The Stages of Nagito

Stage 0: The Beginning

Lights shine brightly, making it impossible to see anything. The walls seem to glow, which does not help. My head is throbbing with pain as well.

I hear voices next to me, but they are unfamiliar. They are talking over each other in hushed, quiet voices.

A beeping noise is heard on my left, and I hear footsteps coming closer to that side.

The person shuffles his feet on the floor before the light dims. I am in a small hospital room, lying on a mattress. I have different tubes and patches stuck onto my arms, and there is a dull ache everywhere.

A man is standing in front of my bed, smiling awkwardly. There is also a nurse in the room, but she stays behind the man. She is chewing on a piece of her hair while her fingers nervously twitch.

"Welcome back, Hajime," The man says, grinning widely.

He is tall, with a brown suit and dirty blonde hair slicked back. He offers a hand, and I grab it, pulling myself up into a sitting position. A couple of the tubes pop and detach from me. The nurse starts to run up to me, but the man glares at her, and she remains still.

I try to speak but quickly realize my mouth is dry, all moisture drained away, confirming that I have not been conscious for a while.

The purple-haired nurse runs up to me with a cup of ice in her hand. She scoops a piece into a spoon and hands the spoon to me. "Please suck on it," she orders sternly.

I do as I am told and suck on the ice. The girl looks young, maybe 18 at most. She runs her hands through her hair, smiling a little.

The man checks his watch, not uttering a word. After a couple minutes of sucking on ice, I can speak again.

There are a dozen questions in my head, but one sticks out, painfully wanting to escape my thoughts.

I give in to its demands and speak for the first time since I woke up. "Uh, sir? Am I at Hope's Peak?"

The smile on the face of the man is delayed for a second before returning. He takes a small breath and uses his hand to smooth out his suit.

"Hope's Peak?" he asks gently, still keeping the plastic smile intact on his face.

"Yes, Hope's Peak," I repeat, slightly annoyed. My voice sounds like I ate a bag of wooden chips - harsh and scratchy.

"I see you are still suffering from the side effects of our experiment. Tsumiki, please put Hajime to sleep. He needs to rest," The man says, his eyes staring at me through his sunglasses.

"Yes, sir," the nurse - Tsumiki - squeaks out, preparing an injection. The liquid is neon green, and the bottle has a red hazard sign on it. The colors burn my eyes.

"Put to sleep? I don't need rest, I need answers! Where am I?" I shout, but the man just turns his back and walks out the door.

The nurse is at the side of the bed, holding up my arm. She injects the liquid, and I begin to feel drowsy.

I hear a whispered apology before passing out.

*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ:.⋆

The water at the lake shines beautifully, reflections dancing on its surface. The sun slowly dips below the horizon, painting the sky in magnificent shades of red, pink and orange.

"Simulation ending in 5 minutes" A monotone voice calls out.

A cold hand is gripping my own. I look up to see the owner and am met with breathtakingly green eyes.