Chapter 1

Afterlife Reborn

"Everything is blurry..."

Looking at the clock, I scratch my eyes and notice that it is 4:47 a.m.

"Only 2 hours and 13 minutes til I have to get up for school. I wonder if I'll have that dream again. Who knows... Time for sleep."

I yawn and bury my head into my pillow. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamt of many weird things. If only I can remember what they were when I wake up. Whenever I did wake up, I only remember vague images of gunfire and strangers. Although they're just dreams, they make me feel a type of fulfillment and love that I can't really explain.

(Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!)

"ugh... Stupid alarm..."

As I swing my arm to turn the alarm off, I try to remember my latest dream.

"Angel..."

Usually when I wake up, a certain word or words echoes in my head. Today it was 'Angel', the most common word. Yesterday it was 'Yurippe', although I don't understand what that word means, it makes me happy to hear it.

"Yuri! Are you up yet? You can't be late for your first day of high school!"

I hear my mother shout from the kitchen.

"I'm up already! I'll be ready soon."

I changed my clothes and head downstairs.

"I made you some scrambled eggs. Eat it fast or you'll be late." My mother says this as she is packing my lunch. "Don't forget to pick up your little sisters from grade school today."

"Don't worry, I won't forget"

I have 2 little sisters and a little brother. Saria, my first little sister, is 7 years old and Miu, my second little sister, is 6. Rin, my baby brother, is only 2 years old. Although they bug me sometimes, I love them with all my heart.

"Alright, bye mom!"

"Wait! Don't forget your lunch bag!" My mom yells, but I didn't hear her.

It takes about 15 minutes to get to school on foot. I don't mind it really, it gives me time to think about my dreams. Also, the scenery on the way to school is beautiful.

"Crap! I'm going to be late!"

Looking at my clock and realizing I'm late, I cut through the park.

"Mugen ni ikitai Mugen ni ikiraretara Subete kanau... "

[Translation: I want to live forever and if I could live forever everything would come true]

As I'm running, I hear the most elegant voice singing a song and playing a guitar in the park. When I turn to look, I see a girl with pinkish hair holding an acoustic guitar.

"Demoirun na mono ga atashi wo oikondeku
Ikiru nokori jikan Yume no zahyou Yukue"

[Translation: But everything I have keeps driving me
During the time I have left to live where can I find my dreams?]

For some reason, her music soothes me. The passion in her lyrics touches my heart and makes me think about my dreams. I wish I could stay here and listen to her music some more but I'm already late. As I run towards school, I look back and notice the girl looking me in the eyes with a smile on her face. I wonder if she knows me?

I just barely made it to class. Class starts as soon as I find an empty seat. The teacher begins to introduce himself and asks everyone in class to stand up and introduce themselves one by one. I just stare out the window, not really paying attention. Eventually its my turn.

" Hello. My name Yuri Nakamura. I'm 14 years old. Nice to meet you."

"Is there anything you want to share with the class?" The teacher asked.

"Not really.."

I say that as I sit back down. The introductions continue and I continue to stare out the window. Right as I am about to fall asleep from boredom, I hear a voice that sounds familiar for some strange reason.

"Ummmm... I'm not really sure what to say. I'm 15 years old. I play baseball in the baseball club in school. And umm... yeah that's all there really is to me."

His words make me feel somehow nostalgic. I feel as if I've heard these words before.

"We never caught your name young man", says the teacher.

"Oh right", the student says as he rubs the back of his head. "My name is Hideki Hinata, but just call me Hinata."

For some strange reason, that name made my heart beat fast. I can't explain why, but I feel like I need to talk to him.

"Okay thank you Hinata. Who's next?"

For the rest of the class I stare at this guy. Who is he? Why does he look familiar? Where have I met him? As the lesson continues, he falls asleep in class. When the bell rings for lunch, he wakes up and heads out of class. I try to catch him, but there are too many students in the way. When I finally get out the door, he's nowhere to be seen. I search the hallways, but I can't find him. Giving up hope, I decide to head to the cafeteria to buy some lunch since I left mine at home.

When I reach the cafeteria, the lines are packed with students. It takes me about 10 minutes to buy some bread. There aren't any solo tables. I look around and see a table with only a boy sitting there.

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" I ask.

"Ummm.. no." the boy says.

