~ Forgotten ~【Komahina】

Chapter 20 - Future Foundation

'Hey, can you hear me?'

I open my eyes to see a guy with brown hair and an ahoge leaning over me. I seem to be in some glass pod...

With the press of a button, the glass slides away and the person helps me sit up.

'Good morning Hajime,' he says, smiling, 'I'm Makoto Naegi! Nice to meet you!'

He stretches his hand out. I move to shake it, but realise I'm wearing a black suit. 'Oh,' Makoto says, 'Because you got executed, your avatar didn't upload, so you're still stuck in Izuru's body...'

'Izuru?' I ask, 'Who's he?'

Makoto thinks for a second before speaking again. 'Well... Izuru is you... kind of... The truth is, you weren't an Ultimate. You did go to Hopes Peak, but you were in the Reserve Course. You got given an opportunity to participate in the Izuru Kamukura Project, and you agreed. Your brain was surgically altered to have talent... more talent than any normal human being could have. You were the Ultimate Hope.'

Ultimate Hope...

Suddenly, memories come flooding back to me.

Hope's Peak... The Reserve Course... The Izuru Kamukura Project... Junko... The tragedy of Hope's Peak... The Remnants of Despair... Chiaki...

'Wait, what happened to Chiaki?' I say, even though I already know the answer.

Makoto sighs. 'She... died before the killing game... The Chiaki you knew in the simulation was just an AI...'

'Oh...'

We were silent for a few seconds, before I speak again. 'Has Nagito woken up yet?'

Makoto shakes his head. 'The only reason you woke up is because of your talents.'

'Do I still have Izuru's talents?' I ask.

'Yeah,' Makoto says, 'You're still the Ultimate Hope'

'When will everyone else wake up?'

'Well, the people that died first will wake up first, so it might be a while until Nagito wakes up...'

I take a deep breath, trying to be positive. 'So that means that Byakuya will wake up first?'

Makoto looks confused for a second, before understanding what I was talking about, 'Oh, yeah... But the Byakuya you knew isn't the real Byakuya. They're the Ultimate Impostor and was just impersonating him.'

'Oh,' I say, 'Anyway, where am I?'

'You're in the Future Foundation Headquarters,' Makoto explains, 'You could either stay here to work with us, go back to Jabberwock island, or go to Towa city to work with Toko and Komaru.'

I think for a second. 'I think I should wait for Byakuya... Sorry, Ultimate Impostor to wake up so we can make a decision together...'

'Yeah, that seems like a reasonable idea.' Makoto says, 'Anyway, in the meantime, do you want to meet my friends?'

I nod, and Makoto helps me out of the pod, before leading me out of the room and down a corridor with doors along the sides.

'Because of the Monokumas, everyone working at Future Foundation lives here. If you were to stay here, you'd sleep in one of these rooms,' Makoto says, knocking on one of the doors,

'Hiro?'

The door opens to show a man that looks slightly older than Makoto standing in the doorway. He has gravity-defying brown hair thats pulled into a ponytail and a small pair of glasses on his nose. 'Makoto, buddy!' he says, pulling Makoto into his room. I awkwardly walk in.