Okina City was very different from Inaba. First thing that was different was, that it was much more modern than the traditional town. Secondly the people weren't so connected, meaning they didn't care or know each other as much as in the old traditional area. Because of that nobody really cared how Midori was hiding behind a corner, having his hoodie, which had short sleeves, on his green hair and sunglasses on while he observed a certain person in front of the train station next to his scooter. The sun made him sweaty, but if everything would go according to plan today it would be worth it. He quickly hid his head behind the wall as his target turned around, getting a little impatient. Midori slowly looked back at the guy and made sure he would stay there. It would be only a matter of time before the second target would arrive.

Suddenly a hand tapped him on the shoulder and the student went on full defense mode and turned around as he made sure his fists were ready to go. He however instantly relaxed when he saw Naoto in front of him and sighed in relief:

"Jesus, Naoto! Don't scare me...like...that...?" He slowly trailed of as he took a closer look at the girl in front of him. Or rather what she wore. Instead of her usual male looking clothes, she wore a white summer dress with a very long skirt and a summer straw hat to protect herself from the burning sunlight. Midori did see her sometimes in the female uniform of the school and she looked nice, but this took it to a whole new level. It was like he had Naoto's twin sister in front of him.

"W-what?", Naoto asked while she started to blush like Midori in that moment and the latter realized that he stared at her for quite some time now. He instantly looked back to his target and mumbled embarrassed:

"S-sorry...I'm...just not used seeing you like that...W-what's the r-reason?" He always hated such situations. Situations in which females just look absolutely gorgeous. The mimic had the same problem back at the party with Fuuka Yamagishi. The male student couldn't believe how nervous he was back then. If anyone would ask him to flirt with someone not because of teasing or joking, like with Naoto or the other girls sometimes, he would rather grow a goatee like Joe. Luckily the girl seemed to be oblivious to his behavior and explained in more calm tone:

"Uhm...I just wished to try something new. Experiment you could say...May I ask what you are doing?"

"Not sure if you want to know-" The hooded student didn't get to finish his sentence as he looked back at her however as Naoto took a peek around the corner too and pointed her finger in that direction:

"Aren't that Yosuke-sempai and Chie-sempai? I thought their relation wasn't the best lately-" Midori's sudden head movement startled Naoto and the American grinned as he saw his two sempai talking to each other – or rather arguing.

"Targets arrived and made contact with each other. Begin operation "The Fix"!", Midori exclaimed mostly to himself and pulled out his mobile phone and send a prior created message to Yosuke. Naoto had no idea what he was doing and asked confused:

"...Excuse me?"

"I set them up", he said simply and in that moment Chie moved away from Yosuke with a phone out.

"Alright, it's showtime!", Midori said excited and picked up the call he probably got from the tomboy and Naoto sighed realizing what he was trying to do. He cleared his throat and said enthusiastically:

"Heeeeeeeeyyyyy! Chie-sempai! Now before you ask, it's very important that I am where I am. You see, Yukiko-sempai needed help at the inn and you already went ahead, so I need to be the support there."

"Wait, if that's the case, I need to get ba-" Before Chie could end her worrying sentence, Midori cut her off by saying pressing:

"Oh no, remember why you are there? You need to get the stuff and do the things for both of us. I count on you!"

"But...Yosuke is right here with me! What am I gonna do?!", his sempai hissed in the phone so nobody else, especially Yosuke, could hear her.

"If he's there then that's perfect for you! Make sure he stays with you for the entire day and fix your problem! And don't tell him I told you or he will think you only do this for me!", Midori told her sternly while making sure the Junes boy was still there.

"Isn't that what I'm actually doi-"

"You love him, right? Than at least get in the friend-zone! It's the best for everybody, especially for you!" With this the American went in for the kill and could positively hear her stutter in embarrassment before she finally gave up on arguing:

"...Fine! But if this fails, I'll blame you!"

"Don't worry, just stick to the schedule we agreed on and do it with him instead of me!" After giving her the last advices for the day he shut down his phone and blissfully could observe how Chie walked up to her crush and looked very tsundere while inviting him to go with her. He couldn't make out what they were talking about, but judging from the body language and expressions it was going rather well.

"...She is in love with him?", Naoto questioned intrigued and Midori got startled by her voice since he completely forgot about her. He quickly regained his composure and simply said:

"Long story...Starting phase 2 of "The Fix" now! Just need to wait for more distance..."

