Meditation helps the mind and body focus. Many cultures see it as a form of relaxation, others see it as an exercise to better their own mental health. And others see it as a way to sharpen the mind. At least, that's what Shiina had told her student. She saw Iwa improve slowly over time; as one would going through conditioning. However, he was starting to stagnate. His improvement wasn't to her liking, so she thought he was ready for the next step in his training.

"Meditation?" Iwa echoed his mentor. He sat across from her, both atop of the main school building's roof. When she had told him that they'd be training there today he was very happy to have the chance to rest his arms and possibly take it easy. He was sadly mistaken.

"Yes." She sat across from him, holding a wooden metronome in her hands. "If you want to get stronger, you'll have to first improve your focus."

The explanation did help him understand the importance better, though it did bring up a question. "I am focused, yes?"

"Not really." She ignored his pout as she continued with a more serious tone. "In our last mission, you were stiffening up. Something was affecting you. It is not my place to ask, but that fear can lead to hesitation, and hesitation can lead to failure and death." As she continued, she saw him look downward, taking notice of his hands gripping tightly. It was obvious to her and Ooyama that something was bothering their friend. They couldn't tell if it was due to the TK incident something he had been feeling before the mission. Neither of them wanted to prod, so Shiina saw fit to help him through his lessons. Her tone lightened as she continued. "But I know you wouldn't let that happen. Meditation will help with that."

She set the metronome between them, letting it tick at a steady beat. She readjusted herself, sitting cross-legged now and motioning him to do the same. He mirrored her as she gave him instruction. "Keep your back straight and your head forward. Hold your hands in whatever feels comfortable to you." She held hers together, each fingertip touching the other. Iwa placed his hands on both knees. "Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Match it to the metronome and clear your mind. Have no thoughts and only focus on what you hear."

The two sat in silence, with Shiina completely focused on her meditation. Iwa, on the other hand, was struggling. "How do you focus but not think?" He thought of this has he held his eyes closed. He felt his fingers tense as he tried to match his breathing with the metronome, growing more and more frustrated with his struggle to do so. He could feel almost all his muscles groan out in pain and start to twitch. He tried his best to not move, not do anything other than what Shiina had instructed him to do. He was about to snap, to just yell out in frustration. Thankfully he was saved.

"Hey guys," Ooyama had opened the door to the rooftop, poking his head out to see the two.

"Hey, Yama!" Iwa called out in English, his head snapping towards his friend. Shiina let out a frustrated sigh, giving a small glare at her student's sudden break in concentration. She could tell this was going to be harder than she thought.

"You're late for the meeting," he said with a little worry in his voice. "You guys might want to hurry before Yuri notices."

"Sure thing!" Iwa's high energy was very contrasting to Shiina's dull and low energy, especially now.

Ooyama felt a shiver go down his spine when he saw her normally stoic expression-filled now with some irritation. He slowly slid his head back behind the door as he spoke up. "Well, we better not keep her waiting. C'mon guys…!"

~Anti-Angel HQ~

Inside the red-headed girl named Iwasawa was playing a nice song on an acoustic guitar. Iwa and Shiina had taken spots near the corner of the room as the song played, while Ooyama took back his seat next to Hinata.

When the song finished Yuri had the same stone-cold expression she had when the song started, speaking in her normal dull leader tone. "Why is your new song a balled?"

"Is that a problem?" The red-headed girl asked with a bit of an annoyed tone.

"As a diversion; yes."

"Uh, what do you mean by a diversion?" Otonashi asked, standing near the SSS banner, raising his hand like he was in grade school.

"Didn't you hear her during Tornado? She's part of the school's rock band that's popular with the normal students. We don't do anything to directly hurt the students but sometimes we use them or clear them out of an area if they're in the way. It's just one of the necessary elements in our battle arsenal. That's when she creates a diversion."

"They're fans even though they're NPCs…?" Otonashi trailed off, getting half of it all in.

"That just goes to show skilled and enchanting her band is." Hinata complemented, earning himself some brownie points from Iwasawa.

