December 25th, 2009 Iwatodai City;

At six AM the alarm clock started blaring bloody murder. Half a second later, two separate energy blasts ripped it apart for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Ughhhhhh. Why did I do this to myself…" Shin groaned as he forced himself to roll out of bed. Stumbling over to the dresser, he pulled out the crumpled remains of his school uniform and began to get dressed. After casting a small bufu spell on himself to wake up, he opened up the fridge. "Hey, Pix. Do you remember if we finished off the rest of the OJ from the other day?"

The only answer he received was a loud, over exaggerated snore. Rolling his eyes, he opened a small portal to his quarters in Anlita and grabbed a spare bottle. Finishing his morning routines, the Demifiend grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "Just remember to meet me at the mall after school today. We have to help Minato avoid his exes. That too much to ask Sleepyhead?"

The ensuing lightning blast crackled through the air but dissipated the moment it touched Shin's skin. Chuckling to himself, he closed the door softly behind him and set off for the train station.

Thirty minutes and one obnoxiously boring train ride later and Shin found himself walking through the gates to Gekkoukan High School. It wasn't a bad school, all things considered. Just a little too fancy for his tastes.

"Yo Shin, my man! What's up?"

Shin closed his eyes in irritation before turning towards the sound of the voice. It was whom he expected of course. There were only a few people stupid enough to refer to him in such a manner and the baseball capped bumbo was unfortunately one of them. "Junpei," he began softly, "I have told you no less than twenty times not to refer to me in such an informal manner." He smiled evilly at his classmate. "If you do so again I'm afraid you might not live to regret it."

A teenager with a baseball cap smirked back at the young fiend as he walked towards him. "Heh, fat chance man. Try that and you'll be biting off a little more than you can chew." Junpei punctuated the claim with a confident smile, prompting Shin to internally groan. How was it that he still didn't realize he knew about the persona? For crying out loud, even Ken had his suspicions about him at this point and he was what? Twelve?

The Demifiend shook his head in exasperation. "Whatever you say. Nice to see you Minato." Shin turned to the blue haired man standing to Junpei's side. He was about the same height but carried an excessively bored expression. His blue hair was long for a boys, but not excessively so, only reaching down to his chin. It did cover one his eyes however. How he managed to fight with that handicap, Shin would never understand.

"Likewise." Minato's response was curt, cutting through the surrounding noise with an unusual level of confidence. It was one of the things Shin had found oddly likeable about the human.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me here!" Junpei grumbled.

Shin sighed. "Honestly, I would if I could. Anyway, Minato, late night? It's been awhile since I saw bags under your eyes." The Demifiend's eyes glittered mischievously. "Not doing anything too dangerous I hope. Though knowing you… it's probably a girl, am I right?"

Minato groaned as Junpei pounced on him, demanding details. Of course there were none to give, but like Junpei, Shin was quite familiar with Minato's, ehh let's call them conquests. In reality, the real reason he was tired was less sexually deviant and more because he had been training at Tartarus in secret. Perfectly responsible. Respectable even. However, it seemed that after three thousand years, Pixie had begun to rub off on him. Afterall, it would be fun to watch his friend squirm.

"Well, I'll just leave you two with that. Later Minato." Shin said waving. Turning to leave, he paused for a moment to continue. "You still need my help for tonight. Right?"

"Yes." Minato replied, ignoring the looks of suspicion Junpei were shooting in their direction.

"And if I do this, you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

Minato put his hands in his pockets and nodded.

Shin sighed and continued on his way to class. "Fine, I suppose I owe you that much. Anyways, see you later I guess."

Shin's eyes quickly scanned the contents of the report. Hmm. Another incursion into Snake territory. No need to worry too much though as it's only the Wilder tribe. Though this is the fifth time this year… Now that I think about it, I'll order Yuriko to begin gathering intelligence on the matter. Meanwhile let's move the Brutes into position by the main gateway to World 326. This should ensure the Wilders will cut too close to Heaven's territory when they're forced to retreat. We'll let Metatron clean up this particular mess, thus eliminating the problem. And if the angels happen to suffer a few losses, well that's a bonus.

"Managi, are you listening to me?!"

The disguised Demifiend looked up from his phone to meet the irritated stare of his teacher. "Of course Ms. Toriumi. Though I'm afraid I was zoning out for a-"

"I know you were looking at your phone Managi." His teacher deadpanned.

Well isn't that irritating. "Uhhh ya, sorry about that." Shin replied sheepishly, ignoring the giggles and snorts coming from his fellow students. "What was it you wanted me to do?"

Ms. Toriumi rolled her eyes and pointed to the door. Following her hand, Shin was surprised to see a familiar, blonde woman in a suit standing in the doorway. "Your cousin is here to dismiss you for religious reasons. Next time just tell me earlier in the week and not show up for the day in question. Maybe then you won't disrupt class."

