-Chpt 4: To Be Oneself Is To Be Free-
Sunny was lucky to have been greeted by Kel when he showed up at his house. Apparently, his parents were out in the city to do some major shopping, something they only did every once in a while. Sometimes it took seven hours for them to finish, and other times it took them three hours. They had only left ten minutes ago, so that gave them enough time to talk about what needed to be talked about.
When Sunny had entered the house of the Desoto's, he was greeted with a similar-looking home to what he had seen before the incident. When first entering the house, one would be greeted with a shoe and coat rack off to the left and right, specifically. Deeper into the house was a large fern that acted as a house plant—slightly wilted, meaning it needed to be watered.
Immediately after that, there was a nice throw-down rug with a dog paw motif, and immediately after that was a couch facing back first to the entrance, and pointed in the direction of a fireplace, off to the right of which was a box TV, and attached to it was a VHS player and a Nintendo 64. Directly next to the TV was a landline, and next to that were a few bookshelves littered with several novels that looked like something Mr. Desoto and Hero would be interested in.
To the right of the living room was a dog mat, where Kel's dog, Hector, was currently curled up into a ball, napping. The dog didn't even notice that Sunny had shown up, nor had the pooch noticed that the door had opened and closed. Meaning it must've been in a pretty deep sleep. There was a food and water bowl for the dog, as well as a tug-of-war rope and a few stress toys.
Aside from all of that, and aside from the countless pictures of Kel's family being the wholesome family that they were, there wasn't much to comment about. The living room was clean, as was to be expected considering Mrs. Desoto was a neat freak, though as he learned it wasn't because of her. There was a faint smell of cigarette smoke, meaning that Mr. Desoto picked up smoking again after quitting the last time Sunny had seen him.
Either that, or it was Hero. But he doubted Hero smoked. Well, at least when he had last seen him. That would have to be something that Sunny would have to ask Kel after everything was over. From what he had understood, Hero often visited at least once a month now. He had recently left a week ago and was going back to college.
Sunny was glad that Hero was checking in with his family more often. He just hoped everything was going okay for the guy. Sunny always knew Hero as the hard-working type, but also the type to get so focused on working that he would often work himself to the bone.
That aside, right now, Kel and Sunny were sitting on the couch, the owner of the home having a can of Orange Joe in his hands, whereas Sunny had just finished drinking a glass of water, something that he had asked for when they had said their hello's. But after that, the conversation had started in an… interesting direction.
"So… uh… You have a new last name now? Why?" Kel asked, confusion in his tone of voice as Sunny sighed. That was the first thing he told Kel after they greeted one another, and after they had sat down he had something to wet his throat. It had been a strange affair, the greeting. It was made even moreso when Sunny noted that Kel had been cleaning the house—stress cleaning, is what Kel called it. It was a habit he recently picked up from his mom, apparently.
That aside, the strange part of their greeting was that Kel looked a bit on the skeptical side of things about his appearance. He must've still thought this was a dream or a nightmare. Whatever the case was, Sunny wasn't in the mood for straightening his friend out. He would realize eventually that this wasn't a dream sooner rather than later.
But first… "Mayor said so." Sunny paused, clearing his throat. He was still getting used to this whole speaking thing. He had decided that he needed to speak more. He went his whole life silent, only speaking to Mari. It had come to his attention that with Mari gone, he needed to break out of his shell. It would take a while for him to get used to talking, but he was going to get over it. "Said that when I went to overturn my Death status."
"But why change your last name? I don't get it. It just doesn't make sense to me," Kel said, sitting down on his couch, one leg crossed over the other as he held a can of Orange Joe in his free hand, whilst he rested his right hand on the armrest of his couch.
"To distance myself from Mom…" Sunny replied, earning a frown from Kel. He went to say something but stopped. Instead, he took a sip from his drink of what amounted to sour sugar water with orange flavouring. Sunny sat down across from Kel, hands on his lap as he leaned forward.
