The bus was silent, only having the sound of the bus' engine as the ambience in the background.
All of them were sitting at the back part of the bus, with the entire Hooligan group on the five back seats of the bus.
In front of the Hooligans were Mari, Hero, Basil, Kel, and Aubrey. Aubrey, Basil, and Kel sat right in front of the Hooligans, with Kel and Aubrey sitting together. Kel had one of his hands on Aubrey's shoulder. Basil was sitting alone, the vibes he was giving were unpleasant. Kim was directly behind him, concerned with his condition.
Hero and Mari were sitting in front of Aubrey and Kel. Both of them were the most silent. Before this, Mari had cried again after Hiko's lecture. She was no longer crying now, looking lost.
Kel looked at their entire group and felt the depressing vibes. Trying to brighten up the mood, he stood up and brought up the topic of the plan to get Sunny back home in an optimistic way. Because moving on and looking forward is a way to not be depressed. Kel's brain cell count had grown into three.
"... Hey! At- At least we found Sunny! Hehehe…" said Kel with a wavering smile as he scratched the back of his head, "And, and… on the bright side, it's not like Sunny is never going back home right? So… we should think about how we are going to get Sunny back! Yeah?"
The entire group just stayed silent, unmoved by Kel's attempt to brighten the mood.
"S-so… since we're free all summer, let's use this time to go to Sunny and get him to warm up to us, yeah? The less he's afraid, the more likely he'll come back home!"
"Except Hero," Basil finally started to talk in a flat voice as he cast a grudging look at Hero. It seemed that Basil was angry at Hero. No, he had already been angry at him back then. Hero flinched when Basil talked. Everyone looked at Basil and was startled by the look Basil had.
"T-that's true… but don't worry, big bro! One day Sunny would be fine with you!" Kel smiled nervously as he looked at his big brother.
Hero just stared into nothing, already accepting his fate that Sunny might never recover from his fear of him, "... if he's still scared of me, it's fine… I deserve it," Hero smiled sadly, "I've screwed up way too much."
Kel's smile disappeared for a moment, but he put one back on his face, "D-don't think like that, big bro! Surely he will get over it!"
Everyone still stayed silent. Until…
"... Where will Sunny live when he's back here…?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Mari?" Kel was confused.
"... There's no way Sunny can live with us. He's afraid of our parents. And… he probably hates me," Mari misunderstood the intention behind Sunny's 'stay away'.
"You're dang right you are."
"W-what did you say, Basil?" Kel looked at Basil, not believing what he had said.
"... Nothing," Basil said as he looked away.
Kel stared at Basil for a bit.
… I must be imagining things, Kel thought.
"So… where should Sunny stay, then?" Kel asked everyone with a smile.
"Definitely not my house…" Aubrey said. Considering the fact that her father had been found out cheating on her mother and leaving the both of them, the state of Aubrey's home wasn't stable. Even Aubrey would have to be housed somewhere else at one point.
"Not mine, too… because… well…" Kel's smile disappeared as he looked over to Hero. He also understood why it was a bad idea for Sunny to live with him and Hero.
"I could take him in, but my fam's budget won't allow another kid," Kim suddenly joined in the conversation. Kim was listening to the conversation the entire time.
"D-don't worry about money, my family will pay," said Mari. Her expression was pained. She clearly heard Basil's remark.
"I see… what about you three?" Kel looked at Charlene, Angel, and Mikhael.
"I don't think my house can fit him, Kel," answered Angel.
Charlene shook her head.
"I, the great Maverick, welcome hi-"
"""Yeah, you're definitely not taking him in,""" said every Hooligan. What would Sunny be if he were to stay with Mikhael? Aubrey definitely didn't want to think about it as she feared for her life imagining Sunny with eighth grade syndrome.
"It definitely should be me," Basil finally suggested, "I'm his good friend and I did try to help him during that time, so he should be scared of me less. Rather… Sunny should just stay with me from now on."
"W-what do you mean, Basil?" Kel was surprised, but he still kept his smile.
"How do I know if Mari wouldn't make the same mistake again? I'll be frank, I don't trust Mari anymore at this point," Basil raised his voice, "And you, Hero! You should never see Sunny at this point again! How could you not allow me to defend him!? How could you not allow him to defend himself!?" Basil stood up in the process and pointed at Mari and Hero in anger.
After that night, Basil had a grudge against Hero, mad about what he did. He never got over the grudge or expressed his anger, however. And now, he was also angry with Mari, too.
"Sunny was never in the wrong, but he had to take everything!"
Hero and Mari just looked down, accepting Basil's lashing as they accepted the fact that they screwed up. Mari's eyes were already watering again.
"Basil- let's calm do-" Kel tried to calm Basil down, but he was interrupted.
"Aren't you our big sister and big brother!? You're supposed to care for us, not… whatever you did to Sunny!"
"It's not just their fault…" Aubrey was looking down when she clenched her fists. She had tears in her eyes.
"It would be better if the BOTH OF YOU AND YOUR PARENTS JUST DISAPPEAR!"
"Basil, that's enou-" Aubrey was about to stop Basil, when…
"BASIL, STOP!" Kel screamed at all of them.
Everyone looked at Kel, who screamed at all of them. The Kel who was always smiling. The Kel who would fight with Aubrey for petty things. The Kel who would always brighten the mood. That Kel screamed at them with a tone that was anything but happy.
"... it wasn't just Mari and Hero's fault… I… I don't want to be blaming anyone, but… it was your fault, too, Basil, for not giving Sunny a chance. After all, you had one!"
