Angel Beats!

What We Die For

Chapter 10

Gearing Up

Part 5

"Oi! Kurogane! Wake up!"

I stirred slightly, hearing my name being called. That, and the fact that I'm being shaken violently. I opened my eyes, and as the world came back into focus, i noticed a bunch of students walking into the classroom. They each had an armband around their right arm with the words 'Public Morals'. So, they've come. I looked towards Riki, who seemed to be rather nervous to the point of not able to issue the command to escape.

The mission was to attend classes and escape if the public morals appeared. It would be a different story if it were the student council members. The public morals committee were like ruthless police dogs, and if they appeared, talking wouldn't be very helpful. Riki's fear had rooted him to his seat and made him silent. Perhaps Kyousuke needed to train him a bit more. The other members of the Little Busters were all waiting for his signal. As one of the public morals members walked towards Rin, the tension was mounting.

"... Tch, Everyone! Pull out!"

I decided to give the order, Rin was in too much danger. At my call, the others sprang into action. Kudo jumped out of her seat and out of an open window. Wait, wasn't this the third floor? Haruka pushed a button, which actually activated what appeared to be a rocket under her chair as she was sent flying straight into the ceiling, and beyond. Who knows just how far she flew up. As for Riki, he managed to recover and escape through the front door where the public morals weren't guarding.

However Rin was still rooted to her seat. The public morals were closing in on her. Now wasn't the time to think. Grabbing the notebook on my desk, I flung it at the public morals committee member closest to Rin, distracting him as i jumped to my feet and dashed towards Rin. Grabbing her by the collar, I dragged her towards the entrance, but found that more enemy reinforcements were present.

"Dammit, plan B."

Not really plan B, in that i didn't really have any plans made in my mind at all. I turned and ran straight for the window on the other side of the classroom. Without even thinking, i jumped, pulling Rin along for the ride. The last thing i remember, was thinking about how long the drop to the ground was.

Waking up, i found myself on the sofa of principals office. All was quiet as the sky outside was dark. Was it the Shadow hour? No, looking at the clock, the first Shadow hour had gone by. It would another two hours before the second Shadow hour. I sat up, rubbing the back of my head where it felt slightly sore.

"You're up. Good."

I turned to see Yuki walking into the room with a plate of omelet rice. She placed the plate on the table, gesturing me to eat it.

"You took quite a bad fall. You need more practice on how to fall without blacking out."

Yuki explained as i dug into my meal. Yuki sat down in the principal's chair behind the desk, throwing her feet up onto the desk.

"You landed straight on your head and your neck snapped like a twig with your blood spurting out like a fountain. Want a photo to commemorate your brilliant death? No? Well, nevermind then. Of course, you revived shortly after. Rin was the one to drag you back here. She left that for you."

Yuki pointed at the table where a stack of food coupons were. That, and a piece of paper. I grabbed the paper and looked at it. On it was a drawing of a cat and a 'thank you'. Pocketing the food coupons, i turned back to Yuki.

"So how was the operation?"

"The distraction worked quite well. Our intelligence division managed to get a hold the schedule of the Public Morals Committee. They're planning to raid our assault base of operations tomorrow."

Yuki explained, opening a can of 'Key' coffee to drink.

"They can do that?"

"They are essentially the police of this World. Although we merely want to survive by fighting the Shadows, our actions are also outside the system of what this World allows therefore letting the Public Morals people to come after us. That is what the diversion division is for. Of course, we can't go off killing the NPCs, who knows what would happen if we were to do that. This entire system could collapse and we would end up becoming forever 'lost'. Not passing on, not even in purgatory. We could have our existence erased."

"... I wasn't going to propose killing NPCs."

I said, though the thought did cross my mind before.

"Well, whatever you're thinking, there are also some NPCs who were once like us. It is impossible for most of us to shoot at people whom we had considered comrades and friends at one point."

I did see that point, and I did notice that several members of the SSS2 were rather frightened, or sad, when they saw some NPCs. Some of those NPCs used to be humans. They used to be members of the SSS2, converted into NPCs by shadows. Some of those former comrades may have even transformed to become the Shadows that the SSS2 fights. Such a thought was frightening and to be honest it made me slightly sick.

"So what's next?"

