...10/09/2009 Thursday; Dark Hour...
Silence filled the frozen building in the industrial zone, as if even time itself was holding its breath.
Slowly, Hiro began to feel.
First, the weight of his own body on the icy floor. Then, a faint buzzing in his ears, like a poorly tuned radio.
Little by little, everything took shape.
A soft, muffled voice sounded distant—but persistent.
His vision was a blur. A pinkish silhouette. A warm touch on his cheek.
"Hiro. Hiro, can you hear me?"
The voice cut through the fog.
He blinked once, twice, and the shapes around him began to sharpen.
Yukari's face came into view above his, eyes wide and filled with worry.
He let out a low groan and tried to lift his head, feeling the world spin with the effort.
Minato and Shinjiro were there, close by, their expressions tense.
"Yeah..." he murmured, his voice hoarse. "I can hear you."
Minato sighed and rubbed his own neck, still aching. "Thank god. We thought we lost you."
Shinjiro knelt beside him and gently touched his shoulder. "Can you stand?"
Before Hiro could answer, Yukari shot an indignant glare at the older one.
"Aragaki-senpai, Hiro fell from the first floor. He could've broken something!"
"I'm fine..." Hiro tried to sit up, taking a deep breath. The pain still throbbed in his chest, but it was manageable. "The fall wasn't that bad..."
Yukari scoffed, crossing her arms, her bangs sticking to her sweat-covered forehead. "Maybe not if it was just you. But you caught Mitsuru midair, Hiro. It was like falling from the fifth floor with her in your arms."
Her words hit hard.
He placed a hand on his chest.
The memory was vivid—the jarring impact in his bones, the hot blood running from his mouth, the weight of Mitsuru on top of him as the world collapsed around them.
Hiro blinked slowly, letting his eyes take in the scene around him.
The entire building looked like a frozen cathedral—walls coated with a translucent crust of ice that reflected the greenish glow of the Dark Hour like emerald crystals suspended in time.
But something was off. Something didn't feel right.
Then a memory resurfaced.
Takaya, with that calm and sickly gaze, and beside him, Jin with his analytical stare.
But what stood out the most was the object in Jin's hands: similar to an Evoker, but twisted… a warped structure with reddish edges, almost pulsating.
Yukari, Minato, and Shinjiro exchanged looks, as if they hadn't expected that question.
Minato tilted his head slightly, confused. "Wait… someone else was here?"
Hiro turned toward him, his expression grave. "Yeah. Takaya... and the one with glasses. I forgot his name."
Shinjiro clenched his fist, his jaw tightening. "Shit... why the hell were the Strega here?"
"No idea." Hiro shrugged, but his eyes kept scanning the floor, as if looking for something lost. "They took something. Something the Shadow left behind."
Yukari brought a hand to her chin, eyes narrowing like she was piecing together an invisible puzzle. "That's why your Evoker was far from you..."
Hiro nodded, but something struck him.
An absence suddenly weighed heavy.
He looked around, eyes widening slightly.
"Where's Mitsuru?" The question escaped in an urgent, almost desperate tone. "She was with me."
Yukari blinked, a little surprised by the intensity of his concern.
"She's over there. Akihiko and Aigis pulled her off you so—" she began to explain, pointing behind her.
But before she could finish, Hiro pushed himself to his feet, as if his body had forgotten the damage from the fall.
Reality hit hard.
His knee gave out.
He collapsed forward, his face hitting the icy floor with a dry, humiliating thud.
A metallic taste filled his mouth.
"Shit..." he growled through clenched teeth, struggling to push himself up with his elbows.
His body screamed for rest, but his heart pulled him elsewhere.
Trembling legs. Hands slipping on the ice.
But he wouldn't stop.
Then, a pair of feet appeared in front of him.
He looked up and saw Minato standing there.
For a moment, nothing was said. Then Minato extended a hand toward him.
A faint smile formed on Minato's lips. "Come on. I've got you."
Hiro hesitated for a second, surprised by the unexpected gesture.
But soon, a tired smile crossed his face, and he accepted the hand.
"Thanks..." he murmured, rising with his friend's help.
Minato slipped Hiro's arm over his own shoulder and slowly began to guide him forward.
The silence among the ruins was broken only by the faint sound of ice cracking along the walls.
Mitsuru lay with her face slightly turned to the side, her pale skin contrasting with her red hair—its tips gradually turning white.
As if they were slowly freezing.
Akihiko was crouched beside her, fingers gently pressing her neck, checking for a pulse.
A sharp pain shot through his fingers like an inverted burn.
"Tch!" He pulled his hand back with a start, shaking his fingers in the air, trying to warm them.
Looking down at his hand, his face tensed: the tips of his fingers were turning white.
"Shit…" he muttered, swallowing hard. "Mitsuru's getting too cold."
Junpei, standing nearby with wide eyes, turned to Akihiko.
"What do you mean, too cold?!" he asked, startled.
"When she uses Diamond Dust twice in a row, this happens," Akihiko explained, blowing on his fingertips. "She passes out, and her body goes into a state of intense cooling. If we don't warm her up soon… her heart might stop."
Without a word, Aigis knelt beside Mitsuru and placed her metallic hand on her chest, starting to rub gently. Her eyes lit up blue as her sensors activated.
