He's forgotten so much. Now he fights to find who he is. Fighting to find his memories, the part of him he's missing. Finding out... leads to an unknown outcome. Interesting... I'll pay attention to you, Strategist.
"...up... wake up..." I hear a beautiful voice speaking to me from the distance. An angel perhaps? "WAAAAAKE UP!"
"GAH!" I exclaim, my eyes flying open and head shooting up at the sudden yelling. "WHO'S THERE?!" I yell, reaching for my bag.
"Relax, um... Strategist, I'm just waking you up to tell you we've landed." The voice calmly responds, and I look to the side to find Yukizome leaning... uncomfortably close to me. Pretty good cleavage... "C'mon, the rest are inside." She says cheerfully, backing away and standing next to Munakata, who's glaring at me. He probably caught onto me.
"Strategist, don't make us wait. I'll set up the meeting, you follow Yukizome. She'll bring you to Gekkogahara for a psychiatric evaluation. After that, you'll wait for us to call you. Once again, Yukizome will bring you up to us, and we'll start talking about you." He says, and all of this is starting to stress me out a bit. How do these official guys keep this daily schedule up? Then again, I probably used to work for the military, what with my talent being strategy. "Chisa, I'll see you later."
"Yup! Bye Kyosuke!" She said happily, waving as he walked away towards... holy crap that's a big building. Befitting of the title 'Future Foundation HQ'. "Well I guess I'll be your tour guide, so let's get to know each other better first!" She says, looking at me. Shoulda worded that better miss... Dumbass, get your mind out of the gutter!
"Yeah, I guess that's fine." I reply, fighting the urges that come with testosterone and stress.
"Okay, so you know I'm Chisa Yukizome, the Ultimate Housekeeper. Hmm..." She trails. She clearly did not think of anything to say.
"Didn't you use to teach the Ultimate Despairs?" I ask. To this, she freezes. Probably a really touchy subject for her. Oops.
"Yeah," She starts. Her voice isn't as cheery, like she's recalling a sad memory. Well that's probably exactly what it is. "Kizakura used to be their teacher and I the assistant, but he became a full time scout and I took over." She says, and as she pauses she looks off into the distance towards the city, probably where Hope's Peak used to be. "They were a good class, always full of life and energy. But... I lost them." She says, finishing.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." I say, slightly ashamed. "But you didn't lose them, they lost themselves. That's it, we need to capture them. We need to bring them back." I say, smiling at her. Confused, Yukizome looks back at me.
"Why? To kill them? Torture them? To punish them for falling to despair?" She asks.
"No. To help them. They fell to despair, most likely thanks to Enoshima. But like a cave, if there's a way in, there must also be a way out." Yeah, throw some smartass analogy in like you're a 50 year old man talking to a kid, that oughta help. She stays silent, probably thinking about what I said, but she returns to her happy-go-lucky self as if she has a switch she just flicked back on.
"So, putting that aside for now, we should get to Gekkogahara." She says, her voice starting to return to its usual happy tone. But now I know. It's not real, it's her trying to cope, trying to trick herself into being happy to avoid despair. "Follow me!"
"Who is this, Kizakura?" I ask as the door to my office closes.
"He's the Ultimate Strategist, the man I told you about." He replies, smiling.
"Not that, we know he is. But as an amnesiac, he knows his talent, but not his name, something that he should know even better. He even remembers his class. This doesn't make sense, Kizakura." I say, sitting down. As he sits beside me, he thinks for a moment.
"His amnesia may be extremely unusual, but he is a very valuable asset to the Foundation. We just have to help him figure out what he's missing and go from there." True, but this could pose a problem.
"What if his memories cause him despair? How would we stop the Ultimate Strategist?" I voice my worry. The Ultimate Despair with even more smarts would make them even harder to fight.
"Relax, Kyosuke." He says, making eye contact. "We'll have to just make contingency plans that he won't have time to think about."
"I see. Good thinking, Kizakura. Alright, we'll work on that later. For now, he should be undergoing evaluation." We stand up, and Kizakura leaves the room after tipping his hat. Now to call Chisa...
"So, who is this Gekkogahara?" I ask as we walk into an elevator. This is a pretty fancy building, really spacious and well-constructed, and I think they probably have numerous emergency exits and such.
