Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona belongs to ATLUS. Touhou Project belongs to Zun. I have no ownership of the copyrights of either series in any way.

Chapter 29: Game On

"So yeah, maybe you should consider getting a license as well," Rise said as she began her nightly routine. The two of us were in her room for a little girl talk, not that I was any good for it. Still didn't stop her though.

"A license… I don't think it will be that easy for me. Kotone Shiomi didn't exist until about a couple weeks ago," I replied as I began to read over the next document… Oh that's rough…

"Oh right… Then you'll have to probably hitch a ride with one of us. Everyone except Kanji and Teddie are getting one. Kanji's not getting one cause he's still just fifteen, and Ted is, well, Ted," Rise followed up as she adjusted something in her hair.

"You know I can just fly, right?" I reminded her. "Just send me the address and I can be there before you guys."

"Aw but that's no fun. I mean flying is probably great and all but being able to feel the wind in your hair and hear the motor as you ride across the road has a bit of something romantic about it, especially when it's two people on one bike." I couldn't completely hide my grimace. Mitsuru offered the same thing when she gave me her keys. I still have them, but of course no bike to go with them.

"That's fair," I rebounded before she could see me. Still have so much paperwork though…

"Also, we have to get you a swimsuit… Are you going to be fine if we buy for you?" Rise asked with a bit of hesitance.

"If you asked when I first changed, then no, but I have been wearing a bra all this time so if the bottom's at least shorts I guess I'll be fine," I acquiesced. It wasn't a lie, and I still would have preferred no, but I can't exactly dampen the mood with absolute refusal. Besides, Gensokyo has no beaches, and aside from my little trip to the moon, I haven't been to the beach in forever. It might be fun.

"Great! Then we can go shopping tomorrow! Schools out for the summer so we can spend all day tomorrow at Junes," Rise said with an excited giggle. "Now, which one of these do you think Yu-senpai will prefer? I'm partial to the strawberry, but vanilla is pretty popular," she held out… Perfume bottles, I think. It looks like I'm helping her again tonight.

"Oh, by the way, I see you with those papers every night, just what are they?" Rise asked as she walked over and looked over my shoulder. "Administrative acknowledgment of death? Record of transfer through Sanzu River and Payment Log? Reincarnation Approval? Vacation Request? Uh…" was all she was left out of her mouth after reading a few of the documents. "I'm sorry, what am I looking at?"

"I didn't tell you guys?" I asked as I looked up from my papers.

"No…" Her tone almost making her reply into a question.

"Well it's nothing for you to worry about. Just a natural part of life at work here…" at little pay, very few vacations, can't have sick leave if you can't get sick, long hours, but hey they provide room and board. Besides, I have it easy and only have to make sure my paperwork is up to snuff. They're so swamped as well that they don't care as long as it's finished by deadline. Komachi and the like are the ones with real working hours. Sorry but it's out of my hands on that vacation. Going to have reject that one… again…

"What do you work for the afterlife or something?"

"I do," I answered without decorum. It's not like there's anything to hide. Heck, Gensokyo has an open doorway to the afterlife just sitting up in the sky. "I'm even the Prince of the Dead, though that's more of a bureaucratic title, as well as something given to me because of a very overzealous older sister like woman." Yuyuko still insists on my being her little brother, though I don't hate it.

"Wait who are you exactly?!" Rise almost shrieked, only to cover her mouth afterwards and look around. Her eyes stopped when they fell upon the clock that hung on her wall.

"Oh, that's right, it's raining isn't it? And it's almost midnight." I looked up at the clock at Rise's mention of midnight. 23:54, the clock read specifically. "We should pay attention to the TV." Right, the Midnight Channel. This will be the first time I'm seeing it so this might be interesting. Luckily a set was already in Rise's room, so it was just a matter of turning around to get a good look.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. The room was silent save for the clock. A dark mood pervaded the room as she and I sat without speaking to one another, anxious as to what might appear on the screen. I looked at Rise who seemed to be just as nervous.

"Sorry, this is my first time watching it too," she admitted with a bit of a wry grin. "Oh look!" She pointed to the screen as static begin to fill the set despite it not even being turned on. Within seconds the static parted and in its place was what looked to be a high schooler standing in some kind of… Colosseum made of voxels? The image was also really clear too. It even had tacky add-on stuff like it saying 'LIVE' at the top left and a few banners of information. However, I didn't bother to read it as the boy suddenly spoke.

"You all think you can see me? You all think you know everything about me? Then try and catch me…" he said in a low tone voice. A sinister chortle escaped from his mouth as the image faded into nothing. See him? Know him? Well I didn't know the first thing about him. I'd never even seen him before. I guess that's what happens coming onto the scene late, but then he said something like 'Try and Catch me'. Seems like an attention seeker…

"Seems like an attention seeker," I repeated out loud.

"Huh? O-oh… yeah. Actually, now that you say that it out loud, that kind of makes sense. At least if we take this by itself," Rise responded, still a bit surprised over the proceedings. "He looked around our age. Do you think he's the high school culprit the police are after?"

"He does match the rumors, though of course that was the only major thing people knew at all. Huh?" A ringing sound came from my pocket. Looking down I grabbed my phone and saw Yosuke on the line. "Hey-"

"Did you guys see that?" He interrupted a bit loudly.

"I was about to say I did, Yosuke."

"Right, sorry about that. Anyways I was just on the phone with Yu. We're going to meet up tomorrow at the roof top at Junes. Teddie says he wants to investigate the other side with Rise."

"And yet you called me."

"Dude, I can't just call an idol you know. It's kind of awkward. Besides, you used to be a guy, so it's a bit easier to call you." Rise gestured to me at the side. I nodded to confirm I got her message.

"Yoskue-senpai, we're friends, you don't have to be that standoffish," Rise said as I put the phone on speaker for her.

"Uh… right! If you're fine with that. Anyways, tomorrow, morning Junes, rooftop."

"We'll be there, later." I hung up the phone and sighed. These young people are exhausting… I'm still young.

