A/N: Hey Angel Beats section! Happy Saturday and Happy Halloween! (Did you know the 30th was Iwasawa's unofficial birthday? I didn't, which makes the timing on this kinda fun. And here I was just updating as a birthday present to myself) The second half of this chapter gave me trouble for quite a while but damned if I wasn't determined to write that scene anyway. Also my "s" and "w" keys have been being stubborn lately (you can imagine what a joy it is to try and type Iwasawa!) so that's been fun. Well, I hope this chapter isn't too OOC or filler - but I'm pretty happy with it. Happy enough to want to update earlier than 6pm. Thanks to ZainR, Shiranai Atsune, Cha0T1cPeace, and Seiram for the reviews!
ZainR: (Shoutout to this guy, last month he made some HC edits on twitter! You can probably find them if you twitter-search "naoi yuri" or "rumplestiltskin yuri.") RIGHT? It makes me desperate to get back to the ski resort arc itself. Don't worry, by the time I actually write and post it, you'll probably have forgotten the spoiler xD. Also I still can't get over your "turn on the slide" analogy, it's so true and the best mental picture. I'm glad you liked the Fuko memory retrieval (it had to be done) and seeing Yuri show a little care! Hoping this update a month later makes up for the Battlefront-less summer.
Shiranai Atsune: Thank you so much! It means a lot to hear that you're still along for the ride :')
Cha0T1cPeace: I appreciate so much that you honed in on a few particular details, like the hypnotism strain or Yusa's reaction to Naoi's comment about winning a girl's heart honestly (dude earned himself the Yusa Stamp of Approval). It certainly looks like something's up between them, doesn't it? ;) To the outside viewer... Funny, it's usually Naoi doing the jealous thing! As for Akuma's current state... I won't say Rumple's not responsible for it. Could there be a link of some sorts to him and the shadow program that Yuri allegedly destroyed? Perhaps. Maybe I want you playing with that possibility in your head. (Oh boy, teetering is a good word for Kimito. After his sons, I don't think he could stand to lose anyone else.) (Heh, I knew you'd like the Chaa part!) (And it's been a month and I am absolutely not over the mental image of TK grooving to Kotomi's violin shredding! You just know that if TK's in America, he's finding lots of love and kooky friendships.)
Seiram: Correct! I had trouble coming up for a title for that chapter, but "Natsukashii" (nostalgia) felt like the best word for the reminiscing and memory retrieval. If Fuko does show up in this series, I have the perfect event for her to attend. And those two really did! I love Chaa and enjoyed seeing him more in Heaven's Door, but two episodes of the anime isn't enough for me. All I know is, Chaa with memories meeting Naoi would be loads of fun :) Aha! Good catch! Chaa was being chased by a woman who looked like Yuri. Eight years ago while visiting a beach in or near Akuma. Hmm... And thank you! You know, this fic was somewhat inspired by a Victorious ensemble slowburn. Victorious has 6-7 (main) characters. The Battlefront has like twenty members. The things we do for love, I guess?
Hope you enjoy!
[Chapter 55]: Congruent
GlDeMo's rehearsal place was a moderate-sized, private, curious little venue in the town of Kōmyō, having an appearance like a cross between a storage or community center and a storefront. It was dark when Ayato arrived with Matsushita, Fujimaki, and Ooyama around 7:50, the only cars in the barren parking lot being those of GlDeMo and Battlefront. The band could be heard from outside, muffled music already faintly thrumming in the night air, though the building was slightly isolated enough from the rest of the town area (and bordering a forest) that it wasn't disturbing anyone.
