As Naoto checked the clock on her laptop, she noticed that the time read midnight exactly. Rubbing her eyes, she looked out the compound living room's window and finally noticed how dark it had gotten outside. The original detective prince stood up from her chair, cracking her back as she did some stretches.

"Naoto?" A voice asked from the dark.

Turning to the source, Naoto realized she couldn't see anything due to her eyes staring at the bright screen for so long. She squinted in an attempt to see, only to then be blinded as the light switch was flipped.

"Ah!"

"Sorry! My bad." The voice apologized, dimming the lights.

When her sight finally returned, Naoto recognized the man to be Ren Amamiya despite his fluffy black bedhead obscuring his upper face. He looked tired, his slouched posture and half-lidded eyes giving that much away.

"Oh um, hello Ren." Naoto waved weakly. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same." He replied, reaching into the cabinet. "But as for why I'm up, Futaba's been binging a new anime and decided to call me in the middle of the night to tell me her theories on what'll happen next season. The call ended up lasting 40 minutes."

"Hmm. Have you ever considered that you might be enabling her?" Naoto suggested. "She'll never break these bad habits if you keep allowing her to."

"Eh." Ren shrugged, pulling a small box from the cabinet. "Sojiro tried for years and never made any progress. Besides, Futaba's a grown woman...kinda, she can make her own decisions." He removed a small tea bag from the box before grabbing a mug. "And, while we're on the topic of bad habits, when's the last time you slept?"

"Wh-that's different. I have important work to-"

"Naoto." Ren furrowed his brow at her.

Letting out a loud sigh, the detective slumped further into her chair. "I don't know...30 hours?"

"You. Hypocrite." Ren mock judged her, shaking his head. "Want some tea?"

"Please."

Ren nodded, grabbing a second mug and tea bag. "So, how goes the research? Any earth shattering revelations?"

"I think *yawn* you already know the answer to that." She answered, shutting her laptop.

Ever since the Metaverse began colliding with reality on a more frequent basis, Naoto had been doing extensive research on the topic, trying to find a reason behind it all. The Shadow Operatives had a research team for this specific purpose, but Naoto insisted on doing her own research, believing that her work in the field gave her a perspective that the research team lacked. Answering questions like what caused the outbreaks, where did the cognitive deities originate from, and the true origins of Shadows and Personas, these were what she spent countless hours researching both in and out of the field.

"You know what you need?" Ren spoke up, a devious smirk on his face.

"A shower?" Naoto guessed. She could feel the pit stains on her button-up blue shirt.

"I mean...I didn't want to say anyth-" A glare from the detective stopped him before he could finish. "Anyways...You need one of those cork boards with all of the photos on them and a red string connecting them together."

"Ugh," Naoto rolled her eyes. "You know that only happens in movies right?"

"Not until just now, no." He replied, setting a mug in front of her. "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that's like, Detective 101."

"I'm sure." She deadpanned before taking a sip of tea. "Chamomile. Good choice." She smiled, setting down her mug.

"Yeah, I'm usually more of a coffee guy, but this seemed more appropriate for the occasion." He nodded, taking a sip from his mug.

"Well, tea is much better for you. If I could, I'd kick my coffee habit altogether, but I'm afraid my will isn't quite strong enough for that."

"Not when I'm the one making it." Ren winked, causing Naoto to roll her eyes once again. "So… You've really made no progress on the research front?"

"Nothing of significance. I've been trying to find the pattern behind these outbreaks, but every time I think I find some solid evidence, something new comes along that breaks the pattern." She explained, frowning. "It's just so frustrating to have so many unanswered questions. What causes the outbreaks? What created the Metaverse? Why does it seem to constantly change in function and appearance?"

"Maybe you need a new perspective."

"Huh?" Naoto looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"The Metaverse is based around cognition, the way people think and feel, we know that much. If you want to understand it better, maybe you should understand people better. Instead of staying cooped up in here, you could go out and meet new people, do something fun. It could give you some valuable insight."

"Really? Fun?" She scoffed. "I don't have time for fun."

"Come on, even you have to admit that what you're doing is counterintuitive." Ren argued. "Look what you're putting yourself through! And for what? Are you any closer to finding the truth?"

The two stared each other down for a solid minute before Naoto finally relented, letting out a deep sigh. Taking another sip of her tea, she pondered Ren's words before setting her mug down.

