A/N: Hello! I just wanted to quickly say thank you for reading one of my newest projects, A Step Closer!

For this story, I plan on making a full visual novel based upon this story with artwork and everything. The progress has begun and I've hired an artist who did the cover of my story. There is also more artwork that you guys can look at from my fan-made wiki. The wiki exists for this story in case you want more in-depth lore, an understanding of the timeline and events, or to see the BEAUTIFUL artwork this story has to offer.

The link is in my profile!

If you decided to read this, all I ask of you is that you please review this story, and if you really like it, please give it a favorite and a follow. You, the reader, are the ones driving this story. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. Stay safe as always.

- Xenien


In...

And.

Out.

The breaths he inhaled and exhaled came labored each time. His right leg endlessly bounced up and down with no mental restraint to hide his nervousness. Staring forward, Otonashi contemplated leaving, disregarding his current situation. However, he complies with his inner self, wanting to take full responsibility of what caused him to be there in the first place.

Silence fills the room he is in once again, before being interrupted by muffled voices that originated past the wall he leaned against.

The decision they decide to make will ultimately decide whether or not his life-defined goal shall continue or not.

The sound of clicking to his left makes Otonashi stop his leg movements and he looks toward the direction of the sound. The door was being unlocked, and it was opened gracefully. Someone walked outside the door and faced him.

"Dr. Otonashi, you may come in now," A figure in white said in a neutral tone.

Otonashi simply nods, standing up with a purpose. Taking one more deep breath in and out, he walks toward the door with the figure who promptly moves out of his way.

Stepping into the room, he hears the taps of his footsteps echo back at him. In front of him were a variety of figures in business attire that were all standing. The assortment of dark colors the figures wore pierced the saturation of the room his eyes viewed. A white gradient typical in hospital settings met with seemingly high-ranked personnel.

Viewing the positions of these various people, they all were behind a semi-circle shaped table with their chairs beside them. In front of Otonashi was one rectangular table with one chair. All the tables have one microphone protruding off to the side. Clearly, it was set up for this specific situation: the analysis of his character and morals, and whether or not the actions that warranted this meeting were justified or not. Otonashi walked up beside the chair and bowed down in respect. The figures did not return the bow, instead stared at the nervous doctor with blank looks.

"Doctor Otonashi, for the sake of this internal investigation and the official questioning of your values, actions, and intentions, we fully expect the truth and nothing but the truth."

"..."

"Do you understand?"

"I understand," Otonashi replied carefully, taking one more deep breath.

All the figures finally bowed down to Otonashi. A couple of seconds pass, and everyone including Otonashi picks themselves back up again, before seating themselves and scooting in their chairs, the sound of the vibrations between the chairs and the waxed floor overtaking.

"For the record, please state your full name and position," The chair requested. As he finished speaking, the sounds of clacking from a recorder in the room continued before ceasing, awaiting a response.

"My name is Yuzuru Otonashi, and I am a cardiologist at the XTE Medical Center."

"Otonashi, for we are not in court, everything said here is only for the matter and purposes of the internal investigation that is to be conducted until appropriate action is taken. Whether or not this information is relayed later to the justice system is reliant on the findings or the final verdict given by the board of the directors, which may be decided at anytime. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Otonashi replied with a simple nod.

"May the truth set you free."

The man opened his mouth and the line of questions came.

Question and response. That's all there is to it.

The answers were the easiest thing to process and speak, yet it only tore Otonashi. With words being just a form of communication from one party to another, the injuries Otonashi sustained from the line of questioning damaged his ability to process what he had done. His crime was heinous, deliberately going against the moral value he swore to commit to when he left the afterlife.

It was all he could think about, for nothing else mattered. He's already forsaken his ability to think about anything else.

A tear formed and dropped out of Otonashi's right eye.

The evaluation of his life came back to his mind. His purpose in life.

"Let this be the end of the first session. Let's adjourn and reconvene in five minutes," The chair stated. He looked at the recorder and nodded before standing up. The rest of the board followed suit, some of the men adjusting their ties or suits while some of the women adjust their skirts or dresses. They all passed by the stoic Otonashi, leaving the room through the only door available.

For the rest of the five minutes, Otonashi sat there in the middle of the room before being met by the board of directors once again taking their seats one by one in random order. He didn't bother to look up.

"Shall we continue?"

No more. His internal voice cried out. Not even the red-haired man to whom was the internal voice heard him, otherwise, this interrogation would've halted.

While the truth set him free from the afterlife, it didn't set him free from the consequences of his actions.

Yet, there were none.


Otonashi sat outside the hospital on a nearby bench with his arms resting on his knees and his hands to his eyes. His mind was unable to process the events that occurred in his interrogation.

"Doctor Otonashi, the board of directors has determined that based upon your testimony, actions, and the given evidence, you are to be cleared of any wrongdoing and malpractice."

He attempted to make a collection of the various possibilities that could've led to this happening. It couldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened.

The events that unfolded before him just a few minutes ago were near impossible to grasp. However, the line of thinking soon was gone.

