Notes:

Hey guys, thanks for reading so far. The fall semester starts next week for me. I'll still be posting chapters, but my writing may slow down when things get busy. Hopefully there won't be too many delays. ;)


Nanako and Miusagi ran as fast as they could all the way to Junes. She's barely winded at all and I'm dying, Miusagi thought. They met up with Teddie in the food court, and he frantically led them to the electronics department. There were customers, so they had to wait a few minutes. Teddie pretended to try and sell a TV to them until the others finally moved on. "Hurry, grab Nana-chan's other hand and let's jump!" Teddie exclaimed. Nanako's description of this hadn't prepared Miusagi for the jolt to the stomach he felt as he landed with a thud.

"This is… I don't even have words for this," he said in awe.

Nanako laughed. "That pretty much sums it up."

"Do you really think Sana-chan is in here?" Miusagi asked Teddie.

"I can tell that someone is," Teddie answered. "But I need to know some more about her to figure out where she is."

Miusagi nodded. "She's kind, and sweet. When we were little kids I borrowed her stuffed rabbit, and like an idiot, I lost it in the river. It was her favorite. That was when I met Kanji. He tried to help me look for it, and when we couldn't find it, he made a new one that was even better. I gave it to her and apologized, and it became her new favorite. She's… she's my best friend. I don't know what I would do without her."

Teddie sniffed the air deeply. "I think… yeah, I think she's this way."

Nanako looked at Miusagi and shrugged, and they followed Teddie further into the TV.

Naoto walked into the textile shop with a frown on her face. "Have you seen Miusagi-kun today?" she asked.

Kanji looked up from his knitting. "Yeah. He left here about an hour ago. Why, is something up?"

Naoto let out the breath she'd been holding. "I was trying to contact Nanako-chan to ask some follow up questions about the report they made. She doesn't seem to be anywhere."

"Miusagi said he was meeting up with her after school. But he was all freaked out because he couldn't find Sana-chan anywhere."

Naoto gulped. "I think we may have a problem. Do you think your mother can watch the shop for a bit?"

"Give me just a second," Kanji answered. After talking to his mother for a few minutes, he came back into the shop. "Let's go… I'll give Ted a call on the way."

It was so foggy that Miusagi could barely see a thing. Teddie seemed fine, and Nanako had put on some weird pink glasses. She was leading the way. Every once in awhile they had to hide around a corner while some shapeless black blob passed by. Shadows? That was what Teddie had called them. Evidently, Teddie and Nanako could fight them, but since Miusagi couldn't, they were just avoiding them. After awhile, they entered an area through a red and black portal. When they reached the other side, Miusagi stopped. It looked exactly like the riverbank! As hard as it was to see through the fog, Miusagi started running when he saw a small child kneeling by the river.

"H-Hey, are you alright?" he asked the boy. The boy looked up at him, tears streaming down his face. Miusagi's face.

"I-I lost Sana-chan's rabbit! Her favorite! She's g-going to hate me now!"

Nanako stopped beside Miusagi, and put a hand on his arm. "He's… you?" she asked.

Miusagi nodded. "E-Everything will be ok. You'll find a way to apologize, any second now K-Kanji will…"

The boy glared at him. "Kanji Tatsumi? The boy you idolized for so many years? Ha! You're right, maybe we should just run to Kanji with all of our problems! It's not like we can solve anything for ourselves!"

"W-What… I don't understand… " Miusagi felt so confused. That's what had happened that day. He was crying, and then Kanji helped him. "He doesn't solve all my problems, but he did help with this one."

"And yet you still hated him half the time. For doing the things you wished dad was still here to do! For the fact that you love him more than you remember loving dad!"

"Th-That… That's not true. I don't feel that way!"

"Of course you do! Because I am you, and you are me! And I hate him, because I rely on him for everything!"

"No, it's… not like that… I mean…"

"You hate his scary cop wife, too! You always have!"

"No, I don't… she's just intimidating, I…"

"You hate her, Miusagi. You hate her because she's been a better mother to you than mom is!"

Miusagi gasped. "That… mom is fine. She's a good mom. I don't… no!"

Teddie grabbed Nanako's hand. "Let him reject it, Nana-chan. He has to. Then we'll fight it and he'll be able to accept it."

"Mom has never really been there for you. But Naoto has. That's what scares you about her! You can see yourself being a part of their little family. Mom, dad, and little Miu-kun who can't do anything without them!"

