Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 or Senran Kagura!

Hey guys, I hope you all enjoyed your 2019 and felling ready for 2020! First off, thanks to everyone who waited patiently for this chapter, I've been super busy with college as of lately and I thought I could get this chapter out sooner during my Summer break, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll eventually be done with college very soon and will be moving on to a four-year college next Fall, so we'll see how much I can get out in the time between then. Before we get started though, I wanna take this time to give a shout out to my buddies Omnifiction and Recentreader325 for helping me out in developing this story. This goes out to you two! Well, anyway, lets not waste time and jump straight into the chapter!

(Opening Theme: Burn My Dread - Spring of Birth ver.)

Chapter 4 - Moonlight Intruder

Minato and Ikaruga remained on guard as they stared ahead at the blonde, who continued to point her wrist-mounted crossbow at them. She gave the two a rather dark smile, which further heightened Minato's weariness. He knew that something about her felt off, now he knew it was because she was a threat.

"I am quite upset with you." the girl spoke. "I won't complain about luxury vegetables eaten by the wealthy rising in price. But now even cheap goods like bean sprouts, the poor man's staple food, have gotten more expensive. How could this have happened?"

"I'm not quite sure how to answer that, especially when your pointing that thing at us." Minato replied. Although he had a calm expression, he was keeping himself guarded. Seeing the crossbow mounted on her wrist pointed right at him and Ikaruga, he quickly switched to Abaddon, who had Null Pierce on him in the event she actually did decide to fire that thing again.

Suddenly, Ikaruga grabbed the arrow that was embedded in the sign and yanked it out before she threw it towards the girl. She remained unfazed, even as it zipped past her head and embedded itself into the bean sprout sign.

The girl moved her aim towards Ikaruga. "You...are the one I was asking."

However, the raven-haired Shinobi simply turned and grabbed Minato by the wrist again as she began to walk away with him. Again, he was slightly surprised by the sudden action, as well as the blonde. "Ikaruga-senpai, what are you doing?"

"Contact with outsiders is forbidden." was all she said in response.

"You do realize I'm an outsider too, right?" he lightly retorted.

"I see. You really intend to continue ignoring me." The blonde said as her smile slowly returned. She then lowered her crossbow as she swiped her other arm into the air.

"Shinobi Kekkai!"

Suddenly, the entire shopping district vanished and everything became pitch black, with thousands of strands of glowing green grass being the only source of light as they drifted through the air by a nonexistent breeze. Minato looked around with surprise. Although the scenery was different, this phenomenon felt similar to what happened before he fought those puppets. He turned back towards the girl, his eyes narrowed.

'There's no mistaking it, she must be a Shinobi as well. But just who is she?'

"What is your objective?" Ikaruga demanded.

The girl smiled as she pointed her crossbow at them again. "If I had to bring it to the point, it's because you're a spoiled little Ojou-sama from a family of rich industrialists."

Ikaruga's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

"I bet your parents showered you with love all your life." she replied as her smile became almost sinister. "A carefree, comfortable life with your loving family, getting all you want."

Minato wasn't liking where this was going. He could tell that whoever this girl was, she was targeting Ikaruga for some reason. He slowly began to reach into his pants pocket to draw his Evoker, only to be stopped when the raven-haired girl brought her hand up to stop him.

"Minato-san, please stay back." she spoke in a calm, neutral tone.

The boy looked at her. "You know you can't do this alone Senpai. Let me help."

"I appreciate your concern, however..." Ikaruga glared ahead at the blonde. "It appears that it's me she's after. I can't afford to have you get hurt under my watch. Please leave this to me."

The opposing girl's crossbow disappeared, and in her hand appeared a giant zweihander that was easily about as long as she was tall. In all honesty, Minato couldn't believe that a girl her size could carry that thing so easily.

"Shinobi Tenshin!" Ikaruga made a sign with her hands as her school uniform disappeared and she was now dressed in her Shinobi outfit, he katana, Hien, also appearing in her hand. "When faced with danger, one must overcome it!" She unsheathed her sword and held it close as she faced the girl. "I shall not abide you!"

The two stared each other down with their weapons in hand before the blonde brought her sword back. She then swung her weapon and sent a crescent wave of purple light towards Ikaruga, who brought up her katana in the hopes of blocking it. While she was successful in blocking it, the impact released a sharp wind that striped away parts of her jacket and made a few tears in her tights as well as forced her down to one knee.

The wind kicked up a large amount of grass that blew in Ikaruga's face, but once it died down, she looked up to see her assailant above her with her giant sword raised over her head. She swung the blade down at her head, but Ikaruga managed to bring up her katana just in time to block it. After a brief struggle, the blonde jumped back and actually looked to be hovering in the air in front of the Hanzō Shinobi.

"What power!" Ikaruga said to herself in astonishment.

"You cannot harm me with such a ladylike counterattack." The assailant brought her weapon back before thrusting the tip downwards at the raven-haired girl, who was unable to bring her weapon up to defend in time as the attack seemingly struck her and impacted the ground. The blonde looked down to see the result of her finishing blow, only to find that Ikaruga wasn't there. She then felt a presence from right above her and quickly looked up to see Ikaruga diving down towards her.

"Prepare yourself!" she yelled as she raised her sword over her head and prepared to swing it down at her.

However, the assailant smirked as she made her zweihander disappear and a wrist-mounted cannon suddenly appeared on her right arm.

"Secret Ninja Art: Niflheim!" The girl fired an explosive blast from her cannon as it rocketed towards Ikaruga.

The Hanzō Shinobi's eyes widened as she saw the attack come closer, knowing that she was completely unable to dodge in time in her current position.

"CADENZA!"

Suddenly, a shout filled the air and a noise akin to a gun shot rang out as Ikaruga's body was suddenly bathed in a warm green glow. As the green light surrounds her, she felt the slight pain from the assailants last attack ebb away, but at the same time, her body suddenly felt surprisingly lighter that before. Using it to her advantage, she managed to dive to the right and landed back on the ground as the assailants attack continued its course, seemingly blasting off into the black unknown of the Kekkai barrier.

The blonde's eyes widened in shock. There was no way she could have missed! How could the Hanzō Shinobi be able to have dodged her Secret Ninja Art at the last second?! She turned and noticed the blue-haired boy from before standing off to the side with a gun to his head, but what she noticed were two large humanoids floating behind him side-by-side.

Ikaruga noticed this as well and was surprised to see both Orpheus and the other Persona she remembered as Apsaras briefly hovering behind Minato before both vanished at once.

"M-Minato-san?" she managed to let out as the boy walked up to her.

"What was that about not wanting me to get hurt on your watch?" Minato asked casually as he stopped beside her and stared ahead at the assailant with a neutral expression. "You should already know that I can handle myself just fine, Ikaruga-senpai. Please at least let me assist you."

Before she could even answer however, Minato turned back around as the assailant charged in again while swinging her giant sword. The blue-haired boy immediately switched to Siegfried as he brought his free hand up and summoned his one-handed sword in a brief flash of light, successfully blocking the attack thanks to Siegfried's immunity to slash attacks as well as his resistance to strike attacks.

The assailants eyes widened as she looked at the boys weapon and then at the boy himself. "You...summoned a weapon? Does that mean your a Shinobi as well?"

"Unfortunately, no I'm not." Minato replied as he continued to struggle against the blonde's sword. "It's just my own natural abilities."

He could understand why she would mistake him for a Shinobi if he could summon weapons out of thin air, seeing as Asuka and the others were able to do the same thing. After his duel with the Hanzō Girls, Minato had did a little experimenting on what he could do with what limited power he still had from the Universe Arcana. Surprisingly, he found that he could make his sword disappear and reappear at will, much like what his Shinobi acquaintances could do, though he was a little curious about where his sword actually went when he made it disappear. However, he eventually had given up on trying to find out after asking his Persona's and getting some very unhelpful responses.

Oh well, he would probably have time to find out eventually.

The girl scoffed at his vague response. "Hmph! We'll see about that." She finally broke the stalemate as she jumped back to gain some distance between them. She then swung her weapon and sent another purple energy wave like the one she used on Ikaruga earlier, but Minato responded by raising his Evoker and pointing it at his temple again.

"Sarasvati!" He pulled the trigger and the sound of shattering glass rang out as a female figure wearing a gold headpiece and carrying a Japanese shamisen in her hands appeared in front of the boy. "Bufula!"

The Persona strummed the strings of her shamisen as a wall of ice appeared in the path of the oncoming attack, causing a collision as the wave dispersed and the ice shattered. The assailant looked to be stunned in silence as Sarasvati disappeared, but seemed to regain her composure and gave a smirk at Minato.

"Hmm, it seems like Haruka-san was right about you." she said with a slight giggle. "You really do possess a very intriguing power. This may actually get somewhat interesting."

Minato's eyes narrowed again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I was told to be weary of you, but I might just end up going all out." The girl rushed forward again as she swung her zweihander at him, but Minato responded by bringing up his Evoker again and pulling the trigger.

"Okuninushi!"

Upon his command, the Persona of the Temperance Arcana manifested in front of him and unsheathed his sword from his back, countering the assailants blade with his own. After another brief stalemate, Minato made another command. "Mighty Swing!"

Okuninushi responded by giving a powerful swing of his sword and forcing the girl to jump back to avoid the blade from slicing into her. The blonde back flipped before landing gracefully on her feet a good distance away from the Persona-user. The assailant gave a knowing smirk as her sword disappeared and she summoned her wrist mounted cannon once again.