"I'm coming with you. I would be irresponsible if I let you alone while you stalk them", the girl suddenly declared and accused him at the same time. He didn't mind though and justified with a raised finger:

"It's for the greater good!"

"So you're not denying you're stalking them?!", she exclaimed shocked, but Midori only waved his hand in response while observing Yosuke and Chie beginning to walk:

"No time, doing operation now! When you follow me, stay by my side!" He started to follow them when he deemed the distance to be enough and made his way through the crowds. As he kinda expected, Naoto followed him, either out of the sense of responsibility or out of curiosity. Either way since it seemed awkward for her to just walk with him apparently she started some small talk by asking worried:

"Why do you have your hood on? You look way too shady that way. And is it not very hot?"

"Green hair is shadier! Besides, I can handle it!" The fact was however that he sweated really hard under the hood, making his normally spiky hair into a green mop, which he had to brush to the back so that he could see properly. He played with the thought of making it a small ponytail, but he decided against it since he didn't want to get a band only for that and it wouldn't fit his personality that much. Anyways, Naoto gave him a knowing look and said:

"...No hair dye."

"No hair dye. Okay...oh boy, that's gonna be fun!", he exclaimed excited yet again and couldn't stop himself from grinning. When was the last time he tailed someone without the danger of a criminal trying to kill him? He remembered back in his childhood that he always did that with his sister – mostly their parents or the Connor's being the victims, though they always got found. Still, it was exciting nonetheless.

"That's kinda childish from you...", Naoto replied a bit surprised by his behavior. Why was everyone saying something like that now? Sure, he wasn't as big of a douchebag he was supposed to be when he was here first, but he didn't change that much...did he? Anyways he sounded more angry than he actually wanted to when he said:

"So what? I saw how my shadow is and I would be lying if I would hate that side of me." Naoto noticed his sour tone and instantly apologized:

"Apologies, I wasn't judging you. It would be hypocrisy is I did that. You saw my shadow. It's just...when I think back of how we first met, you are much more social and...less rude?" Remembering the child version of her, he had to suppress a blush since the little girl was really cute, but he sighed at her comment. He was still rude in his opinion, just not to them for some reason. At least not as often as he did in the past.

/

The two sempais walked into an American style steak house and Naoto wondered if Midori picked this place for them because of a certain steak fanatic. It was a mystery for her why she actually followed her classmate in his little game. It was not because she didn't had anything better to do or it was to see if his plan would work. In the end she came to the conclusion that she only wanted to know more about him, which made her blush. Did she really had such an interest in this man? She shook her head and dismissed it as a simple and illogical little crush. There was no way she would fall in love with someone seriously on first sight.

Anyways a waiter in western butler clothes with Hispanic features was standing at a high desk with a list book, making it clear the place they were going would be a quite expensive one. Midori on the other hand waved his hand in a familiar manner and said with a stoic expression:

"Hey, Mac, is everything ready?" The man looked up and grinned friendly as he spotted the hooded teenager and spoke with a clear accent from his roots:

"Of course, Mr. Connor! You're table is near enough for observation, but far enough to not get detected immediately even if you take off your disguise...I didn't know you would come with company. Good day, Miss...?" She was confused of why the man named Mac was having such a mischievous smirk on his face, but she didn't let it bother her as she bowed down in respect:

"Naoto Shirogane. Pleasure to meet you." The waiter made the same gesture, making clear that he is accustomed to Japanese manners.

"Yeah, didn't really plan that. And wipe that smirk off, it's not what you think", Midori said a bit annoyed and it took a while before the girl realized how the two of them would look like to others, so she hid her reddened face behind her summer hat. None of them noticed however and Mac exclaimed cheerfully:

"Surely, Mr. Connor! You would never be able to get such a polite and gorgeous girl with your...abilities and personality." Why did people love to embarrass her? She couldn't understand it. She wasn't that attractive, was she? However the reply of her classmate caught her of guard since he sounded quite agitated as he hissed:

"Kiss my ass, you Spanish dick!" Naoto couldn't understand why Midori was angry and why he decided to go back to his "unsocial"-Persona. Though she could imagine she would also feel insulted if someone would question her ability to get into a relationship. If she would deny the fact that she is not accustomed in the art of romance, what she didn't.

