A/N: Chapter 4. Up faster than you thought...

I heard the laughter before I saw them. The Narukami boy, along with the other Persona users, had just walked into the food court at Junes. I had asked around, and found out this is where they liked to meet up with one another. Standing, I approached the grey haired boy, noting with mild amusement the laughter stopped as I was noticed.

"Alright Narukami," I said, walking towards him, "I'm in. Remember our agreement though."

The other behind looked confusedly at each other, but were otherwise silent. The Narukami boy nodded, and gestured at a table, "Shall we all get down to business then?" he said, with the others turning more serious at this part. He had their respect, it would seem. "Yosuke, can you recap everything for us?"

The earphones boy, Yosuke, nodded. "So far there have been three victims, Yamano Mayumi," the boy paused and seemingly struggles with the next words, "Saki, and Yukiko. Yamano stayed at the Amagi Inn, Saki discovered her body, and we all attend the same school as Saki. Further still, Yukiko works at the Inn. Throw in that they're all girls, we have our link."

I remained silent, already having pieced that information together. The killer was looking like some kind of chauvinist so far. Narukami spoke up again, "So we can expect the next victim will be female as well. Do you all have any ideas of who it might be?"

The other girl, Chie I think her name was, shook her head, "No, but the Midnight Channel will come on in the next couple of days. If things stay as they have been, we should be able to figure out who it might be."

Yosuke sighed, "That's only if they've been taken already, otherwise it's all fuzzy. Yukiko, do you really not remember anything, anything at all? A face, voice, something?"

The girl shook her head, "No, I don't. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

The Narukami boy smiled at her, "It's alright Yukiko, don't try and force it. It's fine if you don't remember, we'll figure something out." He turned to look at me, "You've been silent this whole time, what do you think of it all?"

"We'll all come to the same conclusions as to the connection between the victims," I said, leaning back in my chair, "And so far, our killer is looking like a male, likely chauvinistic. All of the victims are attractive in their own right," I noticed Yukiko blush out of the corner of my eye, "So he may have also gone after them for a more sinister purpose. We know for a fact that nothing happened to Yukiko other than the kidnapping, and details such as rape would have been reported."

Narukami nodded, looking deep in thought. It was obvious that he was trying to match names to the profile I made. "Anybody come to mind?" I ask.

"No, not really," the grey haired boy said. "What about you guys?"

"Nobody."

"Nada."

"I'm afraid not."

I sighed, "Well, so there is no suspect." I stood up to leave, feeling that there was nothing else to talk about. "I'm going to head to work; Master Daidara said he wanted to teach me how to use the forge. Narukami," I said, tossing him a piece of paper I pulled from my pocket. "I'll be working on getting a cell in the next couple of days. Write your number down and give it to me later."

"Right…" he said, "We'll meet up again here soon. I'll let you know when. Also, I haven't forgotten about that information."

Damn. I had hoped he had.

"Oh man, that feels good," I said, lying down in my bed. Master Daidara was really being too nice to me. You produce one amazing sword and all of the sudden you're an apprentice, not the hired help. Not that I was complaining though.

The rain beat outside the window, and the street lights could barely be seen through the darkness. I turned on my side to look at the clock, "11:24. Another half hour before it comes on."

I popped my neck, and then looked up at the ceiling. My thoughts drifted back to the days at Gekkoukan, and the group. Akihiko, Junpei, Yukari, Shinji…All of them. There was another, however, who lingered longer on my mind though. Long red hair and pale, delicate skin. I remember her eyes, a shade of brown, looking deep into mine that last winter we had together. I wondered where she was, how she was doing. Did she remember me, or had she moved on with her life?

I chuckled, and combed a hand through my hair. You don't easily move on from personas and the shadows, it would seem, at least in my case. Standing, my back popped a little, and I walked over to my box of things I had yet to unpack. I fished through them, finding the key to a bike that hadn't been ridden in a long time. I had them in my pocket during the final fight, and the hospital had taken them when I first arrived here.

I couldn't help but wonder if I would see her again, or if it would be wise for me to see her at all. She has long thought me dead, so would it only cause her pain and confusion to see me otherwise? What if she had moved on, and found another to hold her where I couldn't, when I was holding up the seal?

Then take her back. No point in over thinking it. Take her back if that's the case.

'It's never that simple Thanatos. I may never actually see her again, so perhaps these thoughts are pointless.'

You're being weak. Stiffen your spine and make your decision as about what you're going to do. Find her and take her back, or don't.

Thanatos receded from my mind, showing he had no more interest in listening to what I had to say. Who knows if I was being weak or not; I didn't particularly want to think about it. Regarding the keys again, I put them back in the box.

Thoughts of Mitsuru and memories of a time long passed swirled in my head when a sound, akin to that of a radio tuning, caught my ear. Daidara had a small, old television in this room, one that only got the basic channels. Well, apparently it got the Midnight Channel too.

The screen was out of focus, and fuzzy. The image was hard to see, but the person was seemingly male. Short hair, tall, muscular, maybe lean. Just as I tried to lean in closer, to make out more details, maybe see the face, it was gone.

'Could it have been that biker guy?' Yuu thought, staring intently at the now black TV screen, the rain pattering against the ground outside his window. 'They certainly looked similar, so maybe he is? But that doesn't fit the profile of the victims.'

Yuu cast a look at his phone, wondering if he should call Yosuke and discuss what he saw. Thinking it could wait until later, Yuu decided not to. They could all discuss it the next day at Junes.

