A/N: Thanks for all new follows and reviews! (Shoutout to Rival Argentica for the onslaught of reviews that made my day - you address some awesome stuff I hope to reply to soon!). To RA and ZainR, Kanade's behaviors will be honed in on some more in this chapter. It's sweet that after all she's been through, Kanade has friends in her world and ours that are so concerned about her condition. She's so loved.

Also, now that I've conquered my web design class, I've gotten back to working on Heartbreak Cure. I've even compiled future events into a more extensive chronological order, in a "Notes" document. It feels so organized... and feasible. And yet horribly complicated. Serves me right for not only writing an Angel Beats fic, but basing it off OUAT concepts.

Only one chapter left until the mid-season finale! ...Though actually, this feels more like Mid Season Finale Part 1.

Enjoy!


[Chapter 14]: From the Stands


Personally, Ayato could understand how and why Hinata became such a baseball fan. Apart from Kyuuya being known for its baseball team, the school (along with its field) was only a few blocks away from his house. It was an easy escape from home life. He had felt the same sense of escape at the walking bridge in Akuma.

Plus he had to agree, as Hinata pulled up alongside the school, that it had a certain draw to it. There was something special about the field. Maybe because it was so empty and peaceful-looking, especially at this point in the spring season at this time of day. It was like the gym on their Afterlife graduation day, reserved only for them and not another soul in sight.

It was nice, walking out onto the baseball field on a warm day like this. It felt even more like the Battlefront ages. Ayato chuckled to himself. Strange that he would be so wistful of a time when he was dead.

"Alright then!" Hinata said brightly as they arrived at the plate. Swinging his bat to rest on his shoulder, he turned to Yuri, who was carrying the cooler they'd brought along on the trip. "Yurippe, you sure you don't want to get in on this? Even Kanade's playing."

Yuri waved a free hand dismissively.

"No, Naoi's right," she said, already wandering over to the bleachers. "You know me, I'd rather just watch and heckle."

Ayato watched her go. She still had that little sashay of hers…

"What about you?" Ayato jolted back to attention, shifting a little under Hinata's stare. "I never got a chance to ask if you wanted to play."

He frowned, checking over his shoulder at the bleachers where Yuri was sitting alone, then back at Otonashi, Hinata, and Kanade. The guys were giving him expectant looks, while Kanade's gaze was mellower. Like not only did she already know his answer, she'd already heard it and wasn't fazed. Then again, nothing could faze her.

"Not this time," he decided. "Baseball isn't really my sport. If anything, I prefer basketball, or soccer… something with goals or hoops." He grinned. "Besides, heckling does sound fun."

Hinata laughed, hunching a little. "You could just say you're not very athletic."

"Excuse me?" Ayato said, placing a hand on his hip. "For your information, I have been told that I have pottery muscles."

Even Otonashi had to cover a smile.

"That isn't a sport, potter," Hinata said, snickering.

"Have your laugh now." Ayato clapped him on the shoulder, then spun around and sauntered toward the bleachers with a lackadaisical wave. "I'll be having the rest."

Otonashi and Hinata exchanged a look, while Kanade smiled in Yuri's direction.

"Oh, I see how it is," Hinata said, elbowing Otonashi in the side. Then he pumped a fist into the air. "Alright, play ball!"

Pretty enthusiastic cheer for a game with three players. But it was Hinata, so they made it work. Kanade stood behind Hinata as the catcher, while Otonashi got ready to pitch to Hinata from the mound.

Tapping the home plate with his bat, Hinata winked at Otonashi. "Let's have at it, big shot."

"Just don't break any windows," said Otonashi, laughing, and then he let it fly.

CRACK.

Meanwhile, Yuri eyed Ayato with more than a little curiosity as he approached the bleachers. He offered her a small grin to settle her nerves, and although she returned it, she lifted an eyebrow when he sat down next to her.

"So you'd rather sit with me, your amnesiac ex-wife, than play baseball with the guys?" She turned her attention back to the ball game, if they could call it that, but made a small amused sound as she leaned back against the bleacher step behind her. "You're unique, I'll give you that. Or just lazy. Though I guess if you joined the Battlefront right before Kanade did, you must not have been part of the baseball tournament."

