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A white-haired man in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and small sunhat ambled through the lively airport after his plane landed. All around him, people were milling about their day, whether catching flights, going to collect luggage, or going to greet families and friends arriving… The orange-haired woman that was his companion soon enough reunited after a brief time apart on the plane; she was similarly dressed in a casual manner, although she was in a light blue blouse and dark skirt, and an identical sunhat to the young man.
… The hubbub of the airport wasn’t the only thing that changed about this island. As they walked out of the building with just the carry-on luggage they brought along, the pair of them idly noted the liveliness of First Island. People travelling to the supermarket, the beach, the hotsprings… wherever. Jabberwock was no longer the deserted, dismal place that it used to be, ten years ago. It was once more transformed into an iconic, tropical getaway for families that just needed to relax… “The Tragedy” was slowly becoming a distant memory for everyone.
The pair of them weren’t here for leisure, however. They were, in fact, here to pick someone up and return to the mainland. But it was easy to get lost in how much had changed with this place, and Nagito and Chisa both took their time in traversing the familiar path to the Mirai Hotel. On their way they passed by tourists snapping photos, employees chatting up children that had questions about the island, and couples sunbathing on the beach or playing in the ocean. It was surreal to witness Jabberwock so alive…
But here they were. Ten years after their rehabilitation, and Jabberwock was returned to its roots. All because, as convenient as a private rehabilitation center as Jabberwock is, it’s highly remote and difficult to bring supplies to. With the Tragedy… resolved… there wasn’t high profile level patients that needed the privacy and isolation like the former Ultimate Despairs had. The last patient was being released today, fifteen years after the Jabberwock incident that impacted them all so much, and once she was… Gekkogahara would be returning to the mainland to take on more “ordinary” clientele at Future Foundation headquarters.
This was basically their last shot to visit the place that helped them make peace with their tragedy and suffering, that helped them find paths forward in life. That’s why they eventually found themselves in front of the pearly gates of Hotel Mirai, which was once more open to guests. Nagito and Chisa both froze as they entered the compound, because someone exited the cabin to their immediate left, facing away from the main building. It was just a guest, no one that they even knew… But still, the occurrence was enough for the both of them to stare at the cottage with a sense of hollowness, numbness, and bitterness. It’s not as if the cottage was off-limits to the public… Even so. There was a sense of finality to knowing for certain that strangers used that cabin for their stay at Hotel Mirai.
The day was sunny, with only a few puffy clouds in the sky dotting the light blue sky… But for all Nagito and Chisa cared, it might as well have been raining cats and dogs with a howling wind as they gazed upon the unassuming cabin.
“He’s really gone…” The luckster murmured, removing his hat to run a hand through his unruly hair with an anxious expression, while Chisa nodded miserably beside him.
“We were there ten years ago, Nagito-kun… We can’t keep pretending forever. He… He would have wanted it this way. He didn’t want a memorial. He didn’t want us to mourn him or be unable to let go of our time with him… This place will always be special for us, but he would have wanted Jabberwock to be just as meaningful for others!” The teacher released an uneasy, breezy sigh as she felt Nagito stare at her with wise eyes.
“True… But what little traces of his existence are swept away by these ‘others’ coming in… Maybe he wouldn’t have wanted a memorial, but what about us? We’re the ones left behind, Sensei. He gets to move on without issues, rest in peace with Chiaki and Natsumi… But we’re left holding the short straw. The burden of memories falls on us, and the weight is heavy, Sensei. Don’t you think… that’s the tiniest bit cruel?”
Chisa mustered a brave face, but the luckster noted how she didn’t have an immediate, upbeat response to his query… Probably because the teacher had an intimate understanding of what was lost, ten years ago. Chisa knew full well the significance of any remaining traces of memory; they didn’t have that much to remember him by, let alone Chiaki or Natsumi. They clung hard to these last ten years…
But this was it. After collecting Mukuro and Gekkogahara, Future Foundation would be relinquishing all of Hotel Mirai to the hotel owners. Even the old building that they stood in front of now. The building that he repurposed into a school… There was little doubt that the hotel would change it back to the way it was, an event hall for parties… With that knowledge in mind, they found themselves frozen again as they drowned in countless memories of the five years they spent here. Not all of them were happy, warm, and fuzzy… Yet each of them was precious and irreplaceable.
