The mere act of being detained had been humiliating for Peko. They had stripped a bedroom bare of all sharp objects, and anything that could be used as a rope, to use as her new jail cell. It meant, that in the middle of the day, her room was blindingly bright as the sun reflected of the pristine walls. In the upper corner of the room was a tiny surveillance camera, with a live person watching her every move on the other end. Anytime she got too close to the door a security guard would be waiting for her outside. The windows had also been barred across, preventing any illusion escaping from the third floor. So, like most days, Peko sat on the bed with nothing to do except watch old broadcasts on a dated television. She was shaken from her routine by a knock at the door.

"It's safe to come in." Peko told her visitor. Hinata took this as an invitation and sat by her bedside. Since her escape, security had increased on the third floor and visits had to be recorded. "You're not a staff member."

"Not exactly, no. Everyone's worried, but they're only letting one visitor in a day." Hinata began. "They thought I'd be the safest person to send in... You were in critical condition before you woke up, it gave us all quite a scare. What happened?" Peko stared back at him hollowly.

"Couldn't you get that information from my numerous sitters?" She asked, painfully aware of the lack of privacy she had.

"I'd rather have your permission first." Hinata shook his head. "No one would willing divulge information before, and it would be an invasion of privacy if I looked at your chart." He fidgeted with his hands as he spoke, trying to avoid her icy stare.

"Is that all you want from me?" She asked. He handed her a folder full of profiles and scenic views of the island. Underneath was a collection of case files relating to the trials. One of them had her name on it. So this was why they had been captured, to act in some little play for the Future Foundation.

"The Future Foundation probably refused to give you any information that would answer your questions." She closed the folder without a second thought. "If you need to talk to someone, I'm here. Otherwise our visit will be a little short. "

"...You've changed." Peko observed. "I have had the misfortune of meeting many selfish individuals in my lifetime, and the only time we met, I knew you were one of them." Kamukura had been Junko's last 'favorite', a personal pet project to make a borderline sociopath fall into despair. Unfortunately for Junko, even despair failed to amuse the Ultimate and instead she had to watch Hope's Peak fall into ruin alone. She hadn't wanted any of her 'favorites' to join her in her last campaign to plunge the world into chaos.

"Sorry, this is who I was before the tragedy, mostly." Hinata sighed. "The psycho therapy wasn't a complete success. Thanks to Kamukura, only a handful of us were able to leave the Neo World Program without our memories of Hope's Peak Academy." So he had completely divorced himself from his prior actions. Still, there was an undeniable amount of remorse in his voice. The real Kamukura wouldn't have bothered to put on such an act.

"So you really are a different person?" She frowned. "Yet you do not find it alarming how a single program erased your existence and replaced it with one that would work alongside the Future Foundation?"

"I chose this path on my own. The world is better off without Kamukura in it."

"That's easy for you to say, there was no one in the real world waiting for him to return." She thought of the Kuzuryuu clan, how devastated they must have felt to loose three children in a two year. What would they think of their son now? Would they be happier, or...

"We're all waiting for you to get better so you can explore the central island with us. The sooner we find out why you woke up, the sooner we can help the others." Hinata was a self proclaimed king of avoiding uncomfortable topics. They didn't have access to any of the profiles on the Remnants of Despair. Frankly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the details of what went on during those two and a half years.

"Are you sure you want the others to wake?" Peko asked. "They will be strangers to you, as you are to me. I doubt any of them will willingly cooperate with you."

"We'll worry about that later." A knock indicated he had to leave. "One of us will be by again tomorrow." He surveyed the sterile room. "Do you still like cloth dolls and rabbits? We should be able to get you something as long as it's small." He couldn't help but smile as heat rushed to her face.

"I am more partial to kittens nowadays." She corrected lamely.

"Cats, got it." He beamed and left. Peko numbly flipped through the TV channels. There was nowhere to go back to and Junko's empty promises failed to fill the void. It would be better to feign complacency until they let her go. Then she could let her despair consume her. A fair punishment, she supposed, for hoping she could escape the cycle of despair.


The enormous, grey building in the heart of Jabberwok Park made walks around the island less scenic. Still, the sight of the shoreline was a welcome change to the lab's many indoor amenities. Kuzuryuu would go stir crazy if he stayed inside for too long, he didn't understand how Kazuichi could stand it. Often he found himself taking walks with Sonia. Even if it was only digital, the fun house had left a lasting effect on the princess and Akane was still too weak to join them.

"They still won't let me in to see Peko. The doctor thinks I'll set her off again and Hinata agrees with him!" He kicked at the dirt with a growl. "If she's in such bad shape, I should be there for her. You should have seen her Sonia, she acted like I was a stranger." Diplomatic as ever, Sonia maintained a gentle demeanor.

"It is not a preferable situation," Sonia agreed, "but she is awake and recovering quickly I've heard." Birds chirped in the trees as they orbited the building a third time. "What about you?" She gestured to her own eye with hesitation. Everyone had been walking on eggshells about the subject. He was grateful Sonia had the decency to at least talk to him directly about it.

"I went ahead and had them take the damn thing out." He cricked his neck. "No complications. Which is good, Owari's giving them hell in physical therapy. They wanted me to keep her out of trouble, like that's going to do anything." They had been so insistent that he be the one to look after the gymnast, even though Hinata was the obvious choice. Though, in hindsight, the others seemed busy with their own tasks from the Future Foundation.

