Here's Chapter 2!
Upon noticing that I never described Meri or Shitori, I have put their profiles at the bottom A/N.
In this chapter, Shitori finds out about the battlefront and his decision is revealed. This is also the chapter where we messed up the timeline, so as a heads up, cannon wise, this is episode 4. The baseball episode. If you have any questions, PM me and don't hesitate to ask.
I only own Meri, Shitori belongs to Lunarfeather.
Recap: Previously Shitori wakes up in an infirmary and meets a mysterious Girl named Meri. Taken to the base of the Afterlife Battlefront Shitori is now encountering the main member and is about to find out some important and shocking information about Meri.
"Well.. You see.. Meri-"
"What about her?!"
"You've got it wrong Otonashi." The girl spoke up again.
"Yurippe's right, Meri. Is actually. A boy."
Meri who was listening silently, made her(?) way over to the boy who just spoke with her(?) hair shadowing her(?) eyes. "Fujimaki.. I'm going... to kill you."
Though he himself wasn't aware of it either, Shitori still managed a small smile as he watched Meri approach Fujimaki.
"Ehh?! N-now M-Meri, d-don't get too carried away- W-we can work this out- A-AHHH!"
Meri didn't stop as he closed in on the shivering boy. "Fujimaki, you idiot… I had two people… Now… I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Flipping parallel to the ground Meri spun and kicked Fujimaki right in the face. Sending him flying off the couch and toppling the couch onto its side.
In the background, some music could be heard. itsumo hitori de aruiteta~
Shitori just watched as Meri proceeded to beat Fujimaki. In the end it took several of the boys to pull Meri off of Fujimaki and then one really large one to hold him in what looked like a judo hold.
"Now now Meri, you don't want to hurt anyone. At least not anymore than they already have been."
Watching the whole thing with his jaw to the ground Otonashi turned to the girl in the hat next to him, "Y-Yuri! Why didn't you do anything?!"
"Why should I? It isn't like he can die."
"T-thats cruel." Meri after calming down, was somewhat placated, after one more kick to the head, he headed towards Yuri and Otonashi.
Punching Otonashi, and sending him into a wall, Meri turned and faced the girl. When he spoke up his voice was still girly, but had a boyish side; slightly rougher but still that of a girls.
"I brought him just as you asked Yurippe." It also seemed to have some anger to it as well.
"Is there anything you would like of me?" Shitori asked.
Yes, now it's time to get serious." Hearing her, everyone quieted down and stopped laughing, or in Otonashi and Fujimaki's case, they stopped moaning.
"We would like you to join us, the Afterlife Battlefront."
Seemingly taking nothing serious out of the request Shitori blinked. "So the name is the Afterlife Battlefront then?"
"I thought we agreed on You're-Going-to-Die Battlefront!"
"Beef Udon Battlefront!"
"Anti-Angel Battlefront!"
A shaky reply came from the crumpled form of Otonashi, "Screw You All battlefront."
Out of an unnoticed corner of the room came, "This is so stupid."
"I think that it's best just to keep it simple, if only for you all to remember it." Shitori said pleasantly.
The boy with the halberd turned to Shitori and started yelling in an angry tone, "Hey punk! Thats an insult to Yurippe." He started waving around the bladed end of his weapon near Shitori's face.
"And when you insult Yurippe, you insult me. And when you insult me you get to meet the end of my-"
"Noda!" Meri was talking now, "You hurt him, and I'll kill you too."
"Thank you Meri." Shitori gazed at the Noda with something of a half-pitying, half amused look.
Meri rounded on Shitori, glaring, "That goes the same for you, if they end up hurt because of you, I won't hold back, even if we are friends."
Someone commented "Yeah just look at Noda and Otonashi. Poor guys."
Just as they said that, Meri pulled an almost complete 180, changing his voice back into the girl voice and smiled brightly, albeit slightly sadistically. "Now can't we all be friends?"
"That's fine, as long as you don't bother me too much." Not being very social, Shitori began to walk out of the room.
"Not so fast!" At Yuri's command, a dancer, the boy who was holding back Meri, and another boy who didn't look like anything special, moved into his way and stopped him from leaving.
"What is it now?" He turned back to Yuri, interested in seeing how far he could push it before the girl snapped.
She clutched her head and yelled out, "Ahh! How dense are you! We-" Before she could go on, she was interrupted by a blue headed boy who slid in front of her.
