May 20th, Friday, Early Morning

Yu's sleep was restless. The Fool slowly left the bed and got ready for the day. He puts on his uniform and heads downstairs. He grabs a bowl and proceeds to make the breakfast of champions and of depressed people. Cereal.

"...Big Bro?" His eyes slowly drifted to his little sister, mouth full of spoon, milk, and sugar.

"Yhm?" Nanako looked torn, before shaking her head.

"Nevermind. I hope you have a good day at school!" She said happily, before grabbing an apple and walking out the door.

"Mmnn." Yu sounded as she left, before looking at the clock on the wall next to the phone the time reading 7:15. He finished the rest of his cereal, left the Dojima residence to go to school.

The walk there was empty of feeling and sound. Even Izanagi did not speak to him since the ordeal yesterday. What am I supposed to do? Hope might die, and Kanji isn't who I remember. Gah! What next? Nothing? Is it worthless? It can't be, right? Maybe there's something I can do. There's got to be something.

Then do something. Came Izanagi's voice.

Yu stopped walking. You're right. The path to Yasogami led nowhere. But backward, the path to Junes led to the Shadow World. And in the Shadow world, was an opportunity. There, he could find strength.

May 20th, Friday, Lunch

"Has anyone seen Yu?" Yosuke asked once lunch break started. Chie and Yukiko both shook their heads in negative. "He usually doesn't miss school."

"I hope he isn't sick. He's been working really hard lately." Came the Priestess.

Chie spoke up. "I'll send him a text. If we don't get an answer, we'll look for him."

Yosuke nodded as he ate a bite of his instant ramen. "We should split up. I'll check Junes. Chie, Nanako is more comfortable with you, so you go to his house. Yukiko, check near the Samegawa." Everyone agreed and finished eating their lunch.

May 20th, Friday, After School

Chie knocked on the Dojima residence door and waited for a bit. No answer came, and just as she was about to give up, Nanako showed up. "Big Sis!" Chie saw the little girl's face gain a bright smile. She smiled back.

"Hello, Nanako-chan! How are you today?"

"I'm good! School was fun!"

"That's great to hear, Nanako! I was wondering, is your Big Bro sick?" Her smile fell a bit.

"I dunno. Last night, when he got home, his eyes were red and he went straight to bed. And this morning, he was eating cereal and just looked… sad. Do you know why he was sad?"

"I think I might. Hope got really sick yesterday." Nanako gasped.

"He did?"

"Yeah, and your Big Bro took it really hard. So I was wondering, did you wanna help me make Yu and Hope some food?"

"Yeah!" Chie smiled as they both walked inside. She sent a message to Yosuke and Yukiko, informing them of Yu not being here.

Yukiko walked through the river plane, looking high and low for their leader. Not many people passed through here after school let out, so hopefully finding Yu wouldn't be too difficult if he was here. The only problem was there was no one in the vicinity. Chie had texted her a few minutes ago to let her know that Yu wasn't at his home, which narrowed down places to be. Yosuke should just be getting to Junes soon, as it was farther away than either of the other destinations. Yukiko sighed and sat down on the steps overlooking the fishing dock. "There's no one here, so Yu can't be here. Maybe I should go look for him in town."

"Did you say Yu?" a voice said from behind her. She jumped lightly before turning around to see a woman with pink hair and piercing blue eyes staring at her. "As in Yu Narukami?"

"Y-yes!" Even though she just sat down, she jumped up at the chance. "He wasn't at school today and hasn't replied to any of our messages. He had a rough day the other day."

The woman's eyebrows furrowed, before reaching into her phone and pressing a few buttons. Her phone rang once before it answered. "Kid?" a pause. "Your friends are looking for you." Did she get ahold of Yu? "Where are you? I'll send them your way." a long beat of silence. "You're where?" She sounded disbelieving, before looking at Yukiko. "He says he's in a sauna that's frozen over. Does that make any sense to you?"

"A frozen over… sauna? Wait, he is?" Yukiko couldn't believe it. He's in the TV world? "Why didn't he respond to us?"

"Why didn't you answer them?" The woman asks for her. "You don't have any notifications? That doesn't make sense. Look, just call your friends, they're worried about you. I expect you to call me tonight anyway. I need to bounce some ideas off you." She closes her phone and looks to Yukiko. "Good luck." She begins to walk away with a wave.

