A/N: Hello once again everyone! I'm sorry for taking so long again, but I had to get a new computer and the thing came later than expected. This chapter is shorter than usual, but that's because I have to work a bit more on the next one than usual. There are a lot of details I don't want to screw up on, so for now have so sweet character interactions!
To be honest with you all, I was starting to get tired of writing (still, I wasn't gonna stop), but after I played Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance my love for telling stories was renewed! The way the Fire Emblem games flesh out characters through small conversations and the way the story is told motivated me to come back and keep telling my own story.

Well, enough of that. Let's answer reviews. There are some interesting questions this time…

RADICALREDEM: I don't remember saying those with parents from the P3 side get Norse Personas. Only Mei got one. I wonder what that means…..? Anyway, Shinjiro might share his name with the most badass P3 character, but he's different from him… and his parents.

Illusionmage: Not fair! I want to play PQ too! Just a couple of months left and I'll have a 3DS… Just a couple of months left and I'll have a 3DS… Just a couple of months left and I'll have a 3DS…
I love Ryu and Kaori! A love them so much that I don't know what to do with them! A part of me want to make them get together, but another part of me says they are okay the way they are… I'm actually fine with any of them, but we'll see how things go.
I can see why you'd assume Shinji would get a Norse Persona, but nope, he gets Merlin. Reasons? In a few more chapters. Maybe 4 or 5. Oh, and these bad guys? Strega will look like the bullies at a playground compared to these guys!

Ark2012: The story is not dead. I just… lost my fire for a while. But I've returned with more energy! I see what you mean about personalities, but I have to disagree in some points, or more like explain my reasoning. Haru as "neo-Minato" is not right, since Haru was the first character I thought. The Persona 3 movie wasn't even I sight back then, and I always saw Minato as a more sarcastic/joker type as opposed to what his "emo" looks make you think. I'd say the fic "fairly English story" is close to what I thought of Minato. Mei is definitely my weakest character, but I'll work on that. It's true that Reiko is a lot like Minako, but that because when I started I didn't know how to write female characters, so I took ideas from lots of places, the main one being the P3FeMC. Ryu is not "Neo-Akihiko" Ryu is Chie's son. He inherited her passion for training and her admiration for Bruce Lee. For me, Haru was a new type of Personality when he came out, and he'll keep developing into an even newer one as the story progresses. Hey, and Tanaka wasn't a dick! He was a jerk with a heart of gold…! To some extent…

Shadow Typer97: I have to play the game first to see if it's doable. And even then I want to finish this story first.

Qweenashleyfox: Well, as far as I know, PQ is already a time travel story, which is why I came up with the idea. I still haven't decided though.

Ice Wolf Fang: I never mentioned that the P3 side children would get Norse Personas… did I? So far, only Mei has a Norse Persona. Reasons? Let's wait a few more chapters.

jack the writer: What can I say? I just love the Arthurian legend. I haven't read as much though, so I have to keep researching every time I mention it in this story, haha. Hopefully I'll get a 3DS in a few months. I've been doing a few small jobs so I should have some money to spare on a 3DS and PQ… but I also was Fire Emblem: Awakening… and Project X Zone… And Munster Hunter 4 Ultimate… and Pokemon Omega Ruby….. ;_;

Maict: I… don't know how many chapters this will be. It's just that… I know what's going to happen, but I always get to into small conversations and make them longer than they should because I feel that's a great way to flesh out characters. A lot of people thought of Ryoji when I brought Shinjiro, but honestly he's somewhat based on Zelos from Tales of Symphonia (which I still haven't beaten. Those damn, annoying puzzles…). I'll try my best to make him a character that's more than just a flirter.

Izanagi-no-okami: I'll have to decide once I play the game.

Putandari: Ikutsuki was a small fry compared to these guys, believe me.


Chapter 28

Shinjiro opened his eyes to the still unfamiliar ceiling of his new room. The first thing he felt were the soft sheets of his bed wrapped around him. They hadn't been in Inaba for long, yet so much had already happened in the supposedly quiet little town. Shinjiro tried to recall his last memories before passing out... or at least the reason for him passing out. A black Shadow came to mind and his body tensed up immediately, only to realize just how strained his body was.

'That's right… I awakened to a Persona…' He remembered. A smile slowly crept into his face. 'With this I can…'

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, revealing his younger brother Shirou coming in. "Oh, you're finally up." He sighed, relieved at finding his brother awake.

"Finally? How long have I been out?" Shinji spoke with a dry mouth.

"A whole day. We brought you here from Kaori-san's home. It was hard trying not to draw too much attention." The younger brother explained.

