Work, work, work. It seemed that whenever he wasn't busy with school, Yosuke was being made to work at Junes as of late. Not that he hated the idea. His dad was just trying to set him up for success and teach him responsibility so he wouldn't rely too much on their money. That was fine. That didn't mean Yosuke enjoyed the vast majority of people Junes had regularly. He didn't really like a lot of the kids, who often threw up or had runny noses and he had to drop everything to clean that up to show they were a proper hygienic place.

That day, he was serving food to people who ordered it, taking advantage of the sudden cool summer weather to eat outside, so he carried trays of meat, fish, and vegetables to everyone, making sure the orders were correct.

"Sir Hanamura!"

"Yeah, Master!"

Yosuke winced subtly at the shrieking voices, trying his best to maintain a polite air as he faced them.

"What do you two ladies want today?"

"Can I leave early? I have to meet my boyfriend." One of the girls played with her hair boredly. There were two girls there, both dressed in extremely garish kimono with uneven layers of loud colors and patterns more inspired by their Western peers. The girls also wore layers of jewelry and makeup, looking more like cheap street walkers than anyone else.

"Yeah, and I just don't want to work anymore," The second yawned.

"Uh, I guess I'll ask my dad, but you two know you haven't been putting in the proper hours-"

"Hogwash!" The first swore, turning her face up. "We show up, don't we? The job we do is bullshit and easy anyway! We deserve some extra stuff!"

"Yeah!" The second nodded, all of her jewelry clanging and clacking.

"You two don't even wear the uniform-"

"Because it's ugly!" Both of them huffed before looking away in either direction.

"Hanamura-kun?" Chie asked, wandering over. Shit, he didn't want her to come over now and see this, see him be verbally berated by some nobodies-

"Whatever. We're leaving anyway!" The first girl spat at Chie. "This your type of girl? Here I thought you liked easy ones like that Saki bitch, not grotesque ones!"

"How dare you!" Yosuke snapped, slamming down the tray he was carrying on the table. "Berate me all you want, but how dare you speak ill of her! She actually cared about her job and showed up to work here every day, even when it was tough, even when she knew everyone was laughing at her! She was a much better person than you two! If you think I'm going to keep sucking up to my dad to keep you two from getting fired, you have another thing coming!"

"Creep!" The girls ran away, defeated. Yosuke took a deep breath and stared down at the tray, trying to reorganize it.

"I'm sorry they said those things to you!" Chie blurted out, helping him.

"Don't be, they're always like this. It was only a matter of time before I snapped."

"You know…" She was silent for a while. "That boy who you met a while back who was bugging me…Takeshi-kun…he…sent me a picture."

Every bone in Yosuke's body seemed to snap at once upon hearing that. A girl getting sent a photograph from a man meant only one thing.

"I don't know why, he clearly doesn't like me. Maybe he thinks I'll be easy to control as a wife! As if!" She grew quieter and moved away from the tray. "But…I think my parents are genuinely considering him. Evidently his uncle is a member of the kazoku, in Tokyo, and since Father is involved with the government he thinks he'll make a perfect and wealthy match for me."

Yosuke didn't understand why she was telling him this, why she trusted him so. Wasn't their thing being…not like this? Yosuke yanking on her braid and dipping it in ink and her putting frogs in his clothes and kicking him in the crotch? Loud and obnoxious and weird? Being unable to stand each other at times? What had changed?

Or, were they always like that, their shared powers and mental bond just let them explore it more?

"That's messed-up." He offered. "I only saw him that one time but he was a major creep,"

"Yeah, and my parents don't listen to me, they don't care about what I have to say, they'll make me marry him!" She pulled hard on her braid. "Ugh! Any man would be better than him!"

"Any man?" He asked without thinking, then realized too late he couldn't take those words back.

"Yeah,"

They met each other's eyes and somehow seemed to have the same idea at once.

"Oh, gross! Marry you?!" Chie stuck out her tongue.

"Hey, it could happen! I'm rich, I'm heir to a market that's doing very well, marriage to me would boost you up…!" He explained in mock offense. "Besides, you said it yourself. Anyone is better than him,"

She mulled over that before sighing. "I hate that you're right, but you are. My parents may actually approve of you," She twirled her braid around in her hands.

