Chapter 1: Reawakening

Kazuichi Souda looks around his room uncertainly. He rubs his scarred arms for the umpteenth time that day, fingers feeling restless after not tinkering with any machinery for so long. There's a slow creak followed by soft, light footsteps approaching him.

"Good morning, Souda-kun."

Kazuichi finally turns to face the speaker. Makoto Naegi holds out a tray full of Kazuichi's favorite breakfast foods, and the mechanic tries not think too hard about how Naegi and his friends figured that out (he does know, he just does't enjoy thinking about it). Kazuichi says nothing as he silently takes the food tray. Naegi only smiles back, leading the older boy to wonder if it's genuine or out of politeness.

After finally taking a bite out of his food, Naegi turns to leave.

"Wait."

Naegi halts, turning towards Kazuichi questioningly. It's been weighing on his mind now, and since Kirigiri and Togami (the real one) are both too…he wants to say unapproachable but if Kazuichi were being honest, he'd like to say that the pair kind of scared him. But Naegi was different. He was short and docile-looking, approachable in a way that reminded him a lot of Hinata…

"Can I ask a question?"

Naegi smiled encouragingly, "Sure, what is it?"

"What happened to Hinata?"

Naegi hesitates for a bit before turning to face him fully. Kazuichi braces himself, expecting bad news.

"He's…conscious…But right now, he's still in a dangerous state."

"By dangerous state…Are you taking about that Kamakura guy?"

Naegi nods, face contorted into a concerned frown. "But…We believe that with time, Hinata-kun will eventually regain control over his body."

"Will he really?" Kazuichi asks, eyes trailing sadly over his food. He wants to believe that his soul friend is alright, he really does. But after all that's happened so far…It would probably be best to prepare for the worst. He looks up again, about to tell Naegi that he has no more questions to ask.

And is met with a look filled with determination. Full of belief and…hope.

"Hinata-kun will return. I'm sure of it."

"But how can you be so sure?!" Kazuichi counters, wanting to clutch unto that hope as well, but too scared of the despair that he's come to be too familiar with.. "In that game, we kept thinkin' no one was gonna die again, that there would be no more class trials! We kept gettin' betrayed again and again! So how can you be so sure that Hinata's gonna be fine?! How are you so sure we won't be betrayed again?!"

"Has Hinata-kun ever betrayed you?"

Kazuichi pauses. Yes, he did assume that Hinata was the traitor for a while…But looking back, Hinata was actually the one that always stuck with them, kept the group together during the class trials. Him and Nanami…

"No"; he finally says.

Naegi smiles; "Then what makes you think he'd betray you now?"

"How…How can you be so sure? You don't even know him! Yeah, you and your pals were watchin' us through those surveillance cameras, but that isn't enough to know a person! Not the way I knew him!"

"Exactly", Naegi says simply, "and since you know him so well, then you should know better than anyone that he won't give up to despair so easily. Not this time. Not after all you've been through together."

"That's right! There's no way Hinata would lose so easily to that Kama-whatever! Not after that cool way he saved us all during the last class trial! Yeah! He'll come back, definitely!"

And Kazuichi is smiling now, for the first time in what felt like years. His fists are clenched, his heart thumping excitedly, and he doesn't even care that some of his milk spilled onto his toast.

Naegi simply smiles back before finally turning to leave.

"Yeah, he'll definitely come back. And everyone else too." Kazuichi finally lowers his fists, focus now placed on his tray of food. As he absentmindedly digs into his breakfast, a thought finally catches up to him.

…What just happened here?

Sonia Nevermind stares at the ceiling, trying her best to suppress the information the Future Foundation had just given her regarding her crimes as a remnant of despair. She closes her eyes and clutches tightly to her bed sheets as she feels her regret and guilt build up. A knock from her door finally snaps her out from her depressing thoughts.

"Yes, you may come in."

The door opens to reveal Makoto Naegi, carrying what appears to be her breakfast.

"Good morning, Nevermind-san."

"Ah, Naegi-san. Good morning, and please, call me Sonia."

Naegi-san nods in reply, offering the tray of food to her.

"Oh my, what a delicious looking meal!" She daintily lifts her knife and fork and proceeds to work on her food in a precise manner. As if she's still a princess with a throne to ascend. As if she still has a castle to call home. As if she still has a family to return to.

A hand grips hers, and it's then that she realizes that she'd been shaking. Sonia looks up to see Naegi wearing a gentle smile as he slowly releases her hand and proceeds to quietly clean up the crumbs she made.

