We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day

Hey guys! So I have not only one, but TWO chapters lined up for us here! The next chapter will come out next Monday, in one week.

These next few chapters will be shorter than usual, but there's a good reason for that. You will see. I'm… I'm really surprised, but also enheartened, by the response to the latest chapter. I hope that this one is just as good. :D


The Future Foundation, Part Seven

Mioda-san stood in the rain with her back to the vault door that sealed the Ruins, looking out at the road that led to the second island bridge and the endless expanse of ocean that should have separated them from every other island. In truth, the ocean just went on and on forever, eventually looping around and around with nothing in its programming to indicate that one should eventually reach another island.

The electric guitar in Mioda-san's arms was somehow not sparking or exploding, but maybe it was of the same sturdy make as Tanaka-san. Or maybe the codes and rules of this world just plain didn't allow for that kind of interaction with rain, even if they did allow for getting wet. The aux cord was plugged into the back of Tanaka-kun's neck, although why Tanaka-kun had an aux input was beyond Naegi's comprehension. (Perhaps it was the same logic that had allowed Jeff Goldblum to hack into an alien mainframe with an Apple interface in Independence Day – an adaptable world cutting corners in order to make sense of insensible processes.)

Tanaka-kun didn't seem to mind this at all. Or perhaps, like Mioda-san had said, he just didn't speak anymore, and found it best to stay still. As for Mioda-san, her fingers were posed over the strings and the frets, trembling as they waited for some unknown signal.

Naegi stood some distance back, next to the console that, if he had wished, he could have used to open the door. 11037. He'd set the password himself, in memory of someone he'd tried and failed to protect – someone who could have been standing by him if only he'd been able to inspire hope in her.

He looked left and right, but saw nothing in the distance that looked anything like the Impostor. Or like any of his friends, for that matter, or…or anyone at all.

He looked down at the Electronic Student ID, the one that Mioda had handed off to him before she'd disappeared into the supermarket to get her supplies. He'd been checking and double-checking the map all evening, trying to locate the remaining students, but…

"Er, Mioda-san," he said.

Mioda-san did not respond.

"Souda-kun should be right here, according to the map. And Kuzuryuu-kun, too." He bit his lip, and then checked the ID just one more time. "But they haven't shown up, and I've been looking around for as long as we've been here –"

"It's okay, Mako-chan." Carefully, Mioda-san pricked at a few of her guitar strings with her fingers. Tanaka-san lifted his chin, and a few faint but powerful vibrations filled the air.

"But they should be here." Naegi's fingers trembled against the Electronic Student ID, and he racked his brain for the solution he needed to have. "There's no way the IDs can be wrong, unless…"

"It's okay," Mioda-san repeated. "Ibuki knows."

"Knows what?" Naegi tried to sound curious, and not frustrated. He knew that the rules of this world, the very fabric of its being, were only kept together by the whim of its administrators. Both Usami and Monobear had bent reality to their will, and in Monobear's case had broken the rules originally set for a peaceful and marginally realistic island paradise. If the Neo World Program's new master decided that the IDs would lie, then they would lie, and there was nothing that Naegi or anyone else could do about it.

"She knows that Byakuya-chan is dangerous," she said, plucking again at the strings. "And she knows that it's going to be hard to change their mind. So hard that Mako-chan doesn't think this is going to work."

"I – that's –" Naegi opened his mouth, and then closed it. He didn't want to lie to her, and moreover he didn't think that he could. "I…I know how important this is, Mioda-san. I know how much they meant to you, and how much you want to get through to them. But…"

On top of all the rain pouring around him, Naegi felt tears burning in the corners of his eyes. "I've already tried," he mumbled, without any attempt at making himself heard. "I tried so many times…"

"In this institution?" Mioda-san said.

It took a second for Naegi to absorb what he'd just heard, and in that second Mioda-san pulled something out from behind her back – a mini-microphone, likely also still functional in the pouring rain. She clipped the microphone to her collar, flicked a switch on its side, and then tapped the top, to test its sound.

"It's not just a matter of convincing them," Naegi went on, racking his brain for the solution he needed to have. "I don't know how to explain this, or even how it works myself. You could call it brainwashing, or something like it, but whoever they were before, it's not…"

It's not there anymore, Naegi thought, but didn't say. And with the failure of the New World Program, I'm not sure it can ever be brought back.

