"Hey, Otonashi." Iwasawa walked back into the classroom where the band was awaiting their lead guitarist slash vocalist, but not before turning around and throwing her half drank water bottle towards the orange haired boy, "Coffee's good, but drink water sometimes. Keep it up, you'll do fine around Yurippe and the others."
Well, Otonashi surely did not expect that coming. At the time, he didn't even remember his own memories, just his name. But Iwasawa told him everything about her past, how her parents constantly fight with one another, how she got into music, how she thrived in the real world to make her dream a reality, and the fatal blow that slowly made her life fade away. Of course he felt grateful and all that she would even tell him that kind of stuff, but.. of all the people, why him?
While he was busy daydreaming, a girl appeared out of nowhere and bumped into him. She was carrying a whole horde of manga books, and they all fell when the two of them collided.
"Sorry, sorry.. I didn't mean to.." The girl spoke, her voice a little similar to Tenshi, except she had a cheerful tone while Tenshi's practically emotionless.
"Ah, no.. its my fault for standing in the middle of the hallway." Otonashi crouched down and helped the girl, picking up the mangas and stacking them on top of one another, "Let me help you. Its gotta be heavy carrying all these by yourself, right?"
"Umm.. well.. if its not too much trouble.." The girl held up the others , pressing it against her chest, "Umm.. my room's.. in the girl's dorm.. so.."
"Ah, no sweat." Otonashi said with a smile, right before he noticed the similar hair color they shared. Even though it wasn't anything special, she was still the first girl he'd seen with the same hair color as him in this afterlife school so far. "I've been in Yurippe's room too many times to count. So ah, if you don't mind, I could help you put it outside your room, so I don't really have to go in."
"Its not that.. really its not.. its just.." The girl's face flushed red when she heard him say that he's been in a girl's room that many times. She's read enough mangas to know what guys tend to do in those situations. Was he going to do the same thing to her if he gets the chance? "Oh dear God.."
"Huh? What's God got to do with this?" Otonashi started walking forward. Since he already said it out, he wasn't going to pretend that he didn't know the way to the girl's dormitory. Still, he thought, what a strange NPC this girl is.
"N.. Nothing. Sorry, sorry.." The girl apologized frequently, even though there was nothing wrong. Once again, her voice reminded Otonashi of the Student Council President, but he wonders if Tenshi ever apologized to anyone about anything. She certainly didn't apologize to him after stabbing him with that thing growing out of her hand.
After arriving at the front of the girl's room, Otonashi sat the books down and heaved a sigh of relief. Even though those were just mangas, they were heavy as two tonnes of rocks put into a bag. I can't shoot a gun well enough, I'm probably out of shape, I'll probably be nothing more than a nuisance to Yurippe, Hinata and the others, he thought.
"Umm.." The girl fished a pair of keys from her pocket and unlocked the door to her room, even though she was nervous, she wanted to thank him for carrying her mangas all the way to her room, "Would you like to.. umm.. come in.. for tea?"
"You sure its okay?" Otonashi scratched the back of his head, "I don't wanna invade your privacy or anything, plus, its pretty late."
"Only if you want to.. I mean.. Its okay.. with me." Her face flushed once more. Something about her tells Otonashi that she didn't speak to boys all that much. But then again, she's an NPC just like most of the school.
Since Otonashi had already helped the girl take all her mangas to her room, he wouldn't be surprised if her room was filled with it. But what shocked him was..
"Its completely normal.."
"Huh?" The girl opened her closet and started arranging the mangas, sorting them by name and volume, then neatly placing them inside. "What.. do you mean?"
"Your room." Otonashi sat down on the cusion right beside the table and crossed his legs, "I half expected you to have all those posters and figurines and other stuff."
"They don't have it here.. " She continued her arranging, but stopped halfway after thinking that she should go make the tea first.
