A/N: Happy Saturday! Here I am with Part II. If you're just arriving for the Saturday chapter, make sure you've read yesterday's Part I. Really should space them out, but nah. I like this part too much to wait. Thanks to Hayashinkage17, Seiram, serial napper, and qwerty19 for the reviews! (Also, please keep my friend Zain in your thoughts, he's not feeling too good.)

Kage: No worries! I'm crazy busy these days myself, work tuckers me out. Could really use some of that imagination prowess too. But I'm pleased you were reeled in by the Clannad cameo. (Also, on the name thing, I'm glad you brought this up! I actually only call him Ayato in this because it's in his POV and it's important that he distinguish himself from his father and brother. In earlier chapters, Yuri thought of him as Ayato because he was her husband. As a reader, you're free to call him Naoi if you prefer.) Okazaki's experience and blunt truth-telling may be exactly what he needs right now. But is it enough to make him do something?

Seiram: What's interesting now that I think about it is that Okazaki is a little bit like the three main AB guys combined. No wonder Naoi butts heads with him (Hinata) but begrudgingly respects and hears him out (Otonashi). Yeah, Ayame really does deserve better. I wish she knew that. (I do like that you honed in on the "feeling watched" part. There's a reason for it.)(I will say that Akuma is sort of a hodge-podge. Some call it hell, some call it home. Some just tapped out ASAP to pursue better things.) As for Yuri's uncle, I have my headcanons! It's sort of like Naoi and Hayato, except the talented one (Kaishou) went unnoticed because the troublemaker (uncle) was always under fire. I hope I can play with this in TPS eventually. And hey, yeah! I'm glad you noticed the maturity there in the lack of hypnotism. I worried it would seem OOC; ideally it's simply character development.

serial napper: Thank you so much! I loved finally sitting Ayato down and bringing some pretty important sentiments to light. There are three or four big final turning points in this story and this is definitely one of them.

qwerty19: I'm so pleased you liked that little outburst! I did a lot of fine-tuning with that line since it's supposed to hold a lot of meaning for him. And if Naoi's gonna slip up, we gotta make it good. And Okazaki and Naoi really have come so far since Chapter 5, haven't they? A lot of things have changed for Naoi since they last saw each other. It was fun to highlight on that.

Without further ado, I present to you part II. Enjoy!


[Chapter 50]: Something to Believe In (Part II)


Back at the salon, Nagisa, the Fujibayashis, and the Battlefront girls were still hanging out in the waiting area. Yuri leaned her elbow on the armrest, chin in hand as she absorbed the chatter that filled the air.

After her stern warning to Yui, the girls had obediently veered from certain irritating subjects and let her drift out of the spotlight. It fell back to Nagisa and Kanade for a little bit, as they continued to find all sorts of things to talk to each other about. Nagisa, an endlessly curious soul, especially wanted to know more about their other world and what made it unique.

Yuri had actually brightened then, having a thought, and nudged Kanade encouragingly. "Why don't you tell her about Angel Player?" she suggested. The subject still interested her, anyway, and not just because she'd gotten a little into coding and software in this life.

Kanade had glanced at her in brief surprise and nodded with an agreeable hum, like she'd just been assigned a fun project. She turned to Nagisa and did her best to explain how Angel Player worked, through the Afterlife's concept of creating material and transforming it. Nagisa was enthralled, and even Ryou and Kyou were leaning in to hear Kanade's soft voice over the dull roar of the salon.

"So wait, the software could even transform people?" Kyou said, raising both eyebrows in intrigue. "As in, human bodies?"

"Oh, I could tell you some horror stories…" Yuri mumbled into her palm with a scoff.

"The technology makes it possible for the user to alter their physical form," said Kanade. She borrowed some paper from Ushio and made a few model sketches, explaining them as she went along. Amongst them were the five versions of hand sonic and a doodle of Angel using delay. "Using these abilities, I was able to protect myself in a strange and dangerous world, and in overdrive even achieve extraordinary strength."

Eyes shining, Nagisa leaned over and gave her daughter a smile. "Hear that, Ushio? Just like your favorite superheroes!" she said happily. "She was a regular human just like you until one day she developed incredible superpowers!"

Ushio looked intrigued and then very serious. "Did you fight the bad guys?"

