Minato looked at the rest of the SEES with one of his rare smiles, "Didn't think I'd see you guys here..."

Mitsuru lost her composure, "Minato... is it really you?" she reached out to touch him, fearing that he was just a dream, but her fears were swept away when her finger touched his face, "It... It's really you...", her eyes teared up.

Minato wiped her tears away, "Come on, I'm sure you have work to do, is there any way I can help?"

Akihiko looked him over, "This isn't possible, we saw you..."

"I'm a host... that's all I can say"

"A man of few words, as always"

"Be right back", as he walked past them into the changing rooms, several girls tried to claw down the door.

Akihiko turned to Mitsuru, "It can't be him, yet... there's no denying it"

Mitsuru turned to Tamaki, "When did that boy join this club?"

Tamaki scratched his forehead, "Not that long ago, actually. He just walked in and asked if he could join, ever since, he's been a natural"

Mitsuru turned to Fuuka, "Can you analyze him?"

Fuuka stared blankly, "I don't need to, I can feel it without using my persona"

Labrys looked at the door, "So, Aigis, that's him? That's the person that's so special to you?"

Aigis nodded, not even realizing that she was smiling, "Yes, he is"

Yu walked up to Mitsuru, "From what you told me, he shouldn't be here. This confirms that something's going on here that has to do with shadows"

Mitsuru refocused herself, "Yes... we're on the right track, but... where are the shadows, then?"

The room went silent as Minato walked out of the changing room in his costume. He whispered something to Aigis, then took the crowd away with him to a table. Aigis walked over to Mitsuru, "He says that we should wait for him, and that he'll help us once club time is over. I wish to stay and watch him"

Mitsuru sighed, "Well, Aigis, you are a student, so you can stay and look after him. bring him back to the hotel after the club is closed, alright?"

"Understood, permission to use force against excited hostiles surrounding Minato, requested"

Mitsuru was thinking it over when Akihiro stepped in, "Denied! They aren't trying to hurt him, Aigis..."

Haruhi managed to break through the crowd, "Hey, Minato, how do you know those people?"

Minato looked away, "... They're special to me"

Everyone had gathered in the lobby, including a surprise guest that made Misturu uncomfortable, "Aigis, why is Haruhi here?"

Haruhi sighed, "And I thought the twins were good at kidnapping..."

Aigis spoke calmly, "Minato insisted that she come along, he said she is someone we can trust with this information"

"Information...? Just who are you people...?"

Minato looked at Haruhi, "Shadow hunters"

Everyone looked at him in shock as Haruhi tilted her head, "Shadow hunters?"

"Within everyone is a side of them they don't like, that they reject, a dark side they wish would just vanish. This side can manifest itself in certain conditions, once it does, this being is known as a shadow. If the shadow is rejected by it's owner, it becomes violent. However, once the owner accepts the shadow as a part of themselves, the shadow becomes a Persona. A persona is the strength within a person to face life's trials. The only way to fight a shadow is with a persona, and these people have already faced themselves, making them warriors that can battle against the shadows"

"Nothing personal, but you sound like a bad manga"

"The customer that had a panic attack, how do you explain that? She was physically and mentally stable, yet she broke down without warning. The only explanation is that a shadow attacked her within the corridors of her mind. You, too, hold such a being within your mind, and if it isn't dealt with, it will cause problems, that is, until it kills you"

"And I should believe any of this because...?"

Minato stood up, his hand held high, as a single card began to spin in his hand. He pulled his hand down and crushed the card in his hand, "Messiah!", as he cried out, the massive being formed behind him. His persona moved quickly towards Haruhi, as it went to grab her, a Haruhi doppleganger was pulled away, "This is your shadow, only you can put it to rest"

It was tossed to the ground, it's voice just like Haruhi's, "Leave me alone, you freak! Sheesh, no matter where I go, I'm surrounded by nothing but nutjobs and wierdos! Why can't they just all go dive off a cliff and let the normal people live peacefully? That, and some fancy tuna would make life so much better..."

Haruhi looked at the shadow of herself, "They aren't that bad..."

"Are you kidding me? No matter where I go, they're following me or waiting for me when I get there! Is it so wrong that I want to become a lawyer and have a normal life?"

"There's nothing wrong with that"

"And to top it all off, they're idiots! They live like carefree idiots with absolutely no respect for the world around them!"

