A/N: In this chapter, we see the team finally face Kanji's shadow... and maybe there's a small bit of fanservice for those who actually do like the MC x Kanji pairing in this chapter. It's really mini though, but it's a small start? :3

Mr Giraffe (Guest)
- Damn Teddie and his bear puns. It's fun to make Yui actually react to them with disdain, though no one sees her reactions since she's always in front of the team lol. Ah Dojima, he's still got miles away to being a good dad... and 'dojima is pretty naoto'? Welp. The team is off to save Kanji from that in this chapter, and yeah it would be fun to see a romance route for the boys. P5 missed that chance with good boy Ryuji... ahhhhh-
- I probably should've been more careful with that hint, hmmm. I'm gonna need to think real hard on how Rise would react cause I suck at characterisation in general and I might even go OOC with some characters sometimes, but I'll try? Oh, and somehow you've managed to predict a little moment in this chapter with your 'stop thinking about it'... you'll see why, hehehehe.

Okay, on with the chapter now!

The higher they went, the thicker and hotter the steam got, to the point that it was acting quite well as a fog for the place. Somewhere along the way as they rose up the levels of the sauna, Teddie gasped in shock. "This feeling… the other Kanji's staring at us!"

To prove his point, a distorted voice that bore resemblance to Kanji's own spoke from the fog. "Hey there, cutie pie! Are you trying to break the barrier of the acceptable, just like me?"

"No! Sensei came to rescue Kanji!"

"OoooOOOOoooh! Does that mean you're yearning for me? Is that so? Oh, that makes me sooooo happy! Well then, I simply MUST prepare something spectacular for you! I'm so looking forward to seeing you soon! Well, tootaloo!"

When Teddie fell silent for a while, Yu glanced back at the bear in worry. "…You okay, Teddie?"

The bear looked terrified. "Sensei… this little bear's getting too scared to go on…"

"Ha…" The silver-haired boy sighed. "We'll be getting out of here for real once we get Kanji saved. Hold on a little longer for us… please?" his voice grew softer, almost feminine for a moment there. It even brought Teddie's spirit back up a little. "O-okay, Sensei! I won't give up!"

Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko glanced at each other. Now that sounded a little odd for their leader…

At the uncomfortable silence that somehow found its way between the members of the group, Yu quickly put back on his boyish façade once more. "Let's not waste any more time. Come on." He ran ahead, leaving the three and the bear to continue following from behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

On the seventh floor, the floor was so steamy that Yu swore he would need a shower when he got back home later. Even Teddie alerted them to it… and when they explored the floor, they found a door where steam was pouring out of its seams.

Yu looked at his friends. "This looks bad… ready to see what's behind door number one?" he asked them. The other three teenagers nodded wordlessly, and so the silver-haired boy opened the door to let them all inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Inside was another giant hall, with Kanji's Shadow standing with a giant Shadow that looked like a muscled wrestler guy in speedos and sneakers while having badly coloured hair. "Welcome to Man's World!" he greeted them in the same flirtatious way. "This place is heating up from the sudden entry of a fine young man! To celebrate this encounter, I've prepared a special stage tonight! A single match with no time limit! Who will be left standing in the end? Now, pour out your hot blood and guts!"

Teddie scrambled to put some distance between himself and the group. "D-Don't lose, Sensei!"

The giant Shadow soon attacked.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

As everyone got ready, the Shadow started its turn by casting Power Charge to increase its physical attack. Yu immediately sensed that it was probably going to keep casting buffs to itself, but until what point? He had to risk that.

So to counter it, he ordered that Yosuke cast Sukukaja and Tarukaja on him while he cast Rakunda on the Shadow, meanwhile he let Yukiko attack with Agilao which was much stronger than Agi. The Shadow wasn't weak to fire, but he had a feeling it didn't have any.

Once again, it was the Shadow's turn. This time, it cast Rebellion…

"Everyone, attack with your physical attack skills!" The silver-haired boy then summoned Principality, a newer Persona he had fused a day earlier, to cast Twin Shot on the Shadow. It dealt some good damage when added with everyone else's attacks.

