Cradles [OMORI Reader Insert]

[III] Hide-and-Seek

-->>Tw/Cw: Spoilers<<--

"Stay and play with us! The more the merrier!" Van said, trying to convince the group.

"You want to play hide-and-seek again?" Hero asks, a little nervous at the invitation.

"But... You know how this turned out last time..." Kel said, biting his lip, sweating.

"Y-Yeah... Sorry, Berly. I think we're going to pass." Aubrey stated.

[A/N] looked at the others, confused. "What happened on the last hide-and-seek game?" They ask.

Omori tapped my arm, getting [A/N]'s attention. Then he points out a poster nearby. A poster saying, 'No Boss Zone', with a picture of a crossed-out Boss underneath the text.

Hero smiled awkwardly. "Yeah... Remember Boss? He kinda... Turned the game upside down in a... Bad way." He whispers to [A/N] as they reply with a simple 'ah'.

"We're going to Basil's house now... So... We'll catch up with you later!" Kel said, not hiding the fact of trying to avoid the game.

Berly jumped to get their attention, grumbling at first. "Not so fast! You guys tryin' to avoid me again!? What's up with you two? Is it my face? My rough-and-tough exterior?" She said slightly yelling.

"At least I'm not as bad as Boss! It's a good thing I banned him from the playground after what happened last time... I wonder what that moron is up to now? ... Eh... Good riddance!" She said after looking around.

"So... You wanna play hide-and-seek, Basil?" Hero asks Basil as he glanced at him.

"I can go either way. There's no rush to get to my house after all. I think I'll leave it up to Omori. What do you want to do?" Basil asked, passing the torch to Omori.

Berly walked up to Omori. "Omori, Omori! My best friend! You know how to play hide-and-seek, don't you?" Berly asked with anticipation of Omori's answer.

Omori shook his head. As Berly reacted with a shocked expression, and her mouth agape.

"Eh!? You don't know how to play hide-and-seek...? What kind of kid are you anyway? That means you'll have to play with us! I'll explain the rules after I round up everyone!" Berly declares.

"Ten-hut!"

*****

A few minutes, later after Berly finished rounding up players for the game, she explained the rules of hide-and-seek. Then the 'It' is determined by drawing straws. The one who'll get the shortest straw gets to be the 'It'.

She gave the straws one by one to each player, then stood at her standing spot. "Now let's see who gets to be 'It'!"

Berly looks around to identify the 'It'. After walking around for a minute, she stopped in front of Omori.

"Well, well, well! Looks like the one with the shortest straw is... Omori!" Berly exclaimed.

"Oh wait... Omori is 'It'?" Kel asked to see if he heard it right.

"But... Omori doesn't like to be alone..." Aubrey said, worried for Omori.

"Are you okay with this, Omori?" Hero asks Omori to make sure of his decision.

"I can take your place if you want." Basil offered.

"Don't push yourself if you don't want to do it, bud'." [A/N] told Omori.

Berly seems to notice our worries for Omori. "Hey, I can hear you plotting over there! The straws make the rules, not me!" Berly semi-shouted.

"C'mon, don't be babies! It ain't so bad. Omori will be fine!" Berly continued.