A/N: I'm not dead! I'm finishing up the chapters I had half-written before I make new updates to my stories, and this one was the furthest along, so it got updated first.

"What would you say if I told you that there are more than twenty-four hours in a day?"

I was in a meeting-type room with everyone else in the dorm (other than Arisato, who was still in the hospital.) Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Yukari were sitting on the couches to either side of the long coffee table, while the old guy Ikutsuki and I were seated across from each other on the narrow ends. The other three members of my dorm looked bored, as though they had heard a similar spiel before. Akihiko in particular was almost dozing - not surprising, given how long we had spent at the hospital before returning back to the dorm.

"Blah, blah, blah, Dark Hour, Shadows, Apathy Syndrome." Seeing how tired we all were, I decided to cut to the chase. "I've figured a few things out since last night. A few people, mostly younger people, are spiritually aware and can be active during the Dark Hour. Shadows show up during the Dark Hour, and when they attack people, Apathy Syndrome happens. The people in this dorm are all members of a group sponsored by the Kirijo group that fights Shadows."

"I'm surprised, Narukami-san. You've clearly been thinking about this a great deal." Ikutsuki looked at me over the rims of his glasses. "You are correct on all counts. All of us here are members of SEES, the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad. We'd like to extend an invitation for you to join, as well."

I frowned. "I have a few questions, first." I broke eye contact for a second to look down and unwrap the convenience store sandwich that I had purchased for my dinner. One of my first priorities for the next day was definitely going to have to be finding a grocery store nearby.

When I looked back up, Ikutsuki was smiling gently, his body language warm and open. "Of course. I'll answer what I can."

"Why does the Kirijo Group have a stake in this? There must be more profitable activities for the group to fund. The Evokers, the fact that you have a 'control room' - that all speaks of research." I steepled my fingers as I spoke. I had decided to leave my glasses on. Aside from their stylish nature, they helped me remember the friends that I was doing all of this for.

That, and when I steepled my fingers like this, they made me look like Ikari Gendo.

Ikutsuki coughed. "To be quite honest, Narukami-san, the Kirijo Group has been researching Shadows for some time. The ability to access a period of time unavailable to anyone else... there are any number of potential commercial applications."

Huh. I had expected that the government was paying the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows. Doing it in search of profit seemed... off, somehow. Though, my friends and I had certainly made plenty of Shadow-money from all of the fighting we had done - was the Kirijo group counterfeiting? Something about his answer seemed fishy. I just gave Ikutsuki a noncommital grunt in acknowledgement before asking my next question. "Who else is in this group? Are there other people out there who can fight Shadows?"

"Sadly, the ability appears to be quite rare." Ikutsuki gave me a sympathetic look. "So far, it has only appeared among young people, and primarily among people in or near Tatsumi Port Island."

Huh, that was interesting. My friends and I had gained powers by being thrown into the Midnight Channel, but there didn't seem to be anything like that going on here, so - "Why?"

He shrugged. "It's hard to say for sure. There are many theories of the supernatural which hypothesize that the young have more sensitivity to spiritual matters, and there seems to be a concentration of supernatural energies in this region, but the Kirijo group has no firm ideas on exactly what separates those who can use Personas from those who can't. More's the pity - if we did, we might have more luck with recruitment. As things stand, the others that you see in this room are the only people standing between the Shadows and a defenseless public."

Well, when he put it like that, I would look like a massive jerk if I kept trying to equivocate over whether I would join. "I'll help, of course." It wasn't as though I hadn't been intending to from the start. However, I could still hear Izanami's words from three years in the future - this group had been 'deceived by one whom they trusted.' Instead of feeling pride at being invited - once again - to join a group that would defend the world, I couldn't help but feel a sense of cold suspicion. Nevertheless, I smiled politely, and was met in return by the others' relieved expressions.

"Welcome to the team!" Yukari said brightly.

Akihiko sat forward from the couch slightly, taking a second to hold his ribs as the movement seemingly gave him a pang of discomfort. "Just let me know when you're recovered. I'll show you our usual patrol routes."

