Time: anytime before episode 5

Characters: Otonashi, Noda, Angel, Yuri, Hinata

It was a beautiful, sunny day. There wasn't a cloud in sight, the sky was a rich blue, and the grass looked especially green under the unwavering sunlight. Otonashi ditched his uniform jacket and stretched as he walked, enjoying the warm sun on his back and taking in the flawless weather. School had just ended and the NPCs were filtering out of their classes, heading to the dorms, to the library, or to their respective club activities. He listened to their idle chatter, picking up mundane conversations and excited rumors.

This really is like a normal high school, he thought, smiling to himself. It's a shame I can't join in and live an ordinary life with them.

He arrived at the vending machines and bought himself some Key Coffee to compliment the stunning weather. He would take this drink—maybe a snack to go along with it—find a shady tree to sit under, and enjoy the day until Yuri calls for another meeting. It would be a nice, relaxing time, all by himse—

Something whooshed over his head as Otonashi bent to pick up his coffee. He heard a cracking sound of impact inches from his feet and slowly turned towards the projectile.

It was a halberd.

A freaking halberd, sticking up from the concrete with its handle swaying a little from the force of the impact. And there was only one idiot in this world that carried something like that around.

"Goddamnit, I missed!"

He turned to see Noda punching the air with frustration, all the way up on the second floor balcony of the school building on his left. As Otonashi watched, the hotheaded axe-wielder jumped over the railing of the balcony and landed on the grass below. He stomped over, pushed past Otonashi, and yanked his halberd out of the ground.

"Heh, I finally caught you, punk," he said, leveling the weapon with ease.

Otonashi backed away instinctively. "Whoa, hold up a minute. I-I don't want trouble!"

"Well you got it, wimp. This'll teach you not to mess with Yurippe," Noda growled.

"That was ages ago! You're still going on about it?" He looked around for some kind of help, but none of the SSS were around and the NPCs were no help whatsoever.

"An insult to Yurippe doesn't fade over time. Prepare to die…one thousand times!"

"Geez, you really are a moron," Otonashi muttered.

"The hell'd you say, punk?" Noda snarled, advancing with his weapon.

He braced himself for the pain that was inevitably on its way and squeezed his eyes shut as the halberd swung towards his head. He heard the swish of the blade cutting through the air and then…an ear-splitting metallic clang!

His eyes flew open with surprise. Instead of the angry Noda, he saw the silvery hair of the student body president before him, flowing gently in the air and settling as she stopped moving. Both blades on her arms were out, one of them deflecting Noda's blow and the other pointing towards his chest. Even with her back to him, Otonashi could hear her soft-spoken warning.

"Students are not permitted to fight on school grounds. Nor are they allowed to possess weapons of any kind." She twirled expertly and cut cleanly through the shaft of the halberd, leaving Noda with maybe a foot of the handle. The rest of the weapon clattered to the ground.

Noda reached for his gun. "You b—"

Angel pressed the blade to his neck and cut off his insult. He stumbled backwards and fell on his back, Angel following him down and pulling back her arm to deliver a deathblow. Otonashi saw the brief fear in his eyes, the momentary terror of death that flashed across his face. Before the president could decapitate him, Otonashi sprang forward and got in between the two.

"Wait, wait! We weren't fighting!" he screamed, pushing down her bladed arm and nudging Noda out of the way. "We were…just seeing if Noda is as good as he thinks he is with the halberd. I bet him that he couldn't cut off the button on my shirt without slicing me open. That's all!" he invented wildly.

"That is a dangerous and ridiculous wager," Angel observed without emotion.

"Y-yeah, how stupid of me," he said, forcing a laugh. "Lesson learned. B-but we weren't fighting. And you said yourself that no weapons are allowed, right?" Otonashi gave a pointed look at the blades sticking out of her sleeves.

She looked down as though seeing them as weapons for the first time. "I suppose you are right," she said, and they disappeared in a flash of light. Without another word, she started to walk away.

They watched her go, Noda rubbing his neck and Otonashi sighing in relief.

"You okay?" Otonashi asked, extending a hand. Noda glares at it before standing on his own. He tosses the useless piece of metal on the ground with the rest of his halberd and begins walking in the opposite direction. Something slips free from his jacket pocket as he goes, floating through the air to land at Otonashi's feet. He picked it up and turned it over.

