Writer notes: I have a surprise in the AO3 version of this chapter.
"... and then he's all like ' If I'm going down, you're going down with me ,'" Kim said in her best macho voice, "I mean, isn't that such a cool liner!?" Kim's eyes were sparkling.
Sunny, confused about what Kim was talking about, just nodded in agreement.
In the corner of a certain room with plants, Sunny was sitting on the cold floor with the rest of the Hooligans in a circle. Some time ago, Kim was talking about her favorite gangster movies after some idle chatter. Thinking that Sunny was interested (albeit just nodding in confusion), a once simple hot take of her favorite movies had turned into a 10-page long essay.
The rest of the Hooligans didn't share the same likes as Kim, but they do agree that some of the movies she talked about were good movies. After all, she made them watch it with her.
"Bet, but you know what's better?" Mikhael joined in, "Last episode's Ultraman transformation! It goes like phshing! Zooom! And Chaaaaa! Then he ends it with this ultra -cool pose-!" Mikhael reenacted the entire transformation scene.
"Objection! Joe the Killer has a much cooler entrance during the last installment! He walked into that fight with an explosion behind him. An explosion! That's waaaay cooler than some cringey flashy blob-eyed titan alien!"
Mikhael gasped at what Kim said.
"You… did not!"
"Oh yes I did, Mickey!"
"IT'S THE MAVERICK!"
With Kim lighting the oil on fire, Kim and Mikhael started to argue over which character had the best entrance. It was entertaining to watch, with the entire Hooligans huddling up to Sunny's side as they watched them fight. Except Angel, of course. He was supporting Mikhael.
Sunny smiled at this bickering. It was all so familiar to him. The both of them reminded him of Aubrey and Kel arguing with each other back over the smallest things back in the day. Those days were Sunny's precious memories.
Wait. Aubrey… The thought of Aubrey flashed into his mind. He was reminded of the fact that Aubrey was in the same room as him, Basil, too.
Sunny froze and started trembling in realization of Aubrey and Basil being in the same room.
Vance and Charlene, who were beside him, realized this change. Charlene gently rubbed one of his shoulders, while Vance checked on him, "... Are you okay?"
Sunny took deep breaths while chanting a mantra in his mind.
It's okay, they won't hurt me. I know that. Nothing's going to happen to me…
Sunny tried to calm down . He was still trembling, but it had considerably decreased.
Sunny looked at Vance and nodded at him.
"Alright, then…"
The three of them then continued watching Kim and Mikhael go at it.
On the other side of the room were two people who were looking at the Hooligans' and Sunny's merry meeting.
It was Aubrey and Basil.
They had saddened looks, seeing that Sunny was enjoyingly spending his time with the Hooligans…
… but not with them.
Basil looked at them with a somber expression. The both of them looked at the group for quite a while silently, not following what Kim had said about them looking at flowers.
"... How long would it take for him to be… like that again with us?" Basil broke the silence as he gave Aubrey a question.
Aubrey didn't reply back immediately, thinking up an answer.
"... I… don't know, but… I'm pretty sure he will one day!" Aubrey forced a smile that disappeared as quickly as it had formed.
"But… How long would it take? This… all of this… I don't like it. He's in front of us, but we can't even look at him when he's looking at us. For how long, Aubrey? One year? Two years? I… can't bear it, Aubrey. I don't like this."
"I… I don't either. I want to talk with Sunny like old times. I want to…" Aubrey wanted to say things like hugging Sunny and never letting him go, but decided to not say it, "... never mind. Anyway, I don't care how long it takes. I want our Sunny back," after a little while Aubrey said that, Aubrey's lips trembled as the reality had set in.
How long would Sunny be like this? How long would they have to put up with seeing Sunny, but not being able to touch, talk, or to even get near him? His recovery could take months, or years, or…
No, I can't think like that.
Slight tears had formed in Aubrey's eyes, but she held it in.
The conversation between the children on the other corner continued, until the door Sunny shut himself in just now opened as a chubby middle-aged woman had entered the room.
"Omori! Come here! I got the sweets I promised- oh? Are you… customers?"
"N-no! We're Su-" Aubrey spoke up, but Basil covered her mouth.
"Aubrey, I think we should call Sunny 'Omori' for now…"
When Basil heard her calling Sunny 'Omori', Basil knew instantly that Sunny was covering his identity. He realized that this was one of the reasons why the police could never find Sunny. Either way, dropping the fact that Sunny was using a fake name could have Sunny losing his job. With this reasoning, Basil stopped Aubrey.
"But, why-"
"Just do it!"
Complying to Basil's request, Aubrey continued her response, "We're Omori's friends, old friends!"
