"That was a very impressive showing, Sumire-senpai!" I told the red-haired third-year. We were all just emerging from the Yasogami gym, where Sumire had just put on a breathtaking first-place performance for her gymnastics, particularly with the ribbon, her favored instrument. Futaba had wanted to go to support her fellow Thief, even if she hadn't had much interest in gymnastics as a whole (I could tell that it was a struggle for her to keep off her phone during the event), and I'd offered to bring Shen and Arisu as well, since we didn't really have anything better to do. Also Satomi and Atsuko had also tagged along, just for the heck of it.

Sumire looked embarrassed by the praise and fiddled with her glasses. They were a new pair with straps that would stay on her face even when she was doing flips and such. "Well, that was one of my harder routines, and I just… I really wanted to impress the judges this time around. It was very taxing this time."

"It wouldn't be so impressive if it were easy," Atsuko told her. The thief held their hands behind their head as they walked along with the group, leaving their coat open to display their brightly colored shirt.

"And you could totally tell which of those girls were only in it because they wanted the glory," Satomi remarked. "Pretty sure that brunette number who followed you in the ribbon flopped because they were trying too hard to upstage you."

Sumire winced uncomfortably. Arisu frowned. "That's a little rude."

Satomi shrugged. "I don't mince my words."

"Anyway," Futaba interrupted, "I'm hungry. And if we want to get some food, we should probably get going before the rain starts."

True to Futaba's words, the sky was dark with thunderclouds. Arisu's eyes lit up as she noticed brief flashes among the storm front, accompanied by the rolling sound of the wind. Shen stated, "In that case, we should decide on a location fast."

"Maybe that Chinese diner we went to before?" I suggested. "Admittedly, it's the only place around here I actually know."

Satomi and Atsuko looked at each other. "Fine with us," Satomi answered me.

"For the food!" Futaba proclaimed, and then she sped off down the road. Then she stopped and turned around. "Okay, where is this Chinese diner again?"

The first drops of rain were starting to fall from the sky when our group came across another group heading in the same direction. "Oh, hey," Yu greeted us. "Where are all of you headed?"

"That Chinese diner you introduced us to before," I told him. "We're going to be celebrating Sumire-san's win in her gymnastics competition earlier today."

Sumire bowed to Yu. "Pleasure to meet you!"

Ryotaro Dojima chuckled. "No need to be so formal. We're actually headed that way ourselves. Hoping to get some takeout since we haven't done that in a while. Plus, Nanako's bringing a friend this time. But, if you guys are headed the same way, why don't we just eat in the restaurant?"

One of the girls, a petite middle-schooler whose straight brown hair was tied back with a simple braid, said, "Yeah, how long has it been since we last actually ate in the restaurant?" The other girl stood by and watched us curiously.

"Good question," Dojima laughed. He turned back to my group. "Anyway, I'm Ryotaro Dojima, Sumire-san. And these are my nephew Yu, my daughter Nanako, and her friend Ayu. Pleasure to meet you too." He looked up at the sky. "Anyway, we should get going before the rain does."

And the rain sure did get going. No sooner were we under the eaves of the diner's entrance did the rain start to properly pour down from the clouds. Satomi chortled at Shen trying to wring his long ponytail dry, at least until Atsuko took off their hat and started to beat it dry, "accidentally" flicking water all over their lover and making her squeal.

Yu and Dojima managed to get all of us seated with little difficulty, and it wasn't long before the server came up to our table. "Welcome to Aiya's," she said in a neutral voice. "Are any of you here for the Rainy Day Beef Bowl Challenge?"

Yu grinned. "Been a while. Why not?"

"What's that?" Shen asked.

"Basically the biggest beef bowl you've ever seen," Yu told him. "And if you manage to finish it all, you don't have to pay for it."

There was a thud as the server put down a bowl almost as large as a basketball on the table, filled almost to overflowing with meat. Yu thanked her before breaking apart his chopsticks and twirling them between his fingers before starting in a low announcer's voice, "To finish this monster of a meal, you must have Understanding of your limits, Knowledge to set the proper pace, Courage to tackle the mountain of meat and Diligence to keep on eating. All of these skills are required to finish off the Mega Beef Bowl!"

Nanako laughed at him. "God, you're so extra!"

Sumire beamed, "That sounds like fun! I'm in!"

"A challenge!" Shen also proclaimed. "I'll take one too."