"Uh… yeah…" Otonashi mumbled, watching Iwasawa deep in her thoughts.

"So, is it a 'No Go'?"

"Yeah," Yuri said with a little bit of sympathy in her voice. It almost caught Iwa by surprise. "And since it's a balled, we won't be able to go all out and fight when everyone's listening to a love song."

"Care to put a wager on that?" Iwa joked in English, earning a glare from Noda and a snicker from TK.

Iwasawa sat back on the coffee table in the office by her case. "I see. Then I'll trash it."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, letting it all sink in for before Yuri spoke up. "I have an announcement that'll make everyone feel better. Otonashi, close the curtains." As Otonashi did so the room grew very dark, very quickly. When the logo of the Battle Front was done being projected behind Yuri she continued with her announcement. "This next operation will be another attempt to infiltrate Angel's domain. The operation is in three days."

"We're trying that again?" Asked Takamatsu, readjusting his glasses and ignoring TK's rhythmic finger-snapping "But last time-"

Yuri placed a hand out in front of her, stopping him from finishing and continued with the operation plans. "Yes, but this time we've got him."

As she finished, she turned her chair around to reveal a small red-haired teen in their SSS uniforms and thick glasses covering his eyes. He spoke in a calm and dull voice, much like a cheap professor at a college lecture. "Hello there."

Everyone looked at the teen in shock, letting out some exclaims, but what mostly stood out was Ooyama's. "He was behind her chair!"

"Yurippe this isn't funny…" Noda said as he stalked forward.

"How is that mince emended moron going to help us?" Fujimaki asked over their talk.

"Now, now, don't be like that," Yuri spoke calmly, un-phased by her team's doubts.

Said moron walked out from beside Yurippe and was now standing in front of her desk, pissing off a certain blue-headed member.

"Hah!" yelled Noda, pointing his halberd at the mysterious teen. "Fine then, let's see what he's got!"

The redhead just stood their motionless for a moment before asking what Otonashi and Iwa had been wondering ever since they arrived. "You don't have friends do you?"

"No, not really…" the American mumbled under his breath, remembering their last mission. No one really cared about his death after all. And he still wasn't able to figure out where that music was coming from.

"Hmm… 3.1415926535897932…."

And just like that Noda dropped his halberd and lost it. He started to spaz out in the little space between the red-haired teen and Iwasawa and started panicking, begging him to stop.

"Holy math nerd is all that PI!?" Matsushida asked, not believing what he was seeing.

"M-make him stop!" Ooyama said, acting as the small voice of reason. "He's a moron!"

"Exactly," Yuri finally spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "Our weakness is that we're morons."

"Leaders should not say that…" Iwa said in Japanese, not really liking Yuri's choice of words.

"The last time we tried to infiltrate, our lack of intelligence was made apparent. However! We're bringing a genius hacker with us."

As she said this, Iwa looked back at the mess in the middle of the room. Noda looked like he was having a seizure while the red-headed nerd was still going over PI.

"Codename: Takeyama will be on the team. Be sure to fully investigate the area. Don't miss a thing."

"Wasn't that his real name?" Takamatsu asked out of the blue.

"Yes but, I'd appreciate it if you'd call me… Christ." Takeyama said, the glare in his glass now gone.

"See," Fujimaki said out of the awkward silence that followed Takeyama. "She ruined her cool codename. That's Yurippe for yea."

Iwa started to space out as Otonashi started to ask a question, again. His mind started to wander back to his meditation session with Shiina and how bad that had gone. He couldn't focus for the life of him. What made matters worse, was that he thought he had annoyed Shiina because of it. Their entire walk was in silence. Normally when they do walk, they're both quiet, but this time he felt something in the air that seemed off.

"Hey Eri," he whispered over to her in Japanese, seeing her peer over to him from the corner of her eye. "You bothered with me?"

Her eyes widen ever so slightly, having been caught off guard by her student's brash approach. Her eyes narrowed back to their calm state as she whispered back to him. "No."

