Chapter 4 – Knife for the traitor
Part 1
Sonia awoke from the sunlight shining through the curtains, she wasn't sure what time it was but it was probably still early morning. She looked at the other sofa bed, Koizumi was still sleeping. They had spent part of last night talking about various things, apparently Tsuki had told her she was carrying Sato's soul and she should be strong. It was a very sweet thing for him to say but Sonia knew that he didn't just say it comfort her, he said because he believed it. She realised that Tsuki was probably going to make breakfast for everyone and didn't want to burden him with task of doing it alone. She converted her bed back into a sofa and went back to her room to freshen up. After she was done she returned to find Koizumi waking up.
"Good morning Mahiru, how did you sleep?" She asked in a friendly tone. Koizumi who had a rough voice due to just waking up gave her smile and said,
"Just fine. Do you know what time it is?"
"No, we don't have any actual clocks here but it must still be early." She opened the curtains to reveal the sun on the horizon. With the light brighter she noticed Koizumi's morning face and offered to help.
"You can freshen up in my room Mahiru."
"That would be nice."
After helping Koizumi freshen up both girls proceeded to the restaurant.
They walked up the stairs and Sonia saw who she was expecting.
"Hello Kettei, doing the same thing again this morning are we?" She asked with a smile on her head. Tsuki turned for the table and returned her smile.
"Morning Sonia and Mahiru, and yes I am." There was a slight tiredness in his voice but he tried to hide it. Koizumi was impressed at what he was doing.
"Are you setting breakfast up for everyone?"
"Yes I am, Sonia caught me doing the same thing yesterday." Koizumi was surprised at his actions.
"You shouldn't burden yourself with this task every morning Kettei." Said Sonia, concerned as he she noticed that his eyes looked tired. Koizumi also noticed this and questioned him on it.
"Your eyes Kettei… when did you sleep last night?" Tsuki realising they noticed stopped trying to hide it and rubbed his eyes.
"Well… it was pretty late. I think it was about 2 am or so." His revelation spurred Koizumi.
"Hey, you should go to bed earlier than that! How are you going to protect Chiaki if you're feeling tired!" She sounded pretty angry at him but Tsuki laughed it off.
"Haha, I appreciate your concern in my personal crusade but tiredness is something I learnt how to shake off." Koizumi still wasn't convinced though.
"How can you say that for certain? Your being irresponsible!"
"I can do more than just shake it off, I mentioned this before to Sonia but I spent some time in an army program where they teach under 18's how soldiers train in the army. Patrolling and sentry duty at night leads to tiredness, especially when you have to wake up at six in the morning, trust me I know how to resist these things." He gave her a friendly smile but didn't realise what he had triggered inside Koizumi. Sonia was unsure of the situation, Koizumi had told her before of how her mother was a war photographer.
"How long did you spend in the program Kettei?" Koizumi asked, it was in a slow sad tone. Tsuki noticing this became concerned for his new friend.
"Err, a year or so. It was good toughening up but being treated like a soldier isn't exactly a fun experience so I quit after I learnt enough, just before I started college. Is there a problem Mahiru?"
"I just wanted to know what it was like, my mother was a war photographer."
"Oh." He wasn't sure what to say.
"It's just the thought of my mother that came to mind." Sonia felt really bad at Koizumi's comment, Tsuki had already accepted that his parents were gone and Sonia's parents were looking for her, but Koizumi's parents fate was unknown. She wasn't sure what to say and neither was Tsuki.
"…"
After a bit of time passed Tsuki spoke up.
"Mahiru, I know it hurts not to know the fate of your parents, but they wouldn't want you to spend your time despairing at the situation." Koizumi lifted her look from the ground and tried to stand strong.
"I know that…" But she went back to looking at the floor, Tsuki determined to help her tried to get things moving.
"Good! How about we eat then." He filled a plate with some food and placed it on a table as did Sonia who also filled a plate for Koizumi. They all sat down and started to eat. Koizumi then asked something.
"So why were you in this army program Kettei? It seems like an odd thing to do." Tsuki, who was glad Koizumi was talking responded honestly.
"Well, as a non-Ultimate I decided I wanted to try as many different things as possible, like the army program and other things like sports, programming and other stuff… just to see what I'm good at, then apply whatever it is to what my goal in life would be, which I didn't know at the time."
He gave a short laugh before continuing.
"Hehe my dad used to call me a quitter because of how many activities I tried for a bit and left." Sonia having heard most of this before and kept an impassive smile while Koizumi listened in and asked questions.
"You must have put a lot of effort in to try all those different activities." She said in respect.
"Haha, that's funny, every instructor or teacher would always tell me that I could achieve so much more if I put in 100% effort, but I couldn't do it. When I didn't know what to do in life, what my role or path was I couldn't focus on one thing, I could do it physically but not mentally, not when I was unsure of my future. I wouldn't put my determination to something that could be meaningless. But now I know my future and I'm determined to stick to it, I truly can give 100% now." Right there, Koizumi saw it again, deep in Tsuki's eyes, the determination he held, but something about it felt cold. Before she could say anything two people walked up the stairs, it was Hinata who seemed pretty happy with himself, he was with a tired Nanami by his side. They all greeted each other and sat down at the same table with a plate of food. Sonia who was hoping they would join them told them something important.
"There's something I need to tell you all, it's about the Novoselic kingdom, my hometown."
She told them about the army headed to Hopes Peak Academy to find her. It was pretty big news, Tsuki then gave his opinion.
"Of course they would come for the princess, if your country is based off loyalty to the royal family they would have to try and rescue you. But an army… that will definitely take time to travel through japan, the roads aren't simple to travel through, most of them are destroyed and if their travelling as army it would take considerably longer considering the size. Hopes Peak Academy is located in central Japan. Also we aren't in japan and once they learn that it will take a few days for them to set sail here." Sonia considered what he said and Tsuki kept talking.
"That means we have more time to wake up the others before they get here. The other problem is that… we might not be welcome by the Novoselic Kingdom." The problem was all too familiar to Sonia.
"I know that, in fact I am really worried about leaving you all here… I won't leave anyone behind." Everyone seemed to be in awe at her words. Nanami then spoke up.
"What are the chances you can bring us all with you? You are a princess; your word must be respected… I think." Sonia responded with uncertainty.
"I really don't know, but you might be right I could try and convince my parents to take us all." Tsuki then said something of interest.
"Well you don't need to take everyone, remember we're being held on this island because certain members of FF (Future Foundation) think that you all might be still Despair, which you all seem pretty certain that you aren't. So really you only need to take the fifteen that are being held, me Makoto and Chiaki don't have to go, we aren't the reasons for being trapped here." Hinata had a problem with this, he didn't want to leave Nanami ever again.