"I see. A whole day, huh? I bet the teachers are going to be even more pissed at me for skipping a day of class..." He joked.

"Mom already called the school. You don't have to worry about that."

"I'm not worried. I can handle whatever they throw at me. I'm a genius, remember?" Shinji playfully boasted with a confident smirk.

"Yeah, yeah…" Shirou couldn't help but smile at seeing his brother in high spirits. He walked up to the bed and sat at the end, maintaining the silence until he finally spoke up. "So? What are you going to do now?"

"I think you already know that. I'll fight and I'll find Takeharu, I swear. I know the answers we seek have to be in this town." The red haired brother answered.

"Yeah, I knew it already. I just needed to hear it from you…" Shirou sighed. "I'll go tell mom and dad that you're awake." He stood up and headed towards the door.

"Hey, Shirou…!"

"Just focus on recovering for now. You'll be doing a lot of fighting from now on…"

"… Yeah, I know."


"Don't you think we should go check how he's doing?"

"Just let him rest and he'll wake up eventually. You worry too much, Sis. If anything had happened we'd know already."

"I know you're right, but… I still worry whenever there's an awakening." Reiko sighed.

"It'll be okay. And don't go mentioning stuff like that in public. Here's the special burgers for table six. Hurry up." Haru passed Reiko two plates with the orders through the kitchen window. Reiko then took them to the customers.

"Thank you so much for waiting! Here's you order!" She said with a bright smile. "If you need anything else just say the word!" The doors to the restaurant opened and a little bell rang. Reiko immediately went to welcome the new customers. "Welcome to Yamada Hamburgers, let me- Ah! Suzuki-san, Matsumoto-san!" She was surprised to see familiar faces in the restaurant other than those of her schoolmates. The restaurant was steadily becoming more and more popular around town thanks to word of mouth.

"Reiko-chan! What a surprise! I didn't know you worked here!" Dan Matsumoto said. He and his partner, Tora Suzuki were probably on their lunch break, judging by their uniforms.

"Yep, brother and I started working here part-time! He's back there in the kitchen with Yamada-san."

"I see. You're very diligent. I admire that, Reiko-chan!" Tora nodded in approval.

"Come on, let me show you to a table," Reiko said and led them to a table for two. "So, what will it be?"

"I'll have today's special." Tora said.

"Yeah, me too. I've heard a lot about it around town today. They say it's really good!" Dan said.

"That's be because Brother finally started helping in the kitchen. With him doing all the assembly, Yamada-san can put more effort into the meat itself!" Reiko sounded happy to hear people were talking about the restaurant around town. It felt like the effort of its four employees was really paying off. "Okay, two specials! I'll bring them as soon as they're ready!" She went back to the kitchen and placed the order. Hisashi was already cutting the onions and Haru was slicing the cheese. Just like she said, as soon as the food was ready she brought it over to the police officers.

"Here you go, enjoy your food!"

"Thanks! Oh, this looks good!" Dan said.

"…And tastes even better!" Tora praised. "Good thing we decided to stop here for lunch."

"I know, right? Still, we're not supposed to be working on Saturdays, what's the brass thinking?" Dan complained.

"Oh? You're doing extra work?" Reiko asked curiously.

"Yes, actually. There were strange reports yesterday, and since everyone in the department thinks it's a child's prank, we were the ones assigned to investigate…" Dan answered with a bit of disappointment.

"But I smell something bigger here. The reports say that a few small explosions were heard near the shopping district, some even claimed to see something floating through the air! There's something fishy going on here!" Tora said.

"E-Explosions…?" Reiko's eyes widened and she stole a glance back to the kitchen where her brother was. She remembered the battle against Shadows yesterday and worried that someone could've seen either Haru or Mei.

"Yeah. For now we think they could've been small fireworks, so don't worry too much!" Dan reassured her.

"I-I see… haha…" She laughed awkwardly. "Did the people who reported this say if they had seen anything else…?" She asked.

"Uh… no, nothing else. Only that the object looked like a strange balloon." Tora said, surprised by Reiko's curiosity.

'Okay, so they saw the Shadow but didn't recognize what it was, they also didn't see Brother or Mei-chan… I think we're safe for now.' She thought.

"I don't think it's a balloon, though…" Tora added. "It might be some sort of top secret military drone or something…" She wondered, absorbed in thought.

"Please don't say things like that, Suzuki-san…" Dan sweatdropped. "Sorry, but we're not supposed to reveal any information about the cases we investigate."

"Oh, yeah!" Tora woke up from her thoughts. "But since it's Reiko-chan, I guess it's okay."

"Yeah, she helped us with the case of the meat thief and even caught the culprit!" Dan said.

