Author's Note: ERMAHGHERD I'M SO SORRY I PUT THIS OFF FOR SO LONG I LOST MY INTERNET BUT ANYWAYS HERE THIS IS SO LEAVE A REVIEW! Btw I made this chapter my longest yet to make up for lost time!

Chapter 4: The Athlete and the Cripple

I am in a dark room.

"Huh? What? Where am I?" I say aloud. However, these words seem to reach nobody's ears but my own. I am alone.

What's happening? Why am I here? I stand up to gather my bearings. This dark room has no lights, and no access to the outside world. Raising my hand in front of me, I find that my vision doesn't go too far. Now's the time go think of a way out... The wall seems to be made of plaster. Perhaps I can punch through it. Yeah, I'm sure that I can. I wind up my fist, intending to put all my strength into this one punch. However, as soon as my hand is about to come into contact with my target, a girl appears before me, making me stop my fist mere centimeters from her face.

This short girl has pink hair reaching down to her waist, and looks at me with a worried expression as if I am supposed to do something I'm not. The weirdest thing about her is that she is wearing a wedding gown while holding a red electric guitar. We briefly share an awkward stare.

"When are you going to wake up? Please do it soon, I want to marry you!" She suddenly says with pleading eyes.

"U-uwaah!?" I explain in surprise.

"Well, Hinata-kun, I'm not going to do it for you. You promised her after all," another voice tells me from behind. I turn around to find its source. What stands before me is a boy about my age. He has orange hair and an expectant look, as if I am an old friend who has to do a favor for him. "Well, Hinata-kun?"

"W-what? I don't even know who either of you are! Stop talking to me as if we're buddies!" Normally, I would handle people like them with a cool smartass attitude, but there's something about this place, and them,that just unsettles me. In a way, I think they're right. They do look familiar. However, I can say with a straight face that I have never seen them in my whole life.

I look down, and find that I am wearing a tan suit jacket and dark pants rather than my usual nightwear. A badge on my left shoulder reads "Shinda Sekai Sensen", or "Afterlife War Front" on the outline and "SSS" shown is red lettering in the middle.

"You do know us, Hinata-kun, and it's only a matter of time before you will wake up." The orange-haired boy tells me. He then walks up to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, and smiles. The girl in the wedding gown walks in front of me and stands next to the orange-haired boy. The two of them then slowly fade away, leaving me in the darkness of the room.

"WAIT! I want answers! Who are you? What promise did I make?" I yell at them. Instead of a reply, however, I am met only by silence and darkness. Giving up, I lie on the floor and curl up into a fetal position.

"Please... Come back..."

"GAH!" I wake up in a fetal position not in a strange foreign dark room, but in my own room in my own bed. Whew, it was just a dream. Come to think of it, I have had dreams about the same people for the past few weeks. Is there some sort of message that I am supposed to get from this? No, there shouldn't be. I don't know those people, and I don't think I'll see any of them any time soon. For all I know, they could be totally imaginary.

I get up and look at the clock. It's 4:30. I have about 9 hours before I have to get to baseball practice. I may as well go for a morning jog and watch the sunrise. As I put on my usual clothing: A dark shirt under a white hoodie and jeans, I think about my dream. So what if there is something more to this than just a dream? If I did meet them, that WOULD be awkward, but just think about what else might happen. I don't have any truly close friends other than the guys on my baseball team. If I got friends that were close enough to call family...

No. I can't get my hopes up. The family I have now is just fine for me. After all, it IS just a dream. I finish up putting on my clothes and head downstairs for breakfast.

"Hideaki, you're up early. Did you have one of those dreams again?" My dad tells me as he pours a cup of coffee. My father is Kenji Hinata, your average business corporation CEO. He always leaves for work early in the morning and comes home late. Even so, he and I are pretty close as he still manages to spend time with his family, going to my baseball games and my younger sister's music performances at school on his days off.

"Yeah, I did. It had the same people as yesterday. It's strange, though. Why do I keep having these dreams?" I ask.

"Son, I have something to tell you. Since everyone else in the house is asleep, I may as well do it now. Let's have a man-to-man talk." He tells me and motions me over to the kitchen table. I ignore the coffee that my dad has left on the kitchen counter and follow him to the living room. We both take a seat, and my father immediately starts talking.

