Author Notes: The anniversary of Into the Fog. It is hard to believe it has been six years since I originally began working on this story. This also marks the seventh anniversary for my other story, "The Kirita Chronicles", so be sure to check that out as well.

Despite how many years have passed, I still picture there are quite a few years' worth of material left to produce for both of these stories. As I mentioned before, I have plenty of ideas for the future. In some cases, I have written rough drafts for these presumptive scenes. I look forward to incorporating and bringing them to life in the story. However, similar to the reconciliation scene between Rei and Ryotaro in the previous chapter, I'm sure it will work out.

After several chapters of recovering, I will confirm that Kanji will finally be finished with that. However, getting out of bed does not mean his transition period has come to an end. There are is still much that needs to be done.

I hope you will all stay safe in the wake of the WuFlu. It is a shame this has been going on for a rather significant period of time, but as long as we continue to preserve we will come out on top of this. Since some businesses are reopening, I do believe we are taking great steps to getting back on our feet. I wish you all the best of luck.

Enjoy reading the chapter, and I hope you will leave a review. As always, the feedback is greatly appreciated, and it truly means so much. It takes a lot of time to work on these chapters.

/

Into The Fog

Story Arc VI: Transition

Chapter Thirty-Six: New Steps – Part III

/

Much needs to be done

Days pass by one at a time

Make the most of it

/

Date: Friday, June 3rd, 2011 & Saturday, June 4th, 2011 – Near Midnight

Location: Inaba – Dojima Household

Weather: Rain

It was another night in the Dojima Household in the suburbs of Inaba. It was a peaceful night. All occupants in the house had gone to sleep except one. That was their relative, Narukami Rei.

The silver haired girl was sitting in the middle of the floor in the room that her uncle was lending her. Rei had her eyes closed as she breathed in and breathed out. The room was completely dark as she was attempting to 'find her center'. She could hear the tapping of the rain on the window which felt oddly calming. It reminded her of how she felt when she studied in the library on rainy days.

Rei took a deep breath and exhaled. Rei told herself, "Just take another deep breath, Rei. You can do this. You need to concentrate on it. Just concentrate. You have something you need to do. You can do it."

It was then that Rei focused on her mind and her eyes. "Just remember." She told herself again, "Just remember."

The flashes of what Rei could remember of her eyes feeling 'different' played in her head. She remembered her eyes could see in the 'dark' briefly when she was a child. She remembered the chills that crawled up her spine that day as her posture stiffened. She also remembered when she could see into the fog when her powers first awakened. She could feel the claw and teeth marks on her body tense which caused her breaths to become heavier.

While the childhood memory came to her in a dream, she felt it had to be real. She remembered that she felt similar to when her eyes briefly changed when she obtained her Persona abilities. She recalled that every time her eyes changed energy was flowing through her either due to adrenaline rushes, fear, or excitement. Sometimes it was a mixture of the three.

At this moment, Rei was feeling the opposite of this due to mediation. However, she didn't want these eyes to change only when she was in danger, especially if there could a practical use to this power in both the Shadow and Human world. She concentrated deeply on her eyes, and she then opened them. Once again, they felt different. They were glowing.

Rei could see in the dark. It was as if she had night vision goggles on, but there was one noticeable difference. Rather than seeing everything in green, everything appeared yellow. Her eyes were glowing yellow like a night light.

"Woah …" That was the only thing Rei could say as she looked around the room in amazement.

Rei stood up as she looked around the borrowed room. She couldn't help but feel stunned as she glanced around. She kept looking around until she decided to she reach out to touch something. It was right where her 'yellow eyes' were telling her. She could see in the dark. She kept thinking how amazing it was.

This feeling of amazement only lasted for a few moments. Unfortunately, the 'power' died down, and the lights went out. Rei could only see darkness again. She found herself blinking a few times, but the lights were not coming back. Calling it quits, she reached for the switch. It took Rei a moment to turn on the light.

When the lights turned on, Rei felt as if the light threatened to blind her. The girl groaned as she shut them. Rei felt the need to rub her eyes, and it caused her to curse, "Son of a bitch!" She cursed as softly as she could. The last thing she needed was her uncle or cousin coming in while she was still blind.

A few moments later, Rei reopened them and blinked a few times. It took a few moments before the glare in her vision returned to normal. She could see everything normally again. It was then that Rei felt as if all the energy had left her, and she plummeted onto the couch. Rei's back leaned into the cushion along with her neck and head.

"Okay …" Rei sounded exasperated as she told herself out loud, "Those eyes can work, but the way I use them now … They used a lot more energy than I thought, and they don't last long." Rei then sat up and looked at the coffee table as she pondered out loud, "…Can I train them, so they can last longer? If I keep using them, will there be less strain on my eyes? Could this do more harm than good? I'll have to think about this."

With no one else to deliberate these findings with, Rei had no choice, but to retire for the night. Rei saw that it was nearly midnight, so she decided to see if there was anything on the Midnight Channel. Thankfully, there wasn't which allowed the silver haired girl to flop on the bed without worries, and she felt herself sink in. It didn't take much for her to go fast asleep. Her body needed it more than she realized.

/

Date: Saturday, June 4th, 2011

Location: Inaba – Tatsumi Residence

Weather: Rain

It was yet another rainy day. Nothing had been coming up on the Midnight Channel because the Investigation Team had successfully saved Kanji. However, seeing Kanji in front of her certainly helped give Rei some additional confirmation everything would be okay this time around. While she felt anxious about the next time the Midnight Channel showed them anything, she would worry about that later. It was time to do something useful.

This time Rei and Kanji were taking part in their deal. They were sitting on opposite sides of the table in Kanji's room. They were both sitting on their knees as Kanji was about to give her instructions.

Rei held up a thread and a needle as she said, "Kanji … How exactly do you get this thread through the needle in the first place?"

Kanji answered, "It looks tricky at first, but it's actually pretty simple when you get used to it."

"Okay …" Rei glanced at the needle before looking at Kanji again, "How?"

"First of all, you are holding it wrong." Kanji held up his own needle and thread to illustrate his point, and he touched the end of the thread to the needle, "You shouldn't try putting the end of the thread through directly. You'll damage the thread." Kanji bent the end of the thread and held it close to the needle as he then said, "You'll need to bend the end of the thread around like this. Then, you need to try putting it through the hole, which is known as the eye of the needle." Kanji repeated, "It can be tricky. You need a little bit of precision with this." Kanji was eying the movement until he saw the thread partly make it through the needle hole, "Ah! You see how I got a little bit of the thread through?"

Rei nodded, "Yeah."

"Now," Kanji then touched the part of the thread that made it through as he said, "I pull it, and the thread was able to go through without the tip being damaged. It's your turn now."

"Okay." Rei replied as she held up her material.

Kanji advised, "Just try to line it up."

"Hmm …" Rei attempted to eye the thread and needle, but her accuracy was a 'little' off.

Kanji encouraged her, "It's okay. Keep trying."

"I think I …" Rei was attempting to align the thread with the small needle eye as she went quiet. Kanji remained quiet as he witnessed this spectacle. When Rei managed to push the thread through the small needle eye, she excitedly exclaimed, "I got it!"

"You did it, Senpai!" Kanji clapped his hands, "Not bad. Not bad for your first time, but that's just step one."

"So what now?" Rei asked.

"First," Kanji pointed to the needle, "you're gonna need to make sure you have a decent amount of leeway with that thread. The last thing you want is for the thread to fall out of the needle while you're in the middle of sewing something."

"Okay." Rei pulled the thread, so there would be more before asking, "Should I tie a knot on this side, so it won't fall out?"

"You could do that." Kanji answered. "Some people do that to prevent the thread from falling out. I personally can go either way. Wait, no!" Kanji stopped before restarting, "Actually, that would probably be a mistake. I almost forgot to mention that you will need to make a final knot after you are finished sewing. The last thing we want is all your work unraveling, so I wouldn't recommend doing that."

"Hmm … Okay." Rei nodded, "So what next?"

"We'll start you off on this little piece of scrap cloth." Kanji handed Rei a thin black piece that contrasted with the white thread. "We'll focus on you sewing into this. Afterwards, we will then work on you cutting patterns in other pieces of fabric before then sewing those things together. Sound good?"

"Couldn't we just try sewing other pieces of fabric into this?" Rei asked.

"You could." Kanji stated, "I just want you to get a feel for actually sewing before we try anything else. Figured it be best to start off simple and work up."

"Fine." Rei then asked, "What should I do?"

"First, where do you want to see the thread?" Kanji asked.

"On this side … I guess." Rei pointed to it.

Kanji instructed, "Start with putting your needle through the opposite side."

Rei nodded and did as she was told. When the needle was through the cloth, she asked, "What now?"

"Now, you stick the needle just a little bit after." Kanji instructed, "You won't want to go too far, but you don't want to make the space between the needle holes too small either. Rule of thumb is it should be half a centimeter apart."

"All right." Rei then put the needle through what she thought was about a half a centimeter.

Before Rei could ask anything, Kanji instructed her, "Now you need to pull on that thread."

"Okay." Rei began to pull on the thread.

When the end of the thread was nearing where she made the initial hole until Kanji told her, "Now you want to put the needle through the end of that thread. Make sure to do it now."

"Right." Rei then put the needle through the end of the thread.

Kanji told her, "Pull on it tightly." When Rei did so, a knot had been formed at the end of the thread to which Kanji said, "Great. Now you don't have to worry about the thread falling out while you are sewing."

"Huh …" Rei remarked, "So that's how you take care of that?"

"Pretty much." Kanji instructed, "Let's continue."

Rei smiled as she said, "Yeah. Let's do it."

