AN: Hey! Here is the promised one-shot for right before my vacation. This little idea came to me after I had rewatched Angel Beats (while school was still in session, since my entire school is addicted to either anime or sports. Or both. It depends.) I was looking at fan art, and I saw a Oto/Hina one where Otonashi had wings, and was in a river. This kind of spawned from the depths of my mind. I know it's a little out of the ordinary for me, but I've been waiting for a good time to post this, about a month. You guys should be seeing this around the 6th or 7th, since my birthday (the 10th) will entail a nearly week long trip to Washington DC! I should get on with this, huh? Before I go, I don't own the cover photo, of course.

I do not own Angel Beats, though I wish Kanade was my friend.

Giada Draven, out!

Otonashi had no idea what was going on. With no memories, and people dieing and then coming back to life, he honestly had no clue what to thiynk of his situation. Not only that, but ever since he had showed up his back had been in pain constantly. It was right between his shoulder blades, and Otonashi was just grateful he could hide pain so well.
Everyone around him was joking about the different deaths they had experienced, while he just sat there eating. Hearing the chair next to him be pulled out, Otanashi glanced up to find the familiar blue hair of Hinata Hideki. Smiling at the other, he went back to his food, trying not to show how much pain he was in.

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They were wings, Otonashi noticed. Everytime he died, the pain went down a little and stubs had formed at his shoulder blades. Slowly, with each death of those he had grown to care about, feather's grew to cover them, and grew stronger and stronger. Now, they were very fluffy, but he had a feeling that if he were to be attacked, they would instantly be as sharp as knives.

They were in the headquarters, and Otonashi was surrounded by his friends. Hinata was next to him, who he had developed a, uh, crush on. Every time Otonashi stood next to the other, his wings became a plush blanket underneath the jacket he always wore to hide them. Looking up, he found all of them staring at him while he had been daydreaming.
"Uhh, w-what is it?" he asked, eyes wide.

Hinata smiled and reached out, pulling out a brownish orange feather. "Would you mind telling us why there is a feather in your hair?"

Otonashi shivered, then tensed a bit when it sank in what they were asking. "If I told you, you would not believe me." He looked back down at his lap, only to find his head being forced up to look into grey-blue eyes. Swallowing thickly, he stood and rushed out of the building, leaving behind a few sharp feathers.

Yuri went to pick them up, but jerked back when she felt the sting of a knife and saw her hand begin to bleed. Pulling back, she was about to warn Hinata when he picked it up, playing with a cushion soft feather. She frowned, before sitting back in her chair. The rest began new conversations, though Hinata was noticeably slow to reply.

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Sitting at the river, Otonashi started out at the fish that were swimming along. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a loose feather and willed it to be sharp. Throwing it at a fish, he walked out into the river and picked up the fish he had speared. He sighed, sitting down in the middle of the river and pulling off his jacket. Large wings sprang forward, the wind ruffling the already crooked feathers. The earthy colour stood out against the water, showing the 13 foot wingspan easily.

Hearing footsteps, Otonashi pulled on the jacket once more and stood up, hiding the feather that he had used to kill the fish. Looking up as if he hadn't heard them approaching, he looked surprised at the entirety of the SSS, plus Kanade.

Seeing that they were holding fishing poles, he walked over. "Hey! You want me to be fishing too?"

Yuri glared at him, dragging him away from the rest and pushing him down onto the ground, away from any prying eyes. "How can you be so casual? You ran off after we asked you a question, and you think you can be all casual?!" She glared again, standing over him to add intimidation.

Otonashi sighed and stood, easily getting around his friend. "Yuri, you wouldn't understand. You would probably be afraid of me…"

He tried walking away, but found that Kanade was blocking his path. "Those feathers, they seem like a birds in looks, but when any of us but Hinata try to touch them they cut us. How can they do that?"

Backing away, Otonashi stuttered out, "P-Please, just let this be," before he fell into the river. The sound of ripping fabric permeated the area, and his great wings appeared for all to see. They sprang forward to protect him, hiding the deathly afraid expression on his face. He pulled them apart slightly, only to find several guns pointed at him. Yuri had one in hand, though she wasn't actually aiming at him, and Hinata didn't even have out a weapon.

Otonashi backed up even farther, and stumbled when he fell into deeper water. He fell, his wings flapping to keep balanced. This caused a chain reaction: the closest Battlefront members firing, and Koda running forward, swinging his halberd like normal. "WINGS?!" The purple haired man swung, aiming for Otonashi, only to find steel-like feathers nearly cracking his halberd. The shots stopped as Yuri walked forward, keeping her gun in front of her.
"So, wings, huh? That's the thing that we 'wouldn't understand'? If you had told us we wouldn't have been mad. Really, it's just a new mystery here. When did you even get these?"

Otonashi relaxed slightly, just enough that it seemed like he wouldn't attack. He sat down in the middle of the river, his wings surrounding him calmly. As he spoke, he gently fixed his feathers, straightening the crooked ones and carefully plucking the loose ones. "They started when I first got here, and it was so painful. And every time one of us died it would hurt less and the wings would slowly grow. The feathers respond to my mood, or how I feel about someone." He was factual, no inflection in his voice to give away how he felt about any of it.

Hinata walked forward, continuing even when the non-core of the Battlefront tensed. He leaned down, getting right on top of Otonashi. "Are you gay, man?"
Otonashi looked away quickly, busying himself with his wings. Luckily, no one had heard the (one-sided) exchange, choosing to just watch. Hinata laughed and stood, only leaning down to pull up Otonashi and balance him on his feet.

It took several tense minutes, but the Battlefront finally relaxed enough to begin fishing for food, Otonashi teaching Kanade how to fish, and letting his wings hang naturally. It was as if a weight was finally removed from his chest, and he couldn't help but think that maybe now it would be easier. What would be easier, he wasn't sure, but right now he just felt as light as the feathers hanging around him.