"Well two birds one stone, I guess. We were planning on going there tomorrow anyways. Only now we'll have Chie-senpai, and Yukiko-senpai to help us out as well!" Oh right, swimsuit shopping. Yay… I looked back down to see that I still had a full stack of paperwork to do for the Ministry. Double yay…

-0-0-29-0-0-

"Okay, Rise and Teddie are checking out the other side, so we'll go ahead and start the meeting," Yosuke opened once we got comfortable in our seats. "Now, you guys all saw it right?"

"Yeah, shit he said made my blood boil. That mumbling of his and those fish-like eyes pissed me off even more," Kanji was first to say. "Who the hell is he?"

"I don't know…" Yu answered, and I was in the same boat. We didn't have enough info to go off on to make assumptions.

"The image was clear on TV this time. When I noticed that, I went ahead and called Chie. While we were talking it hit me. Maybe that boy is the culprit," Yukiko told us.

"It's just a hunch, but it makes sense," Chie added, corroborating Yukiko's story.

"We've been told the suspect is a high schooler. The police are after him for the murder of King Moron. So, to see that on TV last night, at a time like this… I mean, he even taunted the viewers, saying 'Try and catch me'…"

"Except that's all the info we have, and coincidence can't be used as sure evidence," I began to say. "I admit the circumstances do look that way, but we should hold off on any hard assumptions before we can be sure," I tried to caution them. Everyone sat in silence for a bit, ruminating on my words.

"Y-yeah that makes sense I guess, but we don't really have any other leads, and the timing is kind of a bit too strong to write it off as just a coincidence," Yosuke spoke back.

"Though we still don't know why he targeted people shown on TV. If he had a personal grudge against Mr. Morooka, that would explain one thing. With a strong enough motive, he might just forsake the TV method and try to kill Mr. Morooka by himself," Yukiko offered as explanation.

"And what motive would be strong enough for someone to murder someone else at all costs, no matter what?" I asked first. "I know it might sound like I'm just trying to be difficult, but we have to do this right. We should examine everything to the smallest detail, question every line of thought to leave not even the smallest doubt."

"No, you're right. Thank you for the input," Yu spoke up. "We can't just make random guesses in the dark. If we do, we might end up doing something we'll regret."

"Yeah, but man it's difficult to have to think of everything like that, having to notice super small details," Chie said with a pained expression. "We just had exams too and I really don't want to have to think that much harder so soon…"

"Yeah, that might kind of be out of my league…" Kanji admitted.

"Well how about this just to nail the coffin in one last time? You said that a news reporter died on the other side too, right? How would you explain that one?" I asked them.

"Oh right… how could he have even gotten to her? Mayumi Yamano, right? She was staying low at the Yukiko's Inn, and most people shouldn't have known where she was…" Yosuke thought on it, as well as everyone else now.

"Not only that, but if it was at my inn, then he would have been seen there. We were trying to keep everything about Yamano-san as closely guarded as possible, meaning that he couldn't have gotten to her. At least assuming he was a normal student," Yukiko added.

"Argh dammit, I thought we were on to something there!" Yosuke complained as he scratched at his head. Just then I saw Rise running up to us.

"Hey, did you find anything?" Chie asked once Rise was in talking distance.

"Nothing. We don't have enough info to go on. We're positive someone's in there at least," she said with a shake of her head. "Ted's staying behind to look some more."

"I see. Then what we need to do now is find out who that guy is. He might not be our culprit, but he's still in there. He might have a clue as to what's really going on," Yosuke said before turning to me. "Thanks for pointing out that little snag with Yamano. It's frustrating, but you're right, we can't leave any details out."

"I'm just used to doing this is all. I've been involved in some incidents in the past where things weren't always what they seemed." In fact, it always seemed like we solved the problem first, found the culprit later, or someone related to the culprit in some way. "Besides, I'm used to seeing someone go off half-cocked about a situation, and just assuming things… well she keeps getting lucky enough to solve the issue anyways so it's fine in her case." They all looked at me a bit funny for my description of Reimu for some reason.

"Anyways… We probably would have just assumed he was the culprit and leave it at that. Could have been a disaster if we kept that line of thinking up. We still have to find him before the next foggy night. If there's nothing else, then the meeting is adjourned," Yosuke declared as he and the others left the table. Rise walked over to where I was sitting.

"Sorry. Looks like we'll have to postpone the shopping until later," Rise apologized.

"That's not a problem." I don't think I'm mentally prepared for a swimsuit yet… or ever will be. "What will you be doing now?"

"I'll go back into the TV world for a bit and help Teddie out. Maybe try to see if we can get anything else. How about you?" Rise asked.

"I think I'll look around town for some clues like everyone else." I don't want to look at more paperwork. Someone's got to do it, but right now it isn't me.

"Alright, sounds good. Dinner's still the same time, so don't stay out too late like you did last time okay?" Rise and I said our goodbyes afterwards and she headed back to the electronics section. Now, where should I go to look for clues?

-0-0-29-0-0-

"Dammit… so tired…" I let out as I collapsed onto the bench. I'd run basically over a quarter of Inaba. I can't fly or run at max speed since it would probably catch a lot of attention, and I need to talk to people to gather evidence… if I had any. Nobody I talked to today had even the smallest bit of evidence to speak of. It makes sense no one really knows the guy, but I guess I was expecting too much. "I need a break."

The bench I was on was on a hill overlooking much of the town. It was quite a view and one that felt both nostalgic and new. I of course had never been to Inaba before these past few weeks, but it had been a long time since I'd seen modern civilization. Apartment buildings, streets, buses and cars, it'd been a really long time since I saw any of it, at least intact.

"Is this seat taken?" I heard as I noticed shade suddenly cover me.

"Oh sorry I… Yukari…" Great, what was she doing here? She looked the same as ever, holding her parasol up to block out the sun enough to even give me some shade. Actually she seemed to be doing that on purpose.