"Now you do what you did before." Kanji instructed, "Put the needle through the cloth then put it back through about half a centimeter away." Rei did as she was told. As soon as she was through, Kanji then told her, "Now you will want to pull the thread through."

"Okay." Rei then pulled on the needle, and the thread was tight on the cloth.

"Not bad." Kanji then told her, "Now, we basically keep repeating the same thing until you get to the end of the cloth, or you're done with the last of that thread. Whatever comes first."

"Sounds fine to me." Rei then proceeded to stick the needle through the cloth.

While Rei was attempting to practice, her arms briefly tensed up. Kanji couldn't help but glance over to them when she did this. It was then that Kanji absentmindedly said, "I have to say Senpai you're pretty ripped."

"Hmm?" Rei looked up.

When Rei looked in Kanji's direction, he held up his hands and said in a panicked tone, "And I mean this is in the best way possible."

"Don't worry." Rei proceeded with needling through the cloth as she remarked, "I take it as a compliment. I have worked hard on my physique."

"But how is this possible?" Kanji inquired as he bluntly pointed out, "it's pretty rare for anyone to be in this good of shape let alone a girl. What's your secret?"

"A lot. I took part in karate when I was a kid." Rei then explained as she continued to sew, "I started doing more exercise when I was thirteen. I started doing some street fighting not long after that. I've bene doing it on and off ever since."

"Thirteen, huh?" Kanji then asked, "So you've been doing those whole' hero' thing for two or three years?"

"Vigilante thing." Rei corrected. "And it'll be three years soon. Actually," Rei held up three fingers, "I think it'll be three next week."

"Heh." Kanji chuckled, "I guess we'll have to celebrate."

Rei shrugged her shoulders, "I guess so."

"So," Kanji leaned forward as he asked, "How'd you become this vigilante, and how many guys have you taken down?"

"…" Rei put down the cloth and needle down before she looked in Kanji's direction and told him, "To be honest, I was in elementary school when I took down my first group of bullies."

Kanji's eyes widened, "Elementary school?"

"Yeah." Rei fondly thought back as she told him the story, "These punks stole a bag from another girl. She was crying, and they were mocking her. It was disgusting. So I did the most 'logical' thing." Rei pounded her fist into open palm as she proudly proclaimed, "I beat the crap out of them, and they ran away like a bunch of whiny babies."

"Huh." Kanji really seemed to get a kick out of that story. "That must've been fun."

"It was actually." Rei's voice went down an octave as then said, "That happened right before I left Tokyo. I never got to see that girl again, but she was nice." Rei's voice dropped an octave as she repeated, "Really nice. She liked my hair." Rei combed her hand through her hair.

"…" Kanji silently nodded.

Rei then continued her story, "When I moved to Kyoto, I helped out a little boy who was in a similar predicament. I liked the feeling of doing that. I got to beat up bad people while helping someone in trouble like the hero in an anime. It was like killing two birds with one stone." Rei smiled, "I also made a friend."

"The benefits just kept piling up, huh?" Kanji rhetorically asked.

"Eventually," Rei adjusted how she was sitting as she told Kanji, "I decided to do it again when I got older. I was coming home from school, and I came across these bullies picking of some elementary school students. A good thing I had a mask and hoodie because those pricks went to my school."

Kanji asked, "Why'd you have a mask?"

Rei simply replied, "I liked collecting them. I like how superheroes had them, and they just looked cool, especially the foxes."

Kanji could only respond with, "Oh."

Rei then continued, "When it was over, they ended up in the hospital for week rather than having the money they were trying to shake down those kids for."

Kanji's eyes widened, "Hospital?!"

"Yeah." Rei casually reminded Kanji, "That's the thing about my 'line of work'. If you want to win you can't afford to hold back." Rei's voice became 'sharper' as she emphasized, "Ever." While holding up one finger she concluded, "Just one loss, and I mean 'one' loss means it's 'Game Over'."

Kanji slowly nodded his head as he replied, "I see …"

"That's just the truth." Rei remarked, "When I challenge bad guys to a fight, I take them down, and I 'need' to make sure they won't be getting back up. Otherwise, I would be the one getting put into the ground. It can stop at a knockout, a surrender, or getting too beaten up to stand up. Any option is fine, but that option is up to them. As far as I'm concerned, if they were picking on a kid, they won't get any sympathy from me."

Kanji conceded, "You have a point."

"Yeah …" Rei chuckled, "My time as a vigilante has really been an 'interesting' one. Sometimes it seems like a dream."

"I bet …" There was one question Kanji had on his mind that he felt he needed to ask, "So … if you don't mind me asking, could I see your mask? It is the same mask you've been wearing, right?"

"Hmm … Sure" Rei stopped what she was doing as she took a moment, "I've had other masks to change it up, but this is my go to mask for the past three years." Rei pulled out her fox mask from her bag and told Kanji, "Still feels like I've been doing this since as far as I can remember. This mask just made it easier." She grinned as she placed the mask back into her bag.

"Wow …" Kanji was briefly agape before he told Rei, "It's amazing you've been able to keep going?"

As Rei re-zipped her bag, she nonchalantly replied, "This has been a part of my life. I just … I don't know how to describe it, Kanji-san. I didn't think it would go any further than helping that girl. When I was in Kyoto, I didn't expect to help out a 'sick kid' either, but it happened. I just saw some really nasty kids who needed to be taught a lesson. I guess you can say it was a snowball effect. When I got into other fights, I'd say it's fun, and I get a great deal of satisfaction among other things."

"I guess I can understand that." Kanji nodded.

"Yeah." Rei held up her hand and flexed it as she said, "I like fighting. I took karate partly because I still had this hair and you know …"

Kanji merely replied, "I get it …"

Rei then asked, "Are you disappointed?"

Kanji raised an eyebrow, "Why would I be disappointed?"

Rei leaned back as she bluntly told him, "I'm not some kind of classic hero or anything. I just told you I like to fight for fun. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't be who you see now."

"You also said there were other reasons too." Kanji pointed out, "Anyway, it'd be wrong for me to call you out on that. When I beat up those bikers, I did it because I wanted them to leave, so my mom could get some sleep. If they walked away, that would've been it, but when I had to fight them," Kanji grinned as he pounded his fist into his palm, "it was fun knocking them out."

Rei bluntly remarked, "They were asking for it."

"Yeah," Kanji pointed out, "just like the people you've knocked out."

"Yes … But so you know," Rei started twirling with her hair with her finger as she sheepishly stated, "the last time I pulled off that vigilante stuff in Kyoto, I almost got arrested."

Kanji raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"It was just before I came to Inaba. I saved these kids but some cops happened to be patrolling the area." Rei shook her head, "When they saw me, I ran like hell until I lost them."

Kanji asked in amazement, "How'd you do that?"

Rei merely replied, "I was familiar with the alleyways."

"Of course you were." Kanji replied in a deadpan tone, "You must've know the ins and outs."

"Pretty much …" Rei then stated, "That's why I was actually hoping to put this part of me to rest. Go into 'retirement'. Figured a quiet little town like this could allow me to make a fresh start or something."

"Man …" Kanji stated, "I know there's a word for something like this …"

Rei finished the thought, "Ironic."

"Yeah." Kanji snapped his fingers, "That's it."

"Hmph." Rei admitted, "You know now that we're doing this Investigation Team and fighting Shadows, a part of me has been thrilled that I can't leave my other self behind."

Kanji replied, "I hear you."

"You know," Rei then stated, "I can't believe you were able to figure out who I was, Kanji-san."

"I'm not really an expert on fighting, but the way of you moved …" Kanji briefly trailed off before then stating, "I felt like there was no mistaking it. I just knew it had to be you."

Rei then asked, "How do you feel about that?"

Kanji answered, "Hard to say, but I'm grateful."

"My Uncle told me that you managed to beat up all the bikers on your own." Rei decided to ask, "Why did you take such a risk to cover for me?"

"Meh." Kanji shrugged his shoulders said, "The masked stranger helped me, so I decided to help her out in return."

Rei graciously said, "How nice of you. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Kanji then sheepishly admitted, "but I don't think they really bought it."

Rei shook her head, "Not really, but it was a good try."

"As long as it didn't get you on your trail, that's good enough." Kanji then asked, "So about that mask of yours … Have you been using that mask for all three of those years?"

"Yes and no." Rei answered, "I switched masks a few times, but I guess they were all foxes."

"Is it your motif or something?" Kanji inquired, "You trying to be 'Fox Girl' or something? You really seem like a hero I'd see in a manga or something."

"I wish." Rei playfully remarked, "Then, I could have fun without worrying about getting arrested."

"You know for someone who doesn't see themselves as a hero, you come really prepared for this kind of thing." Kanji remarked. "It's really incredible."

"I sometimes find it hard to believe myself, but that's how life is sometimes." Rei replied. "What you saw wasn't my first time doing it in Inaba, and it won't be the last either."

"…" That caught Kanji's attention as he inquired, "What else did you do here besides helping me?"

"I suppose I could tell you." Rei coyly asked, "Did you hear about that student who didn't show up for the first day of midterms?"

"Hmm …" Kanji took a moment before he recalled, "You mean the two faced second year?"

"That's what they call him?" Rei sounded surprised based on her own inquiry. Rei then sounded accepting as she remarked, "I guess he'd have to be."

"With bandages on one side he …" Kanji trailed before getting back on topic, "You know what never mind. Are you saying that was you?"

"Yes. I saw him picking on a little kid, and I punched him in the face." Rei held up her right pointer finger as she sounded rather proud of herself, "He was down after just one punch."

"Ha." Kanji was rather amused, "I can totally picture it." Kanji began coughing.

