Chapter Text
Sunny awoke in a plain white room, similar to White Space, but it was most definitely not. He pondered a bit, wondering what he was to do in this situation, so he decided to move. Walk forward in this nothingness. And at first, it seemed as if he were making no progress.
His senses soon became slowly dominated by a bleached light and loud ringing. Is he dead? And if not, was he dying? At this point to him, it didn’t really matter. As he persisted on, the light started to become brighter and brighter, and the ringing just became even more ear shattering and annoying.
He could see someone within the light. Someone with their back turned, showing off their long, black hair. The white angelic dress they were wearing reminded him of… Reminded him of…?
He couldn’t remember.
Instinctively, he reached out a hand, grazing their soft skin and being reminded of sweet childhood memories.
Ah, that’s right! His dear sister Mari, yes. He remembered. That’s who this must be, so he gave her a little tug to get her to turn his direction.
He wishes he hadn’t done that though, because when she turned around her face was warped in an unrecognizable mess. Her eyes melted out of socket, followed by her teeth that started slowly falling out and disintegrating, forming a foul smelling puddle on the ground.
Sunny was glued to his place–he couldn’t move a single muscle. Not even the ones in his eyes, which would’ve shielded him from the ungodly sight. But he couldn’t, and all he wanted to do was cry.
He tried opening his mouth to scream, but being unsuccessful to make a single sound discouraged this, so he watched. Watched this person he loved so dearly turn into a sinuous and horrible figure.
This thing, whatever it was, reached a hand out to Sunny’s shoulder. A scalding hand that otherwise would’ve made him scream in pain. It opened its mouth, attempting to form words. “Omo…r..i.” it rasped.
Omori? Omori. Omori .
No no no. Sunny wasn’t Omori. Omori was gone, right?
Yeah. Yes, Omori was gone. He’s not him. He’s not Omori.
I’m not Omori. I’m not Omori. I’m not-
In an instance, everything went black, and for a second he swore that he had just died.
But he awoke again, in a different setting. A more realistic one. At least from what he could tell.
Sunny attempted to open both eyes, and it was only then that he realized that he was not dreaming, he was in a hospital. He’d in fact actually gone outside of his house for the first time in four years, there was no denying it now.
There was still a slight ringing in his ears, and the bright light that was once overtaking his vision faded into a softer, more yellowish version than it once was. Eventually, the ringing subsided and he could properly think straight.
Everything was just as disorientating as Sunny remembered it to be. And, for a second, he considered closing his eyes, falling back asleep, and returning back to his fantasy land where everyone was happy and alive, but he knew that there was nothing left for him there, and most importantly, none of it was real.
As he went to move he felt a sharp pain shoot throughout his body and a stringing in his right eye. He groaned loudly as he grabbed at the bandages covering half of his face, remembering the night prior. Sunny had a gut feeling that night that something was off, and, even though Basil had stabbed him in the eye, it was better than the alternative. Whatever that may have been.
Attempted suicide, that was the alternative. He didn’t want to assume, but based on the position he’d caught him in, Sunny is certain that’s what it was. It begged the question; if Sunny hadn’t interrupted him, would he have… done it?
An emotionally pained feeling came across his body as he considered this, and to his shock, he began to cry. He couldn’t believe it. For the first time in years, Sunny Suzuki allowed himself to sob profusely, without the voice in the back of his mind screaming at him to be quiet. That he didn’t deserve to cry.
The tears flowed for so many different reasons. Because he had missed his friends for so long, because he had abandoned Basil, and most devastating of it all, because he’d finally came to terms with Mari’s death
She didn’t commit suicide. No, he’d murdered her. Unfairly took her life when it had just been beginning. He killed the one he loved, and he will never forgive himself for that.
He halted his crying, deciding he needed to find Basil to make sure he was doing okay, or just anyone that could explain the situation in that matter, so he approached the exit to his room and slowly turned the knob.
