It was your standard modern fairy tale. A brave newcomer rallies the townsfolk into fighting an unspeakable foe. Utilising the power of persona, a physical manifestation of your true self (for better or worse), they fought the shadows that resided inside the strange world of the TV, and won. Yu Narukami was a true hero. With the help of his friends, the energetic teen superstar Rise Kujikawa, elegant heiress Yukiko Amagi, his loyal partner Yosuke Hanamura, the soft centred punk Kanji Tatsumi, the meat-loving martial artist Chie Satonaka, mysterious detective Naoto Shirogane, and the childish supernatural Teddie, the fog was cleared from his town, uncovering the truth of who was behind the serial killings, and the true nature of the midnight channel. But his story is over. This is a story of those he left behind…

Kanji Tatsumi had changed; that was never up for any arguments. But looking in the mirror, his hair now back to a slick of bleached blonde, gaudy rings over the more conservative studs he had recently been adopting, on top of a leather jacket he hadn't worn since his first year of high school, he had his doubts.

But the change was necessary, or so he had been told. 'Security guards have to look tough, not dorky!' Chie had told him emphatically. It took a lot of effort for the tailor to reign in his disagreement, to not mention the hours he spend painstakingly choosing how his new wardrobe, how the fit was so perfect that he only ever looked kickass, and how she should just stick it already!

The airport bathroom was empty, unsurprising considering the late hour. Chie had insisted on a cheap flight that would arrive at 3AM, and considering his lack of real financial status, he was in no position to argue. Laying his gym bag on the floor, lamenting once again everything that didn't fit inside, he stared down his mirror-self right in the eyes, daring him to run. He rested his forehead on the reflective surface and closed his eyes. What am I doing here, he thought helplessly, screwing his eyes faster and faster shut.

It was all Naoto's fault of course. Ever since that impromptu interrogation three years ago, she seemed to have been a catalyst in making his life more difficult, not that he ever did much to avoid those new hardships. The problem with an unrequited crush, one spanning years no less, is that the subject of such feelings develops the gravity of a black hole, a force a love-struck fool is all too willing to be crushed by. Even now, with their meetings being few and far between, the detective's request was impossible to refuse.

The impressive part was that it wasn't even her request. He had been working at the shop, minding his own business, like he had been for the endless weeks since the end of summer. Yosuke had long since returned to their university, Rise was on tour or doing some acting job, he had lost track, Yukiko was working at the inn as if her life depended on it, and Teddie was doing god knows what. The bear had taken to using his endless charm and incredible naivety to decide it would be his job to go around the planet and give them what they really want; himself. He had given some long speech to the team about it being his way to brighten up humanity's 'collective subconscious' and prevent the fog ever forming again, but Kanji had tuned out as soon as he realised Teddie actually believed what he was saying.

Still, the tailor thought glumly, least he's been doing something. While the boy, (still not a man in his own eyes), enjoyed working at his family's store, the past few weeks of working in a practically empty Inaba had given him a rude awakening. He had gotten used to having friends, always present, always available, always together, and completely forgot the horrible feeling of isolation that had dominated his middle school years. The only problem was that unlike those days, he didn't have the never ending fountain of rage to fuel his daily life. He was stagnating, with the only definite part of his future being working in a shop, surrounded only by fabric and his mother, and eventually, only the cloth would be there to keep him company. It was a depressing prospect, and the idea he would still see his senpai and friends, but on holidays, when their schedules allowed it, only sunk his spirits closer to rock bottom. So when Chie made her offer, he'd practically bit off her hand. Well, after some reservations…

"Run that by me again."

"Ugh," Chie groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "What don't you get, this is simple!" She sunk down onto the younger boy's futon, red faced, letting the back of her head bounce off the mattress.

Kanji rolled his eyes, pushing his chair away from his desk, deciding the felt puppy wouldn't be going anywhere. Swivelling to face the woman on his bed, he mildly noted how common it was becoming to be interrupted by this slightly stroppy cop. "Sure, it's simple," He grunted, "But it sounds nuts. Where'd you even hear about this?"

The martial artist had, rather rudely, already settled herself onto his futon, lying down and staring at the ceiling. She was in her work clothes, but, typically for herself off-shift, they lacked any sense of authority, tie unruly, top of the shirt unbuttoned, and the blazer just not angled right. Her hat had somehow found itself on top of Kanji's bookshelf, the previous excitement for her wonderful proposal too much to contain. "It doesn't even matter alright!" she snapped. Fortunately, he had gotten used to her slowly deteriorating disposition over the last year, and merely raised an eyebrow. "Look, are you in, or not?"

Scootching closer to his friend, he looked her dead in the eyes. "If you're asking me to move across the freakin' country as a favour course it damn matters. What's the deal?"

Anger was so natural to hear from Kanji, it had the effect of calming Chie down. "Well…" She sighed, resting a tired hand on her forehead. "Y'know how I keep applying to other precincts?"

