A/N: HEY GUYS, and welcome back to another episode of Angel Beats: Heartbreak Cure (I have a certain YouTube Sims LPer's voice stuck in my head). I've made some progress on this story and I'm really excited about it. Here's hoping that writing streak can continue, because there's some stuff on certain Battlefront operation weekends that I've had planned for over a year.
Again, thanks for views & reviews, even after this fic's been sleeping for so long! ZainR: I hoped you'd like all that! You know as well as I do how important family is in both shows, blood or not. :D I can at least promise that one of your questions will be answered this chapter. And I can also promise a Otonashi/Kanade moment or two.
Enjoy!
[Chapter 32]: Back to the Base
The next few days passed without bedtime stories, as the fairytale book stayed underneath the couch where Ayato had kicked it on Tuesday evening when he sat down to watch TV. Out of sight, out of mind.
His mom called on Wednesday, and noticed his improved mood, as mothers do, so she called more near the end of the week and asked for more information on the outside world. He gave it to her more willingly, even telling her of Matsushita's sunflowers and agreeing that she should indeed grow some of her own again this year. Gardening was something Kimito allowed of her, as she spent a lot of her free time keeping house.
"The wisteria is beautiful this season," she'd hummed conversationally on a Friday call during work. "Are your friends visiting you again soon? You should take them to the park when you get the chance. I went by our own walking bridge the other day, the one in Haruna Forest? And the flowers made it absolutely breathtaking. Framed the bridge perfectly."
Ayato frowned. He was glad to hear her happy about something – trust her to find the beauty in Akuma – but the mention of the bridge (let alone Haruna Forest) brought back too many memories of Yuri. Ventures to and from school, their first kiss, secret meetings away from his father...
"I'll run it by them when I see them," he said, and quickly changed the subject. "Are things okay over there? Is he still making you help him run the shop?"
"Sometimes, yes, but it's alright. It has its perks." Always so reassuring, his mother. She gushed, "I got to see the littlest member of the Masuda family the other day. Which reminds me, any progress winning fair lady's heart?"
His eyes widened in mid-roll as he grimaced into his phone. Though she always called when Kimito wasn't around, she still took care to be discreet in her words and often avoid names. But did she have to sound like those sappy romances she liked to watch? It was bad enough she was getting into wistful grandmother mode again. Why would anyone bring an 18-month-old into a ceramics store anyway?
He thought back to Saturday, a montage of Yuri's scathing looks playing in his head. "We're in touch."
She sighed impatiently at him, complaining about how his updates were much more riveting than her shows and imploring for more. Then she'd hesitated in mid-sentence, noted that Kimito was coming back from the workshop, and hung up with a quick goodbye. He felt sort of bad for his sigh of relief as he went back to work. Did the poor woman really need to know what "progress" had come to?
Yui had texted him on Thursday confirming that Yuri was willing to make Mizuzaka the main base again, provided she stay at Ryou's in case of overnighters. There. That was progress for them. Not exactly the juicy gossip he imagined his mother was looking for.
If she wanted material that was better entertainment than her beloved television shows, he did have other things he could share. They just ran a risk of filling her with the fear that her only living son had lost his mind. Still, he was vaguely tempted to tell her of the true happenings in his group.
For example, he imagined his first visitor that weekend would've been quite a sight to her.
Saturday, he found Yui outside his front door, treating his doorstep like a trampoline as she did a little dance of excitement. Her black chain bracelets jangled on her wrists as she punched the air and hopped from one foot to the other.
"Guess what's different about me!" she hollered, popping up in his face. Something swished frantically behind her like a crooked metronome. "Go ahead! Guess what's different!"
He had a pretty good idea when its pointy end jabbed him in his thigh. "Is that a new devil tail or are you just happy to see me?" he asked dryly.
Yui shrieked with triumphant laughter and danced into the house, devil tail twitching merrily of its own accord.
"It worked! Yukine's motor spell worked!"