Then, the Shadow casted Tarukaja onto itself. Yu thought hard on whether to continue attack or to start defending… the Shadow spent three of its chances to cast buff spells onto itself. Looking at his friends, he came to the conclusion that they were better off safe with using this chance to defend. "Now defend yourselves!"

So the four teenagers raised their arms to try and defend themselves, and the Shadow decided to attack Yosuke with a huge punch. He didn't suffer as much damage as he would since he was defending, so he looked at Yu with a grin. "Good call, partner!"

Yu nodded at him with a determined smile. He focused back on the Shadow who had just left itself open. "Now, let's give it all we got!"

Without anything held back, they unleased their attacks on the Shadow until it finally went down.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

When they finally won the battle, Kanji's Shadow had already ran off… Teddie cheered for them, nonetheless. Or rather, he cheered for Yu. "That's our Sensei! I knew you would win!"

The silver-haired boy chuckled. "Hey, give them some credit too." He then glanced at the floor and saw something glistening in the dim light of the sauna. "Hm?" Walking towards it, he carefully picked it up… and saw that it was a key. This might come into handy.

Putting it into his pocket, he continued to lead the others through the fog.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

When they went up to the next floor, they heard the real Kanji's voice from afar.

"No, dammit! That ain't important to a man's man… that's not what I want to become… that ain't it at all!"

Everyone was silent at that, but Teddie was the one who broke the silence that fell over them. "…Hey, Sensei?"

"Yes…?" Yu looked back at the bear.

"The world you came from seems really complicated… ever since I met you, I really had to think hard about stuff like what I am… so I can kinda understand how Kanji feels."

"Is that so…" Yu had to admit in his own thoughts that Teddie was right. The world he and the others lived in was much more complicated than this TV world… and with a complex world came complex people.

"…Sensei, we gotta save Kanji!" Teddie soon told him, a burning fire in his eyes.

The silver-haired boy nodded. "Of course. That's what we're going to do today." They have enough strength to maybe pull this off in a single day… and if they can do it, they'll do it.

They pressed on forward into the sauna…

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Eventually, they reached the eleventh floor which was the summit of the sauna. There, giant wooden doors stood in their way between Kanji and them.

Yu turned to look at everyone. "Alright… once we enter, there's no turning back. Ready to go?" he told them before asking. Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko looked at each other before looking back at their leader and nodding.

"We've gotten this far. Let's save him!" Yosuke said with a grin, his words also reciprocated by the other two girls. Yu nodded back at them, ready to go and save Kanji. "Okay then, let's go." Turning around, he opened the doors and let everyone run inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

"There they are!" Chie called out as she and the others in the group saw Kanji facing his Shadow. "Kanji!" Yosuke tried to get the blond boy's attention, but it went unheard as Kanji was too focused on his Shadow that was the total opposite of him.

"I-I…" Kanji wasn't even sure of what to say. His Shadow still kept up its flirtatious charade. "Oh, come now, enough with the charade. Isn't it awful to deceive people? To deceive yourself…? What's so bad about doing what I want to do?"

"That has nothin' to do with it…"

"I'm what you really want, aren't I?"

"Hell no!"

Kanji's Shadow began to ramble on and on about Kanji's deepest thoughts… "Ohh, how I hate girls… so arrogant and self-centred! They cry if you get angry, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies… they look at me like some… some disgusting THING and say that I'm a weirdo… laughing at me, all the while!"

Yu could only look on in silence with everyone else. This was much worse than Yukiko's Shadow… but he didn't have the heart to judge Kanji about it. He's seen that behaviour all the same while he acted as a boy – girls could be… pretty damn cruel.

The Shadow continued on its ranting. "'You like to sew? What a queer!', 'Painting is so not you.', 'But you're a guy…', 'You don't act like a guy…', 'Why aren't you manly…' What does it mean to 'be a guy'? What does it mean to be 'manly'? Girls are so scary…"

Kanji shook his head. He's denying his Shadow's words. "I-I ain't scared of 'em!"

