Not So Dead Mari || Omori au

Chapter 7; I'm not dead.

"Ah.. I'm fine, thanks Kel.."
Basil replies to Kel's question, getting up from the grassy ground. Patting some grass off his knees. He looks at the two of his friends, well.. three if you count Mari- four if you count Mewo.

Mari stares at the blond boy, worry on her face. It's nice to know he's okay.. "I don't.. know if you noticed, but Sunny is here too!" Kel exclaims, trying to light up the mood as he points towards the short boy beside him. "Say hi, Sunny!" Sunny does a little wave, as Basil cracks a little smile. A genuine smile.

Mari pops up from behind Sunny and does a little wave too, even though Basil couldn't see her- his smile slightly grew a bit more. "Oh, hey Sunny.. it's been a while, hasn't it? Haha.." Basil mutters, holding his neck. Sunny doesn't reply to this, as he stares right into Basil. What a very rude way to reply to someone, Sunny!

"WOOHOO!!! what a happy reunion!" Kel exclaims, jumping up and down like a little kid. Mari giggles at this, as Sunny and Basil stare at him- Basil chuckling in response. "So.. do you wanna hang out with us, B?" Kel invites, Basil's face suddenly changes back into his worry as he turns down the offer, he should be heading home, he says.

"Huh? You sure?" Kel asks, he was expecting Basil to accept the invitation since.. Sunny's here.. "My um.. my grandma hasn't been feeling well.. lately so uh.." Basil replies, Kel gets the message anyways. "Oh! Sorry to hear that!" Mari had met Basil's grandma only quite a few times, but she could remember how nice she was to her and Sunny. The poor granny seemed to have finally reached her time perhaps? The poor thing.

Just thinking about the fact she hadn't even said a proper goodbye to her yet hurts Mari a little. She'll try to get Sunny to follow her to Basil's later.. if they were allowed to of course.

"Well- let us at LEAST walk you home! We haven't hung out in a while after all!" Kel says, Basil thinks for a bit- but saying no to Kel is proven to be a very hard thing to do. "Well.. um okay! Thanks..", the three of them walk out of the park, with Mari and Mewo following from behind.

...

The walk was quiet, with Kel trying to make conversation every now and then. But Mari couldn't stop thinking of Aubrey! What had happened while she was gone..? The sweet Aubrey she knew would never hurt her friends! Especially Basil!! Mari was starting to make stupid theories, like what if Aubrey had an evil twin she never told anyone about??

With what was going on with her these past four years, this could be a possibility! Mari told her theory to Mewo but it immediately shot down the idea, saying it made legit no sense. How mean.

...

"Um.. so.. thanks for walking me home" Basil says, as he stands in front of his front door. The small beige coloured house looked exactly like she remembered! Just with more gardening equipment littered beside his house, Basil must've been working harder on his plants these days!

"No problem-o! If you ever need anything from me, just ask, okay? We'll catch ya later, Basil!" Kel exclaims, giving Basil a toothy grin. Basil nods in response, as Kel turns to Sunny- probably a sign that they should leave. Mari turns to Basil, he seems.. uncomfortable? Mari is about to walk in front of Sunny, maybe she'd be able to stop him for a while-

"WAIT! PLEASE DONT GO!"
Basil yells, startling the hell out of the three of them, Mewo didn't seem so pleased. Basil runs towards them, Sunny and Kel turn to look at Basil- confusion on their faces. Basil notices the awkward situation he just made, as he mumbles an apology first. "-I.. actually have a favour to ask.." Basil mumbles, Kel glances towards Sunny before looking back at Basil.

"You can tell me anything Basil! What is it?" Kel asks, giving his usual reassuring smile towards the blond boy. "Well.. you see.. something important was stolen away from me.." Basil mutters, Mari face turns to worry as she stares at the boy. Who'd steal something from him??