"Sorry, will do." Shin replied, grabbing his stuff and heading for the door. As he went Minato raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'should I be worried.' Shaking his head slightly to put his mind at ease, Shin followed the woman into the hallway.

As soon as they were out of earshot from the room, Hiroko smiled and gave him an affectionate hug. "It's been a while Shin, how are you? Enjoying your time at school?"

Shin smiled at his long time friend. "I've been fine, thanks. I've got to say, I'm a little surprised to see you here." His smile faded. "There hasn't been an emergency has there?"

"No. Everything's been quiet since Bel was broken." Hiroko conceded, putting his worries to rest. "But I'll let Aleph fill you in on that."

"Oh? He's here as well? Can't say I'm really surprised as you two are practically conjoined at the hip." Shin said as the pair exited the building. Though there was no snow on the ground, the air was quite frigid. Not that either of the two were bothered much by that. Shin was completely immune to temperature thanks to Masakados and Hiroko's magic likewise negated the discomfort. As the two got onto the train they made casual small talk. Basic things really, how friends were doing, what demons they'd killed recently, a particularly bad dinner Pixie had bought at a fair. You know, normal stuff.

Eventually they made their way up the steps that lead to a small shrine and park. Sitting on a bench in the same clothes he had once worn as Hijiri, sat one of the strongest humans ever born. Getting up nonchalantly, he raised a hand in greeting. "Well, if it isn't the man of the hour. Long time no see Shin." He said with a smirk.

"Ah Oedipus. Great to see you as well." The Demifiend responded.

"Ignoring that." Aleph groaned, while Hiroko glared daggers at Shin's back.

Shin smiled. "Sorry, old habits die hard. Anyways, what brings you guys this far out of the way? I haven't seen you since we smashed Bel last year."

Aleph nodded solemnly. "That's actually why we're here."

"We're worried about you Shin." Hiroko added. "You left almost as soon as the battle was over and you barely said anything."

"Wow, you guys sure don't waste any time." Shin commented dryly. "Couldn't wait five minutes before getting down to business?"

"You and Pixie disappeared as soon as we were sure that we won." Aleph contered. "And to make matters worse, you've cut yourself off from all methods of communication."
"Not true." Shin argued gently. "I've been in constant contact with my generals for military purposes. Also I definitely remember sending Hiroko a birthday card a few months ago."

"And we're both very grateful for that." Hiroko responded dryly. "But our point still stands. Something is clearly wrong, and we're not leaving until we find out what."

"Oh?" The Demifiend looked back from one to the other, surprised to find that they were actually quite serious. At that point he realized that he could continue to play the semantics game, but after knowing them for a couple of millennia, he knew that would be a waste of his time. Sighing in resignation, Shin forced a smile. "It's nothing too serious. Just a slight midlife crisis. That's all."

Aleph snorted. "You? Come on." His smile froze when Shin didn't crack a joke or interrupt him. "Oh crap. You're serious."

Shin shrugged. "Fraid so." He looked past his friends and toward the shrine. "It's actually been like this for a little while now."

"So what's the issue?" Hiroko pried gently. "Looking back, even when we were all assembling to fight Bel you were a little off. I asked Pixie about it, but she made some excuse and flew off."

"Ehh, how do I put it?" Shin trailed off, trying to gather the correct words to describe what he was feeling. "I guess it all started back when Dante passed away." The Demifiend turned around and glanced at the surrounding area, casting a small makajam spell on the surrounding area so they would not be overheard. "You remember that, right?"

Aleph nodded. "That was when Hiroko and I were in the Schwarzwelt. We sent for reinforcements when we realized what we were dealing with."

"Right. We were outnumbered and losing men rapidly." Hiroko added with a wince. "If memory serves, you and Pixie were elsewise occupied so you sent Dante in your place. Everything was going well until…"

"Until the Demiurge got involved." Shin finished. "The largest and most powerful fragment of -_-_. Normally it wouldn't have been too much an issue for you two, what with you crushing the complete package in the past, but there was also a simultaneous attack from another group of humans. Combine that with Mastema and the rest of the angels doing their damn hardest to hide the Demiurge's presence… Well by the time you realized what had happened, Dante had been ambushed and completely obliterated."

Shin trailed off. The memory of the snarky, red cloaked demon killer was still fresh in his mind. Even now it was hard to come to terms with him being gone. He had deserved better after everything he had done. Hopefully he was in a better place, be it afterlife or reincarnation. Shaking his head, he forced himself to continue. "Fortunately, he held that monster back long enough for you two to arrive and kill it. But it still makes you think. We are going to die. We are not immortal. Though you, Hiroko, and myself all have some form of eternal youth, it isn't the same as what the demons have. Face it, even though he died for it, the Demiurge will reform. It's inevitable. Even Bel might come back someday. Hell I've already heard reports from Yuriko that Jezebel and Belberith are active again."