"Men are much better… they'd never say those awful, degrading things. Yes, I vastly prefer men…"

"Hell with that! What makes you think you can say that shit with my face…!?"

"Why, you're me… and I'm you… you do know that, don't you…?"

"No… nuh-uh! No way!"

At that point, Yu could tell that Kanji was about to yell out the same words that would make all Shadows go berserk. "Kanji, don't say it!" he shouted out to the blond boy… but he was too late.

"There's no way in hell that you're me!"

Kanji has already said those very words.

Kanji's Shadow chuckled, its aura growing darker. "Teeheehee… you're me, and there's no denying it!" His laughter grew louder as his form began to absorb Shadows from all around the place, turning it into a monster… and Yu had the gall to think that it was one of the strangest Shadows he had ever witnessed in this world.

…Oh, and terrifying. Yes, that.

He almost wondered if they should try to knock the person out before they yelled out those words… but now was not the time to think.

Due to his Shadow going berserk, Kanji felt the energy in his body being drained out lightning fast to the point he fell back, feeling weak. "Argh!"

"Kanji-kun!" Yukiko yelled in worry for the boy, but it was too dangerous to help him with the Shadow still there. "Everyone, on guard!" Teddie told the group as he went to a safe distance away from the battle. So, the Investigation Team now found themselves up against someone's other self once more.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

This time, Kanji's Shadow wasn't alone. There were two other Shadows, both muscled and strong as well. One was named Tough Guy while the other was Nice Guy… strange names.

"I am a Shadow… the true self… I'm just being true to myself… and that's why… I'll get rid of anything in my way!" The Shadow announced, bearing two giant Mars symbols as its weapons. Yukiko was a bit unnerved at that. "Are these… Kanji-kun's true feelings?"

Yosuke shook his head. "This isn't really him! It's just his emotions going haywire!"

"This has nothing to do with you guys anymore! Didn't I just say I'm gonna get rid of you!?"

The battle finally began. Yu quickly thought of a strategy to get them through the battle – they'll focus on one of the Shadows that's helping Kanji's Shadows and continue on from there. But it wouldn't be that easy… if Yukiko's Shadow was anything to reference from.

After a few rounds, he was mostly right. Nice Guy casted a buff spell on Kanji's Shadow that forced Yosuke to cast Dekaja to debuff the Shadow as quickly as possible, all while Kanji's Shadow himself can cast a power up onto himself for his next attack which then forced Yu to order everyone to defend.

Hell, even the Tough Guy was a pain with its own ability to cast Dekaja on the group. But somehow, they still managed to pull through and finally get rid of Nice Guy for good. Now left two Shadows… and with Nice Guy gone, Yosuke didn't have to hastily cast Dekaja on the Shadow since there would be no Heat Riser spell being casted.

Their next target to focus on was Tough Guy, and while he wasn't as annoying as Nice Guy, he wasn't a pushover either. Eventually, they succeeded in taking out the Shadows helping Kanji's Shadow… so now, they could focus all their attacks on said Shadow.

After some damage was dealt to him, the Shadow was starting to grow infuriated. "I've already made my decision to go through with this. Get out of my way… or I'll crush you!" With that, he casted a new spell – Forbidden Murmur.

The place suddenly grew dark as the floor around the group turned a dark blue with some kind of foul aura. By the time it faded, Yosuke blanched as he was poisoned by the spell. Yu, Chie and Yukiko were left unharmed, however.

"Yosuke's all poisoned!" Teddie alerted them. Yu glanced worriedly at the brunet and decided to use his turn to cure the poison using an item he had bought on his trip to the Shiroku Store a few days earlier. Yosuke felt much better once the poison was cured, looking at Yu to yell a quick 'thank you' before focusing back on the Shadow.

But of course, the Shadow could recast it again so they had to watch out for that.

