A Pinky Promise

Deja Vu

Basil was the name of a herb. Sunny couldn't eat pizza, salad, or anything with basil in it. He couldn't see sunflowers without getting reminded of him. Flower crowns, watermelons, even the color teal kept reminding him of Basil and how he looked like in his headspace.

He wanted to create another headspace to live in, another fake reality. One where Basil was still with him, still wearing that cute smile, still being happy and more alive than ever.

But his alter ego, Omori, was long gone. Without Omori there was no headspace. Sunny had to learn to live in the real world, to accept all his feelings, all the sadness that he felt.

He wanted to run away again, away from his feelings, away from reality. But he couldn't, he already hurt Basil once by doing so. And if he started dreaming of fake realities again he knew that Basil wouldn't like it. He wouldn't like seeing Sunny shut himself in again, so Sunny will not do that. He can not do that.

Sunny felt like he couldn't go on, he lost his sister, but Omori helped him cope with that. He lost Omori, and he lost Basil. Days passed. And the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years.

***

Sunny is twenty three now, it has been six years since Basil's death, and Sunny finally learned how to live with it. He learned to accept it and not feel sad about it. Instead, whenever he saw basil as an ingredient in any food, whenever he saw sunflowers out in the wild, he felt happy that they reminded him of his late lover. 

He felt happy for all the times they shared together, all the memories they had with eachother. He felt happy that Basil was part of his life.

 His life was begging to stabilize again. He graduated from high school, got a job, and moved out of his mom's house. He rented his own apartment. His job as a cashier and waiter didn't make much, but it was enough to feed him and his cat. 

Every morning he would go get coffee and have a walk before going to work. His shift was in the afternoon so he had plenty of time for himself.

***

A young man was late for work. He was wearing a dark green suit and held a bag with a laptop in it. He was running late so he wasn't watching where he was going, he just ran and ran as fast as he could. He had a strict boss, who would fire him if he kept showing up late.

Crash

"Oh I- I'm so sorry, sir! I'm running late for work and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going! My apologies!" The young businessman bowed in respect.

Sunny's smile broke looking at the person in front of him. It couldn't be real, it just couldn't. He looked so much like him, his long golden-blonde hair, his beautiful blue eyes, the cute pink blush that always colored his face. It all just seemed like a dream, a hallucination. "... Basil..?" Sunny asked.

The young man looked at the stranger in front of him in confusion, he could swear he had never seen this man ever in his life. "H-how do you know my name..?" Basil questioned, concerned.

"N-no... This.. this can't be real.. you... Why... What is this... Am.. am i going insane..?!" Sunny freaked out. Basil was dead, he had killed himself six years ago. But here Basil is, standing right in front of him, acting like he doesn't know him!

"S-sir..! I-is everything a-alright..?!" Basil looked with a concerned look at Sunny. Sunny reached out and held Basil tightly by the shoulders."Why... why are you here... Are you here to take me..? Did.. did i have a heart attack? Did a car hit me? What's going on!" Sunny yelled out desperately. He was so confused, this was all so confusing. So scary.

"I.. I was just going to work, sir. P-please let me go, I'm running late..." Basil's brows rose in worry and concern about the behavior of the stranger in front of him. "N-no! I won't let you go! Never again! I'll make sure to never leave you again, to never hurt you again!" Sunny cried out.

"S-sir what is this all about..? I-I've never seen you before,, you've never hurt me before.. w-what are you talking about..?" Basil felt confused and scared. He'd never seen this man before in his life, yet the man was acting like he knows him. 

Sunny looked at Basil blankly before fear covered his expression again. 

"W-what is this, some kind of sick joke?! Have I not been through enough already!? Does the world hate me so much as to play those dumb, sick jokes on me?!" Sunny cried out. He was so stressed, so scared, so worried, so concerned, so freaked out. He couldn't take it anymore and he just passed out. 

***

When he woke up he was laying in a bed, a familiar ceiling above him. He sat up and looked around. Ah.. I'm in the hospital. He thought. 

"Ah.. mr. Suzuki... Y-you're awake.." Sunny turned to his right and noticed Basil sitting there.

No, Basil is dead. That's just a guy that looks like him and they happen to share a name.

"Basil..? I-I mean,, sir..-" Sunny tried to ask but got interrupted. 

"Just Basil is fine." The blonde said. 

"Right... Uh, Basil..? What happened..?" Sunny asked curious on how he ended up in the hospital.

"Well uh.. you started saying stuff about the world playing jokes on you then you passed out so I called an ambulance.. I-I can pay for your stay if you don't have enough!" Basil offered. Health care in the United States is expensive.

"Ah... thank you." Sunny looked at Basil. 

"So, tell me.. h-how did you know my name..? And why did you act like you know me..?" Basil said, still troubled.

"It's a long story..." Sunny sighed. "I can listen, unless you don't wanna talk ab-" Basil got interrupted. "No, no it's fine... its just that..." Sunny spoke.

"I had a boyfriend when I was young, we were still both children but I knew that he was the love of my life. H-His name was Basil and... he looked so much like you, I just though that-" Sunny said.

"You thought I was him? That's quite sweet! Uhm; the doctors told me you didn't have any people close to you so i decided to stay here and wait for you to wake up... W-wanna call your boyfriend to come and pick you up?" Basil asked.

"He's dead..! He killed himself the day I moved out of my hometown!" Sunny stared at the ground. "Oh.. I'm really sorry to hear that... If I'm allowed, how old was he..?" Basil apologized.

"Seventeen..." Sunny replied. 

"Oh I'm very sorry, he was so young... you must miss him a lot." Basil said. 

"I do..." Sunny replied. "He was the love of my life." he finished.

"I-I have an idea... H-how about we go to the cemetery together this evening... So you can visit him, and I'll be there so you can have a shoulder to cry on." Basil suggested. 

"R-Really..?! You'd do that for me..!? Oh, I'd love to..! Thank you!" Sunny jumped out of his bed excited. This would be the first time he's visiting Basil at his grave. He didn't want to go alone, it would be too painful. But now he has someone to go with. Someone as kind as Basil.

*** 

A few hours passed, and a few doctors came in. Sunny was free to go now. Basil was waiting outside in his car and as soon as Sunny left the hospital he got in the car and they drove off to Faraway. 

The car ride was pretty awkward and silent, Basil then decided to break the silence. 

 "If I may,, what happened to your eye..?" He asked. 

 "That's also a long story" Sunny sighed. "The night before I moved away, me and Basil got in a fight.. he... He wanted to kill himself that night,, I.. I went in his room to save him and in return I got my eye stabbed,, its okay, I'm not mad at him. I saved him once, but the next morning I was too late..." Sunny looked out the window. 

 "I'm so sorry to hear that.. your life seems very tragic." Basil's eyes were pinned on the road ahead of them. Sunny replied with a sigh.