A/N: Alright guys, this is my first Angel Beats story so I'm asking if you can help and leave reviews that can help me stick to it being as cannon as possible and other ideas you think could be included.
Oh and its basically starting with Otonashi's time in the series but branching out and back in.
As explained Shiina and Iwa are going to be the couple in this and maybe a few others if I decide to *cue evil smile.*
Now, cue the story!
[Edited: 7/11/2016]
When the body dies and the brain is still intact the person stays alive for several minutes until death. They say that all the person sees is their last moment of living; what was used to kill them, the pain, the temperature, what they were thinking last, and their surroundings in general.
Heat. Hot heat. Heat on cold metal. And a pain in his stomach.
That's what the dark haired teen felt as he woke up in a cold sweat, his breath quick and hard. His head was hurting as if someone was pounding a hammer on it and his legs felt the same. They felt like they would give out if he tried to stand. His arms however felt tense, especially the palms of his hands. He felt pain in them for a split second before the feeling disappeared a second later. He thought it to be wired before brushing it off, thinking he had bigger fish to fry.
He slowly picked himself up, taking in his surroundings as he slowly stood up. That was his first mistake. His legs didn't seem to be ready, that was obvious by how quickly he fell back onto the ground. The teen let out a low grumble before picking himself up again, this time sitting crisscrossed, allowing him to take in more of his surroundings. He was in a high school in the middle of the night? He couldn't tell since he never have once attended a high school like this. As a matter of fact he doesn't even remember going to high school. Or school at all. He had picked up the theory on the account of the many buildings and the school uniform he was wearing. It consisted of a dark blue suit, complete with a coat, tie, and dress pants.
He hated it imminently.
He looked around some more and saw a girl in a uniform that was way different from his own. Instead of the solid blue the button shirt she wore was white and her skirt was a much lighter shade of blue than his pants. With her back towards the dark haired teen he wasn't able to see the girl's face, but it help him take notice of her bent legs. They were covered in black knee socks, almost teasing the male with her pale legs. He ignored the thought as he walked over to the redheaded girl, hoping to get some more information from her. As he slowly got closer he finally took notice of the sniper rifle she held onto.
He stared at it for a moment, trying to decide if he should start running now. However, his decision was cut short once the girl let out a low swear. "Damnit!"
The teen was surprised he was able to translate that. What really surprised him was the fact he was able to tell it was Japanese. That made him question him. Did he to speak Japanese? If so then why was he so surprised he understood her?
He decided to put it to the test, speaking in whatever language came naturally to him. "Hey! Can you tell me where I am?" It was English? The dark haired teen thought so when the girl turned to him, giving him a questionable look, as if she only understood two words.
The young American let out a sigh, trying to translate his words as he repeated himself. "Uh, can hu tell me whair I ham?" The teen felt very annoyed with himself. He understood the language, possibly able to read it, yet he couldn't speak it? What kind of idiot is he?
The girl in question was still processing what he was trying to say, confused for a moment before mumbling under her breath. "Great, you're awake too." She spoke up, finally addressing him. "Hate to break it to you but your dead." As she turned he was able to see a patch on her right shoulder that had three large S's on it.
That hit the teen hard, almost like he had been hit in the face by a large rock. He stumbled backwards. He couldn't possibly be dead, he was still here he could feeling everything! "I can't be dead!" He repeated his thought in English, going unnoticed by the girl. He continued to mumble "I just can't. I feel, alive! I'm breathing for God's sake! There's no way I can be dead!"
In his moment of insanity the teen stood up, running his hands through his hair as emphases to his feel remark. That's when he noticed something down the many steps below him. He saw someone hit the ground in the same uniform he was in. He had red hair and there was a girl in a different uniform, different from his and Mrs. Sniper-r\Rifle. It was somewhat yellow and her skirt was long and brown. However, what really stood out from the girl was her pure white hair. He would have taken her as an angel, going off by how the moon light created a holy presence around her. He would have if it weren't for the blade coming out from her hand.
The dark haired teen stared at the two before mustering his Japanese. "What's going on?"
He was so surprised when he said it correctly, so much that he almost missed the girl's orders. "That idiot over there that just died again is new here too. He just had to go ask her to obliterate him."
He was still confused. Obliterated? What does she have to do with that? "Who is she?"
