Angel Beats: Be Human

Disclaimer: I do not own Angel Beats

Warning: I am still studying so please forgive me if there is too much grammar mistake

Chapter 1

To Be Alive

If the cuffs of my pants get wet,

I can just wait until they dry.

Making sounds in the water, I jumped in.

You taught me this. I'm not afraid anymore.

I have to let go of this hand that was holding on to mine.

Even alone, I'll go on, even if it's painful.

I'll definitely take along the dream I saw with you.

It's nice to be with everyone; I was glad to be with everyone.

...But in the morning I woke up to, none of you are there.

If I look back now, not even a shadow is there.

Only a small pool of water was shining.

To live on is to stand and fight.

Once you understand that, all you need is the courage to step forward.

I'll go anywhere with the things that I learned here.

I'll show that I can make the dream called happiness come true.

Even if we're apart, no matter how far apart we become,

I will live on in a new morning.

Even alone, I'll go on. Even if I start to want to die,

I'll hear your voice telling me that I must not die.

Even if it's painful, even if darkness closes me in,

Deep in my heart, the lights will remain bright.

Turning and flowing along, time is transient.

What happened then? I can't remember,

But if I try closing my eyes, I hear everyone's laughing voices.

For some reason, that is now my most precious treasure.

-My Most Precious Treasure

A few weeks has passed since everyone has moved on. The first few days alone in afterlife was the hardest moment of my life.

A world without NPCs

A world without the shadows

A world without the Afterlife Battlefront

A world without Kanade

Such was my life alone in afterlife.

I strolled by the empty corridor, hoping to see any NPC or human in sight. However as I thought, no one was there. I am all alone in this world.

NPC was the residents of this world. Even though they turned into shadows, they would eventually return back to normal and come to school again.

But for now, I am the only living soul that exist here. I have no one for company, no one to talk to, no one to laugh with.

...This loneliness, to think that Kanade was suffering this loneliness for such a long time. Even though I wished her to be with me, she has moved on and was happy. That was more than I could wish for.

I would not have wanted her to be here to suffer this loneliness too.

Without any thought of destination in mind, I simply walked and walked. The only sound I could hear was soft sound of my own footsteps. Not a single bird could be seen soaring outside. My legs grew to a halt by instinct, I turned my head and looked where have I stopped.

"...The Headquarter...It has been a long time since I came here..."

I managed a weak smile and opened the door-

"Ah, shit-"

Bash!

My smile fell off as the automatic hammer trap activated at the worst timing possible. My legs left the ground as I broke the window and flew through the sky again. That stupid Noda, causing trouble for me even though he has moved on. I swore if that hammer hit me agai-

Crash!

"...Ouch...how long has it been since I was hit by that hammer..."

I groaned in pain as I lied down in the middle of the field. Oddly though, the pain felt oddly refreshing. That was probably because I have not feel anything for a long time already. Some pain might actually keep me sane from this lifeless world.

But that was for later, I have just revived and was lazy to move my body. I relaxed my muscles and surveyed my surroundings.

The window that I broke when I flew has already regenerated. The sky was starting to become dark as dark clouds started to loom over the Afterlife school. This made me wondered if the four seasons existed in the Afterlife. It would be interesting if it snowed.

However what hit me was not snow but raindrops. From a slight drizzle to a pitter-pattering rain and then to a thunderstorm with dark clouds obscuring the entire sky. The entire school was covered by the rain. A new sound was created in the Afterlife world.

The rain drenched my NPC uniform. Since everyone was not here anymore, there was no need for the SSS to exist anymore. Right now the SSS uniform was kept in my room, it was the only thing I have left that would properly reminded me the time I spent with the SSS.

I let the cold raindrops hit my face. Since people do not fall sick here, there is no need to worry whether I would catch a cold or not. The cooling rain washed over my body, washing away the pain by the hammer and kept me comfortable.

"...Urgh...Damn those good for nothing..."

"!?"

At first I thought that that was the sound of the rain, however I was starting to hear footsteps and words. I opened my eyes and leapt up from the ground. As I turned around to face the owner of the voice, I could not believe what I saw.

"...Kanade...?"

Under the thunderstorm, the small fragile figure slowly walked towards me. Her dirtied white hair swayed with the wind. There was no doubt about it, that person was definitely Kanad-

No, Kanade is gone. That is a fact that will not change.

