Angel Beats: Harmonics girl
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel Beats
Warning: I am still studying so please forgive me if there is too much grammar mistake
Chapter 47
Harmonics
Recommended BGM: Theme of SSS, Brave Song, My Most Precious Treasure
"Sekai!" Sekai turned his head and faced towards the SSS2 that were coming in his direction. Sekai was relieved as he saw all of the SSS2 members, including the diversion division came back safe and sound.
Miu was the one that called him. As soon as she halted in front of Sekai and panted from the long run, her head snapped up and she angrily scolded him.
"You had us worried! You should have tried to meet up with us! We thought that we have lost you!...Wait, why are you in NPC's uniform?"
"Well a lot of things happened…"
Sekai could not help but chuckled at Miu's scolding and question. It was a great relieve that Miu was still this active after the shadow's invasion. Looking behind her, Sekai confirmed the presence of everyone.
Akito, Shiina, Taejin, Raito, Reina (oddly in NPC uniform, but he is also in one so he can't complain), Miyuki, Wolf, Ayane, Karuto and Hatsune. All of them were here and safe.
But the Afterlife Battlefront 2 was not completed yet, there was someone missing.
"Sekai, is that really Tachi-chan…?" Miu pointed. Without even having Miu to point for him, he was already looking at the specific place where the two angels were fighting.
"You have to be joking me…" Akito gaped. The others have similar reaction but none of them knew what to say.
After a while, Sekai broke the silence. Cursing himself for not being able to do anything, he prayed.
"I hope Tachibana will be alright."
"Hie!"
"Chee!"
Tachibana narrowly blocked Kanade's sword with her shield. Before Kanade could continue another attack, Tachibana made a horizontal slash, making Kanade retreat as they widened the distance between them.
As soon as Kanade retreated, Tachibana took this chance and flew towards her. Although Kanade countered by charging too, Kanade made a flip over, flew over Kanade and delivered a satisfying kick towards her back.
"Chee! You are good, Tachibana!"
Kanade smiled as she stabilized herself in the air after falling a few meters. Tachibana flew down to Kanade's level and prepared herself for another attack.
That's right, the two clones were fighting in the sky, the place that belonged to the winged species. Both of them have large wing on their back and a pair of smaller wings on their legs. On their left arm was a big shield while the right was arm was equipped with a big sword that was no doubt more power than Handsonic.
Guard skill: Reinforced Handsonic version Maabo Doufu [Google image: Kanade Mecha]
Tachibana's swept dropped as she remembered the name of the skill. She could not remember when did the original create such a strange weapon but she knew that there were 28 Handsonic, this might be one of the strongest with the weirdest name.
Even though Sekai could not help her when they were taking the fight to the air, Tachibana was relieved that Sekai would not be in danger. It would have been dangerous if Kanade started taking Sekai or the SSS2 as hostage. The most logical outcome would be defeating her own sister with shadow blade and ended the threat to Sekai and her friends once and for all.
"…How can I do that…she is my sister after all."
Tachibana muttered under her breath and put the name of the shadow skill behind her mind. She has only one objective and that was to help her own sister to move on.
She would not accept any other outcome.
"Snap out of it, Onee-chan! Nee-chan is already gone!"
"Shut up! She is definitely still in this world! After I made you mine again, let's find her together."
"Onee-chan!"
Tachibana screamed her name again before she has to be prepared for Kanade's assault. Even though she was in the same Handsonic mode as Tachibana, her sword was tainted with shadow, making it as lethal as the shadow blade.
Kanade charged forwards with a wicked smile. There was nothing but her sisters in her mind. She was the elder sister, which was why she must be responsible for them. Now than every other clone was gone, only three of them were left.
That was why those two were that precious to her, they were her only sisters left in the world.
There was no way that Kanade Imouto would have disappeared, after all no one could die in this world. She was definitely around somewhere. After she reunited with Tachibana, they would find their lost sister together and be a happy family again.
A happy family, that was all she wanted.
Tachibana carefully dodged Kanade's continuous attack and blocked those that she could not. Even though she knew that she could not stay on the defensive forever, she does not want to hurt Kanade.
"Tachibana, it's not good to lie. It's also against the school rules."
"Onee-chan! Snap out of it! Your mind has been tainted by the shadows!"
"That's not right, Tachibana. You are the one that is sick. That's why I have to use this to heal you back so that we can be together again."
Kanade brandished her shadow sword and stabbed towards Tachibana. Tachibana instinctively batted the shadow sword away with her own before she struck the shield towards Kanade, punching her away from Tachibana and fell before she stabilized herself in mid-air.