"Some might say Yuri was a villain," Shiina noted, not looking up from her magazine.

"One time she saved all my friends from being eaten by a big hungry river monster," said Yuri, who didn't really want to think about the way she treated Kanade in the Afterlife.

Kyou blinked. "Wait, seriously?"

"Slice and dice!" Yui, who'd turned away from her peeking to listen in, vigorously chopped at the air with her arms. Shiina snuck a sideways glimpse at her and hid a smile between the pages. "Then we had him for lunch instead."

"Wow," Ushio said softly, staring at Kanade with wide eyes. Kanade seemed to preen at the attention.

"Wait, so you guys really ate a river monster?" Kyou whispered aside to Yuri, Ryou looking similarly flabbergasted.

Yuri half-shrugged at them. "Oversized catfish."

"Even so," said Nagisa, reverently awed. "To be able to fight off a monster to save your friends… you must've been very brave. What an amazing computer program!"

Kanade smiled back at her. "Thank you, but…" she paused and rested a hand over her heart, eyes closed in humble reflection, "I don't think computer programs are what make people brave."

Nagisa returned the smile as she affectionately ran a hand through Ushio's hair. Then she glanced down at the piece of paper again and tapped a finger on one of the illustrations. "And what's this, exactly?"

"It's hand sonic version four," Kanade told her. "I tried to make it look like a lotus flower."

"A weapon?" Nagisa gushed. "Oh, but it's so cute!"

Kanade looked heartened by this. "Yuzuru thought it looked creepy," she said, a bit glumly. Yui made a razzing noise, as she'd taken upon herself to do at the mention of boys, but Kanade barely seemed to notice.

"Well, I think it's very interesting," Nagisa said warmly. She studied the paper some more. "Did you design these? I mean, did you create all the abilities yourself?"

"I created the wings, as well as hand sonic." Kanade rubbed her chin, carefully thinking back, and then amended, "Versions one through five. Though version one was based on an existing beta version in the software, version zero. I modified it to better fit my size and circumstances."

Yuri's attention perked up at this. Version zero…?

She still had a hard time wrapping her head around the idea that someone else had used Angel Player before Kanade did. Of course she knew the programmer hadn't named it after Kanade's Battlefront title and delivered it to her room personally. She just hadn't really thought about it before.

But now – it was just so surreal. If she had been in the Afterlife decades or centuries before, she might've ended up rebelling against a different Angel. The first Angel.

What would that have been like? Would she have been stoic but kind like Kanade? Or more stubborn and strict, even cruel?

Or maybe they would have become unlikely friends too, and it was all just due to timing that she had graduated with this Angel instead of the other one. She might've left the Afterlife before she had a chance to meet Kanade.

What a strange thing to think about. Blame it on the string theory talk from earlier…

And then Yuri remembered something Otonashi had said a month ago, back when the reunion operation was just getting started. A thought later echoed by Kanade.

"—but I'm getting the feeling that, all along, fate's been leading us to the people we're meant to meet."

She glanced over at Kanade, who was saying something to Nagisa about the program's original body base being taller than her, and at Yui and Shiina on the other couch. Yui was perched at her lookout station on the armrest but trying to lean over far enough to peek at something Shiina was pointing to on a page of her magazine, only to topple over and fall onto her with a startled squeak. They stared at each other for a moment, red-faced, then Shiina burst out laughing and a grinning Yui was quick to join in.

Even Yuri cracked a half-smile, vaguely comforted by the antics that now felt so normal to her. These were the friends she'd ended up with in the Afterlife, the ones who were with her here and now. Maybe fate did know what it was doing after all.

But then… Yuri's smile faded just as easily as it had come, her brow wrinkling in thought as she settled her chin deeper into her palm. If that were the case…

Why would it put her in Akuma, with – with Naoi, of all people?

"—also modified delay, from an ability that I believe was originally meant to slow the user's fall," Kanade was still explaining when Yuri tuned back in. "Everything else was already part of the software when I found it." There was a short pause, before she remembered something else. "Oh, and there was howling as well. I suppose technically I created that too."

"Howling?" Nagisa echoed, her features gradually crinkling with amusement. "Like a wolf? What was that for?"

