Chapter Text
The button clicks when Naegi pushes it. Then it happens, the sirens and the opening of the door that had held them trapped for so long. They expect noise, people rioting and screaming. They expected rubble, and polluted air, they expected the world to be destroyed around them. And that's why it was so much of a surprise when there was none of that, nothing like that at all. The police make noises of surprise when they step out of the darkness of the school. The only people who could be more surprised at that moment were the former students of Hope's Peak.
Naegi dropped the button, their escape switch clattered to the ground. Kirigiri stiffened, inhaling suddenly, seen caught off guard for the first time in what seemed like forever. Naegi could faintly hear the noise of shock from Togami over the sound of his ears ringing. Fukawa was silent, eyes wide and mouth open slightly, and Asahina almost screamed. Hagakure was the first one of them to speak, murmuring something about ghosts.
They stood motionless as the police called paramedics to take them away and explore the school. One of them started to reach out for Fukawa and started pulling her towards an ambulance, moving Togami to another. The girl reached out and grabbed his hand, "We stay together." She reached out and grabbed Asahina's hand with her other, holding them both close to her. Naegi reached out and grasped Kirigiri and Asahina's hands, and Kirigiri held Hagakure's.
They stood silent, holding onto each other and refusing to let go, and that found them sitting together in the back of an ambulance as it took them away to the hospital. Doctors swarmed around them, checking them for
injuries and asking more questions than Naegi could have ever imagined.
Then came the visitors. Most of the students were hugged by their families, people who were so happy to have them back, to have them safe. Kirigiri could hear the sounds of the families gathered around the other students, and she looked down at her hands. Kyouko. The password was her name. Naegi leaned against her slightly, and she looked up at him.
No one was really sure what they were going to do next. The families talked of taking them home, getting them back to their normal lives, though the doctors wanted to keep the students overnight for observation. They stayed together, each of them staying next to at least one of their classmates at all times.
Naegi looked around, noticing the way Fukawa was leaned against Togami, and the way he wrapped an arm around her when he thought no one was looking. Hagakure just sat there and talked to Asahina, who looked half asleep. Kirigiri sat next to Naegi, and he reached over to lay his hand on top of hers. She pulled her hand away, then, after meeting his eyes, put her hand back.
Naegi doesn't know when he falls asleep, but some part of him knows he's dreaming. He's walking down a hallway at Hope's Peak, and when he turns around the corner, he sees two people standing there, facing away from him. "M-Maizono? Kuwata?" He calls out, and Maizono turns around, a knife sticking out of her chest, Kuwata was bruised and bleeding, parts of his body out of shape, broken.
Naegi screams and turns around, running away. He was barely down the hall when he saw Fujisaki and Oowada, standing there staring at him. Oowada looked partly melted, melting more with every passing second. He took a step back, running up the stairs instead. He stopped dead in his tracks, seeing Ishimaru and Yamada standing there, blood slowly dripping from their heads.
Naegi stepped back, tripping over his own feet and turning around to see Celestia, no... He saw what was left of Celestia. He ran up the stairs again, seeing Oogami standing against the wall. He froze for a moment before slowly going up the stairs again, almost knowing what to expect. Ikusaba and Enoshima stood at the top of the stairs, silent. Suddenly, Enoshima landed a kick down him, and he fell from the stairs, screaming.
He was screaming, and he could feel hands on him, and that's when he opened his eyes. Kirigiri was standing over him, watching him. The other students, woken by his nightmare, looked at him. He looked down at his hands before holding his head in them. He told them about the dream, told them about the guilt, told them about his fear. It's not long before they all reveal the same fear, everyone but Kirigiri, who is silent.
When the hospital finally lets them out, they still won't let go of each other. And it's because of that not letting go, that they end up staying with Togami. There's so much space there, enough for all of them. They don't spend much time alone, and they hardly go out. It's understandable, that they're afraid. They watch the news, watch themselves on camera, the flashes in their face from people who want a picture of them whenever they go out.
It seems like forever when they finally go out for something important. They're going to talk in front of people, police, families, and friends. They're seated at a long table, on a platform. The people watch them, asking questions. Naegi can see his family there in the crowd, he can see gang members, the Crazy Diamonds, and he can see other families. They're here, the relatives of the students that had died.
When they get back, Asahina's crying and all of them are quiet. It's hard to look at families, the people who had lost their children in the school, and talk to them, knowing that they had survived, and the others didn't. When they sleep again, it's in a pile of blankets and pillows in the middle of the floor. They're close, curled against one another, or holding hands in their sleep. And the quiet hurts.