Flesh & Bone (OMORI AU)

Chapter 32: Preparations

Nobody knew what to do. With three days left to spare with Mari, everyone was at a loss. Hero had suggested to do Thanksgiving like originality planned, even though it had passed two days prior, but nobody was sure if they were up to it. Mari, however, was willing to make it happen, encouraging everyone to work together to have a proper meal and celebration before she left them.

And so, thats what they did.

Hero and Mari handled the turkey and ham, just like they used to. Aubrey invited her girlfriend Kim, and Vance, Kim's older brother. But nobody else knew that they were coming. When there was suddenly a knock on the door of Hero and Kel's house, confusion lingered amongst them.

"I'll get it!" Aubrey said cheerfully. Odd. When was she ever this excited about something?

Aubrey opened the door, with Kim and Vance on the other side. After giving Vance a fist bump, she kissed Kim on the cheek. Kel, Basil and Sunny giggled, already knowing what was up.

"Aubrey, who did you invite?" Mari smiled, walking into the living room as she rubbed her hands on her apron.

"Oh, uh, this is Kim and Vance... you may remember them a bit, I used to hang out with them at the park when I was little..."

"Oh! Of course! Hi, I'm Mari." Mari smiled warmly, Vance shyly waving as Kim wrapped an arm around Aubrey's shoulder.

"You're Sunny's sister, right?"

"Uhm, yes." Mari chuckled.

"Aubrey told me you got brought back to life." Kim's eyes lit up. "Thats so fucking cool, dude."

Mari blushed faintly, laughing with her mouth closed. "I guess so... but im going to assume the two of you have something going on?" Mari smirked, pointing at them with two fingers.

Kim and Aubrey looked at one another, their cheeks flushing red. They looked back at Mari and nodded.

"Awww, so many lovebirds~" Mari clasped her hands together. "Make yourselves comfortable. If you have any ideas on what we should make feel free to chip in."

"I wanted to make a cake with Kim." Aubrey said, then looking at Vance.

"I wanna make candy apples. I made them last year, turned out really good."

Kim nodded. "Facts." She said crossing her arms.

"We might have the supplies for that. We have until tomorrow morning to make everything, so make sure it doesn't take too long!" Mari smiled warmly.

...

"I think we missed a step..." Kel said as he stared into an edition of Papa Chip's cookbook.

He and Sunny a decided to make a simple apple pie, but neither of them knew how to bake or cook. Hero offered to help, but they refused. The dough they made smelled off. Yet they knew that there weren't any expired ingredients used. Sunny took a small piece and licked it, coughing after

"Kel, you- you put too much s-salt." Sunny gagged. Even a small piece of the dough was enough to make him gag.

"Damn it, I always put too much." Kel mumbled to himself as he threw the salty dough away. Hero simply gave him a look of disappointment as he brushed butter onto the ham he was preparing.

"How many teaspoons did you put in it, Kel?"

"The book said to put 3 teaspoons."

"And what did you use as a teaspoon?"

"A spoon, like it asked?"

"Kel, we have different tools for this kind of thing. Teaspoons aren't regular spoons, you don't eat with them." Hero chuckled softly.

"Oh." Kel puffed his cheeks in embarrassment, putting the regular spoon in the sink.

Hero rummaged in the drawers beside Sunny and took out some teaspoons, which were all connected like keys. He then read the book's instructions and showed Kel the proper teaspoon to use, scooping salt and shaking the residue off.

"It's okay to ask for help, I struggled like this when I was younger too, yknow."

"I just wanted to prove I could do it myself..." Kel pouted.

"You cant be a master at everything. You're still learning, its always okay to make mistakes like this."

"...except for the fact he could have killed us with sodium." Sunny jokingly snickered under his breath. Kel playfully punched his side, sticking his tongue out.

"Mari and I have things to prepare. Follow the directions closely. Remember which teaspoon to use. Okay?" Hero raised his brows.

Kel saluted, a small laugh releasing from Sunny's lips as Hero walked to the other side of the kitchen.

...

"I just want to thank everyone for helping with preparing the food... it means a lot to me. I... wish I didn't have to leave." Mari smiled bitterly, Hero resting a hand on hers.

Everything was finished.

Tomorrow would be the dinner, and one of the last few moments before Mari left again. Throughout the process of preparing the dinner, many tears were shed. Especially by Sunny. He regretted not doing the ritual properly. He regretted getting Francine to help in the first place. Nobody understood how Mari could be dangerous... she seemed fine for the most part...

Everyone eventually returned home, leaving Kel and Hero by themselves, as their parents had been out of the house with Sally to give them space to cook. They would be back in another hour. In the meantime, Kel noticed how upset Hero was, trying his best to cheer him up.

"Look on the bright side, Mari came back! That's already super awesome. She got to be here for a while, and it's going to be hard to say goodbye, but at least we can do it this time." Kel smiled softly, wrapping an arm around the older brother.

Hero had a small smile on his face, wiping some of his tears. "You're right... it was nice to see her at all."

"What's helped me with this kinda stuff is remembering the good times I had with someone I can't see anymore. Remember Sarah?"

"The girl you used to play basketball with after school?"

"Yeah. She moved away this summer to Pennsylvania... thats across the country!"

"Jeez, that is far..."

"I can still call her sometimes, but I may never get to see her again. But im able to accept the good times we shared and the impact she had on me." Kel smiled warmly. "When Mari leaves, remember all the times we shared with her."

"I can try.."

Hector waddled up to the brothers, his tail wagging happily as he held a tennis ball in his mouth. Right. They usually played with Hector around his time. He had a routine, and it was actually kind of cute. Normally they would take turns, but this time, they went to the front yard together.

They needed to spend more time with one another anyway.