It also had another trick up its sleeve, now casting a different spell… Roar of Wrath. The floor turned into the colour of fire around the group, and once it ended, Yosuke was the only one unharmed this time while Yu, Chie and Yukiko were all taken over by rage.

"Uh, guys?" Yosuke was a bit overwhelmed at seeing the girls in such state of anger, and even Yu looked terrifying with that strong glare in his face. "Sensei? Chie-chan? Yuki-chan?! They're all not listening!" Teddie panicked at the situation at hand.

The brunet quickly looked over the things they had and found something that may snap the trio out of it, so he quickly administered it to Yukiko after she had attacked the Shadow with much more strength than usual. The black-haired girl snapped out of her rage and looked around in confusion. "Huh…? What happened?"

"I dunno, but Yu and Chie are still out of it!" Yosuke told her as he took a quick glance at the two. Seeing Chie angry was almost normal for him, but to see Yu this angry…? It was scary as much as it was worrying. "I think I can cure them of it…!" Yukiko summoned her Persona to try and cast Me Patra, but Chie had already gone off to kick the Shadow from her rage, attacking with great strength as well.

Yukiko scrambled to cast the spell, but this time it was Yu who ran off. "W-wait!"

The silver-haired boy was in no control over his mind and body while in such a state - his hidden anger towards his life and family were all coming down to a boil as he ran towards Kanji's Shadow with a loud yell. Wielding his sword like the katana he had used so long ago, he slashed his foe with more strength than he had ever shown to the others before.

Kanji's Shadow became angrier at how things were turning for the group's favour, though. "Stay out of my way! What's wrong with acting however I feel like?!" He swung his Mars symbol weapon at Yu, who was thrown back towards the Investigation Team by the impact. "Gahh!"

"Yu-kun!" Yukiko wasted no time in finally casting Me Patra to cure Chie and Yu of the rage that clouded their minds. The smaller boy groaned at the sudden rush of pain in his body, trying to get up. "What just…?"

"He got you and the girls good. C'mon, partner… we still got a Shadow to deal with," Yosuke told him as he went to help his friend up. Yu could only nod and deal with the injury, continuing to lead the others to defeat the Shadow.

They were doing quite well despite what just happened, until the Shadow finally snapped.

"I know you all thought I was 'weird'… deep down… you don't accept me at all! No matter what, I won't lose!" Upon saying those words, Kanji's Shadow casted a new spell – Fanatical Spark. Sparks ran through the air of the place, shocking the group with moderate damage. Yosuke's weakness to electricity was now being exploited by the Shadow, as it soon used Fatal End on him too.

"Yosuke!" Yu quickly summoned another Persona, Nigi Mitama, to cast Diarama on the brunet and heal him. "Chie, Yukiko, attack the Shadow with all you got!" he ordered the other two girls.

"Got it, chief!" Chie nodded and summoned Tomoe to keep using physical attack skills. "Okay, Yu-kun!" Yukiko summoned Konohana Sakuya to also keep casting Agilao on the Shadow. Yosuke eventually joined in once he felt the pain in his body disappear. "Dammit ... who do they think they are?" He got up and began to attack too.

Yu kept a calm expression on and started to attack the Shadow as well, letting all of their attacks deal damage to the Shadow… until finally, it went down.

"Ohhh! You're so mean!" Kanji's Shadow fell onto floor with a huge shake as its giant form and its weapons fell along with it, darkness pouring out of its form as it was finally defeated. Eventually, that giant form blew away into dust to leave only the Shadow in its original form.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

After the battle was over, Kanji's Shadow laid on his front up on the stage, defeated.

"Dammit…" Kanji gritted his teeth at the sight, managing to get up despite the immense exhaustion in his body. "Kanji-kun!" Yukiko was worried for him, knowing the feeling of being so exhausted after her Shadow had gone berserk too. Yosuke noticed something, though. "Wait, Yukiko! Something's wrong."

To the group's shock, Kanji's Shadow slowly began to get up.

