Place to Try

by SpinLord

To forget is to let go of one's past. When Uzumaki Naruto makes up his mind, the path he chooses leads him to the Afterlife; a purgatorial realm created to appease those with regrets in their lives. Sounds nice, doesn't it? It would've, if only there isn't a group of people waging a rebellion against God. [New Chapter] series, 'Amnesia route' {Currently being rewritten}

8. Chapter 7: Declaration of War

[A/N]: January 12th, 2014

As of now, I'm contemplating whether I should write flashbacks in italics or not.

I mean, I read a review on some other author's story, asking said author to differentiate the writing style between the present time and the flashbacks, preferably using italics. I thought that I ought to do the same, but wouldn't that make the flashbacks harder to read? Diagonally written paragraphs are like visual tricks that make me dizzy when I read them. I might end up using italics, though, since I just don't have any other options.

...Never mind, I guess I'm just ranting randomly.

Anyway, this chapter 7 is actually still linked to the fifth episode of the canon [Angel Beats!] series. I'm not sure how I should write this down. Other than the fact that I want to give a particularly loud shounen roar at the injustice shown towards Kanade at the end of the fifth episode, I don't really have any creative ideas. Then again, they say being driven by emotion is better than not being driven at all. But then again, being driven by emotion would make me an emo, like a certain Uchiha with a chicken's ass hairstyle...

...Well shit, I'm ranting again, aren't I? Whatever, I'll start the disclaimer myself then.

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Naruto or any character from the [NARUTO] franchise, and neither do I own any character from the [Angel Beats!] franchise. So there you have it, lawsuits.

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Chapter 7

Detention, a Lost Ticket, and a Declaration of War

Soundtrack Listing: (LiSA – Thousand Enemies)

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[PART 1]

Naruto woke up with a start.

And a terrible headache, he might add. The alarm clock in his dorm room was being a douchebag and rung like a heavy metal vocalist on steroids.

He didn't have that alarm clock before. NPC-Tsunade, who was in charge of the dorm, might have put it in his room by the time he came back. She said that she forgot to place it there when he first moved in as a student. Honestly though, she shouldn't have bothered even if it was essentially the only thing powerful enough to wake Naruto up other than ramen.

The ringing was terrible.

Nevertheless, Naruto begrudgingly woke up. Not without giving the bastard alarm clock a taste of Rasengan first, of course.

The blond yawned and rubbed his bleary eyes. His second-floor room had a window that was facing towards the all-purpose open field at the center of the school area, the Grounds. By that angle, the sunlight should've found its way into his room, but it hadn't due to the fact that the day seemed to be a bit cloudy. He was no weatherman, but he suspected it might rain tomorrow, or the day after that. One of the drawbacks of summer, he supposed, was that the heat would eventually gather enough water vapor that it would rain buckets afterwards.

The boy sighed tiredly.

The exam season had ended. Following that so had the operation that revolved around messing up Kanade's test results—dubbed with the name 'Operation Test Disturb'. It had been a grueling war against the bane of existence known as written tests for him, but that time had finally passed. The distraction acts had all been successful, if he did say so himself. Between Hideki's lame jokes, Takamatsu's exhibitionism, Ooyama's faulty confessions and Naruto's own transformation gimmicks, they had done the job well enough. He just couldn't put a finger on why Yuri didn't deem it enough and continue to send them flying towards the ceiling.

Not Ooyama, of course. His flight was reserved for Hideki, who had yet again been launched to the ceiling in the other boy's place, repeatedly.

On a side note, Otonashi didn't experience any of that horrible punishment. He didn't even have to pull a distraction act, as amusing as that might've been, and strangely Yuri didn't order him to. When Naruto commented that she was playing favorites, it earned him a couple more smashes to the ceiling.

"I swear...that girl really hates me."

He admitted he did piss her off some time in their early meetings. It was something that he said, he knew.

Speaking of Yuri...

The last time he met her, she didn't act like anything particular had happened. As per usual, she was back to her strict and hard-headed self, giving nonsensical and irrational orders to the people unlucky enough to be her subordinates; which, as Hideki categorized it, "same old Yurippe".

Given the secret she wanted to keep, it should be natural. For the sake of his promise, Naruto didn't say anything about it, either. He wasn't one to go back on his words, after all. However, the memory of that one meeting kept crossing his mind all the time without his consent, so he couldn't help but remember it.

/Flashback/

"I have a sneaking suspicion...that Angel is human."

Yuri finally said it, the doubt that she had. The secret that had been troubling her all this time, the secret that she couldn't tell even to her own subordinates in the Afterlife Battlefront, ended up being told to Naruto. The lack of response, however, was somewhat discomforting for her.

Naruto didn't answer her immediately. He realized that he was at lost for words, and when he did find something to say it was nothing more than a confused mumble.

"Oh, uh...is that so?"

Yuri gave the blond a dry look. "'Is that so?' wouldn't cut out as a response, you know. You could've said something else. This is something that might turn around the purpose of our fight against Angel for crying out loud!"

"No, no, I get it! It's just...I was just caught off-guard, that's all." The confused blond scratched the back of his head, his face scrunched up. Yuri thought that it made him look like a hamster, but part of her wanted to slap that face just for the heck of it.

She sighed and replied, "Well, I can't blame you for being like that. Even I surprised myself when the idea first crossed my mind. To think that someone like her might actually be a human being, ignoring the fact that she has powers that a normal human shouldn't have possessed..."

"No, actually, I'm more surprised that you'd only suspect her humanity now."

"...What does that suppose to mean?"

Naruto tilted his head, his face still retaining its confused demeanor. "I mean, no matter how you look at it, you can tell that she's just a girl from the first glance, right? It's true that she can summon blades of light out of her sleeves, but put it all aside...well, she doesn't look anything different than a normal girl."

"It's the fact that she has the ability to summon blades of light and other supernatural abilities that made me doubt her humanity. What kind of normal person would be able to do that?"

"Where I come from, people can do worse than that." Naruto looked to the side and muttered dryly, "Compared to a certain someone who can destroy a mountain with a single punch, Kanade isn't even scary..."

"I'm really beginning to doubt what 'normal' is by your standards."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, 'normal' is a relative term."

Essentially, Yuri's term of normal was different than what 'normal' was in Naruto's understanding. To him, someone walking on water was normal, while guns would look like metal bananas shooting pebbles at high speed.

Of course, he couldn't deliberately classify Kanade as normal right off the bat like that. Looking it from Yuri's perspective, Naruto could understand that Kanade was not normal because she possessed unnatural abilities. Going by that, however, her suspicion about Kanade being human wasn't entirely unexpected, because she is definitely human no matter how anyone else saw her. Thinking that she was an angel was probably a way for her mind to cope with the fact that Kanade had powers that normal humans wouldn't have.

"Well, anyway, that's all I can say right now. I'm using the exam season to determine whether she's really human or not. Though I don't have to tell you this, but if she turns out to be a real angel, the Battlefront will fight her with all we've got."

Yuri laced that statement with a tone strict enough to make someone straighten their backs quick enough to break them. However, the yellow-haired boy in front of her didn't even look tense. Instead, a wide satisfied grin was on his face.

"But you're thinking of calling it quits if she turns out to be human, right?"

"..."

"Ha ha ha! Your silence says it all!" Naruto laughed, sounding victorious. "I guess I was wrong about you, Leader-chan. You're rude, but you really are a nice person."

"Wh-what does my personality has to do with anything?!"

"Nothing, nothing," Naruto waved her question off, shooting her a goofy smirk. "It's just...I don't know, I'm actually glad that you included that possibility in your consideration. Up until now, I've always thought you were so hung up on beating her that finding a way to defeat her is the only thing you're always thinking about."

Naruto laughed a bit and brought his hands behind his head. "I was wrong, though. Deep down, you're also trying to find some reason not to fight her, to actually know more about her rather than turning her into your personal scapegoat. If not, how would you come up with the possibility of her being human? I guess...like that, you're actually a good person."

"You're giving me too much credit. As I said, I won't hesitate to hurt her if she turns out to be a real angel." Yuri said with an unwavering tone.

"We'll deal with that when that happens, though I'm very certain that she is human." Naruto put his hands down and stuffed them into his trousers' pockets. He walked towards Yuri and stood by her side, looking up to the cloudy sky with a happy smile. "For now, I'm just glad you're willing to give her a chance."

Yuri didn't look at Naruto, even though she could easily do that by tilting her head slightly to the left. Even so, she didn't look. She was busy with her own thoughts. His words struck home in her, so much that she had to consciously admit that he had a point. She wanted to deny it, but...his judgment on her opinion made sense. Currently, she didn't feel that she wanted to make peace with Kanade, nor would she ever stop causing her trouble if she really was an angel of God. However, Naruto saw her suspicion about Kanade being human as a good sign.

Did her opinion reflect to him as such? Did he really think that she was such a kind-hearted person?

"Idiot..." Yuri said to Naruto. "Stop being so dense all the times. Not all people are as kind-hearted and forgiving as you think they are; least of all me. If you think I'm going to see Angel any different now, you're dead wrong."

"Sometimes people have as much idea about themselves as the stranger next to them. 'Underneath the underneath', as my teacher used to say—there'll always be something inside what you'd think is the deepest part of you. I'm no expert in that kind of stuff either, but trust me when I say that some people's real self is the opposite of who they think they are."

"I guess I'm not one of those people, then. Don't blame me if I ruin your good image of me by attacking Angel the moment I saw it fit."

"I trust you enough for that not to happen," Naruto laughed once more, bumping his left shoulder to Yuri's left one softly as he calmly walked away from her. "Besides, I'll be there to stop you, so no worries."

The wind blew, picking up its speed the further Naruto walked away from Yuri. The purple-haired girl didn't move, not until Naruto was about to activate his reiryoku and air-walk off the edges. Before he could do that, Yuri turned around and looked at his retreating back.

"One question, Uzumaki."

"Yeah?"

"Why do you care about Angel so much?"

The wind picked up its speed even more. The light brown 'Class SSS' blazer that the yellow-haired boy wore waved slightly along with said boy's spiky hair. Naruto turned his head back slightly and gave Yuri another smile.

It wasn't joyful or teasing. It wasn't his usual grin that usually shone a thousand megawatts. For some reason, the soft smile he had on his face looked a little sad.

"Let's just say I can relate to her situation. That's the easiest way to say it."

The wind blew harder. This time, Yuri had to shield her eyes lest dust would irritatingly fly into them. When she uncovered her eyes, though, the boy was already gone as if swept by the wind.

"...'Easiest way', my ass," Yuri cussed under her breath. "You just wanted to make a cool exit, didn't you?"

/Flashback Ends/

Many things became clear in that discussion of theirs.

For one, with Yuri suspecting Kanade of being human, it wouldn't be long until the harassment done to her would cease to be. Of course, Naruto had always believed that Kanade was human, but since he couldn't convince anyone from the Battlefront with words alone, Yuri's suspicion was a great help. Sooner or later, when the Battlefront realizes that their greatest enemy was actually a human being like them, they would stop fighting her.

Their pointless battle might finally found a peaceful end.

Even as a neutral party that wasn't directly involved in their prolonged fight, Naruto couldn't help but feel proud about it.

"Maybe I couldn't find peace when I was alive... Perhaps I never would've, judging by the circumstances." Naruto rose up to his feet before going to the bathroom to wash his face. He exhaled loudly as the cold water splashed around his face, waking him up instantly. "But finding it here, it kinda feels like all those times trying were worth it."

"Really? It all seems to me that you're trying to atone to your sins more than anything." Kurama's voice boomed throughout the boy's mindscape.

"Aah, morning, Kurama. Now that's odd, I never thought you were a morning person," Naruto said. Talking out loud wasn't really necessary when he could've spoke to Kurama using his thoughts alone, but he was feeling talkative as of late. Besides, having an actual someone to talk to felt better than making up an imaginary friend.

"I never said I was," Kurama replied, yawning contently as he stretched his legs behind his cage. "Truth to be told, the only thing that woke me up was that dreadful piece of equipment you call an alarm clock. Seriously, why do humans even invent that thing? The way they disturb someone's sleep isn't helpful at all."

"Show some gratitude to the guy who introduced punctuality. And how come you like to sleep that much? Isn't Shukaku the only one with sleeping tendencies?"

"He had been quite the slob from the very start, that's true. But most of us like to sleep just as much as he did, including me. Kokuō might be the only one energetic enough to keep running around..." Kurama sighed tiredly. "Really, I think most of us just liked to sleep and cause chaotic troubles for Hagoromo-jiji."

"Hagoromo-jiji?"

Kurama's demeanor suddenly changed as he smiled widely as his eyes lit up in childish amusement. "That's right, I haven't told you about it yet, have I? Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo; that's the Sage of Six Path's real name."

"Huh...that's the first time I heard about it. The Academy didn't tell me anything about the Sage's real name," Naruto said while reminiscing. "Then again, after a hundred years or so, people are bound to forget about his original name and go about calling him with his more popular title."

"Well, it's not like a human's memory is that strong to begin with."

"True that," Naruto nodded in agreement. He picked up a toothbrush, applied a little bit of toothpaste and proceeded to brush his teeth.

Thinking back, no one really called the Rikudou Sennin with his real name these days. Other than Kurama and the other Tailed Beasts, Naruto's generation of shinobi might've not known about the Sage's real name at all. Despite the great man he was, the world only remembered Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo because of the deed he did for the world, not for the person he was. In the end, the only ones that remembered him as a person with a name of his own were his direct descendants and the Tailed Beasts he called his 'children'.

"Does it bother you that most of us didn't know the Sage that well, even when he was a hero to all of us?"

Kurama looked taken aback as he blinked owlishly for a while. He didn't expect Naruto to suddenly ask something serious like that; his laid back tone didn't fit the seriousness of his inquiry. Looking at his jailor's mental projection in front of him and the genuine curiousness plastered on his whisker-marked face, though, Kurama somehow felt less tense. Naruto might've asked in such a relaxed demeanor to avoid making him uncomfortable.

"Not really. I mean, it's true that I would've preferred him to be well-known as the good person he was, but I can't expect every person in the world to personally know him, can I? That'd be asking more than millions of people to get along with the old man and hold tea ceremonies for each introduction."

"It's not that I'm asking him to do that, either." Naruto retorted with a roll of his eyes. The boy sighed – both the mental projection and the real self – and scratched his head. "It's just... He's being remembered as more of a symbol than a person. Personally, I think being remembered like that has its disadvantages."

Quirking an eyebrow, Kurama then asked, "Such as?"

"People won't get to know the real him," Naruto answered.

Although the Sage was definitely a hero who defeated the legendary Ten-Tailed Beast and brought about peace to the lands, people only knew him as that. While a huge number of people acknowledged him, they lacked deeper knowledge of him. No matter how anyone would say otherwise, to them, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was only a hero that saved them; a mere presence that protected them.

In other words, people only assumed that they knew the Sage of Six Paths when they didn't even know his favorite color.

Being remembered as a simple symbol like that would create something terrifyingly unstable in a person.

"Sometimes I think that we were being selfish by calling him a hero just because he defeated the Jūbi. We don't even know the reason why he did what he did. It's even possible that he just wanted to kick the crap out of Jūbi because of its ugly mug and he had no intention of actually saving the people. Calling him a hero and putting such a burden on him like that..."

Naruto trailed off, almost like his mind wandered elsewhere as he talked. He snapped to reality and shook his head after a while.

"Ah, but I'm not saying that's what he had in mind! I'm just saying that, as long as we don't know him, there's really no way of telling."

"...I guess I've never thought about it that way," Kurama admitted. He felt slightly confused as to why Naruto suddenly brought this up when there wasn't exactly anything wrong with it, but Kurama could understand what the boy was saying.

After all, Naruto had once been regarded in the same way. He had been a hero of the village and the Child of Prophecy that was supposed to save the Shinobi world.

"Are you still feeling guilty about being called a hero, brat? Is that why you brought this up all of the sudden?" The Nine-Tailed Fox's red eyes peered down at Naruto's smaller mental projection calmly.

Naruto's real body had been in the process of putting his clothes on when he stopped and looked down to his feet. His hands were in the middle of buttoning up the white shirt that came along with the 'Class SSS' uniform that was given to him. After a long while, the blond let out a long sigh.

"It's more like I feel that I've let them down somehow," Naruto continued to button up his shirt before reaching for his light brown blazer. "They might've expected me to protect them and save the world like any other heroes, but the fact is I failed. I couldn't keep up with their image of the hero they thought I was. And honestly, I hate that kind of feeling."

After putting on his blazer, Naruto grabbed his Konoha hitai-ate and tied it to his head. He made sure to tighten it properly before walking to a standing mirror near the door to look at himself. What he saw was his own reflection; that much he could tell. It had been a long time since he last saw himself in a mirror, and he noticed that much had changed.

His hair was still the vibrant yellow it had always been, an inheritance from his father that gave him the nickname 'Yellow Flash'. It felt like it had grown longer, but it didn't look any different from usual. Perhaps the thing that stood out the most was the 'Class SSS' uniform he was wearing. He was so used to seeing himself in his black and orange attire that this sight of him was almost jarring.

A lot of time could change a person, he deduced.

"In a sense, I think it's the same thing Kanade's going through, though her case goes the other way. The Afterlife Battlefront labeled her as a villain rather than a hero, and that made them fight her with all they got. However, they didn't even put an effort to know her better. If they did, maybe there wouldn't have been any conflict at all."

"So you're saying that the reason they were fighting at all was because of this false labeling? Is that what you mean by seeing someone as a symbol?" Kurama asked with a look of interest. His jailor wasn't the brightest person there was, so it was rare for him to suddenly go all philosophical like this.

Naruto shrugged and walked towards the door. "More or less. Her situation kinda reminds me of myself in the past. It's like she's a Jinchūriki and everyone's afraid of her, even hating her for it."

"It sure does seem similar to that 'Jinchūriki complex' that's gotten popular in our world..."

"...Are you seriously calling it a complex? Since when did being a Jinchūriki become a trend?"

"Well, most people you've met so far had that kind of complex, don't they? Gaara, Killer Bee, that fake Jinchūriki Sora...hell, even Priestess Shion, a non-Jinchūriki, went through something like that. I can't believe Hagoromo-jiji actually became a trendsetter by becoming the first Jinchūriki in history."

"That sounds degrading! I can't speak for the old man, but even I know that he wouldn't want it to be called a trend! The meaning of self-sacrifice hidden behind it will disappear if it does!"

Considering the fact that he was proud to be a Jinchūriki, calling it a trend would ruin his status. After all, 'Power of Human Sacrifice' wasn't something that could be associated with a simple trend; saying that it was would make it sound like being a Jinchūriki was something like a set of clothes.

Realizing how ridiculous their conversation was becoming, Naruto decided to cut his mental link off for the while with a tired sigh and an unenthusiastic look.

"Well, whatever, I should get going for now. Nice talking with you, Kurama."

"Likewise, brat. I suppose a good nap is required after hearing all that...rant...of...yours...Zzzz...*snore*"

"You're sleeping already?!"

The nine-tailed fox's behavior did nothing but baffle the yellow-haired boy. He could understand that Kumara might've found a new interest in sleeping since there wasn't much to do in his cage, but was it really any reason to go doze off right after a whole night's worth of sleep? He really needed to find a new hobby.

Making a mental note to put an effort and turn his mindscape into something more pleasant for Kurama one day, Naruto went out of the dorm building.