"I never told anyone but your mother what I am about to say. After all, it will sound pretty ridiculous. However, I believe that with your circumstances that you will believe me." He takes a sip of his coffee and sets the mug on the table.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"There are plenty of reasons that your mother and I married. One of these reasons is, of course, love. But there is a reason that we fell in love with each other." He explains. "You see, I once had similar dreams to the ones you have. I am in a dark room, surrounded by people who are familiar yet aren't at the same time."

"That does sound strikingly similar..."

"Yes, it indeed does. Among those people was your mother, Rin. At first, I shook off the dreams I had as nothing more than what it was, a dream. However, on my first day at college, I met your mother. Immediately, we knew that we met before. We started hanging out, and eventually fell in love. One day, she brought up the topic of how we knew each other, as the both of us knew that we hadn't met prior to college. She said that she felt stupid for bringing up such a topic, and gave me a strange smile. I had seen her smile before then, but this was different. It made me remember a lot of things. Things that you wouldn't believe."

"What were these things? I promise not to laugh if it's ridiculous." I tell him.

"We had met in a high school. This may not sound unusual, but it was different from anywhere else. People couldn't die here, and things could be made out of sheer clay. I met a bunch of other people my age there, and we concluded that this was some sort of Afterlife. All of us knew that we had died, and that we all had a bad life. After many adventures with our group, I fell in love with a girl there. She was, like in college, your mother. However, I couldn't confess to her before I passed on and was reincarnated as Kenji Hinata. I never knew HOW I passed on, I just did. I remember feeling strangely content with my life there, and then suddenly I just... left. Anyways, that's my story. Do you think it's crazy or what? Is your old man crazy?" He asks me.

"Well, surprisingly not. For some reason, I think that there's some truth to those words. But I guess I will never know how you passed on or why this has happened to us, but I don't think I want to go too far into it. For all I know, this could be total coincidence." I said that with confidence in my voice, but I knew deep down that this isn't true. All I need for the time being is an excuse.

My dad straightens his tie and stands up. "Well, I must go to work now. I will see you at 6:00 pm, okay?"

"Yeah, alright. Well, I gotta go jogging now as well. I think we've both killed enough time talking about weird things like that."

The air is crisp and cool. It makes me wish that I brought the wool hat that I have back home. I have been lightly jogging for a couple of hours now, but I don't feel too tired. I guess it's just the morning cold that's keeping me awake and energized, or maybe it's because I am a natural athlete. Maybe both, I don't know, Nor do I care. As long as I get to see the sunrise at this time, I feel satisfied.

After jogging for about 30 minutes more, I decide to take a break at one of the benches on a bridge in town. In my opinion, this is one of the best places to see the sunrise and sunset, as the canal that is built under the bridge clears out enough land to expose both the east and the west side of the horizon, making it possible to see both the sunrise and sunset. I sit on the bench and lay back, waiting for the sunrise which will come at any minute. The sky is already a faint orange, and it isn't nearly as dark as when I started jogging.

Here I am, sitting on the bench, all alone. I wonder if somewhere out there, those people from my dream are waiting for the sunset to rise, just like me. Nah, probably not. They're just figments of my imagination. This excuse that I keep telling myself is nothing more than that: an excuse. Deep down, I know for a fact that they're out there. I just need to find them. No! Stop thinking like that! Your life is fine the way it is, you don't need to get it totally confused and messed up!

What did my father say again? "We concluded that this was some sort of Afterlife." Wait, an Afterlife? Where did I hear that before? C'mon, think...

Suddenly, I am wearing a tan suit jacket and dark pants rather than my usual nightwear. A badge on my left shoulder reads "Shinda Sekai Sensen", or "Afterlife War Front" on the outline and "SSS" shown is red lettering in the middle.

"RIGHT!" I say aloud as a sort of 'Eureka'. I saw "Afterlife" on that badge I had on in my dream! Now I know that these aren't just dreams, and that my dad isn't getting crazy in his age. This is real.

The sun slowly rises over the horizon above the canal, engulfing the whole town, including me, in an orange glow. I feel my skin soak up its warmth as if I am a sponge, and heat is water.

I need to get back home. My mom and sister will worry if I don't get home by the time they make breakfast.

