Chapter 1

Lacie986: Thanks a lot! And that pairing was actually my personal interest.

AN: I forgot to say this before but…

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Persona Series, all I own is my OC.

(TV World/April 15, 2011/Afternoon)

"… I see, so Ms. Konishi appeared on this 'Midnight Channel' before her body was found this morning, and you believe that the same is for Ms. Yamano." Seeing them nod, he continued his deduction. "I'm guessing that while you were thinking of those incidents, you thought that the killer of Ms. Yamano and Ms. Konishi threw them into a TV, which you deduced when this bear-thing tells you that he's been sensing people in here. That all?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it." Yosuke shrugged, with Yu nodding. "But wow, how'd you even understand all that? We only explained about the Midnight Channel, and we don't even know anything about this world aside from what this bear told us."

"I'm a detective." Katsuo said with conviction making the other two sweat-drop. "Plus, from the way you explained about this foggy world, those murder cases were the only ones that comes to mind."

Yu shrugged. "… He has a point." Thinking about it now, it made sense that he'd understand it.

"Now that that's out of the way…" Katsuo looked at the bear-thing in question. "So, you want these two to help you find the person throwing people in here?"

"Yes!" The bear nodded. "I want my world to be peaceful again, but with someone throwing people in here from your side, I don't know what to do! WAAAAHHH!"

Walking closer to the bear, Katsuo placed his hand on its head and began rubbing it behind its ears. "Come on, no need to cry. I'll help out too, since this is technically my job. Promise."

"R-Really?"

"Yep!" Katsuo smiled, making the bear happy again. "By the way, I'm Katsuo. What's your name?"

"I'm Teddie!" Teddie introduced himself, earning sweat-drops from Katsuo and Yosuke.

"Hah… Figures." Yosuke sighed.

Shrugging it off, Katsuo turned to his sempais. "So… What now?"

"Ooh, I know where the last person came in!" Teddie said. "You might find some clues there."

"Last person… You mean Saki-sempai!?" Hearing Yosuke's shout, the other looked at the bear.

"I meant the last person who went in. I don't know the name." Teddie handed us something. "Oh, one thing first. You three should put there on."

On Teddie's hands are three glasses, and each teen took one. A grey one for Yu, an orange one for Yosuke, and a white one for Katsuo. Shrugging at each other, they tried putting them on, and noticed that their vision instantly became clearer.

"Woah, it's like the fog doesn't even exist…" Yosuke looked around and sure enough, he could see clearly.

"Why does this world look like a studio from a commercial?" Katsuo asked, but was amazed by the glasses. "Wish they had stuff this good back at the agency…"

"They'll help you walk through the fog." Teddie explained. "… Well, I've been here for a long time. So you can rely on me!"

"But…?" Kastsuo asked, not believing that there wasn't a catch to what Teddie just said.

"Uhh… But I can only take you guys to the place. You guys will have to defend yourselves." What he said gained different reactions from the three.

"What happened to relying on you!?" Yosuke was worried about it. "Th-There better not be any monsters! You understand!?"

"Relax, I've got your back, Sempai." Katsuo tried to calm him down. "I brought real weapons, remember?"

"As long as we have something to defend ourselves with, we'll be fine." Yu also tried to calm his classmate down.

"Yeah, but…" Yosuke still seemed unsure. "We just got here! If it's so dangerous, why don't you do it instead of relying on us!?" He pointed an accusing finger at the bear.

"Uh uh. No way. I've got no muscles."

'Is he actually serious right now?' Katsuo was suspicious if the bear was lying or not. 'What if I…'

Walking towards Teddie, Katsuo placed his hands on top of the bear's head, and pushed as gently as he could.

*thud*

"N-Noooooo…*whimper*" Teddie wailed as he tried to get up.

"… So he was telling the truth." Katsuo shrugged and moved on, as if he didn't just push a bear. "Come on, let's go already."

