Author's notes: My first chapter of my first story on . I really like what my imagination came up with. This story will get to the action in the second chapter, but this chapter's basically an introduction for new characters and what everyone's been doing in after ten years after the events of Persona 4. All of S.E.E.S from persona 3 will be there, and some other familiar characters like Maiko, so please read and review this.

VVVVV

?, May 25th 2022

In the midst of the night with a sky of a black void, a man rose up from his throne and straightens his clothes. The man, looking clean and unscratched and looked like he was in his twenties, stood in the ruins of castle that once held so much glory yet now holds nothing but an atmosphere of defeat. The man wore plain white trousers of high-class businessmen and a black shirt covered with a white jacket that made him luminous. His hair was fairly long, tied in a ponytail and went down just below his shoulders. And the most ominous of all, his wore a mask that only left the bottom left of his face exposed. The mask was shaped like a butterfly wing on the right and the wing was shaded in crimson red.

The man looked around, gazing through the large stone wall that was no longer there, on the prize he had so easily won. Though the castle was in ruin the man could see a lush green field of the size of several football fields. Beyond that was a forest with dark green leafs shrouding the top and a darkness that shrouded whatever was under the sea of leafs. At the horizon were mountains in the distance with bleach white snow covered tops. The man smirked in amusement, as he won this entire world without much of a fight.

"Well, well, well," he said "You shouldn't be waiting for me to give you the order to report to me about what you found... Tozu."

From the shadows a blonde spiked haired man jumped out and took a crouching bow as he landed. The newcomer had pure white vest with a diagonal navy blue stripe going across it with a pure black shirt underneath and he wore tattered jeans.

"My apologies Sire," he responded "An analysis has been completed on your next target."

"Within my brother's territory I presume?"

The blonde man smirked "Yes. Your brother has no confirmation of us within his terrain. But to get to the point Sir, how would you like to own all of your brother's territory?"

"...You mean to start a Crusade tourney?" The masked man asked "As tempting as it is Tozu, my brother's lands do not accommodate suitable warriors, so we can't initiate a tourney when there are a lack of players. Those are the rules of the tourneys."

Once again the one who kneeled smirked. "Ah. That is what I have to report to you about Sire. The world I sent our recon units to, have made an extraordinary discovery. It seems there are less than two dozen mortals who possess the 'potential of the soul' on that world, and a few more who are capable of achieving it. The tourney needs at least five players in the opposition, no?"

The eyes that were visible in the eye slits of the mask widened. "Less than two dozen? In one world? Normally a single world is only capable of producing one or two mortals that can possess the 'potential of the soul', yet there are more than a dozen on one? My brother must have something to do with it."

"There may be more who possess the potential on that world Sir, though our recon units can't seem to spot them. The ones we have found, we have our eyes on."

The masked man walked to the edge of the rubble in the ruins. "And how many of those you said could obtain the potential are there?"

"Five, Sire."

"..."

"Um... Sire?"

"...Alright." The masked man finally announced. "I'll personally visit those five. Send a messenger to my brother; tell him that the tourney will begin in the next few months and that I'll choose his warriors for him."

"Are you allowed to do that Sire?"

"According to the rules of the Crusade tourney the one who announces the challenge has the liberty to choose who takes part, where it will be held, who will be spectators and how it will be played. My brother will have no say in who will take part."

"Then I shall notify your messengers Sire. All of the universe will be in your possession if-, no, when we win the tourney." And as the blonde man finished his sentence he vanished, leaving a gust of wind following his amazing speed.

The masked man returned to his throne as graceful as a swan and sat down, resting his elbows neatly on the armrests. Then laying his chin in the palm of his hand he said "Soon, it will all be mine. Brother, I will not fall like our father did. No, I will finally be a god."

With his other hand he lifted it up and a slightly transparent image of a blue world appeared. "How interesting." The masked man commented "This one world contains so many treasures. What was it called? Ah, yes. Earth."

Inaba, two months later, July 24th 2022

A young woman ran through the fields of green, feeling the warm air pass through and around her hair. She ran with joy as she looked up at the blue sky with pure white clouds passing over her. She span around and around until she finally fell in the grass with a laugh. Not wanting to stop, she got up and took her first steps as she sprinted again in the fields of-

"Nanako Dojima!"

