An hour has passed since the incident. In the restaurant, pretty much everything was cleaned up at this point. Hajime was lying in his bed, with bandages covering his abdomen and head, same goes for his right hand. Everybody was at the restaurant except for two people, Akane and Mikan. They were in Hajime's cottage, focusing on helping him recover.
Mikan: "That's w-weird."
Akane: "What's weird?"
Mikan: "These stab wounds, they w-weren't deep enough to kill him. It's like when Fuyuhiko got injured d-during Peko's execution, he's hurt, but he'll recover. I think w-we should let him rest." Akane just stared at him, tears running down her face, but she was smiling too.
Akane: 'You're gonna be okay.' She thought as she leaned over the bed, lightly kissing Hajime on the lips.
Mikan: "H-Huh!?" She was a blushing mess right now, Akane forgot that Teruteru and Mikan weren't aware that she and Hajime were together. After clearing everything up, She and Mikan left the cottage, now relieved after knowing that he'll be all right... eventually.
===========Meanwhile===========
Ibuki: "Aw... I can't believe we missed all the action." Ibuki was frustrated that she and Hiyoko weren't around when the 'exciting' stuff happened. They took a lot longer searching the beach and marina than they thought. Ibuki couldn't help but explore the warehouse while they were at the marina, she got distracted with all the instruments. Hiyoko wasn't any better, the sweets caught her attention. By the time they went to the hotel grounds, Hajime, Gundham, and Nagito were being taken to their cottages to recover, and Nekomaru was tied up in the restaurant.
Mahiru: "It's for the best, you wouldn't want to be in the middle of all that." Mahiru got chills just remembering what went down, especially with Nekomaru laying on the floor, tied up and unconscious. Gundham had recovered and joined the group at the restaurant, he was happy to have his hamsters back, Sonia was just happy to have HIM back.
Gundham: "I apologize for any problems I may have caused. And to you... my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, I am relieved to see that you're okay. If Hajime really was able to bring us back, then I was right to forge a contract with him." Talking nonsense, the others actually missed that.
Kazuichi: "Hey, Akane... Mikan, is Hajime okay?" Kazuichi was the first to ask. He saw Akane and Mikan enter the restaurant and couldn't help but worry about his friend, beating Fuyuhiko to the punch.
Akane: "He'll be okay, he should be one hundred percent in a few days... I hope."
Nekomaru: "Ugh... why am I tied up? Wait... WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ROBOT BODY!!!?" Looks like Nekomaru finally woke up, as loud as ever.
Hiyoko: "Hey, pig barf... he better not go crazy again, or else you're gonna get it."
Mikan: "I'm sorry... h-he should be fine. I u-used a vaccine on him earlier, so he should be okay." So, the breeder and team manager have recovered from despair, only one remains. The Ultimate Imposter, but they can't wake him until Hajime is better.
Nekomaru: "Mahiru? Peko? Teruteru? Ibuki? And Mikan? What!? How!?" Curious and confused, it'd be weird if he weren't.
Akane: "Hey, old man..."
Nekomaru: "Akane... I'm glad to see your... wait, you're covered in bruises."
Fuyuhiko: "You're the one who gave them to her. Nagito and Hajime got the worse of it." Fuyuhiko was blunt, he could've tried to word it differently.
Nekomaru: "OH MY GOD!!! I'M SO SORRY!!!" He said as he bowed down with the rope still tied around his whole body, he felt so ashamed. "I hope you can forgive me one day, I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you... all of you."
Gundham: "The same goes for me too, I owe Hajime my life... and theirs." He smiled as he held his Four Dark Devas of Destruction in his hands, everyone smiled as Akane went behind Nekomaru in order to untie him.
Mahiru: "Whatever comes next, I hope we'll be ready for it." Mahiru voiced her concerns.
Akane: "We will. First things first, Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and I will tell you guys everything you missed during the killing game."
Peko: "You mean what happened after we died?"
Nekomaru: "I see... nothing changed after the Funhouse."
Gundham: "How unfortunate, were our deaths really in vain?"
Kazuichi: "It may take a while to talk about absolutely everything, but it's not like we have anything better to do." While Kazuichi, Akane, and Fuyuhiko started going over the events of the killing game, Sonia silently snuck away and headed outside.
