Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sunny opened his eyes, wincing at the sudden overwhelming fluorescence. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before his chest hitched, and the rest of his emotions caught up to him. Tears pricked at his eyes as his fight with Omori replayed in his head, the younger boy’s words echoing endlessly in his ears. He remembered it all now. He remembered why he had created Omori, why he had created Headspace, and why he had been running for so long.

He had killed Mari.

It was an accident, sure, but he still killed her. She was gone forever because of him. He’d never see her smile, never feel the warmth of her arms around him, never hear her soothing voice after a nightmare ever again. He realized that at some point he had started crying; he wiped the tears away with the back of his arms and took a deep breath, hearing her final words to him again in his mind.

“I hope you’re still there… Sunny…”

“I really miss you.”

“Goodbye… little brother.”

Tears ran down his face again, reinvigorated by his reawakened emotions.

I’m still here Mari.

I won’t run away again… I’ll tell them… I’ll tell them everything.

I promise.

He threw his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet slowly touching the cold tiles below. A strange sensation spread throughout the bottom of his soles; a strange tingling feeling not unlike TV static. He set that aside for now; he was sure it had to do with his fight with Basil, and he needed to get to Basil’s room regardless. His eyes drifted around the room, finding the many, many flowers that had been left around it. A distanced inspection revealed that most of Faraway had sent him some kind of ‘get well soon’ gesture, something that probably had to do with his escapades around the town over the last few days.

He slowly, unsteadily rose to his feet, pulling the IV from his arm with a sickening *shlick*. He shuddered as the blood pricked up through the open wound, wiping it on his gown. He might’ve developed a new fear of blood after everything he’d seen in Headspace…

He lightly tapped at the bandaged part of his head as he stumbled out of his room, flinching as a stabbing pain poked at his brain.

Maybe not the smartest move, given what Basil had done to that part of his face.

Okay, definitely not the smartest move.

He limped down the hall, finally arriving at a split in the path. At one end stood his Headspace friends, and at the opposite stood Stranger. The two parties split off in their respective directions, the friends heading towards what looked like a staircase, and Stranger further down the hall. The idea of following his Headspace creations after everything that had happened was… off putting, to say the least, so he followed the gray and black shadow boy. He did his best to keep up despite the ever-present burning of his wounds, managing to keep the specter within his line of sight until he arrived at its destination. He stood in front of the door in silence, trying to gather his thoughts.

His heart pounded in his head.

His throat tightened up in fear.

His wounds burned in agony.

Sunny…

Sunny was terrified.

He had gotten this far, he was literally standing at Basil’s door for God’s sake, so why couldn’t he open the door? Was… was Omori right? Was he too weak? What… what was he so afraid of?

A thought passed through his mind, the idea tempting him like a forbidden fruit.

Maybe he should just leave.

It would be so easy to just… turn around and walk away…

No.

I won’t let you run from this. Not after everything.

A voice echoed through his mind, familiar in its cadence and slightly condescending tone.

Omori?

Open the door, Sunny. You were strong enough to beat me; telling them the truth is a piece of cake by comparison.

B-But… what if they-

Stop thinking about what could be, and just do it. You’re more than strong enough to do this Sunny, no matter how it turns out.

He stood still for a few moments, allowing Omori’s words to echo through his mind. He… he could do this.

He could do it.

He just needed to…

Open.

The.

Door.

——————————————

…

…

…

…

…

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

Sunny opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the fluorescent lights once again. Where… where was he? He looked around, finding himself to be… back in his room? The flowers were different this time though, what had once been from the whole town was now just a number of unmarked, colorful vases spread around the room, flowers of all different kinds inside. He recognized sunflowers, lilies of the valley, roses, gladioli, tulips, and even a cactus as just some of the plants, along with a whole lot he couldn’t name off the top of his head. He blinked a few times in confusion before noticing that he could only see out of one eye; the right half of his vision was completely blank. Not black, not like it was closed… just nothing.

It was disheartening, but not altogether unexpected. He was sure the doctors could only save so much. He once again swung his legs out of bed, this time flabbergasted at how thin they were. He was somehow even thinner than before, the sight being enough to spook the poor noirette a little. What… what had happened to him? He had a realization, quickly beckoning to the other occupant of his mind in desperation.

Omori…?

Omori?

Omori?!?