"I can see that," Ayato said, holding the door open as Hinata and Shiina came in after her. Otonashi and Kanade were still out by the car, but as the former was leading the charge to the door, Kanade tugged on his wrist and pulled him back around. Otonashi's neutral expression turned to happy surprise as the usually demure former angel hopped up on tip-toes and gave him a kiss.
Ayato raised his eyebrows at the oddly bold gesture. He wondered if he should close the door and let them have their moment – but then Kanade ended the kiss and broke into a dash for the door. Otonashi, still attached by the wrist, grinned at her in a goofy startled daze.
These girls! So full of energy. Why again had Kanade called in a request for snacks and sweets?
"She's in a very good mood today," Shiina explained, motioning to Yui – who had already helped herself to a can of melon soda.
"Well, why shouldn't I be? Everything's going my way!" Yui said cheerfully. She straightened her shirt and gave Ayato a sly fanged smile. "Today is gonna be a good GlDeMo day, I can feel it."
"I'm telling you, Yui, it's going to be Ooyama." Hinata followed her smugly into the TV room, while Kanade scampered past him to investigate the kitchen.
Pivoting quickly on one foot, Yui pointed a finger in his face. "And I'm telling you, don't doubt my GlDeMo radar!"
"Don't feel bad! The bet winnings would still be in the family." He swung his arm around her shoulder, an affectionate move just shy of a headlock. "Tell you what. If I win, I'll use some of the money to buy you dinner."
Yui wiggled free, but took his ear in a mild crab pinch. "Okay, but when I win, you have to…"
She pulled Hinata down to whisper furtively in his ear. At first he looked wildly interested by whatever she was proposing, but then his pupils shrunk to the size of pencil dots and he leapt away in alarm. "That was a one-time thing!"
"I still think you liked it," Yui considered, rubbing her chin and coyly looking away.
Ayato and Otonashi exchanged glances from across the room. "Uh, what are you two talking about?" Otonashi asked, a smirk reaching his narrowed eyes.
"Nothing!" Hinata barked, and threw his friend an accusatory glower. Then his furrowed brows smoothed out as he sniffed the air. "Hey, why does it smell like Yui's mom's house in here?"
"What you're smelling is me being a good host," Ayato said. Kanade appeared in the doorway, looking happy with a half-eaten blueberry crumble bar in hand. "There's some snacks and dessert in the kitchen."
"Oh, sweet! Food!" Just like that, the idiot was gone. But then, presumably from the table, came a triumphant cry. "Hah—he bought potato chips! Yui, it's a sign!"
Shiina, who was putting bags away in the hall closet, actually giggled a little and tried to hide it behind a toy puppy. Yui pouted at her, looking hugely betrayed for a minute, before slowly giving into a small smile.
"Well, Naoi and I both know I'm right," she said decisively. "I'm even dressed for the occasion, look!"
He eyed her shirt again. It was a greyish white T-shirt, somewhat loosely fitting, with "Alchemy" written in pink on the front and outlined in dark blue. There were purple electric jolts radiating from the words. Simple, but eye-catching.
"Where did you get that?" he asked, genuinely curious. Did Iwasawa already have merchandise? He thought she had gone off the radar this year.
"I made it!" Her tail swiped the air proudly. "Shiina helped. She found one of her old shirts and we had it customized last weekend while Hideki and I were still in Kyuuya. It was so much fun." If it was possible to hug a shirt while she was wearing it, Yui did so with a happy squeal.
"Yeah, thanks for not getting me out of lunch with my parents, by the way," Hinata called from the kitchen, cracking open a soda. "I sat through zero rescue calls and twenty minutes of the grandchildren talk."
Otonashi and Kanade shared an amused look over their blueberry bars, while Yui broke into a guilty giggle.
"Sorry, Hinakins!" she said, blushing. "My cell phone died, and Shiina—"
"—still can't remember to bring hers," Hinata said knowingly, returning to the TV room with his drink. He shook his head at Shiina, rather fondly. "Yeah, yeah. I figured."
