Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Welcome to White Space
“These flowers are called lily of the valley. It’s said that they’re able to ward off evil spirits and help people see a brighter future... I guess that’s why they remind me of Mari! I can always count on her to help me stay positive!”
Welcome to White Space.
SUNNY awoke in a place he did not recognise, or understand. His eyes pried open and saw a boy, definitely older than him, meeting his gaze. This was OMORI.
OMORI: “She hates you.”
SUNNY refused to believe it. He loved his sister Mari, and she loved him. She always said she would be the greatest big sister of all time. But ever since she started middle school a few months ago… she was the worst to him. And that’s when it hit him. She was always like this.
A few years prior, around 1992, when Sunny was 5 and his older sister was turning 9 that day. To be perfectly honest, he was being a bit rambunctious. He tried to blow out Mari’s candles instead of her and he ,perhaps, took away her new sheet music so she couldn’t play on the piano. But.. When he went up to his room to get his present for his big sister, she heard Mari marching up the stairs. And when she reached the doorway, she told Sunny something that always stuck with him to this day.
MARI: “My friends are here for me, not you. Stop trying to ruin my special day.”
Those words still hold weight years later, despite Mari’s birthday being over 3 years gone now. Perhaps.. It was okay for her to treat him like this. Maybe, he was deserving of nothing. Maybe, his big sister should have the right to walk over him. Maybe it’s all his fault. Maybe he should just die! Like Mari told him to.
Calm down.
OMORI stood before SUNNY, the two just blankly staring into each other’s eyes as SUNNY attempted to process the three words presented to him.
OMORI: “So when she tells you to go and die, you think that’s love? It’s her fault for saying that.”
Of course it was her fault. However, it’s not like she could snap her fingers and get rid of her anger issues. She had always struggled with them, and the Suzuki parents never bothered to take MARI to counseling or anger management classes. But.. while those days became rarer and rarer as she seemed to learn new swear words from kids at middle school, which she’d obviously use to berate him, he knew. He knew those days where it was thundering outside and he’d help her get through her fear of lightning, or when Mari broke a vase during one of her meltdowns and Sunny helped her clean it up, he knew that she had some love in her heart for him.
SUNNY took the time to really gauge his surroundings. A laptop, some tissues, and a sketchbook. That’s all there was here. The laptop seemed brand new and never used, the tissue box was completely full to the brim, and there were no drawings on any page of the sketchbook.
However, as his vision began to blur, SUNNY couldn’t help but feel the sun’s rays begin to beam down on him as he awoke from his slumber. Mari was still asleep… thankfully. Sunny checked the date, July 15th 1995. His ninth birthday was just 5 days away.. and today his friends wanted to go to the park! The closet had a lot of stuff that fit him, likely just a tank top and shorts, Faraway was being hit with a blazing heatwave.
Just a few short moments later, SUNNY heard rustling as MARI also woke up and opened her arms for an embrace.
MARI: “You’ll.. Forgive me for last night, right SUNNY?”
SUNNY would hug back, feeling the tight squeeze as MARI’s bear hug suffocated him, before MARI made sure to affirm she was sorry.
MARI: “I love you.. Little brother.”
And at this point.. Could he even be sure anymore? Today was boiling hot.. But SUNNY still felt frozen in MARI’s arms.