"Minako-san, take these food to room 348, okay?"

"Yes, Kasai-san!"

"Excuse me, I need extra pillows…"

"Coming right up, madam!"

"Could you please give me an extra robe? The one I was wearing got stained by the soy sauce…"

"Here you go, sir!"

Minako and Ryoji came back from Junes and were instantly thrown into a wave of customers as they entered the Amagi Inn. The inn seemed to be busier than usual, as a lot of guests who were from town came to Inaba.

Because of this, they had to work endlessly for hours, fulfilling the customers' requests one by one while trying not to faint on the job.

When midnight approached, they were finally free from the torture that took a toll on their bodies.

"Finally… I'm tired…"

Minako was about half asleep as she slowly lied down on the couch in the lobby. She had to tolerate a lot from the customers, from making extra trips to their rooms, to handling them food and other necessities.

"At least you're just running around. I had to listen to complaints from the customers..."

As for Ryoji, he was stuck at the counter, listening to the customers' requests. But most of the customers only came to ask about the rumor that the dead Mayumi Yamano staying at the inn, or just ranting about how bad the inn was. Ryoji had no choice but to put on a bright smile and listen for hours without end.

"By the way, Yukiko-san is doing well even though there were so many customers. As expected from the manager's daughter, huh?"

Ryoji pointed his finger towards Yukiko who was delivering towels to the customers. She didn't show any sign of fatigue and did her job faster than the staff in the inn. She was so focused that she didn't notice that Ryoji was talking about her.

"She has more experience than us, plus she's still young. It's expected that she's the most competent one."

Minako pointed out Yukiko's strengths while she was lying on the sofa, closing her eyes and yawned.

"Maybe you could learn a thing from her or two."

After hearing Ryoji's suggestion, she quickly stood up and retorted,

"Hey, at least I was in charge of leading the guys in Tartarus!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You did a great job that time, Minako. Let's go back to our room, okay?"

"You're right. The Midnight Channel's about to start."

After saying good night to the other staff, they went back to their room and stood in front of the television screen that was switched off. They stared at the television screen intently while looking at the clock to see if it was time.

When the clock struck midnight, the television was switched on, with neither of the two switching it on.

They already knew that the Midnight Channel exists, so they weren't that surprised when it actually happened.

As they heard the static sound coming from the television, all they see was a blurry image of a girl. Though the face cannot be seen, it could be assumed that the girl had long, wavy hair and was wearing a high school uniform.

"A girl? But what Satonaka-san said was…"

"If you stare at the television that was switched off at midnight, a person would appear on the screen. And they say, that person is your soulmate."

After the television turned off by itself, the two of them were pondering who the person was shown.

"It's a girl right? But that means what Satonaka-san said was wrong…"

"Yeah; my soulmate can't possibly be a girl, right?"

"You may never know what happens next. By the way, did you see that? It looks like the 'soulmate' goes to Yasogami High."

Though they could guess the identity of the person shown in the screen, there was still a nagging feeling that lingered in both of their minds.

"Hey Ryoji…"

"What is it?"

"Did you remember when we saw the Midnight Channel last time?"

"You mean the one where we saw Mayumi Yamano running from a bunch of hands?"

"Yeah. And you remembered what happened the next day?"

"She was found dead hanging from a… Wait a minute, you can't possibly mean…"

Ryoji was surprised at what Minako was thinking. Though it could be a joke, Minako's eyes were deadly serious as she said,

"Whoever shows up at the Midnight Channel, dies."

A moment of silence then enveloped the room for a while. Ryoji then broke the silence by saying,

"Should we go in there to check it out?"

Minako shook her head in reply.

"We can't. We're exhausted from the work we've done today. Plus, there is a difference in what was shown on the screen."

"What do you mean?"

"Why was the picture shown blurry, while the Midnight Channel we saw last time was crystal clear? It means that the person will only die when the image shown is clear. "

"You're right… Wow, you're good at this stuff."

