She smiled until the very end. And as the conveyor belt pulled her slowly further and further away from them and closer and closer to her demise, her grin only widened. As the crusher raised itself one more time, she looked directly at Naegi and mouthed two words to him. Not being someone who could read lips, however, he couldn't decipher her last words to him.
THUD.
Yes. The end. It was over. They were sure that last, loud thud of the crusher echoed deafeningly and could be heard throughout the entire school.
If there was anyone left to hear it, that is.
It was over.
Enoshima had left them a final gift - the remote with the big, bright red shiny button. Naegi approached it slowly, carefully. And he hesitantly reached out for it, as if he were afraid it would suddenly bare fangs and bite his hand clean off.
He knew it wouldn't though. She may have been their opponent, their adversary, their ienemy/i, but if there was one thing Enoshima did, it was keep her word.
It was over.
So why was he still so scared to touch it?
Naegi forced himself forward. The moment his fingers touched the cold metal, he froze. His eyes widened. He gasped softly, mouth hanging open. He started to sweat, taking rapid, labored breaths. And he shook, his entire body trembling. He couldn't take it, it was too much for him. All of it was rushing back to him like an unstoppable wave and-
"Naegi-kun!"
He could hear Kirigiri's voice in the distance. As she continued to call out to him, he could hear the other voices. Asahina. Hagakure. Fukawa. Togami.
And he heard some that shouldn't have been there, the faint echoes of his departed classmates. He heard Maizono and Kuwata and Fujisaki and Oowoda and Ishimaru and Yamada and Celes and Oogami and Ikusaba. They quickly faded. He laughed.
"Yo, Naegi-chi, you okay?" Hagakure asked. Asahina gripped one of his shoulders and Fukawa reached out to him (but didn't quite touch him). Togami slapped him.
And he just sat there for the longest few seconds of their lives. Kirigiri reached for his free hand, but at the last second, he pulled it away, both hands on the remote. Naegi's lips moved, but no sound came out.
"What did you say?" Someone asked. He couldn't quite tell who it was. He repeated himself and this time, his voice managed to pull through. It was soft, it was barely audible to the students around him, but they heard it clear as day.
"It's not over."
He remembered everything.
"What do you mean, 'it's not over!?'" Togami demanded. He reached out and grabbed the front of Naegi's blazer with both hands with a crushing death grip.
"I mean," Naegi whispered, then raised his voice. "We need to continue the class trial. Now."
Five voices immediately yelled out at once. What for? Why? They had won. They had earned their freedom.
It was over.
"It's not over," Naegi says once more, before standing up and simply ignoring Asahina's attempts to hold him back. He made his way back to the courtroom and simply took his usual spot. The remote was still in his hands. They had no choice but to follow.
"W-what is there left to d-discuss?" Fukawa asked. It was obvious that there was something was up here, but she had a sinking feeling that should this continue, things would only get worse from here. Much, much worse.
Naegi placed the remote on the side of the banister. "Enoshima-san said we can leave once we discover all the secrets of this school. Well," he gave everyone a smile, but it was...wrong. When Naegi smiled, it brought warmth to people's hearts. But this time, it only sent cold chills down their spines. "we haven't discovered them all."
Kirigiri narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and gave him a cold stare. "What do you know, Naegi?"
"And what's it matter!?" Hagakure interjected. "Enoshima-san's gone, we don't have to play by her rules anymore!"
The smile turned into a grin. A grin that unnerved everyone present and seemed to hide something behind it.
"You've got that wrong."
Naegi's grin disappeared in an instant and he looked down timidly.
"Besides, it's something I think you all will want to know."
"Then spit it out already!" Hagakure shouted.
"Sorry, I can't just tell you," Naegi sighed.
"And why not?" Togami growled. He was growing quite impatient with Naegi. This strange, new Naegi that he did not like. In fact, he doesn't believe that he can call that boy Naegi anymore.
"Because it's meaningless if I just tell you."
Asahina, who had been silent for so long, dared to ask, "Naegi-kun, what's wrong with you?"
He simply told her there was nothing wrong. Nothing wrong at all.
"Let me point you in the right direction," Naegi said. "Why did Enoshima-san do all this?"
"She said it was to prove that d-despair was stronger than hope," Fukawa answered. "She was confident that it was the most p-powerful thing."
"Exactly," Naegi said, giving Fukawa an earnest smile like he did so many days before. It was exactly identical, but she turned her head away from him. "but why? Despair has already all but taken over the entire world, if we're to believe that Enoshima-san was telling the truth."
And they knew it was. They had gotten the confirmation they needed earlier, when they had faced off with Enoshima herself.
"Well, she said that there were little resistances left and she wanted to crush them," Asahina said.
"But why bother?" Naegi prompted. "Setting up such a large, elaborate scheme like this?"
A few guesses were flying around the room.
She wanted total victory?
For fun?
Because she could?
It was Kirigiri who came up with the answer. "Because she was afraid."
Naegi stared at her. Kirigiri met his gaze. "She was afraid of hope, so she sought to destroy it completely."
"But there's so little hope according to her," Asahina said, shaking her head.