"One, we only managed to beat -_-_ the first time because Satan blasted him with the Megido Arc right before the fight." Aleph responded, his eyes dark with the memory of the encounter. "Demiurge was still almost able to kill us. Two, what's your point? If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were almost envious of the demons."

Shin turned back toward the voice, his expression like stone. "Not envious, merely being pragmatic. From a strategic viewpoint, we are forever at a disadvantage. We can die and they can't? How can we possibly fight that?! Just from a probability standpoint, eventually we'll lose. Why hasn't it happened it yet? A mixture of luck and absurdly potent superpowers. That's it. But even the ability to destroy an entire dimension has its limits." Realizing that his emotions were getting a bit out of control, he forced himself to calm down, rubbing his temples as he did so. "What I'm trying to say is that Dante's death wasn't an outlier. It was an inevitability."

Pity. That's what stared back at him from Hiroko's face. "Nothing lasts forever Shin."

"That's a lie. Both Law and Chaos have their champions that have existed since time immemorial." Shin countered. "All we have is a couple of humans, Pixie, and a cat. Wait! Let me do the headcount for you. There's you, Aleph, me, Pixie, Raidou, Raidou's cat, Flynn, and little ragtag team has one thing in common- there was a time before us, and there will be a time after us."

"But think about what we've done!" Shin continued. "We've prolonged the apocalypse from happening no less than fifty times. We established a sanctuary for demons and humans alike whose worlds have been destroyed. We've even carved out a swathe of world's outside of Kagutsuchi's grasp and then managed to keep it that way. No matter how you put it, we have left a mark on the Amala multiverse. There are people out there depending on us."

"There will always be someone to take up our mantle. Already we've seen others who are capable of rising to the call." Aleph said. "Flynn and Isabeau are actually with Hotsuin and Hibiki as we speak."

The Demifiend smiled. "And now we get to the crux of the issue. To what do we trust our fate too? An endless dynasty of humans taking up arms one after another for the rest of existence? Not the worst idea, but there's always the possibility they just won't be good enough, that they'll fail or give in, or even betray the trust put in them. We could do that, or… do we set up a safeguard?"

Hiroko paled and Aleph's eyes narrowed. "You can't be serious."

Shin shrugged. "I don't know. I told you I was at a bit of a crossroads here. I'm not really sure what to think. There's a reason Masakados never gets involved in our business. He knows, and I agree, that humanity should be allowed to fend for itself. But still… well you know how close I came to going down that particular path."

"So is that what this is about? You're trying to find out which is stronger, humanity or demons?"

"Oh no, demons are clearly stronger." Shin deadpanned. "They are actually immortal. Can't do much to stop that." He paused. "But there is a difference between strength and power, at least in this context. What I'm trying to discover is whether or not humanity needs help or can stand on its own. Just how powerful is the human heart?"

"And that's why you came to Philemon's playground." Aleph cut in, finally understanding. "What better place to examine the power of the heart than in the world that literally saw the birth of the persona power."

"Well ya, I guess." Shin admitted. "When you put it like that it kind of sounds silly."

"You're a silly guy Shin, you just have to come to terms with it." A small voice squeaked from on high. None of the assembled trio needed to look up to know who it was.

Pixie grinned and sat down on Shin's head. Feigning surprise, she turned toward Aleph. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the original motherfu-"

"Shin already beat you to the punch." Hiroko interrupted, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Damn it! Shin you meanie, it was my turn to make the joke this time around!" Pixie accentuated her point by playfully whacking the Demifiend on the head a few times.

"You have it coordinated?" Aleph asked in dismay.

"Well duh." Pixie said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, we are talking about Shin here. The man has all his meals planned out for the next month and a half. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN NEED TO EAT."

"Yes, well you don't need to sit around our apartment all day and play videogames, yet you do." Shin countered. "I just like to stay organized."

"And somehow I manage to love you anyway." Pixie said in a sing-song like voice. Sitting back on his shoulder, she pretended to pout again. "But really Shin? How could you not tell me that Aleph and Hiroko were in town? And here I thought all we were going to do today is help Minato dodge karmic justice… If I knew we were going to meet up with them I would have actually gotten out of bed this morning."

"Fat chance of that." Shin scoffed.

Hiroko frowned. "Minato? You mean that blue haired kid in your class?"

Shin looked warily at Hiroko. "Yes… That's right. But how do you know that?"

She shrugged. "We did some digging on your classmates before picking you up."

"How deep did you dig?" Shin asked, careful to suppress any incriminating emotions. How much did they find out? Was it recent events or just the class roster? DAMN. Were there any security cameras in the hot springs a few weeks back?! No, that would be extremely creepy. Thank goodness.

"Deep enough to know your ice immunity might need some work." Aleph's smile was more a sneer than anything else. He was obviously enjoying his revenge for the Oedipus comment.

Dismay and embarrassment washed over Shin's features. "One- not my fault. Mitsuro basically has ice-pierce. By the time I knew what was happening I was frozen solid. Two- How?!"