The serving girl immediately dropped two equally-sized bowls in front of both of them. "Anyone else?"

"No thanks," Dojima chuckled. "I'll just have my usual."

"I'm with the sheriff," I told her. "Small stomach. I'll just have a house special."

"Would it be alright if the two of us shared one of those Mega Beef Bowls?" Atsuko asked.

"If you're not doing the challenge, they're 3000 yen," the server told them.

Yu waved her off. "It's alright Aika, I'm paying." Atsuko pumped a fist.

"Wait, for all of us!?" Futaba exclaimed. "Seriously, talk about OP."

Once Arisu, Futaba, Nanako, and Ayu ordered, everyone who'd ordered a Mega Beef Bowl immediately attacked their respective mountains of meat. After a few minutes, when the server came back with the rest of our orders, the results were already starting to become clear. Yu, evidently having done this before, was inhaling his bowl like a starving dragon, and had already cut the contents in half. Sumire was proceeding at a more relaxed pace, but she still had quite the stomach, and had managed to make a noticeable dent in her meat. Shen, on the other hand, was already regretting his decision.

"Oog," Shen groaned. "I might've been a little too hasty here."

Yu swallowed another chunk of meat. "Tapping out already?"

Shen snorted. "Nah. I can eat some more. Besides, it's probably a good thing for me to have this experience so I can know my limits better next time."

Alright, I stand corrected.

I turned my attention to Satomi and Atsuko, who were mostly just playing around with their beef bowl. Whenever Satomi picked up a piece of meat, Atsuko would try to steal it, and they would end up in playful jousting matches with their chopsticks, which inevitably ended either in one of them claiming victory, both of them sharing the meat across a kiss, or the meat ending up back in the bowl or, every now and then, on the floor. Meanwhile, Futaba had already inhaled her own food and was now texting on her phone, occasionally giggling like a gremlin in the middle of a prank.

Nanako-chan, on the other hand, was entertaining her friend. I originally had thought Ayu was just a quiet sort, but practically as soon as she'd taken her seat, she'd immediately demanded Nanako tell her about all the cool Persona adventures she and her "big bro" had been on.

"...but then when they listened to Namatame-san, they realized he hadn't known the TV world was dangerous, and that he really was trying to save people," Nanako chattered, Ayu looking at her with stars in her eyes. "So big bro and his team had to look back and put together who the original killer could possibly have been. They had to have been able to go around unnoticed, had contact with both announcer-san and Saki-san, knew what Namatame-san was doing, and stood by and watched."

"And it was that Adachi guy, right?" Ayu asked.

Nanako nodded. "So big bro and his team confronted him in the hospital, chased him into the TV world, beat him up, and sent him to jail!"

"And then on the last day, he fought the ghost of Izanami, right?" Ayu further prompted, her eyes shining.

I snickered under my breath. Those two had been going on like that for quite a while. For some reason, Ayu had this odd fascination with ghosts, and given that Nanako was cousins with a powerful Persona-user, it made sense how they became friends.

Then Nanako said, "Yeah, and then all the fog in the TV world disappeared, and it turned into a gorgeous garden! It's so pretty, and I'm even growing flowers from there in my own garden!"

I almost did a double-take. "You've been to the Garden of Hearts, Nanako-chan?"

Nanako nodded. "Big bro took me there, and I saw the dungeon called heaven where Namatame took me when he threw me in years ago. I even got to face my Shadow!"

I was floored by this declaration, and judging by their expressions, so were my friends and the thieves. Another piece of meat hit the floor as both Atsuko and Satomi's jaws dropped simultaneously. "How does a kid your age have a Persona!?" an incredulous Satomi demanded.

"It wasn't too hard," Nanako said. Her face fell a little at the memory. "She said some stuff that hurt, like how I would never see my mom again, that I'm a burden to Dad and big bro, and stuff like that. But big bro was there to remind me that my family loves me and wants me to succeed no matter where they are, and I told my Shadow that as long as I had my family and friends, I could do anything. And then she just said "I am thou, thou art I", and turned into Kaya-no-Hime!"

Nanako raised her hands and cupped them in front of her, and a shining blue Tarot card appeared, spiralling down toward her palms. Dojima put out his hand to stop her. "Nanako, no Personas at the table."

Nanako dropped her hands, the card vanishing, and grinned sheepishly up at her dad. "Sorry, Dad."