As he walked down the white, surprisingly empty hall, he could’ve sworn that he caught a glimpse of his friends walking down the hallway, but as he walked closer, he realized they were only hallucinations. Apparitions that his mind was trying to comfort him with.
A familiar figure appeared, walking in the opposite direction than he’d seen his friends heading, so assuming this was his intuition telling him something, he decided to follow the latter.
He followed until the figure disappeared, stopping in front of another hospital room that he hoped to be Basil’s, finally in reach. His hand reached out for the cold steel door knob automatically, and when he entered…
When he entered, everything looked and felt blurry. He couldn’t make them out, but there were people. Three different shadows looming over a hospital bed that laid another shadow. This is just the perfect time for his brain to be playing tricks on him, he thought sarcastically.
“Sunny?” One of the shadows spoke. Their voice sounded familiar.
“What are you doing out of your room?” What was he doing out if his room? He should be in bed, laying down and dreaming of him and his friends living together peacefully and happily.
He shook his head, snapping out of it. He was here for Basil, here to make sure he’s okay, and to finally tell them all the truth, he can’t doubt himself now. If he can do one thing right, let it just be this.
His vision once again corrected itself to where he could finally see Aubrey, Hero, and Kel standing around Basil’s hospital bed. Basil had yet to open his eyes, and the bruises and cuts that scattered his face made him feel awful.
He tried to put the guilt off for now, and opened his mouth to speak. “I have to tell you something…” He croaked out.
Even he was surprised by how much his voice seemed to have changed, after not speaking for years. He’d say a few words occasionally, when he was awake that was. It was never enough though–that’s what his mother always said to him.
Kel titled his head curiously, “Sunny, hey! You spoke.” he said with a smile. Sunny only nodded silently, awaiting someone's approval to go on, and when he didn’t receive it, “It’s about Mari.” he decided to persist and move on anyway.
The color drained from the face of each of them, not anticipating the sudden topic to be brought up. Kel, in an attempt to speak for all of them, nodded, and one by one their eyes laid upon Sunny with a mixture of concern and confusion, making him shiver with anticipation.
“The night of Mari’s… suicide. I-It wasn’t that… I mean. A suicide.” Sunny stopped himself when he felt himself becoming hazy from the rapid beating of his heart. It feels like if he looks directly into their eyes for any longer that he’s going to pass out, so he opted for the floor, the plain white tiles reflecting a distorted and faint picture of himself.
“We got- I mean- I pushed her. D-Down the stairs. It was an accident, I-I swear!” He began to tear up again.
“She hit the ground too hard- and Basil saw the whole thing. All of it.” Sunny wiped away a tear that had been lingering in his tear duct for too long.
“He was the one to come up with the idea of f-framing it as a suicide. But please don’t get mad at him! I-I was the one that took her away from you…” His skin became cold as he went further on, and when he decided he was done speaking for the time being, “I’m sorry. You guys deserved to know this sooner.” he gave them a final apology, rubbing his hands against his arms in order to warm them up.
He didn’t expect them to forgive him, but he could’ve never anticipated that the first reaction he would gauge would be laughing.
“Y-Your not serious. You’re joking aren’t you? This is all some sick joke, right?” It was Kel, said out of disbelief. Sunny finally built up the courage to look up from his spot, and caught a glimpse of the different reactions on everyone’s faces. Anger, confusion, denial; it didn’t matter. It was the truth.
Kel looked at Sunny as if he were begging him to say that it wasn’t true. Instead, Sunny shook his head, and the reality of what he said sunk into everyone's broken hearts.
Aubrey slowly walked up to Sunny with a blank expression, and after a moment of staring straight into his soul, she slapped him.
“You’re fucking disgusting.” She spat. Her words stinging him more than the tender spot her hand had made contact with.
“You’re telling me I spent the last couple of days worrying about a murderer and his accomplice? What the hell is wrong with you?!?” She yelled in his face.
