Why, hello there! If you couldn't tell from the description, this fan fiction (which is also my first) takes place after the events of Persona 4 Arena, and it also brings back some familiar faces from the past Persona games. I hope you enjoy reading this mediocre story!

(Note: The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series is the property of Atlus, and I do not own any of the characters involved.)

The sun was just beginning its descent once the blue-haired detective exited the executive airplane. Iwatodai, she thought, staring out into the horizon. The sky and clouds and the skyline were perfectly in place, as if a recreation straight from a post card. She had visited the city once during a school trip, but just recently she had found the truth of what made this city so intriguing to her.

Naoto Shirogane was still confused and frustrated about the incident in the TV world that happened the previous month. The illusions, the malevolent entity, his foreboding words the moment he came to his defeat. Plus, the realization that other persona-users besides she and the Investigation Team existed. From the moment she obtained knowledge of "personas" and "shadows" from the documents she found late at night online, Naoto contemplated the idea of other people harnessing the same power of persona, but seeing them with her own eyes was that never occurred to her. And even better, the daughter of the Kirijo family. She chuckled to herself. Naoto knew that there was one who could even analyze between reality and the TV world. Yamagishi, was it?

Waking herself up from her daydream, Naoto ventured to the airport's lobby, where her scheduled limousine would arrive to transport her to the Iwatodai Dormitory – the headquarters of the Shadow Operatives.

Right then, a gale of wind pierced her body, and Naoto struggled to keep her cap in place. Though her clothing was suitable enough for the cold, she was unprepared for the windy weather that rolled across the city.

"Ugh, I should've read the weather forecast yesterday!" she regretted, increasing her walking pace to a run. She violently pushed against the wind current and finally reached the airport's back doors, abruptly pulling it open and slamming it behind her. She caught her breath and slowed down, raising her watch to check the time. 7:35 P.M.

The airport's front entrance was a straight shot from the airfield, and through the revolving doors, Naoto spotted a black limousine with a man in shades and a tuxedo behind the wheel. Perfect timing, she thought.

She stepped into the porte-cochere, and the slim window in the black vehicle's back seat rolled down, revealing long red hair and eyes to match.

"Hello, Shirogane," Mitsuru Kirijo's voice spoke with pure elegance. "Please, get in."

"Thank you," Naoto replied, waiting for the automatic doors to open. She ducked her head and sank into the leather seat, closely scanning the vehicle's lavish interior. No one else was inside.

"So how was your flight?" Mitsuru started, her eyes seemingly staring at Naoto's body for any sort of other hint as to how she behaved.

"It was fine. We experienced a few delays due to the inclement weather, but nothing serious." She attached her seatbelt and removed her signature blue hat, revealing her thick navy blue hair that she was trying to grow out. You should try something new with your hair! her friend Rise had convinced her.

"That's great." Naoto felt the wheels skid across the road and the vehicle incline as the car entered the expressway.

"So how far is the headquarters from the airport?" she asked, glancing at the tinted windows.

"We'll arrive in the dormitory in about 20 minutes." Naoto could sense Mitsuru's impatience. Of course, this is a pressing issue so far.

After sitting in silence for what seemed like forever, the limousine skidded to a halt and parked in front of what looked like a typical residential building. Mitsuru looked out the window and opened the car's door. Cold air rushed inside, tossing the two's hair around and forcing Naoto to fit her blue cap back onto her head. Does it need to be this windy? Naoto complained, biting her lip as she crouched under the car roof and stepped outside.

"If you couldn't tell, this is the headquarters of the Shadow Operatives," the red-haired woman affirmed, gesturing towards the dull-looking edifice. She then looked forward and briskly walked towards the building. Naoto followed Mitsuru's path and couldn't help but notice the regality in her stride. Maybe it's her boots…

They both arrived at the building's doorstep and Mitsuru slipped an access card out of her back then waved the back of the card back and forth over the "keyhole" and it made a sharp clicking noise. Mitusru cranked the door handle and revealed the headquarters' main lobby.