He couldn't help but feel like she was lying. He had a sickening feeling that she was indeed annoyed with him but wouldn't say it. He would've asked her again if it wasn't for Ooyama exclaiming at the top of his lungs. "This is crazy!"

"It'll be our second try; Angel should be on higher alert than before. I'll need GirDeMo to go wild. Is that understood?"

Iwasawa gave a small smile. "Understood."

And with that, the meeting closed with TK giving another of his famous one-liners. "Goodbye and good luck!"

After that everyone started to pour out of the room, leaving Iwasawa, and a few others, to leave last.

It was already two days before the mission and Iwa wasn't wasting time. After the meeting, Shiina had dragged him back upstairs to the roof. There the two kept up their meditation training until the sun was starting to set. He was now able to sit without his muscles twitching but he was still struggling to clear his mind. He had asked Shiina on how to do it but she had just told him, "to not think of anything and go from there," as grateful he was for the help, it did little to nothing to actually help him.

When the next day rolled into view he started to relax, thinking that today would be good for a break and practice meditation tomorrow. He was at one of the school's vending machines, getting a soda. When the small can come out he happily drank the caffeine and sugar-induced drink, or at least that was about to happen until he heard the sounds of someone struggling further down the hall.

"I shouldn't…" He thought to himself as he looked back towards his drink, the sounds of carbonated bubbles calling out to him as sirens would to sailors. The sounds of struggling thought drowned out the alluring drink's own. "Ugh, I can't help myself…"

He followed the sound as he cursed his curiosity, finding a small pink-headed girl in the SSS uniform, a devil's tail attached to her belt, and ribbons holding her hair in two small pigtails. What really caught his eye was that she was putting several posters up on the bulletin board.

Iwa stepped closer to the bulletin board, taking a better look at the poster. He liked the craftsmanship of them, taking note of how the bright colors were gonna be catching people's attention. He loudly thought to himself, mumbling in English. "So this is going to be their wild diversion?"

The little girl turned around, caught by surprise. She didn't know what Iwa had said and was half worried he might be some weirdo she might have to fight off.

The American quickly caught on to her expression and switched languages, waving a hand worryingly. "Oh, sorry. Did, I uh, scare you?"

The girl started to calm down before putting two and two together, meaning she saw his uniform. She was quiet for a moment, making the ever so slightly taller male question her mental health. "Oh, it's you."

"Uh… do you know me?" Iwa asked, knowing he didn't know any devil tailed pink heads. He would defiantly remember a character like her.

"Yup! The upperclassman who always carries that big ax told me to be careful around you and that redhead guy cause you're both bad luck!" As she said all that she was making an outline of the halberd blade in the air. "That's what I heard, uh-huh!"

"That jackass…" Iwa mumbled in English, knowing she wouldn't understand him, before switching languages again. "But is it bad they perform in the gym? And with all these posters? Is it not to be secret?"

"Of course not! It's totally unheard of, they're publicly announcing it instead of having a gorilla performance! The teachers won't let this thing slide, so who knows what will happen! But I heard it was worth getting a lot of people to come, despite the risk! And I listen to what I hear, y'know? I'm also great at spreading the word, like that other redhead new guy. You two sure ask a lot of questions."

"The other redhead… oh, Otonashi…" Iwa thought she could be meaning him. There weren't that many guys with red hair that he knew of, so he hoped he was right. His eyes wandered back to the posters, taking note of the name of the band. "Girls Dead Monster…?" The American asked himself, surprised their band's name was printed in English. "Still, with posters, I do not think this …"

He started to trail off, trying to remember a few translations but was cut off by the girl. "I'm Yui by the way, I'm still flunking with the diversion team."

"That is-" The American couldn't get anything else in. The girl, Yui, continued without paying him much thought.

"But even so, I'm happy! I mean, come on, I get to work with GirDeMo! Have you heard of them, Girl's Dead Monster!?"

