"Nanami!! Are you okay!?"
"We heard an explosion from the hospital!?"
"D-Don't tell me... that bastard Komaeda... blew up...?"
Once that frantic crisis finally ended and I had a moment to catch my breath, the children's panicked voices started crackling through the radio.
"No, it's over. There weren't any bombs, and everyone's safe now."
"R-Really!?"
"Th-That's a relief!! I thought we were seriously gonna get blown to bits...!"
"I'm coming right now, Nanami!!"
I was smiling as I listened to the chatter over the radio when Komaeda's voice drifted over from in front of me.
"To move toward the future... So that's your answer..."
"Huh?"
"You deny even hope... and the answer you arrived at is to move toward the 'future'...?"
"...Komaeda-kun."
"Then what meaning did my life have, living all this time in adoration of hope? My life, believing hope alone was the truth... what meaning could it possibly have had...?"
"....."
"Ah, of course... My life never had any meaning to begin with. Right... someone like me could never have had a meaningful life... Ahahaha..."
Komaeda sank quietly to the floor, his face utterly drained of strength. I looked at him for a moment, then spoke.
"I never denied hope."
"...What?"
"I said I've never denied hope."
"But... you said it wasn't for hope, but for the future..."
"The future includes hope. But it includes despair too. Saying I'm choosing the future means I won't choose one over the other. It means I've decided to carry all of it with me."
"Carry hope and despair... at the same time...?"
"Yeah. You probably can't understand it yet... but that's the conclusion I reached while living here. So don't sink too deep into despair over it."
"....."
Komaeda's expression slowly twisted into confusion. Looking at him, I quietly added one more thing.
"If that's how you feel... then how about hoping for the future from now on, Komaeda-kun?"
"Hope... for the future..."
Komaeda muttered to himself for a moment. Then, all at once, he burst into laughter and looked at me.
"Ahahahahahahahaha... You're telling me to hope for both hope and despair at once...? Now that's..."
"There!!!"
"Nanami!!!! Are you okay!?!?"
"Komaeda, you piece of crap...! You're dead meat...!"
Komaeda had been about to say something else, but the children suddenly came charging in and threw themselves at him, forcing him to stop.
"...Of course, before that, you'll need to pay for your sins, Komaeda-kun."
Leaving him with those words, I stepped out of the hospital room while the others cracked their knuckles behind me with ominous relish.
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"Upupupu... In the end, even the final plan went up in smoke. How despair-inducing... Upupupu..."
[Enoshima's Alter Ego], who had been watching the events inside the hospital with keen amusement, let out an empty laugh and started muttering once Komaeda had been neutralized.
"And that video Komaeda went to all the trouble of giving me—'Every last one of you except Nanami is the culprit!'—ended up totally useless... the [Future Foundation]'s attack has reached its peak... and the kids are overflowing with hope..."
She kept grumbling under her breath, but before long a knowing smile spread across her face as she peered into the monitor.
"Then again, hope is just as impossible to predict as despair, isn't it...? Upupupu... Upupupupu..."
On the monitor she was watching, [Hajime Hinata] was shown in close-up, sweating bullets as he desperately tried to stop the children from beating Komaeda into the ground.
"Right... the timer's almost up anyway... No one died, but there's still a chance the objective will be fulfilled... if I do as you asked..."
Onscreen, Hinata was trying to hold everyone back, only to get shoved over and land flat on his rear before awkwardly scratching his head. Watching that, the Alter Ego snorted in amusement and murmured,
"Honestly, I'm not even sure which side you're on... but anyway, I'm counting on you... okay?"
She finished speaking while staring at Hinata with naked curiosity.
"[Hajime Hinata]... or rather, Senior [Kamukura Izuru]?"
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"Haaah... So I guess this whole mess is finally over..."
"Looks that way... It was way too close for comfort, but... thank goodness no one died..."
"More importantly, the first island got blown up... so where are we supposed to live now...?"
Dragging the unconscious Komaeda out of the hospital after he'd finally been beaten senseless, the children let out weary sighs and started worrying about where they'd stay from here on out.