The exam season had ended.

That meant Naruto was back to doing his usual routine of goofing around.

o-x-o-x-o

[PART 2]

Naruto's plan proceeded quite well.

As he decided to take a break from messing with the Afterlife Battlefront for a while, his classroom was the only place he could go to. He felt kind of awkward since he was the only one who was wearing the 'Class SSS' uniform in that room, but the NPCs didn't look like they noticed it. Then again, they didn't have that much of a reaction when he came in wearing his black-and-orange.

'Non-whatable whatchamacallits...or whatever Leader-chan said they were, they weren't supposed to have an individual thought process, right?'

Of course, the fact that NPC-Lee kept spouting 'Youth!' all the time made that point arguable.

Either way, the yellow-haired boy had been sleeping soundly in his seat when a sudden scratchy noise resounded from the intercom.

"Attention, please. Students Tachibana Kanade of Class 3-A and Uzumaki Naruto of Class 3-C are required to come to the staffroom right at this moment. That's all."

And just like that, the announcement curtly ended.

Thanks to that announcement, everyone's attention was on the bleary-eyed Naruto who was still only half-awake. The yellow-haired boy didn't even notice that drool was dripping from the edge of his mouth, let alone realize that his NPC classmates was staring at him with blank expressions.

"Haah~...what did you do this time, Uzumaki?"

"That was the principal, wasn't it? Did he finally have enough of Uzumaki's antics?"

"UWOOOH! To even make the principal call you directly?! As expected from the youthful Uzumaki-kun!"

"Rock-san, you're getting too excited again..."

Clearly, Class [3-C] was already familiar with the troubles the mischievous blond caused every now and then. It was actually hard not to, seeing as how he wouldn't hesitate to prank the homeroom teacher when his boredom reached its limits. One time, the aged homeroom teacher even had his ass stuck to the chair for the whole class period thanks to a 'mysterious' glue-like substance that was stealthily placed by 'you-know-who'.

No one but Naruto knew that the glue-like substance was taken from the Guild during one of Naruto's peaceful endeavors there. Chaa had been all but too welcoming since he was looking for a suitable target to test his new Glue Gun on. Though Naruto had found the effort of trying to shoot him amusing, he was more interested in the gooey projectiles Chaa was shooting.

Needless to say, that became Naruto's new tool of mischief.

It was a shame the Glue Gun's further development was suspended since Chaa deemed it "attracts Uzumaki too much".

However, this time, there was no prank done. Naruto wanted to go through this day without any tiring excitements, so he decided to lay low. That was why the reason why he was called to the staffroom was lost on him.

'And even then, I can understand why they would summon a delinquent like me, but to call Kanade too? I wonder what's going on...'

Rising to his feet while heaving a sigh, Naruto walked out of the class, bypassing his homeroom teacher's inquisitive look with a clueless shrug.

Once he was out in the hallway, the only destination he had in mind was the staffroom. Even though he could've just escaped and hid until tomorrow, Naruto's enthusiasm for the day had dropped so low that he didn't even have the urge to do it. So instead, he obediently made his way towards the staffroom. He would pass Class [3-A] on the way there, so maybe he could go get Kanade along the way.

However, Kanade had already been standing in front of her class readily. By the looks of it, she seemed to be waiting.

"Ah, you're already out? I was just going to call for you."

Kanade took in what Naruto said with a neutral face as she always did. Despite the slight surprise she felt when her name was called, she seemed to be able to maintain a perfect poker face.

"That's unnecessary. I've heard the announcement myself."

"Hm...I guess that makes sense," Naruto said, stroking his cheek while smiling.

Ending the short conversation with that, Naruto continued his walk to the staffroom. Kanade joined in next to him, walking at a more reserved pace than his slightly quicker walk. Although she was silent, Kanade's steps resounded loudly throughout the empty hallway, taking Naruto's focus completely away from any other things.

He was grateful that her steps were so audible; otherwise he would forget that she was even there in the first place.

Unfortunately, he suspected that her audible steps wouldn't last long. The staffroom was in another building entirely, separating itself from the main school building, so they would be walking outside in no time. Not wanting to unconsciously erase her presence when that time comes, Naruto decided to talk to the silver-haired girl.

"So, Kanade, got any idea what this is about?" asks Naruto.

It might have been Naruto's imagination, but he could swear he saw Kanade slightly flinching for no apparent reason. It might as well be a coincidence, but her steps suddenly went uneven at the same time. Normally, those kinds of small reactions were insignificant if you were talking to anyone else, but since it was the expressionless Kanade every small reaction like that counted as a big one. Naruto had adapted in a way that he was able to pick up those faint signals.

Of course, he didn't know why she suddenly reacted like that.

Unbeknownst to him, the reason Kanade was caught slightly off-guard was simply because he called her with her given name.

Kanade composed herself – though she was plenty composed to begin with – before giving her answer, "I don't know."

"That's not like you to not know about it," Naruto pointed out casually.

"I really have no idea. But I think it may be something the principal finds troubling."

"I don't think I've caused any trouble lately...aside from that one time when I gave the school walls a new paintjob..."

"Shouldn't you find that troubling if you were in the principal's shoes?" Kanade asked rhetorically, almost sounding like she was reprimanding the taller blond. She closed her eyes and exhaled. "Incidentally, I might have eaten much more Mapo Tofu than allowed and dropped the school's budget indirectly."

"Mapo...Tofu?"

"You don't know about it?" Kanade asked, giving Naruto a look. "It's one of the dishes you can buy from the cafeteria. Basically, it's just regular tofu in spicy Mapo sauce, but for some reason the ingredients needed to make the Mapo sauce are very high-classed, thus why it is so delicious. However, since the ingredients are high-classed, it's also expensive."

"Hee... So there's something like that, too? Maybe I should try it sometime. Ah, but my love for ramen won't be double-crossed! No matter how tasty you say Mapo Tofu is, ramen will still be better!"

Normally, the conversation would end there with Kanade nodding in compliance. Instead of that normal route, however, it seemed Naruto's comment had set off a landmine as the silver-haired girl fully turned towards him and stared at him silently.

Then, she said, "No, Mapo Tofu is better."

"How can you say that?! Ramen is TOTALLY better than some tofu! Besides, who would eat tofu nowadays? Isn't it like old people's food?"

"That's not entirely correct. It's true that tofu is usually eaten by the elderly since they are soft enough to be eaten with weakened teeth. However, Mapo Tofu is the ultimate dish that has all kinds of flavors in it."

"Hah! Blasphemy! You dare call tofu an ultimate dish?! It's already a worldwide knowledge that the title 'ultimate dish' belongs to Ichiraku Ramen's miso ramen with extra pork!"

Despite the ridiculousness of their discussion, Naruto was being very passionate in his speech. Ramen was etched to his very heart and soul, so he would defend the honor of ramen, even if it would mean death...er, after-death! At the same time, Kanade seemed to be passionate about Mapo Tofu in her own way. Of course, none of that passion showed on her face, but just by being unusually stubborn like that said enough.

"I disagree," Kanade shook her head in defiance.

"Then explain to me how Mapo Tofu should be the ultimate dish!"

"Because Mapo Tofu...is Mapo Tofu."

"What kind of argument is that?! Don't give me some philosophical nonsense about how 'it's the best just by being itself'!"

From the looks of it, this discussion of theirs would've continued throughout the remainder of the day if no one stopped it. Naruto wouldn't mind ditching the principal's summons, but he wasn't sure if he could keep up with Kanade if she would keep on insisting that Mapo Tofu was the best cuisine mankind ever made. That particular argument sent disapproving signals to his brain; the best kind of food is RAMEN!

He decided to give up on the topic and called a temporary truce.

"Alright, I'll give up this time. This won't go anywhere if we argue about it, so we'll just see for ourselves which is the better one later."

"I'm certain Mapo Tofu is better."

"Like I said, ramen is...!" Naruto trailed off when he noticed that he was being drawn back to another argument. "Never mind, time will tell."

Kanade gave a satisfactory nod. She probably felt that she had won in this argument.

Letting a sigh escape his mouth, Naruto resumed walking with a comparably more tired face than before. He had no idea that Kanade could be so stubborn about something, considering how silent she usually was. He should've expected it since she was the same in the ball game tournament last time; her will to win at that time could actually be considered being stubborn on her end.

But to be like that when Mapo Tofu was mentioned...?

"Why so stubborn about Mapo Tofu?" Naruto asked her as he walked. "You're defending it like it's your daimyō or something."

Kanade's answer was a tilt of her head.

"...I don't know, actually."

"What's with that?" Naruto asked in puzzlement.

"It's not like I have any problem with people not liking it..." Kanade said softly. "But it feels...odd when people don't like it."

The explanation was a bit vague, and though Naruto understood that Kanade wasn't exactly a talkative girl, he really hoped that she would use some better choice of words. Feeling odd when people didn't like it? Where would that kind of feeling stem off from? Rather, he was surprised Kanade was capable to feel that way, given her impression of a lack of emotion.

Unless...

"Could it be that you like Mapo Tofu?"

"?"

Once again, Kanade tilted her head questioningly.

"I like Mapo Tofu?"

"No, well, shouldn't that be a statement rather than a question? It's pretty obvious that you like it from how you talk about it." At that moment, a light bulb turned on in Naruto's mind as he finally got the idea. "Ah, I get it! So Mapo Tofu is your favorite food?"

"...? I don't know, but if you see it that way, then maybe it is."

Despite her so-so response, this was an unexpected discovery. He didn't know any better than anyone else, but he didn't expect Kanade to be the type of girl that had a favorite food. At least, he thought she wasn't picky about food.

"No wonder you're so defensive... I guess I can sort of understand that," Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. "But I never guessed that you'd have something like that—a favorite food, I mean. You didn't strike me as someone who takes eating seriously."

The diminutive student council president didn't bear the resemblance of someone who would get crazy over a favorite meal. It would take someone like Akimichi Chouji to actually make people think that you're a professional eater. Though, of course, Naruto shouldn't have judged a book by its cover, even though this particular book had a blank cover that would mislead any prior deductions.

"I'm as serious in eating as normal people would be. Is that odd?" Kanade tilted her head as she asked.

"Nah, not really. I suppose looks can really be deceiving, that's all."

"...I see."

Naruto chuckled when Kanade gave him a confused look.

For Kanade to have something trivial like a favorite choice of food, it proved that she was just as much of a human as anyone else. He was somewhat glad about that.

When Naruto finally took notice his surroundings again, he realized that they had arrived in front of the staffroom. In front of him was a wooden sliding door—unlike most of the doors in the school. The form of the door gave Naruto a sense of relief, as he was assured that this kind of door wouldn't have a giant mallet trap hidden in it. Of course, he had enough faith in Yuri that she wouldn't put any weird traps in the staffroom which had no relation to the Battlefront's activities.

That cheeky battlefront leader might be sadistic, but she wasn't necessarily a deranged psychopath.

Turning on the doorknob, Naruto opened the door while putting on an unassuming face that said enough of his slight confusion about his summon. At any other time, he might be proud of himself for making a face that was almost similar to Kanade's flat expression, but he didn't pay enough attention to that at the time.

Inside the staffroom were several NPC teachers as well as the principal himself.

The sad thing was that the principal might've been forcefully moved here as the result of Yuri proclaiming her right over the actual principal's office...

The principal, who was no doubt an NPC, looked just as normal as the other teachers. A tall man, he stood straight enough that it was surprising considering how old he looked. He had grey hair and wrinkles on his face thanks to his apparent age. He wore a pair of rectangular glasses, and also wore a suit and tie over his body. His outlook was as normal as how any high school student would expect a principal to be. In other words, he gave the same impression as any other NPCs; generic.

"Welcome, Tachibana-kun, Uzumaki-kun." The principal spoke with a stern tone one would expect from someone his age. "I thank you for coming on such a short notice. I suppose an apology is necessary for asking you to step out in the middle of class period."

"It's fine. Why are we called here?" Kanade didn't seem to mind being called in the middle of her class period. Then again, she didn't seem to mind anything at all, so it shouldn't be so surprising.

The principal gave Kanade a look then glanced at Naruto beside her. Being on the receiving end of an NPC's flat stare usually wouldn't faze Naruto in the slightest, but he couldn't help but chuckle nervously in response.

This was the person whose school had been given a colorful paintjob befitting 'My Little Pony', after all.

And Naruto had been the one who gave that rainbow-like paintjob.

The principal closed his eyes and sighed as what seemed to be an effort to repress his building agitation. "As you know, the exam season had just ended two days ago. The teachers have already finished checking over the test results, but we have found some troubling issues concerning the both of you."

"What kind of issues?" Kanade asked.

Meanwhile, Naruto kept silent and opted to smile uneasily. He didn't have to ask; he had figured out what this was about. The moment the principal mentioned the test results from the previous exam season, he was immediately reminded of that one operation he participated in not so long ago, particularly the one where the Battlefront had to mess up Kanade's tests.

'Ah, so the result of Afterlife Battlefront's operation is starting to show already, huh?' Naruto thought with a pensive look. 'Kaah...I still don't like how this is turning out for Kanade, but as long as it's possible to prove that she is human, I guess I have to stuff it.'

Of course, Naruto disliked the way how Yuri had to go a roundabout way just to confirm her suspicion about Kanade's humanity, but it wasn't like he could suggest another way. With how stubborn Yuri was, it would be nearly impossible to change her perspective with one simple action. Thus, he had accepted her reasoning, though half-heartedly.

'Kanade's being called here to discuss about her test results, that much I can understand. If that's the case...why am I here?'

The principal didn't pay much attention to Naruto who was falling deep in his thoughts.

"This might take some time to explain. In the meantime, Tachibana-san, Uzumaki-kun, please be seated."

o-x-o-x-o

-Several minutes earlier-

The Afterlife Battlefront was a group that rebelled against God.

However, their immediate standing in the Afterlife wasn't all that grandiose. Considering the fact that the Afterlife was all about high school life (albeit an extremely odd one), they were comparable to a group of delinquents who skipped school and caused troubles every now and then. In other words, even though they made the phrase 'Rebellion against God' their motto, they were no different than a bunch of problematic children.

Otonashi realized this quite easily.

Of course, he had joined the Battlefront for his own reasons. At the time, he joined because it seemed to be the only logical way to survive in the Afterlife. It could be that, unlike the others, he had no intention of rebelling against God. As long as he could remember, he didn't really have a reason to hate God for anything.

Then again, he had amnesia since the first time he arrived here, so that argument wasn't really valid. However, it said enough that the present Otonashi joined the Battlefront for a reason contrary to the one the other members had. He couldn't speak for how his past self actually felt, but there you go.

At the moment, he was in the middle of doing what most delinquents and problem children would do at school time; skipping class.

The idea of him behaving like a real delinquent kind of troubled him, given his unfitting personality, but he soon learned that there was not much to do in class even if he did go there. Yuri said that all the classes were covering were subjects that any high school student should've known already, so attending classes would be a waste of time.

So Otonashi chose to take a walk instead.

"Why's there even a high school here in the first place?" he muttered as he pressed a button on an outdoor vending machine. "Since this is the Afterlife, I thought it would be a heaven-like sort of place. What's the point of making everyone here relive their high school life? It's not like they came here because something happened to them as students..."

Otonashi didn't believe in inconsistencies. Or rather, he believed that something happened or existed for a reason and purpose, no matter how strange it was.

For instance, even though there was a whole selection of assorted drinks inside that vending machine, the red-haired boy had always chosen to buy Key Coffee. His personal reason was because he liked the refreshing kick it had as opposed to the other drinks which were simply too sweet for him. Even so, he believed that the other assorted drinks were there because other students demand some more refreshing drinks. Therefore, it was safe to say that each of these drinks had their own purposes.

However, just this once, he couldn't see the reason behind the existence of a high school in the Afterlife.

Yuri had once told him about her past regrets, the ones that brought her here. If he remembered correctly, that...tragedy happened when she was still a child. On that age, she wouldn't know what high school life is. Shouldn't the Afterlife, being what it was, do something about that tragic past of hers rather than making her relive an unimportant high school life?

Iwasawa was similar in that regard. Her death had nothing to do with her high school life. No, instead, it had something to do with her family and music career. Shouldn't the Afterlife, being what it was, try to give something in return after Iwasawa suffered like that in life?

. . .

Then again, he could be thinking too hard about it.

In the end, the Afterlife was a realm that God created. Though Otonashi believed that there was a reason behind its making, he couldn't possibly expect to understand what God had in mind. Somehow, he felt he didn't want to anyway. He might have to accept that the Afterlife was an inconsistency by itself.

"...Thinking about it, it's possible that they didn't particularly regret dying at all."

The more he figured out how the Afterlife works, the less he understood. To make matters worse, he hadn't found a way to cure his amnesia either, which could be a great help in his opinion.

"*sigh*...well, whatever." Otonashi gave up thinking about it altogether and sipped on the canned coffee in his hand.

He needed something to do.

For some reason, there was nothing much to do in the Afterlife Battlefront today. Yuri said today was a day off, so everyone's free to do what they want to. Hideki had gone off somewhere as well as the others. He didn't know where everyone would be at the current time, but he could bet his arms and legs that Noda was out training with his halberd again.

Although he could just go back to his dorm room and get some well-earned sleep, Otonashi was feeling a bit upbeat. Actually, he had been feeling like that lately, ever since the exam season. Uzumaki might be rubbing off too much on him.

"I don't suppose there's much to do right now..." the red-haired boy mused. "Aah, might as well keep wandering about. Maybe I'll pass by Uzumaki in the meantime; he usually has something interesting in mind... Not that I'm thinking of joining in whatever he might be thinking of doing."

Just as Otonashi resumed his walk, the scratchy noise of the school's intercom coming to life startled him to a stop.

"Attention, please. Students Tachibana Kanade of Class 3-A and Uzumaki Naruto of Class 3-C are required to come to the staffroom right at this moment. That's all."

The announcement ended without any further notice, leaving Otonashi to wonder what that announcement was about.

"Huh? What's that all about?" the boy asked aloud to no one in particular. "Just now...the teachers were calling for Tachibana?"

Normally, this wouldn't concern him so much. The Battlefront had no business with school activities except for the more important ones, and naturally Otonashi wouldn't, either. However...

"...Why did they call that orange-loving idiot too?"

Despite his confusion, the boy had an idea of what they were called for. Given the mess that the Battlefront created for Kanade's tests during the exam season, this might have something to do with her test results. He could be wrong, of course, but there was that chance. The test results were supposed to be out today, after all.

Only question was, why did they call for Naruto as well?

Though, honestly, Otonashi had an idea about how that idiot got wound up in this mess.

"...Don't tell me...he's..."

o-x-o-x-o

[Staffroom – Interior]

The principal gave a stern, expressionless look at both Kanade and Naruto, which the former replied with a similar look while the latter could only try to laugh it off nervously (and failing to do so).

"First of all," the principal started, "I want to remind you that this is a serious matter. This is not meant to pressure you, but I want you two to take this seriously."

Kanade, who wasn't really the person to joke around to begin with, nodded seriously. Meanwhile, Naruto stared at the bespectacled principal with a dry look and thought, 'That kinda gives me the opposite effect...is he trying to use reverse psychology on me? He is, isn't he!?'

The principal then took a thick bundle of paper from under the desk he was sitting behind. It took a while for Naruto to notice it, but then he realized that the bundle of paper was consisted of test papers. When the principal spread them out, Naruto took the chance to inspect the papers closer. Sure enough, the test papers had Kanade's and his name written on it.