"We rented a room at the hotel. We were going to try and talk to you there but…" Aleph trailed off as he looked to his partner expectantly.

The blonde woman took the cue and smiled evilly at the Demifiend. "But, I thought it would be a nice night for a bath, but what do I find? A front row seat for you little perverts getting what was coming to you. Shame on you Shin, I expect better from you."

Shin's groan was matched only by Pixie's howling laughter. "Honestly, you and your illusion magic. Wait… YOU'RE THE REASON I COULDN'T WARP OUT! YOU BASTARD!"

"Hmph." Hiroko scoffed. "Count yourself lucky I didn't join in."

"I couldn't sit right for a week…" Shin mumbled unhappily. "Well whatever, guess there's no use making such a big deal about it now." However, come April fool's day, I will have my revenge. "Hey Pix, what time is it?"

"A little past three. If we're going to save Minato from his bad decisions we had best get moving." Pixie looked at their two friends. "You two are going to help too, right?"

"Do you really think we should?" Aleph asked hesitantly. "I mean, this is hardly our business."

"That might actually help." Shin admitted. "No one here knows you. That gives me a tactical edge. Not that I need it of course, but still."

"Ehh… the scoreboard does currently read Girls 1, Demifiend 0."

Chuckling Shin shook his head, knocking Pixie off. "You forget my sassy friend. This round, I had prep time."

"Maybe a better question is why should we help." Hiroko asked.

"Because you guys love me." Pixie answered immediately.

"Because it's Christmas." Shin said with a smile. "And everyone knows Christmas is a time where friends and family all come together from around the world- and help other friends get away with serial philandering."

The Demifiend paused for a moment. "I'll also buy you dinner."

Minato Arisato.

Like the Demifiend he had only joined the ranks of Gekkoukan high this school year. Additionally, he had also been forced into a supernatural battle to decide the fate of mankind with powers he hadn't asked for. Now he was leading a coalition of like-minded individuals against a force that they had absolutely no business fighting. Not only had it been entertaining to watch, it had been nostalgic. More than a couple times Shin had seen himself in the boy. Not that his intentions were completely wholesome. At the beginning Minato has been hopelessly awkward, which or course had lead to plenty of interesting situations. There had even been a few instances that had left Pixie in hysterics and Shin choking on his popcorn. It had been that funny.

However, it was there that the similarities died. Where Shin had done his best to stay under the radar at Gekkoukan and even during his original journey way back in the Vortex World, Minato had done the opposite. Seemingly in open defiance of his more laid back nature, Arisato had done almost everything in his power to make a difference. Whether that be helping out a kindly old couple at a bookstore or keeping company with a peer that had an incurable disease, he had clearly touched the lives of many. And that was saying nothing of his achievements at school. Top of his class, very popular, and undeniably charismatic, Minato was truly an extraordinary individual.

Shin was a man who would fight for his beliefs. He would kill for those he counted as his subordinates and destroy worlds for his friends. But to everyone else? He really couldn't be bothered. His actions ensured they had the freedom to seek their own destiny. If they were too weak of mind or body to seek it, then they were worthless in his eyes.

Minato was different. He did care for the strangers. Maybe it was because he was so quiet, but he had always been an excellent listener. If someone was depressed or needed advice he would be there, always. It was something the Demifiend had never quite been able to understand.

He was also a serial philanderer.

It wasn't completely his fault. The power of the wildcard was fueled by the connections between its wielder and those around him. These connections were known as Social Links. This meant that by developing friendships Minato's personas and overall combat ability were increased. Considering that the world was at the edge of calamity, it could be argued that Minato was merely being responsible, even taking one for the team as it were. However, it could also be said that he had shamelessly manipulated four different women at his school in a selfish quest for power. See, he had come to the conclusion that in order to max his social links with members of the opposite sex, he had to well, 'spend a long time alone' with them.

Normally this would have been fine. Except he had more than one social link with his female classmates. So he had done the obvious thing and started dating all of them. At once. Without telling any of them.

Smart.

Hell, that wasn't even the worst part. Shin knew for a fact that the only woman that Minato actually had a romantic interest in wasn't even part of that group. She wasn't even human! Instead she was a homunculus that served as an attendant in the velvet room, a kind of hub that served to distribute and manage the Persona power by Philemon's command..

The blue haired young man had only discovered his blunder recently when he had accidently maxed the empress social link with Mitsuru by helping play matchmaker for her and Akihiko. The look on his face had been priceless.

Now it was a month later, and Minato was beginning to have trouble with his previous flames. In addition he had been cornered by the aforementioned attendant and asked to take her on a date to the real world for the Christmas holiday.

Why would Elizabeth do something like this when, like Shin, she knew about all his girl-troubles? Simply put, she was an even bigger troll than Pixie.

And that was why Shin, Pixie, Aleph, and Hiroko were in the mall on Christmas day. Because though Minato was a philanderer, he was a smart philanderer. He knew better than to try and go through with his date without an eye in the sky.