"Where's my tea?! I ordered it ten minutes ago!" A man yelled.

"Coming!" Yosuke smiled widely before leaning in to whisper to Chie again. "I'll send my most recent photograph. Tell me when they want to meet me,"

And just like that, he was off again to serve everyone.

Once his work finished, he headed home, being given the responsibility of sorting through the papers again. Most was junk he tossed away, pausing at the town reports yet again. He caught a familiar name and flipped through to the appropriate page, quickly reading what it said.

""The young prodigy Shirogane Naoto is making waves in town due to his intelligence and ability to solve seemingly impossible cases. Not many people know he's the one who brought the murderer into custody and put the case to rest. So, how do you feel about having the case solved?"

Yosuke felt a chill seeing the drawing of Naoto's likeness on the page. Sure, it wasn't a photograph, but it was still his picture, and he was in the news. But why was he so worried? They had nothing to worry about anymore!

"'Thank you for having me on such short notice. While it's true I caught a murderer, I didn't catch the other one, but that's all I can say on that. I'm still trying to figure out why the case won't sit right with me,"

"'Yeah, yeah, anyway! You're so princely! Tell us more about yourself!'"

The rest of the interview were bizarre and invasive questions on random subjects, such as what Naoto's favorite drink was, did he do well in school, did he have a dog, and the weirdest of all, did he regularly eat butter.

Well, he was a celebrity. Weren't they just used to random questions like that?

He went to bed after sorting through everything, trying to quell the uneasy feeling in his gut.

At school, Yosuke met up with the usual group, talking about the news.

"I saw his interview too. Apparently he only eats butter during one specific month. What does that mean?" Yu laughed.

"Who knows. Some people are just mysterious by nature," Chie sighed. "Still, that's why I'm interested. I didn't think he'd willingly chase the public like that,"

"Good morning," Naoto walked over in loud heels, wearing the garish and loud summer outfit from before. Yosuke remembered it well, white jacket, yellow scarf, that whole deal. "I'd like to discuss something with you,"

"Can this wait? We can't be late for school!" Yosuke stood in front of the others. "I'm sure a stickler for the rules like you doesn't want to be late, right? And besides, where's your uniform? Even us dandies dress down at least sometimes!"

Naoto spun around, his scarf fluttering in the resulting breeze. "The people involved in this case have nothing unique about themselves. They were all merely kidnapped victims that turned fatal in two cases. The one thing they all had in common was being featured in the news or around town as common gossip and then they vanished. Amagi Yukiko-san, Tatsumi Kanji-san, and Kujikawa Rise-san. All three of you were neighborhood gossip before suddenly vanishing for a time and reappearing a few days later. Am I correct? You reached that conclusion yourselves already, didn't you?"

His drone made Yosuke's head spin.

"Yes," Yu nodded.

"I thought so. You all are quicker on the uptake than most might think, I imagine," He turned back around. "I must admit, at first I thought one of you had to be the killer, but then I thought perhaps you all have the means of somehow preventing or foreseeing what's going to happen. There's still plenty I myself don't fully understand. Why is Mr. Morooka the only one with an identified cause of death? The police are so anxious to finish this case, they're not questioning the obvious anymore." He walked away. "Also, I believe one of you once said to me that this is a game. I can promise you that this isn't a game to me,"

"Hey, aren't you going to come to school?!" Yosuke yelled after him, though he either didn't hear or was ignoring him, as he never looked back.

"Forget him, we can't be late ourselves!" Chie took off running and the rest ran off after her, going to their own classrooms.

The sick feeling in his gut seemed to be correct. How?! How could they still see images even though the killer was caught? Were they wrong all along? Was there no connection? Were they really just messing around with things they didn't understand?

Due to the rain, everyone hung around in the classroom, Yukiko and Kanji joining them and somehow doing a good job of ignoring the whispers that always accompanied them whenever they went outside of their houses.

"We all saw someone. That's a fact," Yu said, quick to get the conversation started as always. "Did anyone recognize who it was?"

