"... What should we do now?" Aubrey asked.
The bus stop was silent. The last bus for the night had left the stop, leaving them there with no way back home. Aubrey sat down on the bench in the bus shelter. At the edge of the bus shelter's roof was a metal plate with 'Nowhere' written on it. The group stood next to the bus shelter in a curved line. Sunny was three steps behind them, lighting up another cigarette.
"We… we could call a cab!" Basil suggested.
"Hate to break it to you, flower boy, but I haven't seen a single taxi around," Kim retorted.
"You're… right…"
Basil had realized that they haven't seen a single taxi during the time they're here.
"Maybe, we can go back to Somewhere-!"
Sunny patted Basil's shoulder and shook his head.
"Gates close at 9," he whispered.
What Sunny referred to were gates that exist between Nowhere and Somewhere. The reason why Somewhere had these gates was because Nowhere housed a good number of crooks and thieves; the shining city of Somewhere was a very enticing golden egg for them. The group didn't notice the gates before due to them being badly lit -as they were open towards Nowhere's direction- and because they were too focused on chasing Sunny. Even if they were to try and get through the walls the gates were fixed on, there were guards who would deport them back out to Nowhere.
"... How about I call my mom to pick us up?" Kel suggested. His dad was out on a business trip with the family's only car-" Kel fell silent as he realized something.
Oh yeah, Dad was going out of town until tomorrow…
"... Never mind, car's being used."
Essentially speaking, they're stuck in the middle of Nowhere… Yes, that was pun intended.
"Welp, we're stuck… I guess…" Kim tried to look aloof about their situation, but her hand shaking showed that she was afraid of this place after what happened. Basil saw this, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll figure something out," Basil said with an unsure smile.
Kim saw him and blushed a bit. At the very least, Kim started to shake less.
"Pshaw, look at you! Being cool and all!" Kim smiled and smacked his back in a manner that it didn't hurt.
"Oof!"
-1 damage. The writer lied.
Sunny approached Basil and patted his shoulder twice to get his attention.
"... Yes, Sunny?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I think Sunny wants us to follow him back home and stay there for the night," Basil concluded during that 3 second stare with Sunny.
"Wait, how did you know?" Kim asked.
"I… just know?" Basil answered.
"Don't question it, me and Aubrey have seen it many times before and we still haven't got a clue," said Kel.
This was true, however. Basil and Sunny have always had these special telepathic conversations that no scientists could ever explain. It was probably ranked there in the 'Top 10 Questions Scientists Can't Answer' article.
Sunny took two steps away from the group and towards the forsaken town. He signaled them to follow him.
They entered a building with a nearly fallen sign above two doors that had broken windows but patched with wooden planks and nails. 'Homie Apartments' was written on the sign.
They entered the patched up door into an empty room which was presumed to be the apartment's lobby. Sunny walked past the elevators and headed straight for the staircase. Angel tried to click the 'up' elevator button, but it didn't light up; it seemed that the elevators weren't working.
"Huff… huff…" Basil was panting after walking up about 8 floors. Kim helped him walk up the stairs when he was out of stamina by Basil wrapping his hand around her as she wrapped her arm around him and under his armpit. She was smiling nervously and blushing a little bit as she supported Basil. Fortunately, this was the floor Sunny was staying at. Sunny turned left and walked out of the inner corridor. He turned left again after that. On the right, was a view of the buildings around them; bareboned finished and unfinished. A breeze blew on the group, giving them a cool respite after their climb.
Sunny walked up to a green door with a numbered metal plate. 815 was the number. Above the room was a small open window. Probably for ventilation. Sunny took out a key and unlocked the door.
Chlek.
The door was unlocked. Sunny proceeded to open the door, revealing a small and short corridor with a wardrobe on the left and a door to the right, presumably the bathroom. At the end of the corridor was a small room with three mattresses, a long table with makeup, messy clothes, a small fan and a portable stove. The wall was colored green. Within the room, were two people.
It was the contestants before Sunny.
"Oh, you're back. Did you buy the- huh?" The boy with the red hair band noticed the group behind Sunny. He was wearing a red t-shirt and black shorts. His left arm had a tattoo pattern based on the princess flower that extended further up his arm.
"Hey, little sunshine! You're back! I was getting worried~-! Huh? Who's them?" the girl with the green hair asked. She was wearing a black tank top and white hotpants. Her hair wasn't tied up into buns and wet.
[Picture here?]
Sunny's brain was processing his answer for the question.
"... Old friends," Sunny looked away.
Both of them blinked twice at the same time.