"Right…. Um, so I guess I should explain a little, yeah? What uh… what's happened over the last two months seeing as you were… hehe, dead," Kel said, his nervous chuckle indicating that he wasn't exactly all that well put together at the moment. From Sunny's point of view, it was clear that the guy was having a slight nervous breakdown, most likely because… well, he was alive. Something that physically shouldn't be possible.
"Let's see… uh, Basil's dead." Sunny already knew that. "He uh… killed himself. Hung himself in his room about… I'd say a week, give or take, after your death." Sunny also already knew that. "The funeral was a bummer, and uh… um… after that, Aubrey's been… I don't know. Back to her old ways? Uh… before you came out of your house, I mean," Kel explained, scratching the back of his neck with a confused expression on his face.
Sunny raised an eyebrow. Now that was new. Back to her old ways? Like breaking mailboxes and trashing people's cars kind of old ways? Sunny felt like he wanted to slap himself after that. Aubrey was back to grieving in the most destructive way possible and was yet again being a troublemaker. At least, according to Kel anyway.
"Um… well, I mean… I should uh… clarify. It's um… worse. Way worse. Ever since your death, she's been trying to distance herself from me. I think she said something about "being cursed" and walking away. I tried to… um… stop that but she uh… broke my arm," to demonstrate it, he bent his arm backwards in a way that really shouldn't have been possible, literally bending his arm the other way around, and it not hurting him seemingly. "My elbow is basically gone. C-can't play basketball anymore because of it… it hurts to dribble with this arm, and uh… yeah. It was pretty bad."
Kel blinked, coughed into his hand, and chuckled. "Well, I can play basketball recreationally, but I can't play it professionally… I-I know I'm a stuttering mess right now but… um, well… I think you know why that is…." The Hispanic teen said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous twinge in his cheek.
Sunny frowned. To say that Aubrey's behaviour was worse was an understatement. Although there was clearly something missing. Why would Aubrey up and do that for no apparent reason? She had a bit of a mean streak and would do whatever it took to defend herself, but she never did anything unprovoked. He signalled that by crossing his arms, and glancing at Kel skeptically.
In response, Kel raised his arms to his head, sighing. "I… um… might have said something that I shouldn't have. Told her that us going separate ways wouldn't be what you or Basil would've wanted. I-I guess I must've set her off and uh… well, y'know, floppy arm now," Kel explained as Sunny cupped his chin, looking down at the ground in thought.
That still didn't make sense. But at least it wasn't "did it just cause" anymore. Maybe Aubrey didn't mean to bust up his arm that badly, but the fact of the matter was that it was uncalled for. Regardless of Aubrey's reasoning, it wasn't right to do that to a person, no matter who they were, unless of course said person was trying to do something obviously illegal or violating.
"Makes no sense…" Sunny murmured, eyebrows knitting together as he grimaced. Kel shrugged, sipping more of his Orange Joe as Sunny looked up at the fireplace. The fire inside it had died down, but it still gave off enough heat to make the living room feel cozy. It was nice to be in a house instead of being forced to live outside. Granted, his family home was going to be given to him by Mayor Faye, but that was beside the point.
"Yeah… I know it doesn't make sense but you know how she is now. There's… probably no fixing it, b-but maybe if you showed up and—"
"No," Sunny replied curtly, making Kel recoil in shock.
"No? Why not?" Kel asked as Sunny glanced at the teen, his expression still neutral as he spoke.
"Worse." That was all Sunny needed to say for Kel to instantly understand what he was getting at. Sunny was still uncomfortable speaking. That was a fact that wasn't going to change for a while, and he knew it. Not unless something drastic happened.
Kel pursed his lips, huffing air between clenched teeth before massaging his temple with one hand. "Yeah, I can see how that wouldn't work… but… what are we going to do? I-I don't want Aubrey to distance herself. Plus… there's something off about her. L-Like her eyes, man… something's off with her eyes. S-she looks dead almost. Like she's living on auto-pilot. You know, kinda like… you before the whole… incident."
