Amour Propre (OMORI)

Stigmata

"Oh, so you guys did it in a city? We had our test in the forest, instead." Basil explained to Sunny as he took a sip of tea. Usually, Sunny wasn't much for tea, but Basil was really good at making it. He didn't know what brand or kind he used, or even how much sugar or cream he put in it. All he knew was that it tasted great.

Sunny swallowed the tea and exhaled contently. It was a rather pleasant feeling. Being at Basil's dining room table always made him feel serene. "Thanks for the tea, Basil," he spoke graciously, placing the tea back on the table.

Basil shut his eyes and hummed a happy "mhm!" The boy quickly opened his eyes again, though, and his face shifted in realization. "Oh! I forgot, Grandma made cookies last night for completing the test! You did too, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I shared, heheh..."

He had stood up to get a box from the nearby shelf, then moved to get a plate. As Basil moved around, his hair would bounce a little, and his face would occasionally be visible from the side... he was mesmerizing.

Sunny shook his head to snap out of his daze. He was starting to wonder why that was happening so often as of late. As long as these strange dazes wouldn't interfere with his hero training, it didn't matter.

Bringing over a plate of cookies, Basil smiled at Sunny. "Look at us, eating like Brits, haha," Basil giggled as he placed the cookies on the table. They were biscuits technically, but chocolate chip cookies weren't usually what the British paired with tea.

Thank god he wasn't British.

The cookies were good, reminiscent of Mari's... of Mari's...

Sunny stopped chewing and stared ahead blankly. All he could think about was that day. About his nightmares about Basil. About losing all that he loved.

"Er... Sunny, are you okay?" Basil asked with a look of worry.

Again, Sunny had to snap himself out of his daze. This would get him in trouble if this kept up at school. "Yeah, I'm fine." Sunny confirmed, trying to give Basil a weak smile so as to keep him from getting too worried. Basil always showed a lot of concern and care for Sunny. He wanted to make sure his friend wouldn't be getting distracted with anxiety like Sunny was.

Yes, anxiety, Sunny concluded. It had to be anxiety about his results on the practical exam. That was why he zoned out earlier. And then the issue with the cookies was self-explanatory. Sunny continued to eat the cookie. He had to, obviously, wasting food is immoral. Plus, it tasted good despite the memories.

The explanation was so good that Sunny had begun to forget about the whole memento mori of the cookies and just enjoyed eating them.

A truck driving away from Basil's house could be heard. It made Basil's grin suddenly grow surprised. "Wait, the mail's here! Time to check for good news!" Basil said, dashing outside to the mailbox. Sunny moved to the door, cookie still in his mouth.

He crunched through it as Basil pulled out a few letters from the box. Immediately, he ran up to Sunny and began jumping up and down, "It's already here!"

"What? It's only been two days!" Sunny said, incredulous at the rare success of the postal service. He also couldn't help but smile at Basil's adorable display, though curiosity over the results was more prevalent in his mind.

"Let's open it!" Basil declared, running to the table and ripping the envelope a bit while trying to open it cleanly. Basil stuck his finger in the hole made by the rip and used it to open the remainder of the envelope.

Sunny and Basil both looked on as Basil took the letter out of the envelope. Another holographic disk fell out of the paper. This had already pretty much confirmed that Basil got in, so the two were giggling with each other as Basil turned it on.

There was Captain Canuck, again. The failure of a hero to Sunny. A man who couldn't save his sister, despite his claims of being the "protector" of Ontario. The man who couldn't even catch her killer.

Despite all that, Sunny tried not to show his disdain, for Basil's sake. Basil excitedly squealed as Captain Canuck uttered his name. "Basil Greenfield, you, young man, have exhibited outstanding heroism during the practical exam. Saving three hostages and destroying fifteen robots, you have a bright future. In the following year, you will become a member of Class 1-B and will now be representing the Kingston Institute of Heroism as a whole! So be on your best behaviour! The rest of your information, such as class schedule, yadda yadda, it'll all be in the papers provided. Good luck out there, and stay safe!"

Basil was starry-eyed. "Did you hear that!? I'm in! I'm gonna be in Class 1-B... I hope you get to be in my class!" Basil began to ramble as he read out his class schedule and his new voluntary dormitory.

Sunny couldn't really pay attention to that, as he was just looking at Basil in awe. Three hostages and fifteen robots? Sunny barely had time to chase Omori around for him to destroy five... or, well, technically six if you count that tiny one in the hostage room. Speaking of, he could only save one hostage, too. Was Sunny even close to getting in? If he was, he'd probably be thrown into a support course or something for people not good enough to be heroes.

No, no, you had to be smart to get into the support course. Sunny was going to be kicked to the curb.

"Oh, Sunny, let's go over to your house and see if you got in, too!" Basil suggested. Sunny felt embarrassed, but he obliged. Maybe since he was getting rejected, they wouldn't tell him and Basil how many robots he could destroy or hostages he could save.

It was only a block away. Only one god damned block away. Sunny tightened his fists and prepared for the worst.