"Though you might not need to follow them for long. With you and hopefully Minato joining us, I believe we're strong enough now to begin attacking the Shadow problem at its source." Outwardly, Mitsuru was cool and collected, but something about the tone of her voice made me think that she was just as excited as everyone else seemed to be.

I raised an eyebrow. "The source?"

"A possible source," interjected Ikutsuki. "It may merely be the phenomenon that is drawing Shadows to this area in such concentrations."

Yukari frowned. "This is the first I've heard of anything like this, too."

"It's called Tartarus." Akihiko grinned, putting one hand into a fist and punching into his open hand. "It's a tower that only appears in the dark hour. We tried going in there by ourselves a while ago, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Shadows inside. Now that we finally have enough people, I'm ready for some revenge."

"Speaking of which, Narukami-kun, do you know how to use a weapon?" Mitsuru asked me, leaning in slightly with curiosity. "Personas are powerful, but it's rare to be able to fight your way through large amounts of Shadows with just that. Do you have any experience fighting...?" She trailed off as she noticed the expression on my face. I couldn't help it - after twelve brutal months of increasingly desperate struggles, trying to reach people before the fog lifted, culminating with a battle against the goddess of the underworld herself, when she asked me if I had any experience fighting, I smiled.

While everyone's reactions to that were amusing - Yukari looked startled, like I had suddenly grown fangs; Akihiko looked like he wanted to see who was stronger then and there, and Mitsuru just raised one immaculate eyebrow - I couldn't exactly explain to them the real reason why I was so skilled, so I decided to stretch the truth a little bit with my explanation. "I, er, may have helped out the kendo team, once or twice." Granted, that had been before Inaba, but it was how I had decided on using a katana for a weapon when we explored the Midnight Channel in the first place.

"Ho~, Kendo, huh?" While Yukari and Mitsuru were looking less surprised, Akihiko still looked pretty interested. "I think we have something that might suit you in the armory. I'll show you -"

"Tomorrow." Mitsuru glared at Akihiko, and he subsided pretty quickly. It was a little funny how quickly he backed down, actually. "It's quite late, and everyone is either exhausted or injured. Playing with weapons can wait until the morning."

Even as she said that, I yawned. She wasn't wrong - for all that I had slept in today, I still felt kind of tired and achy. I remembered feeling kind of sick on days that I visited the Midnight Channel, but this Dark Hour was a hundred times worse. I wove my fingers together, then extended my arms forwards to stretch out my shoulders. "Sounds good."

"Indeed. Well, welcome to the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, Yu-kun. If you have more questions, feel free to come speak to me anytime." Director Ikutsuki extended his hand forwards to me, and I took it.

Almost immediately, I heard a familiar voice. Thou Art I... And I Art Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... You shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana. That was a bit of a relief. I had been a little bit afraid that I had lost the Wild Card in my trip to the past - I had lost all of my previous Personas, after all - but it was reassuring to see that I had worried for nothing.

With that, it seemed that the meeting was over, and so I quickly made my way to my room.

I slept poorly that night. I woke up in the middle of the night to a feeling like I was choking, a sense that the air had grown rank and foul. When I blearily pulled my eyes open, my room was completely pitch black; my alarm clock, which ordinarily would have displayed the time, was instead showing a blank screen, and the red light of its LED display was nowhere to be found.

It was the Dark Hour. After a few seconds, I woke up enough to realize that. It felt like breathing a thick soup, and when I put my hand to my neck, I could feel my pulse racing. Knowing that I would never get back to sleep like this, I eventually put on slippers and headed out into the hallways in my pajamas. I had gotten a quick tour of the building from Yukari, and among the many places that she had pointed out had been the 'control room' where the Kirijo Group's surveillance cameras were located. I headed for it, figuring that if anyone was awake at this time of night, that's where they would likely be.

I wasn't disappointed. Mitsuru Kirijo was sitting in a chair behind a row of monitors, her eyes attentively trained on various scenes from around Tatsumi Port Island. They flicked over to me with an expression of concern before settling back on the display. "Couldn't sleep?"

