Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the events of the Neo World Program, Hinata wanted nothing more than to find some miniscule amount of peace. Even if it was just as fabricated as his own identity himself, he wanted it all back. The boring brown hair, spiked into an ahoge with far too much gel plastered into it to keep it still for the whole day. The dull way he spoke, almost disinterested with people unless they peaked his interest somehow. The way he stared at the main course’s building, wide eyed with perceived success of everyone who entered. The entire 77th class seemed to be perfect to Hajime, but seeing the 77-B students all walk together, as a group, constantly reminded him that he was to never be in a group. Though it was most definitely a painful daily reminder, to see your dream life lived out by people who perceive themselves as gods compared to you, he missed it.

It was simple, predictable, a reused plot point in some of those games Chiaki would talk about.

But now, he isn’t sad because he lost some stupid PvP match that he played with Nanami, seated on the side of the water fountain with high hopes of eventual success, he’s sad because it seems the first game that she lost was one that cost her her life.

Twice.

And yeah, he was fucking outraged that he dare even be considered a participant in that damn game, that it was technically his fault, that he could have stopped it if only he killed himself that first night, that he should have kept a closer eye on Nagito, or he should have seen the warning signs in Mikan’s condition, or Peko’s relationship with Fuyuhiko, or Gundham and Nekomaru’s prone to rage, or Teruteru’s disappearance, but none of it struck him at the time. He knew he’d reminisce on all of those could have beens and should have beens until the day he let himself die.

But now, the focus was not on himself. It was on getting to the bottom of this trip.

He knew everything that “Junko” had told him. He was a reserve course student, idealizing the main course and the Steering Committee like they were beacons of approval. They told him that they’d fix him all up, get him talent, and let him finally experience pride in himself. He remembered very little of the planning, only vague faces and phrases, before it all turned to black. Hajime Hinata stopped existing, and Izuru Kamukura became his body’s host.

That was nowhere near an explanation of everything that had happened here, but he took what Junko said with a grain of salt. If Naegi, Kirigiri, and Togami were more emphatic about seeing that motherfucking bitch there, maybe he’d care, but now he just feels himself filled with rage when even thinking of her.

That’s all besides the point, even if he wishes he could rant about Junko for hours on end. His main focus should be on Jabberwock Island, where their boat has finally arrived, and the trauma shit show they’re all about to relive.

Finally docking, the only ones there to see those primary moments are Nagito and Hajime. Both of them hadn’t slept at all, being far too anxious about this arrival to get anything restful. He needed to find clues, any clue on this island. Even if the simulated world was fake, he was told that there may be something, anything here. He knew it. He was far too hopeful for any other outcome; he’d find a way to get him and his friends back to a “normal” life. They were finally no longer filled with despair, so it should be easy, right?

“Ah… no place like home, huh, Hajime?,” Nagito asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. Hajime was not really in a talking mood, but he knew this was hard for Nagito too. He’d definitely be outcast by the rest of the students here, that’s for sure, so Hajime decided to indulge briefly.

“Ha, ha.” Hajime offered a painfully fake laugh, followed by a step forward towards the former Lucky Student. “All I want is my old cabin back, that’s it. I’d like it if-”

“Making living arrangements already, are we?” Nagito interrupted, per usual. Thanks, Nagito. “I see. Then, I’d really prefer if I could sleep… on the rollercoaster. Maybe you could turn it on and off for me. That would be quite the alarm…” The white haired man forced a pitiful laugh, still looking out on the shore with a hopeful expression. Hajime recognized this as an effort to change from Nagito- some kind of joke he told with some kind of kind intention. That meant a lot to Hajime, of course, but it still felt awkward sitting next to him while he wasn’t acting chaotic and rather seemed calm, even composed.

“Maybe Kaz can join you… we know how much fun he had on that thing.” Hajime forced out a laugh as well, finally taking his steps away from the bow of their ship and towards the aft’s sleeping quarters. “I’ll wake them up. I can’t promise they’ll be too energetic to get up, but I can p-”

“HAJIMEEEEEE??” The scream was all too familiar. That high pitched voice, the emphasis on each syllable, the carefree delivery, of course she’d be the first to wake up.

“Yes, Ibuki?” Hajime responded before turning around. Yep, as expected, it was Mioda.

“Hey, hey, Ibuki had an idea!!” Still as carefree as ever, thankfully, Ibuki excitedly hopped up and down while reaching for Hajime’s hand. “Wanna know what it was?”

Hajime… didn’t… but, for benefit of the doubt… “Yeah? What’s up?”

