Silhouette of a Wilted Flower

It's just business

Omori leaped to his feet with nearly enough force to launch his knee into Stranger's smirking face.

His headache returned with a roaring vengeance. He grew aware of a pounding on the back of his head, but he could acknowledge none of that as he tried to put as much space between him and the shadow as possible.

"Get off me!" He stumbled back; his foot caught on something. He went crashing into something hard. The pain coming at him from all different directions disoriented his whole body.

He fumbled into a pile of what he could see as clams before gathering the willpower to rip his pose back to a standing one.

"Omori!" Aubrey and Kel cheered. Omori could barely see their faces as everything swirled. His stomach churned. He suppressed the urge to puke, and he would have taken a step away to keep his friends from the danger zone, but they kept a tight grip on him.

"I'm so happy you're okay!" Aubrey sniffled, tugging him closer and away from Kel. "I thought you'd never wake up! And-and then...and then Stranger said–we might never see you again! He's so mean!"

Kel and Aubrey both shot tearful glares at Stranger. The shade merely shrugged.

Stranger's words floated to the front of Omori's mind and then slid away. He struggled to pull his brain back to focus. Stranger said what? He'll never wake up again? He felt he should be upset that his friends had shared words with the shade without proper supervision, but he was too focused on not hurling over his shoes.

"Omori," Kel whined, yanking him back. "Hero locked us in here after you passed out. He said we can't come out until you sign these." He shoved some legal papers in Omori's face.

This was all happening too fast. Waking up on his nemesis's lap; his throbbing skull; he's getting pulled around like they're playing goddamn tug of war. And then papers and–and— What the hell! What even happened? All he remembered was Hero acting up, and then...

Anger pulsed through him.

Hero attacked him. Hit him in the head with his frying pan if the memory of the clang holds true. What was this? A revolt? A coup?

He snatched the papers from Kel, nearly ripping them from the force. His eyes whizzed over the contents. Hero wanted a share of the Royal Treasury! 50% of the tax funds? Was he insane!?

He glared around the enclosure, fury and betrayal building and raging into a storm as he realized they were locked in what looked like a vault, judging by the size of the door and the one-way exit it blocked.

Hero? The stalwart Hero? The one Omori gave the prestigious title of Royal Cook. The Royal Cook who had his own tower and kitchen inside the king's magnificent castle. The one Omori trusted to heal him when they were out hunting shadows together.

And what did the king get in return for his kindness?

He attacked me. He attacked his liege!

"You've said before that attacking the king is a crime punishable by death," Stranger said, getting up from the floor where he had been sitting crisscrossed. He tilted his head. "Are you going to kill him? Your dear friend?"

Omori ignored the pestering shade, face burning. The memory of cuddling up to him was still too fresh in his mind.

"...Wait," Kel whispered. "Omori wouldn't do that! Hero's being a jerk right now, sure...but–but he's still my brother! Our friend. We just need to make him snap out of it."

"I agree with Kel for once. Hero just needs a good knock or two, right, Omori?" Aubrey looked at him, eyes burning for reassurance.

A knock or two...would that really be a fitting punishment for this level of betrayal? This level of treachery?