Couple of days?
Was he really out for that long?
He gained a shove on the shoulder from her when Sunny didn’t answer her, something she despised, the silent treatment. “Hey asshole! You got all talkative one second and now you won’t say anything! What’s the matter, cat got your goddamn tongue?!”
“A-Aubrey, you’re being a bit harsh!” Kel stuttered. He really should’ve just kept his mouth shut though, because she whipped around to look at him the same way she did to Sunny.
“A bit harsh? A BIT HARSH? Kel, are you hearing yourself right now? You sound fucking insane!” She reprimanded him, and then turned back to jab a finger harshly at Sunny’s chest.
She laughed a bit manically, “How DARE you keep that a secret for so long. Did you just assume you were the only one suffering? Because guess what, you weren’t!” Her whole body shook, and her breathing became irregular. Kel approached from behind in, and in an attempt to reason put a hand on her shoulder.
“Aubrey, just calm dow-”
“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” She jerked her body backward earning an even more concerned look from Kel, but he did not persist, which was probably for the best. She was already showing signs of destructive behavior.
Tears lightly streamed down her face, and she slowly wrapped her arms around herself. “And you.” She addressed Sunny, pointing her shaking finger towards him.
“I don’t want to see your face ever again! You understand?” She yelled, and shoved him out of the way to leave.
“W-Wait! Aubrey, we should talk about this!” Kel shouted as she swung open the door. She paused in the doorway and spoke up very quietly.
“There’s nothing to talk about…” And with that, she slammed the door shut, leaving the rest to ponder in silence. Needless to say, it was very uncomfortable. Air consisting of sniffles and staggered breathing, he knew he completely ruined perception of Mari’s death forever.
Hero was the next one to speak up. “I… I need time.” He mumbled, staring at the floor absentmindedly.
“To process this. I need time.” His voice was empty, void of emotion. And when his wide wet eyes finally landed on Sunny's face, “I can’t believe the two of you, I’m… I’m disappointed, Sunny.” Sunny couldn’t help but feel absolutely distraught. Getting Hero disappointed at you was one thing, but this was on a whole different level.
Perhaps it was because Sunny had always looked up to Hero in a way. He never wanted to disappoint him, and now that he’s hurt him, what now? The way he looked at Sunny was indescribable, and the way he slowly stepped out of the room with nothing else to say was miserable.
Kel, of course, wanting to go after his brother, followed after him. He paused before leaving, “You two have a lot of explaining to do, Sunny.” he said.
“You guys are my friends, but I… I don’t know anymore.” He ran after Hero, calling his name.
Two.
It was just the two of them left now. Last time it was like this, they’d had a not-so-little scuffle, and he’d lost an eye. It probably was not a good idea to have them alone together again, but Sunny didn’t care, and Basil didn’t have a say. He wasn’t awake yet.
So he walked up to his bedside and put his ear against Basil’s chest, listening intently to his heartbeat. It was steady, like the heart monitor read, but he had to hear for himself that he was still alive. Extra reassurance.
He then lifted his head to inspect Basil's face. There’s a bruise on his left eye, bandages covering various cuts, and he looked a little pale. The guilt was overwhelming, he couldn't imagine how Basil was going to react when he woke up…
Sunny lightly placed a finger on Basil's face and traced his freckles. He’s always liked his freckles. They were slightly more visible because of how pale he was, making it a bit easier to spot them all, but halfway through tracing them all decided he was being creepy, touching his still, unconscious body like this.
So he stood up from his place, planning to go back to his room before a nurse came in and scolded him for being out, but as he slowly stepped away from Basil’s bed, a sound of shuffling suddenly came from behind him. Immediately, he turned around.
Basil was moving around in his spot, groaning softly, and his eyes slowly fluttered open. Sunny’s never been good at maintaining eye contact, but at this moment, when their eyes met, he couldn't break away from the ocean-like eyes that met his own duller ones.
