Feels good to return. Also this chapter is kinda leading up to depressing stuff .

And we are back. Back into the creepy basement underground hideout. Seriously what is that room?! And like I mentioned previously why was Ryota down there?! Why is he with Junko?! Who is that black haired boy!? Is Nagito going to be ok!? I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what was I saying? Oh right back to plot. And here we go.

So back down in the basement. "Hajime... Hajime... Right? You're Hajime, aren't you? What happened to your hair?" Chiaki asks before smiling. "That is what you are asking him Chiaki? His hair isn't important right now!" I say face palming.

"Who are you?" He asks and I look back at him and Junko from face palming. Junko begins to clap.

"Okay! Okay, okay, okay. This isn't some shojo manga. How long will you stare into one another's eyes?" Junko says.

"Yeah this is getting weird." I say sadly because I am agreeing with Junko. "Y-You're..." Chiaki stammers as Junko walks over and grabs her chin. And for some reason she had put glasses on.

"The mastermind of this whole affair." Junko says. "Yeah and also the worst human being ever." I say angrily. "Huh?" Chiaki says confused.

"You are the other class representative of Class 77-B, Chiaki Nanami, correct?" Junko asks politely. "Y-Yes." Chiaki says as Junko lets go causing Chiaki to stumble backwards.

"I've been waiting to make friends with you! Thank you for coming to me yourself!" Junko says happily. "Junko she is never going to ever want to be friends with you after she finds out what you have done." I say as I raise my fist angrily.

"Wh-What are you..." Chiaki asks nervously. "It's simple! We'll just watch a little movie-" Junko says before being interrupted by someone yelling from the back of the room.

"Hayami! Chiaki!" Ms. Yukizome says as she runs into the room and throws a fire extinguisher towards Junko. This caused a smoke to fill the room.

"Hey...Isn't this corporal punishment?" Junko says coughing from the smoke. I could barely see anything inside the room any more due to the smoke. It was easy to hear though.

"Ms. Yukizome!" Chiaki says as she turns to Ms. Yukizome. "Take Nagito and run." Ms. Yukizome yells. "But..." Chiaki says.

"Just do it fast! Leave this to me. After all, I'm your teacher." Ms. Yukizome says as she looks over to Chiaki confidently. Chiaki nods as she grabs onto Nagito and carries him out of the room.

I try to find the door and follow but due to the smoke I couldn't. The last thing I remember was a slight pain in the back of my head before I lost consciousness.

I woke back up to the smoke having cleared from the room and being on the floor. It seemed that despite the room just being a square no one had noticed that I was still there. I also looked over to see Ms. Yukizome facing Junko.

"You let them go pretty easily." Ms. Yukizome says confused. "Yeah, sorta... Because I came up with something even better!" Junko exclaims happily.

"Who are you people?" Ms. Yukizome says as I stand up quietly. "Me? I'm the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima. The woman who will knock the world into despair." Junko says putting her hand on the boy's shoulder. "And this is the Ultimate Hope, Izuru Kamakura!" Junko says.

And I blow my cover as I gasp and start crying. "I-It c-can't be...n-no th-that's i-impossible." I say between sobs. "Oh your still here Hayami? I would've expected you to run away again." Junko says happily.

I fall back down to the floor in tears. "I refuse to believe this is true. I even if I had seen it with my own eyes. I refuse to believe this!" I yell as I continue to cry.

"But it is all true. Why can't you see that?" Junko says pointing at me. "Izuru? You can't mean..." Ms. Yukizome says scared.

"You've been sniffing around a lot, haven't you? Isn't it great that you could see him now, at the end?" Junko says as I move to my feet as I think about what Junko said.

It had happened, I was falling into despair. Even with hope still within me, despair was beginning to over take me. Despair for what I had caused, despair of who was hurt because of me.

"Ms. Yukizome, I'm sorry that this happened! This is all my fault!" I yell. And before any of the people in the room could react I ran out of the room and back up the stairs.

I am a coward and an idiot, I can't face this alone. If I want to face this I need my friends. But even so hope still exists. If I could ask Hajime what I should do. Hajime would want me to continue forward.

