Thursday 23:54

Thursday 23:54 is a short story included in Devil Survivor 2 The Animation Character Archives. As the name indicates, the story takes place the night before the battle against Mizar in episode 10.
==Summary==
Daichi Shijima is restless on his bed, unable to sleep because of Yamato Hotsuin's sudden declaration of creating the world based on a merit system. Feeling stressed out, Daichi decides to visit Hibiki's room. There, he finds Hibiki cheerfully talking with Alcor. Daichi expresses his surprise at both Alcor's appearance and how well he gets along with Hibiki. Daichi then asks Alcor if he's planning to stay forever, though Hibiki answers that it would only be for two more days, reminding him that the fate of the world will be decided at that time. This causes tension, so Daichi quickly changes the subject by asking what Alcor has done while Hibiki was asleep, something that also made Hibiki curious. Before Alcor could answer, Daichi's stomach growled, interrupting the conversation.
In JP's kitchen, Airi Ban waits for Jungo Torii to finish making for the both of them, since they hadn't eaten anything during the feast. After eating, they encounter Hinako Kujou, who is also hungry. Airi gives Hinako a miso chocolate to eat and decides to share it with the rest before sleeping. While Airi and Jungo go to Hibiki's room, Hinako stays in the kitchen to cook something and is surprised to find a plate, realizing that someone has recently used it. Checking the refrigerator, she decides to make takoyaki for everyone.
Back in Hibiki's room, Hibiki, Alcor, and Daichi drink coffee as they continue to talk. However, they are interrupted by a knock from Airi, who starts to open the door with the code distributed among the summoners. Daichi quickly tries to close the door in an attempt to hide Alcor and accidentally lets it slip that he and Hibiki are hiding someone, much to Airi's suspicion. As they're struggling, Airi tricks Daichi to let his guard down by pretending that Io Nitta is with them. She successfully fools Daichi and enters the room, only to see Hibiki in the middle of changing, embarrassing her.
Hibiki signals to Daichi that it was part of the plan and tells Airi to turn around until he's done changing. Once Hibiki is fully dressed, Airi gives him the miso chocolate and also offers one to Daichi. Exhausted, Daichi says he will eat it later and lays on Hibiki's bed. When looking up at the ceiling, he is shocked to see Alcor casually floating, smiling in amusement at their current situation. Hibiki suddenly shoves a miso chocolate into Daichi's mouth, causing him to almost choke. Forcing himself to swallow the chocolate, he remains still and distracts Airi and Jungo from looking at the ceiling until they leave.
On their way to Io's room, Airi and Jungo once again meet Hinako and are informed that Io won't answer any calls, concluding that she's already asleep. Hinako then offers the two takoyaki that she made. As a token of gratitude, Airi tells Hinako of her suspicion that Hibiki and Daichi are hiding something. Hearing this, Hinako agrees to assist Airi in getting to the bottom of it. A tired Jungo goes back to his room.
Assuring Hibiki that he's all right following an apology, Daichi offers Alcor a miso chocolate to taste. Before Alcor can accept it, Hinako barges into the room to give them her takoyaki, causing Hibiki and Daichi to freeze on the spot. To their surprise, however, Alcor has already disappeared, leaving Hinako confused since she thought she heard someone else's voice. Noticing Daichi's strange gesture, Hinako demands that he tell her, but Hibiki quickly distracts Hinako by asking if she made the takoyaki herself. Answering that she did, she adds that finding a takoyaki grill pan in JP's kitchen was unexpected.
Hibiki assumes someone in JP's loves takoyaki, given the device and ingredients to make them on-hand. He then comes to the realization that there's only one person who fits that description. As Hibiki and Hinako continue to converse about takoyaki, Daichi carefully looks up the ceiling and once again sees Alcor floating. Hinako, noticing Daichi's stare, quickly looks up the ceiling before Hibiki can stop her, but finds nothing up there.
Alcor, managing to escape Hibiki's room, ends up in front of Yamato's bedroom. Sensing Alcor's presence, Yamato tells him to get out, but Alcor ignores him. Recognizing the smell in Yamato's room is similar to the takoyaki in Hibiki's room, Alcor realizes that he and Hibiki ate the same food at the same time and points this out, surprising Yamato. Yamato turns to Alcor and replies that there's no need for him to pay heed to such trivial things since the destiny of the world will be decided in two days. Alcor retorts that Yamato enjoys the food. Yamato explains that he's eating because he needs the energy to achieve his goal. He then remembers one particular memory after the battle against Megrez.
After returning from Osaka, Hibiki, Daichi, and Io snuck a food wagon into JP's base since the food provided by JP's is less than enjoyable to eat. Yamato was taken aback when he saw the three of them eating near the entrance to JP's base. At first, he merely sneered at them, until he saw the takoyaki that Hibiki was holding, reminding him of his childhood when he saw children around his age gathering around food vendors, stuffing themselves with takoyaki. Hibiki noticed Yamato's presence and much to the latter's shock, offered one for him to try.
Back in the present, Yamato explains to Alcor that civilian fast food is suitable for meals when one is short on time and Hibiki was just coincidentally doing the same thing. Alcor comments that Yamato was influenced by Hibiki, but Yamato brushes it off. After several moments, Yamato tells him to leave, and this time, Alcor does so, leaving Yamato to think through the outcome of the trial.
In the hallway, Alcor observes Hinako and Airi arguing over the failure of finding out Hibiki and Daichi's secret. Airi questions if Hinako checked every nook and cranny. Hinako answers that she did, even going so far as checking beneath the bed. Frustrated and tired, Airi decides to go back to sleep, but not before offering Hinako to do this again sometime, which Hinako happily agrees to. Once the both of them leave, Alcor is astonished that they were able to catch on to his existence, and while he personally didn't care, he already promised not to reveal himself, so he couldn't afford to be discovered.
Alcor reappears in Hibiki's room, much to Hibiki and Daichi's surprise. Alcor explains that he went to Yamato's room and asks Hibiki if he was the one who recommended takoyaki to him. This makes Hibiki remember when he offered a takoyaki to Yamato. While Yamato's face is unwelcoming as always, he felt he could discern something from Yamato's expression at that time. Hearing that Yamato has taken quite a liking to the food, Hibiki feels at ease since they seemed to have at least one thing in common, and hopes that this small connection between them might turn into the slightest hint of hope for them to understand one another in the future.
Exhausted, Daichi decides to return to his room, reminding Hibiki of their previous conversation. Alcor explains that he does not require sleep, so he will watch Hibiki the whole night until he wakes. Feeling uneasy, Hibiki asks Daichi to take his place, but Daichi immediately refuses and leaves, much to Hibiki's dismay. This confuses Alcor, since he doesn't see any harm in his actions. Hibiki interjects that it causes a "mental harm" since he feels that he's being guarded by an advanced security system. Understanding what Hibiki means and sensing his discomfort, Alcor offers to close his eyes to ease his mind, something that Hibiki appreciates.
As Hibiki drifts off to sleep, Alcor is fascinated that humans are able to fall asleep with promises of meeting again tomorrow, and the very fact that he finds them is proof that he himself is moved by their state of being. Letting his thoughts dwell on what he should make for breakfast tomorrow, Alcor waits for the passing of his sleepless night.
==External Links==
*Fan Translation
Category:Devil Survivor 2