Matsushita swung the door open and they filed inside, passing through a small lobby and hallway with some Key vending machines as they followed the music to the room where Girls Dead Monster was playing. They joined the Otonashis, Hinatas, Shiina, Yuri, and Yusa, who were sitting in foldable chairs at a respectable distance from GlDeMo's elevated platform. Though Ayato's headache from earlier had died down to an annoying but mild underlying tension, he took a seat closer to the back behind Otonashi and Kanade just to be safe. Annoyingly, Fujimaki took a seat to his left and kept trying to kick-scoot Ayato's seat sideways and forward so he would be directly behind Yuri. The only thing that saved the idiot from prompt retribution via hypnotism, other than Ayato's pained and wary self-restraint, was Ooyama chastising him for messing around during the rehearsal. Fujimaki was smart to listen. Headache be damned, one more scoot and GlDeMo would indeed have quite a disruption on their hands (re: Fujimaki learning a thing or two about being a chicken).
Yui, of course, was quite literally on the edge of her seat. She probably would've hushed Fujimaki herself if anything or anyone else in the room existed to her but the band. They practiced segments of Alchemy and Crow Song – and it was actually strange to Ayato, after weeks of hearing Yui practice them or sing to herself, to hear it done by Iwasawa, but Yui was clearly in her shimmering trance of a happy place. The girls next started up with a song titled "Hot Meal," the melody of which Ayato recognized as the song Yui played at her debut Operation Tornado concert. Yui was stoked to hear Iwasawa's version and lyrics, hyped up to a whole new level and practically falling out of her chair. Luckily she had Hinata next to her to nonchalantly pull her back into position.
Shiina, Otonashi, and Kanade were more composed, with Otonashi looking very content as he nursed a can of coffee and occasionally passed Kanade some covert looks or fond glances. The former Angel, in fact, missed a few of them, remarkably focused and attentive to the performance. Either she'd become just as big of a GlDeMo fan as Yui – or possibly she believed "Hot Meal" was referring to mapo tofu and was trying to hear it in the lyrics.
And behind a similarly fixated Yusa, there was Yuri, arms folded and staring straight ahead – but even diagonal from her and in a quick inconspicuous glimpse Ayato could recognize the distant look in her eyes. Lost in the music, or in thought…? It was hard to say.
It was a funny thing, though, attending something like this. Even though he'd never participated in an Operation Tornado himself, Ayato could sense a sort of Afterlife energy to this gathering that made him feel newly nostalgic. And to not only be part of this particular Battlefront experience, but watch Girls Dead Monster rehearse for an official living world concert?
It was… interesting. How things could change so drastically, and yet in some ways stay the same. GlDeMo wasn't just rehearsing for a school performance anymore. They were headed for something bigger, together.
How surreal it was, to watch someone – a former schoolmate – perform up close and in person after previously seeing them on TV. And this song threw him back to the night he burst into the Battlefront's lives and locked them away in detention. Yet here he was now with all of them, in a new life, hearing the same song just a little bit differently. He sat back in his seat and let his addled mind drift away with the music.
"mayotta toki ni wa mata kono basho e modottekureba ii yo
atashi wa itsu demo utatteru kara tobisaki no wakarazu ni…"
He found himself watching Iwasawa in particular, the smiles she shared with Hisako here and there as the latter shredded on the guitar, the crackle of chemistry between all four bandmates. The last time he'd seen her perform, she was all alone on that stage. Much like she must've been in her past life. She looked much happier like this.
"…saa sa okaeri kimi wa mou daijoubu…"
Her voice began to wear out a bit near the end, so once they wrapped up the song they called for a fifteen minute break. Many took this as their cue to head out into the hall towards the vending machines, water fountains, and restrooms. Ayato followed suit, since Irie had chosen to stay back and go ballistic on the drums for an epic solo that would do his nerves and eardrums no favors.
Not to say that the hall wasn't filled with its own commotion. The vending machines rumbled and spat out snacks and drinks while Yui prattled happily to Shiina and Otonashi and anyone who would listen that GlDeMo was more powerful than ever and she'd never heard Alchemy rock this hard before and when they played it at the concert her soul was going to be blasted out of her body from the sheer awesomeness and can you believe we get to hear old and new songs before the actual performance this is just TOO COOL!
Shiina quietly listened to Mount Yui erupt, the latter blithely following her to the water fountain and fangirling some more as she busily quenched her thirst. Otonashi and Kanade watched this with sympathetic smiles and soft laughter.