Naruto saw this coming, but feigned ignorance as he asked, "Are these our test papers from before?"

The principal then answered, "Yes. As you can see, each and every one of them was scored...rather surprisingly. There is a good reason behind this, however."

There was one other thing that Naruto noticed on those papers. That other thing was that all of them had the score of zero.

If Kanade was affected by it, she didn't show it. That was to be expected, considering her usually over-the-top composure, but saying that she was completely unaffected would be prejudicing. Even someone like her would feel something when she saw that kind of turnout; moreover when she was the student council president.

"The teachers thought that you've made a mockery of their tests. For instance, Tachibana-kun," The principal pulled out a test paper and held it in front of him, showing its contents to Kanade. "Answering 'dolphin trainer' in a Physics test? Would you care to explain this?"

". . ." Kanade was silent as she watched the test paper held in the principal's right hand. "I have no explanation."

"...Very well," the principal conceded Kanade's answer half-heartedly. "Also, I would like to question Uzumaki-kun's peculiar answer that happens to be similar to yours. Exactly what do you intend to do by answering 'What is the resulting amperage when applying 3.0V to a conductor with 20Ω resistance?' with 'I want to be a train company director'? That's not even an answer."

"Aah, well...I assume that, uh...I might as well write down what I want to be in the future?"

That statement actually came out with a tone that resembled a question. Even so, the principal found it satisfying enough as he continued to the next subject.

"The reasoning is lost to me, but I suppose that's understandable given the ridiculous action you took. Now then, let's continue to the next subject." The principal pulled another test paper out from the stack and, just like before, showed it in front of the two. This one seemed to be the one concerning the subject of World History.

"Our History teacher didn't like to have his test answered with an 'Aliens have taken over the world'. He said that he had no faith in such a sci-fi sounding past, even though there were some believers of that aspect."

"...Though I personally liked the idea of aliens, I don't remember writing something like that." Kanade answered with a straight face. "Seeing as it was written there, though, I can't say for sure."

"Why are you yielding so easily? Have a little faith in your memories, Ms. President!" an exasperated Naruto exclaimed.

With how ridiculous the answer on Kanade's test paper sounded, it would be rather heartless to not feel sympathetic for her. Actually, Naruto was sure that even someone like Gaara would've been baffled by this outcome. Naruto might have gone along with Yuri's plan to make Kanade look stupid, but that didn't mean he was supposed to like it. It just made him feel guiltier for pulling a prank of such a scale on an innocent girl like her.

"Hmm...I think the facts are obvious enough. You did write this ridiculous answer down." The principal concluded before turning to Naruto. "And as for you, Uzumaki-kun...while I don't particularly dislike eighth-grade syndrome – because trust me, I had one myself in middle school – I prefer you refrain from putting it as a test answer."

"Which part of me looks like I have any kind of syndrome?"

"Well, you did write 'future Hokage' as an answer..."

"That's not a symptom of a syndrome, that's my one true dream! My other answers might seem like a joke, but please take that one seriously!"

"It's hard to do that when the very word spells nothing but eighth-grade syndrome to me." The principal's honest answer sent Naruto reeling in shock. His dream of the future was being treated like a child's delusions, but somehow Naruto couldn't bring himself to feel angry about it. It might be because he was accustomed to how different their culture was to his, so something like a Hokage might as well be a delusional self-made character to them.

"Moving on to the next subject, I hoped that it couldn't get any worse. Of course, you two somehow banished that hope of mine."

The principal pulled out another piece of test paper after he said that. The subject for this one was English.

"I understand that English is a foreign language, and that katakana is generally used to write foreign language with our style of writing, but that's not enough reason to answer the whole English test with katakana alone." The principal sternly stared at Kanade, who stared back at him silently, before turning to Naruto to reprimand him. "And copying the questions then putting them as answers doesn't equal a proper answer, Uzumaki-kun."

"B-But what I wrote, it's in English right? Isn't it enough that I know how to write in English?"

"The point of the test was to see how much you've learned about the subject. What you did just proved that you haven't learned all that much."

In other circumstances, Naruto would use the excuse of having the Copycat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi as a teacher. That alone would prove that copying would sometimes lead you to success. Despite that fact, he also knew that jutsu didn't actually have a concrete ownership, unlike some other civilian-related things like these tests, so there was no such thing as copyright infringement of jutsu. Kakashi was a genius for exploiting this loophole so easily.

The principal cleared his throat when he noticed that he was straying off from the main topic.

"Let's continue, shall we? The next subject is Mathematics, and I can't say that I'm proud of the results for this one either. In any other circumstances, Tachibana-kun, your '2 + 2 = Fish' joke could be refreshing, but not on a test like this." Once again, after he finished telling Kanade off, the principal's head veered to Naruto's general position. "And one last thing – I understand that Geometry is included in the Math test, but... 4-koma comic strips, Uzumaki-kun? This is pretty much unacceptable."

Although creating geometric shapes wasn't Naruto's initial intention, he felt a bit relieved that his nonsensical 4-koma comic strips weren't fully regarded as ridiculous art. Yes, the principal said it was unacceptable, but at the same time he thought that it was related to something intellectual.

"I...I never thought that my comic strips, which are only comprised of stickmen drawings, would be taken so appreciated...!"

"? Why are you sounding so thankful? And why are you suddenly crying happy tears with a genuine smile like that?" Kanade asked, confused by Naruto's strange behavior.

With that, Naruto had completely neglected his current condition and began to shed happy tears for his childish creation. If the principal was affected by that simple act of negligence, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, the bespectacled man sighed lightly and gathered up the test papers before stacking them up, putting it in the same order as it was before.

"Those are only a part of the mistakes you did during the exam period. More of your tests are answered in a similar way, but going through them one by one would be a waste of time. Therefore, I would like to skip straight to the talk about your punishment."

"Geh...you really are a spirited principal..."

Ignoring Naruto's response, the principal continued speaking, "I would like to remind you that this is serious matter. I'm especially disappointed with you, Tachibana-kun. You are the student council president, so I had expected you to be better than this. No matter how you see it, this won't be finished just with an apologetic bow to every teachers present. No, rather than that, you'll need punishments that fits you two just right."

"Uh...I'm not sure I follow," Naruto stated with a dumbfounded face.

Though Kanade was silent up until that time, Naruto was sure that she was as lost as he was. It didn't help that the principal happened to be an NPC that might be programmed to talk in such a roundabout way.

Said NPC then closed his eyes and propped both of his arms onto the desk, raising his hands to face-height and interlaced his fingers right in front of his face. Then, with a strangely calm but ominous voice, he said...

"I have just the right punishments for both of you."

o-x-o-x-o

Otonashi didn't know how, but he ended up walking all the way to the staff building on the other side of the school. By the time he realized it, he was already walking up several flight of stairs.

The red-haired boy decided to humor himself by checking out the staffroom and see if something would happen. Considering the layout of this Afterlife, and how Yuri decided to classify the non-living human inhabitants as NPCs, Otonashi deduced that he might stumble upon a scene like that from a visual novel and accidentally raise a special flag. Though, if possible, he wanted to refrain from stumbling into any strange routes—especially teacher routes.

...Also, when did his mind started to take this kind of relaxed, game-based approach when thinking?

Otonashi finally ran out of staircases to climb when he reached the floor where the staffroom was located. The room was just several meters to his left, and though he did want to check it out he stopped before he was able to. The sliding door to the staffroom opened as someone went out of the room.

It was Kanade.

She walked out of the staffroom and towards Otonashi's general direction. As usual, she looked mostly expressionless, but the air around her felt different than her usual self. It might have something to do with how she was slightly looking downwards as she walked.

It kind of made her look sad.

"Tachibana?"

As he felt both confused and concerned, Otonashi decided to ask. He had heard the announcement over the intercom before, and he knew that Kanade was called. But for the sake of clarifying, he decided to ask.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

The silver-haired girl continued walking past him without changing the expression on her face—or rather, lack thereof.

"Nothing," she answered. Her emotionless voice betrayed nothing in her statement, but that by itself could be a deception. She spoke so reservedly all the time that he had a hard time discerning what she actually felt when she talked. In regards to that, it was impossible for Otonashi to not be concerned about her.

But it wasn't like he could press on the matter any further. He wasn't sure he could help with whatever problem she was having, so he just watched her as she walked away.

His attention was averted when the sound of a heavy sigh entered his ears. Turning around, he wasn't surprised to see the yellow-haired Uzumaki walking up to him with an unusually unenthusiastic face.

"Hm? Otonashi? What're you doing here?"

The red-haired boy shrugged in response. "No, well... I was taking a walk when I heard the announcement before, so I decided to check it out since I was in the neighborhood."

"Eeh...you went through the trouble of walking all the way here just to see me? Aww, that's sweet of you~!" said Naruto while pulling a bashful pose that would've been more befitting for his Sexy Jutsu form.

"...Please don't make me raise such a dangerous flag," Otonashi sourly said. "Besides, I came because Tachibana was called, not you. I got kind of curious when I heard the principal call her name."

A wide grin spread across Naruto's face as he then said with a teasing tone, "Oh? Are you worried about her? Is this a crush I sense?"

"W-Why did it come to that?!" Otonashi exclaimed frantically.

The yellow-haired boy heartily laughed at the face Otonashi was making; a light blush was coloring the taller boy's cheek without him consciously realizing it. The laughter died down to a chuckle as Naruto asked again.

"No, seriously though, you're worried about her, aren't you?"

This time, the question was no more in a teasing manner. Otonashi inhaled deeply to compose himself before giving an honest answer.

"...Somewhat, yeah. I mean, we did mess up her tests, and then today the principal called for her. It's hard to think that the two aren't connected at all."

That, and Kanade's behavior just now, only served to solidify Otonashi's concern for her. But he wasn't someone who liked to invade other people's personal space, and given that he wasn't close enough to Kanade to actually try to console her made it harder for him to do anything about it. As far as he knew, Naruto was the only one remotely close enough to her that speaking to her casually was possible for him.

Speaking of which, the yellow-haired Uzumaki might have an answer to his question.

"What was that all about, anyway? Was it really about the tests?" Otonashi asked with genuine curiosity.

A sigh came from Naruto's mouth before he answered, "Yeah, it was. Putting aside our untimely detention, we got ourselves scolded by the principal for the stupid answers we wrote down in the test papers. Kanade got a mouthful because of how ridiculous her answers were, considering she was the student council president and all."

"Oh...I guess I can sort of imagine that." Even though he said that, the worst Otonashi could imagine was Kanade being subjected to voluntary cleaning duty for the following weeks. "How did you end up getting called as well?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Naruto asked back with a sour look. "You don't have to be a genius to figure out that I did mistakes on the same level of stupidity as Kanade did. Oh wait, I mean, what we made her do."

"...I figured as much."

Kanade's tests results didn't come from the fruits of her hard work at all. Those ridiculous results were like that because of the combined efforts of the Battlefront and Naruto, even though the latter did it with much unwillingness. So of course, Otonashi involuntarily felt guilty about how it came up in the end.

However, the fact that Naruto had written down answers with the same level of stupidity that the whole Battlefront had devised for Kanade was all too staggering.

"Just how much of an idiot are you?"

"Ahahah...even if you ask me that, I don't really have a concrete answer..."

Being a class dead-last for the entirety of one's childhood was enough to gain one the label of a 'super idiot', but Naruto was conscious enough to notice that his apparent stupidity wasn't limited to that extent. After all, he had probably been the only Genin-level ninja stupid enough to repeatedly challenge S-class ninjas to a fight—Zabuza for example.

But, even without knowing that, it was quite obvious to Otonashi that the yellow-haired boy was more than a normal idiot.

"Did the principal give you any punishments?" the red-haired boy asked.

"Just one," said Naruto with a downcast look. He waved his hand across his body, gesturing to himself. "You're now looking at the school's voluntary-but-not-so-voluntarily lone janitor who'll be cleaning up everyone's mess for the next seven days."

"Ugh...that's some punishment alright."

Cleaning duty is almost as generic a punishment as it gets, but doing it for seven days is just overkill. And Otonashi wondered how the orange-loving boy would juggle it with his beloved delivery service (which was actually a voluntary work). Not that he was particularly concerned though; Uzumaki might just use his clone technique to do both at the same time.

With that, his punishment wasn't actually as bad as it sounded.

Otonashi turned around to look at the now empty hallway where Kanade had walked off to. His concern resurfaced again when a certain thought entered his mind, reminding him of the consequences of their actions.

"What about Tachibana? What's her punishment?"

Hearing the question, Naruto's playful look dropped in exchange of a serious one. He didn't frown as much as he kept his mouth in a straight line, but the hard look he had in his eyes were proof that Otonashi had just touched the main subject. And from the looks of it, the main subject wasn't good news at all. It seemed that Naruto realized that he was making such a troubled face, so he chuckled and scratched the back of his head almost sheepishly.

"Well...that's where things got a little bit more serious." Naruto stated with a strained smile, probably to wave off the negativity he had unconsciously emitted just a second ago. For some reason, his gaze drifted off towards the empty hallway which Otonashi had stared at just a moment ago—the same hallway that Kanade had disappeared into.

"She...got demoted. Give or take a few more days, she's no longer the student council president."

o-x-o-x-o

[PART 3]

-A few days later-

There was an announcement calling for a student assembly in the [Gymnasium]. Unlike in most cases where normal students would groan in discontent at their afterschool free time being taken away, the NPC students neatly traveled in line to the designated place with only some of them wearing curious expressions on their faces. Naturally, this was an expected outcome, coming from a characterless existence such as those NPCs.

Having been in class when the announcement was made, Naruto was automatically dragged into the line of students, being one of the first people to arrive in the gym. He carefully slipped away when no one noticed as he wanted to avoid a run-in with the NPC-Konoha Eleven. Despite everything, he still couldn't quite bear seeing their faces again, so avoiding them was the right course of action.

He still remembered the layout of the place from the time the Girls Dead Monster did their first guerilla concert. Acting on that memory, he went to the second floor that was actually a passageway for the upper seats around the gym's walls.

More people filled the gym progressively, but no one noticed the yellow-haired boy looking over them from the second floor.

"Hee...this brings back some memories..." Naruto muttered to himself.

Looking at the massive crowd, he couldn't help but remember of the Girls Dead Monster's guerilla concert. The audience at that time was more or less the same size of this school-wide assembly. The more Naruto realized that, the more he admired Iwasawa and her talent.

. . .

"Still can't get over it, I see." Kurama's calm voice boomed in Naruto's innermost consciousness.

"Can you really blame me for that?" Naruto replied with an annoyed sigh.

"I can, but you'll be too stubborn to accept it, so I won't waste my energy."

"Which part of that is a bad thing? It's not a bad thing to feel like this when you've lost a friend. What took Masami-chan away...it's not even death, but it feels like she had died. I'm sure it'll be weirder if I don't feel anything from it instead."

While the concept of death in the Afterlife was laughable (because you'd get revived afterwards anyway), passing on was another thing entirely. In other words, rather than that normal 'death', he was talking about the 'vanishing mechanism' that the Afterlife employed. That mysterious mechanism which dictated that if anyone ever reaches full satisfaction or a feeling of completion, that person will disappear from this Afterlife, and their memories up until that time will be erased. It was a form of passing on to the living world that would result in reincarnation.

—Strangely enough, it shouldn't have been counted as reincarnation. If his memories served correctly, the Saint known as Frederica Bernkastel had told him that reviving in the same world which one died in would be counted as 'resurrection', which she had also said to be "a forbidden form of revival".

Maybe God had somehow allowed the Afterlife to have such a mechanism—letting the inhabitants of this universe's living world to die, get sent off to the Afterlife, and pass back to the living world in an unending cycle. That kind of flow sounded convenient, especially for those who died with regrets.

Passing on from the Afterlife was the real 'death', but it also meant reviving in the living world and starting over.

Despite that, Naruto still thought that that kind of death was almost too cruel.

The nine-tailed fox inside Naruto exhaled calmly before saying, "I never said it's a bad thing, brat. I just can't shake the feeling that you're still blaming yourself for what happened back there."

"I'm trying not to," Naruto said with a nod to himself. "I know I can't mull on it like this forever, but I can't just let it go like that. Masami-chan didn't sing with all her heart like that just to be forgotten the next day; she obviously wanted to be remembered. If there's anything I can do to respect her, then it's by remembering her and what she taught me."

Naruto hadn't known Iwasawa long enough to actually proclaim himself as a good friend of hers. However, to him, she was a precious friend that had taught him many things even in that short time together. She taught him the miracles that music can produce and how to create them. Also, if it wasn't for her, his relationship with the Battlefront would've been hanging on a tightrope in contrast to the current one which he had.

He owed her a lot.

Personally, he thought that such a kind person shouldn't have disappeared like she did. Part of him had also believed that he played a part in her disappearance, so the guilt had plagued his mind for quite a while. Maybe it still did.

"Uzumaki? Are you talking to someone?"

That sudden call pulled Naruto back from his thoughts with a whip-like motion. He turned around and saw Otonashi looking at him curiously, with almost all of the guys he met in the Battlefront tagging along behind him. Naruto was shocked that he didn't notice them coming when he usually could hear anyone coming from behind him anytime. He must've been too focused on his conversation with Kurama to notice.

Now he had to worry about Otonashi who had unmistakably heard a part of his conversation with the nine-tailed fox inside him.

"Oh...? Aah, well, I was just talking to myself. I do that sometimes..." the boy lied with an uneasy grin, which developed into a full-blown one as he continued, "Actually, I do that a lot of times! Maybe if I speak to the air, it'll speak to me and give me a sagely advice like in those old Chinese movies!"

"...Explain to me how particles of oxygen and carbon dioxide can understand human language."

"Oi! Don't destroy my philosophical wish with a scientific argument!"

After that exchange, the other members came up beside Otonashi to look what the commotion was about. It was only then that they realized that Naruto had been there before them.

"Ah? What, so the yellow-headed runt is here, too?"

Noda looked quite displeased as he shouldered his halberd. Even though that wasn't surprising at the slightest, it was amazing how he didn't charge straight to Naruto at first sight as he had done numerous times in the past. Perhaps he wanted his hate-driven, genitalia-kicking business to be personal between them? That'd be even more frightening.

The people from the 'Test Disturb' operation were also there. Takamatsu pushed his glasses up like he always did out of habit, though he probably did it just now as an act of acknowledgement. Hideki shot a grin and waved casually in a greeting while others simply nod at the shorter blond. The bespectacled boy Takeyama wasn't present, but Naruto had expected that judging by his withdrawn attitude.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Afterlife Battlefront. What're you guys doing here?" Naruto asked curiously. "I thought following the school rules isn't your style."

"You're one to talk..." Hideki replied. "The truth is, Yurippe said there'll be something big going on in this assembly, so we're here to take a look. Well, even though she said that, she's not even here yet."

"Something big, huh?" Naruto wondered aloud.

With a school-wide assembly, it was a given that whatever was going on should be considered "big". On the other hand, the reason for this assembly would remain a mystery until the principal steps up and explain what this was all about.

'Then again, I have a pretty good guess what the principal has to say. It's definitely about "that".'

A few days ago, Kanade and he were called by the principal. They ended up getting punishments because of the ridiculous answers they gave in the exams. Kanade's punishment was demotion—in other words, she was forced to step down from her occupation as the student council president. This assembly was definitely to announce that demotion of hers.