"Wait! Can can't leave any of our friends behind."
"No we cannot! I will not allow it." Sonia said with confidence. Tsuki sighed and put his logic down.
"I appreciate the loyalty, but the truth is you all are in danger and should get priority over us three, but that doesn't mean we won't come if we can, I'm not exactly looking forward to heading back to FF after all this, there's a lot I have to pay for due to my actions. Not that I regret them of course, and I don't think Makoto will go with you all, he has a special someone at FF." Nanami then tried to move the conversation backwards as Hinata thought of a contradiction.
Hold on, didn't he say we shouldn't run from our problems?
"I think we should focus on how to convince Sonia's parents that they should take us, how many do you think they would be willing to take with your word alone Sonia?"
"About five plus me… maybe…" Sonia replied. Nanami took a second to think then gave her opinion.
"That leaves nine more we need to convince and hopefully me and Kettei on top of that, any ideas on how to do it?" Nanami put the question out to everyone. Hinata started off.
"Well, the fact that we all know each other really well should count for something. Maybe they would be willing to bring more of us considering the situation. If the Novoselic Kingdom have a loyal population, then surely it would be beneficial to their reputation to rescue their princess and all her friends." Koizumi like the idea and spoke her thoughts.
"Yeah, how can they just take Sonia and leave us behind? That would be so irresponsible!" Sonia thought about it for a second then gave her input.
"You both are right, but they would still be weary considering your pasts." Tsuki then pointed something out they missed.
"They won't know about it though, the broadcast of you all on the island was only to a select few of FF." Sonia pointed out the difference this would make.
"So they would be more willing to take you guys, and on the journey back I will have enough time to explain the whole situation to my parents for them to understand." Tsuki still had a problem though.
"It's a good plan, but we are relying on the fact that there will be enough space for seventeen of us on a boat and that FF won't interfere."
"Well actually due to my kingdom being on an island the naval is pretty powerful so they will likely send a large boat that can beat anything FF sends." Sonia informed. Hinata then mentioned something.
"FF shouldn't fight at all, I don't think they have much of a chance against and actual army. Kettei how big are FF?"
"They certainly are a strong organisation, but against a countries army I don't think they stand a chance. Not that they need to, FF is only fighting against Despair, they don't want to be enemies of a country." Things seemed to be on the upside but Koizumi said something that brought it back down.
"What about when FF comes in contact with the Novoselic Kingdom? Sure they will tell them all our pasts and why we are on this island." They were back to square one, having missed something so important. Tsuki thought about it hard before talking.
"Well I'm sure they will accept Sonia, but here's a thought. I think they will likely watch the recording of the Killing School Trip and see how you all acted. Those who helped Sonia survive will be thanked and brought with them like Hajime, innocent friends who showed redemption from their former selves like Mahiru should be accepted as well, but the problem is with those that cracked under the pressure, the ones that committed a murder." It was something none of them wanted to think about, but it was true, some of their friends had committed a murder against each other. Tsuki carried on talking, knowing no one else would say anything.
"Teruteru Hanamura, Peko Pekoyama, Mikan Tsumiki, Gundham Tanaka and Nagito Komaeda all committed crimes. Pekoyama will likely be forgiven due to circumstances and how Fuyuhiko showed drastic change. Tanaka will probably be praised due to his reasons, even if he doesn't admit them. For Tsumiki it depends on how she wakes up, it could be the shy Tsumiki you all knew and loved but it could also be Ultimate Despair Tsumiki who won't show any remorse in her actions. Hanamura I don't see how he could be forgiven considering he had the intent of murder, and the same with Komaeda, his crime was much worse, he forced murder upon someone else… but considering he is mentally sick there may be hope for him." Tsuki laid his thoughts on all the crimes knowing that no one else could do it. Everyone seemed to be thinking about what he said, it was hard to think about but they all knew they needed to. Tsuki then asked something he wanted to know for a while.
"Do you all… forgive them? Considering what you all went through I know you all forgive and Pekoyama, Tanaka and the real Tsumiki but what about the other two?" His question was first answered by Nanami.
"I forgive them, they only did it due to the cruel circumstance Monokuma put us through." Tsuki sighed, he was asking everyone but her, she wasn't Despair like they all use to be. Hinata then mentioned something.
"Well after your argument with Kazuichi yesterday we all talked about Nagito, and everyone but Kazuichi seemed to forgive him." Tsuki wasn't surprised at this at all. Sonia tried to make a case for Hanamura.
"Teruteru just wanted to see his mother didn't he? He was also being pushed Nagito…" But Koizumi had a problem with this.
"I can't forgive him! He put his own life and family over everyone else's! There were 15 of us at the time remember?!" No one else spoke for a bit.
Tsuki then pointed something out.
"Well it doesn't really matter as long as you can let him live when we eventually wake him up, is that alright?"
"After I give him a good scolding!" Shouted Koizumi. Tsuki then carried on.
"We can look at these problems with individual people when they wake up, how do we convince the Novoselic Kingdom to bring them with us?" Nanami was the only one who answered the question.
"Maybe we can't, I think we need to let the individuals convince them that they are reformed, we can't decide for them." The conversation had dragged for a bit so Tsuki tried to wrap things up.
"Ok, now that we have some sort of plan for the future that FF may or may not know about we should focus on waking everyone up. When everyone comes for breakfast we can tell them the plan."
And so they did, the plan bringing hope to group and they spoke. But something at the end of breakfast sparked both hope and despair.
Ding, Ding, Ding
As Tsuki opened his laptop, Alter Ego had some news for them.
"Mikan Tsumiki is waking up." Someone else was about to return to them, and it was a murderer this time, a serial killer at that. They quickly headed over to the pods.
"H-Hold on, which Mikan are we waking up?" Asked Soda, unsure about what they were about to do. Hinata replied to him.
"We don't know, it could be either. We have to find out." Tsuki yet again led everyone.
"So who holds most of Tsumiki's soul? The real one, that's who we're trying to reach."
"Well considering she fell asleep on Hajime twice doesn't it have to be him?" Said Kuzuryū. His comment was followed by a few disapproving stares at Hinata by Koizumi, Tsuki and Nanami.
"Ok then Hajime, I'm sure your use to this now, so give another speech." Said Tsuki, but a voice stopped him.
"That won't be necessary." Everyone looked around, none of them had said everything. But the voice was familiar to everyone but Tsuki, and they turned their attention the pods as it opened.
Tsumiki exited the pod without any help.
"I thought I would see you all again." Her voice was cold.