"Oh! I didn't know you had friends, Omori! By all means, come to the back! I cooked up some sweets. All of you can have some."
Two heads and a pair of eyes suddenly looked towards the woman with a red glow in their eyes.
"" s?"" Kim and Vance were smiling insidiously.
"Oh boy, here we go again," Mikhael scratched his cheek as he saw what was going on.
Behind the door Sunny shut himself in before was a short-medium corridor with two doors on each of its sides. At the end of the corridor was a room with a long table, a kitchen, a staircase, and windows.
On the long table covered in ornate white tablecloth were a few plates of different types of cookies, a plate of a simple cheese cake, a bowl of chilled orange jelly, a plate of brownies, a kettle of hot tea and… a bowl filled with taffy.
The other employees were enjoying this super rare break with a sweets buffet (that one was thanks to Sunny), sitting on one side of the long table. The other side… were Sunny's friends and two very vicious taffy eaters.
Sunny was sitting next to an employee and Kim who was downing taffies like there's no tomorrow. Vance was beside Kim. In front of him was Mikhael and Angel with Aubrey next to Angel. Basil sat at the edge of the table.
"... Those kids sure do love taffies…"
"Yeah…"
The employees were amused at Kim and Vance's hunger for taffies.
Meanwhile, Sunny was enjoying a slice of cheesecake. He actually wanted the cookies, but the cookies reminded him of a certain someone he didn't want to remember at the current moment.
Sunny took a piece of his slice and gobbled it up. It was sweet with the taste of cheese, cream, and sweet cake bread. He had a smile on his face as he savored the taste. Entranced by Sunny's adorable expression, Aubrey couldn't help but stare at Sunny.
Basil looked at Aubrey and realized what was happening. However, he was to be teasingly happy or sadly shocked, since the situation was quite depressing for Aubrey.
Concerned for Sunny, Basil poked Aubrey's shoulder, "Aubrey, I don't think you should stare too long… If Sunny finds out…"
"Oh…" Aubrey had a sad expression once again, "Right…"
Aubrey slowly took a bite out of her cookie. It was delicious, with melted chocolate, the sweetness of the dough, and the occasional slight taste of salt. By the way, Basil was eating a cut of brownies with hot tea, a very delicious combination.
As she took a bite, she noticed that Sunny's hands were actually trembling. She didn't even need to think too far to know why this was happening. Just knowing that made her mood drop even more.
Aubrey took her cup to drink and realized that her cup had been long empty. She stood up as she tried to reach for the kettle. But…
… as she extended her hand, she was caught off guard when she touched another person's hand. Someone else had also wanted tea. Aubrey traced the hand and found out that it was… Sunny.
The both of them looked at each other as if time froze. None of the kids dared to move a muscle. Sunny's eyes were filled with fear as he started to visibly tremble harder. The kid's side of the table had noticed what was going on, 'Uh oh' was what they all thought. Noticing what was going on, everyone didn't dare to move, trying to think of what they should do in that situation.
…
"Hey, Sunny!"
Someone finally broke the ice. Sunny broke off the stare and looked towards the source of the sound. It was Mikhael.
Mikhael raised one of his hands, gripping into nothing as if there was a staff on his hand.
" Ultraman… Henshin! " Mikhael posed into Ultraman's entrance pose.
… Huuuhh?
Everybody was weirded out by what Mikhael did. Mikhael realized their stares. He was normally shameless about his stunts and posing around them, but he also had his limits. The embarrassment started to creep on him, his smile twitching.
Distracted, Sunny's trembling had decreased. Normally, Sunny would look at Mikhael with awe, but the situation wasn't right at the moment. Aubrey slowly retracted her hand, taking the opportunity to not destroy Sunny's sanity any further.
Mikhael smirked, feeling relieved, as he gave Sunny a thumbs up and a big grin.
Phew… was what ran through everyone's mind. They were very close to another breakdown from Sunny.
Aubrey really wanted a cup of tea, however, but she couldn't risk it. However, within her hindsights she saw the kettle being offered to her by someone else. It was Charlene; she thought that Aubrey probably still wanted the tea and brought it to her. Surprised, Aubrey hesitantly took the kettle and mouthed a 'thank you' to Charlene.
Meanwhile, the employees were whispering between themselves.
"... Sunny?"
"Who's Sunny?"
"Is that Omori's nickname?"
More whispers ensued in the background.
After some time, the rain had finally stopped. Since Aubrey, Basil, and the Hooligans were able to go back home now, Sunny walked with them to the bus shelter to see them off. Everyone walked to the bus stop with happily filled tummies filled with desserts; especially the two certain candy addicts.