He would want me not to give up. I WILL NOT GIVE UP! HOPE WILL NOT LOSE! Even if it costs me my life. Hope will win. I promise that!

I ran and ran. I didn't stop running. I kept on running until I had made it back to the building our classroom was in. I decided to go back there to clear my head.

Once I had gotten there everyone was talking. Well aside from Mikan and Peko because they weren't there.

"What?! Ms. Yukizome and Hayami?" Sonia yells as I run into the door. "Yeah.We need to go and save them!" Chiaki says as she sets Nagito down to rest.

"Guys...I'm so sorry." I say as I try to catch my breath seeing as I basically sprinted here. "Hayami, are you ok? What happened?" Mahiru asks as I walk over.

"I am an idiot and a coward. Ms. Yukizome is still captured, and it is all my fault. I was knocked out. And when I came to I was scared and I ran. I couldn't take being down there anymore. Seeing them again, I couldn't take it. Everyone if Ms. Yukizome dies then it's my fault. I'm so sorry!" I say as tears once again run down my face.

"Hayami, it's ok. I should've went back for you when I didn't see you behind me." Chiaki says as she gives me a hug. "All right Hayami, we will go and save Ms. Yukizome! We just have to beat up a woman in flashy clothes, right?" Akane asks grabbing her bicep.

I nod, I decided not to bring up Izuru because I don't feel like talking about him right now. "At last, the time to unseal my powers has come?" Gundham says as he holds his hand up to his left eye. Even in this moment Gundham is still really weird.

"Thanks, everyone!" Chiaki says happily. "W-We'll come too..." Mikan says as she walks through the door holding an injured Peko. What did Mukuro do to her? Personally I really don't want to know.

"Mikan! Peko, you..." Fuyuhiko says as he runs over to the girls. "Peko are you ok?" I yelled as I follow. "Why do you look like that?" Fuyuhiko says as he takes Peko in his arms.

"Young master, please run." Peko replies sadly. We discussed for a few minutes how to save Ms. Yukizome.

Eventually Nekomaru suggested us all going to the basement together and taking it on by force. It was a bad idea to be honest. "I like it! It's "Operation Take Back Our Teacher!" Ibuki says giving a thumbs up.

"Yeah." "Ryota" says nodding in agreement. "Let's make that Junko's teeth clatter!" Hiyoko says as she smiles. "You shouldn't do that." Nagito says as we all look over at him in confusion.

"Nagito what do you mean?" I ask kneeling down next to him. "Yes, you do possess wonderful talents. But you are no match for them. Their despair is off the charts. For you to try taking them on would be suicide..." Nagito says as he sadly stares at the floor.

"Huh?! We won't know until we try!" Fuyuhiko says angrily. "You must not." Peko says looking up at Fuyuhiko sadly. "They beat you up this badly. You think I can take that lying down?" Fuyuhiko yells.

"Young master..." Peko replied quietly. "I say this out of concern for all of you. You both also saw them, Hayami and Chiaki. You understand, right?" Nagito said.

"But..." Chiaki says confused. "Do you want to die?" Nagito asks. "D-Die?" Hiyoko questions. This was like the first time since Sato's death that she looked concerned.

"Once you start talking about us dying..." Teruteru says as he pokes his pointer fingers together. "Yeah, it just doesn't feel real..." Mahiru says as she sadly looks down at her feet.

"Yeah, you're all Ultimates. Not only are you brimming with talent, you know when to call it quits, right?" Nagito says sadly.

Wait a second, this isn't like him. I think he might be in a way testing us. Everyone appeared to be losing all hope. All except for Chiaki and I.

"Really?! Are you really ok with that?" Chiaki asks basically yelling. "I agree with Chiaki, we can't give up. Our teacher is in serious trouble!" I yell.

"Remember what Hayami said at the end of last year? If Ms. Yukizome hadn't been there for us, we would not all be here now together. I think I'd still be a loner." Chiaki says.

"Yeah I'm sure that if Ms. Yukizome wasn't around we would have never gotten to know each other so well." I replied happily. "It's fun to play games as a group... I'd never have learned that." Chiaki says.