Thinking like that, Naruto turned around and looked at the empty stage located at the furthest front of the gym. There was no doubt that the principal would make his speech there, and there was no doubt that Naruto's guess was right.

"Where's Leader-chan, by the way?"

"Who knows. She said she'll catch up later, so we went ahead of her just in case the assembly has already started." Fujimaki answered with a shrug.

The battlefront leader would've been ecstatic about this assembly if it really is about Kanade's demotion, but not seeing her here stroke Naruto as odd.

Before he could think about Yuri's absence any longer, his attention was stolen by the principal who had finally arrived, making his way up the stage along with Kanade and...

"Naoi? What's he doing there?" the yellow-haired boy almost exclaimed.

"Huh? What is it?" Otonashi looked at the surprised Naruto with a slight confusion.

"No, that's... Remember the guy from the student council team, back in the ball game tournament? The student council vice-president? He's over there."

True enough, as Kanade stood on the principal's left side, the vice-president Naoi Ayato stood on the other side. Naruto didn't see that coming, so he could only blink in bewilderment. If he remembered, Kanade was the only student council-related student who was getting punished. If Naoi was also getting punished, the principal would've called him at the same time as he called Kanade and Naruto.

'Did he do something stupid, too? No, if I remember correctly, Naoi wasn't even in the same test room as Kanade to begin with, and the Battlefront would have no reason to target him anyways. He doesn't even look that stupid, either.'

His only explanation would be that Naoi did something that wasn't related to the exam period, but he couldn't be sure about that.

Before long, the principal had begun to speak aloud. His voice was loud enough to carry out through the whole gym even without the help of microphones and speakers, which was quite a feat.

It began with a few pleasantries which Naruto tuned out in favor of looking over the crowd silently. He kept an eye out for the NPC-Konoha Eleven, but he wasn't particularly worried. With how the NPCs had their attention on the principal, the chance of any of the NPC-Konoha Eleven catching sight of him was zero.

Reminding himself not to be overly worried, he loosened up and sighed.

"You seem tense."

Otonashi's comment brought Naruto's senses back to reality. With a slight flinch, Naruto turned to the red-haired boy and smirked slyly.

"Do I? Must've been something in the ramen I ate this morning."

"You eat ramen for breakfast too? That's unexpected..."

In truth, Naruto didn't have ramen this morning. He counted on the dorm's room service to provide him with his usual bowl (given that it's the only place where he could get ramen), but for some unbefitting reason the NPC-Tsunade had said "No ramen for you today, brat." and kicked him out.

He didn't know which one he was more afraid of; the fact that there wasn't any ramen, or that the NPC-Tsunade spoke to him in a manner that reminded him of the real Tsunade.

Either way, he immediately ran off to school without eating breakfast earlier today. Thankfully, he wasn't all that hungry in the first place.

"...It's alright if you're also worried about her, you know."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow. The amnesiac boy had spoken to him in a voice no louder than a whisper, which only brought about puzzlement as to why he did that. Did he do it so the others wouldn't hear this conversation?

"I mean, if you're worried about Tachibana, you don't have to hide it. You and I both know that this assembly is about her demotion. Truth is, I'm a bit concerned about it myself. So, it's fine to feel worried about something like that."

When Otonashi said that, he wasn't being chivalrous. He was simply stating that he, too, was tense. Having been told that Kanade was going to be demoted thanks to what the Battlefront did, it was natural for him to feel so. No, it was more like it'd be completely heartless if he didn't. With that kind of thought, Otonashi felt that Naruto shouldn't have kept the fact that he was also worried to himself.

"Besides, you made me tell the truth about worrying about Tachibana back then. Don't be a hypocrite by keeping it to yourself like that."

"...Haha. That's not exactly what I'm thinking about, but I guess I'm worried about her, too."

In most cases, Naruto might've retorted by playing stupid so that he could keep up his façade. Somehow, though, his deceiving smirk dropped as he lightly laughed with a smile in response to Otonashi's verbal jab.

Despite being called a hypocrite, Naruto couldn't help but smile. It seemed that he really was making a tense face, so much that it didn't seem like him at all. Even Otonashi had to say something to console him, though it felt slightly out of his character to do so.

"Thanks, Otonashi. That kind of raised my spirits a bit."

"Uh...okay, I guess."

"Are you, by any chance, aiming to raise my flag?"

"HELL NO! Don't make that kind of nuance that anyone would misunderstand!"

Naruto grinned widely at the red-haired boy's outburst. Meanwhile the other members could only glance at them with a confused look.

"Ah, by the way, isn't there another girl member in your group?" Naruto asked to the others, ignoring Otonashi's annoyed glare.

"By girl, you mean...?" Takamatsu responded with raised eyebrows.

"You know, the one who dresses up like a kunoichi, very skillful with weapons..."

Hideki perked up at the description and spoke up, "Oh, you mean Shiinacchi? She's not the type to go to this kind of stuff. It's more like, she only comes out if we really need her, or if the mission is something serious."

Naruto let out an understanding "Oh" before ending the conversation there. To be frank, he didn't know much about that kunoichi girl Shiina, but she made him a bit curious. The only time he met her firsthand was that time when he was taking out baseball bats from the shed she was hiding in. In that meeting of theirs, there wasn't much he could make out of her other than that she was a girl with a habit of pointing out how shallow-minded someone could be.

Even with that outlook, Shiina was undoubtedly a ninja.

As far as he knew, there shouldn't be ninjas from the living world which the Afterlife was connected to, but then how would that explain Shiina? Not to mention her skills were on par with a Chuunin or Jounin from his own world. Going by that, though, she didn't look like someone from his world.

Shaking his head, Naruto decided that he was thinking too far. He made a mental note to ask her in person later.

At the same time, the principal cleared his throat, making all of the people present turn their attention to him. That included Naruto and the present members of the Battlefront upstairs as well.

The principal then spoke up with a neutral voice, "And so, effective today, Tachibana Kanade-san will be resigning from her position as the student council president—"

That part came as expected by Naruto and Otonashi, who knew beforehand that this was Kanade's punishment. However, rather than stopping there, the principal continued to speak.

"—and the current vice-president Naoi-kun will be acting as president in her place."

That one came rather unexpectedly.

"What? For real?" Naruto let out in disbelief. "That moss-haired douchebag is the student council president now?"

"Isn't that obvious? If he's the vice-president, he's naturally the top candidate for the next president. Though, there's zero chance any of the common students would get elected anyway. Also, Angel didn't resign, she was fired."

Answering Naruto's bewilderment was Yuri, who finally showed up behind them after ascending from the staircases. In an instant, all attention was on her thanks to her sudden appearance.

"Yurippe..." Fujimaki muttered in surprise. He was standing behind the whole crew, but he hadn't heard Yuri's footsteps until she made her presence known.

"Oh, it's Leader-chan. Where'd you run off to? The assembly's already started a while ago."

"I don't have any obligation to answer your question, but I was prepping up the band for an upcoming operation."

Even though the first response was filled with her usual arrogant sting, she answered Naruto's question honestly. That by itself didn't have much meaning, but it seemed she was in a relatively good mood to not completely brush Naruto off like she usually did.

"That said, how much did I miss?" the girl asked her subordinates.

"Not much," Hideki answered with a shrug. "It seems this whole assembly was merely to announce Angel's resigning and the vice-president's promotion. There's nothing else other than that."

"Is that so?" For a moment, Yuri looked thoughtful and gave no response at all. A moment later, her mouth broke into a smug smile and her eyes had that mischievous look she always had every time she thought of a plan—the inner side of her eyebrows angling down and all.

"She's been demoted to the same level as us common students. Will she be able to stop us now that she's lost her moral backing?"

This was the outcome she had expected. By making Kanade look like a rebellious student who intentionally made a mockery of her exams, her test results would plummet. The teachers would be offended by her actions and proceed to strip her status as a student council president, thus severely weakening her moral aspect. With that loss of power, she wouldn't have a solid reason to stop the Battlefront's operations.

"Tonight, we'll put Operation Tornado into action."

To the Battlefront members, the operation name held a significant meaning. [Operation Tornado]; it was an operation that involved taking meal tickets from the common students—those students being the NPC students—using giant fans the size of jet propellers to basically uplift them forcefully, thus the name "Tornado".

However, another side of this operation employs the help of the Girls Dead Monster to distract the students by putting up a performance. The reason why Yuri arrived late was also because of this, as she needed to remind the band about their upcoming performance. This performance, if it wasn't good enough to entertain the students, would be pointless. Thankfully, the records so far showed that Girls Dead Monster was a well-known band and the NPC students loved them very much.

Of course, Naruto had no idea of this.

"Operation...Tornado? As in, a whirlwind? What kind of operation name is that?" asked the boy with a confused face.

"You don't know? Hm... Well, you haven't seen it for yourself, so it'll be a bit hard to explain." Yuri held her chin between her thumb and index finger as she thought. Then, her face brightened with a full-blown grin, though it didn't look like she had thought up of anything good.

She had never thought up of anything well-meaning, in that regard.

"Well then, since you look curious enough, I think I'll be nice for once and let you join in our operation!"

"I thought I've done enough in the 'Test Disturb' operation..."

"Hey, what's with that depressed look? This is something you should be glad about. After all, it's not usual for me to personally invite someone like you to our operation."

"Our past alliance dictates that bad things happen to me when I team up with you," Naruto stated with a flat look. "Also, shouldn't you be more specific to me about what kind of operation you're inviting me into?"

Hideki raised a hand at that, "In short, it's an operation where we lift meal tickets from the whole common students."

"Isn't that just normal bullying?!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

"In normal bullying, the use of intimidation and coercive force is involved." Takamatsu pointed out. "Operation Tornado isn't something like that. The Battlefront wouldn't stoop so low as to resort to something as bullying, even if the targets are merely NPCs."

"That's right! As the Afterlife Battlefront, we would absolutely never threaten ordinary students with numbers or power!" Matsushita 5th Dan declared with a charismatic aura.

"I can't help but feel that my doom count rises with that reasoning," Naruto muttered with a helpless look. "I'm not an ordinary student, after all."

Seeing the exchange in front of him, Otonashi couldn't help but remember the first time he was introduced to the Battlefront. Things went on more or less the same way it was going right now; it was almost like seeing a playback of a movie. Seeing Naruto in the same position that he had been, Otonashi felt a bit sympathetic for him.

"Anyway, what do you think you're doing taking their meal tickets and everything? You should buy it like every other people do!"

"We would, but doing it this way is much more fun. Also, losing their meal tickets wouldn't matter to them—they're NPCs, after all."

"That sounds completely thoughtless! And weren't you a Battlefront that 'wouldn't stoop so low as to resort to bullying'?!"

Yuri's statement was the exact opposite of what Takamatsu had said in regards of NPCs. It was so different that it was downright controversial. And yet, none of them seemed troubled by that controversy.

"Just relax and trust us. It's not like we're doing this without a reason or anything; we ourselves got mouths to feed in the Battlefront."

"I don't have anything against that, but isn't it too much to take all of the NPC students' meal tickets for this small group?"

"What are you talking about? I meant the whole Battlefront."

"...Eh? Whole?"

As far as Naruto knew, the people in front of him (plus a few other people who were not present) were all the Afterlife Battlefront was comprised of. Surely such a dangerous and troublesome group wouldn't have even more people to add to the problem, would it?

Apparently, they do.

"Do you really think that we're the only ones in the Battlefront?" Yuri asked while raising an eyebrow questioningly. "How naïve. No matter what, there'll always be people dying and coming into the Afterlife. And seeing that we're the only group with the same circumstances, those people will naturally come to us and join in. Including us, the current count for the whole members of the Afterlife Battlefront is around 50 people in total."

"That many!? How come I've never seen any of them before?"

"How should I know? Maybe that yellow bush on your head covered your eyes too much or something."

"Ugh...back with insults, Leader-chan? That hurts my conscience you know..."

Naruto's complain was ignored as usual. It had became a usual occurrence for Yuri to disregard Naruto whenever she saw fit, without her feeling even a little bit guilty about it. Instead, she turned to her Battlefront subordinates and declared to them with a dangerous smile, "Alright, then. Operation starts at 18.30, like usual. With Angel losing her position, I wouldn't expect her to get in our way this time, but be prepared for anything."

The order naturally came out of her mouth as if to justify her status as the Afterlife Battlefront's leader. It took a while for Naruto to remember it clearly, but this girl is the same girl that once moved a group of fully-armed men to confront him. That power over them all proved that her leadership wasn't something to laugh at, and the scene before him served to remind him of that.

Despite how ridiculous it sounded, she looked naturally in place. It was almost like she had been a leader all her life.

Naruto shook his head, wondering how that crazy idea started to cross his mind. He snapped out of his trance when he noticed Yuri looking at him. From the looks of it, she had said something that he didn't really hear thanks to him spacing off.

"Uh, sorry, what did you say?"

"Are you going deaf now? What a perfect topping for a colossal idiot like you."

Right after Yuri dismissed the others, she had turned to Naruto to ask him about something. Thanks to him not hearing it, he would have to endure her cruel berating like any other misbehaving boys—not that he wasn't a misbehaving boy, but isn't this kind of treatment a bit too harsh? And it was only because he spaced off...

"...You really hate my existence wholeheartedly, don't you?" Naruto's asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"And you realized that just now?" Yuri asked back. With a sigh and a shake of her head that said 'What an unbelievable person', she repeated her initial question. "I was asking if you want to join in for Operation Tornado later tonight."

"That's why I'm telling you, I did more than enough in Test Disturb. No, rather than that, saying that I gave too much might be more precise."

"So...no good?"

"Pfft, obviously. Next thing I know, I'll have my head smashed to the ceiling again, 'ttebayo."

Yuri cringed at the statement, and responded with a disgusted look, "Uwah...I haven't even thought about doing that, yet you're already suggesting it. Do you really want to be treated like that again? Are you a masochist?"

"...That's a nice follow-up attack, Leader-chan."

"Thank you."

That might be the first time he actually got thanked by the girl. Incidentally, it was also the first time he saw her victorious smile directed at him.

The fact that she had been verbally insulting him just a moment ago made it off-putting.

"Well, if that's how you want to be, then it's your loss. While we conduct our operation, you'll be left picking up what's left of the meal tickets we lift. Going by that, you'll owe us a huge favor."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll give you a discount for my delivery services in repayment."

Naruto waved off Yuri's one-sided loan casually. That was the only way he could respond to that kind of statement. If he didn't, she'd be winning over him all the time – and truth to be told, seeing her gloating smirk all the time was beginning to annoy him. At least this way he wouldn't feel like such a failure for losing against a girl in a verbal contest.

Said victorious girl shrugged her shoulders and turned around, intending to follow her dismissed subordinates, but tilted her head sideways in order to give the yellow-haired boy a look. Naruto caught that look and asked, "What?"

"I haven't had the chance to say this before, but...thank you. For all that you did during the exam period."

. . .

That made it the second time she thanked him.

On the same day, nonetheless.

"Did you eat something weird this morning, Leader-chan? Or...don't tell me you ate the 'Curry of Life'!"

"What's with that reaction? I'm thanking you here, so you should be a little more grateful than that."

"Uh, well..." Stunned, Naruto scratched his head out of habit. "It's strange being thanked by you, of all people. But, for all it's worth, you're welcome."

"Hmph, don't get too used to it. After the operation tonight, you'll be thanking me and we'll be even."

"Oh, come on, don't be so formal with me, Leader-chan~" Naruto said with a teasing grin, chuckling afterwards. "I'm not the type to like having people indebted to me, so don't say it like you're paying me back, 'ttebayo. Besides, I was just doing what I wanted like I usually do."

Playing a part in the Battlefront's latest operation was his own decision. Maybe Yuri did ask him – or force him, actually – to join in, but he could've said no blatantly. And it wasn't like the Battlefront needed him in particular anyway, so it wasn't worth paying back the debt.

"Hmm..." Yuri looked like she didn't buy it, but she shrugged the thought off with a slight smile and walked away. "Then, see you tonight."

Grinning widely, Naruto replied with an enthusiastic nod.

"Count on it!"

o-x-o-x-o

After the school-wide assembly was concluded, Naruto exited the gymnasium. Opting not to go through the trouble of squeezing himself through the waves of NPC students who exited through the only door there, he jumped out from the window and began air-walking. That impossible walk gradually sped up to a series of long jumps as he leaped with no footing at all.

This was the upside perk from his newfound power.

"Reiryoku, huh...? This is really one convenient type of energy. There's just no way walking on thin air like this is possible using chakra." Naruto uttered to himself as he jumped on thin air almost like they were invisible platforms.

"Then again, ghosts don't exactly walk on the ground, do they? Being a spirit like I am now, I guess flying around like this is considered normal?"

"An excellent, yet mistaken deduction."

"FUGYAAAH?!"

The sudden answering voice made Naruto lost his footing and went down careening straight into a water tower on the school's rooftop—face first and in an odd angle.

On normal circumstances, that would've broken his neck and killed him. But, being in the Afterlife, a sore neck was the only problem he would have to face. That, and a Naruto-shaped dent on the metal water tank.

"That...friggin...hurts," stated the yellow-haired boy as he nursed his face, red after the impact. "Alright, who the hell was that?! There's no way there's another air-walking bastard in this place, and if there is I'd sue them for jutsu copyright infringement!"

"Frankly speaking, this isn't a jutsu in the first place."

That soft voice that answered was the same as the one that caught him by surprise and thus making him fall out of the sky. It was a feminine, calm yet wily voice that only belonged to one person according to his memory.

And the owner of that voice was floating in front of him.

Frederica Bernkastel.

The blue-haired Saint of Time and Space that sent him to this Afterlife.

"Rika-chan? Wow, long time no see! Damn, you scared me. Don't suddenly appear out of thin air like that—you'll give me a heart attack someday..."

"You're overreacting. This is not the first time I appear before you so suddenly like this. Your reactions to surprises are very amusing, though, so I guess you're prone to get more surprises after this. U fu fu fu~"

"...Somehow, it's relieving that your twisted sense of humor hasn't changed one bit."

Not that he had any room to complain, but for a Saint, she sure does take good enjoyment in watching his painful endeavors. He was sure that she had laughed her tiny bottom off when Operation Test Disturb commenced and he got his skull slammed to the ceiling.

A Saint—an existence that symbolizes untainted purity, would actually be a sadist.

What a contradiction.

"Hmm...hey, wait a minute. How come you're out and about?" Naruto asked with a quizzical look. "Aren't you supposed to only appear in my head? What happened to the 'only being able to materialize in my subconscious' thing that you said?"

"Oh? Are you saying that I am not present in your subconscious right now?"

"Well, no, not exactly, but you're out here rather than in here." Naruto pointed his right temple for emphasizing. "Or are you telling me that the you out here is just a figment of my imagination created by the you in my head?"

"Hm hm..." Frederica nodded while chuckling to herself, sounding strangely proud. "That's an interesting way to put it. Yes, the me you're seeing in front of your eyes can be explained that way. In other words, you can say that I put an illusion from inside your subconscious on your five senses to make you perceive my existence in the real world."

"That...sounds a lot like Genjutsu."

Disturbing the five perceptive senses of a human being was what Genjutsu does, or so did the Academy from his old world taught him. If that was true, then the Frederica in front of him wasn't actually in front of him, and he was talking to thin air in reality. It really was a potent Genjutsu.