Yui hugged his arm, staring up at him with heart eyes. "We missed you, though! We were thinking of you!"
Ayato frowned as Hinata gave his wife a complacent but equally sappy look. There was way too much love going on for just this one room. And did Yui have to keep spilling soda on his carpet?
Fortunately for him, Fujimaki arrived not two minutes later with Matsushita in tow (who was contentedly helping himself to a box of take-out).
"I'm here!" he said grandly, stretching his arms out and cracking his neck. He plopped down unceremoniously on the couch. "Picked him up at the train station and we stopped for food. Are we the last ones?"
"Almost." Otonashi cast a side-glance down the hall towards the foyer in anticipation. "We're still waiting on Yuri."
Fujimaki frowned, opening one eye.
"She coming?" he asked warily, straightening his posture. "She's coming, right? It wouldn't be the same without her." His gaze swept over to Ayato as he said this, not at all subtle in his pointed stare.
Ayato glared back at him, then leaned against the wall and pulled his cap down over his eyes. It was the best way to ensure he didn't hypnotize him on the spot – the man would make an exceptional ceiling fan.
Didn't he think he knew that? He knew Yuri's place in this operation. Hell, in this Battlefront! Even he had known, back in the Afterlife after the shadows had gone, that it wouldn't have been right to hold the graduation without her. He wasn't stupid enough to think they'd go on with this mission with just him if he'd scared her off. Even if he resumed his godly status.
They'd known Yuri for years, perhaps decades as their leader. Whereas up until close to the end they'd thought of him as… how had she phrased it?
Oh yes. A braindead NPC.
Charming.
"She'll be here," Ayato said, forcing a derisive snicker as he folded his arms. "I haven't hurt her feelings that badly."
Fujimaki snorted and looked away, putting on his headphones.
"Yeah, she'll be here!" Yui echoed, brandishing the charm bottle Shiina had handed her. "And then, brace yourselves! Because we're all going to find Iwasawa today!"
Stepping out of the way of her swishing tail, Otonashi grinned at her. "I dunno, Yui. Like I said, we found Matsushita the Fifth, we'll find his dance teacher. And if we find TK we'll probably track down Iwasawa. I think that guy can sense music in his bones."
"What?!" Yui spun around so fast her hair whipped Otonashi's shoulder. She put up her fists as if ready for a fight. "You trust his radar but not mine? TK dances to EVERYTHING!"
"Easy!" Otonashi said, sweating a little and holding up his hands in defeat. "It was just a guess!"
Matsushita peeked over at the hall, noticing something. "You brought your guitar, right?" he said to Yui, who nodded. He snapped his fingers. "Man, I should've bet on TK too. If you're the one who's casting the charm, and you play your music, he's bound to show up and dance to it!"
Yui squeaked in dismayed alarm, making the guys hoot with laughter. She looked at Ayato, who rolled his eyes and gave her a slight headshake. The girl immediately brightened and grinned back at him.
They could make all the reaches they wanted to suit their silly bets. He and Yui had a system.
Matsushita eventually found out about the blueberry bars ("Good man," he'd said jovially, clapping Ayato on the shoulder) and disappeared into the kitchen for dessert. Yui got out her guitar and started plucking an energetic song for everyone still in the TV room. Kanade tapped her foot and hummed along. In the middle of the song, Hinata jumped up and pointed dramatically out the window ("Yui! Don't look now, but TK's breakdancing up the sidewalk!"). That devolved into Yui tackling Hinata to the ground and apparently trying to bite at his hair. Beside his wife on the couch, Otonashi just watched the wrestling match and smiled around at everything.
"Aren't you going to say 'that's 93 percent'?" Ayato asked.
Otonashi half-shrugged, his other arm wrapped securely around Kanade. "Nah," he said, and waved his hand dismissively. "Hinata got a few locks in at lunch last week and I lost count."