"Secret Ninja Art: Niflheim!"

"Rangda!" Minato fired his Evoker again as a multi-colored female figure with long spiky black hair and long finger nails appeared in Okuninushi's place with a wicked smile. "Agidyne!"

The assailant fired another fiery blast from her wrist-mounted cannon while Rangda sent out a large blast of orange flames, with the two attacks meeting in the middle and resulting in a massive explosion. Minato covered up as smoke blew into his face, but managed to look up in time to see the girl charge through the smoke with her zweihander back in her hand as she swung it at him again.

Minato quickly dispelled Rangda and switched back to Siegfried as he jump back just the massive sword struck the ground where he had been standing, kicking up more grass. The boy cast a quick Power Charge as the girl lunged at him again, this time countering with his sword. As soon as the two weapons struck each other, Minato's sword overpowered the assailant's and she was sent skidded back on her feet.

"My, to think that the Good Shinobi would get their hands on someone so powerful." the girl said as she smirked again. "How interesting."

Ikaruga got up and came to Minato's side with Hien in her grasp. "If that's what you call us, then you must be an Evil Shinobi. Answer me this, why are you after us?"

"Your condescending attitude really annoys me." the girl replied with a sneer before her expression quickly changed into a dark smile. "Anyway, I only wanted to test your skills today." She then turned back towards Minato. "The names Yomi, by the way. Don't you dare forget it."

"Minato Arisato." the boy replied with a stoic glare. "Right back at you."

Yomi merely smirked as she turned and started to walk away before addressing Ikaruga with her back turned. "Feel free to savor your expensive food and enjoy the time you have left."

She soon vanished into thin air as the kekkai barrier lifted, the two Hanzō students once again finding themselves in the shopping district. Ikaruga's clothes eventually returned to normal and her sword disappeared as Minato turned to her.

"You alright, senpai?" he asked with concern.

The raven-haired girl nodded. "I'm alright. Thank you for the assist, Minato-san."

"I'm sure you would've done the same thing, senpai." Minato replied before his expression became somewhat serious. "But more importantly, what was that just now? Why did that girl attack us?"

"I wish I knew as well, Minato-san."she answered while shaking her head.

The blue-haired teen turned to where the assailant, Yomi, had disappeared to with a slight glare.

'What could she have been after?'

After that whole fiasco, Minato and Ikaruga tried to go on like nothing had happened and finished gathering all the supplies for Hanzō's welcome party before they started to head back to the school.

"We bought a lot of ingredients for Hanzō-sama's welcome party," Ikaruga commented, "but fortunately we managed to stay within our budget."

"Yeah." Minato answered absent-minded. He couldn't help but keep thinking back to what Yomi had said, about Ikaruga's family being "rich industrialists". Just what did she mean by that?

Ikaruga pumped her fist slightly with a smile on her face. "Now we just need to cook our tastiest dishes."

Minato nodded with a distant expression. "I see..."

The black-haired shinobi looked at him with concern. "Minato-san? Is something wrong?"

"No it's nothing. Just thinking is all." the boy replied while shaking his head.

Ikaruga wasn't fooled in the slightest, but already seemed to have an idea as to what was on his mind. "...You're wondering about what that girl said about my family, correct?"

Minato was slightly surprised that she knew what he was thinking about, but nodded in response. "What did she mean by that?"

"..." Ikaruga seemed hesitant about it, but then said, "Are you aware of the Houou Conglomerate?"

That struck the boy as odd as to why she was answering his question with another question, but he answered nonetheless. "I've heard of them from time to time. Apparently their a really successful company run by a wealthy family and-"

He stopped himself from finishing however, when the realization quickly dawned on him. "Wait, does that mean that you're...?"

Ikaruga nodded. "Yes, I am the daughter of the Houou Family."

Minato was quiet surprised by the revelation. He hadn't expected that Ikaruga was a heiress to a famous company like Mitsuru. Maybe that's why he saw something in her that was somewhat similar to his red-haired senpai.

"I..had no idea." he finally said, unsure of what else he really could say.

"I'm sure you're very surprised by all of this." the raven-haired girl said without looking at him. "Does it change your view of me at all?"

The boy shook his head. "If your worried that my opinion of you is negative like that girl, then don't."

Ikaruga finally turned to him with a look of surprise as he continued. "Just because you're rich doesn't automatically make me think you're spoiled or anything like that. I had a friend once who also came from a rich family like you. One time, her grandfather, the previous head of a famous cooperation, did something incredibly terrible, but her and her father worked hard to correct his mistake and make the world a safer place."

The class rep was somewhat speechless from what she had heard, but she eventually regained her composure and gave a small smile. "I see... Your friend sounds like a very remarkable woman."

"She really is." Minato answered with a faint bitter smile upon remembering Mitsuru.

Even though the Kirijo Group was an incredibly powerful and wealthy cooperate group, Mitsuru and her father never came off as a spoiled rich family and were simply focused on defeating the Shadows so that humanity wouldn't have to keep on suffering for a mistake the late Kouetsu Kirijo had made.

"Oh!" Ikaruga suddenly said. "We should hurry! Hanzō-sama and the others are probably waiting for us!"

Minato nodded as the two began to sprint back to the school, not wanting to keep their friends waiting any longer.

Hanzō Academy, later that evening:

"Mmm~! Delicious!" Katsuragi exclaimed as she stuffed her face full of food.

"Ikaruga-san, Minato-chan! This is really good!" Hibari added with a happy expression on her face while Yagyū silently ate beside her.

After Minato and Ikaruga had returned to Hanzō Academy, the Shinobi students were seated at the table in the middle of Ninja Room, enjoying the wide assortment of food the two had prepared. Meanwhile, Minato and Hanzō sat nearby and silently enjoyed some tea that the blue-haired boy had served. Kiriya was nowhere to be seen, apparently saying he had something to take care of before he could join them.

After returning to Hanzō Academy, Ikaruga reported her and Minato's encounter with Yomi in the Shopping District. While Ikaruga profusely apologized for disobeying Kiriya's orders and asking to be punished for doing so, the auburn-eyed teacher told her not to worry over it since Minato had informed him that she wasn't at fault and that it was Yomi who was the one who instigated the confrontation. Once that matter was settled, Ikaruga apologized to the blue-haired boy for getting him involved, but Minato told her that it was perfectly fine and that he was always willing to help out before they returned to the Ninja Room to join the rest of the Hanzō Shinobi.

Minato looked out towards the table after taking a sip of his tea and saw how much fun the five girls seemed to be having, all of them smiling, laughing and just relishing in each others company. Seeing them like this reminded Minato of all of the peaceful moments he shared with his friends at S.E.E.S, making him give an almost sad smile at those memories.

"Everything alright, Minato-kun?" Hanzō asked, snapping the boy out of his stupor.

"I'm fine." Minato replied. "It's just nice seeing how much fun they're having."

The elderly Shinobi nodded. "Indeed. It gives me relief knowing that Asuka has made such good friends that take care of her. Youth really is a wonderful thing."

Minato nodded absentmindedly and continued to drink his tea as Hanzō went on. "Ikaruga told me and Kiriya about the assailant that attacked you two. It was brave of you to step in and help her."

The boy shrugged. "I couldn't just let Ikaruga-senpai take her by herself. I don't like sitting on the sidelines during a dire situation when I know I could at least do something to help."

Hanzō chuckled lightly at the blue-haired Persona-users response. "It sounds to me like you have some sort of Messiah complex."

Minato rolled his eyes lightly. The Legendary Shinobi had know idea just how ironic that joke sounded given who the boy was and the actions he took that got him involved in all of this in the first place.

"By the way, Minato-kun." the old Shinobi spoke. "You wouldn't mind if I asked for a demonstration of your powers, would you?"

That request caught the blue-haired teen by slight surprise as he looked towards him. "Eh?"

"I know its a rather sudden request, but I've been curious of your power ever since Kiriya told me about your exhibition battle with the girls." Hanzō explained. "But if you're uncomfortable to do so, than that's fine as well."

While he was surprised the Legendary Shinobi asked for a demonstration of his powers, he couldn't think of a reason why he should deny him the request. So far he had been quite kind and welcoming to him, so he felt he somewhat owed it to him in a way as a form of repayment for his hospitality.

"Hey, Minato-chan!" Minato turned and flinched with surprise when he saw Hibari standing right in front of him. "Can I play with one of your Persona's?"

The blue-haired teen was yet again surprised by the request. "Um... which one?"

"The little snowman one! He's really cute!" the pinkette replied with the brightest smile he'd scene all day.

While Minato was surprised, he knew that if he said no, Hibari would probably become upset and Yagyū would most likely try to kill him if that happened. Glancing across the room, he saw the eye-patched girl staring at him with a neutral look, though he was able to pick up a slight glint in her only visible eye that he read as "Upset her and your dead". On the other hand, if he said yes, then he could allow Hanzō a demonstration of his power.

Well, better to kill two birds with one stone then.

"Sure, I guess." Minato answered as he brought out his Evoker. He then brought the gun-shaped object to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. "Jack Frost!"

In a brief flash of light, the Persona of the Magician Arcana appeared floating slightly off the floor with his usual jolly smile.

"Hee-ho!" Jack Frost laughed happily while waving.

"Eeeeeeehhh~! Jack Frost-kun!" Hibari squealed with absolute delight as she scooped up the snowman and hugged him tightly against her. "He's so cute~!"

