"She was just average. She had no special skill. She was just a normal teenager. Her destiny however changed one day after accidentally stomping in someone at the mall. [Shoujo-ai / Yuri / Yui x female OC]"

I know that the summary sucks. I'm bad at these. Anyway, I do not own any Anime/Manga/Game mentioned here except for the OC.

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Chapter 1: Fateful encounter

"Sorry miss!" The man at the counter handed over a paper.

I let go of a sigh while taking the mark that I failed another exam. Despite having a mix feeling of sadness and anger, I tried my best to smile, even if it was only half-heartedly. "Thank you, sir!" After bowing at the other members of the staff, I excused myself and walked out of the small building.

I couldn't help another sigh to escape my lips as I watched the dark sky. It was rather cold and my body knew it more than well as it started to shake lightly. I took my small handbag and took the scarf and a pair of gloves from it before putting them on.

It was still cold though. These weren't enough as the millions of snow falling from the sky was a mark of the low temperature. The morning news said that that day would be snowy and the average temperature would be around minus 10 degree Celsius.

After spending a couple of minute standing in front of the small call center office – where I did an exam to get a part-time job, but failed, - I finally decided to step forward and walked my way home. It was rather late; 18:30 according to my wristlock. The district I decided to go was rather a busy one, but calmer than the average towns. It was still busy in my opinion.

As I was about to cross the road to go to the other side, the wind suddenly blown, putting my shoulder-length curly brown hair in a mess. 'Jeez!' I cursed my bad luck as I missed my chance to cross. The light has turned into red and I had to wait 40 seconds before it would turn green again so I could resume my walking.

Well… To be honest, there was nothing to rush home by the way. It wasn't as if I had someone who would wait for me…

Thinking about that brought a single tear in my left eye, but quickly whipped it away as I remembered that I was still in public. 'I shall not show my weakness to the others…' Father always told me to be strong no matter what happened. He said that this world was cruel and one has to fight hard to survive. He concluded saying to never show my tears in front of the others.

The light turned green once again and I decided to walk forward. It has turned darker than earlier and my body was telling me that it has turned colder. I had to hurry and get home. At least, I found a reason to walk faster.

As I passed in front of a mall, I suddenly remembered something. 'The fridge is empty… I have to buy some instant ramen.'

After taking a small glance at my remaining allowance, I put it back on my pocket and processed into the store. It was rather crowded at that time, and that made me somehow anxious.

As long as I could remember, I was always a social awkward. I was the shy and ill girl most of the time, from back to middle school until now that I am an University student. I couldn't stand to be around lot of people I didn't know.

I didn't waste any more minute and decided to go to the food section. After picking few packs of instant ramen, few eggs and a bottle of milk, I decided that I had enough.

Since there was lot of people around, I accidentally stomped into someone. I took one step back and saw a pinkish brown-haired woman who has turned toward me. She didn't seem angry at first look, but I didn't want to try and innerve her.

"A-ano…" I bowed my head. "I'm sorry!"

"It's alright!" By the tone of her voice, she was not mad. I was glad and lifted my head to see a familiar smile on her face.

Her lips were curled from few millimeter; her eyes slightly narrower than it should be normally; bright pair of orbs dulled by the different shades of drama in life. I knew it more than well… It was a sad half-hearted smile.

I was used to seeing that kind of smile on Mother, Father or my sisters' face every time a hard problem would arise – like when Father was fired from his job, when Mother was caught in a car accident and got hospitalized, when my older sister lost her baby, or when I first failed my high school entrance exam. It pained me to see such facial expression. My heart ached to the only thought of seeing such sad expression on someone.

"You don't have to worry about it!" The woman's smile persisted on her face.

I knew that she was suffering. By the look of her eyes were still magnificently glowing of hope while her lips were dry from angst, and my experiences in the domain, I bed she has lost someone really close to her, or was about o.

As the woman wearing a big brown coat over what looked like sky blue one-piece dress was about to turn at the other side, I quickly walked beside her. "I-if it's okay with you… m-may I bring your basket?"

It was unlike me to volunteer and help someone, but seeing the somehow difficulties she had lifting the filled-with-things basket forced a strong feeling inside of me. The fact of knowing that she was in a difficult phase in life added more foil to that feeling. I couldn't just stand her and watch her while I could help her.

