Note from the Author!

Don't worry I'm not dead! I really do apologize for not uploading a chapter for a while. Last weekend was my birthday (17 now, same as Yuzuru!) and the week before that I had to help out with my school's musical production. Besides that I DID write this chapter. Only I hated the way it originally was so I changed it a lot as I went along. I think so far that this is my longest chapter, which is nice since I've been inactive for such a long time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 10!

-{Chapter Ten: You Can't Change the Past}-

It had been a week since Otonashi's return. It had been hectic week. Everyone was overjoyed at his return. He also explained to Yurippe and the others about how he had been tortured by the creator, although he left out the part about the broken world code. He was debating when to tell the others about it, but he had decided to keep it to himself until things died down. He had also reunited with his sister and told her what happened after she had died. She was happy to hear that her death motivated him to make something of his life. She also had learned that he had donated his heart to save Kanade's life, and she often joked "Most boyfriends give their girlfriends candy hearts. You gave her your actual one!"

Through all this craziness, Otonashi and Kanade had never left each other's side for even a single minute since he had returned. Whether it was Work duties, eating food or just sleeping, they were together through the whole thing. They often spent most of their late-night free time sitting on the roof and talking. Today was one of those days.

"Man, I can't believe how stubborn the creator is." Otonashi said.

"I wish the creator would go ahead and talk already. We haven't given him any food or water and he still hasn't budged."

"Yea, he must have a will of steel or something."

"I'm pretty sure it's a will of iron Yuzuru."

Otonashi laughed, "Maybe it is." He stared off into the Horizon.

The creator had been locked in the basement of the school, constantly under surveillance. He had said almost nothing, despite being threatened almost constantly. He only asked to speak to Hatsune, who Otonashi absolutely refused to let her do so. Otonashi had interrogated him a number of times so far to no avail.

"So much has happened since that day" Otonashi said.

"When you got captured or since you returned?" asked Kanade, "Either way, it's been crazy since."

A lot had happened in the past few days. With the creator being captured and TK returning to normal, there was no shortage of craziness.

"Actually I was thinking further back than that."

"The party?"

"Nope"

"The world reset?"

"Uh-uh."

"Well, what day are you asking about then?" Kanade asked, pouting.

"Since I got here. Remember? You stabbed me right in my heart."

"Well you did ask me to do it. Besides, your heart is right here." Kanade said, tapping her chest. "Don't worry its safe."

Otonashi laughed, "Yeah I guess it is." Otonashi's smile faded as he looked off into the setting sun. "But it's been crazy for long before that hasn't it?"

Kanade scooted over to Otonashi's side. "It has."

"Can you remember anything from back then?"

"Not really. I only remember bits and pieces, although everything's slowly coming back."

"Huh. Do you remember…him?"

Kanade was silent for a moment before responding. "A little bit. I do remember that he was here before I was, and he was a wiz with a computer. But I bet you already knew that, with him creating the shadow program."

Otonashi nodded while Kanade continued to talk. "He was the one who taught me how to use the world code. I remember that I helped to create the Angel player program, but I don't remember exactly how we did it. I know we manipulated the world code in some way…"

Otonashi stared at her as she talked. He hadn't mentioned anything to her about the broken code. Maybe… it's the best time to bring it up…

"Kanade…" Otonashi said softly.

"Yuzuru? What's the matter?"

"Kanade… The creator told me… he told me… the world code is…"

"Flawed?" Kanade said, her face sullen, "…I know…"

Otonashi's jaw dropped, "Y-you knew? Since when?"

"Since the reset." Her eyes began to water.

"But if you knew that the code was broken, then why did you make the changes?"

"It's just flawed, not broken. In order to remove the Shadow code, it was necessary to remove the leave and join functions. The creator must have written it like that in case we ever changed it." Tears began to fall from her eyes. "I-I didn't know how to fix it, and the AI was no help. I'm sure that the creator made him like that on purpose."

"W-why didn't you tell us Kanade?"

"I-I didn't want to change your m-mind," Kanade's voice trembled. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "a-about staying here. Do you r-remember what I said when we reset the world? 'I don't want to lose anyone else' I didn't want to lose you, I didn't want to lose anyone ever again!"

Kanade sobbed into her hands. "I'm sorry for being so selfish! I'm sorry Yuzuru!"

