Quadruple update! Hazzah! I feel so proud of myself =w=

Posting these four chapters one by one would break the flow of the story, especially considering the little cliffhangar in one of them. Sorry for making you wait, but here they are! XD

Another thing, I realized I'd made two mistakes in the previous chapter. First, I named the band 'GiDeMo' when it should have been 'GirlDeMo', which Gitah-Muttan was kind enough to point out to me. Second, I wrote 'distraction' instead of 'diversion', a mistake I noticed when I watched certain episodes again for ideas.

(I can't believe it. I totally missed three minutes of the Angel Beats! series! Apparently, there's a short 3-min clip titled 'Another Epilogue'. And I swear, it was the best three minutes of... yesterday XD. And I called myself a die-hard Angel Beats! fan T^T I should be ashamed. Well, if any of you hasn't checked that out yet, be sure to watch it. You'll regret it if you don't. It was SOOOOOOOOOO good!)

Okay, that's enough babbling. XD Enjoy the story~~~

Chapter 9 – Sisterly love

I entered the room where my sister was hospitalized, smelling the familiar scent of disinfectants and anesthetics.

The familiar surroundings greeted me. The pot of sunflowers I had given her was still resting on the windowsill. The morning sun outside was shining gently, casting a light shadow over the hospital bed.

She smiled hopefully when she saw me. 'Brother.' She strained to sit upright, adjusting her pillow and resting her back against it.

I closed the door behind me and sat in the chair beside the bed. 'How are you feeling today?'

Her tone was cheerful. 'The doctors take very good care of me. I feel a lot better today.' She held her hands together and said, 'I'm so glad you came to visit me today, brother. Thank you.'

I looked down. I didn't deserve the thank you. I hadn't visited my sister for almost a whole week, yet she was still so optimistic, so thankful to me…

'I'm so sorry,' I said in a low voice.

'What for?' she asked softly.

I continued to hang my head down. 'It's already been a week since I last visited. I didn't even come yesterday…'

I felt a soft touch to my chin. The gentle force offered by Hatsune's small hand lifted my head back up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw she was wearing the silver bracelet I'd bought her for her birthday over a week ago. The same day I saw Kanade for the first time…

I could see her leaned body and her loving face as she said, 'Don't worry. I'm just so very happy you're here. Thank you, brother.'

I grabbed her outreached hand. It felt warm to the touch. 'No. Thank you, Hatsune.'

'So,' I said when I picked my spirits back up. I reached into the backpack I was still holding and produced a book.

She gasped with delight as she took the manga. I savored this moment of happiness as she opened the wrapping and flipped it open. Her smile got wider as she turned to look at me through wide, appreciative eyes. 'You remember!'

'That's not all.' I smiled. I reached into the bag again and produced four more manga books. 'I didn't want you to be bored on a Sunday, so I bought the whole series for you.' I stacked them on the table beside me.

She looked at the stack of manga books with sparkling, fluttering eyes. Seeing her this happy made me happy.

She stared at the books for a little while. Then, to my surprise, she slowly hung her head down.

'What's the matter?' I asked.

The hands holding the first manga book started trembling slightly. 'I wish… I wish I could be home with you, so we could read them together.' Small teardrops fell and soaked the white blanket.

'Hey...' I said gently. I pulled my chair closer to the bed and put a hand on her shoulder. 'I'm right here,' I reassured her. 'We can read together if you want to.'

I pulled out a tissue from a nearby tissue box, and gently wiped the tears off her face. I tapped her nose once and chuckled. 'Silly girl.'

She also chuckled once.

I leaned closer and we began reading from the first page. Sometimes she would giggle and give comments. Other times she would exclaim in delight or break down in tears as the story progressed. I never liked manga, but I felt another kind of joy when my sister shared her feelings with me. It was a heartwarming feeling, and I knew nothing could ever replace it.

'You know, I've got an even bigger present for you today,' I said after my sister delivered another hearty comment.

She looked up at me curiously. 'A bigger present?'

'Yep, but they aren't here yet.' I checked my watch. 7:45. 'Actually, they'll be arriving soon.'

Her curious eyes widened. 'You're having more manga delivered to the hospital, brother?'

I chuckled once. 'No, it's something I know you'll love even more than manga.'

'Something I love… even more than manga?' Her eyes shimmered with hope again.

I smiled. 'Do you remember telling me how much you wanted to study and make friends?'

She nodded.

'Well, I'm bringing some of my friends along today, and they can't wait to meet you.' I rubbed her hair gently. 'Aren't you excited? You get to make friends here!'

'Friends…' She gazed down at her hands.

I cocked my head. 'What's the matter?' I had thought that would surely pick her up, but instead she seemed… sad. Was it something I said?

After a moment, she looked up at me and smiled. 'I'm sorry. I just felt a little nervous, that's all. I'd really love to meet your friends.'

'Silly. There's nothing to be nervous about. They're gonna love you. You're going to make lots of friends today,' I assured her.

I got up to my feet. 'Well, I'd better head down and meet them first.' I waved my hand as I walked toward the door, leaving my backpack behind. 'I'll be back in a bit.'

