-Chpt 3: So Too Will There Be Light-

The office of Mayor Faye was quiet, something that Sunny had not expected. It was also rather small, being about the same size as a small bedroom. It was large enough for a desk, a few chairs, a short wooden cabinet, a filing cabinet, a few paintings and a steel mesh trash can. There was a small clock sitting behind the desk of the Mayor, the time set for 9:30 a.m.

As for the Mayor himself, he was more than Sunny had expected. When someone guesses the appearance of a mayor, they expect a slightly chubby individual with a beard and mustache, dressed in a suit of some kind and maybe a pair of glasses. At least, that was what Sunny had assumed. What he got instead was something far different.

Mayor Faye, or as the nameplate on his desk said, Mayor Daniel Faye, was a man who held himself with importance—leaning forward with his hands in front of him clasped into a ball in front of his face. He was on the thinner side of things much like his son. Unlike his son, he had short brown hair, though he shared his son's crystalline blue eyes.

Much like any mayor would, Mayor Faye wore a suit, though it wasn't black. It was blue, with a white button-shirt underneath alongside a black tie. He knew the shirt was buttoned because of the lone button peeking out from the tie.

The man's face was drawn up into a neutral gaze, unreadable and mysterious. The way the older man looked at Sunny was also unreadable. It was frustrating, especially because Sunny was good at reading people. But for some reason, he couldn't get a read on Mayor Faye.

"So. You claim to be the late Sunny Suzuki," Mayor Faye rumbled, his voice surprisingly deep for a man of his stature. It was… unnerving, to hear such a deep voice come from such a thin-looking individual. The man straightened himself out instead of leaning forward as he had been. "Well then… considering you look identical to the boy, and because the morgue recently reported your body as missing, along with a call from the police claiming to have seen your body on the doorstep of your house, I believe you."

Sunny sighed a breath of relief, bowing his head in response as the man hummed. "Although, I have to ask… if you're alive, were you ever dead in the first place?" The question seemed rhetorical, and considering how he waved his hand dismissively, Sunny assumed that was the intention. "Not that it matters. What matters is that you're sitting in front of me. And my time in the city has taught me a lot of things, Mr. Suzuki."

His expression suddenly shifted from neutral to serious, his gaze turning sharp, causing Sunny to involuntarily flinch. "One of those things being that dead people don't just come back to life. Meaning there are only two ways you've come back from the dead. The first is that you're a Fiend, and the second is that you made a contract with a Devil at the last second."

Sunny blinked, but before he could do anything, the man continued. "There was a reason why, as Mayor, I'd take those trips away from the town. It was to see what it was that Faraway was about to encounter during my tenure. Every mayor is made aware of the contract that the town's founder made with a certain Devil that protects it from the outside world. But now, at the end of this week, it will come to a close, and Faraway will no longer have that protection."

The Mayor stood up, standing tall and looming over the sitting boy. He easily dwarfed Sunny, even when Standing. Sunny was, at best, five foot three, whereas the Mayor was easily the same height, if not a little taller than Kel, so somewhere around six feet. The man's eyes narrowed, arms crossed as he spoke. "So, Mr. Suzuki. Which one are you? A Fiend, or a Contractor."

Sunny gulped. He never really expected to meet someone who knew about Devils, then again he was only just introduced to them last night. Still, though, his point stood. Even if what had happened to him with the rooftop, if Devils were a real thing then that would've meant he probably wouldn't have lived for much longer anyway. Not without a contract, anyway.

Sunny stared at the Mayor and spoke. "Contractor."

"With which Devil?" The Mayor continued. "And what kind of contract?"

"Why is he asking me this?" Sunny thought, sighing. Whatever, it didn't matter. "Grief Devil, and… Hybrid."