"Do you think it was maybe Naoto-kun?" Chie wondered.

"I think you guys are overreacting about this! Everything is solved now!" Yosuke laughed awkwardly, trying to push down his own worry. "Isn't that right, Kanji?!" He slapped his back hard, making him groan.

"What? No, I think you're right. It's over, and what Naoto-kun said makes no sense either. Probably baiting us. Anyway, you all are overreacting," He shrugged

Yosuke felt his smile curl up, wanting to act mischievous. "Oooooh, you got Naoto-kun on the brain, huh? You like him?~ You really really like him?~"

"Huh? No! It's not like that and you know it!"

"Ooooh, did something happen?" Rise chimed in in a sing-song voice.

"I don't have to take this! In fact, I got more important stuff to do!" Kanji stormed off, grumbling. Chie sighed.

"You know he doesn't like that,"

"I was just trying to lighten the mood," Yosuke pulled on his hair. "Anyway, it's raining tonight again. If we're all still so worried, let's check again!"

"Plus the town itself just seems off," Yukiko frowned. "Everyone seems antsy, almost…scared. They flitter from topic to topic and get ornery if you try to talk about them,"

"That's just normal people stuff! Everyone loves gossip and jumps from topic to topic. It's nothing to worry about!" Rise smiled.

Yosuke wanted to truly believe that.

If Naoto showed up that night, what image would he take? They knew basically nothing about him so anything would be unsettling and ruin their perception of him. When he was alone, he sorted through the papers, finding the glossy tabloid and knowing immediately which page to turn to.

Colored in sunny colors such as red and orange was a boy laying down with his shirt and jacket and tie all undone, revealing the slightest slip of his milky bare chest. His pants were rolled up high and his lips were stained from candy. A mischievous grin was on his face, and his speech bubble was above his head and written in characters so fancy and almost illegible Yosuke had to squint to make sense of them.

"I'm so bored of myself! Aren't you? I'm a top student at my academy and I've been given access to top medical records nobody else has! Finally, now I can learn to become my true self!"

The characters around him were small and bled into each other so Yosuke could only make out repeated words instead of actual phrases like with the others. The most repeated ones were trying too hard. Weirdo. Doesn't belong here. Stuck-up brat. Immature child. Stupid little boy. Dresses like a homo.

That's Naoto-kun! Kanji shouted in their heads, causing the girls to react with distress. I knew it! So he's already in there, right?! But that means we didn't truly catch the killer, did we?! What's going on?!

Sir Kanji, please try to calm down! We can discuss this tomorrow! Yukiko soothed him.

You're right, I'm sorry. I was just shocked. He may be a smart detective and all, but that means nothing if he gets himself kidnapped and dies!

Yosuke fell in bed, knowing they'd meet up at Junes again tomorrow and figure everything out. Still, it wasn't fair. They had done everything right! So why was this still happening?!

School was as aimless as ever. Yosuke bounced and fidgeted through everything until finally they could all go to Junes, sitting at their usual table.

"That was definitely Naoto-kun," Yukiko nodded.

"I don't get it…wasn't this supposed to be over?" Yosuke mumbled to himself.

"Oh! Do you think…he did this on purpose?! And that's why he suddenly had an interview out of the blue?! He said he wasn't convinced…"

"He used himself as bait!" They both pointed to each other.

"That's crazy! He could get himself killed!" Chie gasped.

"This is all my fault…I'm the one who said they were treating it like a game…" Rise pouted.

Kanji suddenly slammed his fists on the table, making a loud bang that made everyone look over at him. "That's not the point, damn it! He's an idiot and didn't need to do this! If he had just told us, said something-!"

"But he didn't," Yosuke realized. "He wants us to figure this out ourselves," His eyes widened. "He knew if he told us, we'd stop him,"

"Well, they're in there, now we just gotta rescue him!"

Everyone nodded and jumped into the camera as usual, Rise transforming into her Persona once they arrived, looking around slowly from left to right.

"Hmmm…they're definitely in here, but that's all I can gather. I think I need more information about them," She sighed. "I'm sorry…"

Figures they'd have to do all that yet again. Yosuke secretly prayed it'd be the last time they had to.