"What Yuri means is we want you to join us." Slinging an arm around Meri he continued, "Come on, it would be awesome if you did. We'd really love it if you did."
Irritated, Meri put his hand on Hinata's chest, "Moron, I might look like a girl but I'm still a boy!"
With a good push Hinata was separated from Meri. "I didn't mean it like that!" Tears streaming down his face as he fell.
"And? What do you do? You keep talking about fighting this 'Angel' yet you haven't specified anything." Shitori ignored the man sniveling on the floor.
"Its not a 'What'! Its a 'Who'! We're fighting Angel you moron!" This time it was Yuri who was being held back.
"And what does this fighting entail? An entire group of you assaulting that girl hardly seems right to me."
"Are you stupid!? She stabbed you earlier and you're jumping to her defense! You're-"
This time the one who interrupted Yuri was a black haired guy with glasses, must be that Takamatsu guy Meri was talking about, "What Yurippe is trying to say is that it's not very logical to go to your killer."
"You neglect two things, first and foremost I'm not dead. Second, who said that I'm going to join her in the first place?" Shitori's voice didn't waver in the slightest.
"But if you do nothing, you'll turn into an urchin, or algae. Or maybe if you're lucky some bacteria on the seafloor. And what kind of life is that, no free will, no conscience. Eventually you'll be eaten or killed. Is that what you are hoping for?"
"I won't disappear, and besides, what are you going to do here anyways? Live forever in a school setting?"
Yuri slapped Takamatsu away, "We're fighting against God! How do you know you won't disappear huh? You just got here. Or are you working for him with Angel?!"
"I just..." Shitori looked at himself. "...know that I won't is all. I'm not working with the little girl, nor do I see a reason to join you people."
Meri spoke up next with his head bowed, his voice a mix of the normal one and his girly one,
"So then what do you plan on doing? In a world where you're all alone. Will you leave your friends for a life of solitude? Will you just eventually fade away till what's left is just a shell of your former self…"
"I've known solitude, it isn't so bad." Shitori shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"So…" A small smile creeped its way onto Meri's face "Have you remembered who you are then?"
"Nope, not at all!" Shitori said quite cheerfully. "I've been in solitude ever since coming here, nobody really knows what I'm like do they?"
A frown replaced the smile, looking up Meri replied, "I won't allow it. Nobody should be alone, nobody should be happy that there is no one with them."
"A noble if unrealistic sentiment, I do appreciate your care, don't misunderstand, I simply don't support your cause."
"... Whether you support us or not… I won't let you be alone." Meri started walking towards Shitori.
"So I'm being forced then? I suppose the phrase 'Who needs enemies with friends like that?' is fairly accurate in this situation." Shitori moved slightly backwards as he said this.
"... Even if you hate me. I won't let you go alone.. Even if all my bones are broken and my spirit is crushed, I won't leave. Because.. thats what friends are for, right?"
A light hearted smile made its way to Shitori's face. "Are you that way?" Backing away he threw himself out the window.
Meri just stood there as he jumped. Letting out a sad sigh he walked towards the window and watched Shitori. "Yuri… I'm gonna be gone for awhile… Keep my seat warm for me will ya?" Cracking a smile he jumped out after him and made the three story drop.
The room was silent, "So… What's for lunch?"
Nobody bothered answering.
Fortunately for Shitori, some unknown force in his head told him what to do. A fragment of a memory flashed by, something about… a competition? It wasn't a full memory or anything substantial, but it was enough for him to know how to fall safely. He tucked his limbs in before landing and rolled to disperse his weights as he hit the ground.
Getting close to the ground, Meri landed in a crouch and put his hands down to ground himself. Rising, he dusted off his skirt and headed after Shitori who was walking away.
"Are you just going to follow me all the time or don't you have anything better to do?" Shitori called back, he was already walking towards the main buildings of the school.
"I told you I won't leave you alone, so you better get used to me!"
"Why do you want to stay around so much? Is it because we are friends?"
"I told you before, friends are there to help you when you fall down. I'm just going to make sure you don't fall down."
Shitori sighed. "Listen, just think for a moment. Waking up in a strange world, being told that you're dead, and then having a group of teenagers asking you to help them in their war against a supposed angel who works for god." He paused to let the words sink in for a moment before continuing.
"Does that sound like a believable story to you?"
".. Do you think you're the only one who's gone through that… Otonashi was in the same exact position as you, memory loss and all. And when Yurippe, Hinata, and I got here, there was nobody. It may sound unbelievable, but that is the life we live. It's not as easy as you seem to think it is."