That was when Sunny perked up. Like him? Before his "suicide?" That was what Kel had meant, it had to have been. And if that was the case…. Sunny's hands clenched into a fist, his eyes narrowing. That meant that The Suicide Devil had picked Aubrey as its next target. Granted, Sunny had no idea what the monster looked like, but that hardly mattered. It would show itself if it felt threatened. Just like most animals did.
Now, more than ever, did he need to do something about this! He wasn't about to sit there and do nothing while his friend was slowly turned into a meat puppet by The Suicide Devil, then killed off once it was done having its fun.
Was it a gamble to assume that The Suicide Devil was going after Aubrey? Yes, it was. But considering Kel was still, well, Kel. That meant that Aubrey was clearly who The Suicide Devil was after. With that in mind, Sunny knew that now he had to confront Aubrey. He couldn't do it today. He already had plans today. He needed to meet up with someone at Midnight, seeing as he was ordered to by Mayor Faye. It was already in the late afternoon, and he had other, more important things he needed to do such as making sure he had money in his pocket and a roof over his head.
He already had the money in the form of the cheque the Mayor gave him, which was what he was going to purchase his home with, along with furniture and food. Something he was going to do at the bank today after this conversation was over. He would obviously return to Kel's after that, seeing as it would take a few days for the cheque to go through as The Mayor had said it would.
Sunny got up from the couch, earning him a look from Kel, who too stood up, looking at him with slight worry in his eyes. He must've noticed his shaking fist. It was only then that he noticed that his palm was bleeding. Did he do that? Whatever, it wasn't important. "Sunny…? Where are you going?"
"Bank. Cashing in a cheque from the mayor. I'll be back," Sunny said, turning to head to the front door. Kel nodded, sitting back down on the couch. He noticed that he had put his head in his hands, and as he walked away, he could've sworn he heard the boy stifle a whimper. Sunny stopped, looking over to Kel, tilting his head absently. "You okay?"
Kel sat up straight, seemingly wiping his eyes before looking over his shoulder. His eyes looked wet, meaning that yes, he had been crying. His face was drawn into a forced smile, but Sunny could tell he was battling something within himself. A pit of despair that Sunny had felt before. Seen before. Known before. "I-I'm fine, Sunny. Just… a little uh… emotional that's all. Still… uh trying to cope with the fact your…. Well, alive."
Sunny walked up to Kel and placed a hand on his head. The boy looked up at him, and for the first time in a long time, Sunny smiled. An honest, heart-melting smile. The waterworks spilled, and Kel practically grappled Sunny into a hug. One that Sunny made sure to reciprocate.
Kel was never good with feelings. Not once in his life had he been smart enough to truly understand them, even within himself. Sunny knew that and knew why grieving was so hard for him to do. But as his best friend cried into his coat, he could tell that now, after bottling it up for four long years, Kel was finally starting to let that dam break, if only just a little bit.
It was hard not to cry himself, but Sunny kept a straight face. He needed to. More importantly, he wanted to. He wanted to show Kel that it was alright to let the dam of his pent-up emotions fall and that it was alright to not have to be strong for others. Dense as Kel was, he still had emotions. Emotions that needed to be shown, no matter how ugly.
They stayed like that for more than a few minutes, Sunny had decided to sit back down with him on the couch. His coat was stained with tears now, but it would be an easy wash. Kel wiped at his eyes, sniffling as his breath hitched. "I-I'm sorry for… for doing that, buddy. I-I just… Don't know what came over me."
Sunny patted him on the back, nodding. "It's okay…" Sunny said, Kel responding with a sharp intake of breath, calming himself. He exhaled, his breath shaky, but otherwise, he seemed to be better now. The teen looked up at the clock over the fireplace. It was 3:00 p.m. He needed to get to the bank before it closed.
