Brother. His mind automatically finished the word, the one he'd yearned to hear again for over four months now. Ishimaru had never been able to truly forget everything that happened at Hope's Peak, and with each familiar face that turned up at Smash, he was reminded more and more of every last shred of despair experienced in that death trap. While he still didn't understand how he or any of his other classmates were able to get out and find their way here instead, the undeniable fact was that they were alive and safe despite having witnessed Enoshima and Fujisaki both as corpses. That alone gave him the hope that even if not everybody ended up at Smash Academy, they would be fine one way or another. That his brother would be fine, too.

Now that it was happening, Ishimaru wasn't sure he believed it. He stared unblinkingly at Mondo's silhouette in the dark, waiting for him to turn out to be someone else or to just vanish entirely. There was no reason for him to be here in this room in the dead of night. It was just a dream.

But nothing happened to prove that theory.

Ishimaru sat up, his entire body trembling as he gripped Mondo's arms. His mouth moved but no sound came out; he didn't dare speak the other boy's name for fear that he was wrong after all.