Rei stood up as she cautiously asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine …" Kanji cleared his throat as he told Rei, "I just got a little too excited."

Rei asked, "Do you need some water?"

Kanji merely replied, "Probably ..." He then coughed again.

"I'll get some." Rei rushed downstairs to get some water.

Conveniently, there was a pitcher of water and some cups for Rei to make use of. While Rei was pouring some water into a cup, it wasn't surprising that Kanji's mother, Tatsumi Hisa, happened to be there as she asked, "Is everything okay up there?"

"Everything is fine." Rei assured her as she put the pitcher back on the counter, "Kanji-san just needs some water."

"I see." Kanji's mother then opened the refrigerator and pulled out a container of water and placed it next to Rei as she told her, "Here's some more water in case he starts coughing again."

"Thanks." Rei accepted the bottled water.

"No. Thank you." As Rei was holding both waters, Kanji's mother graciously told the silver haired girl, "You don't know how much Kanji appreciates your visits. I'm sure he even appreciates it more that you are calling him by his name."

Rei shrugged, "I think I have an idea."

"Regardless, I appreciate very much." Kanji's mother put her hand on her chest as she told Rei, "As his mother, I'm happy to see he has other people who care. Please do me a favor and be Kanji's friend."

"I thought I already was." Rei smiled.

Kanji's mother conceded, "Touché."

/

Date: Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Location: Inaba - Shrine

Weather: Sunny

Rei reached out to Ebihara Ai the following day and set up a plan to meet. The day Ai had been waiting for was approaching. Rei knew Ai would be royally ticked if she failed to inform her in advance. Rei also figured they should speak to each other personally as well, so they were at the Shrine in the Central Shopping District.

Ai stood in the presence of the rundown Shrine as she remarked, "So tomorrow is the big day, huh?"

"Yep." Rei reconfirmed, "Kanji-san told me that he would be coming back to school tomorrow. We're gonna take him back to Junes, so he can see the TV World again. We're kinda hoping that it might help jog his memory. You're welcome to come. I did promise you that you could, remember?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be there." Ai had her hand on her hips as she grinned. "I kinda like the idea of being part of exclusive club."

"Right …" Was the only word Rei could say in response.

"So just to be clear, the members of your team are a former city slicker turned Junes boy, a tomboy, an heiress, a delinquent, and some kind of stuff animal."

"That's pretty much it." Rei nodded.

Ai almost sounded impressed as she told Rei, "I have to give you props, New Girl. You've certainly gathered a crack team for your Investigation Team.

"Yeah …" Rei then said, "They're a real colorful group of people. Pretty unique, right?"

"Unique?" Ai chuckled, "I think that's putting it mildly, eh New Girl?"

"Well …" Rei uneasily replied, "Let's try to move pass that. Please?"

Ai remarked, "Fine, but I really have to say that your taste in friends is really diverse, New Girl."

Rei protested, "My taste in friends doesn't have anything to do with that."

"Of course not." Ai shrugged before bluntly remarking, "It's not like you guys choose to be friends, right?"

Upon hearing that, Rei felt her head jerk back as she felt dumbfounded and openly asked, "What?"

"Oh … um …"Ai awkwardly put her hand on her mouth as she asked, "Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yes." Rei repeated, "Yes, you did."

"I didn't mean to say that out loud." Ai sheepishly replied.

"But you did mean it." Rei plainly stated.

"Well …" Ai shifted on her seat as she asked, "You guys only became friends with each other because of this messed up case, right? I mean … Um … I …" This was one of the rare instances that Ebihara Ai had found herself tongue tied. She looked to see that Rei was staring at her. The only thing Ai could say at that point was, "You're pissed, aren't you?"

Rather than giving an answer, Rei answered, "I want to hear you out. What makes you say that?"

"Okay …" Ai took a moment before she bluntly stated, "I know you and Satonaka didn't get along, so I doubt you would've become friends with either her or Amagi."

"…" Rei didn't say anything in response.

"You've been thinking the same thing haven't you, New Girl?" While it seemed like a question, it was rhetorical.

Rei simply said, "I sort of talked to Ichigo-san about something like this before."

"Ichigo, seriously?" Ai asked in disbelief. She the shook her head, "Whatever. What happened? Do you think you wouldn't have been friends?"

"I won't go that far I …" Rei stated, "I have been putting some thought into this and other things. I think if things had been different I think I would've still been friends with Hanamura-san and maybe Kanji-san."

"Hanamura and Kanji …" Ai repeated before questioning, "You'd still be friends with the guys but not the girls?" Ai smiled, "Interesting."

"You already gave a good reason, but there's more to it." Rei bluntly replied, "Amagi-san wasn't exactly making friends with anyone. Neither was Satonaka. I only really became friends with either of them after I saved them in the TV World."

"So …" Ai summed it up, "Basically, you're saying that it took near death experiences for those two to let other people become their friends. Is that about right?"

Rei looked away as she answered, "I guess that's one way to put it."

"Hah." Ai suddenly burst into laughing. It wasn't a short one. She continued to laugh for about twenty seconds to the point that she needed to hold her gut as she leaned forward. Rei didn't say a word nor did she try to move. Instead, she waited until Ai finally calmed down and said, "That's so disturbing it's hilarious. Seriously, it's so messed up, but I believe it."

Rei shifted where she was sitting as he put her hand behind her back. Her teeth were lightly biting the upper right part of her lips before reopening her mouth, "It kinda is …"

Ai then asked, "Could you imagine what things would be like if this case didn't happen?"

Rei leaned back on her seat as she admitted, "I try not to, but I have …"

"I see …" Ai then stated, "Anyway, I think you and I would still be friends, New Girl."

"Really?" Rei looked up as she sounded relieved as she replied, "I actually thought the same thing, too."

"Glad we agree." Ai sounded reassuring as she told Rei, "After all, I was taking you up on your invitation. Everything would've turned out fine. I'm sure."

Rei nodded, "Yes …"

"I don't know what would've happened, but I would say the chances of us being friends was far from zero. That's for sure." Ai remarked.

"No …" Rei repeated, "No, it wasn't."

"Anyway," Ai attempted to shift the topic, "How far are you into the case, anyway?"

Rei raised an eyebrow, "How far?"

"Yeah." Ai asked, "You getting anywhere in nailing this guy?"

Rei sighed before answering, "Unfortunately, no. We can get an idea of who he's targeting, but we haven't been able to narrow down on him."

Ai bluntly inquired, "So you've been hitting brick walls like Hanamura, huh?"

Rei replied, "That's pretty much it."

"In that case," Ai stood up as she told Rei, "I'll do my part. I'm good with picking up on rumors, like did you hear about this apparent vigilant in Central Shopping District?"

Rei moved her lip before nodding, "I might've heard something."

Ai shrugged, "Figures, but I heard she did more than lay out these punks out by Tatsumi's place."

Rei raised an eyebrow as she asked, "She?"

"That's right I heard she's a she. I heard she helped Tatsumi beat up the gang members that got him featured on TV." Ai clarified, "These rumors aren't so wide spread since his kidnapping kind of overshadowed that. But some people are talking about it after the rest of that gang was left in an alleyway like spoiled sushi."

"I see …" Rei rhetorically asked, "People really do love their gossip, don't they?"

"You know it." Ai grinned as she pointed out, "The housewives especially love it. It's almost like they can't live without it."

Rei merely said, "I'd believe that."

"Me too. They really have nothing better to do." Ai shrugged as she then stated, "Anyway, most gossip dies out. Most of the time, it quiets down. Some of it gains traction, and it sticks around. I'll keep an ear out for that."

Rei smiled as she told her, "Thanks."

Ai grinned as she told Rei. "I expect a favor in return."

Rei sighed as she said, "Fine. Name it."

"I'll need to think about it, but I'm sure we have a deal." Ai held out her hand.

"Deal." When Rei outstretched her hand and shook Ai's she heard the trademark shattering glass. Her Social Link with Ai had become stronger due to the deal they had forged. She knew she would need to make sure to live up to her word as long as Ai lived up to hers.

/

When time returned to normal, Rei asked, "By the way, what other kind of rumors do you think you'll be able to pick up?"

"Not a clue." Ai shrugged, "People talk about a lot of things. You never know what they'll talk about. It's like looking for treasure or that bullshit they say about boxes of chocolates."

Rei looked down as she said, "I see."

"But …" When Rei looked up, Ai assured her, "whatever they talk about, I'll pass it on to you."

Rei graciously replied, "Thanks."

"No problem." Ai smirked as she stated, "It literally won't be. Whatever they talk about, they'll talk about it really loud. They love talking. Sometimes, they don't seem to care whose listening."

"Huh …" Rei glanced away before stating, "Now, that you mention it, those housewives said some pretty nasty things about Hanamura-san's family even though he was right there."

"Figures." Ai shrugged, "Chances are those hags either lacked enough self-awareness on how loud they were, or they just wanted him to hear it."

Rei sighed as she shook her head, "I don't know which is worse."

"I'd pick 'Option B'." Ai then stated, "Speaking of self-awareness, do you really think it's safe for us to talk about this out in the open here? I know this isn't exactly the city, and this place is pretty empty, but it only takes one."

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Rei glanced behind her and asked, "Right, Ema?"

On that cue, the fox appeared from the bushes and began barking.

"Holy crap!" Ai briefly lost her composure much to Rei's amusement. It took Ai a moment to straighten herself up as she then said in exasperation, "Ah, yes … Your little group also includes a fox because of course it does."

"Yes. She can be a vital member." Rei knelt down and petted Ema's fur before asking, "You'd warns us if we have anything to worry about, right girl?"