"She's Angel. The enemy." She said as she pointed at the other girl and looked back into her scope. She had almost completely forgotten about the teen if she hadn't come up with another plan. "Mind doing something for me?"
He looked at her as if she was crazy. Yet for some reason, he felt like this wasn't the oddest thing he'd seen. "What?"
She propped up two thin legs for the rifle, resting it on her original spot as she crawled closer to another pair of pushes, pulling out a hidden weapon. She held out an iron pole that was about four feet long. She handed to Iwa, quickly going back to her rifle. "When I fire, you run down to her and attack. Drive her away and get the moron back here."
"Okay this girl has to be insane," He thought, tightening his grip around the cold metal. "I mean, she said I was dead and now I have to attack that girl!?" Iwa looked at Angel one last time and paid slight more attention the blade coming from her wrist, feeling his chest ache at the sight of it. "Okay, maybe she isn't that crazy."
Iwa nodded and gotten into a running position at the start of the steps leading downward. His body low to the ground and on hand gripping onto the pole, ready for use. He idly questioned himself, how he knew about this position. It was as if his body was so use to this position. The muscles in his wrists and calves started to twitch in anticipation.
He waited for the boom from the girl's rifle, closing his eyes in the process. He questioned that as well. Why did he close his eyes for this? Why was he so calm about this!?
BANG!
As the rifle was fired Iwa felt his muscles burst to life. He took several large strides down the stairs before speeding up, anxiety slowly starting to take control. He was almost halfway there and Angel just started to stager from the bullet. Why was he this fast!? She was shot in her right arm, the one that had the blade.
Iwa kept the pole angled behind him so it wouldn't hit the ground and stop him. He didn't question that, he thought of it as common sense. What he did question however was his ability to tell he wasn't going to make it. His body seemed to react to that thought, causing him to jump onto the long hand railings, using the staff to keep balance as he zoomed down. The soles of his shoes were dusty so it allowed him to slide down easily. He kept his balance expertly before coming to the last platform. He struck the ground with the staff, causing him to go flying. He kept ahold of the staff, bringing the cold metal stick with him. He spun it behind his body before swinging downwards, feeling familiarity to this attack.
Once the staff had hit its target Iwa felt extreme pain in his feet. He had flown nearly thirteen feet into the air, making his knees weak at the thought. His strike hadn't done much. Angel had deflected the attack with her blade creating only sparks. Iwa was able to gain his sense back for a moment, slipping back into muscle memory as he swung the pole again. Angel started to take large steps away, deflecting the attacks every time. Iwa thought he was doing well. He thought he was actually going to win this fight until Angel said three haunting words. "Hand sonic; repair."
The blade that was on her wrist glowed white/blue and repaired itself, no longer damaged from the attacks. When the light died Angel went into her attack position. Iwa tried to block it but it was sloppy so he gotten some cuts. He kept it going until the pole snapped in half as Angel tried to stab him and pierced his body where his right lung was.
He stopped and felt himself fall. He felt the blood drain out of him and his vision started to turn black. He felt numbness take over and he blacked out, hearing more gunshots.
~Anti-Angel HQ~
Everyone was in the principal's office of the school. Yuri sat quietly at her desk with her hat neatly placed atop her head as everyone kept bickering with her over the name of the SSS. Again. Everyone was in their same sitting areas. TK was dancing in a random area of the office. Hinata, Matsushita, Ooyama and Fujimaki were talking with Yuri over the name, hands and fists occasionally slamming onto the desk. Takamatsu was in it too but he was just standing near the quarrel and just made comments here and there about the lack of creativity and weirdness of the names. Iwasawa was strumming her guitar, ignoring the arguing.
The only thing different was one of the couches were filled up with Shiina, out of her dark corner. Everyone was surprised to see this. No, not even Yuri, had seen the dark girl leave her corner unless to address something directly to the leader of the SSS. The reason was lying on the couch she occupied. Iwa, passed out and stomach coated in dried blood, was lying down on the couch and had his head resting on Shiina's lap. The red eyes ninja had a shady of a smile on her face as she was playing with Iwa's untamed raven hair, cleaning it from the tiny dried clumps of blood that huddled at his bangs.