"Let's do it! We gotta save him!" Kanji shouted.

Everyone split up once they left the camera and Junes, heading off in different directions. Yosuke figured the best course of action would be to ask the actual police force, right? He worked with them so surely they'd know something about him, right?

"Do you know anything about Shirogane-san?" Chie asked one of the officers, while Yosuke took the other one.

"What she said!"

"Oh, that detective? Don't tell him I said this, but he's a big pain in the neck. He's super self-righteous and stays up all night in the office and snaps at people in the morning, determined to solve this case."

The other police officer nodded. "He's too cocky for his age! A boy like him needs to grow himself some hair on his chest first! He looks like he just finished losing baby teeth!" Both of them laughed at that.

"So you think he's childish?" Yosuke asked.

"Very immature. In a subtle way but that doesn't change the fact he is," The first officer nodded.

"Huh. That doesn't seem like him at all," Chie said.

"Well, we don't know anything about him, do we? Maybe this is how he truly is," Yosuke shrugged. "Anyway, we have the information now, and much quicker than I expected! Let's go tell Rise-san, we should get this done as soon as possible. I'm sure Kanji would appreciate it!"

Chie just rolled her eyes and called everyone back mentally, jumping back in.

"I agree, it sounds like the…like the opposite of what we know," Rise said. "But, it could just be an act! I'll try to find them," She looked around for a while before gasping. "Got them! Follow me!"

Everyone ran after her, watching the landscape warp and twist until they were standing in front of a dock with a large ship sitting there, big white sails blowing in the wind.

"What kind of place is this?" Chie asked.

"Uh, beats me," Kanji shrugged.

"It's a ship! Probably some kind of pirate ship, maybe." Yu suggested. "Who knows what could be inside though?"

"It's totally not what I was expecting. There's more to him than meets the eye, huh?" Yosuke climbed up onto the ship, dropping down into the lowest level. The ship rocked steadily and creaked loudly. The only other sound was that of the waves lapping at the sides and bottom of the ship.

"It's moving?! No way. I'll get sick!" Chie covered her face. "You can't make me!"

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Yukiko tried to hold her close.

Yosuke stepped further inside, finding the place smelling of salt and empty of anything visually interesting, just sturdy wood. Even the halls went on for longer than they should've.

"Well, let's go. No point in standing around, after all," Yu gently nudged each of them further into the galley, slowly but surely, and Yosuke was glad for it. Moments like that really strengthened Yu in his mind and made him realize he did indeed pick a good leader. Yukiko and Chie stayed more near the back, with Rise even further behind so she could keep an eye on everything with her powers.

The fights were uninteresting and ran together in his head. That's not what they were there for, anyway. They kept scaling up the ship, getting higher and higher before reaching the deck, and eventually the captain's quarters. Kanji kicked down the door and they all ran inside, looking around at the room.

"Naoto!"

In the room was an assortment of unrecognizable things, mostly related to medicine and science such as bottles of medicine and scalpels placed on the table. There was a messy bookshelf with books falling off of it, and what looked like toys shoved under the hammock in one corner of the room.

In the center stood Naoto and the schoolboy with extremely baggy sleeves, sobbing up a storm, so unlike the cocky facade shown in the tabloids.

"Ah, finally. I was waiting for you to show up. Dealing with this child has been very troublesome." Naoto said.

"No no no no! You can't leave me! Nyet nyet nyet nyet! I won't allow it!" The Shadow sobbed harder.

"I need to go now. It's tiring to deal with you,"

"You can't you can't! I don't want to be left alone again! You all just leave me alone! It's so cold here…I don't want to be alone!"

"Naoto-kun…" Yukiko put a hand to her mouth.

"Are you trying to suggest we're the same person merely because we look the same? It's ridiculous. You're acting like a child." Naoto scoffed.

The Shadow suddenly stopped crying and glared at him.

"It's not an act and you know it. Everyone treats you like this. They all say the same thing, that you're a child, that you're weak and immature, to stay out of their way because they're professionals. No matter what you do, they'll never change their minds. They like your brain because you're smart, but the second you're done, back to the toys and games! That's why you're so alone,"

"I can find my own reason for living." Naoto responded, trying to keep his cool.

