Chikara is too shocked at first to make a sound. The last thing she remembers is seeing her students do the impossible. Her glasses were knocked off her face during the fall. She can't see a thing and believes it's because of her poor eyesight. She turns from her back to her side and grabs the nearby blob that turns out to be her spectacles. After putting them on she realizes that the area's vision, not her own, is messed up. She lifts her upper body with her arms and sees a…crime scene? There are body outlines scattered around a black and white target. The area as a whole looks like a television studio hovering over nothingness. As Chika turns onto her back and holds herself up with her lower arms, she sees yet another peculiar sight. Through the yellow fog, a clown-like teddy bear is staring at her while holding a girl with floppy ears on its back.

"Mrs. Sanada?!" Yosuke exclaims, snapping her back into reality.

"What is…Where…How…?" the young teacher tries to form a sentence as she staggers onto her feet. "Th-This place is giving me a bad vibe..."

The Investigation Team looks at each other. They aren't sure how to explain the situation without sounding crazy.

"Well…We don't know much about the world ourselves," says Chie, "but we know that someone's throwing people in here. When the fog lifts in here, they…"

"The point is, we need to rescue them before that happens," Yosuke butts in. The others nod in agreement.

"Oh!" Chikara lights up. "I used to do something like that with my friends in high school."

"What? No way."

"No, it's true! You see, my school used to change into this big…freaky tower-looking thing at night and sometimes we had to rescue people who were trapped inside. …I remember…the Shadows…"

"You had Shadows where you lived too?" asks Yu.

"Mm-hm...Aki and Junpei were with me at the time."

"Wow, that's amazing, Miss!" Teddie says, eyes glistening. "Is that why you already have glasses? I thought only I knew how to make them. You already know how to deal with Shadows? …Ow!"

Bunny smacks Teddie on the head when he starts pestering the newcomer.

"Slooow down, dude. These are prescription glasses, first of all. Not sure how that's relevant, but…I haven't fought those things in years. I don't think I'd be much help…" Chikara senses the younger teens' eyes on her so she decides to turn them down while she's ahead. "I don't even have my Evoker with me."

"Evoker?"

"A, uh…ahem, way for me to summon my Persona…" she leaves out the shape of the object.

"Persona?!" everyone exclaims.

"You have one?" says Yosuke.

"Um…wow, yeah. …You guys do too?"

They nod.

"Jeez, I thought my friends and I were special…" Chikara mumbles. "…But enough about that. You said you're here to rescue people, right? Who exactly…I mean, why are you here?"

Yu begins to shift nervously and the others follow suit. He must have told them about his and Chika's confrontation at the textile shop. It doesn't take long for the teacher to answer her own question. Her eyes widen not only because Kanji may be in danger; she couldn't do anything to help without getting in the way.

"…Please hurry," is all she can say.

…

Chikara couldn't sleep that night. She's worried about her students and new friend. She wraps her phone in her tightly-clenched hands, having flashbacks about being a new member of S.E.E.S. She was young, inexperienced, and terrified. It took her weeks to gather the courage to place the Evoker next to her head and pull the trigger. Thankfully, supportive friends and having no other option helped fix that.

Now that she's alone and unprepared, however, she's regaining that same feeling. The difficulty breathing, the cloudy thoughts, the fear of insanity… She needs to hear someone's voice in the large, dark temporary home.

"Jeez, you complained about me waking you up?"

"A-Aki…The Shadows, they're…"

"…No…Where are you right now? Do you need me to get you?"

"No, no, I'm fine…It's just…Was all that we did for nothing…? I don't…This is really bothering me…Now some kids who're around our age when we were doing it are risking their lives to save someone they don't really know and…"

"Chika, just…breathe for a moment. We didn't know what we were doing when we first started either and we turned out okay, right?"

"I know, I know…" she sighs. "But…Maybe this is bugging me because I know I can do something…I know something about it but I…can't, y'know?"

"It's okay to be scared."

"No it's not! I want to help them! Is there any way you can…I dunno, contact Mitsuru and ask if she still has the Evokers?"

"Chika, think about what you're doing…"

"No. I'm sorry but I can't let this slide. I figured that you of all people would understand."

"…Fine."

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Course not."

Liar.

"Before I call her, promise me that you'll sleep on it," says the boxer. "I still think you're doing this on a whim."

"But the longer I wait…"

"Just have a little faith. Besides, it's been a while and you may be a little rusty..."

...What the hell, Aki.

"…Alright. Okay, I'll think about it. But my decision is pretty much final. Just letting you know."

"Noted. …Well, I'm kinda tired, so…"

"R-Right, sorry for waking you. Good night."

"Night."

Akihiko hangs up abruptly. Yeah, he's definitely pissed. He's not fond of other people's recklessness. Chika wouldn't be annoyed by his reaction if he wasn't being a hypocrite…

…

At the end of the lesson a few days later, Chikara leans on the desk, sighs, and stretches. While Yu stands from his desk, he and the teacher lock eyes. He gives her a smile and a thumbs-up, lifting a huge weight from her shoulders. So he's okay…

Chika rushes to the textile shop as soon as she could and asks Mrs. Tatsumi about her son's condition.

"Yukiko-chan brought him back, thank goodness. He's tired, though. Went straight to his room. Perhaps you could visit another time?"

"Oh, I'll only be a second. Please?"

"…Well, I suppose that's okay, but be quiet."

Chikara sneaks inside Kanji's room. He's fast asleep, sprawled lifelessly on his bed and snoring. His room is unusually clean and filled with cloth and handmade dolls. Chika's glad he's alright but she can't help but feel a little sad. Even after being rescued from a kidnapping, but he looks so peaceful...carefree and...childlike as a trail of slobber forms on his chin.

"Lucky brat…" Chika smiles gently before walking back out.