the way the flower petals turn (a series of omori oneshots

Baseball Bat

"Look. I know you're upset, but I still think you should forgive him."

"Kel, it's not like that- it's complicated okay? You and Mari weren't that close, and it's the fact that they lied about it, you know?"

"Okay but do you see how badly it affected them? They had it the worst, not to say that it didn't hurt for the rest of us but..."

Kel held the basketball for a moment, before passing it back to Aubrey.

"I don't know Kel. It's just... Hard to stomach I guess. It's just, after all this time. When you and Sunny confronted me, things changed. And for just a day, all of us were back together like old times..."

"Look it hurts me too, but even you said Mari wouldn't want-"

"DON'T ACT LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT SHE WOULD'VE WANTED!" She snapped, throwing the ball so hard that Kel could barely catch it.

She was breathing hard now, sweat dripped down her face and her ponytail was messy from all the running around.

"Kel, you don't know anything."

"Look, maybe I don't, but I do know that being angry isn't gonna help anyone, including yourself!" He retorted.

"I understand that it was an accident and Sunny forgot what actually happened, but Basil?! How could he be so cruel? How could he have come up with something like that?"

She stared at him, angry, but also hurt.

"Look, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset too, but there's no point in being so angry all the time. Sunny and Basil had to deal with that guilt, the truth that whole time. That night when Sunny and Basil fought... Aubrey, Basil was gonna-"

"I KNOW. I know what he was going to do-" she sniffled.

"But how can you still be so oblivious, ignorant!? After all this time, this entire time. Four years later I still was healing over her death, then to find out her brother killed her and Basil staged it as a suicide?! That's fucking messed up! We were kids! How did he even? And then you just... Went away, you all left and I don't hold that against you guys anymore but how are you able to smile all the time and..."

"IT HURT ME TOO OKAY?! You understand that right? I may not be smart like Mari was, not perfect like Hero, not as cool as you or kind as Sunny or a good gardener like Basil but I do know that we all went through that pain and you know it too. I know that you don't have it in you to hate Sunny and Basil forever because... That. Isn't. You. Even after all this time Aubrey I know you care. So I'm not saying you have to forgive them right away, and I know things are never gonna be the same again. But that's okay. So for the sake of all of us moving on, just..." His face was red, contorted with frustration.

"Kel... When we went to the funeral, we all sat together, remember? Sunny was so... Heartbroken. Basil wouldn't look me in the eyes, and poor Hero tried to be strong but I knew he was hurting. And you, despite being upset, tried to be happy? Or at least positive. You sat beside me, and while I balled my eyes out you held my hand. I thought then, that we would all still be together, that we could get through it together. But then Sunny stopped going out of his house, and Basil barely talked. Hero was busy with school and I thought that at least I'd have you. But after the funeral, we didn't really see each other. You were always busy with sports, and you barely looked like you had been affected by Mari's death. It made me angry. When Basil stopped coming around I was so hurt, which is why I ended up bullying him, but you just... Left me."

"Aubrey. To be honest, when I caught a glance of Mari... I didn't understand what was happening. Hero told me not to look and call the cops. I was more confused than anything. It wasn't even denial that much, I just didn't understand. So I began to distract myself. I already did sports but I felt like that was the only thing I could fall back to. I wanted to give everyone space, but I found it hard to think over it too much. I was sad, really upset, of course. Mari had always cheered me on at every basketball game. And then she wasn't there..."

He took a deep breath. "But I can't hate Sunny or Basil. I know Sunny never intended to do that to her. And poor Basil, even though I can't understand his thinking, felt so guilty. I just want us to be friends again, even if our past actions were really bad."

Aubrey took the ball from Kel's shaky hands. She leaned her head into his shoulder. "You know, maybe I understand why you did all these sports, because if we weren't playing I probably would've hit you or someone else with my bat heheh..." She laughed weakly.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore right now."

"Do you need a hug Aubrey?" He said teasingly, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Aubrey, I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have brought it up, but even a month since we learned the truth, I can't not-"

"Kel would you just shut the fuck up and kiss me already?!" She looked at him, eyes teary and face flushed. She angrily grabbed the front of his tank top.

"Uuuhmmm. Sure?" Kel shrugged. He had no idea what was happening but it was cute seeing Aubrey so angry and determined.

She angrily pulled him towards her and very passionately kissed him. To him it seemed like this came out of nowhere but he wasn't opposed to it.

"You're so fucking oblivious Kel." She said, smirking. He really was confused by this.

"Aubrey, is this why you've been hanging out with me a lot lately?!" He asked.

"No dumbfuck. Well not really. I don't know. As much as I hate to admit it, you're fun to be around, even if you're annoying. But in all seriousness, I guess I should thank you for bringing us all back together. Nothing would've changed if you hadn't dragged Sunny out of his house."

"It really is no big deal haha... I guess we should talk about us then?"

"What is there to talk about? You know I did have a tiny crush on you when we were kids. Why do you think I teased you so much?" She said.

"I don't know?! Everything is so confusing now. Also this is the first time I've kissed a girl."

"Yeah, not surprising... Wait. First kiss from a girl. Who else have you kissed?!"

"Uhhhh. It was a long time ago... Do you remember when you and Basil were both sick when we were supposed to have that camping trip? And you couldn't come?"

"Yeah...?"

"So me and Sunny were getting sticks for the fire and our parents were somewhere and we saw Hero and Mari kissing and we both were like 'What's that?' Of course we were curious so we..."

Isn't that what all homies do?

"Holy shit. HOLY SHIT!" She said laughing. "Oh my gosh Kel, you're so oblivious!! Sunny was hitting on you!" She said pointing to him. She was doubled over, hand on her stomach, laughing really hard.

"What do you mean?! And why does that matter now since you just kissed me?"

"Because! That was after me and Sunny kissed! It was Valentine's Day so he pecked me on the cheek then I pecked him on the lips! He must've liked both of us when we were kids!"

Kel was glad to see that her mood had changed that quickly. He smiled. It was weird. The sudden shift in their dynamic since Sunny came out of his house. He liked the way her pink hair flowed and how expressive her facial features were. Did... Did he like her back? Maybe. She was so impulsive, the way she just kissed him before he could even react. It was... Kind of endearing.

"Kel what's that goofy look on your face? I'm gonna win," she said, spinning the ball on her index finger.

"Oh you're ON AUBREY!" He yelled chasing after her.