I Won't Let Him Chapter 26: Something About Monsters, an omori fanfic

Alright. It's been three years now.

Let's recap before we continue.

This all started when OMORI chose to jump off the edge of the hospital roof. SUNNY and OMORI had a final battle between the two of them to handle how to wrestle with the guilt and pain that they'd been carrying for all these years.

The guilt for killing his sister and framing it as a suicide.

OMORI won, as you could probably tell.

Yet somehow, in some way, this wasn't the end of his story.

Whether it was by going back to the past or even traveling to some kind of parallel universe, the incident that led to MARI's death didn't happen. Things played out differently as MARI's body was wrapped protectively by her little brother before the fall, allowing her to be safe and sound.

Her little brother ended up suffering instead as a cost, his left eye impaled by the violin at the bottom of the stairs.

Years passed by with him being stuck in a coma, oblivious to the alien world around him.

OMORI woke up in the end, not realizing where he was, and yet finally reunited with the sister he thought he'd never see again.

He believed he was in a dream at first. A perfect dream, where everything that happened to him never actually happened. A dream where he was given a second chance. A perfect dream that a murderer like him never deserved.

But the situation ended up being a bit more complicated than it seemed… In this different reality, MARI seemed to have taken his place instead, becoming the grieving guilt-ridden shut-in that he was supposed to be. She had given up on her future, her education, and even her own friends just so that she could wait by her little brother's side until he woke up.

In the last six years during his coma, MARI also had her own HEADSPACE. She lived in that world under the name HIKIKO, similar to how OMORI was with SUNNY.

The only reason he even found this out was because he traveled into her HEADSPACE after going to sleep next to her with White Egret Orchids placed in their room, the flowers that let you pass on your thoughts into a person's dreams.

This was when OMORI realized the whole reason why he was placed in this alternate reality to begin with.

This was the punishment he needed to go through before he could finally have the right to die. He had to save his sister as karmic justice for killing her all those years ago in his world.

Based on his experiences with his own HEADSPACE, it could only mean that MARI was dealing with trauma that she was trying to repress in her mind like he once did. If he could figure out exactly what she was hiding from herself, OMORI would be able to help his sister start a journey of forgiveness. She'd be able to recover from her trauma and come back to her old self again.

OMORI would be able to do for her what he was never able to do himself.

Throughout this journey, he was able to meet some of his old friends again and react to their new life in this different reality where MARI never died. Through them, they'll be able to help give him insight as to what happened to MARI after the day the recital was supposed to happen.

OMORI had no idea what he was doing, only able to make small progress so far. Guesswork and small theories based on what little he could learn.

Still, he was on the right track. OMORI just needed to stay determined while getting past all the obstacles laid out in front of him, and he'd be able to reach out to save his sister from suffering the same fate that happened to him.

Then maybe, just maybe, when all of this was finally over… MARI might be able to do something to help OMORI in return before it was too late to stop-

"Heeeeey!"

KEL blinked to himself, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt by the interruption coming from below.

CHAD, the purple triceratops ticketmaster and prize counter receptionist, was calling up to him with a concerned look.

"Who're you talking to up there?"

KEL relaxed before laying back inside his tiny uncomfortable jail-cage that was dangling him from about a dozen feet in the air. "Nobody, just talking to myself. It's really boring here~" KEL whined out.

"You want maybe a snack to pass the time?" CHAD offered.

KEL thought about it before smiling, "I'd like that!"

"Okaaay. I'll come back with some COCKAIGNE balls or something."

Heheh. He said come.

KEL watched from his high prison as CHAD left the counter below him. What a nice guy.

So anyway, what was KEL thinking about earlier again? He lost his train of thought.

…

Ah, whatever. Hopefully HIKIKO and SUNNY would be back soon to bail him out of here before Miss Evil-face or whatever her name was got here first.

And that was a win.

The sounds of crocodiles crunching their oversized teeth together came to a halt as the last pearl was swallowed.

HIKIKO gave a small sigh of relief, finally able to rest her weary arm after mashing on her button for so long.

The electronic scoreboard off to the side slowly calculated the total score of all the participants based on how many pearls they were able to eat. There was a dramatic pause for each player as one by one, their score gets revealed from lowest score to highest.

HIKIKO naturally ended up at the top, overshadowing the BLOCK MINIONS who competed against her but couldn't match her skill.

"A new high score! Nice job, miss!"

The giant crocodile she was riding on top of gave his congratulations as tickets dispensed out of the button machine in front of her.

HIKIKO grabbed her prize and began counting to see how much she won from this game.

…

A measly thirty-five tickets.

Crap… All that time and effort invested into this game, and yet it could only give a disappointingly pitiful amount for her.

Adding it to her total winnings since she started working towards saving KEL, she was now at a grand total of…

...two hundred and twelve.

HIKIKO gave an uneasy sigh looking at the small stack of tickets she collected, before glancing up to see the BLOCK MINIONS who had been her three opponents this game.

Even though they didn't take first place, the fact that they were all a huge group meant that they could just pool their prizes together to make up for it. No doubt, they were easily able to earn more tickets combined than she ever did playing by herself.

At this rate, she was going to get nowhere fast, wasn't she?

To say she and SUNNY ran into some issues was an understatement. Ever since the race to save KEL began, nothing had gone her way.

They had been spending a good amount of time going around the park to try to attend the games they've been playing before. The plan was supposed to be simple, just play the games with the highest ticket output from their experience and win at them until they could save KEL.

Yet most of the games were out of order. They all malfunctioned or broke down after her previous times playing with them. The hockey game was completely taped off with an out-of-order sign, the attendants of the skeeball race were still looking for the red racecar that rocketed off the track, the duck shooting stall was completely obliterated after one of the robot ducks exploded, and the pie shooting gallery had its clown workers unionize a strike after HIKIKO assaulted them with a thorough cream shower.

The fishing game was still active, but it was absolutely swamped with BLOCK MINIONS. When the narwhal manning the fishing game noticed her and her brother, it started getting nervous before messing up the order of the line of BLOCK SOLDIERS on purpose just to make sure it took longer for HIKIKO to get her turn. She was willing to stick it out just to show that stupid horned whale not to mess with her, but her little brother managed to convince her to just leave it be.

Looking around for more games to play, they were unfortunately greeted with the sight of BLOCKS all over the place. Practically every game had a line of them extending far onto the park's roads. Standing in them would have taken way too long. With KEL being in his dire situation and that frilly SOURPUSS deploying an army to win tickets all over the place, time was the most delicate resource right now.

That left her and SUNNY to search for games with relatively short lines in front of them, which unfortunately turned out to barely pay out anything. The only game that gave any good amount of tickets forced them to get back in line after playing, but by then it would've gotten three times longer than when they first arrived.

Even now, as she left the Carnivorous Craving Crocodile game booth, a MINION BLOCK bumped into her shoulder as it walked past to take her place.

Rude.

In the line behind it, several more were dutifully waiting to have their turn.

HIKIKO noticed the BLOCKS she had been playing against marching past the lines to join up with many others as they headed in the direction of the Prize Plaza. Each of them had in their grubby blocky hands a fistful of tickets. Combined together, they could make a huge ball pile bigger than their own bodies.

She gripped the tickets in her hand, her shoulders tense with frustrated anxiety.

With how little she had in comparison, she might as well be walking around with zero tickets.

…

Sigh.

How in the world was she supposed to do this...?

She had made such a big show of confidence in front of SUNNY, giving him nothing but pure bravado when she declared that she'd be able to somehow singlehandedly save KEL. If she wasn't able to earn enough tickets to save KEL in time before that SOURPUSS girl…

Her BLOCK MINIONS worked like clockwork. With their numbers, there was no way HIKIKO could earn more tickets than them in time…

Even if she was amazing at playing the games, winning doesn't mean much if she couldn't be everywhere all at once at the same time like they could.

With another frustrated sigh, HIKIKO quickly shook her head to clear her negative thoughts.

She couldn't give up now. She couldn't fail here. She had to save KEL before he got taken away by that maniacal psycho-girl.

No matter what, she couldn't let SUNNY down.

Don't ever let SUNNY down…

…

She should hurry and find another game to play. Maybe if she looked around now, she might get lucky and find an open spot somewhere with a better ticket payout.

"Alright SUNNY, we should find another game. This one isn't giving enough tickets." She stated, pocketing her tickets before looking to her side, "Got any ideas where we should head nex-"

HIKIKO paused, her eyes widening as she saw the space right next to her was empty.

SUNNY wasn't there.

She blinked before looking around. Out here in the open view, park-goers passed by going about their business.

But not one trace of her little brother anywhere.

HIKIKO raised her voice, "SUNNY? We need to get going!"

She hoped that would be enough to get his attention and have him come out to reveal himself.

No answer. All she got in return were some weird stares from passersby.

"SUNNY?!" She called out again, even louder.

Where was he Where was he Where was he Where was Where was he-

Her mind frayed a bit, the stress from losing her brother for a third time today was starting to put a toll on her.

Why wasn't SUNNY with her?! Did he sneak off again, even though she had just made him promise not to leave her again?!

He wouldn't go back on a promise!

He… he did promise her, didn't he?

…didn't he?

With her brother still missing, HIKIKO felt herself breathe harder as she did her best to contain her panic.

She jumped and climbed on top of one of the fences surrounding the stall to get a better view over the crowd, "SUNNY! SUNNY, where are you?! SUNNY!"

All she got in return were silent and judging stares.

How could she have let him slip away again? Why did he have to leave again, even though… even though…!

HIKIKO could feel the onset of tears bubbling up, her contained panic slowly leaking out.

Just as she prepared to jump off and rush around to look for him, she managed to see a small familiar silhouette on the edge of the crowd walking towards her.

There he was.

HIKIKO huffed a huge sigh of relief as she sprinted off towards him as quickly as she could.

"SUNNY!" Was all she managed to croak out as she took the boy in her arms.

SUNNY stumbled back in surprise, looking up at her in alarm.

But all HIKIKO could do at the moment was just breathe in relief, knowing she had found him again.

He's here. He's safe. You're together again. He's okay. He's safe. You found him before it was too late. He's safe.

Catching her breath and wiping away her tears, HIKIKO nearly cried, "SUNNY, I thought I told you not to run off anywhere without letting me know! Why didn't you stick close to me?!" She tightened her hug, "Don't do that again! This has been the second time today! I'm serious, SUNNY!"

Her little brother stayed silent, waiting for her to calm down.

It took a while, but HIKIKO eventually settled herself down back to a reasonable state again. Taking deep breaths, she eventually pulled away from him so that she could regain her composure and clean her teary eyes.

As she did so, her little brother took a large pile of tickets from his pocket and presented them all to HIKIKO.

HIKIKO blinked a bit, taken aback with complete flabbergasted shock.

That was a huge amount of tickets in his hands. Way more than even she had on her at the moment. How was that even possible?

Taking the tickets from him, HIKIKO looked over the pile in awe before questioning him, "H-how did you get all this?"

She watched him glance away hesitantly, holding both his hands behind his back.

And that was a win.

OMORI hacked away at the BLOCK MINION with a triple swipe, letting it collapse and tumble into nothing more than a falling pile of wooden blocks.

Being the last man standing in an alley hidden away behind some attractions, OMORI took a look around to assess the damages.

Toy blocks were scattered around, scratched and chipped with numerous knife marks. Whatever type of magic or power source that held them together before, it didn't seem to be doing these BLOCKS any good anymore once he'd beaten them.

OMORI moved to put his knife back into his pocket. As he did so, he noticed the way his hands jittered ever so slightly after the battle.

Fighting these BLOCK CREATURES had felt… good. Very good.

The rush from battle, dodging and hacking away at the openings, it was a great way to release his frustrations. The stress from everything that happened before, with all of HIKIKO's HEADSPACE antics, practically fueled every stab he gave.

Taking another look at the corpses of the BLOCKS, OMORI bent down to scavenge the remains.

Pushing the obstructions of blocks out of the way, he was able to find the strew of tickets piling underneath it all.

Jackpot.

OMORI quickly scrounged up the tickets and hid them away in his pockets, ready to head back before HIKIKO noticed he was gone.

This was the only way he could help his sister, he quickly realized. Unable to earn any tickets himself from the games because of her desires to look cool and reliable in front of him, he ended up having the idea to resort to just killing BLOCK MINIONS and stealing their tickets instead.

This was good on a few levels. Not only did this mean they would collect more tickets to rescue KEL, it also set the army of SOURHEART a few steps back. Once that was done, they'll be able to move on from this adventure and hopefully lead OMORI to find more clues about HIKIKO's BLACK SPACE later.

It was a bit ironic. He was finally able to do something helpful since this journey started… And all it took was for him to kill.

Go figure for a murderer like him...

His train of thought was interrupted as he heard someone approaching from behind. Looking back, it seemed he was noticed by a different pair of BLOCKS.

"DAMAGED UNITS DETECTED. INVESTIGATING TO PREPARE REPORT."

OMORI had a glint in his eye as he pulled his knife out again.

He still had some pent-up frustrations to deal with. Might as well.

"I… played some games while you were busy. I wanted to help."

HIKIKO was stunned silent. Here she was, mucking about, barely getting anything done, while SUNNY was collecting tickets like it was nobody's business. He must have noticed how much she was struggling and felt obligated to pick up her slack.

God, she felt so worthless sometimes. SUNNY shouldn't have to take on the burdens that she was supposed to carry for both of them. He was just a kid after all… Being the big sister, she was supposed to be looking after him.

Putting the tickets away, she once again reached for her little brother and hugged the living daylights out of him.

"I really appreciate your help, SUNNY. You did a great job…" HIKIKO whispered gratefully, "But you don't have to worry. Just... Please keep staying close to me instead."

It was amazing what he had done, and she truly appreciated the effort he went through just to help her. But the thought of having him leave her sight again, even for a single second, filled her with an unbearable dread. Even if it meant saving KEL, she would rather have her little brother stick to her side no matter what.

…

She'd rather let KEL die than to lose SUNNY.

Her little brother glanced at her for a bit, his stoic face showing a bit of disappointment before he turned away and nodded, "...okay..."

Good... SUNNY won't do that again.

Releasing her little brother from her embrace and merely opting to hold his hand, HIKIKO once again pondered about their situation. SUNNY's contribution was a great help, a huge leap up even from before. But this still wasn't enough to rescue KEL.

She was going to have to find a way to step up her game, somehow…

A different game. One that wasn't clogged up with lines, but should also have a payout big enough to catch up with that SOURHEART girl.

But how? Where would they be able to find a game like that? Did this park even have a game like that in the first place? If there was, why wouldn't it be filled with an endless line of BLOCK MINIONS already?

She had no leads right now. Maybe she should-

HIKIKO couldn't finish her thought as everything went black from something covering her face.

