Whoops, changed point of views again. Sorry, first person helps with the deepness *shot*

FUCK, I FORGOT HONORIFICS! D8 SCREW IT! *flips a desk*

"Ngh..." Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. She stands up, but it's unlike everything else she does. It's not perfect, not flawless. She stumbles, and looks around in a daze. I could tell she was broken. She's wasn't that untouchable beauty that I knew.

No, she was normal.

"Where am I...? I remember you all arriving, and..." Realization hits her, and I can see her visible cringe, "That's right... You saw everything..." Naoto drags her feet across the floor, and stands face-to-face with her Shadow, who remains expressionless. "I lost both my parents in an accident." She begins, and the words cut me like a knife. She was an orphan? "I was still young, so my grandfather took me in. I was inept at making friends... So I spent my time reading detective novels in my grandfather's study."

The Shadow smiles, its voice losing its previous edge,and retaining instead a child-like innocence, "When I grow up... I'm gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective...!"

"My parents were proud of their job." Naoto continued, ignoring the doppelganger, "I had no qualms about following their footsteps... An inherited occupation can feel stifling to many, but I welcomed it. I yearned for the day I could be a detective myself... Perhaps I inherited that desire from them as well." A smile falls on her face, but it was anything but cheerful, "I was always alone... Seeing that, my grandfather must have believed it was his duty to help me realize my dream. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients… And before I knew it, people were calling me Junior Detective. At first I was delighted, but not everything went so smoothly…"

Yosuke raises a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Not everyone welcomed my collaboration when it came to solving cases… My status as a child was enough to offend many of those I worked with. Were that the only issue, then it would have resolved itself with time…" Her voice was barely audible at this point, "But though I will one day change from child to adult, I will never change from a woman to a man…"

"Naoto-kun..." She turns to me, and I feel my breath hitch. What was I feeling? It's warm, and... I don't know... Looking at her, I just wanted to tell her everything was okay. But I had no idea how she felt, nor would I ever be able to understand her feelings. I wanted to. Maybe that would be enough.

I reach for her hand, and try again. She doesn't turn away like I thought she would, "Your gender doesn't matter." But when I said it, it felt stupid. Not thought out well enough. I knew that the police department was typically a male-oriented place, so of course it did. Maybe I was just speaking for myself.

Maybe, I...

What she wanted... I think I understand now. It wasn't to be an adult, or to be a male... No, she wanted to be accepted. More than ever I felt I could relate to her. Suzaku offers her a smile.

"If it helps, we don't think any less of you~" He adds, "Boy or girl, like Rin-chan says, it doesn't matter." She lowers her gaze.

"Senpai..." It looked like she wanted to say more, but she ends her sentence with a sigh, and settles with smiling at us, "Thank you." I smile back, and she returns her attention towards her Shadow, who had remained quiet after its small outburst earlier, "I'm sorry… I kept ignoring you, pretending that you didn't exist. But you are me… And I am you. You've always been inside of me. What I should yearn for… No, what I must strive for is not to become a man. It's to accept myself for who I really am."

The Shadow nods, and is swallowed up by a bright light. Standing... Or should I say, floating above us now was her Persona, Sukuna-Hikona. He's then replaced by a tarot card that drops into her hands, and she falls to her knees afterwards.

"Naoto-kun!" I rush towards her, and blush slightly when she leans against me for support, "A-Are you okay?"

A nod, followed by a short laugh, "Yes, I'm fine~" She stands, "You're certainly a devious bunch. I can't believe you kept something like this hidden for so long. No wonder the perpetrator has been able to elude the police." I watch her stagger some, but when I try reaching for her, a raised hand stops me, "But it's apparent now… This case is far from over."

"That's right… And you proved it, Naoto~" Yosuke winked at her, "Anyways, we can talk more later. We need to get you out of here."

"Um, I-I can take her you guys!"

Yu looked skeptical. I guess I'd be too... I wasn't even sure if I was strong enough to carry her on my own. "You sure?"

"...I'd rather not be carried out li—" Okay, let's see if I could do this... Placing one hand behind her back, I scoop her up. Lighter than I thought. Well, I guess it wasn't ALL that surprising... Smiling in triumph, I leaned backwards a bit so that she was resting on my hips. She glared at me, but it didn't seem quite as threatening when her cheeks were red, "S-Senpai!? Let me down this instant!"

"Alright, if you say so~" I lower her down, and she starts to walk away from me. After the second or third step though, she stumbled, like expected, and I quickly picked her back up. "See, you can't walk right now! If you want, I could give you a piggyback ri—"

"T-That isn't necessary!"

"Aww, are you blushing?" Yosuke teased, and she scoffed, and pressed herself as close to me as possible, if only to hide from him. I saw Suzaku chuckle, and Yu merely shook his head.

"C'mon guys, lets get going."

I made sure to stay clear from Kanji. If he saw me like this with Naoto... Luckily, Yu had sent him home when we had returned to the entrance to heal up. I'm sure he would want to know if she was okay, though. Best leave that to Yu.