"Aw you don't have to look at me like that, and after I came all this way to see you." The woman was as smarmy as ever. How that meek Maribel turned into this I don't think I'll ever know. Regardless, I shifted in the seat to give her some space. "There's that gentlemanly behavior I've come to expect from you. Thank you." She took her seat, patting down her frumpy dress as she fully relaxed into the bench.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. I'm too tired right now to deal with any extended interaction with her. I'll try to get it over with as soon as possible.

"It's always business with you. Can't it ever just be pleasure?"

"That's ironic coming from you," I said, hoping she'd pick up what I was implying.

"Hmm, fair. What? Thought I was going to try and dispute it some more? Truth is truth, and you're not one to lie." Sometimes I just can't deal with her, but I know I'd miss her otherwise… That's just how it is with us. "So on to business, since I've already indulged in some pleasure already."

"What is it then?" Don't look a gift horse in the mouth I suppose.

"For the most part, the leader of the team, Yu Narukami I believe… he has the investigation handled. He'll find what you all need within the next couple of days. So don't bother expending your energy."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say that he's in the best position to find information this time around." That's probably all she's going to say on the matter. I won't be able to get anything else, so I should focus on something else.

"Alright, what else, because that can't be it." She paused, a tiny huff of air leaving her nostrils as we both sat in silence with only the cicadas filling the air with a buzz of summer.

"How are you holding up?" She asked in a slow measured tone. Is she trying to be careful?

"I'm fine, but still a bit bothered by… well…" I looked down. I couldn't see my stomach because something else was now in the way of that view. Just that impediment to my sight, or more so the source of that impediment would still leave me feeling… wrong.

"I'm sorry." I turned around with a trepidation to find Yukari looking away from me. Did she just apologize? That's… rare. "I hadn't meant for your change to be so drastic. I was only going to change your appearance, but your gender wasn't initially something I was going to alter," she explained in a tone more reminiscent of her past than her present.

"Initially, meaning something happened that changed your plans, of all peoples?" Yukari not in control? That's just as rare.

"When I tried to change your appearance, something about your soul resonated with that form. I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps an alternate you from a different universe, just to throw an idea around." Why do I not find that idea that farfetched? "Regardless, it funneled all my attempts to alter your appearance into either this form, or your original. I could probably force you into a different form, but that might harm you, so I refrained from doing so. Because of that, this form was all I could change you into."

"That's… well thanks for telling me at least. It's nice to know that you tried." This body of mine, it's really strange. It's not my original body, but even so it's not really following her whims is it. Just what is it? What am I?

"Something on your mind?" I looked up to find Yukari now hiding her face behind a fan. Her eyes however were still able to be seen, focused solely on me.

"Yukari-san… what am I?" Tewi seemed to imply something. However that little rabbit wouldn't tell me anything. With her gone, there isn't anyone else around I can ask. "I saw that Earth Rabbit a few days ago, and she said that I wasn't Human. So then what am I?" I stared at Yukari, making sure that she wouldn't be able to get away. If she tried to escape into her gaps, I'd follow.

"You're smart, so you should have figured it out by now…" Yukari fell silent once more.

"Maribel, just tell me, please. I'm not human anymore, aren't I…?" I continued to look straight at her. She didn't seem to have the intention of making any kind of escape, but she also didn't seem poised to do anything else.

"You haven't been for a very long time…" She finally said. Something grew in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed any feeling I had to get angry at her. She already felt guilty enough I could see. Even as she hid her face away from me, I could tell from everything else, her posture, her breathing, that she probably felt like I did. Also, I just didn't want to lose her by blowing up at her. At least lacking the energy to do so made that easier. It made a lot of things easier.

"Since when?" I finally mustered enough willpower to ask.

"Since when? You died. Once that happens, people cease being human and become spirits," she replied with a minor bout of confusion in her voice.

"But I didn't become a spirit. I know the process. I administrate it. I didn't become a spirit… but you're right. I did die." That body is long gone, and this one was made by her. This body wasn't made of flesh and blood, but by the border that is the Great Seal. I guess… I just never thought about it.

"Do you see it now?" I thought she was going to say something else, but she held herself back.

"I think, but what am I then? I'm not a human, nor a spirit, and I can't exactly say I'm a youkai either. I'm also sure that I'm not a god." That would be too much.

"Are you sure? You're power stems from other's belief in you. That is how certain gods operate… I jest. I'm not sure what you are either. I can say that the way you are is similar to that of a Bunrei. In fact I believe that's what I told you all that time ago. Though aside from that, the other closest thing you might be is a celestial, which is an entity that has transcended mortality. However you still died, have not been to that particular heaven, and you have the support of the Ministry, which celestials tend to lack. You're quite unique," she said in a joking manner.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm trying my best given the circumstances." At least she was returning to normal a bit. "Also you don't have their veils. By the way, don't touch them if you see them. Anti-matter doesn't play well with matter."

"I'm sorry, what is this about Anti-matter?" Veils? Anti-matter… wait I think I remember Eirin saying something about finding anti-matter around, but I can't remember the source she said it was from.

"Just a tangent. Anyways, back to your particular dilemma, is it that important that you remain human?" She asked, now finally looking me in the eye again. "I'm not human, and neither are many of your acquaintances in Gensokyou." She was right on that front. I think the number of humans I knew from there could be counted on just one hand. Even Sanae was part goddess. I don't know many people in the village aside from maybe Akyuu and Kosuzu.

"I know logically I shouldn't be bothered by it, given that we've established that I haven't been human for a long time. But… I'm still going to need some time." I feel like… I've lost something.

"It's alright. No matter what, even if you aren't human, you'll be accepted in Gensokyou. Even Reimu, who's normally a hard head about humanity, will accept you. In fact I'm sure she and the rest of the residents of Gensokyou will accept that as well, if they haven't already."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm just saying. Gensokyou is a place where the strange can be, a sanctuary for those left behind, lost, forgotten, or no other place to rest. It's a place where you can always return to," she said as she put down the fan. Her expression was a mix of her typical deviousness, but also was kind and loving. "It's a home, one that will always welcome you back."