"I-I'm terribly sorry for that." She smiles at him again, but Naegi doesn't seem convinced, smile being quickly replaced by a worried frown.

"Sonia-san, if there's anything bothering you at all, please don't hesitate to tell me, or anyone else you feel comfortable talking with."

Sonia shakes her head sadly. "To inconvenience the others like that, when they have so much more to worry about, would be selfish of me."

"And needlessly worrying them would be considered selfless?"

Sonia quickly looks up at him, infuriated with the latter's words. "Of course not! But I do not have the right to unload my problems unto others when there are much bigger issues at hand! My family may be gone, but my friends are still here! At the very least, I must think of them! I can do nothing to erase my past mistakes, but at the very least, I must work hard to ensure a better future for my friends when they awaken!"

Sonia rubs the tears away from her eyes before turning back to Naegi with a look that says, How do you like me now?

The younger boy offers her a smile and nods along; "Yes, you're completely right. I suppose I had nothing to worry about after all."

Sonia nods happily, glad that Naegi was able to see head to head with her. Or was the saying "eye to eye"? Satisfied, Sonia proceeds to consume the rest of her breakfast as Naegi quietly slips out of the room. After her third bite, Sonia feels something amiss.

"Naegi-san…Did he?" She doesn't finish the thought, but a warm, grateful smile graces her lips.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu scowls at the door as it slowly opens once more. He really didn't have the energy to deal with Kirigiri again, or worse, Togami. His scowl slowly wore off once he noticed that his visitor's shadow was much shorter than the other two's.

"Good morning, Kuzuryuu-kun. Kirigiri-san filled me in on what happened. Um, I think she may have just forgotten that you dislike milk, so please don't stay mad at her."

Fuyuhiko calmed down at the sight of the younger boy. He didn't feel the need to bring up barriers around him. The fact that he was one of the few people he didn't have to crane up his neck to talk to also helped matters.

"It's fine." Fuyuhiko finally said, motioning for the other boy to come closer and give him his food. Naegi happily obliged as a look of relief swept over his face.

This kid's too easy to read. He wouldn't last a day with the yakuza.

Fuyuhiko grabbed unto his chopsticks, preparing to dig in to his first meal of the day. But there was something he needed to ask, and he was sure that Naegi would be able to divulge information much more easily than his other two companions.

"Hey…How're Peko and the others doing?"

Naegi blinked for a few seconds, twiddling his thumbs as he thought over his answer. The delay made Fuyuhiko even more anxious, but he just couldn't bring himself to lash out at the younger boy. Was it the height? Probably the height.

"Their conditions have definitely improved since the game's termination, however…We can't estimate for sure when they may wake up."

That was pretty much the same thing Kirigiri had told him. The only difference being that Kirigiri's was less direct and riddled with warnings, while Naegi's sounded more honest and polite.

"I see…Thanks for telling me."

Naegi nodded back, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more. But I'll tell you right away if there's a change in their behavior! And I'm sure there will be, because they'll definitely wake up!"

Fuyuhiko let out a chuckle, his left hand unconsciously moving to tough his new eye patch. "Of course they will. So for now, I'm gonna bulk up and get taller! Peko's gonna flip when-"

Realizing his mistake a second late, Fuyuhiko turned to gauge Naegi's reaction as he tried to control his blush.

"That's right! We're still young! We're not done growing yet!"

Fuyuhiko could almost feel his one good eye watering, glad to have finally found a comrade in height unfairness. "You've got that right! If that brat Sainoji's grown enough to finally look her age, then there's nothing stopping me from doing the same! Oi, Naegi!"

"Yes!"

"I changed my mind about that milk. I'm the SHSL yakuza, for crying out loud! One bottle of milk isn't gonna be the death of me!"

Naegi saluted him. "Yes, right away!"

As Naegi dashed out of the room, Fuyuhiko felt like a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders. It took a few more seconds for what had just transpired to sink in. Did I…just bond over my lack of height with Naegi?

For the first time in her entire life, Akane Owari wasn't hungry. She stared dejectedly at her breakfast tray, disappointed with herself for letting such good food go to waste. But she just couldn't bring herself to eat. Not when the old man and everyone else were still in a deep sleep. Not when Hinata still hadn't regain full control of himself. She let out a dejected sigh as she put the tray aside and debated over what she could do to stave off boredom.

There was a knock on her door, and before Akane could stop herself, she yelled out, "Come in!"

To her immense relief, it wasn't the skinny Togami this time. Naegi poked his head in, eyes landing straight to her untouched food.

"Owari-san…You're not eating again?"

"Nah…I don't really feel up to it."