Because this is where they gained the strength to move forward after years of being in Junko Enoshima’s thrall.
… And because this is where they spent five short years with Hajime Hinata.
“Nagito-kun…” Chisa mumbled, unsure of herself for a moment. Then she redoubled her resolve and peered back into his eyes as he quirked his eyebrow at her. A faint, bittersweet grin tugging at her lips as she jabbed a thumb at the old building. “We don’t have to pick up Mukuro right away… Why don’t we go exploring for a bit? It’s our last chance, yeah?”
The luckster blinked owlishly, but had no objections. Mukuro was currently holed up in the office with Gekkogahara for her last session, so they had a number of other places and things to reminisce about in here. The outside was maintained by the hotel staff, so there wasn’t overgrown grass and weeds like they were expecting, though the building itself was certainly worn out from ten years of storms and just… time.
Inside, the entrance area was as they remembered it. Hajime never did anything with it to make the area personal to them, just dusted off the front desk and shelves, and replaced the cracked glass frame of a picture of Jabberwock. Of course ten years of dust undid all his efforts… But at least the photograph still looked fine.
Further down the hall was that familiar fire extinguisher and emergency First-Aid Kit along the wall. And veering to the right, they skipped peeking into the office and the bathroom, and then turned left into a wider open hall where sunlight streamed through the open windows, and there was a sliding door to that nostalgic classroom. Unable to resist, sort of like kids on Christmas morning with the biggest present in front of them, the pair approached the sliding door and moved it.
… And stood there stunned upon seeing Fuyuhiko, Peko, and Sonia huddled by the blackboard. The blond made a small hum of acknowledgement at the door sliding open, and the trio peered back to see Nagito and Chisa frozen in the entryway to the classroom.
“Well, I’ll be damned! So you’re the ones Byakuya sent for Mukuro, eh?” The former yakuza smirked, his familiar robotic eye doing nothing to distract from his typical charisma. He was in a suit like he’d always been, but in the past ten years that was due to his position as a Special Agent for the government.
Peko was in a similar suit to Fuyuhiko, but wore a conservative skirt in lieu of pants.
“We didn’t think anyone else would stop by on the last day… Apologies for not telling you. But we felt this place deserved a proper sendoff… And Mukuro said there was a few things of Hajime’s left behind that we missed.” The silver-haired woman explained, arms casually crossed as she regarded the newcomers.
Chisa flashed a bittersweet smile at the pair of Special Agents.
“That almost doesn’t seem possible… But, well… He was Hajime, Mister Ultimate Everything. Wouldn’t surprise me if we never found everything he ever left squirreled away…” The teacher shook her head fondly before turning to Sonia next, who stood there primly and beaming pleasantly like she always did. “But you, too, Sonia-chan…? I thought you were the busiest out of all of us?”
Sonia was a member of the United Nations’ General Assembly, which got an overhaul after the Tragedy settled down ten years ago. She was a representative of Japan, seeing as how she’d never be able to return home to Novoselic. Because of all the work she gets up to with meetings and everything else, getting ahold of Sonia was challenging, especially these last few years.
… Yet here she was.
“I am… ‘overseeing’ the process for Mukuro to leave here, that’s the ‘official’ story.” Sonia giggled nervously, running a hand through her hair anxiously. “Though I’m sure my superiors know that I am sentimental about this island. It’s only for a couple of days, and then I’ll be back to ‘business as usual’~!”
“I get it…” Chisa mumbled, expression softening. Her gaze then travelled beyond the trio to look around the classroom.
So much of it was the same… The twenty eight desks... The giant windows toward the back of the room, allowing natural light to filter in… The rectangular podium at the front of the room… The roster to the right of the chalkboards, which included Class 77’s names, in addition to the Elite Task Force’s, and Sonosuke and Ruruka… The clock above the chalkboards, which kept ticking on… The chalkboards, which now had several photos plastered over it – originally, a single photo of the thirty one of them, which included Chisa, Kyosuke, and Miaya, had been left behind to commemorate their time in this place… Yet as the years went by, Class 77 couldn’t help coming back separately and taking selfies to show Hajime they were doing just fine. Teruteru… Mahiru, Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Mikan… Gundham, Kazuichi, and Sonia… Nekomaru and Akane… The Imposter and Ryota… Fuyuhiko and Peko… Even Sonosuke and Ruruka had stopped by, at some point. Some photos were taken out on the beaches of Jabberwock, or taken here in this building; as time went on, other tourists could be seen in the background of the outside snapshots.