Of course, Naruto wouldn't put it past Frederica to be able to cast one on him. She did seal Kurama back inside him with a sealing jutsu identical to the one the Fourth Hokage—his father, had used.

"Well, I guess this way I can talk to you easier." Naruto shrugged and flashed a grin at the blue-haired girl. "By the way, nice outfit, Rika-chan. What's with the sudden change of wardrobe?"

In contrast to the simple light green sundress that she had worn when Naruto last met her, she now wore a black cardigan over a long-sleeved white dress which had bigger circumference starting from the elbow down. The cardigan she wore was long enough to match the length of her white dress, making it look like two layers of dress skirts. There was also a blue ribbon shaped into a bowtie on her chest, and Naruto noticed a cat tail accessory tied with a blue ribbon behind her back.

Though, for some reason, that particular accessory didn't look like an accessory at all.

For one, the tail came out from under her skirt.

"Hm... That's right, you haven't seen me in these clothes before." Frederica raised an arm to look at her sleeve as if she was intentionally showing it off to the boy. "I felt like changing my appearance a little. How do I look?"

"Well...it's cute, I'll give you that." Naruto admitted, feeling rather embarrassed for having to say that out loud. "I never knew you were the Gothic Lolita type. And with that cat tail, the only thing that's missing is a pair of cat ears."

"Oh? So you have that kind of fetish? Aah, to think that Naruto is actually that kind of pervert; and towards a little girl no less—it's simply unthinkable~"

"Is that what I got for being honest?! And even though you're a little girl in appearance, you're actually a century-old granny!"

There was silence.

A silence which broke the instant Frederica magically summoned a gigantic scythe roughly twice her height and placed the sharp edge near Naruto's neck.

The size was so ridiculous that Noda's halberd suddenly felt tiny.

"I think you have heard about this before when you were alive, but it's not nice to talk about a lady's age. Moreover, calling her a century-old granny is simply unacceptable. Are we clear on this, Uzumaki Naruto-kun?"

There was something in Frederica's smile that promised him great paint if he didn't comply. At that point, Naruto realized a terrifying fact. In all honesty, she might be a Saint, but that wasn't enough reason for her not to cleave someone's head off should they prove to be annoying enough.

Naruto gulped, "Y-Yes..."

"Good."

Conclusion: Frederica was sensitive about her age.

Which was ridiculous, considering how she had lived for over a hundred years. At that point, age shouldn't be a concern for her, but it seemed that she retained that human part of her.

Huffing indignantly, Frederica crossed her arms and gave Naruto an unsatisfied glare.

"Honestly... When I thought that you might have trouble adjusting yourself here, I can't help but be worried. Looking at you now, I realize that worry is redundant. You really haven't changed—at all."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Naruto said with a wry grin. "I've pretty much settled down here. There wasn't much problem with adjusting, even though I thought being here would be harder than this. If anything, this place is pretty normal."

"Normal...?"

"Well, at least as normal as a world after death can be. That said, the only abnormality I can find so far are those Battlefront guys."

"Ah..."

Under normal circumstances, the Afterlife served to be a place that helps people to move on from their past regrets. However, the Afterlife Battlefront was consisted of a group of people that refused to go along with the Afterlife's system. They even went to the lengths of making a stand against God.

Indeed, they really were irregularities.

"They sure are an interesting bunch. I have never seen anyone wanting to go against God that much. Though, given the lives they had, I can't say I'm surprised."

"You know about their lives?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I've seen the memories stored in their Shards of Time. Most of the people in the Battlefront, especially the main members, they all lived an unsatisfying life that brought upon a significant sense of regret."

"Main members...?"

He assumed that those main members are Yuri and the others that he had met.

"I kinda understand how their regret brought them here. Leader-chan...ah, I mean, Yuri had explained it to me back when I just got here. I'm curious about just how bad their lives were, actually."

"Well, I can tell you what I saw..." Frederica said before trailing off. Raising her head, her deep violet eyes stared deep at Naruto. "But are you sure you want to know?"

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Eh? Is it that bad?"

"Well, I can't say it's that bad when compared to yours, but... I am a bit unsure whether this is something to be shown to a third party or not. This is someone's life we're talking about, and it's not something I'm very keen to share. It's bad enough that I broke into their privacy by watching over them, but that's my job as a Saint."

Frederica placed a hand on her hip and said, "In other words, you knowing about their life this way is the same as dishonoring their privacy."

Realization dawned on Naruto as he now understood what exactly he was asking for. He hadn't thought about it to that extent.

"Ah...you're right. I guess I shouldn't after all."

It would be different if Naruto himself was a Saint tasked with the same job Frederica was, but being a normal human it would only be an unwanted intrusion. In the first place, him wanting to know about their lives wasn't because a sense of obligation or responsibility; it was just pure curiosity.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have even asked. I forgot that everyone has their own demons to hide."

"Is that a pun on you being a Jinchūriki?"

"Uh...maybe? Though, I'm sure none of them is a Jinchūriki..."

"Hmm," Frederica hummed nonchalantly. "Well, if you're so curious, why not try asking them yourself? I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you find out about their lives that way."

"You're joking. With how they are, I would only have my nuts kicked." Naruto shivered at the painful image, covering his genitals instinctively. "And their leader would have my head on her desk as an added bonus."

Watching as Naruto's mentality began to break down at the prospect of sadism in his near future, Frederica broke out into laughter. With how she pictured him as a fearless hero, seeing Naruto in this pathetic state was too hilarious for her. It was almost like a mockery to who he actually was – though he might be putting up his usual façade as usual.

To be honest, she was more comfortable with him that way.

"Ahahaha~ My, how the mighty have fallen... I never knew the day would actually come when a war hero such as you succumb to the measly terror of a bunch of kids."

Naruto looked down and chuckled dryly. "I'm not a hero, I just happen to act like one. Besides, those 'bunch of kids', as you say it, are more scarier than any Akatsuki members. Save for the plant guy and the undead duo, I guess."

Frederica raised an eyebrow with an interested look on her face. If Naruto would go so far as to use a double comparative adjective like that, it meant he really was scared of them. It just made the fact even funnier, actually.

The Saint shook her head and said with a light chuckle, "Alright, jokes aside, I have a few questions for you."

"Really? I have something I gotta ask you, too. Ethic dictates that it's 'ladies first', so..." Naruto grinned slyly as he pretended to be suave.

"Very well, then I'll ask first," Frederica started to say. "First of all, just for the sake of confirming, how have you been?"

It was a generic way to start a conversation. Still, the fact that she bothered to ask him that meant that she was at the very least concerned about him. That thought made Naruto smile and chuckle happily.

"I'm good, I'm good. Never been better, actually. If anything, this is one place where I can just kick back and relax as everything goes by."

In a way, Naruto's answer was the blatant truth. The Afterlife was structured to fulfill the regrettable life one had in their life so that they can pass on with no regrets. Suffice to say, it was a purgatory-like haven set to appease someone in return for their unfair life. Of course, the system wasn't perfect—the Afterlife Battlefront wouldn't have existed if it was.

In Naruto's opinion, things couldn't be any better than this. Oh, but if the conflict between Kanade and the Battlefront is resolved, it would be so much better.

"There's always something fun to do here, whether it's messing with the Battlefront or stealing gizmos from the Guild. I'm really gonna miss this place when I pass on." Naruto admitted honestly.

"Are you, now? Hmmhm... Your trait of forming bonds wherever you go doesn't seem to deteriorate even in a different world. I'm mildly impressed."

"Well, I'm a very sociable person, now that I think about it." Naruto replied with a wide grin.

"True," Frederica shrugged her shoulders and smiled. After that, though, her face adopted a more serious look before she continued, "Now, let's get to the main point of why I came here."

Seeing the change of mood, Naruto quirked an eyebrow and looked at Frederica. He felt a bit puzzled, but he let Frederica take the lead of their conversation for now. He himself was curious about the reason behind Frederica's visit.

"Have your friends made any strange moves?"

That was her question.

"Eh? By friends, you mean... Well, the Battlefront hasn't been doing anything strange, as far as I know. That's excluding their successful attempt on demoting Kanade from her previous position, though."

"Ah, no, I wasn't talking about them." Frederica, for once, smiled sheepishly and scratched her cheek with her index finger. It was the kind of look that one had when a misunderstanding takes place in a conversation and that sole person realizes it first.

"I'm sorry, I forgone the fact that they are, in a way, your friends as well. I should've been more specific in my words. Still, that is really unexpected... Do you think of them as your friends?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess..." Naruto trailed off while blinking owlishly. "I mean, they're not that bad of a bunch, and they're actually friendly to me. Ignoring the fact that they hate my guts, I'm comfortable enough with them to call them my friends."

It might have been how sincere he uttered his thoughts with. Somehow, Frederica was amazed by the yellow-haired boy's ability to be so carefree about those aggressive people, how he could so easily see them as his friends (or at the very least acquaintances) despite their differences. In that way, Naruto was amazing.

"...You truly are an amazingly naïve idiot."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Take it as you will," Frederica stated with a small smile. "Back to the main topic, however, I wasn't talking about the Battlefront."

"? If it's not them, then who is this about?"

"I'm talking about your real friends. Or, in this situation, it's the shadow of your old friends from your old world I am talking about."

His old friends.

Or, in the state they are now, it was more accurate to call them shadows of what they were.

No, in the first place, they weren't even close to that. They had no memories that defined who they were, no personalities that the real people had. They weren't even shadows.

The NPC-Konoha Eleven.

"A-Aah...so it's them..." Naruto replied, stupefied. "Ah, so, what about them? Is something wrong?"

"Not exactly wrong per se, but..." Frederica trailed off, looking as if gathering her thoughts before speaking again. "I understand that you've been avoiding them recently?"

"Yeah, sort of..."

Honestly, Naruto lost track of how long had he been avoiding them. Generally speaking, perhaps he had done so from the very first time he figured out their true identity. Even though he didn't actively avoid them, it wasn't like he met them every day.

...Then again, maybe he did.

He never hung around school in fear of meeting up with them.

He ditched class whenever he could because NPC-Lee was there.

Recently, even the dorms was becoming too much for him with NPC-Tsunade being there, so he seldom crashed at the New Guild for a sleeping spot.

"Why the question? I'm sure I'm not doing anything out of the norm, right?"

"I can't say anything about that, but that's not the point. According to what I know about you, I thought you would've been delighted by their presence. Isn't meeting them one last time before getting your memories erased the best turnout you'd ever hope for?"

Were it under normal circumstances...no, were it under real circumstances, Naruto would've agreed with Frederica's opinion. However, even if those were NPCs of his old friends, even if they held resemblance to his friends back in his deceased world—

—Even so...

"They're not real," Naruto said bitterly. "No matter how much they look alike, no matter how absurdly identical they are to my friends, they're not real. If they're not real, they're not the same. Because they're not real, this is not the best turnout—no, more like, it might be the worst."

"Worst?"

"Yeah. The fact that they're here with me while being nothing but fake... If anything, they only serve to remind me of my failure. Honestly, it hurts."

It was like adding salt to his everlasting wound.

If he were to see their faces every day, he would see what he failed to protect. Every laugh they make, every word they say – those fake sounds were nothing but illusions. It would be better if they were actually real; they would have the same scar he had and could share that pain together with him.

But...

They weren't real.

And those faces, those smiles, those laughs...were empty. Like a group of professional actors, playing a role to heal his guilt, when in reality they were only making him feel guiltier.

"Maybe this is God's doing to compensate for my loss. I appreciate the feeling, but this isn't helping me at all." Naruto looked aside and sighed. "That's why I avoid them. I can't stand seeing them as the fake they are. I miss them, but if I interact with them in the slightest, I'll only hurt myself."

"...So that's how it is?" Frederica solemnly asked for clarification.

"That's how it is."

The way Naruto answered without missing a beat like that spoke volumes of how sure he was. Thinking back, Naruto had never once said that he had gotten over his guilt. Frederica noticed it; she had noticed since before she sent him to the Afterlife. Naruto was still regretting his failure in protecting his world. No matter how he tried to cover it up, the guilt was obviously still there.

That was what anchored him to this Afterlife.

And Frederica believed that Naruto himself knew about that, but confirming it was a redundant action, so she didn't ask.

"I understand. That is what you choose to do, so I won't raise any objections." Frederica folded her arms in front of her, grasping her elbows lightly. "And...sorry for bringing up that topic all of the sudden."

"It's fine, it's fine," said Naruto as he waved off Frederica's apology. "I can tell that you're just concerned about me. Besides, it's not like I'm particularly troubled by it, so it's no big deal."

The light tone Naruto spoke with was comforting, and Frederica couldn't help but smile. That boy truly was kind if he would put up such a believable lie just to not make her feel bad. It's sad, but Frederica could see through that front almost like it was transparent glass.

'It's a blatant lie if he said he's not troubled by it,' Frederica thought glumly. 'His friends mean a lot to him in more than one sense. If that's not the case, Lambdadelta wouldn't exploit that weak spot to mentally hurt him.'

Lambdadelta was the Witch of Certainty—one of the strongest witches in existence. She was also the one responsible for the existence of NPC-Konoha Eleven; using them as her puppets to attack Naruto psychologically. Surely, that kind of feat wasn't entirely impossible for her. And that formidable girl was standing as Frederica and Naruto's enemy, so Frederica was naturally worried about Naruto's health.

"Okay then, it's your turn to question me. What is it that you want to ask me?"

"Oh, right... Erm, what was it again?" Naruto muttered to himself, his face scrunched up as he tried to remember the thing he wanted to ask Frederica before. When he finally remembered it, his eyes opened and gave Frederica a puzzled look.

"How do you pass on from the Afterlife? Or, more like, what in the world am I supposed to do?"

The befuddlement on Frederica's face was all too priceless to miss.

Kurama boisterously laughed his furry ass off as he watched from Naruto's subconscious through their mental link. Naruto was too busy being confused, so he didn't comment on that unique face the Saint was making.

"Huh? What... Don't you know about that already?" Frederica asked.

"Would I really ask you if I do?" Naruto countered with a deadpan expression.

"But...with how things have been revolving around you, surely you'd have at least an idea of how things work?"

"That's why I'm telling you, I have no idea at all! Even though the whole reason I came here is to forget and reincarnate, how the hell am I supposed to do that when I don't know how to get past this realm?! Don't tell me this is something like a hidden dungeon level that needs a special cheat code to pass!"

"No, I don't think it is... And what do you mean by cheat code?"

Though Naruto believed that his confusion was justified, Frederica thought that he was exaggerating. No, rather than that, she couldn't believe that he could be that ignorant. Why would he ask for such a thing when the answer to that had once presented itself in front of his eyes?

"Haven't you witnessed the process of passing on with your own eyes? That should be more than enough reference for you."

"Eh? Um... Yuri did say that working seriously on written tests would somehow make us disappear, but I haven't seen anyone going through that kind of process."

"Have you gone dense already, Naruto? Obviously, that's not what I am talking about." Frederica gave Naruto a belittling stare, not being patient enough to deal with the boy's inherently slow personality. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Frederica continued, "The case I am talking about concerns more about that vocalist friend of yours, Iwasawa Masami."

There was a pause.

A deep silence permeated the atmosphere around them, befalling like an invisible blanket. For a moment, no words were exchanged, no action was taken, and the only sound in the vicinity was the softly blowing wind.

It was a very uncharacteristic silence on Naruto's part; he was never the silent type even when most situations demanded he be. However, this once – just this once, he had no choice but to clamp his mouth.

Iwasawa Masami...

She was both a good friend and someone he truly admired for who she was.

—A girl whose natural talent led her to become a singer.

—A true miracle worker.

"Well, that being said, there are no other cases I could be talking about. Ever since you came here, she's the only one by far to have passed on, so she's our only reference."

"...What exactly do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, when she disappeared in front of your eyes back in that fateful guerilla concert, she didn't just disappear. In truth, she reached her own sense of completion and broke free of her ties with the Afterlife, thus passing on and reincarnating in the next world."

Iwasawa had once disappeared after singing her last song in the guerilla concert.

She disappeared after keeping her promise with him.

That was how Naruto saw it. That time, she had made him a promise to let him hear her new song – a song that was deemed unsuited for the concert. That new song ended up being her last. Naruto sincerely believed that he played a part on her disappearance because of their promise.

Once again, guilt played on his conscience. It always had been like that. It was guilt that brought him here, yet being here added more guilt into the original mix. Honestly, the current circumstances were so ironic he could've laughed it off if Iwasawa wasn't the current topic.

Naruto didn't realize it, but when his mind finally refocused, he could see Frederica looking at him with a worried face. Instantly, he felt ashamed.

'What's with me, damn it...' Naruto thought, cursing himself for being silent for so long. 'Why the hell am I brooding over it? This is ridiculous... Heheh, Masami-chan would've laughed at me for being like this.'

This wasn't like him, not in the slightest. He wasn't the type to drown himself in self-pity like this. Naruto's hands, which were unconsciously trembling, tightly clenched into a fist as an effort to drive away the negative thoughts.

—He still couldn't, but he'd do his best to hide it.

"A-Aha ha ha! Sorry, sorry, I spaced out," said Naruto as he put on a grin. "Ah, what you said about Masami-chan, is that how her disappearance went on?"

Frederica gave Naruto one more concerned look before replying, "Yes. She had, at some point, come to a close with her regret. As you know, regret plays a large part in what brought everyone to the Afterlife. If the regret is resolved, so will their ties to the Afterlife. When that happens, they pass on from the Afterlife and reincarnate in the real world. That is how the Afterlife's system works."

"So, in other words, Masami-chan got over her regret?" Naruto speculated.

"That is correct. Working with that logic, it's safe to say that you can pass on with that method as well – you just have to let go of your regrets."

Naruto scrunched his face up in thought. The more he tried to make sense of his condition, the more questions he had. The things he needed to know just keep popping up like a Matryoshka doll.

"That can't be it. There must be something else that I need to do," he said with a confident tone.

"What makes you say that?" Frederica asked.

"For one, if letting go of my regrets would let me pass on, I would've passed on by now. The same can be said about Masami-chan, in a way. I mean, if it's really something that simple, she wouldn't need to sing a song just to pass on."

"That's seeing it from a third person perspective," Frederica argued. "You see, Naruto, people sometimes don't realize it when they carry a form of regret. Most ignore it altogether, but rarely do they forget about it. They ignore their regret because they don't want to feel depressed, yet they don't see any way to settle it thoroughly. However, like a mosquito—the regret they ignore would pop up and bite them from time to time, as if to remind the person of its presence."

Frederica chuckled and brushed a strand hair aside with her small right hand.

She continued,

"Ignorance is bliss, but I say it's more of an illusion—nothing more than a way to distract oneself from reality, a convenient getaway for desperate souls."

"...I don't really know about that, but what's that got to do with our current topic?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I'm getting to that, please be patient. Now, suppose that someone who deliberately ignores his past regret gets the chance to resolve that problem and relieve himself of his regret, what do you think that person would do? Would he keep ignoring his regret and problems, or would he try to take that chance and relieve himself of the weight in his heart?"

Naruto thought for a moment, but answered quickly. "Well, the right thing to do would be the latter. He should try to resolve his problems and regrets when the chance presents itself. There's no point in continuing to lie to himself when he could easily let his regrets go. That's just my optimistic opinion, though."

