I went into the Velvet Room on Sunday, and was greeted by Elizabeth, who was carrying a tray of drinks.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," she said. "Would you like your regular table?"

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged.

"Right this way, Sir." Elizabeth led me through all the empty tables and chairs in the club.

"So, who is everybody?" I asked, looking at a grey haired young man cleaning a glass behind the bar.

"The barman is Theodore, my brother." Ah, that's why. Does that make him and Elizabeth my Anima and Animus?

Probably. "On the stage is Belladonna." Elizabeth continued. There was a big, but not unattractive woman in a dress singing the mournful melody of the Velvet Room, kinda like Aretha Franklin. "And playing piano is William." The man in question had slicked back black hair, with one lock coming down in front of his cool shades. I liked his white grand piano. "And here is the master." Elizabeth said, pulling up a seat at Igor's table for me.

"Thank you." I said, sitting there. Elizabeth laid a menu in front of my place, but instead of drinks, it had a selection of Personae from the Compendium.

"Please let me know if you wish to place an order." She said, placing the glasses on the table. Igor had a wide glass of an amber liquid, probably scotch, while I had—

"Orange juice?" I asked. "Seriously?"

"You are underage, you know." Igor reminded me. Pfft, like that's ever stopped me before. "So how may I be of assistance to you today?"

"I was wondering if you could give me a hand with what's going to happen tomorrow." I asked, taking a sip out of my glass.

"Ah yes, it is the Full Moon, isn't it?" He remarked. "And you will be performing an interrogation?"

"Most likely." I said. "Any advice you have for me?"

"Well, if you were to study your menu, you might find something of interest."

Okay? I looked at it. Nothing was new… wait, go back.

"Orpheus wasn't that strong, was it?" I asked. It had Agilao, for one thing, and much higher stats.

"That is a stronger version of your original Persona." Igor explained. "Orpheus Custom, to go with the change in your Velvet Room."

I'd gotten rid of him ages ago.

"I'll have that one please." I said.

"Very well." Elizabeth said, turning to walk to the bar. "I'll be right back with your order."

"Order?" I asked Igor.

"Things work differently now." he chuckled.

"Here you are sir." Elizabeth placed a simple glass with a clear liquid inside. "Please drink it."

Okay? I gulped it on one go.

Thou art I… And I am Thou…
From the sea of the soul, I returneth.

That was… Odd…

"It may take some time to get used to this." Igor told me. "But I'm sure you will prefer this arrangement overall."

I placed some money on the table, paying for my 'Drink'. "Thank you. See you later!"

"Farewell." Igor said.

"Have a pleasant day." Elizabeth added.

"Oh! I'm sorry sir…"

When I left the Velvet Room I saw a young police officer. Magician Arcana.

"Erm… Is there a problem officer?" I asked, shifting into Pale Rider.

He practically flinched as I spoke. Wow, he's pathetic. "Erm… well… I'm trying to gather details about an incident last night."

"Last night?"

"Yeah, a young man was hospitalised with a broken jaw, his friend claims he was attacked behind Port Island station, do you know anything about it?"

Honesty is the best policy. "Yes. I did it."

The man jumped out of his skin. "What? Really?"

"Yes." I said nodding. "Did the man also mention that he first assaulted my friend, decided to rape another friend, and that I only retaliated after those had happened AND he was about to punch me in the face?"

"No, he did not…" He scratched his head with a pencil. "What were you doing back there anyways?"

"A girl in my school has gone missing." I replied. "Fuuka Yamagishi. We were trying to gather information on where she was, but unfortunately…"

"I see…" The police officer scribbled something onto his notepad. "Thank you very much for this. I'll have to take your name and address in case the young man presses charges, you understand, right?"

"Of course." Nice chap, bit spineless. "Minato Arisoto." I gave him the Dorm's address.

"Thank you very much." He touched his cap. "Have a nice day!"

I thanked him and walked off.

"He's looking into the alley." Pharos told me as I pulled out my phone.

"Probably just wondering what I was doing in there." I said, looking for the entire world like I was on the phone. "That, or he knows a good place to get drinks, but I doubt it."

"Good trick you've got there."

"Thanks."

"Just hope the phone doesn't ring or else you're gonna look really stupid."

Next day, lunchtime, I went to the teachers' lounge with Junpei and Yukari. Mitsuru was already talking to Mr Ekoda, who appeared to be talking to some dark skinned ginger girl.

I didn't know you got those in Japan, but apparently you do. Apparently it's called 'Ganguro', or something.