Junpei scratched his head, trying to think of something helpful. "Wait… you're telling me Kirijo-senpai is literally… freezing?"
"Exactly," Akihiko replied, already rubbing Mitsuru's sides, trying to create warmth. "If we don't raise her body temperature soon… her heart could shut down."
Aigis kept the mechanical touch consistent, and in her vision, Mitsuru's temperature began to shift.
The blue lines fluctuated until they slowly stabilized into a warmer yellow.
Then, Aigis suddenly lifted her head. Something had caught her attention.
On the other side of the room, Minato and Hiro were approaching with slow steps, supporting each other.
Shinjiro and Yukari followed in silence just behind them.
"Hiro-san?" Aigis said, surprised. "You're awake."
Akihiko turned immediately, shock on his face. "Hiro?! How are you even standing?"
"No idea…" Hiro gently let go of Minato, stumbling slightly before kneeling beside them. "Even I don't know."
Aigis scanned him with her firm gaze and, without hesitation, placed her hand on his chest.
A faint glow ran across her vision as her sensors activated thermal and structural mapping.
Orange points blinked across Hiro's body—small cuts, bruises… signs from the previous battles.
But nothing… nothing matching the impact of a fall from that height.
She slowly withdrew her hand, her expression shifting to genuine confusion.
"Strange… Hiro-san, your body is fine. No fractures detected. No internal trauma. It's as if… nothing happened to you."
Everyone froze upon hearing that.
Their eyes shifted to the hole in the floor above—then back to Hiro, who looked just as stunned.
"That's impossible!" Yukari pointed firmly to the hole in the ceiling, eyes wide. "We saw you fall! He… hit the ground hard! At the very least… he should've broken a few ribs!"
Hiro stared at the spot for a few seconds, as if trying to find an answer that refused to come.
Why wasn't he hurt?
The impact, the spin in midair, the weight on his body—any of that should've shattered his bones.
A touch on his shoulder brought him back.
Shinjiro was beside him, his usual stone-hard expression unchanged—but his eyes carried a different light. A faint flicker that betrayed something more than stoicism.
"Our Personas can make us tougher." Shinjiro's voice was deep, but oddly thoughtful. "So maybe Hiro didn't get hurt because of that."
Junpei narrowed his eyes, confused. "What do you mean?"
Akihiko brought a hand to his chin, as if pieces were clicking into place.
"Actually, that makes sense… Personas grow stronger over time. And that ends up affecting our bodies too."
Yukari turned to him, curiosity overcoming her fatigue. "So… because of Lucifer, Hiro didn't get hurt?"
"Thinking about it…" Hiro scratched his head, eyes drifting back to the floor. "That does make sense. The way we get beat up in fights… a normal person would've died a long time ago."
Junpei swallowed hard. His eyes locked on Hiro, and his usual light expression darkened.
"Yeah… but Hiro… are you sure you're okay?"
The sound of the question echoed in his chest—but not because of the words.
It was the memory of a voice—one that seemed to come from somewhere else, from another presence… from something beyond.
"Arise, Hiro."
His eyes were pulled toward Mitsuru.
They drifted to her—lying unconscious on the cold floor.
The memory of the impact, her body in his arms, came rushing back.
He didn't know exactly what had happened, but deep down, he felt the need to protect her.
To protect all of them.
"Yes… I'm sure." Hiro answered, his voice heavy.
The silence that followed felt thicker than the ice around them.
No one spoke.
Not because they had nothing to say—but because no words felt big enough.
The Shadow had been defeated…
But the price of victory was still there—etched in their bodies, heavy in the air.
Hiro's gaze stayed fixed on Mitsuru.
He reached out and gently ran his hand along her cheek, feeling the cold sink into his own bones.
Her skin was freezing—like freshly fallen snow.
The chill came from deep inside her, as if her very soul had gone into a trance.
With care, he began removing his coat—what was left of it, anyway.
The sleeves were torn, the shoulder shredded from the bite he'd taken, the fabric marked with dried blood and soot—yet he wrapped Mitsuru in it, tenderly.
Akihiko stepped forward, hesitating. "If you can't carry her, just say it. I'll take her."
Hiro looked at him over his shoulder but didn't reply right away.
"It's fine…" he murmured, sliding an arm behind Mitsuru's back and another beneath her legs, cradling her gently.
"Let's… take her back to the dorm. I need to check on Fuuka too." He finished in a cold tone.
He stood up with effort. His muscles ached, his body wavered—but the arms holding Mitsuru remained steady.
Her face rested against his chest, and Hiro's body heat seemed to fight the cold radiating from hers.
It was like each heartbeat of his shouted that this shouldn't have happened… that she shouldn't be in that state.
Seeing her like that… it felt like something inside him was slowly breaking.
But what other choice did they have?
Without another word, Hiro began to walk.
Step after step, dragging his limits, but never hesitating.
Behind him, the others followed—Akihiko first, then Yukari, Shinjiro, Minato, Junpei, and Aigis.
The group moved in silence—their footsteps echoing against the frozen walls, as if the very building mourned the cost of that victory.
And deep down, they all knew:
Their fight wasn't over yet.