"Is this thing for real? This is so lame…" Yosuke followed Katsuo after seeing that. "We swore to find the culprit, and this is all the backup we get?"

"Oh yeah, who's this Saki-sempai person? Someone you know?" Teddie asked asthenia two who were walking stopped.

"… That doesn't matter right now." With a depressed sigh, Yosuke answered. "Anyways, at least now we know Sempai might have been thrown in here. Maybe we can find more information too. Let's get moving, Yu, Katsuo."

The three began moving, until Yu had to stop to help Teddie stand because let's face it, they have no idea where they're going and the bear apparently does, so…

(Twisted Shopping District)

"What is this place…?" Yosuke asked he and the others looked at their surroundings. "It looks just like the shopping district…"

"This place is really creepy…" Making sure that his gun-blades were still in his hands, Katsuo sensed something ahead if them. "It's really messed up."

"Some weird places appeared here recently." Teddie explained. "Things are getting so tangled, I dunno what to do…"

The trio looked back and saw Teddie standing far away from them.

"Uh… By the way, why are you standing so far from us?" Yosuke asked the now sweating bear. "You better not be planning to high-tail it if something does come up."

"Of course not!" Teddie exclaimed a little too nervously that what Yosuke would've wanted. "I mean. Uh. I can't stand too close, you know. I'd get in your way."

'That's a lie…' Yu and Katsuo thought at the same time. Yosuke just sighed in irritation.

"Man, they really went all out on this…" Yosuke said, once again staring at the scenery. "But out of all the places in town, why'd they replicate this one?"

"How should I know? This is reality for the one whose here."

"As usual, nothing you say makes sense…" Yosuke sighed at the bear. "But if this is our shopping district, we're not far from Saki-sempai's…" He started running.

"Hey, Hanamura-sempai!" Katsuo shouted as he gave chase. "Come on, Yu-sempai! We can't let him wander here by himself!"

"Right!"

"W-Wait uuuppp!"

(Konishi Liquor Store in the TV World)

"I knew it!" Yosuke shouted as he near a liquor shop. "This is the liquor store that Sempai's parents run."

"Did she…disappear here, then?" Katsuo asked. "But I feel strange while I'm here, like something's watching us… He whispered to himself, griping his weapons tighter.

Yosuke was about to enter the shop, but what Teddie said stopped him.

"W-Wait a second. Th-There here!"

"W-What?" Yosuke asked, confused.

"… Shadows. I had a feeling they were going to attack…!" Teddie said as some mask thing started coming out of the entrance to the liquor store.

"H-Huh!?"

"Yosuke, get back!" Yu shouted as Yosuke fell down.

The two masks formed into weird ball like creatures with lips and a tongue. Weird noises that sounded like slurping came from them.

"What the hell…!?" Katsuo tried to aim his weapons at the creatures, but his he started to hear a strange voice. "Gah…"

"Katsuo!" Yu went over to help just as a headache struck him as well. "Arg…!"

"I am Thou… Thou art I… The time has come… Open thine eyes, and grasp the power that is within…"

'This voice again…? And, power?' Katsuo thought to himself as a glowing circle surrounded Yu and himself. 'Tch, no choice then, huh…guess I'll have to go with it!'

Both teens have smiles on their faces as two tarot cards appeared in front of them. One in Yu's hand, the other is floating in front of Katsuo. The two then felt a single word being forced out of their mouths…

[Per… So…] Their eyes suddenly widened as they felt power course through them.

[NA!] Suddenly, Yu smashed his card with his right hand, and Katsuo slashed his card with his gun-blades.

[Raaaggghhhh!] The two boys shouted as two silhouettes appeared behind them.

Above Yu, a being wearing a high-collared black cloak, a metallic mask with two eyeholes, razor-like fingers, and blades under his feet, appeared while holding a naginata. The eyes themselves were glowing a golden color.

Above Katsuo appeared a being with a fox-like mask, while the eyes were glowing a slight orange. Its attire consisted of a white coat, a red scarf, black boots and an arm guard on his right hand. It was wielding a single white katana.