Then who is-

"...You...I know you!" The white haired girl lifted her head and glared at me. Her bloody crimson eyes shone in the dark. "You are the one responsible for this!"

"You are Kanade's clone!"

My hand automatically reached for my pocket where I hid my gun but it was not there. I never thought that I would have need that gun so it was also in my room. The only thing I have with me was a pair of knives that Yuri gave me last time.

"Guar-..Guard Skill: Handsonic!"

The clone could barely form a former sentence as she coughed out blood. However she still managed to summon her Angel Player. I have no choice left, I quickly took out the knives and prepared myself for battle.

"...She has no right arm?"

That was the first thing I noticed when I tried to spot a way to defeat the clone. There was only one blade emerging out of her left hand. Her right sleeves swayed with the wind as if she did not have a right arm in the first place.

The clone followed my gaze and looked at her right arm that was gone. She glared daggers at me and shouted fiercely in a way that Kanade would have never been able to do.

"A sad sight isn't it, this ugly appearance of the one that you loved. I lost this arm because of you! It is your fault that my arm was taken away from me!"

"Damn it! She's fast!"

I braced myself and put myself on a defensive stance. Like a bolt of lightning, the clone charged towards me with her left blade high. The blade slashed down on me, it was too fast for me to intercept. I barely escaped death as it grazed through my arm when I dodged to the side.

"I could still remember that day when the modified Harmonics was activated again! All of us were fated to be absorb back to the original! But I will not accept that kind of fate! I will not!"

The clone shouted at me when she missed and tried again. However I was faster.

"A clone like you...A clone like you have no right to exist in the first place!"

I thrusted my right knife towards the clone's defenceless right side. Anger was surging up within me when I saw the clone's face. It was Kanade's face yet it was not. When I saw that face, I was angry and sad. I had wanted to see that face again. But of all things it was the face of a clone. I felt that I was mocked by the afterlife itself.

The clone's face grimaced in pain when she felt the sharp pain entering her side. With overdrive, she leapt away from me with one huge jump kept her distance. With her only left hand, she endured the pain and pulled the knife out of her.

"I am not just some clone! I am not like that broken doll! I am myself, I will not let anyone deny my existence!"

"Don't you dare to call Kanade a broken doll!"

My eyebrows furrowed as I shouted back. It was for the first time since the incident with Naoi that I was so angry. I tightened my grip on my remaining knife on my right hand and charged at her.

Our blades clashed and released off blue sparks. Even though I was not as skilled as Yuri in terms of hand to hand combat, the clone's reaction and speed was slower than normal and only has one arm.

As our blades clashed, the clone's face started to change, it started to become nostalgic to me...

It started to become Kanade.

"Because I came here to say thank you to you.

I was able to stay alive because of your heart.

Even now, your heart is beating in my chest."

Kanade...

"My one regret was being unable to say thank you to the person who saved my life.

I wanted to tell you so badly that I got lost and wandered here."

Kanade...

"I realized it the first time I stabbed you.

You didn't have a heart.

You regained your memories when you were sleeping on my chest.

Your body recognized the sound of its own heartbeat."

Kanade...

"Please, Yuzuru...

Say what you said earlier once more."

Kanade...

"Yuzuru!

Please!

Yuzuru!

Let me believe what you have always believed!

That living is wonderful!"

"Kanade..."

"Yuzuru!

Thank you, Yuzuru...

Thank you..."

"Kanade..."

"Thank you so much...

Thank you for loving me.

This gift of life you gave me...

Thank you so much."

"Kanade..."

"I am not Kanade!"

"!"

The clone's scream 'woke' me up from my memory. Kanade's face was no longer there anymore, it was the clone's face with distinct crimson eyes. When I came to, I was surprised what has happened.

Both of us were deeply wounded with slashed all over our body. However the clone seemed to be suffering the worst as there was a large slash over her leg, rendering her of her agility. An uncontrollable guilt swelled inside me when I looked at the clone.

Did I really cause all of these wounds...?

The clone could barely stand but she kept trying. Even though there were wounds all over her body, she continued to stand and face me. I was prepared for another powerful thrust by her combined power with her overdrive but she did not. She did what I never thought she would have done.

Her legs gave up on her and she fell onto the wet ground. She looked up at me and screamed.