"Wait, what's your name?" The Priestess called out, wanting to at least get something that makes sense, because the fact that Yu was in the TV World alone and that he could get calls from this woman, but not the people that have been in the TV World did not make sense.

The woman just waves her hand again. "Claire."

Yosuke was pacing back and forth through the many aisles of Junes, searching for any sign of their leader. Since the text from Chie, fear started to rise up in him. He didn't want to mention it earlier, but he was worried that he was thrown into the TV. It was supposed to rain tonight, so if Yu wasn't found, the Magician would have to watch to the Midnight Channel.

Yosuke's phone vibrated and he scrambled to answer it. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the text from Yukiko. "He's in the TV." How? Was the question soaring through his mind that he had to ignore. He fashioned a reply and took off to the electronics section, casually walking around in case of customers and seeing none, put on his glasses jumping into the TV.

Teddie wasn't seen, so he called out in case he was hiding. "HEY, TED!" Only silence. "TED, ARE YOU IN HERE!?" With no response, he decided to wait for Chie and Yukiko. Without a guide like Teddie, or Yu who knew the place like the back of his hand, they could get lost real bad. He heard a faint noise, before calling out again. "TED? THAT YOU?" Off in the distance, there was a blob, that started to get more clear as it got closer.

"...ke?" The Magician swore he heard something now. "...ske? Is that you? yosUKE!? HELP!" That was definitely Teddie. He jogged forward, summoning Jiraiya while bracing himself for any kind of danger.

"TED? WHAT'S GOING ON?" He yelled.

"IT'S SENSEI!" Yosuke's heart skipped a beat, and his jog turned into a sprint. The blob that was Teddie got clearer and clearer to where Yosuke could actually see Teddie. He was carrying Yu, who was bleeding profusely with a tight grip on his weapons.

"JIRAIYA! DIA!" The Persona launched healing magic, hopefully closing a few wounds that it could.

"Is… that?" He heard Yu mumble as he finally reached the Fool and Teddie. "Yosuke? No… he's dead…"

What? He must be delirious. "Yu, it's okay. You hear me? I can heal you."

"You can't…. You're dead. I killed you."

"W-what? Jiraiya! Dia!" Another healing burst came out of the Persona, and his pained expression seemed to un-tense, but only slightly.

"Not another ghost…" Yu still rambled, his head lopsided, barely looking at him. "First Teddie … then Yosuke… Who's next? Rise? Chi..." More mumbling. Yosuke picked up Yu from Teddie's arms and started carrying him to the entrance. Once he got there, he could see Yukiko and Chie looking around for him. They noticed him before he called out to them, judging from them running towards him.

"Yu! What happened, Yosuke?" Chie asked as Yukiko got to healing Yu with her Diarama.

"I don't know. Teddie found him. I think he's out of it. The stuff he's saying isn't making sense."

Yukiko snorted. "Today hasn't made sense. First Yu isn't at school, he doesn't answer our texts or calls, Then some lady calls him and he answers on the first ring, but he was here in the Shadow World when she called him. Now he's beaten up, and bleeding profusely? I just the drama to stop for a day. Just a day." Yosuke looked at her and her normally pretty face was contorted into annoyance.

"Yukikooooo! You're back again! Wait… arrrre you the old Yukiko, or the new Yukiko?" Yu must have lost a lot of blood, for him to act like this compared to his usual stoic self.

"What do you mean by Old and New?" Yukiko asked as she sent another Diarama at her leader.

"You knowwww, like are you Sumeo-Okami? Or Konohana-Sakura?"

"Umm… Konohana?"

Yu frowned. "Oh, the new one. The other one's dead. Just like the rest."

Chie jumped in here. "Wait, who's dead?"

"You are Chie. Just another ghost. Stop messing with me. Let me rest. Let me die. Let me join you. I want to be with you all again. I couldn't save any of you. You all died. I'm too weak to save you again. Have to fight. Have to grow." Yu rolled out of Yosuke's arms and stumbled towards the way Teddie and Yosuke came previously. "Have… to save… have… to be… stronger…" Before Yosuke could even try to stop Yu, the leader collapsed. Yosuke sighed.