It seemed like the only ones that hadn’t been here in ten years was Nagito and Chisa. Mostly because… it was too painful to come back here. To see time marching forward without them. … Without Hajime. Chisa’s gaze lingered on the photo at the center of the small collage created over the years, and felt a lump form in her throat. She remembered that day being toward the end of their five years together… Their healing was progressing well, and they tried making up for lost time with Hajime, nudging him toward the center of a group shot where Chiaki would have stood without complaint… Not Hajime, though. He was too content to stay lingering in the background, a subservient mindset that never quite left him over the years. That’s why he looked so chagrined at being dragged into the center by Mahiru and Nekomaru, with Nagito nudging him forward and everyone else crowded around them, all smiles; granted, he still looked happy, just… The poor guy looked so flustered at being the center of attention for a group photo.
… They never even suspected their days were numbered, by the time that photo was taken. It wasn’t fair. Why did Hajime have to sacrifice that much…? There should have been another way…
Unable to look at that photo any longer, Chisa willed the tears to stay back and panned her gaze to the rest of the chalkboard. That message he left scrawled there, “Be Happy”, had worn away over ten years… But bits of it still remained. The message was as legible as their final day on the island.
And then Chisa’s eyes panned over to the final item. There it was… There he was. The suit he’d worn throughout those five years, hanging there over the chalkboard within some plastic wrapping to preserve it. Mukuro had been keeping an eye on it, in addition to this classroom and building, for the ten additional years that she remained here in rehabilitation. Chisa expected one of them would be taking that suit home, along with the photos… They couldn’t just leave the stuff here for Hotel Mirai to throw away. This was some of the last scraps of Hajime’s memory. The Hajime that they knew… The one that knew Chiaki, and worked hard to bring a semblance of their sanity back. This school was his home, a dwelling where his soul could rest in peace… And now he wouldn’t even have that…
…
Nagito slowly approached the old uniform and reached out to it with an unreadable expression. Fuyuhiko and Peko watched him curiously, but the luckster tuned them all out. Right now, he could only hear a familiar ghost of a whisper. A whisper from fifteen years ago.
“I’m not asking in the capacity of any Ultimate talent, Nagito – Therapist, Psychologist, none of those. … I’m just here as a friend. Nothing more.” Hajime matched Nagito’s glare evenly, but exuded no frustration or rage.
Nagito released a shuddering breath as he closed his eyes calmly. He’d always been a skeptical person, and those years as Ultimate Despair only made him more jaded, his self-loathing reaching whole new heights. Even if he recognized that Hajime had helped resolve the mess with AI Junko and the Future Foundation, a part of him could never let go of the fact that the brunet had stood by and did nothing as they destroyed themselves as Ultimate Despair. Stood by as the world collapsed. He was… bitter that his friend was picking himself up again despite failing so hard. Hajime should have been as fractured as they were – hell, the simulation showed them that his self-esteem should have kept him away from everybody out of guilt…
Yet he didn’t stay away. From the very start of their rehabilitation on Jabberwock, Hajime buried his issues. He fretted over Class 77. Fretted over their futures. He didn’t stop at helping them come to grips with the traumas they suffered, Hajime secured livelihoods for them. He saved up an emergency fund for any of them to dip into, should they ever fall on hard times. He accumulated that wealth for five years without any of them ever knowing… took various online jobs, used his many talents for their benefit. Of course he relied on Gekkogahara to deal with the more formal therapy that they needed, backed off when he was too invasive… But they really did need him. Hajime was… He was in so many ways a teacher like Yukizome-sensei. He was a guide… But above all he was their friend.
Because only a friend would weather out all those bad days they had at the beginning of their stay on Jabberwock. Only a friend wouldn’t take alienation like that personally… They were picking up the shattered pieces of their lives, and Hajime understood that. He filled a void left in their hearts in the wake of Chiaki’s death…
… But as much as he understood them, supported them, they never understood him. Not before it was too late… And even so, he gave them everything. Left so much of himself behind… Hajime knew his role in their lives would be fleeting, and he prepared them to be self-sufficient. Because that’s what Chiaki wanted for all of them, to live, to be happy… And that’s what Hajime wanted, too. He didn’t want Enoshima to get the last word.