"Oh, she's the Ultimate Therapist, Miaya Gekkogahara. She's really shy, so she'll only talk to you through her computer with this little pink rabbit she calls Usami. Prepare for that." She replies, finishing as the lift stops and we step off.
"Sounds interesting." I say. Real cool response there, Strategist. You'd think with a talent around your brain you'd be able to think of better responses.
"We're here," She says, suddenly stopping and gesturing to a glass door with the words 'Miaya Gekkogahara' printed on. As she opens the door I hear a phone ring from her coat. "Ah, Kyosuke's calling. You go in and say Kyosuke sent you, I'll answer this, okay?"
"Gotcha." I reply as I walk into the room. It's a large well-lit room with many chairs through the middle of the room facing the far wall with a large TV on it, but at least now it's switched off. Near the left of the wall is a solid door, probably where the therapist works. There's a counter against the right wall, and behind it sits a young woman typing on a computer. I walk up to her and speak. "Yeah, uh, I'm here for some evaluation? Munakata sent me."
As if I spoke a curse, she froze and looked at me, and suddenly she was clicking away and typing something, and she opened her mouth to say in a hoarse voice, "She'll be here shortly."
Looks like Munakata's the big boss here, the kinda guy you don't mess with even on a good day. I walk over and sit on one of the chairs, looking at the wall. A few minutes pass and the door opens to reveal... a very unusual woman. She has blue hair and eyes, and a red scarf covering her neck and mouth completely. She's sitting in a modified wheelchair, with a monitor attached showing the pink rabbit 'Usami' that Yukizome mentioned earlier. I wonder if she uses the wheelchair specifically for the modifications. "Ultimate Strategist, please come in!" Says Usami in a sickeningly sweet voice. I walk over as she turns back to enter the room. This'll be interesting.
Why isn't she answering? She's probably introducing him to Gekkogahara. Three rings. Four. Five.
"Kyosuke?" Her beautiful voice calls me through the phone.
"Chisa. What are you two doing?" They should have reached Gekkogahara's office by now.
"I just sent him to Gekkogahara. I left him to answer you and talk privately. What's wrong?"
"Chisa, he doesn't have many memories. The only thing we know he remembers is anything during the Tragedy, but he doesn't remember his name. Has he clued you on any memories he retained?"
She hums in thought before replying. "Yeah, he remembers me as the Ultimate Despairs' former teacher."
"So, he remembers his talent, and remembers being in one of the 77th classes. He also remembers you as 77-B's former teacher." She hums in approval, and I'm sure she's nodding right now too. "I guess it'll be better to wait for Gekkogahara's report. When he finishes, just show him around until I call you, okay?"
"Sure thing, Kyosuke! I'll see you later!"
"Yeah. Bye."
Beep.
"I'm sorry please calm down!" The little bunny shouts as I punch the wall.
"Talent... isn't everything." I say, taking a shaky deep breath. "There are... more important things... than stupid talents."
We were talking, well I talked and she typed, and she brought up my talent. After I said how stupid talent was, she asked "Isn't talent the most important thing?" I snapped and stood up, the chair I was sitting on flying backwards as I lost my temper. Now I'm here, ashamed of myself.
"Dammit." I say between breaths, picking up the chair and setting it upright again. I sit back down and face her, and her scared face makes me feel like a complete asshole. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."
Shockingly, she pushes the monitor down, forming a flat surface letting me see her full face and most of her upper body. She lowers her scarf, revealing a frown. "I'm... sorry, too... I've been out of practice lately... I should've been more careful with my words..."
Good job smartass, you saddened a goddamn therapist. "Hey, don't apologize. You may be the Ultimate Therapist, but everyone makes mistakes. I probably made some fatal ones in my past."
"Uhm... yeah..." She pulls the monitor and scarf back up, hiding behind Usami again, and starts typing. "So, what do you remember from before the Tragedy? Anything is fine." The little pink rabbit says.
"Hmm... the only thing I remember is walking through the corridors of what I assume to be Hope's Peak. As I enter a classroom, a class full of very strange people looks at me, and I see a teacher with an apron. I realize I walked into the wrong class, and apologize and leave, quickly closing the door. I look up and see '77-B', indicating class 77-B, Chisa Yukizome and the Ultimate Despair's old class. My memory ends there. Besides that, the only memory I have is reading a letter in a living room explaining how I've been selected to attend Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Strategist. I can't remember my name on the letter though, as if it's been deleted or something." I explain, and wait. Come to think of it that's extremely suspicious, not remembering anything besides those specific moments.
