Basil!” he responded. Finally, he was able to make a proper introduction. Mari looked as if something had clicked.

“Right, the new student!”

How did everyone know he was new just by his name or his face?

“Nice to meet you! And you can keep the cookies. Otherwise my brother will eat them all up! Just promise me you’ll give some to your friends.”

Oh.

She thought he had friends. 

Well, he did have friends. But they didn’t go here, so he wasn’t sure if they’d count.

“I don’t have any friends at this school yet, Mi- er, Mari.” Mari frowned at him, and he panicked for a second. But her next words relieved him.

“No friends? A sweet, polite, mature boy like you?”

Basil’s cheeks turned pink from the compliments.

“We’ll have to change that, obviously! Come with me! I’ll introduce you to my brother. He’s a bit shy, though, so just remember not to be too loud! But otherwise, he’s in tenth grade like you, so you should get along perfectly!”

Basil was having luck like no other.

But after a streak of good luck comes a street of miserable luck.

With that lovely thought in mind, he nodded to Mari and she grinned, gesturing for him to follow.

Brrrring!

The bell rang.

Disappointment was clear on both of their faces.

Dammit, Basil jinxed himself, didn’t he?

“Oh, what a shame! How about this? Tomorrow, you come to this spot and I’ll introduce you to my brother. Sound good?”

Apparently, he didn’t jinx himself.

“Y-yeah, sounds great!” Basil gave a thumbs-up, then mentally kicked himself at the corniness. Mari didn’t seem to mind though. She gave a small wave and wheeled off towards the 143D building.

Wow.

Basil didn’t have any spirals after that.

Chapter Text

Basil’s first day was…

Pretty great, honestly. He made a new friend, he met a nice… adult (who made phenomenal cookies), and the school had a gardening club!

Thankfully, Basil’s new friend Mincy was in Gardening Club, so he wouldn’t be alone. But she was also in Art Club, so she’d only be in Gardening Club every other day.

Meh. He’d take what he could get.

Gardening Club was in 143D, on floor three, in room 6. It was in the area with the most windows so the plants could get lots of sunlight.

“Basil! You’re here!” Mincy squealed.

“Yup! So, where’s the head of Gardening Club?” he questioned. Mincy pointed at man with blond hair standing at the front of the room, writing something on the whiteboard.

Shaking a bit, Basil shuffled to the man at the front. The man glanced back at Basil and set down his Expo marker.

“Hello, how can I help you?” the man asked. Basil was suddenly intimidated by the man’s tallness.

“Erm, I would l-like to join the Gardening Club, please,” Basil said nervously. The man looked at him thoughtfully. Then he grinned and clapped Basil on the back, almost sending Basil to the ground.

“Welcome to the club! My name is Mr. Hall. What’s yours?”

“B-Basil.”

“Oh, like the plant! No wonder you want to join.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Hall was the only one who had even made that relation.

“You remind me of another young man who used to attend this club. What was his name again?”

…

And there it was.

At least Mari hadn’t immediately related him to Rowan. Everyone else who knew Rowan did.

Why? They didn’t even look that similar. Apart from hairstyle, facial structure, accessories, skin tone, bodily build, eye size, nose size, fashion choices, book choices-

Oh. 

Do you see it now, stupid?

“Shut up,” Basil seethed. 

“Basil! Are you in yet?” Mincy asked, skipping up to him. He nodded, and Mincy did a small fist pump.

“Okay, so gardening tools are over there, gardening gloves and apron are over there, and seeds are over there. I’d recommend choosing a seed that grows fast, because we have to present our plants at the end of the year, and you joined late, so you don’t have as much time.”

Hold up. Gardening apron?

“Why would I need a gardening apron?”

Mincy shrugged. “It looks nice.”

Basil couldn’t argue with that.

A few minutes later, Basil had his stuff and got to work.

“You look so adorable with that apron!” one of the girls squealed. Basil didn’t usually know how to respond when someone called him “cute” or any variation of “cute”…

And this was no exception.

“Ah! Uh- I- um-”

“You’re like an anime boy!” another girl chimed in.

…

How does one respond when someone says they look like they’re from an anime?

“W-Well, I-”

“Do you mind if I take a picture?”

“The flower in your hair really completes the look!”

“Quick! Change into a blue apron!”

LEVEL UP! Your BASIL is now at FLUSTERED Level [Error]!

“Uh- I-”

The girls and even some guys started to crowd around him, making him even more anxious.

What is he supposed to do?

Basil tried to make eye contact with Mincy for help, but she was busy. Rolling on the floor laughing hard enough for tears to come out.

So this is how friends treat you when you suffer.

In a last ditch effort, Basil cast his most pleading look at the teacher. 

But the teacher was gone.

“Aww! He’s making puppy dog eyes!” someone squealed. There was a chorus of “aww”s and “so cute!”s.

Oh, well.

Might as well succumb to his fate.

He closed his eyes and braced himself, when suddenly-

“Everyone, that’s enough!”

Hm?

That voice…

It was familiar.

If Basil wasn’t mistaken, that voice belonged to…

He cautiously opened one eye.

Yup. Suspicions confirmed.

Hero was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. 

“I’m disappointed in you all. I thought you had more discipline than that,” Hero reprimanded.

Basil was confused. Why was Hero talking to them like he was their teacher?

The students who had crowded around Basil dispersed. They all looked mortified.

…

Well, now Basil felt bad.

And annoyed! Hero ruined his chances of making friends in Gardening Club!

Wait, why did the students listen to Hero, anyway?

Hero walked over to Basil and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you alright?” Hero asked, concerned. Basil tried his best to look annoyed.

“Yes, I’m fine. Why did everyone listen to you? It's not like you're a teacher here." Hero turned a bit red. He was… embarrassed?

“Um… so, there’s one thing I forgot to mention…” Hero said sheepishly.

“Go on.”

Hero rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit guilty. “I’m… not a student at this school."

Basil's eyebrows shot up. "You're not? Well, you're too young to be a teacher. You must be an assistant teacher or something."

Hero looked impressed. "Well, you're mostly right. I’m part of a college exchange program that the school has. One of the top ten students at this school gets to switch places with a college student. The college student acts as an assistant teacher in one class they choose and they act as a student in all the rest. It’s complicated.”

“Just like everything else at this school,” Basil muttered. Hero seemed confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Basil gaped at him. Was Hero really that clueless?

“Well, for one thing, why is every building here numbered as 143? Why is the schedule not like every other school schedule ever? Why do we not get lockers?”

Hero held up his hands as a motion for Basil to stop. “Woah, just one question a time please. So, the buildings are all numbered 143 because some family’s kids really liked the number 143 so the family paid the school a lot of money to change the building numbers. And the other two is because… well, private school rules, I guess.”

“…You barely answered any of my questions,” Basil deadpanned.

“What? Yes I did!” 

Enough was enough. Basil needed to get back to gardening.

“See you later, Hero.” Basil gave a half-hearted wave and got to gardening.

For his plants, Basil had chosen cucumbers, arugula, garden cress, and green onions. Mincy came up to him and looked over his shoulder.

“You’re literally growing a salad,” Mincy remarked.

Oh, yeah. Basil hadn’t even noticed these were edible foods. He just chose them because they grew quickly.

“Maybe if you’re very nice to me this year, I’ll make you a salad with these foods,” Basil replied.

—Time Skip—

Basil practically fell on the couch, exhausted.

Hero fell beside him. 

“How was school?” Polly asked, not noticing their faces of complete and utter exhaustion. Basil held a shaky thumbs-up and Hero nodded and pointed at aforementioned thumbs-up.

“Well, that’s nice to hear. I’ll put some tea on, if you’d like.”

…Coffee.

Basil needed coffee.

From the looks of it, Hero also needed coffee.

However, Hero gave his Charming Grin™️ and said, “That sounds great. Thank you, Polly.”

Wow. Able to be charismatic while being absolutely dead. Hero was an impressive person.

“You know, Hero, you could probably win the federal election,” Basil commented.

“No, I’m not that interested in politics.”

“Seriously, I bet if you tried, you could!”

Basil and Hero continued their back-and-forth banter with Polly joining in after she had finished making the tea. 

Basil was happy. He had originally thought this place was weird, but within 48 hours, he had made four friends and bonded with that… young woman in the wheelchair.

Speaking of which, he still didn’t know what she did at that school. Was she also part of the college exchange program? If she was, she might know Hero. He should ask.

“Hey, Hero?” Hero paused his conversation with Polly and turned his attention to Basil.

“Hm?”

“Do you know anyone named-”

“-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 

The door to the house flew open, and Hero shielded Basil with his arm instinctively while Polly yelped and shot up, wielding the tea tray menacingly.

Everyone relaxed when they saw it was just Aubrey.

“Aubrey! Don’t scare us like that!” Hero scolded.

Aubrey ignored him.

“Basil, there’s-” Aubrey continued wheezing. “S-sorry, I ran here from school…”

Basil blinked at her. “Do… do you need something to drink?”

“That, hah, would be appreciated.”

Basil got up and got her some water. She downed the entire thing in one gulp.

“Ah! That’s better!” she said, wiping her mouth. “So, as I was saying, um, have you seen the Fontaine trailer, Basil?”

Basil’s eyes widened. “You mean… Fontaine from Genshin? It’s not supposed to release until 4.0, right? Yeah, I’ve seen it, but I’m confused. Why would they release the trailer so far away? We’re only at 3.8, right?”

Aubrey suddenly grabbed his shoulders and shook him. 

“BASIL, FONTAINE IS RELEASING NEXT WEEK!”

Basil gasped. He grabbed Aubrey’s shoulders and started shaking her back.

“NEXT WEEK!?” he yelled.

“YEAH! NEXT WEEK!”

“THAT’S GREAT! I’VE SAVED UP MY PITY SO NOW I CAN PULL FOR LYNEY!”

“SAME!”

“ALTHOUGH I DID WANT KOKOMI-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? WANDERER IS SO MUCH BETTER!” Aubrey shook him harder. Basil gasped and shook her harder in retaliation.

“NO HE ISN’T!” Basil retorted.

“YES HE IS!”

“HOW!?”

“HE CAN LITERALLY FLY WHEN HE NEEDS TO! WHAT CAN KOKOMI DO!?”

“…SHE CAN CHANGE INTO AN OUTFIT THAT ALLOWS HER TO DO MORE DAMAGE!”

