Forward: After Omori [DISCONTINUED]

From the Depths of His Mind

If it wasn't for the smell of bacon, Kel probably would've slept in until 4:30 in the afternoon. Well, the bacon as well as the buzzing scattered thoughts in his head. Yesterday's events had put a lot of strain on both his body and his mind, and now the two forces were at war as his tired body tried to calm his hyperactive brain, and failed. Feeling defeated, Kel got out of bed and went to the kitchen.

Hero was standing at the stove, cooking bacon and pancakes. His parents were sitting at the table, already eating. They all looked up as Kel came in.

"Hey, champ!" his dad said around a mouthful of food. "You're up unusually early. Couldn't sleep?"

Kel glanced at the time: 8:27. He had a horrible time falling asleep. When he finally did, he dreamed of Sunny's confession, of Mari hanging lifeless, of closed doors and faces void of emotion.

Not that he could tell his father any of that. He shook his head, feeling exhausted, then went to get his own food. Hero turned away as Kel came close, completely silent. Kel chose to ignore it.

"Kel, are you alright?" his mom asked. "You look ... ghostly this morning. Maybe you should stay home instead of visiting Sunny today."

"N-no, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind."

"You?" his dad asked, faking shock. "Usually your head is emptier than your bank account. Thinking must be strange, huh?" He laughed at the look on his son's face. Kel laughed nervously.

There was a clatter as Hero dropped his plate onto the table, sitting down on the farthest possible seat from his little brother. Now Kel could see Hero's face; there were deep purple bags under his eyes, and his hair could've been a bird's nest. His mom looked at Hero, then cast a meaningful glance at her husband, who shook his head.

She sighed. "Come on, Kel. Let's go."

His food forgotten, Kel got up and began to follow his mom.

"I really, really wish you wouldn't," Hero mumbled. Everyone stared at him, waiting to see if he would say something else, but Hero seemed to have logged back onto the Silent Game. Frustrated, Kel turned back around and stormed out of the house. He didn't have time for this.

But still, Kel couldn't help but feel a little sad. Even after Sunny's confession, he and Hero had been able to hold some kind of normalcy, if a tense one, but now? Now it felt like Hero just thought of him as another enemy, just another person who didn't care about Mari. And even though Kel was sure he was doing the right thing, knowing they were both now on completely opposite sides felt completely wrong.

Kel threw himself into shotgun and collapsed on the seat. After a moment, his mom climbed into the driver's seat. She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to decide against it. They backed out of the driveway in silence.

Yet just like the ride with Sunny's mom, it didn't stay silent for long.

"Kel, what's going on between you and Hero?" she asked.

He didn't answer, instead pretending to be extremely interested in a small tear in his basketball shorts.

"Kel," she said more forcefully, and finally he turned to her. "What's going on? You two have been tense with each other for the past few days, and it was obvious when you came home yesterday that it's gotten worse."

"It's nothing," Kel mumbled, pulling nervously at his seat belt. "It's just another stupid brotherly fight."

"Except it's not."

Kel pulled on the seat belt until the lock activated, then let it pull back. "Except it is. Stupid."

His mom glanced at him, biting her lip, then looked back to the road. She let out a breath and said, "You know, there's something different about you."