"I...I am not Tachibana Kanade! I am a different existence! I am not just a clone! I have a soul! I have a heart! I have my own consciousness!"

Flashback

"Hurry, someone has touched the Angel Player. Make this the last clone."

"I got it."

'I' heard what the other said and acknowledged. With time being limited, 'I' thought of a perfect title for the new clone.

"A clone to surpass the original'

"Guard skill: Harmonics."

And thus, I was created.

10

"The modified Harmonics has been activated. Within ten seconds we will return back to the original."

9

One of my sisters stated. We all knew what was happening. All of my sisters seemed to have accepted it, however I could not accept the thought of returning to the original.

No, the thought of returning to the original frightened me.

8

"No! There's still time! As long as we escape outside the one hundred meter radius, we can still live on!"

"But that's impossible."

7

Without even waiting for the others, I sprinted with all I have towards the exit. I have to live to surpass the original! There is no way that I will return to her!

6

There was only five second left, I reached the staircase and leapt all the way up.

5

I arrived at the gymnasium. Even at above ground, I was far from the Harmonics' radius. I have to jump to the sky!

4

I crashed through the roof of the gymnasium and reached the sky but I was not high enough. The impact from crashing the roof slowed my jump.

3

This was it, I failed. There was no way for me to get any higher anymore.

2

"Don't give up."

"Eh?"

Before I could turn my head back, I was pushed by a strong impact all the way higher. I struggled against the sudden G force and turned back to look what happened.

1

My sister that created me was descending from where I was previously. I tried to reach my hand towards her but I was far too high. As if we were synchronised by mind, I heard,

"Live on."

0

"ONEE-SAMA!"

"Everything was taken away from me in mere ten seconds! I have lost everything! That's why I will continue to live on! I am a different existence! I live for my sisters that disappeared! That's why I will not allow you to deny my existence!"

The clone-no, the girl's scream pierced through the air of the afterlife school. However I am the only human now that can listen to her. Raindrops coursed down her cheeks, or was it actually tears?

"Even though I have lost one arm to the Harmonics radius, as long as I have my left arm, I will avenge my sisters! I will never forgive you, Otonashi Yuzuru!"

By now, the wounds on the girl has already healed. There was still a trace of the deep wound on her leg but she endured it. The pain on her leg could not be compared to the lost of her arm. The girl staggered on her trembling legs yet she continued to stand to face me. Her crimson eyes glared at me with deep hatred that froze me on the spot.

"Otonashi Yuzuru! You will not stop me from becoming human! That is because I have a reason to live!"

The girl's legs left the ground and charged at me. It was a normal charge without the help of Overdrive, she must be too tired to use it. It was a charge that I could easily dodged and stabbed her back to end the fight.

But that is not the way.

Stab

"... ..."

"... Wha..."

I clenched my teeth against the burning pain in my stomach. The girl was surprised when she realized that I did not dodge and accepted the full blow. She was going to pull back her handsonic but I wrapped my arms around her, pinning her to make sure that she could not escape me.

"What are you- Let me-"

"I am sorry."

"... What..?"

"For calling you a clone, I am sorry."

I wrapped my arms around her tighter and embraced her in a warm embrace. Like Kanade, she was small and fragile. I endured the pain and continued.

"I was wrong about you! You are not just a clone! You are a human being!"

"...Then, will you recognize my existence...?"

"I will! It does not matter if you come from a program! The truth is that you are here in my arms! That is the truth!"

I shouted out with all the energy I had left. With my blood loss, I was slowing loosing my consciousness. However there was something left that I needed to say!

"You are not Tachibana Kanade. You are yourself... ..."

"... ...Thank you, Otonashi Yuzuru... ..."

The soft whisper reached my ear and touched my heart. Her voice was the same as Kanade's but she was not her. Kanade was gone, the girl here was a different person.

The cold metal in my stomach vanished from existence. My consciousness failed me as I fell into the girl's embrace. I managed a smile for the birth of the new girl before I lost my consciousness.

... ... ...Ah...

...I died...

How did I die-

The girl...

"Are you awake?"

"... ..."

When I opened my eyes, a pair of crimson ones stared deeply into mine. The girl's face started to back away when I tried to sit up on the bed. I surveyed my surrounding and looked at the girl again.

"This is the infirmary?"