"…"

Reaching to remove the object obscuring her vision, HIKIKO pulled it away to see that she was holding onto a decorated flyer.

Large blurbs and pictures were prominently displayed on the flyer to be as eye-catching as possible.

"Big risk player? Wanna cash in on some big tickets in no time flat? Come on down to the most dangerous and thrilling game in the park!

DINO's DIG EMPORIUM!

(must sign release of liability waiver to enter)"

HIKIKO read on attentively, details of the game catching her eye the more she kept scrolling through it.

This… This might actually be the game that could solve all their problems!

Excitement started building up within her as she turned to her little brother, who was looking up at her with a curious head tilt.

"I think we just found a way to save KEL." HIKIKO grinned.

DINO's DIG EMPORIUM. The most legendary game in all of COCKAIGNE.

A free-for-all treasure-hunting game within a large sandpit arena, where players risk life and limb for the chance of glory and prizes.

Legend goes that the arena resides on top of a once ancient civilization that existed several thousands of years ago. Long buried and forgotten, the founder had no knowledge of its existence when he began setting up the location as the foundation of his amusement park.

During construction, it was discovered that the sandpit contained never-ending amounts of garbage, monsters, and sand beyond comprehension. No matter how much was dug up, more sand would magically fill back, along with just as many random junk and creatures that were believed to have come from the ancient civilization before.

But every once and a while, among these piles of trash, there was the occasional piece of technology or magical artifact that would find its way into the hands of the excavators as they kept digging.

Toys! Gizmos and gadgets and plastic galore! The founder soon realized the treasure trove in his hands! As long as they kept digging from this magical sandpit and tread the dangers within, they would have infinite toys for every single boy and girl in COCKAIGNE!

Thus, DINO's DIG EMPORIUM was born! A game where participants hunt for toys within the deep sandpit and turn it in for massive rewards, which will then be stocked at the prize counter for redemption!

Are you brave enough to excavate in the sandpit?! Sign up now to win all the tickets you need to win that most expensive prize!

(No refunds!)

Or at least that was what the pamphlet advertised.

Sitting in the audience stand, OMORI gave the pamphlet a glance over before tossing it aside to set his eyes back at the arena below him.

HIKIKO was currently going on a rampage within the emporium, battling against myriads of sand monsters and scorpions along with other hapless participants.

Digging a random sandmound on the ground with her shovel, she reached in with a triumphant smile to pull out a kind of spaceship-in-a-bottle that was somehow in perfect condition up in the air, much to the audiences raving excitement.

Noticing a BLOCK MINION in the game with her coming up from behind, HIKIKO quickly pocketed her prize away to shovel dirt into the BLOCK MINION's face.

OMORI winced as he watched the sabotaged BLOCK flail in confusion before being struck by a SAND SCORPION that burrowed its way out of the sandpits.

"AAAAAAAGGH"

The BLOCK MINION panicked as the giant scorpion stabbed and clawed its body to shreds. It didn't take long for the BLOCK to go down and crumble into separated inanimate block pieces as the stinger stabbed through its chest and hit one of its main power sources.

Once it was down, the scorpion quickly burrowed back down into the sand, disappearing as fast as it came.

Sheesh. OMORI blinked in astonishment from the surprisingly gruesome display.

His sister's rendition of DINO's DIG EMPORIUM was clearly a lot more different than the one from his own HEADSPACE…

Shockingly similar in some ways though. How did an originally time-based digging game in the real world turn into a treasure-hunt fighting game in both of their imaginations?

OMORI paused that thought for a bit as he watched his sister shoulder-tackle another BLOCK MINION out of her way as it landed onto a discolored circle that indicated an obvious trap hole.

A giant sandworm swallowed the portion of that area whole, flying out its long slithery body to form a longlasting arc in the sky spanning for a full minute before burrowing itself back into the ground as the rest of its body caught up.

…

"Seriously…?" OMORI felt a small bead of sweat drop from his forehead.

Okay, so HIKIKO's version of this game was definitely much more violent than his ever would've been.

She was gonna be okay, right?

Looking back at his sister, he found her giving another gleeful smile as she held up a vintage WALKER-BOY cassette player in victory, barely bothered by the fact that a giant sandworm had appeared a few feet away from her literally seconds ago.

Yeah, she was probably gonna be fine…

…He hoped.

"Oooh, and another contestant bites the dust!" SCOTT, the extremely tall-neck brachiosaurus wearing a boom microphone taped to a hard hat, winced from the sight as he commented on the game, "I've never seen a more action-packed game in ages! That one girl in the white sleeping gown is on a roll! Let's hope she doesn't lose her momentum!"

OMORI continued to watch on as HIKIKO continued to dominate the game, winning toys and prizes one after another and knocking out other contestants like it was nothing.

Watching was the only thing he could do, stuck in the sidelines in the audience seats like this. As much as he would like to have a more proactive role for this, HIKIKO seemed dead-set on making sure that he was always within line-of-sight from her as much as possible.

Every once in a while, his sister would check over to see if he was still staying in his seat like a good little brother and not going off disappearing out of nowhere.

Confirming that OMORI was still in the same exact spot as before, she cheerfully smiled and waved at him.

He just gave his trademarked thumbs up in response, as he always did.

With a nod, she went back into the game with just as much fervor as before, killing yet another BLOCK MINION by casually decapitating its head off just for being in her path.

Sigh…

Guess OMORI should've seen this coming, going off to do his own thing without telling her so many times already during this dream. Not like he had a way of being able to investigate for clues about BLACK SPACE with her over his shoulder, but being stuck with a more careful and watchful eye from his sister wasn't doing him any favors either…

He was going to have to find a way to do his investigations without worrying his sister, somehow… He had a bad feeling that if he kept testing her patience, she might do something drastic just to make sure he'd always be by her side whether he liked it or not.

Most of all, he just wanted to get this adventure done and over with by saving KEL and getting out of here so that he could get new leads on BLACK SPACE…

If he could help it, the sooner the better…

OMORI restlessly tapped his ankle in his seat, hoping that HIKIKO would be done with this game soon.

In the meanwhile, HIKIKO continued to play phenomenally to the point of even having the crowd chanting her name. Left and right, she would dig up treasures and beat down other opponents without working up a sweat. All while gracefully avoiding any of the monsters that spawned in her way.

Yet every so often, she would still glance back to where he sat to make sure he was watching. Every so often, she would feel emboldened every time she confirmed that he was.

Sigh…

It was really concerning, having his own sister go out of her way to constantly work to gain his approval and admiration. To show off how reliable she was. She was never like this before the incident that ruined their lives, and it wasn't like she even ever had to.

He already thought of her as perfectly reliable, though. Anything she ever did, she proved that she could do it if she really set her mind to it. Anything he ever needed help with, she would gladly solve whatever problem he had at any moment. There wasn't any point in having to do anything extravagant, or to subconsciously sabotage her brother's own abilities just to make sure she maintained that perfect image.

OMORI knew it wasn't her fault though, at least not deliberately. Knowing how HEADSPACE worked based on his own experience, this whole power fantasy playing out was probably both a way to distract her from progressing in the journey, as well as a way to suppress her own issues by giving her whatever she wanted.

Was it annoying for him since it actively hindered his goal of trying to solve her trauma as quickly as possible? For sure it was, but what could he do? It wasn't like he could do anything to go against her own power of imagination, not while being an inhabitant here. At most, he could probably only do something small, like plant suggestions in her head in the hopes that it would-

…

Huh… Now there was an idea.

Even if OMORI couldn't directly control anything in HIKIKO's HEADSPACE like he could in his own, there was nothing to prevent him from manipulating his own sister into a certain mindset… Right?

Something that could make her want to rush along the story she crafted in her head? Maybe even subtly get her to think about the truth that she had been suppressing? He was supposed to be her main motivation and driving force for these adventures after all. If he could properly maneuver her around…

Her BLACK SPACE might leak out just a bit more, with enough careful prodding… Assuming she wouldn't immediately shut it all out like OMORI usually did. That'd be a really unfortunate bad habit if she did.

He saw BASIL pick up the photograph that fell loose from the photo album. He felt the noise from the world slowly replaced by a small ringing in his ears, overwhelming his senses as he realized that something just went wrong.

The terror in BASIL's eyes as he turned around, holding the photograph in his trembling hand.

This wasn't supposed to happen. That photograph wasn't meant to exist.

"MARI… S-She's… d-"

BASIL couldn't get another word out, cut off as OMORI shoved this whole dream into the darkness where it belonged. This whole thing will end before SUNNY could realize what happened. OMORI will go back to WHITE SPACE like he always does, and bury the truth again.

OMORI will never let the truth seep out.

…

Worst comes to worst, HIKIKO would send him to BLACK SPACE instead and stab his guts out a few dozen million times like he did with BASIL. OMORI wouldn't argue against that, seeing as how he deserves it, but it would end up wasting a lot of time potentially…

Hm…

Maybe he should be a bit careful after all. How would he go about doing that though, he wondered…?

Something worth brainstorming about.

OMORI's brainstorming would have to be interrupted, however, as he heard a familiar voice call out from behind.

"How d'ya do, buckaroo? Fancy seein' you here!"

MR. OUTBACK? Or actually, it was SHERIFF BOYARDEE in HIKIKO's HEADSPACE.

OMORI gave a surprised glance at the cowboy coming up from behind, taking a seat next to the boy to watch the spectacle down in the game alongside OMORI.

"Heard 'bout the new top player in this here DINO DIG EMPORIUM game and just wanted to see it for myself." The cowboy nodded politely, "Guess this means the plan to collect enough tickets to save your friend is goin' well enough?"

OMORI gave a shrug to the mysterious cowboy, "I guess."

It was still hard to get a good read on this guy, if OMORI had to be honest. Seemingly as helpful as the old MR. OUTBACK that he knew from his HEADSPACE, but it was hard to tell whether he was just as knowledgeable or if he was just another run-of-the-mill inhabitant like all the others around here.

The mystery behind HEADSPACE was something that he still occasionally had to grapple with from time to time. Being alive and waking up to a sudden different reality where he never killed his own sister, saying goodbye to his HEADSPACE reality only to somehow be transferred into a new one that belonged to said sister, etc, etc. Clearly there was some shenanigans that made it clear something more was going on- assuming this whole thing wasn't just an elaborate coma-dream he was conjuring up one final time while on the hospital's parking pavement in the previous reality.

He had hoped that after seeing MR. OUTBACK again, the old cowboy would've ended up being the same one from his own HEADSPACE and get some answers. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case here.

All in all, it was more likely that MARI just happened to take inspiration from a cartoon cowboy in the real world and created an HEADSPACE inhabitant based on it, just like OMORI did.

At least this SHERIFF BOYARDEE was just as friendly as MR. OUTBACK. Even when he couldn't help OMORI with trying to find MARI's BLACK SPACE, the cowboy at least gave him free circus tickets as consolation… for some reason.

Still no idea how they were supposed to help with finding BLACK SPACE, but OMORI would chase any lead he could possibly get at this point.

"Your sister sure is a feisty one, I'll give her that." SHERIFF BOYARDEE chuckled, before murmuring, "Hope she didn't get no hard feelings for me locking up your friend earlier. I don't take no joy in making kids sad, but rules are rules. Still have to keep order around these parts, me being the only authority here and all that."

Preeeeetty sure KEL had it coming for stealing that infinite bouncy ball. Not that it'll matter in the end, once HIKIKO finishes this adventure and they both free KEL.

"We'll save him in the end." OMORI hummed neutrally.

"Heh. I'm sure y'all will." The sheriff smiled, before leaning in closer with a conspiratorial whisper, "Which is why I think you ought to know something…"

Oh?

OMORI blinked in surprise as the old man gestured him to lean closer.

Doing so, SHERIFF BOYARDEE looked around the arena before explaining, "It's about that rude little lass from earlier, the one that you twos are trying to fight against. A certain mutual friend says to me that she might be on the way here, up to no good somehow. She might do something to mess up your winning streaks. Be careful if you see her, and watch yer backs."

OMORI looked at the old man curiously as he digested the intel.

The cowboy gave a sly wink before standing up, "Welp, that's all she wrote. I best be skeddadlin' back to my patrol and whatnot. Being the only guard on duty here sure is tirin' work."

"Wait, hold on-" OMORI felt he had to stop him to ask, "Why did you tell me all of that? You didn't have to."

More importantly, why did he tell it to OMORI instead of HIKIKO? Beyond his role of being the emotional support for HIKIKO to hide her problems behind, it wasn't like he could do anything that substantial or had any true power. Not without blowing his cover, at least.

Wouldn't it make more sense for HIKIKO's HEADSPACE to have this info be given to her so that she could use it somehow?

The old man gave a small smile, "My certain scaly friend and I have a bit of a bet goin' on between the two of you, and I'd thought I might as well up tip the odds so to speak. Don't think too hard on it, pardner."

Scaly friend? Did he mean DINO?

Okay, but… What exactly was OMORI supposed to do with this information? Tell HIKIKO, or…?

"Good luck on that ticket grind kiddo! And remember-" The old geezer steadily pointed finger guns at OMORI as he enunciated, "I'm rootin'... and tootin'... for ya!"

With that, the cowboy went to exit stage right, leaving OMORI to ponder to himself.

Well, that was nostalgic. He guessed.

OMORI appreciated the old cowboy trying to be helpful again, but it still didn't answer any of the burning questions going through his mind right now.

Was this just a friendly warning? Was this some kind of hint? If it was a hint, was it for OMORI's search for BLACK SPACE or just a way to continue the adventure? Was he supposed to tell HIKIKO or was he supposed to be doing something as part of his role in HIKIKO's grand scheme of things?

Not like the warning was particularly informative either… SHERIFF BOYARDEE basically just warned him to look out for SOURHEART because she might do something, right?

Again, what could he possibly do without blowing his cover? He'd love to do nothing more than to just speedrun through this by running up to SOURHEART from behind and just give her back the good old lucky slice the next moment he saw her. But that would break up the flow of whatever story structure HIKIKO's HEADSPACE had in store for them, and almost definitely raise suspicion from his sister.

Sigh, it would've been nice if he had more freedom to experiment and gather information about all of this.

Punishment was never supposed to be easy though…

…

The best he could do right now was wait for HIKIKO, probably. Wait for her to get this game out of her system and then tell her what the old cowboy told him. See what happens after that.

Then later, hopefully, he'd just need to wait for HIKIKO to lower her guard around him to give him the chance to go hunt down for clues again. Or resort to figuring out how to subtly manipulate her into doing that for him, however he was going to do that…

Even though he'd rather have a more active game plan instead of just waiting around, OMORI had no choice but to be satisfied with what he's come up with so far.

