"Kuzuryuu-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked, startled by his companion's sudden outburst. A distant rumble cut through the silence. The last thing they needed was a storm in the middle of the night. Peko had used the opportunity to slip off, giving him no chance to understand why she had targeted Akane.

Fuyuhiko knew in his heart that Peko still posed a threat to the group, but he hadn't wanted to admit it. The new arrivals could be just as volatile and worse, two of them were waking simultaneously. He stumbled over his next words, not wanting to worry Hinata.

"I promise I'll let you know later. Right now, you go find Kazuichi and let him know what's going on. Peko and I will join you as soon as we can." He didn't wait for Hinata to respond and ran in the direction Peko went.

It was surprising how easily he was able to catch up to her. Though the sight of her gasping in the sand with her hands on her knees was cause for alarm.

"Peko, what the hell!?" He ran up to her. "What were you doing? Were you trying to kill her?''

"I shouldn't have been able to!" Peko hissed. "I shouldn't have even been able to get into the room." She gasped. "Even with the mindset of a child, the least she could have done was wake up! We were about this age..." She trailed off between gasp. "All of that sacrifice, the days of grueling training and my entire life's work is replaced with that thing!?" She felt ill to her stomach again. As it was, she could barely breath.

"You're not making any sense again!" Fuyuhiko didn't know what to do with his hands. Should he try and hold her, or let her be?"Replaced by what, when the hell would you get replaced?"

"When the Kuzyruu clan threw me~" She tapered off, barely catching herself in time. She felt his hand on her scarred shoulder.

"It's just us on the island, not the clan or whatever bullshit scared you off. It's just me now." The wind was picking up, causing a shiver to run down her back. She tried to keep her breathing steady. "Damn it Peko, would you just tell me what's going on?"

"Is that an order?" She asked slowly.

"I-" Kuzuryuu faltered. What was he supposed to say to that? "I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do..." He ran his hand through his hair, biting back another curse. "But you can't keep doing shit like this. I can't go through another trial." She stood slowly.

"During school, I became... emotionally involved in my duties. The family saw it as a threat. They threw me out. We had not spoken since." Her words were torrid. "Last I heard, the Kuzuryuu clan picked Owari as your new body guard. To add insult to injury, she can't even protect herself, let alone you."

"Peko... I should have never let that happen-" Kuzuryuu began.

"You don't have to apologize. If you could have done something..." But he hadn't even tried. That night she had been chased out of the house in a cloud of shame, barely dressed and he hadn't said a word in her defense. "Not that I will never know for sure." She had regained her composure, standing in the frigid night air. It was no use weeping in front of him, when even he couldn't explain why he never came looking for her.

"It's not like that anymore." Kuzuryuu argued. They had a place to stay, and the ability to make their own choices. He just had to help her make the right ones.

"You're right." She said with a smile he hadn't seen in months. "I am free to take back my role without resorting to violence to get it."

"Woah, woah, woah. I don't need a body guard Peko." He felt a rush of deja vu, but this time she was less receptive to his words.

"But that is what you want, correct? It's why you insist on moving forward toward 'the future' instead of recovering your lost memories." Peko persisted. "So things can go back to the way they were before?"

"That is not what I meant Peko!" He crossed his arms in front of him with a fervent shake of his head. "I don't need a fucking tool."

"Are you so sure?" Peko asked. "Considering three of the murders from your little game are waking up as the Remnants of Despair, you have a lot of faith that no one will try to hurt you in order to escape." She had a point. There was no telling what the other were capable of. Even if killing someone wouldn't lift the lockdown, Peko had proven that was not how the Remnants of Despair thought.

"I can take care of myself!" These were his friends, he knew how they thought. Well, most of them. He hadn't exactly started talking to the others until Peko died.

"That may be true, but whether you have considered it or not, you have regressed to a younger state of mind. If your group continues to grow at this rate, you will be outnumbered by the end of the week." His stomach roared in pain. "I can keep you safe until we get off the island. All I'm asking of you, is to trust me." He hated being backed into a corner like this, but if it kept Akane safe... In the end, it would be easier to keep an eye on her if she was around him all the time.

"On one condition," he grunted, "you can't kill anyone. No mortal injuries, or plotting, or shit like that. Got it?"

"Naturally. I wouldn't think of doing anything without a direct order." She nodded solemnly. "Do you need help getting back to your cottage?" She had a personal duty to make sure this awkward man survived the coming weeks, even if he did choose to forget her. After all, wasn't this what she'd been fighting for this whole time. To be able to live by his side again?