"Shiina sure is patient," Kanade said warmly.
"She couldn't get a word in edgewise even if she wanted to." Otonashi looked over at the pair, scratching at his neck with a grin. "I don't think we've ever seen Yui this happy."
"And here I am, getting her more sugar," Hinata said, stepping up to the snack machine. At the drink machine to his right, Yuri peeked over as he pressed the buttons for his selection, then cast him a mildly despairing look before she bent down to fetch her soda from the dispenser.
The snack machine came to life with a buzz, making Ayato blush on instinct as he tore his eyes away from what had briefly held his attention (only briefly!). Just in time to see a bright red packet of strawberry KeyKats stutter at the coil and stop in mid-tilt.
Hinata grunted an angry sigh. "Aw, come on…!" He hit the screen hard with the side of his fist. Nothing.
"Bad luck," Otonashi tsked.
"Yui!" Hinata called over to his wife. She stopped chattering to Shiina and peeked over at him. "It's stuck. Come do – like, a flying kick at it or something."
"No way!" Yui hollered back. "I can't destroy public property – I'm Iwasawa's guest here!"
Hinata sighed again in resignation. "Fine, I'll get it." He rolled his sleeve up past his elbow and crouched down to dispenser-level. Ayato's mouth fell open in disbelief, hardly daring to believe his eyes. He tried to cover a silent budding laugh with his can of green tea. Part of him wanted to shoot Yuri a look, but he couldn't let himself miss a moment. Was this really happening…?
Otonashi's eyebrows knitted together in consternation, watching Hinata worm his way inside the slot. "Um, maybe you shouldn't stick your arm in there like th—"
"Let him do it," Ayato and Yuri said sharply.
They reflexively shared a glance then, Yuri blinking and making a surprised sound at their simultaneity, before understanding took hold and knowing smirks crept across their lips. When they turned back to the scene, Otonashi had paused and was staring at them.
Even Hinata, already arm-deep in the vending machine, squinted up at them with a suspicious frown as he was straining to reach the candy. His movements slowed with uncertainty.
"Okay, I don't like that look you two just shared, what's with—" He tried to shift his arm. It didn't budge. A look of panic flashed across his face. "Uh-oh."
Ayato and Yuri burst out laughing hysterically, wheezing and shrieking at everything from his wide-eyed terror to his distressed yanking and thumping. He could hear Yuri cackling as she clicked open her fizzy drink.
"I warned you," Otonashi said, shaking his head. "It's probably a bad sign when those two actually agree on something."
Yuri smiled into her soda can. "We saw the exact same thing happen to someone back in high school. I just wanted to know if Hinata was dumb enough to do it too."
"Hey…!" Hinata grouched from the floor.
"She saw it," Ayato corrected, still grinning from ear to ear. "I only heard about it in stories. But this… this was better than I could've ever imagined."
Hinata scowled sulkily up at him, making him even happier.
"Well it's basically the same as it was eight years ago," Yuri said thoughtfully, and considered her soda for a moment before taking a sip. "Just a different idiot, and a different drink."
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that," Otonashi said, ignoring Hinata's wriggling and struggling at his feet. He gestured to the can in her hand. "What's with the switch from coffee to pomegranate lately? Is it that good?"
Yuri faltered, looking caught and kind of unnerved by the question. "Well, I think so," she replied loftily, bringing it back up to her lips.
With that tone, it only took Ayato a few seconds before realization struck. "She's probably drinking it either because one of our old friends loved it, or because another old friend hated it," he said, rubbing his chin. "Possibly both."
Sentimental or petty, or sentimental and petty. It was endearing, really… very Yuri of her. Frankly he was surprised it took him this long to pick up on it. But now that he thought about it, coffee hadn't seemed to be her go-to drink since… well, since he stopped making it for her.
He would've followed that thought further if not for the look she was giving him. Dimmed scrutiny and a slight curl to her lip, before her attention dropped to her drink with a sigh.
"There you go again," she muttered, as she pretended to scan the ingredients list. "Knowing things."
