Angel Beats! A Step Closer

Act IV Chapter 12: Ghost

"You two knew about this!?"

Otonashi leaned against his usual place along the wall, his eyes closed and arms crossed as he listened to Akiyama question her fellow teammates quite loudly.

"Un-fucking-believable," she huffed as she bitterly turned around and exited Yuri's office, not bothering to close the door behind her. Her footsteps' echoes slowly disappeared from her existence as Takashi and Genji looked at each other, then towards Otonashi.

"Otonashi, you oughta talk to her."

Otonashi shook his head before he glared at the armed men in front of him, his displeasure by raising his hands.

"What for?" He questioned the recommendation. The statement in itself was thrown out of the room, and Akiyama along with it. However, a reason was to be provided for such a specific request.

"You're the one she hates the least."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"This is ridiculous," Otonashi positioned himself upright before following Akiyama's non-existent trail. There was a lack of importance, leaving Otonashi to take longer than necessary to catch up to her. He closed the door behind him, still maintaining his relatively slow speed.

The lack of understanding and his view of ridiculousness stems from his lack of connection and history with the group, in which his use would be unfathomable to most eyes. If it were confirmed that he was the one she hated the least, the effect he would have on her would be slim to none, for his connection doesn't seem to have the influence it would in comparison to the other two.

Going over what to possibly say, Otonashi would view it as an impossible task no matter what words are twisted or arranged.

The relatively loud echo of the metal gears grinding displayed that the elevator the battlefront uses was currently occupied, and the fading machine indicated it was going up. With very few members on the base at such a late time at night, there was no reason for the elevator to be used. In Otonashi's imagination, he could see Akiyama pacing back and forth, punching the wall, and yelling at herself. If one were to ask how he felt about the task at hand, he would reply that he didn't really care.

Of course, no sensible human being would want to say that. The act of gathering information is elegant and fragile. One move which could seem correct could completely destroy a chance of retrieving what needs to be known. If viewed in such a way, he was already off to a bad start.

The elevator seemed like the only option, but other doorways led to the outside world. Given the lack of human activity within the very early hours of the new day, taking a different route would've been fine. The aftermath of Iwasawa's performance left him wandering in constant dread, and during those times, he idled around the base, slowly becoming aware of the different ways in and out of it. As going up the elevator is quite distracting, the stairwell became the preferred choice, and he climbed up it, hoping to settle whatever dispute she holds within her.

Walking around a portion of the mall, he turned the corner to see the elevator in its typical place. Akiyama wasn't too far from it, as she sat on a part of the low brick wall that added to the urbanization of an already dull, pastel location undeserving of any praise. He approached the lone woman, getting into her field of vision as she stared off into the distance. Her attention was immediately caught, then she rolled her eyes and diverted her attention away from him.

"Stop pouting like a baby," Otonashi lectured her as he approached, making the comparison between her and an infant clear.

"Hoh, you went that far. That's weirdly aggressive, coming from a guy like you."