The red haired guy from before was lying on the other couch, hands atop the other on his chest. He was just rescued from outside and was recovering from the giant hammer that hit him. He started to wake up as he heard Yuri yell at Fujimaki. Iwa started to stir as well, confused on what was going on. And why he felt a sharp pain his chest.
Hinata was the first to acknowledge the two strangers. "Oh look, their awake."
All eyes darted on the two young men. The calmness of the room gave Yuri enough time to finally speak. "Great, maybe they thought of something."
The redhead just stared at them, unable to find any words. "Uh." Iwa stepped in, propped himself slightly from what he thought was a very soft couch pillow. "What do you mean by that?"
He gave everyone an annoyed stare as he received nothing more that odd glances. It was as if he was speaking in Pig-Latin. Iwa sighed before plopping back down, feeling irritation slowly creep on him. To fight this he had his eyes tightly closed as Yuri spoke. "What language is that?"
"It's English." Shiina answered, her smile now completely gone without a trace.
Iwa nearly jumped, now seeing what position he was in. With quick reflexes he leaped from the crouch, landing horribly onto the carpet and staying his sore sitting position to save himself from anymore embarrassment. However, his face still grew red from embracement, as did Shiina's but she lower her head in scarf so her cheeks were hidden.
"So you can translate?" Yuri hoped for someone to be the bridge for this wired case. She was not looking forward to have a member she couldn't communicate with. Well, she could give him orders, he understood them, but no one would be able to understand him.
Shiina shocked her head, her voice a little muffled from the scarf. "No, I can just tell what it is."
Iwa started to come too from all this and stood up. He felt like a child trying to tell his parents what he wanted. "I can speak Japanese. Not whell toe."
Yuri tried to understand what he was saying, quickly learning his mistakes. "Okay. Anyways, have you come up with a name?"
"How could he, we were both passed out!" The angered red haired man said, a bit freaked out and wanting to know what exactly was going on.
Yuri sighed, leaving her desk and walking over to the man. "Still, I asked you both for a better name than Whatever-Name-This-Is-Battlefront."
"How about Screw-You-Battlefront?" He said bitterly and getting up from the couch ever so slightly.
"Whoa man," said Fujimaki, positioning his sheathed sword before him threateningly. "You must have nerve to disrespect Yurripi like that."
"You leave me out of this, dick-wad!" The red head yelled as he now fully got up from the couch and pointed an index finger at Fujimaki. He was not going to be threatened by some random guy.
"What?!" Fujimaki exclaimed angrily. It seemed as if this was the first time someone had said that to his face, let alone disrespect him.
"What's with you guys!? Don't drag me into this."
"Alright, calm down." Iwa said as he started to collect his thoughts about all of this. It didn't take a genius to tell a fight would break lose, especially when one person had a weapon.
"No way, newbie! He needs to be taught a lesson or two." Fujimaki argued with the American, clenching his fist towards him, threatening to fight him as well.
"Just get me obliterated and I'll be out of your guy's hair!" This claim silenced the other two males, or in this case Iwa was following Fujimaki's lead.
"You do?" The man with glasses, Takamatsu, walked forward, straightening his glasses as he spoke. "Even though you exist here, right now."
"Yea that's right."
Yuri had already told him everything he needed to know about this place, meaning obliteration and Angel. However, it seemed it didn't truly went understood by the red head. "You're willing to get obliterated without a fight?"
"Yea!"
"You're willing to become a water flea?"
"Sure!" The sudden realization hit him hard, causing him to back track. "Wait, a water flea?"
"Ha!" Fujimaki jumped back onto the conversation, resting his sword back over his shoulder. "Did you really think humans are the only ones with souls? You ass."
"How shallow-minded." The comment from Shiina caused the American to turn around, suddenly curious at how quickly she turned from neutral to negative.
"You might get reborn as a barnacle." The largest member spoke up. "Or maybe even a hermit crab, or a sea-slader. It could happen."
"What, no way."
"Why is it just sea creatures…?" Iwa mumbled to himself in English, suddenly feeling smart from Takamatsu's next remark.
"You're so shocked you haven't questioned why it's limited to sea life. There's no particular reason actually."
"Go on, get the hell out of here," Fujimaki waved his sword lazily towards the red haired man. "You're gonna listen to Angel and get reborn, aren't yea? Go turn into a barnacle and get eaten by humans. That make for a great life."
