A/N: Surprise ;-)

I woke up with a smile on my face, or at the very least, a smile had carried over from last night. I'd never felt so happy, waking up that morning. Naoto was the first thing I saw that day, so I knew nothing would stand in the way of my being happy.

She smiled as I rolled over, opened my eyes, and yawned. "Good morning, Yu."

"Ooh, it feels like I got hit by a truck..." I groaned, as my body ached.

"We did. Well, metaphorically speaking." Naoto laughed, as she stood up, briskly. "I had Dojima-San bring up some coffee for you. I went to make some, but he protested for some reason." Her face had a look of confusion on it.

"After all this time, eh?" I chuckled. Yawning once more, I stood. "Well, let's get ready for the day, no?"

"Okay." She nodded, happily. "I am actually quite upset."

"Why's that?"

"Well, my pea coat was obliterated. That was, well..." She sighed. "That was a gift from grampa..."

My head slumped slightly with guilt. "O-oh, I'm sorry."

"It's no worry, really. I'd just been fond of the coat. Just like the hat though, it had to go."

For some reason, she'd never told me about this. "Yeah, what happened to that hat anyways?"

Naoto sighed again. "I was on a case with another detective. He was a rookie you see. We arrived at this industrial area in a city called Mataru. On our way in-,"

"Did you get caught in a gunfight or something?! Oh, and some crook shot it off your head?!"

"... No... the rookie bumped into me while we were walking on this catwalk, and the hat fell into a chemical treating bin... the Hazmat wouldn't let me have it. So, I had to leave it." She shook her head. "I swear, sometimes you remind me of a six-year old."

Laughing, I stood from the bed. "Yeah? Isn't that charming?"

"Oh, quiet." She smiled, leaned over and pecked me on the cheek.

We both made our way downstairs. My uncle was sitting at the kitchen table, still reading a newspaper. It was like nothing had changed. Well, his hair had gotten noticeably more gray. It was very close to his fiftieth birthday. A week away at that point. I sat opposite him. "Good morning."

"Ah, good morning, Yu. Hey, uh, look I-... I got a call from the office in Tatsumi Port. They know what caused it."

My heart dropped. "... What happened?"

"A gas leak." My uncle sighed, and wiped his brow. "Just that. A gas leak. And they're positive that that's how it happened. They had forensics and firefighters after the accident."

I was silent.

"They're sending some stuff here. It should only be another day."

I nodded. "Thank you." Standing, I walked over to the door. "I'm going on a walk."

Uncle nodded. "Alright, go ahead."

"Aren't you going with him, Shirogane?"

"No, he has things he needs to do, alone."

Dojima frowned. "Yeah, I understand." Standing, Dojima folded his newspaper. "I need to do some grocery shopping. I wouldn't mind bringing you up to the memorial site on the way."

Naoto nodded. "Thank you, that would be great, Dojima-San."

Dojima laughed. "You can call me Ryotaro if you like. Or just Uncle. Whatever is easier."

Naoto blushed furiously. "O-oh... thank you."

I had to walk somewhere. Anywhere but in that house. So, I went to the nearest place that I could be alone. Atop the hill by Samegawa. As I slogged up the stairs, I noticed someone sitting underneath the gazebo.

"Minato?" I made my way to him.

He was reading a book, only taking a glance away to see me. "Oh, hello Narukami. I was going to seek you out later." He placed a bookmark in the large, thick novel. "Things are working out today, I guess."

"Why you say that?" Taking a seat next to him, I sighed.

"I've heard from an important woman." Minato recollected.

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Who else, but Mitsuru Kirijo?"

My jaw dropped. "Y-you mean, of the Kirijo group? A few years back, I ran into her. She'd come to Inaba to investigate shadow activity."

"Not surprising." Minato laughed. "She called me out of the blue, right from this phone I've had since, what, 2006?"

"How'd she know your number?" I asked, befuddled.

Minato shook his head. "She just called me. As soon as I picked up, she didn't waist any time. 'Dead men do not come back alive to use the same phone!' I was honestly scared."

I laughed. "Well, I don't blame you. She's really intimidating."

"But then I heard something distressing, and I may need your assistance. I've explored your 'TV World' thoroughly. From there, you could reach anywhere in the world, so much faster than you can here. So her, Akihiko Sanada, and an old friend, Junpei Iori are on their way here."

"Quite the cavalry." I joked. "What's so distressing about that?"

Minato bowed his head. "You didn't let me finish. My gi- ah, I mean, my friend Aigis went missing a week ago."

"Aigis too? I know her."

Minato sighed. "I'm sure you do. She seems to be following Mitsuru around these days, eh?"

"These days? From what it sounds like, you've been gone for years. A lot can change."

"I think it's been more than a decade."

I chuckled. "That's pretty bad. Aigis, I'm sure, is different now."

Minato stood, and walked to the fence overlooking town. "I guess."

