Among the busy city crowd, Sunny found himself staring at the toy store's window display. He lived in the city for a couple of months now. He was... kind of used to the environment, but today, he found himself staring at one of the many toys in the display.
He told himself that it's because there was a Sweetheart doll, maybe he's feeling a little nostalgic today, or maybe it was because of the strange dream last night.
Still, he has to return back home, so he turned-
"Eek!"
Feeling someone bump into him, Sunny was lucky enough to reach out his hands and grasp onto the stranger's shoulders to stop them from falling down. Despite the crowd weaving around them, he could hear their heavy panting, feeling them shake under his touch.
The girl was dressed in brown from head to toe, her hair and sad-looking eyes in the same color. She looked so average that he isn't certain if he could pick her out in a crowd... but strangely familiar at the same time.
She looked frantic, struggling from his hands, until her eyes reached his face, visibly more relaxed. "You... Omori?"
Sunny stared agape at her; a name popped up from his mind. "Mary?"
"Yes, but it's really Mari."
Sunny held his breath at the name, but... Mari have to ask, "Would you help me again?" Under his touch, he could feel Mari tremble. "I... finally escaped from my father, but I don't know what to after that. Will you help me again?"
He doesn't know of the world she went through or how long she did go through it, but Sunny was quick to say, "Okay."
For the first time since they met, Mari smiled, tears in her eyes.
AN: You know, reading through this again, I want to make more chapters than I originally planned, like a chapter where Mari is adopted into Sunny's family, and his friends' reaction to her when Sunny and Mari visit Faraway Town in the summer next year (like it's not purely happy since some of them are kind of afraid that Mari is just a replacement for their Mari, but in the end they'll realize that's not the case), then another chapter where Mary goes to Headspace for friendship and fun adventures.