[Action]

[frequent_flyer]

[It was over.]

[After so many years of fighting, it was finally over. He'd said his painful goodbyes, managed not to cry, closed his eyes and...]

[...woke up on the sidewalk.]

[The campus was buzzing with activity, the students recently liberated from classes for lunch. The NPCs carefully walked around him as he lay on the ground, staring vacantly at the sky as he came to his senses. The fog over his mind cleared gradually, becoming aware of an unshakable sense of déjà vu descending upon him. The dark color of his jacket caught his peripheral vision, slowly sitting up in order to look down at himself. This uniform... he wasn't wearing this one a moment ago. In fact, he hadn't worn this particular uniform since...]

[Is this..?]

[He sat up sharply, as if jolted out of a deep sleep, scrutinizing the details of the uniform jacket he wore. It was the same one. There was no question.]

[...No way. That means..!?]

THE GAME RESETS!?

[His theatrical screaming could likely be heard from a great many places across the campus, drawing as much attention to himself as could be expected.]

Comments

[tenminutes]

[ From the ground beneath him, Yuri had been walking by on her way to find some inspiration about what to do for the school festival. She wouldn't normally go and participate in things like that, but since it was clear she wasn't going anywhere any time soon and on top of that, she wasn't planning on having the SSS attend normally anyway it wouldn't be a problem. They would bust in and take over whatever space they wanted to do whatever she decided.

But her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. A voice that she didn't quite know how to face right now, considering she'd already tried to come to terms with him not being here. So when she heard that voice rain down from up high, she stopped in her steps and stared up, then immediately went on a war path to the roof. She wasn't sure how she knew it was that roof, but it definitely would have to be.

She practically kicked the door down when she got up there, looking slightly more ruffled than normal. Still, she was in her SSS uniform and not the regular uniform-- probably the only saving grace for Hinata's delusion that his afterlife had gone back to the beginning. ]

What the hell are you yelling about!?

[frequent_flyer]

[He pulled himself off the ground, rushing to the bannister surrounding the rooftop, staring out over the campus in disbelief. This was too much. Why had he been reset? Was it because Yui tackled him and made him miss that fly ball? Had he unintentionally squandered his only chance to get out of here?]

[Lost in thought, he wouldn't realize she was there until she was shouting at him, whipping around to face her. She'd be able to tell immediately that we was a wreck. Pale, trembling a little, probably queasy... The idea of having to do everything all over was too much to take in. He'd been ready to leave? So why would he be here!?]

[Not yet making the connection that her SSS uniform meant that he hadn't reset, he made a beeline for her, grabbing her hands and clasping them between his own, meeting her eyes with an earnest expression. If there was anything he wished he'd done differently when they met, now would be the time...] Yurippe! My name is Hinata, but you can call me Hinacchi! Or if you don't like that, you can use Hi-chan, but don't limit yourself, use whichever is most comfortable!

[That's what you focus on, Hinata? Idiot.]

[tenminutes]

[ She just gave him the dullest look as he grabbed her hands and started babbling nonsense about stupid nicknames. ]

I'm not calling you either of those in a million years, moron. Are you trying to get me to kick you off the roof again?

[frequent_flyer]

[And now he just had to wait for her to kick him off the roof for the firs-]

[Wait. Again?]

Yu-Yurippe... [He stared at her, looking as if something incredibly stupid was clouding his judgement. He'd feel like a moron later, but for now, he was convinced that his reset-theory was correct. So how come she wasn't playing the part!? He didn't get it.] ...Have we already met?

[brotonashi]

You're in an infinite time loop, Hinata.

[Just because Otonashi is completely shocked by Hinata's sudden appearance doesn't mean he can miss a teasing opportunity. That's probably about all he can muster though, since... yeah, suddenly seeing his friend here again after nearly a year is rather surreal.

As for where he is? He's standing just a few feet behind Hinata. Otonashi just so happened to be in the area. So when he saw a certain blue-haired loser on the ground, he made his way over, only to abruptly see said blue-haired loser awaken.]

[frequent_flyer]

[Unfortunately for Otonashi, his existence right at this very moment negates any worry that Hinata is caught in a time loop. He hadn't been here the first time Hinata awoke in the afterlife, so the redhead showing up like this was actually a huge relief! What a helpful guy, setting Hinata's mind at ease like that!]

[Nevermind that it was totally unintentional.]

Otonashi-kun!

[In his excitement, he rushes over, clamping his hands down on the other boy's shoulders.] You're here..! [Wait. If his memory could be trusted, Naoi and Yuri had gone, then him, then it was supposed to be Kanade and Otonashi. So... did that mean Otonashi never left?] But why..?

[Calming some, his expression takes on a more serious edge.] And... I'm here? [Hinata's powers of observation were as sharp as ever, stating the obvious. Thankfully it's not just him being an idiot this time, he has reasonable cause to be confused.]

[brotonashi]

[Darn, so close...! He should have known. He also should have predicted Hinata running on over to him so suddenly and grabbing him by the shoulders. Instead, Otonashi can't help but be at least a little surprised, and so he stumbles a bit before catching his balance.

Judging by Hinata's reaction to being here though, he figures it's safe to assume that his memories end when he disappeared after Yuri. Not that Otonashi recalls it himself, but Yuri told him that's what happened, so... But good. It's relieving to know that Hinata left safely. Or somewhat, anyway, because here he is, back with the rest of them for whatever odd and discomforting reason.

Either way, there's a lot of explaining to do, so... Otonashi firmly grabs Hinata by the shoulder.]

Hinata, calm down for a second!

[frequent_flyer]

[The graduation ceremony had been hard on him. Sure, he wanted to help everyone move on, and he knew it was time, but...]