Her friend nodded sagely. All he had been hearing from his martial artist friend was how there was never any real action in Inaba, the murder case none withstanding. "And this means…"

"It means nobody's willing to take me on," She replied glumly, "And this last place kept saying I need more experience."

Kanji squinted, still failing to see the connection. "So? Stick around here a few years and then you can go, it ain't that-"

"But it is." The academy graduate cut in. "C'mon. You're just as tired of this town as I am. This is an opportunity!" The bubbly, enthusiastic Chie that Kanji once knew was rising to the surface, a side he could often bring back as long as he endured a hammy Kung-Fu flick or ritzed out on a steak lunch. "The location's great, and we'd be working for a good company, and the pay really is amazing for people our age…"

Kanji just shook his head, sinking her spirits to their now-usual level. "That ain't enough. You know that. Who'd look after Ma? Who'd look after the shop? And your dog won't feed itself." Awkwardly, he rolled his chair closer to his downtrodden senpai and placed a strong hand on her shoulder. "Listen," he started, trying to channel some of Yu's old pep-talk finesse, "I know things are pretty shitty right now. But this is way too much. Besides, I know Yukiko-" He flinched as he said the name, even before feeling the familiar glare Chie threw him whenever he broached the topic. "What I mean is," he clumsily tried again, "I know she'd miss you. You'd miss her, and don't even pretend otherwise."

But the martial artist was gone, staring into a corner of the room with her eyes glazed over. "She wouldn't even notice we were gone…" Snapping back into reality, she glanced at Kanji for only a second and bit her lip, knowing she had to play her trump card. "This… Wasn't actually my idea you know…" She started, forcing her voice to be casual in only the loosest sense.

A lost Kanji tilted his head. "Whaddya mean?"

The police officer gulped, then cleared her throat. "It was actually Naoto-kun's…"

Chie could still remember the way his head pricked up, knowing instantly she had him hook, line, and sinker. A fishing metaphor, she noted sadly, the flash of grey in her mind suddenly shifting into a sea of intense red. Breathing softly, she returned to thinking about her poor, easily manipulated partner, doing god knows what in the restroom. She still felt bad about bringing Naoto into it, but she was desperate. She had been desperate for months. Kicking her heels, and definitely not having second thoughts, she quietly ended up doing her usual thing; thinking about how horrible her life had become.

The academy had been… Fine. The commute to Okina for classes had been easy, and the training was definitely more interesting than anything in school. The fact was however, nobody was there, and any potential friends didn't make themselves known. She had tried, god she had tried, to bridge the gap in those first few months, but everyone was so much older, trying to switch professions, or younger, with an air that disturbingly reminded her of Adachi, too carefree, and just waiting to abuse their future positions. It didn't help that when one of those younger guys made a slightly sexist joke she used a kick she usually saved for on Yosuke Hanamura, and won herself the grand title of 'the stuck-up bitch'. This didn't even win her any points with the precious few women in the class, who sided with the guys as to not rock the boat, or just stayed quiet, and well clear of the freak.

That would have all been fine if things at home were like they were, but they weren't. Inaba was empty besides from Kanji and the occasional sighting of Teddie. Completely empty. With no other people whatsoever. With that huge bunch of options available, she had taken to bugging the tailor at every opportunity, which he didn't seem to mind, considering he didn't exactly have a lot of choice either. But there were the times he took to hanging out with Naoki, leaving Chie alone. So very alone.

That pretty much summed up her year. Academy, Kanji, alone. Once she graduated the preliminary course (third in her class), she was assigned a placement which, due to convenience, had to be in the Inaba, which meant she had to work with Detective Dojima, which had definitely not healthy for her psyche. If the work had been interesting enough that she didn't have time to let it get to her it would have been great, but it was an Inaba post-Izanami, an Inaba where crime was only ever petty and uninteresting. She spent her days filling out forms and hoping desperately to suddenly become invested in it, rather than her brain be filled with thoughts of the town's most beloved scoundrel.

Naoto, however, did come back. Only sporadically, and for scant hours at best, but she did visit, although Chie clearly saw it was out of a sense of duty as opposed to any enthusiasm. Yosuke and Rise also made their own visits, but she made a point to avoid them. Naoto she didn't blame, those two… She frowned, seethed, and kicked the wall she was leaning against with the heel of her plimsolls. Best not to think about it, she reminded herself, pain shooting up her shin. It was easier that way.

Back down memory lane, she recalled how this new opportunity had presented itself, during Naoto's most recent visit. The detective had been wittering on about her favourite topic, her continued investigation of the shadow phenomena, all over a quite frankly disgusting cup of coffee. While Chie made sure to nod and gasp as the appropriate intervals, her heart really wasn't in it. The case was over. End of story, nothing to follow up on.

"If only I had an agent on the inside," the detective had bemoaned, "their systems are impossible to crack."

The mere mention of espionage roused Chie to begin paying attention. "That would be cool! But, uh, what would you hope to find?"

Naoto's eyes twinkled, the woman glad to have had something asked from her by her usually unresponsive friend. "All manner of things. The Kirijo group was at the heart of the Tatsumi Port Island incidents and may even as we speak be running research into shadow activity."