"Is that so? Truthfully, I picked the same choice as well." Frederica let out a quite giggle, sounding amused. "However, it's not because it's the right choice. Even if somehow trying to let go of one's regret is a wrong thing to do, I'm certain anyone would still try to do it. That's just human nature. They might need a bit of incentive to be honest with themselves and face their regrets, but in the end that is the only thing they want. Your friend, Iwasawa Masami is like that, too."

It wasn't just Iwasawa, though.

Anyone, no matter who they are, would need a push to face the demons of their past. If there is regret, then there should be a past frightening enough to generate it. And facing that frightening past alone is nearly impossible.

They would need an 'incentive'—a chance.

In Iwasawa's case, that chance was the guerilla concert. She was able to be true to herself when standing on a stage, performing. In that condition, with that circumstance, she was able to face her past and come up with a resolution.

And then, she passed on.

"In the first place, you can't leave the Afterlife if you can't break free from your regrets. This place is filled with people who need a particular incentive to free themselves from their regrets."

Given that explanation, Naruto felt that he had gotten a better understanding about the Afterlife. That being so however, he didn't understand how that knowledge should apply to him.

"Even so, I don't know why that has anything to do with me. I haven't got any regrets to start with, after all."

"Hm? Is that so?"

"Yeah. I came here because this is the only pathway that leads to reincarnation in the living world, but I don't really have any regrets. If resolving regret is the way to pass the Afterlife, I won't ever be able to get out of here. And...hey, isn't this a huge problem?!"

"That's where you're wrong, Naruto." Frederica sighed and walked up to the taller boy. "I wouldn't have sent you here if you didn't have any regrets—the you in that kind of state would easily reincarnate in the real world. But, right now, you still have a regret that ties you with your old world. In that condition, the Afterlife was as far as I can take you."

The Afterlife's purpose was, in a way, to serve as a place where people let go of their past regrets. In other words, to pass the Afterlife, one would have to sever its only connection with the world they had lived in, which takes the form of regret.

"But...if that's the case, then what is my regret?" Naruto asked with a troubled face.

"I can't answer that question; that is something you yourself have to realize."

Frederica already knew what Naruto's regret was. Actually, Naruto should've realized it himself, but he was denying that he still harbored that feeling. His denial clouded his awareness, and as such, he currently couldn't realize what regret he had, or whether he still had it in the first place. Of course, Frederica could've told him what his regret was directly, but there was no meaning in doing it if Naruto can't realize it himself. There was no easy way out of it.

'Starting from now, you'll have to find that which you have buried so deeply in your heart that you have lost sight of.' Frederica thought to herself as she looked up to Naruto's eyes. 'Regret is a painful emotion, Naruto. It's heart-wrenching. But if you can't find whatever it is you're regretting, you can never leave the Afterlife.'

Naruto tensed as he was being stared closely at.

"Um... Rika-chan? Why are you staring me like that? Is this supposed to be the part where a romantic scene occurs and I kiss you by instinct?"

"If you do that, I will kick your testicles."

"Are you Noda!?"

"Ufufu," Frederica chuckled in a ladylike manner. "You know, I might do that, but I can't do anything if you force yourself on me. I'm completely defenseless right now."

"Don't make that kind of suggestive thought! This story is rated T for a reason!"

While inadvertently breaking the fourth wall, the flustered Naruto took a step back from the suddenly provocative Saint. He didn't want to appear like a lolicon, but the blush on his face was already spreading and he couldn't do anything about it. His only defense now was that he hadn't laid a hand on her.

"Yet."

'Oh shut the hell up, Kurama.'

Naruto cleared his throat in effort to calm down. "A-Anyway, what I need to do now is to find out what my regret is, right? I think I can manage it somehow."

"I hope so," Frederica said in agreement, still with a smug smirk on her face. "Still, there's no rush. Going on a journey to find yourself wouldn't exactly take a mere two or three days."

"I'm not going anywhere though..."

"It's a figure of speech."

"Ah."

Chuckling once more at Naruto's enlightened face, Frederica turned and walked away, distancing herself from him. As she reached the edge of the rooftop, she called out to Naruto.

"It's good to see you doing well, Naruto. I wish you luck in your search for yourself."

"Hey now, don't make it sound like this is our last meeting. That's too depressing."

"Is that so? Then, let me revise my words," Frederica smiled widely and, for once, looked genuinely happy. "I'll see you later, Naruto."

Naruto replied those parting words with a grin. "Yeah, see ya!"

Not a moment later, Frederica's body was surrounded in brightly shining blue wisps. Right after that, she disappeared in a flash. The body he saw disappearing was an illusion created from inside his subconscious, but he could also feel Frederica's real form leaving his mind as well.

"Geez, she really does like cool exits. That kind of trait fits her, though."

Their conversation had ended up taking a lot of while. Judging by the sun's position, it should be well into the afternoon. Sundown should come in two hours or so, give or take a few minutes.

Exhaling, the whisker-marked boy jumped off from the rooftop and resumed his air-walking.

o-x-o-x-o

In another place, the Girls Dead Monster were doing preparations for their upcoming concert as per requested from their battlefront leader.

That was also the first official meeting between the remaining band girls and their new vocalist, Yui. With that in mind, Yui was naturally nervous when they first met each other.

"I-I-It's nice to meet you, my name's Yui! I'm the new vocalist, and I'm a bit inexperienced, but I'll do my best! Please take care of me!" said Yui with a full bow right at the class's doorway.

It was a rare display of politeness that the usually brazen girl had never shown to anyone. This was to be expected, considering that she was a huge fan of GirlDeMo and looked up to Iwasawa. Of course, this meant she idolized Hisako, Sekine, and Irie as well.

"Yo, nice to meet you, too. The name's Hisako, by the way." Hisako introduced herself with a laidback smile.

"Sekine Shiori, at your service!"

"I'm Irie Miyuki. Nice to meet you, Yui-chan."

Prior to this meeting, the band girls had been told by Yuri about their new vocalist who was supposed to fill in the empty spot Iwasawa left. While they were stunned by how quick the replacement was found, the band girls were more curious about whom the person was. At the same time, Yuri had personally told Yui about her first assignment and had her come to [Classroom 3-A] where the girls were practicing.

As expected, Yui was excited. This was going to be her first time working with Girls Dead Monster, after all.

She might've even been a tad too excited about it.

"Ah...awawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa!"

"Eh? Wa—?Yui-chan, what's wrong with you?"

A confused and concerned Irie approached the pink-haired girl who was currently going haywire, but was too scared to do anything else. On the other hand, Sekine had no restraint and shook Yui by the shoulder, thinking she was going into a catatonic state.

"Oi, oi, Yui-chan, get a grip! We haven't even started training yet—it's no time to get nervous!"

"Sheesh...way to do a first introduction," Hisako commented with a sigh. "More importantly, aren't you that girl that's been following us recently? You're always there every time we set up a concert."

"Ah...ah ha ha ha, somehow I'm glad that my loyalty as a fan is that apparent." Yui said with an embarrassed face.

"No, rather than a fan, you're more like a stalker."

"Fuweh?! My image has suddenly dropped that far!?"

"Isn't it already at that level in the first place?"

"Geh...I might've followed you around and took several pictures of you all without your consent, but I'm definitely not a stalker!"

"No, that's the very definition of a 'stalker'..."

Their first meeting was as weird as it could get, and that feeling was shared by both Yui and the band girls. But due to the time of concert closing in real quick, they hadn't got much time to dwell on that weirdness as much as normal people would. Accepting any replacements on the get go – the remaining GirlDeMo members were already in that kind of state.

Despite how it was though, Hisako was still skeptical about Yui's singing skill, as well as her other skills.

"I don't know if you know about this, but if you really want to take Iwasawa's spot, you have to really step on it. Being a vocalist isn't as easy as she might've made it seem like."

"Ah, I understand."

"No, you don't. Moreover, I'm still not sure if you have it in you. Yuri said you passed the audition, but I haven't heard of anyone else enlisting in that audition, so didn't you just win by default?"

"Uuu..." Dejectedly, Yui took a step back while accepting in her heart that what Hisako said was true.

"Hi-Hisako-san, that's a bit harsh..." said Irie quietly.

Not heeding her band mate's comment, Hisako stood her ground with her opinion. At that time, however, someone else joined in the conversation.

"You've got that right," that other person said with a light tone. "Conversely, you can also say that no one else had enough talent to even join in the audition. No matter how you see it, this girl here is your only hope, 'ttebayo."

That person, with that kind of catchphrase, could only be one particular person. And that person stealthily who came up behind Yui, a grin plastered on his face, gave her pink hair a ruffle.

"Uwa...!? Senpai!"

Yui greeted Naruto with a wide smile, which the blond replied in the same manner.

"Yo. Heard from Leader-chan that tonight's your debut appearance, so I kinda wanted to see how the preparation is going."

Getting over her surprise at Naruto's sudden appearance, Hisako finally reacted with a curt greeting.

"Uzumaki..."

Naruto nodded at the ponytailed brunette. "Yo...Hisako, right? We haven't officially met each other before."

"I guess not. You're already popular enough though, so that's not really necessary. Iwasawa has told me a lot about you."

"A-Ah, she did? That's, well..."

Hisako raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the boy's strange reply, but she didn't get the chance to voice a question when Sekine suddenly dashed forward towards Naruto while dragging a panicked-looking Irie along with her.

"UWAAH! It's him, it's really him, Miyukichi!"

"C-Calm down, Shiori-chan. I can see him already, so stop pulling my head!"

Blinking in confusion at the overexcited blonde girl and the girl whose head she was pulling beside her, Naruto couldn't help but be amused by the two girls' antics. He tried to recall who they were, knowing that they were the bass player and the drummer of the band, but couldn't quite place their names. If anything, his only lead was the names they had said in their exchange.

Still, rather than worrying about that, he should be worrying about the ridiculous pair in front of him, with one blonde girl nearly pulling off the other purplish-blue haired girl's head off in excitement.

"...Ah, I get it. Death has no meaning here, so the extent of the gag has gotten this far as well?" Naruto said as he came up with a conclusion.

"What's that all of the sudden?" Sekine asked with a dumbfounded face. "Anyway! You're that guy that walked on thin air at that time, aren't you?"

"Walked on thin air...?"

His spiritual power—reiryoku did enable him to do that trick. Judging by how frequent he had air-walked around recently, it wasn't surprising if anyone caught sight of him doing it.

Thinking that Naruto was flustered by the two girls, Hisako stepped forward and pulled on Sekine and Irie by the shoulders, distancing them from him. She then proceeded to sigh and lower her head to him.

"Sorry, this two aren't as bad as how they might look like on first glance," Hisako apologized. "They saw you doing your air-walking before our guerilla concert training back then. Ever since then, Sekine has been ranting on and on about 'a cool blond that walks on the air'."

"A 'cool' blond, you say? Ehe...he he..."

"Wipe that happy grin off your face, it's disturbing."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly at the remark. He couldn't help it though—he was weak to praises and would get all giddy when praised. It was the side effect of wanting acknowledgement from others for a long time.

The boy turned his attention to Yui, who was standing beside him with an expectant look. As usual, her pink hair was tied into tiny twintails while the rest was left loose, and she still wore that devil-tail accessory that who-knows-why she was wearing—she looked so tomboyish that she might as well be a textbook reference for the word 'spunk'. However, her usually fiery light wasn't flaring behind her eyes like usual.

"So, as I was saying, I was thinking about checking up on the band preparations, but what's this? Do you seriously have no rebuttal to what she had just said?" he asked Yui, giving her a criticizing look.

"T-There's no way I can say anything to that! It's hard to take in, but Hisako-senpai is right. I can't possibly match Iwasawa-senpai's skills, and the only reason I passed the audition is because I was the only one that—UGEH?!"

Yui's depressing rambling was cut off by a chop to her head, courtesy of Naruto. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to garner the pink-haired girl's attention.

Calmly, Naruto took a deep breath before giving the pink-haired vocalist-to-be a good look.

"Oi, oi, where's the little she-devil that doesn't back down from what other people says? Are you really the same person? Good grief... This isn't any different from your audition, you know."

"Huh? What do you mean, senpai?" Yui asked with a tilted head.

"Try to remember what you did back in the auditions. Isn't the situation that day the same as the one you're in now?" Naruto replied. "In fact, nothing has really changed. All you gotta do is impress them all the way you impressed the rest of the Battlefront."

"That's true, but..."

For some reason, Yui couldn't feel the same drive she usually had. It was less like depression and more like stage fright, considering that she had to impress Hisako, who took the band seriously. She could not find it in herself to be confident against someone who seeks the best of anyone trying to replace Iwasawa's spot like that.

—She hesitated.

That was a first.

To her surprise, however, Naruto flicked her forehead with his right hand's index finger. It was strong enough to turn her head facing upwards, and sudden enough that she cried out when it hit.

"Ouch! What's with all this physical abuse, senpai!? Are you going through a phase of a teenager's life as a sadist!?"

"Well, you're a complete masochist, so I couldn't help myself."

"What an unreasonable person!"

Naruto sighed, feeling nauseated by their ridiculous banter. He needed to make a point here, but he could never do that if Yui couldn't stop being so uncharacteristically down; seeing her like that made Naruto want to flick her forehead just for the heck of it.

...In that regard, he might really have become a sadist.

—What a frightening thought.

"That aside, stop being such a chicken and do it already." Naruto made a face that looked like someone had forced him to do a Hokage's paperwork. "You've already got more of Masami-chan in you than you think, and Masami-chan isn't the kind of person that backs off from a singing challenge like this."

Pointing at Hisako with his index finger, Naruto assumed commander mode and loudly declared, "Your first challenge is this person! Show 'em what you're made of and blow them away!"

"U-Uwooh?! I feel like my morale has risen somehow!"

The previously depressed Yui suddenly perked up with wide eyes. She looked awed, almost as if Naruto's words triggered a reaction that uplifted her mood.

"YOOOSH! I'll give it a shot!" the girl said then and there, looking comparably more determined than she had been before.

"That's the spirit!" Naruto cheered as the pink-haired girl known as Yui walked up to the set of guitars and picked one up, slinging the strap over her shoulders. Grinning and looking ecstatic, she looked truly in place with that guitar in her hands.

"Uwaah! You're going to put up a live performance now? This is exciting!" Sekine exclaimed, her face suggesting that she was looking forward for Yui's performance. Beside her, Irie was cheering for Yui in her own shy way as she said, "Do your best, Yui-chan!"

Meanwhile, Hisako sighed tiredly and gave Naruto a glare out of displeasure. "That was a hell lot of unnecessary."

Naruto snorted and answered, "That's ridiculous. What's so wrong with giving someone a chance? Or are you that unwilling to let someone else take Masami-chan's spot?"

Hisako flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by the blond Uzumaki. It proved that his guess was spot on, and that made him frown. He looked displeasured by Hisako's thought, almost like it insulted him, but his frown broke into a smile afterwards.

"Don't worry too much. Masami-chan isn't that meager of an existence. There won't be anyone replacing her or anything." Naruto turned around and started to walk out of the room with his hands in his pocket, saying one last piece of advice to Hisako.

"That's why, hear her out. She's not standing there as Masami-chan's replacement – she's standing there as her own self."

o-x-o-x-o

[19:00, Dining Hall – Rooftop]

(Activate Soundtrack: LiSA – Thousand Enemies)

That night, the Battlefront prepared to initiate another Operation Tornado to uplift the NPC students' meal tickets. As per tradition, the Girls Dead Monster's task was to be a distraction. Meanwhile, the other battle-capable members of the Battlefront kept watch outside to ensure the band's safety and the success of the plan. They each held rifles and other kinds of guns, kept ready at their sides.

Their task? They were to hold off Kanade should she try to stop their operation.

Thing was, with that silver-haired former student council president stripped off of her position, the chances that would happen was very low.

That was also what Otonashi thought.

Frankly, while he had no objection to the job he was given, he couldn't understand the meaning behind it. The point of their 'Test Disturb' operation was to stop Kanade's meddling by stripping off her position, thus making her losing power as student council president. If that really was the case, that girl wouldn't cause any trouble for them now.

Before this, Naruto had passed through their blockade while laughing at their exaggerated security. Deep down, Otonashi found it ridiculous as well, though he didn't voice it out loud.

Even when he brandished the assault rifle in his hands, it felt heavier than usual.

"Hey..." he called out to Hideki, who was guarding the rooftop with him.

The blue-haired boy tilted his head and let out a "Huh?"

"What are we fighting against?"

Hideki raised an eyebrow before answering, "Anyone who gets in our way, of course."

The statement sounded like what a tormentor would say, but it was the truth for them. Still, Otonashi let out a breath of dissatisfaction and asked, "Who's going to get in our way?"

"If anyone comes, it'll be Angel. Or maybe that acting student council president will come." Hideki answered again, sounding laidback at the prospect of that recently promoted student actually coming to them.

"That guy's just a normal student, isn't he? We can't shoot him."

"Yeah, I guess..."

With that being the end of their conversation, Otonashi looked towards another direction and lowered his gaze at the road below. His rational side agreed with Hideki, but half of him hoped that Kanade wouldn't come and stop them like she usually did.

'Will Angel really come?'

Otonashi had questions regarding what they were doing at the time.

Not protests, just questions. But he kept them to himself as he didn't want to become a nuisance to the people that accepted him in their ranks.

On the other hand, a certain yellow-haired boy he knew would probably have enough confidence to voice out that kind of questions, him being a neutral party and all. Maybe Otonashi would have to rely on him to find the answer.

Meanwhile, Girls Dead Monster were performing in the dining hall right underneath the red-haired amnesiac. 'Thousand Enemies' was the title of the song, sung by the band's new vocalist, Yui. At first, Otonashi was worried about her performance, but as she took stage it was clear that there was nothing to worry about. That girl looked like she belonged on a stage, just like the band's previous vocalist.

Even Hideki admitted it, though begrudgingly. He still held some form of grudge for the pink-haired girl that annoyed him so, but he could not say that Yui wasn't good at singing. It was amusing how the blue-haired boy had to force himself to admit it the first time the band began playing, but Otonashi wouldn't dare to say that out loud.

". . .!"

Right then, Otonashi flinched.

Through his scope, he caught the sight of a familiar figure walking down the road towards the dining hall.

A short girl with silver hair that went to the small of her back, golden eyes that seemed to glow under the moonlight...it was undoubtedly Kanade.

"She's here!" Otonashi let out, warning his comrades.

At that same time, all of the Battlefront members guarding the dining hall's exterior tensed and prepared for battle. They had carefully hid themselves behind the blind spots of various things, but that alone wasn't enough insurance for them. Even when armed with all kinds of guns in their disposal, they were about to fight against their strongest enemy—an Angel. They were naturally nervous.

Up on the glass-covered rooftop, Hideki readied his assault rifle and looked through its scope, aiming at Kanade.

"Let's do this before she activates her Guard Skill!"

"Wait, don't shoot!"

Hideki gave his red-haired friend a bewildered look at the order he was giving. He then asked, "Why not?"

Before answering Hideki's question, Otonashi leaned over the edge of the rooftop and waved his hands repeatedly, signaling their comrades on the ground to halt their attack. They looked puzzled, but fortunately they did as Otonashi asked them to.

Only then did Otonashi answer Hideki's question, "Something's strange about her."

"Strange how?"

"I don't really get it," Otonashi groaned, finding the question hard to answer. He looked through his scope once more and said, "It's not a change exactly, but she seems passive... Like she's wandering towards another objective..."