"Then you should understand right? That I wouldn't want any of you to fall with me." Shitori's face was something between evaluating and asking.
"You moron." Frowning he flicked his forehead, "That's what friends are for. Everybody falls, there's no getting around it. Sure you can get up on your own, but with friends behind you, everything's not so bad, and you know you will get up."
"Friends, it seem like a familiar word to me. I already know that I'll get up though, you'll see me from time to time." Shitori turned to leave.
'Well you'll be seeing me a lot, I won't let you go it alone! I-" Meri was interrupted before he could go on, "Meri! Meri!"
Switching to his girl voice, "Huh? Yes, did you need me?"
"The baseball tournament has started and you're needed on the baseball diamond."
"Hmm... Okay! Let's go Shitori!"
"Go ahead and follow him, you're needed, not me."
"Come on Shitori! If I know Yurippe, she has something planned, I'd really like it if you came okay!" Meri dashed off towards the Baseball diamond.
/The Baseball Diamond/
'Phew! It sure is hot today, and the battlefront is really working hard out there, Yurippe must have put in a penalty game.' Meri laughed quietly to himself.
"WHAATTT?! Why are you on the other team?! And more importantly, WHY ARE YOU WITH ANGEL!?"
"Sheesh, calm down Hinata, I'm on the baseball team, of course I'm going to be with the others, and if Angel just so happens to be captain, there's nothing I can do about it." Waving his hand at Hinata, Meri talked as if he was dealing with a child.
"NOOO! we barely got through the games against regular NPCs, but now against baseball team regulars paired with Meri.. We have no chance!-" He was kicked out of the way by a pink rock girl.
"We accept your challenge! Prepared to get your buts cleaned!"
"It's prepared to get your butt's kicked! Not cleaned! Cleaned is a hygiene thing!"
Sitting in the bleachers Shitori was giving the 'official' commentary, "So the Battlefront splits on which side they're on..."
Stepping up at bat, Meri did a mock salute and called out to the pitcher, "Hope you're ready Otonashi! Cause nobody in the battlefront can outmatch me when it comes to sports!" Hitting the ball, he shot off and made it to the second base.
Time seemed to fly as the innings went by, Shitori didn't pay much attention to how the game went, more so to how the players acted.
Ducking under a ball heading his way Meri laughed and slid into home base."Hey Noda, how ya doin?"
Frustrated Noda started yelling and threw the ball to the pitcher, "Otonashi! What kind of play was that!"
"Huh? You're blaming me?! I didn't even have anything to do with it you jerk!"
"Moron!"
"Idiot!" The argument continued on for a little while longer before they were forced to break it up.
"You morons! You're supposed to play against the other team! Not each other!"
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The game progressed quickly as each team scored, soon it was the 9th inning with the score of 7-8 in favor of Angel's team.
Meri was on third base when the ball was hit, 'a pop fly to second!' Seeing to where and who it was heading to he paused for a moment and seemed to hesitate before running towards home. 'Hinata...will you leave me too..?'
Watching the players, Shitori noticed the tenseness in Otonashi's shoulders, how he stared at Hinata as if he would disappear.
"Hinata!" Everything was in slow motion.. Otonashi running towards Hinata, Meri running to home base- that is, until the pink haired girl came out from nowhere and tackled Hinata, Forcing him to miss ball. Meri gave a sigh of relief and watched as his remaining teammates make it to home.
"So, we won the game... I wonder how Yurippe's gonna take it."
Heading towards the locker room and subsequently towards the bleachers, Meri went to get changed back into his normal uniform.
"That was... Anticlimactic I suppose..." Shitori watched as the teams shuffled off the field.
Getting up and off the bleachers he saw Meri, who had just gotten changed, talking to himself.
"Is it wrong for me to be happy.. To deny Hinata of his happiness.. To keep holding on and not letting go..."
"You see?" Shitori walked up to Meri. "Even you wonder, would it be better to just let him go?"
After a moment of deliberation, "...What's done is done… I guess it's meaningless for me wonder. I had nothing to do with it anyways. So I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I'll cherish our time together… And I'll cherish his happiness."
Looking up he turned to Shitori, "So, you wanna get something to eat? I think we both skipped lunch. So food is much needed now."
"Fine with me." Shitori headed off to the cafeteria, having acquainted himself with the place earlier.