Tachibana does not want to hurt her only sister left. However she was left with no choice if she could not find a way to break the Shadow's control on Kanade. At the very least, she would have to find a way to disable Kanade so that she would stop becoming a threat to everyone.
"Are you seriously thinking of a way to defeat me? Tachibana Imouto."
"!"
Kanade's tainted dark yellow eyes shone as she charged with her sword at front. Kanade's charge was too fast that Tachibana had to bring her shield up to block the attack. She did not have to worry about the shield breaking because the shield was made as an 'Invincible object' in this world.
However, Tachibana immediately knew something was wrong when the impact did not come.
"My back-"
"Got you~!"
Kanade had used the moment when Tachibana used her shield and blocked her own view to perform a flip over and got around her back. Tachibana's eyes widened in realization and horror as she saw Kanade's sword came down on her.
"Chee!" Tachibana cursed when she felt Kanade missed her main body and cut through her wings. Upon contact, she could feel the virus from the shadows starting to feed on her.
I won't be taken down so easily!
To Kanade's surprise, Tachibana's injured wings and weapons vanished and she started falling from the sky. She quickly chased after her like a meteor diving towards the ground.
Below, Tachibana's mind was running in breakneck speed. Although she escaped from the shadows by releasing the wings from her main body, she was about to hit ground in five seconds and Kanade was getting closer to her from above. She was pinned from both sides and crashing onto the ground meant a few seconds enough for Kanade to put an end to her once and for all.
"I got you, Tachibana!"
"No!"
"Wha-!"
Kanade was surprised twice by Tachibana when she realized she crashed onto the ground first. Her mind told her to stabilize herself before Tachibana could counter attack but her eyes told her otherwise.
Tachibana was floating in the air before her with her large white wings. Kanade recognised those wings as Angel wings, the useless wings that Kanade made without concerning about levitation and physics. The only purpose it could serve was to improve the student council's president image (Kanade was doubtful about it but since her trusted vice president, Naoi, said so…) and soften her landing, but that was proved to be unnecessary because they could easily land from the top of the school without getting hurt.
But this time, the Angel wings proved its worth as Tachibana floated before her. She activated it right below impact and floated away from the crashing Kanade.
This was her only chance. Tachibana has no hesitation anymore.
"Guard skill: Handsonic version two."
"Guard skill: Shadow blade."
Both of the girls released their respective armament and called forth their blades. As if answering their call, both blades came out from the back of their hands and were ready for battle.
"Onee-chan!"
"Guu!"
As compared to the crouching Kanade recovering from the crash, Tachibana was faster. Her thin long Handsonic shot forward and slashed off Kanade's left arm. Even though it was painful, Kanade did not scream. She was not so weak to just scream from pain.
The second Handsonic was held threateningly before Kanade's throat. Resisting the sharp pain, Kanade looked up to see Tachibana's regretful eyes.
She did not want to hurt her. But she knew that if she did not do this, there was no guarantee that her sister would not try to harm her friends or infected her with the shadow. There was simply too much at risk.
Even so, she regretted it. She hated herself for harming the sister that she could not remember. Even though she gained back access to Angel Player, she still could not remember who was the Kanade in front of her was.
What happened that made her so protective of us?
"Tachibana!"
Tachibana happily turned around when she heard Sekai's voice. She was relieved to hear Sekai's voice that it made her careless. Behind her, Kanade smirked. The perfect skill has just come to her mind. Resisting the pain, she softly activated the skill.
Tachibana's face paled when she heard the skill's name. It could not be it. She refused to believe it to be it. However her thought was cut off when she blocked the shadow blade from Kanade.
But she could not block the other blade that came behind her.
"Impossible…"
Tachibana muttered in disbelief and she widened her eyes at the truth. She has been stabbed through in the stomach by a shadow blade.
By another Kanade's shadow blade.
"Tachibana!"
Bang! Bang!
From far away, Tachibana could faintly hear Sekai's voice and the sounds of gunshots. The clone behind her was shot down from the chest while Kanade in front of her retreated a few steps and activated Distortion.
"Tachibana! Are you alright, Tachibana!?"
Sekai landed beside her and held me up in his arms. Although the wound from the shadow blade was painful, what hurt Tachibana the most was not the wound.
It was the heart that Tachibana was suffering from.
She knew that she does not have much time left. Not even enough to say her farewells. The only thing that comforted her that Sekai was so close to her that she could just touch him for these remaining seconds she has.
Tachibana caressed Sekai's face with her slender hand and-
"Sekai, I love-"
"It's time."
Tachibana's face paled when her sister's clone announced the end of the count down. Sekai thought the wound from the shadow blade worsen and tried to embrace her to calm her down.
But then, she was gone, dissolved into red numbers and gone from his grasp.
"Tachibana…?"
