"Garu!"

A burst of wind blew away some Shadows, causing it to hit the floor.

"Alright, they're down!" Yosuke called. "Chie! You're up!"

"You got it! Hee-yah!"

Chie jumped into the air and aimed a kick outwards, stamping the Shadow into dust.

"Yeah, that's it! Whoo!"

"You're quite skilled already, despite how recently you've joined us." Kyoko noted.

"Hey, I don't just watch those movies because they're fun." Chie said.

It was only the day after Chie had received her Persona. They decided to go back into the TV, let Chie train with her Persona for a bit, and maybe even go a little further into the castle to search for Yukiko. Chie's Persona was quite strong, specializing in physical strikes and ice, though Chie herself was no slouch either. The castle wasn't so difficult now that they had three people fighting.

Despite all the twists and turns from the castle's changing area, they managed to get back in front of the room where Chie had first awakened her Persona.

"Hmm?" Teddie sniffed the air. "I sense that there's someone behind this door!"

"It's gotta be Yukiko." Chie said. "Who else could it be?"

"Well, let's be careful." Yosuke said, as they slowly pushed open the door.

Sure enough, as per Chie's intuition, they found who they were looking for. While her back was to them, they recognized the long black hair.

"Yukiko?" Chie said.

"Yukiko-san! Are you all right?!" Yosuke said.

The two started to run up, but were stopped by Kyoko.

"Something's wrong." She said. "Her manner of dress..."

During their moment of relief, Yosuke and Chie had neglected to see that this "Yukiko" was wearing a pink princess dress. Sure enough, "Yukiko" began to laugh, as she turned around.

"Oh my! Special guests? I wonder how they'll play into all this? Hehehe, things are really heating up!"

Everyone was still tensed up, ready to fight if it came to that.

"Okie-dokie! I'm going back to hunt for my Prince Charming! Ohhh, where could he be...? This place is huge! It's sooo exciting, but it makes it so hard to find him!"

Kyoko felt like she was once again in front of the TV, seeing the Shadow for the first time.

"Ooh! Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek in the fog! Ready or not, here I come! Let's go further in then, shall we?"

Above her head, was some kind of shining promotion, like and old-fashioned TV Show. This confused everyone, as they started looking around.

"What the hell is this?" Yosuke asked to no one in particular.

"So that's Yukiko's Shadow, huh?" Chie said. "No way."

"Pfft, what are you talking about? I'm Yukiko, and Yukiko is me."

"Hold on, what's with these voices?" Yosuke said, hearing distorted sounds around them.

"There's no one else but us." Kyoko said. "Unless..."

"The Shadows are getting agitated!" Teddie said.

"Well, I'm off again! Heehee! You'd better be waiting with bells on, my dear Prince!"

"Hey, wait!" Chie called.

The Shadow ignored her as it ran off, almost disappearing instantly.

"So it's just like what happened to us." Yosuke said. "Well, hers is a lot more eccentric than ours."

"But I don't think she was excited for nothing." Teddie said. "The real Yukiko wants to show us something. I can feel it."

"What led you to that conclusion?" Kyoko asked.

"It's hard to explain." Teddie admitted. "It seems like she has a strong connection to this castle. This is a lot more dangerous than I though!"

Almost instinctively, Chie started to run off again, but Kyoko grabbed her by the wrist.

"Hey! Not again!" Yosuke groaned. "Dammit, we told you not to run off on your own!"

"But-!"

"Chie, I understand your feelings." Kyoko said. "But you can't just rush headlong into this without any sort of plan."

"Kyoko's right." Yosuke said. "We need to approach this tactically."

Chie looked down, irritated that she let her emotions get the better of her again.

"You guys are right. Sorry..."

"There's no need to apologize." Kyoko said, shaking her head.

"Yeah. We promised." Yosuke added. "We'll save her together."

Nodding, they made their way up the stairs, following Yukiko's Shadow.

The moment they stepped onto the next floor, Yukiko's voice rang throughout the halls.

Teeheehee... My Prince will soon come for me. Heehee... I'll always be waiting... Forever and ever...

"Hrmm... I hear her voice." Teddie said. "But all I sense are you guys and Shadows."

"Wasn't this what I heard before I awakened my Persona?" Chie asked.