"Actually, that was my brother…" Reiko laughed lightly. "Sorry, but I need to return to work. If you need anything, please tell me!"

Reiko returned to work, but her mind was distracted. She needed to tell Haru that people had seen the Shadow and that the police was investigating, but before she could even mention it, Haru called her over to the kitchen.

"Mitsuru-san called. Shinjiro-senpai is awake and she wants us to see the equipment they mentioned." He told her.

"Okay, I'll call the others when our shift is done."


"So… is this their house…?" Kaori asked in disbelief.

"This can't be it… right?" Ryu added.

"Yep, this is the old mansion…" Reiko confirmed.

The mansion in front of them was an old, western-styled house. It was a huge, three floors tall building. It was far from town, so nobody ever came here except for the overly curious. The owner had been trying to sell this place for years but it was far too expensive, the location was bad, it was way too big for a normal family, and if that wasn't enough, it had the classic haunted mansion feel to it that scared away any potential buyers. The tall trees around it were as old as the house and the plants in the front garden had been withered for years. Apparently the owner had given up on making the place look presentable. All these things didn't bother the Kirijos, though. The place was actually perfect for them. Since it was far from town they didn't have to worry about neighbors seeing the pieces of electronic equipment they brought and they were used to having more space than they needed.

"How can they live here…!? I mean, I've be scarred for life if I had to spend one night in a haunted place like this…" Kaori said.

"I'm sure they don't believe in that kind of things…" Yui said, though with a hint of nervousness in her own voice. The place sent chills down her spine, too.

"I'm sure my mom would hate this place… She gets scared at the mere mention of ghosts, haha." Mei laughed.

"How about you? Do you get scared by ghosts?" Reiko asked her.

"Me? Not at all! Why worry about-"

"Boo." Haru said as he lightly poked Mei on the side.

"Eek!" The girl gasped and jumped back, holding herself. The rest couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "W-W-Why did you do that!?" She asked with a flustered face.

"Just checking," Haru simply answered with a straight face. He walked to the door and ringed the bell, not really expecting it to work, but to everyone's surprise, it did. The sound was loud and clear, as if the bell had been installed yesterday. The door opened, revealing a young woman with dark brown hair and dressed in a maid outfit. The group didn't really know what to make of it.

"Yes, welcome to the Kirijo residence. How may I help you?" The woman asked.

"Uh… Hello?" Haru couldn't say much more. He, like the rest of his friends, was confused by the sudden appearance of this person, but most of all, by the way she was dressed. Not to mention the woman actually looked quite pretty, which made Haru blush lightly and Ryu look away.

The maid giggled at their reactions and seemed to understand. "I assume you are Shinjiro-sama's friends?"

'Shinjiro-sama!?' Went through everyone's mind.

Haru nodded and the maid invited them in.

"We've been expecting you. Please, follow me. I'll take you to the equipment room right away." The maid bowed and led the way. The rest followed her in silence.

As they walked, they looked around the mansion. It looked in the process of being refurnished, with most of the first floor already done. The furniture was mostly new, but it fit the western style of the house. They also saw several more people they didn't know. Some of them were working on setting up the furniture while other young woman dressed as maids cleaned every inch of the mansion. The place was so big that they would probably get lost if there wasn't someone guiding them, and cleaning it would be impossibly hard for someone to do it alone.

They arrived at the third floor and entered the room at the end of a long hallway. What they found on the other side was room full of bookcases filled stocked with a near-infinite amount of books. On the right side of the room there was a huge computer monitor attached to the wall with five smaller stations located in front of it. Every station had its own computer and they seemed to be linked to one another. There was a table in the middle of the room with three sofas set around it and in one of them a little girl could be seen quietly sitting and drinking juice. She noticed a familiar face among the group of people who entered the room.

"Ah! Reiko-san!" She said and run towards the silver haired girl.

"Miki-chan! How have you been?" Reiko crouched to the little girl's level to she could talk to her better.

"I'm okay. Since we're in this new house there's a lot to explore, so I don't get bored that much!" Miki said. "Oh, but now that you're here I should go tell Mother and Father! Wait here, okay?" Miki said with a bright smile and ran off.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" The maid asked the group.

"No thanks, we're fine." Haru answered.

"Very well. If you need anything, just let me know." With that, the maid left, closing the door behind her.

"I here I thought I'd never see a real maid in my life…" Ryu was to first comment.

"Oh, were you hoping to see one someday day?" Kaori asked teasingly.

"N-No…" Ryu said, looking away from her.

"Being here really makes you realize this is the Kirijo family, one of the most important families in Japan…" Kaori said.

"I know. They have so many people working for them!" Mei said.