"Ibuki already said she knows." Mioda-san turned back, and gave Naegi a smile. "But Ibuki has already done and seen so many impossible things. She could do a million more, and Mako-chan wouldn't even be surprised, right?"

Naegi shook as he looked into her eyes. A part of him wanted so desperately to believe in her, if only for the sake of creating the kind of hope he'd dedicated himself to. But… as much as he hated to think that even the greatest hope couldn't hope to crush the strongest despair, he'd had to accept it in order to carry on.

"Right," he said honestly. "You're right."

He gave her a thumbs-up, which she returned, and then took a few steps back as she took a few steps forward. He didn't want to hide the truth, but at the same time he didn't know how to explain it to her. He couldn't hope to make her understand the entire annihilation of self that she, and the Impostor, and every one of her classmates had experienced. He'd hardly believed it himself, when he'd been told, and he still didn't want to.

He'd tried to talk to them. He'd begged and pleaded and even bargained with them. But as strong as all of his classmates claimed he was, nothing he'd tried had made the slightest difference, apart from the memory wipe. He had never, ever wanted to lie to them, not as much as he had… and he hated the notion, the one he wholly believed, that nothing else could have saved the 77th Class.

Looking at Mioda-san now, Naegi wanted her to prove him wrong. He hoped she could prove him wrong. It was the only way he could think of to live with himself, if he could survive this day at all.

"Ibuki really wishes she could've given her monologue in person," Mioda-san said, speaking into the abyss as he looked across the map. "She had it all planned out and everything, with different branches based on different reactions! But this'll just have to do."

Naegi nodded, but didn't look up. He navigated back to the second island map, and scrolled back to the ruins, more out of habit than out of any expectation that things would change. For a moment, they didn't… but then, as he watched, two faces lit up to the side of the screen, and two more icons appeared on the map.

Naegi hadn't seen Hinata-kun or Nanami-san approach on the island, or even on the ID itself. And for that matter…unlike the rest of them, even Souda-kun and Kuzuryuu-kun, they weren't at the ruins. They were inside them.

"Mioda-san!" Naegi shouted, but even at the top of his lungs his protests were unheard. Mioda spun a dial on the front of her guitar and then slammed her fingers across the strings, creating a wall of noise so thick that he could barely hear his own thoughts.


Kuzuryuu found Souda exactly where he'd hoped to find him, right in front of the door to the Ruins.

He was sitting against the bulkhead, holding his arms over his stitches and looking both sullen and shaken as he tried not to look at the two girls in suits that were pacing around the front of the building. Kuzuryuu assumed they were other members of the Future Foundation, just from what they were wearing, but… Well, given the company he'd kept up until then, that didn't convince him that they were figures of authority. But compared to Hagakure and Fukawa, they did both look normal, which was a start.

The three of them looked up, wide-eyed, as Kuzuryuu approached. "Souda!" he yelled.

"Oy! Kirigiri-chi! Asahina-chi!" Hagakure yelled over him. He broke away from Kuzuryuu and sprinted up to the front of the building, waving his hand in the air.

"Hagakure-kun –!" The longer-haired Future Foundation member, who was either Asahina or Kirigiri, broke out of her pacing pattern and moved ahead to intercept him. The other girl moved to follow, but unlike her partner she gave Hagakure a fairly wide berth.

"Yep, we made it!" Hagakure grinned, and before Kuzuryuu could get away he'd pulled him back into a headlock. "Glad to finally see some familiar faces, 'right? So, Kuzuryuu-chi, this is Kirigiri-chi, and over there is -"

"How did you get in here?" Kirigiri fixed them with a look of such ferocious shock that Hagakure's smile fell right off his face. Behind Kirigiri, the other one – Asahina – looked more worried than anything else, while Souda had stood and backed up against the bulkhead, giving Kuzuryuu a wordless, frightened look.

"Huh…?" Hagakure furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? We just kinda walked in…"

"You just walked in?" Kirigiri said. "Without any trouble? Nothing stopped you?"

Kuzuryuu's insides twisted. "Was…something supposed to stop us?"