"Oh…"
"Oh! Hello everyone~!" The green haired girl wore a sweet smile and waved at them all, "Come in! Come in!"
The group came into the room, instantly crowding the room. Sunny ran to the red hair band guy and whispered something into his ear.
"Pfft! Bahahahaha!" The boy broke into laughter, "your luck couldn't get worse than that, y'all!" It was probably about the bus incident. While he was laughing to his heart's content, Sunny walked to the boy's side, tugging his t-shirt and not looking back at the group.
The boy continued to laugh for a bit, and finally stopped.
"So, you guys need a roof?" He wiped a single tear from his eye.
"Y-yeah! Uh…"
"Call me Hiko," he smiled, "She's Abbi, by the way."
"Ah, um… I'm Basil…"
"I'm Kel!" Kel said with a big smile.
"I'm Aubrey!"
"Kim," she said coolly.
"Hi, I'm Vance."
"... Charlene."
"Angel!"
"And I… AM THE MAVERICK!" Mikhael posed.
…
…
Silence filled the room. Until…
"WOOOOHHHH! THAT'S SUCH A COOL NICKNAME!" Hiko's eyes sparkled as he approached Mikhael quickly, "Give me one, too!" He pointed at himself, giddy like a little child.
"Why, you… you, with the finest rapier (bow), grandest shield (cello), and the great velvet red hair band...
ARE THE RED PRINCE!"
"WOOHHH! SO COOL!"
No, it's not, everyone else thought with the moyai expression, all except Kel who seemed to think it was cool, too. He didn't say anything, though.
The both of them interlocked arms, and danced around as the entire group just watched them.
""Banzai, banzai!""
"Oh no…" Kim facepalmed her face. With someone supporting Mikhael's eighth grade syndrome, she was bound for more brain damage.
After some time, the two of them finished dancing.
"Now…" Hiko walked towards Sunny's side and knelt before him while putting out his right hand.
"Give it to me," Hiko said with a serious face, " Don't hide it from me, I can smell it, you know?"
Sunny just silently stood, looking at the floor.
"You know smoking isn't healthy for you, right? And I'm not just talking about your lungs. I'm talking about whatever is going on here." Hiko poked Sunny's forehead, his face frowned, filled with genuine concern for Sunny.
"You can't keep shortcutting your way from your stress by smoking… One day, it will bite you back. Trust me."
"..." Sunny searched his pocket for a lighter and a box of cigarettes and gave it to Hiko.
Hiko sighed, "Thank you, and I beg you. Stop stealing my cigarettes. They're not good for you…" He scratched the back of his head. "One of these days, I need to stop smoking for your sake," he muttered under his breath.
Sunny frowned, still looking at the ground.
Hiko ruffled Sunny's hair, "I'll say it again. If you're feeling stressed out or scared, you can talk to me. Or Abbi. Okay? Please stop searching for my stash."
Sunny nodded.
"Well then… now, for all of you," Hiko stood up and turned towards the others, "As you can see, we don't have enough space for you lot."
The group looked at each other nervously, afraid they're going to get kicked out.
"So… I'm afraid I have to ask all of you out…"
The group looked down at the ground, understanding where he was coming from.
"...to our base camp!"
The group looked at each other and looked at Hiko.
"""A what?"""
"Just… just follow us, 'kay? 'Scuse me… 'scuse me…" Hiko moved towards the exit which was blocked by Vance, Charlene, and Angel.
Meanwhile, Sunny sat down on a folding chair by the table and at the edge of the room when Abbi came over to him.
"Little sunshine, I'll take off your lenses, now~. Your eyes must be itching, right?"
Sunny nodded. His eyes were already watering because of the lenses.
"Right! Open your eyes…"
Sunny opened his eyes as far as he could, as Abbi pushed his skin away from the eye, opening his eyes further, before taking the silver lenses out. Sunny was too afraid to take off the lenses, apparently.
"...Right! It's out!"
Sunny's eyes were back to its former color; a rich black. Abbi stared at him for a bit, and proceeded to pinch his cheeks and play with it.
"Hehehe…" Abbi was smiling like an idiot. She seemed to adore Sunny a lot. On the other hand, Sunny wasn't liking what Abbi was doing to him, trying to pull her hands away. Their actions make them look like they were actual siblings.
Aubrey saw this, and was reminded of Mari. Mari also adores her little brother a lot. Although, she didn't tend to tease Sunny like this and rather offered him hugs and headpats.
"Hey Abbi! Let's go!" Hiko called out to Abbi. He was already outside the room, "You guys, too!"
The group followed Hiko.