A boy had opened his eyes to a white ceiling.

Said boy was currently entangled by the hug of an older girl. Wanting to get out of the bed, he struggled to get out of the girl's hug. Slowly but surely, he was definitely getting out of it.

Floop!

Sunny had successfully slithered his way out of Abbi's hug.

"... Sunny… hehe…" Abbi was probably having a really nice dream with Sunny in it. Sunny shrugged it off and went into the bathroom for a cold shower; there was no hot water in this apartment. Sunny never liked cold showers, but he had gotten used to it.

Sunny washed his face and looked at the mirror. It was the same complexion he had, except for his right eye. His right eye was a sunken eyelid with a scar. Sunny dried up his face, covered his right eye with an eyepatch, and dressed up with his only neat clothing; a white shirt with a black sleeveless coat and long black pants. After all, he had a shift that day at the flower shop.

He took the creative hall's keys on the table, and walked out of the hou-

Woosh! A chilly breeze had passed by Sunny.

… never mind.

Sunny shivered when the chilly breeze swooped at him. It was a pretty chilly and cloudy day, despite it being summer.

Sunny closed the door, and opened the wardrobe next to him as he searched for something.

… found it.

Sunny took out a black sweater hoodie that was oversized for him. He wore it and put on its hoodie; it had cat ears.

This was actually one of Abbi's sweaters; every one of them had animal ears. Out of all her sweaters, the black cat one was his favorite as it reminded him of his pet cat Mewo. The sweater had covered his hands and the entirety of his waist. Sunny tugged the sleeves so that his hands would get out of the sweater. He set out of the apartment once again.

Creak…

Sunny slowly opened one of the doors to the hall. It was empty and chilly; quite telling that there's no heat insulation in the building. He closed the door, and immediately went backstage. He went out of the backstage with a violin case and a score.

Practicing Der Erlkonig every morning had been Sunny's routine for the past year. Sunny positioned the bow on his violin and played. It was slightly better than yesterday's.

Sunny might not have a watch, but after doing this routine for a year, he already knew the perfect time to go and not be late for his part-time job. Sunny played the piece twice, along with practicing three parts he found imperfect, tidied up and then left for the flower shop. He had planned to play again later.

Chi-kling.

The sounds of bells chiming sounded throughout the shop. Someone had come in.

"We're still not open yet- oh, Omori."

Sunny nodded at the shop owner. She was a chubby middle-aged woman wearing a pink shirt tucked into blue cloth pants and a red apron. Her hair had grayed a little bit in some parts.

"Could you help take the boxes in front to the storage? New stocks had just come in today and no one's still here."

Sunny immediately went out and took the boxes one by one. Unlike his past self, he had built more muscle and stamina thanks to Hiko and his part-time job.

The owner smiled at Sunny's action, "You're one of my best employees, Omori! I'll treat you to some sweets later on, ay?"

Sunny's eyes gleamed as he nodded, accepting the owner's offer.

The flower shop was colored green on the outside, with two big windows on each side of the door. In the front, flowers of many kinds were displayed on two staircase-like platforms.

Meanwhile, the shopping inside of the flower shop had a rustic feel to it, with the wall and floor being pure furnished cement, giving it a shiny look and a smooth texture. There were flowers that were put right next to the windows on top of a table, while the tables at the back, left and right only held gardening tools, pots, and bags of fertilizers. In the center of the room, was a long table with small baby plants growing, lit by a few warm lamps above them.

After he had finished bringing in the boxes, Sunny walked towards the owner, waiting for his next task.

"Oh! Omori! You really should say something so I know you're there. Your next task huh? Hm…" The owner looked at his outfit and gained an idea. She grinned, "... Why not stand in front as a mascot? You don't have to do anything!"

Sunny had been asked just to stand around in front a few times before, so Sunny didn't even bat an eye on his task. He walked outside and stood next to a chalkboard stand…

… not realizing the extra power he held that day.

"""Awww!"""

A bunch of older girls had fawned over catboy Sunny. Sunny was already adorable in the first place, but his choice of sweater just made it even harder to not hug him. The owner smirked as her eyes gleamed from the store.

Sunny slowly blinked at his adorers, which had caused a mass heartsqueeze.

"Welcome to Melody's flower shop! What would you like to buy? We have these beaaauuutiful roses we've just stocked in today, and these cute little marigolds!"

"My, how interesting! Girls, let's take a look!" One of the older girls who seemed to be the leader of the group called out to the others. Responding to her call, the entire group looked over and followed the girl into the flower shop as they looked at the flowers they had for sale. The owner walked in after the girls had come in, looking at Sunny beforehand and giving him a thumbs up and a smirk.

Stonks! …is probably what ran through the owner's mind.