The one thing he couldn’t do was live with them. … And that was what they wanted most of all, after everything they suffered. But… life didn’t work out that way. Nagito understood why, understood the cruel world they lived in… But that didn’t make the loss easier to swallow.
“H-Hey…! The hell you think you’re doing?!” Fuyuhiko’s hands twitched in aggravation as he watched the white-haired man feel around the suits pockets, clearly on the hunt for something.
“We never did search the pockets, Fuyuhiko…” Nagito reminded the Special Agent, as if that explained everything as he continued his search.
“Because it wasn’t our place, Nagito…” Peko replied in an even, warning tone. She stepped forward to halt him, but…
“There has to be something more here… It was always in his nature…” The luckster mumbled, and soon found what he was looking for. There was something in one of the pockets… Two things, actually. Without their permission, Nagito lifted the plastic wrap and accessed the pocket, pulling out a Gala Omega hairpin and… “A USB drive…?”
Everyone’s eyes softened when they caught a glimpse of the hairpin, knowing that was a keepsake from Chiaki… But they were just as bewildered by the discovery of a flash drive. Of course, with all of his efforts during those five years, they knew the brunet would have been around a computer… But this didn’t seem like something he would have left for them. Hajime was cautious and prepared, but he had said all that he needed to say, on that last day they were all together. It would have been strange to leave an additional message without telling anyone.
They all stared at the USB drive, each of them separately pondering over whether to pry or just let it be… But then Mukuro and Miaya showed up, and the ex-soldier made a noise of understanding as she entered the classroom.
“Oh… So you found them…” The dark-haired woman murmured as she stood there, clutching a couple of books under her arm, while the therapist hovered there beside her, still in a wheelchair and with a laptop on her lap. Mukuro had grown her hair out a little, and she wore some beige shorts, a t-shirt, and a dark hoodie, but otherwise she seemed about the same. … Well, no. To them she didn’t seem different, because they’d all kept in touch with Mukuro over video chat. But to anyone that hadn’t seen Mukuro in ten years, well… she looked rested. She didn’t appear to be that same, tragic girl that tried to kill them all in the simulation fifteen years ago. Years of therapy did… wonders for the ex-soldier. Mukuro fiddled with a strand of her longer hair and stared down at the books in her arms. “I was wondering if anyone would find them… This makes it easier to explain. Um. I think you should watch that first before we talk about the rest…”
Peko furrowed her brow in confusion at the dark-haired woman.
“You knew about this, Mukuro? But you never said anything…”
Mukuro winced guiltily before rubbing her arm anxiously.
“W-Well… Truth be told, I’ve known about that drive for years, but I didn’t muster up the courage to watch what’s on it until just a few days ago. It didn’t seem like my place to pry… But on the other hand, I had an idea of what it would be. And… I was right, but I underestimated just how much I was spot-on. I-I didn’t know how much he… kept in his heart.”
“The heck’s that mean…?” Fuyuhiko scrunched his face up in bewilderment, and Nagito narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the ex-soldier.
“… It’s not a message, is it? This wasn’t meant for us.” The luckster tried not to be too bitter, but Mukuro just mysteriously smiled in response.
“Even if it wasn’t directed at us… You might be glad you checked, anyway! But I’ll leave it up to you. Do you want to watch what’s on that…?” Mukuro tilted her head slightly at the assembled members of Class 77, who all shared uncertain glances with one another…
And, well, there was only one answer they could give, really. If the ex-soldier already took a look, there wasn’t much point to leaving it alone. The drive would just be a mystery lingering on all their minds… They might as well see everything that they could while this school was still standing.
When Miaya stuck the drive into her laptop, however, and they saw the huge collection of what seemed to be video files… Everyone’s throats went dry as it slowly dawned on them what this must be. Miaya clicked to play the first video, and there was definitely tears at what they saw… It wasn’t anything fancy. Hajime was filming himself, the camera focusing on a book that was on his lap – one of the books that Mukuro was lugging around with her. On-screen, Hajime cracked open the book and slowly began to flip through the pages, each one having several photographs contained within.
