...11/10/2009 Sunday; Morning...
Mitsuru lowered her eyes to the teacup in her hands. For a moment, the surface of the tea reflected her face, slightly distorted by the gentle movement of the liquid.
That conversation between Hiro and Akihiko had stirred something in her mind.
There was something about Hiro's reaction that she couldn't quite understand. Why had he gotten so nervous over a simple tease? Akihiko had merely been joking, but Hiros's response had seemed... exaggerated.
Mitsuru frowned slightly.
Could there be something she hadn't noticed yet?
Before she could reach any conclusions, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"By the way... I don't remember if we've ever talked about this before."
Hiro's tone was more relaxed now, although there was a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Akihiko and Mitsuru turned their attention toward him.
Hiro was leaning back against the sofa, one arm resting on the side of the backrest. His chin rested on his hand, his eyes slightly narrowed as he stared at the floor.
There was something that had been occupying his thoughts. And, from what he imagined, it wasn't a question exclusive to him. Some of the other S.E.E.S members had probably wondered about it too.
"Remember when Giyu and Ikutsuki talked about the horde of Shadows and the Void Shadow?"
Akihiko nodded, settling his notebook on his lap.
"Yeah. That was when Minato suddenly passed out. What about it?"
Hiro scratched his head, seemingly choosing his words carefully.
"Ever since we defeated the last few Shadow Arcana, I've been thinking about something Aigis mentioned... About how the Hermit Shadow Arcana begged the Herald not to kill her."
Mitsuru narrowed her eyes and rested one hand against her chin.
"That's true... But what does that have to do with anything?"
Hiro shrugged, briefly shifting his gaze toward her.
"It's just that... the more of these Shadows we defeat and the farther we go into Tartarus, the more things come up that don't make sense. It's not that I think killing the Arcana is wrong. They need to die to stop the Apathy Syndrome from spreading, but..."
He paused for a moment.
Then he crossed his arms and settled more comfortably into the sofa.
"Could there be something more to all of this? Because, so far, we have no idea who this so-called Devil's Herald is... Much less why the Shadows are so afraid of him."
Silence fell over the room.
Akihiko let his eyes rest on Hiro, while Mitsuru remained motionless, reflecting on his words.
He had a point.
Despite making progress and managing to reduce the number of Apathy Syndrome cases with every Shadow Arcana they defeated, there were still countless unanswered questions.
After all, who was that Devil's Herald?
And what was his connection to the Shadow Arcana?
Up until that point, the only thing they knew with any certainty was that they needed to find a way to stop the Dark Hour.
The Dark Hour...
Mitsuru nodded slowly, running her fingers along her chin.
"You're right... As far as I know, a herald is someone who acts as a spokesperson or a kind of messenger."
"Sure, but in this case, that doesn't make much sense." Hiro turned his eyes toward her. "I mean... Would he be the Devil's messenger? Then why would the Shadows be afraid of him?"
Akihiko tilted his head slightly, watching Hiro with curiosity.
"Have you asked the president about this?"
Hiro shook his head.
"Not yet... I wanted to hear what you guys thought first. Besides..." He paused, narrowing his eyes. "I'm starting to think Ikutsuki isn't telling us everything."
Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged glances, both surprised by Hiro's statement.
After all, Ikutsuki was responsible for guiding S.E.E.S in their operations against the Shadows. He was also the one in charge of the group's security, making sure their activities remained secret and that nobody discovered what happened during the Dark Hour.
He wasn't exactly the kind of person they expected to hear such suspicions about.
"Why... do you think that?" Mitsuru asked, a mixture of surprise and curiosity in her voice.
Hiro took a deep breath and looked away from them for a moment. Then he leaned back against the sofa, trying to organize his thoughts.
Something was wrong with Ikutsuki. Especially after Noir's attack on Fuuka.
The president hadn't been showing up as often as he used to. And on the night the horde of Shadows appeared, he hadn't even bothered to show up at the dormitory.
"How do I explain this...? Aside from the fact that he hasn't been helping us as much as he used to... On the night Fuuka was attacked and that horde showed up, the guy just disappeared off the face of the earth. We had to handle everything ourselves."
Akihiko looked away, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember.
"That's true... If I remember correctly, he only showed up again on the day Giyu came to talk to us about the Void Shadow."
Hiro snapped his fingers in Akihiko's direction and nodded.
"Exactly. And there's something else that doesn't sit right with me now that I think about it."