"Hey, Hibari-chan! Let me hold him too!" Asuka exclaimed as she joined the first-year in hugging the Persona. Jack Frost merely continued to give his typical jolly laugh despite having his body smothered by the two girls well-endowed chests. However, unbeknownst to the others in the room, Minato looked away to hide his faint blush as he felt the softness against his face and arms.

As two girls continued to fawn over the snowman, Hanzō stared at Minato's Evoker with great interest. "So...you summon your Persona's by shooting yourself with a gun?"

The boy shook his head. "It's technically not a real gun, but yeah, it's the only way I'm able to summon my Persona's."

Minato knew that there were other methods for one to summon a Persona from his encounters with Strega and Elizabeth. Takaya Sakaki, the leader of Strega, was capable of summoning his Persona without the use of an Evoker, though he seemed to experience great pain as a result. Elizabeth was able to summon hers through Tarot Cards that she manifested during their battle before his and S.E.E.S final confrontation with Nyx Avatar.

He felt a slight shiver crawl up his spine upon remembering his fight against the Velvet Room Assistant. It was one of the few occasions where he felt almost completely outmatched in a battle, and yet by some miracle, he was still able to come out victorious.

"Hmm, interesting." Hanzō hummed to himself. "I have to say Minato-kun, you truly have a very unique ability. I'm really impressed."

"Thank you." Minato said with a slight smile. "Not to brag, but this powers' helped me out of quite a few sticky situation."

Then, in a split second, he suddenly felt someone yank his Evoker from his hand and looked up to see Katsuragi looking over it with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Seriously though, how the heck does shooting yourself with this thing make you summon those Persona's of yours?" she asked curiously.

"Katsuragi-san!" Ikaruga yelled to her fellow third-year. "Don't just steal Minato-san's belongings like that!"

The blonde kicker simply waved her off. "It's all good. I just wanna see how it works. Maybe I'll summon something too if I used it..."

*SMACK*

"Gah!" Katsuragi grunted as Ikaruga came up behind her and smacked her in the back of the head. She looked up and glared at the ravenette. "What the hell Ikaruga?!"

"Don't go spouting such ridiculous nonsense! I will NOT allow you to go stealing Minato-san's possessions and use them without his permission!" Ikaruga fired back as she snatched the Evoker from the blonde's hand before turning around and holding out to him with a smile. "I apologize for that, Minato-san. Here you go."

Minato smiled back as he took his Evoker from her hands. "Thanks, Ikaruga-senpai."

The black-haired swordswoman face gained a faint blush at the sight of the boys smile, making her look away with embarrassment.

*POOF*

Suddenly, a large smoke bomb went off and covered the entire Ninja Room, leaving everyone in a coughing fit. As the smoke started to dissipate, Kiriya appeared and gave a small bow.

"Pardon my lateness."

After the chaos finally settled down, Kiriya sat beside Hanzō as they continued to eat their meal while Minato was now sitting with the rest of the Hanzō Girls after Asuka made a big deal about him eating with them to the point of using her overwhelming cuteness to finally convince him to give in and join them, sitting between the brunette and Ikaruga.

"So, what happened?" Hanzō asked after taking a sip of his tea.

"I got a call a moment ago from Ikaruga's parents." Kiriya replied in a soft tone so that Minato and his students couldn't hear.

The Legendary Shinobi looked at him with slight surprise. "The Houou Conglomerate?"

As the two older Shinobi conversed quietly, Katsuragi turned to Minato after finishing slurping down a bite of her ramen. "So what was the Evil Shinobi who attacked you like?"

Minato glanced at her as he paused his eating before looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Well, lets see... Lets just say she was kinda...frilly."

The blonde cocked her brow in confusion. "'Frilly'? What's that supposed to mean? Was she strong?"

"Well, she would have definitely overpowered me if I didn't have my Persona's enhance my physical strength to match her's. "Minato explained. "Still though, it's pretty crazy that she was able to swing around that giant sword without dislodging her arms."

"Well Shinobi have more strength, speed and stamina than most normal people, so that kinda explains that part." Asuka said with a smile.

Katsuragi then turned to Ikaruga. "So, what happened between you two, Ikaruga? Were you able to get a few good hits in?"

"Unfortunately, I had underestimated the strength of the enemy. I probably would have been in serious trouble had Minato-san not stepped in." Ikaruga replied with a neutral expression before turning to the blue-haired boy. "I apologize again for getting you involved in that scuffle, Minato-san. I thought I could handle it myself, but in the end you had to step in and help. Again, I'm sorry."

"I already said you don't have to worry about it, senpai." Minato said while shaking his head. "I'm just glad I was able to help you out before she could seriously injure you."

While ravenette felt touched by his words, it still wasn't enough to calm the aching in her heart. 'That's true, but... I was powerless to stop her. Me...'

"Ikaruga..." She was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard Kiriya call her name.

"Yes?" she asked as she noticed her teacher standing near one of the nearby shogi doors.

"May I have a moment?"

Ikaruga nodded as she stood up to follow him. "Hai..."

"What's wrong?" Hibari asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing." Kiriya replied before the two walked out the door.

Yagyū and Hibari were somewhat confused by their teacher's response when Hanzō suddenly appeared in front of them, surprising both of them.

"Hoho! You two sure are good friends, huh?" he asked lightheartedly.

"That's right!" Hibari answered with a big smile. "Huh, Yagyū-chan?"

Yagyū looked away with a slightly embarrassed expression. "I just want to keep Hibari safe, since she's always getting herself into trouble."

The pink-haired girl pouted a little at her reply. "There you go again, treating me like a kid."

Hanzō gave a hearty chuckle as he listened to their interaction. "Being good friends is a beautiful thing. I'll bet you, you know, take your baths together, right?"

"?!" Minato, who was still at the same table as the others, suddenly began to choke on his tea as soon as he heard those words leave the Legendary Shinobi's mouth. Did he seriously just say that?!

"Well, who would've thought that the so-called 'Legendary Shinobi' was just another cliche perverted old man." Satan commented.

Asura gave an exasperated sigh. "That's just sad."

"Minato-kun! Are you okay?!" Asuka asked worriedly when she saw her friend choking.

The boy beat his fist against his chest and managed to clear his pipes, allowing him to regain his breathing. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just...went down the wrong tube was all."

Hibari, who didn't seem fazed at all by Hanzō's question, nodded happily while Yagyū's face became flushed. "Hai! We wash each other's backs, and everything!"

"Nice, very nice!" the elderly Shinobi said as started grabbing the air with his hands. "Sometime, I wish you'd let me join in, too."

"Jii-chan! Watch what you say to those too!" Asuka scolded, having appeared behind Hanzō.

"It's not like that, Asuka!" Hanzō quickly defended. "I was just talking about communication."

"That's Hanzō-sama for you! He gets it!" Katsuragi suddenly came up behind the brunette and proceeded to fondle her chest, causing Asuka to cry out in surprise.

As things began to get chaotic once again, Minato remained quiet as he just watched the scene with a deadpanned expression. "Guess this is what things are gonna be like from now on..."

"Hee-ho!" Jack Frost laughed in agreement as he appeared on the boys shoulder before Minato casually handed him a plate of curry, to which the Persona began to scarf it down with glee.

"Onii-sama has gone missing?"

Kiriya nodded. "I got a call from your family, asking if you had any idea where he might be."

"Where he might be?" Ikaruga repeated before glancing down at the floor. "I've never even really talked with Onii-sama that much."

"I see." Kiriya replied as the ravenette bowed her head.

"I'm sorry."

The ash-haired teacher raised his hand in dismissal. "Oh, no. I thought I'd at least let you know, just to be sure. It is your family, after all."

"My family..." Ikaruga muttered before nodding. "Yes, of course."

As Kiriya turned to go back to his office, Ikaruga walked down the hall back towards the Ninja Room. Just as she was about to reach out to open the shogi door however, she suddenly paused and turned to look back down at the dark hallway she had just walked through, he eyes narrowed with caution. At that moment, Katsuragi opened the door and noticed her fellow Shinobi standing right at the entrance.

"What's the matter, Ikaruga?" she asked.

Ikaruga didn't remove her gaze from the end of the hall. "Nothing, I just felt someone's eyes following me..."

"What?!" Katsuragi's expression and tone became much more serious as the other Hanzō Shinobi ran out the room and into the hallway, looking down where Ikaruga was looking.

"There's no one there." Asuka commented.

The raven-haired Shinobi gave a slightly sheepish smile as she turned to the others. "Apparently, it was just my imagination."

"Are you alright, Ikaruga-san?" Hibari asked with slight concern.

"Of course." Ikaruga answered before clapping her hands together. "Now, we've still got half an hour left to party."

At that moment, Minato approached the door with Jack Frost hanging off his left shoulder, noticing everyone gathered there. "Everything okay over here?"

"Oh, everything's alright Minato-kun." Asuka replied with a smile. Then she and the others noticed Minato carrying his school bag over his shoulder. "Huh? Are you leaving already?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I have work after school tomorrow and I wanna avoid falling asleep while on the clock."

"Does that mean we won't see you tomorrow?" Hibari asked as she gave a downcast expression.

Not wanting to see the adorable pinkette cry (and risk possibly facing Yagyū's wrath), Minato gave a reassuring smile. "No, but you can stop by for dinner sometime if you'd like."

That made the girls eyes light up and give out a collective "YES!", causing Minato to sweat drop at their over-enthusiasm.

"Then I'll see you guys then." The blue-haired boy dismissed Jack Frost back to the Sea of Souls (but not before Hibari gave the Persona a big hug goodbye) and gave his goodbyes to his Shinobi friends.