"It was a very powerful ability. Crossing two hand sonic blades above her head, the user could emit high-frequency, high-amplitude sound waves – a scream loud enough to make your enemy pass out—"

Ushio promptly picked up a second crayon, crossed her arms, and roared at the top of her lungs. "AAAAHHHHH!"

Yelping, Nagisa scrambled to put a hand over her mouth. "Ushio! Indoor voice!"

All Angel and Naoi thoughts obliterated, Yuri started cracking up as Kanade dissolved into giggles beside her. She found herself grinning so hard that her cheeks hurt, warmed by the laughter of the friends around her. Maybe this was exactly what she needed…

Her gaze fell to the piece of paper, the well-crafted illustrations of wings and blades and lotus flowers, and her smile faded slightly as a memory flickered from the back of her mind. A sketchbook, a lunch table, girlish laughter. She studied Kanade out of the corner of her eye.

They would've gotten along together too…

She didn't know how long she vanished into her own thoughts after that, but she was startled out of them when Kanade gave her a soft pat on the head as she made her way towards the front door. She followed the girl with her eyes briefly before looking back at the group. "Where's she going?"

"Poor Botan was peeking in here with a face so sad, I really thought Kanade was going to burst into tears," Ryou answered with a little laugh. "So she said she was going outside to play with her."

Kyou leaned forward and sent her a knowing look. "You were zoning out again, weren't you?" When Yuri responded with a small hum and feeble shrug, she heaved an affected sigh. "You know, the whole point of Girls Day was to get you to have fun with us and not be left alone with your thoughts."

"Well, I'm afraid that's partially my fault," Nagisa said bashfully, offering Yuri an apologetic smile. "Kanade and I have been talking so much, I guess I hogged up a lot of your friends' attention. But I'd like to get to know you too."

Yuri managed to return the smile, taking a moment to study the girl. Same politeness, same kind brown eyes. Almost the same warm brown hair but a darker shade and not as much of it. The resemblance was there, like a shadow in the corner of her eye, but she found that it didn't hurt too terribly to look at her.

"So tell me about yourself, Nagisa," Yuri suggested. "I've heard more about computer programs today than I have about you."

Nagisa beamed. "Well, I—" she started, and then looked at Yui hesitantly. She put a finger to her chin, her eyes turning calculative and uncertain. "Hm, I'll have to be careful. This could be a little hard. It's kind of like a game."

"Huh?" Yuri tilted her head at her, furrowing her eyebrows a bit. "What game?"

"It's just that… I've never thought about it before. But how could I tell someone the true story of my life while leaving out—" Nagisa glanced at Yui again, who was staring pointedly at her now, the tip of her tongue poised to razz. Giggling despite herself, Nagisa finished, "—such a big part of it?"

Pursing her lips into a small frown, Yuri let her eyes fall to the drawings on the table. A corner of a round green face peeked up at her from beneath the Angel Player sketch page.

"Good question, I guess," she muttered, unsure how else to respond.

Yui happily chose that moment to pipe in. "You could talk about what it was like to work with Iwasawa at the restaurant!" she prodded, looking hopeful as she leaned forward in her new seat (aka: Shiina's legs).

Shiina narrowed her eyes over the pages of her magazine. "Yuri wants to get to know Nagisa…"

"That's alright, I don't mind," Nagisa said with another sweet giggle. "You know, Iwasawa was a very inspiring person to work with. Before I got hired at the restaurant, I'd never really had a job before. But then Nishina and Sugisaka, some old friends from my school, told me that a place called Ernesto Host was opening in town and we decided to be waitresses together. Iwasawa was one of the cooks."

Nagisa paused her thought with a bit of nostalgic laughter and looked knowingly to Yui, who gave a tiny squeal – possibly at the thought of eating any food Iwasawa cooked for her.

"We could sometimes hear her singing from all the way back in the kitchen," she continued, a bubbly smile playing across her lips. "Nishina and Sugisaka were in choir club in high school, so they liked that very much. I remember I once got the dango family theme song stuck in her head and she was singing it at work for a whole week. It was the best week ever – her voice is so pretty."

"The prettiest," Yui agreed in a wistful little sigh. With a momentary side-eye, Shiina clutched her magazine and brought it closer to her face.