"... huh…? You're at fault, too, the-"
"YES, BASIL! I'm at fault, too! Aubrey's at fault, too! We should've asked him! I should've believed in him! Mari was at fault! She should've been better to Sunny! Big Bro was at fault! He got angry at him without giving him any chance to say anything! His parents, too! They should've taken care of Sunny better! All of us screwed up, Basil! ALL OF US! "
The entire group fell silent again, only with Mari's sobs heard throughout the bus. Mari had apparently started crying again soon after Basil lashed out at her and Hero. Hero saw this and hugged her as an attempt to comfort her (and himself).
"... We shouldn't be fighting like this. We shouldn't be blaming each other! We should be helping Sunny come back home! And we have to do it together! If we don't, then our group will never be whole! NEVER!" Kel had tears in his eyes.
Everyone was silent, nobody wanted to argue with what Kel said.
"... Kel's right," Aubrey stood up beside Kel, "We should help Sunny, not… this. I also made a mistake. I didn't ask Sunny, either. But right now, I want him back home. I want Sunny back," Aubrey's voice trembled, "At.. at least, that way we can undo our mistakes and start all over again, right…?" Aubrey ended her speech with a smile, still having tears in her eyes.
"... You're right… I'm just… angry at Mari and Hero… I'm… sorry," said Basil as he slumped back into his seat.
Kel nodded, as he wiped his tears and brought up a small smile, "Right, now that's all said and done, let's… bring Sunny back home. Together."
There was silence again, until…
"… Kel. I just remembered something," said Basil.
"Yeah?"
"Hiko said we shouldn't involve adults. But no matter how I look at it… Grandma would obviously be involved by taking care of Sunny."
While Sunny would stay in Basil's house, it was technically Basil's grandma's house. As Basil was taken care of by his grandma, Sunny would too if he were to stay in Basil's house.
"... Let's just not tell him," Hero said.
"... What…?" Kel was surprised. No, everyone was at his remark.
"No matter how much I look at it, we can't help Sunny without bringing in adults. Don't worry, little brother," said Hero as he looked at Kel with a sad smile, "If anything goes wrong, I'll take the fall. That's the least I could do, right now."
"... No. I'll take responsibility, too, if it ever comes to it," said Mari.
Everyone looked at the both of them, but dared not to say anything.
As usual, the hall was badly lit by outside lighting. On the stage were a boy and a girl that was much older than the boy. The boy was sleeping peacefully on a mattress and blanketed by an unused curtain cloth while the girl stroked his head. The boy's cheeks were red from all the crying he did.
"How is he?" A boy as old as the girl approached the girl from the direction of the door.
"He's asleep. But… I don't know if he's okay after all that…" Abbi looked at Sunny with concern.
"He's definitely not okay. But that's why we have to be there for him," Hiko looked at Sunny.
The both of them fell silent.
"Hey… Hiko… are you willing to give Sunny to them?"
"... Only if they showed they truly want him back, and if Sunny wants it. Of course, with a condition."
"No adults, right?"
"Yeah."
"..."
"..."
"Hiko, why don't you trust adults?"
"Did you forget what your parents thought of you?" Hiko looked at Abbi.
"... I know, but Hiko… even before you knew about their intentions, you've already not trusted them from the start. I can tell. Anyone could," Abbi looked at Hiko, concerned, "So, why, Hiko?"
"... That's…" Hiko looked away with a frown, "Abbi, I promise you I'll tell you one day. But… today's not the day."
"Okay…"
The both of them fell silent again.
Hiko turned towards the door, "... I should cook some steak for Sunny. To brighten up his mood."
"Alright. Stay safe, Hiko."
Hiko raised his hand, responding to Abbi's concern.
Hiko walked through the dusty streets of Nowhere towards Somewhere. After all, if there's a place to find good meat, the closest place would be Somewhere.
Hiko took out a cigarette and lit it up. He took a whiff and puffed a long trailed smoke.
"... Adults, huh?"
Hiko closed his eyes as his past memories flooded in.
A little boy in his 10s wearing a white yukata ran through the corridors of a Japanese-styled house.
The house was actually a part of a complex of three houses. Two were Japanese-styled, whereas one of them was styled as a Western house, which was positioned at the right side of the gates to the complex.
The house where the boy was running was to the left side of the gate. He ran through a bridge that was connected to the Western-styled house. He walked into the living room and up the swirling stairs and towards a room.
The room opened up to a big room with a pink ornately patterned wallpaper and with a majestic queen-sized bed that had a ceiling and curtains on the back center. There were many plushies on one side of the room. Next to the bed, was a desk filled with makeup, knitting tools, and books that were neatly arranged. There was an ornate mirror on the wall above the table. The room had two windows which lit the room.
"Big sister Hime!" The boy called to the girl who was sitting on the bed with a big smile as he ran up to her and hugged her. She was a 16-year old girl with long brown hair which the left side of her bangs were tucked behind her ear and clipped with a princess flower hairpin. Her eyes were colored with a rare purple, the same color as the princess flower hairpin she wore. She wore a pink dress with a transparent cloth with ornate patterns overlaying the skirt part.
"Good morning, my little prince!" The girl who was looking out the window looked at the boy that hugged her and hugged him back with a genuine smile.
The boy giggled as he looked up towards the girl who's name was Hime. The boy was Hiko.
W notes: I wasn't able to log into Fanfiction from my computer and I found out I can now. I will be sending a chapter once a day until my latest! If you would like to catch up to the latest chapters, please check AO3!