Chapter Text
"...-anami-chan? Nanami? You there? Hello? Nanami?"
Chiaki woke up in a hospital bed. Grimy walls surrounded her, dirt and scuff marks stained the ceiling, and the windows were blocked out (if there even were any). The only source of light was the lamp directly above her. Chiaki's body was numb and bandaged, and she couldn't move her legs. Her right eye was held closed by something, obscuring her vision further.
Her arms were too bandaged to properly move, though she could flex her fingers and move her hands. She was pretty sure she could talk, but her throat was very dry.
She had drifted in and out of consciousness for what felt like days, but with no way to tell time, it was unknown to her. But finally, after what felt like a century of drifting between the waking world and the void, someone had found her awake.
She could make out a small figure leaning over her. They waved a hand in front of her face, waiting until she was able to fully focus. She looked at the person again through her eye. They had a childish face, pale skin contrasting the freckles and dirt. Big purple eyes blinked and a gap-toothed smile appeared.
"Hey there Nanami-chan! Welcome back!" Ouma Kokichi giggled.
---
"Ah.. so thats what happened." Chiaki's hands shook. She wasn't able to do it. Against all her efforts, her classmates had fallen for Enoshima's schemes. Even though it was her job to protect them, as their class rep, as their friend .
"I know it must be hard for you to hear, Nanami-san." Shinguji Korekiyo sat next to her bed, which had been angled to no longer confine her sights to the ceiling. Harukawa Maki leaned against the wall behind Shinguji, and was watching the window next to her closely (Chiaki had been wrong, there were windows, covered by thick curtains).
"Well yeah but thats because you make everything sound so hopeless and depressing Kiyo-kun!" The last person in her room, the one who had let Shinguji and Harukawa know she was awake, Ouma Kokichi, lay flat on his back on the floor, his hands behind his head.
"My apologies, Ouma-kun," The anthropologist was completely calm, a stark difference to Harukawa, who sent Ouma a glare that gave Chiaki chills. "Though considering our current circumstances, it is quite hard to correct my tone."
"Eh, whatever." Ouma booed, ignoring the second glare Harukawa gave him.
"Getting back on track, is there anything you don't understand or want to know, Nanami-san? We will answer to the best of our ability." Shinguji turned his attention back to her. Chiaki bit her lip, she could ask more about her classmates, but she didn't know if she wanted to hear whatever sick and twisted things they had done under the influence of despair.
What about Miss Yukisome? Had she also fallen prey to Enoshima? What about Hinata ? What had happened to him? Why was he so different? Those were the questions she wanted to ask, but she had just woken up, and according to Shinguji she had been asleep for just over a year. She needed to know the basics of her situation before she thought about Hinata.
"How-" Chiaki cleared her throat, embarrassed about her voice crack. As if she teleported, Harukawa was suddenly next to her, holding out a glass of water. It was slightly tinted brown, but it was water. She drank almost instantly, handing the glass back to Harukawa with a grateful nod. The girl only nodded and once again, what seemed like teleporting, Harukawa was back against the wall.
"How am I... Alive?" The memory of stab wounds, of running, of cramped dark hallways and a horrible high-pitched mocking laugh, and of a tall figure with long black hair and red eyes that looked into her soul, so vastly different from the pale green she was used to-
"You were stabbed eighteen times, resulting in a total of thirty-six puncture wounds, a majority of which were directed into your lower abdomen and legs.” Chiaki stared at her lower-half.
“We had to perform a J-pouch surgery to remove your large intestine, as well as a prophylactic total gastrectomy.” The terms were foreign to her, but they must have been hard to perform.
“Your right eye may be permanently blinded, by no other nerves were damaged. Sadly, we couldn’t restore your legs. It’s very likely that they will be paralyzed for the rest of your life.” She lifted her hand to her right eye, feeling the thick, plush texture of an eyepatch and gauze.
“By all means, Nanami-san, you should be dead.” Shinguji paused. “Other than the required treatments, accommodations, and dietary needs, you’re expected to make a full recovery. It’s quite fortunate that Tadashi-kun went to medical school before.” The name was unfamiliar.