Photos that they recognized right away. Their days at Hope’s Peak, which Mahiru often set up to preserve their memories – everyone thought that those photos were lost to the sands of time due to the Tragedy, but clearly they were very wrong. Hajime had preserved some of them… Perhaps because of Chiaki, yet the end result was the same: he had photos of Chiaki and Class 77… Snapshots of the summer festival they went to together – Peko feeding Fuyuhiko some kind of dumpling; Nagito winning a huge stuffed bear at one of the stalls, and Sonia and Gundham playing at a stall near the luckster; across from them, the Imposter was trying his hand at a shooting game while Ibuki cheered him on; and near them Mahiru and Hiyoko were watching their classmates fondly. The next photo featured Class 77 staying at an old style inn – the Imposter was on the phone in the foreground, along with Chiaki and Sonia playing some video games in the corner opposite him; on the Imposter’s side of the room, Nekomaru was reclining back casually as he watched Akane launching into the air across the room to strike Kazuichi with a pillow; behind them, Ibuki was hurling pillows that buried an orgasmic Teruteru; Hiyoko nailed a pillow in Mikan’s face; and in the back, Gundham was standing out on the balcony of their room, enjoying the nighttime air. The next photo was taken during PE – Sonia was at the front, racing on the track; in another lane was Kazuichi; and in another lane behind them was the Imposter; Nekomaru and Akane were racing neck and neck in the track behind Kazuichi, and it was clear they were on a collision course with the poor guy. In the background, off of the track, Mikan and Teruteru were watching; and then closer to the track but still off of it, you had the cluster of Chiaki sitting with Ibuki leaning on her shoulders behind her, Gundham unimpressed with the cloud of dust that Nekomaru and Akane were kicking up, Peko and Fuyuhiko standing up, and Mahiru and Hiyoko kneeling on the ground and cheering on their classmates. The next photo was a day at the beach – in the foreground was Teruteru covered in three octopi and some seaweed, talking with Nagito who was waving him off, and Mikan had one octopus on her shoulder and some seaweed in her hair, and didn’t seem to be having much fun; behind them was Chiaki and Sonia, the Princess in a wetsuit, burying Kazuichi in the sand; Fuyuhiko was lounging in the shade of a palm tree; and in the ocean you had Akane kicking at a dolphin midair, while Gundham rode another dolphin, and Mahiru, Hiyoko, and Peko were just swimming normally in the ocean. In the next photo, they were celebrating Halloween – with Sonia and Gundham in the foreground, dressed as a witch and warlock respectively; Teruteru was cheering them on while Kazuichi watched nervously at seeing the pair totally in sync, the two boys wearing pumpkin heads; Ibuki and Chiaki were behind them; and on the other side of the room, Mahiru and Mikan were toward the back, while Nekomaru and Akane were eating at a buffet table chockful of food. The next photo had all of them in kimonos and enjoying some summertime fireworks – Nagito and Ibuki in the foreground, Mikan, slipping down the hill in front of Chiaki and Sonia; Teruteru, Kazuichi, and Gundham behind them; and Akane and Nekomaru were at the top of the hill. The next photo had Class 77 hitting the snowy slopes – Ibuki and Kazuichi in the foreground, snowboarding like Akane and Nekomaru were in the background; Gundham was riding a deer down the slope; and Chiaki and Sonia were skiing. The next photo was Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Chiaki holding a private concert, with the gamer playing a triangle. The next photo featured Class 77 at a picnic, with Chiaki, Sonia, and Chisa toward the center of the group. Then there was a “Class Rep Inauguration Day” photo, celebrating their election of Chiaki as their Rep… And then there was a photo of Class 77 at a Christmas party, with Akane, Chiaki, Mikan, Sonia, and Ibuki in the foreground; and Hiyoko, Nekomaru, Kazuichi, Gundham, the Imposter, Teruteru, Peko, and Fuyuhiko were scattered in the background. And there was a photo of Hiyoko and Mahiru taking an interest in some blue flowers, Chiaki watching them fondly, and Sonia, Gundham, and Kazuichi in the background near a fountain.
The photos just kept coming. Memory after precious memory preserved in that worn out scrapbook. It would’ve been heart-wrenching enough if Hajime just had that one video of him peering through the scrapbook… But for better or for worse, that was just the tip of the iceberg. That intro video was merely a detailed view into their past, the time they shared at Hope’s Peak with Chiaki.