Right then Iwa thought her brain must have gone on reset or into Fangirl mode because he knew from that point he was doomed. He somewhat recalled faint memories like this before in his past life. Or at least some scenario where he was stuck in a horrible conversation with someone going on and on.

"They're amazing! It means Girl'sDeadMonster for short! They're a powerful girl's only band! Above all else; the vocalist and guitarist; Iwasawa is incredible! She writes the songs and the lyrics! My favorite song is…"

And that's when Iwa zoned out, getting absolutely lost with the pink-haired girl's fangirling. At a certain point in her rambling, the American thought it would be a good idea to take his leave now, but that's when it got crazy for him. Every second, he took a light step away from her, much like Shiina had taught him, almost home free if it wasn't for her spin.

Yui started to grab ahold of his arm and shout at the top of her lungs. "I'M NOT DONE YET! YOU WON'T LEAVE LIKE THAT REDHEAD! ALCHEMY IS THE MOST-"

It was there that the American didn't care anymore. He tried to pull away, trying his best to keep his soda leveled to not spill on the floor. "Let go of me!"

"ALCHEMY IS THE MOST AWESOMENEST SONG EVER! YOU HAVE TO-"

"I SAID LET GO OF ME YOU LITTLE GOBLIN!"

Due to his shout being in English the little fangirl didn't catch a word he was saying other than one. Goblin. This set her off, causing the pleading wales to turn into a pure rage as she grabbed onto his shoulder now and trying to pull him down to her level to shout in his face.

"GOBLIN?! WHO YOU CALLING GOBLIN, SHORTY!?"

The two continued on in this shouting match for some time, exchanging verbal blows as Iwa tried his best to escape. His escape only came when she pulled on the arm holding his soda, spilling the dark-colored drink in her hair and face. This caused an opening for him to run, not wanting to face the little girl's wrath.

~Performing Arts Building~

With a small sigh, Iwa opened his new soda can. It was easy to outrun the little fangirl, the real hard part was finding another soda machine that wasn't in the main building he was originally in. Once he came across the one outside the performing arts building, he didn't hesitate to buy another one, however, he was stopped again by another sound. It sounded like a band. He couldn't help but follow the alluring song, ignoring his open soda once again. He followed the source of the music to one of the windows on the third floor. Near him was the main entrance to the building. He tried to pull them open but quickly caught on.

He swore under his breath, wanting to finally see the band for himself. He didn't have the chance to listen during their first operation, and the previous day's meeting gave him the chance to hear what Iwasawa could do.

"I really shouldn't…" He thought to himself as he looked towards the open window and back to his drink. He kept looking back and forth to the two before letting out a small sigh. "Damn my curiosity…"

Iwa quickly placed the soda can into his inner pocket before walking several feet away from the building. He quickly ran towards the building and jumped onto it. "Keep it going…" Iwa instructed himself as he tried to mimic what Shiina had taught him; the most important step being momentum – he couldn't slow down. He was able to take several steps before he had to leap for the second-floor window still. "Almost…" He didn't dare stop. He pulled and pushed himself upwards with all the strength he could muster, using the building momentum to fight against gravity. He felt every slow down as he stretched his arm outward for the last window still.

With a soft thud, his body hit the building, his fingers deadlocking onto his target. "Oh my God…!" Iwa let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. "How does Eri make this look so easy…"

With one last heave, Iwa picked himself onto the window and sat up against the frame. His anxiety and adrenaline almost died instantly once he actually took into what he was seeing. From across the classroom, he saw three of the four band members practice one of the songs. His eyes widen for a moment as he felt something click in the back of his mind.

He liked this. Music.

Listening to the rhythmic beating of the drum, the low and ever-present bass feel, and the bold presence of the guitar. This sound, musicians playing, was something he felt a pull towards. This had explained his habits Shiina and Ooyama had picked up of the young teen. During random moments Iwa would be seen tapping out something in a rhythmic beat or humming softly to himself in a melodic tone. When the two pointed this out and ask why he does this they would just get a shrug out of him or an apology.

