It's been a year since Otonashi had any contact with his old friends.

Yes, a year.

Many things had happened since Kanade was hospitalized. She woke up in two days and was discharged the week after. When Yuri asked if she'd like to see Otonashi, she said "No."

Things went surprisingly well for Yuri and Hinata. The two of them declared their love for each other not long after Kanade was discharged. They were an 'odd' yet 'perfect' couple. Odd in a sense that they wouldn't like a couple the first time you see them; while they're perfect since they really care for each other and their love is 'real'.

For Kanade, she made a full recovery in a month. Currently, she's attending therapy sessions for her mental state, as she would have weird dreams that consisted of her and the others from the 'Afterlife'. She's actually doing pretty well as if nothing happened to her. She's consistent with school and she hangs out with Hinata and Yuri.

Then of course, Otonashi. For him, last year's been quite tough. He was judged and criticized for an odd reason, splitting up with his ex.

At his school, it was a serious matter. After all, his ex was a top student and a model! Not to mention, she was a bombshell too. After things went sour between Otonashi and his ex, the girl dropped out from school and opted to live in Sakae, before eventually migrating to the U.S.

At first, Otonashi was greatly affected by the bullying he received. He was being called all kinds of things to pussy, faggot, idiot, dumbass, and so on and so forth.

He too is undergoing mental therapy.

His mental state is deteriorating and he was positive with depression. Mid-way through school, he simply started to 'not give a fuck'. He didn't care about the names he was called, he didn't care whether he passed or failed a subject, and most especially, he didn't care about Kanade anymore.

Or so he thought.

xXx

It was September, the start of the Second term of the school year. Otonashi woke up at exactly 5:45 A.M. He got out of his bed, and stretched in his room. His room was dark; not a single light was lit and the curtains only had a small gap between them that would only allow the smallest beam of light to pass in the room.

Otonashi then proceeded to strip from his pajamas and took a bath. Once done, he wore his clothes and grabbed his bag from the cabinet. He took a glimpse of himself on a mirror attached to the cabinet. He rarely looked at himself in front of a mirror. He noticed his hair grew long, as in long.

Gone was the clean undercut hairstyle he once had. His hair grew long that when he stretches his bangs it could reach the tip of his nose. Whenever he gets a haircut, he would only tell the barber to trim the sides and the back, but leave the top untouched.

He brushed his bangs to the left side of his face then he left his room.

"Good morning." Hajime greeted him while he was reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and eating breakfast. "Mom and dad don't have work today, so they're still asleep. I prepared breakfast to save them the trouble; after all, we leave early for school." he added while turning the book to the next page.

Otonashi never said a word nor greeted his brother. Things went not-so good between the brothers as well. In fact, everybody's relationship with Otonashi was affected due to his carefree-emotionally unstable attitude.

He ate breakfast without saying a word until he finished. He brushed his teeth, wore his shoes, and got out of the house at 6:15 A.M. Hajime said his goodbyes to his little brother but all he got was a cold shoulder.

"Oh well, as long as he doesn't kill himself." Hajime murmured after he finished his breakfast.

It was the first day of the Second term so everybody was required to report to the University campus early. He boarded the train to University of Tokyo and arrived at Hongosanchome station around 6:40. Walking towards the University, he stopped. It's as if he was thinking of something, something deep.

After being idle for a minute, Otonashi turned back and went back to the station and headed towards Shibuya. The trip would last at least an hour, and his mind was filled with questions such as 'why he dropped out of his first University and entered University of Tokyo to become an engineer instead rather than pursue a career of being a Doctor', 'his relationship with his peers', 'his attitude', and his sanity'; but, 'Kanade' never crossed his mind.

It bugged him and he wanted to clear his mind as it looked like he was about to go nuts. He brought out a book, it was titled Norwegian Wood, one of the classic works of Haruki Murakami. He was around the part where 'Toru', the MC, bumped into 'Naoko' at a train station, his childhood friend and soon to be sorta-love interest.

He read each page with his eyes clearly focused on each word Murakami wrote and his mind shut to the things around him.

He arrived at Shibuya but continued reading until he got out the train. The book was as big as a regular novel, so he was still reading as he was walking around the streets, with no particular destination in mind. He stopped by at Family Mart to buy some snacks and he sat on a bench at a park. He was sipping the Wonda Coffee he bought when he noticed a pair of White Adidas Stan Smith's in front of him. His eyes transitioned from the book to the person in front of him.

It was a man, wearing black skinny jeans, a plain black shirt dabbed by a red flannel, and the man was wearing a cap.

Otonashi got up and placed his drink and book on the bench. As he did so, the man removed his cap and shades of blue hair emerged underneath. It was a familiar shade of blue, it belonged to someone he knew, or he used to know.

"Hinata"


A/N

Yo! It feels so good to be writing again! First, sorry for the looooong absence. My treatment barely gave me time to write as it drained me from all the energy I have. Second, I'll be focusing on this story more than the others. I made this chapter long to compensate for my absence and changed my writing style after reading a shit-ton of novels. Hope you guys support me once more! I promise to update regularly!