Wow thanks a lot for all the reviews guys - I really enjoy reading them and they give me a lot of ideas for how this story could go parings-wise. There will be some drama in this story, as not everyone will get along well, some problems will arise, but overall it should hopefully prove to be a fun read. If anyone wants to give me suggestions of how they think the story should go I would be more than happy to hear you out. This chapter is a pretty long one, but regardless I hope you all like it. Enjoy!


The Students and the Island - Chapter 2

One by one the students of the 77th class woke up. Like Hajime, they were first plagued with horrifying memories of the atrocities they had once committed, but after remembering their time on the island together, and their past school life, the each in turn calmed down. They all accepted these memories to be their burdens, and vowed to never let despair control them again.

A young woman with a hairpin shaped like a space ship from a video game, with a games console in one hand entered the room. At first, no one noticed her presence, their attentions focused on remembering what had happened during the last two years.

Hajime, who alongside Makoto, Kyouko and Togami helped calm the students down when they first awoke, was the first to notice. His eyes just so happened to connect with hers as he helped a tired looking Fuyuhiko exit his pod. In his surprised state he almost dropped Fuyuhiko, casing him to yell profanity in his direction, before following his gaze.

"Holy shit - is that...?" Fuyuhiko eloquently questioned, his facial expression now resembling Hajime's.

They couldn't believe it. She was dead. They both watched her die, right? She can't be alive, those injuries would kill anyone - even Nekomaru.

"C-Chiaki...?" Hajime whispered, not taking his eyes off of her for a second.

She smiled faintly at the two, giving them a melancholy look that made it seem as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and had rehearsed it in her head over and over.

"I'm back."

Once the 77th class were all safely removed from their pods, they were provided with food and water, and were given time to come to terms with their situations - some taking longer than others.

The quickest students to adapt were the survivors of the mutual killing game, having already gained the knowledge that they were once Super High School Level Despairs, and already began moving forward before the end of the simulation. While the remaining students took time to wrap their heads around everything alone, the survivors made their way over to Chiaki.

Sonia practically jumped for joy when she saw her old friend once again, breaking down into tears as she embraced her into a hug that made Souda jealous.

"Let her have this one man, it's been fuckin' forever since we've seen her. We thought she was dead." Fuyuhiko remarked with his trademark swears. Upon waking from the simulation he found that one of his eyes had been transplanted with one of Junko Enoshima's, and he wasted no time in removing it, feeling much calmer after.

Akane swung her arm around Fuyuhiko's shoulder, laughing.

"Baby gangsta's right! We need to celebrate! And you know what celebrations mean - food!" Akane was practically drooling on Fuyuhiko, who was already fuming at the 'baby gangsta' nickname she often called him, throwing many profanities her way.

After a teary reunion with Sonia, Chiaki explained that just as her consciousness was fading, she was saved by an extremely angry Juzo Sakakura, who had heard Junko Enoshima was seen entering the old school building, and had pursued her in an attempt to get his revenge on her. Using basic first-aid he learnt as a requirement for his job as a security guard, he managed to slow down the bleeding until Seiko Kimura arrived after responding to his call, and patched Chiaki up the best she could, using medicines to improve her state. They had just barely managed to save her, with her remaining in a coma for a short while due to her excessive injuries.

After that, Chiaki revealed to Juzo that her previous teacher, Chisa Yukizome, had been turned into a despair by Junko Enoshima, and had assisted her in her plans. At first Juzo didn't believe it - he refused to believe it, but after reporting the claim to Munakata after his paranoia got the best of him, Munakata investigated the matter, discovering that Chisa had in fact turned to despair, and had killed the group of small children she claimed were murdered.

As a result of this shocking revelation, Munakata put aside his differences with Makoto, and decided to work together with him in order to use the Neo World program in order to rehabilitate her. Chisa became the first person to be successfully rehabilitated by the program, and shortly after, the pods were installed on Jabberwock island - far away from the public, where no one unsavoury would find them.

Hajime and Chiaki shared a look - they were both so happy to see each other once again, but refrained from making a scene in front of the other students.

Souda put his hand on his chin, thinking.

"So Chiaki, does that mean you're gonna stay with us all here?" The others all looked at her expectedly, each having so many things they wanted to say and do with Chiaki.