Returning to the game in the arena in front of him, he saw that everything was still going on as usual. HIKIKO was still plowing through the competition, carrying a hefty amount of treasure on her scoreboard as she rose the ranks.

Oddly enough, her momentum seemed to be slowing down a bit.

Huh.

Watching carefully, he noticed his sister looking more tired and frustrated with the game compared to how energetically determined she was at the beginning.

Although, it probably had something to do with how often she had to avoid and fight back against the other contestants. The BLOCK MINIONS seemed to have paced themselves against her, knowing when to hold her back and when to continue digging for treasure while she was too busy to stop them.

Actually… Was it his imagination or was there even more BLOCK creatures in the game now all of a sudden?

It almost felt like they were all naturally in sync with each other, ganging up on HIKIKO in short groups to keep her busy. When she was going around to dig for treasure, the BLOCK MINIONS would grab her attention any way they could, shoveling sand into her spot or even just shoving her away a few times. But then when she'd try to fight back, they all suddenly ran away from her to goad her into chasing them.

This sudden coordination was a bit odd since they never bothered to do so earlier in the game. At most, all they did was act individually as they played like everyone else.

It was almost like someone upped the difficulty for HIKIKO… Or she was suddenly up against a tactician controlling a hive mind of enemy opponents.

It wasn't exactly enough to stop her from staying in the lead though. Every other opponent was still struggling to reach the same amount of progress as her since she was so far ahead. It was more like they were just slowing HIKIKO down for as long as possible.

OMORI narrowed at the sight, trying to figure out what suddenly changed. What exactly did this mean? Did something change for HIKIKO? Was this another roadblock in their adventure?

That was when a loud obnoxiously stereotypically evil laugh rang out nearby him.

OMORI slowly blinked as he turned to face where the noise was coming from.

Lo and behold, there was SOURHEART, maniacally laughing her sour heart out and disturbing the rest of the audience sitting nearby her.

"Struggle all you can, foolish girl! That's all you'll be doing for the rest of the day until the sun sets or you drop dead from exhaustion!" The haughty princess (was she ever established to be a princess actually?) laughed to herself again.

Strange how she wasn't doing the same kind of laugh that SWEETHEART usually does. The one where she goes OHOHOHOHO- or whatever. Did MARI forget that she does that, or was that something OMORI made up on his own?

OMORI could've sworn that she did the laugh, though… That high-pitched shrieking was ingrained in his memories of every Saturday morning on the TV…

Well, SOURHEART does look more similar to CANDICE than the actual SWEETHEART… Maybe MARI just didn't think the laugh would fit her?

…

Whatever.

Once she was done cackling evilly, SOURHEART took a step back to let OMORI get a view of the thing sitting right next to her.

Some kind of BLOCK MINION like all the others, except with a computer monitor for a head this time. There was an antenna sticking out the top of its head that was constantly vibrating as if sending out signals the entire time.

Sigh, right… OMORI was starting to see the picture now.

So that was what the sheriff meant when he was warning about SOURHEART. Guess that explains the sudden cohesion between all the BLOCK MINIONS down there.

"You think you could just deactivate my minions and rob them to steal my tickets without me noticing?" SOURHEART gloated to herself, "Two can play at this game, you naive simpleton. I'll make sure to make up for all the damage you caused me by making sure you're stalled in this game for as long as possible! While you're stuck in this arena tiring yourself out from my distraction, the rest of my minions will continue to win tickets on my behalf! Soon, I'll make up for all the tickets you stole and more until I can afford to redeem your thieving friend right under your nose! By the time you finish this game, you won't even realize your friend is gone until it's too late!"

The girl proceeded to cackle loudly again, with OMORI conveniently within hearing distance for her entire expositional villain monologue.

OMORI was actually surprised to hear the fact that this was actually in response to something he did earlier. As far as he was aware, HIKIKO only played the games to win her tickets. He was the one who was doing the stealing and killing behind her back, and he was sure that he hadn't blown his cover while doing it…

Was SOURHEART being here to interfere with HIKIKO a predetermined storyline from her own head or was this really the consequence of his own actions coming into effect?

"Have fun running around in circles forever, neanderthal! My TACTICIAN BLOCK will make sure you never finish this game on time! This is what you get for crossing me!"

With one final continuous evil laugh, she gave the robot next to her a proud pat on the back before making her way to leave the arena. Despite the crowd of people staring at her like she was a loony, it didn't seem like she gained HIKIKO's attention.

OMORI glanced down to see his sister obliviously chasing down the other opponents, completely unaware of what he just saw up in the audience stand.

Well… this was strange.

If HIKIKO had no way of knowing what was happening right now, how was she going to fight against the BLOCK MINIONS and their distraction tactics?

Would she ever notice that something was wrong? Or was this story actually going to let her lose and have KEL get stolen away by SOURHEART before she could do anything to stop it?

…

Was… Was OMORI supposed to do something here?

He wasn't supposed to have any direct role beyond being his sister's motivational support… right? With the way things have been going so far, he'd thought that none of his actions would really have any consequence to the adventure they were on besides some superficial choices here and there.

SHERIFF BOYARDEE did come to him to warn him directly though, instead of going to his sister…

Was this actually something he could affect?

OMORI blinked incredulously as he looked up to stare at the TACTICIAN BLOCK sitting just right there in the crowd a few dozen feet away.

It was literally sitting right there. Nothing guarding it, nobody paying too much attention to it.

He looked down again to check if HIKIKO was even watching him.

Nope. She'd been too preoccupied with chasing the BLOCKS who just stole her latest treasure find. She had absolutely no awareness of what was going on up here. She hasn't even checked to make sure if he was still staying in his seat or not.

…

OMORI could just walk up from behind and just stab it in the back real quick. Whole thing would be over in, like, a second.

Oh, but wait… if he was supposed to be SUNNY in HIKIKO's HEADSPACE, then shouldn't he try to solve it in a more SUNNY-like way?

…

Actually, what the hell would that even be? Other than just killing it, how else was he supposed to do it? How would his sister even imagine him trying to solve this?

…

After much deliberation on how to solve this conundrum, OMORI sighed and shook his head.

Him killing BLOCKS was what led this to happen, maybe killing was the only way out. Not like he knew any better way.

Checking one last time to make sure HIKIKO wasn't looking, OMORI quickly got up from his seat to sneak behind his target.

The journey over there was seamless enough. Nobody paid him any mind as he made his way over to stand behind the BLOCK creature.

It didn't even seem to notice when OMORI approached. It was too engrossed with sending out commands with its antenna thing to even care about anything else.

Huh… Guess this'll be easy then.

With a small shrug to himself, OMORI gave his knife a quick flourish to prepare a simple stab in the back.

It hit right in the heart.

HIKIKO slowly came to a halt as she was chasing down the BLOCK that stole her latest treasure find.

She had been so frustrated moments before, having it be stolen right beneath her the moment she dug it out. She was actually this close to going crazy as she tried to take it back.

But now she was just confused as the BLOCK MINIONS suddenly started fritzing out right in front of her one by one before collapsing.

They had been giving her so much trouble before, keeping her preoccupied all this time. Now it was all suddenly over like someone flipped a switch.

What the heck even happened?

Walking up to the BLOCK MINION that stole her treasure, she cautiously poked her shovel at it to see if it was just playing dead.

Nothing. It really did just suddenly stop dead all of a sudden. In fact, every single BLOCK MINION in the game dropped dead as well.

That… That was weird.

Why was… -

This wasn't supposed to happen.

…

HIKIKO looked up into the audience stand to make sure if SUNNY was still in the same spot as before.

Her little brother was still in his seat, looking back at her and giving a small wave.

Still where she placed him.

Still where she told him to stay.

…

HIKIKO shook her head out of her thoughts, refocusing on the game. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth! She had a game to win and a KEL to save!

Picking up her treasure from the lifeless automaton, she gave it a quick dust cleaning by wiping it on her gown.

Some kind of pure black rubik's cube. Looked pretty valuable, it might be worth a lot.

Another treasure to add in her collection. She almost had enough to trade them in for enough tickets now, just needed a few more and she should be able to-

Wait…

HIKIKO looked closely at her new treasure, finding markings on the rubik's cube.

Some kind of… Latin?

"Deus… Ex… Machina…?"

God… of… machine.

God from the machine?

HIKIKO curiously turned the cube over, wondering what it could do.

A sudden spotlight shined on her, causing her to flinch back.

"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, SHE FOUND ONE- THE GIRL IN THE SLEEPING GOWN FOUND ONE- I'M FREAKING OUT- AAAAAAAAAAAAA"

At the same time the brachiosaurus announcer was screaming into his boom mic, the crowd erupted with cheers and applause. Everyone stood up from their seats, showering her with praise and excitement.

HIKIKO was a bit lost, trying to figure out why everyone was so worked up over her so suddenly. Was it because of the cube? Was it really that special?

Thankfully, she got her explanation pretty quickly as the announcer found his composure to explain to everyone.

"T-This is a historical find! We haven't found another treasure of this caliber since the legendary Infinity Bouncy Ball! There's no other toy like it! The girl in the sleeping gown has just won a bazillion million chachillion tickets from just one treasure alone! She's hit the jackpot!"

The jackpot?

"Oh wow…" HIKIKO was a bit… floored at first from the announcement, in all honesty. She was just being told that her prize had netted her an abysmally large amount of tickets all of a sudden.

But when she looked back at the object in her hand, she felt a giddy excitement rise up within her as she realized just exactly what this meant for her and SUNNY and KEL.

She finally had enough tickets to save KEL!

With a wide grin and a bounce in her step, she waved her bounty towards her little brother and cheered, "Look SUNNY! I did it! I got the jackpot! We have enough to rescue KEL!"

SUNNY's reaction was pretty modest compared to everyone else around him, as he only raised his fists lightly to the air and gave a stoic "Woo."

It was enough to make HIKIKO smile though, proudly waving the toy relic in the air for all to see.

Despite it all though… the ringing in her ears made her wonder if something about this wasn't just a bit… off.

"Ninety-eight… ninety-nine… aaaaaaand-"

With the final ding from the ticket machine sounding off, CHAD gladly shut it closed as he finished counting.

"Exactly 10,000 tickets! Enough to pay back for the missing Infinity Bouncy Ball! Awesome work, you two!" the triceratops congratulated by clapping his stubby front legs, "Not to mention the extra chachillion tickets on the side for any other prizes you want to redeem!"

With a relieved smile, HIKIKO excitedly asked, "So does that mean KEL is free?"

"One KEL, coming straight up!" CHAD announced, jumping off his seat to pull on the rope attached to KEL's cage. "Or in this case, down!"

"Yay! We did it, SUNNY!" HIKIKO cheered, raising her hands up for a double high-five with a wide smile.

OMORI silently clapped his hands to celebrate alongside her. Thank god this was finally about to be over.

With an appropriate amount of fanfare for such an occasion, fireworks and streamers were set off while KEL was gently lowered down from his prize-shelf prison.

Once CHAD unlocked the cell door to let KEL leave, the small hyperactive boy practically burst out of his contained bubble with a sweet cry of relief. "FREEDOOOOOM!"

HIKIKO chuckled at the reaction, happy to know that the boy didn't lose his energy while stuck up there.

"Are you okay, KEL? Sorry we took so long to rescue you." HIKIKO asked as she bent down to his level.

Allowing himself a moment to stretch and rub his sore wrists, (why were his wrists sore when he wasn't even handcuffed or anything?) KEL made a beeline dash over to HIKIKO to tackle hug her.

"HIKIKO! SUNNY!" KEL cried out in pure joy, "I missed you guys so much! It was so boring being stuck up there alone without anything to do! I'm so glad you guys got to me before that scary lady did, I wouldn't have any idea what to do if that ended up happening!"

"Of course we wouldn't have let that happen! There's no way I'd let you get kidnapped from us." HIKIKO reassured comfortingly, patting KEL's back in return, "We had a bit of trouble at first, but I'm just glad you're back with us."

It would've been better if KEL hadn't ran off to go steal that ball in the first place. This whole thing could've been avoided if he just did as he promised.

Ah well, nothing to do about it now. Nobody got hurt, so everything should be fine.

…

KEL lingered on the hug for a bit, before awkwardly letting go as he rubbed his neck. The guilty expression on his face pretty much said it all for them, but KEL still went ahead to say it anyway.

"I'm… I'm super sorry for doing all of that and making you go through all of this. The ball, it was just so… I just wanted to play with it so bad and I let it get to my head. If I never tried to borrow it like that, I wouldn't have lost it and you guys wouldn't have gone through the trouble of having to rescue me like this." With a deep bow, KEL fully faced down as he apologized, "I was really stupid. I promise I won't do something like that again. Next time, I'll follow the plan instead of going off to do my own thing like before. Please forgive me, HIKIKO…"

Poor kid was practically trembling now that everything was said and done. HIKIKO was astonished at how earnest KEL was being before beaming with a sincere smile.

HIKIKO placed a calm hand on KEL's head, causing the boy to jolt just a tiny bit. When he realized that she was only going to pet him, KEL relaxed again as he looked up to see her face.

"Thank you, KEL. I'm glad you apologized and owned up to your mistake. What you did was really irresponsible, and I could've been pretty mad if your life wasn't on the line at the time. But still, I appreciate that you realized what you did wrong. I forgive you, so don't feel too bad anymore. Okay?"

OMORI watched with significant interest as KEL almost seemed to nearly burst into tears at HIKIKO's response, before the hyperactive boy suddenly washed that all away with a huge smile within milliseconds.

KEL hugged HIKIKO again, relieved that things were going to be okay for the both of them.

…

Now this was a bit intriguing for OMORI. This was such a direct opposite parallel to how MARI felt towards KEL in the real world. All of her bitter resentment towards KEL for supposedly 'abandoning' her little brother had made her so hostile towards him, even when OMORI had told her that KEL wanted to apologize to her.

It was so different in her HEADSPACE. Seeing the two of them hugging it out like this, you would've never even expected her to have any deep-rooted problems with KEL to begin with…

OMORI didn't quite know what it all meant or if it even hinted at anything at all, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Could any of this sympathy be translated out to the real world, somehow? If he could use this to get MARI to forgive KEL in the real world and become friends again, he felt that would be a great first step towards guiding MARI to self-recovery…

The underlying problem of her repressed guilt and memories would still be a prominent problem he had to deal with, but this could really help.

Beyond all of that though, OMORI felt like he should be relieved that this part of the adventure was going to be over soon.

However, he had a gut feeling that he was forgetting something pretty important that was left unresolved here…

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?!"

Oh right… They still had the SOURCANDICE thing to take care of.

