I'm dead.
I don't know how, but I am.
But seriously, where the heck am I?
A few posters saying things like Girls Demo and stuff that always ends in –Battlefront line some of the walls.
I look down. I'm wearing a school uniform?
A school?
In the afterlife?
How did I die, anyway?
Clutching my head, trying to stop a headache, I collapse on the floor.
When I awake, there are several other people there.
"I hate being dead." I hear someone say.
A guy. I know that, but I don't know who it is.
"Better than being a barnacle!" a girl singsongs.
The guy has messy dark brown hair, glasses, and is wearing a school uniform, kind of like the one that I'm in, but probably the guy version of it. He's scowling. The girl has high purple pigtails, bright pink lipstick, and is wearing something like my uniform, but it's ripped.
"It's your fault." The guy rolls his eyes. "You're the one that crashed the car."
The girl shrugs, and then notices me. "I'm Mika!" she smiles, offering her hand.
I grab it, pulling myself up from the corner of the room I had collapsed in.
"Takeshi." The guy says. "Mika's older brother."
"How did you die?" Mika cheerfully asks.
"I don't know," I admit.
"Great, another person with amnesia." Someone says.
I whip around my head. It's a girl with pomegranate pink hair, layers of dark eyeliner, and the uniform. "Was it suicide?" she asks. "'Cause that's how I ended up here."
"Ignore Kaito. She has depression issues." Mika says, rolling her eyes.
"If I could find away to kill myself in this world, I would," Kaito says.
"I told you, Kaito, you can, but then you'll be reincarnated as a barnacle or something!" Mika sighs.
"We're the Dead Battlefront. At least we are now, it changes. A lot!" Mika explains. "There were people here before us. They started this thing, fighting against someone named Angel."
"Who's Angel?" I ask.
Mika shrugs. "No idea."
"Well, that was helpful," Kaito says.
"Shut up, Kai." Takeshi scowls.
"So, we're continuing that. We're also going to fight against Angel," Mika smiles. "You're joining Dead Battlefront, right?" she optimistically asks.
I shrug. "Sure. I mean, what else am I supposed to do?"
"Exactly. Well, you could be reborn as a barnacle like Kaito, if you want," Mika laughs.
"Anything else she needs to know?" another guy asks. He's lounging on one of the couches. I hadn't noticed him before.
"Don't pay any attention in class or anything. Try not to be involved at the school. Oh, and Takeshi likes Kaito!" Mika grins.
Takeshi turns bright red. "Don't."
"Yeah… you so do." Another girl says. She's sitting on the couch next to the other guy. "I'm Aki. This is Koji. Hiding in the corner with Kaito is Haru and Kyo. Don't pay much attention to them; after all they chose to be here. Ami, Aya, and Shiori are the giggling girls clustered near the door. Yuki, Midori, Ryu, Satoshi, and Taiki aren't here right now, but they're part of the group."
Wow. That's a lot of people.
Aki has long, straight, brown hair and for some reason, is wearing the boy's uniform- or what I assumed was the boy's uniform- with a tank top. Koji's messy green hair was falling into his eyes. Haru and Kyo both looked gothic and depressed. Ami, Aya, and Shiori looked like they had on way too much lip gloss and were wearing several bracelets with their uniform.
Several people walked in. "That's Yuki." Aki pointed at a guy who was playing some video game. "Midori," Aki's pointing finger moved to a girl with headphones on and an iPod in her hand. "Satoshi, Ryu, and Taiki." Aki finally pointed at a trio of guys wearing jeans and sports jerseys instead of their uniform. "Don't forget, there's going to be a quiz on this!" Mika giggles.
I plop myself down on one of the couches that was occupied by Takeshi, Midori, and Taiki. "Where were you all last night?" I ask.
"In our dorms. Where else would we be?" Midori smiles, removing one earbud to talk to everyone.
"So this is a school?" I say, confused.
"No… it's the afterlife!" one of the giggling girls- Ami, Aya, or Shiori, but they honestly all look the same- informs me.