Without warning, the two Shadows charged at them. Seeing them coming, Teddie told the two to listen to him for instructions.

"Try to experiment with whatever attack works and I'll keep track of them!" With a nod, the two ran towards the Shadows, the two beings following them.

"Izanagi, Zio!" Yu shouted out as the being behind him raised its weapon to make lightning strick the first Shadow, making it fall down for a while.

"That Shadow's weak to electricity!" Teddie cheered from the sidelines. "It's down!"

"My turn!" Katsuo shouted as he pointed at the downed Shadow. "Inari, Skewer!" The being above him rushed towards the downed Shadow, stabbing its katana in it, making the Shadow disappear.

"Katsuo defeated a Shadow!" Teddie shouted in joy. "Last one!"

"Together, Sempai!?" Katsuo asked Yu, who nodded his head.

"Izanagi! Cleave!" "Inari, Agi!" Both shouted as Izanagi used his weapon to slash at the enemy while Inari covered the enemy in flames, killing the last Shadow.

"We won!" Teddie cheered.

The two beings floated above their respective summoner, a voice once again whispering in their minds.

"Yu Narukami has faced his other self. He has obtained the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Izanagi!"

"Katsuo Yamato has faced his other self. He has obtained the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Inari!"

Both of their Persona disappeared back into them after turning back into tarot cards.

Yosuke took that time to rush up to them. "Woah! Wh-What was that!?" He was amazed at what they just did. "Did I hear you both say, "Persona"!? What was it—I mean, what did you do!? Hey, do you guys think I can do it too…?"

The two teens looked at each other in obvious discomfort at all the questions. Katsuo was about to tell him off, but someone else beat him to it.

"Calm down, Yosuke. You're troubling Sensei and Sempai." Surprisingly, it was Teddie who did that.

"S-Sensei? Sempai?" Yosuke asked the bear who ignored him completely.

"Gosh almighty! You're both amazing, Sensei, Sempai! I am one impressed bear!" Teddie complemented the two. "I can't believe both of you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows were afraid of both of you!*Gasp* Are the two of you the ones able to bring people into this world?"

Yu nodded, thinking back to what happened yesterday, while Katsuo shrugged because he hasn't tried yet, on with himself.

"Hah! That's what I thought! This is really something!" Teddie turned to Yosuke with a smile. "Don't you think so, Yosuke?"

Only response he got was being pushed down as he bounced back up.

"Dude, you call them that and then don't show me any respect!?" Yosuke shouted at the bear.

"S-Sorry…" Teddie apologized.

"W-Well, your support wasn't bad, though. I gotta give you credit for that." Yosuke smiled and praised the bear.

"Huh? R-Really…? Heehee."

"All right, you three keep it up, and I think we'll be fine from here on out." Katsuo and Yu nodded at Yosuke while Teddie cheered a bit. "Now let's get back to the investigation."

"Sure." Katsuo smiled, placing his headphones on. "Well if you need me, just tap me since I wanna listen to music for a while." He said as he closed his eyes…

Only to open them to see his group gone from the area, possibly in the liquor store.

"H-Hey, why'd you guys leave me!?" He shouted, only to sigh, now knowing where they are. "You listen to music for a short while and you miss a lot of things…"

*rumble*

"W-Woah, what's happening in there!?" Hearing the sound from the liquor store, he rushed in after the others.

(Konishi Liquor Store Interior)

"—a Shadow… The true self…" A creature with a somewhat human half at top riding on a giant frog-like thing stood in front of Yu and Teddie after Yosuke rejected it. "I'll crush everything that bores me…" Shadow Yosuke then pointed at Yu who was wielding a golf club. "Starting with you!"

"Careful, Sensei! It's way stronger that the one you faced last!" Teddie warned him as Yu nodded, getting ready to summon his Persona.

