Angel Beats: The Vanguard
By: Sonixawesome
The boy smiled, rolling his toy truck down and up his driveway, his green hair ruffled by the wind. He laughed, enjoying the bumping of the small vehicle as its wheels rolled over the rough cement surface, closing his small blue eyes with delight.
"Vroom-vroom!" He laughed.
"Eiji, come inside! It's going to start raining soon!" Eiji's mother called. She waved at him, her long black hair being blown to the right by the wind that had begun to pick up. Her bright yellow eyes smiled as much as her mouth did, the same way they always did when she watched her son. Though her husband, a police officer, had died on duty years ago, her little son kept his memory alive. Eiji was the spitting image of his father, after all.
"Aww…" Eiji groaned, picking up his toy and trudging inside. He walked up beside his mother, who patted his bright green hair affectionately. She pulled her hand back, laughing.
"Someone needs a bath!" She laughed.
"NOOOOOOO!" Eiji yelled, running inside. He laughed, hiding underneath his parents' bed.
He heard his mother's feet tapping the ground as she attempted being stealthy. Eiji saw her feet approaching the bed, squirming backwards. She knelt down quickly, grabbing her son's arms and starting to pull him.
"Ah!" Eiji screamed, trying to keep himself from being pulled out from under the bed. "No baths, momma, no baths!" He yelled.
A huge crashing sound echoed through the house, and Eiji's mother pushed him back under the bed. She placed her finger to her mouth and holding out her hand, telling him to stay put and stay quiet.
He watched her feet approach one of her drawers. She opened one, and then closed it again as quietly as possible. Eiji heard a soft clicking sound, and his mother walked out of the room. A bang went off, and Eiji covered his ears. An even louder bang filled his home, and his mother's scream reached his ears.
Eiji hardly breathed, feeling as if just the smallest sound would reveal where he was. A pair of large feet walked into the bedroom, turning left and right. The man began to kneel down, but just before his face came into Eiji's view, a third shot went off. The man toppled, blood coming from the back of his head. Eiji saw his mother, who was on her side in the living room, with a smoking gun in her hands. She smiled at Eiji, and her arms went limp. The gun rattled to the ground, and his mother's eyes shut.
Eiji wanted to scream. He wanted to wake up; this just had to be a terrible nightmare. He closed his eyes tightly, hardly breathing. When he opened them, however, nothing had changed. He waited for an hour under the bed. After that time passed, he heard police sirens approaching. He easily recognized the sounds, because his father had often allowed him to turn on the sirens when he brought Eiji to the station. Someone broke down the door, and Eiji heard the voice of one of his father's close friends.
Eiji crawled out from under the bed, standing up to his feet. He was staring at the ground, tears filling his blue eyes. The officer- Sergeant Akihiro- walked into the room, kneeling down in front of him. He turned to the radio device on his shoulder. Sergeant Akihiro had blue hair and blue eyes, and had a tendency to follow people. He had met Eiji's father on the baseball team. That didn't matter now, though. Eiji's father was dead, at the hands of the same people that had just killed his mother.
"Eiji's okay. Haruna didn't fare as well, but Eiji's alright. I'm going to need a psych team and social services." Sergeant Akihiro smiled, now looking at Eiji, "Hey, Eiji! Can you wait here? I've got something in my cruiser for you, okay?"
Eiji nodded slightly, eyes turned to the ground.
Sergeant Akihiro patted Eiji on the shoulder, and walked off to his car. Eiji knelt down beside his mother's body. His eyes blurred, and he lay down beside her. He took one of her arms, placing it over his shoulder like his mother used to do when he had a nightmare. He sobbed, and his tears covered the ground at his feet.
Sergeant Akihiro re-entered the home, stopping as he saw what Eiji had done. He tried to remove Eiji from the body, but Eiji screamed. He wasn't going to be taken away from his mother.
"NOOO!" Eiji shouted. He pushed Sergeant Akihiro away, running back to his mother. He dug his face into her shirt, turning the blue cotton dark with his tears.
"I'm going to need that psych team, ASAP." Sergeant Akihiro said, his voice hoarse. Eiji cried himself to sleep, embracing his mother for the last time.
"Akihiro, wait up!" A teenage boy laughed. His name was Masato Suzuki, and was the closest friend of the new student, Akihiro Takahashi. But even he didn't know the truth- that Akihiro Takahashi was in fact Eiji Ito, the son of an undercover police officer who had gotten on the bad side of the Yakuza, and that Eiji had to protect himself from those that wished to end his life for some information that Eiji didn't even know by changing his name, appearance, and very personality. Eiji's green hair and blue eyes had given way to black hair and green eyes, and his pale complexion darkened to a crisp tan. Eiji no longer existed, and only Akihiro was left in his stead. He'd chosen the name in honor of the police officer that had found him. Since Sergeant Akihiro had been his father, Masaru Ito's closest friend, it helped him to also remember his own father.
Akihiro continued running full speed down the hill. He reached the bottom, skidding to a stop. He smiled at Masato, "Still can't catch up to me!"
Masato laughed, "I seriously think you're on some kind of steroid. There's no way you're that fast, bro!"
Akihiro shook his head, "I hit the hill first. Once that happened, the race was over, bro." He mocked Masato.
