Nanako waited patiently at home for her cousin, who she had sent a text to an hour ago. He promised to meet her at the house. It was taking him an annoyingly long time to come home, which she figured she had Rise to thank for. She flipped on the TV and watched the quiz show while she waited. She used to watch it all the time when she was a kid, and well, spent a lot of time waiting for her dad or her cousin to come home and spend time with her. Finally, she heard the front door.

"Welcome home, Souji!" Nanako said warmly.

"Hey, Nanako. So what's going on? You said you needed to talk about something?" Souji asked curiously.

"I… saw something strange. And when I reported it, Naoto said I should probably ask you about it. And when I told Teddie this morning, umm… He sort of took me inside the TV? And it turns out this persona thing runs in the family." Souji's eyebrows shot up so high that they nearly flew off the top of his head. Nanako took a deep breath and started again at the beginning, telling him everything that had happened.

"Have you… been to the Velvet Room yet?" Souji asked.

"No. Is that the blue place Teddie mentioned? He didn't really know what it was so it was hard to get an explanation."

"It is. I think that it would be best to wait and see what happens before I tell you too much about it. In the meantime, I'm meeting with the team this afternoon. You should just let us handle all of this, ok, Nanako?"

"Team?" she asked.

"Oh, umm, yeah. Just you know, the old gang. My friends. I guess I'll explain more about that later, too."

"Shouldn't I come with you? Since I have one of these persona things, doesn't that make me involved already?"

"It.. would be best if you didn't. It's my job to keep you safe," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"Is this about what happened when I was little? When I was in the TV before?"

"Y-You… remember that?" Souji asked quietly.

"I don't know what happened there, but I remembered being there before when Teddie took me in. It doesn't even matter. I'm not a little kid anymore, Souji! I can help."

"Of course it matters. Look," he said, "let me meet with the others this afternoon, catch them up on what's happening. I'll fill you in tonight, and we can go from there."

Nanako sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. She was really sick of being treated like a kid.

After Souji left to meet the others at Junes, Nanako realized something. If the old gang was all meeting there, then Kanji wouldn't be at the textile shop. And if Kanji wasn't there, Miusagi would be. She grabbed her coat and hurried off towards the shopping district. As she expected, Miusagi was working. He was finishing up with a customer when Nanako walked in, so she just waved and headed over to the plushie section to see what new things Kanji had made since she last visited. She was smiling at a lavender kitty wearing a bowtie, monocle and top hat when Miusagi walked up to her.

"Hey," he said with a grin. "That one's kind of an interesting choice, huh?"

Nanako frowned. "He's a very dignified cat, I'll have you know," she replied. Then she laughed. "Sorry, your face. It's pretty cute, although I'm not sure where he gets his ideas sometimes."

Miusagi shrugged. "So what's going on? Just out shopping for stuffed animals?"

"I came to see you, actually," Nanako answered, placing the cat back on the shelf. "You know that they're having a meeting as we speak, right? Kanji and Naoto and the rest of them? About what we saw?"

This time it was Miusagi who frowned. "Yes. I gathered as much."

"Something else happened to me yesterday when I was on a breakfast date with Teddie," she started.

Miusagi's eyebrow shot up. "Date? With… Teddie?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. We spend time together often, it's something we've been doing since I was a child," she said distractedly.

"Oh?" Miusagi asked curiously.

Nanako just nodded in reply. "Anyway, I thought you should know about it. But it's all going to sound pretty crazy. And if Souji is telling the truth, getting involved in it is pretty dangerous."

"That's sort of the impression I got from Kanji, too. That whatever's up, I 'shouldn't get involved' in it," he replied.

"So, I guess I'm going to leave it up to you," Nanako said. "Whether you want to get involved or not."

Miusagi laughed. "I already am, aren't I? I mean, we saw what we saw. No matter how hard I try, I can't unsee it."

Nanako nodded again. "Ok, but you asked for it," she said, launching into the long story of her morning with Teddie (minus the kiss on the cheek part) and her conversation with Souji. When she was done, Miusagi shook his head.

"I'm… going to sit down for a minute," he said, looking dazed. The two of them sat and spent a few minutes in silence.

"It's… a lot to take in," Nanako said slowly. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

"No," Miusagi replied. "No, I needed to know. So how do I get one of these persona things?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I didn't have to do much of anything, but Teddie thinks that's because I'm related to Souji, and he didn't either. Our… powers are different than the others. He said that everyone else had to accept their shadow? I haven't really figured out what that means yet."

"Ha!" Miusagi laughed. "I guess we're going to go figure it out, then. Do you think that Teddie will help us?"

"Teddie will help us," Nanako said, turning away.

"What, like if we ask nicely or something?"

"If I ask," she answered, still looking away.

"Hmm. I see," Miusagi said quietly. Then he grinned. "Then I guess you'd better get ready to bat your eyelashes while I finish this shift!" he said brightly, getting up.

Nanako rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she mumbled. "I'll text you later with a time," she said, stomping back out into the shopping district. Like I would even have to, she thought. It might be fun, though. Nanako smiled and headed home to prepare.