As Minato walked down the hall towards where the exit was, he paused when he could've sworn he felt a presence behind him. However, when he turned around, he saw no one there.

"Are you alright?" Sandalphon inquired.

Minato shook his head. "I thought I just... It's nothing. Lets go."

Just as Minato turned around and walked away to look for the exit, a pair of dark blue eyes peered out of one of the rooms with a dark, piercing glare at Minato.

The next day:

It was another day at Hanzō Academy as Minato sat at his seat in Mr. Nakejima's class, listening to the teacher going through his lecture. As the blue-haired boy watched Mr. Nakejima write on the blackboard, he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with an inaudible sigh.

After his and Ikaruga's encounter with the girl Yomi, meeting Hanzō and the events that occurred during his welcome party, he honesty wished he could have the day off. He even had work after school today, so he knew he was going to be extremely exhausted by the end of the day. However, he knew that he would just have to suck it up and soldier through the day if he wanted to earn his paycheck.

Mr. Nakajima finished writing on the board and turned to face his students. "Now then, can anyone identify the deity who led the Hmong and Li Tribes against the Yellow Emperor in Chinese mythology?" He then turned towards Minato, who looked rather exhausted. "Arisato?"

Minato's head instantly snapped up. "The half-man, half-bull war deity, Chi You."

The other students stared with gaped expressions while Mr. Nakajima lightly shook is head.

"I was going to ask if you wanted a window open, but you're right nonetheless." he said just as the lunch bell started to ring. "Alright, we'll finish this lesson after lunch."

After the teacher left the room, a majority of the students got up to head to the cafeteria. As Minato got up to do the same, he saw Eito and Kazuyo walk up to him.

"Hey, Arisato! You heading out for lunch too?" the brown-haired boy asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty hungry today." Minato responded as he grabbed his school bag and rested it over his shoulder.

"Do you want to join us then?" Kazuyo inquired. "We were thinking of going there too."

The blue-haired teen smiled at the offer. "Sure. Better than going alone."

Eito grinned at his answer. "Then lets go and-"

"MINATO-KUN~!"

All three teens froze in place as a familiar, over-enthusiastic voice call out Minato's name. They all slowly turned to see Emiko standing at the entrance to their classroom with a bright smile before running up towards the group and glomped the blue-haired teen.

"Mou, Minato-kun!" she started with an adorable pout. "Don't tell me you were planning on going to lunch without inviting me!"

Minato tried to answer, but his face was being smothered by the girls large breasts, causing only muffled sounds to be heard.

"Kaichou!" Kazuyo exclaimed with a glare. "How many times are you going to keep doing that to Minato-kun?! Don't you realize he can't breath?!"

Emiko gave a look of hurt as she hugged Minato tighter against her. "B-But if I'm not able to hold my dear Minato-kun at least once a day, then I won't survive!"

"The heck's that supposed to mean?" Eito asked with a sweatdrop at the 3rd-Years over-dramatic display.

Emiko's reply only seemed to anger Kazuyo more. "You're being ridiculous, Kaichou! Now let go of Minato-kun!"

"No! You cannot make me!" the Student Council President answered in her over-dramatic voice. "I will not let you steal my Minato-kun from me any-"

"EMIKO!"

The four students stopped and slowly turned towards the entrance of the classroom to see yet another girl standing there. She seemed to be around Emiko's age and was dressed in the traditional Hanzō Academy uniform. She had long bright red hair tied in a long pony-tail and bright yellow eyes that gave her a very stern and somewhat intimidating appearance.

Eito and Kazuyo's eyes widened at the sight of the newcomer. "Yamada-senpai!"

"Kara-chan!" Emiko exclaimed as well. "What a surprise to see you here too!"

"I told you not to call me that!" the girl, now known as Kara, yelled at her fellow 3rd-Year with her hands on hips before looking down at the blue-haired boy in Emiko's grasp. "Are you giving Arisato-kun a hard time again?"

The brunette gave a defensive look. "I was just asking Minato-kun if I could join him for lunch!"

Kara crossed her arms. "Uh-huh, I see. Though don't you think you should give Arisato-kun some breathing room? He looks like he's about to pass out."

Emiko blinked before looking down and noticing that Minato's arms were flailing around frantically, indicating he was running out of breath. "Wah! M-Minato-kun! I'm sorry!"

She quickly let go and Minato immediately let out a gasp of air as he took a few steps back, slowly regaining his breath. "It's...fine, Fukuhara-senpai. And thanks for the help, Yamada-senpai."

Kara gave a smile. "No problem. I can't afford to let anything bad happen to favorite sparring partner."

Much like with his other friends, Minato knew Kara Yamada since he first enrolled at Hanzō Academy. A 3rd-Year student like Emiko, she was the head of the school's Kendo Club and was apparently a Kendo prodigy since childhood from what he had heard.

He had first met Kara only a weeks after enrolling while she was passing out recruitment ads for the Kendo Club. When she first saw him, she immediately tried to convince him to join, though he politely refused, saying he preferred to focus on his studies. Since then, she would sometimes invite Minato to be her training partner before upcoming Kendo events, believing he was the only student at Hanzō who could give her a real challenge. He found her lessons to be incredibly helpful, as they helped resharpen his combat skills since coming to this world.

"Anyway," Eito spoke up, "weren't we going to lunch?"

Kazuyo nodded. "Yeah, we should go before the cafeteria gets too crowded."

"Lets get going then." Minato said as he began to lead his friends towards the door. "See you around, Fukuhara-senpai. Yamada-senpai.

"W-Wait! I wanna come too!" Emiko exclaimed as she reached out to follow them. However, she was stopped when Kara grabbed her by the back of her shirt. "H-Hey, Kara-chan!

The red-haired girl gave a glare. "Oh, no you don't! Mayumi-san told me to come pick you up for a meeting with the rest of the Student Council, so you better not try to duck out!"

"Aw, come on!" the brunette whined.

Meanwhile:

"Today's lesson is about genealogy." Kiriya informed his students just as he finished writing on the chalkboard.

Katsuragi raised an eyebrow. "Genealogy? Boooring! Lets fight!"

"Calm down. There's more to your training than just fighting." the ash-haired teacher stated calmly.

"Whaaat?"

Hibari raised her hand. "Umm... So, the lesson is about our ancestors? What do we do?"

"You're each going to trace your lineage." Kiriya explained. "It's extremely important that you know this. Who your Shinobi ancestors were, and what you've inherited from them."

Then, Asuka raised her hand next. "So...how far back should we go?"

"As far as you can. Begin with the oldest Shinobi relative you're aware of."

"Okay! Got it!" The brunette said, but before the teacher could say another word... "DONE!"

Kiriya blinked. "That was fast."

Asuka showed off her paper proudly, which only had her, her mother and her grandfather written down on it. "In my family, Jii-chan and Kaa-chan are Shinobi. Since Tou-chan is an ordinary person, he doesn't really count. But I wanna be a great Shinobi like Jii-chan!"

"...All right then." Kiriya said with a sigh of resignation.

From there, Ikaruga and Yagyū began to write down their family trees while Katsuragi and Hibari seemed to be having some difficulty.

"There's no way I can list them all!" the pinkette complained loudly. "This bites!"

"You'll have to stay until you're done." Kiriya informed her.

"WHAT?!"

Katsuragi glanced over at Asuka's paper. "You forgot to write down your measurements. Here, I'll add them."

"Hey-! How do you know my measurements?!"

As the middle-aged teacher continued to watch his students work on their family trees, he glanced over towards Ikaruga and noticed that she was simply staring at her paper with a blank expression, her paint brush hovering over the paper motionless.

"What'st the matter, Ikaruga?" he asked, causing the ravenette to snap out of her zoned out state. "Why did you stop?"

Ikaruga quickly shook her head. "My apologies. I'll finish it."

As she started to write her own name on her paper, Asuka could've sworn she saw tears stinging the 3rd-Years eyes. "Ikaruga-san? What's wrong?"

"O-Oh...It's nothing." she replied with a slight smile, though the brunette still couldn't help but feel concerned for her senior.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, the five Hanzō Shinobi gathered underneath a tree in an open field area behind the old school building to eat lunch together. Laying out a picnic blanket under the shade of the tree, the girls began to start digging into their lunches, save for Ikaruga who was still laying out her kaiseki cuisine when she noticed she had forgotten something

"Ah. No tea..."

Asuka glanced at her as she started munching on a futomaki roll. "Mmmph?"

"Yeah... When she eats food like this, she has to have it with green tea." Katsuragi explained to her.

"Oh dear. I'll be right back." Ikaruga said as she stood up and made her way back towards the school.

As Ikaruga entered the Ninja Room, she noticed that the room was now rather dark with Kiriya nowhere to be seen, having apparently gone back to his office for the lunch break. With the lights from the hall casting a small amount of light into the room through the shogi door, the raven-haired girl took only a step when she suddenly felt a presence in the room with her.

"Who's there?!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of kunai daggers.

"Oi, oi. You'll poke someone's eye out if you aren't careful." a voice addressed her as a young, slightly pale-skinned man stumbled out from the shadows.

He had long black hair with long bangs covering his forehead and parts of his dark blue eyes. He wore a long white coat with a blue collar that was unzipped to show off his bare chest and equally white pants.

Ikaruga's eyes widened with utter shock. "O-Onii-sama!"

It was her older brother, Muramase, who she had just been informed the night before had run away from home.