Sekai could not believe what just happened before his eyes. Tachibana just dissolved in front of him, like a nightmare.
But he knew better that it was a nightmare, or rather this entire world was like a dream itself.
His eyes traced the remaining red numbers of Tachibana heading towards her corrupted sister crouching on the ground, Kanade. The red numbers seemed to enter Kanade and she started agonizing. Even though her distortion shield was still up, it was clear that it was suffering from something.
However after a few seconds, Kanade's agonizing stopped.
Sekai hesitantly stood up and approached her. Warnings from Miu and the others were ignored until he stood before Kanade.
"Tachibana…?"
"…Fu…..ha…." Sekai slowly stepped back and raised his gun. He could feel it, the girl in front of him was not Tachibana.
And Tachibana was nowhere to be felt.
"Huahahahahahaha…."
Kanade slowly stood and laughed uncontrollably. With her cut left arm still seeping blood out, Kanade looked like a mad girl with her sharp laughter. Her dark yellow eyes were filled with insanity as her remaining right arm clutched her heart.
"Finally…we will be together forever now…Tachibana…hahahaha!"
"You bastard! What did you do to Tachibana!?"
Sekai roared and shot a few rounds at Kanade. Even though they have been strengthened by the Angel Player, the shots bounced off harmlessly from Distortion. Seeing Kanade's insane smirk, Sekai charged and threw his chain towards her.
To Sekai's surprise, a large shadow materialized from the ground and caught the chain before it could reach Kanade. Sekai instinctively shot down the large shadow and called back his chain. However that moment of distraction managed that let other shadows to materialize before Kanade.
It was not just beside Kanade, Shadows were starting to materialize around the school and were starting to surround the Human Army and the SSS2. Sekai glared at Kanade as she left a smirk before she disappeared into the shadows. He wanted to follow Kanade but he did not know where did she go and he has to protect everyone from the Shadows.
"What are you doing here, Sekai!" Miu shouted while shooting at the shadows in all direction. "Quickly go and follow her!"
"But what about you guys!?"
"We are the Afterlife Battlefront two! As if we will be defeated by small fries like these!" As if to prove a point, Miu released her empty barrette and resorted to knives to cut down the shadows that approached her. "Just leave this place to us and go save Tachibana! This is an order, Sekai!"
"Miu…"
"Just go, Sekai." Akito appeared beside Sekai and patted his back. "As a man, you have a duty to save your girl, right? Just leave this place to us and go."
"Miu…Akito…" Sekai turned and looked at his comrades who were telling him to go. All of them has a smile to encourage him to believe in them, and they believed in him to do what he must.
He has stayed in the SSS2 for years already. The SSS2 was his family. They did many crazy things together and often died together. However in the end, they still had fun. At the end of the day, everyone would be smiling at each other before the SSS2 dismissed for the day.
However now is different. There is only now.
Everyone here knew that no matter the outcome, they would never be able to see Sekai and Tachibana anymore.
So the least they could do was believe in them, just as the least Sekai could do was to believe in the SSS2.
"Everyone….all these years…all these times we spent together…I will never forget them! Everyone, goodbye!"
"You can count on us!"
"Good luck! Remember to leave this world with a smile!"
"Be strong Sekai. Let's meet in the next life!"
Sekai did not listen to all of the farewells from his comrades as he started running, every single shadow that dared to obstruct his way was obliterated. He will not turn back and look back. His comrades will definitely protect his back. He trusted in them, the families he has not related in blood.
That's why he could continue to run forward, towards where the source of Angel and Shadow Player told him where Kanade was.
Far and deep from where the war between the Shadows and Humans were taken place, a blue haired girl sat on a chair within a room filled with computers. All these computers were partially responsible for keeping the World Player going. Even if all of the computers here were destroyed, she had plenty of other computer labs constructed to keep this world running.
But soon, the world shall reach its final moments. The father has already moved on with mother to the living world. There was no need to control the shadows in this world anymore. The control on the shadows was gone as they instinctively attacked the Human Army, where all of the souls have gathered at.
She could not care anymore about what will happen. To her, her mission was finally completed. Now, she can finally rest in peace without worrying or thinking about the future.
She only need an unchangeable present, past and future does not matter to her.
"So you are here, mother."
Midori's consciousness slowly raised alert when an intruder entered the room. When the shadow took form, Midori relaxed her guard.
"What brings you here, my daughter?"
"Of course I come here to find a way to get back the soul of my sister Kanade. You know of a way, don't you, mother?"
Kanade took form and approached Midori. The shadow blade was still on her right arm and her left arm was still missing. Midori could feel that Tachibana was inside Kanade, which meant Sekai failed.