Shin knocked on the door to the security office, checking his watch as he did. Alright, Pixie and the rest should be in position by now. Perfect.

It was annoying. Usually he would just warp around the world with reckless abandon, having his servants cast dormina with impunity. It was quick, harmless, non permanent, and most importantly easy. That would have been the plan, however he hadn't had fun for over three months! He was bored. He needed a chance to stretch his mind and his legs. So when the chance to handicap himself for this little project had come up, he had jumped at the opportunity. He also had a running bet with Philemon to see just how much he could get away with without resorting to his powers.

The door opened as a security guard in his mid thirties looked down at the fiend suspiciously. "Um, something I can do for you kid?"

Shin looked up from his watch, his mind already on the next phase of the plan. "Hmm? Oh right, Lilim, now would be fine."

"What are you-" The man began before slumping over as the sleep spell hit him.

Grabbing the man by the collar Shin dragged him back into the security office. "Thanks Lilim, be sure to give my regards to your mother."

An ebon haired succubus shimmered into existence above the door, bat-like wings beating silently. "My pleasure Demifiend." She looked hungrily at the unconscious guard. "Though are you sure I can't-"

Shin shook his head. "Not even a sip."

Lilim pouted. "Figures. I'll make sure to give your message to mom."

After the Night demon had left Shin locked the security door behind him and sat down in front of the monitors. A quick scan told him that not only had Minato and Elizabeth still not left the Velvet room, but that they were also still in the clear in regards to unwanted guests.

Turning on his bluetooth headset, Shin smiled. "Alright, testing, testing, one, two, three. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." Aleph's voice came through the microphone.

"No problems here." Hiroko added shortly after.

"Speak for yourself, I'm sitting on a Christmas tree." Pixie grumbled. "All set here too by the way."

"Excellent." Shin grinned. Cracking his fingers he began to work. "Alright, Aleph. I need you to stay in the arcade and keep watch from there for about fifteen minutes. After that begin making rounds between there and the karaoke bar."

"Roger."

"Hiroko, you stay in Chagall Cafe. Based on where you're sitting you should have an excellent vantage point of the first floor."

"Understood, though don't expect me to get up after my tea gets here."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Shin responded, turning to the camera feed of the top of the christmas tree where Pixie was hiding. "Pix, as usual you're my ace. Stay in position for now, but should things get out of hand…"

"Mhmm. No need to explain, I've got you covered."

A flash of movement down a hallway drew Shin's eyes to one of the upper monitors. "Minato and Elizabeth just left the Velvet room, standby. Minato if you can hear me, scratch your head If you can't, well I guess I'm free to grab some popcorn."

The blue-haired young man scratched his head on the monitor, prompting Shin to nod in satisfaction. Alright, so they'll head to the club first before tea at the cafe and then wandering around a bit. After that, they're on their own.

"Shin, we've got movement on the bottom level." Hiroko's voice came in. "A girl matching the dossier you gave me is walking up toward the karaoke bar now."

Crap. Looking at the monitor Shin found Yuko and a few of her friends from the Kendo team walking and joking together. She had been one of the first Minato had dated and was particularly strong willed. A confrontation would be ill advised. Time to stall. "Minato, kiss the girl. Pixie, let's speed this along. Aleph, we're moving up the schedule a bit, begin moving towards the bar now."

"Right." Pixie and Aleph agreed while Minato did his best to stall.

"Hmm, Minato, is something wrong?" Elizabeth inquired. Her date had stopped following her seemingly out of the blue.

"What?" Minato answered, lowering his hand from the earpiece suddenly. "No, it's nothing. Nothing at all. I guess just a little nervous."

The attendant leaned in close to him. "Is this the legendary pre-date jitters I have heard about?"

"Perhaps it is." Minato answered slowly. "Care to help with that?"

"Are you serious? That's the best you can do?!" Shin's annoyed voice came through over the radio. "I've seen better romance from the Brute tribe. Better subtlety too. Honestly how the hell are we even in this mess..."

But Elizabeth seemed to find the comment amusing. Giggling she replied. "Oh my, how bold. Not that I'm surprised of course. Now how would I go about doing such a thing?"

Minato smile and leaned forward.

Shooting out of the tree, Pixie flew low and fast toward the group of highschoolers. From her perch atop the christmas tree she dove down towards the floor, pulling up at the last possible instant. It was true that they couldn't see her thanks to a minor illusion spell, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to have fun with this.

In moments she was right behind the group. Corkscrewing, the fairy let out a small bufu spell as she passed underneath the students. . It wasn't a strong ice spell, just enough to send a momentary gust of cold air at the group. The result was as expected.

"UGH What the heck? Why is it so cold?"

"Quick, Yuko, let's get to the karaoke place already!"

Pixie grinned from behind the banister. If this was the most today was going to throw at them then this might actually be boring.

