The Final Memory Therapy!, a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

A/N: This Gaidenverse oneshot was requested via an ask sent to my ask box on Tumblr, and takes place after "Trouble in Tokyo!" Please read and review, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: The Final Memory Therapy!

Makoto, Kyoko, Hina, Hiro, Byakuya, and Toko stood nervously, surrounded by six human-sized pods, each connected to a separate computer monitor which was itself hooked up to a larger central computer. Sitting in a wheelchair in front of them was a woman with grayish-blue hair and a red scarf covering her mouth. Sitting on her lap was a laptop with a second screen facing outwards, displaying a white rabbit avatar which began to speak as she typed.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. You've all come a long way since you started these sessions and joined the Future Foundation."

The woman, speaking through her avatar, was Miaya Gekkogahara, formerly the Ultimate Therapist and the school therapist at Hope's Peak Academy. Now, she was the Director of the 7th Branch of the Future Foundation, though she still acted as the organization's unofficial therapist when her services were required.

Makoto nodded and replied "Thank you for your help, Gekkogahara-san. We would never have been able to recover our memories without your help."

Everyone else nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm, making the therapist blush. After being inducted into the Future Foundation, the six survivors had agreed to weekly therapy sessions with Miaya. For the first two months, her therapy sessions focused on helping them to center their concentration and dig up their memories on their own, as Kyoko had been able to do with her Ultimate Detective talent and estranged relationship with her deceased father during Junko's Killing School Life.

With this approach, they were able to recall bits and pieces of their first year as classmates, enough to recall their day-to-day routines that didn't contain any vital information. However, this approach had its limits, and so with the help of Seiko Kimura, they began to supplement their therapy sessions with memory-inducing elixirs to help their brains repair their hippocampi. As the regular medicine started to take effect, digging up their lost memories began to get easier and easier with each session.

However, they still had a select few holes in their memories, ones that even after months of regular therapy, couldn't be completely repaired. They could regain a fuzzy picture, as though the memories were just within grasp, but they would never get clearer than that. Which led to Miaya's current, more invasive proposal.

"So…what exactly is the function behind these machines?"

Nodding, Miaya spoke "In a recent mission, Future Foundation was able to recover the machinery and program that Junko Enoshima used to erase your memories. After careful study, I was able to make an antidote program using her program as a base."

Hina asked "So…instead of erasing our memories…this will restore them?"

"That's right. Junko was able to erase your memories by damaging specific nerves in your hippocampi. Time and therapy have been able to help them heal on their own for the most part. But there's still a select few nerves that are too damaged for your brains to heal on their own. So we're going to repair them artificially instead. We're going to use Junko's own programming in reverse to heal those damaged nerves."

Toko looked at her suspiciously and spat "Y…yeah right…you just want to e…erase our me…memories and make us your ser…servants!"

Hiro nodded, exclaiming "Yeah! Or She's secretly an alien who's trying to lure us so she can probe our brains while we're sedated!"

Makoto sweatdropped while Byakuya and Kyoko facepalmed.

"Idiots…if she wanted to erase our memories, she wouldn't have offered to help us with therapy."

Kyoko nodded and agreed with Byakuya "I'm as uneasy about this as the rest of you…but if you spend all your time trying to avoid danger, you'll never move forward."

Hina nodded "Yeah! I'm scared too, but no matter how scared we are, we just gotta keep pushing forward! After all…we can't exactly get the gold medal if we don't have all our memories!"

Makoto smiled, encouraging "Toko, Hiro, I know how you both feel. Believe me, I'm scared too. I'm scared that I could lose whatever memories I've already regained of you all if this doesn't work…but…even so, we still have to try! For the sake of everyone else who can't regain their memories, we have to try!"

Hiro and Toko grumbled in agreement, making Makoto smile at their change of mind. Kyoko smiled proudly at her subordinate's speech, while Byakuya 's expression remained indifferent.

"So…is everyone in agreement?"

