Still Here Brother : Omori AU

Chatper 3: Another...what?

The woods seem to part into a forkway, four paths leading to who knows where. Mewo, who had followed Mari outside,  meowed and walked forward ahead, “Mewo? Where are you going?” Mari asked, following the cat. She and her cat made their way into a colorful park, with small creatures playing on the playground sets and running around. 

Mari immediately recognized these creatures as Sunny’s prized stuffed toys. This dream was more associated with her brother than her own self. Mari turned to her right to see another Mari waving at her. ‘Creepy…’  Mari thought, though she shouldn’t be so surprised, this was a dream after all.

The Other Mari seemed way more colorful than the Real Mari, her shiny purple hair matched the pastel surroundings and her purple eyes glowed and beamed at the Real Mari. Other Mari wore a dark, purple cardigan vest, with a white T-shirt underneath it. She also was wearing a pinkish reddish tie to go with her vest and a lighter purple skirt.

Mari looked down at herself, she was still wearing her white nightgown from this morning and her white ankle socks. Her skin was white, white as a paper sheet. Her hair was now pitch black and instead of her usual dark brown hair. Her hair was also…longer. Her hair seemed to touch the floor now, she wasn’t sure how she didn’t notice this before. ‘It’s a dream.’ Mari reminded herself. She wished she could look at herself in a mirror right now.

The Other Mari continued waving at Mari, she seemed to want Mari to come over to her. Mari decided to listen and walked over to her, where she sat on a red and white checkered picnic blanket with a picnic basket next to her. “Hello!” The Other Mari called out, “Hi, I don’t think I ever met you before,” Mari decided to joke. The Other Mari chuckled at her joke, “Nope! But we meet now, come sit with me,” The Other Mari patted beside her, Mari decided to obey and sat next to her.

“Shall we introduce ourselves? My name is Mari,” The Other Mari said and smiled at Mari, “Um…well…my name is Mari too!” This was certainly going to be confusing, depending on how long this dream was. “Well, isn’t that confusing?” The Other Mari laughed, reading Mari’s mind, “Why don’t we give each other nicknames so we don’t confuse ourselves?” Mari played with her hair a bit, “Sure, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” 

Mari stared at the Other Mari, should Mari call her a name related to purple? Purple? Grape? Violet- “Hikko.” Mari looked up at the Other Mari, “Hikko?” Mari asked. “Yeah, Hikko. That’s my nickname for you,” The Other Mari exclaimed. Hikko…the name sounded familiar yet…a stranger. 

“Okay,” Mari started, “My name is Hikko from now on,” Hikko smiled at the Other Mari. “What’s my name?” The Other Mari asked, “Hmm…”  Hikko thought about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion, she had the perfect name.

“Mario.” Hikko deadass said. The Other Mari looked at her, “Mari..o?” “Yeah.” “...pffffffttt…MArio?” Mario laughed, “Seriously?” Hikko looked up at her, “What? You didn’t say it had to be a whole new name,” “True,” Mario smiled. Hikko looked at her, this was so weird. She didn’t really expect to make friends with herself, maybe she could write about it when she woke up, if she didn’t forget about it. Mar- Hikko could tell her awesome dream to Sunny, and the others too.

Mario suddenly stood up and reached her hand for Hikko. Hikko took it, surprised by how warm Mario’s hand felt. How could a dream be so realistic? “Where are we going?” Hikko asked. “How about you choose where you want to take us three?” Mario smiled at her. “Three?” Hikko looked at her confused. “Meow!” Of course, how could she have forgotten about her adorable little kitten?, “Oh! Mewo! I’m sorry,” The cat rubbed up against her leg, letting it know it was okay. Mari- Hikko felt a bit bad. “I guess we could go ahead…?” Hikko pointed to the pathway on the other side of the magical playground. “Alright!” Mario smiled at her, “Lead us there!” 

Mario hooked an arm around hers, this was going to take some time getting used to.