So I tried to make an Omori swap AU part two
tw death, child abuse/neglect
In the present day, Aubrey, Basil, and Kel are a tight-knit group of delinquents
They’re still friends with the hooligans, but tend to gravitate towards each other due to a longer shared history
Kel turned to delinquency after feeling abandoned by his surviving family
He needed more support from them after his brother’s death, but they were never really equipped to give it to him
On top of that, they keep subtly comparing him to Hero in negative ways. They don’t even consciously realize they’re doing it: they see themselves as encouraging Kel to be the best he can be, but their definition of “best” is warped by their grief and the memory of the child they wish they still had. They’re deeply in denial about the harm they’re doing.
His parents might not realize where their standards are coming from, but Kel does
He’s tried so hard to be cheerful and less of a burden but it’s never enough
His grades are too low. He’s not polite enough. He’s not responsible enough.
If nothing he does is enough, why even try?
It just makes him all the more ashamed to come home, all tthe more guilty to be the surviving sibling
He starts cutting class. All it does is stress him out and even his best grades seem to do nothing but disappoint his parents.
Besides, it’s nice to have this time to himself. A time free of expectation, when he can grieve on his own terms without being expected to be anyone but Kel.
After a few absences, Aubrey starts joining him
She doesn’t care too much about school, and she wants to know what’s going on to make Kel miss school
When she asks him why he wanted to do this, he talks very honestly about his problems with his parents
Even if her home situation isn’t exactly like his, she sympathizes immensely
She knows what it’s like to be raised by someone who doesn’t care, who doesn’t support you, who’s never there in the ways you need them to be
Very quickly, them cutting class together becomes a way where they can find acceptance with each other that they can’t find at home
After this has been going on for a little while, they invite Basil to join them
They feel bad leaving him out, especially since they know Basil well enough to know what his home life is like: parents who don’t care enough to even stop by, a grandma who’s been too sick and frail to care for him for a very long time, and a confusing series of caretakers with varying amounts of compassion, levels of skill, and styles of parenting
At this point, Polly is very new, and the kids have no way of even knowing how long she’ll stay
Basil is hesitant to join them at first, since he doesn’t like the idea of getting in trouble, but Aubrey and Kel are the only friends he hasn’t grown apart from and he doesn’t want to be left out
When Polly hears about Basil’s absences, she is extremely concerned and tries to reach out to him
Unfortunately for her, Basil still doesn’t really see her as a source of stability, and stays closed off
Kel’s parents are significantly less helpful.
The tension in his house skyrockets, with his parents angry that he won’t even try to meet their standards anymore and Kel upset that they’re holding him to such unfair standards in the first place
Meanwhile, Aubrey’s mom hasn’t even noticed that she’s cutting classes
Aubrey acts like she’s relieved to get away with it, but in reality she wishes that someone at home would at least notice the change
But she greatly appreciates her deepened bonds with her friends
Instead of school, the three of them will frequently just. Go to their old hangout spot and verbally bash their parents together.
They all consider it a great time
They’re very much a tight-knit found family at this point