The sun beats down relentless heat upon the field and everybody present. However, The wind is blowing, which cools me down and adds a little bit of a dramatic I put on the thick plastic helmet and pick up the metal baseball bat that was resting atop the dugout's bench. After seeing that it was my turn to practice batting, I calmly walk out to the home plate and take up a batting stance, remembering my coach's words. Keep your chin up! Keep your legs bent! Same with your elbows! Keep the bat at shoulder height, but keep your elbows up! Don't lean forward! Keep your weight on your back foot until you swing! Alright, that's good! Make sure that you keep your eye on that damned ball or you WILL MISS! These words come from an ex-military man who served 25 years in the American Military before retiring and moving to Japan with his wife. Being that sort of man, the only instances where he isn't yelling is when he is talking to his family, who only shows up at our games. Right now, however, is only practice, so his family is nowhere to be seen.

Remembering his rather loud words, I stare at the ball as if my life depends on it. I keep staring as the pitcher winds up, and remember more words from my coach. When you swing, shift your weight from your back foot to your front foot! You will never hit the ball very far if you don't do that! It's a key point to batting, so you better remember it!

The pitcher hurls the ball across home plate. Now! I swing the bat slam it into the baseball with as much force as I could muster. Yes! A perfect hit! The ball flies across the field like a small round bird. I throw the bat to the side and begin running. As I round the corner at 2nd base, an outfielder calls out to everyone else. "Look! The ball is flying out of the park!" He points to the ball, which is indeed flying so high and far that it would probably land somewhere outside the field. I smirk at my amazing hit.

"Oh shit! Look at where it's going to land!" Another player says as I step onto homeplate. As I take off my helmet, I hear the distant sound of glass braking. I guess that Watase's "Oh Shit" was appropriate for this situation! I think to myself.

The ball, which I was so happy about earlier, had flown right through the 2nd floor window of a house right across the street from the baseball field.

"Great, who's going to go apologize?" One player asks.

"I think Hinata should do it." Another player replies.

"Why should I do it? C'mon guys, we're all a team, right? We should do it together!" I reply, throwing my arm around the shoulder of one of my teammates, trying to act friendly to them.

"JUST GO, HINATA!" It's as if everybody there has changed their team objective from "baseball" to "yelling at me".

"Alright! Alright! Fine, I'll go." I tell them and run in the direction of the house across the street.

Knock. Knock. I tap on the door of the house with the back of my hand. After waiting for a few moments, a young lady who I assume is in her early 30s opens to door. She has reddish hair that is almost magenta and wears tradition japenese attire. As soon as the door is open, I bow my head to her.

"I'm extremely sorry for hitting that baseball through your window!" I say, expecting to be scolded. Instead, she just chuckles warmly.

'It's alright, dear. Come inside, you can fetch your baseball upstairs." She tell me. I lift my head up and follow her inside.

I follow the woman upstairs to a a hallway. We walk down this hallway until we reach a door on the right, which I presume to be the room that the ball had flown into.

The woman enters the room in question and steps to the side, pointing to a white western-style bed which seems far too out-of-place with the rest of the house. What really catches my eye is what is on the bed.

Staring at me with a smile on her face is a beautiful young girl about my age. She has long pink hair with one strand pointing upwards. The girl wears a white nightgown, which throws me off since its barely past noon. Is she sick or something?

"Hi! My name is Yui Satou. What's yours?" She asks me.

"Hey, I'm Hideki Hinata. It's.." I hesitate. "..Nice to meet you" Normally, I have absolutely no problem with attractive women. However, there's something about this girl that throws me off.

"Hey, dummy, if you're trying to say something to me, then just say it!" She seems as old as I am, but acts as if she's a 5th grader.

"I'm not trying to say anything! It's just that... Nevermind." I tell her. Even though I say that, there is something shockingly familiar about her. I feel comfortable around her, as if she's an old childhood friend. Strangely enough, however, I've never met her before in my life. So... How do I know her?

"It looks like you two are going to take a while. I'll be downstairs making tea if you need me!" The older woman, who I presume to be this girl's mother, says. She then calmly walks out of the room.