When the Mayor's eyes widened, Sunny thought he had done something wrong. But when the man smiled, Sunny became confused. It wasn't a sinister kind of smile, either, but a regular kind of smile. The kind that emitted joy. What was so special about being a Hybrid? The Grief Devil did say that only advanced Devils could make that kind of contract. Was that supposed to mean that The Grief Devil was really strong?

"You're a Hybrid, huh…. Then that could be useful. Especially considering what's going to happen, and what has already happened," Mayor Faye said, before sitting back down. "In that case, you've passed the test. I'll fix your certificate and claim you as alive. However, without your mother or father being around, that means I'll have to mark you as an orphan. However, that doesn't mean I'll leave you on the streets."

Mayor Faye brought out a cheque from one of the drawers in his desk, before writing something down on it. When he finished, he passed the cheque to Sunny, and when Sunny read it over, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The cheque was for 150,000 dollars. His mouth went slack, as the Mayor smirked.

"This is so that you can re-purchase the house that your mother put up for sale. I figured that since you grew up in that home you'd want to move back in. Your mother only put it up for 25,000, so the rest is for furnishings and food," Mayor Faye began, as his expression turned serious once again. Sunny looked up at the man as he spoke. "Of course, there's a catch. I want you to meet up with two people at midnight tonight in the park. One of them works for me, and the other is there to make the meeting feel natural."

Sunny nodded and prepared to stand up, only for Mayor Faye to gesture to Sunny to sit back down. The black-haired teen did so, as the Mayor hummed. "Another thing. You are to cloak your identity from them both until the person who is going with the agent has left, so that you two may speak in private. After all, while you will be legally declared alive by tomorrow morning, the name "Sunny Suzuki" cannot be used."

Sunny tilted his head, confusion colouring the boy's face as the Mayor elaborated. "You see, Sunny, you are considered "dead" by the public. Imagine the chaos that would erupt should you come back to life. Especially considering the fact that Devils are attracted to fear and panic, it should come as no surprise that you revealing yourself to be alive is something that cannot happen."

As the Mayor spoke, he brought out a slip of paper and handed Sunny a pen. The teen looked over the piece of paper, making his eyes go wide. It was a certificate to change a person's name. The boy looked from the paper to the mayor, eyes wide. "I know that you might not like this, but keep in mind that, again, you are considered dead. Not only that, but your mother has abandoned you, especially considering no one showed up at the morgue to claim your body. When you died, that was."

Sunny's heart dropped. His mom… disowned him? But why? Why would she do that? Well, there was actually a perfectly good reason for her to do that, but still. He had never thought that she would do that. He had suspected that to be the case when he left the morgue, but… for the mayor to go ahead and say it….

Sunny lowered his head, closing his eyes as he fought back whatever emotion he had begun to feel. No. He didn't need that right now. He needed to stay strong. He needed to move forward. If his mother abandoned him, then so be it. That just meant he would change his name in earnest. He wouldn't have to deal with the baggage that the name "Sunny Suzuki" came with anymore, anyway.

Although… the name "Sunny" was given to him by his sister. So he wouldn't drop that, if not to insult Mari. But "Suzuki"? His father's maiden name? That he would get rid of. He wouldn't take up his mother's maiden name of "Smith" either. He would go with something more… fitting.

He had studied his father's language for a long time and had even taken the proclivity to speak it from time to time. Though he rarely spoke in public, when it was to himself, he would sometimes mutter in Japanese. That, and it was another thing that he and Mari had done to build a closer bond with one another. Well, that was, of course, before her death.

So, if he was going to swap out "Suzuki" for another name, it would be with another name belonging to Japanese culture. After all, it was part of him, as it was in his blood. And so, with that in mind, he wrote out the new name for himself. He kept "Sunny" but in place of "Suzuki," he wrote down a name that he liked the ring of more than "Suzuki." That name being "Fushiguro".