Naegi fully entered the room now, approaching the tray with a look filled with worry.

"Hey, now. No need to scrunch your little face up! I'm sure my appetite will be back to normal once everyone else wakes up!"

"But… what if that wait takes a year?"

"Then I'll wait a year."

"Owari-san, you'll have died by starvation by then."

"No way! I'll find a way to overcome my hunger through sheer willpower!"

Naegi let out a tired sigh as he set the tray on Akane's lap.

"Hey, like I said, I'm not gonna-"

"Owari-san, if you starve before your friends wake up, you'll have made a senseless sacrifice of yourself and cause another needless tragedy for your friends that are with you right now."

Akane hesitated after hearing that. She hadn't expected Naegi to retort. The smaller boy usually just nodded along with her, while those other two had the tendency to give her more grief over her hunger strike. So why was Naegi trying to talk sense into her now?

"Oh, I got it! That Kirigiri chick and that skinny Togami put you up to this!" she exclaimed, pounding her right fist unto her left palm.

"Um…no. And please stop calling Togami-kun skinny, it's making him self-conscious."

"Alright, if those two didn't put you up to this, then why are you suddenly taking their sides now? "

"I'm not taking anyone's side. I just assumed that you'd eventually gain your appetite back on your own. But…it's been three days. This has to stop. You don't need to starve yourself, you've done nothing wrong."

"Yes I have." Her voice was quiet, the quietest it had ever been. Naegi had to strain his ears to hear her.

"What do you mean?"

"I lived. I lived through all of that. Even though I'm not the brightest. Even though the old man became a robot because of me. Even though I'm -"

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks now, and Akane cursed at herself for being so weak. She wanted the tears to stop, willed them to stop, but as if a dam had been broken, water continued to stream down her cheeks. She scrunched up her eyelids, turning her face away. She didn't want Naegi to see her looking like this…Looking so pathetic. As she rubbed furiously at her yes, she felt a hand grab gently unto her wrist.

"Owari-san, it's okay to cry. There's nothing wrong with that."

"What are you talking about?! There's all kinds of things wrong with crying! Crying is for -hic- for the weak! Weak, pathetic little girls!"

Naegi waited patiently, holding her trembling hand as the older girl continued to yell out her frustrations at the world, at herself, at Hope's Peak Academy and Junko Enoshima. The tears eventually stopped, and her sobbing subsided. And somehow, she felt better. The best she's felt in days, as if a heavy weight had finally been lifted from her chest.

"Uggghhhh. Crying…really sucks. And it drains a lot of energy." The gymnast looked forlornly at her now damp food as her stomach rumbled loudly. Naegi finally let go of her wrist, taking the tray of food with him.

"I'll go ask the chefs to cook up some more food for you."

Akane looked up at him as if he were an angel that descended straight from heaven, "Th-then, can you ask for twice as much? I have a feeling I'm gonna need seconds! Or maybe even thirds!"

The shorter boy chuckled, "Of course! I'm sure the chefs will be more than happy to know that you've got your appetite back!"

"Ah, geez, thanks little guy! You're a real life saver!"

Not bothering to comment on the nickname, Naegi merely smiled fondly as he left the room, already thinking up the surviving students' lunch orders.

As Akane watched the younger boy's retreating form, a thought occurred to him.

That kid…He's a lot like Hinata…

"Naegi."

"Naegi-kun."

Makoto jolts in surprise at the sound of his name, turning to his two stoic best friends.

Kirigiri looked at him with mild amusement; "What took us days to accomplish only took you less than half an hour. Your really live up to your super high school level title."

Togami adjusts his glasses, looking almost fond; "Indeed. Maybe it would have been best if we didn't tag along after all."

Makoto shook his head frantically, nearly dropping Owari's food tray in the process; "Of course not! If you two hadn't been there, we wouldn't have been able to shut down the game!"

"That's the only reason?" Kirigiri asks teasingly.

"No, of course not! I'm really glad you're both here! There's no way I could handle things here by myself!" He gives them his signature Adorable Luckster Smile™ and that's all it takes for the pair to cease their teasing session.

Togami coughs awkwardly into his right hand, "Well then, run along now, go and get Owari's food before she eats the furniture in her room. She hasn't eaten in four days, so one can only assume how much longer her stomach can hold out."

Makoto nods in agreement, smile still in place; "Right!"

And then he's off, eagerly running down the hallway. As Makoto's retreating form disappeared from sight, Togami and Kirigiri's smiles (or what could be defined as smiles in their own opinions) quickly faded.