"Well, most of you. She shouldn't exist here, so are we in another game with these new boys added in?" Nobody knew what to say, Tsumiki had just woken up herself and was an Ultimate Despair.
"Helooooooooo, are you all dead or something? Is someone going to say something? Don't ignore me…" She seemed pretty frustrated as everyone remained silent. But they heard something in her last few words. Koizumi and Hinata heard an old friends voice while Tsuki heard a weak soul, the short change in tone fuelled his determination. He couldn't leave the soul alone, it felt like his responsibility to make sure the rightful owner had control over that body.
"Tsumiki! Why don't you want to be ignored?" He spoke with flare. Tsumiki was surprised at the sudden question by the unknown boy.
"Huh?! I just…" But she didn't finish, her voice seemed to have a worry tone to it, and even though Tsuki didn't know the girl personally but he could tell her real soul was starting to show and carried on, getting a bit more aggressive in his voice.
"You just what!? Are these people ignoring you or are you just invisible?!" He wasn't really sure where he was going with the questions, but it felt like poking at her insecurity was bringing out someone else. She responded with a timid voice that was familiar to everyone else.
"I-I don't want to be invisible…" But then her voice turned harsh.
"Don't say that you rat. I don't even know you and you already hate me! Why don't you forgive me?!" Her manner had changed quickly and no one knew how to react, but Tsuki stayed determined and carried on.
"Should I forgive you?! Who are you Tsumiki?" His questions weren't even making sense to himself anymore but he couldn't stop, he had to keep trying.
"I'm nothing to any of you, only her." She wasn't changing back, it wasn't helping.
"Her? What happened to her?" Tsuki didn't even know who she was but figured asking what happened would have a bigger effect than who she was.
"Hehe, someone here helped kill her, in fact almost everyone here is a killer, you probably are as well!" Tsuki ignored her comment, all that mattered was that they were losing the soul inside here. He tried to go back to what triggered her before.
"No one cares! Not about her or me, but most of all you." The harsh words seemed to work. Tsumiki had some personality in her voice.
"Ahh! Why do you hate me…? I didn't mean to hurt anyone…" her voiced seemed to drown out at the end, the souls inside her fighting. Tsuki tried to keep this new soul on top.
"Are you sure? Why not? Don't you like hurting people?" he asked in quick succession, the outcome was positive.
"N-no I don't! I only became a nurse to help people… I'm sorry…" And then it happened, she burst into tears and started crying on the floor. Tsuki laid off his aggression and looked at the girl crying on the floor in sadness, apologising at times in between tears. As his own emotions returned he tried to feel bad at what he did, but didn't regret. Hinata then went over to his friend in need.
"Mikan! Are you ok?" He held her as she sobbed.
"I'm sorry Hajime…" She kept crying. Togami went over to Tsuki and asked something.
"So how long is this Mikan with us?" Tsuki had no idea.
"I don't know, it appears she has two different souls inside her fighting for control, maybe we should ask Alter Ego." He got his laptop out and Alter Ego popped up.
"It appears she's in a state similar to the one Hinata was in with Kamakura. Two totally different people in one body." At this they looked towards Hinata who let Koizumi and Naegi hold Tsumiki and talked to them.
"Kamukura is gone now. But if you want to know what it was like I can tell you. The only time I remember when Kamakura took control was in the very last trial to escape, I could see everything he did, but I had no control over anything. But when people seemed to address me personally I felt more control over my body... That's all I really know…" The information was interesting to Togami and Tsuki. Togami then gave his input.
"It appears Mikan is in a much more unstable position, she could turn back at any moment." The statement caused unease amongst the group. Soda in particular seemed very nervous.
"H-Hey! We can't just let her be! What if she tries to kill someone?" It was a valid point and Togami acknowledged it.
"Your right, we will need to do something about it." He looked at other people for ideas. Soda gave his.
"We need to tie her up, we can't let a killer on the loose!" His comment was met with a glare by Tsuki followed by his comment.
"You do know we're trying to help her not make it worse!" He pointed out. Soda didn't look convinced.
"Help? How are going to help a crazy murderer!"
"Well for one we make sure the real Tsumiki stays inside that body, and if we can't keep it like that permanently we try to reason with the other one that comes out." His comment was met with a moment of silent, reasoning with an Ultimate Despair seemed pretty insane. Soda eventually came out with a response to say the obvious.
"How are you going to reason with her? Did you forget that she willingly killed two people for no actual reason?"
"I don't expect you to understand, clearly since there's a problem I offer to watch over Tsumiki for the time being." He put it out bluntly. Togami then said,
"That's very valiantly of you to offer but you can't simply keep an eye on her 24/7. We need to have some sort of rota." But Tsuki was determined to try something.
"Give me today, I can do it. I've had some experience with staying up on the watch before I'll even do the night shift."
"It's still risky to have someone watching her alone, I propose we have someone to check up on you two once in a while for the day, for the night shift someone will still need to share the common room with Mikan. The second bed can be rotated between Kettei and the second person so they can both sleep and watch during the night… any offers?" He looked around but no one apart from Tsuki was willing to spend half their night awake watching someone. Koizumi scolded the guys for their lack of offerings.
"Hey, shouldn't you boys being offering to help!?" But instead of a response all she got was silence.
Tsuki gave a short laugh at the situation.
"Hehe, well I guess if no one is willing to offer up to the situation then perhaps you should all just trust me to watch her?" But Togami still didn't like the idea of it.
"We can't do that, it's simply too risky if something happens. Perhaps we should just leave it to luck?" Hinata still had a problem with leaving anything to luck.
"I don't really like that…" But he still didn't really want to spend the night away so tried to go half way.
"Maybe we should just cut it down to a few people before leaving it to luck." Hinata said hoping to he would be cut out. Tsuki thought about his idea and started the cutting.
"Well then let's cut it down to who can actually do the job. I don't believe Chiaki can actually stay awake considering how tired she always is. I know Soda won't actually be willing to spend part of his night watching." This was of course met with aggression by Soda.
"Hey what do you mean by that?!" Tsuki responded to him without getting aggressive.
"It's simple, if you get picked by luck you simply wouldn't do the job would you?" He was answered by the silence in the air, Koizumi's disapproving glare at Soda was pretty humorous.
"My point proven, we can't force anyone to unwillingly do this job, so here's what I say. If you can do it and are willing to, step up and we will leave the rest to luck." At Tsuki's statement Naegi was the first to step up followed by Hinata. Sonia also walked up taking Koizumi by surprise.
"Well if we aren't just leaving this to the guys then sure…" She reluctantly walked up. This left Kuzuryū, Soda, Nanami, Owari and Togami behind feeling the shame.
