The large room was filled to the brim with steam. Steam, sweat, and tension. Within it two young men stood at a standoff. Though they were two physical beings, in reality they were one in the same; two sides of the same coin. The young man and his shadow, the representation and manifestation of his repressed emotions, stood face to face in silence. They both knew exactly what was going to happen. The man, Kanji, wanted to keep these feelings locked up within himself and his shadow wanted to be free. This could only end one way.

"Kanji!" The double doors behind them flung open and a group of teenagers ran in.

"Oh, come now, enough with the charade." Kanji's shadow broke the temporary silence. "Isn't it awful to deceive people? To deceive yourself…?" His words stung Kanji because they were true; Kanji was a liar. "What's so bad about doing what I want to do?"

Plenty, but that wasn't the point right now. Kanji was in a tough spot and now there were spectators. "That has nothing to do with it…" Kanji spoke but it was hardly audible. It's hard to argue what one knows is true.

The shadow smirked. "I'm what you really want, aren't I?"

As more words were thrown about it became clear to the spectators that this wasn't going to end well. Their leader, a young man named Souji, grew anxious. The previous times someone faced a shadow like this ended in a battle, he expected today to go no differently. He signaled for his friends to prepare themselves. Among the group was another young man, Yosuke, two girls, Yukiko and Chie, and a bear named Teddie. Throughout the past few weeks they had formed a sort of rag-tag rescue team for the victims of a recent series of serial murders. So far, they have been able to save one person.

"Ohh, how I hate girls… So arrogant and self-centered! They cry if you get angry, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies…" The shadow looked distressed. "They look at me like I'm some…some disgusting THING and say that I'M THE A WEIRDO…Laughing at me all, the while!" The situation was getting worse and worse by the second. "'You like to sew? What a queer!' 'Painting is so not you.' "

"'But you're a guy…'"

"'You don't act like a guy…'"

"'Why aren't you manly?'"

"What does it mean to 'be a guy'? What does it mean to 'be manly'? Girls are so scary…"

"I-I ain't scared of 'em!" Kanji tried to combat that accusation, to no avail.

"Men are much better…" The shadow spoke again. "They'd never say those awful degrading things. Yes, I vastly prefer men…"

It became clear that a soft spot was hit. "Hell with that! What makes you think you can say that shit with my face…!?" Kanji was furious at this point.

"Why, you're me…and I'm you… You do know that, don't you…?" This was it, this conversation happened the last three times someone faced their shadow. Souji probably could have done something to prevent that this time, but he figured that it was best for Kanji to face himself now that the opportunity had presented itself.

"No…nuh-uh! No way!" Kanji grew more agitated with every word that came out of his shadow's mouth. "There's no way in hell that you're me!" And then he'd done it. The group behind him prepared for battle.

The shadow began spewing more shadows, feelings of hatred and dissent emanated from his body until they began to gather up again, transforming the shadow into a large and somewhat disturbing monster. Kanji passed out once it finished materializing, as per usual. Then the group sprung into action.

It took some time but eventually they were able to subdue the shadow and return it to its previous form. But that didn't mean it was over yet. The shadow stood up again and prepared for another attack.

"Kanji is still rejecting it!" Teddie hastily noted.

"Well I can't blame him with this many witnesses…" Yoshuke chimed in. It was true, having had this many people see Kanji's repressed feelings must have been though, especially for a man who had a reputation he wanted to uphold.

"Such a passionate approach… I think you three would make wonderful boyfriends." The shadow was trying to get to Kanji again and now that the group was worn out, another attack would do them in.

"S-Stop it! Y-You've got it all wrong!" Yosuke panicked.

"I don't care who…Won't someone, anyone, please accept me!" The shadow seemed to be becoming more distraught than Kanji. "Accept me for who I am!" And with that, it began making its way toward the other men.

But Kanji wasn't stupid, he knew he had to end it. "I said stop it!" He leapt forward and punched the living daylights out of his shadow, vaguely feeling the pain in his own cheek.

"Tch. Can't believe something like this is inside me..." Kanji said, standing over himself. "I've known all this time I've had something like you! It ain't a matter of guys or chicks…I'm just scared shitless of being rejected." He was deep in thought. "I'm a total pansy who tries to make everyone hate me."

For what was probably the first time that day, Souji spoke up. "You need to be brave." His voice was calm and he remained collected, despite the beating he just took.

Kanji winced. "I know, I know! I need to accept this, right?" He took a deep breath. "Come on…get up. Anyone who looks like me, I know they ain't so weak that they can't take a punch." The shadow stood up, and Kanji kept talking. "I already know that you're me. You're me…and I'm you dammit." The shadow nodded…and seemed somewhat relived. Then it happened, just like the previous three times, the shadow dissipated and took on another form, a persona, and it looked like a strong one.

"Ngh…shit..." Just as Kanji's persona faded away he collapsed ad fell on his back.

"Kanji-kun!" Chie called out as the others moved closer to him.

"Let's get him out of here!" Yosuke suggested and then he and Souji grabbed him and slung one of his arms over their shoulders, leaving Chie, Yukiko, and Teddie to stand guard as they made the long trek back to the real world.

"Kanji-kun…are you ok?" Kanji head a voice calling out to him as he regained consciousness. It was Yukiko.

"Its…it's nothin'…" He replied, trying to act tough, though no one was really buying it at that point. "Heheh…I feel great…it's like my mind's all cleared up"

"Glad to hear it." The leader spoke again, giving him a hand standing back up.

"Hey…about what just happened." He spoke openly though the question was clearly directed toward Souji.

Souji showed concern in his face before answering. "We'll tell you later." Kanji needed to get rested up before they explained everything to him.

"Yeah…you better…"

"We'll explain everything later. You need to take a rest now." Yukiko spoke up, knowing their leader wasn't the most eloquent when it came to formulating sentences.

"We'll be waiting for you at school." Chie chimed in with another vital detail that their leader missed. Souji mentally berated himself for that.

"School…? Sure if I ever feel like going." Kanji responded honestly.

"I'll take this guy home. If anyone asks, I'll just say I found him somewhere like this." Yosuke gave Kanji the impression that they had done this before.

A few days passed by and Kanji and the group met back up at the school roof. Through some awkward conversation and a few questions it was decided that Kanji should join them in their attempt to save the future victims of the serial murders.