Thank You

She took in the sight of the trees, all lit up around her. She could hear her brother's heartbeat as she laid her head against his back, concentrating on his voice as he told her about his plans. She felt her eyes grow heavy as she fought to stay awake and listen to him. He had done everything for her, even sneaking her out of her hospital room in order to see this. She didn't want to miss any of it. As he talked about buying her whatever she wanted, all she could do was think on the irony that what she wanted right now was for this moment to last forever.

"Bro..." she trailed off. He stopped walking and turned his head back a bit toward her. He did everything for her. He put his life on hold to spend time with her after their parents died. He put his life on hold because she got sick. He did everything he could to try and keep her spirits up. All she offered in return was to force him to waste his life.

"...thank you..." she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. He continued to walk again, talking about a reservation as she looked once again at the trees all lit up around her. They started to become blurry before everything faded away to black. All the noise around her faded away as well until the only sound she could hear was her brother's heartbeat. That, too, faded away.

She opened her eyes after what felt like a moment, to find herself sitting at a desk in a classroom. She looked around, confusion quickly becoming the only expression on her face.

"Otonashi!" the teacher yelled out, causing her to look forward.

"Y...yes?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Wh...what ha...I was just..." she stammered. Only a moment before, she was on her brother's back at night on Christmas Eve.

"I wish your bunch would stop with these jokes." he said, turning back toward the blackboard. "They get old fast."

Without thinking, she jumped up and ran out of the class, ignoring the teacher yelling at her to come back and sit down. She ran down the hallway, seeing the complete lack of snow on the ground outside. She felt panic start to set in as she ran down the central staircase and out the doors to the grounds. It was warm outside, not at all like the cold winter she knew it was.

"What's going on here!?" she yelled.

No one answered her.

One Year Later

She lay on the hospital bed, listening as her parents and the doctor talked with each other. She tried to ignore the television playing in the background, talking about the recent cave-in of a train tunnel. They were saying it was miracle that anyone had survived, let alone a large group. Many more had died, though, including the eighteen year-old leader of the group. She had enough of hearing about death. For her, it had been like this for the past two years, ever since they had diagnosed her. They did their best to not say anything around her, but she was still able to piece two and two together.

"Tachibana-san." the doctor said, getting her to turn away from the television and look at him. "We know you do not like it when we discuss things without you. However, this time is different. We have a donor for you."

"A donor?" she asked, her face and voice impassive.

"Yes." he affirmed. "The young man who was the leader of the group of survivors from the train accident." he said, nodding toward the television. "The blood-work matches perfectly. We'll be taking you in to surgery sometime within the hour. Now, there are a few things you need to be aware of, and I'll need you to sign off on them, as well as have one of your parents do-"

"What was his name?" she asked, cutting him off and causing him to pause.

"Otonashi." he said, looking down at a file. "Otonashi Yuzuru."

She turned to look back at the television as the once again showed interviews with the survivors, all of whom were praising the young man. They showed a picture of him from his college testing application, and she looked into the eyes of the person who had given her life.

"Thank you, Otonashi Yuzuru." she whispered softly.

Two Years Later

It wasn't supposed to end like this. She felt it becoming harder and harder to breathe as the loud explosions of gunshots went off around her. She couldn't move as the pool of red that surrounded her grew larger and larger. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to have her life end like this. Not after the promises she had made to herself. Not after finding out that her savior had been studying to become a doctor. Not after she had promised him she would become one in his stead for giving her his heart. She wasn't supposed to die on the ground, shot to death during a bank robbery.

Her arms and legs were already numb, no longer able to feel anything. Someone stepped on her hand, crushing it in their mad dash to escape and all she felt was nothing. She couldn't even hear the bones crack. All she could use to tell the bones were crushed was her quickly fading vision. As her vision turned black, she felt a lone tear fall from her eye, the last thing she felt. The gift her savior had given her was wasted, lost because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She couldn't even thank him for giving her two extra years of life.

She opened her eyes after a moment, only to find herself sitting at a desk inside a dorm room. She blinked a few times before looking around. She didn't know where she was, nor how she got there. The last thing she remembered was lying on the ground with bullet holes all over her, and now she was in a dorm room.

A person lying on one of the beds caught her eye. She appeared to be asleep, possibly napping due to the time of day. She slowly got up and walked over to her, hoping to not scare her to badly. She sat up quickly before she reached her, and their eyes met.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, scooting back. "What are you doing here?

"My name is Tachibana Kanade." she said, sitting back down on the desk chair. "A moment ago, I was lying on the ground after being shot in a bank robbery. Now I'm here."