/ / / / / / / / / /

7:55. They were already here. In the middle of the waiting group was our leader, Yuri. Hinata, Noda and Yui were each carrying a guitar. Even Kanade was holding one herself. Upon closer look, though, I realized it was mine.

'Thank you so much for coming today. I really appreciate it,' I said as I approached the waiting team.

'You left it in the clubroom yesterday. Here,' Kanade said cheerfully as she handed me the guitar.

Oh, and in case you're wondering how me, Hinata and Noda got our hands on some guitars, we sort of 'borrowed' them from the Guitar Club just one floor below ours. So when I said 'my guitar', I didn't really mean it literally. But don't worry. We're going to return them as soon as we finish the operation. I just hope no one notices someone has been tampering with their equipment…

There was something about Noda that seemed off. Ah, that's right. He doesn't have his axe with him. That's unusual…

'Not quite. Yuri was very persuasive,' Hinata explained.

'Of course,' Yuri said. 'Hospitals don't allow visitors who carry an axe around, do they?' Then she whispered to me, 'You better be grateful for this.'

I smiled.

Noda snorted.

'Okay then, let's go!' Yuri shouted with her fist in the air.

/ / / / / / / / / /

'Welcome back, big brother!' Hatsune said to me. I was the first one to enter.

I pulled up some chairs that were resting against a wall and unfolded them, placing them neatly around the hospital bed.

'Hiya, little sister!' Yuri said as she plopped down in a chair.

'Hi!' Hatsune said with a smile. 'Thank you so much for coming.'

Noda tensed up and stood in a corner while the rest of us took our respective seats. I wondered what was going on in his mind. The least you could do is show a little friendliness…

I had been kind of worried that my sister would feel uneasy with so many visitors, especially after she said she was feeling kind of nervous, but I could see she was really happy.

I began the introductions. 'Hatsune, this is Hinata. He's a respectable baseball player, but he's a little gay.'

'Hey!' Hinata immediately protested and I suppressed a chuckle.

'The one standing over there is Noda. He usually carries a giant axe around and is a bit of a nutcase, so be careful.'

Noda didn't seem to take offence, which was a bit strange.

'The one sitting right in front of you is Yuri. She's the leader of a little team we've formed.'

'Team?' Hatsune's curious eyes widened. 'What kind of team?'

'It's something called an SSS club,' Yuri explained. 'We're all members.'

'Wow, sounds like fun.' Hatsune's eyes grew hopeful. 'I wish I could join.'

I smiled. 'Once you get better, ok?' Then I went on, 'This is Yui. She may look small, but she's actually just one year younger than your brother.'

'It's very nice to meet you,' Yui said cheerfully before suddenly shouting at me, 'Who are you calling small!'

'And last but not least, sitting on your right is Kanade.'

Kanade bowed slightly and smiled. 'It's very nice to meet you, little sister.'

'Kanade?' Hatsune asked before turning towards me. 'Is she your girlfriend you've been telling me so much about, big brother?'

I flushed and shifted uneasily in my chair. I wasn't going to bring that up.

'She's awfully pretty,' Hatsune said admiringly.

Now it was Kanade's turn to blush as she looked away.

I sneaked a glance at Kanade. Her hair was still tied into a tiny ponytail, a hairstyle she only used in this world. To be honest, this fit her even better than her wearing her hair long. She really was pretty.

That was how the introductions went. The atmosphere was a little awkward at first, but it didn't take long for Yui to hit it off with my little sister. They started talking about music and high school life. The rest of us joined in the conversation. We talked and laughed. Even Noda eventually took his seat and shared his comments occasionally.

My sister also noticed all the guitars we had brought with us. Yui volunteered to play my sister a little get-well song while Kanade volunteered to sing along. The melody was soothing.

They were really starting to look like close friends. My sister's wish had finally been fulfilled.

I sank into my thoughts as they started another topic of conversation.

Even since she was very little, Hatsune had that special quality about her. Everyone just wanted to be her friend. She was fun to be with. She got along with everyone…

That touched my soft spot. She was such a nice person, yet she had fallen victim to cancer and was bound to the hospital bed… It reminded me of how unjust life was for her. She shouldn't be here. She should be studying and making friends like any other normal middle-school child. God was so unfair…

By the time we decided to leave, it was almost 3 p.m. None of us had had lunch yet, but my friends didn't seem to mind. Even Yuri didn't mind pushing the operation further down the timeline, though she had always been the one to stress the importance of these operations…

I really felt happy for Hatsune.

'I promise I'll come visit you again tomorrow, okay?' I said as I grabbed my backpack.

Hatsune nodded happily.

'We'll see you again soon, little sister!' Yuri said.

'Don't worry, little sister. The get-well song is sure to take effect and you'll be out of the hospital in no time,' Yui said cheerfully.

Hinata had teary eyes when he said, 'Hatsune, can you be my little sister?'

Hatsune chuckled as I smacked Hinata on his head. 'Get a move on, will you?'

'Ouch…' he said and dragged himself out of the room, almost unwillingly.

Even Noda gave a proper goodbye.

Kanade and I were the last to leave. I waved goodbye to my little sister, slowly closing the door behind me.

I couldn't hear the faint 'thank you, big brother' that Hatsune whispered after me.