[OMORI] Four Years Ago Something Happened

Ch. 3 ; We Meet Again

His mother was long gone to work by the time Sunny finished his meal. Making his way to the kitchen, he put his dishes in the sink and walked out, promising himself he'll wash them later, though he wasn't even sure if he'd actually remember.

Running to his room, he quickly stared at the box that he had left in the middle of the room last night. He noticed that it was fuller than earlier with items poking out of it, and peered inside of it. His mom or Mari must have put some things inside of there.

He didn't recognize most of them, but a picture seemed to catch his eye. It seemed to be... a picture of him and his sister standing at the top of the stairs.

Did anything like this happen before..?

He felt his stomach churn, but there wasn't much of the picture that should've made him feel ill. Though you could barely see the faces, he could somewhat make out expressions of distraught. And a bit of anger. 

Why were we mad? Why are we arguing? What does this photo mean? Who took it?

"Sunny." SOMETHING's booming voice stopped Sunny's trembling immediately. He turned around and met IT's gaze. "Why are you looking? Don't look at it. Throw it away. Throw the photo away. Unpack everything else, then throw it away." His vision turned black and white, all colours completely draining from his reality.

That's not Mari. That's not Mari. That's not Mari. That's not Mari.

He obeyed SOMETHING's words unconditionally, and began unpacking the box himself. Mari smiled as she looked over him. "Good job!" she cheered, "After this, we can go practice, okay? We need to practice all day." Feeling a shiver rush over his body, he simply nodded, awaiting further commands.

...

It wasn't Sunny's first time in the studio. In fact, if anything, he had came in here hundreds-no, maybe even thousands of times. When he was younger, he loved playing piano, and his elder sister would teach him. Eventually, he pushed his passion into the violin.

Yup, very nostalgic.

He didn't notice Mari had already sat down on the stool in front of the piano, her fingers already placed neatly on the keys. She motioned Sunny to come sit down beside her with two pats on the cushion, and so following her motion, he did. He inhaled, then exhaled, mentally preparing himself. It had been so long since he had touched a piano, the almost year he had left Faraway having made him lose touch with his memories. Sunny had been playing violin of course, but they never had a piano at the place they had stayed.

I dont want to mess up. But it's okay. Mari will be here to guide me. She's always been here, hasn't she? She hasn't left me before...

He pressed down on one key, letting out a satisfactory sound. One key being pressed led to his muscles moving his fingers to press down the next one, then the next, then it became an entire sequence that seemed to never end. A song, he started playing a song on the piano. Such a familiar song, something he couldn't wrap his head around, but something his fingers definitely could.

It was soothing, and happened so naturally. But his hands soon became sore, as if there were blisters forming on his finger tips. They began to ache, like he had been playing for hours. He turned his head to the left, his fingers still sliding across the piano keys, but Mari was nowhere to be found. He had been playing by himself since the beginning.

"Sunny?"

Everything stopped. The colours, the sounds, the air, he couldn't even feel himself breathing. All that was left was his heart beating, picking up its pace. Thump. Thump. It was a rising anxiety, something that scared him. The voice was familiar, he had heard it millions of times.

Slowly turning himself around, he met the gazes of three different figures. His jaw dropped, and his vision turned into a spiral abyss of it's own. He knew they would come, but didn't expect it to be so soon. He wasn't prepared for this mentally, and couldn't even choke out a few words.

"I knew it was you, it's been so long!"

It was an awkward atmosphere, and all Sunny could do once he stood up from the stool was stare at the three men that stood before him. But everything was completely wrong. Their expressions were wrong. Their stances were wrong. It was supposed to be a happy reunion, so why was the atmosphere like this?

Their faces were stained with guilt, and their postures were fidgety, especially Basil's. But they had grown older. Hero was growing stubble, Kel was almost as tall as Hero, and Basil had grown quite tall as well. He felt a little sad when he realized he wasn't able to see them grow over the past year he'd been gone.

"I didn't know you still played piano, Sunny." Hero was the first to speak up. He remembers his soft voice being the same last year, not a big change happening there clearly. "You're still as good at it as you've always been." He smiled, straightening his posture.

...Well this is awkward.

"Uh...How about we go to the living room and chill for a bit?" Basil suggested, pointing outside the open doorframe. Kel nodded.

"That's a great idea! Why don't we catch up, Sunny? You've been gone for a bit!" Sunny nodded, and Hero let out a sigh of what seemed to be a slight relief.

They all claimed a spot on the couch (that coincidentally enough had exactly four cushions), Sunny finding himself in-between Basil and Kel. 

"Woah, I didn't notice until we were up close but your hair sure has gotten longer, Sunny! Are you planning on growing it out?" Sunny lifted his hand to touch his bangs in response to what Kel had commented. That's right, he hadn't gotten a trim in quite a while. If anything, that was on the back of his mind. He shook his head. "Then I think a trim would be nice!"

"Yeah." Basil agreed, and everyone except Sunny found a small smile spread across their lips. "Do you..maybe have any games we could play? Like board games...maybe monopoly?" Putting an index finger on his chin, Basil tried to think of more games they could play.

I don't know where they are... Mari would probably know.

As if on cue, Mari walked into the living room, standing in the center, smiling at all her friends that sat on the couch in a very nostalgic. Sunny got up, and walked over to her, and the others followed him with their eyes in confusion. He had gotten up very suddenly.

"Are you looking for some board games?" Mari asked gently, a soft smile indented in her lips. She must have overheard them talking Sunny nodded in response.

"Basil...said he wants..monopoly." He managed to say a few words, but his voice was really shaky.

"Really? Okay, I know where it is!"

"Uh...Sunny?" He turned back around to face the others, specifically Kel who had spoken up. He had a raised eyebrow, and there was visible confusion plastered all over his face. What was there to be confused about? "Who are you talking to?"

The others stared at Sunny with curious eyes, also wanting to know the answer to the question Kel had asked. 

Who else would I be talking to other than...

"My sister, Mari."

Their eyes widened in shock, and you could tell their stomachs were getting twisted just by their grim expressions.

"What do you-" Hero had to pause, to collect himself. Why was he so surprised?  "What do you mean you're talking to..to Mari?"

Sunny just took a step to the right and pointed to his sister, Mari, whom was waving at Hero with the same smile from earlier still indented in her lips. Basil brows furrowed, and he pursed his lips together, as if he understood completely what Sunny meant.

"But how are you talking to her?" Kel Gulped, sweat rolling down his chin, making it's way to the floor as a droplet of water.. "Mari is... Mari is..."

Mari is already dead.