Nodding in satisfaction as the group hurried into the bar to get out of the cold air, Shin returned to surveillance. Alright, one down, three to go. Hopefully they don't all show up.

Glancing back at the camera outside the Velvet room entrance he was less than surprised to see that Minato and Elizabeth were still kissing. Shin rolled his eyes. "My goodness. See, this is why I hate teenagers." He muttered to himself as he opened the radio link to Minato once again.You know it's kind of funny how much he's changed from the shy kid I met all those months ago. Now where was I? "Alright Romeo, save it for when I'm not on the clock. You're all clear."

Minato broke contact and the pair began to walk to the club, making small talk as they went. The moment after they entered the building, the radio pinged.

"Shin, we've got a problem." Aleph said. His voice was an unusual cross between stressed and amused. "It looks like a two of his classmates. I think they're looking for the kid."

What?! Shin thought as he flicked through the camera feeds. When he found what Aleph was referring to he groaned. "Motherfu-"

"HEY!"

"Oh lighten up, I wasn't talking about you. Anyways, that's Junpei and Kenji. They're going to be an issue." The Demifiend drummed his fingers on the arm to his chair. Options, options, what was he going to do? If it was just Junpei he could just freeze him, thaw him out later, and blame it on the shadows. But Kenji was normal. He couldn't do that to a civilian. Well… not without killing him anyways. No, this would take a more creative approach. "Hmm, they are teenage boys… Hiroko-"

"Nope. Make Aleph do it. Not only am I not wasting tea, I am definitely not about to seduce young boys."

"Ugh, fine. Aleph you should be able to buy some drinks at the convenience store on the first floor. I suggest you 'accidentally' bump into them after buying some soda. Or tomato juice. Ya, lets go with that."

"No time. Don't worry I've got this."

"Sure, whatever. Good luck." The Demifiend rubbed his temples. "Alright, now that that's over with-"

"Uh, Shin…" Pixie's voice was a strange mix of concerned and trying not laugh.

"Oh what now? Ah. Shit."

Yukari and Fuuka had arrived at the mall. The Demifiend looked between the monitors desperately. This was bad. Not only was Aleph already occupied with Junpei and Kenji, but Pixie couldn't help in this situation. Persona users could and would see through Pixie's illusion spell. Even worse, those two had met Pixie before during the battle at the love hotel a few months back. They would recognize her in an instant. "Hiroko I would really love it if-"

"Are you kidding? This just got interesting!" The blonde warrior casually took a sip of tea and winked at the camera. "Consider this payback for the hot springs fiasco. After this we're even."

Out of options the Demifiend threw open the security door and sprinted down the stairs to where the two persona users were.

"Hey Fuuka, do you really think he might be here?" Yukari asked, looking around the mall. It was busier than usual due to the holiday and she was worried they might not be able to find Minato even if he was here.

The honor student nodded, her light green hair bouncing slightly as she did so. "Oh yes. Juno was sure. He is around here somewhere." Her voice carried the slightest edge of concern to it as she answered.

"Hmm." Yukari muttered softly, oblivious to Fuuka's feelings. "Now, if I were him, where would I-"

"Hey! Yukari, Fuuka! Fancy meeting you here."

The pair turned to see a familiar face coming towards them and froze upon recognizing it. "Managi." Fuuka said in surprise. Though she tried her very best, it was impossible to keep the fear out of her voice. "W-what are you doing here?"

Her voice was shrill and border line panicked and Yukari couldn't blame her. After all, she had been there that night at the love hotel. The image of the terrifying blue-tattooed titan was still etched into her mind. Yukari shivered.

"Ahh, come on. Is that anyway to greet a friend?" Shin replied smiling. If he had noticed their discomfort he didn't care. "I got out of church early and thought the mall would be a fun place to hang."

"Church?" Fuuka asked, confused.

"He was dismissed early." Yukari explained, still a little rattled. Why am I so frightened? Mitsuru executed him just like the others a month ago… "Hey you haven't happened to see Minato around here, have you?"

Shin scratched his head. "I did, but he already left. Said something about going down to the shrine and park. I would have gone with him, but I had just gotten my tea at Chagall."

"Hey Yukari, didn't know you'd be here!"

Looking towards the direction the voice had come from, Yukari was dismayed to find Junpei, Kenji, and wait who was that? "Stupei?! What are you doing here?" She sized up the stranger who appeared to be in his early twenties. He wasn't bad looking per say, but his sense of style was a bit off and his hair was a little too long. There was no doubt he was in shape though. "And who's your friend?"

Junpei smirked. "This is my man Aleph. He's a journalist from out of town. He wanted to do an interview with Kenji and I on Gekkoukan."

"Aleph huh?" Shin commented. For some reason or other he seemed to be annoyed. "Odd name."

Aleph chuckled sheepishly. "You think? Well, the orphanage I grew up in had a couple weird traditions."