"So, how's Hinata's condition?" Togami asked, turning to Kirigiri.

"Hinata-kun has yet to awaken, but…After seeing the progress with the other students, I can't help but feel…hopeful. About Hinata-kun, this entire situation…I suppose Naegi-kun's influence is rubbing off on me."

"I'm pretty sure he's already done that to us both a long time ago. He's Super High School Level Hope, after all."

Hajime Hinata wakes to the feel of cold metal against his skin. His eyes fly open in seconds as he tries to jolt in an upwards position…and finds that the restraints binding his arms and legs make this task impossible. He tries to think back, sifting through foggy memories…That's right, the operation…It must be today…Or is it already complete?

Hajime's eyes scanned the room before finally landing on a young boy dressed in a black suit. "It's good to see you finally awake! Am I speaking to Hajime Hinata?"

Hajime felt himself nod, now more confused than ever. The boy looked to be around middle school age…so what was he doing in the operating room? There was an itching feeling at the back of his head, like an incessant hand knocking against his cranium. Hajime shut his eyes for a moment and-

You all need to collect the hope shards!

The only way off this island is to kill someone!

Bye-bye everyone.

You're Izuru Kamakura!

Hajime's eyes blinked back open in a flash, gasping for air. Naegi…That was the boy's name, Makoto Naegi, he rushed to his side in seconds, calling for someone…But Hajime couldn't hear. He couldn't hear anything. The memories were surging in all at once and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The words "despair" and "hope" flashed in his mind, the image of a pink-haired girl sadly waving good-bye to him, the image of a white-haired boy's immovable corpse covered in blood. And then there was red. Red, red, red. Red eyes, red blood from the lifeless corpses, so much red and despair and-

And then it all went dark.

"Are you alright?" Kirigiri asked, deftly putting the syringe away. Naegi nodded back, smiling sadly at Hinata's sleeping form. Kirigiri sighed, crossing her arms across her chest. "Even with these restraints, there's no telling when Izuru Kamakura can resurface. If I'm not around, at least bring Togami with you."

"I'm sorry…I just…thought that we'd finally manage to get a breakthrough today."

Kirigiri uncrossed her arms, moving closer to the shorter boy. "We'll get there. So, which one of them spoke to you today?"

Naegi smiled at her this time, and Kirigiri knew the answer before it left his lips.

"It was Hinata-kun."

"Hinata spoke to you?!" Souda asks, eyes wide and filling up with tears.

Naegi smiles back, happy to finally bring the survivors some good news for a change. "Yes, it was brief, but it appears that Hinata-kun is slowly regaining control over his body."

"That's my soul friend, for you! There's no way he'd lose so easily to that Kama-whatever!"

"Yes, of course!" Sonia agreed, happily clapping her hands together as joyful tears trailed down her cheeks. "Hinata-san was the staple that held us together in that final trial, after all!"

"I think you mean glue…" Kuzuryuu corrected, before finally breaking out into a wide smile. He doesn't say more, but Naegi feels that his smile says enough.

And Owari…is bawling. Shamelessly bawling ever since Naegi relayed the good news to the group. "He's -hic- not some -hic- despair-obsessed -hic- psycho anymore! Now -hic- I don't have to punch him anymooooore!"

Naegi exits the room, leaving behind excited chatter as the group makes plans for welcoming their friend back.

Omake

Staring blankly at the monitor as Hinata receives yet another piece of undergarment are three slightly confused teenagers.

Togami is the first to break the silence; "That's the eighth one. Who was the pervert that implemented this stupid mechanic in the game? Was it Syo? It was Syo, wasn't it."

"But if that were the case, then why is it that Hinata-kun is the only one receiving undergarments?"

Naegi shrugs, surprisingly not at all put off by the display; "Maybe Hinata-kun's friends are just giving him their underwear for the same reason you and Kirigiri-san gave me yours."

There's a long pause after that. Then, without warning, both Kirigiri and Togami pointed an accusing finger at the other, yelling in unison; "You gave him your underwear?!"

Naegi decides to take this opportunity to silently flee from the scene. He wasn't quite sure what compelled all of his classmates to give him their undergarments, but he was glad to know that at least he wasn't the only person receiving such treatment.

"I guess it's supposed to be a sign of friendship. Maybe I would should give Kirigiri-san and Togami-kun my boxers tomorrow? That's probably why they're upset."

A/N: So that's the first chapter! I plan to make this story about 6 chapters long, but I can't make any promises in regards to how frequent I update (But here's a hint: reviews give me fuel to write faster!). Anyways, look forward to more Hinata in the next chapter!