A/N: Sorry for the delay guys, been an awful week thus far for me. Mainly, it is Chinese New Year. Having to help out with the house and stuff is extremely tiring, especially when we are still trying to renovate the place whilst clearing junk. Also, I've started to hit the gym! After 7 years of not going, I am seriously out of shape. Like, seriously and literally.
Anyway, besides that, I had been brainstorming one ideas to add things into the story to make it longer and funnier. I managed to get a few ideas, though if you guys can contribute some hilarious situations for the SSS2 to be in, I'll take them into consideration.
Kou plays an important role to my series, mainly because she is my main character. Katsuragi being her brother? Not quite. Katsuragi is his last name, by the way. I won't spoil it for you guys, but seriously... no one has a clue? Maybe my clues are too obscure...
A few questions you guys asked are answered in this chapter, and yes, I aimed to get Katsuragi to be like Otonashi, but he isn't that smart. I looked back at all of the Key works (at least most of them) and noticed that every work (besides AIR) had a dumb side character to compliment the main character's straight-man act. That is where Ooguchi Daisuke comes in. There will be more, unfortunately, so be prepared.
Angel Beats!
What We Live For
Operation 3
Initial Arms
The morning came sooner than he expected as he was shaken awake by a familiar face. Ooguchi Daisuke looked down with his cheeky smile.
"Morning sleeping beauty."
He smirked. As for the recipient of this bright smile, he wasn't feeling all too welcoming to something like that early in the morning, resulting in him delivering a straight punch to that particularly useless face.
"Ow! What was that for?"
Daisuke shouted, retreating back while nursing his bruised nose.
"You're too noisy in the morning."
Was the reply. Katsuragi sat up, feeling his head slightly disoriented. Maybe it was because of a certain person who kept everyone awake by his constant whining. That very person was currently tied up with rope and shoved into his own cabinet. It did not, however, stop his rather muffled cries from keeping some people awake. While Katsuragi did manage to sleep in the end, it became apparent that a lot of the others were not as fortunate. The door to the room opened and a large man walked in, rather confused about something.
"Would you newcomers care to explain what a large cabinet is doing dangling outside your window by a rope?"
No one answered that question, most still in the middle of putting on their new uniform. The large guy looked around for an answer, then sighed.
"Alright, all of you get ready. I'll lead you to your first training session."
He said, before walking over to where the rope that held the cabinet was tied to the bed by the window. He took out a large knife and with one swing, cut the rope. A loud scream was heard trailing down with the cabinet as it fell to the ground below. The large man raised an eyebrow at that sound, then shrugged.
"Oh well. He'll follow suit. Alright, all of you, get dressed and follow me."
With that, he left the room. Katsuragi got up, scratching his head to shake off his sleepiness. That did not really help, but he was awake enough to get up and get dressed. The shirt was larger than his own size, but he guessed it was still alright. It wasn't overly large to the point where the entire shirt was literally just clinging onto his shoulders. He looked around and wondered if he should wear the tie as well. He looked around, noticing that some were choosing not to wear their ties.
Well, he was given it so he might as well use it. For some odd reason, he felt rather natural at putting on the tie and the blazer. Somehow it all just felt... right. Once dressed, he followed the others out of the room where the large guy from before was waiting. What he noticed was that the girls were up and dressed as well, waiting in the same hallway as the guys.
"Ahem... Alright, since you're all dressed. Follow me."
The large man led the group down the hallway and down the main stairwell to the first floor. Katsuragi now noticed that the students hanging around the building were paying them much less attention. It must be their uniforms, now that they were all dressed in the same uniform, the members of the SSS2 can feel more relaxed and not constantly be on guard. But why should they? Sure, they may be dressed in clothes similar to NPCs, but why should the SSS2 members be afraid of them?
NPCs don't hurt people unless a Shadow converts them, right? Katsuragi could not help but feel as though there was something that the SSS2 were not telling them. Something sinister about the NPCs. The group was finally led into a room where tables and chairs were all laid out like a proper classroom. Except this wasn't suppose to be a classroom as the sign outside the room clearly said 'Storage room 5'.
"Everyone take a seat."
The man said, walking over to the front of the room as everyone did as they were told. Katsuragi took a seat around the middle and Daisuke took the seat next to him. It seems that Daisuke is rather attached to him... hopefully not in an odd way. The large man who stood up front behind a desk scratched his head as he looked down at the pieces of paper on the table in front of him. Apparently something was off with the papers.
