Can't Deny It --- OMORI Suntan

Berry Forest

They had eaten, and packed up. Now all back inside the car, everyone sat back in their seats, catching their breath. Hero lifted his wrist up to his face and he pulled his sleeve up, looking at the time on his watch.

6:23, It read.

Time went quicker than expected. Hero thought. The gang were to leave for their trip in about half an hour. "Hey guys, we have another half an hour before we have to leave for the trip, what do you guys wanna do meanwhile we wait?" Hero said, looking behind his seat, the sunlight shining through the window and onto the side of his face. "Well, we could maybe get going now, o-or...uh..." Basil fiddled with his fingers, trying to think of something. "Wait I've got it! What if we go to pick some berries like we used to?" Kel suggested, interrupting Basil's thinking. Sunny nodded, liking the idea.

Hero looked to the side, thinking's about it, then looking back at Kel, "Well, I don't see why not but.." He trailed off, "We don't really have anything to put them in, like bags and-"

"I have some spare buckets in my bag we could use!" Basil smiled, remembering the amount of mostly unnecessary things he'd brought. "Ah, okay. Then we're sorted. What do you think, Aubrey?" Hero turned his face to Aubrey who was next to him. "Eh..sure I guess." She shrugged, her pink hair all messy from the way she had dried it with her towel. Hero started the car again and began driving to Faraway Forest, Hero had parked into a car space that had a sign behind it.

"NO HUNTING."

Well, they definitely knew that they wouldn't be doing any hunting here.

Aubrey chased Kel into the forest, mud puddles surrounded the area from the last time it rained. Sunny lagged behind them, meanwhile Basil got the buckets out of his bag, and Hero, well, he just followed Basil. Tall trees towered over them, and the smell of soil and damp filled the air. Aubrey pushed Kel out of the way once they had gotten to the berry bushes, "Me first, twerp!" She sneered and picked the berries from bottom to top, Kel stuck his tongue out at her, and a few minutes had passed. Basil finally caught up with them after picking berries from another bush patch, and he watched Aubrey with a bit of worry in his face, "Aubrey, you shouldn't be picking the ones from the bottom, they could have been dirty from the floor...or worse..." Basil scrunched his expression in the thought of it.

...

"And you too, Kel."

Kel stopped stuffing berries into his mouth and he stared at Basil with his cheeks full, looking at Basil in a frozen position. Those berries in his mouth were all from the bottom of the bushes, no wonder they tasted odd...

"You should wash them first." Basil continued.

Kel gulped somehow without choking. "Disgusting." Aubrey grimaced and ran off to Hero, who was waiting for everyone's return. Sunny covered his mouth with a hand to prevent himself from laughing at Kel.

"Shwaeld ay spoaht thum ow?-"
[Should I spit them out?]

Kel attempted to speak with his mouth full, Basil looked at Sunny with a confused look, Sunny returned the look. Kel then pointed to his mouth and pointed to the ground. "Ohhh. well, that's your choice but I don't think it's best to eat them.." Basil scratched the back of his head, Kel looked disappointed. There was no more berries in the bushes to pick, Sunny's bucket was full, Basil's was full, Aubrey's bucket was probably over full, and his was empty. He just couldn't wait to eat them, but now he'd waisted them. Kel turned around and spat the berries out, and followed Sunny and Basil back to the car. "I have no berries. Great." Kel sighed, Sunny stayed quiet and grabbed Kel's hand with his free one. Kel looked up at Sunny in surprise. "We can share mine." Sunny said, turning his head back forward and not letting go of Kel's hand.

"I have too much for only me anyway."

Kel looked at Sunny, speechless, his cheeks turned a bit red from embarrassment, but after a few seconds, he gathered the words to speak, "Woah! Thanks dude." He smiled and faced forward again. Sunny dragged him back to the car.

Everyone was back in the car, counting up their berries. Hero had washed them all with the spare bottles of water he had. "26." Aubrey looked at Basil. "21..heh." Basil looked back at Aubrey. "HA YES. How much do you have, Sunny?" Aubrey said, grinning, already sure she had the most.

..
..
..

"27." Sunny said quietly.

"WHAT." Aubrey yelled kicking her bucket of berries, spilling them all over her seat. "Oh shit."

"Sunny beat you by a single berry." Basil chuckled.

Sunny smiled to himself, popping a clean berry into his mouth. Kel watched him silently, Sunny turned to Kel, and handed over the bucket. Kel's face lit a smile and he started eating half the berries happily. Before Hero got back into the car, Aubrey had finished putting her berries back into her bucket, and asked Basil for a bucket lid. "Sorry, Aubrey. I don't have any. Just be careful." Basil smiled weakly. "Well that's a help." Aubrey rolled her eyes and sighed.