When Ema barked again, Rei seemed to get the gist of it as she said, "Well, I guess as long as I keep doing more of those favors you'll get more donations to the shrine, so it works out for both of us."

"Okay …" Ai felt like she had been placed on the side lines, so she spoke up, "Anyway, there is something I do remember hearing the other day." That caused Rei's ears to perk. When Ai saw she had Rei's attention, Ai clarified, "I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the case, but I heard something juicy from some loud mouth teacher that we might be getting a couple of freshmen transfers."

Rei raised an eyebrow, "A couple?"

"Yes." Ai made the obvious clarification, "As in more than one."

Rei inquired, "Isn't it unusual for people transfer at this point?"

"Unusual, but not unheard of." Ai clarified, "From what I heard, they've already taken their midterms like we have, so it might be less of a problem. Still, it seems like some of the first year teachers aren't so happy about this."

Rei asked again for clarity, "And you actually heard this from the teachers?"

"There's something you should know, New Girl." Ai took a step closer as she said, "Teachers love to gossip and complain about crap just as much if not more than those Central Shopping District hags."

Rei crossed her arms as she admitted, "I could definitely picture King Moron having some major gripes."

"Yeah, but they'll probably dodge a bullet this time." Ai remarked, "For their sakes, here's hoping they don't end up with him in anything else."

"If they did, I would already feel bad for them." Rei plainly stated.

"Me too," Ai then casually stated, "but it hasn't been confirmed yet, so best to wait and see."

"These are definitely good rumors to keep in mind." Rei requested, "Make sure to keep me posted."

"Sure thing." Ai answered that request.

/

Date: Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Location: Tokyo

Weather: Sunny

After several days of rain, it was a sunny day in Tokyo. When the idol Kujikawa Rise finally returned home, she flopped on her bed. She could feel the power of the sun making its way through her window. Rise was reluctant and lazy, but the idol forced herself to move off her bed, and she closed the blinds before returning to bed. Rise felt her head sink into the cushion. She took a deep breath as she stared up at the ceiling above her.

Rise took another deep breath before sitting up straight and holding her phone out. She clicked into her 'Favorites', and her Grandmother was on speed dial. She pressed it, and her grandmother was fast to pick up.

Her Grandmother unsurprisingly greeted her with, "Hello, Rise-chan. Is everything okay?"

"Grandma …" Rise's feet were hanging off the bedside as she told her grandmother, "It wasn't easy, but I finished discussing things with my agency. We'll be holding a press conference announcing my hiatus before the end of this month."

Sakoto was less jolly as she inquired, "How'd they take it?

Rise sighed as she told her, "They didn't have room to complain since I hadn't violated my contract, and I've fulfilled all my promises until now. As long as I complete my last TV spot and concert everything will be fine."

Sakoto then inquired, "And Inoue-san?"

"He …" Rise momentarily cringed, "He probably took it the hardest. He definitely had more to say, but he didn't say it. I think he'll want to reach out to me later."

"Ah … He knows what you're really considering." Sakoto stated, "He'll want you to come back. After all, not everyone comes back from hiatus."

"Right …" Rise remarked, "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Now, I need to focus on other things."

"I understand." Sakoto stated, "You do have a few affairs to get in order. I'll be sure to get things ready for you to move in. You can feel free to send me some of your things in advance if you want."

Rise was gracious as she said, "Thanks, grandma."

/

On the other end of the call, Sakoto didn't want this conversation to come to an end just yet. There was something she needed to know. There was something she needed to have clarified. She knew if she didn't ask it now, she might not be able to ask it later.

Before Rise had a chance to hang up, Sakoto said, "Rise-chan, there is one thing I want to ask. After I ask it, I won't ask any other questions about your life as an idol, so could you 'please' answer as truthfully as possible."

"Okay …" Rise sounded 'reluctant' to put it mildly, but she was willing.

Sakoto appeared to sense her granddaughter's unease so she assured her, "I understand this could be a complicated issue, but I still think it's important to talk about, especially because it's complicated."

"What is it, grandma?" Rise was starting to sound a little uneasy. She was clearly not liking the idea of this being dragged out.

Sakoto decided she might as well rip the band aid off as she decided to outright ask, "Do you hate being 'Risette'?"

"Wha … What?" Based on the stutter in Rise's voice, Sakoto could tell her granddaughter was taken aback by the unexpected question, but she couldn't blame her either. She could only imagine how her granddaughter might be feeling. This was probably a landmine, but Sakoto had to risk it. Sakoto felt she had no choice, but to repeat her inquiry, "Do you hate being Risette?"

"I …" Rise paused on the other line before asking her own question, "Why would you ask me that?"

Sakoto merely replied, "I just wish to understand better. That's all. I'm just concerned."

"I …" Rise didn't appear to be any closer to giving Sakoto an answer as she continued to stumble, "That's all to say … There are things I like …"

Rather than letting this drag out, Sakoto merely said, "I understand, Rise-chan. You don't have to give me an answer. If you feel like talking about it another time, I'll be there."

Rise sighed, "Thank you, grandma." There was a noticeable sound of relief in Rise's voice.

"Of course, Rise-chan." Sakoto assured her.

Sakoto felt as if this conversation landed her back at square one. She understood that this was touchy subject for her granddaughter, and she was reluctant to go into deep details regarding her decision to go on a hiatus for the foreseeable future. However, she also knew there were issues that needed to be addressed for her granddaughter's sake. Unfortunately, Sakoto wasn't sure when the best time to address these concerns would be.

/

Back in Tokyo, Rise sighed as she thought about the last thing she said to her grandmother. She nearly pressed the button to call her again, but instead, she clicked downward. A few spaces down was the name, 'Narukami Rei'. It was then that Rise knew who she would call next. She felt energy returning to her body as she heard the ringing.

When someone answered on the other end of the line, she heard Rei asked, "Rise-san?"

"Of course, it's me, Rei-senpai." Rise's voice sounded more jovial than earlier as she asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Rei replied, "Things are looking good. I'm actually gonna be hanging out with some friends of mine at Junes after school tomorrow."

"You'll be spending time with friends tomorrow." Rise replied, "That sounds great. I hope you have a good time."

"Thank you." Rei suggested, "I'll introduce you to them next time you're in town."

"Heh." Rise giggled, "I'd like that."

"So …" Rei then asked, "how are you doing? I bet you've been busy."

"You don't know the half of it. There's actually something …" Rise paused for a moment before stating, "Rei-senpai, you can keep a secret, right?"

"Well …" Rei simply said, "I've been keeping a lot. What's one more? You need something to get off your chest?"

"Not exactly, but um …" Rise looked to her door before telling Rei, "There's a bit of news that hasn't been made public yet, but I'd like to share it with you. Can you make sure to keep it a secret?"

"Oh?" Rei sounded far more enthusiastic as she then said, "Of course. What is it?"

Rise then quietly informed Rei of what her plans were for the following month. Predictably, Rei had difficulty fathoming it. "I'm sorry … I'm pretty sure I misheard you because it sounded like you're going to be moving to Inaba … That can't actually be the case right …?"

"No, you heard right." Rise reiterated, "I'll be moving to Inaba."

Rei asked again in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

Rise insisted, "Yes."

The disbelief was clearly overwhelming to Rei as she asked again, "You're actually going to stay in Inaba?"

Rise did her best to remain patient as she repeated, "Yes."

"Holy crap!" Rei absentmindedly said out loud, "Risette is going to be here in Inaba! That's … That's incredible."

"Well … I'm not really …" Rise cleared her throat before finishing, "Yes. I'll be there."

"Since you're a high schooler, does that mean you'll be attending Yasogami High?" Rei then asked, "You're one of the rumored freshmen transfers?"

"Yes. My transfer will be in June, and I'll …" Rise trailed off before correcting herself, "What do you mean by 'rumored freshmen transfers'?"

"Oh, right …" Rei sheepishly explained, "A friend of mine whose big into rumors heard a couple of loudmouth teachers complaining about some freshmen transfers coming."

Rise's eyes widened before she voiced her concern, "Are you saying my plans have been leaked?"

"I don't know." Rei informed her, "My friend didn't know you were transferring here, so it's possible they just know 'someone' is transferring. Not who is."

"Still …" Rise groaned as she combed her hair with her hand, "Those idiots …"

"Right …" Rei jokingly added, "We even have a teacher we call 'King Moron'."

"That's just great." Rise said in exasperation.

"I'll do my best to stop anyone else from learning this, but there's only so much I can do." Rei then asked, "Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"It's fine. I think I'll be fine, but I'll let you know." Rise then reiterated, "Just try not to let anyone else know."

"Right, I'll do my best. This is just so exciting!" That was evident based on the sound of Rei's voice. Rise could picture Rei jumping up and down as she then said, "I'll do what I can to make sure your stay in Inaba is a pleasant one."

"I greatly appreciate that." Rise then informed Rei, "By the way, just so we're clear, I will be taking a hiatus from being an idol."

"What?" Rei's reaction was she expected.

"This is all part of my final arrangements before I come to Inaba." Rise then informed Rei, "The press conference will be happening soon, and I'll announce my hiatus."

"Oh …" Rei's voice had far less enthusiasm and disbelief as she solemnly said, "You're really serious about that, aren't you?"

"Please don't tell anyone." Rise insisted, "I definitely need to save that for the official announcement or I could get in trouble. Don't want to burn any bridges."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't, but …" Rei asked in concern, "is everything okay?"

"I'm fine … It's just …" Rise scratched the back of her head as she told Rei, "You know being an idol isn't as easy as some people think. I've enjoyed doing songs and stuff, but I'm … I'm just …" Rise trailed off as the right word escaped her.

It was then that Rei suggested, "Burned-out?"