Nanako's eyelids snapped open as she realised there was water on her desk where her head laid. Then realising it came from her mouth, she shot up from her seat, shut her mouth and wiped her slightly wet cheek. "Y-yes Miss Sofue?"

The woman at the front of the room wearing a pharaoh's headdress shook her head. "I understand that you study hard most of the time and evenings are the hardest times of the day to stay awake, but you must stay awake for your classes, understand?"

Nanako dropped her head and blushed in embarrassment. "I-I understand, Ms. Sofue."

Ms. Sofue nodded and turned back to the board. With that, a female student on Nanako's right smiled sheepishly and whispered "Busted."

"Oh be quiet Miwa." Nanako whispered back "I'm feeling really out of it today and I don't need my friends to tell me where I went wrong. Besides, I still get straight A's, regardless whether I sleep in class or not."

The student called Miwa shrugged "Yeah, I guess that's true. The teachers shouldn't really bother you when you get good grades but they do anyway. But you have to admit, it was hilarious when everyone saw you drooling."

Nanako sighed. Sixteen years old and yet she earned the respect of a kindergartener from her childhood friend. After Souji Seta and his friends' miraculous victory over the fog that shrouded Inaba and even a goddess of hell itself, nine had passed since those times. Over the years since that time Nanako had grown curious about what her Big Bro had done in the strange world inside the televisions. But after living with her Big Bro for a year, she had learned how to smooth-talk and be dangerously charismatic when she needed to know something. Teddie pretty much grovelled like a dog when she smoothed-talked him into telling her everything what happened ten years ago. Now Nanako knew that her Big Bro was a real hero and that she was really fortunate to have someone like him to look up to.

Now Nanako was sixteen and no longer the shy little girl Inaba remembers. She had grown to be a beautiful young woman. Her two pigtail hairstyle had not changed though she let her fringe grow a bit and her hair had become slightly curly. Her body grew considerably well as she was no longer a little girl but a teenage girl with good angles and curves, and the school uniform didn't show much of it, but enough for the guys to look her way. Though she didn't realise it, with good looks, intellect and a voice that could lure any man, she was one of the most attractive girls in Yasogami Highschool.

Her friend Miwa was fairly attractive. Only an inch shorter than Nanako, she had an elegant face and dark hair that went down to halfway down her back. She also wore a yellow choker on her neck as her trademark. Miwa chuckled. "Well it was pretty funny. Hey, have you heard about the new transfers this year?"

Nanako shook her head "Not at all. This is the first time I've heard of it. There's more than one transfer student coming?"

"Well yeah. A transfer student that's going be in this class comes from overseas. I heard her parents divorced twelve years ago and she lives with her mother."

"Woah, must've been hard for her, especially at such a young age." Nanako replied "But you said 'transfers', which must mean there's more than one transfer student coming to this school."

"Yup!" said Miwa "There are two others that are coming to this class. One of them comes from Kyoto; he's said to be a descendant of Japanese royalty."

"And the other student?"

"Well that's what all the girls in this class are talking about. Our homeroom teacher, Mr Edo, is retiring."

Nanako put on a confused look on her face. "So? We all know that. I mean, we pretty much threw a party at your place to celebrate the fact he was leaving."

Miwa's face suddenly lit up "I know, but the third transfer to this class is a new teacher! He came from someplace called Iwatodai and he's coming here for a job as an educator! He's going be our new homeroom teacher! I heard he's like twenty-two and he's cute!"

Nanako tilted her head slightly to the right "But I thought you still had a crush on Takeyoshi-kun."

Miwa's smile twisted into a grimace "Please don't bring that up. You know that was years ago!"

Nanako smiled. She still hadn't lost her touch in smooth-talking people into embarrassing themselves.

"RRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG!"

"Finally, history class is over!" declared Miwa "Now to wait for Mr Edo to come in and introduce the new guys! I hope they're really cute and handsome as the rumours say."

"Don't get your hopes up."

Miwa and Nanako turned to see Yuuta Minami, the class clown Nanako's closest male friend. He was wearing the traditional Yasogami High uniform, except with Featherman R badges on his collar. "I heard that royal descendent guy's a delinquent. He's got record of bashing up a few skinheads back in Kyoto."

