Chapter 2 - Chie: Standby

I was never really the girl to wear pretty dresses or jewelry. The funny thing is, though, it wasn't like I didn't want to wear them. I just never felt like I could. After all, what's the point in wearing something that wouldn't look good on me? …Or, maybe, much more than being worried it wouldn't suit me, I was worried I just wouldn't be the type. I actually thought I had outgrown that kind of thinking. And yet, still, all I could do when I opened the wardrobe that morning was stare at that dress.

It was a really pretty one, perfect for the warm spring weather we got so early this year, too. Colorful, with a flower pattern. Not too cutesy. Just a light dress.

I was sitting here, dressed in jeans shorts and a striped top now. I had pinned my hair up behind my head. It was long enough to pull back, but I still couldn't do a ponytail yet. I didn't really mind. What bugged m, was that dress. Or rather, the fact that was still sitting in my closet right now. Untouched. Unworn. It was making me a little mad, actually.

"Do you think Yosuke-kun's father is going to approve?"

I was a little confused when Yukiko said this to me. It was seemingly out of nowhere. I needed to take a look at the table before us to realize what she was talking about. Ohh, right… Her lunchboxes. Those were a regular ritual by now. We made sure to eat them fresh, of course. Still, so far we had always eaten them at different locations, to avoid having them meddle with our more 'important discussions', should something… have gone 'worse than expected' after all. Bringing them to Junes was a first. At least if you didn't count the tragedy that was her first attempt to make them for us.

"Ah, I don't think he is going to mind, you know," I tried to assure Yukiko as she eyed her creations in worry, almost like she was afraid that history could repeat. If she's proven one thing before, it's that her bentou definitely aren't made for surviving some kind of Odyssey. "I mean, we're regulars after all. Eating brought food just for once isn't really gonna do that much damage, right? Plus, we're basically friends of the family!"

"He doesn't actually see us up here all that often, though. I am kind of worried he is going to take my bringing home-made food the wrong way…"

"Heh, I wouldn't worry about that," the voice adding a bit of a giggle to counter Yukiko's pessimism was Rise-chan's. If nothing else, at least she seemed to be in a great mood. "One of the two people we're throwing this party for is Teddie. He's still gonna have room for seconds once we're done with Yukiko-senpai's lunch boxes."

"And that's accounting for how he's probably not even gonna leave anything for us others to start with."

It was Kanji who said that. I still had to remind myself of that fact a lot, because it was actually pretty amazing of how much the way he spoke had changed. Of course, it did go along well with his new look, but it was something I would still need some more time to get used to.

"Like you're the one to talk, Kanji!" Rise again. She sounded a bit less chirpy now. "I bet if it were up to you, you'd probably order seconds before you've even had firsts! Seriously, have you ever seen yourself eat before?"

Kanji did not take hearing that very well. Not that I expected him too. Aaaand, there was his slang again.

"W-Why's it suddenly about me!? You're soundin' like Yosuke-senpai already! And if we're talking 'bout food, shouldn't Chie-senpai be the first one to come up!? I mean-"

-Wait, what? …No. This is not a line to be crossed today, my friend. At once, both my hands were flat on the table and I was standing, leaning into Kanji's direction.

"What do you mean I should come up when we're talking about food? Am I, like, synonymous with 'eating' now, or something?"

There was a red layer of heat on my face, I could feel it. Yukiko's voice came in from the side, as if she was trying to serve as cooling water for my anger, though… She was really not doing too good of a job.

"Well, you have to admit, you do like your meat a lot," she added in a just way too factual tone.

"T-That's beside the point!" Even if she didn't succeed in cooling me down, what she said at least managed to make me almost too embarrassed to argue any further. I kinda hoped that this wasn't her actual goal, however. In the end, I could find enough of my voice again to speak on without stuttering. "Meat is a source of protein! If I want to build some muscle, I'm gonna need a lot of that! Just ask Master Sanada!"