“YOU’RE LITERALLY PROVING MY POINT!”

“I JUST DON’T LIKE SCARAMOUCHE, OKAY!?”

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?”

The two engaged in a heated debate. They did not stop shaking each other.

Chapter Text

The rain washed school away-

Just kidding. That night, after Aubrey and Basil had finished shaking the hell out of each other, it had rained.

A lot.

The sudden storm had caused a massive temperature drop, and as a result, the roads were very much frozen over. 

The Allan Pierce High School may have a lot of legally questionable things in place, but they had avoided a lawsuit up until now. They would like to continue doing so, so they cancelled school for the next week.

Basil felt both immense joy and disappointment. That girl/woman/Female Hero, Mari, would have probably forgotten their agreement by now. 

Buuuuut on the other hand, a few days after the storm Aubrey had invited everyone to her house to 'hang with the gang', as she said. Basil, having arrived first, decided to chat with her on her porch a bit before Hero and Kel showed up.

He had to ask her for her UID so they could play Genshin together. Well, he would, if she would stop screaming at him.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE RITOU ESCAPE PLAN!? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO FONTAINE TOGETHER!?” she yelled, probably alarming several people on the street.

“IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT, OKAY!” Basil yelled back, crossing his arms. Aubrey threw her hands up in frustration.

“I BEAT THAT WITH MY LEVEL SIXTY STARTER TEAM!”

Basil gasped. “HOW!?”

“BECAUSE I ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO PLAY GENSHIN!”

“WH- YOU MAIN ZHONGLI! WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCED GENSHIN PLAYER MAINS ZHONGLI!?” Basil spluttered.

“YOU'RE ONE TO TALK, YOU- YOU- ARGH! YOU DILUC SIMP!”

At this accusation, Basil stumbled back like he'd been punched. 

“‘DILUC SIMP’!? I AM NO-”

“YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE!” Aubrey interrupted, standing on a porch chair to gain a height advantage. “IF YOU HAVE AYAKA AND EULA, WHY WOULD YOU MAIN HIM!?”

“H-HE DOES GOOD DAMAGE!” At this, Aubrey growled and rolled her eyes.

“AND YET EVEN WITH YOUR PRECIOUS DILUC, YOU HAVEN'T BEATEN THE FUCKING RITOU ESCAPE PLAN!?”

Aubrey smirked, but it was quickly replaced by a frown. Basil was struggling to defend himself.

“I- WELL-” Basil tried. Aubrey cut him off real quick.

“YOU REALIZE YOU HAVE TO FIGHT SIGNORA!?”

“…WAIT, WHAT!?”

Aubrey was about to continue disturbing the neighbors when Hero finally appeared in the distance (thank god for Basil). He was carrying a huge black umbrella even though it wasn't raining, and, more noticeably, was alone.

When he got within shouting distance, Aubrey called, “Hi, Hero! Uh. Where's Kel?”

“He was caught in the rain a few days ago and got sick,” Hero called back.

“Oh! Will he be okay?” Basil asked, alarmed.

Hero, having gotten close enough to the house to reply at a reasonable decibel, but having to walk slowly due to the iced over sidewalk and his general old-man-ness, responded after what felt like a year to Basil.

“Yes, he'll be fine. He just has the flu.”

Basil felt himself blinking at what was probably not a socially acceptable speed. “...uh. Oh. Um. Okay. That's-”

Probably sensing the new, strange tension in the air, Aubrey took this moment to demand, "Basil. Give me your Genshin account." Then she snatched his phone, opened the door, and ran inside.

“Wait, what?!” Basil yelped, whirling around to face her. But alas, he was too late, and she had already disappeared into her home. He gave the chase.

Once he had caught up to her, finding her in her room, he repeated his question, “What. Why. What?”

“I'm going to speedrun the Inazuma archon quest for you,” Aubrey explained, "since you clearly suck ass at Genshin."

“I- uh- I-” Basil reached for his phone but since Aubrey was standing on her bed she just held it over her head and so he was left jumping in place like an idiot.

Aubrey, having logged in and loaded Genshin in the time it had taken him to catch up to her (How was she so fast?! That was unfair!) said, "You don't have a choice," mockingly.

Then she mockingly opened Genshin and mockingly checked his wish history like the degenerate, cruel, phone stealing, mocking gambler she really was on the inside.

“Dude,” she said, “You know you’re on like 78 pity, right?”

Determined to prove that he was totally good at the game, Basil stuck his nose up in the air before replying her, “Yeah, I know. I'm saving for Kokomi.” Somehow, he missed the confused face she made as he said that so proudly.

He definitely noticed when she rolled her eyes and went “Whatever.”

She suddenly noticed the number of primogems he had, just enough for a ten-pull. She smirked at him.

“Bet you ten-thousand primogems I'll pull Scara for you on this next ten-pull.”

“Wh-”

“Kokomi sucks in comparison anyway, my guy.”

Basil, feeling rather miffed that she had insinuated Kokomi was bad and was also excited at the idea of ten thousand primogems, stuck his nose higher and snarked, “You're on.”

Hero's head popped up from the door to Aubrey’s room/the attic. He was panting heavily like the old man he was, although he had clearly heard what they had said and descended into a long-winded plea for Aubrey and Basil to stop their gambling addiction before it was too late. It was heartfelt, beautiful art. Too bad both of them ignored him.

Aubrey pulled, and they both stared at the screen as the wish turned gold, Aubrey with undisgiused pride and Basil with the look of a man about to lose money. Of course, it could still be a standard banner five star-

...and the screen was filled with Scaramouche's splash art. Never mind then.

“YES!” Aubrey screamed in triumph, pumping her fist, “HA HA! GIVE ME MY MONEY!”

Basil, not expecting that (he really should have), scrambled for a way for him to keep said money. 

“Uhhhhhhhhh um- Uh. I- I- I- I don't have money! I'm poor! S-So poor!”

“DONT GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT,” Aubrey hollered, poking him hard in the chest. “YOU GO TO THAT FANCY SCHOOL! YOU'RE PPRATICALLY ROLLIN’ IN IT!”

Hero again took it upon himself to teach the sophomores good habits like not gambling and resolving conflicts in a healthily manner, pleaded, “Guys, seriously-”

But, just like five minutes ago, neither of the two listened to him (he privately thought that Kel would've).

Anyway, back to Basil about to be broke, he decided to put a distraction plan in place.

Basil pulled the Ziploc bag of slightly crushed cookies from Mari out of his pants pockets and waved them around. “Guys! Look at what I got a few days ago!”

“COOKIES! HELL YEAH!” Aubrey screamed enthusiastically.

Distration plan- successful!

“Oh, could we save a few for Kel?” Hero asked, having given up on instilling Good Values in them (for now).

“Yeah, of course!” Basil replied, “We can each have two and save two for K-”

Much like she had snatched his phone, Aubrey snatched the cookie Ziploc bag.

“Aubrey!” Hero scolded. Aubrey ignored him (That’s the third time now! You'd think he'd give up at some point!) and shoved a cookie in her mouth. Watching her do this, Basil learned what the real life equivalent of sparkly anime eyes looked like.

“Woow. These are so good! Oh my God! These top Mikhael’s siblings! Holy fuck! Hero-” she aggressively slammed a cookie into Hero's hand, and proceeded to devour another one. “You've got to try it,” she gushed. Hero nibbled on the cookie she gave him, and brightened and took a bigger bite.

“Ooh, yeah, you're right! We definitely have to save some for Kel now. Basil, where did you get these?”

“From someone at school on my first day,” Basil answered. “Oh, that reminds me! Hero, do you know anyone named Mari? She looks about your age, so I thought-”

Aubrey and Hero both stopped chewing and visibly paled when Mari was mentioned, then turned to look at him with almost comically shocked expressions.

“…what?” Basil asked, feeling his face screw up.

The room was silent for several seconds before Aubrey tsked and squeaked out, “Um... this. Mari. Was she... handicapped at all? By any chance?”

This jolted Hero out of his apparent stupor. 

“Aubrey! You can't just say something like that!”

Aubrey and Basil ignored him. It was becoming something of a habit.

“Uh...yeah, she was. Why? Do you two know her?” Basil inquired, suddenly a bit more excited that his friend group would expand.

Hero sighed. “Well-”

Aubrey cut him off. 

“She’s basically an angel. It’s really too bad that she’s related to that son of a bitch.”

The mood went from upbeat to whatever it was at dinner the night Basil had moved in, except today Kel wasn't there to shove it back in line with some weird joke.

“Who- Who are you talking about?” Basil asked, trying to be mindful of the not-so-new, still-strange tension that had filled the air again. “Do you mean her ..brother? She offered to introduce me to h-”

“Oh, fuck no,” Aubrey growled.

Hero shook his head, looking uncomfortable. “Aubrey, we can’t force Basil not t-”

Aubrey grabbed Basil by the shoulders and shook him a bit before Hero even finished speaking. 

“Basil. Listen to me. You cannot, under any circumstances, meet Sunny. At. All. You get that?”

Basil pushed Aubrey away, confused and a little weirded out. 

“Wait. Wait! Mari's brother is who now? What are you even talking about?”

Aubrey and Hero were both silent, but glanced at each other repeatedly.

Hero took a deep and probably calming breath than told Basil, “Okay. We, uh, we have to talk to you.”

Oh, thank God, Basil thought. Outwardly, he nodded for Hero to continue.

Hero breathed in again.

“Um, so at one point, us two and, you know, Kel and Rowan. We were all acquainted with Mari and her brother Sunny.”

Aubrey snickered. “Yeah, Hero had a giant crush on M-”

“ANYWAY,” Hero snapped, throwing Aubrey a glare, “Sunny was actually a pretty okay kid, but he never tried to talk to us.”

“Even though we were so kind to him,” Aubrey muttered under her breath. Basil definitely heard her seeing as how Aubrey's most quiet voice was an extremely loud stage whisper.

“But things changed when we built the treehouse!” Hero recalled, nostalgia coloring his voice. “We had to get his family’s permission to build it in Sunny’s backyard, and they gave their full consent.”

“Sunny was the one who suggested it actually,” Aubrey grunted, bitterness coloring her voice instead. As Basil knew what the fate of the treehouse was, he actually understood why she was upset.

“We started talking a lot more with those two after that,” Hero continued, “We became really good friends. Then there was an… incident.”

This time, Aubrey was the one who glared at Hero.