"Long time, so see, little sis." Muramase greeted.

"Onii-sama... What are you doing with Hien?" Ikaruga asked upon noticing her sword in her brothers hand.

Murasame raised an eyebrow with a cynical smirk. "What am I doing? Ha ha ha! What, indeed! This belongs to me. I'll do with it what I want."

The ravenette shook her head. "You're mistaken. Otou-sama and Okaa-sama gave that to..."

That was as far as she got before closing her mouth tightly, preventing further words from coming out. However, it didn't help.

"Otou-sama and Okaa-sama? How DARE you be so impudent!" Murasame's eyes became dark with hatred, forcing Ikaruga to avert her gaze away from them. "Yes, that's right. I wasn't 'given' Hien. But this sword is a family heirloom. It has no business in the hands of an outsider to the bloodline."

His sharp words were practically cutting right through her, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, knowing full well he was right.

"Hien was supposed to... It really was supposed to..." Murasame teeth clenched tightly as he glared hard at Ikaruga. "You... If only you weren't around..."

"Then what? What if she wasn't around?"

The two raised their heads in surprise as a new voice spoke up, causing them to turn just as a third individual appeared from the shadows with a neutral gaze.

"Minato-san?!" Ikaruga said in shock.

"Hey. Sorry Ikaruga-senpai, but it sounded like you were in distress, so I figured I should help." Minato then turned his attention towards Murasame, his gaze become more serious. "And as for you, don't you think that's pretty cruel of you to go spouting all those hurtful things to your own sister?"

The black-haired young man responded with another glare. "And what does it matter to you? You're nothing more than an outsider. This has nothing to do with you!"

"You're right, it doesn't." Minato replied, his gaze not wavering in the slightest. "But I honestly could care less."

He then walked over and positioned himself between the two siblings as he faced Murasame. "I'm only going to say this once. Return Ikaruga-senpai's sword to her at once."

"You think you can order me?!" Murasame yelled angrily. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you." he responded. "Now, you gonna give it back, or are you going to make this more difficult then it should?"

The opposing male's fury began to rise again at the impassive response. "NO! That filthy mongrel doesn't deserve it! It should've been mine! She doesn't belong in my family and she never will!"

Murasame's words were like a dagger stabbing Ikaruga in the heart repeatedly. The girl gripped the hem of her skirt and stared at the ground as she listened to her brother assault her ears with such awful insults. Minato's gaze hardened as he slowly brought his hand towards his pants pocket to draw his Evoker, but then paused. He wanted to avoid having this confrontation turn violent, and summoning a Persona definitely wouldn't help. He didn't know what kind of history these two had, but if it was really as serious as it appeared, then he knew there was only one way to resolve this.

"...Go get it back."

Ikaruga darted her head up towards Minato, who was glancing back towards her. "W-What?"

"Don't just take all his garbage laying down like that. Show him you're not afraid." the blue-haired teen spoke, making her eyes widen. "You're a 3rd-Year Shinobi student, aren't you? Show him he doesn't have the right to call you unworthy when you worked yourself hard to make it this far."

"But..."

"But nothing." Minato interrupted. "You trained your entire life to reach this point while he decides to take the cowardly way by taking something he obviously doesn't deserve. You obviously earned that sword because you worked for it. So go over there, and show him why you clearly deserve Hien more than him."

While Minato's words were slowly sinking within her, Ikaruga still couldn't bring herself to move, as if her feet were rooted to the spot where she stood.

"It's...not that simple."

This time, Minato turned himself around fully to look directly at her. "Then show him the cool and confident class representative that Asuka and the others look up to. How are they gonna find the confidence to move forward if you keep yourself shackled down by fear like this? You're life choices are yours to make, not his. He's not your responsibility."

He watched as her bottom lip began to quiver before her eyes rapidly blinked to ward off the growing mist clouding her world. He was right. What was she thinking? Murasame wasn't her responsibility. He didn't have any right to tell her off when she worked so much harder than him to get to where she is now. He didn't have any right to dictate her life. She chose to walk the Path of the Shinobi and she wasn't going to let her brother's jealously force her to leave that path!

Suddenly, Ikaruga vanished, displacing the air with a soft 'fwtt' and a gust of wind. Not even a second later, Murasame yelped when he realized he was suddenly empty-handed.

The long-sword had disappeared.

He looked up just as the raven-haired girl phased in front of Minato with Hien held securely in her hands and a sturdy gaze befitting a Shinobi warrior.

"It's true...I've merely been scared of a ghost. Onii-sama, you are petty, jealous, and only embarrass yourself with these childish temper tantrums of yours. You do not deserve to wield Hien. Return home and never come back."

Murasame eyes flared with anger once again. " Why you-! Hien is mine! I will take it back without fail! No matter what I have to do, no matter how long it takes, I will take it back!" He was growing belligerent in light of the sudden upturn. One minute Ikaruga was shaking like a frightened child, but then that blue-haired boy suddenly turns up and now she was suddenly opposing him without hesitation.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he reached into his coat and produced a wicked-looking kusarigama, with the heavy end of the chain poised to throw. "When I was in elementary school, I placed sixth in a local chain-sickle tournament!"

"That doesn't really sound like something to be boastful about." Yurlunger commented with a flat tone.

Surt nodded. "On that, I agree."

Minato instinctively drew his Evoker from his pocket and went to raise it, but was stopped as a womanly hand on his forearm kept him from summoning a Persona to attack the aggravated teen. Seeing him somewhat mollified, Ikaruga gave his skin a quick squeeze before raising the lengthy sheath of her sword to her large breast.

"That will never happen. It will never be yours and nothing you do will ever change that." Ikaruga's look of determination brightened her demeanor as she finished her statement. "I won't be scared any longer. Please take care."

A thick red ribbon wrapped around her hand as she reached inside a nearby wall ornament and grabbed the hidden item. At that moment, the floorboards beneath Murasame's feet dropped open to reveal a trap door that led to a seemingly bottomless pit. Gravity took its course as weightlessness overtook him and he began to fall into the shadows of the blackened hole.

"DAMN YOUUUUUUU~!" Murasame's angry curse echoed out as he disappeared into the darkness before Ikaruga pulled on the rope again, causing the trap doors to close back up again.

Silence overtook the room as Ikaruga clenched Hien tightly in her grasp, a weighty wetness building along her eyes. However, the tears seem to disappear as quickly as they appeared as she turned around.

"Minato-sa..." she spoke up before stopping upon realizing that the blue-haired teen was now nowhere to be seen, having somehow vanished without her realizing. Despite that though, a faint smile graced her lips as she held Hien close to her chest.

'Minato-san... Thank you.'

"Ikaruga-san!"

The ravenette blinked as Asuka's voice suddenly called out to her from behind. "What's wrong? You've been gone for a while."

"Oh, it's nothing." Ikaruga replied as she shook her head. "Now, back outside, shall we?"

However, Asuka then raised her hand. "Oh, hold on. Before we go back, I wanna show you this. Check it out!"

Ikaruga watched as the brunette brought out a family tree, but when she noticed what was written down on it, her eyes widened. "Ah..."

It wasn't just an ordinary family tree. It included everyone in the Shinobi class all lined up, with Ikaruga as the mother, Katsuragi as the father, then Asuka, Yagyū and Hibari as the children.

"The five of us are basically a family, so I decided to write that up." the brunette said with an innocent smile.

Ikaruga could only stare at the family tree as her vision started to blur again. To her, it felt okay to have her name listed there. After all, in her Shinobi class, she had another family.

Asuka gasped when she noticed tears beginning to streak down the raven-haired girls cheeks. "Wha... Ikaruga-san, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did something make you sad?"

This time, Ikaruga no longer felt the need to hide her tears any longer and shook her head.

"I'm not sad at all." she said with a broad smile. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Thank you, Asuka-san."

Upon seeing her expression of gratitude, the brunette could only stare with bewilderment.

Meanwhile, at the cafeteria, Eito and Kazuyo sat at one of the lunch tables waiting for their blue-haired friend to return. While the latter was calmly eating from her bento box, the former tapped his foot impatiently while propping his chin up with his hand.

"Seriously, where the heck did Arisato go?" Eito asked.

Kazuyo shrugged her shoulders. "He said he needed to go use the restroom really quick and that he'd meet us here."

"Well he's sure taking his sweet time, that's for sure." the brown-haired boy grumbled before taking a sip from his bottled water. "This was supposed to be our time to hang out."

"Didn't realize you cared so much for our little social gatherings."

Eito nearly choked on his water when Minato came up from behind him and spoke those words with his usual stoic look, catching him and Kazuyo completely by surprise.

"Gah! Jeez Arisato, don't just sneak up on people like that! It's super creepy how quiet you are!"

Minato couldn't help but smile a little at his friends reaction. "Sorry, just couldn't help myself I guess."

Kazuyo stared at the boy curiously as he sat down beside Eito. "Are you okay, Arisato-kun? You were gone for quite a while."

"Lets just say I had to break up a little sibling quarrel on my way here." he answered vaguely as he pulled out his bento box and started eating.

The blue-haired boys companions turned towards each other with looks of confusion at his response, but chose to brush it aside for the moment as they went to work on their own lunches.

Later that evening:

"Whew! It was quite a busy shift today, wasn't it?" an elderly man commented as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

Minato shrugged as he finished putting away a pile of clean dishes. "I wouldn't say it was all that bad Kano-san, but I get what you mean."