The children were walking in two separate groups; Basil and Aubrey were walking at the very back, in front of them were Vance, Kim and Charlene and at the very front were Mikhael, Sunny, and Angel. Sunny and Angel were listening to Mikhael's tall tales and 'advices'.
"Listen, Sunny, my disciple! Every man must be equipped with a special move!"
Sunny nodded with a gleaming eye as he heard the word 'special move'.
"But! Before you can have your own special move, you must do these three things!"
Sunny leaned in closer.
"First! 100 push ups! Second! 100 sit ups! THIRD! 10 KILOMETER RUNS! EVERYDAY!"
Sunny's eye shone with the light strength of 100 lumens. Sunny jumped up and down as he asked in a small voice,
"What's your special move?"
"My special move? Well, first… I pose!" Mikhael fabulously posed as he weirded out every other pedestrian in the surroundings, especially his friends, "and then… I absorb all the energy from the earth…! And…! RORURIN SAN-DA*! " Mikhael did his special move, jumping pretty high and rolled mid-air, ending it with a landing with his arms crossing through his chest and swishing it outwards. Aubrey, Basil, and the rest of the Hooligans (except Angel, of course) were absolutely weirded out. On the other hand, they were also amazed that Mikhael was able to pull that jump and mid-air roll.
(*Translator notes: Rorurin San-da is the katakana romaji of 'Rolling Thunder'**.)
(**Writer notes: And no, I made that up so it might be wrong lol)
"THAT'S MY MASTER FOR YOU! GO, THE MAVERICK!" Angel cheered admiringly.
Sunny was amazed by what Mikhael did, thinking that it was cool.
"Master!" It was a whisper, but Aubrey, Basil, and the rest of the Hooligans caught what Sunny had said and turned their heads towards them in horror. Sunny had finally been turned into one of Mikhael's two worshippers.
"Yes! My disciples! Bathe me with cheers and admiration!"
"Aubrey…" Basil started.
"Yeah…"
"We can't let Sunny be with Mikhael without anyone watching…" so that Sunny won't turn into Mikhael, Basil thought.
"Wait, why not let Mikhael not meet Sunny, then?" Aubrey was surprised by Basil's statement.
"I think… Mikhael will be helpful for Sunny. For… his fear of us."
Basil was right about that. Mikhael was and would be very helpful in calming Sunny down and could possibly be one of his support pillars in his recovery. However, if they were left alone unsupervised, Sunny could become another Mikhael with an eighth-grade syndrome. That was something that shouldn't ever happen.
The group had finally gotten to the bus shelter, with the bus that usually went in the direction of Faraway stopping moments after the group had gotten to the shelter.
"Well then, cya, Sun!"
Kim went in first, then Vance with him waving goodbye at Sunny. After Vance, Charlene nodded at Sunny and walked into the bus with Mikhael and Angel approaching the bus next.
"My dear disciple, I expect great results from you!"
Sunny nodded vigorously.
"Now, until we meet again, my disciple!" Mikhael went on the bus with Angel.
There were three people left next to the bus.
As Mikhael left, Sunny realized the last two that were standing within his hindsights. Sunny froze and started to tremble as he noticed the both of them, his subconscious mind screaming at him to walk away.
Basil and Aubrey were contemplating whether to say anything to Sunny or just walk up to the bus.
What… should we do? Basil thought.
The truth is, whether or not Sunny recovers from his fear depends on Basil, Aubrey and the rest of Sunny's original friend group. If Sunny was given little to no exposure to his old friends, his recovery might take a long time, or there wouldn't be any at all. Too much exposure at the wrong time, and Sunny might take a few steps back in his progress. It was a very delicate process.
As of the moment, Basil had zero confidence if whatever he would do next would help Sunny. Pained by the memory of Sunny being afraid of him, Basil decided to just walk past him into the bus.
Aubrey looked at him, astonished. She did a double take at Sunny, and ran after Basil. However, just as Basil had reached the top of the bus stairs, Aubrey stopped on her tracks.
"Goodbye…" she whispered as she hesitantly backpalm-waved goodbye to Sunny, not fully looking back. Sunny didn't hear her, but he did see her mouth the word.
Aubrey walked up the bus stairs, and searched for a place to sit. However, she noticed something outside the window.
She saw someone waving, albeit looking away. It was Sunny, waving goodbye to all of them…
… to Aubrey.
Aubrey's eyes teared up a little bit, seeing that Sunny had reacted to her. Holding on to that hope, she smiled as she sat down next to Basil.
"What's wrong?" Basil noticed Aubrey smiling as she wiped away her small tears.
"... Basil, he waved at me!"
Basil's eyes widened as hope flickered within them.
"He did!?"
Maybe Sunny will actually recover, after all, the both of them thought.
The bus started to move to faraway towns, bringing hope with it.