"Anyway, she and I got to be great friends," Nagisa said merrily. "She liked seeing my parents when they came by, even if they were a little embarrassing and my dad made a commotion. She thought it was nice how well they got along together." Her tone got a bit sadder here, a soft sniffle threatening to become more. "She told me her parents were always fighting when she was growing up, and that was why she'd been working so hard for so long. She's been working part time jobs ever since she was a teenager. Just so she could leave home after she graduated. She was scared someone was going to get hurt—"

"Nagisa, don't do it," Kyou interrupted in a warning tone, gesturing to Ushio. "You know that once you start up, so will she."

Nagisa took one look at Ushio's shimmering eyes and swallowed hard. "I'm okay," she said softly, squaring her shoulders, and ruffled Ushio's hair. "I'm happy though. She did get out okay. All those part-time jobs paid off. And she did street performances too, and sometimes on breaks she'd be writing new songs… she kept so busy. I could tell it meant a lot to her. Her music, working there with us, being independent from her parents. So she always did her best. It made me want to do my best too." Humbly, she closed her eyes and chuckled at herself. "Even someone like me, whose only job experience was helping out at my parents' bakery."

"Your parents owned a bakery…?" Yuri repeated, the question hitching ever-so-slightly in her throat.

Nagisa's cheer bloomed anew. "Yes!" she said proudly, while Yui pouted at the change of subject and started peeking around the corner again. "Furukawa Bread. It's very popular back home in Hikarizaka. My parents make the most delicious pastries. Though I admit some people find the stuff my mother makes a little unusual."

"There's an understatement for ya," Kyou said, somewhat under her breath to Ryou. "Can you imagine their newest special if Sanae met Kanade? 'Here, bite into these spicy mapo tofu buns!'"

Ryou had to quickly hide a smile. "Well, it would make Kanade happy at least…"

Nagisa's eyes fell into her lap as she fiddled with her clasped hands. "I know her creations can be kind of strange, but I always liked them because they were made with love," she said demurely. "And besides, she and Dad weren't planning on being bakers. She was a teacher and he was an actor. They only started the bakery because they wanted to stay home and take care of me when I got sick."

Yuri bit her lip – the similarities just kept piling on, didn't they – but then her mind made a different connection.

"Wait, your dad was an actor?" She scrunched up her forehead in thought, allowing another memory reentrance. "You wouldn't happen to mean Akio Furukawa…"

"That's him!" Nagisa said, lighting up. "How did you know? Have you been to the bakery before?"

"No, but…" Yuri paused, shaking her head and giving a small snort, "back in high school, my friend Sayuki from drama club had the biggest fangirl crush on him. She used to watch all these old videos she found of his performances and go on and on about how handsome and talented he was. I'm pretty sure he's the only man she ever loved."

She took a moment to laugh to herself at exactly how true that was. Over on the couch, Shiina glanced up at her and then smirked knowingly.

Nagisa grinned. "Well, what a small world! I knew he was a great actor but I had no idea he was so popular." She tilted her head at Yuri, suddenly curious and even excited. "So you had friends in drama club? Were you part of it too?"

Yuri chewed the inside of her cheek. "For a time," she said vaguely, and returned her attention to Ushio's coloring. Her latest, a sea of prickly green grass littered with scribbles of pink, red, and purple flowers.

The other four looked surprised at her, Ryou and Kyou especially. "Wait, in this life?" Kyou asked. "You never mentioned it before."

"Well, it was a long time ago," said Yuri, trying to brush the matter off. "I only really joined to help someone out."

"So did we at first," Ryou paused to cast Nagisa a warm smile, "but then we ended up having so much fun together. It really was kind of like our own little Battlefront. Thanks to the time we spent in drama club, we made a lot of lifelong friends." She turned to regard Yuri with even more delight. "I didn't realize you and I had something like this in common!"

Having turned back to the group in interest, Yui flashed Yuri a teasing look. "Yurippe, were you the drama club's fearless leader too?"

"Nope," said Yuri, chin in hand again. She stared at Yui for a moment as nostalgia attacked. "That role was already taken."

The Fujibayashis started to cheerily reminisce with Nagisa about her own fearless leader status (which Nagisa tried to refute, only to get razzed at by Yui for uttering a certain name) and her determined recruitment of drama club members back in the day. But Yuri chose not to chime in, waiting for the conversation to veer entirely off-subject. It wasn't something she felt like thinking about.

Lifelong friends… Yuri's mouth gave a slight sardonic quirk. When had that ever really worked out for her?

