New Hope

New Hope - Chapter One

Hajime slowly opened his eyes. In a trance he pressed his hands against the cold glass surrounding him and with a 'sssssshhh' it opened.

What's going on...? Where am I...?

Stumbling outside, Hajime got just enough time to take a peek at the beach and palm trees before tripping and falling into a boy.

"Ahh I'm so sorry - umm..." Hajime trailed off. "Hey... I feel like I recognise you from somewhere..."

"You don't remember?" The boy asked.

"Remember what?"

Suddenly it all came back in a flash. Monokuma, Jabberwock Island, and...

"Y - you're that guy from before!... Makoto...?"

Makoto flashed a small smile at him.

"Yeah, that's me!" Makoto paused. "Wait, so you remember everything? You're... Hajime?"

Hajime jumped in surprise, as he realised what Makoto meant. "Y - Yeah! I - I'm me! I'm not Izuru! I - I get to be me!" Tears started trickling down his cheeks. Hajime hadn't cried in years - he didn't even cry when Nagito died - but now, realising that he has the ability to change, and that he can be himself... it was an overwhelming flood of relief and happiness.

"Hajime! Yes!" Kazuichi, Sonia, Akane and Fuyuhiko cheer as they race to him and all give him a big hug. "Now you're awake we're all together!"

"Guys..." Hajime tried to reign in his tears, laughing and cheering along with them.

Nagito...

"Wait guys." Hajime said, breaking out of the group and backing away slightly. "Where are the others? The ones who..."

Everyone broke away from his gaze and stared at the suddenly interesting floor.

"Hajime..." Makoto walked up to him.

"No! They can't be gone!" Hajime cried, backing away. He clutched at his head, despair starting to seep in. "They can't be! I need him!" All the happiness Hajime had felt earlier felt wrong, toxic, lethal. Why could he exist when his other friends can't?

"Hajime!" Makoto shouted, grabbing his hands tight.

"W - what?"

"You need to calm down, please. Your friends are planning on trying to revive them. Kyoko, Byakuya and I had another look at the containers when we awoke, and their state of being has now changed into a comatose-like state. The trial was almost a complete success - if you ignore the island becoming controlled by Monokuma..."

"W - what does that mean?"

"It means you can revive them." Kyoko spoke before Makoto, walking up to Makoto, and standing next to him - facing Hajime. "So stop with the despair, and let's focus on the future. On hope."

"'You'...? You're not joining us?"

"No, we're already busy with the Future Foundation - and we're doing our best to keep them away from here - from you guys. While the trial ended up a success - Junko must've lied about your island life memories being lost - we're not sure the Foundation will see it that way. For now, we need to hide you all as much as possible." Kyoko informed Hajime.

"But... how will we revive the others?" Hajime asked, despair still filling his voice. "I don't know enough about comas and other medical stuff... I don't know if they can come back..."

"They will. Because they have you." Byakuya called from across the beach. As everyone turned to face him, shocked, he turned his back on them and began to walk to the pier. "Remember that from now on Hajime... don't let despair control you."

"... Byakuya..."

"H - He's right!" Makoto turned to Hajime. "Just focus on the positive. Hope in yourselves is what allowed you to maintain your memories, so if you focus on your love for these people and focus on giving them hope then... they should hopefully come back."

Hajime looked down towards the ground. He brought his hands closer to his face, focusing on the , as Makoto's words rung through his head.

"Hope...?" A white-haired dishevelled boy popped into his mind. "Love...?"

"Hajime I'm sorry but we've got to go." Kyoko said, grabbing Makoto's elbow and starting to haul him off towards the boat that Byakuya was already on. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago but you hadn't woken up yet, so everyone grew concerned. Don't worry though, we'll send a ship of supplies every week, so you won't grow hungry or anything."

"Wait!" Hajime stumbled forward and grasped Makoto's wrist. " Umm... will you visit?"

"Of course! Even if Kyoko or Byakuya don't, I promise I'll visit you guys!" Makoto said, breaking away from Kyoko for a brief minute to shake Hajime's hand.

"I'll visit when I can." Kyoko said, smiling back at them, while beginning to drag Makoto back to the boat again.

"I'll check to make sure you aren't dead." Byakuya called to them, head turned away.

As Kyoko, Byakuya and Makoto climbed onboard the boat, Hajime raised his hand to wave bye to them, and the sight of his hand felt bittersweet.

As he waved he thought about why he felt that way. The happiness he felt from seeing his hand - his real hand - was overshadowed by the sadness that his hand wasn't holding another's.

He hoped that soon they'd be able to hold hands once again.

HEY GUYS! I finally feel comfortable with the amount I've written to start posting (I've prewritten about half the story). If I keep at the pace I worked today, then I should hopefully - hey get it? 'Hope'? - be done with the entire story soon, which would be awesome...

Please remember I HAVE NOT SEEN MORE THAN THE FIRST TWO GAMES - this wasn't said because I'm afraid of spoilers - because I'm not (but be careful because I don't want other readers to get spoiled in the comments) but because I'm worried you guys would get angry at me for not focusing on the canon. I mean maybe I'm lucky and somehow hit the canon exactly, but I honestly doubt it...

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be out on Friday - Christmas Day! I hope - ha I did it again - you all have a really enjoyable Christmas.

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