"A barnacle?" The red head drifted into his own thoughts, leaving Iwa alone with the rest of the SSS members.
The smallest one, Ooyama, finally spoke up, questioning the swordsman's logic. "Huh? Barnacles are edible?"
"There are some edible ones."
"I never knew that."
"This is so stupid."
"Why areee whe talking ebout barnacles?"
It was finally time for the voice of reason to be heard. Yuri's calm voice cut through the others, gaining everyone's attention again. "Settle down you two, there is no reason to kick the guy out of here just yet. Not quite yet. The policy of…of…what the hell is our name now?"
"Barnacle-Battlefront." Fujimaki muttered.
"Oh yeah, the Barnacle-Battle-" Yurippe then stopped in mid-sentence and decided to take action.
KICK!
"That's it, the names going to be Not-Yet-Dead-Battlefront." Yuri decided.
"Ouch, that was a good kick…" Fujimaki spoke through tears as he swallowed the pain, the red foot mark pulsating on his face.
"We're safe as long as we're in this base. After all, that is what brought you here right?" Yurippe asked the red haired stranger.
"No, I didn't know that." The red haired man replied dumbly. "Besides, I got sent flying by just trying to get in here."
Iwa couldn't help but snort, trying to hold his laughter. "What did he do, get hit by a giant hammer," he thought to himself. A cartoon of a stick man with red hair getting his by a comedic sized hammer played in his causing him to snort some more, going unnoticed by most of the members.
"And by the way, you are joking about being reincarnated as anything but human, right?"
"It's no joke," Matsushita spoke up again, a little more worrisome.
"How are you sure? Who saw that happen?" At this point Iwa had sat back down the couch Shiina was occupying, taking in the scene that the red head was creating. "You don't know that for sure."
"Of course we don't know for sure," Yuri scolded him, almost like a teacher rather than a mother would. "But Buddhism doesn't say were only going to be reborn as humans, no does it?"
"Buddhism?" Iwa echoed, oblivious to the culture difference. It went ignored as the man continued his defense.
"But seriously, a barnacle?"
"Religion is just something human beings made up on their own. Now listen carefully, because this is important. In our previous world death didn't care, it went after people indiscriminately and randomly. It wasn't as if we were able to defy it. But this world is a whole other ball game. We can exist, as long as we resist Angel. We can fight back."
"But wait a minute, what happens when everything's said and done? What are you trying to accomplish?"
"Our goal is to take out Angel once and for all. Once we do that this world will belong to us."
"Wha?" Both newbies shared the same expression, both lost at Yuri's claims.
"You're both new here so it's no wonder you're a little confused. Heighten your sense of adaptability and accept things as they are."
"Accept things? And fight? Against Angel?"
"That's right. Fight with us." She held out a hand for both men. This was her way of receiving their response, their lives for this fight.
Iwa scanned the people one last time, thinking over this much more than the red haired man was. He was already reaching for her hand. He thought these people are insane, a rag tag team you'd see in movies. Only now it consisted of a leader, brains, a swordsman, a possible mixed fighter, a musician, a dancer, a scrawny boy, a pretty face, and a dark tempered girl. He didn't know how he was going to fit in this equation. Then again, he didn't have anywhere else to go other than up.
Before anyone to do anything else the door slammed opened, revealing another member at the double doors. "Hold on a minute!" Noda yelled, swinging his halberd above him dramatically.
Then within a heartbeat, a huge hammer came flying down the ceiling and smashed into him. Noda smashed through the broken window next to him and was went flying with a fading scream.
"Moron." Everyone in the room, except for both strangers, said as they face palmed themselves.
"Dumb ass fell for his own trap."
"That's what happened to me…" The red haired stranger said, recalling himself falling for the same trap while the raven haired man's eyes were wide open, seeing that he was right about his assumption.
"You need a password to enter safe and sound." Yuri stated. "After all, this is our Anti-Angel Headquarters. This is the only safe place we can talk."
"Could you give me some time to think about this?" The red haired man asked.
"Same." Iwa said as he raised his hand. He still needed more time to think this thoroughly through.
"Of course you both can! Anywhere but here." The SSS leader replied.