So it was just me and her... For some reason, I felt uneasy. More than once I had to shift her in my arms because they were getting tired, but for the most part, the walk to her place was quiet. Cool air lightly wisped through my hair.

Right, it was September... I wonder if she's cold...

"Naoto-kun?"

"Hmm?" Her cheeks were still slightly flushed, but she seemed to be pretty content from my end.

I unconsciously tighten my grip on her, and chew on my lip, something I did when I was nervous, "I-I wanted to say I'm sorry..." She's about to interrupt, but I shake my head, "Let me finish..." She relaxes, "Everything back there, I wish... There was something I could do..."

She looks away from me, "The past is in the past—"

"I'm not trying to give you sympathy!" I yell, a little louder than I meant to, and her head whips back around to face me, "I-I mean..." I start again, at a much lower volume, "I... Never want you to feel like that again."

"Senpai..."

"You have me, a-and the rest of the team now, alright? So..." My throat tightens up. I forgot what else I was going to say. Luckily, we had reached her apartment, and I drop her back to the ground so she can unlock the door. In one fluid moment, she has the key in her hand, and swings the door open for me. I turn on my heel, about to walk away, but she stops me.

"Would you like to come in for some tea?"

I hated tea. A lot. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to say no, "A-Alright~"

Her apartment was smaller than I expected. She explained that she had moved into this apartment so she'd be closer to the case. Boxes took up the majority of the space, and I perched myself on the couch against the wall, seeing no where else to sit. I thought it was a little weird that there were no personal items up, no pictures in frames, or anything dealing with her personal taste... But then again, maybe it wasn't.

"Sugar?"

I jump in surprise. Sugar? Naoto stood in the kitchen, two cups in her hand. Right... The tea. I give my answer quickly so she doesn't notice my discomfort, and she drops one cube of sugar into each, handing me one. I smile in thanks, and bring it to my lips. Warm... Naoto takes a seat beside me—her hip bumps mine in the process—and I can hear the couch creak loudly in protest to the added weight.

There's a silence. I tug at my skirt, and she's looking out the window. I clear my throat.

"Not used to company?"

She blushed. I liked it when she did. It was pretty, "More or less..." Naoto admits, staring down at her lap, "To be quite honest, I've never been this close to anyone before..."

My heart skips, and before I know it, I find myself scooting closer to her. There's something I want to do... Or maybe say, but I'm not brave enough to... Not yet. I ask her if she minds be being this close, and she replies with, "N-Not at all..."

I spent a long time with her before deciding to head home. We didn't do much talking, but it was nice, nonetheless.

Of course I visited her frequently during her recovery week. I'd bring her my more decent bento boxes, and we'd talk over dinner. I wasn't alone, of course. Kanji and Yu would come by too, but I'd try to see her at least once everyday. Try to see her more than them.

Was I jealous? Maybe a little... Looking back. When the day came when she told me she felt well enough to return to school, I was overjoyed.

"Are you feeling better now?" Chie asks when Naoto approaches our group at the school gates, and she nods.

"Yes, thanks to all of you." Part of me wanted to think she was directing it towards me, but I wasn't that naive. Everyone had helped her, in some way. "I'd like to thank you once again for what happened."

"Hey, don't mention it!" Yosuke grins, then stops; his eyes travel her body for a moment, and I can't help. but feel a bit possessive, "But hey, your uniform..."

She looks a bit taken back, but quickly regains her composure, "Huh? Ah… yes. After contemplating the matter, I went with what I've been wearing thus far."

Suzaku arches his eyebrow, "Won't you get in some sort of trouble for it?"

"It was something that had dawned on me, but I believe I'll be fine. Most of the school still believes I'm a boy, so there shouldn't be any issue." She re-adjusts her hat, "In any event, I'd like to discuss the case with you all. We're dealing with a kidnap-and-murder case perpetrated by someone lurking in this very town. I suggest we go over the finer points after school."

"Oh! Suzaku-kun!" The address turns around, and is only slightly surprised to see Yukiko standing in front of him. Being this close, he could see a light blush stain her cheeks as she wringed her hands together shyly. "I-I was wondering if you were free tomorrow... I wanted to do a little shopping at Junes, a-and..."

He smiles, seemingly, luckily catching the hint, "Sure, Yukiko-san, I'd love to~" He would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to the heiress. Her eyes are usually downcast, her tone is usually unsure, but he saw something in her... Maybe she was a shot in the dark.

And it didn't look like Erin was interested in him... At first, yes, but then she came into the picture and...

He shakes his head. No, he wasn't threatened by Naoto. It wasn't her fault. But sometimes he sits down, and thinks too hard over nothing. Thinks to hard over this, over love, and sometimes it's hard for him to stop.

Yukiko's head immediately shoots up, and she flashes him a beautiful smile, "G-Great! I'll see you then!"

Tomorrow wouldn't come soon enough, and somewhere else, a certain pig-tailed girl was plotting.