A/N: Hey everyone, and welcome to the last HC chapter of 2019 - nay, of the 2010s! (Man, if I want to end this by the AB 10th anniversary, I really need to step up my game.) Hope the holiday season has been good to all of you. Thanks to all new follows, faves, and reviews!
ZainR: Heck, during those book chapters, I missed writing the Battlefront's shenanigans. The OUAT stuff is good to know but these goofs really are the heart of this fic. Also, Yuri definitely seems testy around Naoi, but keep in mind you're seeing everything through his point of view! I can at least say you don't need to worry about Yuri trying to kill him. And that it might not be medical problems Kanade's going to the doctor for. Her symptoms could be nothing to worry about. But the Battlefront doesn't know that. Yuri sure seemed concerned as well, didn't she? Almost like her heart isn't pure stone...
Seiram: Haha! I worried that the preview line gave away too much, but that was my favorite little gag with the charm bottle. Despite Yui's clumsy overzealousness, it still worked out in the end! (May she be just as lucky) (Ayyy, name puns! You're right, it simply had to be done. ^^) As for Kanade, she and Otonashi already got their heartbreaking story in canon, they deserve peace and happiness! And yet... this is an Angel Beats fic, susceptible to tragedy and drama. And I do love my angst. So you are wise to be wary. Though Kanade's heart is indeed strong this time around, if that reassures you.
Enjoy!
[Chapter 48]: Worlds Collide
When they arrived at Ryou's, Ayato instantly recognized Kyou's car on the curb, but not the one parked behind it. He squinted at it thoughtfully as they passed through the gate, casting a brief speculative glance at Yui before studying the vehicle again.
It wasn't Sunohara's, he knew that much. Ryou and Sunohara had come over in his car back in October when they came to fetch Yuri's stuff. But then, that meant Ryou had a different visitor. Not Noda, not Sunohara… Did they have a third sister with a boyfriend they didn't know about?
Ayato snuck a few more glances over his shoulder before they got to the door, trying to analyze what kind of person would drive that car. A celebrity? A singer lying low?
It wasn't very flashy. It almost looked more suited for a young family. He'd been considering cars like those after that anniversary dinner when his own broke down, since it was not long after that he and Yuri had started trying.
He faltered at the memory with a nettled frown. But then of course, he knew how the rest of that story went. And his crappy car was still managing to this day.
Honestly it was a good thing he wasn't hauling it back and forth to Noroi or Kyuuya anymore, but otherwise it got the job done.
(It was his first car, okay? Bought with his own money. He would always be a little attached.)
Having lost track of his original thought, Ayato shook his head, returning to present day as Ryou answered the door and welcomed the Battlefront inside with a big smile.
"I know it's a little earlier than we talked about," said Yui. "That's not a problem, right?"
Ryou blithely waved it away. "No, not at all!" she assured her. "I was actually just about to call when you did."
There was a faint "puhi-puhi" in the background and Mitsuo quickly got away from them, scrambling in first with a happy bark. A moment later, they all heard a tiny delighted squeal – except giggly, and human.
"What the…? Is Botan a were-boar?" Matsushita the Fifth asked, scratching his head. Behind him, Kanade giggled into her hands at the thought.
Ryou's smile stretched ever wider as she looked briefly down the hall, and then back at the Battlefront.
"Oh, no actually," she said demurely, closing the door once everyone was inside. "I hope you don't mind, but I have some guests I'd really like you to meet." She clasped her hands and laughed a little. "Well, a couple of you already… never mind. You'll see!"
With that, she strode forward and led the group through the entry hall into her living room. The small human voice from earlier grew louder as they approached, babbling gleefully and uttering a clipped shriek.
"Is the doggie saying hello?" came a young woman's baby voice. "He's got a real wet nose, doesn't he, Ushio?"
Ayato rounded the corner just in time to see Mitsuo excitedly jump up and put his paws on a little girl barely twice his size. She staggered back in surprise, then laughed and tried to hug at his curly floppy ears. Her hair was the same sandy brown as his fur, so the two sort of disappeared into each other when she embraced him. Mitsuo, to his credit, did not mind at all, and warbled at her while he dished out a few soppy licks.
Fujimaki gasped and dramatically clutched at his heart. "Oh my God. Ooyama, look. A baby human."
