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How we're Remembered.

Two-shot.

I had never prayed before this, before being trapped in a tunnel with no way out; I never thought I would have to. My views on God were loose; I didn't have a religion and I didn't want to praise or blame some unknown deity for my success or problems - I wanted to stand on my own two feet and walk.

That, in itself, may sound ungrateful or naïve, but at the ripe old year of sixteen, I had honestly never thought that I'd be in a train derailment, but even then, I didn't change my view point; things happen all the time, I've lead a normal life up to now, something bad was bound to happen sooner or later, no one can be lucky forever.

It's strange, but even while knowing that I was trapped in a blocked off tunnel, did I lose hope, I never had a chance to, because we had a savoir, an angel without wings, that kept us going - alive and well. I met him as soon as I climbed into the other side of the train; looking for an exit and survivors, everyone on my side had died on impacted.

I had instantly hit it off with Otonashi, as soon as he carried me of the train wreck and looked over my injuries, we we're friends. The guy was a little unassuming and he honestly couldn't see his importance, but everyone else did. He was gentle and could be a little outspoken, but there was also something about him that demanded to be heard and listened to. And I knew, on that first day, that he was going to be a great man; it was weird looking at him, and then at myself, we were around the same age, I think, so why was there such a difference between us?.

From that point on, he never did stop impressing me, from the care and patience he showed the others, to how hard he worked in looking after us, and my opinion only grew when a teen had tried to steal the last of our water; it had been a big blow to everyone - worries were growing and resolves were weakening, and they were just looking for blood.

Sensing the mounting danger, our doctor stepped forward, claiming the water slipped as his and that, to make up for it, he wouldn't drink from there on out. His selfishness completely defused what could have been a bad situation, and lead me to continue to believe that all of us would get out alive.

I would be proved wrong.

The worst of our injured, the kind middle-aged man, Minoru Juro died. I had been checking on everyone, as Otonashi had fallen asleep for the first time since the crash and I could tell he needed it; he seemed to be getting more and more unsteady lately, so a good rest was probably a good thing. But as I was about to sit down, the middle school kids called me over, a little frantic, as I ran to them.

The man had slumped out of the makeshift chair, me and Otonashi had made from the seating from the train. I bent down and touched his neck, feeling for a pulse, like I had seen Otonashi do, and instantly reeled back; he was cold. I cried out to my friend, who took a few seconds in getting up before he sprinted over, repeating what I had done, before he started to mutter curses, quickly laying the man down as he proceeded to desperately try and bring Minoru back, pounding the man's chest with all his strength as the seconds ticked by, breathing air into the man's lungs and repeating this all over again.

Nothing.

There was nothing. So I stopped him, planting a firm hand on to his trembling shoulder, and followed me back as I gently coaxed him to sit on his knees, Otonashi whimpered "Damn it"

I realised then, that he was falling apart, our lives rested on his shoulders and he was feeling the burden, he was feeling the responsibility for keeping us alive.

It wasn't long after that that we all stopped moving, we no longer could; the air was becoming thinner and thinner, and the reserves of water and food were all gone, but that didn't stop Otonashi from showing me one more, final miracle.

"Igarashi…do-do you have a pen?" my friend wheezed beside me, it took awhile for me to process the question, but I managed a smile 'yes' as I remembered the one I kept hooked to my pocket, tentatively handing it to him.

"Here you go"

I watched through blearily eyes as he took out his donors card from where we lay, neither of us able to register the cold, hard ground, the grit or the stones underneath us - our body's completely numb, and shutting down, as Otonashi had my full attention. His weak hand, barely able to hold the pen as he bought it a cross the card, circling.

He was giving it all away.

"I swear…" I muttered, allowing my voice to trail, unsure of were I was going with that sentence, myself.

I swear your a brilliant man.

I swear that if you had more time…

Using the last of my energy, I pushed my hand into my school jacket, dragging out a card that I never really took notice of, a card that none of use really took notice of, and started to fill in the desired boxes with another pen, I kept handy, just encase.

"W-what's that?" a voice by side asked, my hearing picking up a few moans and groans as the others had started to move into more comfortable positions, as they looked at the two of us.

"I-if you sign this, even by some reason you die, your life - your life can be used to help another. You can save someone" I said, flashing the man my card.

By this time, we had gotten everyone's attention, so I swallowed past my dry throat, and tried to wet my tongue with the little salvia I had left, forcing my voice to be as loud as it could because I knew, at best it would be weak, as I pushed down with my stomach. The lack of oxygen made me feel faint and sick as I emptied my lungs.

"Gives you meaning to you're life" even after all my effort, it still sounded like a whisper, but it was enough, and like all the other times, we followed his lead, the good-natured and strong doctor-to-be, because one way or another, he was saving us, like he had been all this time.

Everyone had a pen or pencil in their hand, the sounds of scribbling made me want to laugh, but I didn't; I was too tried, so I turned to my friend instead, his face barely visible to me, in the dark, as I started to speak again -

"Ha, you know, you really are amazing Otonasi" I smiled, looking at everyone, fondly "Just look: they were in the pit of despair, but now their trying to give hope to others"

"You saved every one of our lives, Otonashi" I said, expecting some kind of denial, as it grew harder and harder to continue, but I was determined to finish because "we owe you"

There was silence while I waited for some kind of reply "Hey, Otonashi?" I whisper, trying to get his attention "hey Otonashi?" I repeat through my coarse voice, slightly worried as he didn't react; nod in acknowledgment, or flinch from my addressing him, he wasn't moving.

"Can you hear me?" I asked, my concentration spliting as a rumbling sound caught my attention. The next thing that followed made my heart stop; shouts from outside and the faint murmurings of the others justified that I wasn't daydreaming, when beams of light broke through the wall.

They had found us.

But I barely had time to feel excited as my hazy mind wouldn't allow it, I turned from the crumbling wall, and back to my friend, and with new eyes I look upon him, able to see what I couldn't before, and I panicked. He was staring up to the ceiling, his right hand resting on his side, with his card and pen dangling from his fingers.

The items dropping seconds later.

My breathing hitched, and my empty stomach churned painfully in denial as I thought for one grim second, that this was how Otonashi must have felt when he couldn't save Minoru, this is what he must have felt when he watched over us.

"Otonashi?" I strangled, while I tried to get up and move, but I couldn't; I was useless. Soon after, there were medics, firemen and policemen swarming the area, while I continue to stare pleading at my friend, my sight was blurring from the onslaught of light, but by the time one of them got to us, I couldn't bring myself to talk.

I knew what this meant.

Too late.

They were too late.

A/N -

No matter how many times I watched Angel Beats, I cry, I mean I'm not the best judge on these kinds of things, because I can cry quite easily, but this was really sad. I loved the colourful backgrounds and although the characters were rather simple, there were done well.

So I can't really remembered when I thought of this, it might have been the first time I watched this anime, but I found myself wondering 'What happened after Otonashi died?', and other thoughts about how you never know how your going to be remembered after you pass, and what not, so I came up with this.

It was meant to be a one-shot, but I couldn't fit it all in the way I ordinarily thought I'd be able to, so instead it's a two-shot, the aftermath is going to be one the next chapter.

But please be gentle, this is my first Angel Beats , so sorry if it seems OCish.

Otonashi's past was pretty tragic, wasn't it?, don't you think it was sad that he died right when the light flooded the tunnel?...

I Apologise if there are any mistakes in my spelling/ grammar, or if you find anything I have written offensive.

Thank you to everyone who added 'How we're Remembered' to their favorites/ alerts or who took the time to review, you also have my gratitude for reading.

OW