"Yes. After you died of blood loss, I brought you here. This seems to be the most logical place for you to take your time to heal."

The girl nodded at me and answered. All of her wounds has healed and she was wearing a new uniform from yesterday. However her right arm was still missing with only the sleeves.

"Your right arm...what happened?"

I looked at her arm and asked. The girl shifted uncomfortably but still answered.

"I was barely thrown high enough to pass the Harmonics Radius. When I wanted to reach out for my sister, it entered the radius and returned by to the original."

"Can't it heal somehow?"

"That is not possible. When my arm was 'returned' to the original, it meant that I no longer have a right arm anymore. This world can help us heal our body but concept of growth does not exist here. My right arm will never return."

The girl answered softly as she touched the sleeves where her right arm was supposed to be. I felt more guilty and apologized.

"It's alright. That fact that I was able to escape the Harmonics radius with my body intact was a miracle itself. Losing an arm is a cheap price for living."

"But-"

"You know, Otonashi-san. While you were recovering, I have thought through a lot of things. Things like my existence and my difference with the original. Otonashi-san, am I the same as the original?"

The girl asked and looked at me with her crimson eyes. Her red eyes were odd but at the same time, it felt special for her to have red eyes. The most significant difference between her and Kanade would be that Kanade has yellow honey eyes and a right arm-

No, that is not the difference she wants.

"Not in any way. In terms of personality you two are like yin and yang, you are like Kanade's hidden evil twin."

"That's rude of you! I am not some evil twin!"

The girl pouted at my opinion. But the room was soon filled with the laughter of both of us. If it was Kanade, she would probably unable to make a comeback like that.

"So what are you going to do now?"

I asked after the laughter started to die down. The girl hesitated a while, thinking through her mind and answered.

"I am created with the mind of surpassing the original. So that means that I have to overcome weaknesses that the original have, right? Is there any particular weaknesses that the original has?"

"First of all, I think you need to fix the habit of calling Kanade 'Original'."

It kind of annoyed me that the girl kept on calling Kanade 'Original'. Even if she hated her, she should at least call her by her name.

The girl hesitated a while before she replied.

"... Then what should I call her?"

"Well technically she is your eldest sister..."

"I got it. Then Kanade-nee chan it is."

Kanade-nee chan...I wonder what kind of face Kande would make if the girl call her that? It would have been amusing...

I silently thought as I smiled towards the girl's answer. As the girl stared at me silently, I realized that I forgot to mention what kind of weaknesses Kanade has.

Kanade's weakness...This was a well known topic among the SSS when we were trying to find a way to defeat Tenshi. However in the end we used cheap tricks to force her down her student council president sit. That was the only and the worst Operation that succeeded against Kanade. Even now, I still regretted doing something that horrible to her.

Wait, Kanade is also a human, she also has a weakness.

Her weakness is...

"Kanade...Kanade's weakness is that she is too quiet."

"...Then does that mean I have to be as noisy as possible?"

"No, I like you current personality very much. I do not need another Yuri to mess with me like how she messed with Hinata last time."

"...?"

The girl was clueless towards my answer but I told that she do not need to know the details. I have nothing against Yuri but Hinata's stories of Yuri was truly terrifying. He was almost kicked down the roof everyday until Yuri became too busy with the entire SSS stuff to kick him.

"Kanade...she is ridiculously awkward. She is too quiet with other people and caused the entire battle with the SSS that way. If you want to surpass Kanade, you will have to know how to communicate with people...Ah but there is no one but us here in this world..."

I sighed when I realized what I said was impossible. A world with only two people, why did I stay here for in the first place? My purpose for staying here is to help those that are here-

No, the girl. I have to help the girl too. Even if there was only the two of us here, I have to help her, that was why I stayed back.

The girl pointed at the window behind my back. I turned my head and finally saw what I wanted to see for a long time.

"The NPCs are back?"

"Yes, some of them returned about an hour before you woke up. The effect of the shadows are starting to fade, by a few days all of the NPCs should be back in school. The Afterlife school will start to accept the souls of the people with regrets again."

I smiled at the girl's words. The school was going to be filled with life again. It was rather lonely and awkward in a school without anyone. But now the students are back, I also have the girl to help. That will keep me busy for a while.

"So talking to someone will make me surpass Kanade nee-chan? That's simple! Come, I will show you I am way better than Kanade nee-chan!"

