Hope for The End (Book 3)

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"Amami. Good timing," Kyoko acknowledged him, "We just found Naegi hitting his head hard into the wall. He passed out just a few minutes ago. I'm trusting you can help him?"

Rantaro Amami nodded as he ran over to Makoto's side.

"I got this. Believe it or not, this isn't the first head wound I've had to deal with. He'll live."

Aoi helped him lift Makoto up and exit the cell. Kyoko watched them. She took time to admire the silence, because when Asahina got back, she was going to be furious with her.

Kyoko had invited everyone to come along, however only Asahina volunteered. The others were busy with Keebo and they didn't have much time to wonder. Byakuya needed his weekly spine checkup, Toko wouldn't go anywhere without him. Komaru and Mitarai had therapy appointments with Gonta Gokuhara.

It was a few moments before Asahina came back, glaring at Kyoko slightly.

"So are you going to explain why our classmate has been locked in a cell slowly rotting away for two whole months?!"

Kyoko closed her eyes.

Here we go...

"I mean, this is Makoto we're talking about! He's the ultimate Hope!"

The growing silence made Aoi even angrier.

"Makoto is our friend! He doesn't deserve to be locked up in some prison cell! You of all people know that! You used to-"

"Weren't you just watching him?" Kyoko cut across Aoi's retorts in a calm tone.

Aoi was caught off guard, "huh?"

"Weren't you watching when he was slamming himself into the wall?" Kyoko continued, "He isn't himself anymore. He isn't the ultimate Hope. He's part of the new Despair."

"New despair?" Aoi was getting confused. "What do you mean 'new'?"

"Haven't we shown you yet? Junko Enoshima is dead. She supposedly threw herself off of a cliff."

"What?!" Aoi almost shrieked, "Junko is dead? Then who is he going to follow? Who are the despair's gonna follow? Shouldn't they be free?"

Kyoko shook her head slightly, "Now they have their own free will. They can do whatever they want. But their minds still tell them they want despair. They are still continuing their killing streak. Naegi proves that they won't stop until they feel all despair."

Aoi answered with shocked silence. But slowly she came to her senses.

"But if we can reverse Makoto's despair... then that proves we can combat the despair!"

Kyoko nodded. Aoi jumped up and down.

"Then let's do it! Let's fix Makoto and win hope back!"

Hajime continued down the endless maze of hallways with Izuru. He hadn't the slightest clue where they were headed, but Izuru seemed very sure of himself. Then again, Izuru was always so expressionless it was very hard to tell what he was thinking.

"You... do know the way out, correct?" Hajime asked him nervously. He felt as though they were walking in circles.

Izuru nodded, "You think we are walking in circles, notice how you leave a trail of blood. We do not see that blood as we continue to walk. This place is simple and predictable. Junko Enoshima never fails to bore me."

Silence continued as they walked on. Then Izuru suddenly stopped. Hajime almost walked into Izuru but he moved to the side without even looking at him.

Hajime lost balance and fell onto the floor.

"Sorry..." Hajime clenched his teeth as he strained to get up off the floor, "You just stopped so suddenly..."

Izuru ignored him, looking around at the surroundings. To Hajime, everything looked the same as before.

"Why did you stop anyways?" Hajime asked, finally picking himself up and regaining balance.

Suddenly Izuru flicked a hand and Hajime went flying backwards. Hajime hadn't expected that he'd run into something. He found himself knocking somebody else over. A small squeal could be heard from beneath him.

Hajime got up as quick as he could, then stared down at the red face of Mikan staring at him.

"Mikan? What are you doing here?!" Hajime exclaimed and backed away.

"She has been following us this entire time. She is taking you." Izuru replied to his question.

"What?" Hajime looked between the both of them, "Why is she taking me?"

"Oh nothing... I'm just returning my part of the bargain..." Mikan whispered, the smile stretching across her face, "You're coming with me, Hajime..."

Hajime wasn't sure he wanted to but he didn't appear to have a choice. He waited for Mikan to get up by herself and allowed himself to be dragged away. Izuru turned and began walking back in the direction they had been headed.

"What about Izuru?" Hajime asked her.

"Oh, he'll be out eventually..."Mikan smiled, "Don't you worry..."

Hajime worried. He continued to question her. "Who made a bargain with you?"

"No one in particular..." Mikan said lightly, "They did a favor for me so I promised they could get you back."

Mikan opened a hidden door and bright sunlight flooded in. It took a moment for Hajime's eyes to adjust. When they finally did, he found himself alone by Monokuma Rock. Mikan was no where in sight.

"Where... did she go...?"

Hajime suddenly realized how quiet his head was. Without Izuru muttering in there every so often, things were rather peaceful. But it unsettled Hajime. What would Izuru do now that he didn't have control over him?

"Hajime! There you are!"

Kazuichi Soda was running up to him. Hajime simply stared at him.

"Where the heck have you been for the past two months?! Everyone's been so worried! Come on, I'm showing you to the others! Stop disappearing all the time!"

Kazuichi was certainly on edge, he wasn't acting like himself and he seemed even more jumpy than usual. He muttered under his breath.

"What's wrong, Soda?"

Kazuichi just continued muttering as he led Hajime back to the main island. Hajime was concerned, but considering the fact that life was so confusing that even Izuru seemed the faintest bit shook was not reassuring. Floods of questions rained on them at all times. Nothing was ever straightforward and nobody really knew the truth. It was all one big mystery nearly no one could solve.

They reached the main island. Class 77 had clearly been running around looking for him. However, nobody was trying all that hard. These were just the same old tracks they had covered week after week. Then Hajime had just showed up out of nowhere.

"You bastard! Where the absolute fuck were you?!" The furious voice of Fuyuhiko cried out when he saw them.

This was quickly followed by half a dozen shouts and yells from various other classmates. Soon Hajime was surrounded on all sides by cheers and angry outbursts.

"Hey- hey- calm down! I can't answer your-" Pain shot through his head again. Tears filled his eyes and he clenched his teeth. Everyone went silent at once.

"Are... are you okay?"

"What's that on his head?"

"Woah, your bleeding dude!"

Peko went to help him up to his feet. Hajime hadn't noticed that he'd collapsed to his knees.

"Everyone calm down. Let's find him a place to rest. These past two months might have taken a toll on him." Peko considered and looked around at them all, "Let's go."