"Thank you!" She smiled back at me as I took one of the heavy basked from her.

'It's heavy…' I thought as I took the charged basket. According to my intuition, I bet that it weighted more than 15 kilograms. 'And yet she brought two of these earlier…'

As we arrived at the paying counter, I allowed the woman to go before me. She gladly accepted and paid. She however didn't get out yet after putting all the things she bought inside many plastic bags. She turned to me. "Thank you for your help!"

"You're welcome!"

She took all the bags, but I could see that she had difficulties bringing them all since there were at least 8 filled bags. The feeling in my chest from earlier ragged again and I quickly walked toward her, grabbing half of the bags, ignoring my own stuffs.

The woman gave me a confused look, but I just gathered all my strength to smile at her as honestly as I could. "I will walk you home!"

"But…" She was about to counter, but I was already walking toward the exit. "What about your things?"

"Do not worry, Madam!" We walked out of the mall. It was mainly me leading the way out and her following me reluctantly. "I could always buy these any other time. There is no need for me to buy them for now. I guess that helping you is prior." I lied.

She was still giving me a sad look, but I did my best to smile at her. "But… It is late and I live rather far. I would feel bad if you get home late."

"So, where do you live?" I asked casually, as if it was the most normal question in the world. I got a plan in head and hopefully, it would works.

"Pardon?"

"I asked where you live. Maybe it's on my way, so I could help you carry these until we get into an intersection or something like that."

She was still reluctant by the way her eyes were looking at me, but she somehow trusted me, or at least gave me the benefit of doubt. "We live just near the football field at the east. It's about quarter a kilometer from here."

"That's great!" It was the second step of my plan. "I live nearby as well! Since we share the same way back, how about I help you carry these?"

She was still reluctant. "…"

"Do not worry, Madam! I am not a bad person! I am not going to do anything to you. I just want to be helpful since it's my way home as well." Part of what I said was a lie, like the fact of leaving nearby. The truth was that my apartment was located at the opposite said of the town. The fat of wanting to be helpful thought was true. I couldn't just let her walk away with that many weight to carry.

"No! I didn't mean that you are a bad person…" She bowed her head in apology. "I was just worried that your parents might get mad if you get home late. Plus, I don't want to bother you."

"There's nothing to worry about! I am still earlier than expected. I was only supposed to get home by 20:00, so why not? And like I said, it's on my way home."

"Oh… Thank you!" She bowed her head once again, but this time for emphasizing her thanking.

After that, we walked toward the east. We didn't speak that much, we just walked peacefully until we arrived in front of a plain house.

The woman took her key and unlocked the door. She pushed the door open and moved to the side before eying me. "Come in!" she said in her gentle tone.

I just muttered a small "Sorry for the intrusion" and walked in. After taking my pair of plain white shoes, I stepped further into the hallway, the woman following from behind after closing the door. We soon arrived at a small kitchen and placed the bags at the counter.

"Thank you once again for your help!" She then turned around for a couple of seconds. "If you are would like, how about having a little snack? I have to properly thank you."

"You are too kind, Madam, but I…" The growling of my stomach stopped me from finishing that statement. My face turned red from embarrassment as I realized how shameful my action was. Sure, it wasn't directly my fault, but I had to admit that I indeed made a mistake. 'I forgot that I skipped lunch… Oh, man… I am so embarrassed…'

The woman looked slightly surprised at the sound, but suddenly caught up with the facts. She just smiled. "I take it as a yes!" She started taking the ingredients out of few bags put them inside a container. "Is there anything you are allergic to?"

Deciding to admit defeat and to accept her offer, I just let go of a sigh. "I am allergic to seafood, banana, animal fur and dust."

I bed that I heard her giggle. I couldn't help but to giggle back. I was happy to see that I could at least make her laugh. "All right! You can relax at the living room while I will take care of these."

After nodding my head, I walked toward the direction that she pointed and entered another room with a couch facing the TV, few shelves near the wall, a table, few desks containing picture frames, and a young girl sitting on a wheeling chair.