The red haired stranger gave Yuri a look as she tilted her head, waiting for his response. As for the American he quickly looked back to Shiina, seeing a ghost of a smile. She gave it to him, as a sign of support. That smile was able to get Iwa's vote.
The red haired man sighed. "Alright, I'm in. What's the password?" He asked.
Yuri quickly looked over to the American and he nodded in agreement, speaking in English as he released his frustration. "God damn, why not? I don't wanna get obliterated, that's for sure."
"There is no God, Buddha, or Angel. Welcome aboard." The SSS leader said with a smile as she shook hands with both strangers. "I'm Yuri, leader of this name changing Battlefront. And this is Hinata," she pointed at the blue haired guy. "He's just as lazy as he looks, but sometimes he pulls through."
"Hey, that's not a complement!" Hinata exclaimed angrily towards his leader, holding his arms out defensively.
Yuri ignored the blue haired man, continuing her introduction to the group. "He's Matsushita, he has a fifth degree judo belt so everyone calls him Matsushita the Fifth out of respect."
"Nice to meet cha'." He shook both newbies' hands with his own large ones.
"He's Ooyama, his special trait is that he doesn't have any."
"Welcome to the Battlefront." He warmly welcomed the two, earning a small squeeze from Iwa. He felt some pity for the man, there was no way he wasn't going to get to know the guy some more.
"Dance to the beat!" The bandana man exclaimed in English before breaking into a small dance.
"I don't dance dude…" The red head stated, feeling very uncomfortable with him.
"That's how he greets people. Everyone calls him TK, nobody knows his real name. Even I don't know what his deal is. None of us really understand him either, he just spouts out random English quotes."
"How high is he?"
Iwa stared back him for a moment, locking eyes with the red bandana. He slowly started to mimic TK's motions, almost dancing like him before receiving a fist bump from him. "Now you're rocking it!"
"Thanks dude. Got good taste in music." Iwa spoke calmly in English, going unsurprised by the group.
"At least we have somewhat of a translator now…" Yuri mumbled to herself before continuing her introduction. "The guy who's constantly trying to straighten his glasses trying to look smart is Takamatsu. He's actually pretty stupid."
The comment went unnoticed by him as he greeted the two. "It's very nice to meet you."
"This here is Fujimaki."
"I'm Fujimaki punks."
"I'm not a punk," the red head stated, brushing him off. As did Iwa, giving him a bothered look before turning his attention back to Yuri.
"The guy who went flying is Noda. The girl on the couch is Shiina, and sitting here is Iwasawa. She's the leader of the diversion unit. There's a couple dozen more people hiding throughout the school who are members of the battle front. Okay, that was all of us, now who are you two."
The red haired man thought about it for a moment. "O…Oto…Otonashi…yeah, I think that's it! Otonashi."
Yuri tilted her head slightly in question. "First name?"
"I…I can't remember…" Otonashi replied.
"The whole amnesia scenario eh?" Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him some comfort. "Don't worry, that doesn't mean it won't come back eventually."
Her gaze shifted to Iwa now, awaiting his response from the couch. He felt confidant at first, scoffing at the thought that he could forget his own name. "Iwa, Iwa O…Osh." Yea this was embarrassing for him. "No… Pi… Pirau?" He said, a bit unsure of the last name but nodded his head.
"Pirau?" Yuri questioned him, earning a nod from the American. "For someone who speaks English that name sure doesn't sound American."
Iwa smiled a bit, giving her a toothy grin."Yea, got lotts of questens meself."
"Alright. Hinata, you give Otonashi a tour and more explanation about this place, same for you Ooyama for Oshoku. While you're at it get these two new uniforms, we don't want them getting mistaken for any NPCs."
The two nodded before grabbing both newbies. Hinata had an arm around Otonashi's neck as they walked out speaking loudly in the process. "Don't worry, I'll make you'll get every jist of this place."
Iwa looked at the pair leaving before Ooyamas gave his hand to him, making him peer down to him. "Hey, I'm not the best as a guide but I think we'll be just fine."
Iwa nodded and fallowed him out, but not before looking back at Shiina, seeing that small smile leaving her as he left. That lingered in his thoughts for quite some time as he fallowed Ooyama through the school. He didn't know why, but it felt like he'd seen her somewhere before. Hopefully his amnesia wouldn't last too long. If she was smiling by just seeing him then he must have some good memories of her.