"Yeah I did," Hinata said proudly, still trying to detach a growling Yui from his scalp.
"You're so happy about that," Kanade noted with some puzzlement, "but meanwhile we're all banned from that Nakau for a year since you broke their table."
With a grunt, Hinata flipped Yui from behind and captured her in another headlock. "WORTH IT!"
"No denting the walls!" Ayato warned them. Watching from the corner by the window, Shiina looked completely unconcerned by all this and was fiddling absentmindedly with the toy dog from earlier. She even smiled when the dog squeaked in her grip and Yui made the same exact indignant squeak not a second later.
Then there was a knock at the door, so he sighed in relief and nabbed the chance to get away from the turmoil. Straightening his cap, he turned and headed down the hall. He was only a few steps into the foyer when it occurred to him who might be waiting just outside.
And then he saw her – a flash of magenta behind the glass.
Something relaxed in his chest, and at the same time something else grew tighter. He swallowed hard, taking a moment to regain his composure. His legs started working again and he swung the door open with a flourish.
"Nakamura," he said pleasantly. He leaned his arm against the doorframe, looming over her. "Did you lose the directions to your old house? Your mind's getting slippery."
She piqued an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "Sorry I'm late."
"God doesn't like to be kept waiting."
He got a blank stare in return, which annoyed him. Dull eyes were no fun compared to a flare of emerald ire. "Are you going to let me in or not?"
Nodding, he stepped aside and gestured grandly down the hall, flashing her a magnanimous smile.
"Of course. Even NPCs are welcome."
"Don't call me that," Yuri said coldly, looking straight ahead as she strode past him.
He watched her go, arms folded, closing the door with his back. Was it just him or had there been bags under her eyes? NPC or not, someone wasn't her usual energized self. And despite how quickly his mind flew back to that storybook, it wasn't just the effects of the potion. Hard to imagine what she could be losing sleep over.
Nonetheless, he followed her into the TV room with a smile. With their fearless leader finally present, it was almost time to win a bet.
After taking a few minutes to show off her charmed devil tail to Yuri, Yui pranced giddily around the exterior of the house in shoes speckled with magic glitter. A perfectly normal sentence for a day in the life of the Not Dead Anymore Battlefront.
Then Yui came bounding back inside, placing the bottle down on the coffee table and dusting off her hands at a job well done. She set her hands on her hips, hunching forward with a gleeful grin and a sparkle in her eye.
"Alright!" she said importantly. "Listen up, men! I've already got an idea."
Yuri continued to look unimpressed, standing arms crossed to the left of the kitchen pass-through. Hinata and Otonashi, on the other hand, grinned knowingly and gave her a quick simultaneous salute.
Even Fujimaki seemed amused. "What's the plan, Yui? Another restaurant?"
Ayato actually laughed, while Matsushita the Fifth looked hopeful in the background. So he wasn't the only one who'd noticed that.
"No!" Yui said sharply, earning a slight frown from Matsushita. She trotted over to the window and gestured outside. "It's a beautiful May afternoon. Sunny and warm, but not too clear to cloud-gaze. You know where I'd want to be on a day like this?"
"Do tell us, weathergirl," said Yuri. Kanade giggled quietly behind her hands, but sobered when Yui gave her a dour glance.
"The park! It's where everyone's going to be today," Yui said confidently. "Having picnics. Playing sports. Taking a stroll. Walking their dogs…" She looked meaningfully at Shiina at the last part. The woman's entire face lit up and she gasped softly, hugging her toy puppy to her chest. It squeaked excitedly for her. "And you know what? I think Iwasawa would take all of this into account."
Ayato stroked his chin, seeing where she was going with this.
"It is a prime place to perform," he noted wisely. "There's plenty of open space for a concert, big or small. And she would like having the audience."
Yes, Yui was definitely onto something. That corrupt little betting theory might actually pay off!
Yuri frowned, leaning her head back against the wall in thought.