"Ok then, Alter Ego can you produce a random name out of Hajime, Makoto, Sonia and Koizumi please?" Tsuki's question to Alter Ego triggered Hinata's nerves. Somehow his odds had gotten even worse but the fact of leaving anything to luck brought a chill to his spine, he couldn't do it. Komaeda's trial seemed to have left a scar on him.
"WAIT!" He shouted… he surprised himself at how far he was willing to go to make sure it wasn't left to luck.
"I'll…. Do it." His agreement to do it was met with approval by the others. Now that things were solved Tsuki wrapped things up.
"Good, me and Hajime can will have the night watch. Now that we have sorted things out that's it for now, I'll try to keep the real Tsumiki in touch. Alter Ego can you look for any way to help me on this, there are probably files related to this sort of thing with the Kamakura incident. That's it, everyone you're on free time." As the leader dismissed everyone back to daily life he took his watch on Tsumiki.
After a while Sonia had invited Tsumiki and Tsuki to join her and Koizumi to talk in the common room and explain the situation to Tsumiki.
"So…er can you tell me what is going on… if it's ok?" Tsumiki asked a timid voice. Tsuki would let Sonia and Koizumi explain the situation but wanted to confirm something first.
"First I need to know something, did you witness life on the island carry on even after your death?"
"Huh?! H-How did you know… did I say something I shouldn't have? Oh no I'm sorry!" Before she burst into tears Sonia consoled her.
"No you didn't Mikan, there's a lot we need to tell you after we escaped the Neo Reality World…"
And so she explained to her everything that had happened to them about after they escaped. How Nanami came back to them with Tsuki and who he was. How they awoke Togami first and he was, then waking Koizumi. Owari's disappearance and FF's intentions with keeping them on the island and finally their plan with the Novoselic Kingdom and how it led to waking Tsumiki up. It was a lot to say but after a lot of tears, apologises and surprised gasps they got it all said. Tsuki was surprised that she hadn't turned, she wasn't as unstable Togami thought he was.
"Tsumiki are you in control of yourself? You haven't acted or sounded irrational at all… Which is good"
"Well… I still feel her inside me… she keeps saying things… really mean things…" Her voiced trailed into silence. After a moment of silence, she asked a question which haunted most people on the island.
"Am I a… murderer?" It was a dark question that both Koizumi and Sonia didn't know how to answer, just like most people on the island they avoided the thought of it. Tsuki however had put a lot of time into thinking about it, whether or not he was assisting murderers and he gave his judgement on the matter to Tsumiki.
"In truth Tsumiki, you and fourteen others were put in this program to because of the terrible things you did in your past, like murder. But I learnt something during the short time I spent here, you and everyone else who's trying to escape their past… you all have nothing to run from." He was met with confused faces as spoke on the sensitive topic.
"The people that fell to Despair are completely different to the ones on this Island. Two different people inhabiting the same body, hehe sounds familiar doesn't it?" As always his short laughter was out of place but no one said anything.
"Most of you probably still hold them deep inside you, but since you don't have the memories of them I doubt they will ever come out. Unfortunately, that's the problem for you Tsumiki, you having your memories back lets her come out. But what you do and she does are two totally different things and you shouldn't take responsibility for her. I wouldn't blame Chiaki for anything my first sister did because it wasn't her fault. Get it?" He hoped he made his point clear, but he was met with a cruel female voice.
"What does it matter? No matter what you say she will always feel guilt at what she witnesses me do, after all we do share the same hair, eyes, chest…" The Ultimate Despair started fiddling at the strands in her hair. At her quick change in manner both Koizumi and Sonia backed off, only Tsuki staying somewhat close. Sonia tried to call the other girl back.
"Let Mikan come back to us… please." She seemed unsure what say, she was talking to an Ultimate. Koizumi spoke with more bravado.
"That isn't your body! You let Mikan come back!" It was certainly a bizarre argument.
"Boo-hoo, none of you like me! You still don't forgive me…" The Ultimate Despair was taunting them with a sarcastic voice. Koizumi them looked at Tsuki wanting for him to fix the situation.
"Kettei can't you shout at her again like you did last time?" But before Tsuki could respond the Ultimate Despair beat him to it.
"You want the annoying boy to shout at me again… wow no one really does forgive me…" Her voice showed less and less care. Tsuki ignored it and gave his opinion to Koizumi.
"Well what's the point? Miss Despair here came out without us triggering her, so I assume Tsumiki will come out as well, eventually. So instead of shouting at this Tsumiki away each time how about we try talking to her?" His idea still seemed insane to both Koizumi and Sonia.
"How are you going to do that? She killed two of our friends in cold blood!" Exclaimed Koizumi.
"Just let me try." Tsuki then turned his attention to Tsumiki and tried to figure out how she thought.
"Tsumiki, why did you kill your friends?" It was a start, some sort of start.
"For my beloved at the time, I kill in her name and what she stands I would then get caught and killed so I would get to see her again."
"What do you mean by at the time? Did something happen to change your mind?"
"I was betrayed by her, I didn't get what I wanted in return."
"And you wanted to… get killed and see her again in the afterlife, but you and everyone else didn't die when the virtual world disappeared, you went unconscious, then we managed to wake you up."
"You woke the other me up first, but the shock of being alive was too much for frail her to bear so I took control. Seeing you all alive including me convinced me that everything I thought of my beloved a lie."
"So your beloved who should be dead is who exactly?"
"The one who started all this of course, she started everything and everyone on this island but you Tsuki have met her. Teehee, the only one who's interested in what have to say hasn't met my beloved."
"Junko Enoshima… It seems so obvious now."
"How sad…"
"But if you're over her, why do you still live in Despair?"
"Haaaa… This feeling, this Despair as everyone calls it, it isn't something you can simply ignore. It gnaws at your mind worse than any cancer or disease, and to dull the pain I have to spread it. I have to spread this Despair to all of you until the end of my life, even if that means murder." The words brought a chill to Sonia's and Koizumi's spines but Tsuki felt really bad for the girl, she was forever trapped in sadness without any hope of being helped. She kept talking.
"The other girl inside me is lucky, she gets to live life without this feeling. To think we were once both the same person that got divided into two different people by Despair, oh its sooo sad." She creepily smiled at her own words that brought more discomfort to the other girls. Sonia who was starting to understand the Ultimate Despairs point of view tried to help her.
"So… don't think it would just be better to let the other Tsumiki live in that body?" Her comment however caused a bitter response.
"NO! I have Despair to spread to all of you and you can't stop me!" Tsuki sighed at the reaction, he was getting so close fully understanding the girl before him but after that harsh reaction it was unlikely he would get any farther. But It wasn't for waste, he had an idea on how to help both girls inside that body and as always, he was determined to get it done.