Home… I didn't really think about it. I've lived there for more than a year. By that metric it is a home for me. Yukari is right. There are people there who won't care about humanity and the like. It's not like I have a place out here. Sure I'm staying at Rise's place, but that's as a guest. It's not my home. But does that mean that I shouldn't be here?

"When you're finished out here with what you need to do, please be sure to come back home. Everyone's waiting for you." I didn't bother to check what happened to her. I could hear the characteristic sound of a gap opening and closing beside me. After that, I was left with just the birds and cicada.

…

Where do I belong?

-0-0-29-0-0-

"I just can't imagine it. I mean, I know we talked about how he isn't, but I can't help but imagine what it would be like if he actually was. Though that's where it kind of stops because I just can't imagine what it's like for someone our age to kill someone," Yosuke said, his arms crossed as he leaned back into his chair. At least the Junes food court chairs seemed to be of decent quality enough for him to do that. Yu called a meeting today. Apparently he found enough clues for us to find him. Though right now we were just confirming the situation.

"I'd be scared if you could. Some people are just like that though. It takes all types to make a world after all," Rise said in response. Sounds like she was speaking from experience.

"Haha… you sound like you speak from experience…" Chie said just what I was thinking.

"I know he ain't the culprit, but his stupid face and voice still kind of piss me off. Just thinking about what he said already kind of does the trick. But we can't let him end up another victim," Kanji added his two cents in.

"We have until the fog sets in. He might lead us to the real culprit if we do," Yukiko made sure to remind the group.

"Yeah… maybe he knows who's really behind all this or might even know more about the Midnight Channel. There's still a lot of stuff we don't know." Yosuke stretched himself while sipping on his drink. "Say are you going to be alright? This will be your first operation with us after all. Though I guess you're the veteran here really."

"Hmm?" I looked up from suddenly being addressed. I was busy cleaning one of my dolls. "Oh right. Well I guess I'll just watch as you all do your own thing. I'll see how I can slot myself in from there. Don't want to ruin any dynamics you guys already have." I turned to Yu before continuing. "I'll just follow your command. Just give instructions like you would to the others, okay?"

"Are you sure? You can take the lead if you want," Yu offered back.

"This is your team, and you've already been in charge since the beginning. It'll be faster if you just keep being the leader." Also it'd be too much work, not that I'd admit that out loud. I didn't admit it out loud right? No? Good.

"Alright then. I'll do my best. If I'm doing anything wrong, please feel free to speak up. I'd be happy to have pointers from our senpai," Yu replied with a nod.

"Yeah you pretty much are our senpai in this whole thing now that I think about it. Man I'm actually feeling a bit better about how this'll go now," Yosuke said with a smile and one eye closed.

"Ah but that sweet overconfidence in his voice was but prelude to disaster." What was that Teddie? I wasn't paying attention to him, and I'll admit I kind of forgot he was here. He's really good at acting like a statue in that bear suit.

"Oh shut up Ted, don't jinx it, please."

"I mean you're the one that said it Yosuke. Don't blame anyone else if you end up in 'disaster'," Chie added as remark with special emphasis on the final word to match Teddie.

"You've got a sensor type Persona among your stock right?" Rise pulled me aside to ask. Well as much as you could when you wanted to stay sitting down at a table. "Let's try to work together with them; you in the front, and me in the back."

"Sure, I can do that." I said as I put my now perfectly clean doll and pulled out another one.

"Uh, senpai…"

"Hmm?" I looked over to see a… bashful Kanji.

"Those dolls… can I take a look at one of them?" He asked, trying to keep his voice low.

"I don't know… These dolls are kind of important to me." I promised Alice that I'd take care of them, so I'm not so sure…

"Please! I'll be really gentle. I make felt dolls so I-I promise I can be really gentle with my fingers."

"Okay…" I said taken aback by his insistence. Well if he makes dolls as well, then I guess it might be fine. Pouring just a bit of magic into her, I had her climb onto the table from my lap, dust herself off then walk in front of Kanji's spot at the table. "Just be careful okay?" The doll took a small bow as it sat back down, my magic leaving her right after. Why isn't he moving… also why are the rest of you staring?

"I forgot you could do that…" Rise was the first to speak up. "Is that magic you're doing? To move the doll I mean." She said as she continued to stare over the doll.

"Yeah. It's puppetry magic. I learned it from my teacher back in Gensokyou."

"She moved like she was a living thing. It's the first time I noticed but there's a lot of detail in your movements for them," Yukiko said as she too stared intently at the Hourai doll. "Magic is really amazing."

"This material is top tier… the hair's perfectly silky-smooth a-and this ribbon is just so fluffy and soft." Welp we've lost Kanji. At least he's enjoying himself, and he's being as gentle as he said he would. He's a good kid, like a younger Shinji really.

"Hmph! It can't possibly compare to my fur." Huh? Teddie you said something? "Ladies, if you would like-"

"No thanks," Chie said without even the slightest bit of effort, and it seemed none of the rest of those of the female persuasion in the group had anything to add.

"B-but! Grrr! Fine, I guess I'll just have to see for myself just how 'nice' this doll is!" Teddie… she isn't exactly alive. Also you'd lose, hands down. "Come here you!" Crap! Teddie leapt at the doll in Kanji's hands, but before they could make contact, I warped the Hourai Doll back to my side of the table, now panting and sporting a face resembling a , of all things.

"Woah!" Was all any of us heard from Kanji as the both of them crashed into each other with chairs flying about.

"Ted! No! The Chairs!" Yosuke ran after them. Unsure of what was going on I just looked at Yu who could only shrug back. I guess we're waiting for them… I looked down to see the Hourai doll shaking her head, her hands palm up into the air. My thoughts exactly little doll.

-0-0-29-0-0-

"Thank you, thank you so much. I swear I'll pay you back one of these days for the chairs, I promise." Yosuke had his hands clasped together, bowing towards me as we waited for the others to arrive inside the TV World.