Akihiro jumped, feeling someone's hand on his shoulder. He grasped the hand, picking the person up and hurling them over his shoulder. He threw them to the ground, lifting his fist. He stopped when he saw who it was.
"Akemi! You know not to sneak up on me like that!" Akihiro said, lifting the girl up from the ground. Akemi Sasaki was one of the most gorgeous girls in Akihiro's class, with her chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. She wore her hair three ways- a pony tail, a braid, or straight out. She looked amazing any way she did it, but Akihiro liked it when she wore her hair straight out the best. Akihiro lost track of his train of thought, continuing to think of Akemi in some ways that should not be written down.
Akemi laughed, "Akihiro, your nose is bleeding! I'm the one that got thrown to the ground, you have no excuse!"
Akihiro blushed, wiping his nose, "Whatever, Akemi!" He turned away, face turning deeper red than a pomegranate.
Get your head together, Eiji! He thought to himself. It wasn't like he had any future with Akemi anyways. He couldn't form any permanent ties anywhere, that's what the officers had told him all those years ago. It was surprising that the Yakuza hadn't already found him. He couldn't afford to go and fall in love.
But if I could… Akihiro shook his head. He couldn't think like that. There was no chance, no way.
Akemi rolled her eyes, and Masato laughed, "You two are totally perfect for each other! This is like some Nicholas Sparks novel stuff, bro!"
Masato had a tendency to reference western literature like that. Masato didn't seem like the type, but he had everything planned out. He was going to be a professor of literature at the most prestigious college in Japan. Akemi and Akihiro happened to be in the same classes, as they had similar plans for their own futures, both hoping to become police officers. Akemi wanted to do it because she wanted to serve her country, "Without having to leave it" as she always said. Her whole family had been in the military thus far, and hyper-patriotism had been instilled in her since she was a child. Guys said they didn't want to date her because she was already married to Japan.
Akihiro turned back to his friend, "I don't know who Nicholas Sparks is, dude."
Masato smiled, "Whether you know him or not, this stuff is on his level!" Masato also had an obsession with using the word 'stuff'.
Akihiro felt as if someone was looking at him. He turned around, seeing a shadowy figure move just out of sight. He turned back to his friends.
"I've gotta go, guys. My dad's gonna get worried." Akihiro said.
Masato groaned, "You and your dad, bro. Are you sure you don't have some weird gay thing going on with this guy?"
"I'm not gay, Masato!" Akihiro shouted.
Masato rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, bro."
Akihiro shook his head, "Bye, Akemi!"
Akemi smiled, "See you later, Aki!" She shouted.
Akemi had an annoying habit of never saying 'goodbye'. Akihiro knew that any one of these days, Akemi might not get to see him later, one of two ways. If the shadowy figure meant anything, that day might be coming rather soon. Akihiro took the long walk home alone, continually looking over his shoulder.
Akihiro plunked his backpack down on the table, getting ready to do his homework. The door opened, and Akihiro tensed up. Whenever the man posing as his father entered the house, he made sure to knock five times. Akihiro stood up, turning to the front door of the house.
"So. I guess you guys found me, then?" He said. The woman at the door nodded. She was wearing a dark business suit. She had purple hair tied with a green ribbon.
She smiled, "I'm not who you think I am. My name is Kasumi Sato, I'm an undercover police officer. I got here just before the people you're running from did. Pack your things, we've got to get out of here."
"You want me to just believe you like that?" Akihiro asked.
"Yes, I want you to believe me. Eiji, you know how the Yakuza works. You'd have been dead by now if I were with them. They didn't give your mother much time for negotiation, did they?" Kasumi said. She was confident; she knew she'd already won the argument.
Akihiro nodded, "Alright. Where are we going?"
Kasumi smiled, "Anywhere but here."
The black car was silent, neither occupant saying a word. Kasumi cleared her throat, "So, what do the Yakuza want with a kid like you?"
Akihiro shrugged, "I'm not sure. Some information my father had learned undercover. I don't know any of it, though."
Kasumi nodded, not replying. She stopped the car, looking around. "I'm afraid this is the end of the road."
"What do you mean? We're in the middle of nowhere." Akihiro said.
Kasumi smiled, but she was obviously upset, "That we are. But that's just where they want us. I'm sorry, Eiji. I fell into their trap." Kasumi stopped the car, tears falling down her face.
"Did you ever… Have anything that you really wanted in life? A goal that you didn't get to fulfill?" Kasumi asked.
Akihiro sat back in the chair, body going cold. "I wish I could have saved people. I wanted to stop people from going through what I had to."
Kasumi nodded, "Keep that in mind, Eiji. It'll keep you going in the next life." The window shattered as a black object was thrown into the car. Akihiro looked down at it. A flash lit up the world, and then everything went dark.
If you can find some of the references to the original series, I'll write a special story at your request out of any of the fandoms I've written on so far! Here's a hint- similarities to past characters are intentional! Also, none of the main three are reincarnations of past characters. However, they are similar to people in my life. Backstories aside, I am very similar to Eiji/Akihiro. My girlfriend was the basis for Akemi, though she isn't a hyper-patriot. My closest friend, Preston, has nothing to do with English literature, but he was kind of the basis for Masato. Really just in that he's my friend, though :T
First person to find all three references gets the story!