"We take him to the hospital, right?"

"It might be best, who knows how much blood he lost," Yukiko said as Chie and Yosuke picked up Yu. "Teddie, we will hopefully be back soon with some answers for you."

The empty costume nodded, before replying "Get better soon, Sensei..."

May 20th, Friday, Morning

Yu rolled into Shadow World, landing properly on his feet from the fall. Did he stride towards Kanji's Sauna, or Snow's Frozen Lake? Having it be two separate places together really befuddled Yu, but he put it behind him. The Fool pulled his sword out along with his shield as he charged into the first floor. He was immediately spotted by three Intolerant Officers, who started to fire upon him. Yu flung himself to the side, before calling his Persona. "Izanagi! Cleave!" The Father of Japan sliced at his enemies, cutting them down quickly. Yu continued running after picking himself up, twirling his Blazefire Saber. He rounded a corner and in front of the stairs, he saw a Daring Gigas seemingly standing guard. Charging forward, he gained the attention of his current foe, taunting him as he ran. Yu ducked beneath the oncoming attack before steadying himself behind the shadow. Slash now! He thought to himself, as he turned around. A gush of the Gigas' blood poured out it's wound, as it fell to the ground.

Next floor. Came Izanagi's voice as Yu turned back around to face the stairs. And he continued to ascend, both through the Sauna and in his own strength.

When the sauna ended, and the Frozen Lake began, Yu finally began to tire. I've probably been here for a few hours at most before reaching this point. Since time ceased to flow here in the Shadow World, I can last here for as long as I can and everything would be fine. I could grow stronger without a time crunch. I brought enough food for 2 days, so I'll try that long. There was a little cavern off to the side, where Yu walked over and set up a little camp, where he pulled a plastic bag full of canned food out of his school bag. ...Can Agi cook food? He asked before hearing a sound behind him. Yu swung his blade around, and it embedded itself in an enemy he hadn't seen before. Some weird dragon head was stuck on the blade, and attached to it was several wings on the body, with no arms or legs to speak of.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Yu winced, and almost covered his ears. The monster ripped it's head away from the sword, and roared again, before swiping its wings at the Fool. Unable to get his Goddess Shield in between him and the beast, he was flung back against the small cavern wall. As Yu struggled to get up, the monster swiped it's wings again, making his head slam against the wall. Pain soared through his body and his vision blurred. "Izanagi!" The Persona arrived and attacked at the same time as the beast, giving Yu a chance to regain his breath. Fuck. What is this thing? "Raikouzan!" Izanagi's Naginata was covered in lightning and Yu's Persona attacked with an electrically charged stab. The wyvern reared its head back from the attack, before roaring again. The Fool felt the air pressure rise, and suddenly the monster opened its maw with the inside of its mouth aglow. Yu jumped to the left, and as he did he felt the blast of the beast. He didn't bother to look at the damage the blast did, only to fell the beast.

"Sumeo-Okami! Agidyne!" As Izanagi faded, the Epitome of Yukiko Amagi appeared and launched a torrential blast of fire at the wyvern. It screeched in pain before firing another blast of -electrical he noticed- energy at him. He quickly switched to Izanagi for the resistance boost towards electricity.

"FAAAAAAAAA!" Pain. Pure solid pain. The light in the area faded and it was hard to breathe. The electricity already faded, but his body kept pulsating. His knees gave out, and he face-planted into the ground, narrowly dodging another blast. Fuck… I'm out of my league here. That was resisted? Maybe Kanji? "T-Takeji Zaiten!" Suddenly the pulsating stopped, and Yu was able to push himself up. "Primal Force!" Takeji swung his crimson sword at the monster, flinging it far away from the entrance of the cavern.

