She was crying.
As Chiaki Nanami lay on the floor bleeding out, she heard heavy footsteps coming towards her.
"H...Hinata...?", she breathes out, looking up at the figure in front of her, seeing long black hair and deep red eyes looking down at her.
He stared at the bleeding girl for a good ten seconds, then reaches into his pocket and produces a bottle, turning the cap and placing it to Nanami's lips. "Drink," he says simply.
At first, she refuses, but soon does as she's told, and drinks the liquid coming out of the bottle. Soon she felt...better. A lot more than better, actually. Once she felt well enough, Chiaki sat up, but was stopped by the feeling of a cloud coming over her mind, falling back down into the puddle of her blood.
"Take it easy," the black-haired boy said calmly. "You've lost a lot of blood."
Panting slightly, she looked at the boy again, noticing his eyes really were red, and his hair was jet black, the same colour as his uniform, his stare piercing and pointed as he looked at Chiaki intensely.
"Why...did you help me?", the gamer asked him.
He took a minute to think about this question, and answered simply, "I don't know. I thought you dying would be boring, but...something inside of me wanted to help you, rather than let you simply die. Perhaps...that is the Ultimate Hope within me?" He shakes his head. "I don't know."
Chiaki looks at him. "Who...are you? I feel like I know you, but..."
"My name is Izuru Kamakura," the boy says simply. His words held little to no emotion.
"I'm Chiaki. Chiaki Nanami," Chiaki said in response, smiling weakly and groaning in pain.
Kamakura looked down at the Ultimate Gamer and sighed. "I have to get you out of here. The true Ultimate Despairs are committing a coup de gras, and Hope's Peak is the target, the linchpin of the biggest display of despair ever. They brainwashed everyone else in your class to become the Ultimate Despairs, fragments of themselves that only know the feeling of true despair."
"E...even miss Chisa?", Nanami asked, somewhat horrified. Kamakura nodded.
Chiaki took in a few heavy breaths, tears falling down her cheeks. "...why...? Why did they...?"
Kamakura looks down at the crying girl, trying to figure out why he felt the need to rescue her. He felt like it was buried deep down inside of his mind, but...he shook his head. Nothing came to mind.
He looks at the doorway. "We have to go, Chiaki. Now. Otherwise you'll be taken by despair as well."
Chiaki wiped her face with her blood-stained sleeve, nodding. "Ok...let's go."
Kamakura led the way out of the basement of the complex, Chiaki nervously following behind.
After exiting the underground bunker, Chiaki quietly asked, "Where will we go?"
"Where the despair isn't," said Kamakura, continuing to lead the way. "There's a place I've heard of, a place where no one would be able to touch us."
"Wh-what do you mean?", she asks. Sighing, Kamakura says, "We're going to Jabberwock Island. I've heard that it's a tropical paradise free of any sort of outside influence. It's also the place where..."
He stopped suddenly, Chiaki freezing in her steps as well. "What is it?", Chiaki asks.
"...it's nothing," he says, and continues walking, leaving the SHSL Gamer confused. Why is he helping me?, she wondered. And why do I get the strangest feeling that I know him somehow?
Why do I feel something everytime I look at her?, Kamakura thought to himself. Why does looking at miss Nanami fill my heart with such a feeling of hope? I don't understand...
As they left Hope's Peak, Chiaki looked back, thinking about how peaceful the school looked, before continuing to follow Izuru wherever he was going.
Many hours passed, until the pair ended up on Jabberwock Island, as Kamakura had said was going to happen. However, their presence attracted the watchful eye of the Future Foundation, as cameras trained themselves onto the young raven-haired man.
"Tengan, take a look at this," Munakata said, pointing at Kamakura for the Chairman to see. He peered at the monitor and grimaced slightly, making a low sound in his throat. "So...I finally get to see you with my own two eyes, the results of the Izuru Kamakura Project, Hinata Hajime..."
Munakata looks at Tengan then back at the monitor, where he jolts slightly. "Wh-who is that with him?!"
"Hmmm?", the chairman says absentmindedly, before looking down and seeing what distressed Munakata. The sight of the pink-haired gamer made the pair stare at the screen, wondering what was going to unfold between the two on-screen individuals.
Chiaki looked around, slightly scared. "Hinata...", she said, her voice wavering slightly.
Kamakura sighed. "I told you on the way here not to call me that, miss Nanami."
"But...", Chiaki said, looking down sadly, slowly thinking about what to say next. "You don't...remember me, do you?"
Kamakura stops where he is and looks over at the sea. "There are many things I know, but do not know why I know them. You are most certainly one of them. Even if I were forced to forget, I don't believe I would be able to forget you, miss Nanami."
