Waking up from the Neo World was, by far, the most humiliating thing to happen to Kuzuryuu. He was fatigued, mostly nude, and swarmed by strangers eager to unhook him from some machine. It didn't help, that even with his blurred vision, he could hear Kazuichi's hoarse voice complain of the same thing. Shouldn't a guy like that be reveling in the attention? Then it hit him.
He remembered the island.
Every face, every murder, it was all still there!
"Guys, are you alright!?" He brushed off a nurse and tried to stand on his own. A chorus of jubilant replies flooded the room. Everyone was still here. Even Hinata, who was told he would vanish, called back to his friends. Their reunion was interrupted by a blaring siren.
"More dry heaves doctor!" A nurse called back. "Blood pressure's down again, I don't think the transfusion is working."
"Is it sepsis?" The physician asked as he rushed over to an sealed pod.
"No, she's just anemic again. I don't understand, nowhere on her file is there a record of diabetes, but her blood sugar's started to drop as well."
"We can't postpone this. The simulation's been turned off." He signaled two nurses. "Unhook her with the rest of them and get her to the ER. Sandra I need the blood work result back from the lab now. In the meantime we need D10 and platelets for her."
"Wait, what's going on?" Fuyuhiko asked, but was ushered with the rest of the survivors into another room. Everyone graciously accepted the hospital robes and sat down at a conference table. The change in his friends hit him like a truck. Kazuichi's right arm had been replaced with a detailed robotic replica, his black routes peaking through the familiar pink. Sonia sat beside him, feverishly pale, but otherwise seemed untouched.
"Okay, what was all that" Akane asked. Her body was so thin and frail that Fuyuhiko was afraid she might fall. Even speaking appeared to take quite a bit of effort. She gave him a half-hearted smile as if he needed reassuring.
"You have just exited the Neo World Program," a doctor began, "it was designed as a psycho therapeutic-" Hinata raised a single had in protest, his red eyes piercing through a veil of dark hair.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Hinata scoweled, "but we know all that already. The class trial is still fresh in our minds." He pointedly avoided why it was assumed they'd forget. This was, after all, the outcome they had hoped for.
"Then allow me to elaborate then." The doctor shook his head. "The program was designed to erase and replace mental trauma, while providing an environment that could care for the body's physical needs. But because it was utilized before testing was complete, we were unable to properly adjust it's care for individuals with preexisting conditions." Akane subconsiously played with her skeletal hands. "A fair number of the students came to us with serious medical conditions; some easily diagnose-able, others unknown. You will all need a full health screening and physical therapy after being sedated for so long."
"How long were we in the machine?" Sonia asked through a pensive frown.
"The simulation progressed in real time, so only a month." It seemed like so much more time had passed, but Kuzuryuu assumed, that was just because of how much had happened during their 'vacation'. "After we check your vitals, you should be free to get reacquainted with the central island. For security reasons, you will not be permitted to leave. Owari and Kuzuryuu, however, will need immediate treatment."
"Me, why?" Fuyuhiko demanded.
"Kuzuryuu-kun," Hinata gapped, "your eye!"
"What about it? You should see your eyes, you look like a circus freak It's not like I-" He froze mid-sentence, a chilling realization washing over him. They weren't in the simulation, so they shouldn't still have their old injuries, but his vision... "I'm not. I'm not the bastard that took one of Enoshima's eyes." He brought his hand up to his right eye, still unable to see clearly out of it.
"It's not that bad," Kazuichi said, knocking on his metal arm, "I've seen worse on TV and stuff."
"That's right!" Sonia agreed. "In a way, it's more normal for your eye to be damaged then not."
"What about the others?" Hinata asked as he turned to face the doctor.
"It's still too early to tell." The doctor sighed. "As of right now, they can safely be removed from the machine. Only time will tell if they will ever wake. Our top researchers are looking into the possibility as we speak, but their mental state may still retain their trauma from the incident."
They never could get out of the doctors who got carted off in such a hurry. Something about doctor-patient confidentiality. Unable to access the future foundation facilities until they could prove permanent mental competency. Hinata and his friends were to remain under surveillance. It was strange being gathered around for a meal with a visible audience. Even if the staff members in the room were also eating, they couldn't shake the occasional glances.
"I don't like the way those guards are looking at us." Owari said over her carefully portioned meal.
"You'll get used to it." Fuyuhiko sighed, long used to the negative attention the life of a yakuza had brought him.
"Well I received some good news from Naegi-kun." Hinata said with a tired grin. "We'll have our cottages by the end of the week."
"Wonderful," Sonia beamed, "I could make name plates for everyone again. It will be nice to finally sleep in a room without a camera."
"Seriously!" Souda shouted. His hands slammed onto the table as he stood, "I'm tired of being treated like a criminal here!"
"We are criminals." Kuzuryuu sneered.
"Which is precisely why we need to stay calm and keep a low profile." Hinata reminded. "Naegi's trying to convince the Future Foundation that all of the Remnants of Despair died when the Neo World went offline. Until they can do that, we have to stay on the central island and cooperate with the people who are risking their necks to help us."
"I know it's frustrating," Sonia agreed, "but all of this is temporary. Our friends are receiving the medical treatment they need, and soon will be able to join us."
"Good," Owari snorted, "cause with food like this Teruteru's got his work cut out for him." The group managed a half-hearted laugh before resuming their meal in relative silence.
The moonlight painted odd shadows on the far wall of Fuyuhiko's temporary bedroom. He should consider himself lucky that they let him have a window at all. Owari was right, most of the personnel here gave them dirty, horrified looks. Not that he blamed them, but it felt like he was trapped in a sick joke that everyone was in on but him. Countless questions assaulted him during the day. How are you feeling? Did you remember your school life? What are you going to do about the eye? He couldn't see out of the damn thing! All it did was act as a painful reminder he was forgetting something important. But the thought of surgery bothered him. As he lay in bed, an arm snaked out from the shadows and pulled him to his feet.
"I apologize for the intrusion, but we have to go." A female voice snapped. She quickly dodged his reflexive punch. "We don't have time for this."
"...Peko?" He gaped. "It can't be, the doctors didn't-"
"This way master," she pulled him out pf the room and stumbled down a flight of steps. Broken IV stand in hand, Peko tried to lead them to the exit, though apparently disoriented.
"Peko, hold up!" He tugged her arm and pulled her in for a hug. "Look I'm fine, see. We both are." He stepped back and tilted her face so he could get a better look at her. It was odd to see her without her glasses. She had matured greatly since he had last seen her, but beautiful nonetheless.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I- sorry." He blushed, removing his hands.
"This isn't right." She frowned.
"Look, I know you're probably confused, but the killing game is over and done with. If we just get the others up we can get this all sorted out." Anxiety wormed its way into her features and she tensed. Fuyuhiko tried his best to comfort her in some way, but more than ever he wasn't sure what to do with his hands. He was shocked and over joyed that Peko had been the one to wake up first. She shook her head..
"Forget about the others! This place is crawling with Future Foundation members, we have to get out of here." She glanced quickly in the opposite direction and took a hold of his arm again, but he resisted. They couldn't just run, it would jeopardize everything.
"Trust me, it's going to be okay. I won't let them hurt you." She dropped his arm like it burned and drew her makeshift weapon against him. "Peko!"
"You're not him." She whispered. He could hear the guards come thundering down the hall after them. "My master never protected me." Her grip tightened around the pole, but was unable to follow through with a killing blow. The weapon quivered in her hands with each breath. "You're not my master!" She shouted as the guards disarmed her. He watched in silence as they took her away.