He opened his blurry eyes to the world and reached into his pocket, pulling out an extremely worn-down folded piece of paper. The crime committed was in his very pocket. Otonashi needed a reminder of why he existed in this world.

He unfolded the paper. Crease marks and degraded portions of it stuck out tremendously with the ink that was already present bleeding in various random directions. He read the top line, then read the name below it. Gripping the paper, his face squinted as agony reached his heart. His hands returned to his face. He forced himself not to wail as tears began to leak out of his eyes once more, some of them dropping onto the paper.

Do Not Resuscitate

Patient's Name: Hatsune Otonashi


He fully understood the way he lived before his death, and his revival was just as easy. He confirmed what he wanted to do in the afterlife, finally having the chance to move on and do what wasn't possible before.

Otonashi didn't understand the little changes in his life that he never thought about before, and that he was released from all wrongdoing at the hospital was the final straw. He connected the dots, corroborated every single event that occurred when he lived his new life. From getting treated to coffee, being let through lines of people, to receiving priority for his online orders and customer support. He believed it to be the redemption from helping everyone move on in the afterlife, but that was farfetched of an idea that God would despise.

It could have been luck, good fortune, a blessing perhaps. He still didn't know.

Standing upon a small group of people mostly consisting of familiar relatives, fresh raindrops trickled from the sky as he watched the coffin of his sister get slowly lowered. He contemplated the consequences of his actions, now in a more clear mindset than his emotionally affected one. Prison was definitely not out of the question and may have been the only option available to him for the price.

It didn't seem so bad at the time to his interpretation and may have well been fully deserved. The board of directors thought otherwise.

Either way, Hatsune's body would still be lying in the ground.

Otonashi admitted to himself that he was quite arrogant, and wondered if that made him a good person, or a good doctor. He didn't know the answer if it was worth it or not. Truth be told, she would have died either way in the same fashion and it only would have complicated things for himself.

His calm self left his body and the emotions came flooding back in. The strong brother he wanted to be wasn't possible as his tears fell alongside the raindrops. Sniffling, he put his hand to his face as if he was ashamed to show anyone his state or to see anyone. He failed as a brother and he failed as a doctor. Her death happened all over again, this time it was now on his hands. Any chance of her revival once beyond her critical stage only killed her again, and the responsibility laid upon Otonashi.

One by one, the relatives left the burial site. With his mom giving him the final shoulder rub, she left. Only the grave digger remained.

Recalling the memories with Hatsune, he was able to push his dream without her realizing it. She didn't understand that she died twice as if the first time was a wake-up call. The second time, Otonashi was unable to interpret her death as he was too focused on it being his fault. He couldn't find her a donor, he couldn't save her despite studying and working at the earliest available opportunities. The time spent going through the entrance exam, medical school, and finally becoming a medical resident felt to him as if it had all gone to waste.

Discovering his purpose in the afterlife and now just standing in front of her grave, it's as if he lost the battle in the end.

"I'm sorry," a mysterious feminine voice said behind him. The voice was all too familiar. Calm, collected, and cold. The pain-struck Otonashi barely reacted, only releasing his face from his wet hands. Recomposing himself to face the figure, he turns to face the mysterious woman.

The girl he fell for once. Her lowered expression made it hard to identify whether or not the statement was heartfelt. The memories of the afterlife, specifically the moments they shared came flooding back. It overshadowed any thoughts of reminiscing or reuniting with her. Catching up was out of the question. He had a more important question to ask given the development of circumstances, but he couldn't bother.

The thought hung on as Otonashi stayed motionless, still staring at the familiar girl with his puffy dead eyes. His observations revealed her in a formal black attire, yet her hair was arranged like it was before, adorned with the familiar green-yellow ribbon.

She had seemed a bit older. A bit more mature and refined. Like she had moved on.

She turned around and walked off, not giving a look back toward Otonashi. Her figure faded as she got deeper into the storm. He didn't have the motivation to follow or chase her. There was no reason to do so.


As days turn into weeks, the rain slowly trickled away and the blue sky appeared as Otonashi processed the events. Naturally, he was given time off from his job under the assumption he will return as soon as possible. In face of the odds and the need to keep living on, he still hasn't returned. Doubts were sowed in his mind about whether or not returning to the hospital was a good idea. Whether or not they would let him back into the same status as a cardiologist and if he would be capable of handling it right now were the questions he didn't have the answers to.

"I don't know what to do," he spoke up expecting someone to hear him. Naturally, silence followed. He put his head down, crawled back to bed, went back to sleep. That feeling of grief was new for him, feeling so low and so lost. However, his energy returned over time. He was able to get up in the morning, cook for himself, get up in the morning, mindlessly browse the internet on his laptop, but rarely left the house.

In the corner of his eye, he spots an advertisement directed to finding medical jobs all across Japan. He squinted his eyes, not believing it.

He refreshed the page, and the same advertisement was there.

He moved to a different website, and a different advertisement popped up but was still medical job-related.

"This is cruel." He slammed the laptop shut, not wanting to open it again.

He crawled back to bed once more, feeling dejected.

The advertisement disappeared shortly from the webpage as if the code for displaying it just vanished.