Yu took a seat and tried to catch his breath. Too tired. Should nap. Can't. Not safe. Not strong enough. I have to be strong enough. Once he was able to breathe easy the Fool staggered to his feet. The wyvern gave a pained scream, before charging towards the one fighting it. Its wings glow a bright blue and its mouth fired a different massive blast just a fast as the previous ones. The Fool was barely able to brace himself from the blast, only to feel his energy return to him. Takeji Drains electricity!? This is in the bag! Yu summoned Kanji's True Persona back to him. "Takeji Zaiten! Vile Assault!" The giant being twirled its sword and threw it through the monster, ripping one of its wings off. "Once More! PRIMAL FORCE!" Takeji summoned its sword to its hand and slammed it down onto the downed beast. The wyvern cried out, only for Yu to silence it with a shot from Blazefire Saber. He almost laughed from relief, as the beast faded away. The Fool turned around and headed back to his small base camp. As he sat down and bit into an apple he brought, he heard what sounded like a chain rattle. Yu glanced towards the entrance and felt the air pressure skyrocket up. His eyes widen and reached for the shield again, only for a gunshot to echo through the cavern. A massive blast of wind roared through the entrance and launched him into the wall. Yu quickly pushed himself through the cavern with the feeling of death falling on him. He ran for what felt like hours before he slipped on the ice and slid down a hole. The hole led to the room he met Snow, which was on a different floor thankfully. He had completely forgotten about the Reaper. But if I could defeat the Reaper… I could definitely be stronger. Strong enough to protect the others.

May 20th, Friday, After School

It had been days since Yu had seen the Reaper. He had slain many Shadows and ate the last of his food two hours ago. Sleeping in the Shadow World had been nerve-wracking at first, but by the third night, it was easier. The day previous he had fought two of the wyverns that he met on the first day. Before that, he fought a familiar shadow, a cloudgirl pot which was surrounded by five Selfish Basalts made for a tough battle alone. Pipipipi sounded suddenly through the air. Yu looked around and realized the noise came from him. It was his phone. He pulled out his phone and answered it. "Hello?" Who could possibly be calling? How could they reach me?

"Kid?"

"Claire?" How the fuck? That makes even less sense?

"Your friends are looking for you." That doesn't make sense either? Time should be stopped, judging from all the other instances we've been in the TV.

"They have been?" He heard her sigh.

"Where are you? I'll send them your way." Oh jeez.

"Uh… A sauna that's been frozen?"

"You're where?" She sounded disbelieving, and he heard her move the phone away from her mouth. "He says he's in a sauna that's frozen over. Does that make any sense to you?" He heard some noise on the other side before Claire spoke up again. "Why haven't you answered them?"

"I haven't seen any notifications. Sorry."

"You don't have any notifications? That doesn't make sense. Look, just call your friends, they're worried about you. I expect you to call me tonight anyway. I need to bounce some ideas off you." The line went dead immediately afterward. Yu look at his phone, showing a message stating 'Call Ended 00:00'. He sent the message away showing the home screen with no missed calls, no texts, and definitely no signal.

I should head back so I can tell them. Maybe I can get some more answers that way. The Fool made his way back down to the Sauna and made it to the first floor when a chill went down his spine. Waiting, silently at the front of the stairs, was the Reaper. Staring at him. The chains were silent. Yu refused to blink, his terror preventing him for fear of sudden death. His hands trembled. He faintly heard the screams of his friends in his ears.

Run plaything. The voice is soft and welcoming. Almost like an old friend, welcoming him home. Don't you want to play? You just have to run. Flee me. Flee death, like you always have. I will catch you. Play a game with me. Game? What's the point of the game? Why should he play? Don't you want to grow stronger? If I catch you, I won't come for your friends. Dear sweet Nanako? What about poor confused Hope? His soul is screaming for me. If I catch you, I'll leave them alone.

Nanako? Hope? They'll be safe?

Death won't come for them. You wild cards are worth hundreds of thousands of souls. All your friends? Safe. Live long happy lives. You just. Have. to. Run. Don't you want to be reunited with your team? Your friends? I just have to catch you. So simple. So easy.

His friends. His dear sweet friends. He didn't have to be strong. He just had to be caught by the Reaper. Just run. That's it. I can run. It'd be a game. What a nice way to live. To just play a game and my friends will be safe and waiting for me. The Fool took a step forward, closer to the Reaper.

Yes. I missed the last wild cards to appear in this world. They were taken from me, by that fool Philemon. They can't be with their family. With their friends. Isn't that sad? But you, you can be with your friends. You just have to run.

They are alone? That's sad. He took a step, and then another. He was a step away from being on the first floor.

So sad. But just another step and you can run. And I can catch. And then they can be safe. Run. I will catch. Run. I will catch. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.