/Cafeteria/
"Ahh! The smell of food! Delicious!" Walking towards the line Meri stopped and remembered something, "Oh yeah, since you're new, you can use some of my meal tickets till you can get your own." He held out a variety of tickets.
"Thank you." Shitori quickly thanked him before picking one at random.
"Anytime, what did you pick?" Walking backwards towards the line, Meri tried to get a peek at Shitori's chosent meal ticket.
Shitori looked down at his meal ticket. "Curry Rice." he responded as he got in line behind a few other NPCs.
"Yum! I love curry! Its really good!"
Shitori held the ticket out to Meri. "Perhaps you should take it then?"
"Nahh, you take it. That way you can try out the awesomeness that is curry. I'll have some soup. Soup is just as good as curry." Splitting up, Meri walked off with a hop in his step to another line to get his food.
"Well then..." Getting to the front of the line, he handed the person at the counter the ticket and went to sit down at a table further away from the SSS after receiving his food.
Meri was gone for a little bit longer, but eventually he showed up with a tray in hand, "Hey Meri! Come on and sit over here!" One of his friends in the battlefront called out.
"Maybe next time! Okay?" He yelled. Making his way over to Shitori he held out a drink for him, "Here, you can't eat curry without something to drink it with."
"I'll be fine." Shitori replied as Meri set the water down on the table. "Just go sit with your friends."
"Okay then, I will." And true to his word he sat down. Seeing the look he was getting he replied with, "What? You said go sit with my friends, and your my friend too."
"Do what you will." After all he didn't have any reason to deny company.
Meri waited a few more bites before leaning in, "So, do you like it?"
Shitori, who hadn't been paying much attention to the taste, looked at the already half empty plate. "I suppose so."
Grabbing his drink he finished off the rest of it before setting it down and turning his attention back to Shitori, "So then, what's on your mind then? You seem distracted."
"I'm just thinking about how I got here. I don't remember much about my life despite the fact that I want to."
"Thats gotta be hard, but why worry about it? It'll come back naturally, so instead of worrying all the time, just enjoy your new life-uh death. But if theres anything I can do or anything you want to talk about, I'm here. Though I dont know how much of a help I can be, seeing as I have my memories, but I'll try my hardest."
"Perhaps tell me a bit about yourself? Like your past if you're comfortable with that." Shitori offered up.
"Hmm? You wanna know about me?" A slight twisted smile formed, looking more like a grimace. "Its nothing too terrible, it could have been worse," He looked towards some of the others in battlefront, "But you still wanna hear it?"
"If I didn't I wouldn't have invited you to tell me."
A genuine smile replaced the twisted one he had and Meri let out a laugh, "Hah, straight to the point I see." He closed his eyes as if he was concentrating, "Lets see.. How I died...
I ended it with a Cliff Hanger! XD That wasn't what it was originally going to be, but it just worked out that way :) Anywho, heres Meri and Shitori's Profiles. Or atleast part of them..
Name: XXXX Shitori
Age (At the time of death): 17
Appearance: Shitori possesses dark black hair that falls in bangs to cover the sides of his face; crimson eyes that peek out can also make him seem intimidating at first sight. His small size is easily obscured by the standard uniform worn by students at school; acting in almost direct opposition is his slightly pale skin-tone, contrasting with the dark colors. He has rather effeminate features that somehow match into his look.
Weight: 110 lb = 50 kg
Height: 5"2 = 158 cm
Clothing: Wears the standard issued uniform by the school. Always wears a small necklace with a ring on it.
Time spent in the Afterlife: Just arrived.
Name: Meri XXXX
Age (At the time of death): 15
Appearance: When people first meet him, they think he's really pretty, but then they're thrown off when they find out he's really a boy.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Meri has wavy brown hair that goes slightly past his shoulders. He keeps it pulled back by a ribbon, but has 2 long side bangs that hang loose.
Weight:120ish
Height:5'4''
Skin-tone: Tan/slightly dark skin tone.
Clothing: He wears the girls uniform for the school.
Time spent in the Afterlife: He's been there for awhile, at least 30 some years and is one of the more experienced people. Around or at the time when Hinata and Yuri made the battlefront.
Next chapter we'll find out about Meri's death, and after everything, can they still act the same? As they say "Knowledge is power, and Power Kills." I don't actually know if anyone says that, I just made it up. Like right now.
That aside, Review! (Though you don't have to.. Its not like I'm holding you at gunpoint..)