Ayato quirked his eyebrows at her – what did he do now? He snuck a sidelong glance to Otonashi for sympathy, only to discover that the latter was walking away towards the restrooms.
"Hey!" Hinata yelped after him, rattling indignantly in his trap. "Aren't you going to help me?"
"Maybe in five minutes. All those lemonade refills from earlier, you know…"
"What?! Can't you just get me out first?"
Otonashi threw a dismissive wave behind him. "You'll never learn like that!"
Hinata gaped at the man's retreating form. "Thanks, Dad," he grumbled. His gaze skipped wisely over Ayato. "Yurippe, would you please—"
She had just disappeared around a corner.
Ayato's snicker at Hinata's resulting groan died off as he caught movement and a flash of magenta out of the corner of his eye. Iwasawa, after quietly refilling her water bottle at the unoccupied water fountain, was now slipping past everyone in the background and quietly wandering out through a side exit into the night. The door swung closed behind her, any noise unheard over Hinata's grouchy thumping.
He stared after her, clutching his green tea, considering. Hinata might've called his name a couple of times but he barely heard it through the mental fog. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he started walking in the same direction.
"Ladies, a little help?" Hinata pleaded in the background.
Kanade and Shiina, who had been chatting nearby, headed towards him while distractedly passing Ayato. "Well… Yui wanted to get her camera first, but alright."
"Thank you. Kanade, I knew you loved me more than Otonashi does."
"Actually, you're blocking the Blueberry Cheesecake KeyKats…"
The door closed behind Ayato, muffling the conversation and now-irritating vending machine thumps. Instead, his mind was soothed by the sound of the wind carrying across the parking lot into the forest. Leaves rustled softly in response, while the cicadas chirped faintly in the near distance.
He adjusted his cap, which had been unsettled by the strong breeze, and looked up at the night sky. The moon, bright and nearly full, drifted in and out of view behind thickening clouds. He lowered his gaze to his right and spotted a figure sitting against the wall, her head leaned back as she watched the same clouds and nursed at her water bottle.
Finding his resolve, Ayato turned and strode over to her.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked, carefully enough so as not to disturb a peaceful or creative thought.
Iwasawa glanced over at him with some surprise. Slow consideration took over her features, and then a soft smile preceded a small nod as she looked back to the sky.
"Not at all," she said amiably, and sipped her water. "It's a nice night."
"Hm." Ayato gave a light acknowledging harrumph. He approached another few steps, turned with his back against the wall, and hesitated as he regarded her there. It felt strange to hold himself above Iwasawa like this. After a moment's thought, he put his drink down and let himself sink into a sitting position.
"A storm front's coming in," Iwasawa amended. "But I think it's going to pass us."
Ayato studied the moving clouds with interest, relishing in the scent of distant storm on the air. "We might get something here tonight, but most of it is heading towards Akuma."
"You know?"
He shrugged. "My mother. She told me they were expecting rain."
"Right. That's where you and Yuri are from…" She looked very pensive, then, like she was trying to remember or figure something out, but appeared to think better of it.
Ayato chuckled slightly. Look at them, discussing the weather. "I don't mean to make you talk too much. I know you came out here to rest your voice."
Iwasawa let a contented smile show. "It's not a problem," she said. "It was nothing that a little water and fresh air couldn't fix."
"I'm glad. That you found your voice again." He took in his surroundings – the moon, the clouds, the shopping centers down the road and the streetlights here and there. The Battlefront's cars in the parking lot. "That you got out."
She cast him another sidelong glance, this one more curious than before. After a moment her eyebrows lifted as comprehension dawned. "I see. You mean in this life."
He nodded. "Things were rough at home for you again, you said…?"
"Same old, same old," she agreed. "The screaming and the shouting, the stomping…"
"Breaking dishes, throwing furniture around…" Ayato mused.
Iwasawa hummed thoughtfully. "I guess that answers my question about your sad backstory."