The name "Fushiguro", or at least a part of it, meant "Dark" or "Darkness." Considering the fact that Sunny's life up to this point had been nothing but dark and depressing, he found that it fit pretty well. As for the other part of the name, it meant to "crouch" or "to be down." Therefore, Fushiguro translated into English was "To Be Down in Darkness." Fitting, considering his circumstances.

Sunny had died and was brought back to life by a Devil, only to be met with circumstances that forced him to change. If that wasn't dark, then he didn't know what was. Oh, well, besides the fact that he had killed his sister, even if it was an accident, made it even worse.

Of course, he knew that those around him would lose any introspection when it came to his newfound last name, especially considering that most people never really bothered to look any deeper than that. But Sunny believed that "Fushiguro" fit him more than "Suzuki" ever did. After all, Suzuki literally translated to "Bell Tree" which, unless you counted his hair, didn't really fit him.

Mayor Faye looked down at the sheet and frowned, muttering the name under his breath, before looking back at Sunny. "You wish to keep going by Sunny? Boy, you do know that is part of the problem, right?"

Sunny nodded, crossing his arms. "Not changing it. Mari gave it to me."

Mayor Faye sighed, before ultimately taking the piece of paper. "Very well. If that is what you wish to go by, then I will enter it into the United States Census, as well as the towns. Congratulations, Mr. Fushiguro, welcome to Faraway." As Mayor Faye said that, he left the piece of paper on his desk, before continuing. "Now, with that being done, take the cheque I gave you and set up a bank account with it. It will take a few business days for it to go through, so until then, stay with a family friend. It would be better for you that way."

Sunny nodded, before getting up and heading for the door. On his way out, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched—not by the Mayor, but by something else. Something malevolent and sinister. It harkened back feelings of sensing… it. That creature. The one-eyed being that had haunted Sunny for four years.

But this time… it was different. There was a different kind of energy to it. One that he hadn't sensed before. And as he left the building, that feeling only got worse. When he looked behind himself, he felt it even more. It shadowed over the mayor's building, that being a large white house of sorts that looked like it had been pulled out of the '60s.

A slanted brown roof, three tower-esque spires with a single window at the front, with two floors, each with six windows, completed by a front balcony and a set of brown double doors. A haunting energy wafted off of the building, and it made Sunny feel a profound sense of dread.

There was something wrong with that building. Something unnatural to it that made Sunny feel more than off-kilter about it. Like it was cursed. What's more, was that Mayor Faye himself didn't seem like a bad person, but then again one could never tell based on a first meeting. There was an oppressive air around that man, and during his meeting with him, it was clear that he was hiding something.

One thing that Sunny knew, however, was that there was a reason why Basil wasn't fond of him, or his mother for that matter. Before he had "died" and before he had become a shut-in, Basil had told him during their sleepover that his Dad was "scary when mad" and "never was himself when he got home."

That implied a lot, but Sunny never got the chance to ask or say anything. Well, never got to express anything, anyway. Whatever the case was, Mayor Faye most likely was the cause for that sense of dread, and if that was the case, a part of him wondered if meeting up with this individual was going to be a good idea or not.

Sunny swallowed, before turning back around and walking away, hands in his jacket pockets with his head low and hood up. The sun was up in the middle of the sky, meaning it was sometime during the afternoon. He did have to wait a while to get to see Mayor Faye before their meeting. But for it to be noon already seemed uncanny.

Oh well, time flies, he assumed.

But more to the point. He felt uncomfortable being outside. He felt that way during the five-day reprieve from his self-imposed exile from the community, and now he was feeling it again. Only this time it was a million times worse because he was supposed to be dead.

Speaking of supposing to be dead.

His face was identifiable, as everyone in town knew what he looked like. The Mayor asked him to remain anonymous. He would need to mask his face. And the best place for masks was… well, it was Kels. Why? Because of his last Halloween costume. It was of Jason Voorhees. Well, when they were younger, anyway. He just hoped that Kel still had it. That, and Kel wanted to talk to him about something, so he was knocking out two birds with one stone.

