The Wings of an Angel

by TheCartoonFanatic01

His time in the Afterlife now over, Otonashi has been reincarnated into Arata Takahashi, an average paperboy whose life just sucks all around. However, all of that changes when he is forced to meet Chouko Hashimoto, the silver-haired daughter of a successful businessman. Why is it that he feels he knows her despite her being a complete stranger? R&R! UPDATES ON OCCASION!

34. Yuri's Leap:Kimiko's Leap

A/N: I'm so, so sorry this chapter took a while for me to release, you guys. In the time since the release of the previous chapter, I've accumulated a lot on my plate.

First off, the coronavirus, obviously. My home state was one of the first to issue a statewide "stay-at-home order", which really, really, REALLY screwed up my schedule for everything, both school-related and writing-related. I had to make a lot of major adjustments to my plans and schedules, which did wonders for my mental health (obvious sarcasm is obvious).

And then, there was the magical thing known as school. Even before the pandemic came to a huge head here in the U.S. and across the globe, I was quite preoccupied with my studies. After all, it was my last semester at college, and I would be graduating very soon with a Bachelor's Degree in Literature & Writing Studies (in layman's terms, English). Things got even more complicated when the coronavirus outbreak became a pandemic and the stay-at-home orders were issued. It was both a convenience and an inconvenience at the same time, because while it gave me greater opportunities to write this chapter and others, I had to transition to a spanking-new online format for my college studies. It was difficult at first but I was able to overcome the obstacles in the end.

And now, after many years of hard work, I'm officially done with my studies and am technically an alumni of my school! HOORAY! Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, my commencement ceremony had to be postponed indefinitely due to safety concerns, and I still have yet to hear about an official rescheduled date. So right now, I am technically stuck in a limbo, having no official diploma or recognition of graduation from my college, but having also completed all of the units I needed to graduate. Now isn't that sweet? XD :P

Alright, I think that's about it for my little bout of rambling! On with the long-awaited chapter. ENJOY!

P.S.: I just realized yesterday was the sixth anniversary of this story's publication here. Man, if only I was on the mark...

P.P.S.: Due to the ever-worsening situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I'm going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:

-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to

And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:

-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)

If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.

---

CHAPTER 32: YURI'S LEAP:KIMIKO'S LEAP

---

Afterlife Name - Post-Afterlife Name

Yuri Nakamura - Kimiko Nishimura

Takamatsu - Takayoshi Asahara

Yusa - Rikana Egami

Eri Shiina - C

---

ACTIVATING_SECONDARY_PROTOCOL

ACTIVATING_SECONDARY_PROTOCOL

ACTIVATING_SECONDARY_PROTOCOL

ACTIVATING_SECONDARY_PROTOCOL

ACTIVATING_SECONDARY_PROTOCOL

---

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters
Chiyoda, Tokyo

"You've got no idea how happy I am to see you guys again!"

Iwasawa stepped forward and wrapped TK and Ōyama in a tight embrace. Ōyama blushed brightly almost immediately in response, but TK simply spouted off a couple additional phrases in English as he returned the hug. Once she parted from them, she noticed the absolutely confounded expression on Ōyama's face.

"W-Wa-Wait, wh-wh-where are we?!" the boy cried, his head whipping around as he examined his surroundings. "Di-Did-Didn't we move on?! Wh-Wh-Why d-do I s-s-still kn-kn-know wh-who I am?! A-And who you all are?!"

"It's a little complicated," Iwasawa replied. "We'll explain everything on the way over." At that moment, she spotted Naoi, who was staring back at her with an air of apprehension. "Hey there. You must be...Naoi, right?"

"Y-Yes, that's me..." Naoi replied in an uneasy tone that did not go unnoticed by Iwasawa.

"Relax, man. Otonashi told me a little about you during our downtime." She held out a hand towards him, and once Naoi slowly took it with his own, the two adolescents shook hands. "It's a damn shame we never were properly acquainted in the Afterlife."

"Sa-Same..."

Then, Iwasawa broke her hand away from Naoi's and looked at Chaa, who was now holding Natsumi in his beefy, bulging arms.

"Chaa," she said.

"Iwasawa," the tanned, large teen replied. "Good to see you again after all this time."

"Oh, I'm sure." Then, Iwasawa looked at Hiroto and noticed he was absolutely red-faced, which she smirked playfully at. "Hey there, newbie. What the hell is with that face? You're not feeling sick, are you?"

"N-No, I'm not!" Hiroto replied defiantly. Then, he turned his face away and started twiddling his fingers discreetly behind his back. "I-It's just...y-your voice was beautiful, th-that's all..."

Now it was Iwasawa's turn to blush intensely. "B-Be-Beau-Beautiful?!" she stuttered.

"Mm-hm, mm-hm!" Natsumi replied, nodding her head vigorously. "Hasumi-neechan's singing is always beautiful!"

"O-Oh..."

However, Iwasawa's mind was racing from Hiroto's compliment. "Beautiful... That... That was the first time someone has called my voice...'beautiful'... Back in the Afterlife, my music was valued more as a diversionary tactic for the SSS. Sure, everyone enjoyed my music, but...no one really appreciated it for what it was at its core. And during my previous life, no one really gave me a sincere compliment on the street. This is the first time I've heard anyone tell me my music, and my voice specifically, were beautiful... Someone thinks my singing is beautiful, without any context of the Afterlife, and...and it's Sekozawa of all people..."

Just then, Iwasawa's thoughts were dispelled by Naoi's voice.

"Look, guys, I know the reunion's great and all, but we have to keep moving! Otonashi and the others need us-" At that moment, Naoi had turned his head towards the doorway and noticed an alarming absence. "Uhhhhh... W-Where the hell is Fujimaki? O-Or whoever he's supposed to be right now?!"

"Fujimaki?" Iwasawa asked, alarmed. She looked around, only to see he was indeed not around.

"Oh crap, he's not here!" exclaimed Chaa, looking around in a panic while holding Natsumi even tighter to his chest. "He must've made a run for it while we were all distracted! Who the hell was supposed to be keeping an eye on him?!"

"Y-You were!" Naoi snapped.

"Wait, Fujimaki's here?" Ōyama asked, his youthful, innocent eyes glimmering with hope at the mention of his best friend in the Afterlife.

"Yes, Fujimaki's here," Chaa replied. "But...well...he's not the same Fujimaki that you know..."

"Shit..." Hiroto said. He walked out of the medical bay and looked down the empty hallway. "We gotta find him before he tells those cultists where we are."

"Cultists?" Ōyama asked. Then, he clutched his head, overwhelmed by the sensory overload of information. "W-Wh-What cultists? C-Can someone please explain to me what the heck is going on?!"

"Yo, this shit is confusing like crazy!" TK blurted out in English.

...

"Yeah, it's good to see your reincarnated self isn't all that different from you, TK..." deadpanned Naoi.

---

"Ah, crap... Ah, shit, shit, shit..."

As soon as he reached the stairwell, Fuyuhiko Ezakiya curled up against a corner and looked up at the miles-long chasm towering above him. His eyes were as wide as saucers, his beady pupils could not stand still, and his entire frame was so close to achieving a fetal position.

"Can't get me," he mumbled maniacally to himself. "Can't get the best of me! You're just a damn voice in my head!"

Suddenly, he snapped his head backward and clutched his chest...before looking down at the floor, his eyes now more at peace.

"Let me go!" cried Fujimaki. "Damn psycho! How the hell did I- AGH!"

Fujimaki grabbed at his own face and held on tight, as if he was trying to tear it off. Then, after a couple of seconds, the boy calmed down and lowered his twitchy arms...revealing a pair of manic eyes.

"Heh heh heh!" snickered Fuyuhiko. "You can't stop the power of the cult! We are gonna do so many things to this world! So many COOL things! So just be a good frigging sport and-"

He suddenly hit himself in the chest.

"Shut."

He hit himself again.

"The."

A third hit.

"Fuck."

A fourth hit.

"UP!"

He punched himself in the face, split-seconds before he clutched his head again and let out a scream of anger.

"NEVER!" Fujimaki roared. "I'll never let you hurt my friends! Never again! I'll- AAARRRGGGHHH!"

Fujimaki reeled over, clutching the handrail of the stairwell as tightly as he could with one hand, while his other clutched his face yet again. His entire body began twitching and convulsing for a minute. Then, his body propelled itself back into the wall.

"Shit!" snapped Fuyuhiko. "Goddamn it! You can't get the best of me, voice in my head!" With that, he knelt on the floor, held his hands together, and began chanting, "Oh, dear Chi, maintain our Earth, stabilize its central form- ACK!"

"NO!" Fujimaki growled. "That won't do SHIT to me! AGH!"

Fuyuhiko retook control. "FUCK YOU! Beloved Sui, flow across our Earth, provoke change. Almighty Ka- AAAGGGHHH!"

Fujimaki stood up and tried to reach the doorway. "Gotta get back to the oth- NO! UGH!"

Fuyuhiko fell to the floor and started writhing on the dirty surface. "Move through our Earth!" he squealed in desperation, his voice getting faster and faster with every word he spoke. "Feed it your energy! Great Fū, spread over our Earth- NO!" He grabbed his hair. "Grant its beings your gift of life! And-"

"Your gods won't help you, ya bastard!" Fujimaki cried as he started crawling towards the door. "I'm gonna see to it that all your friends pay for everything that they've done!" He stopped and grabbed his hair again. "And after I am done with them all, I'll see to it that you... AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

Fuyuhiko had begun pulling his hair hard, but Fujimaki persisted.

