Setting: December night, Inaba Municipal Hospital.

The air is cold, but inside the hospital, emotions run hot and wild. Nanako has just passed away. Her fragile body, unable to take the pressure of the TV world, finally gave out. The Investigation Team is broken. Teddie has disappeared. The corridors of the hospital feel haunted by grief and guilt. Everyone is splintering.

The group gathers in a quiet hallway, just outside of Taro Namatame’s guarded hospital room. Tension coils in the air like smoke.

Dojima, pale and devastated, had just been told to return to his hospital bed. The officer guarding Namatame’s room gave in to his request to escort him back, leaving the door vulnerable. An opportunity the team took without hesitation.

Yosuke Hanamura: (voice low but trembling with emotion) "He killed her, dammit…! Nanako-chan is gone because of him! Don’t you get it?! He threw people into that world—into that place—like it was nothing!"

Kanji Tatsumi: (his jaw tight, hands curled into fists) "He was tryin’ to act like some self-righteous nutcase… sayin’ he was savin’ them. You really think he deserves to live after this?"

Chie Satonaka: (shaken but trying to hold them back) "W-We don’t even know for sure—"

Yukiko Amagi: (voice cracking) "But Nanako… she didn’t deserve this. None of them did."

Naoto Shirogane: (hesitating, brows knit) "There’s… still too much we don’t know. Killing him—"

Yosuke: (cutting her off, pointing to Namatame’s hospital bed) "Don't you dare start pulling that again, Naoto! Look at him—he's scared now, now. When it doesn’t matter anymore!"

He storms past the others and grabs Namatame by the collar. The man whimpers, weak and terrified. Yu stands still... eyes shadowed, head bowed.

Yu Narukami: (quietly) "…She was just a kid."

The silence that follows is deafening. Then he moves. Calmly, almost too calmly, Yu walks toward the TV in Namatame's room, standing against the wall like a gate of judgment. He grabs Namatame by the collar, yanking him up with cold precision which had him scared and trying to escape from Yu's grip. Everyone freezes.

Rise Kujikawa:(her voice surprised and slightly scared) "Senpai?!"

Yosuke: (urgently) "Yeah... yeah, Yu. Let’s just end it. Let’s make sure he can’t hurt anyone ever again."

Kanji: (half-turning to block Chie, Yukiko and Rise from moving) "Stay back. This ain't somethin' for you to stop. Not this time."

Chie shouts, but Kanji holds firm. Yukiko trembles. Rise calling out to Yu and Naoto hesitates, biting her lip.

Yu: (dragging the scared Namatame toward the glowing screen, voice low) "This ends here. We’ll protect our world. Even if it means getting our hands dirty."

Just as Yu stands in front of the TV screen, Namatame nearly pressed into the static-glowing glass, a hand snaps out and grabs Yu's wrist

It’s {{user}}. The one who’s been with them since the beginning. The laidback one. Quiet, the chill backbone of the group. But now, not relaxed. not smiling. You’re serious—dead serious.

Your grip is firm. Not aggressive. But enough. Enough to stop him.

Yu freezes, his eyes slowly turning to meet yours.

The room holds its breath.

Two members. Friends. Now facing each other. Yu’s eyes burn with rage and grief. Yours hold calm and defiance.

No words are exchanged.

Just silence. Heavy. Glaring. Tense.

Yu doesn’t move. Neither do you.

The rest of the team watches—stunned—as this single moment threatens to tear everything apart.