Rise snapped her fingers as she felt a lightbulb go off in her head, "Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking."

Rei then asked, "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"A while." Rise told her, "I've been getting tired of doing things by their schedule and stuff." She sounded exasperated as she said, "You wouldn't believe how packed my schedule is every day. Even now. If they gave us more breaks, things would be 'so' much better."

Rei merely said, "I can only imagine."

"Anyway," Rise then said, "after I decided to go on hiatus, I also decided it would be for the best if I leave my school."

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Rei inquired.

Rise told Rei, "People sometimes ask me for autographs there, and I know people will be asking me about my hiatus."

"But won't that happen anywhere you go?" Rei pointed out, "There are Risette fans here. I know that for a fact."

Rise replied, "I guess, but I'm thinking somewhere else will give me a fresh start. It'll be easier there than in the city. It'll let me figure some things out. You know?"

"I … I understand." Rei merely said, "You have to do what's right for you, right?"

Rise smiled as she answered, "Yes."

Rei told her, "Good luck with that."

/

Date: Monday June 6th 2011

Location: Inaba – On Route to Yasogami High

Weather: Sunny

It was the beginning of another week at Yasogami High. The sun was beaming down on Rei and any other student that had to make the trek to school. It was still early in the morning, but Rei could already feel sweat crawling down her forehead. She wiped it off, but she continued to perspire. If this kept up, she would be in need of a shower before the first bell rang. Other students could probably say the same.

In one week, the students would need to begin wearing their 'Summer Uniforms'. The thought of that always made Rei sigh. Personally, she always thought that the 'Winter Uniforms' were much more stylish than the 'Summer' ones in every school she had been to. The Summer uniforms for Yasogami High were no exception.

There was more than one other reason for it as well. There would be a lack of sleeves for the Summer Uniform. Rei couldn't help but glance down at her arm as she walked down the road. Even though her clothes covered it, she couldn't stop herself from cringing. The mere thought caused hairs on the back of her head to stand up.

Rei had become so fixated on her arm, she almost didn't notice something else. In fact, it was another person sighing that caused her to look up. It was Tatsumi Kanji doing as he promised. He was heading to school. Just like other students on this trek, he was wiping his brow. Rei couldn't help but feel pleased to see someone else need to adjust to the heat, but that wasn't all she noticed. Other students besides herself were keeping out of Kanji's way, which caused Rei to sigh, and she accelerated her movement.

When Rei was close enough, she called out, "Hey, Kanji-san."

"Hmm?" Kanji looked over and replied in a tired voice, "Hey, good morning, Senpai."

"How you feeling?" Rei asked.

"I'm fine …" Kanji rotated his shoulders as he then told Rei, "Just glad to be walking around without any help, but I guess," Kanji rotated his shoulders, "I still feel a little off …"

"That's understandable." Rei assured him, "If you need any help don't hesitate to ask."

Kanji stood up straight as he rebuked, "No offense, Senpai, but since I'll be going back to school, I'm gonna hesitate."

"Oh?" Rei raised an eyebrow before leaning forward, "Need to keep up the 'tough guy' image?"

Kanji stepped and looked away as he said, "Kinda …"

Rei reminded him, "Didn't we just have a talk about something like that?"

"…" Kanji became silent.

"Remember," Rei pulled out her phone as she told him, "I'm just a call away."

Kanji sighed as he scratched the back of his head, "Fine …"

/

Thankfully for Rei and her classmates, they had a chance to recover from the sun when they got to school. Rather than starting the lecture, their bucktoothed homeroom teacher, Morooka Kinshiro, also known as 'King Moron', was making an announcement. It was something that caught Rei's attention. It made her ignore the glaring sun outside as she listened.

"All right, shut your traps." Morooka spoke in his trademark rude tone. "I know some of you are looking forward to the camping trip coming up later this month while the rest of you aren't. Quite frankly, I don't give a crap either way, but I gotta give this announcement." He looked down at a piece of paper on his desk as he announced, "We'll be doing a little 'student exchange' between homerooms."

This caused a few students to look at each other. Rei could hear whispers all around her. She herself was rather surprised by this development, but she kept her lips sealed.

"I already told you to shut up!" Upon hearing Morooka's words, everyone else shut up and looked at him. "That's better." He then looked down at the paper as he continued, "As you all know, you will all be divided into teams of four. The school wants as many teams to have two boys and two girls. Since some of the homerooms aren't exactly even, we'll be doing this. Our homeroom has too many girls while others has too many guys. Who would like to …" Before Morooka could continue with his request, his eyes widened.

Without hesitation, Rei raised her hand. Even King Moron was surprised by this that he briefly stopped speaking before he then said, "I can see you're eager. This class isn't good enough for you, missy?"

"No." Rei put her hand down, "I'm just interested in being part of a group from another class."

"…" Yosuke, Yukiko, and Chie were all stunned when they heard this. They could not bring themselves to say a word at the time.

"Hmph." King Moron replied, "Have it your way. We'll need another. Then, we can move on."

A few moments later, there was another female volunteer. Afterwards, the student had to begin suffering through the school day. However, there were three students in particular who were trying to make sense of what they witnessed.

Then, they were able to move on with the day.

/

While they may have been stunned in the moment, they had things to say, especially Yosuke. When it was time for lunch, the Investigation Team went somewhere no one would listen in. Yosuke was the first to ask, "Why'd you do that?"

"You heard him." Rei pointed out, "They needed another girl in the other class, so I decided to help out."

"Hmph." Yosuke replied in a deadpan tone, "You made that decision quickly."

"Yes, I did." Rei pointed out, "We wouldn't have been able to form a group anyway. I'd be the odd girl out, remember?"

Oddly enough, Chie concurred, "Narukami isn't wrong. I wasn't even thinking about volunteering, and I'm pretty sure Yukiko wouldn't have either. Right?"

Yukiko shook her head, "Nope."

"Someone had to volunteer." Chie stated, "Since all four of us couldn't be in the same group, I can totally see why she'd volunteer."

"Huh. This is weird." Yosuke took a step forward as he said, "You're actually defending Narukami-san's decision, and you're reasoning using half-way decent logic." Yosuke pointed at Chie and teased, "Who are you and what have you done with Satonaka?"

"Hey!" Chie loudly rebuked Yosuke as she shouted, "Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot!"

Rei wisely thought to herself, "He doesn't have to talk to you like you're an idiot." When Rei could see this could escalate, she stepped in, "Calm down you guys. Let's not do anything that can get us in trouble."

"She's right, Chie." Yukiko concurred.

"Ugh …" Chie groaned, "Fine …"

Rei then stated, "Anyway, we got something more important to worry about. Kanji-san will be joining our group today, and we will be taking both him along with Ebihara-san to Junes after school."

Before anyone else could say anything, Chie was the first to voice her disbelief, "Are you kidding me?! We're taking Ebihara?"

"No." Rei insisted, "She's coming with us. She already knows about us."

"Ugh …" Chie groaned, "I still can't believe she knows about us."

"I hate to beat a dead horse, but we did cause a lot of commotion the first time we were dragged in." Rei then pointed out, "She knows the Midnight Channel has something to do with the murders, and she decided to talk to me about it rather than someone else. I believe … I know we can trust her. Besides, it'll be nice to have someone else know about our situation."

"Yeah …" Yosuke concurred, "If she's gonna be any help to us, we might as well meet her halfway and show her what we're dealing with."

Chie simply asked again, "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Yosuke remarked, "She might be able to help us out."

While this exchange was going on, Rei thought, "This feels more like it."

"I can't …" Chie was finding it difficult to protest.

"Chie." At the sound of her name, Rei watched as Chie's head turned to Yukiko like an obedient puppy as she listened, "Narukami-san thinks we can trust Ebihara-san, and I think we should respect that. I'm sure she thought it through, and she's just being considerate to us, so let's honor her decision."

"But Yukiko …" Chie began to whine before trailing off. She then reluctantly replied, "Okay, fine …"

"Trust me. This won't be a problem. If anything, we'll be better off." Rei then said, "Anyway, I gotta get going. I already promised to have a meet up at the rooftop."

Chie asked in exasperation, "Even if I wanted to stop you, I won't' be able to, right?"

"No." Rei turned around as she opened the door, "Besides, she already figured out enough on her own."

"Yeah …" Was the only word Chie could say, and Rei made her exit.

/

Rei hurried up the stairs as fast as she could. She would glance at her watch to see she was behind schedule. On the rooftop, Rei met up with not only Ebihara Ai, but also with Ichigo Kou and Nagase Daisuke. They were busy discussing things when Rei burst through the door.

Unsurprisingly, Ai greeted Rei with, "You're late."

"I got held up." Rei sat down to complete their circle as she told them, "I had some things to take care." Rei then procced to tell them what happened in her class.

After Rei was finished explaining the situation, the surprise in Ai's voice was evident as she asked, "So you're one of the two girls who volunteered to be our transfer girls?"

Rei answered in-between bites of her lunch, "Yep."

"Heh." Ai chuckled as she looked over to Daisuke and Kou, "I bet you two are glad you didn't volunteer to be those transfer boys."

"Yeah …" Daisuke sheepishly said, "Close call …"

Kou suggested, "So I guess that means you'd like us to form a group."

"Oh." Ai looked to Daisuke and asked, "Were you thinking the same thing?"

Rather than answer Ai's question, Daisuke glanced between Ai and Rei while asking, "Um … Would you be up for it, Narukami-san?"

"Sure." Rei then asked, "Can we really do that?"

"No sweat." Daisuke told Rei, "We'll just talk to our homeroom teacher and that'll be that."