"It's no problem Yosuke. I wasn't really using that money anyways," I only regularly spent it at Mokou's stall, and with no stall around, I haven't really used most of it. The Ministry doesn't pay the best, but it still accumulates if you don't use it.

"No I insist, you really saved my ass with that so-" I raised my hand to stop him from continuing.

"Yosuke, it's okay really. Don't feel obligated to pay it back. Borrower nor lender be after all. Just think of it as a gift. Again, don't feel obligated," I told him. It's better to not put burdens on your friends. Besides, trying to keep track of it would be a pain. Not only that, the root cause kind of was from me having my doll out.

"I-if you're sure. B-but if you need anything, just let me know. I can get you sweet deals at Junes any time," he replied with a wink and a smile. So he can be a bit charming if wants to be.

"Alright, sure." Whatever gets you to drop the topic, and hey getting this squared away like that is pretty good resolution.

"Hey, you two, everyone's here," Chie told us. With a mutual nod, Yosuke and I walked over to the rest of the group as Rise held up a picture of the young man.

"Oh yeah that's him alright. That's definitely the guy on the Midnight Channel," Yosuke was first to confirm the moment he caught a glimpse of the picture.

"I saw him at our shop before…" Rise added. "Though given that he probably isn't our killer, why do you think he was there? Was he spying? If so, why?"

"Let's not waste time thinking about it. It is weird that he was there, but he might have just been obsessed with an idol showing up," I answered.

"Well… that makes sense if what I'm remembering is correct. It wouldn't be the first time he did something creepy." Chie was next to say something, though she seemed a bit creeped out, disgruntled? Something like that. "I think he's the guy who confessed to Yukiko-chan back in April."

"Who?" Yukiko tilted her head in confusion.

"You don't remember? He suddenly showed up at the school gate as we were leaving and started hitting on you!" Chie tried to explain.

"Oh him! I remember. He got served by Yukiko-san in front of the school," Yosuke corroborated.

"Well it wasn't just that. I mean it was the first time he talked to her, but I remember seeing him follow her around. So him following Rise-chan around as well makes sense," Chie explained further. Well that is creepy.

"Sorry, I still don't remember." It looked like Yukiko was trying to remember what Chie and Yosuke were talking about, but nothing was coming up.

"You seriously don't remember? He even came up to you at the school gates and called you Yuki!" Yosuke tried to jog her memory.

"Oh!" Hey it worked. "Uh… Really?" Or maybe not.

"Well at least we have a pattern for creepy behavior," I mused.

"Creepy isn't even half of it. He came up to me while I was busy working and ask, 'Don't the biker gangs bother you?' He just kept going on and on about biker gangs, about how they can't do anything unless they're in a pack and stuff…" Rise said with a tired voice. "He seemed to be the type who just keeps talking, whether you like it or not."

"That sounds annoying…" I commented.

"Yeah, but I usually try to treat people like that politely so as not to offend them, but I was tired at the time so I kinda ignored him," she admitted, the exhaustion of the memory clear on her expression.

"Bikers though…" Yosuke's voice trailed as everyone turned towards someone. Oh they're turning towards Kanji.

"Wait… I'm not a biker," Kanji shook his hands and head to help his denial.

"Besides, I doubt someone of that build could really do anything to Kanji," I said looking at the young man and remembering what I saw of Mitsuo from the Midnight Channel.

"It is a lot of coincidences though…" Yosuke mused. "I mean, not that the things he was involved in weren't the talk of the town. It would make sense if he was just into whatever was going on. Well whatever the case is, we still have to get him out of here. After that, we can ask all the questions we want. Can you tell where this Mitsuo guy's at?" Yosuke turned toward Rise.

"Give me a sec…" Rise clasped her hands together, Himiko appearing at the same. "Yeah, I found him!" That was quick. Can't help but wonder who's better though, Rise or Fuuka… probably not a fair comparison. "He's that way!" Rise pointed in a direction in front of her. Guess that's where we're going.

-0-0-29-0-0-

"This is… old school," were the words that slipped out when I saw the scenery around us. Pixels and voxels come to life. Everything around us was made of blocks. The water, the ground, the flowers, even the sky, which was still striped red and black, was pixelated and blinking about instead of smoothly rippling out. In contrast, that water I mentioned was completely still. It was quite… lifeless, and I saw that as someone who lived in the afterlife.

"I was thinking the same," Yu said as he looked around just as much as I was.

"Does he think of all this as a game? I mean he did say 'Try and catch me'. It's like he doesn't really understand what's happening," Yosuke tried to understand the surroundings.

"It's kind of pissing me off," Chie growled with her teeth starting to gnash. "I don't care if he isn't the culprit. I want to kick in the face for thinking this is just a game."

"Well guys can't help but love games I guess," Yosuke shrugged. I kind of agree though.

"And girls can't help but love Teddie!" … Everyone walked towards the entrance that lay underneath the 'GAME START' and 'CONTINUE' text. Why is some text in our games in English anyways?

"Hey boss?"

"Hmm?" I saw Teddie with a bit of dismay on his face.

"How do I get the girls to like Teddie? I'm trying my best, but it doesn't seem to be working," he said as his eyes fell.

"Why didn't you ask Yu-kun?"

"Well Sensei's already teaching me so much, but I thought maybe you'd know. You're older, and you seemed so suave as a guy, really charming and badass!" Kind of feels odd to hear that outright… "Not only that, but you're a girl now too! So I just thought…" Yeah, like this Teddie really doesn't seem that old. He's just… he just doesn't know much right now. Though me being a girl right now doesn't give me special insight… Though I do know how to put on a bra properly now. Anyways…

"Well, maybe you can start by trying to not be so pushy. Girls might like confidence, but they don't exactly like arrogance. Well sometimes they do, it depends, but being too much when it isn't wanted can be off putting. Instead of forcing things, try watching and paying attention first."

"Boss! Yes I'll try that! Thank you so much!" He bowed with his hands stiff at his side. Yeah, he isn't a bad bear. Just a bit of guidance is needed. That's all.