Sigh…

As OMORI lamented to himself, HIKIKO meanwhile had turned to face a really infuriated-looking SOURHEART stomping over to them. The pink-girl's face was more red than any apple or cherry HIKIKO had ever seen so far. Following right behind her was a bunch of her MINIONS carrying an overtly large sack of tickets.

Sensing trouble was about to come, HIKIKO quickly pulled her little brother close to protect him.

"How…?! HOW could this have happened?! How could you have possibly managed to get enough tickets before me?!" SOURHEART screamed out, "I made sure you wouldn't! You should've still been stuck in that arena game! You can't be here right now!"

HIKIKO furrowed her brows at the other girl, realizing that she must've been the reason why HIKIKO had so much trouble in the DINO's DIG EMPORIUM. The nerve of this jerk!

"Aw man, not this crazy lady again…" KEL mumbled anxiously.

HIKIKO set the boys behind her, letting herself deal with the full front of whatever this psychopath might try to do.

SOURHEART stomped the ground in a tantrum, "It's not fair! I spent too long searching for the MAGIKE ORB to lose it now! Having it be stolen and lost by a child is going to set me back decades! I won't let you get away with any of this! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

By the sidelines, CHAD meekly told everyone, "Uh, please no violence near the prize statio-"

"SHUT UP."

SOURHEART's command was enough to make the triceratops cower in fear behind his work station.

HIKIKO flinched slightly as SOURHEART pointed directly at her.

"I don't care how you managed to beat me, that doesn't matter anymore! I demand you hand over your thieving friend right now! It's because of him that I lost my orb! None of you have the right to walk free from this crime!" Ominously pulling out a remote control device from her sleeve, she shouted, "If you don't comply, I'll be forced to take drastic measures! DRASTIC!"

Despite the threats and the dangerous crazed look in her eyes, HIKIKO didn't back down from her protective stance over the boys. There was no way she was just going to give up KEL to some crazy person.

Quickly judging the situation, she analyzed the chances of winning if they got into a scuffle right here.

HIKIKO has dealt with enough BLOCK MINIONS that she felt confident enough to care of them herself. She had no ideas about the capabilities of their leader though… If that girl had some trick hidden up her sleeve ready to pull, that might spell trouble for HIKIKO.

While she would be able to fight them off herself, she would have trouble focusing on that while also trying to protect SUNNY at the same time. KEL would have to do that by himself since none of the others were here to save them. Could she trust KEL to be able to fight them off if they try to hurt SUNNY though?

She could make KEL and SUNNY run far off so that they would all focus on her though. However, she really didn't like that idea since that meant SUNNY would end up far away from her. She really didn't want SUNNY to be separated from her again, not after so many false-calls fraying her mind today.

What to do…?

"HIKIKO."

She glanced to her side to see KEL, readying himself as he held his toy ball as a shield.

"I don't know what you got planned, but we totally got this." KEL smiled to reassure her, "I'm ready whenever you are."

…phew…

Having KEL feel so confident made her feel emboldened to fight.

As long as she and KEL surrounded SUNNY, he should be safe while they both take down these guys. She just needed to have faith.

When SOURHEART saw that none of them were willing to submit to her will, the dangerous look in her eyes became much more ferocious.

Here comes the obligatory boss fight…

OMORI sighed, knowing he won't be able to do anything with his sister watching.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." SOURHEART growled before pressing a button on her remote.

There was no immediate reaction at first, a silent pause filled the air with tension.

Soon however, there was a small tremor from the ground. Which then became a large tremor. Then a larger one right after.

Coming into the scene from afar at a dangerously fast pace was a mechanical carriage, the engine roaring like a beast and steam bellowing out from the pipes like gunshots. Instead of it calmly parking like it did during its introductions before, this time it haphazardly drifted itself right inbetween everyone like a race car. Skid marks were left on the ground with a loud scratch.

With a quick hop aboard, SOURHEART began to pose on top of her car before calling out, "MINIONS! ASSEMBLEEEEE!"

One by one, the BLOCK MINIONS behind her dropped their large ticket sack before launching themselves into the air to combine with the mechanical car. With each BLOCK that joined the group, their individual pieces would detach to move itself around and formed what seemed to be large colorful wooden arms and legs to act as a body.

By the time the transformation was over, it took on a very familiar shape, one that OMORI immediately noticed once it became obvious.

Wait- WHAT?

OMORI blinked at the sight of an alternate variant of PAPA CHIP, the giant friendly oven that often gave him free loaves of bread back in his old HEADSPACE. Instead of the shiny steel that he was used to seeing, the one in HIKIKO's HEADSPACE was more wooden and mechanical in nature. The chef's hat that usually decorated his head had SOURHEART standing in its place.

Said hat-replacement smiled cruelly before entering inside the oven from a hatch above, placing herself right in the middle while sitting on a big fancy driving seat.

With one last pose to seal the deal, SOURHEART's BLOCK-GOLEM has revealed itself.

…

Oh my god, she can ride inside of PAPA CHIP like an anime mecha?!

Why the heck didn't I ever think of that?! That was so cool!

"I can see from your terrified expressions that you're starting to regret your decisions now!" SOURHEART taunted with a malicious laugh.

OMORI shook his head clear to focus on the situation at hand.

"Oh boy…" HIKIKO muttered with an anxious sweat. Something like this might be more tough than she thought they could handle.

Without the full gang here, the HIKIKO and KEL might not be able to stand a chance…

"YES! Tremble in fear, neanderthals! Witness the power of my genius! The ultimate invention, the BLOCK-GOLEM!" SOURHEART cackled, "I'll make you rue the day you ever crossed paths with me!"

Everyone went into a defensive stance as SOURHEART raised her hand pointed towards them.

"Now… ATTACK!"

HIKIKO braced herself right in front of her little brother, jump-rope at the ready.

KEL flinched as he hid his face behind his ball.

OMORI stared with his hand twitching near his pockets just in case.

…

The BLOCK-GOLEM didn't move.

…

Like, at all.

It was just frozen in place there.

…

"..." SOURHEART glanced at her feet before repeating the command, "BLOCK-GOLEM, destroy those peasants!"

…

Once again, nothing happened.

"Come on! Kill them!" SOURHEART's bloodlust seemed to damper a bit here as she began sounding more embarrassed from the performance issues of her invention. With a couple of slaps on her driver seat, she commanded again, "Shoot fire! Throw rocks? Obey me already!"

Despite all of her efforts, her giant mecha oven didn't move a mechanical muscle.

Giving each other confused glances, HIKIKO and the others slowly let their guards down as the tension simmered.

"So… are we not gonna fight, or…?" KEL awkwardly asked.

HIKIKO could only give a shrug, not having any clue what was going on.

"I don't understand! Why isn't it working?!" SOURHEART pulled on her ponytails in distress. Standing up to walk around her seat in circles, she looked at every corner of her pilot space to figure out what was wrong. "This was supposed to be a perfect invention! All of my MINIONS are supposed to be in complete sync with each other and then it'd be easier to remotely control-"

A sudden gasp from her as she was struck with a realization.

"The TACTICIAN BLOCK. None of the MINIONS can sync commands together without the TACTICIAN BLOCK!"

OMORI stared at the frantic sour girl as she proceeded to check something from behind her driver seat.

The TACTICIAN BLOCK? Wasn't that the thing he killed earlier to help-

Wait, it couldn't be that this whole thing was caused by-...

"Where is it? Where is it?! Why is that unit missing from the group?! It should have heeded the recall signal and came back by now!" Loud noises and mechanical gears popped out from behind the seat as she worked just beyond view, "The last time I saw it was when I assigned it to sabotage that brat in the-"

Another sudden gasp rang out, even louder and more audacious than before.

Closing her seat trunk, the crazed girl stomped back into view before screaming, "YOU DID SOMETHING TO MY TACTICIAN BLOCK, DIDN'T YOU?!"

HIKIKO blinked slowly before realizing that the girl was talking to her, "...wait, huh?"

"You somehow figured out my plan to distract you and did something to my minion! Argh, it's no wonder you found a way to grab all those tickets before me- you lousy little cheater!"

HIKIKO blinked slowly again, before confusedly asking, "...wait, HUH?"

Okay, so this was definitely OMORI's fault then that this was happening. He really had no idea that his actions would lead to such a drastic consequence down the line.

Would the boss fight have gone to plan if he hadn't killed that BLOCK earlier during the game? How much of the storyline did he accidentally mess up because he didn't realize what he was doing?

He had thought that his sister's influence on the world would prevent him from doing anything substantial, but… maybe as long as HIKIKO wasn't there to see or influence him, he actually had more direct control than he assumed?

"Tch! Guess I have no choice but to do this myself."

SOURHEART cursed under her breath before exiting out the hatch on top of her GOLEM-BLOCK.

Settling herself on top of the failed oven machine, she dusted herself off before spreading her arms apart.

Jetpacks with mechanical wings popped out from behind her, spanning as long as her arms were spread.

With a loud whir of the engine, it began lighting up as SOURHEART started levitating in place.

"Say your prayers while you still can! Your miserable existence ends here!"

With the situation looking dangerous again, the three of them braced themselves to prepare for whatever was coming ahead.

SOURHEART began slowly ascending in the air as she was building up momentum for her devastating attack. Her death glare intensified on the group before she pulled forward–

And then a giant red ball came down from the sky and collided into her face, knocking her out instantly.

With the lack of control, she spiraled in the air for a bit before crashing down a few feet away, leaving a massive human shaped indent on the ground.

…

And then the jetpack exploded for good measure.

…

"wait, huh"

After a brief period of silence from staring at the sudden wreckage in front of them, both HIKIKO and OMORI turned to stare at KEL.

Noticing their confused looks, he quickly stuttered, "T-That wasn't me! Look, I still have my ball! I have no idea what just happened either."

He held up his toy ball, proving his point.

If that was the case, then where the heck did that other ball come from if it wasn't from KEL?

"Well, I'll be gosh-diddly-darned."

Popping into view, the familiar sheriff and his trusty DINO friend slipped onto the situation after everything was completely over.

Coming over to view what was apparently their handiwork in all of this, SHERIFF BOYARDEE overlooked the human-shaped wreckage while fiddling around with an ominous-looking black rubik's cube.

That was the thing HIKIKO turned in after she won the DINO's DIG game, wasn't it?

"You were right. It actually works like you said it would." The cowboy mumbled in mild surprise.

"I told ya, didn't I?" DINO playfully shoved his old friend with a tail.

"Shame we couldn't catch the ball in time though. Might take a while before it comes back around again." Readjusting his hat, the cowboy looked up at the sky in wonder as the red blur he saw entered the stratosphere once again.

DINO shrugged, "It'll stop bouncing eventually. Hopefully. Maybe."

Turning over to glance at the bewildered kids behind him, DINO flashed a toothy grin and an okay sign with his tiny claw.

HIKIKO and OMORI could only silently wonder to themselves in their thoughts.

What the heck even just happened?

So…

Even PAPA CHIP too, huh?

OMORI pressed his hand inquisitively on the nonfunctioning oven character, taking the time to observe it while the others were busy cleaning up after SOURHEART.

He remembered all the times in his adventures where he came across PAPA CHIP. Friendly, helpful, made really tasty bread. In some of the cycles, OMORI and friends would help him out against his evil uncle, NEFARIOUS CHIP. There was some nostalgia in seeing his old friend again, even if it wasn't exactly the same.

It was a shame that he doesn't seem to be alive here though, being more of a robot suit than a person of his own.

Part of OMORI was glad that the boss fight was skipped over anticlimactically, but a smaller part of him would've really liked to have seen what PAPA CHIP could do. What sort of things could he have done, based on MARI's imagination?

While OMORI was busy off to the side reminiscing, HIKIKO had watched the sheriff cowboy tie up SOURHEART's hands to arrest her.

Giving a nasty side-eye towards HIKIKO, the girl harrumphed, "What are you looking at, brat?"

HIKIKO rolled her eyes before facing DINO, "So what's going to happen now?"

"Now?" DINO paused in the middle of his standing skateboard kickflips, answering with, "Well, we're going to have this young lady placed under arrest for unprovoked violence. Then probably send her off somewhere where she can't bother the park anymore."

"Ohoh, you won't get rid of me that easily!" SOURHEART declared as she struggled from the sheriff's grip, "Once my mother hears about this, you will all pay for treating me like this! You'll face the wrath of the QUEEN's army at your doorstep soon!"

SOURHEART then aimed a cold glare at HIKIKO, causing her to flinch.

"And you…! Don't think this will be the last time we meet. When I come back, I'll remember you!"

"That's enough out of you, missy." SHERIFF BOYARDEE pulled her restraints back before leading her away from HIKIKO, "C'mon, time to skedaddle."

Despite her ominous final words, watching her get escorted away did make HIKIKO feel like it was going to be the last she'll have to deal with SOURHEART for at least a while.

Supposedly, she should feel relieved that nothing serious happened and that they all could walk away freely from all of this.

…

Yet why doesn't she…? It felt like there was an anxious knot inside her that was making her more uneasy than ever before…

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Something compelled her to look towards KEL.

The energetic boy was smiling so brightly after seeing SOURHEART get taken away, happy to see the bully get their just deserts. Yet when he noticed that HIKIKO was staring, there was a moment his smile became a bit uneasy.

This wasn't supposed to happen... KEL wasn't supposed to—

She was shaken out of her stupor by DINO bumping his tail into her.

"Hey, don't look so pale there, pal!" DINO reassured with a toothy grin, "Don't worry your pretty little head about miss fancy pants and her mommy issues coming back to get ya. I'm sure you'll all be long gone before she has the chance to do anything. You can relax and take it easy!"

…

Right… Right, yeah.

HIKIKO forced herself to loosen up a bit, allowing her to relax now that things were finally over. She even put up a smile herself to put everyone else at ease.

"You guys worked hard. Take in the sights, eat some snacks before you have to go. Spend the tickets at the prize counter! Lord knows you have more than enough." DINO suggested.

"You sure it's okay for us to spend all those tickets?" HIKIKO felt she needed to ask, "We made out with a lot, to put it mildly."

She was pretty sure that there was nothing to stop them from wiping every prize-shelf clean with the amount of tickets she'd been given.

"HA! Spend it all, keep it to yourself, give out every toy we have stocked for free– Doesn't matter to me!" DINO guffawed before pulling out the rubik's cube HIKIKO turned in earlier, "I made out like a bandit compared to you guys! Knew it was gonna be worth it betting on you!"

Ending the conversation on that charming note, DINO suddenly kickflipped back onto his skateboard before pedaling away. Whilst grinding on a nearby bench, he gave a distinctive "DINO EX MACHINAAAAA" before disappearing off into the sunset.

…

What an odd fellow.

KEL tugged on her gown to grab her attention, before pointing at her stoic brother off to the side.

