How long did I sit on that bench? Two, three hours? A day? I ask so many questions about me, the fifty-third killing game.

Things I connect to now. Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Survivor, being the winning character from the disappointing fifty-second season. How much experience he already had.

As for my thoughts... they seem quieter, other than those of the killing game. Maybe it's because I was slowly dying. Still sitting on a park bench silently. The park was deserted as you would expect, everyone having evacuated by my presence alone. I closed my eyes. Would this be the last of the world I would see? Cold, dark, grey.

...

"Excuse me?" A deadly familiar voice woke me from my cold sleep. "Are you Shuichi Saihara?" I almost had a heart attack from who I saw, while she didn't look the same, her red hair and height made her identity, Himiko Yumeno.

"Wait." my voice was a bit raspy, having not used it in so long. I was shocked to hear her's and my own. I sounded so much like him... No, I was him. I had decided that already. I turned away and covered my mouth.

Was I going insane? I slowly turned back, "Am I dead?" It was a possibility. I hadn't eaten in ages, drunk any water...

"What? You aren't dead!" She blinked in surprise. Himiko then grabbed my hand. Still overwhelmed with shock I didn't do anything to stop her. "Let me see if my magic will cure you!" She said some gibberish and patted my hand which somehow brought me back to my senses. Yeah, I wasn't dead.

"There, all better now," She assured. Still upbeat I guess. I blinked in confusion and pulled my hand back.

"If you're here then..." My mind was somewhere else, but I still couldn't get my hopes up.

"The others probably woke up before us... after they... you know. It was probably because we were the survivors we even had this small chance to find each other." She said so casually.

"So, you have your memories of the fifty-third season too?"

"Of course! Oh, right. That's not normal I guess." She yawned.

"What about Maki?"

"I don't know if she'll show up or is even awake yet." Himiko shrugged.

"How long have you-"

"Two weeks. What about you?"

"... a couple of days?" I winced, "I wasn't really keeping track."

"Yeah..."

"So where does that leave us?" I looked down as I went back to my mind. Not just that, my brain caught up with what it needed. "Water... I need water..." I said shortly, my body feeling dry. How long had it been since I had drunk something?

The short girl only had to look my way to understand what I was saying. "I-I'll be right back Shuichi!" She hurried off. My sight was already blurring, my head whirling and the feeling of hurling steadily growing.

Fortunately for me, Himiko came back with water in a water bottle eventually and started shoving the bottle in front of my face. I found the strength soon enough to take the bottle from her. I then hugged her after, spouting tears of shock, panic, and graciousness. "T-thanks Himiko."

The mage made no reply and simply hugged my back, giving gentle pats as she did. My thoughts were still broken, there was no doubt about it, but there was hope now; hope they could be fixed. This is real. I'm alive. I'm Shuichi Saihara. I just have to keep telling myself that.

She yawned again as I noticed the sun hiding behind the trees. "Hey, Shuichi, you coming?"

"Huh?" I immediately realized what she meant as I stood up to follow her.

"Nyeh, you're like a child, cute!" She giggled when she grabbed my sleeve.

Where were we going to? "Himik-"

"We're going back to a hotel I rented out for a few days. I'm sure it'll be fine if you come for just tonight." She sighed.

This was the first building I had entered since I woke up, the heat hit me like a fast thrown baseball. The secretary read the situation because we didn't face any trouble passing by.

Inside were two queen-sized beds. I collapsed on the tidier one, and well, I must've been more tired as I thought because after then, I fell asleep.

No, no, no, No way. Why was I here again? Danganronpa ended- I-

My eyes shot open in anxiety. Where was I? I sat up to take in the strange situation. The air smells like burnt bacon and I could hear a smoke alarm going off, strikingly similar to that of the hospitals. "W-what's burning?" I was barely awake. So tired I probably could have gone back to sleep if I tried. But I shouldn't.

"Ohhh! I was going to make you breakfast in bed but I accidentally burnt the bacon.." The alarm was turned off as I could see the short girl frantically cooking, what I assumed was bacon, over a stove.

I appreciated it. I was probably starving and that became even more apparent as I stood up from the bed and nearly fell over myself. I didn't though and rubbed my eyes. "Don't worry, your mind I'll probably figure itself out after a few days," Himiko commented as I slumped into a chair, "And on the brighter side, I didn't really burn the bacon! It just got a bit crispy." She probably woke everyone around us up from the smoke alarm.

The cooking reminded me of Kirumi Tojo, the usual cook during our time in the abandoned school before her demise. Weird how the food tasted so real during the killing game. Now I just wanted to throw up.

"Honestly, I don't really wanna eat either but it's better than dying!" I was encouraged by her truthful words.

"Y-yeah I know, you're right." I hesitantly picked up the plastic fork and slowly ate the food that had been presented to me. It even tasted like her cooking...

...Silence.

"I just want to know where everyone else is. I want to find the truth. What happened? Why?" I said. Himiko lit up from the first part.

"I have an idea! Maybe we should look for them!" Could we really do that? No, they're probably long gone by now. Who wouldn't go miles away from this awful place, near that awful game, that awful world.

"It's hopeless..." I came to. But Himiko wasn't going to give up on herself as I had.

"No, it's not! I'm sure we could find them. "Looking up someone's name and finding their location isn't as hard as you would think!" She grabbed me again. "Come on."

"N-now?" I had just barely begun to recover my footing, though I guess i couldn't do anything else right?

She shrugged again and pulled out a phone, "Even saved up enough for this!" She was already on the web, searching Maki's name, "She's probably going to be the closest so it'll be faster to find her. And I have a detective with me." I shuddered knowing I most likely wouldn't be that much help.

I wished she would just calm down because I was still freaking out. Still, I couldn't deny the excitement that rose in my chest, the small possibility that our friends could be out there. "Oh- ok." I agreed softly and quickly we were ready. I took off the hat from my head, the small feeling of confidence rippled through me.

After setting it down a tune mysteriously got stuck in my head. Clair De Lune. I stared down at my hat, the only article of my clothing that had stayed the same between now and while I was participating in the killing game.

I just knew it was that. Something Kaede told me. Thinking of how I might never find her, but I also might.

Himiko tugged my arm. Well, I didn't think of that now, as we headed out of the hotel. I took one last look at the hat I was about to abandon for the second time in my life.

What now?