Teddie started to panic. "I-It's still coming at us! Kanji's still rejecting it…"

"Well, I can't blame him with this many witnesses…" Yosuke murmured. He got lucky enough to only have Yu and Teddie be the only ones to witness his own Shadow.

The Shadow then smiled, looking flirty once more. "Such a passionate approach…"

"What?"

"I think that you three… would make wonderful boyfriends."

"S-Stop it! Y-You got it all wrong!"

"Enough… stop… what the hell are you blabbering about…?" Kanji tried to yell at his Shadow, but it just came out in a weak mutter. His Shadow didn't listen. "I don't care who… won't someone, anyone, please accept me…?"

"Stop… it…"

"Accept me for who I am!"

"Wh-Whoa! I really don't swing that way!" Yosuke was shaking his head frantically at what the Shadow was saying.

"I said stop it!" Kanji yelled out as he finally had it and mustered up what energy he had to rush up to his Shadow who was walking towards them… and punched it hard in the face to the point it fell back down. He still managed to keep standing after doing that. "Tch. Can't believe something like that is inside me…"

"Kanji, you're…" Yosuke looked at the blond boy in surprise.

"…Yeah, I know… I've known all this time I had something like you!" Kanji spoke to his Shadow, speaking out his thoughts. "It ain't a matter of guys or chicks… I'm just scared shitless of being rejected. I'm a total pansy who tries to make everyone hate me."

Yu looked at him, now starting to understand why Kanji acted that way… "Kanji… you're not alone."

The blond boy glanced back at him and fell silent for a moment before he focused back at his Shadow. "C'mon… get up. Anyone who looks like me, I know they ain't so weak they can't take a punch," he told it. The Shadow slowly got up, now quiet for once.

Kanji continued on. "I already know that you're me… you're me… and I'm you, dammit!"

His Shadow nodded with a small smile, and soon faded out as the strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest… in its place was a giant Persona that looked like a black robot with skeletal designs and wielded a lightning bolt as a weapon.

Kanji has obtained the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Take-Mikazuchi. Soon, it turned into a tarot card and disappeared back into the depths of his heart. Right after that happened, he fell back in exhaustion. "Ngh… shit…"

"Kanji-kun!" Chie yelled in alarm as they all rushed to him. "Let's get him out of here!" Yosuke said, to which the others nodded. "I'll help him up. Keep the path clear of Shadows until we get out of here," Yu told them as he began to help Kanji up.

"Got it, partner." Yosuke nodded in affirmation. "Okay, chief!" Chie got ready to kick some Shadows back to where they came from. Yukiko nodded as well. "Alright, Yu-kun." The three ran ahead to clear the routes of Shadows – the hallways wouldn't be as full as Shadows as before since Kanji's Shadow just went berserk, so they had some time to escape before the Shadows started roaming the sauna again.

Yu then focused back on Kanji, who was now somewhat leaned against him with his arm around the silver-haired boy's shoulders. "Can you move…?" he asked softly, looking at the taller boy with some worry. "Y-yeah… I think…" Kanji slowly took a step forward, which was good as he still had a bit of energy left in him.

"Okay… we need to get out of here quick. Think you can handle that?"

Kanji wordlessly nodded, and so Yu started helping him walk out of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Throughout Yu's whole life, he's only been this close to a man that wasn't his relative for at least a few times, mostly because of certain situations such as helping them out or carrying an unconscious body out of a site after a good fight with others back in his delinquent days.

While helping Kanji walk was pretty much the former situation, somehow, he felt strange. Maybe it's because of the atmosphere, or the muggy steam? Or possibly because he actually hasn't been this close to a guy in general for more than a year?

It was odd, as much as it was confusing. He's lived as a guy since he was so young, so why now is he feeling like this? He didn't just smell the plain dampness in the air – he could smell something… sweet yet sharp… and that's when it hit him.

He's actually smelling Kanji's natural scent… or cologne? A mix of the two?

