Chapter one: Hope's return.

I felt the strings of the dark abyss under me pulling me in once again. A feeling of drowning overcame my entire body, as I closed my eyes in fear.

*Not this again-*

I heard her.

Over and over again the sentence:

"You're Izuru Kamukura."

I saw every horrible thing I did, the faces of every person I hurt.

And everything that wouldn't have happened if I just never existed.

And just like last time, right before I hit the ground, I woke up.

"Shit! Hah...hah... mother fucker-"

I breathed heavily and yelled in frustration. I looked around my apartment as I rubbed my eyes.

*why do i keep having that dream! God damnit.*

Just then, my phone beeped.

*Nagito* it read.

I picked up the phone.

"What?" I said, already having a bad morning.

"Hey hajime! I'm outside."

"...what?"

"I'm outside. I thought we were gonna walk to work together?"

"Its..." I looked at the date. ****** "Um okay! One second I'll be out in a minute!"

"Did you just wake up?"

"No! I mean...yeah... Just gimme a minute!"

"Ahahaha-"

I quickly hung up and rushed out of bed. I got dressed and brushed my teeth, while also making sure I didn't look like complete garbage. I opened the door to Nagito's usual smug face.

I looked him up and down. He was in a button up white shirt holding his signature green jacket with tight black jeans. His white hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. His prosthetic arm creaking loudly as he gestured towards his outfit.

"Soo, what do you think?"

"Uhh-" I looked up at him. "You look...surprisingly professional actually. The ponytail um... I-it suits you."

His face turned a bright red, as he looked away from me.

"Aha- um thanks Hajime... A-anyway, you ready?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"Its cool."

We started walking down the street to one of the only buildings that wasn't under construction, and talked for a bit.

"Ah! I can't believe we're gonna work at the most hopefilled building probably ever! Isn't it exciting Hajime? Our first day as actual future foundation interns!"

"Tch- well I don't know if it's that exciting, but I mean, i suppose it's a start to some development."

"Yeah! Ah wow. And we're gonna be working with *the* Makoto Naegi as our boss! I really am the luckiest guy ever!"

He was lit up with his usual bright happy aura. This was the first time in a while that I saw it again though.

After we had gotten out of the neo-world-program we were all totally messed up. I had temporarily worked with future foundation to restore conciousness to my friends.

It had been about a month since then. We were provided living arrangements, therapy, medical attention, and jobs by future foundation. Komaeda had gotten his prosthetic there, which was especially prepared for him by Kazuichi. He was the ultimate mechanic after all.

Over time, me and Komaeda became better friends, with me trying harder to understand him and him trying his best to understand me. And even though we were both horribly broken inside and out, we were getting through thanks to Makoto Naegi.

Our resources that were provided for us are supposed to be free for now since the economy is still trying to get back on its feet, but for the time being we'll be working at future foundation until we're able to pay for our own essential services.

Today was me and my past classmate's first day of future foundation training. Of course, we were only starting off as interns, but it was a start. We were also supposed to start the long process of getting our past memories back today. Which was bound to be...interesting.

"Yeah well I don't really understand why you're so excited but I'm sure it will be a good experience. After all they said they had good news for us."

"Yeah, I wonder what it is."

When we got there, we all gathered in our meeting area. There, we would officially meet our higher ups and be put into more efficient training teams of five based on skill and abilities.

We all made conversation, wondering about what type of instructor we would get as interns. Just then, Makoto Naegi himself came out with six other people. He went up to the fancy stand and tested the mic.

"Hello?"

We all looked up.

"Okay hi! Goodmorning everyone! Since you all are new recruits, we've decided to have a meeting on who will train you as members of future foundation. And as you may have guessed we'll be doing introductions before assigning areas and groups. And also, we have a very exciting announcement to make. But that comes at the end.

Applause ensued, with komaeda of course being especially excited.

"Okay so me first. My name is Makoto Naegi. I'm the leader of future foundation branch fourteen. We are responsible for public relations. We do other things as well such as rescue, info, and questionnaire. These are the people who will be leading and training you for the next year. So without further ado, let me hand the mic to Mr. Togami, and Ms. Kirigiri."

He stepped aside and gave them the podium, we knew Togami and Kirigiri from the neo-world-program. Well, the ones who "survived" did at least.

"Hello everyone, as I'm sure you've heard, my name is Byakuya Togami. I am the assistant manager of future foundation fourteenth division. I will train you in weaponry, and future foundation technology, such as hacking guns, specialized computer programs, and our AI. Thank you."

"Goodmorning everyone, My name is Kyoko Kirigiri. I am a member of future foundation fourteenth division. I specialize in detective work, crime scene examination, and corpse analysis. You will be trained on a keen eye more than anything else with me. Thank you all."

Everyone applauded as they stepped down and handed some papers to the next two. They got on the podium.

"Hi everyone! I'm Aoi Asahina, from future foundation fourteenth division. I'm not really in charge of much, but I'm a really good receptionist and I make sure our employees are provided with the best care possible until we can get back to normal. And I'm always happy to help you in any way I can. Thank you!"

"Hey dudes! I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure. I'm in charge of preparation and equipment delivery, it's a bit of a boring job but without equipment suppliers we wouldn't have anything to help. On my team, we focus on service providing with a comforting face."

We all applauded once again. And the last two came up, two women.

"Hi there everyone! My name is Komaru Naegi. Member of...you guessed it! Future foundation fourteenth division. My job is to train you all in rescue! We go on special missions in order to save captives, people in need, and make sure people get medical attention. I can't wait to have you on my team!"

"H-hi- I'm T-Toko- Toko Fukawa. I specialize in Information gathering, m-making sure it all gets written down, and organized ac-ca-cordingly I'll teach you how to keep calm and get the info you need. Th-thank you-"

We all applauded, and before we knew it, it was time for the big announcement. Makoto got on the podium once again.

"Okay everyone! Before we announce your positions! We have our very special guest. She'd been classified as missing, but was recently found as a victim of the tragedy! Everyone please welcome...."

At that moment, everything became a blur. I couldn't believe what I saw. I couldn't believe that she was still here. I saw her. I saw...

"Chiaki....?"

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