She smiled at them all.

"Of course."


In an attempt to prevent extreme psychological distress on the recently awakened students, Makoto requested the aid of the Super High School Level Therapist; Miaya Gekkougahara. Miaya proved to be invaluable when it came to Chisa's rehabilitation, and Makoto believed that this would also be the case in this situation as well.

The 5 survivors of the game required the least amount of therapy, with the revelation that they were once Super High School Level Despair not surprising them as much as it did during the simulation. These students had the resolve to move on from the past, thanks to Hajime (who of course was assisted by the A.I of Chiaki Nanami, who was based off of the real Chiaki and programmed by Chihiro).

The fact that Miaya used the character of Usami to speak to all of the students comforted them slightly, making them think about their time on the island over their time as despairs. It took days, but one by one she managed to make each student accept their past, as well as what happened inside the simulation, which some were still feeling trauma towards.

All in all, the simulation (despite all the hiccups in the road) combined with Miaya's therapist skills had essentially reverted the students to their prior states. They all wanted to move on from their past mistakes, while retaining who they once were due to Junko's influence on them disappearing.

"Miss Gekkougahara, thank you so much! You've been such a big help." Makoto approached the seated girl after she had finished her final therapy session, which ended with Gundham yelling about being reborn from the darkness, and Ibuki excitedly thinking of new songs to write for everyone to hear.

The girl slightly turned her head towards him, typing on her computer as she did, the familiar voice of a certain rabbit emitting from it.

"Glad I could help ~ I think I might stay here for a little while longer to monitor their conditions ~"

Makoto was slightly surprised by this.

"Munakata said that was okay?"

She gave a slow nod in response, avoiding eye contact. Makoto didn't notice this, so in response smiled gratefully towards his fellow member.

"We're glad to have you Miss Gekkougahara!"

She swivelled her chair around before driving away, typing a final message.

"You can me Miaya, Makoto, like everyone else does ~"

Makoto didn't expect to hear this, blushing slightly at the prompt of using such a familiar term, while nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Will do Miss Gek- eh, um...Miaya." Makoto followed his mistake up with a slight chuckle.


In order to help fully rehabilitate the 77th class, each student was assigned a 'buddy' as per Ishimaru's request in order to make sure their physical and emotional conditions were stable. It was also a good bonding opportunity between the 77th and 78th class. After exiting the dark building, each of the students were bathed in bright and warm sunlight.

Hajime looked up at the blue sky, knowing that building their futures starts now.

...but this may prove to be slightly difficult.

The buddy pair up had been essentially random, with Isimaru choosing all the pairs without taking into consideration personality clashes and the such. This is what led to pairs like the overly sensitive Chihiro and the sharp-tongued yakuza Fuyuhiko. Suffice to say, Chihiro cried a lot during this time.

"The fuck are you crying about now!?" Fuyuhiko yelled with exasperation. It seemed that pretty much everything he said made the small girl cry. As if Mikan's crying didn't annoy him enough, he was stuck with the most sensitive student for a good few days until Ishimaru would finish forcing this mandatory requirement. No one could argue with that guy - he was so tenacious that any protest was cancelled out by his loud lecturing about how much of a good learning opportunity this would present to be.

Chihiro sniffled, her crying not letting up any time soon.

Fuyuhiko slammed his head into a nearby palm tree.


Not all groups were terribly mismatched - Mikan and Touko were walking around the island in order for Mikan to re-familiarise herself with its layout.

"W-Why are you s-stuttering so much you attention w-whore!" Touko yelled, pointing an accusatory finger in Mikan's direction.

"I-I'm so s-sorry! Please f-forgive meeeeeeee!" The two continued to stutter their way through a conversation in which Touko was accusing Mikan of using her body to seduce all of the men, warning her to stay away from her master.

Of course, Mikan had no idea what she was talking about, and kept on crying and asking for forgiveness.


Then there were groups that were just plain awful.

Hiyoko Saiyonji and Mondo Oowada were walking towards rocket supermarket after Hiyoko demanded they do so, seeking her favourite sweets - gummy bears.

After finding her snack, she proceeded to toss the yellow bears (which she hated) to the side, not even noticing when she tossed one right into Mondo's hair, causing it to get stuck there.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Mondo growled, with a face that would give children nightmares.