"That is low, even for you. No need to be racist. This way. They won't spot you, trust me." Considering that the man got insulted just now he didn't seem to mind and led them to their table. When they sat down Naoto took a glance behind the flowers and was surprised as she saw Chie eating her steak blissfully while Yosuke smiled at her in amusement. Her attention however turned back to Midori who, in polite words, sweated dreadfully. He wasn't joking when he said his hair was looking like a mop. As if the waiter would have expected it, he brought a hair tie for the green haired one together with the menus. Seeing the copier with a small ponytail made her think that his face had some female features in it. That would explain why it fit him so good, but she dismissed this thought as her imagination. There was enough evidence to believe that he wasn't female. Anyways he used the tissues the man also got for him (she was impressed by the service in this place) to wipe of the sweat from him and complained in a low tone:

"God dammit, that's why I hate shoulder long hair!" Then he proceeded to tell Mac to get the best stuff and that he would pay, ignoring Naoto's demand to pay for herself. He was quite stubborn in that area.

"Why don't you cut it then?", she asked, giving up on trying to convince him and accept his offer to pay. Midori opened his mouth to answer, but closed it after it and thought a bit more before opening it again with a shrug:

"Dunno, maybe when I have all my memories I'll cut it. You know, being more my old self then... Do you think there is a barber in Junes?"

"I believe if there were, he might refuse because of your famous battle cry."

"That settles it, I'm the topic number one in Inaba. Great." As she heard his groan she couldn't help but chuckle. The imagination of him doing this was beyond amusing for her. After a while the food came and the girl's eyes widened when she saw her plate: Filet mignon wrapped by bacon with broccoli and a cognac cream sauce on the side of the plate. She wasn't a cook, but she could see that it was well made and would be expensive. Knowing though, that saying that he didn't had to do that would only lead to discussions, she just silently put part of the meat in her mouth after dipping it a bit in the sauce. The moment she chewed on it, she put her hand on her mouth and as she failed to resist the moan she made, she blushed fiercely when she saw how Midori grinned in sanctification. She couldn't even begin to describe how good it tasted.

"If that's your reaction I can't wait to let you taste my cooking or mom's." She made a mental note that he might be a better cook than the one in the restaurant, but she averted a gaze in embarrassment because of the sound she made. While she calmed down Midori mumbled to himself in a thoughtful state:

"Okay...high possibility scenario four will take place...so..." Scenario four? How much thought did he put into his "operation"? She was intrigued, so she asked amazed:

"You planned so far ahead?"

"I had about 17 scenarios about where they would be going after meeting each other and agreeing to walk together. This place is scenario number seven." The way Midori said this showed her that he really spent a lot of time in planning this, which she also commented on:

"It's amusing how much thought you put into this."

"I like plans...they are talking, so far so good..." Not knowing what he was talking about she glance where Midori was looking at and saw one of the waiters doing hand signs. The girl didn't know what they meant, but she deduced from this that everything was going well between their sempai. Deciding that this would be a great opportunity to get some information out of him, she began to ask interested:

"How much did you have to pay so that they would do this?"

"First of all, I know this guy back from New York. Was an apprentice of my mom and one of the few people who didn't had a mental breakdown due the pressure she gave him. So, no, I didn't pay much. He owes my family. Besides, he loves stuff like this. It's like in a TV-show", Midori explained, looking relieved that one of them began to talk. Naoto wondered if he had problems in the social area and also why he was more or less comfortable with the team. As far as she knew he wasn't that close to anyone else, not even the basketball club. Nevertheless she continued the dialogue by asking more questions:

"Are you close?"

"Not really. More like acquaintances. That's why he knows how I am sometimes and let's it through for some reason", the American shrugged and Naoto gave him an ironic smile:

"Maybe because he knows that you can be quite likeable if you tried."

"Meh, too much of a pain to give everyone my nice guy routine", Midori said offhandedly. This however strengthen her question on why the team was special, so she simply asked him directly:

"...Why the team then?"

