"Help me with my pitch?" - Chapter One

Aoi felt less adjusted to life compared to the other survivors. She tries not to think too much about her value to the Future Foundation; she likes to distract herself with donuts and swimming. It just gets a little hard to distract oneself at night when staring at the ceiling. She nibbles on a sprinkled donut in the low light, staring off into the distance as she spaces out thinking of her friends.

Makoto embodied and became the Ultimate Hope, and is guiding the rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy as it's headmaster, Kyoko by his side. She can't help feeling a little jealous of the two being so close. Makoto is a good guy who treats Kyoko well. She can only hope for that in her future, but most guys are more interested in her looks.

Byakuya has adjusted well to the public relations side of the Future Foundation and has now found himself guiding other branches now. He's doing great. Basically runs the place like a Swiss wrist-watch and has a hand in everything. It's infuriating how good he's doing. At least he's lightened up a little to some extent. Not much of an entitled douche anymore.

Toko had found her calling in Towa City with Makoto's sister and Hiro is… consistent. He probably isn't insecure, lying awake at night about it though.

She's always been insecure and emotional. Perhaps it was exacerbated by the death she'd been forced to witness, but her strong emotions and deep convictions had always been a part of her. Her relationship with hope, as much as she hates to admit it, has slightly worsened since last year. She isn't quite sure what's missing from her life. She has shelter, a job, she has a pool, donuts and… Friends.

Her mind thinks to her friends and just not the ones she has, but the ones she has lost. Sayaka, Leon, Chihiro, Mondo, Taka, Hifumi, Celes, Sakura, Alter Ego, hell, even Mukuro… I'm sorry it was me and not you. I-I wish I could bring you back. Bring you back…?

Gears started turning in her head. Is there a way to bring back the dead? Obviously not, Hina. Well, there was that time with Alter Ego… And…

And the dead members of class 77-B. It clicked in her head, the very existence of Chiaki Nanami is evidence of this.

The Neo World Program had the potential to bring people back, probably! Yeah I'm not as smart as Makoto, Kyoko or Byakuya but it's a possibility that I couldn't just ignore. She laid down her options in her head, Makoto was the person who had to approve of this, so maybe it's best if I talk to someone else… Byakuya would scoff at the idea. Uuugh, but if I tell Kyoko she might tell Makoto ahead of time… and I don't want to get denied before I work on my argument! I… ugh. Get it together, Hina. Suck it up and ask.

She got out of bed and shuffled down the halls of the Future Foundation dormitories in order to make her way down the main HQ. She had a good grasp of where they would be at 11pm. She stopped at a control centre with a screen display of a map of earth, red dots scattering the land. He was sitting at a monitor, used for pinpointing locations through satellite and CCTV cameras. He was quite vigilant when it came to the potential locations and sightings of the very last Remnants of Despair. "Um… Byakuya?"

He did not lift his eyes from the monitor. His glasses reflected the white glow of his screen, sending a shiver up Hina's spine. She braced herself, ready for his air of superiority. "What do you want?" He asked.

Hina found it hard to form a good sentence to convince him. "I… need help with coming up with a pitch."

Byakuya stopped to look at her and raise his brow. "I could tell you could not likely discuss it with them, so why did you come to me instead of Kyoko or Makoto?"

He's quick to catch on, haha… She awkwardly laughed to herself, "…I need the approval from Makoto on things relating to the Neo World Program. I want to use it to emulate the dead. It was done before with Chiaki so… yeah. Maybe it can be done with our own recollection of our classmates." Hina assumed she fumbled through her explanation. Byakuya stopped for a moment to think.

He's kinda scary with his glasses glowing like that… Like an evil genius or something. I suppose that isn't all wrong. Hina and Byakuya's dynamic has shifted over the time she's known him. What initially was hatred and pity on both sides has become mutual respect. That still doesn't stop Hina from feeling insecure whenever Byakuya opens his mouth to speak.

"Admittedly, I had thought of the idea myself in the past, and I had brought it up with Alter Ego in the past. It's possible. I could've even emulated it the last time I went to Jabberwock Island." Hina internally cheered over this small victory. A reaction too huge and Byakuya might end the conversation. "However…"

"Hm? What?"

"It wasn't recommended for me to do it." What? Really? Of everyone here, Byakuya wasn't the one who could do it?

"But you're… Like…"

"Don't pity me. It was for the best that I did not enter the program. I will explain, sit down." Hina did notice she was standing 7 feet from Byakuya, hardly the distance for a conversation like this. She took a seat at the monitor next to Byakuya before his explanation.

"Alter Ego when creating an NPC uses data collected from CCTV, data collected by the Future Foundation, the memories of others and the perceptions of the Player Characters to recreate versions of the NPCs as accurately as possible. My perceptions of the memories I have of our classmates, I admit, are cynical. I assumed them to be murderous, pathetic, dumb. If I were to go into the Neo World Program, then I would just be putting myself in a hostile environment."

"Oh… I see." She sighed. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all... Thanks anyway, Byakuya." She tried to stand up. Byakuya placed his hand on her shoulder before she could fully lift herself and pushed her back down into the chair.

"Shut up and listen, Hina. I was not done talking." He said.

"You didn't have to stop me like that..." Hina mumbled. Byakuya ignored her statement to begin his own.

"I was going to say that you felt relatively positively towards our classmates during their lives. Your perceptions and memories are not going to influence the simulation negatively. In fact, aside from Makoto and Yasuhiro, you may be the only one capable of creating positive memories of all 15 students from the Neo World Program."

"So... Why didn't you ask them? Why didn't you ask me?"

"Makoto has responsibilities that take precedence over this guinea pig experiment I had conceptualized, Yasuhiro is an idiot and I had written you off as disinterested in such matters." Byakuya explained.

"What does that mean?" She questioned. She just wanted to hear his explanation so she could feel less offended by the statement. She knew in her heart what it truly meant. She had been slacking compared to her surviving classmates. She was the only member assigned to the 13th Division. She had no part in the Jabberwock Island incident. She's been doing the bare minimum for the Future Foundation since the Final Killing Game. Despite bracing herself, it still hurt to hear Byakuya minimize her position and role when she's insecure enough. Byakuya has the foresight to understand her darkened face. He coughs.

"...My apologies. I did not mean that comment the way you interpreted it."

"Yeah... I know."

...

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment. "I now know it was, well, foolish of me to write you off. You're very determined when you put your mind to something." She furrowed her brows at him, trying to detect any sarcasm or malice in the compliment her just gave her.

"Thanks, Byakuya." The silence between them became more comfortable. He's really changed since the Killing Game. I hope Toko doesn't find out he complimented me. "So... Help me with my pitch to Makoto?"

"Very well."

A/N: Hello! This is my untitled Aoi Asahina Fanfiction. I had gotten inspired by Kazuichi Strangelove and wanted to see some of my favourites on the Danganronpa Island. This is not a new or novel concept, however, I wanted to put my own spin on it. If you have an idea for a name for my fanfiction, see any inconsistencies or have any criticism, leave a nice comment! Thank you so much, this will be my first uploaded fanfiction to the website. I hope you enjoy the first chapter. I will be updating this fanfiction fairly regularly. This fanfiction has an M rating as the progression of this fanfiction will include past memories of trauma, murder, massacre, suicide and other topics that may not be suitable for lower ratings.

edit 1; formatting.