I shook my head. "How do you deal with... this?" Maybe it was the fact that I had a basis of comparison as far as alternate dimensions went, but the Dark Hour was awful. The Midnight Channel had been disorienting, misleading, and had faced us with truly awful visions of our own selves. It was the sort of place you had to face head on, never flinching. The Dark Hour, though, was like being perched over a yawning abyss - the kind that you couldn't look too long into, for fear of being swallowed. Even though the air was stifling and almost overly warm, I felt a deep and persistent chill emanating from the pit of my gut.

Mitsuru gave me a sympathetic look. "With practice." She shrugs. "I've been aware during the Dark Hour since I was a child." Something must have shown on my face, because she once again turned back to the monitors. "You learn ways to cope, after a while."

"Any you'd recommend?" I asked.

"Keep busy. Training works, if you aren't injured. That's Akihiko's favorite. Doing homework, though I'd recommend not doing anything particularly difficult. I watch the monitors." She pressed a few buttons, and Minato Arisato's hospital room appeared on one of the screens. Unlike most of the rest of the feeds, which appeared to be through some form of night-vision lens, his room was rather clearly illuminated, and I could see the faint shadow of a human silhouette from outside the room - looks like the Kirijo group was taking his health seriously. "Arisato-san surprised us, when he entered the dormitory a couple days ago. He seems able to sleep through the Dark Hour without much difficulty. I'm hoping he'll share his secret when he wakes up."

It reminded me uncomfortably of things that Yosuke had said to me; how much easier of a time he thought I was having when dealing with the Midnight Channel, in comparison to the rest of the Investigation Team. If I had needed another clue that Minato was the Fool I had come back to assist, that was a big one. "If he has one," I responded. "It could just mean that he's strong."

Her eyes flicked over towards me, then back to the wall of television screens. "So long as he's willing to use that strength in assisting us against Shadows, I find that to be an acceptable alternative."

I nodded in agreement. After a few seconds, Mitsuru turned back to the monitors. After a few seconds, I pulled over a spare chair and sat down to watch them with her. I had half expected her to start up a conversation, but she was focused on the job at hand - and though Inaba had done a lot to help me come out of my shell, I was still reticent by nature. We wound up spending the Dark Hour in silence, which sounds like it could have been awkward, but actually became quite companionable.

Eventually, the Dark Hour ended, and I slumped forward in my chair in relief. I was abruptly completely exhausted, as though the hours I had spent sleeping before midnight hadn't even mattered at all. Mitsuru, though she was cool and collected like always, seemed just as tired. She leaned back in her chair for a long stretch, arching her back and reaching her arms up towards the ceiling. I looked away, slightly embarrassed at my reaction to the interesting things that the pose did to her chest. "Ah..." I made a meaningless sound to clear my throat, staring fixedly at the now-blank monitors to avoid being caught staring. "Thanks for letting me hang out. I'm going to get some rest."

Her answering smile was cool and polite, but not in an unfriendly way - it seemed that was just the way she was. "And I as well. Good night, Narukami-kun."

Calling me with 'kun', huh? Well, as far as she knew, I was her junior, so I supposed it made sense. I felt an unexpected twinge of pride, though. I was used to leading the Investigation Team into the world of Shadows... being the low man on the totem pole was a new experience for me. Well, I had better get used to it. "Good night, Kirijo-san." I said, and gratefully headed back to my room to collapse.

Technically, as it was a Saturday, I probably should have gone to school, but when I woke up I was still feeling awful from dealing with the Dark Hour, so I decided to just start school fresh with the start of the week on Monday. Mitsuru gave me a little frown of disapproval, but she didn't say anything - apparently she's the sort of person who takes academics very seriously. While I had anticipated having the day to myself to go shopping & such, what I hadn't really anticipated was that somehow I wound up with the whole weekend to myself.

While in theory the other members of SEES could have shown me the armory, talked to me more about Shadows, and other things over the weekend, the fact of the matter was that like me, all of them were students, and even this early in the year they had homework to do and personal errands to run. Akihiko had follow-up appointments for his ribs, Mitsuru had Kirijo group business, and Yukari was busy visiting Minato in the hospital. For my own part, I walked around town a bit, familiarizing myself with the neighborhood. Coming from Yasoinaba, it was a bit of a shock to see just how busy Tatsumi Port Island was. I had lived in Tokyo before, though, so I quickly reacclimated to the press of the crowd. I killed most of a day at Pawlonia Mall, then explored the rest of the city. Most importantly, I finally - finally! - made it to the grocery store. I could actually start cooking for myself again!