Dojima chuckled. "Finish your dinner. You can show off your Persona all you want some other time."

Shen swallowed another bite of meat before addressing me. "Hey, Kenzo, how come you don't do that card thing when you summon?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I think it might just be a stylistic thing, and I just never felt the need. Still…" I held out my own hand. Lo and behold, a Tarot card bearing the Fool spiraled down into my palm. "Huh. I wonder what other stylistic methods of summoning there are."

There was a bang of chopsticks being slapped onto the tabletop. Yu had just finished his entire beef bowl. "Challenge complete," he reported in a satisfied tone before leaning back against his seat with his hands behind his head and a smug look on his face.

A second later, the serving girl was there, taking the bowl. "Didn't quite beat your record this time, Yu-san," she told him.

Yu shrugged. "I was taking it easy this time. Thanks for the meal, Aika."

Aika nodded. "As promised, it's free. As for the rest of you…"

"I'm almost done!" Sumire said cheerfully. She had indeed carved out a substantial portion of her bowl, and judging by how strongly she still held herself, she was barely being affected by the sheer mass of food she was consuming.

Shen winced and picked a little at his meat. "Man, you guys are seriously making me feel weak."

"Hey, I've never been a big eater," I remarked. "No idea why, but it's certainly kept me scrawny-"

There was a tap as my chopsticks, which I'd unconsciously lowered to pick up another morsel, hit the bottom of my plate. Surprised, I turned back to find that I had eaten everything on my plate. "What in the- Did I seriously just finish my food that fast?"

"Seems like it," Arisu told me. "Why?"

"Normally I would be full after a meal that size," I said in a surprised tone. "I mean, I've been eating more since I hit my growth spurt, but a meal that size shouldn't still leave me feeling hungry."

Shen pushed his bowl to a spot between us on the table. "Here, I doubt I'm going to be able to finish this anyway. Let's see how far we can get, eh?"

I smirked. "I suppose I can be content to mooch."

And so the rest of the dinner continued. When Nanako finished her stories, Ayu told some ghost stories of her own. Dojima chatted with his nephew on the recent events in Inaba, with Shen and myself listening in and occasionally asking our own questions. Satomi and Atsuko continued their little game of fighting over each others' food, but nevertheless managed to make a great amount of progress through their beef bowl. Finally, when Sumire was nearly done with hers, Arisu finally laid down her chopsticks on her empty plate and stood.

"I think I'm done for now," she said politely. "I'll be just outside, enjoying the storm." She walked away to the door and stepped out under the eaves to watch the dancing rain and lightning.

I stared after her contemplatively, wondering why she seemed so distant. Then I felt Satomi tap my shoulder. "Do you want to go talk to her?"

I gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Satomi explained, "This might just be me, but I feel like she doesn't truly feel like a part of your group. And I think you want to talk to her to see what's up, and I want to come along because we shared a few things in the hot spring yesterday."

I smirked at her. "You're willing to give up the last of your food?"

Satomi shrugged. "Atsuko needs it more than I do, and if he doesn't finish that by the time we come back in, I'll gladly steal the rest from him. Now come on."

Satomi stood and I followed her out of the restaurant. Arisu was standing under the eaves, looking up at the dark sky, stray raindrops occasionally falling onto her hair and jacket. Her expression of rapt fascination was interrupted by the sound of the opening door and she turned to us. "Why are you out here?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"We figured you could use some company," I told her, "and someone to talk to, if you wanted."

Arisu looked a little forlorn as she looked away. "If you want to talk, you can."

I may not have been as emotionally intelligent as Satomi, but even I could tell something was up with Arisu from that. Unfortunately, I also didn't really know where to start. Humans were such complex things. You could never tell when saying one thing would lead down a wrong path or doing another thing could hurt someone in a way you never intended. So I looked away from Arisu and looked up at the storm for myself.

At first glance, the storm just seemed like a mass of clouds that poured down rain. But every now and again, a flash of lightning lit up a certain section, or blazed across the sky in branching arcs, never low enough to touch down on the ground, but always providing a spectacular display. The howl of the wind and the overwhelming scent of petrichor played across my ears and nose as I raised my arms a little from ny sides to feel them. My breath was filled with the stormy air.