I’m here, Sunny.

The boy let out a sigh of relief as he forced himself to his feet, immediately falling face-first onto the ground. He gently rubbed at his nose as he tried to lift himself up, growing increasingly frustrated when his arms failed completely at their job. He rolled over onto his back and grabbed the stand his IV was attached to, using it to lift himself back to his feet. Thankfully the stand had wheels, so his balance problems were solved (for the time being). He once again limped out of his room, struggling to open the door with his current physical limitations, but succeeding after a few minutes of hard work. He did not slam his chin into the doorknob to open it. He didn’t.

Like deja vu, he was once again presented with a choice; follow the Headspace friends, or follow Stranger. He chose the same as last time, dragging the squeaky IV stand along with him as he stumbled down the hall. He finally arrived at the door, again, and steadied himself, taking a deep breath.

Sunny CALMED DOWN.

Sunny FOCUSED.

Sunny PERSISTED.

Sunny OVERCAME.

The door was surprisingly easy to open this time.

He quickly limped into the room, ignoring the light gasps he heard and immediately getting to the point.

“I have to tell you something.” “I have to tell you something.”

The two voices spoke in perfect tandem, their statements creating an odd harmony.

Wait… two?

He lifted his head, finding a girl with stark black hair standing in front of him. She was taller than him, with the same skin tone and general build. Her voice sounded eerily familiar, enough to make him take an involuntary step backwards in a mixture of fear and surprise. He quickly tallied up the people in front of him; maybe it was one of his friends?

Aubrey stood on one end of the bed, her jaw dropped to the floor.

Hero stood a ways away, staring at him in shock.

Kel stood on the other end of the bed, tears in the corner of his eyes.

Basil stared at him like he was seeing a ghost.

The figure in front of him turned around slowly, an uncertain hope in their posture. Her uncovered eye locked with Sunny’s, the other covered in bandages wrapped around her head.

“S… Sunny?” She whispered. She seemed to not believe he was here, that he was in front of her.

“...M-” He tried to respond, only for his voice to completely fail him. The little amount he got out was raspy at best, like someone had rubbed sandpaper along his throat.

“Sunny… you’re awake!” Kel shouted, sprinting across the room. He went to scoop the smaller boy into a hug, only to be stopped by Aubrey grabbing his shoulders.

“Kel he just woke up from a coma, you can’t just grab him, dumbass.” Aubrey said, steadying the larger boy. Her voice may have been calm, but her face betrayed her emotions; a massive smile spread as far as it could go, and tears in the corners of her eyes.

Wait… coma?

Sunny pointed to Aubrey and tilted his head, hoping they’d get his unspoken question. Aubrey suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth, realizing what she had said. Hero winced as he walked past the two, pushing them away from the formerly-comatose boy. Mari stepped towards him, stopped by an outstretched hand from Hero.

“Sunny… I… don’t really know how to break it to you, so I’ll just tell you.” Hero started.

“You… You’ve been in a coma for four years. On the night of the recital, you fell down the stairs and landed on your violin, and… you never woke up.”

Sunny’s eyes widened as he spoke, realization dawning in his mind. If he had gone down the stairs, that means that Mari…

Mari was alive.

Unfamiliar memories flashed through his thoughts, images of him falling, desperately reaching out for Mari, for the handrail, anything. He remembered how she reached for him, her fingertips brushing against the front of his shirt. He remembered smashing his head into the steps, then… nothing.

He suddenly sprinted over to Mari, wrapping his arms around her as tight as he could. The IV stand crashed to the ground, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care at all. He had his sister back. She unsteadily reciprocated the hug, whispering something into his ear.

“I’m sorry, Sunny.”

He took a step backward, his huge smile never moving, not even a little.

“I… I forgive… you.” He said as loud as he could, barely managing a normal volume. He stepped past Mari, ignoring the pull of his IV detaching and turning to face his best friend. The one who had done so much for him, even if it wasn’t real.

“I forgive… you… too.” He rasped with a smile.

“What… what’s he talking about?”

Aubrey’s voice was much louder than Sunny’s, easily filling the now silent room. Sunny turned to his sister, his heart leaping for joy yet again at the sight of her face. He grabbed her hands, gently squeezing them and tilting his head towards the group.

“I…” Mari started, her smile changing to a look of grim determination, “I need to tell you something.”