"Mitsuo/Ushio, gentle," Ooyama and the woman said in unison.
A moment later the dog expertly wriggled away and began to chase Botan in circles, dizzying Ushio at first as she fell back on her butt. She recovered immediately, giggling and clapping at the silliness of it all.
At first Ayato mistook the head of dark messy hair poking up from the couch to be Noda, until he spotted him and Kyou on the armchair together, sharing it comfortably with her legs draped over his. Kyou glanced up towards the entry and gave a small smirk. "Oh look, the cavalry's arrived."
Noda blinked over at the assembling group. "You guys again."
"Don't pretend you're not happy to see us," Hinata said, appearing behind Ayato with his arms crossed.
Shifting to his right to allow the others more congregating room, Ayato could see more of the woman (who'd been partially obscured by the couch) as she rose to her feet and offered them a warm smile. She had the exact same face as the little girl, except marginally aged (she could almost pass as a much older sister), and matching cinnamon brown hair and amber eyes.
"Well, hello!" she said, as Ayato simultaneously realized she was not using a baby voice, that was just her voice in general. "You must be Ryou's friends. She mentioned you'd be joining us."
The figure on the couch cast a brief glance over his shoulder, and there was a creak of furniture settling as he stood up as well. Meanwhile Ryou cleared her throat, winding her way between both groups in the living room threshold.
"Yes!" She gestured aside to the Battlefront. "Um, you remember Yuri. These are her old school friends."
Noda gave a skeptical snort. "Wait until you hear that story—" It turned into a grunt when Kyou shifted and elbowed him in the side.
Unfazed, Ryou gestured to their side of the room as she went on.
"And these are my old school friends," she said. "Tomoya and Nagisa Okazaki, and their daughter Ushio."
Instant recognition struck Ayato as the guy from the couch sidled up next to Nagisa. Last time he saw him, he was rolling down the street like a runaway tire. He didn't know whether to glare or bite back a smirk.
"It's good to see you again, Yuri," Okazaki said, far too warmly for Ayato's tastes. Glare it is, then. His dark blue eyes shifted, then narrowed and cooled. "Naoi," he acknowledged him, keeping his tone even.
Ayato nodded at him. "Dango."
Before Okazaki could come up with any kind of retort, Ryou quickly cut in and rattled off the names of the Battlefront members, with each of them offering some kind of greeting (or in Shiina's case, a dainty harrumph, as the Okazakis smiled at her in mild recognition). Last to be introduced was Yui, who was rattling and simmering like a pot about to boil over.
"It's very nice to meet all of you," Nagisa said, giving a polite little bow. "I've heard so much about you—"
Unable to contain herself any longer, Yui uttered a jubilant squeal and dove forward, grasping Nagisa's hands in hers. She pulled her forward so that they were almost nose to nose, her eyes more pupil than iris.
"And I've heard so much about you!" she said gleefully. "You used to work in the same restaurant as Iwasawa, right? Weren't you very good friends? Did you keep in touch? Have you heard from her recently?!"
Her voice rose an octave with each question; Ayato was almost surprised her face didn't go blue from lack of oxygen. Impressively, no glass shattered nearby, and her captive looked startled for only a moment before blinking back at her with a shy smile.
"Oh no, I'm very sorry, I…" Nagisa said, softly and in earnest, "I haven't heard much at all from her since, a little after New Year's." She tapped her chin as something came to her. "Come to think of it, after that first big concert in October, she seemed exhilarated at first but then she got sort of sad about something. She had trouble explaining it to me. She told me she was going to do some smaller gigs for a while, and after that, she kind of fell off the radar. I think she's been trying to find herself."
Yui visibly deflated, loosening her grip on Nagisa's wrists. "So you really don't know where she is?"
"I'm afraid not." Nagisa flashed another sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. I know you're a very big fan of hers. If you'd like, I could tell you what it was like working with her…?"
For a moment, Yui looked heartened, but her happiness wavered at the edges.
"I'd like that," she said quietly, staring at her shoes.
Kyou, who'd joined the group in the threshold at this point, shared a concerned glance with her sister before looking curiously at Yui. "What, did you guys do the charm already?"
Yui nodded, devil tail drooping behind her.
