[Author's Note]: Faith / Future is a fix-it set post-DR3. I tried to rewrite the Final Killing Game, but it didn't come out so well, so the story starts afterwards during the aftermath with all the survivors in the hospital, or at least a fair amount of them. The Final Killing Game events are altered, even beyond the presence of the OC. This was originally written primarily for self-indulgence purposes, but I've chosen to share it publicly.

Chapter One

It had taken a while for Aki's concussion to really start biting her in the ass. Head injuries could really suck like that. It was probably for the best that Aki had been dragged against her will to the hospital, though Aki thought that there were others that could use the hospital more… Well, namely three people. Kirigiri, Sakakura-san and Yukizome-san definitely needed the hospital. Especially the former.

Though, all the survivors of the Final Killing Game had been forced to at least get a check-up, and Aki noted that Naegi and Asahina were the best off out of all of them. Munakata had been dragged off for his fucked up eye, Yukizome-san had been burned and might be kind of deaf now? Sakakura-san… He… Had a lot of holes in him… As well as the missing hand. Aki tried not to think about that. It made her nearly throw up, so yeah. Not going to think about it too hard.

Then there was Aki's head injury from being hit over the head. Twice. Also being slightly blown up. She was okay mostly. She wasn't in any danger of dying, so she was totally fine. Even if she couldn't really walk in a straight line and her actual memory of the Final Killing Game was a little spotty here and there… It was all temporary, and as soon as Aki could feasibly escape, she would even if it meant crawling out the window.

Aki groaned as she got out of bed. She stumbled a bit, but managed to stay on her feet. She was fine. Really. It was the others she was concerned about. Not Naegi and his crowd. She wasn't worried about them at all. They'd be fine, even Kirigiri. Though she'd been poisoned and would likely have long-term consequences, Kimura had saved her, even post-mortem. Kirigiri had friends to support her through everything. Asahina, Hagakure, Togami, Fukawa, and Naegi. Though, admittedly Togami, Fukawa, and Hagakure's support was dubious at best. Fukawa and Togami for obvious reasons, and Hagakure was a moron. But honestly, all Kirigiri probably needed was Naegi and Asahina. It irked a little bit. Maybe it was a little bit stupid but….

Fuck.

Aki knew that Munakata was wrong. She knew that how bad he'd gotten wasn't okay. But dude had come dangerously close to losing both of his best friends. It was only by chance that Yukizome-san had been snuffed out and cured of her Despair, and a miracle that Sakakura-san had survived his injuries.

It felt stupid, but Aki felt that Naegi and his friends got off a little easy. It was a dangerous thought, and she wasn't about to tell any of them that but fuck. It was hard not to think that way. Naegi being in the right, presumably getting his way after all is said and done… Fuck. Aki was admittedly grateful to Naegi for saving the Remnants, since they bailed them out. The conscious Remnants, Kamukura, Nevermind, Soda, Kuzuryu, and Owari had taken credit for the Final Killing Game, and had presumably fucked off back to Jabberwock Island. Aki had been prepared to prove that Tengan was the mastermind (it had to be him), first destroying the footage and then tampering with Tengan's corpse. No one had looked at her kindly for what she did. She remembered how Naegi and Asahina regarded her, like they hadn't seen her properly the first time.

Aki used the wall to guide her out of the room. She couldn't stand laying about for too long. She was fine. She opened the door and went into the hallway. She turned her head and… Oh. There was Munakata, carrying multiple bags of the same type of chips. She wondered why he didn't get a variety.

"... Should you be up?" Munakata questioned her.

"... Should you?" Aki asked in return. She looked at Munakata and… Man. He looked like shit. None of them really looked great, she imagined, but… Fuck. He looked exhausted, his hair was still a mess, and that wasn't even covering his missing eye. He looked far from the well-groomed, intimidating Vice-Chairman of Future Foundation that he was.

…. Oh, but…. Tengan was dead. Munakata was the Chairman now, wasn't he? He was. He was already her boss pretty much, but now that had been elevated. It would probably be awhile before they all got back to work, though. Especially long for Sakakura-san.

"... My apologies." Munakata said quietly.

"... For what?" Aki asked.

"For the harm I caused you during the Final Killing Game." Munakata said.

"... Ah. It wasn't so bad. You just hit me over the head. I'm good now, really." She said cheerfully. Though, her expression fell as she noticed Munakata's breath seemed to get funny for a moment. She scratched the back of her head, careful not to tug at the bandages wrapped around her head. "... It's fine. I wasn't ever really mad about it." She said. "Loads of people take a swing at me. If I got mad about everyone who tried to hit me, successful or not, I'd probably have melted into a puddle of angry goo." She said, realizing shortly thereafter that was probably a rather strange statement.

Munakata didn't give any indication he thought it was particularly weird.

"... I feel I should thank you as well." Munakata said, suddenly bowing before her, way too deep for a subordinate. "You saved Sakakura's life. I… Do not doubt that his chances of survival would have been slim or nonexistent if you had not intervened. You have my deepest gratitude for… Allowing my mistake to not end in his death." He said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. Most people probably would have missed it. Not Aki.

Aki sighed. "... Munakata-san. You really shouldn't be bowing to me. Can you… Stand up? Really this is just… It's going to look weird if someone turns the corner." She said, sounding a little tired.