Every room was pretty much the same in the afterlife school. Thoguh there are some rooms with a single bed instead of a double decker one. There's a tiny kitchen in between the door and the sleeping area, complete with a mini refrigerator. There's a lounging area just beside the bed, and a reading desk, filled with text books and writing utensils. One could also get a laptop if they appealed to the Student Council President. Usually, one would be paired up with a roommate, but there are some people who prefer staying alone. Even Yurippe once told Otonashi that she kicked her roommate out because she was too boring and annoying.
Even if the thought of staying with an NPC weirded him out, Otonashi didn't have the heart to kick his roommate out like Yurippe did.
"Here, tea's ready." The girl held the small tea pot by its handle and placed a cloth below it before putting it down on the table. Then, she grabbed two cups, washing them before walking back to Otonashi, sitting across from him, pouring the light green tea into the cups.
"You know, you don't seem like a normal NPC.." Otonashi thought, but inadvertantly spoke out loud. Once he realized, he immediately apologized, "Sorry, sorry. What I meant to say was.. if you like, you should join the SSS. Its just a hunch, but I think you'd enjoy it there. There's lots of fun people.. they're always willing to help me out, even when there's lots of things I'm bad at."
Otonashi went on and on about this group. The girl had no idea that such a thing existed, since its not listed in the extra curricular activities, but she listened anyway. From what he had explained, the group seemed like a fun place to be.
"There's Yurippe, the always strong hearted leader of the group, but don't ever cross her though. I've heard that she gives really, really extreme punishments for people who fail her orders." Otonashi laughed lightly, "But I'm sure its just a rumor. Oh yeah, there's Hinata. The goofy guy who always manages to make me smile, even when I'm having a bad day. I'm sure you've heard of the band Girls Dead Monster as well. They're a part of our so called 'diversion squad'. There are others too.."
Shinda Sekai Sensen.. The Afterlife Battlefront, she thought. It might be a fun place to join, but she just wanted a normal school life. After all, that's what she truly desired, even if she had no memories of her past before she came here, just a short scene of her saying, 'Thank you', surrounded by lights.
Otonashi went on the explain about the SSS as a group. Turns out they formed it awhile ago to rebel against God. The girl didn't know why they wanted to do that, but it seemed like they have their own reasons.
"I don't think I'm.. fit to rebel against God.. though.." The girl said timidly, keeping her voice low, afraid that God himself would overhear her talking about a rebellion, "I mean.. I'm happy.. I'm really happy that God gave me this chance.. to be here."
Otonashi did not expect those words, but when he really thought about it, it was true. He was really glad to have met the SSS members and became friends with them. If he hadn't, he wouldn't know what to do in this world. Plus, its not like he has anything against God or whatever, he just wanted to find a place where he belonged. And that was the Afterlife Battlefront.
"I'm sorry.. really really sorry.. if I offended your group.." The girl humbly apologized, even going as far as bowing her head in shame, "I'm really, really really sorry.."
"Its okay! Honestly!" Otonashi leaned over the table and patted her shoulders, "What you said was partly true as well. Rebelling against God is the Battlefront's main focus.. but that's not all we do. We have fun, we play sports.. we slack around.. its like anything any other high school student would do."
The girl nodded, holding back the urge to apologize once more. She took a sip of her warm tea and sighed, Its the first time she's ever had anyone over to her room for tea. Heck, its the first time she's had anyone over for anything, for that matter.
"Its a little late, I might have to go now. I don't wanna get Tenshi angry." Otonashi mumbled, finishing the rest of his tea before standing up.
"Al.. alright then.. it was nice talking to you." She smiled gently, and deep inside Otonashi's heart, something tingled. He recognized this smile. "Thank you for helping me earlier, really.. thank you."
"You sound.. familiar." Otonashi headed towards the door, "Nah.. I'm just a little tired. By the way, I'm Otonashi. I can't remember my first name.. so its all anyone can call me for now."
"Hmm.. that's.. weird." The girl opened the door and helped Otonashi out before formally greeting him, "I don't remember my last name, but my first name is Hatsune. It was really nice talking to you, Otonashi-kun. I hope we can meet again sometime!"