Note from the Author!
First off I must apologize for not uploading a chapter last Monday. I was recovering from the surgery still and I never got a chance to plan or write anything. Hopefully I won't have to get surgery again for a LONG time. Moving on, this chapter is a very emotional one. I really liked the way this came out, even though it is somewhat short, although that was kind of the point. It jumps around a bit so make sure to pay attention! Angel's Storm, out!
-{Chapter Nine: Remember Me}-
The pulling of a trigger. A loud bang. A flying bullet. Darkness.
In the split second before his death Otonashi only thought of one thing.
Kanade
Then everything faded to black.
When Otonashi awoke again he was in the caves again, although he couldn't tell exactly where. There was a small fire a few feet in front of him.
"This all started," Said a voice from the shadows, "Because of your own greed."
It was the voice of the creator. Otonashi tried to move his body but his arms and legs were chained down. The creator stepped from the shadows, the campfire creating a horrifying look on his face.
"She was gone, almost ready to begin a new life. I was happily an NPC. The others were moving on. YOU had to bring them back."
"They never wanted to leave in the first place!"
"Maybe not all of them. But you didn't give them a choice did you?"
"What are you talking about? They could've moved on if they wanted to."
"Could they? Did you see ANYONE disappear? I'm sure at least one person out of the entire SSS wanted to move on. But did they?"
"I-I…"
"No. They didn't. Do you know why?" The Creator said emotionless, "They couldn't. The way the code was created was very particular. The changes that you made completely disabled the leave function."
Otonashi was in shock. No one could leave the school of the dead. Ever.
"Kanade may still have had some of her skill from last time, but not enough to see the flaws in the changes that she made to the code. I guess she'll have to start from scratch again."
"Last time? What? What did you Kanade?"
"Maybe I'll tell you later." The creator said, pulling out a black dagger. "If you even remember this conversation."
Then he plunged the dagger into Otonashi's heart.
Kanade
"What did you do to Kanade!"
It had been several days since Otonashi was captured. He had been killed so many times that he couldn't even remember the exact number. He had also started to forget things like his old dorm room number.
"Still remember her, eh? Let me tell you a story before I kill you again." The Creator said.
"Once upon a time, there was a small group of people. They didn't know where they were or their pasts. They teamed up together and created The Spirit Crusaders. They vowed to discover the secrets of the world and find out their purpose."
"They had many grand adventures in this world, yes they did! They learned that they could make tools out of dirt and clay. They created a log cabin out in the woods and made it their headquarters. They slowly learned about the world that they had lived in. It was a paradise. They were all happy together. Till one of them disappeared."
"It was a sad day for the Spirit Crusaders. However one of them, the youngest boy was affected most of all. He had fallen in love with the girl who had left. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let anyone else feel the pain that he felt. He changed the world and made sure that no one else would remember him, the girl, or the spirit crusaders. Then he put himself into a deep sleep and waited for the girl to return. The End."
He plunged the dagger into Otonashi again.
Kanade
Yuzuru had since long forgotten how long he had been in the cave, how many times he had died. He had no idea who was torturing him and why. He couldn't even remember his last name. There was only one thing he could remember.
"Where's… Kanade…"
"I'm surprised you still remember her. I'm sure a few more killings will make you forget that."
The man with the blue hair took out a whip and began to mercilessly beat him with it.
"Forget her," He said, "Forget Kanade."
Kanade
The boy didn't know who he was or why he was chained up. He didn't know what he looked like or who the blue-haired person in front of him was he only knew one thing.
Kanade
It's the only thing he could remember. The white-haired girl he loved. It was the only thing he was certain of in his empty mind.
Kanade
"You still remember her, don't you?" the blue-haired boy in front of him scoffed.
The boy just nodded.
"You remind me of myself," he murmured to himself, "and that means there's only one way to forget her."
The blue haired boy stood up and pulled a small device out of his pocket. He began to type quickly on it. Soon the device chirped out, "Running Shadow Program, initializing…"
"It's fitting really," The blue-haired boy said, "That I turn you into an NPC, like I had been for so long."
Slowly small dark tendrils began to come up from the floor like smoke. As he watched the dark tendrils began to cover him. It was like he was being swallowed.
"Goodbye Otonashi." The blue-haired boy said as the tendrils completely covered him.
He was floating in a black sea of nothingness, a single white star above him. He felt nothing, and just floated along. He had no emotion, no feelings nothing at all.
Kanade… He thought as he began to slowly sink into the murky water, I don't want to leave you…
His legs sunk, I'll miss you…
His arms, I won't be able to hear you again…
His body, I don't want to leave you…
His head slowly sunk underwater, the bright star dimming. Kanade…
His head was submerged. The water was still.
I won't leave you!
He pulled his arm out of the water and stuck it out. I won't leave Kanade! He pulled all head out, thrashing. The white star began to glow brighter and brighter, an image of her appearing in front of him.
"I Love you… Yuzuru!" she said.
"I Love you Kanade!" Otonashi yelled.
The cave came back into Otonashi's view, The Creator stood in front of him with a surprised look on his face. "What! How did you…"
Otonashi wasted no time on words. The chains on either side of him were gone, presumably destroyed by the shadow. He jumped up at the creator.
It was as if time had slowed down again. Otonashi grabbed the knife from the creator's hand and plunged it into his chest. He watched the light fade from his eyes as the blood dripped from his body.
As the body of the creator fell onto the floor Otonashi breathed a sigh of relief. He had regained his memories of what happened. He could remember all the times he had been beaten stabbed and shot. He didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was seeing Kanade again.
Later…
Otonashi walked out of the cave entrance, pulling the tied up body of The Creator behind him. As he walked down the hill toward the school he could see the sun rising in front of him, reminding him of the image of Kanade he had seen in the star. He could hear flapping of wings from birds.
Wait a minute. He thought, there aren't any birds here.
"YUZURUUUU!" a voice called out.
As Otonashi looked above him, he could see a white-haired girl with silver wings flying over him.
"KANADE!"
He smiled as she circled around him to land. He was back. He could see Kanade. Everything was right with the world.
As she landed, he ran to her and hugged her as tight as he could. "Kanade… I missed you." Tears streamed down both their faces.
"I-I thought I lost you Yuzuru…" she choked out, "I thought I would never see you again!"
"Don't worry. I'm right here."
Kanade sobbed into his chest.
"I Love you Yuzuru!"
"I Love you Kanade!"
~End of Chapter 9~