Munakata rose again, but Aki noticed how his posture was different. He wasn't really slumping, but he… It was like that fire in his eyes had gone out, reduced to fading embers. Aki sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Sir… Are you alright?" It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't alright. Given everything that had happened… How could he possibly be alright?

He smiled at Aki. It was a polite smile that Aki knew was a mask, a mask hastily plastered near-permanently to his face in an effort to not fall apart. Probably a leftover from his youth. Aki would know. She tended to do the same exact thing. It was easier to notice despair in other people, she felt, if you had to look that same kind of despair in the face nearly everyday. Okay, maybe not the exact same but… She felt she had more to relate to Munakata in that way than anyone else. Not a lot of people still around who hailed from rich families like theirs. There was Togami, but he didn't count. "I am fine." He said.

Aki didn't believe him for one second. "... What's with all the chips?" She asked.

"... Chisa was hungry." He said. It didn't really explain why he only got one kind.

"... Let me go with you. I'd like to see her too. Plus, I'm going crazy cooped up in my room. I'm going to try to convince them to let me go soon." Aki said with a false grin. He didn't react much.

"... If you wish." He said, allowing her to tag along to Yukizome-san's hospital room.

… Yukizome-san hadn't really struck her as the type to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. Then again, too many things were different now. It felt like things started for Aki when she found those photos in Yukizome-san's desk. Photos that more or less proved that no one had noticed when Yukizome-san had fallen into despair. She seemed alright now. Apparently Aki could sort of figure out if someone was in despair. At least… She'd seen something different with Yukizome-san. She figured that Munakata and Sakakura-san were too close to really notice how things had gone wrong. It was possible to explain how neither of them had seen it.

Aki was trying to walk on her own, but then Munakata insisted on helping her. "I can walk on my own…" She grumbled.

"... It will be faster if you lean on me." He countered. He was right. Annoyingly right. So, she went along with it. Just the once.

It didn't take too long to make it to Yukizome-san's room (other than having to shoo away nurses who didn't approve of two of their patients wandering the halls at night, but they didn't stand a chance against the combined determination of Munakata and Aki both refusing medical assistance). Aki opened the door first, and made her way to a chair as soon as possible.

Yukizome-san blinked and smiled softly at the two of them, but it seemed strained. Especially in regards to Munakata. She waved. Somehow, none of the survivors from the 74th Class of Hope's Peak Academy had escaped with all of them intact. Sakakura-san had lost his hand, Munakata lost his eye, and it seemed like Yukizome-san's hearing had been permanently damaged. It was possible that the explosion from Gekkogahara (sorry, Monaca Towa-) had permanently damaged her hearing. She couldn't seem to even make out anything anyone said, even slightly. Yukizome-san had been closer to the explosion that Aki had. A head injury wasn't as bad as becoming mostly deaf. Her situation might improve, but Aki felt that was too optimistic.

…. At the very least, Yukizome-san had a whiteboard and marker to try and communicate with. Gazing at the whiteboard on the table next to her hospital bed, it looked like yes. She had in fact sent Munakata to go get chips. She was gazing at him with a concerned look.

"... Ah… Why did you get only one type of chips?" Aki asked carefully.

Munakata suddenly seemed to go completely still. It was a little unnerving, all those little natural movements suddenly evaporating into air. "... I was unsure what kind to get. I know I've seen Chisa eat these before." He said, his voice sounding a little far away.

"... They're good chips. I'm sure Yukizome-san loves them." She reassured him, gazing off at Yukizome-san.

Yukizome-san kept looking between them, and apparently was frustrated with not knowing what they were saying, seeing as she grabbed her whiteboard to write something new.

She held it up. 'What are you talking about?' It was unfortunate that Yukizome-san didn't know sign language.

Aki held out her hand for the whiteboard and Yukizome-san handed it over. Aki wrote something new for Yukizome-san. 'You like these chips right? He didn't know what kind to get, so he just kind of got a lot of a kind he saw you eating once.' She explained.

Yukizome-san smiled, and looked at Munakata. "Thank you, Ky- Munakata." She said, speaking louder than necessary, probably because she couldn't hear how loud she was being. Munakata smiled politely back at her, his expression oddly stiff. Ah. That must've been a slap in the face.

Aki erased the whiteboard and wrote something new. 'I know sign language. Would you like for me to teach you?' She offered.

Yukizome-san's eyes lit up. "Yes!" She said brightly with a nod. "Thank you!" Aki thought it was kind of cruel to leave her with such an awkward method of communication.

"... I would like to learn as well. If… You are fine with teaching me as well…." Munakata had apparently still been paying enough attention to suddenly speak up like that.

Aki nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll teach the both of you. Hopefully Yukizome-san's hearing isn't totally shot, so she can get hearing aids…" She winced, realizing Sakakura-san would probably not be able to sign. Not without another hand. She wrote down Munakata's desire to learn on the board as well. She wrote down a thanks of her own for him wanting to learn sign too, so they could speak.

Aki wrote down that they could start soon. For now, they should probably just relax and rest. Yukizome-san agreed and Munakata remained quiet.

Yukizome-san eventually fell asleep, with Aki and Munakata remaining in the room. She didn't really want to sleep, and she guessed Munakata didn't want to either. He eventually slumped to the floor and passed out. Aki stumbled out and managed to steal some cushions from the hallway benches to give to Munakata, before collapsing in the chair again. Ugh, her concussion was making it a pain. She hoped it would stop fucking her up like this soon.

….

This was just… Such a mess.