But she could not care about him anymore. She gave him a choice, he has chosen otherwise.
"There is no way to catch a soul that has already moved on from the Afterlife, Kanade." Midori replied. "You cannot take back what is lost."
"You are lying!"
Kanade shouted and swung the shadow blade towards Midori. However the blade only hovered in front of Midori's forehead, anytime Kanade could easily stab the blade through Midori's head.
However Midori was not afraid, she could not afraid because she does not understand what fear is. She has already completed her mission, there was no purpose for her to continue to exist anymore. She does not mind let Kanade do whatever she wants.
"Hand over the World Player, mother. With the World Player, I will be able to save Kanade and all three of us will be together again. If you wanted, I could also use the shadow player to turn you into a NPC or erase your existence forever. Both choices are better than doing nothing here, right?"
For once, Midori was interested in Kanade's deal. Turning into a NPC might be interesting and returned to nothingness does not sound worse than staying in this world. In the first place, she does not mind handing over the power of World Player after her mission was completed. If it would help her daughter…then as a mother she could-
"Who is it!?"
Midori shouted in alarm when she sensed another intruder into the room. Kanade pulled back her shadow blade and made a defensive stance in front of Midori. Even though she could not feel any presence, she believed that her mother would not shout without a reason.
"I already made a promise to save you, Midori. Even if the corrupted angel herself stands in my way, I will make sure to fulfil my promise."
"Ken…"
From the shadows behind the door, Ken stepped out of the shadows with his tainted scythe. His coat was tore in many places and its hood was gone. Standing before Midori and Kanade was Ken with his bright yellow eyes and blonde hair standing in the darkness, like a shadow.
"Interesting, a mere human actually managed to reach this place. Just what make you so special that Midori actually paid extra attention to you?" Kanade prepared her shadow blade and stepped forward. "Do you think a mere human like you could defeat me? Seeing you as mother's special guest, I might decide to let you off by-"
Kanade hastily crouched and dodged Ken's horizontal slash. The attack came without warning that Kanade was surprised by her own reaction. She managed to block the second vertical attack and retreated to maintain distance between them.
"You mongrel! I will make sure that you will die a painful death!"
Kanade cursed. This was one of the few times that she felt so insulted by a human. Some of the few humans she hated were Otonashi Yuzuru and Satoshi Sekai who stole her sisters. The third person would be Ken, who tried to make her sister his! Unacceptable!
"Stop it, Ken!" Midori stood up from her chair and shouted. "You know that I am just a program, don't you?"
"…I had my doubts, but it was confirmed with Sekai just now."
"Then why!? Why do you still try so hard to save me!? I am not human. I am just a program created to help someone to move on. Why do you have to care so much about a program like me!?"
"Then why, a program like you, care about what I am doing?"
"Eh?"
"Why, a program like you, asked me to save you when you gave me this power?"
"That is…"
"That is because you wanted to be saved. You don't want a life like this. So what if you are a program, to me you are Midori, the girl that I love! And so I will fulfil your wish, Midori!"
Ken slowly walked towards Midori. Every single word of his was true and sincere. He loves Midori. That was why no matter she was a program, or even hundreds of Shadows stood in his way like on his way here, he would fulfil his end of the promise and save her.
"Don't interrupt our negotiation, human!"
"Be gone! Fallen Angel!"
Ken back flipped and counterattacked Kanade with shadow spikes. Kanade managed to block all of them and prepared herself for a duel with Ken. Even though she has lost one arm, she still has shadow blade and Overdrive. On the other hand, Ken's body was significantly exhausted but he would not give up, not when Midori was right before him.
Midori watched from the side as the fallen angel and the fallen human clashed. Their blade and scythe dancing like a raging wind, both determined to cut the other in half. She clutched her heart, wondering what and how did Ken's words affected her.
The final moment is arriving. There is only one more actor missing. When all of the actors are assembled, the final showdown between the four will begin.
A/N: Thanks for the 5 reviews everyone! I never thought that my last bet at the student council event turned out to be successful. I had that scene played in my mind since a few months ago and was satisfied with the result.
Fenichi: Thank you for the past few months of reviews, I don't think I can make it here without your support. I will try to strengthen my present-past tense as just you wait!
Misaka: I have not forgotten about them, or rather the story is like their main story arc is finished. The rest is focusing on the main characters (if you noticed, they don't have much screen time and don't feel like main characters)
Thedarkaxe: Don't worry, I know you are still there from the times of visit (though strangely some previous chapters have more visit then the older ones). Thanks for your support!
Guest: Thanks, good to know there's people who like this.
HazekuraAya: Confusing, that's one of the lesson I learnt from writing a too many side characters story XD.
Please read and review! Three more chapters left!
