Chapter 75; Calm Down and Understand Pt:1

...10/09/2009 Thursday; Dark Hour...

The wall exploded into debris as Aigis burst through the concrete, shoving the Shadow with all her strength while Hiro clung to the creature's neck. 

The impact sent them crashing back into the street, rubble raining around them. 

Still on top of the Shadow, Hiro drove his kukri into the creature's skull. 

His gaze burned with relentless fury as he wrenched the blade to the side, tearing through the entity's head in a brutal slash. 

A roar escaped his lips as the Shadow's body finally gave out, collapsing lifelessly onto the asphalt. 

Hiro's muscles trembled, his breathing heavy. 

He remained there for a moment, eyes fixed on the creature's split-open head beneath his feet. 

Behind him, Aigis fell to her knees. 

A high-pitched hiss echoed from her systems as steam escaped through small openings in her metallic frame. 

The light in her eyes flickered for an instant before stabilizing—Orgia Mode had deactivated. 

Everything remained still, the silence settling after the werewolf Shadow was finally dead. 

The quiet after the battle was broken by hurried footsteps to Hiro's right. 

By instinct, he spun his kukri toward the sound, the blade stopping mere inches from the approaching figure's face. 

His cold gaze met a pair of startled eyes. 

It was Mitsuru. 

Her expression was one of shock as she took in his state—blood staining his coat, exhaustion weighing on his body. 

Hiro's chest rose and fell sharply before he registered who was standing before him. 

His heart clenched in his chest. His fingers trembled around the kukri's hilt as he slowly lowered the weapon. 

"Mitsuru." Hiro's voice came out weak, surprised to see her. 

Mitsuru stepped forward, eyes wide as she took in Hiro's condition. 

His coat was in tatters, marred by deep cuts and gashes, and the dust mixed with the Shadows' dark blood smeared his face. 

But it was the wound on his shoulder that made her breath hitch—a deep bite mark, the teeth of some Shadow had sunk in hard enough to leave the flesh torn and shredded. 

She hesitated, raising her hands slightly. "Hiro… are you okay?" Her voice wavered between surprise and concern. 

He met her gaze, and only then did he notice the cuts on Mitsuru's pale skin. Her uniform was torn in places, and a thin trail of blood ran down her cheek, staining the white collar of her shirt. 

Hiro glanced past her, seeing the others approaching. Akihiko, Yukari, Junpei, and Koromaru. But among them, only Mitsuru and Akihiko were injured. Akihiko's face was streaked with red, blood trailing from his forehead down to his chin. 

Hiro sighed and stepped off the dead Shadow, feeling the weight of exhaustion settling into his muscles as he approached Mitsuru. 

He sheathed the kukri inside his coat and nodded. "Yeah… I am. What about you guys? We couldn't reach you with Fuuka's telepathy." 

Akihiko rubbed his neck, his eyes scanning Hiro's wrecked state. "Well… better than you. How the hell are you still standing?" 

Before Hiro could answer, Yukari rushed up to him, pulling a small glowing crystal from her belt. 

"Hold still, I'm healing this now," she said, worried. 

But before she could break the Media Crystal, Hiro firmly caught her wrist. 

Yukari blinked, confused. "Hiro, that wound looks bad." 

He nodded but let go of her hand. "I know. But Aigis already patched it up. It's just the blood that stained before—it's not bleeding anymore." 

Aigis, who had been kneeling until then, finally felt her systems cooling down. She tried to stand, but her legs trembled from the damage she had taken. 

Junpei was the first to step in, sheathing his sword and grabbing the android by the shoulders to help her up. "Whoa, whoa, easy there, Aigis." 

She leaned on him, her mechanical eyes still scanning the area. "Mitsuru-senpai… we managed to take care of the Shadows here." 

Mitsuru nodded, but her attention quickly shifted to something more urgent. "Where are Arisato and Aragaki?" 