"Try stepping back towards the bridge," Asahina said. "If we're lucky, maybe we'll be able to get out…"

Kuzuryuu creased his brow, and then pulled himself out of Hagakure's grasp. He turned back for the bridge, but didn't get more than a few steps away before he just… stopped. He couldn't see any change in the surrounding area, but he was definitely pressed up against something – and whatever it was wouldn't give under simple pressure.

"Are you kidding me?!" In a split-second move Kuzuryuu kicked at the barrier, but didn't accomplish much more than a hell of a lot of pain followed by some hopping around the immediate area on one foot while trying to keep a straight face.

"We've already tried that!" Asahina yelled, a bit too late in Kuzuryuu's opinion.

"And I wouldn't try it again," Kirigiri added.

Kuzuryuu grumbled, burning with shame more than anything else. Without another discernible word, he hobbled back to the rest of the group, who had joined Souda in the scant shelter that the ruins offered from the rain.

It hit Kuzuryuu then that he hadn't known, not until that point, that Souda was even alive. Souda seemed to have recognized it a bit sooner. He stood and approached Kuzuryuu with an unusual level of sprightliness given their past relationship, on top of all the punishment he'd taken. He did stop and hesitate, probably in anticipation of some kind of attack from Kuzuryuu's end. But Kuzuryuu didn't feel particularly inclined to start something, especially not for no reason.

Besides… he really was glad to see Souda wasn't dead. Not that he'd ever say it, of course. Instead, he held up a fist, wincing as his skin cracked. "Y'made it," he said.

Souda looked confused at first, but then gave Kuzuryuu a solemn nod, and bumped his fist against his. "Yeah," he said.

"Yeah." Kuzuryuu lowered his fist, shook out the pain in his fingers, and then turned back to the members of the Future Foundation, who were speaking in low tones a few feet away. As much as he would've loved to spend a moment in awkward silence with Souda, he really didn't have the time.

"That's the main issue," Kirigiri said, just in time for Kuzuryuu to start paying attention.

"Even on top of being trapped," Asahina said. "Which, you would think that's the main issue, but that just shows you how bad this is going…"

"Look, I'm sorry, right? I woulda gotten here just fine if Saionji-chi hadn't got her head split open!" Hagakure clutched at the roots of his hair. "I tried to tell them it was no big deal, but –"

Kirigiri sighed, and then lowered her head into her hand and shook it furiously. Asahina bit her lip. "I mean… you're not wrong, but…"

"But it's not the greatest way to inspire confidence, and certainly not without an explanation." Kirigiri paused, and cast a look back at Souda and Kuzuryuu. "And neither, I think, is leaving them out of the conversation."

She changed her stance, opening up the circle and turning to look at the two of them. "Souda-kun. Kuzuryuu-kun. We need to speak with you."

"You're not in trouble," Asahina added. This prompted a look from Kuzuryuu which must have been just as withering as he wanted it to be, because her eyes went wide, and she didn't try to follow up what she'd said. He joined the circle without a word, and after a moment's hesitation Souda followed behind him.

Kirigiri stepped out to meet them. Out of the three, Kuzuryuu felt that she looked the most professional – and he hoped she'd follow up on that first impression. "Before anything else," she said, "I'd like to apologize for the… haphazard way that this situation has panned out."

"Hm, yeah. Haphazard." Kuzuryuu narrowed his eyes. "You mean getting to the island three days late, or putting us here in the first place? Nanami made that much clear."

"...I wasn't finished." A strained look came over Kirigiri's face, and she ran her hand through her hair. "There are… not enough apologies in this world for our failure to extract you in the orderly fashion I would have liked." She paused, and then added, "At the very least."

"We had to… we entered on different parts of the fourth island, at different times," Asahina said, before Kuzuryuu could respond. "The last we knew, you guys had holed up in the Mouse Castle…"

"And we were to meet you there and remove you from the island before anything else could go wrong," Kirigiri said. "But before we could…"

"You guys all ran off, 'right?" Hagakure said. "And we were just gonna go with Plan B. Well, Plan A. Plan B was the easy one."

