"Tell me, Mr. Otonashi, you have no memory except for the tune of a song?" An old man asked him as he lay horizontally against a couch.
"Yep, that's about it. All I can remember is waking up in a strange place with the song running through my head."
The man hummed for a moment, flipping the pages back behind the clipboard and reading some notes from another patient. The man's expression was unreadable as he stood and looked out the window and sat the clipboard down on a table. Otonashi stood, walking next to the man. The sound of cars seemed to leak through the window as the bright sun shinned into his eyes. The man sighed as he turned to face Otonashi. He sighed, looking back out the window and to the clear sky. "Please, take a seat. I have to ask you one more question before you go."
"Okay." Otonashi responded to the sudden request from the man. Sitting back down, he watched the man sit down as well.
"Mr. Otonashi," the man sighed, "do you believe in the afterlife? A time for you to finish what you had started, do you believe that sometimes God can be cruel to those who are unfortunate and give them a chance to enjoy one's youth?"
Unable to answer right away, he shrugged; "I guess."
"Good," the man said said immediately, "a group of people said the exact same thing you have today. One sang it a bit, but this is no random illness. Meet me here tomorrow for a group session. Maybe I can figure out what is wrong if you see someone you may know. That will be all for today. Have a wonderful day, Mr. Otonashi."
"Thanks...?"
Walking out of the elevator, Otonashi sighed as he thought over what the doctor had told him. Finding himself in front of a store named Shibuya 109, he heard a familiar tune being hummed by a girl behind him. Turning around he sees a girl with short silver hair and a hat on with headphones in her ears. As he slowly turns his body around, she looked down to her phone and began to walk away from him. Catching up to her, he taps her on her shoulder, causing her to turn around and eye him. Otonashi was speechless as her golden eyes met his. "Yes?" she asked. Caught in an argument with himself if he had ever seen her before, he finally managed to open his mouth to speak.
"That song you were humming just now, what is it called?"
"Oh," she sighed, "I don't really know myself. It was just in my memory when I awoke one day. The rest I can't remember."
"That stinks. Where are my manners; my name is Yuzuru Otonashi." He said, reaching his arm out in respect.
"Kanade Tachibana. Nice to meet you." She replied as she shook hands with him.
"That's a pretty name, Ms. Tachibana."
"Please," she smiled slightly, "call me Angel. It seems easy."
"Okay. Well, I must be going. Thank you for your time." Otonashi chuckled as he turned his body slightly, their gaze still locked. She nodded, waving slightly to him. Waving back, he began to walk home again. 'She seems so... Familiar...' he thought as he walked past the crowd of people.
Walking past a a baseball field, he studied the hospital next to it. 'What a weird place to put a hospital.' Walking on the sidewalk opposite the hospital, he noticed a blue-haired guy pushing a pink-haired girl in a wheelchair towards the baseball field. A smile appeared across Otonashi's face as he returned his view in front of him. As he continued, he walked past a small group of 3 guys, two listening to the music as the third (with a red bandanna on) danced to the rhythm. He shook his head as he continued past them. In a library, he saw two men reading books almost completely opposite eachother; one with glasses, the other in all black with a black cap on. Why did they all seem so familiar to Otonashi? He had never met any of them in his life, had he? When he finally returned home, he noticed his neighbor was watering her plants with a hose that was stretched almost at full length. The purple-haired girl took notice of him, waving to him.
"So how did the session go?" She asked as he passed by her fence to get to his home.
"Farley well. Did you get asked to return tomorrow as well for a group thing, Ms. Nakamura?"
"Yes. And please, call me Yuri."
"Understood. Well, I'll come knock when we need to start heading that way, okay Yuri?" He asked before he opened the door.
"Sounds good. See you then Otonashi."
He smiled, opening the door and shutting it behind him. He sat down on the couch, turning the television on and searching through the listings. He sighed as he turned the channel to the news. The anchor talked about how the worth of Yen may drop soon. After getting up and drinking from a jug of milk, he stopped when he heard the anchor change the subject;
"And now, the story on the recent phenomenon that has Japan locking it's doors at night; the recent sightings of 'The Stalker'. According to ancient legend, this supposed demon is said to hold the memories of teenagers and young adults who have passed on, but experienced the afterlife. Is this just a hoax, or do we have a real demon on our hands? Would you care to explain some of this to the viewers, Ms. Naomi?"
The view on the screen switched to a woman with brown hair and glasses with a picture of a dark figure with red eyes next to her head.
"Of course. This figure has been spotted many times throughout the island of Japan. As a result, everyone has been locking their doors and shutting their windows before they go to bed. It is said in legend that the demon only watches over teenagers, but this time, he is watching over people ranging from 1 year old to even 30 plus. This 'demon' is clearly a hoax. So rest assured, Japan, it is a fake."
Otonashi sighed as he sat down and changed the channel to a food show. With a bag of chips in his lap and a can of soda on the table. After a moment, he felt uneasy; as if he were being watched. Looking around his home, his gaze fell upon a shadowy figure with red eyes standing in Yuri's yard, staring horrifyingly deep into Otonashi's soul. Jumping to his feet, the figure only stood still.
"Wh- What is that thing?" He stuttered as he took a step backwards. Suddenly, an image of a group of people appeared in Otonashi's mind. For a split second, he recognized them all as the people he had walked past that he recognized somehow. From the split second he saw the image, they all seemed to be having fun. But a single girl's smile stood out most to him; "Angel?"
To be Continued...