Chapter Text
Boring .
Your first thought.
Boring, boring, boring, boring…
The light in this room is boring, and so is this hospital, and the beds, and the people inside them, and the people outside them…
You’re already so bored.
Why are you here? Of course, you already know. Your own actions are predictable and therefore boring.
Junko would call it ‘despair-inducing’. Maybe she’d be right. But she’s gone now, so whatever interest she offered you is gone, too. A dead Junko is boring.
You could do anything. You could bring your so-called ‘peers’ back without any problem. But there wouldn’t be a point to any of that. It wouldn’t affect you.
There’s no point to anything on the island. Or off the island, even if you wanted to leave. Which you could, if you wanted. They wouldn’t be able to stop you.
But you don’t care.
You haven’t moved. You don’t move. There’s no reason to. How… pointless.
Time passes.
The door opens.
“Hinata…?”
…………………
“Hinata, I’m coming in, okay?”
…………………
“You’re not Hinata, are you?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so.”
…………………
“Will you help us?”
“Why should I?”
“Tch. What do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“You must want something.” He sighs, crosses his arms.”
“Hm. If anything, I would want for something amusing to happen. But I don’t ‘want’ for things the way you do.” You say, completely uninterested. He hasn’t changed since you last saw him. How… Ah, you’re even bored of the word…
“Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what they’ll all do when they wake up?” When , not if . Seems as though he’s confident — or confident enough to bluff, anyway.
“That’s doubtful. Their reactions are highly likely to be completely predictable.”
“But there’s always a chance one of them may surprise you.”
“Too small of a chance to be considered.”
“Maybe. But it’s more than nothing. It’s gotta be better than just standing there.”
You sigh, a reaction meant to show exasperation. “At the moment, I am entertaining myself with my own thoughts. Writing a sonnet, translating mythological stories from Greece into arabic, composing an alternative ending to Beethoven’s Fifth, engineering a theoretical black hole diverter, and so on. All things not quite as mundane as whatever entertainment you could provide.”
You’re not facing him, but you know he’s just rolled his eyes. “You’re talented enough that you could help them while concentrating on your own thoughts. And it’ll give you another thing to think about along with all that other stuff. So, there’s no reason NOT to do it, really.”
“I can’t say there is.”
“Then, even if it’s just a tiny bit better, you should choose to wake them up.”
You feel a flicker of something. Is this akin to that one thing humans experience… amusement?
Perhaps he is a bit different than you remember.
And, you have to admit, you hadn’t predicted this outcome before entering the simulation. Of course, you’d been through all 5,682 possible outcomes the simulation could have had, including this one — but if asked to rate how likely it would be for this particular outcome to happen, you would have given it a mere five percent. No, you’d predicted outcome 1,349 — one where Junko’s plan to turn everyone into her worked — as the most likely outcome.
You’ll wring any amusement you can out of this. Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko’s logic is solid enough. If things end up slightly different than your predicted outcome, there would be more ‘food for thought’, as they say. In any case, you don’t find the idea repulsive.
“Very well. I will help your… ‘friends’ remain consciousness.”
“Thanks.” He turns away. “About goddamn time.”
If you were Junko, this would have probably stopped you in your tracks.
But you’re Izuru.
And you don’t care.
“Oi, Hinata.”
…….
“Hinata?”
...huh?
“HINATA.”
“Eh?!” Whoever’s shaking you is as gentle as Ibuki is mellow. You open your eyes as you push Owari away (no surprises there). “Oi, oi, cut that out!”
“How are you feeling?” Sonia asks. You pause, and finally take in your surroundings.
You seem to be in the storage room of the hospital. Unlike the simulation version, this room is completely bare and free of clutter, only hosting a hospital bed — which you’re lying on — and a desk. Sonia is perched at the end of your bed, Owari is standing right next to you, and Kuzuryuu is across the room, leaning against the door.
It kinda feels like you’ve been hit by a bus.
“Uh… what’s going on? I was in the room with everyone… And where’s Souda? Why—”
“Please remain calm, Hinata. There is nothing to worry about.” Sonia smiles at you, seemingly brimming with energy. “I am so glad to see you back to your normal self.”