The salon door opened, jingling a bell. With a jolt, Yuri swept startled eyes to the front.

It was Kanade, returning from outside. She said goodbye to a peeping Botan with a friendly pat and a small wave before breaking into a merry trot to rejoin the group. Sitting back, Yuri allowed her mind to settle.

Locus Felicis had not yet brought them their person. The thought had occurred to her just now.

But still, she didn't know why she thought—

"What did I miss?" Kanade asked, taking her place next to Yuri. Ushio turned and showed her the pink, red, and orange roses she was adding to her flower field, earning her a gentle smile and thumbs up.

Yui, on the other hand, sighed dramatically and sank into the couch cushions.

"Nothing and nobody," she said, leaning her head back and staring up at the ceiling. "I don't understand. I know this feels like the place to be today."

"Are you sure?" Nagisa asked, while Ryou stood up and went to check around the corner herself. "We don't have to be here much longer, you know! As soon as the stylist is ready – I mean, Ushio doesn't have a lot of hair to work with. Once she and Yuri get their hair done, we can go somewhere else if you'd like. Maybe the charm has another place it wants to lead you?"

"But this is a beauty salon," Yui said, looking around in wonder. "Most of the people left for us to find are guys – except for the band! And we're more likely to run into a girl here than a guy." She clenched her fists against her heart. "It has to be here, it just has to be!"

"Oh, okay!" Nagisa smiled agreeably. "No rush then. You've got at least some time anyway since the stylist hasn't even—"

"Wait a minute!" came Ryou's eager voice as she turned away from her peeking spot. "Here she comes now!"

Nagisa brightened, pausing to pick up on the sound of approaching footsteps. Just as excited, Yui sprang up from the couch as if propelled by her devil tail.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Maybe her last appointment was the one we've been waiting for!"

Amused, Nagisa watched Yui nervously bounce around in one spot in budding anticipation like she was afraid to look. She rested a hand on Ushio's shoulder, silently checking to see if she was ready too.

"And this is the girl you've been going to lately, right?" Nagisa asked, expectant as she took a moment to admire Ryou's hair. "The one who… what's that you're always saying about her? She has—"

"—such a way with scissors," Ryou, Nagisa, and an eye-rolling Kyou said simultaneously.

Moments later, a woman with chin-length reddish hair speed-walked to the front of the room. Yui took one look and darted out into the middle of the salon. Or she started to, but she didn't get very far before she saw the woman under a better light. Her hair was magenta, but closer to an orangey red shade instead of pink. Oh, and she was probably in her mid-thirties. The woman flashed pale green eyes at the receptionist, paid, and flounced out the door.

"Aww," said Yui. Her shoulders and devil tail drooped in disappointment.

"So much for that," Yuri muttered under her breath.

There was the sound of a second pair of footsteps padding steadily down the hall, a shadow on the floor creeping ever closer. And then a petite figure appeared in front of the waiting area.

"Please pardon the delay," she said, and gave a small polite bow that caused her long blonde twin-tails to curtain her face. "Thank you so much for your patience."

Shiina's magazine fell from her hands. Kanade's eyes grew a touch wider. Yui turned around slowly in disbelief.

The stylist, straightening up, clasped her hands in front of her apron. "Which one of you is—"

"Yusa?!" Yuri blurted out.

Yusa blinked at her, mildly affected. "Yurippe…?"

At the mention of the nickname, Ryou gave a shocked but delighted little giggly gasp and threw her hands over her mouth, while Kyou choked on her own surprised sound as she glanced between the two. Meanwhile, Yui groaned loudly and face-planted onto the salon floor.

Yusa turned and looked down at Yui in concern, probably because there was a good chance she was wallowing in hair shrapnel. Shaking her head, Shiina swiftly deserted the couch and helped the poor girl to her feet before carefully dusting her off.

"And she even has her memories too," Yui mumbled desolately into Shiina's shoulder.

"So that's another one of us who's seen the concert…" Yuri mused.

"Concert?" Yusa repeated, a curious lilt in her usual soft monotone.

"Well if you remember us, you must've seen it, right? Iwasawa's concert back in October?" Yuri quirked a prompting eyebrow at her. "That's how most of us got our memories back."