"Wow, you guys sure did a good job of camouflaging the building," Naoto remarked with a small laugh. The carpeting was a washed-out pattern of green, and the furniture was composed of solely earth tones. A faint scent of freshly brewed coffee drifted in the air. Reminds me of my office back at home, Naoto thought with a sigh.

"Ha, this building was changed very little from its former days as a school dormitory." Mitsuru commented. They continued walking and maneuvered to the staircase in the back of the building. "Two years ago, we had this dormitory closed down, and it was on a hiatus since last year. Since then, we have modified the building to function as the main office for our organization."

"To be honest, this dorm really didn't need many modifications to become a suitable hub for the Shadow Operatives." Her eyes were lost in thought. "Back in high school, I, along with some of my friends, used this building as the headquarters for S.E.E.S., a so-called "school club" dedicated to combating shadows and…" Mitsuru stopped. "I'll tell you more eventually."

"Interesting," Naoto replied. "It's funny, though the thought crossed my mind a few times, I didn't think I'd actually meet another person, let alone a group of people, with the power of persona."

They then reached the top of the staircase and faced a mahogany double door with muffled voices mumbling behind it. "Well, you're going to meet quite a few of them within these few days." Mitsuru pushed the door open, and Naoto pondered the idea, How many of them do exi-

"WHY CAN'T YOU LEARN TO NOT DRINK BEFORE AN IMPORTANT MEETING!?" a woman sitting in the back yelled.

"ULALA. I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I DID NOT DRINK TODAY. I ONLY TRIPPED BECA-" The two both stopped in their conversations, their faces brimming with anger and annoyance and the other four in the room with their palms flat on their face.

"Oh, Kirijo-san, I'm sorry, I-" the loud-mouthed woman in the back began. Her red hair was in tied in a star-shaped bun, and a cream trench coat covered her body. Her legs were crossed, and she wore black heels on her feet.

"Silence. There's no time for your unnecessary bickering when we have a guest visiting all the way from Inaba." Mitsuru raised a finger to show that she was serious and did not want another word to cross this room.

After shutting the room up, Mitsuru gestured toward Shirogane's petite figure, motioning for her to introduce herself.

"O-Oh, yes. My name is Naoto Shirogane, and I'm pleased to meet you all." Her eyes moved side to side, scanning across the room. Right then, she noticed the two androids – Aigis and Labrys, but the other four presumed members of the Shadow Operatives were strangers. I think I might have seen him on TV before, she thought, staring at the blue-scarfed, spectacled male in front of her.

"Welcome, Naoto-san," Aigis greeted. "Has your investigation been doing well so far?"

"Sadly, I've been unable to find any valid leads so far, aside from a few hunches based on the data I've found." I wonder if the other members will understand this, Naoto hoped. She then noticed the four unknown faces eyeing her closely, until Labrys broke the silence.

"Oh yeah, that's Yukari," she motioned towards the girl in pink, "the one in the back's Ulala, the one over right there," she pointed a metallic finger at the man she recognized, "is Nanjo, and the long-haired one to the left of you is Kaoru." They all made a short greeting and Naoto proceeded to take a seat next to Yukari, who remained quiet.

"Hey, you kind of remind me of someone," Yukari began quietly. She glanced at Mitsuru and Aigis, who also noticed her resemblance to a certain someone. (They all looked at her hair.)

"Is that so?" Naoto replied with a small laugh. Just then, Mitsuru took a seat in the royal-looking armchair in the front of the meeting room, where she could closely watch the other members.

"Now that we have our introductions finished, let us now commence this meeting regarding the recent shadow activity in Inaba." She raised her posture and laid out her documents on the coffee table in front of her, while Naoto and the others followed in suit. The table was soon covered in pie charts, Word documents, and other scattered findings. "Shirogane, please be first in explaining your findings."

Naoto grabbed her scattered papers and began speaking. "From the abilities of the Malevolent Entity has, we can assume that this entity is not a normal shadow, but something much, much more powerful." She pulled out a news article from her findings. "While doing my research, I came across an article from 2000 of the incidents in Sumaru City and the Sudou family."