Iwa quickly gotten a feel for the song's rhythm, surprising himself greatly. He idly started to tap his foot against the wall within the classroom as he took out his soda. He slowly closed his eyes enjoying the song the three band members were practicing. His eyes lazily opened when he heard the music stop, suddenly coming to realization to what he was doing when the three girls stared back at him. The shock was enough for him to lose balance. He waved his arms around spastically for a moment before holding onto the window frame he sat upon. Sadly, his instincts favored his life over his drink.

The young American looked over to his left, watching his soda fall three stores down and exploding on impact. "Nooo…." Iwa fought back tears, the ghostly taste of what his would-be treat torturing him.

He had no time to mourn, however, the sudden realization of what situation he was in dawned on him. He slowly turned his head back to the now disturbed and possibly angry band members. He pulled himself into the room as he held his hands up in embarrassment, giving them all a nervous and apologetic smile. "Um… ha-ha… sorry. Heard music from outside… and wanted to see..."

"Damn my Japanese…" He cursed himself, thinking Ooyama would've come up with a better explanation than he had just given.

"From the window?" The drummer girl asked, giving him a questionable look.

"Sounds like a Grade-A pervert to me." The girl with the bass guitar chimed in, earning herself a disappointed sigh from the third one.

"Calm down Sekine." The brunette walked over to Iwa, giving him a lookup and down before snapping her fingers. "Pirau, right? Iwasawa mentioned you a few times. Good to finally meet you, newbie. The names Hisako, that's all you need to know."

Iwa thanked whatever God was watching him for the avoidance of conflict over his actions. He looked at the hand she held out to him and took a hold of it, relaxing slightly from the friendliness. "Yes… thank you. You be Girls Dead Monster, yes?"

"The one and only!" Hisako gave him a confident grin before motioning her hand towards the other two girls. "The girl on drums is Miyuki Irie, and the other is Shiori Sekine."

"Hello…" The lavender haired girl said shyly.

"Hey." The blonde gave him a small wave before earning another look from Hisako. "I'm not apologizing."

Iwa let out a chuckle giving a wave to Sekine, "It is okay." He thought he deserved that. He took note of her abrasiveness, wondering if she was like this with everyone. "Eh, even if she is she couldn't be as bad as that fangirl." Speaking of members. "So, where is Iwasawa? I expected her to be practicing as well."

Hisako pointed a thumb behind her towards the hallway. "She's out with that Otonashi guy. Caught us during our little jam break."

Iwa nodded, his mind wandering back to their playing. If they sounded this good just jamming out there was no doubt they'd sound amazing on stage. His eyes then dropped to their instruments. He thought back, thinking he had never played one of these instruments before. Insinuating that he had played an instrument when he was alive.

"You play?" Hisako's words echoed through Iwa's mind, pulling him back from his thoughts. He gave her a questionable look, asking her to repeat herself. "I said, do you play? You're looking at our instruments with that faraway look you amnesiacs have."

He rubbed the back of his head, trying to think back. "I think so… I do not remember..."

A soft hum escaped Hisako as her look on Iwa intensified. He instinctively stiffens, completely frozen as Hisako scanned the slightly taller teen. With another hum the look disappears, taking a step back as she walked towards one of the guitars resting on a stand. She took a hold of it and walked towards him with it. "This one's nylon. Good for classical stuff and noobs." Hisako finally spoke, earning an arched eyebrow from the foreigner. "Why don't play something, if you can remember."

Iwa took a hold of the guitar, holding it away from him as if it was going to bite him. He could hear Sekine let out a laugh and took notice of Hisako rolling her eyes. With a small sigh, he leaned up against one of the closest desks and held it on his lap. He took note of how familiar this felt as he held the guitar on his left. He held down a few strings as he strummed the guitar.

Another laugh came out of Sekine.

The note he had strum out sounded off. It didn't take a genius to tell he wasn't doing something right. "It's alright," Hisako gave the novice guitarist a smile. She took ahold of the guitar as Iwa held it out to her.