"You gotta go to the bank. I know," Kel said, as he stood up. "I got stuff to do. But you will come back, right?" Kel asked as Sunny nodded. The teen smirked. "Then when you come back, you gotta play Mario Kart with me, deal?" Kel asked outstretching his hand as Sunny took it, shaking it with a small smile on his face.
The boy turned to leave, and when he did, he did so with a mission in mind. Get to the bank, set up an account, cash the cheque, then go out and meet this mystery person. If everything turned out well in the end, then Sunny would be able to make a beeline to Aubrey and potentially save her from that stupid Suicide Devil.
The last thing that he wanted was to lose another friend. He vowed to be there for them, and he'd be damned if he was going to go back on that promise.
xxXXxxXXxx
A cockroach the size of a dumpster charged toward a figure dressed in a blue hoodie, and black pants, with a black bandana over their mouth, eyes obfuscated by shadow thanks to the hood over their head. Instead of the massive cockroach having insect legs, it had human arms and feet, and instead of insect eyes, it had multiple humanoid eyes of varying colour. Frankly, it was disgusting, but so were cockroaches, so there really wasn't much of a difference there, now was there?
The figure jumped up, clearing a landing over The Cockroach Devil, and sneered. The figure took off the bandana and bit their hand. In doing so, a stream of blood shot out from the wound. Instead of landing on the ground in a puddle of mess, it congealed and transformed into a hammer twice the size of the figure's body. The Cockroach Devil looked up, eyes wide as the figure swung the hammer down, smashing it into the head of The Cockroach Devil, making it explode into a puddle of viscera, guts, and gunk.
The figure landed, breathing heavily as the blood hammer sucked back into their wound, ichor dripping onto the ground as the wound remained open. They'd have to bandage it later, but until then it was fine. Besides, if they ever needed to call upon the power of The Blood Devil they saw no need in waiting to open up another wound for no reason.
Fishing around in their pocket, they drew out a flip phone, dialled a number, and put it up to their ear. After a few moments of ringing, the person on the other end picked up.
"So, what was the result?"
"You're right, Mayor… there's more of them. The barrier is shrinking like you said it was. The outskirts of the town had a Devil. Cockroach this time. Took it down in time before it got too outta hand, though," the figure said as The Mayor sighed on the other end.
"Well, at the very least it was dealt with. Thank you for your time. And remember Kimberly, you have to meet up with my new hire at midnight. Try and get some rest before then."
Kimberly, otherwise called Kim by her friends, frowned as she pulled down the hood, adjusting her glasses before hanging up the phone. She had been doing this Job off and on for the last month and a half ever since her father got caught up in financial fraud charges. She was doing this to make sure he avoided prison time, and so she could pay for his bail.
She was so close. So unbelievably close to paying him off. Four more jobs and her father would be home free. She needed $29,000 to pay off her father's bail, and another $30,000 to pay off his debts to those he robbed. She was already at $49,000. She just needed another ten grand, and it would be all said and done.
Vance offered to help, too, but she didn't want him to risk his life for this. For as big of a guy Vance had been, he was no fighter. He could throw a punch, but not a fast one. And while he had no idea what it was Kim had been doing to get the money she had been getting paid—as a matter of fact, no one did, no one except the Mayor—he didn't need to know.
He didn't need to know that she was risking her life for their pops. That would just make him want to help even more. And that was something that Kim couldn't risk. If she died doing this, that meant that at least Vance could be there for their father.
Changing subjects, The Cockroach Devil had been terrorizing the people near the southern end of town for a few days now. It had killed a few family pets and gravely harmed a boy playing street soccer with himself. It was blamed on a car running into him because the parents didn't believe what he saw.
Hell, Kim barely believed that these existed, but after coming into contact with one, after forming a contract with The Blood Devil, and after killing Devils for the last month and a half… she had no choice but to believe in the concept of Devils. And that terrified her. While the town had been protected by The Barrier, that was shrinking, and slowly but surely being chipped away at by the outside Devils trying to get in.