Ibuki’s jumping continued as her grip on his hands seemed to tighten and bounce with her. Was this some non-verbal form of communication? Did she mean morse code? When did she learn that-... no… no, she just wanted Hajime to jump with her.

With a quick sigh, he jumped alongside her, eliciting an overjoyed giggle from the musician. “Yeah, yeah!!! What if we have, like… a little class trial!!”
Hajime froze. Class trial? Was she serious? Ibuki wasn’t a remnant, Hajime was almost 100% sure of it, but here she was, seemingly encouraging a second round of that god awful game. “Wh- huh?”

Ibuki stopped jumping, letting go of Hajime and crossing her hands across her chest. “Not like… y’know… a stabby stab, hangy hang kinda trial, but more a friend trial!! A trial, as friends!!”

Now this was just stupid. “What? Ibuki, can you please speak clearly?”

“Yaya!!” Ibuki cleared her throat, perfecting her posture and taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts. “... okay. So, we probably will have some people that don’t really like each other anymore. How about instead of being mean to them, or forcing them to forgive each other, we just let them have little mini trials!! As friends!!”

It was starting to make… a semblance of sense. “Mini, friend trials? Um… okay, I see what your idea is, but can you not say class trial?!”

“Whoopsie! Ibuki’s so sorry!!” She bowed for a brief moment before standing back up, her smile and mannerisms still piercing through her attempt at a serious front.

“It’s a good idea. Go tell Nagito, he’s at the top of the ship. I’m going to try to wake everyone up, so how about you go help Nagito get us all situated?” Hajime gave her a thumbs up (god, you are such a loser) before taking his leave, not even allowing her the time for a retort.

This was it, this was all they had. The world may have been destroyed time and time again, but just because every action has an equal opposite reaction doesn’t mean you can’t try your hardest to do what’s right. Sure, it was despairingly painful to sit through those trials, see all those corpses, and hear everyone’s cries. It was also incredibly uncanny to see his dead friends back to life without even so much as a scar from their injuries in the game. Not to mention Nagito’s “hand”, and the stench emanating from it as a result. But no matter how difficult this all seemed, there was no way despair was reaching this island. They could use Nekomaru and Akane’s strength alongside Kazuichi’s knowledge of mechanisms to rebuild or destroy anything that was too painful to keep laying around. They could use the knowledge that they all had as talented students to read every book in that library and gain every spec of knowledge possible on how to help themselves readjust to life without Junko or despair. They could easily do anything they wanted to.

Every action has its equal opposite reaction, sure. But since they destroyed the world, shouldn’t their opposite be repairing their own little world, secluded from those they hurt?

They couldn’t repay for what they’d done, granted, but forgiveness was their new theme, and by god was it better than the instability of despair.

Chapter Text

“It isn’t rotten. Not quite, at least…” Nagito said, shame coursing through his words.

“Ah… Ibuki sees… She thinks that you need a new one!! Like… the metal thingy that Miki was talking about..?” Ibuki reached out to touch the oven mit hiding something so sinister even she wouldn’t understand it, but Nagito jerked his hand back as fast as hers came.

“Ah ha ha… no.” His tone instantly got serious, causing the musician to flinch as she hopped down the ladder and off of the boat.

“Geez… sorry…” Ibuki sighed, then kicked her feet around on the sandy beach. She remembered from the program the time everyone came to swim at the beach before it all went to hell. It was one of her fond memories of their “Heart-Throbbing” killing game, which kicked her optimistic instincts into overdrive. “Yaaahoooo!!! I hope Hajime hurries up, I need to see if I can bury Akane in the sand!!!!”

Though, Hajime was all too busy to “hurry up”. With the 13 students he had yet to awaken… they all had their own hijinks that would obviously affect his efficiency in waking them, but he decided to start with the, arguably, hardest one.

“Hey, Fuyuhiko?” Hajime asked softly, tapping the blonde’s shoulder. He was honestly expecting a punch in the face, or some kind of verbal equivalent, but instead, he was met with a groan.

“Whaaaaat…” Fuyuhiko scrunched his face up into a pout, really showing off that babyface he hated so much. “I’m still fuckin’ tired. Boats make me feel sick. I don’t like the cold. It’s too hot. Whatever excuse will get you to fuck off, take it.”

“We arrived.” Hajime kept it short and sweet, knowing that the former Yakuza wasn’t a very talkative person in the mornings, and he just wanted to get everyone at least semi-awake.