"Let's end it there, we're going to get left behind otherwise." The others were already at the entrance. Seems like Yu was organizing the teams.

"Yes sir, Boss!" I don't need the salute, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Time to get going.

-0-0-29-0-0-

"This is starting to hurt my eyes…" Just like the outside, everything was either pixelated or made of voxels, and nothing was moving correctly, having gaps in their movement that was meant to imitate sprite animation I think. It really was an 8-bit video game come to life.

"It's basically a dungeon now that I think about it," Yosuke stated. He was right. Brick walls adorned with candles, shields, and swords, massive and tall wooden doors, prison cells that would show up on the occasion, it was a textbook video game dungeon. It even had treasure chests in it, though apparently that's actually normal for the TV World and not just in this place.

"Hey, you might want to hurry up!" Yukiko called to Yosuke and me as she and Yu were already about to turn a corner. Currently the party consisted of Yu, Yukiko, Yosuke, and me. Chie, Kanji, Rise, and Teddie were hanging in the back. Catching up to them, Yu eyed a shadow just beyond, it's back turned away.

"It seems about on our level," Rise's analysis echoed in our heads, in a way that reminded me of Fuuka fittingly enough. "Of course it probably isn't any trouble for Kotone-senpai." Still can't get used to being called that.

"Remember what we talked about. I just want this to act as teamwork practice," Yu reminded us, though his words were more so directed towards me.

"Right." No better time like right now to get those sorts of things sorted out. "After you," I let him know so he could start at any time. Without another word, Yu rushed in and Swung down on the shadow, of which promptly burst, releasing four shadows in its place.

Hmm… some things never change. I didn't remember the names, but they were basically like the shadows in Tartarus. Two of them was a hand sticking out of a boulder, while the two others were a tower of spinning heads. Both sported masks on them in place of faces. Still, despite the similarities, they might instead be completely different than what I was familiar with.

"Yosuke! Check it!" Yu shouted, reminding me to not slack off so much.

"On it! Jiraiya!" At Yosuke's call, his Persona cast a magaru right at the group of shadows, gusts of wind slamming right into them, but not enough to knock them off. "It's not weak to wind!" He reported.

"My turn!" Yukiko followed without hesitation, flame erupting from each enemy, only this time managing to knock down the tower shadows. "Fire's working, did you get that Rise-chan?"

"Got it senpai!" Huh… so they have to manually remember their weaknesses? Fuuka if I recall correctly could just scan for it immediately. Perhaps it's just Rise's powers being immature for now.

"Minato-kun, do you have something?" Yu asked. I could destroy them outright if I wanted to, but then they wouldn't get the battle experience, which is the greatest difference between us right now. I can't win their battles for them, or else they'll never grow. I summoned just a single doll and my katana just in case.

"Skuld!" I called, sending my Persona into the doll that was by my side. "Scanning…" I'm still not used to doing this myself. "Got it. Yu-kun, do you have anything light or dark for the Basalts?" I told him.

"Yeah I do" He flicked his wrist, and for a second I could see a card seemingly swap out in the place where his hand was. Before I could think on it more, he summoned the card again and crushed right in his hand. "Come Virtue!" Ah that one, that will certainly have a light spell. Just like I remembered, an angel appeared seemingly made of blue tinted glass, with only a red heart at its midriff sporting a different color. "Mahama!" Talismans flew up from the ground, surrounding the enemies like Reimu's own talismans, only here they caused some of the shadows to erupt.

"Nice one senpai! You got three of them!" Rise cheered over the comms, as all but one of the towers remained. "Now's your chance!"

"We're going in!" Right as Yu said as such all of us rushed in on the final enemy. I got a couple of swipes in and I think I saw Yukiko slapping at it with her fan while Yosuke sliced away with his knives. Yu himself did a combination of slashes, punches and kicks. All of our attacks ended up kicking up dust, enough to cloud over us up to the ceiling even. Not long after, all of us backed out, the dust settled right as the enemy shadow faded out of existence.

"That's the last of them," Rise told us, a wave of relief falling over the rest of the team.

"Alright! Whoo!" Yosuke let out now that the coast was clear.

"We did it!" Yukiko said right after.

"Good job guys," Yu said as he put his katana away. Right I should put my stuff away too. "Looks like we'll need less practice than I thought."

"Yeah, nothing really felt out of place," Yosuke added as he walked over and pulled his headphones down.

"It already feels pretty natural to have you on the team," Yukiko said while she closed her fan, and held it behind her.

"Hey, you should teach me how you're scanning for weaknesses," I heard Rise say over the comms.

"That will be useful, but for now, let's get a bit more practice in as we proceed through the floors. Next time try to work more directly offensively so we can see how that works out," Yu ordered. No objections here though, I think that's a smart way to go about it. I replied with a simple nod to which he nodded back, and we went back to covering the floor. Hopefully, it will keep going that smoothly.

-0-0-29-0-0-

"How dare you stand against me for being a rotten orange!" There it was again, that digital voice. We heard it when we first entered, but I wasn't paying attention at the time, to distracted by the scenery. "I'll make a worthless human like you taste endless pain! Take This!"

"Critical Hit! Punishing Hit!" Huh? Was that voice somehow colored? "Mitsuo has been knocked down…"

"Wha? I don't get it. What's that all about?" Rise asked in a way that I could tell she was quite confused. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone here has the answers though. "Anyways, we should keep going. How is everyone holding up?"

"Still good! We've only gone up one floor after all," Yosuke said, stretching his arms before rotating one of his shoulders. Now that we were on a new floor, both the forward team and back team had gathered together.

"I can keep going as well," Yukiko agreed.

"We're fine, but Minato-kun, is it alright if I ask you to swap out for Teddie?" Yu asked me.

"Hmm? That's fine, we've got enough practice with working together, and I've gotten the gist of the general rhythm now," After all, my initial participation in the forward party was to acclimate to the party dynamic, which I think we've mostly achieved by now. It's fine for me to step back now.