Ding, Ding
Alter Ego wanted something, but it would have to wait.
"Hey, you shouldn't be threatening people you know?!" Shouted an angry Koizumi.
"Boohoo, what are you going to do? Kill me? Teehee." He laughter was more disturbing than Tsuki's laugh, and it chastened Koizumi. Sonia didn't want to the argument to escalate.
"Mahiru… how about we go spend some time in my room?" She then grabbed Koizumi's arm and semi-pulled her out the common room, leaving Tsuki and Tsumiki alone.
"You aren't going to kill me are you?" Tsuki said confidently.
"And what makes you think that?"
"You have a lot more control then other Despairs I've seen, most of them would run mindlessly at non-despairs and kill them. But you, when you admitted to everyone after that trial about remembering everything, you didn't try to kill them or even hurt them. Do you even know why?"
The answer he got was complete silence
"I think it's because of the other Tsumiki's soul, after the memory reset she was in total control, I can't imagine you just got everything back instantly. She is holding you back from acting like you want to."
"There's a really annoying voice in the back of my head, it's asking me to say 'call me Mikan'." Tsuki couldn't help but laugh at the way she responded.
"Hahahaha, that's a funny way to say yes."
"You… I think I'll kill you last."
"Considering your situation that's a nice thing to say. I should remind you your time is limited, considering you came out when we were talking to the other Mikan, it should work both ways.
"Don't remind me… oh the despair of it all… But you got something wrong. She isn't the only thing holding me back, after the betrayal of my beloved I find it hard to kill in her name, but not impossible, Teehee."
"I don't look forward to it."
"I do, and you're going to death will be the most pleasant." She said with a perverted smile that normal Tsumiki would never pull.
I don't think that's how I wanted to get laid.
Ding, Ding, Ding
Soda then ran inside the common room shouting.
"Teruteru's awake and walking!" Soda then ran off to tell others, leaving Tsuki confused.
"How did Hanamura wake up without my help…" Tsumiki started laughing.
"Hehee, I didn't really wake up with your help did I?"
Has Hanamura become Despair?
"Well we better find out, are you coming?"
"Why should I co-operate with you?"
"Wow I thought my impression on you might be enough, haha... But if you want an actual reason then I guess you should come because if there's another Despair among us you get to see everyone else depressed which turns you on or whatever." After he gave his reasoning's they both headed over to the pods see what was happening.
Hinata and Nanami just arrived at the pods, concerned at what Soda had told them, they were met with the sight of everyone else gathered with Hanamura in the middle, he held a look of no emotion.
"What happened?" Hinata asked to everyone considering they were the last to arrive. Togami responded.
"According to Soda, Teruteru woke up by himself and just got out his pod and started walking around aimlessly. He hasn't spoken a word nor shown a hint of emotion, all he does is breath and walk." Alter Ego then spoke to them from the laptop Tsuki was holding.
"His vitals suddenly became normal as if he just woke up by himself, he was fully conscious so I let him out." Tsuki then finished off telling them what they needed to know.
"Of course you see the problem, this Hanamura has no personality good or bad, he's just a living corpse, with no soul." The words didn't bring comfort to anyone, even to Tsumiki who had changed back to her timid self and gave her input.
"H-He has no physical problems I can see and he isn't showing signs of any mental problems, there isn't anything I can do for him… I'm sorry!"
Hinata had no idea what to do, the small boy before him didn't seem human at all.
"Is there any way we help him? Surely Fujisaki's soul theory has something relevant to this?" Alter Ego didn't respond to Hinata's question so Tsuki did.
"Recovering a lost soul… there was no mention of that. Maybe if any of you held enough of his soul, but from what I've gathered by the silence, none of you seemed to actually hold any of it." His voice was bitter as if he was disappointed at the Ultimate's. He then carried on talking as everyone felt the guilt.
"His pervy personality put you all of him from the start and the few descent relationships he had with anyone was crushed when he committed the first murder, putting his own problems above everyone else. The only people who hold his soul are his family, which have been confirmed dead. The other person I believe was Komaeda who supported him in the trial, but he abandoned all hope of everyone when he learnt the truth." The words hurt them all, Naegi tried to bring some hope back to the group.
"Is there no hope for him? Can we not do anything at all?"
"I don't know, the fact the he still walked and breathes is odd but the harsh truth is creating a soul in an incredibly difficult task that only Chihiro managed to do. I don't think we can do anything to help him. We can't create another Hanamura." He didn't like admitting it himself but his priorities were on helping Tsumiki who he believed had a much better chance of being 'saved'. Soda then took part in the conversation.
"So what are we going to do with him?" Togami answered him.
"Nothing, considering he can't be saved FF will probably just take him away for something more useful. That's how they work I believe, isn't that right Naegi?" Togami was pretty intelligent at deducting out comes and Naegi sighed.
"I don't like it… but you may be right. There was an agreement with FF when we put you all in the Neo Reality World, that if you failed to recover hope… your bodies would be used for science purposes." He hated the words he said and tried to take them back.
"But we knew that wouldn't happen! Look at you guys you all recovered an-" But he was interrupted by Soda.
"You agreed to turn give away our bodies! Are we just all scrap to you? How can we trust what you say?!" He was clearly angry at the revelation and the Ultimate's couldn't blame him, but one of the non-Ultimate's spoke out.
"He did it for your own good. If the agreement wasn't made FF could have just forcefully taken you out the program, causing severe brain damage and probably have just executed you all on the spot, can you blame him for what he did? Or are you just so self-centred that you can't see it from his point of view?" Tsuki had once again put everyone to shame, he appeared to be doing that a lot today.
"Harsh choices have to be made in order to save lives. Don't make the mistake of blaming those that have to make the decision, everyone has to make a decision like that one day." The importance if his message was shattered a Despairing laugh broke the mood.
"Teehee, you should see the despair you all hold, oh it's sooo sad." The Ultimate Despair was back out and caused the situation to be even worse. Togami tried to wrap things up seeing as things wouldn't get better.
"I believe that's everything to discuss for now, I'll watch Teruteru for today. Everyone is dismissed." And so they all left, trying to ignore the disturbing facts of what they heard.
"So Alter Ego what did you find out about the Kamakura incident?" Asked Tsuki, he was spending his lunch in the common room with just Alter Ego and Despair Tsumiki as she just scared other people off.
"Well what you said before was wrong, Hopes Peak Academy managed to create another soul known as Kamakura. He was pure talent but the knowledge of so much made him hate everything knowing that anything he ever does is, as he put it, 'completely meaningless to the universe's outcome'. So as even though he existed he never fought for control over Hinata's body because he didn't see a point to it."