"Okay, fine, you're me, I give in"

The shadow looked at her, "Thanks, it's nice to be appreciated", as it faded into light, Haruhi saw that it had become a beautiful white maiden, dressed in a huge, pink dress. It turned into a card and landed in her hands.

Minato smiled, "You have the Persona Cheri, the maiden who follows her heart, wherever it may lead her. It suits you"

Haruhi fell onto the couch, "Why am I so tired...?"

"Being split from a part of yourself is very tiring. For now, you should just sit down and let me explain the situation to you. Not too long ago, I battled shadows alongside my friends, the people here now. Although we won, in the end, I was forced to forfeit my life temporarily in order to keep everyone safe, until all of the shadows in the world are eliminated, I'm bound to a place of which I cannot escape, a door that leads to all the shadows that are being contained"

"But, you're here right now"

"No, this is only a formation of my will. This body will only last until the end of tonight, and since my friends can't draw shadows out of people, I need you to take my place and draw out the darkness lurking in people's hearts. It will only work on people when they begin to be influenced by their shadow, and their behavior starts becoming abnormal. With you, I noticed how you became less upset over things that should've bothered you more, you were suppressing your instincts. You were lucky that you could accept your shadow, remember, most people reject their shadow at first, you must defeat it and make those people see the truth. Good luck, Haruhi"

"This is... too much"

Aigis clung to Minato, "Please... don't leave again... I don't want you to go..."

Minato smiled and looked, everyone else looked the way Aigis felt, either crying or ready to, "Hey, Aigis, remember what I said? About people leaving, that is"

Aigis gripped him harder, "I know you're in my heart, but still... I don't want you to go..."

"I'll come back to stay, one day, but for right now, I have to leave it all to you. And by the way, Narukami? If you see Elizabeth, in the velvet room, could you tell her, I said hello? It would mean a lot to me"

Yu nodded, "Sure thing"

"Well... I'm sorry, but my time's up... thank you, for showing up", as he slowly started to fade, Aigis began to cry again, she kept it down to just letting her tears fall, but it was still a sad scene.

Mitsuru placed a pistol on the couch next to Haruhi, "This is a trigger, aim the barrel at your forehead and then pull the trigger to wield your persona"

Haruhi sighed, "Did you just tell me to shoot myself...?"

Mitsuru picked it up and used it, "Persona!", once the demonstration was over, she placed it back on the couch, "Don't let it out of your sight, it's not a gun, but in the hands of someone oblivious to it's use, it can still be dangerous"

Yu put Haruhi on his back, "Come on, I'll drive you home"

As he carried her out to the limo, he was stopped by a girl in a strange, blue uniform, with yellow hair and eyes, "He's inside, isn't he?!"

Yu sighed, "No, he just left, but he told me to tell you that he was thinking about you"

"Oh... that figures, that he would do something like that. That girl, is she the one he left behind?"

"He awakened her persona"

"I see... so that's what he was doing. Well then, good luck in your endeavors, visitor of my sister", with that, Elizabeth walked through a door leading to nowhere, a smile on her face.

At first, Haruhi thought it was a dream, she did wake up in her own home, in her own clothes, so why wouldn't she think all the craziness of last night was just a dream? That question was answered as she rolled over and found the gun with her name written across the barrel. When she picked it up, she found the phone underneath it, and the note attached, "Dear Haruhi, this is a cellphone for members of the SEES only. Should you need to contact us, our numbers have been programed into this phone. Reversely, should we need you, you will answer this phone at any time we call, or we will assume you are under attack and come to you immediately, Mitsuru Kirijo"

She looked at her father, who saw the gun, "Haruhi… what were you doing last night?!"

Haruhi stood up, "Calm down, dad, this is a toy a friend dropped. I found it, so I was going to return it today, at school"

Runka stared at her for a second, "… Okay, but Haruhi, if there's anything you ever want to talk about, I'm here"

Haruhi picked up the phone after her dad left and call Mitsuru, "Hello, Haruhi? I see you found the phone"

"You left me alone, passed out, with a gun underneath my stomach?!"

"It isn't a real gun"

"My dad doesn't know that!"

"If there are any problems, I can help you, is there anything that needs to happen? Memory wipe stations are available"

"Unless you're going to let me use one on myself, then no, there's nothing"

"Alright then. Oh, Aigis and Labrys will escort you to school today, since you've awakened your persona, shadows will target you, so you might need the extra protection"

"Protection?"