An elderly woman standing beside the man gave the boy a grateful nod. "Thank you again for all your help tonight, Arisato-kun. We're sorry to keep stacking so much work on you, but with you being the only other employee here, there's really no one else to turn to for help."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, Kawako-san." Minato replied. "I'm always willing to lend you two a helping hand whenever I'm available, so don't hesitate to ask me."

The grey-haired woman smiled at his words, "Hah, if only our sons were as sweet and considerate as you. Those two boys seemed to have forgotten about us after they left, and they hardly do anything!"

"It's true." The elderly man nodded. "Why couldn't they be as hard working or mature like you? Last we heard from them, all they ever seemed to talk about were partying and women. They're probably at least six years older than you and, yet you act older and more mature than them!"

'That's probably because I'm not like most other guys.' he thought in response.

Kano and Kawako Nakamura were the first people Minato had met since coming to this world that had offered their assistance to him. Having told them a story that his parents had passed away and that he had been displaced by the rest of his extended family (which was technically half-true), the elderly couple decided to take him in and paid for the apartment that he stayed at as well as help enroll him into Hanzō Academy. Not wanting to feel like he was taking advantage of their generosity, the boy decided to repay them for their kindness by working for them at their small, yet popular business. Minato managed to take care of a majority of the work, not wanting the two to strain themselves in their old age. In a way, they reminded him of Bunkichi and Mitsuko, which made him all the more willing to help them out.

"Well, I think that's enough work for today." Kano announced. "Why don't you head home for tonight, Arisato-kun. You're probably exhausted. We'll finish closing up here."

Minato blinked. "Are you sure. I can give you a hand if you-"

Before he could finish, a light knock on the head drew his attention to Kawako, who was holding up a ladle that she used to hit him. "Arisato-kun, you should listen to your elders. You can go home and get a good night's sleep, understand young man?" She brandished the ladle as if it were some sort of weapon, and the blue-haired boy found himself nodding. It was a silent rule that if an elderly woman scolds you with a kitchen utensil, then the best thing to do was to just clam up and walk away.

"Okay, I'll see you later then. Thank you for your generosity." Minato bowed and took his leave, but stopped for a moment once he entered bar area of the restaurant to grab some stools and stack them upside down along the hardwood bar.

'Just one less thing for them to worry about.'

With his day finally over, Minato climbed the stairs of his apartment building to get some much needed rest after the long and eventful day he had. A part of him still wished he could ask Ikaruga about the man that had confronted her to steal her sword. However, from what he had heard between the two, it seemed like a family matter and decided not to pry any further. Ikaruga was a capable woman, so he felt he didn't have to worry too much.

Then, just as he made to his floor and started to make his way to his room, he stopped when he saw the raven-haired girl herself leaning back against the wall next to the door of his room, as if waiting for someone.

"Ikaruga-senpai?"

Ikaruga looked up and turned to see Minato approaching her with a somewhat surprised look. "Ah, Minato-san. Did you have a good day today?"

"I guess you could say that." he answered. "But what are you doing here?"

The girl then looked off to the side to avoid his gaze, as if too shy or embarrassed to answer him for a moment. "May I...speak to you for a moment? There's something I'd like to tell you."

Minato accepted with a small nod and opened his apartment door to allow the raven-haired girl inside. He told her make herself comfortable as he went off into the kitchen to make some tea for them. Ikaruga sat down seiza-style on one side of the glass coffee table and after a few minutes, Minato came out of the kitchen holding two cups of tea. He set one cup down in front of the 3rd-Year before seating himself across from her, watching as she took an graceful sip of the refreshing drink.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Minato-san. I apologize if I caught you at a bad time." Ikaruga apologized with a slight bow of her head.

"It's fine Ikaruga-senpai." the boy answered. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, first, I would like to thank your for helping me earlier today with my brother. Were it not for your intervention, that situation could have possibly gotten far too out of hand."

Minato shook his head. "I only did what I thought was right. It looked like he was causing you trouble, so I just felt it was best to intervene. Still though, was that guy really your brother?"

"Actually, that's also why I came to see you." she replied before looking away. "You see, I haven't been entirely truthful with you."

The blue-haired Persona-user was somewhat confused by what she was saying. What did she mean she hadn't been truthful? Ikaruga remained silent for a minute as she pondered on how she should explain, but she knew that the best thing to do was to just be honest and tell him the whole truth.

"Do you...remember when I told you yesterday how I was the daughter of the Houou Family?" she asked hesitantly.

Now Minato was slightly more confused by that question. "Yeah, I remember. Why do you ask?"

Ikaruga lightly bit her bottom lip as she struggled to come clean, before she eventually steeled her resolve and lifted her head to look Minato in the eyes.

"Well, the truth is...I'm adopted."

The room became dead silent the moment she let those words leave her lips. Minato stared at the black-haired Shinobi with a wide-eyed expression as he thought back to what Murasame had said about Ikaruga earlier now that day about being an 'outsider'.

"Adopted?" he repeated.

Ikaruga nodded. "Yes. You see, the Houou Conglomerate is not only a famous organization, but is also a rich, noble Shinobi clan. Onii-sama, who at the time was the only son of the clan heads, was meant to inherit the family treasure, Hien, but lacked the sufficient talent to become a Shinobi. I came from a lesser, distant branch of the clan and when Onii-sama's parents heard that I showed great promise as a Shinobi, I was adopted into the family and granted Hien. Since then, Onii-sama has showed nothing but resentment and hatred towards me, since to him, I stole something that he believes rightfully belongs to him."

Minato remained silent as he listened to the raven-haired girls explanation. Now it made sense to him why Murasame had said all of those terrible things about Ikaruga back at the Ninja Room. His resentment for her must have been great if he was willing to go out of his way to steal her sword right out from under her.

"Why didn't you just tell me earlier?" he asked, though he felt that he already knew the reason why.

"I didn't want you to have to concern yourself with my family affairs. It's been like this between Onii-sama and myself since we first met, and I didn't want to drag you into our family drama."

Minato's expression softened a little and he nodded in understanding. She was just trying to spare him from being caught in the crossfire between her and her brother, but even still, that did little to excuse Murasame's behavior towards Ikaruga.

"Ikaruga-senpai, no offense, but it just sounds like your brother is blaming you for something you had no control over." he said, voicing his own opinion on the matter. "I know that it isn't any of my business, but if he thinks that you're the reason he lost his chance to become a Shinobi, then that's on him. You said it yourself that he lacked the talent necessary, so don't blame yourself for your brothers failures."

The 3rd-Year responded with a small smile and a nod. "Yes, I think I understand now thanks to you. Onii-sama was just being petty and wanted to cast the blame for his misfortune onto someone else. I still feel bad for the pain that he had to go through because of my parents decision, but hopefully he'll eventually come around and realize that there are other professions he can seek out aside from just becoming a Shinobi."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll eventually come to realize that sooner or later." Minato assured her, feeling glad to see that the 3rd-Year Shinobi was finally back to high spirits.

Ikaruga's smile then became more radiant. "Thank you for your kind words, Minato-san. I don't know what I would've done without them."

*CRACK*

Thou art I... And I am Thou...

Thou hast established a new bond...

It shalt further stretch your Universe

Thou shalt have our blessings when thou chooses

To create a Persona of the Empress Arcana...

At that moment, time seemed to go completely still for a moment as a Tarot Card suddenly manifested in front of him, this one having the number III, which he recalled being the Empress. After a few moments, the card eventually vanished into thin air and time began to restart again.

"By the way, Minato-san." Ikaruga spoke up, causing the blue-haired boy to bring his focus back towards her. "If you don't mind, I have a favor I would like to ask of you."

"What kind of favor?" he asked curiously.

The raven-haired girl looked off to the side before letting out a sigh. "It seems that Asuka-san is still having some difficulty in overcoming her fear of frogs and it's started to affect her performance during training. I wan't to be able to help her get through this fear of hers, so I would like to ask for your assistance if that's possible."

Minato thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I think I can work something out. What do you need me to do?"

Ikaruga smiled at the boys reply. "Ah, thank you Minato-san! Well, here's what I need you to do."

The Persona-user leaned in close and paid close attention as his senior began to explain her plan to help their adorable brown-haired Shinobi friend finally overcome her fear of frogs.

The following afternoon:

As the school day once again came to an end, the Shinobi students of Hanzō Academy were still going through their usual routine of training, this time in the woods just outside of Asakusa. Katsuragi was busy practicing wall-climbing exercises while Yagyū was helping Hibari with combat practice. Meanwhile, Ikaruga and Asuka were speaking with Kiriya, who seemed somewhat surprised by what the former was asking him.

"You want to carry on Secret Ninja Art training?"

Ikaruga nodded. "So, may I have your permission?"

"Um, no, it wouldn't be right." Asuka tried to speak up, though her words seemed to fall on deaf ears when Kiriya smiled.

"Very well." he replied.

The 3rd-Year bowed her head in thanks before grabbing her juniors hand and pulling her away towards another section of the training grounds.

"The waterfall basin over there will do."

"Hold on! Ikaruga-san!"

Once they arrived, the two Shinobi-in-training changed out of their uniforms (save for their undergarments) and changed back into white bath robs before placing themselves underneath the roaring waterfall.

"W-Why are we doing cold-water ablutions?" Asuka asked, not looking all that comfortable of having a constant flow of cold water come crashing down onto her body.

"First of all, you must become one with the sensations of the creature you are summoning." Ikaruga answered, taking the ablution in stride as she stood in a meditative position. "For frogs, that would be water."