/

After school was finished, Rei met up with her Group B by the teacher's lounge. Strangely talking to their homeroom teacher about forming this group went smoother than Rei could've thought. It only took them about five minutes, and they were established as a group for the Camping Trip.

With a sense of anti-climactic, Rei said, "That was easy."

Ai reminded Rei, "The girls had to go somewhere. He was probably just glad one group was willing to take one."

"Yeah." Daisuke was rather excited as he proclaimed, "All right. Now we're a team!"

That enthusiasm did not go unnoticed by Ai who teasingly remarked, "Someone is eager."

"Um … sorry …" Daisuke sheepishly apologized, "It's just great when things work out."

"It really does." Rei concurred, "You don't have anything to apologize for. Anyway," Something suddenly caught Rei's eye as she said, "there's something I need to do. Ebihara-san, I'll meet up with you in a little bit."

Ai seemed to notice what Rei was talking about as she said, "Sure. Don't forget."

"I won't." Rei assured her before leaving.

Kou looked to Ai and inquired, "What was that about?"

"Nothing much." Ai informed the duo, "New Girl wants me help with something at Junes." Ai leaned forward and stated, "'Girls Only' if you don't mind."

"Um …" Kou uneasily backed off as he said, "Right."

"Sure …" Daisuke did the same.

/

Rei went around the lockers by the school entrance as she saw Kanji getting ready to head out. Rei decided to ask, "You get through your first day, all right?"

Kanji shrugged his shoulders and said, "More or less …"

Rei asked, "You hungry?"

Kanji sheepishly answered, "A little …"

"Here." Rei tossed an apple which Kanji caught.

Kanji found himself staring at the apple in his hand, "Hmm?"

Rei informed Kanji, "That'll keep your mind off your stomach until you get home.

"Um … Thanks … I can …" Kanji's attempt to offer gratitude only fell flat when he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he left his Senpai hanging.

Rei waved it off, "Don't worry about it. You can always give me an apple someday if you want."

"Okay …" Kanji then took a bite out of it. Before they knew it the two students were walking side by side as Kanji then said, "You know … I feel a little nervous about going back …"

Rei reach out, "Kanji-san it's …"

"!" Kanji tense up which caused Rei to take a step back.

Taking the hint, Rei kept her distance as she assured him, "Don't worry. It's okay to feel nervous." Rei pulled on her sleeves as she told her Kohai, "I know I had 'mixed' feelings about going back there after I became a scratching-chew toy. However, if I didn't go back, I won't have been able to save Amagi-san or you. With helping us, we'll be one step closer to solving the mystery. Besides, I really could use the extra muscle."

"I'm sure you do. Anyway, we should probably move faster. The others are waiting for us, right?" Kanji attempted to sound enthusiastic as he said, "Let's go."

/

As Kanji and Rei were walking away there were two freshmen students who went by the names of Satoshi and Eiichi. They both happened to be in the same class as Kanji. Despite being the same age, he easily dwarfed them. However, they were also interested in listening to rumors, similar to Ebihara Ai.

Both of them had dark hair, but Satoshi's hair reached his shoulders. He was the first to ask, "Who's that weird looking girl Tatsumi is hanging out with?"

Eiichi was the one with glasses who informed his friend, "I'm pretty sure it's that strange second year transfer student." He adjusted his glasses as he remarked, "There's no mistaking that silver hair."

"I can see that she had silver hair, but is that for real or …" Satoshi shook his hand in a 'spray can' gesture before finishing with, "you know …"

Eiichi stated, "I heard it's real."

"Seriously?" Satoshi remarked, "I thought you were gonna say she dyed it to piss off her folks or something."

"I don't know what to tell you." Eiichi shrugged as he said, "I'm pretty sure I heard she was born with it."

"Well that's something." Satoshi then asked, "Are one of her parents foreign?"

"Hmm …" That was one thing Eiichi was stumped on, "No idea."

"Hey." Satoshi and Eiichi looked over to see their friend, Konishi Naoki, was approaching them as he asked, "What're you guys talking about?"

Eiichi pointed him in the direction Kanji and Rei were walking, "About that silver haired transfer student that Tatsumi has been hanging around."

"Oh," Naoki sounded rather bitter as he asked, "you mean Tatsumi's girlfriend?

"Girlfriend?!" Both Satoshi and Eiichi exclaimed.

"Yeah," Naoki stated, "I heard that Tatsumi decided to turn over a new leaf. From what I heard, he's gonna start attending school regularly because of a girl. I guess he wanted to seem mature for her or something."

Satoshi was completely astonished as he asked, "When did you hear they're dating? How'd you hear that?"

Naoki casually informed them, "They're hanging around a lot. The way he looks so close to her is basically telling you the whole story."

Eiichi began to ponder out loud, "Now that you mention it."

Satoshi commented, "Weird people probably do attract each other. So do you know if she has any foreign parents? Is that why her hair is so weird?"

Naoki simply stated, "I didn't hear anything about that, but that wouldn't surprise me."

/

Less than an hour later, the entirety of the Investigation Team along with the new members of Ai and Kanji had arrived in the TV World. To the Investigation Team members, they could see the world clearly with their glasses. However, to both Kanji and Ai, the world was covered in a dense fog that literally clouded their vision. If they extended their arms, they would barely be able to see their hands.

Ai was the first to comment, "You weren't kidding when you told me about the fog, New Girl. I can barely see a thing in here."

"Ugh …" Kanji shared the sentiment, "It's pretty tough, but it's not as bad as I remember it.

"I see we have a lot of company today." Ai could hear a pair of squeaky footsteps and an unfamiliar, high pitched voice was approaching them.

When Ai turned around, she saw a figure appear through the fog. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Holy crap! There really is a cosplay bear in here."

"Cosplay?" Teddie tilted his head before looking to Rei.

Rei assured him, "Don't worry about it. You wouldn't happen to have …"

Teddie proudly proclaimed, "Way ahead of you, Sensei. I figured I should make a couple of them."

Rei graciously said, "I can always count on you, Teddie."

"Ah shucks, Sensei." The usual red hue appeared on Teddie's cheeks.

Hey you two. Put on these glasses. Teddie made for you." Rei handed the two their own pairs of glasses without looking at the specifics.

Kanji remarked, "I was kinda wondering about the glasses."

Ai remarked in a deadpan tone, "Please don't tell me that you didn't notice they were wearing glasses until now."

"No …" Kanji defensively said, "It's not like I didn't notice. I just didn't ask …"

"…" Ai simply stared at Kanji with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe you should just put them on." Rei suggested, and they did.

"Okay." Kanji then put his glasses on. When he looked through the lens, it was as if the fog had completely disappeared. "Huh?" Kanji voiced his disbelief, "What the hell? It's gone."

When Ai put her glasses on, she similarly exclaimed, "Holy crap! What a difference!"

Rei explained, "The glasses allow you to see through the fog."

Kanji turned to face Rei, "How is that possible?"

"Well it's ..." Rei paused midsentence. It was followed by puffed up cheeks.

"Huh?" Kanji tilted his head, "It's what?"

Rei and Yukiko both put their hands on their mouths as their cheeks were puffing up. Yosuke seemed as if he was about to begin laughing. Chie who was standing on the side with her arms crossed appeared to be having difficulty maintaining her composure as she glanced away. Ai simply laughed.

"Hey!" Kanji's astonishment got the better of him as he asked, "What's going on?"

While Rei was able to hold it in, Yukiko could not. Her laughter filled the entire stage while Rei did her best to ignore it.

Still dumbfounded, Kanji demand, "What's funny?" When he spoke, he felt something on his lips. "Huh?" Kanji looked between his eyes and realized that his 'glasses' weren't just glasses. There was something attached to them. He took them off and asked, with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance, "What the hell is this?" The glasses looked like a prop out of a joke shop. They had an attached fake nose and mustache.

The fake nose looked like it belonged to an anime character while the mustache looked like it belonged to a stereotypical mustache twirling villain. Needless to say, Kanji did not find this flattering.

"Screw this. Take it back." Kanji tossed away the glasses.

Rei managed to suppress her laughter as she order, "You had your fun. Give Kanji-san some real glasses, Teddie."

Teddie protested, "But I want more."

Rei stated in a matter of fact tone, "The joke's dead now. Let's move on."

"Okay, okay. Here." Teddie handed a proper one.

Kanji indignantly grabbed the glasses and checked them for any 'oddities' before putting them on. He looked as he would begin pouting he adjusted the glasses and said, "That's better."

Yosuke was the first to exactly, "Okay, so why exactly did you make those glasses, Teddie?"

Teddie shrugged, "I got bored."

"Moving on." Kanji asked, "How do these things work?"

"Um …" Rei looked over to Teddie and asked, "How is it possible, Teddie?"

"My eyes are the lens." Teddie stated.

"…" Everyone was silent. No one was amused.

"Okay …" Rei began to say, "So how does …"

Before Rei could say another thing, Ai spoke up, "Are we on some kind of stage?"

"Yeah." Rei confirmed, "This whole world looks like it could be in some kind of TV Station."

"A TV studio inside a TV, huh?" Ai tilted her head as she remarked, "I totally should've saw something like that coming."

"Yeah … About that …" Rei informed Ai, "This place can be altered depending on whose thrown in here."

That caught Ai's attention as she looked over to Rei and inquired, "Really? How so?"

"Well …" Rei glanced over to the other members of the Investigation Team before remembering, "… We found the place where Konishi-senpai was … you know …"

"With a hint o dread, Ai asked, "You found out where she was killed …"

"Yep." Rei solemnly replied while Yosuke looked away.

"Ah …" Despite what she had just heard or because of it, Ai's curiosity got the better of her, "What did you find there, New Girl?"