Miwa glared at him. "So what? He's got a record for fights and you have a record of failing your mid- terms over and over last year."

Yuuta stepped back to defend his esteem. "H-hey, it's not like I'm proud of it!"

Nanako laughed. She met Yuuta when she entered Yasogami High and they became friends very quickly when they discovered their relationship with Souji. Now her Big bro's so-called trouble child when he worked at the day care ten years ago had become one of her best friends and her comedy gold mine.

Of course, she got her laughing habit from her Big bro's girlfriend Yukiko. Nanako went to visit Yukiko every Saturday after school as both of them felt really close through their connection with Souji. Nanako eventually started to call Yukiko 'Big Sis' as she really did think Yukiko as a big sister.

"Oh come on Nanako!" Yuuta retaliated "It's not that funny!" Yuuta cleared his throat "Ahem, anyways, can I come with you to the Amagi inn today? I heard your good friends with the upcoming manager. We could bring the new guys."

Miwa beamed. "That's the smartest thing I've heard from you all year! We should definitely bring the new transfer students to the Amagi inn, that way we can go in for a dip in the hot spring!"

Nanako nodded. "Well sure, we can go together with the new students, but I don't think that Big Sis will let us in the hot spring today. A whole lot of new guests just flocked in from America last week and they're always using the springs. And- hey are you listening Yuuta?"

Yuuta had his eyes closed, his arms crossed, a dreamy smile on his face and his head facing the ceiling. "Hmm... Nanako in the hot springs huh?"

Nanako gave him a punch to the stomach, something she learned from Chie Satonaka of the police force. "Keep your thoughts to yourself!" shouted Nanako.

"Ugh... sorry" apologised Yuuta in a pathetic tone as he laid on the floor bracing his stomach.

"Alright kids, back to your seats." Announced a middle age man who just came through the door of class 2-F.

Everyone settled back into their chairs as Mr. Edo stood at the front of the classroom. "Today, as you know, is my last day here in Yasogami High school." he began "And two new transfer students also start tomorrow. But I've insisted that they come here this period to catch a familiarity with this class." Mr Edo gestured to the door. "Come introduce yourself Ms. Shurei."

A young girl wearing the Yasogami High girl's uniform entered. She was fairly tall, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail that extended down to her hips and a red briefcase. Her ponytail was tied with a pink ribbon. "Hi, my name's Maiko Shurei, it's nice to meet you!"

Every male student in the class began to whisper.

"Man she's cute..."

"What do you think my chances are with her?"

"Zero dude."

"Alright that's enough." called Mr. Edo "Now come in Mr. Tenno."

Next came a young man who also wore Yasogami High uniform, but with one exception, his trousers had tears in them. He wore a plain earring on his ear and had a small scar on his neck. Wrapped around his hands were bandages that looked like there would be more on his upper arms. His most notable feature was his short hair. It was dyed dark green. "...Reiji Tenno."

This time the girls began to whisper.

"Green hair? Who dyes their hair green?"

"I dunno but it makes him look so cool!"

"I'm not sure we should be idolizing someone like him though..."

"He doesn't look like a descendent of royalty."

Mr. Edo turned to the class "Settle down everyone, don't make me repeat myself. And as you also know, a new teacher has come from Iwatodai to step in as your homeroom teacher. Please give Mr. Amada a warm welcome."

Class turned to see a young man step into the room. He wore an orange jacket with a hood and a white collar shirt underneath with a black ribbon tied under the collar. He also wore brown tight jeans showing off how slim and long his legs were. He had light brown short hair and a face of a young man in his twenties.

Mr. Edo walked to the young man and put his hand on his shoulder. "Class, this is Ken Amada and he will be 2-F's homeroom teacher for the rest of the year. He's moved into Inaba for personal reasons and took the job as a teacher here."

Ken Amada waved to the class. "Hi, it'll be a pleasure to get to know all of you for this year."

Everyone started whispering.

"Eek! He looks so young! He's handsome too!"

"How old do you think he is? Eighteen? Twenty? "

"Come on, he's a teacher. You shouldn't fall for someone like him."

"So what? Just because you're ugly doesn't mean you should have an immediate grudge on someone who isn't."

"Hey!"