The girl proudly said as she pulled me up from the bed. However she quickly released me and looked away when she realized I was half naked on top. Even with her face turned away, I could see a small shade of red on her face.

Amused, I laughed and told her to get out of the infirmary while I change.

After I have changed into a spare uniform in the infirmary, the girl and I headed towards the classrooms. I rarely seen Kanade talked to other people but since this girl has a more active personality, she should be fine.

As we walked by a classroom, there was a NPC girl inside sitting alone. She has long blond hair and a white ribbon on her. She was just sitting there without doing anything .Her classmates must have not return yet. This is her chance!

"Go talk to that girl. If you manage to strike up a conversation with her, it will prove that you are better than Kanade."

"Got it. Watch me, talking to a NPC is a piece of cake!"

Reassuring me with confidence and a smile that Kanade would not be able to make, she entered the classroom and approached the girl.

Since they were the only two girls in the classroom, the NPC immediately noticed the girl and made the first move to start the conversation. Well she was a NPC after all.

"Good morning. My name is Natsume Mafuyu. What is yours?"

"Good morning, Natsume-chan. My name is... ... ..."

Things was going pretty smoothly for the start but the girl suddenly stopped. Before I could figure out what was going on, she abandoned the girl and ran towards me.

"Ano...What is my name...?"

Isn't it 'the girl'?

I quickly swallowed back those words. It would not be wise to let her know I have been calling her 'the girl' in my mind all this time. I quickly whispered back to the girl- I meant her.

"Tachibana Kanade. Have you already forgotten about it?"

"No, I am not Kanade nee-chan. I will not use her name."

"But you-"

"I am myself. I am my own existence. You promised to recognise me as a different person, didn't you?"

Her crimson eyes stared into mine. I could see that she trusted me. It reminded me the eyes of Kanade when she entrusted me to help the SSS to move on. I smiled at asked her.

"Come on, do not keep the girl waiting. Then what do you want to call yourself?"

"I do not know. That's why I want you to name me."

"Me?"

"Yes. You are the only person that I trust in this world after all."

What she said was true, her eyes were filled with nothing but trust in me. She entrusted me to give her a name to represent her existence. That proved how much she trusted me.

But what name should I give her...

The first name that came to my mind is...

立華 和子

"Tachibana Kazuko...the child of harmony.."

"...But I am the child of harmonics, you do know that they have different meaning right?"

"Ah sorry, I will think of another-"

"...Kazuko...Alright!"

"Ah wait!"

Before I could think of a proper name for Kazuko, she already left my side and joined the NPC girl again. A bit happier than usual, she has a wide smile when she answered the girl.

"Good morning, Natsume-chan! My name is Tachibana Kazuko. Nice to meet you!"

It was a happy sight to see Kazuko able to talk to the girl. Even though I promised to treat her as an individual, I could not help but to imagine Kanade being the one smiling there. It was an impossible thought, but looking at Kazuko made me believe Kanade could smile like that too.

Well my job here is done.

I smiled and prepared to leave the classroom. With her name settled, she should not have any problems anymore. She would be able to talk with people normally and made more friends. I took one last look at Kazuko before I left-

"So Tachibana-chan, what is your hobby?"

"... ... ... .. ..."

At that very moment, the last image I wanted to have of Kazuko's smiling was just an illusion. Her face froze as if she saw a ghost. Her head slowly turned to look at me. Instead of trust, tears were already at the brim of her eyes.

...Livier or not, she sure isn't much different from her sister in terms of communicating with people after all...

I sweatdropped and tried to think of a way to help her with this ridiculous situation. I never thought that the first problem I would encounter would be trying to help Kanade's clone make friends.

The Afterlife is truly mysterious and amusing indeed.

A/N: Thank you for reading 'Angel Beats! Be Human'! This story does not aim for action with the shadows but instead aim for to be a mystery fanfiction of Yuzuru and Kazuko's lives of helping other people move on. Next chapter is going to be about one of the characters from Harmonics Girl to continue the story. Of course this story accepts more OCs to lengthen the story. The OC format is-

Name:

Last name:

Flaws:

Personality:

How she/he died: Most important detail of all, Eg: Yui's disabled condition

Appearance:

I am still young in terms of mystery so-

Please read and review!