Chie Satonaka was frustrated to say the least. Three broken metatarsals in her right foot, that was what the in-house medic had told her. How could she have been so stupid? Forgetting that Girimehkalas reflect physical attacks? Was she a complete amateur? Now she had to wear this damn boot for the next 3 weeks and was benched from missions in the meantime.

As she sat by herself in the compound living room, flipping endlessly through random channels on the room's ridiculously large television, Chie decided to check her phone for any new messages. Nothing. No rogue shadows terrorizing important landmarks, no evil Persona users using their powers to commit crimes, no malevolent gods trying to enslave humanity. Apparently the forecast called for rain later this afternoon...so there was that.

"Ugh!" The martial arts enthusiast threw her head back in frustration. Looking back at her phone, she scrolled through her contacts looking for anyone to talk to. "Busy, busy, hmm...I guess it's been awhile since I talked to Yosuke." She said aloud.

The phone rang 5 times before finally being picked up on the other end.

"Ngh...Hello?" Yosuke's voice came from the other end, sounding as though he'd just woken up.

"Heyyy Yosuke. What's uhh, what's going on?" She asked, unsure of how to begin the conversation.

"Wha...Chie?" He sounded confused. "What is it? There some kinda team emergency?"

"No no, nothing like that. Just uh...calling to see how my best buddy from high school's doing."

"Chie...It's 2am. I don't really feel like chatting right now."

"What!?" She checked the time on her phone, it read 3pm. "Where are you?"

"Uh, New York?" He said as if it were obvious. "Remember? Big business trip? Hopefully establish a Junes branch in the U.S.? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Oh yeah." Chie vaguely recalled him mentioning something about that the last time she saw him.

Since graduating from high school, Yosuke had really gotten his act together. Putting in the work at Junes, he'd quickly risen through the ranks of the company (his newfound connections to the Kirijo Group playing no small part) and just recently became the company's youngest VP. Who would've thought, the boy who fell into a trash can and slept through most of his exams would go on to be the most financially successful of the group? Well, now he had no excuse not to lend her money when she needed it.

"Soooo, how's Kaori?" She asked, trying to think of a conversation topic. She figured asking about his fiancee was as good a place as any.

"Fine." He answered bluntly. "Can I go now?"

"Hey! You used to call me late at night all the time in high school just to tell your stupid jokes! This is revenge for all those times!"

"Chie, we're in our twenties. I have a meeting in 6 hours and you've got Shadows to fight. Can we do this another time?" He asked, clearly annoyed.

"Well actually-"

"Great talking to you. Bye!" He interrupted before hanging up.

"Wha!?" Chie recoiled in shock at being hung up on. "Douchebag!" She yelled as she threw her phone onto the couch cushion.

'Now what?' She thought, picking herself up off of the couch. There had to be something to do in this giant airport hangar they called a house. Whenever there wasn't training or a mission to be done, this place was usually a lot livelier. However, with most of the team off busy with their own lives and the rest currently busy at the moment, it seemed to be just her around at the moment. Casting a glance around the room, she spotted the perfect place to blow off some steam. Her favorite place in the entire compound.

Chie had done some growing of her own since high school. Having embraced a more feminine side of herself since high school, she'd ditched her bowl haircut, now sporting a longer hairstyle that came down to her neck, and began putting more thought into the clothes she picked out. Baggy jackets soon became stylish blouses and track shorts slowly found themselves replaced by black leggings. Overall, a great improvement to her sex appeal in her eyes, not that she really had the time to go out these days. But still, despite her change in appearance, Chie was still a tomboy at heart, and more than anything (except maybe meat) she loved to train.

If she was going to be stuck inside for the next few weeks, she would make sure she'd come out of this hiatus stronger than ever. And so Chie limped her way to the compound's gym, ready to further hone her technique, even with only one good foot. She'd seen a kung fu movie once where the main character did all of his training with a blindfold on and came out of it with superhuman senses. A broken foot was basically the same as a blindfold, right?