"Hmm, knowledge truly is a curse. But that doesn't help Tsumiki's predicament here, unlike Kamakura they use to be the same person who was separated by Despair into two different souls. From what I gathered it may be possible to combine them back." Tsumiki was annoyed at their conversation.
"Stop trying to help me, nothing can help me…" She was depressed at her own words.
"Do you see that Alter Ego? The way she denies it, it's odd isn't it? It's like she's being forced."
"It does, it's unlike how Chiaki would avoid something that she was being forced not to say. That's important information for the soul theory, you want me to tell Kirigiri?"
"Yeah you should do that. But we still need to figure out a way to help Tsumiki. How can we combine the souls?"
"Why don't you just kill me and let her live… my death won't be much on your conscious hehe." She seemed desperate to spread some sort of Despair but Tsuki simply shrugged her words off. Alter Ego tried to help him in his question.
Kill Despair and let her live…
"We should start off on what triggers the change between both Tsumiki's, the soul theory suggests that it is possible to combine souls that were split, but no work was done."
"Thanks, I can always rely on you to find something."
"There's something else I need to say Kettei, FF have been limiting to what I can access recently and I don't know why."
"What!? Why would they do that…"
"Are you not having lunch with Mikan and Kettei?" Asked Nanami, she and Hinata were having lunch in the restaurant before Sonia and Koizumi joined them. Sonia answered her question.
"Well we were going to but she turned again and said some things…"
"Will Kettei be alright watching her by himself?" Asked a concerned Hinata. Koizumi reassured him.
"He can handle himself, he isn't afraid like a lot of guys." Sonia also added something on,
"He said he didn't mind, he wants to understand Despair Mikan."
"Isn't he put off by her attitude and what she says?" Asked Hinata, it was strange for anyone willing to stay with an Ultimate Despair.
"He just ignores it, he gets more triggered by the stuff Kazuichi says from what I saw today." Said Koizumi.
"Well that's even more true if you saw what happened before we woke you up, the two had an intense argument." Informed Sonia.
"Kazuichi probably deserved it, the boy hasn't gained a grain of manhood since I first met him." Said Koizumi with annoyance. Hinata felt bad for the guy and tried to defend him.
"He's had a difficult past Mahiru, you shouldn't treat him so harshly."
"We all have to deal with something difficult Hajime, you don't act like him even though we all know what you went through." Koizumi clearly still didn't approve of Soda's behaviour. Nanami who had stayed quiet started talking.
"You shouldn't argue over such things." It was a short response but ended the topic.
"Fine, can me and Sonia still join you for lunch?" Asked Koizumi
"Of course you can, please take a seat." Responded Nanami and Sonia joined Hinata and Nanami in lunch. After eating a bit Sonia asked something that was bothering her.
"Hajime, it was nice for you to offer to spend half the night shift with Kettei but why did you just suddenly say it out loud? We were about to leave it to a random choice." Hinata wasn't sure how to answer, he didn't want to admit it was because of the Komaeda incident.
"Er… I didn't want to leave it to any of you, you shouldn't be forced to spend the night watching over her."
"Good, that was a responsible thing for you to do." Koizumi said with genuine appreciation. Hinata didn't enjoy the praise and tried to move the topic onto something else.
"Why do you think Kettei offered to watch Mikan the whole day and night? How would he stay up for that long?" Sonia then relayed what she knew to Hinata.
"Same reason as before, he wants to understand Despair Mikan and help her, but I'm unsure how he'll do it but something tells he can get it done." Koizumi reinforced Sonia's point.
"It's that look in his eyes, it just screams to me that he can do it." She didn't want to say the cold feeling she got from it before, there was no reason for it. Sonia carried on for her.
"Also he said that he had done numerous night watch shifts before in an army program, so that's why he offered to do the whole night."
"An army program? He doesn't look like he has the physique to do it." Hinata questioned, not fully believing it. Koizumi gave her view.
"I wouldn't have believed it either, but since we've seen how determined he is to get stuff done I think it's possible."
Hinata then said something they were all thinking.
"He's pretty dedicated isn't he?" Koizumi agreed with him a bit too quickly and spoke with a tone of jealousy.
"He really is, you're pretty lucky to have someone like him protecting you Chiaki."
"But he means more to me as brother than anything else. Do any of you know what it's like to have a brother?" It was an interesting question but it pointed something obvious out, most of them were sole children.
"Oh well, I guess that doesn't matter, I just wasn't sure what siblings do with each other. I'm just worried he will take things too far, I remember a lot of movies dad use to show me, in a lot of them a guy who really liked a girl would do something stupid for them. It seems like that could happen here." It was an odd thing to reference, which was a reoccurring thing for Nanami, but Sonia tried to pass it off as a joke.
"You shouldn't have to worry Kettei then, you should worry about Hajime!" Her comment was met by Hinata's face turning instantly red and he tried to defend himself.
"H-Hey! Don't say it like that!" Koizumi then decided to poke at his love life.
"Don't be embarrassed about it Hajime, we're all friends here right?"
"Was it really that obvious? Ahhhh I can't believe it…" As he tried to hide his face before they could see him turn into a total tomato they gave a laugh. He then tried to turn the tables on them.
"Well we all know Sonia and Gundham have something!" Sonia instantly stopped laughing and flinched. Nanami then took Hinata's side.
"Why else would Kettei give you his hamsters primarily? You also took two of them off Kazuichi after that incident." Koizumi then supported Sonia in her decision.
"Well Sonia? You may as well tell them what you told him, I already saw what happened since I was dead."
"Ok, if it was as obvious as Hajime and Chiaki then sure. Me and Gundham like each other." She blushed a bit but it wasn't as satisfying to hear as Hinata expected. Koizumi then tried to drop the conversation.
"Well know that we got that over we should stop, it's rude to intrude into other people's love life." But Hinata wasn't done.
"What about you Mahiru, do you not have any one?"
"What, of course not! All the guys here aren't man enough!"
"Weren't you just talking good about Kettei? He seems like the perfect guy for you…" Hinata's grin was met with a glare from Koizumi. Sonia then gave her opinion.
"I think they're both pretty similar. Tsuki speaks honestly on anything you ask him of while Mahiru speaks her mind on anything people say. And if you remember the first day we all met Mahiru she was busy shouting at all the boys and didn't exactly make a good first impression on you all, while the first time we met Kettei he spoke of his deception and none of you really believed it." It was interesting perception by Sonia. Nanami gave her opinion on the matter.
"Well was that just a coincidence or is it because of how you both act?" Koizumi was pretty uncomfortable with the situation.