"Plan A was to locate all of you and bring you to the ruins," Kirigiri said. "We knew it would not be easy, and that unexpected obstacles would cross our path. But…"

"Hey, so, speaking of 'unexpected obstacles'," Kuzuryuu interrupted. As far as he was concerned, Kirigiri and her cabal had gone on long enough making excuses for themselves. "As long as we're in this bubble and nothing's killing us, let's back up. Different times at different locations. You couldn't just step off a boat and stick together?"

All three of them gritted their teeth, but Kirigiri was quick on the draw. "Do you think it would have been that easy?" she said. "There was no way for any boat to get close to the island."

"Then you parachuted in," Souda said.

"Uh, yeah!" Hagakure said.

"Didn't see any parachutes," Kuzuryuu said.

Asahina elbowed Hagakure hard in the ribs. "We did not use parachutes," Kirigiri clarified.

"A'ight," Kuzuryuu said. "Then tell me what you did do to get here. And if you think my brain's too tiny and frail to handle whatever magic you used to get here, then go on. Fuckin' try me."

Kirigiri's brow creased. "You don't trust us," she said.

"I'm trusting you less and less the more you avoid my questions."

Kirigiri looked back at Asahina and Hagakure, who all looked scared stiff, and then back at Kuzuryuu, who was very much pissed off, and Souda, who looked to be terrified of whatever she was going to say next. "The rules of reality that you and I take for granted are not...maintained in this place in the same fashion that we have come to expect. I'm sure that's not news to you."

"You're startin' to tell me something I didn't know before, though. 'In this place', huh?" Kuzuryuu said. "Come on. Spill the beans already. What makes this place different?"

"We're not in the spirit world, are we?" Souda said this very calmly, but then his eyes went wide, and he clutched at his hair. "Wait, ARE we in the spirit world?! Does that mean we're dead?"

Kuzuryuu shot Souda a look, though he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Hagakure was beaming. "You're not dead," Kirigiri said. "And while this isn't the spirit world... you're right in that it's another plane of existence."

Somehow, this didn't hit Kuzuryuu as hard as he thought it would. Maybe he was going native, but he even felt RELIEVED that he wasn't in the spirit world. "So what is it?" he barked. "And what are we doing here?"

"I suppose we've avoided that question for long enough," Kirigiri said.

"No shit."

"We were trying to protect you." Kirigiri's voice dropped to a mumble, but only briefly before she raised it again. "Think of it like... like a game."

Kuzuryuu's hands went numb. "A game," he repeated.

"Specifically a video game. Programmable at the whim of its administrators to suit the needs and purposes of its players." Kirigiri fixed Kuzuryuu in the eye. "I'm sorry the truth isn't more palatable. I promise I have nothing to gain by lying to you."

Her guilt was clear in her eyes and in her expression, but Souda and Kuzuryuu didn't visibly react. They stood stunned for a few seconds, and then looked at each other, as if that would help them make sense of their situation. They didn't seem to exchange any information before they turned back to Kirigiri. "Uh, no," Kuzuryuu said. "That, uh..."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Souda said.

"Really?" Asahina's eyes went wide.

"Fuck no. I don't believe a word and I think you're out of your god damn minds." Kuzuryuu folded his arms across his chest, and a shudder ran through his body. "But...I trust my eyes. And I can't think of anything else right now besides just being stubborn and stupid."

He smiled, but gritted his teeth as his hands shook. "Boy I wish I could, though..."

"You may not believe it, Kuzuryuu-kun, but I understand." Kirigiri sighs. "I've been wishing myself out of the life I've lived for a long time."

Kuzuryuu gave Kirigiri a lingering look, and then turned away again. "Whatever. Protect us, huh? Why do you care about doing that?"

"Do we...know you?" Souda said.

"I suppose as long as we're talking I should make that clear." Kirigiri pressed a hand to her chest. "My name is Kyoko Kirigiri, and I'm the Super High School Level Detective." She turned to face her cohort. "Aoi Asahina is the Super High School Level Swimmer, and Yasuhiro Hagakure is the Super High School Level Fortune Teller."

Hagakure waved, and Asahina nodded - all the while casually ignoring that Souda's jaw had gone slack. "Then you're -?!" he said.

"You're our senpais?" Kuzuryuu said.

"Kohais, actually, right?" Hagakure said.

Kuzuryuu blanched as he looked up at Hagakure, whom he would never in a million years call "kohai". "Right," he said. "Right..."

