Thank you everyone who have reviewed and are following my story. It's been really fun coming up with a continuation of one of my favorite anime series so far. Sorry for the delay in chapter 7, life has been catching up with me and the ideas aren't flowing as smoothly as they did when I wrote the events for the first day of the story. Hope it still lives up to expectations.

Chapter 7
Otonashi Yuzuru

I jolt awake, this time from a series of disjointed dreams I'm sure is caused by all the lost memories resurfacing yesterday. I keep my eyes closed, trying to hold on to as much as I can. In one scene, I was supposed to be invading someone's room with a few other people, including someone who was carrying what looked like a pole arm and someone trying to hack into a computer using a laptop. In the next, I was shooting at shadow-like creatures that just kind of dispersed instead dying in any way. And finally, I was in a fairly empty hall, attending what appeared to be a graduation ceremony with only five people attending. In those scenes, there always seemed to be a few people who were constantly present. One was someone called Hinata. I can't help noticing that the student I saw yesterday had the same name. Although I couldn't see him clearly, their figures looked similar enough. The second was a girl with violet hair wearing dark purple hairbands. She appeared to act as a leader, most likely of the student rebels I dreamed about before. And lastly, the girl who, until yesterday, I thought I didn't know. Tachibana Kanade. If what I have been remembering and dreaming about so far is real, then she was as much a part of all of it as me.

As I get up, I realize that my mind is indeed much clearer than it was yesterday. My subconscious appears to have organized the jumble of memories I had yesterday and formed connections between them. I am now quite certain that Kanade and I knew each other before; I just need to figure out the circumstances. My knowledge about guns probably came from the same or similar circumstances under which I met Kanade, and somehow I don't feel that the armed attack on me is so strange anymore. I still don't really know why though, but that feeling still remains quite vague.

All the faces I saw in my dream – I think that somehow what happened to me may be related to them as well, even if not directly. Everyone was part of the same group, and whatever is happening now could have something to do with them; there is no other explanation why all the strange things that have happened revolve around memories of them somehow. The question is: where could they be now? I think that if I can find them and gather everyone once more, everything can be made clear. The problem is, I still don't remember their names, and the one name I know – Hinata – is not even something I can be sure of yet. I could try looking for Hinata, and maybe Yui as well, at school. But at the moment, the only line of communication I have is probably Kanade.

I got prepared and arrive at school in record time. I feel like there is a reason for me to get here early now – to try and see if there are any more familiar faces among the student body. There have been at least three familiar faces just in this school so far, what is there to prevent the possibility of there being more?

I head to my classroom to drop off my things, at the same time glancing into the classrooms I pass to if any faces strike me as familiar. It turns out that I'm early enough so most of the other students have not arrived yet, and many classrooms are still fairly empty. As there's only so much I can do in an empty school, I sit down at my desk which is next to the window overlooking the grounds and watch as students slowly arrive at the front gate.

There is one thing I can say for sure after just ten minutes looking down at the gate: it really is boring. Maybe it will be less so if you know what you are looking for – maybe a person you like, or even just watching every girl and trying to guess their three sizes and what it would be like to have her as a girlfiend, as some of the guys in class are apt to do. In my case, I knew nothing about whoever I was searching for, only taking in every face in the hopes that my subconscious would intervene the way it did before with related people.

Eventually, I see Kanade walking in among the crowd. I smile to myself. Finally, someone familiar. Not a new person like I'd hoped, but by this time I'm just dying to see anyone I know. Now that I have a chance to take a good look at her, I realize that she is quite cute; those large eyes, flowing hair and petite frame are just too irresistible. I wonder if I realized that before.

Suddenly realizing that I've begun to daydream, I pull myself back to the present. I still need to keep a watch on the arriving students, but I'm beginning to wonder how I should approach them after I've determined their identity. I can't assume that they remember anything; they may not have had any stimuli to jumpstart their memory. I can't very well walk up to them and say "Excuse me, do I seem familiar to you?" That'd scare people off, if anything.

A figure just walking through the gate catches my attention. She stands out more than most of the other students because of the guitar bag she's carrying over her shoulder. She has shoulder length scarlet hair and a very calm and collected look. She seems to be one of the cool and elegant girls that tend to be quite popular among guys, and I can imagine that it would be further accentuated by the fact that she plays the guitar.

That feeling of familiarity washes over me again as I watch her make her way across the yard. Flashes of her playing in an all-girls band surface in my mind. She seems to be the lead singer or guitarist, and apparently the band was quite popular, as the audience appeared to be large and hyped up. I close my eyes, trying to remember her name, or at least the name of the band if it could be of any help. I think I remember the initials GDM, which must be the band's abbreviation. Ah, I've got it! Iwasawa. I'm still not sure exactly what role she played before, but I get the feeling that she was quite important as well.

So that makes it three people I have yet to contact. Hinata, Yui, and Iwasawa. The group is already getter bigger before I even know what good getting in touch with them will do. That detail still remains as vague as ever.

I continue my watch on the front gates but nobody else familiar shows up. Well, I shouldn't expect a whole mob of familiar-yet-unknown people to pop up in school all of a sudden. As it stands, the current number is already against all odds of being coincidence. My next step should be to figure out how to contact them without making myself look like a freak. I'll have to at least wait until the first break before doing that though.

The morning classes have never passed so slowly. I believe this is the first time I have ever anticipated break. And as many students would probably know, the more you are looking forward to something, the slower it will come. The wait for break to arrive has never been so long and painful.

When the bell finally rings, I jump out of my seat, full of energy once again. I haven't really decided how to tackle approaching each of them in a manner that wouldn't alarm them should they not remember the things I've been recalling. But I suppose just going by and showing them my face would be a start, just to see their initial reactions.

As I'm about to leave the classroom, I hear one of my classmates call my name.

"Otonashi! You have a visitor!"

Strangely I also hear whispers going around the room.

"Why's she coming to visit him?"

"It's not fair! I thought he's the type to keep to himself?"

Just then someone bangs me on the back. I turn around to find Oono, one of the few people in class I have talked to on a fairly regular basis.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me earlier that you managed to get so close to a girl? And it's the president, out of all people! You lucky person!"

President? I turn towards the door to confirm my suspicions. And sure enough, there she is. Kanade.

She beckons towards me.

"Could you come with me for a while? I have something to discuss with you."