"H-Hai!"

After roughly ten minutes, Asuka was was sitting down on one of the rocks in the middle of the shallow pond as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and get warm, her body trembling and her teeth chattering from the cold.

"Do you feel like a frog yet?"

The cute brunette managed a small nod. "H-Hai, sort of."

"Well then...!" Ikaruga suddenly pulled out a straw basket full of frogs and flung it towards Asuka, who let out a shrill cry as the amphibious creatures flew into the pond with her.

Nearby, the others could hear their classmates cries of terror and couldn't help but feel slight pity and concern for whatever it was Ikaruga was putting her through.

"Asuka-chan..." Hibari muttered.

"You think she's okay?" Katsuragi asked.

Yagyū shrugged. "She has a long way to go."

Back at the pond, Asuka screamed as some of the frogs jumped on her, causing her to make some unintentionally compromising poses in an attempt to avoid touching them. Eventually, some of the frogs landed in the water and swam away except for one that was calmly sitting on a rock beside the girl as she tried to calm down.

"I can't do it!" she exclaimed. "I can't touch them, let alone be chummy with them!"

Ikaruga sighed at the way brunettes behavior. "You're only afraid because you think you are."

"I'm sorry, Ikaruga-san. And here you're taking the time to work with me..." she apologized with a guilty expression.

"Of course I am." the ravenette answered with a smile. "We're family, after all."

Asuka blinked upon hearing her say that. "Family?"

Suddenly feeling slightly flustered by what she had just said, Ikaruga looked away with a mild blush. "Just keep at it, okay?"

"Ha-Hai!" the brunette replied, feeling some slight reassurance once again. Asuka turned to the rock where the last remaining frog sat and slowly extended her hand out towards it. "Just a little farther..."

Just as her fingers were about a few inches away, the frog suddenly jumped off of its rock and landed onto the back of her hand, instantly causing goosebumps to crawl up her arm as she started to have another freak out.

"Aah! Ikaruga-san!" she screamed as she stumbled back in the water and landed on her rear with her arm still held out, the frog remaining unmoved and unfazed.

"You can't even brush it away?" Ikaruga inquired.

Asuka quickly shook her head. "Well, I'd feel bad for the frog if I did that!"

The black-haired Shinobi was slightly surprised by what she just heard. "'Feel bad for it'?"

"I mean, if I were to suddenly slap it away, I'd feel bad, you know?"

Ikaruga mulled over what her brunette friend had said before it seemed to dawn on her. Realizing that now was the time to put her plan into motion, she gave a smile. "I'm going to head over and see how the others are doing."

"Huh? Oh, no! You're going to leave me alone with the frog?!" Asuka exclaimed as the 3rd-Year turned and started sprinting into the bamboo forest.

"Good luck!" was all she got in response as Ikaruga's retreating figure vanished.

Realizing that she was now all alone with the frog resting on her hand, Asuka turned to look the frog in the eyes, a nervous sweat dripping down her face. "I'm not afraid... I'm not afraid... No! I really am afraid!"

"GRROOAAAAA!"

A loud roar snapped the brunette out of her stupor and she turned around to see a large creature perched atop some large rocks that surrounded the pond, it's body blotting out the sun and casting a shadow over the girl. Once her eyes were able to adjust to the lighting, she noticed that the creature looked like a tiger, but not like any tiger that she knew of. It was somewhat larger than a normal tiger and was covered in snow white fur with jet black stripe and bright blue eyes. The fur around its neck was much longer, thicker and more wavy, much like the mane of a lion, and even similar type fur around its ankles. It's tail was also longer and thinner than a normal tigers, with the tip having a small tuft of white fur at the end.

The tiger gave a sharp glare down at Asuka, making her slightly tremble under its gaze. It felt like the animal was staring right through her and peering directly into her soul, causing her spine to crawl. It then let out another roar before leaping off from its perch and down towards Asuka, who quickly hunkered down as the tiger sailed over her head and landed behind her. The granddaughter of Hanzō raised her head and glanced behind her to see that the tiger was now in the pond with her, the creature having turned itself around to face her with its two large white canine teeth almost gleaming in the sunlight.

Asuka hadn't felt this petrified since she and her friends faced off against Susano-o. The way her body trembled under the tigers piercing gaze felt similar to when she first came face-to-face with the God of Storms. She watched the tiger as it slowly stalked towards her, her heart-rate and panic increasing the closer it got to her. Then, Asuka noticed the frog that had been resting on her hand suddenly jump off and land on a small rock in front of her as the tiger knelt down and looked to be preparing to pounce the girl.

'The frog!' Realizing the frog would most likely be crushed if the tiger landed on it, the young Shinobi-in-training shot up using her enhanced speed to dive-bombed towards the frog just as the tiger leaped into the air with its claws outstretched and its fangs bared.

Asuka managed to safely scoop up the frog with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut as she quickly hugged it close to her bosom, hoping to shield the amphibious creature from harm. The brunette waited for the moment where the tiger would strike her down.

...However, she felt nothing.

After a few more seconds of waiting, the girl finally opened eyes and slowly lifted her head up to see the tiger was standing right in front of her. But this time, Asuka noticed that it no longer showed any signs of hostility. It's body was more relaxed and its eyes were no longer predatory, but more tranquil and docile, making her feel oddly relaxed.

"Wha...?" she muttered in confusion.

"It looks like my suspicions were right."

A familiar voice caught Asuka's attention and she turned to see Ikaruga standing at the shore of the pond with a proud smile on her face.

"I-Ikaruga-san?"

The raven-haired girl continued to smile. "It seems you can finally touch it on your own, huh?"

Asuka was slightly confused by what she meant until she looked down at her hands and realized she was still holding the frog in her hand. "Huh? I thought the frog was gonna die, so..."

"Are you still afraid of it?" Ikaruga asked, to which Asuka shook her head.

"No. Huh? That's strange." she commented as stared at the frog in her hands closer. "Why is that? And...it's kind of...cute...? Huh? Huh?"

Ikaruga's smile never left her face. "I should have realized it sooner. That's just the kind of person you are, after all?"

"Yeah, it looks like your hunch was right, Ikaruga-senpai." a third voice spoke up.

Asuka's eyes widened with surprise when a familiar blue-haired boy appeared from the bamboo forest and stood next to Ikaruga. "Wha- Minato-kun?"

Minato nodded with a light smile. "Yeah, sorry for scaring you like that, Asuka-san. Ikaruga-senpai thought it would be the only way to help you with your fear."

The brunette was slightly confused by the boys words until she turned her attention towards the white tiger standing in front of her, then back to her friends. Then the tiger and back again until the realization hit her.

"Wait... YOU MEAN THIS WAS YOUR PLAN?!"

After that whole incident had been cleared up, Asuka was now standing in the middle of a section of the bamboo forest with her Shinobi Tenshin activated and her twin wakizashi in hand. The girl closed her eyes as the image of a large green frog flashed in her mind before a bright green fire-like energy appeared and surrounded the blades of her dual weapons. Her eyes then snapped open as she gave a look of sheer confidence.

"Here I go!" With that, Asuka shot forward and ran full sprint ahead as her swords continued to give off their green energy. "Secret Ninja Art - Dual Slash!"

As she continued to sprint through the forest, Asuka swung both of her swords in unison, sending out two crescent-shaped energy blades that sliced through several thick bamboo stocks. The young Shinobi then came to a sudden halt, her feet skidding across the ground as she slowly sheathed her two blades. As soon as they were fully sheathed, several tall bamboo trees began to tip over and crashed to the ground like dominoes, carving out a large path behind the girl.

Realizing that she had finally succeeded in pulling off a Secret Ninja Art, Asuka started beaming with delight. "I did it!"

"Awesome!" Katsuragi cheered while pumping her fist in the air.

"Wow!" Hibari said with absolute awe and happiness.

Even Yagyū couldn't hold back a smile. "That was something."

"You did it, Asuka-san!" Ikaruga called out happily.

A short distance away from the group, Kiriya gave a proud smile upon seeing his student finally master her Secret Ninja Art. "Nicely done."

Hanzō, who was standing next to Kiriya, noticed his granddaughter waving her arms while smiling happily. "Jii-chan! I did it!"

"Mmm-hmm! Well done!" he replied with a bright smile while making a peace sign.

As Katsuragi, Yagyū and Hibari ran up to congratulate their friend, Kiriya walked up beside Ikaruga, his smile never leaving. "How did she conqueror her fear of frogs?"

"Asuka-san is someone who is naturally nice to everyone." the raven-haired Shinobi answered with her own smile. "Because she was so firmly convinced that she was afraid, she had simply created a barrier in her mind. And so, once she was able to voluntarily touch the frog, that barrier was gone in a flash."

The middle-aged teach looked quite impressed. "I see. You really are someone she can turn to, Ikaruga. You've even put me to shame."

Ikaruga shook her head. "No. I probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off myself had Minato-san not agreed to help."

As soon as she said that, Asuka and the other Hanzō Shinobi looked up to see Minato walking up to them while the white tiger from earlier walked beside him. "Minato-kun! Did you see?! I finally got my Secret Animal! It's all thanks to you and Ikaruga-san!"

The blue-haired Persona-user just smiled and shook his head. "It wasn't just me and Ikaruga-senpai. You never would've been able to bring yourself to touch the frog willingly without Byakko here."

As he gestured to the tiger standing beside him, Asuka gave a sheepish smile. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks a lot, Byakko-kun! I wouldn't have done it without your help!"