"The Central Shopping District." Yosuke interjected. Ai's attention was on him as he told her, "It looked like the Central Shopping District only crappier. Like it was falling apart and stuff."

"Huh …" Ai didn't need much more to picture it, "Sounds like it must've been pretty bad."

"Yeah …" Yosuke looked away and toward the ground uncomfortably as he told Ai, "What we found there … It wasn't pleasant … She was keeping a lot of things that were bothering her a secret. Her Sh … Her Shadow killed her because she couldn't accept it. Accept herself." Yosuke shook his head, "We had no idea."

"Her Shadow?" Ai raised an eyebrow, "I thought Shadows were the monsters that live here."

"They are, but there's more to them than that. We all have a Shadow." Rei pointed at Ai as she informed her, "Even you."

"…" Ai was silent when she heard Rei say that.

"It's hard to explain, but the people who are thrown in here …" Rei told them, "They are forced to face their Shadows, and if they don't accept them, then you're as good as dead. It all happens with the fog rises here. If we can't save them before that happens, they're killed. It happened to both Saki-san and Konishi-senpai."

"The same would've happened to me." Yukiko spoke up. "They saved me from my Shadow."

Kanji then spoke up, "And me too. That's why I joined up with this group. I want to take down the bastard who kidnapped me."

Teddie interjected, "Sensei really as a knack for saving people's lives, and they join our group too."

Ai remarked, "You really have an interesting setup, New Girl. If only someone could make a game or an anime out of this. I bet a lot of people would love to have something like this as a premise."

"…" Some of the other member of the Investigation Team quietly glanced at each other.

"I think I have seen something like this before in a manga, but I guess it would be fun to play." Rei admitted.

"Heh." Ai chuckled, "I know I would, New Girl."

"Hey." Teddie spoke and asked Ai, "Who exactly are you, and why do you keep calling Sensei New Girl?"

"Sensei?" Ai raised an eyebrow and asked, "New Girl is your Sensei?"

"That's right." With furrowed brows, Teddie demanded, "Why do you keep calling her New Girl?" His voice almost sounded hostile.

"If you're worried that it's some kind of insult, it isn't." Ai told the bear.

"Oh …" Any hostility Teddie might've felt for this stranger had evaporated.

"I just call her that because she's new in the town." Ai then added, "Nothing big."

Teddie could only say, "I see …"

Ai then asked, "Why do you call her Sensei?"

"Because she's my Sensei." Teddie answered, "She answers every question I ask, and I know I can trust her to give me an honest answer."

Ai glanced over to Rei as she commented, "I can see that." Ai then asked, "So who exactly are you to this group, talking bear? Scooby Doo?"

Teddie raised an eyebrow "Huh?"

"No." Rei spoke up, "His name is Teddie. Remember? He's a key member of our 'Investigation Team." He's actually a founding member."

"Being Scooby Doo is a badge of honor." Ai waved Rei's concern off. "He should be happy."

"I should?" Teddie tilted his head.

"Oh definitely." Ai then looked at the other Investigation Members. "Man." Ai shook her head as she remarked, "You guys really do have your own 'Mystery Inc.'. All you need now is a van."

While what Ai was saying was going over the other Investigation Team members' heads, Yosuke was the first to ask, "What're you talking about?"

Ai answered, "It's a classic American franchise that's been around for decades like 'Gundam' or 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'."

"Oh!" To say that Yosuke's curiosity was piqued would be an understatement.

"So let me guess." Ai tapped her chin before pointing to Rei, "You're Fred." Ai then pointed to Teddie, "He's Scooby." She pointed to Yosuke, "You're Velma." Then to Yukiko, "You're Daphne." She then eagerly pointed to Chie, "Oh! I know! You must be Scrappy!"

Rei's cheeks puffed up after hearing that last part. She had to cover her mouth to suppress it.

"And you …" Ai pointed at Kanji.

"Um … Yeah." Kanji almost sounded nervous.

Ai remarked, "It might seem odd, but I can totally see you as a Shaggy."

Kanji titled his head, "What?"

Managing to suppress his laughter, Rei assured Kanji, "It's a good thing."

"You sure?" Kanji sounded understandably skeptical.

"Positive." Rei nodded.

"Okay." Kanji sounded willing to accept it.

Ai began to remark, "Yeah, you really."

"Ebihara-san," Rei took this moment to speak up before this went any further, "we get the idea. Maybe we should move on."

"Okay. Okay." Ai passed the 'mic' to Rei. "The floor is all yours."

"All right." Rei looked over to Kanji and asked, "Kanji-san, I was hoping that coming back here could help you remember something. Do you remember anything the day you were kidnapped?"

"Ugh …" Kanji groaned as he said, "Not much … I can remember I was doing something at home, and then I went to the door. I blacked out, and I remember waking up in that Bathhouse."

"Bathhouse?" Ai spoke up.

Rei explained, "The place Kanji-san was thrown into took the shape of a bathhouse." Rei then turned to Kanji and said, "Anything else come to mind?"

"No." Kanji massaged his head, but clearly nothing was coming.

"So no new clues." Teddie sounded down as he said that.

"We knew this was probably gonna be the case." Yosuke spoke up. "How about any enemies? If there was any you and Amagi-san shared, it could help."

"A lot of people don't like me, so that would be hard, but I'll try to think of some people." Kanji said.

"Good enough for me." Chie spoke up. "That could give us some suspects to beat in."

"Let's not jump the gun on that, Chie." Yukiko warned her friend.

"…" Ai was silent as she thought, "I made the right choices."

"Anyway," Kanji spoke up, "I may not be able to remember anything that can help you guys, but like I told Senpai, you can count on me to help you guys take down this son of a bitch. You guys saved my life, and I won't forget that, so let's do this."

Yosuke said, "You're more than welcome on the team, but are you really sure you want in."

"Yeah." Kanji declared, "I'm definitely in."

"Then welcome aboard." Yosuke put both his hands behind his head and winked, "It was about time we got another guy on the team anyway. It was almost lonely."

"Please." Chie remarked, "I bet you were enjoying that."

"Oh please yourself Satonaka. Even I have limits." Yosuke grinned as he teasingly remarked, "This harem is way too big for me. Might as well split it up."

"!" Both Ai and Yukiko's eyes widened.

"Harem?" Kanji asked out loud.

"You wish yo-" Chie began to respond

"That's enough you two." Rei stepped in between Chie and Yosuke as she stated, "You're derailing this whole thing."

Chie sighed, "Fine, continue."

Rei took Chie up on that as she then said, "As glad as I am to have Kanji-san on board, there is a major concern. We originally thought the killer was only targeting girls, but Kanji here proves the killer is willing to attack anyone regardless of their gender."

"Yeah …" Yosuke spoke up, "I know that we talked about this before, but what made him change his mind?"

"Don't know." Rei shrugged "But we may find out later. This is why we need a new plan. We keep doing these based on hindsight, so we need to take an initiative."

Yukiko asked, "What does that mean?"

Rei motioned to Ai, "Ebihara-san here told me that she's good and picking up on rumors. I don't know how many of you heard about this, but we're apparently getting a few mystery freshmen transfer students, and it checks out."

"New transfer students?" Yosuke asked.

Yukiko then commented, "That's rare."

"Rare, but true." Rei then said, "It's possible that a rumor might come up that could help us find the killer."

Kanji concurred, "Sounds like it might be our best shot. I don't know if I'll ever remember anything."

"Same for me." Yukiko almost sounded guilty as she said that.

"Don't talk like that you two." Rei spoke up, "Whatever drugs the killer used on you two must've affected you. You have no way of controlling that. We just need to move forward, so we can catch this bastard."

Unsurprisingly, Teddie raised his paw and declared, "I'm with Sensei."

Ai stated, "I'll make sure to do my part." Rei simply replied with a nod.

/

The meeting didn't last much longer after that. Rei knew that she needed to head back to the Dojima Household, but there was something she needed to take care, so she declared the meeting to be adjourned. Everyone seemed ready to get going, especially Ai. Ai was allowed to keep her glasses just like the other members of the Investigation Team.

As they were departing, Rei stood next to the TVs and watched the other members of the Investigation Team depart before her. When Rei was the only one left, she was about to step in before hearing Teddie calling out to her, "Hold on, Sensei!" When Rei turned around to have a one-on-one chat with Teddie, he inquired, "Why didn't you tell them about the Shadow in Kanji's Bathhouse?"

"Easy." Rei pointed out, "Did Kanji-san look like he was ready for a fight today?"

"Well …" Teddie glanced to the TVs before admitting, "I … Guess not …"

"No. Besides Teddie," Rei made another point, "do you think I'd want to bring Ebihara-san to a battlefield where I'm fighting a massive Shadow? Fighting a small fry is one thing, but those big ones? Hell no! She has no Persona, and I've seen enough people get attacked by their own Shadows to know what'll happen after that."

Teddie admitted, "That's a good point, Sensei."

"Exactly." Rei assured him, "We'll give it another day or two, and we'll do what we did with Amagi-san's castle."

"Sounds good to me, Sensei, but please don't take too long." Teddie then said, "It's way too easy to get bored down here."

Rei attempted to sound sympathetic as she said, "I can imagine. Don't worry. We'll be back. See you later, Teddie."

Teddie warmly said goodbye, "See ya!"

/

Date: Monday, June 6th, 2011

Location: Inaba – Dojima Household

Weather: Sunny

It was an ordinary evening for Dojima Nanako. She walked home alone without incident. When she got home from school, there was no one there. She just went over to the table and took care of her assignments. She swiftly took care of the homework assignment, and she was back in her natural spot to watch TV. However, her mind couldn't concentrate on what was going on. She would sit there to think, and she waited for someone to come through the door.