"I didn't experience a whole year of fighting shadows for nothing. If it was Mitsuru-senpai, she'd be able to figure out the whole thing, no sweat."

Minako then walked to her futon, yawning.

"Now, let's go to sleep."

"Alright, good night, Minako."

As Minako tucked in for the night, Ryoji stepped out of the inn, trying to get some fresh breath of air.

Looking at the beautiful night sky, he lamented how he was unable to change Minako's fate. It was because of the incident with Nyx that she was unable to live out a normal life compared to others, like Yosuke or Chie.

And he was part of the disaster that happened. Though he wanted to stay alongside her, he couldn't do that, because he was part of Nyx, the part that was needed to bring about The End.

"All I can do to repay for my sins is to help her, even if it means killing myself to achieve that."

He muttered as he frowned, the leaves scattering due to the strong wind.

The next day went on as usual, until school ended. Minako and Ryoji followed Yu, Yosuke and Chie to Junes again, this time talking about the results of their encounter of the Midnight Channel.

As they bought the drinks and sat down on their usual place, Yosuke was the first one to break the ice.

"So, did you guys see it?"

Chie drank her juice before she replied,

"It was a girl! But it can't be, my soulmate is a girl?"

Listening to her question, it looked like Minako's guess was right. The rumor that spread among the students was false. However, she needed more hard evidence to the mystery.

The only one left was Yu, who replied with the craziest statement,

"My hand got stuck inside the TV. I tried to get it out and ended up banging my head on the table."

Hearing this, Yosuke and Chie instantly burst into laughter. Minako and Ryoji had no choice but to laugh, since what he was saying was not wrong. In fact, Minako had just experienced the same thing a few days ago.

"Come on, dude. You don't expect us to believe that, do you?"

"But it was true-"

Yu's face was serious, unlike the rest of them who were still laughing.

"Yeah, but we have never heard that you can stick a hand inside a body. But, I love the part where you hit you head after getting it out. It seems so realistic."

"But it was true…"

Minako had already stopped laughing as Yu tried to tell them the truth. She had a serious look on her face, though only Ryoji noticed it.

After a while of chatting, Minako and Ryoji realized that they had to go back to work. Before they left, Chie was discussing about her thought of buying a new television.

"My parents want a bigger television. Do you have any recommendations, Yosuke?"

"Why, madam, you've come to the right place! Let me direct you to our range of televisions. Please come this way."

The gang finished their drinks and began to walk towards the elevator. Minako and Ryoji had no time left to accompany them and thus had to separate from them.

"Well then, I guess we're heading back then. See you tomorrow, guys!"

Before the two rode the elevator home, Minako approached Yu, leaning her body right next to her ear and whispered,

"I think you're telling the truth, Yu-kun."

As Yu turned to face her, she had already ridden the elevator down. He was surprised stared at the closed elevator for a while before Yosuke shouted from afar,

"Hey, we're heading towards the appliance department, Narukami!"

"Coming!"

Minako and Ryoji continued with their work at the inn, but they tried to do as little work as possible, to save their energy for the trip to the world inside the television. By listening to the weather report in the morning, they found out that today was raining, and there would be heavy fog tomorrow.

They prepared for their trip, stocking health recovery items and their weapons, and waited until the Midnight Channel turned on. The sky they saw outside the window was already beginning to envelop with fog as the rain poured heavily.

When the clock struck midnight, the Midnight Channel began to show on the television screen.

And what they saw next shocked them till they were unable to keep their composure.

"No way… Is that?!"

Taking her belongings, Minako quickly put her hand into the screen like the last time, but with no hesitation as she also placed her head into the screen which also disappeared into it. As she pushed herself forward, she was no longer seen, already entering the television.

"Minako! I should have told her not to act rashly…"

Ryoji muttered and also entered the television like Minako. As the screen which looked like waves were forming turned normal, the Midnight Channel was still showing.

And what it showed was,

Saki Konishi, being grabbed by a dark shadow by the neck.