And so, with that in mind, Sunny went on his merry way to Kel's place.

xxXXxxXXxx

Today had been a rather strange, if not interesting day for Deputy Jenkins. First of all, they got a call this morning from Kelsey Desoto; a well-meaning, if not slightly slow individual, who called to report the missing body of Suzuki Sunny sitting, which had been found on his old house's front doorstep. A disturbing sight to wake up, he assumed.

When Deputy Jenkins got there, however, the body was nowhere to be found, as was Kelsey. At first, Deputy Jenkins was a little annoyed, but then he realized that the morgue owner probably picked it up already seeing there were fresh tire tracks in the driveway. As for Kelsey, he probably went back home when the pick-up was done.

While it was a waste of time, not much happened in Faraway, so the Deputy didn't mind all that much. He wasn't going to chew Kelsey out for it either. It was the weekend after all, and school was out for the weekend, so the boy had other things to do.

When he got back to the station, however, he was met with a rather peculiar sight. One that didn't happen all too often. A good thing, all things considered. But with that said, it was still rather strange, especially the circumstances surrounding what was going on.

"And you're telling me… Aubrey did this to ya, kid?" Deputy Jenkins rumbled, as a kid with a cotton patch on his forehead nodded. It was soaked through with blood, and it would have to be swapped. Jenkins nodded to the office nurse, who ran to go get more. The wound, from what he had seen of it, wasn't too bad. It wouldn't need stitches—thank god—and it would leave some light scarring.

"I-I just wanted her to stop breaking o-our mailbox…" The boy mumbled. The kid was no older than seven, maybe eight if he was lucky. Aubrey Williams had been known to break mailboxes, and there were times when she could get violent with others, but never to kids. She would go out of her way to protect kids most of the time.

So the question was… why the sudden switch up?

"Fucking bitch…" Officer Roland mumbled, making Jenkins snap in his direction.

"Watch your mouth," Jenkins spat, glaring at Roland. "Little kid's here, he don't need to pick up on saying words like that."

"Bite me, Deputy. I told ya she was a menace! We couldn't jail her for small crap, but now? Now we can. And I've been itching to do so since that twerp dented my lawnmower," Officer Roland said. The man was lean and had short black hair and black eyes, along with pasty skin. The kid was new to the force, around 23, too. Jenkins had been in the Faraway Precinct for 15 years, and he had worked his way up to Deputy since he had started.

Compared to Roland, Jenkins was a little on the chubby side, with brown hair turning grey, and a small beard on his chin, alongside a barcode mustache that covered his entire upper lip. Despite his chubbiness, Jenkins was fairly fast and held a precinct record for the quickest 150-meter dash. No one expected a man his size to be that fast, but he digressed.

The old record was 23 seconds. But he was able to push the record to 19.7. All in all, he'd say that was fairly impressive.

His accomplishments aside, Jenkins was rather old-fashioned when it came to being a police officer. All he cared about was keeping the peace and making sure hooligans like Aubrey Williams knew that, while their antics were harmless, could get them in trouble. But he never arrested them. He would pull them to the side and give them a talking-to, but he wouldn't arrest them.

The last thing those youngsters needed was a criminal record. It would ruin their lives, and push them further down the road of delinquency. Jenkins would know, he was a delinquent himself in his junior years.

Newer Cops, such as Roland over there, were the worst. All they cared about was making arrests and not protecting the public. Jenkins wished that things would go back to normal. It was cops like Roland that gave the police a bad rep. Especially with the younger crowd.

Jenkins's expression turned hard, his blue eyes narrowing as he spoke. "Listen here, Roland. We ain't arresting a minor. 'Sides, the kid's not hurt all that bad. It's just a little rough-housing. If she was an adult, then my tune would change. But Ms. Williams is just troubled. 'Sides, I told you to let go of that personal crap. Otherwise, you can go home. Grudges don't help nobody. Not even the force," Jenkins replied, earning a scowl from Roland, who walked out of the building, most likely to take a stroll.