"That you are in a deep, dark place where your sorry, pathetic little ass won't hurt another human being ever, ever again! I promise you that, Fuyuhiko Ezakiya! You are a miserable excuse for a human being, and I'll make sure you're punished, no matter what it takes!"

"NOOO!" Fuyuhiko screamed as he retook control yet again. He clasped his hands together, his eyes wide and shining for the first time, with absolute fear. "And together, these four innate elements of our Earth bring the everlasting Kū, and its astounding enlightenment of our dark and tortured spirits!"

With that, the psychopathic adolescent got up on his feet and faced the faded wall in front of him. Before Fujimaki could take control again, Fuyuhiko ran into the wall so hard that he knocked himself out cold.

---

"Well, uhhh... That was strange..."

The entirety of Fujimaki and Fuyuhiko's fight had been observed by Yamashita and his companion via security monitor as Naomi, Tamika, and Kaisei remained bound a few feet away. Once Fuyuhiko knocked himself and Fujimaki out, Yamashita turned away with a sigh of disappointment, while his accomplice continued to stare at the screen in disbelief.

"Uh, sir?" the man asked. "Sh-Should we send someone to get him?"

"No," Yamashita replied. "As you can see, Ezakiya has finally lost his mind."

"B-But...he might need medical att-"

"I've already spoken on the matter." Yamashita silenced his compatriot with a deadly glare. "I won't question Hashimoto-sama's decision to retain him as an elite soldier for our cause, but he's damaged goods now. And if we are to ensure the advent of a new, better Japan, then we can't afford anything that'll weigh us down."

"Y-Yes, sir. I-I understand, sir."

"Alright, now let's focus on Nishimura again."

The man pressed a button on the keyboard before him, switching the largest security monitor to a live feed of Kimiko in the elevator, surrounded by the team of tactical officers working with the cult. Any fear that should have been present on her face was being suppressed by a mask of bravery. Naomi, Tamika, and Kaisei eyed the screen fearfully, but otherwise, they didn't bother to resist again.

As they recoiled in their chairs, Yamashita stared at the three children, his lips curling into a sadistic grin. When Naomi could do nothing but show her gritted teeth, he walked up to them, procuring his Bowie knife along the way.

"Don't worry, you three. Your onee-chan's on her way..."

---

"It's just too unfair. We never did anything wrong; we were just kids. ...We were just kids. I was confident I was the cool big sister up until that day. But I lost everything I wanted to protect in 30 minutes. That's too unfair. How could I ever forgive God for that?"

32...

33...

34...

Kimiko stared determinedly at the screen as it continued to count the floors the elevator was passing as it continued ascending upward to the top floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters. Then, the magenta-haired girl glanced across her shoulder, inspecting the officer standing by her flank, his assault rifle at the ready. He looked back at her through his peripheral vision while giving a smirk, as if he was mentally challenging her to try and resist.

She glanced at the screen again as it continued counting the floors.

35...

36...

37...

"'How could I ever forgive God for that'? Those words, they sound so familiar...and yet, I'd never say those words. Why? Why would I ever blame God for anything? Unless...those aren't my memories, but-"

Her thoughts were cut off by the elevator bell ringing, signaling the group's arrival at their intended destination. As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Yuri the cat hopped out of the compartment without so much as a meow, dashed down the adjacent hallway, and went out of sight. Kimiko watched it abruptly go with a pang of shock and loneliness; whatever was about to happen, she was hoping she would at least have company and support in the form of the feline.

Suddenly, she felt something long and branch-like but metallic nudging her forward.

"Move," the team leader ordered behind her.

Kimiko pursed her lips. "Which way?" she asked hesitantly.

"Left."

Kimiko tightened her lips further, but rather than deliver a snappy comeback, she proceeded leftward as instructed. She heard the officers following right behind her, plus the shifting and clicking of metal, indicating they were all pointing their rifles out her to make sure she didn't try any funny ideas.

"Crap," she thought. "This Yamashita guy really sent out the cavalry just for me... How the hell am I gonna fight my way out of this if this turns out to be a trap?"

"It's a trap, Nishimura! Don't listen to him!"

"Damn it, Otonashi... This probably is a trap..." It took all of the self-restraint Kimiko to muster to not make any sudden glances to her sides or behind her. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! Why the hell did I agree to this?! One mention of Naomi, Tamika-chan, and Kaisei-chan, and I was putty in this Yamashita guy's hands!"

Just then, Kimiko reached a doorway, which she nearly bumped into during her preoccupation with her thoughts. Kimiko gazed drearily at it before finally looking over her shoulder. The tactical team was still behind her with their rifles trained on her back.

"Is...Is this supposed to be the place...?" she asked.

"Yes, it is," the team leader replied. "Now open the door."

Kimiko felt her heart stop beating. In the horrible, cold silence that followed, she could feel a sinking sensation within her stomach, a sensation that made her consider all of her life choices.

"Well?" another officer asked. "What're ya just standin' around there for?! Open the goddamn door! Yamashita's waiting!"

Kimiko tried her best to show courage. "Wh-Wh-Why exactly should I tr-tr-trust you? H-How am I s-supposed that isn't a tr-tr-trap...?"

The team leader lowered his weapon and took a deep breath. Then, he walked forward, almost making Kimiko afraid that he would do something to her in retaliation towards her defiance and nosiness.

Instead, he grabbed the doorknob and opened the door for her.

"Because your sisters and brother are there, that's why!" he snapped.

Kimiko gasped and looked behind her, into the room. It was mostly dark, with the only source of light being a set of pale-green security monitors that were vaguely flickering, giving the entire room a semblance to some death chamber. Then, she noticed the three children holding onto one another and trembling in fear, just a few feet from the doorway.

"NAOMI!" she cried loudly in immense relief. "TAMIKA-CHAN! KAISEI-CHAN!"

"ONEE-CHAN!" Kaisei wailed, breaking away from his sisters and running towards his eldest sibling.

Kimiko didn't waste anymore time. She burst into a full-on sprint, amplified by the fact that she did not hear any sounds of resistance coming from the officers. Within seconds, the two embraced, with them crying into each other's shoulder.

"Onee-chan!" Kaisei wailed again, his voice slightly muffled by Kimiko's shirt.

"It's okay, Kaisei!" Kimiko replied, her tears cascading down her cheeks and staining her brother's own shirt. "It's okay! I'm here! I'm here..."

"Nee-chan!" Tamika cried as she joined the hug.

"Tamika-chan!" Kimiko embraced her youngest sister next. "Ohhhhhh, I'm so GLAD that you're okay! What..." She broke the hug and stared deep into Tamika's eyes. "What were you thinking, sneaking past our protective detail and going out on your own like that?!"

"I'm sorry, Kimiko-neesan!" Tamika began to weep into Kimiko's shoulder as well. "I'm so, so sorry! It was all my fault!"

"Shhh, shhh, shhhh!" Kimiko tightened her embrace around her younger sister. "It's okay, Tamika-chan, it's okay. It's no one's fault. It's no one's fault..."

In that moment, Kimiko didn't even think about shooting an accusatory glare at Naomi's direction like she usually would. Once she broke away from Tamika and finally got the chance to look at Naomi in full, Kimiko hesitated for a brief period, her voice catching itself in her throat. On one hand, she wanted to take on the stern maternal role she would always use whenever her sister got herself into trouble. On the other...she felt nothing but immense relief at seeing Naomi alive and barely unscathed.

The terrified, grief-stricken look on Naomi's face won Kimiko over, and the two sisters embraced amicably.

"NEE-CHAN!" wailed Naomi, her voice absolutely childish in that moment. "NEE-CHAN!"

"It's alright, Naomi!" Kimiko replied, trying to sound brave for not just Naomi, but Tamika and Kaisei as well. "It's alright! We're all together again, the four of us! You don't have to cry anymore! None of you have to! I promise you, everything's gonna be alright-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," a drawling voice interrupted.

Kimiko, Naomi, Tamika, and Kaisei all looked behind them to see Yamashita emerge from the shadows, accompanied by his corrupt police officer compatriot. Yamashita was wearing his golden cloak again, complete with the drawn hood, along with the dead rabbit doubling as a necklace. Kimiko could feel the hairs on her body standing up straight, accentuated by a wave of a shiver that swept down her entire body.

"Nishimura," Yamashita completed with a terrible grin.

Kimiko tried her best to harden her expression. "You must be...Yamashita."

"Indeed I am..." Yamashita stuck out his chin slightly in pride. "I must admit, I am impressed by how far you've made it. You and your friends. Somehow, all of you managed to acquire firearms and are now well-trained in their usage. That is quite an impressive feat for a young child such as yourself."

"Well," Kimiko spat, "you have no idea what I am, or can be, capable of when my siblings' lives are at risk."

Yamashita chuckled. "Such a noble, protective onee-san. Truly, you put other onee-sans to shame."

Kimiko arched an eyebrow. "Is that a...compliment I'm hearing from your mouth?" she asked.

The golden-cloaked man seemed to ignore her. "Ohhh, I wish I had an onee-san such as you! Unfortunately..." His lower lip twitched unpleasantly. "I had to contend with being all alone...in the slums...the dirty, filthy slums...toiling in not just my own misery, but that of others whose intellect was clearly beneath mine..." He clenched his fists as his cheerful voice slowly transformed into a vicious growl. "I was a genius who had to commiserate with the plights of lesser fools... That... That was the life I thought I was doomed to...until he saved me... Sadahiro Hashimoto..."

