Naegi's POV
A few weeks have passed. Like Kyoko suggested,we took turns on watching the remnants of Despair. They were still inside their pods,trying to survive the killing game inside the program. Junko put some viruses in the program,making the remnants go through the same thing as we did. But the good news is,Chihiro managed to alter the program. If 'Hope' wins against AI Junko,then she will die and the remnants will wake up all back to normal. Chihiro and the others came so it was time for us to leave,but when we were about to walk outside,one of the Future Foundation members told us to go back to headquarters immediately. I gave a worried glance towards Kyoko who was quiet and calm as usual.
"They must've heard about this...Naegi,do not spill any information. Act as normal as you can,understand?" Kyoko said. I nodded.
"We better go now,or else we'll get into trouble"
Me and Kyoko then went on our helicopter,waving goodbye at the others. Once we landed at the top of the foundation building,we rushed to the main office where all the leaders of each division gathered.
"I see that you have finally arrived" Munakata said with that cold gaze of his. I looked around to see all the leaders sitting at their places.
"What do you need,Munakata?" Kyoko asked,standing beside me and holding my hand. Her grip was tight,showing that she was as nervous as i am.
"Oh,nothing. It's just that...word got out that you helped the Remnants of Despair. Now,tell me where they are" Munakata said.
I gulped but tried to remain tough.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
A second later,Munakata was already standing on the table,his sword in front of my face.
"Stop lying,you traitor! Do you not realize that by killing the Remnants of Despair,hope will return once more? Sure,you defeated Junko Enoshima who was the mastermind of all this,but it still wasn't enough. So,say it! Where are they?!"
The monitors that were inside the room then blacked out. A laughing voice i knew too well showed up again.
"Upupupupupu...."
The monitors went back on,revealing a laughing Monokuma who was waving at me.
"Hey there,Naegi! Long time no see! Didtcha' miss me?"
"M-Monokuma..!"
All the lights then went off. A few minutes later,it went back on,but something was odd. Someone was missing from the group.
"C-Chisa,where are you?! Chisa! Chi-" Munakata called but stopped after he saw dripping blood. He looked up at the source only to see a horrifying scene. Ms.Yukizome was there,dangling from the ceiling,stabbed by the chandelier. She was dead and her body was full of fresh blood. The chandelier couldn't hold her weight much longer,resulting in a crash. Munakata went over to Ms.Yukizome and cried. Monokuma then showed up again.
"Upupupu,how does it feel Kyosuke? For your information,one of you did this to her. Who was it? Well,that's for you to find out!"
We were forced into another killing game,but this time,it will be the last. I tried to contact the others,but it was no use. The signal must be jammed. I can only hope for the best for all of us. Good luck everyone,we'll get through this together.
(Continued in DR3 Future Arc)
Chihiro's POV
"Guys...i feel like something bad is going to happen"
"With what? With the program or Naegi and Kyoko?" Taka asked.
"Both,i guess..?"
Mondo then touched my shoulder and gave a heartwarming smile.
"Chi,if something really is happening with Kirigiri and Naegi,then there's nothing we can do. We can only hope that they'll be alright. Besides,Naegi got the luck while Kirigiri got the logic. That's a pretty deadly duo,y'know"
I giggled and hugged him.
"We're a deadlier duo,though. We got the brains and the brauns,right?"
I earned a laugh from Mondo.
"You're right,Chi"
"Hey,don't forget me!" Taka said while pouting,making me and Mondo laugh. We both then hugged him.
"Of course not! We wouldn't be complete without you,Taka"
"Yeah,we're the deadliest trio ever!" Mondo said while doing a bro fist with Taka. Togami cleared his throat.
"Excuse my intrusion,but what about your bad feeling on the program?"
"O-Oh,right,right. Sorry"
I then typed up the computer to show the others what was happening inside the program.
"Shit,they kept on killing each other off?!" Mondo said while gritting his teeth. I know that it must be hard for Mondo to see it since he almost killed me during the killing game,but it's in the past now.
"I don't understand! Why do the victims keep adding up? They are friends,classmates!" Taka exclaimed.
"The same reason why more than half of us are dead,memory loss. In the game,they'll think that they just met each other on the island. Once they wake up,they'll get their memories back"
"Since the blackened and the victims are not actually dead,what's the problem?" Togami asked.
"The problem is,Izuru,or Hajime,is losing hope. If he fails to win against Junko,then all of this will be pointless,but i couldn't help him from here!"
I looked back to the other boys to see them...smiling?
"W-Why are you all smiling? This is bad news!"
"Don't worry,Chi. They got this" Mondo said.
"How?!"
"We were at their position in the last classroom trial. It felt like hope has left us all,but thanks to Naegi,we managed to regain hope and survive. Hajime is class 77's Naegi. I mean,look at that ahoge!" Taka said. Well,that's true..
"I agree with these two imbeciles. I am sure that there is a big chance for this operation to succeed" Togami said. I nodded and smiled.