[Seeing Otonashi here now was one of the best things that could have happened. He was going to try not to start screaming and crying about how he thought he'd never see the redhead again, but it was obvious in the little gestures... You know, like Hinata's refusal to let Otonashi have personal space.]

[Take comfort in the fact that some things never change, Otonashi. Thankfully, Hinata stops asking rapid fire questions at the redhead's behest, waiting for further instruction with an absolutely ridiculous looking grin on his face.]

[onewayroad]

[so there's this guy heading back from one of the vending machines when he hears Hinata's (rather impressive) screaming. And what do you know, said screamer isn't too far away. It's easy to spot him. Cue annoyance cranked up to eleven]

Oi, what pointlessness are you wasting your breath about?

[frequent_flyer]

Eh- [He pulls himself off the ground, turning to the source of the voice.]

[This... this guy isn't an NPC. It's obvious in the way he talks. Assuming that Hinata has been reset to when he first arrived, he's stunned by the realization that maybe there was another human wandering the afterlife without joining them.]

You're.. human!? [Maybe he'd get extra points if he went around recruiting people before the battlefront was even formed...] Please join us in our fight against God!

[Boy, his face will sure be red when he figures out what's really going on...]

[onewayroad]

[Cue the biggest eyeroll ever. Great. it's one of Yuri's idiots.]

No shit I'm human. And no. I have no interest in taking orders from her.

[why look, he even managed not to refer to her as a magenta-haired bitch like usual.]

i am looking forward to this beautiful relationship

[frequent_flyer]

[Alright, so this one was a little unfiendl-]

[Wait. Her.]

[Hinata gives him a look somewhere between quizzical and utterly baffled, trying to figure out how he would possibly be able to defy her if the battlefront hadn't even been formed yet!]

You... you already know Yurippe? [Because how is that possible, the poor thing looks so lost.]

[violined]

[ Looouuud. Kohaku was hardly one to talk, as his own arrival had involved a lot of shouting, but nobody had said he couldn't be a hypocrite and be bothered anyway.

Still, screaming usually meant new arrival and new arrival was better than those bothersome NPCs. ]

Yo. You're doing nothing to give a good first impression. And what fucking game anyway?

[frequent_flyer]

[Good first impression... Right! He had to-]

[No. Thinking about having to start over and having to make first impressions with everyone all over again was just something he didn't want to do. He worked hard to make those friends! What if he screwed it up this time!?]

[Overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, he reaches up to take fistfuls of his hair... unleashing more of his theatrical screams upon the world.]

WHY IS THIS HAPPENIIIIING

[violined]

[ Well, now he's being ignored - great. Superdupergreat. Kohaku's not exactly the best guy to deal with this kind of thing because his patience runs thin easily and he likes to communicate through fists when it comes down to it...

Speaking of which, Hinata, you should probably dodge a fist coming down onto your head - it's not aimed to hurt too much but to ache and startle him enough to shut up for a damn moment. ]

Will you stop screaming, moron?! It ain't gonna change nothing!

[frequent_flyer]

[His fist-dodging skills are lacking, which wasn't surprising, considering his track record. His ears start ringing as the fist connects with him, hunching over and grabbing his head to try and stop the throbbing.]

[It manages to stop his screaming, however, his voice lowering to an appropriate volume as he explains himself.]

I'm just not supposed to be... here.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

[Not being too far off when the attention grabbing shout rang out, Kyon'll go to check on the one responsible.]

Resets...? Hey, Mario. I heard your princess was in another castle.

[frequent_flyer]

[Was that gamer lingo? It was!]

Exactly! This world is just a giant video game! [He's not sure if you're the only human around, so he's just going to stand up and get uncomfortably close, Kyon.]

I saw an anime like this once, I'm trapped in the game... [Not having the constant reassurance that he was going to have a big group of friends to accept him was making him a little... twitchy. So don't mind him as he hangs out kind of really close.]

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Trapped in the game...? Uh, this is he afterlife, y'know. Not a video game.

(... Of course, I supposed we do have "NPCs".)

[extraordinarily]

Oh, it's the guy who looked like he had a crush on Yuri.

[ And here's Yuri's clone (with a pallet swap!), wearing the SSS uniform as she places her hands on her hips, her lips curling into a frown as she just rolls her eyes nonchalantly. Haruhi's not all that far away; only a few feet away. ]

[frequent_flyer]

[Well that came out of left field, making him turn to look at her, wide-eyed.]

H-have we met!? [Because how would she know something like that unless they'd encountered each other before...]

[extraordinarily]

Nope.

[ A mischievous grin slides across her lips as she speaks, looking quite amused. ]

But I saw you in a video once. With Yuri. You tried to stop her from doing something stupid.

action;

[tsunball]

[ Hey, Hinata. Sitting there and yelling still? Because there's a tiny rock (okay, okay, it's more like a pebble but thinking of it as a rock sounds cooler, okay) flying towards your head. ]

Hey, keep it down already!

[frequent_flyer]

[It's small enough not to cause damage, just be irritating, so the blunette reaches up to touch the sting the pebble left behind. If nothing else, it seems to have temporarily shut him up, looking for the source of the voice.]

[An NPC wouldn't throw a pebble at him, so that means...] You're human..!

[But if he'd reset... How was that possible? He'd never seen this guy before, and the only human he remembered meeting when he first got here was-]

[And then he was suddenly in Leon's face, awkwardly close.] You haven't seen an angry girl with a green bow in her hair have you!?

[tsunball]

[ .. He just stares at that first exclamation. Well, yeah, of course he's human. What did he expect to pop up, an alien or something? This guy already seems like a weirdo..

But then there's the final line. And the description is obvious enough for Leon to know who he's talking about. Huh, why does a guy like this know her..? ]

If she's sadistic too, then you mean Yurippe, right? What kinda business do you got with her?