Warning: Based on the assumption that the reader has finished the entire game. If not, then a large portion of this will make little to no sense.
"All of you? Is there no one here who wants to live?" Silence. The man frowned. There was no way the crowd would simply hand over Akane. Would he go so far as to slaughter them to retrieve her? He'd already betrayed every single one of his comrades for the sake of the path forward; what was one more set of bodies to his bloodied hands?
The crowd murmured and jostled as a small figure pushed her way past the sea of people to stand in front of the man. There. Akane was right there, just within his grasp. The adults at the front of the crowd made to grab ahold of the child. The man shouted and readied his blade, scarcely able to decipher his own words. His words were met by the harsh determination of the crowd.
"We're going to give this girl peace! She is our holy woman!"
"Don't fuck with me! If you want to die so badly, don't take everybody down with you!" He shoved past the man and rushed through the crowd. Reaching the girl, he grabbed her and held her close as he waded his way back. But an arm latched onto him, joined by another, and yet more as the crowd attempted to hold him in place. Strong as he was, even he would eventually be overpowered by their combined strength.
The gate began to close, and with it the final link to the real world.
"Let us go! I… we… we haven't given up on life yet!" A raw, primal scream ripped through the air. Whether it was himself, Akane, or one of the crowd, he was unsure. Suddenly, the man was pitched forward by an unseen force. As he fell through the gate the man twisted around to find the source of his salvation.
He saw the faces of—
Koutarou jolted awake in his chair, nearly tipping himself over in the process. Nursing the red welt forming on his head, he glared at his attacker. "Nishikujou. Was that really necessary?" The accused party merely rested a hand upon her cheek and smiled innocently, other hand still gripping the offending ruler and not even bothering to hide her guilt.
"Oh my, it seems that the dunce of the class has finally woken up." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, the smile dropping from her face and her tone regaining some of its usual ice. "Why are you here?" She gestured at their surroundings. By this point classes were over for the day, but that was no excuse to find her "coworker" sprawled across a library desk asleep.
Koutarou waved away the question nonchalantly, letting out a yawn and stretching leisurely. It was odd, in a way. Had he not taken Esaka's offer to join Guardian those years ago, this uniform would have felt so natural on him it may well have been his second skin. He was beginning to regret taking his small no-name section of the forest rather than Kazamatsuri High in claiming a district to monitor.
"Taking a nap. What does it look like? As long as I dress up like one of your students it'll be fine." The woman brandished the ruler in her hand. Koutarou shivered despite himself, but continued nonetheless, "You're going to try the 'Catholic school teacher' act now, huh? I suppose it actually kind of suits you." He dodged the punch directed toward his face as the woman's eyes burned holes in him.
Then again, perhaps it was for the best Nishikujou had been posted here instead. It was at this school that the woman, once a gloomy and isolated girl, seemed to be finally growing into her own skin. Nowadays she could actually smile, a feat from her that Koutarou could count on his hands prior to leaving the country.
Touka maintained her glare a moment longer before giving up, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Well, what's done is done I suppose. So really, why are you here? You should be out patrolling the forests right now." When her question was met with an impudent grin she briefly entertained the thought of taking one of her real knives and using Koutarou as target practice.
"My neck of the woods is boring, as usual. Nothing has happened the past three months, and I sincerely doubt there ever will be. Figured I may as well hang out somewhere more interesting, so why not bother my favorite knife nut?" This time he was forced to duck his head in response to the ruler she threw at his head, sharpened by Nishikujou to be nearly as lethal as the knives she used in battle. Eager to avoid a third attack, he diverted her attention.
"So are you still going to meet Imamiya at the restaurant later? It's his turn to treat us, after all." She softened slightly and nodded at this, much to Koutarou's delight. Since they had all reunited following Koutarou's return to Japan, it had become something of a routine for them to meet every few days to simply relax and socialize a little.
"Ah, about that! I have a surprise for you two today. I'm sure you guys will love h— it!" Koutarou furrowed his eyebrows at her fumble but decided to drop the issue; he would find out anyway later.
"Looking forward to it, I guess. Unless it's your music again. If that's the case then I must gratefully decline your generous offer, ma'am." For a moment he readied himself for another blow, but relaxed when she merely smiled back at him. It seems she had decided to return to her schoolteacher persona.
"Again with that? I truly pity you and Imamiya. How can you not see the beauty of enka?" She spun on her heels and made her way toward the doors, signaling the end of the conversation. "Well it's no matter, I'm sure you'll like this surprise much more than the last."
As she pushed the door open and exited, Koutarou glimpsed a short head of blonde hair and one wide blue eye peeking through the doorway, shifting her eyes between Koutarou and his teammate. When she noticed his gaze on her, she let out a quiet yelp and quickly retreated. The door clicked shut and Koutarou was left alone at his seat, looking for all the world like an ordinary student enjoying a quiet afternoon in the school library.
The man couldn't help but smile, laying his head back down on the desk. Once upon a time they had been nothing but a collection of individuals forced together by their ineptitude, the gaps between each of them so wide that calling them a team was almost laughable. The ties holding them together were fragile at best, brittle as an eggshell and liable to shatter at the slightest provocation.
But time, it seemed, had done much to them. Imamiya had grown into a strong, capable leader, if a bit hotheaded at times; a far cry from the brash, blustering boy he remembered tearing through the training fields in an effort to prove himself. Nishikujou appeared to have finally put her past behind her, as she could now smile. Gone was the girl desperate to prove herself in her own mind and to others, replaced by a confident young woman with a spine of steel and the weapons to match it.
As for himself, he finally had friends. Friends. In the past he might have objected to such meaningless things or found them boring, but at some point he had grown to realize he enjoyed his time with the other two. He was happy for once in his life. And that was enough for him.
Notes: And that's that. If you've read this far, thanks for reading. This was my first time attempting any kind of creative story outside of school assignments, and I feel that inexperience shows. As a science major writing was never my strong point, but I just felt like this was a universe someone had into delve into after finishing Rewrite: a universe where things turned out all right. A little cheesy but hey, if Muv Luv gets an Altered Fable universe then why not these guys as well?
In retrospect the result could have turned out much better, had I bothered to put in real work such as researching the game's timeline, or perhaps sitting down for more than an hour or two to scribble something down at 2 in the morning. Hell, maybe I should've actually done some proofreading. But regardless, at the very least I enjoyed trying. As for continuing, who knows? I sure don't.