"I always did wonder what the inside of this place looked like…" Reiko admitted. "Guess we finally know, right Brother?" She looked to her side only to notice her brother was no longer there. Instead, he was looking through the bookshelves and seeing what the books were about. "Hey, you shouldn't be looking through that stuff!"

"They asked us to come here to check things out. Besides, if this was of any importance they wouldn't have it here for everyone to see." Haru said, taking a book and browsing through it.

"What's that about?" Mei asked.

"Biology, apparently." He answered. "I wonder why they have these here…"

"There are a lot of books about history as well," Yui said. "Most of them look pretty old…"

"Hey guys, look!" Ryu called them from the other end of the room. "Check these out!"

"Huh? 'Le Morte d'Arthur', 'Arthur and Merlin', 'Lancelot of the Laik'…" Haru read some of the titles out loud and picked one to see it. "These texts are really old… and this one's in French… I think…"

"There are other myths and legends in here as well," Mei pointed out. "Norse gods, Egyptian gods, European heroes…"

Reiko took a book at random to check its content. "I've never heard of this one… Cu Chulainn. Who is he?"

"Isn't that an Irish spearman?" Ryu said, which earned him odd looks from his friends. "Hey, I know a few things, all right!?"

"Let me see that…" Haru said and Reiko passed him the book. "Setanta…" He muttered after a few moments of quick read.

"Why the interest in that one, Senpai? I thought you were a swords guy, haha!" Kaori laughed.

"I am," He confirmed. "But I think I've heard about this one before. I wonder if…" Before he could express his hopes of summoning Cu Chulainn as a Persona, he realized the reason for all these books. "Hey, are these here as material to research about Personas and Shadows?"

"Hey you might be right!" Yui realized.

"You are correct, Amagi." They heard Mitsuru's voice coming from the door.

Haru put the book back where it was and apologized for looking through them without permission, which earned him a few eye rolls.

"Don't worry about it. I'm actually glad to see you take interest in them." She smiled. Along with her were Akihiko, Shinjiro and Shirou. "We believe that knowing ourselves and our enemies is key when fighting. Every minute piece of information we have can change the course of the battle."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but as you can see there's a lot to do around here." Akihiko apologized.

"It's no problem, we understand." Reiko said. "Hey Senpai, are you feeling alright? Are you sure you should be up?"

"I'm well enough to walk around the house, but thanks for worrying about me." He said with a charming smile.

"He seems alright to me…" Ryu whispered to Kaori, who nodded in agreement.

"Let's not waste any time. Shirou, could you please manage the computer?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yes, Mother." Shirou moved to one of the stations and quickly began typing away. He was surprisingly fast at it and was able to navigate the system in no time. A map of a city appeared on the big screen and everyone looked at it.

"As you can see, we have a map of the entire town." Akihiko began. "With the equipment we have here, along with antennas we got installed on the roof, we can keep track of anything abnormal that moves around here. That means if there's ever a Shadow here, we'll know. We'll also know if a Persona was summoned. This will help us know if you're in trouble and need any sort of backup."

"You can tell where Shadows are?" Yui asked, surprised.

"There was a time when the Kirijo group conducted studies to see if there was a way for normal people to fight Shadows without having to develop any kind of humanoid anti-shadow weapon. We tried different things but we concluded that only Persona users can fight Shadows fairly." Mitsuru explained. "One of the few things we gained from that investigation was the ability to locate their position without the powers of a Persona. All Shadows seem to share a certain 'sent' or 'aura' that we can't normally notice, but we can detect with the appropriate equipment. This still has limitations. We are not able to analyze the Shadow from here, so we won't know how strong it is until you face it."

"Wow…!" Yui's eyes sparkled as she wondered how they came up with such a machine.

Shirou started to type more things on the keyboard and a list of names, or more like codenames, were shown on screen.

"What we do have is a data base full of records of Shadows we've already fought. We know their appearance and skills and have been categorized by their level of danger. Sadly, new types of Shadows keep appearing, so there's only so much this database can do to support you."

"We have Yui-chan with us, so information is no problem!" Reiko said.

"Yeah, Yui can tell us anything we need to know!" Kaori agreed.

"Guys, I'm sure there will be things I won't be able to figure out easily…" Yui said timidly. "Having all this information might be useful."

"You mentioned some important feature the other day, Father. What was it?" Shinjiro said.

"Important feature?" Mei asked.

"Yui-chan, we were told Marie passed down her fog-creating abilities down to you, is that right?" Akihiko asked.

"Huh? Y-Yes, she did…"

"We also investigated that, and while we're not able to replicate the fog, we are able to store it." Mitsuru said.

"Store it?" Yui asked.