"What are you talking about?" Though he didn't understand it, Hideki became hesitant to take any action as well. He trusted Otonashi enough to believe in what he was doing, but would letting Kanade walk through their blockade so easily benefit them in some way?

As he didn't have the answer, Hideki clicked his tongue and looked at the glass rooftop they were standing on; or rather, the dining hall beneath it. He wondered whether Yuri would need to know about this. Sadly, he didn't wear any communication device, so he had to let things go as it was. He just hoped nothing bad would happen.

o-x-o-x-o

-Several minutes earlier-

[Dining Hall – Interior]

"Uwah...so she did succeed after all."

Naruto was standing among the crowds, marveling the sheer number of it. No matter where he looked, there were NPC model students everywhere. And the reason for this large gathering was simple.

"I didn't doubt her for a second, but are you kidding me, Yui? Ha ha haa! This crowd is as large as when Masami-chan performed!" the boy let out, laughing aloud in amazement.

Listening to the song that the pink-haired tomboy was singing, it wasn't actually that baffling. It was new to his ears; he certainly didn't remember Iwasawa ever playing this before. Regardless, it was a nice and refreshing upbeat song that lifted his spirits in a way. Yui's voice fit the rhythm perfectly, and she was doing her vocals while strumming her electric guitar as well. She truly was trying to fit in for the hole Iwasawa left behind.

As far as Naruto considered, she was doing it perfectly.

For that girl to be able to work together with the rest of the band this quickly, it must be a talent.

"A clear-cut heart, that kind of heart
Anyone has one, once they realize about it

Even you have one, too."

Yui seemed happy singing on a stage like that. In fact, it made Naruto believe that she and Iwasawa must've shared the same liking in band performances. When you see it that way, it made sense why Yui fitted in so perfectly in that band, and there was no doubt that no one else could stand there like what she was doing.

That fact made Naruto smile.

He rooted for the girl since she was similar to him in some ways. Exuberant, hot-headed, yet determined—her personality really said a lot about herself. She was like an unstable time bomb of pure excitement, and that was said in a good way. There was just no way anyone would not root for her and cheer for her as she reaches out for what she wanted.

In that regard, seeing Hisako having a good time doing her guitar solo beside the girl made him grin victoriously. That brunette had been the first person to refuse letting Yui into the band so easily, yet she was also the one who eventually handed her the script for the last song Iwasawa had written – although Naruto had no idea of that. That song was the one they were using now.

/Flashback/

"This is the last song Iwasawa left behind."

It was half an hour until the performance. The Girls Dead Monster took this time to prep up the stage, though there wasn't much to do since they were simply borrowing the dining hall's generously wide staircase—more precisely, the flat area which separated the staircases into two groups. As such, they had enough leeway to take things slowly, and Hisako used that chance to give Yui the 'Thousand Enemies' song sheet.

"Uweh!? Is it really okay for me to sing this song?" Yui asked with a shocked face as she held the song sheet.

If it were earlier, Hisako wouldn't even think about showing the song sheet to Yui. However, the pink-haired girl had proven her worth when she did a mini-performance in front of the band girls, and as much as Hisako didn't want to admit it, Yui was definitely a talented girl.

"I guess. It depends on how well the fans react to this new song, 'Thousand Enemies', and the second incarnation of GirlDeMo."

Hisako had full confidence in the song Iwasawa wrote. The only remaining factor that needed proving was the performance itself, and how well it would go.

. . .

"Well, no worries, I'm pretty sure we'll do it okay. All you need to do is sing the way you did in your audition."

"Ah, r-right! I'll definitely do my best when the time comes!" Yui said, straightening her back like a lower-tier soldier greeting her commanding officer. She then looked back to the sheet in her hands and smiled widely. "After all, this is a song that Iwasawa-senpai created. I won't let her down!"

Hisako looked surprised at Yui's answer, but she smiled and stood up.

"You better don't, newbie."

/Flashback Ends/

"Geez...I don't like saying I told you so, but Hisako, I TOLD YOU SO, 'TTEBAYO!"

The overexcited exclamation earned him a subtle death glare from the brown-haired lead guitarist.

Grinning once again, Naruto turn his head and aligned his sight towards a couple of girls that stood away from the crowd. He recognized the purple hair that belonged to Yuri, but the name of the twin-tailed blonde escaped him. In fact, he didn't remember ever meeting her before, though she also wore the sailor-styled school uniform that every female Afterlife Battlefront members wore.

Anyway, Yuri and that twin-tailed girl were standing in a rather concealed spot. Rather than the ground floor, they were at the upper floor, so normally no one would be able to see them unless they looked very closely. Near them, standing on the ground floor beneath them was Takamatsu.

'I wonder what they're doing there...' Naruto thought.

Last time, they said they were going to initiate an operation called 'Operation Tornado' to lift meal tickets from the common students. The action of 'lifting meal tickets' normally meant 'taking meal tickets by force', but seeing the lack of Battlefront members around made Naruto wonder. Were they really going to take meal tickets from the NPC students?

"Well, they wouldn't have a chance in this kind of crowd. I'm pretty sure even moving around would be impossible with this many people."

That calmed him a little, but he had enough experience with the Battlefront—or more precisely with their leader—to know that none of the things they do were acceptable by the norm. Yuri must have some crazy plans under her sleeve.

At the moment though, he just wanted to enjoy the show.

. . . .?

Though, that might prove to be quite the task as Kanade suddenly appeared beside him.

"MUKYAAA?!"

"I expected that you'd be here."

Contrary to Naruto's utter shock due to suddenly being creeped up on, Kanade displayed as much of an expression a rock could show – which is to say, none.

"Sweet mother of... I told you not to scare me! That's the umpteenth time you've nearly killed me with a heart attack! Do you and Leader-chan really want to kill me off that badly?!"

"You're exaggerating. And why do you think I want to kill you?"

For some reason, the girl known as 'Angel' didn't feel any remorse after nearly stopping Naruto's heartbeat (which wasn't meant in a romantic way). Although death in the Afterlife was treated as something akin to breathing, Naruto truly believed that Kanade wouldn't bat an eyelash if he really did have a heart attack then and there.

In that regard, she might be worse than Yuri.

What an unexpected discovery.

"A-Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought your job as the student council president has already ended earlier today?"

Deciding to change the subject, Naruto questioned Kanade while feeling slightly guarded. To his surprise, Kanade responded with a cute tilt of her head, looking confused as to what he said.

"My being here isn't related to the student council, though..."

"Eh? It isn't? So why're you here?"

"Is a student prohibited from eating dinner in the cafeteria? I don't remember something like that being written in the rulebook."

"Ah...I see."

In other words, Kanade was here not as the student council president, but rather as a normal student. And as a normal student, like any others, she wanted to spend the night to eat a simple dinner. That unspoken statement made Naruto feel glad.

So she really is a normal girl, was the kind of train of thought that Naruto had at the moment.

Although he had believed in her humanity from the beginning, having that fact shown to him directly was reassuring.

While Naruto was stuck in his own thoughts, Kanade turned to look at Yui and the other girls performing on their makeshift stage on the stairs. The white girl never did change her expression, but she was entranced by the show the Girls Dead Monster were putting on.

Naruto broke off his thoughts in time to look at that face. He grinned widely at the girl and spoke, "The band is putting up a great show, aren't they?"

"...I suppose so."

Kanade might have tried to stop the band's guerilla concert several days ago, but that was something she had to do as the student council president. As she held that position which embodied rules and regulations, she hadn't got the chance to enjoy the band as a normal student. This time was different, and even if she didn't show it, it was possible that she was enjoying herself.

While she didn't express any particular emotion, it was nice to see Kanade without having to think of 'student council president' in the same line. It was, as Naruto mentally put it, a refreshing change.

Still, being demoted like that must've done a lot to her pride. Naruto didn't need her to express anything; it was just common sense being put to work.

"Well, just to note, this is something that you wouldn't be able to see as an uptight, rule-enforcing student council president." Naruto said with a wide grin still on his face. "So, how to put it...don't feel so down about it!"

Despite how her expression didn't change, Kanade did give a nod in response. At least she wasn't as depressed as Naruto thought she would be.

"Well then, what're you gonna do now?"

"...I'm thinking of eating dinner."

"Really? With that kind of crowd? Unless you're planning on slashing your way through all of them, I doubt you'd be able to reach the dining tables."

"It's fine. I'll manage somehow."

"...Well, if you're sure about it..."

Frankly, even if Naruto really intended to stop Kanade, he wasn't strong enough to hold her back from her dinner, which was probably her beloved Mapo Tofu. Besides, although the idea of a small girl like her pushing her way through the crowd was pretty unsettling, she was not that frail of a girl. The least he could do was to not worry about her so much.

After giving Naruto a nod, the silver-haired girl took off. To reach the meal ticket machine, Kanade went around the cheering crowd rather than through them. There was still some space at the back of the crowd, so she was able to move freely. Exchanging her pocket money for a Mapo Tofu meal ticket, she went back towards the crowd with the ticket in hand.

All Kanade had to do now was to go upstairs and exchange her meal ticket in the food court.

That was when her problem intensified.

The main problem, as stated before, was trying to reach the dining tables and the food court on the upper floors by going through the crowd. While the main stairs were occupied by GirlDeMo, other stairs were also blocked by the thick crowd.

". . ."

As she didn't want to resort to using force, Kanade ended up being stuck between the waves of people, going back and forth from place to place.

At that time, Yuri was still reeling in shock from seeing what kind of meal ticket Kanade just took. To be precise, she was utterly horrified.

'That's the meal that no student ever eats, the famously super spicy Mapo Tofu!' she thought with widened eyes. Apparently, the food was dangerous enough to make even Yuri go into panic mode.

'What's going on? Why would she pick that? Is she going to try getting revenge by making us eat it?'

There was an urban legend that said one spoonful of Mapo Tofu could create a hole in your stomach. It was also said that one could get an extra anus just by letting it flow through their digestive system. In that regard, Mapo Tofu had the potential of becoming a terrifying weapon. Of course, Yuri wasn't one to take that threat lightly, but she had no time to devise a counter plan against that devilish food when Yusa called out to her.

"Yurippe-san, the audience looks like it's reached its highest level of excitement." The twin-tailed blonde reported with a neutral tone.

"Eh?"

Turning around, Yuri glanced at the crowd as a whole. It was true that they looked to be enjoying themselves to the fullest, as Yusa had said. The band was still going with their song, as if trying to raise their excitement even more.

"We are always together until now, like a pair of lovers."

"Your orders?"

Yusa's inquiry brought Yuri out of her thoughts. The battlefront leader turned her head from one side to another while contemplating what to do. On one hand, she could observe Kanade's doing and sate her curiosity, but she had to prioritize in bringing the current operation towards success.

It was too bad, but she would have to find out what that Angel was doing later. For now...

"Turn them on!" she ordered.

Almost instinctually, Yusa spoke that same order into her earpiece. "Turn them on."

There was a sound of something mechanical turning on. It wasn't loud, but the unique sound was something that caught Naruto's ears, and it was audible enough for his trained hearing to detect. Turning to the source of the sound, Naruto almost dislocated his jaw in shock.

Hidden a good distance away from the crowd were fifty-something students wearing the 'Class SSS' uniform; the low-tier members of the Afterlife Battlefront that had remained invisible to him up until now. However, it wasn't the sheer number of them that surprised him the most. It was the fact that each of them had activated giant fans often seen in a ventilation system. A moment later, a great gust of wind blew towards the crowd, lifting up countless meal tickets that those NPCs were holding.

At that point, the name 'Operation Tornado' finally made sense to Naruto.

"So this is what you meant by 'ticket-lifting'?! I take it back, this isn't even bullying anymore; IT'S DOWNRIGHT STEALING!"

Naruto seemed to be saying something else, but he stopped in the middle of it when a certain thought crossed his mind.

"Wait...I'm this week's janitor! Am I also expected to clean up this mess afterwards?! AAAARGH!"

Amongst the loudly cheering crowd and the dumbstruck blond who was throwing a tsukkomi, the pink-haired vocalist Yui sung the last lyrics of the song.

"Those feelings, I'll lend an ear to them all
And I'll let you hear them, too
I'll let you hear them all."

All meal tickets were lifted by the gust of wind with the force of a whirlwind, creating a phenomenal scene like that of a golden snowfall. Kanade's Mapo Tofu meal ticket, too, was taken away by the strong wind. She reached out with her hands in reaction, but as it stood, the ticket was already lost.

She looked almost disappointed by that.

On the rooftop, Otonashi was observing the turnout through one of the windows with a frown. The rifle in his hands ended up not being useful for anything, but he was glad it didn't.

After all, he didn't want to wreck that girl's dinner time any more than this.

o-x-o-x-o

[PART 4]

-Nighttime, after curfew-

[Dining Hall – Food court]

After the successful operation earlier that same night, the Afterlife Battlefront was up for a feast. At the current time, no one else but them was present in the dining hall since it was already past curfew. The ordinary students had already returned to their dorms, so this was a perfect time to eat their dinner without interference.

Each of the members held one meal ticket in their hands which had been randomly picked up after last night's commotion died out. They might be unreasonable, but they were by no means a bunch of gluttons, so they really did only pick one meal ticket each.

Otonashi had picked one himself. Though it was hard for him when he thought about how their method wasn't that different from stealing, his empty stomach urged him to take one in the end. As of the moment, he was staring at the small, square-shaped ticket that had the name of the menu he would get.

The meal ticket he picked up was...

"What the..." Hideki let out as he peeked over Otonashi's shoulder. "Isn't that the super spicy Mapo Tofu that no one dares to order? Even the tough guys order rice to eat it with."

Initially getting curious about the ticket Otonashi was staring so intently at, Hideki suddenly felt sorry for Otonashi. He, too, had heard about that dangerous dish which was feared by the whole student body. Having to pick up something like that spelt out as nothing else but misfortune.

"This is what I picked up, so I have no choice." Otonashi said, dismissing Hideki's alarmed expression.

A little bit behind them, Naruto was standing while staring at the meal ticket he had picked up himself. For certain, taking something that was originally someone else's like this wasn't his style, but he wanted to take up Yuri's offer on getting even. That, and the fact that he hadn't done any delivery services lately meant that he hadn't got any meal tickets as payment.

And so, he stared at the meal ticket in his hands.

On it was written 'Curry of Life'.

. . .

"Bushy Brows, you fucked up bastard."

Frankly, the only person Naruto could think of who would still eat that damned curry, even though they were already in a freaking Afterlife, was Lee. And it seems that it was true for his NPC counterpart as well. NPC-Lee must've been somewhere in the crowd last night, holding this same meal ticket.

Sadly enough, by some unlucky coincidence, the one who had picked up the deadly curry ticket was Naruto.

"...This level of misfortune is so original that I'm afraid of being blamed for copyright, 'ttebayo. I wonder why?" Naruto murmured to himself while lamenting on this sudden turnout. He shook his head and caught up to Otonashi and Hideki afterwards.

"Hey, what did you two get?"

"Hm? Aah, Otonashi got himself the infamous Mapo Tofu. I'm lucky enough to get normal omelet rice, though. Say, what did you get for yourself, Uzumaki?"

Naruto blinked at the mention of Mapo Tofu. He clearly remembered it being Kanade's favorite food, but passed it off as another person's ticket. Surely there should be some other person that would order it, right? He just didn't want to think about how sad it is for her not getting to eat her favorite food.

When he thought about his current predicament though, he felt dejected once more. "I...got curry."

"...That's quite normal."

"No, actually, this might actually trigger a real death flag. You can't compare this Curry of Life with that lightly spiced tofu dish."

"Wait, it's that bad of a dish?! I actually thought of taking it last night."

"Really?! Then, please! Take it if you will and spare my digestive system from this culinary disaster, 'ttebayo!"

"Now that you've told me about it, how am I supposed to take it so casually?! There's no way I'm endangering myself with that kind of food!"

"...Tch. Even though you'd revive afterwards..."

"If that's what you think, then eat it yourself already." An annoyed Otonashi said from the front line, giving the two idiots a tired look. If those two kept up their banter of who's eating what, Otonashi would end up being tempted to try and switch his own. Still, since he already exchanged his meal ticket, that would be impossible, so he could only despair.

In the end, they ordered the food according to what meal tickets they each brought. It didn't occur to any of them before, but Hideki was getting the better luck out of the two of them. Naruto was holding back tears as they reached an empty, four-seated dining table.

"Ugh...there really is something messed up about this. I never thought I'd be facing this kind of mini-boss even in death."

"...Now that you mention it, that really is one suspicious curry. What did the cook put in to make it deathly purple?" Hideki wondered.

"I don't know, and I don't think I ever want to know."

There was just no way he would eat that...thing. Even though the outline resembled normal curry, the color was very intimidating, and Naruto's tongue would forever remember its actual taste. Even thinking about again made him shiver.

While Naruto was deciding whether to just eat the untouched rice beside it or to not eat it altogether, someone pulled the empty chair beside him and sat on it.

The girl sitting beside him, i.e. Yuri, gave him a look with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Uh, no... Nothing at all," Naruto stuttered out his answer. He was surprised by Yuri's sudden appearance, more so by her action of seating herself beside him, but he kept silent. It was good enough that she approached him without any harmful remarks, so he backed down and thought of another topic.

His eyes landed on the fried chicken katsu and miso soup set she brought with her.

"Ah... It's normal food."

"Normal...? Why are you drooling all of the sudden?"

"AH! That's right! Leader-chan...no, Yuri-sama! Please switch meals with me!"

"What's with the sudden change of honorifics?! That's more than a little creepy."

"No, seriously, let's switch meals."

"Changing the sentence isn't making it better! And 'switch meals', you say... What's wrong with yours, anyway?"

"...Please take a closer look at it and try saying that again."

Yuri didn't understand what Naruto meant, so she looked at Naruto's food, the Curry of Life, and stared at it intently. After a few minutes, she broke her focus.

"It's just curry. What's so wrong with it?"

"What?! Is that all you have to say to this hazardous substance!? No matter how you see it, this isn't something edible by humans!" Naruto exclaimed vigorously, pointing a finger at the purplish curry in front of him.

"You're overreacting. Here, look! *hamu*"

Without warning, Yuri spooned some of the Curry of Life and stuck it inside her mouth. She was leaning towards Naruto's direction, so he couldn't help but slightly blush at the close proximity. However, the danger that is the Curry of Life brought him back to his senses.

"Aaaaa!? Wai—Leader-chan?!" Seeing Yuri eat the poisonous-looking curry so casually made Naruto panic. He didn't know what to do, so his arms flailed around while his sweating face blanched at the sight in front of him.

—This girl is a goner.

That was the kind of thought he had.

However, Yuri had yet to convulse in pain or wretch in disgust. Based on his experience, a normal person would've at least reacted in some way (because even Neji once fainted because of the curry). But...

"Hmm? This is actually pretty good," Said the purple-haired battlefront leader as she gulped the Curry of Life down her throat. "Nice one, Uzumaki. You actually picked a good meal."

Yuri didn't even flinch as she ate it. On the contrary, she even said that it tasted pretty good.

'N-No way...! To be able to eat that curry which only Bushy Brows alone could eat... What kind of monster is she?! Don't tell me she's a relative of his that didn't get his thick brows genes!' Naruto thought fearfully. His terrified face made Yuri tilt her head in confusion, but she shrugged it off as him being weird again.

