Pete

Angel Beats! -Track Zero- Chapter 1 – A Rocket for Two
Translated from Chinese versions done by 戏言君 and hades9053. Angel Beats! -Track ZeroA prequel novel of the TV animation series “Angel Beats!”. Writer: Maeda Jun (Key) Illustration: GotoP Character Design: Na-Ga (Key) The original Japanese publication can be found here. Disclaimer: All materials used here belong to their respective owners.All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental. Under no circumstances should you attempt to jump off a roof; kick someone else off a roof; murder your classmates; believe in concepts such as god, angels, afterlife, reincarnation without sufficient and verifiable proof; or any other nonsensical, inappropriate notionsportrayed in this work. ~~~

Chapter 1 of 7 – “A Rocket for Two”

Climbing atop to the roof‟s fence, I inspect my surroundings from the highest point of the school. A field resides just bit away from the foot of this building. To its left, there‟s a building that houses an indoor tennis court, and a place that seems to be an auditorium. What a ridiculous amount of space this school occupies.The place I‟m looking at though, is the world beyond the school‟s premise. A forest spans on and on, and then ends in a thick mist, blocking anything beyond from view. “What is with this place…? What happened to the world outside…?” “Off, you, go!” A girl‟s voice comes from behind.

Bam!

“AAaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

~~~

“Haah…” I wake up to find myself lying in bed. In a room painted inwhite. It‟s the infirmary.

There‟s a girl standing beside me, with a headband on her head. “Um…” “I know what you are gonna say. Yup, it‟s exactly what you‟re thinking. No need to say it.” “What the hell?! Hey! Weren‟t you the asshole that kicked me off the building?! I almost died! Holy crap, I survived! From that high! It‟s a freaking miracle!” “Oh? Weren‟t you trying to test if you can die ornot?” “Why the hell would I wanna test that?!” “Humph, so you are dumber than I expected. I thought you‟d have noticed it by now.” With her hand holding her chin, she lets out a “hmm” sound from her nose, and then looks away in disgust. “What are you talking about?” “Don‟t you two have class?” A voice from across the headband girl. The school nurse, it seems. “Ah, we‟re going.” The girl answers.“Let‟s talk somewhere else.” And then, the school bell rings.

I follow her up to the roof again.

“So, what is it? What am I not noticing?” “This is the afterlife.” “Huh? I don‟t understand.” “You should still have memories of dying, and waking up here.” “Hah…” I died…? Calling up the memories of my last moments. There was an accident. A huge truck was coming. I was dazed and couldn‟t move,let alone dodge away. An impact followed. The sky and ground alternated in my view quite a few times. Then it all stopped. I was looking up at the sky, fully aware of how battered my body was. Every part of my body, hurting. My mumbled groans, repeating. I was going to die… And with that thought, my consciousness drifted away.

When I woke up, I was lying on the ground in a school I didn‟trecognize, and wearing a set of uniform I‟d never seen before. I didn‟t have a scratch on me. Others in the same uniform were entering the school gates. While in my state of confusion, a girl came over, introduced herself as the student council president, and took me by my hand. I followed her to into a classroom and she led me to my seat. A teacher came in, and homeroom started. Despite it being myfirst time there, my name was called. “Absent?” I got asked. “H-here.” I answered.

A couple of girls let out a laugh. The teacher moved on to call other names. I was counted as present just like that. What kind of a system is this school using… Someone suddenly showed up and there was already a seat assigned, and no one seemed the slightest bit surprised about it. What the heck is going on in...