For the next few hours, Sunny only stood in front of the flower shop, becoming a 'customer' magnet using his cuteness magnified with Abbi's sweater. At times, he would be called in to take a break and be given a warm meal to eat along with the other employees.

Sunny walked outside the shop after a lunch break, back to his post. He had noticed that the amount of people on the small street in front of the shop had diminished; it was about to rain soon.

A cold breeze had brushed him once again. Thanks to Abbi's sweater, he was able to enjoy this breeze. Without it, he would be shivering all over. He closed his eyes as he immersed himself in the breeze.

…

It had been a few days since Sunny met Hero and Mari. It wouldn't be correct to say if Sunny had fully recovered from his breakdown, but he was definitely better.

The day after his breakdown wasn't very pretty; he had pretty much latched onto Abbi and wouldn't leave her side. Besides that, he would freeze and tremble at times, probably the events of that day and the night of recital flashing through his mind. Fortunately, it was noticeably decreasing.

"Uck!" Sunny winced as he felt something cold drop on his face. He opened his eyes, and saw that the rain had started to fall. He took a step back, so that he would have a roof to cover his head. However, the roof wasn't wide enough to fully shelter him.

The one drop of rain turned into two, then four, then a million. The rain had rapidly set in. The pedestrians had started running for shelter from the rain, leaving the street deserted.

Not wanting to get wet, Sunny turned towards the door to the flower shop and opened it. There were currently no customers in the shop.

Step, step, step.

"Y'all, hurry up! The rain's picking up!" Sunny heard steps and a voice of a girl in the midst of the sound of heavy rain. He looked behind him and saw a bunch of kids his age going towards him.

Seeing that they needed shelter, Sunny opened the door and moved out of the way, giving them a way in.

Seven children went inside in a hurried fashion, all wet from the sudden heavy rain. One of them, at the very front, was a spectacled girl with a boyish cut, wearing blue sweaters and long jeans. The next person that went in was a boy bigger than him, wearing a red jacket over a black t-shirt and some ripped jeans. Behind him was a blonde haired boy whose hair looked like a basil plant, wearing a green jacket over a yellow t-shirt and green overalls. He was about the same height as Sunny. After him, was a girl wearing a blue bow on her head, a pink sweater, and short blue jeans. After her was a shorter boy wearing white and red striped t-shirt and long pants with pompadour hair, a tan-skinned boy with a blonde wig on his head, a heavy denim jacket and gray jeans, and a quiet big girl wearing a blue and green striped long-sleeved t-shirt with long jeans.

Sunny closed the door and instantly went to the back, grabbing a few towels for them.

"... Oh! Thanks a bunch-! Huh?" The spectacled girl was surprised when Sunny offered her a towel, but she was even more surprised by the person that was giving her the towel, "... Sunny?"

Sunny soon recognized who it was.

It was Kim, who went with Aubrey to find him. Sunny froze when a thought passed through his mind. He remembered seeing a basil-shaped blonde hair and a blue bow.

"... You okay?" Kim realized something was wrong with Sunny.

Sunny tremblingly gave Kim the rest of the towels, as he took a step back towards the staff door. His eye searched the room, and saw two pairs of red eyes.

Aubrey and Basil were behind Vance who was just behind Kim and Mikhael, they froze and looked at Sunny like deers in headlights.

"S-Sunny-" Basil tried to call Sunny and calm him down, but…

Sunny instantly opened the door behind him and slammed it shut. Sunny was hyperventilating, with cold sweat running through his face. Sunny locked the door. Sunny hurriedly searched for cigarettes in his pocket, but failed to find any; he didn't steal any during the past few days as Hiko changed his stash spot again. He found something in the sweater's pocket, however; it was a strawberry lollipop. It seemed that Abbi had forgotten to eat this lollipop when she bought it. It was probably a few days old.

Sunny immediately opened the plastic wrap and sucked on the lollipop as he slumped towards the floor, his back still on the door. It wasn't as relieving as a cigarette, but at least he had something to fidget on. He stared dead ahead, his eyes full of fear, his entire body trembling.

Let's turn back the time a little bit.

"Go, today?"

Aubrey had gone to Mari's house to talk to her about Sunny and to proceed with their plan to heal his trauma.

"Yeah! But, it won't just be me. There will be my friends too! They call themselves the Hooligans!"

"The… Hooligans?" Mari raised an eyebrow. She had eyebags and her hair was messy. She had been pretty depressed, thinking about the state he was in when Mari met him, mentally and physically, and her misunderstood assumption of Sunny hating her.

"Yeah! There's Kim, her brother Vance, Mikhael, Angel, and Charlene!" Aubrey said their names while counting them with her fingers.

"O… Okay…" Mari was doubtful of them.

"Don't worry! They're nice people! Especially Kim and Vance, I've been living with them these few days!"

"Wait, what did you say…?"

"I've… been living with Kim and Vance?"

"Wh-what happened?"