"Nuh-uh, I know you are keeping something from me, so I wanna hear it!" The pinkette exclaims. If I tell her that she looks familiar, she'd probably call me a stalker or make fun of me. Oh well, I guess there's no escaping that option now.

"God, fine, if you wanna hear it so badly, then I'll tell you!" Usually, I am easily capable of keeping my cool, but there's always something about kids and childish things in general that seem to be my one weakness. "Promise not to laugh or something when I tell you this, alright?"

"I promise!" She says in her childish manner. To be honest, it sounds more like she'll debliberately laugh rather than keep her promise, but I continute anyways.

"Well, how should I put this... It just seems like... I've... met... you... before..." I hesitantly tell her. Upon saying this, she doesn't laugh or even smirk. As a matter of fact, she keeps a completely straight face the entire time I said it. After a while, Yui finally breaks the silence.

"I don't really understand why, but I think you're right. You seem familiar to me." She says this in a manner different from the childish, playful tone of voice she usually speaks in. Once again, another awkward silence ensues. After a period of time similar in length to the last one, Yui once again breaks the silence.

"Do you want to hear my past, Hinata?" She asks me.

"Uwah? Are you sure? I mean, we don't really know each other very well, and-" I try to say before she cuts me off.

"I want to tell you, Hinata."

"Erm.. Uhm.. Ah, fine."

"BUT! In return, you must tell me your story!" She says.

"WHAT!? Why would I tell you?" I reply. Even as I say this, I know in my heart that I truly do trust her. Why I trust her, however, is beyond me.

"I don't know. I just get the feeling that you would, is all." She says with a partially disappointed look. "Nevermind, you don't need to tell me anything."

"But-" I try to reply, but am once again cut off by the pink-haired girl.

"When I was born, my mother and father always wanted to protect me. Whenever I went outside, it was either my mother or father that would accompany me. They would always tell me to stay close, otherwise I would get hurt. They never let me go to a public school, so I was homeschooled. In other words, my parents refused to leave me alone. Despite their efforts, tragedy still befell us. One day, I was in the car with my parents. It was a rainy day, so the roads were wet. The road that we were on was small, as there were only two lanes; one for either direction. Everything was fine since my dad was a good driver, but something still happened. A car in the other lane had lights that were far too bright. They blinded my father, and caused us to crash. My mother and I survived, but my father didn't make it. A blow to the head shattered his skull, and the broken pieces flew into his brain, killing him instantly. My mother only made it out with minor injuries, but I wasn't as lucky as her. Everything below my knee was caught between two pieces of debris. They had to amputate it. The doctors offered to give me a leg prosthetic, along with 6 months in the hospital to get used to them. However, my mother didn't have the money for the prosthetics nor did she have the mental strength to leave me alone for that long. So she took me home and cared for me to this day." She sighs. "Pretty sad, isn't it?"

As she explains this story to me, I realize how miserable her life has become up until now. She didn't have any friends growing up, lost her father at a young age, and had to have her legs below the knew amputated. Her story makes me want to help her. A girl like her doesn't deserve to have such a terrible life.

I try to think of something to say. But what should I say? I can't relate to it; as a matter of fact, I'm the opposite. I'm nothing like her, but why do I feel like we have some sort of connection? This is so strange.

As I contemplate this strange phenomenon in my head, a memory of that dark room in my dreams resurfaces.

Flashback:

I wind up my fist, intending to put all my strength into this one punch. As soon as my hand is about to come into contact with the wall, a girl appears before me. I stop my fist mere centimeters from hitting her face.

This girl has pink hair reaching down to her waist. She is looking at me with a worried expression, as if I am supposed to do something that I'm not. The weirdest thing about her is that she is wearing a wedding gown while holding a red electric guitar. What this girl says next is truly shocking.

"When are you going to wake up? Please do it soon, I want to marry you!" She says with pleading eyes.

End Flashback

Oh my god... It's her! I mentally exclaim. But... How? That was just a dream! How could she actually exist!?

"Hinata, are you okay?" Yui asks. Realizing that I had wrapped my hands around my head and doubled over, I look up.

"Sorry Yui- UWAH!?" The sight before me sends a freezing chill up my spine. Yui, who was unable to walk due to an amputation, was wearing the same white wedding gown that I had seen her with in my dream last night. The red guitar that she was holding was instead leaning on the bed next to her.