Whenever the Junes commercial would play, she would sing along, "Every day is 'Great' at Your Junes." Singing that short tune always made her feel warm. She could momentarily forget any worries she may have. A moment of levity that made her feel 'lighter'.

Shortly after one of the commercial played, Nanako had to answer the phone. When she picked it up, it was her cousin, 'Big Sis', Narukami Rei, on the line. She told Nanako she'd be home for dinner, but she was running a little late. Rei told her that she had to run an errand first before coming back. Unlike someone else, Nanako had little doubt that her Big Sis would come back home at a 'reasonable' time. Even so, it felt nice to hear her Big Sis give her a call.

When the door opened less than an hour later, Nanako knew who it was as she instinctively got up from the floor. She could clearly see Rei walk in. Before her Big Sis could take off her shoes, Nanako excitedly welcomed her with, "Welcome Home, Big Sis."

"Hey, Squirt." Rei replied while holding a big bag of groceries.

Nanako immediately took note of that as she asked, "Did you go shopping at Junes, Big Sis?"

Rei answer as she placed the bag on the counter, "I met up with a bunch of my friends there. I figured I might as well get some stuff before I came back."

"Oh …" Nanako couldn't hide her disappoint as she replied.

"…" Rei silently looked in Nanako's direction before kneeling down and asking, "Would you like to meet me at Junes after school?"

"Hmm?" Nanako looked up.

"Rei told her, "We'll have an 'After School Sister Get Together'. We'll meet at Junes after school, and we'll spend some time together. I can even ask Hanamura-san if his family could keep an eye on you until I get there. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Big Sis." Nanako was absolutely giddy as she asked, "When would you like to do it, Big Sis? When, when, when?"

"We can do it next week," Rei suggested as she took out a box from the bag. A growling sound could be heard when Rei then said, "Let's iron it out later. How about we eat?"

Nanako glanced at the refrigerator, "Well dad said …"

"We're not eating a TV dinner tonight, Nanako-chan." Rei was pulling out a pot as she said, "We're gonna have another home cooked meal tonight." She then corrected herself, "Sort of."

Nanako asked, "Are you going to teach me something new?"

"Already getting in line with the program, huh?" Rei grinned as she said, "That's my girl."

"Really?" Nanako sounded anxious.

"Sure, Squirt. This one will be easy, but it does require you to pay attention and have good timing. As long as you do that, it'll be a snap." Rei snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. "Are you up for this?"

"You bet!" Nanako replied without hesitation.

"All right, then." Rei stood up and picked something from the table and handed it to Nanako, "I'm sure you know the drill, Nanako-chan."

Nanako sat down and said, "You want me to watch what you do, and I take notes on how it's done, right?"

Another snap of her fingers and Rei exclaimed, "Exactly! Now, that we've settled on that," Rei held up in her hand, "Our dinner for tonight will be something Americans love to eat. They're a simple meal that can feel filling after having two or three of them. They are known as 'Hot Dogs'." It was something Nanako was familiar with as she wrote down, 'Hot Dogs' on her notes.

/

Rei stated, "There is more than one way to have a hot dog in Japan, but I prefer doing it more of the American way." Rei held up the hot dog and said, "You see this?"

"Yeah." Nanako nodded.

"This will probably be the easiest thing you will ever cook. However, there is one critical thing you need to do before cooking it." Rei warned, "If you don't do it, it could cause the hot dog to explode."

Nanako eyes widened as she asked, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I don't know the specifics, but basically if you make this mistake, it could cause the heat that gets contained in these little guys to build up and blow up." Rei demonstrated by cutting the hot dog she was holding, "That's why we need to take a knife and cut across it at least three times."

Nanako repeated as she wrote it down, "Cut three times."

"But not too deeply." Rei then placed one hot dog and a cutting plate in front of Nanako. She also placed a knife for her as well, and instructed her, "Now you do it."

"Okay." Nanako was eager to do so. She did as her sister did.

"See? It was as simple as that." Rei then took the hot dog and held out the frying pan. "Now, we just put these hot dogs on the pan, and I use the spatula to move them around. That way they can be cooked as evenly as possible without getting burned. You got that?"

"Um …" Nanako asked, "Could you repeat that?"

Rei smiled and said, "Sure. We put the hot dogs on the frying pan. I use the spatula to rotate the hot dogs. If we leave them sitting around too long, they can burn. By rotating them, we can make them cook more evenly. How's that?"

Nanako repeated, "Rotating them, so they can cook evenly. They won't burn."

"Good." Rei stated, "By the way, you can also add things to hot dogs to make them taste better. I'm sure you know what Ketchup and Mustard are, right?"

"Yeah." Nanako nodded.

"Well we're not using either of those." Rei put a can in front of Nanako and told her, "We're gonna add my personal favorite baked beans to hot dogs. I'll be preparing them while cooking the hot dogs, so don't worry about them this time around."

"Okay." Nanako asked, "Are baked beans the best things to have with hot dogs?"

"Not everyone will agree, but I feel that way." Rei then instructed her, "Anyway, when you are cooking a hot dog, you need to pay attention to the color. When you do, you'll know it is ready. Remember it shouldn't take too long either. You don't want to overcook a hot dog either."

"Don't overcook." Nanako said as she wrote it down. "Got it."

/

After the hot dogs and baked beans were ready, Rei told Nanako, "These look good don't they?"

Nanako took a whiff and said, "They smell good."

"That's what I like to hear." Rei divided their meal with three hot dogs a piece and placed the baked beans in the middle. "All right, this is how I do things, Nanako-chan." Rei then used her spoon to put the beans into the buns with the hot dogs. Rei said, "It tastes way more satisfying when you can eat them in combination. Just be careful. You'll make a mess when they spill out."

When Nanako attempted what Rei was doing, her mouth was less accommodating to the hot dog, so there were more beans left on her plate. Regardless, she exclaimed, "Delicious."

"I thought you'd say that." Rei grinned. "Now, you know something else that is delicious." Rei then warned, "Just don't have this every day. It is a fun thing to eat, but you have to remember they're not the best nor the worst thing you can have. Got it?"

"Got it." Nanako nodded.

"Great." Rei then said, "I got more things to teach you. I'll try teaching you a new breakfast item next."

"Really?" Nanako asked.

"You bet." Rei stated, "It's time to expand the menu a little more."

"That sounded like fun." Nanako was ecstatic.

"I'm sure it will. It'll also be nice to pass this down." Rei mentioned, "An old friend's mom taught me this."

"Oh!" It was then that Nanako remembered something she meant to mention earlier, "By the way, Big Sis I spoke with my friend. He says he'd like to come over this Sunday. Do you think you'd be free?"

"This Sunday?" Rei asked for clarification, "June 12th?"

"Yes." Nanako answered.

"Okay." Rei replied with a shrug.

"Really?" Nanako repeated the question.

"You bet." Rei then assured her, "I'll be there. You can count on it." That was a promise that Nanako could believe in which was further emphasized by, "I look forward to meeting him."

Nanako smiled as she told Rei, "He looks forward to meeting you too, Big Sis."

/

Author Notes: This was another chapter that didn't involve any fighting. I plan on that changing soon. Kanji's trial run to get used to his Persona will be coming similar to how it was for Yukiko. I look forward to how that will play out. Technically, I have written a few rough drafts scenes, but I look forward to how they will take form in the final product.

One notable difference you might have noticed from this chapter compared to the original game was the handling of Kanji when he returned to school. You actually have Rei and Kanji interact when he is going to school which was an added scene while the scene with Kanji speaking to the Investigation Team on the rooftop was cut out. Instead, I opted to have them head straight to the TV World with Ai in tow. I decided to exclude that partly because Rei had already recruited Kanji into the Investigation Team, and it wasn't necessary.

Ai definitely stole the show when they entered the TV World. She was somewhat prepared and accepting of it thanks to Rei being honest with her. Based on what Rei told her, she already had the Scooby Doo labels in her head before they entered the TV World, so it wasn't just something that came to her on the spot. Some of the nicknames were meant to be more 'endearing' than others. She actually does think Teddie is like 'Scooby Doo' in a good way, and Rei is 'Fred' due to her being the leader. Her reasons for the other nicknames are somewhat more 'mixed'.

When Rei said she thinks she has seen a premise similar to their situation in a manga, this was a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Rei was specifically referencing Part IV 'Diamond is Unbreakable'. I feel like the Persona series might've gotten inspiration from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise since Personas are similar to Stands, and Part Four involved finding a serial killer. Part V had us follow some less than lawful individuals similar to Persona 5.

At this point, the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure we all love from David Productions hadn't started yet. There was a failed movie and OVAs along with some video games, and they all were unable to live up to the manga. This makes me glad that David Productions was able to successfully pull off JoJo. I'm sure Rei would be excited if there is a scene she learns about an announcement to adapt the series in a weekly anime format.

What do you think of Rei joining her Group B in the Camping Trip? I decided several years ago that she wouldn't be part of the usual group we've seen in the video game and anime. I thought it would be way more interesting to have Rei be willing to be part of another group rather than the same group she has generally been in. When she is offered to be part of another group she is familiar with, she is happy to be part of it.

Personally, I think if Rei was part of her regular group, she wouldn't allow Mystery Food X to be created by Chie and Yukiko. I decided early on that I wanted them to still create that disaster. As a result, I decided that Rei would not be part of their camping group. I figured that some schools like to do certain things when it comes to teams which is why I did the whole two boys and two girls on a team to explain Rei volunteering to be part of another team.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please be sure to leave a review because your feedback is greatly appreciated. Be sure to stay well and be safe.