Ryou gave a tiny gasp. "And you think that Nagisa is the one you—"
Another troubled nod.
"Maybe it's a fluke just like last time!" Ryou pressed, moving to lay a supportive hand on Yui's shoulder. "Remember? When Yuri did the charm, you all thought it was Kyou, and then Noda came along!"
Yui seemed to gain back most of her resolve, a determined gleam in her eye as she clenched her fists against her heart. "You're right, it has to be. The charm worked somehow, I can feel it in my bones!"
Nagisa tilted her head at them. "Charm…?"
"What are you guys talking about?" Okazaki asked, confusion and intrigue lining his brow.
Kyou shrugged, and in doing so casually leaned against Noda's shoulder as he came up to join her. "You know those magical spells and things Yukine was so interested in back in high school? Apparently there's a location spell, or some kind of good luck charm that can guide you to people you're meant to meet. They're using it to track down more of their old school friends."
A dazed little smile crept over Nagisa's lips. "My, but there sure are a lot of you already…"
"Why don't you just use social media?"
An awkward silence rolled over the group like a rogue boulder as they stared blankly at Okazaki. Someone coughed, maybe Matsushita. In the living room, Botan gave a small snort.
"Where's the fun in that?" Hinata muttered under his breath.
Ayato grinned, albeit involuntarily.
Noticing the unanimous reaction, Okazaki sweated a bit and rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Dumb question," he said. "But hang on, you all went to the same school?"
"They were part of a weird club together years ago just like us. Called themselves the Battlefront." Crossing her arms, Kyou fixed Yuri with a lazy, curious look. "Are we allowed to say why?"
Okazaki's eyebrows furrowed more deeply at this.
"That can't be right," he mused, frowning, and also glanced to Yuri. "Back when we first met, you told me you grew up in Akuma. And I know Shiina's lived her whole life in Kyuuya, so—"
"Is anyone keeping an eye on Ushio?" Ayato interrupted, annoyed. Apparently this Okazaki made it a habit of investigating things that weren't his business.
Startled, Okazaki and Nagisa turned to look over their shoulder, back into the living room. It was not only to their surprise but the Battlefront's when they spotted Kanade and Ushio sitting on the floor playing with Botan and Mitsuo. All four glanced up at the same time, blinking back at their audience in confusion. Kanade waved to signal that everything was fine, then plinked at the keys of a toy piano while Ushio happily joined in, earning a charmed smile from Nagisa.
It was enough to satisfy Okazaki as well, who turned back to the group with lingering questions in his eyes. Noticing this, Kyou gave a small derisive snort.
"Like I said," she gestured vaguely in the air, "think it's okay to tell him?"
Yuri appeared to consider it, cupping her chin with her hand. "I mean, you guys took it pretty well."
"Depends how easily they believe in other worlds," Ooyama reasoned.
Nagisa brightened immediately, doe-eyed and puzzled but most certainly hooked on the topic. "You mean like parallel universes? Our friend Kotomi's parents practically wrote the book on that sort of thing."
"Nah, they mean they went to school together when they were dead and now they're alive again," Noda said, snorting.
Something strange flickered in Okazaki's gaze, like a memory but clouded and faint. He looked briefly at Noda before reaching back into his thoughts.
"Those who seek out the truth must not be arrogant," he spoke, as if quoting a sacred text. "You must not laugh at miracles just because they cannot be explained scientifically. You must not turn away from the beauty of this world."
There was a lull as many of the Battlefront members exchanged glances. Some mystified, some mildly impressed. Even Ayato didn't really have a snide response for him, his waxing philosophical having cast him into a state of quiet reminiscence for an old friend.
"Is that from your friend's parents' book?" Kanade ventured from the living room.
Okazaki shook his head. "No, but they were her father's words," he replied, and turned to the Fujibayashi sisters. "Remember back before Ushio was born? You guys came to visit for New Year's, and Kotomi told us a little bit about what she was studying over in America."
"Yes! About the hidden world!" Ryou burst out, blinking as a look of excited recollection took over her features. "The string theory!"
"Ugh, just thinking about that makes my brain start spinning again." Kyou put a hand to her temple to ward off a headache. "At least Yuri knew how to explain it in terms an idiot can understand."
Yuri shrugged, gesturing mildly to the Battlefront around her. "Years of experience."