"Thanks. Teddie!" Yu called towards the mascot.

"You got it Sensei!" Teddie ran up from the back team while I walked back to where he'd just come from. Once they formed up, they ran deeper into the dungeon, disappearing behind a corner. I think this is my first time being sidelined. I was the field leader for SEES so I was never benched. This is a pretty nice change of pace really. Not as much work. I walked over to where Chie, Kanji, and Rise were standing.

"How are you holding up?" Chie asked as we started walking to follow the forward team.

"This isn't much really." It really wasn't. Tartarus had several floors between warps. I hadn't even started to breath heavy.

"That's good to hear senpai," Kanji said with a confident smile, made cool thanks to the help of his sunglasses.

"Shh… Yu-senpai and the others are getting into battle now," Rise told us as she summoned Himiko to focus on the battle. Right, now to watch out for Shadows…

"It should be pretty quiet since all the action is with them, but you can't be too careful," Chie reminded me. Yeah, our job was to keep Rise safe as she supported the forward team. Guess it won't be as easy as I thought.

"Right, though if I can ask a question. How far are we going to go today?" I asked the question in general for any of them to answer.

"Well I dunno to be honest. We just kind of go as far as we can, and then come back the next time when Yu-kun calls for us," Chie was the one to explain, which I suppose made sense seeing as she was apparently one of the first ones to awaken in this group. "Though hopefully we'll make it pretty far."

I guess that's the best we can hope for. I could probably go through all of this alone, but I don't think I could cover for everyone if I had to. Besides that, I couldn't really confront this guy alone. This is something we have to do together, as a team.

"Okay, Yu-senpai and the others have finished up with the shadows. We can get moving," Rise told us as Himiko faded. "Let's go!" Welp, I guess this is how it goes for the backend team. Putting my hand in my skirt pockets, I followed the rest of the team through the dungeon.

-0-0-29-0-0-

"Good morning. Did you sleep well? I heard that a girl was killed last night. The noise of the arcade was bad, but can you buy some coffee from the café in the police cars? Thanks. I can't even safely walk around… I can safely withdraw cash now. Have you heard? Good morning. Don't be out dangerously late, okay? Relax and don't let your guard down." Again, just as we ascended the stairs to the seventh floor, another narration occurred.

"I can't make heads or tails of it. He sounds like he's losing it…" Rise commented as we heard another digitized voice narrate something… It was at least more normal than the last one, but like Rise said, it still didn't sound sane. "Umm… I'm getting kinda scared…"

"Hmm…" I heard Yu hum, his hand at his chin. "We've made a lot of progress today. I'm calling it here," he declared, earning a few sighs from the group.

"Yeah, I'm kind of starting to run empty," Yosuke joked, but the pants in between every other word or so showed that he was being truthful.

"I could really go for some snacks right about now," Teddie said as he collapsed on the floor.

"I think I could go for a bit more, but hey whatever you say senpai," Kanji said, still looking pretty spry.

"This floor does seem a bit different," Rise remarked as she had Himiko out. "It might be best to take a break and come back to this floor when we're ready."

"Alright then." Yu took out a… thing. I don't know how to describe it, but he threw it into the air and a blinding light blew out. I closed my eyes to keep them from getting too dazed. In an instant though, the air became clearer and less murky. I opened my eyes to find that we were back outside. Huh, how convenient.

"Next time, we're going to reach him for sure," Yu declared to everyone, earning some cheers from the others, even as weak as some of them were, not that I could blame them. "For now, let's head back and get plenty of rest. We have to make sure we're ready for what's up ahead." He's really like a leader, or kind of like a delinquent gang leader. Either way, he makes a good leader. Over the course of our expedition, I could see why he was so respected.

He was decisive, confident, sure, and cool headed. He made snap decisions when it was necessary but could slow down if the situation called for it. Even when things went south, he maintained his cool and did his best to turn things around, focusing on keeping everyone well. Even for as short a time as he was doing this, it was obvious that he had a talent for this sort of thing. I'm a bit jealous honestly.

"Hey Kotone-chan, we should get going," Rise tugged at my sleeve. Right I would be going home with her after all.

"Yeah… do you want me to try and teach you weakness scanning when we get back to your place?" I offered as we walked back to the entrance of the TV World.

"Not today. I'm a little more drained than I thought I would be. Just being in this place feels kind of exhausting," Rise said, her breaths and steps as heavy as one another.

"This fog isn't helping really. It's just really exhausting to be in," Yosuke added as he swatted at the fog in front of him as if it would do any good.

"I'll admit, after being in the outside world, being back in this fog does actually kind of feel pretty bad," Teddie said, though he didn't seem as worn out as the others. If it was because of the suit, or the fact that he came from this world, I couldn't tell.

"We're almost out, just a bit more you guys," Chie said, trying to keep herself pepped up, though she was also clearly quite tired; her legs being just a tad more sluggish. I guess it doesn't affect me as much because I'm used to the Dark Hour, which was about as exhausting, though it could also be because of other reasons. I can't say for sure. The rest of the walk was punctuated by silence, everyone too tired to continue. Our exit out of the world held about as much grace, only being slightly above a flop out of the TV back to the real world. Everyone said their exhausted goodbyes, and we parted, promising to keep our schedules open and to be back soon.

It really felt nostalgic…

-0-0-29-0-0-

It was dark now. Rise's grandmother provided another wonderful tofu-based dinner as usual. I'm still surprised by the number of ways you can cook and have tofu. Not even Youmu has that many tofu recipes. Rise was tired from today's excursion and so right after dinner, she just took a bath and went straight to bed. I said I was going to do the same, but I found it difficult to sleep. There's too much on my mind right now. Floating just above the floor to reduce noise, I opened the window and flew to the top.

It's beautiful at night here in Inaba. The roof of Rise's home provided a great vantage point to see things from. There's so little light at night from the buildings that it allows the stars to shine, and the waxing crescent moon also certainly didn't add much light either. In Gensokyou, I'd usually be in Hakugyokurou by nightfall, which provided its own kind of beauty. However the contrast of modern civilization with the stars was a unique sight for me. You'd never get this kind of view back at Tatsumi Port Island, nor anywhere in Gensokyou.