"You're really lucky, Nanami-chan! Maybe you're actually the real Ultimate Lucky Student! Naegi-kun doesn't seem that lucky right now so it checks out.” The name of her underclassman made Chiaki freeze.
"Naegi...?" Ouma paused, his signature smile looking morbid.
"O-oh.. You uh, you didn't tell her yet?"
In a flash of red, Harukawa had gone from leaning against the wall to strangling Ouma on the ground in a headlock.
"You fucking idiot! You've been in here the whole time with us! How the hell would we be able to tell her about that yet!?" Ouma clutched at the arm across his neck.
"A-ah sorry M-maki.. Can y-you let go..!?" With a frustrated groan Harukawa released him and stood up, walking angrily back to her wall. Ouma rolled on the ground, coughing and pulling at the bandana around his neck.
"Please!” Chiaki pushed herself upwards (as much as she was able to). “What.. What happened to everyone? Y-you all are here..” Chiaki was struck by a thought then. One so horrible and dark it made her nauseous. Only three of her underclassmen were here, what if.. what if the reason was because the rest were dead or under Enoshima’s clutches? Her breathing sped up, panic overtaking her.
“Nanami-san.” A hand on her shoulder brought her back to her senses. Shinguji was next to her, his eyes concerned. “There is much more we must discuss, and I promise to tell you everything. But considering your current mental state, we should move to lighter topics.”
“....Okay.” Her voice was shaky. Something was definitely wrong with Naegi-kun, but from the looks of it, she wouldn’t be able to find out anything.
She took a deep breath and closed her eye. It was okay, she just… needed to think of it like a video game. She needed to clear this level first. That means getting info, leveling up, and preparing for the boss fight. Her parents had always shown concern towards that way of thinking, but, more often than not, it helped her calm down and assess her situation.
Chiaki opened her eye to look at her visitors again. They were proof that not everyone had fallen into Enoshima's trap. She cleared her throat and tried again.
"Could you explain how you're here?" At that, Ouma jumped to his feet, completely recovered from Harukawa's attack. "I can answer that, dear Nanami-chan!" Harukawa scoffed.
"You see, as the Supreme Leader of Evil, or Ultimate Supreme Leader as the government has classified me as, my secret origination D.I.C.E. runs the streets! This Tragedy sucks and all, but I have merely gained more and more loyal followers!" The boy placed his hands behind his head and rocked back and forth on his heels.
"What Ouma-kun means to say is that after the Tragedy first struck, the 79th class took shelter in one of D.I.C.E.’s hideouts." Shinguji explained. "We were able to survive the remnants and followers by moving from hideout to hideout. Along the way, we would rescue anyone we could and sent them towards the Future Foundation."
"The Future Foundation?"
"An organization founded by the surviving staff and graduates of Hope's Peak to combat Enoshima." Chiaki bit the inside of her cheek. If the Future Foundation and D.I.C.E. were both fighting against the Tragedy, why weren't they working together?
"We're separate from the Foundation." Harukawa spoke up. "All they really care about is Ultimates and how to save their reputation. They don't actually care about everyone else.”
"Yeah, as much as I hate to admit, Maki-roll's right."
"Don't call me-"
"The Future Foundation is full of imbeciles and idiots." Ouma started cackling. "I bet they have no idea what they're actually doing! But I cant really blame them, I mean, they don't have a genius strategist like Shumai!" Ouma twirled around, hugging himself. "And Korekiyo I guess." He muttered, then resumed his twirling. "But mainly Shumai!"
“Shumai?” The name was familiar but Chiaki couldn’t place it to a face.
“It’s his nickname for Shuichi.” Harukawa clarified. “Which, I believe he told you to stop using.” Chiaki felt herself smiling.
“Whaaat? Noo, he was just embarrassed! He didn’t want everybody else to be jealous that I have a nickname for him!”
“You have a nickname for everyone. All of which are annoying.”
“Aww cmon Maki-roll! I made all of those with love!”
“Stop calling me Maki-roll.”
“Nehehe! Maki-roll Maki-roll Maki-roll Maki-roll!”
“Do you wanna die?” Chiaki watched the two banter, so similar to their Hope’s Peak days. Her smile grew bigger and bigger.
The room which had once just been filled with the sound of a heart monitor, was now joined by soft raspy laughter. The first sound of hope.