"We should check on SUNNY, I think he's daydreaming again."

Like he said, there was her little brother staring at MECHA-GOLEM as he zoned out like he usually did.

Actually, come to think of it, it had been a while since she's caught him daydreaming like this.

He had been so subdued and withdrawn earlier in the day before they ventured out into COCKAIGNE. Then once they finally met up with KEL, it was almost like he became restlessly driven about something with the way he kept vanishing off left and right.

It was nice to just see him relax enough to go back to being his usual self again, even for just a bit.

Walking up next to him, HIKIKO crouched down to his eye level and asked, "Penny for your thoughts?"

OMORI's reminiscing time was over as he felt his sister's presence standing by his side. Giving one last look at PAPA CHIP, he shrugged to her, "It looks cool. That's all."

So long, old friend. Maybe OMORI will see you working in action the next time around.

With everything done and over with, the three of them regrouped together in front of the prize station. The day looked to be almost over, with the sun slowly setting in the horizon. The park's golden luster was soon fading away as the sky darkened.

Before they made plans to prepare their journey out of this place, HIKIKO reminded them of all the extra tickets she won.

"Soooo? KEL, SUNNY? Do either of you want anything from the prize counter?" HIKIKO placed a warm hand on each of their shoulders as they all looked at the options in front of them, "Don't be shy, you can choose whichever one you want! Just don't be too greedy, okay?"

Surprisingly, KEL lightly stepped away from this with his hands up, "Eeehh, I think I learned my lesson after what happened earlier. I don't really want any prizes anymore." He gave an embarrassed chuckle before smiling widely at OMORI, "Feel free to choose an extra one for yourself, SUNNY!"

"Are you sure, KEL?" HIKIKO asked in slight surprise, "You don't have to worry about getting into trouble anymore, you know."

"Aheh," KEL scratched his cheek with a nervous smile, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright then…" HIKIKO nodded understandingly, before focusing her attention on her little brother, "So, how about it, SUNNY? You can pick whichever you like. Is there any toy that caught your eye since we came here?"

…

Yeah. There has been.

It doesn't really matter though… Since this was all just a dream, none of it mattered.

At least… It wasn't supposed to matter…

OMORI gulped silently as he looked between his sister and the toy plushie of DINO sitting right in front of him.

Sigh… He wished things could've happened differently. He wanted so badly to earn that plushie on his own without his sister having to help.

Why did he waste so much time and energy on this fruitless goal when he knew none of this was going to actually matter outside the dream? Was it really all for closure? Because he promised he would back when he was nine?

It wasn't like a murderer like him deserved closure…

…

OMORI pointed at the DINO plushie with a stoic, "That one, please."

"Ooh! Good choice!" CHAD came out with an upbeat smile, grabbing the toy plushie and setting it on the counter, "One DINO plush, coming up!"

HIKIKO gushed as her little brother silently grabbed the large plushie, "Aaaww~ It looks so cute! I figured you'd pick out something like that!"

It was as big as OMORI remembered, back when he was nine. This big giant soft toy that he only just barely managed to fit in a hug. It could almost suffocate him if it was any heavier.

So soft… So plush…

Yet it felt so empty, knowing he didn't do anything to earn it.

"This is going to look great back at home with the rest of your souvenir collection!" HIKIKO giggled.

…

HIKIKO tilted her head a bit when her little brother didn't say anything.

He kept holding the toy plush in his arms with a soft frown, looking so somber to himself.

Did he not like it? Maybe he wanted to change his mind but didn't know how to ask? Or did she accidentally pick the wrong toy when he pointed at something else?

"Is something wrong, SUNNY?"

When he turned to look at her, HIKIKO was stunned to see his eyes convey so much sadness behind them. It felt so jarring out of his normally cliff-faced and stoic demeanor.

But why? How could he be so sad, and for what? Her mind instinctively asked so many questions, wanting to know what was wrong so she could fix it for him.

Instead, her little brother chose to reach out and hand the plushie over to her, "...I want you to have it…"

What…?

SUNNY wanted her to have this plushie?

HIKIKO didn't know what to make of it, or why SUNNY decided to give his toy to her. Still, the sadness in his eyes made her silently accept the gift.

It was really sweet and considerate of him. He didn't have to worry about getting her a gift, it wasn't like she wasn't allowed to pick out a toy for herself if she wanted one.

But why was he so pitifully sad over it? She wanted to ask so badly, and yet she was too stunned to even find the words.

She hugged the plushie in her arms, letting the softness wash over her.

It's definitely adorable… If she was a bit younger, she would've loved playing with it.

"You…" She heard her brother almost whisper out.

Leaning down to hear him better, she wanted to focus all of her attention on him.

"SUNNY?" She called out softly, not wanting to rush him but letting him know that she was ready and willing to listen.

He gave a silent gulp, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to steady himself. Once he opened his eyes again, he calmly admitted to her, "You already gave me a DINO plushie before. A long time ago."

…

D-... Did she…?

"You probably don't remember… We made a promise that we'd work hard to get our grades up so that we could go to that amusement park." Her little brother closed his eyes as he began to recount his memories, "We promised together that we'd both win a toy dinosaur plushie, one for each of us to play with. But… I… I never won mine."

HIKIKO silently stared at her brother.

He continued on with a sad, "You felt bad for me, since you got one but I didn't. I wasn't good enough at the games to win a plushie on my own, so you… You gave me yours to make me feel better…Even though you wanted a plushie for yourself so badly… I just…"

A car ride home.

A soft toy rubbed against her face.

A coloring book, left to the side without care.

SUNNY stared out the window, bottling up his emotions.

Mom and dad didn't notice, but she did.

He was doing it again... She hated when he did that.

"We promised to have one for each of us… I felt so bad that I couldn't win enough tickets on my own, that you felt like you had to give me yours. So when we came here and I saw the exact same plushie again, I thought I could… I thought I'd have a second chance to try to do it over again. I wanted to do my best to earn enough tickets and try to win the plushie on my own. That way, I'd be able to give one to you too, just like we promised. But… I still couldn't."

Throughout the day, HIKIKO won at so many games while her little brother struggled to get by with any one of them.

She-... She just wanted to impress him and tried to act cool. To make him proud of her.

She never even realized what he was trying to do.

"I wish I could've. It would've felt better if I got it on my own without relying on you… But even though I wasn't able to earn it myself, I still wanted to give one to you… I wanted us to be even… I'm sorry."

HIKIKO kept staring at her little brother.

She kept staring for the longest time.

She couldn't form a single thought in her mind. So overwhelmed with an indescribable emotion, one that was threatening to overwhelm all of her senses.

He wanted to earn enough tickets to get a toy plushie just for her. Yet he couldn't, because of her. He tried so hard without her ever even realizing.

She never deserved to have such a good little brother.

She doesn't deserve the right to.

Soft tears began to run down her cheeks, droplets wetting the plush fabric she was holding onto.

She let it fall from her grasp, wanting to be able to hug her little brother instead.

His eyes widened a bit when she came in for the hug. The sadness that filled them was gone just for that small instance as she held him tightly.

She let the tears uncontrollably fall, silently holding onto her brother for dear life, not wanting to let go until she finally calmed down.

MARI wouldn't let go until she calmed down.

OMORI silently sighed as he hugged her back.

Her mind was so overwhelmed with so much emotion that was almost enough to break it apart. Almost, at least.

Nobody noticed it when the world cracked a bit. Just a tiny crack.

A small tiny crack, enough to see something dark inside.

They stood closely together, walking hand in hand as they prepared to leave EL DORA-DINO.

KEL was taking the lead in front of them, casually marching forward with a carefree smile on his face like always.

HIKIKO held her DINO plushie in her free arm, making sure to hold a tight grip on it so that she didn't drop it by accident. It was a little big, so she had to readjust it in her arms a few times to stop it from slipping. Later when they got home, she'll need to find a good space for it so that she could show it off to everyone.

OMORI, meanwhile, was busy with his thoughts again.

So… That was pretty risky of him.

He ended up saying more than what he should've when he told her all about the DINO plushie his sister gave him all those years ago.

Honestly, it was kind of stupid of him to end up revealing so much, saying all of that to HIKIKO and reminding her about the real world outside of HEADSPACE. One wrong move, and he could've immediately blown his cover. Or worse, the BASIL treatment…

Still, it ended up being lucky that HIKIKO didn't seem to realize it at all. Once she was able to stop crying, everything went back to normal, with her acting as her usual self.

…

He wasn't sure if it was gratifying or not to finally be able to give HIKIKO that DINO plushie. He had hoped that maybe it would ease his mind a little to finally repay her, but he still felt sort of empty about it when it was all done and over with.

At least HIKIKO was happy about it. Maybe that could be enough to satisfy him for now.

This whole adventure here sure ended up being a massive waste of time though. They got to recruit KEL back and HIKIKO now has her plushie, but OMORI still had no new leads on BLACK SPACE at all.

He did end up learning a lot of information about her HEADSPACE though, and even potentially how to work himself around it. Sort of.

There was a chance that he could do so much more than he thought he could, so long as HIKIKO wasn't there to witness him. SOURHEART was evidence of that when she kept showing reactions to all of his actions.

Those were mostly flukes though since he had no idea what he was doing at the time. It would be hard to find opportunities to get away from HIKIKO in order to pull something like that again though…

Still, he had a new game plan for how to affect HIKIKO to get him where he needed to be. Maybe in the next adventure, he'll end up finally getting the lead on BLACK SPACE.

Hm… Thinking abstract-like. That was what SHERIFF BOYARDEE told him to do, to try and see if that could help him find BLACK SPACE.

Actually, speaking of that cowboy… OMORI just remembered something.

Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out the three circus tickets he was given earlier in the day.

What was the point of these? Could they really help him find BLACK SPACE at all? BOYARDEE only said that it might give him some ideas and hoped it would be of any help somehow.

…

Throughout the day, the two of them had passed by the circus tent a couple times when they were looking for games. It never really showed any signs that anything weird or different could be going on.

Conveniently even now, as KEL was leading them away to leave this place, the circus tent was right nearby for them to see.

Since it was beginning to get dark, the lights inside became more obvious. It looked livelier, probably because there was a show happening right now. Other than that, he didn't really find anything outside the norm–

…

It was so quick, he almost dismissed it.

But he definitely saw it.

Within the tent flaps, hiding further inside, he saw himself staring back.

An almost perfect mirror image of himself, hiding behind the colorful cloth like a shy kid hiding from everyone else.

Not a perfect mirror image. Almost perfect.

Because his right eye was bleeding.

OMORI's eyes widened once he realized what he just saw, his legs freezing in place.

Accidentally pulled back, HIKIKO looked down to ask with concern, "SUNNY? Something the matter?"

Of course something was the matter. SOMETHING was the matter here, at least.

OMORI could feel his adrenaline pumping through his nerves as his free hand trembled into a fist.

The image of his other self with the bleeding eye was so brief and instant, OMORI wasn't able to get a second glance to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.

No, even now, he was absolutely sure he wasn't just seeing things.

He definitely saw it.

If that wasn't the sign of a repressed thought lurking its way out through the cracks, he didn't know what was.

Without any warning, OMORI released his sister's hand as he ran towards the anomaly.

"Wait! SUNNY, where are you going?!"

He couldn't afford to stay behind to explain or comfort his sister right now, this was much too important to stop for.

The hint of the darkness lurking under his sister's HEADSPACE. If he could only just follow it, he could finally know more about the truth that MARI was hiding from and be able to help her forgive herself!

It was so close… Please don't let this chance slip him by!

Why in a circus? Why didn't he bother to check earlier when he had the chance? Was it always here or did it appear only after the adventure was over? Did this mean SHERIFF BOYARDEE was leading him this whole time or was it genuinely just a coincidence?

So many unanswered questions that he wished he could find the answers to.

He only ever witnessed seeing her BLACK SPACE once, and that seemed more like a fluke than anything. He could only hope while chasing this new lead that he'll get lucky again, and maybe even learn if there was a pattern.

It didn't take him long as he made his way into the entrance, finding the space inside to be bigger than the size outside seemed to suggest. His sprint slowed to a halt as he quickly looked around to try and catch his mirror image before its trail could disappear.

A crowded audience circled the main stage while warm-up acts were going on. Large groups of various colorful characters, animals, and creatures littered the stadium. Most of them sat in the side-seats, enjoying snacks and watching from a heighted angle. Others crowded around the fences that formed a ring around the stage, hoping to get a closer look at the performances. An orchestra band was playing appropriate music off to the side while exotic animals showcased their tricks on the main stage.

Try as he might, staring within the crowd of people, but he couldn't find his bloody-eyed counterpart at all. Did it hide further inside? Did it already disappear before he could catch it?

Damn it…!

"SUNNY!"

HIKIKO and KEL caught up with him soon after, both of them catching their breath from the sudden chase.

"SUNNY, come on! Didn't I already tell you not to suddenly run off without me?!" HIKIKO admonished, moving her plushie around to hold tighter in her arm, "You're going to make me worried sick again!"

"Dude, I've never seen you run so fast before…" KEL huffed a bit, "You must've really wanted to see this tent."

OMORI didn't turn around to answer, still too busy scanning the stage to find any hint of where his other self might be hiding.

HIKIKO stood by his side, swiveling her head around in wonder. "Ooh, isn't this the circus? So that's why you got so worked up about it…"

"What do you mean?" KEL asked.

"During the trip around the park, SUNNY managed to snag some free entry tickets to go see the circus show here. It was the same SHERIFF from earlier, right SUNNY?" HIKIKO clarified.

OMORI was barely paying attention to the conversation, mindlessly nodding along even as he stood on his toes to try and get a better scope of the place.

"Oh cool! In that case, no wonder why SUNNY was in a rush to go all of a sudden!" KEL chuckled, "I'd get all excited to see it too! I love the circus!"

With a small sigh, HIKIKO glanced at her little brother with a tired smile, "You could've at least asked, y'know. KEL and I would've said yes and came with you. You didn't have to feel rushed or anything to run off like that."

"Right, sorry…" OMORI mumbled.

He held in a frustrated sigh, unable to find any other clues or sightings of that mirror image of his. No choice but to investigate further inside and hope to god that he wasn't going crazy.

"Well, I can see you're really eager to head inside." HIKIKO giggled, giving her little brother some headpats to try and calm him down, "Do you really like circus acts that much? It's refreshing to see you get so excited for a change."

He was more anxious rather than excited, but he might as well use her perception of him to act as a cover.

Grabbing her hand and tugging her along, he insisted, "Let's go in now before it's too late!"

"Okay, okay! Easy there, little brother!" HIKIKO laughed along, with KEL bouncing in right behind them.