"Out of my way! Wind of Oblivion!" Shadow Yosuke sent Yu falling on his back. "Haha! Weak!"

"Watch out, Sensei! You're weak to wind attacks!" Teddie told him as Yu got up.

"How long can you survive this?" Shadow Yosuke taunted.

"Inari! Skewer!" A blade was plunged into one of Shadow Yosuke's feet, making it fall. "Long enough for me to get here!"

"Sempai! You came!" Teddie cheered before shutting up when Katsuo glared at him.

"Why the hell did you guys just leave me behind!?" Katsuo shouted at them. "And just what the hell is that!?" He pointed at the Shadow that was slowly getting up.

"Talk later! Focus on the fight for now!" Yu shouted, summoning his Persona. "Izanagi, Cleave!"

The naginata wielding Persona dashed to where the Shadow was and kept using its naginata.

"Don't underestimate me!" shouted, punching Izanagi back. "Take this!" He went in to attack Yu, but Katsuo intercepted with his gun-blades. "Damn it!"

"Don't forget I'm here too!" Katsuo shouted while shooting the Shadow. "Sempai, try to use electric attacks!"

"Right! Izanagi, Zio!" He summoned his Persona again as Izanagi shot a lightning bolt at , making it fall down.

"It's weak to electric attacks!" Teddie notified the two teens.

"Inari! Agi!" Inari casted a fireball at the down Shadow, weakening it further.

"That's not going to work!" shouted at the two as it stood up and took a defensive stance.

"Watch out! It's trying to defend its weak point!" Teddie warned them.

"Inari, Tarukaja!" Katsuo ordered, giving Yu a power-up. "Use it for the next strike!"

"Heh, that's it…? Boring…" said, getting out of its defensive stance. "Out of the way! Wind of Oblivion!"

While Yu fell down, Katsuo was still standing with only minor injuries on his body.

"Sempai's resistant to wind!" Teddie informed them. "Try to cover Sensei's weakness!"

"Got it!" Katsuo shouted back, summoning Inari. "Inari! Agi!"

"Gah! You're getting on my nerves!" snarled at Katsuo. "Just die! Power Charge!"

"Uh oh, he's powering up!" Teddie warned them. "Get ready for his next attack!"

"Sempai, now!" Katsuo shouted at Yu.

"Izanagi, Zio!" Yu commanded, shocking as he was downed. "You're turn!"

"Alright, here I go!" Katsuo charged the Shadow and damaged it using the blades on his guns.

stood up with a bit of difficulty. "You're starting to be a real pain… All right, I'm gonna crush you with everything I got! Wind of Oblivion!"

"Inari, defend Yu-sempai!" Katsuo ordered his Persona as it stood in front of Yu, taking most of the ddamage. "Guh… Do it, Sempai!"

"Zio!" Izanagi shocked again, bringing it to the last of its life. "End it now, Katsuo!"

"You got it!" Katsuo smirked as he summoned Inari. "Go get him! Skewer!"

"Damn you to hell!" The Shadow cried in agony as Inari's blade pierced it, knocking it out as it reverted back to its human form.

"Woah, did I just strike Hanamura-sempai!?" Katsuo freaked out. "Was that why I couldn't see him anywhere!?"

"No… That was his Shadow." Seeing his confused expression, Yu briefly explained to him what was going on while pointing to Yosuke who was waking up.

"I… I…" Yosuke struggled to talk as he stood up.

"Yosuke, are you okay!?" Teddie was the one to ask as the others ran over to him.

"Y-Yeah… What… Happened…?" No one said a word, they all just looked at Shadow Yosuke.

"…"

Shaking his head in denial, Yosuke looked at his other self. "You… You're… not me…"

"That thing came from you, Yosuke." Teddie explained to the downcast teen. "You have to admit it…or it'll go berserk again…"

Even after hearing that, Yosuke was still reluctant to accept it.

"No matter what happens, you're still yourself, Yosuke." Yu told him with a smile.

