Angel Beats! Reunited

Chapter 7
Kanade's Regret

Moe walked slowly to the baseball field, while staring at the sky. She had almost fallen once or twice, and would have just lied there had she not been so paranoid that someone would find her and drag her to class.

Since she was not looking forward, she ran into the fence as she arrived at her destination. Turning around, Moe saw that there was a person sitting in the dugout that she had assumed would be empty. Before she ran away, Moe stopped to think. She knew that class was being held right now and if there were someone supposed to be using the field for practice, there would be an entire team at the field. As it was, there was only one person sitting alone in the dugout.

Moe was too far away to really see the person's features very well; the fact that whoever this was had his or her head bent down did not help. Although, from her distance, Moe could tell that this person was very short, possibly shorter than she was. Moe could also see that this person had long white hair that at the moment was covering the face.

"It can't be an NPC" Moe figured. "NPCs obey the rules to a fault, so there wouldn't be one skipping class. That must mean that this person is someone who has died. Although, I thought everyone starts out in the classroom. Maybe this person did start out in the classroom, I wouldn't have noticed since I wasn't there. Maybe this person freaked out and ran all the way out here. That would be a normal human reaction to everything that's going on."

Moe decided to help this person. She still wanted to help Otonashi, but she was not going to let some person sit all alone and confused. As Moe approached the dugout, she could hear faint sobs. As high-pitched as they were, Moe figured that this person was a girl.

"Hello there." Moe greeted in a soft whisper so she did not scare the girl. She looked at Moe with eyes as gold as Moe's hair.

"Hi." she timidly responded.

"I can help you, if you want. I know you're probably looking for some peace about losing your life. I would like to help."

"I haven't lost yet."

"Huh?"

"I'm still alive. I can hear . . . the beeping, the machines."

"Beeping? Machines? Oh you must be in a hospital."

The girl nodded.

"And you're here because you're about to die."

"I don't want to go."

"I understand."

"Probably not."

"Then again, I did try to take my own life so you're probably right." There was a long silence as Moe waited for the girl to speak. She was clearly gathering her thoughts.

"I was saved because someone else died once."

"Huh? Oh, because of an organ donor."

"Yes, but now I may not be able to fight dying. I'm so tired, but I don't want Yuzuru's sacrifice to go to waste."

"Yuzu- wait, are you Kanade?"

"Yes." Kanade looked surprised when she heard her name coming from the girl whose name she did not know.

"I know Otonashi-kun. I can take you to him!"

"Yuzuru's still here?" Kanade jumped from the bench and began to follow Moe until she turned around.

"Wait," Moe began. "You should decide first."

"Decide what?"

"Decide if you're going to fight dying. You said you were still alive. If you happen to get lucky and live, you'll go back. And if I take you to see Otonashi-kun before you die, and then you leave, he'll be devastated."

"Oh," Kanade did not know for sure what it was that she wanted. She wished to see Otonashi again, but she also knew that he was here because of her. If she just let go of her life without considering it first, it would have been like telling Otonashi that his life never had meaning.

Moe and Kanade paused in the middle of the baseball field so the Kanade could think. Moe sat patiently waiting for Kanade to say something. After a while, the silence had become too much.

"If you think it will help, you could tell me what you're thinking." Moe pressed.

"I don't know." Kanade admitted. "I don't want to think about it. Maybe if we just talk about something else I won't have to make the decision."

"What makes you think that?"

"If I get a donor than I can fight, but if my body just shuts down than I die."

"So basically we're letting fate decide."

"Yes." Kanade and Moe sat for a while talking about lighter subjects. Kanade told her side of what happened with her and Otonashi, and Moe told Kanade about her sister.

"Hey, I have a question." Moe announced when she had finished talking about the car crash.

"Yes?" Kanade responded.

"I know you might not know this, but when someone reincarnates, do they get to come back as a human?"

"Not all the time. It's actually very unlikely, I believe."

"So, do we get to choose what animal we get to be?"

"No."

"Aww."

"Was there something you wanted to be?"

"A penguin."

"Penguins are cute."

"I know! I love penguins. You know what my favorite thing about them is?"

Kanade shook her head.

"They travel in large groups with other penguins and they all help each other. Every penguin does something that helps his or her friends. If I were a penguin I wouldn't have the chance to be useless, once I grew up anyways."

"You're not useless now."

"It feels that way sometimes."

"But, you're helping me. I appreciate you're effort. It's really comforting that you're here."

"Am I really that big of a help?"

"Yes, if you had not come along I would just have sat there crying until I . . . I died"

"I guess. I was just trying to calm you down so you could think clearly."

"I died."

"Huh?"

"I actually died. I heard the monitor flat line and . . . I'm dead."

"Oh, and now you're really here to fulfill your regrets."

"I only have one."

"Oh, if you tell me what it is I will help you."

"I regret . . . leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Leaving Yuzuru."

"Because Otonashi-kun asked you to stay and help him, but you disappeared."

"Yes."

"Interesting. So does that mean that since you regret leaving this place that you can't actually leave now that you're actually dead?"

"Maybe."

Moe's eyes lit up at the possibility of what she had just said. "How about we find out?"