Sonia: 'This was too close, we nearly lost someone today.' She thought to herself while leaving the hotel grounds, where was she going? Sonia started walking towards the marina, most likely going to the warehouse to find something specific. 'Hajime... you promised you would not get hurt, but you and Nagito were not able to keep yourselves safe. Akane was scared to death, even more than when Nekomaru was shot by Monokuma. Please be okay, I will always walk beside you, and I will always look out for you and Akane.' Once she entered the warehouse, Sonia focused on finding one certain thing... and it didn't take that long to find it.
===========Timeskip===========
Five minutes after leaving the warehouse, Sonia was now sitting down by Hajime's bed, looking over his sleeping form. The reason she went to the warehouse was currently being held in her hand, her objective was to place it in his bedside table. Sonia opened the draw and placed the item inside before closing it, now she had no reason to stay.
Sonia: "Do not worry, you will be okay." With that being said, Sonia placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before leaving his cottage. Little did anyone know, but the item she placed in Hajime's bedside table wasn't the only one she had. Sonia obtained two items that resembled each other, one for Hajime... and the other was for Akane. 'Once I place this in Akane's cottage, I should head back to the restaurant, they are probably wondering why I left.'
===========Timeskip===========
White. That's all he saw. He remembers how he got here, just not why. He should be in the restaurant, that's the last thing be remembered, that... and Akane holding him while crying as he lost consciousness. Standing in a place where all he saw was white, maybe a dream? Or a coma? He felt a familiar presence, someone was there with him.
Hajime: "W-What is this?" Things suddenly became too bright for Hajime to see anything, he had no choice but to cover his eyes. When the light became clear enough to see, he somehow found himself outside a familiar building. "Is this... Hope's Peak Academy?" He never got an answer in the verbal sense, but he did get something... a body falling from somewhere high up, and it landed right by his feet. "AH!!!"
Blood came gushing out of this body, it shook Hajime to his core, even more when he saw that this body was actually a student of the school. Before he could say another word, more of them fell and slammed into the pavement. Hajime looked up and saw Hope's Peak Academy in flames, the same goes for everything else around him. These students were throwing themselves out of the windows of the building, willingly throwing their lives away.
Hajime: "It can't be... the Reserve Course. This is... the mass suicide that killed the entire course. Everyone died... except me."
????: "It's so good to see you again... Izuru." That voice, it made him tremble. The source of the voice was a girl, but it wasn't just some ordinary girl. She was the one who put him and his friends through all that pain and torture, and there she was, standing right in front of him.
Hajime: "No... you're... you're dead."
Junko: "Yeah, that was a real let-down. But the despair that followed was SO worth it, it was like I won the lottery. But this was a surprise, I couldn't anticipate Mikan making some weird despair drug and inject it into people, but it's amazing how it works, and how it affects the host. That explains why I'm here, to bring you total despair. Izuru Kamukura, oh... how I've missed you." Hajime started to get mad and felt like attacking her, until he heard another voice coming from behind him.
Natsumi: "Hajime..." He turned around and saw Natsumi Kuzuryu, she was standing a short distance away from him. He wanted to say something, but something stopped him. Sato came out of nowhere and struck Natsumi in the back of the head with a metal bat, killing her instantly.
Junko: "This moment pushed you to accept the Izuru Kamukura Project, a spoiled brat and a loyal friend, both dead out of love... and revenge." Hajime's body couldn't stop trembling, but what came next made him feel absolutely terrified. His friends appeared from the darkness, and their surroundings began to change. Hajime, Junko, and his friends were standing in complete darkness. He wanted to say something, anything, but he was silent. "Say hello to your friends, but if I were in your shoes... I think saying goodbye would be much more appropriate."
Hajime: "W-Wha-" Suddenly, the imposter's abdomen began gushing blood, multiple stab wounds appeared, the same wounds he suffered at the hands of Teruteru during the party he held in the simulation. Repeatedly stabbed over ten times between the throat and abdominal region, his body fell to the ground as the torment continued.