"If you create some of that fog, we could be able to store it in small capsules and deploy it whenever a Shadow appears." Akihiko said.

"You can do that!?" Kaori asked, surprised and maybe a little too loud.

"This has a few limitations, however. We have no control over it, so no separate dimension can be made until Yui makes it happen, but the fog has the properties of caging Shadows inside it, so we can use it to capture a Shadow until you arrive to fight it. It also has a limited duration, which means that as soon as we detect a Shadow you'll need to hurry and destroy it."

"That's... actually extremely helpful…" Haru commented. "Can you do that, Yui?"

"I-I think so… I've improved since the first time I used it, so I have better control over it…" Yui said.

"We understand that doing that can be taxing on your body, so you don't have to force yourself to create large quantities every time." Mitsuru said.

"That's awesome! If we can do that we can keep the town safe!" Reiko said.

"Can you?" They heard Shirou's voice asking them without looking at them and keeping his gaze on the keyboard in front of him. "Can you really fight to keep this town safe? Even at the expense of your normal lives?"

"Shirou, that's enough…" Shinji told him.

"No, it's not enough. I need to know they're up to this task. This isn't a game, especially not to us, and if they don't have the right mentality they'll only get themselves killed! You're only human, do you really think you can protect an entire town?"

There was a heavy silence in the room. The atmosphere suddenly grew tense and awkward, with nobody having a proper answer.

"Mitsuru-san, is this everything you had to show us?" Haru asked.

"Yes, this is all. Do you have any questions?"

"No, thank you very much for showing this to us and for your help, but if that's all then we'll take our leave now." He bowed politely and started to make his way toward the door. The rest of the group did the same and slowly followed him.

"So, you're not going to answer?" Shirou asked.

Haru sighed before speaking without turning back, still looking at the door. "Like you said, we're only humans. We may have gained a special power, but we're still made of flesh and bone. We get tired when we push ourselves and bleed if we're injured. Am I scared of death? Of course, who isn't? But I don't plan on running away. We didn't gain this power out of nowhere, we awakened to it in order to survive. Something out there is looking for us and is willing to put the town in danger to get to us. I'll be damned if I let other people get involved in my mess. If there's an enemy, I'll fight it, and take it out. That's all I can say for myself, those are my reasons."

Shirou sat in silence, as if contemplating Haru's words. The heavy silence had returned.

"Come on, I'll show you to the exit." Shinji told the group and lead them through the mansion. They were silent as they went down the stairs and until they reached the front door.

"Well… thanks for everything, Senpai. We'll see you at school." Reiko said.

"Yeah, see ya…" Shinji answered. The group started to leave before being stopped by their red haired senpai. "Hey, wait! Huh… I'm sorry about Shirou. I know that was really sudden and out of nowhere, but… well, he has a lot on his mind. He has his reasons for being like that when it comes to Shadows. He's a good kid, believe me…"

"I'd be lying if I said he didn't piss me off…" Haru said. "But then again, everyone has demons of their own. We figured that out the hard way…" Ryu, Kaori and Yui looked down, remembering their encounters with their Shadows. "Don't worry, we're fine. I'm sorry for being rude back there." Haru apologized.

"No problem, I understand. I'm sure my parents do, as well." Shinji smiled.

"By the way, Senpai, we're usually training in a small forest near the back of the inn. When you're feeling better, be sure to stop by. You'll be fighting along with us, so it's better if we train together." Reiko said.

"Our training regimen is tough though. You better keep up, Senpai!" Ryu smirked.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to go as soon as I get better! Seeya, guys."

"Bye, Senpai!" The group waved goodbye and returned to their homes.


After two days, Shinjiro was finally feeling at his best again. In fact, he felt even better than ever. His body felt lighter and he had more energy than usual. He decided to take Reiko's offer and visit them while they trained, so after school they parted ways so that Shinji could go back to his house to pick something up.

"Hey Shirou, why don't you come with me?" He asked his little brother before heading out.

"I'd rather not… Things will only get awkward." He answered. "I'll probably get mad and yell at them again for no reason…" He said, looking down.

"Are you still thinking about that? Everyone said not to worry about it, so just let it go! Things will get easier if we all hang out together. You'll probably get to understand them better if you just try."

Shirou sighed and agreed to go, if only to try and get to know them better.

When they arrived at the Amagi Inn, they met Yukiko, who told them everyone else was already in the back, so they made their way towards the Training Grounds. As they got closer and closer, the sound of clashing wood became louder and louder. They figured they were training with wooden swords to avoid major injuries, but they didn't expect the scene that awaited them.