"Wait, Sumaru City?" Kaoru and Ulala questioned in unison.

"Yes, is something wrong?"

Kaoru and Ulala looked at each other, and Ulala shrugged, as if mentally debating if she should reveal her knowledge. "It's a long story, but we were involved in that series of incidents back then."

Naoto stared at them, her curiosity piqued. "Really? O-Oh, then this piece of information is probably worthless to all of you. I'm sure the three of you are much more experienced with the situation." She tipped her head down slightly.

"Oh, no, go ahead," Nanjo requested. "The media reacted with great power across the world, so I'd like to hear what your source thought of the situation."

"Okay," Naoto answered. "Anyways, in the information it provided about the incidents, it mentioned "persona" and "demons." At that moment, I did more intense research on the subject, and I came across a report of Tatsuya Sudou, stating that he heard "voices." She glanced ahead at Labrys, who was intently listening. "Even though this is random speculation, didn't you say that you heard a voice while waking up from hibernation?"

"Huh?" Labrys scanned through her memories. "That's right, I do remember hearing some kinda voice back then." She paused to recollect an exact description of what happened. "It was a sorta… calming voice, that told me it could grant my wish to become a normal girl."

"I know I'm just grasping at random theories, but because this issue involved personas and shadows, it was much harder to draw to any conclusion," Naoto shrugged. She knew that her logic was faulty.

"Actually, you're not far off base," Kaoru assured her. "We realized that year that Sudou was actually being controlled by this powerful being, known as the Crawling Chaos. Nyarlathotep." He took a deep breath. "Nyarlathotep is all of man's great evil contained into one being. He has the power to obtain many different forms and manipulate people." Kaoru gripped a wine glass in front of him and took a swig of the drink.

"So then, could 'Nyarlathotep' be the person that orchestrated this whole thing?" Yukari asked.

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." Mitsuru ordered. "Though this is worth investigating into, we still need more evidence to officially make a conclusion." The room fell silent. "That is why, starting next week, we will commence further investigation in Inaba and the TV world."

"But Mitsuru-san, wouldn't we require the assistance of Naoto's friends as well? I wouldn't want to intrude on their school life…" Aigis worried.

Mitsuru sighed, sinking back into her chair. "That's right, I haven't thought about that." She turned towards Naoto, noticing the quickly darkening sky just past the window. "Shirogane, if possible, would you be willing to help us in our exploration? It would be greatly appreciated if your other friends could, as well. Of course, this is with regards to your school life, so we'd be willing to accommodate your schedule if necessary."

Naoto reflected on the issue, wondering if she should drag her friends into the fracas with her, as she already knew herself that she wanted to continue the investigation. This situation does concern us as well, she reasoned, especially since the malevolent entity was targeting all of us.

She then made her decision. "I'll do it, but as for my friends, I'll contact them tonight and get back to you by tomorrow."

Mitsuru looked at her with eyes of gratitude. "Thank you." Naoto bowed slightly in response.

The red-haired leader then straightened her posture and faced the entirety of the group. "Now then, it appears that we have all matters settled for today, marking the end of this meeting. Oh, and Shirogane," she called to Naoto. "Feel free to stay in one of our empty rooms for tonight. It will make communication regarding the issue much easier."

"I will, thank you."

After letting the other members exit the meeting room first, Naoto ventured into the hallway, quietly shutting the double doors behind her. Hm, this will be interesting, she thought with a smile. She stepped down the flight of stairs with her luggage in hand and turned right into a desolate hallway, lit only by a dim lamp in the corner.

"Which room should I choose…?" she briefly wondered. Not wanting to take too long making a petty decision, she chose the room immediately to her left and dropped her belongings on the floor, scanning the bland room before her. Might as well prepare for bed, she told herself. Grabbing night clothes and toiletries, she entered the bathroom and prepared for her slumber.

That night, a blue butterfly dritfted over the dormitory.