Entry into the circus was easy enough, after they were approached by a small crab-creature-thing who was also a polite-speaking entry attendant. OMORI didn't waste any time handing the tickets over, restlessly looking at every corner of the entire tent the whole time they were led to any available seats.

Once they all sat down, the crab attendant mentioned that they actually managed to arrive just in time for the main show as the warm-up acts were just ending. Making sure they were all comfortable, it gave a quick farewell to go back to tracking the entrance.

"See, SUNNY? We didn't miss a single thing!" HIKIKO reassured with even more headpats. "You didn't even have to worry!"

"Mm." OMORI absentmindedly nodded.

Just like that crab attendant said, the real show was just about to begin. The lights flickered out around the crowd, as all the warm up acts quickly scurried out of the stage. Everyone in the stadium quieted down to hushed whispers once the ringmaster came out, some kind of giant floating bubble creature with a top hat and bowtie.

The orchestra band started playing cheerful energetic music in the background as the ringmaster began the introduction and hyping up the crowd. Streamers and balloons were released into the crowd in a bombastic colorful display.

Any other day, and OMORI probably would've gotten swept up by the excitement of it all himself. But right now, he really couldn't afford to pay any attention to anything else other than what he came here for.

Was it really not in here anymore? He already spent the last several minutes staring down every single detail of the place to try to find any trail of where that potential BLACK SPACE entity disappeared off to. It was starting to wreck his mind a little, desperately searching for it like this. He really didn't want to waste time sitting still watching a whole circus performance when he could potentially lose his only lead at any moment.

As the first act was about to begin and everyone around him gave a round of applause, OMORI had to wonder if he didn't go wrong somewhere.

Think, gotta think… Out of all places, why did it have to be in a circus? Was there something about circuses that was related to him or MARI in any special way? It didn't seem very likely, especially since they've never been to any actual circuses in the real world…

If anything, it would've made more sense as a connection if it involved the DINO'S DIG game in some way. At least the two of them actually played that in real life…

Nonono- He's gotta think even deeper than that. OMORI shouldn't be unfamiliar with this sort of thing, he'd had gone through several of his own BLACK SPACE encounters himself back in his own HEADSPACE. Things he hated and tried to hide by forcefully shoving them down below from his carefree world…

One way or another, they always leaked back up through the cracks, no matter how many times he tried to cover them.

…

Look around, one more time. Expand your mind. Search for what could be hiding the truth.

HIKIKO was sitting right next to him, still holding her plushie in her arm. She seemed enamored at the performance going on, enjoying it with rapt attention. His sister was always usually attentive towards him, but it seems that whenever there was a performance to watch or something else she needed to focus on, she would let her guard down a bit. Hopefully that was something OMORI could take advantage of when he needed to go off on his own again.

KEL was sitting on his other side, kicking his legs in excitement as he watched the stage. Every once in a while, he'd cheer in awe or applaud first before anyone else. Nothing about him seemed obviously useful at a glance, so OMORI wasn't sure how much he'd be able to help or be a hindrance…

Look deeper.

On the main stage, a stage magician was performing all sorts of tricks to wow the audience. It was some sort of invisible man, or at least maybe just a magical floating tuxedo suit, doing dangerous stunts that would injure a normal person. The crowd gave a tremendous applause as the magician did a sword swallowing trick by placing a sharp sword inside of him.

Not that.

Rows upon rows of different creatures and imaginary beings sat in the audience chairs. Some of them were familiar faces, some of them entirely new creatures that he had never seen before. Some that stood out to him were mostly some SPROUT MOLES, a few FRUIT or VEGGIE KIDS here and there, that same narwhal that was in charge of the fishing game, ironically some of SOURHEART's BLOCK MINIONS somehow–

It had to be here…

Near the back, a full orchestra of instrument-playing crab creatures were preparing themselves. They were small like the crab attendant from earlier, almost reaching half of his height. Most of them tuned their instruments or studied their music sheet in advance. A few of them were still actively part of the performance though, with a dramatic drumroll drummer, or the oboe player solo-ing with mysterious background music for the magician.

…

Something about that tickled the back of his mind.

The orchestra… Was there something about the orchestra that he didn't notice? Something about them that could be related to HIKIKO somehow?

He had been to several orchestra shows before as a kid, thanks to MARI. His whole family always attended their school shows and plays since she took part as the piano player.

Orchestra.

Piano.

Musical background.

They both played instruments too.

OMORI blinked in realization, before looking back at the orchestra to study it again. Particularly the strings section.

Cellos, double bass, harps–

That was when he asked the biggest question that finally helped connect the dots.

Why weren't there any violinists?

Bingo.

It wasn't much to go off of, but it was a new lead nonetheless. MARI was a musical expert, and he was sure that she knew more about the ins and outs of being in an orchestra more than him. But even he knew that violins played a big part.

So why weren't there any here?

He could already think of a few reasons why already, which was why he started feeling confident in this new line of thinking.

If he could get close to the orchestra band to investigate further…

The moment he tried to slide out from his seat in order to sneak off though, he felt a rough hold on his hand pulling him back.

"SUNNY, come on…" HIKIKO looked down at him with a tired frown, "You can't keep sneaking away from me like that. Please, just let me know where you want to go so that I can come with. I don't want to lose you."

"S-Sorry…" OMORI mumbled out awkwardly.

Shoot... He got so tunnel-visioned into his new lead that he forgot to make sure if his sister was still keeping track of him.

"I just… Um…" He fumbled a bit, trying to think of an excuse.

He had been so high-strung about searching for his mirror image this whole time, he didn't have the chance to come up with a proper plan to try to get away from HIKIKO. What could he even say to get HIKIKO off his back to explore around the place? Especially after sneaking off without her knowing so many times today.

If he told her that he wanted to go check out the orchestra band, he wondered how she would react. Would she let him, or would that end up backfiring on him immensely?

On the chance that she decides to follow after him, what if she ends up seeing the other SUNNY too? He didn't even want to think about how badly she would react to that, already knowing that she'd close off that lead and shut it tight before OMORI could even get the chance to investigate further.

No, he had to find a way to be alone for this… It was the only way to prevent anything from going wrong.

Think think think think think–

"I think SUNNY wants to get a closer look near the stage." KEL offered behind him.

OMORI turned around to see KEL giving an oblivious smile at the situation. Whether or not KEL meant to pull him out of this jam, he was still thankful for the excuse to latch onto.

Standing up from his seat, KEL suggested, "Let's bring him up to the front of the ring so that we can see it upclose! It'll be more fun that way!"

"Y-Yeah..." OMORI nodded along.

HIKIKO looked up ahead to where KEL pointed, seeing the large crowd that had amassed since the show started. With a small sigh, she smiled, "It's kinda crowdy, but alright. We can move up there if you really want to, SUNNY."

She still kept a firm grip on his hand though, as she stood up with them. Her other arm readjusted again to keep hold of her DINO plushie.

With a concerned frown, she bent down to OMORI's level to ask, "Since it's really crowded down there, please promise that you'll hold my hand and stick close to my side. Close enough so that I don't have to worry about you disappearing again. Okay? I really really really don't want to look away for a split-second and then look back to see that you already vanished from thin air because you went somewhere without telling me. That's already happened twice today, which is two times too many. My heart seriously can't take any more."

…

There really wasn't anything OMORI could say to that. Even as his sister gave the most puppy-eyed expression, practically begging right now, he knew that he didn't have a choice but to lie to her again.

This was too important to let go.

"I'll stay close." OMORI promised.

He watched as HIKIKO gave a deep sigh of relief before smiling brightly again.

"Thank you."

OMORI really hoped that he wasn't testing her patience to the limit at this point.

The third act finally came to an end. The comedy clown duo blew kisses and gave bows to the raving audience around them.

KEL was on his left, laughing like crazy and clapping his knee as he cried his eyes out.

HIKIKO softly chuckled to herself, shaking her head at the act's silly antics. All the while, her other hand kept a firm hold on OMORI's right hand the entire time.

OMORI watched silently with a mindful eye on everything, not letting one detail slip by him.

He watched as the audience's laughter and cheers died down. He watched as the ringmaster came out, preparing to transition to the next act.

He watched as HIKIKO turned to him and asked, "Those last clowns were better than the guys at the pie shooting gallery, huh SUNNY?"

"Mhm." OMORI nodded along to whatever she said.

With a satisfied smile, she went back to watching the stage again.

And if he was right…

Three… Two… One…

…

OMORI watched as HIKIKO let go of his hand for the briefest second to readjust her DINO plushie in her arm, before quickly going back to grabbing his hand again.

Okay… Okay okay okay- He was off by like a few seconds, but OMORI was starting to get the pattern down.

He had an incredibly ridiculous plan up his sleeve, almost KEL levels of ridiculous… But he was sure it was gonna work.

IF he pulled it off correctly.

The ringmaster ended his introduction for the next act as the crowd gave their round of applause. Two creatures that were just huge burly mustaches came out and started climbing up the trapeze ladders, ready to perform some kind of balancing act with a single unicycle between the two of them.

With the new act going on, HIKIKO paid her full attention towards them as she was mesmerized by the gravity defying stunts they were pulling.

Because of the fact she was holding onto his hand the whole time, her guard should be lowered enough that she probably wouldn't look over to make sure if her little brother was still right next to her.

Phew… Alright…

Without making a sound, OMORI reached out to grab KEL's hand as he prepared for the next step of his plan.

KEL looked at his arm to notice OMORI grabbing it, and gave a confused whisper, "Uh, SUNNY…?"

OMORI couldn't bother to explain though, his full attention solely directed at the DINO plushie that was slowly sagging out of HIKIKO's arms.

Ever so slowly…

Millimeter by millimeter.

Hopefully he doesn't mess this up…

…

He could feel KEL uncomfortably shuffle around right next to him, whispering again, "SUNNY, did you need some-"

At that split second, HIKIKO let go of his hand to unconsciously lift her plushie up in a better position.

The moment OMORI saw his opening, he didn't waste the chance.

Quickly pivoting around the confused sports boy, he switched spots with KEL and made sure to stick KEL's hand up around the same height OMORI was usually holding it in.

He watched nervously as HIKIKO went back to grab for his hand, saw that she connected with KEL…

And held his hand firmly without ever realizing anything was out of the ordinary. HIKIKO kept her gaze at the mustaches doing handstands on top of each other while the audience's cheers drowned out any suspicious noises.

YES!

Now to just convince KEL to go along with everything and not screw this up for him.

The boy in question looked at his hand with an perturbed frown, looked up to see HIKIKO not realizing she was holding his hand, then glanced back to OMORI to ask, "Wha-"

OMORI quickly covered his mouth to prevent him from making a sound.

Staring directly into KEL's eyes, OMORI placed a finger on his lips and shook his head.

KEL awkwardly looked back and forth between the siblings, before trying speak again, "But-"

Once more, this time placing as much emphasis on how serious this was to him, OMORI placed a finger on his lips and shook his head.

He was not playing around, KEL. Please, for love of god, just go along with this.

Despite feeling so incredibly tense from the way OMORI stared him down, KEL sighed before raising his free hand up in defeat. Okay, okay- KEL silently mouthed, before doing a motion of zipping his lips and throwing the zipper away.

OMORI let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding in. With a relieved nod, OMORI mouthed back a quick Thank you and gave a thumbs up to show his gratitude.

KEL nodded back awkwardly, doing his best not to draw any attention to himself with HIKIKO still right beside him.

With this, KEL, you have repaid your debt of twenty dollars that OMORI lent you back in the previous world.

Godspeed, old friend.

Without another word, OMORI slipped amongst the crowd and disappeared off towards his investigation.

He wasn't sure how long he had until the act ended, so he'll have to be quick before HIKIKO realized he was gone.

Sorry again, sis… But this was for your sake.

You're better off without him, once this was all over.

…

All the way towards the back of the tent, near the side with the orchestra playing.

The music from them was louder now that he was so close by.

Reviewing the composition of the whole orchestra band, OMORI wasn't mistaken when he noted that the violinists were missing.

Not a single crab person was carrying one in sight. Heck, not even a viola either. That should technically count as a different instrument, so it was odd to see those were missing too.

If he had to guess, maybe they just looked too similar for MARI's taste.

No sign of his cracked mirror image yet though.

OMORI pressed onwards to investigate further.

Deeper within the confines of the circus tent, he found an exit flap that seemed to connect to some kind of trailer door.

The sign next to it had the bold font of BACKSTAGE AREA EMPLOYEES ONLY written on it to warn away visitors.

With one last cautious look around, OMORI proceeded on and entered through the door.

…

Entering this new area, he found himself in what looked like a long hallway that seemed to stretch on forever.

The lights were off, making it shrouded in darkness.

Though he could make out the few miscellaneous makeup stations and lockers placed either side of the walls, he really had to strain his eyes just to see further.

But beyond any of that… Inside his mind, he could feel the familiar sense of dread and terror sneaking in.

His body felt hesitant to respond, almost shaking as he stared down this long black hallway.

Like something inside was telling him to run, get away, don't come any further.

Was this fear? Or maybe… it was just nostalgia.

Hm.

He did his best to force away the feelings of dread from overtaking him, pushing onwards deeper into the darkness.

He walked on, and on, and on… No longer could he hear the songs of the orchestra behind him, nor the cheers and laughter from the crowd.

In here, all signs of life seemed truly gone.

A red barn, surrounded by cattails.

An empty portrait waiting inside.

A long dark hallway, just like this one, if you stepped through the painting.

A noose. A music sheet. A portrait of a happy family.

A key.

This must be it then. He really did find some kind of crack that came from his sister's BLACK SPACE.

A part of him was thrilled to be able to finally make some progress after a whole journey wasting time playing games and dealing with SOURHEART. It felt juxtaposed to the internal fear caused by being in such a dark scary corridor.

Something was waiting to be found at the end of this hallway.

Either that, or SOMETHING itself.

…

Aha.

There it was.

Not SOMETHING, persay, but it wasn't exactly whatever he was expecting either.

A cracked mirror hanging at the end of the hall.

As he got closer to investigate, he could see his own reflection within.

The bleeding right eye that his reflection carried did not make him look very endearing, he had to admit.

It was a sign pointing that he was on the right track though.

Was this what he saw earlier then, when he had walked past the entrance to the circus? He did start calling it his cracked mirrored image, but he had no idea the description would end up being this literal.

As OMORI walked even closer to get a better look, so too did his reflection.

Out of curiosity, he brought his hand up to feel his right eye.

He wasn't actually bleeding, of course. It was only his cracked reflection.

It still made him strangely uncomfortable to see the blood from his eye staining his hand in the reflection though.

You'd think after four years, he'd be used to this kind of thing. Apparently not as much as he hoped.

He raised his hand with some hesitation, wondering if he should touch the mirror to see what would happen.