"... That damn Imagawa... Can't even get paper work done right. Sigh, guess this will have to do."
The large man looked up to the group of newcomers with his somewhat exhausted look. No, not at them exactly. Katsuragi turned around and noticed that Yuki herself had stepped into the classroom. Maybe to observe, but she clearly wasn't going to do any talking. Yuki gave a knowing nod to the large man and he continued on.
"Let's begin. I'm Tanaka, the one incharge of all you newcomers. I will oversee your training from now until then end of the month, after which you will each be assigned to a different division according to your strengths. Throughout your training, you will be introduced further into what each division does, as well as getting a feel for the activities yourself. Based on how you perform, the leaders will decide which division you are best suited for. Any questions so far?"
Tanaka looked around the room, and saw that no one had their hands raised. Until one person did. A girl near the front raised her hand. With long brown hair, the girl seemed to exude a rather familiar air. She was rather emotionless and cold, almost like Kou. But unlike Kou, this girl still had some self within her. It was hard to describe it really, but if Katsuragi had to put in a word, it would be that this girl had 'substance', while Kou did not.
"What question do you have... er..."
"Kusanagi... Kusanagi Yamato."
The girl replied. Yamato, that was a weird name for a girl.
"Okay, Kusanagi-san. What is your question?"
"You said that the divisions will be chosen for us. We have no choice in the matter?"
Tanaka scratched his head at that question, showing slight discomfort at answering that.
"Unfortunately, no. Way before the SSS2 was officially formed, the students basically waged a guerilla war against the Shadows that hunted us. We were finally able to fight back when we discovered the large stockpile of weapons left behind by our predecessors but we also found out that not everyone was suited for each weapon. Every person has their own style and own strengths. In the same manner, not everyone can be suited for certain jobs in the organization."
That seemed logical, though Yamato did not seem to have any lack of questions.
"Another question."
Tanaka sighed the moment Yamato said that. He clearly did not like his job.
"What?"
"I could not help but notice. Last night, Taeno-san told us of six divisions, yet only introduced five. What is the last division?"
Yamato asked, but Tanaka was kept silent by that. He looked to the back where Yuki was, but she had disappeared from the room. Tanaka sighed again, scratching the back of his head.
"The last division is not a division you can get into straight away. The last division is known as the 'Guardians'. They serve as the elite forces of our organization and are chosen from the other divisions, a group that you do not need to concern yourselves with at the moment... But, i guess you all should know about them. They deal with the most difficult operations, traitors... and the 'angels'."
"What you were told at the beginning is true, that our main enemy is the strange distortion known as the 'Shadows'. However what was not told to you was that there is another enemy that we face. This enemy has been dubbed as the 'angels'. They are the NPCs themselves."
Tanaka explained, taking a moment to let it seep into those in the room. A whole moment of stunned silence was the reply.
"... I know that it is rather difficult to grasp, and truthfully, not everyone in the organization can fight against them. It is one thing to fight against the Shadows as we can simply think of them as 'monsters'. But NPCs are like human. They look like us, talk like us, act like us. In addition, there are those who have been converted into NPCs themselves. Can any of you in this room turn and shoot the person next to you? I wouldn't think so."
Tanaka stopped for another moment, but this time, it seems he realized something. He was scaring everyone in the room. He scratched his head again, trying to re-organize his thoughts.
"... Well, you guys need not worry about it. The Guardians are the ones who are suppose to deal with the 'Angels', not to mention that the number of Angels are also numbered at a twenty. No more, no less. They also have a thing for 'announcing' their arrival, so you will know when they appear, if they ever do. Now, onto the lessons."
Tanaka then turned the conversation around by explaining each division and the history of the SSS2, as well as the predecessor of the SSS. He explained about the structure of the organization in further details, as well as delving into the history of the SSS. Katsuragi wasn't listening in to that, however, as his thoughts dwelled more on the mysterious division of the Guardians. What was their true purpose? Who were they really? And more importantly, what was it about Kurogane Kou that bothered him so much?
He just could not get her image, sitting majestically there in the room, out of his mind. Maybe it was because she was the first person he met, or maybe it was because she was the one who saved him? Either way, he could not help but feel entranced by her looks, by her grace, by her very presence. She had such an empty, cold and entrancing existence that he just wanted to... It was hard to explain. It was not love, nor interest. Just... attraction.
"So that concludes the founding of this organization. Next, I will cover the basic rules."