"It's true, I...I'm not making the progress I'd like to. I guess I fell back into my old habits again." She yawned again, stretching her arms before standing up. "Thank you for the tea, I'll think about what you've said."

"Heading to bed?" Ren asked.

"Shower first. Then bed." She stated tiredly, walking off.

As she made her way toward the bathroom, she ran a hand through her messy blue locks, feeling the grease that had set in after more than a day without bathing. She still kept her hair cut short, she found it easier to care for that way, but it was still a bit longer than she'd cut it back in high school.

When she finally arrived at the compound's main bathing room, the young detective let out a sigh of relief, unbuttoning her shirt and removing her compression bra. While she wasn't particularly fond of it, some would say that she was blessed, her DD size breasts were matched only by Mitsuru among the other Shadow Ops. And even though she wasn't disguising herself as a man these days, she was by no means an exhibitionist and instead chose to dress on the more conservative side.

Once she finished disrobing, Naoto was about to step into the shower when her eyes wandered to the door leading to the outdoor bath. Normally, Naoto preferred quick and cold showers for their efficiency, but tonight… Tonight she was tired and a nice hot bath sounded too good to pass up.

The compound's outdoor bath was a recent addition to the building, something added at the request of the operatives after numerous complaints of long hours and sore muscles. The heated bath sat near the edge of a large hill overlooking the nearby forests just off of the property and the coast visible just past that. It was quite a remarkable sight, being able to see the soft moonlight reflect off of the gentle waves.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she entered the outdoor bath and felt the cold night air against her skin. As she took her first careful steps into the bath, she was almost overwhelmed by the feeling of warmth that instantly spread across her body. Before she knew it, Naoto was lying back with her head on a towel as she sat submerged in the hot water.

'God I needed this.' She thought to herself, feeling the aches in her joints dissipate as she sank deeper into relaxation. As she did so, her mind drifted back toward the earlier conversation.

'Is Ren right? Have I really invested myself too deeply into my research? Should I branch out? But how am I even supposed to meet new people? Ugh.' She shook her head, wiping away the sweat that had built up on her forehead. 'It's not like I can exactly relate to normal people anymore, I haven't been able to do that since…ever.' The only people she ever found that truly understood her were the other Shadow Ops, each having an unfortunate past of their own. But more than any of them, it was Yu Narukami in particular that'd helped her when she reached her lowest point and understood her the most.

Embarrassing as it was to admit, she'd had quite a large crush on Narukami after that. But she'd eventually grown out of it and she could honestly say that she was happy for him and his fiancee and wanted nothing but the best for them. Maybe it was time that she tried finding that kind of happiness for herself, but that seemed a bit far fetched. Here she was, 23 years old and never so much as having been out on a date. The way Naoto saw it, it was quite possible that she didn't have a romantic bone in her body.

'I wonder if Ren would have any advice on that front.' She thought. 'He seems like the type to know a lot about that.' As she considered this, an image of him here in the bath with her flashed in her mind. One hand gripping the towel around his waist, the other brushing that messy hair out of his eyes, and that devilish grin on his pretty face. 'Whoa.' Her thoughts came to a screeching halt. 'Maybe I've been in here a bit too long.'

However, as she tried to lift herself out of the bath, she found that she no longer possessed the strength to do so, she was too tired and her body was too relaxed.

"Maybe I'll just rest for a minute...Regain my *yawn* strength…" She slowly closed her eyes and almost immediately fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Ren had just finished his tea while he scrolled through the news on his phone. No emergencies thankfully, he'd hate to have to wake everyone up so late, or was it early? Turning his attention to the hallway, he noticed that Naoto still hadn't passed by yet which was odd.

In order to reach the bedrooms from the main bathroom, one would have to take the hallway that led directly past the kitchen. It was unlikely that Naoto had snuck past him while he wasn't looking, which meant she had to still be in the bathroom. Checking the clock on his phone, he realized that she'd been gone for over 20 minutes. Naoto was known for being in and out of the bathroom in less than 10 which only unsettled him further.

'What if she slipped and was injured?' He thought, a worried expression on his face. 'I...I should go check on her. Just to be sure.'

When he reached the women's bathroom door, he stood in front of it with his fist raised for a solid minute, mentally preparing himself for the berating he'd get if his hunch turned out to be wrong. Finally working up the courage, he knocked loudly trying to get her attention.