"And what is that?! You're just a child, you can't ever change that fact!" He started sobbing again. "I want to grow up to be super big and strong! I want to be a big boy! I want to be just like the cool adventurers I read about in all my boys' fiction!" He spun around. "Even though you're a child! Admit it! And once you do, I can administer this growth serum! Then maybe you can finally grow taller, 'Shirogane Naoto!'"

"Shut up!" He snapped.

Shadow Naoto laughed. "Naoto, Naoto, Naoto! A nice name, isn't it? Oh, but that isn't even your real name, is it?" His accent suddenly grew more pronounced into something Yosuke couldn't make out, one that hung on various characters with a heavy tongue roll. "Nyet, your name is something else. Something that proves what you truly are, an outsider trying too hard to be what you're not! Isn't that right, Yekaterina Mikhailovna Surkova?!"

Everyone gasped.

"A Russian name?!" Rise tilted her head in confusion. "But that would mean…"

"And a girl's name…" Yu said.

Naoto made no indication he heard them, still choosing to stare at his Shadow straight ahead.

"Da, you heard me! Naoto or rather Yekaterina isn't even a male, yet Naoto tries so hard to be one!" The Shadow laughed.

"What?! I can't believe that…!" Yosuke blinked. Everything about Naoto just screamed masculinity.

"I knew it…" Rise and Kanji both looked away. Okay, he definitely needed to ask them about that later.

"Throwing a tantrum is useless and does nothing…!" Naoto mumbled to himself, his voice shaky.

Shadow Naoto laughed evilly. "That's what they all told you! Crying and throwing a tantrum solves nothing! That's for a hysterical woman! And you're not one of those, are you?! They made you cry, those men. Why are you trying so damn hard to mimic them?" They spat. "It's okay. Soon you'll drink the serum and become a true adult, tall and broad, then you'll never suffer at the hands of men again!"

"I don't want that."

"Of course you do!" They skipped around. "I know exactly what you want because I'm you!"

"No you're not!" Naoto suddenly yelled.

"Don't-!" Chie tried to warn before Kanji held her back.

"Just let them get it all out. If not, Naoto will just keep hurting. It's our job to kick the Shadow's ass, so let's just worry about that, okay?" Kanji said, and she nodded.

Shadow Naoto laughed harder. "What do you know about me?! Not a single thing! You'll kick my ass? I'd like to see you try, you drooling buffoon!" They spun around more and jumped into the air, transforming into a bronze and steel automation with a steam engine on the back, allowing them to fly around. Their clothing was a metal version of Naoto's current outfit, and their face was covered by a scarf and in their hand they held a pistol.

"Get ready!" Rise shouted, and everyone took their positions. Naoto had run off and hid somewhere. Yosuke pulled out his double swords and got ready, figuring they'd have to mainly rely on Personas to get them through the fight due to the Shadow being able to fly.

"I'll pull you through this!" Kanji promised before throwing something at Shadow Naoto, making them falter in the air before flying up higher.

"Take this!" Chie spun around and kicked up her leg, releasing a torrent of ice to shower onto Shadow Naoto, who trembled and shivered.

"That's no good, I need my crewmates to be obedient and silent." They fired the gun, unleashing a flash of lighting Chie managed to dodge.

"How about you set an example?!" Kanji pushed everything off the wooden table and chucked it at Shadow Naoto, hitting them right in the face and changing their direction, making them fly into the wall and crash, falling to the ground.

"Did we win?" Yukiko asked shyly. The monster started to transform back into their original form as Naoto stumbled over, shaky.

"I'd say so, considering what's going on," The fight was shorter than most, but Yosuke wasn't complaining. It was far better when fights were short, after all.

"So, this whole time, Naoto-kun was a girl…" Chie said, staring at them.

"I'm…sorry you had to see all that…" Naoto sighed and looked at his Shadow. "A few years ago, I lost both of my parents to an epidemic of cholera. Despite being fine on my own, everyone decided it's best for me to live with a close relative until I come of age, so they sent me to my grandfather. I wasn't the best at making friends, even when my parents were alive, I just spent all of my time reading adventure novels and French mystery books about detectives."