"Well, what can you do... I guess we'll have to sleep rough in [Jabberwock Park] or something..."
"B-But... the [supermarket] got blown away with the first island, so we can't even get camping supplies..."
"What are you idiots talking about? We can just stay at that [motel] over there... right?"
"A few of us already checked earlier. The sewage pipes burst and everything's overflowing. If you can endure that hellish stench... then sure, stay at the motel if you want."
"S-Souda...! Can't you do something about it!?"
"Even for me, fixing an entire motel would take a pretty long time... haha..."
While the others were deep in conversation, Hinata stood apart from them, wearing a gloomy expression.
Nanami, who had been quietly watching him, carefully walked over and spoke to him.
"Hinata-kun. Why are you off by yourself?"
"....."
"...Hinata-kun?"
Hinata looked at Nanami, started to say something, then closed his mouth again.
"...Is this because Komaeda-kun called you a reserve course student?"
"...Nanami. I really wasn't an Ultimate after all. I'm just an ordinary guy with no talent at all, and the reason I got into [Hope's Peak Academy]... in the end, it was because I was from the reserve course..."
"Hinata-kun..."
"I mean... in a way, it's such a pathetic little secret. It's almost funny that I'm this shaken up over it, right? Honestly, I should be grateful it wasn't something like, 'The amnesiac me was actually the [Mastermind] behind this killing game.'"
"....."
For a split second, Nanami's expression darkened at those words, but Hinata didn't notice and kept going.
"But... just finding out I don't have an Ultimate talent... somehow, it makes me feel like I shouldn't be with you guys."
"...What?"
"It's like... I don't know... the people I was laughing with just a little while ago suddenly feel far away. Even you, Nanami..."
"....."
"S-Sorry... I know thinking like this is completely pointless, but... it's not even something I'm choosing to think. Maybe it's my subconscious or whatever, but these thoughts just keep flooding in, and now I can't get a handle on them anymore..."
"Hinata-kun, stop thinking like that."
"...Huh?"
Nanami looked at him with firm resolve and began to speak.
"No matter what anyone says, you're our friend. The bonds you've built with us until now won't change, no matter what talent you have—or even if you have none at all."
"....."
"And... to me... you're... more precious than anything else... okay?"
".....!"
"So... don't be too discouraged, Hinata-kun."
As she said that, Nanami gently took his hand.
"N-Nanami..."
Hinata's face flushed bright red at her sudden gesture, and just then the others' voices rang out from the distance.
"Hey!! Hinata!! What're you doing over there!? Get over here and help us chop some wood!! We gotta build a temporary shelter already..."
"Seriously, read the room... just leave them alone for a bit..."
"Those two... give it a few more days and they'll definitely... eheheh... ehehehehe..."
"...Keep the flirting to a minimum and come help. We need to build a temporary shelter, and we need a raft too."
"N-No, it's not like that..."
As Hinata stammered with embarrassment written all over his face, Nanami smiled and said,
"See, Hinata-kun? No matter who you are, everyone still thinks of you as their friend."
"...Yeah. I guess you're right."
"Then let's go. Back to everyone."
"...Yeah."
Encouraged by Nanami's words and everyone's voices calling for him, Hinata finally smiled again. He turned and started walking toward the others, his expression brightening.
"Hey! Everyone...!! I'm coming righ—"
Beep...!!! Beep...!!! Beep...!!!
"...Huh!?"
But at that exact moment, the giant bomb-shaped timer standing in the distance in [Jabberwock Park] began blaring deafeningly.
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"Eeeeeek!! D-Don't tell me the bomb Mr. Komaeda planted is...!!!"
"N-Noooo!!! I-I don't wanna die!! W-We have to wake Mr. Komaeda up right now...!"
"E-Everyone, calm down...! That warning sound is coming from the timer in [Jabberwock Park]...!"
"Y-You mean the bomb Monokuma set up...?"
"W-Wait! That still means it's a bomb...!!!"
The bomb-shaped timer in the distance was gradually turning red, smoke pouring from it in ugly bursts.
"H-How much time is left!?"