"What did I say about repeating myself?" called out Mr. Edo. The whole room went quiet. "Now then, this period you'll be introducing Mr. Amada to yourselves and the school facilities. This will be my last goodbye as your teacher and I'm proud to say that most of you were very good students except some certain people. And when I mean 'some certain people' I mean Yuuta over there."

'SLAM!' Yuuta banged his forehead on his desk. "I keep telling you... I'm not proud of it."

"Very well, I'll leave them to you Mr. Amada." said Mr. Edo as he walked out of the room.

Ken made his way to his desk and placed his things on it. "Umm... Maiko and... Reiji right? You guys will probably need a seat for this year. Any available seats?"

Miwa put up her hand all jumpy. "Oh! There's one behind my friend here!"

"Okay," replied Ken "Maiko you can sit behind..."

"Nanako Dojima, Amada-sensei."

"Thank you Nanako. Now I think Reiji can go to that vacant desk next to the student with Featherman R badges on his collar."

Yuuta looked up at the new student with green hair. "N-next to me?"

Reiji walked to the vacant desk and whispered to Yuuta as he passed by "Got a problem with that?" Yuuta swiftly shook his head as he broke out in cold sweat.

Nanako spoke up "Amada-sensei, that seat's taken."

Ken smiled at the remark. "Well as one of my former teachers say, 'you have to be present to be part of this class'." At the end of the discussion Ken Amada took a seat and said "So... who's the first person who's going to telling me their names?"

Three quarters of an hour later

The school day was done and half of Yasogami's students had left the building in haste for their favourite TV show, getting a bite at Aiya's or maybe some of them had ditched school early. Nanako was still at her desk packing all of her things as Yuuta and Miwa walked up to her.

"Hey Nanako." spoke Yuuta "Ready to head off to the Amagi inn?"

"Almost." replied Nanako "Just give me a minute. Weren't we supposed to invite Maiko-san and Reiji-san? The new students probably haven't been around much of Inaba yet."

Miwa gestured to Maiko who just stepped back into the classroom. "Oh Maiko's coming. I asked her if she could come with us while you were asleep again." Nanako slapped her own forehead.

"Hey don't look at me." said Yuuta "I'm not gonna ask someone who's probably fought Yakuza members before to come with us."

"Then maybe I should invite myself."

The three friends jumped and turned to see Reiji behind them. "I heard my name being used in your conversation just now, so I thought you were spreading rumours about me. Apparently I was half right. Anyway, could I come along too? It's true I haven't been in Inaba long so..."

Nanako put on a smile for him. "Sure! You can come. The more, the merrier right?"

"Th-thanks" replied Reiji as he rubbed his hand against the back of his neck with a slight blush.

"Aww, how cute! The new tough guy has a shy side to him!"

Everyone turned to the source of the new voice to see Maiko smiling at them. "Thanks for inviting me. I was afraid that I'd have trouble making friends so I really appreciate this."

Yuuta put a 'thumbs up' sign at her. "Hey no prob! I was afraid you were going to say no."

While Maiko, Miwa, Reiji and Yuuta chatted amongst themselves, Nanako felt a slight tap on her shoulders. She turned to see her new teacher. "Hi there... Nanako was it?"

Nanako nodded "Hello Amada-sensei."

Ken shook his head. "Please, call me Ken. I'm not used to being called sensei, sounds like as if I'm old and I'm only twenty-two."

Nanako's eyes widen at the fact he was only twenty-two and already a teacher. Then she stood up and grabbed her briefcase. "Is there something you need Ken-san?"

Ken nodded and smiled when she used his name like he requested. "Could I come with you to Amagi inn? There's a good friend of mine who's staying there on business and I'd like to see him, but I'm not sure how to get there."

"Of course Ken-san. I wouldn't be able to say no to a teacher anyways."

Ken nodded again. "Thank you so much."

"HHEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!" Nanako and Ken looked outside the window and saw Maiko, Reiji, Miwa and Yuuta looking up at them on the ground floor. Yuuta was jumping up and down "You coming Nanako?"

Nanako chuckled and turned to Ken. "Let's get going."

Mt. Inaba, Amagi inn bus stop

"What a long ride." sighed Miwa as the six of them got off the bus. Miwa moved the hair infront of her face. "How can you make such long trips every Saturday Nanako?"

"It's all worth it." replied Nanako as she straightened her skirt. "I like seeing Big Sis every week."

