I Won't Let Him

The Lives We All Live

"So... SUNNY..." KEL began carefully enough as they both began walking to wherever the heck they were planning to go.

OMORI assumed that KEL was leading him to the park, considering they just skipped past his house.

KEL had absolutely no idea where he was going either, he just wanted an excuse to hang out with his old best friend!

"Mhm?" OMORI hummed to show he was listening.

"How are you handling the whole... coma thing? It must be jarring to wake up one day and find out you're six years older than you remembered being, right?" KEL asked with a concerned smile.

OMORI shrugged, "Eh. Not too bothered by it."

He was a lot more bothered by the fact that he got sent to a different reality, initially. But he's long since rationalized and got over it.

"Seriously? Wow." KEL muttered, impressed by his friend's attitude. "Still, you must be confused by a lot of things though, right? It's not like the world didn't change these past six years while you were gone." KEL pounded a fist to his chest before proclaiming proudly, "If you have any questions or you want to get caught up on something, you can rely on ol' KEL to help you out! Count on me to be your tour guide of the future, little buddy!"

Tour guide, huh? That's a pretty apt description of something he needed right now.

He had a lot of questions that he needed answers to but now didn't seem like the right time. It would be better to wait for a more appropriate opportunity where he and KEL could have a serious discussion.

For now, KEL seemed like he was high on life and in a seriously good mood. He'd rather let the tanned boy enjoy his fun while it lasts. They have the whole day ahead of them, after all.

"Yeah, I do have some questions..." OMORI said neutrally, before shaking his head, "They can wait until later though. Kind of need to sort my thoughts first before asking."

"No problem man, take your time!" KEL said cheerfully, "I'll be right here whenever you need me!"

OMORI nodded appreciatively.

KEL in the meanwhile found it pretty impressive that his best buddy didn't seem all that fazed by the fact that he was gone for six years. Most people would probably freak out over the littlest thing, but SUNNY here was basically taking it all like a champ!

"Hope you don't mind if I want to ask a few things though. That's cool with you?" KEL asked curiously.

OMORI nodded, "Go nuts."

"How did it feel, waking up from the coma?" KEL asked, "Do you remember anything? Did you have any weird dreams?"

"Uh..." OMORI hesitated a bit as he thought up a realistic lie, before settling for a simple, "I dunno. Can't remember."

Best not to complicate things. KEL doesn't need to know about the things he experienced before coming to this world.

"Oh... yeah, I guess that's fair." KEL nodded understandingly, knowing that sometimes things could happen too quickly for anyone to really understand anything. "Do you at least remember how you got into a coma in the first place?"

"Fell down some stairs, right?" OMORI decided to answer.

"Yeah..." KEL nodded solemnly, "All of us took it pretty hard when we all found out, you know? We kind of thought we lost you that day."

"Mm." OMORI nodded awkwardly.

Did KEL know about the situation with MARI? Did she ever tell anyone that she believed it was all her fault for how he got into a coma?