"The guitar isn't meant for everyone," the new voice caused the foreigner to jump, relaxing when he saw it was Iwasawa. "You don't remember anything from your previous life, do you?"

"Uh… I l-like m-music…" Iwa stammered out the translation, feeling slight embarrassment. The first thing he could remember from his life was that he liked music. Not exactly the best thing to remember.

"Did you just realize this?"

"Yes?"

"Yes?" She echoed his question, arching her eyebrow.

"Yes!" Iwa almost shouted his response, feeling his nerves get the better of him again as he took notice of Iwasawa's stare harden. "Why are there so many intimidating women in my afterlife…?"

She looked returned to normal a moment later, letting out a small laugh. "I'm just messing with you. If you ever wanna learn how to play though I don't mind giving a bit of time for one. Hisako?"

"Who am I stop someone from pursuing a hobby?" She shot back to her band leader, both sharing a knowing smile that left Iwa very confused.

Said leader turned her attention back to the foreigner. "You're welcomed here anytime, just give me a heads up if you ever do want a lesson."

He nodded, letting out a small chuckle. "Thank you. I might." With that note he took his leave, exiting through the doors of the classroom. As he walked down the hallway he suddenly stopped, asking a very important question.

"Wait… how do I get out…?"

~Gym~

"Listen up," Yuri shouted as everyone was circling around her. Today was finally the day of the operation. Everyone had gathered within the gymnasium as they waited to be dismissed. "Were taking a few people with us. The operation starts today at 1900. Operation Start."

They all dispersed. All of them were already assigned to their posts earlier that day. Iwa was to be with Yusa, a blonde quite girl who is the silent agent of the band, overlooking the crowd and observe the concert. It was his job to make sure everything goes smoothly and help the others if they needed back up. He was just a pair of strong arms for the stage, but mostly for Yusa from any student wonderers or if a teacher starts getting nosy.

"Small crowd…" Yusa idly commented towards him, peeking through the edge of the curtain. "It's not a big turnout."

"Do not worry," Iwa pulled the curtain back some more for him to see. "It will be bigger when performing starts."

"Surprised you were able to say that, with your problem and all." The American nodded, noticing his improvement in the foreign language as well.

The two stayed silent as the concert slowly started. Throughout the first song, he kept an eye on the entrances to the stage and gymnasium, as well as jamming out to the band, enjoying their first song. At first, he tried his best to hold still, tapping his foot or hand against his leg. He couldn't seem to stop himself though as the music kept picking up. His tapping broke into head bobs and humming. He only ever stopped when he heard Yusa giggle, calling him immature.

When the song finished the crowd cheered, as did Iwa giving a nod as he moved higher up the stage, now above the band but unseen by the crowd on the sky rail. Yusa had instructed him to get a better look at the crowd, wanting a higher view of the area. He held tightly to the railing, feeling his stomach drop as he realized just how afraid of heights he was. He recalled the last mission, where he and the last remaining members of the SSS had to walk across the giant support beam. If it hadn't been for the adrenaline rush and exhaustion, he might have been really uneasy to have walked across the giant steel beam. Now with things seemingly more normal, his brain had decided then to point out the absorbed height he was at. His fear subsided when he took notice of a white figure in the back of the crowd.

"Crap…" It was Angel.

He spoke through his earpiece to Yusa, his worry causing him to stutter. "A-Angel is h-here."

"Copy. What is she doing?"

"Nothing. She is standing… I think watching." His words rang true. Angel was standing in the back of the gymnasium, blankly staring towards the stage.

"Copy. Stay there and keep an eye on her."

"Right."

Soon the band's notorious song, Alchemy, started to play, causing the entire crowd to grow in size and double their excitement. He could feel the excitement from up where he stood, causing him to think that the operation was going to be a success. His good mood was sadly destroyed when the gym doors opened. He saw a teacher entering the gym, along with a few others trailing behind him.

"Shit," Iwa swore loudly before speaking through his communicator, hoping he didn't somehow break the damn thing with how much force he used to turn it on. "We are in trouble! Abort!" Iwa prayed to whoever was listening that Yuri had gotten the report on the open line. Thankfully his prayers were answered.