"Your big sister?" asked Reiji "She works here?"

Nanako shook her head. "Oh no, Yukiko isn't really my older sister. She's the daughter of the inn's manager and she's the next one in line. The inn's run by her entire family. That's why it's called the Amagi inn, Amagi is Big Sis's family name."

Ken stood up after straightening the ends of his tight jeans. "If she really isn't related to you, then why do you call her 'Big Sis'? Was she a close friend of yours when you were young?"

"Yeah, she was really kind to me back when I was little, and she still is. My cousin, Souji, lived here in Inaba for a year and I ended up viewing him as a really close older brother. He met Big Sis when he was here and they became very close. They started dating and everyone saw that they'd fallen in love, even though it was embarrassing to reveal that to everyone.

"Woah." said Yuuta "Souji-san loved her? I didn't imagine that when he took care of me and my mom at the day care. I was always afraid he was hitting on my mom."

Nanako gave Yuuta a glare before continuing. "Big Bro left after the year was over though. Big Sis had to stay here to inherit the inn. They have a long-distance relationship and Big Bro comes back for a few weeks every year to visit me and Big Sis. When he's not here, they give each other calls every day."

"Wow." said Maiko "They must really be in love to go that far for each other."

"Yep!" Nanako responded with a grin. "That's right! Let's go see Big Sis now! I bet she's at the front desk waiting for me."

The six of them walked up the road to the Amagi inn that sat halfway up Mt. Inaba. Reiji went up to Nanako and asked "What does your cousin do anyway?"

"Oh, he's a detective like my dad. A private eye you might say."

Reiji's eyes widened "A detective? Your dad and your Big Bro?"

"Yep! A couple of times Big Bro comes here he works together with Naoto-kun."

Miwa turned to Nanako. "Naoto? As in Detective princess Shirogane? I'm a huge fan of her! Your Big brother worked with her! He has to be in her league or she wouldn't even consider him a good investigation partner!"

"Well Big bro and Naoto-kun were part of Big bro's group of friends. I met Naoto on a regular basis with Big bro."

"You're friends with Naoto Shirogane!" exclaimed Yuuta "Why didn't you tell me? I heard even if she dresses up like a guy most of the time she's really hot!"

Miwa gave Yuuta a punch to the back of the head. "Thoughts above the waist please."

Everyone else but Miwa and Yuuta laughed. Maiko finally got her composure back. "Ha ha, you must never be bored with these two around as your friends Nanako-san."

"Heh, yeah. Of course, I was never bored with Big Bro Souji. His friends were really nice. They all saved my life ten years ago..." said Nanako.

"Saved your life? How-"

Then Nanako got a look of concern when she saw the main entrance to the inn. Police cars were parked outside and a middle age man in a brown collar top and a jacket held by his hand and hung over his shoulder was talking with a silver haired officer who looked like he was in his late-thirties. "W-what's my dad doing here?"

Reiji looked over to get a better look. "That guy with the cigarette and the jacket on his shoulder is your dad?"

Ken peered over at the two officers. "Hey, that's the friend I was telling you about, the guy who's talking with your father, Nanako."

Yuuta looked excited. "Let's see what're they're up to."

The six of them ran to the police cars as Ryotaro Dojima spotted his daughter running towards him. "Nanako, what are you- oh that's right. You come up here every Saturday after school to see Yukiko."

"D-dad." began Nanako "What's happened here?"

"Well-"

"Akihiko-san!" shouted Ken as he ran towards the silver haired police officer.

"Ken? Is that you!" responded the officer who had been called Akihiko.

Ken stopped in front of Akihiko and puffed out breath. "Ha ha, surprised? What're doing in Inaba Akihiko-san? Mitsuru told me you were here on business but you're part of the Iwatodai police force, you shouldn't be over here."

Akihiko's face turned serious and said "We'll talk about that somewhere else." He turned the Ryotaro. "Excuse Dojima-san, I need a word with my friend here."

"Oh, go ahead." replied Ryotaro. As Ken and Akihiko walked into the inn he continued with Nanako. "Well you see Nanako... Yukiko's missing."

Nanako gasped "Big Sis is missing! For how long?"

Her father put his hand on his head. "About five days now. She disappeared after she walked out with a man described to have been in a black hood."

