The living room felt cold as they all sat down. Sunny looked like he was mentally preparing himself to speak as everyone wondered just what to ask him. Asking him what the truth wasn’t possible because he doesn’t know it. Nobody but Basil knows it. Honestly, Hero felt quite worried for him. He did die in Black Space after all, who knows how much he has suffered.
Aubrey opened her mouth to speak first, “Are...Are you Omori?”
Sunny let out a nervous hum, “Y-Yes? Also no? It’s...it’s complicated. I don’t really know how to explain it. I’ll let you know now though that I was not in control at the end there.”
Hero took in a deep breath as he remembered his legs being slashed. He could see the others tense up as well.
“Do you...have any idea what the truth may be connected to?” Kel decided to ask, wanting to leave the last topic.
“I know Basil knows it...and Mari knew it as well. I don’t know what it could be connected to…” Sunny answered truthfully.
“Do you think it has something to do with the closet?” Aubrey asked.
Sunny shot her a confused look before looking down, “Maybe? Once again, still don’t remember owning a closet…”
“Huh, yeah! Maybe the closet is a part of the truth! I mean, it has to be the reason it doesn’t exist.” Kel agreed with Aubrey.
“So the closet has a part of it as well...that’s nice to know.” Hero muttered.
“Do you think Basil is okay? How long do you think he was in Black Space?” Kel wondered.
“When we interrogated Basil and Sunny at the lake he said that he was in multiple different areas. I don’t think he was always in Black Space, I think he entered the same time as us.” Aubrey stated.
Hero wasn’t there for that conversation and that might have been useful information to take note of later. Oh well, at least now he knows.
Sunny nervously began fidgeting with his hands, “I hope Basil is okay…” he muttered.
He must feel horrible for hurting Basil in Black Space.
“Shouldn’t he be up as well? I think we can stop by as long as we don’t bother Polly.” Kel stated.
“Yeah, it might be a good idea to check on him.” Hero decided.
Judging by the looks on everyone's faces they thought the same way. Sunny, however, looked more nervous and hesitant than the others. Aubrey walked over and patted him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.
Sunny gave a slight nod before forcing his face back into its neutral position.
As they all got up and made their way to the door though they all felt the air grow stale. The sudden feeling of being watched filled the room as Hero turned around to be face to face with the distorted version of Mari.
Fear paralyzed him as he struggled to move. It moved quickly at him, not giving him the time to process what was happening.
He shut his eyes.
…
“It’s gone…” Aubrey’s voice cut through the air.
Hero opened his eyes to see she was right.
“God, I hate that thing so much.” Kel cursed under his breath. He quickly whipped his tears away. It seems the emotions they felt in Black Space followed them into the real world. How fun.
He looked at Aubrey to see Sunny was holding on to her tightly as if she was a lifeline. His face was filled with fear as Aubrey made sure to wrap her arms around him to keep him steady.
“We should...we should get going.” Hero opened the door.
They stepped outside and were greeted by the sounds of cats strolling around and cars of people returning home from their late-night jobs. They began walking, their footsteps silent as they began making their way to Basil’s.
That’s when they heard it.
The sound of an ambulance.
It came from behind them yet immediately passed them up as it made its turn onto another street.
Basil’s street.
Adrenalin filled Hero’s veins as he began running. The rest joined him. He hoped to god that he was wrong about what he was thinking. That Basil was okay and not-
He stopped the moment the ambulance was in sight. Basil was alright...his grandmother, however….
Hero felt his heart sink at the sight. He personally didn’t spend much time with his grandmother but she did pass down some of her recipes to him. He remembers how sweet she was whenever they came over to invite Basil to hang out.
Seeing her being dragged into the ambulance….
“Damn, we should check if Basil is okay….” Kel muttered.
Hero agreed.
The search didn’t take long at all. Basil was standing near the ambulance with Polly. His eyes looked red as tears continued to roll down his face.
“Hey, Basil. We- uh we heard the sirens and wanted to check on you….” Hero gave him a half-lie.
“Huh? Oh, oh! Um, hey guys….” Basil nervously trailed off when his eyes landed on Sunny, “Um, thanks for coming to check on me?”
Hero could tell he was uncomfortable. After all, if his grandma was in the process of dying and his friends came over to interrogate him, he doesn’t know how he would feel….
“Nice to know you’re okay….” Aubrey spoke up with a sigh.
Basil looked shocked to hear her say that but he quickly changed his face back into a neutral expression, “Y-Yeah, um...I…I am going to go with my grandma with Polly. Sorry I can’t-”
“Don’t apologize, dude, you can’t control the things that happen. Go with your grandma, okay?” Kel gave him a small smile.
Basil looked at them nervously before giving them a fake smile, “Y-Yeah. See you later.”
He walked to the ambulance with Polly and hopped inside.
Hero watched the ambulance drive away as everyone stood in silence. Now it was just them standing outside of Basil’s house.
“Out of everything I expected to happen, I didn’t expect that…” Aubrey sighed.
“I feel bad for him. First Black Space and now this,” Kel looked upset.
He felt the same way. Basil has been going through a lot these past few days with nearly drowning and everything else.
He just wishes...he could help everyone.
The universe won’t give him that chance.
They walked back to Sunny’s house in pure silence. Hero opened the door and he swore he felt something brush against his hand. When he looked, there was nothing there.
He let out a tiny groan as everyone sat back down on the living room floor.
“No way in hell I am going back to sleep after tonight….” Aubrey grumbled.
“Same here.” Kel nodded.
“...Um, I have a list of chores I haven’t done yet...if you want you could help me with that.” Sunny spoke up.
Chores? Normally Sunny would be on top of his chores, making sure everything was correctly put away with the help of Mari and everyone else.
Though he assumes Sunny no longer had anyone to motivate him….
He shook the thought out of his head. They all needed to do something to take their minds off of...well everything. They could think while they worked.
Walking upstairs, Sunny made his way into his room, quickly grabbing a list of things they needed to do. Hero looked over it quickly.
The tasks were quite simple.
Wash the dishes, clean the house, and sort away certain items into certain boxes. It was easy enough.
Well, Hero supposes now would be the best time to work. Better sooner than later.
He just hopes everything will turn out okay.