"Oh, so you're just doing that madman a favor," Kimiko snarled in response. "That's what this whole thing's been about? Is that why you and your people continued on with your mission, even after you learned of Hashimoto's death?"

"You're quite the insightful girl, are you?"

Kimiko pursed her lips. "But now you said you wanted to negotiate."

"So?"

"So...let's negotiate."

"Oh, yeees..." The hatred and self-loathing faded away from Yamashita's face and was gradually replaced with a sadistic giddiness that Kimiko was too late to notice. "Let's!"

Upon that cue, the tactical officers rushed past Kimiko and restrained Naomi, Tamika, and Kaisei. She watched in frozen horror as black rifle barrels pressed into the backs of her siblings' heads. The room became filled with Naomi's wheezing, Tamika's weeping, and Kaisei's wailing. Then, before she could react, she felt a rifle barrel of her own press into the back of her neck.

"Don't move, girly," the team leader whispered behind her. "Unless you wanna see your siblings' blood painting the soles of your feet."

Kimiko stared at Yamashita in horror, only to see his lips curling into a smug, satisfied grin. She held back a throaty gasp before narrowing her sea-green eyes.

"You...You bastard!" she cried. "You never were planning on negotiating, were you?!"

"Once again, you are quite insightful, Nishimura," Yamashita replied triumphantly. "But unfortunately, your insight seems to have a bit of a delay. Perhaps you should've trusted the judgment of your friends-"

"THEY'RE NOT MY FRIENDS!"

Yamashita blinked with surprise. "Really now?" Then, he smirked again. "Well then, I hope you don't mind us reneging on my word to let your friends leave this place by themselves."

Kimiko's eyes widened even more. "WHAT?!"

"What, did you really expect me to keep any of the promises I made to you? After all we've been through?"

Yamashita snickered as he walked towards the security monitors. Though they were not facing her, Kimiko could still see the live feeds that were being displayed on the screens. The golden-cloaked man pressed a button, allowing some of the monitors to focus on a live recording of the SSS being ambushed by police officers.

Kimiko felt her heart drop to her stomach the moment Yui took a bullet for Hinata.

"Ohhhhh, poor Kimiko Nishimura," Yamashita said. "You should've put your faith on those who truly cared for you."

---

Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hinata laid his trembling blue eyes upon Yui's motionless body as the blood continued to pool outward. To him, the entire world around him had crumbled away and vanished. He didn't care if the cultists continued shooting at him. Instead, he collapsed to his knees, unknowingly dodging a half-dozen bullets as he did so. Then, after a couple of seconds that were spent staring at her body, he stretched his arms out and scooped Yui's body into his arms. Finally, he stood up, just as a bullet traveled straight through his thigh.

"Ugh," he moaned halfheartedly as he felt his leg quaking with immense pain. The familiar crimson liquid dropped down his thigh, his shin, and all the way to his ankle and shoe. But he didn't care, not in the slightest. The love of his life was now dead, and he wanted nothing more than to join her.

He didn't even get to spend what limited amount of time he had in the real world to express his love for her.

"HEY!" a dim voice shouted, barely reaching Hinata's eardrums through the fog of pain and unspeakable grief. "HEY, YOU CULTIST SCUM! OVER HERE!"

In the ebbing scope of his peripheral vision, Hinata saw the cultists redirect their attention away from him. A split-second later, some unknown pulled him away from the middle of the street. The sudden yank finally jolted life back into him, and the teenager looked around in terror, while an excruciating pain started creeping up his thigh and spreading through the rest of his body. At the same time, another pair of arms snaked into view and grabbed Yui's body. As soon as he realized what was happening, Hinata tightened his grip.

"NO!" he cried with unmatched fury and desperation. "DON'T TAKE ME AWAY FROM HER! LET ME JOIN HER! PLEASE!"

"No, wait!" a vaguely familiar voice shouted at him. "She's breathing! Let me check on her, honey! Please!"

"Onii-chan!" a second familiar voice cried. "Let Mom look at her! Please, Onii-chan!"

The second voice suddenly caused Hinata to experience a memory...a memory that was not his...

"So, you enjoying that ice cream?"

"Mm-hm!"

"Sorry if you were scared back at Kimmie's. I told you there'd be cops there, but I didn't know security was buffed up in recent days."

"I-I-It's o-okay... I-I wasn't s-sc-sc-scared..."

"You were holding onto my arm tightly until we arrived here. You pretty much cut off the blood flow in that arm. You were crying for a half-hour. You were calling out for your mom and dad. Yeah, I'd say you weren't scared at all."

"Eeeeekkkkk..."

"Heh heh heh. But you did well, talking to Kimmie back there."

"You-You think so?!"

"Of course! I'm impressed, not to mention proud. Keep it up, Yumie. Soon, everyone will want to be your friend. I mean, who wouldn't want to be your friend?"

"THANK YOU, ONII-CHAN!"

Hinata's grip slackened around Yui's body, allowing whoever was grabbing onto her to lift her away from his arms. Then, a second pair of hands latched themselves around Hinata's shoulders and turned him around.

"Naotatsu-kun!" snapped another familiar voice, the anger reverberating. "What the hell are you doing?! Fighting th-that cult?! Getting yourself shot?! Are you out of your mind right now?!"

The forcefulness of the voice caused something to spark within Hinata. He blinked with a gasp and shook his head. For a moment, he felt like he had become someone else. Then, he turned his head and saw a familiar boy looking back at him. This boy bore a striking resemblance to him, only he was younger. In an infinitesimal moment, Hinata didn't know who or what he was looking at.

Then, he heard a voice inside his head.

"Yuuji-kun."

"Yuuji-kun?" Hinata asked slowly.

"Oh, thank God!" another voice cried.

Hinata looked beside Yuuji and saw an older couple looking at him with concern. The woman looked immensely relieved as she examined Yui's still body, while the man had some sternness and outrage mixed into his expression. It didn't take Hinata long to recognize them as well.

"Mom?!" he exclaimed. "Dad?! Wh...What're you guys doing here?!"

"We're here to get you and take you home!" Yuuji's father cried. "Don't you dare think for another moment that you'll be fighting against these...these lunatics! You're lucky Officer Sekine was kind and brave enough to take us to you!"

"Officer..." Hinata paused. "Wait, Officer Sekine?"

"Yes, he's fighting those cultists right now! Now let your mother look at your leg!"

Just as his (or rather Naotatsu's) mother attended to his gunshot wound, Hinata looked over his shoulder, just in time to see who exactly had diverted the officers' attentions away from him and Yui. It was a young, blond, scared-looking man dressed in a rather simple police uniform, who was firing a revolver at the tactical team. As soon as he ran out of bullets, he took cover behind an abandoned newspaper stand so he could reload. While he was doing that, the rest of the SSS, sensing he was there to help, covered him by firing their own guns at the tactical officers.

Then, Hinata remembered why exactly he went out onto the street in the first place. Right behind him, shielding him and Yui from the cultists, enshrouded in billowing silver smoke, was a family SUV...which he recognized as the Yunokawas'. In the vehicle, he could see two teenage girls and a teenage boy taking shelter inside; the boy and one of the girls looked familiar, but he couldn't see much of their features due to the cracked windows.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Yuuji's mother suddenly exclaimed. "It's just a flesh wound."

"It is?!" the father cried. "Thank the heavens!"

"Yes, it's through-and-through. Just let me bandage it. Uhhh...Naotatsu-kun! Give me your jacket!"

Hinata absentmindedly looked down and realized, for the first time, he was wearing that article of clothing. Ever since his return to the real world, he never gave a thought about what his reincarnated self might've been like before this incident even took place.

"Naotatsu!" barked the father, his voice sterner than ever. "We don't have time for this! Give your mother the jacket this instant!"

Hinata sensed Naotatsu was not one to tolerate his father's anger. In spite of this, he could only remove the jacket in an off-putting, lazy manner. His mother retrieved it and wrapped it tightly around his thigh, causing the blue-haired boy to wince.

Just then, through the small haze of pain, he heard Yuuji call out to him.

"Onii-chan! O-Onii-chan, your friend, Y-Yumie-chan, she's-she's awake!"

Life filled Hinata's eyes again as he laid his blue pupils upon Yui's form. To his absolute surprise, she was stirring, almost twitching. He immediately scrambled over to her in desperation.

"Yui!" he called while cradling her head into his arms. "Yui, YUI! Can you hear me?!"

Yui inched her tear- and dirt-streaked face to look at him. "Hin...Hinata...?"

Hinata restrained a half-sobbing, half-gasping noise. "Y-Yes, Yui, it's me... It's Hinata... Are-Are you okay?"

Off to the side, Yuuji whispered in confusion, "Hinata? Yui?"

"I...I think so..." Yui replied. Then, her face scrunched up a little, as if she was trying to scrutinize her own pain. "In...In fact...I...I don't feel...a-anything..."

"You don't feel anything?" Hinata's concern started to shoot upward. "H-How is that possible?!"

"Your friend was shot somewhere in the lower back," Yuuji's mother suddenly explained. "I couldn't risk moving her body much because of it, but..." Her face started to fill with horror. "If...If she can't feel anything..."

Hinata started to sense where this was going. He furiously glared at the woman, the strange woman he was supposed to call his own mother.

"Don't say that," he snarled. "Don't you DARE say that!"

