Hope for The End (Book 3)

1. Don't Fuss Too Much. It's Not Good for Your Health

Hajime Hinata hadn't the faintest clue where he was. Everything was pitch black, darker than the night sky. He tried to reach out in the darkness. He tried to move but found that he couldn't. Endless amounts of time seemed to move by,

He wondered if he would ever see anything again. At first that thought was fine. But Chiaki was alive. Everyone was together at last. All they needed was Hajime. And he had not returned. Not yet.

The abyss went on and on until-

"Wake up. Something happened. Somehow things have become problematic." A monotone voice called out to him.

Hajime finally opened his eyes. Only to stare straight into bright red ones. His first instinct had been to back away, but as he went to push himself away with his hands, he fell over to one side. Pain jabbed at his left side.

Looking down he realized. He had no lower arm. His left limb simply stopped at the elbow. He panicked before realizing a second revelation. He had just stared into two red eyes. Very familiar red eyes.

He looked back. Sure enough. There was Izuru. He was sitting right there in front of him.

"Wait a moment, how are you even..."

Izuru stared at Hajime, "I am uncertain. There are too many possibilities. I lost focus of them when I tried bringing you back and-"

Hajime suddenly felt a sharp pain in his skull. The rest of Izuru's sentence had drowned away. He clamped his remaining hand on his head, when the pain finally stopped, he looked at his hand. Blood dripped down his wrist.

Izuru watched intently.

"I see. It seems we may have a bigger problem on our hands."

"What?" Hajime was confused, "What the hell is going on?"

Izuru closed his eyes. "Things are getting unpredictable. Interesting."

Hajime was struggling to understand anything that was going on. There was no way

Izuru was in the same place as Hajime.

"This can't be real... there's no way... how do you even exist right now?"

Izuru ignored Hajime as he looked around. "I already know the way out."

Izuru quickly began walking away. Hajime scrambles to his feet and ran after him.

"You are not dreaming."

Izuru's voice didn't register to Hajime's ears.

"What?"

"You are not dreaming."

Hajime stared at Izuru strangely, "You're sure? Then how are we separated?"

"I have my theories." Izuru didn't elaborate. He turned a corner so quickly, that Hajime hadn't noticed until Izuru was a few yards away. He caught back up to him.

"Hey! At least tell me what's going on!" He yelled out at him with annoyance.

Izuru took a second to respond, "We have woken up in a base that Junko Enoshima knows about. I know she sent someone to bring us down here," Izuru explained as he continued to walk swiftly down the corridor, "How boring."

They turned another corner. Hajime was still wrapping his head around everything. He didn't know what to believe. For now it was probably best to follow Izuru, he had all that talent after all.

He needed to know what was going on.

His programming was failing him.

Chiaki was in a panic. It had been an entire two months after Hajime disappeared. She was beginning to lose hope in finding him. They had all tried desperately to find him but had no luck.

Not even Nagito could help them. Not that Nagito tried all that hard, he was only upset that Izuru was gone. He never did give Hajime too much notice unless he was talking to Izuru through him. Hajime was just a shell to him.

No one had seen Mikan either but they didn't worry about that. They knew she had gone back to depair's side and was working for Junko Enoshima. They didn't know the Ultimate Despair was dead, and that Mikan was closer than they thought.

Chiaki was sitting alone in Hajime's cabin. Her friends had all gone on to do other things, but all Chiaki could think about was how she could have let this happen. How could she have just let him disappear for a second time? She slowly pulled her hood over her face.

It's all my fault...

"You seem deeply upset.. That isn't good for your health, you know?" A small murmur came from beside her.

Chiaki jumped and looked over at the intruder.

"M-Mikan?"

Mikan smiled eerily and Chiaki scrambled away from her, back pressing against the far wall. Mikan took a few slow steps towards her.

"Aw come on.. I'm your friend... we're supposed to trust each other..." Mikan giggled as she watched Chiaki shaking the closer she got.

"W-What do you want from me?" Chiaki called out in a panic.

"Simple really...." Mikan smiled, her red eyes hazing over, "I want a favor of you... in return, I can give Hajime back..."

Chiaki processed this slowly, "You- You know where Hinata is?" She asked Mikan nervously.

Mikan took another step forward, "Of course I do... My beloved tells me everything I need to know... I am grateful for that... they are the only one who truly loves me..."

Chiaki tried her hardest to ignore Mikan's last statements. She knew where Hajime was... Was it worth it?

"What's the favor...?" Chiaki asked as calmly as she could. Mikan was only a few feet away from her now.

"Depends..." Mikan murmured, tilting her head ever so slightly, "Is that a yes...?"

Chiaki thought for a moment. Was Hajime worth the risk? Could she finally save him from himself?

"Yes."