"Okay, well thank you very much! I have all the information I need. I'll see you next time!" She says through Usami.
"Yeah, I'll see you around since I guess I'll be here for awhile." I reply, standing up, slowly this time, and turning to leave the pretty small room. "Bye." As I leave the room I see Yukizome sitting there waiting for me. I walk over to her and she stands up with her usual energy. "So, now what?"
"Now, I'll show you around until Kyosuke calls me! Let's go!" She says, her lab coat flowing behind her as she turns quickly to leave. She's so energetic, I refuse to accept that it's real. I start walking to follow her and we walk out of the area, turning right. "I'll bring you back to the first floor, and we'll start from there."
"What do you mean we've lost them?! I personally established that base!" I shout. This war is getting out of hand. I take a deep breath before speaking again. "Alright. You and your men stay in that area. Hide yourselves, do not do anything. Find a simple structure and hide your men in it. Await orders from me directly, do not reply to anyone besides me."
"Affirmative." He replies, and the call ends. Looks like the Despairs found them.
Knock knock.
"Come in." I say, and the door opens as Gekkogahara rolls in, a guard holding the door for her and closing it once she's inside. Once the door clicks, I speak. "So, what's your report?"
The sound of typing sounds through the quiet room as Usami starts to speak. "He has a very stable mental state all things considered. He only has two memories. The first is an incident where on his way to class he entered the wrong room, finding himself in class 77-B and seeing Yukizome and the Ultimate Despairs before they became as such. The second memory explains how he knows his talent as it is of the letter he received upon being scouted for Hope's Peak. Interestingly, he says he can't see his name on the letter even though it should be there with his talent. My final note is that he reacted with extreme anger when I said, 'Isn't talent the most important thing?'. He seems to hate the idea of talent being idolized, but I don't know why."
"I see. Thank you for your report, Gekkogahara. I'm setting up a meeting with everyone, including him, to discuss what he'll do. Please be ready by 5:45pm, one hour from now." I say, and she acknowledges before going to the door and reaching over to open it, leaving the room as a guard closes it behind her. Now to sort out the last of my work for today.
50 minutes later
"And finally, welcome to the top floor." Yukizome says as the elevator doors open. We walk down a corridor and after a few turns she gestures to a hallway, completely empty except for a large set of double doors at the end guarded by security on each side. "This is the meeting room, and this door right here," She says, pointing at a lone door right before the hallway. "Is Tengan's office. We use the meeting room for any important... well, meetings, between several divisions or leaders, and very rarely all the division heads gather here to discuss things like big problems, plans, progress and so on."
We continue walking around the level, mostly talking about things in general, seeing as most rooms were just offices or nothing big. After we finish covering the level, we walk back to the lift and she speaks up. "And that's done. Welcome to the Future Foundation. I wanna talk with you, so can we head to the roof?"
"The lift goes straight there? Interesting. Sure, why not?" I reply as we enter the empty machine. She presses the top-most button and we arrive in just five seconds. We exit and walk near the edge where a safety railing about 3-quarters our height was placed. "Damn all those tall guys." I comment, and Yukizome chuckles. We stop right behind it, and she looks into the distance before opening her mouth.
"Why did you fight?" She asked. "Why did you fight to survive?"
"I fought... to find out. To find my memories, and to see what I can do." I reply.
"See what you can do?" She echoes.
"I am an Ultimate. I have a talent. The Future Foundation, you guys, are recruiting both talented and normal people to help you make a future. Rid this world of despair, and bring hope to a seemingly hopeless scenario." I look at her, and our eyes lock. "I am the Ultimate Strategist. I can create plans so good that Hope's Peak believed in me enough to track me down. I may not know what I've done before, but I swear that I'll die before I give up on that hope."
"Hope like yours is what makes the Future Foundation." She says, smiling. We continue looking at each other in silence, and suddenly her phone rings. She takes it out of her coat pocket and answers it. "Hello? Ah, Kyosuke! Mmhm... understood!"