"I… don't know. Their mother offered to let me stay with them for a while…"

Behind the scenes, Kim had told Aubrey's family situation to her mother, which had made Kim's mother feel pity for Aubrey, and decided to let her stay for now as they, Kim and Vance's parents, would talk to Aubrey's mother. However, when they called Aubrey's home phone, nobody answered. The same thing happened when Kim's parents went to visit Aubrey's house.

"Aubrey, did… something happen at home?" Mari asked with concern.

"Uh… a few days ago, my Mama and Papa had a fight and… Papa left," Aubrey frowned. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

Mari stayed silent. She looked at Aubrey with concern.

"A… Aubrey… if there's anything you need, don't be afraid to ask me, okay?" Mari gave Aubrey a gentle smile, despite her appearance screaming that she herself wasn't okay. Mari was the big sister of the group; she had to at least assure Aubrey like one.

"Okay!" Aubrey gave Mari a smile. Mari felt a pain in her heart, because Aubrey hadn't realized… that her family didn't even try to search for her. It was probably for the best, however.

"So, anyway!" Aubrey started again, "I think that if I bring my friends with me, Sunny would be more comfortable! Though, I'll probably just see him from a distance…" Aubrey's happy mood turned sour, as the cold fact of Sunny's trauma had hit her.

"... Hey, he won't be like that forever," Mari smiled as she put a hand on Aubrey's shoulder.

It would be for me, though, Mari thought, but she hid that thought behind her smile.

"Y-yeah…" Aubrey still felt down, but she tried to give Mari a smile.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with the plan. Just… make sure you do it little by little. Or else…"

The both of them fell silent. They remembered what happened when Mari and Hero met Sunny. It might've been better when Aubrey faced Sunny alone, but Mari didn't know that.

"Well! I'll go and meet him now. I'll tell him you said hello!... through Kim, that is…" Aubrey put on a sad smile, "Well… bye, Mari! But first…"

"Wah!?"

Aubrey suddenly hugged Mari. She hadn't done this in a long time.

"I missed doing this with you…" Aubrey stayed like that for a while, "... well, goodbye, Mari!" Aubrey stormed out of Mari's room.

Mari just sat loosely on the floor as she looked at Aubrey running down the stairs.

… I've not been a good big sister to anyone, have I?

Mari felt guilty for not taking care of Aubrey or any of the younger kids. It wasn't fully Mari's fault, however. Her bad scores had made her father put more time on her courses and piano practice, suffocating her even more. But it was true that she didn't think to pay any attention to them, especially Aubrey.

Moving back to Aubrey, Aubrey walked out of the house and walked to Kim's house to tell her that she got the green light.

"Now that you think of it… Where's Mr. Yamaha?" Aubrey noticed that Sunny and Mari's dad had been missing from the household. It wasn't just today; during the few days before, Aubrey hadn't seen Mari's father even a single time when she visited Mari to talk or play to cheer her up. Aubrey decided she would ask Mari next time.

Moving the time forward, Aubrey had gathered the Hooligans and was waiting for the bus. Coincidentally, they met with a familiar face.

"Aubrey? What are you doing?" The flower boy was walking by the park. He was going back home after buying some flower seeds.

"Going to Sunny…? Why?"

"Why didn't you call me, then!? I'm coming with you!"

"Wait, would Sunny be okay if the both of us went to meet him!?"

"Of course! I'm his best friend!"

And thus, the party now had an addition of a basil-shaped haired boy.

Knock, knock, knock.

…

"Is no one home?" Aubrey wondered.

The group had just gotten to Hiko and Abbi's apartment, but it seemed that no one's at home.

"... Where would they have gone?" Aubrey frowned.

"They couldn't have possibly run away… right?" Basil worried at the thought.

But just as Basil said that, steps were heard from their left.

"... Huh? What're you guys doing here?" It was the voice of an older girl. The group looked towards the source of the voice and saw that the girl was familiar.

"Wait… who're you again?" said Kim as she raised an eyebrow. The older girl seemed familiar for some reason…

"Oh! You're one of those violinists that were fooling around back then!" Angel exclaimed.

"It's not fooling around! It's a legendary workout! … Anyway, what're you guys here for?"

"Uh… Sunny…?" Basil said.

"Oh. Of course he wouldn't be here! None of them are!" she chuckled, "They're probably in Somewhere doing their part-time jobs!"

"""Oooohhh…""" Everyone sounded.

"So… Do you know where they are working?" asked Basil.

"Hm… Hiko works at a storage… Abbi works as a part-time piano teacher for kids… I don't know about Sunny. I do know he's working at a flower shop, but Hiko and Abbi never mentioned which flower shop."

"Oh, okay! Thanks, miss! Come on, let's go and find Sunny!" Aubrey urged them and zoomed towards the stairs.