Aubrey did her bad stage whisper in Hero's general direction. Basil could hear her pretty well.

“Hero! We've known him for like five days. This is all very personal stuff, don't you think?”

“Yes, of course, but if we’re going tell him why he shouldn’t be friends with Sunny, we might as well tell the truth, right?” was Basil’s best guess at Hero's reply.

Basil had just started to get it, and now they were confusing him again.

“So.” Hero continued again, “Sunny and Mari were like the musical siblings on the block, with Sunny playing the violin and Mari playing the piano. As a thanks to us for the treehouse, and... being friends with them I suppose, they wanted to play a recital for us.”

Hero sucked in a sharp breath.

“But on the day of the recital, Sunny and Rowan found Mari. Unconscious on top of Sunny’s broken violin at the bottom of the stairs.”

Basil gasped. “Is that why her legs are paralyzed?!”

…

Wait. Did he just say that out loud?

Basil was now the one doing all the deep breathing. 

“Holy- crap, I mean- I’m sorry for that, I just meant- I- uh-"

“It’s okay,” Hero said reassuringly.

“I-It's really not!”

“Listen, no one gives two fucks okay?!" Aubrey snapped. "Just let him continue! Christ!”

Basil almost apologized again, but managed to keep his mouth shut as Hero side-eyed Aubrey then picked up the story.

“Mari was rushed to the hospital as soon as we got there. But when we tried to comfort Sunny, he just… lashed out. He yelled at us about how we don’t know anything about him or his sister and that we should just leave him alone so-”

Aubrey cut off what Hero was going to say (rather hypocritically, in Basil's opinion). “I mean, I get that he might’ve been upset about his sister, but that was no excuse for what he did next.”

Hesitantly, Basil asked, “...what did he do?”

It sounded like Sunny had committed a murder or something-

“He- he wrecked our treehouse,” Aubrey said in a distinctly non-Aubrey-like voice.

“Oh.” Basil almost laughed. “That- that seems like a pretty silly reason to hate someone-”

“He did more than that, though,” Hero chimed in. “His sister was in a coma for four years, and he didn’t go out to visit her once.”

“That’s... not any of your business, th-” Basil tried to say, but Aubrey interrupted like she'd been doing with Hero.

“Can you let us finish? Hero. Let me tell the rest.”

“If you’re sure…” Hero told her softly.

“Yes.”

“Then go ahead.”

Just like Hero, Aubrey took a deep breath before beginning.

“So, he basically just ignored us for four years. We tried everything to contact him, even after what happened, but he just left us. That fucker left.”

Aubrey's face scrunched up with anger, but when Hero but a hand on her shoulder she sighed and seemed to calm down.

"Then, one day… he opened the door. To Kel. Four years too late, but he did it! He um, he visited Mari with us, he- he looked so malnourished and frail, and… repentant.” Aubrey’s voice cracked. “He even promised to rebuild the treehouse with us. We- we thought maybe he’d changed. But he didn’t, apparently, because the moment Rowan showed up, he just- fucking spiraled down his stupid fucking rabbit hole.”

Aubrey was starting to tear up. 

Hero glanced at her with a concerned glint in his eyes.

“Aubrey, do you want me to tell the rest?” Aubrey sniffled, wiped her eyes, and nodded.

“So,” Hero began, biting his lip. “We- we thought he would try to reconnect with us. We could see he was so scared that Mari wouldn’t wake up, like the rest of us were, and he always seemed so guilty about the whole thing, even though it wasn’t his fault. But when we finally had everyone back together, we decided to have a sleepover at Rowan’s. We finally had found some hope that we could get through this together. Until… we heard a scream from Rowan’s room in the middle of the night.”

Hero was starting to break.

“Wh-when- when we went up there, we found the two of them lying on the ground. Bleeding out.”

Oh. Oh, dear. Basil shifted, uncomfortable and rather unsure of how to respond to that.

Hero was on the verge of tears, so Aubrey took over.

“Obviously, we rushed them to the hospital," she said. “But Rowan stayed conscious long enough to tell us what happened. Sunny had just attacked him for no reason, and Rowan accidentally stabbed him in the eye with garden shears in self-defense.” Aubrey clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

“Oh, God.” Basil felt almost sick. Then he remembered, “Wait. Is that what Sunny said also?”

“No,” Aubrey replied, “But we trust Rowan more, for very obvious reasons.”

“And Sunny’s actions later only confirmed it,” Hero said sadly. “When Sunny woke up, he staggered over to Rowan’s hospital room, where we were. Thinking back, it...may not have been the best time to confront him about attacking Rowan, but we were feeling very emotional. And he only confirmed everything further, because the moment we told him what Rowan had told us, he tried to attack him again. We had to physically restrain him.”

“We took him back to his hospital room and called for a doctor,” Aubrey explained, her eyes now spilling over. “The end.”

…

That’s it?

“No, it's not the end,” Hero reminded Aubrey. “We haven’t finished yet. The day Sunny and Rowan went to the hospital, we found out that… Mari had woken up.”

"Really?" Basil gasped and smiled a bit, “That must've been so happy for you all!”

“Yeah, it really was,” Aubrey grumbled, “until Sunny somehow ruined things further by telling her all these lies, making him seem like the victim.”

“She didn’t get mad at us, but in the end she decided to stop being friends with us. After that, Rowan just couldn’t take it anymore. He moved.” Aubrey sighed as she finished and wiped at her eyes again. Hero stroked her hair in a comforting way.

…

So, to recap. The group used to be friends with Sunny and Mari. Then Mari fell in a coma, and Sunny fought with the group about it. Four years later, he apologized, and everyone started getting back together. Until Sunny attacked Rowan for no apparent reason, Mari woke up, and Rowan moved.

This entire thing sounded very off. For one thing, why would Sunny just attack Rowan? It sounded like he had made a lot of progress with reconnecting with everyone. And why Rowan? Logically, Rowan would be the closest person to Sunny, seeing as how Rowan was the one who found Mari along with Sunny.

Maybe it could be that seeing Rowan stirred up those memories, causing Sunny to behave irrationally. But using that logic, that behavior would’ve already started when Sunny had gone to see Mari with the group.

Another thing, what even happened to Mari? Did she just throw Sunny’s violin down the stairs and then fall? That wouldn’t make any sense, because that was the day they were going to perform. Why was no one questioning that?

“Basil, you okay?” Hero asked. “You’ve been quiet for a while.”

Basil, slightly startled, nodded slowly. 

“I’m so sorry that happened to you guys,” Basil said breathlessly. “I- I can’t even imagine how hard that must’ve been for you.”

Aubrey smiled weakly and opened up her arms.

“Get over here, Diluc simp.”

Basil pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly.

“Basil, promise me. Promise me you won’t talk to Sunny.” Aubrey was full-on sobbing now, her tears soaking Basil’s shirt as Hero rubbed her back.

“I- I promise. I promise, okay?”

Unfortunately, that was a promise Basil would have to break.

Chapter Text

Basil went to school not panicking. Hero and Polly were impressed, and Basil didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.

But he’s not thinking about that right now. Basil is coming to school today with a plan and a purpose.

Oh, what is the plan? The “plan”… isn’t really much of a plan. Basil’s just going to ask around and see if anyone knows Sunny, and if he finds Sunny… well, knowing his amazing conversational skills, he’ll come up with something!

Once Polly’s car pulled up at the school, Basil entered through the side gates of the school and scanned over the crowd of students in the Front Yard for a boy with an eyepatch.

No such luck. Sigh. Well, time to move to Plan B (which may as well have been Plan A, as the chances of Basil finding Sunny immediately were very small). Basil made a beeline for the table Mincy was sketching at.

“Hey, Mincy,” Basil greeted, sitting across from her. Mincy looked up from her sketchbook and gave him a small wave.

“Basil! Hi!” 

“How are you?” he asked. “I didn’t see you when the school was closed.”

Mincy shrugged. “I’m good. I don’t really go out much outside of school, hehe.” Mincy rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Anyway, I’m drawing a flower. Wanna see?” Mincy asked, edging the sketchbook towards Basil.

Basil glanced down at the sketchbook. He was tempted to see the drawing, but then Mincy would ask his opinion, and then he’d ramble on about the meaning of the flower, then Mincy would think he was weird and not want to be his friend, and then he’d spiral and curl up into a ball like a cat, which he’s doing already-

Yeah. Basil doesn’t have any time for that.

“Ooh, I’d love to take a look, but not right now.” Mincy’s expression fell a bit, and Basil made a mental note to look at the drawing later. “I have a question for you,” he said.

“Kay, what?” Mincy replied.

Basil felt oddly nervous asking about Sunny. He has no reason to, it’s not like Mincy knows what happened with him, but Sunny in general felt like a taboo topic.

Basil swallowed. “D-Do you know anyone named Sunny?” he inquired, tapping the table anxiously.

Thank god Mincy was too busy trying to remember the one-eyed boy to notice.

“Hm… I mean, I’ve talked to him a few times - well, more like I talked and he listened. But I don’t really know him,” Mincy said with an apologetic smile. 

“His sister’s nice, though,” she added. At he mention of Mari, Basil immediately felt his anxiety multiply by ten.

“S-So I’ve heard! Haha…” Basil chuckled awkwardly, wiping away a few beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. “Anyway, do you know where I could find him?”

Basil prayed to God (he’s become much more religious lately with all the praying he’s been doing) that Mincy wouldn’t want to know why he’s asking. 

By Basil’s lucky stars, she didn’t. He needs to start going to church for all these favors God’s been doing for him.

“Sorry, I don’t,” Mincy replied, shaking her head. Then her eyes lit up in an Aubrey-like fashion, and she smiled brightly. 

“Hey, you know who you should ask? I’ll show you a picture,” Mincy said, turning the pages of her sketchbook. She stopped at a very, very well-drawn picture of a blond guy who looked about their age, maybe a bit older. Mincy shoved the sketchbook in Basil’s face so that he could properly see the man. “You should ask this guy. His name’s Mikhael, but he goes by ‘The Maverick’. I’ve seen Sunny talk to him a lot, so I assume they’re friends.”

Hmm… Basil remembered Aubrey mentioning Mikhael once. Oh, no. What if Basil finds him, and then he tells her about him asking about Sunny? 

But it’s Basil’s only lead… oh, well. He’ll just have to make do.