"Naotatsu-kun!" the father yelled. "Don't talk to your mother that-"

"MY NAME ISN'T NAOTATSU!" Hinata roared. "AT LEAST NOT FOR NOW, SO JUST SHUT UP AND GO FIND SOMEPLACE TO HIDE!"

"You DARE?!"

The utterly enraged man rolled up his sleeve and prepared to hit Hinata as punishment, but his wife grabbed his arm and stopped him. At the same time, Yui let out a terrified wheeze, catching Hinata's attention again.

"Y-Yui-chan?" he asked.

"Hin...Hinata..." the pink-haired girl whimpered. "I...I can't feel...anything..."

"Y-Ye-Yes." The teenage boy tried his best to give her a straight face of bright optimism. "You-You told me that already-"

"N-No, I mean..." Tears started to well around the corners of her eyes, a sight that Hinata's heart broke at. "I can't feel anything... Not even my...my own..." She hiccuped. "My own body!"

Hinata's heart fell as he watched Yui, the most optimistic and upbeat girl he ever knew, become increasingly frantic and horrified. Her pupils were dilated and trembling, and her skin was becoming paler and paler with every passing second.

"I can't move! I-I can't move, Hinata! I...I can't move my body!"

---

"...I'm not surprised you'd be into this for the fame and glory, even if you already have everything."

"Everything? HA! I'm flattered, dude, but trust me, I have nothing-"

Royama yelled out loud in surprised terror as he took cover behind a mailbox. A split-second later, he could hear bullets whizzing and ricocheting all around him. In his peripheral vision, he could see the SSS members that remained firing at the attackers. Their vigor and motivation seemed to have shot up the moment the girl named Yui got shot in the back.

Trying to steady his breath, Royama raised his stolen gun with a trembling hand and tried to reload it, using his memory of the SSS doing the exact same thing. However, this proved to be a monumental task for him to shoulder. First of all, he couldn't figure out how to release the so-called magazine from the rest of the complicated-looking firearm. Second of all, how was he supposed to know that the gun would be locked and loaded once he put in the new, fully-loaded magazine? He could see he had to do something else as soon as he put the new magazine in, but he forgot what.

"Shit," he thought as he struggled to detach the magazine had right now. "Shit, shit, shit, why the hell did I-? Goddamn, this has gotta be the millionth time I asked myself this! I have to stop asking myself this! You got yourself in this mess, Fuyumi! You and you alone! You've made it this far, so you might as well go all the way, right?! I mean, how the hell are you gonna get through this if you don't?!"

"No, you don't? You've got every last freaking thing any regular member of society could ask for. A permanent home, a steady lifestyle, a clear-cut vision of the future, possessions to call your own, people who love you-"

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do-"

"No, I don't."

Finally, the boy found the release button and hurriedly removed the spent magazine with a trembling hand. As he loaded the new magazine, he heard a groaning noise, and he gazed at C's body, which was lying just a few centimeters away. To his surprise, she was stirring.

"H-Hey!" he cried, scrambling over to her side. "Hey, you alright?! Wake up, wake up!"

"Yo, newbie!" another voice called, startling Royama. He watched as Hisako took advantage of a lull in the gunfire to run right behind his hiding spot. "Tell me, what's the plan?!"

"Wh-Whaddaya mean what's the plan?!" exclaimed the redhead.

"Exactly what it says on paper," Hisako deadpanned. She reloaded her gun with quick, almost professional expertise, and Royama watched as she pulled the firearm's slide to complete the process. "Come on, you must have some sort of plan!"

"W-Wh-Why the heck are you a-asking me?!" Royama was momentarily distracted by another groan coming from C. "I-I don't know shit! I'm-I'm still trying to follow what's going on! A-And..." He blinked rapidly. "I-I thought I was nothing but a pervert and an idiot!"

"Well, you still are, dumbass!" Hisako immediately grabbed his shoulders and stared into his half-terrified eyes. "But still, you are now the only one in our group who knows Yuri's reincarnated self well!"

"Re-Reincarnate- Y-You mean Kimiko?!"

"Yes, her!" The brunette girl shook him slightly. "She's your leader, right?"

"W-We-Well, sh-she's our club leader, b-but I don't-"

"Then surely you have an idea on what she'd say in a situation like this! What her next order would be!"

"How the hell should I know?!" Royama yanked himself away from Hisako's grasp. "We've never done anything like this!"

Hisako blinked in surprise. "Never?"

"Never! Why do you think I'm still alive?!" Then, Royama took a deep breath. "Look, I don't know what Kimiko would say in this scenario. S-She told us to hightail it when she followed those cops! She never said anything about what we should do if we were followed by anyone!"

"Goddamn it!"

Hisako's outburst was punctuated by several bullets striking the mailbox. Royama looked around frantically and could see Hinata taking shelter with Yui and a few civilians behind the totaled SUV, while a police officer joined Miyuki and Shiori in diverting the cultists' gunfire.

Then, he felt someone shove his shoulder, and Royama looked up to see Hisako's irritated face.

"Goddamn it!" she shouted at him. "You're fucking USELESS!"

"Look, life has never treated me well my whole life. I'm barely scraping by in school, I've got parents who've given up on me a long time ago, no serious plans for the future...and I may have friends in the club, but no matter what, I wind up being the butt of their jokes, sooner or later-"

"Unsurprising, given your attitude."

"PULL OUT THE BAZOOKA!" a voice called.

"They have a bazooka?!" Miyuki screamed over the chaos.

Royama and Hisako peeked their heads out from the mailbox, just in time to see one of the cultists, a short, stubby man, retreat to the back of the pack, carrying a considerably large suitcase. Royama's eyes widened in horrified realization.

"Shit! That must be the bazooka! They pull it out, we're all frigging dead!"

"Everyone, run for it!" shouted the policeman assisting Miyuki and Shiori.

Royama glanced at Hinata's position, only to see him (against the best wishes of the civilians) desperately trying to pick up Yui, who was apparently unable to move. The doors of the SUV flew open, and Rikana, Sachiyo, and Touya emerged, bearing visible injuries; Sachiyo was limping visibly. Then, he looked at C, who was still stirring and grimacing, but in no shape to move on her own.

Finally, he looked at the cultists, as the short one opened up the suitcase to reveal something long and metallic.

"Yeah, exactly. No one takes me seriously...and yeah, I guess I'm partially to blame for that as well. I guess that's what I get for striving for something that's way out there such as respect..."

"Goddamn it! You're fucking USELESS!"

Royama pulled the slide of his own gun...before emerging from the mailbox and dashing towards the cultists, firing wildly and letting out a fearful battle-cry.

"But it's all I've got in life!"

Surprised by Royama's sudden assault, many of the cultists took cover behind the nearest obstacles, including the short one trying to take out the bazooka. Unfortunately, a couple of them fired back almost instantly. Royama felt a bullet whiz past his ear, nicking the tip of it. Then, he felt a second bullet graze the right side of his neck, leaving behind a noticeable cut that oozed small amounts of blood. Next, he felt a third bullet tear right through his left shoulder, knocking his hand away from the grip of his gun and causing him to accidentally drop it.

Finally, Royama felt a fourth, larger bullet quickly, relentlessly piercing his hip, followed by the excruciating sensation of what he could only describe as an internal explosion within that area. The ringing noise from all of the gunfire prevented him from hearing his own scream of agony as he felt to the pavement.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Hisako's eyes widen in horror. She then tried to fire at the cultists, but they fired back at her, forcing her to take cover behind the mailbox again.

At that point, it was as if time was slowing down for Royama. He looked up and saw some of the cultists reloading while smirking down at him. One of them was approaching his fallen body, a large handgun in hand. The man's lips moved but Royama couldn't decipher a single word that he said.

Whatever the cultist was saying, it was likely the last thing Royama's eardrums would register in his life, for the man was raising the gun and aiming for his forehead.

"No," Royama thought helplessly. "No, no, no... This can't be it... This can't be how I go..."

Then, as time slowed down ever further in his perception, Royama saw Hinata successfully carrying Yui in his arms while fleeing with the civilians. As for Sachiyo, she was being supported by Rikana and the police officer as they fled alongside Shiori and Touya, the latter of whom was still carrying his nifty laptop. Meanwhile, a panicked Miyuki had sprinted over to Hisako's position and was trying to drag the struggling brunette away from the danger.

Royama took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and smiled softly.

"Well...at least I did something right for a change. Even if I did it in my usual idiotic manner."

As the ringing noise died down in his ears, he heard the cultist chuckling over him.

"That should be worth it."

"HAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" a familiar voice hollered loudly.

"What the- ARGH!"

Royama's eyelids flew open, and he weakly looked over to see a familiar-looking girl brutally whacking the cultist's wrist with a wooden shinai. His large handgun flew right out of his grasp and clattered towards a nearby street gutter. Before the man could react, the girl powerfully slapped him in the face with the other end of the shinai, knocking him headfirst into a trashcan.

The other cultists tried to fire at her, but the girl moved with stunning, almost superhuman agility, using her feet to hop from the sidewalk to a wall to a lamppost before finally launching herself into the air. The cultists aimed their guns at her, but within one second, she used a sweep of her shinai to knock all of their guns away from their grasp. She then used a second sweep to brutally smack all of the attackers in the face, stunning them. Once she finally landed on the pavement, she used a third sweep to strike all of their legs, knocking them to the ground.

Finally, with a graceful twirl and a fourth, more brutal sweep of her wooden shinai, she hit every last cultist in the face a second time and knocked them all out. Royama watched with fascination as the cultists silently collapsed, one by one, in a circle around the girl, like they were a line of dominoes being tipped over one at a time.