He felt it, the something that had been following, haunting, mocking Sunny for so long disappeared. The happiness he felt seeing his old best friend awake after such an already long day was overwhelming, so he gave Basil the biggest smile he could. And Basil, still a little delirious, smiled too, having the something that wrapped around and warped his brain disappear as well.
“Sunny…” Basil tried to speak, but his voice was too hoarse. Quickly, Sunny grabbed a cup , filled it with water, raced back to his side, and lifted the cup to his lips so he could drink.
He drank very slowly, it took a while for him to get done. “Thank you.” He said more clearly this time when he finished, and wiped his mouth with the back of his frail hand.
Sunny let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and put the cup down on the counter next to them. “Basil…” He said, Basil looked up at him with glistening eyes. He was probably surprised he’d even spoken after all this time of being silent.
“Basil, I told them.” He looked a bit confused, so Sunny elaborated, “I told them about Mari. About how I killed her, your idea to frame it as a suicide… They know now.”
Basil let out a sigh, a relieved one no less. The weight they had both been burdening them was slowly being lifted off both their shoulders, “S-Sunny… Thank you.” He said, covering his face.
“I’m so s-sorry...” He apologized as he let out a few sniffles.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to hurt you I-I thought I was protecting you. I’m sorry.” Basil uncovered his face to wipe away tears. His cheeks were already red and his eyes were a bit puffy.
He reached out to touch where Sunny’s wounded eye was, but immediately pulled back. “Haha, I’m such a terrible friend, Sunny.”
“You aren’t.” Sunny retaliated. He caught Basil’s eyes with his own. “I am.” he said.
“We were supposed to stick together, but I left you by yourself. Basil… I’m the worst friend in the world, and I’m so sorry you had to be the one to witness it.” Sunny apologized.
“S-Sunny, it’s okay.” Basil said. But Sunny shook his head, refusing to accept that answer, “It’s not, so let me make it up to you.” he said.
“Shouldn’t you be m-mad at me? I stabbed your eye out and convinced you to h-hang Mari… I’m the villain here.” Basil questioned, voice wavering on and off.
Sunny squinted his eyes, if anything, he was the villain, not Basil. “Who said I was never mad at you at some point?” He asked. “And I was the one that left you for four years, so shouldn’t you also be mad?”
To that, Basil crossed his arms and side-eyed him. “I do admit, I am s-still a little angry about it. But… you’re here now. Th-That’s all I ever wanted.” His tone softened in the last sentence, and a short silence followed.
Basil opened his mouth to talk, hesitating to find the words, “How did th-they react?” he asked.
“Not very well.” Sunny said. “Aubrey yelled at me, and slapped me, Hero said he was disappointed in us, and Kel… He seemed very confused.”
“Aubrey s-slapped you?!” Basil squeaked, looking at his face with a horrified expression.
Sunny nodded, persisting the silence from before, and among that decided that was enough talking about that for the day. He was quite frankly exhausted, even though he’d just woken up, and if he had to think super hard about something for any longer, he feels like his head might explode.
Besides, the silence between the two had always been rather comforting. They never needed words to share their thoughts to each other, it’s like the other just knew what one was feeling telepathically.
Sunny grabbed one of Basil's hands and looked up at him. “Is this okay?” He asked. Basil nodded, intertwining their fingers together.
Basil’s hands have always been more noticeably calloused due to him working in the garden all day. Sunny's, however now soft and a tad bigger than Basil’s, used to also be calloused from playing the violin. But, not anymore since he hasn’t touched one in ages.
“Haha! Th-This is just like when w-we were kids…” Basil commented, a small blush spread across Basil’s pale face as he trailed off. Sunny, who had this head planted on his arm, looked up from the floor he had been staring at. “Basil?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll explain myself before I leave for the city, okay?” Sunny said.
“You promise?” Basil asked, squeezing his hand a little harder.