Teruteru's body began being covered in feathers and grease, then he spontaneously erupted in flames. Similar to how his execution played out, just without the volcano at the end. Mahiru was struck in the head with a metal bat, same way Natsumi went... and Peko was holding the bat. Peko herself was stabbed multiple times with katanas, Hiyoko's throat was slit, and blood came pouring out as her body hit the ground. A noose came from above and wrapped itself around Ibuki's neck, bringing her off the ground and she then proceeded to hang there while she struggling to breath.
Hajime: "N-No, please stop..."
Junko: "Aw, but we're not done yet." Mikan was then launched into the air and never came back down, much like her execution in the simulation. Nekomaru's body was absolutely brutalized, ending with his head falling off. Gundham was trampled by animals that Hajime couldn't see coming, and Nagito placed himself on the ground... and began stabbing himself with a survival knife.
Hajime: "S-STOP!!!" His voice was as loud as he could muster, putting an end to what was playing out in front of him. All the bodies were gone, and he was left alone with Junko once again.
Chiaki: "Hajime..." His eyes widened when he saw Chiaki walking into his field of vision, she was bleeding and covered in wounds. She reached out, wanting Hajime to hold her hand. He reached out with his still trembling hands, but then it happened... Chiaki was impaled by multiple spikes that came out of the ground. He was reliving the executions he was forced to watch, the murders that took place in the killing game... and the moment Chiaki died.
Hajime: "You... this is all your fault, she's dead because of you." He fell to his knees, anger was the only emotion going through his body right now.
Junko: "Feisty one, aren't you. I miss that old expression you used to make, you know what I mean? The look that says 'nothing matters, it's all boring'. Seeing that for the first time back when I first met you was breath taking, like love at first sight. Oh well... since I'm dead, it doesn't matter anymore, what does matter now... is that you're about to feel nothing but despair. After that happens, all of your friends are going to be in HUGE trouble. BTW, I may have put her through all that pain, but you're the one who let her die."
Hajime: "What?" He looked terrified after hearing that, so terrified that it was enough for all the anger to disappear in an instant.
Junko: "You could've saved her, you know? Izuru Kamukura could do anything, even save someone who's on the brink of death, so he... well, you could've saved her. So why didn't you? Maybe because you didn't care about her, maybe she died because you were selfish? You didn't see her as a friend, but a nuisance. You becoming a boy with talent led to her death, you killed Chiaki Nanami." She said all of that while bending over, looking him right in the eyes.
Hajime wanted to punch her, no one would blame him if he did, but his arms wouldn't move. Junko took this opportunity to place her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. She was so close that their noses were almost touching, what did she have in mind?
Junko: "That drug Nagito injected into you is about to consume you, and then our fun can begin. So, consider this a going away present. Honestly? I wanted to do this ever since I first laid eyes on you. Goodbye, Hajime Hinata." Junko leaned forward, attempting to plant a kiss on the despair-filled boy. Before her lips could touch his, she was pulled away by someone. Hajime was shocked to see him standing in front of him, but he wasn't the only one.
Junko: "Izuru!? OMG!!! IT'S REALLY YOU!!! I'M SO HAP- OWW, MY HAIR!!!" He was holding her by her hair, up in the air with one hand, either he was VERY strong, or Junko was light.
Izuru: "Are you really going to let her turn us into despair? I thought you were stronger than this." He was shocked to hear this come from his alternate self, for some reason, he felt ashamed. "Junko claimed that she broke my spirit, but that wasn't true at all. She wanted to show me that despair was better than hope, that chaos was more enjoyable than peace. Although I wasn't bored, everything was still predictable."
Junko: "See? Even Izuru himself agrees with me."
Izuru: "But there was one thing that surprised me, it was when I looked over Chiaki's body... she was alive, and she refused to give up, even when death was so close."
Junko: "Huh? Gamer girl survived all that? Damn, guess I underestimated her."
Hajime: "You... underestimated everyone, and that ended with you dying. This isn't a comeback for you, there's no second chance for people like you! This is it, you're dead! No one will ever remember you or the pain you brought to the world, the Future Foundation will fix everything... and you will only be a painful memory. It's over, Junko."
Junko: "Silly boy. Did you forget about the drug that's flowing through your veins right now? Because I didn't."
Izuru: "You really think a simple drug can make us do what you want?"
Junko: "Huh?"