Maiko faced her new friend's father. "You don't think she-"

Ryotaro shook his head. "No, definitely not. She wouldn't cheat on my nephew like that, considering how close they are. I've been trying to contact Shirogane and Satonaka to help out with searching for her considering they are both on the police force and are two of Yukiko's closest friends, but I can't seem to get through to them by phone."

Nanako looked down and then looked up at her father in concern. "You don't think they've gone missing too?"

"That's what's actually the disturbing part of it. I sent some officers to notify the two of them, but their home's entrances had signs of forced entry and neither Shirogane or Officer Satonaka were at home, meaning both Naoto Shirogane and Chie Satonaka may also be missing like you said Nanako. They were last seen three days ago." Ryotaro pulled the cigarette he was smoking on out of his mouth and extinguished it under his foot. He sighed "And then I got a hunch that they weren't the only ones."

Nanako's eyes widened and she gasped "You don't think that..."

Ryotaro shook his head. "I went to Tatsumi Textiles to check on Kanji and Mrs. Tatsumi hasn't seen her son for days. Even the Hanamura's haven't seen Yosuke or their mascot Teddie for four days now. And have you heard of Rise Kujikawa?"

Maiko spoke up "That idol? The one who debuted eleven years ago?"

Ryotaro nodded. "That's right. Her manager says that she's taking a break and won't be showing to the media. But he called us four days ago to ask if she was in Inaba, apparently she's disappeared too." He pinched his skin between his eyes. "This isn't looking good."

"W-wait." Yuuta started "What does Rise Kujikawa have to do with this?"

Nanako looked at him. "She was one of Big Bro's friends as well as all the other people my dad just mentioned."

Yuuta stepped back in surprised "You serious! Souji-san's a friend of the Rise Kujikawa! You should tell me this stuff!"

Reiji stepped in. "Other than that surprise, does this mean anyone related to this Souji Seta is being targeted by some kidnapper?"

"That's not necessarily the case." replied Detective Ryotaro "I went around town checking on people that knew Souji back in Yasogami High; Yumi Ozawa, Ai Ebihara, Naoko Konishi, Kou Ichijo and even Daisuke Nagase. All of them are safe but we're still keeping an eye on them."

Nanako began to stutter "W-what about Big Bro?"

Ryotaro looked at his daughter in question. "What?"

Nanako spoke louder. "What about Big Bro! Is he okay!"

Ryotaro looked confused for a second and then panicked the next. "Oh shit! How could I forget!" He started dialling his mobile phone in haste. "If Kujikawa was overseas and was targeted, then it would make perfect sense that Souji could be kidnapped too!" He lifted the phone to his ear and waited for someone to pick up. Then in frustration, he let his hand down from his ear. "Dammit! I can't get through! Maybe my sister may know where he is."

He dialled again and the sound of someone picking up was heard. "Tsuruko, has Souji been at your house lately? ...Right. Yeah... no, it's nothing. Alright...bye." Ryotaro let his phone down again. "... Souji went on a case five days ago and Tsuruko hasn't heard from him since." Ryotaro curled his fist "Dammit, what kind of a detective am I if I couldn't realise something like this earlier?"

"No..." whispered Nanako. She slipped to her knees and her arms hanged at her sides. "Big Bro too? Why is everyone disappearing?"

Then she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up and saw Maiko trying to comfort her. "Hey, Nanako-san... Don't get all upset because something close to you is suddenly gone. I learned a long time ago some people do some things that may end up looking like something else to other people." Seeing the Maiko's eyes, Nanako knew she was telling the truth. "If this guy really is a brother to you, we'll just have to get up and search for him. He might not be in Inaba, but then again, he might've been here all along. We can't look for him if we stay here and sulk."

Reiji spoke up. "She's right. And I'm not planning to stand here and watch when the friends of someone who really helped me out are missing. I'll help in any way I can Nanako-san."

"Same here." Yuuta stepped in to place his hand on Nanako's other shoulder. "We're your friends Nanako, we ain't just gonna act like this has nothing to do with us."

Miwa knelt in front of Nanako. "I hate to admit it, but Yuuta's right. You're not alone."

"Th-thank you everyone..." Nanako finally got to her feet and wiped away the tears that just came out during their speeches. Nanako opened her eyes and the reflection of her eyes showed her new resolution. "Alright, let's go look for Big Bro and my friends."

