A/N: Thanks to bullet-refutation on tumblr as always for being my editor!

This doesn't follow DR3 at all.
So this is post DR2.
- Komaeda still has his prosthetic that Hinata made for him
- The remnants that have woken up are under close FF supervision
- Naegi occasionally visits the island to check in, since they're his responsibility
- Hinata has yet to wake up everyone, and there's no guarantee that every single person will be cured of Despair completely
- This takes place about two months or so after the game's ending

Feedback is appreciated; enjoy!

- x - x - x - x - x

Hinata's vision of the world had never been so crisp and clear.

Reading the back of the cereal box didn't require him picking it up anymore, and he didn't have to squint to see into the distance.

If his eyes were to be tested by an actual optometrist, his vision would be 20/20.

And Hinata technically was an optometrist now, or at least could get his certification easily.

But he didn't like to think about all of the things that he could do now, and despite how much easier life was with perfect vision, he'd began actively avoiding mirrors whenever he could so he wasn't faced with his heterochromia.

It was a grim reminder that none of his abilities now were really his own, and neither was his body.

There was another person sleeping within his subconscious, who couldn't be bothered with the mundane existence Hinata was choosing to lead on the island.

If Hinata was sent out for field work, or anything remotely dangerous, he could feel a spark of something in the back of his head. A sudden second awareness.

Hinata didn't like to think about him, and presently avoided the thought of engaging with Kamukura as he stared at the black monitor screen in front of him.

He sighed. This was tedious.

Which was probably why Naegi had left him this assignment.

No one back at the FF headquarters wanted to deal with it, and like with any other difficult decryption task, they'd probably said, "hey, let's just have that guy do it! He does nothing but sit around all day until we order him to jump. Plus he's a super genius, so what the hell?"

Hinata could almost hear them now, almost hated how he'd become so complacent with doing whatever they told him…

But he had amends to make, and currently, working for them was the only channel of redemption-not to mention, there were five people still asleep, and doing whatever they told him guaranteed their safety.

As long as they needed Hinata to do something, they wouldn't call his identity into question.

This is the fifth time I've had to restart this thing...come on….

He slouched his chair and pressed the enter key a few times, knowing it would do nothing.

Come on…

The longer the screen stayed black, the longer he could see his own face.

People don't naturally have red eyes...it's weird...no one ever stared at me before, so they aren't staring because I'm good looking or anything…

"Hinata-kun!" Komaeda was poking his head in the doorway, giving him his usual smile. "It's nearly midnight...are you really okay with pulling an all nighter? Not that my opinion matters, but you've got some dark circles under your eyes and with the way you're hunched over, you might could use a nap."

"Well, Naegi is coming back to retrieve this disk in a couple of days and I'm not even halfway done."

"That's two days away, though!"

"I just wanna get it done and over with."

Komaeda stepped into the room, holding a cream colored mug. "I thought you might say that, so I brought you some coffee!"

"Oh, thanks…"

He smiled timidly as Komaeda walked over and handed it to him.

"Hinata-kun, are you hungry?"

"Not really.."

It was still a little embarrassing to have Komaeda taking care of him like this, always making sure that he had coffee or snacks when he was working and waiting until he left to tidy up the workspace.

But Komaeda needed to do it to feel useful, and no doubt still felt indebted to Hinata for building his new hand-and it was helpful that someone actually took the time to clean up.

Komaeda continued to stare at him for a few seconds as he took a long drink of his coffee, downing half the cup.

It was medium roast. Just how he liked it.

Komaeda had watched Hinata's reactions to his handiwork carefully the first couple of weeks he'd been experimenting with the coffee machine.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry and maybe don't realize it?"

"I'm sure…"

Hinata had to cut eye contact with him, feeling his face heating up. Komaeda was shameless with his gawking, but at least when Komaeda stared at him, he didn't feel like he was some sort of two headed spectacle on display.

Komaeda hadn't mentioned Hinata's heterochromia even once since waking up, nor had he prodded him about Kamukura.

I never thought I wouldn't mind Komaeda just...looking at me like that…

"So, Komaeda, uh...how is everyone?"

"Huh? Oh! Of course, I forgot, you haven't left this room for three whole days! An update on what's going on right outside your door would make sense. I was a bit confused, my apologies..."

As if you didn't know what I meant.

Hinata narrowed his eyes and downed the rest of the coffee.

"Well, I'd say everyone is doing exceptionally well! Sonia-san and Tanaka-kun's garden by the hotel is actually blooming! I wouldn't have thought that the climate here was suitable for any sort of real agriculture other than tropical fruits." Komaeda pulled up a chair next to Hinata, unabashedly, but was polite enough to look up at the ceiling while he gathered his thoughts.

"Souda-kun actually intruded upon them a few days ago and planted what he believed to be a rose, and declared that when it grew he would give it to Sonia-san! I was curious if he'd actually managed to find rose seeds around here, so I diug it up after he left and it was just a red colored pebble!"

Hinata couldn't help but scoff. "Doesn't he have any better to do? I mean, of course he does…"

"He fixed the ceiling fan, finally!"

"He still needs to work on getting those jeeps in working order...it'd be a lot easier not having to travel on foot everywhere."

"Oh, right, he wanted me to tell you-they're in perfect working order already, but the batteries are dead! They've sat idle for so long that none of them have any power at all."

"Great…"

"But Hinata-kun, I have an idea!" Komaeda sounded enthusiastic, so Hinata looked back over at him.

"...Well? What?"

"A lightning rod!"

"Eh?"

"I'm sure you and Souda-kun could build one easily, and just attach it to the batteries after they've been taken out! I'll stand at the bottom of the rod so lightning definitely will hit it!"