"Then you're from our lost memories," Souda blurted. "I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense, out of anything you said..."

"You're correct," Kirigiri said.

"And all this..." Kuzuryuu's arms were shaking now, as if he were holding back a paroxysm of rage. "You-"

"We...took...your memories," Asahina said. "If that's what you were about to say."

"Okay, finally!" Kuzuryuu blurted. He'd figured that out already, but it was almost a relief to hear it out of their mouths. "So what'd you do it for?"

As Kuzuryuu watched, the awkward, apologetic expressions vanished from their faces. Kirigiri, Asahina, and Hagakure shared a frightened glance, and then looked back at Souda and Kuzuryuu, none of them daring to speak.

"Come on," Kuzuryuu said. "Use your words."

Hagakure opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Kuzuryuu couldn't tell if they were unsure of how to broach the subject, or if they didn't want to at all. He wanted to believe the former, especially after Kirigiri had collected herself enough again to speak. "Will you take it at the same face value," she said, "If I told you that you had no choice but to forget?"

A memory flashed in Kuzuryuu's mind, but it wasn't something he'd remembered remembering until that moment. He saw his sister, dead on the ground, just like she'd been in the photograph Koizumi had taken. And then he saw the other girl, whose name he'd already forgotten, but this time the image was more vivid than in the photo. He could hear his own breathing at the back of his ears, and felt a hoarse scream burning his throat as he heaved himself forward, lunging again and again, even long after he'd caved in her skull...

In that moment, he understood their hesitation, as much as he hated to. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I've wasted enough of your time."

"What are you talking about?" Souda repeated. "Doesn't matter? I think we have a right to know!"

"It doesn't matter," Kuzuryuu repeated. "Come on. Tell us your big plan and let's get everyone off the island."

"But - But -!" Souda gritted his teeth, and tears swam in his eyes. "But..."

Souda didn't finish his thought, and without another word of protest the Future Foundation took the opportunity to accept the change in the course of the conversation. "We...already told you the main plan was to gather everyone here," Asahina said. "But that's gotten a lot more difficult than we thought it would be..."

"Our greatest obstacle, inability to leave aside, is that we have no means of finding the others," Kirigiri said. "Kuzuryuu-kun, do you have an Electronic Student ID with you?"

Kuzuryuu bristled, and his blistered hand moved protectively to his pocket. "Y-yeah," he said. "But it won't update, or it's lying, or -"

Without a word of warning Kirigiri reached toward Kuzuryuu, completely sidestepping any form of polite interaction by going directly for his pocket. "HEY!" Kuzuryuu said, stepping back. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

He might've given her a few more choice words, but he noticed then that an odd look had crossed her face – one that had to be somewhere between awe and revulsion, given that she was staring down at all the burns and blisters on his hand.

"What?" he spat. "Something wrong with my hands?"

Kirigiri opened her mouth, and moved one gloved hand to the other, pulling on the sleeve. But then she drew her arms back to her sides, and turned away. "No," she said.

Kuzuryuu furrowed his brow, trying to parse what she'd said, and not quite getting it – but, still, not feeling quite as mad as he'd felt a second ago. On impulse, he grabbed the Electronic Student ID from his pocket and extended to her. "Go ahead," he said.

Kirigiri snatched it quickly, but paused just short of tapping the screen, and then looked back up at Kuzuryuu. "Thank you, Kuzuryuu-kun," she said.

She looked back down, and slid her finger across the screen. Hagakure, Asahina, and even Souda crowded around her as she went, and after only a second's hesitation Kuzuryuu joined them.

She'd just reached a map of the first island as the screen came into view. It was empty, as far as the map markings were concerned, as no one's icons were lighting up. "Well, we know where Koizumi and Saionji are," Kuzuryuu said. "They're at the hospital. Whatsherface is with them."

"Whatsherface?" At first Asahina looked like she was about to laugh, but with startling speed she composed herself. "Her name's Touko. Touko Fukawa."

"Right. Anyway… they're not goin' anywhere," Kuzuryuu said.

"Hagakure-kun mentioned a head injury?" Kirigiri said.

"Yeah."