The first thing they saw was a leaping grey dog with a shinai in his mouth trading blows with the black haired Persona user. They both seemed pretty into their spar, as was the rest of the team, since they didn't notice their arrival. Actually, Haru and Zephyr seemed more than just "into" their spar. Haru was mostly on the defensive as he was being constantly attacked by a barrage of aggressive blows from the canine. Almost with an intent to kill, Zephyr never sopped attacking and never stopped leaping and dashing back and forth. Haru's eyes had trouble keeping up with his furry opponent. He was completely on the defensive, which allowed him to parry most attacks and dodge the rest, but doing so was extremely tiring and left no way for him to counterattack.

There was a sudden and unexpected move from Zephyr. As soon as he landed from a jump, he ran and jumped yet again to strike Haru's exposed head, but to the spectator's surprise, the blow was both quickly parried and countered, sending the dog to the ground. Haru immediately lunged towards his fallen opponent with his wooden sword ready to pierce its neck. Both Shirou and Shinji were about to yell at them to stop, but Haru did so before they could utter a words. The wooden blade stopped mare inches away from the animal's neck before its wielder also collapsed and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Woah! That was intense!" Ryu suddenly spoke. He was sitting at a small distance from the fight along with the rest of his friends, observing the spar.

"Tell me about it! It looked like Senpai was gonna lose at any second!" Kaori agreed.

Mei stood up and walked over to Zephyr to check up on him.

"Let me see that wound…" She said. It seemed like the blow he received still hurt, so she drew her Evoker and summoned her Persona to heal him. The canine stood, shook its head a few times, licked Mei's hand as if thanking her and walked over to its training partner, who was still lying exhausted on the ground.

"Damn… you're ruthless… as always… Zephyr!" Haru said between breaths. The dog answered by licking Haru's face. "Oh come on!" Haru cleaned his face with a disgusted expression, which caused a few laughs.

Shinji's eyes were wide opened. He was left in awe at the display of high skill swordsmanship from both Haru and Zephyr, something he was definitely not expecting. "Hey, I'm impressed! I never would've imagined a dog could fight like that!" He said as he walked towards the group. "And with a sword in its mouth no less!"

"You spar with your dog?" Shirou asked, already not liking at all what he was seeing. He loved animals and loathed violence, so seeing a dog fighting was just not right in his mind.

"Yeah, Zephyr and I have sort of a small history together." He said with a small smile as he petted Zephyr behind the ear. "He doesn't spar with anyone else, and his unorthodox fighting style helps me a lot. Though we always have to keep Mei close, since one of us always leaves with an injury or two." He showed a small smirk. "Thanks a lot by the way." He told Mei.

"No problem. Just try not to hurt each other too much…" She said.

"Sorry, can't promise that…" Haru said. "I can't let myself go easy on him or I'll be the one to end up in the hospital again…"

"Hospital?" Shirou and Shinji asked at the same time.

"The first time I met Zephyr we were… enemies of the sort. We fought, he kicked my ass and sent me to the hospital." Haru explained.

"Later, he went back to meet him and they ended up becoming friends. It was pretty weird…" Reiko said. "Anyway, I'm glad you came, Senpai! You too, Shirou-kun!"

"After seeing how these two fight, I don't know if I'm glad to be here!" Shinji laughed.

"Don't worry, it's just those two who overdo it. The rest of us have to take it a bit more easily." Kaori said.

"Oh yeah, by the way, Senpai, now that you're here…" Yui called. "Would you let me analyze your Persona?"

"Analyze whatev- Oww!" Shirou interrupted his older brother by slapping him on the back of the head as he sensed he was about to tell an inappropriate joke. "I mean… sure, go right ahead…"

Yui took her Evoker and summoned Igraine. The noble and beautiful Persona left Shirou and Shinji in awe. Sure, Shinji had seen it before, but that wasn't really a time when he could calmly appreciate it.

"Persona: Merlin. High magic capabilities and below average close combat potential. Can use Almighty-type spells." Yui informed.

"Seems fitting for Merlin…" Ryu said.

"Almighty spell are those without an element, right?" Mei asked.

"Non-elemental spells, yes." Haru nodded. "So far, neither Sis nor I have been able to cast Megido spells, but I hear they're pretty powerful and taxing on the body."

"I guess I'll just have to train hard enough to get my body used to them, since I'm the only one who can use them." Shinjiro said, feeling unease at his new responsibility, but still glad that he could help.

"Hey Senpai, do you have a weapon you can use? If not, we could stop by old man Daidara's shop." Kaori suggested.