“Thanks, Mincy.” Basil smiled at her again. Since she’d helped him out so much, he decided to compliment her prodigious drawing skill. “Mincy, this is actually amazing! Um… why did you draw him specifically?”

At this question, Mincy’s cheeks took on a red hue and she snatched the sketchbook from Basil’s hands.

“N-no reason! He- he was just-” Mincy was now stammering like a schoolgirl talking about her crush (which she was). “He was just, um, s-standing still at the time, and…” Mincy trailed off. Her face had not become any less red. She pushed her glasses up her nose and turned her head away, looking anywhere else but at Basil.

Ah. So that’s why.

Basil smirked. “I think he’d be flattered of you showed him the drawing you made.”

Mincy groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I’ve never even talked to him once! He’ll think I’m creepy and weird…”

…Basil has a new mission now. Well, not a new mission. More like… a side quest!

“Can I see the drawing of him again?” Basil requested. Mincy nodded and gave him the sketchbook again, still hiding her chili pepper-red face.

In a flash, Basil whipped out his phone, snapped a photo of it, and sprinted away.

“Thanks for your help!” he yelled over his shoulder to a protesting Mincy. He ran behind the side of the building and stopped to catch his breath.

“What do you think you’re doing, peasant?” snarked a voice from right beside him. Basil yelped and whirled around to see who it was.

…

Basil blinked once. Twice. Standing in front of him was a blond man (was that a wig?) wearing the School Uniform. He had the sleeves of his blazer rolled up to his elbows, and one of the top buttons on his uniform shirt was undone.

He looked… exactly as he did in Mincy’s sketch (though the hair was more realistic in Mincy’s sketch)! It was a perfect match!

“Hey, are you Mikhael?” Basil asked after two solid minutes of silence. The guy scoffed and looked down his nose at Basil.

“That’s ‘The Maverick’ to you, peasant,” he spat. Basil blinked again and stepped back. Mincy liked this guy?

No, Basil. You shouldn’t judge based on first impressions.

“U-um… sorry?” Basil stammered. Mikha- er, The Maverick stared down at him for a moment before letting out a weary sigh, as if just existing next to Basil was a pain.

He forced a small smile and waved Basil off.

“‘Tis alright, I do not hold grudges,” he said in a strained voice. The Maverick shifted his body so that he was facing Basil and leaning against the wall at the same time. Once he was sure of his suave position, he gave Basil a once-over (not in a creepy way) and then smirked. Most likely he had decided Basil was just some shy kid who actually bumped into him by mistake, instead of… whatever he might’ve thought before.

“Now, what hast thou seeketh me out for?” The Maverick asked, flashing Basil a peek at his pEarLy wHiTes.

Basil blinked. “Uh…” he trailed off. The Shakespearean was something Basil hadn’t expected, nor the award-winning smile. Although, Shakespearean kind of suited The Maverick. The Maverick did have some kind of charm emanating off of him, and he was pretty good-looking.

Now Basil could see why Mincy liked him.

“I was hoping you knew someone named Sunny?” Basil inquired. The Maverick thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers.

“Ah, Sunny. I do know him. Why dost thou ask?” The Maverick tilted his head questioningly.

Basil needed to word this in a way that wouldn’t reveal too much information. “I’m- I’m trying to find him. Can you tell me where he might be?”

The Maverick sighed dramatically and shook his head in a rather exaggerated manner. “Unfortunately, that is not something within my scope of power. You see, he spends much of his time with his sister, though lord knows why one would willingly choose to be in the company of one’s siblings.”

The Maverick was getting increasingly passionate about this while poor Basil was forced to stand there and take the brunt of it.

“And on another note, lord knows she’s doing at a high school, anyway. At least she has the sense not to go to a public high school - or as I like to call it, an habitat for degenerate hormonal apes. No wonder my siblings go there. Tch.”

Once The Maverick was done, he ran his hand through his golden (fake?) locks and huffed.

Basil had zoned out at some point, but there was one thing The Maverick said that caught his attention. “Um. Hold up. What do you mean? About Sunny’s sister.”

The Maverick scoffed again. He seemed to like scoffing.

Mincy’s gonna have such a fun time with this guy.

“Anyone, or at least worldly people such as myself can see that Sunny’s sister is older than the rest of us, and yet…”

The Maverick paused, seemingly in thought. He calmed down a bit before continuing.

“And yet… she dons the girl’s school uniform, instead of a more befitting staff outfit.”

Basil knew why Mari was wearing the School Uniform: Girl Version. She was in a coma for four years - obviously she needed to catch up with her education.

That poor girl.

Basil shrugged. “I mean, you have to consider that she w-”

BASIL, YOU IDIOT! OTHER PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE SHIT THAT HAPPENED WITH MARI! AND EVEN IF THEY DO, YOU SHOULDN’T BE GOING AROUND TELLING PEOPLE!

“I MEAN, th-that’s… weird,” Basil quickly stammered. Hopefully The Maverick hadn’t noticed his previous slip-up.

Thank the lord, he didn’t. The Maverick just nodded in agreement with Basil.

“Indeed,” The Maverick stated much more amiably than he had previously. For a second, Basil thought this guy would actually start being normal.

Of course he wasn’t. Why would things ever play out the way Basil thought they would?

The Maverick smirked at Basil and leaned down so he was more at Basil’s eye level. And he was in Basil’s personal space.

“I like you, little one,” he murmured, his eyes trailing up and down Basil’s face. “What’s your name?”

Is this… flirting? 

It is, right?

No, wait! Basil didn’t intend for that! The Maverick is Mincy’s crush!

Maybe Basil could successfully divert The Maverick’s attention to Mincy?

“Um, my name’s Basil-”

“Oh, Basil, hm? What a fitting name for someone like you. Just like the plant, you seem helpful. Although, I have to say, Basil, you’re much better-looking.”

The Maverick winked.

Well, now Basil was just uncomfortable.

“U-Um… yeah. H-Hey, Maverick-”

“The Maverick,” The Maverick corrected, still not getting out of Basil’s space. Basil subtly inched backwards.

“Um… The Maverick, do you wanna know how I found you?” Basil asked, fishing for his phone in his pocket. The Maverick chuckled.

“I wouldn’t say you found me. You simply ran into me. Perhaps it was fate, hmm?” The Maverick leaned closer, once again invading Basil’s personal space. Basil leaned back.

This was u n c o m f o r t a b l e.

”Yeah, okay… well, I looked at this amazing sketch of you my friend made,” Basil said, opening the photo on his phone and giving it to the Maverick.

The Maverick’s eyes sparkled in an Aubrey-like fashion. Maybe it’s because he’s friends with Aubrey?

Hey, Mincy’s eyes did that earlier too! These two are a match made in heaven!

“Impressive indeed,” Mikhael remarked with a slight chuckle. “I’ve never seen an artist that can capture my personality with a mere pencil so perfectly.”

After staring at the sketch for a solid thirty seconds, The Maverick looked up from Basil’s phone. “Tell me, little one. Where is this friend of yours? And what is her name?”

…

Basil has an opportunity here. The Maverick is depending on him to know who Mincy was, and where to find her.

Basil has knowledge that The Maverick needs. 

Basil could use this to his advantage.

Not in a bad way, of course! Because Basil’s not a bad person. Maybe in some alternate universe he hung someone or something, but he’s a good person here!

Okay, what does Basil know? The Maverick is friends with Aubrey. If The Maverick mentions this interaction to Aubrey, then… Basil’s screwed. 

But if The Maverick doesn’t tell Aubrey, or anyone for that matter, then everything will be fine!

“I’ll tell you on one condition,” Basil decided. The Maverick gave Basil his full, undivided attention (though not in a flirty way this time).

“What is this condition? I must know this exquisite artist,” The Maverick stated in an almost pleading tone.

Basil replied, “Don’t tell anyone I asked you about Sunny.”

The Maverick visibly relaxed. He must have thought Basil would make some outrageous request. Although, even if Basil had, The Maverick would probably have agreed to it.

Basil knows that people will do things for love. Like move to an entirely different city to be closer to their sick grandmothers.

The Maverick shrugged. “I can do that,” he said nonchalantly. “Now please inform me of this artist’s name and whereabouts.”

Basil gestured for The Maverick to follow him to the front of the main building. Once they were standing in the Front Yard, Basil pointed to the picnic table Mincy was sitting at.

“See that girl? That one drawing over there? Her name’s Mincy. She’s the one who made the sketch of you. She’s shy, though, so careful approaching her,” Basil cautioned.

The Maverick gazed at Mincy, staying dead quiet, as if she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.

hOw rOmAnTic.

“Mincy… hm. Thank you, little one. You’re dismissed.” The Maverick handed Basil’s phone to him without even looking at him, still in a trance.

Basil grinned to himself. 

Quest to get Sunny’s info? Completed. Side quest to set up Mincy and her crush? Completed!

Today was off to a good start.

Later in class…

Basil was being watched.

He didn’t know who or what was watching him, and he didn’t know why he was being watched.

His notes were getting increasingly sloppy and disorganized, because Basil kept nervously glancing around to see where this weird feeling was coming from.

But there was nothing.

But there was obviously something.

Even after class, Basil kept getting the feeling that someone’s eyes were on him. Well, not someone’s eyes. It felt like only… half a stare? If that made any sense at all.

He knew he probably seemed paranoid to other students, because he constantly stopped in the middle of the hallway to look behind and around him. There was still nothing.

Maybe it’s just Basil’s anxiety talking (it does that a lot). After all, he is still pretty new. Plus, he’s an androgynous tall boy who wears a flower in his hair, and he looks like a student that went to this school previously. That’s gonna get some stares.

The feeling went away at lunch, which ironically is one of the times when the most students are gathered in one area. 

Basil brought his lunch this time, so he doesn’t need to worry about starving. The flower he was wearing in his hair today was an oleander, and that should definitely not be consumed.

Basil decided to wait at the spot that Mari asked him to wait at last week. Who knows? Maybe she would bring Sunny with her and Basil could stop looking. The chance she would remember her promise was slim, but it’s still worth it to try!

…

Basil stood there getting hungrier for half a hour. Not only did Mari not show, now Basil was starving. DESPITE HAVING BROUGHT HIS LUNCH THIS TIME.

And he had no one to sit with either (assuming Mincy and The Maverick were hanging out).

Basil looked around. Who could he hang with? He could see the Gardening Club kids sitting by a tree in front of 143-C, but after the whole anime boy fiasco Basil doubted they would want him around. 