"It's not my fault that you have such a stupid hairstyle. What even is that? A perm or a pompadour? Either way both are out of style! Hahaha!"

Mondo grabbed Hiyoko by the top of her kimono, drawing her close to his face that showed complete and utter rage.

"You trying to start something!? You even know who I am? I'm the leader of the Crazy Diamonds!" After hearing Mondo's threat Hiyoko burst out laughing.

"'Crazy Diamonds?' What a dumb name! But not as dumb as you are I'm sure!"

Mondo was raised to believe hitting girls was bad, and should never be done on any circumstances whatsoever.

He might make an exception just this once.


There were groups that felt somewhat familiar too.

Sonia Nevermind and Hifumi Yamada made their way around the centre of the islands, stopping at the park to rest for a bit.

Hifumi was beginning to pant, not being used to walking around so much.

"Excuse me, Hifumi was it? Are you feeling alright?"

Hifumi instantly perked up, acting as if he hadn't even broke a sweat.

"Your kind words are wasted on me Nevermind-dono! You are a princess - if you wish you can use me as a seat!"

Sonia was taken aback slightly by the strange offer. Kazuichi had made some strange offers to her before, acting generally weird around her, but never this strange.

"N-no that is quite alright, thank you." Sonia smiled kindly, as if she was feeling sorry for him.

"But Celeste-dono always uses me as a seat milady! I would be honoured to be your seat!"

Sonia continued to smile kindly through the awkwardness.


Hajime Hinata and Kyouko Kirigiri arrived at the theme park. Hajime had no idea why he had chose here of all places to go with Kyouko, who seemed to be completely unfamiliar with the concept of fun, having no excitement or interest in the place whatsoever.

An awkward silence surrounded the two as Hajime desperately thought of conversation topics to fill it. Before he could make a remark on how nice the weather was, Kyouko spoke up from beside him.

"After watching the footage of what happened on this island, I must say that I'm impressed with you."

Hajime was completely taken off guard with this. Not only did he not expect her to be the first to make conversation, he definitely didn't expect to hear a compliment from her.

She continued.

"During your time in the Neo World Program, you solved each mystery quite skilfully. I'm sure if you wanted to you could become a detective with enough training."

"Wow, when the Super High School Level Detective says something like that it's quite the honour!" He laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

She smirked in return, turning her attention to the rides in front of her.

"I've never been to an amusement park before" she hesitated for a moment "but I think I'll try those spinning cups over there."

Hajime was surprised that the always calm and composed Kyouko Kirigiri would even consider the notion of going on a ride in an amusement park, but made him slightly reevaluate her.

"Haha, well then, let's go investigate them." Hajime smiled, leading the way.

She smiled back slightly, following closely behind.


"- and that's why I love hope, and it's our hopes that will shine through in even the darkest of despa-"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Celestia Ludenburg cleared her throat and re-composed herself, her mask slipping.

"If you continue on with your prattle about hope and despair I may go mad." She put her hands beneath her chin, resting it on them while giving a clearly fake smile.

Nagito Komaeda simply laughed the outburst off and took a seat at the table inside Hotel Mirai. On the table laid a pack of playing cards. Nagito picked it up with his robotic hand.

"Want to play a round? My Luck versus your Gambling skill? Of course my luck can't ever hope to compare to the skill of a Super High School Level student!"

Her interest piqued now the topic came to gambling, Celeste took a seat from across Nagito.

"That is fine with me. But a bet is needed to make the game more exciting, is it not?"

Nagito looked slightly confused.

"Oh? But what could someone as lowly as me offer someone as amazing as you?"

Celeste had a menacing smile appear across her face.

"Hmmmmm...how about the loser has to do any one thing the winner says? This is acceptable, yes?"

Nagito accepted right away, and so the game began...

...and ended fairly quickly.

Celeste looked at the cards in horror.

"T-there is no way..."

Nagito laughed to himself.

"I guess luck was on my side this time. So about that bet..."

Celeste flipped the table.


Akane Owari's stomach growled as she trudged along with Sakura Oogami.

"Heyyyyyy, you got anythin' to eat?" Akane complained, feeling weak.

