Angel Beats! A Step Closer

Act II Chapter 7: Reason

"Oi oi, this is way out of the ordinary, Yurippe," Hinata said, trying to not yawn through his words.

"I know. Did you see Shiina and Takamatsu yet?"

Such a straight forward reply. Hinata thought.

"Yeah, they both pulled up at the same time when I went down the elevator. You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"In a second. Let's wait for them," Yuri said. Upon inspection, Hinata noticed that she was extremely focused, staring dead straight ahead while seated on her desk. The dead stare could mean something of large concern that requires immediate intervention, but he wasn't aware of the magnitude of what she was going to tell them.

He attempted to think for a bit while he waited. She brought unnecessary tension to his mind when she called upon him to go back to the base as soon as possible. To his knowledge and senses, it could've been a situation that was critical to their wellbeings as well as the battlefront in its entirety. However, he registered the lack of people within the room. Surely a thing that would've warranted an emergency call in the middle of the day must've been an exceedingly serious matter.

The air sat still as both Hinata and Yuri continued to wait, both focused on their prospective thoughts, ideas, and understandings. He gulped loudly when the stillness was disrupted by vibrations that increased in intensity, the underwhelming shockwaves from each vibration going from his feet to the top of his head. The sound of quick footsteps filled the gap of missing information. The sliding door opened quickly, and two familiar figures entered, with one of them panting as if his lungs reached its functional capacity. One walked with a straight back while the other trailed behind the figure in front of him was nearly bent over. He must've been running.

Yuri put her head up, her face shadowed by the lights above her head, casting the ray of particles that expose details of anything within it's reach.

"Looks like we're all here," she said casually.

"All?" Shiina spoke, her cool demeanor unbreaking. It looks like she discovered the blunder in the room. Her perception is something to speak of as it extends far beyond the current scope of what's visible to the naked human eye, taking into detail every single hazard and possibility. In response to Shiina's question, Yuri slowly nods her head.

"Care to explain?" Shiina asked her, and in response, Yuri nodded once again, taking a deep breath.

"We've found Otonashi."

...

Visible expressions of shock except for the news breaker became apparent. All three members of the Afterlife Battlefront Top Brass reacted with their eyes, telling a much deeper story: The story of the man with resolve, how he, who has fought an angel and defied the rules God set himself, found the truth of the world they called the afterlife. An adventure no one else in the world except their group of people could discern. The buildup to this sudden disclosure of news wasn't the climax of bad news after all.

Hinata swore he saw Shiina react the same way Takamatsu did. Her eyes lit up for a second.

"Where and how?" Takamatsu spoke suddenly while his lack of breath slowly recovered. His brain told his body to pick himself up. His hands returned to their original position from his thighs, now looking like a presentable man once more.

"Takeyama-kun was focused on finding the rest of the battlefront members for me to recruit them once again. He held out on me when I inquired about Otonashi-san. After some physical attempts to convince our hacker, he finally showed me his public record."