Maybe he could find Hero! Hero was supposed to be supervising Cooking Club!

…Which means Hero’s busy. 

Well, that counted everyone off of Basil’s list. Too bad. Basil sighed defeatedly, and started walking towards a lone spot near 143-D…

…until he saw something.

He just barely caught the movement, but he saw it. A short person, with black hair, wearing the School Uniform, going in the space between 143-C and 143-D.

Perhaps it was Sunny! Though the chances of that are very slim. It could just be a normal black-haired person. And Sunny might not even have black hair, siblings can have different hair colors. Or Sunny could’ve dyed his hair… but if he looks anything like Mari dyed hair wouldn’t really look-

WE’RE GETTING OFF-TRACK HERE.

Basil decided to see who that person was. It doesn’t hurt to check.

Basil silently shuffled over to 143-C and peeked his head around the corner.

And he could clearly see the face of the person.

They were a boy. A short boy… with an eyepatch.

It was Sunny.

Sunny was simply leaning on the side of the building, nibbling on a disc-shaped crumbly pastry. He wasn’t even moving. Just standing there.

This was Basil’s chance! He could just go talk to Sunny now! He had no idea what to say, but starting with a simple “hi” should be fine.

Except… Basil could not.

Because holy shit, Sunny was really fucking cute.

(Fourth wall break - THIS IS HOW I IMAGINED HIS FACE JUST PRETEND HE HAS AN EYEPATCH OKAY)

Basil was… just stuck.

His brain says to go talk to Sunny.

BUT AGAIN, SUNNY IS FRICKING CUTE. Basil doesn’t do well around cute.

Okay, okay, okay! This is fiiiiiiiiiiine. Basil will just calmly walk up to Sunny, introduce himself, and ask about the school using the “I’m new and stupid” excuse.

Yeah, okay. He’s gonna do that now! 

…on the count of three. 

Three…

Two…

One…

No-

Brrrring!

THE FUCKING TIMING OF THIS GODDAMN FUCKING BELL-

Sunny stood up and started walking towards the Back Yard, prompting Basil to also go to his own class.

…which is also in the Back Yard. 

How did Basil not notice Sunny before in his Enrichment class? Basil was sure he would’ve noticed someone that good-looki- ER, SOMEONE WITH AN EYEPATCH.

And it ended up not being just his Enrichment class! Apparently, Basil had Sunny in AP Psychology, too!

Since when!? Basil could have sworn there was never a cute boy with an eyepatch in his class before!

On top of that, he keeps getting the feeling of being stared at.

Is it Sunny staring at him? Why would Sunny be staring at him? Maybe because Basil looks like Rowan.

Or maybe because he thinks Basil’s cute… NO, STOP THAT.

After an eternity, it was time to go to clubs. Basil was heading out of 143-B, getting ready to go to Gardening Club. He was still thinking about Sunny, but at least he wasn’t getting the feeling of being watched anymore.

Right as he reached the entrance of 143-D, he heard something.

Footsteps.

Receding footsteps.

Basil quickly turned around just in time to see… Sunny.

Sunny was there. Watching him.

Basil could feel his cheeks warming up. He had to look away to compose himself, but by the time he looked back, Sunny was already disappearing into that space between 143-C and 143-D.

What? No!

Basil can’t let Sunny get away this time! Who cares if Sunny will be at school tomorrow? This may be the only time Basil has the confidence to approach him!

“Wait!” Basil called out. In five large strides, Basil caught up to Sunny. He stood behind the boy, unsure of what to say.

Sunny stopped… and simply stood there.

Neither of the boys uttered a word.

It was just tense quietude.

Basil should have planned for this. He knew Sunny was an introvert like himself! Obviously Sunny’s not gonna start the conversation!

Okay, okay. This is fine. This is cool.

He can do this.

He. Can. Do. This.

Basil steeled himself, took a deep breath, and finally uttered the make-or-break first impression words…

“Um… hi.”

…

Nothing.

“I- I’m Basil.”

…

Still nothing.

Basil smiled nervously and extended his hand for a handshake. Then he mentally kicked himself for extending his hand. Sunny had his back turned to Basil, he won’t be able to see Basil’s handshake offer.

But then… Sunny turned around.

They locked eyes.

Basil’s first thought was that Sunny was short. Like, seriously. The dude had to crane his neck to look Basil in the eye.

Basil’s second thought was oh my god why is he so much handsomer up close.

Sunny still wasn’t saying or doing anything. He looked at Basil’s extended hand and blinked slowly.

Seeing this as evident rejection of his handshake offer, Basil used the hand that was already up to wipe some beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.

Okay, Basil made it this far. He has to pretend not to know Sunny. So, Basil will just ask for his name.

“Wh-What’s your name?” Basil inquired.

Sunny still said nothing. He just kept scrutinizing Basil. Then suddenly, Sunny’s eye widened and he stepped backwards.

Well, that’s an alarming reaction.

Basil stepped away from Sunny in the hopes of calming him down. He couldn’t afford to have Sunny run away, not when he’d finally gotten the chance to talk to him.

“You’re… not much of a talker, huh?” Basil said in a mildly joking tone. 

Sunny just seemed to panic more. He started hyperventilating.

Then he bolted.

“Wait!” Basil yelled.

But Sunny was already gone.

Chapter Text

Basil came home with a heavy load on his mind - well, heavier than usual. In hindsight, he realized how dumb and intrusive his whole plan to talk to Sunny was. For one thing, how would he have even approached the topic? He couldn’t have just said, “Hi, I’m the replacement for Rowan and I know about what happened to your sister and how you assaulted my doppelgänger but I feel like there’s something missing so could you just tell me about that”.

That was none of his business. He had nothing to do with Sunny, and that was that. Besides, even if he had wanted to talk to Sunny without knowing all of that, he wouldn’t have been able to anyway. Sunny was cute. Basil doesn’t do well around anyone, let alone cute people. 

With his panicked brain finally at rest from this situation, he unlocked the door to his house. The first thing he saw was a tuft of dirty brown hair sticking out from under his couch. Polly seemingly didn’t notice, and simply walked in and hung up her coat.

“Um… Polly…?” Basil pointed to the weird lump under the couch. Polly glanced up from her phone.

“Hm?” Polly tracked the direction of where Basil was pointing. When her eyes landed on the clump of hair, she just shrugged. “Oh, that’s just Kel. Don’t mind him.”

And she went back to scrolling on her phone like it was normal to let someone lie down under your couch. 

Basil warily approached the couch and kneeled down. When he finally got a look at Kel’s face, he jerked backwards. The expression Kel had on his face was a mixture of “someone stole my basketball” and “I saw my mom grab the chancla”.

“Kel… why… why are you under my couch?” Basil inquired, concern lacing his voice.

“I’m hiding,” Kel whispered back. He was trembling. What happened to him?

“Yeah, but- but who are you hiding from?”

“A-Aubrey,” Kel whimpered, and then squeezed his eyes shut tight. Was he reliving some kind of bad memory?

Basil sighed. His concern was beginning to give way to annoyance. “Why?”

“Because I’m terrified.”

Well, Basil could see that. “But why.”

“I can’t say it!”

Kel whimpered again and turned his face away from Basil, putting his hands over his ears.

Basil was not in the mood. It was very out-of-character for him to get pissed off with anyone, but he had had a rough day and several gay panics.

“Kel. Why. Are you. Under my couch.”

Kel took three shaky breaths, as if even uttering the words would get him hanged.

He beckoned Basil forward, and Basil bent down until his chin was basically smushed against the floor. Kel scooched closer. His head was barely sticking out from under the couch. Basil could smell his breath (he could’ve gone his whole life without the stench of rotting oranges and sugar hitting his nostrils).

And finally, Kel spoke. Basil had to strain his ears to hear the words.

“Aubrey’s on her period,” Kel breathed.

…that was it? Jeez, what is with these Faraway people and their anticlimactic buildups.

Basil furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. “So? Menstruation’s a perfectly normal thing-”

“SHSHHSHHSSHHSH!” Kel slapped a sweaty palm on Basil’s mouth, which Basil promptly shoved away. “I know it’s normal,” Kel hissed. “That’s not the problem! The problem is literally everything else! You have no idea how Aubrey is when she’s on her period.”

Basil thought back to when his parents were actually around. He was young at the time, but he could vaguely remember when his mom’s cycle came every month. The sound that came to mind was a vase being smashed. 

“What, is she grumpy or something? Again, that’s normal. Women get a hormone spikes during their cycles-”

“SHSHSHSSHSHSH SHUT UP SHUT UP,” Kel urged.

“Why? This is my house, and Aubrey isn’t here anyway,” Basil said bemusedly.

“I know! But I swear, it’s like she gets superhuman hearing or something-” Kel cut himself off, sighed, and shook his head. 

“Okay, I can see you’re not convinced, but just hear me out,” Kel began (still in a very hushed voice). “So, Aubrey has this baseball bat, right? Well, she customized it. She hammered nails into it, with some of the pointy ends sticking out.”

Kel shifted himself a little further out from his hiding spot, which meant that Basil got an even better whiff of Kel’s breath. Great. Lovely.

“The last time I interacted with Aubrey on her period, she chased me around the entire town with that satanic weapon for three hours nonstop,” Kel continued, speaking slightly louder this time. “And that was with all the cramps and nausea and headaches.”

Basil nodded along to Kel’s words.

“That’s impressive,” he remarked. Kel stared up at him incredulously.

“My suffering is impressive to you?” Kel grumbled. Basil rolled his eyes. This was pretty out of character for him, but he had a shit ton of homework plus a whole lot of other personal things. At this rate, he’ll never have time to see his grandmother, which was the whole reason he moved to this stupid town in the first place.

“Kel.”

“What.”

“Get out from under my couch.”

“But-”

“Out.”

“…fine,” Kel muttered. He rolled out from his hiding area. There were pieces of lint and dust bunnies clinging to Kel’s basketball shorts, and one very suspicious black stringy thing which Basil sincerely hoped was not a spider.

Once Kel had stood up, Basil let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay, Kel, you can go ho-”

“Oh, by the way, I’m not leaving,” Kel announced. He had an obstinate grin plastered on his face, his feet planted firmly on the ground, and his hands on his hips. He was also just a few inches taller than Basil. Really goes to show how much body language can prove a point. 