Jenkins turned his attention back to the kid, his expression softening. "The nice nurse lady will take care of you. I gotta go talk to my partner, alright kiddo?" The boy nodded, as Jenkins walked out of the building and followed after Roland. When he caught up to the man, he was walking to his car. That wasn't good.

"Roland Stuart. I hope you're not doing what I think you're doing," Jenkins said as Roland glared at him.

"If arresting that criminal for assaulting a child is what you're referring to, then yes, I am," Roland spat as Jenkins narrowed his eyes.

"Roland, as Deputy of this station, I'm ordering you to stand down. If you don't, I'll take it up with the chief," the older officer said as Roland groaned, thrusting his hands in his uniform pockets.

"You have to be kidding me! That brat has done nothing but worsen this place! It's better if we get her off the streets, right? At least a night in jail. That'll teach her, yeah?" Roland said as Jenkins shook his head.

"We are not enforcers, Roland. We uphold the law. There is a stark difference. While normally I would agree with you, Aubrey is a child herself. Older, yes, but it's not like she meant actual harm. Besides, wasn't she the one who dropped the kid off before running off when she saw you?" Jenkins said as Roland glowered.

"She should be lucky she got away. That brat—"

"Roland," Jenkins began. "Don't even go there. It's that vendetta of yours that's going to get you fired. Learn to separate the job from personal gripes. Now get back into the office. You have files to go over anyway."

Roland huffed, spitting on the ground before walking away from the patrol car and back into the building. The older officer sighed, shaking his head as he watched the young man disappear into the building. Quite frankly, he was getting sick of the boy. But he was the chief's favourite rookie, so there wasn't much that the Deputy could do.

He was worried. Worried about the state of the police force in the future? When he retired, more people like Roland would get his position, and throw around their weight because they wanted to be strong to others. People like Roland got power-hungry when they were in the position they were in. It was becoming less and less about protecting the people, and more about throwing around power.

"Where did it all go wrong?" Jenkins thought, shaking his head with a disappointed gleam in his eye. The older man walked up to his patrol car—the one next to Roland's—entered the vehicle, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot. He didn't want Roland talking to Aubrey. He was going to do it himself. He hadn't been there when Aubrey showed up. The only reason why he knew that she did show up was because of the receptionist at the front desk.

It didn't take him long to find The Hooligans. They were all crowded around the entrance to the park. They hadn't noticed him yet, which was good. He squawked the siren on his car, and that got their attention. When he stepped out, he noticed their apprehensiveness, and they looked like they were about to run.

"Hold up their youngin's, yer not in trouble," Jenkins called out, which got them to relax if only a little bit.

The group was made up of six "societal outcasts" as those of the church called them. "Uptight dickheads, especially Karen…" Jenkins brushed the thought aside, looking over the group. The first on the left was a kid in a lopsided, half-tucked-in teal shirt, a pair of light brown slacks, and hook-eared headphones around the collar. The Maverick, or Mikeal, and only one of The Hooligans to have been jailed for Shoplifting.

Next to him was a larger kid, Vance. Most mistook him for an adult, when in reality he was 17, with his sister being 16. As per usual, he was wearing his red flannel. This time, though, he had a black shirt underneath instead of his regular dark blue shirt. Finally, he wore a pair of jeans, which wasn't unusual for him.

In the back was Charlene, or Charlie as she liked to be called. An absolute giant compared to most kids her age, and also aloof, a deadly combo especially when she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She was wearing a black shirt and pink jeans, held up by a belt with a flower motif. Most people mistook her for a bully for constantly shoving people, but it wasn't on purpose. As a result, she was particularly silent. And though she was big, Jenkins could attest to the fact that she was extremely fast—so fast that she could even outrun his patrol car on a good day.