It was…a photo of a girl. She had medium-length purple hair with a black headband and wore the designated SSS uniform, its logo clearly visible on the sleeve. She was looking out into the distance with her hand cradling her chin, leaning an elbow against some kind of railing. It was a beautiful picture, yet it was also incredibly lonely.

And it was unmistakably of Yuri.

"Uh…Noda? You dropped something."

"Shut it, punk. I can't fight with a piece of garbage like that," he growled, referring to his dismantled weapon. "You really are a jinx, newbie."

"No, I didn't mean that," Otonashi said, waving the photo at his retreating back. "This is yours, right?"

Noda turned with a murderous look and saw the picture flapping in his enemy's hand. In an instant his glare melted off his face to be replaced with a schoolboy blush. Otonashi watched with a bemused expression as Noda's face turned scarlet. He covered the pace between them in two angry strides and snatched the photo from Otonashi's hand. Almost unconsciously, he whipped out a gun and pointed it at the puzzled Otonashi.

"T-t-t-that was nothing, got it? Y-y-yo-you didn't see a thing!" he stuttered, shaking his head wildly.

"That's a picture of Yuri, right?" Otonashi asked. He shut his mouth when Noda shoved the gun closer. With his hand shaking that badly, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to accidentally fire.

"I-I said you didn't see a thing, you idiot!" he yelled, his blush spreading to his ears.

"All right, all right, calm down! Geez Noda, if you keep acting like such an asshole, Yuri's never going to return your feelings!"

Something shifted in Noda's expression. Otonashi braced himself for the worst and wished Angel would return to slice up the gun pointed at his face. But to his amazement, Noda moved his gaze to the ground and lowered the gun. He stuffed it back into his pocket but put away the photo with more care.

"T-then what should I do t-to have her notice me?" he mumbled.

Otonashi blinked. "Are you…asking me for advice?"

"I'm asking you what I should do!" Noda spat, reaching for his gun again.

"Whoa, whoa okay I get it! I'll help you if you don't shoot me!" he reasoned, raising his hands.

Noda sniffed and relaxed. "Fine."

"Well…did you try asking her out?" Otonashi started.

"Why the hell would I do that? There's nowhere to take her!"

He really is a moron.

"What about being nice to her? Treat her with respect and all that jazz?"

"Fool. She's the only one I respect around here. I execute her orders and cut down anything in her path. Isn't that enough?"

Can he get any stupider?

"Okay, uh…how about flowers?"

The former axe-bearer laughed with contempt. "Like she could use those in a fight."

Otonashi pinched the bridge of his nose. He's hopeless.

"Look. Why don't you stop treating her like a fearless warrior and see her as a normal girl? Yuri is more than just our leader, Noda. She's a human being with normal, girly feelings."

"Are you insulting her?" he snarled.

"No, I'm saying that she's like any other girl—"

"Yurippe isn't just any other girl, you scum!"

Otonashi felt like his patience was slowly slipping off a cliff. A nerve was twitching near his eye and suddenly he wished Noda had shot him instead.

"You…fine." Otonashi marched past Noda and motioned for him to follow. He didn't really expect him to, but he kept walking without breaking stride.

They arrived at the opposite end of the campus where the greenhouses were located. In front of them was a sectioned garden filled with blooming flowers of every shape and color. They flourished under the bright sunshine, giving an ironic feel of life in this world of the afterlife.

"Here," Otonashi said, gesturing to all the flowers. "Since you obviously know Yuri the best, pick out the flowers that she would like the most."

"What?" Noda exclaimed, reaching for his halberd to point at Otonashi before remembering he no longer had it. "I told you Yurippe wouldn't need something like—"

"Just do it!" he yelled, surprising the both of them.

"Fine," Noda grumbled, walking up to the flowerbed.

It was quite a sight to behold. Otonashi watched with some inner amusement as the hardheaded Noda began picking bright and frilly flowers, taking extra care not to damage the petals. Although his mouth was set in his usual scowl, there was a soft light in his eyes that Otonashi only saw when Yuri was around. Maybe he really does feel something towards Yuri, he thought as Noda gathered more flowers. He has to, if he's degrading his tough image to collect flowers for her.