Ayato gave a semi-appreciative scoff. "It's the same as yours, more or less," he said, more to the night air. "On top of the family struggles… I thought I was on my way to becoming someone worthwhile. Then life came crashing down on my head and cursed me to a fate I couldn't escape."
Dying before he amounted to anything. Before he did anything that meant a damn to anyone. But he didn't add that part in.
"So you really are one of us," Iwasawa noted. "That's why we're all here, in a way. Don't you think?"
He considered her words, and heard Otonashi's in an echoed memory. I know because you're here.
Yes, that kind of life was what brought him to the Afterlife. That was how he came to be here with everyone.
"Everything we went through made us who we are," he murmured to himself, thinking of Okazaki's rant back at the baseball field. Then he turned to her. "That's why we all met, yes. But the reason we're here together now is because you were able to sing your song. Because, presumably, the head trauma never happened this time – because you did escape."
Iwasawa closed her eyes, looking peaceful but reflective as the wind sang to them again through the trees.
"After I regained my memories at graduation, I recognized how badly my parents' fights were escalating," she said, picking at the wrapper on her water bottle. "I told my mom I'd had a nightmare that Dad struck me over the head and caused me to have a stroke, and I didn't feel safe there. She told me I was being overly dramatic as always. So I left that night. Stayed with friends and did whatever I could to get by on my own. Cut off contact for over a year. Then one day she finally got ahold of me, and I found out that a month after I was gone, Dad threw two beer bottles at her head. He was drunk out of his mind so the first one missed. The second one wouldn't have if she hadn't ducked."
Ayato grimaced in sympathy, rubbing at the back of his head.
"She kicked him out after that. I won't bore you with the fallout or any of the legal details, suffice it to say he's not her problem anymore." She considered her water bottle for a moment. "Still, the fact that it came so close…" Letting the thought trail off, she took a decisive swig.
"It wasn't your fate this time," he noted. After all, it wasn't like she had unfairly dodged it, cheating Death's plan. "We were supposed to learn something from our time in the Afterlife. You were meant to rewrite your song, regain your memories, and get out before it was too late." He stared up at the moon, the same moon that was shining over Mizuzaka, or Akuma, or Kyuuya. "Thanks to that… thanks to you, your concert… reunited a different family. A stronger one."
A tiny humble smile twitched at Iwasawa's lips. "Aw, you guys would've found each other eventually," she said dismissively. "I know I wasn't sure of that myself at first, but it sounds to me like fate didn't even need my help with some of you."
"Some of us, yes. But for the rest of us, 'eventually' could've been five, ten, thirty years." Ayato rubbed absently at the place where his watch should be, remembering the message Yuri had engraved on the back. "Time is precious, and you bought us a lot of it. Now we get to enjoy the rest of our lives together, knowing exactly who we are and what we mean to each other."
In his peripheral vision, he caught Iwasawa watching him more closely with warm, surreptitious intrigue. It occurred to him how sappy he must sound right now, and he briefly flushed red before clearing his throat.
"What I'm saying is… I'm glad it happened this way," he said. "It isn't easy getting away from a home life like yours but you did it. I… we owe a lot to you."
She turned back to the sky, leaning her head against the wall again. "Well, don't sell yourself short," she said evenly. "You got out too, didn't you?"
A hesitant noise lodged in his throat. He let his cap shroud his features as he studied his green tea. "I had some help."
Iwasawa made a small understanding sound.
"Yuri, right?" she asked. When he snapped his gaze over to her, she met it with a small shrug. "It doesn't surprise me. It's pretty obvious there's something going on between the two of you – and being Yuri, she'd do whatever it takes to protect the ones she cares about."
Ayato buried a self-deprecating harrumph into his drink. "What you're picking up on is merely tension between a divorced couple," he informed her. When she lifted both eyebrows, baffled but vindicated, he admitted, "It's a long, complicated story, most of which is my fault. She doesn't particularly care for me these days. At best it's begrudging tolerance for the sake of the Battlefront."
At her musing expression, he realized how depressing he must sound, and cleared his throat again.