Thinking back on his group, Yuu let his thoughts drift to their new, supposedly, member. Minato was a quiet guy when he was trying to get information, trying to absorb things from around him without having to show his own hand. Yuu saw how the older boy's eyes darted about during their conversation, taking in every word with detail.

The guy was an enigma so far; Yuu didn't know where he came from, how he got his abilities, nor how he knew the things he knew. It set him off, an unknown variable of that sort wandering around in a situation as serious as this was. It also roused Yuu's anger and pride when Minato talked patronizingly to him when he was at Master Daidara's shop.

Yuu laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He would get the information about the shadows and that other world tomorrow, but for now he needed rest; figuring out to deal with Minato could come later.

"So, we all agree it was this Kanji fellow?" I said, crossing my arms as we all sat in the Junes food court. "That shatters the female only theory."

"Yes," Narukami said, folding his hands in front of his chin, "It renders it useless. Does anyone here know if link there is between Kanji and Yukiko though?"

The black haired girl spoke up, "My family often buys materials from their shop; they run a textile shop near the shrine."

"Oh, I know the one you're talking about, it's up near Daidara's, isn't it?" Chie asked.

A bark of laughter escaped from Yosuke, "Chie, everything is up near Daidara's and the shrine."

"He's right," Narukami said, partaking in the fun. "So, let's all go up there. Best we start trying to figure out why someone would go after Kanji."

I stayed silent during the bulk of conversation up to the shopping district, watching the interactions between the teens. The relationships between them were all that of friends, nothing more. But I can see the potential for more in his actions. Narukami inherited the Wild Card, after all. He has the ability to forge social links.

'I feel old, Thanatos. Looking at them, I can't help but wonder if this kind of light heartedness is what we would've had without Nyx.'

Yet you're also glad you had Nyx to deal with, aren't you?

'Yes, that is true. If we're lucky, they won't have to deal with something of that magnitude.' I thought, 'Perhaps they'll only have to deal with a rogue Persona user like Takaya. I hope that is all.'

Takaya barely put up a fight in the end though. You may hope for an easy road for them, but I hope that at least there will be something for us to handle.

'You'll have your fun, Thanatos.' I thought, smiling at my old friend's aggression. "So," I said as we came to a stop in front of the textile shop, "This is the place, huh?"

We all entered the store, making it a very crowded place. As we entered, another young man, dressed in blue, left. Yosuke was nervously glancing around all the while Narukami and Yukiko talked to Mrs. Tatsumi. "Yosuke," I said, bringing his attention to me, "Is something wrong? You haven't stopped fidgeting since we got here."

"Dude, what if Kanji shows up? He beat up a biker gang all by himself and became their boss and – " he said, seemingly growing more and more panicked.

"Oh, has my Kanji been causing problems for you all?" said the elderly woman, smiling apologetically in my direction. "Those boys used to ride their bikes around here at night, and I told Kanji how I couldn't sleep. Next thing he does is picks a fight with them." Her eyes shine gently with the thought of her son, despite his actions, "He's really a sweet boy, so I'm sure he didn't mean to offend you if something happened."

I withdrew myself from the conversation, and stepped out of the store. This Kanji guy was reminding me of Shinji so far, tough guy exterior, nice guy interior.

"Speak of the devil…" I muttered as I saw the blonde man come walking up the hill. "Kanji, I presume?" I asked, approaching him.

He seemed thrown off that he was actually called by name, judging by his widened eyes. His glare soon returned as I got closer. "Yeah? What's it to you?"

"My name is Arisato Minato. I'm a recent transfer student, you and I attend the same school."

"So? I should care why? Get outta here."

I hold my hands up in a placating matter. He reminded me a LOT of Shinji. "I just want to know if you've seen anyone weird wandering around town, following you maybe."

"No, I haven't. Now beat it!" the youth said violently, glaring all the harder at me. I gave him a smile, and walked on my way.

Turning back, I saw Kanji talking to the young man in blue, and then turn and yell at Narukami and the others.

Yuu leaned against the fence to the shrine, Yukiko and Minato waiting with him as Chie and Yosuke trailed Kanji and the blue dressed man. Yukiko was trying to make friendly conversation with the older male, who only responded with short, but polite, answers.

When the blue haired man went to go sit down on the steps, Yukiko walked over to Yuu. He couldn't help but notice how tense she was. "Scared?" asked Yuu, who looked off at the entrance to the shrine. Minato was minding his own business and keeping quiet.

"A little," Yukiko said, "But it's outweighed by my want to do something."

A smile, comforting in nature, graced Yuu's lips. "It'll be ok, don't be nervous."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes." Came the blunt voice from Minato from his position on the steps. "But you really shouldn't be. Kanji is a wrecking ball, it's incredibly unlikely we'll see the killer in a direct confrontation. And Narukami and I are both here, so you're safer than Yosuke is with Chie."

Yuu noticed as a small smile dawned on Yukiko's face, where she had previously been worried about the outcome of the day. Minato went back to regarding the gray clouds that rolled through the sky, a sign it was going to rain soon.

"That's not it though," Yukiko said, drawing both boy's attention to her, "It's just…I've never been alone with guys my age before."

Both males stared at the black haired girl, before she further elaborated on her reasoning for feeling uncomfortable. When Yuu got around to asking for her number for the investigation, he could see Minato mouthing: 'Smooth, Romeo. Reeeeeal smooth.'

Yuu added a revenge prank on Minato on his list of things to do.

There it is. Review, please, it's incentive to keep going.

Also, I want it to be known I'm looking for a beta/someone to bounce ideas of off for this thing. Review and mention if you're interested.