"You and Sanada-san have become really tight lately, huh," Rise-chan tilted her head a little and her locks fell over her shoulders. She brushed them back again immediately. Before I knew it, I was fiddling with my own hair. I wondered if mine would fall like this as well, if it were that long. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The two of you do have a lot in common."

I shifted around a little. She was right, of course, but the way she giggled as she says this gave me a slightly uncomfortable feeling. On the one hand, it's Rise-chan, and I really shouldn't mind. On the other hand, if you compare me to him that way…

"Sanada-sensei and I have been training whenever he's had time to be around, that's all. I mean, I really do look up to him! I mean, how couldn't I? Have you seen the guy? He's practically a real life hero! But… I dunno about calling us 'real tight'… I'm really just a disciple, I guess?"

"Well, Akihiko's a pretty amazing guy! I'd love to be closer buddies with him myself. But… hey, what are you getting so embarrassed for, Chie-senpai?" Kanji sounded almost worried when he said my name. Did I make that much of an upset face? "I'm sure a guy like him wouldn't mind if you just called him a friend. He seems pretty cool about that stuff y'know?"

I think I was blushing. This wasn't about friendship. I knew that and Rise-chan did, but Kanji was totally oblivious. Judged by her face, Yukiko was, too. Oh boy. Then again, maybe I was just reading too much into what Rise-chan said? I wasn't sure, so I decide to change the subject.

"A-Anyway. I'm saying I need my protein, but to be honest… I've really been slacking off on training a bit. I wish I could do more. Ugh, stupid exam preps… Thank god it's almost over for good."

"You've been eating less, come to think of it," Yukiko's eyes were on me. Now she too had that worried look. "Is that the reason?"

I felt like shrinking away a little, but I tried not to. It made me feel upset, that now Yukiko too was worried about me. I was fine, really. I've just had some changes in my rhythm.

"If I eat normal right now, I'm just gonna put on fat. So I'm holding back for now. It's just till I've settled into the academy, after all," I admitted to everyone.

"It's commendable that you chose to focus on your studies," Naoto finally decided to join the talk. Up till now, she had only been sitting by the side, silently. "Still, don't forget that leisure is also a human need. You should take the time to exercise if you really want to."

"And we're having a party today! Don't tell me you're planning on dieting through that, too?" Rise's eyes were on me, both cheerful, but also strangely… dangerous. She somehow looked like she was a lurking tiger, only waiting to claw into me the moment I say anything wrong. "A feast without everyone eating all they can isn't a feast!"

"Just how do you manage to stay that slim?" There was a deep jealousy on Yukiko's face as she said that. Oh yes, I am with you, Yukiko. So very much.

Rise-chan just laughed, "I know when to call it a feast and when not. Come on guys, I'm sure you've all got a dinner or two you can sacrifice over this, am I right~?"

The resolve that Naoto's and Rise's words have built in me was wavering again and my voice started to shake, "S-Sacrificing dinner…?"

I can go with a small dinner a night or two, but none at all? Was she serious? And then there was Kanji, who had even less reason to agree with her in first place.

"W-Wait! Who ever said I was gonna sacrifice anything!?"

"Shoo, Kanji! Don't always feel included when girls talk!" Rise-chan argued, but the guy still had an objection left.

"But you said it went for 'all' of us-!"

A bit of a discussion broke out among us, Kanji and Rise-chan right at the center, me arguing along from the side, Yukiko slowly starting to snicker as our accusations got more and more out-there. Naoto-kun just sat by the side and sighed, shaking her head at us.

I found myself again and again trying to take the word with that strange feeling that I had something to prove here on the front of my mind. I knew it was silly. What was I trying to prove? That I didn't feel like getting out of my seat and ordering a large plate of grilled goods right here and now? Yeah, sure, like even I'd believe it if I told myself that. And still… Still, somehow…

My thoughts didn't get further than that. Just as I was about to start some poorly pieced-together excuse to Kanji about how my muscles needed more nutrition than his muscles for overly complex reasons that I didn't actually understand myself, I felt my jeans' pocket vibrating.