His mirrored image did the same, his face as stoic and cliff-faced as ever.

…

He had his knife ready in his pocket. He wasn't going to be caught off guard again like he did down under the STRAWBERRY OCEAN.

If SOMETHING came out to attack him, OMORI was going to be prepared this time.

Letting go of his trepidation, he placed his hand on the mirror.

Something clicked.

The wall where the mirror was adorned suddenly swung open.

A new room?

Gathering up more courage, he pushed the hidden door all the way through and peered inside.

OMORI's eyes widened to what he saw.

It wasn't SOMETHING.

It was a violin.

Right there in the center of this new room, sitting on a stand atop a wooden table. Music sheets were littered haphazardly around it, almost like a summoning circle.

What made it stand out even more was that the violin was the only brightly lit object in the otherwise completely black room.

…

OMORI stepped through the opening, walking up to the violin sitting perfectly picturesque on the table.

He had to wonder what this implied. How did MARI view the violin ever since the incident that ruined both of their lives?

In this other world where she never died, her little brother managed to wrap himself around her body to protect her during the fall. The broken violin that he threw down the stairs got embedded into his eye during the landing.

This violin was supposed to be a cherished gift… It was something all of their friends worked hard to chip in so that they could afford this for him.

Yet he so callously threw it down the stairs that day without a second thought.

It killed his sister, in his world.

It took his eye, in this one.

…so what exactly does it mean, being placed here?

Maybe she just couldn't bear to remember the memories it brought her whenever she saw it. So she locked it away in BLACK SPACE… That was his best guess at least.

OMORI took the time to study the instrument with a careful eye, wondering what would happen if he touched it.

Before he could decide to do so, a sudden click came from behind him.

Unnatural breathing, like from a demonic animal.

His instincts flared as he turned around, his hand already in his pocket ready to draw his steak knife.

Eyes.

So many eyes.

His body froze once again as he saw the large black entity crawl into the room through the only doorway leading in and out.

Multi-legged like a spider. Arms as large as muscles. A crooked smile that seemed to stretch on forever.

SOMETHING was looking at him.

He thought he had been ready. He thought that the moment he had to face off against SOMETHING again, he would be prepared to fight it.

For some reason, his body refused to move. The moment he had locked eyes on the thing, it's appearance was enough to make him act like nothing more than a deer in headlights.

Stop it…! Don't be afraid again. If you fall now, HIKIKO won't be here to save you this time!

OMORI couldn't let himself die here.

He did his best scrounge up as much courage he could find left in his heart, preparing himself to make the first strike.

However, just before that could happen…

SOMETHING stretched out to flick on the lights.

The sudden brightness nearly blinded him, as he instinctively shut his eyes closed.

Stunned from being blinded, it took a few moments for him to collect his wits and force his eyes to open again.

But when he did, SOMETHING wasn't there anymore.

It was…

It was just one of those crab creatures from the orchestra.

"Hey kid? You know you're not supposed to be in here, right?"

…

waitwat

With one last death defying stunt, the mustached trapeze brothers ended their performance with a bang. Jumping off the unicycle and climbing down, they waved their burly and hairy appendages whilst thanking the audience for their time.

HIKIKO wowed under her breath as everyone in the crowd gave a huge raving applause again.

Switching places with the big giant bubble of a ringmaster, it began preparing to do its introduction for the next act they had in store.

HIKIKO felt herself giggle again as her excitement began to die down, letting herself relax after seeing another thrilling performance.

She felt her giant plushie beginning to slip in her arm again, already moving to push it back up to prevent it from dropping.

HIKIKO wondered if she should've turned in her tickets to also afford a backstrap or something to easily carry her DINO plushie. Despite how much she loved SUNNY's gift for her, it could be a little inconvenient to hold sometimes…

Once she was done adjusting it, she reached down to grab her little brother's hand again to make sure he stayed close.

"So what did you think about those guys, SUNNY?" HIKIKO turned to ask, curious about how he felt about the latest performance they just watched.

KEL looked back at her with small dotted eyes and a blank smile on his face.

…

HIKIKO took a second to herself to blink. Then she blinked again, but a bit more slowly this time to allow her mind to catch up with what she saw.

KEL continued to smile back at her, growing increasingly nervous at her lack of reaction.

After a while of pure silence between them, HIKIKO decided to let go of KEL's hand.

"Where's SUNNY?"

"Ummm… Uhhh…" KEL was practically sweating as he worked up the nerve to confess, "So, uh… SUNNY kinda… snuck off to explore? I think?"

SUNNY… snuck off?

But she had been right here, holding his hand the whole time.

How could he-... Why would he-...

So many thoughts were piling up in her head and it was hard to even process any of them to think anything coherent.

But as she looked around searching for SUNNY, hoping it was some small prank and that he would pop up from behind her, she realized it.

Her little brother disappeared again.

…

HIKIKO's arms fell limp to her sides, unknowingly dropping the DINO plushie to the floor.

She helplessly spun around in a circle, trying to find out where he might've gone.

He was just here. He had been right here, standing next to her this whole time. They had been holding hands together the entire time they've stood here— How could she have lost track of SUNNY?!

Once again, she felt her mind beginning to fray, trying to figure out when he disappeared, why he was gone, how she didn't notice, and where he could've gone.

How…? How could she lose him again?

He promised that he'd stay close!

He explicitly promised this time!

His exact words, I'll stay close!

SUNNY couldn't have lied… could he?

No- NO! SUNNY would never lie to her! He knew how much she hated when he wasn't by her side! She told him so, so many times already!

SUNNY was a good boy, he wouldn't do something like this on purpose… He wouldn't choose to leave her alone, knowing how much she would suffer for it!

How could she let her guard down like this…?

Grabbing KEL by the shoulders, she was practically shaking him as she shouted, "Where did you see SUNNY go?!"

KEL could only breathe out a nervous, "I-I don't know! He just went off somewhere through the crowd!"

Releasing the shaken boy, HIKIKO immediately went off to search for her little brother again.

"SUNNY?!" She screamed out in a desperate attempt to call for him again.

The cheers of the crowd drowned out her voice.

"Did you get lost, kid?"

OMORI could only mumble out an awkward, "Y… Yeah."

OMORI took the time to look at his surroundings again, trying to keep his bearings on the situation.

OMORI… he wasn't, like, being stupid right now. Was he?

With this crab person coming in out of nowhere and turning the lights on, everything went back to looking as colorful and cheery as it always was. Instead of the ominous empty room like before, it was revealed to be some kind of dressing room meant for someone half his height.

There was no feeling of dread or terror building up within him anymore, almost like a suffocating blanket was unceremoniously thrown right off of him before he could even realize it.

So he had to wonder- Like he reeeeaaally had to wonder…

He didn't just mistake a hallway and room with the lights turned off as BLACK SPACE, did he?

Because if he did, he felt like he should be feeling extremely embarrassed about this.

The only thing that clung his mind back to sanity was the fact that he distinctly remembered the cracked mirror showing his bloody eyed reflection. If it wasn't for that sole piece of evidence, he really felt like he could've just been wandering aimlessly around in the dark thinking he was discovering BLACK SPACE.

The thought of that made him almost upset.

"You okay? You seem kind of out of it, kid."

"S-Sorry." OMORI rubbed his eyes to clear his head, "Didn't mean to sneak in."

The crab gave a curious hum, scuttling around to the other side of the room to grab something in its closet.

OMORI silently watched the crustacean as it shuffled its belongings around and organized its stuff.

What happened to the scary monster from moments ago? He didn't seriously just imagine all of that, did he?

…

After a moment of cleaning, the small crab creature came back to look up at OMORI again.

OMORI looked back at the crab creature that was only halfway up to his height.

Its eyes curiously blinked at him.

He curiously blinked back.

OMORI had to wonder how he was even able to mistake such a cute critter to look like a huge giant spider-like SOMETHING in the dark.

"You were looking pretty interested at the violin when I came in. Are you… curious about it?" The crab suddenly asked.

What was even happening right now…?

OMORI did his best to recover from the tonal whiplash of this whole situation, deciding to answer the crab as best as he could. "Sort of. Yeah."

The crab scuttled around scooping up the fallen pieces of music sheets before climbing up onto the table. Setting the music sheets down, the crab looked back at OMORI to ask, "Ever wanted to learn how to play a violin?"

Glancing at the violin briefly, OMORI shrugged, "I used to play."

"No kidding?"

OMORI shook his head.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I don't… I don't have a violin at home anymore." OMORI answered vaguely.

"Oh… That's a shame." The crab nodded understandingly.

There was a moment of awkward silence again.

OMORI felt that he really had no idea what he was doing here at this point. He seriously hoped he didn't accidentally fall for some kind of red herring.

Did he miss his chance? Did the cracks to BLACK SPACE get sealed up before he could even enter? Did he take too long to explore?

The more he thought up reasons for why everything suddenly became different, the more he felt frustrated at himself.

His moment of self-destructive reflection didn't last long though, as the crab decided to take the violin off of its stand and gestured to OMORI with it.

"Play a song for me."

OMORI blinked in confusion.

"You… want me to play?"

The crab nodded, shaking the instrument towards him as an insisting gesture.

It took a moment for OMORI to really process the sudden request in his head. Although hesitant about it, he ended up accepting the violin in the end.

Holding it in his hands, he tested the weight and texture of it all.

It really was identical to the one he owned…

"...Is this a good idea?" OMORI felt the need to ask.

"Why not?" the crab shrugged, "You seem like you missed playing it."

Missed playing it…? Why would it get an idea like that? How would it even know if he missed playing or not?

Saying that he missed playing the violin… Well, it wasn't an entirely accurate thing to say, to be honest. OMORI hasn't played a violin in forever.

Not since the day of the recital.

He doesn't exactly have warm feelings towards the violin. It brought up a lot of unpleasant memories.

But he'll also admit that he didn't outright hate it either. There were some fond memories too. It was a gift from all of his friends after all…

He'd be lying if he said he had no feelings for it.

…

The crab brought him out of his thoughts by handing him the violin bow to play it with.

OMORI gave it a skeptic glance as he took it in his other hand.

They both weighed and held exactly how he remembered them to be, all those years ago.

Does OMORI still even know how to play? It had been so long, after all.

The last time he even held a violin in his hands was when he…

…

…was when SUNNY used it during their fight together. Their fight for the truth.

…

OMORI placed the violin under his chin.

He gave one experimental swipe, letting a warm melody ring out to fill the room.

Bit by bit, it was coming back to him a little.

Let's see… How did the motions go again?

…

I took a deep breath to steel my nerves.

I recounted the notes like how the music sheet taught me.

My sister smiled so patiently the first time I did this.

…

OMORI began to play the duet they used to practice.

And it was as if he had never stopped practicing.

She had searched everywhere for him.

HIKIKO went through the entire circus for him, asking and begging anyone she came across if they knew where her little brother went.

She had hoped he would turn out somewhere, coming back to her safe and sound like he always does. Or maybe just lounging around somewhere distracted by something new and shiny, somewhere she could find him again.

But he was nowhere.

She was even desperate enough to interrupt the whole circus act by jumping onto the main stage and shouting for SUNNY that way. Hoping he was still watching from wherever he was. Waiting for him to run back to her, so that she could welcome him back with open arms.

Yet he didn't show.

The ringmaster had to kick her out for disrupting the show. She was left mindlessly wandering around as she continued her search for SUNNY.

KEL helplessly followed after her, unable to do anything to comfort her or reassure her that SUNNY would be okay.

Over and over, in her mind, she kept asking herself where he was.

After everything they had been through today, how did things end up like this?

"Please, anyone, have you seen a small boy a bit younger than me?! He might have come through here, so if anyone saw something, please tell me!"

She found herself in the backstage area asking the same thing to anyone that bothered to listen to her. Some of the performers could only shake their heads and told her they haven't seen a thing. Others nervously asked her to please wait outside since she wasn't allowed back here.

She felt like she could break apart at any moment. The urge to curl into a ball and cry was so overwhelming for her, she didn't know how to handle it.

SUNNY could be anywhere at this point and she would have no idea where to look.

Even when KEL tried to apologize to her for letting him go and trying to comfort her, she couldn't hear any of it. She was inconsolable unless SUNNY was with her.

The worst part of it all was that she didn't know whether he'd be safe or not. SUNNY could be out there in the world, exposed to any or all sorts of dangers. Without her there to protect him, he could get kidnapped, hurt, or even killed.

She wouldn't be able to save him like she usually does.

There'd be no meaning left in her life if she lost her little brother. She'd fail at being the proper sister that her brother deserved…

She didn't know what else to do. She felt so lost and alone.

She didn't want to lose her brother. Not again. Never again.

…

So many times… So many times she had nearly lost him, but she always managed to find him again in the nick of time.

Why couldn't this be one of those times? Why?

HIKIKO felt her strength sap away from her as she collapsed to her knees.

It was like the only thing she could do now was wait.

Wait until SUNNY shows up again to tell her he was alright.

Wait until KEL pops in to confess it was just a prank he wanted to pull and SUNNY was right with him the entire time.

Wait until someone tells her that he had been found and was waiting for her to pick him up.

She could only wait.

Waiting for something to happen.

…

Music.

She perked up, hearing music playing.

Why? Music was playing all the time, why would she react to this one?

Something about it made her insides flare out.

HIKIKO forced herself to stand up, pushing past all the onlookers who were worried and checking up on her.

That music she heard was being played down the end of this hall. HIKIKO kept following after it like a siren's call. The closer she went down there, the louder the music became.

She recognized this song.

HIKIKO had never heard this song before, and yet she felt as if she knew it like the back of her hand.

Why does she know this song?

It…

It was…

A violin.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

It wasn't possible. That song shouldn't exist.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

She traveled down the hallway even faster, breaking out into a sprint.

Thiswasn'tsupposedtohappenThiswasn'tsupposedtohappenThiswasn'tsupposedtohappen

The source of the music played at its loudest at the end of the hall, where a door was partway open.

She didn't hesitate to slam through it once she reached it.

The first person she saw the moment she barged into the room was SUNNY.

Her little brother, he was okay. Shocked and startled, but okay.

Joy and relief filled her heart once she recognized he was here and that he was safe.

But that split second of happiness was overtaken once she saw what was in his hands.

And she blacked out.

…

That violin wasn't supposed to exist.

The world darkened.

Lightbulbs shattered.

Lanterns were snuffed out.

The ground began trembling slightly as HIKIKO stepped towards SUNNY.

There was fear in his eyes as he watched her approach. With a nervous tremble, he took small steps back. His hands quivered uncontrollably while still holding onto the violin.

A rope curled itself around the offending object, yanking it away from SUNNY's grip as quickly as it could. Another rope latched onto the bow before taking that away too.

