"Come on, let's go to school!"

"Yes, Minako."

Both Minako and Ryoji had prepared themselves and were leaving for school. The two were now wearing the standard Yasogami High uniforms. However, Ryoji still opted wearing his long, yellow scarf over his uniform. Though it was a little too early, but Minako insisted that they leave early in the morning every day. Ryoji had no choice but to comply with her wishes. After all, he was tasked to protect her and get her wish granted; the release of her soul and the return of her normal life.

However, all of those great rewards come with a great price.

If they want to release Minako's soul from the Great Seal, they would have to swap her soul with someone else's, namely another Wild Card user like her.

It would happen to be coincidence that there was another Wild Card user in the city of Inaba.

That person is the transfer student that came to the city at the same day as them; the mysterious silver-haired teenager, Yu Narukami.

The butterfly that Elizabeth and Theodore sent them was a tracker that identifies Persona users with special powers. The butterflies, which are velvet blue in color, would follow the target as a sign that it has found its target.

However, even though they found him didn't mean that they could immediately use him to swap souls.

Though the soul is bound to the Great Seal, there exist two factions who are fighting to undo the seal. They are the angels and devils from their respective worlds. They wish to use Nyx, the demon responsible for the Apathy Syndrome in Tatsumi Port Island, and also responsible for unleashing The Fall, a calamity that was known as the end of the world.

Not only that the soul is burdened with the war between the two factions, the soul also had to withstand the brutal attacks made by Erebus, an entity that wishes to destroy the seal and unleash Nyx upon the world.

If they send in Yu Narukami without any training, he would surely be defeated by Erebus in no more than a few seconds. Because of this, they decided to spend a few months to train him into the perfect seal like Minako herself.

It was the third day of their staying in Inaba, and their second day of school in Yasogami High. Though they managed to meet with Yu Narukami, it would take a few days to establish a relationship with him, as they were from different classes.

Minako was not that impatient to rush things that quickly. During her days in Gekkoukan High, she managed to make many friends, and that was due to her patience in handling relationships. For her, making friends with Yu should be fairly easy.

As they were about to leave the inn, Kasai approached them with a smile that would put weary travelers to rest as they entered the inn.

"Good morning, Kasai-san!"

Minako quickly greeted her with a smile of her own and bowed towards her. It was common practice for the staff members of the inn to bow to the guests, and Minako was trying to get used to the traditions in this inn.

"A lovely smile as always, Minako-san. Actually, can you please be back before night falls? I'm afraid that we would have to brave through the news reporters and guests while our mistress is resting due to the stress placed upon her…"

Seeing Kasai frown as she continued explaining, Minako didn't hesitate and agreed to Kasai's pleads.

"Don't worry, Kasai-san! We'll be back, I promise!"

"Is that so? Well then, please allow me to thank you once again."

Kasai then bowed out of gratefulness for the two of them, her frown turning into a smile once again.

"Please be careful on your way to school."

As they exited the inn, they boarded the bus together with Yukiko, who was surprisingly looking sullen. The two couldn't get close to her and asked the reason as they arrived at school.

As usual, class started for them. For Minako, it was good chance to go to school again. For her age now, she should've gone to college, but she would have been deemed unqualified as she hasn't finished her high school studies yet. Though, she just felt happy that she could live a new life in another place, even though it's just temporary.

While English class was in session, Minako was listening intently at the teacher's explanations. However, Ryoji, who hadn't said a word since they left the inn, was staring blankly into the foggy sky. He was thinking about the item that he received from his mother, Nyx…

*This is a magical pendant. I believe that girl will find it to be very useful.*

*What does it do?*

*It harnesses the memories of someone whom the owner shares a true bond with and converts it into the owner's power.*

It really looks like it is a powerful item. However, what bugs me is…

What Ryoji was thinking about was the after-effects that Nyx warned him if she were to use the pendant…

*Use the pendant wisely. Dire consequences will befall on that girl if she uses this. Only use this when there are no other options.*

"What did she mean about consequences…?"

"Mochizuki-kun, please translate this sentence for me."

Ryoji didn't hear the teacher's voice and continued daydreaming. However, he was met with a loud wake-up call from Minako.

"Hey, Ryoji, snap out of it!"

As soon as he heard that, his body shook so hard that his chair was about to go out of balance, resulting in him falling down from his chair. Luckily, he managed to find his balanced and avoid a much bigger embarrassment in class.

"Mochizuki-kun, no daydreaming in class! Now, help me translate this sentence."

"Yes, teacher…"

Ryoji sighed deeply before he proceeded to translate the sentence given into fluent English. Everyone who heard this was surprised, as he sounded just like a foreigner. Murmurs were already surrounding the class after he finished his translation.

"Wow, as expected of Ryoji-kun, not only did he spoke well, he also looks good!"

"I like him more and more!"

The embarrassing incident was then buried as the classmates marveled at Ryoji's capabilities. Though, he continued to daydream as usual for the rest of the class. Minako saw this and was worried. What happened to him last night, she thought.