Sakura reached into her pockets, pulling out what seemed to be bars of sorts.

"I have protein bars - here take some." Sakura pushed the bars into Akane's arms. She was so hungry at this point that she didn't even listen to Sakura explain what they were, and just ate them anyway.

Akane groaned as she ate the protein bars, not satisfying her hunger like Teruteru's cooking could.

Sakura watched with a smile.

"Building muscle with protein is key."

"Ughhh...you sound just like Nekomaru..."


"Your skill at swimming is extremely high - as I suspected, you are a mythical siren hailing from the sea to do battle with me - the great Gundham Tanaka! Do your worst temptress!"

Aoi Asahina sighed for what must've been the fifth time in the last ten minutes she had spent with Gundham. She had no idea why he was the way he was but his antics tired her out quickly.

They were currently strolling along the beach, the quiet waves being drowned out by Gundham's ramblings.

Suddenly an idea came to Aoi's head, which she thought could end the incessant rants for a small amount of time.

"Hey, Gundham, let's go swimming! The weather is perfect for it, right?"

She smiled widely at the prospect of doing the thing she enjoyed the most, besides eating donuts.

"N-no...I will stay right here and build a mighty sand-fort for all of my Devas of Destruction!"

Aoi thought to herself for a moment before asking her question.

"Gundham, could it be that you're afraid of the water?"

In response to Aoi's question Gundham's body twitched as if he was just caught in the act of a criminal activity.

"Feh! A mere mortal would not understand the restrictions placed on a chosen one such as myself. I am forever cursed with a loathing of the abyss that is the ocean."

"...so that means you're scared of water, right?"

Her bluntness threw him off completely.

"N-no! Gundham Tanaka fears nothing! It is the water that fears me!"

Aoi laughed to herself slightly before changing tactics.

"Well how about we go get some doughnuts to eat instead?"

Gundham's tense shoulders relaxed slightly upon the change of subject.

"I find that proposal agreeable."


Teruteru thought he was going to die of a heart-attack when he was paired up with Sayaka Maizono. She was beautiful in all of her pictures, but up close Teruteru thought she looked like a radiant angel.

By now, Sayaka was more than used to dealing with annoying fans - hell, she remained calm while Leon practically swarmed her with questions and attention during their time at school together. However, even Sayaka's patience had its limits, and Teruteru was certainly testing them.

After the third time he asked if he could eat spaghetti off of her, Sayaka had enough.

"Listen Teruteru," she smiled sweetly, but behind that smile was an explosive anger about to come to the surface "I have to ask that you stop saying stuff like that."

"Eh? But I-"

"Got it?" Teruteru flinched in fright from the venom in Sayaka's voice. He certainly wasn't expecting her to be like this.

"Y-yes ma'am..." Was all he could manage to squeak out. Satisfied with this, Sayaka showed a genuine smile.

"Good. Let's go then."

Not wanting to incur her wrath again, Teruteru hurriedly followed behind her - purposefully of course.


Ibuki bounced up and down as she and Leon discussed music. She didn't have anyone else to talk to about the subject, so she was understandably excited.

"But still, I can't believe I'm talking to THE Ibuki Mioda! You're amazing - I want to be a musician like you some day!"

Ibuki put her hand beneath her chin and modestly replied.

"Ehehe, Ibuki does not mind imparting her words of wisdom as long as we can jam together after!"

Leon was clearly as excited as she was, getting himself pumped up.

"Oh hell yeah!"


"-so yeah, that's a pretty good deal right? My fortunes have a 30% accuracy rate!"

Mahiru face-palmed at the clairvoyant's sales pitch, charging millions for a fortune that may or may not be right.

"You seem to be the most unreliable of them all..." Mahiru muttered, her patience already wearing thin from being around Hagakure for ten minutes.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Hagakure complained. If one were to walk in on their conversation, they could draw the conclusion that the two were a married couple, bickering away.

Mahiru pretended not to hear him, instead taking pictures of her surroundings.


"You're too thin - you need to build some muscle! I know, I'll train you just like I did for you little baseball friend!"

Togami let out a loud "Tsk" before turning his head away from Nekomaru.