“My normal self? Wait… Does that mean—” For a moment you’re reeling, unconsciously digging your nails into your skin. Drawing blood.
“Don’t be stupid, Hinata.” Kuzuryuu scoffs, and your tension eases. “There’s no problem.”
“But… I became — I… I became him.”
“Yeah.”
“Then—”
Owari interrupts. “Just listen, okay? He did somethin’ to the comatose kids. Dunno what. Dragged a bunch of equipment in — actually, he dragged a bunch of shitty spare parts in, and turned it all into… Uh, well, like I said, I dunno what he did. But it looked pretty fuckin’ impressive. Souda ‘bout had a stroke. Then he looked at everybody, hooked ‘em up to his machines, said a bunch of medical stuff like he was ‘stabilizing’, ‘monitoring responses’, ‘restarting the hemispheres’, shit like that. Then he stopped and just said they’d wake up when they’re ready.”
You let this sink in. They’d wake up when they were ready? That’s it? It seemed so simple, after a full month of struggling to figure out what to do. All you had to do was wait? Was it a trap? But as long as your friends woke up…
“Okay…” you relax a bit. “Where’s Souda?”
Owari grunts. “He’s going all gaga over those machines you whipped up. I mean, the ones Kamukura whipped up. He’s not takin’ them apart or anything though, ‘cuz who knows what that’d do — if he ended up hurtin’ Old Man Nidai or one of the others, I’d beat the crap out of ‘em.”
“Ah. Right.”
Owari smacked her fist against her palm and Sonia giggled. The past month all five of you had grown to be extremely close, but those two — Sonia and Owari — were now practically inseparable. Souda called them ‘soulfriends’. But then again, Souda called the two of you soulfriends, so who knows if that’s an actual thing or not…
“So, if I became Kamukura, how did I get back to normal?” you ask. The other three immediately look guilty.
“Well…”
“…What?”
“You know that Togami is on the island currently, right?”
You blink. “Uh, yeah? What’s that got to do with anything?”
Owari purses her lips. “I mean, he heard what we were gonna try to do.” For some reason she looks like she’s trying not to laugh.
“So?”
“So, when Kamukura’d finished, he was just kinda standin’ there. Like, you weren’t coming back or anything. So Togami shows up, heads straight for ya, and he — he tased you, and then just walked out like nothin’ happened!” Owari starts cackling. “Oh, man, it was hilarious…!”
“Owari…!” Sonia elbows her. “Sorry, Hinata. You know how she is.”
Kuzuryuu chimes in to finish the story. “He tried to use Genocider Syo’s trick on Kamukura. And that was it. He left with an insult, as usual.”
Sonia hides a smile behind her hand. “I believe his parting words were, ‘quit messing around. I don’t have the time to be dealing with your plebeian problems’.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” you interrupt, holding your hand up. “Togami tased me? To try and switch me back to normal??”
“Yeah.”
“What the fuck.”
Owari and Sonia begin to laugh in earnest. You make a face and complain, “How is that even possible? Kamukura and I — our situation isn’t even remotely similar to Fukawa and Genocider’s!”
Sonia’s grin widens. “Well, it is remote ly similar.”
“Shut up.”
Kuzuryuu snorts. “Well, in any case, don’t expect me to explain how that worked, cause I have no idea. I don’t think Togami even knew if it would work or not — he just did it anyway.”
“So he tased me, not even knowing if it would work?” You groan. “No wonder I feel like shit.”
“Sorry, Hinata. But you can see why we’re taking it lightly, right?” Kuzuryuu asks.
“Eh…?”
Owari springs into a victory pose. “You did it! Everyone’s going to wake up now!”
“Yeah… yeah! That’s incredible.” You move to get out of bed, and Owari grabs you in a headlock. Sonia and Kuzuryuu grin even as you protest, seeing what she’s up to, and join you in a big group hug.
The relief surging through you all is exactly what you’d all been waiting for. For now, you could breathe again, just knowing that your friends would be reunited again. Alive, awake, and themselves.
As for what you’d need to do when they wake up… Well. You’ll save that problem for another day.