"Actually, I do have one. I brought an imitation today so I could practice with you guys." Just then the team noticed Shinji was carrying a long bag. He opened it and took out a rapier sword. It had a pointy pommel and a classic spherical guard over the handle along with a thin knuckle guard and crossbar. The blade was dull and of medium width and thickness with a square tip that defined the sword as one made specifically for practice. "I've been practicing fencing since I was a kid. My teachers were ruthless but my mother is even worse. Most of what I know I learned from her, so I'm pretty confident in my skills." He smirked.

"A rapier, huh?" Haru said, standing up from the ground. "Quite the controversial blade…"

"Controversial?" Reiko asked.

"There has been endless discussion over the rapier's effectiveness as a weapon. Some believe that they are effective only against other rapiers, others say that they are the best weapon for single, unarmored combat."

"Oh, and what's your opinion on rapiers, if I may know?" Shinjiro asked.

"I believe that any weapon is only as good as its wielder. I could fight a master umbrella wielder and he could kick my ass for all I know."

"Are you serious?" Mei asked.

"Hell no, umbrellas aren't weapons." He answered. "Personally, I'm not a fan of rapiers. The blade is too thin and the sword itself is too light. That's not a bad thing, but I feel like there's no power behind it."

"How about we spar for a bit and I show you just how good rapiers really are, samurai?" Shinji playfully taunted.

"I train with a shinai, but I prefer western, double edged swords. Though the katana certainly has its advantages," Haru picked up his wooden sword from the ground. "Alright, you came here to train, so let's spar for a bit."

"Oh, I want to see this!" Ryu said.

"Yeah, this is the first time we'll see Senpai fighting another swordsman… and not a sword wielding dog…" Kaori said, which earned her hurt whine from Zephyr.

"Is that true? But you use swords too, right Reiko-senpai?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, but… I've never sparred with Brother." Reiko answered.

The two swordsmen took their positions in front of each other. Shinji held his rapier in front of his face with his left hand on his back, while Haru held his shinai with both arms extended for maximum reach.

Shinji was the first to attack, knowing that his defense against such a large sword wouldn't fare so well. His thrusts were fast, very fast, and came nonstop from many directions. Shinji definitely had a good sword arm. With such a thin blade, it was easy to sneak through Haru's defense, leaving him with no option but to jump back. However, Shinjiro followed him immediately. It was clear he knew what he was doing. He had probably fought many trained fencers and he was also trained by his mother, a former Persona user with actual combat experience.

The attacks kept coming while Haru only blocked and dodged. Shinji had complete control of the fight. The rhythm of his thrusting was perfect and he sometimes altered it to make it harder to for Haru to read. He was feeling pretty confident. He started to move in circles around Haru as he kept attacking, making the boy's retreat harder. This was the scenario for a few minutes which at one point started to annoy Shinji. Yes, he was in control of the fight, but they were effectively at a stalemate. With Haru full on defense and himself full on the attack, Shinji was getting tired faster. The speed of his arm was starting to decrease.

'Damn… I need to find an opening soon or he'll find one before me…!"

As if on cue, Shinji saw the opening he was looking for. Haru's arms fell, I only a little. He was tired from his previous fight and guarding and moving so much was still taking its toll on him. His left ribcage was exposed. It was the perfect opening for a thrusting sword, so he took it. He attacked at Haru's sudden weak spot, only for him to quickly sidestep to the right and counter with a blow to the stomach. The attack sent Shinjiro to his knees. The fight ended with Haru as the victor.

'H-How…?' Shinji asked himself.

Haru dropped his shinai and sat in front of his fallen Senpai. "You're good. Really good," Haru said with heavy breathing. "I'd say you're better than Sis when it comes to swordsmanship... Hell, you're actually better than me! You have a clear and refined style and many years of practice in you…"

"Then… why…?"

"Why did you lose? Well… it's better if I say it now…" Haru sighed. "You lack real experience."

"Real… experience…?"

"Yeah, not enough time fighting Shadows instead of trainers. Opponents that actually want to kill you." Haru sighed yet again and locked up to the sky. "I need to learn more, too…"

"Hey, that was amazing!"

"Are you okay, Senpai?"

"That was so close!"

The rest of the team came and praised their fight. They had never seen such a close fight between two humans.

"Okay, you guys keep practicing. I really need to rest for a while." Haru said.

And so, the rest of the day was spent mostly on training the control of their Personas. Shinjiro, having awakened in the real world, didn't have much trouble but he still needed practice and getting used to using his evoker. Shirou mostly watched and talked with those who were resting, asking a few questions and listening to stories of their previous battles.

After finishing the set of exercises her father had suggested to improve her sword arm, Reiko sat next to Shirou to rest. The boy handed his Senpai a bottle of water, which she gratefully accepted.

"You all… sure train hard…" Shirou said.