…W-whatever! He shouldn't be thinking about that!

Shaking his head, Yu tried to focus back on the task at hand despite feeling his cheeks burning. He shouldn't let his guard down… but at least the others weren't around to see his face all red…

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

They all managed to get out of the TV world without too much trouble, and Yu soon set Kanji down to let him take a break. He managed to keep a calm expression after what just happened, having quite a strong willpower to not think about it from years of training.

The four older teenagers took a few steps back to give him some air. "Kanji-kun… are you okay?" Yukiko asked him in concern. "It's… it's nothin'…" Kanji spoke, some strength still in him to speak. He suddenly felt a bit dizzy for a moment. "Whoa… ngh…" It didn't last too long, thankfully. "Heheh… I feel great… it's like my mind's all cleared up…"

Yu slightly smiled at that. "Glad to hear it."

Yosuke then helped Kanji up carefully. The blond boy looked at everyone for a moment, then looking at Yu. "Hey… about what just happened…"

The silver-haired boy shook his head. It's a long story, and Kanji was in no condition to listen to it at the moment. "We'll tell you later."

"…Yeah… you better…"

"We'll explain everything later. You need to take a rest now," Yukiko added. "We'll be waiting for you at school," Chie then told him. Kanji lowered his head. "School…? Sure, if I ever feel like going."

"I'll take this guy home," Yosuke then said to the others. "If anything asks, I'll just say I found him somewhere like this."

Yu, Chie and Yukiko nodded. They were able to rescue Kanji with success… and now, they must let him recover for now. Wonder if this will take them another step closer to solving this mystery…?

During the evening, Dojima was home in time to eat dinner with Yu and Nanako. The man looked at his nephew and remembered about something he was about to tell him. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Remember that Kanji Tatsumi guy I told you about? You know, the one who went nuts on that news special. His family's shop called in to report him missing, but now he's been found. I thought I'd let you know, since you go to the same high school."

"Oh, really? I'm glad to hear that, then." Yu did genuinely feel that, even if he had a hand in Kanji's return.

"Yeah." Dojima was silent for a moment. "One other thing… some people have seen you around that textile shop lately, I hear. It's not the kind of shop students normally visit, even if your grandfather from your father's side does have a company that deals with it. Just what kind of business did you have there, really…?"

Thankfully, Yu had a proper reason for it. "My friend took me there. Got some things to buy, from what she told me."

"A friend…? Oh… that Amagi girl? That's right, her family's inn buys their stuff wholesale…" The detective sighed. "…Fine. Just don't get yourself in over your head, okay?"

Yu nodded in response. Nanako was hearing the conversation with a frown. "…Are you fighting again?"

The two older people at the table quickly shook their heads and continued to eat dinner. However, Yu was somewhat uneasy – his uncle was a detective, and he had a sharp mind. Dojima could easily figure something out if he and the others weren't careful with their actions.

For now, they were still in the clear.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Like she had told herself back in the TV world, Yui did take a shower to cool down after being in that sauna for so long. Thankfully tomorrow was the last day of school for the week, so she would be able to wash her uniform and undergarments clean of dried sweat and such.

Speaking of the latter… she was running out of spare chest binders to wear. Her constant soccer training and travelling in the TV world didn't help either – before all that happened, she didn't dirty her clothes at the same frequency she did now.

She may have to resort to using bandages if this is how frequent she wore them. She hoped not – they were much more difficult to maintain… but if she's forced to, then she had no other choice.

Sighing, Yui just went to her futon to sleep for the night. As she tried to, her mind wandered back to that moment in the sauna, when she was helping Kanji to walk, and she…

The silver-haired girl opened her eyes, now being too aware of the silence in her room. What's wrong with her? Was she that awkward with being close to boys now? It shouldn't bother her this much – she managed to stop thinking about it just hours ago until now.

Biting the inside of her mouth, she pulled her futon's kakebuton over her head before attempting to go to sleep again.

…She still couldn't stop her mind from going over that little moment. Ugh.