"Yeah, I remember that too." Yosuke said, recalling the event.

"Well, watch out for the Shadows, and keep going!" Teddie encouraged.

They continued on. As they battled Shadows and made their way up, they continued to hear Yukiko's voice. It was odd, as the voice would constantly shift in tone. Yosuke put it best.

"I can't tell which one is which." He said. "And what even is this thing about princes?"

"I'm not sure." Chie admitted. "We've just got to keep going."

Well, "keep going" was easier said than done. For some odd reason, every time they tried to move forward, they were warped somewhere else in a flash of white light after a few steps. The only thing they heard were Yukiko's laughs.

"The heck?" Yosuke said.

They kept on walking in the same direction, but were always transported somewhere else. The constant transportations were disorienting.

"Okay, this is seriously starting to piss me off." Chie said. "We can't go further, what do we do? We can't go back or anything."

Kyoko put a hand on her chin in thought. "Maybe we can."

"Wait, what?"

Kyoko turned around and started walking. When she reached the same amount of steps as before, she wasn't transported anywhere.

"Whoa." Yosuke said, impressed. "Three Cheers for the Ultimate Detective."

"Well, it was the only other option." She said, before they stopped in front of a large door.

"Hey..." Teddie sniffed the air. "I sense someone beyond this door! It's Yukiko's scent!"

Taking a deep breath, they pushed open the door. As they expected, there was Yukiko's Shadow again. Except this time, she was next to a very large shadow that resembled an armored knight.

"Heh heh... My Prince wouldn't lose to guards such as this, correct?"

"Gyaaaaaaah! I've never seen such a strong one before!" Teddie yelled.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Kyoko said.

Yukiko's Shadow disappeared as the fearsome knight charged forward. It raised its lance, as if rallying.

"Alright buddy, try this on for size! Garu!"

Yosuke commanded Jiraiya to shoot a burst of wind at the Shadow, it took the hit and tried to retaliate, but Yosuke dodged the lance strike in time.

"My turn. Izanagi!"

Smashing a tarot card, Izanagi shot a blast of electricity at the Shadow.

"And now me! Bufu!"

Finishing the trio, Tomoe swung her weapon around and froze part of the Shadow, but it was still standing.

"This guy's tough..." Yosuke said. "We gotta keep fighting though!"

With the declaration, he unleashed another burst of wind. Though this time, the Shadow managed to strike him in retaliation.

"Yosuke!" Kyoko called. "Hmm, maybe if I weaken it..."

Kyoko ordered Izanagi to unleash a curse of sorts, lowering the knight's defenses. Chie followed up with Tomoe almost skewering the knight, but clearly doing a lot of damage.

"Whatever you did worked, Kyoko!" Chie called. "Yosuke, try using physical attacks!"

"Alright! Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya struck it in the face, and it started to slump over. It then attacked Kyoko. But surprising her, was that she started to feel sick. She tried to ignore it though, and had Izanagi slash at the knight, knocking it down.

"They're down!" Chie said. "Let's go you guys!"

From all directions, they attacked the knight, finally defeating it and causing it to scatter into dust. In its remains, was a key made entirely out of glass.

"A key?" Yosuke said, picking it up. "I bet this'll help us."

"What makes you say that?" Chie asked.

"Why else would there be a key in here?" Yosuke said. "I doubt anyone just lost theirs."

Yukiko's voice echoed throughout the halls once more.

Heeheehee... If you really are my Prince, then we will surely meet again. I am but a trapped soul... I cannot leave this place even if I wished...

The voice stopped, and Teddie reported that he couldn't sense her anymore.

"Well, if that's the case..." Kyoko started, before she nearly buckled over. Yosuke caught her quickly.

"Whoa, you alright?" He asked.

"I don't... think so." She said. "Something that knight did..."

She put a hand over her mouth, breathing slowly through the gaps in her fingers.

"I've heard of ninjas that use poisoned weapons, but never knights. Well, we can't continue on like this." Yosuke said, as Kyoko nodded in agreement.

"Wait, are we going back?" Chie asked.

"Yeah." Yosuke said. "We've been fighting for a while now. We're all tired and need some rest."

"...alright." Chie agreed. "I guess we have been going for quite a bit. Kyoko, can you walk?"

The girl tried, but felt too nauseous.