The voice was so nice. He could see his friends standing underneath the Reaper. Welcoming him. Chanting with the Reaper. Telling him to run. He should run.

"SENSEI!" A bright light shone behind the Reaper, and Yu's eyes focused, allowing him to notice he was staring down the barrel of one of the Reaper's guns. "SENSEI RUN! GET OUTTA THERE!" Teddie. He saw him. Bright and Pure Teddie was here. Saving him. The Star in his night. Tears started running down his face. Yu felt a swell in his chest and he started shaking violently. He stared at the Reaper, face red from anger and disappointment.

"Fuck. You."

Yu charged the Reaper, shoving the being of Death out of his way before running towards Teddie. He heard an angry screech behind him, RUN PLAYTHING! I WILL CHASE! The voice was no longer soft and welcoming, but furious and excited. The chains rattled and clanged as the Reaper steadied itself and took aim at the Fool.

"SENSEI DODGE!" Teddie cried out. Immediately, Yu jumped to the right and was barely touched by the edge of the Reaper's Garudyne shot. Yu's body flew with the wind, and as he heard another gunshot from the Reaper, he realized he ran into its plan. The second shot missed Yu's airborne body, and he saw it explode in front of him. He has only seen the ability once before, from Naoto. Megidolaon. He could faintly hear Teddie scream in horror or the explosion of the Almighty attack. What he heard loud and clear was the Reaper's singsong demonic voice.

I CAUGHT YOU!

"YOSUKE! HELP!" The scream made him open his eyes. He saw Teddie. The Ghost of Teddie. Carrying him?

"Ted? What's going on?" he vaguely heard in the distance.

"IT'S SENSEI!" Was the scream in his ear.

"JIRAIYA! DIA!"

"Is… that?" Yu found his voice. His barely opened eyes showed him another ghost. "Yosuke? No… he's dead…" He shot him. He killed him.

"Yu, it's okay. You hear me? I can heal you." Heal? It doesn't matter. Is this what the Reaper meant? Torture in the form of my friends? In exchange for them being safe?

"You can't…. You're dead. I killed you." He tried to explain. Maybe this ghost would take pity on him in this weird afterlife.

"W-what? Jiraiya! Dia!" Yu felt more awake now. He could tell from the emotions running up to him overflowing.

Not another ghost… First Teddie then Yosuke, Who's next? Rise? Chie? What ghosts were coming to torture me now? He felt like he was moving but was unable to tell. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. Now the Ghost of Yosuke was carrying him. He heard more noise and tilted his head over at it.

"Yu! What happened, Yosuke?" Who? Chie?

"I don't know. Teddie found him. I think he's out of it. The stuff he's saying isn't making sense." He felt more awake, but now he felt exhausted. Like all of his energy was being drained. He heard a familiar snort.

"Today hasn't made sense. First Yu isn't at school, he doesn't answer our texts or calls, Then some lady calls him and he answers on the first ring, but he was here in the Shadow World when she called him. Now he's beaten up, and bleeding profusely? I just the drama to stop for a day. Just a day."

"Yukikooooo! You're back again!"Which Yukiko is this? "Wait… arrrre you the old Yukiko, or the new Yukiko?" I didn't say good-bye to the new one.

"What do you mean by Old and New?" Yu saw a glow of light and started to feel more tired.

"You knowwww, like are you Sumeo-Okami? Or Konohana-Sakura?" Either way, their laugh was just adorable. She should laugh again.

"Umm… Konohana?"

Oh, the new one. The other one's dead. Just like the rest.

"Wait, who's dead?"

He felt exhausted at the appearance of another ghost. So tired. "You are Chie. Just another ghost. Stop messing with me. Let me rest. Let me die. Let me join you. I want to be with you all again. I couldn't save any of you. You all died. I'm too weak to save you again. Have to fight. Have to grow." I can't lay here with these ghosts anymore. I have to go. I... "Have… to save… have… to be… stronger…" Yu made it a foot away from the ghosts before exhaustion overtook him.

AN:/ I tried something new with how this is written. Let me know how you feel about it! Don't forget about my Paaa TRE On! (again, it auto takes out the word but doesn't say anything about it in the Terms of Service) where you can get access to these chapters early!

Please look forward to the next one!

And I hope you all had a Happy New Year!

Spes Aeterna