"What's up?"
"We're going to have one of those rare meetings, and you're part of it! C'mon, let's go!" She says excitedly as she jogs to the lift. I wait awhile and run after her, reaching the lift with her. She presses a button labeled 'TOP' and once again the doors open five seconds after closing. We step off and walk to the meeting room and Yukizome opens the door. As she enters I follow, and I'm introduced to an interesting group of people. "Ultimate Strategist, meet the Future Foundation's Division Heads!"
As the Housekeeper's announcement swept the room, she made a beeline for Munakata, leaving me standing in the doorway with many pairs of eyes staring at me. I awkwardly stand frozen, and clear my throat. Now's not the time for hesitation. Scan the room, and speak. My eyes do as such, and I see everyone who rescued me, along with a couple of people I hadn't seen before. Deep breath, and go. "Good evening! I am the Ultimate Strategist, recently rescued by the Future Foundation. I have lost a vast majority of my memories, including my name. I hope I can be of use to you!" I finish, bowing. I feel someone's hand on my shoulder, and straighten to see Kizakura.
"I know we look formal and you're probably nervous around everyone, but we're not that serious around here, alright? Loosen up a bit." He says, pulling his hand back and sitting back down. I sit down across him near the edge of the table, and as I settle down Tengan clears his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Well, since he's already met most of you, can the few who haven't quickly introduce yourselves?" He asked, looking at the two people I hadn't met before. The first to speak was a pale grey-haired woman wearing a mask.
"My name is Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist. I'm the leader of the 4th Division." Is all she said. Well her voice sure is soft. Pretty hard to see her as a leader of a division like the rest of them. Pharmacist probably means she's in charge of something dealing with drugs and medicines, maybe potential cures for despair, if that's possible. The final person was a very frail looking boy with light brown hair and very clear bags under his eyes.
"I'm Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator. I'm the 10th Division leader. Pleased to meet you." He said. Well if I thought Seiko wasn't the ideal leader, this guy just blew away my initial thought process. Guess the Tragedy can affect people in pretty big ways.
"Alright. Well, now that we all know each other, the first thing that must be discussed is what his position will be." Starts Munakata. Wait... position? Oh I'm not gonna like this official crap. "As the Ultimate Strategist the only thing that is known is he can create effective plans quickly."
"He has too many options, so let's see first what he does best, military or civilian planning?" Suggests someone. Before I can react another voice raises.
"Obviously military, how else could he have survived out there on his own? He should be under me or Munakata." States a voice. Once again another voice speaks before I can react.
"But if he can create such effective plans surely he can help us with survivors and restoring civilization!" Shouts another. The cycle repeats, different people trying to prove each other wrong. Well, this is certainly painting the Future Foundation in a very different light compared to what I thought they were like. This continues for another few minutes, some people clearly having conversations on other topics, before finally I see Munakata open his mouth across the table.
"SILENCE! We cannot discuss if everyone is shouting against each other. This is a meeting, not a playground argument." He said, powerful voice full of authority. As he ordered, the room fell into complete silence, and he stated the purpose of the meeting. "We are here to discuss who will be in charge of the Ultimate Strategist. I would also like to remind you that he is here, so your questions can be directed at him."
For a while, no one speaks, but eventually someone asks the question that started the shouting war. "Are your abilities limited to military plans, or can you also form plans on things relating to civilians?" Finally I can talk.
"I have no memories, so I only have experience developing my own strategies to escape and survive the Ultimate Despair. However," I reach behind me and pull out my notebook, placing it on the table. "I have written down most of what I've done in this notebook in fear of losing my memories again, or as a warning for others if I die. One of these entries has details about how I managed to find the location of the Future Foundation's Headquarters, the very building we're in now." I say. At this, for some reason Munakata flinches.
"What did you say?" He asked, his voice slightly angry. Better clear things up I guess.
"One of numerous things I wrote about is the plan that helped me discover the location of this building, which was my intended destination until I was rescued and personally brought here."
"How did you find out? This location is undisclosed to anyone except Future Foundation members." Munakata says. Well I don't know either, better read out what I wrote.
"I will now read what I've written.