After class ended, Ryoji and Minako left their classmates alone and went the classroom beside theirs. It was the class that Yu Narukami was in. When they entered the classroom, they saw that Yu was talking to Yosuke.

Eager to strike up a conversation with them, Minako moved towards them, interrupting their talk.

"Hey, Yosuke-kun! Feeling better after that kick to the crotch?"

Hearing Minako's words, Yosuke then looked a bit depressed.

"Don't mention that ever again. I'm still fine, though. Thanks for asking."

"Is that so? That's fine then."

Though they only met for a day. It already looked like they were two friends who were just having a friendly chat.

"By the way, have you met Yu-kun? He transferred here too yesterday, just like you two." Yosuke pointed towards Yu.

"Yeah, I did. Are you getting used to this place?" She asked him.

Yu-kun then nodded his head in reply.

"How about you two?"

It was now Yosuke's turn to ask them. Minako also nodded her head in reply.

"We're living just fine here. We're now staying at Yukiko-san's inn, and the staff there is very nice!" She smiled as she thought about the inn.

"Wow, you're staying at the Amagi Inn?! Is that true, Yukiko-san?"

Hearing Yosuke's question, Yukiko turned around and nodded her head.

"Yeah, they just arrived at the inn two days ago and are now staying there."

"Whoa, it must be very cool to stay there. It's the most famous inn in town!" Yosuke's eyes stared in disbelief at Yukiko's statement.

"By the way, how's King Moron's class?" Minako directed that question towards Yu.

"It's still okay." He replied, with a straight face.

"Oh yeah, we're just talking about going to eat the town's local delicacy. You guys wanna come? It's grilled steak, you know!"

"Grilled steak?! We would love to! Right, Ryoji? She asked him, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Alright then…" He had no choice but to agree, as she didn't want to upset her.

"Great!"

Just as they were about to leave though, Chie Satonaka walked towards them, which prompted them to stay as they were.

"Hey, Yosuke, what about me? No apologies?"

"What do you mean?" He looked away, like he didn't want any part in this.

"Duh, my 'Trial of the Dragon'."

Yosuke then sighed deeply, having to remember about what happened yesterday.

"Ugh… You always come around when I'm talking about food…" Yosuke groaned.

"How about it, Yukiko? Don't you think he should treat us too?"

Yukiko then stood up and took her bag, as if she was ready to go home.

"I'll pass. I don't want to gain any more weight. I need to help out at the inn today, anyway."

"Wow, Yukiko-san! You started training to take over the business?"

Upon hearing that, Yukiko frowned a bit.

"It's not like that! I'm just helping out when it gets busy."

She then walked towards the exit and said,

"Well, I should be on my way."

"Yukiko, we'll be back after we had our meal. Please tell that to Kasai-san, okay?"

"Sure."

After Yukiko left the classroom, Chie then stretched her arms and said,

"Oh well, we should get going too."

"Huh, do I seriously have to treat four people?"

Yosuke was taken aback at the situation that he was facing. He didn't have that much money to treat that many and he was also saving up to buy a motorcycle. Because of this, it would take up a bit more time to earn back the money.

After they left school, they headed towards a huge supermarket. It was Junes, the largest supermarket in Inaba. As they rode the elevator to the top floor, Chie was already showing a displeased face. On the other hand, Minako was just thinking of the food that they were about to eat, her saliva almost coming out of her mouth. Ryoji and Yu were just their normal selves, not minding anything that was happening in their surroundings.

When they arrived at the top, they found themselves in June's food court. Yosuke and Minako went and ordered their stuff, while the rest went and found a place to sit. Few moments later, the two arrived, with Minako carrying plates of assorted food in a tray. Everyone but Ryoji was surprised at the amount of food.

"Whoa, you eat that much?" Chie gasped while she pointed at the assorted foods on Minako's tray.

"I was also surprised too. For your information, she paid for all of that…" Yosuke also couldn't help but be surprised at Minako's appetite.

"You'll get used to it…" Ryoji just sighed at the sight of the food.

"By the way… This is the cheap place you were talking about? They don't grilled steak here!" Chie roared when she found out when Yosuke was lying.

"Well, since you had to hop on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans."

"Still, there's no reason to take us to your place!"

"Dude, this isn't my place or anything."

Minako, Ryoji and Yu were confused at Chie's statement. Realizing this, Yosuke answered their question.

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you guys yet, right? You see, I moved here from another city about six months back. This location just opened up, and my dad was assigned to manage it. So, our entire family came out here."

Finally answered their questions, Yosuke grabbed his plastic cup and held it up high.

"Here, this is to welcome you guys to town."

Everyone then naturally began to grab their plastic cups one by one.

"Satonaka-san, yours is on me too."

"Yeah, I know."

After everyone bumped their plastic cups with each other, they proceeded to sit down, with Minako quickly digging in. While she was wolfing down on the food, Ryoji was busy talking with the rest of them. Though it started out as a small talk at first, the talk became livelier as it went on.