Ayato sniffed. "On the contrary. As vice president, I was right alongside Kanade in forming Team Student Body." Grinning, he added aside to her, "And I'm told you were watching the whole time. I hope you got a good view of my team beating yours."

At this, Yuri straightened up in her seat and bristled at him. "Our team would have beat your ass if Yui hadn't tackled Hinata!" she said, much louder than intended.

Hinata, the closest to them besides hyper-focused Kanade, snapped his head around to look at the pair.

"Are you guys talking about me?" he asked, squinting in distrust.

Unlucky for him, Otonashi's pitch flew uninterrupted into Kanade's mitt at that precise moment. "Strike one!"

Hinata flinched and turned back to face Otonashi again. "Hey, that's not fair! I got distracted!"

"That's your own fault," Kanade said briskly.

Hinata was so shocked that his bat almost tumbled out of his hands. Ayato and Yuri stared at Kanade, then at each other. He could tell by the look on her face what she was thinking – even he, a newbie in her eyes, would know that was out of character of the mild-mannered former Angel.

"What the hell, Kanade?" Hinata said.

Kanade seemed surprised at herself too, backing up a step. "That…. that came out wrong," she said softly. "Sorry."

"It's still a strike, though," Otonashi called from the mound. Although he looked just as confused as they all felt, he clearly wanted to come to his wife's defense. "C'mon, let's go again."

Hinata shrugged it off. "Alright, no worries. This one'll make up for it," he said, getting into a serious posed-and-ready stance.

CRACK. Sure enough, Otonashi shielded his eyes from the sun to watch the ball as it went soaring overhead.

"That was odd," Yuri said quietly to Ayato. He knew full well that she wasn't talking about Hinata making such a successful hit just now.

"She's been acting strange since I ran into them a few days ago." Ayato rubbed his chin; considering the circumstances, he wasn't entirely sure if he was qualified to say that. "I know this is her in a new life… so there are bound to be some changes. But with her Afterlife memories back, I figured her personality and habits would be the same."

"They are." Yuri was now watching said Angel's husband as he threw an impressive fastball. "Of course she's the same. Otonashi even told me he fell in love with her for all the reasons he did before."

Ayato harrumphed. That did sound like something Otonashi would say.

"Anyway, didn't you see his face a minute ago? He thought it was weird too," Yuri continued, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm pretty sure the guy knows his wife."

"Then what's with her?" Ayato asked, exasperated. "What's with all of you women this week? First you with your amnesia, then my mother sneaks out of Akuma, then Kanade and her little quirks… is there some sort of full moon this week?"

Yuri's lips briefly twitched in amusement at the mention of a full moon for some reason, but then she narrowed her eyes. "Hey! …Wait, what was that about your mom?"

A pulse of joy flickered in his heart at her reaction. Maybe she didn't remember him, but she might still know enough about his mother, and he was aching to tell someone the abnormality that had transpired. Somebody who would understand. It occurred to him then that despite having her Afterlife memories back, Yuri could still be that person.

"How much do you remember about her?" he asked, daring to hope.

Yuri leaned back, staring up at the sky and thinking hard.

"She was distant, but nice. I started seeing a little more of her, and she was even nicer, back when I was sixteen." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I guess that makes more sense now."

He laughed, thinking back on it too. The happiest he'd ever seen his mother was the day he brought Yuri home with him for the first time. Or, rather, the day she'd dragged him home. His mother had taken one look at their conjoined hands and lit up like a Christmas tree before ushering them inside for tea. Although a coffee-drinker at heart, Yuri had warmly accepted the offer, which had charmed his mother even more.

"It's fuzzy, but there are some memories of her. And your dad." Yuri shrugged. "I always thought for some reason I was there to see her. Like we were friends. Or like she was sometimes my second mom while my parents were away, and I was the distant daughter she never had." She wrinkled her nose, and her eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Not like I would ever be there to comfort Kimito Naoi."

Ayato scowled. "She's the one who needs comforting. Because of him."