“Wait- really?” Fuyuhiko shot up, getting off of the floor and running into the next door room. Not… quite what Hajime was expecting, but judging by Fuyuhiko’s quick little screams of “Peko!” and “Get up!!”, he assumed that he wouldn’t have to wake Peko after all. Thank god, waking up a swordswoman seems horrifying.

With two more people now awake, all he had was the ten left over. He peeked into the next room, seeing Kazuichi’s beanie discarded on the floor beside a mop of pink. Yep, there’s Souda.

“..... mmmmm… fa… fast,” Kazuichi groaned in his sleep. What. The. Fuck. Was Hajime hearing something that he wasn’t supposed to? They’re soul friends now, and soul friends don’t wake other soul friends up when they’re like… that, or at least that’s what Kazuichi would say. But oh well, arrival at the island was way more important than whatever messed up junk that weirdo’s got going on.

“Kaz. Get up, we’re here.” Hajime opted to shake Kazuichi, knowing that he wasn’t quite strong enough to deliver the punches needed to wake up this brick wall of a man. But alas, it was in vain, as Kazuichi was still very much asleep. He was even drooling on the floor, which caused Hajime to flinch and cringe at the odd sight.

Let’s… try him again later.

Hajime left the room, entering the hallway to be greeted with Peko and Fuyuhiko walking towards the bow of the ship. It was good to see the two finally talking, as their short interaction that everyone during the game had seen was nothing less than traumatizing. He was glad that Fuyuhiko at least got to say thank you to her once more, and that they seemed genuinely happy in the moment.

Instead of following or thinking about them any longer, he turned to the next room over which had a sleeping Sonia inside. Of course Kazuichi would room close to Sonia. Man can’t stop simping even after they almost died countless times, huh. He knew she’d be easy to wake, so all he did for her was take a few steps in and clear his throat, prompting…

“Ah!! Hajime!! I did not expect you to come here… if I knew you would be here, I would have kept my room even cleaner!” Sonia’s defense would have been valid if there was anything out of place, but there just wasn’t. Not only was this room absolutely perfectly straightened up, but there wasn’t much in it to mess with. A blanket, provided by Makoto and Kyoko, was used in each room, but their pillows were just either their own arms, a wadded up jacket, or nothing. This wasn’t exactly the luxury that Sonia was used to, so she must’ve been feeling insecure, Hajime thought. Of course.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. We’re here, so if you could get up, and-”

“We’re here??” Sonia sat right up, her perfect princess posture showed off in her natural placement. “We’re here!! Thank you for telling me, Hajime, I shall awaken the others with you! Who is left?”

Of course Sonia would help!! Geez, why didn’t Hajime opt to wake her first? She was acting kindly, one, and two, she would help him without a doubt. “Well… I tried to wake Kazuichi, but he’s not much of a morning person. Fuyuhiko, Peko, you, me, Nagito, and Ibuki are awake… how about you get the gir-”

“Leave it to me, Hajime! I shall wake everyone up promptly! I have a very good tactic in doing so!” Sonia spoke with pride, rising to her feet as she held up her arm to show off her muscle.

“Oh yeah? Can you tell me what it is?”

“You shall see!” Sonia skipped off, entering Gundham’s room. Of course she would go for him first, the pair had some sort of connection way before the awakening of the comatose students. Hajime wasn’t jealous at all, it seemed stressful to have some kind of “best friend” character there that he had to constantly support. It was why he couldn’t even begin to comprehend Nekomaru’s sacrifice for Akane; how could someone love someone enough to die for them that quickly?

Speaking of Nekomaru, he was still asleep. And though his loud voice would definitely help Hajime awaken everyone else, he knew better than to try to disturb Nekomaru. He was probably tired, and waking up a tired Nekomaru would probably start some kind of brawl…

Opting for the easier option, he walked into Teruteru’s room and poked his side. Though Teruteru wasn’t exactly Hajime’s favorite person, it was definitely easier to wake up Teruteru, get him to give Hajime some kind of snack, get that snack and give it to Akane, and have her wake up the titan sleeping next door. God, he was really planning this all out like it was an exact science, huh?

“Hajime? What a lovely surprise…” Teruteru rolled over, giving Hajime a genuine smile. “What do you have to tell me? Is someone hurt?” Teruteru’s care for his class was undeniable, that’s for sure, and Hajime was far from surprised that his first thought would be out of curiosity for if someone was injured.

“No, don’t worry about that. We’re just back at the island is all, I’m going around and waking everyone,” Hajime explained while rising to his feet. He gestured towards the bow of the ship, clearing his throat before continuing. “There’s, uh… Nagito’s up there, Ibuki, Fuyuhiko, and Peko too…” Being careful not to mention Sonia, as it would definitely distract the chef, he walked towards the exit of the small room. “We’re all going out there to get situated… see how the island looks different now that we’re the ones in charge.”