Hajime skipped over their beginnings at Jabberwock. The subsequent videos were marked as “three years later”, and this really got the waterworks going… Because somehow, without them realizing, Hajime had filmed clips of them in seemingly inconsequential, yet clearly endearing moments. It took them a long time to get over their aversion to hunger, but the Imposter and Akane finally got into familiar form with their ravenous bellies. The second video they watched featured the two of them in the cafeteria at Hotel Mirai, in a food-eating contest that Nekomaru refereed, while everyone else watched. Hajime hung toward the back, panning around the room at the beaming, cheering faces of the crowd, and zooming in on the competitors as they went at it so brazenly, not afraid they’d barf up the food. It was just a couple minutes, a mere slice of life in their rehabilitation, but now they knew what to expect for the rest of the videos…
Next came a day in the classroom, with Chisa in her element. There came a point early on when they set up this school, but weren’t sure if they’d really use it for the intended purpose… Yet once the Future Foundation brought the supplies Hajime requested, and Chisa had enough time to recover her old self, she began accepting requests to teach various topics and subjects. It might not have been a “formal” school environment, but she did have quite a few teaching materials because of the Foundation’s goodwill efforts. The video was of Chisa in one of those many lessons, all with varying attention spans but most were nostalgic enough to lend the teacher an ear as she wrote stuff down on the chalkboard. Hajime was sitting toward the back, so a good number of them were visible in the video…
They kept going on like this, each video a handful of minutes at most. Gundham, Sonia, and Kazuichi smashing a watermelon at the beach on First Island, all of them wearing shorts and Hawaiian shirts. Teruteru waltzing into the kitchen at Hotel Mirai and starting his day with preparing the food for everyone. Mukuro and Peko enjoying a sunset walk on the beach at Second Island. Akane and Nekomaru sparring like the old days. Ryota getting to share his love of anime with everyone – again, Hajime worked his magic and acquired access to some online streaming services, and those open to sharing some bonding time with Ryota were welcome to come and watch a marathon; from what they could tell, the Imposter, Ibuki, Sonia, Kazuichi, Gundham, Mahiru, Hiyoko, Mikan, Chisa, Nagito, and Mukuro were in attendance on that evening, using the abandoned theater on Third Island, and Hajime was running the projector it seemed like. There was some sort of incident where Nagito’s luck caused a palm tree to fall over onto Kazuichi, who then received First-Aid from Mikan. The girls having a picnic in an open field on Fourth Island – Chisa, Mahiru, Mikan, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Akane, Sonia, Peko, Mukuro, and even Ruruka came out to join them. The guys sharing an evening in the hotsprings that Hajime helped build for them on First Island – the Imposter, Ryota, Kazuichi, Gundham, Nekomaru, Teruteru, Fuyuhiko, Nagito, and Sonosuke, all of them either in the springs or lounging at the edge of it. Kazuichi, Gundham, and Sonosuke sharing an afternoon together in an abandoned factory on Fifth Island, tinkering around with stuff. Hiyoko not-so-secretly going to Ruruka for her gummy bear fix. Mikan, Mahiru, and Nagito sharing a rare moment together as they watched some of the others set off fireworks. Ibuki performing a concert for everyone on Third Island in an open air stage, with the Imposter on drums and Ryota on triangle (this stirred a vague recollection of Hajime claiming he was ‘sick’ and couldn’t make that concert; clearly he’d lied to capture this moment on film). The Imposter and Sonosuke engaged in a chess match in a restaurant on Second Island. Nekomaru sharing a workout with Akane, Nagito, Chisa, Sonia, Gundham, and Kazuichi. Teruteru and Ruruka deciding to cook a meal together, while Fuyuhiko and Peko dutifully watched over them. Chisa, Mikan, Ryota, and the Imposter playing some Smash Bros together…
The clips went on and on, endlessly. The Elite Task Force didn’t show up until later clips, but that’s because they were generally averse to associating with “Ultimate Despair” for a while. Yet the one common link in all these slices of life… was the fact Hajime lingered in the background, capturing these moments. None of them ever suspecting a thing. There was so many clips, they couldn’t get through the whole drive in one sitting; there was a few years’ worth of moments captured here, and moreover it was just so emotional, seeing themselves in better states of mind and knowing Hajime was… always there. It was so surreal that there was such a varied video record of their time on Jabberwock, but what made this most heart-wrenching of all was that they automatically knew the reason this record was kept at all…
Hajime was doing it to keep himself going strong. To remind himself why he needed to keep going. Even when he was mired in misery and pain, suffering by his lonesome… They were his reason for living. They were Chiaki’s class. And while it took them a long time to return to shadows of their former selves… They managed it. They didn’t let Junko have the last word. Five years together on Jabberwock, and they managed to recover scraps of sanity and come to grips with their days as Ultimate Despair. They still carried scars… But those scars didn’t rule over and torment their lives anymore. They were able to go out into the world and give others the same hope that life could begin again…
Too little, too late that they came to understand Hajime was putting on a mask all those years… He was strong, but not infallible. Caring and supportive… But he never let anyone in on his old wounds. Miaya knew he wasn’t getting better, and Mukuro knew he was dodging his problems, but everyone else was taken in by the ‘Hajime’ they were familiar with. They even resented him for that mask, assuming he wasn’t nearly as broken as they were. … And to this day, they still didn’t understand why… By the end there was no choice, but surely if they’d acted sooner, there could have been another way…?
