Chapter 14: Friendzoned

On the day that a Diversion Division flunky became the face (and the next generation) of the Afterlife's most influential (and admittedly, only) band, Yuri had a bad feeling the whole Battlefront was taking a bad turn.

But before the shadows had come, before everything she had built the SSS on was dismantled by Otonashi (and she had been surprisingly okay with it) Yuri thought maybe her worry was for naught.

After all, the girl was talented. Yui could sing, she could play the guitar, although her skills in multitasking could be questioned now and then, according to Hisako. But Yui had spirit, she was devoted, and she had a motive. In Yuri's dogma, a polished mentality.

And of course, Hinata wasn't so alone anymore.

In the early days of the Battlefront, when it had been only Yuri and Hinata, the blue haired boy was part of every aspect of the SSS's actions. After all, who else was she supposed to cooperate with? The school headmaster? Yet when Ooyama joined, then Chaa, and battle powerhouses like Shiina and Noda, any neutral observer would have remarked that Hinata's value to the cause was fading somewhat. Not that he would ever be neglected by Yuri, but he was not as vital a cog in the operation as he was before. Even when Ooyama was around, he had been second only to Yuri (no matter how much it annoyed him). Only when those with unique contributions came up did he begin to fade.

In that sense, Otonashi may have actually been the best thing that happened to him here, not Yui, Yuri thought as her pencil scratched the paper she was drawing on. If not for that boy, Hinata would have been truly alone. After all, it's not like Yui's confessed to him yet, or vice versa.

It was true, too. Everyone knew they liked each other. The ones actually involved were just too stupid to see it. Idiot, Yuri thought mildly. She continued drawing on her paper. Artistry wasn't something she ever dealt in, but today was a special day. Yet that was a story for another time.

As her pencil shaped an edge on the paper, Yuri remembered the bowl of ramen she'd shared with the late vocalist of GirlsDeMo, Iwasawa. Maybe it's true. Maybe I am too fixed on improving the Battlefront, she thought. No matter how hard she focused, there were always times when she wondered if thinks could have been different if she was a little more...eh, loose. Would she have connected more with her soldiers, namely Hinata? After all, she'd treated him like a warrior of lower rank from the very start. Any attempt at empathy had been branded insubordinate.

What would we have been if not for everything else? Everything else being the Afterlife's existence in general. Yuri shook her head and directed her attention at her drawing. It was unlike her to wonder about the past like this. It wasn't in her nature. After all, she'd escaped the greatest tragedy of her life by forgetting the past altogether. Her own presence in this world kind of negated that, though.

I'm not regretful. I'm not jealous of what Yui and Hinata have. And it was true. She wasn't going to be spiteful just because others had deeper connections to each other than she did. And it wasn't the fact that Hinata was the one involved, either. It wasn't.

Yuri had just resolved to resume her drawing when she heard the door creak open behind her.

Her hackles immediately rose. Yuri was sitting at a desk in one of the many art rooms housed in the school, and this one was one of the most isolated. It was the farthest from Headquarters. That was why she was here after all.

A hand darted under her shirt, and came out holding a gun. Without even turning to look, Yuri threw an arm behind her and pulled the trigger three times.

There was a shriek and the sound of bullets hitting the opposite wall. Two of them made the sharp ambience of the wall, but the third bullet sounded like it had hit something soft. Something alive.

Turning, Yuri saw Yui laying crouched on the floor.

Seeing this, Yuri realized two things: the first being that she really needed to pick her hiding spots better. She'd already been discovered on the roof and at the cafeteria, now this. The second was that the third bullet had hit a stack of papers which had been tacked to the wall, not flesh.

"Yui," Yuri grunted, "What do you want?"

It took a second for the vocalist to answer, but suddenly the girl popped up and shrieked, "What do I want? What do you want! Why did you pull a gun on me? You shot it too!"

Shrugging, Yuri said, "I thought I was in danger."

"From what? Tenshi? For being in class?" Yui fumed, crossing her arms as her devil's tail swished back and forth. Yuri wanted to cut it off with her knife, but she restrained herself.

"I don't see why not. Tenshi's crazy and evil now, right?" The leader grunted, rolling up the paper she'd been scratching at with her pencil and trying to tuck it out of sight.

Yui, however, noticed this and shot out, "What were you drawing? You sure seem to be happy to hide it."

Yuri's movements stopped abruptly, and she had to fight back a blush. "It's nothing. Don't question me further or I'll aim before I shoot next time." There was a final silence.

"That said," Yuri continued, "What are you doing here?"

Yui, having less composure herself in comparison to Yuri, felt her face going scarlet. "I...ah, I was here to draw something."

"Well, obviously. Tell me what it was."

"Tell me what you were drawing then."

"I don't have to."

"Then neither to I."

"I could have you beheaded for insurrection."

"Wouldn't matter. I'd be back soon enough."

The Battlefront's leader heaved a sigh and muttered, "What does he see in you?" before turn around to stare at the window.

Brow furrowing, Yui demanded, "What? What does who see in me? Tell me!"

"It's none of your business," Yuri said curtly, although it was actually entirely her business. Yui caught on to this as well, and fumed, "You said 'what does he see in me'. I'm pretty sure I'm involved in this."

"I don't understand why a guy like Hinata could fall so deeply in love with a girl that annoys him so often," Yuri almost snarled, before she flipped out a knife and impaled it into the table before leaving the room. The handle of the knife quivered with centrifugal force from the energy Yuri had exerted on it, and Yui watched it tremble, barely able to process what her leader had just told her.