"Well, anyway," Okazaki continued, "Kotomi was continuing her parents' research, so she was telling us all sorts of stuff about what she'd learned. Like extra dimensions that have yet to be discovered. And the fact that the hidden world and our world are supposedly connected in some way, so they can influence each other. Something about time and space and human consciousness interacting and causing changes in both worlds."
Nagisa beamed as a pair of little legs toddled towards the threshold, sneaking in between her parents.
"Ushio must be very interested in this sort of thing," she said with a giggle, and put a hand over her stomach. "I remember that day was the hardest she ever kicked." As Okazaki gazed down at Ushio reflectively and encased her tiny hand in his, Nagisa turned to him with a thought. "And didn't Kotomi say there could be all sorts of hidden worlds out there?"
"Y-yeah." Okazaki regained his focus, studying his wife's eager face as he offered her a gentle grin. "Like a world that has come to an end, an empty and still world where no one exists but a girl and a robot." Nagisa's eyes sparkled with the joy of an inside joke, and Okazaki looked to Yuri. "Or… a world with a school in the afterlife, it sounds like."
"Or the world of the Enchanted Forest," Yui whispered to Ayato, significantly more interested.
Ayato wrestled a frown. Yes, yes, these worlds were not only possible but real and successfully intermingling, and now a batty bloodthirsty sorcerer might be trying to lure him into a thankless quest. Forgive him for not celebrating with her just yet.
"Pretty much." Yuri nodded to Okazaki. "Basically it was a world for people who died young and filled with regret. Our souls came to a high school where we were supposed to come to grips with everything before we graduated to new lives."
"A high school of the dead, if you will," Fujimaki offered.
Otonashi squinted at him with a slight distrustful frown. "For some reason that doesn't sound right."
"Well, trust me when I say I have more than enough reason to believe in a world like that," said Okazaki. His face softened as he regarded Yuri with intrigue. "You should've told me this months ago. I knew there was something special about you, I just couldn't put my finger on it."
Ayato growled under his breath.
Too many pairs of eyes fell on him, including Yuri's and Okazaki's. The latter looked puzzled at first, then almost amused by him.
"Something the matter, Naoi?" he asked, eyebrow piqued as he folded his arms.
For a moment, Ayato was a little disturbed at how much he resembled Yuri when he did that. He shook the thought away and simply crossed his own arms in turn. "I'm sure we'd all love to hear you go on about how captivating Yuri is—"
"I never said captivating," Okazaki said calmly, his amusement growing.
"—but the locator charm has a time limit," Ayato reminded them. "So if the person we're looking for isn't in this house, then we really must be going."
"Isn't the time limit eight hours?" Kanade asked, her voice even softer than usual. Nagisa looked heartened by her, then strangely curious.
Yui frowned suddenly, having a thought.
"Wait a second!" she blurted, pointing a finger at Ryou. "How come you were about to call me over here early if you knew Nagisa wasn't gonna be able to tell me where Iwasawa was?"
"Because of your Girls Day idea, genius?" Kyou responded, like it was exceedingly obvious.
Hinata, Yuri, and Fujimaki instantly looked suspicious. "Girls Day?"
Sensing more than a little group confusion, Ryou and Nagisa took this time to step in.
"Well, little Ushio here is in need of a haircut," Nagisa said, patting Ushio's head and smoothing down her mussy locks. "Since we're in town, I thought it would be a good opportunity to go see that new hair stylist Ryou keeps recommending."
"She has an appointment in a little over half an hour," Ryou added. "We thought it might be fun if you came with us!"
Yui perked up most exuberantly with a drawn out gasp.
"That's a great idea!" she said, clasping her hands as she went into sparkly daydream mode. "Maybe Iwasawa is getting her hair done too! She could be there at this very second, it's perfect! There isn't a moment to lose."
Nagisa laughed happily at her. "That's the spirit!"
"Why does she remind me of someone…?" Okazaki muttered under his breath.
Sliding quickly to Yuri's side, Yui leaned into her with a dazzling grin. "What do you say, Commander?" she coaxed, elbowing her a couple of times for good measure. "How about a trip to the beauty salon with the girls?"
"You did mention something recently about your hair getting too long," Ryou threw in helpfully, earning Yui's immediate nod of approval.