Once the last man collapsed to the pavement, the girl straightened herself out and turned towards Royama. Even though his vision was blurring with tears, he could see his savior was C.

"Holy crap..." the boy said with wonder. Then, the corner of his eye caught movement, and he inched his head to see the short cultist scrambling for the open suitcase. "Behind you!"

C didn't waste any time. With another yell, she launched herself into the air, raised her shinai, and swung it down on the man's head, knocking him out before he could even touch the bazooka. Then, she straightened up again and twirled her shinai around before finally resting it upon her shoulder.

"How foolish," she said.

"Shiina!" a voice cried.

A second later, Royama saw Hisako jump over him to reunite with the ninja-like girl. At the same time, Miyuki ran over to his side and tried to tend to his wounds, only to make him wince with every administration.

"Sh-Shiina!" Hisako cried again while grabbing C's shoulders. When the ninja stared back at her, the brunette seemed to realize her mistake. "I-I mean C! I-I'm-"

"No," C interrupted, her voice devoid of any emotion. "That was correct."

"C-Come...a-again...?" croaked Royama while he strained from the immense pain washing over him.

C stared at him, a small, almost indiscernible glimmer of confusion passing through her eyes. Then, after regarding her surroundings for a moment, she spoke again.

"I am indeed Shiina." She looked at Hisako. "I do not know this C that you speak of."

---

"I can't move my body, Hinata! I can't move my body, I can't move my body, I can't move my body!"

"It's alright, Yui! I got you! I got you!"

Carrying Yui bridal-style in his arms, Hinata ran down the street alongside Naotatsu's family. He just heard the sounds of Shiina's familiar yelling, followed by the gunfire subsiding abruptly. Once it was clear the cultists were no longer a threat, Hinata stopped in the middle of an intersection and slowly, carefully laid Yui on the asphalt.

"NAOTATSU-KUN!" barked Naotatsu's father. "Why'd you stop running?! We have to keep moving!"

"I have to check on her!" Hinata snapped back. "If you wanna leave, you're gonna have to go without me!"

The man clenched his fists and marched up to him threateningly. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME, YOUNG MAN! WE DON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR THIS! WE-!"

"With all due respect, sir!" Hinata shot a look so sudden and unflinching in its scathing nature that Naotatsu's father was taken aback. "You don't understand what exactly is going on here!"

The father quickly recovered from his shock at Hinata's rebuttal. "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, NAO-"

"I am NOT your son, sir!" When the man was stunned, Hinata sighed but continued using his defiant, forceful tone. "I'm sorry, but I really am not! You won't be able to reach your son, at least not yet! So for now, the only thing you and your family can do is find shelter! Please, for Naotatsu's sake, find shelter and-"

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME, NAOTATSU YUNOKAWA?!" Naotatsu's father hollered, his voice drowning out Hinata's. Then, he continued marching towards Hinata while rolling up his sleeves. "YOU LEAVE ME NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO-!"

"DON'T, DAD!"

Yuuji sprung forth and grabbed his father's wrist before he could raise it. The man shot his younger son a terrifying glare that would've made anyone else wet their pants.

"LET GO OF ME, YUUJI!" he roared.

"NO!" Yuuji replied defiantly. "I KNOW MY ONII-CHAN, AND THAT'S NOT HIM!"

The man tore his wrist away from Yuuji. "I'll deal with you later."

He tried confronting Hinata again, but another, stronger pair of hands grabbed his wrist and held on tight, stopping him from advancing. He twirled around, initially infuriated, only for his expression to soften.

"H-Honey?"

Naotatsu's mother shook her head, her smooth, light-blue hair fluttering like a silk curtain. Hinata looked into her ocean-blue eyes and saw a familiar emotion shining from them.

"Yuuji-kun's right..." she said. "That's..." She glanced at Hinata. "That's not our son."

"What?!" Her husband looked at Hinata. "But-"

"I know he looks just like Naotatsu-kun, but I'm his mother." She stared deeply into Hinata's eyes. "I know my son when I see him...and that's not my son."

"Then..." Naotatsu's father looked at Hinata. "Then who-?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, sir," Hinata interrupted. "What matters now is that you get your family to safety. I think you have seen enough."

"But, wh-what about-?" began Yuuji.

"It doesn't matter what you need to do, Yuuji-kun. My girl-" His voice choked. "M-My friend's already hurt... I-If Naotatsu were here, d'you think he'd want any of you to be caught up in this mess?"

Naotatsu's parents looked at one another. Then, once they silently came to an understanding, his father looked at Hinata with a regretful look on his face.

"We'll...We'll leave it to you, then..." he said.

"Please let us take care of your friend-" began Naotatsu's mother.

Hinata held onto Yui protectively. "No! I've got this! You take your husband and son and go find someplace that's safe to hide in!" He looked over his shoulder and saw the girl resembling Yusa supporting an unfamiliar-looking girl alongside the policeman who intervened. "I don't know how many more cultists are out there."

Naotatsu's mother looked at him apprehensively, her eyes scrutinizing Hinata's facial features, as if they were trying hard to search for anything that would make her feel distrustful. However, after a quick moment of contemplation, she took a single step back.

"Okay," the woman said. "We'll leave you and your friend, then. But you need to promise me one thing."

Hinata blinked. "And that is?"

An intense maternal concern swept her face. "Find my son. Please. I...I don't know what happened to him, o-or why you look exactly like him, or anything that's happening right now...but...you have to find him! You have to..." Her voice broke slightly. "I've already lost one child in this life; I'm not about to lose anther! If you can't do that, if you can't p-pr-protect my son, th-then I-I'll have no choice but to call the police on you! Th-The real police!"

As Hinata stared back at the woman, he couldn't help but feel a sensation of nostalgia creeping into his heart.

"That woman," he thought. "She...She reminds me of my mom. Huh. What're the odds...?"

"Promise me you'll find my son!" Naotatsu's mother urged, breaking Hinata out of his slight reverie.

"Yes, yes, of course!" Then, Hinata calmed down and steadied his voice. "I promise, I'll find Naotatsu."

The woman gently bit her lower lip, but she delivered Hinata a soft smile. Then, she turned around and jogged up to her husband and younger son. The look on her face said it all to them, and the Yunokawa family made a run for it. However, after running a few feet, Yuuji stopped, turned around, and looked at Hinata one last time.

"G-Good luck!" he called.

Hinata simply nodded back at him. But before he could see the family off, he heard Yui's voice croaking out to him.

"Hinata! Hi-Hinata!"

He looked down at her. "It's okay, Yui. I'm-I'm here." He tried his best to give her a bright, optimistic smile, but he knew it was faltering. "I'm here. J-Just stay with me, okay?"

"I...I can't...feel anything..." moaned Yui, her voice barely able to restrain a sob. She looked up at the sky, her hot-pink eyes shimmering. "I can't feel the world...and you..." She hiccuped in horror. "I can't feel you, Hinata..."

"It's alright, Yui! You're alive, and that's all that matters!"

"Why is it happening again? Why? Why is it happening again? WHY IS IT HAPPENING AGAIN?!" All of a sudden, rage and hatred filled Yui's eyes, mixing in with her forming tears. "I don't wanna be baggage again, God! Why would you do this to me?! I've-I've only been in this world for a few hours and now...now I'm back to where I started?! WHY?! Is this some sick divine punishment for what Yumie did?! But I didn't DO anything! I did NOTHING to deserve this, God!" She gritted her teeth, one of the very few things she could do now. "I HATE YOU, GOD! I HATE YOU!"

"Don't say that, Yui-" Hinata began.

"Don't say that?! Don't say that?!" Finally, Yui broke down into tears. "How could you say that to me, Hinata?! You...You don't know how it feels to be baggage!"

At first, Hinata stared at her helplessly. He couldn't bear to see the chipper, energetic girl he fell in love with back in the Afterlife be reduced to a jumbled mess of grief and loathing. Then, he remembered something and closed his eyes.

"You're wrong, Yui," he said.

This stopped Yui's outburst. "Wh...What...?"

"I do know how it feels. Not personally...but emotionally. I know how it feels to be with someone who can't do what most women can. And yet, that is exactly why I am in love with you. Remember..." Hinata opened his eyes and leaned his face towards hers. "I married you, after all."

"Well, I'll marry you!"

Yui gasped, and she could feel her heart flutter. In that moment, she was back in the ballpark, standing on her two feet. The sunset painted her entire world in golden-orange. The heavy helmet and baseball bat were back on her head and in her hands, respectively. Like before, Hinata was standing closer to the benches, near the entrance to the ballpark.

Then, the boy walked up to her, each step powerful and evocative of his conviction.

"Remember what I said, Yui!" he declared. "I meant it before and I still mean it now! No matter what you were like or what you've done in your previous life, I'd still marry you today! No matter what type of terrible physical handicap you had!"

Love and passion swelled up within Yui's heart, stronger than ever before. She released a soft sigh and said in almost a whisper, "Say it again, Hinata. Please. Say those words again...just this once for me..."

Hinata knew what she was talking about, so he said, "Even if you couldn't stand and walk, even if you couldn't have kids! Even so...I'd still marry you. I WOULD!"

Yui's lips slowly but surely crawled upward into a joyful smile, one of complete fulfillment. Tears started to form from her eyes.