But again, Basil was not in the mood.

“No, no, like, I actually have homework to do,” Basil deadpanned. Kel’s smile vanished in the place of desperation, but he had yet to actually leave.

“B-But! But Aubrey knows where I live!” he exclaimed.

“She knows where I live too!” Basil retorted. Kel clasped his hands in front of him and fell to his knees.

“Please, Basil! That woman is a menace! Let me chill here for tonight! I swear I won’t bother you, I don’t even have to hang in your room! I’ll cook dinner! Just don’t kick me out!”

Kel was begging. Basil felt pretty bad now. He knew how Kel felt. After all, he himself was having no problems lying and sneaking around just to avoid Aubrey’s wrath. He was almost convinced.

But then, Kel put on the puppy-dog eyes.

God damn it. Now Basil was fully convinced.

“Okay, fi-”

Crack.

That was the sound of Basil’s ribs. Kel had thrown his arms around Basil with such a force that Basil nearly fell onto his back (thank god it wasn’t at the top of the stairs).

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU,” Kel shouted happily, whilst vigorously swinging Basil around in the air. Seems he had no problem being loud now.

Where was Polly? Why was she not stopping this?

“Kel, I can’t breathe,” Basil rasped. Kel dropped Basil on the ground with no regards to whether he landed on his feet or not. Spoiler alert: he didn’t.

“Okay, great! Come on, let’s go hang in your room!” Kel grabbed Basil’s arm and yanked him onto his feet and up the stairs. Poor Basil nearly lost his right arm that day.

Apparently all that talk about staying out of Basil’s way and chilling downstairs was just that - talk.

Once Kel and Basil were in Basil’s room, Kel wasted no time in getting comfortable. He splayed himself out on Basil’s bed and gave Basil a shit-eating grin.

“Soooo… tell me about yourself,” Kel said. Basil sat at his desk chair and gave Kel an unamused look.

“What do you mean by that? I’m pretty sure you already know me on a basic level.”

Kel shrugged and made that weird “I dunno” sound that Basil’s generation liked making for some reason.

“Like… what are your hobbies? I know you play that anime game, but what about… oh, I know!” Kel snapped his fingers. “You like cosplaying, right? It would explain why you look like such a femboy all the time!” Kel said brightly.

“Wha- no! And for the record, I am not a femboy! I’m just androgynous!” Basil exclaimed, highly affronted. “And if you really wanna know about my hobbies, well…”

Basil thought for a moment.

“I like gardening. And photography.”

There was a long pause.

“Dude…” Kel chuckled and shook his head. “Are you sure you’re not just Rowan pranking us? Man, I remember. That kid used to love taking pictures. I remember, he had this pink Polaroid that he’d carry in his pocket all the time. When we asked him why it was pink, he said it was because pink was his favorite color. Then I called him a femboy.”

Kel seemed proud of this for some reason. Basil just shook his head and stood up.

“Hey, where you going?” Kel questioned as he saw Basil go to his desk. Basil opened the middle desk drawer and took out something - a camera. Not a Polaroid. A real, professional camera.

“Since you refuse to shut up,” Basil said, turning the camera on and inspecting the lens, “I might as well make an effort to hang out with you. Want me to teach you how to use this?” Basil held up the camera and turned to Kel with an inquisitive look.

“It’s either this or you shut up, but since you’re probably not going to shut up, it’s either this or I tell Aubrey where you are,” Basil added. At the mention of Aubrey, panic flashed across Kel’s face. He was next to Basil in a heartbeat.

“Sure, teach me all about this thing,” Kel squeaked. Basil chuckled and gestured for Kel to take a closer look.

“So, what I have here is a Canon EOS 70D,” Basil began. “Modern digital cameras have the same basic parts. There are seven main parts to a camera - the lens, shutter, aperture, image sensor, viewfinder, body, and memory card slot.” 

Basil looked up from the camera to Kel. “You got that?”

Kel nodded and gave Basil a thumbs-up.

“Alright, great.” Basil smiled. He turned the camera over so that the side with a large black cylindrical thing sticking out (the camera lens) was facing Kel.

“This entire black thing here is probably the most important part of a camera. I assume you know that if you wanna photograph anything, you need to point this at your model. One rule of thumb - don’t touch the lens. You’ll smudge it.”

Basil tapped the side of the lens. “There’s a lot of important stuff in here. I can’t exactly show you what it looks like, because I don’t wanna break my camera, but one of the things inside of here is the aperture. The aperture is like this circular thing made of a bunch of metal blades, which is used to control the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor. The size of the aperture is very important for what you wanna focus on. You can control the size of your aperture using the main dial, which is situated here.”

“Again, I won’t go into details, but basically the bigger the aperture, the more light there is reaching the camera, the more focused the camera is on one area, and the smaller the aperture, less light there is, the less focus there is on one area.”

Kel grinned. “This is so cool! Rowan never let me touch his camera, much less teach me about it. I don’t know what that kid was so hung up about, anyway. It was just a Polaroid.”

Basil chuckled. “Well, a Polaroid was my first camera, and I’d be pretty pissed off if someone broke it, even by mistake.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Kel had a thoughtful look on his face (apparently Kel is capable of thought. Who knew?)

“What got you into photography, anyway?” Kel suddenly asked.

Ah. A icebreaker question. Basil would have thought they were past that stage by now, but apparently not.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” Basil replied, an awkward smile gracing his features. Kel plopped down on Basil’s bed and pat the space next to him, even though it’s Basil’s bed so giving Basil permission to sit next to him would be redundant.

“As long as Aubrey is still wandering around, I’ve got time,” Kel said.

Basil let out a small breath and sat down next to Kel. He had to crane his neck to properly look Kel in the eye - seriously, the dude was unnaturally tall.

“When I was little, I used to travel with my parents to all their business places,” Basil began. “But at some point, they decided that it wasn’t good for me to be moving around so much. So they bought a mansion-”

“In Mondstadt City, right?”

“No, actually. The name of the place isn’t Mondstadt City. I just called it that because the look of the place reminded me of Mondstadt in Genshin Impact.” 

Basil looked down at the camera on his lap.

“My parents had me stay in the mansion while they were away on work trips. They didn’t want me going to public school, and they didn’t feel comfortable sending me to boarding school, so I had a nanny and some tutors who would meet with me every day. The staff were nice-”

“Wait, staff?” Kel scrunched up his nose. “How rich are you?”

Basil laughed. “Let’s just say, my parents have invited LeBron James to an evening banquet on several occasions. Now, anyway-”

“LeBron James!?” Kel shrieked, shooting up from the bed and jumping up and down like a bunny. “You’ve met LeBron James! Dude, he- he’s like- I mean- I- LeBron James- the best- BASKETBALL!”

Basil winced and rubbed his forehead. He now understood what Aubrey must have felt like when he repeatedly interrupted her the other day.

“I. Will. Call. Aubrey.”

Kel was sitting next to Basil with the calmest expression on his face faster than Basil could blink. The boy was insanely skilled at making 180 shifts. Must be all the basketball.

“As I was saying, the staff my parents hired were nice, but they weren’t really my friends.” Basil tsked and looked down at the camera once again. “It’s… kind of awkward having a conversation with the person who cooks you food and does your laundry.”

At this, Kel shrugged. “My mom does that, but I have conversations with her. Mostly it’s her yelling at me about something, but it still counts.”

Basil shook his head. “That’s not the same thing, though. She’s your mom. These were just people my parents were paying to keep the house functioning. They weren’t obligated to be nice to me. I think the only reason they treated me with the respect they did was because they felt bad for me.”

Basil let out a heavy sigh. “My parents were rarely ever around, and I didn’t have any real friends apart from maybe the gardener’s daughter. She’s the person that got me into gardening, actually.”

“Ooooh, was it a romance~?” Kel teased. He waggled his eyebrows in what he thought was a playful manner.

Basil could feel his cheeks getting warm. In truth, he had had the teeniest, tiniest crush on the gardener’s daughter Adina, but that was a whole other story for a different day.

“Th-That’s not the point!” Basil spluttered. The triumphant smirk on Kel’s face did not help to calm down Basil’s thumping heart. “She was my only friend, but even then it wasn’t the same thing. We didn’t have anything in common other than our love of gardening. I think she just felt bad for me. Like everyone else.”

A somber feeling came over Basil as he reminisced those days. 

“I was already familiar with every room in the mansion by the first week. The only thing I did every day when I was done with my studies was… walk around. It was lonely.”

A heavy silence settled in the room. Basil felt his mood dropping. For years and years, he had been alone in that mansion. Isolated, aimlessly wandering. He found outlets through gardening and Genshin Impact and…

“The reason I got into photography was because I realised that happy moments for me wouldn’t come often. It was always lonely and sad, so when something good happened… it wouldn’t last. A photo could preserve that moment for me.”

That was it. That was Basil’s story. Kel had probably been expecting something cool, like “Oh, I saw a pretty flower” or “I went someplace scenic”, but no. What he got instead was the depressing story of a lonely boy with a boring life.

“Sorry,” Basil mumbled out of instinct. Kel raised an eyebrow at him.

“For what?”

Basil’s shoulders sagged. “For bringing the mood down. For not meeting your expectations.”

Kel said nothing. Basil knew he would say something along the lines of, “You should be sorry” or “You’re so emo”.

But then, Kel did something most unusual.

Kel snorted.

“Why would you think I expected anything from you? I asked to hear your story, and you answered me. You have nothing to apologise for. In fact, you’re the one who deserves an apology. That sounded terrible. What you went through, I mean.”

Kel slapped Basil on the back, nearly sending Basil to the ground (this is like the fifth time that’s happened, you’d think Kel would get the memo).

“From now on, you’re not gonna take photos just to preserve the happy moments,” Kel declared. “You’re going to take them so you can remember your favourite ones. Me and Aubrey and Hero are gonna make good memories with you. So many that you won’t be able to keep track of them all. That’s a Kel promise!”

Kel ended his speech with his signature Kel smile, the one that flashed all his pearly whites.

Basil looked up at his friend, his eyes shining with emotion.

“I…”

Basil suddenly leaned forward and hugged Kel tightly.

“Thank you,” Basil whispered.

Kel was initially surprised by the burst of affection from the reserved boy. But he relaxed and returned the hug. Gently this time, not the bone-crushing one he’d given earlier.