"No damn it, you heard Hinata. Two more people just woke up. We need to get over there and help." She couldn't help but laugh as he stiffly walked back to the center island.


The normally silent halls of the Future Foundation's head quarters were abuzz with the chirping of machines. Fuyuhiko had shuffled to the conference room to communicate with the doctors on the other island. Souda was waiting with Togami to wake up, which left Hinata with Teruteru.

"If you take one step closer, you'll be at the business end of a haggis." Teruteru hissed through his Southern twang. His breathing was slow and labored as he eased the bed into a sitting position.

"I know this must be confusing for you." Hinata began carefully from the doorway. "But that's no reason to be hostile. My name is Hinata, and I-"

"I know who you are." Teruteru coughed. "Or at least, I have a pretty good idea. Dead red eyes and no rack, you're probably Junko's boy toy. After all, you haven't tried to kiss my ass yet, so I doubt your here because you give a shit about me. Either way, I don't want your crazy ass near me." Teruteru sunk into the pillows, his face the same complexion as the sterile sheets.

"My eyes look dead to you?" Hinata murmured, more self conscious than ever. Teruteru closed his eyes and gave an affirmative grunt. Hinata shook his head. "Regardless, we have a packet of information on what has happened to you. You can look it over whenever you're feeling better." Teruteru chuckled at this. "If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. There are a few people on the island that can help you."

"Sure, I have a question." Teruteru sighed. "What's your angle?"

"Excuse me?" Hinata faltered.

"I mean, why are you trying to help me?" Teruteru turned his head to look at Hinata. "Because I'd rather skip the bullshit and cut to the chase."

"Well, I'm wanting to gain your trust again, as a friend. Once everyone's awake we can work together to get off this island." Hinata explained. He hadn't expected the first meeting to go over well in the slightest. It was especially difficult for him to keep the conversation pleasant while looking at the person who started the killings. However, seeing the person he became, it wasn't difficult to imagine him as a killer.

"Then you're screwed I guess, because all the doctors says I can't work." Teruteru sneered. "And I'm not sure who 'everyone' is, but chances are they do not want to see me."

"Look, I understand you're reluctant." Hinata said. "We are a bunch of strangers stuck here together, but if we try to mend the gap, we can move forward from despair."

"Reluctant? Reluctant? No, I'm being realistic." Teruteru hissed. "I'd love to get out of this bed and 'work together', probably kick your ass while I'm at it. But we all need to be a little more realistic with our goals Kamukura-san. I can barely walk. My nerves have gone to shit, but it will take a long time before they finally give up on me. So if it's work your expecting out of me, then you've set your expectations too high. Not everyone can make a royal flush with a shit hand. We can't all be that lucky."

"Don't say that." Hinata snapped. "I'm here because of the choices I made, same as everyone else here. Luck had nothing to do with it. Now we can either find a way to coexist or wallow in self pity. I'd prefer the first."

"You're different then I imagined," Teruteru muttered, "I'm not sure if that's a good thing." He sighed. "How do I call the nurse?"

"Do you want help?" Hinata asked through gritted teeth.

"I may need it later. Whatever those fuckers did to me wiped me out." Teruteru groaned.

"There's a call light on the bed rail. Just press it and one of us will come running. We don't have any medical staff on hand at the moment."

"Perfect." Teruteru rolled his eyes. "Well, if you don't mind, I'll try to gather my strength while I can. It looks like I'm going to need it."

Hinata left the room as calmly as he could. His head hurt and some of the things Teruteru said hit a little too close to home. Being realistic was one of the only thing his parents ever asked of him. Of course, the subject only came up when he mentioned high school. Two part-time jobs, cram school on the weekends, and all of it to be able to call himself a student at Hope's Peak Academy. The number of people who tried to talk him out of it were staggering. None of them friends, but the subtle pitying disapproval was stifling. When he finally got that letter, all anyone could say was, 'you got lucky kid.' He wasn't lucky, far from it, the person who was lucky was-

Pain, like a knife, ran through his forehead and down to his neck. He didn't want to remember, he had to move forward. He was finally Hajime Hinata again, and he wasn't going to let anything take that away from him. The headache would eventually stop, they always did. He could keep himself busy for a couple more hours to avoid the nightmares.