"Then what hope was left," Kirigiri reasoned, "must be very strong. Strong enough to threaten her. Strong enough to stand up to Super High School Level Despair."
The room was dead silent. Everyone cast their gazes downward. They all knew what Kirigiri was getting at. Only Naegi kept his eyes on her. They were wide and sparkled with anticipation, like a hungry predator eyeing their prey.
"What she was afraid of is...Super High School Level Hope."
Naegi gave a shriek of victory.
"Yes! You're exactly right, Kirigiri-san!"
"What does this have to do with anything!?" Asahina shouted. "So Enoshima-san was scared of Naegi-kun, so she tried to kill him! And when that didn't work, she tried to frame him to falsely execute him! We already knew that!"
"Is that really all there is to it?" Togami asked, pushing his glasses up and glancing at Naegi, who seemed to be almost giggling in delight. "There must be more."
Naegi smiled at him. That damn smile. In the past few minutes, Togami had grown to despise it. "Togami-kun is right. Don't lose hope everyone, you can figure it out!"
Hagakure thought. He thought long and hard. He gasped, much louder than was actually necessary. "Naegi-chi...don't tell me you're a part of Super High School Level Despair!?"
"No."
"Oh, phew."
"But you worked with them, didn't you?" Togami asked. "You're a part of this, Naegi. That's why you're making us do this foolish, asinine trial."
The giggle he got in response meant yes, Togami was right and no, he wasn't going to let them go after just that. Logically, the next step was to figure out exactly how Naegi, the gentle, kind, and inspiring Naegi they had all grown attached to, fit into the grand scheme of things.
"If Naegi-kun is Super High School Level Hope..." Asahina started.
"...and if he's not with Super High School Level Despair..." Fukawa continued. "There's no way he could be. The two are completely opposite of each other."
"Then they must have shared a common goal," Togami finished. "What was it? The point of everything Enoshima-san did was to prove despair's superiority."
"Then the answer is simple," Kirigiri said. "Naegi-kun...wanted to prove that hope was superior."
Fukawa looked ready to kill. "Y-you did this all...for the sake of a game!?"
Naegi, who had up until that point, was all smiles, suddenly slammed down on the banister with all his might, sending an equally hostility-filled glare at Fukawa. "You think this was a game to us!? I'll have you know it was anything but a game! I risked everything on this! I participated in this willingly. I let Enoshima-san erase my memories in order to participate as a normal student! I had to be a mastermind!"
He paused to look down at the floor and take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. When he lifted his head again, he had a grin on his face again, and it's now obvious to everyone what it was hiding earlier. That grin and the wild look in his eyes said it all.
Insanity. Pure insanity.
Asahina coverd her mouth with both hands and took a step backwards. Hagakure whimpered. Fukawa fainted and Genocider Syo immediately rose to take her place.
"Oi, what's going on here?" Syo asks, then catches a glimpse of Naegi. "...woah there. What's up with Hope Boy over there?"
Naegi greeted her. "Hello, Genocider, nice of you to join us."
"I dunno what's going on, but color me interested!" Syo cackles.
"Enoshima-san was to run the School Life of Mutual Killings while you, Naegi-kun, willingly had your memories erased so you could participate on equal footing to all the other students," Togami summarized, partially for Syo's benefit, but more to get his thoughts in order. He had learned a thing or two from watching Naegi during trials. "You must have had a reason for doing so."
"For one, I don't think I could stand to run it myself," Naegi answered, biting his thumb and looking a bit shy. "It's just too cruel, don't you think?"
"But not so cruel that you knowingly allowed it to happen."
"It was a gamble on his part," Kirigiri continued. "He knew how he'd act with no memories and placed in that situation. Enoshima-san's role was to try to crush us with despair. Yours...was to keep us propped up with hope."
"And touching the remote would restore your memories," Asahina added. "That's why you started acting weird when you touched it."
"Not weird," Naegi protested. "This is how I am."
"Liar!" she screamed at him. "Get out, you...imposter! Give us back Naegi-kun!"
Asahina couldn't take it anymore. She buried her face in her hands and started to cry. She had lost so many people already. Yamada had died in her arms. Oogami committed suicide. And now she was losing Naegi too.
No, she had already lost him.
Naegi's features softened and he made his way over to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "There, there, Asahina-san. Don't cry."
She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!"
"It's all right, Asahina-san. You're stronger than this."
"Don't talk to me!"
"You can't lose hope now. Remember when you were on the brink of despair and in that despair, tried to kill us all? You found hope again, in Oogami-san's last words."
That was too much. Asahina slapped him again, this time across the face.
"Don't you idare/i say her name! Don't you dare sully Sakura-chan's name like that!"
Naegi smiled and rubbed the cheek in which she had struck him. She had hit him so hard. Amazing. Wonderful. He was glad to see that fighting spirit back in her. "Hagakure, there's still so many fortunes left for you to tell. And you, Togami? Didn't you say you were going to rebuild the conglomerate? You can't do that if you're stuck her. So hurry up and beat me already!"
Both men snorted at him. Neither deigned his words worthy of an answer.