"It's only been half a year since this place opened, but I hadn't been to the shopping district that that much since then." Chie said while drinking her soda.

"Maybe it's because of Junes?" Ryoji asked.

"Yeah, it's mostly true. A lot of stores closed weeks after it opened. But, oh, uh…"

After remembering that the son of the manager of the said mall was just sitting on their table, chatting happily, Chie closed her mouth before she could say anything more. But, Yosuke shook his head, telling her that it was okay.

"You can't blame it all on Junes, can't you?"

He then thought for a while, looking for evidence that Junes wasn't all to blame for. Alas, he couldn't think of anything noteworthy. Just as he was crossing his hands and digging deep into his mind, he suddenly saw a girl with long and brown wavy hair. She was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, navy jeans, navy shoes and an apron from Junes, which indicated that she was an employee of Junes.

Yosuke quickly stood up from his chair, looking happy.

"Hey, it's Saki-senpai!"

Before he left the table, he bowed apologetically to the others and said,

"Sorry, be right back."

After he went to the girl's side, Yu pointed at the direction of the girl and asked,

"Who is she?"

"Oh, her? That's Saki Konishi. Her family owns a liquor store in the shopping district. Though, it looks like she's working part time here."

They could hear the conversation between the two from their location. Yosuke was the first to initiate a conversation with her.

"Hey, how's it going? You look beat."

Noticing Yosuke was beside her, the girl, known as Saki, turned around.

"Oh, hey, Hana-chan. I'm finally on break…"

After sighing in relief, she continued,

"So, Hana-chan, trying to boost the family business by bringing your friends here?"

Upon hearing that, Yosuke struck a dramatic pose and said in another accent,

"Madam, you wound me!"

It was obviously that he was trying to make her laugh, and it worked.

"Kidding aside, are you alright? You look a little pale…"

Saki then waved her hands in disagreement.

"…It's nothing. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Hey, if you want a helping hand, I'm always willing to listen…"

Hearing that Yosuke was glad to help her, Saki smiled and replied,

"I'm okay. Thanks, though."

Though few people couldn't hear what Saki said next, Minako and Ryoji were able to hear the words clearly.

"Sigh… Why did I leave school early yesterday?"

Yosuke was puzzled at what she was saying. But, it was nothing to be concerned about as she stood up and looked at the others.

"Hey, are those the kids who transferred here?"

She then stood up and walked towards Minako and the others. With Yosuke following her, she first approached Yu, who turned his attention on her as soon as he saw her walking towards them.

"Hi, are you guys the transfer students? You must've heard about me from Hana-chan. He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you guys can get along with him good. He's a good guy, but you gotta telling him right in the face when he gets annoying." She smiled as she said the last part.

Yosuke's face went red when she heard her say like that about him. But, Yu shook his head and replied,

"Nah, he's a good guy."

Her smile was even brighter when she heard the answer.

"Ahaha, I know. I'm just kidding. Well then, my break's almost over, so see you guys later."

She then left the group and went back to work.

Yosuke looked like he had something else to say, but he didn't have the time to say it as Saki just walked away from them. Realizing that asking her out was futile, he sat down, feeling dejected.

"Come on, buckle up. You have other days to ask her out!" Chie said as she patted her back.

"Yeah…"

"By the way, have you guys heard about this rumor?"

As soon as they heard the word 'rumor', everyone lent their ears what Chie had to say. Even Minako who was busy eating her food had stopped for a while, knowing that it may be important news.

"It's called the Midnight Channel. You're supposed to look at the TV that's switched off when it's raining, exactly at midnight. When you're supposed to stare at your own image, another person will appear on your screen. And they say that person is your soulmate."

Hearing this supposed rumor, Minako and Ryoji couldn't dismiss this as a fake rumor. That was because they just experienced it for themselves two days ago.

However, the person who appeared on the screen wasn't Minako's soulmate, but instead it was the dead news reported, Mayumi Yamano, running from countless hands. Since that channel aired, Mayumi Yamano was found dead the next day.

"Hah! And I thought you were going to say something useful…"

Yosuke dismissed it as nothing more than a baseless rumor. Chie then snapped and slammed her hands on the table.

"You think it's not real? Well, then, why don't we try it out, tonight?"

From the weather that Minako and Ryoji saw last night, it was going to rain tonight, which would fulfill the conditions for the Midnight Channel to appear.

"You haven't even tried it out? Okay then, we'll try it out tonight."

After that, they continued their conversation as usual. However, Minako and Ryoji left them while it was still early because they have to work at the inn.

"Well then, what do we do now?" Ryoji asked as they walked out from the exit.

"We'll try it one more time today, after we finish our work."

"Alright, then."


Author's Notes: Hi guys, I'm back. Sorry for not writing this for, almost like a year. My mind has been busy lately and for that time I was stumped on the story. I'll promise that I'll try to update this later this year. For now, this story is back from hiatus!