The tiger, Byakko, tilted his head in confusion upon hearing the girl include honorifics in his name and looked towards Minato with a small growl, the boy merely shrugging in response. "Don't worry about it, Byakko. That's just how she talks to people."

Byakko gave a few more growls and light snarls, to which Minato shrugged again. "Don't ask me why. I don't control how people talk to others."

Hibari stared at the two. "Minato-chan, are you talking to the tiger?"

"Whoa! You can understand that thing?!" Katsuragi asked, looking quite impressed.

"Yeah, and he can understand you too, so I'd what I say around him if I were you." he replied, the White Tiger also growling in agreement.

Hanzō stared at the creature with surprise. "My word... Minato-kun, forgive me for for intruding, but did you refer to that as Byakko?"

Minato nodded in response while Asuka turned to her grandfather with a look of slight confusion. "What is it Jii-chan? Do you know about that tiger?"

"I do, actually." the Legendary Shinobi answered. "In Chinese mythology, he's said to be one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese Constellation that guards the four corners of the world along with the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise. The White Tiger represents the West, the season of autumn, and the element of metal."

The others listened to Hanzō's explanation before turning towards Byakko with looks of awe. The tiger must have felt quite proud at that as he proceeded to slightly puff out his chest with pride, much to Minato's amusement.

"Alright, that's enough boasts. Time to go back now, Byakko." the boy stated, which Byakko acknowledged as he then disappeared in a burst of blue light and returned to the Sea of Souls.

Katsuragi couldn't help but let out a whistle. "Gotta say, you're just full of surprises, Minato. Anything else you've got that you might wanna share?"

However, the blue-haired boy simply smirked in response. "I'll leave that to your imagination." He then checked the clock on his MP3 player and saw that it was almost time for him to head to work, so he looked up at the others. "Sorry, but I've gotta head out. Don't wanna be late for work."

After saying his goodbyes to the others, he was about ready to leave when he felt someone pull on him by the sleeve of his shirt, making him look back to see Asuka grabbing his sleeve.

"Asuka?"

"Hey, Minato-kun. Before you go, I just have one last thing to say." she spoke, getting Minato's attention. "I'm gonna get a lot stronger one day. I'm gonna keep on training until I master the Path of the Shinobi. And when that happens, please let me challenge Susano-o again!"

The boy was quite taken aback by her declaration, but he also couldn't deny that he sensed a lot of conviction in her words and her expression showed it as well.

"...Alright then. I'll be looking forward to it." he answered with a smile of determination. "But let me warn you ahead of time. Next time we fight, I'll be giving it my all."

Asuka returned the smile with her own, one filled with equal determination. "Hai! I won't hold anything back either!"

With that said, the two proceeded to shake hands, sealing the deal that once she got stronger, they would fight once again without restraint.

*CRACK*

Thou art I... And I am thou...

Thou hast established a new bond...

It shalt further stretch your Universe

Thou shalt have our blessings when thou chooses

To create a Persona of the Magician Arcana...

Once again, Minato watched as time came to a brief stop and another Tarot Card with the number I on it appeared floating in front of him, representing the Magician Arcana. Seeing that Acana manifest from the bond he had established with Asuka made Minato smile again.

'You're not gonna give up until you reach your goal, huh Asuka? Heh, just like Kenji was. I wonder what he's up to now...'

Once time returned to normal, Minato bid farewell to Asuka and the others again before heading off back towards the city feeling a lot more positive than before. Something told him that his new life in the world was going to be a lot more interesting.

Yet another side also left him feel a sense of foreboding for what other events may lie in the future.

Elsewhere:

The masked figure clad in dark armor was standing in the same dimly lit Japanese-style room as before, this time with two girls kneeling down before her.

"Yomi has just informed me that she has made contact with one of the Hanzō Shinobi as well as the boy, Minato Arisato. It seems she was able to verify that this power he posses is just as Haruka claimed it to be. Therefore, I have decided to send the two of you next, but you are to remain cautious should either of you encounter him. Understood?"

One of the girls kneeling before her had pale skin with medium length hair and amber colored eyes that looked almost snake-like. She was dressed in a dingy torn up yellow and black stripped shirt with a snake patterned and black frill trim that was rather short, stopping at her bust line and showing a lot of cleavage. It also seemed to only properly cover one of her shoulders. Her blue jeans had gashes and tears, the zipper was left down and the grey and black belt around her waist was left unbuckled, with black leather constricts below the knees and a red snake pattern on the left thigh. She had thin necklaces around her neck, more leather constricts on her arms, and black snake tattoos on her left hip, shoulder and breast.

The second was shorter than the first with long black hair and red eyes, with the left one being covered by a black eye-patch with red tomoe on it. Her outfit appeared to be a Gothic Lolita fashion with a black, white and dark teal frilled dress and bonnet with cat ears, a cat tail, and what looked like black angel wings on her back.

The green-haired girl raised her head after listening to her superiors order and nodded with an emotionless expression on her face. "Acknowledged."

Next to her, the eye-patched girl flashed a dangerous smirk. "Looks like it's finally our turn, huh?"

(Ending Theme: Beauty of Destiny - Special Mix)

Omake - Persona Compendium

In a familiar looking velvet colored room with glass walls lined with velvet borders and divisions, a lone figure sat on a dark purple couch while sitting before a large round table covered with an equally-colored purple sheet. His long nose, pointed ears and bulging, bloodshot eyes along with his well-tailored black suit and white gloves almost immediately gave away his identity.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted, "...is what I would usually say. However, today we are using the Velvet Room for a special purpose. As to what that purpose is, I will let these two explain."

At that moment, the glass walls to Igor's left and right started to pulse and ripple like water until two people suddenly appeared. Coming out of the right pane of glass that showed the large green expansive city that looked like Asakusa was a young teenage girl with hazel colored eyes and dark brown hair that was tied in a pony tail with a white ribbon. She wore a yellow vest over a white shirt, a green plaid skirt and a matching tie as well as black thigh-high socks with brown loafers. Her arms were also covered by a black and red guard with bandages underneath.

At the same time, coming from the left pane of glass, which showed a dark purple city resembling Port Island, was yet another girl with dark blue eyes and short blond hair held up with a metal black and gold head band and red and silver 'headphones' covering her ears. Her shoulder and hip joints were gold and appeared to be cybernetic while her body was white with a bright red ribbon around her neck. She even had drum magazines protruding from her forearms.

"Welcome to Persona Compendium!" both girls exclaimed in unison.

The brunette waved in greeting with a cheerful smile. "I'm Asuka!"

"I am Aigis." the blond added in a more robotic tone, though she too gave her own smile.

"And today we're gonna be featuring a Persona that Minato-kun will be summoning for the next chapter." Asuka explained.

Aigis nodded. "We will also be explaining the Persona's origin, Arcana, and battle specifications."

"Now that we've explained the Compendium, it's time to show our first Persona!" Asuka concluded before looking off to the side. "Do your thing, Minato-kun!"

Then, a spot light shined down towards the center of the room as the blue-haired Persona-user himself appeared standing between the two girls. With a nod, Minato, drew his Evoker and gave it a twirl, pointing the barrel towards his head.

"Persona!" A shot rang out as large figure with white hair, a light blue body and red eyes appeared hovering above Minato with a large white lyre attached to its back.

Asuka stared with amazement. "Oh! Looks like our first Persona is Orpheus, Minato-kun's first Persona!"

"Orpheus is a Persona of the Fool Arcana." Aigis explained. "According to Greek myth, he is the son of the Sun God Apollo and a great musician, but was known for failing to bring his dead wife back to life, having failed in his deal with the God of the Dead, Hades. Orpheus specializes in fire attacks and is a well-balanced fighter."

"Thanks, Aigis-chan!" the brunette said before looking back up at Orpheus. "You know, now that I look a bit closer at it, it does look a bit like Minato-kun. Guess that's to be expected from his first Persona."

She then noticed that Aigis was giving her a blank stare, making her feel a bit unnerved. "W-What is it?"

"Now that we're done here for today, I would like to inquire on your relationship with Minato-san."

"Eh?"

The android then pointed her hand towards Asuka as her fingertips opened up. "Depending on your answer, I just hope you didn't do anything inappropriate to him."

"Oh, come on! It's only our first Persona Compendium and you already look like you wanna shoot me!"

Minato could only shake his head with a sigh of exasperation. 'Something tells me I'm gonna be dealing with more of this in the future.'

xxx(Social Link Ranks)xxx

Hanzō Group - 0 The Fool (Rank 2)

Asuka - I The Magician (Rank 1)

Ikaruga - III The Empress (Rank 1)

And cut! Jeez, this chapter took WAY more time to finish than I had originally hoped. Sorry to everyone for the wait, but I hope it was worth it! I sort of fell into a bit of writers block for a few months and with all the college work I had, I just didn't have the time nor the motivation to update, but thankfully my good friends Omnifiction and Recentreader325 have been giving me some really helpful and interesting ideas for the story, so I wanna thanks those two for all their help!

Oh, while on that subject, big thanks to Recentreader325 for giving me the idea for the Persona Compendium omake. I wanted to have it serve as a funny way to tease a Persona Minato will be summoning in the next chapter, so expect the ending of each chapter to have one from now on.

Also, if there's anyone reading this is also reading Monsters and Devils, I'm gonna be working on updating that next, so stay tuned for when the next chapter of that story comes out. Again, big thanks to everyone who waited patiently and I'll see you all next time!

Next Time: Seaside Training