Saihara's POV:

~-~1 Month Later~-~

It's been about the month since I woke up and the killing game ended, it's so surreal and sometimes I still have nightmares that I will wake up still trapped inside of the game. I told Maiko about these nightmares, she told me that it was pretty normal for any person who suffered trauma like me.

It made me more uncomfortable knowing I could be compared to veterans of war.

The only thing that kept me sane so far was the regular meetings I have with Momota, along with both the physical and more psychological therapy. The physical therapist's name is Akio Hanasuke, he was tall and maybe only a few years older than me. He was very patient with me, I hadn't expected how much my body had weakened while I was inside the game.

I guess it's to be expected.

He was more open about his past than Maiko, he was apart of a killing game as well, and had stayed behind to help others. It was similar to what Momota said he wanted to do.

I don't know about the others, I haven't seen any of them. The hospital turns out was surrounded in a private compound to avoid fans of the show breaking in and finding our hospital rooms, a thought that sent a shiver down my spine.

There were three wards also, disregarding a visitation room for our families, along with surgical and ICU rooms.

The first ward was for the current game, according to Maiko it was a large cold room as our minds were connected to a large computer program modified from an older model known as the Neo World Program.

The second was where we were, the place for the more recent game participants for the start of recovery and for most the end of their journey, after the doctors claimed we could reintegrate back to the society we were released back to our lives before. 

That would most likely not be for three to six months.

And the last ward...it was for the permanent residents.

Maiko didn't go into detail, she never even mentioned the ward until I confronted her with my suspicions. The third ward was meant for the participants who had gone mad outside of the game, such as the girl she mentioned when I woke up, the ones who never could go back to the outside world because their minds or bodies were destroyed.

I wondered if any of us would meet the same fate.

I shook the thought off, we could all get through this. We had not gone through an entire killing game only to be surrender once we returned to the outside world.

....right?

I heard about Ouma. It was the same as whispers, and as much as I resented him for all that had happened inside of the game...I didn't want him to die.

I hated him. I blame him for all that happened during the fourth and fifth trials, for all the suffering and lies he had told and the ways he made things so much more complicated than they could've been. I blame him still for turning Momota and Gokuhara into murderers but...not to that extent.

It was Shirogane I think I could never forgive.

She was the mastermind, she must have been gleeful the whole game. At least with Ouma, it was debatable. 

She was the villain, just like him. So it's fair for me to blame her for Akamatsu and Amami, for Tojo and Hoshi seeing their own motive videos, for Kiibo, right?

It's fair, right?

~-~-~-~

I played with my fingers as I heard the sound of writing end, "ok, I think that's it for today Saihara" Maiko concluded. It was another talk, while she called it therapy we never once talked about the game yet.

I couldn't hold my fears any longer though.

"I have a question" I started, she looked at me tilting her head a little, "yes, of course, you can ask me...well nearly anything, patient confidentiality you know?" she reminded. I nodded, "forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't think this breaches your board of conduct" I assured.

"Then feel free," she said smiling, "I...in the game, Amami got the ultimate of ultimate survivor because he went through a previous killing game, I just wanted to ask...is that actually true? What's going to happen to me because I was a survivor of my season? Or am I just like the rest?" I asked.

Her face paled dramatically.

It took a few minutes as she recollected herself, her palms still shaking and her voice quaked, "Tsumugi Shirogane and Rantaro Amami were the two survivors of the 52nd season" she spoke carefully.

"Shirogane was a survivor?" I asked shocked, she nodded, "I don't know if she remembers that however when she entered your season..." she added, "Saihara, I need you to be completely honest and open with me for this," she said seriously, her face stern.

"I need you to not act rash or lash out, we will get you through this, so if you think you can listen and understand what I am about to tell you calmly, then we will proceed, if you cannot we can postpone this conversation for a later date till your ready, as I will with both Yumeno and Harukawa" she explained.

What's so disturbing that I need to consent to this?

"I'm ready" I answered, a little less confident than I would have liked. Maiko nodded, looking only at her clipboard, "survivors of the season, are always to be implemented in some way or form to the next season of Danganronpa"

My eyes widened in fear.

"Either they become a participant, a mastermind, or some other form or way they become ingrained inside of the season thrust back in, the results very, considering the participant's mental health they can be excluded, or their character reception, but it's always at least one in a small or large role," she told me.

I felt my heart racing, I couldn't hear whatever she was saying, the room around me seemed to be closing in as I heard my breath hitch.

I...I could be put back in Danganronpa.