"Got it, ask Yusa for your guy's plan."

"Okay," he quickly switched lines, nervousness swam through his voice as he scaled down the skywalk. "Yusa, we are… com… compra… trouble! What do I do!?"

"I need you to get down here and try to watch my-" A yelp escaped from her, ceasing any command.

Iwa's eyes widen, causing him to increase his speed down the metal stairs. He quickly spoke through his earpiece to Yuri, dread now overcoming him. "Diversion has stopped, Angel is going back."

"Got it, do what you can now."

He nodded to himself, quickly jumping the last of the railed stairs. Any thoughts on what he should come to halt as he felt someone grab his arm. It was a teacher. A taller and balding man had a firm grasp on his arm, speaking in a gruff tone. "You're in a lot of trouble, young man."

Said young man stiffened, stopping himself from making things worse. He couldn't do anything yet until he was with the entire band, that way if an opening comes up they can all escape together. Luckily for him, the teacher was leading him towards the stage, next to Yusa lying on the ground.

He heard the crowd booing at the teachers, wanting them to let the band go, possibly not really paying any attention to either Iwa or Yusa. He noticed all the teachers were with them now, causing all hope he had for an opening to drain from him. There was no way there would get out this.

"Don't get so full of yourselves, we overlooked you until now." The, what seemed to be the gym teacher, said towards both the crowd and the group of musicians. "Confiscate all their instruments. Wrap all this crap up. The only time you have to perform is during school festivals."

The raven-haired teen saw the look on Iwasawa's face. It was filled with anger and hatred towards the gym teacher. He was confused for a moment, feeling something tighten in his chest. What the gym teacher said sounded way to familiar to Iwa, and it wasn't sitting well with him. He never felt this sort of discomfort and anger before. It felt so foreign yet… it was scaring him how familiar it felt.

His thoughts screeched to a halt as he heard one of the teachers speak up. "We can throw this away, can't we?" The teacher had motioned towards the acoustic guitar that Iwasawa had bought into the meeting.

"Don't touch that…" the band leader mumbled, starting to release her anger as she got out of one of the teacher's grip and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Don't… DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT! !"

As she ran towards the gym teacher, she grabbed her guitar, knocking the teacher into the back wall. Hisako took this opportunity to head butt the teacher holding her and escape. As the teacher started to run after her Yusa grabbed the teacher's foot, stopping him.

Iwa was about to follow Hisako's example but stopped himself, seeing Yusa look up at him. He froze as her eyes locked with his. She shook her head, earning a small nod from the taller teen. He swallowed his nerves and watched as three teachers slowly walked towards Iwasawa.

The band leader stood there for a moment, causing Iwa to think that she was about to start some kind of fight. She didn't do this – she wasn't aggressive in the slightest. She started playing. The sound quickly echoed throughout the gymnasium, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. Time seemed to freeze as she played as if she was bending it to her will. Everyone, even the teachers, just stood there and listen to Iwasawa play.

Tears started to escape Iwa. The anxiety and worry he had escaped him as Iwasawa played. It felt like all of his worries, everything he had in the back of his mind was slipping away. It felt like nothing could bother him as he listened to her play. Realization slowly dawned on him, one he felt just days before.

He didn't like music.

He loved it.

He knew now, he knew that he didn't just like music, but he loved it. He loved the emotion musicians can put behind their playing, and… and...

He lost it. The words weren't there but the feeling was. Joyous, liberating, emotional, and… shame? He felt those positive feelings mix with something bad. He was confused, he couldn't tell what was causing him to feel these negative emotions towards music when just now he was feeling amazing.

Iwa's thoughts shattered in an instant. The music had stopped. All he heard was Iwasawa's guitar hitting the ground. The female vocalist was gone. She had just disappeared, into thin air, but not with her beloved guitar.