“No, I will.” He affirmed, making the other smile weakly. It was enough to satisfy Sunny though.
“Hey S-Sunny?” Basil called out next.
“Yeah?”
“Welcome back, Sunny.”
…
It was a little later in the afternoon. After Sunny had affirmed to Basil that he would explain himself they sat without another word for the rest of the time, hand in hand, until a nurse came in and started scolding Sunny for being out of his room.
He was told that his mom was on his way to visit; she started heading over as soon as the nurses informed her that he was awake.
When she arrived, Sunny was sitting on his bed and staring absentmindedly at the ceiling. Her entrance did not make him look down.
“Oh dear God, Sunny!” She immediately made her way over for a big hug, which Sunny wasn’t very appreciative of. Still though, he hugged her back as she gave him reassuring pats on the back and multiple apologies about how she shouldn’t have left him on his own for so long.
“Mom- It’s fine. I’m okay.” Sunny complaned, finally managing to get out of her grip. Her eyes welled with tears, and she stroked both sides of his face with her hands.
“Oh Sunshine… You spoke.” She said proudly. Even though nobody else was witnessing this, Sunny couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
A sudden aggressiveness appeared in her eyes, “And you’re not okay! Look what happened to you… The doctors said they don’t think you’ll ever be able to see out of that eye again!” Sunny had to admit, that would take some getting used to, and it would probably be really annoying, but it was okay because… Basil is okay.
“How’d this happen again? Aubrey, Hero, and Kel said they found you both passed out and bloody gardening shears in Basil’s hand?” She made a disgusted face as she described the scene.
“Why would he do something like that? He’s always been such a kind gentle soul…” She asked. Asked asked asked… His mother always asked way too many questions at once.
Still, he supposes he can’t blame her for being curious, he did lose an eye. “He didn’t mean to.” Sunny said without any further elaboration. She huffed, looking at him with stern eyes. “Now explain to me how someone accidentally stabs someone else's eye out?”
“He was having a panic attack.” He said, but still, she gave him the, ‘I’m not buying it.’ look, which consisted of raised eyebrows and dilated pupils.
“He wasn’t thinking straight, and… And I don’t think he could see.” Sunny was trying his best to recall the night as well as he could.
“He kept saying there was something behind me, and that he would protect me from it, and then.” He made a stabbing motion towards his eye. “Garden shears in my eye.”
His mom did not appreciate Sunny’s goofy recreation of the scene. She crossed her arms, “That’s all? Really?”
"A-Also.” Sunny continued. “His grandma was in the hospital. I don’t know what happened to her but… I think he was planning on doing something not so nice that night…”
“I don’t understand.” She confessed. Sunny slapped himself on the forehead. “Mom! He was gonna hurt himself. Basil was… Basil was going to commit suicide.” He said.
It hurts to say out loud. Another loved one, dead at the hands of Sunny. He couldn’t have taken it any longer if that was the case.
His mom covered her mouth in shock at his words. “I see… Basil has always been closer to his grandmother than his own parents. I can’t imagine what he’s going through.” She said.
Sunny sighed, knowing what he had to talk about with her next. It wasn’t going to be pretty,
“Mom, we should… I need to tell you something.”
But consistency is the key.
~
It’s been a couple of days since Sunny’s seen Basil or any of his other friends, if you could still call them that. The nurses did not allow the two to see each other at the request of Sunny’s mom. She took his confession rather well, Saying that, “She assumed something wasn’t right.” After all, Mari had never shown any signs of being depressed to anybody, which is why her death was so shocking to everybody.
“I knew something wasn’t right from the get-go. At first, I had truly believed that she had done it, but… After they took down her body, after they found chunks of a broken violin implanted in her head, and after seeing that she had laid out her clothes for the recital so meticulously I thought, there was no way my daughter could've killed herself. But still, I went with it. Because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing my son as well.”