"I'm going to grow up and be a cool detective!" Shadow Naoto said.

"My parents were proud of their career and I welcomed the chance to follow in their footsteps. Grandpa saw my eagerness and took me on, having experience in the detective field himself. I never saw anything wrong with the way I was…"

"You said they treated you like a child," Yukiko said, and Naoto nodded.

"Yes, many were offended at my age and took every opportunity they could to undermine me. If that were my only issue, I wouldn't care, but…I can't change from a woman to a man, and I can't change into a full-blooded Japanese."

"Is that why you dress as a boy? You didn't like being a girl? And you changed your name?" Yukiko continued.

"Yes…work in general is a very male-dominated area. If anyone had a legit reason to look down on me, be it my background or sex…they'd discard me."

"You don't know that!" Kanji said.

"Besides, I think you just want to belong, not be a man or an adult or whatever else!" Yukiko smiled, and Naoto smiled back.

"Perhaps you're right. And as for you…I ignored you this entire time, acting like you didn't exist, but now I admit you do. I shouldn't strive to become a man, I should be happy with who I actually am," Naoto said, and the Shadow nodded. The two stood back-to-back and held hands, Shadow Naoto fusing into Naoto and transforming her into a blue-suited officer with a wooden rapier and tiny papery wings on her back. "I'm surprised you kept this from me for so long…" She suddenly collapsed.

"Naoto-kun!" Yosuke, Chie, and Kanji raced towards her, trying to steady her.

"That explains why the police were so stumped…and shows that this case is far from over," She sighed.

"Yeah, and you proved it! But first, we gotta get you out of here!" Yosuke and Kanji easily heaved her up to her feet, helping her walk and pushing her through the camera so she'd land on the dirt.

"You're so reckless!" Kanji shouted as Naoto tried to catch her breath, holding her chest.

"I knew you all would come for me, I just never anticipated how intense it'd be," She sighed again. "I'm extremely thirsty…"

"Some genius you are! We were all tearing our hair out over you!"

"Awww, so you do care about her!" Rise teased.

"I can take her home." Yukiko offered, taking Naoto's arm.

"D-Don't, I can manage just fine-"

"No way! Sometimes asking for help when you need it is what adults do, Missy!" Rise scolded, making Naoto sigh again.

"Fine, if you insist." She let herself be carried away by Yukiko, leaving everyone else to disperse and go about their day.

So they had rescued Naoto, but what did that mean for the future of the case? Who was the true culprit?

Two steps forward, two steps back. Yu really was correct.

Yosuke waited for everyone else to leave, then hunted down a random employee. "Hey! Can you take my photograph?"

"Wow, wasn't expecting you of all people to become interested in photography! If you say so!" The employee laughed and motioned Yosuke over, putting on the tarp. Yosuke just stood formally, keeping his face straight forward with a serious expression as the camera captured him.

"Thanks!" He waved to the person, knowing it'd be ready in a few weeks. Recent photos were good to use, but some men used older photos of themselves, and this was a dire circumstance. He dug around the house, soon coming across a picture from a few years ago of himself and his parents, sitting in a field. It would have to do.

He shipped it off to Chie's, hoping he had the address right, and waited.

-The kazoku were the nobles placed in charge of the government during the Meiji era. Most of them were former samurai who were given noble titles and power to appease the fact they lost everything else to the reforms. The five titles in 1884 were Prince, Marquess, Count, Viscount, and Baron.

School started back up for me this semester, so chapters might be irregular, just a heads-up. I'm so worn-out but I'm one step closer to my dream job! It feels so surreal. Naoto's Dungeon was the hardest to redesign, first it was a Gothic manor, then a haunted castle, before I settled on a ship to reference popular adventure novels for boys at the time, such as Treasure Island. I don't have a question this time, partially because I'm tired, and also because the last few went unanswered so I got discouraged so I'm likely not going to do that again.

Want to join a fanfic Discord me and my friends are in? Want to have a commission? Check out the AO3 version for links!