"Ah… Hold on for just a sec. I think I got a call."

Our squabble ended much more suddenly than it had started. At once, everyone was silent, watching my slide my phone out of my pocket and flipped it open in my hand. All eyes were on me, and I knew exactly why. Yosuke and Teddie were running a little late already. Not so late that we saw it as a reason to be worried, but still, some time had passed. If anything had come up, I would be the first Yosuke would call, given that Yu-kun wasn't currently with us. I didn't know if it was because my name always just came up right on top of his frequently-called list or because he was just used to phoning me, but that's just how it was. And that's why I also wasn't especially surprised by the voice that greeted me back on the other end of the line when I took the call.

…

The call didn't last a minute. I didn't have to say much, an occasional sound, one word answers and a 'See ya then' at the end. Then I turned back to the others. The worry on my face probably did not help the confusion on their faces at all and I felt that what I was about to say was not gonna make it any better either.

I took a breath before I spoke.

"…The party's called off. We'll have to clean up the place."

"Heh!?"

I was surrounded by baffled stares and gaping mouths. Everyone blinked repeatedly, as if trying to make sure that I was actually standing there and had actually just said this. They were that taken aback.

"Called off?" Yukiko was the one to ask the obvious question. "But what's the reason?"

"Geez, don't tell me those two got themselves into trouble again?" Rise groaned loudly, but I was already shaking my head at her. Sure, she had a good reason to think that, but that wasn't what it sounded like on the phone to me.

"No, it's not that… At least I don't think it is," I was a little unsure how to explain what Yosuke had told me without making everyone freak out. In the end, I decided to just go for it. "It's Teddie… He collapsed in front of the Okina City Hall."

"He… What now?" Kanji's eyes were even wider.

"So, he fell down the stairs?" Was Yukiko's guess, but I shook my head at that too.

"If it were just that, I doubt Yosuke would have told me the way he did. He sounded real serious about it, said something about some stuff that happened that he didn't wanna just talk about on the phone and told me to tell you all to wait on him up here and that he's coming over to tell us about everything in the 'usual spot'…"

"That doesn't sound good…" There was genuine concern, but also annoyance in Rise's voice. "Hey, if he wanted to meet us up here… Do you think it's 'that kind of thing' again?"

A groan from Kanji. "At that point, I wouldn't even be surprised. Heck knows, we did get roped into this stuff over and over again when it had looked like it was already over plenty in the past."

"But the past year had actually been pretty peaceful," Yukiko lowered her head a little. "I can't imagine what could have come up again. Plus, did you guys notice anything wrong with the TV lately? Or felt anything weird?"

Rise was the first to shake her head, "I mean, I've been working a lot, but… I still go to school here, so I try to keep an eye on things. And I don't think I've been feeling anything weird. My Persona has been acting normal, too… Also, aren't the two of them all the way over in Okina? I've never heard of anything to do with the Midnight Channel happening over there."

"H-Hey, now… Maybe we're just jumping to conclusions? I mean, Yosuke didn't say anything about the Midnight Channel or Shadows. It's just… The way he did say it that got me worried."

I had to admit, it was mostly I who was jumping to conclusions here. But I just couldn't help that strange gut feeling the way Yosuke had spoken had given me. Call it… Police Intuition? Even if I wasn't on the academy yet, all that studying ought to have done something by now! On the other hand, I had plenty of other reasons to not feel good about this all too.

"Maybe… But I'm worried about Teddie," Rise voiced my thoughts, pretty much. "He hasn't ever just collapsed like that before, has he?"

Yukiko shook her head, "As far as I remember, he hasn't ever even been sick before at all. Didn't he say he slept by Yu-kun's side the whole time when he caught that heavy cold in January last year? I don't think he even worse a mouth mask during that, but he was perky as ever."

