The Future was Bleak (Book 2)

4. Circle of Hope

Hajime opened his eyes. Something felt off. Felt really off. He got up from the bed quickly and looked around in a panic.

What's going on? This doesn't usually happen unless... Unless...

He looked all around his cottage. Nothing. Wait- nothing?

"Chiaki? Where did you go?" Hajime found himself asking the air around him. He didn't expect her voice to answer back.

"Sorry...I turned off my visual sensors. I'll put them back on. "

Chiaki rematerialized on the couch.

"Visual sensors?" Hajime asked. He had never heard her say that before.

"Yeah, ...I had to disappear for a moment." Chiaki said. Her console appeared back in her hand.

"Why?"

"...Someone else needed me. I can only be in one place at one time so..." Chiaki shrugged.

"Hm... wait... how late is it?" Hajime checked the clock.

"Your friends are already at Ibuki's cottage."

Hajime sighed, "Oh... hey- their your friends too..."

"That's where I was." Chiaki said.

"What?" Hajime was still confused.

"That's where I appeared from. Their probably confused too. I just disappeared." Chiaki mumbled. Her eyes flickered shut and her console dropped onto her lap.

Hajime stared at her for a moment. Before standing up. 

He walked out the door.

"Hey man, why are you so late?" Kazuichi was the first voice he heard as he entered Ibuki's cottage.

"Overslept. I apologize." Hajime said blankly.

Akane frowned, "You overslept? I didn't think that was a thing someone like you could do."

"I think it might just be because I-"

"-Are you feeling stressed? Do you have headaches often? Do you sleep well?" Mikan whispered, her smile growing ever creepy, "I can help with thaaat~" 

"no, its nothing like that!" Hajime said quickly, refusing Mikan's offer, "I don't want my eyeballs stabbed out, thank you very much."

Mikan's smile dissapeared, "Fine."

"May we start the ritual? The great beasts do await my arrival, you know. I cannot be late for an epic duel!" Gundam declared, throwing his hands up in an epic stance.

"Yeah, Yeah, okay man chill." Soda glared at him. "Let's begin."

Hajime sat down. The group formed a circle. Ibuki held out a fuzzy sphere.

"Ibuki says that this is today's pass around item! Ibuki knows that Ibuki's friends know the rules- But Ibuki is gonna repeat them again anyways. Ibuki will pass around the object after saying a sentence to a story. Then the next person says another sentence and passes it along. This will continue until it gets to Ibuki's turn again. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. They had heard this so many times it might as well be en grained into their brains.

Ibuki began, "One day at the beach..."

Mahiru continued, as Ibuki passed the ball to her, "There were two... bears..."

"One day they found themselves on an epic adventure across the universe!" Gundam yelled as he continued the story.

"They fought against robots and ninjas!" Sonia happily said, passing the ball to Kazuichi.

"Y-Yeah! And they always defeated them!" Soda continued.

"But the Ninjas were skilled warriors too, and they were plotting something bigger." Pekoyama added.

Fuyuhiko glared at the ball for a second, "They were planning to...take over the world!"

"But the bears didn't want those idiots to take over!" Hiyoko determinedly passed the ball onward.

"So they kept fighting back with all their hope..." Nagito smiled sadly.

"But it wasn't enough." Mikan whispered, giggling slightly.

"er-... They couldn't keep the Ninjas from taking over..." Akane mumbled

"SO instead, they used the robots from before and KICKED BUTT." Nekomaru yelled and everyone jumped.

"but they were struggling." Teruteru sighed.

"The ninjas were too." The Ultimate Impostor spoke.

"And they finally gave in and the bears saved the day." Hajime stated, he passed the ball back to Ibuki.

Ibuki shouted, "Great job everyone! Let's go again!"

They continued in circles for a few more hours, then Ibuki declared it was bed time, and they headed off to their separate cottages.

"The epic beasts await me! Farewell dear travelers!" Gundam shouted as he rushed out the door.

Hajime opened the door to his cottage. Only to see Makoto Naegi waiting for him.

"What are you doing in my cottage?" Hajime asked. His red and green eyes staring blankly at Makoto's emerald ones.

"Dont mind me- I'm just checking in as usual." Makoto laughed slightly.

"There's no point anymore. The Future Foundation is gone." Hajime's blank tone brought Makoto back to reality.

Makoto's face became serious for a moment, the scars on his face became clearer then before, "Okay fine. I'm not here to check in. I'm here to give you some information. But you'll need to keep quiet about it. You never know who's listening."

"What is it?"

"I think there are people other than you hiding on this island." Makoto said, his serious face not wavering.

"Who?" Hajime asked, he became fearful for a moment. Another downside of Hajime.

"I don't know, but I suspect they have something to do with a woman named Junko Enoshima. I am right to believe you know her?"

Hajime's anger at hearing that name must have shown on his face, for Makoto suddenly became wary. Then Hajime realized this was his chance to tell someone else about his encounter.

"Yes... Yes I know her. Actually I have some information that might be of value to you." Hajime altered his tone so he wouldn't sound angry.

Makoto tilted his head a little, "What is it?"

"I saw Junk Enoshima programming something into the Neo World Program Computer. She found me when I was hiding, and asked me not to tell anyone."

Makoto's expression turned to one of worry. His scars were shown harsher view again.

"She's back?"