"Uhm...I dunno...maybe because you can use persona and I don't need to hide so much before you?" That made sense to her, so she didn't press the topic further. That however didn't stop her of asking him more questions because of her curiosity:

"...What did he mean when he said that you wouldn't get a girlfriend because of you being you?" This made his neutral expression crumble and he seemed flustered about what he was about to say. When she heard him, she understood why:

"Well...if I really try to get one...I suck at it. I mean sure...casual and not serious flirting with you and the other girls is okay for me, but if I have to do the serious thing, fully intending to get a relationship or because of love or something...I stutter and blush and whatsoever." For a reason unknown to her, her heart began to ache a bit when he ended that sentence. So he doesn't have a love interest in me...wait, I do not care about that! To not making it awkward, she cleared her throat and commented:

"Never took you as the shy type."

"Don't have any experience in that area. Besides, my methods in crime solving can be...rough, so I'm...well, kinda afraid I guess that others won't accept me because of that." As she remembered what was said about him in the midnight channel, she frowned. So they weren't complete nonsense after all. But she reserved her judgment and questioned suspicious:

"You mean like in the midnight channel?"

"It's not like I do it because it's fun. First of all, it doesn't happen that often and second of all, I'm not so brutal...well, when I keep a cool head, but at certain situations I snap and can't remember everything." She choked a bit at her food when he finished the sentence and Midori looked worried at her reaction. After gulping down the meat with water she stuttered shocked:

"Y-you snap?" She was glad he didn't do radical things out of fun, but the thought of him losing control was worrying. The green head seemed to try to look casual, but it was obvious that it was distressing for him:

"Dunno, could be something from the past. When I get to my senses Joe is often already there and only tells me that my "victim" looked like he would have preferred jail than what I did to him..."

"And you get away with this?", Naoto slowly asked, not knowing what do say. This sounded like a serious psychological condition and as far as she knew, his foster parents didn't do anything about it.

"Well, most of the times it was self defense. And having some relative in the police force, especially the vice-chef, comes in handy", Midori tried to say with a lighthearted tone, but the girl didn't distracted this and pressed further:

"He just accepts what you do?" Her classmate sighed and looked over to one of the waiters, probably to make sure Chie and Yosuke were still there and that the operation was going well. His face got closer a bit and he explained in a serious tone:

"The whole family is like that. We're not complete black and white. Some killer deserves a second chance because he wasn't himself at that time while a thief gets in jail because of stupid reasons. That's what I do most of the time. Even if they are protected by some idiotic law. Even if I have to be the one who delivers justice...doesn't mean I like it. Especially the snapping part. But somebody has to do the dirty work." By the end of it, Midori leaned back and looked a bit down, but his eyes showed determination about his beliefs. Naoto was impressed by it and mumbled mostly to herself:

"...I see...I only focus on finding the culprit and learning about the truth...but you want to see the person who committed the crime...even if it means breaking some rules..." She shook her head and gave him an apologetic smile. Her detective mind took over again and she didn't care if this was too personal for him, so she said humbly:

"I apologize that our talk went into that kind of direction. I was curious about what type of detective you are." Unlike she had expected, Midori didn't seem to mind and asked interested while leaning his chin on his hand with a little grin:

"And what's the judgment?" After she collected herself and made sure she didn't blush anymore, which was definitely not caused by his, if she was honest, attractive smile, she gave her opinion:

"While I believe that bending the rules is never righteous and you losing control at times is concerning, I know your way of doing things is necessary in times and I respect your determination to follow that path. Besides, you ARE a good person." This answer seemed to perplex him and he was speechless for a moment before slowly saying unsure:

"Thanks...I guess?" She couldn't help but let out an amused and kind of loud laugh, before she quickly covered her mouth. For a moment both looked embarrassed, but this got quickly replaced by both of them laughing. When they calmed down again they continued eating, but Naoto was deep in her thoughts.

He is a good person...with his own problems, but who doesn't?...I believe he will become a close friend to all of us in no time...I'm not in love with him but...

I can't say that I'm not attracted to him a little bit...

/

Now Midori remembered why he planned to do the operation alone: They were inside a pretty big toy store with their disguises back on (more on Midori's part then on Naoto's since she only had her hat on), which was specialized in super hero goods. He told Yosuke that it was for reference but the real reason was to get Kamen Rider Wizard goods. He was still missing the belt and the various rings, but he couldn't focus on it, since he was freaking out like back in the inn. Because of that he, yet again, didn't notice the little sparkles in Naoto's eyes. The green head flinched visibly when she asked in a neutral tone:

"...Why a toy store?"