"I want to be with you forever and ever! The Yui I know wouldn't despair from her condition. She wouldn't curse God for a handicap she could never have prevented. And most of all, she would never, EVER hate herself for not doing what any other girl could! You're Yui. No matter what, I still love you. I will cherish you, always. When this is all over, when we get Yuri's siblings back and we solve this crisis, I'll marry you, and I'll make you the happiest woman alive...but if only you'd say yes to me."

In the back of her mind, a part of Yui knew how impossible Hinata's promise was. But nevertheless, she allowed the joy and happiness to wash over her, ebbing away at the pain and terror of her near-total paralysis. Her mind was filled with thoughts of her future together with Hinata, even if it was going to be spent entirely in bed or a wheelchair.

"Me and Hinata, together forever...no matter what..."

"So," Hinata said, his eyes glinting with conviction, "what do you say, Yui?"

Yui took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. She was back in the middle of the street, in the arms of her beloved, the pain of her gunshot wound faint. She blocked out the sounds of the others approaching, of Hisako asking if she was alright, of someone with a familiarly condescending voice announcing some sort of update he got.

She stared straight into Hinata's eyes and replied, "Yes." A single tear fell from the corner of her eye. "I'll marry you. No, I...I want to marry you, Hinata. No matter what."

---

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters

"You're a monster..."

Kimiko slowly tore her eyes away from the security monitors, from the suffering her friends were enduring outside, and focused her sea-green pupils upon the person responsible.

Yamashita. She didn't know who he was...but even then, she felt nothing but absolute, unparalleled hatred for him. She didn't think she could hate someone so much. She always thought her steadfast faith in God and her love for her family would keep her anchored in the rationality of reality. But clearly, her faith and her love weren't enough to safeguard her resolve. And now, there she was, looking upon the person who was eliciting such uncharacteristic feelings from the pit of her heart and soul.

"You're a monster..." she growled.

"No, no, my dear," Yamashita replied with a triumphant sneer. "Not a monster. Only a...revolutionary, just as Hashimoto-sama would've wanted."

"Your so-called sensei is nothing more than a self-centered sociopath who simply can't deal with reality!"

Yamashita's sneer became more pronounced. "Neither are you, apparently."

"What're you talking about?!"

Yamashita chuckled as if he told a joke that was only good to himself. This only served to irk Kimiko even further.

"ANSWER ME!" she shouted.

"Ohhhhh, I will, Nishimura. In due time. But first, just to make sure you're a good girl..."

He raised his left hand, brought the tip of his thumb together with his index finger...and snapped.

A split-second later, Kimiko felt a splitting pain erupting in the back of her head, overwhelming all five of her senses. The girl simply grunted as she fell to the floor, her body going hopelessly limp.

"NO!"

"KIMIKO-NEE!"

"ONEE-CHAN!"

But the horrified outcries of her siblings barely reached Kimiko's ears. She slowly craned her head towards them, and the last thing she saw was their helpless expressions before her vision blurred out into oblivion...

---

"So, what's the plan, Otonashi? What're we gonna do when we find Yuri?"

Otonashi stopped upon reaching the first door they saw in the access stairwell to the roof. With a sigh, he looked across his shoulder, where he saw Noda gently wiping the blade of his machete with his fingertips.

"Her name's not Yuri, Noda," the redhead said. "Her name's Kimiko. We need to know the difference."

"Heh, you're one to talk, man," Noda replied nonchalantly as he continued cleaning the blade. Then, he paused and shot Otonashi a look. "You know, you're pretty much talking to my reincarnated self right now, yet you're referring to him as Noda."

"That's 'cause you're Noda right now, not Noriya."

"Yeah, but this is still Noriya's body."

Otonashi opened his mouth to retort, but then, he began to fully process Noda's words. Then, he crossed his arms.

"Hey, since when were you a philosopher?" he asked.

"Ha ha ha," Noda drawled in response. "The fact that I don't know what that word means tells me you're in denial about your own hypocrisy."

"You don't even know what 'hypocrisy' means!" Then, Otonashi shook his head and looked back towards the door. "Look, let's forget about this. When we find Kimiko, we're gonna have to lure her guards away. Once we do that-"

"But won't that tip off that Yamashita guy that something's wrong?" asked Noda.

"...Yeah, that's true... Shit."

Noda twirled his machete around with a gleeful grin. "I say we let those punks lead us to Yamashita, and once he's in a vulnerable position, the two of us can kick his sorry bitch-ass!"

"And risk harming Kimiko and her siblings? Remember, he's got a bunch of guys to back him up."

"Ah. Then, correction..." Noda aimed his weapon at the doorway. "I'll kick all of their sorry bitch-asses, while you get Yuri and the kids outta there!"

"Yeah..." deadpanned Otonashi while memories of a certain purple-haired boy being hit by a pendulum plagued his mind. "Something tells me you're gonna die. We gotta come up with a better plan-"

"Coming up with plans is for the weak, man!" Noda promptly kicked the door open. "If we're gonna take names and kick ass, then we do that first and ask questions after! Now, let's bring it on, bitches! Noda's ready for you dumbasses!"

"WAIT!" Otonashi cried.

But it was too late, for Noda had begun running down the hallway, his machete at the ready. With a sharp exhale and a cursory facepalm, Otonashi began running after his fellow SSS member.

"Even if he's in a new body, he's still a goddamn idiot..."

---

"Where...Where am I...?"

Kimiko blinked once for what seemed like the second time. She was standing back in the hallway of an unfamiliar house, painted in bright orange from a setting Sun. For some reason, everything around her was slightly larger than usual, and there was a tense, unsettling aura enveloping the entire place. It was as if her body was telling her she shouldn't be here...and yet, her heart was telling her she was already here before...

"Where...Where am I...?" she thought. Then, a wave of déjà vu swept over her. "Wait a minute..."

"ONEE-CHAN!"

The three voices shouted in unison, lightly startling Kimiko. She twirled around and saw...

"Naomi?" she asked. "Tamika? Kaisei-chan?"

It was her three younger siblings. But...they looked younger in the literal sense. Naomi's hair wasn't even dyed black like in the present day; instead, it shared the same magenta hue as Kimiko's.

"ONEE-CHAN!" Their faces were filled with fear. "HELP US!"

In an instant, it all returned to Kimiko. She knew exactly where she was...and what to expect.

As expected, she saw the shadowy tentacles hovering in the air, towering ominously behind her siblings' heads...but this time, they weren't holding knives. Instead, the tips of the appendages had morphed into horrible-looking rifle barrels.

"NO!" Kimiko screamed, her voice coming out like a little girl's.

"You're the oldest," a mighty voice snarled. "Don't you know where your parents keep important things? Things your parents told you to always take care of real good? Things to give robbers to make 'em leave? They told you wild stuff like that, right?"

Kimiko started sweating bullets. "I-Im-Important things?!" she squeaked timidly in response. "B-But...I-I don't know-"

"Now go look for it!" the voice interrupted. "If I don't like what you show me, I'm afraid I'll have to take your siblings from you one by one!"

"WHAT?! NO!"

"One dies every ten minutes unless you bring me something!"

"NO! I...I don't what you would consider valuable-"

"Tough luck, kiddo."

All of a sudden, the rifle-tentacles began firing, and all Kimiko could see were three different bursts of red liquid flying at her-

---

"HUUUUUAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!"

Kimiko opened her eyes for a split-second before they were greeted by the biting of freezing water with ice cubes inside. The magenta-haired girl screwed her eyes shut and shook her head to get as much of the water off of her. Unfortunately, it had already begun to plaster the top of her shirt to her chest, the chilly temperatures of the clear liquid bringing all five of her senses at rapt attention. Before long, her entire body began to tremble badly from the water clinging stubbornly to her skin and clothes.

"Ah," a familiar voice greeted, his cheerful tone contrasting Kimiko's dark, disconcerting surroundings. "It's sooo good to have you back with us, Nishimura."

Kimiko's initial response was an impulsive shudder from the cold water. Then, once her body became accustomed to the temperatures, she looked around, her eyes slowly widening open.

Once her sights were adjusted, she saw Naomi, Tamika, and Kaisei a few feet away from her, still bound to their chairs. A look of terror united their expressions, a look that reminded Kimiko of her nightmare...or Yuri's nightmare...

Feeling her gut drop, Kimiko looked up and saw Yamashita towering behind her sisters and brother. She instinctively tried to make a move toward them, but the restriction of her movements told her she was bound to a chair of her own. Kimiko tried to resist even further, but a twitch of Yamashita's wrist convinced her to stop.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned, his voice still friendly and gentle. "There's still...a lot that I wish to discuss with you."

"Stop it," she growled savagely. "Get away from them, you freak!"

"Oh, my dear, dear Nishimura. There's no need for such aggression-"

"After all that I've been through, the time for cordiality has long passed. You're delusional if you think it hasn't, you...you bastard."

Yamashita shook his head and tutted. "You treat me like the enemy, Nishimura..." The man's smirk widened as he patted the flinching Kaisei on the head with his left hand. "You act as if all this was my fault, and the fault of my dearly departed sensei. But..." He patted Kaisei on the cheek with the same hand. "Why do you think you're here in the first place? Now, Hashimoto-sama didn't just choose to mess with you and your family for the hell of it."

"From what I gather at this point, he targeted me and my family because I insulted him. Plain and simple."

"Ah. Well, if that is so, Nishimura..." Yamashita proceeded to stroke Tamika's hair with his left hand, while she squeaked in terror. "Then he wouldn't have wasted precious resources on just you, now am I right?"