Ayato eyed the two of them with mild distrust (while Yui's reaction to Nagisa seemed genuine, some of this felt planned) before turning his gaze towards Yuri. Her lips pursed thoughtfully as she examined her hair, curling a lock of it around her finger. She looked over at a small mirror on the wall and stared at her reflection with a frown. No doubt noticing how long she'd let it grow out.
If Ayato were staring closely, he probably could have seen the ghost of Ajisai Nakamura flicker in her eyes.
Finally, Yuri sighed and turned back to the Fujibayashis. "Do they take walk-ins?"
Kyou brightened instantly.
"Yep!" she said, letting a mischievous grin play across her face. "We already checked when we set up an appointment for you."
Yuri blinked, baffled, before comprehension dawned and she threw Yui a wearying look. And she wasn't the only one.
"Agh! What?" Hinata slapped a hand to his forehead, dragging at his scalp. "C'mon, the guys and I don't wanna wait around at a dumb hair salon."
"Well you're not gonna!" Yui said sharply, poking him in the nose. "Weren't you listening? This is a Girls Day thing! No boys allowed."
Ayato narrowed his eyes, slightly affronted. "You planned this!"
"Not the hair salon part," Yui corrected. "I didn't know Nagisa was gonna be here either. But the Fujibayashis and Kanade and Shiina and I have been talking this week and we agreed it would be good to have some girl time."
"Why wasn't I told about this…?" Yuri mumbled.
"I mentioned it at the car last Sunday!"
Yuri wrinkled her nose and looked as if she wanted to argue, but decided against it. She breathed an exasperated sigh through her nose and said nothing further.
"But why are we splitting up into two groups after we just did the charm?" Hinata complained. "That's not fair. I thought you said this was supposed to be a group thing. What if you find the person and we aren't there? What if it's Iwasawa? You really want us to miss that?"
"After the fit you threw when I got called into work." Fujimaki shook his head in feigned offense. "I can't believe you're pulling something like this."
Yui looked dismayed for a moment, even conflicted. Then her eyes fell on Yuri and this seemed to help her find her resolve.
"I promise I'll call if we find someone," she said. "And the timing varies, doesn't it? Maybe we'll find her afterwards." She linked her arm with Yuri's, much to the latter's surprise. "But I assure you, Operation Girls Day Out is very important business."
Fujimaki smirked then, raising an eyebrow. "Okazaki, are you okay with the ladies ditching you like this?"
Okazaki just shrugged. "Yeah, I already knew about it. And I'm cool with them taking Ushio along," he paused to ruffle the little girl's hair, "but we're still on for a little baseball in the park later, right?"
Ushio looked up at her father and nodded seriously, giving him a thumbs up and a "yeah!" that made both her parents smile.
"Baseball?" Hinata echoed. His attention perked not unlike a dog who'd just heard the word "treat."
"There's a spot in the park that people like to use as a small baseball diamond," Ayato explained, brushing it away as if it were nothing.
"It's also not terribly far from the salon," noted Ryou.
Hinata turned to look at Ayato, putting on his most wounded expression. "You knew there was a place like that in Mizuzaka and you didn't tell me?"
"Because I knew it would make you happy," Ayato said simply.
While Hinata's offense wavered and he looked away to muffle a snort, Nagisa lit up with an epiphany. She squeezed Okazaki's hand and flashed him an encouraging smile.
"I have an idea, why don't you all have some guy time?" she suggested. "You can play baseball, get to know each other, maybe even talk about the other worlds theory some more."
Okazaki exchanged appraising glances with the Battlefront men, his stare darkening slightly as it lingered on Ayato. After a ruminative pause, he nodded his assent. "Alright, yeah. Baseball sounds good to me. There's at least enough of us to make it interesting." He looked to Noda, who was now sulking warily beside him. "Noda, you up for it?"
Noda scowled at the floor. "Well it's not like I'm itching to get a manicure or anything."
"In Noda-speak that's the closest we'll get to a resounding yes," Hinata observed, while Yui peered doubtfully at his nails.
"Great, then!" Kyou clapped her hands together, cheerfully ignoring or possibly amused by her boyfriend's sour face. She slung an arm around Yuri's shoulder. "We'd better get going if we want to make Nagisa's appointment."