The locusts and crickets continue to chirp away, the sounds of the summer night… I wonder where Aigis is. She's here. At least I think she still is. I stood up, looking about the quiet city, not that I had anywhere I could focus my attention on. If she's somewhere here then should I see her? No. Nighttime would be the worst time. She'd probably be on alert or something to that effect, and a suspicious person showing up out of the blue at a time like that? I'm liable to be shot. Not that I'd be hit now, but still not the best idea.

After this is done. After the team finds the culprit is the time to see her.

"Still can't sleep though…" I guess I'll just go somewhere else. They're thinking of heading to the beach right? I think Rise said it was… that way. Jumping off the roof, I flew towards the highway. It didn't take long for me to see water. Makes sense since they wanted to go by motor bike. It couldn't be that far away after all. I could hear the waves as they bashed against the stone strewn below. Soon after I found what I was looking for.

"Here it is." I landed on the sands of the beach, crumpling just the slightest bit as it gave way to my feet. Looking about it certainly was a beach alright, though it was a bit dingy. Strewn sticks and litter marred any sense of beauty it could have had. I suppose it's not fair though. The last times I've been to a beach were that resort Mitsuru took us to, and the one that was on the moon. This was just a normal public beach, so I should have tempered my expectations.

I walked along beach after shaking off those feelings. Despite what I said before, I still felt a sense of serenity from the place. The sound of the ocean, dark, barely moonlit night, it lent to a calming, but lonely feeling. Midnight Hour won't be happening out here. Instead it's the weather we have to be wary of. We have time until the next foggy day though. I'm sure we'll make it in time.

Still, I wonder how many of them realize I'm gone from Gensokyou now? I asked Yukari to inform them I was gone, and Tewi will for sure tell Eirin and by extension Kaguya. Huh… I guess I already kind of miss them. Actually at this point, I've kind of known them for about as long as I knew the rest of SEES by the time I first met them, some for even longer.

"I hope they're doing well." I stepped over another odd branch that was partially covered by sand, only to crunch into a can I didn't see. "Crap…" I picked up the can and threw it at a garbage can by the stairs. Perfect shot. Turning back, I looked around again. It really is kind of dirty, isn't it? There's even something larger over there.

Actually, that thing over there looks a bit odd. What kind of rock is that? It looks more like cloth actually. Black… white… a skirt, I think? There's a broom next to it. And those look like a person's legs… oh…

"That's a person…" I ran over right after saying as such. As I drew closer it became clear to see that it was a person who was stuck in the sand, their upper torso completely buried with their backside in full view. However my confusion grew more and more as I approached, because that skirt, and those underpants looked familiar. I've sat on a stack of pairs just like that before, and I only know one person who wears black and white like that while always having a broom nearby.

I frantically dug into the sand without hesitation once I got to her. I scooped as much sand as I could with each hand until I could see her face, relaxed and knocked clean out. Good, she was breathing, and didn't look injured at all despite the situation I found her in. Now to wake her up.

"Marisa? Are you okay?"

Auhtor's Note:

I'm back, sorry for the wait. I've been trying to slowly edit my older chapters in the meantime. Let me address the lag time between chapters first. I don't mean for this thing to become a yearly Christmas thing I promise, but it's sort of a weird spot.

Let me just start off by saying, I'm really stubborn. I'm not going to stop this until I finish it. However there is an issue. I don't want to stop, but I don't know where to go. The main reason why I've stalled is because I'm having trouble really settling on an idea of what I want to do going forward for this fic outside of just following P4, which is kind of boring. I have ideas, but none of them have really grabbed me is the thing.

To compare that to something else I've been writing alongside this, my other fic Of Magical Girls and Phantom Thieves, I have a solid grasp of what I want to do from beginning to end, and because I have that I have a goal that I can clearly work towards. That's why that fic has seen more frequent updates, because when I have a plan, I go for it. It's the reason I stopped playing Hades when I got all the heat bounties, no goal, no motivation. Though Vergil being out in DMC5 also probably doesn't help that.

Back on track, thing is, I don't have that for FiEW. I didn't really think past chapter 26 at all to be honest. I thought I'd have an idea by the time I got there, but it was just crumbs compared to the full loaf I was hoping it'd be. I'm still thinking of it, but that's also why I've begun editing my old chapters to hopefully spark something in my head to get me going and excited. I have ideas, just nothing to centralize it all together in a way that I'm satisfied with. I'm close though, I can feel it.

Anyways that's enough of the logistics, how about talking about the fic? Well something I've never liked is how Teddie kind of gets the short end of the stick for characterization in the spin offs. Teddie is actually a pretty good as a character in the original game, but he gets relegated to comedy relief and being a bit of a sleaze. I kind of just wanted to do something to, maybe not totally get rid of it, but at least address it to show off Teddie's better qualities that he does actually have. He's a good character I swear, though my old local FGC scene did hate him a lot because we had one dude that used him to a really effective degree in P4AU, but I digress.

I'm trying to account for the fact that there's an adult in the group. I mean he's not much older, but in many countries, Minato would be considered an adult, and I think it adds to the team dynamic that the original one doesn't have. There actually being a mature voice of reason was not present before, and I'm trying to hone in on that angle. Tell me how you guys think I'm doing.

Besides that, Marisa's here now! The crew will now have more interactions with that side of the Cross over. What will happen next time? Well I think I know, but plans change, though they are there I can assure you.

Anyways, Merry Christmas (at the time of posting)! Thanks to everyone who's sticking by even after all this time. Thanks as well to everyone who's leaving detailed criticisms of what's wrong. Hopefully my edit of Chapter 1 will at least cause people to stop commenting on Minato's odd depiction, because frankly it was an atrocious depiction. For everyone else, you guys really make my day, and I hope you all have a wonderful day too! Take care of yourselves in this difficult time and be safe.