"Given Teddie's unusual physiology and circumstances, I'm not too surprised bacteria and other germs that generally target humans don't affect him in any way," Naoto-kun finally gave her opinion, rationalizing it all, as always. "That said, it is odd that he would suddenly just collapse… I hope Yosuke-senpai will have more to say on the matter once he comes here. Even so, I still worry regarding what he will have to say… He wouldn't have called us like this if it hadn't be urgent. It seems like he wanted to make sure none of us leave before he arrives to tell us what happened."

There was a short silence as we looked at each other. It didn't need a genius to tell that we were all pretty anxious. Thinking in worst case scenarios wasn't a good habit, but… With our luck, it was easy to become a worrywart about these things.

The case that had first brought us all together had started two years ago now. Since then, quite a lot had happened. We got involved in a lot of battles - personal and less personal - and had seen plenty of things we all had never thought would be possible. We met people from strange places, secret agents, gods… And even ourselves, in a way. We had to go back into the TV several times after we first thought we had solved the case, we had stop the end of the world twice and learned some pretty frightening things.

But since the last bigger incident, almost a year had passed now. We had finally managed to all properly settle back into our normal lives… More or less. We still had to keep working on ourselves after all. At leas that's what I believed. But one way or another, our lives had become normal again. Or at least as normal as your life can be when you have Super Powers and some of your friends are part of a super secret special police force.

Sure, Mitsuru-san wanted us to live our lives for ourselves and then decide where we want to go with them when we're ready to… But we had always known that something new could happen and call us back into action.

"Sitting here and worrying about what it could be isn't gonna do us any good!" I finally stood up from the seat. "Let's, umm… Go and do something!"

"Do something? Like what?" Rise blinked at me.

"Getting rid of the these decorations would be a good start," Yukiko looked around the corner of the food court.

Right. We had Yosuke rent out part of the food court for us to throw a big party, with streamers and and balloons and all that good party stuff. There was gonna be plenty of food too. We were all gonna pay. I mean it, all of us! No letting Yosuke foot the bill. That was important, because the party wasn't just for Teddie, it was for him too.

Firstly, we were gonna celebrate that Yosuke's parents had finally decided to adopt Teddie, which meant he was now officially a citizen of Inaba and would stay here for good. At least we hoped he would. Sure, the little guy could be a real pain at times… Well, almost all the time… But in the end, it was hard to imagine Inaba without him around nowadays. He was our friend and we loved him, even if he could be a major plague and a perv if nobody kept him under control. Then again, more often than never, Yosuke's 'keeping him under control' actually made things worse instead of better…

Oh, yeah, talking of Yosuke, the other reason we were throwing the party was for him. After all, he was the one member among us who'd decided to go to a college in the city. Soon he'd get the results of the entrance exam he took and, if all went smoothly, he would move out of Inaba by April, only coming back in the breaks. So the party was supposed to be a bit of an early farewell for him. Or at least a 'congrats on finally deciding what you wanna do' kind of thing.

It was a bit of a weird thought that he wouldn't be around anymore, but I guess same went for me too. I was going to be gone pretty soon as well, if everything went well with police academy…

We were generally becoming a little scattered. Naoto-kun was always on the move because of her job, and same generally went for Rise-chan. Yu-kun was only here during the breaks and was gonna enter college soon as well. Counting Yosuke and me, only Teddie, Yukiko and Kanji were going to stay in Inaba permanently. Here goes hoping they wouldn't get lonely on us. I wasn't as worried about Yukiko, especially because she was going to be doing innkeeper training away from Inaba at some point as well, but Kanji had a habit of shutting himself in his room to do his own thing when nobody to hang out with was around and Teddie had always been sticking to us, mostly Yosuke, from dawn till dusk. Come to think, I wasn't even sure if he had already realized that soon Yosuke wasn't going to be there anymore in the same way that Yu-kun wasn't there most of the time… Was everybody really gonna be alright? I was probably not the only one worried about stuff like that. Rise-chan had been suspiciously nice to everybody lately and Naoto-kun had been taking extra much time out of her schedule to hang out with us. In the end, none of us wanted to risk the others feeling neglected, I guess.