Kazuichi sat at Togami's bedside. Well, their Togami anyway. The self proclaimed progeny had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past hour. After the initial scare, Kazuichi became accustomed to the intermittent babbling.

"I'll be honest," Kazuichi sighed, "I'm really glad you're coming back. Being a leader, it's not as easy as it looks, you know? I don't know how you managed to do it." He took off his hat and ran his good hand through his hair. "But, whatever it was, it wasn't because of who you said you were, it was you. Trust me, I met the real guy, and he's a dick. Not you though." He leaned back in his chair. "There's just so much going on, and I'm not exactly sure where to go from here. It's not like anyone really relied on me before, but they listened. Now I feel like I have to work my ass off to prove I'm still useful." Togami had fallen back into a fit-ful slumber. "G'night big guy." Kazuchi said as he stood up. He left the room, not thinking twice about leaving the door unlocked. After all, someone would be there again soon.


Being awake in the morning was strange for Gundam. He watched the sparkling waves crash against the beach. It was hard to find a moment of peace when the island's inhabitants were so focused on talking to him. Subtlety was never one of his strong suits, but he had hoped to keep a low profile while on the island. Now there was a laugh, he actually hoped for something. What would Lady Junko say?

"There you are!" Sonia breathed as she ran up the coastline. "You practically disappeared after breakfast."

"I was enjoying a respite from omnipotent eyes." He muttered.

"I asked about the night walker. Hinata-kun said he didn't see anyone wandering around last night. We'll still keep an eye out, but Kuzuryuu-kun seemed pretty sure it was a onetime thing." She plopped down in the sand next to him. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more. Things have been getting hectic around here lately." Her laugh mirrored the chirping tropical birds. A gentle breeze played at the water's edge as they sat in silence. "Back in Novoselic the birds would mimic machine sounds, like gunshots. Not quite the same as this."

"So, you do not hail from Japan?" Gundam asked. The princess smiled sadly.

"I'm from a small European country off the Atlantic. It was beautiful in its own right. The parts my parents preserved especially. We had this Siberian Tiger for a while and horses too that would run around the gardens. She ended up getting relocated after she attacked one of the handlers. After all, she was taken from her home. Poor thing ended up in a prison guarded by soulless trolls." She said, quoting the phrase Gundam had used to describe zoos.

"You've told me this before." Gundam ventured.

"Yes, but I will tell it as many times as is needed." Sonia shrugged.

"Why are you doing this?" Gundam asked, his gaze trained on the shoreline. Sonia turned to him.

"I want to hang out with my friend, is that so perplexing?" Sonia asked.

"Even in your elaborate illusion, I still managed to take a life." He sighed. "I studied the tome you bestowed upon me." It had explained nothing about the people he found himself trapped with, or how they could be so forgiving. The only conclusion he could come to, was ignorance.

"That file only summarized the events." Sonia argued. "What happened to us wasn't fair to anyone. If you hadn't done something, we all would have starved to death. You saved everyone you could and then drew out the trial as long as possible..." She hugged her knees to her chest. "Nidai-san didn't even look human. It wasn't the same as the others."

"Owari-san doesn't seem to think so." Gundam disagreed. "She's spoke fondly of him to me. I'm not sure if she is seeking an apology or taking comfort in your false past."

"Do you feel like you should apologize?" Sonia asked.

"I'm not certain what you mortals expect of me. Being celebrated for my existence is not a comfortable experience." Chimera crawled out of Sonia's pocket and burrowed in the sand.

"I know the feeling." Sonia sighed. "If it makes any difference. I was quite angry with you for a while as well. One minute we were promising to get off this island together, the next you were gone. When you're the person left behind, there are a lot of pieces to pick up. I'm just glad we got the chance to meet each other again." Gundam instantly felt the urge to pull up his scarf. The sheet he was draped in did not have the same effect.

"If you continue to let her burrow, you'll lose her." Gundam said. He carefully retrieved the hamster from the sand, trying to ignore the itching anxiety caused by her gaze. "You should take better care of your vassal She-Cat." Suddenly Sonia erupted into laughter. It was good-natured, but the sudden outburst from the blonde set him on edge. He turned away from her, and focused on the hamster's hygiene.

"I'm sorry." She said through staggered breath. "I just thought that I'd never get to hear you call me that again."

From further down the shoreline a stout blonde chuckled.

"So the little beast master finally open his yap." 'Togami' said in a feminine voice. "I wonder what it will take to crush that hope of his."