"Since it's daytime, you should be safe, but it's best to take precautions"

"Fine…"

"Oh, and be careful not to say the words 'Orgia mode activate' around Aigis"

"What? Why?"

"If you do, she'll burn through her clothes and expose herself as a robot. The phrase isn't particularly common, but like I said, precautions. And to clear up any misunderstandings, even though Labrys and Aigis are robots on paper, in reality, they're just like normal people, so don't treat them any different than you would a person"

"How can you say that so casually…?", Haruhi looked outside and there they were, standing around in school uniform. Looking closely, they were covering up a lot of their skin… no, it was too unreal, they had to be people, even if it was only in heart.

The second she stepped outside, Haruhi was met with a very soft greeting from Aigis, "Good morning…"

Haruhi looked at Aigis, "Are you okay, Aigis?"

Labrys pulled Haruhi aside, "She's just sad because Minato left last night"

"Who was he, anyway?"

"Well, according to Mitsuru, he was a student back when she first met him. He was a gifted persona user that could change personas and the leader of the team. Everyone was really close to Minato, but in their final battle, Minato sacrificed himself to protect everyone. After that, he left his trigger and his ability to change personas to Aigis"

"How did he do that?"

"I don't know, but you saw her last night, she's been a little out of it this morning, but she'll be fine"

Aigis looked up, "I am alright, let us now go to school"

Chie blushed as she sat down next to Yu, "This is so wierd…"

Yukiko was blushing as well, "Yeah, why do we have to be 'customers'…?"

Rise clung to his arm, "I don't care! I'm not letting other girls stare at him like he's a piece of meat!"

Haruhi set tea on the table, "How are you guys not freaked out by the fact you're all carrying guns…?"

Yu looked at Haruhi sympathetically, "You get used to it"

"Well, since you three are our last customers, could you tell me how you got wrapped up in this mess?"

"There was a string of murders in our town, we discovered the killer was using shadows to do his dirty work. We solved the case, then later, we met Mitsuru"

"And that's it?"

"In a nutshell"

"What were you guy's shadow's like? You saw mine"

"I didn't have one"

"Why not?"

"Don't know"

"That's a satisfying answer… what about you Chie?"

"I don't wanna talk about it…", Chie looked away

"Yukiko?"

Yukiko buried her face in her hands, "I don't ever wanna remember that experience…"

"Rise?"

Rise looked at Haruhi, "My shadow was hiding in a strip club, I think you can guess how it went from there"

"Really? Wow…"

The twins revealed themselves from behind Haruhi's chair, "Strip club? Haruhi, what kind of friends have you been making?"

Haruhi punched the two of them on the top of their heads, "How long have you two been listening in on us?"

"We just heard the words 'strip club' and 'guess how it went from there'…"

Rise's arms started flailing, "It wasn't like that! Don't get carried away!"

Kanji's shadow cast itself over the twins, "Is something wrong here, Rise? These guys giving you trouble?"

The twins held their hands up, "No! No trouble here! We were just leaving!", they dashed off, fearing the crap being beat out of them.

Naoto sighed, "Kanji, if you keep doing this, people will start spreading rumors again"

"Well, it looked like they were messing with Rise… besides, if there are any rumors, I'll talk to people and set them straight. I asked the girls in the sowing club to help me watch out for them"

Haruhi looked at him funny, "You're in the sowing club?"

"Yeah, got a problem with it?"

"No, I just think that's really cool of you to be yourself without worrying about what other people think. The only other person I know like that is Honey, but with him, it's a little less impressive and little more frightening…"

"That's right, Honey's really tough, too, how old is he?"

"Eighteen"

"No friggin' way!"

"He's the oldest guy here. I've never seen him fight seriously, but he's no slouch"

Naoto looked at her journal, "It appears that he's not allowed to fight at full capacity unless his life his threatened. If he did, he would be arrested for use of lethal force without reasonable explanation"

"Yeah, the last time he fought full-force was against his dad, to prove he could be himself and still be the fighter his dad wanted him to be"

Kanji looked over at him, "Wow, Honey's a real manly guy"

"I don't know about manly… but he sure is tough"

"So, have you seen anybody around here actin' suspicious lately?"

"The only person that I've seen that's been acting wierd is Aigis, she seems really depressed"

Yu put his fingers to his chin, "Well, Aigis never faced her shadow… it's possible that since she opened her heart to Minato, that maybe something is getting out"

"Aigis never faced her shadow? I thought that's how you gained your persona…"

"The original SEES team was gifted, so they could use their personas without ever seeing their shadows. But since they have personas, they must have shadows"

"So, what do we do?"