She sat there sobbing for a moment. Then she felt Otonashi's arms wrap around her. "Y-Yuzuru?"

"I don't blame you Kanade. If I was in the same position I'm sure I would've done the same exact thing."

"Yuzuru…" Kanade sobbed into his chest.

"If anyone is to blame," Otonashi continued, "it's me. I was the one who started the whole thing in the first place. Besides, I'm sure that it was the right choice. Without it, we would have never been able to fall in love."

Kanade looked at Otonashi; he had tears in his eyes. "W-what do you mean?"

"The whole reason Yui left is because she fell in love with Hinata, fulfilling her in a sense. The code forcibly made her leave. If we didn't change the code, well… things could have turned out much differently."

Both their tears had stopped now. They just sat in each other's arms, silently staring at one another.

"I wish I knew how to fix the code. I lost most of my knowledge about it."

"Wait a minute, maybe we can fix it!"

"Huh? How, we lost the computer room on the world reset, remember?"

"When I was captured by the creator, he had a small handheld computer that he used to run a smaller version of the shadow program. If we can get that computer, maybe we'll be able to fix the world."

"Maybe… but even if we manage to get the computer from the creator, how are we going to change the world code? We don't have a copy of it."

"I believe that we," Said a voice.

"Can help you with that." Said another.

"Huh? Who's there? Show yourselves!"

Slowly two figures emerged from the shadows.

"TK?! Shiina?! Um, how much did you hear?"

"Basically everything." Shiina held up her hand, "Don't worry we won't tell Yurippe."

Otonashi sighed a breath of relief "Thanks, but how are you guys going to help us?"

"If you didn't figure this out already, Like Kanade, Hatsune and Akio AKA The Creator, Shiina and I are also former members of The Spirit Crusaders."

"Really? Did you guys lose your memories too?"

"Unfortunately, yes, we lost most of them" Shiina said, "But I recall a certain memory. I remember that you had created a copy of all the files you had created with Akio in case you messed up the world code. You had stored it on a flash drive and hid it somewhere near the log cabin."

"The log cabin? You mean where we found Hatsune?" Otonashi said.

"Yep, that's the place." TK responded, "The area is coded so the world reset won't effect it, so I'm sure that it's still there."

"Dang, how good of a coder is The Creator?"

"Definitely one of the best, probably second only to God himself. I mean if God exists anyway. He's has had years and years to practice."

"Well that solves the world code problem, but what about the computer?" Kanade said folding her arms, "We have no idea where it is."

"I've got an idea," Shiina said, "but you might not like it."

"What is it?" Otonashi asked.

"We let Hatsune talk to him."

"What!?" Otonashi exclaimed, "After what happened before? I'm not letting that guy anywhere near my sister!"

"Yuzuru, calm down." Kanade said, "Let them explain."

"…Fine."

"Y'know how Akio has been asking for Hatsune the entire week?" TK said, "He obviously wants to talk to her and he also seems to have a bit of a soft spot for her. I think that if she were to talk to him, she might be able to get him to tell us where the computer may be."

"Don't worry, we'll have guards around her the entire time in case he tries to hurt her."

Otonashi pondered for a moment. "I'll accept as long as I'm one of the guards, in case something bad happens."

"OK, sounds good." Shiina said

"I want to be one of the guards too." Kanade said.

"No. We need you to come with us to retrieve the drive. You're the only one who knows its actual location."

"But…"

"It's fine Kanade." Otonashi said, "We'll be able to get more done quicker this way."

"Yuzuru… are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't worry; We'll be fine.

"…okay…"

Otonashi nodded to TK, "We're on board."

"Alright, get some sleep, the plan begins tomorrow morning."

"I need you to tell me where the Computer is."

"I will only talk to Hatsune."

This had been going on for the past half hour, Otonashi kept asking him for the computer and he kept responding the same way over and over.

Otonashi sighed and banged his fist on the table in front of him. He had hoped to try and get the computer from him before resorting to have Hatsune talk to him. "Alright fine." Otonashi stood up from his chair and turned to the other guard on duty, Matsushita "Bring her in."

Hatsune slowly walked inside the makeshift holding cell. "Hello Akio" She said sitting down across from him.

"Hello Hatsune."

"So I've been told that there was a certain computer my brother needs that you have."

