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To get the other students of the 79th class back. That was the goal of the plan.
Souda and Alter Ego (who had become amazing friends with their mutual love of technology), along with the Future Foundation scientists had worked to...well, fix the bodies of the comatose students. Komaeda was given a new prosthetic hand. Cuts were healed, limbs were replaced, operations were performed to bring the bodies back to top condition.
In real life, Nidai had never become a robot. Kuzuryuu never lost an eye. But everywhere else the bodies of the students were battered and bruised, and Hinata woke up to find his hair longer and darker than it should have been.
He cut it back to what it was supposed to be; he even kept the awkward ahoge that only seemed to weigh itself down when it was as long as Kamukura's. But his eyes were still red, and it was unsettling. He couldn't look in a mirror without feeling unlike himself.
Sonia was kind enough to invest in colored contact lenses for him. She bought everyone clothes to mirror what they wore during their mutual killing. As traumatizing as thinking about it should have been, Hinata found himself feeling nostalgic more than anything, and the bonds he had with his friends were better than ever.
(He noticed that this applied with Naegi and his crew as well; despite their differences, they all managed to stay close to each other, comfort one another in times of unrest.)
And now, here he was, standing alongside his conscious classmates, staring at the comatose, tightly squeezing Kuzuryuu's hand in his right and Owari's in his left, waiting for Alter Ego to shut off the life support and remove the sedative and all he could do was hope, hope that maybe they weren't dead and they'd all be okay--
The units whirr to a stop and the gentle green glow flickers out. Nobody breathes.
A long silence followed.
"Whoops, guess they're dead!" Syo giggles in the background. Togami pushes her outside when Sonia begins to cry.
Owari cries, Kuzuryuu cries, Souda cries. Out of the corner of his blurred vision, Hinata sees Asahina burying her face in Hagakure's shirt as her shoulders shake.
A cough sounds from Komaeda's pod.
The effect is immediate; Hinata rushes over to the unit, tripping over his own feet and forgetting that he's dragged his friends with him, but they don't care either, because their friend is alive and things are going to be alright.
Komaeda struggles to sit up in his metal unit, and Hinata has to provide support so that he doesn't flop back down and concuss himself. Hinata's hyperventilating, his hands shaking with anticipation, excitement, and fear all at once.
Another groan sounds from Tanaka's pod. And another from Nidai's, then Tsumiki's, Mioda's, Saionji's, Pekoyama's, Koizumi's, Hanamura's, Togami's. Hands are dropped and the students rush to help. Kuzuryuu makes a beeline for Pekoyama, holding her hands to help her sit up, handling her oh-so delicately. Sonia's still crying, but it's happy tears now, and she shows Tanaka that she took good care of his hamsters while he was away, and Sun-D and Maga-G are married now, and she put Chan-P on an exercise plan. Owari is at Nidai's side first, and she's crying too but trying to play it off casually as she babbles about how happy she is. Souda looks like he doesn't know where to go first, so he just stands there, and Asahina finally gives him an awkward friendship hug.
"Who are you?"
Hinata looks back down at Komaeda. There's a blank, yet skeptical look on the pale boy's face.
"Komaeda...?" Hinata breathes. This is not happening this is not what this was going to be like
"I'm Komaeda," he replies irritably. "I want to know your name."
"Peko, don't you remember me?! I... You lived with me all my life, we were best friends! Y-You can't..."
"N-Nidai, this is a joke, right?"
"Tanaka, Gundam, please, your hamsters--"
"Oi," Saionji yells at Asahina, looking to old for her attitude with a sneer on her face. "None of us know what's going on. Care to explain, Titties McGee?"
"W-What...!" Asahina covers up her chest (and wipes away a couple tears).
"We're sorry for the inconvenience," Kirigiri's cold voice cuts through the commotion as she enters the room, Naegi following close behind. "You all must be tired and confused, but everything will be explained in due time. For now, it would be appreciated if the subjects would make their way to the next room over for a check-up."
"T-Test subjects...?" Tsumiki stutters uneasily.
"Please, everyone, if you can stand and walk, to the lab," Naegi reiterates.
Komaeda looks mildly displeased, but complies, Hinata helps support him as he stands and takes a couple steps. The frail boy looks up at him with the same lopsided grin he had before he died, and all of a sudden Hinata has cotton in his throat that's making it hard to talk or breathe.
The students go back to their bedrooms and cry.
--
"Retrograde amnesia," Kirigiri sits down at the conference desk, papers in hand. "It looks permanent, too."
"So, they don't remember anything, right?" says Hagakure. "But they still know how to speak, and do math, and stuff?"
"That would be correct," Togami confirms. "The condition that our students are faced with involves episodic and declarative memories, perhaps factual information absorbed beforehand. Much knowledge that is not stored in the hippocampus, temporal lobes, or diencephalon will remain intact."
"Ah, my Byakuya-sama's so smart~" Fukawa croons. Togami scowls and coughs.
"Because the temporal lobes may be affected, however, non-verbal communication might be impaired," Kirigiri adds on.
"So like music, and drawings?" Asahina asks, munching on a bagel.
"Wait, then what about Saionji-chi and Mioda-chi?!" Hagakure gasps.
"We don't know the exact conditions of every patient yet," Kirigiri says. "Some may be worse then others. Komaeda, for example, seems to have retained some of his long-term memory, as he knows his name. Nidai and Tanaka also seem to be in this situation.
The others, however, have no recollection of their previous lives, SHSL Despair or otherwise."
There is a long silence.
"H-How are Fuyuhiko-kun and the others doing?" Fukawa asks nervously, twiddling with her braids.
Naegi sighs and looks away. "They're not taking it too well. Souda-kun's the only one who's even come out of his room since yesterday, and that was to help with the project..."
--
"It could be worse, though, right?" Owari asks her friend. She's lying on her bed, her legs up in the air. She lifts her head when she gets no response. "Sonia?"
Sonia looks up from petting Jum-P with a start. She sighs and swivels in the desk chair. "I'm sorry, Akane-chan. Yes, I suppose it could be worse..."
"Toss me a rice ball?" Owari asks, and Sonia complies. "I mean, there's nothing stopping us from rebuilding their memories with us. If anything, it's kind of a relief that they don't remember their despair days, or... ya know."
Sonia nods, rubbing Sun-D's neck thoughtfully as the female hamster munches on a seed. "But still... I feel like things will not be the same as they were before. Tanaka-san will have to relearn his skills as an animal breeder, will he not? Who will care for the Four Dark Gods of Destruction?"
"You're doin' a fine job right now," Owari flips over onto her stomach, munching on her rice ball.
"Yes, but..." Sonia sighs. "I want to find out if Novoselic is still... intact. I cannot stay the caretaker of these hamsters forever, and I presumed that once everyone had woken up, Gundam and Kazuichi and I would move out and go on together..." She starts to hiccup as tears roll down her face.
"Aw, no, c'mon now," Owari stands up and walks towards her friend, giving her a bone-crushing, awkward hug. "Everything's gonna work out, m'kay, Princess?"