To Charlie's right, there was Vance's little sister, Kim. Kim was short, though not all that short. Around five foot one. Not the tallest, but not the shortest either—that went to the guy next to her. Kim was wearing her typical blue hoodie and black sweats, brown boots, along with her thick-framed red glasses, which she was constantly adjusting. Her hair was swept to the left, while the right side of her hair was shaved—a total tomboy move, and it fit her to a tee. In fact, that was the best way to sum up her personality. Brash, rude, and blunt to a fault. This coupled with her dead-eyed stare, and the amber colour of her eyes, made most people afraid to look at her.

Which, to give the girl credit, was a good thing. She was fearless, had a knack for fighting, and was known as The Bruiser of her group. Seriously, he had seen her take down people twice her size when the other people tried to get up close and personal with The Hooligans. Of course, when fights happened in the town it was up to Jenkins to break them up, or for a nearby officer to do it. Hence he knew of her skills.

Second to last of the group was Angel. The goofball of the group, with his most notable traits being his messy pompadour, constant smirk, and his outgoing personality. He wore a blue shirt sleeveless with angel wings on the front, with a pair of bright orange shorts. There wasn't much else to note from the kid, aside from the one time he had spray-painted the word "Balls" on the school wall last year, Angel was a good kid.

Finally came their leader, the person Jenkins was there to talk to, Aubrey. Long pink hair, a blue hairband with a bow tied into it, and her typical spiked bat—notably without any blood stain on it, which was a good sign. She was tall, around five foot six, making her the third tallest of the group next to Vance and Charlie. She was dressed in a white and yellow varsity jacket, a black crop top, and a denim miniskirt.

She was the one who was known for causing the most trouble, but not on purpose, aside from the far-too-frequent mailbox smashings. Muck like Kim, was abrasive and rude, but unlike Kim was far less blunt and way more "in your face".

Though, this time, she had a different look in her eyes. What replaced her typical confident stare was a more questionable one. The kind of stare that one would see in a confused, and also scared individual. But this was more confusing if anything. Or, perhaps lost was a better word? Whatever the case was, something was up with the lass, and it was noticeable with how she was tapping her foot on the sidewalk.

"Is there something wrong, Officer?" Vance spoke up, as Jenkins sighed.

"Depends on what you'd consider wrong, Millhouse," Jenkins responded, before looking at Aubrey. "Ma'am, I'm aware you brought a small child into the police station. The kid said you hurt him. Now like I said, you aren't in trouble, but if you could tell me what happened, that'd be nice."

Aubrey sighed, putting her bat down and crossing her arms. "Kid ran up to me when I was on my scooter, and I knocked him down. He bumped his head badly on the concrete so I took him to the police station. There, happy?"

"I am, Aubrey. Thank you for telling the truth," Jenkins said, before closing his eyes, and clearing his throat. "And for the record, I know Roland has a grudge against you. So I'm warning you, if Roland, for whatever reason, tries to arrest you even on the most mundane of charges, you have my go-ahead to ask to talk to the Deputy, Ms. Williams. If he denies you, then… well…" He made the implication clear enough, and seeing as Aubrey smirked, he knew she got the memo.

"Thanks for the heads up, Deputy," Aubrey said, before gesturing for her gang of misfits to follow her. If he had to guess, they going to their typical hangout spot. When they left, Jenkins couldn't help but notice that Aubrey looked a little slumped.

"Poor kid… I swear, that mother of hers needs to shape up…" With that lone thought, Jenkins went off to his squad car to return to the station. He had a few sheets of paperwork to fill out, and then, he could go home to a nice, loving family.

-To Be Continued-

More world-building, and more exploring of other perspectives. We also get a look at The Hooligans. For those who get the reference behind Sunny's new last name, you get a cookie. As to why I changed it, well, I wanted to. And Suzuki isn't exactly a canon name anyway, it's a fanon name. That aside, have a wonderful day, and I'll see you all in the next one.