Chiaki smiles at Izuru, whispering, "Thank you."
The pair continues walking, until they come across a strange building. "Wh...what...? where are we going, Kamakura?"
Kamakura continues on, easily opening the door. "It was supposed to be locked. Hm. Ultimate Luck prevails once again."
He then turns his head to Chiaki, who looked slightly scared, and smiles a little. "Don't worry, Chiaki, I just want to keep you safe. I would never intent to hurt you."
"O...ok...", she says, following Izuru into the strange building.
Inside of the building were what looked like cryo life support pods- 16 of them to be exact -along with a myriad of strange tech that Chiaki had no idea knowing why it was on a tourist destination.
Kamakura stood next to one and opened it, looking at Chiaki. "You will be safe in here, I promise."
"How? How do you know?", Chiaki asked, her voice cracking slightly from fear.
Izuru Kamakura looked down and smiled. There was no evil intent or malice in his smile. "Because I believe in my Ultimate talents. And I believe in you, Chiaki."
I believe in you, Chiaki. The gamer girl's eyes widened after hearing that sentence. Kamakura...Hinata...believes in me? He believes in me, even though I would never have survived if he hadn't acted when he did?, she ponders, before nodding, walking towards the pod and looking up at Kamakura. He looked down at her, and motioned for her to get into the machine.
Chiaki smiled and gave Kamakura a quick kiss on the lips, smiling and blushing at him. "When I see you again...you'll be Hinata...right?"
Kamakura's cheek flushed with color. What is this...feeling? It's like...like my heart hurts to beat, but it also refuses to stop because...because she exists...
Kamakura shook his head. Now isn't the time for such things. Now is the time for rational thought. Wondering what's happening to me can come later.
He smiled at Chiaki as she stepped into and lay down in the pod, smiling at Kamakura the entire time until the pod closed. As it booted up, only one thing was on Chiaki's mind.
Hinata...I love you.
Three years later, the pod opens once again, much to Chiaki's surprise. Mmmn...how long have I been in here?, she wondered, sitting up and looking around to see many of her classmates surrounding her, their faces lighting up once they see her rise out of the pod.
From behind, a familiar voice sayd, "Chiaki, it's...been a while, hasn't it?"
Chiaki took a small breath inward, and slowly turned around to see Hinata standing behind her, smiling at the gamer girl. "After all, I still owe you that game, right?"
Tears welling in her eyes, Chiaki nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "You...you saved me...you saved everyone..."
She got out of the pod and hugged Hinata tightly, this time letting her tears flow freely, her body shaking as she happily cried, holding the love of her life in her arms. Hinata placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey now, no more of that right now, ok? I'm back."
She sniffed, looking at Hinata and seeing his eyes. "Oh my...God, Hinata, you eyes, they're-"
"Heterochromatic," he chuckled. "I know. I came to terms with who I am as a person, who I wanted to be for you. There was a lot involved in the Izuru Kamakura Project, and it destroyed me as a person. Or so they believed." Hinata smiled, showing off some teeth and laughing a little.
Continuing to hold Hajime, Chiaki looked up. "So...you remember...?"
He looks down at her. "The kiss?", he asks, and nods, smiling more. "I do. It's one of the strongest memories I have of you while I was Izuru Kamakura.. It gave me the motivation to continue trying, to decide to become Hinata again. I did it to see you again, as myself."
Smiling more, Chiaki lets go of Hajime and turns to the rest of the 76th Class. "We're back, everyone~!", she cheers happily, which everyone else gratefully cheers along with.
Once the students had saved Makoto and the rest of the remnants of the Future Foundation from Mitarai and his Hope Video, they returned to the boat that they had come on.
Chiaki stood at the bow of the boat, anxiously waiting for Hajime to return.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around her mid-section, and Hinata's voice said, "Kept you waiting, huh?"
Chiaki giggled. "Oh come on, you know that David Hayter was a good voice for Snake."
"Perhaps, but Kiefer Sutherland as Big Boss was a good choice, in my opinion," Hajime replied, laughing slightly.
The pair looked out over the sea as the rest of the former Remnants of Despair loaded onto the boat, along with their new friend Mitarai.
"Hinata...?", Chiaki asked, her voice quiet and softer than normal.
"Hmm?"
"What do you think will happen to us in the future?"
Hajime thought about this for a moment, then said, "I don't know. We'll live out the rest of our days on Jabberwock Island, I guess. Where else can we go?"
"I dunno. But I do know one place I want to be...", Chiaki said, turning to face Hinata.
"Oh yeah? And where's that?", he asks, smiling at Chiaki.
Smiling back, she leaned in to kiss Hinata, and he did the same, their lips meeting happily.
"Anywhere you are, Hinata, is where I want to be."