I ask, finishing my plate of food.

"We need to fortify our assault base. The Little Busters are already there to lend them a hand."

"I see."

So Kyousuke and Riki were already there. Then perhaps i should head over as well. But just as i got up from the sofa, Yuki stopped me.

"Wait. At the moment, the Little Buster have gotten it covered. Right now we have a larger problem."

That did not sound good.

"What's the problem?"

Yuki closed her eyes, clearly pained to say it. Was it something else that went wrong? So many things could go wrong that i wouldn't know what Yuki was going say.

"... Tonight, the diversion division is unable to mobilize. We would need to go out to hunt Shadows one by one."

"What? Why isn't the diversion division able to-"

"During Operation: Blind Man, we lost Tetsuya."

Tetsuya, the leader of the Diversion Division. Lost?

"What do you mean, lost?"

"The Public Morals people got him as he tried to escape."

"Didn't you say the operation went well?"

"Yes, it went ahead as planned. We got what we needed and now we can act before the public morals catches us. But such things are not without risks. You should know that by now."

I bit my lip, unable to say anything back to Yuki. What she said was true, that things in this World never worked out completely fine. Nothing was perfect. Somehow that phrase resounded strongly in my mind. I do not know why, but it pained me to think of it.

"If he's been caught, then he should have been released by now, right?"

"... No. We do not know what happened, but Tetsuya hasn't been seen after that. We lost contact completely. We can only assume the worst at this point."

"You mean... a Shadow?"

Yuki did not answer, her dark expression telling me that it could be something worse. Far worse.

"Whatever it may be, the fact is that our diversion division is without a leader. The Assault division would need to fan out to hunt down the Shadows. I've sent all available hands to aid in this Operation."

"So that's why the fort is empty."

"Yes. I'll also be heading out into the field later."

Yuki explained, grabbing an assault rifle (FN SCAR) that was leaning against the wall. She checked the ammunition level in the magazine before slotting it back.

"You'll need a rifle of your own. I would accompany you to Guild, but my responsibilities lie with organizing the members. I'm sure you know the way to Guild."

Yuki looked to me as she turned the safety off on her rifle. I nodded in reply and she smiled.

"Good. You're growing up. I'll see you later on the field."

I stepped back into Old Guild, where the heat from the fires were still as intense as ever. The number of people rushing about had increased since the last time i came here, in particular i noticed an increase in people getting weapons and ammunition. Perhaps they are preparing for tonight's operation? I walked over to the table of my fitter, Shotoku Gen. The scrawny guy was focusing on a rifle so much that he didn't notice i had just walked up to his work bench.

"... Shotoku-san?"

I ask, but Gen simply raised a finger to silence me.

"Not now... I need to fine tune this and... dammit!"

A spring flew out of the rifle and i managed to catch it before it flew too far. Placing the spring on his work bench, i look to Gen who placed the now broken rifle by the side.

"Kurogane. I see you're joining those assault guys in tonight's operation."

He seemed slightly irritated, perhaps i shouldn't have disturbed him.

"You better treat my beauties better than those apes. I don't want to see even a scratch on my works of art."

Ah, so i see why he's angry. I look over to where some other assault members were, testing out their weapons in a rather rough way. While i was looking elsewhere, Gen placed a rifle on the table.

"This is a SAR-21. It has good reliability, but it would be slightly tricky to use because it is a bull-pup design. This type of gun would be perfect for you since you have a smaller body frame than the others. This baby uses 5.56X45mm NATO rounds. Here are six magazines for it, and another four for your STI Edge. I hope your pistol is still working fine?"

Gen narrowed his eyes at me, as though accusing me of something. I pull out my pistol and placed it on his workbench. Gen took my pistol and inspected it carefully.

"... You didn't use her much, did you?"

He asked.

"No, I haven't been involved in any battles besides the one right after you gave me this."

"I see... When cleaning the barrel, you need to make sure not to make any scratches. A slight niche could alter the accuracy and overall performance of the gun."

Gen explained, handing me back my pistol. I noticed that he seemed to have calmed down a bit after seeing my pistol. An artist at heart, huh. Never knew that.

"What's this? Shotoku, i didn't know you outfitted anyone."