"Okay then..."
We watched class 77's last Classroom trial and thanks to the AI Nanami that Izuru made,hope won,defeating the AI Junko. The progress was 70% done. The despair may have been gone,but their original personalities were still lost. I then heard a pod opening. We looked at it to see Izuru who turned back to the same old Hajime Hinata. The others were still asleep inside their pods.
"Ugh...where am i..? I'm..back..?" Hajime said while examining himself.
"How do you feel,Hajime?"
"I feel...like normal,but with superpowers?"
I nodded. It appears that he was already 100% done. Maybe he was already back to normal because he was Izuru Kamukura. In other words,he fixed himself. He then stepped out of his pod,examining the other students.
"Now i understand how you feel....i'm sorry about your friends. Mine are still alive,but yours..." Hajime said with a sad expression. I was sad too,but i kept on smiling anyways.
"...it's good that they're now in a better place,far from troubles like this..."
Hajime nodded. He then went back in to his pod.
"I will use Izuru's power to bring back everyone's personality,but it might take a few days"
"Okay"
With that said,he closed his own pod,getting ready to jump into everyone's head one by one. All we could do is wait and keep an eye out.
"Y'know,i feel old right now. How about you guys?" Mondo said.
"What makes you say that?" Taka asked.
"We're teenagers,well,almost 20,but we're still young! We should do reckless stuff and live a free life,not worrying about these kinds of things like an adult!"
"It's called growing up,you fool. Besides,what you did before that made Chihiro leave and become a mastermind was reckless,don't you agree,Chihiro,Ishimaru?" Togami said. Taka nodded. I hesitated but nodded anyways. Mondo laughed awkwardly and looked away.
"Oh yeah,that...um...sorry?"
I shook my head.
"It's fine,Mondo. Let's just focus on the future,okay?"
Mondo then nodded. Let's get back to work.
-timeskip a few days-
My worries about Naegi and Kyoko grew stronger. They haven't showed up eversince they were called back to the foundation. We couldn't even reach them through our calls. Due to their absence,we narrowed the team into smaller groups. I'm with Mondo while Taka partners up with Togami. I was sitting around with Mondo when the pods opened one by one. I hurriedly went to the computer and saw that everyone was finally back to normal,including their personalities. After they woke up,the blackened apologized to the victims. Their apologies were accepted and they made up. When Souda's pod opened,i smiled so wide and cried tears of joy,running towards him and hugging him.
"Whoa there! Take it easy,Chihiro!" Souda laughed.
"Y-You're back! You're finally back! I really missed you!"
"I missed ya too,Chi..." he said while patting my head.
"How ya doin',Souda? Ya better not try to kill my boyfriend again" Mondo grinned.
"Sorry,i wasn't myself"
Taka and Togami then went in to the lab. Their eyes went wide.
"You did it,Chihiro!" Taka said. I shook my head.
"No,we did it! I didn't do this all by myself"
"Hey,guys,sorry for disturbing,but where's Leon? Where are the others?" Souda asked. We then switched worried glances. That's right,Souda didn't know about what happened to us. Only Izuru knew.
"Chi,i think you should tell him" Mondo said. I gulped and nodded.
"Souda...i'm sorry,but...L-Leon's dead. Only the four of us plus Naegi and Kyoko survived the killing game...."
"WAIT,WAIT,WAIT! You guys went through the killing game like us,but yours was real? As in,they're really dead..?" Souda asked with teary eyes. We nodded.
"L-Leon's...dead....my boyfriend is dead....GODDAMNIT..!"
Souda then cried and kneeled on the floor,banging it hard. The others watched him and felt sympathetic towards him. Sonia and Gundham went over to his side,trying to cheer him up. Out of all the class 77 students,only Souda lost a person he loved. After he calmed down,we gave him some food. We gave the others some supplies too. We were busy handing out the supplies when Naegi finally contacted us.
"Guys,HELP!"
"What's wrong,Naegi?" Taka asked.
"K-Kyoko got poisoned! If we don't help her soon,she'll die! Not only that,a guy named Ryota Mitarai is planning to wipe out despair by brainwashing people like Junko did,but his plan was to use hope. Stop him now!"
"Where are you two?!"
"I left Kyoko in the foundation building. She's in a safe place. I'm chasing Mitarai to a place that has the biggest signal tower in the island. Hurry!"
"We're heading towards your place now" Togami said. I checked my watch to see Kyoko and Naegi's coordinates.
"Guys,let's go!"
"Let us come with you" Hajime said. I looked back to see all of them looking at me.
"You will need all the help that you can get. This way,we could redeem our sins,so please,let us join your mission" Sonia politely said. Mondo,Taka,and Togami smiled and nodded.
"Let's go!" Taka said. We all went on Togami's helicopter. The helicopter was big enough to fit all of us. We then hurried over to Naegi and Kyoko's place. I held hands with Mondo. A little bit more and all of this will be over. You got this,Chihiro. Just a little bit more.