So far, seven Devils over the course of ten years had been able to slip by the Barrier. The Grasshopper Devil, the Cockroach Devil, the Flu Devil, the Car Devil, the Bear Devil, the Music Devil, the Zombie Devil, the Drowning Devil, The Spider Devil, and The Suicide Devil. She had dealt with eight, now including The Cockroach Devil, out of the ten that had shown up. All that remained were The Drowning Devil and The Suicide Devil.
A part of her thought that it was going to be useless because the barrier was going away by the end of the week, but if anything that just made it even more important to get rid of the ones that were already here before shit hit the fan.
The less Devils there were, the more controlled the damage could be. That was The Mayor's reasoning, anyway. The Mayor had connections in high places. Recently, she got word from The Mayor that one of his confidants in Japan, Makima, was going to be sending a few more Devils his way that could be used for contracts. Though now he owed her, it was worth it in the foreseeable future.
Kim sighed, walking away from the mess that she had made. The police in the know would come to clean it up before everyone saw it. Today was Saturday anyway, so it was a rather sleepy time in the afternoon. Most people stayed inside, and ever since the accident, most people kept their kids away from the streets.
She put her phone back into her pocket before bringing out a notebook, opening it to the fifth page, and scratching off the name of the Cockroach Devil. The Drowning Devil was next, and she had been warned ahead of time that The Drowning Devil was very powerful, and that it had already taken the form of a person. Meaning that she had to be on the lookout for a strange person acting decidedly not like a person.
The Drowning Devil's powers were unknown, which added to the fear of what it could do. And seeing as it was disguised as a person, that gave it another layer of mystery.
Kim frowned, adjusting her glasses again. A nervous tick that she had whenever she'd get anxious about something. The Drowning Devil and The Suicide Devil were no joke. They had been in Faraway the longest. It made her blood run cold knowing that one day, she would have to deal with them. At least now she would have some backup. She just hoped that this backup was going to be good at fighting.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day. So for now, she was going to get some rest just as The Mayor suggested. She had thankfully set an alarm to go off thirty minutes before midnight, which meant that she didn't have to worry about sleeping in. It was 5:00 p.m. right now, meaning that she'd be getting six and a half hours of sleep. Better than what she'd get on a typical school night.
As she walked to her house, and she entered, was greeted by the smell of Vance's rancid cooking. Meaning he was making beans on toast. Beans smelt awful, but Vance loved them for some reason. She kicked her shoes off at the front door and took off her bandana mask, throwing it atop the shoe rack.
"You're back," Vance said, his voice coming from the kitchen as Kim grunted back in response. "You gonna eat something?"
"Nah, already ate before coming home," that was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. "I'm gonna crash for a bit. I have to be somewhere at midnight, so don't jump to your feet in a panicked rage if you hear the front door close or open at midnight. M'kay?" Kim said as Vance came out of the kitchen wearing a wife beater shirt and a pair of black shorts. He looked at her confused, one hand in his shorts pocket and with yet another sucker in his mouth.
"Let me guess, your mysterious job with the mayor you won't tell me about?" Vance asked as Kim nodded. The two stared at one another, before finally Vance frowned, taking the sucker out of his mouth, pointing it at her. "I trust you, sis. But you better not be doing anything illegal. I mean, we steal candy, but you know what I mean."
"It's nothing like that," Kim rebuffed, looking away. "Just… stop asking questions. This is all for Dad. If we don't get him out of Jail before the end of the week, we'll have to go back with that bitch, and I want nothing to do with her."
"Then let me help!" Vance retorted, putting the sucker back into his mouth and crossing his arms. "If I help, we can get the money faster!"
"It's too dangerous, Vance. I can't—"
"That's bullshit. If it's dangerous, you shouldn't be doing it then," Vance interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her. The teen flinched as Vance shook his head. "I know you want to be a bit more independent, and I respect that, but lying about it doesn't make me want to trust you, Kim." Vance approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder, a supportive gleam in his eyes. "Besides, what's the harm in your older brother helping?"