Yuuta got up and yelled "Alright! Nanako's back in the game! Maybe we'll see some of that leadership stuff you did back at the soccer finals last year!"

"Soccer finals?" asked Maiko as she stood up straight.

"Yeah, Nanako was captain of the soccer team last year. Man, you should've seen her kick; I was the other striker on the team. The ball practically went on fire and through the net!"

"Okay, enough about my history." Nanako got back on her feet. "We'll all spread out and meet up at the Moel Gas station at five. Here's a photo of Big Bro and I with his friends ten years ago." She took out her wallet and gave them a look at the photo in it. "Miwa, Yuuta, you guys check the residential areas."

Miwa nodded. "Already on it leader! Come on Yuuta!" She away from the group and went down the hill.

"H-hey, wait up!" Yuuta yelled while chasing her "W-wait! Shouldn't we take the next bus!"

As the two ran into the distance Reiji stepped forward. "I visited the shopping district yesterday, so I know a little bit of it. It's not that far from here either."

"Alright." said Nanako "Then you can check the shopping district. Maiko and I can go to Samegawa River."

With a nod Reiji jogged down the hill.

"So..." Maiko began "Shall we get going?"

"Sure."

The two girls walked down Mt. Inaba as Ryotaro Dojima stood there watching the teenagers run.

'They've forgotten about me...' thought Ryotaro. 'Ah well. These kids seem capable enough to protect Nanako. I still can't believe she's already sixteen.' He looked at the sky, reminiscing. 'Heh. They sure remind me of Souji and the rest back then.'

Inaba, Amagi inn lobby

Ken and Akihiko sat down in the inn's lobby, noticing how there weren't many people there.

"Okay Akihiko." began Ken "What did Mitsuru-san send you here for? Your part of the Iwatodai police force, so the only reason you would come here is that the Kirijo group sent you here with their authority. I don't think Mitsuru-san would've sent you here for a holiday."

"You're getting sharper Ken." Replied Akihiko as he put a smirk. Then the second after that the smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of seriousness. "Mitsuru believes there may be Persona Users in this town."

Ken took on a look of surprise. "P-Persona! But the Dark hour's gone! We can't summon our personas anymore right?"

Akihiko shook his head. "Two years ago I was helping out with a case that involved people stealing other people's Personas, leaving the victims with Apathy Syndrome. Apparently personas can be used in real time, it's just that we lose control over them when we reach a certain age."

Akihiko cleared his throat. "But ten years ago Mitsuru ordered the destruction of all persona related technology besides our Evokers. Then she stumbled on the radar screen for one of the Kirijo group satellites. The satellite was used to detect Persona Users, in other words it was supposed to be a larger amplifier for Mitsuru's analysing skills."

"Did it work?" asked Ken

"Ha!" was Akihiko's reply. He seemed to be almost amused "The project was a complete failure. It seems even electronic equipment that can operate in the Dark Hour couldn't respond during the Dark Hour while outside of the Earth's atmosphere." He straightened his collar and the serious look returned "But the radar was completely functional, scanning all of Japan. And to make matters worse, there were three blimps on the radar."

"Three?" asked Ken "Those were probably just us right? There were only eight of us after S.E.E.S disbanded and as you said, we can't use personas after we reach a certain age."

Akihiko shook his head. "No Ken. These three blimps were separate ones from the blimps detected in Iwatodai. We expected to be several there, but three other blimps were detected here in Inaba."

Ken became stunned at the new information. "W-what?"

"Mitsuru then asked Yasogami High to send their second-years and first-years to Port Island for a closer inspection. That was ten years ago, we told the school that it was for an educational experience, but it was actually cover for inspecting the students ,as teenagers usually develop the potential more than others."

Akihiko stood up and walked to the side of the room. "The good news was that we confirmed there were Persona Users among them. The bad news was that the number had grown from three to seven. Then by the end of the year Mitsuru used the radar again and detected nine of them in Inaba."

Ken took a few seconds to register the information. "A-and where are the nine now?"

"That's why I'm here." said Akihiko "One of them was located in a penitentiary. The other eight however... vanished off the radar."

"Vanished? You mean they died and the potential went with them?"