"Is it alright if I sit here then?"

"Sure no problem."

"Thanks."

As I sit there eating my bread, the boy goes back to eating his lunch. When I look up, I get a good look at his face. For some reason, he looks familiar to me. It's something about his purple hair that makes me wonder.

"Ummm excuse me, I'm sorry this is going to sound weird, but do I know you?" I ask.

"No. This is the first time I've ever seen a pretty girl like you."

"Thanks.. I guess. Hehehe" I say laughing awkwardly. This guy weirds me out, but he does look familiar to me.

"Seriously though. Have we ever met?" I ask.

"Seriously, we haven't", he assures me. "I would never forget a face like yours."

Okay, this guy is seriously giving me the creeps. I think I should go.

"Thanks for the compliments I guess, but I'm leaving now. I guess I'll see you around."

"WAIT!" He says loudly. "I'm sorry if I came out like a creep. What's your name?"

"Asking 'What's your name?' out of nowhere like that makes you seem like more of a creep."

"What!? Seriously!? Awwww dammit!" he yells vigorously.

As I walk away I turn and say, "My name's Yuri. Later Mr. Creeper!" I wave and walk away.

I hear him yell "I'm not a creeper! Don't just call me that!"

The rest of my classes flew by. Nothing important really happened. When school ended, I went to pick up my sisters from school.

"Hey onii-chan! Let's go to the park." My sisters ask me in sync.

"How come you guys want to go there?"

"I heard in school that there's this girl who sings at the park a lot. Rumors say that her voice is as smooth as the wind." Saria says.

"I heard her nickname is 'Cool Beauty' because of how pretty and talented she is!" says Miu.

"Cool Beauty..." Could they be talking about that girl I saw at the park earlier today? It would make sense if it was her. That girl was very talented. I did want to see her though. There was something I wanted to ask her.

"Okay! Let's go to the park!" I shout loudly.

"Really big sis!? Are you serious?" Saria asks.

"Of course I am! You've peeked my interest."

"Let's race there!" shouts Miu as she speeds off.

"Hey that's cheating! MIUUU!" Saria yells as she runs after her.

"H-Hey! Who said we were racing!? I don't want to run!" Dammit, now I have to run after them.

Once we get to the park, we look all over but couldn't find anyone.

"Awww is she not here today?" Saria asks.

"Maybe today was her day off?" says Miu.

"Well I saw her here in the morning. At least I think I did. SO she probably went home already."

"What really? That stinks!" Saria says.

"Well since we're here, can we get on the swings? Huh can we big sis?" Miu asks.

"Well we ARE already here so why not. I'll just sit here and watch you guys. Go have fun you guys."

I decided to go sit down by the fountain. I was really hoping she was still here, but I guess I'll have to ask her some other time. Oh well.

"Hey watch out!"

I wonder if she'll be here tomorrow?

"HEY! Watch out lady!"

What if that girl is somehow related to my weird dreams?

"LADY!"

(Splash!)

Right as I'm thinking about my dreams a baseball comes flying out of nowhere and lands in the fountain. It wet my school uniform.

"Lady didn't you hear me? I said 'Watch out!' a few times"

As I turn to yell at the guy who got my clothes soaked, I saw who it was.

"H-Hinata!?"

"Huh?" he asks confusingly. "Do I know you? How do you know my name?"

He looks at my uniform and asks, "Do you go to my school?"

"Well, yeah. As a matter of fact we're in the same class!"

"What? Really?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

"I suppose you're right."

"You got my uniform wet. You'd better have a good reason for that!" I say angrily.

"H-Hey hey it was an accident. I was playing baseball over there and I hit the ball farther than I thought. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine I guess."

"So what's your name?" he asks.

"It's Yuri. Yuri Nakamura,"

"Yuri?" He says while scratching the back of his head. "That's not cute at all."

"IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CUTE!" I shout at him.

"Hahahaha!" he burst out laughing. "Looks like I made you mad now. So I should go."

"Wait where are you going? I need to ask you something!"

"I'm going to be late for work. So I have to go now. Ask me tomorrow."

"Fine... Later then."

"Later Yurripe!"

My eyes opened wide when he said that. Yurripe? Why did he call me that? It sounds just like in my dreams. Okay. Now I definitely need to talk to him.

I grab my sisters and head home.