Jabberwock Island

*This story is based off of the anime, Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School, and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair*

Salt. The taste was everywhere in my mouth. And yet I couldn’t get it out. I dragged my body out of the ocean and onto shore. 15 other students were also there, sopping wet and looking at me with curiosity. 

“Guess that’s the last of us, huh?” Said a boy with white hair sticking out in all directions. I figured he was Komaeda, and he looked much better since the last time we had met. 

I looked behind me, there was no one there. Not even the ship. Just blue. How deceiving. The ocean looked so calm but it was yet capable of so much damage.

“Y-yes, I suppose so-” A girl with long purple hair stuttered. 

“Hinata?” I looked to where the voice had come from. And I saw her. Nanami. Just my luck. I had to watch over these Remnants as a favor for that Enoshima girl, and of course I would be stuck with her. 

“Yes?” I really wished that she wouldn’t call me that, but it seemed like the only name she knew to call me. It reminded me of before, a before I didn’t even know about. I had tried to see who I was before, to see if this “Hinata” boy had become friends with her, but my attempts were fruitless. 

“Do you know where we are?” She asked, her face full of confusion, she seemed like she genuinely didn’t know where we were. How boring.

“Jabberwock Island.” I replied, what had been a bustling tourist attraction, known for having summer weather all year round, was empty. However, it seemed in good shape, there was no rust on any of the machines, and there was no peeling paint on any of the buildings. 

“Jabberwock Island? You mean the popular tourist attraction?” Said Komaeda. “How lucky that we were shipwrecked here, of all places.”

“I wouldn’t say lucky, this was our original destination, the lucky part is that we were so close.” I stated. “How boring, I thought you would know.”

“But there’s no one here, stupid. And anyway, why are we all standing around looking like idiots? It’s stupid.” A girl with blonde hair said. 

“Why don’t we go and explore? We’re wasting time just talking.” Said Nanami. I heard that there were other islands, let see if we can see what’s on this one, and then move to the others- if we can. That’s a good plan-I think.”

******************* A week later*************************

The helicopter came with no warning. We all had been living on the one island, since there was no bridge in between them. We could see the other islands of course, but we could only travel to the other islands by boat, and none of us could make one. We had debated if someone could swim, but the distance was too far. We all lived separately, since the hotel was big enough for all of us. Apparently, everyone had checked out in a rush, since all the hotel keys were there. No one really talked to each other, though we had the occasional conversation. It was hard to escape talking to other people since we were all stuck on an island.

But a week after we had initially arrived, a helicopter came.

We had no idea how it had found us. But we were glad, nonetheless because we were able to leave. And go back to our normal lives, or what was left of them.

I saw it first. I spotted a dark spot in the sky. So, I craned my head towards the sky. It came closer, and closer, until I could make out what it was. A helicopter. I was on the beach watching the waves, I did this a lot when I was bored which was a good part of the day, there was something calming about watching the waves go in, out, in, out, back and forth over and over.

That morning, Chiaki was with me. She always tagged along with me, and I had grown used to it. We sat there, watching the waves.

“Hey, Hinata? What are you looking at?” She asked, curious.

“I think that’s a helicopter. And it looks like it’s coming towards us.” I replied. 

She looked up at the sky. The helicopter was closer now, and it didn’t take much effort to see it. 

“Ah, I see it! I have to tell the others!” She scrambled up and dashed towards the hotel.

Within 7 minutes, Chiaki had gathered everyone, several of which were unhappy because they had been woken up so early.

“So, what’s all this talk about an airplane?” Said Owari. 

“It’s not an airplane, it's a helicopter, stupid.” Saionji snapped.

“Calm down guys.” Said Nanami.

At this point, the helicopter was so close we could hear it. We watched speechless, as it landed. Right in front of us.

Two boys came out. They were dressed in back suits.

“So this is where they’ve been hiding, Naegi? Jabberwock Island. They almost had us fooled. Enoshima took a lot of precautions hiding them.” One of them said.

“Hello, we're here to help.” Said Naegi. “We’ve come to rid you of despair.”

“A-and why should we believe you?” Said Mioda.

“Well, we came all the way to help you guys, and it wasn’t easy, believe me.” Said the man.

“We’ll give you one day to make your decision.”

********************Later that night*********************

I spent the night staring at the stars with everyone else. We still hadn’t decided to go or not. Everyone was silent, we sat there on the beach. And then I don’t know what possessed me, but I spoke up.

“I believe we should go.” I said. Everyone looked at me curiously. Then Nanami, who seemed to be spurred on by my outburst, also stated her decision.

“Yes, we should go. It would help us right? To get rid of it once and for all. Deep down, I know you guys know it too. I-I think.”

“Yeah, count me in!”

Slowly, everyone agreed that we should go. 

“Well, since it's decided, let’s go to bed then. We’re going to have a big day tomorrow.” Said Nanami. Even though it was dark, I swore she smiled. 

Before I went back to my hotel room, I stole one last look at the stars. They twinkled back at me, almost reassuringly. Well, I thought to myself, I need to go to sleep.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day.