I stuttered as I saw her. I wasn't expecting to meet someone there, but quickly regained my composure. It looked like the pink-haired girl was still too engrossed in watching the TV and hasn't seen me enter.

After taking a deep breath, I walked in and she turned her eyes in my direction. That was when I realized how cute she was.

The girl was about in her 14s or 15s according to her look. She had rather long silky pink hair and was wearing a cute pink pajama. By the look of her eyes, I concluded that she was gravely ill. That was when I realized where the woman's sadness came from. 'She must be her daughter…'

The pink-haired girl kind of reminded me of the heroine of a visual novel I used to play back in my third year in high school. After another look at her, I came to the conclusion that maybe she got into an accident.

Some might wonder why I was this perspective… The answer is simple. It was all due to a painful childhood. Since I was weaker than the others, I spent most of my time watching the other while I just sat at the side, in the shadow. I've come to love books later on and my favorite was a book that talked about psychology. I was a picky person thought and only read metaphysical, moral-orientation, philosophy and religion analysis books. Unlike the others, I hated romance and drama novels. I had enough angst, drama and tragedy in my life and didn't want to add more problems into it.

"H-hello!" I greeted shyly and bowed at her. I didn't know how I should act around her. I never talked to teenager before. The only few people I only talked with were only the members of my families and few person I had business with. I wasn't the kind of person who would initiate a talk to befriend someone.

"Hello!" She replied and smiled. That smile was pure and innocent, to the point of making my heart beat faster. It was the first time that I felt such sensation. I felt warmth within my cold and wounded heart.

"A-ano… My name is Kohinata Yume! It's a pleasure to meet you!" I stuttered. I was never get used to introducing myself. My name wasn't fitting me for the least… Firstly because I was a pacifist and always unsure girl... My name was written in the same kanji as "Dream of the sun's child". I had mostly no objective in life and I was always hiding in the shadow. That name sure didn't fit me.

The young girl however was still smiling at me. "Nice to meet you, Yume-chan! My name is Yui! Let's be friend!"

I felt a jolt of electricity resonating within me, followed by many waves of happiness. That was the first time that I felt like this. 'It's the first time someone added the suffix 'chan' in my name…'

I returned the smile and walked beside her and sat on a pliable chair. "S-so, what are you watching, Yui-chan?" I decided to play alongside.

"Wrestling!" She replied and turned her attention back at the screen. "The battle today is very promising…" She continued to explain, but for some odd reason, none of what she said was taken by my mind.

I just smiled as she happily commented at the screen while occasionally took a glance at me. That day, I knew that something changed within me… I knew that something good was going to happen… I knew that something tragic will follow… I knew that…

I realized it! I knew that I was always into girls since in middle school. I would have peeked at some of the girls while changing or would try to get closer to them, but in vain. I was never interested in boys. I didn't know why, but it's just like it.

I've come to the term many times… but I never had the courage to admit it… but now, I couldn't deny it more. The way my heart beat weirdly, my breathings heavy and this feeling of wanting to stay closer to the girl was forcing me to admit it…

…I found a liking in her…

…It was love at first sigh…

I was curious for the first time in years… I was curious to find more about her. I was sure that she would be able to fill the emptiness within me. She was the first person who smiled honestly at me… She was the first person to call me in such friendly way… She was the first person to openly talk to me about her passion.

I turned my attention at the screen after admitting these. Even though I didn't know anything about wrestling, I somehow got interested in it. 'What is this feeling? It makes me so happy… I can't get enough of this… I want it to least as long as possible…'

A couple of minute later, Yui's mother entered the room, a plate filled with sweets in hand. "Who want some cookies?"

"Yeah! Mama's cookies are the best!" The pink-haired girl cheered.

The woman looked at me with expectation. "Here! Take some as well!"

"Yes!" For the first time in my life, I smile honestly. It wasn't forced at all… It just came naturally. I felt so comforted at that time that I let my emotions taking over me. "Thank you, Mama!"

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A/N: So, this is my first Angel Beats normal story. By 'normal', I mean something that isn't a crossover. Anyway, I wrote this after a long dream I had and the idea just came and haunted me for days.

I hope to see you again, people. I have no planed date yet, but I will try to update as frequent as I could…

With that, I wish you all a good day!