Yusa just shook her head. "Not a concert. Iwasawa played it personally for me a few months ago."

Yui's eyes bulged. "YOU'VE SEEN IWASAWA?!"

Startled, Yusa glanced in the direction of the screech. Yui, who was currently wrapped around Shiina's arm and squeezing hard like an excited boa constrictor, stared back at her with dilated glittering pupils.

"Don't mind her," said Yuri, responding to Yusa's questioning look with a dismissive wave of her hand. "She's been waiting to find Iwasawa throughout our entire reunion operation."

Yusa regarded her for a moment, unfazed, then absently smoothed her apron. "Well, she won't have to wait much longer."

The comment, however nonchalant, snapped Yuri into a state of alertness. She straightened in her chair, her mouth falling open, while Kanade gasped softly and Yui made a noise like a human tea kettle being strangled.

"Wait, what do you mean?!" cried Nagisa, who seemed to be bubbling with secondhand excitement.

"I can tell you more after my shift, but for now it might be best if you go see for yourself." Yusa nodded to Yui, then gestured towards the exit. "Across the street, at the pavilion by the park. Check the current events board—"

A violent breeze kicked up the hair shrapnel on the floor as Yui hurtled out the door so fast the bell jingled wildly in the aftermath.

Yuri, Kanade, and Shiina exchanged bewildered glances before scrambling after her.


Yui's feet barely touched the ground – it was like she pushed her legs so hard they blurred underneath her and misted into a heavenly cloud of concert smoke that carried her across the street.

Cars honked, people yelped, men shook their fists and women held onto their sunhats, but to Yui they didn't even exist beyond an apologetic squeak. She could only see what was straight in front of her. The pavilion – and just beyond it, the amphitheater! The very sight made Yui squeak again and surge forward with a burst of adrenaline. She heard the front door of the salon opening in the background and someone shouting her name, but nothing could stop her. Not even—

SCREECH!

Yui echoed the high-pitched squeal in great fear and scampered past the stopped car, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. That was too close! But she couldn't even process it right now, and she was about ready to vault traffic at this point. Past terrors could be reignited later – the pavilion's siren call was just too strong.

Having made it safely across, she darted over to the current events board as soon as she spotted it. Job offers, apartments for rent, and upcoming activities covered every inch of its surface.

And then – there it was.

She reached out and grazed it softly with trembling fingertips, as if it were an impossible mirage but the electric bolts around the logo might still deliver a powerful shock. Her glistening eyes traced the pink lettering, the feminine silhouettes, the four familiar names at the top.

IWASAWA

HISAKO

SEKINE

IRIE

GIRLS DEAD MONSTER

26 June ~ 19:00 ~ Mizuzaka Amphitheater

Yui's lip started to quiver. The universe itself disappeared inside her eyes and exploded into infinite glittering galaxies. Snatching the promotional poster off the board, she opened her mouth and let out a shrill, piercing—


"EEEEEHHHHHHH!"

An alarmed flock of birds soared up from the park's treetops and scattered to the wind. Over by the baseball diamond, Otonashi dropped his bat, and he and Hinata shielded their eyes from the sun as they turned to stare in the direction of the salon.

"Uh…" Fujimaki scratched his head. "Was that Yui?"


Yui's city-shaking shriek had only just begun to die down when rapid footsteps came up behind her, but she was still shaking from head to toe, her lips frozen in a happy soundless wail.

"Yui!" Shiina burst out, spinning her around with a firm hand on her shoulder. "What were you thinking? Running out into the road like that? You of all people should know how dangerous that could have b—"

She was cut off as Yui sprang upon her, threw her arms around her neck, and kissed her right on the mouth.

Before breaking away and promptly starting to scream again.


A/N: *pterodactyl screeching*

Now you understand why I couldn't wait. Not even until I finished Chapter 51 (title tentative). Oh, this has been a long time coming. I'll try not to keep you guys waiting.

Until next time!


Preview:

"She looks like she's seen starfish."

"Feast your eyes, boys!"

"GlDeMo already reformed?"

"It's hard for friends to be apart from each other."

"There's only one winner this time."

"You almost scared us to death!"

"The weekend's not over just yet."

"Naoi, you ol' softie."

"Are you sure you're not talking about something else?"

"Please accept this."

"I can do that for you right now."

[Chapter 51]: Catching Up.