"I remember I even screamed at him one night and threatened his business if he ever hurt his family again." Yuri's eyes flicked over to meet his. "And he's still hurting her?"

He averted his gaze. "He doesn't have me there anymore. I imagine he needed a scapegoat all these years."

After a moment, her hand came to rest on his shoulder. It was a hesitant gesture, but comforting and gentle. A genuinely supportive touch he hadn't been anticipating, but didn't flinch at or brush off. "That's not—"

"Strike two!" came Kanade's sing-song voice.

"DAMMIT!"

Yuri retracted her hand, startled, and Ayato glared daggers at Hinata's back. What if she had been on the verge of remembering, and that idiot's stupid outburst had ruined it? As it was, there were more devastating things than getting another strike in baseball.

"…So, what were you saying?" Yuri prodded, turning her attention back to him. "What happened to your mom this week?"

He stared ahead at the diamond, watching as Hinata impatiently whacked the dirt with the tip of his bat and Otonashi wound up his arm for another swing. It was faint, but he could hear Kanade humming something peppy and energetic, befitting a baseball game.

"If you recall," he said, and managed not to snort before going on, "you haven't seen her in four years. Because you moved to Mizuzaka with me, but she wouldn't come with us."

"My parents always said she was very devoted to him." Yuri frowned, biting her lip. "Never disobeyed him. I'm not surprised she didn't leave him and go with you. But—"

"She did leave." His statement made her blink twice in surprise. "The day we all reunited, you remember, I went back home. And I – well, that night, she came to see me."

Yuri was stunned. "She actually left him?!"

"No, she just left." The hopeful light left her eyes; he knew the feeling. "She told him she was going to visit family, she came and found me, and she took a train back to Akuma the next morning."

"She just went back to him?!" Yuri said in disbelief, her mouth falling open.

"I know!" said Ayato in frustration. Though strangely enough, at the same time it felt good to have Yuri be so understanding despite her situation. It felt good to rant about this. No matter who she was and what memories she had, they'd both grown up in the same area and known the same people. It was… comforting.

Sure enough, Yuri's eyes were bright and wild with an indignant flare, as they often were when she got riled up.

"When you get a chance to escape, you don't just go back!" she said, her fingers squeezing the edge of the bleacher. "Not when they've caused you that much pain. You put as much distance between you and the person who hurt you as possible, and pray they don't come after you. If she goes back, he'll just hurt her again."

"That's what I said!" Ayato burst out, almost breathless and gesturing frantically with his hands. When he noticed he'd caught the attention of the baseball players, and that his windmill motion had been a little too enthusiastic and close to Yuri's face, he quickly regained his composure with a scoff. Closing his eyes, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You see my problem."

Yuri nodded, peering back out at the field as Kanade called Hinata's third strike. "Full moons, right?"

Ayato snorted.

Amazingly, Hinata shrugged off the strikeout and tagged Otonashi in as batter without too much fuss. Otonashi was only happy to take his place closer to Kanade while Hinata strolled over to the mound.

"No big deal," he said, stretching his arms out behind his head. "It's about time I gave you a chance at bat. Let's see what you got." When he reached the mound, he clapped his fist into his mitt and laughed. "Don't feel bad if I catch a lot of 'em."

"You're all talk," Otonashi jeered from home plate. "Give me your best shot!"

Hinata rolled up his sleeves, twisted his arm back, and let the ball fly. It whistled toward Otonashi, who stepped through with impressive form and caught it with the core of the bat. His hit went zipping over Hinata's head before he could blink twice.

Straightening up, Otonashi swung the bat around, playfully swiping the air. "You were saying?"

"Beginner's luck! You swing like Yui!"

The two struck up a spirited back-and-forth, yelling trash talk at every swing while Hinata tried to stop any low-lying hits from going too far. Kanade even stopped humming to giggle at them. After a few minutes of this, she backed up from the home plate and made a small suggestion.

"Hinata, I think you really want to make some catches," she said, resting her hand on Otonashi's arm. "Would you like me to pitch to Yuzuru instead?"

"What, switch out?" Hinata asked, scratching his head.