"Hold on Mitsuru," Ekoda said, "This isn't an interrogation." I walked around to see his face better, as he turned to the girl. "Natsuki. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea."

"Ooh, now that's interesting." I said, cutting in.

"What is, Arisoto?" Mitsuru asked.

"Well, you know I can see Micro Expressions when I concentrate on someone's face?" I said.

"No."

"Well, I can." I said. "They're the true emotions that flash on someone's face when they lie."

"What are you suggesting Arisoto?" Ekoda glared.

"That you're scared shitless of Natsuki-San here saying something that will turn out badly for you, and that you flashed contempt when you talked about Mitsuru-senpai." I crouched into a wheelie chair, spinning around to face him. "Do you not respect Mitsuru's authority as a representative of the school then?"

"Wha-I don't have to hear this!" He shouted, then slammed a fist against the desk. He looked pretty outraged, which I probably would have found funny if I weren't so tired of his crap. "I am a teacher! You are all my students. I am in authority here, you do not accuse me of anything!"

"Pretty good, almost convincing, with the hand and desk." I said, keeping a straight face while making hand gestures towards the hand in question. "But if your outrage at the accusations wasn't partly due to the fact that they held some weight, then your hand would've hit the table while you were talking, but I digress." I love this bit. "Why would we be accusing you, Mr Ekoda?" I asked him. "Have you done something wrong?"

"Wha-I—!" He gasped in an angry tone, but I caught his expression. Honestly, his face is like an open book.

"Shame, Fear, your eyes keep flashing for an exit." I explained. "You're trying to exert dominance over me, but you know I'm right, your behaviour seems to be withdrawing." I leaned closer to him, and he withdrew into his seat a fraction. "Do you fear my Authority, Mr Ekoda?"

"Arisoto!" Mitsuru snapped. "This is not why we are here!"

"Right, Sorry Senpai." Correcting my target, I swivelled around to Natsuki. Temperance, that's interesting. She's nothing like Bebe from what I can tell.

I switched from Orpheus to Genbu, and shifted into a cross legged position on the chair. "Hey, Natsuki-san, right?" I asked with a warm smile. "I'm Minato Arisoto." She looked at me, and I didn't even need micro expressions to see the fear on her face, but I did to see that she felt serious shame and sadness.

Good thing I went for the friendly approach then, because this girl's already broken. "I'm not going to lie to you Natsuki-san." I told her calmly. "I want to help find Fuuka. And I know that you've done something with her." That terrified her, need to calm her down, fast, "But I also know that you're ashamed of what you've done to her, and that you want to make things right." She nodded, good, her breathing's starting to become more steady. "But to do that, you need to tell us what you did, so we can find her and make this right, okay?"

She sobbed, and nodded. "Alright." I said, leaning back to give her some space. "Whenever you're ready."

"Damn," Pharos said. "That was smooth." I kept my eyes on Natsuki, but I could tell that everyone else in the room was impressed.

"Fuuka… She…" Natsuki took a deep breath. "She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time… Then, I realised…she's and honour student, but… but deep inside, she was just like us…" Oh, that's some deep shame. "I knew exactly which buttons to push. We were just messing around with her that day too!"

"It's okay…" I said. I couldn't blame her. Once you know what buttons to push, people are so fun to manipulate. "Which day?"

"May twenty-ninth…" Natsuki said, almost in a whisper, not making eye contact with anyone. "We took Fuuka to the gym… then… we locked the door from the outside…"

"What!" Junpei exclaimed, but I put my hand up to silence him. "You locked her in!"

Natsuki nodded, and I resisted the urge to educate Junpei on the quiet-hand. "That night… Maki went back to school alone… she was afraid that we'd get into trouble if Fuuka committed suicide… But… she never came back… and… the next morning…"

"She was found lying on the ground outside the school gate…" Yukari finished.

"I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked…" Natsuki continued. "So, I opened the door to look inside… and she wasn't there…"

Wait, what? "We all freaked out…" Natsuki finished, "Starting that night, we all went looking for her… but each time…"

"You all ended up like Maki-san…" I said. "And now you're all alone…" Natsuki nodded, bursting into tears. I got out of my chair and gave her a hug. "It's alright… thank you for telling us…" I added, trying to calm her down.

Mitsuru, meanwhile, turned on Ekoda.

"All this time…" she almost snarled at him. "You've attributed Fuuka's absence as 'illness', but in reality, she was missing. You must have known this." I turned to look at him, still holding a sobbing Natsuki. "What was your intention?"

