Akira closed his eyes as he and Raidou leaned against each other, appreciating the human warmth emanating from his companion.

"You're awfully tolerant," Raidou muttered.

"You're warm."

"Don't like the cold?"

"No, you don't. Except..."

"for ice cream on a hot summer's day."

"Kept cold by a Jack Frost who carried it all the way home..."

"a bucket of ice cream dancing in the street," they finished together.

Raidou pulled away. "Grandfather had a hard time explaining that other people couldn't tell the bucket was being carried by someone."

"And he liked the ice cream too much to bother." Akira looked at Raidou. "If you can accept our shared memories then why can't you accept that we're the same person?"

"Because we're not. You're Akira and I'm Raidou. Those are two different people."

Akira jerked slightly, but didn't say anything.

"Where are my companions?"

"With their Shadows."

"Do you think they're alright?"

"Why do I care?"

Raidou motioned to the unconscious humans. "Because they're the ones helping stop this dreck."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Shaking his head, Raidou replied, "These are dreck. They assume they know you and they attempt to ensnare you."

Akira looked stubbornly away from the humans, arms crossed.

"They're trying to use shadows to form an army."

That certainly grabbed Akira's attention. "What?"

"If these people are in league with the mysterious entity Souji encountered, then they want to recruit you, and they want to torment Persona users to create more powerful shadows."

"For a war?"

"We don't know the details, but something like that. It might even be as cheesy as worldwide domination or…"

"Or?"

"Armageddon."

"Armageddon?"

"The woman I met spoke of the end of the world."

"These people spoke of free will. Do you think it's the same organization?"

Raidou strode over the unconscious woman, pushing her over so he could examine her shirt. "Definitely."

"A sakura pin."

"The woman on the bridge wore that as well."

"The end of the world," Akira muttered. He didn't seem too upset by the idea.

"Don't get any bright ideas. Now, where are my companions?"

"Wherever their Shadows lurk."

"Can you tell where that is?"

"Don't order me around," Akira growled, yellow eyes flashing.

"If I have to do it on my own that's fine, but don't act like you're going to help and then get angry."

Akira took a deep breath. "I'll give you a starting point."

"Thank you."

The Shadow closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel the fog all around him, the fog of his own confused mind. He could hear the walls and floors beating and the fog flowed through it all and then outside into the garden. The garden…

He opened his eyes. "They're in the garden, and they're in trouble."

"Trouble?"

Akira began to run, not even listening for Raidou's footsteps behind him.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Shadows, and people, I think. A lot of them."

"More dreck?"

Akira grinned. "Got your gun ready?"

They slammed through the front door together, bullets and electricity blazing.

Akira had been right. Shadows swarmed the traditional garden, and he could hear humans shouting out commands. Cherry blossoms flew.

The trees were moving, swatting aside the invading shadows while stones seemed to gnaw at the invaders. Even that strange sight could only hold Raidou Kuzunoha's attention for so long though.

The swarm wasn't aiming for him and Akira, instead shuffling to the middle where someone was putting up quite the fight.

Playing cards carrying spears rained down from the sky, obliterating anything they touched while an inhuman shriek pierced the space.

Raidou felt his soul wrench. "Butterfly."

The shadow which had enveloped Butterfly earlier now loomed over the fight, katana slashing at enemies.

"They're both together," Akira shouted.

"What?"

"Idiot, get out of here. These shadows will leave me alone."

"But…"

"Shadows don't kill other shadows. Now get a move on!"

Electricity barreled through the enemies, clearing the path to Butterfly and Souji. Raidou's breath caught in his throat even as he began to rush through it, drawing his katana to try and keep the path clear.

Butterfly's human form was mostly transparent, exposing a large glowing blue butterfly underneath. He kept circling around Souji, fending off more enemies than even he could possibly handle.

As for Souji he sat on his knees staring at the ground. He didn't even seem aware of the fight around him.

A shadow clambered into Raidou's path only to be swatted away by a giant branch.

"Keep the path clear and let the humans leave," Akira shouted over the battlefield. Something red flew overhead, landing on several of the shadows, who then turned away to seek out other targets.

Raidou grabbed Souji's arm, attempting to hoist the man and start running without pause. Souji stayed still, a dead weight in Raidou's arms. Damn, he was heavy.

"What the hell? Move!" He grabbed Souji's shoulders and shook. Vacant eyes stared back at him, moisture slowly pooling around the edges.

Growling Raidou hoisted the large boy to his feet. "I don't give a damn what's happened, you and I are leaving. Now. Butterfly!"

"We have to get through the gate first," Butterfly whispered. The shadow around him hadn't dissipated, but the human form around the butterfly flickered feebly, and even the butterfly didn't seem as bright as before. His gentle whisper seemed all he could manage.

Letting Souji lean against him, Raidou pulled out one of his tubes. Quickly, he undid the latch. "We need a blizzard, Raiho."

"Yee-ho," the uniformed Jack Frost shouted. Snow enveloped them, damaging the shadows and reducing visibility.

Raidou grabbed Souji's arm. "We're running. Now, and you have to run with me." With that he began to move straight ahead, counting on Akira and Raiho to keep the way clear. Counting on Akira. It felt wrong in his thoughts, but he'd worry about that when there weren't things trying to kill him.

They burst through the shadows, out the gate and into the fog. Souji trembled and then fell to the ground, his entire body shuddering.

"Butterfly, can you get us out?" Raidou shouted as he put Raiho back in the tube.

The dark shadow, darker now for the butterfly's dim light, enveloped both Raidou and Souji. The screaming sounded deeper and the second voice much quieter.

Author's Note: Having just finished writing Chapter 18 I thought I should go ahead and post Chapter 13, even if it hasn't gotten looked over quite as much as I'd like. That said, I actually really like this one. The interactions between Akira and Raidou are fun to write and I'd been looking forward to it for a long time.

Thanks for sticking with it!