We were a bit reluctant when we cleaned up the place. At least I was. I was still frustrated that we would have to cancel the party, and anyway, it really felt like something Yosuke should be doing, but since he already had to deal with Teddie suddenly passing out in the middle of the city today, I figured he deserved to be cut a little slack. Plus, it was a shame for all the snacks we had prepared. Yukiko's lunchboxes, too. She looked more than just a little bitter when she put them away. But then I told her we could still eat them while discussing everything later, so she got them back out.

By the time Yosuke came jogging towards our usual table from the direction of the stairs, we were as good as done with cleaning up.

"Whoa, you guys actually did take care of the decorations?" There was a clear look of surprise on his face. "Didn't expect that… Alright, I guess we can get right to the point then! Sorry for the wait, by the way."

"W-What do you mean 'didn't expect that'!?" I threw right back at Yosuke with some indignation when he sat down in the free space next to me. Did he really have that little trust into us? After all, it's not like we had told him we weren't going to clean, was it? If the thought had crossed my mind or not wasn't the question. "How about a 'thank you', maybe? Unlike you, we don't work here, y'know! I didn't come the way here just to be signed up for charity cleaning duty."

"Hey, can you cut it out maybe?" Yosuke grumbled at me. "Seriously, I'm sorry things turned out that way, but I'm really not in the mood to fight over this now! There's way more important issues to talk about."

The serious look in his eyes seemed pretty genuine. None of us felt in the position to just cut in-between whatever Yosuke had to say again, so we just sat and waited as he continued to speak.

"So, where to start. Well, Teddie and I… We were attacked earlier today. By Shadows."

"Shadows?" Yukiko called out, but she managed to keep her voice down just enough to not attract the attention of other costumers.

"B-But, wait," Rise tried to make sure of something. "You guys were in Okina, right? So it didn't happen in the TV World?"

"I'm not sure what exactly happened myself, really," Yosuke sighed deeply. "One moment, he was getting on my nerves on the staircase, the next moment the place is just sort of… dead, and there's Shadows everywhere!"

"Dead…? You don't mean like… Last year, in May…?" I make a face at the thought of it alone, shuddering a little, and it's clear that Yosuke understands what I mean. He looks at me with his arms crossed.

"That's what we were thinking too, but… Something was different. I can't really explain it, but… It seemed like it wasn't all that big a thing. Like it was really just that place where Ted and I were that was being weird. There weren't any reinforcement coming from anywhere once we took down those Shadows. And even stranger, once we defeated them, everything just went back to normal. Almost like it had never happened at all."

"And then, Teddie just collapsed?" Yukiko asked and Yosuke nodded.

"Yeah. Pretty much out of nowhere, too. I mean, we did battle, but… I don't think any of the Shadows managed to even get a proper hit in on him. It was really just a bunch of small fry, nothing special. That shouldn't have worn him out like that. Sure, Teddie can be a wuss when he wants to be, but not even he's overdramatic enough to make himself lose consciousness for no reason whatsoever after a won battle."

The concern in Yosuke's voice was definitely real, we could tell that much. Naoto-kun was the one who spoke up next.

"Say, Senpai, where is Teddie right now?"

"At home. When Mom and Dad came to pick us up, he was still out cold, so they rushed him to the hospital. But since the doctor couldn't find any problems with him, they sent us home and just told my… Our parents to let him get some rest and watch him for a bit."

"No surprise here. I mean, they couldn't even take X-Rays of him a year back," Kanji noted.

I found myself biting my lip, "It's a bit of a scary thought, actually. He could have some kind of weird illness normal people don't get, and nobody would ever be able to tell…"

"Did you contact Mitsuru-san about this?" Naoto-kun asked Yosuke. He shook his head.

"Not yet. I mean, I thought about it, but… I wanted to discuss it with you guys first. I mean, we have to let them know about the Shadow in Okina, but on the other hand… Teddie kind of feels like our responsibility, doesn't he?"