SUNNY stared at the ropes in shock before settling his eyes back at her.

The two ropes floated right next to her, presenting the impossible objects to her like obedient servants.

With a firm tone, she asked, "Who gave you this violin?"

The violin was not supposed to exist. SUNNY was never supposed to have one.

He couldn't have found this on his own. Which meant someone had given it to him. On purpose.

So many things went wrong today. Things that weren't supposed to happen somehow happened, and the world was shifting unnaturally because of it. Events were happening outside of her control. She was going to have to abandon everything and rebuild it again.

SUNNY hasn't answered her yet.

Once more, she stepped forward and asked loudly, "WHO GAVE YOU THIS VIOLIN?!"

SUNNY couldn't seem to speak. He had his mouth open, trying to form the words, but nothing came out. But in the end, he didn't have to.

A crab came between them, waving around its claws to catch her attention and move it away from SUNNY.

"It was me! It was me alright?! I gave him the violin!" it shouted at her, "So please just calm down, DREAMER!"

She shifted her gaze at the creature and it flinched back before going silent as well.

HIKIKO carefully studied the crab creature in front of her.

It wasn't supposed to own a violin. She made sure that this world would never have any kind of violin ever again. Why did it have one? Why would it give the violin to SUNNY? Why would anyone even think to do something so terrible and stupid?

After what happened to him, how could anyone in HEADSPACE possibly think it would be okay?

Reaching out, she grabbed the crab by the leg and brought it up to her level.

It could barely make a sound, quivering from fear in her grasp.

It should've known better. After all, she had made it explicitly clear to everyone in this world.

SUNNY hated the violin.

Within her hand, a fire began to spread.

Pure white flames quickly enveloped the crab creature, causing it immeasurable pain and suffering.

Even now, it screeched and cried out pathetically, begging for her to spare its life.

"I'M SORRY! PLEASE NO, I'M SO SORRY!"

HIKIKO watched on as the white fire spread out from the crab and onto everything else in the room.

She couldn't bother to feel any emotions for a world that didn't fit her design. Better to erase it all and start over again later.

"DREAMER, I'M SORRY! DREAMER! I'M SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

As it kept screaming and begging for forgiveness, its shape was slowly transforming into the grotesque monster that HIKIKO viewed it as.

The fire burnt its flesh off, turning its skin to pure black ash. Eyes began growing everywhere on its body, while its bones were breaking apart to leave it in a disgusting mangled state.

What was once formerly a crab was now nothing more than a simple nightmare. An abomination to discard in a hole for the rest of its life.

The flailings grew weaker over time as the fire finally began killing it.

It continued to spread the fire around as it rolled away, grabbing anything that could support it.

"MARI… I'm… sorry…"

It gave one pitiful last breath before burning into ashes.

The white fire continued to spread out even further, and it would eventually go to spread everywhere else outside this room.

HIKIKO dropped the violin onto the floor, letting it burn along with the rest.

Nothing would be left once this was over. This will all be another forgotten memory.

HIKIKO turned over to her little brother, seeing him still staring at her with big wide eyes.

It doesn't seem like he was scared anymore. Rather, he just seemed to be in shock.

Her poor little brother…

HIKIKO sat on her knees and bent forward to hug her little brother.

"Ssshh. It's okay. You'll be safe like always." She whispered comfortingly, "I won't ever let anything happen to you."

SUNNY didn't relax or hug her back like he usually did.

But that's okay. This will all be over soon. They'll go back to going on adventures again, like they always do.

Even as the white fire ate the entire world, slowly leaving them alone in darkness.

Everything was going to be okay.

When HIKIKO came to, she found herself wandering in the middle of a dark empty forest.

Carrying a lamp with her, she traveled and explored the place for the longest time.

She had no idea how she managed to wound up here or why she was here to begin with.

She didn't even remember how she got here either…

HIKIKO felt like she had to find a way out of here, somehow. Her little brother must be worried sick about her. He was probably waiting for her somewhere, wondering where she could be.

Hopefully BASIL and the others were taking care of him…

Gah, if only this lamp was a little bit brighter! She could barely see anything in front of her.

Seriously, where the heck even was she?

Phew, okay, what was the last thing she remembered?

…

Something about a circus, right? Or was that just a dream she had?

She at least remembered being with SUNNY…

God, she hoped he wasn't lost in this weird forest like she was. Please please please, let her brother be safe with her friends…

…

A slight drizzle was beginning to set in.

She slowly started feeling herself getting drenched thanks to the sudden appearance of rain.

"Oh gee, that's just swell." HIKIKO grumbled.

And if that wasn't all, the lamp also dimmed before being lit out too! Like icing on an unlucky cake.

Dammit…

With her trusty old lamp now becoming a rusty old damp, she tossed the thing away since it would only slow her down.

Sigh…

Still left with no other options, she kept trudging forward in the rain, hoping that she'll come across something to help her soon.

Something told her that she shouldn't stay here too long… It might get dangerous at some point. Who knows what else could be lurking in the forest while it was dark out?

HIKIKO trudged on and on and on. Walking and walking, for what must've felt like hours now.

Not once did the rain let up. If anything, it felt like the rain was progressively getting worse with each step she took.

The path became extremely muddy at some point. It was slowly getting harder to traverse, taking extra effort to move one step further.

How long has she been walking like this? When was it going to end?

…

That was when she heard it.

Off in the distance, further ahead from where she's been going. She could hear the sounds of someone crying.

The sounds of this new voice gave her goosebumps. Knowing that there was someone out there besides herself in this weird forest…

It didn't sit well with her.

"H… Hello?" HIKIKO called out hesitantly. "Someone there?"

She waited, hoping to hear a reply back.

…

No immediate response. They either didn't hear her, or they were too busy crying to respond.

The crying started sounding more ominous the longer she stood still listening to it.

It sounded like they were just a little further ahead. HIKIKO might be able to reach them, if she kept going.

But should she?

…

It felt wrong to try to chase after the sounds of someone crying in the middle of a dark raining forest, but she had been traveling alone for so long. She could only hope that it would end up being someone friendly who knew the way out.

And if not…

HIKIKO nervously swallowed as she pulled out her jump-rope, readying herself for any possible threat.

HIKIKO trudged on, following after the lone sobbing in the distance.

It felt like the trees were beginning to get a bit more dense than before. The path towards the crying felt more narrow and claustrophobic.

A dark pit in her stomach told her to stop what she was doing and run away. Her imagination couldn't stop fearing for the worst.

Like a monster was trying to use crying as a way to lure her closer to her demise.

But she kept pushing forward, ignoring the warning bells in her head.

Eventually, the path finally ended with her arriving at a clearing. She felt like it was easier to breathe now, not being surrounded by so many trees anymore.

The rain hasn't let up for even a second…

…

There was a single tree in the center. The crying that she's been following after seemed like they were coming from behind it.

"Hello? Are you okay?" HIKIKO tried to call out again, now that she was close enough to communicate properly.

Whoever it was, it still chose to ignore her. The sounds of their crying felt haunting to her.

With a deep breath, HIKIKO steeled herself with her jump-rope as she came closer to the tree to investigate.

She flattened herself on the side of the tree, feeling the vibrations of the crying through the wood on the other side.

One last deep breath to control her nerves…

She slowly peeked around the corner to finally see what was crying so mu—

No…

No… No!

NO NO NO NO NO

HIKIKO's breath hitched as her entire body was filled with horror.

It was her little brother. His entire body bruised and battered, with his head bleeding profusely from so many wounds.

"SUNNY!"

All thoughts and worries about her own safety were tossed away in a heartbeat as she collapsed to her knees right next to her little brother.

"Oh god, please no…!"

She felt her insides curl, not knowing where to even begin with SUNNY's injuries.

He was bleeding everywhere, lying in a pool of dirt and mud.

How could this even happen to him?

"SUNNY, I'm right here! Big sister is right here!" She hurriedly reassured him, gently raising his head into her arms.

He finally stopped crying, looking up at her with tear-ridden eyes.

MARI…

"What happened to you, sweetie? Please… Please tell me what did this to you!" HIKIKO could barely control her voice, almost on the verge of sobbing herself.

…

Monster…

"A… A monster?" HIKIKO repeated confusedly.

SUNNY did not respond.

In her arms, he suddenly became still and silent.

"...SUNNY…?"

She gave him a small shake. When he didn't react, she had shaken him again, trying to keep him awake.

"SUNNY… Please… Talk to me…" HIKIKO whimpered, staring into her brother's still eyes.

SUNNY did not respond.

…

The sounds of his soft breathing was the only thing to help her keep her sanity in check.

He was alive. Unconscious, but alive.

His wounds must've been too much to bear. Now that he knew HIKIKO was here, he could finally rest to heal up his injuries.

HIKIKO slowly laid his head back down in a comfortable position.

This place wasn't safe for him. She'll need to get him to shelter away from the rain.

"Monster…" HIKIKO repeated to herself.

That was what he said to her, didn't he? A monster did this to him?

What kind of monster? And how could it do such a thing to an innocent boy like SUNNY?

How heartless and cruel did you have to be?

…

Lightning.

Thunder.

The brief flash of light showed a sudden shadow that came from behind her.

HIKIKO stood up and turned around to see the sudden appearance of another tree inside the clearing.

It looked like a tree, at least.

But the cruel sadistic smile etched on its face told her it was anything but.

Black and white piano keys were growing as bark from its black mahogany wooden surface. The long wired strings that grew out like leaves from its branches looked more like hair.

"Are you the monster?" HIKIKO asked, "Were you the thing that hurt my brother?"

Another flash of lightning.

The thunder boomed across the entire area, almost deafening her.

The monstrous tree said nothing in return. It only kept up the sadistic smile still etched onto its face.

"I'll kill you." HIKIKO stated emotionlessly.

From the sky, an axe fell down and landed squarely between her and the monster she faced.

Like divine intervention from an outside being had come in to witness what was happening, and chose to directly support her.

She gladly took up the axe in her hands, grateful to have it become the tool she'll use to avenge SUNNY.

The monstrous tree didn't move at all as HIKIKO walked up to it. Not once did it show any sign of remorse for what it had done to her brother, or showed any fear for what HIKIKO might do to it.

So instead, she made it show fear herself.

She used her axe to chop the sadistic smile off of its face, reforming the mouth into a frown and the eyes into X marks.

Now that it was properly afraid of her, she proceeded to enact her punishment on it.

Chop. Chop. Chop.

HIKIKO demolished the black mahogany skin into smithereens, making sure that every square inch was cracked and blemished so that it could never shine again.

Chop. Chop. Chop.

Each piano key she cut down made a strangled melody play out, almost as if she was creating a symphony from her righteous judgment.

Chop. Chop. Chop.

The wired strings were snapped into pieces as HIKIKO demolished every last fiber she could see.

No matter what happens by the end of this, HIKIKO would make sure that when she finally finished cutting it down, it would never be recognizable ever again.

Each and every chop, the rain began to pour more violently. The wind and thunder came forth to help her destroy the monster all the more quicker.

Even as she became soaked to the brim from the cold water of the rain, she didn't stop chopping.

Chop.

Chop.

When it was finally over, the monster that once stood in front of her was now nothing more than a pile of broken wood.

She tossed her axe into the pile with a satisfied huff, finally done avenging SUNNY.

It'll never hurt him again. Never ever again.

…

Within the pile of broken wood, something shiny caught her attention.

Wordlessly, she reached in to pick it up.

A piano key. One of the only ones that made it out unscathed from her wrath.

It felt warm in her hands somehow. Like it was different from the others. Maybe she should keep this as a trophy, as proof of the good deed she did today for saving her little brother from the monster that hurt him.

Another flash of lightning again. The thunder boomed once more, briefly drowning out every sound.

She looked up at the sky, feeling the water practically pouring onto her skin.

SUNNY… This wasn't a safe place for SUNNY. She needed to move him to shelter somewhere.

Turning around, she walked back to her unconscious little brother to pick him up and carry him on her back like she always did.

But when she tried to pull SUNNY up, he wouldn't budge from his spot.

Lightning. Thunder.

The rain has gotten even worse.

HIKIKO pulled once again, only for SUNNY to somehow stubbornly refuse to move.

That's when she noticed that half of his entire body became buried in the mud.

At some point while she wasn't paying attention, SUNNY had melted right into the dirt and was nearly buried alive because of the rain.

HIKIKO slowly started to panic as she desperately tried to pull SUNNY out of the ground.

When he wouldn't budge, HIKIKO attempted to dig the dirt out with her own hands in the hopes of freeing her little brother.

No matter what she did, it felt like SUNNY was only sinking deeper and deeper into the ground.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Flood.

The water level was beginning to rise above the ground. The longer it continued to rain, the more the water kept rising.

Her knees were completely soaked at this point.

"SUNNY, please wake up…" HIKIKO pleaded, hoping that he would somehow awaken from injuries and realize the danger he was in.

SUNNY did not respond.

No matter how much she pulled and digged, SUNNY kept sinking further and further below the surface.

And yet the water level continued to rise.

When HIKIKO looked down again to check, she was terrified to find that his head was only barely just above the flood.

"SUNNY, please! Wake up!" She pleaded again, keeping a firm grim on his shoulder as she kept failing to pull him out.

Lighting.

Thunder.

More rain.

Nobody was here to save her as the flood got worse.

She could only watch helplessly as the water filled up so quickly, enveloping her little brother's head.

The water was all the way up to her shoulders at this point. If it continued to rise at this rate, HIKIKO would drown.

But she couldn't let go of SUNNY. She couldn't let go of her little brother, or else he'll drown to death too.

"SUNNY!" She groaned as she once more tired to pull him out of the flood, her arms growing exhausted and weary from the constant weight.

Her head was barely just above the water now.

Despite knowing how pointless it all was, despite knowing how much she'll suffer if she kept holding onto SUNNY, she never once let it cross her mind to let him go to save herself.

The rain continued to pour.

She took one last deep breath before the water enveloped her entirely.

…

The dark forest became an ocean.

OMORI's eye became wide open as he was startled awake, gasping for breath.

Instead of saltwater rain filling his lungs, he felt nothing but cool air.

…

Back in his room again, just as the sun was shining through the window to signify daytime.

He turned over to look at MARI, checking to make sure she was fine. To his immense relief, she wasn't in any danger.

Not stuck drowning in a dark forest.

Not burning alive in fire.

Instead, she had a serene expression as she hugged onto him tightly. No signs of any discomfort across her face.

…

OMORI felt himself release a huge sigh as he brought a hand up to cover his face.

That… That was…

Oh god…

He was not nearly as prepared for any of that as he thought he was. To think that borrowing a violin could cause such a huge overreaction from her was just…

…

She was so much more messed up than he initially thought.

How in the world was he going to solve this?