"Aya, you should know this by know, it's a school in the afterlife." Another giggling girl says.
"Where are the dorms?" I ask.
Koji gets up and grabs my wrist. "C'mon, I'll show you,"
He leads me to a building across the campus, drags me inside, and brings me to five rooms. "Stay in whichever you want," he says.
The first one's Aki, Mika, and Midori's room; the second one belongs to Takeshi, Taiki, and Ryu; the third room's Kyo, Kaito, and Hare's; the fourth Satoshi, Yuki, and Koji; the last Aya, Shiori, and Ami.
I sit down on the floor of Aki, Midori, and Mika's room. "I'll be staying here, I guess." I say. Koji nods.
"Do you know anything at all about your life?" he asks.
I shake my head. "I don't even know my name."
"Anything else?"
"Water."
"What?"
"Water. I loved water."
Koji looks really confused. "Everyone loves water…"
"No, I mean like, swimming. I think." I explain.
"There's a pool here."
I jolt up. "There is?"
"Yeah. I can show you sometime if you want."
I smile. "Thanks,"
"Yeah, of course."
Koji paused. "Can I call you Mizu?" he asks.
"Sure. Why, though?"
"It means water. And since you don't have a name…"
We walk back to the other room. Mika was in the middle of explaining some operation or something.
"Hey!" Koji yelps. "This is Mizu."
I wave. "Mizu?" Takeshi asks. "You were able to remember your name?"
"No, but that's what you can call me if you want." I say.
"I usually just call people you, but Mizu works too, I guess." Satoshi grins.
"Hey! Everyone? Operation Tornado, remember?" Mika waves.
"Shiori, Aya, and Ami- distraction." Mika says. They nod. "Satoshi, Yuki, Taiki, Midori, and I- keep Angel away. Mizu, want to join us?"
I nod.
"Okay. Mizu will be on our 'keep Angel away' squad. Everyone else, do whatever. Except for Takeshi and Haru. The two of you start the fans. Questions?"
I raise my hand. "What?"
"Um… what's Operation Tornado?" I hesitantly ask.
"We blow away the student's lunch tickets." Aki explains.
Seeing the look of confusion on my face, Midori pulls out an earbud to say "Girls Demo distracts. Fans blow away lunch tickets. We take them. The end."
"Simple operation," Aki says.
I'm still confused, but decide not to say anything.
Kaito gets up and tosses me a gun. "You'll need this," she says.
"What?"
"In case Angel comes." She explains.
"I thought that you didn't know who Angel was…"
"We don't. This operation's just a way to lure her to come out so we can kill her."
I stare at the gun. "Aren't we already dead?"
"Oh, yeah, right. We can't die."
To prove this, Kaito picks a gun and shoots herself in the head with it.
She falls down to the ground with blood sprouting from her head, but ten minutes later she's fine. "See?" she says.
I'm really confused know, but don't do anything.
Slowly, we march out of the room and into some sort of other room that would be typically found in a school. Aya, Shiori, and Ami- Girls Demo, Aki told me is the name of their band- get up onto the stage.
I race outside, clutching the gun, not really sure what to do.
A small girl walks up. "OMG, it's HER!" Mika screams.
"Who?" I yell. I can barely hear my thoughts over the sound on Girls Demo.
"ANGEL! WE FOUND HER!" Mika shrieks, while firing her gun.
"You sure?" Taiki asks.
"Yeah. I just… know. It's definitely Angel."
We all shoot at her, but the shots all bounce off of her.
We run, grabbing student's lunch tickets.
That night, I roll out an old sleeping bag onto the floor of Aki, Midori, and Mika's dorm.
Midori sits up, taking off her headphones. "Glad to have you here, Mizu." She smiles.
"Same. Without you, we wouldn't of found Angel."
"She might of still came anyway," Aki points out.
"No, it was Mizu. I'm sure of it." Mika says.
With that, I roll over and fall asleep.