AUTHOR'S NOTE: this chapter is a prequel, it takes place before chapter 1. just in case you get confused.
Darkness. That's all Hajime can see for some reason. The last thing he can remember was him and the others defeating Junko Enoshima and activating the shutdown sequence with the help of Makoto Naegi and his friends. What is going on? Where was he? And how does he get out? He was still trying to process everything until he saw a bright light, a voice can be heard also.
"Izuru! Can you hear me?" That's Makoto's voice. Before he could react, the light became extremely bright and Hajime had no choice but to cover his eyes.
Everything was still hard to see thanks to the light, but it all started to become visible. Hajime could see someone leaning over him, he couldn't tell if they were good or bad. Until he heard that voice again.
"Do you… know who I am?" Hajime sat up to see Makoto standing right next to the pod he was laying in.
"Makoto Naegi, member of the Future Foundation".
"Are you Izuru Kamakura? Or are you Hajime Hinata?" It's just one question after another.
"I'm… Hajime Hinata". He was a bit hesitant answering that one, but even Hajime had to be sure about who he was. Until he looked down at his body, he was wearing his Hope's Peak Academy uniform. Like what he wore during the simulation, with a blazer and. But that didn't shock him at all. What did was when he got up and looked into a mirror in the storage room, he was stunned. Long black hair and his left eye was red. A painful reminder that Izuru Kamakura will be apart of him for the rest his life.
He patted himself down and flinched when he got to his pockets, he reached in and pulled out something that even Makoto couldn't believe, Chiaki's hair piece. A pixelated ship. Hajime noticed the ship was getting wet, tears were running down his face.
"Looks like he'll be fine, the others better be this easy". Makoto and Hajime turned around to see Byakuya Togami and Kyoko Kirigiri standing by the exit. Kyoko was holding a pair of scissors and staring at Hajime.
"Before we wake up your friends, do you want me to cut your hair?"
"Please, I don't want them to see me like this". He didn't even think about it, he hated the way he looked.
About twenty minutes have passed, Hajime was back to his usual self. No blazer, short hair and luckily he didn't have any limbs missing. Nagito seemed to be the only one missing a limb, his left arm to be specific. Everyone else seemed okay, but he couldn't get distracted. He needed to focus on waking up Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Akane and Kazuichi. The other survivors of the killing game.
"Are you guys ready?"
"Yeah".
"Just do it already".
"I can't help but be concerned". Hajime seemed to be the only one worried. Makes sense, he doesn't know what they did to wake him up.
"Fuck… my head hurts". Fuyuhiko was the first to wake up. He noticed he couldn't see through his right eye; he couldn't even open it. he stood up and went to the closest mirror he could find, the one in the storage room and looked into it just as Hajime did before. Fuyuhiko tried to force his eye open, using his fingers, it worked. He started shaking when he didn't see his eye, but one that belonged to someone else, Junko Enoshima. He almost tried to rip it out, but he turned around when he heard footsteps, Fuyuhiko was now face to face with Hajime. "…Hajime?"
"And I thought my eye was fucked up". He laughed while extending his hand, hoping for a handshake.
"You look like shit". He replied as he shook Hajime's hand, they couldn't help but chuckle.
"Can someone tell me what's happening? Please?" Kazuichi was staring at the two of them, completely confused. Fuyuhiko and Hajime just smiled at him. "Woah, your eyes look weird".
"Guys?"
The three boys looked back at the pods to see Sonia and Akane staring at them. It's official, all five of the killing game survivors are awake. Before another word could be said, Sonia ran up and hugged Fuyuhiko and Hajime at the same time. "I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Sonia had tears running down her face, Kazuichi couldn't help but tear up too, even though he was left out of the hug.
As soon as Akane realized what's going on, she joined in on the group hug, also leaving Kazuichi out of it.
"You done yet? This is getting uncomfortable". Byakuya was standing behind the group, an irritated look on his face. "If you're done, I'd like to leave now".
"Here". Kyoko gives Hajime papers on the seventy seventh class, everyone was there, even the Imposter had his profile there, though there was not much to go on. "Everything about Izuru Kamakura was kept top secret and everything about Hajime Hinata was deleted, everyone's profiles are there, expect yours. Sorry Hajime".
"Who's Ryota Mitarai?"
"Ultimate Animator, I don't remember him at all". Akane leaned over Hajime's shoulder to check the profiles for herself.
"Currently, Ryota is missing. Been missing since the tragedy began".
"Do you think he's dead?"
"The Future Foundation have profiled everyone was killed during the tragedy. Millions of people have died. Ryota may be missing, but he isn't dead".
"That's crazy! Millions of people have died, and we probably caused most of them!"
"Yep, the Future Foundation is what's trying to fix the world and make it the way it was before, when everything was peaceful and happy".
"What about us?" Everyone turned to face Hajime. "What do you want us to do?"
"This is the REAL Jabberwock island; we expect you to live here. There's enough food here to last a lifetime. There are no bridges connecting the islands, I'm sure you'll find something useful laying around. Also, the other islands haven't been searched. We don't know what's over there. So, check it out at your risk".
"Live here? What if your buddies at HQ decide to come here and… say hi?" Akane couldn't help but ask that question.
"They don't know you're here and we plan to keep it that way".
"Thank you". Once again, everyone turned their attention to Hajime, saying the two words no one has said yet. "Thank for saving us".
"We need to get going, we'll have to go into hiding for a bit until we return." Kyoko said as she was about to leave. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone you're here. We promise".
'And so… the ordeal has ended. And from here, our daily lives here started. Lives that are much absurd, nonsensical and irrational than before… things are… probably going to be a lot more difficult now. There's no such thing as an answered mystery. It's doubtful whether or not things will even end well'.
'The Future isn't a path, it's like an endless sea… you can try to go anywhere but it doesn't mean you'll get there. Even so, I will keep on living. I will keep on living as Hajime Hinata. My future… lies here'.
A good view so he can witness Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya leave on their ship. Leaving the island for good. All Hajime could do was watch, all the questions he had about Izuru Kamakura will have to go unanswered. "Every talent", that much he understood right away. They could come in handy, though he couldn't be happy about it.
"Hey Hajime! come on!" Akane shouted at him. Trying to get his attention. "You have a lot of talents right? Cook me something!"
All he could do was smile. "Okay". He walked up to her and put his hand out in front of him, "If you promise to eat it all. No matter what it is".
"Look at who you're talking to!" She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him in towards her. Wrapping her arm over his shoulder and pulling along. Waiting for the others to wake up will probably take a while, or it'll be a waste of time. Hopefully all the waiting will be worth it. who knows? Kazuichi's currently working on getting the power back up and running. Fuyuhiko was just trying to chill while he waits, and Sonia wanted to help in any way she could. They didn't have to choose a future; they could just create one. Hajime will never forget that, it came from an important source after all… a good friend.