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

Origami was a hobby Basil had picked up quite recently. In the weeks after his encounter with Sunny, gardening just hadn’t been enough to distract him anymore. Perhaps it was the presence of the gardening shears - the sharp object kept bringing his mind back to the question “What really happened on the night Sunny got his eye stabbed out”.

It was getting progressively more difficult to keep down all the questions and theories Basil had come up with about this strange boy. Not to mention, now that Basil had actually met said strange boy, his heart kept thumping, which wasn’t good, because his family had a history of heart problems. 

Speaking of hearts…

“It’s a heart,” Basil said, holding out the intricately folded red object to Mincy. 

“It’s good,” Mincy remarked, setting down her burger to inspect the heart. “Did you read the book I gave you?”

Basil nodded. “Yeah, I did. Thanks for recommending it, by the way.”

The book Mincy had given Basil was not a book about origami. The book Mincy had given Basil was called 101 Ways For Managing Stress and Anxiety. Origami had been suggestion #76. 

“This is so cute!” Mincy exclaimed suddenly, turning the paper heart over in her hands. It was startling to see her so enthusiastic, as Mincy had been quite down lately. “Did you make this for someone?”

“NO— I mean… no.” Basil was sure he sounded unconvincing — his face felt as warm as one of Hero’s freshly cooked fried eggs.

Thankfully, Mincy was really bad at picking up social cues.

“Well, if you did, I’m sure they’d be charmed,” Mincy said. Basil noted that she said ‘they’, not ‘she’. 

“You think so?” Basil said, without really meaning to. Maybe he could offer Sunny the heart, as a sort of peace offering. 

“Mhm! I know I’d love it if a boy took the time to fold up something for me…” Mincy sighed wistfully and looked to the side. Basil tracked her gaze to a very conspicuous blond boy standing (hiding?) behind a tree, glancing out every so often.

“Has he talked to you yet?” Basil inquired. Mincy jolted, and her face went beet red.

“I- he- well…” Mincy groaned and put her head in her hands. “He came to me and said I did a really good job drawing him. Then he asked me if I wanted to hang out with him, and… gosh, I don’t know what came over me, but I just- I just ran.”

Huh, that’s funny. A boy I thought was cute ran from me, is what Basil thought of saying. But he didn’t say that. Instead he said, “It’s okay. We all do stupid things sometimes.”

“How stupid do you have to be to run away when the boy you like basically asks you out?” Mincy lamented. 

Basil was not sure what to say. Should he pat her on the back? No, he can’t, she’s sitting across the table. On the shoulder, then? No, what if she’s not comfortable with physical touch? But that makes no sense. At least, not to Basil. Basil has always found physical touch from people he’s close with to be comforting. But he’s not that close to Mincy. Or is he? He hangs out with her a lot, but that’s because she’s his only friend at school. But she doesn’t have other friends either, so that kind of makes them close. Right?

…Oh no. What if Mincy actually did have other friends, but she was blowing them off because she was Basil’s only school friend? What if Basil was the reason she had no friends in the first place? What if-

“Hey, hey, you’re doing it again,” Mincy called out gently, tapping him on the shoulder. Basil found that he was in the beginning stages of his cat position.

Great. Just when he thought he’d gotten over that.

“Ah, sorry,” Basil said sheepishly. He straightened himself out.

“Hey, you know what this reminds me of?” Mincy asked, holding up the paper heart.

“What?”

“There’s this book I really like. It’s called Paper Hearts-”

“Oh my gosh, Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott! I loved that book too!” Basil beamed. What a great subject change! Time to get his nerd on. “I thought the story was really moving. Did you know the characters were based off the true friendship between Fania and Zlatka? You can still find the original paper heart in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre-”

“What? No,” Mincy interrupted with a confused frown.

Basil sagged. “Oh.”

“I’m talking about Paper Hearts by Ali Novak,” Mincy corrected. “It’s about this girl whose sister goes missing for four years, and she tries to be the perfect model daughter for her mother-”

Mincy kept talking, but Basil’s brain stopped registering anything after missing for four years.

A sister who went missing for four years…

The girl tried to be the perfect daughter.

That’s similar, isn’t it?

Mari was in a coma for four years. Sunny closed off from everyone. Sunny went to an elite boarding school. Sunny only hangs out with the elite children . 

Is Sunny… trying to be perfect too?

The model son?

Maybe he’s really a nice person…

But if he is, then… what was his whole deal with Rowan?

“-but I really love how Stella and the other boys popped up-”

“Can I borrow that book?” Basil suddenly asked.

Mincy paused and blinked. “…Paper Hearts? But I thought you said you don’t like Wattpad authors.”

“I don’t,” Basil said, with a lot more venom than he intended, “but this just sounds interesting.” Maybe it’ll help me understand my situation.

“Um… okay,” Mincy agreed. “But you should read the first book in the Heartbreaker Chronicles before you-”

“Please just give me Paper Hearts,” Basil insisted.

Fuck, that sounded mean.

“I- I mean-” Basil cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean to be rude, I just-”

“I got it, don’t worry,” Mincy said reassuringly, holding up her hand. She dug around in her bag before pulling out a book with a cover image of a boy and a girl leaning against each other, laughing. Basil internally cringed at the bright orange lettering that spelled out Wattpad at the top.

Oh, how he hated Wattpad.

Basil smiled gratefully and took the book. “Thanks, Mince.” He quickly finished up the rest of his lunch so he could start reading the book.

Mari fell into a coma…

Hero said Mari was basically the perfect child…

Did Sunny feel pressured to become the perfect son after Mari fell into a coma?

She fell into a coma for four years…

Sister went missing for four years…

Is Sunny really just a nice person deep inside? I don’t want to believe that a nice person would attack someone without cause. Especially not his supposed best friend. 

Did he turn mean after Mari’s accident?

Everyone else said he did.

But that story is really spotty.

Did Sunny ever take up his violin-playing again after Mari’s accident? He would have, if he wanted to be the perfect son.

His old violin was broken after the incident. Did he ever resent Mari for breaking his violin?

But if Mari was perfect, why would she break his violin?

Mari was found on a broken violin…

Did she really break it?

I wonder…

Chapter Text

Paper Hearts was not Basil’s kind of book. 

He should have expected that, considering the book was written by a Wattpad author.

Currently, Basil was sitting on the couch in the living room, forcing himself to get through the book. Polly was out getting groceries, so Basil figured he’d try to pass the time with something other than gardening/pestering the others.

Is reading this book the last thing Basil wants to be doing after completing a mountain load of homework on a Saturday afternoon? Of course it is.

First of all, the male lead is a member of a world-famous boy band (of course he is, he has to have lots of money and fame after all) - and he’s also brooding and reserved and the female lead has to “save” him. Because of course she does. Otherwise it’s not a fucking Wattpad story.

Anyway! Basil would like to get a better understanding of the Sunny situation, so he’ll do what he must. However, Basil is about 156 pages in, and he’s not seen anything in common with the situation. But he’s started the book… and his stupid “desperate-for-a-conclusion” brain won’t let him stop. Even if the word Wattpad on the top of the cover kept giving him After flashbacks.

“Why are you reading Paper Hea-”

Basil screamed, and the book he was reading went flying, while he himself fell backwards on the couch, clutching his heart. Attempting to inhale oxygen at a normal rate, Basil looked up. There were a pair of freakishly turquoise eyes staring down at him.

“Aubrey?” Basil squeaked out.

“No, it’s Aubrey’s evil twin, Yerbua,” Aubrey deadpanned. 

Basil almost felt like saying that he thought Aubrey was the evil twin.

“How- how did you get in my house? Polly isn’t here.”

Aubrey held up a cute pink flower keychain with a silver key hanging from it. “Polly said that since we come over all the time we should have our own set of keys so she wouldn’t have to keep opening the door. She went out and made us copies of your house key.”

…the fuck.

Basil frowned. “She didn’t consult me.”

“Not my problem.” Aubrey flipped her blindingly pink hair over her shoulder and idly looked around the room. “So, are you ready to go?”

Basil wrinkled his nose in confusion. “You never invited me anywhere.”

Aubrey shrugged. “There’s this place in town called Gino’s. They make this really fucking amazing Margherita pizza. Kel and I decided to bring you with us, since it’s a Saturday and all.” 

Gino’s. Basil had heard of it from Kel. It was a wildly popular pizzeria in this small town, due to it being the only pizzeria. While the prospect was tempting, Basil didn’t like pizza that much. Especially not Margherita pizza. There was lots of basil on that. It felt like he was committing some kind of cannibalism.

However, before he could refuse, Aubrey said, “Oh, and it’s not an option. You are coming with us.”

“Uh-huh, definitely,” Basil agreed sarcastically. “And, uh, why exactly am I coming?”

Aubrey suddenly went from an indifferent visage to beaming like the sun, her eyes doing that anime star-twinkle thing even behind the unnaturally blue contacts. “Glad you asked! I made a list.” She pulled a folded-up piece of white paper that was yellowed around the edges. She held it up to eye level and began to read it out very emphatically, as if she was delivering the State of Union address. “One: you’re ridiculously pale, assumedly from lack of sun. We have all discussed the possibility of you having anemia. Hero says you exhibit a lot of symptoms, and you know that’s gotta be true, because Hero’s studying to be a doctor. Two: you don’t go outside unless you’re going to school, going home, or going to one of our houses. Three: You have crippling anxiety, and scientific studies have shown that going outside can help reduce anxiety. Four: You have no friends-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Basil interrupted, standing up and crossing his arms. “Jeez, no need to call me out like that.”

Aubrey giggled. “So you admit you have no friends?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Right. So, are you ready to go?”

Basil sighed in a resigned manner. “Fine.”

He followed Aubrey out of his house and up two blocks, past the park to Faraway Plaza. It really shouldn’t have tired him out as much as it did, but apart from running around school, Basil didn’t get much exercise. It didn’t help that the sun was shining so brightly today - he was unused to so much sun exposure, thus making him prone to sunburns.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was so bright?” Basil sniped, rubbing his already reddened skin when they finally reached Faraway Plaza. “I would’ve worn sunblock.”

Aubrey looked back at him. Her eyes widened when she saw how he was unsuccessfully trying to shield his face from the sun. “Sorry,” she said. “I should’ve remembered that.”

The rare display of sincerity from her quickly quelled Basil’s annoyance. “It’s okay.”

“The Othermart is right there. We could go in and get some really quick,” Aubrey offered. Basil shook his head.

