It was evening when they arrived. As soon as they reached the dorm, that guy left. Everyone collected their belongings and rested for the night. Minato was tired and he fell asleep right away.
"Please wake up."
Minato opened his eyes.
"Mission complete," Aigis said.
It seems like Minato's souvenir was a personal alarm clock.
Minato, as with other students, was looking at the board where exam results were posted.
Minato was the number one in the whole second year. His charm went up leaps and bounds from that alone, together with the number of fangirls he had.
There was a lot of running and hiding behind walls afterward. He managed to escape those fangirls and returned to the dorm.
What a miracle, Minato thought. And I'm proud of you, Junpei.
"Tres bien, Iori," Mitsuru said, reading her novel on the sofa.
Junpei's secret subject that he aced... was Edogawa. He learned all those Greek myths from the card games. So he got a higher score than Yukari. Fuuka's score would go up the next time she took a test, now that she knew this secret.
Yukari sat down right on the floor. "I'm stupider than Stupei..."
Aigis glanced at everyone. "Data updated. Minato-san is the smartest. Yukari-san is the silliest. The name Stupei will be removed. I shall give you a new name, Yupid."
Still tired from the trip, everyone went to sleep
The night sky on a long bridge, black and white crashed at each other.
The car made a sharp turn.
Before he could think more, he was being pushed outside.
And everything changed.
Blood. Broken coffin. Blood. Bright yellow moon. Blood. Green sky. Blood red sea. The bridge. Blood. Death.
He rolled on the floor a few times before stopping with his face facing the ground. A loud sound of metal crashing, it was imprinted into his mind. He could never forget.
It's hot.
It hurts.
Minato raised his head and looked around. Orange flame covered his car. He looked down. His hands were stained with blood.
Not mine. Theirs.
It's quiet. Everything was in slow motion.
The nighttime cool air was getting hotter and hotter. The green sky was supposed to be dark. Minato should be in the car. He crawled forward. This seemed so unreal to him.
It was black. It was white. Chain and metal, moving.
Pure white light flashed right into his eyes.
Chaos of images with no order.
With his eyes half open, he saw her. Her mouth was moving.
L-
Flame got stronger and danced wildly. He continued creeping, crawling, staggering, anything to keep moving.
With his forearms, he pushed himself forward. His legs were kicking and his hands were scratching the ground. His nails were probably broken, but he didn't care about that right now.
They are still alive. Both of them are. Inside. They are fine. They should be. They should-
She smiled.
An explosion resounded.
The car was reduced to tiny pieces. A burst of flame was rushing up high. A strong wave sent broken glass and fragments of iron flying in all direction like the rain of knives.
Everything seemed to stop for a moment.
Metal shards cut him all over his body. His rib hurt. His ears bleed. Scratches covered his limbs. His vision was blurry. He felt weak. Consciousness was slipping away...
But he still crawled forward.
He was not scared of the heat or the sound, but the fact that he could no longer see their faces, and that he was alone, truly alone, made him terrified.
Anything.
Anything… I could do anything. Please let me see their faces again. Let me hear their voices, feel their warmth… I want to be with them...
Thick black smoke covered the area. It's hard to breathe. His hands became stained with carbon. A bitter taste filled the air, but he was still clawing his way forward.
They're close. A bit. A little bit more...
Just when he was about to reach them, he was yanked back.
Black has disappeared. White was grabbing his collar with her left hand. Her eyes stared at him. On her right hand, there was a dark blue flame.
The flame entered his chest.
"Minato-san!"
Minato opened his eyes to see two blue eyes staring at him.
"You were having a nightmare," Aigis said. "How is your current mental state?"
Was it really a dream? Minato thought for a moment. "I'm fine..." He tried to sit up and realized he was in Aigis's arms. So… he fell out off the bed, and she caught him?
"I mustn't stay too long," the blonde said, laying him back on his bed. She headed for the door. "Or Yukari-san will reprimand me again."
"Stay."
Aigis halted and turned around.
"... Tell them I told you to stay," Minato said. "You can stay for the night."
The robot slowly nodded and walked back to sit near his bed. "Then I shall watch you for a little while longer."
Minato could always find reasons to hate people. Too talkative, too quiet, too stupid, too perfect, too shy, too confident, too reckless… He couldn't bring himself to hate this blonde girl. It didn't feel right. When did he care about this anyway?
Aigis is innocent, that's what he thought.
"How's life as a normal human being, Minato-san?" Aigis greeted as Minato entered the dorm. She was a door guard now, and she seemed to have a thing with any activity on the island that wasn't about Tartarus.
Minato closed the door behind him. "Fine."
"That is good to hear," Aigis said. "In two weeks, the moon will be full again."
"Dude, those freaks will be everywhere." Junpei looked up from his phone. "I mean... The Lost. Probably shouldn't complain about 'em. It's not their fault. It's those damn Shadows…"
"It is possible to end this." Aigis was also a memo. "Six Shadows remain. If we can eliminate them, the Dark Hour will vanish."