"N-Naoto? Are you in there?" He called out. He wasn't too worried about waking the others as their bedrooms were a good distance away. "Naoto!" He called again, but only heard silence in return. "I-I'm coming in. If you're in there...please don't tell Mitsuru about this." With that, he slowly creaked open the door, peeking around carefully. No sound of a shower running and more importantly, no sound of an injured Naoto.

'Huh, maybe she really did sneak past me.' He thought, taking another step in. That thought was proved wrong however as Ren felt something soft brush against his foot. Looking down, he spotted the object in question, a (quite large) navy blue bra, and with it, the rest of Naoto's clothes. She was still here.

"Naoto!" Ren's brain immediately went into overdrive and he began to search the bathroom thoroughly. If she was still in here, why wasn't she responding? What if she'd hit her head and was unconscious? Where the hell was she? After searching every stall and shower and still coming up empty, his eyes turned toward the one place she could be.

The outdoor bath.

There was only one outdoor bath for the whole compound, meaning men and women had to share. That being said, there were strict security measures in place to prevent peeping toms. And the punishment if you were caught peeping...Ren shuddered at the thought of it. He would be risking everything by going out there, if he was wrong...he was dead. But if he was right, Naoto was in trouble, and that alone was enough to make him act.

So, putting his life on the line, he opened the door and stepped out into the cold night air.

When Naoto's eyes finally cracked open again, she felt movement, but not from her own body. Her mind was foggy, her drowsiness keeping her from forming a clear train of thought, but she could still make out her surroundings.

She was moving through the hallway, but not on her legs. Was she taller now? She tried to move her arm but found a stack of her clothes neatly folded on top of her. Getting a better sense of her surroundings, the detective realized two things. One was that she was being carried, and the other, she was entirely naked save for a towel wrapped around her chest. While normally, Naoto would panic in this situation, she honestly felt too comfortable at the moment to react. Finally, when her detective instincts got the better of her, she finally looked up to see the face of her savior. Turning her gaze upward, she vaguely recognized the handsome, blushing man before her.

"Heyyyy, I know you." She spoke quietly, her eyes half-lidded.

"N-Naoto! I can explain I-" Ren began to panic.

"Shhhh!" She put a finger to her lips. "People are sleeping." She whispered.

"H-Huh?" Ren stopped in his tracks. What was going on with her? Had the heat affected her that much? Her severe sleep deprivation probably didn't help either. She seemed like a different person now, one far more relaxed than her usual self. Regaining his composure, he turned back to Naoto.

"I'm taking you to your bedroom now."

"Whaaaat?" Naoto's mouth made an 'O' shape before she looked away shyly. "But...I've never…"

"Not like that. Not like that." He shook his head, trying to ignore how cute the older girl was like this. "We're almost there, I'm just going to set you in bed and then I'll leave, okay?"

"Oh, okay."

'Was that disappointment in her voice?' Ren wondered, his mind going somewhere else for a moment. 'No! She's practically drunk right now! Bad Ren!'

They finally arrived at her door which Ren managed to get open with Naoto's help. He carried the smaller woman to her bed before setting her down, thankfully her towel stayed in place, protecting her decency. Almost the second her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light, snoring softly as Ren pulled the covers over her.

"Geez, she's pretty adorable when she lets her walls down." He placed his hands on his hips, letting out a large breath. "...I am totally using this as leverage one day." As he turned around to leave the room, his eyes caught a glimpse of something hanging on the wall. He smiled, snapping a picture with his phone before leaving.

Hanging on the wall was a cork board covered in photos with red string connecting them together.

"You liar."

[Shadow Operative File: 018]

Naoto Shirogane

Codename: Cipher

Status: Active

Species: Human

Age: 23

Sex: F

Persona: Yamato Sumeragi, formerly Yamato-Takeru, formerly Sukuna-Hikona

Description: A former member of the Inaba Investigation Team, Naoto joined the Shadow Operatives directly out of high school. She has expressed great interest in the Metaverse and its origins and uses her time in the field to study its innerworkings. While she hasn't made any significant progress towards learning how to stop the outbreaks, she has shared several new findings with the Shadow Research Team that are of great interest.

Notes: While she has shared much of her knowledge with the compound's researchers, it is believed that she has not been completely transparent about her findings. Several inquiries have been made toward her in hopes of acquiring useful information, but she has declined to share any additional findings. This has led to several complaints being filed against her.