Notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY HINATA!

I was wondering what it would be like if I tried to write canon-compliant Kuzuhina... and this is the result I guess? Ummm yeah haha.

Oh man I didn't get nearly as much of this polished up as I wanted, so I've had to split it into two parts in order to get it up in time for Hinata's birthday... but the next part should be up within a week? I'll take the time to have my beta check the rest before it goes up, since this chapter is SUPER unbetaed ahaha.

Hope you enjoy!

Until that smile returns

His first thought as he began to regain consciousness was a slightly panicked, who am I?!

It was a relief to find that yes, he did identify himself as Hajime Hinata, even as his eyes opened to a curtain of dark hair that he distinctly felt shouldn't be there.

He raised his hand upwards to find that the movement occurred much quicker than he imagined it would; he only barely managed to keep from smashing his hand against the cover of his pod by pulling back just as quickly. It was as if his synapses were firing at speeds far beyond what he was accustomed to—and as soon as that thought occurred to him, he realized that that was precisely what was happening.

He had woken up with the mind, memories, and consciousness of Hajime Hinata, but his body retained all the physical modifications that had made him Izuru Kamukura.

Hinata stared ahead as he processed that revelation, and the hazy, frosted reflection of Kamukura's red eyes stared back at him. He had chosen to wake up again, but if everything the Kamukura Project had done to him remained, did it make any difference? Slowly, painfully slowly, he tried raising his hand again, and even before his fingertips could brush the glass cover, he knew exactly how it would feel. He knew precisely which tactile sensations to expect, could predict the exact coolness against his skin.

With his palm pressed against the glass, his immediate, stomach-churning thought was, how boring.

He stayed rooted where he was, without bothering to push the pod open. He had decided to live as Hajime Hinata, but he still possessed the groundwork for the Ultimate Hope; if he stepped out of that pod, what was stopping him from relapsing back into Izuru Kamukura?

His thoughts moved in a whirlwind far too fast for him to make much sense of, but before long he managed to grab hold of a single concrete idea:

Whatever talents he had, he needed to redirect them outward, to make himself useful. Perhaps that would stave off the boredom that caused Kamukura to fall to despair.

He wasn't sure if it would work, but Hajime Hinata was willing to give it a try.

With his mind finally made up, he pushed the cover open and sat up to look around. There were fourteen other pods in the room, silent and still, and for a moment he worried that perhaps he was alone. Maybe he was the only one who retained memories of the Neo World Program. Maybe he was the only one to wake up at all.

Then, four other pods were pushed open.

There was a sense of unfamiliarity when he saw the four individuals sit up—they were older than he expected to see them, their faces drawn and haggard. The difference wasn't as significant as his own appearance must have been, but it was enough to be a bit unsettling.

But their expressions mirrored his own feelings of apprehension, and he was relieved—his friends had come back with him.

He smiled softly, a strange pulling of muscles that felt like they hadn't been used in years.

"I really hate to spring such a huge decision on you when you've just woken up," Makoto Naegi said as the five of them ate their first meal.

The food wasn't that great—prepackaged microwave meals, a far cry from what they had eaten at Hotel Mirai, even after Hanamura's execution. But it still caused their mouths to water (especially Owari's), driving home the fact that, yes, their real bodies had gone quite a while without food.

"If we do go with you," Kuzuryu said between bites, "what does that mean for us?"

Naegi grimaced a bit, and after glancing at his two comrades, who offered no support, he sighed and turned back to the survivors. "For the five of you, it's possible that you'll be spared. The rehabilitation does seem to have worked, after all, even though it was... unauthorized use of the technology. But for the rest..." He sighed. "They'd probably be pulled from life support immediately, or worse. Munakata-san is, um..." He trailed off, laughing bashfully. "Well, let's say he doesn't spare much mercy for Despairs..."

"Well isn't it pretty obvious that we're gonna stay?!" Souda cried. "Like we're gonna hand over everyone else to just be killed off! You can't even guarantee that we'll be kept alive!"

