Angel Beats! Reunited

Chapter 4
Helping

Moe thought about it all day, and although at first she thought she had no regrets, it did not take long for Moe to find a reason not to just disappear. In her life, even though she felt loved and accepted by the crowd she began to hang out with when she was not in school, she realized that she had not done anything for them. Her sister and her coworkers were always going out of their way to make Moe happy, but Moe never did anything for them in return.

"I'm useless." Moe realized. "I never helped anyone. Not because I couldn't, but because I was too selfish." Knowing that this is what she needed to change, Moe set off to find Otonashi.

Not knowing where to go, Moe asked one of the NPCs which class he was in and got this response: "Otonashi-kaichou is in the student council office." Moe had not been told Otonashi was the student council president, but considering he was the only non-NPC she had come across, Moe wondered why she had not thought of it herself.

When Moe got to the student council office, sure enough, Otonashi was waiting there. He greeted her with a smile as she let herself in. "Have you figured it out?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"So what can I help you with?"

"Okay, so my whole life I've always been helped. Anything I did, I generally messed up and someone always had to come to my rescue. So instead of being useless, I want to help someone."

"Really? That will be easy!"

"How?"

"When people come here, they need help of making sense of everything. They all need help, and I'm the one to help them."

"I see. I can help other kids move on the way you do, and eventually I'll move on myself!"

"That's the plan. We can get started now."

"Okay, how?"

"You go to class."

"Why?"

"Because someone new just got here. They're sitting in the classroom; probably as confused as you were when you got here. Go and watch them. When they decide that they want help, bring them here."

"Got it! Wait, you've been saying 'they'. How many are there?"

"Two. I think they're twins."

"I see. You can count on me!" Moe left for the classroom, and made it just before anyone would have noticed her being late. As Otonashi had said, there were two new girls sitting in desks that had been filled by NPCs the previous day. Moe paid no attention to the teacher and intently watched the two girls who exchanged confused glances frequently. After a while, one of them raised their hand.

"Yes." the teacher called on one of the brown-haired girls.

"Sensei I don't understand what's going on. Didn't the school burn down?"

"Aren't we dead?" the other girl asked.

"You can't possibly expect me to believe that I lived through that!" the first girl was getting frantic. "I burned! I was on fire! I FELT it! I'M DEAD! SO WHY AM I STILL ALIVE?" The other girl began sobbing as her sister became more and more panicked. At that point, Moe decided it was time to step in.

"You're right." she said simply. "You are dead."

"So why are we here? Is this some kind of hell you're sent to when you die?" the frantic girl asked.

"Not exactly. Why don't you follow me and we'll explain."

"We?"

"We." Otonashi answered as he peered in the door. The frantic girl walked to Otonashi. Moe took the hand of the other girl and lead her to the student council office. They waited until the two girls had calmed down before speaking. "I'm Yuzuru Otonashi." Otonashi introduced himself.

"And I'm Moe Honda." Moe added. "What are you names?"

"I'm Akia," the frantic girl replied.

"And I'm Akio," the sobbing girl followed. "How did we end up here?"

"When someone dies young," Otonashi began to explain, "they tend to have regrets about their life. When someone has regrets, they can't move on to be reincarnated until they have done what it was they never got a chance to do."

"Can you two think of anything that you wanted to do but never got done before you died?"

The two thought about it for a moment, and then Akio replied, "We never settled it."

"Never settled what?" Otonashi inquired.

"Our rivalry." Akia explained. "We were both really good at sports, but we disagreed on who was the better twin. We were always on the same team and always practiced together, but we had never really gone up against each other."

"I see. So what sport would you two like to compete each other in?"

"Well, we were both the best at soccer, but you need at least two on a team to play."

"We can play with you!" Moe excitedly volunteered.

"Perfect." The four of them headed to the soccer fields, and Akia played against Akio with Moe and Otonashi as the goalies. It was a close competition, but in the end Akio won.

Even with the victor determined, the girls were not satisfied. They played game after game with Akio coming out the winner each time. The girls were still playing as the sun was setting. At the end of that final game, both agreed that Akio was the better twin when it came to sports.

"Good fight Akia." Akio complemented her sister.

"You too Akio." Akia replied. Then both girls, overcome with exhaustion, collapsed onto the center of the field. They smiled at each other and then they were just gone. Moe was slightly shocked.

"I knew that we disappear," she explained to Otonashi after they had gotten back to the school, "but I didn't know that it would be like that. I thought we'd dissolve into thin air or something like you would see in a movie."

"No," Otonashi responded, "You're there, and then you're gone. Just like that."

"Strange, but you know, I don't think I'm going to leave just yet."

"Why?"

"I mean, sure I helped, but it doesn't seem like I did my best. I'm not too sure, but I know that I'm not entirely satisfied."

"Okay, so stay. I could use some help."