"Did you hear Kazuichi-kun's right arm was taken away? After his recent outburst they decided to check it for weapons." She giggled. "they went white as a sheet as soon as they opened it up. The new prosthetic they've loaned him is acceptable, but not nearly as sophisticated, so he's been having difficulties with basic tasks." The faults of her performance became clear as she tried to broach a more serious topic. "I'm worried though. There's so much that has changed in the world, and I'm not entirely sure I want to know what happened. Is that wrong?"

"Well, I'm not the best judge of character myself, but I think it's perfectly normal to feel how you do." Fuyuhiko shook his head. "The world got fucked up, bad, but the only thing we can fix what's in front of us here."

"It's just, I requested to have some decedents of Tanaka's empire shipped to the island. I wasn't even thinking, I just wanted this place to feel more like home." She started to tear up. "I was told they couldn't acquire any of them." Her voice grew quiet. "The Humane Society shut down his practice years ago." He couldn't bring himself to say anything. He wasn't Hinata, he couldn't pull motivational speeches out of his ass at the drop of a hat. A few ideas came to mind, but nothing worth trying. Instead they continued to walk in silence.


Physical therapy had become apart of the groups daily routine. Though at this point, only a few took advantage of the tiny gym. Owari continued to spar with the punching bag, regardless of her therapist's warnings, determined to regain her lost strength. Hinata and Kuzuryuu were more entertained by Souda's trying to 'hack' his new arm into doing what he wanted. They sat on a bench that lined the room as casual spectators.

"My robotic prosthetic was wired into my nervous system." He reminisced. "It was just like having a real arm, only cooler. But nooo, you have one little firearm hidden between a drill and the cooling system and suddenly you get a glorified Pick Stick strapped to your shoulder."

"Just grab the ball." Hinata laughed. Fuyuhiko lolled his head back to look at Akane.

"I don't know why you dragged me here if all you're going to do is punch sand." He told her.

"Pekoyama asked me to." She said with half a shrug. Fuyuhiko sat up straight with a frown.

"Pekoyama-san talked to you about Kuzuryuu-kun?" Hinata asked slowly. He had barely been able to get her to talk about her daily activities, let alone the past.

"Eh, kinda?" Owari jabbed at the sand bag. "I went in to talk to her, cause I figured she was bored, and she started yelling at me. Apparently I'm failing in my duties or something. Anyway, I got the feeling she'd blame me if something happened to short stack, so here we are. We gotta' look out for each other anyway and if it makes her feel better to use me as the go between, I'm fine with that. Gives me an excuse to punch people." Hinata and Kuzuryuu shared a worried look.

"Owari-chan, I think it would be best if you didn't see Pekoyama-san for a while." He could only wonder how violent Peko's outburst had been for Akane to consider it noteworthy. "She's still adjusting." Hinata tried to be as gentle as possible. The topic of their old friends was an ever present landmine and he wanted to have one day without any arguments.

"She can't adjust if we lock out everything that freaks her out. Just give me twenty minutes and I can have this sorted out." Fuyuhiko began.

"It's not that simple." Hinata sighed.

"I know Peko. Once she realizes that we are both safe, she'll calm down and-"

"She's not the same person Kuzuryuu!" Hinata snapped. "Talking to her now will just make the Future Foundation upset." He felt bad cutting off his friend, and he knew how much Fuyuhiko wanted to reconcile his past mistakes. But now was not the time to make such gambles.

"This is bullshit." Fuyuhiko muttered.

"Kuzuryuu-kun." Owari frowned as Fuyuhiko collected his things to leave.

"No need to get up, I'm only going to my room." He spat. "I'm just sick and tired of this shit." The door to the therapy room slammed shut behind him. Souda nervously looked around the room and tried to break the tension.

"Guys, do you think Miss Sonia's trying to avoid me?"


The next meal they shared was spent in silence. Even Souda's difficulties with his cutlery failed to inspire playful jabbing. As dinner time wrapped up to a close, Akane slammed her fist into the table.

"This is stupid," She snorted, "why isn't anybody talking?"

"Owari-san, now might not be the time for this altercation." Sonia soothed. She could see Hinata was struggling to keep the group together, and even though she shared Akane's frustration, she understood how precarious their situation was.

"We've been through worse together, I don't see why this is a big deal." Akane said through a mouthful of food.

"You wouldn't be saying that if Nidai was in there." Kuzuryu growled.

"If Coach Nidai was in there, I would have punched Hinata in the face and seen him anyway, but that's now what you're doing. You're sitting on your ass, giving us the silent treatment." Akane was ready to reach across the table when Sonia placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Everyone, please, we are trying to keep a low profile. Fighting amongst ourselves accomplishes nothing." Sonia declared.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Fuyuhiko hissed under his breath. "Hinata's right, we can't recklessly piss off the Future Foundation and there's nothing we can do to change their minds." The longer they stayed here, the more he felt like they were imprisoned.

"The people here are afraid of letting us use our talents." Kazuichi pointed out. "Without them, or anything else to do, we're just sitting ducks."

"Well then, we simply must think of a project then." Sonia suggested. "Something productive to keep our minds off of things. And perhaps, we could all write Pekoyama-san letters since some of us will be unable to visit her for some time." She looked to Hinata for approval.

"It couldn't hurt to ask." He agreed. "In the meantime, we should see if they need help with the reconstruction of the first island. Refugees have been told to stay on the third island, so I bet the Future Foundation could use some man power." It was a small step, but at least it was in the right direction.