Awake

Hajime

   Hajime was the first up, but only by about two seconds.  He opened his eyes, ready to begin his future, only to be taken completely off guard by waves upon waves of memories hitting him at once.

   He couldn't say anything at first, he was too overwhelmed by the sudden regaining of lost facts.  Then it all collapsed.

   "AAAAAAAAAUGH!"  He began to scream, tears rolling down his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.  Maybe because he only heard his own wailing, or he couldn't hear at all due to the coffin-like cage he was trapped inside, but he didn't notice the other survivors succumbing to the same fate as they quickly woke up after him.

   It took a while for Hajime to dry at least a little bit of his tears.  When he did, there was a woman looking down on him through the glass of his cocoon.  He recognized her as Kyoko, one of the agents of the Future Foundation who came to rescue him in the Neo World Program.  She began to lift the cover off so that Hajime could get up.

   It was more difficult than he had anticipated to sit up.  His head felt woozy, and his entire body felt weak.  Another thing he noticed was the long, dark hair draping over his weak shoulders, dropping down to his feet.

   "Is everything alright?"  Kyoko asked as she helped prop him up.

   "Yeah, I'm fine."

   She obviously didn't believe him, but stayed silent, even though his face was far from being completely dried.  It was difficult for Hajime to see her as someone who was younger than him.  She just seemed so mature and calculated.  He wondered if she thought it was difficult to see him as someone older...

  "It is nice to see that everything has progressed smoothly,"  she remarked, producing what she would call a smile, although it was difficult to tell if it was actually there.  "I must admit, I was a little worried."

   "Awww, you were worried?  That's so unlike you, Kyoko!"

   Kyoko's face pinked a little as the one Hajime recognized the most, Makoto Naeggi, strode into the room, carrying a small tray of food.

   She crossed her arms, her face now a light red instead of the usual prominent white.  "Well, I wasn't the one pacing the room and singing to myself."  Makoto simply chuckled as he placed the tray down net to Hajime.  There was only a small bit of food on the tray.  Hajime think it would be enough to satisfy his stomach that currently sounded like a monster truck, but to his surprise, he easily became full, not feeling hungry enough to even finish the entire plate.

   "How are you feeling?"  It was a simple question, but that made it all the more difficult to answer.  Makoto seemed to understand that and changed to question:

   "Are you regretting your decision?"

   He thought about it.  About the memories he had received, about the pain that made him want to die, about how the place he had admired and loved so much had used him.  But he didn't need to think about that.  He already knew his answer.

   "No, and I never will."

   Makoto smiled, his kind eyes resting on Hajime.  "Then you're already recovering.  You are already creating a bright future for yourself.  That's all you have to worry about."