Chapter 7: With Your Final Say

"Tachibana…. I swear I've heard that name before…." Otonashi mumbled.

"Yes, I think I know who that is." Naoi said. "Angel's real name is Kanade Tachibana."

Miyuki eyes bugged a little wider. "That's it! That was my sister's name!"

Otonashi was in pure shock. He just couldn't believe, couldn't comprehend that all of this time he had fighting against the sister of the love of his life. "I…. I can't believe that I've shot at your sister…. It makes sense now… why you told me to stop shooting… why your memory was about to come back… I'm sorry Miyuki…."
"It's okay, really, it is. You didn't know at all." Miyuki said, still happy to get her memory back. And she could NEVER be mad at Otonashi.

Otonashi smiled. "Ok." He had an idea. "Say, Miyuki?"

"Yeah."

"You could talk to her right now if you wanted to…"

"What, you mean Kanade? Really?"

"Yes. You know she's here, in this world. So we could find her somewhere in this school right now."

Miyuki jumped up from her seat, slightly startling Naoi and Otonashi. "I'd absolutely love that! Otonashi, go take me to see her, right now!"

Otonashi stood up, feeling confident, grabbing Miyuki's arm. "All right! Let's Go! Naoi, you stay here and explain it to the others. We've got to find Kanade!"

They sprung, out of the room and out of headquarters, and Naoi stood, still confused, but, for some reason, determined to help them. He stayed to explain the situation.

Otonashi and Miyuki zoomed through the hallways, swerving in between each and every person there, just like they had when they'd met. Otonashi knew Angel would be roaming somewhere through the hallways as she always was during passing time.

And he was correct. She was by the staircase, the sunlight coming through the window, shining warmly on her as she watched the students in the hallway. Otonashi and Miyuki ran up to her. Otonashi tapped her on the shoulder, and she swiftly turned around. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably for a reason she could not understand. She didn't think it was love, but it was something else. "Oh.. Hello," she said in her usual shy manner. "Can I help you?"

Otonashi spoke up. "I'm Yuzuru Otonashi. I'm a student here. I believe we've met."

"Yes."

She remembered the first time they met, when he asked her to prove to him that he couldn't die because he was still getting used to the world he was in. But she seemed to form some sort of connection with him.

Otonashi spoke again. "There's someone I think you'd like to meet. This is Miyuki Tachibana."

Kanade saw Miyuki's face and instantly recognized her from her life. "Miyuki! I can't believe it's you! All this time I wondered if you were still alive as I died…

Miyuki ran up and hugged her, screaming about how happy she also was to see her, and she told her how she died, and how she tried to get to her.

"You… you died for me… did all of that just to see me in my dying moment…. Thank you…." Kanade softly spoke into Miyuki's ear. She then turned to Otonashi, and realized what she had been trying to figure out her entire time in this world.

"Otonashi… It was you. You gave me my heart… you are what allowed me to live longer in life. I'm certain…"

Otonashi stepped back a little, in shock. He remembered that he had signed up to be an organ donor just before he died, but he hadn't imagined meeting someone who had one of his organs in the afterlife.

Kanade spoke again, "And… my one regret in life was not being able to thank the person that gave it to me… but now I can..." She didn't know why she was nervous, but she was. "Otonashi…. Thank you…."

Miyuki was startled by all of this. She knew that by Kanade fulfilling her regret… she would pass on. She didn't want this to happen, but she knew she couldn't help it. But this was her chance! Her chance to finally say goodbye to her sister… and fulfill HER regret.

"Kanade…" Miyuki said.

"What is it?"

"It's just that… My regret in life, the reason I'm here… is because I never got to say goodbye to you… but now that you're leaving, I have that chance…"

Otonashi, slowly trying to figure out all that was going on here, spoke up. "Wait, Miyuki! If you do that… you'll pass on and…. I don't want you to leave, Miyuki…. I love you."

Miyuki smiled and kissed Otonashi on the cheek. "I love you, too. More than anything. But since you love me so much you have to understand that this is what I came here to get over, and now I have. So even though I love you, I'm going to leave, I'm going to pass on. Please, I want you to be happy for me. Do you think you can do that?"

Otonashi's face was drenched. He hadn't cried this much, so quickly ever before. He swallowed a few times, so he could speak. He ran towards Miyuki and hugged her just as passionately as the day they had met, dampening her shoulder with his tears.

"Miyuki, I love so much. Just promise me that wherever you end up in your next life you'll think of me, all right?"

"I will. I don't think I could ever forget you." She turned to Kanade. "Kanade, before you disappear, I need to say good-bye. It's my one regret. So… Good-bye Kanade. I love you."

"Thank you, Miyuki, that's all I wanted to hear before I left. And I love you too." The sisters embraced each other, and the second Miyuki let go, Kanade had vanished completely… She was gone. She turned around to Otonashi. He was still in tears, but speechless.

"And now it's time for me to say good-bye to you, Otonashi." Miyuki said, sniffling, her face covered in just as many tears as his.

At this moment, all of the SSS ran up to the scene. Except when they saw what was happening, none of them could say a word. They knew what was going on.

"Trust me; I don't want to go either. But there's no way I can stay here. I have no regrets. I can live in a different life now, my soul completely free, no longer trapped here. I have to do this." She stared into his blurred eyes, and they kissed. No one else said anything this time either; it was a moment too precious to be broken.

As soon as her lips disconnected with his, she leaned back a little, and vanished. Otonashi reached out a hand, as if it would have saved her. He dropped to his knees. He dug his face into his hands, still crying. "Miyuki…..Miyuki…" Everyone else in the group was in tears, too. Even though they never knew her, and didn't really like her, they felt a sort of sympathy. Eventually Yuri stepped out and sat next to Otonashi. She put her arm around him. This surprised Otonashi. She was never any level of comforting.

"Hey, relax. Things like this happen to all of us. Trust me, there are plenty of fish in the sea, and this certainly isn't the end of the world. You can get through this, Otonashi. I believe it." She said all this surprisingly tenderly.

"But… How can I move on? She was the only girl I've ever loved this much."

Yuri sat and thought for a moment. Otonashi continued to cry.

"Let me tell you a story," she said. "One day, a while back, I met this guy. He was very sweet, always had good intentions, even if he was an idiot sometimes, and was VERY cute. To be honest, I fell in love with him. But, I'm not very good at expressing my feelings, so it came across wrong for a while. And then, I saw him with a girl, and he seemed to be in love with her. I hadn't told him my feelings yet, so I was just about as heartbroken as you. I still haven't gotten over this guy… he's here. Think of it as a challenge. If someone like me can't get over a guy, see if YOU can get over her. Maybe that'll make you feel better."

Otonashi paused for a minute. "Hey Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I the guy you were talking about?"

Yuri began to blush. "Yes, Otonashi. Yes, you are."

"Aw, that's very sweet of you, Yuri. But I just don't know if I can…" and Yuri kissed him. It was sweet, and soft, unlike anything Otonashi had experienced from Yuri's aggressive behavior in the past. At that moment, and he couldn't figure out why, but he started to feel better. And as he got up, and held Yuri's hand as they walked together down the hallway, he somehow felt that, even though getting over Miyuki would be the hardest thing he's had to do, he would get over it. And as he looked over at Yuri's face, he felt something in his chest. And it grew even stronger. And somehow he knew he would be feeling this way for a long time.

THE END. ;)