Hinata frowned. "Komaeda, you do realize that with that much electricity, the batteries would actually explode, right?"

Komaeda laughed a little. "I know that! I was joking, Hinata-kun..."

That didn't sound like a joke…

"So what else is happening?"

"You're really asking about Tsumiki-san, right?"

"Well...yeah. She's the one most at risk, y'know…"

"She's still holed up in her room. Still crying. She insists she's better now and doesn't mean us any harm, but…"

"I'm not sure how much I believe her, either. We need to keep an eye on her...just in case she's still infected with Despair..."

"'We'?"

"Y-Yes, I mean all of us…"

"Hinata-kun, you realize that you and I are the only ones here who are actually keeping tabs on things, right? Everyone else is still either coming to terms with things or treating this like the vacation we didn't get."

"I've realized that, yes." He was almost envious of the ability to seem so carefree, although he couldn't read their minds. Maybe this was how some of them coped with it, how they tried to restore themselves...because they could restore who they used to be.

"Are you sure? You haven't been out much!"

Hinata huffed before he could stop himself. "If this is you trying to trick me into taking a break-"

"Me?"

"Yes, you! I'll take a break when I'm done with this, alright?"

That seemed to satisfy him.

He reached over, removed the empty mug from Hinata's hand. "Suit yourself, Hinata-kun. With how brilliant you are, I'm sure you'll crack that disc soon and who knows, it might provide some really useful information for the Future Foundation! The more pleased with us they are, the less likely we are to be executed, after all. I didn't realize how thirsty you were. I'll get you some more coffee."

"Yeah, thanks…hey, are you busy right now? Other than...the coffee I mean…"

"Not at all."

"Well, if you want...I mean, if you're that worried about me, you can bring a book and sit on the couch while I work…your luck might help me, who knows…"

Komaeda beamed. "Alright! I'd like that a lot, Hinata-kun! I promise to be quiet."

Within three hours of Komaeda keeping him silent company, laying across the couch with his nose buried in a book on poisonous snakes, Hinata had finally did it.

He'd cracked the encryption, and upon piecing the fragments of files together and opening them, he found nothing more than a message directed at him.

Hinata Hajime,

Congratulations on cracking this encryption! It's currently the most secure type that technology has to offer. Upon handing this disk back to us unencrypted, Future Foundation would like to offer you full time employment with specific contract terms based on your case.

Hinata sat back in his chair, held his head in both hands, and realized that the throbbing in the back of his head was likely his anger at being mocked. He groaned.

Wait...are they mocking me? They're not...this was just a test...stop trying to make me feel angry with you…!

He didn't want to be awake any longer than he had to be now, so he ejected the CD, put it back into the envelope he'd received it in.

With a sigh, Hinata looked back at Komaeda, who had fallen asleep with the textbook opened on his chest.

He couldn't help feeling frustrated. If the FF really did want to hire him on, the whole "based on your case" segment meant that he'd probably have to go in front of a bunch of higher ups and be questioned to death.

Maybe have his brain scanned to prove that he was really himself, which he knew couldn't be proven.

Kamukura Izuru was still alive, inside of him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Especially right now, since this entire debacle had pissed him off.

But I can't exactly tell them no…

Of course you can. Tell them you aren't interested.

Just be quiet! I don't want to talk to you.

To his surprise, Kamukura didn't argue with him, but Hinata was always left wondering if, having full access to his brain, Kamukura couldn't influence him in other ways.

If all of his feelings and thoughts were ever 100% his own.

Whatever, I don't want to think about this right now!

Hinata shut down his computer, watched the desktop disappear, and was once again left staring at his left eye when the screen went black.

Two days later, and Hinata had thought of a solution, at least a band-aid-an obvious one that had completely flew over his head before.

Or maybe the idea had been blocked out of his mind.

"Naegi-san, can I ask a favor?" Hinata said casually as he handed him back the disk at the docks.

Naegi was as bashful as ever, embarrassed when someone older than him referred to him so formally. He didn't argue anymore, though, smiling awkwardly and taking the envelope.

"Of course! If it's about relocating all of you off the island, I'm...I'm not sure they want you back among civilians just yet…but you're the best candidate we have for new recruits right now, so..."

Hinata shook his head, looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one had snuck up on them to eavesdrop. Komaeda was still sitting on the beach with Saionji and Koizumi as they built a sandcastle. Saionji wedged a baby turtle into the tower in the middle as a centerpiece.

Komaeda noticed him immediately and waved.

Hinata turned back to Naegi, staring down at the ground. "Well, I was thinking...I guess...I'm assuming, hiring me on, your bosses are gonna want to meet me in person again?"

"Probably...but they'll likely ask me to take you back to base. I'm sorry, but I don't decide these things, so I really don't know."

"I don't want...people there staring at me. My eyes, I mean, I realize I look really weird like…" He pointed to his left eye. "This...so, uh, if you could-if any places still exist that sell them-I'd really appreciate it if you found some contacts that matched my natural eye color."

"Oh! Sure thing!" Naegi was maybe the most kind hearted, empathetic person Hinata had ever encountered and he almost felt guilty for asking this of him.

Like he was taking advantage.

Naegi pulled out his phone. "Let me take a picture of your eye to find the shade closest to your natural color!"

It probably looked weird, Naegi suddenly taking a picture of him, and Hinata rigidly stood there as he took the photo, praying no one had seen.

"...there! I'll see what I can do for you!" Naegi sounded confident.

Hinata nervously smiled, feeling somewhat relieved. "Thanks...I'm glad the world isn't so destroyed as to lose modern things like contact lenses…"

"It's...getting better out there…but it shouldn't be a problem at all, Hinata-san!"