Author's Note :
Due to my hatred of writing short stories with only a few chapters, I shall prolong this series to at least a few more chapters! ANGEL BEATS FTW!
That night, Yurippe had Otonashi and a few others follow her when she wanted to find out more about Tenshi's powers. What better way than to break in to an innocent little girl's room. Yurippe and Hinata have been in there before, along with Oyama and Cha. Of course, that was before they formed the SSS to rebel against God. To be more specific, that was during the formation of their group.
Yurippe remembered that the first time they entered her room, it looked like any other ordinary girl's room. She even took one of Tenshi's swimsuits because she thought it might have been an armor that provided her with her weird powers, and partly because it just looked so cute. Of course, now that Tenshi wasn't in the room, she could examine it further.
Once they unlocked the door to Tenshi's room and went in, Otonashi started having second thoughts. He thought that the SSS was about rebelling against God, not violating a girl's personal space! But it was too late anyways. He had seen Tenshi demonstrate her powers first hand. The moment he arrived here into this Afterlife School, he was stabbed by Tenshi's Hand Sonic after asking her to prove that he was dead.
He rubbed his chest, remembering the pain he felt when the blade pierced his flesh. Of course, Noda giving him 100 strikes with his halberd as soon as he woke up wasn't a great feeling either. He was surprised though, by the room's ordinary appearance. It looked nothing like he expected. In fact, it was identical to Hatsune's room. Speaking of Hatsune, he wondered what that girl was doing right now.
Probably reading mangas, he thought.
The girl didn't seem like an NPC, as Yurippe would say. She definitely had her own personality, and she can even converse in a normal way. Otonashi didn't know much about his past, but he remembers those RPG games he used to play, and he could very well confirm that Hatsune wasn't an NPC. She even had the traits of a main character.
If its anyone that could be an NPC, its me, he thought once more, but we all know that's not the case, since I lost my memory.
Otonashi wanted to object when they started hacking Tenshi's computer for anything suspicious. And they did, they found the Angel Player in her desktop. That application showcased all of the Student Council President's powers, from Hand Sonic to Harmonics.
"We better get this done before Tenshi comes back." Yurippe stood beside the computer genius as Hinata and Otonashi stood guard on the door, "How's it going, Takeyama?"
"So far so good." He kept typing the codes and downloaded the files from Tenshi's computer, "And please, call me Christ."
"Whatever, just hurry up!" Yurippe thought about the program she had just seen moments earlier. She wondered how it would feel to have the powers Tenshi has.
No, she thought, I'm here to rebel against God, not use his powers. Who knows how dangerous it might be for a human to use that power.
On the other side of the school, a Girls Dead Monster concert was shortened by the teachers, when they climbed onstage and started confiscating the band's equipment, declaring that the concert was not a registered event and that it was not legal.
When one of the teachers went to take Iwasawa's acoustic guitar, something inside of her snapped. Even though she was being held back by another teacher, and her bandmates were as well, she headbutted the teacher that was holding her arms and speared the one that was holding her guitar. Hisako escaped the teacher as well, running straight towards the school's broadcasting system as one of the teachers almost caught up to her, if not for Yusa hooking his legs, tripping him.
Iwasawa, on the verge of tears, started strumming her guitar. She was surprised when she saw noticed that the melody could be heard throughout the entire school. Then, she started singing. Not the usual spirited rock songs, but a ballad.
Pouring every single ounce of her emotions into her powerful vocals, she strum and sang. No, she wasn't doing this for Yurippe and the others. She wasn't doing this as one of the diversion squads of the SSS, she was doing this as Masami Iwasawa. She was singing for everyone. She was doing the only thing she couldn't do while she was alive.. she sang the songs she wrote..
Even Tenshi had heard her singing and came into the concert area to see it. She didn't stop the broadcasting, and allowed Iwasawa to sing her heart out. Little did she know that the song would be stuck in her head for a very long time.
Everyone was listening, not just the students, but the teachers that were holding them back just a few moments ago, were standing there, dumbfounded. Some of the students cried, especially Yui, who was on the verge of having a waterfall flow from her eyes.
The leader of Girls Dead Monster gave everything she had into that song, and through that song, visions of her life started flashing in front of her eyes, memories when she was alive, striving to be noticed for her talents, until the last days of her death. Even her days in the Afterlife School flashed before her, from her first meeting with Hisako, to their first illegal concert in front of the school, to meeting Irie, Urie, and Sekine. She rememebed the fun times they had, rehearsing and playing in front of the school crowd, getting all the students pumped up and headbanging to their music. She remembered having loads of fun times with the SSS members, eating together in the cafeteria, playing sports. It was as if everything that had happened in her whole life flashed in front of her eyes in less than a second. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry. But it didn't matter. For a long time now, she felt truly.. happy.
After the song was done, Iwasawa looked straight up into the spotlights that were shining down on her, and whispered a silent, 'Thank you, Hisako.. thank you, everyone..'
And just like that, she disappeared, leaving behind the clanking of a guitar against the wooden floor of the stage, leaving the entire arena stunned and silent.
Hatsune stood in the crowd, unsure of what to feel after witnessing the disappearance of Iwasawa. Thought it wasn't the first time she had ever saw someone disappearing just like that. The only reason she was always alone was because most of her friends had moved on from the afterlife. She did have one friend, and.. come to think of it, did Otonashi count as a firend? If he did, then she'd have two.
Her friend was bawling like crazy in the front row of the concert. Since she had always looked up to Iwasawa as an idol, she must have felt truly devastated that Iwasawa just disappeared like that.
"Yui.." Hatsune patted her back, trying to calm her friend down. She knew how much Iwasawa meant to her, as Yui was always talking about how she would love to sing like her and how she hoped that someday, she'll be joining Girls Dead Monster as a member. "Yui, please calm down.."
"B-But Iwasawa.. she.. she.." Yui sobbed into Hatsune's arms and cried against her shirt. From where she was standing, Hatsune noticed the grief on every single member of the band. Irie and Urie were hugging each other and crying, Sekine was trying to keep herself together and calm down the both of them, but she herself was already sobbing.
Hisako walked down from the broadcasting booth and grabbed the microphone from the stand. The exact same microphone Iwasawa was using to sing her last song. Her song. "You've all heard her music, right? You've seen her singing. You've sang along to her lyrics. Even though she's.. physically gone.." Hisako sniffed as she resisted the urge to cry. She couldn't hold it in for long, and tears started to flow down her cheeks, "She'll never be really gone. A part of her is in our hearts.. and that part will live forever. Masami.. she was the one who showed me.. who reminded me of the love I had for music. She reignited that fire inside of me. And I can promise you, as long as that fire is not extinguished, Girls Dead Monster will always, ALWAYS be here!"
As soon as she finished that sentence, her knees gave way as her tears started to fall uncontrollably. The other members of the band went over to hug her, but she couldn't stop her tears.
She remembered the first time they met. Iwasawa had just arrived at this place, and the first thing she did when she found out that she could finally talk again, she ran straight towards the music room and grabbed an acoustic guitar. Iwasawa didn't want to talk. She wanted to sing. That was the first day the school got to hear Iwasawa's amazing voice. And it was right then that Hisako love for music was rekindled.
The first time the two performed together, it was outside the school building, during class. She still remembered that song. Soaring as high as a crow through the clouds, up in the skies. Crow Song.
All those memories, Hisako promised that she would treasure it. She didn't know how she felt inside, "Until next time.. Masami.." Hisako whispered, "Be sure to have a slot in your band.. cause I'm not letting you off just like that.."