Standing, I approached him. "You getting swept away in nostalgia?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes.

I leaned on the fence as well. "I like this place. It's calming." I remembered something at that moment. "You said the apocalypse is coming. What did that mean?"

Minato turned to me. "We need more power if we want to make this work... but I know what to do. The way the world will end... I will tell you. But first, we need the help of Mitsuru's group. The 'shadow busters', if you will."

"Well, let's hear it then."

A red motorcycle sped down a long, narrow highway. A man in a full, red biking suit, rode atop it. His helmet glistened against the light of the street lamps.

His phone beeped annoyingly. He spoke; "Answer."

Another beep, then a voice. "Jeez, you are a tough person to call nowadays, eh?"

"Hello, Eikichi." His voice was quite monotonous.

The one over the phone sounded offended. "Don't act like I'm annoying, Tatsuya. Besides, I actually have an assignment from the ice-queen herself."

"Go on." Tatsuya made a turn onto an exit. Parking in a small lot outside of a liquor store.

"Okay, so a lot of shit's been happening in this little town, called Inaba."

Tatsuya removed his helmet, and set it on his bike. "Inaba, huh?" His face was pale and intense, with a single scar above his left eyebrow, not very visible due to his bangs.

"Yeah, some rural town. IS that the squeak of leather I'm hearing?" He laughed. "Damn, we're old men and you still wear that getup." Eikichi joked.

"Don't make fun of my clothes. You wore lipstick in high school."

"You're thirty-nine, and shouldn't be wearing that."

"Suou out."

"Hey wait Tatsu-,"

He cut off the call. Before walking into the store, he looked around a bit. "Seems I need to pay Igor a visit..."

"This apocalypse, this, end of all times, will come about due to the folly of man. Once upon a time, in an event very well covered up by a detective and his brother, demons roamed this plane of existence."

I stared at Minato incredulously. "Demons?! Like, hellspawn?"

"Not necessarily. No, I mean Shadows, whom had awakened to their ego slightly, and could communicate intelligently with people. A small group of people had to sever their ties together at many points during this journey. Eventually, they solved most of their problems, at the expense of their memories."

"So they had to forgo their memories for peace?"

"Precisely. Now, during these events, that were dubbed the Innocent Sin, and Eternal Punishment respectively-,"

"Wait, how do you know all this?"

"The Kirijo Group's well compiled databases. I've read reports on the persona users around at that time. Now, during these events, a being, called Nyarlathotep, pulled the strings. I've reason to believe that he was too weak to do anything about us 'heroes' after his defeat. But now, it has been more than enough time for him to regain his strength. I believe he is the reason Izanami and Nyx came to our world."

"Nyx?" I sighed. "This is a lot of information, Minato."

"I'll explain that little mess soon. But for now, we must focus on this. Now, Nyarlathotep has been playing puppeteer for far too long, and he's been quiet for even longer. Soon, I think he will be back."

I started to sweat. If this Nyarlathotep was coming back, couldn't he do worse than Izanami and Ameno-Sagiri combined? "This guy sounds strong. We need to plan a course of action, it seems."

"Yes, Narukami-San, exactly. And this first sign of his return is the emergence of the tower called Tartarus, inside of your 'TV World'."

"Wait, there's a tower in the TV World? It sounds like you've been there before."

Minato shook his head, disdainfully. "Unfortunately, yes. I went back to investigate after your battle with your shadows. I could not find it, but my Persona were telling me that they felt its coldness. It's harsh, foreboding presence is definitely something you do not forget..."

We stood there, leaning against the railing for a while, until I heard a familiar voice...

Thou hast put thy faith in bonds of the people.

Thou shalt be blessed when creating persona of the

Universe Arcana

"You feel than Minato-San?"

"It seems that I've made a bond with the World arcana..."

We stood for a few more seconds, before simultaneously laughing uncontrollably.

Nanako Dojima walked, across the flood plain, past the shopping district, and home. Opening the door, she walked in lazily. "Oof, I'm tired..."

Plopping down on the couch, she immediately opened her bag and pulled out her homework. "Dad's birthday is in seven days... he'll be fifty. Fifty years old!" She giggled. "Sheesh he's old."

After her homework was all said and done with, she proceeded to turn on the television.

"-and in other news, the reconstruction of Yasoinaba High School has begun, after the dramatic explosion that leveled a fourth of the school's practice building."

"Ugh, I'll be out of there by the time they're done rebuilding..." Nanako sighed.

"The reason for the explosion is still unknown, and authorities are clueless as to whether this was an act of arson, or a simple gas-leak. Chief Dojima had this to sa-," The reporter was cut off as Nanako changed the channel absentmindedly. The Junes theme played quietly.

"Ugh, I hate seeing dad on TV. It freaks me out." She smiled wistfully. "Although, it's cool being the police chief's daughter."

She sat there for a few more minutes, before going up to her room.