"We have seen a lot. And through the fun times and the sad times, she was there, with us." I say as I put my hand to my heart and Chiaki does the same. "We can't just do nothing!" Chiaki yells.

"I never said I wasn't going." Akane says as she smiles. "Ibuki fully intends to go, too!" Ibuki says as she salutes us. "I-I'll go, to after all!" Teruteru says still poking his fingers together. "I can't just stay here, waiting all by myself." Mahiru says as she smiles and raises her hands.

"As a Warrior of the Void, I can tell... High school is not a lonely place." Gundham says as I smile but also question what anything he says means. "I'll go, too. Because I'm your classmate, as well." "Ryota" says he rips his mask of a face off.

He revealed to have short black hair and gray eyes instead of what everyone was used to. Everyone was confused to put it lightly.

"Wh-Who the heck are you?!" Kazuichi says as he seems to have his eyes bulging out of his face. "I am the Ultimate Impostor. Up until now, I've been using the guise of Ryota, to deceive you all." Impostor says.

"Everyone please don't freak out about this. You'll get used to him." I say quietly. "H-Hold on. Then, where's the real Ryota?" Mahiru questions.

"He must have been captured by Junko. For his sake, I don't have the option of just sitting here." Imposter says. "He was." I reply.

During my reply I start to hear Nagito laughing. "I was sure this would happen. I was testing you all..." Nagito says and I point at him. "I knew it. You were acting to weird for you to not just be testing us." I say happily.

"I'm sure, no matter how great the despair, you can make it a stepping stone towards hope." Nagito says as he looks up at us. "Hmph, don't be so roundabout." Fuyuhiko says. "But I was able to do this because I believe in you all. I'll go, too..." Nagito says only to fall back to the floor.

"Oof." Nagito says as he falls over. Me and Chiaki run over to his sides. "Nagito!" I yell concerned. "Nagito, be strong!" Chiaki yells as we lift him back from his place on the floor.

"He may have pushed himself too hard." Mikan says from across the room. That and the fact he was shot in the chest earlier. "Kazuichi, give Nagito a piggyback ride!" Sonia yells as she points at Nagito.

"Yes! If you order it, I'll carry anything, anywhere!" Kazuichi says saluting Sonia. "Wait, what good will bringing an unconscious person do?" Mahiru asks politely. "Don't say that. At the end of endless trials, fate has gathered us here." Gundham says.

Mahiru then gives him 'the what the heck' look. "Onward, to battle!" Nekomaru yells as it looks like lightning comes out of his eyebrows. How did the heck did he do that?! "Yeah!" We all yell happily.

We'll definitely save you. Though at the last minute, I think. This is gonna probably end badly. Of course I don't say that out loud but. Ms. Yukizome we're coming for you.

Once we had gotten back outside it was still raining. It actually kinda fit the mood of everything going on. We were all running I was in the front with everyone following closely behind me.

"Hopefully, we'll make it." Impostor says. "Worrying about it won't help." Fuyuhiko says. "Let's just hurry and run." I yell. "Hey, look." Hiyoko says as we stop in front of the gate to the campus.

On the other side of it stood all of the Reserve Course students with signs. One of them says something as they all turn and look over at us. I knew this was gonna go badly.

We watched as the threw their signs to the ground and help us the sharp wooden sticks that broke off of them. "This is bad." I say. "How shortsighted." Peko says sternly. "Th-This is bad news!" Ibuki says as she holds up her hands in panic.

"Leave them to me." Nekomaru says as he steps in front of me. "I shall assist." Gundham says joining him. At least I knew what he meant for once. "You handle the rest." Nekomaru says as he looks back at us.

"All right Nekomaru." I say. "I wish you luck." Akane says as we all run off leaving Gundham and Nekomaru to deal with the angry Reserve Course students. I hope they don't get hurt.

Eventually we had made it back to the secret passage and were headed down the stairs once again. But only this time we were going through ones that were behind the door Junko came out of before.

Kazuichi was holding a flashlight and leading us with me and Sonia following closely behind him. "Everyone, be careful." Chiaki says. 'This place is even creepier the second time." I say nervously.

"We'll be fine, but do you think Gundham and Nekomaru are all right?" Mahiru says. "Don't worry about the old man. By now, he may be training with the Reserve Course students." Akane says smiling.