Hiro looked back and pointed past the crater in the street. "They… they're over there. Minato and Shinjiro are hurt." 

Mitsuru took a deep breath, assessing the situation. But before she could react, she felt something warm brush against her skin. 

She blinked in surprise as Hiro's fingers grazed the cut on her cheek, wiping the blood away with his thumb. 

His touch was brief, careful, but it caught her off guard. 

Their eyes met for an instant—he looked tired, yet still focused, alert. 

Mitsuru's eyes widened slightly, taken aback by the sudden gesture. Her lips parted, but no words came out. 

Hiro wiped the blood from his finger onto a cleaner part of his coat and turned to Yukari. "Come on, Yukari. Shinjiro needs help." 

Yukari quickly nodded, and both rushed toward the other side of the crater. 

Mitsuru remained still for a moment. 

The warmth of Hiro's touch still lingered on her skin, and before she realized it, her hand reached up, fingers lightly tracing the spot where he had wiped the blood. 

Her eyes lowered slightly, and a faint warmth spread across her face.

Akihiko wiped his forehead, running his forearm across his face to remove the blood trickling down.

As he lowered his arm, his eyes caught something curious—Mitsuru's face, slightly flushed, her hand still resting where Hiro had touched earlier.

"Wait a second..." He crossed his arms, a sly smirk appearing on his face. "Are you embarrassed?"

Mitsuru blinked, as if she had just been pulled from her own thoughts.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Akihiko.

"N-No, it's not what you're thinking." Her response came a bit too quickly, almost nervous.

Akihiko tilted his head, the teasing tone in his voice obvious. "Uh-huh… sure…"

Mitsuru's irritation only grew, and before Akihiko could react, she raised her hand and dug her fingers into his already injured shoulder, pinching with surgical precision.

"Argh—!" Akihiko grunted, his face contorting in pain as he instinctively tried to pull his shoulder away.

"Alright, I give up!" He said quickly, raising his hands in surrender.

Mitsuru released her grip with a satisfied look. "Good to know."

Junpei, still holding Aigis to help her keep her balance, finally looked around more attentively.

The massive hole in the middle of the street, the overturned car still burning, the debris scattered everywhere… He swallowed hard.

"Damn… What the hell happened here?"

Aigis, still forcing herself to stand despite her exhaustion, spoke with a serious metallic tone. "The hole was caused by some kind of tremor… but the tremor wasn't natural."

Akihiko, rubbing his shoulder after Mitsuru's punishment, frowned. "What do you mean? Are you saying that Shadow caused it?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the Shadow's body—or what was left of it.

Headless, burned from the explosion, and leaving behind a dark, viscous trail on the asphalt, the creature definitely seemed dead.

Aigis narrowed her eyes as she analyzed the data from her scanners. "Apparently… no. Another Shadow caused the tremor…"

Mitsuru sighed, crossing her arms as she assessed the situation. "So there's still more? How did this happen? This isn't normal."

Junpei looked at Mitsuru, confused. "What do you mean, Senpai?"

She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "Let's regroup with Arisato and the others first. I'll explain everything there."

Without waiting for a response, Mitsuru started walking, moving around the hole to join the rest of the team.

Her face was serious, but her eyes carried a flicker of uncertainty.

"If I even understand what's happening myself…" she murmured to herself.

Aigis, Junpei, and Akihiko exchanged quick glances before following her.

Junpei, however, stopped for a moment. Something still bothered him.

He looked again at the fallen Shadow. Even in death, it still felt… off.

Cautiously, he nudged the body with his foot.

Nothing.

Junpei let out a sigh of relief. "Phew… Good thing that thing's dead."

He turned away and ran to catch up with the others.

But as the group walked away, the Shadow remained there, unmoving on the ground.

And unlike the others, its body did not dissolve into black mist.

Blood trickled slowly onto the asphalt, forming small dark streams that reached its one remaining claw.

And when the liquid touched its fingers…

It clenched its hand.