Cuz… we're all friends, after all.

That was the last thing he heard within the game world. So… she was still there after all.

White. All he saw was white for what felt like an eternity. But then, in an instant, it was black. At first he was worried that something had gone wrong, but he then realized it was just his hair.

Hajime Hinata parted his long dark hair from his face. He was in a pod of some sort that glowed green. He thought of nothing but how to get out. Soon the green glow started to fade and the glow was a duller teal color. Then the lid flipped open and he saw the dark grey ceiling of the room. Blinking, Hajime climbed out of the pod.

He was in a room filled with monitors and cameras and tower servers and other gadgets. He knew what they all were called and what their specific purposes were, of course. He knew everything.

This revelation scared Hajime. Did his memories not come back? Was he doomed to not exist?

But as soon as he realized he was worried, his fear ebbed away. Hajime felt an enormous wave of relief as he realized that if he didn't remember, he wouldn't be worried about not remembering, would he?

Hajime almost laughed from the giddiness. He had all of his memories! Impossibly, he remembered everything that transpired within the Neo World Program AND -

His memories of the past five years.

The joy at being himself vanished in an instant. Because he had remembered everything. The surgery. The killings. Junko and Mukuro. Planting the virus in the Neo World Program. And…

Chiaki.

Not the AI they had lost to Alter Ego Junko.

The first Chiaki. The real Chiaki.

The one he had known for years.

The person he was closer with than anybody.

And she was…

Hajime fell to his knees, silently crying. She was dead. And it was his fault. He didn't do anything to stop Junko from taking over and turning Class 77-B into despair junkies. He didn't do anything as she killed Chiaki in that torturous maze. And for what? Because he was bored? What was wrong with him?

What have I done?

Hajime kept thinking of what he could've done to stop himself. Maybe he could have fought back against Izuru's control? Maybe Instead of sitting there crying, while she was bleeding out, he could have -

"Huh?" Hajime whispered to himself.

There was a gap. Was he missing some-?

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hajime?"

He turned. Sonia's dainty hand was resting on his shoulder. Tears were streaming down her pale face. Behind her were Fuyuhiko, Akane, and Kazuichi, whose faces were also wet. It was especially surprising seeing Fuyuhiko tear up, considering he had only witnessed him like this one other time. But there was something else to their faces - concern. Why? Then the realization hit Hajime - Izuru. They didn't know if Izuru resurfaced or not.

Standing up, Hajime turned to everyone. "I'm fine, guys. It's me."

Sonia smiled and hugged him. Kazuichi, who Hajime expected to look jealous of his treatment from Sonia, instead crouched down and muttered "Oh, thank god." Akane brandished her fist, grinning and said "Lucky you" in a joking manner, but her eyes were red. Fuyuhiko didn't even speak. He just walked towards Hajime and grabbed his hand.

Eventually, they broke apart, but only because they heard a hiss from the other end of the room. They all looked at a door they hadn't noticed before and saw Makoto, Kyoko, and Byakuya come out of it.

Makoto spoke first. "Are you guys all right?"

Hajime didn't know how to answer that.

Luckily, he didn't need to. Fuyuhiko did it for him. "What the hell do you think, bastard? Of course we aren't alright! We don't even know how to FEEL about this!"

"'How to feel'?" inquired Kyoko. "You mean you remember everything? The program AND your time as Ultimate Despair?"

"I don't know, it's all kinda fuzzy -"

"Don't bother questioning them, Kyoko", Byakuya interuppted. "They're clearly not capable of any sort of high-brain function, especially after the interference within the program."

"Listen, fatass - sorry, asshole - don't act all high and mighty while you're around us or I'll FUCKING RIP YOUR THROAT -"

"Fuyuhiko! Calm down!"

Fuyuhiko looked completely livid. Hajime thought he was going to direct his fury at him now for reprimanding him, but instead, he just leaned against the wall, slid all the way down to a sitting position, and put his hands to his face.

Byakuya seemed unfazed by the transgression. "Makoto, I'll let you explain the situation. Kyoko and I will handle the rest.

They left. Makoto, who seemed more disconcerted by Fuyuhiko's outburst than Byakuya did, took a second to compose himself.

"So, um, yeah. You probably already know this, but the Jabberwock Island we're on now is different from the one in the Neo World Program. Right now we're in the basement of the big admin building on the center island, so don't get too worried if you don't recognize it. When we get back to the mainland, we have safe zone you can -"

"What?"

