Ataxia [OMORI]

[Porphyria]

Sunny's mother was driving, Sunny in the passenger seat, and Basil in the back seat. "I understand you don't want to talk about what happened, but do you know why Basil lost his memories?"

"Same reason I lost my eye." Sunny said simply, not wanting to reveal much of the events that happened that night.

His mother sighed, "Alright, then. I trust you, Sunny, so don't get into any more trouble like this, alright?" She spoke as if this wasn't something that would permanently affect Sunny's and possibly Basil's lives.

She was never the most attentive mother.

"You have a really nice car, Miss Sunny's mom!" Basil said happily. It was an SUV from the late 80s. Not exactly the nicest or newest car, but she still accepted the compliment.

"Uh... thanks, Basil." She said before whispering to Sunny, "I know his memory is gone, but is he all there?"

"He's a little gullible and such, 'cause he's still in a state of ataxia." Sunny looked back at Basil, who was looking out the window, in awe of the sunset. "So uh... for a while, he's gonna act a little... weird," he quietly added.

His mother nodded, then spoke to both Sunny and Basil, "Sunny and I are going to get the extra mattress from the closet when we get home, so Basil can sleep in the living room."

"Aw, can't we sleep in the same room, so it's like a sleepover?" Basil pouted in the way he did when they were joking around as kids. It made his chest tighten, his nostalgia demanding attention.

Sunny sighed, "I'll sleep on the couch." Sunny was lying. The couch was so uncomfortable to lay on that he could never realistically fall asleep there. Still, Sunny felt it would be rude to just leave his old friend hanging out in the living room alone. Especially like this.

He needed Sunny, and for once, Sunny would be there. For real this time. Unlike every other god damn time he was supposed to help someone.

There was no point reminiscing on lost friends and past failures. It already happened. Now Basil wouldn't be so hurt. Now, he wouldn't be forced to deal with the consequences of Sunny's irresponsibility and worthlessness.

The car began to slow down as they pulled into Sunny's driveway. Basil immediately took notice and looked at the home. "Oh wow! Your house is nice, too! It's so big!" Basil excitedly noted.

"Uh... yeah," Sunny awkwardly agreed. As long as nobody ran into Basil until his ataxia was over, he wouldn't have to worry about telling Basil what's going on... and why the others might be a bit upset with him.

The car came to a stop, and everyone vacated the car. Basil was a little slower than the others, needing help standing up after opening the car door.

"Thanks for the help, Sunny." The cute blonde said happily. If Basil wasn't in such a state, Sunny would consider giving in to the urge to kiss him. Of course, right now, that is the last thing Basil needs. Especially since from his perspective, they only met just today.

There were definitive cons to Basil forgetting everything, evidently. Though the pros would probably be best for Basil in the long run. All those things he'd complain about... the bullying, the self-doubt, the incident. He didn't remember a thing of all the negatives in his life. Just because he forgot some friends who no longer want to associate... to Sunny's knowledge, it wasn't so bad. The only thing he forgot that Sunny wished he didn't was Sunny himself.

Okay, poor phrasing, Sunny didn't want him to forget all the good memories, either, but it wasn't the thing that affected Sunny the most at that moment. Okay, even worse phrasing. Sunny decided to shut up before he felt any more selfish.

Basil hobbled over to the front door with the help of Sunny, and they entered the house. He was in awe of the interior. "You have a very beautiful house, Miss Sunny's mom!" Basil announced with a smile.

"Thanks, Basil. I should get started on dinner, I suppose. Make yourself at home, Basil. Sunny, move the coffee table over so we can put the mattress down," Sunny's mother requested.

Sunny obeyed after bringing Basil over to the couch. Basil sat down and looked around as Sunny dragged the coffee table out of the way. "Ooo! What's that!?" Basil asked as he pointed at a Nintendo Gamecube.

It was surprising to Sunny that Basil was unaware. He seemed to retain all knowledge of the things he had learned in school and such, so why did he forget about the Gamecube? A console which had been released three years ago.

Regardless, he answered, "It's a Nintendo Gamecube. It plays video games n' stuff." Sunny informed his bright-haired friend.

"Oh, that's so cool! So we could play that together!?" Basil queried with a hopeful tone. His eyes sparkled as he looked up at Sunny.

Obviously, nobody could say no to that face, though Sunny wanted to play video games anyway. It just gave Sunny a player two.

"Sunny, help me get the mattress out of the closet!" His mother called out. Sunny sighed and walked over to the closet. The old closet with the violin in it. It still felt weird going up to the closet and actually entering.

It had been years since he even acknowledged the closet's existence, then suddenly, within a week, he not only dreams about it but goes into it in real life, too. Sunny helped his mother carry out the mattress. The sound of a pot boiling over had her drop the mattress early, running over to the stove.

Sunny sighed, dragging the mattress over in front of Basil. "Yay! Thanks, Sunny! This is gonna be so much fun!" He excitedly declared, curling into a ball and excitedly bouncing his legs up and down.

This brought a small smile to Sunny's face. Seeing Basil happy again was a nice change of pace from the past few days.

After picking up a pair of wired controllers, Sunny sat down on the couch next to Basil, and they prepared to play whatever was in the system, which was soon revealed to be MarioKart Double Dash. And so, they began to play.