"As the leader of the Togami family I possess more power than you could ever hope to." His tongue wasn't as sharp as it used to be - in the past he would've added 'you plebeian' to the end of that sentence.

In response to what he thought was a joke, he patted Togami on the back - so strongly that Togami stumbled forward and was gasping for breath.

'What a brute' He thought to himself, holding his tongue in case Nekomaru gave him another 'pat' on the back.


Peko ended up making her way toward the beach house - the same place in the simulation that she had killed Mahiru. She took a moment to reflect on what had happened here, and all that had happened since. She had yet to speak to Mahiru about the matter, but knew that that conversation would undoubtedly be an uncomfortable one.

Ishimaru had been talking her ear off the entire walk, and Peko was trying her best to keep up with everything the man was saying.

"Your commitment to your duty is truly admirable!" Ishimaru yelled.

"Oh, well, thank you I suppose." Peko was weary around Ishimaru. She wasn't sure how to behave around such a loud and enthusiastic man, when she herself preferred to stick to the shadows of Fuyuhiko.

"I see you carry a shinai! If you would not mind, perhaps we could spar sometime!"

Peko considered the offer, realising it had been some time since he had spoke, and he was waiting for her response.

"I wouldn't mind - but I did not know you were familiar with a sword."

"Of course! A strong mind requires a strong body! One must be healthy in both!"

Peko wasn't sure if Isimaru's constant enthusiasm was endearing or annoying, but resigned herself to her position.


Souda was the odd one out. Nobody had even noticed that he was the only one without a partner.

"Guys? Hey guys!?"

No one responded. He was alone - forgotten about.

Souda's eyes teared up as he kicked the ground.

"Fine! I don't need you guys anyway!" In a huff, we walked off to go tinker with some machinery.

Elsewhere, Miaya Gekkougahara had forgotten she was meant to be paired with Souda, and had instead opted to take a nap in her chair.


Mukuro Ikusaba didn't even notice the presence of the imposter as she was in deep thought. She could not stop thinking about her past and what she had done.

She apologised greatly to Chisa for her actions, prompted by Makoto, who stood by her with her fellow classmates, vouching for her change. Chisa being the kind-hearted woman she was did not show much reluctance to accept the apology, but the wound remained, and there was clear distance between them that would likely never go away.

Munakata outright refused to let the soldier join the foundation upon discovering her connection to Junko Enoshima, as well as what she had done to Chisa, and attempted to kill her on the spot. Before the two could clash, Makoto threw himself in between them both, trying his best to calm them down.

Munakata refused to listen, claiming Makoto was on the side of despair as he raised his sword to cut him down. Before the weapon could be brought down on Makoto, Munakata's sword was flung out of his hands.

An old man approached the group with a smile on his face. Everyone present could tell that despite his age, this man was strong.

He introduced himself as the head of the Future Foundation - Kazuo Tengan. He was overjoyed at the prospect of having more Super High School Level students join the ranks of the organisation.

Munakata and Tengan argued a great deal over the matter of Mukuro Ikusaba, but it was Chisa in the end, who put a hand on Munakata's shoulder telling him softly that it was okay, that finally made him relent.

Over time, Munakata accepted the fact that there was the potential for change in people, citing Chisa as proof for this. He now knew that despair did not have to be crushed for hope to be found. However, he did not trust Mukuro in the slightest, keeping tabs on the girl at all times, yet he couldn't deny her skill in combat, and her usefulness for the foundation in combatting despair.

Upon arriving at the island, Mikan instantly recognised her, recoiling in fear that she would try to make her despair again.

Peko glared at her, as if challenging her to a rematch to their previous fight. When the students were alone, Peko approached her.

"If you try to cause problems for the young mast- no, any of my friends, I will not hesitate to cut you down." Her eyes held a fire in them, Mukuro could see how serious she was about this.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind then."

It was not only the 77th class that were trying to atone for their past actions, Mukuro was too.

So far, Mikan had kept quiet about Mukuro's involvement in brainwashing not only her, but also her teacher, perhaps out of fear. Mukuro knew that some day soon she would have to face up to her actions and tell the rest of the 77th class.

Mukuro had been so lost in thought that she did not realise the Super High School Level Imposter was looking at her rather intently, aiming to ascertain what it was that clearly weighed so heavily on her mind.