Everyone turned. Fuyuhiko was now looking up at Makoto.

"We're not leaving, are we?

"That… was the plan", Makoto said slowly. "Do you - do you want to stay?

"Why do you care?" Fuyuhiko stood up and looked him straight in the eye. "Gonna stop us? I'd like to see you try."

"We aren't gonna stop you. I'm just… surprised you'd want that. Why?"

Fuyuhiko didn't answer. But his quick glance at one of the pods gave it away.

Makoto didn't press the subject. "Same goes for the rest of you. You can stay here, or come back home with us."

Home. That word resonated within Hajime. He had regained all of his memories of what happened to the world. Their homes…

He didn't have a home anymore.

Hajime recalled something. When he was still Izuru Kamukura, he went to his parents house to learn their fate. Being as bored as he was, Izuru was entertained by the idea of wondering what happened to his parents. It wasn't a concern, or a fear - it was a puzzle. A puzzle that he had figured out in his head on the way there, but he needed to see them to confirm it. And when he finally arrived at the crater that had taken place of not just Hajime's house, but his entire neighborhood, the curiosity faded away, and he became bored again. What horrified Hajime was that the revelation he took from that experience wasn't something sentimental, or mournful. Izuru only learned that the only way to cure boredom was a lack of knowledge -

Huh?

Another gap. Maybe it was just an aftereffect of the program, but...

Makoto began to leave. "If you need a place to sleep, you can take the ferry to the Hotel Mirai. We have some cots set up here if you would rather stay near the pods. There's a bunch of food stored away in the kitchen upstairs. But if you need more you can use the farm near the hotel. Eventually we'll try to send some animals, but you already have soil and seeds in the barn to get started. Hygiene items are in the lobby bathroom. And don't worry about privacy, hardly anyone knows this place even exists, and the Future Foundation abandoned operations here a while ago. Oh, one last thing."

He pulled what looked like a walkie talkie from his pocket and handed it to Hajime.

"If you guys ever need anything, contact Kyoko or Byakuya with that. Ask for me."

Hajime looked at the walkie talkie. "Thank you, Makoto."

"Of course." Makoto waved. Goodbye, and good luck everyone!" He walked out, and left the door open.

The room was silent. Hajime slid the walkie talkie into his pocket.

"So… now what?" asked Kazuichi.

As Hajime turned toward Kazuichi, some hair fell over his face, covering one eye. Annoyed, he replied "We should all gather our thoughts for a minute. Just take some time to think. I'm pretty sure we all deserve a little downtime."

As everyone muttered in assent, Hajime exited the pod room and walked into what looked like an observation room. It's design was similar to the previous one, but it's contents were different, with computers and monitors that seemed to be connected to the cameras. In the middle of the room were three worn cots, with sleeping bags that were all unzipped and strewn over them, as if someone had woken up and was trying to get up in a hurry. At the far end of the room was a staircase with no railing. After one last glance over the room, Hajime trudged up the stairs.

He walked into the large lobby. It was fairly clean and polished, save for a few scrapes leading from the glass double-doors to the basement door. He saw the bathroom on the other side of the room and quickly walked in and locked the door behind him.

He kept his head down as he walked over to the sink. It was littered with toiletries. Placing his hands on the edge of the sink, he braced himself before looking up to the mirror.

While Hajime knew what to expect, it still made his stomach lurch.

Staring at Hajime from the mirror was the person everyone knew as Izuru Kamukura. Long dark hair cascading from his head to his feet. Vibrant red eyes. The only part that didn't fit the description of Izuru Kamukura was the look of worry and concern that plagued his face.

Hajime couldn't stop thinking about who he really was. He appeared to be Izuru, but he was Hajime first and foremost… right? But he still had his memories of when he was Izuru. So was he now Izuru? Was he Hajime with memories of being Izuru, or Izuru with memories of being Hajime? Or maybe… he was both of them fused into one?

Hajime - or Izuru - looked back down at the sink. His hair fell back down all over the toiletries, once again to his annoyance. Then he noticed a razor and picked it up.

Regardless of who he was, or who he should be, he knew at least one thing.

He needed a haircut.

A/N: Sorry that took longer than expected, my computer broke. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! This chapter is dedicated to my ultimate friend, he truly is a godsend. He inspired me to finish this when I got lazy.