Rise looked anxious, "Yeah, but… I dunno. I really have no idea what to make of any of this. Shadows in Okina, but just for a few minutes? Teddie, passing out for no reason? If we want to investigate into this, I don't really know where to start…"

"If only Yu-kun were here," I saw Yukiko's eyes meeting the ground. "He would know what to do."

"We cannot always rely on Senpai to guide us through and out of any and every crisis, regardless of how minor or great it may be," Naoto remarked. "For now, we should focus on getting into contact with the Shadow Operatives and compare the situation with past cases they have dealt with. Perhaps they have an idea what might have caused Teddie to lose consciousness as well."

"Yeah, I guess that's really our best bet after all…" Yosuke still seemed troubled. "Oh, but maybe we could at least try to check on the TV World ourselves. I mean, if those Shadows leaked out from anywhere, that's the most likely source. Rise, you OK with going in and doing a scan?"

"Sure, I'll try!"

We sat a while longer and spoke, while eating Yukiko's lunchboxes. We talked about things like what could have caused those Shadows to appear and what a shame it is we had to cancel the party. We also spoke about how much Teddie was going to be annoyed we ate all of Yukiko's lunchboxes without him in the end. It may be hard to believe, but Yukiko had actually gotten pretty good at making these! Sure, she tended to always make the same couple of dishes, but they did taste pretty decent by now. She had really improved a lot.

At the end of our meeting, there was a large sauce stain on my shirt. Maybe it had been a good thing I hadn't worn that dress in the end? If I had put that stain on that dress, I would have been pretty mad with myself. At least I told myself that. It was easier to imagine that I was simply not meant to wear that dress today. It felt good to have some sort of reason.

Still… None of them had anything to say about my pinned up hair. Not Yukiko, not Rise-chan or Naoto-kun or Kanji. Not even Yosuke.

What a weird thing to be worried about when we've got a friend who may be sick in bed at home, huh? I wasn't even sure why I was thinking about it so much. This wasn't like me. I wasn't that vain at all. Right?

…I wonder if Yu-kun would have said something?

Chapter 2 - Headaches

Fine lines traced along the paper, forming symbols, words, sentences. The ink took a few seconds to dry, so she had to make sure her long hair brushing against the paper wouldn't cross paths with her writing. This would certainly have been an easier task if she could have written these documents in a digital form, but this was a risk she didn't want to take. All of these reports were top secret and only meant for a hand full of people to read. Storing them in a computer system, which could be hacked or even altered was out of question, especially when there had been an incident of hacked A.S.S.W. Units just less than a year ago.

A. S.S.W… The Anti Shadow Suppression Weapons…

Mitsuru Kirijo stopped writing to consider giving the girls a call, but finally decided against it. They would contact her when they had something relevant to tell. She had full faith into the sisters' abilities and reliability. Not that that eased her anxiety in the least. A short sigh escaped Mitsuru's mouth and she began to message her temple with circular motions of her thumb and pointing finger. What a pain this had turned out to be…

"Mitsuru."

The sound of a voice caused her to raise her head and turn.

"Yes, Akihiko? Is there something you need?"

Mitsuru's eyes followed the young, black-suited man as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Actually, no. I came because I needed to tell you something from someone else…" He paused as soon as he caught a glimpse of Mitsuru's pale face and the heavy, dark rings under her eyes. "Hey, you don't look to good. Shouldn't you be taking some rest?"

Though Mitsuru sighed upon hearing her friend's assessment, she shook her head, before going back to supporting it with her hand.

"I will be alright. It has merely been a stressful week, that is all." Returning to her previous position and looking over what she had written, she still kept talking to Akihiko. "Ever since Takeba's incident last week, we have been receiving more and more reports of similar occurrence from our agents all across the country. And yet, we still can't determine the cause. This is getting to be an absolute nightmare…"

"Then you definitely aren't going to like what I'm about to tell you," Akihiko demonstratively sat down on a chair close by to Mitsuru's, as if to tell her to not bother getting out of her own. "We got a call from Shirogane a few minutes ago. It seems it's not just our agents who are being targeted now."