Mitsuru and Akihiko looked at him simultaneously.
"What?"
Hiro lowered his eyes to his own hand.
For a brief moment, his vision wavered. The room disappeared.
In its place appeared the image of a gigantic green clock, with enormous black hands. The structure stood outside Tartarus, high above the ground, against the backdrop of that imposing tower.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the image vanished.
Hiro found himself looking at his own hand again.
His fingers slowly curled into a fist as he looked away, still confused by what he had just seen.
"If... we're supposed to kill the Shadow Arcanas to put an end to the Dark Hour... why do we keep going to Tartarus?"
The silence that followed was immediate.
Mitsuru and Akihiko didn't answer. Both seemed too occupied with contemplating the question.
And the more they thought about it, the more sense it made.
After all, there wasn't exactly a direct connection between Tartarus and the Shadow Arcana. They didn't remain inside the tower. At least, not exactly. During full moon nights, each of them appeared somewhere outside it.
So why did they keep risking their lives in that place?
Why did Ikutsuki insist that they explore Tartarus, even when the main objective of their operations seemed to lie elsewhere?
Akihiko scratched his head, looking somewhat hesitant.
"Maybe it's because we need to get stronger to face the next Arcana?"
Hiro shrugged, not entirely dismissing the possibility.
"You're not wrong... But aside from that, there's not really any other reason to keep putting ourselves at risk. Because all we really do in there is... climb, kill Shadows, and repeat the same cycle forever. Or... until we run into the Reaper and have to get the hell out of there."
Mitsuru let out a sigh.
She rested her teacup on her lap and spent a few moments in silence, trying to organize her thoughts.
As much as she didn't want to admit it, Hiro had a point.
Perhaps Ikutsuki really did want them to become stronger. After all, the group's performance against the Strength and Fortune Shadows had been quite satisfactory.
But was that enough to justify all those expeditions?
Should she confront him about it?
Mitsuru remained thoughtful for a few more moments. Then she brought the teacup to her lips, finished her tea, and placed it on the coffee table.
"I don't think he's hiding anything from us. It's possible he simply doesn't know what else to do besides guide us in defeating the Arcana."
"But..." Hiro tried to say something.
Mitsuru raised one hand toward Hiro, interrupting him without any hostility. Her expression remained serious.
"But you're right... Something is missing from this whole story. There's not much we can do about the Devil's Herald for now, but we need to be careful about what the president is planning."
Akihiko settled more comfortably into the sofa, watching Mitsuru with a more serious expression.
"So, what are we going to do?"
Mitsuru sighed before answering.
"This conversation stays between the three of us. I don't want to worry the others unnecessarily, and, more importantly, we can't risk this information somehow reaching Noir."
She straightened her posture and brushed her hair to the side.
"We'll try to find out what the president is planning. But I sincerely hope it's nothing serious."
Hiro nodded, looking at her.
"Hmm... That works. It's the best we can do for now."
Mitsuru nodded as well, allowing a small smile to form on her lips.
"Excellent. Well, I think we've talked enough. You two can get back to studying."
Akihiko let out a heavy sigh and picked up the notebook he'd left on his lap. His eyes wandered over that seemingly endless series of calculations.
"Yeah... Back to math, then."
Hiro sighed as well, still somewhat unsettled by their conversation.
But Mitsuru was right. Regardless of the suspicions they'd brought up, they still needed to prepare for their exams.
Without wasting any time, he stood up with his notebook in hand and walked over to the sofa where Mitsuru was sitting. He stopped beside her and tilted the notebook slightly in her direction.
"So... What did you mean by this part here?"
Mitsuru smiled and leaned forward to examine the notes.
She soon began explaining the material, pointing to a few passages while Hiro listened attentively.
Akihiko, meanwhile, returned to his calculations.
Or at least, he tried to.
Every now and then, his eyes wandered away from the page and drifted toward the two of them.
Hiro and Mitsuru were sitting close together, focused on the notes. Their conversation flowed naturally, with Mitsuru explaining every detail and Hiro asking questions whenever he struggled to understand something.
And neither of them seemed to notice how close they were sitting.
Even after everything he'd observed, they continued acting as though it was the most normal thing in the world.
Akihiko couldn't help but let a faint smile slip across his face as he watched them.
Apparently, there were still a few things those two needed to learn to notice.
Good grief... Those two really aren't going to catch on anytime soon.
TO BE CONTINUED...