I also made it to the bank - surprisingly (or perhaps not) Izanami had left me with all of the money that I had earned - ... would earn? ah, screw it - fighting shadows in a future life. Given that I would possibly have to live off of it for the next few years, I decided not to go crazy with my expenditures, but I did go ahead and buy a decent knife and a few good frying pans to go with the delicious ingredients I had already bought.

As exciting as the shopping was, though, it was a bit lonely. I couldn't help but miss my friends - if I had been shopping at Junes, I almost certainly would have run into Yosuke and Teddie; and any of my other friends might have joined me just to hang out. The people in SEES seemed nice, but they weren't my friends yet. Moreover, there was still the niggling doubt of the clue that Izanami had given me - like Teddie would say, what you SEES isn't always what you gets... and wow, if I was making lame jokes, I really must miss the weird little bear. With this and other such depressing thoughts roaming around in my head, I found myself eagerly looking forward to the distraction that school would bring the next day.

By Sunday night, the Dark Hour came a little easier. I spent most of it in my room meditating. To be frank, the fact that I was without the ability to access my Persona made me feel almost as lonely as being without my friends. They had never... spoken to me exactly, not in words, but for a year, they had been a fixture, a constant presence in my mind helping me to make connections with other people and giving me strength. However, I found that if I concentrated, I could still feel the faintest hint of their presence, like the rays of the sun on a bitter winter's day; distant, but not gone, and fortifying me against the draining chill of the Dark Hour.

The presence of Odysseus was equally helpful. It seemed strange to 'get to know' a facet of my soul, but I did it anyways, hoping to find a way to bring forth his spirit without depending on an Evoker. I probably looked strange, sitting cross-legged on my bed meditating with my hand out in the air, but I could feel Odysseus's image getting stronger in my head. I focused on that - the thought of a warrior far from home, cursed by a god, with monsters and unknown perils awaiting him before he would see his loved ones again - and poured those feelings into my arm and hand.

It was slow work, and hard, but by the end of the Dark Hour I was seeing the faintest of blue sparks beginning to glimmer over my open palm when I concentrated - and I had a wicked headache. I went to sleep gratefully, hoping for a better day tomorrow.

School was... well, good and bad.

Transferring into a new school after the first day was always a little bit awkward; after the first few days, most people already had friends to sit with and had already picked their clubs. However, I had done it many times before, and had practiced my self-introduction the previous night to be certain that I got it right. "My name is Yu Narukami. I enjoy sports, mystery novels, and cooking. I look forward to making friends with you all." It was short, polite, and gave people a few easy topics that they could use to introduce themselves with.

Sure enough, within a few minutes of my sitting down, a boy with a buzzcut and a goatee by the name of Junpei Iori introduced himself and started a conversation about baseball, and a few other people were listening in. Sadly, that was the most interesting part of the morning - my heart sank as I realized that Gekkoukan used the exact same textbooks that I had studied all year at Yasogami. There were worse things than already knowing the contents of all of the lectures, I supposed, but I could tell already that it was going to be a boring year, academically speaking.

The teachers at least weren't boring - weird, yes, but not boring. Between the occult-obsessed Mr. Edogawa or the absent-minded Ms. Miyahara, I felt oddly comforted in the knowledge that educational hiring practices were hit-or-miss all across Japan.

Without much to focus on during classes, I wound up distracting myself by people-watching. Yukari was also in Class 2-F; more than once I saw her with a troubled expression on her face, staring out the window. I thought I probably knew what - or who - she was thinking about. Another student who I had met briefly, Kenji Tomochika, amusingly looked like he could barely keep himself from staring at the teacher during Ms. Kanou's economics class. I think he might have noticed me looking at him - all of a sudden, he flushed bright red and buried his face in the textbook. I looked away, feeling a little guilty; I hoped he didn't think I was teasing him or anything. After that incident, I tried to focus more on the lectures, doing my best not to fall asleep despite still being drained from the Dark Hour.