I can't move. My eyes are wide open and my mouth is ajar. I attempt to reach out towards Yui, but the very action of lifting my arm sends a strange wave of shock through it, making my muscles feel cold and stiff. I try to walk forwards, only to have the same freezing wave of shock pulse throughout my body, making me feel as if I was frozen in ice. Despite how cold I feel, I find myself sweating. Is this... this... how... people... with... My mind draws a blank and, no matter how hard I try, my attempts to create a complete thought are in vain.

"Hinata! Hinata! Oh my god, Mother! Something's wrong with Hinata!" Yui exclaims.

By the time I hear the door slide open behind me, everything disappears. The walls, the broken window, even Yui and her bed all fade into darkness. My legs lose all of their strength and I fall onto the ground ungracefully. Just before I black out, I use the last of my strength to curl up into a fetal position, ignoring the slightly painful and very cold waves of shock that pulse throughout my body.

And then, there was darkness.

I wake up once again in the dark room. Normally I'd try to break free. Then the girl in the pink hair would show up, along with the boy with orange hair. They would tell me strange things and then fade away.

But this time, it's different.

Instead of my baseball uniform, I am wearing the same tan uniform with the "SSS: Rebels against a god" badge on it. Standing before me are 13 familiar people. All of the men are wearing the same tan uniform as me, and all the girls are wearing the same white and blue uniform as each other. Among these people are the orange-haired boy and the pink-haired girl.

"Otonashi... Yui..." I manage to utter. Dream or not, I can still barely feel a freezing chill. The orange-haired boy walks up to me with a serious expression.

"You remember now, Hinata?" Otonashi asks. Upon hearing this, I recall every memory of that heaven-like place called the Afterlife. The SSS, Angel, the school; all of these memories which I now hold next to my heart were locked away. However, that's not the case anymore.

"Y-yes, I do." I reply.

Otonashi smiles, his serious expression washing off his face like dirt. "Good. We'll see you later, alright?" He then walks back to the rest of the group. All of them wave goodbye, and they fade into darkness.

"'See you soon?'" I ask.

I wake up on the floor of Yui's room. The evening sun is shining through the still-shattered window on my left, and Yui's very worried mother is on my right. I feel the cold surface of an ice pack on my forehead. Looking next to her, I see Yui. There is no guitar next to her bed, and she isn't wearing a white wedding gown. Was I... Hallucinating? Smiles of relief wash over both of their faces.

"Oh my god, Hinata-kun, don't scare me like that!" Yui exclaims and wraps herself around me. We stay that way for about a minute before Yui lets go. As she resumes her odd way of sitting with half of her legs, I sit up and remove the ice pack from my forehead.

"T-thank you. I don't know what got into me. I think I just saw something strange, is all." I tell them.

"Oh, dear, it's quite alright. I already called someone to fix the window. Do you want your ball back?" Yui's mother asks.

"Oh, uh, what time is it?" I say.

"It's 6:36. I'm think your practice has ended." Yui replies. "Why?"

"If that's the case, then I think you should keep it." I tell them while standing up. "Thanks again for your hospitality. I will leave now."

As I walk past them and head for the door, Yui tugs at my shirt childishly. I look down at her, and am surprised to find that her eyes are welling up with tears.

"Uwah? Is there something wrong, Yui?" I ask.

"Will you come back, Hinata-kun?" She asks. I notice that she is using -kun with my name. I smile at that.

"You know what? I will. I'll come visit you after every practice. Who knows, maybe I'll just come visit when I feel like it." I reply.

It started as once per week. After practice, I would knock on their door and visit Yui in her room. She would always comment on how sweaty I was. Then it became twice a week, then three times a week, then four, then five. Eventually, I visited her almost whenever I had free time. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with her. And apparently, I had a terrible way of hiding it. Yui and her mother soon found out, but were totally OK with me. Most of the time, I would help Yui's mother take care of Yui herself. Eventually, I relieved her of her duties and took care of her whenever I had the chance. I often found myself spending the night at their house, and my folks at home were surprisingly fine with it. However, Yui always seemed just a little bit depressed. She would occasionally just stare out the window with a daydreaming look on her face. I knew that she wanted to walk again, so I began to work a part-time job to raise money for leg prosthetics. It was tough, but I managed. Eventually, I raised enough money to buy these prosthetics, but it was expensive. However, I didn't give them to her right away. I waited 3 weeks until her birthday to give them to her. On that day, words could not describe the joy that we felt. Even though we had the prosthetics, Yui needed to get used to them. The doctor told us that since I chose to bring the prosthetics home rather than bring Yui to the hospital, it would take a few months since there was no proper instructor. Two months later, Yui stood up off her bed all by herself for the first time in over 10 years.

