Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair

Chapter 67: LOVED BY TALENT

Hajime felt like he had a fun dream somehow, it was during his childhood. Because of that, he was able to face today with a somewhat happier feeling than usual. 

In his dream, he was sitting in his living room, right in front of the TV as his mother watched from the couch. A man in a suit was being interviewed about a massive building being constructed. During the interview, Hajime found out that the man being interviewed would eventually be known as the principal of a school that'll eventually become known as the Academy of Hope. That man's name was Jin Kirigiri, and that school went on to be called Hope's Peak Academy.

Seeing his son admire a new school made Hajime's mother want to help him attend the academy, but Hajime would have to wait until he was in high school in order to be enrolled. Having that dream gave Hajime hope that someday he'll become someone he could be proud of. Because of his admiration for Hope's Peak Academy, he had a goal to enter the school, graduate, and be able to make a difference in the lives of everyone he wanted to help. 

Sadly, the present wasn't as nice as his dream. It's been almost two whole days since the last class trial took place, and almost two whole days since the group lost Nagito and Chiaki. When the next day came along, Hajime was so depressed that he couldn't even bother leaving his bed. He ended up sleeping all day, and he was planning to do the same for the next day. Even with that dream restoring some of his hope, a certain something that Chiaki said on the First Island's beach back when the Third Island was first open to the group came to mind...

Don't ever forget about me. Even after you get out of here.

Today was officially the last day until that countdown in the park reaches zero. But once he opened his eyes, Hajime's body shuddered. He was gripped by a fear that he had never felt before. Just when he thought he was going to be okay, this weird fear comes along and ruins his mood. It felt like he had been abandoned in this world. Completely, utterly alone. With nobody left on this island. Kazuichi, Akane, Sonia, Fuyuhiko, it was like everyone was gone and he couldn't find them anywhere. He suddenly couldn't believe in anything, like everything in this world was nothing but lies. In order to escape that fear, Hajime made a break for the door to his cottage and opened it. When he left his cottage, he randomly ran into someone.

Chiaki: "Ah, Hajime, good timing." For some reason, Chiaki was standing right in front of Hajime, smiling as if her execution never happened. Hajime wanted to question what was going on, but his mouth refused to say the words he wanted. Instead, he started talking as if he completely forgot about the execution as well.

Hajime: "Good timing... what do you mean?"

Chiaki: "Remember Nagito's video message that we found at the factory?"

Hajime: "Yeah, when we were dealing with the bomb ruckus... what about it?"

Chiaki: "Apparently, there was more to that message inside that laptop."

Hajime: "Huh?"

Chiaki: "We weren't able to see it until a day or so had passed. Apparently, it was locked by a timer. Did he... set it up so we wouldn't be able to watch it until after the class trial?"

Hajime: "W-Why... would he do that?"

Chiaki: "Maybe... Nagito planned to leave this as a will."

Hajime: "Nagito's will? W-Where is it right now?"

Chiaki: "We were just planning to meet at the restaurant and watch it together."

Hajime: "G-Got it... the restaurant." Although he was unable to say what was on his mind, Hajime was freaking out right now. As he watched Chiaki walk to the restaurant, Hajime's vision suddenly started to fade away. Instead of blacking out, everything in front of him looked like it was glitching. In an instant, Hajime somehow found himself inside the hotel lobby, now he was even more freaked out. 'W-What the hell is going on!? And why can't I say anything!? C-Chiaki... was right in front of me... and I just went along with it like it was no big deal! I don't know what's going on!' Hajime's feet began moving on their own, and he was forced to watch himself walk up the stairs that led into the restaurant. Once he arrived at the top of the stairs, he saw the others standing by the laptop Chiaki told him about.