Kimiko gritted her teeth bitterly. "I'm not able to read the mind of a deranged psycho, if that's what you were expecting me to do."

"Then allow me to do the honors." Finally, Yamashita moved on to Naomi but didn't do a thing to touch her. "The reason why you and your siblings are in this debacle together is all because..."

Kimiko's eyes widened in terror. She could see Yamashita's right hand finally moving, and in it was a 9mm silver Beretta 92FS Brigadier Inox pistol.

"You just couldn't turn a blind eye."

"T-Tu-Turn a blind eye?!" Kimiko exclaimed. "Wh-What're you talking about?!"

"Oh, don't play dumb. We know exactly what your plans for us were...and to be perfectly honest, you were really stupid, Nishimura, for getting yourself and a bunch of other kids involved."

"I don't have the slightest clue on what you're talking about!"

"Do you now? Because, if I can recall, Hashimoto-sama mentioned receiving...interesting news from one of our younger and more impressionable members. Something about, oh, a certain girl and her little wannabe school club wanting to dig into our business?"

Kimiko opened her mouth, prepared to issue a denial...but her voice failed to come out of her mouth. Instead, her lower jaw remained slack as a memory returned to her.

"Her brother is with that cult."

"What? Ginga? No way. That's not true, right guys? ...G-Guys?"

"It's true, Kimiko."

"What?! You're joking, right?!"

"Does it look like we are?"

"Yumie, is...is this true?!"

"Ginga..." she said, almost to herself. "Yumie-chan's brother..."

Yamashita's eyes lit up. "Ahhhhh, so I assume you've uncovered his true affiliation. Then, I assume you know what that exactly means for your so-called club activities."

Kimiko didn't respond. Instead, the gears in her mind began to whir as she started putting two and two together. As the seconds passed, her heart hammered faster and faster against her sternum from the startling revelation.

"See, this is another problem I have with the news. Practically everyone knew way before we did that the cosmetics company was conducting illegal experiments, but the media continued to stick up for the bad guy. And history's now repeating itself with the story of the psycho cult! Too many unnecessary details of their crimes, this apparent fascination with whatever they're worshiping, and sensationalist rhetoric! And it's gone on for too long! Therefore, I suggest we make the public aware of this! Who's with me?"

"Well, just because I said it couldn't be done doesn't mean I didn't want to try anymore. Anyway, I noticed from the protests made against Sadahiro Hashimoto and his company were made, the participants always seem to be the average citizen. Nobodies, in other words. But if the public hears a voice from someone on the inside of the company, then maybe the argument will gain some credibility, and more people will begin to listen and stand up against the company."

"He's...He's been spying on me? While I was-?!"

"Infiltrating Hashimoto Communications?" interrupted Yamashita. "Yes, he certainly he was. And he did it with the utmost pride and confidence in his beliefs. Hashimoto-sama was impressed by his convenient position, as was I. I was prepared to take him as my protege. That is, until things went south unexpectedly quickly, but I digress. Anyway, Hashimoto-sama decided to play along with your little game at first, hence the hospitality he showed to you in addition to your friends. He was confident that you, a little girl, wouldn't get that far in such an independent, amateur investigation."

"And I didn't," spat Kimiko.

Yamashita smirked. "Not from what I heard from Hashimoto-sama."

"Wh-What're you talking about?! I swear, I didn't find anything when I was staying at his place! I only first learned about your sick, sick scheme when Chouko got kidnapped and Takahashi decided to rescue her!"

"His personal report logs beg to differ. According to them..."

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which Kimiko noticed had some some of image printed on it. Yamashita raised it in front of his face and began reading.

"You've had an...interesting discussion with his secretary. Takane Toro." Yamashita peered over the paper. "I'm sure you remember her."

Kimiko's eyes widened with horror. "T-Toro-san?!" she impulsively blurted out.

"Ahhh, yes. Her. Hashimoto-sama was most curious about what she had to say to you."

The magenta-haired girl narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'd hate to disappoint you, but she didn't say anything to me."

"Are you sure about that, my dear?"

Yamashita snapped his fingers again, and the pale-green lighting of the room changed suddenly, turning brighter. Kimiko looked across her right shoulder and saw that the security monitors were showing an old recording of two people in the lobby. She immediately recognized herself, looking at the young, petite woman with blue hair and wearing a formal suit. The angle of the recording suggested that the camera was positioned in some sort of corner, in plain view of anyone and everyone who knew where to look.

"Yes, Kimiko-chan?" the woman asked. "Is there anything you need from me?"

"Yes."

The past Kimiko looked around to see if anyone else was listening. When she looked directly into the camera, she moved her position subtly to prevent the camera from reading her lips. However, the present-day Kimiko realized in that horrible moment how futile such a countermove was, since the camera was still able to record her voice, and that of the woman.

"Do you... Do you have any idea if Sadahiro keeps any files on the company for himself?"

"He should. After all, he runs Hashimoto Communications. He should have access to his own personal stash of files."

"Do you have any idea where they are?"

The secretary's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Know Hashimoto-sensei's personal files are located? Heh. Fat chance. I'm just his secretary. I've been on the job for only a few months. I definitely do not know where in the world he could keep personal files. I would guess it'd have to be somewhere personal to him, though. ...Why do you wanna know, Kimiko-chan?"

"Oh, nothing. Just curious. Never know what exactly I will learn." The past Kimiko turned around and, after a couple of seconds, frowned, muttering to herself, "Oh, I'm so gonna get you, you stuck-up bastard..."

"Kimiko-chan?"

The past Kimiko turned around to look at the secretary. "Yes, Toro-san?" she replied.

Kimiko then saw how her past self stiffened slightly at the woman's suspicious glare.

"Why are you here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why exactly are you participating in Hashimoto-sensei's new program?"

"Oh, I was just curious on how the world of business goes on about. I was thinking about going into business, actually-"

"Kimiko-chan, I grew up with four older brothers who loved to cause trouble. I learned a few things from them. Including knowing whenever someone is lying..."

The past Kimiko stiffened even more, and Toro's eyes suddenly became narrow.

"You know, I remember a news report about this high-school club called the Global Awareness Club. A ragtag bunch of teenage activists, if I remember the words of the reporters correctly. They were protesting the illegal experiments of that cosmetics company that's now shut down..."

There was a horrible, awkward pause. The past Kimiko looked ready to flee then and there.

"Kimiko-chan," continued Toro, "I know why you're here."

"You...You do?..."

"Yes. From the moment I first saw you. I can definitely remember the face of that headstrong leader who was making all of those determined speeches for that club. I only remained silent because I wasn't sure if I was dealing with a lookalike. But the moment you asked me about Hashimoto-sensei's personal files, I just knew. ...I'm betting you're now wondering what I'm going to do, now that I know your little secret. Kimiko Nishimura."

"Are...Are you gonna report me?..."

"No."

"W-Wh-What? You're not gonna report me?"

Toro nodded. "Yes. You have my word, Kimiko-chan, that I won't report you."

"W-Why?"

Toro glanced directly into the camera, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I can't answer that. Not here. It's a potentially sensitive matter." She looked back at the past Kimiko. "We'll meet after your appointment with Hashimoto-sensei. When we do, I'll give you a time and place to meet up. It'll be then when I tell you everything I know."

At first, the past Kimiko didn't say anything. Then, with a voice filled with determination, she replied, "You got it, Toro-san."

Toro nodded and replied, "I'll see you later, Kimiko-chan. Oh, and please stay quiet about our conversation. You know why."

"Don't worry. I will."

Toro turned around and silently pressed the button to summon the elevator. Meanwhile, the past Kimiko looked towards another direction, and Kimiko's present-day self knew she had been looking at Sadahiro Hashimoto in that moment. She also knew how giddy she felt that day, giddy with the knowledge that everything was finally turning in her favor.

"I finally got you," the past Kimiko whispered excitedly to herself, although the voice was somehow captured by the camera's audio features. "Oh, I finally got you. What the hell are you hiding, you stuck-up bastard?"

The recording paused on Kimiko's triumphant, elated mask. The present-day Kimiko slowly glanced at Yamashita, whose face was staring her down, his inquisitive eyes boring deep through her sea-green eyes, as if it was trying to dig out any useful information from her brain.

"Did you really think you'd just slip by Hashimoto-sama's watchful eyes and pull the rug from under his feet?" he asked.

"W-Well," Kimiko snarled through clenched teeth, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I never got to have that meeting with Toro-san. Our conversation happened the day before your bastard of a sensei staged that attack on his own house so he could win some sympathy points from the public."

"I'm well aware of the timeline, Nishimura. But my awareness ends after you and your friends were taken to the hospital. You see, we lost track of Toro-san after the attack. Our sources in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department weren't able to find any trace of her in the city."

"Wow..." Kimiko rolled her eyes sardonically. "After all the crap you put me and my family and friends through, you could not find one little secretary. Who would've thunk you madmen are all bark and no bite?"

Yamashita's confident look slipped away from his face. With a twitching eyelid, he approached Kimiko, his step quick and predatory. The girl hitched her breath at the manic look in her captor's face, just before he raised his Beretta and used it to pistol-whip her.

"AGH!"

A white-hot flash of pain went through Kimiko's forehead, and she could barely hear her siblings crying out for her. Then, once the pain subsided, she looked up into Yamashita's face.

"Laugh it up all you want, Nishimura," he snarled. "I can assure you we put in all the resources we had at our disposal to find Takane Toro. However, it seems like you may have put your trust in the wrong person."