Izuru: "It might be enough for everyone else, but all it did for us was make sure we lost our fight with Nekomaru and Gundham. No drug can turn me into a monster, I was made by the academy, remember? If I was made to be perfect, how often do you think I would get sick?"
Hajime: "T-There's no way..."
Junko: "Huh? Are you saying that those sick and twisted surgeons somehow made you immune to any type of sickness? How is that even possible?"
Izuru: "Every single talent known to mankind, someone who can never get sick... sounds like a talent to me."
Junko: "Well... this sucks. But I don't mind, I am dead after all. With the drug not working, I guess I won't be making my comeback after all. Mikan, Nagito, Nekomaru, and Gundham are cured, and Hajime can't get infected even if he tried."
Hajime: "Sucks to be you."
Junko: "Yep, sucks to be me..." Parts of her body started to vanish, meaning that this drug must be leaving Hajime's body now. It's very likely that he's just sweating it out, that sometimes works for people who are sick. Just give them time to recover, and it'll happen. "Despair... it never lets me down, but I guess... I didn't stand a chance against you... both of you." That was the last thing she said before completely vanishing from the boys' sight, leaving them on their own.
Hajime: "What now? What can I do?"
Izuru: "Everything. If it's considered a talent, you can do it. All talents known to mankind are yours to do with as you please. Just remember this, you're not invincible, you CAN die." Hajime's surroundings changed again, he found himself in a trial room. It was only a short memory, but he'll never forget this moment. He looked to the ground and saw Chiaki's body, lying in a pool of her own blood. But she was alive, holding on with all the strength she had left.
Chiaki: "H-Hajime... please. You're still in there... aren't you?"
Hajime: "Yeah... I'm here." Hajime kneeled down, not caring about getting blood on him at all.
Chiaki: "Do you... remember anything? We used to be... close."
Hajime: "I remember everything we did together. How we met, how eager you were to play games with me, how you waited outside the Reserve Course building every day, just so you could drag me along to wherever you wanted to go." After everything he saw in this weird situation, this was the moment that made him cry. "There's no way I'd forget."
Chiaki: "Of course you didn't... anything's possible... for you. If you dig deep enough... you can do it. If you just do it... things will turn out okay." His eyes widened as he watched Chiaki try to get up, her wounds should make that impossible to do, but she was trying. Going through unimaginable pain, Chiaki was about to position herself on her knees... until her foot slipped. She would've landed face first onto the floor... but Hajime reached out and held her close, hugging her without hurting her. Blood was drenching his clothes, but again, he didn't care. "Oh god, this is it... I'm so sorry."
Izuru: "With death so close at hand, she still dedicated herself to helping others."
Chiaki: "My classmates... are my life. I... I love them all. No... I'm not... I'm not ready to go. My classmates... need someone to stand up and protect them." This was too much for Hajime to take, she positioned herself so that she could look him in the eye. "Please, just one more game... one more round." She placed her left hand on the right side of his face, smearing it with her blood. "We had so much fun... right?"
Hajime: "Yeah... we sure did." Her body went limp, she had taken her last breath. Hajime couldn't see it, but Izuru had tears flowing down his face. That was the moment Izuru realized that Chiaki was right, anything WAS possible. If she was wrong, then why did he cry? Because Hajime wasn't completely gone from his mind.
Izuru: "She did everything for her classmates, and now... it's your turn."
Hajime: "No... it's OUR turn." As of this moment, Hajime Hinata, sole survivor of the Reserve Course mass suicide, would officially be reborn... as Hajime Hinata AND Izuru Kamukura... Ultimate Hope AND Despair."
===========Timeskip===========
Hours have passed, it was getting dark, everyone was exhausted, but in the end... it was all worth it. Everyone was now aware of everything that took place during the killing game, nothing was left unchecked... even Hajime and Akane's feelings for each other were revealed to the group. Nekomaru was extremely proud of Akane, It seems that the student has officially become the teacher.
Akane was already in her cottage, lying in bed while looking up at the ceiling. Until she reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out something Sonia gave her before leaving the restaurant, Akane's face was bright red, even more when she saw what Sonia left in her bedside table.
Akane: "How do I bring it up?... I'll wait until he gets better." It seems that she has something to do, but she'll have to wait... for him.