AN: Angel Beats was amazing and left a hole in my heart. I wrote this fic to fix it because I don't have an Otonashi to give me another one.

This premise has been stuck in my head since I finished the series, and I haven't read a single fic like it, so I decided to write my own.

Dedicated to the greatest editor in the world, my fiancé.

Chapter 1

Awakening

What… what the hell happened…

His body ached, his vision was blurry, and he felt like he got run over by a train. Struggling to sit up, he gave a pitiful groan and gave up, lying down onto the hard gravel.

Where am I? How did I get here? I was just at… somewhere.

Well, that was helpful. He was at "somewhere," and now he's at "somewhere else." What a fantastic situation to be in for Mr.…

Mr.… Uh.

Crap.

He couldn't remember a thing.

"You up yet?" asked a voice he's never heard before. Or perhaps he's heard it all his life. Maybe it's his mother? No, too young.

Gathering what little strength he had, the young man pushed himself up a little. There, right in front of him, was a gigantic gun held by a significantly smaller girl. Through his blurry vision, he could make out magenta. A lot of it. Was that her hair? Was magenta hair possible? Orange, maybe. Red, too. Magenta wasn't too far off. Perhaps it's dye? He should ask later. Maybe not. It might be rude. Who was she again?

"Who... who are you?" he asked Magenta-Hair.

"I'm Yuri. You're dead," she told him as if she was telling him she liked coffee. "Want to join the Afterlife Battlefront? We could always use a new member."

Excuse me?

"I'm sorry, but that's completely impossible," he said emphatically. He was just going to see his… sister? Girlfriend? Friend? No, definitely his girlfriend. Those were not feelings one has for a friend, and most certainly not a sister.

Yuri didn't even move. "That's not impossible," she told him. "All you have to say is, 'Sure, Yuri! I'd love to join the Afterlife Battlefront!' It's not that hard."

He rolled his eyes, but that just made his head spin more. "You know what I mean. This isn't a prank, is it? Because that's just stupid."

Finally taking her eyes off her target, Yuri turned her head to him and said, "Are you a moron? You're dead. I just told you so."

Welp, I'm convinced. Some purple-haired chick who has a toy gun says I'm dead.

"So? Are you joining us?" she asked again. "I'll even give you the honor of giving us a new name if you want."

Otonashi (oh, so that's my name!) was getting a bit frustrated. "All right, now you listen to me. I'm not joining some club for dead people unless you can prove I'm dead."

Silence. Then, "Proof?" she whispered, her voice carrying a deadly undertone. "You want proof." Finally losing focus of her target, Yuri turned and faced Otonashi. "See you in a few days. You better have a new name for us by then."

His last thought, right as the bullet entered his chest, was that the gun was most certainly not a toy.

He loved days like this. The sun kissing his skin, the cherry blossoms gifting him with falling petals, the songbirds searching for their mate, the stream chattering away to the nearby bushes with a subdued gurgle, all on a mossy, well-tread stone bridge. Of course, those were nice and all, but the real reason he loved days like this was because of the person he spent it with.

They stood in silence by the stream. Of course, they did. When you've known each other for over a decade and counting, words weren't always needed. Their stresses, their successes, their feelings; all were laid bare to each other through their mere presence.

Well, perhaps that was romanticizing it a bit. All good silence must come to an end. "How are your classes?" she asked him.

"Professor Moray is a pain," he mumbled. "I swear, she has it out for me."

"You told her that her information has been outdated for centuries," she pointed out. Blunt as always, but he loved that about her.

"She said bacteria wasn't proven to exist. Bacteria!" he cried. She giggled into her hand, making him smile. It was a quiet, melodic sound that made his heart soar every time he heard it. She wasn't one to express herself much, so he prided himself knowing that her smile was just for him. "And what about you?"

She looked straight ahead, her smile fading as golden eyes grew cold. "I collapsed in the middle of my presentation."