Tanaka said, breaking Katsuragi's train of thought. He turned to the black board in the room and took a chalk to start writing. On it, he wrote three simple lines. Once done, he placed the chalk down and dusted his hands before turning back to the group.
"These are the basics rules of our organization. One: Don't kill any NPCs who aren't the enemy. We do not need to screw up the system any more than what it is now. Two: Do not betray the organization no matter what and follow the orders given unless you have a really good reason not to. Third: Survive."
Everyone stared at Tanaka when he said that last rule. Survive? What does that mean?
"... Obviously most of you don't understand the meaning of this third rule. It may be easy to understand it when you look at it now, but in reality, it is much harder. There are those who crack under pressure, they go mad and start doing stupid things. Look around you. These people are the ones will be the ones covering your back. You all will face hardships together, face impossible odds. But as long as you do your job and survive, the guy next to you will too. You will help each other in order to live and survive. Once you give up, you're dead, gone. Once you're gone... you no longer exist. There is no reset, no revival, no retries. Once you are gone, there is nothing. No thoughts, no feelings, nothing. All of you have been given a second chance by being here. Use it wisely."
At that moment, the door of the room swung open and a young man stepped in. His matted hair covered most of his facial features and his right eye. His scrawny physique did not say much and coupled with his work overalls, it made some within the group wonder about who he was. That was clearly the guild's uniform, but his size and body shape did not match the image of the physically demanding job of Guild.
"Ah, Gen, you're here early."
Tanaka said to the newcomer, who did not seem to even notice Tanaka as he scanned the room.
"... So these are the new recruits... Tanaka, the boss is getting rather edgy. I suggest you send them my way now."
Gen replied. Tanaka nodded and gathered his papers together.
"Alright. All of you, you're now going to get equipped so we'll be heading down to Guild. Come on, best not to keep Yuuko waiting or else all hell will break loose from under our feet. Literally."
The group was led out of the room once more, but this time by the Guild member called Gen. Katsuragi wasn't paying too much attention during the lecture, so he had to wonder why was Gen leading the way and looking more important than Tanaka.
"That's because Gen's the leader of the fitters. Weren't you listening?"
Daisuke replied when he asked about it. Katsuragi really did not want to hear those words from his smiling friend. Out of the two, Daisuke was the one who looked like the type to not pay any attention.
"That's rude. I'm quite the diligent student. Or at least, 'was'. Want to hear my story?"
"No."
"... You don't have to give an immediate answer. You could have hesitated, or at least looked to be thinking about it."
Katsuragi wasn't really interested in hearing about Daisuke. But it was true that he needed to pay more attention. Now he would never hear the end of it from Daisuke. Not exactly what he needed for an eternity. The group was led towards the back of the main stairwell, where a hidden door was built in. Gen pushed the door open, revealing a hole in the ground with a ladder leading down. Without even hesitating, the Guild member climbed down the hole, letting the group follow suit. The climb down the hole was not exactly long, but given how each of the newcomers had yet to go down to Guild before, it felt close to five minutes of climbing.
Obviously the girls went down first, as Daisuke was so painfully reminded when he volunteered to go first. Katsuragi climbed down, dusting his hands the moment he reached the bottom and off the ladder. The group was now in some sort of long tunnel, much like a mine or a train tunnel. Numerous students of the SSS2 wandered about down in these tunnels, carrying crates and weapons. Some carried documents and others were simply talking with each other.
"These are the tunnels of Guild. Each tunnel is as important as the next, and they are all vital to Guild."
Gen explained to them while leading them down the tunnel.
"These tunnels serve as transport routes throughout the school, allowing us to insert our troops deep into enemy territory and out without much incident, but the vice versa also occurs from time to time. These tunnels also house the majority of our forces. The Assault Division stays in the dorms on campus and also does camping out in the mountains from time to time. The elite members of Fort, the 'Wolves', sleep in the staff building. The Intelligence division prefers to sleep in their library hide-out. So most of the time you get Guild and Diversion members staying down here with the rest of Fort, and as all of you should know by now, Guild and Diversion divisions make up the majority of our forces."
Gen continued as they travelled further through the tunnels. Katsuragi could not help but notice that the members who were working down here seemed to be slightly happier and relaxed. They weren't as tense as the members above ground. Maybe it was the exposure to the enemy they had? The members above ground face the enemy on a daily basis. That had to be stressful. Soon, Gen led the group into a rather large room that looked quite much like a bakery with large furnaces around the place. The only difference is that these were not breads that were being baked.