20 minutes into her usual training session, the difference between the two became very clear. Blindfolds didn't ache every time you took a step.

"Dammit!" Chie cried out, kicking the training dummy in front of her with her good foot. Still not used to the boot on her leg however, she quickly lost her balance, falling to the floor. "Goddammit!" She slammed her fist against the ground.

"Chie?" A voice came from behind her, causing her to turn around in surprise.

"Oh, Jo-er Ren!" Chie looked up at the younger man. "Um, what's up?" She asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, despite the fact that she was still on the gym floor.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting after your injury!" He held out an arm to help her up which she accepted.

"It's...really not as bad as it looks." Chie lied, wincing in pain as she felt the strain on her foot from standing up. "It's fine, really."

"Chie, I was there. I heard the bones in your foot crack when you hit that thing. You don't have to lie to me."

"I'm serious! Watch!" She stepped toward the dummy once more, attempting to perform a roundhouse kick only to stumble to the floor once again. "...Okay, so I'm a little off my game."

"If you push yourself too hard, you'll only end up hurting yourself. Trust me." Ren stated, briefly glancing at his hands. "C'mon, let's get you to the couch, we need to elevate your leg."

"No! I don't wanna go back to the couch!" Chie pouted, crossing her arms. "I sat there for hours! It's too boring!"

"How about I keep you company then?" He asked, helping her up again. "We could watch a movie or play cards or something." As he helped her up, he placed her arm over his shoulder, offering himself as a crutch. Their close proximity caused Chie to blush, almost able to feel the warmth of his breath as his face was next to her's.

"Uhh yeah! I-I guess that would be cool." She stammered out nervously.

As far as Chie could recall, this was the longest conversation that the two of them had ever shared. They weren't exactly strangers, after all they fought Shadows together on a regular basis, but they weren't really friends either, more just...Teammates? Coworkers? She didn't really know what they were. Being from two different generations of Persona users, and Ren being a relatively new member of the team, the two knew almost nothing about one another. When the two of them finally reached the living room, Ren sat Chie down on the couch before walking away.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?" She asked, trying to turn to face him.

"Kitchen." He replied simply. "I figured I'd make the two of us a late lunch. Any preference?"

"Oh my god, I could destroy a hamburger right about now." She said, her mouth watering at the thought.

"Hamburgers. Got it." Ren nodded, rolling up his sleeves before pulling a tray of ground beef from the fridge along with a few other ingredients.

"Huh? You're really gonna make them?" Chie's eyes widened. "I just figured you'd go out and buy some."

"Nope, I prefer to cook my meals whenever I can. Plus, this way we can get to know each other better, y'know?" He turned on the stove as he began shaping the meat into patties.

"Uh yeah, for sure!" Chie nodded, though she didn't really know for sure what they'd talk about.

"Can…" Ren hesitated for a moment, his eyes still focused on his task. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"What were you doing earlier? Trying to train with a broken foot? You had to know that would do more harm than good." Ren stated.

"..."

"I know it really isn't my place to say, and you're free not to answer if you want but-"

"I made a stupid mistake." Chie admitted. "Yesterday...in that battle. And two weeks ago, in another, and a month before that. I just keep making these dumb mistakes that get myself or the others hurt. I just wanted to stop being so damn pathetic!"

"Chie!" Ren turned to her with a shocked look. "You can't seriously blame yourself every time someone on the team gets hurt!"

"Why not?" She shrugged. "It's not like I do much for the team anyways. Akihiko's got me beat in martial arts, both Mitsuru and Yusuke outclass me in terms of ice skills, at the end of the day, what do I even offer?" Normally, Chie wouldn't be this open about her insecurities, but she'd pent them up for so long that she felt she finally had to tell someone. On top of that, Ren was just a really easy guy to talk to, a lot like Yu.

"You're our friend and a reliable teammate" Ren answered, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Someone we trust to watch our backs in the heat of battle and are glad to fight beside." Chie turned to him in surprise, seeing his kind grey eyes looking directly into hers. "You really shouldn't be so critical of yourself, you do more than you think you do."

