MARI'S MENACE (OMORI AU)

CHAPTER 3: My Everything

I woke up in a cold sweat. As I awoke, I remembered seeing his face, smiling. I got out of bed, my whole body shaking. Sunny's gift was lying on my desk. I carefully unwrapped the hand-sewn plush of his cat Bewo. I sat down and hugged the plush.

Bun Bun looked at me confused. I gave her a little pat. I got dressed and went to the park for a bit. I sat on the picnic blanket in silence as I processed last night's dream.

"... I saw Sunny last night."

Basil joined me only a short time after.

"Morning Aubrey."

"Morning Basil."

"How did you sleep? Also, what's up with the cat plush?"

"I slept alright. This plush was my gift to Sunny for his birthday."

"Oh, did you make it yourself?"

I nod, and suddenly I hear a familiar voice. It was Hero, he noticed us and came over to talk.

" Hey Basil, hey Aubrey."

"Hi, Hero," Basil says, unphased.

He sits next to Basil.

"Could I ask you something, Basil?"

He nods, and I get ready to stop any aggression that might come.

"Why are you being so cruel to Mari?"

Basil looks at me.

"I don't wanna explain," Basil says.

"Think about it, Hero. Basil and Sunny were really close, Sunny wore his matching necklace every day since he got it. Basil and Sunny were inseparable." I answer.

Basil looks away from us, trying to hide his sorrow. I hand the Bewo plush to him.

"Maybe hugging it can help."

Basil hugs the plush gently, to not destroy it.

"Thanks, Aubrey. It helps."

I pat Basil on the shoulder.

"I never want to talk to that freak again," Basil says.

"She is not a freak. Stop saying that." Hero says sternly as he stands up.

We also stand up. Basil tries to lunge at Hero but I hold him back. His shears partially cut my skin. I wince at the pain but keep holding him back.

"Aubrey! Are you okay?" Hero says.

I nod. I see someone in a gray hoodie at the vending machines. He gets an orange joe.

"Is that Kel?" I ask.

"Yeah it is, I thought he didn't want to leave our room today."

Hero walks over to Kel.

"Bro? What are you doing out of our room?"

He hugs Hero.

"I had a memory and had to clear my mind for a minute. I thought that getting an orange joe might help."

Hero brings Kel over to us.

"Hey," Kel says, he wasn't acting like himself.

He was silent and soft-spoken. It was like his personality was completely drained. Basil puts his weapon away when he notices Kel.

"...What was going on here?" Kel asks.

"Basil tried to lunge at me with his gardening shears because I told him not to call Mari a freak. Aubrey was holding him back."

Kel looks at basil.

"...oh"

I let go of basil and he catches himself before he falls.

"It was good seeing you guys. I'm gonna head back home." Kel says.

I run up to him and give him a huge hug, he starts crying immediately after, followed by my crying. We stand there comforting each other.

"It's gonna be alright, Kel. We still have each other."

He hugs me tighter. I could feel the cold wind on my back, but I didn't care. He needed someone to be there for him.

"..guys?"

I didn't even notice that Mari walked up to us.

"What do you want, Freak," Basil says.

Hero glares at Basil.

"Basil... I wanted to say I'm sorry..."

He stands there for a minute. Something tells me that things are gonna go down.

"...sorry? YOU'RE SORRY!?! LOOK AT KEL AND AUBREY! BECAUSE OF YOU, KEL IS DEPRESSED AND AUBREY LOST THE LOVE OF HER LIFE! I LOST MY BEST FRIEND AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS SORRY!?!"

"...Basil stop. It wasn't her fault." I told him.

"Aubrey! You know how much it hurts us! Sunny was your everything!"

"... wait. Aubrey? You had a crush on Sunny?" Mari asks.

I stand in front of Hero and Mari.

"Basil." I glare at him, now furious. "That's enough. You didn't need to mention that I had a crush on him. I was keeping it a secret for a reason."

"For what reason? To keep it in, to never tell him!?!"

"I WAS WAITING FOR HIS BIRTHDAY OKAY!" I screamed, breaking out in tears.

Basil went silent.

"His... birthday...?" Mari says

"You wanted to ask him out on his birthday, but he... he..." Hero tries to force out the words but they don't form.

"Fuck this. I'm going home."

I could hear the others calling for me to come back as I ran back home. I realized that I forgot the plush but I just kept running. I slammed the door to my house. It was silent. Only the sound of my footsteps was heard. I cleaned up some of the beer bottles around the house and took out the trash before going to my room. I sat against my wall, crying. Bun bun looked at me in confusion. I grabbed my favorite photo and hugged it. Hearing my parent's car pull up, I stay quiet.