"Right to the point huh? Just like old times."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know the spirit crusaders and whatnot."

Hatsune sat up straighter when he said spirit crusaders.

"I haven't fully recovered my memories yet."

"Ah." Akio said dryly. "Do you remember me at all?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Not really, no."

The life disappeared from his eyes.

"Ah, that's a shame then." His voice sounded hollow like the AI he had modeled after himself.

"I was hoping you'd have a different response but…" He sighed, "I guess it's come to this…"

Otonashi stood up and put his hand on his gun holster, "Akio, What are you talking about?"

"I have nothing to live for anymore..." Akio moaned. He pulled out a square object from his pocket.

The computer! Otonashi took out his gun and pointed it at Akio's head. "Put down the computer!"

"I can't leave this place… May as well go out with a bang…"

Akio pressed a button on his computer as Otonashi pulled the trigger on his gun.

Nothing happened.

That was the problem.

The bullet flew straight through Akio and hit the wall behind him. "Wha-" Otonashi said.

"I know why you want this computer Otonashi. You want to reset the world again, make everything better?" Akio said, his body slightly turning translucent.

"I know Kanade's gone to get the drive. But she won't be expecting the little surprise I have waiting for her on it."

"What? What are you doing Akio?! What did you do to the drive?!"

Akio smiled, his body was almost entirely invisible. "You'll find out soon enough. This isn't the end Otonashi, it's only the beginning."

His whole body disappeared.

"A teleportation code," Hatsune said, "I remember we used to use those a lot in the when I was in the…" Hatsune paused realizing that Otonashi was running out of the makeshift cell. "Hey, where you going?"

"I've got to get to Kanade before she finds the drive! Matsushita, get Yurippe and explain the situation." Matsushita nodded. "I want you to go with him Hatsune."

"But…"

"Just go!"

Otonashi didn't bother to check if she had listened to him. He rushed out of the building and ran towards the woods. I'm coming Kanade, just hold on!

After trekking through the woods for what seem like for hours, TK, Shiina and Kanade had reached the cabin again.

"Alright, the area isn't very large so we shouldn't have to search for a long time." TK said, "Want to look inside the cabin first?"

"Seems to be a good place to start as any." Shiina replied.

Kanade stood next to them. Something seemed off to her. Why do I feel like something really bad is about to happen? She thought.

"Hey Kanade, you coming?" TK said standing in the frame of the door.

"Yea, I'm coming!" She said running up to him.

Inside the cabin was just like she remembered it the day the creator abducted Otonashi. "What should we look for?" She asked.

"Look for anything that seems familiar to you. Something out of the ordinary. It could be anything." Shiina responded.

Kanade looked over the small room; she looked over by the couch, the wood table, the refrigerator. None of it seemed all that special. Then her eyes caught a picture on the wall. It was a small photo in a simple metallic frame. She walked over to get a closer look at it.

It was a picture of The Spirit Crusaders. A group shot of them laughing. There was Kanade, Hatsune, Akio, TK and even Shiina had a big grin on her face. I wish I could remember how it used to be She thought to herself. Although this picture had caught her eye for a reason.

The metal frame and picture were so out of place with the wooden objects, it could only mean one thing. It was where she had hidden the flash drive. She carefully took the photo off the wall and gingerly placed it on the ground. Behind it was a metal door with a latch on it. As she opened the door, there was a variety of items there. There were some pictures, a few folders and even a weapon or two. But that's not what she focused on. The flash drive was neatly placed on top of one of the folders. She grabbed it.

Her mind exploded.

Images flashed through her mind at light speed.

"Welcome to the Spirit Crusaders!-"

"Hopefully you won't die-"

"I learned how to manipulate-"

"My old life sucked-"

"Where is she?! Where is Hatsune?!-"

"It's all your fault!"

"All your fault!"

"Your Fault!"

"YOUR FAULT!"

Then came the pain.

It washed over her in giant surges. Her body flopped to the floor. She couldn't move; the pain was so great she couldn't even open her eyes. She felt fear beyond limit. She was going insane.

"YOUR FAULT!" Someone screamed in her ears "IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

She teetered on the edge of life, clinging to a quickly breaking string. Her pain and fear threatened to push her off into the darkness below.

"Y-Y-Yuzuru," she whimpered softly, "H-h-help…"

~End of Chapter 10~