“Thanks, but no, I use this medically prescribed one.” Before he could add that while he did have a medical condition, it was actually the opposite of what Aubrey and the others suspected… his stomach growled. Quite loudly. 

"Um." Basil coughed. "Excuse me."

"Pff-"

"Don't laugh!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Aubrey bit her lip to stifle any more giggles, and then beckoned for Basil to follow her. "It sounds like you need pizza. Let's go."

The interior of Gino's was quaint. The floor was wooden and the walls were made of brick. Authentic brick, too, not just the fake brick mostly used in construction nowadays. There were seven tables - three two-seaters, three four-seaters, and one big group table. All of the tables had a red-and-white checkered tablecloth, like a picnic blanket. Towards the back was the counter where you could order, presumably, a vending machine, a jukebox, and an arcade game. The jukebox was playing a familiar-sounding song - perhaps by the artist Lumena-Tan? 

Kel was sitting at the middle four-seater. Upon seeing Basil and Aubrey, he waved them over. Aubrey waved back, leaned over to Basil, whispered, "No matter what he tells you, do not let him give you any orange-colored soda," and went over to sit down next to Kel. Once again, Basil was slightly bewildered. But by this point, he was quite used to the antics of this group. 

"How come Hero's not here?" Basil asked, sitting across from Aubrey and Kel.

The other two exchanged a glance before Kel answered, "He... had homework!

"Oh. Okay." It made sense. Allan Pierce gave an ungodly amount of homework. No doubt for a senior student like Hero, he'd be busy well into the weekend. 

"I'm gonna go order. I want the Margherita. Kel, we're sharing, right?" Aubrey asked Kel. He nodded, and Aubrey looked at Basil. "What do you want?"

"Uh... I'll share with you guys," Basil decided. As Aubrey went up to order, he took the time to take in the 1950s' diner atmosphere of Gino's. He always liked old movies, with actors like Judy Garland and Cary Grant. 

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Kel inquired. 

"Nothing in paticular. I just like the old-timey feel this place has."

At this moment, Aubrey returned and took her seat next to Kel. "It'll be ready in twenty minutes," she said. 

The three comrades engaged in idle chatter for a while, interrupted only when Kel went to get the pizza. The theories and emotional troubles which were weighing on his mind were temporarily lifted. Aubrey was correct. It was good for him to escape the house. He had been spending too much time staring at the bathroom mirror contemplating his life decisions anyway. 

“So, Basil, when are you gonna visit your grandma?” Kel asked. “Isn’t that the reason you moved here in the first place? She lives in the Cozy Fire Nursing Home, right?”

“It is, and she does, yeah.” Basil picked the basil off of his pizza slice before taking a bite. “But I just haven’t had time. I was thinking of going to see her tomorrow, but I don’t know if I can visit her on Sundays.”

“Why don’t we go later today?” Kel suggested. “You, me, Aubrey, and Hero, since Hero’s not doing anything today any- OOF.”

Before Kel could finish his sentence, Aubrey had elbowed him in the stomach.

“What Kel means is, we’ll see if Hero’s free,” Aubrey stated, punctuating her point with a bite of pizza.

By this point, Basil knows that’s a lie. Every single time someone in this group has cut themselves off or cut someone else off so far, they were hiding something. Usually something Sunny-related. Judging by what Kel was about to say, Hero’s not doing anything right now. So why’d they lie to him? Why would they tell him Hero’s busy when he’s probably not? 

Since most of their secrets and lies had been about Sunny or Mari, Basil figured Hero not coming to Gino’s had something to do with Sunny or Mari as well. Gino’s was a pizza joint. Perhaps they used to frequent this area with Sunny and Mari back when the six of them were close?

Point blank, Basil asked, “Does this place remind you guys of Sunny?”

Kel choked on his pizza. 

“FUCK-” Aubrey started punching Kel’s back.

“THAT’S NOT HOW YOU HELP A CHOKING PERSON!” Basil shrieked. He ran around to the other side of the table.

“Kel, just keep coughing, okay?” Basil instructed. He gave five hard slaps to the area between Kel’s shoulder blades. On the fifth hit, Kel spit up a mushy gob of pizza and something unidentified.

“Blegh. Regurgitated pizza is gross,” Kel said, making a face.

Aubrey frowned. “Not important right now! Are you okay, Kel?” She glared at Basil. “Next time, don’t ask questions like that without warning.”

“…” Basil blinked. “…sorry?”

Kel waved at him. “It’s okay. To answer your question, yeah, we used to hang out together at Gino’s, us and the Suzukis. But the reason we didn’t invite Hero is because…”

Kel leaned up real close to Basil (Basil got a whiff of regurgitated pizza + unidentified substance breath - gross) and whispered, “Hero and Mari used to go on dates here.”

…

Oh.

Oh.

That made a lot of sense now.

“Oh… so, coming here must remind him of his ex?” Basil questioned.

“Yup. It’s already been pretty hard for him, having to see her all the time at school,” Kel said. “We didn’t wanna make it worse.”

“That’s very considerate,” Basil complimented.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “No duh. We’re very considerate people. That’s why we adopted you into our friend group.”

~~~

Having enjoyed a lovely day, Basil was sitting alone on a bench in the park. As the sun sank, so did his mood.

While the lunch with his friends was a welcome distraction, the troubles were resurfacing to the front of his mind. Plus a new, recently realised frustration - why do his friends keep lying to him?

Okay, he gets it. He’s still kind of new, and that type of information is sensitive. But come on. They’re doing a really bad job at acting like they don’t have anything to hide. If they were going to keep secrets, they should stop slipping up all the time!

Basil mulled this over, growing more frustrated the more he thought about it.

At that moment, a small orange cat jumped onto the bench and curled up next to him.

“Well, hi, there,” Basil said quietly, a small smile creeping onto his face.

He tentatively scratched the cat’s head. “You’re lucky. You don’t have to worry about complicated relationships. Well, maybe you do, but you can’t talk, so what do I know?”

The cat purred and rubbed its head on Basil’s knee. It tickled. Basil chuckled.

Then something hit him.

“Wait. You can’t talk. You can’t talk! I can vent to you!” Basil grinned and picked up the cat (it was rudely jolted from its slumber by this - stop cat cruelty), placing it on its lap.

Unfortunately for this poor cat’s chance of sleep on a warm human, Basil talked. No, he ranted. Starting all the way from the beginning - his strange meeting with his friends, being mistaken for Rowan, his new school, learning about Sunny and Mari’s past, having a gay panic after meeting Sunny, his frustrations with his friends secrecy.

The cat wanted to leave, but something told it that this insane human needed this noise-making session. It listened peacefully, trying to tune out the human’s noise as background sound.

Finally, the human stopped its noise.

And for a few blissful minutes, there was silence.

…

“What the fuck?”

Basil’s heart legitimately stopped for a second there.

He didn’t want to believe it. He kept his eyes trained on the cat in his lap, hoping, praying, this wasn’t what he thought it was.

Slowly, he turned his head.

He saw the sketchbook. Then the black-and-white checkered jacket. 

Blue locked with brown.

Standing behind the bench, her mouth open, her eyes wide…

There stood the familiar figure of Mincy Bishop.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, Mincy had been standing behind him from the moment Basil began his long, tired rant to the cat. The cat, having been released from his misery, was now curled up by the foot of the bench, the slow rise-and-fall of his belly indicating that he was taking a well-deserved nap.

“So… you’re really not going to tell them that you’re trying to investigate?” Mincy asked.

“How can I tell them? I’d have to lie so that they won’t get mad, and I don’t want to lie any more than I already am!”

Basil ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Imagine if I had to tell them that I’m trying to interact with the one person I’m banned from speaking to.”

“Technically you didn’t actually speak to him yet. He ran away from you,” Mincy pointed out.

“I know that!” Basil frowned and glanced to the side. “Why did he do that, anyway?”

Mincy shrugged. “Maybe because you look like the person who blinded him in one eye?”

“Hm…” Basil nodded slowly. “I’d thought about that as a possibility. I guess it makes sense.”

“Why are you trying to understand this, anyway?” Mincy asked. “What even are you trying to understand?”

“Well…” Basil leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his clasped hands. “Doesn’t there seem like a lot of… plot holes to you?”

“Plot holes? What is this, a book?”

“No— what I mean is, there are a lot of gaps in the incident. What I’ve been questioning most is how Mari got in a coma. The others told me they found her unconscious at the bottom of the stairs on top of Sunny’s broken violin on the day of their music recital. I can understand slipping and falling, but how did the violin end up broken at the bottom of the stairs in the first place? I highly doubt that Mari threw it down herself and then fell.”

“She could’ve. I mean, that’s literally the only plausible explanation, with the information we’ve got,” Mincy stated. “She probably did, but she might not have been in her right mind. I know I’ve done stupid things when I was nervous.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the accident was on the day of the recital, then Mari would’ve been nervous. Maybe she wasn’t thinking straight and threw the violin down the stairs. It could have been pre-performance stress.”

Basil shook his head. “Based on what my friends told me, she sounds pretty levelheaded.”

“Uh, based on what you said about your friends, it sounds like they lie to you a lot,” Mincy said.

“Technically, most of it was lying by omission…” Basil mumbled.

“Key word: lying.” Mincy picked up the cat (prompting a meow of protest) and placed it in her lap before continuing, “I don’t understand this logic. If they were going to tell you their deepest, darkest secret, and then continuously lie to you about relatively smaller things, why even tell you about the big thing at all?”

“Yeah. I guess,” Basil agreed. He’d had the same thought process. 

“Well, forget about that for now,” Mincy said quickly. “Focus on the important stuff. What’s your end goal here? Let’s say you do figure out the real reason the group split up and what happened to Mari. What are you gonna do with that information?”

“Um… I…” Basil huffed. “I will… confront my friends about what actually happened, and then depending on what happened, I will try and reconcile the two.”

Mincy grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Chapter Text

Hey everyone - MoonBread here. I’ve discussed it with my co-author and we’ve decided to put this fic on indefinite hiatus. Neither of us have the inspiration to write for Omori anymore, and we’ve not been able to come up with anything new for the fic.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE HIATUS IS FOREVER. I will eventually come back to OOTPT. I have other projects planned - so keep an eye out for that.

Thank you to all of the users who read our fic, bookmarked it, left kudos, and commented. Until we meet again!