Everywhere Maika turned, she saw foxes. And she also kept seeing herself. A weird, yellow-eyed version of herself who wasn't very nice. Until she rounded a corner and ran smack into Miwa Daidara. "Miwa-chan?" she asked shyly. She felt very uncomfortable in this place, whatever it was. "Is it… really you?"
"Mai-chan? Yes, it's really me, why wouldn't it be?"
"T-There's… another me here," she admitted. "A not very nice me."
"Ok, that's… strange. But so is everything about this," Miwa said.
"What do you mean?" Maika asked.
Miwa shook her head. "I saw someone grab you.. A man, I think. So I followed him and he threw you in the back of a truck. You fell into… a television."
"Oh, no! Really?" Maika asked. Miwa eyed her suspiciously. She didn't seem to find that odd enough.
"Yes. And then I, well, jumped in after you. I guess. I don't really get what happened."
"Oh, this is bad. Nanako-chan isn't going to be happy when she finds out."
"Why is that?" Miwa asked.
The two began to walk through the winding hallways of the TV World, while Maika caught her up on the things Nanako had told her.
"Wait, so… if you have to have one of these persona things to enter the TV, why was I able to enter?" Miwa asked.
"I… really don't know," Maika answered. "None of this makes much sense to me."
When they rounded the next corner, they came face to face with a black blob. As soon as it saw them, it changed into a monster and attacked.
"Persona!" Miwa shouted out confidently. A glowing, blue card flickered into her hand, and a beautiful goddess appeared behind her. "Wakhirume, kougaon!" A huge blast of light hit the monster and it fell to the ground and faded away. Maika stared at her friend.
"H-How did you?"
"I have no idea! Do you think that's the thing Nanako-chan told you about?"
"It seems like it. But, she said most people had to fight their shadow to get one. How do you have one already?"
As Nanako and the others entered Maika's part of the TV World, they noticed that it was less foggy here than the rest had been so far. "That's strange, isn't it?" Nanako asked, turning to Teddie.
"Yes.. although I'm really not too sure why the fog is back to begin with. Sensei and us defeated Izanami, and the fog all went away. Even this much is more than should be here," Teddie answered.
"Right, that's what Souji said, too. Do you think there's a way for her to come back?"
"Well, she did say that if humans desired it, she would bring the fog back one day, but I kinda thought she was talking about a long time from now," said the bear.
"That's all really interesting," Miusagi said, "but I think we're about to have a problem." He pointed ahead, where the winding hallways of Maika's place turned into the riverbank. Miusagi shuddered, remembering his own shadow. Up ahead, a boy with light brown hair sat, looking at the water with a frown.
"Taka-kun," Sanae said, putting a hand on Kiyotaka's arm. The whole group stopped walking. Kiyotaka was quiet for a moment before he spoke up.
"Let's get this over with," he said softly. When the others began to protest, he turned and looked at both Sanae and Miusagi. "We all know what my baggage is about already. Let's just get this part over with so we can find Maika-chan."
Miusagi recognized the quiet desperation in his eyes. "Right. We've got your back." Kiyotaka held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. He turned and walked toward his shadow.
The shadow turned its dead, pale yellow eyes on him. "You shouldn't have come here," it said.
"I had to. A friend of mine is here."
"You don't have any friends."
Kiyotaka let out a soft breath. "I do. And she needs my help."
The shadow laughed dryly. "No one needs you, Taka-kun. You lost all the friends you had a long time ago."
Kiyotaka swallowed the lump in his throat. "That was true. But I made a new one."
The shadow looked deep into his eyes. "Everyone hates you," it said in a low voice.
"That's not true," Miusagi said confidently, standing beside Kiyotaka and putting a hand on his shoulder. Kiyotaka's eyes went wide as he looked at his former friend.
The shadow laughed, nearly in hysterics. "Oh, please, Mochizuki. No one hates me as much as you do."
Kiyotaka frowned. "I thought we were talking about me, here."
"We are. We're talking about you, and about me. Because I am you, and you are me." This time the shadow's hearty laugh sounded pleased.
"Right," Kiyotaka said shakily. "Y-You're me. I definitely felt that way. Believed it for a long time, too. A-And I did, I pushed them away. But they're here with us now. We're not alone anymore."
The shadow walked up to him and stared, taking in Kiyotaka with Miusagi still beside him looking fierce and protective. Then a small smile played at his lips, and he nodded, beginning to fade out. Kiyotaka gasped as a blue card appeared in his hand. "The Emperor?" he said softly. "Fujin."
Miusagi let go of his shoulder and let out the breath he'd been holding. "Did we really just get away without fighting one?" he asked, turning towards Nanako.
"It looks like it," she said softly. "You're a very strong person, Kiyotaka, to be able to accept your shadow like that."
"Like I said, we already knew what it was about. Can we go find Maika now?" Just then, a small fox tore around the corner and stopped at his feet, dropping another pink flower. Kiyotaka picked it up. "There's a note attached," he told the others.
"What does it say?" asked Nanako.
"It says 'help me'."
When the team reached the fourth floor, Teddie stopped them before they reached the staircase. "Nana-chan, I'm sensing another persona user on the floor above this!" Teddie said.
Emiko paused, and used Rhiannon to scan the area. "He's right! There's someone casting spells on the 5th floor! And there's what has to be another shadow!"
"Are you sure?" Nanako asked.
"Yes! It feels just like the others."
"It has to be Maika," Kiyotaka said, shoving open the door to the stairs. The team all ran up as fast as they could.
"Head left!" Emiko directed. They ended up in a large room.
"Is that… Miwa-chan?" Nanako asked
Miwa Daidara stood before Maika's shadow, casting powerful light spells. Maika cowered on the floor behind her, surrounded by foxes that seemed to be protecting her from harm. Miwa glanced at the group. "A little help here?"
The others surrounded the shadow, and began to fight alongside her. Miwa didn't have an actual weapon, and neither did Kiyotaka. She kept casting light, and when he tried to mimic her movements, a gust of wind shot out towards the shadow.
When the fight was over, he crouched down in front of Maika. "Kiyotaka?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"
"You sent for me," he said gently.
"I did? Oh, you're hurt!" she exclaimed. She touched his arm, and a golden glow that felt like a warm, sunny day washed over him.
"H-How did you do that?" he asked.
She shook her head, then stood, walking towards her shadow. "I understand how you - how we feel. People think we aren't very smart, that we're just sweet and ditsy. But it isn't true, and if we just keep showing people who we really are, we can make them understand." The shadow flickered away, and a card landed in Maika's hand. "Inari. The.. High Priestess?" Drained of energy, she started to fall. Kiyotaka quickly caught her and kept her upright.
"Come on," Takeyoshi said. "Let's get her out of here."
Before long, they ended up back in the Junes food court. "I'll get her home," Nanako said to Kiyotaka.
"No, I… I'm coming with you. She needs help walking."
Nanako held his gaze for a moment. "Alright, then. You and Teddie are coming with us. The rest of you can walk Miwa-chan home." She turned to Miwa. "We should talk tomorrow. Can you meet us back here after school?"
"Sure. Maika tried to fill me in, but there's a lot that doesn't make sense." Nanako nodded, and the two groups split up for the night.