Guild members shovelled dirt from a pile into the furnaces, feeding the flames, and from the other end the hot liquid from the melted dirt would be poured out into moulds. What Katsuragi noticed was that each mould was handled by a single Guild member. Pressing the moulds hard, Katsuragi noticed that a rather strange occurrence was present. By pressing it only for a few moments, the mould is opened and a weapon is produced. Was this magic?
"Weapons are created by memories. In this World, as long as we retain the memories of the object, we can replicate it by making it out of dirt. This is probably one of the good things about this World."
Gen explained, before walking over to one side of the large room where a work bench was. It was Gen's work bench, apparently, seeing as how he seemed to know exactly where to find his items.
"The Boss is currently attempting to fix her tanks again, though i would not be so hopeful."
Gen explained to Tanaka, who simply nodded before a loud explosion from the large iron doors at the end of the room shook the entire place. The group of newcomers were rather surprised and worried as smoke seeped out from the gaps in the door, but the Guild members ignored it completely.
"Anyway, the fitters are in the store room. We'll get five to enter each time. That would give us... four rounds."
Gen counted the number of people. Eighteen of them in total. Ten guys, eight girls. Katsuragi still did not see any sign of the loud-mouthed girl who got shot by Imagawa. Maybe they don't revive after all, but the others don't seem bothered by it. Maybe he was thinking too much into it.
"You won't be fitting them?"
Tanaka asked, looking over a chart that Gen handed to him.
"I only fit one person."
Gen simply replied, getting onto his chair at his work bench.
"... I see. Anyway, i'll start the thing then."
Tanaka turned back to the group of newcomers and dragged his finger down the chart.
"When i point at you, step forward, say your name and stand over here."
Tanaka pointed to the spot next to him.
"... You."
He pointed to a girl with long raven hair and emerald green eyes. She seemed slightly nervous as she stepped forward.
"Wa-Wakase Izumi."
She answered. Tanaka took a pen from his pocket and wrote that down on his chart, before pointing to the spot next to him. Izumi timidly walked over to that spot and started to fidget with her skirt with her eyes darting anywhere else but at the group. She apparently doesn't do well before a crowd.
".. You."
Tanaka pointed to a boy, who stepped forward with some confidence. His hair was a short cut, almost like a military style cut though his face and build would say otherwise.
"Motoyama Rei."
He announced his name before joining Izumi over at the spot. Tanaka looked amongst the crowd and pointed to the girl from before, Kusanagi Yamato.
"Yamato, over here. Don't need to say your name since you said so before. Not to mention loud enough for my ear drums to need revival."
Yamato nodded and walked over to the spot. Tanaka scanned the crowd once more and pointed to another guy.
"You, name and over here."
"Ishida."
The young man said, stepping forward.
"Okay."
Apparently Tanaka did not bother to ask for the given name. Perhaps losing your memories was more common than Katsuragi first thought.
"... You."
Tanaka pointed to Daisuke, who proudly stepped forward like he was some king. Some idiot king more like it.
"Ooguchi Daisuke, reporting!"
"Right, right. Shut up and stand here."
Tanaka easily ignored Daisuke's overly glowing self and tucked the chart under one arm.
"Right, you five will enter first. The rest of you will wait here."
Tanaka told them before going through the door nearby. The five chosen students followed closely behind.
"See you in a bit!"
Daisuke said with a smile before he stepped in. The door closed behind them, letting the rest only to think of what could be happening beyond those doors. It seemed that Gen noticed the other members in the group's concern, as he stood up and gave a slight cough to get their attention.
"A fitter's job is to size each person up and give them a weapon in accordance to their suited body type. I'm sure you all have heard that not everyone is suited to be a certain job, and the same applies to the weapons. For example, you cannot give a small person a large weapon, and a large person a small weapon. A fitter's job is not only to size up, but also the match the weapon to the user's specialities."
Gen explained, fiddling with a pistol he had on his desk. His precision like moves ejected the magazine before pulling the slide back and catching the bullet that flew out. Without even stopping, he dismantled the pistol so quickly that everyone in the group was amazed by the speed it took for him to do it.
"Each weapon is like a person. Each are different from the next. They may be made from the same memories and the same mould, but the conditions may vary. The dirt and essence used are different. The condition of the builder during each moulding process are different, which alters the state of memories of the weapon. Of course, these conditions would not affect the usage of the weapon so much, but it can cause the user to be unfamiliar with the weapon he or she was used to. Understand?"