Nothing was said. What could be said? It was unfair, and there's no use discussing it. That didn't make him feel any less useless. He wanted to fix this, to give her a normal life, but he was barely starting his third year of med school. What miracle surgery could he perform that seasoned doctors couldn't? So, he did what little he could. He gave her all his love, his heart, but it wasn't enough to fill the hole in hers.

"I'm sorry," he said at last.

"Why?" she questioned.

"I know how hard you worked on that. So many sleepless nights coding, fixing every minuscule bug, I know how hard you worked." He really did, too. Some mornings he woke up and she'd still be at her desk, downing coffee just to keep her eyes open.

"It's not your fault, Yuzuru," she softly told him. "You didn't do this to me."

"Yeah, but…"

"As long as you're here, I'll be okay. No matter the state of my heart, I'll be okay as long as I have yours. I love you."

Four years of dating and his girlfriend still made him blush. How could this stoic, non-expressive girl say something so damn sweet? Does she realize what she does to him? There was no way he could see that face, look into those eyes, and hear those words and say anything else except, "I love you too, Kanade."

Otonashi was wet.

Well, his chest was wet. And smelled like iron. Patting his chest down, he realized there was some blood on his shirt. Well, no. Not some. A lot. He could probably fill a pool with it. Not a big pool, but one of those inflatable kiddie pools. Hating the sensation, he tore off the shirt and threw it to the ground with a sickening squelch.

"She shot me," he said flatly. Then, a moment later, "That brat shot me!"

So why is there no pain?

"What the f –"

"It's nice to see you're awake."

Otonashi spun around. Sitting beside his bed was a boy with blue hair. Does everyone here have weird hair? Perhaps it's a dead people thing? He was dead, that's for sure. There was no pain, no wound, but he was shot in the chest. Did that mean he had weird hair, too?

"Hey, you," Otonashi asked the blue-haired guy. "What color is my hair?"

Blue-Hair blinked. "Orange." Okay, that was expected. Maybe they all had normal hair colors and he just didn't remember? After all, while he knew of black, brown, and blonde hair, the only hair colors he could remember seeing were orange and silver.

Wait. Silver?

Kanade.

"You're an odd one, aren't you?" asked Blue-Hair with a grin. "My name is Hinata. What's your name?"

Shaking his head to clear it, he responded, "Otonashi."

Hinata frowned. "That sounds awfully familiar."

"Maybe we went to the same school," dismissed Otonashi.

"Maybe," Hinata said doubtfully. He offered his hand to Otonashi to help him up. "Here," he said, "now that you're all better, let me take you to headquarters. We'd love to have you in the Battlefront."

"I don't know. I mean, your leader shot me." He was still pissed about that. What an introduction. Hi, I'm Otonashi. I'm Yuri, let me murder your face! Best friends forever, am I right?

Hinata snorted. "You basically asked her to. You told Yurippe to prove you were dead, and she did." This was true, he just wouldn't admit it out loud. "Now get a shirt on and follow me."

This was a school. The afterlife was a high school. An eternity of tests, bullies, and teenage drama. Yuri never said this was heaven. Perhaps it's Purgatory? Hell? Whatever. All he knew was that he looked like he was about 16 when his dreams (memories?) showed him to be about 20. For all he knew, he could be 30 and just not remember. Perhaps it's a Hell thing, where you need to spend millennia dealing with awkward hormones and crappy Biology teachers whose scientific knowledge ended at "The mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell." Thanks, Mr. Li, that's very useful information. God must be cruel to subject him to that for eternity.

"-keep our humanity." Oh, Hinata was talking. Whoops.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I missed all of it."

Hinata laughed. "Did you hit your head or something? Yuri did say you looked injured."

Otonashi smiled, feeling a bit more relaxed. "No, I was just trying to take in my situation. I already passed Calculus, and I don't want to take it again."

Hinata's eyes twinkled. "Oh, we don't go to class. We'd be obliterated."