Everyone just stood there in silence. The SSS members were silent due to the fact someone had just been obliterated. They never saw something like this before. As for the NPC's, they were probably erasing all memory of Iwasawa, as all computers do when erasing a large chunk of memory.

As for the American, his thoughts were on their missing member. "Where did she go…?"

"Alright, can you please give us the down-low of what we've found?" Hinata asked to Yurippe.

Almost everyone was in the Anti-Angel Headquarters, waiting to hear what Yuri had found during the operation. Everyone was present for this meeting minus Shiina and Otonashi. Iwa stood in his spot, looking down at the ground with the scenes of last night's performance running through his mind. His hands clenching over the thought, feeling as if maybe it was his fault. That maybe if he would've seen Angel sooner, they would've pulled out. Maybe then Iwasawa wouldn't be missing.

"Angel has been developing her own abilities," Yuri answered, pacing around her desk. "She's using the same method we are to make our weapons."

"What does that mean?" Ooyama asked worryingly. For once the untalented teen was on the same page as everyone else.

Yuri was silent for a moment before answering honestly. "I'm not sure. I can't say anything for certain."

"Why not?" Fujimaki asked. "You're being a bit too vague Yurippe."

From the little vague information, no one could even make out what Angel was up too, besides Yuri of course. Everyone stayed silent, waiting for their fearless leader to tell them what to do next.

After another moment of silence, Takamatsu spoke up. "And here's another problem," as he spoke, he placed down Iwasawa's guitar on the coffee table, causing a quite conk to echo through the office. "Where did Iwasawa go?"

"Didn't Angel obliterate her?" asked Noda.

"During a performance?" Hinata questioned back.

"Then what do you think happened!?"

"So, who kidnapped Iwasawa and…"

"No one did…" Iwa answered in Japanese, grabbing everyone's attention. He just stood there, looking down at the ground as he struggled to continue. He was told obliteration could happen, that Angel could do it to any of them. That if they acted as normal students that it could risk them to be obliterated as well. None of this was making sense. He looked up to his leader and spoke in English. "What happened to her?"

Yuri didn't understand his words, but she understood his confusion. She looked away from him once she sat down in her seat, peering over to one of the windows. "She accepted her fate. Nothing else to it." She looked back towards him, her tone rising ever so slightly. "As for the missing Diversion team leader, I want you to start participating and act as a temporary spokesman until a leader can be decided within." Everyone looked up in surprise, even he joined in the raised energy.

"Wait, how come he's in charge now!?" Noda asked, pointing his halberd dangerously close to Iwa's face.

"He's not in charge," Yuri raised her tone towards the idiot, ignoring his confusion as she continued. "He's just going to be attending our meetings in place of Iwasawa until the band can decide on who will be coming instead. Right now, Hisako is unofficially in charge of them. Pirau will essentially be the middle man until further notice."

The American nodded, understanding his leader's decision. He was dismissed to give back the guitar to the band members and inform them of Yuri's decision. As he walked down the halls and towards the performing arts building his hand clenched harder on the neck of the guitar, feeling the steel strings threaten to cut his callused fingers.

Once he was gone Fujimaki spoke up. "Are you sure about this Yurippe? I mean, he's still a newbie."

"Yeah," Noda joined in the hazing. "Shouldn't we just leave the bandmates in charge of the whole thing? Shouldn't we vote on this?"

"Alright," Yuri answered, looking over everyone. She sat back in her armchair as she started the vote. "All in favor of letting Pirau-kun in charge of the Diversion Team raise your hand."

TK, Ooyama, Matsushida, Hinata, Takamatsu, and Yuri raised their hands, leaving Noda and Fujimaki the only ones to go against it.

"Then it's official. Pirau-kun is now the bridge of the Diversion Team until further notice. Any questions?"

Everyone stayed silent as the meeting came to an end, leaving Yuri alone in the office again, and thinking over future plans.

As for Iwa, he was still walking down the hall, thinking over everything once more. He kept a tight hold around the neck of the guitar, thinking back to when he heard Iwasawa sing.

Why did he have mixed emotions over what he loved?