"No Ken, if they died they potential signal would weaken and weaken until it wearied out. But the signals just vanished, like they weren't in the world anymore. Mitsuru sent me here to investigate and find out what happened to them. I believe there're connected to the disappearances of Inaba residents."

"Disappearances?" asked Ken "You mean the one about the upcoming inn manager here? I heard rumours that she was missing while we walked around the inn."

Akihiko pulled down the gloves he wore. "Yeah, I believe she's one of Persona Users we detected."

"So everyone that's suddenly gone missing in Inaba may be a Persona User?"

"Not necessarily. The officer you saw outside with me was Detective Dojima, I asked him to give me files on citizens and permanent residents here. I have a few names here that have gone missing in the last few days. Yukiko Amagi, Yosuke Hanamura, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, Chie Satonaka , Rise Kujikawa and even some guy called Teddie. All of them have gone missing. The only connection I managed to link all of them to is that the six of them attended Yasogami High and that Teddie guy was Hanamura's store mascot."

"Rise Kujikawa? The Idol?" asked Ken "She's missing too?"

"Apparently." replied Akihiko "This may explain seven of the eight other Persona Users, but I'm still working on the eighth one."

Then Akihiko's phone began to vibrate. Akihiko took it out of his pocket and saw Ryotaro's number on the screen. He answered the call "Officer Sanada speaking."

"Officer Sanada" said Ryotaro on the other side "I might've found an eighth missing person that attended Yasogami High."

"Continue." said Akihiko, gaining interest.

"Souji Seta. He is my nephew and he stayed here for a year in my house. He attended Yasogami High for that year and has a close relationship with Yukiko Amagi."

"Alright, I'll check the details when I get back to the station." Akihiko hung up and put his phone away. "That was Dojima. He's discovered the eighth missing person. His nephew, Souji Seta who happens to be Yukiko Amagi's boyfriend."

"Wait, Souji Seta?" Ken stood up with a look of concern.

"What is it Ken?"

"Souji Seta happens to be the surrogate brother of Nanako Dojima, my student and Detective Dojima's daughter."

Akihiko's eyes widened. "Your student?"

Ken replied "Yes, I remember her saying that he was Yukiko Amagi's lover."

"Well the goddess of fate must be laughing at us now." said Akihiko as he put his hand to his forehead.

Ken started to put the pieces together. "I also remember her saying that Souji had a group of friends, Rise Kujikawa was one of them."

"Sounds logical. If they were all Persona Users then probably be around each other a lot."

"Th-that's not all." Ken continued "I heard that they all saved her life ten years ago."

Akihiko became very serious. "Ten years ago? That's too much of a coincidence." Akihiko pulled out a folded file from his uniform jacket. "There was also a murder case that was considered a phenomenon that occurred ten years ago. An announcer and a Yasogami High third-year were found dead hanging on a TV antenna and an electricity pole. The cause of death was said to be an unknown poison. The murderer was former detective Tohru Adachi. He was sent to prison after his sentence was judged."

"Prison? You mean, like a penitentiary?"

Akihiko slapped his forehead. "I should've known! Why didn't I see that? Adachi must be the ninth Persona User, killing the two with his powers! The police file says he was caught by several anonymous students! Those eight missing people must've been the students who caught him!"

"Then the whole case has something to do with personas," said Ken "That explains how Mitsuru's radar picked up signals. I can't imagine what Nanako has to do with it, but she said she was saved by them, so she might've been Adachi's target."

Akihiko stepped into the hallway. "I'm going to the station to find out more of this, you coming?"

Ken nodded "Yeah." Then he thought 'But why do I get the feeling that Nanako's going to get mixed up in this again?'

Inaba, 500 metres above ground level

The man in the red butterfly mask had waited a long time for this. His troops were ready as he recruited hundreds in the past two months, both human and non-human alike. Now was the time to awaken the new players of the game.

He stared down on Inaba as rain began to lightly drop to the ground. He was however unaffected by the rain as if it wasn't there in his space. Still dry and clean, the man looked down to the two children running between houses, one jogging through a street of stores and two walking along the river. The masked man smirked and murmured "The tourney preliminaries round one starts now."

VVVVV

Authors notes: Surrogate means substitute and penitentiary is another name for prison.

Well the first chapter's done and I'll start on the second very soon. Read and review please!