Most of the group simply nodded their heads in reply. Katsuragi wasn't all too sure on what all of that meant, though. He simply accepted it as it is.
"I didn't know you were teaching people, Gen."
A familiar voice made him turn. Walking over to them was the young leader of the elusive sixth division. The leader of the Guardians, Kurogane Kou herself. She still held that same expressionless face, those cold, empty eyes that seem to stare on forever into darkness.
"Kou, i didn't think your weapons needed re-tuning so soon."
Gen replied, quickly reassembling the pistol and putting it back down on his work bench.
"The last battle caused my pistol to jam. You might want to check the loading mechanism. That, and i need to see Musashi. My sword needs some re-shaping."
Kou pulled out her sword, showing that it was completely dented in one angle. That made Gen raise an eyebrow.
"What, you hit an angel with the broad side again?"
Kou said nothing to Gen's smart remark, simply placing the broken weapons on the table. She then noticed the newcomers. Everyone was staring at her with some fear in their eyes, even Katsuragi could tell. Kou was not someone who exuded the kindness of a friend, not the trust of a friend, not even the warmth of a person. Kurogane Kou was an empty existence.
"..."
Kou said nothing as always, but her eyes did fall on Katsuragi for a rather long moment.
"Kou, the pistol doesn't have a problem. You just failed to load the magazine properly."
Gen said, making Kou turn back to him.
"Just fix it."
Kou answered sharply. There was some form of warmth in her tone, however, and Katsuragi was probably one of the few to notice it, if ever.
"... So, those are the new kids?"
Kou asked Gen, not even looking at the group even though she was referring to them.
"Yeah, why don't you introduce yourself? I'm sure you were left out of the introduction, as always."
"..."
Kou ignored that comment, and picked up the pistol that Gen was fiddling with earlier. Loading the cartridge, the leader of the Guardian division trained the sights of the pistol towards the other end of the room.
"Please don't fire any rounds down here. I've gotten enough rage ranting from the boss for last week's angel attack."
Gen muttered.
"I cannot control where the angels attack, Gen. All i can do is to counter them."
"Tell that to the boss."
Kou ignored that reply again. Her eyes seemingly distracted as she looked off to one side. She pulled the slide of the pistol, chambering one round.
"... They're here."
She muttered. Before anyone could ask what was here, a loud explosion erupted from the tunnel that ran outside the Guild room. Loud gunshots echoed from outside, as well as screaming and shouting from students. It was complete chaos and Katsuragi could not determine what was going on.
"An enemy attack? Now? It's been only one week since the last attack!"
The entire Guild immediately turned into a frenzy, everyone getting up on their feet and grabbing the nearest weapon to head out. Kou calmly walked towards the exit as well, but Gen noticed something.
"Kou! Your sword!"
"I have another."
She replied, drawing a second sword behind her back. Unlike the other blade, this one looked almost brand new. In fact, it looked as though it had never been drawn before.
"But that's-... I guess she doesn't really care."
Gen muttered, just as the other door opened and the first five students stepped out with weapons their hands. Each were given a pistol of a different make, but nothing else.
"For now, you five will follow me into the combat zone. Consider yourselves lucky that you get the fight an angel on your first day."
Tanaka said, grabbing a rifle from a pile on the side and catching two magazines that were tossed to him by Gen.
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Tanaka said, leading the first five students out of the room. It was complete chaos and destruction out there, making the rest of the group worried. Wakase Izumi and Motoyama Rei from the first group were the only ones to look uncertain, but they followed Tanaka and the other three out of the door.
"The rest of you will stay here and wait for all of this to die down."
Gen said, pulling out a rifle and slamming a cartridge in it.
"Why can't we join in the fight?"
The girl Katsuragi remembered as Narusaki Yue asked.
"... That fitting room only has one way in and out. In the worst case scenario, the enemy will charge into this place and all of you will need to escape. Fast. To us, people who cannot die and have unlimited resources, the thing we want is to live. And to continue living we must make sure our comrades survive at all cost. That is my job, that is your job, and that is our job as an organization."
Katsuragi did not really hear those words, but he sure felt them. This was the SSS2. This was the bond that chained them all together. This was the vow that they made and it would be the thing that will keep driving them forward.
A/N: I'll try to write up the next chapter soon, but don't be too hopeful! CNY is a killer, even though the red packets are always helpful.