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 the 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 hat 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 b 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 machine's off." He signaled two nurses. "Unhook her with the rest of them and get her to the ER. Sandra find out if the blood work is back from the lab, in the meantime we need fluids and glucose 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.

"Okay, what was all that" Akane asked.

"You have just exited the Neo World Program," a doctor began, "it was designed as a psycho therapeutic-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Hinata interjected, "but we know all that already. The class trial is still fresh in our minds." He pointedly avoided why they were expected to forget all this.

"Then allow me to elaborate. The program was designed to replace mental trauma and provided a physical environment that could supply nutrients and hygiene care for a healthy individual. Because it is still in its trial phase, we were unable to compensate for preexisting conditions." Akane played with her skeletal hands. "A fair number of the students came to us with serious medical conditions; some visually diagnosable, others unknown. You will all have a full health screening and physical therapy."

"How long were we in the machine?" Sonia asked.

"The simulation progressed in real time, so only a month. After we check your vitals, you should be free to get reacquainted with the island. For security reasons, you will not be permitted to leave the central island. Owari and Kuzuryuu, however, will need immediate treatment."

"What, why?" Fuyuhiko demanded.

"Kuzuryuu-kun," Hinata gapped, "your eye!"

"What about it, you should see yourself, you look like a circus freak." He frowned. "It's not like I- 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." Hinata turned back to the doctor.

"What about the others?"

"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. Out top researchers are looking into the possibility as we speak."

~o~

They never could get out of the doctors who got carted off in such a hurry. Something about doctor-patient confidentiality. Unable to access future foundation facilities until they could prove permanent mental competency. Hinata and his friends were to remain under surveillance.

"I don't like the way those guards are looking at us." Owari said over lunch.

"You'll get used to it." Fuyuhiko sighed.

"Well I recieved some good news from Naegi-kun." Hinata sighed. "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." Owari 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 sighed, "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.

~o~

The moonlight painted add shadows on the far wall of Fuyuhiko's 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. As he lay in bed, an arm snuck 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 gapped. "It can't be, it's only been a few days, the doctors didn't-"

"This way master," she pulled out 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.

"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.

"Trust me, it's going to be okay. I won't let them hurt you." She dropped his arm like it was burning and drew her makeshift weapon against him. "Peko!"

"You're not him." She whispered. Guards came thundering down the hall. "My master never protected me." Her grip tightened around the pole The weapon quivered with each breath. "You're not my master!" She shouted as the guards took a hold of her.