I've been walking around for awhile, and I found a camp. Whoever these guys are, they're armed to the teeth and are not friendly. I tried to approach but I was met with immediate hostility. I'm going to take them out. My objective is to find out why they're here, as they clearly aren't swallowed up by despair yet. This is extremely risky, but I have a plan. I'm going to locate any of the Ultimate Despairs and use a page of this notebook to inform them of this camp's location. Hopefully the nearest one won't be too far away. I'll finish this if I succeed.
The next page continues the story.
Alright, I found Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer. What luck. I threw a balled up piece of paper at her head that read 'Future Foundation soldiers' and a small simple map of their location. As I write this I can hear their screams of despair as a very loud electric guitar plays down the street. I guess she lured them in and used Mioda to torture their ears. Anyways, a quick search has turned up with a map, some spare guns and ammo and basic necessities. This map is of some general area, but a part of the ocean is circled for some reason. Ah, I found the identity of this group. Their equipment is labeled 'Future Foundation Recons Squad'. I guess I just handed these guys over to the Ultimate Despairs.
Wait, huh?!" I yell. No, that can't be. I just threw these guys to the wolves they were fighting against?! A chair is heard rolling away as Sakakura stomps over to me.
"You killed an entire squad of soldiers and left like it was nothing! What the hell were you thinking?!" He yells, reaching for me. In panic I push off the table and the chair rolls back, but it moves too fast and falls backwards. I roll backwards after falling, standing to see Sakakura already throwing a punch. Instinctively I raise my arms to block it but the impact never comes. Confused, I lower my arms to see Gozu's giant hand stopping Sakakura's.
"Calm down, Sakakura. As much as he sent that squad to their death, he only did so without knowing who they were, and after being attacked upon interaction with them. Admittedly that's partially my fault, I had instructed them to fire on sight of anyone approaching them." Said Munakata, who had walked up to Sakakura and placed his hand on the boxer's arm, lowering it. Sakakura suddenly snapped back, and for a moment he looked happy, then sad, then looked at me.
"Sorry." He said, walking back to his place. After everyone settled back down, Tengan spoke up.
"Well, it seems your talent has yet to be tested on other situations due to your memory loss and given situation in the Tragedy. Very well, I propose this: He will not be a member of any division, but much rather he will be working solely on any plans he is called for. He will be multi-purposed, helping to produce and improve upon any strategies and plans." This got everyone thinking, and surprisingly finally the room came to an agreement. However, Mitarai had an important question to ask.
"Um... In that case, will he be given an office and left to work separately from anyone?" Well, that sounds pretty damn boring and honestly slightly depressing.
"No." Said Munakata. Yes! I don't need to die of boredom and loneliness! "He has to be monitored just in case his memories come back. I've thought about this already. He needs his memories, and in the event his memories cause him despair he must be recovered immediately as he is an important ally to us. I have thus concluded that the most fitting partner to watch over him will be... Miaya Gekkogahara."
For a few moments the room was silent... then typing was heard.
"Ha-wa-wa! Munakata, why me?" Usami asked, waving her bunny arms up and down. She was on the other side of the table, and I could barely see any of her so I had to just listen.
"He has a potential to regain his memories at some point. If this happens and they cause him despair, he must be returned to us. Even if his memories don't cause despair, he will need help coping, and he'll need help adjusting to working with the Future Foundation as quickly as possible. Who better to help him maintain a stable mental state than the Ultimate Therapist?" With that, Munakata looked at the woman, probably straight in the eyes. The room is silent as he waits for her response, and I hear a small sigh before a few moments of typing.
"Okay, Munakata. I will accept the responsibility of helping the Ultimate Strategist." Usami said, and around the room most people nodded in agreement. Munakata then said the parting words.
"Then it's settled. We're done here. Gekkogahara, Strategist, Sakakura, wait here. We'll talk once everyone has left. The rest of you, return to your jobs."
As everyone else filed out, a certain blonde whose breath stank of alcohol whispered some choice words for me. "Hopefully you can get her out of her shell, the rabbit gets weird after a long time." I smiled back at him, nodding. This is getting interesting.
AN Stuff
So how was this chapter? I don't have much to say so thank you for reading and as per normal if you have feedback please don't hesitate to let me know. Criticism is appreciated but hate will not be tolerated.
A picture is worth a thousand words
But a thousand words can paint a picture