"What do you mean by that last part?" I ask. "Gundham's a man who can get stuff done when he needs to." Kazuichi says.

He is an idiot. "You're right. Gundham is a man who can get things done!" Sonia says happily. "I just helped my romantic rival!" Kazuichi says as I give him a pat on the back. "Indeed you did." I say.

"Still, if the passageway is here, Junko and the school must be in cahoots." Teruteru says. Now that I think about it that would explain a lot.

"Do you think Ms. Yukizome is still okay?" Ibuki asks concerned. "For now, let's do what we can." I say as we come to a turn. I stop to make sure everyone goes the right way.

"Besides, though I don't know why, I feel like we can pull this off." Chiaki says as she smiles. "When you say that, I get the strange sense you're right." Imposter says as he looks back towards Chiaki.

"Yeah I am getting that feeling from you too." I say as I walk to be next to Chiaki. "Don't say that. I just blurted out what came to mind..." Chiaki says as Mikan stops in front of us causing us to also stop.

"Wh-What's wrong Mikan?" I ask. "Yeah, Mikan are ok?" Chiaki says. "Can I talk to you guys for a moment?" Mikan asks as she looks down to her feet. "Huh? Sure." Chiaki says. "Yeah sure. What is it?" I ask politely.

"Hayami, you and Chiaki are mysterious people. You always seemed so different at first. But at some point, you guys became the centers of the class. You were both positive rays of sunshine." Mikan says mysteriously.

"No, not really." Chiaki says as she waves her hand defensively. "What do you mean by that Mikan?" I ask confused. "After all, you're the class reps. The leaders of the class and everything." Mikan says.

"We aren't really leaders of the class." I say being defensive. "Seriously, Mikan what's wrong?" Chiaki asks. "I'm sorry." Mikan says and I begin to worry.

"Sorry about what?" I ask. Mikan then turns and looks at us."Huh?" Chiaki questions. "I'm sorry!" Mikan yells as she shoves us back into the wall. The wall flipped around and we fell into somewhere else. I knew this would end badly.

"Chiaki! Hayami!" Someone said while I could feel a shaking sensation on my shoulder. "Hang in there, girls." They say as my eyes along with Chiaki's flutter open. It is revealed to be Ms. Yukizome who was talking to us.

"Thank goodness!" Ms. Yukizome says as we sit up to be in another hallway on the floor. "Ms. Yukizome?" Chiaki questions. "You were okay?! What happened!?" I ask as I hug Chiaki and Ms. Yukizome in relief.

"That long haired boy let me go. He isn't our enemy." Ms. Yukizome said and I knew she was talking about Izuru. But that was where I got confused. Why did he let Ms. Yukizome go?

Something seems really off here. "Huh?" Chiaki asks. "But Hayami why are you and Chiaki here?" Ms. Yukizome asks as we all stand up from the floor. "O-Oh, right! Everyone came here to save you." Chiaki says and I nod.

"Yeah we were all really worried about. Also sorry for leaving you earlier." I say as I scratch the back of my neck. "It's ok Hayami." Ms. Yukizome says. "And then for some reason, Mikan pushed us..." Chiaki says confused.

"Yeah she didn't give a reason. All she said was that she was sorry." I reply. "So we have a serious matter on our hands." Ms. Yukizome says as she grabs Chiaki and me by our hands.

She also puts on her serious face, that is very unusual for how happy she usually is. "Everyone is in danger. Let's hurry." Ms. Yukizome says. Chiaki and I nod in agreement. Ms. Yukizome smiles and I smile as well.

I guess that this is sad and happy at the same time. Like for example I was happy that Ms. Yukizome but she was being weird. Why did Izuru let her go? Can we trust what she is saying?

And I am sad because of the fact Mikan didn't tell us why she was going to push us. Also is everyone going to be ok? I just hope that this whole thing doesn't result in them Smiling at Despair in the Name of Hope.

This chapter was a bit longer than normal. So yeah, warning next chapter will be depressing a sh*t. Will I have Hayami die? Find out soon when I decide to do the tenth chapter. I'll see you then.

Word Count- 3300