"So...this place really is the afterlife." the girl replied, leaning against the wall. She turned her head to look out the window. "I knew it was, though I really didn't want to believe it."

"Who are you?" Kanade asked, getting the girl to look at her. "How long have you been here?"

"I'm Otonashi Hatsune." she replied, getting Kanade to gasp. "What?"

"Are you by chance related to a Otonashi Yuzuru?"

"You know my brother?" she asked, leaning forward. "Are you in school with him? Is he alright? Please tell me he's alright!"

"He..." she trailed off. "He died in a train accident, two years ago." she said, getting Hatsune to lean back.

"Two years ago?" she asked, leaning back again. "I've only been here a week, though."

"What?"

"He was alive when I died." she said, shaking her head. "I guess there must be someone else with the same name as him, then."

"His family grave, though, had a sister named Hatsune on it." Kanade said, getting her to look up in shock. "It said she died Christmas Eve a little over three years ago."

"It can't be..." she said, trailing off. She stayed sitting in silence for a moment before looking up at her. "How did you know my brother?"

"Right before he died, he signed his donor card." Kanade answered, turning to look out the window herself. "The survivors of the train accident say he took it upon himself to act as the leader. He tended to the injured and did his best to administer first-aid to those who needed it. He sacrificed his own share of water when one of the survivors wasted it while trying to steal it. He was studying to become a doctor, and was even given the title of one posthumously due to his actions."

"My brother was trying to become a doctor?" Hatsune asked, causing Kanade to turn to look at her.

"Yes." she replied. "Even in his last moments, he set himself up as an organ donor. I was given his heart." she said, placing her hand on her chest. "Ever since that day, I had promised to carry on his will. I was going to become a doctor in his honor, just like a few of the other survivors had decided. At least, until I was shot."

"So...his life wasn't wasted?"

"They say once everyone who knows of a person dies, they cease to exist. Sometimes, though, you have those rare people who's actions will allow their memories to exist long past the deaths of people who know them." Kanade said, looking down at her hands for a moment. She looked back up and looked Hatsune in the eyes after that moment. "Yuzuru's memory will go on forever as a hero and a selfless man."

"I'm so glad." Hatsune said, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "I was afraid I had caused him to waste his life. He put everything on hold because of me. He could never get a decent job because he was constantly caring for me. He could never concentrate on school because he had to be there for me. He even spent his spare money he had after paying for food on me, buying me manga so I could have something to read."

"He sounds like a good brother." Kanade said.

"The best." Hatsune replied. She looked down at her hands for a moment before looking back up at Kanade. "You say my brother's heart is inside of you right now?"

"Yes."

"Can I...listen to it for a moment?" she asked, getting Kanade to tilt her head slightly. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to decide if she should. After a moment, she decided to allow the sister of the man who allowed her to live a few more years this one boon.

"Yes."

"Thank you." Hatsune said, moving over. She knelt down in front of Kanade and put her head against her chest. She could hear the heartbeat, and knew almost instantly that it was her brother's heart. She would never be able to explain how she knew, only that she did. She closed her eyes and smiled softly while tears continued to fall from her still closed eyes.

"Bro...thank you..." she said softly, listening to the heartbeat.

Kanade looked down, trying to keep her breathing in check. Slowly, she reached her hand out, pushing it through the space that Hatsune had been in only moments before. She took a deep breath before standing up, her legs shaking.

"She...what...?"

Otonashi Hatsune had disappeared.

Some Time Later

It was night. Once again, the "Not-Dead-Yet Battlefront" had beaten her to the new soul. She knew the moment she lost the homing device to their leader would be the biggest problem for her. It was child's play to make a new one, especially with Angel Player, but she had yet to find a way to destroy the one they stole.

She looked up as the new soul walked toward her, something that occasionally happened, only to be struck with shock. Not since she was killed in the real world was she unable to move.

It was him.

Otonashi Yuzuru.

-End-

AN: I planned to post this on Christmas Eve last year, only to have my sister tell me during a conversation we had at lunch the day before that Hatsune's biggest regret was her inability to go to school, thus she would have probably disappeared after a day or so if she ended up there. After re-watching the episode, I tend to agree with her. I considered changing it. But, seeing as I'm not Maeda-sensei, this is fan fiction. I can change little things to my liking and have them still "work" to a point. If you don't like it because it's short, I'll again point you to the line stating I'm not Maeda-sensei. I'm not paid to write this. The bit about ceasing to exist once everyone who knows you dies comes from Blood+ and just seemed to work with story of Otonashi Yuzuru.