"...I...need to get material...so that I can...speak with Ken?" He didn't even convince himself with the unsure tone and the sweat running down his forehead. Suddenly the girl seemed guilty by something and said:

"I...believe I have a confession to make...I went through your boxes when you saved Rise-san." Silence occurred between them and it took several moments for him to register what she said. When he got the data through he leaned a bit forward and asked with a hint of despair:

"How many boxes?"

"Uhm...all of them. But the others only saw me and the books. Not...Kamen Rider Wizard." Immediately after that he closed the little distance between them so that Naoto could actually see her face on the sunglasses and he hissed in a demanding tone:

"Nobody can ever know about this! Nobody!" She nodded in agreement and said a bit bothered because of how close he is:

"I believe it is only fair, since you know about my...hobbies and didn't tell anyone yet."

"What hobbies?", he asked confused as he stepped back a little and surprisingly she looked offended by his comment and elaborated displeased:

"That I like super hero shows and robots...please don't pretend to be ignorant when you're not."

"...I didn't know that", the male admitted after a short silence, which was followed by another awkward silence before her face reddened yet again in this day and she hissed indignantly:

"W-what?! But you're a detective! Couldn't you have guessed from my shadow dungeon?!"

"So? I mean, okay, Rise wants to show her true self and the strip club was a fucked up version of her desire, to "strip" off her "fake" mask", Midori said while making quote marks with his fingers, "and Kanji's dungeon was showing the straightforwardness between man, even if it was represented wrong too, I get that. But this is everything I realize after putting a LOT of thought into, which takes at least a few days to get together. Days of privacy and peace. And research. Besides, I didn't focus that much on the dungeon since I was busy giving Adachi my piece of mind", Midori elaborated as if it was the most normal thing in the world even if it wasn't. He couldn't help but literally spend a few days of his free time to find out the symbolism behind those dungeons.

"Does that mean...I just told you a secret I believe you already knew?", asked Naoto, clearly showing disappointment at herself for revealing it and the American said unsure:

"Pretty much?"

"This is so...embarrassing..." Cute...get your head in the game, Midori! The sun slowly began to set and they followed their sempais out of the building. Chie and Yosuke were talking to each other in front of the station at Yosuke's scooter and they seemed really awkward at it. Naoto sighed and said a little disappointed:

"It doesn't seem they are going to be friends that soo-"

"Wait for it", Midori interjected and a smile grew on his face as they shook hands and then hugged each other. Judging from their faces and the way they said goodbye they reconciled again. As Chie went to the train (he wondered why she didn't used the scooter) and Yosuke was driving away, the American threw his fists up in the end and exclaimed uplifted:

"Operation "The Fix" has been successful! Yes! At last they're friends again! Better than nothing!"

"I must say I'm impressed by how good this worked out. But please, try to not make this a habit of yours", Naoto said with a chuckle, to which he replied with his hands behind his head:

"No promises. If necessary I need to hook them up too. Anyways, gotta go home. Need to prepare for the trip the day after tomorrow." His smile widened as she sighed and let her head down before saying:

"Yes...I will see you there." As she walked off, he whistled in a happy tone as he put off his hood and the rest of his disguise. Today was a really good day: He managed to get two people to reconcile and he even spend time with Naoto! Suddenly he stopped as he thought a bit about it before mumbling:

"...Wait, didn't I had a date with her today then?" The moment the sentence was spoken, he smacked his hands on his face as it grew red and he breathed very nervously about the thought about having a date. After a while in which he still didn't calm down he tried to convince himself:

"Come on, calm down Midori! It's nothing! You are not in love! It's just a little crush...right?"

/

Omake: She knows

Unbeknownst to all four of the Investigation team, a certain person was hiding around the corner, opposite of the restaurant, and had a hard time fighting off her grin. This was an interesting turn in her opinion. The person was noticed by a few people and they whispered about her, but she didn't care right now, since she was busy talking to herself:

"Rise, you really have a hand in getting teasing material..."

/

Phew! You have no idea how long it took to write this! I never wrote that much for a chapter as far as I know!

I took the interpretation from the dungeons from "nenilein", who also writes fanfics here, including persona. Check out her tumblr if you want to satisfy your thirst for persona analysis!

Actually I wanted to put an after scene after they went into the cinema, but seriously, I ran out of casual topics.

If you are interested of the PoV from Yosuke and Chie, I work on it and it will come next as an interlude!

Review and thanks for reading!