FOREWORD

This is my first go at writing fanfiction. The Angel Beats! anime has the honor of first inspiring me to do so... partly out of love for the series, but also out of what I didn't like about one episode.

I try to steer clear of stories that involve young children dying in any form. I'll go so far as to check movie spoiler websites to see if that happens, I don't care if it spoils the ending for me. I'm that dead set against it. It's why I decided not to see Alien 3 after I enjoyed its predecessor, Aliens . It's why I never got into the Game Of Thrones series. It's why I'll never see Titanic again after being goaded into it by my now ex-wife. Reading about the deaths of children in the news and social media is depressing enough, I don't want that in my entertainment as well. (And yes, I'm well aware that 75% of anime/manga stories seem to involve at least one character with an "I lost my entire family" backstory.)

So it goes without saying that the scene involving Yuri, her siblings and the tragic home invasion that ended their lives was the hardest part of the entire Angel Beats! series for me to get through. But since this anime's premise was about an afterlife world, I decided to keep watching in the hopes that the three younger Nakamuras might show up later. They did, but only for maybe 15 seconds, and it appeared to be just a hallucination of Yuri's after her climactic rampage. I felt those kids deserved way more than just that scene, so that's when I got to writing their own spinoff story. I couldn't find any official names so I named them Kari, Hana and Sota. I put their ages at 11, 10 and 5 respectively so they may be a little older than how they were depicted by the great Jun Maeda.

It was always a goal of mine to write a short story or create a webcomic about the afterlife, specifically what was in store for those souls whose young lives ended way too soon before they could achieve everything they wanted to accomplish. I've already posted a blog a couple decades back imagining what Heaven would be like, and how it would accommodate those unfortunate beings. This comes from a progressive Christian perspective, but this work does include beliefs generally present in common Japanese religions, not to mention still conforms to the Angel Beats! afterlife setup, albeit a more lenient "junior version" of it. The three may have ended up in a more perfect world, but they will still face some challenges and surprises.

This is dedicated to all those whose hearts bleed for the unfortunate souls out there, whose lives were taken at far too young an age, before they get to meet all their life goals... and pray that the Lord of the Universe (however envisioned by the believers) is sympathetic enough to let them experience what they missed out on in their living years. I hope you enjoy.

P.S. Before you correct me on the song title... Google "Dexter Holland".

ANGEL BEATS: THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT

CHAPTER 1

A loud bang.

A millisecond of immense pain in the head.

Then, suddenly, a feeling of weakness and dizziness.

Kari found herself lying on her back, staring at an ornate domed ceiling. The floor felt like soft, thick carpet. Where am I?, she thought. This is not my home. We don't have carpeting in our house.

She could hear dull chatter all around her, with an occasional groan of confusion or scream of shock. What's going on in this room? Wait, wasn't I shot?

She felt the back of her head. No hole. No blood. No shattered skull bones.

Am I dead? Is this...

Propping her upper body up with her elbows, Kari surveyed the gigantic room. It was like a big-city train station without the trains. Then, looking at the people around her, it seemed more like an infirmary without the beds. It was mostly children, some adults, sprawled all over the floor. There was also a good number of adults in matching bright orange uniforms walking around and talking to those on the floor. She could also make out three floors of several small rooms completely surrounding the open area, and a wide corridor leading to some kind of park outside. Every few seconds, a person or two would materialize out of nowhere. They were dressed in a wide assortment of styles: casual clothing, formal dress, school uniforms, hospital gowns. A few would even show up naked, which would send some of the uniformed people running towards them with robes to cover them with.

How did I get here?, Kari continued to wonder. Are my parents here? Did someone get those bad guys who broke into our house and terrorized us? Where is...

"KARI-CHAAAAN!"

Kari stood up and turned in the direction of her name being called out. She scanned the crowd for a few seconds, and finally saw Hana in the distance, on her hands and knees, visibly shaken with a terrified look on her face. Trying not to step on anyone else, Kari dashed to her sister's side. Tears and a gripping embrace greeted her.

"What's going on? Are you alright? Where are we? I can't find Yuri or Sota..." Hana struggled to get the words out between hysterical gasps.

"I don't know, but I'm glad I found you!" Kari feverishly replied. "Stay with me and let's look for them."

As they started moving and looking around, they were approached by an orange-clad young man. "Hello, can I be of assistance?" he asked.

"My name is Kari Nakamura, this is my sister Hana. I don't know how we got here, but we were with another sister and brother of ours and we can't find them."

"Our sister's name is Yuri and our brother's is Sota, he's five years old so he'll be a bit shorter than us," Hana chimed in.

"I see. What do you last remember before coming here?"

"We were at our house, all gathered in the living room, some people broke in, and..." The horrible incident was now fresh in Hana's mind, and it started to affect her speech. "They t-told Yuri to look for something and if sh-she couldn't find it they would kill us! She ran all over the house... th-then... Kari got sh- sh-..."

Hana broke down in hysterical cries, wrapping herself around her sister.

The man remained calm, laying his hands on both their heads. "It's okay now. There will be no more suffering here."

Hana struggled to continue. "I could hear Y-Yuri screaming and crying some more as she looked for anyth-thing to give to them... and then..."

Her words were interrupted by a hit from the lower back and two small arms wrapping around her hips.

"ONEE-CHAAAAN!"

Hana turned to see her little brother, out of breath and devastated, latching on to both her and Kari.

"I want Mommy! I want Yuri-saaaan!" Sota yelled out as Kari tried to comfort him.

The man in orange looked up. "I'm going to need some help here! Multiple casualties, appears to be the same family!"

Seconds later he was joined by a young, tall woman with red hair, wearing the same bright orange uniform and holding an electronic tablet.

"Please follow me. There's a lot we need to talk about, so let's use a consultation room. We also need to get you registered and in the system."

"But what if Yuri-san comes here and can't find us?" Kari asked.

"We will have one of our associates keep a look out for your sister," replied the man. "What does she look like?"

"She's taller than us, her face kinda looks like mine, she has purplish-red hair..."

"Taller than you?" asked the woman. "How old would she be?"

"Fifteen."

The uniformed man and woman exchanged concerned looks at each other.

"Let's pick this up in the consultation. Follow us, please."