Naegi laughed bashfully again. "That's true. And that's sort of the answer I expected..."

There was silence for a moment, before Sonia spoke up. "Naegi-san, if I may ask... if that is the option we choose, what will happen to you?"

Naegi cringed. "Um, well... I'll have to answer to charges of treason. But I'm pretty sure that would happen either way, so don't worry about it."

Sonia didn't seem completely convinced. "But if you returned without us, that would simply bring even greater charges against you, would it not?"

An even more grim atmosphere fell upon the small gathering.

After clearing his throat nervously, Naegi answered. "Ah, I don't want you to worry about that..."

"But that's just messed up!" Souda pointed an accusatory finger at Kirigiri and Togami, standing to the side with their gazes averted. "And isn't there anything you two can do to help this kid?!"

"Unfortunately, we aren't seeing or hearing any of this." Togami pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "This is all Naegi's doing, so he's on his own."

Kuzuryu slapped his hand on the table and stood up, fuming. "So you're just going to stand there and take let him take the brunt of the punishment, just to save your own skins?!"

"Exactly," Kirigiri said coolly. "We cannot afford to lose our positions in the organization." She paused for a moment, watching Kuzuryu and Souda seethe in anger, before smirking. "After all, Naegi-kun will need friends in high places to help him out during the inevitable hearings."

Naegi smiled weakly. "So, really, it's fine. Don't let my actions affect your decision."

Owari finally took a break from stuffing her face with food. "How about Hinata decides, then?"

"What, me?" Hinata hadn't been fully paying attention, staring instead at his chopsticks as if they were held between fingers that didn't belong to him, but hearing his name pulled him back into the discussion. "Why me?"

"'Cause you always led us to the right answers during the trials," she said simply. "So I think you'll choose the right answer this time too, right?"

"That's not exactly..."

"No, I agree that you should get Hinata-kun's input here," Naegi agreed. "I mean... he's probably the one who's best equipped to bring your classmates back. So if you do stay, Hinata-kun, do you have a plan?"

Hinata sighed, self-consciously tucking his far-too-long hair behind his ear. He really would need to cut it as soon as possible. "I... have some ideas, maybe? I mean, I'm not Kamukura, so I don't really know things... but I still know things, if that makes sense. So if I can use that, I feel like I might be able to bring everyone else back... possibly." He grimaced down at the tabletop. "I can't make any promises, of course, but if I could have the opportunity to try..."

"Then we're staying," Kuzuryu declared with finality. "If Hinata's got a plan, let him try it out."

The other survivors gave a chorus of agreement.

Naegi, despite essentially being promised a harsher punishment at that moment, gave a genuine smile. "I was really hoping you'd say that. In that case, I think you should have this, too." He reached into his breast pocket and extracted a small object, placing it in the middle of the table.

Curious, Hinata picked it up to see that it was a thumb drive, and the four other survivors leaned over to take a look as well. "What is this?"

"It's something I'm returning to you... or, well, it was Kamukura-kun who brought it in, so I suppose you're receiving it for the first time."

"Something Kamukura brought in?" As Hinata shifted the drive in his hands curiously before it dawned on him. "Hold on, you don't mean..."

"Right." Naegi nodded. "That's the Alter Ego Enoshima program—or what's left of it after it was destroyed."

The other four promptly backed away. "The hell are you giving him that for?!" Kuzuryuu shouted.

"I don't even want to hear the name Enoshima ever again!" Souda agreed.

"Relax," Naegi said placatingly. "Like I said, it's been destroyed. But I thought that Hinata-kun should have it if he plans to try to wake up the others. It might be useful to him—or it might not be. If it's not useful, he can just toss it into the ocean."

Hinata gripped the thumb drive tightly in his hand. "No—I think I can use this, somehow. I'm not entirely sure, but that's what my instinct is telling me, at least." He grinned. "Thanks, Naegi."

All five of them had lost people important to them during the killing school trip, though the degrees of importance varied, of course.