Nagito looked up from where he was sitting at a desk, and cracking open the other book that Mukuro had in her possession. While the others continued to be overwhelmed by the clips, he eventually decided to inspect what was apparently a journal that Hajime kept during those five years. One of the first passages had immediately leaped out at the luckster, and he conveyed as such to everybody present.
“… He knew from the very start.” Nagito’s mouth set into a grim line as he had their undivided attention now. “Hajime accepted that we wanted him to receive treatment like us… He accepted the Foundation’s decision to lump him together with us. But he knew. As powerful as the Future Foundation is, at some point they were going to have to turn power over to the governments of the world and let things run their natural course. But moreover… he knew that there were remnants of the people that supported the Kamukura Project. Powerful leaders in the Japanese government. And the chief scientist that carried out the project… Hajime knew they were still around, and he knew the cowardly sort that they were. Whatever feelings they had toward us was irrelevant; they knew Hajime might come for them someday, and with the world stabilizing they would be in a better position to deal with him. … In fact, didn’t something like that nearly happen?”
Everyone’s faces became tight and anxious as they recalled their final days on Jabberwock… Fuyuhiko bunched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth furiously, narrowing his human eye.
“As soon as I was high enough on the food chain, I got those assholes removed from office… But yeah. Of course we remember.” He bitterly spat, shoulders sagging languidly at the reminder of that day.
Peko crossed her arms and spared the blond a comforting glance before regarding the luckster.
“With the sway they held at the time, it wouldn’t have been difficult to put us on wanted lists again. Hajime said with all the progress we made, he wouldn’t put us in their crosshairs. Hajime wanted us to live our lives, to not be on the run with him or to sever ties completely. There was only so many options.”
Nagito nodded slowly, staring with a deep sadness down at the journal as he heaved a forlorn sigh.
“Hajime knew that this confrontation was coming from the beginning. He didn’t want us looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives, and he didn’t want to drag Future Foundation into his problems. So Hajime made up his mind to settle matters with that scientist Kotaro and the government. Back then, he hadn’t yet thought of his… loophole… So he was prepared to die to protect us. But he knew the confrontation was coming, because they wouldn’t waste this opportunity when they knew where he was. Hence Kotaro waltzing in with ‘2.0’… Hajime knew his time with us would be fleeting, but he wanted, needed us to get better… That’s just like him to put us above himself. … And that’s why he couldn’t live with us. Targets would be painted on our backs.”
Chisa’s brow furrowed in bewilderment as she looked around at everyone searchingly.
“B-But…! I-It should be fine now, r-right?! Fuyuhiko dealt with those guys… It should be fine to… to…” She trailed off uncertainly, and the Special Agent shook his head grimly.
“I might’ve nipped the big ones in the bud, but those assholes always have contingencies. You can never be sure that they’re all out of the picture… They’ve been in power for a while, and even officially retired they’ve still got connections. … Hajime’s right. The only ways to stop them would have been his corpse, or to start up another war over him. There was never gonna be a happy ending with those guys around…”
Sonia flashed a bittersweet smile as she closed her eyes calmly.