"I put my trust in the wrong person? What're you talking about?"

Yamashita looked off somewhere and nodded. At the cue, one of the security monitor images was magnified to fully show Toro's face. This was accompanied by an image of Toro's ID card for Hashimoto Communications. Kimiko glanced towards the ID, only to become stunned when she found herself looking into the photo of a middle-aged woman with red hair.

"The Takane Toro you were talking to wasn't the Takane Toro Hashimoto had in his personnel file. Our police source gave the real Toro a visit, and she appears to have been the victim of identity theft, targeted because she was seeking out the same secretarial position. Whoever this woman is, she certainly wasn't willing to divulge her true identity to anyone."

Kimiko blinked with surprise before refocusing on Yamashita. "L-Look, I had no idea she was an impostor. And I certainly didn't know what her agenda was in all of this."

"Oh, I believe you, Nishimura. I believe you."

"L-Lo-Look, wh-what does that have to do with me and my siblings?!"

"Hashimoto may not have prioritized Toro as a threat to our operations, but..." Yamashita backtracked towards Kimiko's siblings. "As his secretary, Toro may have seen something she shouldn't have. The fact that she was willing to meet with you in secret, plus the fact that no one's seen hide or hair of her, tells us that much. And if you did indeed meet her after the Hashimoto Manor incident-"

"I did NOT!" Kimiko snapped. "I told you, she didn't say anything to me, and that's because the last time I saw her was in that lobby!"

"You see, that...is where I have a hard time believing you, Nishimura." Yamashita began pacing behind Kimiko's siblings. "We did not catch her infiltration until it was too late. Who knows where she could be right now? She's had a good head-start on us...and if she has that advantage, then that means she's had every opportunity to have that meeting with you."

"But she DIDN'T, you idiot!" Then, Kimiko remembered something. "You have spies in the police department, don't you?! Why don't you ask them to help you out?!"

"Their investigations yielded no fruit. No matches on any facial recognition scans, no strange credit card uses that would match her timeline, no unusual movements during her employment with Hashimoto-sama, nothing. And luck was on her side. We tried planting spies in your protection detail, but Sergeant Madoka Igarashi just had to be in charge of you and your pathetic friends. Such deep-seated trust issues. If only we got rid of him sooner..."

Yamashita tapped his side impatiently. "Toro's worked hard to cover her tracks. And if she is at a safe distance from the country, then she'll be able to blow the lid off of everything we worked so hard to achieve."

The girl gritted her teeth. "Well, then good for her."

Yamashita stopped and stared into the security monitors. "But...if Toro's going to have a head-start on us, then we must be ahead of the curve if Japan is to experience its glorious, prosperous future. Which is why I want to know..." He slowly turned his head towards Kimiko, the glint in his eye bright. "What. Did. Toro. Tell you?"

"I TOLD YOU!" Kimiko shrieked in outrage. "I NEVER GOT TO HAVE THAT MEETING WITH HER! THE LAST TIME WE SAW EACH OTHER IS ALL ON THAT RECORDING!"

Yamashita pursed his lips nastily. "You see, since you're such a goody-two-shoes who has to think of the greater good...I don't believe you, Nishimura." He shook his head. "For the sake of Hashimoto-sama's vision...I really don't."

"WELL, YOU HAVE TO, YOU...YOU GODDAMN LUNATIC!"

But Yamashita didn't listen to her. Instead, with a callous shrug, he raised the barrel of his pistol and aimed it directly at the back of Kaisei's head. The boy gasped and squirmed in terror while Kimiko to hold back a horrified gasp.

"No!" she squeaked, her voice coming out like a little girl's.

"You're the oldest," Yamashita snarled mightily. "And I am sure your parents taught you the safety of your siblings must be your top priority. That you must always take care of them really good. Important shit like that."

"Please don't hurt them!" Kimiko rasped in mad desperation. "Please! I'll do anything..."

Yamashita arched an eyebrow with amusement. "Anything, you say? Like giving me important information? Information that'll give me an excuse to let you and your siblings go? Important stuff like that, right?"

Kimiko started sweating bullets. She knew she did not have the information Yamashita was seeking, but he and his allies were clearly unconvinced. If she didn't give them something, something that could be proven, then she would be spelling the doom for all of her siblings. And yet, she truly had nothing to give. Yamashita was mistaken to believe she was hiding something for her own agenda.

Her thoughts were dispelled by a disapproving click.

"You'll tell me what I need to know now," Yamashita said. "If you don't, I'm afraid I'll have to take all of the...necessary precautions. I will take your siblings from you one by one!"

Kimiko felt her world crumble apart all around her. "WHAT?! NO!"

"One dies every ten seconds unless you spill your guts. Ten."

"NO!" Kimiko shrieked, while Kaisei started to cry and struggle against his bonds. "NO, PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!"

"Nine."

---

"It's just too unfair."

---

"NO, PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!"

"Yo, Otonashi!" Noda shouted while stopping in the middle of a Y-shaped hallway intersection. "I heard Yuri!"

"You did?!" Otonashi cried, stopping as well.

"Yeah, I can never forget that voice!" The purple-haired delinquent looked from one hall to another frantically. "I think it came from...that way!"

"I swear to God, if your sense of hearing is as idiotic as your brain is..."

But Otonashi followed Noda as the two boys dashed down the right hallway.

---

"Okay, okay!" Kimiko shrieked while sweat dripped onto her face. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you!"

But Yamashita's expression refused to waver. "Better speak quickly, Nishimura. Eight."

---

"We never did anything wrong; we were just kids."

---

Otonashi and Noda came across a T-intersection in the hallway. Otonashi looked down the left hall, while Noda looked at the right.

"Which way, man?!" exclaimed Otonashi.

---

"T-To-Toro-san..." Kimiko felt as if her whole head was drenched. "Sh-She and I, w-w-we met a-at the...the, uh..."

Kimiko began sweating even more, her brain struggling to come up with a convincing lie. But Yamashita wasn't having it.

"Seven."

---

"We were just kids."

---

"I think it came from that way!"

Noda rushed down the hallway to the left and was quickly followed by Otonashi.

---

The first beads of sweat dripped onto her collar. "Could you PLEASE lower the gun first?!"

"And give you an advantage. I think not. Six."

---

"I was confident I was the cool big sister up until that day."

---

Otonashi soon picked up the pace and was now running alongside Noda. They could both see a doorway ahead, a deathly green light peering through it from underneath.

---

"OKAY, OKAY!" Kimiko's collar was completely wet now. "T-To-Toro-san said she, uh, found out where exactly all of your nukes were going!"

"Keep going. Five."

---

"But I lost everything I wanted to protect in 30 minutes."

---

Pretty soon, Otonashi was running ahead of Noda. He cocked his gun in preparation.

---

"I-I don't KNOW!" At this point, Kimiko's face was rosy and shining with sweat. "She didn't elaborate-"

"You never asked for specifics?" Yamashita sneered. "No, I doubt it. You'd never let that kind of info slide. Four."

---

"That's too unfair."

---

Otonashi was panting as he neared the door. For some reason, he felt as if the force of gravity was pulling him back, like the Universe was actively trying to stop him from bursting in. His distance from the door only seemed to grow and grow with every step he took.

---

"PLEASE! I-I SWEAR!" A small part of Kimiko's brain realized it wasn't just sweat that was dripping down her cheeks. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE!"

Yamashita huffed defiantly. "I really don't like being played with, Nishimura."

"WHY WOULD I HOLD SOMETHING LIKE THIS BACK FROM YOU WHEN MY SIBLINGS' LIVES ARE IN DANGER?!"

"I don't know. Some misplaced sense of self-righteousness? Well, I think it's time I straightened out that sense." With a manic grin, Yamashita pressed the barrel into Kaisei's head as he sobbed. "FOURTHREETWOONE!"

"NOOOOO!"

BANG!

---

"How could I ever forgive God for that?"

---

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A/N: GASP! Now THAT was quite a crazy ending! To be perfectly honest, I was itching to write that scene for the longest time. When I first came up with this fic, this was one of the very first scenes that I knew should be included in here: this excuse for Kimiko to go through the trauma that Yuri experienced in her lifetime. But did history really just repeat itself? Or did something else happen to shift Kimiko's fate away from Yuri's trajectory? Find out in the next chapter!

Oh, and yes, Yui is paralyzed again, just like she was in her old life. This is truly a sadistic chapter, wasn't it? Again, that was another scene that I came up with early in the production. In all, I feel like this is a chapter that I truly, truly wanted to write when it all came down to it.

Now then, I'd like to thank the following people who reviewed:

-Guest reviewer: I'll try my best. Trust me, I love Otonashi and Kanade too. I'll see to it that they have a good moment before this fic ends.

-I Before A Except After K: That was sort of the point. Not every reincarnated self is going to be a character you'll like to read. I needed Takahashi to be a bit of an idealistic jerk-ass if I wanted to be different. Plus, it leaves room for a lot of good character development, I believe.

-qwerty19:

1) Well, of course! When I need Kanade to speak, I make sure Kanade speaks. But I'm glad you think it's a nice touch. :)

2) Don't worry. Otonashi will get his chance to admit his love for her, no matter what it takes. ;)

-madtad14 (guest reviewer): Thanks! I'm glad to know this fic was one of the first "Angel Beats!" fics you read once you finished the anime. It was quite a tearjerker, huh? Anyway, I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this to come rolling around.

Well, hope you enjoyed this painfully overdue chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!