However, what she had to say about Basil wasn’t as lenient as what she had to say about Sunny. She was disgusted at his thought process, and couldn’t understand why he resorted to such drastic measures so quickly.
Sunny didn’t fully understand either, but they were just kids at the time, and all Basil had ever wanted to do was to protect him, so that’s all he told her for now.
Maybe, just maybe she was silently grateful for that, but she would never show it. For the time being though, Basil was banned from seeing him. Which sucked. A lot. How was he supposed to explain himself now?
Over the past two days Sunny had just laid in bed all day, occasionally napping, or getting visits from his mother. On day two of Basil-ban something different happened though.
He got a knock on his door, which he assumed to be a nurse. However, he thought the knock to be quite aggressive for a nurse. The door handle turned slowly and the door opened even slower.
It was Kel. He looked a little tired, but still bore a big smile on his face as he entered Sunny’s room. “Hey Sunny.” He tried to say enthusiastically, but it still came out a bit flat.
He awkwardly pulled up a chair and sat near his bedside. “I uh- came to check up on you guys. Glad to see Basil’s awake…”
So he visited Basil first, Sunny thought. Interesting.
“So uh, how are you?” Kel asked, making him realize that he’s been stuck in his head this whole time and not speaking.
“I’m fine. Could be better.” Sunny replied. Kel scratched the back of his neck and smiled.
“Glad to hear bud- ahem. Uh, have you… talked to Basil any?”
“I have.” Sunny didn’t elaborate.
“Y-Yeah, cool cool.” Kel patted his knees in rhythm out of uncomfortableness.
“Listen Sunny, it’s really awkward right now. With everybody. Aubrey's gone back to ignoring me, a-and Hero. Hero won’t even speak to me about it. Hell, he even left early to go back to uni.” Kel spluttered out.
“You guys are still my friends, but I want answers, Sunny. A-And Basils explained his point of view to me the best he could, but I still don’t understand why you did it.” He paused.
“So can you please tell me?” Kel asked. “What happened that day, Sunny?”
He appreciated Kel’s efforts to hear him out, and he never intended to split the three of them apart again, but Sunny knows he’s done the right thing so far. He can’t mess up now, so he began to explain.
He explained how the pressure of the recital was weighing down upon him within every passing day. How he and Mari would practice for hours at a time sometimes with no in-between breaks. He’d been so exhausted and tired from practicing that he just wanted to quit.
He went into as much detail as possible about the day before the recital, explaining how during a heated argument with Mari, he threw his violin down the stairs in a fit of rage, which only made her even more furious.
He never intended to push her hard, only enough so he could pass by her and run out of the house, but instead he ended up pushing her directly down the stairs, Basil as a witness. With her bad knee adding onto that, her balance couldn't have saved her either.
He explained how he and Basil had taken her upstairs and put her in her bed, and it was only when Basil saw Sunny panicking–when they both realized she was actually dead, that he came up with the plan of hanging her.
Kel nodded at every passing sentence and looked to be in deep thought. He did not interrupt Sunny once to ask him anything. He just quietly sat there and listened, which he appreciated. Unlike his mother, who stopped him in the middle of every sentence like she couldn’t believe any of it.
When Sunny was finished, Kel did not say anything. He sat with a bouncing knee, hand planted on his chin like he was thinking super hard about everything. In fact, he stayed silent for so long that when Kel finally spoke up again Sunny jumped at the sound of his voice.
“I think I understand slightly better.” Kel said. He stood up from his place and smiled at Sunny.
“Thank you, for the explanation. I should get going now.” Sunny nodded in understanding. Kel held out a fist initiating a fistbump, so he returned the favor, listening and watching him mimic a small explosion noise with his mouth.
“Oh! Before I forget.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Call me when you get discharged alright?”
Sunny looked at the paper, it had his house number on it. In all honesty, Sunny has Kel and Hero’s number memorized by heart, but he appreciated the gesture anyway.
“I will.” Sunny smiled.