"Yeah, I guess we do. Most of what we do are the exercises Minato-san taught us, plus a few pointers from our parents." Reiko said, scratching the back of her head.

"Extra pointers?" Shirou grew curious.

"For example, Ryu fights mostly with his fists, right? And he's fairly fast, too, but his movements are limited to dashing, sidestepping, back stepping… so his mom told him to train his legs more, so he could use them however he needed, which is why he's now jumping the rope. Here, watch this… RYU, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FIGHTING-"

"-AS IT IS, WITH NO RULES, WELL THEN, BABY YOU'D BETTER TRAIN EVERY PART OF YOUR BODY!" Ryu completed the quote without missing a beat. Actually, that seemed to light some kind of fire inside him, as he started to jump even faster than before.

"That's a Bruce Lee quote. He and his mother both idolize him." Reiko couldn't help but laugh a bit, but she had to admit Bruce Lee really was an icon. It was no surprise Ryu took all his quotes to heart. "Oh, and for me and Brother, dad told me to cut wood with an axe. Since the sword I use is fairly light, the more strength I have, the faster I'll be with it. I don't want to get too beefy, though, haha!" She laughed. "Brother ties logs to his sword and swings it up and down now that he's used to its normal weight."

"You guys… really do take this seriously…" Shirou said, looking down. "I'm… sorry for what I said the other day."

"We told you, don't worry about it. I'm sure you had your reasons, and I won't ask you to tell me, but…" Reiko looked up to the sky. "I've been thinking about what you asked us, and I think I have my answer."

"You don't have to…"

"But I want to." She said. "I… I don't want to leave my normal life. I want to keep going to school, hanging out with friends and playing games. I want things to go back to just the way they were before we knew about Shadows…"

"Reiko-san…"

"That's why I'll fight. I'll try my hardest to make things go back to normal. I won't leave my everyday life behind, because if I do, what am I even fighting for? I… I believe we can protect this town and its people, I really do!" Reiko smiled, then turned to Shirou.

The silver haired boy couldn't help but smile back before laughing a bit. "You talk like a superhero…"

"Then call me Super-Reiko, because as long as I'm here, no Shadow or evildoer shall prevail!" She said, striking a superhero pose and making Shirou laugh even harder.

"Thanks… I feel a lot better now."

"Glad to be of help!"

"Hey Shirou, it's getting late. We should go back." Shinji said as he approached his little brother.

"Yeah, we should. You need a shower." Shirou stood up.

"Oh, shut up." Shinji groaned. "Well guys, it's been fun! See you tomorrow at school!"


On the way back to his house, Shinjiro was mostly silent, something that worried Shirou, if only a bit.

"You okay there big brother?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, no problem! Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you've been silent for a while now. It's... unnatural."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinji sighed. "But… yeah, I guess I'm not feeling great. I'm just… really confused…"

"Confused?"

"I still can't figure out how Haru beat me! I was obviously better than him! I was faster and I know how to use a rapier better than he can use his sword! I just don't get it!"

"Do you want me to tell you what happened?"

"Huh? You know!?"

"I was watching from a distance, so I could understand more of what was happening."

"Then tell me! How did I lose!? Was it because I wore myself out? Did I not attack enough?" Shinji asked.

"Do you remember the way he beat Zephyr?"

"Huh? Yeah… he countered him when he attacked…"

"Well, Haru-san did the same to you." Shirou said.

"The… same? What do you mean?"

"It's true what you said. As a swordsman, you are better and Haru-san knew it. He kept defending so that he could study your fighting style and measure your rhythm. Once he got a clear understanding, he purposely left an opening in his body, knowing exactly where you'd strike. That way, he saw your attack a mile away and so, was able to counter it."

"I… I see…" Shinjiro understood. "That's what he meant when he said I lacked combat experience…"

"They have been fighting Shadows for a while. He must have developed his reflexes and a better instincts through battle and constant training." Shirou said.

"I feel so embarrassed for not seeing that… Do you think the others saw that too?" Shinji asked.

"I doubt any of them noticed." Shirou answered.

"I see…" Shinji sighed, but this time, he was satisfied. Shinji was the better swordsman, but Haru was the better fighter… for now. Next time, things would be different. He would train and experience battles until one day he'd be able to beat Haru.


A/N: This is it for now, but next chapter will have a nice little revelation for you all, so look forward to it. Please tell me your opinions in the comments! Reading what you have to say keeps me motivated to continue. I see this story get bigger and bigger and apparently more popular and that makes me happy. It feels like I'm able to tell a good story. I DREAM OF THE DAY I SEE THIS STORY IN TV TROPES FANFIC RECS AND HAVING ITS OWN PAGE! Yeah, like that'll happen. It would me awesome though.