Kim wanted to say "you could die" but she didn't. If she did, he would flip his lid. He was always quick to react to things like that. But at the same time…. "I can't let you, Vance. The Mayor… was very strict in saying what it was he wanted me to do. I can't risk you getting in trouble, or me losing my job because of this."
Vance frowned, staring down at Kim. Kim looked away, glaring at the floor as Vance crossed his arms. The larger sibling kept staring, until he finally relented, uncrossing his arms before walking back to the kitchen. "Fine. I'll leave you be. Go get some rest then."
Kim walked away, went to her room, and closed the door behind her. Instead of going to her bed, she sat up against the door, curled into a ball as she stared at the ground. She could tell she upset Vance. Vance always wanted to help, despite what others would say about him. He had a tough personality on the surface, but he had a heart of gold. Just like their father.
She didn't like lying to him. But she had no choice.
Vance needed to remain safe. Their father needed him more than her. That was why she was risking her life. After all, their father always said that Vance would continue the family Car Shop in the future. So if any of them lived past their school years, it had to be Vance.
Kim stood up, walked over to her bed, and took off her hoodie, revealing a plain black shirt underneath. She swapped her black pants out for black shorts, climbed into her bed, and took off her glasses—rendering her blind thanks to her contract with The Blood Devil which said that she always had to wear those specific glasses if she wanted to see—placed them right next to her head beside her pillow, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
-To Be Continued-
Quick note for anyone curious. I do this for all of my fanfics, and that's giving them their own "Openings" and "Endings".
For this first arc (consisting of the first 12 chapters) the Opening is: SEIEN by Lenny Code Fiction, and the Ending is: 火炎 (Flame) by Queen Bee. I know it's kinda stupid, but I've always done this.
Also, for those who were curious about who's voice sounds like who's, I have a list of English and Japanese Voice Actors for the characters because Omori doesn't have voice actors (considering it's an Indie Game with a low budget after all)
So, with that said, here are the Main Characters Voices:
Sunny JP VA: Kensho Ono, the voice of Giorno Giovanna from JJBA, Ryunosuke Akutagawa Bungo Stray Dogs, and Alain Pokemon XY: Mega Evolution.
Sunny ENG VA: David Matranga, the voice of Shoto Todoroki from MHA, Bertholdt Hoover from AOT, and Tomoya Okazaki from Clannad.
Kel JP VA: Natsuki Hanae, the voice of Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer, Ken Kanaki from Tokyo Ghoul, and Reita Toritsuka from Disastrous Life of Saiki. K.
Kel ENG VA: Johnny Yong Bosch, the voice of Ichigo Kurosaki from BLEACH, Broly from DBS Super Hero, Yu Narukami from Persona 5 Royal.
Aubrey JP VA: Fairouz Ai Kadota, the voice of Power from Chainsaw Man, Jolyne Cujoh from JJBA, and Junko from Touhou Lost World.
Aubrey ENG VA: Wendee Lee, the voice of Akane Owari from Danganronpa, Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan, and Fuuka Yamagishi from Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight.
Mayor Faye JP VA: Takehito Koyasu, the voice of DIO from JJBA, Toji Fushiguro from JJK, and Aokiji/Kuzan from One Piece.
Mayor Faye ENG VA: Jamieson K. Price, the voice of Sojiro Sakura from Persona 5 Royal, Fukuzawa Yukichi from Bungo Stray Dogs, and King Swyen from Vinland Saga.
Kim JP VA: Sayaka Senboji, the voice of Trish Una from JJBA, Nifa from AOT, and Haru from Beastars.
Kim ENG VA: Cherami Leigh, the voice of Makoto Nijima from Persona 5 Royal, Rean Cropp from To Your Eternity, and Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon.
I could go on and list the other characters, but until they have a substantial footing in the plot, I won't bring up their imaginary VA's, because if I did that I would be here forever. Let me know what you think, if you have an opinion or not. These are just my opinions on who voices who, so I'd like to get your opinions. Till the next Chapter! Peace!