Our Beloved Mari || OMORI Good End

Hero

"Sorry! All sold out!" Hero smiles widely as he hands his last customer a brownie. She thanks him and walks off. The people in the line behind her seem disappointed, but don't complain.

It was the Fall Festival for Faraway Middle School, and high schoolers in the Honors Society had the chance to host a booth to raise money for the school.

He had made 50 brownies in total, $2 per brownie (quite expensive brownies...) and raised exactly $100 for the school.

He walks up to Assistant Principal Dr. Smith, the man who organized the event, and hands him the money. Dr. Smith counts it up.

"...96, 98, 100! And, as promised, if you make $100 or more, you get to keep 5%." Dr. Smith hands him $5 from the stack. "It's not much, but just consider it a token of our appreciation."

"Thanks, Dr. Smith." Hero replies and give the assistant principal a smile. He pats Hero on the shoulder and walks off.

Five dollars... He shrugs. Better than nothing. Maybe I can buy Mari some flowers from Fix-It. 

He stuffs the money in my pocket, when suddenly someone reaches over his shoulders from behind and covers his eyes.

"Guess who~!" Mari's voice sings.

"Hm.... Gosh, who could it be? I don't think I've ever heard this mystery person's voice before..." He says, feeling the smile on his face widen.

She kisses him on the cheek. "Do you recognize that?"

"Well, that was something familiar... maybe another one will help me recover my memory..."

"Now you're just being selfish." She moves her hands away from his eyes and stands in front of him. She puts her hands on her hips and gives him this annoyed look, but he can tell she's trying her best not to smile.

"So, how many brownies did you sell?" Mari asks.
"All of them! All 100. So, uh... I made five bucks." He waves his five dollar bill in the air.

"And I sold all 100 of my cookies... So I also made 5 dollars. I feel rich!" She laughs.

Hero sighs. "It's more like child labor than anything, really. I spent forever making those brownies."

Mari smiles sympathetically. "Yeah, but that's what school's about. Child labor. Plus, at least we finally got our service hours for the Honors Society done."

"Yeah, I guess... But we managed to sell so much! We should start a restaurant or something."

"Maybe when we get older. I'd totally be up for that. I can imagine it already: Mari's Fantastic Bakery. You could be the janitor!" 

Hero rolls his eyes. "Honestly? I was thinking something more like Hero's Super Cuisine. You could be the..." He tries to think of something original, but fails. "...Janitor?"

Mari giggles. "How about we go on a walk? It's been forever since you and I could have an actual one-on-one conversation, without our siblings or friends."

"I'd love to, but my parents said I have to stay and watch Kel..." He gestures over to where his little brother is jumping crazily in the bouncy castle, much to Aubrey's annoyance, as she keeps tumbling over. "I'm really sorry, Mari." He sighs and looks down at the ground.

Mari frowns in response. "Aww, I just can't stand that sad face of yours. You're really disappointed, aren't you? Well... Kel may be a little immature, but he's not stupid. Even if he may act like it. He'll be fine, it'll be just fifteen minutes, and we'll stay by the school"

Hero looks back at Mari. "I guess... Yeah, Kel will be fine. Besides, Aubrey's there with him, and Basil and Sunny aren't too far..." He looks over at where the two boys are at the oragami stand. "Sure, we can go on a short walk." Mari smiles when Hero says this, and she immediately grabs his hand, running off with him.