That brings us to now, where I am about to take Yui for her first walk through the park. It doesn't seem like much to the average person, but to Yui and I it's a step forward into the future.

"Awww, Hideaki-kun, why do we have to go on a hot day like this?" Yui complains to me as we arrive at the local park.

"What are you complaining to me for? You were so excited to come here just a few moments ago." I reply.

"But that was before I found out it was going to be this hot today! Waah!" She cries out in pretend agony.

"Look, we'll keep walking for a little while longer. When you feel tired, just tell me and we'll go sit in the shade." I tell her.

And so we continue walking. Yui seems to hold herself upright just fine, at least for the most part. Occasionally, she would stumble and grab onto my sleeve. After about 15 minutes of walking, Yui suddenly groans in a childish manner.

"We've been walking for HOURS, Hideaki-kun! Can we take a break now?" She asks.

"First of all, it's only been 15 minutes. Second of all, fine. We can go sit under that tree over there." I reply and point to a large oak tree in the middle of the park.

"Yay! Come on, Hideaki-kun, you slowpoke!"

"With legs like that, you're really one to talk..."

Otonashi's POV:

As I sit on the couch at home with Hatsune, I try to watch the baseball game on TV. It features teams from different schools, so I didn't end up developing any interest in it. Hinata would probably have at least some interest in this. Too bad he isn't here. I wonder where he is. Come to think of it, I wonder where EVERYONE from the SSS that we haven't found are right now.

As I contemplate various other things, some concering the SSS and others not, I take a look outside the window. The sun is high in the sky, shining brightly down upon our town. Maybe I'll spend some time with Kanade today...

Before I know it, I am dialing Kanade's phone number. A few moments later, I hear someone on the other line pick up the phone and yawn.

"Hello? This is Kanade Tachibana speaking." A voice says on the other end.

"Kanade, this is Yuzuru. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the park with me today." I ask her.

Instead of getting a reply, I hear a thump on the other end. Did she drop her phone or something? I didn't think that my offer would startle her that much. Then again, she probably just woke up.

A few moments later, Kanade begins to speak. "Yeah, That sounds like a great idea. I will see you there at 1:00?" She asks.

"Yep, that sounds like a plan. I'll see you there, bye!"

"Bye, Yuzuru." She says, then hangs up. I put my phone down and proceed to get ready for the day.

I wipe sweat from my brow as Kanade and I arrive at the park. "Man, Kanade, it's really hot today!" I exclaim. After hearing no reply whatsoever, I look over to Kanade. Her eyes seem to be fixated on the park itself. It's your average park, with a mediocre pond and large oak tree in the center.

"Look, the tree." She says.

"What about it?" I ask.

"There's plenty of shade under it."

"So?"

"I want to go sit under it."

"Oh. Alright! Come on." I say.

We walk over to the oak tree and sit down. We just sit there for a while, holding hands. This is nice, I think to myself. Before I know it, Kanade had fallen asleep, still holding my hand. I guess I could rest for a bit as well. I lay back and stare at the tree above me, its leaves glowing from the sunlight. The park is surprisingly empty today, so all is quiet except for the faint sounds of the cars in the distance. All is peaceful...

Just as I am about to fall asleep, I hear two rather loud voices in the distance behind me. I look at Kanade, who is still fast asleep. Being unable to sleep due to the noisy couple behind me, I decide to listen in on the coversation. I simply lay back and proceed to eavesdrop.

"... Can we take a break now?" A female voice asks.

"First of all, it's only been 15 minutes. Second of all, fine. We can go sit under that tree over there." The male voice replies.

"YAY! Come on, Hideaki-kun, you slowpoke! Oh crap, they're coming over HERE now! Now I'll never get much rest... Wait a second, did she say "Hideaki"? Could that be... No, that couldn't be. After all, Hideaki is a common name...