"Pardon?"

"We, that is, the members of the Afterlife Battlefront, are in an endless struggle with Angel. She doesn't show any emotions, and she's exceptionally strong, practically invincible. Our only real advantage against her is that she's predictable, and her M.O. never changes. Angel wants to obliterate us, and we want to keep our humanity. If we went to classes and acted like normal students like Angel wants, we'd pass on, turning into a weed, or maybe a gnat. Any questions?"

Yes.

How do you respond to something like that? Otonashi didn't know, so he stayed silent. Turning into a gnat didn't sound particularly exciting. Butterflies, maybe, but gnats were gross and annoying. He could understand why they'd want to stay human, and yet they had to fight an angel in order to do it. The will to fight, to conquer a nigh-invincible servant of God, that impressed him. The Battlefront sounded like a determined and strong-minded group of individuals. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to help him get his memories back. All he knew – aside from his own name – was a name, face, and some hazy dreams that lingered by the edges of his conscience. Otonashi wanted, no, needed to find out more. He would remember everything about his Kanade or die trying. The irony of that statement did not escape him.

Turning his attention back to his surroundings, Otonashi found himself in front of the principal's office.

"There is no God, Buddha, or Angel," said Hinata. He smiled at Otonashi and uttered a quiet "Good luck."

The door opened, revealing a large office with at least two dozen individuals. Lounging at the far end, legs up on a giant desk, sat Yuri. She smirked and stood up.

"The newbie awakens," she called out, and the room fell silent. Around twenty pairs of eyes latched onto him, following his every move. "Welcome to the Anti-Angel Headquarters, where we wage war against God." She had a voice that made you stand at attention; Otonashi could tell that if the room was loud, she could quiet them all with a whisper. "We want you to keep your humanity. We don't want you turning into a miserable barnacle or an ant. What good is your soul if you can't keep your mind? That's why we want you here. You're a human, just like us. We want you to fight with the Afterlife Battlefront.

"If you stay, you become part of the team. Part of the family. You will fight in battles and complete missions, but you will never be alone. The entirety of the Battlefront will have your back. If you leave, Angel will obliterate you. You will be alone, with nobody but mindless drones for company. You will pass on into the unknown, leaving us behind. I think we all know what the better option is. So, it all comes down to one question."

Yuri was close now, like a drill sergeant in the face of a trainee. She whispered the next few words, but the whole room heard it loud and clear. "Can you stand against God?"

Looking around the room at all the expectant faces, Yuzuru took a deep breath and stared down the fearless leader of the Battlefront. She was serious now, but he could see the hope in her eyes. The need for him to stay yes, to stay true to his soul and fight against God. To say "no" to this cycle of reincarnation and become the person he's meant to be.

God took his memories of the woman he loved, and if his dreams were anything to go by, he'd be damned if he didn't fight tooth and nail to get them back.

Otonashi stared down Yuri like she was a challenge he had to overcome. "God won't stand a chance against us."

Yuri smiled, and the room relaxed. "In that case, welcome to the family. Your first mission begins tonight. I hope you're ready for the front lines, newbie."

AN: In this, Otonashi never even saw Angel, so he had no reason not to believe Hinata regarding her being some evil obliterator. In the manga Angel Beats: The Last Operation (which is considered the "true" Angel Beats), Otonashi literally tells Angel to stab him to prove he's dead and says "This girl… at the last moment, I saw pain and sadness in her eyes…" Without that foundation, he's not going to suddenly think "Maybe she's not an evil overlord and is actually some cute girl I'll end up liking." Don't worry, that won't last long. We establish in the next chapter he's not one to do that. However, he just woke up, dead, and with no memory. He's a bit more malleable in that state, though his normal self isn't one to judge without knowing someone.

By the way, when my fiancé read the Otonashi/Kanade scene, she said, "I didn't know you could be that sappy." It seems she's in for a rude awakening by chapter 3.