"Yeah, Hanamura-sempai. This is just a part of you, not the whole you." Even if he wasn't there to witness it all, Katsuo stood firm in what he said.

"Myself…" Yosuke looked down but had a wry smile on his face. "Dammit… It hurts to face yourself…"

Yosuke turned to face his Shadow and started walking towards it. "I knew it wasn't lying… But I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it…" He stopped right in front of it as he finally accepted it. "You're me…and I'm you… When you get down to it, all of this is me."

The Shadow nodded it's head, as if accepting what Yosuke just said. It started to glow blue as it began to change shape…

"The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest…"

Yosuke's Shadow took the form similar to a ninja. It wore a silver jumpsuit with the edges of the arms and legs being the same color as the giant frog it rode when it was berserk. It has a shuriken in both of its hands, and in the place where the should've been were shurikens.

"Yosuke has faced his other self… He has obtained the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya was absorbed back into Yosuke right after Yu and Katsuo heard that weird voice.

"This is my Persona…" Yosuke said to himself. He turned to the others and sat down on the floor. "When we heard Sempai's voice… I wonder if that was something Sempai had been keeping deep down inside…" Yosuke laughed dryly. "Haha… "He was a real pain in the ass" huh? What a way to find out… Geez, this is so embarrassing…"

Yu walked towards him and held out his hand as Yosuke looked up and smiled.

"If you guys weren't here, I don't know what woulda happened… Thanks Yu, Katsuo." He took Yu's hand as he helped him up. "Hey, Teddie… Could Sempai have been attacked by her other self here? Like how it just happened to me?"

"I think so." Teddie said. "The Shadows here were originally born from humans." Teddie revealed. "Sometimes the fog clears here. Then they all go berserk… And you saw what happens next. A strong-willed Shadow draws others to it. And the big mass of Shadows kills the host."

"And that's where the dead bodies found in out world comes from…" Katsuo deducted from what he heard. "The fog lifted here when it was foggy in our world, then the bodies were found."

It was then they noticed how tired Yosuke was.

"You okay?" Yu asked his friend who only nodded.

"Yosuke's pretty worn out." Teddie said. "This world isn't for humans. It's not comfortable for you here." The bear pointed out, also noticing the others' tired expressions. "I don't hear anymore voices. I think we're done with this place. Let's go back."

No one said anything else as they made their way back to the exit…

(TV World)

Finally Reaching their destination, the three humans and one bear-thing rested for a while. Deciding to question the bear, Yosuke spoke up.

"Hey, Teddie. You said that this place is reality for those who enter, right?" Seeing him nod, Yosuke continued. "So that Shopping District, and the weird room we saw before… Did they exist because the ones who died entered this world, and it became their reality?" Yosuke questioned, before Shaking his head. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is… Did those places form because of the people who entered this world?"

Teddie thought for a moment before shaking his head in the negative. "I don't know. It's never happened before… But that's probably where they were when the Shadows attacked them."

"It was the same for them?" Yu asked with mild confusion.

"Wait, was it this world that killed them? For real?" While Katsuo did think that before, it was mostly just his musings.

"The fog does lift here sometimes. The Shadows get really violent then." Teddie explained. "I always get so scared. I have to hide when it happens…" None of them blamed him, after seeing those Shadows for themselves. "I sensed people here twice before. But both of them disappeared after the fog lifted."

"So let's get this straight…" Yosuke decided to talk again after he heard that. "Sempai and that Yamano lady were thrown in here, and since they couldn't get out, they wandered around… After a while, that Shadow thing came out of them. The fog cleared, it went berserk, and it ended up killing them… Does that sound right?" Teddie nodded again in affirmation. "So if I'd been here until the fog cleared, I woulda been in much deeper trouble?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure." Teddie answered, a shiver went up the three males' spine. "You were lucky Sensei, Sempai, and me were here with you…"

"Dammit…! Sempai and that announcer… They were stuck here all alone… No one could save them…"

Their talk continued on like that, with some theories about the Shadows attacking them being thrown into the mix. Teddie then said that the people thrown in were safe until the fog cleared, which gave everyone an idea to try to save people that enter the TV World.