"No, I'll take your place at the pitcher's mound and you can go into the outfield," said Kanade, sounding happy. "Then you'll have a better chance at catching a fly ball."

Otonashi appeared to consider this, leaning his weight on the bat. "Hinata, what do you think?"

"Sounds good to me," Hinata said, moving out a little farther from the mound. "I always wanted to get Otonashi out."

"Are you—"

"Shut up, Otonashi, I already heard it!" Hinata barked over his shoulder. "I think that one's a bit of a stretch!"

Otonashi conceded this with a laugh, and Kanade threw her husband a supportive smile from the pitcher's mound that Ayato was sure he returned. "Just don't get obliterated."

Frankly, Ayato thought Hinata should consider himself lucky he hadn't let slip something about pitching or catching. He mentioned this to Yuri, who snorted with laughter and lightly thwacked his shoulder. Hinata shot them both a suspicious glare, which silenced them but broadened their grins.

The game continued on this way at a quicker pace; with Hinata catching the low-flying hits and tossing them back, they spent less time racing across the field to retrieve them every so often. Kanade didn't pitch quite on the same level as Hinata, but Otonashi seemed to appreciate that his wife was sending him a few easy ones.

"Nice arm, Kanade!" he called after one of his better hits, earning a blush and a cheerful hum from the Angel.

There was something pensive about Yuri's frown while she stared straight ahead at the field where the others were playing. She looked as if she were deeply considering something; Ayato wondered if it was the way Otonashi had flirted with Kanade just now.

Of course… Otonashi had been more open about it when they were preparing for graduation together. Yuri had been asleep then, it would make sense that she wasn't as attuned to it as he was. He and Hinata had witnessed firsthand Otonashi's gushing and tender admiration for every diploma the girl put together.

But her frown remained, minutes afterwards, and it became evident that her thoughts were somewhere else.

At last he couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. "What is it?"

His shattering the silence startled her out of her fog, and she looked at him briefly before returning her gaze to the baseball diamond.

"Why wouldn't she stay?" she said suddenly. He sent her a questioning glance, a little puzzled by the outburst. She met his eyes then, while hers were still narrowed in thought. "Why did your mom want to leave Mizuzaka?"

"Why did you?"

Ayato had no idea where that question came from—it slipped out of his mouth as quickly and involuntarily as a breath—but upon a few seconds of reflection, it seemed fitting and even warranted.

However, Yuri pressed her lips together for a moment, pausing as if the question had annoyed her.

"That's different," she said. "I was looking for a fresh start. Unlike Akuma, Mizuzaka could have given her that. Why would she choose Akuma?"

The beginnings of a grimace twitched at his mouth. "Because she loves him."

Yuri's gaze fell to her shoes. "It doesn't make sense," she muttered, absent-mindedly kicking the bleacher in front of her.

CRACK! Otonashi struck hard and sent a ball soaring sky-high.

"I don't understand it either." Ayato crossed his arms, watching Hinata snap out of some sort of daze at the sound. Then he turned back to face Yuri with a wry, half-hearted grin. "But I guess when someone really loves another, they can't stand to be apart from them."

Hinata backed up a few steps, raising his glove in the air. A pop fly to second was right within his reach.

"It makes them crazy," said Ayato, feeling an odd tug in his chest as Yuri stared at him almost contemplatively. "Like they won't stop running until they've finally found them again—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"


A/N: I don't think I have ever written a baseball scene before this. Getting people exactly where you want them is the real sport. Plus I think Otonashi was looking as hard for baseball jokes as I was. My dude, you're a bit rusty. Getcha head in the game.

As for the cliffhanger, stay tuned for Chapter 15 to solve the mystery of the scream! And to see more NaYuri bonding. :D Among other things...


Preview:

"That's 91%!"

"I feel kind of bad that we never got to say goodbye."

"So you checked her house too, then?"

"…leave the poor amnesia patient alone."

"What made us get a divorce?"

"So instead, you'd rather be my wife?"

"What, were you trying to hypnotize me?"

"LOOK OUT!"

[Chapter 15]: Wife.