"I don't see how you don't want to eat something that tastes as good as that. Would you just hurry up and eat it? You're disrespecting the cook this way."

"Guh...! T-That might be the case... B-But still...!"

Looking at the lump of purplish substance known as the Curry of Life on his plate, Naruto gulped in fear. Even though Yuri surprisingly had the same level of poison tolerance as Rock Lee, that didn't mean he also did. On the other hand, he didn't want to disrespect the cook as Yuri had said, even though they were just nameless NPCs.

. . .

Strengthening his will, Naruto took a spoonful of his curry and ate it.

He fainted with a frothing mouth afterwards.

"Eh, oi?! Get a hold of yourself, Uzumaki!" Hideki leaned forward and grabbed Naruto's collar, shaking him to wake him up.

"M-Mama, I'm home~"

Well, at least he didn't die. It was a good thing this wasn't the first time he tasted it; his body might've been strengthening its immune system to combat the Curry of Life. It wasn't nearly enough, but he didn't feel as bad as the first time he tasted that curry

Seeing Naruto's agonized, half-dead face made Otonashi nervous. The Mapo Tofu in front of him suddenly felt even scarier than before. It might be a psychological effect after seeing Naruto eat the Curry of Life, but either way...

Otonashi gulped in fear as he spooned his tofu and took a bite.

"H-H-HOT!"

In the next instant, Otonashi felt as if he just ate a basketful of habanero whole. An explosion of spiciness attacked his tongue, and he was left sweating a river after that first bite. It was definitely the hottest food (in terms of spiciness) he had ever tasted.

When the spiciness subsided though, his tongue tasted something else. The other flavors that the Mapo sauce contained came rushing in as soon as the earlier heat on his tongue was gone, and it tasted...

"...But it's good!" Otonashi said with a surprised face. "Hinata, you should try some!"

"Eh?! No way!" Hideki declined with an alarmed look. He was so taken aback by the request that he dropped Naruto, who he had been shaking by the collar. Though, as he saw Otonashi being genuinely happy for some reason, his resolve wavered. The blue-haired boy gave the red sauce-covered tofu dish an unsure look before he dipped his spoon into it.

"Then, maybe just a little bit..."

Hideki put the spoon into his mouth, and soon regretted that he did.

"UUWOOOAAAAAAAAAHHH! Hot! Hot! It hurts!" His fist banged on the table as he screamed in pain. Still, just like Otonashi earlier, he recovered and realized the other tastes. "But the aftertaste is...this actually has a deep flavor! Oi, Uzumaki, you should really try this!"

The unconscious Uzumaki Naruto, who had been KO'd by the Curry of Life, didn't respond. He lacked the power to do anything in his current condition. Of course, that also meant he couldn't do anything when Hideki force fed him the Mapo Tofu.

The result was quite staggering.

The previously unconscious Naruto opened his eyes wide, both of his pupils dilated. His whole body shook like he was being electrocuted, and lastly, he stood up with a red face. He opened his mouth and roared loudly to the ceilings.

": no !"

"He's breathing fire?!"

As soon as Naruto opened his mouth, a big stream of fireball was launched out of his mouth. The surrounding people looked shocked at the scene – a fire-breathing boy was the last thing they had in mind – but did nothing since that fireball was aimed at the ceiling.

It seemed that it was hot enough to give Naruto a new elemental affinity.

"Haa, haa, haa—Eh? This...this tastes really good?!" said Naruto in shock and wonder.

"Woah, that's amazing... The flavor's so amazing that it can revive dead people!" Hideki's analysis was quite farfetched, but there was no arguing that the tofu's aftertaste was really that good.

"Right? You've never had Mapo Tofu that's this good, right?" Otonashi looked cheerful. He was surprised in a very good way, so it was a given.

"It may be an unexpected hit in the menu," Hideki said in agreement.

Even though the three of them was left sweating after the first taste, it was clear that Mapo Tofu gave them a pleasurable taste that they would never forget.

. . .

Being abandoned, Curry-san seemed to be crying.

"Angel bought the meal ticket for that," Yuri piped in, drawing the three boys' attention to her.

Hideki turned to her with surprise once again on his face. "Wait, this?"

"Yes." Yuri curtly replied while chewing on her food. She didn't say anything else afterwards. It was possible that she didn't because she was still chewing, but her thoughtful look spelt out otherwise.

Naruto was also surprised. Or rather, he didn't expect that his earlier thoughts came true. The last time he saw Kanade last night was when she left to buy herself a meal ticket. Not long after that, Operation Tornado commenced, and perhaps around that time Kanade was among the crowds where most meal tickets were lifted up.

And that meal ticket was picked up by Otonashi.

"Wow, that's quite the coincidence, then. That happens to be her favorite food too, you know."

Otonashi flinched at the implication. "It's not like I did it intentionally, though." He said with a troubled face.

"I know, I know. It's not like I'm not blaming you either, 'ttebayo. Just saying... After all, we're all taking some other people's meal tickets, me included, so I'm not the right person to be blaming anyone for anything."

Otonashi slowly nodded in understanding. Still, after being told that the ticket meal he had originally belonged to Kanade, he couldn't help but think about it.

Her favorite food...

Going through the trouble of being targeted by the Afterlife Battlefront just because she was going to the dining hall, making her way through the crowd that the Girls Dead Monster assembled...and on top of it, losing her meal ticket afterwards...

'She just wanted to eat this...her favorite food. And I stole that simplest of joys from her...' he thought solemnly.

Otonashi wondered if it was better if Naruto blamed him. Maybe that way he wouldn't feel as guilty as he was feeling now.

The one who came with a conclusion wasn't just Otonashi. Opposite to him, Yuri was also thinking deeply about the knowledge she had gained after all the fiasco they had caused. She continued eating like normal to hide it, but she was also troubled deep inside.

'Angel is human,' she thought. Unconsciously, she clenched her left hand which wasn't holding anything, and continued to think.

'What kind of angel would go eat her favorite Mapo Tofu for comfort food when feeling down? She couldn't leave us be when she was the student council president because we were disruptive, so she started developing Guard Skill to counter us making weapons at the Guild.'

If she thought about it that way, then the result was a spiraling track of cause-result that never ends. The problem between the two factions didn't become clearer; on the contrary, it became even more complicated.

They fought Kanade to preserve their existence in the Afterlife.

Kanade fought them because they were causing so much trouble.

. . .

'Is that how things were?' she though in conclusion. She sighed internally, 'What a joke. And to think we still haven't found any clues about God...'

Her earlier suspicion was proven correct, but Yuri couldn't bring herself to feel glad about it. After all, this also meant that all of the Battlefront's effort was for naught. Even fighting Kanade wasn't enough to reach God, so what else could she try?

On the other hand, Otonashi was thinking of something else. His eyelids lowered as he then slowly spoke.

"Hey, is it possible..."

"Hmm?" Hideki responded with a full mouth.

"With her position stripped, maybe Angel could become one of us now?"

At that instant, the sound of a hand being slammed on a table was heard, along with a voice that sounded very offended.

"Haaaa?! What kind of stupid talk is that?!"

It was Fujimaki. He had been sitting behind Otonashi and Hideki, and by chance he had heard their conversation. He was now standing with a clenched fist as he faced Otonashi. From the looks of it, he didn't take the idea of Kanade joining them nicely.

"After so many of our friends have fallen victims to her... Uh, I mean...not victims, since they're all still here, but..." Fujimaki had the decency to look sheepish as he corrected himself, but recovered his vigor the next moment. "Do you know how much pain she's put us through?!"

"That's right! She might have been quiet today, but who knows when she'll bare her fangs again!" a Battlefront member that was sitting on the same table as Fujimaki said in support.

"She'll slit our throats while we sleep!"

A fuss was created at their outbursts. Otonashi could only sigh at the angry responses he got.

"Seems that was a silly question, Otonashi-kun." Hideki said lightly, bearing the same face Otonashi did.

"Apparently."

The idea was dashed as soon as it was brought up. It really did seem like the tension between the Afterlife Battlefront and Angel was something that wouldn't be that easy to work out.

'I wonder why I made such a dumb proposition...' Otonashi wondered to himself. 'It's probably the thought of her going to buy a meal ticket by herself, then eating her Mapo Tofu alone in a corner of the cafeteria... The image of her like that is too sad. Losing the trust placed in her and being stripped of her position—her lonely figure sitting there...is too sad.'

He didn't know why he could picture it so clearly.

That sorrowful setting where Kanade sat alone while eating Mapo Tofu was so vivid that Otonashi felt sorry for the silver-haired girl. As far as his knowledge of her could say, she didn't have anyone on her side. She had been the student council president, and at that time she might have allies on her side. But the current her, the one with her position stripped of, was alone. For her to bear the brunt of all the mess they created while being all alone like that...

"Enough with that bullshit..."

Suddenly, a new voice rose. Otonashi lifted his head to look, and he saw Naruto clenching his fist. His whole body was trembling like a tremor.

"Uzumaki...?"

"You people...do you even know what the hell you're saying?" Naruto's voice trembled, but the rage behind his words was clear. The yellow-haired boy glared at Fujimaki and continued, "Rather than treating her like this, have you ever bothered hearing her out? You can call her a monster, you can even call her a murderer if you like, but don't you dare call her that when you don't even know anything about her!"

"Aah? What's with that? Let me get something straight here, Goldilocks. She's been our enemy since forever. We've known her as an enemy long before you appeared, so we know better what kind of monster she really is." Fujimaki replied vehemently.

Slamming his fist on the table, Naruto stood up and shouted, "Are you that different?! Go see yourself in a fucking mirror, bastard!"

Caught in the line of fire, Otonashi tried to calm Naruto down, while Hideki did the same to Fujimaki. They had to do something lest a fight would break out.

"Hey, Uzumaki, calm down a little..."

"I can't! How am I supposed to sit down and let this slide? It's not fair that Kanade has to be blamed for all of this! It's not fair for her to be alone when you all gang up on her as a common enemy! What do you think she is, huh?! Just because you retards want to do something stupid like fighting God, that's no reason to make her your scapegoat, 'ttebayo!"

For a moment, Otonashi froze.

He might be imagining it, but...what Naruto was saying was exactly what he had been thinking about. Right now, he had nothing that he could say to argue, because in a way, Naruto had become his voice.

However, things began to escalate. The earlier argument caught the attention of the surrounding Battlefront members, and some of them began to voice their own thoughts—all of them were against Naruto's opinion.

"Oi, oi, is he serious?"

"What did you just call us, huh?!"

"Who the hell do you think you are!?"

Fujimaki was also feeling offended, but he couldn't do much with Hideki standing in front of him. In exchange, he glared at Naruto with all of his sanpaku eyes' might.

"Hooh...? From what you said, you sound like her ally or something. If that's the case, then you're going down too! We got enough people to kick your ass 'till next year! Don't think that just because Yurippe accepted you here you can get away so easily!"

"H-Hey, stop it already, Fujimaki!"

Most would've yielded at Fujimaki's glare. With those eyes, he really looked like an authentic yakuza, so people usually cower under his glare.

Frankly, however, Naruto had seen eyes that were much worse.

"...Get it through your thick head that I'm nobody's ally. I'm nothing more than an outsider in this fight of yours," Naruto growled out through gritting teeth. "But I don't have to be involved to decide which one I would fight for given the chance."

It was irritating.

No matter how much hints were laid out, no matter how much of their speculations were proven wrong, the Battlefront still refused to accept Kanade. They still want to fight her, giving their all to eradicate her. Even from a bystander's viewpoint, this was outrageous. And the fact that, in spite of everything they did, they had the balls to call Kanade a 'monster'...

It was thoroughly, completely unfair.

Both of Naruto's fists were clenched in rage. He was keeping himself in check by gritting his own teeth, but his trembling figure spoke volumes of how angry he was feeling. Sitting beside her, Yuri could almost feel it coursing throughout his body. She couldn't do anything but watch as the boy whom she had shared a secret with bared his fangs at her subordinates.

"You..."

Ignoring Yuri, Naruto spoke up once more, "Despite everything you've done to her, despite everything she had to go through, you guys don't even have the slightest of intention to acknowledge her. And what's worse is that you think that she's to blame for all this..."

"So what if we do think that it's all her fault? Got something to say to us, huh!?" Fujimaki taunted once more.

. . .

"Yeah..."

Something snapped inside the yellow-haired Uzumaki's mind. He had no way of noticing it, but at that moment, Kurama's chakra was seeping into his system at the very slightest amount, and his eyes turned red while his whisker marks thickened.

He was pissed.

"I'm ready to make an enemy out of all you bastards!"

Everyone in the vicinity tensed.

As if an invisible wave passed them, they suddenly felt nauseous. The ones standing were left staggering.

All from the force of Naruto's angry shout. Even an idiot can judge that, from the way he sounded, he was ready to tear the place apart. It didn't matter if there were roughly 50 battlefront members present; that headband-wearing boy wouldn't hesitate to beat them all up.

—Just from his outburst, this fact was clear to them.

Before anyone could do anything else, there was a loud sound of the dining hall's doors being opened. Everyone's attention was naturally drawn to the source of that noise, and was shocked by what they were seeing.

Countless of NPC students in black uniforms rushed in, surrounding the Battlefront members. Their appearance was so sudden that the earlier tension that had built up around Naruto completely vanished. The yellow-haired boy's enraged features also reverted back to its normal state.

"What the hell do you want?!" Noda stood up and demanded to those students. He was ready to reach for his weapon anytime.

In fact, most of the Battlefront members already reached for their guns that they laid beside them. One boy was already grabbing his submachine gun and pointed it to the NPC students, but he was stopped when Yuri placed a hand on its muzzle.

"They're ordinary students," she said.

As long as they were up against the NPCs, which were the ordinary students, they couldn't fight with brute force. This was turning into a problem for all of them.

'But they're not just any ordinary students...' Yuri thought as she looked at them. 'Those armbands...the student council?'

"That's quite enough," said someone from behind the lines of the ordinary students. "You're under suspicion of various offenses, but for now we're going to escort you all to the detention room for carrying out activities outside of curfew."

The one speaking was the acting student council president, Naoi Ayato.

"As the new student council president, I don't intend to give you any leeway."

"What? What's Naoi doing here?" Naruto let out, dumbfounded.

No one understood what was happening, not even the Afterlife Battlefront. The situation didn't add up. Normally, the student council wouldn't interfere even if they were still up and running after curfew. The former student council president, Tachibana Kanade also did not take any action towards them. But then, all of a sudden, Naoi appeared and brought the student council with him.

They were caught by surprise.

"Take them."

o-x-o-x-o

[Frederica's realm]

Watching over the commotion in the Afterlife, Frederica couldn't help but frown.

Things had been getting interesting ever since the suspicion about Tachibana Kanade being human arose. She watched as Naruto began to influence those around him, primarily the one called Yuri. Even she was impressed by how he talked to that girl and tried to convince her.

After she visited him by appearing in front of him via Genjutsu, she continued to watch.

However, she was surprised at the very end.

It didn't help that Lambdadelta was laughing aloud while holding stomach, perhaps finding the scene amusing in some way.

"A ha ha ha ha! That Naruto is a very interesting person, right Bern? Who would've thought that he would turn on his own friends for the sake of a single girl?"

"He is that kind of person. He doesn't care what he has to go up against; as long as he sees someone who's suffering alone, he'll step in and protect them no matter what. Furthermore, that girl Kanade's situation must've reminded him about how he was treated in the past. That must be what made him dead set on protecting her."

"Heee~...sounds like he's a hero from a storybook or something." The blonde witch then snickered, "Still, do you think you should really tell me that much about him? I could use that against you in our next game, you know?"

"Hmph. You're overestimating yourself if you think knowing just that much would give you an advantage." Frederica completely ignored Lambdadelta's threat and focused on the Orb of Time in her hands.

'Rather than that, I'm more worried about how he reacted just now. Was it really necessary to show that much aggression to the Battlefront? Even though I understand that he felt a connection to Kanade, but to make an enemy out of them...'

Frederica understood that Naruto was essentially a human being. Because he had his humanity, there was no way he could sit by and watch such injustice being exacted on someone. Combined with his headstrong personality, a friction between his bonds with his current friends was inevitable. They were, after all, the ones that committed that injustice. But she couldn't comprehend why he would sacrifice the bond that he had been carefully nurturing for the sake of someone else.

She wondered what else was going to happen to that boy.

"Things really have escalated. This is going to get troublesome..."

"Hey, hey, more importantly, I'm sensing another game is coming up, Bern! Isn't that great? I wonder what kind of setting the next game would have..."

When Lambdadelta proclaimed that, it meant that she had almost figured out a theory regarding Naruto's true personality. It wasn't like she hadn't been doing anything the whole time Frederica was overseeing the Afterlife. She had been calculating the probabilities of what kind of 'blue truth' she could use that would predict Naruto's next action, basing on what she knew about him up until that moment. If she was right, she could use that opportunity to attack Frederica.

Even the Saint of Time and Space would definitely get hurt by an attack from the Witch of Certainty.

That is how strong Lambdadelta was.

"...I don't see any amusement in a game that can kill me."

"A ha ha ha! Why, that in itself is the fun! It's been a looong time since you put your life on the line for anything, right?"

Lambdadelta laughed out loud in a sick manner afterwards. She was truly enjoying herself at the moment, befitting of her unthinkable personality.

Against the sadistic witch, Frederica's only weapon was her knowledge of the boy known as Uzumaki Naruto.

She could only hope that she really did know everything about him.

[End of Chapter 7]

---

[A/N]: July 1st 2014

...Er, hi?

To those that were concerned about my wellbeing, I'm happy to tell you that, no, I'm not dead yet.

There's really nothing I could say but "Longest writer's block ever", actually. Writing a chapter this size had actually taken more time than I thought. I am generally a slow author, but this snail-like speed is so staggering that I surprised myself.

*Sigh*

I am truly sorry for this! I thought that I'd be finished with this part as quick as possible due to the chapter's nature, but I never thought it would be this hard! Character development sure is hard... Even then, I think I've written down nonsense when I was portraying Naruto getting angry. There had been no way to describe what I feel towards the injustice shown towards Kanade, and thus I might've written unrealistic reasons for Naruto to get angry.

I'm getting less creative by the minute, I guess. Even Frederica and Lambdadelta's characters felt like getting dull this time.

Oh well, the good news is I've finally finished my exams! And the funny thing is that I'm updating at the same time as having my birthday! These are two things that makes me happy for some reason, ehehehe~

Well, I'd like to apologize for this late update one more time. I'll do my best that this doesn't happen again.

And now it is...

Trivia Time!

1) A slight notice of 'an original level of misfortune' that Naruto mentioned. When you think about it, [Toaru Majutsu no Index]'s Kamijou Touma would've been screaming "Such misfortune!" if he was put in that kind of situation.

And now, this chapter is officially completed. Still...I might return and do a little tinkering on the chapter. Some things are still bugging me in somehow...

[Extra Note]: (July 3rd 2015)

Decided to finally fix that part about Kanade knowing Mapo Tofu is her favorite food (she was supposed to not know that). Also, updated the [Next Chapter] bit for the sake of my next chapters. You'll know what I'm talking about in the next chapter.

[Next Chapter]

"What the hell do you want me to reflect on!?"

"Would you really forgive me if I had done that?"

"Brat...!"

"SPECIAL DELIVERY!"

"Don't make me do this, Uzumaki."