"You're the one with the persona for this, you have to draw out her shadow, after we get her to a safer area to do so, that is"

"Just where would we do this? There isn't exactly a bomb shelter around here…"

As Haruhi finished her sentence, the sky suddenly became dark and everyone other than the group of persona-users became encased in black coffins. As they looked around, Mitsuru entered through the door, "Sorry for not giving you a warning, but we are in possession of a special artifact, one that recreates the Dark Hour"

"Dark Hour…?"

"An hour between one day and the next, where only persona-users can move about freely. For the next fifty-seven minutes, we can do whatever we like, and once the hour is over, everything will go back to normal. You could destroy the school and it would be as if nothing happened"

Aigis stepped forward from behind Misturu and Akihiko, "You requested my presence?", her tone was cold and robotic, drained of the life it once held.

Haruhi looked to see that everyone else was prepared, triggers in hand. Mitsuru gave Haruhi a nod, "You may begin the extraction"

Haruhi pulled the gun out of her pocket… just hold to your head and fire, right? She shakily put the cold, metal tip to her forehead, "C-Cheri!", she pulled the trigger, her entire mind concentrating entirely on her persona's image as if formed behind her. Haruhi held her hand out, "Help Aigis!"

The maiden dove forward, grabbed Aigis's hands, then swung her around, until another Aigis was thrust through the air. This new Aigis hit the ground with a huge thud, landing on her feet and pointing all of her weapons directly at Teddie, "Shadow aquired, executing now"

Teddie ran as fast as his feet could carry him, "Ai-chan, what's wrong?!"

Everyone jumped to defend Teddie, and the shadow Aigis revealed every weapon in her arsenal, "Targets harboring shadows, considered hostile, eliminating now"

Haruhi stepped out in front of her guns, "Stop, please!"

"Civilian detected, requesting removal"

"No, not until you tell me why you're trying to kill Teddie!"

"Target is under category 'shadow', and must be eliminated"

"So what if he's a shadow? He isn't gonna hurt anyone"

"Until all shadows are eliminated, I am insufficiently working towards my goal"

"You think just killing all shadows will help bring Minato back?!"

"…"

"Shadows may be dangerous, but they're a part of people! What, are you just going to kill everyone until you get him back? Is that what you want?!"

The weapons began calibrating themselves, "New target aquired, firing now"

Yu barely had time to whisk Haruhi away before all of the bullets, rockets, and other things trying to kill her were fired at maximum velocity. Yu looked at Haruhi sympathetically, "You can't talk a shadow down, Aigis has to accept it"

Aigis looked up at her shadow, "You are…"

The shadow slapped Aigis, "You're pathetic! Wasting your time in a school building, searching for a 'better way'! As long as people exist, there will be shadows that live in their hearts! This is the only way to bring him back and you know it! You have to kill them! It's what you want!"

Aigis shook her head, "No… no! You… you aren't me! You can't be me!"

The shadow smiled wickedly as it began to change shape, "Now, I'll do what you couldn't!", it became a large, well-armed cyborg with missile launchers on nearly all of its body, "I am a shadow! The true self!"

Labrys grabbed Aigis and ran with her, escaping a large blast, "That was too close!"

The shadow began to reign terror down all over the place, as the SEES did their best to contain the attacks and do some damage of their own to it. Haruhi rushed over to Aigis, "Aigis, are you alright?!"

Aigis teared up, "He's gone… and I can't bring him back…"

"What are you talking about?!", Haruhi broke Aigis's stare and made sure Aigis could hear her, "He just came to see you yesterday! What more proof do you need that you're making progress on saving him?!"

"I just want him back…"

"That's okay! That's fine! I get it, but this isn't the way to do it!"

"How… am I supposed to be strong in the face of such an impossible task? It would be better if I returned to being an average robot…"

Haruhi slapped her, "Stop it! Aigis, you're giving up! Is that what you want?! Do you want to let the pain just fade away, and never see him again?! Or are you gonna suck it up, and keep working to get him back?!"