A rough voice made me turn. The guy who stood right behind me was tall. Way taller than me. About thirty centimetres taller? He has broad shoulders and quite a muscular built, though i had seen some guys with more rippling muscles than this guy. Still, the impression i got from him was 'scary bear'. His matted dark brown hair and overly sparkling emerald eyes vastly contrasted his outfit. Unlike the other members of the SSS2, being smart and smooth, almost as though he were an officer in the army. Tucked under one arm is even a military style hat.

"Shrewerz-san, do you mind not standing too close to my workbench? Your large built practically spews sweat and gun powder. Did the boss let you raid her gun closet again?"

Gen asked. Shrewerz? A German? What's a German doing in this place?

"Ah ha ha, well, you know me. I can't resist testing out what Yuuko makes. Seeing those weapons just turns me on!"

"Please don't turn anything on in here... sigh, Kurogane, this is Ein Shrewerz, one of the five leaders. In charge of the assault division."

Gen introduced me to the large man, who smiled and stuck out his hand.

"Good to meet you, new kid."

Kid? Did this guy just call me kid?

"Erm... about your name."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, i get asked about that a lot. I'm a mixed blood, you see. My mom's Japanese while my dad's German. He migrated over and worked as a police officer."

Huh, I didn't know that the Japanese police hired foreigners.

"They usually don't hire foreigners, Kurogane."

Gen said, reading my thoughts. I'm guessing it was a question well asked around here.

"However since this guy's mother was well connected, they managed to pull some strings. His dad was more like an instructor for the police cadets, though he still went out on the field. Because of what his father was, he turned out to be another gun freak. Honestly, we don't need a second boss in here."

Gen sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, i won't take over Yuuko's place. I prefer fighting on the frontlines than working in these tunnels."

Ein replied. I sensed a slight hint of sadness when he said that.

"Well, no point in talking about such things. We've got Shadows to fight. Hey, newbie."

"It's Kurogane."

I did not like being called 'newbie'. It felt like he was belittling me.

"I don't give a damn about your name. When you're on the battlefield, you're under my jurisdiction. I give the orders, and you follow. Yuki isn't who you answer to, it's me. Do as i say, no mistakes, and you will live. Got it?"

All of a sudden Ein's demeanour changed from a rather easy-going person, to a fierce military officer. What with this sudden change?

"Don't mind him, Kurogane. He gets too much into the 'leader' character when it comes down to missions. Call it 'switching' of persona."

Gen explained, turning back to fixing the rifle that broke earlier.

"Switching? Persona?"

Sounds like a game, if you ask me. I watch as drill master mc-bear goes off to bark orders at the rest of assault team, wondering if it was really going to be alright if it were left to him.

"Don't worry about Shrewerz. He can things done when the time comes. And though he may act like an asshole, he'll watch your back."

"... Kind of like Imagawa-san."

"Hmph, that idiot Jin only follows Yuki blindly. If you aren't working under Yuki, Jin could care less about whether you get eaten by a Shadow or get skewered by a pole. No, Shrewerz is much better than that. That's why he's the leader of the assault division. That is why people look up to him, because with him in charge, the assault division has never lost a single man to the Shadows."

"Hmm... i see."

So he's a rather impressive leader. I guess i could see that in him.

"Just for your information, he's also the kind of guy who would rather shoot himself and his comrades than let them get eaten. His way of showing some 'tough love'."

"... I see."

Actually, i don't see it. I grab the spare magazines from Gen's workbench, checking to make sure that my new rifle fitted me well. As expected of Gen, the weapon fitted snugly in my arms.

"After this battle, come back to see me. I have a little surprise for you."

Gen said while still focusing on his rifle. I nodded, placing a couple of food coupons on his workbench before joining up with the rest of the assault division. Tonight was going to be hunting night. For the first time since I've join the SSS2, we're going on the offensive.

A/N: Thanks to Jhon117 (should i call you master chief?) for the character. Sorry that i didn't get it quite right. But since your guy is a leader, he'll be appearing more often.

Those who don't know what the guns are, use wikipedia, or google them. SAR-21 is actually a bullpup assault rifle used by my country. I have to be slightly bias here, since it is a rifle from my country... but i still like the FAMAS more than the SAR-21, that won't change.