Mitsuru's eyes widened with dread, "Are you going to tell me that there was an incident in Inaba as well?"

"Okina City, actually," Akihiko replied. "Hanamura and that kid in the bear suit… It was 'Teddie' wasn't it? … Anyway, from what Shirogane told us, they were attacked during a trip to the City Hall."

"The City Hall… Ah, yes, I remember. The boy was supposed to receive legal citizenship. I personally saw that he would pass through the legal inspections… And they became victims of a Shadow attack there?"

Akihiko nodded, "Yeah, and wouldn't you know it, what they described sounds exactly like what we heard from Yukari and Aigis."

"…Wonderful. Just wonderful."

Even more than before, Mitsuru's entire being seemed heavy to the point that is was surprising she was still sitting upright. It was obvious that she was quite done with about everything for the day. Her massaging of her temples became more intensive.

"So this is not only an internal issue of our organization. Persona Users are being targeted indiscriminately. In the worst case, this might mean that anyone with the Potential could become a target. Even unregistered, unexperienced Persona Users who have little to no control over their abilities… We have to get this situation under control as soon as possible."

Akihiko shuffled his chair closer to Mitsuru's.

"You still think that these are coordinated assaults?"

Mitsuru continued writing.

"I can't say for sure… However, I am worried by how suddenly these incidents began and with what speed they have been spreading and rising in frequency. While there is no proof that this is indeed a planned series of assaults, I am having trouble believing that this is could be a completely natural phenomenon."

"Yeah, you do have a point. I mean, when have Shadows ever appeared in the real world like this? Ever since the Dark Hour has been erased, I mean."

Not even for a second did Mitsuru interrupt her writing, even though she seemed to have trouble concentrating on it simultaneous to her conversation with Akihiko, "There was the high level incident in Inaba last year… However, that also turned out to be a very much planned occurrence. And we shouldn't forget that the Dark Hour, too, originated from a man-made tragedy."

"Do you have any idea who might be pulling the strings then? I mean, if there is a culprit, they obviously would have to have some kind of goal with all of this… Right?"

Mitsuru remained silent. Though she knew that Akihiko was definitely right about what he had said, she couldn't find an answer to his question. Not yet at least. There was still too little they knew. No clear pattern.

Well, actually, no. There was a pattern. The incident always happened in populated areas, always in the vicinity of at least one Persona User. Time in the area would suddenly seem to stop and the environment would exhibit an unusual aura. Shadows would appear and attack the Persona Users. Once the area had been purged of Shadows, the normal flow of time would resume. No regular people would be aware of what had happened. The radius of said area was never more than a few hundred meters at a time. Persona Users had also reported being unable to leave said area before returning it to its natural state. As all reported incidents resembled each other in these points, it was clear they weren't isolated occurrences. Likewise, the reports came in with a certain regularity. There had yet to be a report of two such incidents occurring simultaneously in different locations.

And yet, all this did not help in Mitsuru's eyes. None of this held any information or clues regarding the source the Shadows may have originated from. Not even large area scans had brought results so far. The source itself was most likely not in the real world. Naturally. Shadows could not exist in this world under usual circumstances.

Of course, there were exceptions… But those merely proved the rule, correct?

"Oh, yeah. I just remembered."

Akihiko's voice took Mitsuru out of her thoughts. She looked at him, waiting for him to continue whatever he was about to say.

"There was something Shirogane said that didn't sound quite like what we heard from our own people."

"You mean an aspect that didn't fit with the incidents we recorded so far?"

"Well, it's less that it didn't fit. It's more that it's just… Something new?" Scratching the back of his neck, Akihiko closed his eyes and explained. "She said that one of the two kids… that Teddie collapsed right after the attack for no apparent reason."

"He collapsed?" Mitsuru became thoughtful. "Did Shirogane explain what she meant by 'no apparent reason'?"