"So, what? Are we thinking she reserved the amphitheater there?" she asked. "Or do you figure she'll just pick a random quiet spot?"
"Amphitheater?" Yui's eyes sparked with intrigue.
The group could've caught a glimpse of the small concert setup when she and Ayato had led a tour of the park a few weeks back. But it had been quiet and unoccupied at the time, and a ways off their walking trail. Easy for Yui to miss while she'd been busy smacking trees and cooing at strangers' dogs. As it was, if there was a concert going on today performed by the elusive Iwasawa, he probably would have noticed a difference in Mizuzaka's population.
Ayato harrumphed to get Yui back on track. "I think it's more likely she'll be doing an amateur performance—"
"Who cares about that?!" she squawked, running over to him and grabbing his arms. "The park is unimportant, I just wanna show Shiina cute puppies! But this is fate, don't you see?!" Now she was shaking him wildly by the shoulders. "THE BATTLEFRONT REUNION CONCERT IS MEANT TO BE! RIGHT HERE IN OUR MAIN BASE!"
He ripped away from her, adjusting his cap with an indignant scowl. "I believe you! No throttling!"
"This is so stupid," Shiina muttered. She petted her puppy's ears.
"Seconded," said Yuri with a sigh. "Can we just go to the park already?"
Kanade, who had apparently vanished into the kitchen within the last couple of minutes, appeared in the doorway next to her. She gave Yuri a concerned head tilt as she finished off another blueberry square.
"You look tired," she said softly.
Yuri inhaled slowly, closing her eyes and massaging her head for a second. "I'm fine, Kanade. Just didn't sleep well, is all."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Otonashi asked, standing up. "The charm's effects do last six hours. We don't have to do anything right away. If you need to take a nap or something, I'm sure Naoi would let you sleep in the guestroom." He gave him a meaningful side-glance to go along with this, almost authoritative.
Ayato felt slightly affronted. Of course he'd let her rest! Did he really think he was so petty as to deny her a place to sleep? She could sleep in the guest bedroom just like she did before, he didn't care.
But then, true to form, she'd probably leave in the night without saying a word to him. Ryou was offering her lodging again, after all…
Fine. He was a little petty.
"Don't worry about it, I said I'm fine!" Yuri insisted, narrowing her eyes in frustration. "I'll just walk it off!"
Unnerved by her outburst, the rest of the room exchanged a few raised eyebrows and skeptical looks. Yui covered her mouth with one hand and leaned in to whisper in Ayato's ear.
"Told ya," she said conspiratorially. "She's like a broom away from bird-smashing."
"What?" he whispered back, snickering under his breath.
"From Snow White! Haven't you been reading the book I gave you?"
Before he could answer, or inconspicuously kick Once Upon A Time farther underneath the couch, Matsushita the Fifth stood up and gave the room a cheerful smile to break the tension.
"Alright, then what are we waiting for?" he said, with a jolly fist pump in the air. "Let's get started!"
Otonashi, Hinata, Yui, Fujimaki, and Kanade sprung up and imitated him with a spirited yell. Even Shiina squeezed her toy to let it contribute an enthusiastic squeak.
Ayato's and Yuri's eyes met in mid-roll. They quickly looked away.
A/N: Oh goodness, this wasn't supposed to end here. But it got way too long, so you'll have to wait for the next chapter to get to the park! In the meantime, who do you think they'll find? Are the odds finally in Yui's favor to find Iwasawa? Or would it be too obvious… Or am I just purposefully making it too obvious so you'll have doubts? Hm. Feel free to take a guess!
Until next time!
Preview:
"She's always been a weird eater!"
"Stop leering like that."
"On Saturday? REALLY?!"
"Why don't you have any pets at home?"
"I was twenty-three when I found out the truth…"
"Shiina, wait!"
"I've never been this popular before."
"You don't look yourself."
"I wanted it to be you really bad."
[Chapter 33]: Puppy Love.