Everyone nodded, allowing Miaya to continue "In that case, let me explain how this will work. You'll each lie down into each pod. A minute after the cover closes, a small helmet will attach itself to your head. This helmet will first deliver signals to your brain to lull you into deep sleep for the duration of the treatment. Once you're asleep, the pods will activate the memory restoration program, which will program your brains to repair those damaged nerves and boost their healing capabilities."

Everyone glanced at each other, nodding hesitantly before turning back to Miaya as Makoto answered for them "We're ready, Gekkogahara-san."

Nodding, Miaya wheeled over to the central computer and pressed one of the buttons, opening the pods. With a bit of hesitance, they all walked over to them in pairs: Makoto with Kyoko, Byakuya with Hina, and Toko with Hiro. Once only Kyoko and Makoto remained, the two looked at each other, trying to smile reassuringly at each other in spite of their shared nervousness.

"So…one last step…then we'll remember everything from our past school lives. No matter what happens though…I'm glad that I could remember that our friendship was as strong back then as it is now."

"Me too…" Kyoko glanced at her pod before bidding him "See you on the other side, Makoto."

"You too, Kyoko…" Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself "Okay…let's get this over with…" before stepping inside and lying down on his back against the cushion.

As the cover closed and sealed him inside, Makoto felt the helmet attach itself to his head, the machinery emitting low vibrations that caused his vision to get fuzzier and fuzzier. Makoto yawned, his eyes slowly drooping until he was snoring. Once he was fast asleep, the helmet started to glow, the program starting to take effect as the helmet stopped vibrating.

XXX

*Yawn*

The covers lifted, allowing the fatigued survivors to step out, Miaya wheeling over to them as they looked around at each other.

"How are you all feeling?"

A brief silence passed before Makoto confessed "I feel fine…but I don't feel like I've remembered anything new…"

Miaya nodded and replied "It's not going to come right away. This session was about restoring your neural pathways. Restoring your memories will still take time. They'll likely come in your natural sleep, as one of your dreams."

Nodding, Kyoko asked "So do we have to come back for further sessions?"

Shaking her head, Miaya denied "No, further therapy is unnecessary at this stage. The memories you lost should completely return in time. That being said, let me know if you experience any unexpected side effects."

Slightly uneasy, everyone nonetheless nodded in thanks before exiting the room, leaving Miaya to herself.

XXX

"Hajimemashite! What's your name?"

"I have no reason to decline."

"KIRI? KIRI?"

"Get out…while you still…can…"

"Stay with me, Kiri!"

"I trust you, Makoto Naegi."

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"That double standard was wrong of me, and I'm sorry."

"…I'm gonna miss seeing you, Kyoko."

"Th…thank you…"

"He may be a suspect, but he still deserves fair treatment."

"You…did all this?"

"To me…the anniversary of your birth is something worth celebrating!"

"…thank Kami I found it in time!"

"I value you, Makoto…"

"What? Bad dreams?"

"You're the only one I trust with my secrets, Makoto."

"…I'm still not strong though. I…"

"But you are strong, Makoto"

"You really are…a good dance partner…"

"You're…you're exaggerating…"

"I'm…truly lucky, to have your friendship."

"Kyoko…what are you…"

"Shh…Don't talk, just feel."

"I…I really like you, Kyoko."

"So, what do you want us to be?"

"I…I want…to go on dates with you. I want to hold your hand. I want to be able to hug you…and maybe kiss you once in a while. I want you to be my girlfriend…and I want to be your boyfriend."

"I want the same."

"Shh…it's okay…it's okay…"

"I…I love you, Makoto…"

"…I love you too, Kyoko…"

XXX

A brown-haired boy and a lavender-haired girl awoke in their beds, sitting upright and gasping for breath as their lost memories came flooding back to them. As soon as they calmed down, they held their heads in their palms, trying to come to terms with the truth.

"No way…"

"It can't be…"

"But it's in my memories, so…"

"It must be the one, absolute truth…"

"I dated…"

"Kyoko Kirigiri…"

"Makoto Naegi…"

"But…where do we go from here?"

"Does she still love me?"

"Does he still love me?"

"Can we really…pick up where we left off?"

"I…don't know…"