"You'll probably feel better once we're out of the TV." Yosuke said. "Here, I'll carry you."

Easing into a comfortable position, he safely put Kyoko on his back in a piggyback ride.

"Hey, don't touch anything, alright?" Chie warned. "She's sick too."

"Give me a break already..."

Sure enough, as soon as they made it out of the TV World, Kyoko felt much better, albeit still quite exhausted. Seeing as it was nearly nightfall, they said their goodbyes, and she made her way back to the Dojima residence. Already tired, Kyoko said good night to Nanako before going to bed. Dreams never came to her, and even if they did, she never remembered them. Before she knew it, it was already the next day.

Class had already flashed by quickly and soon enough, they were in the castle again. Yosuke's hunch about the key had proved to be correct. The glass key could unlock any of the doors on the floor. They soon made their way up, battling more Shadows that got stronger and stronger.

"Man, we're pretty high up now, aren't we?" Yosuke noted, looking out the window.

"That means we're close then!" Chie said. "The higher the floor, the less room Yukiko's Shadow has to run."

Kyoko nodded in agreement as they found the next set of stairs. "It seems we're almost at the end as well."

Walking up the flight, they saw a hallway, with the only other exit being a set of double doors.

"Wait a second." Teddie said, walking in front of them.

He sniffed the air for a bit, before pointing at the doors.

"She's right there!" Teddie exclaimed. "The Yukiko girl is right past those doors!"

"And I'll bet that her shadow's with her too." Yosuke said.

"We haven't encountered her since the battle against that knight." Kyoko said, uncomfortably remembering it. "It's only natural that we will see her."

"Yeah." Yosuke agreed. "Hopefully we won't have to fight it, but I doubt it. We should probably prepare."

Chie tightened a fist, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw Kyoko giving her a reassuring smile.

"I know we'll save her." Kyoko said. "I swear it as a detective."

Chie grinned and nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

Though she was a little more surprised at Kyoko's smile. Up until now, Kyoko had been completely stoic ever since she had arrived in Inaba. When she had insulted Morooka, she said it with a straight face. During all the panic when they realized Yukiko was missing, she was completely calm. And even during battle, even while shouting and commanding her Persona, she kept up that confidant expression, even when pushed up against a wall.

It really did give her the strong aura of a leader.

Looking back at the door, Chie was filled with determination.

Hang on Yukiko. We're coming for you.

A/N: And we're back. This chapter was going to be different and longer, but apparently I don't have access to Yosuke or Chie's Social Links this early in the game (around April 20th). I could have waited until I finished the fight against Yukiko's shadow, but considering the last chapter already had Chie gain her Persona, it felt redundant. I don't want to rush things. Anyways, I've got a couple of things to say.

With Persona 4 Golden up on Steam, the motivation for this fic has been returning. Danganronpa Kirigiri also wrapped up a while back, so I managed to plan out Kyoko's backstory more. Only two issues with these are that Persona 4 Golden doesn't have save states like an emulator, and Danganronpa Kirigiri isn't completely translated, so there might be some issues once I get to the backstory part. I do have solutions to both, as I can look up some of the cutscenes on YouTube, and I'm positive by the time I reach Kyoko's backstory, the last novel will get fully-translated.

Timeline's are a bit of an issue, but I'm sticking with Danganronpa's time, so this takes place around 2020. I'll try to change Persona 4's story a bit in order to fit it better. The flip phones, for example, will be smartphones instead.

That said, going to University will be causing some time issues. Especially considering I'll be studying English and Creative Writing (as well as Education Studies), so there might be a chance I could be burned out. Hopefully this won't be the case.

Oh, and if you're one of the many people asking for Makoto x Kyoko, PLEASE STOP ASKING. I've already decided on the pairing, and if you actually followed the story, you would know that Kyoko's inevitable pairing is with someone in the Investigation Team. So stop asking me to fulfill the ship. I have nothing against Naegiri, but that's not what this fic will do.

I think I've said everything that was needed to be said.

EpicLinkSam, signing off.

Kyoko's Social Links:

Magician (Yosuke Hanamura): Rank 1

Chariot (Chie Satonaka): Rank 1

Fool (The Investigation Team): Rank 1

Hope (Hope's Peak Academy Students): Rank 1