I hear their foosteps approach us. Well, I guess we'll find out for sure soon enough.

Soon, the two of them sit down on the other side of the tree, preventing me from seeing their faces. As I listen to their smalltalk, I try to remember if the guy sounds anything like Hinata. Gah, it's no use. It's been so long, I can hardly remember what he sounds like.

Eventually, their conversation dies down and the four of us simply rest under the tree. Soon, the girl's breathing becomes steady and rhythmic, indicating that she fell asleep. I listen to the male's breathing, and guess that he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Suddenly, the guy speaks up. "Ah, so here we are, man." He says. Is he talking to me? As if on cue, the man on the other side of the tree answers my question. "Yes, I am talking to you, Otonashi."

"Eh?" How does he know my name? Wait, could he be...

Once again, he answers my question before I even get the chance to say it. "It's me, Hideaki Hinata. Do you remember me yet?" He asks.

"Wait, you already remember? Did you meet Yuri on the way here or something?" I reply.

"Nah, I didn't. But because you said that, I assume that she's in this town?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah. So is Kanade."

"I know. I saw both of you."

"By the way, who's that with you?"

"It's Yui. She doesn't remember yet."

"Oh." I think back to that evening in the baseball field. I remember Yui's last goal and Hinata's proposal. I remember his story about how they would meet, and how he would care for her. I also remember how Yui would be paralyzed, even in her next life.

"Hey Hinata."

"What?"

"Did your story play out as planned?"

He chuckles. "Like clockwork, Otonashi."

"So Yui's paralyzed from the neck down?"

"Luckily, no. Instead, she had her legs below the knee amputated because of an accident. Long story, trust me."

"Oh, ok. Wait, don't they have prosthetics for that kind of thing?"

"They sure do. As a matter of fact, the reason why we're here is because this is Yui's first time in public with her new legs."

"Wow, nice."

As we continue with smalltalk, I fill in Hinata on everything that happened in the past few days. I tell him about Yuri's plan and my meeting with Kanade. I tell him the location of the bench and when to be there.

"Wow, it looks like we have our work cut out for us. So basically, we search for SSS members based on their personal information? Sounds like a pretty bad strategy to me." He says.

"Well, if you can think of anything better, go tell Yuri tomorrow." I tell him.

"But there's one more problem that I see other than our 'battle' strategy."

"Eh?"

"Our base... is a fucking public bench."

"What's so bad about that?"

"A lot of things. First of all, it's public so we never know if any random pedestrians may use it. We wouldn't be able to object if they did. Second of all, I really don't think we can fit everyone on one bench in public. Third of all, you remember how Yuri had a big projection board in the Afterlife? I highly doubt that we would be able to bring one to the bench without attracting attention." Hinata explains.

"Hmm... Like I said, you better go tell Yuri about that. She's the one who could use these pointers." I say. "Just wondering, though, what do you want to do about it?"

Hinata thinks for a second. "I suggest that we rent an apartment and make that our Base of Operations!"

"Rent an apartment... An apartment..." I take a moment to process this. "Wait, an APARTMENT!?"

UWAAHHHH! This was so frustrating to make! I don't think it's healthy to have gray hairs at my age, but whatevs. Anyways, here is my promised last-section-of-chapter-dedicated-to-replies-to-reviews, or LSCDRR. Man, that's long even for an acronym... Ah whatever.

WildGirl404: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. You see, one of my greatest fears as a fanfic writer is if I would be able to replicate their personalities from the anime well enough. Whether I bombed it or did it perfectly, I really want to see your opinion on this chapter. BTW thanks for the Yuzuru pointers

masteryoyojoel: I'm... AN INSPIRATION!? Ermahgerd I never knew I was capable of that ;D Thanks!

wendypang: Whoops I kinda fucked up on the surname part there, didn't I? I didn't find that when I researched Hisako, but all is said and done at this point. Anyways, thanks for the positive feedback (not just you wendy but ALL OF YOU AMAZEBALLS PEOPLE OUT THERE)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any suggestions given will be considered for chapter SIX, not chapter FIVE, which is next. I have something special planned for chapter five. Even so, leave your suggestions and reviews like always! Seeya later!