"That's…alright." Kirigiri slid her finger across the Electronic Student ID's screen, moving them ahead to the second island.

This one was lit up like a Christmas tree. Kuzuryuu and Souda were there, of course. But, then, so was...

"Ibuki Mioda?!" Asahina grabbed at the Electronic Student ID, and squinted at the tiny panel of icons next to the crude map of the Ruins. "But she's not... we haven't... oh god..."

Asahina handed the ID back to Kirigiri, and clamped both free hands over her mouth. Souda, Kuzuryuu, and Hagakure crowded around the screen in earnest, and all three felt their insides turn to ice. Just as Asahina had said, Ibuki's icon was listed next to Souda's and Kuzuryuu's, even though she was nowhere in sight...

But that wasn't the worst of it. They could see Hinata's icon there too, and Nanami's next to his. But they weren't listed on the edge of the ruins with the others.

Their icons were inside the ruins.

"No," Kuzuryuu said. "That's impossible. This thing just said they were on the central island - there's no way-"

He looked up at Kirigiri, who only displayed her shock for a split second before she realized that Kuzuryuu was looking, and composed herself as much as she could. "The Electronic Student ID is infallible," Kirigiri said. "Even if what it says is impossible, then it must be believed..."

"Then what the hell does that mean?" Souda says.

"It means that the Impostor has not carried out the direct confrontation we expected," Kirigiri said. "They're acting on their own terms, using the administrative powers to their advantage..."

"They're messing with the rules, man!" Hagakure said.

"That's… huh, that was essentially what I was about to say." Kirigiri's tone wasn't at all mocking – quite on the contrary, she gave Hagakure a small nod.

"Then... what?" Kuzuryuu said. "They teleported them inside?"

"Without a doubt," Kirigiri said. "And with Nanami-san inside..."

"You mean the traitor," Souda blurted.

Asahina's eyes went wide. "Wait - she told you? But - how -?!"

"We'll resolve this when we get inside, Asahina-san." Kirigiri handed the ID back to Kuzuryuu, and then stood to her full height. "We have no reason to wait here any longer."

She turned away from the rest of them, and walked back around the building – toward the vault door. Asahina's eyes went wide, and she shared a wordless glance with Kuzuryuu before she took off, racing to catch up with her coworker.

"Uh - hey!" Kuzuryuu followed after them, but kept his distance to some degree, "didn't you say we had to wait for –"

"I did say that," said Kirigiri in a mournful tone. "But there's no guarantee that they'll come. Or, if they do, that we will know that they're here."

She stepped toward the door, and moved her hand toward the panel. Kuzuryuu thought he saw something under the edge of her glove – something dark, and thick, and heavy with scars. "If we don't change tack, we'll lose what little opportunity we have to stay one step ahead," she said. "Asahina-san, Hagakure-kun, Souda-kun, Kuzuryuu-kun… are you ready?"

"Nope," Souda said, but quickly nodded when everyone turned to look at him. Kuzuryuu folded his arms, but didn't make any other moves, while Hagakure and Asahina stepped forward, their hands straight at their sides.

"Very well," Kirigiri said. She turned back to the console, placed her fingers on the buttons, and swiftly typed a five-digit number.

7.

The same password as the one in the Mouse Castle, the one that would lead them into the future.

The Gatling gun shuddered, as if it actually were about to start firing – and then it fell limp, and retreated back into the building. After a few loud THUNKS, the bulkhead shuddered and slid open, and Kirigiri stepped inside, without so much as a word of warning to the rest.

Asahina began to follow after her, but on turning around and seeing that Hagakure had started to step away she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him through the door.

Souda and Kuzuryuu were still left outside, staring up at the open door. Kuzuryuu, at least, was very well aware of a tingling sensation in his legs, one that was only growing stronger as those legs refused to move.

"I'll go first," he said.

"N-No way," Souda said, stepping forward. "I-I'll do it, I'm not scared-"

"Yeah, uh. Okay." Kuzuryuu tried to make it very clear, without actually saying anything, that he did not at all believe that Souda wasn't scared.

Souda, for what it was worth, seemed to take that look as a challenge. He made a weird, hissing noise and stepped forward, and even almost made it inside before Kuzuryuu ran ahead of him, as he definitely did not want to be left in the dust.