Hey Guys, this chapter was brought to you by Jaybirb on AO3. I really like how it came out, and you may notice that a certain character's name is on the chapter title. Jaybirb and I will be switching between our two main protagonists, Mizuki and Naō. Please visit my friend's page on Archive Of Our Own and we hope you like the chapter.

Ouka and Jaybirb


Mizuki Sōma stared listlessly out the window of his cottage. The Future Foundation had agreed to Hajime's plan, so the sixteen of them had boarded the ship to Jabberwock Island, where they were supposed to be trained for some sort of...something. The details had yet to be discussed. With a sigh, he headed to the island's restaurant, where Hajime had planned a meeting after everyone settled in.

"Ah, Mizuki!" Hajime smiled at Mizuki after he had trudged up the stairs. "We're just waiting on a few more people, then we'll talk more about why all of you are here." Mizuki gave a curt nod and leaned against the wall, leaving a reasonable distance between himself and everyone else. When all the inhabitants of the island had made their appearance, Hajime spoke again. "I know you all don't know each other, so why don't we make our introductions? The five of us can start. I'm Hajime Hinata. I was a part of Hope's Peak Academy's reserve course, so I don't really have a talent…"

A brunette girl grinned beside him. "The name's Akane Owari! I'm the Ultimate Gymnast!"

"My name is Sonia Nevermind," said a blonde girl with a regal air. "I am the Ultimate Princess, from the kingdom of Novoselic. It is a pleasure to meet you all!"

Next to her, a boy with shark-like teeth gave a thumbs up. "Well said, Miss Sonia! I'm Kazuichi Soda, Ultimate Mechanic!"

The last of the five scoffed, rolling his eyes (or rather eye, as one was covered by an eye patch). "I'm Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Ultimate Gangster. I'm the head of Japan's largest yakuza clan, but we should get along as long as you all stay out of trouble."

Hajime turned to Mizuki with a smile. "How about we start with Mizuki?"

He hummed softly in response. "My name is Mizuki Sōma. I was scouted by the Academy as the Ultimate Catalyst."

Beside him, a tall boy with dark hair gave a slight bow. "I am Daisuke Sakamoto. My title is Ultimate Butler. I hope to get along well with all of you."

"I'm Tomoka Fujiwara, the Ultimate Chemist! Nice to meet you all!" cheered a blonde girl to the left of him.

"My name's Akira Shimizu and I'm the Ultimate Troublemaker," a brunette girl drawled with a grin.

The next boy smiled widely with a flourishing gesture. "The name's Yosuke Matsuo. I'm the Ultimate Magician. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

A girl standing not far from Akira scanned the group with shifty eyes. "Kimiko Takei, Ultimate Thief."

Closest to Mizuki was a girl with long, dark hair who had been preoccupied until then with a novel. "Ah, my name is Midori Nishiyama… I'm the Ultimate Masseuse."

A muscular boy in the corner grunted, and Mizuki was surprised he hadn't seen him before; his presence was large, yet it had gone unnoticed. "You may call me Hattori. I am known as the Ultimate Ninja."

The next girl to speak appeared to be the youngest of them all. "I'm Naō Hoshino, the Ultimate Empath. It's nice to meet all of you." She gave a slight bow of respect then stepped back to let the boy next to her speak.

"I'm Yūgo Miyashita… The Ultimate Marksman." The pale haired boy's expression was pained as he revealed his title.

A stern-looking girl beside Daisuke gave a small smile and straightened her glasses. "My name is Rioko Nagasawa. I am the Ultimate Assistant."

"I'm Etsuko Takano, the Ultimate Artist." The next girl spoke softly and glanced around warily, obviously unsure of herself.

A tall boy with striking red hair stood from his chair, placing his hand over his heart as he spoke. "My name is Shitake Kinoko, the Ultimate Herbalist. If any of you should feel ill, please feel free to consult me."

"Howdy, y'all!" Mizuki flinched at the sudden change in dialect as a freckled, pig-tailed girl bounced out of her seat with a toothy grin. "I'm Ann Oakley, the Ultimate Cowgirl!"

The next to introduce himself was a lean boy with a smug grin. "I'm the Ultimate Actor, Hiroin Souju. Perhaps you've seen me in movies?" He pushed back the hair that fell in his face and smiled as if he were posing for a photo shoot.

"Takuma Kimura, Ultimate Decorator." Mizuki had to look around to find the speaker and was a bit taken aback to find a short dark-haired girl examining the wall décor with a keen interest.

Hajime nodded after introductions were completed and turned to address all sixteen of them. "Now then, you guys got to hear a little bit about why we gathered you before, but I wanted to talk about it some more. This island you've been brought to is Jabberwock Island, my friends and I were brought here to enter a virtual world in which we were supposed to regain hope. Some unexpected things happened, and some of us didn't wake up… But Future Foundation has decided to allow us to prove we are no longer Remnants of despair, so we plan on preventing all of you from falling into despair as we once had.

"The idea is to restore your hope through a sort of class environment. We've decided to call it Resurrection Hope. The sixteen of you will learn to defend yourselves should you need to fight despair, but more importantly you'll learn to believe in the future and bring hope back to the country, maybe even the world. Think of it as a team whose goal is to peacefully end the Tragedy and fix the damage despair has caused. If anyone has any questions, we'll answer them to the best of our ability." Hajime's smile never faltered as he spoke, but there was a glint in his eyes that said he expected someone to test his conviction.

Kimiko stared Hajime down, eyes narrowed. "Why should we do any of this? You're in despair yourselves. We know all about the shit you guys pulled, so why should we trust you?"

"We had fallen victim to despair, yes, but the Neo World Program rehabilitated us; even if it didn't work completely. It's understandable that you don't trust us, but all we want is for you all to believe the future and live on."

"What if something happens again?" Mizuki asked softly. The room fell silent as the question they had all wondered was finally voiced. "If we're to believe you won't try anything, what will you do if something goes wrong?"

Akane clenched her fists like she was going to fight him. "Like hell we'll let that happen! If you morons try to kill each other, I'll kill you myself!"

Tomoka let out a small yelp. "K-kill each other?"

"The hell are you talking about? Who's gonna kill anyone?" Yosuke scoffed. "Isn't the point of this to have 'hope'?"

Sonia straightened up and spoke in a commanding tone. "Have no fear; so long as we are on this island, there will be no death! I will not have it!"

"Yeah! We won't let it happen!" Kazuichi cheered.

"What're a pretty princess and a grease monkey gonna do about it?" Kimiko grumbled.

Akira cracked her knuckles and rolled her eyes at the group. "These guys already went through shit, didn't they? So we can trust them, can't we? No one can make a louder riot than me, so I'll keep you guys in line!"

Fuyuhiko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stop fighting, you numbskulls. Get back to your cottages and sleep. We'll start tomorrow."

They all shuffled out, whispering and wondering about the Remnants of Despair and Resurrection Hope. Mizuki didn't make a decision one way or another, but once he lay down in his bed, he felt a sense of unease. A plan to restore their hope on an island that could pass for a resort? A team that would end all the death and destruction that had raged for years? Nothing could be so simple, and no one could be prepared enough for what the future held in store.


I think that was a pretty good start to the story. I'll be writing the next chapter from Naō's POV which may be just after this one or even a few days afterwards.

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