"You don't look all that different than we do" The imposter began, "you seem to be a person harbouring guilt and regret as well."

The soldier didn't expect him to be so perceptive. The man before her looked just like Togami, albeit...larger. However, his skill for noticing things was still present.

"I am."

She replied with a short and simple answer. She would not reveal all of her troubles to a stranger, even if they were both people who had done a large amount of bad towards the world. That was the only thing they had in common she thought.

"Do you know what my talent is?" The man asked, eyes almost boring holes into Mukuro, aiming to see past the stoic mask she wears.

"No, I don't."

Despite not being asked outright, the man continued.

"I am the Super High School Level Imposter. Forever I am destined to hide behind a mask. I can see that you too wear a mask to conceal your emotions. Perhaps we are not too different, you and I."

Mukuro considered his words for a moment. The man was perceptive, she would concede that.

"Yes...I have experience in disguising myself as well."

She looked away as she said this, her face contorting slightly as if she was remembering something unsavoury.

Understanding that it was not yet his time or place to pry further, the impostor let the matter go, heading over to the supermarket to acquire some sort of salty snack.


Makoto decided to take a short break in the lounge of Hotel Mirai. The last few days had been extremely busy for him, and he had found very little time to actually relax and have time to himself.

He approached the sofa situated near the reception, yawning. Before he could sit down, he heard a series of quiet beeping sounds coming from nearby.

Across from him, Nanami Chiaki sat, eyes half closed, focused on the screen of a small handheld device.

She was exhausted from all the attention the 77th class had been giving her. Of course, she was overjoyed to see them all again, and was excited to have the chance to have fun with them all after so long, but the constant interactions made her rather tired. She had even yet to catch up with Hajime, as he was currently out as per Ishimaru's orders.

Desiring some alone time, she chose a quiet spot to sit and play her games for a small while. Upon hearing Makoto's approach, she paused her game momentarily, looking up at him with tired eyes.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were here Nanami. Are you here for some quiet too?"

Chiaki smiled at Makoto slightly. He was always very formal when speaking to those older than him.

"It's fine. I'm just taking a break for a little while."

Makoto shifted uncomfortably. He didn't mean to disturb her, deciding to leave her be.

"Sorry, I'll leave you to it then."

He began to walk away when Chiaki called him back over. Makoto tilted his head at her, not understanding why she had done so.

"Want to play a game together?"

She held out a blue games console towards him. Makoto wasn't very good at games - he always seemed to get terrible luck when it came to them, but still enjoyed them nonetheless.

He smiled at the gesture, reaching out to accept the handheld device.

"Sure, sounds fun."

They began a racing game first, then a fighting game, and then a puzzle game, Chiaki of course beating Makoto each and every time. However, not once did Makoto act frustrated or moan or complain. He simply laughed, complimenting her skill while preparing for the next round.

Chiaki studied his face as he attempted to mash buttons to pull off a combo against her. He looked like he was really into the game.

"Makoto?" Chiaki began. "Are you...having fun?" She didn't understand herself why she had asked him that question.

Makoto looked up from his game, grinning at her.

"Of course! Playing games with Nanami is really fun!"

Chiaki was slightly surprised by the enthusiasm of his reaction, but smiled back at him.

"I see."

They continued to play for a few hours.


So far, everyone seemed to be getting along fairly well, and would continue to do so until a few days later. Makoto never expected everyone to get along completely, and cracks were beginning to form in places. He wished that things would remain peaceful, but soon he would see that such a wish would be difficult to achieve.


Wow that chapter was long, huh? Just to let you guys know, the interactions in this chapter are not confirmed parings. I just wanted the different classes to interact with eachother before any pairings were decided, so as of right now pairings are pretty much undecided. From the suggestions in the reviews I have a few ideas on what parings I may implement into the story, but there's still time to suggest the pairings you want to see the most. I'm not leaning towards pairings that already have a lot of content written for them (Makoto and Mukuro for example), it's not that I don't like these parings, it's just that there's already stories that explore the relationship between these characters, so I wanted to take the chance to write some pairings that you normally wouldn't ever see. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as for updates I'm aiming for updates on the weekends, but I might be able to update during the week sometime. I'll see you all in the next chapter! Peace out!