"Try not to miss us too much, ladies," said Fujimaki, throwing them a wink. Kanade promptly put a hand to her mouth and gagged a bit.
Ayato smirked, thinking the stoic angel had made a joke; Fujimaki thought the same and put a hand to his heart in shell-shocked offense. But they weren't the only ones who'd noticed her reaction.
"Um, before we leave," Nagisa said, eyes glinting with curiosity and concern, "excuse me, Kanade, but are you feeling alright? You looked kind of sick just now."
Kanade flushed with embarrassment, rubbing around her sternum as she grimaced in pain. "It's fine, thank you. Just a little heartburn."
The glint came again, brighter, like a spark from a flint rock becoming a flame. "Well, here! I think I have some antacids in my purse," Nagisa said, taking Kanade's arm with a friendly smile and starting to guide her towards the kitchen. Then she added with a merry giggle, "In fact, I used to get heartburn a lot too when I was—"
Otonashi made an odd choking sound, and Nagisa stopped briefly to look at him. Then she looked flustered and glanced over at the pendulum clock.
"My goodness!" she squeaked. "I shouldn't start rambling about that. Let's just get you something for your stomach and we can go."
Hinata grinned at the girls as Nagisa sifted through her purse. "It's probably because you keep eating all that spicy mapo tofu, you know," he called after them. "You're setting your digestive system on fire."
Kanade cast a particularly weary look at Hinata, as if unimpressed with his teasing. A small smile broke through anyway as she was fiddling thoughtfully with a pair of dangling earbuds.
While Nagisa and Kanade bonded in the kitchen over indigestion, everyone else got ready to leave again. Ayato watched them sullenly, unsure how he felt about this. Hinata and Otonashi were chatting to Okazaki about baseball. Yui was fangirling excitedly about Girls Day and Iwasawa to a rather nonplussed Shiina. And Fujimaki, Ooyama, and Matsushita the Fifth were trying to convince Ryou and Kyou to let them bring Botan to the baseball field with the guys – was Kyou really going to separate the poor animal buddies and try to bring an actual boar into the salon just because she was a girl?
Ayato rolled his eyes at Fujimaki's self-proclaimed impassioned defense for the star-crossed love between a boar and a dog. His gaze was inadvertently drawn to Yuri, who'd abandoned some of her own surliness and was giving Ushio her full attention while the latter proudly demonstrated swinging an invisible bat.
"You've got a good arm, Ushio," Yuri said, crouching down so they were at eye level. "I could've used you on my team. Our enemies wouldn't stand a chance against the likes of you."
Ushio broke into bashful giggles and then got very serious with her invisible bat again, as if suddenly surrounded by those enemies. A chuckle escaped Ayato's lips, and both Yuri and Ushio turned to look at him. Yuri stiffened, her eyes watchful and uncertain. Ayato's face warmed and he swiftly looked away. But not without discreetly giving little Ushio a thumbs up.
Maybe it was best that the group was splitting up the way it was. He'd been dubious at first, especially considering the fact that Yui had just enacted the charm (and the fact that he couldn't give less of a shit about baseball right now). But this would at least keep him and Yuri apart for a while, make it easier for him to leave her alone this weekend like he'd planned.
(Since that was what she obviously wanted – apparently even his chuckling at a young child's antics set her on edge.)
As he was finding that Yuri was nearly impossible to ignore, and that he couldn't always seem to control his mouth around her, this Girls Day thing was a stroke of luck. Locus Felicis, perhaps, already working its magic for more than just Yui.
He led the guys to Mizuzaka's baseball field thinking that for an hour, maybe, just maybe, he could take his mind off Yuri Nakamura.
A/N: There is much more to come this Battlefront weekend, so I hope to not keep you waiting. At the same time I'm only a couple of chapters ahead and the latest one may need to be rewritten. But I'm determined! I'm making this happen!
Merry (belated) Christmas, happy holidays, and an even happier New Year!
See you next decade. :)
Preview:
"Aw, let him sulk."
"I told you I was busy."
"What's stopping you from telling her?"
"That's my boyfriend."
"I don't know where this is coming from."
"Cheering up?"
"What's not that deep?"
"That was a mean trick, Yurippe!"
[Chapter 49]: Intervention.