"I was thinking of the students of course!" Oh, I want to slap that liar's face. "You children may not understand, but we have to consider the future of everyone affected.

"You mean, you chose not to report this to the police for 'the good of the class'?" Mitsuru glared.

"It, it was in her best interest!" Ekoda protested. I'd let go of Natsuki now that she'd calmed down, and was rising to full height. "I- I wouldn't want her records stained by something like this!" He said in a panic as I walked out the door.

Closing it behind me, I took a deep breath. Calm down Minato…

"I say you kick his ass." Pharos said.

"I can't. I'm a student, I'll get kicked out."

"Minato Arisoto can't." Pharos grinned evilly. "But Orpheus Mikazuchi isn't a student of this school is he?"

Oh that sly sonuva…

I ran into the bathroom and combed my hair back. I swapped ties, put on a spare jacket, not a school one. Putting on a set of sunglasses, I walked back in there.

"Minato?" Yukari asked, Natsuki was talking to Mitsuru.

"Sorry?" I said. "I don't know him." I flashed my Tanaka Corp ID. "I'm Orpheus Mikazuchi; I have some business with Mr. Ekoda."

"Look, Minato," Junpei told me. "I wanna kick his ass just as much as you do, but you 'ain't foolin' anybody."

"Ah well." I brushed my hair forward with my fingers, taking off my glasses. "It was worth a shot."

Mitsuru walked over to us. "Arisoto was right." she said. "It's them, no doubt about it."

"Oh man…" Junpei said.

"Senpai…" Yukari began. "Does this mean?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Until now, there was no way of knowing who was going to be active during the Dark Hour, but it's the voice." Wait, did I miss something important? "It draws them in. It's not just a random phenomenon. This whole thing made me realise…"

"They're specifically targeting humans?" I asked, stealing someone's thunder.

"Precisely Arisoto." Mitsuru nodded. "Shadows are the enemy of mankind." She turned to Natsuki. "Stay at our dorm tonight." Mitsuru ordered. "It's the safest place." Natsuki nodded, and Mitsuru continued relaying instructions, "If you hear the voice, tell us immediately. And don't leave the room, no matter what. If you can do that much, you should be okay." She softened up a bit. "Don't worry; Yamagishi should be alright as well."

Mitsuru turned back to us. "We'll meet after school in the student council room to discuss tonight's operation."

"Tonight?" Junpei asked.

"We're gonna rescue Yamagishi." She said. "If my guess is right, she's still inside the school."

During class that afternoon, Junpei passed me a note.

What's going on? What's Mitsuru mean by Fuuka's still in the school?

Sighing, I scribbled my answer on the back.

Fuuka was locked in the school overnight. At night, school turns to Tartarus, so she's trapped inside. It's been ten days for us, so in theory, she'll have been there for ten hours by the time we find her. Hopefully, if she's managed to avoid combat and has climbed the stairs whenever Reaper approached, she'll still be alive. We'll probably try to sneak into the school tonight, try to enter the way she did.

I slipped the paper into Junpei's pocket. He slipped it out and read it. Once he'd finished, he smiled evilly.

I hit the nail on the head. We discussed everything and came to the exact same conclusion as I did without me even having to say a word. Junpei said that he knew exactly what to do. I hope that he does.

That evening, as we walked to school in the evening, Mitsuru was trying to call Ikutsuki. We were wearing casual clothes for this operation, just to avoid attracting attention, and I was carrying the weapons and armour in my scroll. "I can't get a hold of the chairman." Mitsuru complained, closing her phone shut.

"I guess we'll have to handle it ourselves then." Akihiko smiled.

"One problem." Mitsuru said. "Without the chairman's help, I'm not sure how we can get into the school."

"No need to worry." Junpei chuckled. "I've got it all set to go."

"Set to go…" Mitsuru asked. "An explosive?"

Oh, hell yeah! Go Junpei!

"Very well." Mitsuru said, smiling. "I'll let you handle it." She picked up the pace.

"An explosive?" Yukari hissed into Junpei's ear. "For real?"

"Nah." He shrugged, bemused. Dammit, Junpei. "All I did was unlock a door."

Well, I could have done that when we got there! I wanted an explosion!

Once we got in, I spent ages trying to explain to Junpei that Trey Ben was, in fact, not English, and that Mitsuru was saying Tres Bien, which was French.

"But if that's the case, then why is she saying Three Good?"

"Because the French are silly like that." Yes, I'm English. We don't like the French. Or the Welsh, for that matter. They were like the English, only without any balls. The Scottish, on the other hand, are like us, but with no survival instinct."And you're mixing Spanish with French."