"I agree with you, you know," I finally spoke again. Arisu turned to me and I explained. "I really enjoy a good storm. You don't get them very often on the west coast of the United States, but watching the lightning, listening to the rain, feeling the wind through your hair and your fingers… *sigh* the sky just feels so alive."

Arisu smiled faintly and returned her own gaze to the clouds. "I feel the same way, but it's not just the storm's power for me. It's the freedom." Her gaze turned sad, and she glanced at me. "When the wind blows, nothing can stop it. If it hits a mountain or a building, it just goes over it or around it. It just keeps going, on and on, around the entire world, carrying endless stories with it wherever it goes. And… I really want that kind of freedom."

Arisu's gaze fell on her Shackle, still locked around her left wrist. There was a shimmer of blue, and the manacle appeared over her Shackle, still with eight chains branching out from the catalyst, going into the ground, the wall, or fading off into the open air. I didn't say anything, even though it was clear what she was thinking about.

Arisu sighed and dropped her arm, letting it hang from the chains. "My parents are… a bit tough on me," she confessed. "They didn't manage to have me until they were already on the old side, and they're pretty strict. They've been pushing me to succeed at everything I do for as long as I remember. It was hard sometimes, but… it felt nice, having them praise me when I aced my exams, or ran for student council. But those things were still things they told me to do. And now there's entrance exams coming up, and I have to decide what field I'm going to go into, and there's the Outbreak on top of that, and… I just… I want my life to be mine. I don't want it to be decided by my parents."

There was a tinkling sound as one of the chains hanging in the air shattered, leaving only seven linked to Arisu's manacle. I gave her a smile. "I guess sharing your feelings is the first step to overcoming them."

"Be glad you're not me," Satomi said ruefully. "My parents are just… absolute garbage. Couple of bigoted conspiracy theorists who think beating their kid whenever she steps out of line is the best way to keep her from turning into a delinquent." She spat off to one side, her eyes crimson. "Joke's on them since I met Atsu. Once they were there for me, I didn't need my parents anymore. Almost as soon as the Outbreak happened, the both of us Awakened trying to protect each other, and we've been running ever since."

I nodded my head in somber agreement. "I suppose people like us really do know about battle scars, don't we?" I raised my right hand, displaying the scar from the golden feather that used to sit there.

"I don't think I ever learned the story behind that scar," Satomi mentioned.

"I found a fragment of an evil god that the leader of the Phantom Thieves shot through the head a couple Christmases ago, and it jammed clean through my hand until it emerged out the back, simultaneously causing me to obtain my first Persona."

I said this in an unbothered, nonchalant tone, and Satomi just stared at me for a minute. "You're joking."

"Nope. Though I wish I were, considering how much it hurt. I spent almost two months with a fragment of an evil god lodged in the back of my hand, trying to tempt me with promises of power like some sort of parasitic One Ring," I scoffed. "As for how I got it out of me, well, the video went viral is all I'm going to say."

Satomi shrugged. "I wouldn't have seen it. Neither me nor Atsu have phones, or any way to pay for coverage."

"Well, you can get someone to show you," I told her. "The point is…" My eyebrows knit as I realized I had lost track of the conversation. "What was the point?" I wondered aloud.

Arisu audibly held back a laugh. "Doesn't really matter." She looked up at the storm clouds again. "Still, it was nice to get that off my chest. Maybe soon I'll feel comfortable talking about the rest of me that I hide."

Unexpectedly, another chain on Arisu's manacle trembled and then shattered, leaving her with only six. Satomi didn't really know the significance, but Arisu and I were dumbfounded. "Two chains in five minutes?" Arisu said in a shocked tone.

"Think you can actually get it off now?" I asked.

Arisu's gaze set with determination. "I think I'm ready to try."

Arisu raised her left fist and seized the shining manacle with her opposite hand. A heartbeat's pause, and then she suddenly yanked at the etherial bonds, causing the manacle to creak from the strain. Another tug, and Arisu's arms flexed against her chains, but again they held fast. On the third yank, the manacle finally shattered, and azure fires erupted around Arisu. The girl let out a gasp at the sudden flux of power within. Before her, a shining figure materialized out of the cerulean light. She was a woman in a pure white dress and cloak, her hauntingly beautiful face carved as from ice, and she stood upon a storm cloud, with flurries swirling around her.

"Chione," Arisu breathed. "The daughter of Boreas, the goddess of snow. My Persona…"

Chione looked at her user, and a soft voice spoke in Arisu's mind:

I am thou, thou art I.

