Chapter Text
It’s a beautiful morning in the town of Faraway, the sun shining brightly with the bright green grass and colorful pastel flowers blooming in the park. Sunny had moved out of Faraway after finally admitting the truth behind her sister’s death. It was a rough transition from the hospital to the country, but he eventually got used to the quiet fields. Every once in a while, Sunny’s mom would let Sunny come back to visit his friends and hang out with them in the park, but this time, something would go so, so wrong.
Sunny got in the minivan’s front seat along with his mom in the driver's seat. Life had changed a lot for him after moving out; He’d begun to get into much, much healthier habits besides being a shut-in. He’d got more into fitness, going for nature walks and jogs every so often. Kel always inspired him to become more active after the truth and “go with the flow.” Though it wasn’t that noticeable, Sunny was way more active than he was in the previous years, and maybe even his childhood.
“You excited to go see your friends again? I heard there’s some new comics in Hobbeez that you and your friends would love to read.”
His mom was always happy to see him improve as Sunny went to hang out with his friends. She was proud of him for beginning to work on himself so much more both mentally and physically. She understood how Sunny felt when the truth came out, and while she was obviously devastated by the loss of her own daughter, she knew Sunny had been struggling with keeping his emotions in check at that age.
“I’m always happy to be back, Mom…” Sunny embarrassingly scratched the back of his head.
“Well, that’s good! Did you make sure to bring snacks? I know Kel gets hungry quickly.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Alright, let's get going then.”
They soon drove off their driveway and towards Faraway. It usually took a while, but Sunny would always look out the car window at all the fields. He’d daydream and space out, thinking about all the fun times he’d have and had, thinking back to their happiest days.
Mari would be proud of him, he thought.
Soon enough, the familiar buildings and homes came by, and Sunny grew excited with every passing moment. He’d be able to hang out with his friends again!
“Hey, actually- Sunny, have you heard about this?”
“About what?”
“Some group of kids went missing recently.”
“What? That’s terrible, oh my god.”
“Yeah, they called themselves The Hooligans, or something. No one has been able to find any hints on where they might be.”
Wait, weren’t those Aubrey’s friends? She must be worried sick about them. A sense of unsettling waved over him lightly but just shrugged it off.
“I knew those kids, Mom, they were Aubrey’s friends.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry to hear that. Hopefully, they find a clue on where they are soon.”
His mom looked genuinely worried as they drove up to Basil’s house. Sunny would always start with Basil when getting the group together to hang out. Then Aubrey, and finally Kel and Hero.
Basil became way less anxious after the truth came out, like a massive weight had come off his shoulders. He still tends to his garden as much as ever, but he’s branched out much further into other crafts, like knitting.
As Sunny steps out of the car, his mom suddenly looks over to him.
“Please, be careful out there. If you went missing, I don’t know what I would do.”
Sunny noted her concern, and he nodded as she drove off. Sunny walked over to the flower-filled home, knocking on the door. The door slowly creaked open as Polly greeted him.
“Oh, hey, Polly, is Basil home?
Sunny looked a little embarrassed. Usually, Basil is the one to answer him first.
“Yeah, he’s home! He just finished working on his garden, so he was taking a little rest.”
Polly reassured him as she went to get Basil.
“Basil! Sunny’s here to hang out!”
Soon enough, Basil came down from upstairs and hugged Sunny. It was always nice to see him again. He wore a beige long-sleeve shirt with a mint green t-shirt over it. He looked much more put together than he was in the past.
“Hey, Sunny! I’m glad to see you again.”
He politely waved as he walked out the door, seeming excited about hanging out with his childhood friends. He cheerfully walked alongside Basil, who was walking normally with a smile on his face.
“I suppose we should go get Kel and Hero, right?”
“I suppose we should!”
Sunny and Basil nodded in agreement before they walked over to their house. Hector was outside, playing around with a tennis ball. He rolled around before noticing Sunny and Basil, dashing over and panting.
“Awh, hi Hector! Hello…”
Sunny began to smother Hector in pats as he sat, looking at Hector with bright eyes. Basil looked ahead, and spotted Kel at the front door, complete with an orange and black varsity jacket with the school’s logo embroidered on the back. He leaned on the doorway, waving at Basil.
He’s mellowed out a lot more since everything happened. Nowadays, he works at Othermart as a part-time cashier, as he’s getting ready for college soon, since he’d gotten a scholarship for his athleticism. (He’s gonna be a PE teacher! :P)
“Oh, hey, you guys! We hangin’ out today?”
Kel walked outside, hands in his pockets. Hero could be seen inside the house, looking at his computer for some college assignments. Since everything had happened, Hero had swapped his major from being a doctor to being a therapist. His parents were mad at him at first, but they understood. Nowadays, he wears a college sweatshirt and recently started wearing glasses, since he had been staring at screens a lot more.
Hero gently waved from inside the house before following alongside Kel, now standing behind him.
“Hey, you two, I just finished up one of my college courses, so I should be free to hang out for now.”
Hero smiled. It was fun to hang out like the old times, even if someone from that time wasn’t around anymore. And even then, college felt like hell to him, so it was nice to get away from it all.
“So what’re we gonna do first, anyways? Hobbeez, Gino’s, or like, the lake?”
Kel was still just as impatient as always, though.
“How about we get Aubrey first, and then we can go from there, alright?”
And Hero always answered those same impatient questions. Classic siblings.
“Alright, let's do it then!”
Kel grinned as he walked out in front of Basil and Sunny, and they just smiled and nodded.
They then continued to friend-pick-up adventure to Aubrey’s house, and Kel immediately knocked on the door.
“Aubrey! We brought Sunny and Basil! We’re here to like, hang out and stuff!”
The door slowly creaked open, showing… no one there?
Kel looked confused as he slowly walked forward towards the door.
“Aubrey…? You uh? In here?”
Weird…where did she go?
As Kel walked inside, he noticed the floor looked very strange, as if parts of it suddenly changed to different colors, different textures, different…materials? He steps inside, but suddenly trips on nothing. Behind him, he could hear the group suddenly let out a shout of surprise as they collapsed through the floor.
Would you like to uninstall OMORI from your Steam library?
They click on yes. There’s a slight pause as your computer stalls, before the game title fades from a bright white to a dim grey on Their Steam library.
They were pretty tired of the game after that sudden cutoff of the Truth Ending, anyway.
**Welcome to Backspace. You’ve been removed.**
**You were never meant to be here, living or dead.**
**Pray that whatever happens to you is swift and painless.**