"H-Hey! Stop talking about us!" She wasn't really sure what to say. Hinata however did.
"You talked about everyone else together now it's your turn. You and Kettei were talking pretty late last night. Surely you can stand him if you were willing to do that." Sonia then felt a bit bad for the pressure they were putting on Koizumi and tried to lighten it.
"We aren't forcing you to say anything Mahiru, we just want your honest thought and you and him." They gave her a moment of silence before she spoke.
"I never thought I'd find a guy that I would consider actually good enough… but maybe your all right…" She didn't say anymore; she wasn't really sure what to say. For a long time in her life she thought she would never fall for a guy, not after what she went through with her dad, but something felt different right now. Nanami finally moved things on.
"Now that we're done talking about that, we should find a way to help both Mikan and Teruteru." But as they carried on talking they didn't have any ideas on how to help and talked about random things.
Later on in the day
Hinata walked in the common room, he wanted to see how Tsumiki was doing. He was met with sight of her sleeping on the sofa as Naegi, Tsuki and Alter Ego talking about something. Naegi seemed distressed while Tsuki's eye regained their normal look at he turned to Hinata.
Whatever they were talking about, It must have been serious.
"Hey, what're you all talking about?" He was slightly worried about what he would hear. Tsuki answered him.
"I'll tell you later. What did you come here for Hajime?"
"Er, I just wanted to see how Mikan was doing. How long has she been sleeping for?"
"About an hour, she was in Despair form before so when she wakes up it'll likely be the Mikan everyone likes."
"How did you get Despair Mikan to fall asleep?"
"She's more reasonable than you think, if you took some time to talk to her you would get it."
Talk to Despair Mikan? Can you even reason with an Ultimate Despair? She killed Ibuki and Saionji… and used me as an alibi, I don't think I can do it.
"I'd rather not." The conversation hit an awkward pause until Naegi excused himself.
"I need to get going, there's somethings I need to think about." He left quickly, he was pretty distressed about something and it concerned Hinata.
"Is he alright? What exactly were you talking about Kettei?"
"You'll know tomorrow, until then it can wait."
He's hiding something and whatever it is, it's disturbing Naegi, but why can't he tell me now? Should I try to get to him to tell me… maybe I should ask Naegi.
"Sure…" Again the conversation struck a standstill.
"Well since you came here not seemingly wanting to talk to me about anything, did you manage to get Chiaki's bag off her?"
"Yeah I did, I just asked her if I could look at it and she seemed hesitant a first but she let me have it, is that fine?"
"Heh, that's more than fine, I'm in your debt for how much you've done to help Chiaki with what I couldn't do."
"Debt? Friends don't hold that sort of thing over each other Kettei."
"I didn't ask you that as a friend, but I didn't expect you to hold it over me Hajime." Before their conversation could carry on Tsumiki starting waking up and gave a loud yawn.
"Oh, hello. Ah! Am I interrupting something? S-Sorry! I'll go back to sl-" She was interrupted by a slightly annoyed Tsuki.
"It's alright Mikan, you didn't disturb anything. In fact Hajime came her to see how you were doing."
"O-Oh, thank you Hajime. I'm just fine, is that alright? I can be feeling down if you want me to!"
She's just as timid as always, it's hard to believe she shares a body with the other Mikan, their sooo different.
After some small talk between Tsumiki and Hinata, he left as the Despair side came out, causing him to feel extremely uncomfortable. Tsuki semi-scolded Tsumiki.
"You should stop scaring people away."
"I will as soon as you get away from me."
"Haha, good luck getting that to happen, and I thought you liked me."
"…Shut up."
"Akane look at this." It was Togami talking, he was following Hanamura to see what he would do, until now he had just wandered around the island.
"What the! Is he cooking?" Owari was right to be surprised, he was indeed cooking food in the restaurant.
"How is he cooking? He hasn't said a word since waking, in fact he hasn't gotten any of his personality back that I can see, so why on earth does he know how to cook?" It was confusing question but it was one that didn't bother Owari.
"I wonder if his food is still as good as before… oooooh." She started drooling at the idea and stared at the very short boy as he expertly cut onions without even blinking.
"Keep an eye on him, I'm going to get Kettei and Alter Ego." As Togami descended the stairs he met Soda on the way.
"Ah Kazuichi I need you to do something for me." The thought wasn't very compelling to Soda but Togami's glare forced him to agree.
"Sure… what do you need?"
"Go tell Kettei that Teruteru has starting cooking and we need him or Alter Ego to look at it."
"…Er, I got something I need to do." After that comment he left in a hurry, not wanting to do that favour. Kuzuryū who was had witnessed everything offered his help.
"What the hell is his problem? I'll get it done Byakuya, but why is Teruteru cooking?"
"I really don't know yet, I need to get back to surveying him, thanks for offering Fuyuhiko." When Togami returned to Owari and Hanamura he was met with a sight of Owari stuffing herself in dish while Hanamura sat motionless on a chair. In between bites of food Owari spurted a few words.
"Th…food…mazing!"
"So he still cooks well but he doesn't look like he has gained a shred of himself back, I don't get it." While Togami pondered the issue eventually Kuzuryū came back with a laptop in hand.
"Kettei, Mikan and Naegi said they would join us later and wanted me to bring Alter Ego." He put the laptop on the table for Alter Ego to watch Hanamura who had gone back to cooking. Togami filled him in on the details.
"He hasn't gained any personality at all, but a while ago he just started cooking like he used to. It doesn't make any sense, has he regained part of his soul or not?" Alter Ego took a moment to watch the cook do his finest work, he chopped vegetables without hesitating and turned oven knobs without even looking at them. Alter Ego sighed before speaking.
"I'm sorry to say but what he's doing is just muscle memory, comparing what he's doing now to how he cooked in the Neo Reality World, his actions are exactly the same. He's cooking just because that's what he's being doing his whole life, not because of his soul coming back." It was the sad truth and didn't help the mood of the island. Togami was disappointed at his response but thought of an upside.
"That's unfortunate, however we do now have ourselves a cook until he is taken away. In fact, this may be good for Teruteru in the long run, performing operations a short boy such as himself who can still walk and cook may be too unethical for even FF. Probably." Tsuki, Tsumiki and Naegi then walked up the stairs and noticed the scene.
"Wow, he really is cooking." Said Tsuki but before any of them could raise their hopes at the situation Togami told them what he and Alter Ego had just discussed.
"…"
"I won't let that happen, I'm leaving this island with Hanamura when FF come, I'll make arrangements, I won't let anything bad happen to him!" Naegi claimed with valour, even though he looked distraught at something when arriving he now had held his stance of hope. The sound of many footsteps then met Togami's ears. The rest of the island inhabitant had arrived for dinner and was confused with scene before them. Tsuki addressed them all.