Then she vanished in a puff of flame.

Arisu stumbled and leaned against the door. "You alright?" I asked.

"Fine," she told me. "I just need a minute."

A minute or two later, Arisu was able to stand more or less upright, though she still leaned a little against the wall. "Well, I guess this makes me a real member of the team now, doesn't it?"

"You say that like you weren't already," I told her.

Arisu gave a huff of laughter. "That's so like you to say that." She looked at me with genuine appreciation. "Thanks for listening to me Kenzo. You can count on my continued support from now on."

The now-familiar voice of Saraiah echoed in my head again:

I am thou, thou art I...

Manifest hast been thine vow...

Reforge thy soul and seize thy future with thine own hands...

The birth of the Priestess Arcana shall give thee the power to open thywings to freedom...

"My nose senses a new Bear-sona!" came a loud and cheery voice that made all three of us jump. Coming up from behind was what could only be described as a bear mascot carrying an umbrella. Naturally, it was easy to conclude who this was.

"Teddie?" I asked.

"The one and only!" Teddie proclaimed. "Before, my sniffer could tell only two of you had Personas, and now all three of you do! So I came to make sure nothing was wrong just in case."

Arisu smiled at the bear, still leaning on the wall of the restaurant. "No, but thanks. I'm just a little tired."

Teddie's eyes seemed to sparkle when he looked at Arisu. "What's your name, miss?"

"Arisu. Arisu Fukuda."

"Well, Risu-chan, why don't we go inside and sit down? Awakening to a Persona is always exhausting."

"Sure," Arisu agreed. Teddie closed his umbrella and opened the door for Arisu before following her inside.

"Oh, sensei!" Teddie exclaimed as he went in. "This girl just got a Persona-"

"WAIT, I MISSED IT!?" Shen burst out right before the door swung shut. I burst out laughing.

"So, how does that work?" Satomi asked. "Does she still need that thing on her wrist to summon a Persona, or was that just a one-time assist?"

"It's called a Shattering Shackle," I told her. "For people who have the potential to Awaken but haven't yet had the opportunity to, it acts as a catalyst that permits them to summon a Persona if they can manage to pull off the chains."

"I guess that makes sense," Satomi remarked with a quick sigh. "Wow. All this Shadow and Persona business is far more complex than I thought it was. Narukami-kun gave me the rundown, but still. This stuff is just… humongous."

"Not really that surprising if you think about it," I told her. "We're dealing with a world born from the cognitions of all of humanity. It's not surprising that it's so vast."

Satomi stared up at the storm, the flashes of lightning punctuating the sound of the rain. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Keep going. From what I've heard, w- I mean, Wild Cards have the most powers because they're the ones tasked with the responsibility of protecting the world from the Shadows. How does it not overwhelm you?"

I looked out into the rain as I contemplated her question. "I'm a simple guy. I don't really need that much in order to keep going. Honestly, I never really put that much thought into the whole Shadow fighting thing. It just felt natural. I mean, I've only had these powers for two and a half months now, but the way I see it, if I have the power to save people I should. There's just nothing else to it. As for how I don't get overwhelmed by it all… I guess I just take things one step at a time. As long as I can concentrate at one thing at a time, I can get through anything."

Satomi looked at the ground, as though contemplating something. "Thanks."

"What?"

"That helped me. So thanks."

I smiled at her. "Least I can do. Advice costs nothing. Now come on, let's head back inside so we can finish eating."

And so we too returned inside the restaurant. Teddie was standing by our table, and Sumire had given him her glasses so he could make them let her see through fog. Ayu and Nanako were pestering Arisu with questions about her Persona, and Yu and Dojima were doing their best to keep them from swarming the new Persona-user. And in the background came the cheerful voice of Mariko Kusimi.

"As requested, I have provided not just a light shower, but a full-on storm! I hope you enjoy the rain and thunder tonight!"

I could do nothing but smile and rejoin Shen in finishing off his beef bowl, while Satomi likewise returned to her lover. For now, all was right with the world.

When Satomi opened her eyes, she was standing in a formless space before a blue door emblazoned with a gold V. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door, stepping past into the firelit banquet hall beyond.

The old man at the head of the table gave a high-pitched chuckle as he peered at her down the length of his ten-inch nose.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room my dear young lady."