"Wait, I'm not that old!" the older girl exclaimed.

"Slow down, Aub!" Kim cried.

"... Will we find Sunny? Or will we not? Find out in the next episode of- Oof!" Mikhael's side got tackled accidentally by Basil.

"Ack, sorry, Mikhael!"

"IT'S THE MAVERICK FOR YOU!"

Moving forward, the group scoured the town together until it started raining heavily. Coincidentally, the shop they took shelter in was the shop Sunny's working at. Nobody realized this, and nobody had time to prepare. The consequences were apparent as their plans went off the rails due to Aubrey and Basil meeting Sunny suddenly and at a close distance.

Kim was still in front of the door.

"Sunny? It's your local gangster, Kim! Nothing's here that's out for your blood! If they did, I'd have already beaten them! Hahaha!" Kim called out to Sunny loudly. Kim never really knew Sunny, but she felt bad seeing Sunny breaking down, and her newfound friend had asked her to help out Sunny. How could she say no?

Silence.

…

Ch-klek, creak…

A little eye peeked out of the little opening made from Sunny opening the door. He looked around and at Kim, shaking his head at her.

No, don't hit them, please.

That's what he seemed to be saying to Kim. Despite fearing his friends for life, Sunny still seemed to care about them.

"It's… just a cool line I want to say, that's all, hehehe…" Kim nervously laughed.

Basil saw him opening the door, and walked slowly towards Sunny.

"Sunny…?"

Sunny flinched.

"H-hey! It's your best friend! It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you-"

Sunny instantly slammed the door again. Basil was shocked at this behavior.

Basil thought that Sunny would be the most tolerable with him, as Basil did help him out and tried to defend him (although he was cut off by Hero). However, it seemed that Sunny was scared of all of them at the current moment due to his recent breakdown.

Basil was instantly depressed by the outcome as he stared at the floor. Ever since his lashing at Hero and Mari, he had arrogantly thought that he would be the one that would help Sunny recover, being the one that believed in Sunny during the night of the recital.

Aubrey saw this and put a hand on his shoulder as an attempt to comfort him.

"... We have to do this slowly," Aubrey softly said.

On the bright side, it seemed that Sunny was totally fine with Kim.

Kim knocked at the door and called out Sunny again.

"It's okay, man! Those two won't mess with you. In fact! They'll be minding their own business by doing… uh… by looking at… flowers? Yeah! Flowers! Today, it's just me and the boys! … and girls!" Kim clumsily built her sentence, trying to persuade Sunny to go out.

No response.

Angel walked next to Kim, "I don't think he's coming out."

Vance walked up to them, "Yeah…"

"Don't worry! If he doesn't come out, all we have to do is cheer him on from the other side like he's the protagonist! Wait, I want to be the protagonist!" Mikhael conflictingly posed, with Angel admiring him with confusion.

…

Silence once more.

"S-Sunny! It's chill, we're chill! W-we just wanna talk you know? Hahaha…" Kim nervously speaked again. It was really awkward for her.

"... S-Sunny! It's chill, we're chill! W-we just wanna talk you know? Hahaha…"

Sunny was hugging himself in fear. He felt like if he didn't, he would fall apart.

He was already afraid because of Basil when he opened the door before, and now he was afraid to open that door again.

It was true that he missed his friends. However, his fear was too ingrained in his mind. Seeing them would have made him run for the hills. His fear wasn't this bad before his and Hero's rough meeting. Rather, that very meeting had just heightened his fears even more.

Sunny curled up even more, gnashing his teeth on the plastic stick where the lollipop once was.

He didn't want to open that door.

… However…

He knew that nobody was angry at him.

He knew that everybody missed him, that their feelings were mutual.

He knew that they truly wouldn't hurt him.

Besides, he was only going to be meeting Kim and the gang… maybe.

Sunny stood up and turned his back, his hand slowly and tremblingly went for the doorknob. He mustered whatever was left of his courage, and opened the door slowly.

"Kim, I really don't think he's coming o-"

"Shush! And it's Boss for you!" Kim interrupted Angel as Kim still waited for Sunny to come out.

…

Ch-klek. Creak…

Kim and Angel's eyes widened as the door slowly opened.

Out of the door's gap came out a pair of fake cat ears, then silver hair, then an eye, and finally, an eyepatch.

Sunny slowly walked out of the door, and was finally fully in view of the Hooligans.

"There ya go! Don't worry, Sunny. Nothing's gonna hurt you when I'm around!" Kim gave Sunny a big smile as she puffed her chest.

Angel walked towards Sunny's side and grabbed his arm, "I totally believe that you would get out! Now, come, come!" Angel pulled Sunny into the center of the Hooligans, as the rest of them leered at Angel for his statement.

There, he was surrounded by his old school's outcasts. Outcasts they were, but nice ones indeed.