They stared at him.
He stared back.
They were curious, but confused, likely worried as well, what with the state that they found him in and all.
KEL, ever the caring friend, was first to step away from BASIL's bedside.
With a smile and an oddly gentle gait, he moved towards his newly one-eyed friend, arm coming up to wrap around his shoulder, and lead him somewhere like he'd done for the past three days.
Whether that be to or away from BASIL, the cyclops had no idea. And it would remain a mystery to all but KEL himself , after SUNNY said his next words.
"I have to tell you something…"
That stopped KEL in his tracks.
To BASIL's other side, he saw AUBREY and HERO stiffen as they stared at him with rapt anticipation.
He never really spoke, so when he did, everyone he knew would stop and listen.
Well, everyone except… her. But that was only one time, and it was years ago.
This time, there he had everyone's attention, even BASIL's who seemed to have finally come to when he walked in.
And as an added benefit, the nearest flight of stairs was down the corridor and to the right, he checked.
So he closed his eye, took a breath, and began.
"It's about MARI."
He saw three out of his four friends stiffen. The odd one out was the one shaking in his hospital bed.
HERO spoke up, "SUNNY, you should get back to-"
AUBREY cut in, "Let him talk, HERO."
KEL nodded, he'd been oddly quiet for the past few minutes. A far cry from the boy who had knocked on his door three days ago.
SUNNY had thought about his approach for the past ten minutes that he'd been awake.
He could have gone into a long explanation about how he was stressed, MARI was on a perfectionist kick, and eventually, all of his repressed self-hatred, anxiety, and frustration culminated into him throwing the violin that they'd all worked so hard to get him down the stairs, leading to the tragedy that followed soon after.
He could've said all of that, but he hated it when people refused to really
He also had to pee.
So he chose to go down the band-aid route.
"I killed MARI."
And the truth was out. A beat of silence. He took the time to gauge everyone's reaction.
KEL, well he looked confused. That was understandable.
AUBREY, she looked like she'd been struck.
She looked dazed, SUNNY imagined this is what she'd look like in HEADSPACE after a HEADBUTT.
HERO. Oh, poor HERO. He had tears in his eyes. It was an old wound that had finally started to heal and here he was opening it up again.
BASIL, he was doing as well as anyone could expect.
Eyes wide, pupils dilating, body shaking.
Yeeeeeah… about as well as anyone could expect.
He really had to pee.
It was the oldest person in the room that broke the silence, his voice shaky as he addressed the youngest.
"W-what did you just say, Sunny?"
Ah, follow-up questions, he'd prepared for this.
"We were arguing by the stairs, she was pushing me too hard, so I pushed her back. Unfortunately, she fell back… down the stairs."
It was AUBREY's turn to ask the next question.
"Wait. Fell? SUNNY, MARI… she-she hanged herself."
SUNNY nodded and put up a finger, "Right, I was just getting to that. BASIL was there that night. I dunno why he was at my house or… how he got in without MARI or I noticing, but after he saw that MARI was...dead. He came up with the plan to frame it as a suicide by hanging. Speaking of…"
The one-eyed teen turned to his blonde friend, who was now hyperventilating, and tilted his head, "How'd you know how to tie a noose back then BASIL?"
BASIL continued to hyperventilate.
SUNNY shrugged. It probably wasn't important and likely held no important negative implications about his old friend's mental state.
KEL was still oddly silent and now everyone was staring at BASIL, who looked like he was about to throw up.
SUNNY's need for a bathroom had only grown as he spoke to his friends. It was actually becoming somewhat unbearable.
There was a bathroom off to the side.
He knew what he needed to do.
FLUSH!
SUNNY felt relieved. Not only had he faced his personal demons and told the truth that had been haunting him for four years to his friends, but he'd also took the guilt off BASIL's shoulders as well.
All-in-all, a supreme victory.
Though judging from the way he glared at him from his place within the mirror, the manifestation of his inner guilt and unwillingness to accept the truth disagreed.
Meh. Who cared about what he thought? OMORI lost.
And with that in mind, SUNNY washed his hands and exited the bathroom.
Only to be immediately latched onto by a tearful KEL.
HERO and AUBREY still stood by BASIL's side, they were both deep in thought.
AUBREY had her hands folded as she muttered, almost as if she was in prayer.
HERO, well he didn't quite know exactly what HERO was thinking.
BASIL… was asleep again.
Well, maybe unconscious would be the better word for it.
Sedated. That's a fine middle ground.
KEL was babbling in some sort of language that closely resembled english, but was impossible to make out through his sobs.
SUNNY patted his back. It would be okay. Everything was going to be okay.
After a full minute of this, the door to BASIL's room almost slammed open.
And there stood someone he hadn't seen in… weeks, actually.
He turned from KEL, still patting his back rhythmically and addressed the newcomer.
"Hey MOM, I have to tell you something…"
I don't know why I wrote this instead of sleeping last night.