"Oh, you lost your parents?" Yukari asked. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. But it's ancient history." Aleph said, smiling. He took out a notebook and pen from his bag. "Now, from the looks of it, you all go to the same school as Junpei and Kenji, right? I'd love to get your thoughts as well."

"Wouldn't it be better to ask Mitsuru for that?" Fuuka asked weakly.

"Oh you mean the young heiress? No, I'd like to get an average student's account." Aleph replied happily. "Of course I'll talk to the faculty later on, but I don't think the young Kirijo would be as good a choice as she literally owns the school."

"Makes sense I guess." Yukari admitted.

Junpei's eyes lit up. "Hey! I know, let's all go over to the club and celebrate. After all, Shin's christian right?"

"Uhh, let's not go making too many assumptions here." Shin said slowly. "Besides, why would we want to go to the club? There's a great Karaoke place over there."

"Nah, that place isn't much fun at this time of day."

"Yet an empty club is your idea of a good time." Yukari deadpanned.

"Hardly." Junpei leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "But some kid at the arcade saw our Minato go in there. With a girl too! Some white haired chick in blue."

Muscles seized up. Anger flared. The urge to punch Junpei became almost overwhelming.

The Demifiend's eyes narrowed. Energy gathered at his fingertips as he prepared a summoning spell. He would have to use his power after all. A pity. He'd have to pay Philemon after- What was Pixie doing?

Oh no.

Yukari froze. A mixture of disbelief, anger, and betrayal began to seep through her being. Slowly, she began to walk towards the club door.

"Yukari! Wait!" Was that Shin's voice? She couldn't tell anymore. Didn't care. All that mattered was finding Minato. If he was cheating on her, then she'd-

Damn! I'm not going to reach them in time! Space began to warp and tear as the Demifiend willed a portal through the labyrinth to open and encompass his being.

"WATCH OUT!"

Yukari was thrown from her thoughts as Shin grabbed her and Fuuka and jumped out of the way. For a moment the world around them flashed a myriad of colors and it felt like the worlds was pressing in on her from all sides. Energy crackled and hummed. But what worried her more than anything was the soul rending cry she heard from her persona Isis.

But almost as quickly as it began it ended and she found herself falling.

They landed on top of their classmate.

"Are you two alright?" Shin asked. Somehow he was completely unfazed by the two of them sprawled haphazardly on top of them.

"I-I think so." Yukari answered, still confused by the experience. By the looks of it Fuuka was in similar straights. Looking around she was shocked to find they were over ten meters from where they had been. Did Shin jump all the way over here?! She thought in disbelief. That's not possible. "What happened, I don't-" Then she saw it.

Somehow the six meter tall Christmas tree in the center of the mall had fractured clear through the base and come crashing down towards the exact spot where the group had been standing mere moments before. If Shin hadn't moved them when he did, they would have definitely been hit. True, their persona abilities would have probably saved them, but still…

Kenji was not so lucky. Not only did ne not have a persona, but he had also tripped in the commotion. Thankfully he only took a branch to the leg and not somewhere critical like the neck or back.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He panted, trying to talk through what must have been some pretty intense pain. And that leg… Yukari felt queasy just looking at it. Was it even possible for legs to move that way? "I think my leg's broken."

"One moment." Aleph said before throwing the tree off of Kenji. Yukari's jaw dropped. The man had brushed aside the huge pine as if it were nothing more than a twig! He took a glance at the leg, being careful not to touch. "This is pretty bad. It shouldn't be permanent, but you need to get to a doctor quickly." He stood up. "Girls, would you and Junpei mind taking Kenji to the hospital? I'm going to go find the mall management and see if I can get to the bottom of this."

"O-okay." Fuuka stuttered. "What about Managi?"

"I'll go grab the janitors. They'll want to clean this up ASAP." Shin said frowning. "This is ridiculous. We could have been killed." For some reason he seemed to glare up towards the second layer of the mall as he spoke.

"Alright, well. I guess we'll see you later then." Yukari replied. After saying their goodbyes, the group departed.

"Sounds like a plan." Shin said in agreement, before mouthing a small healing spell under his breath.

Yukari's eyes widened as she saw Kenji's leg heal. Not enough to fix the break, but enough so that he wouldn't ever have a problem running or walking after it healed. Seeing her reaction, Shin winked and ran off towards the Janitor's room.

At the time she thought nothing of it. After seeing him wipe out a hallway of shadows with a mere flick of his hand the fact that he could heal Kenji was not a surprise. Just an anomaly being fickle. Maybe he felt bad about Kenji getting hurt on Christmas.

Hours later she would remember what Shin had said about Minato being at the shrine though. That was in direct conflict with what Junpei had said about him being in the club.. Normally she wouldn't pay it any mind, but that tree had fallen in quite the suspicious way.

After all, the tree had only fallen after she had begun to walk towards the club…

"I can't believe you dropped a tree on them." Minato said with a chuckle.