The two held eye contact for what felt like an hour, Chie blushing as she studied the features of Ren's face. Was it weird to call a man beautiful? Yet that was the only word that came to mind to describe the man before her. His long eyelashes, messy yet somehow perfect black hair, white teeth, and delicate bone structure. Hell, Ren was prettier than most girls!

"...ou okay?"

"Huh?" Chie snapped out of her stupor at the sound of Ren's voice.

"I asked if you were okay. You seemed kind of out of it for a second there."

"O-Oh…" Now blushing in embarrassment, Chie scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, just lost in thought is all."

"I hope you take what I say to heart. But if you don't believe me, go ahead and ask anyone else here. I'm sure they'd tell you the same thing." Suddenly, there was a loud hissing noise from the kitchen, causing Ren to turn away. "Shit, forgot about the burgers. Uh, it'll just be a second!" He called back as he ran to flip the patties before they burned.

As she turned back toward the TV, deciding to watch something in hopes of taking her mind off Ren's (far too pretty) face, Chie felt something cold and wet touch her leg. Looking down, she saw that the perpetrator of the action was a small white dog with his nose pressed against her.

"Koro-chan!" She squealed excitedly, glad to see the Shadow Ops' sole canine member. Picking him up and setting him next to her, the dog happily leaned against her while panting heavily, gratefully accepting the scratches he was receiving.

Far too old to fight anymore, Koromaru now spent his twilight years lying around the compound, approaching everyone and anyone he saw gleefully in hopes of being petted. The sight of him happily waiting for them anytime the team returned from a mission was enough to lighten everyone's spirits after a hard day's work. Chie especially held a fondness for the dog as he brought back memories of her own dog who'd passed away a few years back.

"Here you go." Ren's voice came from behind, surprising Chie as he set her hamburger on the table in front of her. "Bon appetit." He said before walking back to the kitchen.

If the thought of a hamburger was enough to make Chie drool, the sight before her nearly made the girl break down into tears at the beauty of it. Perfectly cooked without a hint of pink (her personal favorite) and with all of the fixings, it was almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. Carefully grabbing the burger, she raised it to her lips before taking a large bite. Incredible! The burger's taste put its looks to shame, it was that delicious!

"Good?" Ren asked, returning to the living room with a second plate, this one with only a patty on it.

"I think I'm having a religious experience just from eating this." She replied, her mouth still full. "How does it have this much flavor!?"

"That would be the paprika and diced onions I mixed into the meat, along with some brown sugar to give it a little sweetness." He smiled proudly before placing the plate in front of his second customer who gave an excited howl before digging in.

Chie didn't really know much about cooking, her friends from the Investigation Team made that pretty clear, but what was even more clear was that Ren's cooking was leagues beyond any she'd ever had. She could only picture the lucky lady that would get Ren all to herself, enjoying delicious meals like this every day, seeing his pretty face every night, getting to…Chie stopped that train of thought before it could go somewhere not safe for the workplace.

"Any thoughts?" Ren asked. "I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any critiques-"

"I think I'm in love."

"...What?"

[Shadow Operative File: 014]

Chie Satonaka

Codename: Dragon

Status: Active

Species: Human

Age: 24

Sex: F

Persona: Haraedo-no-Okami, formerly Suzuka Gongen, formerly Tomoe

Description: Former member of the Inaba Investigation Team, Chie Satonaka was a part of the second wave of Persona users discovered by the Shadow Operatives during a mission to defeat Cognitive Deity 003 in Inaba in the year 2012. Possessing a Persona with powerful physical and ice skills, Chie is a strong frontline fighter for the Shadow Ops.

Notes: Chie has submitted several complaints to the compound staff regarding the food selection available in the kitchen. Citing the "extreme lack of meat" in the refrigerator, she placed several requests for various cuts of expensive meats. After staff explained that any additions to operatives' meal plans would need to come out of their paychecks, Chie rescinded all previous requests.