"But yes. It was Yuri," he conceded. "We've known each other since we were sixteen. She protected me the day we met and stood by me from that moment on. Her parents are rich, so when we were twenty, she was able to find us a place far enough away from Akuma. I never could've afforded a house like that working at a bakery at my age." He shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself at the reminiscent thought. "Though, even without the Nakamuras' influence as my father's best customers… I'm sure she'd still be the only person I know brave enough to threaten Kimito Naoi."
The comment made Iwasawa grin. "I'll bet," she said fondly. "That's Yuri for ya. She's got a sharp tongue. But when it comes to love, it's not always her weapon of choice."
Ayato glanced at her. "What do you mean?"
A small shrug from the woman. "You say Yuri doesn't care for you anymore. I highly doubt that. She doesn't fall in love easily, it's probably just as hard for her to fall out of it." She took a swig of her water; Ayato watched her, bitterly envisioning the potion bottle. "On top of that, I'm guessing you were her first love, right?" When Ayato grunted in confirmation, Iwasawa gave a satisfactory nod. "Yeah, that's not something you can just get over."
Not without a little magical interference, Ayato thought to himself grimly.
"And when… when you've never felt a certain way before, it's kind of difficult to process those feelings, let alone express them. Take it from someone who knows." Iwasawa smiled faintly down at the curb, fiddling with what he now noticed was a guitar pick necklace. "Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Or at least they do until you find the right ones. Personally I think words are powerful and you need both. But with Yuri, taking action is what she does best."
She rested her head against the wall, burying a relaxed sigh within a deep breath.
"People have different ways of revealing their true feelings. Yuri protects people, looks after them, tries to keep them close. And I," she paused with a modest half-shrug, "well, I sing my songs."
Though what she was saying had begun to make sense to him, after a moment he could feel the hope dimming from his features. He had spoken his words loud and clear, and Yuri had decidedly not tried to keep him close. Just as Iwasawa and her mother had distanced themselves from her father. Just as he had done with his own.
"What if… there are some things that remain lost? Some loves that are never reignited?" he asked. "Sometimes there are reunions that will never be, a past that should stay in the past. Like you and your mother with your father."
Or like Kanade with Angel Player. Even if she could have it back, she wouldn't take it. Didn't need it anymore, didn't care.
The cicadas filled the silence as Iwasawa continued to twist at her necklace contemplatively.
"Then what are we doing here?" she returned, the question quiet and pensive but prodding. "What else is the purpose of Operation Songbird? We're bringing people from our past into our new lives, and we're celebrating that. It's like you said, these are the people we choose to live the rest of our lives with – or at least see again." She raised watchful eyes to the stars. "So I guess it's about choice. Who you stay with, who you leave. Who you cut out, who you bring back. Who you lose, who you look for. Who you let go, and who you fight for."
Picking up her half-empty water bottle, she studied its contents for a moment.
"It all comes down to two questions. Do you want them in your life, and if so, what are you going to do about it?" She brought the bottle to her lips. "It's up to you."
Ayato watched as she punctuated that thought with a steady sip, then turned back to look out over the parking lot.
"It's up to them, too," he muttered.
A/N: Getting Hinata stuck in the vending machine? Trick. A little Naoi and Iwasawa bonding? Treat. (...Okay the Hinata thing was a treat to me :P)
To all who celebrate, have a happy Halloween! And don't let the shadows get ya.
I'll be doing my best to keep writing so I can have another chapter or two for you all before the end of the year. I had a HC goal for 2020 to get to a particular place or moment and, well? To quote Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, I'm almost there! Just have to tread carefully.
Until next time!
~Caroline
Preview:
"You can't just walk out on Iwasawa!"
"Publicity was always one of your strong suits."
"Let's keep it between us, alright?"
"We kind of have a huge favor to ask you."
"I wouldn't want to ruin her concentration."
"Don't leave it like this."
"We've gotta keep meeting up."
"You little party animal, you."
"I have a terrible feeling about this."
"What the hell am I supposed to do?"
"You don't have time to argue."
[Chapter 56]: Abrupt Exits.
