8 First Session

After Nagito took Kaede away, the last four students remaining where taken away one by one, by their respective tutors. Shuichi memorized each tutor of his classmates, he made a mental note about it and cautiously remembered each and every single pairing.

Keebo – Kazuichi

Gonta – Tanaka

Korekiyo – Mahiru

Ryoma – Ultimate Imposter (Name Unknown)

Kirumi – Mikan

Tenko – Akane

Miu – Hiyoko

Oma – Fuyuhiko

Himiko – Sonia

Kaito – Nekomaru

Maki – Pekoyama

Angie – Ibuki

Kaede – Nagito

Everyone had already their tutor and the only ones left in that room were two people. Shuichi and Hajime.

"This leaves the two of us, Saihara-kun. I already introduced myself, so I think it will be a little awkward to do it again, don't you think?" Hajime let out a slight smile.

"No" Shuichi interrupted, "You did not tell me what your Ultimate talent is" Shuichi looked Hajime dead in the eyes.

"I see, they don't call you the Ultimate Detective for nothing, you can't leave any details out there, huh?" Hajime was not surprised nor angry at witnessing Shuichi's reaction.

"I will tell you everything about me, everything you want to know, but that will happen in our first tutoring session that will take place right now" Shuichi was a little surprised and confused by Hajime's words. "But first, we need a place where we can relax and have a nice chat, so tell me Shuichi what kind of places you like?"

Shuichi was a little thrown off by this question. "What do you mean?"

"For example, what kind of scenery calms you the most, outdoors, indoors, a restaurant, a room, a café" Hajime's words were full of patience.

"In that case, I wouldn't mind talking in a nice park" Shuichi answered lowering his mental guard for a few moments.

"Perfect, then I know just the place" Hajime walked out of the laboratory into the beautiful beachful scenery.

The moment Shuichi took a step out of the laboratory, he realized he was surrounded by a majestic tropical environment. "Where am I?" Asked Shuichi to himself in a low voice.

"This is Jabberwock Island, our home" Hajime apparently could listen to Shuichi's question.

After a few minutes of walking around, Shuichi notice that this island, or more likely islands, were united by bridges, each island was united to the main island, but these little islands were not connected to each other. Hajime led Shuichi to the center of the main island, a small sign in the way said they were getting near to 'Jabberwock Park', as they came closer to the park, Shuichi was amazed by the scenery the park offered a beautiful fountain in the middle of it and this was surrounded by massive amounts of trees which gave off a nice shadow to take a nap in.

Shuichi and Hajime sat under one of these trees' shadows. "So, tell me, do you want to start asking or would you like me to tell you my story?" Hajime asked as soon as they settled in their spots.

"You can start" Answered Shuichi without thinking too much about it.

"When I was in Hope Peaks Academy, I was a Reserve Course Student, I did not have any talent at all. I admired Hope Peaks Academy and I wanted to get in no matter what, but the only choice I had was the Reserve Course"

Shuichi's eyes were wide open when he heard he had no talent at all, he was at a loss of words. "While being in the Reserve Course I loathed myself for not having any talent, I wanted to be special, but I was just a normal person, a nobody. But then I met her, and I realized that being normal was okay, unfortunately, if I had listened to her sooner, maybe things wouldn't be as they are right now." Hajime's eyes started to look gloomy, "Chiaki Nanami was the name of that girl, she was the reason why all of my classmates were brainwashed." Shuichi a little bit confused, asked Hajime about it.

"So, she was the one behind all the Tragedy?"

"Of course not," Hajime answered with a sad smile on his face.

"My classmates were forced to see her death" Shuichi's skin went pale as soon as he heard this. "She was the first victim of Junko Enoshima, Chiaki's death was what drove all my classmates to become the Remnants of Despair, the amount of despair they witnessed made them go crazy." Shuichi felt that the rug was tugged under him, he thought that he had no right to be disrespectful with any of the tutors back then.

"But then, what about you? Where were you?" Shuichi asked with a puzzled face.

"At that time, I wanted to be special too, so I entered as a test subject in a secret project the school was working on. They were trying to revive the school's founder, by putting his brain and ideals, in someone else so he could be reincarnated, and that was me." Shuichi could not bear all of Hajime's painful story, he felt sick. "After the experiment was a success, let's say that the founder took over my body, I was no longer Hajime Hinata, but Izuru Kamakura also known as Ultimate Hope."

Hajime's words started to get a little wobbly as he progressed with the story. "Izuru was bored of what hope represented, so Junko Enoshima deceived him so he could find an interest in despair, which worked, and led him to be a member of The Remnants of Despair." Hajime paused. The silence between the two was hard to bear, especially for Shuichi. He accused them of kidnap and keep suspecting them, but the ones in a tight spot were them. Not his friends. Not Kaede. Not Shuichi himself, but Hajime and his friends.

"From that point on, I can't remember what happened, the last thing I remember is waking up in the simulator, into another killing game. When I woke up from the simulator I was the person you see now, with a talent, but while still being my past self. I am now known as Ultimate Hope, that is my talent."Hajime concluded and turned his head in Shuichi's direction. "Now tell me, do you have any questions?" Hajime asked.

"Yes, just one." Shuichi as he said this bowed his head until the front of his face touched the floor.

"Could you forgive me for my behavior until now?" Shuichi said with a regretful voice and mind.

"There is nothing to forgive, I told Rantaro earlier didn't I?" Shuichi lifted his face to meet Hajime's eyes. "You would soon understand."