"You have a dream too, don't you Syo?"
"Absolutely! Byakuya-sama is my dream! And I guess Miss Gloomy's too."
"Kirigiri-"
"That's enough, Naegi-kun," Kirigiri snapped, interrupting him. "I don't want to hear your empty words." Her hands balled into tight fists. "I trusted you, Naegi-kun."
"And it's a good thing you did! Look where my hope and I got you!"
Naegi stopped, as if he realized he was being angry and loud again and immediately softened his features.
"It's okay, I'm not looking for any favors or thanks," he shrugged. "The important thing is I brought you all the hope you needed to survive. Enoshima-san was going to do this with or without me. But it wasn't easy for me, no. Oh no. It pained me so much to see everyone suffering. Wishing I could do something, anything.
Now that I have my memory back, it was like the good old days. Look at me, I got into this school on a lucky draw. I don't have any special talents, constantly surrounded by amazing people like yourselves. The only thing I'm really good at is being optimistic. So when I found out about Enoshima-san's plan, I knew it was my chance. My one and only chance to bring about the hope the world needs right now.
I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't want to do this to you all. The dear friends I love and hold so close to my heart. It was the least a normal, unremarkable guy like me could do for all of you."
He paused, and everyone took the chance to simultaneously ask him why. Why then, if he was so sorry and it was so painful for him, why did he do it?
"Weren't you listening earlier? Enoshima-san said it herself. Hope and despair are two sides of the same coin."
Naegi stopped and bent over to pick something up. A discarded Monobear doll that Enoshima had left behind. He held it in his arms, cradling it like it was a precious item.
"To bring about the ultimate hope, I needed the ultimate despair."
And Enoshima had provided that in spades.
Naegi put the Monobear down and shoved both his hands into his blazer's pockets. "Well then! I think we've talked enough. Let's take a vote."
"A vote?" Hagakure echoed.
"This is a class trial, isn't it? Ah, but this is a different kind of vote. There's no point in picking a guilty party in this situation. So instead, you're going to vote on what to do with me."
"What to...do with you?" Asahina asked.
"Yes!" Naegi clapped his hands. "You can choose to do nothing to me. Or you can execute me."
"E-execute!?"
"I won't be voting, it's all up to you five! I'm leaving my fate in your hands. You'll get to decide what to do with the one who gave you the ultimate hope."
"Take your "ultimate hope" and shove it," Togami huffed. "Don't think I'm indebted to you for fake, manufactured hope."
"Is it really fake?" Naegi asked. Togami didn't answer. "Ah, well, let's not worry about that. Get to voting!"
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, only the clicking of buttons was heard as each student cast their vote. The roulette wheel lit up, but where there used to be faces of students, there were simply two words alternating on each reel.
PUNISH
PARDON
PUNISH
PARDON
Could they really do it?
PUNISH
PARDON
PUNISH
PARDON
Even after this betrayal?
PUNISH
PARDON
PUNISH
PARDON
Could they really sentence Naegi to death?
PUNISH
PARDON
PUNISH
PARDON
PUNISH
PUNISH
PUNISH
Noisemakers sounded. Naegi closed his eyes and smiled. But this time, it was the smile they had all remembered, the one that was filled with affection and...hope.
"Good choice."
The familiar red button appeared from the floor. The cursed one that was pressed so many times and led so many to their deaths. Instead of pressing it, however, Naegi walked over to his place in the courtroom and took the remote, handing it to Kirigiri, who accept it without a word before making his way back to the chair that Monobear would so casually sit on during every trial. And only then did he push the button.
There were no pop up sets. No elaborate machinery. No personalized execution scenes. Instead, a slot opened below the button and out popped an object that no one could really quite see due to Naegi blocking their views. The button retreated back into the floor as Naegi took a seat on Monobear's throne.
Something in his hand flashed in the light, and immediately, everyone realized what it was.
He was still smiling.
"Naegi-kun-!" Asahina screamed.
"You made your choice," Naegi said, shaking his head. "You made the right one."
He lifted it.
"Bring hope to the world."
He pressed the blade of the knife to his throat. As he did, he could see Enoshima's last moments once again. She mouthed two words to him, and this time he could hear them loud and clear.
"You win."
He slashed.
As Naegi sat there and bled to death, they couldn't help but wonder: did they make the right choice? What were they supposed to think about Makoto Naegi, the boy who deceived them. Betrayed them. Brought them hope.
Loved them.
Not a single one of them averted their eyes as Naegi died, filled with conflicted feelings.
"...shit. That was hot as hell!" Syo laughed. "Togami who? He's old and busted. There's a new hotness in town! Ah...Makoto-sama...if only I could have killed you myself...!"
Well, most of them, anyway.
The five survivors made their way back up to the entrance, or rather, the exit of Hope's Peak. No words were said. None were needed.
They were still conflicted about how they felt about Makoto Naegi. But they did know one thing.
They would take the hope he had given them and use it to survive the world outside.
Kirigiri pushed the button. Machinery heaved and creaked as the locks opened and bright light came pouring in.
It was over.