"You done?" he called when the hothead straightened, looking lost. "Then let's get back to headquarters and give them to Yuri."

It took a lot to get Noda to the principal's office. He wasn't resisting, nor was he threatening to fill Otonashi with bullets. But he was deathly afraid.

"N-no wait, I change my mind," he said for the millionth time. "She wouldn't like them, they're useless. She'd kill me for wasting my time picking flowers."

"Would you relax?" Otonashi said with frustration, practically dragging him to the door. "You wanted help, and I'm giving it to you! Now just go—in—there—and give her the stupid flowers!" he seethed, punctuating his words with tugs on Noda's arm. He threw open the door after barking out the password and shoved Noda inside, stumbling in after him.

The meeting hadn't started yet. The only people present were Yuri and Hinata, and they looked like they were in the middle of an argument. They turned as Noda and Otonashi barged in, cutting off mid-sentence to take in the interruption. Noda froze as Yuri shot a deadly glare in their direction, and even Otonashi couldn't help but gulp.

"S-sorry. Are we interrupting something?" he asked tentatively.

Yuri sighed and shook her head, dismissing an enraged Hinata with a wave of her hand. "No, nothing important. This idiot here was pitching me ideas for renaming our Battlefront. And they were all stupid."

"They were not!" Hinata argued.

"So anyway, what's up with you two?" She regarded Noda with a raised eyebrow. "What are those flowers for, Noda?"

Otonashi glanced at the frozen Noda and nudged some life into him with his elbow. "Go give them to her, dumbass," he muttered, pushing him forward.

As if in a trance, Noda stepped forward, extended his arm, and shoved the flowers in Yuri's face. He stared hard at the floor in between his shoes. "T-th-th-they're f-for y-y-y-you," he said in his worst stutter ever. "S-so will you…please accept them and my feelings for you!"

The room rang with silence after his blurted confession. Hinata made a choking sound. Otonashi slapped a hand to his face. Yuri stared. And stared. Noda was once again frozen in his position, his trembling arm the only sign of life.

The sound that broke the silence was not a harsh rejection from their leader. It was her laughter. Yuri doubled over and clutched at her stomach, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. But it wasn't the mocking, evil laugh she sometimes let loose over successful operations; it was a genuine, happy laughter that made all three boys in the room blush.

"You…you picked these? For me?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Y-yeah," Noda said, blushing even deeper.

She whirled and glared daggers at Hinata. "Well, since you want to contribute to this Battlefront so much, how about you find me a vase and fill it with water?"

Hinata sniffed. "Where am I supposed to find a—"

"Just find one!" she roared, and Hinata raced out of the room, cowering in fear.

Yuri turned back to the nervous Noda. "You didn't have to do this for me, Noda," she said with a smile bright enough to compete with the sunshine outside. She took the flowers from his trembling fingers. "But thank you. They're beautiful."

He tensed as she stepped closer, but instead of hitting him like he expected, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. If anyone could pass out right then and there, it was Noda. But rather than collapsing, he turned a brilliant shade of crimson and raced out of the room. A second later they flinched as the hammer came flying out of the ceiling and smashed into Noda's face. His screams faded into the distance as he was blown out the window.

What the hell kind of ending is that? Otonashi thought, sighing. All that effort and a waste of a beautiful day, and he literally goes flying out the window.

"Otonashi."

"Hm?" He turned from the window to find Yuri standing right behind him. "Whoa, wha—"

"Thanks…to you too," she said, avoiding eye contact. "I know Noda wasn't smart or level-headed enough to think of this. He doesn't see me as someone who would like this kind of stuff." She touched a hand to his shoulder and smiled. "So thank you. For seeing me as a girl."

Otonashi felt himself go red, and he coughed out an embarrassed laugh.

"It was…nothing, really."

Just then Hinata burst in, waving a glass vase in his hand. "Look! Look, I found one!"

"Where's the water, you idiot!" Yuri screamed, kicking him in the head.

Otonashi watched them argue, not joining in or stopping them but simply observing. He noted that Yuri had never let go of the flowers once she had taken them, and was carefully keeping them unharmed as she pummeled Hinata to the ground.

Maybe…maybe it was worth it, he thought.