Author's Note: One night, I had a dream where the Persona 4 cast were the samurai cast of Shin Megami Tensei IV (although they were wearing the beta samurai uniforms). Meanwhile, the Shin Megami Tensei IV cast were decked out in Iwatodai uniforms. King Moron was replaced by a Warrior from Dragon Quest, but that's not important.

The first thing I thought when I woke up is: why the fuck has no one made a clothes swap of the SMT IV and P4 casts yet? I mean, look, both games have 4 in the name, it should be destined!

The second thing I thought is: how would the Persona 4 cast deal with the typical demonic shenanigans of other games in the franchise?

The second question made me start thinking of an AU where P3 and P4 characters were in the typical demonic apocalypse setting. (I am still awaiting the fulfillment of the former question.) However, while I was thinking of it, I wanted it to have the fluffiness of P4, yet I couldn't think of anything.

Then, I found a Shin Megami Tensei fic (that shockingly wasn't P3/P4 related) called The Demon Tamers' Guild, by CryptidKeeper. The fic is an ongoing story (fanfiction note: well, on AO3 at least, not sure about this site) that brings all the demonic goodness you could want with a bunch of Slice of Life elements, and it doesn't get too dark. And so, I found my inspiration to write this. I give thanks to CryptidKeeper (or rather, ThatTurtle) for writing this, and I encourage you to give it a read sometime.

So yeah, have a P3/P4 setting with demons. This story has no set schedule, and will be updated casually whenever I get an idea, due to commitments to other stories.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Shin Megami Tensei series as a whole, Atlus does. Speaking of which, broaden your horizons and play other SMT games, Etrian Odyssey, Radiant Historia, and maybe that new Conception II game. Or maybe the first two Persona games. Do not let them fall into the void.

01: In Which Minato goes on a walk

The particular section of the city that Minato is walking through that night is eerily silent, the only sounds coming from flickering lamps. The moon shone high above, a half-moon that night, giving its glow to the lonely apartment buildings.

It was dangerous, to walk through quiet places at this time of night. In big cities, safe areas are abundant, man and demon awake at the same time, creating an interesting nightlife blend that had existed for over a decade already. However, in the areas rife of crime or otherwise subdued, humans thugs and rogue demons that don't hold peaceful or neutral feelings toward mankind run rampant. Or, worse, human thugs with demons.

Minato pulled out his phone and switched to another song, which started blaring in his headphones, and stuck it back in his pocket. The music served as a nice distraction.

He found himself calmly humming along with the tune, walking down the street with hands in his pockets. The stylishness made the atmosphere much more chill rather than unsettling. Now, to just calmly head back to the dorm…

The police tape over a shattered window of an apartment he passed by should have tipped him that things were going to get a bit hairy. Something stomped out of an alleyway, followed by a blur wielding hammers, a small figure holding a chair floating above the big guy.

A red-skinned Oni, without a blade but blessed with intimidating fists, confronted him with a toothy grin, hovered by a malicious Poltergeist, with a mischievous yet equally dangerous Gremlin circling around them. Minato stopped in his tracks, coolly regarding the development.

"What are ya doing out here at this time of night, kid? Bad stuff happens at night… ya know?" the Oni said, passive-aggressively.

"It's been awhile since we had some fresh meat to bully!" the Gremlin cackled; he seemed to be more playfully evil rather than flat-out villainous.

"Other than that one guy that didn't pay up his protection money." the Poltergeist snickered. Minato's mind wandered to the police-taped window.

"Listen kid, we're not as bloodthirsty as the next guy, but we sure as hell need Macca." the Oni stepped up intimidatingly. "Pay up, oh, 3000 Macca, and maybe we'll leave a limb attached."

"..." Minato did not answer.

"Hey, you hearing me?"

"...What?" Minato took his phone back out and lowered the volume of the music that was playing and looked back up; the demons looked very visibly annoyed.

The Poltergeist, wild and uncontrollable, exploded, "Give us money or die!"

Minato processed the threat. Then he frowned. "Huh, so you're just a bunch of petty thugs."

"Excuse you?" the Gremlin seemed more annoyed by the insult than anything, though the Oni and Poltergeist just seemed pissed off.

"Who the hell do you think you are, saying that?" the Oni takes another aggressive step.

Minato then cast his eyes back down to his phone, ignoring their outrage..

...and opened up the Demon Summoning Program.

In a flash, his phone summoned a demon. A demon that's personal to him, something that he had summoned of his own will, years and years ago…

The demon looked like a more monsterish and robotic version of his master, floating above him, wielding a harp in his hands. Through the speakers embedded in his arms, the demon spoke out: "I am Orpheus the Famed, and you just asked for a beatdown."

"My thoughts exactly." Minato increased the volume of his music. This wouldn't be much of a bother.

The enemy demons were in awe; Famed demons are a rarity, even in the Expanse. Orpheus raised his hand and strum his harp -

Suddenly, the Poltergeist was engulfed in flame, the chair it wielded turning into nothing more than burnt pieces of wood. The tiny Spirit threw the pieces to the ground, furious, and chanted a quick Sukunda; Minato felt something weigh him down.

Casually, he summoned another demon: Fairy Pixie. The fairy, wasting no time, cast Agi. The unfortunate Poltergeist shrieked as it burned into nothingness.

The Oni roared and charged. Without even looking up, Minato summoned a Momunofu, a fellow Brute; however, unlike the Oni, the Momunofu came with his weapon, so the armored demon (slowly) advanced, pushed the Oni back, and thrust his spear in his shoulder. Growling, the red Brute punched him in the face (which conveniently had no protection), sending Momunofu reeling back. Orpheus and Pixie, as if accepting telepathic commands from the blue-haired teenager, launched a storm of fire magic toward the Oni, who was pulling the spear out of his shoulder. He swatted the Pixie away roughly, tanking the magic, advancing toward the youth.

"You fucking punk! You think you can mess with me?" the Oni ran toward Minato, who still looked rather unperturbed.

The demon failed to notice the sword hidden in his jacket until it was too late.

…

Stepping forward, shaking off the Sukunda, sword at his side - dripping red - Minato confronted the Gremlin.

The Gremlin had been too shocked to do anything at the start of the battle. Now it was scared shitless to do anything else, what with the cold teenager and his entourage of demons.

The answer to this dilemma was easy. "I-I surrender! Please sir, let me go!"

Minato stared at the demon intensely. Then he smiled. "Sure. You're free to go. Just cause no more trouble, got it?"

The Gremlin bowed profusely and spirited away as fast as he could.

Momunofu (who had a bleeding nose), pointed out, "You could have asked that little shit for money, first."

Minato shrugged. He went into his own stores of magic, learned through demonic whisperings, and healed up Pixie and Oni.

"Minato, it's dangerous to go alone at night!" the Pixie was frustrated with him, a mutation of concern.

"I prefer my walks to be quiet." he admitted.

"Would you rather have things quiet or be dead?" Really, she seemed a bit like an older sister.

"We shouldn't make a big deal out of it." beeped Orpheus. "He can kick anyone to the curb with his swordplay." He looked behind them at the mess; Minato had been the one to finish the demon off.

"He has a point, but boss, remember to always bring us out as soon as someone's giving you shit." said Momunofu.

"Got it, got it." Minato nodded. He looked at the concerned Pixie. "...But if you guys are worried, I guess it's fine if you guys stick around."

And so, the demon tamer and his entourage continued on their way, putting the fight behind them.

Besides, for Minato, it was just a regular, everyday fight.