Otonashi stays by Kanade's side while she is unconscious after absorbing the many ruthless Angels. The SSS decide to rewrite some of her programs as a temporary measure and wait to see what happens after she wakes up. Otonashi remembers everything about how he died. After the train accident, he and a handful of others were trapped in a tunnel with short supplies of food and water. Otonashi helped the injured with the assistance of a man named Igarashi. After a week trapped in the tunnel, Otonashi, feeling his life slipping away, registered as an organ donor on his ID card, which prompted the others to do the same. Otonashi died shortly after, moments before rescue workers managed to finally break through into the tunnel. After Kanade wakes up, she remarks that it is a miracle that her original self managed to overcome the other ruthless Angel personalities. Otonashi comes to realize Kanade's sole reason for existence is to help people move on by fulfilling any regret they had in life by giving them a chance to experience a normal youth. Otonashi decides to cooperate with Kanade so everyone can move on, but first he must learn more about their pasts. To this end, he requests that Kanade must fight once again against the SSS. Meanwhile, Angel is reinstated as the student council president, while Naoi returns to being the vice president. The rest of the SSS believe Kanade lost her memories of her time with them and has returned to how she was before. This, however, is the secret pact made between Otonashi and Kanade.