"It sounded like she was going off what Hanamura told them, but apparently they only battled small fry and weren't especially challenged by that, but the kid still just suddenly passed out right the moment after the seal on the area was dispelled. It looks like he stayed like that for a while too… Well, I don't like playing Chinese Whispers like this, so it'd probably be for the better to try to get a statement from Hanamura himself later."

"Yes, that would be for the best…"

Mitsuru put her thumb to her lip. She didn't know at which point she stopped writing her document. Right now, she didn't care. A Persona User exposed to the phenomenon had collapsed… That was unheard of so far. Was this unique, or a new attribute of this strange situation? She knew that it would be inevitable to contact the Persona Users of Yaso-Inaba as soon as possible if she wanted answers. She could not allow the situation to get out of hand anymore than it already did.

Once Akihiko had recounted to Mitsuru everything he had heard during Naoto's phonecall, the two of them made plans to get into contact with the Persona Users of Inaba as soon as schedule allowed. Just when he was about to excuse himself and leave Mitsuru's office, she raised her voice again.

"Just one last question, Akihiko."

"Hm?"

Akihiko stopped in his tracks and faced Mitsuru.

"When you spoke to Shirogane, did she mention anything regarding the other occurrence involving one of their own that we have been informed of?" she asked him. "I am talking of the recounts we received from Mariko Kusumi."

"Hm… No. Now that you say it, she didn't mention her," Akihiko shook his head. "I'm not surprised, though. The fact that Kusumi was in the hospital isn't widely known. Remember when we went to talk to her? She was already demanding to waltz out again, even though she had only just been brought there, no paperwork or nothing. The stink she raised to the poor doctors was something to behold."

A smirk appeared on Mitsuru's face, "She actually reminded me of someone else in that respect."

"W-What..!" He didn't need to hear his name to know who Mitsuru was talking about. Her face told the whole story. Akihiko blushed, clearly taking offence. Tch, what, were they still in high school now? In any case, that was all besides the point, even if Mitsuru's soft laughing made him feel slightly bitter.

"Hmpf… Well, I don't know what Kusumi has been up to ever since we last spoke to her… But she doesn't seem like the type who would immediately run to cry to her friends over every single thing that happens to her. I bet she simply hasn't told any of them about it yet."

"Hm, I see…"

There were many things going through Mitsuru's mind. About the incidents, about the children in Inaba, the mysterious collapse of two of their own… Mitsuru could only wonder if Yu Narukami, the usual leader of the Persona Users of Inaba was, in fact, aware of any of of these occurrences. Though, should the pattern prove true, it was more than likely that he would find himself involved regardless of this, sooner or later. All Persona Users were at risk, after all.

There was a slight feeling of guilt in the back of Mitsuru's mind that she knew was unwarranted, yet couldn't help experiencing. As a Shadow Operative, it was her duty to ensure these children would be able to live their lives and face their futures undisturbed by Shadow activity of any kind. And yet, she had been unable to prevent this phenomenon from reaching Inaba. If only they knew more about Shadows in general, issues like these might be predictable or even preventable, she thought silently to herself. But all this knowledge was long gone, destroyed with the lives of those who had been responsible for bringing Shadows into the lives of so many current members of the Shadow Operatives and other Persona Users to begin with.

It was something she thought about a lot.

Author's Note:

I have actually already written out quite a lot of this fic, so posting the first two two chapters at once, seems reasonable. This won't be a regular thing, however. Anyway, let's get to business.

Let's get some information right out the way: This fic is set several months after the Summer Vacation in the Epilogue of Persona 4 The Golden, and the majority of all P3, P4 and even some P2EP characters are going to appear. It is going to follow several intertwined storylines, with the thread that connects the other storylines being heavily Teddie-centric. Please think of this as a story about growing up primarily, especially in the case of Teddie. It isn't a shipping fic, though the format is different I am trying to keep the feeling close to canon (without romance routes), so there might be some teasing where I think appropriate.

Anyone who wonders why I am writing a new fic, rather than working on my unfinished ones, please look at my updated profile. I swear, it's not bad news.