“Hajime told us himself, did he not…? ‘The world is not ready to accept me. Perhaps it never will. Fear is a powerful motivator… And the idea of a man imbued with all talents, maybe that should have never been conceived. My very existence is unnatural, and people will fight to end me if they cannot use me for their own ends.’ We know that as many wonderful people there are in the world, it is just as full of conceited and wretched individuals. Some have even risen to power and fight to oppress others, because they believe their path is just. If we believed at one point Hajime would replace us, then doubtless others would reach the same conclusion if they knew the truth about him. … The only way out for him was to… ‘die’.”
Everyone fell respectfully silent as they drank this all in. As they came to grips what happened on their final day on this island… As they came to accept they were always headed to this outcome, where Hajime would die in some shape or form. He knew that they would try to live on the run with him if that meant keeping him alive… So he kept silent until the very end. Hajime cherished the time he had with them, and counted on the fact that he would live on in their memories. Just like Chiaki.
… It was unimaginably painful. Mahiru lost Sato. Fuyuhiko and Peko lost Natsumi. They all lost Chiaki. Class 78 lost their own friends in a Killing Game. Why…? Why did they have to keep losing people? This one wasn’t even on Junko and her machinations… Hajime’s tragedy was at the hands of the school he idolized and the government that backed them… He could have done so much good for the world with those abilities, but humans are judgmental creatures. And fear is powerful… As Ultimate Despair, they knew that all too well.
But that didn’t make it right. Didn’t make it fair. Sometimes… good people just die. And there’s nothing they can do about it.
~*~
The sun was setting by the time they recomposed themselves and finished watching a few more glimpses of the past. They still weren’t done watching those videos, and they’d have to share them with the others who hadn’t been able to make it out to Jabberwock for Mukuro’s release from rehab.
Fuyuhiko regarded everyone as they exited the building, Miaya and Chisa bringing up the rear.
“He’s doing just fine.” Fuyuhiko murmured resolutely as they all drowned in the memories of this place. “I check in with Mahiru now and then. It took him a while, but the girls’ persistence paid off; he fell in love with them again, after enough time together. The guy’s still freakishly down on himself, but he’s getting better! He’s… He’s alive. That should be enough.”
Of course, the blond said that, and yet he was just like everyone else in that he wasn’t satisfied with this ending… Hajime was still himself, that was a given. … But he wasn’t completely the man he used to be… And there wasn’t a way for them to restore the pieces of him that were lost. Not without causing… problems.
That’s why a piece of him would always be here, in their hearts. Hajime didn’t remember them, didn’t remember Chiaki, didn’t remember Hope’s Peak… That was the only way for things to resolve safely. He returned to his roots, to the insecure boy pining for a meaningful life… He no longer dreamt of Chiaki’s death. No longer beat himself up for a suicidal revenge scheme… But conversely, all that maturity, all those lessons he learned because of them, because of Chairman Tengan, because of Class 78… He forgot it all.
Interacting with him too much invited risk of Hajime remembering everything… But it’s only natural Mahiru and the other girls couldn’t give up on him. Even so, Class 77 longed to rebuild a connection with their friend. They kept checking in, watched him build a life from scratch… And it was so hard not to meddle. To be there for him.
Yet like Fuyuhiko said… He was alive. Just… Just not the Hajime that they remembered. The one who helped drag them back from the clutches of despair. That’s what made this so frustrating… he was both alive and dead. He was there, yet so far away… They could only hope to reunite with their friend someday. … If only to thank him for everything. To assure him… that they were okay.
Everyone watched as Nagito turned to face the school building one last time and formally bowed towards it. … And honestly, they needed no explanation. For now, this was the only way they could show their gratitude… So without prompting, Sonia, Peko, and Fuyuhiko all followed his example. Chisa tearfully grinned with a hand over her heart, peering over her shoulder at the school building one last time.
In her mind’s eye, she saw Hajime’s ghost sitting on the roof, one arm around Chiaki’s shoulders and one arm over Natsumi’s. They might be taking Hajime’s keepsakes with them… But in a way, this place would remain their home. It’s where Hajime made peace with himself. Where he helped all of them make a fresh start…
The teacher blinked, and the ‘ghosts’ were gone from her vision.
‘… Memories. Huh.’ Chisa sniffled as she walked onward, trailing after her kids. ‘Class 77… The school bell rings, life goes on~!’