Shin grimaced. "Pix got a little overzealous. Though, to her credit they were about five seconds from catching the two of you. Besides, it's not like a falling tree would have been able to hurt any of you."

"Except for Kenji." Minato corrected.

"Right. Except for the human with no magic powers."

"He's a good kid." Minato said, thinking carefully. He would have to put this the right way if he was going to get his point across. "So's Junpei you know. A good person I mean. You really ought treat him better."

The Demifiend scoffed. "You mean when he's not being obnoxious and weak? Sorry I was a bit too preoccupied to notice."

He shook his head. "You're wrong. Junpei's been through more than you know."

"Oh please, spare me. Is this about that pink haired girl?" The Demifiend was nearing the end of his patience. "Boo hoo, she betrayed him. Welcome to the real world. All your bonds that you hold so dear crumble under the slightest of loads. Even love breaks and buckles given enough weight. The sooner you realize that the sooner you can move on with your life."

"Maybe. But I doubt it. Even a crumbling bridge can be repaired if given enough care." Minato countered. "Junpei's mom is dead, his dad's an alcoholic, and school really isn't his thing. Yet despite all that he was still able to reach out to a depressed girl who needed a friend. If that's not strength I don't know what it is."

"How about delusion?" Shin deadpanned. "After all, if memory serves she tried to kill you all. For all your talk of love, she still betrayed you when given the chance."

"She died to save Junpei's life. If that bond was as weak as you say that would have been impossible." Minato's voice was calm but hard. He would not budge on this, not something this important, not when he knew Shin needed to understand it.

"Irrelevant. You've seen it yourself. As soon as Ryoji told you the truth about Nyx everyone except for you lost the will to fight." Anger had started to creep into Shin's voice. "Where were your bonds then?"

"They'll come around. I know it."

"You'd trust them so completely? Pathetic. You're as weak as they are."

Minato laughed. "Perhaps I am."

The half-fiend looked at him as a jeweler appraising a mysterious necklace found at the beach. At first glance it was probably junk, but there was always the possibility of something more, however unlikely. "You really do trust them. Don't you?"

Minato nodded and looked off the side of the pier where he had met up with the Demifiend. The night air was cool and crisp, with the golden specks of light from the surrounding city painting the whole scene like a giant Christmas ornament. "Thank you again for doing this. It was nice to have an afternoon alone with Liz."

"I'm glad to help. But you know as well as I that I hardly did this out of the good in my heart."

The persona user nodded. "A deal's a deal. December thirtieth works for you, right?"

Shin shrugged. "It does. But you know, I was half-kidding. You don't actually have to go through with this. If you do. I won't hold back. It would be useless if I did. There's the very real possibility you might die."

"Memento Mori." Minato said nonchalantly. "You've helped me for the greater part of a year. It's about time I payed you back. I said I'd fight you if you helped me out today, so I intend to do just that. I've come too far to back down now." He smiled at his friend. "Besides, maybe I'll finally be able to prove to you that you're wrong about bonds."

"I doubt that very much."

"I wield the wild card. My bonds are my power." Minato replied. "And when you lose to me, you will lose to them as well."

The Demifiend grunted and turned away, fading into the encroaching shadows. Just as Minato was sure that he had disappeared completely into the concrete jungle, his voice wafted back, still as quiet as whisper. "I hope your blade is as sharp as your bravado, child. If it is, then perhaps you are ready to face me. But still, I doubt it. Until then, wielder of the wild card."

"So that's it?" Aleph asked. "Something so simple?"

"I'm a simple man." Shin retorted. "It is how I usually operate after all. No need to fix what isn't broken."

"Well whatever. Just be careful." Aleph and Hiroko waved goodbye as they stepped through the portal into the labyrinth between worlds. "I hope you find what you're looking for Shin. Really, I do."

The portal closed and once more the cool night air was silent. Standing alone with Pixie, Shin looked up at the dark sky. "I hope I do too."

Memories swirled and faded, tossed and turned, shifting between dream and nothingness. Corrin hung between the consciousness and unconsciousness, recovered from his wounds but too tired to do anything but sleep. There would be a time for waking soon enough, but for now, the part of him that was still Shin Managi was content to wait, and to remember friends long gone.

Author's Note-

Thank you very much for reading! If you have questions, critiques, or predictions, please leave a review and I'll do my best to get back to you!

So this was our first interlude! Sorry if it wasn't quite what you were expecting. I did try not to go too overboard with the filler. (Though, there was some stuff with Minato and Shin which will come up again later.) But for the most part this was supposed to be a break from the darker tone of the last couple chapters. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry I didn't get this out in time for Christmas. Hope you all had a happy holidays!

vampireharry the 2- Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

Mirage- Thanks! Pixie's a tad territorial... You really can't blame her too much for it. Don't worry we'll be getting some more interactions pretty soon!

Disclaimer- This is a nonprofit, fan-based work. All characters and settings belong to their respective owners.

Next Time- The Slaughter at Dragonfall.