Eventually the day drew to a close. I was surprised at the door to the classroom by Akihiko, who was waiting for me in the doorway. "Yo, Yu-kun."

I heard a group of excited feminine whispers behind me and winced. There went any chance I had of staying under the rumor mill radar. "Akihiko-senpai. Did you need me for something?" Again, another flurry of gossip in hushed tones. Well, I suppose that being on first-name basis with a popular upperclassman on the first day of school would do something like that.

"Ah, Ikutsuki-san wanted me to bring you by the dorm. He has a few things for you." Interestingly, Akihiko didn't seem to notice the girls at all.

I raised a speculative eyebrow, my gaze going to his red armband, and the space under his shoulder where an Evoker would normally hang. "SEES business?"

He gave me a confident smirk, nodding in reply. "Something like that."

Sure enough, by later that evening I had a red band around my arm and an Evoker holstered inside my jacket. "You've actually used an Evoker before, so I won't go into too much explanation about it, but the armband is also very useful, Narukami-kun." Akihiko was just behind me, helping me adjust the strap of the holster so that the Evoker hung more comfortably. I did my best not to tense up uncomfortably as he helped me out, despite not really being used to such close contact. "In addition to helping us recognize each other easily, the teachers at Gekkoukan know not to bother us if we have errands that need to be done during the day."

That was handy... and it explained how he was able to get to my class before bell to leave rang. I nodded in understanding.

"Ah, but it will reflect badly on the Kirijo group if you abuse the privilege, so please only use it if there is actually SEES business." He gave me a pat on the back as he let go of the holster and I shot him a slightly irritated glance in return. Wasn't that level of courtesy sort of obvious? Akihiko smiled in a sort of apologetic fashion, and I let the irritation go. He probably didn't have much control over the speech he was supposed to give new members, after all. As if to change the subject, Akihiko handed me a long and narrow package.

I unwrapped it and almost immediately felt my eyelid start to twitch. Inside was a 'sword' in the loosest sense. The balance was awful. The hamon, the wavy pattern in the metal, looked like it had been spray-painted on. The metal was almost certainly the cheapest possible steel, and while it had technically been sharpened I was almost certain that it would probably dull if I swung it into a stiff wind. For someone who had once held the Sword of Totsuka, I was just a little bit disappointed. "... Thanks..."

Akihiko laughed, so I guessed I must have been making some sort of face. "Ah, the Kirijo group has held the stance for a long time that they don't want to be known for providing weapons to minors. Ikutsuki-san has been trying to change their mind, and it looks like they might, but for now we have to make do with a little bit less than top of the line equipment." Tch. You can say that again. "In any case, as long as nothing big like the thing from the other night shows up, we should be fine... the Shadows that roam the city tend to be pretty weak."

I looked at his side with concern. "... Will you be all right?"

He scoffed at me, punching me in the shoulder in a friendly manner. It hurt! Which I supposed was him proving a point. "I'll be fine. Besides, Mitsuru will be available in case we need backup."

"Not Yukari?" I asked.

He gave me a teasing smile. "Well, you know, I am injured. It's probably best that I only have to look after one of my adorable kouhai."

Keh. My pride was feeling unexpectedly injured, here. If only I had my old Personas! And my combat equipment! I could have shown him a thing or two... Damn you, Izanami! In lieu of being able to summon up infinite cosmic power, I decided to just give Akihiko my best smile of challenge. "I'll be sure to take good care of you then, senpai. Don't worry - I'll be happy to kill all the Shadows myself so you don't have to strain yourself."

"Oho." He grinned back at me, and stuck out his hand. "I look forward to it." Thou Art I... And I Art Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... You shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Emperor Arcana.

For a second, I could almost the image of my friend Tatsumi Kanji superimposed over Akihiko - both bareknuckle brawlers, but so different in demeanors. I only hoped that the shadows behind Akihiko were kinder than the ones that Kanji had hidden. I reached out my hand in return to Akihiko, and together we got ready to face the Dark Hour.