Persona O | Omori x Persona

Chapter 5: Wilted Flower

"Great, now let's go!"

Kel takes the lead to the playground with Aubrey and Basil following behind. As they trek through the sidewalk, Basil hears rustling coming from beside him. He stops to look at the bushes nearby, seeing it move slightly. He leans forward to see what is in there, with a Sprout Mole popping out of it.

Basil flinched back, perplexed to see something like a Sprout Mole existing. Then a round bunny hops close to the Sprout Mole, with the two dancing around in a circle while making melodic noises. Basil attempts to wrap his head around what he saw since there can't be any way that they exist. The only thing he can recall of their existence is from a card game in Hobbeez. While Basil watches the two creatures dance, he is soon called by Aubrey not far away.

"Basil, what you even looking at?" she asks as she walks to him.

"Oh, nothing!" Basil straightened himself, "I was getting distracted that's all."

"If you say so. Now c'mon, Kel is waiting for us."

Aubrey takes off and Basil goes after her until they reach the park. Aubrey's friends are waiting, playing around with a frisbee and hanging out at the playground. The three arrived and they all got together for a hangout. Aubrey and Kel played some tag with Kim, Angel, and The Maverick, while Basil hangs out by the swings with Charlie and Vance.

Basil watches as the tag team chase each other around the park, a few times where some would trip and fall. He does have some bit of conversation between Vance and Charlie, which is the only thing he can do besides swinging. While Basil observes the playground around him, he sees another sight before him.

A pack of Sprout Moles runs across the park, with many bunnies hopping around the place. Basil focuses on the many creatures roaming around the playground, and he wipes his eyes so as not to distract himself. As he looked back, they were all gone, as Basil expected. He sighs frustrated, mostly with the things he was seeing right now. Then suddenly, a strong headache hit him and Basil groans from the pain.

"Hey Basil, are you good?" Vance asked concerned.

"Um, not really to be honest," Basil replied, "I'm having a headache, a bad one at that..."

"Did you take something to relieve the pain?"

"I did before I came here, so I thought it was ebbing away..."

"Maybe you should get back home to rest, it's fine if you want to dismiss yourself early."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure, I'll tell Aubrey and Kel where you are. Think they won't mind your absence."

"Okay, thanks Vance," Basil stood up.

"It's no problem, just go along to your home now."

Basil nodded and walked out of the park to return to his house. Vance removes himself from the swing and goes to Aubrey and Kel, who are currently resting on the picnic table.

"Hey Vance, what's up?" Kel said.

"I just wanted to say to you two that Basil wants to head home early, so I let him dismiss himself," Vance replied.

"Huh, why?" Aubrey questioned.

"He said that he has a bad headache and he wants to rest for the day."

"But didn't he complain of having headaches for a few days now?" Kel said.

"Yeah, he did. Is he sick or something?" Aubrey added.

"I wouldn't know for sure, but I hope it isn't serious," Vance replied.

"I mean, Basil has been spacing out a lot as of recently. It isn't like him," Kel mentioned.