"Hanamura will be cooking for us today."
Everyone was gathered round a large table enjoying Hanamura's long missed food. A few of them were concerned at the safety of the food but after seeing Owari eat through large amounts of meat without dropping they all were a lot more comfortable with it. Hanamura himself however was sitting on a chair with some food before him. He ate slowly but as always showed no emotion. The Ultimate's tried to ignore the fact that while they were enjoying themselves eating their chief was still not any closer to living.
Ignorance is bliss
Both Tsuki and Hinata were both thinking the same thing. Mikan who was sitting in between Tsuki and Nanami seemed reluctant to eat. Nanami noticing this she asked why.
"Why aren't you eating, Mikan? Is there a problem?"
"I-I don't think I deserve all this great food." Tsuki was getting annoyed at Tsumiki's comments.
"Mikan I already told you what you do and what she does are two totally different things, don't take responsibility for her!"
"Ack! I-I'm sorry…" Her apology frustrated Tsuki even more, he had a better time talking to her Despair than Tsumiki herself. Nanami then tried to convince her in a friendlier tone.
"Mikan you're a nurse aren't you? Surely you know how important it is to eat?"
"I do… it's important to eat healthy diet every day, otherwise you can suffer from malnutrition which can cause…" And she went on spreading her nurse knowledge to Tsuki and Nanami. Tsuki tried to remember anything important that would benefit him but found it very boring. Nanami already found it very boring and fell asleep, her head on Hinata's shoulder. This caused laughter among the group of teenagers. As they settled down and ate Togami addressed them all.
"It's good to see day by day we get bigger as a group. I'd like us all to honour this meal to the unfortunate fate Teruteru has fallen to." They all gave a moment of silence for him before Togami carried on.
"But we still have more friends to help rescue and over time we will do just that. So much has happened since we all met each other after our memory reset, but now I say we should all stick together. Once we were Remnants of Despair, but now we are a group of friends ready to stand side by side through anything Future Foundation have to throw at us. Let us all remember this dinner and use it as fuel to fight for our future!" It was an inspiring speech, clearly Togami had rehearsed. He was followed by cheer from the ex-Despairs. Tsuki and Naegi gave a smile, knowing they weren't apart of the group he spoke to. Nanami however cheered on, considering herself a part of the group and so did the others, even though she was a 'traitor' they all considered her apart of their own group and she wasn't excluded in such speeches like Tsuki and Naegi were. Togami however wasn't done.
"We also much thank who's here to help us, Naegi for offering us hope in our time of need and Kettei for bringing to us a valuable member of our group back to us! A loud cheer for them!" The group cheered loudly, their souls strong and Hope shining through them.
"HOOOORAY!"
After a mixture of cheer and shouting was finished Togami finished off, clearly comfortable with acting as a leader and giving speeches, even though he wasn't officially one he clearly was meant to be one.
"Night approaches so finish your meals and be ready for tomorrow, I wish you all goodnight."
As they were all dismissed various members went to their own rooms while others congratulates Togami on his amazing speech.
Night time
Tsuki was thinking to himself, he had just made the beds in the common room, Tsumiki was already sleeping in one of the beds already.
Should I make Hajime take the first shift? I'll be more ready for the plan but I'll be ready regardless, Hajime being tired won't help my case in the morning and I will need his help then. Hehe, he and Chiaki can be tired together, how cute. Although Chiaki does fall asleep during the day a lot I wouldn't Hajime doing the same… ugh I'll do the whole night then.
Hinata walked in disturbing Tsuki's thoughts.
"Oh, is Mikan already asleep?"
"Yeah she is, I'll take first shift so you can sleep in the other bed for now."
"Ok… can you make sure she doesn't fall asleep on me?"
"Haha of course."
"Thanks, good night then."
"Night."
As Hinata got in the bed he tried to ignore the fact that Tsuki could be watching him as he slept. Tsuki silently started walking along the edge of the room in a full loop. He preferred walking outside with view of the moon to collect his thoughts but inside wasn't that bad, as long he didn't stand still, he found it really difficult to focus without pacing in some sort of direction. He told something to Hinata before he went to sleep.
"Hajime?"
"Yeah?"
"If anything happens to me, take care of Chiaki… until I get back." It was very ominous for him to say, and Hinata wasn't sure how to respond. So he didn't. It gave him a bad feeling as he slowly fell asleep.
Hinata awoke in a void. He was standing on thin air and everything around him was grey.
"Hello?" He called out for no one in particular. A female voice responded to him.
"Hello Hajime, what did you want?" The voice was familiar but he couldn't figure out who it was.
"Do I know you? I feel like I should…"
"You forgot me Hajime… but you promised!" The words pounded against his head.
"Promise? I did promise… I know who you are! You are…" But the words didn't come out. He couldn't say them.
"You really did forget me… I really am just some - aren't I?"
"N-No! That's not true! You aren't some…" But he couldn't keep talking, he just couldn't say anything about it.
"Let me see your face! I know who you are!" He lied to himself, he didn't know, but he desperately wanted to know.
"Ok." The figure came into view, it was a short black silhouette of a female figure, the most disturbing thing was that her head was just a question mark.
"W-Why can't I see you…" Hinata grabbed his head as he felt his mind rip apart at the sight of figure before him. The girl seemingly sighed and fell through the void until she was out of sight, she gave one last comment.
"You killed me."
Journal entry xx/xx
Hajime and Mikan are sleeping, if I noticed myself would I have thought I was a pervert? I can't really be sure and I don't think I ever will. I met a Despair today and actually talked to them… everyone else seemed to creeped out but I forgot to show that emotion so oh well. She is very different…that's all I can say. I would have been able to say a lot more once upon a time but that's old news, for now I just need to keep guessing and pretending. Hanamura woke up without a soul… more proof for the soul theory, but I shouldn't think of it like that, I know a life is valuable but I don't feel like it anymore… if no one held his soul then was it valuable? I would have never asked a question like that before… man oh man, I need to make sure this is hidden, I'll uproot the floorboards under my room right after this entry. Make sure no one finds this.
"HAJIME! Wake up!" Hinata opened his eyes, his vision was blurry but the voices being focused at him forced him to rub his eyes and look at the situation. It was sight he was unsure was even real. He saw Naegi lying on Tsumiki's bed… with a knife sticking out his back. Both Tsuki and Tsumiki had blood on their hands as they were treating Naegi's wound. Tsuki then shouted at him.
"Go get everyone! Makoto's been stabbed!"