"N-Not even five minutes!! This is bad...!!"
"Everyone, for now, stay calm. No one actually knows what'll happen when that count reaches zero—"
Rumbleeeee!!!
Pigami was trying his best to stay composed and reassure everyone, but before he could even finish, the entire island suddenly began to shake.
"I-It's an earthquake...!!!"
"No, not an earthquake...! It's the recoil from that bomb!!"
"W-We're gonna die!! We're all gonna die here...!!"
"Th-This time we're jumping into the sea for real!!"
The children fell into full-blown panic, stumbling around in chaos as the situation spiraled out of control. And just as it was about to become completely unmanageable, Nanami shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Everyone!! We need to get to [the ruins] right now!! Hurry!!"
"N-Nanami...?"
"We'll be safe if we go there!! Hurry!!"
"T-The ruins...? But that place has a password...!"
"I know the password...! There's no time to explain. If we don't go right now, it'll be too late!!"
After crying that out in desperate urgency, Nanami took off running toward the second island, and the others, clinging to that sliver of hope like drowning victims, sprinted after her.
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"That bastard Komaeda... seriously, he's useless to the bitter end... I thought I was gonna die hauling him all the way here..."
"Huff... huff... Nanami, are you sure we'll really be safe if we go in here?"
"Q-Quick, enter the password!!"
After running at full speed and reaching [the ruins] on the second island, the children immediately started pressing Nanami.
Rumbleeeeeee!!!
"A-Am I hallucinating right now...?"
"Th-The world is collapsing... What kind of being would need such overwhelming magical power to do something like this...?"
"M-My God... the entire island is falling apart..."
"I-If that's happening... then isn't going into the ruins pointless anyway...?"
The children had gone pale at the catastrophe swallowing the island, trembling with dread. Then the two who had been quietly standing nearby began to soothe them.
"...Don't worry too much. Once you enter the ruins, everyone will be safe."
"These ruins have a special structure. So you can relax."
"I-I don't really get what you mean, but... as long as we're safe once we get in there, right...?"
When the children asked cautiously, the two of them turned gentle smiles on Nanami, who was standing in front of the password panel, and spoke.
"Yes, so... enter it, Nanami."
"The password that will lead everyone to the future."
"...Okay."
Nanami quietly began entering the password into the panel.
Ding ♫
"It worked... Now we just have to open the door. Thank goodness..."
Murmuring to herself, Nanami then turned with a curious look and asked the two standing beside her,
"But why is the password my na—"
But the two who had been there just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
"H-Huh...?"
"Nanami! What's wrong!? Hurry up and enter the password!"
"Right...! Just like they said... they... wait, they!?"
"Th-They were definitely just here... ugh... my head..."
From that instant onward, the world began to crack apart. Numbers started floating in the sky. Men in suits appeared and vanished around them like flickering ghosts. The objects nearby twisted and warped into grotesque, impossible shapes.
"Wh-What... is this...?"
"M-My eyes... won't stay open..."
"M-My head... hurts..."
One by one, everyone clutched their heads and collapsed.
"N-Nanami... I... I... who am I supposed to be...?"
Even Hinata, trembling violently with both hands pressed to his head, finally crumpled to the ground. Left all alone now, Nanami staggered toward the door and muttered through gritted teeth,
"R-Right... this place... was inside a program... This is... a bug... I have to... open... the door..."
Nanami struggled to pull the door open, but after managing only halfway, she finally collapsed too.
"...I have to... get everyone back... get Hinata-kun back..."
With those final words, Nanami lost consciousness.
And so, with everyone sprawled helplessly on the ground, the countdown continued until it was just about to hit zero.
At the very moment the crumbling world was on the verge of swallowing the fallen children whole—
"...How pathetic."
Hinata stood up.
No... not Hinata. Someone wearing Hinata's face.
"In the end, you couldn't move forward and simply collapsed in utter helplessness."
He walked toward the door Nanami had left half-open, then said,
"...It can't be helped."
He threw the door wide open and murmured,
"I've had enough of boring things."
And then light swallowed everything.