"Really?" Chie asked, eyebrows raised in excitement. "What kind of research?"

"Where to start? My theory is-"

The martial artist had dozed off again when her dorky friend pulled out her Kirijo dossier, but the name of the company had stuck in her mind, and an absent minded session of scrolling through web pages had somehow led her to their recruitment page. One listing caught her eye, a year's contract in the CEO's private residence, looking for 'a team of discrete and well synergised individuals for a simple security assignment.' Encouragingly, there was a footnote, 'We accept all applicants.' A quick search of said residence, the remote and beautiful Yakushima Island, sold her wholeheartedly.

So while Naoto hadn't explicitly told her to do this, she may as well have. Besides, she threw the Shirogane name on their application for extra credit, so she was basically involved. Still, she thought tiredly, I'll have to set things straight with Kanji-kun someday… An ear pricked up at the sound of a creaking door. Speak of the devil. Chie turned to face her emerging friend, bringing her peppier persona to the surface. Someone had to be positive. "You get lost or something in there?"

Kanji's drooping eyelids told her he didn't have any time for her bullshit. "Just y'know, freaking the fuck out a little." He replied honestly, walking straight past his senpai towards the exit. She fell in line beside him, a little bounce in her step that prompted a sideways glance from the tall boy. "Why're we doin' this again?"

Chie shrugged, trying to overlook the fact he'd been asking the same kind of questions for the entire flight. "Why not? Is there anything else you'd rather be doing?" His grunt in retort was a string of intelligible mutterings. Tuning this out, Chie found herself and her partner on the pavement outside the front of the airport. "Taxi'll be here any minute." She turned to her friend, and only now noticed the bags under his eyes. "You could've grabbed some sleep on the plane y'know…"

The tailor's nod was surprisingly firm. "Ain't ever been on one of those things before. I was scared shitless the whole time."

His slowly developed candidness was always something Chie always found surprising. He spent so much time being something he wasn't, she reminded herself, he must really wanna put that behind him… A pang of guilt shot through her body as she realised again what he was wearing. And I made him dress up in those stupid clothes. Averting her gaze, she looked down to herself. Honestly, out of uniform, she looked no different to when she was in high school, the deep green on her torso both a happy comfort, and a sad reminder of times gone by.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of wheels on tarmac. The headlights were blinding, even from a distance, and it took a few moment for Chie's eyes to adjust, only to find Kanji was already sitting inside, settling into a corner of the backseat. She joined him, taking her place on the other side, and after a quick discussion with the driver, they set off. The plan was to get to the coast, grab a boat, head to the island, nail the interview, and-

The interview. The martial artist went limp and sank into the cheap seat. "Kanji-kun?"

"Mmmrh?" His eyes were closed, and he kept fidgeting, trying to find the most comfortable position.

"Well…" she sighed. "Remember when I said this was a sure thing? I lied. We'll have to go through an interview and beat out any other applicants and…" She leant forwards and cradled her face in her hands. "Oh god, what if we don't get it? I'd have to call my mom, and I've been talking about this for so long and she didn't even want me to go and-"

"Shhhh..." Chie had been expecting any interruption be an explosion of rage from her friend but luckily, in this state the boy was entirely docile. "We'll get the gig… Has to be us, right?"

"What makes you so sure?

"We're a… Good team…" His speech was slow and laboured, with a gentle air Chie couldn't quite put her finger on. "'Sides… If they don't like us they can get bent."

A small smile formed on Chie's lips, who had always appreciated the younger boy's crudeness, which widened when followed by comically loud snoring. Looking out of the window, it was so dark only the road was visible, but she was content to watch the silhouettes beyond its edge. She curled her fingers into a fist and nodded. He's right. We are gonna get this job, and then I'm gonna move into the city and be the greatest cop that's ever lived! She punched the air, but her enthusiasm faded, and in the grey hair of the taxi driver, she saw the boy that had, while having once saved it countlessly, had utterly ruined her life. This has to work. I can't go through last year again, I… She closed her eyes, and was quiet for a long time.

AN- Okay, so I'm writing a new story! This one is still gonna have pairings because I'm a self indulgent prat like that, but I'm trying to go for more actual action than romance stuff this time round, switch it up y'know?

Here's the pitch- Chie and Kanji centric, three years after catching Adachi, P3/P4 crossover, and arena didn't happen, though I will be taking some elements of it! That's all I'm gonna say, maybe because that's all I have worked out, maybe because I'm hoping I have it in me to surprise at least a couple of people! If you feel confused by the prologue, don't worry, I'll be filling in gaps as I go along. If I'm doing my job.

I want to have this being updated weekly, a regular schedule and all that, which I can stick to for now considering I'm a scant few chapters ahead, but I may do larger chapter dumps if I feel I can get away with it.

So yeah. Hopefully you enjoy it! As always, I'm doing this in part to become a better writer, so criticism is always welcome, along with praise, if you feel you have the time to articulate it. See you next week! - WhateverNever