"N-No! That's not it! I don't feel that way!"

"Oh, I promise you do, because I am you, Miusagi Mochizuki!"

"No! You're… You're not me!"

"Now, Nana-chan! Summon your persona!" Teddie shouted. Miusagi fell to the floor as the shadow changed from boy to monster. Nanako took a deep breath and concentrated, bringing the card to her hand and crushing it. The figure of a beautiful woman appeared behind her. She had long, flowing black hair and wore a beautiful kimono. She had a serene look on her face as she daintily waved her paper fan.

"Amenouzume!" she shouted. "Kouha!" Her persona threw streaks of light at Miusagi's shadow. It only hurt it a little. Teddie seemed to be casting an ice spell, which didn't do much either. After a moment, another spell came to her mind. "Eiha!" So light and dark then, she thought. Neither seemed to be helping. The shadow shot a huge gust of wind at them, nearly knocking both her and Teddie to the ground.

Just when she was about to panic, she heard a voice call out to her. "Nanako-chan, duck!" She ducked her head just in time for the bullets from Naoto's gun to skim over her head, sinking into the shadow. It wasn't enough to stop it, but it slowed it down a little.

"Kanji! It's casting Magarula!" Naoto shouted.

Kanji nodded. "Leave this to me, then. Rokuten Maou! Ziodyne!" A huge wave of electricity crashed into the shadow, knocking it to the ground.

"Great job, Kanji-chan! You hit its weakness! Hit it again!" Teddie encouraged. Kanji zapped it one more time, and it stayed down.

Miusagi stood, and walked towards the shadow, which had turned back into a boy. He looked at Kanji, noting that his expression was guarded. Naoto looked composed. All business as usual. "Y-You… saw everything. Right?" he asked weakly. Naoto gave a slight nod. Kanji didn't react at all. Miusagi crouched down beside the shadow. "Hey," he said softly. "Hey, look at me. I get it now, ok? You… you are me. And, you're right." He let out a long breath. "I do rely on them. A lot. I guess there are some things I need to deal with." The shadow smiled, then started to shimmer away, and a blue card landed in Miusagi's hand. "The Magician? Tsukiyomi," he said softly, closing his eyes for a moment.

Nanako placed her hand on his shoulder again. "You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah… fine," he said. "Thanks, senpai."

"Alright! You guys did a beariffic job!" Teddie exclaimed.

Miusagi walked over to Kanji. "I… we should…" He slumped to the floor before he could finish a sentence.

"Is that normal?" Nanako asked.

"Yes," Naoto replied. "Accepting the shadow is draining. He will need to rest."

Kanji lifted Miusagi over his shoulder. "Come on. Let's get you kids the hell out of here. Lead the way, Ted."

When they exited the TV, Kanji took Miusagi home. Nanako stayed to talk to Naoto. "I… I don't really understand all of this yet. But I do know we would have been in trouble if you guys hadn't come, so thank you."

"You're welcome. Your persona and mine have a lot in common. Light and dark can be really useful in some situations, and not helpful at all in others. You will have to find some other spells that work for those times. And learning to use a weapon would be a good idea, too."

"O-Oh… like your gun?"

"Yes. The others all have different weapons of preference. When Miusagi-kun is feeling up to it, we can help you both decide what you'd like to train with."

"Right. Ok, that sounds good."

"Can I walk Nana-chan home, Nao-chan?" Teddie asked shyly.

"That… would be a great idea, Teddie. I will leave you to it. I trust that you will fill Souji in on what happened this afternoon, Nanako-chan?"

"I will," she said, waving as she took Teddie's hand and headed home. "He'll be mad, won't he?" she asked Teddie.

"Who, sensei? Hmm, maybe. But I think you guys did really well today. You've never fought before at all! You needed some help, but Nao-chan and Kanji-chan were there, so nothing bad happened. I'm really proud of you, Nana-chan!"

Nanako smiled. "Thanks, Teddie." When they got to the house, no one else was home yet. "Do you, want to come in? It's just leftovers again, but we could have dinner?"

"Oh! Teddie would love that, Nana-chan!"

An hour later, they had bellies full of leftover curry, and were on the couch kissing when Rise and Souji walked in.

"Ooohhh, you two are so cute!" Rise exclaimed. Nanako and Teddie jumped apart.

Souji cleared his throat. "I hear we have some things to talk about." It's going to be a long night, Nanako thought.