“Oh… okay… well, I think I’ll take my leave early. After all, we’ve already gone and investigated this place before, haven’t we?” Teruteru smiled, rising to his feet and leaving alongside Hajime. “I’ll be cookin’ us all some nice breakfast, so long as I can find the food to do it. I’ve got you all covered, don’t worry about a thing.” Teruteru’s comforting smile alongside his southern twang gave Hajime a weird sense of comfort, an odd nostalgic feeling reminding him of their first time on the island.

If only. Though he hated the killing, damn did he hate seeing that beach without Chiaki on it.

“Ah- But I have something to ask- you don’t by chance have any snacks on you, do you?” Hajime stopped Teruteru briefly, reaching out just short enough of touching him again. Nice.

“Yes I do, as a matter of fact!!” Teruteru reached into his apron’s pocket, handing Hajime a small packet with a few soup crackers inside. “I can’t… assure the quality… but, I can say it’s nothing that’d be to-”
“Thanks, I’m not so worried about that. She has an iron stomach.” Hajime ran instantly to Akane’s room, leaving Teruteru confused in the doorway for a few seconds… hm. He eventually stopped caring, leaving to check out the kitchen.

Hajime didn’t even need to take two steps inside before Akane sprung to her feet, almost reflexively. “Oh my god- Oh my god- is that for me?” Akane gasped, running full speed and force at Hajime and tackling him to the ground.

“Woah- A-Akane, what the hell?!!” Hajime gasped, trying to keep himself standing despite the 56 kilogram girl, alongside her momentum, crashing into him. Spoiler alert, he failed, falling over onto the ground while Akane remained standing.

“Dude, what’d you sit for?” Akane reached out her hand, which Hajime presumed was for him to use to raise himself up. Reaching up for grip, he found himself sorely mistaken upon realizing she was just reaching for the packet of crackers.

“You ran int- whatever…” Arguing with Akane either ended up with getting your ass kicked as a friend, or getting your ass kicked in general, so he knew that this wasn’t the time to challenge her. Especially while she’s tired and hungry. That’s a death wish. “Just, if I give you the crackers, will you wake up Nekomaru for me?”

“Oh, hellz yeah!” Akane grabbed the package, eating the entire thing. Wrapper and all. “I’ll get him up in no time!! We ain’t gonna be needing this ship much longer, right?”

“,, what are you implying?” Hajime rose to his feet, taking small steps backwards to leave the room discreetly.

“Nothin’! Nothing at all… okay!! I’m gonna go get to work!!” Akane sprinted out of the room, again, at full force, running straight to Nidai. Instantly, the yelling from inside that damn room was loud enough to even awaken the dead, so the few remaining students felt themselves wake up before even Hajime or Sonia got near their doors.

All with similar groans, aches, complaints, and disappointed sighs, the rest of the class emerged from the sleeping quarters in a zombie-esque beeline towards the front. They’d assumed it was just time to wake up, see if they’d docked, and get back in bed, but when they finally saw the shore they knew far too well…

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Kazuichi’s scream rang out above all of the other voices, then causing someone else to scream with him.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Ibuki, who was in the middle of digging herself a hole large enough for Akane to sit in, screamed alongside the mechanic with just as much volume. Jesus Christ, this can’t get any-

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” And Nekomaru joined.

Then Akane.

Then Sonia.

Then Gundham.

Then Nagito.

Before long, almost everyone there was screaming alongside one another, except Hajime. The scream wasn’t quite sensical, as it seemed like there were so many different equally valid reasons each person was screaming. For Kazuichi, it was obviously the fear of seeing this island once more, alongside his natural tendency to overreact. He typically let out cacophonous noises whenever the urge hit him, so this just made sense. Ibuki was most likely just joining in on the fun, per usual, and she even laughed through her yell.

But for others, it seemed like a way of getting out their anger of the past, their self hatred, their regret, their confusion, their excitement, and even their happiness. They all had so many things happen to them in such rapid succession that they all knew they needed more intensive care than a pat on the back, but there wasn’t anything they could do. They weren’t welcome in the outside world, nor did they even want to face the chaos they themselves caused.

They all felt disgusted, ashamed of themselves. This was a hellacious turn of events, but this was their happiest possible ending.

An ending without the one he needed most right now.

An ending without Chiaki Nanami.

Alongside the others, Hajime finally let himself scream, for he knew he needed it just as bad as everybody else did.