"I…"

"Aigis, it's not gonna be easy. It's a road full of frustration and despair, but you can do it! Just don't give up, and someday, sooner than you think, you'll get there"

Aigis stood up, and slowly walked to the center of the room, where the rest of the team had beaten the shadow back into a normal state, "It's true… I'm afraid, that I'll never see Minato again. I'm so scared that this road leads nowhere, and that my efforts are all in vain. I'm willing to do anything to bring him back, even if it means I have to suffer through the pain of not knowing when I'll get him back"

The shadow looked up, tears in its eyes, "That's all I want… is to hold him again… and feel his heart beat", her shadow began to shine as it transformed back into the beautiful and powerful Athena. Aigis fell to her knees, her system was run down pretty hard.

Mitsuru put her hand on Aigis's shoulder, "I'm proud of you, Aigis, you did well"

Aigis looked up at Mitsuru, a tear in her eye, "I could hear him… when Athena returned to me… he was telling me he was happy that I didn't give up"

"I can imagine he would say that… well, that's that for now. We'll go back to class, the rest of you, please do the same. Enjoy your day", with that, Mitsuru walked out the door, and the coffins vanished. Everything was back to the way it was before the Dark Hour started.

Haruhi looked around, "Why am I the only one weirded out by this?"

Kanji smiled at her, "Not a bad job, for your first time. But that Aigis, she sure had one tough shadow…"

Yosuke rubbed his arm, "Tell me about it, she almost blew me up three times"

Rise pouted, "I told you to move!"

Yukiko looked at the teacup, "I wonder where this is from…"

"Hey Haruhi!", the twins sang in unison from behind them, "What's this? And why does it have your name on it?"

Haruhi turned to see that they were holding her trigger, she cursed herself for dropping it. Honey quickly ran over to look at it, "It really does have Haru-Chana's name on it!"

Tamaki started to cry, "My little Haruhi is part of the Yakuza…"

Kanji snatched it away from the twins, "It's a toy, geniuses, it doesn't fire"

The twins walked around him in a circle, "Then why does it have all the parts to a real gun?"

"It's a good fake"

"Then why is it warm?"

"Why do you keep asking stupid question?!", Kanji gave them a menacing look.

Naoto took the trigger and took out the clip, revealing it to be empty, "See? No need to worry, even if it were real, there's no threat to any of the students"

Kyoya continued to write without looking up, but he spoke loud enough to be heard, "Hey, Haruhi, can I talk to you for a second?"

Haruhi walked over to Kyoya, "What is it?"

"I don't believe in any of the rumors I've heard about the Kirijo group, but I know for a fact that they did use a large supply of cash to fund… questionable projects. Don't get too close to them, many people that get too involved with them wind up missing"

"That's strangely nice of you to warn me, senpai"

"Coincidentally, weapons of any kind tend to make the customers nervous, if you could holster it and place it out of sight, that would be very appreciated. Not to mention, you could get expelled for having it on campus"

"Alright, I'll put it away, thanks, Kyoya"

"Don't mention it", he waved her off and she returned to the persona-users.

"Hey, so, what now?"

Yu looked at her calmly, "Just have a regular school day"

"You're joking, right? How on earth am I supposed to just forget about something like that?"

"We can talk about it later, for now, just act natural"

Teddie and Honey were still going at the cake, Haruhi sighed, how could he go from being shot at to eating cake calmly? Yu seemed to just have a calm demeanor, and everyone else looked to him for leadership, but still, she thought they were all insane.

Haruhi looked around the hotel lobby, now realizing just how nice it actually was, "Wow, this place is nice…"

Mitsuru smiled, "It seems you did an excellent job of handling your first shadow extraction, tres bién. I must commend your assistance with Aigis's shadow"

"I just did what anyone else would have done"

"I seriously doubt that anyone you know could have done what you did. There's no need to be bashful, it was a superior performance"

"So, how do we go from here?"

"With a reference point, Fuuka and Rise should be able to find anyone else that is being effected by the shadows. Once we find that person, we'll assist them to the best of our ability"

"What then? Not that this isn't a good approach to help people, but if all we do is go where the problem pops up, we won't ever see the end of it"

"A very good observation. While it is true that we have no immediate leads as to the whereabouts of the mastermind behind all of this, if we obtain enough reference points, Fuuka and Rise will find him"

"Is that what they're doing outside right now, scanning?"

"Yes, if they find anyone, we'll deal with it in the morning"

Right on cue, Fuuka and Rise walked in, "We got something!"

"Really? Where?"

Haruhi looked at the adress on the paper, "Oh, good god… there's two targets, isn't there?"

Rise nodded, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because this is the adress of the twins, Hukaru and Kaoru…"