Even though Hinata still wasn't entirely cognizant of what was needed to awaken his classmates, he at least knew that he needed to stick around the research center where they slept—so he took note of anyone who came by to visit.

Owari would very occasionally drop in to check on Nidai, but most of the time she was out and about—usually running laps around the island, according to Souda.

"I've gotta keep on top of my training if I wanna beat the old man when he wakes up!" she would say.

Before he could stop himself, Hinata retorted with, "He'll be weak enough for anyone to beat when he first wakes up."

"Don't you dare underestimate Old Man Nidai!" was Owari's only response before jetting out the door.

Sonia stopped by a bit more frequently, to see how Tanaka was doing. "There is just so little for me to do to help," she told Hinata, smiling apologetically. "I cannot help checking in, but it's painful to stand and watch knowing that that is all I can do."

"You could help me keep the machines from overheating!" Souda quickly cut in. "Or make me snacks to fuel my brain? Handmade snacks by Sonia-san...!"

"I think I will explore the library," Sonia quickly decided.

"Oh, if you're going there—" Hinata called out, stopping her. "Would you mind checking for some books for me?" He bumbled through vague descriptions of subjects he was hoping to find documentation on—he had found that while the practical skills were hardwired into his subconscious, he completely lacked the technical knowledge and terminology to verbalize them.

Sonia tilted her head inquisitively. "So you are looking for books on clinical neuropsychology, trauma rehabilitation, and... assembly language?"

"Yes," Hinata breathed, thankful for the princess' vast sea of random knowledge. "Yes, that sounds about right." He paused before casually adding, "And after you're done that, we probably will be getting kind of hungry over here, so if you want, some snacks would be nice..."

Once Sonia was out the door, eager to take on her missions, Souda wrapped Hinata in a bone-crushing hug, tears of gratitude soaking through his shirt.

Then there was Kuzuryu.

It seemed like whenever Hinata peeked in on his sleeping classmates, more often than not Kuzuryu was sitting beside Pekoyama's pod, lost to the rest of the world as he stared down at her lifeless body.

Hinata wasn't exactly sure how long Kuzuryu spent there on a daily basis, since his focus was directed elsewhere—Sonia had ended up bringing back thirty heavy tomes from the library, and poring through them was an intensive chore. Every once in a while, though, he'd be pulled from his concentration when Kuzuryu passed behind him, either entering or exiting the facility. So the yakuza didn't spend all of his time in there, at least, which was good.

Hinata was pretty sure Pekoyama wouldn't want him to let his life waste away sitting at her side, after all.

Still, it was somewhat worrying, and Hinata found himself trying to keep tabs on Kuzuryu, to always be aware of his location as best he could while decrypting a heavily-fragmented Alter Ego program. If nothing else, he could confirm that Kuzuryu never stayed in the research center any later than Hinata did, and he never arrived any earlier.

As Hinata finished up one night, however, he checked in on the room just to make sure everything was in order, expecting it to all be the same as it had for the two weeks he'd been there.

When he saw a figure sitting next to Pekoyama's pod in the darkness, he knew exactly who it was.

Sighing, Hinata stepped into the room and walked over to him. "Kuzuryu, it's late," he said. "You should go to bed..."

He trailed off as he arrived at the yakuza heir's side.

Kuzuryu was fast asleep where he sat.

Hinata's initial thought was to wake him so that he could sleep in a proper bed, but he hesitated. It was so rare for any of them to fall into a restful sleep since they returned from the killing game—Kuzuryu was honestly probably better off staying there and sleeping away the night as he was.

But sitting in the chair like that all night was sure to leave him chilled in the morning. So, after considering his options, Hinata returned to his work station and retrieved a blanket he had wrapped himself in during an all-nighter a few days earlier.

Careful not to rouse the slumbering gangster, Hinata draped the blanket over his shoulders, and then quietly tip-toed out of the facility.

When he returned early the next morning, Kuzuryu was gone, and the blanket had been placed at his desk, folded carefully as if to erase any evidence that anyone had used it the night before.