Best stop insulting other cultures and get back to the task at hand.

"Um… Can we turn on the lights?" Yukari asked once we were inside a classroom.

"Aww, you scared? OW!" Junpei said. "Who hit me?"

"Akihiko!" I hissed. "That was so inappropriate!"

"I'm over here." Akihiko said. A good ten feet away from Junpei. Nine feet away from me.

You can guess who Junpei went for.

"Quiet." Akihiko hissed, before turning to Yukari. "It's better if we leave them off. They cut the power at night anyway."

Yukari touched her elbow defensively. "I don't like sneaking around…" Holy crap, my night vision is immense!

Actually, that's me helping you.

Oh, well, thanks Pharos.

"First, we need to find the key to the gym." Mitsuru said. "Akihiko and I will check the Janitor's room. You three check the Faculty office."

"Faculty office…" Junpei grinned. "Maybe we'll find some test questions, heheheh…"

Akihiko perked to attention. "Maybe I should go to the Faculty office too…" he smirked. "It sounds... interesting…"

"Are you planning something unscrupulous under my supervision?" Mitsuru asked. "If so, then expect to be severely punished!"

GAH! Scary!

"I-it was a joke!" Junpei laughed nervously. "I-I'd never do something like that!"

"Come on Mitsuru." Akihiko sighed. "Lighten up."

"Fine." Mitsuru said. "Then let's proceed to the Janitor's room. Iori, you're coming with us!"

Sorry Junpei, maybe next time.

Yukari turned to me after the others left. "Alright, let's get this over with!"

Now, I actually needed a piss, but I really didn't think it was appropriate, so I held it in as we passed the bathroom.

All went well until we got to the lobby, when we heard footsteps. "You hear that?" Yukari asked. The footsteps came closer. "There's someone else here?" Yukari hissed.

Years of watching the Bourne Trilogy and losing track of time during my Dark Hour adventures took over as I clamped her mouth shut and hid behind the nearest pillar. I relaxed my grip as the torch beam passed from our right to our left, not revealing our location. "Sorry…" I whispered into her ear as the security guard left.

"It's okay…" Yukari said, gasping for breath.

"Really?" I asked. "You look like you're hyperventilating."

"Do you blame me?" She snapped. "I mean, we did break into the school in the middle of the night. Wait a minute..." A penny dropped in her head. "That could've been one of the others… Haha, there's nothing to be afraid of, right? Hahaha... Why am I laughing?"

Because you just realised that you're as insane as the rest of us?

Then her mobile rang. "My cell phone! Why now!" Better question, why was it not on silent? "Figures… its spam…" Wait, you get spam on phones? Oh, Japan phones use Email instead of texts. Gotcha. "Sorry about that." Yukari apologized. "It took me by surprise!"

"You were so cute." I said with a polite smile.

"Huh?" Yukari blushed as we set off towards the Faculty Office. "I-It's not funny!"

Oh, she wants you man.

Shut it. I'm stuck juggling two girls at once as it is.

Yeah. If only you had a bit more spine, then they'd only be friends, allowing you to pursue the Social Link and Yukari.

Shut it.

Wait, did you just..?

Yes. Yes I did.

Pharos was actually starting to annoy me at times lately.

Still, it could be worse, and he is more of a help than a hindrance.

Aww, you know you love me.

...In general.

Yukari tried to open the door to the Faculties office. "It's locked!"

"Well, that leaves us with two choices." I said. "One, we could walk back to the lobby, meet up with the others, hope they found the Gym key."

"We can't just give up!" Yukari hissed.

"Two, we bray the door down." I said.

"What!" I'm sure she guessed what I was suggesting. "W-we can't damage school property!"

"Then that leaves three." I said, getting down on one knee and pulling out my Leatherman. Selecting a tool, I poked it into the lock.

"What are you doing?"

"Picking the lock." The lock clicked open. "Part of the Custom tools I requested." I waved it in front of her with a smile on my face. "Picks almost any basic lock! Great, huh?"

Yukari wasn't as impressed as she should have been. "You had that the whole time."

"Yeah…" I'm in trouble somehow.

"And you never thought to mention it until now?"

"Yeah…" Why am I in trouble now?

"Even though it could have saved us a lot more trouble just to pick the lock of the Gym door with that instead of stealing the key?" she asked with a death glare Pharos' night vision let me see in all its deadliness.

… Oh.

That's why I'm in trouble.