"Well, if that's all, then we better get going." Katsuo suggested while looking at his wristwatch. "It's half past five in the afternoon, and I kind of need to pick something up from the post office, so…"

"It's that late already?" Yosuke checked his phone, and sure enough, the time read five thirty. "Wow, we've been here for three hours, huh? Oh well."

"Then let's go back." Yu gave the order as the others looked at Teddie who nodded as he summoned the exits. "We'll see you later, Teddie."

"Catch you later, Ted." Katsuo waved at the bear as he went in after the other two.

(Junes/Electronics Department/April 15, 2015/Afternoon)

"—ou jerks!" A crying Chie shouted at Yu and Yosuke just as Katsuo got out. "And then Katsuo-kun jumped in after you!"

While the two second years were getting chewed out, Katsuo cleverly hid himself behind the TV so he won't be next.

"I hate you both!" Chie shouted at them again before running away.

"… You okay, Sempai?" After seeing that the coast was clear, Katsuo left his hiding spot.

"I don't want to talk about it…" Yosuke expected that from Chie, but how was he supposed to know she'd react that violently!? "Just… Just remember to watch the Midnight Channel later, okay?"

With a nod, the three boys went their separate ways, with Katsuo going ahead of Yu since he needed to get something at the post office.

(Dojima Residence/Evening)

"Hey, I'm back." Katsuo greeted as he walked in the house with a paper bag on hand with his school bag on the other, only to see that Nanako was the only one inside. "Oh, Nanako-chan? Are you the only one here right now?"

"Welcome back." Nanako greeted back. "Dad's said he'll be late, and I don't know where my cousin is."

"Huh… Well, their loss, I guess." Katsuo shrugged as he dug into the bag and passed what he got to Nanako who was staring at it with curiosity as she accepted it. "Here, Nanako-chan. These are from my private sweets collection that I asked my parents to send over here."

With a bright smile, Nanako smiled and thanks him as she unwrapped the candy and ate it. "They're good!"

"Right?" Katsuo chuckled at her expression. "Since it's only us here… Promise not to tell Yu and Dojima-san about this, okay? It'll be our little secret~!"

"Okay!" Nanako cheered.

Sometime later, Yu finally came back to the house as the three ate dinner and watched the news. It was mostly about the recent murder cases, but what caught their attention was the special about the Amagi Inn.

"Oh come on… They actually did air that?" Katsuo groaned.

{—torical landmark. Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open air, radiant-rich hot springs.}

{After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes.} A reporter on the scene said.

On the screen it showed Yukiko wearing a kimono.

{In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school. Now that has a nice ring to it! Let's see if we can interview her!} The reporter rushed to where Yukiko was. {Excuse me!}

{Hm…? Um… Are you speaking to me?} Yukiko asked.

{We've heard that you're the new manager. Is it true you're still in high school?}

{Oh, well, I'm only filling in temporarily…} Yukiko seemed hesitant to answer.

{Someday, though… That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono! You must have had a lot of male visitors!}

{Huh? No, um…} Yukiko looked nervous at the questions. The reporter's ramblings went further off topic, but Katsuo suddenly appeared.

{All right, break it up!} Katsuo said to the reporter. {These questions are too private!}

{Huh? Hey, aren't you that—}

{Detective? Yes. Now please stop asking those kinds of questions, less I will be forced to file a case about this.} Katsuo said sternly, making the reporter flinch at his glare.

"That guy should get fired for saying all that on a news show…" Katsuo muttered loud enough for the other two to hear. "Anyway… Let's get started in those dishes, Nanako-chan."

Nanako nodded as the two left to wash the dishes. Yu decided to help around and did some chores here and there. After checking the time, the two boys checked the time, put Nanako to sleep, and went to their rooms, waiting for midnight.